 | Edwin the Fair |  |
Scene III.
—Kingston. A Chamber leading to the Banqueting Hall in the Palace.—The Dish-Thane passes through, followed by other Officers of the Household, by Attendants bearing dishes, and by the Female Cup-bearer. In the back of the scene are a motley crowd, consisting of Musicians tuning their instruments, Two Fortune-tellers, Heida and Thorbiorga; Grimbald, the King's Jester; Bridferth, Dunstan's Chaplain; a few Monks and secular Priests, several Thanes of the second rank, Ceorls and Soldiers. The Persons of the scene are in constant movement, changing their situations or passing in and out, some eagerly, others idly. Once or twice an Earl or Ealderman passes through, but without stopping or mixing with the crowd, which reverently makes way. The parties who are heard to speak are those who pass in front or pause there.1st Monk.
So! crowned at last! God's will be done! At times
His will it is, for ends best known to Him,
To grant a holiday to Beelzebub,
And there is feasting and a dance in Hell.
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In the north aisle was I and saw it all.
2nd Soldier.
The bailiff (curse him!) broke my head with his staff
Or I had got there too.
1st Soldier.
Most royally
His Highness played his part from first to last,
And graciously and grandly. At the Abbot
Methought he looked askance, but with the rest...
[They pass.
1st Monk.
In the south aisle. He faltered as he swore
To keep the Church in peace.
2nd Monk.
His cheek was pale.
1st Monk.
It was as white as leprosy.
Bridferth.
No marvel,
For such an eye was on him in that hour
As smote Gehazi.
[They pass.
A Thane
(who advances in company with a Scholar).
Hark ye! are we blind?
The Princess was led in by brave Earl Athulf;
And didst thou mark the manner of it, ha?
Scholar
Methought she leaned upon him and toward him
With a most graceful timid earnestness;
A leaning more of instinct than of purpose,
And yet not undesigned. But think you then...
[They pass.
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(sings to a harp).
She was fresh and she was fair,
Glossy was her golden hair;
Like a blue spot in the sky
Was her clear and loving eye.
Glossy was her golden hair;
Like a blue spot in the sky
Was her clear and loving eye.
He was true and he was bold,
Full of mirth as he could hold;
Through the world he broke his way
With jest and laugh and lightsome lay.
Full of mirth as he could hold;
Through the world he broke his way
With jest and laugh and lightsome lay.
Love ye wisely, love ye well;
Challenge then the gates of Hell.
Love and truth can ride it out,
Come bridal song or battle shout.
Challenge then the gates of Hell.
Love and truth can ride it out,
Come bridal song or battle shout.
1st Priest.
Our gallant Heretoch, the good Earl Leolf,
Should have been there methought.
2nd Priest.
He should have been;
But there are reasons, look ye,—reasons—mum—
Most excellent reasons—softly—in your ear—
[They pass.
Thorbiorga
(sings).
He stood on the rock,
And he looked on the sea,
And he said of his false Love,
“My Love, where is she?
And he looked on the sea,
And he said of his false Love,
“My Love, where is she?
“Have they bought her with bracelets
And lured her with gold?
Is her love for her lover
A tale that is told?
And lured her with gold?
Is her love for her lover
A tale that is told?
From the crest of the wave,
In the deep of the gulf,
Came a voice that cried, “Save!
For behold the sea-wolf!”
In the deep of the gulf,
Came a voice that cried, “Save!
For behold the sea-wolf!”
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He stood on the rock,
And he looked at the wave,
And he said, “Oh, St. Ulfrid!
Who's this that cries, Save!”
And he looked at the wave,
And he said, “Oh, St. Ulfrid!
Who's this that cries, Save!”
Then arose from the billow
A head with a crown,
And two hands that divided
The hair falling down.
A head with a crown,
And two hands that divided
The hair falling down.
As the foam in the moonlight
The two hands were fair,
And they put by the tangles
Of seaweed and hair.
The two hands were fair,
And they put by the tangles
Of seaweed and hair.
He knew the pale forehead—
A spell to his ear
Was the voice that repeated,
“The sea-wolf is here!”
A spell to his ear
Was the voice that repeated,
“The sea-wolf is here!”
“I come, Love,” he answered:—
At sunrise next day
A fisherman wakened
The Priest in the Bay:
At sunrise next day
A fisherman wakened
The Priest in the Bay:
“For the soul of a sinner
Let masses be said—
The sin shall be nameless,
And nameless the dead.”
Let masses be said—
The sin shall be nameless,
And nameless the dead.”
Enter the Great Chamberlain with the Horse-Thane and other Officers of the Household.
Great Chamberlain.
His Highness! Ho! Make way His Highness! Ho!
Sound trumpets!
[A flourish of trumpets.
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1st Ceorl.
The King stepped proudly.
2nd Ceorl.
But his countenance
Methought was troubled. Is he well in health?
1st Ceorl.
Now comes the Primate.
2nd Ceorl.
What, can this be he
That looks so fierce and haughty? Once before
I saw him, when a cripple asked for alms;
So lowly of demeanour was his Grace,
I had not known, but for the mitred head,
Which was the beggar, which the Lord Archbishop.
1st Ceorl.
He's humble to the poor to spite the rich;
Give me the man that's humble to his peers.
2nd Ceorl.
There's Dunstan.
1st Ceorl.
What, is yonder thing alive?
Grimbald
(the Jester, who has come up behind).
Sir, he's aboveground.
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So we see, my friend.
Grimbald.
For this occasion, Sir. A hole i' the earth
Is where he lives, Sir, mostly: yea, his life
Is of the earth, Sir, earthy.
1st Ceorl.
It was there
That he encountered Sathanas.
Grimbald.
'Twas there.
The Devil, Sir, one day, grubbing for earth-nuts—
A simple fare you'll say, but for his ends
The Devil you'll find can be a very hermit—
Digging and grubbing—what should his old claws clutch
But Father Dunstan's skull! “Ho, ho!” cried he,
“A bigger one than ever;” but thereat...
Oh mercy! here is Gurmo!—Sirs, I say,
The feasting and the singing and the dancing
Should carry us to midnight—Cockadoodle!
The Devil, Sir, one day, grubbing for earth-nuts—
A simple fare you'll say, but for his ends
The Devil you'll find can be a very hermit—
Digging and grubbing—what should his old claws clutch
But Father Dunstan's skull! “Ho, ho!” cried he,
“A bigger one than ever;” but thereat...
Oh mercy! here is Gurmo!—Sirs, I say,
The feasting and the singing and the dancing
Should carry us to midnight—Cockadoodle!
A song will I sing
Of an excellent King
That carried his crown where a bee has her sting.
Of an excellent King
That carried his crown where a bee has her sting.
Enter from the Banqueting Hall Two Ushers.
1st Usher.
The third cup has gone round. You're welcome now
To take your places at the lower board.
Grimbald.
In, tag-rag—enter, rabblement—in, all!
And to him the Queen said,
“Sure your senses are fled,
Put your boots in that place and your crown on your head.”
In, dregs; in, scum; in, commonalty, in!
In, many fools by nature, one by name!
“Sure your senses are fled,
Put your boots in that place and your crown on your head.”
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In, many fools by nature, one by name!
[Exeunt into the Banqueting Hall, all but the Ushers and the Scholar.
1st Usher.
The Princess and a certain Earl sit close.
Scholar.
Ah! she is peerless! Happy were the man
That should enthrall her though she were a peasant!
What in another might have seemed amiss
In her was but a freshness and new charm
Loosed from the graceful nakedness of nature.
She ate but half a pigeon, and did you mark
How with her tiny fingers and her teeth
She gnawed and tore the bones, talking 'twixt whiles,
With such a lively and a pretty action,
That appetite itself and all its ways
Seemed mainly spiritual.
2nd Usher.
Hush! Hark to that!
[A flourish of trumpets.
1st Usher.
The ladies leave the board.
Scholar.
I'll see her go.
She ever moves as if she moved to music.
Are you not wanted? Oh! what's like to her?
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