Yeoman of the Guard
Sullivan, Arthur
Responsief blok lib/tran/syn
Yeoman of the Guard Libretto
SYSTEMSCENE:
Tower Green
16th Century
SYSTEMACT I
[Scene.— Tower Green]
[Phoebe discovered spinning.
SYSTEMNo.1.
When maiden loves, she sits and sighs
INTRODUCTION and SONG
Phoebe
When maiden loves, she sits and sighs,
PHOEBEShe wanders to and fro;
PHOEBEUnbidden tear-drops fill her eyes,
PHOEBEAnd to all questions she replies,
PHOEBEWith a sad "Heigh-ho!"
PHOEBE'Tis but a little word—"Heigh-ho!"
PHOEBESo soft, 'tis scarcely heard—"Heigh-ho!"
PHOEBEAn idle breath—
PHOEBEYet life and death
PHOEBEMay hang upon a maid's "Heigh-ho!"
PHOEBEWhen maiden loves, she mopes apart,
PHOEBEAs owl mopes on a tree;
PHOEBEAlthough she keenly feels the smart,
PHOEBEShe cannot tell what ails her heart,
PHOEBEWith its sad "Ah, me!"
PHOEBE'Tis but a foolish sigh—"Ah, me!"
PHOEBEBorn but to droop and die—"Ah, me!"
PHOEBEYet all the sense
PHOEBEOf eloquence
PHOEBELies hidden in a maid's "Ah, me!"
PHOEBEYet all the sense
PHOEBEOf eloquence
PHOEBELies hidden in a maid's "Ah, me!"
PHOEBE"Ah, me!", "Ah, me!"
PHOEBEYet all the sense
PHOEBEOf eloquence
PHOEBELies hidden in a maid's "Ah, me!"
[PHOEBE weeps
[Enter WILFRED
PHOEBEWILFRED Mistress Meryll!
PHOEBEPHOEBE [looking up] Eh! Oh! it's you, is it? You may go
PHOEBEaway, if you like.
PHOEBEBecause I don't want you, you know.
PHOEBEWILFRED Haven't you anything to say to me?
PHOEBEPHOEBE Oh yes! Are the birds all caged? The wild beasts all
PHOEBElittered down? All the locks, chains, bolts, and bars
PHOEBEin good order? Is the Little Ease sufficiently
PHOEBEcomfortable? The racks, pincers, and thumbscrews all
PHOEBEready for work? Ugh! you brute!
PHOEBEWILFRED These allusions to my professional duties are in
PHOEBEdoubtful taste.
PHOEBEI didn't become a head-jailer because
PHOEBEI like head-jailing.
PHOEBEI didn't become an assistant-
PHOEBEtormentor because I like assistant-tormenting.
PHOEBEWe
PHOEBEcan't all be sorcerers, you know.
[PHOEBE is annoyed]
PHOEBEAh! you brought that upon yourself.
PHOEBEPHOEBE Colonel Fairfax is not a sorcerer.
PHOEBEHe's a man of
PHOEBEscience and an alchemist.
PHOEBEWILFRED Well, whatever he is, he won't be one for long, for
PHOEBEhe's to be beheaded to-day for dealings with the
PHOEBEdevil.
PHOEBEHis master nearly had him last night, when the
PHOEBEfire broke out in the Beauchamp [pronounced Bee'cham]
PHOEBETower.
PHOEBEPHOEBE Oh! how I wish he had escaped in the confusion! But
PHOEBEtake care; there's still time for a reply to his
PHOEBEpetition for mercy.
PHOEBEWILFRED Ah! I'm content to chance that.
PHOEBEThis evening at half-
PHOEBEpast seven— ah! [Gesture of chopping off a head]
PHOEBEPHOEBE You're a cruel monster to speak so unfeelingly of the
PHOEBEdeath of a young and handsome soldier.
PHOEBEWILFRED Young and handsome! How do you know he's young and
PHOEBEhandsome?
PHOEBEPHOEBE Because I've seen him every day for weeks past taking
PHOEBEhis exercise on the Beauchamp [pronounced Bee'cham]
PHOEBETower.
PHOEBEWILFRED Curse him!
PHOEBEPHOEBE There, I believe you're jealous of him, now.
PHOEBEJealous
PHOEBEof a man I've never spoken to! Jealous of a poor soul
PHOEBEwho's to die in an hour!
PHOEBEWILFRED I am! I'm jealous of everybody and everything.
PHOEBEI'm
PHOEBEjealous of the very words I speak to you— because they
PHOEBEreach your ears— and I mustn't go near 'em!
PHOEBEPHOEBE How unjust you are! Jealous of the words you speak to
PHOEBEme! Why, you know as well as I do that I don't even
PHOEBElike them.
PHOEBEWILFRED You used to like 'em.
PHOEBEPHOEBE I used to pretend I like them.
PHOEBEIt was mere politeness
PHOEBEto comparative strangers.
[Exit PHOEBE, with spinning wheel
PHOEBEWILFRED I don't believe you know what jealousy is! I don't
PHOEBEbelieve you know how it eats into a man's heart— and
disorders his digestion— and turns his interior into
PHOEBEboiling lead.
PHOEBEOh, you are a heartless jade to trifle
PHOEBEwith the delicate organization of the human interior.
PHOEBENo.
1AWhen jealous torments
(OPTIONAL SONG)Wilfred
(OPTIONAL SONG)WILFRED When jealous torments rack my soul,
(OPTIONAL SONG)My agonies I can't control,
(OPTIONAL SONG)Oh, better sit on red hot coal
(OPTIONAL SONG)Than love a heartless jade.
(OPTIONAL SONG)The red hot coal will hurt no doubt,
(OPTIONAL SONG)But red hot coals in time die out,
(OPTIONAL SONG)But jealousy you can not rout,
(OPTIONAL SONG)Its fires will never fade.
(OPTIONAL SONG)It's much less painful on the whole
(OPTIONAL SONG)To go and sit on red hot coal
(OPTIONAL SONG)'Til you're completely flayed,
(OPTIONAL SONG)Or ask a kindly friend to crack
(OPTIONAL SONG)Your wretched bones upon the rack
(OPTIONAL SONG)Than love a heartless jade,
(OPTIONAL SONG)Than love a heartless jade.
(OPTIONAL SONG)The kerchief on your neck of snow
(OPTIONAL SONG)I look on as a deadly foe,
(OPTIONAL SONG)It goeth where I dare not go
(OPTIONAL SONG)And stops there all day long.
(OPTIONAL SONG)The belt that holds you in its grasp
(OPTIONAL SONG)Is to my peace of mind a rasp,
(OPTIONAL SONG)It claspeth what I can not clasp,
(OPTIONAL SONG)Correct me if I'm wrong.
(OPTIONAL SONG)It's much less painful on the whole
(OPTIONAL SONG)To go and sit on red hot coal
(OPTIONAL SONG)'Til you're completely flayed,
(OPTIONAL SONG)Or ask a kindly friend to crack
(OPTIONAL SONG)Your wretched bones upon the rack
(OPTIONAL SONG)Than love a heartless jade,
(OPTIONAL SONG)Than love a heartless jade.
(OPTIONAL SONG)The bird that breakfasts on your lip,
(OPTIONAL SONG)I would I had him in my grip,
(OPTIONAL SONG)He sippeth where I dare not sip,
(OPTIONAL SONG)I can't get over that.
(OPTIONAL SONG)The cat you fondle soft and sly,
(OPTIONAL SONG)He layeth where I dare not lie.
(OPTIONAL SONG)We're not on terms, that cat and I.
(OPTIONAL SONG)I do not like that cat.
(OPTIONAL SONG)It's much less painful on the whole
(OPTIONAL SONG)To go and sit on red hot coal
(OPTIONAL SONG)'Til you're completely flayed,
(OPTIONAL SONG)Or ask a kindly friend to crack
(OPTIONAL SONG)Your wretched bones upon the rack
(OPTIONAL SONG)Than love a heartless jade,
(OPTIONAL SONG)Than love a heartless jade.
(OPTIONAL SONG)Or ask a kindly friend to crack
(OPTIONAL SONG)Your wretched bones upon the rack
(OPTIONAL SONG)Than love a heartless jade.
[Exit WILFRED.
Enter people excitedly, followed by YEOMEN
(OPTIONAL SONG)of the Guard with SERGEANT MERYLL at rear.
(OPTIONAL SONG)No.
(OPTIONAL SONG)Tower warders, Under orders
Double Chorus
(OPTIONAL SONG)CROWD and YEOMEN, with Solo 2ND YEOMEN
(OPTIONAL SONG)CROWD Tower warders,
(OPTIONAL SONG)Under orders,
(OPTIONAL SONG)Gallant pikemen, valiant sworders!
(OPTIONAL SONG)Brave in bearing,
(OPTIONAL SONG)Foemen scaring,
(OPTIONAL SONG)In their bygone days of daring!
(OPTIONAL SONG)Ne'er a stranger
(OPTIONAL SONG)There to danger—
(OPTIONAL SONG)Each was o'er the world a ranger;
(OPTIONAL SONG)To the story
(OPTIONAL SONG)Of our glory
(OPTIONAL SONG)Each a bold, a bold contributory!
(OPTIONAL SONG)YEOMEN In the autumn of our life,
(OPTIONAL SONG)Here at rest in ample clover,
(OPTIONAL SONG)We rejoice in telling over
(OPTIONAL SONG)Our impetuous May and June.
(OPTIONAL SONG)In the evening of our day,
(OPTIONAL SONG)With the sun of life declining,
(OPTIONAL SONG)We recall without repining
(OPTIONAL SONG)All the heat of bygone noon,
(OPTIONAL SONG)We recall without repining
(OPTIONAL SONG)All the heat,
(OPTIONAL SONG)We recall, recall
(OPTIONAL SONG)All of bygone noon.
(OPTIONAL SONG)2ND YEOMAN This the autumn of our life,
(OPTIONAL SONG)This the evening of our day;
(OPTIONAL SONG)Weary we of battle strife,
(OPTIONAL SONG)Weary we of mortal fray.
(OPTIONAL SONG)But our year is not so spent,
(OPTIONAL SONG)And our days are not so faded,
(OPTIONAL SONG)But that we with one consent,
(OPTIONAL SONG)Were our loved land invaded,
(OPTIONAL SONG)Still would face a foreign foe,
(OPTIONAL SONG)As in days of long ago,
(OPTIONAL SONG)Still would face a foreign foe,
(OPTIONAL SONG)As in days of long ago,
(OPTIONAL SONG)As in days of long ago.
(OPTIONAL SONG)YEOMEN Still would face a foreign foe,
(OPTIONAL SONG)As in days of long ago.
(OPTIONAL SONG)CROWD Tower warders,
(OPTIONAL SONG)Under orders,
(OPTIONAL SONG)Gallant pikemen, valiant sworders!
(OPTIONAL SONG)Brave in bearing, Foemen scaring,
(OPTIONAL SONG)In their bygone days of daring!
YEOMENTower warders, This the autumn of our life
YEOMENUnder orders,
YEOMENGallant pikemen,
YEOMENValiant sworders
YEOMENBrave in bearing, This the evening of our day;
YEOMENFoemen scaring,
YEOMENIn their bygone days of daring!
YEOMENNe'er a stranger Weary we of battle strife,
YEOMENThere to danger
YEOMENEach was o'er the world a ranger:
YEOMENTo the story Weary we of mortal fray.
YEOMENOf our glory
YEOMENEach a bold,
YEOMENA bold contributory.
YEOMENTo the story This the autumn of our life.
YEOMENOf our glory
YEOMENEach a bold contributory! This the evening of our day,
YEOMENEach a bold contributory! This the evening of our day.
[Exit CROWD.
YEOMENManent YEOMEN.
Enter DAME CARRUTHERS.
YEOMENDAME A good day to you!
2ND YEOMANYEOMAN Good day, Dame Carruthers.
2ND YEOMANBusy to-day?
2ND YEOMANDAME Busy, aye! the fire in the Beauchamp [pronounced
2ND YEOMANBee'cham] last night has given me work enough.
2ND YEOMANA dozen
2ND YEOMANpoor prisoners— Richard Colfax, Sir Martin Byfleet,
2ND YEOMANColonel Fairfax, Warren the preacher-poet, and half-a-
2ND YEOMANscore others— all packed into one small cell, not six
2ND YEOMANfeet square.
2ND YEOMANPoor Colonel Fairfax, who's to die to-
2ND YEOMANday, is to be removed to no.
2ND YEOMAN14 in the Cold Harbour
2ND YEOMANthat he may have his last hour alone with his
2ND YEOMANconfessor; and I've to see to that.
2ND YEOMANYEOMAN Poor gentleman! He'll die bravely.
2ND YEOMANI fought under him
2ND YEOMANtwo years since, and he valued his life as it were a
2ND YEOMANfeather!
2ND YEOMANPHOEBE He's the bravest, the handsomest, and the best young
2ND YEOMANgentleman in England! He twice saved my father's life;
2ND YEOMANand it's a cruel thing, a wicked thing, and a
2ND YEOMANbarbarous thing that so gallant a hero should lose his
2ND YEOMANhead— for it's the handsomest head in England!
2ND YEOMANDAME For dealings with the devil.
2ND YEOMANAye! if all were beheaded
2ND YEOMANwho dealt with him, there'd be busy things on Tower
2ND YEOMANGreen.
2ND YEOMANPHOEBE You know very well that Colonel Fairfax is a student
2ND YEOMANof alchemy— nothing more, and nothing less; but this
2ND YEOMANwicked Tower, like a cruel giant in a fairy-tale, must
2ND YEOMANbe fed with blood, and that blood must be the best and
2ND YEOMANbravest in England, or it's not good enough for the
2ND YEOMANold Blunderbore.
2ND YEOMANUgh!
2ND YEOMANDAME Silence, you silly girl; you know not what you say.
Iwas born in the old keep, and I've grown grey in it,
Iand, please God, I shall die and be buried in it; and
Ithere's not a stone in its walls that is not as dear
Itome as my right hand.
INo.
IWhen our gallant Norman foes
CHORUSDame Carruthers and Yeomen
CHORUSDAME When our gallant Norman foes
CHORUSMade our merry land their own,
CHORUSAnd the Saxons from the Conqueror were flying,
CHORUSAt his bidding it arose,
CHORUSIn its panoply of stone,
CHORUSA sentinel unliving and undying.
CHORUSInsensible, I trow,
CHORUSAs a sentinel should be,
CHORUSThough a queen to save her head should
CHORUScome a-suing,
CHORUSThere's a legend on its brow
CHORUSThat is eloquent to me,
CHORUSAnd it tells of duty done and duty doing.
The screw may twist and the rack may turn,
CHORUSAnd men may bleed and men may burn,
CHORUSO'er London town and its golden hoard
CHORUSI keep my silent watch and ward!
CHORUS The screw may twist and the rack may turn,
CHORUSO'er London town and all its hoard,
CHORUSAnd men may bleed and men may burn,
CHORUSO'er London town and all its hoard,
CHORUSO'er London town and its golden hoard
CHORUSI keep my silent watch and ward!
CHORUSDAME Within its wall of rock
CHORUSThe flower of the brave
CHORUSHave perished with a constancy unshaken.
CHORUSFrom the dungeon to the block,
CHORUSFrom the scaffold to the grave,
CHORUSIs a journey many gallant hearts have taken.
CHORUSAnd the wicked flames may hiss
CHORUSRound the heroes who have fought
CHORUSFor conscience and for home in all its beauty,
CHORUSBut the grim old fortalice
CHORUSTakes little heed of aught
CHORUSThat comes not in the measure of its duty.
The screw may twist and the rack may turn,
CHORUSAnd men may bleed and men may burn,
CHORUSO'er London town and its golden hoard
CHORUSI keep my silent watch and ward!
CHORUS The screw may twist and the rack may turn,
CHORUSO'er London town and all its hoard,
CHORUSAnd men may bleed and men may burn,
CHORUSO'er London town and all its hoard,
CHORUSO'er London town and its golden hoard
CHORUSI keep my silent watch and ward!
[Exeunt all but PHOEBE.
Enter SERGEANT MERYLL.
CHORUSPHOEBE Father! Has no reprieve arrived for the poor
CHORUSgentleman?
CHORUSMERYLL No, my lass; but there's one hope yet.
CHORUSThy brother
CHORUSLeonard, who, as a reward for his valour in saving his
CHORUSstandard and cutting his way through fifty foes who
CHORUSwould have hanged him, has been appointed a Yeoman of
CHORUSthe Guard, will arrive to-day; and as he comes
CHORUSstraight from Windsor, where the Court is, it may be—
CHORUSit may be— that he will bring the expected reprieve
CHORUSwith him.
CHORUSPHOEBE Oh, that he may!
CHORUSMERYLL Amen to that! For the Colonel twice saved my life, and
CHORUSI'd give the rest of my life to save his! And wilt
CHORUSthou not be glad to welcome thy brave brother, with
CHORUSthe fame of whose exploits all England is a-ringing?
CHORUSPHOEBE Aye, truly, if he brings the reprieve.
CHORUSMERYLL And not otherwise?
CHORUSPHOEBE Well, he's a brave fellow indeed, and I love brave
CHORUSmen.
CHORUSMERYLL All brave men?
CHORUSPHOEBE Most of them, I verily believe! But I hope Leonard
CHORUSwill not be too strict with me— they say he is a very
CHORUSdragon of virtue and circumspection! Now, my dear old
CHORUSfather is kindness itself, and——
CHORUSMERYLL And leaves thee pretty well to thine own ways, eh?
CHORUSWell, I've no fears for thee; thou hast a feather-
CHORUSbrain, but thou'rt a good lass.
CHORUSPHOEBE Yes, that's all very well, but if Leonard is going to
CHORUStell me that I may not do this and I may not do that,
CHORUSand I must not talk to this one, or walk with that
CHORUSone, but go through the world with my lips pursed up
CHORUSand my eyes cats down, like a poor nun who has
CHORUSrenounced mankind— why, as I have not renounced
CHORUSmankind, and don't mean to renounce mankind, I won't
CHORUShave it— there!
CHORUSMERYLL Nay, he'll not check thee more than is good for thee,
CHORUSPhoebe! He's a brave fellow, and bravest among brave
CHORUSfellows, and yet it seems but yesterday that he robbed
CHORUSthe Lieutenant's orchard.
CHORUSNo.
A laughing boy
(OPTIONAL SONG)Sergeant Meryll
MERYLL A laughing boy but yesterday,
(OPTIONAL SONG)A merry urchin blithe and gay,
Whose joyous shout came ringing out
(OPTIONAL SONG)Unchecked by care or sorrow.
(OPTIONAL SONG)Today a warrior all sunbrown,
(OPTIONAL SONG)When deeds of soldierly renown
(OPTIONAL SONG)Are not the boast of London town,
(OPTIONAL SONG)A veteran tomorrow, today a warrior,
(OPTIONAL SONG)A veteran tomorrow!
(OPTIONAL SONG)When at my Leonard's deeds sublime,
(OPTIONAL SONG)A soldier's pulse beats double time,
(OPTIONAL SONG)And grave hearts thrill as brave hearts will
(OPTIONAL SONG)At tales of martial glory.
(OPTIONAL SONG)I burn with flush of pride and joy,
(OPTIONAL SONG)A pride unbittered by alloy,
(OPTIONAL SONG)To find my boy, my darling boy,
(OPTIONAL SONG)The theme of song and story,
(OPTIONAL SONG)To find my darling boy
(OPTIONAL SONG)The theme of song and story!
(OPTIONAL SONG)To find my boy, my darling boy,
(OPTIONAL SONG)The theme of song and story!
[Enter LEONARD MERYLL
(OPTIONAL SONG)LEONARD Father!
(OPTIONAL SONG)MERYLL Leonard! my brave boy! I'm right glad to see thee, and
(OPTIONAL SONG)so is Phoebe!
(OPTIONAL SONG)PHOEBE Aye— hast thou brought Colonel Fairfax's reprieve?
(OPTIONAL SONG)LEONARD Nay, I have here a despatch for the Lieutenant, but no
(OPTIONAL SONG)reprieve for the Colonel!
(OPTIONAL SONG)PHOEBE Poor gentleman! poor gentleman!
(OPTIONAL SONG)LEONARD Aye, I would I had brought better news.
(OPTIONAL SONG)I'd give my
(OPTIONAL SONG)right hand— nay, my body— my life, to save his!
(OPTIONAL SONG)MERYLL Dost thou speak in earnest, my lad?
(OPTIONAL SONG)LEONARD Aye, father— I'm no braggart.
(OPTIONAL SONG)Did he not save thy
(OPTIONAL SONG)life? and am I not his foster-brother?
(OPTIONAL SONG)MERYLL Then hearken to me.
(OPTIONAL SONG)Thou hast come to join the Yeomen
(OPTIONAL SONG)of the Guard!
(OPTIONAL SONG)LEONARD Well?
(OPTIONAL SONG)MERYLL None has seen thee but ourselves?
(OPTIONAL SONG)LEONARD And a sentry, who took scant notice of me.
(OPTIONAL SONG)MERYLL Now to prove thy words.
(OPTIONAL SONG)Give me the despatch and get
(OPTIONAL SONG)thee hence at once! Here is money, and I'll send thee
(OPTIONAL SONG)more.
(OPTIONAL SONG)Lie hidden for a space, and let no one know.
(OPTIONAL SONG)I'll convey a suit of Yeoman's uniform to the
(OPTIONAL SONG)Colonel's cell— he shall shave off his beard, so that
(OPTIONAL SONG)none shall know him, and I'll own him as my son, the
(OPTIONAL SONG)brave Leonard Meryll, who saved his flag and cut his
(OPTIONAL SONG)way through fifty foes who thirsted for his life.
(OPTIONAL SONG)He
(OPTIONAL SONG)will be welcomed without question by my brother-
(OPTIONAL SONG)Yeomen, I'll warrant that.
(OPTIONAL SONG)Now, how to get access to
(OPTIONAL SONG)the Colonel's cell? [To PHOEBE] The key is with they
(OPTIONAL SONG)sour-faced admirer, Wilfred Shadbolt.
(OPTIONAL SONG)PHOEBE [demurely] I think— I say, I think— I can get anything
(OPTIONAL SONG)I want from Wilfred.
(OPTIONAL SONG)I think— mind I say, I think— you
may leave that to me.
(OPTIONAL SONG)MERYLL Then get thee hence at once, lad— and bless thee for
(OPTIONAL SONG)this sacrifice.
(OPTIONAL SONG)PHOEBE And take my blessing, too, dear, dear Leonard!
(OPTIONAL SONG)LEONARD And thine.
(OPTIONAL SONG)eh? Humph! Thy love is newborn; wrap it up
(OPTIONAL SONG)carefully, lest it take cold and die.
(OPTIONAL SONG)No.
(OPTIONAL SONG)Alas! I waver to and fro
(TRIO)Phoebe, Leonard, and Meryll
(TRIO)PHOEBE Alas! I waver to and fro!
(TRIO)Dark danger hangs upon the deed!
(TRIO)ALL Dark danger hangs upon the deed!
(TRIO)LEONARD The scheme is rash and well may fail;
(TRIO)But ours are not the hearts that quail,
(TRIO)The hands that shrink, the cheeks that pale
(TRIO)In hours of need!
(TRIO)ALL No, ours are not the hearts that quail,
(TRIO)The hands that shrink, the cheeks that pale
(TRIO)In hours of need!
(TRIO)MERYLL The air I breathe to him I owe:
(TRIO)My life is his— I count it naught!
PHOEBEand LEONARD That life is his— so count it naught!
PHOEBEMERYLL And shall I reckon risks I run
PHOEBEWhen services are to be done
PHOEBETo save the life of such an one?
PHOEBEUnworthy thought! Unworthy thought!
PHOEBEand LEONARD And shall we reckon risks we run
PHOEBETo save the life of such an one?
PHOEBEALL Unworthy thought! Unworthy thought!
PHOEBEWe may succeed— who can foretell?
PHOEBEMay heav'n help our hope—
PHOEBEMay heav'n help our hope,
PHOEBEfarewell!
PHOEBEMay heav'n help our hope,
PHOEBEHelp our hope,
PHOEBEfarewell!
[LEONARD embraces MERYLL and PHOEBE, and then exits.
weeping.
PHOEBEMERYLL [goes up to PHOEBE] Nay, lass, be of good cheer, we
PHOEBEmay save him yet.
PHOEBEPHOEBE Oh! see, after— they bring the poor gentleman from the
PHOEBEBeauchamp! [pronounced Bee'cham] Oh, father! his hour
PHOEBEis not yet come?
PHOEBEMERYLL No, no— they lead him to the Cold Harbour Tower to
PHOEBEawait his end in solitude.
PHOEBEBut softly— the Lieutenant
PHOEBEapproaches! He should not see thee weep.
[Enter FAIRFAX, guarded by YEOMEN.
The LIEUTENANT enters,
PHOEBEmeeting him.
LIEUTENANTHalt! Colonel Fairfax, my old friend, we meet but
LIEUTENANTsadly.
LIEUTENANTFAIRFAX Sir, I greet you with all good-will; and I thank you
LIEUTENANTfor the zealous acre with which you have guarded me
LIEUTENANTfrom the pestilent dangers which threaten human life
LIEUTENANToutside.
LIEUTENANTIn this happy little community, Death, when
LIEUTENANThe comes, doth so in punctual and business-like
LIEUTENANTfashion; and, like a courtly gentleman, giveth due
LIEUTENANTnotice of his advent, that one may not be taken
LIEUTENANTunawares.
LIEUTENANTSir, you bear this bravely, as a brave man should.
LIEUTENANTFAIRFAX Why, sir, it is no light boon to die swiftly and
LIEUTENANTsurely at a given hour and in a given fashion! Truth
LIEUTENANTto tell, I would gladly have my life; but if that may
LIEUTENANTnot be, I have the next best thing to it, which is
LIEUTENANTdeath.
LIEUTENANTBelieve me, sir, my lot is not so much amiss!
PHOEBE [aside to MERYLL] Oh, father, father, I cannot bear
LIEUTENANTit!
LIEUTENANTMERYLL My poor lass!
LIEUTENANTFAIRFAX Nay, pretty one, why weepest thou? Come, be comforted.
Such a life as mine is not worth weeping for.
LIEUTENANT[sees
LIEUTENANTMERYLL] Sergeant Meryll, is it not? [to LIEUTENANT]
LIEUTENANTMay I greet my old friend? [Shakes MERYLL's hand;
LIEUTENANTMERYLL begins to weep] Why, man, what's all this? Thou
LIEUTENANTand I have faced the grim old king a dozen times, and
LIEUTENANTnever has his majesty come to me in such goodly
LIEUTENANTfashion.
LIEUTENANTKeep a stout heart, good fellow— we are
LIEUTENANTsoldiers, and we know how to die, thou and I.
LIEUTENANTTake my
LIEUTENANTword for it, it is easier to die well than to live
LIEUTENANTwell— for, in sooth, I have tried both.
LIEUTENANTNo.
LIEUTENANTIs life a boon?
(BALLAD)Fairfax
(BALLAD)FAIRFAX Is life a boon?
(BALLAD)If so, it must befall
(BALLAD)That Death, whene'er he call,
(BALLAD)Must call too soon.
(BALLAD)Though fourscore years he give,
(BALLAD)Yet one would pray to live
(BALLAD)Another moon!
(BALLAD)What kind of plaint have I,
(BALLAD)Who perish in July,
(BALLAD)who perish in July?
(BALLAD)I might have had to die,
(BALLAD)Perchance, in June!
(BALLAD)I might have had to die,
(BALLAD)Perchance, in June!
(BALLAD)Is life a thorn?
(BALLAD)Then count it not a whit!
(BALLAD)Nay, count it not a whit!
(BALLAD)Man is well done with it;
(BALLAD)Soon as he's born
(BALLAD)He should all means essay
(BALLAD)To put the plague away;
(BALLAD)And I, war-worn,
(BALLAD)Poor captured fugitive,
(BALLAD)My life most gladly give—
(BALLAD)I might have had to live,
(BALLAD)Another morn!
(BALLAD)I might have had to live,
(BALLAD)Another morn!
[At the end, PHOEBE is led off, weeping, by MERYLL.
(BALLAD)FAIRFAX And now, Sir Richard, I have a boon to beg.
(BALLAD)I am in
(BALLAD)this strait for no better reason than because my
(BALLAD)kinsman, Sir Clarence Poltwhistle, one of the
(BALLAD)Secretaries of State, has charged me with sorcery, in
(BALLAD)order that he may succeed in my estate, which devolves
(BALLAD)to him provided I die unmarried.
LIEUTENANTAs thou wilt most surely do.
LIEUTENANTFAIRFAX Nay, as I will most surely not do, by your worship's
LIEUTENANTgrace! I have a mind to thwart this good cousin of
LIEUTENANTmine.
LIEUTENANTHow?
LIEUTENANTFAIRFAX By marrying forthwith, to be sure!
LIEUTENANTBut heaven ha' mercy, whom wouldst thou marry?
LIEUTENANTFAIRFAX Nay, I am indifferent on that score.
LIEUTENANTComing Death hath
LIEUTENANTmade of me a true and chivalrous knight, who holds all
LIEUTENANTwomankind in such esteem that the oldest, and the
LIEUTENANTmeanest, and the worst-favoured of them is good enough
LIEUTENANTfor him.
LIEUTENANTSo, my good Lieutenant, if thou wouldst serve
LIEUTENANTa poor soldier who has but an hour to live, find me
LIEUTENANTthe first that comes— my confessor shall marry us, and
LIEUTENANTher dower shall be my dishonoured name and a hundred
LIEUTENANTcrowns to boot.
LIEUTENANTNo such poor dower for an hour of
LIEUTENANTmatrimony!
LIEUTENANTA strange request.
LIEUTENANTI doubt that I should be warranted
LIEUTENANTin granting it.
LIEUTENANTFAIRFAX There never was a marriage fraught with so little of
LIEUTENANTevil to the contracting parties.
LIEUTENANTIn an hour she'll be
LIEUTENANTa widow, and I— a bachelor again for aught I know!
LIEUTENANTWell, I will see what can be done, for I hold thy
LIEUTENANTkinsman in abhorrence for the scurvy trick he has
LIEUTENANTplayed thee.
LIEUTENANTFAIRFAX A thousand thanks, good sir; we meet again in this
LIEUTENANTspot in an hour or so.
LIEUTENANTI shall be a bridegroom then,
LIEUTENANTand your worship will wish me joy.
LIEUTENANTTill then,
LIEUTENANTfarewell.
LIEUTENANT[To GUARD] I am ready, good fellows.
[Exit with GUARD into Cold Harbour Tower]
LIEUTENANTHe is a brave fellow, and it is a pity that he should
LIEUTENANTdie.
LIEUTENANTNow, how to find him a bride at such short
LIEUTENANTnotice? Well, the task should be easy! [Exit]
[Enter JACK POINT and ELSIE MAYNARD, pursued by a CROWD of
LIEUTENANTmen and women.
POINT and ELSIE are much terrified; POINT,
LIEUTENANThowever, assuming an appearance of self-possession.
LIEUTENANTNo.
LIEUTENANTHere's a man of jollity
People, Elsie, and Jack Point
CHORUSCHORUS Here's a man of jollity,
CHORUSJibe, joke, jollify!
CHORUSGive us of your quality,
CHORUSCome, fool, follify!
CHORUSIf you vapour vapidly,
CHORUSRiver runneth rapidly,
CHORUSInto it we fling
CHORUSBird who doesn't sing!
CHORUSGive us an experiment
CHORUSIn the art of merriment;
Into it we throw
CHORUSCock who doesn't crow!
CHORUSBanish your timidity,
CHORUSAnd with all rapidity
CHORUSGive us quip and quiddity—
CHORUSWilly-nilly, O!
CHORUSRiver none can mollify;
Into it we throw
CHORUSFool who doesn't follify,
CHORUSCock who doesn't crow!
CHORUSBanish your timidity,
CHORUSAnd with all rapidity
CHORUSGive us quip and quiddity—
CHORUSWilly-nilly, O!
POINT [alarmed] My masters, I pray you bear with us, and we
CHORUSwill satisfy you, for we are merry folk who would make
CHORUSall merry as ourselves.
CHORUSFor, look you, there is humour
CHORUSin all things, and the truest philosophy is that which
CHORUSteaches us to find it and to make the most of it.
CHORUSELSIE [struggling with 1ST CITIZEN] Hands off, I say,
CHORUSunmannerly fellow! [she boxes his ears]
CHORUSPOINT [to 1ST CITIZEN] Ha! Didst thou hear her say, "Hands
CHORUSoff"?
1STCITIZEN Aye, I heard her say it, and I felt her do it! What
1STthen?
1STPOINT Thou dost not see the humour of that?
1STCITIZEN Nay, if I do, hang me!
1STPOINT Thou dost not? Now, observe.
1STShe said, "Hands off!
1ST"Whose hands? Thine.
1STOff whom? Off her.
1STWhy? Because
1STshe is a woman.
1STNow, had she not been a woman, thine
1SThands had not been set upon her at all.
1STSo the reason
1STfor the laying on of hands is the reason for the
1STtaking off of hands, and herein is contradiction
1STcontradicted! It is the very marriage of pro with con;
1STand no such lopsided union either, as times go, for
1STpro is not more unlike con than man is unlike woman—
1STyet men and women marry every day with none to say,
1ST"Oh, the pity of it!" but I and fools like me! Now
1STwherewithal shall we please you? We can rhyme you
1STcouplet, triolet, quatrain, sonnet, rondolet, ballade,
1STwhat you will.
1STOr we can dance you saraband, gondolet,
1STcarole, pimpernel, or Jumping Joan.
ELSIE Let us give them the singing farce of the Merryman and
1SThis Maid— therein is song and dance too.
1STALL Aye, the Merryman and his Maid!
1STNo.
1STI have a song to sing, O!
Elsie and Point
(DUET)POINT I have a song to sing, O!
(DUET)ELSIE Sing me your song, O!
POINT It is sung to the moon
(DUET)By a love-lorn loon,
(DUET)Who fled from the mocking throng, O!
(DUET)It's a song of a merryman, moping mum,
(DUET)Whose soul was sad, and whose glance was glum,
(DUET)Who sipped no sup, and who craved no crumb,
(DUET)As he sighed for the love of a ladye.
(DUET)Heighdy! heighdy!
(DUET)Misery me—lack-a-day-dee!
(DUET)He sipped no sup, and he craved no crumb,
(DUET)As he sighed for the love of a ladye!
(DUET)ELSIE I have a song to sing, O!
(DUET)POINT Sing me your song, O!
(DUET)ELSIE It is sung with the ring
(DUET)Of the songs maids sing
(DUET)Who love with a love life-long, O!
(DUET)It's the song of a merrymaid, peerly proud,
(DUET)Who loved a lord, and who laughed aloud
(DUET)At the moan of the merryman, moping mum,
(DUET)Whose soul was sad, and whose glance was glum,
(DUET)Who sipped no sup, and who craved no crumb,
(DUET)As he sighed for the love of a ladye!
(DUET)Heighdy! heighdy!
(DUET)Misery me—lack-a-day-dee!
(DUET)He sipped no sup, and he craved no crumb,
(DUET)As he sighed for the love of a ladye!
(DUET)POINT I have a song to sing, O!
(DUET)ELSIE Sing me your song, O!
POINT It is sung to the knell
(DUET)Of a churchyard bell,
(DUET)And a doleful dirge, ding dong, O!
(DUET)It's a song of a popinjay, bravely born,
(DUET)Who turned up his noble nose with scorn
(DUET)At the humble merrymaid, peerly proud,
(DUET)Who loved a lord, and who laughed aloud
(DUET)At the moan of the merryman, moping mum,
(DUET)Whose soul was sad, and whose glance was glum,
(DUET)Who sipped no sup, and who craved no crumb,
(DUET)As he sighed for the love of a ladye!
(DUET)Heighdy! heighdy!
(DUET)Misery me—lack-a-day-dee!
(DUET)He sipped no sup, and he craved no crumb,
(DUET)As he sighed for the love of a ladye!
(DUET)ELSIE I have a song to sing, O!
(DUET)POINT Sing me your song, O!
ELSIE It is sung with a sigh
(DUET)And a tear in the eye,
(DUET)For it tells of a righted wrong, O!
(DUET)It's a song of the merrymaid, once so gay,
(DUET)Who turned on her heel and tripped away
(DUET)From the peacock popinjay, bravely born,
(DUET)Who turned up his noble nose with scorn
(DUET)At the humble heart that he did not prize:
(DUET)So she begged on her knees, with downcast eyes,
(DUET)For the love of the merryman, moping mum,
(DUET)Whose soul was sad, and whose glance was glum,
(DUET)Who sipped no sup, and who craved no crumb,
(DUET)As he sighed for the love of a ladye!
(DUET)BOTH Heighdy! heighdy!
(DUET)Misery me—lack-a-day-dee!
(DUET)His pains were o'er, and he sighed no more,
(DUET)For he lived in the love of a ladye!
(DUET)Heighdy! heighdy!
(DUET)Misery me—lack-a-day-dee!
(DUET)His pains were o'er, and he sighed no more,
(DUET)For he lived in the love of a ladye!
1STCITIZEN Well sung and well danced!
2ND YEOMANCITIZEN A kiss for that, pretty maid!
2ND YEOMANALL Aye, a kiss all round.
[CROWD gathers around her]
2ND YEOMANELSIE [drawing dagger] Best beware! I am armed!
2ND YEOMANPOINT Back, sirs— back! This is going too far.
2ND YEOMANCITIZEN Thou dost not see the humour of it, eh? Yet there is
2ND YEOMANhumour in all things— even in this.
2ND YEOMAN[Trying to kiss
2ND YEOMANher]
2ND YEOMANELSIE Help! Help!
[Enter LIEUTENANT with GUARD.
CROWD falls back
LIEUTENANTWhat is the pother?
LIEUTENANTELSIE Sir, we sang to these folk, and they would have repaid
LIEUTENANTus with gross courtesy, but for your honour's coming.
LIEUTENANT[to CROWD] Away with ye! Clear the rabble.
LIEUTENANTGUARDS push CROWD off, and go off with them
LIEUTENANTNow, my girl, who are you, and what do you here?
LIEUTENANTELSIE May it please you, sir, we are two strolling players,
Jack Point and I, Elsie Maynard, at your worship's
LIEUTENANTservice.
LIEUTENANTWe go from fair to fair, singing, and
LIEUTENANTdancing, and playing brief interludes; and so we make
LIEUTENANTa poor living.
LIEUTENANTYou two, eh? Are ye man and wife?
POINT No, sir; for though I'm a fool, there is a limit to my
LIEUTENANTfolly.
LIEUTENANTHer mother, old Bridget Maynard, travels with
LIEUTENANTus (for Elsie is a good girl), but the old woman is a-
bed with fever, and we have come here to pick up some
LIEUTENANTsilver to buy an electuary for her.
LIEUTENANTHark ye, my girl! Your mother is ill?
LIEUTENANTELSIE Sorely ill, sir.
LIEUTENANTAnd needs good food, and many things that thou canst
LIEUTENANTnot buy?
LIEUTENANTELSIE Alas! sir, it is too true.
LIEUTENANTWouldst thou earn an hundred crowns?
LIEUTENANTELSIE An hundred crowns! They might save her life!
LIEUTENANTThen listen! A worthy but unhappy gentleman is to be
LIEUTENANTbeheaded in an hour on this very spot.
LIEUTENANTFor sufficient
LIEUTENANTreasons, he desires to marry before he dies, and he
LIEUTENANThath asked me to find him a wife.
LIEUTENANTWilt thou be that
LIEUTENANTwife?
LIEUTENANTELSIE The wife of a man I have never seen!
POINT Why, sir, look you, I am concerned in this; for though
LIEUTENANTI am not yet wedded to Elsie Maynard, time works
LIEUTENANTwonders, and there's no knowing what may be in store
LIEUTENANTfor us.
LIEUTENANTHave we your worship's word for it that this
LIEUTENANTgentleman will die to-day?
LIEUTENANTNothing is more certain, I grieve to say.
POINT And that the maiden will be allowed to depart the very
LIEUTENANTinstant the ceremony is at an end?
LIEUTENANTThe very instant.
LIEUTENANTI pledge my honour that it shall be
LIEUTENANTso.
LIEUTENANTPOINT An hundred crowns?
LIEUTENANTAn hundred crowns!
POINT For my part, I consent.
LIEUTENANTIt is for Elsie to speak.
LIEUTENANTNo.
LIEUTENANTHow say you, maiden, will you wed
Elsie, Point, and Lieutenant
LIEUTENANTHow say you, maiden, will you wed
LIEUTENANTA man about to lose his head?
LIEUTENANTFor half an hour
LIEUTENANTYou'll be his wife,
LIEUTENANTAnd then the dower
LIEUTENANTIs your for life.
LIEUTENANTA headless bridegroom why refuse?
LIEUTENANTIf truth the poets tell,
LIEUTENANTMost bridegrooms, 'ere they marry,
LIEUTENANTLose both head and heart as well!
LIEUTENANTELSIE A strange proposal you reveal,
LIEUTENANTIt almost makes my senses reel.
LIEUTENANTAlas! I'm very poor indeed,
LIEUTENANTAnd such a sum I sorely need.
LIEUTENANTMy mother, sir, is like to die.
LIEUTENANTThis money life may bring.
LIEUTENANTBear this in mind, I pray,
LIEUTENANTIf I consent to do this thing!
POINT Though as a general rule of life
LIEUTENANTI don't allow my promised wife,
LIEUTENANTMy lovely bride that is to be,
LIEUTENANTTo marry anyone but me,
LIEUTENANTYet if the fee is promptly paid,
LIEUTENANTAnd he, in well-earned grave,
LIEUTENANTWithin the hour is duly laid,
LIEUTENANTObjection I will waive!
LIEUTENANTYes, objection I will waive!
LIEUTENANTALL Temptation, oh, temptation,
LIEUTENANTWere we, I pray, intended
LIEUTENANTTo shun, what e'er our station,
LIEUTENANTYour fascinations splendid;
Or fall, whene'er we view you,
LIEUTENANTHead over heels into you?
LIEUTENANTHead over heels, Head over heels,
LIEUTENANTHead over heels into you!
LIEUTENANTHead over heels, Head over heels,
LIEUTENANTHead over heels, Right into you!
LIEUTENANTHead over heels, Head over heels, etc.
LIEUTENANTTemptation, oh, temptation!
LIEUTENANT[During this, the LIEUTENANT has whispered to WILFRED
LIEUTENANT(who has entered).
LIEUTENANTWILFRED binds ELSIE's eyes with a
LIEUTENANTkerchief, and leads her into the Cold Harbour Tower
LIEUTENANTAnd so, good fellow, you are a jester?
POINT Aye, sir, and like some of my jests, out of place.
LIEUTENANTI have a vacancy for such an one.
LIEUTENANTTell me, what are
LIEUTENANTyour qualifications for such a post?
POINT Marry, sir, I have a pretty wit.
LIEUTENANTI can rhyme you
LIEUTENANTextempore; I can convulse you with quip and
LIEUTENANTconundrum; I have the lighter philosophies at my
LIEUTENANTtongue's tip; I can be merry, wise, quaint, grim, and
LIEUTENANTsardonic, one by one, or all at once; I have a pretty
turn for anecdote; I know all the jests— ancient and
LIEUTENANTmodern— past, present, and to come; I can riddle you
LIEUTENANTfrom dawn of day to set of sun, and, if that content
LIEUTENANTyou not, well on to midnight and the small hours.
LIEUTENANTOh,
LIEUTENANTsir, a pretty wit, I warrant you— a pretty, pretty
LIEUTENANTwit!
LIEUTENANTNo.
LIEUTENANTI've jibe and joke
Point
POINT I've jibe and joke
(SONG)And quip and crank
(SONG)For lowly folk
(SONG)And men of rank.
(SONG)I ply my craft
(SONG)And know no fear.
(SONG)But aim my shaft
(SONG)At prince or peer.
(SONG)At peer or prince— at prince or peer,
(SONG)I aim my shaft and know no fear!
(SONG)I've wisdom from the East and from the West,
(SONG)That's subject to no academic rule;
(SONG)You may find it in the jeering of a jest,
(SONG)Or distil it from the folly of a fool.
(SONG)I can teach you with a quip, if I've a mind;
I can trick you into learning with a laugh;
(SONG)Oh, winnow all my folly, folly, folly, and
(SONG)you'll find
(SONG)A grain or two of truth among the chaff!
(SONG)Oh, winnow all my folly, folly, folly, and
(SONG)you'll find
(SONG)A grain or two of truth among the chaff!
(SONG)I can set a braggart quailing with a quip,
(SONG)The upstart I can wither with a whim;
He may wear a merry laugh upon his lip,
(SONG)But his laughter has an echo that is grim.
(SONG)When they're offered to the world in merry
(SONG)guise,
(SONG)Unpleasant truths are swallowed with a will,
(SONG)For he who'd make his fellow,
(SONG)fellow, fellow creatures wise
(SONG)Should always gild the philosophic pill!
(SONG)For he who'd make his fellow,
(SONG)fellow, fellow creatures wise
(SONG)Should always gild the philosophic pill!
LIEUTENANTAnd how came you to leave your last employ?
POINT Why, sir, it was in this wise.
LIEUTENANTMy Lord was the
LIEUTENANTArchbishop of Canterbury, and it was considered that
LIEUTENANTone of my jokes was unsuited to His Grace's family
LIEUTENANTcircle.
LIEUTENANTIn truth, I ventured to ask a poor riddle,
LIEUTENANTsir— Wherein lay the difference between His Grace and
LIEUTENANTpoor Jack Point? His Grace was pleased to give it up,
LIEUTENANTsir.
LIEUTENANTAnd thereupon I told him that whereas His Grace
was paid 10,000 a year for being good, poor Jack Point
LIEUTENANTwas good— for nothing.
LIEUTENANT'Twas but a harmless jest, but
LIEUTENANTit offended His Grace, who whipped me and set me in
LIEUTENANTthe stocks for a scurril rogue, and so we parted.
Ihad as lief not take post again with the dignified
Iclergy.
LIEUTENANTBut I trust you are very careful not to give offence.
LIEUTENANTI have daughters.
POINT Sir, my jests are most carefully selected, and
LIEUTENANTanything objectionable is expunged.
LIEUTENANTIf your honour
LIEUTENANTpleases, I will try then first on your honour's
LIEUTENANTchaplain.
LIEUTENANTCan you give me an example? Say that I had sat me down
LIEUTENANThurriedly on something sharp?
POINT Sir, I should say that you had sat down on the spur of
LIEUTENANTthe moment.
LIEUTENANTHumph! I don't think much of that.
LIEUTENANTIs that the best
LIEUTENANTyou can do?
POINT It has always been much admired, sir, but we will try
LIEUTENANTagain.
LIEUTENANTWell, then, I am at dinner, and the joint of meat is
LIEUTENANTbut half cooked.
POINT Why then, sir, I should say that what is underdone
LIEUTENANTcannot be helped.
LIEUTENANTI see.
LIEUTENANTI think that manner of thing would be somewhat
LIEUTENANTirritating.
POINT At first, sir, perhaps; but use is everything, and you
LIEUTENANTwould come in time to like it.
We will suppose that I caught you kissing the kitchen
LIEUTENANTwench under my very nose.
LIEUTENANTPOINT Under her very nose, good sir— not under yours! That
LIEUTENANTis where I would kiss her.
LIEUTENANTDo you take me? Oh, sir, a
LIEUTENANTpretty wit— a pretty, pretty wit!
LIEUTENANTThe maiden comes.
LIEUTENANTFollow me, friend, and we will
LIEUTENANTdiscuss this matter at length in my library.
POINT I am your worship's servant.
LIEUTENANTThat is to say, I trust
LIEUTENANTI soon shall be.
LIEUTENANTBut, before proceeding to a more
LIEUTENANTserious topic, can you tell me, sir, why a cook's
LIEUTENANTbrain-pan is like an overwound clock?
LIEUTENANTA truce to this fooling— follow me.
LIEUTENANTPOINT Just my luck; my best conundrum wasted!
[Exeunt LIEUTENANT and POINT.
Enter ELSIE from Tower, led
LIEUTENANTby WILFRED, who removes the bandage from her eyes, and
exits.
LIEUTENANTNo.
LIEUTENANT'Tis done! I am a bride!
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)Elsie
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)ELSIE 'Tis done! I am a bride! Oh, little ring,
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)That bearest in thy circlet all the gladness
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)That lovers hope for, and that poets sing,
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)What bringest thou to me but gold and sadness?
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)A bridegroom all unknown, save in this wise,
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)To-day he dies! To-day, alas, he dies!
Though tear and long-drawn sigh
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)Ill fit a bride,
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)No sadder wife than I
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)The whole world wide!
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)Ah me! Ah me!
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)Yet maids there be
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)Who would consent to lose
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)The very rose of youth,
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)The flow'r of life,
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)To be, in honest truth,
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)A wedded wife,
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)No matter whose!
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)Ah me! what profit we,
O maids that sigh,
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)Though gold, though gold should live
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)If wedded love must die?
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)Ere half an hour has rung,
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)A widow I!
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)Ah, heaven, he is too young,
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)Too brave to die!
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)Ah me! Ah me!
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)Yet wives there be
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)So weary worn, I trow,
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)That they would scarce complain,
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)So that they could
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)In half an hour attain
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)To widowhood,
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)No matter how!
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)O weary wives
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)Who widowhood would win,
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)Rejoice, rejoice, that ye have time
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)To weary in.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)O weary wives
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)Who widowhood would win,
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice,
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)that ye have time
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)O weary, weary wives, rejoice!
[Exit ELSIE as WILFRED re-enters.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)WILFRED [looking after ELSIE] 'Tis an odd freak for a dying
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)man and his confessor to be closeted alone with a
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)strange singing girl.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)I would fain have espied them,
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)but they stopped up the keyhole.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)My keyhole!
[Enter PHOEBE with SERGEANT MERYLL.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)MERYLL remains in the
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)background, unobserved by WILFRED.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)PHOEBE [aside] Wilfred— and alone!
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)WILFRED Now what could he have wanted with her? That's what
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)puzzles me!
PHOEBE [aside] Now to get the keys from him.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)[Aloud] Wilfred— has no reprieve arrived?
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)WILFRED None.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)Thine adored Fairfax is to die.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)PHOEBE Nay, thou knowest that I have naught but pity for the
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)poor condemned gentleman.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)WILFRED I know that he who is about to die is more to thee
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)than I, who am alive and well.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)PHOEBE Why, that were out of reason, dear Wilfred.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)Do they
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)not say that a live ass is better than a dead lion?
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)No, I didn't mean that!
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)WILFRED Oh, they say that, do they?
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)PHOEBE It's unpardonably rude of them, but I believe they put
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)it in that way.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)Not that it applies to thee, who art
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)clever beyond all telling!
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)WILFRED Oh yes, as an assistant-tormentor.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)PHOEBE Nay, as a wit, as a humorist, as a most philosophic
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)commentator on the vanity of human resolution.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)[PHOEBE slyly takes bunch of keys from WILFRED's waistband
and hands them to MERYLL, who enters the Tower, unnoticed
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)by WILFRED.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)WILFRED Truly, I have seen great resolution give way under my
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)persuasive methods [working with a small thumbscrew].
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)In the nice regulation of a thumbscrew— in the
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)hundredth part of a single revolution lieth all the
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)difference between stony reticence and a torrent of
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)impulsive unbosoming that the pen can scarcely follow.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)Ha! ha! I am a mad wag.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)PHOEBE [with a grimace] Thou art a most light-hearted and
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)delightful companion, Master Wilfred.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)Thine anecdotes
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)of the torture-chamber are the prettiest hearing.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)WILFRED I'm a pleasant fellow an' I choose.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)I believe I am the
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)merriest dog that barks.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)Ah, we might be passing happy
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)together—
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)PHOEBE Perhaps.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)I do not know.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)WILFRED For thou wouldst make a most tender and loving wife.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)PHOEBE Aye, to one whom I really loved.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)For there is a wealth
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)of love within this little heart— saving up for— I
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)wonder whom? Now, of all the world of men, I wonder
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)whom? To think that he whom I am to wed is now alive
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)and somewhere! Perhaps far away, perhaps close at
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)hand! And I know him not! It seemeth that I am wasting
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)time in not knowing him.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)WILFRED Now say that it is I— nay! suppose it for the nonce.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)Say that we are wed— suppose it only— say that thou
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)art my very bride, and I thy cherry, joyous, bright,
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)frolicsome husband— and that, the day's work being
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)done, and the prisoners stored away for the night,
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)thou and I are alone together— with a long, long
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)evening before us!
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)PHOEBE [with a grimace] It is a pretty picture— but I
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)scarcely know.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)It cometh so unexpectedly— and yet—and
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)yet— were I thy bride—
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)WILFRED Aye!— wert thou my bride—?
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)PHOEBE Oh, how I would love thee!
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)No.
(RECITATIVE AND SONG)Were I thy bride
(SONG)Phoebe
(SONG)PHOEBE Were I thy bride,
(SONG)Then all the world beside
(SONG)Were not too wide
(SONG)To hold my wealth of love—
(SONG)Were I thy bride!
(SONG)Upon thy breast
(SONG)My loving head would rest,
(SONG)As on her nest
(SONG)The tender turtle dove—
(SONG)Were I thy bride!
(SONG)This heart of mine
(SONG)Would be one heart with thine,
(SONG)And in that shrine
(SONG)Our happiness would dwell—
(SONG)Were I thy bride!
(SONG)And all day long
(SONG)Our lives should be a song:
(SONG)No grief, no wrong
(SONG)Should make my heart rebel—
(SONG)Were I thy bride!
(SONG)The silvery flute,
(SONG)The melancholy lute,
(SONG)Were night-owl's hoot
(SONG)To my low-whispered coo—
(SONG)Were I thy bride!
(SONG)The skylark's trill
(SONG)Were but discordance shrill
(SONG)To the soft thrill
(SONG)Of wooing as I'd woo—
(SONG)Were I thy bride!
[MERYLL re-enters; gives keys to PHOEBE, who replaces
(SONG)them at WILFRED's girdle, unnoticed by him.
Exit
The rose's sigh
MERYLLWere as a carrion's cry
MERYLLTo lullaby
MERYLLSuch as I'd sing to thee,
MERYLLWere I thy bride!
MERYLLA feather's press
MERYLLWere leaden heaviness to my caress.
MERYLLBut then, of course, you see,
MERYLLI'm not thy bride.
[Exit PHOEBE
MERYLLWILFRED No, thou'rt not— not yet! But, Lord, how she woo'd; I
MERYLLshould be no mean judge of wooing, seeing that I have
MERYLLbeen more hotly woo'd than most men.
MERYLLI have been woo'd
MERYLLby maid, widow, and wife.
MERYLLI have been woo'd boldly,
MERYLLtimidly, tearfully, shyly— by direct assault, by
MERYLLsuggestion, by implication, by inference, and by
MERYLLinnuendo.
MERYLLBut this wooing is not of the common order;
MERYLLit is the wooing of one who must needs me, if she die
MERYLLfor it!
[Exit WILFRED.
Enter SERGEANT MERRILL, cautiously, from
MERYLLTower.
MERYLLMERYLL [looking after them] The deed is, so far, safely
MERYLLaccomplished.
MERYLLThe slyboots, how she wheedled him! What
MERYLLa helpless ninny is a love-sick man! He is but as a
MERYLLlute in a woman's hands— she plays upon him whatever
MERYLLtune she will.
MERYLLBut the Colonel comes.
MERYLLI' faith, he's
MERYLLjust in time, for the Yeomen parade here for his
MERYLLexecution in two minutes!
[Enter FAIRFAX, without beard and moustache, and dressed in
MERYLLYeoman's uniform.
MERYLLFAIRFAX My good and kind friend, thou runnest a grave risk for
MERYLLme!
MERYLLMERYLL Tut, sir, no risk.
MERYLLI'll warrant none here will
MERYLLrecognise you.
MERYLLYou make a brave Yeoman, sir! So— this
MERYLLruff is too high; so— and the sword should hang thus.
MERYLLHere is your halbert, sir; carry it thus.
MERYLLThe Yeomen
MERYLLcome.
MERYLLNow, remember, you are my brave son, Leonard
MERYLLMeryll.
MERYLLFAIRFAX If I may not bear mine own name, there is none other
MERYLLI would bear so readily.
MERYLLMERYLL Now, sir, put a bold face on it, for they come.
MERYLLNo.
MERYLLOh, Sergeant Meryll, is it true
SYSTEM(FINALE OF ACT I)
Ensemble
[Enter YEOMEN of the Guard
MERYLLYEOMEN Oh, Sergeant Meryll, is it true—
MERYLLThe welcome news we read in orders?
MERYLLThy son, whose deeds of derring-do
MERYLLAre echoed all the country through,
MERYLLHas come to join the Tower Warders?
MERYLLIf so, we come to meet him,
MERYLLThat we may fitly greet him,
MERYLLAnd welcome his arrival here
With shout on shout and cheer on cheer,
MERYLLHurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!
MERYLLMERYLL Ye Tower warders, nursed in war's alarms,
MERYLLSuckled on gunpowder, and weaned on glory,
MERYLLBehold my son, whose all-subduing arms
MERYLLHave formed the theme of many a song and story!
MERYLLForgive his aged father's pride; nor jeer
MERYLLHis aged father's sympathetic tear!
[Pretending to weep]
MERYLLYEOMEN Leonard Meryll!
MERYLLLeonard Meryll!
MERYLLDauntless he in time of peril!
MERYLLMan of power,
MERYLLKnighthood's flower,
MERYLLWelcome to the grim old Tower,
MERYLLTo the Tower, welcome thou!
MERYLLFAIRFAX Forbear, my friends, and spare me this ovation,
MERYLLI have small claim to such consideration;
MERYLLThe tales that of my prowess are narrated
MERYLLHave been prodigiously exaggerated,
MERYLLprodigiously exaggerated!
MERYLLYEOMEN 'Tis ever thus!
MERYLLWherever valor true is found,
MERYLLTrue modesty will there abound.
MERYLL1ST YEOMAN Didst thou not, oh, Leonard Meryll!
MERYLLStandard lost in last campaign,
MERYLLRescue it at deadly peril—
MERYLLBear it safely back again?
MERYLLYEOMEN Leonard Meryll, at his peril,
MERYLLBore it safely back again!
MERYLL2ND YEOMAN Didst thou not, when prisoner taken,
And debarred from all escape,
MERYLLFace, with gallant heart unshaken,
MERYLLDeath in most appalling shape?
MERYLLYEOMEN Leonard Meryll, faced his peril,
MERYLLDeath in most appalling shape!
FAIRFAX [aside] Truly I was to be pitied,
MERYLLHaving but an hour to live,
MERYLLI reluctantly submitted,
MERYLLI had no alternative!
MERYLLFAIRFAX [aloud] Oh! the tales that are narrated
MERYLLOf my deeds of derring-do
MERYLLHave been much exaggerated,
MERYLLVery much exaggerated,
MERYLLScarce a word of them is true!
MERYLLYEOMEN They are not exaggerated,
MERYLLNot at all exaggerated,
MERYLLCould not be exaggerated,
MERYLLEv'ry word of them is true!
MERYLL3RD YEOMAN [optional] You, when brought to execution,
MERYLLLike a demigod of yore,
MERYLLWith heroic resolution
MERYLLSnatched a sword and killed a score.
MERYLLYEOMEN [optional] Leonard Meryll, Leonard Meryll
MERYLLSnatched a sword and killed a score!
MERYLL4TH YEOMAN [optional] Then escaping from the foemen,
MERYLLBoltered with the blood you shed,
MERYLLYou, defiant, fearing no men,
MERYLLSaved your honour and your head!
MERYLLYEOMEN [optional] Leonard Meryll, Leonard Meryll
MERYLLSaved his honour and his head.
MERYLLFAIRFAX [optional] True, my course with judgement
MERYLLshaping,
MERYLLFavoured, too, by lucky star,
MERYLLI succeeded in escaping
MERYLLPrison-bolt and prison bar!
MERYLLFAIRFAX [optional] Oh! the tales that are narrated
MERYLLOf my deeds of derring-do
MERYLLHave been much exaggerated,
MERYLLVery much exaggerated,
MERYLLScarce a word of them is true!
MERYLLYEOMEN [optional] They are not exaggerated,
MERYLLNot at all exaggerated,
MERYLLCould not be exaggerated,
MERYLLEv'ry word of them is true!
[Enter PHOEBE.
She rushes to FAIRFAX.
Enter WILFRED.
MERYLLPHOEBE Leonard!
MERYLLFAIRFAX [puzzled] I beg your pardon?
MERYLLPHOEBE Don't you know me? I'm little Phoebe!
MERYLLFAIRFAX [still puzzled] Phoebe? Is this Phoebe?
MERYLLWhat! little Phoebe?
MERYLL[aside] Who the deuce may she be?
MERYLLIt can't be Phoebe, surely?
MERYLLWILFRED Yes, 'tis Phoebe—
MERYLLYour sister Phoebe! Your own little sister!
MERYLLYEOMEN Aye, he speaks the truth; 'Tis Phoebe!
MERYLLFAIRFAX [pretending to recognise her]
MERYLLSister Phoebe!
MERYLLPHOEBE Oh, my brother!
MERYLLFAIRFAX Why, how you've grown!
MERYLLI did not recognize you!
MERYLLPHOEBE So many years! Oh, brother!
MERYLLFAIRFAX Oh, my sister!
MERYLLBOTH Oh, brother!/Oh, sister!
MERYLLWILFRED Aye, hug him, girl!
MERYLLThere are three thou mayst hug—
MERYLLThy father and thy brother and— myself!
MERYLLFAIRFAX Thyself, forsooth?
MERYLLAnd who art thou thyself?
MERYLLWILFRED Good sir, we are betrothed.
[FAIRFAX turns inquiringly to PHOEBE
MERYLLPHOEBE Or more or less—
MERYLLBut rather less than more!
MERYLLWILFRED To thy fond care
MERYLLI do commend thy sister.
MERYLLBe to her
MERYLLAn ever-watchful guardian— eagle-eyed!
MERYLLAnd when she feels (as sometimes she does feel)
MERYLLDisposed to indiscriminate caress,
MERYLLBe thou at hand to take those favours from her!
MERYLLYEOMEN Be thou at hand to take those favours from her!
MERYLLPHOEBE Yes, yes.
MERYLLBe thou at hand to take those favours from me!
MERYLLWILFRED To thy fraternal care
MERYLLThy sister I commend;
MERYLLFrom every lurking snare
MERYLLThy lovely charge defend;
MERYLLAnd to achieve this end,
MERYLLOh! grant, I pray, this boon—
MERYLLOh! grant this boon
MERYLLShe shall not quit my sight;
MERYLLFrom morn to afternoon—
MERYLLFrom afternoon to night—
MERYLLFrom sev'n o'clock to two—
MERYLLFrom two to eventide—
MERYLLFrom dim twilight to 'lev'n at night,
MERYLLFrom dim twilight to 'lev'n at night
MERYLLShe shall not quit my side!
MERYLLYEOMEN From morn to afternoon—
MERYLLFrom afternoon to 'lev'n at night
MERYLLShe shall not quit thy side!
MERYLLPHOEBE So amiable I've grown,
MERYLLSo innocent as well,
MERYLLThat if I'm left alone
MERYLLThe consequences fell
MERYLLNo mortal can foretell.
MERYLLSo grant, I pray, this boon—
MERYLLOh! grant this boon
MERYLLI shall not quit thy sight:
MERYLLFrom morn to afternoon—
MERYLLFrom afternoon to night—
MERYLLFrom sev'n o'clock to two—
MERYLLFrom two to eventide—
MERYLLFrom dim twilight to 'lev'n at night
MERYLLI shall not quit thy side!
MERYLLYEOMEN From morn to afternoon—
MERYLLFrom afternoon to 'lev'n at night
MERYLLShe shall not quit thy side!
MERYLLFAIRFAX With brotherly readiness,
MERYLLFor my fair sister's sake,
MERYLLAt once I answer "Yes"—
MERYLLThat task I undertake—
MERYLLMy word I never break.
MERYLLI freely grant that boon,
MERYLLAnd I'll repeat my plight.
MERYLLFrom morn to afternoon— [kiss]
MERYLLFrom afternoon to night— [kiss]
MERYLLFrom sev'n o'clock to two— [kiss]
MERYLLFrom two to evening meal— [kiss]
MERYLLFrom dim twilight to 'lev'n at night,
MERYLLThat compact I will seal.
[kiss]
MERYLLYEOMEN From morn to afternoon,
MERYLLFrom afternoon to 'lev'n at night
MERYLLHe freely grants that boon.
MERYLL[The bell of St.
MERYLLPeter's begins to toll.
The CROWD enters;
MERYLLthe block is brought on to the stage, and the HEADSMAN
takes his place.
MERYLLThe YEOMEN of the Guard form up.
MERYLLThe
LIEUTENANT enters and takes his place, and tells off
MERYLLFAIRFAX and two others to bring the prisoner to execution.
WILFRED, FAIRFAX, and TWO YEOMEN exeunt to Tower.
MERYLLCHORUS The prisoner comes to meet his doom;
MERYLLThe block, the headsman, and the tomb.
MERYLLThe funeral bell begins to toll;
MERYLLMay Heav'n have mercy on his soul!
MERYLLELSIE Oh, Mercy, thou whose smile has shone
MERYLLSo many a captive heart upon;
MERYLLOf all immured within these walls,
MERYLLTo-day the very worthiest falls!
MERYLLALL Oh, Mercy, thou whose smile has shone
MERYLLSo many a captive heart upon;
MERYLLOf all immured within these walls,
The very worthiest falls.
MERYLLOh, Mercy, Oh, Mercy!
[Enter FAIRFAX and TWO YEOMEN from Tower in great
MERYLLexcitement.
MERYLLFAIRFAX My lord! I know not how to tell
MERYLLThe news I bear!
MERYLLI and my comrades sought the pris'ner's cell—
MERYLLHe is not there!
MERYLLALL He is not there!
MERYLLThey sought the pris'ner's cell—
MERYLLhe is not there!
FAIRFAXTWO YEOMEN As escort for the prisoner
FAIRFAXWe sought his cell, in duty bound;
FAIRFAXThe double gratings open were,
FAIRFAXNo prisoner at all we found!
FAIRFAXWe hunted high, we hunted low,
FAIRFAXWe hunted here, we hunted there—
FAIRFAXThe man we sought with anxious care
FAIRFAXHad vanished into empty air!
FAIRFAXThe man we sought with anxious care
FAIRFAXHad vanished into empty air!
[Exit LIEUTENANT
FAIRFAXWOMEN Now, by my troth, the news is fair,
FAIRFAXThe man has vanished into air!
FAIRFAXALL As escort for the prisoner
FAIRFAXWe/they sought his cell in duty bound;
FAIRFAXThe double gratings open were,
FAIRFAXNo prisoner at all we/they found,
FAIRFAXWe/they hunted high, we/they hunted low,
FAIRFAXWe/they hunted here, we/they hunted there,
FAIRFAXThe man we/they sought with anxious care
FAIRFAXHad vanished into empty air!
FAIRFAXThe man we/they sought with anxious care
FAIRFAXHad vanished into empty air!
[Enter WILFRED, followed by LIEUTENANT
LIEUTENANTAstounding news! The pris'ner fled!
LIEUTENANT[To WILFRED] Thy life shall forfeit be instead!
LIEUTENANT[WILFRED is arrested
LIEUTENANTWILFRED My lord, I did not set him free,
LIEUTENANTI hate the man— my rival he!
LIEUTENANTMERYLL The pris'ner gone— I'm all agape!
LIEUTENANTThy life shall forfeit be instead!
LIEUTENANTMERYLL Who could have helped him to escape?
LIEUTENANTWILFRED My lord, I did not set him free!
LIEUTENANTPHOEBE Indeed I can't imagine who!
LIEUTENANTI've no idea at all, have you?
[Enter JACK POINT
DAME Of his escape no traces lurk,
LIEUTENANTEnchantment must have been at work!
ELSIE [aside to POINT]
LIEUTENANTWhat have I done? Oh, woe is me!
LIEUTENANTPHOEBE & DAME Indeed I can't imagine who!
LIEUTENANTI've no idea at all, have you?
LIEUTENANTELSIE I am his wife, and he is free!
LIEUTENANTPOINT Oh, woe is you? Your anguish sink!
LIEUTENANTOh, woe is me, I rather think!
LIEUTENANTYes, woe is me, I rather think!
LIEUTENANTWhate'er betide
LIEUTENANTYou are his bride,
LIEUTENANTAnd I am left
LIEUTENANTAlone— bereft!
LIEUTENANTYes, woe is me, I rather think!
LIEUTENANTYes, woe is me, Yes, woe is me, Yes, woe is me,
LIEUTENANTYes, woe is me, I rather think!
LIEUTENANTENSEMBLE All frenzied with despair I/they rave,
LIEUTENANTThe grave is cheated of its due.
LIEUTENANTWho is, who is the misbegotten knave
LIEUTENANTWho hath contrived this deed to do?
LIEUTENANTLet search, let search
LIEUTENANTBe made throughout the land,
LIEUTENANTOr his/my vindictive anger dread—
LIEUTENANTA thousand marks, a thousand marks
LIEUTENANThe'll/I'll hand
LIEUTENANTWho brings him here, alive or dead,
LIEUTENANTWho brings him here, alive or dead!
LIEUTENANTA thousand marks, a thousand marks,
LIEUTENANTAlive, alive or dead
LIEUTENANTWho brings him here, alive, alive, or dead.
LIEUTENANT[At the end, ELSIE faints in FAIRFAX's arms; all the YEOMEN
LIEUTENANTand CROWD rush off the stage in different directions, to
hunt for the fugitive, leaving only the HEADSMAN on the
LIEUTENANTstage, and ELSIE insensible in FAIRFAX's arms.
SYSTEMACT II
[SCENE— The same— Moonlight]
[Two days have elapsed]
[SCENE[WOMEN and YEOMEN of the Guard discovered.
[SCENENo.
[SCENENight has spread her pall once more
CHORUSPeople, Yeomen, and Dame Carruthers
CHORUSCHORUS Night has spread her pall once more,
CHORUSAnd the pris'ner still is free:
CHORUSOpen is his dungeon door,
CHORUSUseless now his dungeon key.
CHORUSHe has shaken off his yoke—
CHORUSHow, no mortal man can tell!
CHORUSShame on loutish jailor-folk—
CHORUSShame on sleepy sentinel!
[Enter DAME CARRUTHERS and KATE
CHORUSDAME Warders are ye?
CHORUSWhom do ye ward?
CHORUSWarders are ye?
CHORUSWhom do ye ward?
CHORUSBolt, bar, and key,
CHORUSShackle and cord,
CHORUSFetter and chain,
CHORUSDungeon and stone,
CHORUSAll are in vain—
CHORUSPrisoner's flown!
CHORUSSpite of ye all, he is free— he is free!
CHORUSWhom do ye ward? Pretty warders are ye!
CHORUSWOMEN Pretty warders are ye!
CHORUSWhom do ye ward?
CHORUSSpite of ye all, he is free— he is free!
CHORUSWhom do ye ward?
CHORUSPretty warders are ye!
CHORUSMEN Up and down, and in and out,
CHORUSHere and there, and round about;
CHORUSEv'ry chamber, ev'ry house,
CHORUSEv'ry chink that holds a mouse,
CHORUSEv'ry crevice in the keep,
CHORUSWhere a beetle black could creep,
CHORUSEv'ry outlet, ev'ry drain,
CHORUSHave we searched, but all in vain, all in vain.
CHORUSWOMEN Warders are ye?
CHORUSWhom do ye ward?
CHORUSMEN Ev'ry house, ev'ry chink, ev'ry drain,
CHORUSWOMEN Warders are ye?
CHORUSWhom do ye ward?
CHORUSMEN Ev'ry chamber, ev'ry outlet,
CHORUSHave we searched, but all in vain.
CHORUSWOMEN Night has spread her pall once more,
CHORUSAnd the pris'ner still is free:
CHORUSMEN Warders are we? Whom do we ward?
CHORUSWhom do we ward?
CHORUSWarders are we? Whom do we ward?
CHORUSWhom do we ward?
CHORUSWOMEN Open is his dungeon door,
CHORUSUseless his dungeon key!
CHORUSALL Spite of us all, he is free, he is free!
CHORUSMEN Pretty warders are we, he is free!
CHORUSSpite of us all, he is free, he is free!
CHORUSWOMEN Open is his dungeon door,
CHORUSMEN Spite of us all, he is free, he is free!
CHORUSPretty warders are we, he is free! He is free!
CHORUSWOMEN He is free! He is free!
CHORUSPretty warders are ye,
CHORUSALL He is free! He is free!
CHORUSPretty warders are ye/we!
[Exeunt all.
[Enter JACK POINT, in low spirits, reading from a huge
CHORUSvolume
CHORUSPOINT [reads] "The Merrie Jestes of Hugh Ambrose, No.
CHORUSThe Poor Wit and the Rich Councillor.
CHORUSA certayne
CHORUSpoor wit, being an-hungered, did meet a well-fed
CHORUScouncillor.
CHORUS'Marry, fool,' quothe the councillor,
CHORUS'whither away?' 'In truth,' said the poor wag, 'in
CHORUSthat I have eaten naught these two dayes, I do wither
CHORUSaway, and that right rapidly!' The Councillor laughed
CHORUShugely, and gave him a sausage.
CHORUS" Humph! the councillor
CHORUSwas easier to please than my new master the
CHORUSLieutenant.
CHORUSI would like to take post under that
CHORUScouncillor.
CHORUSAh! 'tis but melancholy mumming when poor
heart-broken, jilted Jack Point must needs turn to
CHORUSHugh Ambrose for original light humour!
[Enter WILFRED, also in low spirits.
CHORUSWILFRED [sighing] Ah, Master Point!
CHORUSPOINT [changing his manner] Ha! friend jailer! Jailer that
CHORUSwast— jailer that never shalt be more! Jailer that
CHORUSjailed not, or that jailed, if jail he did, so
CHORUSunjailery that 'twas but jerry-jailing, or jailing in
CHORUSjoke— though no joke to him who, by unjailerlike
CHORUSjailing, did so jeopardise his jailership.
CHORUSCome, take
heart, smile, laugh, wink, twinkle, thou tormentor
CHORUSthat tormentest none— thou racker that rackest not—
CHORUSthou pincher out of place— come, take heart, and be
CHORUSmerry, as I am!— [aside, dolefully]— as I am!
WILFRED Aye, it's well for thee to laugh.
CHORUSThou hast a good
CHORUSpost, and hast cause to be merry.
CHORUSPOINT [bitterly] Cause? Have we not all cause? Is not the
CHORUSworld a big butt of humour, into which all who will
CHORUSmay drive a gimlet? See, I am a salaried wit; and is
CHORUSthere aught in nature more ridiculous? A poor, dull,
CHORUSheart-broken man, who must needs be merry, or he will
CHORUSbe whipped; who must rejoice, lest he starve; who must
CHORUSjest you, jibe you, quip you, crank you, wrack you,
CHORUSriddle you, from hour to hour, from day to day, from
CHORUSyear to year, lest he dwindle, perish, starve,
CHORUSpine, and die! Why, when there's naught else to laugh
CHORUSat, I laugh at myself till I ache for it!
CHORUSWILFRED Yet I have often thought that a jester's calling would
CHORUSsuit me to a hair.
CHORUSPOINT Thee? Would suit thee, thou death's head and cross-
CHORUSbones?
CHORUSWILFRED Aye, I have a pretty wit— a light, airy, joysome wit,
CHORUSspiced with anecdotes of prison cells and the torture
CHORUSchamber.
CHORUSOh, a very delicate wit! I have tried it on
CHORUSmany a prisoner, and there have been some who smiled.
CHORUSNow it is not easy to make a prisoner smile.
CHORUSAnd it
CHORUSshould not be difficult to be a good jester, seeing
CHORUSthat thou are one.
CHORUSPOINT Difficult? Nothing easier.
CHORUSNothing easier.
CHORUSAttend, and
CHORUSI will prove it to thee!
CHORUSNo.
CHORUSOh! a private buffoon is a light-hearted loon
Point
(SONG)POINT Oh! a private buffoon is a light-hearted loon,
(SONG)If you listen to popular rumour;
(SONG)From morning to night he's so joyous and bright,
(SONG)And he bubbles with wit and good humour!
(SONG)He's so quaint and so terse,
(SONG)Both in prose and in verse;
(SONG)Yet though people forgive his transgression,
(SONG)There are one or two rules that all family fools
(SONG)Must observe, if they love their profession.
(SONG)There are one or two rules,
(SONG)Half-a-dozen, maybe,
(SONG)That all family fools,
(SONG)Of whatever degree,
(SONG)Must observe if they love their profession.
(SONG)If you wish to succeed as a jester, you'll need
(SONG)To consider each person's auricular:
(SONG)What is all right for B would quite scandalize C
(SONG)(For C is so very particular);
(SONG)And D may be dull, and E's very thick skull
(SONG)Is as empty of brains as a ladle;
(SONG)While F is F sharp, and will cry with a carp,
(SONG)That he's known your best joke from his cradle!
(SONG)When your humour they flout,
(SONG)You can't let yourself go;
(SONG)And it does put you out
(SONG)When a person says, "Oh!
(SONG)I have known that old joke from my cradle!"
(SONG)If your master is surly, from getting up early
(SONG)(And tempers are short in the morning),
(SONG)An inopportune joke is enough to provoke
(SONG)Him to give you, at once, a month's warning.
(SONG)Then if you refrain, he is at you again,
(SONG)For he likes to get value for money:
(SONG)He'll ask then and there, with an insolent stare,
(SONG)"If you know that you're paid to be funny?"
(SONG)It adds to the tasks
(SONG)Of a merryman's place,
(SONG)When your principal asks,
(SONG)With a scowl on his face,
(SONG)If you know that you're paid to be funny?
(SONG)Comes a Bishop, maybe, or a solemn D.
DOh, beware of his anger provoking!
DBetter not pull his hair—
DDon't stick pins in his chair;
DHe won't understand practical joking.
DIf the jests that you crack have an orthodox smack,
DYou may get a bland smile from these sages;
DBut should it, by chance, be imported from France,
DHalf-a-crown is stopped out of your wages!
DIt's a general rule,
DTho' your zeal it may quench,
DIf the Family Fool
DMakes a joke that's too French,
DHalf-a-crown is stopped out of his wages!
DThough your head it may rack with a bilious attack,
DAnd your senses with toothache you're losing,
DAnd you're mopy and flat—
Dthey don't fine you for that
DIf you're properly quaint and amusing!
DThough your wife ran away with a soldier that day,
DAnd took with her your trifle of money;
DBless your heart, they don't mind—
Dthey're exceedingly kind—
DThey don't blame you—as long as you're funny!
DIt's a comfort to feel
DIf your partner should flit,
DThough you suffer a deal,
DThey don't mind it a bit—
DThey don't blame you—so long as you're funny!
DPOINT And so thou wouldst be a jester eh?
DWILFRED Aye!
DPOINT Now, listen! My sweetheart, Elsie Maynard, was
Dsecretly wed to this Fairfax half an hour ere he
Descaped.
DWILFRED She did well.
POINT She did nothing of the kind, so hold thy peace and
Dperpend.
DNow, while he liveth she is dead to me and I
Dto her, and so, my jibes and jokes notwithstanding, I
Dam the saddest and the sorriest dog in England!
DWILFRED Thou art a very dull dog indeed.
POINT Now, if thou wilt swear that thou didst shoot this
DFairfax while he was trying to swim across the river—
Dit needs but the discharge of an arquebus on a dark
Dnight— and that he sank and was seen no more, I'll
Dmake thee the very Archbishop of jesters, and that in
Dtwo days'time! Now, what sayest thou?
DWILFRED I am to lie?
POINT Heartily.
DBut thy lie must be a lie of circumstance,
Dwhich I will support with the testimony of eyes,
Dears, and tongue.
DWILFRED And thou wilt qualify me as a jester?
POINT As a jester among jesters.
DI will teach thee all my
Doriginal songs, my self-constructed riddles, my own
Dingenious paradoxes; nay, more, I will reveal to thee
Dthe source whence I get them.
DNow, what sayest thou?
DWILFRED Why, if it be but a lie thou wantest of me, I hold it
Dcheap enough, and I say yes, it is a bargain!
DNo.
DHereupon we're both agreed
Point and Wilfred
(DUET)BOTH Hereupon we're both agreed,
(DUET)All that we two
(DUET)Do agree to
(DUET)We'll secure by solemn deed,
(DUET)To prevent all
(DUET)Error mental.
POINT You on Elsie are to call
(DUET)With a story
(DUET)Grim and gory;
(DUET)WILFRED How this Fairfax died, and all
(DUET)I declare to
(DUET)You're to swear to.
(DUET)POINT I to swear to!
(DUET)WILFRED I declare to,
(DUET)POINT I to swear to!
(DUET)WILFRED I declare to,
(DUET)BOTH I to swear to,/I declare to,
(DUET)You declare to,/You're to swear to,
(DUET)I to swear to,/I declare to.
(DUET)BOTH Tell a tale of cock and bull,
(DUET)Of convincing detail full
(DUET)Tale tremendous,
(DUET)Heav'n defend us!
(DUET)What a tale of cock and bull!
(DUET)In return for your/my own part
(DUET)You are/I am making, undertaking
(DUET)To instruct me/you in the art
Art amazing, wonder raising
POINT Of a jester, jesting free.
(DUET)Proud position—
(DUET)High ambition!
(DUET)WILFRED And a lively one I'll be,
(DUET)Wag-a-wagging,
(DUET)Never flagging!
POINT Wag-a-wagging,
(DUET)WILFRED Never flagging,
POINT Wag-a-wagging,
(DUET)WILFRED Never flagging,
(DUET)BOTH Never flagging,/Wag-a-wagging,
(DUET)Wag-a-wagging,/Never flagging,
(DUET)Never flagging,/Wag-a-wagging!
(DUET)BOTH Tell a tale of cock and bull,
(DUET)Of convincing detail full
(DUET)Tale tremendous,
(DUET)Heav'n defend us!
(DUET)What a tale of cock and bull!
POINT What a tale of cock,
(DUET)WILFRED What a tale of bull!
POINT What a tale of cock,
(DUET)WILFRED What a tale of bull!
(DUET)BOTH What a tale of cock and bull,
(DUET)Cock and bull, cock and bull,
(DUET)Heav'n defend us!
(DUET)What a tale of cock and bull!
[Exeunt together.
[Enter FAIRFAX
(DUET)FAIRFAX Two days gone, and no news of poor Fairfax.
(DUET)The dolts!
(DUET)They seek him everywhere save within a dozen yards of
(DUET)his dungeon.
(DUET)So I am free! Free, but for the cursed
(DUET)haste with which I hurried headlong into the bonds of
(DUET)matrimony with— Heaven knows whom! As far as I
(DUET)remember, she should have been young; but even had not
(DUET)her face been concealed by her kerchief, I doubt
(DUET)whether, in my then plight, I should have taken much
(DUET)note of her.
(DUET)Free? Bah! The Tower bonds were but a
(DUET)thread of silk compared with these conjugal fetters
(DUET)which I, fool that I was, placed upon mine own hands.
(DUET)From the one I broke readily enough— how to break the
(DUET)other!
(DUET)No.
(DUET)Free from his fetters grim
(BALLAD)Fairfax
(BALLAD)FAIRFAX Free from his fetters grim—
(BALLAD)Free to depart;
(BALLAD)Free both in life and limb—
(BALLAD)In all but heart!
(BALLAD)Bound to an unknown bride
(BALLAD)For good and ill;
(BALLAD)Ah, is not one so tied
(BALLAD)A pris'ner still, a pris'ner still?
(BALLAD)Ah, is not one so tied
(BALLAD)A pris'ner still?
(BALLAD)Free, yet in fetters held
(BALLAD)Till his last hour,
(BALLAD)Gyves that no smith can weld,
(BALLAD)No rust devour!
(BALLAD)Although a monarch's hand
(BALLAD)Had set him free,
(BALLAD)Of all the captive band
(BALLAD)The saddest he, the saddest he!
(BALLAD)Of all the captive band
(BALLAD)The saddest, saddest he!
[Enter SERGEANT MERYLL
(BALLAD)FAIRFAX Well, Sergeant Meryll, and how fares thy pretty
(BALLAD)charge, Elsie Maynard?
(BALLAD)MERYLL Well enough, sir.
(BALLAD)She is quite strong again, and
leaves us to-night.
(BALLAD)FAIRFAX Thanks to Dame Carruthers' kind nursing, eh?
(BALLAD)MERYLL Aye, deuce take the old witch! Ah, 'twas but a sorry
(BALLAD)trick you played me, sir, to bring the fainting girl
(BALLAD)to me.
(BALLAD)It gave the old lady an excuse for taking up
(BALLAD)her quarters in my house, and for the last two years
(BALLAD)I've shunned her like the plague.
(BALLAD)Another day of it
(BALLAD)and she would have married me! [Enter DAME CARRUTHERS
(BALLAD)and KATE] Good Lord, here she is again! I'll e'en go.
[Going]
(BALLAD)DAME Nay, Sergeant Meryll, don't go.
(BALLAD)I have something of
(BALLAD)grave import to say to thee.
MERYLL [aside] It's coming.
FAIRFAX [laughing] I'faith, I think I', not wanted here.
[Going]
(BALLAD)DAME Nay, Master Leonard, I've naught to say to thy father
(BALLAD)that his son may not hear.
FAIRFAX [aside] True.
(BALLAD)I'm one of the family; I had forgotten!
(BALLAD)DAME 'Tis about this Elsie Maynard.
(BALLAD)A pretty girl, Master
(BALLAD)Leonard.
(BALLAD)FAIRFAX Aye, fair as a peach blossom— what then?
(BALLAD)DAME She hath a liking for thee, or I mistake not.
(BALLAD)FAIRFAX With all my heart.
(BALLAD)She's as dainty a little amid as
(BALLAD)you'll find in a midsummer day's march.
(BALLAD)DAME Then be warned in time, and give not thy heart to her.
(BALLAD)Oh, I know what it is to give my heart to one who will
(BALLAD)have none of it!
MERYLL [aside] Aye, she knows all about that.
(BALLAD)[Aloud] And why is my boy to take heed of her? She's
(BALLAD)a good girl, Dame Carruthers.
(BALLAD)DAME Good enough, for aught I know.
(BALLAD)But she's no girl.
(BALLAD)She's a married woman.
(BALLAD)MERYLL A married woman! Tush, old lady— she's promised to
Jack Point, the Lieutenant's new jester.
(BALLAD)DAME Tush in thy teeth, old man! As my niece Kate sat by
(BALLAD)her bedside to-day, this Elsie slept, and as she slept
(BALLAD)she moaned and groaned, and turned this way and that
(BALLAD)way— and, "How shall I marry one I have never seen?"
(BALLAD)quoth she— then, "An hundred crowns!" quoth she—
(BALLAD)then," Is it certain he will die in an hour?" quoth
(BALLAD)she— then, "I love him not, and yet I am his wife,"
(BALLAD)quoth she! Is it not so, Kate?
(BALLAD)KATE Aye, aunt, 'tis even so.
(BALLAD)FAIRFAX Art thou sure of all this?
(BALLAD)KATE Aye, sir, for I wrote it all down on my tablets.
(BALLAD)DAME Now, mark my words:
(BALLAD)it was of this Fairfax she spake,
(BALLAD)and he is her husband, or I'll swallow my kirtle!
(BALLAD)MERYLL [aside] Is it true, sir?
(BALLAD)FAIRFAX [aside to MERYLL] True? Why, the girl was raving!
(BALLAD)[Aloud] Why should she marry a man who had but an hour
(BALLAD)to live?
(BALLAD)DAME Marry? There be those who would marry but for a
(BALLAD)minute, rather than die old maids.
(BALLAD)MERYLL [aside] Aye, I know one of them!
(BALLAD)No.
(BALLAD)Strange adventure!
(QUARTET)Kate, Dame, Carruthers, Fairfax and Sergeant Meryll
(QUARTET)ALL Strange adventure! Maiden wedded
(QUARTET)To a groom she's never seen—
(QUARTET)Never, never, never seen!
(QUARTET)Groom about to be beheaded,
(QUARTET)In an hour on Tower Green!
(QUARTET)Tower, Tower, Tower Green!
(QUARTET)Groom in dreary dungeon lying,
(QUARTET)Groom as good as dead, or dying,
For a pretty maiden sighing—
(QUARTET)Pretty maid of seventeen!
(QUARTET)Seven— seven— seventeen!
(QUARTET)Strange adventure that we're trolling:
(QUARTET)Modest maid and gallant groom—
(QUARTET)Gallant, gallant, gallant groom!—
(QUARTET)While the funeral bell is tolling,
(QUARTET)Tolling, tolling, Bim-a-boom!
(QUARTET)Bim-a, Bim-a, Bim-a-boom!
(QUARTET)Modest maiden will not tarry;
(QUARTET)Though but sixteen year she carry,
(QUARTET)She must marry, she must marry,
(QUARTET)Though the altar be a tomb—
(QUARTET)Tower— Tower— Tower tomb!
(QUARTET)Tower tomb! Tower tomb!
(QUARTET)Though the altar be a tomb!
(QUARTET)Tower, Tower, Tower tomb!
[Exeunt DAME CARRUTHERS, MERYLL, and KATE.
(QUARTET)FAIRFAX So my mysterious bride is no other than this winsome
(QUARTET)Elsie! By my hand, 'tis no such ill plunge in
(QUARTET)Fortune's lucky bag! I might have fared worse with my
(QUARTET)eyes open! But she comes.
(QUARTET)Now to test her principles.
(QUARTET)'Tis not every husband who has a chance of wooing his
(QUARTET)own wife!
[Enter ELSIE
(QUARTET)FAIRFAX Mistress Elsie!
(QUARTET)ELSIE Master Leonard!
(QUARTET)FAIRFAX So thou leavest us to-night?
(QUARTET)ELSIE Yes.
(QUARTET)Master Leonard.
(QUARTET)I have been kindly tended, and I
(QUARTET)almost fear I am loth to go.
(QUARTET)FAIRFAX And this Fairfax.
(QUARTET)Wast thou glad when he escaped?
(QUARTET)ELSIE Why, truly, Master Leonard, it is a sad thing that a
(QUARTET)young and gallant gentleman should die in the very
(QUARTET)fullness of his life.
(QUARTET)FAIRFAX Then when thou didst faint in my arms, it was for joy
(QUARTET)at his safety?
(QUARTET)ELSIE It may be so.
(QUARTET)I was highly wrought, Master Leonard,
(QUARTET)and I am but a girl, and so, when I an highly wrought,
(QUARTET)I faint.
(QUARTET)FAIRFAX Now, dost thou know, I am consumed with a parlous
(QUARTET)jealousy?
(QUARTET)ELSIE Thou? And of whom?
(QUARTET)FAIRFAX Why, of this Fairfax, surely!
(QUARTET)ELSIE Of Colonel Fairfax?
(QUARTET)FAIRFAX Aye.
(QUARTET)Shall I be frank with thee? Elsie— I love thee,
(QUARTET)ardently, passionately! [ELSIE alarmed and surprised]
(QUARTET)Elsie, I have loved thee these two days— which is a
(QUARTET)long time— and I would fain join my life to thine!
(QUARTET)ELSIE Master Leonard! Thou art jesting!
(QUARTET)FAIRFAX Jesting? May I shrivel into raisins if I jest! I love
(QUARTET)thee with a love that is a fever— with a love that is
(QUARTET)a frenzy— with a love that eateth up my heart! What
(QUARTET)sayest thou? Thou wilt not let my heart be eaten up?
(QUARTET)ELSIE [aside] Oh, mercy! What am I to say?
(QUARTET)FAIRFAX Dost thou love me, or hast thou been insensible these
(QUARTET)two days?
(QUARTET)ELSIE I love all brave men.
(QUARTET)FAIRFAX Nay, there is love in excess.
(QUARTET)I thank heaven there are
(QUARTET)many brave men in England; but if thou lovest them
(QUARTET)all, I withdraw my thanks.
(QUARTET)ELSIE I love the bravest best.
(QUARTET)But, sir, I may not listen—
(QUARTET)I am not free— I— I am a wife!
(QUARTET)FAIRFAX Thou a wife? Whose? His name? His hours are
(QUARTET)numbered—nay, his grave is dug and his epitaph set up!
(QUARTET)Come, his name?
(QUARTET)ELSIE Oh, sir! keep my secret— it is the only barrier that
(QUARTET)Fate could set up between us.
(QUARTET)My husband is none other
(QUARTET)than Colonel Fairfax!
(QUARTET)FAIRFAX The greatest villain unhung! The most ill-favoured,
(QUARTET)ill-mannered, ill-natured, ill-omened, ill-tempered
(QUARTET)dog in Christendom!
(QUARTET)ELSIE It is very like.
(QUARTET)He is naught to me— for I never saw
(QUARTET)him.
(QUARTET)I was blindfolded, and he was to have died within
(QUARTET)the hour; and he did not die— and I am wedded to him,
(QUARTET)and my heart is broken!
(QUARTET)FAIRFAX He was to have died, and he did not die? The
(QUARTET)scoundrel! The perjured, traitorous villain! Thou
(QUARTET)shouldst have insisted on his dying first, to make
(QUARTET)sure.
(QUARTET)'Tis the only way with these Fairfaxes.
(QUARTET)ELSIE I now wish I had!
(QUARTET)FAIRFAX [aside] Bloodthirsty little maiden!
(QUARTET)[Aloud] A fig for this Fairfax! Be mine— he will never
(QUARTET)know— he dares not show himself; and if he dare, what
(QUARTET)art thou to him? Fly with me, Elsie— we will be
(QUARTET)married tomorrow, and thou shalt be the happiest wife
(QUARTET)in England!
(QUARTET)ELSIE Master Leonard! I am amazed! Is it thus that brave
(QUARTET)soldiers speak to poor girls? Oh! for shame, for
(QUARTET)shame! I am wed— not the less because I love not my
(QUARTET)husband.
(QUARTET)I am a wife, sir, and I have a duty, and— oh,
(QUARTET)sir!— thy words terrify me— they are not honest— they
(QUARTET)are wicked words, and unworthy thy great and brave
(QUARTET)heart! Oh, shame upon thee! shame upon thee!
(QUARTET)FAIRFAX Nay, Elsie, I did but jest.
(QUARTET)I spake but to try thee—
(QUARTET)[Shot heard
[Enter SERGEANT MERYLL hastily
(QUARTET)No.
(QUARTET)Hark! What was that, sir?
(SCENE)Elsie, Phoebe, Dame Carruthers, Fairfax.
Wilfred, Point,
(SCENE)Lieutenant, Sergeant
(SCENE)MERYLL Hark! What was that, sir?
(SCENE)FAIRFAX Why, an arquebus—
(SCENE)Fired from the wharf, unless I much mistake.
(SCENE)MERYLL Strange— and at such an hour! What can it mean!
[Enter CHORUS excitedly
(SCENE)CHORUS Now what can that have been—
(SCENE)A shot so late at night,
(SCENE)Enough to cause a fright!
(SCENE)What can the portent mean?
(SCENE)Are foemen in the land?
(SCENE)Is London to be wrecked?
(SCENE)What are we to expect?
(SCENE)What danger is at hand?
(SCENE)Let us understand
(SCENE)What danger is at hand!
[LIEUTENANT enters, also POINT and WILFRED
LIEUTENANTWho fired that shot? At once the truth declare?
LIEUTENANTWILFRED My lord, 'twas I— to rashly judge forebear!
LIEUTENANTPOINT My lord, 'twas he— to rashly judge forebear!
LIEUTENANTWILFRED Like a ghost his vigil keeping—
POINT Or a spectre all-appalling—
LIEUTENANTWILFRED I beheld a figure creeping—
POINT I should rather call it crawling—
LIEUTENANTWILFRED He was creeping—
POINT He was crawling—
LIEUTENANTWILFRED He was creeping, creeping—
LIEUTENANTPOINT Crawling!
LIEUTENANTWILFRED He was creeping—
POINT He was crawling—
LIEUTENANTWILFRED He was creeping, creeping—
LIEUTENANTPOINT Crawling!
LIEUTENANTWILFRED Not a moment's hesitation—
LIEUTENANTI myself upon him flung,
LIEUTENANTWith a hurried exclamation
LIEUTENANTTo his draperies I hung;
LIEUTENANTThen we closed with one another
LIEUTENANTIn a rough-and-tumble smother;
LIEUTENANTCol'nel Fairfax and no other
LIEUTENANTWas the man to whom I clung!
LIEUTENANTALL Col'nel Fairfax and no other,
LIEUTENANTWas the man to whom he clung!
LIEUTENANTWILFRED After mighty tug and tussle—
POINT It resembled more a struggle—
LIEUTENANTWILFRED He, by dint of stronger muscle—
POINT Or by some infernal juggle—
LIEUTENANTWILFRED From my clutches quickly sliding—
POINT I should rather call it slipping—
WILFRED With a view, no doubt, of hiding—
POINT Or escaping to the shipping—
LIEUTENANTWILFRED With a gasp, and with a quiver—
POINT I'd describe it as a shiver—
LIEUTENANTWILFRED Down he dived into the river,
LIEUTENANTAnd, alas, I cannot swim.
LIEUTENANTALL It's enough to make one shiver,
LIEUTENANTWith a gasp, and with a quiver,
LIEUTENANTDown he dived into the river;
LIEUTENANTIt was very brave of him!
LIEUTENANTWILFRED Ingenuity is catching;
LIEUTENANTWith the view my King of pleasing,
LIEUTENANTArquebus from sentry snatching—
POINT I should rather call it seizing—
LIEUTENANTWILFRED With an ounce or two of lead
LIEUTENANTI dispatched him through the head!
LIEUTENANTALL With an ounce or two of lead
LIEUTENANTHe dispatched him through the head!
LIEUTENANTWILFRED I discharged it without winking,
LIEUTENANTLittle time I lost in thinking,
LIEUTENANTLike a stone I saw him sinking—
POINT I should say a lump of lead.
LIEUTENANTALL He discharged it without winking,
LIEUTENANTLittle time he lost in thinking.
LIEUTENANTWILFRED Like a stone I saw him sinking—
POINT I should say a lump of lead.
LIEUTENANTWILFRED Like a stone, my boy, I said—
POINT Like a heavy lump of lead.
LIEUTENANTWILFRED Like a stone, my boy, I said—
POINT Like a heavy lump of lead.
LIEUTENANTWILFRED Anyhow, the man is dead,
LIEUTENANTWhether stone or lump of lead!
LIEUTENANTALL Anyhow, the man is dead,
LIEUTENANTWhether stone or lump of lead!
LIEUTENANTArquebus from sentry seizing,
LIEUTENANTWith the view his King of pleasing,
LIEUTENANTArquebus from sentry seizing,
LIEUTENANTWith the view his King of pleasing,
LIEUTENANTWilfred shot him through the head,
LIEUTENANTAnd he's very, very dead!
LIEUTENANTAnd it matters very little
LIEUTENANTWhether stone or lump of lead,
LIEUTENANTIt is very, very certain that
LIEUTENANThe's very, very dead!
LIEUTENANTThe river must be dragged— no time be lost;
LIEUTENANTThe body must be found, at any cost.
LIEUTENANTTo this attend without undue delay;
LIEUTENANTSo set to work with what dispatch ye may!
[Exit LIEUTENANT
LIEUTENANTALL Yes, yes,
LIEUTENANTWe'll set to work with what dispatch we may!
LIEUTENANT[Men raise WILFRED, and carry him off on their shoulders.
LIEUTENANTALL Hail the valiant fellow who
LIEUTENANTDid this deed of derring-do!
LIEUTENANTHonours wait on such an one;
LIEUTENANTBy my head, 'twas bravely done,
LIEUTENANT'twas bravely done!
LIEUTENANTNow, by my head, 'twas bravely done!
[Exeunt all but ELSIE, POINT, FAIRFAX, and PHOEBE.
POINT [to ELSIE, who is weeping] Nay, sweetheart, be
LIEUTENANTcomforted.
LIEUTENANTThis Fairfax was but a pestilent fellow,
LIEUTENANTand, as he had to die, he might as well die thus as
LIEUTENANTany other way.
LIEUTENANT'Twas a good death.
LIEUTENANTELSIE Still, he was my husband, and had he not been, he was
LIEUTENANTnevertheless a living man, and now he is dead; and so,
by your leave, my tears may flow unchidden, Master
Point.
LIEUTENANTFAIRFAX And thou didst see all this?
POINT Aye, with both eyes at once— this and that.
LIEUTENANTThe
LIEUTENANTtestimony of one eye is naught— he may lie.
LIEUTENANTBut when
LIEUTENANTit is corroborated by the other, it is good evidence
LIEUTENANTthat none may gainsay.
LIEUTENANTHere are both present in court,
LIEUTENANTready to swear to him!
LIEUTENANTPHOEBE But art thou sure it was Colonel Fairfax? Saw you his
LIEUTENANTface?
POINT Aye, and a plaguey ill-favoured face too.
LIEUTENANTA very hang-
LIEUTENANTdog face— a felon face— a face to fright the headsman
LIEUTENANThimself, and make him strike awry.
LIEUTENANTOh, a plaguey, bad
LIEUTENANTface, take my word for it.
[PHOEBE and FAIRFAX laugh]
LIEUTENANTHow they laugh! "Tis ever thus with simple folk— an
LIEUTENANTaccepted wit has but to say "Pass the mustard," and
LIEUTENANTthey roar their ribs out!
FAIRFAX [aside] If ever I come to life again, thou shalt pay
LIEUTENANTfor this, Master Point!
POINT Now, Elsie, thou art free to choose again, so behold
LIEUTENANTme:
LIEUTENANTI am young and well-favoured.
LIEUTENANTI have a pretty wit.
LIEUTENANTI can jest you, jibe you, quip you, crank you, wrack
LIEUTENANTyou, riddle you—
LIEUTENANTFAIRFAX Tush, man, thou knowest not how to woo.
LIEUTENANT'Tis not to be
LIEUTENANTdone with time-worn jests and thread-bare sophistries;
LIEUTENANTwith quips, conundrums, rhymes, and paradoxes.
LIEUTENANT'Tis an
LIEUTENANTart in itself, and must be studied gravely and
LIEUTENANTconscientiously.
LIEUTENANTNo.
LIEUTENANTA man who would woo a fair maid
(TRIO)Elsie, Phoebe, and Fairfax
(TRIO)FAIRFAX A man who would woo a fair maid,
(TRIO)Should 'prentice himself to the trade;
(TRIO)And study all day,
(TRIO)In methodical way,
(TRIO)How to flatter, cajole, and persuade.
(TRIO)He should 'prentice himself at fourteen,
(TRIO)And practise from morning to e'en;
(TRIO)And when he's of age,
(TRIO)If he will, I'll engage,
(TRIO)He may capture the heart of a queen,
(TRIO)the heart of a queen!
(TRIO)ALL It is purely a matter of skill,
(TRIO)Which all may attain if they will.
(TRIO)But every Jack
(TRIO)He must study the knack
(TRIO)If he wants to make sure of his Jill!
(TRIO)ELSIE If he's made the best use of his time,
(TRIO)His twig he'll so carefully lime
(TRIO)That every bird
(TRIO)Will come down at his word,
(TRIO)Whatever its plumage and clime.
(TRIO)He must learn that the thrill of a touch
(TRIO)May mean little, or nothing, or much;
(TRIO)It's an instrument rare,
(TRIO)To be handled with care,
(TRIO)And ought to be treated as such,
(TRIO)Ought to be treated as such.
(TRIO)ALL It is purely a matter of skill,
(TRIO)Which all may attain if they will:
(TRIO)But every Jack,
(TRIO)He must study the knack
(TRIO)If he wants to make sure of his Jill!
(TRIO)PHOEBE Then a glance may be timid or free;
(TRIO)It will vary in mighty degree,
(TRIO)From an impudent stare
(TRIO)To a look of despair
(TRIO)That no maid without pity can see!
(TRIO)And a glance of despair is no guide—
(TRIO)It may have its ridiculous side;
It may draw you a tear
(TRIO)Or a box on the ear;
(TRIO)You can never be sure till you've tried!
(TRIO)Never be sure till you've tried!
(TRIO)ALL It is purely a matter of skill,
(TRIO)Which all may attain if they will:
(TRIO)But every Jack,
(TRIO)He must study the knack
(TRIO)If he wants to make sure of his Jill,
(TRIO)If he wants to make sure of his Jill!
(TRIO)But every Jack,
(TRIO)He must study the knack,
(TRIO)But every Jack,
(TRIO)Must study the knack
(TRIO)If he wants to make sure of his Jill!
(TRIO)Yes, every Jack,
(TRIO)Must study the knack
(TRIO)If he wants to make sure of his Jill!
FAIRFAX [aside to POINT] Now, listen to me— 'tis done thus—
(TRIO)[aloud] Mistress Elsie, there is one here who, as thou
(TRIO)knowest, loves thee right well!
(TRIO)POINT [aside] That he does— right well!
(TRIO)FAIRFAX He is but a man of poor estate, but he hath a loving,
(TRIO)honest heart.
(TRIO)He will be a true and trusty husband to
(TRIO)thee, and if thou wilt be his wife, thou shalt lie
(TRIO)curled up in his heart, like a little squirrel in its
(TRIO)nest!
POINT [aside] 'Tis a pretty figure.
(TRIO)A maggot in a nut lies
(TRIO)closer, but a squirrel will do.
(TRIO)FAIRFAX He knoweth that thou wast a wife— an unloved and
(TRIO)unloving wife, and his poor heart was near to
(TRIO)breaking.
(TRIO)But now that thine unloving husband is dead,
(TRIO)and thou art free, he would fain pray that thou
wouldst hearken unto him, and give him hope that thou
(TRIO)wouldst one day be his!
PHOEBE [alarmed] He presses her hands— and whispers in her
(TRIO)ear! Ods bodikins, what does it mean?
(TRIO)FAIRFAX Now, sweetheart, tell me— wilt thou be this poor
(TRIO)goodfellow's wife?
(TRIO)ELSIE If the good, brave man— is he a brave man?
(TRIO)FAIRFAX So men say.
POINT [aside] That's not true, but let it pass.
(TRIO)ELSIE If the brave man will be content with a poor,
(TRIO)penniless, untaught maid—
POINT [aside] Widow— but let that pass.
(TRIO)ELSIE I will be his true and loving wife, and that with my
(TRIO)heart of hearts!
(TRIO)FAIRFAX My own dear love! [Embracing her]
(TRIO)PHOEBE [in great agitation] Why, what's all this? Brother—
(TRIO)brother— it is not seemly!
(TRIO)POINT [also alarmed, aside] Oh, I can't let that pass!
(TRIO)[Aloud] Hold, enough, Master Leonard! An advocate
(TRIO)should have his fee, but methinks thou art over-paying
(TRIO)thyself!
(TRIO)FAIRFAX Nay, that is for Elsie to say.
(TRIO)I promised thee I would
(TRIO)show thee how to woo, and herein lies the proof of the
(TRIO)virtue of my teaching.
(TRIO)Go thou, and apply it
(TRIO)elsewhere! [PHOEBE bursts into tears]
(TRIO)No.
(TRIO)When a wooer goes a-wooing
Elsie, Phoebe, Fairfax, and Point
(QUARTET)ELSIE When a wooer Goes a-wooing,
(QUARTET)Naught is truer Than his joy.
(QUARTET)FAIRFAX Maiden hushing All his suing—
(QUARTET)Boldly blushing, bravely coy!
(QUARTET)Bravely coy! Boldly blushing—
(QUARTET)ELSIE Boldly blushing, bravely coy!
(QUARTET)ALL Oh, the happy days of doing!
(QUARTET)Oh, the sighing and the suing!
(QUARTET)When a wooer goes a-wooing,
(QUARTET)Oh the sweets that never cloy!
PHOEBE [weeping] When a brother leaves his sister
For another, sister weeps,
(QUARTET)Tears that trickle,
(QUARTET)Tears that blister—
(QUARTET)'Tis but mickle Sister reaps!
(QUARTET)ALL Oh, the doing and undoing,
Oh, the sighing and the suing,
(QUARTET)When a brother goes a-wooing,
(QUARTET)And a sobbing sister weeps!
POINT When a jester Is outwitted,
(QUARTET)Feelings fester, Heart is lead!
(QUARTET)Food for fishes Only fitted,
(QUARTET)Jester wishes He was dead!
(QUARTET)Food for fishes Only fitted,
(QUARTET)Jester wishes He was dead!
(QUARTET)ALL Oh, the doing and undoing,
Oh, the sighing and the suing,
(QUARTET)When a jester goes a-wooing,
(QUARTET)And he wishes he was dead!
(QUARTET)Oh, the doing and undoing,
Oh, the sighing and the suing,
(QUARTET)When a jester goes a-wooing,
(QUARTET)And he wishes he was dead,
(QUARTET)And he wishes he was dead!
[Exeunt all but PHOEBE, who remains weeping.
PHOEBE And I helped that man to escape, and I've kept his
(QUARTET)secret, and pretended that I was his dearly loving
(QUARTET)sister, and done everything I could think of to make
(QUARTET)folk believe I was his loving sister, and this is his
(QUARTET)gratitude! Before I pretend to be sister to anybody
again, I'll turn nun, and be sister to everybody— one
(QUARTET)as much as another!
[Enter WILFRED
(QUARTET)WILFRED In tears, eh? What a plague art thou grizzling for
(QUARTET)now?
(QUARTET)PHOEBE Why am I grizzling? Thou hast often wept for jealousy—
well, 'tis for jealousy I weep now.
(QUARTET)Aye, yellow,
(QUARTET)bilious, jaundiced jealousy.
(QUARTET)So make the most of that,
(QUARTET)Master Wilfred.
(QUARTET)WILFRED But I have never given thee cause for jealousy.
(QUARTET)The
(QUARTET)Lieutenant's cook-maid and I are but the merest
(QUARTET)gossips!
(QUARTET)PHOEBE Jealous of thee! Bah! I'm jealous of no craven cock-
(QUARTET)on-a-hill, who crows about what he'd do an he dared!
(QUARTET)I am jealous of another and a better man than thou—
(QUARTET)set that down, Master Wilfred.
(QUARTET)And he is to marry
(QUARTET)Elsie Maynard, the pale little fool— set that down
(QUARTET)Master Wilfred— and my heart is wellnigh broken!
(QUARTET)There, thou hast it all! Make the most of it!
(QUARTET)WILFRED The man thou lovest is to marry Elsie Maynard? Why,
(QUARTET)that is no other than thy brother, Leonard Meryll!
(QUARTET)PHOEBE [aside] Oh, mercy! what have I said?
(QUARTET)WILFRED Why, what matter of brother is this, thou lying little
(QUARTET)jade? Speak! Who is this man whom thou hast called
(QUARTET)brother, and fondled, and coddled, and kissed!— with
(QUARTET)my connivance, too! Oh Lord! with my connivance! Ha!
(QUARTET)should it be this Fairfax! [PHOEBE starts] It is! It
(QUARTET)is this accursed Fairfax! It's Fairfax! Fairfax, who—
(QUARTET)PHOEBE Whom thou hast just shot through the head, and who
(QUARTET)lies at the bottom of the river!
(QUARTET)WILFRED A— I— I may have been mistaken.
(QUARTET)We are but fallible
(QUARTET)mortals, the best of us.
(QUARTET)But I'll make sure— I'll make
(QUARTET)sure.
[Going]
(QUARTET)PHOEBE Stay— one word.
(QUARTET)I think it cannot be Fairfax— mind, I
(QUARTET)say I think— because thou hast just slain Fairfax.
(QUARTET)But
(QUARTET)whether he be Fairfax or no Fairfax, he is to marry
(QUARTET)Elsie— and— and— as thou hast shot him through the
(QUARTET)head, and he is dead, be content with that, and I will
(QUARTET)be thy wife!
(QUARTET)WILFRED Is that sure?
(QUARTET)PHOEBE Aye, sure enough, for there's no help for it! Thou art
(QUARTET)a very brute— but even brutes must marry, I suppose.
(QUARTET)WILFRED My beloved.
[Embraces her]
(QUARTET)PHOEBE [aside] Ugh!
[Enter LEONARD MERYLL, hastily
(QUARTET)LEONARD Phoebe, rejoice, for I bring glad tidings.
(QUARTET)Colonel
(QUARTET)Fairfax's reprieve was signed two days since, but it
(QUARTET)was foully and maliciously kept back by Secretary
(QUARTET)Poltwhistle, who designed that it should arrive after
(QUARTET)the Colonel's death.
(QUARTET)It hath just come to hand, and it
(QUARTET)is now in the Lieutenant's possession!
(QUARTET)PHOEBE Then the Colonel is free? Oh, kiss me, kiss me, my
(QUARTET)dear! Kiss me, again, and again!
(QUARTET)WILFRED [dancing with fury] Ods bobs, death o' my life! Art
(QUARTET)thou mad? Am I mad? Are we all mad?
(QUARTET)PHOEBE Oh, my dear— my dear, I'm well nigh crazed with joy!
[Kissing LEONARD]
(QUARTET)WILFRED Come away from him, thou hussy— thou jade— thou
(QUARTET)kissing, clinging cockatrice! And as for thee, sir,
(QUARTET)devil take thee, I'll rip thee like a herring for
(QUARTET)this! I'll skin thee for it! I'll cleave thee to the
(QUARTET)chine! I'll— oh! Phoebe! Phoebe! Who is this man?
(QUARTET)PHOEBE Peace, fool.
(QUARTET)He is my brother!
(QUARTET)WILFRED Another brother! Are there any more of them? Produce
(QUARTET)them all at once, and let me know the worst!
(QUARTET)PHOEBE This is the real Leonard, dolt; the other was but his
(QUARTET)substitute.
(QUARTET)The real Leonard, I say— my father's own
(QUARTET)son.
(QUARTET)WILFRED How do I know this? Has he "brother" writ large on his
(QUARTET)brow? I mistrust thy brothers! Thou art but a false
(QUARTET)jade!
[Exit LEONARD.
(QUARTET)PHOEBE Now, Wilfred, be just.
(QUARTET)Truly I did deceive thee
(QUARTET)before— but it was to save a precious life— and to
(QUARTET)save it, not for me, but for another.
(QUARTET)They are to be
(QUARTET)wed this very day.
(QUARTET)Is not this enough for thee? Come—
(QUARTET)I am thy Phoebe— thy very own— and we will be wed in
(QUARTET)a year— or two— or three, at the most.
(QUARTET)Is not that
(QUARTET)enough for thee?
[Enter SERGEANT MERYLL, excitedly, followed by DAME
(QUARTET)CARRUTHERS, who listens, unobserved.
(QUARTET)MERYLL Phoebe, hast thou heard the brave news?
(QUARTET)PHOEBE [still in WILFRED's arms] Aye, father.
(QUARTET)MERYLL I'm nigh mad with joy! [Seeing WILFRED] Why, what's
(QUARTET)all this?
(QUARTET)PHOEBE Oh, father, he discovered our secret thorough my
(QUARTET)folly, and the price of his silence is—
(QUARTET)WILFRED Phoebe's heart.
(QUARTET)PHOEBE Oh, dear, no— Phoebe's hand.
(QUARTET)WILFRED It's the same thing!
(QUARTET)PHOEBE Is it?
[Exeunt WILFRED and PHOEBE.
(QUARTET)MERYLL [looking after them] "Tis pity, but the Colonel had to
(QUARTET)be saved at any cost, and as thy folly revealed our
(QUARTET)secret, thy folly must e'en suffer for it!
(QUARTET)[DAME CARRUTHERS comes down] Dame Carruthers!
(QUARTET)DAME So this is a plot to shield this arch-fiend, and I
(QUARTET)have detected it.
(QUARTET)A word from me, and three heads
(QUARTET)besides his would roll from their shoulders!
(QUARTET)MERYLL Nay, Colonel Fairfax is reprieved.
[Aside] Yet, if my complicity in his escape were
(QUARTET)known! Plague on the old meddler! There's nothing for
(QUARTET)it—
(QUARTET)[aloud]— Hush, pretty one! Such bloodthirsty words ill
(QUARTET)become those cherry lips!
(QUARTET)[Aside] Ugh!
(QUARTET)DAME [bashfully] Sergeant Meryll!
(QUARTET)MERYLL Why, look ye, chuck— for many a month I've— I've
(QUARTET)thought to myself— "There's snug love saving up in
(QUARTET)that middle-aged bosom for some one, and why not for
(QUARTET)thee— that's me— so take heart and tell her— that's
(QUARTET)thee— that thou— that's me— lovest her— thee— and—
(QUARTET)and— well, I'm a miserable old man, and I've done it—
(QUARTET)and that's me!" But not a word about Fairfax! The
(QUARTET)price of thy silence is—
(QUARTET)DAME Meryll's heart?
(QUARTET)MERYLL No, Meryll's hand.
(QUARTET)DAME It's the same thing!
(QUARTET)MERYLL Is it?
(QUARTET)No.
(QUARTET)Rapture, rapture
(DUET)Dame Carruthers and Sergeant Meryll
(DUET)DAME Rapture, rapture
(DUET)When love's votary,
(DUET)Flushed with capture,
(DUET)Seeks the notary,
(DUET)Joy and jollity
(DUET)Then is polity;
(DUET)Reigns frivolity!
(DUET)Rapture, rapture!
(DUET)Joy and jollity
(DUET)Then is polity;
(DUET)Reigns frivolity!
(DUET)Rapture, rapture!
(DUET)MERYLL Doleful, doleful!
(DUET)When humanity
(DUET)With its soul full
(DUET)Of satanity,
(DUET)Courting privity,
(DUET)Down declivity
(DUET)Seeks captivity!
(DUET)Doleful, doleful!
(DUET)Courting privity,
(DUET)Down declivity
(DUET)Seeks captivity!
(DUET)Doleful, doleful!
(DUET)DAME Joyful, joyful!
(DUET)When virginity
(DUET)Seeks, all coyful,
(DUET)Man's affinity;
(DUET)Fate all flowery,
(DUET)Bright and bowery,
(DUET)Is her dowery!
(DUET)Joyful, joyful!
(DUET)Fate all flowery,
(DUET)Bright and bowery,
(DUET)Is her dowery!
(DUET)Joyful, joyful!
(DUET)MERYLL Ghastly, ghastly!
(DUET)When man, sorrowful,
(DUET)Firstly, lastly,
(DUET)Of to-morrow full,
(DUET)After tarrying,
(DUET)Yields to harrying—
(DUET)Goes a-marrying.
(DUET)Ghastly, ghastly!
(DUET)DAME Joyful, joyful!
(DUET)MERYLL Ghastly, ghastly!
(DUET)DAME Joyful, joyful!
(DUET)MERYLL Ghastly, ghastly!
DAMEJoyful, joyful! Ghastly, ghastly!
DAMEJoyful, joyful, joyful! Ghastly, ghastly, ghastly!
DAMERapture, rapture Doleful, doleful!
DAMEWhen love's votary, When humanity
DAMEFlushed with capture, With its soul full
DAMESeeks the notary, Of satanity,
DAMEJoy and jollity Courting privity,
DAMEThen is polity; Down declivity
DAMEReigns frivolity! Seeks captivity!
DAMERapture, rapture! Doleful, doleful!
DAMEJoy and jollity Courting privity,
DAMEThen is polity; Down declivity
DAMEReigns frivolity! Seeks captivity!
DAMERapture, rapture! Doleful, doleful!
DAMERapture, rapture, Doleful, doleful,
DAMERapture, rapture! Doleful, doleful!
DAMEJoy and jollity Courting privity,
DAMEThen is polity; Down declivity
DAMEReigns frivolity! Seeks captivity!
DAMERapture, rapture! Doleful, doleful!
[Exeunt DAME and SERGEANT MERYLL.
DAMENo.
DAMEComes the pretty young bride
SYSTEM(FINALE OF ACT II)
Ensemble
[Enter YEOMEN and WOMEN
DAMEWOMEN Comes the pretty young bride,
DAMEa-blushing, timidly shrinking—
Set all thy fears aside—
DAMEcheerily, pretty young bride!
DAMEBrave is the youth to whom thy lot
DAMEthou art willingly linking!
DAMEFlower of valour he—
DAMEloving as loving can be!
DAMEBrightly thy summer is shining,
DAMEFair as the dawn, as the dawn of the day;
DAMETake him, be true to him—
DAMETender his due to him—
DAMEHonour him, honour him, love and obey!
[Enter DAME, PHOEBE, and ELSIE as Bride
PHOEBE& DAME 'Tis said that joy in full perfection
PHOEBEComes only once to womankind—
PHOEBEThat, other times, on close inspection,
PHOEBESome lurking bitter we shall find.
PHOEBEIf this be so, and men say truly,
PHOEBEMy day of joy has broken duly
PHOEBEWith happiness my/her soul is cloyed—
PHOEBEWith happiness is cloyed—
PHOEBEWith happiness my/her soul is cloyed—
PHOEBEThis is my/her joy-day
PHOEBEunalloyed, unalloyed,
PHOEBEThis is my/her joy-day unalloyed!
PHOEBEALL Yes, yes, with happiness her soul is cloyed!
PHOEBEThis is her joy-day unalloyed!
PHOEBE[Flourish.
Enter LIEUTENANT
LIEUTENANTHold, pretty one! I bring to thee
LIEUTENANTNews— good or ill, it is for thee to say.
LIEUTENANTThy husband lives— and he is free,
LIEUTENANTAnd comes to claim his bride this very day!
LIEUTENANTELSIE No! No! recall those words— it cannot be!
[all four blocks below sung at once]
LIEUTENANTKATE and CHORUS DAME CARRUTHERS and PHOEBE
LIEUTENANTOh, day of terror! Oh, day of terror!
LIEUTENANTDay of terror! The man to whom thou art
LIEUTENANTDay of tears! allied
LIEUTENANTDay of terror! Appears to claim thee
LIEUTENANTDay of tears! as his bride.
LIEUTENANTWho is the man who, The man to whom thou art
LIEUTENANTIn his pride, allied
LIEUTENANTClaims thee as his bride? And claim me as his bride.
LIEUTENANTDay of terror! Day of terror!
LIEUTENANTDay of tears! Day of tears!
LIEUTENANT, MERYLL, and WILFRED ELSIE
LIEUTENANTCome, dry these unbecoming tears,
LIEUTENANTMost joyful tidings greet
LIEUTENANTthine ears,
LIEUTENANTCome, dry these unbecoming tears, Oh, Leonard,
LIEUTENANTMost joyful tidings greet Oh, Leonard,
LIEUTENANTthine ears, Come thou to my side,
LIEUTENANTThe man to whom thou art allied And claim me as
LIEUTENANTAppears to claim thee thy loving bride!
LIEUTENANTas his bride.
LIEUTENANTDay of terror!
LIEUTENANTThe man to whom thou art allied Day of tears!
LIEUTENANTAppears to claim thee
LIEUTENANTas his bride.
LIEUTENANT[Flourish.
Enter COLONEL FAIRFAX, handsomely dressed, and
LIEUTENANTattended by other Gentlemen
LIEUTENANTFAIRFAX [sternly] All thought of Leonard
Meryll set aside.
LIEUTENANTThou art mine own! I claim thee as my bride.
LIEUTENANTALL Thou art his own!
LIEUTENANTAlas! he claims thee as his bride.
ELSIE A suppliant at thy feet I fall;
LIEUTENANTThine heart will yield to pity's call!
LIEUTENANTFAIRFAX Mine is a heart of massive rock,
LIEUTENANTUnmoved by sentimental shock!
LIEUTENANTALL Thy husband he!
ELSIE [aside] Leonard, my loved one— come to me.
LIEUTENANTThey bear me hence away!
LIEUTENANTBut though they take me far from thee,
LIEUTENANTMy heart is thine for aye!
LIEUTENANTMy bruised heart,
LIEUTENANTMy broken heart,
LIEUTENANTIs thine, my own, for aye!
LIEUTENANTIs thine, is thine, my own,
LIEUTENANTIs thine, for aye!
LIEUTENANTELSIE [To FAIRFAX] Sir, I obey!
LIEUTENANTI am thy bride;
LIEUTENANTBut ere the fatal hour
LIEUTENANTI said the say
LIEUTENANTThat placed me in thy pow'r
LIEUTENANTWould I had died!
LIEUTENANTSir, I obey!
LIEUTENANTI am thy bride!
[Looks up and recognizes FAIRFAX
LIEUTENANTLeonard!
LIEUTENANTFAIRFAX My own!
LIEUTENANTELSIE Ah! [Embrace]
ELSIEFAIRFAX With happiness my soul is cloyed,
ELSIEThis is our joy-day unalloyed!
ELSIEALL Yes, yes!
ELSIEWith happiness their souls are cloyed,
ELSIEThis is their joy-day unalloyed!
ELSIEWith happiness their souls are cloyed,
ELSIEThis is their joy-day unalloyed,
ELSIETheir joy-day unalloyed, unalloyed!
[Enter JACK POINT
ELSIEPOINT Oh, thoughtless crew!
ELSIEYe know not what ye do!
ELSIEAttend to me, and shed a tear or two—
ELSIEFor I have a song to sing, O!
ELSIEALL Sing me your song, O!
POINT It is sung to the moon
ELSIEBy a love-lorn loon,
ELSIEWho fled from the mocking throng, O!
ELSIEIt's a song of a merryman, moping mum,
ELSIEWhose soul was sad, and whose glance was glum,
ELSIEWho sipped no sup, and who craved no crumb,
ELSIEAs he sighed for the love of a ladye.
ELSIEALL Heighdy! heighdy!
ELSIEMisery me—lack-a-day-dee!
ELSIEHe sipped no sup, and he craved no crumb,
ELSIEAs he sighed for the love of a ladye!
ELSIEELSIE I have a song to sing, O!
ELSIEALL What is your song, O!
ELSIEELSIE It is sung with the ring
ELSIEOf the songs maids sing
ELSIEWho love with a love life-long, O!
ELSIEIt's the song of a merrymaid, peerly proud,
ELSIEoptional— nestling near,
ELSIEWho loved her lord, and who laughed aloud
[optional— but dropped a tear]
ELSIEAt the moan of the merryman, moping mum,
ELSIEWhose soul was sad, and whose glance was glum,
ELSIEWho sipped no sup, and who craved no crumb,
ELSIEAs he sighed for the love of a ladye!
ELSIEALL Heighdy! heighdy!
ELSIEMisery me—lack-a-day-dee!
ELSIEHe sipped no sup, and he craved no crumb,
ELSIEAs he sighed for the love of a ladye!
ELSIEHeighdy! heighdy!
ELSIEMisery me—lack-a-day-dee!
ELSIEHe sipped no sup, and he craved no crumb,
ELSIEAs he sighed for the love of a ladye!
ELSIEHeighdy! heighdy!
[FAIRFAX embraces ELSIE as POINT falls insensible at their
ELSIEfeet.