The poop rises several feet above the stage, and from
the overhanging stern hangs a lanthorn with a greenish light.
the overhanging stern hangs a lanthorn with a greenish light.
Yeats
it falls into the sea,
It whirls into the foam. O ancient worm,
Dragon that loved the world and held us to it,
You are broken, you are broken. The world drifts away,
And I am left alone with my beloved,
Who cannot put me from his sight for ever.
We are alone for ever, and I laugh,
Forgael, because you cannot put me from you.
The mist has covered the heavens, and you and I
Shall be alone for ever. We two--this crown--
I half remember. It has been in my dreams.
Bend lower, O king, that I may crown you with it.
O flower of the branch, O bird among the leaves,
O silver fish that my two hands have taken
Out of the running stream, O morning star,
Trembling in the blue heavens like a white fawn
Upon the misty border of the wood,
Bend lower, that I may cover you with my hair,
For we will gaze upon this world no longer.
[_The scene darkens, and the harp once more begins
to burn as with a faint fire. FORGAEL is kneeling at
DECTORA'S feet. _
FORGAEL.
[_Gathering DECTORA'S hair about him. _]
Beloved, having dragged the net about us,
And knitted mesh to mesh, we grow immortal;
And that old harp awakens of itself
To cry aloud to the grey birds, and dreams,
That have had dreams for father, live in us.
APPENDIX I
ACTING VERSION OF _THE SHADOWY WATERS_
FORGAEL
AIBRIC
SAILORS
DECTORA
THE scene is the same as in the text except that the sail is dull
copper colour.
The poop rises several feet above the stage, and from
the overhanging stern hangs a lanthorn with a greenish light. The sea
or sky is represented by a semi-circular cloth of which nothing can be
seen except a dark abyss, for the stage is lighted by arc-lights so
placed upon a bridge over the proscenium as to throw a perpendicular
light upon the stage. The light is dim, and there are deep shadows
which waver as if with the passage of clouds over the moon. The persons
are dressed in blue and green, and move but little. Some sailors are
discovered crouching by the sail. Forgael is asleep and Aibric standing
by the tiller on the raised poop.
_First Sailor. _ It is long enough, and too long, Forgael has been
bringing us through the waste places of the great sea.
_Second Sailor. _ We did not meet with a ship to make a prey of these
eight weeks, or any shore or island to plunder or to harry. It is a
hard thing, age to be coming on me, and I not to get the chance of
doing a robbery that would enable me to live quiet and honest to the
end of my lifetime.
_First Sailor. _ We are out since the new moon. What is worse again, it
is the way we are in a ship, the barrels empty and my throat shrivelled
with drought, and nothing to quench it but water only.
_Forgael_ [_in his sleep_]. Yes; there, there; that hair that is the
colour of burning.
It whirls into the foam. O ancient worm,
Dragon that loved the world and held us to it,
You are broken, you are broken. The world drifts away,
And I am left alone with my beloved,
Who cannot put me from his sight for ever.
We are alone for ever, and I laugh,
Forgael, because you cannot put me from you.
The mist has covered the heavens, and you and I
Shall be alone for ever. We two--this crown--
I half remember. It has been in my dreams.
Bend lower, O king, that I may crown you with it.
O flower of the branch, O bird among the leaves,
O silver fish that my two hands have taken
Out of the running stream, O morning star,
Trembling in the blue heavens like a white fawn
Upon the misty border of the wood,
Bend lower, that I may cover you with my hair,
For we will gaze upon this world no longer.
[_The scene darkens, and the harp once more begins
to burn as with a faint fire. FORGAEL is kneeling at
DECTORA'S feet. _
FORGAEL.
[_Gathering DECTORA'S hair about him. _]
Beloved, having dragged the net about us,
And knitted mesh to mesh, we grow immortal;
And that old harp awakens of itself
To cry aloud to the grey birds, and dreams,
That have had dreams for father, live in us.
APPENDIX I
ACTING VERSION OF _THE SHADOWY WATERS_
FORGAEL
AIBRIC
SAILORS
DECTORA
THE scene is the same as in the text except that the sail is dull
copper colour.
The poop rises several feet above the stage, and from
the overhanging stern hangs a lanthorn with a greenish light. The sea
or sky is represented by a semi-circular cloth of which nothing can be
seen except a dark abyss, for the stage is lighted by arc-lights so
placed upon a bridge over the proscenium as to throw a perpendicular
light upon the stage. The light is dim, and there are deep shadows
which waver as if with the passage of clouds over the moon. The persons
are dressed in blue and green, and move but little. Some sailors are
discovered crouching by the sail. Forgael is asleep and Aibric standing
by the tiller on the raised poop.
_First Sailor. _ It is long enough, and too long, Forgael has been
bringing us through the waste places of the great sea.
_Second Sailor. _ We did not meet with a ship to make a prey of these
eight weeks, or any shore or island to plunder or to harry. It is a
hard thing, age to be coming on me, and I not to get the chance of
doing a robbery that would enable me to live quiet and honest to the
end of my lifetime.
_First Sailor. _ We are out since the new moon. What is worse again, it
is the way we are in a ship, the barrels empty and my throat shrivelled
with drought, and nothing to quench it but water only.
_Forgael_ [_in his sleep_]. Yes; there, there; that hair that is the
colour of burning.
