They come before me now, and dig in the fruit
With so much gluttony, and are so drunk
With that harsh wholesome savour, that their feathers
Are clinging one to another with the juice.
With so much gluttony, and are so drunk
With that harsh wholesome savour, that their feathers
Are clinging one to another with the juice.
Yeats
Give me your help.
[_Trying to rise.
_
But why are not my pupils here to help me?
Go, call my pupils, for I need their help.
FEDELM.
Come with me now, and I will send for them,
For I have a great room that's full of beds
I can make ready; and there is a smooth lawn
Where they can play at hurley and sing poems
Under an apple-tree.
SEANCHAN.
I know that place:
An apple-tree, and a smooth level lawn
Where the young men can sway their hurley sticks.
[_Sings. _]
The four rivers that run there,
Through well-mown level ground,
Have come out of a blessed well
That is all bound and wound
By the great roots of an apple,
And all the fowl of the air
Have gathered in the wide branches
And keep singing there.
[_FEDELM, troubled, has covered her eyes with her
hands. _
FEDELM.
No, there are not four rivers, and those rhymes
Praise Adam's paradise.
SEANCHAN.
I can remember now,
It's out of a poem I made long ago
About the Garden in the East of the World,
And how spirits in the images of birds
Crowd in the branches of old Adam's crabtree.
They come before me now, and dig in the fruit
With so much gluttony, and are so drunk
With that harsh wholesome savour, that their feathers
Are clinging one to another with the juice.
But you would lead me to some friendly place,
And I would go there quickly.
FEDELM.
[_Helping him to rise. _]
Come with me.
_He walks slowly, supported by her, till he comes to
table. _
SEANCHAN.
But why am I so weak? Have I been ill?
Sweetheart, why is it that I am so weak?
[_Sinks on to seat. _
FEDELM.
[_Goes to table. _]
I'll dip this piece of bread into the wine,
For that will make you stronger for the journey.
SEANCHAN.
Yes, give me bread and wine; that's what I want,
For it is hunger that is gnawing me.
But why are not my pupils here to help me?
Go, call my pupils, for I need their help.
FEDELM.
Come with me now, and I will send for them,
For I have a great room that's full of beds
I can make ready; and there is a smooth lawn
Where they can play at hurley and sing poems
Under an apple-tree.
SEANCHAN.
I know that place:
An apple-tree, and a smooth level lawn
Where the young men can sway their hurley sticks.
[_Sings. _]
The four rivers that run there,
Through well-mown level ground,
Have come out of a blessed well
That is all bound and wound
By the great roots of an apple,
And all the fowl of the air
Have gathered in the wide branches
And keep singing there.
[_FEDELM, troubled, has covered her eyes with her
hands. _
FEDELM.
No, there are not four rivers, and those rhymes
Praise Adam's paradise.
SEANCHAN.
I can remember now,
It's out of a poem I made long ago
About the Garden in the East of the World,
And how spirits in the images of birds
Crowd in the branches of old Adam's crabtree.
They come before me now, and dig in the fruit
With so much gluttony, and are so drunk
With that harsh wholesome savour, that their feathers
Are clinging one to another with the juice.
But you would lead me to some friendly place,
And I would go there quickly.
FEDELM.
[_Helping him to rise. _]
Come with me.
_He walks slowly, supported by her, till he comes to
table. _
SEANCHAN.
But why am I so weak? Have I been ill?
Sweetheart, why is it that I am so weak?
[_Sinks on to seat. _
FEDELM.
[_Goes to table. _]
I'll dip this piece of bread into the wine,
For that will make you stronger for the journey.
SEANCHAN.
Yes, give me bread and wine; that's what I want,
For it is hunger that is gnawing me.
