Arthur Quiller-Couch

“ Exit Cesario.
List to me, Lucio: listen, brother dear, First playmate-child, tending whose innocence Myself learned motherhood. Shall I deny Youth to be loved and follow after love? There is a love breaks like a morning beam On the husht novice kneeling by his arms; And worse there is, whose kisses strangle love, Whose feet take hold of hell. My Lucio, Follow not that!
Lucio. Why, who—who hath maligned The Countess?
Regent Not maligned. Lucetta, here—
Lucio. Lucetta! Curse Lucetta and her tongue! Am I a child, to be nagged by waiting-maids?
Regent. No, but a man, and shall weigh evidence. ”

“ Long live the Duke!
Cesario. The devil, then! Why darken his approach?
Gamba (from the bench where he has been mending his viol) . Because, Captain, 'tis a property knaves and fools have in common—to stand in their own light, as 'tis of soldiers to talk bad logic. That knave, now—he with the red nose and the black eye—the Duke's colours, loyal man!—you clap an iron on his leg, and ask him why he is not down in the city, hanging them out of window! Go to: you are a soldier! ”

“ But hear me swear by them, Count Lucio— Who slights our Regent throws his glove to me.
Lucio. Why, soothly, she's my sister!
Cesario. 'But the court Is dull? No masques, few banquetings—and prayers Be long, and youth for pastime leaps the gate?' Yet if the money husbanded on feasts Have fed our soldiery against the Turk, Year after year, and still the State not starved; Was't not well done? And if, responsible To God, and lonely, she has leaned on God Too heavily for our patience, was't not wise?— And well, though weary? ”

“ Lucetta points to the stairs. He dashes off in pursuit.
Duke. All-seeing God! Where were thine eyes, or else thy justice? Dead? O, never dead!
Lucio. Ay, Duke, push God aside, As I push thee. I have the better right: I killed her—I. O never pass, sweet soul, Till thou hast drunk a shudder of this wretch, Thy brother, playmate, murderer!
Duke. Wine! bring wine—
Regent (as the wine is brought and revives her) . Flower, he will crush thee—but the bliss, the bliss! I swim in bliss. What ... Lucio? Where's my lord? ”

“ Yes
'Victory!'
'Victory!' ... lord, and love!,..
[The shouts of acclamation are heard now close under the terrace. Spears and banners are seen trooping past. Beside herself, she throws flowers to them, laughing, weeping the while. Then, running to the Chapel door, she prostrates herself before the image of the Virgin that crowns its archway.]
O Mary, Mother!
Thou, in whose breast all women's thoughts have moved,
All woman's passions heaved. Lo! I adore! ”

“ Lucio. I tell you, she's my sister!
Cesario. Well, an you will, bridle on that. Lord Lucio, You named the Countess Fulvia. To my sorrow, Two hours ago I called on her and laid her Under arrest.
Lucio. The devil! For what?
Cesario. For that A lady, whose lord keeps summer in the hills To nurse a gouty foot, should penalize His dutiful return by shutting doors And hanging out a ladder made of rope, Or prove its safety by rehearsing it Upon a heavier man.
Lucio. I'll go to her. Oh, this is infamous!
Cesario. Nay, be advised: No hardship irks the lady, save to sit At home and feed her sparrows ”

“ Lo! arose of that bridal Dione, rainbow'd and besprent of its dew!
Now learn ye to love who loved never—now ye who have loved, love anew!
She, she, with her gem-dripping finger enamels the wreath of the year;
She, she, when the maid-bud is nubile and swelling winds—whispers anear,
Disguising her voice in the Zephyr's—"So secret the bed! And thou shy?" 15
She, she, thro' the hush'd humid Midsummer night draws the dew from on high;
Dew bright with the tears of its origin, dew with its weight on the bough,
Gutta præceps orbe parvo sustinet casus suos. ”

“ Lucetta, here, the ladder and the man.
What man she will not say. Cesario
Has tracked his footprint on her garden plots.
Must we say more?
Fulvia. No need. Her fingering mind Is a close cupboard turning all things rancid.
Lucio. Yea, for such wry-necks all the world's a lawn To peek and peer and pounce a sinful worm;
The fatter, the more luscious.
Regent. Lucio, This woman nought gainsays. ”

“ He strides towards the door of the Chapel; but pauses at the sound of chanting within, and comes back to Cesario.
Man, are you mute? I say the town's aflame Below! But here, up here, you stand and stare Like prisoners loosed to daylight. Rub your eyes, Believe!
Cesario (musing) . It has been long.
Lucio. As tapestry Pricked out by women's needles; point-device As saints in fitted haloes. ”

“ Cesario. Watchman, what news?
A Voice. Sir, on the sea no sail!
One of the Crowd. But through the town below a horseman spurs— I think, Count Lucio! Yes—Count Lucio! He nears, draws rein, dismounts!
Cesario. Sure, he brings news.
Gamba. I think he brings word the Duke is sick; his loyal folk have drunk so much of his health. ”

“ Yet they stab, Those needles. Oh, the devil take their tongues!
Cesario. Why, what's the matter?
Lucio. P'st! another lie Against the Countess Fulvia; and the train Laid to my sister's ear. Cesario, My sister is a saint—and yet she married: Therefore should understand ... Would saints, like cobblers, Stick but to business in this naughty world! Ah, well! the Duke comes home.
Cesario. And what of that?
Lucio. Release!
Cesario. Release?
Lucio (mocking a chant within the Chapel) . From priests and petticoats Deliver us, Good Lord!
Gamba (strikes a chord on viol) . AMEN!
Cesario. ”

“ Your Highness will not know me—Zia Agnese, Giovannucci's wife that was; And feed a two-three cows, as a widow may, On the marshes where the grass is salt and sweet As your Highness knows—and always true to pail Until this Nicolo—
Nicolo. Lies! lies, your Highness!
Old Woman. Having a quarrel, puts the evil eye On Serafina. She's my best of cows, In stall with calf but ten days weaned.
Nicolo. Lies! lies!
Old Woman. I would your Highness saw her! When that thief Hangs upon Lazarus' bosom, he'll be bidding A ducat for each drop of milk he's cost me, To cool his tongue. ”

“ Men of the crowd take off their caps.
Could ye not leave, this day of all the year, Your silly suits, petitions, quarrels, pleas? Could ye not leave, this once in seven years, Our Lady to come holy-quiet from Mass. Lean on the wall, and loose her cage-bird heart, To lift and breast and dance upon the breeze. Draws home her lord the Duke? ”

“ God help the Duke, if what he left he'd find!
[Exit Lucio]
Regent. Is't so, I wonder? Go, Lucetta, fetch My glass, if haply I may tell.
[Exit Lucetta.]
Is't so?
And have these years enforced, encrusted me
To something monstrous, neither woman nor man? ”

“ Regent. I do. Cesario, See to it the City gate shuts not to-night.
And she this side.
Fulvia (laughs recklessly) . To-night? To-night's your own. Most modest woman! Duchess, there's a well
By the road, some seven miles beyond the town.
There, 'neath the stars, I'll dip a hand and drink
To the good Duke's disport. But have a care!
That cup's not yet to lip.
Regent. Captain, remove her. Lucio, remain.
[Exeunt the Countess Fulvia, Cesario following]
Lucio. I'll not remain—When ice Sits judge of fire, what justice shall be done? ”

“ Yet one must tune up for the Duke
(Strikes his viol and sings.)
"Bird of the South, my Rondinello----"
Flat-Flat!
Cesario (calling up to watchman on the Chapel roof) . Ho there! What news?
A Voice. Captain, no sail!
Cesario. Where sits The wind?
Voice. Nor' west, and north a point!
Cesario. Perchance They have down'd sail and creep around the flats.
Gamba (tuning his viol) . Flats, flats! the straight horizon, and the life These seven years laid by rule! The curst canal Drawn level through the drawn-out level sand And thistle-tufts that stink as soon as pluck'd! ”

“ The Courtiers lift the body in silence and bear it to the Chapel, the Duke and his train following. The doors close on them. On the stage are left only Cesario, standing by the balustrade; and Gamba, who has seated himself with his viol and touches it, as still the voice sings below—
Addio, Addio! ed un'altra volt'addio! La lundananza tua, 'l desiderio mio! ”

“ She has seated herself again. She takes Lucio's hand and speaks, petting it.
What? Glowing with my happiness? That's like you. But for yourself the hour, too, holds release.
Lucio (between sullenness and shame, with a glance at Cesario) . "Release?"
Regent. You will forgive? I have great need To be forgiven: sadly I have been slack In guardianship, and by so much betrayed My promise to our mother's passing soul. Myself in cares immersed, I left the child Among his toys—and turn to find him man— But yet so much a boy that boyhood can (Wistfully) Laugh in his honest eyes? Forgive me, Lucio! ”

“ Within the Chapel the choir is chanting a dirge. Gamba goes and closes the door on the sound: then creeps to the foot of the couch. The dying woman gently motions aside the cross a priest is holding to her, and looks up at her husband. ”

“ The city lies out of sight below the terrace; from which, between its cypresses and statuary, is seen a straight stretch of a canal; beyond the canal are sand-hills and the line of the open sea. Mountains, L., dip down to the sea and form a curve of the coast.
As the curtain rises, a crowd of town and country folk is being herded to the back of the terrace by the Ducal Guard, under Cesario. Within the Chapel, to the sound of an organ, boys' voices are chanting the service of the Mass.
Cesario, Gamba the Fool, Guards, Populace.
Cesario. Way there! Give room! The Regent comes from Mass. ”

“ She catches up flowers from the baskets left by the
courtiers, and decks herself mildly.
Flowers for my hair, flowers at the breast! Sweet flowers,
He'll crush you 'gainst his corslet. He has arms
Like bands of iron for clasping, has my love.
He'll hurt, he'll hurt ... But oh, sweet flowers, to lie
And feel you helpless while he grips and bruises
Your weak protesting breasts! You'll die in bliss,
Panting your fragrance out.--
Wh'st! Hush, poor fool!
I have unlearned love's very alphabet.
Men like us coy, demure ... ”

“ It runs pretty closely, line for line, with the original; because one may love and emulate classical terseness even while despairing to rival it. But it does not attempt to be literal; for even were it worth doing, I doubt if it be possible for anyone in our day to hit precisely the note intended by an author or heard by a reader in the eighth century. Men change subtly as nations succeed to nations, religions to religions, philosophies to philosophies; and it is a property of immortal poetry to shift its appeal. It does not live by continuing to mean the some thing. It grows as we grow. ”

“ Voice of Watchman. Sail ho! a sail! a sail!
[Murmur of populace below. It grows and swells to
a roar as enter hurriedly courtiers, guards, and
others: Cesario; Lucetta with mirror.]
Lucetta. My lady! O my lady!—
Cesario. See, they near! ”

“ Whines, and awakes, and stretches his limbs to the blaze.
Far old friend in the Manse, by the green ash peeling
Flake by flake from the heat in the Yule log's core,
Look past the woman you love. On wall and ceiling
Climbs not a trellis of roses—and ghosts—of yore? ”

“ It breaks into cheers as Count Lucio comes springing up to the terrace.
Enter Lucio.
Lucio. News! Where's the Regent? Eh? is Mass not said? Cesario, news! I rode across the dunes; A pilot—Nestore—you know the man— Came panting. Sixteen sail beyond the point! That's not a galley lost!
Crowd. Long live the Duke! ”

“ She wraps herself carefully in her mantle as the courtiers pour in. The child Tonino runs to her and stands by her side. Lucio, Cesario, all the Court, group themselves round her as the Duke enters. He rushes in eagerly ”

“ Three cups, And each a Viva for the Duke's return.
Prisoner. Your Highness, I'll not take it at the price Of my good manners. I'm a gallant man: And who in Adria calls. 'Three cheers for the Duke!' But adds a fourth for the Duchess? Lady, nay ”

“ If Zia Agnese do but this, she'll counter The Evil Eye, and maybe with her own Detect who thieves her Serafina's hay.
Old Woman. God bless your Highness!
Nicolo. God bless your Highness!
Regent (taking up a fresh suit) .Why, what's here? "Costanza, Wife of Giuseppe Boni, citeth him And sueth to live separate, for neglect And divers beatings, as to wit----" H'm, h'm— Likewise to keep the child Geronimo, Begotten of his body. You defend The suit, Giuseppe?
A Young Peasant (shrugs his shoulders) . As the woman will! I'll not deny I beat her. ”

“ Doors of the Chapel open. The organ sounds, with voices of choir chanting the recessional. The Court enters from Mass, attending the Regent Ottilia and her son Tonino. She wears a crown and heavy dalmatic. Her brother Lucio, controlling himself with an effort, kisses her hand and conducts her to the marble bench, which serves for her Chair of State. She bows, receiving the homage of the crowd ”