Margaret Sherwood

“ Luigi bares his head.
Scene II.—The garden, a little later. Vespers in the chapel. The sound of the litany mingles with the sound of the sea.
Vittoria. Teresa waits for me; I must go in.
See, all along the west the sky has turned
The color of these saffron roses here,
Yellow, with crimson at the heart. How pale
The one star shines above the cypress-trees!
Luigi. One moment only while we hear them sing!
(To himself.) Ah, they are praying for the newly dead. ”

“ Luigi. And you are sad?
Vittoria.you are sad? ‍My father does not see:
Pray, may I not be sad alone with you?
Luigi. You may be what you will. I only ask
That I may understand: you puzzle me.
Vittoria.My father always longed to have me gay,
For therein was his happiness. I smile
Ever for him, and I have laughed when sobs
‘aught in my throat. Women must learn to be
That which men wish, Teresa says, and hide
All pain and hunger far down in their hearts. ”

“ Life is too sacred for the new.
Luigi (looking at the father with eyes of pity) .
Life is too sacred for the new. ‍We go
Beloved, to your villa. May our life
Beat on like music, pealing strong between
The murmur of the fountain and the sea.
Vittoria (laughing) . We shall be blessèd. ”

“ Vittoria. Oh, tell me what it is! The sweetness hurts.
Who has the power to touch our ears like this?
Luigi. It is the mid-day prayer. What troubles you?
Is it the music?
Vittoria (reddening) . I know not the word,
And never yet have heard this pleading sound,
Being most ignorant.
Luigi (looking at the father) . I understand!
Listen! They pray.
Vittoria.They pray. ”

“ Teresa sits near.
Father. I have been long asleep?
Teresa.I have been long asleep?‍Sir, it was noon
When we dismounted. Now the sun is low.
Father. Then precious hours are wasted, when I had
No minute’s time to lose! Where is my child?
Teresa, where my son?
Teresa.Teresa, where my son?‍I cannot tell.
Some hours ago they went to climb the cliff
Where it is highest. Me they told to watch
Here by your side. Long has your slumber been
And they have not returned. But they are young,
And time goes swiftly on one’s wedding-day. ”

“ The father points to Vittoria, who sits at her window embroidering.
Luigi (his hands clenched, and the sound of a sob in his throat) . I who would die to serve her cannot let
Her father perish, as flies perish.
Father.father perish, as flies perish.‍Go,
Go then and save me.
Luigi (walking swiftly away) . I return to hear,
Before I start, the message I must bear.
Father. Knowledge of death is in his eyes, and love
Is written on his mouth, and yet he goes.
(Calls.) Come back! Come back! ”

“ Memento mei, Domine, quia ventus est vita mea. . . .
Homo natus de muliere, brevi vivens tempore, repletur multis miseriis. Qui quasi flos egreditur, et conteritur, et fugit velut umbra, et nunguam in eodem statu permanet.
Vittoria. Tell me, what does it mean?
Luigi (Passionately, his voice rising to a cry) ..
It means that love,
Love only, lasts forever, eternal,
Unchangeable, triumphant over chance. ”

“ Luigi (bending to kiss the hem of her dress) . I am unworthy—I!
Vittoria.am unworthy—I!‍Nay, nay, not you!
An ignorant and uninstructed girl,
Lo, what am I, that a great heart like yours
Should come to rest on mine? But take me, all,
You who are strong and wise, for utterly
I give myself, and there is nothing left. ”

“ Luigi.nts off the hours.‍Meanwhile—you?
Vittoria.nts off the hours.Meanwhile—you?‍I sit
Embroidering at the window, and I hear
The fountain trickling in the inner court.
When the brief shadow of the orange-tree
Is just beneath it, saying it is noon,
I go to sit, in the hall paved with stone,
At our great table. There I serve the bread,
The cheese, the salad, and the purple grapes,
And for my father pour red wine or white,
As he may choose. So all the days. No one
Goes ever from us, no one ever comes. ”