Collected Works (Vol. I)

THE POEM. A LITTLE DRAMA IN FOUR SCENES. 1598. I dedicate this play * to the gentleman who, on the evening of June 24th, 1898, turned back in Shaftesbury Avenue to give a halfpenny to a little girl, and thereby suggested to me the idea here rendered. SCENES, Piercy. J, THE ANGEL oF Pity. I am sad to-night. I am very lonely in Tl. ‘Tum ANGEL OF LOVE. this place. If. THe ANGEL OF DEATH. IV. ‘THe FORM OF ‘THE FOURTIL WAS LIKE VAUGHAN. THE S ¥ Gop.! , THE SON OF Go Chere are plenty of people about. PERSONS. PERCY. PERCY BRANDON (a Poet) People—mere shells, husks of the golden Esmé VAUGHAN. Wheat that might grow even here. Mr. VAUGHAN (her father). Mr. BRANDON (father of Percy). VAUGHAN. A FRIEND TO VAUGIIAN, Why do you stay here? Butler, Footmen, etc., etc. y y y PERCY, SCENE I. I cannot think at home. Shaftesbury Avenue, 8.30 pm. A gentleman VAUGHAN. walking with a friend, both in evening dress. A little ragged girl. A young man. The gentleman stops and gtves Why think, if thinking makes you sad? the little girl « halfpenny. The young PERCY. man suites. That I may write. I have not long to The gentleman notices the smtle, and sees live, and I must write, write always. how great a sadness underlies tt. FRIEND [asede lo Vaughan). VAUGHAN | I] me semble quwil a faim. [Zurning to the young man.) | PERCY. AND you — what are you doing here? Iam hungry for a little love, a little pity. Excuse my rudeness—you seem so sad. By ‘ pry To-night you have shown me your soul, and 1 See Daniel iii. 25. ‘I am not hungry any more. * Like all plays of this form, it may be read as a delicate idyll or a screaming parody, according to the nature and mood of the reader. 57