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72 THE BRIDEGROOM I will not look at her ; I dare not stay. I will go down and mingle with the throng, Find some debasing dulling sacrifice, Some shameless harlot with thin lips grown grey In desperate desire, and so with song And wine fling hellward. Yes, she does not rise— O if she opened once her eyes!
… The trifles that shall make it master yet Of the strong soul that bade itself forget. CORA. Let me not shrink! Truth always purifies. I will go through those twe impossible Actual years. The city was itself; Hard thinking if hard drinking—sober-sides! One night I stepped up tremulous on the stage, Sang something, found my senses afterward Only to that intolerable sound Of terrible applause. They shook the sky With calling me to answer. And J lay— A storm of weeping swept across my frame— Till the polite, the hateful manager Led me to face a na…
…d in God’s good pleasure Have little children playing at my knees, That I may listen, in their innocent prayers, For Jesus’ voice. And I will never break The secret of his being to my boy Lest he despise me. This one reticence I think my long-drawn agony may earn, For I will do without a mother’s name If only I may keep a son’s love still! [ Exe. SPIRIT OF TRAGEDY. She will not break an oath so wisely sworn, Unlock her secret to disdain. Wisdom is hers—what angel need to warn ? Since angels only seek to gain That wisdom of the unprofane. All fu…
…ion strange! CORA. Strange is the truth, and deadly as an asp. ULRIC. Wear me no more with this anxiety. CORA. How can I speak? For this will ruin us. ULRIC. Unspoken, I demand thy heart of thee. CORA. My heart is broken. This will murder thine. ULRIC. Kill, but not torture! Let me know the truth.
…, What have I not done? Have Thou pity yet; Sustain me in this vile extremity! [He prays silently. CORA, watching him. How wonderful! He will abide the shock. Death and mute horror fight within his face Against a will made masterful to Fate. ULRIC razses his eyes and lifts hts arm in act to strike. Then I detest you! Mother! Treacherous! Vile as the worm that battens on the dead! CORA. Ulric! He’s mad! Sweet heaven! what is this ? [CORA zs now hysterical, ULRIC does not notice. She shrieks at each new insult. ULRIC. Say rather, what are you? I …
…s world to fertilise. The lotos is afire for love, Its yearnings are immortal still ; But in its bosom, fed thereof, Lust, like a child, will have his will. Immortal fervour, strangely blent With mystic sensual sacrament, Fills up its cup; its petals tremble With faint desires that dissemble The fierce intention to be wed, One with the spring sun’s head. The fountains of the river yearn Toward the sacred temple-walis,
…an honest man ! You watched this passion, this intolerable Desire, this flame of hell; you fed it full, Sunned it and watered—O my brain will snap !— Only to blast it. Take your story back ; Be what you will except that infamous! For as my mother—I should spit on you! [CORA zs at his feet grovelling. She half rises to listen. ' Ignoble is your foul maternity, The cattle-kinship. But the other crime Is viler than the first one. ‘‘ Look!” you say: “His passion threatens to defile my bed!” And put a hideous abiding curse On both our lives to save …
…d things By whose power the master reaches To the stubborn fiery springs; By the mystery of the beaches , Where the siren Sibyl sings; I will hold her, live and bleeding; Clasp her to me, pale and pleading;
…out the love of thee ? CORA. I hate each word as I do hate the devil. ULRIC. I, each evasion. Iam bound a slave To this wild passion. It will eat me up. CORA. You cannot guess the horror that you speak. I tell you, if I know your golden heart, This detestation of yourself shall cry The cry of Edipus—“ I have profaned——” ULRIC. What sphinx more cruel? What new C:dipus ? You riddle, Cora, and it breaks my heart. [He sinks exhausted. (Rallying.) By God, I swear to you no lie shall keep Its Dead Sea bar against our marrying. CORA. The truth! Thetru…
…I hate thee. RATOUM. I am still goddess, still desire thy love. That leper lies: thou art indeed a god. PACHAD. I am a god to execute my will. [ Threatens her with his dagger. RATOUM. Mercy! Thou canst not strike a woman down! PACHAD. So! The thin casing of the godhead rots, Mere mummy-cloth: the rotten corpse within, Dust and corruption! I am still the god, And gods slay women: therefore I slay thee. RATOUM. Then thou shalt see me once again a god! [By a tremendous effort she towers before him. Silently they gaze at one another fora while, he …
THE FATAL FORCE — 49 Even as the powers of ill, Broken by the wanded will, Shriek about the holy place, vain and vague and terrible. Even as the lords of hell, Chained in fires before the spell, Strain upon the sightless steel, break not fetters nor compel. So be distant, O profane! Children of the hurricane ! Lest the sword of fire destroy, lest the ways of death be plain! So depart, and so be wise, Lest your perishable eyes Look upon the formless fire, see the maiden sacrifice ! So depart, and secret flame Burn upon the stone of shame, That t…
…ld you lead me? I am blind with tears. ULRIC. I have no tears. Mine eyes are hard and cold As my intention. Help me, Madeline. CORA. God will avenge me bitterly on you If you stretch hand to aid this infamy. ULRIC. You shall not wreck her life. Be silent now! Believe me, it 1s nothing, Madeline! She often falls into a fit like this. Excess is danger, equally in prayer (Her vice is prayer) as in debauchery. [He ts again going mad. fe drags CORA from the room. MADELINE. It is not illness that hath made them mad. I cannot guess what storm has lash…
…reezes out of heaven, that stir The sleepy wells and woodlands, bid her rise ; Nor all a godhead’s amorous violence. She is at peace; we will go hence. Warm wealth of draperies, the broidered room, And delicate tissues of pale silk that shine About her bed: all kiss the dead girl’s face With shadowy reluctances that gloom Over and under, and the cold divine Presence of Death bedews the quiet place. She was so gracious; she Was grace. Once, in the long insidious hours that steal Through summer’s pleasant kingdom, she would weave Such songs, such…
…face, But righteous Wrath in the light, and knows his place; For hate of a mother is ill, and the lightning flashes, But foil a harlot’s will, burn the earth to ashes, Cleanse the incestuous sty of a whore’s desire, Scatter the dung to the sky, and burn her with fire! So the avenging master shall cleanse his fate of shame, Set his seal of disaster, a royal seal to his name. [Exeunt. PACHAD. I am not Horus, but I shall be king. Enter LEPER. THE LEPER. I am a leper, but I am the king. PACHAD. Monstrous illegible horror, let thy mouth Frame from i…
…ers the ruin ye have made, Nor banish the enormous deities Of judgment so invoked by any prayers, Or perfumes or libations. What must be Will be. Material succour ye demand In vain. But ye may purify yourselves. AMENHATEP. Knows then thy prophecy our final doom ? THE LEPER. , Inquire not of your fate! Myself do know, Mayhap. Ye shall know. I await the event.
…ied to their close. It was your vile affection, Madeline, And your perverted hankering for me That caused this thing abominable. Come! I will not hurt you in the killing you! [|He catches MADELINE gently by the hair, bend- ing back her head. CORA sits thunder- struck, unable to move or speak. MADELINE. Help, Cora, help! he means to murder me! Jesus, my Saviour, save them from this deed ! Help! [ULRIC cuts her throat.
…. My Cora! old! But urgently a word Came of some purpose. - I am half afraid To hear it—and yourself! Reluctance sits Doggéd against the will to speak. Dear friend, Let us sit close and whisper. GORA. Listen, then! You are grown man: young men seek happiness. Is there one joy your soul hath never felt ? One pure sweet passion ? ULRIC. Sweet! you speak of love! You must have guessed I meant to question you, And smoothed the passage to my modesty. CORA, with bitter sorrow at her heart. You make me very glad. Yes, yes, indeed, , Love is my meaning…
…e The maidens for her sacrifice, and burn With great unquenchable dead lustrous eyes Toward impossible things grown possible In Egypt. I will cleanse the land of this. Let me remember I am yet a god! Re-enter LEPER. THE LEPER. Thou must be brought before her presently Borne in a coffin. See thou fill it not, But take the lion’s mask and play his part Before the throne. Be ready, and be strong. PACHAD. I shall do so. Come, let us go together In hateful love and sacrilegious hate, Disease and godhead. I am still the god. [ Exeunt. Enter RATOUM. R…
…s this To have one heart, an undivided love; But Hers—division in the universe Makes multiple each part. Sweet Madeline, Believe me, She will come to maiden dreams, Bestow Her peace, and so direct the life That is not unto God unconsecrate For being dedicated unto love! [22z¢ MADELINE.
…you love! I read it in the terror of your eyes, The crimson of your burning face. I know, I know you love me! Cora, Cora, tell me! O she will die! I would not—I was rough— My overmastering desire to you— My queen, my wife, this maddens me. CORA, recovering. You fool! You beast! I hate you for your stupid self! I am defiled! Go! Touch me not! Speak not! I am accursed of the Lord my God. [Shrieks. ULRIC. Darling! my darling! How have I done this? CORA. Fool! It is madness! Yes, and punishment. O God, that all my love should come to this! You, you…