Fool, fool! Although you have looked into my face
    You do not see my purpose. I shall have gone
    Before a hand can touch me.
Forgael [folding his arms].     My hands are still;
    The Ever-living hold us. Do what you will,
    You cannot leap out of the golden net.
First Sailor. No need to drown, for, if you will pardon us
    And measure out a course and bring us home,
    We’ll put this man to death.
Dectora.                      I promise it.
First Sailor. There is none to take his side.
Aibric.                      I am on his side.
    I’ll strike a blow for him to give him time
    To cast his dreams away.
[Aibric goes in front of Forgael with drawn sword. Forgael takes the harp.]
First Sailor.                      No other ’ll do it.
[The Sailors throw Aibric on one side. He falls and lies upon the deck. They lift their swords to strike Forgael, who is about to play the harp. The stage begins to darken. The Sailors hesitate in fear.]
Second Sailor. He has put a sudden darkness over the moon.
Dectora. Nine swords with handles of rhinoceros horn
    To him that strikes him first!
First Sailor.                      I will strike him first.
[He goes close up to Forgael with his sword lifted.]
[Shrinking back.] He has caught the crescent moon out of the sky,
    And carries it between us.
Second Sailor.                      Holy fire
    To burn us to the marrow if we strike.
Dectora. I’ll give a golden galley full of fruit,
    That has the heady flavour of new wine,
    To him that wounds him to the death.
First Sailor.                      I’ll do it.
    For all his spells will vanish when he dies,
    Having their life in him.
Second Sailor.                      Though it be the moon
    That he is holding up between us there,
    I will strike at him.
The Others.                      And I! And I! And I!
[Forgael plays the harp.]
First Sailor [falling into a dream suddenly]. But you were saying there is somebody
    Upon that other ship we are to wake.
    You did not know what brought him to his end,
    But it was sudden.
Second Sailor.                      You are in the right;
    I had forgotten that we must go wake him.
Dectora. He has flung a Druid spell upon the air,
    And set you dreaming.
Second Sailor.                      How can we have a wake
    When we have neither brown nor yellow ale?
First Sailor. I saw a flagon of brown ale aboard her.
Third Sailor. How can we raise the keen that do not know
    What name to call him by?
First Sailor.                      Come to his ship.
    His name will come into our thoughts in a minute.
    I know that he died a thousand years ago,
    And has not yet been waked.
Second Sailor [beginning to keen]. Ohone! O! O! O!
    The yew-bough has been broken into two,
    And all the birds are scattered.
All the Sailors.                      O! O! O! O!
[They go out keening.]
Dectora. Protect me now, gods that my people swear by.
[Aibric has risen from the deck where he had fallen. He has begun looking for his sword as if in a dream.]
Aibric. Where is my sword that fell out of my hand
    When I first heard the news? Ah, there it is!
[He goes dreamily towards the sword, but Dectora runs at it and takes it up before he can reach it.]
Aibric [sleepily]. Queen, give it me.
Dectora.                      No, I have need of it.
Aibric. Why do you need a sword? But you may keep it.
    Now that he’s dead I have no need of it,
    For everything is gone.
A Sailor [calling from the other ship]. Come hither, Aibric,
    And tell me who it is that we are waking.
Aibric [half to Dectora, half to himself]. What name had that dead king? Arthur of Britain?
    No, no—not Arthur. I remember now.
    It was golden-armed Iollan, and he died
    Broken-hearted, having lost his queen
    Through wicked spells. That is not all the tale,
    For he was killed. O! O! O! O! O! O!
    For golden-armed Iollan has been killed.
[He goes out.]
[While he has been speaking, and through part of what follows, one hears the wailing of the Sailors from the other ship. Dectora stands with the sword lifted in front of Forgael.]
Dectora. I will end all your magic on the instant.
[Her voice becomes dreamy, and she lowers the sword slowly, and finally lets it fall. She spreads out her hair. She takes off her crown and lays it upon the deck.]
    This sword is to lie beside him in the grave.
    It was in all his battles. I will spread my hair,
    And wring m>
    This sword is to lie beside him in the grave.
    It was in all his battles. I will spread my hair,
    And wring my hands, and wail him bitterly,
    For I have heard that he was proud and laughing,
    Blue-eyed, and a quick runner on bare feet,
    And that he died a thousand years ago.
    O! O! O! O!
[Forgael changes the tune.]
But no, that is not it.                
    I knew him well, and while I heard him laughing
    They killed him at my feet. O! O! O! O!
    For golden-armed Iollan that I loved.
    But what is it that made me say I loved him?
    It was that harper put it in my thoughts,
    But it is true. Why did they run upon him,
    And beat the golden helmet with their swords?
Forgael. Do you not know me, lady? I am he
    That you are weeping for.
Dectora.                      No, for he is dead.
    O! O! O! O! for golden-armed Iollan.
Forgael. It was so given out, but I will prove
    That the grave-diggers in a dreamy frenzy
    Have buried nothing but my golden arms.
    Listen to that low-laughing string of the moon
    And you will recollect my face and voice,
    For you have listened to me playing it
    These thousand years.
[He starts up, listening to the birds. The harp slips from his hands, and remains leaning against the bulwarks behind him.]
What are the birds at there?                
    Why are they all a-flutter of a sudden?
    What are you calling out above the mast?
    If railing and reproach and mockery
    Because I have awakened her to love
    By magic strings, I’ll make this answer

  By PanEris using Melati.

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