more than dreams,
    More than the froth, the feather, the dust-whirl,
    The crazy nothing that I think it is,
    It shall be in the country of the dead,
    If there be such a country.
Dectora.                      No, not there,
    But in some island where the life of the world
    Leaps upward, as if all the streams o’ the world
    Had run into one fountain.
Aibric.                      Speak to him.
    He knows that he is taking you to death;
    Speak—he will not deny it.
Dectora.                      Is that true?
Forgael. I do not know for certain, but I know
    That I have the best of pilots.
Aibric.                      Shadows, illusions,
    That the Shape-changers, the Ever-laughing Ones,
    The Immortal Mockers have cast into his mind,
    Or called before his eyes.
Dectora.                      O carry me
    To some sure country, some familiar place.
    Have we not everything that life can give
    In having one another?
Forgael.                      How could I rest
    If I refused the messengers and pilots
    With all those sights and all that crying out?
Dectora. But I will cover up your eyes and ears,
    That you may never hear the cry of the birds,
    Or look upon them.
Forgael.                      Were they but lowlier
    I’d do your will, but they are too high—too high.
Dectora. Being too high, their heady prophecies
    But harry us with hopes that come to nothing,
    Because we are not proud, imperishable,
    Alone and winged.
Forgael.                      Our love shall be like theirs
    When we have put their changeless image on.
Dectora. I am a woman, I die at every breath.
Aibric. Let the birds scatter, for the tree is broken,
    And there’s no help in words.
[To the Sailors.]
        To the other ship,
    And I will follow you and cut the rope
    When I have said farewell to this man here,
    For neither I nor any living man
    Will look upon his face again.
[The Sailors go out.]
Forgael [to Dectora].                     Go with him,
    For he will shelter you and bring you home.
Aibric [taking Forgael’s band]. I’ll do it for his sake.
Dectora.                     No. Take this sword
    And cut the rope, for I go on with Forgael.
Aibric [half falling into the keen]. The yew-bough has been broken into two,
    And all the birds are scattered—O! O! O!
    Farewell! Farewell!
[He goes out.]
Dectora.                     The sword is in the rope—
    The rope’s in two—it falls into the sea,
    It whirls into the foam. O ancient worm,
    Dragon that loved the world and held us to it,
    You are broken, you are broken. The world drifts away,
    And I am left alone with my beloved,
    Who cannot put me from his sight for ever.
    We are alone for ever, and I laugh,
    Forgael, because you cannot put me from you.
    The mist has covered the heavens, and you and I
    Shall be alone for ever. We two—this crown—
    I half remember. It has been in my dreams.
    Bend lower, O king, that I may crown you with it.
    O flower of the branch, O bird among the leaves,
    O silver fish that my two hands have taken
    Out of the running stream, O morning star,
    Trembling in the blue heavens like a white fawn
    Upon the misty border of the wood,
    Bend lower, that I may cover you with my hair,
    For we will gaze upon this world no longer.
Forgael [gathering Dectora’s hair about him]. Beloved, having dragged the net about us,
    And knitted mesh to mesh, we grow immortal;
    And that old harp awakens of itself
    To cry aloud to the grey birds, and dreams,
    That have had dreams for father, live in us.
in their immortal fashion;
    And for this end they gave me my old harp
    That is more mighty than the sun and moon,
    Or than the shivering casting-net of the stars,
    That none might take you from me.
Dectora [first trembling back from the mast where the harp is, and then laughing].         For a moment
    Your raving of a message and a harp
    More mighty than the stars half troubled me,
    But all that’s raving. Who is there can compel
    The daughter and the granddaughter of kings
    To be his bedfellow?
Forgael.                      Until your lips
    Have called me their beloved, I’ll not kiss them.
Dectora. My husband and my king died at my feet,
    And yet you talk of love.
Forgael.                      The movement of time
    Is shaken in these seas, and what one does
    One moment has no might upon the moment
    That follows after.
Dectora.                      I understand you now.
    You have a Druid craft of wicked sound
    Wrung from the cold women of the sea—
    A magic that can call a demon up,
    Until my body give you kiss for kiss.
Forgael. Your soul shall give the kiss.
Dectora.                      I am not afraid,
    While there’s a rope to run into a noose
    Or wave to drown. But I have done with words,
    And I would have you look into my face
    And know that it is fearless.
Forgael.                      Do what you will,
    For neither I nor you can break a mesh
    Of the great golden net that is about us.
Dectora. There’s nothing in the world that’s worth a fear.
[She passes Forgael and stands for a moment looking into his face.]
    I have good reason for that thought.
[She runs suddenly on to the raised part of the poop.]
And now
    I can put fear away as a queen should.
[She mounts on to the bulwark and turns towards Forgael.]
    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.

  By PanEris using Melati.

Previous chapter/page Back Home Email this Search Discuss Bookmark Next chapter/page
Copyright: All texts on Bibliomania are © Bibliomania.com Ltd, and may not be reproduced in any form without our written permission. See our FAQ for more details.