Collected Plays and Stories

 

CONTENTS

 

Pre-content

 

PLAYS

THE VIZIERS OF BASSORA

 

Rodogune

Act One

Act Two

Act Three

Act Four

Act Five

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE III

SCENE I

SCENE II  

SCENE III

SCENE IV

SCENE V

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE III

 

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE III

SCENE IV

SCENE V

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE III

SCENE IV

 

 

Perseus the Deliverer

Act One

Act Two

Act Three

Act Four

Act Five

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE III

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE III

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE III

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE III

SCENE IV

SCENE V

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE III

 

Eric

Act One

Act Two

Act Three

Act Four

Act Five

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE III

SCENE IV

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE I

 

Vasavadutta

 

Incomplete and Fragmentary Plays

The Witch of Ilni

Act One

 

Act Two

 

Act Three

SCENE I

SCENE II

 

SCENE I

 

 SCENE I

SCENE II

 

The House of Brut

Act  twO

 

SCENE I

 

The Maid in the Mill

Act One

 

 

 

Act Two

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE Iii

SCENE Iv

SCENE v

 

 

 

SCENE I

 

The Prince of Edur

The Prince of Mathura

Act  One

SCENE I

 

The Birth of Sin

Act ONE

 

Fragment of a Play

Act  One

SCENE I

 

STORIES

Occult Idylls

The Phantom Hour

 The Door at Abelard

 

Incomplete and Fragmentary Stories

Fictional Jottings

Fragment of a Story

The Devil's Mastiff

The Golden Bird

 

 

Act V

 

Eric's Palace.

 

Scene 1

 

ERIC

Not by love only, but by force and love.

This man must lower his fierceness to the fierce,

He must be beggared of the thing left, his pride,

And know himself for clay, before he will consent

To value my gift. He would not honour nor revere

This unfamiliar movement of my soul

But would contemn and think my seated strength

Had changed to trembling. Strike the audience-bell,

Harald. The master of my stars is he

Who owns no master. Odin, what is this play,

Thou playest with thy world, of fall and rise,

Of death, birth, greatness, ruin? The time may come

When Eric shall not be remembered! Yes,

But there's a script, there are archives that endure.

Before a throne in some superior world

Bards with undying lips and eyes still young

After the ages sing of all the past

And the immortal Children hear. Somewhere

In this gigantic world of which one grain of dust

Is all our field, Eternal Memory keeps

Our great things and our trivial equally

To whom the peasant's moans above his dead

Are tragic as a prince's fall. Some say

Atomic Chance put Eric here, Swegn there,

Aslaug between. O you revealing Gods,

 

Page – 603


But I have seen myself and know though veiled

The immortality that thinks in me,

That plans and reasons. Masters of Norway, hail!

For all are masters here, not I alone

Who am my country's brain of unity,

Your oneness. Swegn's at last in Norway's hands,

Who shook our fates. And what shall Norway do with Swegn,

One of her mightiest?

 

GUNTHAR

If his might submits

Then, Eric, let him live. We cannot brook

These discords always.

 

ERIC

Norway cannot brook.

Therefore he must submit. Bring him within.

We'll see if this strong iron can be bent,

This crudeness bear the fire. Swegn Olafson,

Hast thou considered yet thy state? hast thou

Submitted to the gods; or must we, Swegn,

Consider now thy sentence?

 

SWEGN

I have seen

My dire misfortunes, I have seen myself

And know that I am greater. Do thy will,

Since what the son of Yarislaf commands,

The son of Olaf bears!

 

ERIC

Thou wilt not yield?

 

SWEGN

My father taught me not the word.

Page – 604


ERIC

Shall I?

Thou hast forgotten, Swegn, thy desperate words.

Or were they meant only for the free snows,

And here retracted?

 

SWEGN

Son of Yarislaf, they stand.

I claim the cross I would have nailed thee on,

I claim the flayer's knife.

 

ERIC

These for thyself.

And for thy wife and sister, Swegn?

 

SWEGN

Alas!

 

ERIC

I think thy father taught thee not that word,

But I have taught thee. Since thou lovest yet, —

No man who says that he will stand alone,

Swegn, can afford to love, —  thou then art mine

Inevitably. He must be half a god

Who can oppose Thor's anger, Odin's will

Nor dream of breaking. Such the gods delight in,

Raising or smiting; such in the gods delight,

Raised up or smitten. But thou wast always man

And canst not now be more. Thou vauntst thy blood,

Thy strength? Thou art much stronger, so thou sayst,

Than thy misfortunes. Art thou stronger, Swegn,

Than theirs? Can all thy haughty pride of race

Or thy heart's mightiness undo my will

In whose strong hands they lie? Swegn Olafson,

The gods are mightier than thy race and blood,

The gods are mightier than thy arrogant heart.

They will not have one violent man oppose

 

Page – 605


His egoism, his pride and his desire

Against a country's fate. Use then thy eyes

And learn thy strength.

At a sign of his hand Aslaug and

Hertha are brought in.

Thou hast no strength,

For thou and these are only Eric's slaves

Who have been his stubborn hinderers. Therefore Fate,

Whose favourite and brother I have grown,

Turned wroth with you and dragged you all into my grasp.

I will that you should live and yield. These yield,

But thou withstandest wisdom, Fate and love

Allied against thee. Swegn Olafson, submit,

Stand by my side and share thy father's throne.

 

SWEGN (after a silence)

Yes, thou art fierce and subtle! Let them pronounce

My duty's preference if not my heart's,

To them or Right.

 

ERIC

O narrow obstinate heart!

Had this been for thy country or a cause

Men worship, then it would indeed have been

A noble blindness, but thou serv'st thy pride,

Swegn, son of Olaf, not the noble cause

Of God or man or country. Look now on these.

I give thee the selection of their fate.

If these remain my slaves, an upstart's, Swegn,

Who yet are Olaf's blood and Norway's pride,

I swear 'tis thou that mak'st them so. Now choose.

(Swegn is silent)

How sayst thou,

Swegn Olafson, shall these be Eric's thralls?

Wilt thou abide by their pronouncement, Swegn?

Aslaug and Hertha, see your brother and lord,

This mighty captive, royal once, now fallen

Page – 606


And helpless in my hands. I wish to spare

His mightiness, his race, his royal heart;

But he prefers the cross instead, prefers

Your shame —  thy brother, Aslaug, —  Hertha, he.

Thy spouse consents to utmost shame for both

If from the ages he can buy this word,

"Swegn still was stubborn." That to him is all.

He who forgot to value Norway's will,

Forgets to value now your pride, your love.

This was not royal, nor like Olaf's son!

Come, will you speak to him, will you persuade?

Walk there aside awhile; aim at his heart.

Hertha, my subject, Aslaug, thou my thrall,

Save, if he will, this life.

 

SWEGN

'Tis thus we meet, —

Were not the snows of Norway preferable,

Daughter of Olaf?

 

ASLAUG

They were high, but cold.

 

HERTHA

Wilt thou not speak to Hertha, Swegn, my lord?

 

SWEGN

Hertha, alas, thy crooked scheming brain

That brought us here.

 

HERTHA

The gods use instruments,

Not ask their counsel. O Swegn, accept the gods

And their decision.

 

ASLAUG

Must we live always cold?

 

Page – 607


O brother, cast the snows out of thy heart.

Let there be summer.

 

HERTHA

Yield, husband, to the sun.

There is no shame in yielding to the gods.

 

ASLAUG

Nor to a god, although his room be earth

And his body mortal.

 

SWEGN

There was an Aslaug once

Whose speech had other grandeurs. Can it find

In all its sweet and lofty harmonies

The word or argument that can excuse thy fall,

O not to me, but to that worshipped self

Thou wast, my sister?

 

ASLAUG

I have no argument except my heart

Nor need excuse for what I glory in.

Brother, were we not always one? 'Tis strange

That I must reason with thee.

 

SWEGN

O, thou knewest.

Therefore I fell, therefore my strength is gone,

And where a god's magnificence lived once,

Here, here 'tis empty. O inconstant heart,

Thou wast my Fate, my courage, and at last

Thou hast gone over to my enemy,

Taking my Fate, my courage. I will hear

No words from such. Thou wouldst betray what's left,

Until not even Swegn is left to Swegn,

But only a coward's shadow.

Page – 608


HERTHA

Hear me, Swegn.

 

SWEGN

Ah, Hertha! what hast thou to say to me?

 

HERTHA

Save me, my lord, from my own punishment,

Forgetting my deserts.

 

SWEGN

Alas! thy love,

Though great, was never wise, and must it ask

So huge a recompense? Thou hadst myself.

Thou askst my honour.

 

ASLAUG

Will this persuade thee? I have nothing else.

 

SWEGN

Thou only and so only couldst prevail.

O thou hast overcome my strength at last.

King, thou hast conquered. Not to thee I yield,

But those I loved are thy allies. From these

Recall thy wrath and on my head pronounce

What doom thou wilt, though yielding is doom enough

For Swegn of Norway.

 

ERIC

Abjure rebellion then; receive my boons,

Receive my mercy.

 

SWEGN

Mercy. It is received.

Let all the world hear Olaf's son abjure

His birth and greatness. I accept —  accept!

King Eric's boons, King Eric's mercy. O torture!

 

Page – 609


The spirit of Olaf will no more sit still

Within me. O though thou slaughter these with pangs,

I will not yield. Take, take thy mercy back.

 

ERIC

I take it back. What wouldst thou in its stead?

 

SWEGN

Do what thou wilt with these and me. I have done!

 

ERIC

Thou castst thy die, thou weak and violent man, I will cast mine

And conquer.

 

SWEGN

I have endured the worst.

ERIC

Not so.

Thou thinkest I will help thee to thy death,

Allowing the blind grave to seal thy eyes

To all that I shall do to these. Learn, Swegn,

I am more cruel! Thou shalt live and see

On these my vengeance. Go, Aslaug, and return

Robed as thou wast upon the night thou knowest

Wearing thy dagger, wearing too thy ring.

 

SWEGN

What wilt thou do with her? God! what wilt thou do?

O wherefore have I seen and taken back love

Into a heart had shut itself to all

But death and greatness?

 

ERIC

I will inflict on them

What thou canst not endure to gaze upon —

Or if thou canst, then with that hardness live

Page – 610


For die thou shalt not. I have ways for that.

Thou thoughtst to take thy refuge in a grave

And let these bear thy punishment for thee,

Thy heart being spared. It was no valiant thought,

No worthy escape for Swegn. Aslaug and Hertha,

Remove your outer robes.

 

SWEGN

What must I see?

 

ERIC

As dancing-girls these women came to me.

As dancing-girls I keep them. Thou shalt see

Aslaug of Norway at her trade —  to dance

Before me and my courtiers. That begins,

There's more behind, unless thou change thy mood.

 

SWEGN

Thou knowest how to torture.

 

ERIC

And to break.

Aslaug re-enters.

Thou seest, Swegn. Shall I command the dance?

Shall this be the result of Olaf's house?

 

SWEGN

Daughter of Olaf, wilt thou then obey?

 

ASLAUG

Yes, since thou lov'st me not, my brother Swegn,

Whom else should I obey, save him I love?

If thou hadst loved me still, I should not need.

 

ERIC

Dance.

Page – 611


SWEGN

No. Stay, Aslaug. Since thou bad'st me love

Thee, not my glory, as indeed I must

To save the house of Olaf from this shame, —

Whose treacherous weakness works for him and thee, —

 

ERIC

Pause not again —  for pause is fatal now.

 

SWEGN

King, I have yielded, I accept thy boons.

Heir of a starveling Earl, I bow my head

Even to thy mercies. I am Olaf's son,

Yet yield —  that name remember, speak this word —

I shall be faithful to my own disgrace.

O fear not, King, I can be great again.

 

ERIC

Without conditions hast thou yielded?

 

SWEGN

No.

Let these be spared all shame —  for that I yield.

My honour has a price —  and O 'tis small.

 

ERIC

That's given. Without terms besides?

 

SWEGN

One prayer.

Give me a dungeon deep enough, O King,

To hide my face from all these eyes.

 

ERIC

Swear then,

Whatever prison I assign thee, be it wide

Or narrow, to observe its state, its bounds

Page – 612


And do even there my will.

 

SWEGN (with a gesture)

That too is sworn!

Let Thor and Odin witness to my oath.

 

ERIC

Four prisons I assign to Olaf's son.

Thy palace first in Trondhjem, Olaf's roof —

This house in Yara, Eric's court —  thy country

To whom thou yieldest, Norway —  and at last

My army's head when I invade the world.

 

SWEGN (amazed and doubtful)

Thou hast surprised me, Eric, with an oath

And circumvented.

 

ERIC

Hertha, to thy lord

Return unharmed —  thou seest thou wast safe

As in his dearest keeping. Take, Hertha,

Trondhjem with thee and Olaf's treasures; sit

The second in the land, beneath our throne.

 

SWEGN

Eric, enough. Have I not yielded? Here

Let thy boons rest.

 

ERIC

'Tis truth. For my next boon

Is to myself. Look not upon this hand

I clasp in mine, although the fairest hand

That God has made. Observe this ring instead

And recognise it.

 

GUNTHAR

It is Freya's ring

 

Page – 613


On Aslaug's hand; she who once wears it sits

Thenceforth on Norway's throne.

 

ERIC

Possess thy father's chair

Intended for thee always from the first,

Nor be amazed that in these dancing robes

I seat her here, for they increase its pomp

More than imperial purple. Think not, Swegn,

Thy sister shamed or false who came to me,

Spilling my blood and hers to give thee back thy crown,

A violent and mighty purpose such

As only noble hearts conceive; and only

She yielded to that noble heart at last

Because of Odin's pressure.

 

SWEGN

So they came.

Aslaug, thou soughtst my throne, but findst it thine.

I grudge it not to thee —  for thy great heart

Deserved it. Eric, thou hast won at last,

Now only.

 

ERIC

I could not shame thy sister, Swegn,

Save by my wife's disgrace, and this was none

But only a deceit to prove thy heart

And now thou seest thou couldst not have rebelled

Except by violence to Olaf's seed

That must again rule Norway.

 

SWEGN

Eric, for thy boons,

They hurt not now, take what return thou wilt,

For I am thine. Thou hast found out the way

To save from me thy future. It is secured

Even with my heart's strings.

Page – 614


ERIC

Swegn, I too have boons

To ask of thee.

 

SWEGN

Let them be difficult then,

If thou wouldst have me grant them.

 

ERIC

Swegn, excuse and love

Thy comrade Hardicnut, for he intended

A kind betrayal.

 

SWEGN

This is nothing, King.

His act my heart had come to understand

And it has pardoned.

 

ERIC

Forgive then Swegn, dearest,

Sigurd, thy foe, as I have pardoned first

My father's slaughterer. This thing is hard.

 

SWEGN

He's pardoned, not forgiven. Let him not come

Too often in my sight.

 

ERIC

The gods have won.

Let this embrace engulf our ended strife,

Brother of Aslaug.

 

SWEGN

Husband of my sister,

Thou assum'st our blood and it ennobles thee

To the height of thy great victories —  this thy last

And greatest. Thou hast dealt with me as a King,

Page – 615


Then as a brother. Thou adornst thy throne.

 

ERIC

Rest, brother, from thy hardships, toils and wars

Until I need the sword that matched with mine,

To smite my foemen.

Aslaug, what thinkst thou?

If thou art satisfied, all was well done.

 

ASLAUG

Thou hast the tyrant in thy nature still,

And so I love thee best, for then I recognise

My conqueror. O what canst thou do but well?

For in thy every act and word I see

The gods compel thee.

 

ERIC

O thou hast changed me with thy starry eyes,

Daughter of Olaf, and hast made me a man

Where was but height and iron; all my roots

Of action, mercy, greatness, enterprise,

Sit now transplanted to thy breast, O charm,

O noble marvel! From thy bosom my strength

Comes out to me. Mighty indeed is love,

Thou sangst of, Aslaug, once, the golden hoop

Mightier, swifter than the warrior's sword.

Dost thou remember what thou cam'st to do,

Aslaug, from Gothberg?

 

ASLAUG (wondering)

Only ten days ago

I came from Gothberg!

She turns with a laugh

and embraces Eric.

ERIC

The gods have spoken since and shown their hand.

Page – 616


They seal our eyes and drive us, but at last

Our souls remember when the act is done,

That it was fated. Aslaug, now for us

The world begins again, —  our world, beloved,

Since once more we —  who since the stars were formed

Playing the game of games by Odin's will

Have met and parted —  parted, meet again

For ever.

Page – 617