Locrine - A Tragedy [23]
dost not weep for fear lest evil men
Or that more evil woman--Guendolen
Didst thou not call her yesternight by name? -
Should put my father's might in arms to shame?
What is she so to levy shameful strife
Against my sire and thee?
ESTRILD.
His wife! his wife!
SABRINA.
Why, that art thou.
ESTRILD
Woe worth me!
SABRINA.
Nay, woe worth
Her wickedness! How may the heavens and earth
Endure her?
ESTRILD.
Heaven is fire, and earth a sword,
Against us.
SABRINA.
May the wife withstand her lord
And war upon him? Nay, no wife is she -
And no true mother thou to mock at me.
ESTRILD.
Yea, no true wife or mother, child, am I.
Yet, child, thou shouldst not say it--and bid me die.
SABRINA.
I bid thee live and laugh at wicked foes
Even as my sire and I do. What! 'God knows,'
Thou sayest, and yet art fearful? Is he not
Righteous, that we should fear to take the lot
Forth of his hand that deals it? And my sire,
Kind as the sun in heaven, and strong as fire,
Hath he not God upon his side and ours,
Even all the gods and stars and all their powers?
ESTRILD.
I know not. Fate at sight of thee should break
His covenant--doom grow gentle for thy sake.
SABRINA.
Wherefore?
ESTRILD.
Because thou knowest not wherefore. Child,
My days were darkened, and the ways were wild
Wherethrough my dark doom led me toward this end,
Ere I beheld thy sire, my lord, my friend,
My king, my stay, my saviour. Let thine hand
Lie still in mine. Thou canst not understand,
Yet would I tell thee somewhat. Ere I knew
If aught of evil or good were false or true,
If aught of life were worth our hope or fear,
There fell on me the fate that sets us here.
For in my father's kingdom oversea -
SABRINA.
Thou wast not born in Britain?
ESTRILD.
Woe is me,
No: happier hap had mine perchance been then.
SABRINA.
And was not I? Are these all stranger men?
ESTRILD.
Ay, wast thou, child--a Briton born: God give
Thy name the grace on British tongues to live!
SABRINA.
Is that so good a gift of God's--to die
And leave a name alive in memory? I
Would rather live this river's life, and be
Held of no less or more account than he.
Lo, how he lives and laughs! and hath no name,
Thou sayest--or one forgotten even of fame
That lives on poor men's lips and falters down
To nothing. But thy father? and his crown?
Did he less hate the coil of it than mine,
Or love thee less--nay, then he were not thine -
Than he, my sire, loves me?
ESTRILD.
And wilt thou hear
All? Child, my child, love born of love, more dear
Than very love was ever! Hearken then.
This plague, this fire, that hunts us--Guendolen -
Was wedded to thy sire ere I and he
Cast ever eyes on either. Woe is me!
Thou canst not dream, sweet, what my soul would say
And not affright thee.
SABRINA.
Thou affright me? Nay,
Mock not. This evil woman--when he knew
Thee, this my sweet good mother, wise and true -
He cast from him and hated.
ESTRILD.
Yea--and now
For that shall haply he and I and thou
Die.
SABRINA.
What is death? I never saw his face
That I should fear it.
ESTRILD.
Whether grief or grace
Or curse or blessing breathe from it, and give
Aught worse or better than the life we live,
I know no more than thou knowest; perchance,
Less. When we sleep, they say, or fall in trance,
We die awhile. Well spake thine innocent breath -
I THINK THERE IS NO DEATH BUT FEAR OF DEATH.
SABRINA.
Did I say this? but that was long ago -
Months. Now I know not--yet I think I know -
Whether I fear or fear not it. Hard by
Men fight even now--they strike and kill and die
Red-handed; nay, we hear the roar and see
The lightning of the battle: can it be
That what no soul of all these brave men fears
Should sound so fearful save in foolish ears?
But all this while I know not where it lay,
Thy father's kingdom.
ESTRILD.
Far from here away
It lies beyond the wide waste water's bound
That clasps with bitter waves this sweet land round.
Thou hast
Or that more evil woman--Guendolen
Didst thou not call her yesternight by name? -
Should put my father's might in arms to shame?
What is she so to levy shameful strife
Against my sire and thee?
ESTRILD.
His wife! his wife!
SABRINA.
Why, that art thou.
ESTRILD
Woe worth me!
SABRINA.
Nay, woe worth
Her wickedness! How may the heavens and earth
Endure her?
ESTRILD.
Heaven is fire, and earth a sword,
Against us.
SABRINA.
May the wife withstand her lord
And war upon him? Nay, no wife is she -
And no true mother thou to mock at me.
ESTRILD.
Yea, no true wife or mother, child, am I.
Yet, child, thou shouldst not say it--and bid me die.
SABRINA.
I bid thee live and laugh at wicked foes
Even as my sire and I do. What! 'God knows,'
Thou sayest, and yet art fearful? Is he not
Righteous, that we should fear to take the lot
Forth of his hand that deals it? And my sire,
Kind as the sun in heaven, and strong as fire,
Hath he not God upon his side and ours,
Even all the gods and stars and all their powers?
ESTRILD.
I know not. Fate at sight of thee should break
His covenant--doom grow gentle for thy sake.
SABRINA.
Wherefore?
ESTRILD.
Because thou knowest not wherefore. Child,
My days were darkened, and the ways were wild
Wherethrough my dark doom led me toward this end,
Ere I beheld thy sire, my lord, my friend,
My king, my stay, my saviour. Let thine hand
Lie still in mine. Thou canst not understand,
Yet would I tell thee somewhat. Ere I knew
If aught of evil or good were false or true,
If aught of life were worth our hope or fear,
There fell on me the fate that sets us here.
For in my father's kingdom oversea -
SABRINA.
Thou wast not born in Britain?
ESTRILD.
Woe is me,
No: happier hap had mine perchance been then.
SABRINA.
And was not I? Are these all stranger men?
ESTRILD.
Ay, wast thou, child--a Briton born: God give
Thy name the grace on British tongues to live!
SABRINA.
Is that so good a gift of God's--to die
And leave a name alive in memory? I
Would rather live this river's life, and be
Held of no less or more account than he.
Lo, how he lives and laughs! and hath no name,
Thou sayest--or one forgotten even of fame
That lives on poor men's lips and falters down
To nothing. But thy father? and his crown?
Did he less hate the coil of it than mine,
Or love thee less--nay, then he were not thine -
Than he, my sire, loves me?
ESTRILD.
And wilt thou hear
All? Child, my child, love born of love, more dear
Than very love was ever! Hearken then.
This plague, this fire, that hunts us--Guendolen -
Was wedded to thy sire ere I and he
Cast ever eyes on either. Woe is me!
Thou canst not dream, sweet, what my soul would say
And not affright thee.
SABRINA.
Thou affright me? Nay,
Mock not. This evil woman--when he knew
Thee, this my sweet good mother, wise and true -
He cast from him and hated.
ESTRILD.
Yea--and now
For that shall haply he and I and thou
Die.
SABRINA.
What is death? I never saw his face
That I should fear it.
ESTRILD.
Whether grief or grace
Or curse or blessing breathe from it, and give
Aught worse or better than the life we live,
I know no more than thou knowest; perchance,
Less. When we sleep, they say, or fall in trance,
We die awhile. Well spake thine innocent breath -
I THINK THERE IS NO DEATH BUT FEAR OF DEATH.
SABRINA.
Did I say this? but that was long ago -
Months. Now I know not--yet I think I know -
Whether I fear or fear not it. Hard by
Men fight even now--they strike and kill and die
Red-handed; nay, we hear the roar and see
The lightning of the battle: can it be
That what no soul of all these brave men fears
Should sound so fearful save in foolish ears?
But all this while I know not where it lay,
Thy father's kingdom.
ESTRILD.
Far from here away
It lies beyond the wide waste water's bound
That clasps with bitter waves this sweet land round.
Thou hast