Star over Bethlehem - Agatha Christie [21]
Pierrot singing to the moon
“Alack is me!”
And his breaking
Heart is making,
Softly waking
Love unknown …
Harlequin! Go on alone.
I will lead a mortal life,
Toil and spin in poverty.
Come now, Sorrow, Pain and Strife,
And Pierrot’s love for me.
Pierrot singing to the moon
For love of me …
Ages welling
Find me dwelling,
Ne’er rebelling,
By his fire.
Harlequin! by my desire
I have won a soul at last.
I forget when I was free,
I forget the days long past
Ere Pierrot sang to me …
PULCINELLA
ONCE upon a time, they say,
(Listen how it chanced,)
Punchinello pulled the strings
And Pulcinella danced!
All the world’s a puppet show,
(Queen of Puppets, I!)
Silk and satin is my wear,
See my richly braided hair!
Bought and sold
For love of gold,
Queen of Puppets, I!
Long ago I had a heart, and sighed alas! alack!
(Pierrot, cease your singing, lest you bring remembrance back.)
Long ago I had a soul, innocent and wise,
(Columbine, oh, turn aside, I dare not meet your eyes.)
Long ago I laughed and danced, youthful on the green!
(Pierrette, stay your dancing, lest I mourn for what has been.)
For my heart is dead at last,
And my soul died in the past,
And my youth is dying fast …
Poor painted Pulcinella!
All the world’s a puppet show,
(I, the Puppet Queen!)
Love I scorned and passed it by,
Rainbow-tinted fragile tie,
Gold I sought,
And gold I bought,
I, the Puppet Queen!
Once upon a time, they say,
(Listen how it chanced,)
Punchinello pulled the string,
The olden string,
The golden string,
And Pulcinella danced!
THE SONG OF PIERROT BY THE HEARTH
COLUMBINE sits by my fire!
She is mine! She is mine!
Columbine!
Can a lover’s heart, then, never
Rest content, but must it ever
Still go caring, grieving, fearing …
Tremble with delight and dread
Lest some day I find her fled …?
Watch her, when the fire burns low,
Start up with a sudden cry!
(Well, I know what she is hearing,
Harlequin is passing by …)
Lightning flashes up above!
(Memories waken in her eyes,
Memories I do not know)
And the love-light slowly dies …
Harlequin can hold her so!
Harlequin has every art!
Pierrot but his longing heart …
And his song of love!
Courage, Pierrot, courage yet!
Up! and sing to her again,
All your passion and your pain …
She shall listen—listen yet—
She shall listen and forget
That Harlequin goes by …
I am Pierrot, simple Pierrot, singing
to the moon!
Loving, longing, craving, crying,
Ever fearing, ever sighing,
Through the night to noon.
Every lover hears my cry,
I go singing till I die,
For love of Columbine …
THE LAST SONG OF COLUMBINE
FIRE on the hills, and fire on the plain,
As a thousand years ago
A sudden breeze from a far-off strand,
Magic around me that once I knew
When side by side, and hand in hand,
Went Harlequin and Columbine,
A thousand years ago.
Memory wakes … and memory dies …
Magic around me that swiftly flies,
A breath on my cheek that I understand,
A sob and a cry, and a laugh sky-high!
It is Harlequin, Harlequin, passing by!
Harlequin passing by!
Oh! to be out and wandering free,
By hill and by plain, and by moonlit sea,
As once I went—ah! me—ah! me,
A thousand years ago!
Shatter the walls that hem me in!
Scatter the children before the door!
Let me go out and roam as before,
Out from the hearth and the firelit home
Into the starry night to roam,
As I roamed with Harlequin!
Fire on the hills, and fire on the plain,
(And Harlequin passing by),
The rustle of leaves by an unseen hand,
The lilt of a song, we sang, we two …
A stifled sob—and a touch on my hand …
And Harlequin