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_ ACT V - SCENE II
[A room in Kirklee Priory. A window on the right overlooks a cloister leading up to the chapel door. The forest is seen in the distance, the sun beginning to set behind it. The PRIORESS and a NOVICE are sitting in a window-seat engaged in broidery work.]
NOVICE.
He must be a good man--this Robin Hood!
I long to see him. Father used to say
England had known none like him since the days
Of Hereward the Wake.
PRIORESS.
He will be here
By vespers. You shall let him in. Who's that?
Can that be he? It is not sundown yet.
See who is there.
[Exit NOVICE. She returns excitedly.]
NOVICE.
A lady asks to see you!
She is robed like any nun and yet she spoke
Like a great lady--one that is used to rule
More than obey; and on her breast I saw
A ruby smouldering like a secret fire
Beneath her cloak. She bade me say she came
On Robin Hood's behest.
PRIORESS.
What? Bring her in
Quickly.
[Exit NOVICE and returns with QUEEN ELINOR in a nun's
garb. At the sign from the PRIORESS the NOVICE retires.]
ELINOR.
Madam, I come to beg a favour.
I am a friend of Robin Hood. I have heard--
One of his Foresters, this very noon
Brought me the news--that he is sorely wounded;
And purposes to seek your kindly help
At Kirklee Priory.
PRIORESS.
Oh, then indeed,
You must be a great friend, for this was kept
Most secret from all others.
ELINOR.
A great friend!
He was my page some fifteen years ago,
And all his life I have watched over him
As if he were my son! I have come to beg
A favour--let me see him when he comes.
My husband was a soldier, and I am skilled
In wounds. In Palestine I saved his life
When every leech despaired of it, a wound
Caused by a poisoned arrow.
PRIORESS.
You shall see him.
I have some skill myself in balms and simples,
But, in these deadlier matters I would fain
Trust to your wider knowledge.
ELINOR.
Let me see him alone;
Alone, you understand. His mind is fevered.
I have an influence over him. Do not say
That I am here, or aught that will excite him.
Better say nothing--lead him gently in,
And leave him. In my hands he is like a child.
PRIORESS.
It shall be done. I see you are subtly versed
In the poor workings of our mortal minds.
ELINOR.
I learnt much from a wise old Eastern leech
When I was out in Palestine.
PRIORESS.
I have heard
They have great powers and magic remedies;
They can restore youth to the withered frame.
ELINOR.
There is only one thing that they cannot do.
PRIORESS.
And what?
ELINOR.
They cannot raise the dead.
PRIORESS.
Ah, no;
I am most glad to hear you say it, most glad
To know we think alike. That is most true--
Yes--yes--most true; for God alone, dear friend,
Can raise the dead!
[A bell begins tolling slowly.]
The bell for even-song!
You have not long to wait.
[Shadowy figures of nuns pass the windows
and enter the chapel. The sunset deepens.]
Will you not pray
With me?
[The PRIORESS and QUEEN ELINOR kneel down together
before a little shrine. Enter the NOVICE.]
NOVICE
There is a forester at the door.
Mother, I think 'tis he!
PRIORESS.
[Rising.]
Admit him, then.
ELINOR.
Leave me: I will keep praying till he comes.
PRIORESS.
You are trembling! You are not afraid?
ELINOR.
[With eyes closed as in strenuous devotion.]
No; no;
Leave me, I am but praying!
[A chant swells up in the chapel. Exit PRIORESS. ELINOR
continues muttering as in prayer. Enter ROBIN HOOD,
steadying himself on his bow, weak and white. She
rises and passes between him and the door to confront
him.]
ELINOR.
Ah, Robin, you have come to me at last
For healing. Pretty Marian cannot help you
With all her kisses.
ROBIN HOOD.
[Staring at her wildly.]
You! I did not know
That you were here. I did not ask your help.
I must go--Marian!
[He tries to reach the door, but reels in a half faint on
the way. ELINOR supports him as he pauses, panting for breath.]
ELINOR.
Robin, your heart is hard,
Both to yourself and me. You cannot go,
Rejecting the small help which I can give
As if I were a leper. Ah, come back.
Are you so unforgiving? God forgives!
Did you not see me praying for your sake?
Think, if you think not of yourself, oh, think
Of Marian--can you leave her clinging arms
Yet, for the cold grave, Robin? I have risked
Much, life itself, to bring you help this day!
I have some skill in wounds.
[She holds him closer and brings her face
near to his own, looking into his eyes.]
Ah, do you know
How slowly, how insidiously this death
Creeps, coil by tightening coil, around a man,
When he is weak as you are? Do you know
How the last subtle coil slips round your throat
And the flat snake-like head lifts up and peers
With cruel eyes of cold, keen inquisition,
Rivetting your own, until the blunt mouth sucks
Your breath out with one long, slow, poisonous kiss?
ROBIN HOOD.
O God, that nightmare! Leave me! Let me go!
ELINOR.
You stare at me as if you saw that snake.
Ha! Ha! Your nerves are shaken; you are so weak!
You cannot go! What! Fainting? Ah, rest here
Upon this couch.
[She half supports, half thrusts him back to a couch,
in an alcove out of sight and draws a curtain. There is
a knock at the door.]
ELINOR.
Who's there?
PRIORESS.
Madam, I came
To know if I could help in anything.
ELINOR.
Nothing! His blood runs languidly. It needs
The pricking of a vein to make the heart
Beat, and the sluggish rivers flow. I have brought
A lance for it. I'll let a little blood.
Not over-much; enough, enough to set
The pulses throbbing.
PRIORESS.
Maid Marian came with him.
She waits without and asks--
ELINOR.
Let her not come
Near him till all is done. Let her not know
Anything, or the old fever will awake.
I'll lance his arm now!
[The PRIORESS closes the door. ELINOR goes into the
alcove. The chant from the chapel swells up again. QUEEN
ELINOR comes out of the alcove, white and trembling.
She speaks in a low whisper as she looks back.]
Now, trickle down, sweet blood. Grow white, fond lips
That have kissed Marian--yet, she shall not boast
You kissed her last; for I will have you wake
To the fierce memory of this kiss in heaven
Or burn with it in hell;
[She kneels down as if to kiss the face of ROBIN, within.
The chant from the chapel swells up more loudly. The door
slowly opens. MARIAN steals in. ELINOR rises and confronts
her.]
ELINOR.
[Laying a hand upon ROBIN'S bow beside her.]
Hush! Do not wake him!
MARIAN.
[In a low voice.]
What have you done with him?
ELINOR.
[As MARIAN advances towards the couch.]
He is asleep.
Hush! Not a step further! Stay where you are! His life
Hangs on a thread.
MARIAN.
Why do you stare upon me?
What have you done? What's this that trickles down--
[Stoops to the floor and leaps back with a scream.]
It is blood. You have killed him!
ELINOR.
[Seizes the bow and shoots. MARIAN falls.]
Follow him--down to hell.
King John will find you there.
[Exit. The scene grows dark.]
MARIAN.
[Lifts her head with a groan.]
I am dying, Robin!
O God, I cannot wake him! Robin! Robin!
Give me one word to take into the dark!
He will not wake! He will not wake! O God,
Help him!
[She falls back unconscious. SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF, a green
spray in his hand, opens the casement and stands for a
moment in the window against the last glow of sunset, then
enters and runs to the side of ROBIN.]
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF.
[Hurriedly.]
Awake, awake, Robin, awake!
The forest waits to help you! All the leaves
Are listening for your bugle. Ah, where is it?
Let but one echo sound and the wild flowers
Will break thro' these grey walls and the green sprays
Drag down these deadly towers. Wake, Robin, wake,
And let the forest drown the priest's grey song
With happy murmurs. Robin, the gates are open
For you and Marian! All I had to give
I have given to thrust them open, the dear gates
Of fairyland which I shall never pass
Again. I can no more, I am but a shadow,
Dying as mortals die! It is not I
That calls, not I, but Marian. Hear her voice!
Robin, awake!
O, master mine, farewell!
[Exit lingeringly through the casement.]
ROBIN.
[ROBIN is dimly seen in the mouth of the alcove.
He stretches out his hands blindly in the dark.]
Marian! Why do you call to me in dreams?
Why do you call me? I must go. What's this?
Help me, kind God, for I must say one word,
Only one word--good-bye--to Marian,
To Marian--Ah, too weak, too weak!
[He sees the dark body of MARIAN and
utters a cry, falling on his knees beside her.]
O God,
Marian! Marian!
My bugle! Ah, my bugle!
[He rises to his feet and, drowning the distant organ-music, he
blows a resounding forest-call. It is answered by several
in the forest. He falls on his knees by MARIAN and
takes her in his arms.]
O Marian, Marian, who hath used thee so?
MARIAN.
Robin, it is my death-wound. Ah, come close.
ROBIN.
Marian, Marian, what have they done to thee?
[The OUTLAWS are heard thundering at the gates with cries.]
OUTLAWS.
Robin! Robin! Robin! Break down the doors.
[The terrified nuns stream past the window, out of the chapel.
The OUTLAWS rush into the room. The scene still
darkens.]
SCARLET.
Robin and Marian!
LITTLE JOHN.
Christ, what devil's hand
Hath played the butcher here? Quick, hunt them down,
They passed out yonder. Let them not outlive
Our murdered king and queen.
REYNOLD GREENLEAF.
O Robin, Robin,
Who shot this bitter shaft into her breast?
[Several stoop and kneel by the two lovers.]
ROBIN HOOD.
Speak to me, Marian, speak to me, only speak!
Just one small word, one little loving word
Like those--do you remember?--you have breathed
So many a time and often, against my cheek,
Under the boughs of Sherwood, in the dark
At night, with nothing but the boughs and stars
Between us and the dear God up in heaven!
O God, why does a man's heart take so long
To break? It would break sooner if you spoke
A word to me, a word, one small kind word.
MARIAN.
Sweetheart!
ROBIN.
Sweetheart! You have broken it, broken it! Oh, kind,
Kind heart of Marian!
MARIAN.
Robin, come soon!
[Dies.]
ROBIN.
Soon, sweetheart! Oh, her sweet brave soul is gone!
Marian, I follow quickly!
SCARLET.
God, Kirklee
Shall burn for this!
LITTLE JOHN.
Kirklee shall burn for this!
O master, master, you shall be avenged!
ROBIN.
No; let me stand upright! Your hand, good Scarlet!
We have lived our lives and God be thanked we go
Together thro' this darkness. We shall wake,
Please God, together. It is growing darker!
I cannot see your faces. Give me my bow
Quickly into my hands, for my strength fails
And I must shoot one last shaft on the trail
Of yonder setting sun, never to reach it!
But where this last, last bolt of all my strength,
My hope, my love, shall fall, there bury us both,
Together, and tread the green turf over us!
The bow!
[SCARLET hands him his bow. He stands against the faint
glow of the window, draws the bow to full length, shoots
and falls back into the arms of LITTLE JOHN.]
LITTLE JOHN.
[Laying him down.]
Weep, England, for thine outlawed lover,
Dear Robin Hood, the poor man's friend, is dead.
[The scene becomes quite dark. Then out of the darkness, and as
if at a distance, the voice of SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF is
heard singing the fairy song of the first scene. The
fairy glade in Sherwood begins to be visible in the gloom
by the soft light of the ivory gates which are swinging
open once more among the ferns. As the scene grows
clearer the song of SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF grows more and
more triumphant and is gradually caught up by the
chorus of the fairy host within the woods.]
[Song of SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF.]
I
The Forest has conquered! The Forest has conquered!
The Forest has conquered!
The world begins again!
And O, the red of the roses,
And the rush of the healing rain!
II
The Forest has conquered! The Forest has conquered!
The Forest has conquered!
The Princess wakes from sleep;
For the soft green keys of the wood-land
Have opened her donjon-keep!
III
The Forest has conquered! The Forest has conquered!
The Forest has conquered!
Their grey walls hemmed us round;
But, under my greenwood oceans,
Their castles are trampled and drowned.
IV
The Forest has conquered! The Forest has conquered!
The Forest has conquered!
My green sprays climbed on high,
And the ivy laid hold on their turrets
And haled them down from the sky!
V
The Forest has conquered! The Forest has conquered!
The Forest has conquered!
They were strong! They are overthrown!
For the little soft hands of the wild-flowers
Have broken them, stone by stone.
VI
The Forest has conquered! The Forest has conquered!
The Forest has conquered!
Though Robin lie dead, lie dead,
And the green turf by Kirklee
Lie light over Marian's head,
VII
Green ferns on the crimson sky-line,
What bugle have you heard?
Was it only the peal of the blue-bells,
Was it only the call of a bird?
VIII
The Forest has conquered! The Forest has conquered!
The Forest has conquered!
The rose o'er the fortalice floats!
My nightingales chant in their chapels,
My lilies have bridged their moats!
IX
The Forest has conquered! The Forest has conquered!
The Forest has conquered!
King Death, in the light of the sun,
Shrinks like an elfin shadow!
His reign is over and done!
X
The hawthorn whitens the wood-land;
My lovers, awake, awake,
Shake off the grass-green coverlet,
Glide, bare-foot, thro' the brake!
XI
The Forest has conquered! The Forest has conquered!
The Forest has conquered!
And, under the great green boughs,
I have found out a place for my lovers,
I have built them a beautiful house.
XII
Green ferns in the dawn-red dew-fall,
This gift by my death I give,--
They shall wander immortal thro' Sherwood!
In my great green house they shall live!
XIII
The Forest has conquered! The Forest has conquered!
The Forest has conquered!
When the first wind blows from the South,
They shall meet by the Gates of Faerie!
She shall set her mouth to his mouth!
XIV
He shall gather her, fold her and keep her;
They shall pass thro' the Gates, they shall live!
For the Forest, the Forest has conquered!
This gift by my death I give!
XV
The Forest has conquered! The Forest has conquered!
The Forest has conquered!
The world awakes anew;
And O, the scent of the hawthorn,
And the drip of the healing dew!
[The song ceases. TITANIA and OBERON come out into the moon-lit glade.]
OBERON.
Yet one night more the gates of fairyland
Are opened by a mortal's kindly deed.
But Robin Hood and Marian now are driven
As we shall soon be driven, from the world
Of cruel mortals.
TITANIA.
Mortals call them dead;
Oberon, what is death?
OBERON.
Only a sleep.
But these may dream their happy dreams in death
Before they wake to that new lovely life
Beyond the shadows; for poor Shadow-of-a-Leaf
Has given them this by love's eternal law
Of sacrifice, and they shall enter in
To dream their lover's dream in fairyland.
TITANIA.
And Shadow-of-a-Leaf?
OBERON.
He cannot enter now.
The gates are closed against him.
TITANIA.
But is this
For ever?
OBERON.
We fairies have not known or heard
What waits for those who, like this wandering Fool,
Throw all away for love. But I have heard
There is a great King, out beyond the world,
Not Richard, who is dead, nor yet King John;
But a great King who one day will come home
Clothed with the clouds of heaven from His Crusade.
TITANIA.
The great King!
OBERON.
Hush, the poor dark mortals come!
[The crowd of serfs, old men, poor women, and children, begin
to enter as the fairy song swells up within the gates again.
ROBIN and MARIAN are led along by a crowd of fairies
at the end of the procession.]
TITANIA.
And there, see, there come Robin and his bride.
And the fairies lead them on, strewing their path
With ferns and moon-flowers. See, they have entered in!
[The last fairy vanishes thro' the gates.]
OBERON.
And we must follow, for the gates may close
For ever now. Hundreds of years may pass
Before another mortal gives his life
To help the poor and needy.
[OBERON and TITANIA follow hand in hand thro' the gates. They
begin to close. SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF steals wistfully
and hesitatingly across, as if to enter. They close
in his face. He goes up to them and leans against
them sobbing, a small green figure, looking like a
greenwood spray against their soft ivory glow. The
fairy music dies. He sinks to his knees and holds up
his hands. Immediately a voice is heard singing and
drawing nearer thro' the forest.]
[Song--drawing nearer.]
Knight on the narrow way,
Where wouldst thou ride?
"Onward," I heard him say,
"Love, to thy side!"
"Nay," sang a bird above,
"Stay, for I see
Death in the mask of love
Waiting for thee."
[Enter BLONDEL, leading a great white steed.
He stops and looks at the kneeling figure.]
BLONDEL.
Shadow-of-a-Leaf!
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF.
[Rising to his feet.]
Blondel!
BLONDEL.
I go to seek
My King!
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF.
[In passionate grief.]
The King is dead!
BLONDEL.
[In yet more passionate joy and triumph.]
The great King lives!
[Then more tenderly.]
Will you not come and look for Him with me?
[They go slowly together through the forest and are lost to sight. BLONDEL'S voice is heard singing the third stanza of the song in the distance, further and further away.]
"Death? What is Death?" he cried.
"I must ride on!"
[Curtain.]
[THE END]
[Alfred Noyes's Play: Sherwood] _
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