Poems

This hollow box remembers every footThat danced upon the level grass of the world,And will tell secrets if I whisper to it.

(Sings.)

Lift up the white knee;Hear what they sing,Those young dancersThat in a ringRaved but nowOf the hearts that brakeLong, long agoFor their sake.OONANew friends are sweet.ALEEL"But the dance changes.Lift up the gown,All that sorrowIs trodden down."OONAThe empty rattle-pate! Lean on this arm,That I can tell you is a christened arm,And not like some, if we are to judge by speech.But as you please. It is time I was forgot.Maybe it is not on this arm you slumberedWhen you were as helpless as a worm.ALEELStay with me till we come to your own house.CATHLEEN (sitting down)When I am rested I will need no help.ALEELI thought to have kept her from rememberingThe evil of the times for full ten minutes;But now when seven are out you come between.OONATalk on; what does it matter what you say,For you have not been christened?ALEELOld woman, old woman,You robbed her of three minutes peace of mind,And though you live unto a hundred years,And wash the feet of beggars and give alms,And climb Croaghpatrick, you shall not be pardoned.OONAHow does a man who never was baptizedKnow what Heaven pardons?ALEELYou are a sinful woman.OONAI care no more than if a pig had grunted.

(Enter CATHLEEN'S Steward.)

STEWARDI am not to blame, for I had locked the gate,The forester's to blame. The men climbed inAt the east corner where the elm-tree is.CATHLEENI do not understand you, who has climbed?STEWARDThen God be thanked, I am the first to tell you.I was afraid some other of the servants —Though I've been on the watch – had been the first,And mixed up truth and lies, your ladyship.CATHLEEN (rising)Has some misfortune happened?STEWARDYes, indeed.The forester that let the branches lieAgainst the wall's to blame for everything,For that is how the rogues got into the garden.CATHLEENI thought to have escaped misfortune here.Has any one been killed?STEWARDOh, no, not killed.They have stolen half a cart-load of green cabbage.CATHLEENBut maybe they were starving.STEWARDThat is certain.To rob or starve, that was the choice they had.CATHLEENA learned theologian has laid downThat starving men may take what's necessary,And yet be sinless.OONASinless and a thief!There should be broken bottles on the wall.CATHLEENAnd if it be a sin, while faith's unbrokenGod cannot help but pardon. There is no soulBut it's unlike all others in the world,Nor one but lifts a strangeness to God's loveTill that's grown infinite, and therefore noneWhose loss were less than irremediableAlthough it were the wickedest in the world.

(Enter TEIG and SHEMUS.)

STEWARDWhat are you running for? Pull off your cap,Do you not see who's there?SHEMUSI cannot wait.I am running to the world with the best newsThat has been brought it for a thousand years.STEWARDThen get your breath and speak.SHEMUSIf you'd my newsYou'd run as fast and be as out of breath.TEIGSuch news, we shall be carried on men's shoulders.SHEMUSThere's something every man has carried with himAnd thought no more about than if it wereA mouthful of the wind; and now it's grownA marketable thing!TEIGAnd yet it seemedAs useless as the paring of one's nails.SHEMUSWhat sets me laughing when I think of it,Is that a rogue who's lain in lousy straw,If he but sell it, may set up his coach.TEIG (laughing)There are two gentlemen who buy men's souls.CATHLEENO God!TEIGAnd maybe there's no soul at all.STEWARDThey're drunk or mad.TEIGLook at the price they give.

(Showing money.)

SHEMUS (tossing up money)"Go cry it all about the world," they said."Money for souls, good money for a soul."CATHLEENGive twice and thrice and twenty times their money,And get your souls again. I will pay all.SHEMUSNot we! not we! For souls – if there are souls —But keep the flesh out of its merriment.I shall be drunk and merry.TEIGCome, let's away.

(He goes.)

CATHLEENBut there's a world to come.SHEMUSAnd if there is,I'd rather trust myself into the handsThat can pay money down than to the handsThat have but shaken famine from the bag.

(He goes out R.)

(Lilting)

"There's money for a soul, sweet yellow money.There's money for men's souls, good money, money."CATHLEEN (to ALEEL)Go call them here again, bring them by force,Beseech them, bribe, do anything you like;

(ALEEL goes.)

And you too follow, add your prayers to his.

(OONA, who has been praying, goes out.)

Steward, you know the secrets of my house.How much have I?STEWARDA hundred kegs of gold.CATHLEENHow much have I in castles?STEWARDAs much more.CATHLEENHow much have I in pasture?STEWARDAs much more.CATHLEENHow much have I in forests?STEWARDAs much more.CATHLEENKeeping this house alone, sell all I have,Go barter where you please, but come againWith herds of cattle and with ships of meal.STEWARDGod's blessing light upon your ladyship.You will have saved the land.CATHLEENMake no delay.

(He goes L.)

(ALEEL and OONA return)

CATHLEENThey have not come; speak quickly.ALEELOne drew his knifeAnd said that he would kill the man or womanThat stopped his way; and when I would have stopped himHe made this stroke at me; but it is nothing.CATHLEENYou shall be tended. From this day for everI'll have no joy or sorrow of my own.OONATheir eyes shone like the eyes of birds of prey.CATHLEENCome, follow me, for the earth burns my feetTill I have changed my house to such a refugeThat the old and ailing, and all weak of heart,May escape from beak and claw; all, all, shall comeTill the walls burst and the roof fall on us.From this day out I have nothing of my own.

(She goes.)

OONA (taking ALEEL by the arm and as she speaks bandaging his wound)She has found something now to put her hand to,And you and I are of no more accountThan flies upon a window-pane in the winter.

(They go out.)

END OF SCENE II

SCENE III

Scene. —Hall in the house of Countess Cathleen. At the Left an oratory with steps leading up to it. At the Right a tapestried wall, more or less repeating the form of the oratory, and a great chair with its back against the wall. In the Centre are two or more arches through which one can see dimly the trees of the garden. Cathleen is kneeling in front of the altar in the oratory; there is a hanging lighted lamp over the altar. Aleel enters.

ALEELI have come to bid you leave this castle and flyOut of these woods.CATHLEENWhat evil is there hereThat is not everywhere from this to the sea?ALEELThey who have sent me walk invisible.CATHLEENSo it is true what I have heard men say,That you have seen and heard what others cannot.ALEELI was asleep in my bed, and while I sleptMy dream became a fire; and in the fireOne walked and he had birds about his head.CATHLEENI have heard that one of the old gods walked so.ALEELIt may be that he is angelical;And, lady, he bids me call you from these woods.And you must bring but your old foster-mother,And some few serving men, and live in the hills,Among the sounds of music and the lightOf waters, till the evil days are done.For here some terrible death is waiting you,Some unimagined evil, some great darknessThat fable has not dreamt of, nor sun nor moonScattered.CATHLEENNo, not angelical.ALEELThis houseYou are to leave with some old trusty man,And bid him shelter all that starve or wanderWhile there is food and house room.CATHLEENHe bids me goWhere none of mortal creatures but the swanDabbles, and there you would pluck the harp, when the treesHad made a heavy shadow about our door,And talk among the rustling of the reeds,When night hunted the foolish sun awayWith stillness and pale tapers. No – no – no!I cannot. Although I weep, I do not weepBecause that life would be most happy, and hereI find no way, no end. Nor do I weepBecause I had longed to look upon your face,But that a night of prayer has made me weary.ALEEL (prostrating himself before her)Let Him that made mankind, the angels and devilsAnd dearth and plenty, mend what He has made,For when we labour in vain and eye still seesHeart breaks in vain.CATHLEENHow would that quiet end?ALEELHow but in healing?CATHLEENYou have seen my tearsAnd I can see your hand shake on the floor.ALEEL (faltering)I thought but of healing. He was angelical.CATHLEEN (turning away from him)No, not angelical, but of the old gods,Who wander about the world to waken the heart —The passionate, proud heart – that all the angels,Leaving nine heavens empty, would rock to sleep.

(She goes to chapel door; ALEEL holds his clasped hands towards her for a moment hesitatingly, and then lets them fall beside him.)

CATHLEENDo not hold out to me beseeching hands.This heart shall never waken on earth. I have sworn,By her whose heart the seven sorrows have pierced,To pray before this altar until my heartHas grown to Heaven like a tree, and thereRustled its leaves, till Heaven has saved my people.ALEEL (who has risen)When one so great has spoken of love to oneSo little as I, though to deny him love,What can he but hold out beseeching hands,Then let them fall beside him, knowing how greatlyThey have overdared?

(He goes towards the door of the hall. The COUNTESS CATHLEEN takes a few steps towards him.)

CATHLEENIf the old tales are true,Queens have wed shepherds and kings beggar-maids;God's procreant waters flowing about your mindHave made you more than kings or queens; and not youBut I am the empty pitcher.ALEELBeing silent,I have said all, yet let me stay beside you.CATHLEENNo, no, not while my heart is shaken. No,But you shall hear wind cry and water cry,And curlew cry, and have the peace I longed for.ALEELGive me your hand to kiss.CATHLEENI kiss your forehead.And yet I send you from me. Do not speak;There have been women that bid men to robCrowns from the Country-under-Wave or applesUpon a dragon-guarded hill, and allThat they might sift men's hearts and wills,And trembled as they bid it, as I trembleThat lay a hard task on you, that you go,And silently, and do not turn your head;Goodbye; but do not turn your head and look;Above all else, I would not have you look.

(ALEEL goes.)

I never spoke to him of his wounded hand,And now he is gone. (She looks out.)I cannot see him, for all is dark outside.Would my imagination and my heartWere as little shaken as this holy flame!

(She goes slowly into the chapel. The distant sound of an alarm bell. The two MERCHANTS enter hurriedly.)

SECOND MERCHANTThey are ringing the alarm, and in a momentThey'll be upon us.FIRST MERCHANT (going to a door at the side)Here is the Treasury,You'd my commands to put them all to sleep.SECOND MERCHANTSome angel or else her prayers protected them.

(Goes into the Treasury and returns with bags of treasure. FIRST MERCHANT has been listening at the oratory door.)

FIRST MERCHANTShe has fallen asleep.

(SECOND MERCHANT goes out through one of the arches at the back and stands listening. The bags are at his feet.)

SECOND MERCHANTWe've all the treasure now,So let's away before they've tracked us out.FIRST MERCHANTI have a plan to win her.SECOND MERCHANTYou have time enoughIf you would kill her and bear off her soulBefore they are upon us with their prayers;They search the Western Tower.FIRST MERCHANTThat may not be.We cannot face the heavenly host in arms.Her soul must come to us of its own will,But being of the ninth and mightiest HellWhere all are kings, I have a plan to win it.Lady, we've news that's crying out for speech.

(CATHLEEN wakes and comes to door of chapel.)

CATHLEENWho calls?FIRST MERCHANTWe have brought news.CATHLEENWhat are you?FIRST MERCHANTWe are merchants, and we know the book of the worldBecause we have walked upon its leaves; and thereHave read of late matters that much concern you;And noticing the castle door stand open,Came in to find an ear.CATHLEENThe door stands open,That no one who is famished or afraid,Despair of help or of a welcome with it.But you have news, you say.FIRST MERCHANTWe saw a man,Heavy with sickness in the bog of Allen,Whom you had bid buy cattle. Near Fair HeadWe saw your grain ships lying all becalmedIn the dark night; and not less still than they,Burned all their mirrored lanthorns in the sea.CATHLEENMy thanks to God, to Mary and the angels,That I have money in my treasury,And can buy grain from those who have stored it upTo prosper on the hunger of the poor.But you've been far and know the signs of things,When will this famine end?FIRST MERCHANTDay copies day,And there's no sign of change, nor can it change,With the wheat withered and the cattle dead.CATHLEENAnd heard you of the demons who buy souls?FIRST MERCHANTThere are some men who hold they have wolves' heads,And say their limbs – dried by the infinite flame —Have all the speed of storms; others, again,Say they are gross and little; while a fewWill have it they seem much as mortals are,But tall and brown and travelled – like us, lady —Yet all agree a power is in their looksThat makes men bow, and flings a casting-netAbout their souls, and that all men would goAnd barter those poor vapours, were it notYou bribe them with the safety of your gold.CATHLEENPraise be to God, to Mary, and the angelsThat I am wealthy! Wherefore do they sell?FIRST MERCHANTAs we came in at the great door we sawYour porter sleeping in his niche – a soulToo little to be worth a hundred pence,And yet they buy it for a hundred crowns.But for a soul like yours, I heard them say,They would give five hundred thousand crowns and more.CATHLEENHow can a heap of crowns pay for a soul?Is the green grave so terrible a thing?FIRST MERCHANTSome sell because the money gleams, and someBecause they are in terror of the grave,And some because their neighbours sold before,And some because there is a kind of joyIn casting hope away, in losing joy,In ceasing all resistance, in at lastOpening one's arms to the eternal flames,In casting all sails out upon the wind;To this – full of the gaiety of the lost —Would all folk hurry if your gold were gone.CATHLEENThere is a something, Merchant, in your voiceThat makes me fear. When you were telling howA man may lose his soul and lose his GodYour eyes were lighted up, and when you toldHow my poor money serves the people, both —Merchants forgive me – seemed to smile.FIRST MERCHANTI laughTo think that all these people should be swungAs on a lady's shoe-string, – under themThe glowing leagues of never-ending flame.CATHLEENThere is a something in you that I fear;A something not of us; were you not bornIn some most distant corner of the world?

(The SECOND MERCHANT, who has been listening at the door, comes forward, and as he comes a sound of voices and feet is heard.)

SECOND MERCHANTAway now – they are in the passage – hurry,For they will know us, and freeze up our heartsWith Ave Marys, and burn all our skinWith holy water.FIRST MERCHANTFarewell; for we must rideMany a mile before the morning come;Our horses beat the ground impatiently.

(They go out. A number of PEASANTS enter by other door.)

FIRST PEASANTForgive us, lady, but we heard a noise.SECOND PEASANTWe sat by the fireside telling vanities.FIRST PEASANTWe heard a noise, but though we have searched the houseWe have found nobody.CATHLEENYou are too timid,For now you are safe from all the evil times,There is no evil that can find you here.OONA (entering hurriedly)Ochone! Ochone! The treasure room is broken in.The door stands open, and the gold is gone.

(PEASANTS raise a lamentable cry.)

CATHLEENBe silent. (The cry ceases.) Have you seen nobody?OONAOchone!That my good mistress should lose all this money.CATHLEENLet those among you – not too old to ride —Get horses and search all the country round,I'll give a farm to him who finds the thieves.

(A man with keys at his girdle has come in while she speaks. There is a general murmur of "The porter! the porter!")

PORTERDemons were here. I sat beside the doorIn my stone niche, and two owls passed me by,Whispering with human voices.OLD PEASANTGod forsakes us.CATHLEENOld man, old man, He never closed a doorUnless one opened. I am desolate,Because of a strange thought that's in my heart;But I have still my faith; therefore be silent;For surely He does not forsake the world,But stands before it modelling in the clayAnd moulding there His image. Age by ageThe clay wars with His fingers and pleads hardFor its old, heavy, dull and shapeless ease;But sometimes – though His hand is on it still —It moves awry and demon hordes are born.

(PEASANTS cross themselves.)

Yet leave me now, for I am desolate,I hear a whisper from beyond the thunder.

(She comes from the oratory door.)

Yet stay an instant. When we meet againI may have grown forgetful. Oona, takeThese two – the larder and the dairy keys.

(To the PORTER.)

But take you this. It opens the small roomOf herbs for medicine, of hellebore,Of vervain, monkshood, plantain, and self-heal.The book of cures is on the upper shelf.PORTERWhy do you do this, lady; did you seeYour coffin in a dream?CATHLEENAh, no, not that.But I have come to a strange thought. I have heardA sound of wailing in unnumbered hovels,And I must go down, down – I know not where —Pray for all men and women mad from famine;Pray, you good neighbours.

(The PEASANTS all kneel. COUNTESS CATHLEEN ascends the steps to the door of the oratory, and turning round stands there motionless for a little, and then cries in a loud voice:)

Mary, Queen of angels,And all you clouds on clouds of saints, farewell!END OF SCENE III

SCENE IV

Scene. —A wood near the Castle, as in Scene II. A group of PEASANTS pass.

FIRST PEASANTI have seen silver and copper, but not gold.SECOND PEASANTIt's yellow and it shines.FIRST PEASANTIt's beautiful.The most beautiful thing under the sun,That's what I've heard.THIRD PEASANTI have seen gold enough.FOURTH PEASANTI would not say that it's so beautiful.FIRST PEASANTBut doesn't a gold piece glitter like the sun?That's what my father, who'd seen better days,Told me when I was but a little boy —So high – so high, it's shining like the sun,Round and shining, that is what he said.SECOND PEASANTThere's nothing in the world it cannot buy.FIRST PEASANTThey've bags and bags of it.

(They go out. The two MERCHANTS follow silently. Then ALEEL passes over the stage singing.)

ALEELImpetuous heart be still, be still,Your sorrowful love can never be told,Cover it up with a lonely tune.He who could bend all things to His willHas covered the door of the infinite foldWith the pale stars and the wandering moon.END OF SCENE IV

SCENE V

Scene. —The house of SHEMUS RUA. There is an alcove at the back with curtains; in it a bed, and on the bed is the body of MARY with candles round it. The two MERCHANTS while they speak put a large book upon a table, arrange money, and so on.

FIRST MERCHANTThanks to that lie I told about her shipsAnd that about the herdsman lying sick,We shall be too much thronged with souls to-morrow.SECOND MERCHANTWhat has she in her coffers now but mice?FIRST MERCHANTWhen the night fell and I had shaped myselfInto the image of the man-headed owl,I hurried to the cliffs of Donegal,And saw with all their canvas full of windAnd rushing through the parti-coloured seaThose ships that bring the woman grain and meal.They're but three days from us.SECOND MERCHANTWhen the dew roseI hurried in like feathers to the east,And saw nine hundred oxen driven through MeathWith goads of iron. They're but three days from us.FIRST MERCHANTThree days for traffic.

(PEASANTS crowd in with TEIG and SHEMUS.)

SHEMUSCome in, come in, you are welcome.That is my wife. She mocked at my great masters,And would not deal with them. Now there she is;She does not even know she was a fool,So great a fool she was.TEIGShe would not eatOne crumb of bread bought with our master's money,But lived on nettles, dock, and dandelion.SHEMUSThere's nobody could put into her headThat Death is the worst thing can happen us.Though that sounds simple, for her tongue grew rankWith all the lies that she had heard in chapel.Draw to the curtain. (TEIG draws it.) You'll not play the foolWhile these good gentlemen are there to save you.SECOND MERCHANTSince the drought came they drift about in a throng,Like autumn leaves blown by the dreary winds.Come, deal – come, deal.FIRST MERCHANTWho will come deal with us?SHEMUSThey are out of spirit, sir, with lack of food,Save four or five. Here, sir, is one of these;The others will gain courage in good time.MIDDLE-AGED-MANI come to deal – if you give honest price.FIRST MERCHANT (reading in a book)"John Maher, a man of substance, with dull mind,And quiet senses and unventurous heart.The angels think him safe." Two hundred crowns,All for a soul, a little breath of wind.THE MANI ask three hundred crowns. You have read thereThat no mere lapse of days can make me yours.FIRST MERCHANTThere is something more writ here – "Often at nightHe is wakeful from a dread of growing poor,And thereon wonders if there's any manThat he could rob in safety."A PEASANTWho'd have thought it?And I was once alone with him at midnight.ANOTHER PEASANTI will not trust my mother after this.FIRST MERCHANTThere is this crack in you – two hundred crowns.A PEASANTThat's plenty for a rogue.ANOTHER PEASANTI'd give him nothing.SHEMUSYou'll get no more – so take what's offered you.

(A general murmur, during which the MIDDLE-AGED MAN takes money, and slips into background, where he sinks on to a seat.)

FIRST MERCHANTHas no one got a better soul than that?If only for the credit of your parishes,Traffic with us.A WOMANWhat will you give for mine?FIRST MERCHANT (reading in book)"Soft, handsome, and still young" – not much, I think."It's certain that the man she's married toKnows nothing of what's hidden in the jarBetween the hour-glass and the pepper-pot."THE WOMANThe scandalous book.FIRST MERCHANT"Nor how when he's awayAt the horse fair the hand that wrote what's hidWill tap three times upon the window-pane."THE WOMANAnd if there is a letter, that is no reasonWhy I should have less money than the others.FIRST MERCHANTYou're almost safe, I give you fifty crowns.

(She turns to go.)

A hundred, then.SHEMUSWoman, have sense – come, come.Is this a time to haggle at the price?There, take it up. There, there. That's right.

(She takes them and goes into the crowd.)

FIRST MERCHANTCome, deal, deal, deal. It is but for charityWe buy such souls at all; a thousand sinsMade them our Master's long before we came.

(ALEEL enters.)

ALEELHere, take my soul, for I am tired of it.I do not ask a price.SHEMUSNot ask a price?How can you sell your soul without a price?I would not listen to his broken wits;His love for Countess Cathleen has so crazed himHe hardly understands what he is saying.ALEELThe trouble that has come on Countess Cathleen,The sorrow that is in her wasted face,The burden in her eyes, have broke my wits,And yet I know I'd have you take my soul.FIRST MERCHANTWe cannot take your soul, for it is hers.ALEELNo, but you must. Seeing it cannot help herI have grown tired of it.FIRST MERCHANTBegone from me,I may not touch it.ALEELIs your power so small?And must I bear it with me all my days?May you be scorned and mocked!FIRST MERCHANTDrag him away.He troubles me.

(TEIG and SHEMUS lead ALEEL into the crowd.)

SECOND MERCHANTHis gaze has filled me, brother,With shaking and a dreadful fear.FIRST MERCHANTLean forwardAnd kiss the circlet where my Master's lipsWere pressed upon it when he sent us hither;You shall have peace once more.

(SECOND MERCHANT kisses the gold circlet that is about the head of the FIRST MERCHANT.)

I, too, grow weary,But there is something moving in my heartWhereby I know that what we seek the mostIs drawing near – our labour will soon end.Come, deal, deal, deal, deal, deal; are you all dumb?What, will you keep me from our ancient home,And from the eternal revelry?SECOND MERCHANTDeal, deal.SHEMUSThey say you beat the woman down too low.FIRST MERCHANTI offer this great price: a thousand crownsFor an old woman who was always ugly.

(An old PEASANT WOMAN comes forward, and he takes up a book and reads:)

There is but little set down here against her."She has stolen eggs and fowl when times were bad,But when the times grew better has confessed it;She never missed her chapel of a SundayAnd when she could, paid dues." Take up your money.OLD WOMANGod bless you, sir. (She screams.) Oh, sir, a pain went through me!FIRST MERCHANTThat name is like a fire to all damned souls.

(Murmur among the PEASANTS, who shrink back from her as she goes out.)