The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William Butler Yeats. Volume 3 of 8. The Countess Cathleen. The Land of Heart's Desire. The Unicorn from the Stars

William Butler Yeats

The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William Butler Yeats, Vol. 3 (of 8) / The Countess Cathleen. The Land of Heart's Desire. The / Unicorn from the Stars

THE COUNTESS CATHLEEN

‘The sorrowful are dumb for thee.’

Lament of Morion Shehone for Miss Mary Bourke.

To Maud Gonne.

PERSONS IN THE PLAY

Shemus Rua, a peasant

Teig, his son

Aleel, a young bard

Maurteen, a gardener

The Countess Cathleen

Oona, her foster-mother

Maire, wife of Shemus Rua

Two Demons disguised as merchants

Musicians

Peasants, Servants, &c.

Angelical Beings, Spirits, and Faeries

The scene is laid in Ireland, and in old times

THE COUNTESS CATHLEEN

ACT I

The cottage of SHEMUS REA. The door into the open air is at right side of room. There is a window at one side of the door, and a little shrine of the Virgin Mother at the other. At the back is a door opening into a bedroom, and at the left side of the room a pantry door. A wood of oak, beech, hazel, and quicken is seen through the window half hidden in vapour and twilight. MAIRE watches TEIG, who fills a pot with water. He stops as if to listen, and spills some of the water.

MAIREYou are all thumbs.TEIGHear how the dog bays, mother,And how the gray hen flutters in the coop.Strange things are going up and down the land,These famine times: by Tubber-vanach crossroadsA woman met a man with ears spread out,And they moved up and down like wings of bats.MAIREShemus stays late.TEIGBy Carrick-orus churchyard,A herdsman met a man who had no mouth,Nor ears, nor eyes: his face a wall of flesh;He saw him plainly by the moon.MAIRE[Going over to the little shrine.]White Mary,Bring Shemus home out of the wicked woods;Save Shemus from the wolves; Shemus is daring;And save him from the demons of the woods,Who have crept out and wander on the roads,Deluding dim-eyed souls now newly dead,And those alive who have gone crazed with famine.Save him, White Mary Virgin.TEIGAnd but nowI thought I heard far-off tympans and harps.[Knocking at the door.MAIREShemus has come.TEIGMay he bring better foodThan the lean crow he brought us yesterday.

[MAIRE opens the door, and SHEMUS comes in with a dead wolf on his shoulder.

MAIREShemus, you are late home: you have been loungingAnd chattering with some one: you know wellHow the dreams trouble me, and how I pray,Yet you lie sweating on the hill from morn,Or linger at the crossways with all comers,Telling or gathering up calamity.SHEMUSYou would rail my head off. Here is a good dinner.[He throws the wolf on the table.A wolf is better than a carrion crow.I searched all day: the mice and rats and hedgehogsSeemed to be dead, and I could hardly hearA wing moving in all the famished woods,Though the dead leaves and clauber of four forestsCling to my footsole. I turned home but now,And saw, sniffing the floor in a bare cow-house,This young wolf here: the crossbow brought him down.MAIREPraise be the saints![After a pause.Why did the house dog bay?SHEMUSHe heard me coming and smelt food – what else?TEIGWe will not starve awhile.SHEMUSWhat food is within?TEIGThere is a bag half full of meal, a panHalf full of milk.SHEMUSAnd we have one old hen.TEIGThe bogwood were less hard.MAIREBefore you cameShe made a great noise in the hencoop, Shemus.What fluttered in the window?TEIGTwo horned owlsHave blinked and fluttered on the window sillFrom when the dog began to bay.SHEMUSHush, hush.

[He fits an arrow to the crossbow, and goes towards the door. A sudden burst of music without.

They are off again: ladies or gentlemenTravel in the woods with tympan and with harp.Teig, put the wolf upon the biggest hookAnd shut the door.

[TEIG goes into the cupboard with the wolf: returns and fastens the door behind him.

Sit on the creepy stoolAnd call up a whey face and a crying voice,And let your head be bowed upon your knees.[He opens the door of the cabin.Come in, your honours: a full score of eveningsThis threshold worn away by many a footHas been passed only by the snails and birdsAnd by our own poor hunger-shaken feet.

[The COUNTESS CATHLEEN, ALEEL, who carries a small square harp, OONA, and a little group of fantastically dressed musicians come in.

CATHLEENAre you so hungry?TEIG[From beside the fire.]Lady, I fell but now,And lay upon the threshold like a log.I have not tasted a crust for these four days.

[The COUNTESS CATHLEEN empties her purse on to the table.

CATHLEENHad I more money I would give it you,But we have passed by many cabins to-day;And if you come to-morrow to my houseYou shall have twice the sum. I am the ownerOf a long empty castle in these woods.MAIREThen you are Countess Cathleen: you and yoursAre ever welcome under my poor thatch.Will you sit down and warm you by the sods?CATHLEENWe must find out this castle in the woodBefore the chill o’ the night.[The musicians begin to tune their instruments.Do not blame me,Good woman, for the tympan and the harp:I was bid fly the terror of the timesAnd wrap me round with music and sweet songOr else pine to my grave. I have lost my way;Aleel, the poet, who should know these woods,Because we met him on their border but nowWandering and singing like the foam of the sea,Is so wrapped up in dreams of terrors to comeThat he can give no help.MAIRE[Going to the door with her.]You’re almost there.There is a trodden way among the hazelsThat brings your servants to their marketing.ALEELWhen we are gone draw to the door and the bolt,For, till we lost them half an hour ago,Two gray horned owls hooted above our headsOf terrors to come. Tympan and harp awake!For though the world drift from us like a sigh,Music is master of all under the moon;And play ‘The Wind that blows by Cummen Strand.’[Music.[Sings.]Impetuous heart, be still, be still:Your sorrowful love may 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.

[While he is singing the COUNTESS CATHLEEN, OONA, and the musicians go out.

ALEELShut to the door and shut the woods away,For, till they had vanished in the thick of the leaves,Two gray horned owls hooted above our heads.[He goes out.MAIRE[Bolting the door.]When wealthy and wise folk wander from their peaceAnd fear wood things, poor folk may draw the boltAnd pray before the fire.

[SHEMUS counts out the money, and rings a piece upon the table.

SHEMUSThe Mother of God,Hushed by the waving of the immortal wings,Has dropped in a doze and cannot hear the poor:I passed by Margaret Nolan’s; for nine daysHer mouth was green with dock and dandelion;And now they wake her.MAIREI will go the next;Our parents’ cabins bordered the same field.SHEMUSGod, and the Mother of God, have dropped asleep,For they are weary of the prayers and candles;But Satan pours the famine from his bag,And I am mindful to go pray to himTo cover all this table with red gold.Teig, will you dare me to it?TEIGNot I, father.MAIREO Shemus, hush, maybe your mind might prayIn spite o’ the mouth.SHEMUSTwo crowns and twenty pennies.MAIREIs yonder quicken wood?SHEMUS[Picking the bough from the table.]He swayed about,And so I tied him to a quicken boughAnd slung him from my shoulder.MAIRE[Taking the bough from him.]Shemus! Shemus!What, would you burn the blessed quicken wood?A spell to ward off demons and ill faeries.You know not what the owls were that peeped in,For evil wonders live in this old wood,And they can show in what shape please them best.And we have had no milk to leave of nightsTo keep our own good people kind to us.And Aleel, who has talked with the great Sidhe,Is full of terrors to come.[She lays the bough on a chair.SHEMUSI would eat my supperWith no less mirth if squatting by the hearthWere dulacaun or demon of the pitClawing its knees, its hoof among the ashes.

[He rings another piece of money. A sound of footsteps outside the door.

MAIREWho knows what evil you have brought to us?I fear the wood things, Shemus.[A knock at the door.Do not open.SHEMUSA crown and twenty pennies are not enoughTo stop the hole that lets the famine in.[The little shrine falls.MAIRELook! look!SHEMUS[Crushing it underfoot.]The Mother of God has dropped asleep,And all her household things have gone to wrack.MAIREO Mary, Mother of God, be pitiful!

[SHEMUS opens the door. TWO MERCHANTS stand without. They have bands of gold round their foreheads, and each carries a bag upon his shoulder.

FIRST MERCHANTHave you food here?SHEMUSFor those who can pay well.SECOND MERCHANTWe are rich merchants seeking merchandise.SHEMUSCome in, your honours.MAIRENo, do not come in:We have no food, not even for ourselves.FIRST MERCHANTThere is a wolf on the big hook in the cupboard.[They enter.SHEMUSForgive her: she is not used to quality,And is half crazed with being much alone.How did you know I had taken a young wolf?Fine wholesome food, though maybe somewhat strong.

[The SECOND MERCHANT sits down by the fire and begins rubbing his hands. The FIRST MERCHANT stands looking at the quicken bough on the chair.

FIRST MERCHANTI would rest here: the night is somewhat chilly,And my feet footsore going up and downFrom land to land and nation unto nation:The fire burns dimly; feed it with this bough.

[SHEMUS throws the bough into the fire. The FIRST MERCHANT sits down on the chair. The MERCHANTS’ chairs are on each side of the fire. The table is between them. Each lays his bag before him on the table. The night has closed in somewhat, and the main light comes from the fire.

MAIREWhat have you in the bags?SHEMUSDon’t mind her, sir:Women grow curious and feather-thoughtedThrough being in each other’s companyMore than is good for them.FIRST MERCHANTOur bags are fullOf golden pieces to buy merchandise.

[They pour gold pieces on to the table out of their bags. It is covered with the gold pieces. They shine in the firelight. MAIRE goes to the door of pantry, and watches the MERCHANTS, muttering to herself.

TEIGThese are great gentlemen.FIRST MERCHANT[Taking a stone bottle out of his bag.]Come to the fire,Here is the headiest wine you ever tasted.SECOND MERCHANTWine that can hush asleep the petty warOf good and evil, and awake insteadA scented flame flickering above that peaceThe bird of prey knows well in his deep heart.SHEMUS[Bringing drinking-cups.]I do not understand you, but your wineSets me athirst: its praise made your eyes lighten.I am thirsting for it.FIRST MERCHANTAy, come drink and drink,I bless all mortals who drink long and deep.My curse upon the salt-strewn road of monks.

[TEIG and SHEMUS sit down at the table and drink.]

TEIGYou must have seen rare sights and done rare things.FIRST MERCHANTWhat think you of the master whom we serve?SHEMUSI have grown weary of my days in the worldBecause I do not serve him.FIRST MERCHANTMore of thisWhen we have eaten, for we love right wellA merry meal, a warm and leaping fireAnd easy hearts.SHEMUSCome, Maire, and cook the wolf.MAIREI will not cook for you.SHEMUSMaire is mad.[TEIG and SHEMUS stand up and stagger about.SHEMUSThat wine is the suddenest wine man ever tasted.MAIREI will not cook for you: you are not human:Before you came two horned owls looked at us;The dog bayed, and the tongue of Shemus maddened.When you came in the Virgin’s blessed shrineFell from its nail, and when you sat down hereYou poured out wine as the wood sidheogs doWhen they’d entice a soul out of the world.Why did you come to us? Was not death near?FIRST MERCHANTWe are two merchants.MAIREIf you be not demons,Go and give alms among the starving poor,You seem more rich than any under the moon.FIRST MERCHANTIf we knew where to find deserving poor,We would give alms.MAIREThen ask of Father John.FIRST MERCHANTWe know the evils of mere charity,And have been planning out a wiser way.Let each man bring one piece of merchandise.MAIREAnd have the starving any merchandise?FIRST MERCHANTWe do but ask what each man has.MAIREMerchants,Their swine and cattle, fields and implements,Are sold and gone.FIRST MERCHANTThey have not sold all yet.MAIREWhat have they?FIRST MERCHANTThey have still their souls.

[MAIRE shrieks. He beckons to TEIG and SHEMUS.

Come hither.See you these little golden heaps? Each oneIs payment for a soul. From charityWe give so great a price for those poor flames.Say to all men we buy men’s souls – away.[They do not stir.This pile is for you and this one here for you.MAIREShemus and Teig, Teig —TEIGOut of the way.[SHEMUS and TEIG take the money.FIRST MERCHANTCry out at cross-roads and at chapel doorsAnd market-places that we buy men’s souls,Giving so great a price that men may liveIn mirth and ease until the famine ends.[TEIG and SHEMUS go out.MAIRE [kneeling]Destroyers of souls, may God destroy you quickly!FIRST MERCHANTNo curse can overthrow the immortal demons.MAIREYou shall at last dry like dry leaves, and hangNailed like dead vermin to the doors of God.FIRST MERCHANTYou shall be ours. This famine shall not cease.You shall eat grass, and dock, and dandelion,And fail till this stone threshold seem a wall,And when your hands can scarcely drag your bodyWe shall be near you.[To SECOND MERCHANT.Bring the meal out.

[The SECOND MERCHANT brings the bag of meal from the pantry.

Burn it.      [MAIRE faints.Now she has swooned, our faces go unscratched;Bring me the gray hen, too.

The SECOND MERCHANT goes out through the door and returns with the hen strangled. He flings it on the floor. While he is away the FIRST MERCHANT makes up the fire. The FIRST MERCHANT then fetches the pan of milk from the pantry, and spills it on the ground. He returns, and brings out the wolf, and throws it down by the hen.

These need much burning.This stool and this chair here will make good fuel.[He begins breaking the chair.My master will break up the sun and moonAnd quench the stars in the ancestral nightAnd overturn the thrones of God and the angels.

ACT II

A great hall in the castle of the COUNTESS CATHLEEN. There is a large window at the farther end, through which the forest is visible. The wall to the right juts out slightly, cutting off an angle of the room. A flight of stone steps leads up to a small arched door in the jutting wall. Through the door can be seen a little oratory. The hall is hung with ancient tapestry, representing the loves and wars and huntings of the Fenian and Red Branch heroes. There are doors to the right and left. On the left side OONA sits, as if asleep, beside a spinning-wheel. The COUNTESS CATHLEEN stands farther back and more to the right, close to a group of the musicians, still in their fantastic dresses, who are playing a merry tune.

CATHLEENBe silent, I am tired of tympan and harp,And tired of music that but cries ‘Sleep, sleep,’Till joy and sorrow and hope and terror are gone.[The COUNTESS CATHLEEN goes over to OONA.You were asleep?OONANo, child, I was but thinkingWhy you have grown so sad.CATHLEENThe famine frets me.OONAI have lived now near ninety winters, child,And I have known three things no doctor cures —Love, loneliness, and famine; nor found refugeOther than growing old and full of sleep.See you where Oisin and young Niamh rideWrapped in each other’s arms, and where the FeniansFollow their hounds along the fields of tapestry;How merry they lived once, yet men died then.Sit down by me, and I will chaunt the songAbout the Danaan nations in their rathsThat Aleel sang for you by the great doorBefore we lost him in the shadow of leaves.CATHLEENNo, sing the song he sang in the dim light,When we first found him in the shadow of leaves,About King Fergus in his brazen carDriving with troops of dancers through the woods.

[She crouches down on the floor, and lays her head on OONA’S knees.

OONADear heart, make a soft cradle of old tales,And songs, and music: wherefore should you saddenFor wrongs you cannot hinder? The great GodSmiling condemns the lost: be mirthful: HeBids youth be merry and old age be wise.CATHLEENTympan and harp awaken wandering dreams.A VOICE [without]You may not see the Countess.ANOTHER VOICEI must see her.

[Sound of a short struggle. A SERVANT enters from door to R.

SERVANTThe gardener is resolved to speak with you.I cannot stay him.CATHLEENYou may come, Maurteen.

[The GARDENER, an old man, comes in from the R., and the SERVANT goes out.

GARDENERForgive my working clothes and the dirt on me.I bring ill words, your ladyship, – too badTo send with any other.CATHLEENThese bad times,Can any news be bad or any good?GARDENERA crowd of ugly lean-faced rogues last night —And may God curse them! – climbed the garden wall.There is scarce an apple now on twenty trees,And my asparagus and strawberry bedsAre trampled into clauber, and the boughsOf peach and plum-trees broken and torn downFor some last fruit that hung there. My dog, too,My old blind Simon, him who had no tail,They murdered – God’s red anger seize them!CATHLEENI know how pears and all the tribe of applesAre daily in your love – how this ill chanceIs sudden doomsday fallen on your year;So do not say no matter. I but sayI blame the famished season, and not you.Then be not troubled.GARDENERI thank your ladyship.CATHLEENWhat rumours and what portents of the famine?GARDENERThe yellow vapour, in whose folds it came,That creeps along the hedges at nightfall,Rots all the heart out of my cabbages.I pray against it.[He goes towards the door, then pauses.If her ladyshipWould give me an old crossbow, I would watchBehind a bush and guard the pears of nightsAnd make a hole in somebody I know of.CATHLEENThey will give you a long draught of ale below.[The GARDENER goes out.OONAWhat did he say? – he stood on my deaf side.CATHLEENHis apples are all stolen. Pruning time,And the slow ripening of his pears and apples,For him is a long, heart-moving history.OONANow lay your head once more upon my knees.I will sing how Fergus drove his brazen cars.[She chaunts with the thin voice of age.Who will go drive with Fergus now,And pierce the deep woods’ woven shade,And dance upon the level shore?Young man, lift up your russet brow,And lift your tender eyelids, maid,And brood on hopes and fears no more.You have dropped down again into your trouble.You do not hear me.CATHLEENAh, sing on, old Oona,I hear the horn of Fergus in my heart.OONAI do not know the meaning of the song.I am too old.CATHLEENThe horn is calling, calling.OONAAnd no more turn aside and broodUpon Love’s bitter mystery;For Fergus rules the brazen cars,And rules the shadows of the wood,And the white breast of the dim seaAnd all dishevelled wandering stars.THE SERVANT’S VOICE [without]The Countess Cathleen must not be disturbed.ANOTHER VOICEMan, I must see her.CATHLEENWho now wants me, Paudeen?SERVANT [from the door]A herdsman and his history.CATHLEENHe may come.[The HERDSMAN enters from the door to R.HERDSMANForgive this dusty gear: I have come far.My sheep were taken from the fold last night.You will be angry: I am not to blame.But blame these robbing times.CATHLEENNo blame’s with you.I blame the famine.HERDSMANKneeling, I give thanks.When gazing on your face, the poorest, Lady,Forget their poverty, the rich their care.CATHLEENWhat rumours and what portents of the famine?HERDSMANAs I came down the lane by Tubber-vanachA boy and man sat cross-legged on two stones,With moving hands and faces famine-thin,Gabbling to crowds of men and wives and boysOf how two merchants at a house in the woodsBuy souls for hell, giving so great a priceThat men may live through all the dearth in plenty.The vales are famine-crazy – I am right gladMy home is on the mountain near to God.[He turns to go.CATHLEENThey will give you ale and meat before you go.You must have risen at dawn to come so far.Keep your bare mountain – let the world drift by,The burden of its wrongs rests not on you.HERDSMANI am content to serve your ladyship.[He goes.OONAWhat did he say? – he stood on my deaf side.He seemed to give you word of woful things.CATHLEENA story born out of the dreaming eyesAnd crazy brain and credulous ears of famine.O, I am sadder than an old air, Oona,My heart is longing for a deeper peaceThan Fergus found amid his brazen cars:Would that like Edain my first forebear’s daughter,Who followed once a twilight’s piercing tune,I could go down and dwell among the SidheIn their old ever-busy honeyed land.OONAYou should not say such things – they bring ill-luck.CATHLEENThe image of young Edain on the arras,Walking along, one finger lifted up;And that wild song of the unending danceOf the dim Danaan nations in their raths,Young Aleel sang for me by the great door,Before we lost him in the shadow of leaves,Have filled me full of all these wicked words.

[The SERVANT enters hastily, followed by three men. Two are peasants.

SERVANTThe steward of the castle brings two menTo talk with you.STEWARDAnd tell the strangest storyThe mouth of man has uttered.CATHLEENMore food taken;Yet learned theologians have laid downThat he who has no food, offending no way,May take his meat and bread from too-full larders.FIRST PEASANTWe come to make amends for robbery.I stole five hundred apples from your trees,And laid them in a hole; and my friend hereLast night stole two large mountain sheep of yoursAnd hung them on a beam under his thatch.SECOND PEASANTHis words are true.FIRST PEASANTSince then our luck has changed.As I came down the lane by Tubber-vanachI fell on Shemus Rua and his son,And they led me where two great gentlemenBuy souls for money, and they bought my soul.I told my friend here – my friend also trafficked.SECOND PEASANTHis words are true.FIRST PEASANTNow people throng to sell,Noisy as seagulls tearing a dead fish.There soon will be no man or woman’s soulUnbargained for in fivescore baronies.SECOND PEASANTHis words are true.FIRST PEASANTWhen we had sold we talked,And having no more comfortable lifeThan this that makes us warm – our souls being barteredFor all this money —SECOND PEASANTAnd this money here.

[They bring handfuls of money from their pockets. CATHLEEN starts up.

FIRST PEASANTAnd fearing much to hang for robbery,We come to pay you for the sheep and fruit.How do you price them?CATHLEENGather up your money.Think you that I would touch the demons’ gold?Begone, give twice, thrice, twenty times their money,And buy your souls again. I will pay all.FIRST PEASANTWe will not buy our souls again: a soulBut keeps the flesh out of its merriment.We shall be merry and drunk from moon to moon.Keep from our way. Let no one stop our way.[They go.CATHLEEN [to servant]Follow and bring them here again – beseech them.[The SERVANT goes.[To STEWARD.]Steward, you know the secrets of this house.How much have I in gold?STEWARDA hundred thousand.CATHLEENHow much have I in castles?STEWARDAs much more.CATHLEENHow much have I in pastures?STEWARDAs much more.CATHLEENHow much have I in forests?STEWARDAs much more.CATHLEENKeeping this house alone, sell all I have;Go to some distant country and come againWith many herds of cows and ships of grain.STEWARDGod’s blessing light upon your ladyship;You will have saved the land.CATHLEENMake no delay.[He goes.[Enter SERVANT.]How did you thrive? Say quickly. You are pale.SERVANTTheir eyes burn like the eyes of birds of prey:I did not dare go near.CATHLEENGod pity them!Bring all the old and ailing to this house,For I will have no sorrow of my ownFrom this day onward.

[The SERVANT goes out. Some of the musicians follow him, some linger in the doorway. The COUNTESS CATHLEEN kneels beside OONA.

Can you tell me, mother,How I may mend the times, how staunch this woundThat bleeds in the earth, how overturn the famine,How drive these demons to their darkness again?OONAThe demons hold our hearts between their hands,For the apple is in our blood, and though heart breakThere is no medicine but Michael’s trump.Till it has ended parting and old ageAnd hail and rain and famine and foolish laughter;The dead are happy, the dust is in their ears.