'IT WAS THE KING COME HOME FROM THE CRUSADE" — Page 133
SHERWOOD
OR
ROBIN HOOD AND THE
THREE KINGS
A Play in Five Acts
BY
ALFRED NOYES
ILLUSTRATED IN COLORS
BY SPENCER BAIRD NICHOLS
Sherwood, in the Twilight,
is Robin Hood Awake?"
NEW YORK
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
T
PR
0>c
Gg&s*
Copyright, 1911, by
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign
languages, including the Scandinavian.
September,
PERSONS OF THE DRAMA
ROBIN
LITTLE JOHN
FRIAR TUCK ....
WILL SCARLET . . .
REYNOLD GREENLEAF .
MUCH, THE MILLER'S
SON
ALAN-A-DALE
PRINCE JOHN.
KING RICHARD, Cceur de
Lion.
BLONDEL
OBERON
TITANIA »
PUCK
THE SHERIFF OF NOT-
TINGHAM.
FlTZ WALTER . . . .
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF .
ARTHUR PLANTAGENET .
QUEEN ELINOR . .
MARIAN FITZWALTER
JENNY ....
WIDOW SCARLET
PRIORESS OF KIRKLEE
Earl of Huntingdon, known
as "Robin Hood."
Outlaws and followers of
" Robin Hood."
King Richard's minstrel.
King of the Fairies.
Queen of the Fairies.
A Fairy.
Father of Marian, known as
" Maid Marian."
A Fool.
Nephew to Prince John, a
boy of about ten years of
age.
Mother of Prince John and
Richard Lion-heart.
Known as Maid Marian, be-
trothed to Robin Hood.
Maid to Marian.
Mother of Will Scarlet.
Fairies, merry men, serfs, peasants, mercenaries,
an abbot, a baron, a novice, nuns, courtiers,
soldiers, retainers, etc.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Robin Hood Cover
FACING
PAGE
" It was the King come home from the crusade "
Frontispiece
" What weary souls by grace of Robin Hood
This night shall enter Dreamland " . . . . - 20
" A happy bridegroom with the happy bride " . . 144
" He cannot enter now.
The gates are closed against him." 222
ACT I
ACT I
SCENE I. Night. The borders of the forest.
The smouldering embers of a Saxon home-
stead. The SHERIFF and his men are strug-
gling with a SERF.
SERF
No, no, not that! not that! If you should blind
me
God will repay you. Kill me out of hand !
[Enter PRINCE JOHN and several of his retainers.']
JOHN
Who is this night-jar?
[The retainers laugh.]
Surely, master Sheriff,
You should have cut its tongue out, first. Its cries
Tingle so hideously across the wood
They'll wake the King in Palestine. Small wonder,
That Robin Hood evades you.
SHERIFF
[To /&*SERF.]
Silence, dog,
Know you not better than to make this clamour
Before Prince John?
[3]
SHERWOOD
SERF
Prince John! It is Prince John!
For God's love save me, sir !
JOHN
Whose thrall is he?
SHERIFF
I know not, sir, but he was caught red-handed
Killing the king's deer. By the forest law
He should of rights be blinded; for, as you see,
[He indicates the SERF'S right hand.]
'Tis not his first deer at King Richard's cost.
JOHN
'Twill save you trouble if you say at mine.
SHERIFF
Ay, sir, I pray your pardon — at your cost !
His right hand lacks the thumb and arrow-finger,
And though he vows it was a falling tree
That crushed them, you may trust your Sheriff, sir,
It was the law that clipped them when he last
Hunted your deer.
SERF
Prince, when the Conqueror came,
They burned my father's homestead with the rest
[4]
SHERWOOD
To make the King a broader hunting-ground.
I have hunted there for food. How could I bear
To hear my hungry children crying? Prince,
They'll make good bowmen for your wars, one
day.
JOHN
He is much too fond of ' Prince ' : he'll never live
To see a king. Whose thrall ? — his iron collar,
Look, is the name not on it?
SHERIFF
Sir, the name
Is filed away, and in another hour
The ring would have been broken. He's one of
those
Green adders of the moon, night-creeping thieves
Whom Huntingdon has tempted to the woods.
These desperate ruffians flee their lawful masters
And flock around the disaffected Earl
Like ragged rooks around an elm, by scores I
And now, i' faith, the sun of Huntingdon
Is setting fast. They've well nigh beggared him,
Eaten him out of house and home. They say
That, when we make him outlaw, we shall find
Nought to distrain upon, but empty cupboards.
JOHN
Did you not serve him once, yourself?
[5]
SHERWOOD
SHERIFF
Oh, ay,
He was more prosperous then. But now my cup-
boards
Are full, and his are bare. Well, I'd think scorn
To share a crust with outcast churls and thieves,
Doffing his dignity, letting them call him
Robin, or Robin Hood, as if an Earl
Were just a plain man, which he will be soon,
When we have served our writ of outlawry !
'Tis said he hopes much from the King's return
And swears by Lion-heart; and though King Rich-
ard
Is brother to yourself, 'tis all the more
Ungracious, sir, to hope he should return,
And overset your rule. But then — to keep
Such base communications ! Myself would think it
Unworthy of my sheriffship, much more
Unworthy a right Earl.
JOHN
You talk too much !
This whippet, here, slinks at his heel, you say.
Mercy may close her eyes, then. Take him off,
Blind him or what you will ; and let him thank
His master for it. But wait — perhaps he knows
Where we may trap this young patrician thief.
Where is your master?
[6]
SHERWOOD
SERF
Where you'll never find him.
JOHN
Oh, ho ! the dog is faithful ! Take him away.
Get your red business done. I shall require
Your men to ride with me.
SHERIFF
\_To his men.~\
Take him out yonder,
A bow-shot into the wood, so that his clamour
Do not offend my lord. Delay no time,
The irons are hot by this. They'll give you light
Enough to blind him by.
SERF
[Crying out and struggling as he is forced back
into the forest.]
No, no, not that!
God will repay you ! Kill me out of hand !
SHERIFF
[To PRINCE JOHN.]
There is a kind of justice in all this.
The irons being heated in that fire, my lord,
Which was his hut, aforetime.
[Some of the men take the glowing irons from the
fire and follow into the wood.]
m
SHERWOOD
There's no need
To parley with him, either. The snares are laid
For Robin Hood. He goes this very night
To his betrothal feast.
JOHN
Betrothal feast!
SHERIFF
At old Fitzwalter's castle, sir.
JOHN
Ha! ha!
There will be one more guest there than he
thought !
Ourselves are riding thither. We intended
My Lady Marian for a happier fate
Than bride to Robin Hood. Your plans are laid
To capture him?
SHERIFF
[Consequentially.]
It was our purpose, sir,
To serve the writ of outlawry upon him
And capture him as he came forth.
JOHN
That's well.
Then — let him disappear — you understand?
[8]
SHERWOOD
SHERIFF
I have your warrant, sir? Death? A great
Earl?
JOHN
Why, first declare him outlawed at his feast!
'Twill gladden the tremulous heart of old Fitz-
walter
With his prospective son-in-law ; and then —
No man will overmuch concern himself
Whither an outlaw goes. You understand?
SHERIFF
It shall be done, sir.
JOHN
But the Lady Marian!
By heaven, I'll take her. I'll banish old Fitz-
walter
If he prevent my will in this. You'll bring
How many men to ring the castle round?
SHERIFF
A good five score of bowmen.
JOHN
Then I'll take her
This very night as hostage for Fitzwalter,
Since he consorts with outlaws. These grey rats
[9]
SHERWOOD
Will gnaw my kingdom's heart out. For 'tis
mine,
This England, now or later. They that hold
By Richard, as their absent king, would make
My rule a usurpation. God, am I
My brother's keeper ?
[There is a cry in the forest from the SERF, who
immediately afterwards appears at the edge
of the glade, shaking himself free from his
guards. He seizes a weapon and rushes at
PRINCE JOHN. One of the retainers runs
him through and he falls at the PRINCE'S
feet.}
JOHN
That's a happy answer!
SHERIFF
[Stooping over the body.~\
He is dead.
JOHN
I am sorry. It were better sport
To send him groping like a hoodman blind
Through Sherwood, whimpering for his Robin.
Come,
I'll ride with you to this betrothal feast.
Now for my Lady Marian!
[Exeunt all. A pause. The scene darkens.
[10]
SHERWOOD
Shadowy figures creep out from the thickets,
of old men, women and children.]
FIRST OLD MAN
[Stretching his arms up to Heaven.]
God, am I
My brother's keeper? Witness, God in heaven,
He said it and not we — Cain's word, he said it !
FIRST WOMAN
[Kneeling by the body.]
0 Father, Father, and the blood of Abel
Cries to thee !
A BLIND MAN
Is there any light here still?
1 feel a hot breath on my face. The dark
Is better for us all. I am sometimes glad
They blinded me those many years ago.
Princes are princes ; and God made the world
For one or two it seems. Well, I am glad
I cannot see His world.
FIRST WOMAN
[Still by the body and whispering to the others.]
Keep him away.
'Tis as we thought. The dead man is his son.
Keep him away, poor soul. He need not know.
SHERWOOD
[Some of the men carry the body among the
thickets.]
A CHILD
Mother, I'm hungry, I'm hungry!
FIRST OLD MAN
There's no food
For any of us to-night. The snares are empty,
And I can try no more.
THE BLIND MAN
Wait till my son
Comes back. He's a rare hunter is my boy.
You need not fret, poor little one. My son
Is much too quick and clever for the Sheriff.
He'll bring you something good. Why, ha! ha!
ha!
Friends, I've a thought — the Sheriff's lit the fire
Ready for us to roast our meat. Come, come,
Let us be merry while we may!# My boy
Will soon come back with food for the old folks.
The fire burns brightly, eh?
SECOND OLD MAN
The fire that feeds
On hope and eats our hearts away. They've
burnt
Everything, everything !
[12]
SHERWOOD
THE BLIND MAN
Ah, princes are princes!
But when the King comes home from the Crusade,
We shall have better times.
FIRST OLD *MAN
Ay, when the King
Comes home from the Crusade.
CHILD
Mother, I'm hungry.
SECOND WOMAN
Oh, but if I could only find a crust
Left by the dogs. Masters, the child will starve.
We must have food.
THE BLIND MAN
I tell you when my boy
Comes back, we shall have plenty !
FIRST WOMAN
God pity thee!
THE BLIND MAN
What dost thou mean?
SECOND WOMAN
Masters, the child will starve.
[13]
SHERWOOD
FIRST OLD MAN
Hist, who comes here — a forester?
THE BLIND MAN
Slip back into the dark.
We'd best
FIRST WOMAN
[Excitedly.'}
No, stay ! All's well.
There's Shadow-of-a-Leaf, good Lady Marian's
fool
Beside him !
THE BLIND MAN
Ah, they say there's fairy blood
In Shadow-of-a-Leaf. But I've no hopes of more
From him, than wild bees' honey-bags.
[Enter LITTLE JOHN, a giant figure, leading a
donkey, laden with a sack. On the other
side, SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF trips, a slender fig-
ure in green trunk-hose and doublet. He is
tickling the donkey's ears with a long fern.}
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Gee! Whoa!
Neddy, my boy, have you forgot the Weaver,
And how Titania tickled your long ears?
Ha 1 ha ! Don't ferns remind you ?
SHERWOOD
LITTLE JOHN
Friends, my master
Hath sent me to you, fearing ye might hunger.
FIRST OLD MAN
Thy master?
LITTLE JOHN
Robin Hood.
SECOND WOMAN
[Falling on her knees.'}
God bless his name.
God bless the kindly name of Robin Hood.
LITTLE JOHN
[Handing them the sack.'}
'Tis well nigh all that's left him ; and to-night
He goes to his betrothal feast.
[All the outcasts except the first old man exeunt.}
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
[Pointing to the donkey.}
Now look,
There's nothing but that shadow of a cross
On his grey back to tell you of the palms
That once were strewn before my donkey's feet.
Won't ferns, won't branching ferns, do just as
well?
[15]
SHERWOOD
There's only a dream to ride my donkey now !
But, Neddy, I'll lead you home and cry — Ho
SANNA !
We'll thread the glad Gate Beautiful again,
Though now there's only a Fool to hold your
bridle
And only moonlit ferns to strew your path,
And the great King is fighting for a grave
In lands beyond the sea. Come, Neddy, come,
Hosanna !
[Exit SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF with the donkey. He
strews ferns before it as he goes.~\
FIRST OLD MAN
'Tis a strange creature, master ! Thinkest
There's fairy blood in him?
LITTLE JOHN
'Twas he that brought
Word of your plight to Robin Hood. He flits
Like Moonshine thro' the forest. He'll be home
Before I know it. I must be hastening back.
This makes a sad betrothal night.
FIRST OLD MAN
That minds me,
Couched in the thicket yonder, we overheard
The Sheriff tell Prince John . . .
[16]
SHERWOOD
LITTLE JOHN
Prince John!
FIRST OLD MAN
You'd best
Warn Robin Hood They're laying a trap for
him.
Ay ! Now I mind me of it ! I heard 'em say
They'd take him at the castle.
LITTLE JOHN
To-night ?
FIRST OLD MAN
To-night !
Fly, lad, for God's dear love. Warn Robin
Hood!
Fly like the wind, or you'll be there too late.
And yet you'd best be careful. There's five score
In ambush round the castle.
LITTLE JOHN
I'll be there
An if I have to break five hundred heads!
[He rushes off thro* the forest. The old man
goes into the thicket after the others. The
scene darkens. A soft light, as of the moon,
appears between the ferns to the right of the
glade, showing OBERON and TITANIA.]
[17]
SHERWOOD
TITANIA
Yet one night more the gates of fairyland
Are opened by a mortal's kindly deed.
OBERON
Last night the gates were shut, and I heard weep-
ing!
Men, women, children, beat upon the gates
That guard the City of Sleep. They could not
sleep.
Titania, must not that be terrible,
When mortals cannot sleep?
TITANIA
Yet one night more
Dear Robin Hood has opened the gates wide
And their poor weary souls can enter in.
OBERON
Yet one night more we woodland elves may steal
Out thro' the gates. I fear the time will come
When they must close for ever; and we no more
Shall hold our Sherwood revels.
TITANIA
Only love
And love's kind sacrifice can open them.
For when a mortal hurts himself to help
[18]
SHERWOOD
Another, then he thrusts the gates wide open
Between his world and ours.
OBERON
Ay, but that's rare,
That kind of love, Titania, for the gates
Are almost always closed.
TITANIA
Yet one night more!
Hark, how the fairy host begins to sing
Within the gates. Wait here and we shall see
What weary souls by grace of Robin Hood
This night shall enter Dreamland. See, they
come!
[The soft light deepens in the hollow among the
ferns and the ivory gates of Dreamland are
seen swinging open. The fairy host is
heard, singing to invite the mortals to enter. ,]
[Song of the fairies .]
The Forest shall conquer ! The Forest shall
conquer! The Forest shall conquer!
Your world is growing old;
But a Princess sleeps in the green-wood,
Whose hair is brighter than gold,
[193
SHERWOOD
The Forest shall conquer ! The Forest shall
conquer I The Forest shall conquer !
O hearts that bleed and burn,
Her lips are redder than roses,
Who .sleeps in the faery fern.
The Forest shall conquer 1 The Forest shall
conquer! The Forest shall conquer!
By the Beauty that wakes anew
Milk-white with the fragrant hawthorn
In the drip of the dawn-red dew.
The Forest shall conquer ! The Forest shall
conquer! The Forest shall conquer!
O hearts that are weary of pain,
Come back to your home in Faerie
And wait till she wakes again.
[The victims of the forest-laws steal out of the
thicket once more • — dark, distorted, lame,
blind, serfs with iron collars round their
necks, old men, women and children; and as
the fairy song breaks into chorus they pass
in procession thro9 the beautiful gates. The
gates slowly close. The fairy song is heard
as dying away in the distance.]
[20]
"WHAT WEARY SOULS BY GRACE OF ROBIN HOOD
THIS NIGHT SHALL ENTER DREAMLAND"
—Faze 79
SHERWOOD
TITANIA
[Coming out into the glade and holding up her
hands to the evening star beyond the tree-
tops.']
Shine, shine, dear star of Love, yet one night
more.
SCENE II. A banqueting hall in FITZWALTER'S
castle. The guests are assembling for the
betrothal feast of ROBIN and MARIAN.
Some of ROBIN HOOD'S men, clad in Lincoln
green, are just arriving at the doors.
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF runs forward to greet
them.
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Come in, my scraps of Lincoln green ; come in,
My slips of greenwood. You're much wanted
here I
Head, heart and eyes, we are all pent up in walls
Of stone — nothing but walls on every side —
And not a rose to break them — big blind walls,
Neat smooth stone walls! Come in, my ragged
robins ;
Come in, my jolly minions of the moon,
My straggling hazel-boughs! Hey, bully friar,
Come in, my knotted oak ! Ho, little Much,
[21]
SHERWOOD
Come in, my sweet green linnet. Come, my
cushats,
Larks, yellow-hammers, fern-owls, Oh, come in,
Come in, my Dian's foresters, and drown us
With may, with blossoming may !
FITZWALTER
Out, Shadow-of-a-Leaf !
Welcome, welcome, good friends of Huntingdon,
Or Robin Hood, by whatsoever name
You best may love him.
CRIES
Robin ! Robin ! Robin !
[Enter ROBIN HOOD.]
FITZWALTER
Robin, so be it! Myself I am right glad
To call him at this bright betrothal feast
My son.
[Lays a hand on ROBIN'S shoulder.']
Yet, though I would not cast a cloud
Across our happy gathering, you'll forgive
An old man and a father if he sees
All your glad faces thro' a summer mist
Of sadness.
ROBIN
Sadness? Yes, I understand.
[22]
SHERWOOD
FITZWALTER
No, Robin, no, you cannot understand.
ROBIN
Where's Marian?
FITZWALTER
Ay, that's all you think of, boy.
But I must say a word to all of you
Before she comes.
ROBIN
Why — what? . . .
FITZWALTER
No need to look
So startled; but it is no secret here;
For many of you are sharers of his wild
Adventures. Now I hoped an end had come
To these, until another rumour reached me,
This very day, of yet another prank.
You know, you know, how perilous a road
My Marian must ride if Huntingdon
Tramples the forest-laws beneath his heel
And, in the thin disguise of Robin Hood,
Succours the S*xon outlaws, makes his house
A refuge for thew, lavishes his wealth
To feed their sick\nd needy.
[23]
SHERWOOD
[ The SHERIFF and two of his men appear in the
great doorway out of sight of the guests.]
SHERIFF
[Whispering.]
Not yet! keep back!
One of you go — see that the guards are set !
He must not slip us.
FITZWALTER
Oh, I know his heart
Is gold, but this is not an age of gold;
And those who have must keep, or lose the power
Even to help themselves. No — he must doff
His green disguise of Robin Hood for ever,
And wear his natural coat of Huntingdon.
ROBIN
Ah, which is the disguise? Day after day
We rise and put our social armour on,
A different mask for every friend; but steel
Always to case our hearts. We are all so
wrapped,
So swathed, so muffled in habitual thought
That now I swear we do not know our souls
Or bodies from their winding-sheets ; but Custom,
Custom, the great god Custom, all day long
Shovels the dirt upon us where we lie
[24]
SHERWOOD
Buried alive and dreaming that we stand
Upright and royal. Sir, I have great doubts
About this world, doubts if we have the right
To sit down here for this betrothal feast
And gorge ourselves with plenty, when we know
That for the scraps and crumbs which we let fall
And never miss, children would kiss our hands
And women weep in gratitude. Suppose
A man fell wounded at your gates, you'd not
Pass on and smile and leave him there to die.
And can a few short miles of distance blind you?
Miles, nay, a furlong is enough to close
The gates of mercy. Must we thrust our hands
Into the wounds before we can believe?
Oh, is our sight so thick and gross? We came,
We saw, we conquered with the Conqueror.
We gave ourselves broad lands ; and when our king
Desired a wider hunting ground we set
Hundreds of Saxon homes a-blaze and tossed
Women and children back into the fire
If they but wrung their hands against our will.
And so we made our forest, and its leaves
Were pitiful, more pitiful than man.
They gave our homeless victims the same refuge
And happy hiding place they give the birds
And foxes. Then we made our forest-laws,
And he that dared to hunt, even for food,
Even on the ground where we had burned his hut,
[25]
SHERWOOD
The ground we had drenched with his own
kindred's blood,
Poor foolish churl, why, we put out his eyes
With red-hot irons, cut off both his hands,
Torture him with such horrors that . . .
Christ God,
How can I help but fight against it all?
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Ah, gossips, if the Conqueror had but burned
Everything with four walls, hut, castle, palace,
And turned the whole wide world into a forest,
Drenched us with may, we might be happy then!
With sweet blue wood-smoke curling thro' the
boughs,
And just a pigeon's flap to break the silence,
And ferns, of course, there's much to make men
happy.
Well, well, the forest conquers at the last !
I saw a thistle in the castle courtyard,
A purple thistle breaking thro' the pavement,
Yesterday; and it's wonderful how soon
Some creepers pick these old grey walls to pieces.
These nunneries and these monasteries now,
They don't spring up like flowers, so I suppose
Old mother Nature wins the race at last.
SHERWOOD
FITZWALTER
Robin, my heart is with you, but I know
A hundred ages will not change this earth.
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
[With a candle in his hand.']
Gossip, suppose the sun goes out like this.
Pouf!
[Blows it out."]
Stranger things have happened.
FITZWALTER
Silence, fool!
So, if you share your wealth with all the world
Earth will be none the better, and my poor girl
Will suffer for it. Where you got the gold
You have already lavished on the poor
Heaven knows.
FRIAR TUCK
Oh, by the mass and the sweet moon
Of Sherwood, so do I? That's none so hard
A riddle!
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Ah, Friar Tuck, we know, we know!
Under the hawthorn bough, and at the foot
Of rainbows, that's where fairies hide their gold.
[27]
SHERWOOD
Cut me a silver penny out of the moon
Next time you're there.
{Whispers.}
Now tell me, have you brought
Your quarter-staff?
FRIAR TUCK
\JVhisp ering.~\
Hush ! hush.
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Oh, mum's the wordl
I see it!
FITZWALTER
Believe me, Robin, there's one way
And only one — patience ! When Lion-heart
Comes home from the Crusade, he will not brook
This blot upon our chivalry. Prince John
Is dangerous to a heart like yours. Beware
Of rousing him. Meanwhile, your troth holds
good;
But, till the King comes home from the Crusade
You must not claim your bride.
ROBIN
So be it, then. . . .
When the great King comes home from the
Crusade! . . .
[28]
SHERWOOD
FITZWALTER
Meanwhile for Marian's sake and mine, I pray
Do nothing rash.
[Enter WIDOW SCARLET. She goes up to ROBIN
HOOD.]
WIDOW SCARLET
Are you that Robin Hood
They call the poor man's friend?
ROBIN
I am.
WIDOW SCARLET
They told me,
They told me I should find you here. They told
me!
ROBIN
Come, mother, what's the trouble?
WIDOW SCARLET
Sir, my son
Will Scarlet lies in gaol at Nottingham
For killing deer in Sherwood! Sir, they'll hang
him.
He only wanted food for him and me !
They'll kill him, I tell you, they'll kill him. I
can't help
[29]
SHERWOOD
Crying it out. He's all I have, all ! Save him !
I'll pray for you, I'll . . .
ROBIN
[To FITZWALTER, as he raises WIDOW SCARLET
gently to her feet.']
Sir, has not the King
Come home from the Crusade? Does not your
heart
Fling open wide its gates to welcome him?
FITZWALTER
Robin, you set me riddles. Follow your con-
science.
Do what seems best.
ROBIN
I hope there is a way,
Mother. I knew Will Scarlet. Better heart
There never beat beneath a leather jerkin.
He loved the forest and the forest loves him ;
And if the lads that wear the forest's livery
Of living green should happen to break out
And save Will Scarlet (as on my soul I swear,
Mother, they shall!) why, that's a matter none
Shall answer for to prince, or king, or God,
But you and Robin Hood; and if the judgment
Strike harder upon us than the heavenly smile
[30]
SHERWOOD
Of sunshine thro' the greenwood, may it fall
Upon my head alone.
[Enter the SHERIFF, with two of his men.']
SHERIFF
[Reads.']
In the king's name !
Thou, Earl of Huntingdon, by virtue of this
writ art hereby attainted and deprived of thine
earldom, thy lands and all thy goods and chattels
whatsoever and whereas thou hast at divers times
trespassed against the officers of the king by force
of arms, thou art hereby outlawed and banished
the realm.
ROBIN
That's well.
[He laughs. ,]
It puts an end to the great question
Of how I shall dispose my wealth, Fitzwalter.
But ' banished ' ? — No ! that is beyond their
power
While I have power to breathe, unless they banish
The kind old oaks of Sherwood. They may call
it
4 Outlawed,' perhaps.
[31]
SHERWOOD
FITZWALTER
Who let the villain in
Thro' doors of mine ?
CRIES
Out with him ! Out with him !
[ The guests draw swords and the SHERIFF retreats
thro' the doorway with his men.]
ROBIN
Stop!
Put up your swords ! He had his work to do.
[WIDOW SCARLET falls sobbing at his feet.']
WIDOW SCARLET
O master, master, who will save my son,
My son?
ROBIN
[Raising her.]
Why, mother, this is but a dream,
This poor fantastic strutting show of law 1
And you shall wake with us in Sherwood forest
And find Will Scarlet in your arms again.
Come, cheerly, cheerly, we shall overcome
All this. Hark!
[A bugle sounds in the distance. There is a
scuffle in the doorway and LITTLE JOHN
bursts in with his head bleeding.']
[32]
SHERWOOD
LITTLE JOHN
Master, master, come away!
They are setting a trap for thee, drawing their
lines
All round the castle.
ROBIN
How now, Little John,
They have wounded thee I Art hurt ?
LITTLE JOHN
No, no, that's nothing.
Only a bloody cockscomb. Come, be swift,
Or, if thou wert a fox, thou'dst never slip
Between 'em. Ah, hear that?
[Another bugle sounds from another direction.]
That's number two.
Two sides cut off already. When the third
Sounds — they will have thee, sure as eggs is eggs.
Prince John is there, Fitzwalter cannot save 'ee.
They'll burn the castle down.
ROBIN
Prince John is there?
LITTLE JOHN
Ay, and my lord Fitzwalter had best look
Well to my mistress Marian, if these ears
[33]
SHERWOOD
Heard right as I came creeping thro' their lines.
Look well to her, my lord, look well to her.
Come, master, come, for God's sake, come away.
FITZWALTER
Robin, this is thy rashness. I warned thee, boy !
Prince John! Nay, that's too perilous a jest
For even a prince to play with me. Come, Robin,
You must away and quickly.
ROBIN
Let me have
One word with Marian.
LITTLE JOHN
It would be the last
On earth. Come, if you ever wish to see
Her face again.
FITZWALTER
Come, Robin, are you mad?
You'll bring us all to ruin !
\He opens a little door in the wall.~\
The secret passage,
This brings you out by Much the Miller's wheel,
Thro* an otter's burrow in the river bank.
Come, quick, or you'll destroy us! Take this
lanthorn.
If you're in danger, slip into the stream
[34]
SHERWOOD
And let it carry you down into the heart
Of Sherwood. Come now, quickly, you must go!
ROBIN
The old cave, lads, in Sherwood, you know where
To find me. Friar Tuck, bring Widow Scarlet
Thither to-morrow, with a word or two
From Lady Marian!
FITZWALTER
Quickly, quickly, go.
[He pushes ROBIN and LITTLE JOHN Into the
opening and shuts the door. A pause.]
Oh, I shall pay for this, this cursed folly!
Henceforth I swear I wash my hands of him !
[Enter MARIAN, from a door on the right above
the banqueting hall. She pauses, pale and
frightened, on the broad steps leading down.']
MARIAN
Father, where's Robin?
FITZWALTER
Child, I bade you stay
Until I called you.
MARIAN
Something frightened me !
Father, where's Robin? Where's Robin?
[35]
SHERWOOD
FITZWALTER
Hush, Marian, hark!
[All stand listening.]
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
[Stealing to the foot of the stairs and whispering
to LADY MARIAN.]
Lady, they're all so silent now. I'll tell you
I had a dream last night — there was a man
That bled to death, because of four gray walls
And a black-hooded nun.
FITZWALTER
[Angrily.'}
Hist, Shadow-of-a-Leaf !
[The third bugle sounds. There is a clamour at
the doors. Enter PRINCE JOHN and his re-
tainer sJ\
JOHN
[Mockingly. ]
Now this is fortunate ! I come in time
To see — Oh, what a picture ! Lady Marian,
Forgive me — coming suddenly out of the dark
And seeing you there, robed in that dazzling white
Above these verdant gentlemen, I feel
Like one that greets the gracious evening star
Thro' a gap in a great wood.
[36]
SHERWOOD
Is aught amiss?
Why are you all so silent? Ah, my good,
My brave Fitzwalter, I most fervently
Trust I am not inopportune.
FITZWALTER
My lord,
I am glad that you can jest. I am sadly grieved
And sorely disappointed in that youth
Who has incurred your own displeasure.
JOHN
Ah?
Your future son-in-law?
FITZWALTER
Never on earth!
He is outlawed —
MARIAN
Outlawed !
FITZWALTER
And I wash my hands
Of Huntingdon. His shadow shall not darken
My doors again!
JOHN
That's vehement ! Ha ! ha !
And what does Lady Marian say?
[37]
SHERWOOD
MARIAN
My father
Speaks hastily. I am not so unworthy.
Unworthy ?
FITZWALTER
MARIAN
Yes, unworthy as to desert him
Because he is in trouble — the bravest man
In England since the days of Hereward.
You know why he is outlawed !
FITZWALTER
[To PRINCE JOHN.]
Sir, she speaks
As the spoilt child of her old father's dotage.
Give her no heed. She shall not meet with him
On earth again, and till she promise this,
She'll sun herself within the castle garden
And never cross the draw-bridge.
MARIAN
Then I'll swim
The moat !
FRIAR TUCK
Ha ! ha ! well spoken.
[38]
SHERWOOD
MARIAN
Oh, you forget,
Father, you quite forget there is a King;
And, when the King comes home from the Cru-
sade,
Will you forget Prince John and change once
more?
[Murmurs of assent from the foresters.]
JOHN
Enough of this.
Though I be prince, I am vice-gerent too 1
Fitzwalter, I would have some private talk
With you and Lady Marian. Bid your guests
Remove a little —
FITZWALTER
I'll lead them all within !
And let them make what cheer they may. Come,
friends.
[He leads them up the stairs to the inner room]
My lord, I shall return immediately 1
[Exeunt FITZWALTER and the guests]
JOHN
Marian !
MARIAN
My lord !
[39]
SHERWOOD
JOHN
[Drawing close to her.~\
I have come to urge a plea
On your behalf as well as on my own !
Listen, you may not know it — I must tell you,
I have watched your beauty growing like a flower,
With — why should I not say it — worship ; yes,
Marian, I will not hide it.
MARIAN
Sir, you are mad!
JOHN
Listen ! You cannot mean to waste your youth,
Your youth, your priceless youth in these dull
brawls.
Remember — even you have but one life,
One fleeting life to waste, and you stand here
Now, at the cross-roads of your fate. The world
Lies at your feet; and it is in your power
To use it for your pleasure, or throw it away
Like dross !
MARIAN
I do not understand you.
JOHN
Listen !
Come to the court with me; and you shall reign
[40]
SHERWOOD
Queen over every maiden in the land
By loveliness alone. But I will add
All that a king can give. Your dainty hand
Shall sway all England like one sceptral rose.
MARIAN
Sir, and your bride, your bride, not three months
wedded !
You cannot mean . . .
JOHN
Listen to me ! Ah, Marian,
You'd be more merciful if you knew all !
D'you think that princes wed to please themselves?
*#
MARIAN
Sir, English maidens do; and I am plighted
Not to a prince, but to an outlawed man.
Sir, let me pass.
JOHN
One word! Marian, one word!
I never meant you harm ! Indeed, what harm
Could come of this? Is not your father poor?
I'd make him rich! Is not your lover outlawed?
I'd save him from the certain death that waits him.
You say the forest-laws afflict your soul
And his — you say you'd die for their repeal !
SHERWOOD
Well — I'll repeal them. All the churls in Eng-
land
Shall bless your name and mix it in their prayers
With heaven itself.
MARIAN
The price ?
JOHN
You call it that!
To let me lay the world before your feet,
To let me take this little hand in mine.
Why should I hide my love for you ?
MARIAN
My lord,
I'll hear no more ! I pray you let me pass.
JOHN
One word — suppose it some small sacrifice,
To save those churls for whom you say your heart
Bleeds; yet you will not lift your little finger
To save them! And what hinders you? — A
breath,
A dream, a golden rule ! Can you not break it
For a much greater end?
MARIAN
I'd die to save them.
[42]
SHERWOOD
JOHN
Then live to save them.
MARIAN
No, you will not let me ;
D'you think that bartering my soul will help
To save another? If there's no way but this,
Then through my lips those suffering hundreds cry,
We choose the suffering. All that is good in them,
All you have left, all you have not destroyed,
Cries out against you ; and I'll go to them,
Suffer and toil and love and die with them
Rather than touch your hand. You over-rate
Your power to hurt our souls. You are mistaken !
There is a golden rule 1
JOHN
And with such lips
You take to preaching! I was a fool to worry
Your soul with reason. With hair like yours —
it's hopeless!
But Marian — you shall hear me.
[He catches her in his arms.'}
Yes, by God,
Marian, you shall! I love you.
MARIAN
[Struggling.']
You should not live!
[43]
SHERWOOD
JOHN
One kiss, then ! Devil take it.
[Enter FITZWALTER above.]
MARIAN
[Wresting herself free.~\
You should not live!
Were I a man and not a helpless girl
You should not live !
JOHN
Come, now, that's very wicked.
See how these murderous words affright your
father.
My good Fitzwalter, there's no need to look
So ghastly. For your sake and hers and mine
I have been trying to make your girl forget
The name of Huntingdon. A few short months
At our gay court would blot his memory out !
I promise her a life of dazzling pleasures,
And, in return she flies at me — a tigress —
Clamouring for my blood ! Try to persuade her !
FITZWALTER
My lord, you are very good. She must decide
Herself.
JOHN
[Angrily.']
I'll not be trifled with ! I hold
[44]
SHERWOOD
The hand of friendship out and you evade it.
The moment I am gone, back comes your outlaw.
You say you have no power with your own child !
Well, then I'll take her back this very night;
Back to the court with me. How do I know
What treasons you are hatching here? I'll take
her
As hostage for yourself.
FITZWALTER
My lord, you jest!
I have sworn to you.
JOHN
No more! If you be loyal,
What cause have you to fear?
FITZWALTER
My lord, I'll give
A hundred other pledges ; but not this.
JOHN
By heaven, will you dictate your terms to me ?
I say that she shall come back to the court
This very night! Ho, there, my men.
[Enter JOHN'S retainers.]
Escort
This lady back with us.
[45]
SHERWOOD
FITZWALTER
Back there, keep back. Prince or no prince,
I say she shall not go !
[He draws his sword.}
I'd rather see her
Begging in rags with outlawed Huntingdon
Than that one finger of yours should soil her
glove.
JOHN
So here's an end of fawning, here's the truth,
My old white-bearded hypocrite. Come, take her,
Waste no more time. Let not the old fool daunt
you
With that great skewer.
FITZWALTER
[As JOHN'S men advance.]
By God, since you will have it,
Since you will drive me to my last resort,
Break down my walls, and hound me to the forest,
This is the truth ! Out of my gates ! Ho, help !
A Robin Hood! A Robin Hood!
[There is a clamour from the upper room. The
doors are flung open and the foresters appear
at the head of the steps.]
[46]
SHERWOOD
FRIAR TUCK
[Coming down into the hall and brandishing his
quarter-staff.]
How now?
Who calls on Robin Hood? His men are here
To answer.
FITZWALTER
Drive these villains out of my gates.
FRIAR TUCK
[To PRINCE JOHN.]
Sir, I perceive you are a man of wisdom,
So let me counsel you. There's not a lad
Up yonder, but at four-score yards can shoot
A swallow on the wing. They have drunken deep.
I cannot answer but their hands might loose
Their shafts before they know it. Now shall I
give
The word? Ready, my lads!
[ The foresters make ready to shoot. JOHN hesi-
tates for a moment.']
»
JOHN
My Lady Marian,
One word, and then I'll take my leave of you !
[She pays no heed.]
Farewell, then ! I have five-score men at hand !
And they shall be but lightning to the hell
[47]
SHERWOOD
Of my revenge, Fitzwalter. I will not leave
One stone upon another. From this night's work
Shall God Himself not save you.
[Exeunt JOHN and his menJ\
FRIAR TUCK
[As they go out.~\
My Lord Fitzwalter I
I have confessed him! Shall I bid 'em shoot?
'Twill save a world of trouble.
FITZWALTER
No; or the King
Himself will come against me. Follow them out,
Drive them out of my gates, then raise the draw-
bridge
And let none cross. Oh, I foresaw, foretold !
Robin has wrecked us all!
[Exeunt the foresters and FITZWALTER.
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF remains alone with
MARIAN.]
MARIAN
[She flings herself down on a couch and buries her
head in her armsJ\
O Robin, Robin,
I cannot lose you now !
[48]
SHERWOOD
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
[Sitting at her feet. The lights grow dim.~\
Ah, well, the prince
Promised to break the walls down. Don't you
think
These villains are a sort of ploughshare, lady,
And where they plough, who knows what wheat
may spring !
The lights are burning low and very low;
So, Lady Marian, let me tell my dream.
There was a forester that bled to death
Because of four gray walls and a black nun
Whose face I could not see — but, Oh, beware !
Though I am but your fool, your Shadow-of-a-
Leaf,
Dancing before the wild winds of the future,
I feel them thrilling through my tattered wits
Long ere your wisdom feels them. My poor
brain
Is like a harp hung in a willow tree
Swept by the winds of fate. I am but a fool,
But Oh, beware of that black-hooded nun.
MARIAN
This is no time for jesting, Shadow-of-a-Leaf.
S H ADO W-O F-A-L E AF
The lights are burning low. Do you not feel
A cold breath on your face?
[49]
SHERWOOD
MARIAN
Fling back that shutter !
Look out and tell me what is happening.
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
[Flinging back the shutter.']
Look,
Look, gossip, how the moon comes dancing in.
Ah, they have driven Prince John across the
drawbridge.
They are raising it, now !
[There are cries in the distance, then a heavy
sound of chains clanking and silence.
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF turns from the window
and stands in the stream of moonlight^ point-
ing to the door on the left.]
Look ! Look !
MARIAN
[Starting up with a cry of fear.~\
Ah!
[The tall figure of a nun glides into the moonlit
hall and throwing back her hood reveals the
face of QUEEN ELINOR.]
ELINOR
Lady Marian,
Tell me quickly, where is Huntingdon hiding?
[50]
SHERWOOD
MARIAN
Queen Elinor 1
ELINOR
Oh, pardon me, I fear
I startled you. I donned this uncouth garb
To pass through your besiegers. If Prince John
Discover it, all is lost. Come, tell me quickly,
Where is Robin?
MARIAN
Escaped, I hope.
ELINOR
Not here?
MARIAN
No!
ELINOR
Come, dear Lady Marian, do not doubt me.
I am here to save you both.
MARIAN
He is not here.
ELINOR
Ah, but you know where I may find him, Marian.
All will be lost if you delay to tell me
SHERWOOD
Where I may speak with him. He is in peril.
By dawn Prince John will have five hundred men
Beleaguering the castle. You are all ruined
Unless you trust me! Armies will scour the
woods
To hunt him down. Even now he may be
wounded,
Helpless to save himself.
MARIAN
Wounded !
ELINOR
Dear child,
Take me to him. Here, on this holy cross,
My mother's dying gift, I swear to you
I wish to save him.
MARIAN
Oh, but how?
ELINOR
Trust me!
MARIAN
Wounded! He may be wounded! Oh, if I
could,
I'd go to him ! I am helpless, prisoned here.
My father . . .
[52]
SHERWOOD
ELINOR
I alone can save your father.
Give me your word that if I can persuade him,
You'll lead me to your lover's hiding place,
And let me speak with him.
[Enter FITZWALTER.]
Ah, my Lord Fitzwalter !
FITZWALTER
The queen! O madam, madam, I am driven
Beyond myself. This girl, this foolish girl
Has brought us all to ruin. This Huntingdon,
As I foresaw, foresaw, foretold, foretold,
Has dragged me down with him.
ELINOR
I am on your side,
If you will hear me; and you yet may gain
A son in Robin Hood.
FITZWALTER
Madam, I swear
I have done with him. I pray you do not mock
me;
But if you'll use your power to save my lands
I shall be deeply grateful. I was provoked!
Prince John required this child here —
[53]
SHERWOOD
ELINOR
But you'll forgive him that
That loveliness like hers —
Oh, I know!
I do not wonder
FITZWALTER
Ay, but you'll pardon
A father's natural anger. Madam, I swear
I was indeed provoked. But you'll assure him
I've washed my hands of Huntingdon.
MARIAN
And yet
His men are, even now, guarding your walls !
Father, you cannot, you shall not —
FITZWALTER
Oh, be silent !
Who wrapt me in this tangle ? Are you bent
On driving me out in my old age to seek
Shelter in caves and woods?
ELINOR
My good Fitzwalter,
It has not come to that ! If you will trust me
All will be well ; but I must speak a word
With Robin Hood.
FITZWALTER
You!
[54]
SHERWOOD
ELINOR
Oh, I have a reason.
Your daughter knows his hiding place.
FITZWALTER
She knows !
ELINOR
Oh, trust them both for that. I am risking much !
To-morrow she shall guide me there. This bird
Being flown, trust me to make your peace with
John.
FITZWALTER
But — Marian !
ELINOR
She'll be safer far with Robin,
Than loitering here until your roof-tree burns.
I think you know it. Fitzwalter, I can save you,
I swear it on this cross.
FITZWALTER
But — Marian! Marian!
ELINOR
Your castle wrapt in flame ! . . .
There's nought to fear,
If she could — Marian, once, at a court masque,
You wore a page's dress of Lincoln green,
[553
SHERWOOD
And a green hood that muffled half your face,
I could have sworn 'twas Robin come again
In his first boyhood, my sweet slender page !
Wear it to-morrow — go, child, bid your maid
Make ready — we'll set out betimes.
MARIAN
[Going up to her father.']
I'll go,
If you will let me, father. He may be wounded !
Father, forgive me. Let me go to him.
ELINOR
Go, child, first do my bidding. He'll consent
When you return.
[Exit MARIAN.]
My dear good friend Fitzwalter,
Trust me, I have some power with Huntingdon.
All shall be as you wish. I'll let her guide me,
But — as for her — she shall not even see him
Unless you wish. Trust me to wind them all
Around my little finger.
FITZWALTER
It is dark here.
Let us within. Madam, I think you are right.
And you'll persuade Prince John?
[56]
SHERWOOD
ELINOR
[As they go up the steps."]
I swear by this,
This holy cross, my mother's dying gift !
FITZWALTER
It's very sure he'd burn the castle down.
[Exeunt. ~\
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
[Coming out into the moonlight and staring up
after them.]
The nun! The nun! They'll whip me if I
speak,
For I am only Shadow-of-a-Leaf, the Fool.
[Curtain.]
[57]
ACT II
ACT II
SCENE I. Sherwood Forest: An open glade,
showing on the right the mouth of the out-
law's cave. It is about sunset. The giant
figure of LITTLE JOHN comes out of the
cave, singing.
LITTLE JOHN
[.Sings.-]
When Spring comes back to England
And crowns her brows with may,
Round the merry moonlit world
She goes the greenwood way.
[He stops and calls in stentorian tones.'}
Much! Much! Much! Where has he van-
ished now,
Where has that monstrous giant the miller's son
Hidden himself?
[Enter MUCH, a dwarf-like figure, carrying a
large bundle of ferns.}
MUCH
Hush, hush, child, here I am!
And here's our fairy feather-beds, ha ! ha !
[61]
SHERWOOD
Come, praise me, praise me, for a thoughtful
parent.
There's nothing makes a better bed than ferns
Either for sleeping sound or rosy dreams.
LITTLE JOHN
Take care the fern-seed that the fairies use
Get not among thy yellow locks, my Titan,
Or thou'lt wake up invisible. There's none
Too much of Much already.
MUCH
[Looking up at him impudently.'}
Well, it would take
Our big barn full of fern-seed, I misdoubt,
To make thee walk invisible, Little John,
My sweet Tom Thumb! And, in this troublous
age
Of forest-laws, if we night-walking minions,
We gentlemen of the moon, could only hunt
Invisible, there's many and many of us
With thumbs lopped off, eyes gutted and legs
pruned,
Slick, like poor pollarded pear-trees, would be
lying
Happy and whole this day beneath, the boughs.
[62]
SHERWOOD
LITTLE JOHN
Invisible ? Ay, but what would Jenny say
To such a ghostly midge as thou would'st be
Sipping invisibly at her cherry lips.
MUCH
Why, there now, that's a teaser. E'en as it is
(Don't joke about it) my poor Jenny takes
The smallness of her Much sorely to heart !
And though I often tell her half a loaf
(Ground in our mill) is better than no bread,
She weeps, poor thing, that an impartial heaven
Bestows on her so small a crumb of bliss
As me ! You'd scarce believe, now, half the nos-
trums,
Possets and strangely nasty herbal juices
That girl has made me gulp, in the vain hope
That I, the frog, should swell to an ox like thee.
I tell her it's all in vain, and she still cheats
Her fancy and swears I've grown well nigh three
feet
Already. O Lord, she's desperate. She'll ad-
vance
Right inward to the sources of creation,
She'll take the reins of the world in hand. She'll
stop
The sun like Joshua, turn the moon to blood,
And if I have to swallow half the herbs
[63]
SHERWOOD
In Sherwood, I shall stalk a giant yet,
Shoulder to shoulder with thee, Little John,
And crack thy head at quarter-staff. But don't,
Don't joke about it. 'Tis a serious matter.
LITTLE JOHN
Into the cave, then, with thy feather-bed.
Old Much, thy father, waits thee there to make
A table of green turfs for Robin Hood.
We shall have guests anon, O merry times,
Baron and knight and abbot, all that ride
Through Sherwood, all shall come and dine with
him
When they have paid their toll! Old Much is
there
Growling at thy delay.
MUCH
[Going towards the cave.~\
My poor dear father.
Now, there's a sad thing, too. He is so ashamed
Of his descendants. Why for some nine years
He shut his eyes whenever he looked at me ;
And I have seen him on the village green
Pretend to a stranger, once, who badgered him
With curious questions, that I was the son
Of poor old Gaffer Bramble, the lame sexton.
That self-same afternoon, up comes old Bramble
SHERWOOD
White hair a-blaze and big red waggling nose
All shaking with the palsy; bangs our door
Clean off its hinges with his crab-tree crutch,
And stands there — framed — against the sunset
sky!
He stretches out one quivering fore-finger
At father, like the great Destroying Angel
In the stained window: straight, the milk boiled
over,
The cat ran, baby squalled and mother screeched.
Old Bramble asks my father — what — what —
what
He meant — he meant — he meant ! You should
have seen
My father's hopeless face! Lord, how he
blushed,
Red as a beet-root! Lord, Lord, how he
blushed!
'Tis a hard business when a parent looks
Askance upon his off-spring.
[Exit into the cave.]
LITTLE JOHN
Skip, you chatterer!
Here comes our master.
[Enter ROBIN HOOD.]
Master, where hast thou been?
[65]
SHERWOOD
I feared some harm had come to thee. What's
this?
This was a cloth-yard shaft that tore thy coat !
ROBIN
Oh, ay, they barked my shoulder, devil take them.
I got it on the borders of the wood.
St. Nicholas, my lad, they're on the watch.
LITTLE JOHN
What did'st thou there? They're on the watch,
i' faith!
A squirrel could not pass them. Why, my name-
sake
Prince John would sell his soul to get thy head,
And both his ears for Lady Marian;
And whether his ears or soul be worth the more,
I know not. When the first lark flittered up
To sing, at dawn, I woke ; and thou wast gone.
What did'st thou there ?
ROBIN
Well, first I went to swim
In the deep pool below the mill.
LITTLE JOHN
I swam
Enough last night to last me many a day.
What then?
[66]
SHERWOOD
ROBIN
I could not wash away the thought
Of all you told me. If Prince John should dare !
That helpless girl ! No, no, I will not think it.
Why, Little John, I went and tried to shoot
A grey goose wing thro' Lady Marian's casement.
LITTLE JOHN
Oh, ay, and a pink nosegay tied beneath it.
Now, master, you'll forgive your Little John, —
But that's midsummer madness and the may
Is only half in flower as yet. But why —
You are wounded — why are you so pale ?
ROBIN
No — no —
Not wounded ; but Oh, my good faithful friend,
She is not there I I wished to send her warning.
I could not creep much closer ; but I swear
I think the castle is in the hands of John.
I saw some men upon the battlements,
Not hers — I know — not hers !
LITTLE JOHN
Hist, who conies here?
[He seizes his bow and stands ready to shoot.'}
SHERWOOD
ROBIN
Stop, man, it is the fool. Thank God, the fool,
Shadow-of-a-Leaf, my Marian's dainty fool.
How now, good fool, what news? What news?
[Enter SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF.]
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Good fool!
Should I be bad, sir, if I chanced to bring
No news at all? That is the wise man's way.
Thank heaven, I've lost my wits. I am but a leaf
Dancing upon the wild winds of the world,
A prophet blown before them. Well, this even-
ing,
It is that lovely grey wind from the West
That silvers all the fields and all the seas,
And I'm the herald of May !
ROBIN
Come, Shadow-of-a-Leaf,
I pray thee, do not jest.
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
I do not jest.
I am vaunt-courier to a gentleman,
A sweet slim page in Lincoln green who comes,
Wood-knife on hip, and wild rose in his face,
With golden news of Marian. Oh, his news
[68]
SHERWOOD
Is one crammed honeycomb, swelling with sweet-
ness
In twenty thousand cells; but delicate!
So send thy man aside.
ROBIN
Go, Little John.
[LITTLE JOHN goes into the cave.]
Well, Shadow-of-a-Leaf, where is he?
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
At this moment
His hair is tangled in a rose bush : hark,
He swears, like any kitten ! Nay, he is free.
Come, master page, here is that thief of love,
Give him your message. I'll to Little John.
[Exit into the cave. Enter MARIAN, as a 'page
in Lincoln green, her face muffled in a hood.~\
ROBIN
Good even, master page, what is thy news
Of Lady Marian?
[She stands silent. ~\
Answer me quickly, come,
Hide not thy face !
[She still stands muffled and silent.']
Come, boy, the fool is chartered,
Not thou ; and I'll break off this hazel switch
[69]
SHERWOOD
And make thee dance if thou not answer me.
What? Silent still? Sirrah, this hazel wand
Shall lace thee till thou tingle, top to toe.
I'll
Robin!
MARIAN
\_Unmu ffllng.~\
ROBIN
[Catches her in his arms with a cry.~\
Marian! Marian!
MARIAN
Fie upon you,
Robin, you did not know me.
ROBIN
[Embracing her.~\
Oh, you seemed
Ten thousand miles away. This is not moon-
light,
And I am not Endymion. Could I dream
My sweet swift Dian would come wandering
through
These woods by daylight? Even that rose your
face
You muffled in its own green leaves.
[70]
SHERWOOD
MARIAN
But you,
Were hidden in the heart of Sherwood, Robin,
Hidden behind a million mighty boughs,
And yet I found you.
ROBIN
Ay, the young moon stole
In pity down to her poor shepherd boy;
But he could never climb the fleecy clouds
Up to her throne, never could print one kiss
On her immortal lips. He lay asleep
Among the poppies and the crags of Latmos,
And she came down to him, his queen stole down.
MARIAN
Oh, Robin, first a rose and then a moon,
A rose that breaks at a breath and falls to your
feet,
The fickle moon — Oh, hide me from the world ;
For there they say love goes by the same law !
Let me be outlawed then. I cannot change.
Sweetheart, sweetheart, Prince John will hunt me
down!
Prince John — Queen Elinor will hunt me down !
ROBIN
Queen Elinor! Nay, but tell me what this
means ?
'How came you here ?
[71]
SHERWOOD
MARIAN
The Queen — she came last night,
Made it an odious kind of praise to me
That he, not three months wedded to his bride,
Should — pah !
And then she said five hundred men
Were watching round the borders of the wood;
But she herself would take me safely through them,
Said that I should be safer here with Robin,
She had your name so pat — and I gave way.
[Enter QUEEN ELINOR behind. She conceals
herself to listen.']
ROBIN
Marian, she might have trapped you to Prince
John.
MARIAN
No; no; I think she wanted me to guide her
Here to your hiding place. She wished to see you
Herself, unknown to John, I know not why.
It was my only way. Her skilful tongue
Quite won my father over, made him think,
Poor father, clinging to his lands again,
He yet might save them. And so, without ado
(It will be greatly to the joy of Much,
Your funny little man), I bade my maid
Jenny, go pack her small belongings up
[72]
SHERWOOD
This morning, and to follow with Friar Tuck
And Widow Scarlet. They'll be here anon.
ROBIN
Where did you leave the Queen?
MARIAN
Robin, she tried
To kill me ! We were deep within the wood
And she began to tell me a wild tale,
Saying that I reminded her of days
When Robin was her page, and how you came
To Court, a breath of April in her life,
And how you worshipped her, and how she grew
To love you. But she saw you loved me best
(So would she mix her gall and lies with honey) ,
So she would let you go. And then she tried
To turn my heart against you, bade me think
Of all the perils of your outlawry,
Then flamed with anger when she found my heart
Steadfast; and when I told her we drew nigh
The cave, she bade me wait and let her come
First, here, to speak with you. Some deviPs trick
Gleamed in her smile, the way some women have
Of smiling with their lips, wreathing the skin
In pleasant ripples, laughing with their teeth,
While the cold eyes watch, cruel as a snake's
That fascinates a bird. I'd not obey her.
[73]
SHERWOOD
She whipped a dagger out. Had it not been
For Shadow-of-a-Leaf, who dogged us all the way,
Poor faithful fool, and leapt out at her hand,
She would have killed me. Then she darted away
Like a wild thing into the woods, trying to find
Your hiding place most like.
ROBIN
O Marian, why,
Why did you trust her ? Listen, who comes here ?
[Enter FRIAR TUCK, JENNY and WIDOW SCAR-
LET.]
Ah, Friar Tuck !
MARIAN
Good Jenny !
ROBIN
And Widow Scarlet!
FRIAR TUCK
0 children, children, this is thirsty weather !
The heads I have cracked, the ribs I have
thwacked, the bones
1 have bashed with my good quarter-staff, to
bring
These bits of womankind through Sherwood For-
est.
[74]
SHERWOOD
ROBIN
What, was there scuffling, friar?
FRIAR TUCK
Some two or three
Pounced on us, ha ! ha ! ha !
JENNY
A score at least,
Mistress, most unchaste ruffians.
FRIAR TUCK
They've gone home,
Well chastened by the Church. This pastoral
staff
Mine oaken Pax Vobiscum, sent 'em home
To think about their sins, with watering eyes.
You never saw a bunch of such blue faces,
Bumpy and juicy as a bunch of grapes
Bruised in a Bacchanalian orgy, dripping
The reddest wine a man could wish to see.
ROBIN
I picture it — those big brown hands of thine
Grape-gathering at their throttles, ha ! ha ! ha !
Come, Widow Scarlet, come, look not so sad.
WIDOW SCARLET
O master, master, they have named the day
For killing of my boy.
[75]
SHERWOOD
ROBIN
They have named the day
For setting of him free, then, my good dame.
Be not afraid. We shall be there, eh, Friar?
Grape-gathering, eh?
FRIAR
Thou'lt not be there thyself,
My son, the game's too dangerous now, methinks.
ROBIN
I shall be there myself. The game's too good
To lose. We'll all be there. You're not afraid,
Marian, to spend a few short hours alone
Here in the woods with Jenny.
MARIAN
Robin.
Not for myself,
ROBIN
We shall want every hand that day,
And you'll be safe enough. You know we go
Disguised as gaping yokels, old blind men,
With patches on their eyes, poor wandering beg-
gars,
Pedlars with pins and poking-sticks to sell;
And when the time is come — a merry blast
Rings out upon a bugle and suddenly
[76]
SHERWOOD
The Sheriff is aware that Sherwood Forest
Has thrust its green boughs up beneath his feet.
Off go the cloaks and all is Lincoln green,
Great thwacking clubs and twanging bows of yew.
Oh, we break up like nature thro' the laws
Of that dark world ; and then, good Widow Scar-
let,
Back to the cave we come and your good Will
Winds his big arm about you once again.
Go, Friar, take her in and make her cosy.
Jenny, your Much will grow three feet at least
With joy to welcome you. He is in the cave.
[FRIAR TUCK and WIDOW SCARLET go towards
the cave."]
FRIAR TUCK
Now for a good bowse at a drinking can.
I've got one cooling in the cave, unless
That rascal, Little John, has drunk it all.
[Exeunt into cave."}
JENNY
[To MARIAN.]
Mistress, I haven't spoke a word to you
For nigh three hours. 'Tis most unkind, I think.
MARIAN
Go, little tyrant, and be kind to Much.
[77]
SHERWOOD
JENNY
Mistress, it isn't Much I want. Don't think
Jenny comes trapesing through these awful woods
For Much. I haven't spoke a word with you
For nigh three hours. 'Tis most unkind, I think.
MARIAN
Wait, Jenny, then, I'll come and talk with you.
Robin, she is a tyrant; but she loves me.
And if I do not go, she'll pout and sulk
Three days on end. But she's a wondrous girl.
She'd work until she dropped for me. Poor
Jenny !
ROBIN
That's a quaint tyranny. Go, dear Marian, go;
But not for long. We have so much to say.
Come quickly back.
[Exit MARIAN. ROBIN paces thoughtfully across
the glade. QUEEN ELINOR steals out of
her hiding place and stands before him.~\
You here!
ELINOR
Robin, can you
Believe that girl ? Am I so treacherous ?
ROBIN
It seems you have heard whate'er I had to say.
[78]
SHERWOOD
ELINOR
Surely you cannot quite forget those days
When you were kind to me. Do you remember
The sunset through that oriel ?
ROBIN
Ay, a god
Grinning thro' a horse-collar at a pitiful page,
Dazed with the first red gleam of what he thought
Life, as the trouveres find it ! I am ashamed,
Remembering how your quick tears blinded me !
ELINOR
Ashamed ! You — you — that in my bitter grief
When Rosamund —
ROBIN
I know! I thought your woes,
Those tawdry relics of your treacheries,
Wrongs quite unparalleled. I would have fought
Roland himself to prove you spotless then.
ELINOR
Oh, you speak thus to me ! Robin, beware !
I have come to you, I have trampled on my pride,
Set all on this one cast! If you should now
Reject me, humble me to the dust before
That girl, beware ! I never forget, I warn you ;
I never forgive.
[79]
SHERWOOD
ROBIN
Are you so proud of that?
ELINOR
Ah, well, forgive me, Robin. I'll save you yet
From all these troubles of your outlawry!
Trust me — for I can wind my poor Prince John
Around my little finger. Who knows — with me
To help you — there are but my two sons' lives
That greatly hinder it — why, yourself might
reign
Upon the throne of England.
ROBIN
Are you so wrapped
In treacheries, helplessly false, even to yourself,
That now you do not know falsehood from truth,
Darkness from light?
ELINOR
O Robin, I was true
At least to you. If I were false to others,
At least I —
ROBIN
No — not that — that sickening plea
Of truth in treachery. Treachery cannot live
With truth. The soul wherein they are wedded
dies
Of leprosy.
[so]
SHERWOOD
ELINOR
[Coming closer to hlmJ]
Have you no pity, Robin,
No kinder word than this for the poor creature
That crept — Ah, feel my heart, feel how it beats !
No pity?
ROBIN
Five years ago this might have moved me !
ELINOR
No pity?
ROBIN
None. There is no more to say.
My men shall guide you safely through the wood.
ELINOR
I never forgive !
[Enter MARIAN from the cave; she stands silent
and star tied J\
ROBIN
My men shall guide you back.
[Calls.-]
Ho, there, my lads!
[Enter several of the outlaws.']
This lady needs a guide
Back thro' the wood.
[81]
SHERWOOD
ELINOR
Good-bye, then, Robin, and good-bye to you,
Sweet mistress! You have wronged me! What
of that?
For — when we meet — Come, lead on, foresters !
[Exeunt the QUEEN and her guides.']
MARIAN
O Robin, Robin, how the clouds begin
To gather — how that woman seems to have
brought
A nightmare on these woods
ROBIN
Forget it all !
She is so tangled in those lies the world
Draws round some men and women, none can
help her.
Marian, for God's sake, let us quite forget
That nightmare ! Oh, that perfect brow of yours,
Those perfect eyes, pure as the violet wells
That only mirror heaven and are not dimmed
Except by clouds that drift thro' heaven and
catch
God's glory in the sunset and the dawn.
MARIAN
It is enough for them simply to speak
The love they hold for you. But — I still fear.
[82]
SHERWOOD
Robin — think you — she might have overheard
Your plan — the rescue of Will Scarlet?
ROBIN
Why —
No — No — some time had passed, and yet —
she seemed
To have heard your charge against her! No,
she guessed it.
Come — let us brush these cobwebs from our
minds.
; Look how the first white star begins to tremble
Like a big blossom in that sycamore.
Now you shall hear our forest ritual.
Ho, Little John! Summon the lads together!
[The outlaws come out of the cave. LITTLE
JOHN blows a bugle and others come in from
the forest.']
Friar, read us the rules.
FRIAR TUCK
First, shall no man
Presume to call our Robin Hood or any
By name of Earl, lord, baron, knight or squire,
But simply by their names as men and brothers:
Second, that Lady Marian while she shares
Our outlaw life in Sherwood shall be called
Simply Maid Marian. Thirdly, we that follow
Robin, shall never in thought or word or deed
SHERWOOD
Do harm to widow, wife or maid; but hold,
Each, for his mother's or sister's or sweetheart's
sake,
The glory of womanhood, a sacred thing,
A star twixt earth and heaven. Fourth, whom-
soever
Ye meet in Sherwood ye shall bring to dine
With Robin, saving carriers, posts and folk
That ride with food to serve the market towns
Or any, indeed, that serve their fellow men.
Fifth, you shall never do the poor man wrong,
Nor spare a priest or usurer. You shall take
The waste wealth of the rich to help the poor,
The baron's gold to stock the widow's cupboard,
The naked ye shall clothe, the hungry feed,
And lastly shall defend with all your power
All that are trampled under by the world,
The old, the sick and all men in distress.
ROBIN
So, if it be no dream, we shall at last
Hasten the kingdom of God's will on earth.
There shall be no more talk of rich and poor,
Norman and Saxon. We shall be one people,
One family, clustering all with happy hands
And faces round that glowing hearth, the sun.
Now let the bugle sound a golden challenge
To the great world. Greenleaf, a forest call!
SHERWOOD
[REYNOLD GREENLEAF blows a resounding call.]
Now let the guards be set ; and then, to sleep !
To-morrow there'll be work enough for all.
The hut for Jenny and Maid Marian !
Come, you shall see how what we lack in halls
We find in bowers. Look how from every branch
Such tapestries as kings could never buy
Wave in the starlight. You'll be waked at dawn
By feathered choirs whose notes were taught in
heaven.
MUCH
Come, Jenny, come, we must prepare the hut
For Mistress Marian. Here's a bundle of ferns !
[They go into the hut. The light is growing
dimmer and richer. ,]
LITTLE JOHN
And here's a red cramoisy cloak, a baron
[Handing them in at the door.~\
Dropt, as he fled one night from Robin Hood;
And here's a green, and here's a midnight blue,
All soft as down. But wait, I'll get you more.
[Two of the outlaws appear at the door with deer-
skins, etc., SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF stands be-
hind them with a great bunch of flowers and
ferns.]
FIRST OUTLAW
Here's fawn-skins, milder than a maiden's cheek.
[85]
SHERWOOD
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Oh, you should talk in rhyme ! The world should
sing
Just for this once in tune, if Love were king !
SECOND OUTLAW
Here's deer-skins, for a carpet, smooth and meek.
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
I knew you would ! Ha ! ha ! Now look at
what I bring!
[He throws flowers, etc., within the hut, spray
by spray, speaking in a kind of ecstasy.]
Here's lavender and love and sweet wild thyme,
And dreams and blue-bells that the fairies chime,
Here's meadow-sweet and moonlight, bound in
posies,
With ragged robin, traveller's joy and roses,
And here — just three leaves from a weeping wil-
low;
And here — that's best — deep poppies for your
pillow.
MUCH
And here's a pillow that I made myself,
Stuffed with dry rose-leaves and grey pigeon's
down,
The softest thing on earth except my heart!
[86]
SHERWOOD
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
[Going aside and throwing himself down among
the ferns to watch.}
Just three sweet breaths and then the song is
flown!
[MUCH looks at him for a moment with a puz-
zled face, then turns to the hut again.]
MUCH
Jenny, here, take it — though I'm fond of com-
forts,
Take it and give it to Maid Marian.
JENNY
iWhy, Much, 'tis bigger than thyself.
MUCH
Hush, child.
I meant to use it lengthways. 'Twould have
made
A feather-bed complete for your poor Much,
Take it!
[The outlaws all go into the cave.]
MARIAN
O Robin, what a fairy palace!
How cold and grey the walls of castles seem
Beside your forest's fragrant halls and bowers.
SHERWOOD
I do not think that I shall be afraid
To sleep this night, as I have often been
Beneath our square bleak battlements.
ROBIN
And look,
Between the boughs, there is your guard, all night,
That great white star, white as an angel's wings,
White as the star that shone on Bethlehem !
Good night, sweetheart, good night!
MARIAN
ROBIN
Good night !
One kiss!
Oh, clear bright eyes, dear heavens of sweeter
stars,
Where angels play, and your own sweeter soul
Smiles like a child into the face of God,
Good night! Good night!
[MARIAN goes into the hut. The door is shut.
ROBIN goes to the mouth of the cave and
throws himself down on a couch of deer-
skins. The light grows dimly rich and
fairy -like. ~\
[88]
SHERWOOD
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
[Rising to his knees.]
Here comes the little cloud!
\_A little moonlit cloud comes floating down be-
tween the tree-tops into the glade. TITANIA
is seen reposing upon it. She steps to earth.
The cloud melts away.]
How blows the wind from fairyland, Titania ?
TITANIA
Shadow-of-a-Leaf, the wicked queen has heard
Your master's plan for saving poor Will Scarlet.
She knows Maid Marian will be left alone,
Unguarded in these woods. The wicked Prince
Will steal upon her loneliness. He plots
To carry her away.
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
What can we do?
Can I not break my fairy vows and tell?
TITANIA
No, no; you cannot, even if you would,
Convey our fairy lore to mortal ears.
When have they heard our honeysuckle bugles
Blowing reveille to the crimson dawn?
We can but speak by dreams; and, if you spoke,
[89]
SHERWOOD
They'd whip you, for your words would all ring
false
Like sweet bells out of tune.
S H ADO W-O F-A-LE A F
What can we do?
TITANIA
Nothing, except on pain of death, to stay
The course of Time and Tide. There's Oberon !
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Oberon I
TITANIA
He can tell you more than I.
[Enter OBERON.]
OBERON
Where's Orchis? Where's our fairy trumpeter
To call the court together?
ORCHIS
Here, my liege.
OBERON
Bugle them hither; let thy red cheeks puff
Until thy curled petallic trumpet thrill
More loudly than a yellow-banded bee
[90]
SHERWOOD
Thro' all the clover clumps and boughs of thyme.
They are scattered far abroad.
ORCHIS
My liege, it shall
Outroar the very wasp !
[£*&.]
OBERON
[As he speaks, the fairies come flocking from all
sides into the glade.]
Methinks they grow
Too fond of feasting. As I passed this way
I saw the fairy halls of hollowed oaks
All lighted with their pale green glow-worm
lamps.
And under great festoons of maiden-hair
Their brilliant mushroom tables groaned with
food.
Hundreds of rose-winged fairies banqueted!
All Sherwood glittered with their prismy goblets
Brimming the thrice refined and luscious dew
Not only of our own most purplest violets,
But of strange fragrance, wild exotic nectars,
Drawn from the fairy blossoms of some star
Beyond our tree-tops ! Ay, beyond that moon
Which is our natural limit — the big lamp
Heaven lights upon our boundary.
[90
SHERWOOD
ORCHIS
Mighty King,
The Court is all attendant on thy word.
OBERON
[With great dignity.]
Elves, pixies, nixies, gnomes and leprechauns,
[He pauses.]
We are met, this moonlight, for momentous coun-
cils
Concerning those two drowsy human lovers,
Maid Marian and her outlawed Robin Hood.
They are in dire peril ; yet we may not break
Our vows of silence. Many a time
Has Robin Hood by kindly words and deeds
Done in his human world, sent a new breath
Of life and joy like Spring to fairyland;
And at the moth-hour of this very dew-fall,
He saved a fairy, whom he thought, poor soul,
Only a may-fly in a spider's web,
He saved her from the clutches of that Wizard,
That Cruel Thing, that dark old Mystery,
Whom ye all know and shrink from —
[Exclamations of horror from the fairies]
Plucked her forth,
So gently that not one bright rainbow gleam
Upon her wings was clouded, not one flake
Of bloom brushed off — there lies the broken web.
[92]
SHERWOOD
Go, look at it; and here is pale Perilla
To tell you all the tale.
[The fairies cluster to look at the web, etc.]
A FAIRY
Can we not make them free
Of fairyland, like Shadow-of-a-Leaf, to come
And go, at will, upon the wings of dreams?
OBERON
Not till they lose their wits like Shadow-of-a-Leaf.
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Can I not break my fairy vows and tell?
OBERON
Only on pain of what we fairies call
Death!
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Death?
OBERON
Never to join our happy revels,
Never to pass the gates of fairyland
Again, but die like mortals. What that means
We do not know — who knows?
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
If I could save them! — ^
I am only Shadow-of-a-Leaf!
[93]
SHERWOOD
OBERON
There is a king
Beyond the seas. If he came home in time,
All might be well. We fairies only catch
Stray gleams, wandering shadows of things to
come.
TITANIA
Oh, if the king came home from the Crusade !
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Why will he fight for graves beyond the sea ?
OBERON
Our elfin couriers brought the news at dusk
That Lion-heart, while wandering home thro'
Europe,
In jet-black armour, like an errant knight,
Despite the great red cross upon his shield,
Was captured by some wicked prince and thrust
Into a dungeon. Only a song, they say,
Can break those prison-bars. There is a minstrel
That loves his king. If he should roam the world
Singing until from that dark tower he hears
The king reply, the king would be set free.
TITANIA
Only a song, only a minstrel?
[94]
SHERWOOD
OBERON
Ay;
And Blondel is his name.
[A long, low sound of wailing is heard in the dis-
tance. The FAIRIES shudder and creep to-
gether.']
TITANIA
Hark, what is that?
OBERON
The cry of the poor, the cry of the oppressed,
The sound of women weeping for their children,
The victims of the forest laws. The moan
Of that dark world where mortals live and die
Sweeps like an icy wind thro' fairyland.
And Oh, it may grow bitterer yet, that sound !
'Twas Merlin's darkest prophecy that earth
Should all be wrapped in smoke and fire, the woods
Hewn down, the flowers discoloured and the sun
Begrimed, until the rows of lifeless trees
Against the greasy sunset seemed no more
Than sooty smudges of an ogre's thumbs
Upon the sweating forehead of a slave.
While, all night long, fed with the souls of men,
And bodies, too, great forges blast and burn
Till the great ogre's cauldrons brim with gold.
[ The wailing sound is heard again in the
distance.]
[95]
SHERWOOD
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
To be shut out for ever, only to hear
Those cries! I am only Shadow-of-a-Leaf, the
fool,
I cannot face it! Is there no hope but this?
No hope for Robin and Maid Marian?
OBERON
If the great King comes home from the Crusade
In time ! If not, — there is another King
Beyond the world, they say.
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Death, that dark death!
To leave the sunlight and the flowers for ever !
I cannot bear it ! Oh, I cannot tell them.
I'll wait — perhaps the great King will come
home,
If not — Oh, hark, a wandering minstrel's voice?
OBERON
Who is drawing hither? Listen, fairies, listen!
[Song heard approaching thro' the wood.]
Knight on the narrow way,
Where would'st thou ride?
4 Onward,' I heard him say,
4 Love, to thy side ! '
[96]
SHERWOOD
' Nay,' sang a bird above;
' Stay, for I see
Death in the mask of love,
Waiting for thee.'
[The song breaks off. Enter a MINSTREL, lead-
ing a great while steed. He pauses, con-
fronted by the fairy host. The moonlight
dazzles himJ\
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Minstrel, art thou, too, free of fairyland?
Where would'st thou ride? What is thy name?
Is Blondel.
MINSTREL
My name
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Blondel!
THE FAIRIES
Blondel !
MINSTREL
And I ride
Through all the world to seek and find my king!
[He passes through the fairy host and goes into
[97]
SHERWOOD
the woods on the further side of the glade,
continuing his song, which dies away in the
distance.]
[Song.]
1 Death ? What is death ? ' he cried.
' 1 must ride on,
On to my true love's side,
Up to her throne!'
[Curtain.]
[98]
ACT III
ACT III
SCENE I. May-day. An open place (near NOT-
TINGHAM. A crowd of rustics and towns-
folk assembling to see the execution of WILL
SCARLET.
FIRST RUSTIC
A sad May-day ! Where yonder gallows glowers,
We should have raised the may-pole.
SECOND RUSTIC
Ay, no songs,
No kisses in the ring, no country dances
To-day; no lads and lasses on the green,
Crowning their queen of may.
[Enter ROBIN HOOD, disguised as an old beggar,
with a green patch on one eye.~\
ROBIN
Is this the place,
Masters, where they're a-goin' to hang Will
Scarlet?
FIRST RUSTIC
Ay, father, more's the pity.
[101]
SHERWOOD
ROBIN
Eh! Don't ye think
There may be scuffling, masters ? There's a many
That seems to like him well, here, roundabouts.
SECOND RUSTIC
Too many halberts round him. There's no
chance.
ROBIN
I've heard the forest might break out, the lads
In Lincoln green, you wot of! If they did?
FIRST RUSTIC
There's many here would swing a cudgel and help
To trip the Sheriff up. If Robin Hood
Were only here ! But then he's outlawed now.
SECOND RUSTIC
Ay, and there's big rewards out. It would be
Sure death for him to try a rescue now.
The biggest patch of Lincoln Green we'll see
This day, is that same patch on thy old eye,
Eh, lads!
THIRD RUSTIC
What's more, they say Prince John is out
This very day, scouring thro' Sherwood forest
In quest of Lady Marian!
[ 102]
SHERWOOD
ROBIN
[Sharply.]
You heard that?
THIRD RUSTIC
Ay, for they say she's flown to Sherwood forest.
SECOND RUSTIC
Ah! Ah? That's why he went. I saw Prince
John!
With these same eyes I saw him riding out
To Sherwood, not an hour ago.
ROBIN
You saw him?
SECOND RUSTIC
Ay, and he only took three men at arms.
FIRST RUSTIC
Three men at arms! Why then, he must ha'
known
That Robin's men would all be busy here !
He's none so bold, he would not risk his skin !
I think there'll be some scuffling after all.
ROBIN
Ay, tell 'em so — go, spread it thro' the crowd !
[He mutters to himself.]
[ 103]
SHERWOOD
He'd take some time, to find her, but 'fore God
We must be quick; 'fore God we must be quick!
SECOND RUSTIC
Why, father, one would never think to see thee
Thou had'st so sound a heart!
FIRST RUSTIC
Ah, here they come!
The Sheriff and his men; and, in the midst,
There's poor Will Scarlet bound.
THE CROWD MURMURS
Ah, here they come !
Look at the halberts shining! Can you see him?
FIRST RUSTIC
Ay, there he is. His face is white; but, Lord,
He takes it bravely.
SECOND RUSTIC
He's a brave man, Will.
SHERIFF
Back with the crowd there, guards ; delay no time !
SOME WOMEN IN THE CROWD
Ah, ah, poor lad!
SHERWOOD
ROBIN
[Eagerly.']
What are they doing now?
I cannot see!
FIRST RUSTIC
The Sheriff's angered now!
SECOND RUSTIC
Ay, for they say a messenger has come
From that same godless hangman whose lean neck
I'd like to twist, saying he is delayed.
'Tis the first godly deed he has ever done.
THIRD RUSTIC
The Sheriff says he will not be delayed.
But who will take the hangman's office ?
ROBIN
Masters,
I have a thought; make way; let me bespeak
The Sheriff!
RUSTICS
How now, father, what's to do?
ROBIN
Make way, I tell you. Here's the man they
want!
SHERWOOD
SHERIFF
What's this?
ROBIN
Good master Sheriff, I've a grudge
Against Will Scarlet. Let me have the task
Of sending him to heaven!
CROWD
Ah-h-h, the old devil!
SHERIFF
Come on, then, and be brief!
ROBIN
I'm not a hangman;
But I can cleave your thinnest hazel wand
At sixty yards.
SHERIFF
Shoot, then, and make an end.
Make way there, clear the way!
[An opening is made in the crowd. ROBIN stands
in the gap, WILL SCARLET is not seen by the
audience.]
CROWD
Ah-h-h, the old devil!
[106]
SHERWOOD
ROBIN
I'll shoot him one on either side, just graze him,
To show you how I love him ; then the third
Slick in his heart.
[He shoots. A murmur goes up from the crowd.
The crowd hides WILL SCARLET during the
shooting. But ROBIN remains in full view,
in the opening.']
SHERIFF
[Angrily.'}
Take care! You've cut the cord
That bound him on that side !
ROBIN
Then here's the second!
I will be careful!
[He takes a steady aim.~\
A RUSTIC TO HIS NEIGHBOURS
T faith, lads, he can shoot!
What do you think — that green patch on his eye
Smacks of the merry men! He's tricking them!
[ ROBIN shoots. A louder murmur goes up from
the crowd, ,]
SHERIFF
You have cut the rope again!
SHERWOOD
A CRY
He has cut him free!
ROBIN
All right ! All right ! It's just to tease the dog !
Here's for the third now !
[He aims and shoots quickly! There Is a loud
cry of a wounded man, then a shout from the
crowd.~\
THE CROWD
Ah-h-h, he has missed; he has killed
One of the guards!
FIRST RUSTIC
What has he done ?
SECOND RUSTIC
He has killed
One of the Sheriff's men
SHERIFF
There's treachery here!
I'll cleave the first man's heart that moves !
ROBIN
Will Scarlet,
Pick up that dead man's halbert!
[108]
SHERWOOD
SHERIFF
Treachery ! Help !
Down with the villain!
ROBIN
[Throws off his beggar's crouch and hurls the
Sheriff and several of his men back amongst
the crowd. His cloak drops of.~\
Sherwood! A merry Sherwood!
CROWD
Ah ! ha ! The Lincoln Green ! A Robin Hood !
\_A bugle rings out and immediately some of the
yokels throw of their disguise and the Lin-
coln green appears as by magic amongst the
crowd. The guards are rushed and hustled
by them. Robin and several of his men
make a ring round WILL SCARLET.]
SHERIFF
It 'is the outlawed Earl of Huntingdon:
There is a great reward upon his head.
Down with him!
[The SHERIFF'S men make a rush at the little
band. A KNIGHT in jet black armour, with
a red-cross shield, suddenly appears and
forces his way through the mob, sword in
hand.]
[ 109]
SHERWOOD
KNIGHT
What, so many against so few!
Back, you wild wolves. Now, foresters, follow
me,
For our St. George and merry England, charge,
Charge them, my lads!
[The FORESTERS make a rush with him and the
SHERIFF and his men take to flight. ~\
ROBIN
Now back to Sherwood, swiftly!
A horse, or I shall come too late ; a horse !
[He sees the knight in armour standing by his
horse. ~\
Your pardon, sir ; our debt to you is great,
Too great almost for thanks; but if you be
Bound by the vows of chivalry, I pray you
Lend me your charger; and my men will bring
you
To my poor home in Sherwood. There you'll
find
A most abundant gratitude.
KNIGHT
Your name?
ROBIN
Was Huntingdon; but now is Robin Hood.
[no]
SHERWOOD
KNIGHT
If I refuse?
ROBIN
Then, sir, I must perforce
Take it. I am an outlaw, but the law
Of manhood still constrains me — 'tis a matter
Of life and death — a helpless maiden's honour
Depends on it!
KNIGHT
Take it and God be with you 1
I'll follow you to Sherwood with your men.
[ ROBIN seizes the horse and exit. He is heard
galloping away.]
[Curtain.]
SCENE II. Sherwood Forest. Outside the cave.
JENNY, MARIAN and WIDOW SCARLET.
MARIAN
This dreadful waiting! How I wish that Robin
Had listened to the rest and stayed with me.
How still the woods are ! Jenny, do you think
There will be fighting? Oh, I am selfish, mother;
You need not be afraid. Robin will bring
Will Scarlet safely back to Sherwood. Why,
Perhaps they are all returning even now!
SHERWOOD
Cheer up! How long d'you think they've been
away,
Jenny, six hours or more? The sun is high,
And all the dew is gone.
JENNY
Nay, scarce three hours.
Now don't you keep a-fretting. They'll be back,
Quite soon enough. I've scarcely spoke with you,
This last three days and more; and even now
It seems I cannot get you to myself,
Two's quite enough.
[To WIDOW SCARLET.]
Come, widow, come with me.
I'll give you my own corner in the hut
And make you cosy. If you take a nap
Will Scarlet will be here betimes you wake.
[ Takes her to the hut and shuts her in.'}
There, drat her, for a mumping mumble-crust !
MARIAN
Come, Jenny, that's too bad; the poor old dame
Is lonely.
JENNY
She's not lonely when she sleeps,
And if I never get you to myself
Where was the good of trapesing after you
And living here in Sherwood like wild rabbits?
[112]
SHERWOOD
You ha'nt so much as let me comb your hair
This last three days and more.
MARIAN
Well, comb it, Jenny,
Now, if you like, and comb it all day long;
But don't get crabbed, and don't speak so crossly !
[JENNY begins loosening MARIAN'S hair and
combing it.~\
JENNY
Why, Mistress, it grows longer every day.
It's far below your knees, and how it shines !
And wavy, just like Much the Miller's brook,
Where it comes tumbling out into the sun,
Like gold, red gold.
MARIAN
Ah, that's provoking, Jenny,
For you forgot to bring me my steel glass,
And, if you chatter thus, I shall soon want it.
JENNY
IVe found a very good one at a pinch.
There's a smooth silver pool, down in the stream,
Where you can see your face most beautiful.
SHERWOOD
MARIAN
So that's how Jenny spends her lonely hours,
A sad female Narcissus, while poor Much
Dwines to an Echo !
JENNY
I don't like those gods.
I never cared for them. But, as for Much,
Mistress, that poor boy has the nicest mind
You ever dreamed. He speaks so beautiful!
It might be just an Echo from blue hills
Far, far away ! You see he's quite a scholar :
Much, more 'an most (That's what he calls the
three
Greasy caparisons — much, more 'an most) !
You see they thought that being so very small
They could not make him grow to be a man,
They'd make a scholar of him instead. The Friar
Taught him his letters. He can write his name,
And mine, and yours, just like a missal book,
In lovely colours ; and he always draws
The first big letter of JENNY like a tree
With naked Cupids hiding in the branches,
The sweetest little boys you ever saw !
And, just to show he has the nicest mind,
He always draws the leaves and boughs across,
So that you only see their heads and legs —
Mistress, I don't believe you hear one word
SHERWOOD
I ever speak to you ! Your eyes are always
That far and far away.
MARIAN
I'm listening, Jenny!
JENNY
Well, when he draws the first big M of yours,
He makes it like a bridge from earth to heaven,
With white-winged angels passing up and down ;
And, underneath the bridge, in a black stream,
He puts the drowning face of the bad Prince
Holding his wicked hands out, while a devil
Stands on the bank and with a pointed stake
Keeps him from landing —
Ah, what's that? What's that?
MARIAN
0 Jenny, how you startled me !
JENNY
I thought
1 saw that same face peering thro' the ferns
Yonder — there — see, they are shaking still.
[She screams.]
Ah! Ah!
[PRINCE JOHN and another man appear advancing
across the glade.]
SHERWOOD
JOHN
So here's my dainty tigress in her den,
And — Warman — there's a pretty scrap for you
Beside her. Now, sweet mistress, will you deign
To come with me, to change these cheerless woods
For something queenlier? If I be not mistaken,
You have had time to tire of that dark cave.
Was I not right, now? Surely you can see
Those tresses were not meant to waste their gold
Upon this desert. Nay, but Marian, hear me.
I do not jest.
[At a sign from MARIAN, JENNY goes quickly in-
side the cave.~\
That's well ! Dismiss your maid !
Warman, remove a little.
[His man retires. ,]
I see you think
A little better of me ! Out in the wood
There waits a palfrey for you, and the stirrup
Longs, as I long, to clasp your dainty foot.
I am very sure by this you must be tired
Of outlawry, a lovely maid like you.
Nor do I think much of the love that drags
A maid like you to share such outlawry.
Oh, you should float in silk thro' palaces I
You know not half the wonders that await
Your coming.
[He draws nearer.]
[116]
SHERWOOD
MARIAN
Wait — let me think !
JOHN
Ay, think of gardens,
Not wild like this, but rich as Paradise,
With bowers of Eden bloom for whispering lovers,
And sounds of sweet stringed music wafted through
them
And pulse of dancing feet in kingly halls,
Lit with a hundred lamps when twilight comes.
We two shall listen. Then I'll take your hand,
Lead you thro' splendours Egypt never knew
When Cleopatra kissed Mark Antony!
[He draws nearer.]
MARIAN
Wait — I must think, must think.
JOHN
Give me your hand !
Why do you shrink from me? If you could know
The fire that burns me night and day, you would
not
Refuse to let me snatch one cooling kiss
From that white hand of yours.
MARIAN
If you be prince,
You will respect my loneliness and go.
SHERWOOD
JOHN
How can I leave you, when by day and night
I see that face of yours, and in my dreams
Possess those lips. Oh, I will not pretend
I do not love you, do not long for you,
Desire and hunger for your kiss, your touch !
I'll not pretend to be a saint, you see !
I hunger and thirst for you, only to touch
Those beautiful gold ripples, only to hold
Your body's trembling beauty in these arms,
Once. Ah, you'd feel my love, you'd answer it!
MARIAN
You are mad !
JOHN
Ay, mad for you, to quench this fever,
To bury my burning face in your deep hair,
Mad for the clasp, the kiss ! Body and soul
I am broken up with love for you. Your eyes
Flash like the eyes of a tigress, and I love them
The better for it. Ah, let me hold you, sweet,
Give me your hand ! Ah, do not shrink from me 1
[JENNY comes out of the cave, hands MARIAN a
bow. She leaps back and aims it at JOHN.]
MARIAN
Back, you wild beast, or by the heaven above us,
I'll kill you ! Now, don't doubt me. I can shoot
[118]
SHERWOOD
Truly as any forester. I swear
Prince or no prince, king or no king, I'll kill you
If you should stir one step from where you stand.
JOHN
Come, come, sweet Marian, put that weapon down.
I was beside myself, was carried away.
I cannot help my love for —
MARIAN
I'll not hear
Another sickening word : throw down your arms,
That dagger at your side.
JOHN
Oh, that's too foolish,
Marian, I swear —
MARIAN
You see that rusty stain
Upon the silver birch down yonder? Watch.
[She shoots. Then swiftly aims at him again.'}
Now, throw your weapon down.
[He pulls out the dagger and throws it downt with
a shrug of his shoulders. One of his men
comes stealing up behind MARIAN.]
JENNY
Ah, Mistress Marian,
SHERWOOD
There's one behind you! Look!
[The man springs forward and seizes MARIAN'S
arms.'}
JOHN
[Coming forward and taking hold of her also.~]
So, my sweet tigress,
You're trapped then, are you? Well, we'll waste
no time !
We'll talk this over when we reach the castle.
Keep off the maid, there, Warman; I can manage
This turbulent beauty. Ah, by God, you shall
Come! Ah? God's blood, what's this?
[MARIAN has succeeded in drawing her dagger
and slightly wounding him. She wrests her-
self free.]
, MARIAN
Keep back, I warn you!
JOHN
[Advancing slowly. ~]
Strike, now strike if you will. You will not like
To see the red blood spurting up your hand.
That's not maid's work. Come, strike !
[ ROBIN HOOD appears at the edge of the glade
behind him.']
You see, you cannot I
Your heart is tenderer than you think.
[ 120]
SHERWOOD
ROBIN
{Quietly^
Prince John !
JOHN
[Turns round and confronts ROBIN.]
Out with your blade, Warman ; call up the rest !
We can strike freely now, without a fear
Of marring the sweet beauty of the spoil.
We four can surely make an end of him.
Have at him, lads, and swiftly, or the thieves
Will all be down on us.
[ ROBIN draws his sword and sets his back to an
oak. The other two followers of PRINCE
JOHN come out of the wood.~\
ROBIN
Come on, all four I
This oak will shift its roots before I budge
One inch from four such howling wolves. Come
on;
You must be tired of fighting women-folk.
Come on ! By God, sir, you must guard your head
Better than that,
[He disarms WARMAN.]
Or you're just food for worms
Already; come, you dogs!
[121]
SHERWOOD
PRINCE JOHN
Work round, you three,
Behind him! Drive him out from that damned
oak!
ROBIN
Oh, that's a princely speech ! Have at you, sir !
[He strikes PRINCE JOHN'S sword out of his hand
and turns suddenly to confront the others.
JOHN picks up a dagger and makes as If to
stab ROBIN in the back. At the same instant,
bugles are heard in the distance. The red-
cross knight flashes between the trees and
seizing JOHN'S arm in his gauntleted hand,
disarms him, then turns to help ROBIN.]
KNIGHT
What, four on one I Down with your blades, you
curs,
Or, by Mahound! —
[ The three men take to flight. JOHN stands star-
ing at the newcomer. The FORESTERS ap-
pear, surrounding the glade. ,]
JOHN
{Muttering.'}
What? Thou? Thou?
No — no — it cannot be.
[ 122];
Or his ghost?
SHERWOOD
ROBIN
Let them yelp home,
The pitiful jackals. They have left behind
The prime offender. Ha, there, my merry lads,
All's well ; but take this villain into the cave
And guard him there.
[The foresters lead PRINCE JOHN Into the cave.]
JOHN
[To the Foresters.']
Answer me one thing: who
Is yonder red-cross knight?
A FORESTER
No friend of thine,
Whoe'er he be!
KNIGHT
[To ROBIN.]
I need not ask his name.
I grieve to know it !
ROBIN ,
Sir, I am much beholden
To your good chivalry. What thanks is mine
To give, is all your own.
KNIGHT
Then I ask this !
Give me that prisoner! I think his life is mine,
[ 123]
SHERWOOD
ROBIN
You saved my own, and more, you saved much
more
Than my poor life is worth. But, sir, think well!
This man is dangerous, not to me alone,
But to the King of England; for he'll yet
Usurp the throne ! Think well !
KNIGHT
I ask no more.
I have more reasons than you know.
ROBIN
So be it.
Ho I Bring the prisoner back !
[The FORESTERS bring PRINCE JOHN back. He
stares at the knight as If in fear.]
Sir, you shall judge him.
This prisoner is your own.
KNIGHT
Then — let him go !
FORESTERS
What! Set him free?
ROBIN
Obey!
[They release PRINCE JOHN.]
[124]
SHERWOOD
KNIGHT
Out of my sight ;
Go!
PRINCE JOHN
What man is this ?
KNIGHT
Quickly, get thee gone !
[PRINCE JOHN goes out, shaken and white.]
ROBIN
We'll think no more of him ! It is our rule
That whomsoever we meet in merry greenwood
Should dine with us. Will you not be our guest?
KNIGHT
That's a most happy thought ! I have not heard
A merrier word than dinner all this day.
I am well-nigh starved.
ROBIN
Will you not raise your visor
And let us know to whose good knightly hand
We are so beholden?
KNIGHT
Sir, you will pardon me,
If, for a little, I remain unknown.
But, tell me, are you not that Robin Hood
Who breaks the forest laws?
SHERWOOD
ROBIN
That is my name.
We hold this earth as naturally our own
As the glad common air we breathe. We think
No man, no king, can so usurp the world
As not to give us room to live free lives,
But, if you shrink from eating the King's deer —
KNIGHT
Shrink ? Ha ! ha ! ha ! I count it as my own !
[The FORESTERS appear, preparing the dinner on
a table of green turfs, beneath a spreading
oak. MARIAN and JENNY appear at the
door of the hut. JENNY goes across to help
at the preparations for dinner. ]
ROBIN
Ah, there's my Lady Marian ! Will you not come
And speak with her?
[He and the KNIGHT go and talk to MARIAN in
the background.']
LITTLE JOHN
[At the table.]
The trenchers all are set ;
Manchets of wheat, cream, curds and honey-cakes,
Venison pasties, roasted pigeons ! Much,
Run to the cave ; we'll broach our rarest wine
SHERWOOD
To-day. Old Much is waiting for thee there
To help him. He is growling roundly, too,
At thy delay.
MUCH
[Going towards the caveJ\
Ah me, my poor, dear father !
JENNY
I've dressed the salt and strawed the dining hall
With flowers.
[Enter. FRIAR TUCK with several more FORESTERS
and WILL SCARLET.]
ROBIN
Ah, good Will Scarlet, here at last !
FRIAR TUCK
We should ha' been here sooner; but these others
Borrowed a farmer's market cart and galloped
Ahead of us !
ROBIN
Thy mother is in the hut,
Sheer broken down with hope and fearfulness,
Waiting and trembling for thee, Will. Go in,
Put thy big arm around her.
[WiLL SCARLET goes into the hut with a cry.~]
'
SHERWOOD
SCARLET
Mother I
FRIAR TUCK
You see,
My sons, you couldn't expect the lad to run !
There is a certain looseness in the limbs,
A quaking of the flesh that overcomes
The bravest who has felt a hangman's rope
Cuddling his neck.
ROBIN
You judge him by the rope
That cuddles your slim waist ! Oh, you sweet arm-
ful,
Sit down and pant ! I warrant you were glad
To bear him company.
FRIAR TUCK
I'll not deny it !
I am a man of solids. Like the Church,
I am founded on a rock.
[He sits down.]
ROBIN
Solids, i' faith 1
Sir, it is true he is partly based on beef;
He grapples with it squarely; but fluids, too,
Have played their part in that cathedral choir
SHERWOOD
He calls his throat. One godless virtue, sir,
They seem to have given him. Never a nightin-
gale
Gurgles jug ! jug ! in mellower tones than he
When jugs are flowing. Never a thrush can pipe
Sweet, sweet, so rarely as, when a pipe of wine
Summers his throttle, we'll make him sing to us
One of his heathen ditties — The Malmsey Butt,
Or Down the Merry Red Lane!
FRIAR TUCK
Oh, ay, you laugh,
But, though I cannot run, when I am rested
I'll challenge you, Robin, to a game of buffets,
One fair, square, stand-up, stand-still, knock-down
blow
Apiece ; you'll need no more. If you not kiss
The turf, at my first clout, I will forego
Malmsey for ever!
ROBIN
Friar, I recant;
You're champion there. Fists of a common size
I will encounter; but not whirling hams
Like thine!
FRIAR TUCK
I knew it!
[ 129]
SHERWOOD
JENNY
Approaching.']
Please you, sirs, all is ready 1
FRIAR TUCK
Ah, Jenny, Jenny, Jenny, that's good news !
[WiLL SCARLET comes out of the hut with his arm
round his mother. They all sit down at the
table of turfs. Enter SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
timidly. ,]
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Is there a place for me?
A FORESTER
Ay, come along!
FRIAR TUCK
Now, Robin, don't forget the grace, my son.
ROBIN
[Standing up.]
It is our custom, sir, since our repast
Is borrowed from the King, to drain one cup
To him, and his return from the Crusade,
Before we dine. That same wine-bibbing friar
Calls it our * grace ' ; and constitutes himself
Remembrancer — without a cause, for never
Have we forgotten, never while bugles ring
SHERWOOD
Thro' Sherwood, shall forget — Outlaws, the
King!
[All stand up except the knight.]
CRIES
The King and his return from the Crusade!
[They drink and resume their seats.]
ROBIN
You did not drink the health, sir Knight. I hope
You hold with Lion-Heart.
KNIGHT
Yes; I hold with him.
You were too quick for me. I had not drawn
These gauntlets off.
But tell me, Lady Marian,
When is your bridal day with Robin Hood?
MARIAN
We shall be wedded when the King comes home
From the Crusade.
KNIGHT
Ah, when the King comes home !
That's music — all the birds of April sing
In those four words for me — the King comes
home.
SHERWOOD
MARIAN
I am glad you love him, sir.
ROBIN
But you're not eating !
Your helmet's locked and barred! Will you not
raise
Your visor?
KNIGHT
[Laughs.]
Ha ! ha ! ha ! You see I am trapped !
I did not wish to raise it ! Hunger and thirst
Break down all masks and all disguises, Robin.
[He rises and removes his helmet, revealing the
face of RICHARD CCEUR DE LION.]
ROBIN
The King!
[They all leap to their feet.]
OUTLAWS
The King! The King!
ROBIN
But oh, my liege,
I should have known, when we were hard beset
Around Will Scarlet by their swarming bands,
And when you rode out of the Eastern sky
I 132]
SHERWOOD
And hurled our foemen down, I should have known
It was the King come home from the Crusade 1
And when I was beset here in the wood
By treacherous hands again, I should have known
Whose armour suddenly burned between the
leaves !
I should have known, either it was St. George
Or else the King come home from the Crusade 1
RICHARD
Indeed there is one thing that might have told you,
Robin — a lover's instinct, since it seems
So much for you and Marian depends
On my return.
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Sire, you will pardon me,
For I am only a fool, and yet methinks
You know not half the meaning of those words —
The King, the King comes home from the Cru-
sade!
Thrust up your swords, heft uppermost, my lads,
And shout — the King comes home from the Cru-
sade.
\He leaps on a seat, and thrusts up the King's
sword, heft uppermost, as if it were a crossJ\
[133]
SHERWOOD
ROBIN
Pardon him, sire, poor Shadow-of-a-Leaf has lost
His wits 1
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
That's what Titania said you'd say,
Poor sweet bells out of tune ! But oh, don't leave,
Don't leave the forest ! There's darker things to
come!
Don't leave the forest ! I have wits enough at
least
To wrap my legs around my neck for warmth
On winter nights.
RICHARD
Well, you've no need to pass
The winter in these woods —
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Oh, not that winter !
ROBIN
Shadow-of-a-Leaf, be silent !
[SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF goes aside and throws him-
self down sobbing among the ferns.]
RICHARD
When even your cave
Methinks can scarce be cheery. Huntingdon,
Your earldom we restore to you this day!
SHERWOOD
You and my Lady Marian shall. return
To Court with us, where your true bridal troth
Shall be fulfilled with golden marriage bells.
Now, friends, the venison pasty ! We must hear
The Malmsey Butt and Down the Merry Red
Lane,
Ere we set out, at dawn, for London Town.
ROBIN
Allan-a-dale shall touch a golden string
To speed our feast, sire, for he soars above
The gross needs of the Churchman !
RICHARD
Allan-a-Dale?
WILL SCARLET
Our green-wood minstrel, sire ! His harp is ours
Because we won his bride for him.
RICHARD
His bride?
REYNOLD GREEN-LEAF
Was to be wedded, sire, against her will
Last May, to a rich old baron.
RICHARD
Pigeon-pie —
And Malmsey — yes — a rich old baron — tell !
SHERWOOD
ROBIN
Sire, on the wedding day, my merry men
Crowded the aisles with uninvited guests ;
And, as the old man drew forth the golden ring,
They threw aside their cloaks with one great shout
Of ' Sherwood ' ; and, for all its crimson panes,
The church was one wild sea of Lincoln green !
The Forest had broken in, sire, and the bride
Like a wild rose tossing on those green boughs,
Was borne away and wedded here by Tuck
To her true lover ; and so — his harp is ours.
ALLAN-A-DALE
No feasting-song, sire, but the royal theme
Of chivalry, — a song I made last night
In yonder ruined chapel. It is called
The Old Knight's Vigil.
RICHARD
Our hearts will keep it young!
[ALLAN-A-DALE sings, SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF raises
his head among the ferns.']
[Song.]
Once, in this chapel, Lord
Young and undaunted,
Over my virgin sword
Lightly I chaunted, —
SHERWOOD
* Dawn ends my watch. I go
Shining to meet the foe ! '
II
' Swift with thy dawn/ I said,
4 Set the lists ringing I
Soon shall thy foe be sped,
And the world singing !
Bless my bright plume for me,
Christ, King of Chivalry.'
[SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF rises to his knees amongst
the ferns.]
Ill
' War-worn I kneel to-night,
Lord, by Thine altar!
Oh, in to-morrow's fight,
Let me not falter !
Bless my dark arms for me,
Christ, King of Chivalry.'
IV
4 Keep Thou my broken sword
All the long night through,
While I keep watch and ward !
Then — the red fight through,
Bless the wrenched haft of me,
Christ, King of Chivalry.'
[ J37l
SHERWOOD
' Keep, in thy pierced hands,
Still the bruised helmet:
Let not their hostile hands
Wholly o'erwhelm it !
Bless my poor shield for me,
Christ, King of Chivalry.'
VI
* Keep Thou the sullied mail,
Lord, that I tender
Here, at Thine altar-rail !
Then — let Thy splendour
Touch it once . . . and I go
Stainless to meet the foe.'
[SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF rises to his feet and takes a
step towards the minstrel.]
[Curtain.]
ACT IV
ACT IV
SCENE I. Garden of the King's Palace. Enter*.
JOHN and ELINOR.
ELINOR
You will be King the sooner ! Not a month
In England, and my good son Lion-Heart
Must wander over-seas again. These two,
Huntingdon and his bride, must bless the star
Of errant knighthood.
JOHN
He stayed just long enough
To let them pass one fearless honeymoon
In the broad sunlight of his royal favour,
Then, like a meteor off goes great King Richard,
And leaves them but the shadow of his name
To shelter them from my revenge. They know
it!
I have seen her shiver like a startled fawn
And draw him closer, damn him, as I passed.
ELINOR
They would have flitted to the woods again
But for my Lord Fitzwalter.
SHERWOOD
JOHN
That old fool
Has wits enough to know I shall be king,
And for his land's sake cheats himself to play
Sir Pandarus of Troy. 'Tis wrong, dear daugh-
ter,
To think such evil/ Pah, he makes me sick!
ELINOR
Better to laugh. He is useful.
JOHN
If I were king!
If Richard were to perish over-seas!
I'd —
ELINOR
You'd be king the sooner. Never fear :
These wandering meteors flash into their graves
Like lightning, and no thunder follows them
To warn their foolish henchmen.
JOHN
[Looking at her sear chin gly.~\
Shall I risk
The king's return ?
ELINOR
What do you mean?
SHERWOOD
JOHN
I mean
I cannot wait and watch this Robin Hood
Dangle the fruit of Tantalus before me,
Then eat it in my sight ! I have borne enough !
He gave me like a fairing to my brother
In Sherwood Forest; and I now must watch him,
A happy bridegroom with the happy bride,
Whose lips I meant for mine.
ELINOR
And do you think
I love to see it?
JOHN
Had it not been for you
He would have died ere this !
ELINOR
Then let him die!
JOHN
Oh, ay, but do you mean it, mother?
ELINOR
God,
I hate him, hate him !
[ 143 1
SHERWOOD
JOHN
Mother, he goes at noon
To Sherwood forest, with a bag of gold
For some of his old followers. If, by chance
He fall — how saith the Scripture ? — among
thieves
And vanish — is not heard of any more,
I think Suspicion scarce could lift her head
Among these roses here to hiss at me,
When Lion-Heart returns.
ELINOR
Vanish ?
JOHN
I would not
Kill him too quickly. I would have him taken
To a dungeon that I know.
ELINOR
You have laid your trap
Already? Tell me. You need not be afraid !
I saw them kiss, in the garden, yesternight ;
And I have wondered, ever since, if fire
Could make a brand quite hot enough to stamp
My hate upon him.
[ 144]
SHERWOOD
JOHN
Well, then, I will tell you —
The plan is laid; and, if his bag of gold
Rejoice one serf to-day, then I'll resign
Maid Marian to his loving arms for ever.
If not, we dance together at the masque
To-night, and while she wonders at his long
Delay, I'll mould her body and soul to mine.
But you must help me, mother, or she'll suspect.
Do not let slip your mask of friendliness,
As I have feared. Look — there our lovers
come
Beneath that arch of roses. Look, look, mother,
They are taking leave of one another now,
A ghastly parting, for he will be gone
Well nigh four hours, they think. To look at
them,
One might suppose they knew it was for ever.
ELINOR
Come, or my hate will show itself in my face :
I must not see them.
[Exeunt PRINCE and ELINOR. A pause. Enter
ROBIN HOOD and MARIAN.]
ROBIN
So, good-bye, once more,
Sweetheart.
[145]
SHERWOOD
MARIAN
Four hours ; how shall I pass the time ?
Four hours, four ages, you will scarce be home
By dusk; how shall I pass it?
ROBIN
You've to think
What robe to wear at the great masque to-night
And then to don it. When you've done all that
I shall be home again.
MARIAN
What, not before?
ROBIN
That's not unlikely, either.
MARIAN
Now you mock me,
But you'll be back before the masque begins.
ROBIN
I warrant you I will.
MARIAN
It is a month
To-day since we were married. Did you know it ?
Fie, I believe you had forgotten, Robin.
SHERWOOD
ROBIN
I had, almost. If marriage make the moons
Fly, as this month has flown, we shall be old
And grey in our graves before we know it.
I wish that we could chain old Father Time.
MARIAN
And break his glass into ten thousand pieces.
ROBIN
And drown his cruel scythe ten fathom deep,
Under the bright blue sea whence Love was born
MARIAN
Ah, but we have not parted all this month
More than a garden's breadth, an arrow's flight :
Time will be dead till you come back again.
Four hours of absence make four centuries!
Do you remember how the song goes, Robin,
That bids true lovers not to grieve at parting
Often? for Nature gently severs them thus,
Training them up with kind and tender art,
For the great day when they must part for ever.
ROBIN
Do you believe it, Marian?
MARIAN
No; for love
Buried beneath the dust of life and death,
SHERWOOD
Would wait for centuries of centuries,
Ages of ages, until God remembered,
And, through that perishing cloud-wrack, face
looked up
Once more to loving face.
ROBIN
Your hope — and mine !
Is not a man's poor memory, indeed,
A daily resurrection ? Your hope — and mine !
MARIAN
And all the world's at heart ! I do believe it.
ROBIN
And I — if only that so many souls
Like yours have died believing they should meet
Again, lovers and children, little children !
God will not break that trust. I have found my
heaven
Again in you ; and, though I stumble still,
Your small hand leads me thro' the darkness, up
And onward, to the heights I dared not see,
And dare not even now; but my head bows
Above your face; I see them in your eyes.
Love, point me onward still !
[He takes her in his armsJ\
Good-bye ! Good-bye !
SHERWOOD
MARIAN
Come back, come back, before the masque begins !
ROBIN
Ay, or a little later — never fear :
You'll not so easily lose me.
MARIAN
I shall count
The minutes !
ROBIN
Why, you're trembling !
MARIAN
„ Yes, I am foolish.
This is the first small parting we have had;
But — you'll be back ere dusk?
ROBIN
[Laughing.]
Ah, do you think
That chains of steel could hold me, sweet, from
you,
With those two heavenly eyes to call me home,
Those lips to welcome me? Good-bye!
[149]
SHERWOOD
MARIAN
Good-bye !
[He goes hurriedly out. She looks after him for
a moment , then suddenly calls.']
Robin ! Ah, well, no matter now — too late !
[She stands looking after him.~\
SCENE II. Sherwood Forest: dusk. Outside the
cave, as in the second act. SHADOW-OF-A-
LEAF runs quickly across the glade y followed
by PUCK.
PUCK
Shadow-of-a-Leaf !
Shadow-
Shadow-of-a-Leaf !
of-a-Leaf !
Don't dance away like that ; don't hop ; don't skip
Like that, I tell you I I'll never do it again,
I promise. Don't be silly now ! Come here ;
I want to tell you something. Ah, that's right.
Come, sit down here upon this bank of thyme
* While I thine amiable ears ' — Oh, no,
Forgive me, ha ! ha ! ha 1
S H ADO W-O F- A-LE AF
Now, Master Puck,
You'll kindly keep your word ! A foxglove spray
In the right hand is deadlier than the sword
That mortals use, and one resounding thwack
SHERWOOD
Applied to your slim fairyhood's green limbs
Will make it painful, painful, very painful,
Next time your worship wishes to sit down
Cross-legged upon a mushroom.
PUCK
Ha! ha! ha!
Poor Shadow-of-a-Leaf !
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
You keep your word, that's all!
PUCK
Haven't I kept my word ? Wasn't it I
That made you what these poor, dull mortals call
Crazy? Who crowned you with the cap and
bells?
Who made you such a hopeless, glorious fool
That wise men are afraid of every word
You utter? Wasn't it I that made you free
Of fairyland — that showed you how to pluck
Fern-seed by moonlight, and to walk and talk
Between the lights, with urchins and with elves ?
Is there another fool twixt earth and heaven
Like you — ungrateful rogue — answer me that !
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
All true, dear gossip, and for saving me
From the poor game of blind man's buff men call
SHERWOOD
Wisdom, I thank you; but to hang and buzz
Like a mad dragon-fly, now on my nose,
Now on my neck, now singing in my ears,
Is that to make me free of fairyland?
No — that's enough to make the poor fool mad
And take to human wisdom.
PUCK
Yet you love me,
Ha ! ha ! — you love me more than all the rest.
You can't deny it ! You can't deny it ! Ha ! ha !
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
I won't deny it, gossip. E'en as I think
There must be something loves us creatures, Puck,
More than the Churchmen say. We are so teased
With thorns, bullied with briars, baffled with stars.
I've lain sometimes and laughed until I cried
To see the round moon rising o'er these trees
With that same foolish face of heavenly mirth
Winking at lovers in the blue-bell glade.
PUCK
Lovers! Ha! ha! I caught a pair of 'em
Last night, behind the ruined chapel ! Lovers !
O Lord, these mortals, they'll be the death of me !
Hist, who comes here?
SHERWOOD
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Scarlet and Little John,
And all the merry men — not half so merry
Since Robin went away. He was to come
And judge between the rich and poor to-day,
I think he has forgotten.
PUCK
Hist, let me hide
Behind this hawthorn bush till they are gone.
[Enter the foresters — they all go into the cave
except SCARLET and LITTLE JOHN, who
stand at the entrance, looking anxiously
back.-]
LITTLE JOHN
I have never known the time when Robin Hood
Said ' I will surely come/ and hath not been
Punctual as yonder evening star.
SCARLET
Pray God
No harm hath fallen him. Indeed he said,
Count on my coming.
LITTLE JOHN
I'll sound yet one more call.
They say these Courts will spoil a forester.
It may be he has missed the way. I'd give
[153]
SHERWOOD
My sword-hand just to hear his jolly bugle
Answer me.
[He blows a forest call. They listen. All is
silent.']
SCARLET
Silence — only the sough of leaves 1
LITTLE JOHN
Well, I'm for sleep: the moon is not so bright
Since Robin left us.
SCARLET
Ha! Shadow-of-a-Leaf, alone?
I thought I heard thy voice.
LITTLE JOHN
Oh, he will talk
With ferns and flowers and whisper to the mice !
Perfectly happy, art thou not, dear fool ?
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Perfectly happy since I lost my wits !
SCARLET
Pray that thou never dost regain them, then,
Shadow-of-a-Leaf.
[154]
SHERWOOD
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
I thank you kindly, sir,
And pray that you may quickly lose your own,
And so be happy, too. Robin's away,
But, if you'd lost your wits, you would not grieve.
SCARLET
Good night, good fool.
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
I will not say ' Good night,'
Wise man, for I am crazed, and so I know
'Tis good, and yet you'll grieve. I wish you both
A bad night that will tease your wits away
And make you happy.
[The OUTLAWS enter the cave. SHADOW-OF-A-
LEAF beckons to PUCK, who steals out
again.}
PUCK
Shadow-of-a-Leaf, some change
Is creeping o'er the forest. I myself
Scarce laugh so much since Robin went away!
/ Oh, my head hangs as heavily as a violet
I Brimmed with the rain. Shadow-of-a-Leaf, a
cloud,
A whisper steals across this listening wood!
I am growing afraid. Dear fool, I am thy Puck,
[«SS]
SHERWOOD
But I am growing afraid there comes an end
To all our Sherwood revels, and I shall never
Tease thee again.
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Here comes the King I
[Enter OBERON.]
Hail, Oberon.
King of the fairies, I strew ferns before you.
There are no palms here: ferns do just as well!
OBERON
Shadow-of-a-Leaf, our battles all are wasted;
Our fairy dreams whereby we strove to warn
Robin and Marian, wasted. Shadow-of-a-Leaf,
Dear Robin Hood, the lover of the poor,
And kind Maid Marian, our forest queen,
Are in the toils at last!
[He pauses.]
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Speak, speak!
OBERON
Prince John
Hath trapped and taken Robin.
SHERWOOD
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Is not Richard
King of this England? Did not Richard tempt
Robin, for Marian's sake, to leave the forest?
Did he not swear upon the Holy Cross
That Robin should be Earl of Huntingdon
And hold his lands in safety?
OBERON
Only fear
Of Richard held the wicked Prince in leash.
But Richard roamed abroad again. Prince John
Would murder Robin secretly.
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Wise men
Fight too much for these holy sepulchres !
Are not the living images of God
Better than empty graves?
OBERON
One grave is filled
Now; for our fairy couriers have brought
Tidings that Richard Lion-heart is dead.
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Dead?
[157]
SHERWOOD
OBERON
Dead! In a few brief hours the news will reach
The wicked Prince. He will be King of England,
With Marian in his power !
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
No way to save them !
OBERON
We cannot break our fairy vows of silence.
A mortal, Shadow-of-a-Leaf, can break those
vows,
But only on pain of death.
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Oberon, I,
Shadow-of-a-Leaf, the fool, must break my vows 1
I must save Robin Hood that he may save
Marian from worse than death.
OBERON
Shadow-of-a-Leaf,
Think what death means to you, never to join
Our happy sports again, never to see
The moonlight streaming through these ancient
oaks
Again, never to pass the fairy gates
Again. We cannot help it. They will close
Like iron in your face, and you will hear
SHERWOOD
Our happy songs within; but you will lie
Alone, without, dying, and never a word
To comfort you, no hand to touch your brow.
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
So be it. I shall see them entering in!
The time is brief. Quick, tell me, where is
Robin?
Quick, or the news that makes Prince John a king
Will ruin all.
OBERON
Robin is even now
Thrust in the great dark tower beyond the wood,
The topmost cell where foot can never climb.
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Cannot an arrow reach it? Ay, be swift;
Come, lead me thither.
OBERON
I cannot disobey
The word that kills the seed to raise the wheat,
The word that — Shadow-of-a-Leaf, I think I
know
Now, why great kings ride out to the Crusade.
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Quickly, come, quickly!
SHERWOOD
[Exeunt OBERON and SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF.
PUCK remains staring after them, then van-
ishes with a sob, between the trees. LITTLE
JOHN and SCARLET appear once more at the
mouth of the cave.']
SCARLET
I thought I heard a voice.
LITTLE JOHN
'Twas only Shadow-of-a-Leaf again. He talks
For hours among the ferns, plays with the flowers,
And whispers to the mice, perfectly happy!
SCARLET
I cannot rest for thinking that some harm
Hath chanced to Robin. Call him yet once more.
[LITTLE JOHN blows his bugle. All is silent.
They stand listening .]
SCENE III. A gloomy cell. ROBIN bound.
PRINCE JOHN and two mercenaries. A low
narrow door in the background, small barred
window on the left.
PRINCE JOHN
[To the Mercenaries."]
Leave us a moment. I have private matters
[160]
SHERWOOD
To lay before this friend of all the poor.
You may begin to build the door up now,
So that you do not wall me in with him.
\_The two men begin filling up the doorway with
rude blocks of masonry.']
So now, rny good green foot-pad, you are trapped
At last, trapped in the practice of your trade 1
Trapped, as you took your stolen Norman gold
To what was it — a widow, or Saxon serf
With eye put out for breaking forest laws ?
You hold with them, it seems. Your dainty soul
Sickens at our gross penalties; and so
We'll not inflict them on your noble self,
Although we have the power. There's not a soul
Can ever tell where Robin Hood is gone.
These walls will never echo it.
[He taps the wall with his sword.]
And yet
There surely must be finer ways to torture
So fine a soul as yours. Was it not you
Who gave me like a fairing to my brother
With lofty condescension in your eyes;
And shall I call my mercenaries in
And bid them burn your eyes out with hot irons?
Richard is gone — he'll never hear of it !
An Earl that plays the robber disappears,
That's all. Most like he died in some low scuffle
Out in the greenwood. I am half inclined
[161]
SHERWOOD
To call for red-hot irons after all,
So that your sympathy with Saxon churls
May be more deep, you understand; and then
It would be sweet for you, alone and blind,
To know that you could never in this life
See Marian's face again. But no — that's bad,
Bad art to put hope's eyes out. It destroys
Half a man's fear to rob him of his hope.
No; you shall drink the dregs of it. Hope shall
die
More exquisite a death. Robin, my friend,
You understand that, when I quit your presence,
This bare blank cell becomes your living tomb.
Do you not comprehend ? It's none so hard.
The doorway will be built up. There will be
No door, you understand, but just a wall,
Some six feet thick, of solid masonry.
Nobody will disturb you, even to bring
Water or food. You'll starve — see — like a rat,
Bricked up and buried. But you'll have time to
think
Of how I tread a measure at the masque
To-night, with Marian, while her wide eyes
wonder
Where Robin is — and old Fitzwalter smiles
And bids his girl be gracious to the Prince
For his land's sake. Ah, ha! you wince at that!
SHERWOOD
Will you not speak a word before I go?
Speak, damn you !
[He strikes ROBIN across the face with his glove.
ROBIN remains silent.]
Six days hence, if you keep watch
At yonder window (you'll be hungry then)
You may catch sight of Marian and Prince John
Wandering into the gardens down below.
You will be hungry then; perhaps you'll strive
To call to us, or stretch a meagre arm
Through those strong bars; but then you know
the height
Is very great — no voice can reach to the earth:
This is the top-most cell in my Dark Tower.
Men look like ants below there. I shall say
To Marian, See that creature waving there
High up above us, level with the clouds,
Is it not like a winter-shrivelled fly?
And she will laugh; and I will pluck her roses.
And then — and then — there are a hundred
ways,
You know, to touch a woman's blood with
thoughts
Beyond its lawful limits. Ha ! ha ! ha !
By God, you almost spoke to me, I think.
Touches at twilight, whispers in the dark,
Sweet sympathetic murmurs o'er the loss
Of her so thoughtless Robin, do you think
SHERWOOD
Maid Marian will be quite so hard to win
When princes come to woo? There will be none
To interrupt us then. Time will be mine
To practise all the amorous arts of Ovid,
And, at the last —
ROBIN
Will you not free my hands?
You have your sword. But I would like to fight
you
Here, with my naked hands. I want no more.
PRINCE JOHN
Ha ! ha ! At last the sullen speaks.
That's all
I wanted. I have struck you in the face.
Is't not enough? You can't repay that blow.
ROBIN
Bury me down in hell and I'll repay it
The day you die, across your lying mouth
That spoke of my true lady, I will repay it,
Before the face of God!
PRINCE JOHN
[Laughing.]
Meanwhile, for me
Till you repay that blow, there is the mouth
Of Marian, the sweet honey-making mouth
SHERWOOD
That shall forestall your phantom blow with balm.
Oh, you'll go mad too soon if I delay.
I am glad you spoke. Farewell, the masons wait.
And I must not be late for Marian.
[Exit thro9 the small aperture now left In the
doorway. It is rapidly closed and sounds
of heavy masonry being piled against it are
heard. ROBIN tries to free his hands and
after an effort, succeeds. He hurls himself
against the doorway, and finds it hopeless.
He turns to the window, peers through it for
a moment, then suddenly unwinds a scarf
from his neck, ties it to one of the bars and
stands to one s'ideJ\
ROBIN
Too high a shot for most of my good bowmen !
What's that? A miss?
\He looks thro' the window.']
Good lad, he'll try again !
[He stands at the side once more and an arrow
comes thro' the window.]
Why, that's like magic!
[He pulls up the thread attached to it.~\
Softly, or 'twill break ! —
Ah, now 'tis sturdy cord.
— I'll make it fast.
But, how to break these bars !
SHERWOOD
St. Nicholas,
There's someone climbing. He must have a head
Of iron, and the lightness of a catl
Downward is bad enough, but up is more
Than mortal! Who the devil can it be?
Thank God, it's growing dark. But what a risk !
None of my merry men could e'en attempt it.
I'm very sure it can't be Little John.
What, Shadow-of-a-Leaf !
[SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF appears at the window.]
'Fore God, dear faithful fool,
I am glad to see you.
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Softly, gossip, softly,
Pull up the rope a little until we break
This bar away — or some kind friend may see
The dangling end below. Now here's a tooth-
pick,
Six inches of grey steel, for you to work with,
And here's another for me. Pick out the mortar !
[They work to loosen the bars.]
Waitl Here's a rose I brought you in my cap
And here's a spray of fern! Old Nature's keys
Open all prisons, I'll throw them in for luck,
[He throws them into the cell and begins work-
ing feverishly again.]
So that the princes of the world may know
[166]
SHERWOOD
The forest let you out. Down there on earth,
If any sees me, they will only think
The creepers are in leaf. Pick out the mortar 1
That's how the greenwood works. You know,
'twill thrust
Its tendrils through these big grey stones one day
And pull them down. I noticed in the court-yard
The grass is creeping through the crevices
Already, and yellow dandelions crouch
In all the crumbling corners. Pick it out !
This is a very righteous work indeed
For men in Lincoln green; for what are we
But tendrils of old Nature, herald sprays!
We scarce anticipate. Pick the mortar out.
Quick, there's no time to lose, although to-night
We're in advance of sun and moon and stars
And all the trickling sands in Time's turned glass.
[With a sudden cry.~\
Richard is dead!
Is dead!
ROBIN
Richard is dead! The King
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Ah, dead! Come, pick the mortar out,
Out of the walls of towers and shrines and tombs !
For now Prince John is king, and Lady Marian
SHERWOOD
In peril, gossip 1 Yet we are in advance
Of sun and moon to-night, for sweet Prince John
Is not aware yet of his kinglihood,
Or of his brother's death.
ROBIN
[Pausing a moment.']
Why, Shadow-of-a-Leaf,
What does this mean?
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Come, pick the mortar out;
You have no time to lose. This very night
My Lady Marian must away to Sherwood.
At any moment the dread word may come
That makes John King of England. Quick, be
quick !
ROBIN
She is at the masque to-night !
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Then you must mask
And fetch her thence! Ah, ha, the bar works
loose.
Pull it!
[They pull at the bar, get it free, and throw it
into the cell.~\
Now, master, follow me down the rope.
[Exit ROBIN thro' the window. ~\
[168]
SHERWOOD
SCENE IV. Night. The garden of the King's
palace (as before), but lighted with torches
for the masque. Music swells up and dies
away continually. Maskers pass to and fro
between the palace and the garden. On the
broad terrace in front some of them are
dancing a galliard.
[PRINCE JOHN enters and is met by QUEEN
ELINOR, neither of them masked.]
ELINOR
All safe?
PRINCE JOHN
Ay, buried and bricked up now, to think
Alone, in the black night, of all I told him.
Thank God, we have heard the last of Robin
Hood.
ELINOR
\_She puts on her mask.]
You are sure?
PRINCE JOHN
I saw him entombed with my own eyes!
Six feet of solid masonry. Look there,
There's the young knight you've lately made your
own.
SHERWOOD
Where is my Lady Marian? Ah, I see herl
With that old hypocrite, Fitzwalter.
[ They part. PRINCE JOHN puts on his mask as
he goes.~\
But tell me
A LADY
Where is Prince John?
A MASKER
That burly-shouldered man
By yonder pillar, talking with old Fitzwalter,
And the masked girl, in green, with red-gold hair,
Is Lady Marian!
THE LADY
Where is Robin Hood?
I have never seen him, but from all one hears
He is a wood-god and a young Apollo,
And a more chaste Actaeon all in one.
MASKER
Oh, ay, he never watched Diana bathing,
Or, if he did, all Sherwood winked at it.
Who knows? Do you believe a man and maid
Can sleep out in the woods all night, as these
Have slept a hundred times, and put to shame
Our first poor parents ; throw the apple aside
[ 170]
SHERWOOD
And float out of their leafy Paradise
Like angels?
LADY
No; I fear the forest boughs
Could tell sad tales. Oh, I imagine it —
Married to Robin, by a fat hedge-priest
Under an altar of hawthorn, with a choir
Of sparrows, and a spray of cuckoo-spit
For holy water! Oh, the modest chime
Of blue-bells from a fairy belfry, a veil
Of evening mist, a robe of golden hair;
A blade of grass for a ring; a band of thieves
In Lincoln green to witness the sweet bans;
A glowworm for a nuptial taper, a bed
Of rose-leaves, and wild thyme and wood-doves'
down.
Quick ! Draw the bridal curtains — three tall
ferns —
Across the cave mouth, lest a star should peep
And make the wild rose leap into her face!
Pish! A sweet maid! But where is Robin
Hood?
MASKER
I know not; but he'd better have a care
Of Mistress Marian. If I know Prince John
He has marked her for his own.
SHERWOOD
LADY
I cannot see
What fascinates him.
MASKER
No, you are right, nor I.
[They part. An old lady comes up to him.']
OLD LADY
Is not Maid Marian beautiful? I think
She seems a greenwood spirit that has strayed
By accident into our courtly world.
MASKER
Yes, yes; you are right; she is most beautiful.
But she must have a care of good Prince John.
OLD LADY
Oh, that King Richard would come home again.
[They part.]
PRINCE JOHN
Come, Lady Marian, let me lead you out
To tread a measure.
I am tired.
MARIAN
Pray, sir, pardon me !
SHERWOOD
FITZWALTER
[Whispering angrily to her.]
Now, Marian, be not so ungracious.
You both abuse him and disparage us.
His courtiers led the ladies they did choose.
Do not displease him, girl. I pray you, go !
Dance out your galliard. God's dear holy-bread,
Y'are too forgetful. Dance, or by my troth,
You'll move my patience. I say you do us wrong.
MARIAN
I will do what you will. Lead, lead your dance.
[Exeunt JOHN and MARIAN.]
FIRST MASKER
[To a lady, as they come up from the garden.]
Will you not let me see your face now, sweet?
LADY
You hurt my lip with that last kiss of yours.
Hush, do not lean your face so close, I pray you ;
Loosen my fingers. There's my lord.
FIRST MASKER
Where? Where?
Now, if I know him, I shall know your name!
LADY
That tall man with the damozel in red.
[173]
SHERWOOD
FIRST MASKER
Oh, never fear him. He, too, wore a mask 1
I saw them —
[They pass out talking.']
SECOND MASKER
[Looking after them."]
Saw you those two turtle-doves?
SECOND LADY
Yes.
SECOND MASKER
Come with me, I'll show you where I caught them
Among the roses, half an hour ago.
[They laugh and exeunt into the gardens. The
music swells up and more dancers appear.]
[Enter ROBIN HOOD, still in his forester's garb,
but wearing a mask. He walks as if
wounded and in pain. He sits down in the
shadow of a pillar watching, and partly con-
cealed from the throng."]
THIRD LADY
Remember now to say you did not see me
Here at the masque.
THIRD MASKER
Or shall I say that I
iWas out in Palestine ?
[174]
SHERWOOD
[They pass. Enter little ARTHUR PLANTAGE-
NET. He comes up to ROBIN HOOD.]
ARTHUR
Are you not Robin Hood?
ROBIN
Hush, Arthur. Don't you see I wear a mask
Like all the rest to-night ?
ARTHUR
Why do they wear
Masks?
ROBIN
They must always wear some sort of mask
At court. Sometimes they wear them all their
lives.
ARTHUR
You are jesting, Robin. Now I wanted you
To tell me tales of Sherwood. Tell me how
You saved Will Scarlet.
ROBIN
Why, I've told you that
A score of times.
ARTHUR
I know, I want to hear it
Again. Well, tell me of that afternoon
[175]
SHERWOOD
When Lion-heart came home from the Crusade.
I have often thought of that. It must have been
Splendid! You weren't expecting it at all?
ROBIN
No, not at all; but, Arthur, tell me first
Have you seen Lady Marian?
ARTHUR
Yes, I saw her
Treading a measure with my Uncle John I
ROBIN
Stand where you are and watch; and, if you see
her,
Beckon her. Then I'll tell you how the King
Came home from the Crusade.
ARTHUR
First, let me tell you
Just how I think it was. It must have been
Like a great picture. All your outlaws there
Sitting around your throne of turf, and you
Judging the rich and poor. That's how it was
Last night, I dreamed of it; and you were taking
The baron's gold and giving it to the halt
And blind; and then there was a great big light
Between the trees, as if a star had come
SHERWOOD
Down to the earth and caught among the boughs,
With beams like big soft swords amongst the ferns
And leaves, and through the light a mighty steed
Stepped, and the King came home from the
Crusade.
Was it like that? Was there a shining light?
ROBIN
I think there must have been, a blinding light.
ARTHUR
Filling an arch of leaves?
ROBIN
Yes!
ARTHUR
That was it!
That's how the King came home from the
Crusade.
ROBIN
But there — you've told the story !
ARTHUR
Ah, not all!
ROBIN
No, not quite all. What's that?
[177]
SHERWOOD
[The music suddenly stops. The maskers crowd
together whispering excitedly.]
ARTHUR
Why have they stopped
The music? Ah, there's Hubert. Shall I ask
him?
ROBIN
Yes, quickly, and come back!
[ARTHUR runs up to a masker. Several go by
hurriedly.]
FIRST MASKER
The King is dead !
SECOND MASKER
Where did it happen ? France ?
FIRST MASKER
I know not, sir!
[ARTHUR returns.]
ARTHUR
Robin, they say the King is dead! So John
Is king now, is he not ?
ROBIN
Ay, John is king!
Now, tell me quickly, use your eyes, my boy,
Where's Lady Marian?
SHERWOOD
ARTHUR
Ah, there she is at last,
Alone!
ROBIN
Go to her quickly, and bring her hither.
[ARTHUR runs off and returns with MARIAN.]
MARIAN
Robin, thank God, you have returned. I feared —
ROBIN
No more, dear heart, you must away to Sherwood !
Shadow-of-a-Leaf is waiting by the orchard
With your white palfrey. Away, or the new king
Will hunt us down. I'll try to gain you time.
Go — quickly!
MARIAN
Robin, your face is white, you are wounded!
What's this — there's blood upon your doublet !
Robin!
ROBIN
Nothing ! Go, quickly !
MARIAN
Robin, I cannot leave you.
[ 179]
SHERWOOD
ROBIN
Go, Marian. If you ever loved me, go.
MARIAN
You'll follow?
ROBIN
Oh, with my last breath I will,
God helping me ; but I must gain you time !
Quickly! Here comes the King!
MARIAN
Oh, follow soon !
[Exit.]
[ ROBIN sits down again, steadying himself against
the pillar.]
[JOHN appears at the doors of the palace, above
the terrace, a scroll in his hand.]
JOHN
My friends, the King is dead !
MASKERS
[Taking off their masks, with a cry.]
Long live King John!
JOHN
[Coming down amongst them.]
Our masque is ended by this grievous news;
[180]
SHERWOOD
But where's my Lady Marian? I had some word
To speak with her! Not here! Why —
ROBIN
[Still masked, rises and confronts the King, who
stares at him and shrinks back a little.]
All the masks
Are off, sire ! No, perhaps they wear them still.
JOHN
Who is this?
ROBIN
One that was dead and lives. You say
Your brother, the great King, is dead. Oh, sire/
If that be so, you'll hear a dead man speak,
For your dead brother's sake. You say the King
Is dead ; but you are king. So the King lives !
You are King of England now from sea to sea,
Is it not so? Shout, maskers, once again,
Long live the King I
MASKERS
Long live the King !
ROBIN
You see
What power is yours! Your smile is life, your
frown
[181]
SHERWOOD
Death. At a word from you the solid earth
Would shake with tramp of armies. You can call
Thousands to throw away their lives like straws
Upon your side, if any foreign king
Dare to affront you.
[He draws nearer to JOHN, who still shrinks a
little, as if in fear.']
Richard, you say, is dead,
And yet, O King, I say that the great King
Lives !
[He strikes JOHN across the face. JOHN cowers
and staggers back. The MASKERS draw
their swords, the women scream and rush
together. ROBIN turns, sword in hand, to
confront the maskers.'}
Back, fools; for I say that the great King
Lives. Do not doubt it. Ye have dreamed him
dead
How often. Hark, God in heaven, ye know that
voice.
[A voice is heard drawing nearer thro' the distant
darkness of the garden, singing. All listen.
JOHN'S face whitens.]
[Song.]
Knight, on the narrow way,
Where would'st thou ride?
4 Onward,' I heard him say,
* Love, to thy side.'
[182]
SHERWOOD
ROBIN
'Tis Blondcl! Still vaunt-courier to the King,
As when he burst the bonds of Austria 1 Listen 1
[Song nearer.]
t Nay,' sang a bird above,
4 Stay, for I see
Death, in the mask of love,
Waiting for thee.'
MASKERS
[Resuming their masks and muttering to one
another.]
Can the King live? Is this John's treachery?
Look,
He is crushed with fear !
ROBIN
Listen! I'll go to meet him.
\\Exit into the garden.]
MASKERS
It was the song of Blondel! The same song
He made with Richard, long since ! —
Blondel's voice!
Just as we heard it on that summer's night
When Lion-heart came home from the Crusade.
SHERWOOD
\The Song still drawing nearerJ\
* Death! What is Death?' he cried.
* I must ride on,
On to my true love's side,
Up to her throne ! '
[Enter BLONDEL, from the garden. He stands,
startled by the scene before himJ\
MASKERS
Blondel! Where is the King? Where is the
King?
BLONDEL
Did ye not know? — Richard, the King, is dead!
MASKERS
Dead!
JOHN
Dead ! And ye let the living dog escape
That dared snarl at our sovereignty. I know
him,
Risen from the dead or not. I know 'twas he,
'Twas Robin Hood ! After him ; hunt him down.
Let him not live to greet another sun,
After him!
[184]
SHERWOOD
MASKERS
[Drawing their swords and plunging into the
darkness.]
After him; hunt the villain down!
\Curt am J\
ACT V
ACT V
SCENE I. Morning. Sherwood Forest (as be-
fore). LITTLE JOHN and some of the out-
laws are gathered together talking. Occa-
sionally they look anxiously toward the cave
and at the approaches through the wood.
[Enter two foresters, running and breathless.'}
FIRST FORESTER
The King's men! They are scouring thro' the
wood,
Two troops of them, five hundred men in each
And more are following.
SECOND FORESTER
We must away from here
And quickly.
LITTLE JOHN
Where did you sight them?
SECOND FORESTER
From the old elm,
Our watch-tower. They were not five miles
away!
SHERWOOD
FIRST FORESTER
Five, about five. We saw the sunlight flash
Along, at least, five hundred men at arms;
And, to the north, along another line,
Bigger, I think; but not so near.
SECOND FORESTER
Where's Robin?
We must away at once!
FIRST FORESTER
No time to lose!
LITTLE JOHN
His wound is bitter — I know not if we dare
Move him!
FIRST FORESTER
His wound?
LITTLE JOHN
Ay, some damned arrow pierced him
When he escaped last night from the Dark Tower.
He never spoke of it when first he reached us;
And, suddenly, he swooned. He is asleep
Now. He must not be wakened. They will take
Some time yet ere they thread our forest-maze.
[ 190!
••I
1A HAPPY BRIDEGROOM WITH THE HAPPY BRIDE" — Page 143
SHERWOOD
FIRST FORESTER
Not long, by God, not long. They are moving
fast.
[MARIAN appears at the mouth of the cave. All
turn to look at her, expectantly. She seems
in distress.']
MARIAN
He is tossing to and fro. I think his wound
Has taken fever! What can we do?
FRIAR TUCK
I've sent
A messenger to Kirklee Priory,
Where my old friend the Prioress hath store
Of balms and simples, and hath often helped
A wounded forester. Could we take him there,
Her skill would quickly heal him.
LITTLE JOHN
The time is pressing!
FRIAR TUCK
The lad will not be long!
[ ROBIN appears tottering and white at the mouth
of the cave.']
SHERWOOD
MARIAN
[Running to him.']
O Robin, Robin,
You must not rise! Your wound!
ROBIN
[He speaks feverishly.'}
Where can I rest
Better than on my greenwood throne of turf?
Friar, I heard them say they had some prisoners.
Bring them before me.
FRIAR TUCK
Master, you are fevered,
And they can wait.
ROBIN
Yes, yes; but there are some
That cannot wait, that die for want of food,
And then — the Norman gold will come too late,
Too late.
LITTLE JOHN
O master, you must rest.
[Going up to him.~\
MARIAN
Oh, help me,
Help me with him. Help me to lead him back.
[ 192]
SHERWOOD
ROBIN
No ! No ! You must not touch me ! I will rest
When I have seen the prisoners, not before.
LITTLE JOHN
He means it, mistress, better humour him
Or he will break his wound afresh.
MARIAN
O Robin,
Give me your word that you'll go back and rest,
When you have seen them.
ROBIN
Yes, I will try, I will try !
But Oh, the sunlight ! Where better, sweet, than
this?
[She leads him to the throne of turf and he sits
down upon it, with MARIAN at his side.~\
The Friar is right. This life is wine, red wine,
Under the greenwood boughs! Oh, still to keep
it,
One little glen of justice in the midst
Of multitudinous wrong. Who knows? We yet
May leaven the whole world.
[Enter the outlaws, with several prisoners, among
them, a KNIGHT, an ABBOT, and a FORESTER.]
These are the prisoners ?
You had some victims of the forest laws
[ 193]
SHERWOOD
That came to you for help. Bring them in, too,
And set them over against these lords of the earth !
[Some ragged women and children appear. Sev-
eral serfs with iron collars round their necks
and their eyes put outt are led gently in.~\
Is that our Lincoln green among the prisoners?
There? One of my own band?
LITTLE JOHN
Ay, more's the pity!
We took him out of pity, and he has wronged
Our honour, Sir; he has wronged a helpless maiden
Entrusted to his guidance thro' the forest.
ROBIN
Ever the same, the danger comes from those
We fight for, those below, not those above!
Which of you will betray me to the King ?
THE FORESTER
Do you ask mey sir?
ROBIN
Judas answered first,
With ' Master, is it I? ' Hang not thy head!
What say'st thou to this charge?
[ 194 1
SHERWOOD
THE FORESTER
Why, Friar Tuck
Can answer for me. Do you think he cares
Less for a woman's lips than I?
FRIAR TUCK
Cares less,
Thou rotten radish ? Nay, but a vast deal more !
God's three best gifts to man, — woman and song
And wine, what dost thou know of all their joy?
Thou lean pick-purse of kisses?
ROBIN
Take him out,
Friar, and let him pack his goods and go,
Whither he will. I trust the knave to thee
And thy good quarter-staff, for some five minutes
Before he says * farewell.'
FRIAR
Bring him along,
Give him a quarter-staff, I'll thrash him roundly.
[He goes out. Two of the foresters follow with
the prisoner. Others bring the ABBOT be-
fore ROBIN.]
ROBIN
Ah ! Ha ! I know him, the godly usurer
Of York!
[195]
SHERWOOD
LITTLE JOHN
We saw a woman beg for alms,
One of the sufferers by the rule which gave
This portly Norman his fat priory
And his abundant lands. We heard him say
That he was helpless, and not one poor coin
To give her, not a scrap of bread! He wears
Purple beneath his cloak: his fine sleek palfrey
Flaunted an Emperor's trappings!
ABBOT
Man, the Church
Must keep her dignity!
ROBIN
[Pointing to the poor woman, etc.~\
Ay, look at it !
There is your dignity ! And you must wear
Silk next your skin to show it. But there was One
You call your Master, and he had not where
To lay his head, save one of these same trees !
ABBOT
Do you blaspheme ! I pray you, let me go !
There are grave matters waiting. I am poor!
ROBIN
Look in his purse and see.
SHERWOOD
ABBOT
[Hurriedly.]
I have five marks
In all the world, no more. I'll give them to you !
ROBIN
Look in his purse and see.
[They pour a heap of gold out of his purse.]
ROBIN
Five marks, indeed!
Here's, at the least, a hundred marks in gold 1
ABBOT
That is my fees, my fees ; you must not take them !
ROBIN
The ancient miracle ! — five loaves, two small
fishes ;
And then — of what remained — they gathered
up
Twelve basketsful!
ABBOT
Oh, you blaspheming villains !
ROBIN
Abbot, I chance to know how this was wrought,
This miracle; wrought with the blood, anguish
and sweat
SHERWOOD
Of toiling peasants, while the cobwebs clustered
Around your lordly cellars of red wine.
Give him his five and let him go.
ABBOT
[Going out.~\
The King
Shall hear of this ! The King will hunt you down
ROBIN
And now — the next !
SCARLET
Beseech you, sir, to rest,
Your wound will —
ROBIN
No! The next, show me the .next!
SCARLET
This Norman baron —
ROBIN
What, another friend!
Another master of broad territories.
How many homes were burned to make you lord
Of half a shire? What hath he in his purse?
Gold and to spare!
SCARLET
[198]
SHERWOOD
BARON
To keep up mine estate
I need much more.
ROBIN
[Pointing to the poor.]
Ay, you need these ! these ! these !
BARON
[Protesting.']
I am not rich.
ROBIN
Look in his purse and see.
BARON
You dogs, the King shall hear of it !
ROBIN
[Murmuring as if to himself. ]
Five loaves!
And yet, of what remained, they gathered up
Twelve basketsful. The bread of human kindness
Goes far ! Oh, I begin to see new meanings
In that old miracle ! How much ? How much ?
SCARLET
Five hundred marks in gold !
[ 199]
SHERWOOD
ROBIN
[Half rising and speaking with a sudden passion.]
His churls are starving,
Starving! Their little children cry for bread!
One of those jewels on his baldric there
Would feed them all in plenty all their lives !
Five loaves — and yet — and yet — of what re-
mained,
The fragments, mark you, twelve great basketsf ul !
BARON
I am in a madman's power ! The man is mad !
ROBIN
Take all he has, all you can get. To-night,
When all is dark (we must have darkness, mind,
For deeds like this) blind creatures will creep out
With groping hands and gaping mouths, lean arms,
And shrivelled bodies, branded, fettered, lame,
Distorted, horrible; and they will weep
Great tears like gouts of blood upon our feet,
And we shall succour them and make them think
(That's if you have not mangled their poor souls
As well, or burned their children with their
homes),
We'll try to make them think that some few roods
Of earth are not so bitter as hell might be.
Are you not glad to think of this ? Nay — go —
20°
SHERWOOD
Or else your face will haunt me when I die !
Take him quickly away. The next! The next!
O God!
[Flings up his arms and falls fainting.]
MARIAN
[Bending over him.~\
O Robin ! Robin ! Help him quickly.
The wound! The wound!
[They gather round ROBIN. The outlaws come
back with the captive FORESTER, his pack
upon his back.']
FRIAR TUCK
[To the FORESTER.]
Now, get you gone, and quickly !
What, what hath happened?
[FRIAR TUCK and the outlaws join the throng
round ROBIN. The FORESTER shakes his
fist at them and goes across the glade, mut-
tering. The MESSENGER from Kirklee
Priory comes out of the forest at the same
moment and speaks to him, not knowing of
his dismissal.]
MESSENGER
All's well ! Robin can come
To Kirklee. Our old friend the Prioress
201
SHERWOOD
Is there, and faithful! They've all balms and
simples
To heal a wound.
FORESTER
[Staring at him."]
To Kirklee?
MESSENGER
Yes, at sunset,
We'll take him to the borders of the wood
Where he can steal in easily, alone,
All will be safe.
FORESTER
The king's men are at hand !
MESSENGER
Oh, but if we can leave him there, all's safe;
We'll dodge the king's men.
FORESTER
When is he to go?
MESSENGER
Almost at once; but he must not steal in
Till sundown, when the nuns are all in chapel.
How now? What's this? What's this?
[He goes across to the throng round ROBIN.]
[ 202 ]
SHERWOOD
FORESTER
[Looking after him.]
Alone, to Kirklee!
[Exit.]
SCENE II. A room in Kirklee Priory. A win-
dow 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
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.]
[203]
SHERWOOD
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 PRI-
ORESS 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.
[204]
SHERWOOD
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.
[205]
SHERWOOD
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.
And what?
PRIORESS
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 I
[// bell begins tolling slowly.'}
The bell for even-song I
You have not long to wait.
[206]
SHERWOOD
[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.]
[207]
SHERWOOD
Afraid — to paint
A picture of agony on a distant face,
To see with every stroke here, the strange lines
Gathering on Marian's face — a little face I
It grows now, grows between me and the sky ;
Big as the sky, and I shall watch the lines
Crawl over it, of suffering, torture, horror.
{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
SHERWOOD
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 up 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!
[209]
SHERWOOD
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
[210]
SHERWOOD
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 con-
fronts 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 ?
[211]
SHERWOOD
ELINOR
[As MARIAN advances towards the couch.]
He is asleep.
Hush 1 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.]
ELINOR
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 1
O God, I cannot wake him ! Robin ! Robin !
Give me one word to take into the dark !
[212]
SHERWOOD
He will not wake ! He will not wake 1 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 the sunset, then en-
ters and runs to the side of ROBIN.]
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
[Hurriedly."]
Awake, awake, Robin, awake I
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 1 It is not I
That calls, not I, but Marian. Hear her voice!
Robin, awake! Farewell for evermore.
[Exit lingeringly through the casement.']
SHERWOOD
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 I
[He sees the dark body of MARIAN and utters
cry, falling on his knees beside her.}
OGod,
Marian ! Marian !
My bugle ! Ah, my bugle !
\_He rises to his feet andf 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.}
SHERWOOD
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
SHERWOOD
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!
SHERWOOD
ROBIN
No; let me stand upright! Your hand, good
Scarlet !
We have lived our life 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
SHERWOOD
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 con-
quered! 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 con-
quered! The Forest has conquered!
The Princess wakes from sleep ;
For the soft green keys of the wood-land
Have opened her donjon-keep !
in
The Forest has conquered! The Forest has con-
quered! The Forest has conquered!
Their grey walls hemmed us round;
But, under my green-wood oceans,
Their castles are trampled and drowned.
SHERWOOD
IV
The Forest has conquered ! The Forest has con-
quered ! 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 !
The Forest has conquered! The Forest has con-
quered! The Forest has conquered!
They were strong ! They are over-thrown !
For the little soft hands of the wild-flowers
Have broken them, stone by stone.
VI
The Forest has conquered ! The Forest has con-
quered! 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?
[219]
SHERWOOD
VIII
The Forest has conquered! The Forest has con-
quered! 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 con-
quered! The Forest has conquered!
King Death, in the light of the sun,
Shrinks like an elfin shadow !
His reign is over and done !
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 con-
quered! 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.
I 22° 1
SHERWOOD
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 1 The Forest has con-
quered 1 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 con-
quered! 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.'}
[221 ]
SHERWOOD
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?
[ 222 ]
"HE CANNOT ENTER NOW.
THE GATES ARE CLOSED AGAINST HIM" — Page 222
SHERWOOD
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 Cru-
sade.
TITANIA
The great King!
OBERON
Hush, the poor dark mortals come !
[The crowd of serfs, old men, poor women, the
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 en-
tered in !
[The last fairy vanishes thro' the gates.']
[223]
SHERWOOD
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. Imme-
diately a voice is heard singing and drawing
nearer thro' the forest.~\
[Song — drawing nearer.~\
Knight on the narrow way,
Where wouldst thou ride?
4 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.'
[224]
SHERWOOD
[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, etc.
I must ride on ! '
[Curtain.]
PR
6027
0835
Noyes, Alfred
Sherwood
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