THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 

 
 
 

 
 ELBLANKE, 
 
 A TRAGEDY. 
 
 BY 
 WM. B. FELTS. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR. 
 1890.
 
 Copyright, 1800, by \\M. H. KELTS.
 
 ! 
 35(1 
 
 PARTICIPANTS IN THE DRAMA. 
 
 IKOR, king of Atlantis. Roaox, king of Seldare. 
 
 NOLDAKNO, king of Bdyin. ULANDER, king of Wocoroc. 
 ESPER, prince of Calsomar. BLOXDINE, prince of Evol. 
 ABCKI.OOZ, prince of Nus- GILBER, prince of Atlantis. 
 
 noom. BRUSSE, quern of Ocean. 
 
 HOONOOLIIX, queen of Air. SOILAXDROCK, king of Land. 
 
 DIMON, high lord of Atlantis. BRANDS, chief warden. 
 OSBAN, RogoiCs henchman. TBKVEBOIL, the chaplain. 
 DUKOSTBEX, the maniac. SIR COBPULEXT, mock king. 
 Lord courtiers. Gentlemen attendants. 
 
 Specter skeleton. Lion, Gilbert dog. 
 
 ( Lui.u, princess of Atlantis. GRACIEI.A, Lulu s friend. 
 VERA, spirit of Lulu s mother. 
 
 MADAM FAT, attendant. LADY FI.IBT, attendant. 
 Lady courtiers. Lady attendants. 
 
 Citizens, butlers, wardens, musicians, soldiers, boys, girls, 
 pall bearers, keepers, mermaids, nymphs, sprites, elves, fair 
 ies, fays, phantoms. 
 
 759448
 
 ELBLANKE, A TRAGEDY. 
 FIRST ACT. 
 
 FIRST SCENE. 
 
 The great room of state, palace of Dinee, city of Toone, 
 kingdom of Atlantis. 
 
 Ikor. Fifteen short summers, Dimon, now have passed 
 Since Lulu came, the priceless gift of Heaven, 
 A living light and Music s own sweet self, 
 To drive my cares away and make me joy. 
 
 Dimon. Time spent with those we love ii*deed is short. 
 
 Ikor. How I have loved her, Dimon, can tongue tell ? 
 Can this soft organ slumbering in the jaws 
 Speak words which, spoken, even half express 
 The passions and emotions of the soul ? 
 No, Dimon, all the spirit of the man 
 Is melted, and the mind with heat is fused, 
 And with the soul dissolved and mixed by passion. 
 Soul, mind and spirit then sublimely flow 
 In that impetuous torrent we call love. 
 Let but the tongue dyke out this lava river, 
 To mold its subtile fluid into words, 
 It cools perforce and all its life is gone. 
 
 Dimon. I readily assent to what you say. 
 Love living is the very life of man: 
 He who does live and loves not does not live. 
 The passion love is to the human heart 
 What air and rain and sun and gentle dew 
 Are to the flowers of this land, your state. 
 But pardon me. I beg you to p? oeeed.
 
 6 ELBI.ANKE. 
 
 Ikor. So much I love my daughter, my sweet girl, 
 T want lo have her ever at my side 
 To love her and to revel in her love. 
 But now the bloom of summer comes again 
 And blows in radiant blushes on the face 
 Of my Atlantis, and the speeding days 
 Have brought again the time that saw her birth. 
 According to the usage of this land 
 Her sixteenth birthday is her wedding day. 
 The law has vested in the king the power 
 To give his daughter s hand to whom he wills 
 In marriage when the sixteen years are sped. 
 I mean to keep the custom of our kint. r >: 
 This evening when the sun sinks down the west 
 In solemn ceremony she shall wed 
 My brother king, the sovereign of Seldare. 
 
 JJiinon. Sua4hus becomes the queen of vast domains. 
 Moreover, this alliance formed will weld 
 In bonds of union both these mighty realms. 
 
 Ikur. I have revolved this in my inmost mind. 
 And since I must my Lulu give away 
 ( No equal earthly gift was ever made) 
 I have attempted to choose well for her. 
 1 hope that I have chosen for the lest. 
 
 Dimon. What thinks the gentle princess, of your plans? 
 
 Jkor. She knows not fully of the plans 1 r \e formed. 
 
 Dimon. She knows not fully of the plans yon ve formed ? 
 
 Jkor. She knows this is to be her wedding day. 
 
 Dimn. Trust any girl to know as much as that,. 
 
 Jkor. She knows that suitors now are at my court. 
 
 Dimon. She is most likely to discover that. 
 
 Ikor. But which shall win her she has yet to learn. 
 
 J)imn. I would not stake my life on that, my king. 
 I would not wager one small meml>er. sir, 
 That she does not know who already wins. 
 
 Tkor. She knows, in short, the customs of this land, 
 But knows not what my mind and heart contain.
 
 ELBLANKE. 7 
 
 Dimon. And is the time so near at hand, niy king, 
 That ushers in the great aud chief event 
 Of her young life, and knows she not as yet 
 The things this day does hold in store for her? 
 
 Ikor. I ve made all ready for the marriage, sir. 
 I did not choose that she should have a care 
 Concerning preparations for this day. 
 She is my daughter and her youth shall be 
 As merry as will be her wedding bells. 
 For when she s wed such cares of life may come 
 As will cause her to look upon this time 
 As one who travels through a desert land 
 Looks back into a green, delicious valley 
 Through which he journeyed ere he struck the waste. 
 
 Dimon, Great preparations you have made, I know, 
 To celebrate the marriage of the child. 
 The practice of this laud is known throughout 
 All regions of this spacious continent. 
 And hither now are come the kings aud princes 
 Each hoping Fortune will to him award 
 The lovely princess, gem of the whole world. 
 
 Ikor. And this is in fulfillment of my plans 
 For this I let her travel through the world, 
 To make the world acquainted with her worth. 
 
 Dimon. The thing you should have done is left undone. 
 
 Ikor. I trust aud hope you are mistaken, sir. 
 
 Dimon. You should have dropped a plummet in her soul 
 To learn the setting of the currents there, 
 Lest you do place the jewel in a sphere 
 Where uncongeuiality will pale 
 Its luster and enshroud it round with gloom. 
 
 Ikor. Is she your daughter, sir, or is she mine ? 
 Have you observed her from a little babe ? 
 Or have I cherished her as my own life ? 
 She knows her father s love and loves him, too: 
 Her love will teach obedience to her.
 
 S ELBI.AXKE. 
 
 Dimon. Obedience is not the thing, my lord, 
 Desired in these questions of the heart. 
 Will she be happy while she is obedient ? 
 Is the first question you should ask yourself. 
 If answered yes, obedience is well: 
 If answered no. obedience is hell. 
 
 Ikor. My child will let herself be swallowed up 
 In my unbounded love, and to my will 
 Yield ready acquiescence. Doubt it not. 
 
 Dimon. I hope it may be as you have expressed. 
 But she has had the freedom of your court; 
 Nay, she has had the liberty to go 
 Where er her mind impelled throughout the world. 
 I think it was but yesterday 1 saw 
 Her walk the streets, and saw the people bow, 
 Or bend the loyal knee, or kiss her hand, 
 And call down Heaven s blessings on her head; 
 For she is reverenced and loved by them. 
 
 Ikor. And who loves not pure, perfect innocence ? 
 
 Dimon. She has been in the company of those 
 Who came to court, to woo if not to win. 
 Who knows she has not yet conferred her love ? 
 
 Ikor. Your words awake a deep and dire concern 
 Here in my breast. But out ! she loves but me 
 And others of her kindred, rest assured. 
 
 Dimon. Be not too sure you know a human heart. 
 Especially the heart of a young girl; 
 For she in youth stands on the height of love 
 And only waits for shooting Fancy s wing 
 To rustle by and bear her heart away. 
 A girl will follow where her heart has gone. 
 
 Ikor. And though her fancy may have tak-n wing. 
 Mark you. I shall but hold it as the light 
 And frivolous affection of the child; 
 And in my purpose stand as firmly fixed 
 As are the wooded mountains of mv realm.
 
 ELBLANKE. 9 
 
 Dinwn. To tamper with your child s affection, king, 
 May her to wretchedness and misery bring. 
 
 Ikor. Whom she shall wed she can but learn to love; 
 So from my purpose nothing shall me move. 
 This evening Music s voice shall fill the air, 
 Proclaiming Lulu the queen of Seldare. 
 
 Dimon. God pity if her heart is not her own. 
 
 (Kings, princes, lords, ladies, musicians and attendants 
 enter. Musicians play while the company take stations.) 
 
 Ikor. Where are King Rogon and Prince Esper staying ? 
 Did they not know this meeting had been called? 
 Why did they not come to the council here? 
 
 Brande. King Rogon of Seldare has gone to ride, 
 And Esper, prince of Calsomar was seen 
 An hour since, like any gondolier, 
 Propelling through the waves of Crystal Way 
 His vessel. Princess Lulu, too, was with him. 
 A messenger was coming, but I told 
 Him 1 would thus report to you and tell 
 You that your summons was misunderstood; 
 And that the guests will not as you desired 
 Assemble now, but they will come at noon. 
 
 Ikor. Your presence longer, friends, then is not needed. 
 Engage you as you will until that time. 
 
 Dimon. Prompt at that hour we will be here again. 
 What say yoii friends ? Let us go to the courts 
 And breathe the balmy air of this fine morning. 
 
 Lady. I want to go where Princess Lulu went, 
 A-boating on the floods of Crystal Way. 
 
 Arcklooz. I beg you then to take my company 
 And I will bring my harp along with us 
 And play for you while you will sing for me. 
 
 Lady. Most gladly I accept, and thank you. prince. 
 
 Lady. And I, too, so much wish to take a ride ! 
 
 Blondine. Then, lady, let me row your boat for you. 
 
 Lady. Thank you. The morning is so fine that I
 
 I0 ELK LAX KK. 
 
 Would bo in prison should I stay inside. 
 We shall be merry on the Crystal Way; 
 1 love a boat ride such a lovely day. 
 
 (They pans out, leaving Ikor alone.) 
 Ikor. Now Heaven guide me through the day at hand, 
 And help me to make it a pearly gate 
 Through which my Lulu may pass from the sweet 
 And flowery fields of youth into the grand 
 And splendid scenes of happy womanhood. 
 
 SECOND SCENE. 
 IKOK S pricate par/,: 
 
 Ikor. 1 do pray Heav u this fair and balmy morn 
 That promises a day most excellent 
 Js token that uiy daughter s wedding eve 
 Will usher in a lovely, happy life. 
 
 Gilber (beyond a grote and fountain sin ;/.<). 
 Life like a river Hows 
 
 Swiftly away; 
 Stopping not for repose, 
 
 Scorning delay: 
 
 (Irandly it bears us on. \_Lion enters. 
 
 Where our dead friends have gone, 
 Down to the golden dawn 
 
 Of the last day. [Gilber enters. 
 
 O father. I am glad to meet you here. 
 
 Ikor. No more than I am glad to meet you. boy. 
 Gilber. Is my dog. Lion, bigger than 1 am? 
 Ikor. I do believe that while he doe> not stand 
 Erect and tall as you lie yet will weigh 
 As much or even more than you. ni\ lxy. 
 
 Gilber. I think so, too: he is a monster, father. 
 A noble dog. 
 
 Ikvr. What prompted you to a-k?
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 Gilber. Oh nothing. Only I did ask to go 
 A-boating with my sister and Prince Esper. 
 But Graciela told me the boat was small, 
 And so, you know, 1 had to stay at home. 
 But Lion sprang aboard when they put off 
 And no objections that I heard were made. 
 But Lion crouched him down and lay quite still 
 And this they knew I d never, never do. 
 They knew that I would meddle with the oars 
 And tiller cords, or on the vessel s side 
 Eecline and with my hands dip in the waves 
 As they came hurrying and bubbling by. 
 (Gilber romps with Lion.) 
 
 Ikor. T is just as well that he in innocence 
 Should thus make out this artless explanation 
 For this discrimination gainst him. I 
 Will not explain to him that state of mind 
 That prompts a couple at a certain age 
 To count but three large company and crowd. 
 And yet I like but little this expressed 
 Desire of theirs to be alone. If she 
 Should prove but out! mad whim, it cannot be 
 That she has known the. influence of love. 
 And yet sage Dimon said O, Gilber, here. 
 
 Gtlber. Well, father, hen: I am. 
 
 Ikor. Come, answer me: 
 
 What think you of the prince of Calsomar? 
 
 Gilber. Why he will have to live and die without 
 A sister. This he told me when 1 asked. 
 <) father, if without my loving sister 
 I should be forced to live I could not live. 
 I love her better than the food and drink 
 That life in me sustains. 1 d see the sun 
 Drop like a darting meteor from the sky 
 And plunge the world in everlasting gloom
 
 1 2 ELBLAXh K. 
 
 Before I d give my sister up; for she. 
 
 Dear father, would be living light to UK- 
 
 Jf all the lamps of heaven were put out. 
 
 I love her better than the fragrant flowers; 
 
 I love her better than sweet music, too: 
 
 1 think, dear father, that I love her more 
 
 Than my own life. Have you e er had a sister . 
 
 Ikor. I had a sister, son; she is no mom 
 (Gilber romps with Lion.) 
 Oh ! how his childish words roll swiftly buck 
 The rushing tide of years, and bring the time 
 When mother s hand caressed my boyish head ! 
 When sister s lips pressed mine with sweetest kK 
 When my loved queen, so beautiful and young, 
 Ilia mother, now in heaven, was to me, 
 What he has said his sister is to him ! 
 We read a noble poem and in years 
 Almost forget the tenor of its thoughts: 
 Hut some small casual word we chance to hear 
 -Will Hash the whole production on our minds. 
 We hear the words and music of a song 
 And think the lapse of years has quite erased 
 It from the graven tablets of the brain; 
 But one sweet chord will start it into life, 
 And we will hear it so sung in our souls 
 That we will look around and half expect 
 To find a band of angels singing round us. 
 So will a little thing awake a chain 
 Of recollections and the fancy bring 
 Such trains of images that we may live 
 The past all over in a little time. 
 Come, Gilber, come. 
 
 Gilber. Yes, father, here I am. 
 
 Ikor. Did Lulu go this morning out with K>prr 
 
 (Jilber. Yes. Do you not remember that 1 told
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 You so a while ago? It was my wish 
 
 To go along with them. I love him, father, 
 
 And I am sure that Lulu loves him, too. 
 
 Ikor. I doubt not she does love as you do love; 
 She likes his bearing and holds him a friend. 
 Most likely from her copious wealth of love 
 He draws his share. But that he has the keys 
 To the big chambers of her noble heart 
 And ready access to its riches stored 
 Therein I ll not believe. II ow know you, boy. 
 The thing you did just say with such assurance ? 
 
 Gilber. Why, father, she delights to be with him. 
 I ve seen her sad and pensive by the hour; 
 But at the moment of Prince Esper s coming 
 Her melancholy vanish as the mists 
 Of morning disappear before the sun. 
 Now, father, you well know the valleys love 
 The sun; the deep old forests love the sun; 
 The hills and mountains love his genial smile; 
 The rivers and the flowers like to feel 
 His warm, life-giving breath blow down upon them: 
 So when he goes away from them at eve 
 They wrap Night s sable cloak around their forms, 
 Aud they enshroud themselves in gloom and mists 
 And will not smile so sweetly at the moon 
 And stars although they woo them all night long. 
 But when the sun drives his bright chariot up 
 The golden sky at dawn they drive away 
 The fog and gloom and answer smile with smile. 
 
 Ikor. So ho ! You hold this then the sign of love ? 
 
 Gilber. I do not know. But, father, I love you, 
 And when I can I come and stay with you. 
 I love my sister Lulu, and with her 
 I m never weary while the time rolls on. 
 Now sister Lulu does not go to Esper. 
 But goes where he perforce encounters her;
 
 14 ELBLAXKE. 
 
 And then is glad that he by accident 
 
 Has found her. Then, when he departs from her 
 
 She never tells him not to come again. 
 
 So don t you rather half suspect she loves him ? 
 
 Ikor. It may be so, it may be so. my boy. 
 
 (Giltter romps with Lion. I 
 He little knows with what deep interest 
 1 hang upon his catalogue of signs 
 Which do betoken what he has well told. 
 U Love! sweet, universal, self-taught leon. 
 Yet made sublimest part of earthly lore. 
 It makes the laboring peasant s lowly cot 
 The seat of perfect pleasure and contentment. 
 It spreads its wings and leaves the palace home* 
 And they become but hells of misery. 
 Foul demons, Hatred, Jealousy, and l!ag 
 Do hold high carnival in their proud halls 
 Till Love returns to banish them again. 
 It makes our race one grand fraternity. 
 Without it life would not be worth the livinir. 
 For all its hopes would then be gone forever. 
 No earthly station is with love insufferable. 
 Without it none can be desirable. 
 And yet with what disgust 1 treat the thought 
 That, she, my Lulu, might have learned to low. 
 It is so opposite to all my wishes, 
 And so directly in my destined course. 
 So fatal to the working of my plans 
 And so contrary to my firm belief 
 That Heav n will not permit it to be so. 
 I ll drive this dreary phantom from my mind 
 Until it is with frigid facts brought home. 
 Why cloy the pleasures of the present hour 
 With dread of pain the next perchance may bring? 
 O Gilber. 
 
 Uilbtr. I am here: command me. father.
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 Ikor. Have Esper and your sister Lulu come ? 
 
 Gilber. 1 think not. 
 
 Ikor. Did not Lion go with them ? 
 
 Gilber. He started; but I whistled and he plunged 
 Into the water and swam back to me. 
 He is a noble dog. Now see him, father. 
 Come, sir ! bound over my uplifted hands. 
 
 . (Lion runs between his legs.} 
 You clownish whelp ! I ll wool you for that trick, 
 Unless you do perform with better grace. 
 Come, sir! bound over my extended arms. 
 
 (Lion leaps, and performs otJier tricks.) 
 Now, father, is not he a jolly fellow ? 
 
 Ikor. He is, indeed, intelligent and brave. 
 But heed me, Gilber, just a little time, 
 And turn your mind from sports to serious thoughts 
 How would you like to now be made the king? 
 
 Gilber. When I am king will you make Lulu queen ? 
 
 Ikor. No, she shall be queen of some other land. 
 
 Gilber. Why, father, must she go away from us . 
 AVe love her, and the people love her, too. 
 I wish her wedding day were not so soon. 
 
 Ikor. Since I have you, my son, to be my heir 
 It is my privilege before the law 
 To this day see her wed whom I shall choose. 
 
 Gilber. Oh ! then she 11 be the queen of Calsomar. 
 For Esper, when he goes back to his land, 
 Will there receive the kingdom from his father. 
 And sister will sit with him in his throne. 
 She will be either queen of our Atlantis, 
 Or else she will be queen of Calsomar, 
 And if not one of these no queen at all. 
 
 Ikor. She cannot be the queen of our Atlantis 
 Unless you should lay down this life of yours, 
 And God see fit that this shall not be so. 
 
 Gilber. Why, then, she will be queen of Calsomar.
 
 16 KLBLANKE. 
 
 I ll go to see her queen of Calsomar. 
 I ll kiss her on the throue of Calsomar. 
 I 11 have a jolly time in Calsomar. 
 
 I ll laugh ami dance and shout and sing 
 
 To wear the time away, 
 The echoes of the air shall ring 
 
 My merriment in play: 
 With all the fun that sports can bring 
 1 11 load down leaden Care s dull wing 
 And in Delight s sweet circles swing 
 
 Contented, glad and gay. [down. 
 
 Ikor ( to himself). Alas ! his castles will be shattered 
 { To Gilber) You will be king of our Atlantis, Gilber, 
 And Lulu queen of some good foreign realm. 
 
 Gilber, If I should die would she still go with ESJIPI 
 And reign his queen and queen of Calsomar? 
 
 Ikor. She would be free to go along with him 
 Or stay and be the queen of our Atlantis. 
 
 Gilber. Then she would go with him to Calsomar, 
 For there she could reign queen of Calsomar, 
 And Calsomar is sure a noble realm; 
 Hut she could also reign in Esper s heart, 
 And that would be a richer rea-lm for her 
 Than the united kingdoms of the world. 
 To reign supreme in a big, loving heart 
 And have its love and loving loyalty 
 Is better than to reign in any realm. 
 
 Ikor (to himself). A world of simple truth is told in that. 
 But truth itself is sometimes odious, 
 And in this case it is supremely so. 
 ( To Gilber) But Gilber, that dark hour is coming on 
 When I ll descend forever from my throne. 
 Alas! no earthly tenure is secure. 
 All loveliness and beauty fade away, 
 And riches, powers, offices and honors 
 Are empty as the wishes of a girl.
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 We cannot have a title absolute 
 
 To any of earth s transitory things. 
 
 Even life itself is like a beam of light 
 
 And vanishes before we are aware. 
 
 DEATH, DISSOLUTION, MUTABILITY, 
 
 Is stamped upon the forehead of the world. 
 
 These tenures so precarious and vague 
 
 Give token that this momentary race 
 
 Will soon approach the goal where it must end. 
 
 If we in our allotted space of time 
 
 Prove worthy of possessions over yonder 
 
 The object of this life is all accomplished. 
 
 But hear me now as though you were the king 
 
 And I your chief adviser. Heed me well. 
 
 (Ikor places Ms crown upon Gilberts head.) 
 And when 1 m gone and you are sovereign, 
 Will you remember what I to you tell? 
 
 Gilber. Speak on; and what you say shall be as part 
 Of my own memory, so firmly fixed 
 Shall it become in my attentive mind. 
 
 Ikor. Let those who serve this realm be honest men 
 Of sterling worth and sound integrity. 
 Make truth your guide and right your principle. 
 Make justice the end of your government, 
 And mercy your mild executioner. 
 But guard clear of my great mistake, Gilber, 
 For I have made a ruinous mistake: 
 I thought by forming a just government 
 To make my people prosperous and happy, 
 In liberty and justice, truth and love. 
 But governments make not the people, Gilber: 
 The people make, and are, the government. 
 So always, while you sit upon your throne, 
 Let one hand press the pulses of the people; 
 Free Knowledge and help her to banish ignorance. 
 And educate your people in such lore 
 2
 
 !$ El.BLANKE. 
 
 As will make men truth-loving, noble creatures. 
 Take care that they not only know, but that 
 Their knowing is of noble, useful knowledge. 
 Care for your nation as you would your child 
 And it will grow so sturdy and so bold 
 That it will brook but equitable rule. 
 
 Gilber. Why, did you not rule well in your Atlantis ? 
 
 Ikor. I ve tried to keep the people s servants pure. 
 Hut oh ! the people 1 my loved, reckless people ! 
 Are grown a nation sinful and corrupt. 
 The shrieks of woe and shouts of horrid crime 
 That fill the firmament I did not hear 
 Till now, and now I fear it is too late. 
 
 Gilber. But father, you will rule to remedy 
 This awful state and right your nation s wrongs. 
 
 Ikor. Pray Heaven that I may. But you remember 
 When you are king this warning I have given. 
 
 Gilber. I will remember: I cannot forget. 
 But father this high office would not tit 
 My tender youth s capacity: see here: 
 The very symbol of your power and state. 
 This crown, sits not adjusted on ir.y head. 
 T is heavy and I fain would throw it off. 
 
 Ikor. Though it were all this quarter of the globe 
 Supported by your head it would not seem 
 So heavy as the duties and the cares 
 Of office sometimes feel. 
 
 Gilber. Why bear them, then ? 
 
 Ikor. They must be borne by some: they must be borne. 
 T is cowardice and craven indolence 
 That would impel a man to shirk his duty. 
 The soldier rallies to the battle s front 
 Though death in myriad forms confronts him there. 
 And every one in his accorded state 
 Should do his duty to the world, himself. 
 And that Almighty One that made them all.
 
 ELBLANKE. ig 
 
 Gilber. Does every man his work for duty s sake? 
 
 Ikor. Not so; the motives of men s acts ami deeds 
 Are as those acts and deeds diversified. 
 But you may search the earth and you will find 
 That all the noblest deeds the earth has seen 
 Were first directed to be done by love: 
 The soldiers deeds by patriotic love, 
 The statesmen s godlike actions by the same; 
 And all by love of men for fellow beings. 
 There have been men who for sweet Glory s sake 
 Would plunge into the fierce volcano s mouth 
 If its eruption would with force expel him 
 And dash his form iu outline gainst the moon. 
 But to begin to here enumerate 
 The causes which impel men to their deeds 
 Would keep us till your hair turned ashen gray. 
 
 Gilber. But, father, there is nothing now moves me 
 To take upon myself this load of cares 
 Which you have said ride with a kingdom s crown. 
 But I will straightway go to fit myself 
 With years of preparation to assume 
 This lofty station for the kingdom s good. 
 
 Ikor. To be prepared to do a certain thing 
 Is to have more than half of that thing done. 
 But now, my boy, excuse me, I will go. 
 Adieu. And you in pastimes as you will 
 Wear out the morning hours. 
 
 Gilber. Good morning, father. 
 
 THIRD SCENE. 
 
 Landscape above the city of Toone. ESPER and LULTJ 
 emerge from a grow upon the bank of the river. 
 
 Lulu. Prince Esper is not this a lovely scene ? 
 Esper. Oh ! it is beautiful. [Looks at her. 
 
 O, lovely Lnlu I
 
 20 ELBLAXKE. 
 
 Lulu. The river rolling down its level bod: 
 droves here, hills there, and mountains far away; 
 Yon island nestling on the river s bosom: 
 Down there the city, grand and glorious T<x>ne; 
 And kissing all the zephyrs and the sunshine: 
 Oh ! my eyes laugh to look upon the scene. 
 
 E-tper. I d like to be a zephyr in this land 
 To float along and kiss such scenes as this; 
 I d like to be a beam of light, and kiss 
 The rippling waters and the blooming laud; 
 But I would rather be myself, and kiss 
 What is more lovely than the landscape scenes. [Kisses her. 
 
 Lulu. You stole it, sir, and 1 will pout about it. 
 
 Esper. Well, darling, if you re vexed, I ll take it back. 
 
 Lulu. Oh no, 1 thank you: you may keep it, sir. 
 (Music heard.} 
 
 Esper. Hark ! I hear music. It is in the grove 
 There in the river. T is some pleasure party 
 Which has, like us, moored at the shore the boat 
 To stroll among the flowers and the trees. 
 
 Lulu. Oh! naughty prince! I know they saw you do it 
 
 E#per. And if they did they only envied me. 
 Come, kiss me, and show them you are revenged. 
 
 Lulu. You insolent! I ll keep away from you. 
 I II step out here a good long distance off. 
 Oh ! such sweet music ! I do love to hear it. 
 It is bewitching when it s far away. 
 
 Exper. You ve heard the saying "Distance lends enchant 
 ment" 
 
 But, darling, I do n t want to be enchanted; 
 I 11 come up closer, love, and take my chances. 
 
 Lulu. Well, then, be good, and let us listen to it. 
 Oh ! if they do not soon begin to sing I ll sing myself. 
 
 Eper. Oh ! what a lovely song yourself would be ! 
 
 Lulu. Hark 1 there they go. Oh 1 I could dance for joy. 
 (Music and singing.)
 
 ELBLANKI .. 2 T 
 
 In a dewy, moonlit evening, 
 Where the river s ripples glide. 
 We were walking, softly talking, 
 Talking, walking side by side. 
 She was lovely as the dawning 
 When the day begins to glow, 
 And I loved her. loved her fondly, 
 But I d never told her so. 
 
 While our souls were awed with beauty. 
 While we lingered by the grove, 
 I did clasp her dainty fingers, 
 And I stooped and called her "Love." 
 As her hands gave answering pressure, 
 Brighter seemed the moon to si line, 
 And I placed my arm around her. 
 And I whispered "Love, be mine !" 
 
 Low her head fell on my shoulder, 
 Her fair hair her face did hide: 
 But I raised her gently asking. 
 "Darling, will yon be my bride?" 
 And again I called her darling, 
 And her closer to me pressed; 
 With a kiss again I asked her, 
 With a kiss she answered "Yes." 
 
 Esper. That does recall the plans which we have formed. 
 When in my native laud I ll seat you, love, 
 Upon my throne: it shall be mine and yours; 
 For what is mine will then be yours, yours mine. 
 I will be yours, you ve said you will be mine. 
 It shall be our delight to make our land 
 A land of happiness and liberty, 
 For making happy is true happiness. 
 
 Lulu. Is it not strangely sweet, this happy thought 
 That I to-day will wedded be your wife?
 
 22 ELBLANKE. 
 
 So happy have I been I ve scarcely thought 
 
 The time approached so near. It is at liaud. 
 
 1 ve floated on as one who rides the deck 
 
 Of some good ship that drifts with gentle tide 
 
 Against the low, green shore of ocean isle. 
 
 lie hears the birds a-singing in the trees, 
 
 He sees their plumage flashing in the sun, 
 
 He sees the blossoming shrub and flowering vale, 
 
 And smells the fragrance in the balmy air; 
 
 lint yet perceives not that he nears the shore. 
 
 So I have neared this day, enchanted, lured, 
 
 And infinitely happy. It is here 
 
 Before I am aware, but not too soon. 
 
 This eve I ll be your bride. Anon I ll go 
 
 To make my home with you and your loved people. 
 
 Eftper. Our people. Lulu; why not say out people ? 
 
 Lulu. Our people, if you wish. I hope that I 
 May win their hearts, their friendship and their love. 
 
 Esper. They know you now by good and fair report. 
 My father will receive you royally, 
 And haste to give his throne unto his son 
 When he has seen the queenly counsellor 
 His son has chosen. Goodness, kindness, love, 
 A charitable heart, and sympathy 
 Win everywhere, and you are all of these. 
 They honor me; they 11 honor my fair choice, 
 And with ovations hail the prince s queen. 
 
 Lulu. I m happy far beyond what I deserve. 
 It seems too good that I should have your love 
 And all the pleasure which your love will bring 
 1 scarce have spoken word to anyone 
 Save you of this sweet day. In all the stir 
 Of preparation I have simply been 
 As one not interested in the time. 
 The happiness I have enjoyed in full 
 And have not granted any care to mar.
 
 ELBLANKE. 23 
 
 But now I wish my father could come here 
 And grant us ear awhile. I want to tell 
 My joy and let him share. I want to ask 
 His leave that we may go when we are wed 
 Unto your father s court and our loved people. 
 For though this is my home and all are dear 
 That here I ve always known, I will go hence 
 With eager willingness with him I love. 
 A wife s true place is by her husband s side: 
 Be thus her station wheresoe er it will. 
 
 Esper. I ve been a silly fool to let the time 
 Slip through my fingers as ere this I ve done. 
 I m half unworthy you not to have made 
 My suit with your dear father. But like you 
 I ve lived but in the present and its joys 
 And never looked into the future far. 
 But t is the father s right to grant or hold 
 His daughter s hand; and I would have to think 
 Him almost justified if he should scorn 
 Me when I ask him for his daughter s hand. 
 But I will make amends for tardiness 
 And by my filial duty wipe away 
 Remembrance of the way in which I ve set 
 His power and authority aside, 
 And won his darling without first his leave. 
 
 Lulu. Why, how you talk! You do not know my father. 
 He would not fancy any plea from yon. 
 He ll let me choose. I ll go to him and tell 
 Him of my love and he will bless his child 
 His children, let me say, and wish them joy 
 In wedded life and love. If you had gone 
 To him to win his favor and his aid 
 Or fawned upon him in a courtier s style, 
 I would have thought you feared to stand the test 
 Before the eyes of her whom you did wish 
 To win. I would have held you in contempt.
 
 2 4 
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 I never would have given you my lov<>. 
 You came the equal of the highest here 
 Not begging favors anywhere. I saw, 
 I loved. I liked your independent mind: 
 Admired the boldness which would set aside 
 The courtier s tricks and prove the inborn man. 
 In all your acts 1 saw true manhood shown. 
 I knew you kind and noble unto all. 
 You have been generous and shown respect, 
 But have not flattered even the monarch s whim. 
 Blame not yourself for what 1 hold is blameless. 
 Had you been subject to my secret will 
 I would not have yon changed in any act. 
 
 Exper. But when we know that by the ancient law 
 The king must give his daughter, it were best 
 If I had first won your good, gentle will, 
 Then your dear father s leave. This had been best. 
 
 Lulu. This is the very reason why I ve been 
 Secure, and trusting in my father s love. 
 I m in hiihand, and me he ll give away. 
 But where I would be given he will give, 
 And both together we will make the gift, 
 And we will give me to you, love. Here, take me. 
 
 Eaper. Were all this world bound in a golden chain 
 And offered me for you, I d clasp you, love, 
 And hold you though the earth should slip my grasp. 
 
 Lulu. Then I am yours, so do not raise this doubt, 
 This gloomy, phantom thought, to make me sad. 
 My father will be guided by my love; 
 And those sweet bells that merrily will sound 
 Will be our marriage bells. To-night these arms 
 Will clasp the happiest bride in all the world. 
 
 Esper. I own that I did doubt. But you have sent 
 All apprehension to the fleeting winds. 
 And yet it does seem strange that men delay 
 Their mightiest concerns from day to day.
 
 ELBLANKE. 25 
 
 And still put off what should be taken up 
 And settled once forever. It is strange. 
 
 Lulu, We will delay no longer. Let us go, 
 And with my father have an understanding. 
 Let us make speed; for in my mind my thoughts 
 Begin to grow that I have not done well 
 To think so little of this great event, 
 Even though I trusted all unto my father. 
 I ve been as one whose life being in debate 
 Trusts in the voice of some old, trusty friend 
 And will not for himself plead one small word. 
 
 Esper. Come, let us find the king and I will plead 
 Your cause and mine at once. We left the boat 
 Behind this grove when we began our stroll. 
 ( They pass out. Rogon enters.) 
 
 Rogon. So that s the game they mean to play. Aha! 
 He s seated in her heart. He has her love. 
 He d trade the world for her, and in the trade 
 Think he had made a splendid bargain. Yes ! 
 She likes the independence of his inind. 
 She d have a suitor woo her, not her father. 
 Her father will be guided by her love. 
 (And by the gods I do believe he will.) 
 But does she love ? There ! That must be the question 
 First in her father s mind and answered, No ! 
 Rash, southern hot blood, time will tell for both. 
 I ll fix her father s mind. I ll have him think 
 That firmness in his choosing for his child, 
 Though his desires may not fit with her wish, 
 Is certain proof of his great love for her. 
 I have already won her father s favor, 
 But I will work me closer yet to him. 
 I 11 win her or I 11 die. And when I ve won, 
 Her father and that brother whom 1 hate 
 Shall go to visit other worlds than this: 
 Then she will be the queen. But being queen
 
 2 6 ELBLANKE. 
 
 Already of the kingdom of Seldare 
 By marriage with me, king of that same land, 
 She cannot, by the law, sit in this throne, 
 But she can name a sovereign for this people. 
 Nay, she shall not, but by her voice I will. 
 Then, Kogon, you can name one to your liking. 
 Yes, we shall see who plots to best success. 
 My horse shall travel faster than their boat, 
 And I will have first interview at court. 
 
 FOURTH SCENE. 
 
 The king s chamber in the palace of Dinee. IKOR reclining. 
 C.HACiKLA. singing and accompanying with harp 
 
 Graciela. 
 
 Oh ! it is grand to reign queen of a nation, 
 Loved by a people, enthroned in a throne; 
 Hut the heart holds it a loftier station 
 JJeigning the queen of one true breast alone. 
 
 (Rogon appears in the door.) 
 Honor, distinction, the praise of the masses 
 Surely are sweet to the vain human mind; 
 But the true love of one fond heart surpasses 
 In worth all the praise of the nations combined. 
 Kogon. 1 beg you to accept my compliments. 
 Although your song was not intended for my ears 
 It pleased them just the same, and I do thank you. 
 
 (Graciela bmrs in acknmclcdgm?nt.) 
 My lord, I hope you re in good health to-day. 
 
 Ikor. I am, and many thanks, save some fatigue 
 Occasioned by the tasks I must perform 
 To make all readiness to celebrate 
 With proper ceremony this glad eve 
 That witnesses my daughter s marriage vows. 
 
 Graciela. Will you excuse me, king, and let me go?
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 2 7 
 
 I have no part in any conversation 
 
 That you will carry on between yourselves. 
 
 Ikor. Most certainly. I have been entertained 
 Kight royally. Friend Graciela, thank you. 
 You have a voice to soothe away all cares, 
 And you did play the harp most charmingly. 
 
 Graciela. I have been satisfied if you were pleased. 
 And now, my liege, will you hear one request 
 From Graciela? 
 
 Ikor. I ll hear and heed it too 
 
 As coming from the lips of my fair friend. 
 
 Graciela. And hear it from the lips of Lulu s friend? 
 
 Ikor. Yes, from the lips of Lulu s truest friend, 
 
 Graciela. Well, then, I ask that you throughout this day 
 Will bear in mind that little song 1 sang. 
 (Graciela passes out.) 
 
 Rogon ( to himself). That girl will prove a bitter foe of 
 
 mine. 
 
 {To Ikor) The great responsibility you feel 
 Must cause a deep unrest in any mind. 
 
 Ikor. You re not a parent and you cannot know 
 The keen anxiety a father feels 
 In choosing in the marriage of his child. 
 
 Rogon. It is a solemn duty to perform. 
 
 Ikor. A father best can realize that fact. 
 
 Rogon. What if your judgment should be found to err? 
 
 Ikor. I will not think of it; it is too horrible. 
 What! venture to roll back the covering 
 And look into that cavern of deep woe, 
 In which my daughter plunges if it proves 
 Her marriage is a woeful, sad mistake? 
 A father will not do it, sir: he can t. 
 Before his eyes another vision rises. 
 He sees his daughter s hopes of joy fulfilled 
 In happiness and joy and peace and love. 
 I look and see her life a walk through Eden:
 
 2 S ELBLAXA E. 
 
 I cannot see it as unending woo. 
 
 Let me ask you: what if my judgment errs? 
 
 Rogon. You plunge your child in endless misery; 
 For wedded is the destined state of all; 
 But if your choice should prove unfortunate 
 The error never can be rectilied 
 But wretchedness most surely must ensue. 
 
 Ikor. You ve struck the key to all my trouble, sir. 
 I m glad I have it in my power to choose, 
 And yet I would this power were taken from me. 
 
 Rogon. Your wish is not in keeping with the love 
 You bear your child. 
 
 Ikor. Give me your reason, sir. 
 
 Rogon. Youth is inconstant, and the passions sway 
 The sober reason and the judgment sound. 
 A girl will acton sudden inclination 
 To humor some light whim, and, ere she think , 
 Do that for which all her drear life she ll grieve. 
 
 Ikor. But in such case the parent is not blamed 
 For choosing for his child such life of woe. 
 
 Rogon. The parent should be blamed severely, sir. 
 For passively allowing her to choose 
 A baneful course of never ending pain. 
 
 Ikor. The heart will usually select its love 
 So that contentment crowns the choice it makes. 
 
 Rogon. I grant it; but it is not always so. 
 I knew a girl, the daughter of an earl 
 In my own state who thought she loved a man 
 Who was an humble landscape painter bred. 
 And naught would do but wed this man she mu>t. 
 Her father did indulge her foolish wish 
 And she retired to a private life. 
 Down in a vine-clad cottage by the sea. 
 Far from society but him she loved ! 
 Tis tme, at certain times she visits home. 
 And court, and ball, and public festival.
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 She says she is the happiest child on earth. 
 She says the waves, the woods, the rocks, the winds, 
 Arid God Almighty knows what else she names, 
 Are all she needs besides the man she loves. 
 Thus is she lost to all the social world. 
 She might have led the circles of the laud; 
 She might have reigned a sweet, admired belle, 
 For she is womanly and good and wise. 
 But she resigned it all for her damned love ! 
 Your pardon. I did not intend to swear. 
 But sickly sentimentalism ! gods ! 
 It sets my soul down in a bed of nettles. 
 I ve seen her at the court, admired by all, 
 The center of the gayest circles there, 
 At intervals grow pensive and half sad. 
 I know not truly, but I do believe 
 It is regret for her wild choice of youth; 
 Although she says she longs for love and home. 
 I ve seen her run to meet her dauber husband 
 And seem more pleased than any other woman 
 Would be if any god should court her favors. 
 Were I a father and had I a child 
 I d count it as the blessing of the gods 
 Were I permitted for that child to choose. 
 1 d seat her in the highest place in reach 
 And trust to her good sense to ratify 
 The choice I d make for her. She might resent, 
 Refuse, resist, cry, rave, pout, grieve, and act 
 The general mad fool, but I would stand 
 As firmly fixed as the eternal world, 
 And when her senses came around to her 
 She d bless me o er and o er ten thousand times. 
 You mark a passionate, mad-minded fool: 
 He ll give a girl his love before she s married, 
 But when she weds him give her something else. 
 Ikor. I pity him whose heart has never loved. 
 
 29
 
 3 
 
 EI.BLAXKE. 
 
 Rogon ( to hitmsdf). By doom ! I fear I in steering off 
 
 the course. 
 
 ( To Ikor) 1 pity him who has not always loved. 
 Love is the line on which the earth revolves. 
 But I do loathe this hateful, selfish love 
 Which with its object won is satisfied, 
 And which is scarcely love at all, but is 
 More like a selfish lust for mere possession. 
 The love that ever lives as love, I love. 
 But that false love which does not live, I hate. 
 
 Ikor. Love is immortal as the heart it heals. 
 It is not love, that thing called love that dies. 
 
 Rogon. I came to court to win your daughter, king. 
 If she should be my wife I d take her home 
 And make her queen of my own realm. Seldare. 
 Her wish should be my law. her joy my thought. 
 1 d make her first in all my native land. 
 My realm should honor her as its fair head. 
 My love would make my life seem lived for her, 
 Or lived to win for me her own true love. 
 I d wed fter, king, without another thought 
 Than just to make her Seldare s happy <jueen. 
 And that, my lord, is my idea of love. 
 Now, king, I beg of you to break the rule 
 Or resolution which I know you ve formed. 
 And tell me whether I shall be preferred. 
 
 Ikor. In just a little time I will proclaim 
 In public what my mind has fixed upon. 
 Can you not give consent to bide the time? 
 Few persons know yet of the choice I ve made. 
 Not even my child. It was my will none should. 
 
 Rogon. Let me not seem importunate to you, 
 But let me beg you once again to tell. 
 My kingdom, king, is far away, you know. 
 And kings should ever be beside their thrones. 
 Am I to win the princess of this land
 
 ELBLANKE. 3 \ 
 
 I cannot wait for long, but with your leave 
 
 I 11 go when we are wed a little time 
 
 Unto the duties at my throne at home. 
 
 If I am not to be the happy man 
 
 Pray tell me so and give me leave to go. 
 
 For though I d like to stay to honor her, 
 
 And honor you, I could not bear, my king, 
 
 To stand and see another take away, 
 
 Not my own life, but dearer than existence. 
 
 I came at first to honor you, my king. 
 
 I found your daughter princess of the world: 
 
 I want to make her queen of my Seldare. 
 
 If I cannot let me go sad away 
 
 To my own land and throne which shall not know 
 
 The presence of a queen while I shall live. 
 
 Ikor. I 11 break the resolution I had formed 
 And tell you of the choice which I have made. 
 She shall be yours, but tell it to none else, 
 And cherish her as you would love your soul. 
 Here, take this pledge and let me give away 
 What has been all my joy and my delight. 
 
 Rogon. Oh ! thank you, king. 
 
 Ikor. I hope the child does love you. 
 
 Rogon. I hope she has not learned to love at all, 
 And will not till my acts give some foundation 
 Wliereon to lay the structure of her love. 
 I would not even have her love me yet, 
 Until my deeds have shown me worthy of it. 
 Oh ! how much brighter now appears the day ! 
 Your leave that I may go until the hour 
 When in the room of state you do make known 
 What I do bless you, sir, for telling me. 
 
 Ikor. Good day I wish for you. 
 
 Rogon. Heaven thank you, Ikor. 
 
 (Rogon passes out.) 
 
 Ikor. I pray you, God, that this gift is not rash.
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 FIFTH SCENE. 
 
 The inner court of the palace of Dinee. r.n.REH romping 
 wifh Lion. GILBEK 
 
 G fiber. My love she is a blossom: 
 
 Her cheeks are like the rose; 
 Her face is like the lily 
 That on the lakelet blows; 
 Her deep blue eyes are jewels, 
 Her pearly teeth are gems, 
 
 And richer far thaii jewels are 
 lu queenly diadems. 
 
 She s a blossom, she s a blossom, 
 She s a blossom, jsweet and pure. 
 
 (Lulu and Esper peep in.) 
 Her milk-white arms are dimpled; 
 Her neck is like the snows; 
 Her hair is gold in ringlets 
 Above her marble brows; 
 Her breast is sculptured marble; 
 Her waist a fairy wore; 
 
 Her perfect form has every charm, 
 Her voice oh I sing no more. 
 
 She s a blossom, she s a blossom, 
 She s a blossom, sweet and pure. 
 (Lion runs outside, and barks.) [boy. 
 
 Oilber. There! some one comes. Here, Lion, hero, old 
 
 (Lion comes running in.) 
 
 Aha ! you have returned. Whom barked you at ? 
 And where are those whose coming you did herald ? 
 Not far away I venture to assert. 
 
 Lulu. Not farther than this hiding, brother mine. 
 Qilber (advances to Lulu). 
 
 No, nor so far as that. [Esper enters. 
 
 Most welcome, prince.
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 Esper. Good morning to you, that we meet again. 
 Lulu. Your muse is rather accurate, I think, 
 In telling of the beauty of your girl, 
 And rather fond to name particulars. 
 You do descend too much to petty details. 
 
 Gilber. The muse goes lower still in the third stanza. 
 Lulu. Indeed? 
 Gilber. Oh yes. 
 
 Lulu. How so ? 
 
 Gilber. To praise her limbs, 
 
 Her dainty feet and jewel-buckled slippers. 
 Now listen while I sing the stanza for you. 
 Lulu. Fie ! no ! desist ! 
 
 Gilber. Desist I do, your grace. 
 
 Lulu. T is rather previous in you to sing 
 Such silly, soft and sentimental song; 
 Quite premature I do assure you, Gilber. 
 To hear you one would think you seventeen, 
 So sadly stuck your song. would make you seem. 
 
 Gilber. The song, sweet sis, is not of my composing. 
 Lulu. I hoped your muse soared loftier atmosphere. 
 Gilber. Prince Esper taught it me. 
 Lulu. I never dreamed ! 
 
 (Esper and Gilber laugh.) 
 Laugh on, you silly pair: I do not hear you. 
 Esper and Gilber sing. 
 
 1 begged my love to wed me; 
 1 pleaded all in vain: 
 She listened to my pleading, 
 But scorned me with disdain; 
 Despair and desperation 
 Urged me my throat to cut; 
 
 But I will live my love to give 
 To her: she s cruel, but 
 
 She ; s a blossom, she s a blossom, 
 She s a blossom, sweet and pure. 
 
 Q 
 
 33
 
 34 
 
 ELBLANKL. 
 
 Lulu. No wonder she did scorn you for such song. 
 
 OiXber. Thus ends the song. With that we ll let it pass. 
 Had you a pleasant voyage on the river? 
 
 Lulu. May Heaven make your course of life as happy. 
 
 Exper. But we are going for a longer cruise 
 Vpon the grandest river God has made. 
 If Heav n is willing we to-day embark 
 To sail together on life s mighty tide. 
 
 Gilber. Sweet sister, may yours be a happy crni-t- 
 Among the loveliest islands of the world. 
 May calm and sunshine be around your way; 
 And may the storms that come seem only sent 
 To brush the lovely rainbow in the sky, 
 And let love s sun burst through the clouds in glory. 
 May your sail end in the great bay of peace. 
 
 (Gilber and Lulu embrace each otfier.) 
 My brother! [Gilber flmtps Enper s hund. 
 
 Esptr. Thanks for calling me that name. 
 
 Gilber. If I had known you meant to take my sister 
 Away from me, things might have now been different, 
 13ut I discovered it when twas too late. 
 
 Lulu. To think that Lulu should be stolen away 
 
 Gilber. Don t call it stealing when you ran with him. 
 
 Lulu. To think that Lulu should have run away 
 And Gilber never know it till a stranger 
 Comes up to tell him that his sister s gone. 
 
 Gilber. He is a most familiar stranger sure. 
 But I did know it sooner than you think. 
 
 Lulu. You did know what? 
 
 Gilber. That you had run away 
 
 To give yourself to the atrocious thief 
 Who stole your heart. 
 
 Lulu. Deceive a brother s eyes! 
 
 Gilber. T is hard to do when arbor doors are open. 
 
 Lulu. What, Gilber ? 
 
 Gilber. Listen, and I 11 tell it all.
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 35 
 
 Last evening I was racing in the park 
 With Lion, and in passing by an arbor 
 
 Lulu. I was n t there. 
 
 Gilber. In fancy you were not, 
 
 But in Prince Esper s arms I m sure you were. 
 
 Lulu. Shame, Gilber ! You re as mean as yon can bo. 
 
 Gilber. I mean to be. But listen to the story. 
 As I was passing by an arbor there 
 I heard you smiling 
 
 Lulu. Heard me smiling, Gilber? 
 
 Gilber. Yes, smiling smiles in a peculiar way 
 That made them merry, faint, but audible. 
 And glad to find you, I rushed to the door, 
 And there I saw Prince Esper choking you 
 
 Lulu. No, uo; why Gilber, you have dreamt all this. 
 He never choked me, never. Did you, Esper ? 
 
 Esper. I ve never known intent to do such thing. 
 
 Gilber. I saw him choke you, Lulu, round the waist. 
 
 Lulu. With one arm, Gilber, with a single arm. 
 He gently squeezed my waist, squeezed with one arm. 
 He did n t mean it; t was a single arm, 
 And nothing but mere ordinary pressure. 
 I felt it then, and still feel, t was one arm. 
 
 Gilber. I will not quarrel with you as to that: 
 But I have my opinion in the matter. 
 
 Esper. And so have I. [Laughs. 
 
 Lulu. You never shall put both 
 
 Gilber. Let s say he choked you with a single arm. 
 He gently squeezed your waist, squeezed with one arm 
 He did n t mean it; t was a single arm, 
 And nothing but mere ordinary pressure. 
 Well, I did draw my sword, thus, from the sheath, 
 And took a step to reach and stab Prince Esper. 
 But soon I saw that you could take your part. 
 As he did stoop you bit him on the lips 
 
 Lulu. You naughty, naughty thing! you mean, mean boy!
 
 36 ELBLANKE. 
 
 Oilier. You didn t say you naughty thing to Esper. 
 When he did choke you. Did he take your breath ? 
 
 Exper. But tell the story through. (!o on. go on. 
 
 Oilier. 1 did do that. When I saw Lulu bite you 
 1 did go on. 
 
 Lulu. But it was very naughty. 
 
 Oilber. I thought so when I saw him choking you: 
 I thought it more when I did see you bile him. 
 
 Lulu. You dear, good, horrid, mean, sweet brother, you! 
 1 mean to kiss you for your naughty tricks. 
 
 Exper. It doesn t pay to be forever good. 
 Were I mean I would, too, deserve a kiss. 
 
 Lulu. Your ear deserves more than you, sir: it s that. 
 
 (Silber. Now tell me of the ride you had this morn. 
 
 Lulu. Will you forgive your sister? It was selfish 
 To keep you here at home. But you 11 forgive ? 
 You know this is to be my wedding day 
 And I did wish to be alone with Esper. 
 Your company which I so like to have 
 1 did reject to-day. But you ll forgive? 
 
 Oilber. I would if 1 had not already done so. 
 But even if I had gone on with you 
 1 could have looked some other way, you know. 
 While you did bite the prince and he choked you. 
 I could have listened to the birds sweet songs 
 And to the murmur of the rippling waters 
 While you did talk those things meant for each other. 
 But it is well I should begin to learn 
 To do without you; for you soon will go 
 With Esper to his country and leave me. 
 But I will go to see you in your home: 
 You II not get rid of me so easily. 
 
 Lulu. But I do feel remorse that I did not 
 Take you along with me to ride, this morn. 
 Tim sky ne er had a deeper, lovelier hue. 
 The clouds that floated through them seemed to me
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 To take on mellower colors and assume 
 
 More tine fantastic forms than e er before. 
 
 With mount and vale and pleasant scene they seemed 
 
 Fit place for human habitancy formed. 
 
 I thought I could have chosen there my home, 
 
 And through the regions of the ambient air 
 
 Have journeyed on forever still at home. 
 
 Fond wish to go, however, had I none. 
 
 Earth seemed too beautiful this morn to leave. 
 
 We sped along and neath the springing arch 
 
 Of massive masonry through which the river 
 
 Runs ueath the city s wall like shadows skimmed. 
 
 We dashed into the country. Saw the groves 
 
 With flowers laden. Felt the air weighed down 
 
 With cargoes of perfume which it did bear 
 
 As willingly as maidens wear their beauty. 
 
 The whole grand landscape seemed to blush with joy 
 
 As though Spring s lips had pressed a kiss upon it; 
 
 And as we stood upon the river bank 
 
 We heard behind a little woody island 
 
 Sweet music and a little, simple song 
 
 Sung to a soft, exquisitely sweet air. 
 
 We then embarked, and with the river s flow 
 
 Returned into the city s stir and life. 
 
 1 thought it must prove gloomier within, 
 
 But cheerfulness is everywhere to-day. 
 
 Gilber. If you had had a hand in making it, 
 And in this morning s mood had toiled, 1 vouch 
 There had not been in all the big round world 
 One little niche of room for melancholy. 
 
 Esper. Atlantis is the fairest of fair lands 
 And in its fairest spot is mighty Toone, 
 The king s proud capital. Were this not so 
 1 might believe that Lulu s cheerful mood 
 Had seen its glories and all else ignored. 
 
 Lulu. I love what that great writer of your land, 
 
 37
 
 38 ELRLAXKE. 
 
 The poet Esser, said of fair Atlantis: 
 
 " It is a dreamy, pleasant, lovely land 
 
 Of blooming flowers, where the gentle winds 
 
 Forever roll the ripples on a beach 
 
 Of pearl and golden sands. Where rivers bring 
 
 Their laughing liquid floods to meet the main. 
 
 Where sweet perfume of flowers comes stealing down 
 
 The listless breeze to please by sense of smell, 
 
 As >ar is soothed by music far away. 
 
 Where sweetest, softest strains of music flow 
 
 Adown the shadowy aisles of dim old forests. 
 
 Where gentle zephyrs kiss the verdant plains. 
 
 Where lovers walk and talk beneath the blue 
 
 Star-studded dome, and in the mellow moon 
 
 They plight their troth with mutual vows of linn 
 
 Devotion, and clasped in a fond embrace 
 
 They press the first sweet kiss of young, true love. 
 
 A land of noble women and fond wives 
 
 And brides and maidens lovely as the dawn. 
 
 A land to make a mortal man believe 
 
 That God had been in love and made the world 
 
 In happy days of great and blissful joy." 
 
 Epcr. I like his verse concern ing lovely maidens. 
 
 Gilber. I did like better that account of his 
 Wherein he said: "Atlantis is a land 
 Of stately city, palace, castle, domed 
 And steepled structures, temple, splendor, pomp. 
 Magnificence and God-like works of men. 
 1 do love Nature in her myriad moods; 
 Hut I do also love the splendid art 
 That has embellished this my native land. 
 My sister, I do wish you could be queen. 
 1 d willingly give that right up to you 
 That Nature gave when she made me a boy. 
 1 so much want to see my sister happy. 
 
 L>ibt. But T will l>e the queen of Cahomar. 
 I ve uever envied you yotir birthright, brother.
 
 ELBLANKE. 39 
 
 Gilber. Your heart hold envy ? No, my loving sister. 
 But it has sometimes rather seemed to me 
 That Nature wronged you when our mother gave 
 Me birth. But it would be best truth to say 
 That men did wrong you when they made a law 
 By which a younger child did supersede you. 
 Men are too ready to shift off the blame 
 Of wrongs they do or errors they have made 
 Upon mischance, ill fortune, luck, or nature. 
 
 Lulu. I m glad my mother gave to me a brother. 
 I would n t do without you for the thrones 
 Of all the kingdoms of the wide, wide world, 
 Much less the throne of this one land of ours. 
 You are my happiuess; then how can you 
 Make me unhappy. Gilber, wish me joy. 
 
 Gilber. My heart has done so. And I wish that 1 
 Could not just vainly wish you perfect joy, 
 But be the means of making Lulu happy. 
 
 Lulu,. You have been, brother, and you still will be. 
 
 Gilber. I will do anything to make you happy. 
 But let me have an opportunity 
 And I will demonstrate a brother s love. 
 
 Lulu. Your life has been and your life still will be 
 One opportunity to show your love. 
 You ve never failed to demonstrate it yet. 
 I sometimes wonder whether sister s love 
 Amounts to such devotion as a brother s, 
 And when I do compare my life with yours 
 I m made to think the brother s is the truest. 
 But we re in search of father. Can you tell 
 Us where he may be found ? 
 
 Gilber. 1 do not know. 
 
 But I will search to find him where he is, 
 And when I ve found I will report to you. 
 
 Lulu. We will go, too, and if you find him first 
 Look for us somewhere in the palace halls. 
 
 K (lilt.)
 
 4 o 
 
 ELBLAXKE. 
 
 Esper. In form a boy, with man s noltility. 
 Lulu. I love him dearly and he loves me well. 
 Esper. T is plainly seen and needs not to be told. 
 But let us to the search with eagerness. 
 
 SECOND ACT. 
 
 FIRST SCENE. 
 
 The conservatory of the palace of Dinee, IKOH lixtcniny to 
 his musicians playing. GILDER enters. 
 
 Gilber. Well, father, I have crossed you at the last. 
 
 Ikor. Have you been looking for me? 
 
 Gilber. For some time. 
 
 I ve set a corps of servants on the task. 
 And I, myself, have searched in park, in court, 
 And through the palace halls. 
 
 Ikor. Now I am found 
 
 What message bring you? Tell me what imports 
 This eager hunt for me. 
 
 Gilber. My sister Lulu 
 
 Seems anxious to encounter you. I took 
 Upon myself the quest in aid of her. 
 When I did learn your whereabouts, I sent 
 Her word you would be here. She will come soon. 
 
 Ikor. Is Esper with her? 
 
 Gilber. Yes; he will come. too. 
 
 Ikor (to attendant). Tell Esper, prince of Calsomar. that 
 He will not come. Until the public meeting [here 
 
 I do not care to speak him front to face. 
 Play on, and let some voices rise in singing; 
 For singing, like all other pleasures, soon 
 Wears out the waiting time. Play on and sing. 
 (Musicians soon begin *>iiyiiiy.)
 
 ELBLANKE. 4 1 
 
 Gilber. I know it, father; I do know it well. 
 I love it, and I 11 join them in the singing. 
 Singers and Oilber. 
 
 Oh! let the bells be ringing, 
 Let the bugles sound ; 
 And with fair maidens singing 
 
 Let sad notes be drowned; 
 Let all your grief be buried, 
 Woe and sorrow shun; 
 Two souls will soon be married, 
 Two hearts wedded one. 
 
 The white-robed girls are kissing 
 
 The fair, blooming bride; 
 True friends around are pressing 
 
 Him that s by her side. 
 Come, wish them joy and gladness 
 
 In the life begun: 
 This is no time for sadness 
 
 When two hearts grow one. 
 
 The happy pair are sailing 
 On the sea of Time; 
 With fond, true love unfailing, 
 
 With a hope sublime. 
 Come, while we still are near them, 
 
 Ere they leave the shore. 
 With loud acclaim so cheer them 
 
 They 11 hear evermore. 
 Ikor. Was that a dirge or was it merriment ? 
 
 (A messenger enters.) 
 
 Messenger. Your daughter comes and begs to be admitted. 
 Ikor. Is she aloiie ? 
 Messenger. She is. 
 
 Ikor. Bid her come in. 
 
 Oilber. She does not want to talk in other presence 
 Than yours. She wants to talk about her marriage.
 
 42 ELBLAXKE. 
 
 Ikor. You may excuse these my musicians, then. 
 Gilber. The king, niy father, now is willing, friends, 
 That you may put aside attendance on him, 
 And seek enjoyment for yourselves outside. 
 (Musicians pass slowly out.) 
 My father, I do fear that the attendant 
 Failed to find Lulu coming, as he said, 
 To the conservatory. Let me go 
 Myself to find her and escort her in. 
 
 Jkor. Do so if so you wish to do. 
 
 Gilber. I ll haste. [Gilber pastes out. 
 
 Ikor. How shall I tell that darling child of mine 
 
 That I have ruined all her hopes and wishes, 
 And crossed this youthful love of hers for Esper? 
 It is a task most delicate for me. 
 If I could know she really does love Esper, 
 I swear 1 d give her to him though he were 
 An honest, manly man of lowest station. 
 But since she s young, with passions not well fixed, 
 I ll make her queen of a most noble realm 
 And she will grow contented in her sphere. 
 (Lulu and Gilber enter.) 
 
 Gilber. Here she is, father; she has come to you. 
 
 (Lulu, runs to him, places her arms around his neck, 
 Jcises him, and sits on his knee.) 
 
 Lulu. Please, father, there is something I would tell. 
 
 Ikor. Excuse the interruption. Let me speak: 
 My daughter there is something I would tell. 
 
 Lulu. I ll be a passive listener: go ou. 
 
 Ikvr. I can scarce bear to give you up, sweet girl. 
 How often I shall wait for you to come 
 As you did now, to sit upon my knee, 
 To kiss me and to wind your arms around 
 My neck ! I shall be very lonely, dear. 
 No merry laugh. None of the thousand arts 
 And little things a loving daughter does
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 To win away her parents from themselves 
 
 And bring them over to the laud of light 
 
 Where she does dwell. Sweet Lulu, I will miss you. 
 
 But I cannot detain you always here 
 
 However much I dread to see you go. 
 
 This day shall be your wedding day, my child. 
 
 Lulu. You will not lose me, father, when 1 go: 
 I ll love you still and often bring my love. 
 I, too, will yearn for the old girlish days 
 At home. They have been very happy, father: 
 I 11 long for your dear self and brother s company. 
 But I will find another happy home 
 And I 11 be happy all the livelong day. 
 This day my wedding day ! O merry day ! 
 Sweet day of pleasure not unmixed with pain. 
 Ikor. To-day you wed King Eogon, child. 
 Lulu. O father ! 
 
 Ikor. I ve pledged you to him by a kingly vow 
 And you to-night of Seldare shall be queen. 
 Lulu. O God! 1 love the prince of Calsomar. 
 Ikor. Yu think you love him, but your foolish passion 
 Will yield unto a stronger, holier love, 
 Your woman s lasting love for your dear lord. 
 
 Lulu. Does this breast hold two hearts ? If so I may 
 In time give one of them to Seldare s king. 
 Ikor. Bethink yourself. Be not impetuous. 
 Lulu. Have I two souls ? Then may I have two loves, 
 And one I may bestow on Seldare s king. 
 But all my heart is Esper s, and my love: 
 I ve given myself to him: 1 am his wife 
 In the great eye of righteous Heaven, father; 
 For love such as we give each other is 
 The truest, holiest bond of lawful marriage. 
 
 Ikor. But grant us that, and all licentiousness 
 Is licensed under color of just law. 
 Adultery may still be chastity, 
 Aud virtue is a myth of periods gone. 
 
 43
 
 44 ELBLAXKE. 
 
 The holy ties that God himself ordsiincd 
 To hallow marriages, create pure homes. 
 Refine the race, and make men more than brutes, 
 Are broken, nullified, and nugatory. 
 
 Lulu. To love unlawfully ere marriage vows 
 Are spoken is a black and heinous crime. 
 It brings the perpetrator woe, and shame, 
 And withering contempt and scorn of men. 
 
 Ikor. It is a crime so damnable pure lips 
 Should never name it lest they be polluted. 
 
 Lulu. Hut marriage without love ignores God s laws. 
 And in His eyes is held as great a crime 
 As lawless customs in the eyes of men. 
 
 Ikor. Espouse no more these dangerous doctrines, Lulu. 
 
 Lulu. This breaks the civil law, that the divine. 
 This makes us scorned of men. and that of God. 
 They who do love are married by their God. 
 
 Ikor. Again you preach that crimes most damnably 
 Disgusting to the modest sense of virtue, 
 Are tolerated by the King of Purity, 
 Ev n by the adorable God of Sanctity. 
 
 Now let me hear you speak such creed no more: 
 Lust may be love for hellish purposes. 
 
 Lulu. I only said, you will remember, father. 
 They who do love are married by their God. 
 Then after they have made their marriage vow: 1 ., 
 According to the ordinance of men, 
 Then truly are they wedded man and wife: 
 And till that time they are foul malefactors 
 In open violation of just laws. 
 I tell you crimes than which Hell smells nci.ie vile? 
 May be compelled by human legislators 
 And often winked at by society. 
 
 Ikor. Love whom you wed is just as good a maxim 
 As marry whom you love. There s no distinction. 
 
 Lulu. If love could like the voice IK- silenced, father, 
 Or be called forth at will, or be controlled
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 45 
 
 As caii the voice by will be modulated, 
 
 Your speech might voice the feeling of the heart. 
 
 But love shoots like the falcon through the sky, 
 
 Headstrong, impetuous and uncontrolled. 
 
 It takes the human heart along with it 
 
 And gives it where it will. Alas ! the heart 
 
 Cannot drag love a fettered prisoner 
 
 Along where it would not go willingly. 
 
 Love rules the heart; the heart cannot rule love. 
 
 The kiss of any man but him I love 
 
 Would stain my lips and burn my face with shame; 
 
 The touch of any other is pollution. 
 
 father, do not drive me to such shame ! 
 
 Ikor. In God s name, tell me, Lulu, what you mean. 
 Lulu. Here, father, look upon your child: she s pure. 
 
 1 have not broken any law of man, 
 
 Oh ! do not make me break the law of God. [you? 
 
 Ikor. I force you into wrong ! Great heaven, what mean 
 Lulu. Had I my choice, before my God I swear 
 
 I d rather live in open infamy 
 
 With him I love, than wed with any other. 
 Ikor. For my sake, in your talk be rational. 
 Lulu. Here, father, take your daughter : kiss her lips. 
 
 Call in Prince Esper, give this hand in his 
 
 And let me be his bride, his loving wife. 
 
 His bride ! his wife ! these are the sweetest words 
 
 E er spoken by the stainless lips of one. 
 
 But to the prostitute, or wife in name, 
 
 They jar like thunderbolts of scorn and shame. 
 
 Sweet father, I can marry none but Esper : 
 
 I m his : you cannot tear me from his side. 
 
 Pray speak one word, and from my heart remove 
 
 This load that crushes out my very life. 
 
 You 11 give me to my Esper, won t you, father ? 
 
 (Lays head on Gilber s shoulder, arms encircling 7ns neck.) 
 Gilber. She can t be happy without Esper, father.
 
 46 ELBLANKE. 
 
 Jkor. I trusted better in your love, my child. 
 I thought you better knew your father s love. 
 But by this disobedience you say 
 That I would sell you for a little gain. 
 () Heav u, pray let me die before I see 
 The measure of my daughter s disobedience, 
 And foul distrust of all my purposes. 
 Through all 1 have been guided by my wish 
 To do the best things for my daughter s good. 
 Hut I am now repaid by rank suspicion, 
 Distrust. conU mpt, and disobedience. 
 
 Lulu. O father, you accuse me wrongfully. 
 Look in these eyes, and say I do not love. 
 Remember the caresses we ve exchanged. 
 And say I do not know my father s love. 
 Remember once when I have disobeyed 
 
 And tell me of it; then I ll be convinced. 
 
 You wrong me when you brand me with distrust. 
 Remember this is made my wedding day. 
 
 And such has been my trust in you. my father. 
 
 That I have never asked you once to tell 
 
 Me who it was you willed that I should wed. 
 
 Nor would I suffer Esper to ask you. 
 
 We searched for you this morning and we meant 
 
 To tell our love and ask your blessing on us. 
 
 But oh! the poverty wherein we re plunged: 
 
 I do not doubt; I think you are mistaken. 
 
 Take time, consider, and then rectify. 
 
 I 11 never wed the sovereign of Seldare. 
 Ikor. I ve pledged you to him by a kingly vow. 
 
 And I command that you become his wife. 
 
 Obey, and prove yourself my loving child. 
 
 Refuse, and prove your disobedience, 
 
 Distnist, suspicion and unfaithfulness. 
 
 Lulu. But father, father, do indulge your child 
 
 And let her speak again. You do not think.
 
 ELBLANKE. 4 
 
 My soul abhors a marriage without love 
 And tells me that it is a dreadful wrong. 
 It is a crime against high Heaven s law 
 As disobedience is itself a crime. 
 You force me into wrong, and of the two 
 The less I choose, and that is disobedience. 
 
 Ikor. By Heaven, it matters not which way you choose, 
 Obey or disobey, you still shall wed. 
 Tis one to me. I tell you you shall wed. 
 
 Lulu. I m in your power, serve me as you will. 
 O father, rise and strike your Lulu dead. 
 Drive home your dagger in this heart of mine, 
 Or lock me up in prison far removed 
 From light and open air till death shall come 
 To set me free. Destroy me by some means 
 But do not sell your Lulu into shame. 
 
 Ikor. Silence I 
 
 Lulu. Command my heart to hold its peace. 
 
 Speak to my soul that it cease now to think. 
 Address my being; bid me cease to be. 
 Talk to my brain: talk with a forceful arm, 
 And let that arm be steel and paralyze 
 My mental faculties, then I 11 obey. 
 You bid me cease: you bid me grow stone dumb. 
 Go bid the billows of the sea be calm 
 When storms are thundering down the ocean plains. 
 When the breast speaks the lips cannot be dumb. 
 The lips and tongue obey the mistress, Mind: 
 She bids them pray to you for mercy, father. 
 And while my heart shall beat or mind shall think 
 They will declaim against this destined woe. 
 
 Ikor. Begone I out of my sight, you rebel ! go ! 
 Let these eyes look no more upon your face. 
 Let me not hear your lips pronounce my name 
 Or call me father till you are my child. 
 My curse and God s upon you ! get you gone.
 
 jS ELBLANKE. 
 
 Lulu. O God in heaven ! do not curse your child. 
 
 ( She irnlky f lowly away, Gilbcr by her, /// arm around 
 her, ax though trying to console her.) 
 
 Ikor (to himself ). I m wrong: my c-cnscience tells mo 
 
 1 am wrong. 
 
 The boy has given his sympathy to her. 
 Anl strives to heal the ghastly wounds I ve made. 
 I will rush down and clasp her to my breast. 
 Ah ! no, twould frighten her: I am a devil. 
 She d think her father meant to strike her down. 
 No, not her father, but the fiend from hell 
 Which I am made by passions uncontrolled. 
 Oh ! how my heart bleeds for my darling girl ! 
 But pride, my curse, forbids that 1 should yield. 
 Damned is the day wherein pride conquers love: 
 A life of woe will follow after it. 
 My conscience speaks : its voice should be obeyed. 
 For disobedience to this secret voice 
 Is disobedience to the voice of God, 
 For conscience is God s presence in our souls. 
 But I will wait awhile and yet what danger ! 
 Procrastination, O Procrastination ! 
 You steal away the very lives of men. 
 You tumble thrones in dust and states destroy. 
 You give to vice the throttle of the world. 
 You wreck the hopes, the hearts, the joy of men, 
 And drag the angels down from heaven to hell. 
 ( Lulu and Gilber hate paused.) 
 
 Lulu. Father. [of her. 
 
 Ik^r ( to himtelf). She speaks : I 11 feign to take no notice 
 
 Lulu. O father, hear me. Won t you listen, father? 
 
 Ikor. Strange, wondrous change! My heart that was so soft 
 Is cold, hard lead, hung heavy in my breast. 
 A father thus humiliate his child ! 
 And make her sue an abject slave l>efore him ! 
 1 can t believe it while I make it true.
 
 ELBLANKE. 49 
 
 Lulu. Speak, father, speak, and bid your Lulu live. 
 
 Ikor (to himself). O adamantine heart of pride, get warm. 
 
 Gilber. Father. 
 
 Ikor. What do you want to trouble me with now? 
 
 Lulu. He called for me. Your ears are deaf to me. 
 Your heart is closed against your daughter s voice 
 And she is banished. Brother, still at home, 
 Lets me speak to you by his voice and tongue. 
 O father, you do drive me to despair. 
 
 Ikor. I told you nevermore to call me father 
 Till you had learned to be my loving child. 
 
 (Lulu runs and fall* on her knees before Jiim.) 
 
 Lulu. I am your child, your daughter Lulu, father. 
 No, do not take me up. Here at your feet 
 Let me remain until 1 am forgiven. 
 
 Iko-r. Does this heart beat with rage against its love? 
 Do lips in anger give a kiss like that? 
 
 Lulu. Sweet father ! 
 
 Ikor. My sweet child! You will obey? 
 
 Lulu. I will obey. 
 
 Ikor. And be King Rogon s queen ? 
 
 Lulu. Yes, father. 
 
 Ikor. You 11 ratify your father s 
 
 Choice for you ? 
 
 Lulu. I ll try to, father. 
 
 Ikor. You will forget the prince of Calsomar ? 
 
 Lulu. No, father; on the tablets of my heart 
 Is graven ESPER. On the clouds is Esper. 
 In all the scenes of nature I read Esper. 
 The stormy ocean, roaring, calls out Esper. 
 The zephyrs whisper Esper, and the winds 
 Sigh softly Esper, and my secret soul 
 Says, Esper I will love you till I die. 
 
 Gilber. Let sister Lulu be Prince Esper s wife. 
 
 Ikor. You will be wed the wife of Rogou, child ? 
 And be a loving, faithful wife and true ?
 
 5 
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 Lulu. O fatlier, do not torture me. I will 
 Be wed his wife. I will obey you. father, 
 But do not ask me to bestow my love. 
 Oh ! paralyze my reason and unseat 
 This balanced mind that I become a fool, 
 A lunatic, an idiot, a brute, 
 That 1 may laugh derision at my shame 
 And know not that I serve the lustful passion 
 Of him I ve wed whose wife I cannot be. 
 
 Jkor. Go from me. This is that obedience 
 You promised but a little time ago. 
 Profess ol>edience and continue still 
 In bold rebellion gainst my wish and will. 
 
 Lulu. Impossibilities I cannot grant. 
 
 Ikor. God s heart! I will not tolerate this longer. 
 I will not drive you out again. 1 11 go 
 Myself till you have reconciled yourself. 
 
 (Ikor pauet anr/rily outride.) 
 
 Oilier. I am the prince and heir to father s throne. 
 If I were dead you then would be the heiress. 
 You are the queen of love, my sister Lulu: 
 You d make a noble queen of fair Atlantis. 
 I fear that I will never make a king. 
 If I were dead you, being the heiress t en, 
 Prospective ruler of this mighty realm, 
 Could be the ruler of yourself alone. 
 You then would shake King liogon from your state 
 And wed Prince Esper. Queen of Calsomar 
 You then would be, and father could appoint 
 His heir to follow and succeed him here. 
 I wish, sweet Lulu, that I now were dead. 
 
 Lulu. O Gilber, do not talk so to your sister. 
 If my great grief shall my own life destroy 
 It is enough. But let it not make yours 
 A thing from which yon would wish yourself free. 
 
 Gilber. I love and pity you.
 
 ELBLANKR. $ l 
 
 Lulu. I know it well. 
 
 My heart tells me as much. And. (Jilber, you 
 Are now my only comfort. Can I go 
 To father with my grief? We cannot rush 
 Into the flames to mitigate the pain 
 Of burning wounds. How sad ! when those we love 
 Occasion us insufferable agony. 
 
 Gilber. You cannot go to father with this trouble, 
 But you have me and you have Esper yet. 
 
 Lulu. I cannot go to Esper ; it would make 
 My hopeless love and fruitless yearning seem 
 To grow ten times more fierce and agonizing. 
 The wounded soldier dying from his thirst, 
 While lying where the murmurs of the brook 
 Fall sweet and musically on his ear, 
 Is rendered frantic by the babbling sounds. 
 When in the howling storm the ship goes down 
 In sight of land, it seems so hard to die 
 When off just there the flower-skirted shore 
 Smiles through the storm a safe security. 
 So will it be with me, my gentle brother. 
 My spirit will succumb. 1 11 pass away 
 In sight and reaching of the key of life. 
 I 11 hear his voice and die to hear it say, 
 My bride ! my darling Lulu ! my own wife ! 
 My eyes will see the motion of his lips, 
 I ll long to feel them pressing mine with kisses. 
 O Heaven ! his loving arms, they are my home. 
 But I am torn away from home forever. 
 
 Gilber. My death would rescue you from misery. 
 
 Lulu. Wish not your life were taken from you, brother : 
 T is mean and horrible ingratitude. 
 Life, that great fortune given us of God, 
 The patrimony of the Eternal Father, 
 Is such a wealth as he alone can give. 
 Life is more precious than the gold and jewels
 
 ^ 2 ELBLANKE. 
 
 Of many myriads of rolling worlds. 
 
 The mind cannot conceive of anything 
 
 Desirable that life can never buy. 
 
 (iod knows its value, and when 1 go home 
 
 He ll ask in gentle tones. "What did you buy. 
 
 My child, with that great treasure that I gave?" 
 
 A woman s life should buy a happy home; 
 
 A woman s life should purchase truth and honor, 
 
 And be a fund of chastity and love. 
 
 A wife should stand upon the hill of virtue 
 
 And in her hand hold up above her head 
 
 The lamp of simple truth and stainless honor. 
 
 To light the sea of life around her form. 
 
 If woman cannot thus expend her life, 
 
 And with it buy what it was meant to buy, 
 
 She would do better to surrender it. 
 
 But woman cannot take her life from love 
 
 And use it as a woman s life should be. 
 
 To woman love is life and life is love. 
 
 1 d rather die than be King llogou s wife. 
 
 (Hlbcr. There cannot be a station in the world 
 Not more to be desired than suicide. 
 .Self-murder by its very act annuls 
 The grand decree concerning this existence. 
 If life on earth shall purchase happiness 
 On earth, it purchases sweet bliss in heaven: 
 For doing good and happiness are one. 
 lint crime and joy are deadly opposites: 
 So if with life we purchase bliss in heaven 
 We spend it in a way to please its (Jiver, 
 And we cannot so spend it otherwise. 
 I do believe that wheresoe er we re placed 
 We may do good and happiness create, 
 And this is climbing up the stairs to heaven. 
 But to destroy a life is such a crime 
 As must j>erforce bring everlasting woe;
 
 KLBLANKE. 53 
 
 But passion hates the slow philosopher 
 And acts in madness to repent in pain. 
 Sweet sister do not he so melancholy, 
 You are Prince Esper s yet and may be always. 
 
 Lulu. I am Prince Esper s yet, I am his love. 
 Sweet brother, go and bring him here to me 
 While I may yet be his and he be mine. 
 
 Gilber. I cannot tell where he may now be found. 
 I may be gone some time ; but when I find 
 Him, I will straightway bring him to you here. 
 (Gilber kisses Lulu and starts to go.) 
 
 Lulu. My darling brother, you are very kind. 
 When you have found him bring him to the river". 
 I want to go and walk along the bank 
 Down by the marble landing. Bring him there. 
 
 Gilber. I will, sweet sister. For this time, good bye. 
 (Gilber pannes out.) 
 
 Lulu. The bitterest anguish which the soul can move 
 Is disappointed, hopeless, deathless love. 
 (Lulu pannes out.) 
 
 SECOND SCENE. 
 
 The marble landing of the palace of Dinee, by the river 
 Darne. LULU walking and sinyiny soft and loic. 
 
 Lulu. We loved each other, and we thought 
 To walk the paths of life together; 
 But all our dreams have come to naught, 
 1 or fate has severed us forever. 
 
 We meet no more in all the years; 
 We feel no more love s fond caresses; 
 We look on life through bitter tears; 
 We yearn for loving words and kisses:
 
 54 ELBLANK E. 
 
 But wish and yearn and Ionic in vain: 
 For we forevermore are parted: 
 Our lives are anguish, woe and pain: 
 For we are sick and broken hearted. 
 
 The rushing billows of regret 
 
 Pour on our souls and seethe around us; 
 
 Hut still we live and struggle yet. 
 
 In living death, for grief lias drowned us. 
 
 And yet we both in life may wed. 
 For many wed when hopes have perMied; 
 B.nt better that we both were dead 
 Than living by some other cherished. 
 
 For we must wrong those whom we wed. 
 For while to them we re faithful proving, 
 We 11 think of old, fond vows we made 
 Each other, still each other loving. 
 
 () Father, why should hearts be torn asunder 
 When they have grown together one in love ! 
 It is the strangest thing in human destiny 
 That one who loves to give herself away 
 1 nto another and from him receive 
 Those offices that make up life s allurements, 
 Should be compelled to wrench herself away 
 From him and to another give those things 
 Belonging to the sovereign of her heart 
 Herself, her life, her heart and faithful love. 
 
 (Brusse lifts her head abort (lie, rlpplm of Cry*tal Way, 
 and ftlvicly eineryi-* from iix boxom, while Lulu gazes on Jicr 
 half in fear and half in admiration and ironder.} 
 
 Brume. Fair daughter of the land, be not afraid. 
 I am the queen of ocean: in the dells 
 Deep down in its low dunircon depths I dwell. 
 Through coral groves 1 wander at my will.
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 O er deep sea sands of pearl I glide and play. 
 
 I often roam among the rocks and isles 
 
 Where mermen and the merry mermaids build 
 
 Their blissful homes in my pure, watery realms. 
 
 They sing their sweetest songs to honor me. 
 
 Their queeii; and in gay troops, with flowing hair, 
 
 They dance in graceful motions, keeping time 
 
 And moving to the music s mellow strains. 
 
 Through all the years of. time I ve waged fierce war 
 
 Against the king of land. 1 compass him 
 
 Around, and on the borders of his realms 
 
 1 pour my squadrons in perpetual war. 
 
 With my huge trident I assail his throne, 
 
 And make him tremble at my awful power. 
 
 The queen of air, whose realms are over ours, 
 
 Makes war on both of us. But when she drives 
 
 Her rushing legions down upon my form 
 
 And rolls my billows like huge mountains up, 
 
 I deck my head in crowns of snowy foam 
 
 And on the ridges ride and laugh with joy: 
 
 Thus do we struggle, ocean, land, and air, 
 
 In fierce and endless elemental wars. 
 
 I heard you weeping, gentle child of land, 
 
 And hitched my horses to my ocean car 
 
 To come to you. They bounded on the waves 
 
 As far as you have seen my rainbow reach 
 
 Across the sky some sunset summer s eve. 
 
 The ocean boiled around us as we sped; 
 
 The rolling wheels smoked in the frothing waves 
 
 And roared along the pavements of the main. 
 
 When near the land we vaulted in the realms 
 
 Of the fair queen of air; then touched the earth 
 
 From mountain top to hill, swift speeding on. 
 
 My horses in the Crystal Way plunged clown 
 
 To wait for me, and, child of land, I m here. 
 
 I know the story of your grief and woe; 
 
 55
 
 56 ELRLANKE. 
 
 1 know the crimes and wrongs of this wide land; 
 And here 1 swear, sweet daughter of the earth, 
 That these infernal crimes must cease to-day ! 
 If you are not a happy, blushing bride 
 In Esper s arms when yonder sun sinks down 
 Into my waves this eve, this land shall sink. 
 I ll gather all my forces for one blow. 
 And concentrate my energies and powers, 
 And with such fury roll upon this lanil 
 That it will yield dominion to my strength. 
 And in my waves sink down to rise no more. 
 Lulu. O do not swallow up my native Ian 1. 
 
 let it not be said in after days 
 That Lulu was the cause of awful woe 
 
 To that dear native land she loved so well. 
 But take me, Brusse: make me your companion, 
 To love you in your stately palace home. 
 I ll search for shells along your sounding shores 
 And bring the loveliest of all to you. 
 
 1 11 learn to sing the mermaids sweetest songs 
 And sing them to you when you want to sleep. 
 I ll tend your horses, hitch them to your car. 
 
 And hold the scourge and reins to make them skim 
 
 Along the surface of the glassy seas. 
 
 Make me a daughter of the sea, sweet queen. 
 
 nruxse. Could you be happy all alone with me ? 
 
 Lulu. Yes, lovely queen, take Lulu back with you. 
 Take me, and thus avoid this land s destruction. 
 Take Esper, too, or take me first, and then 
 Let me return to bring him to the home 
 Which you will give us in your palace halls, 
 And you may give him me to be his wife. 
 O save my country; serve me as you will. 
 
 Brutal . I fear I cannot take you to my home 
 Lest you should i>erish. lieing not immortal; 
 And when you are immortal you will go
 
 ELBLAXKE. 
 
 57 
 
 Where you will find a happier home than mine. 
 
 With all my powers I cannot instill 
 
 Immortal fluid into your pure veins. 
 
 But I can lend protection for a time, 
 
 And shield your life from the destroying liquid 
 
 In which I formed and fashioned out my home, 
 
 And I will take you to abide a time. 
 
 Yea, I will keep you till you form one wish 
 
 For what you cannot have while you remain. 
 
 You to be with me, must be well contented. 
 
 You must be happy, too, and you cannot 
 
 Be happy or contented while you re not 
 
 Engrossed with what you have and satisfied. 
 
 A mortal can exist in any sphere 
 
 While he is always happy and contented 
 
 To thus so live, till he can extricate 
 
 Himself and clamber to a higher plane. 
 
 But he must not begin to vainly wish 
 
 The things of his desires to descend 
 
 And humbly group themselves in clusters round him; 
 
 For this destroys contentment, and with it 
 
 Expires his happiness, and with it life. 
 
 So when I take you in my watery realm 
 
 You may aspire to gain the earth again; 
 
 But you must never wish the things you love 
 
 To come to you, for by such wish you re banished. 
 
 But in the meantime I, whatever happens, 
 
 Except a reformation in this land, 
 
 Will sacred keep my grave and solemn vow 
 
 To whelm Atlantis underneath my waves. 
 
 ( Snilandrock enters.) [ realms ! 
 
 Soilandrock. You boaster vile ! you 1.1 sink my solid 
 You ll drive your warring, vast, careering swells 
 Across my shuddering, sinking, heaving breast. 
 Oh! what a cheap commodity are words! 
 Which being proof, all creatures are as gods.
 
 58 ELBLAXh E. 
 
 But in the acts that fill their boastings out 
 
 One being in a myriad proves so bold 
 
 As half to do what windy vaunts imply. 
 
 You cannot whelm me underneath your waves. 
 
 Through all the ages of receding time 
 
 I T ve buffeted your billows from my bounds 
 
 And beaten you with thunder back again. 
 
 In many a war your legions have l>orne down 
 
 Vpon me, aided by the savage winds. 
 
 But I have stood as firm as virtue stands; 
 
 And not till I consent will you succeed 
 
 In whelming me beneath your rushing swells. 
 
 Brusse. What is so hard that will not yield at last 
 To persevering efforts of just power . 
 I ve leveled down your strongest barricades; 
 I ve worn your adamantine rocks away: 
 I ve undermined your cliffs, and hurled them down 
 In smoky ruins on my shingly shores. 
 1 have encroached upon your old domains 
 And taken from you spacious territories. 
 1 gather up my light and flying troops 
 And send them by the leave of the air s queen 
 On expeditions through the atmosphere. 
 They hang in clouds like palls around your head, 
 And pour their war upon your naked form. 
 Destruction follows in their torrents wake, 
 And you but strive in vain them to repel. 
 Then, when the thunder of the battle roars 
 No more, and when my potent sword has ceased 
 To Hash and glitter in the astonished skies, 
 I set my colors on your ancient hills 
 
 And mock you in the pleasure of my triumph. 
 
 Svilandrock. Away! into your depths; 1 will not brook 
 Your proud insults: but by our ruler. (Jod, 
 I ll quake and tumble on your head my hills. f gether, 
 
 Urugge. Do quake, and all your mountains shake to-
 
 ELSLAKA E. 59 
 
 Heave to your breast s dark core, and then you ve done 
 But what, ere this> I ve forced you oft to do. 
 
 Soilandrock. Begone ! or curse me ! I will pulverize you. 
 
 Brusse. That s right. "Warm up your flinty heart of 
 stone. 
 
 Soilandrock. I d rather have my heart of stone than one 
 Of water that assumes a different form 
 At every gentle pressure bearing on it. [odor 
 
 Brusse. Yes! and your skunk would rather smell* his 
 Thau sniff the perfume bottles of your queens. 
 
 Soilandrock. No wonder, either : his is natural. 
 
 Brusse. Conceit is natural to fools and asses ; 
 And yet, though it be natural, 1 think 
 It hateful as the odor of the skunk. 
 
 Soilandrock. Why may not fools and asses have conceit? 
 
 Brusse. Perchance conceit in them is justified : 
 The fool may glory in his want of sense, 
 The ass in his possession of long ears; 
 And when you see a vain, conceited fool, 
 Depend upon it he has not possessions 
 That he should be more proud of than this pair. 
 That head which holds conceit or vanity 
 Contains no room for sense, or wit or brains. 
 Please pardon me: I did not mean to chide 
 You for your vast, abominable conceit. 
 
 Soilandrock. You charge me with conceit ? I have it 
 
 then, 
 
 For if I ve not, I make you out a liar : 
 I will confess it: my mind holds conceit. 
 
 Brusse. Who thinks himself above his fellow beings 
 By any warranty or deed of nature 
 Is fit to brush the world s posteriors, 
 Or tend the persons of the beings they hold 
 Inferiors but fit for nothing else. 
 
 Soilandrock. I will not stand so much: depart: away! 
 (He lifts hits mace offensively.)
 
 60 KLBLANKK. 
 
 . Hash t <<l ! In-ware ! 
 (She guii rdx irit/i trident, and aland*.) 
 
 Lulu. Oh ! cease, for merry s sake. 
 
 ( Ifoonoolun enters, descending.) [shame. 
 
 Ifoonooliin. For shame, fair ocean queen! and king. for 
 Keplace your weapons which so much alarm 
 This gentle princess. Brusse, red should tinge 
 Your cheeks with crimson deep as ruddy blood. 
 And you! you monster! hide your hideous head 
 Till you can learn to be considerate. 
 
 Sweet princess, thus the fairy queen of air [maid. 
 
 Brings greeting. (Kixxex Lulu) Sweet your lips are lovely 
 1 am astounded that the ocean queen 
 Should so forget her errand as to vex 
 Whom she did come to comfort and assist. 
 Speed back, O queen, into your element, 
 Lest 1 provoked awake my felon winds 
 And roll your team and chariot on the ground 
 In wreck and ruin irretrievable. 
 Co back: and when the ripened time is come 
 Heave up your founts, and if you can t prevail, 
 1 11 bring my storms in armies ranked along 
 And we will smite the boasting king of land 
 Till he will gladly be submerged forever. [ form 
 
 Soil<i ndroek. Bring all your wars, and dash them on my 
 And I will stand until I have well proved 
 My strong ability to stand forever. 
 Then with the pity that prompts you to rage 
 I ll turn my head and in the depths sink down. 
 
 lloiHHwlun. Be not afraid, fair maid, though you must die 
 When sinks this land in one vehement plunge. 
 As you float upward through my airy realms 
 I ll kiss your lips and call an angel down 
 To lead you through the portals of the sky. 
 
 Lnlit. Oil ! must my country then for me be doomed. 
 Alas : you ll never see me more, sweet queen.
 
 ELBLANKE. 6 1 
 
 The awful weight of my lost people s souls 
 
 Will drag me down so that I cannot rise. [ love, 
 
 Hoonoolun. No power can drag down innocence, my 
 No more than it can desecrate the dome 
 Of that blue sky which canopies above us. 
 My child, farewell. [She kisses Lulu. 
 
 Brusse. Kiss Brusse and forgive. [She kisses Lulu. 
 
 Soilandrock. Adien ! you are my fairest child. Adieu! 
 (He raises her hand and lightly kisses her fingers.) 
 
 Lulu. O grief ! that I should be the spring of woe 
 To my loved land. Far liefer would I die 
 Than wrong this noble state I love so well. 
 
 (She draws an ornamental dagger from her circlet and 
 lifts it above her heart.) 
 I ll do it, praying God for His great mercy. 
 This dagger s polished metal in my breast 
 Will glide a pleasant sense of sweet relief. 
 My heart, you should not beat but for your Esper: 
 Since not for him you may unchided throb, 
 Cease, bleeding heart, to palpitate at all. 
 Yours, darling Esper, have I been in life; 
 Yours, my loved Esper, will I be in death, 
 And yours forever in eternity. 
 Oh ! it is bliss to die for those we love, 
 And blissful, too, to grope the great beyond 
 When dying can make country s life secure. 
 
 (Hoonoolun descends again.) [forbear. 
 
 Hoonoolun. Sweet maid, sweet maid ! for mercy s sake 
 (She takes the dagger and drops it.) 
 
 Lulu. O gracious Heaven ! support me queen of air. 
 The will that would have buried to the hilt 
 The dagger there, in this cold heart of mine, 
 Forsakes me, and my reeling senses swim. [me. 
 
 Hoonoolun. Lean on my breast, sweet maid ; you honor 
 But torture not your soul with that dread thought 
 That you are held accountable for this
 
 62 ELBLANKE. 
 
 Catastrophe that will this eve Ix-fall. 
 Huge, hydra-headed vice stalks in this land 
 And shames the very power that raised it up. 
 The nations are become great criminals, 
 Which being mightier do the mighter wrongs. 
 And hate and blood call dread damnation down. 
 For listen, girl: that nation which does lend 
 So much as sanction to a crime should die. 
 What more befitting time could be selected 
 To end this league for rapine than to-day 
 When this tremendous overthrow will save 
 The rarest jewel of the universe, 
 A pure young maid, from cruel wrong and shame? 
 What matter, girl, if in the coming years 
 Tradition s tongue shall tell: Atlantis fell 
 To save an innocent maiden from dishonor"? 
 Though Heaven s throne should crumble into dust 
 To save a pure, sweet girl, ? t would not appear 
 Too mighty means employed in such a cause. 
 Keinember this while, memory is yours: 
 Do not a willful wrong, and you have done 
 What even a God could not improve upon: 
 And you can stand, when worlds rush into ruin. 
 I plifting a calm eye, mid havoc smiling. 
 
 Lulu. But, lovely queen of air, go warn the people 
 Of doom impending, and bid them reform. 
 
 Jloonoolun. The wrongs that weep for reformation, child, 
 Are in themselves the potentest of warnings. 
 Though I should seize my trump and sound a blast 
 Which with its loud, reverberating thunder 
 Would move the deep foundations of the hills, 
 It would not be effective as that whisper 
 Which in the conscience says, "Do not this deed." 
 Arise, sweet maid, and bide the flowing time. 
 (Hoonoolun ascends.) 
 
 Lulu. What shall I do? Shall I proclaim that doom
 
 ELBLANR E. 63 
 
 Is hanging dread and gloomy over Toone ? 
 Alas ! O God ! they would but turn away 
 And say that Lulu s woes had driven her mad. 
 
 Father, if your mercy can forbear, 
 Delay the execution of your will, 
 
 And save the nations from this dreadful doom. 
 
 (Lulu walks a little, then enters the palace.} 
 
 THIRD SCENE. 
 
 LUIYU S chamber in the palace of Dinee. LULU lying icith 
 her face in her hands on a couch. GILBEB enters, stands 
 and gazes a moment pityingly on his sister and departs. 
 ESPEB enters. 
 
 Esper. This is good fortune I did not expect. 
 An attendant came to me and stated thus: 
 "You need not come where you will see the king 
 Until a later hour." But you know this: 
 You were yourself with me at that same time. 
 
 1 had forgotten, for it seems an age 
 
 Since I was bid to stay, and you were called 
 To council with the king; nor have I seen 
 Him yet. I cannot see him till he meets 
 Us all together at the appointed hour 
 To there make public what we long to know. 
 Why ! do you feign to be asleep, my Lulu? 
 If you were not reclining on your face 
 I d call you with a kiss from fairy land. 
 My love, I m half grown jealous of the couch 
 That takes the kisses from your ruby lips 
 Which I would steal. Awake, my love, awake ! 
 There s more persuasion in my arms, I think, 
 Than in my voice; I ll speak to you with them; 
 They say arise, and thus you answer them. 
 
 (He starts back in amazement.) 
 In Heaven s name, my Lulu, what is wrong ?
 
 64 ELBLAXKK. 
 
 If you were hanging by but six of these 
 Fine golden hairs above a gaping chasm 
 A thousand fathoms down, your lovely face 
 Would not bespeak more horror and deep anguish 
 Than looks from each sweet feature of it now. 
 
 Lulu. Oh ! would that but a single hair supported 
 This weight of woe. I d sever it myself, 
 If by the interposition of some power 
 It parted not asunder with its load. 
 
 Esper. Speak, Lulu; let me share your grief with you. 
 Who has your love should surely share your grief. 
 Pray speak it, Lulu: oftentimes it dies 
 When set on words: they carry it away. 
 
 Lulu. Such woes as that are of the imagination. 
 
 Esper. And such are half the woes of all the world. 
 
 Lulu. But this is of the heart, and he must take 
 My heart away that rids me of my woes. 
 
 Esper. If it is with your heart it should be mine: 
 You ve given your heart to me, give me the grief. 
 I "d rather have the woes of all the world 
 Than lose them with the loss of your dear love. 
 
 Lulu. Tis that you have my heart that I am sad. 
 
 Ettper. Why, then, I give it back to you again. 
 
 Lulu. If we could both convey it to another 
 My grief would cease and happiness-would reign. 
 
 Esper. 1 give it back: "t is absolutely yours, 
 And you may rebestow it as you will. 
 
 Lulu. If I believed that you had given it back 
 To me. my love, I d give it to the grave. 
 Tis that I ve given it never to recall. 
 And yet you cannot have it, that I grieve. 
 
 Esper. () Lulu, can it then be possible 
 That you have been mistaken, or have played 
 Me false, and feel yourself bound but by honor? 
 If so, I call on Heaven to bear me witness 
 
 (She plfires her fingers on hits lips, and looks at hint. Exper 
 clasps Lulu in his arms.)
 
 ELBLAN KE. 65 
 
 I know you true as constancy itself, 
 
 But speak, I pray you, love, and let me know 
 
 The cause of all this misery and woe. 
 
 Lulu. This evening I become King Rogon s wife. 
 No, do not let me go; I am yours now: 
 Come, kiss me, kiss my lips, my cheeks, my brow, 
 And hold me closer in a fond embrace, 
 And let me look and gaze upon your face. 
 I am yours now: oh ! take and make me so, 
 Or let this bosom cold and lifeless grow. 
 
 Esper. O, Lulu, Lulu ! can it then be true 
 That I must lose you ? Love, it cannot be. 
 Oil ! then that we had never met each other ! 
 For what is life with unrequited love ? 
 Or love made hopeless by cold, harsh conditions? 
 T is loathsome and most lightly thrown away. 
 
 Lulu. Even so thought I. My dagger that I wore 
 Was held aloft a little time ago 
 And menaced this faint, beating heart of mine. 
 The thought that I must wed another man, 
 And thus be lost to you in this dark world, 
 And lost to you forever over there, 
 Had driven me mad. In desperation plunged, 
 1 meant to die, that in the realms of heaven 
 I might be free to rush into your arms 
 Unstained by my involuntary vows. 
 
 Esper. What being stayed this little lily hand 
 From deed so foul? Pray tell me and I ll bow 
 And pour my soul in prayers of gratitude. 
 
 Lulu. The queen of air caught the descending blow. 
 
 Esper. The queen of air should then be queen of heaven. 
 O Lulu, nothing justifies a crime. 
 An awful deed may in an hour be done, 
 Most dreadful, and yet find some mitigation 
 In motives which provoked its perpetration. 
 Such deeds do lack the essences of crime 
 5
 
 66 ELBLANKE. 
 
 And are not crimes made justifiable. 
 
 But crime and guilt can find no palliation. 
 
 And, Lulu, this small hand, this hand so fair, 
 
 Would by one blow have sent us both to hell. 
 
 For I would follow you even down to hell. 
 
 Together we could happier be in hell 
 
 Than doomed to separation otherwhere. 
 
 Think not I censure you for your intent: 
 
 For passion when converted to despair 
 
 Is reckless fury raging uncontrolled; 
 
 And not for my sake do I bless the power 
 
 That staid in air the blow that would have slain, 
 
 But for my Princess Lulu am I glad. 
 
 Sweet Lulu, Heaven will not permit this wrong. 
 Lulu. My father has decreed it shall be so. 
 
 He s pledged me to the sovereign of Seldare, 
 
 And listens not to all my wild entreaties. 
 He will not be detracted from his purpose. 
 When to his child s request a father s love 
 Will turn denial, nothing else can move 
 Him from the fixed intention of his mind. 
 
 Esper. Then I will take a sterner, manlier course; 
 And challenge Rogou to a mortal combat. 
 He can t refuse: for by an ancient statute 
 He must or fight or yield the lady s hand. 
 My treasure, I will wage the contest for you, 
 And win, or in a fair encounter fall. 
 This evening I will claim you as my bride 
 Or live not witness of your woe and mine. 
 
 Luht. My soul is sick, I cannot make reply. 
 Where er I look 1 seem to gaze on blood. 
 If you succeed, your hands will be dyed red 
 With human gore. Oh! harsh necessity 
 And cruel need that calls for such attempts. 
 
 E*per. This land has run with rivers of red blood 
 Where armies have contended for a cause
 
 Not half so noble as my cause shall be. 
 I ll meet him iu an honorable war, 
 And let the fates decide the mastery. 
 
 Lulu. I know that Heaven will strike for both of us. 
 But grant, O grant, that blood and life be spared. 
 But if yon fall it still is victory; 
 For when you re gone a merciful, just God 
 Will call me where 1 11 better love to be. 
 The stately queens of ocean and of air 
 Have sworn to sink this continent this eve. 
 And even the king of land consent has given 
 To have his empire buried iu the sea, 
 If it be needful in a maiden s cause. 
 Such disapproval does the eye of Heaven 
 Glance on the foul designs of lawless men. 
 
 Esper. But, love, I 11 win. 
 
 Lulu. That hope sustains me, too. 
 
 But know the sword that grides my Esper s heart 
 Will first be warmed with thrusting through my own, 
 
 Esper. Adieu! I go to seek the king, your father, 
 That I may lay this matter out before him, 
 And, as a man, avow my love and purpose. 
 
 ( They walk together to the exit. ) 
 
 Lulu. Good bye, loved Esper, I am almost happy 
 With you even in this dreadful, weary time. 
 But it is torture from you to be torn. 
 
 Esper. What then must be our happiness, sweet love, 
 When we are blest in happy circumstances. 
 
 Lulu. The thought is bliss. 
 
 Esper (kisses Lulu). Sweet Lulu, my good bye. 
 
 (Esj)er goes without. Brusse enters.) 
 
 Brusse. I love you as my daughters of the sea. 
 Will you go with me down into my realm ? 
 I wish to tell some secret things to you 
 Whicli you should know. Will you come, child, with me ? 
 
 Lulu. Why should I fear ? I never have done wrong.
 
 6S El.BLAXKE. 
 
 Why tlieu should thing created do me harm . 
 I ll gladly go with you; lead me along. 
 (They pass out, Bfusse leading the icay, Lulu following.) 
 
 FOURTH SCENE. 
 
 The corridor in front of the room of state, BKAXDK enters 
 and ttandx looking through the portal into the room of 
 xtate. OSKAN enters unperceited. 
 
 Brandf. God scorch my greasy soul in burning hell ! 
 A fat damnation on my luck as well ! 
 
 Osran. Well, now, friend Brande, what is it troubles you ? 
 
 Brandt. This tongue of mine can t speak my hellish rage. 
 
 Osran. What chews your liver so? What nips at you? 
 
 Brande. You hell-doomed fool! You are my dearest friend; 
 And well you are; for if you were not, sir, 
 May God almighty hang me by the toes 
 lu hottest hell if I would not so curse 
 And execrate your lost, infernal soul 
 That you would grieve that you had ever asked 
 What has gone wrong with me. Hell have your heart ! 
 
 Osran. Why, Brande, you would not curse me. certainly. 
 
 Brande. What! curse you? no. God blast me if I do. 
 1 would as leave say devil take you, sir, 
 As curse you, sir, I would, sir, by the gods ! 
 You hell-doomed fool ! you are my dearest friend. 
 1 hope that Satan will thump me to hell 
 Before I say, God damn your perjured soul. 
 1 do sometimes swear oaths, I will admit; 
 Bui any God-cursed friend who says I ve cursed him 
 Can beat all hell in coining knavish lies. 
 
 Oxran. But yet you have not told me where you itch. 
 
 Brande. Whene er I think of my accursed old mother 
 I get so mad that I m as mad as hell.
 
 ELBLANKE. 69 
 
 Osran. Mad with your mother, Brande ? for shame! say no. 
 She s cursed enough in giving birth to you 
 Without the added weight of your displeasure. 
 
 Brande. I m mad to her, and devil take us both. 
 
 Osran. You stink with blasphemy when you do speak 
 One word of disrespect against your mother. 
 But tell me, now, by what mischance she earned 
 The spiteful malice of her only son. 
 
 Brande. She was a woman, sir, my mother was. 
 
 Osran. I can believe it, since I know it truth 
 That heaven bred the denizens of hell. 
 
 Brande. I could forgive her that, however, freely; 
 For it was not her province to decide 
 Her sex. And I myself, perhaps, had been 
 A man in spite of all I could have done 
 By way of trial to become a woman. 
 But she was poor as poverty, by God ! 
 
 Osran. If you had tried the more to be a man 
 And less for gross impossibilities, 
 You would not then have had so much occasion 
 To growl incessantly at what you are. 
 Blame not your mother, but her fortune curse, 
 That gave her in her life a lowly station. 
 
 Brande. If she had been a queen I then had been 
 Tin; king of some good state in which to rule. 
 
 Osran. He that lacks mettle to attain to what 
 He blames his fortune that lie was not heir to 
 "Would soon have fallen from his high estate 
 In which a happier birth had seated him. 
 
 Brandt . God damn birth, mettle, fortune and estate ! 
 And if you don t say so, God damn you, too! 
 
 Osran. I had not finished; I had more to say. 
 
 Brande. Then why in hell don t you go on and say it? 
 
 Osran. It is but this: that if you had been born 
 To place so high that your good tact and talent,
 
 o 
 
 Your energies, capacities and will 
 
 Could not have kept you there, you then had been 
 
 Most miserable. For tasting first tln> things 
 
 Of higher life, then falling to the low, 
 
 Your life had been but wishing and regret 
 
 For what had once been yours. You then would know 
 
 Jt useless to attempt to reach again 
 
 What once you had in hand and could not hold. 
 
 As he who rolls in wealth awhile, and sco 
 
 It vanish as a vapor of the air. 
 
 Has not the heart to chirk up bravery. 
 
 To heap up stores again and grow in wealth 
 
 But spends his days in dreams of gems and gold: 
 
 So is it with the man whose birth is high 
 
 But fall as swift, as sure, to lower rounds. 
 
 He only lifts his eyes up to the heights 
 
 Of power, fame, wealth, glory, usefulness, 
 
 Distinction, honor and renown, a weak. 
 
 Vile worm, still wriggling in the bogs of JitV. 
 
 All hail the man whose honest birth is low! 
 
 Who presses forward to the march s front, 
 
 To bear the standards of his age and time, 
 
 And with his voice and arm direct the world. 
 
 By him thrones, crowns and king are despicable: 
 
 Those are created and not always noble; 
 
 He does create himself and is sublime. 
 
 Brande. I, born to be a king, am but a slave. 
 The king, God damn him! should give me my place. 
 
 Quran. Not many men want full and jK-rfect justice. 
 
 Brandf. Well, I am one among the mentioned few: 
 Give me my dues along with other devils. 
 
 Osran. Ho! servants, bring this stupid dolt a halter: 
 He wants to be suspended by his neck. 
 
 Brandf. He tells a big. infernal, swarthy lie. 
 By God! if you oast that into my teeth 
 Again. I ll add your murder to my crimes.
 
 ELBLANKE. j t 
 
 Osran. You wanted justice, and I m always willing 
 To help a seeker in an honest search. 
 
 Brande. Ten thousand hellions pick your bones spot clean ! 
 Why will you taunt me with unfair exposure 
 Of my one crime, which in an evil hour 
 I did commit? What devil brought you there 
 To witness it and goad me to despair? 
 
 Osran. An angel made me witness of the crime. 
 
 Brande. You lying devil ! Why not speak the truth ? 
 No angel saw the deed. No angel goes 
 About to spy out crime and bring such witnesses 
 As you to hurt the felon with his sin. 
 Had any angel known my dark intent 
 It would have clapped its wings upon my eyes 
 And called out, "Hi there! Brande! you bloody devil! 
 Home grim, infernal fiend, steeped In the guilt 
 Of forty centuries of death in hell 
 Nailed your damned eye upon my deed that night. 
 Had you been gifted with immortal eyes, 
 Had you been gifted with a kind of eye 
 That could have looked beyond these mortal things 
 Into the world of immortality, 
 You would have seen what I will now describe. 
 You would have seen a row of squatting fiends, 
 Of filthy demons, and of horny devils 
 Hanked round me, grinning with that hell s delight 
 Which causes beings plunged in shame and woe 
 To greet more company with loud acclaim; 
 Me stealing with dark secrecy along 
 In night s disguise to strike my victim down: 
 Me gloating that the deed would have no witness, 
 And creeping on into the teeth of hell 
 Amid unnumbered throngs of gleeful devils; 
 Me luring on, me all unconscious still, 
 To fasten me with shackles of perdition, 
 And brand me with the bloody mark of woe.
 
 7 2 ELfiL 
 
 Why, Osran. if a crime were known to none 
 But to some devil, he would go to heaven 
 To there accuse the man before his God 
 And wait to bring him shrieking down to hell. 
 
 Oxran. But, Brande. you did not make the picture clear; 
 Let me lay on some strokes to finish it: 
 An old man stooping with his load of years 
 
 lirande. O God ! do hush. Hark. Osran. say no more. 
 
 Oxran. Another stealing on him from behind 
 
 lirande. God damn you, hush ! we may be overheard. 
 
 Osran. A thrust, a gasp, a rush of blood, a groan 
 
 lirande. Beware! you re stirring up a monster s fear. 
 
 Oxran. A girl as lovely as the lily flower 
 
 lirande. You damned of God! I ll whoop your soul to 
 hell. 
 
 Oxran. Stand off! I ll drop you in your blackest blood. 
 Put up your poniard and let us be friends. 
 
 lirande. Then leave me; for your presence is to me 
 Exasperating; I cannot endure it. 
 
 Oxran. Can you direct ine where King Rogon is? 
 
 lirande. God blast him ! 1 hate him as much as you. 
 He will be here in council with the king 
 And some among the noble lords anon. 
 
 Osran. I care not where he may be found to-morrow: 
 I want to find him now: where is he? Speak. 
 
 lirande. If you had asked me where he ought to be, 
 I would have said where you should be in hell. 
 
 Osran. Will you but tell we where he may be found? 
 
 Brande. I know not. and that is just half of it: 
 1 care not; that makes up the other half. 
 I ray why are you so anxious to come at him ? 
 And what so urgent business have you with him? 
 And why should you IH> found so needful to him? 
 What ever gave you such a liking for him ? 
 You could not hire me to meddle, sir, 
 Or pry into the affairs of other men;
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 73 
 
 I ain not curious to wish to know; 
 But damned if I dou t ask you anyhow. 
 
 Osran. Well, I will humor you in telling this: 
 I want to tell him something about you. 
 
 Brande. What would you tell King Kogou about me? 
 
 Osran. I want to tell him of your midnight murder. 
 
 Brande. God damn my soul to hell ! I "11 murder yon ! 
 
 Osran. Adieu ! I see the best of friends must part. 
 (Osran runs aicay.) 
 
 Brande. Wait till you ve left me, ere you say adieu. 
 
 (He runs after Osran. He returns.) 
 A secret is a thing locked in one breast: 
 Who keeps a secret, keeps it bottled there, 
 And then he holds it quite precariously. 
 But let him slack so much in custody 
 As to impart it to a second party, 
 And straightway it s proclaimed abroad the world. 
 Oh ! with what joy I d carve into his vitals 
 And send his spirit shrieking down the winds. 
 God blast his greasy soul to hottest hell ! 
 I could with ravenous gust bait me with blood 
 And glut me with the food of cannibals 
 If his damned heart [Gilber enters unseen and speaks. 
 
 Gilber. What madness is this, Brande ? 
 
 Brande. Those God damned, lazy servants won t obey 
 My peremptory summons and draw near. 
 Hello ! hello ! hello ! Damn you, wake up ! 
 You worthless, fazy devils ! come, I say ! 
 
 Gilber. If yon would use your legs and spare your lungs, 
 You could the sooner bring them to you here. 
 
 Brande. Thank you for your advice: I hold it good. 
 Pray pardon me for swearing in your presence. 
 
 Gilber. Ask pardon of your God, and not of me. 
 (Gilber passes out.) 
 
 Brande. Thus sin on sin rolls in. First murder done, 
 Then ruin of a girl, sweet, pure and fair:
 
 74 ELBLANK K. 
 
 God damned hypocrisy and hellish lios. 
 
 To aid deception and keep both concealed. 
 
 Next murderous attempts against a friend. 
 
 And and God damned if I don t guess that *s all. 
 
 No, there are more, but I can t think of them: 
 
 My mind in pondering these ghostly thoughts 
 
 Drives me distracted with remorse and pain. 
 
 (An attendant enter*.) 
 You tell a damned, infernal, swarthy lie ! 
 
 Attendant. Why, 1 have not as much as opened lips. 
 
 Brande. I thought you said I talked unto myself. 
 Tis well that you did not presume to say it. 
 (To himself) Another lie more villainous than ever. [sir? 
 (To attendant) Where are the other Cod damned servants, 
 
 Attendant. They re coming, sir, a little way behind. 
 (The attendants enter.) 
 
 Brande. Clear out the fixtures from that spacious hall, 
 And make it show its grand proportions, men: 
 Arrange it for the council of the king, 
 And make it ready for the ceremony 
 This eve to be performed. God damn it ! move ! 
 See that it looks its best; for our sweet, kind 
 And loving God damned little princess, Lulu. 
 Will grace it with her presence, and though fair 
 In costly furnishings, it will seem mean 
 Compared with her, the God-created beauty. 
 Brush up the throne, and the adornments polish, 
 And deck the pillars out with colors gay: 
 Make everything like burnished silver shine. 
 (The attendants pas through portal into the room <>f state.) 
 Behold with what a dignity and grace 
 And profound show of much authority 
 I rule the subjects over whom I m placed. 
 I know that I was born to be a king: 
 But Fortune, damn her! with a careless hand 
 Sows broadcast all her gifts. She gave to me,
 
 ELBLAXKE. 
 
 75 
 
 That should liave had a crown, a hellish kick, 
 Which tumbled me into obscurity. 
 
 (Osran comes stealthily in.) 
 Osran. Well, be of noble and courageous heart, 
 And hell perchance will be more just than earth. 
 
 Brande. Take care, or you will live without a liver, 
 Or die for want of one; for, by the gods ! 
 I 11 tear it out with both your heart and lungs. 
 Go, you; go, you; go, you: mark me, and go. {Sings. 
 
 My brother Lou did pant for wild adventures 
 And pined,- amidst the quiet scenes of home, 
 For the excitement of unheard-of perils 
 Encountered by those daring men who roam. 
 
 He yearned to wallow on red fields of bloodshed; 
 He longed to meet the savage beasts of prey; 
 He even wished, iu his fierce thirst for battle, 
 A hurricane would dare to cross his way. 
 
 He fancied that his eye could quell the tempest; 
 He was a holy terror born for war. 
 And often ground his teeth and fauged his choler, 
 And swore he d be the world s great conquerer. 
 
 And so one day he packed his traps and started 
 To battle with his hoped-for foes; and soon 
 With wandering vagabonds and thugs and sharpers 
 He drifted through the gates of mighty Toone. 
 
 A picked-up friend soon poured him full of liquor 
 And gobbled from him all his ready cash; 
 Another ruffian forced a quarrel with him, 
 And blacked his eyes and beat his nose to smash. 
 
 The gamins drove him wild with taunts and jesting; 
 Bad women ogled him and lured him in; 
 The city curled its nose and spit upon him 
 And asked him in derision for his I in.
 
 76 F.LBLAXKE. 
 
 Alas, he is no more a ranging terror: 
 He s back at lioinc and says he means to stay: 
 No more he pants for perilous adventures 
 In the calm tenor of his home life s way. 
 
 Quran. You might have been the chief musician, Brnnde, 
 Of all the world, if you had chanced to live 
 In other, happier times. 
 
 Jirande. What times were those? 
 
 Osran. When melodies, and harmonies, and airs. 
 And sweet, delightful tunes were not in vogue, 
 Hut singing did consist in howling so, 
 In such infernal discord, as to rack 
 The bones and marrow of a man s whole frame 
 And wrench the nerves, like pulling out the teeth. 
 The torn cats are your rivals in this age. 
 
 Brand?. Another may give better *atisfaction: 
 1 11 sing another. 
 
 Osran. For my sake, no more. 
 
 Brande. I ll sing one more: do let me sing another. 
 
 Osran. I do not want to hear another spasm. 
 
 Brandt . Hell-roasted fool. I do not sing in spasms. 
 
 Osran. I wisli you would: 1 then would listen to you. 
 
 Brandt 1 . I 11 sing one for my own self satisfaction. 
 (Sinyg) Barseldin had nine hundred wives, 
 
 .How I wish I had one ! 
 
 Ottran. Ow ! oo ! aw! o\v ! oo ! aw! (>! 
 
 Brande. Shut up ! 
 
 Osran. I am not open, sir: I m not. 
 
 Brande (ring*). Barseldin had nine hundred wives, 
 How I wish I had one ! 
 
 Quran. O Lord. () Lord, () Lord, (> Lord. () Lord ! 
 
 Brande. Dry up ! 
 
 Oitrttii. I never wet myself, do I ? 
 
 Brandt (tiny*). Barseldin had nine hundred 
 
 Os/ ti/t. Mv head ! uiv head !
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 77 
 
 Brande. Devils ! 
 
 Osran. What, Brande ! not so I 
 
 Nine hundred wives arid just so many devils? 
 Come, Brande, you do not ask me to believe that? 
 
 Brande. He had nine hundred wives, horned devils all: 
 Then why not eighteen hundred all together ? 
 
 Osran. In his selection of these wives of his 
 Did he choose such as were already horned ? 
 Or choose them inuley and then horn them afterwards ? 
 
 Brande. God ! no; impossible. He horn them all ? 
 Heh, eh ! they were like other wives I ve known. 
 Horned some by him and all of them by Hell. 
 But listen now, and let me sing the song. 
 
 (Sings) Barseldin had nine hundred wives, 
 
 How 1 wish 1 had one ! 
 
 Osran. Help ! murder ! robbers ! fire ! thieves ! help! help! 
 
 Brande. I ll have to carve a hole into you, sir: 
 T will make a horrid stench; but blast your face ! 
 I ll put a stop to these high tricks of yours. 
 
 Osran. Farewell ! [He passes quickly out. 
 
 Brande. I wish he d take it in his head 
 
 To run away to hell ! God smoke his eyes ! 
 (Attendants in room of state, their toils finished, begin singing.) 
 
 Attendants. O God, speed the great day: 
 
 Let it come a-rolling; 
 
 O hurry the good day along; 
 
 And soon in the sweet clime 
 
 Of Paradise strolling 
 
 We ll sing with the seraphic throng: 
 Sunday forever in 
 
 The longed for by and by 
 
 Unending Sunday of joy; 
 Eternal rapture in 
 The pure realms of the sky. 
 
 What can there work us annoy ?
 
 78 El.BLANKE. 
 
 There "s no liard work to do; 
 
 There s rest for weary bones; 
 
 Oh ! speed the bright day along ! 
 
 J-iet shouts ring heaven through. 
 
 Stifle the rising groans, 
 
 And sing us again the old song: 
 Sunday forever in 
 
 The coming by and by, 
 
 Day without limit of joy; 
 Eternal love of those 
 Who have flown to the sky. 
 
 What can our happiness cloy ? 
 
 (The attendants march through portal and form in hall.) 
 
 Brande. Enough ! you may depart and follow up 
 Your inclinations till the sun begins 
 To reach half way across the western sky. 
 Proclaim to all the servants of the palace 
 That they may now give over every toil, 
 And humor whatsoever whims they have; 
 But keep yourselves in calling from the tower, 
 And readiness for service at the ball, 
 The revels, games, and sports and nuptial feast. 
 Take recreation while the time affords 
 An opportunity; then come again 
 When you are called, with springs in every joint, 
 Alacrity in every separate move, 
 And bring with you full forty fingers each 
 To take the orders from the very lips 
 Of all the present guests, and execute them 
 With such celerity and smooth dispatch 
 That it will seem a fairy banquet hall 
 And fairy palace served by graceful shadows; 
 But let good order rule in everything 
 And systematic service is secured. 
 lie can t accomplish most that toils the hardest
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 And sweats and pants in ostentatious effort, 
 But he that goes with judgment at his task, 
 And summons up the energies he has 
 To persevering use and application. 
 You re given perfect freedom of the palace. 
 The scullions in the royal rooms may romp 
 With chambermaids and wardens of the halls. 
 The very lords, themselves, may not take umbrage 
 If you shall choose to racket through their rooms. 
 And even if your course shall lead you through 
 The sacred precincts of the dressing rooms, 
 And there the gentle maidens all disrobed 
 You do discover, making up their toilets, 
 They must not kick if you admiring glances 
 Cast at their beauteous, denuded limbs. 
 Away ! and seek your pleasures where you will. 
 The king will come here soon, to sit in council, 
 With music and a courtly company. 
 
 (They allfiUout.) 
 
 FIFTH SCENE. 
 BBUSSE S palace under the ocean. Nymphs enter. 
 
 Sea nymp7is. 
 
 Who are merrier than we 
 Daughters of the deep, blue sea ? 
 By its bouldered shores we play, 
 Mirthful as the merry day. 
 In its waves we romp and swim, 
 Tumbling on its glassy brim. 
 Who created would not be 
 Ever happy, ever gay 
 In the depths of ocean dim ? 
 (Sprites enter.)
 
 So ELBLAXh E. 
 
 Air sprites. 
 
 We are merrier that you 
 Who ill ocean depths of blue 
 Flounder on from place to place, 
 With an odd, ungainly grace. 
 We can mount the winds and Hy 
 Swiftly through the placid sky. 
 Sure there lives no jollier crew 
 In creation s boundless space 
 Than we sprites who hover by. 
 (Mermaids rise in the fountain.) 
 
 Mermaids. 
 
 We re the gayest troop of all 
 In the firmament s wide hall. 
 We can play among the rocks, 
 Combiug out our waving locks. 
 Earth and air and ocean ring 
 With the joyful songs we sing. 
 Fishermen who hear us call 
 Cheerly through the stormy shocks 
 Smile despite the tempest king. 
 (Elves enter.) 
 
 Ehes. 
 
 -We re contented: what is more 
 To be wished for? We explore 
 Lonely deserts and the deep 
 Woodlands where the zephyrs sweep 
 Through the verdure. Oh ! we elves 
 Know none gayer than ourselves. 
 When the savage tempests roar, 
 We our hiding places keep 
 In the crannied, cliffy shelves. 
 (Fair if a enter.)
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 Fairies. 
 
 We go anywhere at will: 
 Over mountain, over hill, 
 On the earth or in the air, 
 Through the azure sky so fair. 
 Heaven has no heights so high, 
 Earth no depths that can defy 
 Our swift flight, We re never still. 
 Gleeful and without a care, 
 Who would not a fairy fly ? 
 
 (Imps of darkness enter.) 
 
 Imps. 
 
 Here we come in rayless gloom, 
 Somber as the shades of doom; 
 See around us darkness spring 
 Cloaking us and every thing. 
 Who would not in darkness dwell? 
 Lovely darkness ! velvet cell ! 
 Dreamy, soft, delicious room ! 
 Magic circle ! mystic ring ! 
 Nook of too much joy to tell. 
 (Fays of color enter.) 
 
 Fays. 
 
 We are always fair and bright: 
 We love day and hate the night. 
 We are loved by every one: 
 For from rise to set of sun 
 We are striving to. make glad 
 Every human heart that s sad. 
 Every eye admires our flight. 
 Who would not with us be one, 
 And in radiance be clad ?
 
 82 ELBLAXKE. 
 
 All. 
 
 Who are gayest ? who can tell ? 
 Who can toll ? who can tell ? 
 We re all jolly, we know well, 
 We know well, we know well. 
 Come, let us, to try the cause 
 By the spirit empire s laws, 
 Choose a judge, and try our skill 
 Making sport and fun until, 
 Judging by the joy he feels, 
 He the judgment signs and seals. 
 (A merman rises in a fountain.) 
 
 Merman. 
 
 Listen, listen now to me; 
 
 Quell these sounds of revelry. 
 
 As I strayed along the sand 
 
 Of the ocean s pebbly strand, 
 
 I saw Brusse s blazing car . 
 
 Rolling through the restless air. 
 
 By her in the car there stood 
 
 A creature of pure, sweetest blood; 
 
 A lovely girl of graceful form, 
 
 Possessed of many a winning charm. 
 
 Her hand, a hand as white as snow, 
 
 Did hold the reins, as with a slow 
 
 And easy pace they leisurely 
 
 Drove down the surface of the sea. 
 
 I saw, I gazed, then turned, and in 
 
 The liquid plunged, and like the fill 
 
 Of dolphin cut the ocean s foam 
 
 To reach this palace, Brusse s home, 
 
 In time to warn you to prepare 
 
 To welcome home the strange voung fair. 
 
 If she s a daughter of the earth. 
 
 A sweeter never breathed at birth;
 
 KLKLANKE. 83 
 
 And 1 guess her of the land: 
 
 For with no immortal band 
 
 Has she ever yet been seen. 
 
 But they even now, I ween, 
 
 Near the palace. There they are ! 
 
 Yonder rolls fair Brusse s car. 
 
 (The merman sinks in the fountain.) 
 
 All. 
 
 Oh ! then we will try our wiles 
 With her, and who most beguiles 
 Her to smiling, is decreed 
 Winner of the contest s meed. 
 Brusse, too, shall note our arts 
 While we play our various parts, 
 And pass judgment: hasten, hide, 
 For they ne,ar the palace ride, 
 And they soon will be inside. 
 
 (They all secrete themselves in the fountains, in tJie ar 
 bors, behind the throne, and in many places of concealment. 
 Brusse and Lulu descend into the staye in a swing, and 
 after oscillating a few times become stationary and alight.) 
 
 Brusse. Xot one of all my train to welcome me 
 Bides here at home to greet my doubtful coming. 
 I have no notion where they now disport. 
 It may be that far out in distant gulfs 
 They bask them in the waves of other climes. 
 It may be that away among the stars 
 Some traverse heaven s gemmed, ethereal rout< <. 
 Or, like the birds, wing the vast roads of air. 
 Some may be in the nether caves of gloom. 
 Their footsteps groping in the inky midnight 
 Of darkness, seeming obvious to the feeling. 
 They journey here and there, even as the thoughts 
 Glance from the luminaries of the sky
 
 84 ELBLAXKE. 
 
 Back to tho earth, to dart from zone to /one. 
 They are pure spirits, and their airy motions 
 Are as the moving* of your innate mind: 
 And yet they may be near. At any rate. 
 We are ensconced in my palatial hall. 
 And we will wait with patience till they come. 
 Of all the earthly scenes through which I roam 
 None are so pleasant as my happy home. 
 
 Lulu. If the unmeasured space of my existence 
 Should reach through all the eras of the world 
 I would remember this illustrious day 
 A> one of strange adventures and much wonder. 
 .Sweet Brusse, by some trick of magic art 
 Your home takes on the semblance of the home 
 Which I iu fancy built for me and Esper. 
 lu those sweet days before our woes began. 
 It is as though enchantment had upreared 
 The airy castles which our hopes of future 
 Constructed iu the dreams of waking -leep. 
 It is occult capacity. I think, 
 Which you possess that does enable you 
 To make the things that are not seem to be. 
 This very life I live seems but the shadow 
 Of what I fondly hoped my life would be. 
 Have you not wrought exuberance of fancy 
 in my poor brain, and hampered my belief, 
 To take thin shows for more substantial substance? 
 
 Jin.itne. If you are happy iu the present moment 
 In the enjoyment of the things at hand, 
 Enjoy it to the utmost, and fret not 
 With fear the things you have may fade away: 
 For if you can t enjoy the passing things 
 You can t find happiness in life itself; 
 For life is waning and grim death is sure. 
 Wait not for happiness till future leisure: 
 The present is the proper time for pleasure,
 
 ELBLANKE. 85 
 
 Aud joy that s waited for grows sick and dies, 
 For it alone the present want supplies. 
 
 (Lulu leans on the verge of a fountain ami. (lr<><>/>iity her 
 7wad on tJie rim, iceeps.) \ lovely eyes? 
 
 Brusse (caressing her). Why do these tears bedim these 
 
 Lulu. O queen, the world was made for happiness; 
 And when I see the various things devised 
 By the Creator to fill it with sunshine 
 And sow the seeds of cheerfulness abroad, 
 I can t repress my grief, because at home 
 There s gloom in father s heart, in Gilber s heart and Esper s. 
 When there is so much happiness extant 
 In circulation through the earth s broad channels, 
 Why cannot more flow through these hearts of ours? 
 I wish I had been born a peasant s child, 
 Near neighbor to our Esper s lowly home, 
 So we could have grown up to love each other 
 Unreprimanded by parental frowns. 
 Oh! what a happy home I would have made him ! 
 Aud what a faithful wife I had been to him ! 
 But destiny, grave destiny, forbade. 
 
 (Brusse leads Lulu by the throne. Brusse sits in throne, 
 with Lulu in t?ie place of honor.) 
 
 BriiMe. You are despondent, and it is so strange 
 To witness sadness in this home of mine 
 That 1 am lost in knowing what to do. 
 I would my nymphs were here to cheer you up. 
 Could you not sing an incantation, Lulu? 
 Some ballad you have heard some mortal sing, 
 To call the spirits of my realm around us ? 
 I know the sluggish minds in fettered brains 
 Of men do form conceptions of the things 
 In states above the state wherein they live; 
 And they do know that agencies beyond 
 Their comprehension meddle with their matters. 
 And freak and frolic with their favorite plans:
 
 86 ELBLANh E. 
 
 And they direct their odes and invix-ations 
 To those same beings they account superiors. 
 My child, can you remember such a song 
 That does beseech the spirits to appear . 
 If so, sing it in sweet simplicity, 
 And mark the magical effect it has. 
 
 Lnlu. I know a song, but I can never sing it 
 In manner such that it become a spell. 
 Commanding those to whom it is addresx-d. 
 1 ve suns? it oft before, and know that never 
 Has it been answered in the least degree. 
 
 (She tings irit/t uliyht trepidation.) 
 
 Like the gathering shades of twilight 
 
 Climbing up the sky at eve; 
 hike the winds which in the summer 
 
 Through the woodlands sigh and grieve; 
 Like the cloudy piles of glory 
 
 Floating in the upper sky, 
 Ijet the water nymphs of ocean 
 
 Draw in graceful motion nigh. 
 
 (T/if nymjihs come upon the tttuyt from behind, and take 
 place on the If ft of throne.) 
 
 Merry sprites and elves and fairies, 
 
 Gather round me while I sing; 
 And with you the fays of color 
 
 With their gorgeous costumes liring: 
 With a mortal s voice Icall you. 
 
 But I pray you heed and come 
 Softly as the mellow gloaming 
 
 From the night s nocturnal womb. 
 
 (Sprites come tripping light and airily and take pine* on 
 right of throne. Eire* in a r/rotexqne, croird go front of 
 throne. Fairies in irhite behind throne. Fays, each dressed 
 in some solid color, go to left and front of nymphs.)
 
 ELBLANKE. 87 
 
 Like the finny forms that glitter 
 
 In the ocean s avenues, 
 Merry mermaids, swim you hither, 
 
 In your gay, hilarious crews: 
 Fishes forms and girlish faces: 
 
 From the crystal fountains clear, 
 Lift your golden heads and lovely 
 
 Arms of alabaster bare. 
 
 (Mermaids rise in fountain to front of fays of color and 
 in two anterior fountains. They wear pearly coronets and 
 their arm* and breasts are bare. They lay hands and arms 
 on brim.) 
 
 Imps of darkness, hear my summons, 
 
 And as through a mortal s soul 
 Drift the gloomy clouds of sorrow, 
 
 Through this hall your shadows roll: 
 Thicker, thicker throng your phantoms, 
 
 Deeper, deeper drive your gloom, 
 Darker, darker cloak the objects 
 
 In this ghostly, haunted room. 
 
 (Imps of darkness, raven black, come in and palace grows 
 dark.) 
 
 Souls of music, you are wished for; 
 
 We are waiting: won t you come ? 
 And with music s swelling volume 
 
 Fill this lofty palace dome. 
 Echoes take your chosen stations 
 
 At a distance from the throng 
 And when they engage in singing 
 
 Answer back the soft, sweet song. 
 
 (Souls of music, each bearing a musical instrument, coma 
 in and go to front of stage. Souls of music play; echoet 
 answer.)
 
 88 El.HLANKE. 
 
 The throng (sings). 
 
 Wherever you may wander, love, 
 Echoes. May wander, love, 
 
 Remember hearts at home 
 Echoes. Hearts at home 
 
 Await with anxious longing, love, 
 Echvts. Are longing, love. 
 
 To greet you when you come. 
 Echoes. Come, oil! conic. 
 
 The world is wide and you may so 
 Echoes. And you may go 
 
 And far from sweetheart roam. 
 Echoes. From sweetheart roam, 
 
 But you ll not find in all the world 
 Echoes. In all the world 
 
 The love you find at home. 
 Echoes. The love at home. 
 
 Then welcome! Welcome! 
 
 Echoes. Welcome! Welcome! 
 
 You re welcome, love, come home! 
 Echoes. Welcome home! 
 
 We re keeping kisses for you. love. 
 Echoes. For you, love! 
 
 O welcome, love, come home ! 
 
 Echoes, () love, come homel 
 
 (Lulu leans in lirusse s arms and <w/>j.) 
 
 The stranger will be welcome, too. 
 Echoes. Be welcome, too, 
 
 You re welcome, stranger, come ! 
 Echo<*. Stranger, come I 
 
 But by the stranger s fireside. 
 Echotx. The fireside, 
 
 The stranger thinks of home ! 
 Echoes. Thinks of home I
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 S 9 
 
 Here will be low, sweet words for all, 
 Echoes. Sweet words for all, 
 
 And love to banish gloom, 
 Echoes. To banish gloom, 
 
 But oh ! there s nothing can dispel 
 Echoes. Can dispel 
 
 The thronging thoughts of home. 
 Echoes. The thoughts of home. 
 
 But welcome ! Welcome ! 
 
 Echoes. Welcome ! Welcome I 
 
 You re welcome, stranger, come ! 
 Echoes. Stranger, come ! 
 
 We greet you as a worthy friend; 
 Echoes. A worthy friend; 
 
 Love s kisses are at home. 
 Echoes. Love s kisses are at home. 
 
 (Souls of music play, Brusse sings.) 
 
 Brusse. liken dona tepus idel una vel, 
 
 Te jus ade y dor, goraue du, rel, 
 
 Telia rega dester; 
 
 Telia vopel ester; 
 liken dona tepus idel una vel. 
 
 (A flood of wonderfully brilliant light r/Uncs on the stage 
 an instant and is succeeded by total darkness. When it is 
 dissipated all Jiave vanished but Brusse and Lulu. Lulu, 
 still in Brussels arms, crying.) 
 
 Lulu. It is all lovely, all most beautiful; 
 This home of yours is all magnificence; 
 But Brusse, in the realms which God has made, 
 Prepared for the reception of these souls, 
 We can t be happy if our friends are not 
 With us and happy too; unless there be 
 In heaven just one friend to whom our love 
 Will flow in steady currents never ending.
 
 9 
 
 Ethereal things are very ordinary 
 
 Wheii we enjoy them parted from our friends; 
 
 Ambrosial fruits are loathsome to the palate 
 
 When we cannot divide them witli our friends; 
 
 All pleasures merge into satiety 
 
 If we in selfishness share not with friends: 
 
 Our joys are in the joys of those we love. 
 
 The entertainment is entrancing here, 
 
 But with it all I find my spirits sink 
 
 And homesickness does take possession of me. 
 
 lirusite. Wait. Lulu, wait, and I am sadly fooled 
 Or soon your spirits will take wings and tl\ ; 
 For I ve instructed my attendant beings 
 To make diversion that can t fail to please you. 
 
 (Nymphs enter and ting while they irntch svtm <>f their 
 number perform a figure dunce. Soul* of mimic ]> f "i/.) 
 
 NympTit. 
 When the dawn is at hand, and the east is aglow, 
 
 And the sun s level beams glance the \vater>. 
 On the ocean s chafed strand, where the wailing winds blow, 
 
 In the waves romp the sea s happy daughters. 
 And the sons of the deep in the surfy waves leap, 
 
 And they catch us to kiss and caress; 
 And we blush though we smile, and we pout though the while 
 
 To our bosoms the sea sons are pressed. 
 
 We have homes in the main where we live with our mates, 
 
 We have all that our wishes express; 
 In our hearts burns the flame which fierce jealousy hates, 
 
 That true love which with rapture can bless. 
 Mid the ice round the pole, in the heat of the zone 
 
 Where the sun drives its energy down. 
 Where the sea s like a scroll or in wild billows blown, 
 
 Tis the same: faith and joy our cups crown. 
 (Sprite* of air enter and sing. Souls of music
 
 ELBLANKE. 9 ! 
 
 Sprites. 
 
 Like the meteor s flash or the flight of a star 
 
 Driving down through the night s shadowed dome, 
 We ascend and we dash through the vague heights afar, 
 
 And abroad through the universe roam. 
 In the vast, trackless space where unnumbered worlds roll, 
 
 We career like the thunderbolts driven 
 From the clouds; and our race with the stars for a goal 
 
 Speeds us on by the portals of heaven. 
 
 We re at home in the air, in blank space, anywhere; 
 
 We can clasp in our arms whom we love, 
 Fold our pinions and sink, while love s nectar we drink, 
 
 Down the towering, huge heights up above; 
 And in ecstacy float down the sky while we press 
 
 To our breasts our companions, and from their lips steal 
 Sweetest kisses; and dote on the forms we caress, 
 
 All entranced by the pleasure we feel. 
 
 (Mermaids enter, arising in fountains, and sing. Souls of 
 music play accompaniment.) 
 
 Mermaidens. 
 The white, frothy foam of the ocean in flight 
 
 Scuds over the nooks where we build 
 Our pleasant abodes, and the motion, though slight, 
 
 Of waves, tides and swells, is ne er stilled: 
 For in the sea s bosom they rock us, and lull 
 
 And soothe us by babble and roar, 
 And anon in soft, dreamy sleep lock us, and dull 
 
 They sound as they murmur and pour. 
 
 We pick up the coral and pearls from the sand 
 
 And bind them for crowns in our hair; 
 We gather the many-hued shells from the strand 
 
 And form them in coronets fair.
 
 92 KLBLAXh E. 
 
 We love, we are loved, we are happy; we sing 
 
 lu and out mong the rocks in our play; 
 The mermen embrace us and kiss us; we cling 
 
 In caresses and float in the spray. 
 
 (Elves enter gamboling in grotesque nntirs round the 
 throne. I hey sing. Souls of music play.) 
 
 Eltes. 
 The desert lias seen us. the forest has known 
 
 The marshes and bogs and morasses we ve trod; 
 In deep-tangled jungles we dance all alone 
 
 In troops on the carpeted sod. 
 The will-o -the-wisp we do light for our lamp, 
 
 The traveler perceives its dim ray, 
 And into the dismal and treacherous swamp 
 
 lie plunges and loses his way. 
 
 Poor mortals we tease and torment by our tricks, 
 
 And drive them astrand in despair; 
 In the wooing of lovers we meddle and mix 
 
 And their fond hearts asunder we tear. 
 We take away fortune from those who are rich, 
 
 To girls give voluptuous charms, 
 But coax them to flirt, and to sad ruin pitch 
 
 The hopes each poor duped lover forms. 
 
 (Fairies enter decked in white and bouquets of Jfmrtrs. 
 They i/ig. The. souls of music play.) 
 
 Fairies. 
 
 Swift as the sun or the moonbeams 
 
 Gliding from heaven we fly; 
 Now with the nymphs on the sea shore. 
 
 Now with the sprites in the sky; 
 Now with the mermaids and mermen 
 
 Down in the sea s cavern halls; 
 Then with the elves in the desert. 
 
 Then where our duty most calls.
 
 ELBLANKE. 93 
 
 Far from the haunts of the spirits, 
 
 Frequenting sea, land and air, 
 Unto the homes of the mortals, 
 
 Striving to comfort and cheer- 
 Oh! we are happy and gleeful, 
 
 And \ve make others so, too, 
 By our kind words low and loving 
 
 And the good deeds that we do. 
 
 (Imps of darkness enter, bringing gloom. They sing. 
 Souls of music play.) 
 
 Imps. 
 
 Lovers love us, children dread us, 
 
 When our mystic veils we spread 
 Over earth and over ocean 
 
 Like huge canopies o erhead. 
 How we laugh to see fond lovers 
 
 Stealing in the gloom a kiss, 
 Knowing not our eyes are on them, 
 
 Reveling in secret bliss. 
 
 When we struggle with the starlight 
 
 And with moonbeams go to war, 
 Mortals looking at the conflict 
 
 Wonder what we re fighting for. 
 We wrap nature in enchantment 
 
 And bediamond with dew 
 Shrub and flower; and keep mortals 
 
 Lulled asleep the long night through. 
 (Fays of color enter, dressed in divers hues and decked in 
 variegated flowers. They sing. Souls of music play.) 
 
 Fays. 
 
 In the clouds we sit in glory, 
 
 In the rainbow s circle shine, 
 In the verdure and the flowers, 
 In the metal of the mine;
 
 94 KLBLAXKE. 
 
 In the tumbling waves of ocean. 
 
 In the stars and moon s pale light 
 Glitter, sparkle, glow and twinkle 
 
 Like the diamond so bright. 
 
 Nature laughs because we kiss her, 
 
 Mortals smile because she smiles 
 And because we strive to please them 
 
 With a million arts and wiles. 
 We re the patrons of rare beauty. 
 
 We re the goddesses that give 
 Outward charms to lifeless objects 
 
 And to all the things that live. 
 
 Chorus of nyrnpJw, sprites, mermaid*, fin rim, rli-?*. imps 
 and fays chant the following to Lulu: 
 
 If we ve pleased you we are glad: 
 If we ve teased you we are sad. 
 We pay homage at the shrine 
 Of sweet mirth and joy divine. 
 Sorrow shuns us and we scorn 
 Melancholy grief forlorn. 
 You are welcome to our home, 
 And we bid you kindly come; 
 And we pray that you will join 
 In our pleasures, and consign 
 To oblivion your grief, 
 And in our life find relief. 
 Urusse richer gifts can t give 
 Than permission here to live. 
 Take the joys the present bring-;: 
 Let your spirit take their wings; 
 Let your spirit on them soar 
 Over all the buried yore; 
 Let your spirit on them wing 
 To the future s gushing spring,
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 Pregnant with the perfect blisses, 
 Rippling with the lover s kisses 
 Showered on you as a wife 
 Through a never-ending life. 
 For your God will call you home 
 And your love will to you come, 
 And you 11 in those realms so fair 
 Live an undivided pair. 
 Wait until your flowing time, 
 Like a mighty stream sublime, 
 Runs into the boundless sea, 
 Holy, sweet eternity: 
 Waiting for the rapture there, 
 Why should mortal s soul despair? 
 
 Lulu. I would pour out my soul in gratitude 
 If I could find conveyances of words 
 And fit receptacles of apt expression 
 To carry out my feeling to your ears; 
 But in the mind emotions pent themselves, 
 Like massy gorges blocking up a strait, 
 And will not in strict order file along, 
 And cannot in a body find an exit, 
 (iood friendly beings of the spirit world 
 I thank you for your hospitality," 
 Your earnest welcome and sincere attempts 
 To me enamour of the life you lead; 
 And I do say in all good candor, too, 
 That I have been delighted passing well; 
 But while you wing the trackless lengths of air, 
 And the illimitable reach of heaven. 
 Or dive into the depths almost uufathomed 
 Of ocean, and traverse the solitudes 
 And vast, untrodden tracts of earth s expanse, 
 You re everywhere at home and with your friends; 
 But I am taken far away from mine; 
 
 95
 
 96 ELBLANKE. 
 
 And you should not expect me to forget 
 
 My home and all on earth that I hold dear. 
 
 While I should be remarkably well pleased, 
 
 ( If I should know me severed for all time) 
 
 From what I ve cherished here, to wait with patience 
 
 For what eternity has stored for me, 
 
 I still could feel that I am waiting thus 
 
 If I were taken back into the scenes i 
 
 Where now transpire events which shape my doom. 
 
 80, with your leave, I will return to home. 
 
 I do depart in sadness and in gladness; 
 
 For I 11 be glad to know I m being borne 
 
 To where I wish to be, and sad to know 
 
 I m leaving what 1 do not like to leave. 
 
 1 say farewell. Farewell, I say, in sorrow; 
 
 But farewell, friends, and may you aye be happy. 
 
 I say farewell, for I do truly know 
 
 That Brusse will return me to my home: 
 
 For I have wished the wish prohibited. 
 
 (Lulu sings to Brusse. Souls of inusfr play.) 
 
 Brusse, take me back to Esper; 
 Take me where I long to be: 
 When I m severed from my loved one, 
 Pleasures have no charm for inc. 
 
 Press me not with entertainment; 
 Hope not Music s soul can move 
 My soul to forget in smiling 
 How it hungers for true love. 
 
 I cannot repress a longing 
 
 For my darling far away. 
 
 Take me back; oh I take me, Brasse, 
 
 And I 11 stray no more for aye.
 
 ELBLANKE. 97 
 
 Take me back, I pray you, take me, 
 Take me, take me back again; 
 Take me back, O Brusse, take me: 
 Let me with my love remain. 
 
 (Brusse draws Lulu s head down upon her shoulder. 
 Brusse sinys. Souls of music play.) 
 
 Lo ve drachnar tooma sumloo, 
 Lo ve coudo ramar speel; 
 Lo ve rum km 
 Lo ve zel dun 
 Lo ve rega idel pschiel. 
 
 (The string descends, oscillates, and stops. Brusse steps 
 on- tfith Lulu, and the swing moves to and fro, swinging 
 them higher at each return, while the throng sing, answered 
 by echoes. ) 
 
 Throng. Farewell, Lulu! Farewell. Lulu! 
 
 Echoes. Lulu. Lulu. 
 
 God keep you. Fare thee, well ! 
 
 Echoes. God keep you, Well ! 
 
 Love go with you. Farewell ! 
 
 Echoes. Go with you. Farewell t 
 
 Take our kisses, Our best wishes. 
 Echoes. Kiss us, Wish us, 
 
 Well forever ! With your soul. 
 
 Echoes. Forever ! With your soul. 
 
 (The swing returns no more. Lulu, above, sings.) 
 
 Lulu. How I have loved you, tongue may not tell. 
 
 God s love and mercy keep you ever ! Farewell ! 
 Throng. Farewell ! 
 
 Echoes. Farewell ! 
 
 (The scene closes while all are gazing intently upward, 
 and everything is aglow in the colors of the fays.) 
 
 7
 
 98 ELBLAXKE. 
 
 THIRD ACT. 
 
 FIRST SCENE. 
 
 The great room of state decorated and arranged fur the 
 
 kinf/ s council and Lui.u s iiiarrimje. 
 (Musicians, king, princes, lords, ladies, offia-rs, nobles and 
 attendants enter, keeping step to the time of a marrJi. Ikor 
 stands at throne. Musicians play the national air of Atlan 
 tis until all are at stations.) 
 
 n.or. The forces of this earth are all derived 
 From that which did the earth and us create, 
 Our God omnipotent, omniscient, 
 lie overrules all earthly destinies. 
 And over all concerns of life presides. 
 Since we do rule this kingdom by His grace, 
 Before we seat us in this throne of ours 
 Let us invoke Him to direct our councils. 
 
 Treceroil. () Father, from your palace in the skies 
 Behold us kneeling and receive our prayers. 
 (Jive of your wisdom to our lord, the king: 
 For in your wisdom only are we wise. 
 Surround him. Father, with your counselors. 
 Sweet Love and Mercy, Truth and Justice, too. 
 Oh ! let his heart obey their gentle rule, 
 And let them through the king this kingdom govern. 
 Let him live long and honored by his people, 
 To give them justice for allegiance due; 
 Let broad, effulgent streams of light beam down 
 With dazzling brilliance on his crown and throne: 
 For ignorance cannot abide its presence; 
 And where no ignorance is there is no vice. 
 Nor crime, nor wrong, nor.shadow of injustice;
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 And where these are not tliere is peace and joy, 
 O Father, let a band of angels bring 
 A horn of plenty, and with golden chain 
 Suspend it from the ceiling of the sky, 
 To pour its treasures over all the world.. 
 But, Father, do not tax us to invent 
 Petitions for the blessings that we need; 
 Rut give us, in your knowledge of our wants, 
 Full satisfaction from your ample stores. 
 But for the princess, Father, let us pray, 
 And let us voice a kingdom s supplication: 
 Before your throne, O Father, does she stand, 
 The fairest flower of this lovely land, 
 A maiden innocent and sweet and pure, 
 The soul of virtue, and the soul of honor. 
 Let love received and given glorify her. 
 She stands now in the dewy morn of youth, 
 And to the future turns a gazing eye 
 And looks upon a glorious picture there. 
 That picture is her life. Father, grant 
 That in reality it may not prove 
 A vanishing illusion of the fancy; 
 But grant that when her sun of time is setting 
 Among the billows of a vast eternity, 
 And looking with its last red, rosy beams 
 Upon the world, she may in sweetness smile, 
 And murmur, as her spirit floats away: 
 "Oh, love, I have been happy all my life; 
 For I have lived to love and to be loved; 
 And this to love and to be loved is joy." 
 
 All. Amen. 
 
 Ikor. This day I do the sweetest, saddest thing 
 Of parent s life: I give away my child. 
 As one accustomed to the noble scenes 
 Of nature, which he loves to gaze upon, 
 And feel his soul fill up with deep sublimity; 
 
 99
 
 100 ELBLANKE. 
 
 As one who loves through telescopic tube 
 
 To look upon the myriad orbs of heaven; 
 
 As one who loves to see the mellow colorings 
 
 Of pictures painted by the brush of nature, 
 
 And imitated by the inspired mind, 
 
 And magic fingers of an art divine, 
 
 I Jut who consents to lose his sense of sight 
 
 And have blank darkness ever in his view, 
 
 So do I feel in giving up my child. 
 
 This ushers her into a nobler life, 
 
 And loses her in demi-death to me. 
 
 She has been sunshine, music, mirth and glee. 
 
 And everything attractive in my home. 
 
 She made my home without her it will be 
 
 A gloomy, cold and cheerless habitation. 
 
 This day, that should be one of great rejoicing, 
 
 Seems to shine ou me but a day of mourning. 
 
 Alas! sweet flower ! that bloomed and budded here, 
 
 And in the tender circle of the home 
 
 Put forth its glorious beauties to the view. 
 
 With many sore misgivings do I see 
 
 Her leave her father s house. Who knows tlmt she 
 
 The tropic blossom of the sunny home, 
 
 May not, transplanted to another clime, 
 
 (!ro\v pale and fade with longing for the love 
 
 That was its nourishment and life while here? 
 
 Tli is makes a father greet the wedding day 
 
 Of his loved child with deep anxiety; 
 
 And makes him hear in merry wedding peals 
 
 The mournful measures of a solemn dirge. 
 
 But ah ! I know that she will go from here, 
 
 And for herself create a happy home, 
 
 And hi it rule the queen of joy and love. 
 
 So here I banish evil thoughts of grief 
 
 And. as is meet, smile on her natal day 
 
 Which is as lovely as her life is pure.
 
 El.BLANKE. ,Oi 
 
 Outside is merriment in every breeze; 
 
 Let hearts grow light with very sympathy. 
 
 According to the custom of our kings, 
 
 I this day choose a husband for my girl. 
 
 And now before I do my will declare 
 
 There are some thoughts which I would couch in words: 
 
 My daughter was by nature made a queen; 
 
 But like all nature s diamonds, the hand 
 
 Of art could better cause her to exhibit 
 
 Her priceless value. Nothing has been spared 
 
 To make her worthy of earth s noblest king. 
 
 Her rnind has voyaged in a sea of knowledge, 
 
 And from its deep, unfathomable depths 
 
 Has dredged rare jewels and rich, costly gems. 
 
 Her hand, directed by her artist s mind, 
 
 Can brush the beauties from the face of nature 
 
 And make them live in elegance of art. 
 
 Her fingers can so deftly sweep the strings 
 
 Of sweet-voiced instrument that it does seem 
 
 That angels brush the soul s selectest music 
 
 From their sweet harps into the raptured air. 
 
 Her rich, melodious voice has taught itself 
 
 To sing with charming power to move delight, 
 
 She has ga/ .ed on the mountains and the plains 
 
 Of many climes, and, in the foreign courts 
 
 Of many countries, learned the lessons taught 
 
 By contact with the people of the world. 
 
 She has commanded the deep admiration 
 
 Of proud young princes and the prouder king: 
 
 But she returned to home not spoiled, nor vain. 
 
 Nor flattered by these marked attentions shown, 
 
 Which are so apt to turn the girlish mind, 
 
 And change the maiden to the flirting fool. 
 
 But she had grown more womanly; had grown 
 
 A childish woman and a womanly child. 
 
 And many had declared their love for her,
 
 102 /.7/.7..-/.VA7:. 
 
 To which her answer had been kind !>nt linn: 
 
 She had not lost her heart, she did not love. 
 
 To you who are here present at my court 
 
 1 say, that if you love my child, my girl. 
 
 Ami cannot make her, as you wish, your wife 
 
 Your love will prove your gain and not your !<-<: 
 
 For men grow like the objects of their love; 
 
 And with a father s pride I say it now 
 
 ( 1 hope in saying I may not offend i 
 
 That he grows noble who beeome> like her 
 
 Therefore this love for her will, like the love 
 
 A man bestows on any noble woman 
 
 Who cannot be his wife, still lift him up 
 
 And be an inspiration to his deed> 
 
 Throughout a life, if he doe- not de-pair 
 
 And let regret rot out his heart s sound core. 
 
 The noblest men that ever graced the earth 
 
 And by their lives uplifted all humanity 
 
 Were prompted by that noblest of ambitions. 
 
 A desperate, deathless, yearning, Impele love: 
 
 And women, disappointed in their love, 
 
 Have lived like ministering angels on the earth. 
 
 The reason is, that, love they gave to one 
 
 l^id not grow sick and die when it grew hopeless. 
 
 But it was changed to love for all mankind. 
 
 And love of lover fond grew love for love. 
 
 Tis true that hopeless love will soinetinie> drag 
 
 A man to reckles>ness and woeful crime: 
 
 But he for that, and not the love s to bla , 
 
 Nor the calamity that him befell. 
 
 It lifts >ome men into the light of heaven, 
 
 And plunges others in the lires of hell. 
 
 And he that lets it drag him surely down 
 
 Would have gone down if love had been requited, 
 
 And with him dragged along the wife he loved. 
 
 Aud whether any great calamity
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 Shall prove of evil consequence or good 
 To any man depends not on the kind 
 Nor character of it, but on the man. 
 So while I gladly would see each of you 
 Made happy in my daughter Lulu s love, 
 That cannot be; but this, my friends, can be, 
 That each reap profit from the present loss. 
 My Lulu is my everything to me. 
 And I, perchance, may seem unjust in praise; 
 But 1 do hope that you will pardon me 
 When I have said that she is not to me, 
 More dear nor indispensable, 1 think, 
 Than any peasant s daughter is to him: 
 And after saying that I still can say 
 That nothing can be dearer than my child. 
 And I am glad that no one present here 
 Can say that she has ever lured him on, 
 With seeming of a tender love for him. 
 She, like myself, despises a coquette. 
 As the most despicable, brainless fool 
 That God Almighty made in form of woman. 
 Nor can you, either of you, say to me 
 That I have given you hope to disappoint you. 
 So after I have made my wishes known, 
 Let each one pledge himself to bear away 
 No malice, nor revenge, nor thought of anger; 
 But each of you remain to celebrate 
 This happy day, and wish my daughter well. 
 Accept my thanks for your good presence here 
 And let us make you welcome to remain. 
 As many as will make this solemn pledge 
 Lift up a manly voice and answer, "I." 
 What! silent, every mother s son of you? 
 Then let me put the question home to each. 
 King Noldarno, we first would hear from you. 
 
 103
 
 io 4 
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 My lord, the king, and may it please you well. 
 I saw your daughter at my court when she 
 Was resting in her prolonged voyages. 
 By many offices of womanliness 
 She drew my heart toward her in earnest love. 
 I showed to her more marked attentions, king, 
 Than I have e er vouchsafed to other women. 
 Not that 1 thought her gentle spirit fancied 
 The gay allurements of a foreign court. 
 Or that, she would be glozed by flatteries 
 Made manifest in homage and strict service; 
 But I did love her pleasant company, 
 And in the exhibition of the sights 
 My palace, capital and realm can boast 
 I was her guide and sole interpreter; 
 But never saw the things I pointed out, 
 My eyes l>eiiig fixed upon her lovely face. 
 I set her in the gayest of the gay 
 Societies; and in receptions, balls, 
 And entertainments of high character. 
 She was the center and the thought of all. 
 She used to sing to me. and strike the strings 
 Of some sweet harp according witli her voice 
 With such delightful, m agical effect 
 That I was lost in ecstacies of joy, 
 And ever feared to wake and find myself. 
 I read to her the classics of our tongue, 
 And she did listen with appreciation, 
 And passed thereon such na ive, judicious comments 
 As proved her high conceptions of the sweet, 
 Sublime and beautiful. Jn short, there sped 
 In that delitrhtful time full many a day 
 To me most excellent in happiness. 
 Throuirh all this time I saw that she was pleased, 
 But 1 did never dream that I could win
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 Her love. I knew she counted me more like 
 A brother to her. For I am her senior 
 By many a year. I never told my love, 
 For well I knew it would destroy the pleasure 
 Of those our dear, commutual entertainments. 
 I looked upon her as the heathen tribes 
 Do look upon the sun, and worshiped her. 
 I came to join in banqueting and feast 
 Pertaining to the nuptials of your child, 
 And wish her all the joys a l.Te can hold. 
 T is not with shame that I avow my love, 
 For love dishonored is still honorable 
 If justly placed and honorably given. 
 And I will try to feel no jealous pang 
 To him that gets what I so wished to win. 
 I ll charge it up to fortune and to loss 
 That I with her love was not to be blessed. 
 And destiny ordained for her some other: 
 So that he be an honorable man 
 To whom I can extend a cordial hand 
 And offer him sincere congratulations, 
 And feel him worthy of the prize he s won. 
 To love and lose is hard; but to accept 
 The dispensation of high Providence* 
 Is duty and the proper course of man. 
 
 Ikor. Spoke like a king and like a noble man. 
 What say you, King U lander ? Let us hear. 
 
 Ulander. I also saw your daughter at my court, 
 And loved her with that strong, resistless love 
 That takes the fancy captive at first sight. 
 1 listen with too much impatience, king, 
 For the disclosure which you are to make 
 To think of talking in a lengthy strain. 
 I only say, if I am fortunate 
 (And still I swear I am no fortune seeker), 
 That I cannot express my boundless joy. 
 
 I0 5
 
 1 06 ELBLANK E. 
 
 But if, alas! I am unfortunate, 
 
 I ll help to celebrate her wedding day 
 
 With ceremonies proper to the time; 
 
 Then take me home in sadness to my throne. 
 
 1 will not love that Lulu as my wife 
 
 The wedded wife of any other man; 
 
 But I will love that Lulu whom I loved, 
 
 That Lulu living in my memory: 
 
 That Lulu living in the hallowed thoughts 
 
 Of other days; that Lulu living still 
 
 In that sweet time wherein I learned to love her: 
 
 That Lulu which will yet forever be 
 
 My lovely, darling girl of fifteen years. 
 
 Ikur. T is strange, mysterious, and wonderful 
 That human heart should feel that hungry love 
 Which grows to torture for its longed-for object 
 But destined never to be satisfied. 
 Oh ! that the human minds and souls and hearts 
 Could grow by pairs, each fitted for the other. 
 Each finding in the other its delight. 
 One heart would then not give that other heart 
 The love which it cannot reciprocate. 
 Then would two hearts grow one in beat and liber. 
 Nor be dissevered by fierce jealousy, 
 With racking torture and most dreadful pain. 
 
 Espcr. Unless external power should sever them 
 And separate them by a gulf of woe. 
 
 Ikor. Well, sir, I do believe if any man 
 Had had the making of the things of earth 
 The others had perchance been less contented 
 Thau with creation s customs as they are. 
 But men will make vain wishes when they know 
 That with the breath wherewith they utter them 
 They might attempt to blow the moon away, 
 And with as much assurance wait to see 
 Its light go out, as hope to see come true
 
 ELBLAXK E. 
 
 107 
 
 Their foud and silly wishes. Men will build 
 
 Up airy castles in their waking dreams, 
 
 Of health, or wealth, or happiness, or power, 
 
 Which they well know will fall in ruin down 
 
 As soon as they but cease their lazy dreaming. 
 
 Each man is God or angel in his mind. 
 
 But few are in the minds of other men: 
 
 For they can t see his greatness, where it lies 
 
 Locked in his secret breast. They cannot see 
 
 The mighty things he builds up in his mind 
 
 Which make him seem to himself to be great: 
 
 T is only when his greatness goes abroad 
 
 And when he "builds substantial castles up 
 
 That men admire him and call him great. 
 
 I made a wish; you took objections to it: 
 
 There is a splendid chance to raise dispute. 
 
 This is a secret of much harsh contention: 
 
 Man looks but in straight lines, sees but one side, 
 
 One little punctal spot of anything. 
 
 Now no two eyes can look from the same point; 
 
 ISo no two eyes will see the self-same spot. 
 
 And when I say that thing we see is gold 
 
 You will say, Xay, that thing we see is pearl;" 
 
 For I will look upon its yellow spot, 
 
 And you will look upon its pearly spot. 
 
 Now, if we join a friendly hand in hand 
 
 And walk all round the thing of our dispute 
 
 We shall find it a different thing from both. 
 
 Nine-tenths of all the quarrels are raised at nothing; 
 
 The rest are useless and avoidable; 
 
 So let us not in replication join. 
 
 Bloudiue, what pledge have you to offer us ? 
 
 Blondine. My doom is sealed. I begged; she answered No. 
 And king, although it be your custom here 
 To choose the husbands for your princesses 
 I yet expect to hear her in your voice
 
 IOS ELBLAXh E. 
 
 Speak her desires ami make her wishes known. 
 My wishes and my prayers are for her good. 
 
 Ikor. Prince Arcklooz, we would like to hear from you. 
 
 Arcklooz. I know you 11 give her up to whom she love*. 
 Love is the only law that rules such sweet 
 And pure and noble women. And she loves 
 Not me. [Blondine *ltakes hands with him. 
 
 Make known your wishes; I submit. 
 1 pray to Heaven that she may never know 
 The agony of longing, hopeless love. 
 
 Ikor. King Rogon, do you cast your fortunes in ? 
 
 Rogun. I do, and may high Heaven be merciful. 
 
 Esper (aside). So does the gentle princess Lulu pray. 
 
 Ikor. You last, Prince ESJHM" what have you to say ? 
 
 Etper. I answer that I will not make this pledge. 
 You have my answer; what would you have more . 
 I know your power to bestow her hand. 
 And none may raise a question at the act; 
 Not even the princess may lift up her voice 
 Jn that discussion which debates her doom. 
 I do not question your authority, 
 Nor do I to your will oppose a word. 
 But make this pledge, I swear I never will. 
 
 Blttndine. What! would you witli a base ingratitude. 
 With your resentment, thus repay the king 
 For all your royal entertainment here . 
 Will you object to the decrees of Heaven 
 That makes some man more fortunate than you? 
 As hell I hate that loathsome, envious spirit. 
 Whose heart with rancor swells against the man 
 Whom fortune favors with an honest gift. 
 In that he shows his own uu worth! ness 
 To pose the favorite of the fickle queen. 
 
 U hinder. I see. good prince, the gentle, lovintr maid 
 Has shot you from the zenith of your hopes. 
 Ami on the ragged rocks of deep despair
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 109 
 
 Bereft your spirit of its vaulting wings. 
 And now her father must give her to you 
 Or move your rash displeasure. That is fine ! 
 God s voice ! The man who seeks to wed a girl 
 Against her will, or for another reason 
 Thau to find joy in making her life happy, 
 Is too contemptible, and base and vile 
 To kiss the lips of any prostitute 
 Or occupy a loathsome wench s bed. 
 
 Esper. I say so, too; but there is one, I think, 
 Who winced with umbrage at your declaration. 
 
 Noldarno. Your heart and lungs and liver are all spleen; 
 You shame the title prince. What! would you. sir, 
 With wrangling seek to mar the merriment 
 That should pervade the princess wedding day ? 
 For my part, 1 will willingly forego 
 My happiness, if she shall be contented. 
 T would make me happy would she be my bride: 
 But were she mine, being herself not happy, 
 Would change my happiness to misery. 
 And make me doubly miserable for having made 
 Her miserable who is my happiness. 
 Peace ! let the counsels of maturer age 
 Plead with the fiery blood of heated youth. 
 
 Rogon. Proclaim yourself, good king, and mind him not. 
 There had not been accomplished in the world 
 One thing of note, if pluck could not outbrave 
 The fierce, Gorgonic face of opposition. 
 
 Esper. A work of good need fear no opposition. 
 For Heaven prospers it despite all Hell. 
 But in the face of opposition wrong 
 Grows bold and swaggers with a loud bravado, 
 Until the time to join in serious issue: 
 Then skulks to kennel like a beaten cur. 
 1 thank you. noble sirs, who have expressed 
 Your minds as prompted by sincerity.
 
 110 ELBLAXKE. 
 
 As for King Rogon, I .will answer him 
 
 All in good manner at the proper time. 
 
 Now king, I do not ask that you will change 
 
 Your resolution in a single matter; 
 
 1 do not ask that she, the princess, may 
 
 Make her own choice in presence of this council, 
 
 With understanding that her choice so made 
 
 Shall swerve you in the choice that you shall make 
 
 Or take the place of choice that you have made; 
 
 Hut I do ask that she may be permitted 
 
 To name the man she favors with her love. 
 
 Who know* that she loves one that s pic-rut line? 
 
 We know that one among this throng assembled 
 
 Will be made fortunate; and if she loves 
 
 Another, it is wrong, most cruel wrong, 
 
 To give her to the one that you propose. 
 
 And though I cannot take away your right 
 
 To do this thing. I can proclaim it wronir. 
 
 Even though it be a custom and a law, 
 
 And my a-ent refuse to such an act. 
 
 I may not hinder any course of crime. 
 
 But. by the gods ! 1 will not sanction it. 
 
 yoldanm. I hold that he has asked but what is fair. 
 
 UUindtr. It is a thought which my mind did not harbor, 
 But being >aid, I ask the self-same thing. 
 
 Ai fklnvz. Grant his request, sir kimr. 1 a No pray. 
 
 lilondint: We all submitted that you make a choice 
 Because we think her love will be your jfiiide: 
 Pray let us know to whom she gives her love, 
 bo that our pledges may not still be blind. 
 
 Jkor. 1 11 grant him this. 
 
 (To attendant] Escort the princess in. 
 
 RoyiHi (nxide). It would not do to brave their fair re<|uest. 
 But 1 do tear that this will breed much trouble. 
 
 lAidy. l.ei the musicians play until she comes. 
 Oh ! 1 love music. Pray do play for us.
 
 ELBLANKE. I i i 
 
 Lady. You darling girl. You have a lovely knack 
 Of always thinking of the dearest things; 
 I m glad you thought of it. Oh, play for us. 
 (Musicians play. Herald enters.) 
 
 Herald. My lord, the princess and her brother come. 
 
 (Lulu and Gilber enter. Oilber stands by throne. Lulu 
 stoops above tier father and kisses him.) 
 
 I/cor. Sweet child ! your father is your foremost thought. 
 
 Noldarno. Best wishes on your wedding day, your grace. 
 
 Lulu. My thanks, King Noldarno, my earnest thanks. 
 
 Noldarno. Fair Princess Lulu, I am now permitted 
 To state to you as follows: That your father 
 Has granted that you may before the court 
 Make known the object of your choice and love, 
 And name the man whose bride you will to be. 
 
 Lulu. O Esper ! 
 
 (She springs to htm. He clasps her. But knowing the 
 mistake she has made, sinks his head in hands, and releases 
 Lulu. While this is done, Gilber speaks.) 
 
 Gilber. O father, I can never thank you, father. 
 
 Lulu. O Esper, Esper ! tell me it is true: 
 I can t believe it. Oh ! a full belief 
 Would, sweeping all at once into my soul, 
 Have slain the heart to which it had brought life. 
 (She kneels before him.) 
 
 Lord. She loves the gallant prince of Calsomar. 
 
 Lord. Prince Esper loves the princess of Atlantis. 
 
 Lord. Our princess will be queen of Calsomar. 
 
 Lady. They love and are well worthy of each other. 
 
 Lulu (goes to her father). . O father, pray forgive your 
 
 erring child, 
 
 I did not dream that you had plunged me down 
 Into such dreadful woe to lift me up 
 And make my joy so full and rich and sweet. 
 Won t you, dear father, take your Lulu back 
 And kiss your darling and forgive her wrong ?
 
 ! i 2 KLBLAXK E. 
 
 Ikor. I have uot changed. You have misapprehended. 
 
 (Lulu fainting, staggers ; Rogon starts to assist, Qilber 
 draws.) 
 
 Oilber. Stand off or I will hew your heart in two. 
 
 (Qraciela supports Lulu. Esper rises and <1rairi< too. 
 Ladies scream, lords interfere.) 
 
 father, father can you be so cruel . 
 My poor, unhappy sister come with me. 
 Lean on me, sister; poor, unhappy sister! 
 
 (Lulu and Oilber pass (.it.) 
 
 Esper. King Ikor, if you will but grant me patirurr. 
 And you, good noblemen of other lands, 
 (irant me attention while I try to speak 
 These thoughts, which I do not claim all my own. 
 For I am sure tl>ey will be also yours: 
 Tliis meeting is a farce and mockery. 
 The princess hand was ere this meeting pledged 
 To one here present, one she does not love. 
 This is the sovereign s right. But why. my friends 
 .Should we be made the fools of such a farce 
 As this has been ? I cannot give a reason. 
 Sir king, yon trample on your daughter s heart 
 When you set foot upon her heart s dear Jove. 
 She does not love King liogon, of Seldare: 
 But you, by threats of curses on her head. 
 
 1 >o force her to submission to this shame. 
 Can father be so lost to love and pity 
 
 As thus to immolate his darling child ? 
 <) king, it cannot be that you will bruise 
 The sensitive affections of thatgirl 
 Who, in her soul, declaims against this wrong. 
 And yet consents to honor and obey 
 Her father. But it may be that you hear 
 My prayers as prompted by my selfishness. 
 Before that (!od who hears me, I will pledge 
 My honor as a man to fly your court,
 
 ELBLANK E. \ i 3 
 
 And stand aloof from her forevermore, 
 
 If you will hesitate, if you will stop 
 
 And pause upon the dark and cloudy brink 
 
 Of that abyss you plunge your daughter in. 
 
 Before you, kings and princes, 1 will swear. 
 
 That though I love my girl, and though I wish 
 
 To call her mine as bride, I do not plead 
 
 For self: I will forego my every claim, 
 
 If you will think that I do plead for her. 
 
 O king, I pray you do not hear my prayers 
 
 As lover; do not hear these prayers of mine 
 
 As those of any man; but let them be 
 
 The voice of God and tongue of this wide world. 
 
 Oh ! let them be the prayers of all mankind; 
 
 Hear them as mercy s plea and pity s plaint; 
 
 Hear them as pleadings of your own great love. 
 
 Let your wife s voice, the voice of her dead mother, 
 
 Cry at the portals of your heart, O king, 
 
 Till they do ope ami take your daughter in. 
 
 Life is too short to make a soul unhappy. 
 
 We wrong a friend, or one perchance we love: 
 
 We wrong, by deed committed cruelly; 
 
 We wrong by harsh and wounding, taunting words: 
 
 We wrong by thoughts of doubt and rank suspicion. 
 
 And in a million ways assail the sense 
 
 Of feeling in the breasts of those we love. 
 
 It may be our intention to atone, 
 
 And we may to the fullness carry out 
 
 This good intention. But what marring scars 
 
 Our wounds will leave ! What deep, unsightly imuks 
 
 Upon the tender breasts are left forever ! 
 
 Oh ! in God s pity, let that human pause, 
 
 Whose hand is lifted up gainst one he loves, 
 
 And let him let that lifted blow fall, never. 
 
 But rather let him ease his arm s descent, 
 
 To fall embracingly around that form
 
 1 14 ELBLANKE. 
 
 He meant to stagger with a crushing blow. 
 
 And oh ! beware, beware ! of that first wrong ! 
 
 It may be slight; so light that it is passed 
 
 And covered up with tenderness and love. 
 
 But it is dangerous ! Turn ! dig it up. 
 
 het not night s somber damp add deeper hue 
 
 To any wrong or error we have made. 
 
 But that first wrong, however great it be, 
 
 May be a wrong that we can expiate 
 
 May be a crime for which we can atone 
 
 May be offense for which wj can get pardon: 
 
 But pride is powerful as hate and hell, 
 
 And while our hearts may bleed for one we love. 
 
 That one that we have wronged, pride may disdn r. 
 
 To stoop and kiss, and purge away the stain. 
 
 Or if the first, forgiven and forgotten, 
 
 Lies mouldering in the past s deep sepulcher, 
 
 A road once trod is easier found again, 
 
 And in the end it may lead down to woe. 
 
 But you, sir king, cannot undo this wrong, 
 
 For done, it is forever then too late 
 
 To turn away from its dread, sad commissioi:. 
 
 And you must, in remorse, endure to see 
 
 Your daughter slowly sinking in the tomb. 
 
 (> king, send out and call her back to you. 
 
 Look on her face as sad as face can be; 
 
 (i.r/.e in her eyes and all her heart survey; 
 
 hook ou the ebbing currents of her soul, 
 
 And let the sight melt down your stony heart. 
 
 Or lift your eyes to yonder azure dome, 
 
 Where from the battlements of heaven there lean* 
 
 A wife and mother in a saintly form. 
 
 Why, in the happie>t realms of happy heaven. 
 
 Should pearly tears drop down from anirel eye> . 
 
 () king, your queen is standing up above. 
 
 For daughter weeping, and to husband pleading.
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 I \vill no longer pray to heart of stone: 
 If love and pity for a lovely daughter, 
 And wife s immortal tears cannot prevail, 
 This feeble tongue is better still and dumb. 
 
 I/cor. The prince has said enough; the day has come 
 That is to see my daughter made the bride 
 Of Rogon. I assert the power I have, 
 And who, but a superior, can question ? 
 If there is a superior to me 
 In this, my hall of state, let him stand forth 
 And answer why my daughter shall not wed, 
 Or in the long hereafter hold his peace? 
 Yo.i all are silent: then you think yourselves 
 My equals, as you are; superiors not. 
 Well, then, she shall become the wife of Rogon. 
 Proclaim this council, herald, at an end. 
 
 Esper. I beg you hold a little longer, king. 
 My heart predoomed what your reply would be: 
 I read it in your imperturbable 
 Demeanor and calm mien. T is settled then: 
 I have appealed for pity on your child; 
 You have disdained to hear me in my prayer. 
 T is well. To you I have no more to say; 
 But I beg leave to say to you, King Rogon, 
 That I have not complained against this choice 
 Because of envy or of jealousy 
 Against, my lord, King Rogou, of Seldare. 
 Had I been reasoning in my own behalf, 
 The wealth of all the world could not have hired 
 My speech, as I have spoken here to-day. 
 1 do not bow nor beg of any man 
 For my own sake; but for that gentle girl, 
 That lovely princess, I would fall prostrate 
 And kiss the feet of anything created. 
 I am not proud, but I am independent; 
 I am not haughty, but I do demean
 
 n6 EI.BI.AXKE. 
 
 Myself as one who feels himself a man. 
 The words that I am now about to speak 
 Should never pass my lips but for the princess: 
 King Kogou, you can never win her heart, 
 Although you may be worthy any queen; 
 She has already made her gift of love, 
 And never can transfer it to another. 
 King Hogon, she can never be your wife; 
 She loves another; she will be your mistress, 
 Forced in alliance horrible to her. 
 For all I know you are well worthy her 
 As any king who cannot have her love; 
 But any gentleman will be considerate 
 In the concerns of any fellow being; 
 And any gentleman, nay, any man 
 Will not consult his selfish happiness 
 When it must forfeit dearer than the life 
 Of the divinest creature God has made. 
 And now I ask you in the princess name 
 To not assert your suit to her dishonor. 
 Xor seek your pleasure in her woe and shame. 
 I do not ask yon give her up to me. 
 For that would be more selfish than your suit; 
 But I do ask. Blast not her soul with woe. 
 
 Jlogon. Is it dishonor to become a queen ? 
 Dare you assert that I, in holy vows 
 Joined with the princess whom I dearly love, 
 Would bring defilement to her stainless hand? 
 If so, I give yon to your face the lie. 
 I love her with a love that cannot fail 
 To win from her a kind reciprocation, 
 And I will not forego my suit for her. 
 Go ask a man to give you up his mind, 
 And be a fool, an idiot, a brute; 
 Go beg the ocean to yield up its dead; 
 Go ask the rivers to flow floods of wine,
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 117 
 
 Or beg them to flow backwards to their sources; 
 Go ask the sun to wander through the heaveus 
 Arid with the comets play at fast and loose: 
 When these entreaties all are answered, come 
 And say, Surrender up the one you love, 
 And I will answer, Never, never, never ! 
 
 Eper. Enough ! you ve said enough to prove yourself 
 A villain, heartless and unprincipled. 
 
 Rfir/on. By God ! your life is forfeited by this 
 Insult to me: your life shall answer it. [Attempts to drain. 
 
 Exper. Take that, and lie there till you are well rested. 
 
 (Ladies scream; lords interfere.) 
 Then up and I will put you down again. 
 
 I/cor. The next offense against my kingdom s peace 
 Insults me and I will be answered for it. 
 
 Esper. My course is chosen: I will fight you, dog, 
 To death, according to this kingdom s law. 
 If I succeed, then is the princess free; 
 If I shall fail, I ll never see her grief. 
 Vile villian ! speak: will you make test of arms 
 Or will you skulk, base dog ! beyond this realm? 
 
 Royon. I ll carve you with the sweetest satisfaction. 
 
 Noldnrno. You boastful villiau ! you may carve me too, 
 And if you vanquish me I ll throw my realm 
 Against you in dread war for Lulu s sake. 
 
 Ulander. 1 will not witness Lulu s immolation. 
 You fight me. too, if you assert your claim. [blood. 
 
 Blondine, You scab of hell ! my sword thirsts for your 
 
 Arcklooz. I claim the honor of the first affray. 
 I will not wait until he has made test 
 With all these challengers; I will be first. 
 
 Ikor. Is it your will to duel for my child? 
 It is a statute which I can t annul 
 That grants the privilege these men have claimed. 
 
 Royon. I m anxious to encounter all of them. 
 
 Ikor. It is enough: you know the rules of honor.
 
 llS ELBLAXKi.. 
 
 If you are vanquished she, my child, is free. 
 
 And may reject or choose you as she will. 
 
 Or choose some other man, to be his wife. 
 
 The second hour this evening, then, I name. 
 
 The time: the place my inner palace court. 
 
 But by the law one man alone can fight 
 
 This joust with Rogon, sovereign of Seldare. 
 
 That chosen man becomes my daughter s champion. 
 
 And on his valor does depend her chance. 
 
 Noldurno. The right I claim. 
 
 1 lander. I claim the post of honor. 
 
 E*per. I first did challenge: mine s the prior place. 
 
 Areklwz. I will fight first. 
 
 Jiloiidinf. I ll fight for the first fight. 
 
 Jkor. Ilold, hold, my friends; this will decide disputes. 
 The law provides that when some two or more. 
 Make challenge, fate shall choose the champion. 
 Here in my crown I place a diamond: 
 With it 1 place two rubies and two pearls. 
 Step up and draw: the one who draws the diamond 
 I> by the fates selected for the tight. 
 
 Arrkltioz (draicx). I have the precious stone. 
 
 UUnuler (drmrx at same time). Not so: tis here. 
 
 Ditnon. What mystery is this? 
 
 Lord. T is some mistake: 
 
 I fear two diamonds were in the crown. 
 
 (jrm-ielfi. T is no mistake, nor is it mystery. 
 Some .spiritual being interposes 
 And says the princess shall have more than one 
 Defender. Prove it: let the others draw. 
 
 Xoldiirno (drnir/t). The precious stone. 
 
 Jtloudine (dratrs). See, king, the right is mine. 
 
 Ulninlrr. How so? when three of us draw diamonds? 
 
 Esper (drair*). Great God, I thank you ! see! the diamond I 
 
 Ikor. What devilish trick is this? Give back my jewels. 
 I did place in this crown a diamond,
 
 EI.BL A:\KE. 
 
 119 
 
 With it I placed two rubies and two pearls; 
 But they have drawn, and all draw diamonds. 
 Is it a trick ? or do the fates decree 
 That you shall fight them all ? 
 
 Rogon. The fates are friends: 
 
 They make each of these men a foe of mine; 
 And thus decree that I shall have a chance 
 To make each one repent of his mad challenge. 
 
 Oraciela. The fates conspire to save the girl from woe. 
 
 Rogon (aside). By God ! I do believe that it is so. 
 
 Ikor. No, no; it is some cursed magician s trick. 
 For look! there are five diamonds in my crown. 
 
 Dimon (looks in crown}. My lord, I find a single diamond, 
 And with it are two rubies and two pearls. 
 
 Ikor. It is a trick; come up and draw again. 
 
 Noldnrno (draws). The diamond. 
 
 Ulander (draws). The diamond. 
 
 Etper (draws). The diamond. 
 
 Arcklooz (draws). The diamond. 
 
 Jilondine (draws). The c ; amond. 
 
 Ikor. This troubles me with dreadful apprehensions. 
 Some secret being is here present, friends, 
 And interferes in these our operations. 
 Desist, King Rogon. for the fates are foes. 
 
 Ilnfjon. Not so; the fates will give me my revenge. 
 
 Ikor. This ends the counci^, Mind the second hour: 
 Be ready to wage battle for the princess. 
 
 (The assembled persons disperse.} 
 
 SECOND SCENE. 
 A room in tlie, palace. IKOR seated. GKAOIELA enters. 
 
 Graciela. King Ikor, know you what you are about? 
 A father prostitute his only daughter ! 
 
 Ikor. A lie ! I give her for a lawful bride. 
 
 Oradela. Why do you not promulgate through the world
 
 1 20 ELRLAXKE. 
 
 That you will hire her to hellish uses 
 
 For gold and queenly station in the world ? 
 
 You legalize it by the name of marriage. 
 
 Let her be wedded on this glorious day 
 
 To Rogon. with the tacit understanding 
 
 That he will grant to-morrow a divorce: 
 
 Then let her wed another for a night, 
 
 And so continue on without a limit. 
 
 Until the uses which you put her to 
 
 Shall mar her loveliness and make her >come<l. 
 
 She will create a glorious revenue. 
 
 And fill your coffers up with stores of gold. 
 
 AVhat give you in return . The paltry use 
 
 Of her that calls you by the name of father. 
 
 Jkor. Desist ! you harlot damned ! I ll hear no more. 
 
 (Urariela. Or bind her. Ikor, in her virgin bed; 
 Or hold her, to assist another fiend. 
 Not quite so damnable as you are damned, 
 To rape her in her snowy purity. 
 
 Ik<>r. Desist! I ll murder you. to close your mouth. 
 
 Gruciela. Yon need not mind to look upon her face, 
 Convulsed with horror and insufferable loathing. 
 And wrung with anguish that the soul can t bear: 
 She s nothing to you hut yonr girl, your child. 
 Perchance when yon have sunk her down in shame, 
 From which to go to hell woujd be to rise 
 In right ascension from a depth iinfathonied, 
 She will repay you at a future day 
 By offering her person to your lust. [cease ! 
 
 Ik<>r. Cease! woman, cease! By hell! I charge you, 
 
 Grarida. You would grasp firm the opportunity, 
 I have no doubt. If you will sell her person. 
 You would make use of it. if chance should offer. 
 
 Ikor. Though woman, take you that ! You drove me mad; 
 You swept my reason out. and I did strike. 
 Oh ! have I injured you ? Let me support you ?
 
 ELBLAXKK. I 2 I 
 
 Gradela. Do not pollute me with your slightest touch: 
 I still can stand; come, strike me down again. 
 
 Ikor. Oh ! rather, let me come and kneel for pardon. 
 
 Gradela. You have not wronged me, Ikor; you have not. 
 Though you should kill me, yet you have not wronged me: 
 You have no need to ask me for my pardon. 
 But run, King Ikor; fly to seek your daughter, 
 And gather her up to her father s breast, 
 And take away her breath with penitent kisses, 
 And make atonement while it yet is time 
 For all the cruel, cruel wrong you ve done her. 
 
 Ikor. I wrong her not. 
 
 Gradela. Oh ! murder is no crime 
 
 Compared with that you work against your child. 
 
 Ikor. King Rogon is a noble, worthy man. [less, 
 
 Gradela. Though he were God, the crime does grow no 
 If you sell out your child to his abuses. 
 
 Ikor. Take care ! I feel my anger rise again. 
 
 Gradela. It cannot rise as high as soars my pity. 
 It cannot mount as high as my resentment 
 Against the father so unnatural 
 As dares to barter in his flesh and blood. 
 You cannot frighten me with threats of rage; 
 My cause is right; and in sweet Lulu s cause 
 I could affront the terrors of the world. 
 That father or that mother who compels 
 A child to choose where love does not make choice, 
 Should herd with those who keep infamous dens, 
 Where whores do duty for whoremongers gold. 
 Such parents are much baser than the others: 
 For while the parents prostitute their children, 
 These only prostitute their fellow beings. 
 
 Ikor. Beware ! lest I repeat my former act 
 With double fury and insatiate rage. 
 
 Gradela. That parent who does sell hjs child tor gold, 
 Should by society be ostracised,
 
 122 EI.KLAXKE. 
 
 And scorned and spurned with bitter scorn and spurning. 
 
 Ikor, Ikor I get a cure for blindness, 
 And see your daughter as she will be seen. 
 Sweet kisses and caresses are to wives 
 The honeyed essences of happiness; 
 
 IJut the embraces of that hated man 
 
 Will wither her sweet soul with awful horror: 
 
 His step will be the herald of her woe. 
 
 And through long hours she 11 listen for his coming. 
 
 And when he comes, grow sick with dread and terror. 
 
 And what is second life to every wife, 
 
 And sweetest joy to each young wife and mother, 
 
 Would be to her an added pang of woe. 
 
 If it should, like its father, be a monster, 
 
 It would be a continual reminder 
 
 Of that dark wrong that made a mother of her; 
 
 Or if. more like their false, unhallowed marriage, 
 
 Monstrosity and foul deformity 
 
 Should be their child, what grief its birth would brini: ! 
 
 But if she stamped her image on its form, 
 
 And it shall grow as sweet and pure as her, 
 
 Its touch will fall like pestilence upon her: 
 
 Its breath much like the breathing of a plague. 
 
 For when its hand shall toy her lovely hair, 
 
 Or on her breast, or face, or neck shall lay 
 
 The soft and tender touch of babyhood. 
 
 It will awake but feelings of regret 
 
 For that which should have been and could not be. 
 
 Ikor. Peace 1 I can bear your volubility 
 No longer: hold your tongue! be silent, madam ! 
 
 (jracida. Oh ! kill her, Ikor, but pray wrong her not. 
 
 Ikor. By Heaven! I ll leave you to torment tin- air: 
 
 1 r ll fly from you, lest I be forced to slay you. 
 
 (He parses out.)
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 123 
 
 THIRD SCENE. 
 
 Cross Jiall of palace. GKACIELA walking. ROGON enters. 
 
 Graciela (to herself). I ll kill a viper and feel no com- 
 I 11 slay a rabid dog and feel it duty. [punction. 
 
 I 11 murder you, aud tell it as a deed 
 Of noble character in after days. 
 
 Rogon, Fair lady, will you tell me where the king 
 May now be found? He keeps himself aside. 
 
 Graciela {approaches him). I can. You take the dagger 
 road to hell. [She seizes his dagger and stabs him. 
 You 11 find him on his throne of raging fire. 
 
 Rogon. By all the gods ! does heaven and earth and hell 
 And everything therein conspire against me ? 
 You devilish jade ! this badge has saved my life; 
 But for that life no thanks are due to you. 
 
 Graciela. Thank God for that. 
 
 Rogon. Depart! or feel my wrath. 
 
 Graciela. You dog ! you dog! you coward dog ! turnback. 
 (Advance* mi him.) 
 
 Rogon. Press not against me. else in self defense 
 I ll do what I would rather leave undone. 
 
 Graciela. That is the mettle of which you are made. 
 The girl and dagger drives the dog and sword. 
 
 Rogon. Staud off and do not force me to assail you. 
 
 Graciela. I ll drive you backward till you fall in hell. 
 
 (Rogon lacks out. Graciela folloicx. Royon re-enters, 
 walking slowly.) 
 
 Rogon. A woman or a devil or a tiger 
 Is fierce and terrible enough for me; 
 But when they all become one animal, 
 That dreaded thing we mortals call a vixen, 
 Then God Almighty take me by the neck 
 And kick my stern a furlong s length away. 
 
 (He walks through the room and out.)
 
 1^4 ELBLANKE. 
 
 FOURTH SCENE. 
 (The art conservatory. ROGON nml ()-n:.\:> fitter.) 
 
 Rogon. Here we may talk secure in sc crt c\ . 
 I m challenged by each suitor here at court 
 And fate decides that I shall fight them all: 
 And I must vanquish them to win the princess. 
 Of course I have accepted; but 1 mean 
 To win without so risking everything 
 In fierce encounters with those desperate men. 
 1 in thinking of a plan to win by means 
 Which, although foul, give promise of success. 
 But in the prosecution of the plan 
 I need the service of another man. 
 1 wish that it could be one in the palace 
 And in some estimation with the king. 
 
 Oaran. I know the man that could not fail to M:J \<u. 
 
 Rogon. The work is dark and bloody; is he safe ? 
 
 Oxran. And have you planned more crime for me. Kimr 
 (>1\ ! would that I, before I was your slave, [ llo^ou ? 
 
 Had ended all my sins by slaying you. 
 You led me on to shame my parents name, 
 And ruin utterly my life and soul. 
 A choice of company predooms the man, 
 For only here ami there is one bold spirit 
 AVliose individuality will stand 
 The test of contact with surrounding things 
 And not grow like them from pure sympathy. 
 Man s character, in forming, molds itself 
 Much like the bent of its associates. 
 And thus wrong choice predooms a man to ruin. 
 
 Rogon. Leave off your lectures and attend my words. 
 
 Oaran. The man of whom I spoke will let his hand 
 Do deeds in which his will cannot concur. 
 1 hold him in my power: he is safe.
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 25 
 
 The pow r you hold o er me I hold o er him, 
 And if I will, he can be made to act 
 As readily as can my own right arm. 
 
 Rogon. Who is he ? Of what manner is the man ? 
 
 Osran. He is chief warden of the palace, sir. 
 
 Rogon. He is the man we want. But are you sure 
 That in the consummation of dark crimes 
 He will go forward without faltering ? 
 
 Osran. I ve told you once that I do know the man. 
 
 Rogon. Then it is well. Just after the first hour 
 This evening bring that man along with you 
 And clamber to the summit of the dome 
 Of Diuee palace: I will meet you there. 
 Come both prepared for horrid execution; 
 Be cautious ever, and look to your spirits 
 That they do keep screwed up to rigid tension. 
 
 Osran. Prompt at that stage, we will confront you there. 
 (They pass out.) 
 
 FIFTH SCENE. 
 
 IKOII S reception room. KOGON present. LULU and GHA- 
 CIELA enter leisurely. 
 
 Lulu. He is not here, Graciela; let us go. [me 
 
 Rogon (to himself). By God! her beauty does so ravish 
 That, but for that good luck that makes her mine, 
 I swear to heaven that I would ravish her. 
 Pray, gentle Princess Lulu, stay a little, 
 And let me speak a word or two with you. 
 
 Oradela. Lie down ! you dog, and lick the lady s feet. 
 But stay ! taint not her sweet extremity 
 By contact with your poison, serpent s tongue. 
 
 Lulu. No more, and please me, my love Graciela. 
 
 Oradela. Sweet Princess Lulu, how I envy you ! 
 I wish that I could be King Rogou s wife:
 
 1 26 ELBLANKE. 
 
 How sweet would be my teiider, wifely task 
 Of mixitig ratsbane in his drink and food, 
 Or driving in his breast a flashing dagger! 
 
 Lulu. Please, my friend Graciela, to say no more. 
 
 Oracidd. My Princess Lulu, I was nof in earnest. 
 1 hate him far too much to minder him: 
 1 d keep him for a cuspidor and rug. 
 No, 1 could not do that; I d soil my feet, 
 And cover them with filth, in touching him. 
 And how could he become a cuspidor, 
 When he s already full, to overflowing, 
 With vultures vomit and sick liver s bile? 
 Nay, do not blush, my lovely, gentle Lulu: 
 He is so gross, depraved, and base, and vile, 
 He d think you complimented him if you 
 ]ii: rated him in words not coarse and vulgar. 
 
 Lulu. Please leave me, Graciela; and wait for me 
 Within the corridor: please say no more. 
 
 Graciela. Well, I will hush: but when you are distrusted, 
 Spit in his face and come along with me. [ > //< </<x nut. 
 
 llogon. That lady friend of yours half drives me mad. 
 It is with difficulty I restrain 
 Myself when she, in hatred unprovoked, 
 So slanders me. 
 
 Lulu. I see it stirred your blood. 
 
 Ryo>i. In gross abuse and cutting defamation 
 Is her delight: her words did stir my blood, 
 As she intended her contumely should. 
 But once not long ago she tried to stir 
 My blood with something sharper than her won!-. 
 
 Lulu. I do not fairly understand your meaning. 
 
 Riiijon. $h. tried to dagger me: this rent she made. 
 And this my badge alone did save my life. 
 
 Lulu. O Graciela! you are indeed enraged. 
 1 shudder when 1 think upon your peril. 
 
 ll Xjon. I wNh her dagger s point had pierced m\ heart.
 
 ELBLANKE. 127 
 
 Lulu. No, no. my lord ! you know not what you wish. 
 
 Rogon. O Lulu, it had beeii a sweet relief 
 From this dull pain your cold uukinduess gives inc. 
 
 Lulu. Alas ! 1 did not know that I could be 
 Unkind to one who wears the form of human. 
 
 Royon. Then, Princess Lulu, why avoid and snun rne? 
 
 Lulu. Did I, my lord? 
 
 Rogon. It does seem so to me. 
 
 It may be the great pleasure that I feel 
 When I am with you makes me think you col;! 
 Beyond the measure that you really are. 
 But, Lulu, darling, is it possible 
 That in the light of our own wedding day 
 We stand, and yet have never spoken woixb 
 Of what to-day will utterance find in vows . 
 My love, pray let me come and tell my love. 
 And give me hope that when you are my bride 
 
 (He attempts to embrace her.) 
 I may be happy in your love returned. 
 
 Lulu. Stand thus, King Eogon; you can t have my love. 
 I love another, and as yet I m free 
 To openly avow my love for him. 
 I do belong to him, and feel me false 
 To not reject another man s caresses. 
 So keep a good, respectful distance, king: 
 In kindness do as I have asked in kindness. 
 
 Royon. You do discriminate against me, Lulu. 
 The peasants love you for your gentle goodness, 
 And in your walks they kiss your hands and bless 
 You for the liberties your love has bought them. 
 You do not scorn them, Lulu, from your side. 
 The very animals, the dumb, brute beasts, 
 Fare better with you, for you have a word 
 Of sympathy for everything you meet; 
 And when they in their own peculiar ways, 
 Repay your kindness with instinctive love
 
 1 28 ELBLAXK1-:. 
 
 And gratitude, you smile and tolerate them; 
 Nay, you encourage them in their expressions. 
 But I, that love you with a noble love. 
 The love of king for queen am man for wife. 
 Am barred a good, respectful space away. 
 Pray, gentle Princess Lulu, smile on me. 
 And give me token of some love returned. 
 
 Lulu. And do you love me, king. 
 
 Rogon. Can you still doubt? 
 
 Do you not know I love you, Lulu, say? 
 
 Lulu. 1 cannot think that you do love me. king. 
 I love Prince Esper and I feel he loves me. 
 I do not love you, and I do not feel 
 That you can love me as you say you do. 
 For that true love that burns with fiercer fire 
 As length of days rolls on; that noble love 
 That knows itself as love forevennore; 
 That all-pervading love that freely lays 
 A life upon the altar it does raise; 
 That love that swallows up a human s being 
 And in its place supplies a higher life, 
 Is never given where it cannot get 
 An equal love returned with equal fervor; 
 For God is good and would not have it so. 
 It is contrary to the high intention 
 That made a man a social animal: 
 And made his life on love so poised and hung: 
 And made that love to choose a life s companion; 
 And made one life another s complement; 
 And made two hearts to beat in unison; 
 And made of love a strong, magnetic, power, 
 To draw together those that should unite. 
 Not all true loves run smoothly on to joy; 
 For human disappointments are not rare, 
 And even so many tilings arise between 
 Our hopes and us, that ll does sometimes seem
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 As though sweet heaven drops its blessings down, 
 
 But does not follow them in their descent; 
 
 And that ten million evils mount the skies, 
 
 And that ten million felon winds do blow 
 
 To ward them off and swerve them from their course, 
 
 To fall and bless where they were not intended. 
 
 The true and faithful loves that do not end 
 
 In marriage are not few. But when it seems 
 
 That love is given for nothing in return, 
 
 There s some delusion or illusion in it; 
 
 Some misconception or deception in it; 
 
 There s some mistake or some misunderstanding 
 
 Or else some fearful wrong. Love, left alone, 
 
 Will find the royal road to happiness, 
 
 If it is to be found; if not, t will make one. 
 
 You do not love me, this I know full well. 
 
 Two men did never yet both love one woman; 
 
 Nor did two women ever love one man. 
 
 Sometimes it seems that this cannot be so; 
 
 But delve with diligence and you shall find 
 
 That one is love in fact, and that the other 
 
 Is something else called by love s holy name. 
 
 And stranger still, the basest things get names 
 
 That should belong to pure exclusively. 
 
 The devils may take on the angels names 
 
 And counterfeit their noble qualities: 
 
 So may the basest passion be called love. 
 
 Royon. Sweet Lulu, let me make convincing proof 
 Of my devotion. Lay some harsh command 
 Upon me, and in rigid terms require 
 A deed of me that may by miracle 
 And sternest resolution be achieved. 
 Tronounce it such that in the doing of it 
 I shall give proof to you that you are loved. 
 Oh ! when you are my wife my life shall show 
 That you are dear to me as love can make you. 
 9 
 
 129
 
 130 
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 Lulu. Ah ! you would waiver in the deed s performance. 
 
 Rogon. By (lod, by heaven, and by my soul and honor, 
 I swear that I will your commands obey, 
 And all my promise and my vows fulfil. 
 
 Lulu. Then, king, 1 will make known my secret thoughts, 
 And name to you a thing which, done, will prove 
 To me that I have held a wrong opinion 
 Concerning your expressions of devotion. 
 
 king, for those we love we will lay down 
 Our lives and feel it as a privilege. 
 
 To bring full happiness to those we love 
 We will make sacrifice of our own happiness, 
 And, in the misery chosen for their sake.*, 
 Find satisfaction: for so much does love 
 Require from the heart wherein it rules. 
 Then king, if you do love me you will go 
 From me, and not require that I wed 
 You, when to marry you must mar my life. 
 Oh ! do not take me when my soul resents 
 It as the substance of deep degradation. 
 Oh ! pity me and leave me, for my sake. 
 And I will bless you with my latest breath 
 As one who was too noble to delight 
 In the despair and torture of a girl. 
 
 Rogon (aside). Can I deny her? she, so young and fair, 
 Take to a life that, she would rather lose? 
 No, I will give to her her perfect freedom. 
 What ! disregard the challenges of foes 
 That will make sport of me and call me coward ? 
 Leave her, and give her to the prince 1 hate? 
 Forget the plans I ve bnxxled on for years? 
 See crushed in ruin all the hopes I ; ve had ? 
 
 1 cannot do it: I 11 refuse her wish. 
 
 No, by my soul, the good in me shall rule. 
 
 Sweet, bruised and suffering flower, drained of life 
 
 Which I can give! Sweet lily, child of lovel
 
 ELBLANKE. 131 
 
 I 11 lift you up and press a brother s kiss 
 
 Upon your lips and go, whate er it costs 
 
 Me to so humble stubbornness and pride. 
 
 A fiend of hell, will, in an angel s presence, 
 
 Forget his evil mind and turn to pity, 
 
 So potent is the influence of good. 
 
 My idolized, sweet Lulu! Lily maid! 
 
 Sweet, rosebud lips and lovely, graceful form ! 
 
 My heart feels deep compassion for your sorrow. 
 
 In sadness I perceive your wretchedness. 
 
 Lulu. O king, you will comply with my request. 
 Tour look and tone are softened by your purpose: 
 Your countenance is lighted by a high 
 And grand determination to be noble. 
 I read it, king; you need not tell it me. 
 Oh! I have wronged you by my estimation 
 Of your true character and noble heart. 
 Please let me kiss you; let me thank you, Rogon. 
 Oh ! how can I express my gratitude. 
 I ll love you with all love except the love 
 A wife should give to him she calls her husband, 
 And God will bless you for your gift to me. 
 
 Rogon. My bride, I cannot bear to give you up. 
 
 Lulu. Oh ! then. Despair, I give myself to you. [torrents 
 
 Rogon (aside). There is a time when, plunging down the 
 Of life in profligacy and deep crime, 
 A hand invisible does rescue us, 
 And makes it possible for us to turn 
 And reascend the lofty heights of honor; 
 And if we plunge again into the waves, 
 We break away from that restraining hand 
 That seizes us to rescue ns from death. 
 That opportunity has just passed by. 
 I feel myself thrice hardened in my heart, 
 And by the gods, to-night I will enjoy 
 Myself in love s disport with yonder maid,
 
 132 
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 Or die by trial to accomplish it. 
 Fair Lulu, ask me to tear from my breast 
 My heart, and I more readily will yield 
 It up than suffer you to have your freedom. 
 My idol, Lulu ! my soul s dearest love. 
 
 (He tries to embrace her. Graciela enter*.) 
 
 Graciela. You dog ! that quails before the look of virtue ! 
 Your insolence cannot withstand the glance 
 That guards the gem of chastity and honor. 
 Come with me, Lulu, from the craven dog. 
 And if you, curse ! so pant to lose your heart, 
 Give me a chance, and I will cut it out. 
 
 (Lulu and Graciela pans out.) 
 
 Rogon. Preserve me from the tongue of shrewish woman. 
 
 FOURTH ACT. 
 
 FIRST SCENE. 
 The tilt hall of the palace. BKANDK enters. 
 
 Brande. God scorch my greasy soul in hottest hell. 
 The devil told his butler, "Mix for me the drinks of hell," 
 Drain to the bottom of the bowl, sir; [him well, 
 
 The butler brought the devil what he knew would please 
 Drain to the roasting of your soul, sir; 
 The devil took a smell, 
 And filled his stomach s cell, 
 Then bellowed out a yell 
 Which sounded forth the knell 
 Of one poor imp of hell: 
 
 For up he picked the butler, and hurled him so he fell 
 Headlong, where hell s fierce brimstone surges roll, sir. 
 (Our an enters.)
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 J 33 
 
 Osran. God s pity, Brande, you were not born an ass: 
 For by your braying you had won more credit 
 Among the beasts than you can hope to win 
 By your vile slanders on the art of singing. 
 
 Brande. Doom blind your eyes ! do you not love my music ? 
 
 Osran. As patients love the physic that s poured down 
 
 Brande. Then give me berth to sing in solitude. [them. 
 If I am pleased to wake the siren s voices 
 In the soft echoes of the songs I sing, 
 Why do you not put distance in between us, 
 And let me, swan like, sing to my own self, 
 And lull me with my own sweet melodies? 
 If you love not my music, and yet stay 
 To listen to it, but protest against it, 
 It ought to physic you so vigorously 
 That your damned guts will grow so lank and lean 
 As will permit your belly, at each step, 
 To flop, and stop against your damned backbone. 
 When worriment is easily outrun, 
 Hell take the man who lets it keep him company. 
 (A crowd of other attendants enter.) 
 
 Osran. God bless you, Madam Fat; how goes the day ? 
 
 Madam Fat. Most rapidly. 
 
 Brande. And pray, what do you know? 
 
 M. F. As much as you, sir: that amounts to nothing. 
 
 Brande. But, madam, I do know at least one thing. 
 
 M. F. Then, for a wonder, tell us what it is. 
 
 Brande. I know that you know nothing. 
 
 M. F. That s a lie. 
 
 Brande. Well, if I don t know that, I do know this: 
 That you have lied, or else you do know nothing. 
 I said: What do you know? you answered: Nothing. 
 And when I said: You do know nothing,nadarn, 
 You said I lied. As much as is to say: 
 You do know something and you do know nothing. 
 I took your word for it that you knew nothing,
 
 34 
 
 ELBLAXKK. 
 
 And said to you: Madam, you know not something;. 
 
 You said I lied. Now, madam, how is this? 
 
 Do you know something, or do you know nothing? 
 
 Or have you lied in saying that I lied ? 
 
 Or have I told the truth in telling lies . 
 
 Or what in hell is it that is the matter? 
 
 M. F. The matter is that there is not more matter 
 Within that empty, pumpkin head of yours. 
 
 lirnnde. But I will prove to you that there is matter 
 In what you choose to call my pumpkin head. 
 You say: There is no matter in my mind, 
 That is the matter. Then, the matter is 
 That there is not more matter in my mind. 
 Then, in my mind, no matter in my mind 
 Is matter in my mind. Then this is clear: 
 No matter is the matter in my mind, 
 And matter is no matter and is matter; 
 For sure if matter is no matter, no matter 
 Is matter; for it can t be otherwise, 
 iso, proof there is no matter in my mind 
 Is proof that there is matter in my mind. 
 
 M. F. Oh, well! no matter; let us end the matter. 
 
 Brande. But tell me, madam, of what are you made? 
 
 M. F. Of matter, sir. 
 
 Brande. You are mistaken, madam, 
 
 For matter lias no end. and you have two; 
 And since you have two ends you can t have no end; 
 And if no end, you cannot then be matter, 
 For matter lias no end and you have not. 
 
 M. F. I wish to God you had a dozen ends, 
 Or more if it took more to finish you. 
 
 Brande. I ll bet my neck you ve wished some other man 
 Had ninety ends, Cilice one gives you such joy. 
 It seems to me the strangest paradox, 
 That one man s end should bring the deepest sorrow 
 And most delicious pleasure to one woman.
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 35 
 
 M. F. Well, thank the Lord your end will never grieve me. 
 
 Bra?ide. And thank the Lord my end will never tickle you. 
 God roast my oily soul in smoking hell ! 
 (Lady Flirt enters.) 
 
 Lady Flirt. Pray cease the use of such profanity. 
 
 Brande. And why? 
 
 L. F. It shows a mind most vulgar, sir. 
 
 Besides, it is ungentlemanly, too. 
 It shows a man to be the vilest ingrate 
 That God Almighty ever let to live. 
 
 Brande. Have you the documents to prove so much ? 
 
 L. F. Well, it is deep dishonor to our God 
 To whom are due all reverence and honor. 
 
 Brande. And if my soul believes there is no God? 
 
 L. F. The major part of all mankind think differently; 
 So disrespect to God, whom they respect, 
 Is disrespect to them. Refinement blushes; 
 Good taste is shocked; and on the gentle ear 
 It jars: it is ungentlemanly, sure. 
 
 Brande. By God ! I am as much a gentleman 
 As any woman here; and if you doubt, 
 I ll give you naked proof that such is so. 
 
 L. F. I am as much a gentleman as you. 
 
 Brande. God spurn my soul ! if you impute to me 
 This thing again, I ll swear like Billy Hell; 
 Moreover, I will blackguard viciously: 
 The tongue of jade shall not calumniate me. 
 
 L. F. I ve heard of men who proved their honesty 
 By stealing; truth by lying; love by hating; 
 Benevolence by deigning not to give; 
 Their happiness by being miserable; 
 And their true patriotism by high treason: 
 But yet in all I ve heard I never heard 
 Of these things being proven more conclusively 
 Thau you would prove yourself a gentleman
 
 1 36 ELRLAA A E. 
 
 By choosing here to use, or any where, 
 Obscenity, vulgarity, profanity. 
 
 Brandt. I wish no woman had lived in this world. 
 
 Attendant. It would appear most reprehensible 
 In woman to have lived, if to give birth 
 To such as you fulfills the purposes 
 Of her creation. 
 
 Attendant. Xo woman gave him birth. 
 
 Attendant. That prove. 
 
 Brande. It can *t be proved. 
 
 Attendant. The reason why 
 
 It won t admit of proof is simply this: 
 It is itself and proof of its own self: 
 Its proof is it and it is its own proof. 
 That it is true appears upon its face 
 So forcibly that but to try to prove 
 Or make it clearer only makes it darker. 
 A woman did give birth to Brande in form 
 In body, mind and heart and brain and limb. 
 The vessel thus constructed at a birth 
 Was made to hold things noble, good and pure, 
 As much as was his stomach s cell created 
 To hold his mother s milk, and, later, food 
 To feed the vital forces in his form. 
 But as rank poison may be introduced 
 Into the stomach and make sick the man 
 The physically constituted man 
 So may the moral food be of such kind 
 As will make sick the higher, nobler man. 
 He fed himself with carrion, filth and offal, 
 And grew disgusting, lecherous and vile.. 
 He filled the vessel up to overflowing 
 With things of putrefaction and foul smell. 
 Brande. What is the difference, then, ? twixt you and me? 
 Attendant. 1 hope it may be much.
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 37 
 
 Brande. It is but little. 
 
 The difference is nothing more than this: 
 I did myself to fullness fill my vessel; 
 You let some other fill your vessel full. 
 
 (Other attendants enter.} 
 
 Osran. Behold ! we re in the kind s great tourney hall. 
 Let s form a miniature state, and choose a king, 
 Establish court, create nobility, 
 And ape the customs of the government. 
 We are at liberty to do as much, 
 Or more, or less, as we see fit to do. 
 
 Attendants, Agreed. 
 
 Osran. Let some one nominate a king. 
 
 Attendant. I nominate Sir Corpulent for king. 
 
 Attendant. I do object: he cannot rule a house: 
 He can t even wear his breeches: for his wife 
 Long since did thrust her own legs into them; 
 And if a woman can take off his breeches, 
 In Heaven s name, what can t take off his crown ? 
 
 Attendant. A woman did not take his breeches off: 
 He took his breeches off to please the woman. 
 
 Attendant. The more s the shame. 
 
 Attendant. I do not think with you: 
 
 The fool who knows himself a silly fool, 
 And to his wife yields up his rulership, 
 Half proves by that his title to be wise: 
 For, since he knows himself an arrant fool, 
 And knows a fool unworthy quite to rule, 
 But does not know the wisdom of his wife, 
 He s wise to test her wisdom, on my life. 
 
 Attendant. He s cowardly, as well. 
 
 Brande. Then this is thus: 
 
 The candidate is at once sage and fool, 
 A man of courage and of cowardice; 
 For that he is a coward is not doubted, 
 And cowardice is courage, oftentimes.
 
 1 38 ELBLAA A E. 
 
 I think he is a worthy nominee, 
 
 For he has other eminent qualifications 
 
 Besides these sterling ones that we have named: 
 
 He s fat, and dull, and indolent, and bald 
 
 The latter to a very high degree, 
 
 Considering the stature of his head; 
 
 And this should give to him the kingdom s crown: 
 
 For sure the world does judge capacity 
 
 And estimate the capabilities 
 
 Of any man, more oft, by his appearance. 
 
 And what he looks as though he might be worth. 
 
 And what he says that he can do. instead 
 
 Of what he does and what he has accomplished. 
 
 His baldness will make him an honored king; 
 
 His sayings will make him a mighty one. 
 
 For, measuring his intellectual powers 
 
 As the world measures, by the forehead s height. 
 
 The forehead being from the I) row to hair. 
 
 He has a massive brain and wondrous sense: 
 
 His forehead reaches backward to his neck: 
 
 And, hear him tell it, he could make the world 
 
 With just what little dirt is on his face 
 
 If by mischance our earth should be destroyed. 
 
 Attendants. Enthrone him! seat him! seat him in the 
 throne ! 
 
 (TJiey bear Sir Corpulent to the cJnu r IF here the king iras 
 wont to sit and orerluvk tlie tournaments and jouxtn.) 
 
 Attendant. Give him a scepter. 
 
 Attendant. No. give him a broom. 
 
 Brande. If the chief magistrate would use a broom 
 More oft, the country s government would be 
 A better and a cleaner institution. 
 Both broom and scepter should be held in hand: 
 The scepter held in readiness for use. 
 The broom to use; for if the broom is used 
 Judiciously, and in the proper season,
 
 ELBLANKE. 1 39 
 
 The scepter will grow rusty with disuse 
 From being never called iu requisition. 
 
 Attendants. Crown our puissant and most noble king. 
 
 Osran. Nay, let that pass; the kingdom has no crown. 
 
 Attendant. I 11 furnish one: I 11 bring him my night cap. 
 
 Sir Corpulent. I do protest against a uight-cap crown 
 As an uncivil imposition, friends. 
 
 Brande. By thunder, that is good: we crown him king, 
 We seat him in a throne, we honor him, 
 And make him first among the sons of earth; 
 And then because some unimportant matter 
 Fits not his. fancy, he flies off the handle 
 And kicks most arrogantly gainst his subjects. [ors. 
 
 Attendant. This comes from want of care in giving hou- 
 If we present a worthy man the earth, 
 He takes it modestly, and gives his thanks, 
 And therein proves his worthiness for more; 
 But make the earth a present to an ingrate, 
 And he will ask to have it fenced around 
 And use it as a paltry stepping stone 
 Whereon to climb and try to reach the stars. [ it. 
 
 Attendant. He ll take the uight-cap crown. I 11 vouch for. 
 
 Osran. We must perform another ceremony 
 Which is among the solemnest essentials 
 Of coronation. We must brand you. sir, 
 Upon the buttock, with a mammoth K. 
 
 8. C. By God s right hand, I ll not submit to it. 
 
 Osran. But, sir, you must: it cannot be avoided. 
 The reason for this branding is as follows: 
 The higher up a ladder a man climbs, 
 The oftener does he display his rear 
 Before the gazer of the lower world. 
 The more unworthy that the climber is, 
 The proiier grows he to make his display. 
 This is the test that tries all genuine merit: 
 Let but the populace advance a man
 
 140 
 
 ELBLANA E. 
 
 Tliat is unworthy, and my word for it, 
 He ll tum his face and show his rump to them 
 As soon as he is out of reach of spanking. 
 Now we have made Sir Corpulent our king: 
 All right: then he is going up above us 
 Above the optics of the nether world. 
 When he thus elevated shows his buttock. 
 How is the world to know that he is king 
 Unless his buttock bears the legend K. 
 
 Brandt. The more especially is this the case, 
 Because his wife how wears his pantaloons: 
 His breeches off, he can but show his stern. 
 
 S. C. I 11 abdicate: come, choose some other king. 
 If brands are my remuneration, friends, 
 For all the arduous tasks I must perform, 
 Let me be relegated to obscurity; 
 And let some other come to get my place. 
 
 Attendant. Let s have a queen. 
 
 Attendant. I jet Lady Flirt be queen. 
 
 Oxran. Will you accept the crown? 
 
 Lady Flirt. Must I be branded ? 
 
 Quran. You must be bran led on the belly s curve 
 But not upon the buttock. For the women 
 Get more delight from opening the front: 
 For thereby is their shamelessness made clearer. 
 The brand will be a big, round letter Q 
 Encircling the protuberance of the belly. 
 
 L. F. I d see you dead before I would be branded. 
 
 Attendant. Say, why not let this brand be painted on 
 In gorgeous colors by the hand of art? 
 Let it be made a noble work of art, 
 To lift men s ga/.e the higher from the earth; 
 For men, base wretches ! rarely lift an eye 
 As far from earth as woman s belly is, 
 So close their vision hovers to the ground. 
 
 Attendant. It will not do: t will be of bad effect.
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 141 
 
 Let but the queen be paiuted with the brand 
 And every daughter of this noble land 
 Will follow in the fad of painted bellies. 
 You 11 see them on the streets with dresses np 
 Displaying walking galleries of art, 
 And wagering no mortal man can find 
 The center of the scene. And if in trial 
 Another center is by good luck found, 
 They ll laugh well tickled at the accident. 
 
 Attendant. Base slanderer ! you villify all women 
 Because you ve seen some erring daughters fall. 
 
 Attendant. I have seen many erring daughters fall 
 But never saw one fall upon her belly. 
 
 ( T)te attendant enters with night cap. ) 
 
 Attendant. Here is the crown. 
 
 Osran. Well, let it pass, my friends 
 
 This branding ceremony, let it pass 
 And let our good King Corpulent be crowned. 
 
 8. G. Great God ! and if I had to sleep with you 
 I d thank my stars you wore this on your head. 
 
 Attendant. Where should I wear a cap but on my head ? 
 
 8. G. I wish you had to wear it anywhere 
 So that I could escape this ridicule. [cap 
 
 Attendant (aside). My friends, it will be fun: into that 
 I placed some bugs that soon will worry him. 
 
 Osran. Now stand in readiness, and when I clap 
 This crown upon his head, pray let your lungs 
 Like deep volcanoes bellow rolling sound, 
 And this grand coronation then is ended. 
 
 (He crowns, and they vociferate and flourish.) 
 
 Osran. There, good Sir Corpulent, my lord, you re king. 
 Now are there any statutes you would make, 
 Or any customs you will have established? 
 
 S. G. There are but few : some in the points of dress, 
 And some in ceremonies of the court. 
 And as to dress I now make proclamation:
 
 142 ELBLANKE. 
 
 The dress of ladies of the court shall be 
 Of bracelets, finger rings and necklaces, 
 And bustles, worn or not. as they shall choose. 
 
 Attendant. We will not dress in such outlandish style. 
 We ll raise an insurrection round the king. 
 
 Attendant. We will do that and more, depend upon it. 
 
 Brande. You cannot force a woman anyway; 
 A statute can t constrain her as to fashion. 
 If you do wish to make a style by law, 
 You must in rigid terms prohibit it, 
 And then the innovation is complete: 
 For when a woman in contrariness 
 Or stubbornness can do a thing, she 11 do it, 
 In spite of man or law or penalties. 
 But I will tell you of a surer way: 
 Employ some lovely lady of the court 
 To set the fashion, and they II follow it. 
 She can in little time make it the style 
 To dress with one silk thread tied round the leg 
 About the ankle or the knee or thigh. 
 
 S. C. Each woman shall at all times hold her tongue. 
 (Each female attendant begins a voluble protest.) 
 
 Brande. (!od damn it ! beldames, cease this rackinir noise. 
 None but a fool will by a law prohibit 
 A woman from the free use of her tongue: 
 She values it above her personal liberty, 
 For she, enslaved, first gives her tongue its freedom. 
 
 8. C. Men would have been far happier, anyhow, 
 If there had been no women in the world. 
 
 Attendant. I challenge you to make a proof of that. 
 
 S. C. T is treason, gentlemen; tis treason, sirs; 
 She challenges the king; she challenges. 
 The crime deserves that she shall suffer death. 
 
 (Osran whispers to the challenging attendant.) 
 
 Osran. Then I will be your executioner. 
 There, die ! and henceforth learn a subject s place. 
 (He stabs her. She falls. Ladies scream.)
 
 ELBLANKE. 143 
 
 8. C. You bloody devil ! you have slain the lady. 
 Great God ! I ll flee the land: I ll not be caught 
 "With such a bloody horde of murderers; 
 The devil take the kingdom and the crown. 
 (He jerks off his cap and runs.) 
 
 Osran. Seize on him, friends; let not the king escape. 
 
 8. O. Avaunt ! you bloody fiends; keep your hands off. 
 If you so much as touch me, I will yell; 
 I 11 spit upon you: by my soul, I 11 yell. [ They rush at him. 
 
 8. C. Help ! help ! fire ! fire ! Oh ! come and help ! 
 
 Osran. Gag him. 
 
 Attendant. What shall we do with him? 
 
 Osran. Kill him ! 
 
 Brande. No, let him live; if he will prove the truth 
 Of his rash statement, we will let him live. 
 Release him, and we 11 hear his explanation. 
 
 ( They release him. ) 
 
 Now prove to us that men would have been happier 
 If there had been no women in the world. 
 
 8. O. Well, when the first man was created, friends, 
 He had no lady then to keep him company, 
 And yet he was the happiest man on earth. 
 
 Attendant. That is no proof: let him be crucified. 
 
 8. G. By hell, I say it is. 
 
 Attendant. I say t is not: 
 
 You must give further proof or suffer death. 
 
 S. G. Well, if there never had been women made, 
 Men would have had no children to torment them. 
 
 Attendant, The fool can give no reason: let him die. 
 Without them, there had been no men, 
 No homes, no happiness, nor any states; 
 For since the mothers, by the mother s care, 
 The mother s love and prayers and angel guidance, 
 Create the sons, creators of the states, 
 The mothers, of the states creators are. 
 What would you, sir, have been without a woman ?
 
 144 ELBLANK E. 
 
 S. C. I, madam, would have been a self-made man. 
 
 Attendant. Carve him iu pieces. 
 
 S. C. Wait: I will give proof. 
 
 The hairs in butter would have been much shorter 
 If women had not lived to wear them long. 
 
 Osran. It does appear that he cannot give proof: 
 Let him be slain and buried with this woman 
 Whom he iu gory recklessness has killed. 
 
 S. C . O men, in Heaven s mercy let me live. 
 I did not mean that she should suffer death. 
 Oh ! let me live till I prepare to die. 
 Oh! let me live to don my Sunday clothes, 
 And make myself prepared to meet my Lord. 
 I cannot bear a burial with that woman: 
 My wife would pull my hair out by the roots 
 If 1 should sleep beside that woman there. 
 I cannot bear a burial with that woman: 
 She s wrinkled, toothless, ugly, old, and sour; 
 She s dark complected, hideous, and dull; 
 She is repulsive [ The lady revives. 
 
 Attendant. Let me tear his face. 
 I Ml claw his eyes out quicker than they wink. 
 
 S. C. O Lord ! I m haunted by the woman s ghost. 
 i\eep off, hobgoblin, or I swear I Ml die. 
 
 (The lady chastises him severely.) 
 Then it is you, and you are living yet. 
 Oh ! I could die for very joy of it. 
 
 Attendant. Let me get fingers iu your hair and eyes 
 And you will wish that I were dead again. 
 
 Quran. What made you give away the thing so soon ? 
 
 Attendant. There is no woman on the earth to-day 
 That could stay dead and hear her beauty suffer 
 The taunts of slander and vile defamation; 
 Much less to hear additions to her age. 
 
 Brande. The Lord preserve us; how the villain yelled! 
 
 C. I did n t yell; I was n t scared at all. 
 I knew it all a trick that you were playing.
 
 ELBLANKE. 145 
 
 Brande. You did n t yell ? You spread your mouth so 
 That all your vision was gone out of sight [wide 
 
 And vanished in a roaring, yawning hole. 
 
 Osran. Well, climb into the throne; put on the crown; 
 And reassume the duties of your office. 
 
 8. C. I d rather be a peasant and feed hogs, 
 Than be a king to rule in such a state. 
 
 Osran. Put on the crown. 
 
 8. O. It sets my head to itching. 
 
 Osran. It s not the crown, but what the crown brings with it 
 That gives you this uneasiness, sir king. 
 Now, if I may be bold to be his herald, 
 I now would say to you, my gentle friends, 
 That once again our mighty, noble king 
 Is in his throne, his crown upon his head, 
 His scepter in his hand, and in his heart 
 His heart of hearts a grim determination 
 
 S. C. By thunder, Osrau, come and look at this. 
 
 Osran. What is it ? 
 
 8. O. It s a bug; I swear it is. [ Throws the cap off. 
 
 Osran. Here ! keep it on: you knew before you took 
 Upon yourself the duties of this office 
 That it could not be all a pleasant thing; 
 You took it with its pleasures and its smarts, 
 And, by my skin ! you ve got to stand the nips 
 Of parasites, or lose your kingly station. 
 
 S. O. They are not parasites; they re bugs, by God ! 
 
 Osran. It is no matter; you have made the blister, 
 And, by my spine ! you ve got to sit upon it. 
 When you do take a wife, you take her, sir, 
 For good or bad; if good, most happy you; 
 If bad, you can but grin and bear it patiently. 
 
 8. G. I did not mention wife or blister either. 
 I say again, this cap is buggy, sir. 
 
 Osran. Will you keep still, and let me have my say ? 
 
 8. C. Am I the king ? if so, discard this cheek 
 10
 
 146 ELBLANKE. 
 
 And insolence, and let me have authority. 
 
 The reason why so many men get places 
 
 To which they are not fitted, is because 
 
 Some baud of rogues does work to give them sway, 
 
 With hope that one of them may dominate 
 
 The officer, and through him hold the office. 
 
 Now, you desist, and let me rule my kingdom. 
 
 Osran. I beg your pardon; but you cut me down 
 In my bold flight of eloquence before 
 I reached the summit of the height I soared. 
 I did intend to say that you will now 
 Proceed to making laws. Please let us hear them. 
 
 S. C. Well, then, concerning courtesy at court, 
 I would establish one good custom, friends: 
 To show respect to me, your king, and others 
 Of noble quality about the court, 
 It shall be held the proper thing to do 
 To crawl between the person s legs you honor. 
 And if distinguished honors you would pay, 
 Or deep respect of strongly marked degree. 
 You shall crawl through some twice, or thrice, or more. 
 
 Attendant. I do not like this custom, sir. my king. 
 Suppose there should be ladies at the court, 
 To whom a deep respect is always due, 
 Will you Insist we crawl between their legs? 
 
 S. C. Insist? I do command: do you obey 1 
 
 Brandt. In all the ages of recorded time, 
 It never was the custom, sir, to crawl 
 Between a lady s legs to show respect 
 
 S. C. It matters not. Because a thing has not 
 Received the sanction of the ages past 
 And generations gone, that is no reason 
 It should not into practice now be ushered. 
 A nation may be wrong a thousand years, 
 hi keeping in its statute books a law 
 That should have been annulled: and so it is
 
 ELBLANKE. 147 
 
 That nations may, throughout a thousand years, 
 Neglect to make a wholesome, needed law. 
 
 Madam Fat. I 11 notify you, sir, that at the first 
 Attempt of man to crawl between my legs, 
 I will sit down upon him forcibly. 
 
 Otsran. I ve heard of men being mashed upon a woman, 
 But never heard of one being mashed beneath her. 
 
 Attendant. Beneath her what ? 
 
 Oaran. Just her, just her, my friend. 
 
 8. G. I will not make another law for you. 
 If I am to be crossed, and set, and pulled, 
 And baffled in my ordinances, I 
 Will humor you no more in such child s play: 
 I care not though we come to anarchy; 
 I care not though each subject makes a law 
 For his own acts, and executes it, too, 
 According to his own interpretation, 
 To the disquiet of the kingdom s peace 
 And the destruction of tranquillity. 
 Begin, you maudlin rioters ! to rage, 
 You 11 find no opposition from the crown. 
 When there is not one head to rule the whole, 
 The whole is parts, the parts without a head. 
 By Heaven, I 11 rule my state without a law, 
 If you will not obey the laws I make: 
 And arbitrary government you 11 have; 
 I 11 give it to you from the jump and go. 
 My will is law ! you cross it at your peril ! 
 
 Brande. God save the God damned king. 
 
 Lady Flirt. King, live forever. 
 
 8. G. That s like a fool, to bid me live forever 
 While joining in the turmoil that destroys me. 
 I will not live forever, mind you that: 
 1 11 die one of these days in spite of medicine. 
 
 L. F. You re not the first that has refused to take 
 The wholesome counsels of a faithful friend.
 
 148 ELBLANK E. 
 
 The best advice more oft is scorned away, 
 Best friends heard last of all, and heeded never. 
 
 8. C. My subjects, it is fit to celebrate 
 The coronation of a king in merriment, 
 To be remembered while he reigus and rules. 
 Let here be heard the merry sounds of music [causey 
 
 Brande (sings). The devil tramping up hell s mighty 
 
 Oran. Silence ! 
 
 S. C. Contagious laughter to discourse of fun 
 (All but Osran laugh uproariously.) 
 
 Osran. Silence ! 
 
 /S. C. Come, choose your partners for a mazy whirl, 
 To toe it lightly in a graceful dance. 
 Oh. shake your legs with spirit, gentle friends, 
 And let your feet so pound the cushioned ground 
 That it will echo back your measured tread, 
 And hum the music s gliding, perfect time. 
 
 Attendant. We have no music, please my lord, the king. 
 
 Osran. Get Brande to sing; you then will have such music 
 As will force you to dance against your will. 
 
 Brande. Stay! 1 will bring the king s musicians, friends. 
 If import unity can aught avail 
 Against their indolence, I think they ll come; 
 At least an asking will work us no harm. 
 There s nothing had in this world without ask ing. \lle gncs. 
 
 S. C. Sing us a song while we await his coming. 
 
 (Lulu enters in alcove at front.) 
 Be silent while the loving little princess 
 With glorious presence gladdens these surroundings. 
 
 Lulu. Go on; cease not your sports for care of me. 
 (To herself) How near is tragedy to comedy I 
 From the ridiculous to the sublime 
 Is just a narrow span; from grief to joy 
 A shorter space. The heart bowed down with mourning, 
 Alone in lonely room, hears song and laughter 
 Across a narrow hall. The funeral march
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 Blends with the sounds of civic game aiid revel. 
 The funeral procession marches on 
 Beside the grand parade of pomp and joy. 
 Between the acts of awful tragedies 
 Burlesques and comedies laugh on the stage. 
 How wonderful are the affairs of men ! 
 How like a drama is the rapid race 
 Of human races! Did I say how like? 
 The human race s race is but a drama. 
 All other dramas acted on the stage 
 Or written down in books are imitations 
 And representative of single acts 
 And scenes in the great human race s play, 
 Entitled " Course of Life; " wherein each man 
 Performs his portion. In the joy of love, 
 The grief of loss, and woe iumixed with hope 
 It hurries on, and seems sometimes a show 
 Or pantomime; and sometimes a burlesque, 
 To ape the manners of the things that are; 
 Sometimes a comedy, to shake with mirth 
 The world upon its hinges; then a farce; 
 And on through variations without number 
 Unto the end, which proves it all a tragedy. 
 Oh ! where can mortal go for sympathy 
 In this uncharitable, selfish world ? 
 The longing eye must look beyond that finds it; 
 
 (GiWer enters unnoticed.) 
 For high above the world it hangs on wings, 
 And merely casts around us its faint shadows. 
 
 Gilber. You should not say there is no sympathy; 
 For, sister mine, you know 1 dearly love you, 
 And love is anything the heart can need, 
 That is a natural, inborn desire. 
 
 Lulu. Good brother, I do know your loyalty. 
 But where the heart is crushed and bleeding, (Jiiber, 
 And aching for a sympathetic cure, 
 
 149
 
 150 ELBLANKE, 
 
 It is a pain to wander in the world 
 
 Where everything requiring sympathy 
 
 Is most reluctantly admitted in. 
 
 Who has a grief at heart, finds it grow sharper 
 
 At first, to join a gay and sportive throng. 
 
 So I, in coming where these gay retainers 
 
 Were merry in robust hilarity, 
 
 Felt myself left alone with all my trouble. 
 
 Gilber. Then I will ask them to break off their games. 
 
 L>tln. Oh. no; in this they show sincerity; 
 Aud sympathy, if feigned, or forced, or asked. 
 Is bitterness, where it should taste the sweetest. 
 But we will go and leave them to their fun. 
 
 Gilber. Sweet sister, if by dying I could give 
 Yon freedom, would it then be right to live ? 
 
 Lulu. Let us not talk of that grim monster, Death; 
 He s such a grizzly horror when I think 
 He looks at you. But when he lifts his dart 
 To strike at me. he is no longer fierce, 
 But from his brow fades all ferocity. 
 And his gaunt aspect of terrific dread 
 Is changed, so sweet that it does w<x and win me. 
 I d rather kiss his lips than Esper s kiss, 
 While knowing Esper never can be mine. 
 But, (JillxT. if he should with threatening look 
 Scowl on you. 1 would drive the monster back, 
 If to his rage I sacrificed my life. 
 
 (rilber. Death has as many forms as life has foes; 
 But we will welcome him in none of them. 
 
 Lulu. O brother, will Prince Esj>er die in duel, 
 Or will he live to love and let me love him? 
 
 Gilber. It s in the hands of God. But. gentle sister, 
 There is one law I think you do not know: 
 It Ksper, in this duel, stains his hands 
 With his opponent s blood, our father then 
 Can, by the law, withhold your hand from him;
 
 ELBLANKE. ! 
 
 And father is so prejudiced, sweet sister, 
 That I do think he will not let you wed him 
 If he does slay Kiug Rogon in the fight. 
 
 Lulu. Why, then, does Esper fight against a chance? 
 
 Gilber. He fights to free my sister from King Rogou: 
 He has not thought of self; he thinks of you. 
 
 Lulu. And if he fails? 
 
 Gilber. He dies; you wed King Rogon, 
 
 Unless another champion destroys him. 
 
 Lulu. And if he wins? 
 
 Gilber. He still does lose his love. 
 
 But, gentle sister, he will never fail. 
 I saw him, but a little time ago, 
 Preparing for the battle with his foe. 
 And, Lulu, there were demons in his eyes: 
 His looks would quell a savage beast of prey. 
 The justice of his cause makes him a god. 
 King Rogon will no sooner pass the lists 
 Than Esper from his form will hew his soul, 
 And send it shrieking to the depths of hell. 
 
 Lulu. O Heaven ! before my eyes are spots of gore. 
 O Father, shield my darling, noble Esper, 
 And let him conquer without shedding blood, 
 Then come at liberty to call me bride, 
 As I will be at liberty to be. 
 Please, Gilber, take me to him: I will ask 
 Him for his love of me to quit the field. 
 
 Gilber. He will not see you, Lulu, ere the duel, 
 But says he 11 come to kiss you when you re free. 
 He begs that you will witness not the fight, 
 Nor him encounter till it all is over. 
 Sweet sister Lulu, come along with me. 
 ( They pass out.) 
 
 Attendant. I hear the princess, Lulu, does object 
 To wedding Rogon. But I cannot see 
 Why she should do so; for he is a king,
 
 152 ELBLANKE. 
 
 A uoble king, of a most noble realm; 
 
 T would not take much to force a king on me. 
 
 Attendant. I warrant not; for if you had a chance 
 You would yourself force any king upon you. 
 (Brande returns.) 
 
 Brande. O friends, I ve seen the wonder of ten days: 
 As I passed through the marble corridor, 
 And looked upon the clock to note the time, 
 I saw a sight that struck me stiff with terror. 
 The clock did wring its hands as though in grief; 
 And on its sober face there was depicted 
 Such spasms of deep agony, that it 
 Was drawn to look as grizzly as a ghost. 
 Great beady drops of sweat did course each other 
 Adown the furrows; but whence they did come, 
 Or whither they did speed, 1 could not tell. 
 But sure it wept and sweat in agony. 
 
 Oxran. Did you feel any reptiles in your shoes 
 About the time the clock was weeping thus? 
 
 Attendant. The snakes are in his brains, not in his shoes. 
 
 Osran. Then, if the reptiles do dwell in his brains 
 They also have their dwelling in his shoes; 
 For sure his head is empty as a nut ^ 
 
 That s hallowed out by worms. If brains he has 
 (And sure he has or snakes could not be in them), 
 lie does not carry them within his head; 
 And if not in his head, then in his feet: 
 For, truth, he has a mighty understanding; 
 And Nature did not make big feet for nothing. 
 To have an understanding broad and sound 
 liequires a good head to hold good brains, 
 Or else a pair of huge and monstrous feet; 
 And since Dame Nature could not give him head, 
 She gave him feet to furnish understandiug. 
 
 Brande. God damn it, fool ! when will your folly end ? 
 If I were you I would pray Mother Nature
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 53 
 
 To give me something like an understanding 
 Before I would attempt to talk of it. 
 
 Osran. I do pray Heaven that I may never have 
 An understanding such as your feet are. 
 
 Lady Flirt. Did you succeed in bringing us some music ? 
 I scarce can keep my feet upon the floor; 
 So do I long to lose me in a dance. 
 
 Brande. Yes. I do tell you, friends, I am alarmed. 
 In looking at that clock I could not tell 
 A difference between the hours and minutes, 
 They sped along 
 
 L. F. But did you bring the mnsic ? 
 
 Brande. Yes. Minutes, hours, months and days and years 
 Seemed equal each to each. The clock did pant 
 And fume and sweat and toil to reel them off, 
 As though the end of time were near at hand 
 And it were hurrying in haste to reach it. 
 
 L. F. Did you get music, so that we may dance ? 
 
 Brande. Yes, damn it ! Osran. take her in your arms 
 And let her rub her breast and belly gainst you; 
 J think that that will satisfy her now: 
 For women who love dancing take delight 
 In dancing any way. And standing up 
 Or lying down, or sitting up erect, 
 Or floating round and round amidst the crowd, 
 Or standing in embraces in the moon, 
 Where two make up the ball room company, 
 Or sitting in the alcoves of the hall, 
 Or leaning from the balustrade at ease, 
 Or else reclining on the bed or couch 
 Of secret chamber, all is one to her: 
 She 11 take it anyway or anywhere 
 With keen enjoyment: it is all a dance. 
 And so they feel themselves within men s arms 
 And feel their nipples pressing in their breasts,
 
 54 
 
 ELBLAXR E. 
 
 With the embraces, they are at their ease. 
 So let the dancing hall be where It may, 
 And let the company be two or more. 
 The love of one particular sensation 
 Inspires the animation of the dance 
 And makes the excited ladies dearly love it. 
 For ladies would much rather go to bed 
 And dream of dancing in the men s embraces 
 Than dance all night in other ladies arms. 
 
 (Musicians without play a march.) 
 But Osran, stay; you need not take the lady 
 Into your arms to dance while sitting down, 
 For the musicians now approach the hall. 
 
 (Musician* enter and go to place for than imtiyneil.) 
 Now, Lady Flirt, go shake your lovely legs; 
 And madame, you come out and shake your fat; 
 And lady, you go shake your dainty feet. 
 Up, lad es, up, without a special call; 
 That s right. Step out and let the men g-t at you. 
 Step out and shake your legs to music s time. 
 As for you men. come shake whate er you will. 
 Oh ! do shake off the fetters of this dullness, 
 And to the music toe it merrily. 
 Uy God I there comes not once in many a day 
 A chance like this to romp in jollity, 
 With such surroundings and to such gay airs. 
 
 L. F. Come dance, sir king. 
 
 Sir Corpulent. Go way: I will not dance. 
 
 L. F. I pray, sir king, do come and dance \\iili me. 
 
 <S. C. Go way: it is beneath my dignity. 
 
 L. F. Tour dignity? In God s name, what is that? 
 So, so: the common gratitude of kings. 
 We gave to you a crown to sign your office: 
 You will not give to us a single set. 
 Nor swing us in the circle of your arms.
 
 ELRLANKK. 
 
 55 
 
 S. O. Go way ! I tell you I m a married man; 
 And to the devil take the crowii along, 
 And then to yon I will be truly grateful. 
 
 L. F. Then, good sir king, I 11 kiss you and depart, 
 To prosecute my conquests otherwhere. 
 
 S. C. Go way, go way ! I am a bashful man, 
 Unused to the soft silliness of women. 
 Go way, or, by my soul ! I 11 get embarrassed. 
 I am a man of sterling diffidence, 
 To blush at favors so profusely given. 
 Go way, or, by my soul ! I ll act the booby. 
 Go way; on more appreciative lips 
 Do lavish kisses: give them not to me. 
 
 L. F. T is well: you do repel me from you then. 
 But 1 will never, never, never leave you; 
 For on you I am stuck with stickiness 
 That will not slip its grip when once it s stuck. 
 I will stand here and throw my kisses at you. 
 I ll plaster you from head to feet with kisses. 
 Around the sterile shores of your big mouth 
 I 11 plant them in whole troops and colonies. 
 I ll pelt you with them on your face and hair: 
 There, sir! take that, and that, and that, and that! 
 
 S. C. Not one of them did touch me anywhere. 
 Go off, you jade ! and leave me here alone: 
 For, by my soul ! I ll wipe your kisses off 
 Much faster than your lips can smack them on. 
 
 Attendant. Fray do not ask her, sir king, to go off: 
 She might do damage to somebody here. 
 Besides, sir, she is only well half cocked; 
 And nothing should go off until whole cocked. 
 Pray let her follow up her occupation. 
 
 L. F. Take that, and that, and that, and that, and that ! 
 
 8. O. Now, by the saints ! that last one was an egg. 
 God blast my corpse in twain, if I will stand it !
 
 156 ELBLANA E. 
 
 Farewell to grauduer, throne aiid royalty: 
 A king can be unseated with an egg. 
 
 L. F. Phee-oo 1 
 
 S. C. You stinking manufactory of odor ! 
 
 L. F. I ask for judgment whence the smell does come, 
 (lood bye, sir king; and pray how had you fared 
 If I had kissed you with two pairs of lips? 
 
 (Musicians play, and t/te attendants dance. An intermis 
 sion is had, and they break in pairs and coutpdiiies. One 
 pair goes to recess at front.) 
 
 Attendant. O lady, I do love you: be my wife. 
 
 Attendant. Alas! this weeping day; I do not love you. 
 
 Attendant. Oh! can it be, then, that I have no hope? 
 
 Attendant. I know not, sir, what sanguine hopes you have. 
 
 Attendant. But lady, lady, do you bid me hope ? 
 
 Attendant. In your disposal, I do make no bid. 
 
 Attendant. Oh ! tell me that perchance in future years 
 Your mind may undergo such happy change 
 That you will heed my pleading for your love. 
 But let me hope, and I will wait so long 
 As forty years of plodding, tiresome time. 
 
 Attendant. Good sir, I would not waitone-teuth that time. 
 If I did think I d have to wait two years; 
 I d say to you: my bed is ready; come. 
 
 Attendant. Fair lady, you had better not refuse me: 
 I swear, by heaven, 1 will exterminate 
 The men of all the world, till none are left 
 But me; then when you come with others Mot-king, 
 And on your bed implore me for my love 
 
 Attendant. You mean upon my knees, not on my bed. 
 
 Attendant. I mean just what I say: upon your bed. 
 
 Attendant. It s been the custom of the world forever, 
 To ask for love upon the bended knee: 
 Quite different things are asked for on the bed. 
 
 Attendant. Your customs have no business with me.
 
 ELBLANKE. 157 
 
 I 11 slay the men, and fence you round with arsenals, 
 
 To kill what comes within a mile of you. 
 
 Oh ! but my love is desperate love, mad love. 
 
 Then when you come and on your bed implore 
 
 Me for my love, in haughtiest disdain 
 
 I ll wait, and make you my four-millionth wife. [yours. 
 
 Attendant. Pray, sir, forget these dreadful threats of 
 
 Attendant. But I will not. Come, lady, let me hope. 
 Oh ! tell me you will love me after while. 
 Pray let me hope, and say that you will love me. 
 
 Attendant. Kind sir, I cannot love you as a husband; 
 But I will give to you a sister s love. 
 
 Attendant. How many brothers, such as this, have you? 
 
 Attendant. I do not know: about four hundred, sir. 
 
 Attendant. You have enough: I will not be another. 
 
 Attendant. No, brothers are a sweet commodity 
 A lady cannot have too many of. 
 
 Attendant. That, madam, does depend upon the haver. 
 When you begin to have them for your daughters, 
 You ll change your mind, and think that having brothers 
 Is not so very pleasant after all. 
 My word for it you will not want four hundred. 
 
 Attendant. If you do love me as you say you do, 
 It will be hard when I am married, sir. 
 
 Attendant. It will be hard, yes. very hard indeed. 
 
 Attendant. What will you do? 
 
 Attendant. I ll soften it, my love. 
 
 Attendant. Are members of your family inclined 
 To suicide, in disappointments, sir ? 
 
 Attendant. Oh, no; they re law-abiding citizens, [day? 
 
 Attendant. What will you do when comes my wedding 
 
 Attendant. Send you a rattle box and my best wishes. 
 
 Attendant. My love ! I 11 have you, I will be your wife: 
 We 11 keep the box and wishes in the family. 
 
 (Music and dancing. A keeper enters.) 
 
 Keeper. Break up ! break up ! the maniac is loose I
 
 158 ELBLAXKE. 
 
 Dukostren is at large. He broke his cell. 
 For my sake, scatter. To your rooms, I say, 
 And hide yourselves behind your bolts and bars. 
 This way ! this way 1 depart ! He ll come this way. 
 He is a devil with a giant s strength, 
 Begone 1 begone 1 or here remain and die. 
 
 (They rush confusedly to flight.) 
 
 SECOND SCENE. 
 
 Cell and corrider in the dungeon gaol of Dliiee polare. 
 Keeper standing at guard post duty. Keeper entsrs. 
 
 Keeper. Have you heard any tidings of the rogue ? 
 
 Keeper. He has not yet been seen. 
 He is in hiding somewhere in the palace. 
 But he may come this way ere long delay. 
 If he is now secreted anywhere 
 Among the cells, in this low dungeon keep, 
 He ll come this way to gain the stairs above. 
 
 Keeper. This freeing him is sure some devil s work. 
 
 Keeper. Why say you so ? 
 
 Keeper. I have been through his cell, 
 
 And find his chains have never been unfastened. 
 His shackles still are locked with triple bolts: 
 1 have the keys. See here, they ve not been touched. 
 These manacles I placed around his wrists 
 And they have held securely as I left them. 
 Now how could he withdraw his bony hands 
 And slip these fitting rings from off his legs 
 And shake away his chains, without the aid 
 Of some infernal devil to assist him. 
 
 Keeper. And are you sure no one has set him free ? 
 
 Keeper. Quite sure. I have the keys; no one has seen them. 
 
 Keeper. Then it must be some damned magician s tricks,
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 Who comes with devilish spells to worry us. 
 
 And everything of late has all gone wrong. 
 
 I never saw as much uneasiness 
 
 Among the people as of late there s been. 
 
 And not alone the things that live do dread 
 
 That some impending doom is gathering round: 
 
 Last night while sleeping in a lonely cell 
 
 I heard a noise of curious clattering 
 
 In that dark cell wherein we made the grave 
 
 Of him that we did keep before Dukostreu. 
 
 Well, I arose and peered into the cell 
 
 And such a sight I saw as froze my blood. 
 
 The earthen grave was burst as though a mole 
 
 Had pushed his secret way from underground, 
 
 And in the cell an upright sheleton 
 
 Was dancing to and fro in merry time. 
 
 His joints did creak as though the meatless bones 
 
 Did clash against each other at each step. 
 
 The bony toes did rattle on the stones, 
 
 And in the jaws his yellow teeth did gnash 
 
 And utter forth those sharp, discordant sounds 
 
 That roused me from my sleep. The specter held 
 
 Me chained as by enchantment to the spot 
 
 Until the dance was done, when it did smooth 
 
 The grave and settled in its place the stone 
 
 But did not go back to the place of burial 
 
 But vanished slowly in the murky air. 
 
 Keeper. It was the spook that set Dukostren free. 
 
 Keeper. He surely must have gone above as soon 
 As he released himself, or was released. 
 I 11 go above and aid the search up there. 
 
 (lie ascends the stone stairs.)
 
 l6o ELBLAA A E. 
 
 THIRD SCENE. 
 
 The great room of state in Dinee palace. Two keepers enter 
 and hide in an arbor. 
 
 Keeper. It does appear some occult agencies, 
 With supernatural means, are working round us. 
 My dread forebodes some dire calamity. 
 For never was 1 tortured so with fear 
 That does seem groundless, as to-day I ve been. 
 There s something in the wind that tells a man 
 His hour has come, when it approaches him. 
 I m near my tomb: I m looking in my grave. 
 To-morrow s sunrise I shall never see. [Specter entert. 
 
 Keeper. Well, stop this squeamishness: I get afraid, 
 And on my bones my flesh begins to crawl. 
 Great God ! look there ! [Dnkostren enters unseen. 
 
 Keeper. The specter skeleton ! 
 
 Dnkostren. Ha, ha, ha, ha ! f The specter vanishes. 
 
 Keeper. I know hell s music is a maniac s laugh. 
 
 Keeper. How did he come, and us not notice him ? 
 
 Keeper. We were engaged intently with the ghost 
 That came and vanished there before our eyes. 
 
 (Lulu corner in with head bowed, absorbed in thought.) 
 
 Keeper. Great God, protect the princess ! 
 
 Keeper. God save the child. 
 
 Lulu. O Esper, darling, is this human life 
 Worth all the woe it takes to live it through ? 
 And what is life this momentary race 
 Along the shifting sands of fleeting time? 
 And death of good the boon, of bad the bane? 
 And vast eternity, profound, sublime? 
 A barren island drear and desolate, 
 With dismal wastes of swamps, and arid plains 
 Where summer s burning winds and winter s blasts. 
 Among the lonely ruins on the wild,
 
 ELBLANKE. l6l 
 
 With ceaseless, solemn voice sing dirges sad 
 And mournful requiems to myriads dead, 
 Is life or time. And through this dreary isle 
 All through the time while the long ages roll, 
 Is heard the solemn tramping of that band 
 Which ever marches toward the shadowy shore 
 Of death, that dark and gloomy gulf which rolls 
 Forever round the isle of time. The shores 
 Of death are ever thronged by somber sails: 
 And here embark all pilgrims; kings and serfs, 
 The soldier and the citizen, the weak, 
 The strong, the rich, the poor all equal here 
 Embark and breast the gulf of rolling storms. 
 But oh ! behold ! Here may you see embark 
 Vast numbers with the craven pilot Fear; 
 Some, sad and sorrowful, Destruction seek; 
 Some grim and gaunt Despair; some Ruin dire. 
 But others, happy lot ! with Hope steer forth, 
 And others with the mild-eyed angel, Faith; 
 Yet others fall upon the breast of Truth; 
 Calm Confidence and Love their numbers find: 
 And all to great eternity press on. 
 And as they go, they see upon the shore, 
 Across the main, celestial spirits bright 
 In myriad throngs, a-hymniug joyful praise, 
 And harping glory to a radiant form 
 Which stands upon the gleaming strand, with mild 
 Aspect serene. Then may you see the crews 
 With Hope, and Faith, and Trust, and Confidence, 
 And Love, assuming glorious shapes, with wings, 
 With harps held in their hands, and hear them join 
 In heavenly anthems of eternal praise. 
 Their prows grate on the sand; they leap ashore 
 And fall into the arms of him who stood 
 To welcome them to bliss unspeakable. 
 Before them opes perfection of grand scenes, 
 11
 
 1 62 ELBLANKE. 
 
 The work of God, by men called Nature s charms. 
 
 Vast bloom embroidered plains, with mirror lakes 
 
 And rippling streams. Here hill and mountain rise 
 
 And pensive valley sleeps between. The groves 
 
 Of bud and flower and fruit appear as gold 
 
 And silver clouds against a setting sun. 
 
 The air breathes balm. The songsters warble forth 
 
 Their tuneful notes of praise from perch in bower 
 
 Or tree, or borne on sportive wing in air. 
 
 This region holds a city famed throughout 
 
 The realms where the all-knowing God does reign; 
 
 And in this city grows the tree of knowledge. 
 
 Which springs in loveliness and opes its blooms 
 
 To fill eternity with sweet perfumes; 
 
 And then its fruits, the fruits the gods adore, 
 
 Grow ripe and are plucked off by happy souls. 
 
 The weary pilgrim from the isle of time 
 
 Is on the shores of bright eternity 
 
 Made welcome by a messenger of God; 
 
 "Which messenger Is the loved earthly lover. 
 
 l- rom here they journey through enchanted ground 
 
 ]}y dewy paths at will, or on the air 
 
 Sublimely rise and slowly float along, 
 
 Unto the blazing portals of sweet heaven. 
 
 O grand eternity, I long for thee 1 
 
 ]Jut where, oh 1 where, are those who scorned to climb 
 
 The heights of honor, usefulness and fame ? 
 
 Where now are those who wallowed in the bogs 
 
 Of life, and lost the opportunities 
 
 To use the golden moments speeding by? 
 
 Who failed to spurn vile sloth and wickedness? 
 
 Forgiveness scorned and proffered mercy, too, 
 
 And lent dishonor to the form of man ? 
 
 They step aboard a barque, and through the mad 
 
 Turmoil of thundering breakers hold their way 
 
 Beneath the gloom that shrouds the face of Death.
 
 KLBLANKE. 163 
 
 They would hold back, and cling convulsively 
 To those poor drowsy idols of their lives. 
 
 God ! how dearly they abide the cost 
 
 Of failure to chain down the hounds of hell. 
 
 Lust, pride, hate, guile, scorn, fraud, deceit and lies ! 
 
 But borne they onward are resistlessly. 
 
 They see the form of God upon the strand 
 
 Of that elysian land, eternity; 
 
 But round His glorious head, His awful form, 
 
 Ten million nameless terrors flame and burn. 
 
 They pause, they shudder, and with horror thrill. 
 
 Adown the currents of black death they glide 
 
 And leap for refuge mong the fires of hell. 
 
 Oh, bliss in heaven ! Oh, woe in reeking hell ! 
 
 (Lulu walks slowly out never seeing Dukoslren.) 
 
 Dukostren. Ha, ha, ha, ha ! 
 
 Keeper. By heaven ! sweet innocence quells anything. 
 The whole united powers of evil stand 
 Awed into peace in presence of sweet purity. 
 It is its own defender and it s safe; 
 For God has made it mightiest of the mighty. 
 (Dukostren gets into the throne.) 
 
 Dukostren. They said I could not reign, but I can rule; 
 They said I could not grin, but I can laugh; 
 They say I caunot die. Ha, ha, ha, ha ! 
 
 (He descends from the throne.) 
 I ll show them. Now that I have been a king 
 
 1 have accomplished what my life intended; 
 And now I ll die an ordinary death. 
 
 O rank, rank fools, come see me I I am dead. 
 
 Keeper. My friend Dukostreu, what do you do here ? 
 
 Dukostren. Do not expect me to give you an answer, 
 For I have died a real, unquestioned death. 
 
 Keeper. You are not dead. 
 
 Dukostren. I tell you I am dead. 
 
 Keeper. No, no: you are not dead; come on with uie.
 
 164 ELKLAXK E. 
 
 Dukostren. Take my advice, and do nt dispute with me: 
 I am as dead as any dog in town. 
 
 Keeper. How can you talk, then, if you are so dead? 
 
 Dukostren. Now do not try to reason with me, sir; 
 You can t convince me that I am not dead. 
 
 Keeper. I tell you, sir, you are not dead; come on. 
 
 Dukostren. Take that! and with it take along more raiv; 
 And henceforth do not monkey with dead men. 
 
 Keeper. Get up! get up! are you hurt seriously? 
 
 Keeper. My bones! the lightning struck me ninety times. 
 My eyes do feel as big as billiard balls, 
 And my poor head roars like an angry lion: 
 The stars of heaven came down upon my nose, 
 And on its bridge performed the devil s can-can. 
 
 Keeper. What shall we do with him? 
 
 Keeper. I have a plan: 
 
 Just wait, and give me time to try it on him. 
 Alas! poor old Dukostren! he Is dead! [Weep*. 
 
 Dukoxtren. Ha, ha, ha, ha! 
 
 Kef per. Poor Duke is dead, as any dog in town. [ Weep*. 
 
 Dukoxtren. Ha, ha, ha, ha. 
 
 Keper. Let us prepare to give him Christian burial. 
 
 Dukotitren. Ha, ha, ha, ha! 
 
 Keeper. Go bring a coffin while I watch beside him. 
 I will not speak to him. and if he moves, 
 We then will know that he is not quite dead. 
 
 (Dukontren and keeper act in pantomime. Time briny* 
 the keeper back icith coffin and attendants.) 
 
 Keeper. Bring here the casket: place it by his side. 
 
 Dukostren. Where are the cerements? 
 
 Keeper. We have them here. 
 
 Brande. By God! it is the first time I have known 
 A man to supervise his funeral. 
 
 Kfeper. Enwrap him in a shroud. 
 
 Diikostren. I ll not be buried 
 
 If I am to be buried in a shroud.
 
 ELBLANKE. 1 65 
 
 Brande. For a dead man, you re damned particular. 
 What do you wish, then, to be buried in ? 
 
 Dukostren. I would be buried in a girl s nightgown. 
 
 Keeper. About as foolish as all other fashions 
 Of sending men dressed up to heaven or hell. 
 
 Brande. Go quickly out, sir; get some girl s nightgown, 
 If you are forced to drag her from her bed 
 And strip it roughly from. her legs and arms. 
 
 Dukostren. When I am dressed, and in my coffin placed. 
 Take me into the cemetery, friends, 
 And dig my grave two hundred feet in depth; 
 Then, when I ain entombed, place o er my head 
 A monument of gold some ten miles high, 
 That I may be remembered through all ages. 
 
 Keeper. What have you done that you deserve so much? 
 
 Dukostren. I ve lived and died. 
 
 Brande. You ll get your just deserts. 
 
 The world, with all its base ingratitude, 
 Gives fairly justice in reward of merit. 
 The man with little, who would have some more, 
 Should first deserve and then make his demands: 
 For to demand before is beggary, 
 And to expect before is foolishness. 
 
 (The attendant enters with gown.} 
 
 Attendant. I borrowed one that s worn by Madam Fat. 
 
 Brande. Well, deck him in it, and make quicker speed. 
 
 Dukostren. Ha, ha, ha, ha ! 
 
 Brande. Now place him gently in the coffin, friends. 
 
 Dukostren. I will get in myself. 
 
 Attendant. He is the first 
 
 Dead man I ve known to enter his own coffin. 
 
 Brande. To see a dead man going to his coffin. 
 I grant is rather strange; but living men 
 Are by the million hollowing out their beds 
 In the moist bosom of old Mother Earth, 
 And yet the world takes little note of them.
 
 1 66 ELBLAXKE. 
 
 DnJcoatren. Wait: I ve fortrotten something: hold a bit. 
 I did neglect to bid a last adieu 
 To sweet old Mother Earth. Farewell, old mother! 
 On your loved breast I have reposed for long. 
 And though I sucked a pap that yielded bitter 
 Milk which did nurture up a life of gall, 
 T was all my fault: I might have sucked I lie nipples 
 That would have yielded me the sweets of life; 
 Hut in my mouth I drew a filthy pap. 
 And reveled in a bitter draught of woe. 
 1 have but little here with you to leave, 
 And less regret should feel to leave that little; 
 But I do feel that after all is said 
 Of misery and weariness of life, 
 T will in the end be proven conclusively, 
 That there are worse localities than earth. 
 Farewell, sweet lady: take my kiss of love. 
 
 Britnde. The proper time to do a proper thing 
 Is when t is not too early nor too late: 
 The proper time for an improper thing 
 Is never, or some later time than that: 
 Therefore lie down, and be you firmly dead; 
 T is right to live in life and die in death; 
 But curse the man who living is half dead, 
 Or who in death does feign a seeming life. 
 
 ( They fatten Dukn*frfn diurn and bear him aicny.) 
 Now lock him in his cell and. on your life, 
 See that he does not get away again. 
 
 FOURTH SCENE. 
 
 GII.IJKR S apartment in Dinee pakice. GIMIKK and Lion 
 come in. 
 
 ft liber. You dear old Lion; you re a faithful boy. 
 When in the whirlpools of the Crystal Way 
 I once was thrown, when none but you were near, 
 You. noble fellow! sprang in by my side
 
 * 
 
 ELBI.AXKE. 167 
 
 Aud drew ine breathless from a watery tomb. 
 
 But I must all your kindness now repay 
 
 With mean and horrible ingratitude: 
 
 You saved a life once that would take your own. 
 
 But Lion, I do love you though I here 
 
 Do take your life. I must go hence, old boy. 
 
 For though my life is very dear to me 
 
 I ll spend it for the sake of sister s love. 
 
 When I get home up there my God will ask: 
 
 "What did you buy, child, with the wealth I gave?" 
 
 And I will answer: "Father, I did spend 
 
 It for a sister s happiness on earth." 
 
 And then he, like a kind and loving Father, 
 
 Will say: "You have done well, my faithful child." 
 
 I do not want to go and leave you here: 
 
 You would not want to stay and let me go. 
 
 Oh ! it is hard when from the hand of friend 
 
 We must accept the cause of sad, sad woe ! 
 
 But, Lion, let me send you on before, 
 
 So mother, when she hears your joyful bark, 
 
 Will know I m coming and come out to meet me. 
 
 Yes, just across the dismal gulf of death, 
 
 I know she ll stand to clasp me in her arms. 
 
 You too, old fellow, will, half mad with joy, 
 
 Leap wildly round us in your merry glee. 
 
 (He gives Lion poison. Lion dies. He covers him with a rug.) 
 
 Farewell, old boy ! And that still calm is death. 
 
 O God ! what horror freezes up my heart 
 
 And stops the currents in my icy veins. 
 
 O sister, 1 can t do it; I m afraid. 
 
 My lovely, loving sister! loved, it must be done. 
 
 Pray listen, God, and hear the humble prayers 
 
 Of your poor, erring child. These hands are bloody 
 
 That I lift up to you; but make them clean, 
 
 And hear in mercy this, my wicked prayer: 
 
 Let father never know that I, his boy,
 
 1 68 ELBLANKE. 
 
 Assailed myself and took away my life; 
 
 Let sister never kuow 1 died for her: 
 
 But let them think that Heaven called me home. 
 
 And at the final day take them to you; 
 
 But keep my sister from me till I die. 
 
 You will not scorn to listen to these prayers, 
 
 Will you, my God? I kuow you will not, Father. 
 
 But how can I plead in my own behalf ? 
 
 When I have died, will I go down to hell 
 
 To be tormented in eternal woe ? 
 
 Oh! if it must be so, I pray you, God, 
 
 To let me come and kiss my mother, first; 
 
 Let me be pressed against her loving breast, 
 
 And gaze upon her face I loved so well. 
 
 Let me beside your throne kneel down awhile, 
 
 To worship you and look upon your face; 
 
 For I have loved you, Father, all my life. 
 
 Give me this boon before you damn my soul; 
 
 Then, after mother has me in her arms, 
 
 And after I have felt her loving kisses, 
 
 And after I have looked upon your face, 
 
 I beg you, do not tear her from her boy, 
 
 And do not cloud your glorious face in frowns, 
 
 And do not, after I have been in bliss, 
 
 Drive me out, headlong, into endless pain, 
 
 AVhere demons dwell chained in the cells of hell: 
 
 I do not want to go from here to hell; 
 
 I cannot bear to go from heaven to hell. [He takes tTie poison. 
 
 God save me ! Mother, come and get your boy I 
 
 (Lulu enters soon after.) 
 
 Lulu. Did you call sister, brother? [prayed 
 
 Gilber (to himself). God knew I did not mean it, when I 
 
 That sister might be kept away from me. 
 
 Come, sister, take your Gilber in your arms. 
 Lulu,, My brother, let me give you something, that. 
 (Kisses him.)
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 169 
 
 Gilber. With many thanks, I give it back again. 
 I know your sadness, Lulu; do not speak; 
 Let silence talk for both of us this hour; 
 Or, rather, in calm quiet let our hearts, 
 Our minds, our eyes, our lips, our thoughts, our souls, 
 Keep up our conversation. May it be? 
 
 Lulu. T is said that silence is most eloquent 
 Sometimes, and it is so. T is when the time, 
 The place, the scenes, the event, the thought, the dread, 
 The occasion, circumstance, or pending deed, 
 The love, the hate, the sorrow, or the joy 
 Is speaking, with a silent voice and tongue, 
 In eloquence not consonant with sound. 
 Oh! if my woe can any utterance find, 
 It must be in the cadences of calm. 
 If trains of words should seek to bear it on, 
 T would be as though the mocking bird had tried 
 To sing creation s first, great, noble song; 
 Or as the parrot trying to describe 
 The battle s roaring, or the thunder storm. 
 
 Gilber. If pity could alleviate your grief \_Kisses her. 
 T would flee as darkness from the noonday sun. 
 
 Lulu. Why so demonstrative to-day, my pet ? 
 You cling to me as though you fear to lose me: 
 Your kiss was passionate, even to excess. 
 Tis not to voice displeasure that I ask, 
 For brother s love cannot displease a sister, 
 But this degree of frenzy, (such it is.) 
 Not common, is not by me understood. 
 But stay! I know the cause: you pity me: 
 My grief is yours. I see I have done wrong. 
 What right have 1, when gloom is in my heart, 
 To ope its prison doors and set it free 
 To whelm the sphere around us with its dark 
 And rotting vapors. I ll close its fountains up, 
 Though it confined should heave my bosom wide, 
 As force volcanic rifts the mountain s form.
 
 1 70 ELBI.ANKE. 
 
 Gilber. I do, myself, know what it is to hold 
 Locked in the heart that which the lungs do pant 
 And writhe to hurl in fervor on the air. 
 15ut which the will with brazen chains binds down. 
 
 Lulu. What know you, pet? In kindness tell your sister. 
 
 Gilber. Oh, no! If I should tell, twould then be five; 
 The captive which your brother now holds IUMV, 
 Would, like a polar blast in torrid clime. 
 Hush to your heart and its warm blood congeal. 
 Pray, gentle sister, tempt me not to tell. 
 
 Lulu. Why tell so much, then on my speech lay down 
 This hard injunction? [T/icy rerUne <>n ranch. 
 
 Gilber. Pray tempt me not: for love of me forbear. 
 Now let me ask of you this boon: there is 
 A silver ladder reaching to the skies 
 Whereon the sonl may climb out from this sphere 
 And play delightful games among the stars. 
 There is a golden stair up which the mind 
 May mount to heaven, and with celestials join 
 In praise around the throne of the Most High. 
 There is a pair of downy, snowy wings 
 Whereon the spirit may ascend and soar, 
 Among the spicy groves and o er the plains, 
 The mirror lakes and streams of Paradise. 
 That stair, those wings, that ladder, are sweet music. 
 And think you, sister, that which lifts us up 
 In spirit, mind and soul, so high, does drop 
 Us, when it ceases, like a meteor, down, 
 To drive us deeper in this muddy sphere? 
 
 Lulu. The sonl, the mind, the spirit are the man; 
 What lifts them up does elevate the man, 
 Not as a rocket which does rise and fall, 
 But lifts him to a higher level plane. 
 
 Gilber. If it should lift me to the doors of heaven 
 It could not drop me through the doors of hell ? 
 
 Lulu. Why talk so Gilbert
 
 I-.LBLANKE. 
 
 171 
 
 Gilbcr. I know not. But the boon I ask. 
 
 Come, sister, sing a lullaby to me. 
 
 Lulu. What shall I sing ? 
 
 Gilber. My inind remembers one my mother sang. 
 Twas years ago. I ve heard you siug it, too. 
 You know it: sing it for me; while you sing 
 I want to sleep; and oh ! that I could ope 
 My eyes upon the lovely vale of Eden. 
 
 Lulu (sings). 
 
 Sweet sirens come and bring [Sire* descend playing 
 Your harps a song to sing [accompaniment to her voice. 
 
 In rapturous rhyme and soul subduing numbers; 
 
 So sweetly sound each string, [Sirens play through 
 Such lovely music ring {the stanza and vanish. 
 
 That Gilber soon shall sink in soothing slumbers. 
 
 Come nymphs from out the dells [Nymph* appear 
 
 Among the ocean swells, [and dance in figure. 
 
 In many a merry, graceful, gliding band, 
 
 And wind your sounding shells [ Tliey sound their 
 
 And with your magic spells [instrument* and vanish. 
 
 Transport my brother into fairy land. 
 
 How musical the night ! [Harmon;/ of mrtet sounds 
 
 The mild and mellow light [heard. Lift fit foods in. 
 From moon and stars like molten music streams; 
 
 It comes in rapid flight, 
 
 Like cherubs robed in white, 
 And beckons Gilber to the land of dreams. 
 
 Now, dewy-pinioned Sleep [Sleep (Death ] descends. 
 
 Comes sinking down the steep 
 Of slumbering heaven s wide expanded dome: 
 
 And with an airy sweep [Sleep horers a time, 
 
 Of dewy wings, to keep [then descends on Gilber. 
 
 Her floating, lingers in our happy home.
 
 172 ELBLAXKE. 
 
 With her, pure phantom Dreams [Dreams cross *tgf, 
 
 Come driving, with their teams [in beam* of light. 
 
 Of elfiu horses harnessed to their cars; 
 
 To Gilber s mind it seems 
 
 They ride the brilliant beams 
 Of light descending from the distant stars. 
 
 An angel hovers by, [Verdi spirit appears. Uilberdiex; 
 
 A seraph from on high, [his spirit ascends. <uul is clasped 
 And waits to clasp my darling to her breast; [to Yarn s breast. 
 
 And then away they fly, [They ascend and ra/n sh. 
 
 And enter, through the sky, 
 Into the land of sleep and dreams and rest. 
 
 Vera. A mother watches o er her child in life; 
 A mother is beside her child in death; 
 A mother waits to take her darling home. 
 
 Lulu. Sweet, dewy sleep, that dissipates all WOP. 
 Please waken, brother; I do get so lonely. 
 Forgive me, brother, if I rouse you up, 
 And call you from the fairy land of sleep 
 Into the cold realities of life. 
 
 What, sleeping yet? Sweet brother, you are weary: 
 IJut I will soothe you, when you are aroused, 
 As softly as the wings of Sleep herself. 
 Here, let me send this message to you, brother, [ A7.w him. 
 That you are wanted by your sister here. 
 How placid, cool and calm in sleep he is! 
 And oh ! that I, in sleep as sweet and gentle. 
 Could cross my span of life and only waken 
 Jn time to hear my welcome from my Father: 
 And yet how wroug to wish this splendid chance 
 For deeds of good, for love, were lost in sleep, 
 And indolence of inactivity. 
 House (iilber! Brother Gil her, end your sleep. 
 
 (!>he kisxi s him, bru*he* back hi* hair, and tinrltixjis him 
 to lay her hand on hix heart, tihe dixcon-rx he is dead. She 
 falls caressinuly II/HUI his breast and falls him by his name.)
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 Gilber ! O Gilber ! you have left your sister, 
 
 That loved your presence with a faithful love. 
 
 You went away and never said "Farewell." 
 
 I did not think that you would go from me, 
 
 And leave me lonely on the shores of time, 
 
 Into the realms of vast eternity 
 
 O blest eternity, profound, sublime ! 
 
 But cold and quiet grows your graceful form 
 
 And gone forever is your gentle breath; 
 
 Your heart grows cold, O heart that was so warm ! 
 
 And pale, but beautiful, you are in death. 
 
 gracious Father, hear me in my cry, 
 And give my darling back to me agaiu, 
 Or let my spirit with his homeward fly, 
 
 And lay my form where his sweet form is lain. 
 
 (Esper enters.} 
 Esper. My loved and loving Lulu ! my heart s love ! 
 
 1 ve reconsidered my firm resolution 
 To not see you until the duel hour; 
 
 For now you re mine and then you may not be. 
 I ve come to kiss my own, my loved, sweet girl. 
 I see you watch beside the little prince; 
 And is your brother sleeping, pretty Lulu ? 
 
 Lulu. Yes: sleeping in the last long sleep of death. 
 
 Esper. Unhappy Lulu ! is it possible? 
 
 (He kneels beside her and embraces her.) 
 There is no comfort for a sister s grief. 
 He s gone forever: he will come no more. 
 You ll always listen for his step in vain. 
 Your ears will often strain to catch the sound 
 Of his loved voice that called you sister Lulu. 
 Oh! how you ll miss his loving company, 
 The kisses and caresses of his love. 
 You let the current of your rushing tears 
 Flow softly, sweetly and unbiddeuly. 
 Well, sister s heart and sister s eyes must weep. 
 
 173
 
 174 ELBLAXKE. 
 
 But see and hear with mental eyes and ears. 
 
 Look through the region of unbounded space, 
 
 And in the lovely valley of mild Eden 
 
 See him immortal with the throngs of blest. 
 
 Then listen with the spirit s mental ear: 
 
 Hear from afar, afar among the stars, 
 
 Slow sliding down among the hosts of globes, 
 
 Like the soft music of a magic harp, 
 
 Your brother s gentle voice call down to you: 
 
 "Sweet sister, just a little longer time, 
 
 And as I am ir.y sister, too, will be. 
 
 I in waiting for your coming and your kiss. 
 
 (She weeps upon Jiin shoulder.) 
 Now I will go and tell your father, Lulu, 
 And Dimon, too, so that he may prepare 
 The bier for Gilber. Farewell, darling Lulu. 
 
 Lulu. Bring father here and let me tell it him. 
 
 E*ptr. I will remember. Farewell, pretty Lulu. 
 (Goes out. Hoonoolun enters.} 
 
 Hoonoolun. You know not all: your brother died for you. 
 Between his lips there passed a deadly drug, 
 That did break down his prison house of clay, 
 And gave his soul that freedom that it longed for. 
 
 Lulu. O brother Gilber ! 
 
 llnonoolun. Nay, kiss him Lulu. 
 
 Let me tell you it all. He was forgiven. 
 He was a boy, but his boy s love was infinite. 
 The pure, unselfish purpose of his deed. 
 Was its atonement and its expiation. 
 I saw him die. I saw his spirit soar 
 Up through my realms and onward into space. 
 1 marked the lovely cherub in its flight, 
 And the bright spirit of your angel mother 
 Was with him. I marked them in their ascent, 
 And saw the angels coming out to meet them, 
 Anil heard their songs of rapture in the skies.
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 Then, soon I saw the universe grow brighter, 
 And-felt creation throb with boundless joy: 
 For God had smiled that Gilber was forgiven. 
 
 Lulu. O brother Gilber, then you died for me! 
 
 Hoonoolun. The ocean queen and I are warring now 
 To sink this land, as we foredoomed we would. 
 We have prevailed in part, for great Seldare 
 We have plunged low beneath the roaring waves. 
 Two great, green, glassy walls of foaming waters 
 Rolled over her from east and western bounds: 
 The cities vanished like the foamy bubbles; 
 The works of man did perish instantly. 
 Oh! it did grind the mountains and the hills 
 And crushed them with an awful, roaring jar, 
 Above the deafening peals of my dread thunders. 
 The nations shrieked; but there was heard no sound 
 Above the horrid roar of a wrecked world. 
 The universe was moved: creation shook. 
 The heavens bellowed back the thunder s boom. 
 The angels from the battlements of heaven 
 Looked down upon the scene, and, shuddering, fled. 
 So many souls came upward through my realm, 
 The rushing of their wings was like the wings 
 Of summer winds, that played among the trees 
 Of that great kingdom that is now no more. 
 But I did look; and rushing down to hell 
 Were such vast troops of souls, that its wide throat 
 Was choked, as it did yawn to swallow them. 
 (Hoonoolun departs.) 
 
 Lulu. Oh ! I forget my grief: I m near my God. 
 1 am so near His breast that it does seem 
 I almost feel the throbbing of His heart. 
 Sweet brother, you did just go on before. 
 My grief for me is great; for you tis greater; 
 But for the nations, how I weep, God ! 
 My brother, do you sleep the sleep of death ? 
 
 175
 
 1 76 ELBLANK E. 
 
 You lie so peacefully, I scarce can think so. 
 But father soon will come; I must be ready. 
 
 (She, composes the couch whereon Oilier is sleeping, and 
 plucks a bouquet of flowers and fastens them in his breast, 
 gits by him and weeps till Ikor enters. Lulu runs to meet 
 and kiss him. She leads him to the courJt.) 
 
 Lulu, riease, father, is not that a lovely pi ant? [Fointstoit. 
 
 Ikor. It Is superb. 
 
 Lulu. Those flowers I plucked from it. 
 
 (Points to those on Oilber.) 
 
 Ikor. Is Gilber sleeping? 
 
 Lulu. Yes, father, he is sleeping. 
 
 These flowers grew upon the parent stem, 
 And shed their sweet perfumes, until I plucked them; 
 But now they lie there slowly withering. 
 
 Ikor. Yes, they do fade when they are plucked away. 
 
 Lulu. Please, father, do you think your Lulu lovely? 
 
 Ikor. She is the sweetest flower God has made. 
 I U-I1 you this because you are not vain. 
 I know that you ll not think it flattery. 
 
 Lulu. But, father, will your Lulu s beauty fade? 
 
 Ikor. Yes, child. 
 
 Lulu. But, father, I don t want it to; 
 
 I want to be forever your sweet Lulu. 
 
 Ikor. Ah ! God will take you, with your beauty, Lulu, 
 In His good time. I mean by fading beauty, 
 This form so perfect will not always be; 
 This gold will change to silver by and by. 
 These cheeks will wan, these lips be not so rosy; 
 But you will still be beautiful, my love, 
 For loveliness is in a lovely life. 
 
 Lulu. And will our God take me away from yon? 
 
 Ikor. Xo; I do hope that he will first take me. 
 
 Lulu. Will he take Gilber from us both, dear father? 
 
 Ikor. He may: we cannot fathom His intentions. 
 
 Lulu. O father, if our Gilber should not waken !
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 177 
 
 Ikor. My child, I will not think of such a thing. 
 
 Lulu. But, father, he is sleeping. 
 
 Ikor. Yes, he s sleeping. 
 
 Lulu. But, father, why does Gilber sleep so soundly ? 
 
 Ikor. Why, you alarm me, child: your voice is crying; 
 Your eyes are crying while your face does smile. [IS he weeps. 
 Great God ! it cannot be ! You do not mean 
 
 (He puts Lulu away, and goes to Gilber. He knows all.) 
 Oh! my sou, Gilber! my hopes died with you! 
 You were my pride, my glory, my ambition. 
 God, did you kill him for his father s fault 
 In being stony hearted to his sister ? 
 It does seem so; for this does set her free. 
 Go rule your heavens, and leave me to my kingdom ! 
 Why did you not slay me to make her free ? 
 Why did you not, in your almighty power, 
 Devise some easier plan to do your will? 
 Hear me, you God of Heaven ! By your own name, 
 I swear that you shall not accomplish that 
 For which you slew my boy. Hear me: I swear it I 
 She shall wed Rogon in despite of you, 
 And in contempt of my own kingdom s laws. 
 If you did think, by slaying this brave boy, 
 To free the princess and subdue my heart, 
 It argues you not knowing everything: 
 For I, the king, will circumvent your will. 
 Accursed be you, for giving life to me ! 
 Accursed be you, for giving me a boy ! 
 
 Accursed be you, for taking him away ! . 
 
 Accursed be you, for letting me yet live ! 
 Accursed be you, for this burlesque, this life ! 
 Which makes of living man a dumb, d d Tool. 
 
 Lulu. Oh, father ! father ! it is impotent 
 To curse the high and holy name of God 
 The Father who has welcomed Gilber home. 
 Place Gilber here, where we may both caress him. 
 12
 
 1 78 ELBLAXKE. 
 
 And father, let me try to comfort you, 
 
 Though grief for him is breaking my own heart. 
 
 I love you, father; curse our (lot! no more, 
 
 For it is arrogance and blasphemy: 
 
 And who can curse but that same God alone ? 
 
 Ikor. You curse of God, begone ! out of my sight ! 
 But for you, curse you ! Gilber had yet lived ! 
 
 Lulu. My father, you did once love both of us. 
 I prayed to God that I myself might die, 
 And prayed for life for my loved brother, Gilber. 
 Oh ! how I wish that I had slain myself ! 
 I cried for Gilber when he went away, 
 For father, father, I did love him, too. 
 My heart yearns for him with a love like yours. 
 You once did clasp us both in your strong arms, 
 And loved us both so we could never tell 
 Which one you loved the best; but you have ohanired: 
 You cursed me that I lived when Gilber died. 
 When Heaven willed it and forgot my prayc 1 
 That I might die and him be let to live. 
 Call me back, father, call your Lulu back. 
 
 (He starts to her; she shudders and looks Jiorrified. \ 
 Come on and kill me, father; you don t love me, 
 (He places Gilber on couch and covers his face in his hnmlx. ) 
 
 Ikor. Oh ! that my acts should make her think 
 I meant her lovely, lily form to harm. 
 T was love, not rage, that moved me. to you, Lulu. 
 (Pei-xii8 enter.} 
 
 Lulu. Oh, thank you, father ! 
 
 Dimon. Leave them here awhile. 
 
 Have the musicians and pall bearers ready. [They pas* out. 
 
 Lulu. And do you love me father? 
 
 Ikor. My child ! my Lulu ! 
 
 (Rogon looks in npnn them from concealment.) 
 
 Lulu. And do you. father, now forgive your Lulu, 
 Even though she lives to ask it ?
 
 ELKLAXKE. 179 
 
 Ikor. My poor wronged child ! 
 
 I love you, but I "ve nothing to forgive. 
 O Lulu, iny whole life must be a prayer 
 To you, that you ll forgive your erring father. 
 
 Lulu. Then with this kiss I do forgive you, father, 
 Whatever you do think should be forgiven; 
 But, father, will you grant me one request? 
 
 Ikor. Whatever I can grant you shall be yours. 
 
 Lulu. Then kneel with me down here by Gilber s side 
 And pray to God that he will send forgiveness 
 For the great sin you did awhile ago. 
 
 Ikor. Oh ! that the child should have to lead the father. 
 Yes, daughter Lulu, I will try to pray 
 With earnestness in words; but by my acts 
 I ll pray a better prayer ere this day wanes. 
 My child, the greed of gain damns the whole world. 
 
 Dimon. My lord, let me intrude upon your grief 
 To say that all is ready now prepared 
 To bear the little prince into the chamber 
 Where he shall sleep until the tomb receives him. 
 Should we come in ? 
 
 Ikor. Yes, Dimon, bear him on. 
 
 (Musicians playing dirge, lords with boiced heads, ladies 
 weeping, pall bearers with bier, boys with drapery, girls with 
 flowers, torches, soldiers enter. They place Gilber on the 
 bier and in procession, while tlie musicians play funeral 
 march, they pass off the stage.) 
 
 FIFTH SCENE. 
 
 ( The chamber of death. Draped and decorated pavilion 
 in the center and within it the catafalque. Files of uni 
 formed soldiers guarding on either side, and in the front tiro 
 squares of regulars of the king s nation s guard. The 
 funeral march is continued without, and now the procession 
 approaches the pavilion chamber of death. Torches enter, 
 bier enters, musicians enter, KING IKOB and GBACIELA
 
 I So ELBLANKE. 
 
 enter, ESPER and LULU enter, lords and ladies enter, squad 
 of soldiers in military array enter, boys with drapings enter, 
 girls with flowers enter last, Torches pause, at the four pillars 
 of the pavilion, pall bearers place the body of GILBER in state, 
 and the procession motes through pavilion and divides into 
 two ranks and forms -around the hall. LULU kneels at the 
 head of the bier on the draped stepped altar of catafalque, 
 under the golden, burning swinging censers. IKOR on right, 
 ESPER on left, GRACIELA beside LULU. Musicians pla>y a 
 requiem. Boy 8 Jiang crape and drapery, and sing.) 
 
 Hearts are weeping, tears are flowing 
 For the sleeping boy that s going home. 
 Censers swinging, angels singing, 
 While they re winging down heaven s dome. 
 
 Earth has lost thee, princely hoy ! 
 Death does father s hopes destroy 1 
 Sister s heart is full of woe 
 For her brother boy lain low ! 
 
 Kiss the sleeping, kiss him smiling; 
 Kiss the lips, caress the form; 
 Though the kisses and caresses 
 His cold lips can never warm: 
 
 As he sleeps we all shall slumber 
 And the self same path he s trod. 
 When our days have filled the number. 
 We 11 march upward to our God. 
 
 ( The girls come round the catafalque with floirrr* and 
 ttroic them on the bier and in pavilion, and sing. ) 
 
 Blooms round the living tenderly spread; 
 Love for the living; grief for the dead. 
 Lilies and roses over the head 
 Hang for the living mourning the dead. 
 ( They lean a cross of lilies on Lulu s shoulder, and place 
 a crown of roses on her head.)
 
 ELBLANKE. 181 
 
 Father, have mercy, pity we pray ! 
 Care for the living, keep us ahvay. 
 Dead oiies are with you. O God, we pray, 
 Care for the living, save us alway. 
 
 FIFTH ACT. 
 
 FIRST SCENE. 
 T/w top of the dome of Di nee palace. KOGOX enters. 
 
 Hogon. Death makes the princess free. She ll marry 
 Unless I can, by some swift act prevent it. [Esper, 
 
 The purpose of the king is broken down. 
 I listened when he was with Lulu, there 
 Beside the body of the little prince, 
 And saw him softened and I heard him say: 
 "Yes, daughter Lulu, I will try to pray 
 With earnestness iu words; but by my acts 
 I 11 pray a better prayer ere this day wanes." 
 That means that he will make her Esper s wife, 
 And thereby seek to make a restitution 
 To her for what he had deprived her of. 
 He will not grant the duel for his child, 
 For she is free without a struggle for it. 
 But still, I guess the duel will go on; 
 For each damned man will feel that he is bound 
 By honor to be slain, or else slay me. 
 Must I back down and be a craven coward? 
 By God and heaven ! I never will do that. 
 And yet I cannot fight witli five such men; 
 No, I would rather fight with none of them. 
 OhI would that I could blow the breath of God, 
 And puff the lights of all their five lives out !
 
 iSj ELBLANKE. 
 
 Ah! happy thought! I have it in my mind. 
 
 It may not win the Princess Lulu for me, 
 
 lint it will give revenge, and will make it 
 
 Impossible for her to wed with Esper. 
 
 O rank, rank fools, that must needs stick your heads 
 
 Into the business of other men ! 
 
 Too late you ll rue it and repent this da} . 
 
 Why does not Osran come ? [Iff pace* flow. Quran enters. 
 
 l)*ran. Well, now. my lord ! 
 
 Rmjttn. Well, Osran, I am ready for a scheme. 
 
 Omn. Make known more fully what your purpose is. 
 
 RiHjon. Where is the man you were to bring with you ? 
 
 0*ran. He will be here in just a little time. 
 
 Rogon. And are you sure we may rely upon him? 
 
 Onrun. I know the qualities that make a criminal, 
 And 1 am sure that 1 can find them in him? 
 
 Rot/on. I wish that he would come. 
 
 Osran. Be patient, sir; 
 
 He will be shortly here. 
 
 Rogon. I have some strange 
 
 Misgivings in this frightful undertaking. 
 We take a myriad chances of defeat 
 And ruin, with but one of sure success. 
 
 Outran. I hear the gurgling of red flows of blo<d: 
 Their currents seem to set against my heart, 
 And clog its actions so I suffocate. 
 
 Rogon. For God s sake, let your liver still be red: 
 To do rank deeds of cowardice takes courage. 
 
 Oxran. Look to your liver; mind its changing hues: 
 I ll keep my heart to any deed you d finish. 
 Here is the man. You come, Brande. in good time. 
 
 Brande. I did delay to see that we would not 
 Be eavesdropped while in consultation here. 
 
 Oxran. Now, Rogon, we will hear your explanations. 
 
 Rogon. These are my plans: To steal the king s hand 
 And under it request each royal guest [signet,
 
 ELBLANKE. 183 
 
 To lend his presence in a certain room. 
 As each does enter we will hurl his soul 
 To hell. We then will to the king report 
 That Esper did it, as we here will do, 
 And that I, coming last, with Heaven s aid, 
 In my own self defense did cut him down. 
 If we do make a failure any way, 
 By chance of some discovery or other, 
 We all will swear that Esper did the deeds. " 
 And when the time is come we all will swear 
 That Esper killed Prince Gilber, to make free 
 The Princess Lulu, so that she could wed him. 
 
 Osran. How may trips had you to make to hell 
 For counsel in the making of this plan ? 
 
 Rogon. By that same hell whereof yon just did speak, 
 I 11 send you on your last long journey to it, 
 If you cease not to taunt me in this way. 
 
 Brande. Friends must be friends or fall before their foes. 
 There must be no dissension in our ranks, 
 If we conduct a dark campaign of blood, 
 Against our enemies whom right does league. 
 
 Osran. What is the time and where the bloody place, 
 Where we to-day will do this gory butchery ? 
 
 Brande. I think the place would be the armory, 
 As that is more secluded than all others. 
 
 Rogon. We then will make selection of that hall, 
 And we must to the work engage ere long, 
 Lest 1 be called to duel ere we have 
 Begun the work we now are plotting for. 
 I name the time the last one-eighth of this 
 First stage of evening that is passing now. 
 Be prompt at hand, and be full well prepared. 
 (Rogon descends through skylight.) 
 
 Osran. See yonder on the far horizon, Brande, 
 What thunderheads of clouds are rolling up 
 And moving on the harbingers of storm.
 
 184 ELBLANKE. 
 
 Note what a dreadful, horrid calm now rests 
 O er all the face of apprehensive nature. 
 A storm is coming on an awful storm 
 And will anon pour elemental war 
 Around us with a dread, avenging fury. 
 
 (Lightniny is seen, in clouds on the loir horizon.) 
 
 Brande. A storm in nature is a bursting bubble 
 Compared with one that s gathering on my soul. 
 
 Osran. Oh ! that this day and 1 had passed away ! 
 
 SECOND SCENE. 
 
 On the street in front of Dime palace. IKOR and LULU 
 standing at entrance. People passing by. 
 
 Lulu. No, father, no; it cannot be a dream. 
 The queen of ocean and the queen of air 
 Will bring destruction to this land and people. 
 T is not a dream; it cannot be a dream. 
 Sweet father, are you now prepared to die? 
 
 Ikor. My hope is strong that I am well prepared. 
 
 Lulu. But make examination and be sure. 
 Pause, father; let your life flow by you hen-: 
 Your acts, and thoughts, and deeds you have performed 
 Call up, and bid them in a solemn pageant 
 March in a grand review before your mind. 
 Have they been manly thoughts and noble arts? 
 And do they find approval with your conscience? 
 And will you find approval with your God ? 
 Oh, ask yourself, how fares it with your soul. 
 
 Ikor. My child, I ve forced my negligent belief 
 To full acception of your fervid warnings. 
 I do believe, that with prophetic eye, 
 And with an ear that hears into the future. 
 You have beheld and heard what you proclaim. 
 I do believe 1 m near the shadow shore. 
 But that black, phantom ship that is to bear
 
 ELBLANKE. 185 
 
 Me and those things of mine that do not perish 
 At death into the haven of our God 
 Cannot be freighted in a single hour 
 Preceding that wherein we go aboard. 
 My whole life has been freighting that dark ship, 
 And with its load, whatever it may be, 
 I must embark, and steer across the main. 
 Men should more often look into the future 
 And gaze upon the rolling waves of time 
 That ever chase each other, foaming on, 
 In order better to keep on their crests, 
 And not sink down into their yawning hells. 
 
 Lulu. Then, if you do believe, take action, father, 
 And let the subjects of this land be warned. 
 Seldare is sunk, and soon Atlantis sinks. 
 Shout, father, cry aloud, and by your prayer, 
 Precept, persuasion and strong exhortation, 
 Give to the nation notice of its doom. 
 The dignity of your high office, father, 
 Will give corroboratiou to your statements, 
 And you will be believed; speak to them, father, 
 That the loud, warning note may soon be sounded 
 And spread from tongue to tongue around the world. 
 The time is passing: halt ! O priceless time, 
 Till mortals note and take possession of you. 
 
 Ikor. Alas ! poor man ! the plaything of his habits, 
 The creature of his customs, and the slave 
 Of his opinions, will not be admonished 
 Of danger till it drops upon his head; 
 Men are but bubbles on the tide of time, 
 And cannot be diverted from the course 
 The circumstances of the time assume. 
 You speak to them, and if they do not lend 
 Attention to your earnestness and truth, 
 Assisted by your loveliness, they ll give 
 Attention nowhere; and I d sooner think 
 The earth a marble than that they will give
 
 1 86 LLBLAXKE. 
 
 9 
 
 The toleration of the faintest credence 
 To anything so strange and radical. 
 
 Lulu. Thank God for this sweet privilege to speak; 
 And Heaven prompt the accents of my plea ! 
 Friends ! people ! listen, and, for my sake, heed. 
 
 Citizen. Our much beloved princess speaks to us. 
 Attention ! ho! give heed to what she says. 
 
 Lulu. Good citizens, this is the end of time. [end. 
 
 Gamin (aside). The end to time ? Why, then, t is time to 
 
 Lulu. The continent is sinking in the sea. 
 
 Oamin (aside). See? 
 
 Lulu. The kingdom of Seldare is now no more. 
 
 Oamin (aside). Now, no more ! 
 
 Lulu. 1 cry to you that we are going down, 
 A nation, into ruin unavoidable, 
 And to the dissolution of the grave. 
 Awake ! prepare to die ! our doom is sealed. 
 
 Gamin (spoken aside). Your lips are not. 
 
 Lulu. Oh! soon, amidst the shocks of jarring earthquakes, 
 The roar of thunder, and the nation s groans, 
 The shrieks of cities falling, and the rush 
 Of mighty winds in hurricanes let loose, 
 And moaning of the sphere, we disappear 
 In ocean, swallowed for eternity. 
 
 Rake (aside). The hungry sea is fortunate, indeed, 
 To get so fine and fat a belly full. 
 
 Lulu. See yonder, what dark, ominous, huge clouds 
 Are coming, freighted with abhorred destruction. 
 O citizens! O citizens! awake! 
 Ami will you, people, close your ears, and spurn 
 The voice that notifies you of your doom ? 
 
 Citizen. T is foolishness to ask this stable world 
 To turn its head to vagaries, whene er 
 A human voice is heard to mutter "Boo!" 
 
 Lulu. They will not heed: a false security 
 Can lead a man deluded into hell.
 
 1 87 
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 A mail will bend upon his little god 
 His eye, absorbed in deep infatuation, 
 And though the world be from its axle torn 
 Live undisturbed, in perilous repose. 
 
 Ikor. Sweet head that never knew of self existence, 
 You fret yourself in agony that s vain; 
 For men will not be severed from themselves. 
 
 (Lulu allows herself to be led within.) 
 
 THIRD SCENE. 
 
 The inner court of the palace of Dinee. Xor.nAr.xo and 
 ULANDEU present. ESPEK enters. 
 
 Noldarno. A higher hand than ours in Lulu s cause 
 Has now effected a release for her. 
 The cause that moved us to attempt with Kogou 
 The trial of our arms in mortal duel 
 Is passed away; and since twas not for inalico 
 We dared him on unto the dread encounter, 
 I hold it just in us, as upright men, 
 To offer treaty with him on fair terms 
 That cannot cast reflections on the honor 
 Of either party. T was for love of Lulu 
 That I did fight, and not for hate of him; 
 And to persist, and brandish still aloft 
 The angry sword in raging thirst for blood, 
 When the necessity that drew it first 
 Exists no more, is barbarous and wrong. 
 It proves in man the seeds of vengeance sown; 
 And he who wants revenge for vengeance s sake 
 Is an abominable, bloody savage, 
 With mind depraved, and most illiberal. 
 
 Ulander. I, too, do move that an ambassador 
 Be sent, with power to adjust with Kogon 
 Our difficulties, yet leave vindicated 
 The delicacy of our sacred honor.
 
 1 88 ELULAXK E. 
 
 If he refuses to accept the terms, 
 
 And calls us cowards thus to offer peace, 
 
 Our meeting with him on fair Honor s field 
 
 Will cast it back a lie into his teeth. 
 
 If he accepts, all very good and well; 
 
 He in a measure does redeem himself, 
 
 And proves possession of some manly qualities. 
 
 Esper. It sets but illy on my purposes 
 To make the first advances to that man, 
 But I will do it. Rest assured, however, 
 The answer will be swollen with rage and boasting, 
 And taunting protestations of his aim 
 To make us rue still further our rash act 
 In rousing up a lion such as he. 
 Go on, however, you have my concurrence. 
 (Blondine enters.) 
 
 Noldarno. Have we the right to couple your name, too, 
 With this our message to King Kogou ? We 
 Are giving him an opportunity 
 To close with us on amicable terms. 
 
 Blondine. By Heaven! I care not what you think of me, 
 I will not make pretensions that I find 
 That in my heart which is not really there; 
 And in my heart I find no disposition 
 To give him any loophole of escape, 
 But to humiliate himself and crawl 
 A coward backwards out of the dilemma. 
 He must recede in shame or tight me else. 
 
 Ulander. Why need you be vindictive to extremes? 
 
 Blondine. Call me malicious and vindictive, too, 
 If so you will, I must not make denial. 
 He tried to bind that girl in lifelong woe, 
 And that he did not is no fault of his. 
 He harbored the intent ion, and I take 
 His firm intention loathsome as the deed. 
 The girl who joins in marriage without love
 
 ELBLAXK E. 189 
 
 Does so that she may whore with legal license; 
 The girl who s forced in marriage without love 
 Is prostituted, as it seems to me: 
 And this is what King Rogon would have done. 
 And I will swear that he who compasses 
 The ruin of a girl that s dear to me 
 1 11 kill, if Heaven does not first kill me. 
 {Arcklooz enters.) 
 
 Arcklooz. And you have spoken as myself would speak. 
 The damned, infernal villain who would take 
 Advantage of the yielding, girlish nature 
 That knows but to be trusting and confiding, 
 And on that loving confidence impose, 
 To work her ruin, cannot find in death 
 That mortal can inflict a taste of torture 
 Like that which should be meted out to him. 
 For this account I, too. am sworn to kill him, 
 So that his torture may begin in hell. 
 And, like you, I do hold it just as bad 
 To legalize her ruin under law. 
 
 Noldarno. Excuse me, and I will send an attendant 
 A messenger to bear our thoughts to Rogon. 
 As for these young bloods, heated now and glowing, 
 We will not reason with them at this juncture. 
 We can accomplish more when we ve received 
 King Rogon s answer, and know what he thinks. 
 If he withdraws, we can more easily 
 Show them the folly of their rage prolonged; 
 If he rejects the proffered settlement, 
 It then is useless to persuade with them. 
 (He goes within.) 
 
 JJlander. I do not like the looks of yonder clouds 
 That now, far off, belch out pernicious fire. 
 Do you not think they threaten ominously? 
 
 Esper. I fear some holocaust will happen us, 
 Some accident of dire calamity.
 
 190 
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 The premonitions have been marvelous 
 
 To my own observation; and the princess 
 
 Is earnestly proclaiming everywhere 
 
 That this will be the last day for Atlantis. 
 
 She preaches warning through the palace halls. 
 
 She even stood upon the palace pavement 
 
 Aud spoke the citizens there passing by; 
 
 And when they passed along, all unconcerned, 
 
 She leaned upon her father s arm and wept. 
 
 She thinks she hardly feels to grieve for (iilber, 
 
 For she is sure she soon will be again 
 
 With him. Her look is upward unto heaven. 
 
 Her talk is of a future occupation 
 
 And pleasures in the mystical beyond. 
 
 She says that she has seen the queen of air 
 
 And fronted face to face the king of land. 
 
 She also says that she has paid a visit 
 
 Unto the palace of the queen of ocean; 
 
 And talks of wonders witnessed in the sea. 
 
 Some think that in this day s most troublous scenes 
 
 She swooned and saw entranced these fancied things; 
 
 But if there be a being on this earth 
 
 To whom a revelation would be made 
 
 Of future things foredoomed, she is that being. 
 
 For she has shaken so effectually away 
 
 From her white, lily limbs the clinging sod 
 
 That angels might converse with her, and think 
 
 Their conversation was with one of them. 
 
 She sent by Graciela awhile ago 
 
 A little scented missive, smelling sweet, 
 
 With faint suspicions of rich, rare perfumes 
 
 Perfumes as sweet as flowers are themselves; 
 
 Perfumes the very essences of flowers; 
 
 And yet the missive is as much more sweet 
 
 Than they as she is sweeter than the missive. 
 
 It is most sacred, but I 11 read it you,
 
 ELBLANKE. 191 
 
 For it purports to a great, general theme: 
 The coming of the final end of all. 
 I do not read it in vainglory, friends; 
 I read it for the reason that I know 
 That it will please you to know she is happy. 
 (Noldarno re-enters.) 
 
 Esper (reads). My brother boy released me, and I m free. 
 To-day will be our wedding day, O love; 
 My pleasure is ineffable. Sweet day ! 
 Of wedding, of sweet death, and sweeter birth I 
 To-day we die; but in our death begins 
 Our life. To-day we will be married, too. 
 I used to envy the first pair on earth, r 
 
 Who, in the garden spot of earth, were joined 
 In holy vows by their well-pleased Creator: 
 I envy them no more; for we to-day 
 In God s great temple, by His lovely throne, 
 Will be by Him joined, in the angel presence 
 Of all the kindred and the friends we ve known. 
 Our wedding bells will be the bells of heaven, 
 And the first bride s kiss my lips get from yours 
 Death never can from my lips take away. 
 Do not be saddened, love, that we must die; 
 For death calls both at once; and we are not 
 To think that we are going to the tomb, 
 But to the altar. Do not fight with Rogon: 
 Baptize your soul in penitence, and wait 
 In meek contrition for the call to come. 
 Pray for the people s souls, and love your Lulu. 
 The bliss of heaven cheats us of bliss on earth." 
 There is devotion such as makes God smile 
 In contemplating His frail creature, man ! 
 
 TTlander. You have a jewel, Esper, my life needed 
 To make it finished, as my crown does need 
 The regal stone to make it seem complete. 
 
 Esper. But, king, I do protest I did not read
 
 192 
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 This missive to remind you I have won. 
 Or show you that she favors me with love. 
 I did not think; I wish I had not read it. 
 
 Noldarno. No more! no more! it pleased u<? well to hear. 
 Think you we think you are so void of manhood 
 As to have vanity to lead you on 
 To jeeringly peruse a sacred thought 
 Confided to you by a loving girl? 
 God give her joy, if so that He will take her; 
 Both God and love give joy, if she remains. 
 
 ( Tht attendant enters with Hoyon s answer, which he 
 hands to Noldarno and goes.) 
 
 Nuldarno~(readti). "To the most valorous and damnal>le 
 King Noldarno and courteous Ulander; 
 To the brave, noble, pusillanimous, 
 Impetuous and chicken-hearted princes, 
 Sweet Blondine, silly Arckloox. and soft Esper. 
 Greeting from your lord, King Rogon, of Seldarc: 
 You ve gone too far to back out gentlemen. 
 I know you re feeling pale around the gills, 
 But I can t quench my flaming indignation, 
 Nor turn my heart to pity your sad woe. 
 I would commiserate if possible, 
 But, taken all together, I cannot. 
 Again I say, I am compelled to slay you. 
 Though you should come and prostrate fall before me 
 And with your hands set my feet on your necks; 
 I yet would lift you up and give you arms 
 To fence your little, narrow souls away. 
 Though I cannot have mercy on your lives, 
 I will pray Heaven for mercy on your souls; 
 So that you will be under obligations 
 Twice doubled up: one time for freeing you 
 Of your existence as weak, cowardly 
 And bloodless, odious, vile sons of she dogs; 
 And next for interceding, through my Influence
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 With Lord Almighty, for your souls forsworn: 
 
 For kuow that but for this propitiation, 
 
 By me procured, your souls had dipped pale blood 
 
 From the wet point of my most dreaded sword, 
 
 To frizzle in the brimstone lakes of hell. 
 
 But, for this clemency by me extended, 
 
 I do demand that when you go to heaven 
 
 You make an open, full confession, gentlemen, 
 
 Of all your faults as fleshly, brutish men 
 
 (If so that I m permitted men to call you). 
 
 Tell God that yon did lie intolerably, 
 
 Till truth was so discredited, misused 
 
 And mangled, it assumed a lie s vile semblance 
 
 To save itself from forcible eviction 
 
 From human minds by base hypocrisy. 
 
 Tell Him your wardrobes were kept always full 
 
 Of garments of convenient deceit, 
 
 To be put on and changed at every turn 
 
 The exigency took. But then you know 
 
 What manner of innumerable things 
 
 You must confess: let me not name them all. 
 
 But bear in mind, however, you must tell Him 
 
 It was His fault as much, or more, than yours; 
 
 For, tell Him, in the manufacture of you, 
 
 He used such little quantities of blood 
 
 That when He spewed you forth into the world 
 
 The fleas would sit upon you famishing, 
 
 While vainly trying to suck out their nutriment. 
 
 And tell Him that His servant Rogon, here, 
 
 Is the most worthy and redoubtable 
 
 (ArcTclooz enters.) 
 
 Of all the creatures going on two legs; 
 Tell Him that Rogou is of such large caliber, 
 So valiant and determined, that not five 
 Vain, boasting men would dare encounter him. 
 Tell Him but, pshaw I I do forget; 
 13 
 
 193
 
 1^4 EI.BLANKE. 
 
 You are not going up to heaven at all; 
 
 You have pissed backwards, like a frightened hare, 
 
 And will not give me any chance, the slightest, 
 
 To rip you open for an evening s pastime. 
 
 And now to answer individually: 
 
 Prince Arcklooz, look yourself; read this and live. 
 
 If you will come with nice apologies 
 
 Well interlarded with due recognition 
 
 Of my transcendent merits; if you ll say 
 
 You joined the coterie because you thought 
 
 That five to one would bend my spinal column, 
 
 And that I would not force it to a finish 
 
 And place you in this bad predicament; 
 
 If you will say you thought to bulldoze me;" 
 
 Arcklooz. God curse me if I say a word to him 
 Except the word my sword speaks to his heart 
 That word suggestive and expressive " Die ! " [self, 
 
 Noldarno (reads). "If you will say you judged me by your- 
 And therefore thought my breast contained no heart ;"- 
 
 Arrklooz. The devilish coward slave of arrogance ! 
 
 Noldarno (reads). "If you will swear to never do it more," 
 
 Arcklooz. Damned puff of egotism and conceit! 
 
 Noldarno (reads). "And promise to preserve a minor s pi ace 
 Until the hair starts growing on your person 
 In other place than on your blockforin head, 
 I ll give you leave of absence from the duel." 
 
 Arcklooz. My fist exploded in the villain s face 
 Shall dare him instantly to the encounter. 
 (Arcklooz goes within.) 
 
 Noldarno (continues reading). "Prince Bloudine, it gives 
 
 me exquisite torture 
 
 To wrench with ruthless hand from mother s arms 
 1 he babe that nuzzles in that mother s breast 
 And holds between its teethless gums the nipple" 
 
 Blondine. A little provocation would bring me 
 To make me battle you, sir. I never gave
 
 EI.BLAXKE. 195 
 
 Consent that my name on the face appear 
 Of stich proposals as you made to him. 
 No wonder that he jeers in loud derision, 
 And holds us in such rotten reputation, 
 When you abjectly offer terms to him. 
 
 Noldarno (reads). "I cannot find it in my bosom, prince, 
 To sword a booby on its mammy s knee: 
 Go to her, son, and let her wipe your nose, 
 And tell her Rogon says you are a honey." 
 
 Blondine. I ll fight the fiendish monster first, then you, 
 Damn you, for lending me to such disgrace. 
 (He stalks angrily within.) 
 
 Noldarno (reads). "Prince Esper, 1 will never let you off; 
 But I will promise not to use my sword: 
 Come armed whatever way you will, dear prince, 
 I 11 meet you with a horseman s riding whip, 
 And after giving you severe chastisement, 
 Dismiss you to the strokings and the tears 
 Of the sweet ladies present, and the sobs 
 Of children weeping sympathy for you. 
 I love you, precious darling; but the Lord. 
 Chastises whom He loves; so I likewise. 
 I thought at first to arm me with a paddle, 
 And spank you soundly, turned across my knee; 
 But that infringes the prerogative 
 Belonging to your mother: hence the change 
 Of mind concerning your just punishment 
 For snapping, like a little bitch s whelp, 
 Around the heels of a determined lion. 
 
 Esper. With much reluctance I consented to it. 
 But I ignore his insults and abuse, 
 Thus casting them, reflected, back to him. 
 I am impervious to defamation, 
 And give him scorn for his opprobrium. [your legs, 
 
 Noldarno (reads on). "Ulander, tuck your tail between 
 And skulk away, if you would shun your doom:
 
 196 ELRLANfCE. 
 
 I scorn your offered amity from me; 
 
 I will not let you falter and slip out. 
 
 But force you ignominiously, in public. 
 
 To show your shirt or face me in the field. 
 
 You ll face me, will you? Then peruse your sentence: 
 
 You balloon belly full of windy gas, 
 
 And bloated bag of carrion atmosphere, 
 
 Since your huge mouth is not sufficient vent 
 
 For your great superfluity of wind. 
 
 To ease the mighty pressure and relax 
 
 Your belly s tension, I will make a hole 
 
 Alxnit the region of your navel, sir, 
 
 And through it let your filling fart away 
 
 Till you fall limp and empty as a stocking 
 
 From which a lady pulls away her leg. 
 
 Have no fears for your heart: it will be safe; 
 
 For it will gallop up into your mouth, 
 
 And it so small, lost in a mouth so huge, 
 
 Will be as hard to find as that same wind 
 
 That issues from the opening I make. 
 
 But since I do this for your just correction, 
 
 And not to torture you, I give you warning 
 
 To have your nose hermetically sealed, 
 
 Lest, when you fall amid those emanations 
 
 Of rotten storms that will pour out from you, 
 
 You do be tortured to death agony 
 
 By the attacks of rank, disgusting smells; 
 
 For they will be of such consistency 
 
 That half a score of vigorous spanks will cheese 
 
 Them into something marvelously like 
 
 The excrement of an outlandish hog. 
 
 Ulander. God and good living made me corpulent, 
 And I complain not at the gift of either. 
 By ridiculing my obesity, 
 Which goes no farther than a gr.od condition, 
 Concomitant of happy temperament,
 
 ELBf.AA A E. 
 
 197 
 
 He does not raise a ruffle in my mind. 
 Read on, sir king, what does he say of you? 
 
 (Noldarno tears paper to shreds and upt itl,-* ) 
 Noldarno. More overflowing of vulgarity 
 Which I care not to read, and you care not, 
 Being decent, honest ffonilfiiH-n. to hear. 
 He is a villain, with a bold effrontery, 
 That goes a-wooing after Mistress Death 
 As other men would woo the girl they love. 
 Well, then, so let it be; let us prepare; 
 For now approaches the decisive time. [ They go within. 
 
 FOURTH SCENE. 
 
 Armory Jtallof Dinee palace. ROQOK, OSBAK and BRANDS 
 enter. 
 
 Rogon. The time is inauspicious and my fears 
 Are irksome, but I cannot shake them off. 
 Let us proceed and get it quickly done; 
 For when affairs hang in a dangerous way 
 There never should be rest till they are right. 
 We hang now on the meagerest support, 
 And time, at any time, may end our time. 
 You, Brande and Osran. get the king s hand signet: 
 I ll here await your coining. 
 
 Osran. You ll not wait long, 
 
 If we by any chance can bring the signet. 
 
 (Brande and Osran pass onf.") 
 
 Rogon. O Hell, your hate is not so strong as mine. 
 This room, a slaughter house, shall reek \viih blood: 
 I 11 wallow in it thus to ruin him. 
 With what mad joy my sword shall find his heart ! 
 With what infernal glee I ll slander him. 
 And worse than kill what my blade cannot reach, 
 His character. Oh ! I could carve his breast 
 In twain and with my teeth gnaw his heart strings,
 
 198 
 
 Or drink his blood to slake my hate s mad thirst. 
 I d murder him. though hell should ope its doors 
 And by me stand with incandescent chains 
 To bind my soul in raging flames forever. 
 Though (lod. Himself, should stand with open lips. 
 To damn my soul, I d batter out his brains; 
 And laugh the threats of Hell and Heaven to scorn. 
 Oh ! what a glorious revenge is mine ! 
 To dye my hands in stains of awful guilt. 
 And in my foe s heart s bkxxl to wash them off. 
 (Brands and Oaran enter.) 
 
 0rnn. Here is the seal. 
 
 lirnrnlf. He started as the fawn 
 
 Leaps when it hears the baying of the hounds. 
 
 Oxrnn. The fawn starts with an innocent alarm: 
 He with the dread that horrid crime creates. 
 
 Jtofftm. Friend Brande, your hand can imitate the king s: 
 Indite a summons brief; then take and bear 
 It to King Xoldarno; come then at once, 
 And reach this hall before he can arrive. 
 
 (Brandt write*, teitlx, and pa**r* nut.} 
 
 Oxran. You walk a thread across the mouth of hell 
 For what will be your woe when you possess it. 
 
 R<>r/on. You fool ! do you walk with me on this thread, 
 Yet counsel me of my impending peril ? 
 Yon fool ! to think that it must lx my woe. 
 Which is the sweetest thing of earth, revenge. 
 
 Oxran. Revenge is not of earth; it is of hell; 
 And none but devils feel its madding thirst. 
 
 Jt<tyon. T is well; I am a devil, then. I wish 
 I were the prince of hell; 1 M take his soul 
 To torment, though I had to toil in woe 
 Through ages with the King of Heaven for it. 
 
 Oxran. Yon lie; you are no devil: you re a liar 
 For saying that you are indeed a devil: 
 You re nothing but a proselyte of hell.
 
 EF.BLANKE. 
 
 199 
 
 Rogon. Must I endure this? you, the worst of all 
 My kingdom s criminals taunt me unstinted? 
 I swear that if I had not use for you, 
 I d put a bridle on your taunting tongue. 
 
 Osran. I know you would: a murderer always throws 
 Away the tools with which he does his deeds. 
 Farewell. I leave you to your foul attempts. 
 
 Rogon. I beg you, stay. Oh ! base indignity, 
 When king must beg and sue to outlawed slave. 
 Stay ! we are leagued in crime: we must not part, 
 Lest both of us do come to grief and fall. 
 
 Osran. You boast yourself a king ! I d have to stoop 
 To void my spittle in your dog s dark face. 
 Hark ! Steps approach; I must lend you my aid. 
 Let but a man begin in acts of crime, 
 And in strong fetters he is borne along 
 From crime to crime, until some cell in hell 
 Keceives him. So ! King Noldarno is here. 
 (Brande comes in breathless.} 
 
 Brande. He will be shortly here. I first arrived 
 Because 1 sped along a different hall 
 At greater speed than he obtained. Let me 
 Behind this column kneel and pray to God 
 To have great mercy on his God damned soul. 
 
 Osran. Behold how many things do move a m:m 
 To prayer. And see. made evident hereby, 
 The lack of earnestness in many prayers. 
 I wish I might myself be now employed 
 In other toils than this 1 now begin. 
 But, hark ! he comes. 
 
 Brande. Then, God, be merciful, 
 
 And do your best to save his soul from hell. 
 
 Rogon. Stand by the door; I will stay farther here, 
 And his attention claim when he comes in: [ Lightning. 
 Yon know your part. 
 
 Osran. But hell does not, or you would not be here
 
 200 ELBLA\KE. 
 
 Playing the coward devil in the rear, | F<iint llnindfi . 
 
 And the accomplice urging on to crime. 
 
 (Noldarno entem, and looks y>irj>rixt tl.} 
 
 Noklarno. Is not the king in state? I have his hand 
 Proclaiming this his pleasure, I should come 
 
 Rogon. lie stepped aside, but straightly will return. 
 King Noldamo, how wags the world with you? [Thunder. 
 
 Nuldarno. I, sir, do not forget your bast- insults 
 You gave me in your vile communication; 
 lint, as a king, my dignity forhids 
 Me to stoop down to join in wordy brawls; 
 Therefore I ll answer you in courtesy: [Lightning. 
 
 Not ever in my life before, I think, 
 Have I been healthier than I am now; 
 I m in that mood which makes a man believe 
 It half impossible his life can tend [Thunder. 
 
 Or point in any wise into the grave. [Lightning. 
 
 Rogon. Long may you live to thus enjoy such health 
 (A/tide) As dead men find down in the sepnlcher. 
 
 Noldarno. There comes in each man s life some good]} i im 
 When each sound organ so obeys the mind, 
 He half believes that he can never die. 
 I feel so now: it does not seem to me [Thunder. 
 
 That nature could divide me from my soul. 
 But life is not [Osran stabs him. lie full* df<t<\. 
 
 Brande. Would God iny eyes had never M-CH the light. 
 Or, after seeing, had been sealed in gloom [Lightning. 
 
 Before they looked upon this dreadful scene. 
 
 Osran. If all the windows of the skies were drawn, 
 And all the fountains of the deep should yawn, 
 To whelm their floods, augmented, on our heads, 
 We had not been so sunk, so deeply sunk. [Thunder. 
 
 As under that red, flowing stream we re plunged. 
 
 Rogon. You did it smoothly, Osran, very smoothly. 
 
 Osran. My sword will smoother through your liver slide, 
 If you so much as turn your eye> io me. [Lightning.
 
 ELBLANKE. 20 1 
 
 I d wipe iny blade upon your coward s heart 
 
 But that it would grow redder from the touch, 
 
 Or blacker with your viper s stagnant blood. 
 
 Who kills a snake does not commit a crime. \7 hunder, 
 
 If I had from your trunk your head dissevered, 
 
 I had not lifted up these bloody hands 
 
 Against these guiltless men. Tempt me no more: 
 
 One little taunt would boil my bloody brain [Lightning. 
 
 And bring me like a tiger down upon you. [Thunder. 
 
 Make me your dog: feed me with human gore; 
 
 In me create that thirst for smoking blood 
 
 Which I am slaking now: but at the last 
 
 Beware, lest you become my mangled prey. 
 
 I "did it smoothly" ! thus say you to me; [Lightning. 
 
 Why must I do the hateful deed at all ? 
 
 Why must I thrust him secretly behind ? 
 
 He came to you in front, but you did quail [ Thunder. 
 
 Before his eye, and durst not lift your hand. 
 
 You motioned me, and I, mad fool ! obeyed, 
 
 When much more thirst my sword had for your blood. 
 
 But call the next, lest in my want I turn 
 
 And forage nearer home than you would like. 
 
 Rogon. Have you the summons almost ready, Brande ? 
 
 Brande. A few more characters will make it plain. 
 
 Osran. Whom will you call ? 
 
 Brande. The king of Wocoroe. 
 
 Osran. See that it s done with speed; I want to end 
 This massacre, this wholesale butchery 
 Of men, and from my hands wash off the stains 
 Which will be spots forever in my brains. 
 
 (Brande goes out. Lightning. Thunder.*) 
 
 Rogon. An awful storm is gathering overhead, 
 And soon will burst with fury on the city. 
 The lurid glares, pale in the light of day, 
 Flash in the skies and paint the dome witli tire. 
 The echoing thunder, rumbling sullen, roars.
 
 202 ELBLAXK E. 
 
 Osran. The avenging eye of Heaven beholds our deeds. 
 Such indignation burns upon His brows 
 As seems keen flames of lightning in the skies. 
 His voice comes rolling down the thunderstorm 
 And roars our doom, our dreadful doom; we re damned. 
 It thunders not: the heavens are shuddering. 
 The lightning flashes not: hell opes its doors 
 And from its flames beams bicker on the world. 
 
 (Brande enters. Lightning. Thunder.} 
 Brande. He s near at hand. He soon will enter there. 
 
 Osran. And as he enters will pass out forever. 
 Rogon. Go quick. Stand by the door. I, too, will stand. 
 And if you fail I ll follow swiftly on. [Thunder. 
 
 Osran. I never yet was suffered once to fail 
 In the commission of a crime once planned. 
 
 Rwj<m. Wist! hist! he comes! 
 
 (Ulander enters. They thrust.) 
 
 V hinder. O God. I m slain! () God! 
 
 Osran. The thrust was not so fortunate that time. 
 The other scarcely shuddered as he fell; 
 But his lost life as it came issuing forth 
 Through the wide gash my flashing steel had made, 
 Gave one great gasp of mortal agony. 
 For him, one groau; for us, eternal woe! 
 Next! [Brande goes again towards door. 
 
 Rogon. Bring in the next, and let us reach the end. 
 
 Osran. The end will not be reached in all eternity. 
 O God! O God! that men should fall so low! 
 
 Brande. I will bring Arcklooz next. [He. <jne* <it. 
 
 Osran. A uoble man 
 
 (Lightning and thunder.) 
 Scarce past the time of youth, to be lain low. 
 
 (A specter appear*. Ketn lightning. Loud thunder.) 
 
 Rogon. Look there! [LiffAtniny. Thunder. 
 
 Osran. What is it ? 
 
 Royon (froifds against Oxrtiit). Look yourself and see.
 
 VA-A-. 2 o 3 
 
 Osran. Stand off and cease this jostling me away. 
 Tis nothing but your wrought imagination 
 That conjures up a phantom to affright you. 
 
 Rogon. In God s name, Osran, tell me what it is. [name. 
 
 Osran. A man that s damned can t speak in God s great 
 Stand off, or, by that God, I ll sword you, Rogon. 
 
 Rogon. Don t lie to me: it is a skeleton. [Lightning. 
 That stands upright and grins and leers at me. 
 
 Osran. If it could be your guilt embodied forth 
 In form, then would you have a cause to fear. 
 Tour flesh would writhe and wither from your bones 
 To let your soul go gnashing into hell. 
 Stand off or I will thrust my sword into you. 
 
 (Brande enters. Specter vanishes. Thunder.} 
 
 Brande. God scorch my greasy soul in hottest hell ! 
 What was it vanished there as I approached? [Lightning. 
 
 Osran. What! did you see it, too? 
 
 Brande. I saw a shadow [Thunder. 
 
 Of something disappear as I came in. 
 Oh! I am in a horrible nightmare. 
 
 Osran. Would God that she could have you as a colt 
 And drop you on the dunghill of hell s stable*. 
 I m willing now to think it was a spook 
 If it was frightened and fled at your coming. 
 Did you call in the next? [Lightning. Thunder. 
 
 Brande. I did; and soon 
 
 He will be in at this small entrance here. [looz. 
 
 Osran. Brande, you shall stand and slay this King Arck- 
 
 Brande. Oh, no; do n t think of it: let me go here 
 And in this dark recess kneel down and pray 
 The God damned God of hellish heavens for pity 
 To save his soul infernal from the flames 
 Of roaring, holy hell. Damned if I slay him ! 
 
 Osran. I wish that all were cravens when a crime 
 Is to be done; or else that all were men 
 Of honesty: our world might then be pure. [Lightning.
 
 204 
 
 El.BLAXKE. 
 
 Oh ! if I had but paused to think of fear, 
 
 And dread the fury of iny augry God, [ Thunder. 
 
 My mother s sou would have gone home to heaven 
 
 At death, to see her in the happy skies. [Lightning. 
 
 My mother, I bade you farewell forever [ Thunder. 
 
 When you did leave me in this wicked world. 
 
 Rogon. Come, stand you here, and let us strike at oner. 
 
 (&raciela comes tripping in quickly. They thruxt. ) 
 
 Graciela. Lulu I my heart ! [Diet. Lightning. Thnn<l<>r. 
 
 ( The murderers recoil and gaze in horror. ) 
 
 Osran. Good lady, innocent and faithful friend. 
 Her name, the name of her you called your friend 
 Was on your lips as they grew cold and dumb. 
 We know not where an evil blow will fall. 
 Oh I where is Heaven? and what cau God be doing 
 That His dread eye does not behold these deeds? 
 
 Rogon. Hist! do not speak the dreadful name of God. 
 
 Oaran. You need not fear that I will waken Him. 
 If I could have the voice of every crime, [Lightning. 
 
 And every criminal the earth has known, 
 And all the voices iu the infernal cells, 
 To bellow through the jarring throat of hell, 
 And shake the pillars of the universe, 
 It would not be so audible to God [Thumhr. 
 
 As that soft uttered " Lulu !" from the lips 
 Of poor, unhappy, murdered Graciela. 
 She was a lady good, a woman pure, [Thunder. 
 
 A faithful friend. She is in heaven now: 
 It can t pollute her if my blackened lips 
 Touch hers in deep, remorseful agony. [ Tlmnil, r. 
 
 Alas 1 poor Graciela I sweet Grace ! pure girl ! 
 
 Rogon. Arise ! get up ! her blood is flowing on you ! 
 
 Quran. What signs a little stain upon my garment, 
 When all iny soul is colored with the blood 
 Of victims I have helped to massacre? 
 OhJ how my soul grows sick with dizziness, [Thunder.
 
 ELBLANKK. 
 
 205 
 
 Because I m standing on the brow of hell ! 
 
 I m gazing down its deep and lurid chasms 
 
 (Arcklooz enters, and is dumbfounded, Rogon stabs him.) 
 
 Arcklooz. Help ! save, oh, save ! [Dies. Lightning. 
 
 Rogon. My blade did pierce his lungs [Thunder. 
 
 Above the region of his panting heart, 
 And made his voice to quaver into sound; 
 But 1 did follow on with surer blow, [Lightning. 
 
 That touched his heart and carved his life away. 
 Men should attend to their own business, 
 If they would shun fierce brawls with fellow men. 
 
 Osran. Huge monster, horrible and damnable ! 
 Fiend that I am ! if yon, cold-blooded brute, 
 Cease not abominable heartlessness, 
 Your maddening taunts of cold and reckless cruelty 
 Will whirl my sword, a cyclone, round your head ! 
 Damn you ! avaunt, or I will stab you dead ! 
 T is well that you do slink, like dog, away. 
 
 Rogon. Have you the summons ready for the next? 
 
 Brande. Most truly have I summoned Blondine here. 
 But say, King Rogon, what is that I see, 
 That fleeting comes and goes, and comes and goes? 
 Oh! I am deadly faint with awful fear; 
 My eyes cannot endure the lightning s flash, 
 And in the caverns of my brain the thunder 
 Jars in deep, loud, reverberating peals, 
 That shake the citadel of my existence. 
 Say ! tell me Rogon, where is this to end ? 
 
 Osran. Begone, I say, and quickly do your bidding. 
 
 Brande. God damn my God-damned soul to Billy Hell ! 
 The God-damned God, and hell-doomed prince of hell ! 
 Fiends! devils! [Grows gradually fainter and ceases. 
 
 (Osran leans on his sword and gazes at the dead. Rogon 
 walks to and fro until Brande returns. ) 
 
 Brande. Prince Blondine is gone out into the city. 
 
 Rogon. Hell 1 [Lightning and awful thunder.
 
 2 o6 
 
 Osran. It cannot be bettered; let him pa>-. 
 
 Call Esper in, and we will end with him. 
 
 Rogon. Stay ! pay close heed to what 1 have to say: 
 When he comes in we are to cut him down. 
 Then I will stand close by him when he falls, 
 And you will shout with all the strength your lungs 
 Can summon to the sound. Then, when the people 
 Come rushing in to look upon this work, 
 We are to tell that Esper did these deeds. 
 And that I, coming last, with Heaven s aid 
 Did cut the grim, ferocious monster down. 
 You know your parts: be careful in the acting. 
 It matters not if you rush in the halls 
 To yell and shout to rouse the people up. 
 
 (E*ptir enter* at upper end of hull. L : yhtuing, Trem*n- 
 dous thunder.) 
 
 Esper. Oh, mortal vision ! d<, you not deceive me ? 
 
 Osran. By God! we re ruined! all our plans have failed. 
 
 Rogon. Drive at the devil with a reckle>s fury 
 That soon will stretch him bleeding at our feet. 
 
 Quran. Rush on. [Attacks first. EX/H r ilnnrn. 
 
 Brande. Together let us strike. [ Attarkx. 
 
 Rogon. Drive home. [Attacks. 
 
 Exper. Come at your peril ! I do swear you 11 die ! 
 
 ( They fiyht. Esper, in an angle, surrounded, parries them. 
 The fiyht goes on. Exper, with a broad, xicerpinrj ynnrd 
 stroke, starts them momentarily back and thruxtx ut Jt<njn: 
 Royon guards.) 
 
 Rogon. Lift up your voices and begin a shout. 
 
 (They shout, but continue the asxault. Expcr sweep* in 
 parry again and thrusts at Brande.) 
 
 Brande. By hell 1 I m slain! [Ilia sword drops, 
 
 (lie falls to his knees but recovers and assaults again.) 
 
 Rogon. Strike, Osran. to his soul ! 
 By all the furies ranging in deep hell ! 
 Is he to overmatch the three of us ? 
 
 (Esper adranrr* a step and irarflx to Oxran.)
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 207 
 
 Osran. I m bleeding ! he has sorely wouuded me. 
 
 Rogon. Drive at his heart and stop not short of it. 
 
 (Brande drops his sword and falls. Esper feints at Osran 
 and thrusts at Rogon. Lightning and thunder. ) 
 
 Rogon. By God ! I felt his steel grate 011 the bones 
 Within my shoulder as he made that thrust. 
 Give ground and separate. Will no one come ? [Lightning. 
 Gods ! Osran rally ! Strike in your defense ! [ Thunder. 
 Give ground and separate and we shall win. 
 
 (Esper has advanced, but when they widen apart he with 
 draws again to t/ie wall, to avoid being between them. At 
 tendant enters and bounds away shouting.) 
 
 Attendant. Help ! murder ! help ! they re murdering each 
 other! [Slondine enters. Lightning and thunder. 
 
 Slondine. Swords up ! swords up I Great heaven, what 
 is this? [Persons now begin to arrive. Lightning. 
 
 Attendant. Oh ! mercy ! [Shefainta. Thunder. 
 
 Attendant. It is horrible to see. [Runs away. 
 
 Attendant. Take me away. 
 
 Attendant. Tis bloody murder done. 
 
 (Lords enter and stand dumbfounded with astonishment, 
 Ladies enter and scream, or faint, or cover their faces. 
 Ikor enters, and in deep tones commands.) 
 
 Ikor. Peace ! why stand you with swords drawn in your 
 
 Lulu. Oh ! that my eyes had never seen the sun [ hands. 
 Shine in his glory on this dreadful day, 
 That ends in bloody murder, woe and gloom. 
 O lovely queens of ocean and of air, 
 Be swift in your destruction of the world. 
 
 Dimon. Calm this disturbance so that we may hoar 
 The cause that sheds this blood in time of peace. 
 
 Lulu. O Graciela! my gentle, loving Graciela! 
 What hand was lifted up against your breast 
 That was as pure as lilies of the lake? {Lightning. 
 
 Speak, Graciela! speak once more to your friend. 
 Oh ! let your lips move once, if not to speak,
 
 2o8 EI.BLANKE. 
 
 Then just to kiss the girlish friend that loved you. 
 Oh! that the blood that once flowed in your veins 
 And made you fair and lovely as the morning 
 Should make me shudder when it leaves its channels. 
 
 Rogon. Seize on that man: lie is a murderer. 
 I call upon you, men, to apprehend him. 
 
 Esper. I am the prince, my lords, of Calsomar. 
 I warn you not to lay a hand upon me. [Thunder. 
 
 If I am wanted, you will find me here, 
 I never yet have turned from mortal foe. 
 
 I/cor. Let some one speak and make an explanation 
 Of this strange scene. I caunot understand. 
 
 (Lulu runs to Esper, draws his left arm around her and 
 looks up inquiringly into his face, when Rogon accuses him 
 and he replies to the lords. She now speaks.) 
 
 Lulu. Reply to Rogon: choke him with his lie. 
 
 Rogon. A little time ago I did receive [Thunder. 
 
 A message that purported to have come 
 From you, King Ikor. It did state to me [Thunder. 
 
 That you did want me in the armory. [Thunder. 
 
 As I did come, these good attendants here. 
 My servant, Osran, and your warden, Brande, 
 Did come a little way along the hall [ Thunder. 
 
 With me. As I did enter through that arch 
 Prince Esper thrust, but I did spring aside 
 And scaped the blow. I made an exclamation 
 That called these men along into the room [ Thunder. 
 
 Where they beheld Prince Esper and myself [ Thunder. 
 Engaged with swords. They did attempt to come 
 Between us, but Prince Esper did slay Brande 
 And wounded me and sorely wounded Osran. [Thunder. 
 
 Lulu. Hark ! how the thunder tone of heaven roars 
 Derision and contempt of these great lies. 
 
 Rogon. He had already murdered those you see 
 By these shocked walls, and meant to murder me, 
 But Heaven did prevent his foul attempt. [ Thunder. 
 
 (Osran falls insensible. They bear him aside.)
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 209 
 
 Lulu. Hark ! how sweet heaven does refuse to vouch 
 For these huge lies that he does manufacture. 
 Oh ! Esper, why not speak, and make it known 
 That you are innocent of these dark crimes. 
 
 Esper. Your trust and confidence are passing sweet; 
 But let him speak and reach the end of lying. 
 
 Rogon. It was his aim to murder in cold blood 
 The kings and princes that asked Lulu s hand. 
 With all his boasted challenges, he feared [Lightning. 
 
 To meet me in a fair and honorable fight. [ Thunder. 
 
 Esper. Stand, coward, and make proof of what you say. 
 
 Rogon. 1 do disdain to fight with murderers. 
 Disarm him, men, and make him powerless 
 To do more execution than he s done. [Thunder. 
 
 Eiper. Come on yourself and take away my arms. 
 
 Ikor. Lay down your sword or I 11 forget the grace 
 That s due a friend that is my royal guest, 
 And will not only take away your arms [Thunder. 
 
 But will imprison you or take your life 
 In the attempt. Take heed and cast your sword. 
 
 Lulu. Brave not the powers of the kingdom, Esper. 
 I know the hand of power cannot disarm you 
 But the weak, gentle hand of one you love 
 Is far more powerful: I ll hold your sword. 
 (A distant roar is heard.} 
 
 Attendant. What means that awful, distant, roaring noise? 
 The earth is quaking: rush into the courts ! 
 
 (Attendants, ladies and the less brave fly in a panic.) 
 
 Esper. Now, friends, I pray you hear me in defense 
 And let me show you that his open lies 
 Bear on their face their own strong contradiction. 
 I 11 prove to you that he s the murderer, 
 And that by lies he tries to shift the guilt 
 From his dark soul and settle it on me. 
 
 Lulu. My own love, Esper, I knew yon were innocent! 
 My darling Esper ! my heart s idolized I [Thunder. 
 
 14
 
 2io EI.BI.ANKE. 
 
 Rogon. Come, Princess Lulu, leave the murderer; 
 His touch with blood pollutes your very person. 
 Stand off from him in his unworthiness. 
 
 (Terrific lightning and appalling thunder.) 
 
 Lulu. Base fool ! I love him: I laugh at aud mock you. 
 Though all the world should cast my darling off, 
 And ostracize him, and point the long finger 
 Of hissing scorn at him, these arms would hold 
 Him close, and this breast would be his loved home: 
 1 d love him so, I d be the world to him. 
 
 (The roar continues, soineirhat louder.) 
 
 Lord. That dreadful roar is drowning out our words. 
 Some dreadful storm, or other unknown foe, 
 Is threatening destruction to the city: 
 It is the roar of shouts and winds and waters, 
 As though the people of the whole wide globe 
 Were far away in one vast multitude, 
 In uproar shrieking, mid ten thousand storms, 
 And all the loosened, long-pent floods of ocean. 
 Let us go out into the open courts, [2 hunder. 
 
 And after settle this affair of horror. 
 
 Lulu. The world is dying and the end has come. 
 (All but the boldest rush away. Thunder.) 
 
 Dimnn. What worms are men ! and how they crawl iu dust 
 When Nature manifests her majesty 1 
 
 The mightiest concerns of human life [Thunder. 
 
 Sink into nothingness before the shows 
 Of vast, appalling Nature s operations. 
 Prince Esper, speak; a few remain to hear you. 
 
 Exper. Then hear in patience, while I briefly speak. 
 (.1 /<td i/ re-loiters.) 
 
 L<idtj. Come, husband, come! I can not bear to leave you. 
 Oh, come ! the earthquake will destroy the palace. 
 
 (She runs to her husband who clasps fwr and holds her.) 
 
 Esper. Why should I wish to kill these noble men, 
 And leave King Rogon to be slain the hist ?
 
 ELBLANKE. 211 
 
 1 had no cause to fight with either of them, 
 
 Much less to massacre them in cold blood. 
 
 But that base, lying, murderous coward there 
 
 Rogon. I 11 give you now a taste of my cold steel. 
 (Draws. Lightning and thunder.) 
 
 JSlondine. Stand back, sir king ! I interpose my arms. 
 
 Esper. That shows how brave and noble man he is ! 
 To make assaults upon a disarmed man ! 
 Why did he not come on awhile ago, 
 When I defied him ? He was then too noble 
 To fight with murderers ! but he is not 
 Too noble how to strike a man disarmed. 
 How brave and noble our King Rogon is ! 
 King Rogon had been challenged by these men; 
 I was their friend in a most noble cause; 
 The princess gave me all her faithful love, 
 And spit upon King Rogon as a dog; 
 He knew she would prefer me to himself, 
 And even if she had not learned to love 
 Another, he well knew that she would scorn 
 A brute that would aspire to her hand, 
 A dog too vile to stand and bay at her, 
 A beast so brutish as would claim her hand 
 Where she could not bestow her love as well; 
 For Providence had given her her freedom. 
 He knew that he could never win this girl, 
 And that, therefore, he could have naught to win 
 In that grim duel which had been arranged. 
 He was too cowardly to risk his life 
 In honorable battle with his foes, 
 And he did slay these men, in his dog s fear 
 To meet them in a fair and open field. 
 I came into this hall awhile ago 
 And found these victims murdered as you see, 
 And Rogon and his henchmen crouching round
 
 212 ELBLAXKE. 
 
 Preparing the destruction of another. 
 They did assault me, three of them to one: 
 (For Rogon is exceeding brave, you know !) 
 In my defense 1 did slay Brande and Osran. 
 He tells the story how the deeds were done, 
 Because he was the perpetrator of them. 
 
 Lulu. Say, father, why did Heaven jar with thunder 
 At every monstrous lie King Kogon told ? 
 And why are all the elements grown calm 
 ]u patient listening while Esper speaks? 
 All have grown calm except that sullen rumble 
 Which well I know portends a ruined world. 
 
 Ji<>f/on. King Ikor, [Keen lightning. Deep thunder. 
 
 It is time this farce should end. 
 I swear before my God he killed these men ! 
 And now in what I am about to speak, 
 As I speak truth or falsehood, so may God 
 Bring judgment on me at the final day. 
 If I speak falsehood, may God strike me dead. 
 And drop my quartered soul with that same lie 
 For weight tq sink it in the lake of hell. 
 And on this oath I swear he poisoned Gilber! 
 
 Ikor. O God ! my hand shall then avenge my boy. 
 
 Rogon. And my good sword shall circle in your aid 
 In doing vengeance on that devil there. 
 
 (Lulu springs before Exper on Jtis brenxt and shrieks.) 
 
 L thi. Back, father! God Almighty, save my Esper I 
 Strike through my heart if you would thrust at him ! 
 
 Etiper. Give me my sword, my Lulu ! [S/te drops it. 
 
 (Ikor hurls Lulu away, and together Rogon and fie lift 
 their sicords to cut Esper who stands icith folded armt 
 down in death. Lightning flashes across their swords and 
 thunder shakes the palace.) 
 
 Lulu. Kiss me, my love, to tell me that you live. 
 God s justice may seem slow, but it is sure.
 
 ELBLANKE. 
 
 2i 3 
 
 Esper. My love I 
 
 Dimon. See how the palace heaves in earthquake. 
 
 Rush to the open air if you would live. 
 
 (All fly but Esper and Lulu, left alone with the dead.} 
 
 Lulu. Father I [Jarring thunder. 
 
 Esper. The lightning; s( retched him low, sweet love. 
 
 Lulu. O Father, God ! take father home to you. 
 O dearest Esper, death for us has come; 
 Clasp me against your breast in this last moment, 
 And death with you will be a blessed boon. 
 We merely cross into eternity, 
 AVliere we will live In young, true love forever. 
 
 Esper. love, my soul sinks down In dread and awe 
 Before the thunder of the death at hand. 
 
 (Hoonoolun enters, descending.) 
 
 Hoonoolun. The world is sunk ! 
 
 Lulu. O blest, yet cursed, sweet Atlantis rare ! 
 How are you swallowed up with all your bliss, 
 With all your woe I you re gone, you re gone, forever ! 
 
 (The roar culminates, the palace collapses. Doomed is 
 the continent to an ocean grave.) 
 
 FIFTH SCENE. 
 
 (Hoonoolun s palace. A throne in a cloud. A mystical 
 apartment walltd round with unfolding ruinlxnr. cloud*. 
 Hoonoolun in her throne. Esper and Lain, xlanding by. 
 Brusse near.) 
 
 Hoonoolun. 
 
 Hark ! the golden car of heaven 
 
 Down the starry pavement rolls. 
 With the escort God has given 
 To conduct your ransomed souls 
 Into bliss.
 
 From the golden stairs suspended 
 With four tinkling silver chains, 
 
 Down from God it has descended 
 
 To bear you to the domains 
 
 Over this. 
 
 Espir. Darling Lulu, my Elblanke ! 
 Look up yonder and behold 
 The superb, eternal city 
 
 With its gates of gems and gold. 
 
 Lnbi. Darling Esper, my Elblanke! 
 
 I can see its portals shine, 
 And forever in that city 
 
 I am yours and you are mine. 
 
 Esper and Lulu. 
 
 My Elblanke ! my Elblanke I 
 
 Life for us on earth is done; 
 
 But the lives we lose. Elblanke, 
 
 Endless joy for us have won. 
 
 (Gilber appears on a dint ant cloud.) 
 
 Qilber. Lulu! Lulu! my Elblanke! 
 
 Darling Lulu ! angel dove ! 
 Gilber waits for his Elblauke: 
 
 Welcome sister, up above. 
 (Lulu hold* out her hand* nppealingly.) 
 
 Lulu. I am your Elblanke, Gilher, 
 
 Gilber my Elblanke is: 
 And I soon shall kiss my Gilber, 
 
 My Elblanke, and be his. 
 
 (Gilber rises abore the cloud, standing on a pair of snowy 
 wings instinct with life, aii 1 holds out his arms to L>iln. 
 A cloud rolls between and diridcs them with a curtain of 
 silver and gold. A chows of tin get* appear on a higher 
 cloud, playing their harps, and sing.)
 
 ELBLANKE. 215 
 
 Chorus, lioll down the chariot, sweet angrls, 
 
 Roll down the golden car, 
 Jloll down the chariot, sweet angels, 
 
 Down from the gates ajar. 
 (Chorus of angels answer from above.) 
 
 Chorus. Heaven s bells are ringing, 
 
 Hark, the tone ! 
 Angel hands are bringing 
 
 From the throne 
 The bright car that is to bear. 
 Through the crystal realms of air, 
 Mortals made immortal, singing 
 Glory to the King so fair, 
 
 God alone. 
 Visible cJiorus. 
 
 Swinging, 
 
 Invisible chorus. Swinging, 
 
 All. Swinging low. 
 
 ( While they sing the chariot descends, its two wheels rolling 
 in colored flames, tlie axle rolling in silver chains. Oilber 
 standing behind a cross of lilies, holding lightly thereon trifh 
 his left hand a lyre,) 
 
 Visible chorus. 
 
 Bringing, 
 
 . Invisible chorus. Bringing, 
 All. Bringing low, 
 
 Mercy, truth, and grace divine; 
 
 From the zenith see it shine; 
 
 ( While they sing the chariot becomes stationary in front of 
 Hoonoolun s throne. T he palace grows dim with darkness, and 
 the clouds surrounding become dark ruby. Exhalations are 
 sprinkled from above, and through them powerful beams of 
 light descend, sparkling and scintillating, and fall around the 
 chariot. Lulu steps on by the right arm of the cross. OH-
 
 216 ELBLANKE. 
 
 ber kneels and they cl<ip each other. E*p<-r />i<n>f# by the 
 left arm of the cross. The chariot roll*, iixcemling.) 
 
 Liberation from all woe; 
 Mount undaunted, mount and go 
 Home to heaveu, earth resign. 
 
 ( Th6 fairies, sprites, imps, fays and souls of music entfr 
 at the rear and either side, and while the;/ watch the chariot 
 ascend they sing, and the echoes ansicer.) 
 
 All. Farewell Lulu, earth s Elblanke, 
 
 Echoes. Elblanke, 
 
 AIL Farewell Esper, Gilber, too. 
 
 God rewards the faithful lover 
 
 Whose pure life is ever true. 
 
 Echoes. Ever true. 
 
 Alt. O Elblanke! 
 
 Echo(S. O Elblanke! 
 
 AIL Slowly sets Time s sinking sun 
 
 And for you, O sweet Elblanke, 
 
 Echoes. Sweet Elblanke, 
 
 All. Life is lost, 
 
 Angels. But bliss is won. 
 
 Echoes. Bliss Is won. 
 
 (Brvsse, fairies, sprites, imps, and fys.) 
 AIL Farewell ! 
 
 Gilber, Esper and Lulu. Farewell! 
 Visible chonu. Farewell ! 
 
 Invisible chorus. Farewell ! 
 Echoes, Farewell ! 
 
 AIL Farewell 1
 
 GETTYSBURG.
 
 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 EI.BLANKE ! from the starry empires glide 
 Serenely, softly, on your downy wings, 
 
 And deign, fair angel, with your boy to bide, 
 
 To let him linger happy by your side, 
 
 While your sweet fingers sweep the sounding strings 
 To aid this poor, imperfect song he sings; 
 
 Which tries to celebrate that valiant host 
 That stood to breast the storms of civil war, 
 
 And paid with human lives, and blood, the cost 
 
 To save their country in rebellion lost; 
 
 And brought the Union safe from many a jar 
 And anchored her within Peace harbor s bar. 
 
 Be you my inspiration; let your love 
 
 Be mine; and let me with Love s gentle wand 
 Call you, fair spirit, like a gentle dove, 
 To sink down softly from the courts above. 
 
 To kiss your boy and cheer his hopes not fond, 
 Lest, hopeless and discouraged, I despond. 
 
 Oh ! aid me, first, to tell of sacrifice 
 
 For country s sake, for Freedom, for the world. 
 That filled the Nation s tombs, and wrung sad sighs 
 From countless bosoms: so unnumbered eyes 
 May read the tale, in history s page impearled, 
 Of deeds that kept the stars and stripes unfurled.
 
 220 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 An awful gloom enshrouded all the land 
 
 With darkness, dark as midnight s sable pall; 
 And o er the bosom of the Union grand 
 Kolled shudders, laboring on from strand to strand: 
 The Nation s heart stood still; for soon the call, 
 "To aruisl" would echo through the aerial hall. 
 
 For In a southern land, of riches stored 
 
 In fields of cotton and of golden grain, 
 The dreadful boom of sullen War had roared 
 And the first drops of that red rain had poured 
 Which soon would flood upon the battle plain 
 And rush in rivers round brave soldiers slaiu. 
 
 But ah 1 there were that loved their native soil; 
 
 There were that knew to send the current warm 
 Along their veins, to reach, true hearts, and boil, 
 When hurried forth grim War their homes to spoil. 
 And burst above Columbia s breast a storm 
 Of woe, upcalled by Treason s form deform. 
 
 So, when the balmy southern breezes bore 
 
 To northern homes the harsh, discordant jars 
 Of war, like which, O God! be waged no more, 
 Men heard their land and Lincoln, "(Jore must pour I 
 Since armies, soldiers! are the bra/en bars 
 Must shield a nation from the woes of wars." 
 
 And from the offices, the schools, and farms, 
 
 And from the factories, the mines, and stores, 
 Came pouring forth brave citizens in arms, 
 Whose voices louder than War s hoarse alarms: 
 "Our wealth, our blood, our all, sweet land, are yours, 
 And you we will protect while life endures."
 
 GETTYSBURG. 221 
 
 They left their homes and loving ones so dear, 
 
 Whose tears were falling like the dripping rain, 
 For bloody fields they knew would be the bier 
 Of thousands fallen, while crowds on crowds would hoar 
 Death s call in prisons, and disease s pain 
 Would numbei hosts amidst the ranks of slain* 
 
 But oh ! their country called them to the war; 
 
 Their country called them, and they could not stay; 
 On horse, and foot, and rapid railway car, 
 They rushed to where the sullen boom and jar 
 
 Proclamed that Treason (damn it, God, we pray ! ) 
 
 Waged war to take the Union s life away. 
 
 So gan the strife, and moi ths rolled slowly by 
 Months that seemed age" to the Nation worn 
 
 Well nigh to death with war. "How long !" the cry 
 
 Arose, "O God, how long must soldiers die 
 To save the land with woe and sorrow torn ? 
 How many Shilohs yet must make iis mourn ?" 
 
 Ah! darker days are yet in store for thee, 
 O Federal Union, grand Columbian state; 
 
 The fires of hell will try, fair Liberty, 
 
 Your darling country of the brave and free. 
 " The Union is no morel" swore Southern hate: 
 And truth it sounded like the doom of fate. 
 
 For Treason s forces at the traitor s word 
 
 Were wringing from the breast a nation s groan, 
 
 As tramping, tramping northward they were heard. 
 
 By victory s prestige and by passions stirred, 
 To roll the horrors which are war s alone 
 Across the border of the old Keystone.
 
 222 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 But, praise eternal to God s holy name ! 
 
 The loyal sous of many States were there 
 To joiu with Pennsylvania!!* in the game 
 Of blood and death, to save the laud from shame. 
 Nor feared these sons of liberty to dare 
 The Southern armies in the toils of war. 
 
 At Gettysburg, that tomb! that field of woe! 
 A band of heroes stood in stern array, 
 
 And horrid Slaughter grinned and laughed "Ho, ho!" 
 
 For stood those heroes to repel the foe 
 
 Which marching, marching in the early day, 
 Spread gloom which morning could not drive away. 
 
 The sun his chariot wheeled into the sky 
 
 And poured his crimson splendor on the world, 
 And from his station in the heaven higli 
 Looked down, nor saw unmoved a banner tly 
 Jn starry, rainbow-colored folds unfurled, 
 Above an "army gainst which would be hurled 
 
 Vast, gallant legions from a southern clime, 
 Of daring troops as ever heard the roar 
 
 Of horrid War s confounding tones sublime. 
 
 Foul War no more could awe them than the chime 
 Of Sabbath bells; they blanched not when earth s eon 
 His thunders shook aud flowed the hills with gore. 
 
 As that dark day advanced, the Southern troops 
 
 Marched to the cringing field and straight deployed: 
 
 Hills tremble in suspense; the forest droops; 
 
 Death flits above on sable wings, then stoops 
 Upon the field and laughs, as overjoyed 
 He views the force by him to be destroyed.
 
 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 O God I what rumblings caused the earth to jar ? 
 War s lightnings thunder at the Nation s pride: 
 The rebel armies strike to hurl afar 
 The Union s bonds, to sink the Nation s star; 
 The loyal armies bend the blows aside, 
 And fight Columbia s fortunes to decide. 
 
 As when the forces deep in nature s womb 
 
 Have rent a mountain s awful form in twain. 
 And oped a chasm deep and dark as doom, 
 His rumbling parts return across the tomb, 
 And close his jaws with grinding, crushing strain, 
 So closed those armies on the battle plain 
 
 Now Clamor breaks his chains; Confusion, Woe, 
 And Horror rage like fiends escaped from hell; 
 War s iron lungs are clanging; blow on blow 
 Kesounds; Death s scythe is laying legions low; 
 Of armies, roaring cannon toll the knell, 
 And crashing bomb, and hissing shot and shell. 
 
 The trampling hoofs of chargers spurn the field; 
 Their poor, slain riders neath the cannon fall, 
 
 As those dread cars of war are onward wheeled; 
 
 From brass and iron throats a shock is pealed 
 Which shakes the hills, the troops cannot appall 
 E en though it dooms them to death s silent hall. 
 
 Here rides a trooper with his dashing band 
 
 Which charges fiercely on a rebel bold. 
 He grasps his saber in his better hand 
 While with his left his steed he does command. 
 His breast is torn with balls, his body cold 
 And lifeless in the bloody dust is rolled. 
 
 223
 
 224 
 
 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 A gunner, toiling with a grimy gun 
 
 In sulphurous clouds of smoke, which render dim 
 The golden glories of the blazing sun, 
 Recks not that his dear life is nearly done, 
 
 But as a demon wars with rage as grim; 
 
 A shell, exploding, tears him limb from limb. 
 
 Another steps into his vacant room, 
 
 And urges home the messengers of death; 
 The quick recoil is seen, the sullen boom 
 Is heard, and forth Is launched his foemen s doom. 
 With the loved comrade who resigned his breath, 
 Full many a rebel sleeps the sleep of death. 
 
 A soldier stoops to lift a comrade s head, 
 
 And hear that dying comrade s last request: 
 "O friend, a grateful country, when I m dead, 
 Will keep my wife and child?" the comrade said. 
 But ere the soldier has reply addressed, 
 He s slain, and tumbles on his comrade s breast. 
 
 A gallant boy is gasping on the ground, 
 
 While from his wounds his precious blood does flow; 
 He asks for aid from those who struggle round 
 Him there, but this weak, piteous cry is drowned 
 Amidst the roar, and crash, and sounding blow 
 Of war, and deafening cheers of friend and foe. 
 
 A cannon rumbles down the dreadful field, 
 And where the boy is lain must thunder by; 
 
 No power is there the drummer boy to shield; 
 
 The horses tramp him, and the cannon wheeled 
 Upon him mangles him; without a cry 
 His spirit floats into the liquid sky.
 
 GETTYSBURG. 225 
 
 Swords, bayonets and sabers, through the breasts 
 
 Of soldiers thrust, and stained with life s warm stream, 
 Are here the heralds summoning the guests 
 To Death s vast banquet hall. O God ! what tests 
 
 Were those that tried our braves ! Not hell s fierce beam 
 Of burning hate more terrible could seem. 
 
 Men, torn to fragments by a bursting shell, 
 
 Arc scattered broadcast o er a space of ground; 
 Limbs torn and bleeding where they thickly fell, 
 And mangled brains burst from the bony cell, 
 
 And warm blood pouring from full many a wound, 
 Paint red the field of Gettysburg renowned. 
 
 And in the thickest of that bleeding fray 
 
 Young Reynolds stood that morn among his men 
 
 Who fought dread Treason s forward march to stay, 
 
 And gain for loyalty a glorious day. 
 
 He led and cheered them in the struggle, when 
 The missile hurled his soul to God again. 
 
 As when a city is besieged by foes 
 
 And mines are dug beneath her granite wall, 
 
 The while it trembles ueath the crushing blows 
 
 Of war, the city dreads its coming woes, 
 Her gates are rended and her bulwarks fall, 
 Her cries of horror fill the airy hall: 
 
 So Pennsylvania cried in grief and woe, 
 
 And sent to God a supplicating call 
 When that accursed shot from cursed foe 
 Her hero, Reynolds, in cold death laid low. 
 
 Her noble pillar of support did fall 
 
 When he fell bleeding by a minie ball. 
 15
 
 226 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 But I will tell of armies as of braves, 
 Of armies sweating blood in war s dread toils: 
 
 For though the soldiers strike when battle raves. 
 
 And singly stand or singly seek their graves, 
 Two armies are, amid a war s turmoils, 
 Two giants struggling for a nation s spoils. 
 
 Besides it were not well to sing of one 
 
 Among near ninety thousand such as he. 
 When, at the booming of each murderous gun 
 That slew some loving mother s faithful son 
 And hurled a soul into eternity, 
 A brave, heroic Reynolds ceased to be. 
 
 If Pennsylvania gave her heroes up 
 
 At Gettysburg, the tomb of her defenders. 
 That Freedom might not drink the bitter cup 
 Which Treason held for her sweet lips to sup, 
 
 She mourns, not singly, what she then surrenders, 
 A Nation s grief her sacrifice engenders. 
 
 And each fair sister at the loyal North 
 
 J)id send her sons her foemen to defy; 
 As swoops the thunderbolt, so rushed they forth 
 In pride and glory of their royal worth, 
 And fierce as lightning from the cloudy sky 
 They dashed dread Treason down to hell to die. 
 
 But who can tell the horrors of that day? 
 
 The (iod of War, himself, could not recite 
 Its deeds of woe: there on the gory clay 
 Two mighty armies bleed their lives away, 
 And ever fiercer grows the rage of fight, 
 Which dooms whole armies to the realms of niglit.
 
 GETTYSBURG. 227 
 
 The blood-red suu was half way down the \vest 
 When backward rolled the Nation s ranks of blue. 
 
 They d fought like soldiers, they had done their best. 
 
 But being ever close and closer pressed 
 By twice their number of the rebel crew, 
 They from the bloody post of death withdrew. 
 
 Strong men as children wept, such anguish wrung 
 
 Their hearts. What wonder? they had left behind 
 Their comrades and their captains, who had clung 
 To that red field till Death their dirge had sung. 
 They wept such tears as weeps a noble mind, 
 As they that first day s battle field resigned. 
 
 The battered, smoke-grimed, blood-stained ranks of blue, 
 By Gettysburg, and through her streets marched on. 
 
 And all the calm and quiet evening through 
 
 The rolling drums beat, and the bugles blew 
 The martial calls, as battle lines were drawn, 
 And all was order ere the coming dawn. 
 
 
 
 That night the soldiers heard their country say, 
 "If shamed you feel, my sons, feel shamed no more: 
 J marked you fighting through the doubtful day, 
 And blessed your valor when your ranks gave way; 
 I cried because you would not quit before 
 Your mortal struggles on that bloody shore. 
 
 "A knave can perish as beseems a man, 
 When round him hoarse the battle s thunder roars: 
 
 The brave recede from War s tempestuous van, 
 
 When to retreat is thought the better plan. 
 I held you godlike, First and Eleventh corps, 
 Or when you fought, or when you quit those shores.
 
 228 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 "But now agaift you stand in firm array, 
 
 And with you, too, your brothers of the war 
 Who joined not with you in the roaring fray 
 And deadly dangers of this hard-fought day; 
 But they are marshaled now my foes to dare 
 And with you all the toils of war u share." 
 
 The morning hours awoke the rosy dawn; 
 
 She did the lovely gates of light unbar. 
 And kissed the night now hastening to be gone, 
 Ere upward rolled, as though by fairies drawn, 
 
 The king of day on his refulgent car, 
 
 The dreaded signal of the coming war. 
 
 There on that field the massive squadrons stood 
 Throughout the awful day, grim, firm and still: 
 
 While round them ever flowed a purple flood, 
 
 (What woe to tell !) a flood of loyal blood. 
 
 But they would conquer or their last drops spill 
 Ou Round Top, Culp s and Cemetery Hill. 
 
 For never yet had braver forces fought 
 
 Or more upon a single army hung: 
 For their loved laud the Union soldiers wrought 
 The noble land which their forefathers bought 
 
 With blood; and never had the iron lung 
 
 Of War such uproar and confusion rung. 
 
 The rifles rattled, and the ordnance roared: 
 
 The soldiers, rallying round their banners tattered. 
 Shook heaven with cheers; each struggling army poured 
 Such thundering charges on as heaped the sward 
 
 With dead, and jarred the hills: whole armies, battered 
 With lead ami iron, into ruin shattered.
 
 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 229 
 
 The singing bullets and the screaming shells 
 
 Rang Death s sad requiem to the fearless men. 
 Huge clamors clanged as though a hundred hells 
 Had hurled their devils from the infernal cells; 
 
 Deep thunders bellowed through each glade and glen; 
 The earth resounded; heaven rang again. 
 
 So all day long the sounds of strife arose; 
 
 The cheer of columns and the "captain s cr"y 
 Precipitated war against the foes 
 From morning s dawn to evening s dewy close; 
 Then looked the moon adown and heaved a sigh 
 To see mong up-piled slain the wounded die. 
 
 Sweet, weeping Night approaches, sad and slow. 
 
 And quells the roar which shook the firmament: 
 Sweet dewy-pinioned Sleep lulls friend and foe 
 To peaceful dreams; around the camp-tire s glow 
 The Nation s lonely warriors rest content 
 That Treason s troops the Union have not rent. 
 
 The weary sentry does his beat patrol 
 
 With martial tread along the bloody strand. 
 
 Where battle s surges all the day did roll. 
 
 Around the plain, oh, scene of dismal dole ! 
 Now sleep in death vast numbers of that band 
 Who tramped to arms when Lincoln gave command. 
 
 But morning calls to ruining War once more. 
 And Discord rushes from his dreadful den 
 Well pleased to see the hills baptized with gore. 
 And peace ignored, which all true men adore, 
 And parks of ordnance pealing forth again, 
 In thunder tones, the eternal doom of men.
 
 2 3 o 
 
 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 Throe days the sun s rays pierced the battle snmko 
 And saw the ground with floods of blood run rel: 
 
 As many days AYar s sounding clash and stroke 
 
 The echoes of the universe awoke: 
 
 And thrice the moon and stars their splendor shod 
 In pitying glances on the mangled dead. 
 
 Until the sun had climbed the eastern hill 
 The third and last day of the dreadful strife. 
 
 The Northern braves, with steady mind and will. 
 
 Endured an iron hail which sent the chill 
 Of doath to many a noble bosom, rife 
 With love of country more than love of life. 
 
 Then Stillness came upon the field of rage 
 
 And breathed a calm: sweet Quietness did seem 
 Sharp warfare with confounding Noise to wage: 
 J)eath sheathed his blood-washed sword, and for a stage 
 The war was hushed as in a peaooful dream 
 Of gentle sleep, and Quiet reigned supreme. 
 
 T is but the calm which ever does precede 
 The maddest fury of the storm king s ire. 
 The Nation calls her gallant son: "O Meade, 
 The Nation trusts you in this hour of need. 
 Remember, when yon from these hills retire 
 Your laud is doomed, your country s hopes expire." 
 
 The hoarse, deep-throated cannon had grown still. 
 
 As though to cool their fiery lungs, and rest 
 Amidst their work of slaughter. Dale and hill 
 Hoard then no sound of battle! T was the will 
 Of Lee that sheathed the blade of war and pressed 
 His legions from the struggle. On the crest
 
 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 Of Seminary Hill they were to stand, 
 
 To quiet reconciled, to rest resigned: 
 Impatient forces waiting the command 
 To crush the Union army in one grand 
 
 And awful charge of horse and foot combined: 
 
 The foot in front, the cavalry behind. 
 
 For Lee had ordered his bold troop of horse 
 To circle past the Union army s right, 
 
 And thunder headlong round the curving course, 
 
 To strike the rear with unexpected force; 
 
 While charging legions on our front would fight 
 To sink the Nation s cause in endless night. 
 
 While tiiey are urging on their foaming steeds 
 To gain the post assigned them in the fray, 
 Gregg marks the rolling cloud of dust, and reads 
 Its cause aright. He his tried squadron leads 
 To battle, vowing he will hold at bay 
 The rebel horse, till Meade can win the day. 
 
 "My comrades," Gregg appealed, "our brothers scarce 
 
 Can hold their ground against their hopeful foes. 
 They scarce withstand the charge, and rush of fierce 
 Arrays, which seek their solid ranks to pierce. 
 They stagger fainting from the crushing blows 
 They now receive; and God in Heaven knows 
 
 "That mortal forms more force cannot withstand. 
 
 If yonder troop shall strike, as is designed, 
 The Union rear, the day is lost, our land 
 Is doomed, our homes are dark; but, trusted band, 
 My followers, our friends this day shall find 
 Hell s flames are all in front, and none behind." 
 
 231
 
 232 GET l YSSCKG. 
 
 The rebel, also, cheered his followers: 
 
 "Our foe confronts us, "hut this soil shall drink 
 The warm heart s bloo.l of that rash foe that stir< 
 Not from our course. Advance! what here defers 
 Our destined blow, drives nearer to the brink 
 Our cause and army. If we fail, they sink. 
 
 "If we, repulsed, Lee s trust in us betray, 
 And cannot reach in time our destined post, 
 
 Our foes will drive Lee s legions from the fray 
 
 And claim the victory of a famous day. 
 Oh! with our failure, all Lee s mighty host 
 Is ruined, and irrevocably lost." 
 
 They charge, they meet, recoil, and rally soon, 
 
 Bear down, force back, strike, saber, kill and maim. 
 
 The men and horses, when the rush is done, 
 
 Roll in their blood: the battle rages on. 
 
 Both squadrons valor merits praise and fame: 
 But Lee s bold troop to aid him never came. 
 
 O loyal soldiers ! you have nobly stood 
 
 Where battle s chopping winds have raged around. 
 O warriors ! you have fallen as falls a wood 
 When storms confound; but oh ! the brotherhood 
 Of States you have maintained: O stand your ground 
 In one more storm which now is thickening round. 
 
 For see! in front the Southern legions throng, 
 
 The marshaling squadrons rank and close combine 
 To fight with bravery and with purpose strong 
 The supreme battle in tin ir cause of wrong. 
 The Nation verges on abrupt decline, 
 For raging hells will strike the Union line.
 
 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 This Liberty perceives, and, sore dismayed, 
 Resolves to seek the throne of God on high 
 
 To pray, as suppliant ne er to him had prayed. 
 
 With wings expanded, and in light arrayed, 
 She stands to cheer her soldiers with a cry, 
 Then scales with sounding wing the az.ure sky. 
 
 In airy circles wide she onward sped, 
 
 The howling horrors of the void to dare, 
 Which stretches boundless from the sunset red 
 Beyond the lofty dome above outspread. 
 
 The angels mark her nymph-like form so fair, 
 As floats she upward through the realms of air. 
 
 As swift as thought can leap from space to space 
 
 And distance passed can be by subtle mind, 
 She dauntless hurried on her eager race: 
 The solar system passed, nor blanched her face, 
 Nor her angelic form to rest resigned, 
 Though flashing constellations roared behind. 
 
 The moon, the planets and the central sun 
 She left behind, and saw, beyond, afar, 
 The myriad globes of heaven; one by one 
 They brush her, gliding by; but there were none 
 Mong all the host above, no glorious star, 
 So fair as Liberty, so passing fair. 
 
 But as she skims along the aerial way, 
 
 The lofty road that never yet was trod 
 By feet of any save those forms that stray 
 From Paradise among the stars to play, 
 She little heeds the mighty works of God, 
 But yearns to reach Almighty God s abode. 
 
 2 33
 
 234 
 
 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 The last dim orb of this creation vast, 
 
 This graDd, tremendous, everlasting scroll 
 
 On which is written GOD, so plainly cast 
 
 That overwhelming awe struck her aghast, 
 She passed, nor laxed the purpose of her soul: 
 But now she nears the gates of heaven, her goal. 
 
 The angels mount their lovely, snowy wings 
 
 And stoop from off great heaven s golden stair 
 To meet her, weary; praise the city rings, 
 And angels pray the self-same prayer she briii^!>; 
 Hoouoolun kisses her loose, golden hair, 
 And Brusse clasps her form in arms as fair. 
 
 Returning soon, they plant their eager feet 
 
 Upon the stair, fast by the portal high. 
 "Go now," said Brusse, "and God s pity greei 
 Thee willing from His throne and mercy seal." 
 And Liberty, vouchsafing no reply, 
 Springs lightly through the portal of the sky. 
 
 Now through the city s courts with brilliance <lim. 
 She moves with humble mien and modest air, 
 
 Conducted by the thronging cherubim, 
 
 And welcomed by the happy seraphim; 
 
 Before God s awful throne she kneels in prayer, 
 
 And He, rejoiced, with smiles makes heaven more fair. 
 
 Now, Father, Thine all-seeing eye surveys 
 
 The strife at Gettysburg; pray hear my prayer. 
 For I will pray the prayer my Nation prays, 
 The heart-felt prayer my sorrowing people raise. 
 Then, gracious God, Thy mighty arm make bare, 
 To save Columbia, the great, the fair.
 
 GETTYSBURG. 235 
 
 "See, God, how nobly stand my soldiers there, 
 
 The fumes of hell around them where they stand; 
 And see how patiently my warriors bear 
 The furious storms which through their columns tear; 
 Say, God, does not the valor of my band 
 Some grateful succor from Thy hand demand ? 
 
 "I know that Thou dost not delight to hear 
 
 The battle s thunder pealing on the air: 
 Those shrieks, and yells, and groans, loud sounding clear, 
 As high as heaven, are horrid to Thy ear; 
 
 Then God, in mercy Thy dissent declare, 
 
 And bid my foemeu from the war forbear. 
 
 "My champions, Father, did not take the field 
 
 For love of bloodshed; they did never care 
 For that false glory warlike deeds can yield: 
 But they did arm their country s form to shield: 
 And it is for their country s sake they dare 
 Their foes to battle in the ranks of war. 
 
 "How often they have wept, as they have stood 
 To slay their brothers, or themselves be slain ! 
 
 How oft their tears have mingled with their blood. 
 
 When battle fields have drunk the augmented flood ! 
 None know but Thee how they have prayed in vain 
 That War might cease, and Peace resume her reign. 
 
 "Though they were sad when their rash Southern foes 
 
 Awoke rebellion, and provoked the war, 
 Their eyes flashed fire, and their valor rose 
 And called, To arms! redress your country s woes! 
 
 And they did gather from both near and far 
 
 To do the deeds their spirits did abhor.
 
 236 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 "They cursed the cruel, harsh necessity 
 That called them forth to light, de-troy and kill; 
 
 They darkly cursed the .Southern enemy, 
 
 For they did love their land devotedly; 
 
 But, God, they could not curb their iron will 
 When Treason tore their flag from Freed>m > hill. 
 
 "They for the dreadful, bloody conflict burned 
 As raging tigers breaking from the cage. 
 
 Their love of peace and scruples too they spurned. 
 
 And all to war their thoughts and spirits turned. 
 But I will swear my braves this struggle wage 
 For love of country, not barbaric rage. 
 
 "Now, God, you see them striking for their homes. 
 
 And, God, you see them for their country die; 
 Brave men by thousands rushing to their tombs 
 To save their country from the wrath which dooms 
 Their death, else their loved land: O arm ! and fly 
 From heaven flaming down the darkened sky, 
 
 "And tear the Nation s doubt and gloom away, 
 And pierce the battle s dreadful thundercloud 
 
 With Victory s light and Hope s refulgent ray. 
 
 Forbid, O God ! this all-important day 
 Should see the banded rebel legions proud 
 The Union wrap for aye in Death s black shroud." 
 
 Erewhile Hoonoolun stood without the walls 
 
 And Brusse by her: Brusse, angel dove, 
 Who, speaking, thus: "Hoonoolun. pity calls 
 Us to the home of men, and naught forestalls 
 Us: let us hence, and with the force of love 
 Instruct their hearts to waft a prayer above.
 
 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 2 37 
 
 Meantime at Gettysburg the battle roared; 
 The cannons boomed, the mortars shrieked amain. 
 
 The volleying muskets showers incessant poured. 
 
 The war-horse neighed and champed, loud clanked the sword, 
 The blaring trumpets rang a martial strain, 
 The living cheered, the dying groaned in pain. 
 
 The massed artillery through the steady ranks 
 Of grim battalions opens yawning lanes; 
 
 The bayonet with sword and saber clanks, 
 
 The iron billows roll from flanks to Hanks. 
 And all the acres of the warring plains 
 Deform with corpses, blood, and battered brains. 
 
 Oh ! hear the mothers and the children s prayer: 
 "Oh! never let in vain our warriors bleed; 
 
 Hurl Treason into hell, and save the fair 
 
 Columbian laud entrusted to Thy care. 
 Be near in this the Nation s utmost need, 
 Inspire the soldiers, steel the heart of Meade. 
 
 From every Northern State arose this cry, 
 
 Throughout the courts of heaven it rang aloud; 
 It swelled and rolled around the vaulted sky 
 And pleased the willing ear of the Most High; 
 While deeper round the Union dropped the cloud, 
 And leered Disruption, hideous and low browed. 
 
 The women and the children cry once more: 
 "O warriors, husbands, fathers, lovers, boys ! 
 
 We see our peaceful homes distained with gore, 
 
 Our cities fall in conflagration s roar; 
 
 The invaders tread our weeping soil annoys, 
 And all our country blasting War destroys."
 
 2 3 8 
 
 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 The wear} soldiers hear this mournful wail. 
 
 And ask, "Shall this day s war the Union en<l . " 
 Then answer, "Though the gods us should assail. 
 Till death disarmed us we would never tail: 
 
 While blood can flow or will the arm can bend. 
 
 Our land, our cherished homes, we will defend." 
 
 The cannoneers the battle first maintain; 
 
 With grape, and shells, and balls, the bolts of doom. 
 
 They toil the charging legions to restrain; 
 
 While shot and shell, and bomb and grape, like rain. 
 The rebel guns return with crashing boom, 
 To lay the Nation s forces in the tomb. 
 
 But onward sweeps the daring Southern host, 
 And louder swells the roar of trampling feet: 
 
 As sound the breakers on a rocky coast, 
 
 Or avalanches down a mountain tossed, 
 
 So groans this charge, the Northern warriors meet 
 With grim defiance burning to defeat. 
 
 Now Liberty feels chains around her fall 
 
 And shopts below the sky with piercing shriek: 
 
 With lightning s wing she spans the ethereal hall. 
 
 And bends her flight to where her champions fall: 
 Where streams of gore the hills and valleys streak, 
 On fields which groan with dead, with carnage reek. 
 
 She cleaves the sultry air with eager wing 
 And hovers in the stifling smoke of war; 
 She hears the blows of death like anvils ring, 
 And deadly missiles through the ether sing; 
 She feels the dying Union quake and jar, 
 And lifts her cheering voice which rolls afar:
 
 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 "O bravest of the brave! but rise the sun 
 
 Once more, just seven-and-eighty years ago 
 Your fathers fought a battle which, when won, 
 My fetters broke; but now my race is run: 
 Your arms, my sons I repel you charging foe, 
 Else doomed am 1 to chains, the laud to woe. 
 
 " O warrior soldiers ! lift your valiant arms, 
 
 And swear by Heaven to win for homes and me ! 
 While life s fierce ardor this great army warms, 
 Repel the foe which all the North alarms ! 
 To-morrow, braves, a glorious Fourth must be. 
 Or gloom will rule the country of the free." 
 
 The soldiers heard, and to the battle rushed, 
 
 As roll the waters when the storm king raves. 
 Alas ! by thousands straightway to be hushed 
 In death; from ghastly wounds a torrent gushed. 
 And deluged o er the plain in horrid waves, 
 While sank the soldiers into honored graves. 
 
 The fife s shrill piping and the stirring drum. 
 
 The rumbling, thundering tread of trampling feet, 
 Proclaim that avalanches onward come. 
 Though plunging volleys strike whole columns dumb, 
 
 Though balls like hail around the assailants beat. 
 
 They still advance, propelled by Southern heat. 
 
 Kilpatrick s cavalry are In the field, 
 
 Kilpatrick s cavalry are brave and bold; 
 And when the order, "Charge!" is sharply pealed 
 Upon the air with horror half congealed, 
 The bar is broken which erewhile did hold 
 The squadron back, and forward now is rolled
 
 240 
 
 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 A surging, struggling tide of frenzied war: 
 
 Of horses neighing in the furious dash, 
 Of sabers held aloft and gleaming bare, 
 Of horsemen yearning for the stunning jar 
 
 Which tells that charge with countercharge doe* ciu>h, 
 
 Of heedless valor, desperate and rash, 
 
 Descending through the death-encumbered dell 
 And surging forward mad to meet the foe: 
 
 Triumphant shout and loud, defiant yell, 
 
 And beat of hoofs that ever rose and fell, 
 
 Hayed their wild march and heralded the blow 
 They struck so well on that great day of woe. 
 
 Like some swift torrent pouring from its banks 
 
 And foaming over all the grassy plain 
 They bounded on, and, worth a people s thanks ! 
 They smote and broke the charging rebel ranks. 
 
 And through them rode, and back returned again. 
 
 Save those who fell among their foeinen slain. 
 
 But oh ! how many sleep upon the sod 
 Their horses trampled with their rushing feet ! 
 
 How many souls have floated home to (Jod 
 
 And left upon the turf uptorn and trod 
 
 The blood-washed soldiers who with furious heat 
 Fought in the conflict while their hearts did beat ! 
 
 In vain the booming cannon and the shell 
 
 Have rocked the eternal hills from side to side. 
 
 And of slain thousands tolled the funeral knell. 
 
 Can mortal force those charging ranks repel . 
 Before the blazing muskets hosts have died; 
 But Southern warriors death and pain deride.
 
 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 O God ! the shock has come with dreadful power; 
 The charge has driven home, the armies close; 
 
 Earth groans, and groans again; the heavens lower; 
 
 Around the field fierce Rage and Treason tower. 
 And storming Fury urges foes on foes, 
 And armies groan with more than mortal woes. 
 
 The bayonets are sheathed in heroes hearts, 
 The swords and sabers fill the air with tire, 
 
 The heaving battle strains in all its parts 
 
 But not a legion or a column starts; 
 
 All ply the work of war with vengeful ire, 
 Till vigor fails, or, wounded, they expire. 
 
 The heaps of slaughtered cumber all the plain; 
 The gaping wounds with gore baptize the field; 
 
 Death yells for joy to contemplate the slain. 
 
 Tlie panting soldiers who the war maintain 
 Their lives but not the ground of battle yield: 
 Oh ! pray, the Union save, Columbia shield. 
 
 In that dread hour which weighed the Nation s fate, 
 The Federal Union, dying in the fight, 
 
 Exclaimed in tones which rolled to heaven s gate, 
 
 In words repeated by each loyal State, 
 Which Liberty reechoed with her might 
 To fire the champions of the cause of right: 
 
 " warriors ! gaze upon your honored flag, 
 
 Whose arms and trophies to your hands I trust; 
 Whose folds have fluttered on the highest crag 
 Of Freedom s hill: shall Treason tear or drag 
 That starry banner in ignoble dust ? 
 Fight on till victory rewards the just. 
 16 
 
 241
 
 242 
 
 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 "In times of peace that flag makes sorrow glad; 
 When War his hell hounds urges on the land, 
 And stalks abroad with nameless horrors clad, 
 Peace-loving citizens, like demons mad, 
 
 Take arms and struggle that the emblem grand 
 May still in glory o er their land expaud. 
 
 "My soldiers! swear that it may never wave 
 Less proudly o er the country of the free 
 
 Than when the heavens it to your fathers gave. 
 
 Now foes invade you, terrors round you rave, 
 Your flag defend with matchless bravery. 
 Fight on for homes, for Liberty and me. 
 
 The loved at home look on you in this fight, 
 
 And oh ! what horror fills their souls with dread ! 
 What grief! what woe! what misery! what night 
 Of sorrow clouds with tears their swimming sight, 
 As they behold, on this great field of red, 
 Their country dying and their warriors dead ! 
 
 "Almighty God ! is there on earth who cries, 
 Give up the war, O men, the battle yield; 
 
 Forget your fathers look with streaming eyes 
 
 Upon the battle from the crystal skies; 
 Throw down your arms, surrender on the field. 
 Nor longer hope your Government to shield. " 
 
 So cried the Union, Liberty and all 
 Which under heaven feared the South would gain 
 
 The victory in battle, and that all 
 
 Our noble institutions then would fall. 
 The while their anxious eyes, upon the plain, 
 Surveyed with dread the rising heaps of slain.
 
 GETTYSBURG. 243 
 
 The cannon s booming and the mortar s roar, 
 
 The shriek of balls, the crash of bursting shell, 
 Still echoed and rebellowed round the shore 
 Where cold and silent corpses, washed with gore, 
 Lay where the spirits left them as they fell, 
 To wing to blissful heavon or woeful hell. 
 
 The wheels of cannon and the charger s feet 
 
 Still crush the dead and dying on the ground; 
 The storms of deadly musket balls still beat 
 The soldiers down; the sabers sabers meet, 
 The bayonet still opes the mortal wound; 
 Blood, brains and limbs of men are scattered round. 
 
 The panting soldiers in the trenches stand, 
 
 And brain, and bone, and nerve, and muscle strain, 
 And iron will: this force to save the land, 
 And that to wreck and crush the Union grand; 
 But Treason s troops the battle cannot gain, 
 Nor Loyalty hurl Treason from the plain. 
 
 Imagination s eye man cannot lift 
 
 To such dread height as swelling Rage attained 
 At Gettysburg; the awful charge, the swift 
 Destroying countercharge, the widening rift 
 In surging, broken ranks, advantage gained 
 And lost, and metal death forever rained 
 
 In dismal, hideous storms, what mortal tongue 
 
 Can sing? The reigning Fiend of Hell, like Fate. 
 Sat on the winds, and o er the battle hung, 
 And thus in brief the mighty struggle sung: 
 "Behold the horrors which can emanate 
 From Hell s infernal, dread, undying hate."
 
 -H4 
 
 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 Then thunder rolling from the realms alx>ve 
 Hurled him confounded to his black abode; 
 And God said, "Hell bprn! it is faithful love 
 Contending with the powers which hate did move 
 Against that nation which now sheds the blood 
 Of that great Nation best beloved of God." 
 
 As when the mighty storm king s giant swell 
 With fierce turmoil collides with some grand \va\e 
 
 Recoiling through a bounden strait, with fell 
 
 t areer from vast upheaval, hill and dell 
 Of ocean groan and rumble, seethe and rave. 
 And clangor rolls throughout high heaven s concave; 
 
 The mountains huge of heaving waters, hurled 
 
 Against each other, clash and leap on high, 
 Then break in whelming billows foamed and curled 
 In cloudy spray by winds around them whirled; 
 Yet neither moves, but while they vainly try 
 To force a way they sink, and sinking die: 
 
 So shocked at Gettysburg those wars so dread, 
 So even balanced hung the beam of fight, 
 
 So sank In gory heaps the ranks of dead. 
 
 Now Death wings gloomy round the Union s heaii, 
 But while her eyes expect eternal night 
 She cheers her heroes bleeding for the right. 
 
 "Stand firm, my braves! as shapes of tempered steel; 
 
 Your flag, your homes, your native land defend; 
 Strike, heroes, strike ! I see the rebels reel. 
 <J<xl helps us, soldiers, Treason s doom to seal: 
 
 Your souls of fire to I he struggle bend, 
 
 God-cursed Treason into hell you send.
 
 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 41 Fight, freemen, nobly do, or nobly die ! 
 
 War, warriors, war ! you drive the Southern foe I 
 One more brave stroke, my sons ! the foe they fly I 
 The clouds roll slowly from the gloomy sky, 
 Yoiir foes, defeated, staggering backwards go: 
 You conquer! soldiers, deal them blow on blow." 
 
 The Xation breathes again, but weeps in woe 
 
 for martyred braves for love of country slain, 
 By rebel engines in their graves laid low, 
 No more their Northern homes and friends to know. 
 She mourns the dead in bitter woe and pain, 
 lu unknown Southern graves forever lain. 
 
 Columbia ! honor those who live to-day, 
 
 That war-worn few who grasped the old ship s helm, 
 
 Nor blanched when breakers thundered in the way. 
 
 And when their forms shall moulder to decay, 
 Though grief and woe the Nation overwhelm, 
 Bear them with glory to the silent realm. 
 
 And when they with their comrades in the tomb 
 
 Are laid to rest till the last day arise, 
 Let not remembrance of them fade in gloom: 
 But think, Columbia ! how they rushed to doom. 
 
 To snatch from ruin that transcendent prize. 
 
 The grandest treasure known to human eyes. 
 
 For they were patriots and heroes all 
 
 And each deserves undying praise and glory; 
 And each will hear his own name sweetly fall, 
 From Fame s eternal lips at each roll call; 
 And Honor s scrolls will tell the deathless story 
 Of each brave soldier in this battle gory. 
 
 2 45
 
 246 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 Then can fair Justice choose a single one 
 Among the throng to favor with her praise ? 
 
 Not so; for has not each brave mother s son 
 
 Entire duty to his country done ? 
 Undying honor through eternal days 
 To each but illy for his service pays. 
 
 80 equal honors give alike to all: 
 For none but noble and heroic braves 
 
 Surrendered life to bar the Nation s fall 
 
 Or braved a hell obedient to her call; 
 So while the river Time rolls on its waves, 
 Let love and honor guard their sacred graves. 
 
 Go, boys and girls, to Gettysburg, and pause 
 
 Above the graves that hold inurned the dust 
 Of men who, fighting for sweet Freedom s cause, 
 For homes, for country, liberty, and laws, 
 Were slain, and think this noble Nation must 
 In future years repose in you its trust. 
 
 Stand at the tombs of those brave, martyred dead, 
 
 Where Lincoln s soldiers rest in sleep forever 
 Beneath the sod that once was crimsoned red 
 With loyal blood, for our dear country shed, 
 And TOW as citizens, that woe shall never 
 Destroy our country, or the Union sever.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
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