A A mM® 2 — — — cc 1 ^ 1 5 ==== ~ 33 1 -< 1 fi ^^^ == -n 1 \j — CD 1 1 - H 1 -< 1 1 ! 1 rt J) S'-f- £i THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES LIFE'S PHASES §1 dramatic |)o£m. BY KOBERT W. THOM, \ i 1 1 f < • i • oi "the epochs," "poems," "wvsr.r.Y." CLEON. BY ROBERT W. THOM, AUTHOR OF '' THE EPOCHS,'' ETC. LONDON: HAMILTON, ADAMS, ' the seething cauldron. The boy has caught scene I.] LIFE'S PHASES. !;• The trick of waking-dreaming from old Oleon, Assisted, doubtless, by the constant sense Of love at a distance. A noble boy, Though likely in his day to be a fool Of the world-mending kind. A noble boy ! NICHOLAS. And tbe girl ? Without a doubt she is the- GABRIEL. Rarest gem the covetous eye of man Has ever looked upon ! There are who pin Their faith on the taste of one called Gabriel In beauty, and its best accompaniments, As seen in womankind. But let that pass, Friend Nicholas. The daughter of Earl Godfrey, The mighty fighter — Avard of ancient Cleon, The mighty dreamer — pupil of sage Gabriel, The mighty scholar, for which crowning favour Her heart should thank the gods — I do pronounce Lovely above id) peer ! If the complete Womanly promise of her present years 2 I ( LIFE'S PHASES. [ u i r. Be hall' fulfilled, such woman lias not graced The earth since Eve went Maying with her spouse. Slightly above the stature of her sex, Limbs straight as arrow's course, afoot that touches The earth with swift decision, gracefully; Waist not too small, with full and rounded bust, From which her neck springs like a fountain's column Seen in the moonlight. Overtopping all, Making all harmony, a queenly head : A forehead radiant as the evening star, Flashing from 'mid two clouds of ebon hair, Like a lost sunbeam from a waste of pines ; And two large liquid eyes, that lie like lakes Wooing the images of their beauteous margins, Knowing nought else so worthy of their love. Yet holding in their clear, fathomless depths The visible spirit of a passionate Love, Which One downed with the world's great bless- ing. From thence evoking, will take captive, straight Becoming thrice more rich than all the kings — S< i she I.] LIFE'S PHASES. 15 NICHOLAS. Now, by the foot of Venus, had this speech, Delivered with such fiery eloquence, And such minute observancy of charms, Been spoken by that Gabriel I knew, A rose-cheeked student in the town of Nixe, I would have sworn, nor entertained a fear Of— GABRIEL. Old Dame Pillgrew, armed with — There, I '11 hold. Nay, interrupt me not, I will be brief; But did I end with this poor catalogue Of bodily charms, I would commit most foul Treason against the type of womanhood. Her mind keeps even balance, true proportion, With every outward excellence ; refined, But not to weakness ; strong, yet womanly, Its strength being truthfulness and gentleness, Twined by the hand of yet invisible Love ; Acute, by action of swift intuition — The eye o' the soul, not by comparison l(i LIFE'S PHASES. [ACT i. Of cold conclusions ; ever discursive, Yet never trifling, being opulent In beautiful fancies, in imaginings Which gather to her from the world of Poesy, And give her thoughts, dancing amid the thoughts Of sister beauties, the delicious freshness Of wood-nymphs wreathed with flowers, moving around Queens crowned with odourless diamonds. Peerless 'Mid all this wealth, there is a purity In all the various motions of her mind, That shadow to the observant mind the time When sin was not — a time when human thought Moved to the music of a far-off heaven, Still visible to man. I grow a babbler. Friend Gabriel, ta'en on thy weak side, the world Would find thee but a man — a foolish man — A man with hobbies ! Well, well, let that pass. Come, Nicholas boy, a song, a merry song, Something in praise of wine or women, boy ; None of your crust philosophies to-night. Sing till the stars wink in the morning light. scene t.J LIFE'S PHASES. | ; Sing— [A loud ringing within. The voice of Cleon heard. Ho, house ! ho, house ! Thomas ! ho, Thomas ! GABRIEL. The voice of Cleou, by great Hector's spear ! Haste, Vanish, (Jllick. [Pushes Nicholas into a chamber. What can this tumult mean ? Invisible 's the word. Quick, presto, gone ! [Exit into the chamber. -2- ls LIFE'S PHASES. fA( it i. Scene II. — A Hall in the Castle. Enter Ci.eom (bearing a lighted taper}. CLEON. Ho, Thomas ! Thomas ! What ho, Thomas, ho ! Enter Thomas, hurriedly. THOMAS. Oh my good master, what has broke the rest Of my most excellent master ? The hall clock Has just gone two, and — CLEON. So, 't is well. Bouse up the house, let each man to his post ; The sun to-day shall see us merry, Thomas. scene ii.] LIFE'S PHASES. 1!) We 've mourned, and watched, and waited long', long years, But tins last-born of days brings us delight, Aye, even us. Haste, each man to his post. THOMAS. Mad, mad, quite mad, beyond conjecture mad. I Aside. Exit. Cleon xvalks up and down, abstractedly. Enter Zoe unobserved. After a pause — ZOE. lather. CLEON (starting). WllO Speaks ? {Perceiving Zoe.) What, boy, astir already ! Dost' know the hour ? ZOE. I could not sleep. 30 LIFE'S PHASES. [act j. CLEON. Nor I. ZOE. I would not have intruded on your thoughts, But that good Thomas told me you were here, And much — CLEOX. Enough; remain; although sweet sleep Would better match thy years than watching, boy. To-night my soul is moved. Sleep, that sits lightly Upon an old man's lids when undisturbed, And flies if but disturbed, has fled from mine, Chased thence by visions. ZOE. So from my eyes Has sleep been chased, where it should heavily rest ; But all my visions have been things of bliss And rare delights, even in a heart your care Has shielded from the open world's great sorrow. scene ii.] LIFE'S PHASES. 21 CLEON. Not since that night — whose thrice-accursed birth Was the foul day -whereon these pestilent wars Threw their broad shadow o'er the land, and wrapt My soul i' their gloom — have such assurances, Vivid and calm, of things that press to come, In vision sought me in the tents of sleep. What they so loudly speak, I may not doubt. Listen, Zoe. ZOE. I listen, Sir. CLEON. Hush, hark ! The house is all astir. Let 's to my chamber, Where we may freely talk. ZOE. I follow, Sir. [Exit. aa LIFE'S PHASES. [act i. Scene III. — A Gallery in the Castle. Enter Gabkiel. GABRIEL. I hold that since great Godfrey galloped forth To the wars, such pother has not shaken This ancient castle, as has heen to-night. I marvel what 's afoot. Some phantasy, Some visioned phasis of the impalpable, Revealed unto that mad old dreamer Cleon. Oh that old men would learn to dream abed ! But age has follies strange as those of youth; Passion leads these, and dreams of wisdom those ; And with small difference in their utterance, All, all are mad alike. The tumult grows. iNoise within. I '11 forth. So, ho ! I '11 have it presently. Here comes Lord Lickspit. Heavens, how he struts ! scene in.] LIFE'S PHASES. -j:! Master Thomas ! Where away, good Thomas ? Enter Thomas. THOMAS. Ha, Master Gabriel ! Pray, forgive me, Sir. My mind being troubled, made my conscience sleep. I saw you not ; for, to be plain with you, I wandered in the Lethe of a thought. Yes, honoured sir, upon my word of honour, The troubles of our house bear heavy on me, And all for scurvy forty pounds a year — For forty pounds a year, and perquisites — A scurvy nothing. Look you, Sir, a nothing ! GABRIEL. What game is now afoot? THOMAS. Enough, enough. I lamn me if I will stand it any longer ! No calm composure ! If I wish to dine, Why it is, Thomas, Thomas! Cannot taste • >l LIFE'S PHASES. [act i. The blood of Bacchus, but the cry is, Thomas i Ami if a friend steps in, 't is Thomas, fly ! Thy mistress faints in the wood ! Faugh, mistress ! Then this unseemly tumult in the night — This run, run, run, run ! Thomas, ho run ! — 1 "d better be the surgeon of a village, A parson's curate, or a people's poet, A poor inventor, or a schoolmaster ! There had been less of honour, poorer diet, Worse lodgings, less good wine, and humbler dress. And not the guineas ; but then there had been Absolution of this cursed Thomas ! Thou 'rt lost in thought ! Friend Gabriel, thy riddle. GABRIEL. I only wondered what thick-ribbed men Grow on the broken meat of noble houses ; What terse and lofty states of mortal speech Breed from the expletives of polished minds, When married to the stables' strong vocabulary, Or the fat phraseology of pantries. The heart grows wise, and the tongue eloquent, scene in.] LIFE'S PHASES. 25 Drinking philosophies in ancient heeltaps, And, o'er copious draughts of pilfered wine, Giving them hack hot-spiced with native wit. THOMAS. Sir! GABRIEL. Sir. THOMAS. Upon my honour — GABRIEL. Thy honour ! Out on thee, dunghill, that will yet feed worms ! Off, scum, with drippings of thy master's state Boil, stew, fry, simmer, roast, or — or — or rot, Cellar d from presence of the righteous sun, That changes filth to maggots. But, sir, hark! Old Cleon's pregnant visions yield to-day : Knock heads at key-holes, hustling with housemaids, 26 LIFE'S I'll \sr.s. [act i. (in facts and sel] them, they will purchase draughts Of warmed-up negus from the vintners wife, Comfits from the confectioner's apprentice, And kisses smelling rank of vegetables, Juicy with lard, and reeking from the kitchen. Good Thomas, gentle Thomas, mighty Thomas ! Watch, learn, and profit, faithful, prudent Thomas. THOMAS. ( rood Master Gabriel, patience, patience. G W5RTKL. Hence ! THOMAS {aside, and goinii). I'll be revenged, by the Olympian Jove ! I ' ■■'•<'■ GABRIEL. Oh Gabriel, Gabriel, thou 'rt in fact, a fool ! As I, who know thee best, must say perforce. Will not experience teach thy tongue to clasp Gold words of truth, as old men's hands grasp gold, scene in. LIFE'S PHASES. •»; To pay with copper compliments the price Of that thou wouldest have ? Must thou perforce Let anger shut the door of household knowledge (So often left ajar) full in thy face ? Oh Gabriel, know this truth, aud knowing, profit : The souls of such men hang before the souls Of men more lofty, as the vintner's apron Before his swoln paunch, to save them from The soils of the busy hour, and merit Just so much notice as the apron merits. I'll forth and find old Cleon, that were best. lExit. 28 LIFE'S PHASES. -,,■, [. Scene IV. — Cleom's Chamber in the Castle. Cleon and Zoe discovered. ZO E. I 'm all attention. CLEON. On a far off night — Through sixty years I see its wealth of stars And chaste magnificence ; it was the night After the Battle by the Lake of Prowes, Where we were overthrown — my soul first caught The murmuring sound of an approaching future, And listening, wrapt in awe, discerned the voice Of an appointed spirit, shaping forth Its solemn purpose, and its business, With that broad, netted web of circumstances scene iv. I LIFE'S PHASES. 29 Wherein its life must struggle. Since that hour, But at uncertain periods, with that spirit My spirit has communed ; in whisperings, Moving within, in seasons of deep calm, Like music in the night ; in intimations Pressing, by minds conveyed, that are related More closely to the infinite than my mind ; Shadowed — then ever sad — from the wan face Of the expectant earth, upon the soul ; But oftenest in vision rolled before My spirit, when the might of sleep descends Upon the wearied senses, and the soul Looks forth in peace. And thus it was to-night, All former intimations far surpassing In emphasis and clearness ; while as yet My eyes were conscious of the pictured form And lineaments of Godfrey, thy brave father, On which for ten long years they ve nightly closed ; And while as yet distinct and palpable, Laden with toil, the steps of sleepy grooms In distant galleries disturbed my ear, They vanished, and our broad, fair Helldongraugh, -3- :)li LIFE'S PHASES [act i. Dawn-dappled, panting for the embrace of day, Lay all around. Then on a mountain top, Girt by an atmosphere of golden light, And huge against the broad disk of the sun, Appeared a courier, who bestrode a steed Snow-white, but to the fetlocks red with blood, Which he seemed urging forward franticly ; I saw his dress — his hair — aye, even his face, Disordered, tossing in a storm of joy ; And as he hurried through that visible space, Girt by the night, and full of summer murmurings, He shouted in the souls of dreaming men Words that enfranchised with a single bound The soul from sleep. ZOE. And the words. They were — CLEON. Words Hallowed for ever to the waiting soul. He shook them forth through all the breezy land. scene iv.] LIFE'S PHASES. :fl The prodigal abundance of a heart Full to o'erflowing. Hushed woods, voiceful streams, The golden winged and dapple-breasted dawn, The full earth's incense gave them glorious welcome, They being timed to everlasting concord With every potent spirit of the hour. ZOE. Words of rare worth indeed. CLEON. Aye, priceless, Boy. Words that will build again o'erthrown cities, Send forth the plough rejoicing in the furrow, Re-spread the sails of commerce to the wind, Surgeon the ulcered body of the state, Cleanse social converse from the soil of blood, And the blessed air from taint of human slaughter : Give songs of maidens for the roll of drums, Blessings of fathers for the soldier's curse, And smiles of mothers for the cannon's glare, Through all this war-cursed land of Helldongraugh. ;j^ LIFE'S PHASES. [mi i. The words, my boy, were Peace, Peace ! God in heaven, Let it be so ! it is an old man's prayer, Standing i' the immediate shadow of thy presence. [After a pause, speaking abstractedly. His words were Peace! Peace! and my soul has drunk Deep draughts of sweet assurance they are true ! I know that Godfrey comes ! The graves of memory Yield to the resurrection of the affections, And thoughts long dead come forth, foreshadowing The glorious resurrection of mankind By love infinite ! ZOE. Honoured Sir, you deem My father's swift return a certainty. CLEON. Certain, boy, as that the sun at dawn Will kiss the sad brow of the patient earth. scene iv.] LIFE'S PHASES. 33 ZOE (approaching Cleon, and kneeling). I do beseech you, oh most noble Sir, Who, since the rounded earth left on my senses Its beautiful image, since acts gave to memory Their felt, though unseen, kindness to treasure, Have been to my dear sister and myself, Else orphaned quite, all, all of gentleness, Of sleeplesss care, and ever present love, That our hearts, inexperienced in the real, Dreamed of in father, mother ; most kind sir, Accuse me not of lack of reverence For age and wisdom, purified by sorrow, And lay not to my charge ingratitude, Or that inconstancy of shallow natures Whose incense swells to each sun that salutes them. CLEON. What may this mean ? what wayward mood is this ? ZO E . Oh Father! Father! Oh good Sir, this heart, ■;i LIFE'S PHASES. [act i. That one shor( hour ago was as a star Which bathed all night and day in a lone lake Of quiet love, has grown an arid desert Which has not drank dew in eternity. ci.rcoN. Rise, hoy, rise ! I command thee rise ! Nay, rise ! ZOE. Even as a hound, hearing its master call, Springs forth to meet him : so my soul springs forth To meet my father. By another spirit My spirit is embraced, and thou, dear Sir, And thy sweet and familiar kindnesses, By my affections are quite put aside, And stand unnoticed, like unbidden guests Mid household welcomings. Oh this is foul, Foul, and most base indeed ! CLEON [after a pause). Zoe, why, at morn, When we have walked the castle terrace, watching scene iv.] LIFE'S PHASES. :{.-, The good sun rise, have T, by purpose obvious, Chosen as subject meet for our discourse Thy absent father's princely bountifumess, Which, like the sunlight, blessed all around, Being like the light, the visible influence, Visible and felt, of a soul of goodness Existing, though unseen ? Why, when the chase Was loud upon the hill, when the deep music Of struggling hounds threaded the autumn wood. And fainted 'neath the hot walls of the castle, Still called I up the image of thy father, Recounting deeds of daring horsemanship By him performed, till thou, inflate with pride, Hast all alone walked in the leafy wood, Telling the tallest trees who was thy sire ? And why in twilight hours, when forms loom largesl , Have T still pictured to thee battle-fields, Surprises, charges, conflicts, swift retreats, Disastrous routs, or sudden rallyings, all Labours, endurances, and manifested Influences of heroic courage, Keeping for ever on the foremosl ground, :iii LIFE'S PHASES. [act i. And where the rays of glory thickest fell, The stalely form of thy heroic father? (After a 2Mitse.) Was it that thou shouldst hanish from thy heart The rightful owner of its growing wealth, And with the master's treasure prodigally Feed a stranger fat, till he whose riches Should grow with the growing hours, nor know ahatement, Was poor as wandering minstrel fed on sound ? (Another pause.) Or was it thou shouldst treasure in thy soul, Without the lessening of inferior claims Which have their oavii proportions, one great love, Making its dwelling holy, as the angels Rendered the houses holy where they tarried, And that thou shouldest, on his coming, offer This priceless treasure to that man of men, Whom God has sanctified to thee — thy father ? ZOE (embracing Cleon). Oh most revered, heloved, and honoured Sir. SB iv.] LIFE'S PHASES. :\~ CLEON. Son of my friend, come to my aged arms ; Let me embrace thee, while I call thee mine. (After a pause.) Some few brief hours my pleasant task is ended, And I, thy guide no longer, am thenceforth No more than this — Cleon, an aged man ! Yet will I hold, with Age's misered grasp, My right of glory in thy growing greatness. Aye, my old heart will swell, what time thy father, Catching in thee an act of honour rising, Will stand admiring till the act is done, And then will cry, "Boy, that was bred in Cleon." Then will I seem all modesty, while saying, " Nay, my good Sir, it is a gift from Nature, The native growth of a right honest soul ; And lie will smile, and swear I speak the truth Enter Thomas. THOMAS. The Lady Alice, by her waiting woman, Craves, if such be your pleasure, she may learn i 38 LIFE'S PHASES. [act i. What un foreseen and much-to-be — CI.EON. Enough. Go ; T '11 see to it ! There ! Away ! Zoe, Haste to thy sister, and inform her gently Of the great joy which any hour may hear. Nay, go ; forbearing speech, I know thy heart ; And, boy, it would unman me at this hour To feel its overflowing. Go, my child ! lexu zoe. Seek that twin soul, which bears unto thy soul The softened semblance which the mirrored sun, I' the placid lake, bears to the sovran sun. (After a pause.) My heart is waxing weary. Would 't were dawn ! How the thick-breathing moments seem to pant With audible labour 'twixt a hope's conception And its birth ! 'T is so to all ; and yet, methinks, Most so to aged men. Enter Gabriel. Thou dost intrude. scene iv. ; LIFE'S PHASES. ;]\) GABRIEL. Sir, a word. CLEON. Speak, and be brief. GABRIEL. May I ask, Is this loud summoning of sleeping lacqueys To the birth-room of the day, occasioned By news from the camp ? CLEOi\. It is occasioned By intimations of a coming gladness, Conveyed by spirits, in the waste of night, To a trusting soul. The thickly-branching hope I look to see full-fruited in the dawn, Is, Peace to Helldongraugh GABRIEL. The news is good ; in mm: s I'M \>i>. [u i i. Though it had pleased me better had it come In the usual course. A prejudice of miue — A silly prejudice which 1 have cherished— A very silly prejudice — in favour Of lithe-limbed mortal couriers, may disturb My judgment in the matter. Still the news Is very good ; good news, and very welcome : Rare and most excellent news. CI.KON. As a scoffer. An open scoffer, rash and insolent, Of spirit-ministering in every form Of operation ; as a limitator, By sandy banks of human knowledges, Of the Eternal Spirit's sphere of action. And the soul's prerogative ; as a man Fed by necessities of social life, Yet ever holding up to menial mockery Social life's prime pillar, solemn trust, And that authority which guardians trust, And the grey hairs which sanctify authority, scene IV.] LIFE'S PHASES. .j 1 And are the warrant of the trust they guardian, — As in my person feebly manifested, — For years I 've known thee ; nor by word have challenged That which most men had held ground of offence. Note you, this having said, my memory Remembers, as the donjon tower remembers The chilly wind that blew down in December, The matter which I speak of. Yet, beware ! For, by my office, let the slightest word, Used to arrest the forward step of labour, Fall from your lips upon a servant's ear Within this house, from now until high noon — A single word, Sir ! one ! — and you have heard The last hour that you spend within these walls Knelled by the castle clock ! GABRIEL. Good Sir, I crave A patient hearing, offering such defence Am hurried thought forms t' encounter charges Hastily made, and in the main unfounded. -■1- I -j LIFE'S PHASES I a, it i CLEON. Leave me al present. I would be alone Till unborn Dawn, grown into manly Day, Betakes himself to labour. Understand. I make not charges as do idle railefs ; Nor, like a borough politician, tamper With charges made. This understanding fully, Come with the day, nor doubt a patient hearing ; But in these hours 1 ask to be alone. GABRIEL. I have not — Sir, allow me to speak freely — In years of labour trod the paths of Science Steep and forbidding, and the sun-crowned heights Of accurate human knowledge, to sit coldly And hear fantastic dreams, the progeny Of indigestion, over-toil, or fever, Thrust forward as more worthy of belief Than the experience of the full -flowered ages, The wreath and crown of present mind. Than facts Men's senses intimate, their knowledge proves. scene iv.] LIFE'S PHASES. i:! CLEON. Thou art a talker, fellow ! One of those Whose ears know no sound sweeter than the music Of their own speech ; a pestilent race, and profitless ; Intellectual athletes — nothing more ; Who feel for rounded truths the reverence Of beer-paid juggler for his brazen balls ! That, only that. T pray you leave me, Sir. Forgive my hasty speech ; but in these hours Life's daily courtesies uneasily sit Upon my nature. I would be alone. GABRIEL. I take my leave, Sir. May the clay now breaking Yield all the fairest fruits of all your visions ; {Aside and going.) Though were I wishing for myself, I 'd choose, Methinks. some harvest-field of richer promise. I. Hi 14 LIFE'S PHASES. [act i. CLEON. Soul married to the earth ! 'T is thus that man — Vain man, drest in his temporal knowledges, Which hang gay rags upon the blistered body Of his down-trodden, base, and sordid life — Insults eternities : beneath the stars, The many-gloried stars, whose majesty Has filled the nights of ages with sweet wonder, Singing the praises of his actuals, Exulting in their greatness, till he grows, To all things that have eyes, the saddest sight Beneath thick-blossoming eternity — An idiot god, 'mid painted deities ! Day dawns at length ; 1 11 forth and bid it welcome. [Exit. scene i.J LIFE'S PHASES. 45 ACT II. Scene F. — Hie Battlements of the Castle. Dawn. Alice discovered in a pensive altitude. ALICE. Day widens in the sky, and the fair earth Prepares to meet the sun. The distant hills Rise from the night like islands from the sea ; And the near forest, with a misty grandeur, Grows into view. Another little hour, And the autumnal earth, in beauty clad, Will walk a queen beneath the cold white sky. Oh happy, happy Earth ! Maid largely dowered With all the riches of laborious day, And all the blessedness of silent night. Oli happy Earth, what various joys are thine I 46 LIFE'S PHASES. [ACT ii. The stars must call thee hlesscd, must envy thee. Nay, they are good, and love to see thee pass ; They ve paled their virgin hrows with watching thee : Now in the chaste attire of modest Spring, Winning the loves of pure and holy souls ; Then in the gaudy robes of prodigal Summer, Flower-wreathed, floating in a waste abundance Of vale and forest perfumes ; canopied, Begirt, and followed by voluptuous songs, Which seem the breathings of thy wanton beauty, Forcing loud praise from lips of bearded men. Anon, as wearied of that masquerade, Clothed in sober russet, and full-lapped, And, coming nigh the household fires of men, Guiding the hearts of all life's starving millions From hopeless waiting to the blessedness Of silent thankfulness, till, eloquent From gratitude, they, through two rounded moons, Fill heaven with praises of thy liberal goodness. Then why, oh Earth, the sadness ever lying Hid in thy smiles, as in the heart are hidden, Amid the glad thoughts of a bridal morn, scene i.] LIFE'S PHASES. 47 The pensive memory of the loved and lost ? I know thy story, foolish, changeful Earth : Passing from form to form of loveliness, Till, wearied of thine own exceeding beauty, Thou grewest enamoured of the ruffian Winter, Making him lord of all thy full-blown charms ; And he, the boisterous braggart, blind to all Thy manifold graces, met thee as a bride Thrust to his wrinkled bosom ; not as one Who comes love-laden, breathing happiness. This is the heavy sorrow, dear, dear Earth, Which leaves that pensive sadness on thy face, Seen when thou 'rt glad again. Sorrowful Earth, Thy lord, with the rude winds his servitors, And their pernicious ally, the loose rain, Reel to thy chamber in the waste of night, Scattering and trampling, in their frantic rage, Thy hoarded treasures, all thy queenly dowry. Anon, afraid lest in the coming night Thou tellest to the pale-faced babbling moon — The gossip of the spheres — thy tale of suffering, He locks thy talkative streams in icy fetters, |v LIFE'S PHASES [act 11. Stifles, in matted snows, thy forest whisperings, And with sharp, ehilly breezes so affects Thy feathered minstrelsy, that their loved strains Die in their throats. Oh, it, is pitiful ! Enter Jessiann. .IESSTANN. Your brother, Lady, seeks you every where. He comes from Cleon. ALICE. Good, g'ood, kind Cleon ! T 11 to my chamber : Zoe will find me there. Seek him, good Jessiann, and tell him so. [Exit. -.eve II LIFE'S PHASES. |;l Scene IT. — Near the ('amp. Morning. Enter Henry {singing). Cheerly, cheerly breaks the morn ; Life is waking, sleep is flying ; Lusty labour blows his horn, To the merry earth's replying. Harvest clays, like maids, are fickle : Fill the milk-pail, ply the sickle. Cheerly, cheerly breaks the morn ; Hark, the lark its sweet song singeth ; Leave to laggards want and scorn, Health and plenty labour bringeth. Harvest days, like maids, are fickle: Fill the milk pail, ply the sickle. Cheerlv, cheerly Enter Claud (musing). HENRY. So ho there, Melancholy ! By the plump dumpling which T dreamt Joan 5 50 LIFE'S PHASES. [act ii. Was making for my coming home, I 'd rather Run ten miles in a sack than have my heart, Which feels this morning covered over with corn- fields, And cottages all full of laughing children, Soused in the sour ale of his melancholy. He has not seen me ! Hist, I may escape ! CLAUD. Henry HENRY. By George, I 'm done for ! {Aside. . What, here, Claud ? Our last day's camping comes in gloriously. Art' glad it is the last ? CLAUD. The last, aye, aye. Well, 't is all one ! The camp, or not the camp — This theatre or that theatre — what 's the matter ? The drama 's still the same. scene ii. LIFE'S PHASES. ;", L HENRY. The same ! Nay, Claud : Being piped to labour by the lively cock, Dashing through clouds of baby welcomings, As T have seen my good old father dash Into a farmyard full of cheerful sounds And profitable motions — horses, husbandmen, Milch-cows, and maids, and geese, and hosts of children, And boisterous mirth, making the modest air Of morning tremble : — that is not the same As being startled by the braying trumpet, And hurled pell-mell into a slaughter-house, Built from the cannon's smoke ; therein to butcher Some fellow-beings ; or — the thing may happen — Be yourself butchered to the infernal music Of death-groans, drurns, and cannon ! Nay, nay, Claud. [Sings. Give the rollicking soldier his red coat and sabre, With the pay and the honour he prizes so much ; If ho fights, as he says, for the good cause of labour, Why his wounds and his age are the price of a crutch. 52 LIFE'S PHASES. [act ii. Give nil- tii'lds i,l' brown grain in the day's dawning waving, And the team homeward toiling wlien daylight is spent; Be the trust of my manhood in making and saving, \ 1 1 < I the joy <>l' my age to be fat and content. CLAUD. Has t' no ambition, Henry? HENRY. Why, at present. My prime ambition is to hear Earl Godfrey Address the troops, which he does presently. That being gained, then my ambition grasps A farm I know, a certain plump Joan, And in due season a round dozen chubby, Wild, noisy, lively, teasing, rosy cherubs ; With cheese and bacon, Hour and beer to match : A reasonable ambition, and a wise one. But I must forward ; so, goodbye at present. CLAUD. Nay, nay ; I 11 bear thee company. scene II. J LIFE'S PHASES. 53 HENRY. Oil ! Oil ! (Aside. CLAUD. And, as we go along, I '11 make it plain The path of thy ambition leads to sorrow. Thou 'rt rash, my friend ; be wise, I '11 counsel thee. [Claud going. HENRY. Oh that some mad old earthquake would break loose, And swallow half the farm, so he were on 't — The babies, bacon, and Joan being safe On the other half ! CLAUD (without). Come. HENRY. I come, I come ! [Exit. ., I LIFE'S PHASES, | A.CT u Scene III. — The Camp Kutci- i'r, aid and Henry, meeting I'ini.ir PHILIP. Good morning, comrades. Let us stand aside ; Earl Godfrey and his train come on this way. Enter Officers and Soldiers. FIRST OFFICER. The General's purpose holds ? SECOND OFFICER. The camp breaks up With the sign of noon. THIRD OFFICER. What happy bosoms scene 111. I I.IKE'S PHASES. Heave with the free air of old Helldongraugh On this sweet morning ! FOURTH OFFICER. Couriers that were sped Last evening tide will, with this morning's dawn, If I compute aright, east, west, and south, From Helldongraugh's grim mountain-frontiers roll, Past cities creaking from the night, a stream Of light, heart-greenness, joyous murmuring, Which, swelling as it rolls, will rush exulting Down to its central vale ! FIFTH OFFICER. Belike, belike ! Let each one to his place. Here comes Earl God- frey : Trumpets sound. Enter Godfrey and Train. GODFREY. Now to the Lord of Hosts he glory given ! The hungry sword is sheathed, and Helldongraugh 56 LIFE'S THASES. [act II. Shall hear henceforth no music save the breathings Of her old forests, and her older streams, Blent with the holier utterances of men Who championed Liberty in evil days, And matrons, mothers of a race of heroes, And maidens, who shall from their mothers learn To feed the souls of those who follow us, From their own souls, with high heroic thought, As from their snowy bosoms they will feed The strong corporeal frame. Fellow-soldiers, Brothers in arms, companions in the march, In battle, in defeat, in victory ! In all the chances of this ten years' war, Which we have lived — all praise to God — to crown With honourable peace, — the time approaches When we will lay aside, with willing heart, This loud authority, this martial ceremony, With all the hateful furniture of war, And give our battered bodies to the surgery Of homebred kindness, divine emollient, And the chaste breezes of our Helldongraugh. scene in.] LIFE'S PHASES. Yet ere the camp's familiar control Is burst asunder ; ere is rendered back That unused licence, which through weary years, With willing hearts, we, for the general good, Have laid aside, I crave you hear me speak. When we have left these fields we have made famous, To dwell within the homes we have made free, Let no vain babbling tongue of ours declare The soldier's deathful occupation glorious, Or glory's source ; implanting in our youths An appetite for these unholy labours, Wherein our vigorous manhoods have been spent. For though a cause, in all its parts unquestionable— As we, ere sword was drawn, proved our great cause — With stern necessity compelling action, Due limitations, grave responsibilities, Measured and weighed, will sometimes sanctify, In crowning moments of a nation's history, The name and labours of the harnessed man : Ye\ i has been, and forever will remain, 58 LIFE'S PHASES. [act ii. While twixt the seeing soul and absolute truth Stands our mortality, an awful office, — lleceived with trembling, never arrogated, — To move beneath the sun the armed chastiser Of sceptred servants of the God of battles Grown traitors to their King ! While he who draws Unlicensed sword, to shed in civil feud The blood of brothers, is most execrable : He is nor man, nor citizen, nor soldier ; He is a ghoule, the curse of doomed nations ! And though we do to all the world proclaim, As we have proven with our dearest blood, That no invader's foot shall taint the soil Of Helldongraugh, that holds our fathers' graves, Whose valleys are our heaven-appointed homes, And must from us descend, in no way lessened, To our dear children ; yet we hold the man Thrice cursed, who, spurred by soldierly ambition — While peace can shew a path that may be trod Without abatement of the national honour — Spurns sober judging, rashly evoking War's arbitration, even in that great cause ; scene in.] LIFE'S PHASES. 59 Cursed by the beauteous earth he desolates, Cursed by those souls by him from life divorced ; And, awful thought ! cursed by the eternal God, Who fashioned earth and soul, and from his Heaven Sent Peace and Love to be his ministers. Therefore, returning to your pastoral homes — Stretched 'long the mountain sides, or hid in vales, Whose peaceful smoke this hour ascending hails, White cornfields, asking for the reaper's grasp ; Or to your longed-for homes in busy towns, Swoln by the heavy throes of swart industry — Bear with you from the camp the goddess Peace, Which ye have torn from sacrilegious hands, And in her presence write upon your memories, Never to be erased : — ' in these hoarse conflicts, Which blanch the diademed brows of continents By mortal fears, and in these mean disputes, Which banish from or vale or street tranquillity, One law prevails.' Then be ye mild in speech, Not over copious ; grave in your demeanour ; In moments taxing public energy Readv or to obev or to command, (in LIFE'S PHASES j act n. Finding your station in the circumstances, Not in your measure of your worthiness, As is too common in the untrained mind. Be not peculiar ; treat with courtesy All social institutions, 'stablished forms ; Marry the lusty remnant of your strength To honest labour ; draw around your age Pure household sanctities ; he ye the moral Of Freedom's battle, a peculiar lesson In citizenship to men whom peace will breed. Then your true fame will grow in all the land. Peasants will love you for your calm demeanour And sober rectitude of speech and act, Your general grave and lofty quietude, Which they, through Nature's subtle ministry, Do with unconscious reverence venerate ; And your fat burgess, furred up to the chin In warm respectabilities, will cherish Your mild unostentatious worthiness, As no ignoble portion of his greatness. There, too, will be great souls, as there are ever, Will write upon the world's perennial memory scene m.] LIFE'S PHASES. 61 The story of your greatness, chronicling How you, the men of Helldongraugh, ten years Fought 'gainst a strong invading host, intensely Despising fame, scorning all forms of gain. Loving the maiden Freedom for herself, And how. at length, your constancy prevailed, Your foes were overthrown, and you in triumph Bore home the maid, and throned her 'mid the land To be your queen. Thereon they will write large, And mark it down as your peculiar glory, That ye were mild in peace, as fierce in war. Brothers in arms, farewell. May all the blessings This grateful heart would give, by liberal Heaven Be poured upon your heads ! Once more, farewell ! [Exeunt Godfrey and Train, Officers, &c. CLAUD. H. Philip ; just a word ! [Runs out. CLAUD. How these fellows prate ! t is easy talking. Well, T must follow. Would 1 were at home. Exit, scene i.J LIFE'S CHASES. (•,-, ACT III. Scene T. — A ivooded Valley near the Castle. Ada seated. ADA. The moments steal away, and yet he comes not. Be still impatient heart, he 11 come anon. Ah, cruel Alice, couldst thou choose none other To cull thee flowers ? Thou 'rt heart-free, cousiu Alice, And canst not tell to what eternities Even tiny moments grow in love's delays. Oh I will be revenged when thou 'rt in love ! All petty hindrances, lean disappointments, Idiot mistakes, with every straggling circumstance Which, being driven from haunts of busy men, 1,1) LIFE'S PHASES. [act hi Besots tlic path of heart-bewildered lovers, I will suborn to tease thee, thoughtless Alice! I I must be she has kept him ! ( )h t is so ! 'T will be, " Just this one more ! Just this one more ! " And lie will pluck it off impatiently ; But as he goes, she '11 cry, '' Oh, just this one ! " A pause. Enter Zoe unobserved. I would I could bethink me of a time When he had kept me waiting, and had said, — " I was delayed by sister Alice, love." I can recal none such. Oh heavy heart, Can I have given offence ? Oh I was lavish, Too lavish, now I think on 't, of my kisses For maiden modesty, last time we met. And yet 't was strange, he called me niggardly ; Would have me giye them each one o'er again ; And 1 m afraid I did so ! That was wrong. Sweets cloy ; and men, when wooed, says Marion, Cease to be wooers. I '11 be very cold ; My lips shall be sealed fountains : he, an Arab, Desert-withered, shall lie near their margin, scene i.] LIFE'S PHASES. li? And pray to drink in vain. Oh I am cruel, Even in imagination, thus to torture A heart so full of gentle lovingness ! Nay. T will do sweet penance. I will heap Kisses on kisses, till my heart doth feel Itself forgiven for this hideous sin ! ZOE. Begin, my Ada ! ADA. Ha ! thou art come. Oh I have waited very, very long, And have, T douht not, talked much idle nonsense, I know not what, to wile away the minutes, That seemed such laggards. Now thou didst not hear me ? Nay, if thou didst, 't was hut a troop of fancies, Provoked by leisure and the radiant morning To idle gamholing. But let me ask thee Why thou hast, for the first time, come so late? Thou dost not know how sad it is to wait LIFE'S I'll \M'.S. 11 i in. ZOE. How often have we looked into the night, When stars were 1 wan and distant, till, heart-smitten By the grand desolation, we have talked Of our dead mothers, and our absent fathers ; An d^ growing ever sadder, named ourselves — Being oblivious of the guardian care And sweet affections which kind Heaven has spared — The orphaned souls, the children of the spheres, And all sad names that shadow desolation : Finding therein excuse for our true loving ! ADA. Thy voice sounds sad, my Zoe, and my spirit, That has no gladness save thy gladness, wanders, Amid thy words, a poor bewildered moon. ZOE. How often, looking into dreamy moonlight, Heaving within the valley like a sea, Has our talk glided from love-whisperings To louder speech of camps, and sleeping soldiers, sceni I LIFE'S PHASES CO And watchful generals, moiled with many cares; And at this point, still slowly glided back To low love - whisperings, labouring with the story Of two souls rounded to a single star, And rolling on in mellow light for evei ! ADA. If thou rt in sorrow, be thy sorrow mine. I know not that thou art ; yet, if t is so, 'T shall be my happiness to be its sharer. Fear not for me, thy love has made me strong. ZOE. That sun, which we have watched so man) times, In its wild mockery, crown the craggy head Of yon lone mountain with a diadem Of golden ray, will yet three times arise Upon our loves in their wild forest freedom — Joyous or sad. yel lor themselves sufficient The fourth will find them captive. ; () LIFE'S PHASES. | act hi. ADA. All, Zoe, In aught that does not touch our love I 'm brave; But, that heing touched — 'Tis wrongto tease me thus. ZOE. I know not why I make this mystery, Avoiding saying that which must he told, I know not why I 'm sad : we should rejoice ; And I rejoiced when it was told me first. As Cleon spoke, a nameless reverence, Possessing all my heing, bore me up, Till, all myself forgetting, I was happy : Thou being with me in my happiness. But when I passed from Cleon, sadness broadened Upon my heart, as winter on the earth, And all my green-leaved hopes grew rustling sear- ness ! I said, ' Sweet sister, Helldongraugh is free ! ' As though I mouthed a peasant maiden's dowry. Then, having paused awhile, continued coldly, ' And our dear father will return anon.' scene I.] LIFE'S PHASES. 7| ADA. The war concluded, and all Helldongraugh Freed from invading foes ! Sweet peace restored, And our brave fathers, with victorious steps, And swords that Peace is busied laurelling, Walking in glory through the harvest land, Smiling away all fears; hung round with blessings Oozing, as light from the pale east, from hearts Of men from slavery ransomed ; matrons, With proud maternal hearts, tossing aloft Their rosy babes i' the eye o' the laughing sun ; And of young maidens, blessing — why, they know not — Are these, my Zoe, the untoward tidings Which banished from thy face the wonted sunshine. And made the music of thy utterance Trail, like a broken vine amid dead flowers, Through all these sad and shattered forms of speech ? ZOE. Ada, my love, thev come, our warrior fathers ! ;■> LIFE'S PHASES - i in. Our fathers! Oh my heart is saddened, Ada, Dreaming how stern and cold will be their faces. Have they not been ten years on battle-fields Commanding armed men ? They must be cold, And calm, and haughty, and contemptuous In matters rising from the heart's affections; Feeling them not, nor owning them in others. Oh they must be exacting ; in command Loud and imperious, asking swift obedience, And prone to deadly wrath whene'er withstood ! It cannot be but they will laugh to scorn The gentle presences of our young loves Treating them like rude soldiers. \ 1 (A . Ah me, ah me ! Oh weary, weary heart, my love, my Zoe ! ZOE. And yet revered Cleon was a soldier ! My grandsire fell in battle by his side, And both our fathers caught their skill in arms, scene I.] LIFE'S PHASES. 73 And the first laurels in their full-leaved crown Grew, where the shadow of his banner fell. ADA. Our Cleon is all loving gentleness. ZOE. And ever from his mind, save when 't is troubled By over-anxious care for those he loves, Do sunny thoughts ascend, and, 'neath their heaven Pausing, pour music o'er the sanctities And business of his soul, like larks clear sing- ing 'Bove the toil of the harvest-field. ADA. And Cleon Must know we love, for to his soul each know- ledge That is by nature pure and beautiful Cometh, and findeth therein the sweet welcome Of pious kindred. ; I LIFE'8 PHA8ES. [act hi. ZOE. Knowing that we lovo, He doth approve our loving, for alway Has Cleon, with a lofty tenderness, Cast from the channels of my heart's affections, And paths of thought that lead to nobleness, The vagrant fancies that have come, disturbing Its even flow, marring their upward course. Oh 't were foul sin to think that he has watched, As he most surely has, this passion growing. — A goodly oak, flourishing i' the full sun, — Till its green roots net round my pool of life, Deeming it less than the appointed growth ; The natural product and abiding glory Of the place from whence it sprung. Ada, love ! Cheer thee, my gentle one. Oh, 't is most certain The love which Cleon has perceived and fostered, Our noble fathers will commend and cherish, Blessing us truly. My beloved one, My heart is glad. scknei.] LIFE'S PHASES. 75 ADA. They must approve our loving. Did they not love our mothers ? Why, old Marion Has told me often how they came a-wooing, And of the loving speeches which they made, And how the naughty sisters fell a-weeping When they would go away, and how they stayed, On such excuses, that their ladies laughed At their shallowness. Oh, it will come to mind How they have loved, and of their treasures lost, When they shall look on us. Their hearts will melt; The crust o' the wars, however thick, will burst ; Then the long-pent affection will gush forth, And they he men again ; and, being men, Will bless our holy love, in heaven kindled, Knowing their loves more sacred to their souls, Than all the glories which their arms have gathered. ZOE. See, Cleon comes. 76 LIFE'S PHASES. Kuter Cleon. CLEON. My beautiful Ada ! My beloved Z oe ! ADA. Dear, clear Cleon. ZOE. What tidings, Sir ? CLEON. None. ZOE. Then, perchance — CLEON. Thou doubt ! No, no, thou canst not doubt. The word was Peace, It sank into my soul, and therein wrought As worketh in the vex'd heart of a city, The holy hour that from the pitying heaven scene I.] ' LIFE'S PHASES. 77 Falls nightly. Doubt, boy ! no, my gentle Zoe. The hours bring confirmation. The late stars Whispered it in their courses. The mild dawn Spoke with a prophet's voice. The regal sun Maketh no secret of his wealth of joy. All know it, and rejoice. To my soul's sight Our visible nature dons her singing robes ; So will all hearts, making this day's religion Mirth, as 't is meet it should be ; for true thank- fulness, Lovely alway, is always loveliest, Trimmed in the purple robe of lusty joy. ZOE. May heaven so will it, Sir. [Zoe kneeh. Forgive — CLEON. Forgive ? ADA Oh, be not angry, Sir, for we did love Before we knew we loved. 78 LIFE'S PHASES. [act in. CI. EON. Loved ! ADA. Aye, most faithfully, Oh, we do truly love. ZOE. That this base heart Asketh for more to make its happiness Than Cleon's joy, freedom to Helldongraugh, And the return of my victorious father. CLEON. What wouldst thou, hoy ? * ADA. Nay, I will speak, my Zoe ! You will not put me from him. No, dear Cleon. I do, within my very soul, rejoice — First, sir, that you are happy. Next, that dear, Beautiful Helldongraugh once more has Peace SCENE l] LIFE'S PHASES. 70 To be her dainty handmaid. And, not least, Though mixed with strange misgivings, that my father, My dear, dear father, will return again. Yet all these blessings, Sir, would count as nothing Were I put from him. Were we placed so distant — An hour could pass between — I do believe My soul would be as sad as the lone earth, Did all the music of the summer time Die out o' the sky. Alas ! alas ! CLEON {to ZOE). You love ? ZOE. With a most perfect love. CLEON ((oAda). And you ? ADA. Ah, me ! I do not know the time I did not love si I LIFE'S PHASES. [act in. You smile, Sir. I entreat you word it so, Our fathers will believe you. Tell them truly That I do love with an unchanging love ; That therein thwarted I will wait no longer I' the barren earth, but wing me to that heaven Where life is love, and therein wait the coming Of my soul's Lord, my life, my love, my Zoe. CLEON {to Zoe). And thou wouldst also die ? ZOE. No, gracious Sir ! The soul which heaven bestowed, the noble Cleon Formed in the mould of honour, and endowed From his own wealth, with that most priceless treasure, Patience, that murmureth not and wearieth not. CLEON. Thou dost not know the Earls, my poor boy — When Azo wills, when noble Godfrey speaks, scene I.] LIFE'S PHASES. gj. All patience that doth draw its strength from hope Pales, wanes, and perishes. Then thou wouldst die. ZOE. Should the two famous Earls, home returned Say, with the sanction of the mightier Cleon, Forget thy dream of love — it is a dream — Thy task is hattle, and thy doom is glory ; Thy love-mate is the freedom we have won ; Thy wife must be that freedom, when full grown ; Do this, and stand as lonely and as glorious, Amid the heroes of another age, As in thine own the noble Cleon stands ; — I would — Ah me ! live on and suffer, Sir. ADA. Alas, alas ! Ah me ! Oh woe is me ! Oh life ! Oh love ! CLEON. The fathers of this land, Fair daughter of the warlike house of Azo, S'J LIFE'S PHASES. [act in. liuilt their life's nobleness of sterner stuff Than thoughts that pillar the fair phantasies Of maids who dream i' the sun. ADA. I nothing doubt, And yet of nought can this poor heart conceive, That can be called in sober earnest noble. If it be not to love most constantly. CLEON. It may be that there is a purer love, And a kinglier constancy, than love which grows From the unthrifted thought of prodigal youth, And constancy that has no loftier aim Than the voluptuous blessedness of self. These goodly corn-fields, and this golden forestry, Drinking the light of this autumnal morn, As the old gods drank wine, have charmed so potently, That men have died for them, aye, kingly men ! Whose souls were altars, with the fire of heaven scene i.] LTFE'S PHASES. 8:5 As yet a-blaze. He that loves woman, Loveth himself ; and that which he names con- stancy, Is worship of his idol. Loving freedom ! Man loves the Eternal, and his constancy Becomes incarnate in self-sacrifice, And is itself a god. The patriot soul, Paying all homage due to sexual love, Loves the chaste spirit, freedom, yet the more ; And so it comes to pass in the hour named, In the forgot hetrothment of old days, He gives himself exultingly in marriage — Cathedral pomp and costly ceremony Putting aside as vanities ; preferring The reeking altar of the battle-field — The grand old priesthood of heroic death — And the marriage feast, spread by enfranchised souls, In the wide courts of heaven. Now do I swear, By the great Hope that in this season makes 84 LIFE'S PHASES. [act hi. The ebbing waters of my life a-glow With its peculiar glory, were I woman, Did he whom I had chosen from mankind Balance, even while a pulse could beat between The love he bore me and the love of freedom, I 'd spurn him from me as a thing accursed ; For 't is as certain as that night is night, That one so souled has not that love to offer A chaste-souled maid might with delight accept, And place without a blush on her young brow, Wearing it as a crown. ADA. Oh, you mean well, Dear, dear, kind Cleon, and would win me gently From subtile madness. Speak me harshly, Sir ! Some sense already cries — Out, foolish Ada, Wouldst thou steal from the service of his country Her noblest son ? Thou sayest not that, good Cleon, But you do mean it, Sir ; and you mean, also, That I would rob him of the peerless glory scene I.] LIFE'S PHASES. 85 Which he will surely gain. Go, go, clear Zoe, I would not do thee wrong, heloved one. Oh ! I can gather into my lone heart The treasured memories of my maiden love, And walk alone into the early darkness Of my life's woe. CLEON. Sweet soul. ADA. Ah me ! ah me ! I listened all too long to fairy fancies, That stayed a-piping in my unwatched heart, And won me so from reason, singing sweetly What 't was so sweet to hear, that I did venture My love, which is my all beneath these heavens, In idle wager 'gainst the clamorous world — Rich in the abundant glory it bestows On those who serve it well. Oh, noble Cleon ! sc, LIFE'S PHASES. [act en, When daisy pods are white upon my grave, And my great father in his childlessness Shall sadly wonder at the coming on Of honeyed death upon a life so young, Say that I died of an excess of love ; And if he knit his hrows, I pray thee tell him, That I was hut a simple maid, and thought That love was all in all to man, as truly It is to woman. ZOE. Beloved Cleon, My nature is not like to thine, all nohle, If truly in my nature there is aught Worthy the name. Oh, it is poor to pity, Marvellously poor, in these grand qualities Which you possess, and most require in men ; And all its seeming heights are poor humanities, Clad for a season in a robe of glory By light from Cleon's souk CLE ON (hastily). In that you err. SCEHEI.] LIFE'S PHASES. 87 ZOE. Though it he thus, I pray you, uohle Sir, Let not the thought come up into the presence Of vour great love for me, that I would hasely, At the first whisper of great Godfrey's anger, Strip off my love — the garment of my soul — With the light haste which changeful autumn uses, Throwing her garland off at the first piping 0' the naked winter. On high urgency I would so act, great Sir, with my sweet love, As the good man deals with his treasured soul, When he, for a hrief season, puts aside The worship of his God his sectary sanctions, To worship in such acts as do hecorne The fife o' the world. CLEON. Enough. ZOE. Here will I kneel. (Kneeling.) 88 LIFE'S PHASES. [act hi CLEON. No more — aha . Beloved ! 1 LEON. Kneel beside him, child. Ha! ZOE. ADA. Ye loving heavens ! ZOE. My own true love ! Oh joy ! ADA. ZOE. Oh joy! SCENE I. J LIFE'S PHASES. 89 ADA My love ! ZOE. My Ada ! CLEON (looking to heaven, and after a lengthened pause). Bless them. {Scene closes.) -8- 90 LIFE'S PHASES. [act iv. ACT IV. Scene I. — Another part of the Wood. Enter Cleon. CLEON. Am not I in very truth that Cleon Who, from the midnight of the Eessinwold, And heart of the tempest in its hour of strength, In hollow pauses of its thunder-peals, And intermission of the act of power, Which steeped blind night in floods of sulphurous flame ; Heard prophecies of freedom, and beheld Its ample glory ; nor in spirit cried To-day — to-morrow — next year, or the next, Or that which follows, or a century hence ; scene I.] LIFE'S PHASES. gj Or when more ages shall have rolled away Than the full number of enslaved mankind ? No ; but, believing, sang thanksgiving songs, And held his soul in patience. {A pause.) Soul of Cleon, Never obedient to coarse urgency Of loud occasion, God of feeble men, Hast thou, the deathless, borne thy sacred treasure Of intuition, reverence, faith, belief, Friendship, or love, or open confidence, With the reluctant haste of that lorn wife Who weeps away the night in strong resolves, But in the mom bears forth her maiden wealth, In meek obedience to her lord's command, Dowering therewith a painted concubine, And, with a face hiding thy pulsing anguish Beneath thick wreaths of smiles, laid it an offering On the accursed altar of the hour. {A pause.) But why this dawn, or why to-morrow's dawn? A dawD will come, and find thee, Helldongraugh, j,., LIFK'.S IMIASKS. [ \ct iv. Bride of the soul of Cleon, free as heaven, And flooded with the holiness of peace, As now thou art with light. (A pause.) 1 11 rest awhile — (sus doivn.) Thanks, friendly seat — and then walk castleward, There may he news hy this. T am a-weary, And sleep upon my eyelids heavily presses. {He Sleeps.) (Enter Alice.) ALICE. How the day fills his palace with his presence ! Oh, glorious day, great type of the sole Father. (A pause.) There is a pleasant stirring in the air, A melody of harvest murmurings, Caught from the golden corn-fields it has wooed. Now can I well helieve o'er all the land, From hidden cottages, where apples redden In the eye o' the sun, steal out sweet peasant maids ; scene I.] LIFE'S PHASES. 93 Joy in their hearts, and laughter on their lips, And young love dancing to their dancing steps, Crazing hrown peasants. Love! Tush, heart of mine, Thou rt grown as foolish as yon amorous lark, Whom dawn surprised a-singing of its love To the morning star, and who still singeth on, Although the sun has witched away all ears By his heroic story. (A pause.) Nay, then habhle To the measure of thy wish. Aye, babble, heart, Till elves, to whose unearthly minstrelsy The forest leaves dance in the dawn and eve, Gather around, and with their stifled laughter Make weird the paths o' the wood. Until to-day, Household affections and the lesser ministry ( )f nature's quietude have had the power So to attune my mind, that it kept time To the march of the hours. Yesterday and up, Dav above day — till memory, like a star :il LIFE'S PHASES. [act iv. Melting into the morning, sweetly ceases To do its office, unobtrusive thoughts Came in staid order, talking of the known ; And governed, as my heart must needs believe, By a pure Soul that long has dwelt in heaven, All my affections ever have maintained The even motion of a plain of waters On which a queenly Night has spread her tents ; But since pied Dawn provoked the East to mirth, And with his laughter banished the quaint dream That all night long had gamboled on the brow Of sleeping ease within the quiet land, My brain has been astir with stranger thoughts — Masked guests in crowds, who jostling ceremony Take foremost places. All my heart 's a-glow ! And a new wish is moving on my soul, Like some lone wave o' the sea restlessly seeking The face of a stranger star. (A pause.) My soul, ah me ! Has walked most daintily amid dead thoughts, BCEHBI.] LIFE'S PHASES. 95 And of its snows made for itself a robe, Which it mistook, as others may have done, For the robe the angels wear. Alas ! I feel That I have coldly dealt with cousin Ada, Often and often, dear, true, tender heart. Yet I have ever thought that I was gentle And kind, in word and act. Why so perhaps I had been, had occasion less required The woman of me. Well, well. I could weep, Thinking how I have seen the pretty soul Tossing in stormy passes of her love. (^4 pause.) Ha ! now I think on 't, it is very strange That T have never felt, as I have never, This stirring of the heart. Why, 't is the life Of cousin Ada, aye, the very life. Although I love her much for many things, My own true sister, sadly, in sweet truth, I love her most, because she is in love. (A pause.) DC, LIFE'S PIIASKS. Now could T laugh, but that T am so sad ; Tt was a vagrant fancy, yet it forced The heart's young secret up into the cheek, And the sun has seen it. CLEON. Oh— He sleeps ! ALICE. Ha! CLEON. ALICE. Peace — CLEON. To Helldongraugh. ALICE. In wild grandeur, HE I.] LIFE'S PHASES. 97 A lonely thought that has no care for self Moves on his forehead. Here I '11 kneel and pray. / (Kneels.) Enter Zoe. ZOE. And I will pray with thee, my own sweet sister. {Kneels, and Scene closes.) lis LIFE'S PHABES. | act [v. Scene IT. — The Camp — Before the Tent of Earl Godfrey. Enter Philip and Henry. PHILIP. Silence, T pray you. HENRY. Why, what 's i' the wind, That tongues must cease to wag ? What ? PHILIP. Earl Godfrey Is ill at ease. HENRY. Is there more war afoot, Or has — scene ii.] LIFE'S PHASES. gy PHILIP. Hush, lie comes. Enter from his Tent Eael Godfrey hastily. EARL GODFREY. In eye of the sim, And prime of the -working day, reason assaulted, The shrewd senses, eager of rejection, Forced to confession and to testimony, Augurs some madness stirring in the blood, Revolt of functions, and dire anarchy O' the mind impending. Ho, there ! ho ! PHILIP. My Lord ! GODFREY. Persistently — and ever the same hearing ; The aspect and the eye of noble Cleon — The kingly wave of the hand, and the old grandeur ; But whence this sadness and this glorious youth, Which savours more of immortality Than aught that to our fleeting state pertains? Kin LIFE'S PHASES. [act iv. HENRY. [Aside. A strange mood, iu verity. PHILIP. Marvellously. EARL GODFREY. Now might I shape terse homilies on the danger Of intellectual pride, for I have grown The sport of phantasies which, yester-eve, Merely to hear of would have made me laugh, For I have ever held such things to be Products of toil, or rest in waste excess, Treating them with rejection, lacking courtesy. PHTL1P. [Aside. Since our return, thrice has he cried to horse, And thrice said stay. HENRY. 'T is so far from his wont. scene ii.] LIFE'S PHASES. 10] GODFREY. But has not that rejection wholly rested On the authority of these same senses, Which in this matter either served me truly, In which case I have seen the soul of Cleon, Or they are jugglers, and in great affairs O'ervault heJief ? Now, if this he truly That which it seems to be, great urgency Of unkempt circumstance must have constrained To this strange summoning ; for to he aught, Such must it be ; that, or the mighty working Of love, that giveth strength to break the prison Of mortal flesh to the soul. In either case, Lingering were treason ; I '11 debate no longer. Ho ! there, Ho ! PHILIP. My Lord ! EARL GODFREY. Choose thee some dozen, 9 [02 LIFE'S PHASES. [act iv. The Dustiest of thy follows, and to horse ; Lose not an instant. ia Matthew.) ADA. He dies scene ii.] LIFE'S PHASES. L39 OLD MATTHEW. Press not so close ; 'T is nothing, nothing, it will pass anon. I '11 hear him to his chambers. ALICE. Haste — this way. [Exit. 140 I IFE'S PHASES. [act v. Scene III. — An Inn on the Heath. {Knocking without.) Enter Host. HOST. Ho ! ho ! hold ! The devil ! What, art mad ! Hold 011, I Say. (Shouting wiifcoitt.) Enter Henry. HENRY. Horses, good fellow, horses, Out with thy horses, or by Jupiter Earl Godfrey — HOST. Earl Godfrey ! soeke iii.J LEFE'S PHASES. 141 HENRY. Aye! HOST. Hurrah ! [Exit Host shouting.'] (Loud shouting without.) 142 LIFE'S PHASES. [act v. Scene TV.—Cleon's Chamber in the Castle. (The Chamber darkened. Cleon discovered lying on a Couch. Zoe, Alice, Ada, and Old Matthew attending.) CLEON. Who waits ? ZOE. T is I. ALICE. And I. ADA. And I. OLD MATTHEW. And I. How fare you, Sir ? scene rv.] LIFE'S PHASES. 143 CLEON. Zoe, say to Gabriel That I forgive him. Thank you, my old friend. How goes the night ? OLD MATTHEW. Some minutes past eleven. CLEON (after a pause). Draw close the curtains. So ! That marvellous volume Is closed to mortal Cleon ! The immortal, Ere dawn, will read it by a holier light, And with a truer vision. (A pause.) Beautiful Are ye, ye stars, who, though shut out, I see Rolling in your old courses, making lustrous The ample chamber of immortal Night, Who, ere the birth of motion, light, or life, Beheld the face of God and perished not. [A pause.) I I I LIFE'S PHASES. [actv. Matthe-w — OLD MATTHEW. Noble Sir ! CLEON. Thou clost remember How in the Battle by the Lake of Prowes I was smote down ? OLD MATTHEW, Aye, Sir. CLEON. All deemed me dead, But, 'mid the dewy night my soul returned, Then I arose, and clomb the Kissenwold, And of its tempests made myself a home "Bove the red fury of victorious foes. ADA. Ah me ! ah me ! scene v.] LTFE'S PHASES. J45 CLEON. Alas, fair, loving Day, Beauteous in all the land, refused to cherish The champion of a freedom like her own ; And thus perforce night grew to me a world, Love-framed and weird. Forth from the Lion's head, Crowning the sheer gulf of the Kissenwold, Up from whose unsunned hasement troubled waters Have to the summit shouted, since it saw The sun's eye open — often have I gazed Into the ebon, void, till I have seen My haggard face mirrored within its depths In hideous amplitude, and I have shrieked, Mad with infinite horror, waking echoes That leapt from their swart caves into void space, Bending within the valley pious knees, To supplicate for souls in agony. ADA. Alas ! alas ! 13 140 LIFE'S PHASES. [act v. ALICE. Ah me ! CLEON. On these grand nights, When all the stars majestically came forth, And from the azure battlements of heaven Gazed on the sleeping world, their light alone Being in the old cathedral of the night, Where the illumined face of the Lake of Prowes Glowed like a costly altar, gemmed with stars ; On such nights I have worshipped, rapt in spirit, Till I have heard the midnight hour rung out By spirit hands, the startled universe, Shuddering, shriek, Another day is done, And the dread footsteps of Eternity Sound through the temple where the Day had died. ZOE. Beloved Cleon ! scene v.] LTFE'S PHASES. 147 CLEON. Hush, the great expectancy 'Leaguers my soul. Let me, I pray you, talk ! It is the privilege of a man grown old, And distant some few beatings of a pulse From the Eternal silence. ADA. Ah! CLEON. Zoe, Love nature with the love which is the due Of one who serveth well, never forgetting She 's thy soul's servitor, and nothing more. I 've always noted this, that those who love Nature unwisely, hold within their hearts The germ of some great woe, in summer breathings Of opportunity anon expanding, Being life's Upas. Therefore, give not thou To ocean, forest, mountain, star, or lake, 148 I.llT'.S IMIASI'.S. [ACT V. Nor to the grand but irrespective sun, Who, with a like abundant glory, mantles A cloud of faces and a cloud of pines, That which to Man pertains. ZOE. Ever my soul Has been obedient to the soul of Cleon, And 'mid the holy wisdom of his love Has wrought — a harvest reaper in a field Flooded with sun-light. CLEON. Hark ! ZOE. Sir, all is still. OLD MATTHEW. Nothing has moved. ALICE. Nothing. [scene v. LIFE'S PHASES. 149 CLEON. Up from the North A sound is struggling. ALICE. Oh, Sir, you grow faint : This fever of impatience too much taxes Your feehle strength. OLD MATTHEW. Be calm, my noble master. CLEON. Whatever minstrels say, that sound is holier Than aught which they have heard of forest minstrelsy, Of lone streams singing, or the grander strain Of the midnight sea. Dost hear it? ZOE. I hear nought Save the wind in the empty sky. -13- 150 LIFE'S 1'IIASES. [act v. CLEON. No, no, Sorrow has not had time to make thee Seer. {The Castle clocl; chimes.) Oh God, thou knowst the number of my years, Yet of thy angels none have heard me murmur. Though heavy woes have fallen upon my soul, As frequently as nights upon the hills. ALICE. Alas ! alas ! ADA. Oh woe. CLEON. That souud again ! Hark ! how it swells ! My soul has caught its meaning ; I heard it once before, what time I smote — Boast not, Old Man ! scene v.] LIFE'S PHASES. 151 ADA. Woe, woe, woe. CLEON. Lo, it is The yet unshapen joy of myriad hearts, Struggling to burst into the speech of song. Kaise me. I thank you. O ye bounteous Heavens, I have not asked in speech or thought for blessed- ness, But been content to stand in your fair world In wintry nakedness, while my compeers, Like forest trees in spring, put forth the green- ness And beauty of their strength, and found my happiness Seeing their branches hung as thick with blessings As boughs with leaves ; if, in your august courts, So distant, yet so near, self-sacrifice Is deemed a virtue ; and if, thereon standing, Man may, without impiety, presume 15«J LIFE'S PHASES. [act v. To supplicate, permit that I behold What ye in vision promised. ZOE. ALICE Amen. Amen. CLEON. In my grave manhood, armoured in your strength, [ smote down tyrants, and for a brief space Made Helldongraugh a temple, wherein man Could feel that God was present ; then my race Bestowed on me the laurel and the fame Which I have worn so proudly. ( The Castle clock chimes.) God of battles, Strip me of glory ; let my fame become Even as a lone wind sighing in a world With sunshine overflowing. Be my life As an undated year, and all my tasks The undistinguishable heritage scene v.] LIFE'S PHASES. 153 Of common time. But let me see this land, My beauteous Helldongraugh, which on this morn Seemed decked in bridal charms and bridal robes, Free, even as ye are free. ZOE. Amen. ALICE. Amen. Enter Doctor. DOCTOR. What ! Ha, excitement ! Ha ! 't is very wrong ; T is wrong, 't is very wrong ; your arm — CLEON. Away. Pardon my rude impatience, and retire ; Thy art has not to-morrow in its gift, 15-1 LIFE'S PHASES. fACT V. Nor power to dim the eye which Death has Bur- geoned, To the seeing of himself standing between Great actions and their earthly consummation. (A pause.) Zoe, where art thou ? Let me see thy face ! My eyes are growing dim. My noble boy, Through night and day the deathless love of Cleon Shall, from the footstool of the Eternal's throne, Descend upon thee. [A pause.) Zoe, the pale Spirit Is drawing near, yet do I know the promise Will be fulfilled. ZOE. It will. ( The Castle clock chimes.) CLEON. Ha ! God, my God ! scene v.] LIFE'S PHASES. 155 Oh, by my years, and by my agonies, And by my faith. By thy unmeasured love — (He listens.) That sound again, more near, comes through the night, Whose thiu obstruction seems to mar its speed, I So eager is its haste. (-^ trumpet is faintly heard.) Heavens, {distant shouting heard.) I thank you ! ( Voices without.) Peace ! Peace ! Hurrah ! Long live Earl Godfrey ! CLEON (rising suddenly <■ An instant, loving Spirit. Enter Earl Godfrey and others. Victory ! (Falls into the arms o/Earl Godfrey. 150 LIFE'S PHASES. ALICE. Alas ! Alas ! ADA. Woe, woe to us. ZOE. [ACT V. All me ! EARL GODFREY. The heavens are richer by another soul. • n. MARPLES, PIUNTER, LORD STREET, LIVERPOOL. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. Form L9-100m-9,'52(A3105)444 THE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF C/ T FORNIA: LOS ANGJE1 , £R- Thom 561^9 Cleon T3lc 3 1158 002 7 3747 ■MM&S* 1 RE GI0NAL . L 'gfMRY FACILITY 372 561 PR 56JU9 T314C >' ■Bra ("-■ ' tSViaw&rWW.- ■£*.»* jSEot*K ■■-'-"' {■;