[_The
COUNTESS
CATHLEEN empties her purse on to the
table.
table.
Yeats
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? The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of
William Butler Yeats, Vol. 3 (of 8), by William Butler Yeats
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
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Title: The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William Butler Yeats, Vol. 3 (of 8)
The Countess Cathleen. The Land of Heart's Desire. The
Unicorn from the Stars
Author: William Butler Yeats
Release Date: August 5, 2015 [EBook #49610]
Language: English
Character set encoding: UTF-8
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WORKS OF W B YEATS, VOL 3 ***
Produced by Emmy, mollypit and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www. pgdp. net (This file was
produced from images generously made available by The
Internet Archive) Music transcribed by Linda Cantoni.
THE COLLECTED WORKS OF
WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS
[Illustration:
_Emery Walker Ph. sc. _
_From a picture by Charles Shannon_]
THE COUNTESS CATHLEEN. THE
LAND OF HEART'S DESIRE. THE
UNICORN FROM THE STARS :: BEING
THE THIRD VOLUME OF THE
COLLECTED WORKS IN VERSE
AND PROSE OF WILLIAM BUTLER
YEATS :: IMPRINTED AT THE
SHAKESPEARE HEAD PRESS ::
STRATFORD-ON-AVON
MCMVIII
CONTENTS
PAGE
THE COUNTESS CATHLEEN 1
THE LAND OF HEART'S DESIRE 89
THE UNICORN FROM THE STARS,
BY LADY GREGORY AND W. B. YEATS 121
APPENDIX:
THE COUNTESS CATHLEEN 209
NOTES 214
THE COUNTESS CATHLEEN
'_The sorrowful are dumb for thee. _'
Lament of MORION SHEHONE for
MISS MARY BOURKE.
TO MAUD GONNE.
_PERSONS IN THE PLAY_
SHEMUS RUA, _a peasant_
TEIG, _his son_
ALEEL, _a young bard_
MAURTEEN, _a gardener_
THE COUNTESS CATHLEEN
OONA, _her foster-mother_
MAIRE, _wife of Shemus Rua_
TWO DEMONS _disguised as merchants_
MUSICIANS
PEASANTS, SERVANTS, &C.
ANGELICAL BEINGS, SPIRITS, AND FAERIES
_The scene is laid in Ireland, and in old times. _
THE COUNTESS CATHLEEN.
ACT I.
_The cottage of SHEMUS REA. The door into the open air
is at right side of room. There is a window at one
side of the door, and a little shrine of the Virgin
Mother at the other. At the back is a door opening into
a bedroom, and at the left side of the room a pantry
door. A wood of oak, beech, hazel, and quicken is seen
through the window half hidden in vapour and twilight.
MAIRE watches TEIG, who fills a pot with water. He
stops as if to listen, and spills some of the water. _
MAIRE.
You are all thumbs.
TEIG.
Hear how the dog bays, mother,
And how the gray hen flutters in the coop.
Strange things are going up and down the land,
These famine times: by Tubber-vanach crossroads
A woman met a man with ears spread out,
And they moved up and down like wings of bats.
MAIRE.
Shemus stays late.
TEIG.
By Carrick-orus churchyard,
A herdsman met a man who had no mouth,
Nor ears, nor eyes: his face a wall of flesh;
He saw him plainly by the moon.
MAIRE.
[_Going over to the little shrine. _]
White Mary,
Bring Shemus home out of the wicked woods;
Save Shemus from the wolves; Shemus is daring;
And save him from the demons of the woods,
Who have crept out and wander on the roads,
Deluding dim-eyed souls now newly dead,
And those alive who have gone crazed with famine.
Save him, White Mary Virgin.
TEIG.
And but now
I thought I heard far-off tympans and harps.
[_Knocking at the door. _
MAIRE.
Shemus has come.
TEIG.
May he bring better food
Than the lean crow he brought us yesterday.
[_MAIRE opens the door, and SHEMUS comes in with a dead
wolf on his shoulder. _
MAIRE.
Shemus, you are late home: you have been lounging
And chattering with some one: you know well
How the dreams trouble me, and how I pray,
Yet you lie sweating on the hill from morn,
Or linger at the crossways with all comers,
Telling or gathering up calamity.
SHEMUS.
You would rail my head off. Here is a good dinner.
[_He throws the wolf on the table. _
A wolf is better than a carrion crow.
I searched all day: the mice and rats and hedgehogs
Seemed to be dead, and I could hardly hear
A wing moving in all the famished woods,
Though the dead leaves and clauber of four forests
Cling to my footsole. I turned home but now,
And saw, sniffing the floor in a bare cow-house,
This young wolf here: the crossbow brought him down.
MAIRE.
Praise be the saints! [_After a pause. _
Why did the house dog bay?
SHEMUS.
He heard me coming and smelt food--what else?
TEIG.
We will not starve awhile.
SHEMUS.
What food is within?
TEIG.
There is a bag half full of meal, a pan
Half full of milk.
SHEMUS.
And we have one old hen.
TEIG.
The bogwood were less hard.
MAIRE.
Before you came
She made a great noise in the hencoop, Shemus.
What fluttered in the window?
TEIG.
Two horned owls
Have blinked and fluttered on the window sill
From when the dog began to bay.
SHEMUS.
Hush, hush.
[_He fits an arrow to the crossbow, and goes towards
the door. A sudden burst of music without. _
They are off again: ladies or gentlemen
Travel in the woods with tympan and with harp.
Teig, put the wolf upon the biggest hook
And shut the door.
[_TEIG goes into the cupboard with the wolf: returns
and fastens the door behind him. _
Sit on the creepy stool
And call up a whey face and a crying voice,
And let your head be bowed upon your knees.
[_He opens the door of the cabin. _
Come in, your honours: a full score of evenings
This threshold worn away by many a foot
Has been passed only by the snails and birds
And by our own poor hunger-shaken feet.
[_The COUNTESS CATHLEEN, ALEEL, who carries a small
square harp, OONA, and a little group of fantastically
dressed musicians come in. _
CATHLEEN.
Are you so hungry?
TEIG.
[_From beside the fire. _]
Lady, I fell but now,
And lay upon the threshold like a log.
I have not tasted a crust for these four days.
[_The COUNTESS CATHLEEN empties her purse on to the
table. _
CATHLEEN.
Had I more money I would give it you,
But we have passed by many cabins to-day;
And if you come to-morrow to my house
You shall have twice the sum. I am the owner
Of a long empty castle in these woods.
MAIRE.
Then you are Countess Cathleen: you and yours
Are ever welcome under my poor thatch.
Will you sit down and warm you by the sods?
CATHLEEN.
We must find out this castle in the wood
Before the chill o' the night.
[_The musicians begin to tune their instruments. _
Do not blame me,
Good woman, for the tympan and the harp:
I was bid fly the terror of the times
And wrap me round with music and sweet song
Or else pine to my grave. I have lost my way;
Aleel, the poet, who should know these woods,
Because we met him on their border but now
Wandering and singing like the foam of the sea,
Is so wrapped up in dreams of terrors to come
That he can give no help.
MAIRE.
[_Going to the door with her. _]
You're almost there.
There is a trodden way among the hazels
That brings your servants to their marketing.
ALEEL.
When we are gone draw to the door and the bolt,
For, till we lost them half an hour ago,
Two gray horned owls hooted above our heads
Of terrors to come. Tympan and harp awake!
For though the world drift from us like a sigh,
Music is master of all under the moon;
And play 'The Wind that blows by Cummen Strand. '
[_Music. _
[_Sings. _]
_Impetuous heart, be still, be still:
Your sorrowful love may never be told;
Cover it up with a lonely tune.
He who could bend all things to His will
Has covered the door of the infinite fold
With the pale stars and the wandering moon. _
[_While he is singing the COUNTESS CATHLEEN, OONA, and
the musicians go out. _
ALEEL.
Shut to the door and shut the woods away,
For, till they had vanished in the thick of the leaves,
Two gray horned owls hooted above our heads.
[_He goes out. _
MAIRE.
[_Bolting the door. _]
When wealthy and wise folk wander from their peace
And fear wood things, poor folk may draw the bolt
And pray before the fire.
[_SHEMUS counts out the money, and rings a piece upon
the table. _
SHEMUS.
The Mother of God,
Hushed by the waving of the immortal wings,
Has dropped in a doze and cannot hear the poor:
I passed by Margaret Nolan's; for nine days
Her mouth was green with dock and dandelion;
And now they wake her.
MAIRE.
I will go the next;
Our parents' cabins bordered the same field.
SHEMUS.
God, and the Mother of God, have dropped asleep,
For they are weary of the prayers and candles;
But Satan pours the famine from his bag,
And I am mindful to go pray to him
To cover all this table with red gold.
Teig, will you dare me to it?
TEIG.
Not I, father.
MAIRE.
O Shemus, hush, maybe your mind might pray
In spite o' the mouth.
SHEMUS.
Two crowns and twenty pennies.
MAIRE.
Is yonder quicken wood?
SHEMUS.
[_Picking the bough from the table. _]
He swayed about,
And so I tied him to a quicken bough
And slung him from my shoulder.
MAIRE.
[_Taking the bough from him. _]
Shemus! Shemus!
What, would you burn the blessed quicken wood?
A spell to ward off demons and ill faeries.
You know not what the owls were that peeped in,
For evil wonders live in this old wood,
And they can show in what shape please them best.
And we have had no milk to leave of nights
To keep our own good people kind to us.
And Aleel, who has talked with the great Sidhe,
Is full of terrors to come.
[_She lays the bough on a chair. _
SHEMUS.
I would eat my supper
With no less mirth if squatting by the hearth
Were dulacaun or demon of the pit
Clawing its knees, its hoof among the ashes.
[_He rings another piece of money. A sound of footsteps
outside the door. _
MAIRE.
Who knows what evil you have brought to us?
I fear the wood things, Shemus.
[_A knock at the door. _
Do not open.
SHEMUS.
A crown and twenty pennies are not enough
To stop the hole that lets the famine in.
[_The little shrine falls. _
MAIRE.
Look! look!
SHEMUS.
[_Crushing it underfoot. _]
The Mother of God has dropped asleep,
And all her household things have gone to wrack.
MAIRE.
O Mary, Mother of God, be pitiful!
[_SHEMUS opens the door. TWO MERCHANTS stand without.
They have bands of gold round their foreheads, and each
carries a bag upon his shoulder. _
FIRST MERCHANT.
Have you food here?
SHEMUS.
For those who can pay well.
SECOND MERCHANT.
We are rich merchants seeking merchandise.
SHEMUS.
Come in, your honours.
MAIRE.
No, do not come in:
We have no food, not even for ourselves.
FIRST MERCHANT.
There is a wolf on the big hook in the cupboard.
[_They enter. _
SHEMUS.
Forgive her: she is not used to quality,
And is half crazed with being much alone.
How did you know I had taken a young wolf?
Fine wholesome food, though maybe somewhat strong.
[_The SECOND MERCHANT sits down by the fire and begins
rubbing his hands. The FIRST MERCHANT stands looking at
the quicken bough on the chair. _
FIRST MERCHANT.
I would rest here: the night is somewhat chilly,
And my feet footsore going up and down
From land to land and nation unto nation:
The fire burns dimly; feed it with this bough.
[_SHEMUS throws the bough into the fire. The FIRST
MERCHANT sits down on the chair. The MERCHANTS' chairs
are on each side of the fire. The table is between
them. Each lays his bag before him on the table. The
night has closed in somewhat, and the main light comes
from the fire. _
MAIRE.
What have you in the bags?
SHEMUS.
Don't mind her, sir:
Women grow curious and feather-thoughted
Through being in each other's company
More than is good for them.
FIRST MERCHANT.
Our bags are full
Of golden pieces to buy merchandise.
[_They pour gold pieces on to the table out of their
bags. It is covered with the gold pieces. They shine in
the firelight. MAIRE goes to the door of pantry, and
watches the MERCHANTS, muttering to herself. _
TEIG.
These are great gentlemen.
FIRST MERCHANT.
[_Taking a stone bottle out of his bag. _]
Come to the fire,
Here is the headiest wine you ever tasted.
SECOND MERCHANT.
Wine that can hush asleep the petty war
Of good and evil, and awake instead
A scented flame flickering above that peace
The bird of prey knows well in his deep heart.
SHEMUS.
[_Bringing drinking-cups. _]
I do not understand you, but your wine
Sets me athirst: its praise made your eyes lighten.
I am thirsting for it.
FIRST MERCHANT.
Ay, come drink and drink,
I bless all mortals who drink long and deep.
My curse upon the salt-strewn road of monks.
[_TEIG and SHEMUS sit down at the table and drink. _]
TEIG.
You must have seen rare sights and done rare things.
FIRST MERCHANT.
What think you of the master whom we serve?
SHEMUS.
I have grown weary of my days in the world
Because I do not serve him.
FIRST MERCHANT.
More of this
When we have eaten, for we love right well
A merry meal, a warm and leaping fire
And easy hearts.
SHEMUS.
Come, Maire, and cook the wolf.
MAIRE.
I will not cook for you.
SHEMUS.
Maire is mad.
[_TEIG and SHEMUS stand up and stagger about. _
SHEMUS.
That wine is the suddenest wine man ever tasted.
MAIRE.
I will not cook for you: you are not human:
Before you came two horned owls looked at us;
The dog bayed, and the tongue of Shemus maddened.
When you came in the Virgin's blessed shrine
Fell from its nail, and when you sat down here
You poured out wine as the wood sidheogs do
When they'd entice a soul out of the world.
Why did you come to us? Was not death near?
FIRST MERCHANT.
We are two merchants.
MAIRE.
If you be not demons,
Go and give alms among the starving poor,
You seem more rich than any under the moon.
FIRST MERCHANT.
If we knew where to find deserving poor,
We would give alms.
MAIRE.
Then ask of Father John.
FIRST MERCHANT.
We know the evils of mere charity,
And have been planning out a wiser way.
Let each man bring one piece of merchandise.
MAIRE.
And have the starving any merchandise?
FIRST MERCHANT.
We do but ask what each man has.
MAIRE.
Merchants,
Their swine and cattle, fields and implements,
Are sold and gone.
FIRST MERCHANT.
They have not sold all yet.
MAIRE.
What have they?
FIRST MERCHANT.
They have still their souls.
[_MAIRE shrieks. He beckons to TEIG and SHEMUS. _
Come hither.
See you these little golden heaps? Each one
Is payment for a soul. From charity
We give so great a price for those poor flames.
Say to all men we buy men's souls--away.
[_They do not stir. _
This pile is for you and this one here for you.
MAIRE.
Shemus and Teig, Teig--
TEIG.
Out of the way.
[_SHEMUS and TEIG take the money. _
FIRST MERCHANT.
Cry out at cross-roads and at chapel doors
And market-places that we buy men's souls,
Giving so great a price that men may live
In mirth and ease until the famine ends.
[_TEIG and SHEMUS go out. _
MAIRE [_kneeling_].
Destroyers of souls, may God destroy you quickly!
FIRST MERCHANT.
No curse can overthrow the immortal demons.
MAIRE.
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? The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of
William Butler Yeats, Vol. 3 (of 8), by William Butler Yeats
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
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Title: The Collected Works in Verse and Prose of William Butler Yeats, Vol. 3 (of 8)
The Countess Cathleen. The Land of Heart's Desire. The
Unicorn from the Stars
Author: William Butler Yeats
Release Date: August 5, 2015 [EBook #49610]
Language: English
Character set encoding: UTF-8
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WORKS OF W B YEATS, VOL 3 ***
Produced by Emmy, mollypit and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www. pgdp. net (This file was
produced from images generously made available by The
Internet Archive) Music transcribed by Linda Cantoni.
THE COLLECTED WORKS OF
WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS
[Illustration:
_Emery Walker Ph. sc. _
_From a picture by Charles Shannon_]
THE COUNTESS CATHLEEN. THE
LAND OF HEART'S DESIRE. THE
UNICORN FROM THE STARS :: BEING
THE THIRD VOLUME OF THE
COLLECTED WORKS IN VERSE
AND PROSE OF WILLIAM BUTLER
YEATS :: IMPRINTED AT THE
SHAKESPEARE HEAD PRESS ::
STRATFORD-ON-AVON
MCMVIII
CONTENTS
PAGE
THE COUNTESS CATHLEEN 1
THE LAND OF HEART'S DESIRE 89
THE UNICORN FROM THE STARS,
BY LADY GREGORY AND W. B. YEATS 121
APPENDIX:
THE COUNTESS CATHLEEN 209
NOTES 214
THE COUNTESS CATHLEEN
'_The sorrowful are dumb for thee. _'
Lament of MORION SHEHONE for
MISS MARY BOURKE.
TO MAUD GONNE.
_PERSONS IN THE PLAY_
SHEMUS RUA, _a peasant_
TEIG, _his son_
ALEEL, _a young bard_
MAURTEEN, _a gardener_
THE COUNTESS CATHLEEN
OONA, _her foster-mother_
MAIRE, _wife of Shemus Rua_
TWO DEMONS _disguised as merchants_
MUSICIANS
PEASANTS, SERVANTS, &C.
ANGELICAL BEINGS, SPIRITS, AND FAERIES
_The scene is laid in Ireland, and in old times. _
THE COUNTESS CATHLEEN.
ACT I.
_The cottage of SHEMUS REA. The door into the open air
is at right side of room. There is a window at one
side of the door, and a little shrine of the Virgin
Mother at the other. At the back is a door opening into
a bedroom, and at the left side of the room a pantry
door. A wood of oak, beech, hazel, and quicken is seen
through the window half hidden in vapour and twilight.
MAIRE watches TEIG, who fills a pot with water. He
stops as if to listen, and spills some of the water. _
MAIRE.
You are all thumbs.
TEIG.
Hear how the dog bays, mother,
And how the gray hen flutters in the coop.
Strange things are going up and down the land,
These famine times: by Tubber-vanach crossroads
A woman met a man with ears spread out,
And they moved up and down like wings of bats.
MAIRE.
Shemus stays late.
TEIG.
By Carrick-orus churchyard,
A herdsman met a man who had no mouth,
Nor ears, nor eyes: his face a wall of flesh;
He saw him plainly by the moon.
MAIRE.
[_Going over to the little shrine. _]
White Mary,
Bring Shemus home out of the wicked woods;
Save Shemus from the wolves; Shemus is daring;
And save him from the demons of the woods,
Who have crept out and wander on the roads,
Deluding dim-eyed souls now newly dead,
And those alive who have gone crazed with famine.
Save him, White Mary Virgin.
TEIG.
And but now
I thought I heard far-off tympans and harps.
[_Knocking at the door. _
MAIRE.
Shemus has come.
TEIG.
May he bring better food
Than the lean crow he brought us yesterday.
[_MAIRE opens the door, and SHEMUS comes in with a dead
wolf on his shoulder. _
MAIRE.
Shemus, you are late home: you have been lounging
And chattering with some one: you know well
How the dreams trouble me, and how I pray,
Yet you lie sweating on the hill from morn,
Or linger at the crossways with all comers,
Telling or gathering up calamity.
SHEMUS.
You would rail my head off. Here is a good dinner.
[_He throws the wolf on the table. _
A wolf is better than a carrion crow.
I searched all day: the mice and rats and hedgehogs
Seemed to be dead, and I could hardly hear
A wing moving in all the famished woods,
Though the dead leaves and clauber of four forests
Cling to my footsole. I turned home but now,
And saw, sniffing the floor in a bare cow-house,
This young wolf here: the crossbow brought him down.
MAIRE.
Praise be the saints! [_After a pause. _
Why did the house dog bay?
SHEMUS.
He heard me coming and smelt food--what else?
TEIG.
We will not starve awhile.
SHEMUS.
What food is within?
TEIG.
There is a bag half full of meal, a pan
Half full of milk.
SHEMUS.
And we have one old hen.
TEIG.
The bogwood were less hard.
MAIRE.
Before you came
She made a great noise in the hencoop, Shemus.
What fluttered in the window?
TEIG.
Two horned owls
Have blinked and fluttered on the window sill
From when the dog began to bay.
SHEMUS.
Hush, hush.
[_He fits an arrow to the crossbow, and goes towards
the door. A sudden burst of music without. _
They are off again: ladies or gentlemen
Travel in the woods with tympan and with harp.
Teig, put the wolf upon the biggest hook
And shut the door.
[_TEIG goes into the cupboard with the wolf: returns
and fastens the door behind him. _
Sit on the creepy stool
And call up a whey face and a crying voice,
And let your head be bowed upon your knees.
[_He opens the door of the cabin. _
Come in, your honours: a full score of evenings
This threshold worn away by many a foot
Has been passed only by the snails and birds
And by our own poor hunger-shaken feet.
[_The COUNTESS CATHLEEN, ALEEL, who carries a small
square harp, OONA, and a little group of fantastically
dressed musicians come in. _
CATHLEEN.
Are you so hungry?
TEIG.
[_From beside the fire. _]
Lady, I fell but now,
And lay upon the threshold like a log.
I have not tasted a crust for these four days.
[_The COUNTESS CATHLEEN empties her purse on to the
table. _
CATHLEEN.
Had I more money I would give it you,
But we have passed by many cabins to-day;
And if you come to-morrow to my house
You shall have twice the sum. I am the owner
Of a long empty castle in these woods.
MAIRE.
Then you are Countess Cathleen: you and yours
Are ever welcome under my poor thatch.
Will you sit down and warm you by the sods?
CATHLEEN.
We must find out this castle in the wood
Before the chill o' the night.
[_The musicians begin to tune their instruments. _
Do not blame me,
Good woman, for the tympan and the harp:
I was bid fly the terror of the times
And wrap me round with music and sweet song
Or else pine to my grave. I have lost my way;
Aleel, the poet, who should know these woods,
Because we met him on their border but now
Wandering and singing like the foam of the sea,
Is so wrapped up in dreams of terrors to come
That he can give no help.
MAIRE.
[_Going to the door with her. _]
You're almost there.
There is a trodden way among the hazels
That brings your servants to their marketing.
ALEEL.
When we are gone draw to the door and the bolt,
For, till we lost them half an hour ago,
Two gray horned owls hooted above our heads
Of terrors to come. Tympan and harp awake!
For though the world drift from us like a sigh,
Music is master of all under the moon;
And play 'The Wind that blows by Cummen Strand. '
[_Music. _
[_Sings. _]
_Impetuous heart, be still, be still:
Your sorrowful love may never be told;
Cover it up with a lonely tune.
He who could bend all things to His will
Has covered the door of the infinite fold
With the pale stars and the wandering moon. _
[_While he is singing the COUNTESS CATHLEEN, OONA, and
the musicians go out. _
ALEEL.
Shut to the door and shut the woods away,
For, till they had vanished in the thick of the leaves,
Two gray horned owls hooted above our heads.
[_He goes out. _
MAIRE.
[_Bolting the door. _]
When wealthy and wise folk wander from their peace
And fear wood things, poor folk may draw the bolt
And pray before the fire.
[_SHEMUS counts out the money, and rings a piece upon
the table. _
SHEMUS.
The Mother of God,
Hushed by the waving of the immortal wings,
Has dropped in a doze and cannot hear the poor:
I passed by Margaret Nolan's; for nine days
Her mouth was green with dock and dandelion;
And now they wake her.
MAIRE.
I will go the next;
Our parents' cabins bordered the same field.
SHEMUS.
God, and the Mother of God, have dropped asleep,
For they are weary of the prayers and candles;
But Satan pours the famine from his bag,
And I am mindful to go pray to him
To cover all this table with red gold.
Teig, will you dare me to it?
TEIG.
Not I, father.
MAIRE.
O Shemus, hush, maybe your mind might pray
In spite o' the mouth.
SHEMUS.
Two crowns and twenty pennies.
MAIRE.
Is yonder quicken wood?
SHEMUS.
[_Picking the bough from the table. _]
He swayed about,
And so I tied him to a quicken bough
And slung him from my shoulder.
MAIRE.
[_Taking the bough from him. _]
Shemus! Shemus!
What, would you burn the blessed quicken wood?
A spell to ward off demons and ill faeries.
You know not what the owls were that peeped in,
For evil wonders live in this old wood,
And they can show in what shape please them best.
And we have had no milk to leave of nights
To keep our own good people kind to us.
And Aleel, who has talked with the great Sidhe,
Is full of terrors to come.
[_She lays the bough on a chair. _
SHEMUS.
I would eat my supper
With no less mirth if squatting by the hearth
Were dulacaun or demon of the pit
Clawing its knees, its hoof among the ashes.
[_He rings another piece of money. A sound of footsteps
outside the door. _
MAIRE.
Who knows what evil you have brought to us?
I fear the wood things, Shemus.
[_A knock at the door. _
Do not open.
SHEMUS.
A crown and twenty pennies are not enough
To stop the hole that lets the famine in.
[_The little shrine falls. _
MAIRE.
Look! look!
SHEMUS.
[_Crushing it underfoot. _]
The Mother of God has dropped asleep,
And all her household things have gone to wrack.
MAIRE.
O Mary, Mother of God, be pitiful!
[_SHEMUS opens the door. TWO MERCHANTS stand without.
They have bands of gold round their foreheads, and each
carries a bag upon his shoulder. _
FIRST MERCHANT.
Have you food here?
SHEMUS.
For those who can pay well.
SECOND MERCHANT.
We are rich merchants seeking merchandise.
SHEMUS.
Come in, your honours.
MAIRE.
No, do not come in:
We have no food, not even for ourselves.
FIRST MERCHANT.
There is a wolf on the big hook in the cupboard.
[_They enter. _
SHEMUS.
Forgive her: she is not used to quality,
And is half crazed with being much alone.
How did you know I had taken a young wolf?
Fine wholesome food, though maybe somewhat strong.
[_The SECOND MERCHANT sits down by the fire and begins
rubbing his hands. The FIRST MERCHANT stands looking at
the quicken bough on the chair. _
FIRST MERCHANT.
I would rest here: the night is somewhat chilly,
And my feet footsore going up and down
From land to land and nation unto nation:
The fire burns dimly; feed it with this bough.
[_SHEMUS throws the bough into the fire. The FIRST
MERCHANT sits down on the chair. The MERCHANTS' chairs
are on each side of the fire. The table is between
them. Each lays his bag before him on the table. The
night has closed in somewhat, and the main light comes
from the fire. _
MAIRE.
What have you in the bags?
SHEMUS.
Don't mind her, sir:
Women grow curious and feather-thoughted
Through being in each other's company
More than is good for them.
FIRST MERCHANT.
Our bags are full
Of golden pieces to buy merchandise.
[_They pour gold pieces on to the table out of their
bags. It is covered with the gold pieces. They shine in
the firelight. MAIRE goes to the door of pantry, and
watches the MERCHANTS, muttering to herself. _
TEIG.
These are great gentlemen.
FIRST MERCHANT.
[_Taking a stone bottle out of his bag. _]
Come to the fire,
Here is the headiest wine you ever tasted.
SECOND MERCHANT.
Wine that can hush asleep the petty war
Of good and evil, and awake instead
A scented flame flickering above that peace
The bird of prey knows well in his deep heart.
SHEMUS.
[_Bringing drinking-cups. _]
I do not understand you, but your wine
Sets me athirst: its praise made your eyes lighten.
I am thirsting for it.
FIRST MERCHANT.
Ay, come drink and drink,
I bless all mortals who drink long and deep.
My curse upon the salt-strewn road of monks.
[_TEIG and SHEMUS sit down at the table and drink. _]
TEIG.
You must have seen rare sights and done rare things.
FIRST MERCHANT.
What think you of the master whom we serve?
SHEMUS.
I have grown weary of my days in the world
Because I do not serve him.
FIRST MERCHANT.
More of this
When we have eaten, for we love right well
A merry meal, a warm and leaping fire
And easy hearts.
SHEMUS.
Come, Maire, and cook the wolf.
MAIRE.
I will not cook for you.
SHEMUS.
Maire is mad.
[_TEIG and SHEMUS stand up and stagger about. _
SHEMUS.
That wine is the suddenest wine man ever tasted.
MAIRE.
I will not cook for you: you are not human:
Before you came two horned owls looked at us;
The dog bayed, and the tongue of Shemus maddened.
When you came in the Virgin's blessed shrine
Fell from its nail, and when you sat down here
You poured out wine as the wood sidheogs do
When they'd entice a soul out of the world.
Why did you come to us? Was not death near?
FIRST MERCHANT.
We are two merchants.
MAIRE.
If you be not demons,
Go and give alms among the starving poor,
You seem more rich than any under the moon.
FIRST MERCHANT.
If we knew where to find deserving poor,
We would give alms.
MAIRE.
Then ask of Father John.
FIRST MERCHANT.
We know the evils of mere charity,
And have been planning out a wiser way.
Let each man bring one piece of merchandise.
MAIRE.
And have the starving any merchandise?
FIRST MERCHANT.
We do but ask what each man has.
MAIRE.
Merchants,
Their swine and cattle, fields and implements,
Are sold and gone.
FIRST MERCHANT.
They have not sold all yet.
MAIRE.
What have they?
FIRST MERCHANT.
They have still their souls.
[_MAIRE shrieks. He beckons to TEIG and SHEMUS. _
Come hither.
See you these little golden heaps? Each one
Is payment for a soul. From charity
We give so great a price for those poor flames.
Say to all men we buy men's souls--away.
[_They do not stir. _
This pile is for you and this one here for you.
MAIRE.
Shemus and Teig, Teig--
TEIG.
Out of the way.
[_SHEMUS and TEIG take the money. _
FIRST MERCHANT.
Cry out at cross-roads and at chapel doors
And market-places that we buy men's souls,
Giving so great a price that men may live
In mirth and ease until the famine ends.
[_TEIG and SHEMUS go out. _
MAIRE [_kneeling_].
Destroyers of souls, may God destroy you quickly!
FIRST MERCHANT.
No curse can overthrow the immortal demons.
MAIRE.
