No More Learning

The Normans love thee not, nor thou the Normans,
Or--so they deem.

HAROLD. But wherefore is the wind,
Which way soever the vane-arrow swing,
Not ever fair for England? Why but now
He said (thou heardst him) that I must not hence
Save on conditions.

MALET. So in truth he said.

HAROLD. Malet, thy mother was an Englishwoman;
There somewhere beats an English pulse in thee!

MALET. Well--for my mother's sake I love your England,
But for my father I love Normandy.

HAROLD. Speak for thy mother's sake, and tell me true.

MALET. Then for my mother's sake, and England's sake
That suffers in the daily want of thee,
Obey the Count's conditions, my good friend.

HAROLD. How, Malet, if they be not honourable!

MALET. Seem to obey them.

HAROLD. Better die than lie!

MALET. Choose therefore whether thou wilt have thy conscience
White as a maiden's hand, or whether England
Be shatter'd into fragments.

HAROLD. News from England?

MALET. Morcar and Edwin have stirr'd up the Thanes
Against thy brother Tostig's governance;
And all the North of Humber is one storm.

HAROLD. I should be there, Malet, I should be there!

MALET. And Tostig in his own hall on suspicion
Hath massacred the Thane that was his guest,
Gamel, the son of Orm: and there be more
As villainously slain.

HAROLD. The wolf! the beast!
Ill news for guests, ha, Malet! More? What more?
What do they say? did Edward know of this?

MALET. They say, his wife was knowing and abetting.

HAROLD. They say, his wife! --To marry and have no husband
Makes the wife fool. My God, I should be there.
I'll hack my way to the sea.

MALET. Thou canst not, Harold;
Our Duke is all between thee and the sea,
Our Duke is all about thee like a God;
All passes block'd. Obey him, speak him fair,
For he is only debonair to those
That follow where he leads, but stark as death
To those that cross him. --Look thou, here is Wulfnoth!
I leave thee to thy talk with him alone;
How wan, poor lad! how sick and sad for home!
[_Exit_ MALET.

HAROLD (_muttering_).
Go not to Normandy--go not to Normandy!

_Enter_ WULFNOTH.

Poor brother! still a hostage!

WULFNOTH. Yea, and I
Shall see the dewy kiss of dawn no more
Make blush the maiden-white of our tall cliffs,
Nor mark the sea-bird rouse himself and hover
Above the windy ripple, and fill the sky
With free sea-laughter--never--save indeed
Thou canst make yield this iron-mooded Duke
To let me go.

HAROLD. Why, brother, so he will;
But on conditions. Canst thou guess at them?

WULFNOTH. Draw nearer,--I was in the corridor,
I saw him coming with his brother Odo
The Bayeux bishop, and I hid myself.

HAROLD. They did thee wrong who made thee hostage; thou
Wast ever fearful.

WULFNOTH. And he spoke--I heard him--
'This Harold is not of the royal blood,
Can have no right to the crown,' and Odo said,
'Thine is the right, for thine the might; he is here,
And yonder is thy keep. '

HAROLD. No, Wulfnoth, no.

WULFNOTH. And William laugh'd and swore that might was right,
Far as he knew in this poor world of ours--
'Marry, the Saints must go 'along with us,
And, brother, we will find a way,' said he--
Yea, yea, he would be king of England.

HAROLD. Never!

WULFNOTH. Yea, but thou must not this way answer _him_.

HAROLD. Is it not better still to speak the truth?

WULFNOTH. Not here, or thou wilt never hence nor I:
For in the racing toward this golden goal
He turns not right or left, but tramples flat
Whatever thwarts him; hast thou never heard
His savagery at Alencon,--the town
Hung out raw hides along their walls, and cried
'Work for the tanner. '

HAROLD. That had anger'd _me_
Had I been William.

WULFNOTH. Nay, but he had prisoners,
He tore their eyes out, sliced their hands away,
And flung them streaming o'er the battlements
Upon the heads of those who walk'd within--
O speak him fair, Harold, for thine own sake.

HAROLD. Your Welshman says, 'The Truth against the World,'
Much more the truth against myself.

WULFNOTH. Thyself?
But for my sake, oh brother! oh! for my sake!

HAROLD. Poor Wulfnoth! do they not entreat thee well?

WULFNOTH. I see the blackness of my dungeon loom
Across their lamps of revel, and beyond
The merriest murmurs of their banquet clank
The shackles that will bind me to the wall.

HAROLD. Too fearful still!

WULFNOTH. Oh no, no--speak him fair!
Call it to temporize; and not to lie;
Harold, I do not counsel thee to lie.
The man that hath to foil a murderous aim
May, surely, play with words.

HAROLD. Words are the man.
Not ev'n for thy sake, brother, would I lie.

WULFNOTH. Then for thine Edith?

HAROLD. There thou prick'st me deep.

WULFNOTH. And for our Mother England?

HAROLD. Deeper still.

WULFNOTH. And deeper still the deep-down oubliette,
Down thirty feet below the smiling day--
In blackness--dogs' food thrown upon thy head.
And over thee the suns arise and set,
And the lark sings, the sweet stars come and go,
And men are at their markets, in their fields,
And woo their loves and have forgotten thee;
And thou art upright in thy living grave,
Where there is barely room to shift thy side,
And all thine England hath forgotten thee;
And he our lazy-pious Norman King,
With all his Normans round him once again,
Counts his old beads, and hath forgotten thee.

HAROLD. Thou art of my blood, and so methinks, my boy,
Thy fears infect me beyond reason. Peace!

WULFNOTH. And then our fiery Tostig, while thy hands
Are palsied here, if his Northumbrians rise
And hurl him from them,--I have heard the Normans
Count upon this confusion--may he not make
A league with William, so to bring him back?

HAROLD. That lies within the shadow of the chance.

WULFNOTH. And like a river in flood thro' a burst dam
Descends the ruthless Norman--our good King
Kneels mumbling some old bone--our helpless folk
Are wash'd away, wailing, in their own blood--

HAROLD. Wailing! not warring? Boy, thou hast forgotten
That thou art English.

WULFNOTH. Then our modest women--
I know the Norman license--thine own Edith--

HAROLD. No more! I will not hear thee--William comes.

WULFNOTH. I dare not well be seen in talk with thee.
Make thou not mention that I spake with thee.
[_Moves away to the back of the stage_.

_Enter_ WILLIAM, MALET, _and_ OFFICER.

OFFICER. We have the man that rail'd against thy birth.

WILLIAM. Tear out his tongue.

OFFICER. He shall not rail again.
He said that he should see confusion fall
On thee and on thine house.

WILLIAM. Tear out his eyes, And plunge him into prison.

OFFICER. It shall be done.
[_Exit_ OFFICER.

WILLIAM. Look not amazed, fair earl! Better leave undone
Than do by halves--tongueless and eyeless, prison'd--

HAROLD. Better methinks have slain the man at once!

WILLIAM. We have respect for man's immortal soul,
We seldom take man's life, except in war;
It frights the traitor more to maim and blind.

HAROLD. In mine own land I should have scorn'd the man,
Or lash'd his rascal back, and let him go.

WILLIAM. And let him go? To slander thee again!
Yet in thine own land in thy father's day
They blinded my young kinsman, Alfred--ay,
Some said it was thy father's deed.

HAROLD. They lied.

WILLIAM. But thou and he--whom at thy word, for thou
Art known a speaker of the truth, I free
From this foul charge--

HAROLD. Nay, nay, he freed himself
By oath and compurgation from the charge.
The king, the lords, the people clear'd him of it.

WILLIAM. But thou and he drove our good Normans out
From England, and this rankles in us yet.
Archbishop Robert hardly scaped with life.

HAROLD. Archbishop Robert! Robert the Archbishop!
Robert of Jumieges, he that--

MALET. Quiet! quiet!

HAROLD. Count! if there sat within the Norman chair
A ruler all for England--one who fill'd
All offices, all bishopricks with English--
We could not move from Dover to the Humber
Saving thro' Norman bishopricks--I say
Ye would applaud that Norman who should drive
The stranger to the fiends!

WILLIAM. Why, that is reason!
Warrior thou art, and mighty wise withal!
Ay, ay, but many among our Norman lords
Hate thee for this, and press upon me--saying
God and the sea have given thee to our hands--
To plunge thee into life-long prison here:--
Yet I hold out against them, as I may,
Yea--would hold out, yea, tho' they should revolt--
For thou hast done the battle in my cause;
I am thy fastest friend in Normandy.

HAROLD. I am doubly bound to thee . . . if this be so.

WILLIAM. And I would bind thee more, and would myself
Be bounden to thee more.

HAROLD. Then let me hence With Wulfnoth to King Edward.

WILLIAM. So we will. We hear he hath not long to live.

HAROLD. It may be.

WILLIAM. Why then the heir of England, who is he?

HAROLD.
The Atheling is nearest to the throne.

WILLIAM. But sickly, slight, half-witted and a child,
Will England have him king?

HAROLD. It may be, no.

WILLIAM. And hath King Edward not pronounced his heir?

HAROLD. Not that I know.

WILLIAM. When he was here in Normandy,
He loved us and we him, because we found him.
A Norman of the Normans.

HAROLD. So did we.

WILLIAM. A gentle, gracious, pure and saintly man!
And grateful to the hand that shielded him,
He promised that if ever he were king
In England, he would give his kingly voice
To me as his successor. Knowest thou this?

HAROLD. I learn it now.

WILLIAM. Thou knowest I am his cousin,
And that my wife descends from Alfred?

HAROLD. Ay.

WILLIAM. Who hath a better claim then to the crown
So that ye will not crown the Atheling?

HAROLD. None that I know . . . if that but hung upon
King Edward's will.

WILLIAM. Wilt thou uphold my claim?

MALET (_aside to_ HAROLD).
Be careful of thine answer, my good friend.

WULFNOTH (_aside to_ HAROLD).
Oh! Harold, for my sake and for thine own!

HAROLD. Ay . . . if the king have not revoked his promise.

WILLIAM. But hath he done it then?

HAROLD. Not that I know.

WILLIAM. Good, good, and thou wilt help me to the crown?

HAROLD. Ay . . . if the Witan will consent to this.

WILLIAM. Thou art the mightiest voice in England, man,
Thy voice will lead the Witan--shall I have it?

WULFNOTH (_aside to_ HAROLD).
Oh! Harold, if thou love thine Edith, ay.

HAROLD. Ay, if--

MALET (_aside to_ HAROLD).
Thine 'ifs' will sear thine eyes out--ay.

WILLIAM. I ask thee, wilt thou help me to the crown?
And I will make thee my great Earl of Earls,
Foremost in England and in Normandy;
Thou shalt be verily king--all but the name--
For I shall most sojourn in Normandy;
And thou be my vice-king in England. Speak.

WULFNOTH (_aside to_ HAROLD).
Ay, brother--for the sake of England--ay.

HAROLD. My lord--

MALET (_aside to_ HAROLD).
Take heed now.

HAROLD. Ay.

WILLIAM. I am content,
For thou art truthful, and thy word thy bond.
To-morrow will we ride with thee to Harfleur.
[_Exit_ WILLIAM.

MALET. Harold, I am thy friend, one life with thee,
And even as I should bless thee saving mine,
I thank thee now for having saved thyself.
[_Exit_ MALET.

HAROLD. For having lost myself to save myself,
Said 'ay' when I meant 'no,' lied like a lad
That dreads the pendent scourge, said 'ay' for 'no'!
Ay! No! --he hath not bound me by an oath--
Is 'ay' an oath? is 'ay' strong as an oath?
Or is it the same sin to break my word
As break mine oath? He call'd my word my bond!
He is a liar who knows I am a liar,
And makes believe that he believes my word--
The crime be on his head--not bounden--no.

[_Suddenly doors are flung open, discovering in an
inner hall_ COUNT WILLIAM _in his state robes,
seated upon his throne, between two_ BISHOPS,
ODO OP BAYEUX _being one: in the centre of
the hall an ark covered with cloth of gold;
and on either side of it the_ NORMAN BARONS.

_Enter a_ JAILOR _before_ WILLIAM'S _throne_.

WILLIAM (_to_ JAILOR).
Knave, hast thou let thy prisoner scape?

JAILOR. Sir Count,
He had but one foot, he must have hopt away,
Yea, some familiar spirit must have help'd him.

WILLIAM. Woe knave to thy familiar and to thee!
Give me thy keys. [_They fall clashing_.
Nay let them lie. Stand there and wait my will.

[_The_ JAILOR _stands aside_.

WILLIAM (_to_ HAROLD).
Hast thou such trustless jailors in thy North?

HAROLD. We have few prisoners in mine earldom there,
So less chance for false keepers.

WILLIAM. We have heard
Of thy just, mild, and equal governance;
Honour to thee! thou art perfect in all honour!
Thy naked word thy bond! confirm it now
Before our gather'd Norman baronage,
For they will not believe thee--as I believe.
[_Descends from his throne and stands by the ark_.
Let all men here bear witness of our bond!
[_Beckons to_ HAROLD, _who advances_.

_Enter_ MALET _behind him_.

Lay thou thy hand upon this golden pall!
Behold the jewel of St. Pancratius
Woven into the gold. Swear thou on this!

HAROLD. What should I swear? Why should I swear on this?

WILLIAM (_savagely_).
Swear thou to help me to the crown of England.

MALET (_whispering_ HAROLD).
My friend, thou hast gone too far to palter now.

WULFNOTH (_whispering_ HAROLD).
Swear thou to-day, to-morrow is thine own.

HAROLD. I swear to help thee to the crown of England . . .
According as King Edward promises.

WILLIAM. Thou must swear absolutely, noble Earl.

MALET (_whispering_).
Delay is death to thee, ruin to England.

WULFNOTH (_whispering_).
Swear, dearest brother, I beseech thee, swear!

HAROLD (_putting his hand on the jewel_).
I swear to help thee to the crown of England.

WILLIAM. Thanks, truthful Earl; I did not doubt thy word,
But that my barons might believe thy word,
And that the Holy Saints of Normandy
When thou art home in England, with thine own,
Might strengthen thee in keeping of thy word,
I made thee swear. --Show him by whom he hath sworn.

[_The two_ BISHOPS _advance, and raise the cloth of gold.
The bodies and bones of Saints are seen lying in the ark_.

The holy bones of all the Canonised
From all the holiest shrines in Normandy!

HAROLD. Horrible! [_They let the cloth fall again_.

WILLIAM. Ay, for thou hast sworn an oath
Which, if not kept, would make the hard earth rive
To the very Devil's horns, the bright sky cleave
To the very feet of God, and send her hosts
Of injured Saints to scatter sparks of plague
Thro' all your cities, blast your infants, dash
The torch of war among your standing corn,
Dabble your hearths with your own blood. --Enough!
Thou wilt not break it! I, the Count--the King--
Thy friend--am grateful for thine honest oath,
Not coming fiercely like a conqueror, now,
But softly as a bridegroom to his own.
For I shall rule according to your laws,
And make your ever-jarring Earldoms move
To music and in order--Angle, Jute,
Dane, Saxon, Norman, help to build a throne
Out-towering hers of France. . . . The wind is fair
For England now. . . . To-night we will be merry.
To-morrow will I ride with thee to Harfleur.

[_Exeunt_ WILLIAM _and all the_ NORMAN BARONS, _etc_.

HAROLD. To-night we will be merry--and to-morrow--
Juggler and bastard--bastard--he hates that most--
William the tanner's bastard! Would he heard me!
O God, that I were in some wide, waste field
With nothing but my battle-axe and him
To spatter his brains! Why let earth rive, gulf in
These cursed Normans--yea and mine own self.
Cleave heaven, and send thy saints that I may say
Ev'n to their faces, 'If ye side with William
Ye are not noble. ' How their pointed fingers
Glared at me! Am I Harold, Harold, son
Of our great Godwin? Lo! I touch mine arms,
My limbs--they are not mine--they are a liar's--
I mean to be a liar--I am not bound--
Stigand shall give me absolution for it--
Did the chest move? did it move? I am utter craven!
O Wulfnoth, Wulfnoth, brother, thou hast betray'd me!

WULFNOTH. Forgive me, brother, I will live here and die.

_Enter_ PAGE.

PAGE. My lord! the Duke awaits thee at the banquet.

HAROLD. Where they eat dead men's flesh, and drink their blood.

PAGE. My lord--

HAROLD. I know your Norman cookery is so spiced,
It masks all this.

PAGE. My lord! thou art white as death.

HAROLD. With looking on the dead. Am I so white?
Thy Duke will seem the darker. Hence, I follow.

[_Exeunt_.




ACT III.


SCENE I.