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Colombine

Chapter 10: TH’ COORTIN’
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About This Book

Set on a windswept hill that hides ancient Roman traces and fairy rings, the fantasy play blends rustic vernacular and commedia dell'arte figures to stage scenes of memory, folklore, and romantic rivalry. A fairylike maid meets two country labourers, recounts the site's layered past, and foretells a comic, ritualized duel between Harlequin and Pierrot for her affection. Interwoven prologue poems and stage tableaux alternate lyrical reflections on time and place with light comedy, costume spectacle, and debates about love, fate, and the endurance of ritual. The piece balances pastoral atmosphere, nostalgia, and theatricality in brief, episodic scenes voiced in verse and colloquial dialogue.

TH’ COORTIN’

Tis just about a wik ago,
Or mebbe two, or theresabout,
As I axed Kate why ur an’ Joe
Was seed together waalking out;
Whenas, fur nigh upon a year,
’Twur I as had been coortin’ ur.
“Why, laws-a-mussey, Bill,” ur sez,
“Fur certain sure ye must allow
Us two caan’t alluz spend our days
The same as us be doin’ now.
Ye’d better wed wi’ one ye doan’t
Than waalk wi’ one ye do, as woan’t.”
I cudden zackly understand
What ’twur as she was drivin’ at,
Until I cotched ur by the hand
And took a peep ’erneath ur hat.
Wur what I see surprised I so,
I gi’ed ur kiss, an’ whispered low:
“Ye’d better wed the feller who
Has alluz bin in luv wi’ you.”
And that’s just what ur means to do.