No, Geneviva. I have little speech;
But when the secret crept into my soul
I loved you, it was not to Marcomir
I spoke: and if another secret now
Is breaking through my nature, do not think
That he will be the spokesman.
[noticing her agitation] Hermann died
I think by his own hand; he courted death.
What can a man prize in captivity?
[as Geneviva grows more agitated]
There! I will speak no more of him. Your maids—
[turning to summon her attendants].
But when the secret crept into my soul
I loved you, it was not to Marcomir
I spoke: and if another secret now
Is breaking through my nature, do not think
That he will be the spokesman.
[noticing her agitation] Hermann died
I think by his own hand; he courted death.
What can a man prize in captivity?
[as Geneviva grows more agitated]
There! I will speak no more of him. Your maids—
[turning to summon her attendants].
GENEVIVA.
Weave the great arras. They have no concern
With me, except in silence to array.
You thought I cared to gossip with my maids!
But summon Marcomir.
With me, except in silence to array.
You thought I cared to gossip with my maids!
But summon Marcomir.
[She looks after Carloman, who walks out, stroking his chin].
To think he dared
To lean above me with those burning eyes
Unconscious what they glassed. I did not learn
From him the magic that was born in me,
I learnt it when great Hermann passed in chains,
And he is dead. I promised I would go
To-day and visit him. How could he die?
[Marcomir enters.]
Why, you are deadly pale!
[She recoils, and says in a faint voice]
It is the hour
Fixed for our visit.
To lean above me with those burning eyes
Unconscious what they glassed. I did not learn
From him the magic that was born in me,
I learnt it when great Hermann passed in chains,
And he is dead. I promised I would go
To-day and visit him. How could he die?
[Marcomir enters.]
Why, you are deadly pale!
[She recoils, and says in a faint voice]
It is the hour
Fixed for our visit.
MARCOMIR.
But the man is dead.
GENEVIVA.
What does he look like now? Is he so changed
I must not see him?
I must not see him?
MARCOMIR.
Death is not a fact
To touch with simile. What looks he like?
All men in moonlight mind one of the moon,
All dead men look like death.
To touch with simile. What looks he like?
All men in moonlight mind one of the moon,
All dead men look like death.
GENEVIVA.
He lies in chains?
Are the brows restful?
Are the brows restful?
MARCOMIR.
Had you been a man
You would have asked me how he came to die,
No more!
You would have asked me how he came to die,
No more!
GENEVIVA.
MARCOMIR.
[facing her again] Oh, a lifetime, if
It please you! I am going to a place
Where love is held of little consequence.
It please you! I am going to a place
Where love is held of little consequence.
GENEVIVA.
Then you are bound for hell.
MARCOMIR.
[between his teeth] But you are safe!
GENEVIVA.
Keep me recluse from love, as men from war,
You spoil my faculties. Where will you go?
You spoil my faculties. Where will you go?
MARCOMIR.
To any coast you have not trod, wherever
The flowers are different from the flowers you wear,
To some Italian convent. Geneviva,
I am not framed to see you minister
To other men; but when long years are passed,
It may be in a fresco, I shall find
Some figure of a lady breaking bread
To mendicants, and kneel and pray to her
That she may bless me also: but till then ...
[covering his eyes]
O God, you shall not tempt me, though I feel
Just how your hair burns in a fiery wreath
Above your brow, and how your eyes are soft
With blue, and deeper blue, as through the hills
The valley stretches azure to the close.
You shall not tempt me, though I almost hear
Your bosom taking record of your breath,
And I could sit and watch that tide of life
Rising and falling through the lovely curves,
Till I was lost in ecstasy.
The flowers are different from the flowers you wear,
To some Italian convent. Geneviva,
I am not framed to see you minister
To other men; but when long years are passed,
It may be in a fresco, I shall find
Some figure of a lady breaking bread
To mendicants, and kneel and pray to her
That she may bless me also: but till then ...
[covering his eyes]
O God, you shall not tempt me, though I feel
Just how your hair burns in a fiery wreath
Above your brow, and how your eyes are soft
With blue, and deeper blue, as through the hills
The valley stretches azure to the close.
You shall not tempt me, though I almost hear
Your bosom taking record of your breath,
And I could sit and watch that tide of life
Rising and falling through the lovely curves,
Till I was lost in ecstasy.
GENEVIVA.
MARCOMIR.
Of devilish malice.
GENEVIVA.
In a jealous fit?
You shall remain.
You shall remain.
[She goes up to him: he takes her hands in his, kisses them coldly, and puts them away.]
MARCOMIR.
I did not answer you—
His face was drawn.
His face was drawn.
GENEVIVA.
And I had given you charge
Of the great restive soldier.
Of the great restive soldier.
MARCOMIR.
True, I swerved;
I have confessed my sin, and now must bear
The settling of my spirit on the Cross.
I have confessed my sin, and now must bear
The settling of my spirit on the Cross.
GENEVIVA.
So many favours!
MARCOMIR.
But you kissed his brows—
What need was there of that?
What need was there of that?
GENEVIVA.
You love me then,
You love me! Would you murder him again
If I again should touch him with my breath?
You love me! Would you murder him again
If I again should touch him with my breath?
MARCOMIR.
Again, again.
GENEVIVA.
MARCOMIR.
He forgets;
But, Geneviva, if a thousand years
Broke over me, when Time had cleared his storms
I should look up and know your face by heart.
But, Geneviva, if a thousand years
Broke over me, when Time had cleared his storms
I should look up and know your face by heart.
GENEVIVA.
Then stay, stay, stay with me!
Have you once thought
Through the long years how it will fare with me—
Nothing to watch except the sullen waste
Of my own beauty? Marcomir, I hold
If there be judgment it shall be required
Of women what delight their golden hair
Has yielded—have they put its wealth to use,
Or suffered it to lie by unenjoyed?
I rather would die spendthrift, nothing left
Of my rich heritage, save memory
Of the wild, passing pleasure it conferred
Than keep it untransmuted. And you choose
To take from me the only eyes that care
To mirror mine! I have so often thought
That some day I shall drown myself: the water
Reflects me with desire.
Have you once thought
Through the long years how it will fare with me—
Nothing to watch except the sullen waste
Of my own beauty? Marcomir, I hold
If there be judgment it shall be required
Of women what delight their golden hair
Has yielded—have they put its wealth to use,
Or suffered it to lie by unenjoyed?
I rather would die spendthrift, nothing left
Of my rich heritage, save memory
Of the wild, passing pleasure it conferred
Than keep it untransmuted. And you choose
To take from me the only eyes that care
To mirror mine! I have so often thought
That some day I shall drown myself: the water
Reflects me with desire.
MARCOMIR.
[bitterly, as he turns away] A soul so wide
In innocence, so regal, on the day
He wedded, he appointed me your squire!
In innocence, so regal, on the day
He wedded, he appointed me your squire!
GENEVIVA.
MARCOMIR.
Yes, he loves,
He does not use me for his purposes.
[perceiving PEPIN]
Not Carloman—his brother on the stair
Laughs at your light behaviour. So you lose
One last poor opportunity.
He does not use me for his purposes.
[perceiving PEPIN]
Not Carloman—his brother on the stair
Laughs at your light behaviour. So you lose
One last poor opportunity.
[Re-enter Pepin.]
PEPIN.
Good even.
Well, my fair sister, you have heard the news,
Wept [glancing at Marcomir]
and found consolation.
But to think
The son of Charles Martel should be a monk!
Well, my fair sister, you have heard the news,
Wept [glancing at Marcomir]
and found consolation.
But to think
The son of Charles Martel should be a monk!
GENEVIVA.
A monk!—a pilgrim?
PEPIN.
No, a cloistered monk.
MARCOMIR.
What is his crime?
PEPIN.
Oh, no impiety;
A crazy fit: he must get near to God,
So puts away all intercourse with man:
And while I rule he thinks to thrill the world
With some convulsive movement from his prayers.
Ha, ha! But you shall queen it as before.
A crazy fit: he must get near to God,
So puts away all intercourse with man:
And while I rule he thinks to thrill the world
With some convulsive movement from his prayers.
Ha, ha! But you shall queen it as before.
GENEVIVA.
Go fetch my husband and remain without,
For he alone can speak to me of this.
For he alone can speak to me of this.
[Exit Pepin.]
MARCOMIR.
I repent.
GENEVIVA.
There is no sin like that of looking back
When one has sinned. Whatever one attempts
It perfected in patience brings reward.
My Carloman will prosper: his whole heart
Is gone away from me.
Why there he is,
Passing in zealous talk with Boniface.
When one has sinned. Whatever one attempts
It perfected in patience brings reward.
My Carloman will prosper: his whole heart
Is gone away from me.
Why there he is,
Passing in zealous talk with Boniface.
[Carloman and Boniface cross from right to left at the back of the hall. Geneviva intercepts them.]
Farewell!
CARLOMAN.
[arrested] O Geneviva!
GENEVIVA.
Not my name,
Never my name again. Say, holy father—
They take new titles who renounce the world?
Never my name again. Say, holy father—
They take new titles who renounce the world?
CARLOMAN.
[with flushing eagerness]
Then you too will renounce it? oh, the joy!
There is a strange new passion in your eyes.
Speak to me ... but you cannot! I could take
No leave of you in your fierce, worldly mood;
Now all is changed.
Then you too will renounce it? oh, the joy!
There is a strange new passion in your eyes.
Speak to me ... but you cannot! I could take
No leave of you in your fierce, worldly mood;
Now all is changed.
GENEVIVA.
Yes, all. How long ago
It seems since we were married!
It seems since we were married!
CARLOMAN.
BONIFACE.
Do you choose,
Lady, a mere retreat among the nuns,
Or, like your husband, do you break all ties
That bind you to the earth?
Lady, a mere retreat among the nuns,
Or, like your husband, do you break all ties
That bind you to the earth?
GENEVIVA.
They all are broken:
Except ... oh, I forgot! I have a son.
Except ... oh, I forgot! I have a son.
CARLOMAN.
[nervously]
Pepin will guard him.
Pepin will guard him.
GENEVIVA.
Are you dreaming still?
Fool, fool! I tell you Pepin shall decide
What robes I wear, and haply suffer me
Sometimes at entertainments to look on,
And see young Charlemagne praised. But for my child
He shall remain with me.
[Re-enter Pepin] All is confirmed.
I shall not quit the world. How easily
A man is duped with God upon the brain!
I shall continue in my womanhood,
Giving, receiving pleasure.
I have heard
So much and suddenly; for Marcomir
Is to become a monk.
[to Carloman] Give him no welcome.
He takes the cowl a penitent; he is not,
Like you, a white-souled wayfarer.
[to Pepin] How strange
That we must pair together, you and I;
I know so little of your tastes and now
I must be often in your company.
Fool, fool! I tell you Pepin shall decide
What robes I wear, and haply suffer me
Sometimes at entertainments to look on,
And see young Charlemagne praised. But for my child
He shall remain with me.
[Re-enter Pepin] All is confirmed.
I shall not quit the world. How easily
A man is duped with God upon the brain!
I shall continue in my womanhood,
Giving, receiving pleasure.
I have heard
So much and suddenly; for Marcomir
Is to become a monk.
[to Carloman] Give him no welcome.
He takes the cowl a penitent; he is not,
Like you, a white-souled wayfarer.
[to Pepin] How strange
That we must pair together, you and I;
I know so little of your tastes and now
I must be often in your company.
MARCOMIR.
My lord, speak to her.
PEPIN.
Come, an end to this!
Brother, if you are wise you will not leave
This woman in the world. Convents are made
To tame the pride of such and keep them cool.
Brother, if you are wise you will not leave
This woman in the world. Convents are made
To tame the pride of such and keep them cool.
CARLOMAN.
O Geneviva, for my sake, and yet....
Not so, beloved.
Not so, beloved.
[He turns away and covers his face.]
GENEVIVA.
Marcomir, farewell!
You will be monks together. When my husband
Forgets me, you must bring me to his thoughts
Recall that day we hunted and you fell;
I stayed to tend you; but the whole live day
My voice rang through the woods for Carloman
Until I wearied you; he was not found;
But you remember how I cried for him.
You will be monks together. When my husband
Forgets me, you must bring me to his thoughts
Recall that day we hunted and you fell;
I stayed to tend you; but the whole live day
My voice rang through the woods for Carloman
Until I wearied you; he was not found;
But you remember how I cried for him.
MARCOMIR.
Consul, have pity on her. I am free,
But she has need of love.
But she has need of love.
GENEVIVA.
O insolence!—
The virginal chill heart!—No intercession!
[to Carloman]
Our marriage is dissolved. How great a stranger
You have become to me! I should grow mad
To breathe by you another single hour.
[to Boniface]
And you, old man, who stand with such meek eyes,
Though you have robbed me of my name of wife,
And made my boy an orphan—go your way!
I cannot curse you, but I prophesy:
Dishonour motherhood, plant virgin homes,
Give to religion the sole charge of love,
And you will rear up lust of such an ice
As Death himself will shiver at.
[to Pepin] Lead on!
Now there is hope you may become a King,
There should be some high festival to keep
To-night in everlasting memory.
Lead me away.
The virginal chill heart!—No intercession!
[to Carloman]
Our marriage is dissolved. How great a stranger
You have become to me! I should grow mad
To breathe by you another single hour.
[to Boniface]
And you, old man, who stand with such meek eyes,
Though you have robbed me of my name of wife,
And made my boy an orphan—go your way!
I cannot curse you, but I prophesy:
Dishonour motherhood, plant virgin homes,
Give to religion the sole charge of love,
And you will rear up lust of such an ice
As Death himself will shiver at.
[to Pepin] Lead on!
Now there is hope you may become a King,
There should be some high festival to keep
To-night in everlasting memory.
Lead me away.
PEPIN.
Brother, in all—good luck!
And may the Convent’s fare be angels’ food.
Your wife’s tears soon will dry.
And may the Convent’s fare be angels’ food.
Your wife’s tears soon will dry.
[Exeunt Pepin and Geneviva.]
CARLOMAN.
The thing to do
Is simply just the sole thing to be done.
There should have been no tears, no taking leave;
A freeman can do anything he will.
Is simply just the sole thing to be done.
There should have been no tears, no taking leave;
A freeman can do anything he will.
MARCOMIR.
Take me along with you.
CARLOMAN.
Ah where—to God?
Why would you come with me?
Why would you come with me?
MARCOMIR.
You must not ask.
Some rival slain in haste—the ebbing back
Of hatred that has left the face exposed
Of a dead foe I spared not. I have struck
On something in my nature that is foul,
That goes on breeding in me, that will taint
My fellows: I must purify my heart
With lonely fasting and continual prayers.
My hope is all in Time: though Time defaces
So much of what is fair, it dims the spots:
I who am just a murderer to myself,
Who close my eyes upon a sleeping guilt
And waking, answer to the bloody name,
Have some faint courage that a transformation
Will come ...
Some rival slain in haste—the ebbing back
Of hatred that has left the face exposed
Of a dead foe I spared not. I have struck
On something in my nature that is foul,
That goes on breeding in me, that will taint
My fellows: I must purify my heart
With lonely fasting and continual prayers.
My hope is all in Time: though Time defaces
So much of what is fair, it dims the spots:
I who am just a murderer to myself,
Who close my eyes upon a sleeping guilt
And waking, answer to the bloody name,
Have some faint courage that a transformation
Will come ...
CARLOMAN.
Oh, do not put your trust in Time;
Put on at once forever leap to God!
Have done with age and death and faltering friends,
Assailing circumstance, the change of front
That one is always meeting in oneself,
The plans, the vacillations—let them go!
And you will put on immortality
As simply as a vesture.
Put on at once forever leap to God!
Have done with age and death and faltering friends,
Assailing circumstance, the change of front
That one is always meeting in oneself,
The plans, the vacillations—let them go!
And you will put on immortality
As simply as a vesture.
MARCOMIR.
And you think
Of starting—when?
Of starting—when?
CARLOMAN.
ACT II
Scene: An audience-chamber in the old Lateran Palace, Rome.
[Enter Zacharias and Damiani.]
DAMIANI.
And so the Lombard yielded ...?
ZACHARIAS.
Not to me,
But to my God. Each man of woman born
Is fashioned in God’s outer image: few
Are so compact of Him they feel His strength
Within their body as a force that pushes
Its way and dissipates the hollow crowd
Of godless men; but from my youth I prayed
I might be like Him in my inward parts
As in my form of dust: and there was nothing
That stood against me. It was simple joy
To meet the opposition of my foes,
To meet triumphant wickedness, to meet
The deadliest torpor; for they had an end
As night and mist are ended by the sun.
But to my God. Each man of woman born
Is fashioned in God’s outer image: few
Are so compact of Him they feel His strength
Within their body as a force that pushes
Its way and dissipates the hollow crowd
Of godless men; but from my youth I prayed
I might be like Him in my inward parts
As in my form of dust: and there was nothing
That stood against me. It was simple joy
To meet the opposition of my foes,
To meet triumphant wickedness, to meet
The deadliest torpor; for they had an end
As night and mist are ended by the sun.
DAMIANI.
You act on a dread thought.
ZACHARIAS.
DAMIANI.
No wonder that men fear you in their hearts,
And yield when you approach them!
And yield when you approach them!
ZACHARIAS.
But you questioned
About my recent journey to the hills,
That I might save Perugia from the craft
Of Rachis, the vile Lombard King. I went
And faced him ... all his treachery gave way,
The town was mine again; and more than this,
All his ambition vanished—at my feet
He promised to renounce the world itself,—
Like Carloman, the Consul of the Franks,
Who left his wife, his honours and his home
To dwell on Mount Soracte.
About my recent journey to the hills,
That I might save Perugia from the craft
Of Rachis, the vile Lombard King. I went
And faced him ... all his treachery gave way,
The town was mine again; and more than this,
All his ambition vanished—at my feet
He promised to renounce the world itself,—
Like Carloman, the Consul of the Franks,
Who left his wife, his honours and his home
To dwell on Mount Soracte.
DAMIANI.
Carloman—
His fame spreads every day.
His fame spreads every day.
ZACHARIAS.
I felt a warmth
Myself to see the man, and when he came
A welcome rushed out from my soul, such life
Tempered the resolution of his face.
God dwelt in him—yet fitfully it seemed,
A fever in his blood, not constant health,
Unalterable habit, as with those
To whom God is the same now, yesterday,
And always. As I blessed him I became
Disquieted—his long hands were never still.
He needed discipline, such changeless hours
As make the spirit stable. Now he seeks
Another meeting, so this letter says,
To ask me some petition for himself,
And for his friend.
Myself to see the man, and when he came
A welcome rushed out from my soul, such life
Tempered the resolution of his face.
God dwelt in him—yet fitfully it seemed,
A fever in his blood, not constant health,
Unalterable habit, as with those
To whom God is the same now, yesterday,
And always. As I blessed him I became
Disquieted—his long hands were never still.
He needed discipline, such changeless hours
As make the spirit stable. Now he seeks
Another meeting, so this letter says,
To ask me some petition for himself,
And for his friend.
DAMIANI.
ZACHARIAS.
On whom I build my trust.
I would that Rachis left upon his throne
A brother who could stand by Carloman’s:
But Astolph has a rebel’s countenance,
The only eyes that never bent to mine.
He looked upon me as a robber might
Who saw in God’s own altar but a setting
To jewels that he coveted. And when
Rachis knelt down and vowed to leave the world,
And there was silence in the Lombard host,
I heard a ringing laugh, and Astolph shook
His yellow hair with joy. I never saw
So mad a gesture—God will strike him down!
I would that Rachis left upon his throne
A brother who could stand by Carloman’s:
But Astolph has a rebel’s countenance,
The only eyes that never bent to mine.
He looked upon me as a robber might
Who saw in God’s own altar but a setting
To jewels that he coveted. And when
Rachis knelt down and vowed to leave the world,
And there was silence in the Lombard host,
I heard a ringing laugh, and Astolph shook
His yellow hair with joy. I never saw
So mad a gesture—God will strike him down!
[Enter a Cardinal.]
CARDINAL.
The Lombard King would see you.
ZACHARIAS.
Lead him in,
We will receive our penitent. [Exit Cardinal.]
This Rachis
Shall make your Convent famous: Mount Casino
Shall have its royal monk.
We will receive our penitent. [Exit Cardinal.]
This Rachis
Shall make your Convent famous: Mount Casino
Shall have its royal monk.
DAMIANI.
A gracious thought.
[Enter Rachis with two Cardinals.]
ZACHARIAS.
Welcome! You come to Rome to take your vow.
RACHIS.
ZACHARIAS.
Ah!
RACHIS.
I love you,
I love the peaceful service of the cell,
And each affection tears me bitterly:
Yet for the sake of keeping my wild hordes
Your servants, I am willing to renounce
The pleasure of the cloister, if your wisdom
Absolve me from my promise and restore me
To Kingship over Astolph.
I love the peaceful service of the cell,
And each affection tears me bitterly:
Yet for the sake of keeping my wild hordes
Your servants, I am willing to renounce
The pleasure of the cloister, if your wisdom
Absolve me from my promise and restore me
To Kingship over Astolph.
[He watches Zacharias with the utmost anxiety.]
ZACHARIAS.
What you plead
Is politic ... but, stay, I rob the Church
Of glory if I think of what is safe;
God can protect His own—the fiercer battle,
The heavenlier triumph. He received your oath,
Not I.
Is politic ... but, stay, I rob the Church
Of glory if I think of what is safe;
God can protect His own—the fiercer battle,
The heavenlier triumph. He received your oath,
Not I.
RACHIS.
You are His Pope, you can remit ...
And you would rule in peace.
And you would rule in peace.
ZACHARIAS.
How dare you tempt
The Lord your God, upon whose earthly throne
I sit? Get from me! One short month ago
You were yourself blaspheming in the land,
A heretic like Astolph and a slave
To your own lust. Begone! The convent walls
Alone can save you. If you drop away
There is no limit to the punishment
God deals to such backslider; you become
Perjured for all eternity.
The Lord your God, upon whose earthly throne
I sit? Get from me! One short month ago
You were yourself blaspheming in the land,
A heretic like Astolph and a slave
To your own lust. Begone! The convent walls
Alone can save you. If you drop away
There is no limit to the punishment
God deals to such backslider; you become
Perjured for all eternity.
RACHIS.
Alas,
Is there no service that will soften God,
Except the cloister?
Is there no service that will soften God,
Except the cloister?
ZACHARIAS.
Fool and hypocrite,
There is no way to Him except the path
A man’s best moment finds, and you are lost
If you regret your vow—to break from it
Is utterly impossible: a star
Can no more leave the music of its course
Than any mortal break his word to God.
Your soul is bound for ever.
There is no way to Him except the path
A man’s best moment finds, and you are lost
If you regret your vow—to break from it
Is utterly impossible: a star
Can no more leave the music of its course
Than any mortal break his word to God.
Your soul is bound for ever.
[Enter Carloman and Marcomir with another Cardinal.]
Dearest son,
I greet you with God’s blessing,
[to Marcomir] And on you
Confer the same. How prospers Carloman?
I greet you with God’s blessing,
[to Marcomir] And on you
Confer the same. How prospers Carloman?
CARLOMAN.
Oh, well, dear father.
ZACHARIAS.
He who keeps his knees
Is Rachis, King of Lombardy. He takes
Like you the fearful vow to be a monk.
Is Rachis, King of Lombardy. He takes
Like you the fearful vow to be a monk.
RACHIS.
[to Carloman] Protect me, help me, holy Carloman;
Let me return with you. I am distracted ...
A perjured man God will destroy in hate.
Let me return with you. I am distracted ...
A perjured man God will destroy in hate.
CARLOMAN.
Come with me, come ... but not to make confession,
To tabulate your crimes; come to the cloister,
To solitude, the simple light of God.
You must not dream, because your wickedness
Has waked you to disgust, that you are called.
The trouble is not betwixt God and sin;
Sin does not shut God out, it is the lantern
Flashing across the dark void of the world—
Most penetrative pulses; use the flare
For such poor revelation as it yields.
But this new life ... you must arise and go
Toward it as disencumbered as of old
Abraham went up to Ur, all his possessions
Kept for him in a mystery out of sight.
To dream of them is faith, and to forget
All one has touched and handled, loved or wrought
Of sin or righteousness, the perfect sign
The new man is begotten.
To tabulate your crimes; come to the cloister,
To solitude, the simple light of God.
You must not dream, because your wickedness
Has waked you to disgust, that you are called.
The trouble is not betwixt God and sin;
Sin does not shut God out, it is the lantern
Flashing across the dark void of the world—
Most penetrative pulses; use the flare
For such poor revelation as it yields.
But this new life ... you must arise and go
Toward it as disencumbered as of old
Abraham went up to Ur, all his possessions
Kept for him in a mystery out of sight.
To dream of them is faith, and to forget
All one has touched and handled, loved or wrought
Of sin or righteousness, the perfect sign
The new man is begotten.
RACHIS.
Pray for me,
If you are in God’s favour. Teach me how
To win a better throne than I have lost,
Safe from my brother, a perpetual seat
High in the heavens.
If you are in God’s favour. Teach me how
To win a better throne than I have lost,
Safe from my brother, a perpetual seat
High in the heavens.
CARLOMAN.
[with a ringing laugh] If that is your ambition,
Oh then, how clear it is that you are damned,
Wherever you may lodge!
Oh then, how clear it is that you are damned,
Wherever you may lodge!
RACHIS.
Ha—terrible!
You must not curse me; as the meanest slave
I am content to cringe ...
You must not curse me; as the meanest slave
I am content to cringe ...
CARLOMAN.
RACHIS.
But does that satisfy?
You who have borne the Convent many months—
You who have borne the Convent many months—