cross indeed! Becket. The mitre ! John of Salisbury. Will you wear it? there! [Becket puts on the mitre. Becket. The pall! I go to meet my King! [Puts on the pall. with such a stateliness? Can you not hear them yonder like a storm, Battering the doors, and breaking thro' the walls? Becket. Why do the heathen rage? My two good friends, What matters murder'd here, or murder'd there ? 340 And yet my dream foretold my martyrdom In mine own church. It is God's will. Go on. Nay, drag me not. We must not seem to fly. SCENE III NORTH TRANSEPT OF CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL On the right hand a flight of steps leading to the Choir, another flight on the left, leading to the North Aisle. Winter afternoon slowly darkening. Low thunder now and then of an approaching storm. MONKS heard chanting the service. ROSAMUND kneeling. Rosamund. O blessed saint, O glorious Benedict, These arm'd men in the city, these fierce faces Thy holy follower founded Canterbury Save that dear head which now is Canterbury, Save him, he saved my life, he saved my child, Save him, his blood would darken Henry's name; Not yet, thank heaven. O, save him! [Goes up steps leading to choir. Becket (entering, forced along by John of Salisbury and Grim). No, I tell you! I cannot bear a hand upon my person; Why do you force me thus against my will? Grim. My lord, we force you from your enemies. Becket. As you would force a king from being crown'd. John of Salisbury. We must not force the crown of martyrdom. [Service stops. Monks come down from the stairs that lead to the choir. Monks. Here is the great archbishop! He lives! he lives! Die with him, and be glorified together. Becket. Together? get you back! go on with the office. 19 Monks. Come, then, with us to vespers. When you so block the entry? Back, I ! say Go on with the office. Shall not Heaven Knock, and it shall be open'd. Are you deaf? What, have I lost authority among you? Stand by, make way! [Opens the doors. Enter Monks from cloister. Come in, my friends, come in! Nay, faster, faster! Monks. O, my lord archbishop, A score of knights all arm'd with swords and axes To the choir, to the choir! [Monks divide, part flying by the stairs on the right, part by those on the left. The rush of these last bears Becket along with them some way up the steps, where he is left standing alone. Becket. Shall I too pass to the choir, And die upon the patriarchal throne Of all my predecessors? 40 John of Salisbury. No, to the crypt! Twenty steps down. Stumble not in the darkness, Lest they should seize thee. To the crypt? no- no, To the chapel of Saint Blaise beneath the roof! John of Salisbury (pointing upward and downward). That way or this! Save thyself either way. Becket. O, no, not either way, nor any [Descending into the transept. I am he ye seek. What would ye have of me? Fitzurse. De Tracy. Your life. Your life. De Morville. Save that you will absolve the bishops. Becket. Never, Except they make submission to the Down! [Throws him headlong. Fitzurse (advances with drawn sword). I told thee that I should remember thee ! Becket. Profligate pander! Fitzurse. Do you hear that? strike, strike. [Strikes off the Archbishop's mitre, and wounds him in the forehead. Becket (covers his eyes with his hand). I do commend my cause to God, the Virgin, Saint Denis of France and Saint Alphege of England, And all the tutelar Saints of Canterbury. [Grim wraps his arms about the Archbishop. Spare this defence, dear brother. [Tracy has arisen, and approaches, hesitatingly, with his sword raised. Fitzurse. Strike him, Tracy! Rosamund (rushing down steps from the choir). No, no, no, no! Fitzurse. This wanton here. De Morville, Grim. I can no more die Conqueror. Mine arm is sever'd. -fight out the good fight [Staggers into the chapel of Saint Benedict. Becket (falling on his knees). At the right hand of Power Power and great glory for thy Church, O Lord This play was produced by Mr. and Mrs. Kendal at the St. James Theatre in December, 1879, and had a run of sixty-seven nights. It was published with 'The Cup' in 1884. The story, which the poet took from Boccaccio (Decameron,' 5th Day, 9th tale), has been traced to the Sanskrit Panchatantra.' La Fontaine gives it in his Contes et Nouvelles' (Le Faucon '), and Longfellow in his Tales of a Wayside Inn' ('The Falcon of Ser Federigo '). It was also dramatized by Delisle de la Drévetière as a three-act comedy. 1 Filippo. Ah, the women, the women! Ah, Monna Giovanna, you here again! you that have the face of an angel and the heart of a that's too positive! You that have a score of lovers and have not a heart for any of them- that's positive-negative: you that have not the head of a toad, and not a heart like the jewel in it that's too negative; you that have a cheek like a peach and a heart like the stone in it. that 's positive again that 's better! Elisabetta. Sh- sh Filippo! Filippo (turns half round). Here has our master been a-glorifying and a-velveting 58 |