VIII

Tacita.Alwyn.Ornis.Stark.(Shy.Quercus.)

ALWYNNow, Tacita, shy pagan nymph, appear![Tacitaenters from her shrine of greenery, and pauses before them.]Spirit, unblind this man! Delusions blurInward his sight. He is a murderer,Yet knows not he is such. UnsealThe fountains of his vision, and revealYonder the sister spirit, whom so longHis blind heart strove to wrong—Ornis: Reveal, and let him speak with her![Soft music sounds, various and elusivein its rhythmic themes.TacitaapproachesStark,and weaves about him a dance of revelation, lulling, charming, luring him by the appeal of numberless wing-swayings and bird-dartings, for which the music suggests the song-notes. During her dance,Starkrises, bewildered, and is gradually lured and led by her towardOrnis,before whom—at the consummation of the dance—he stands, staring.]STARK[Rising, speaks to the music.]O twilight—holy dusk—dawn twitterings!How far, how dim and hollowYou darkle over me:Wings, wings! swift wings, shy wings, eternal wings!Where shall I follow?Ah, joy—jubilant melody—And morning! Joy—I follow!I dream, and drink from your immortal springs![Tacitadisappears.StarkbeholdsOrnis.]

ALWYN

Now, Tacita, shy pagan nymph, appear!

[Tacitaenters from her shrine of greenery, and pauses before them.]

Spirit, unblind this man! Delusions blurInward his sight. He is a murderer,Yet knows not he is such. UnsealThe fountains of his vision, and revealYonder the sister spirit, whom so longHis blind heart strove to wrong—Ornis: Reveal, and let him speak with her!

Spirit, unblind this man! Delusions blur

Inward his sight. He is a murderer,

Yet knows not he is such. Unseal

The fountains of his vision, and reveal

Yonder the sister spirit, whom so long

His blind heart strove to wrong—

Ornis: Reveal, and let him speak with her!

[Soft music sounds, various and elusivein its rhythmic themes.TacitaapproachesStark,and weaves about him a dance of revelation, lulling, charming, luring him by the appeal of numberless wing-swayings and bird-dartings, for which the music suggests the song-notes. During her dance,Starkrises, bewildered, and is gradually lured and led by her towardOrnis,before whom—at the consummation of the dance—he stands, staring.]

STARK

[Rising, speaks to the music.]

O twilight—holy dusk—dawn twitterings!How far, how dim and hollowYou darkle over me:Wings, wings! swift wings, shy wings, eternal wings!Where shall I follow?Ah, joy—jubilant melody—And morning! Joy—I follow!I dream, and drink from your immortal springs!

O twilight—holy dusk—dawn twitterings!

How far, how dim and hollow

You darkle over me:

Wings, wings! swift wings, shy wings, eternal wings!

Where shall I follow?

Ah, joy—jubilant melody—

And morning! Joy—I follow!

I dream, and drink from your immortal springs!

[Tacitadisappears.StarkbeholdsOrnis.]

Stark.Ornis.(Alwyn.Quercus.Shy.)

STARKWWhatareyou?ORNIS[Appealing with half-fearful affection.]Brother!—brother!STARK[With sudden cry and gesture.]Ha, my net!The shy bird shall be captured ’live![From his shoulder he looses the net, and flings it overOrnis,seizing the meshes.]Now, Joy,I hold you fast!ORNIS[Struggling.]Ee-ó-lee-o!SHY[Extricating her.]Not yet!ALWYN[SeizingStark.]Untamed, and still unshamed! Will you destroyThe wings that raise you? Sister, speak to him!ORNISMy brothers—all of you! Oh, wage not warBecause of me. I fear not. Stark, you dimThe brightness of our union, greeting soYour sister.STARK[Dropping his net.]Sister?ORNISHunt no moreWith lime and net: Your love shall hold me faster;For I am Ornis.STARK[Fascinated.]Ornis!ORNISDear my master!Do you not know me? I am sheWhom first, beneath the dark, ancestral tree,You rose upon your feet to hearken to.By me you grewTo song and freedom. Round your olden feastsYou watched my circling flights, whereby your priestsProclaimed their omens and their oracles;My cranes announced your victories, my storksFed your hearth-fires, my silver-throated gullsAnd golden hawksSaved many your sea-towns from sore pestilence;And my sweet night bird tuned your poets’ shellsTo lull sad lovers in languorous asphodels;Yet all my influenceShone dimmer than my beauty: my bright plumesLured you to squander them, till, in the fumesOf greed, your heart forgot to cherish me,And sold me unto death and slavery.—Yet, master, as you will:Lo, I am Ornis, and I love you still!STARK[With altered tone of yearning.]Yet—yet it seems I never heard your voiceTill now; nor ever understoodTill now; nor paused, as now in this still wood,To tremble and rejoiceAt greeting you, my sister. I am stunned,And wait to comprehend this wonder.ORNISAh,You never prayed before to Tacita!Your feet have shunnedHer gracious paths, yet only sheCan lead and show my brother Man to me.

STARK

WWhatareyou?

ORNIS

[Appealing with half-fearful affection.]

Brother!—brother!

STARK

[With sudden cry and gesture.]

Ha, my net!The shy bird shall be captured ’live!

Ha, my net!

The shy bird shall be captured ’live!

[From his shoulder he looses the net, and flings it overOrnis,seizing the meshes.]

Now, Joy,I hold you fast!

Now, Joy,

I hold you fast!

ORNIS

[Struggling.]

Ee-ó-lee-o!

SHY

[Extricating her.]

Not yet!

ALWYN

[SeizingStark.]

Untamed, and still unshamed! Will you destroyThe wings that raise you? Sister, speak to him!

Untamed, and still unshamed! Will you destroy

The wings that raise you? Sister, speak to him!

ORNIS

My brothers—all of you! Oh, wage not warBecause of me. I fear not. Stark, you dimThe brightness of our union, greeting soYour sister.

My brothers—all of you! Oh, wage not war

Because of me. I fear not. Stark, you dim

The brightness of our union, greeting so

Your sister.

STARK

[Dropping his net.]

Sister?

ORNIS

Hunt no moreWith lime and net: Your love shall hold me faster;For I am Ornis.

Hunt no more

With lime and net: Your love shall hold me faster;

For I am Ornis.

STARK

[Fascinated.]

Ornis!

ORNIS

Dear my master!Do you not know me? I am sheWhom first, beneath the dark, ancestral tree,You rose upon your feet to hearken to.By me you grewTo song and freedom. Round your olden feastsYou watched my circling flights, whereby your priestsProclaimed their omens and their oracles;My cranes announced your victories, my storksFed your hearth-fires, my silver-throated gullsAnd golden hawksSaved many your sea-towns from sore pestilence;And my sweet night bird tuned your poets’ shellsTo lull sad lovers in languorous asphodels;Yet all my influenceShone dimmer than my beauty: my bright plumesLured you to squander them, till, in the fumesOf greed, your heart forgot to cherish me,And sold me unto death and slavery.—Yet, master, as you will:Lo, I am Ornis, and I love you still!

Dear my master!

Do you not know me? I am she

Whom first, beneath the dark, ancestral tree,

You rose upon your feet to hearken to.

By me you grew

To song and freedom. Round your olden feasts

You watched my circling flights, whereby your priests

Proclaimed their omens and their oracles;

My cranes announced your victories, my storks

Fed your hearth-fires, my silver-throated gulls

And golden hawks

Saved many your sea-towns from sore pestilence;

And my sweet night bird tuned your poets’ shells

To lull sad lovers in languorous asphodels;

Yet all my influence

Shone dimmer than my beauty: my bright plumes

Lured you to squander them, till, in the fumes

Of greed, your heart forgot to cherish me,

And sold me unto death and slavery.—

Yet, master, as you will:

Lo, I am Ornis, and I love you still!

STARK

[With altered tone of yearning.]

Yet—yet it seems I never heard your voiceTill now; nor ever understoodTill now; nor paused, as now in this still wood,To tremble and rejoiceAt greeting you, my sister. I am stunned,And wait to comprehend this wonder.

Yet—yet it seems I never heard your voice

Till now; nor ever understood

Till now; nor paused, as now in this still wood,

To tremble and rejoice

At greeting you, my sister. I am stunned,

And wait to comprehend this wonder.

ORNIS

Ah,You never prayed before to Tacita!Your feet have shunnedHer gracious paths, yet only sheCan lead and show my brother Man to me.

Ah,

You never prayed before to Tacita!

Your feet have shunned

Her gracious paths, yet only she

Can lead and show my brother Man to me.

“Lo, I am Ornis, and I love you still!”

STARK[Glancing at his gun.]Why, then,—why have I brought this instrumentOf murder here? What black intentClouded my mind with blood?[Flinging it from him.]Out of my hands!—My sister, can it beThat still you soar above my sanguine floodOf passion, and forgive? Though yet I kill,Oh, is it true indeed—you love me still?ORNISHa, put me to the test!Show me the field that breeds your harvest pestOf chinch or weevil,Where all the blossoms wither with strange evil,Or where, in filmy tents,The hairy creepers gorge in regimentsYour budding apple boughs;Show your ancestral elmsGaunt limbed with leprosy, which overwhelmsTheir green old age in death;Or those swift locust clouds, whose breathBlasts the ripe loveliness of Spring;Show these, and moreThan these, and cry onOrnis! She shall bring—From hill and shoreAnd plain—her wingèd flocks and warbling broods,And swinge away their deadly multitudes.—Ifservicebe true love, I love you, brother.ALWYN[Drawing near.]And for her sake, sowewill love each other.[He takesStark’sright hand.]SHY[Taking his left.]A greenwood partnership!STARK[Pressing their hands.]Thanks!SHY[Whispering to the faun.]Quercus, run!QUERCUSI skip,I gambol, master. Ha!I have a tale to tell to Tacita![He leaps away.]ORNIS[AsStarktears off his headdress of plumes.]And those—?STARKFor these my heart shall build a fireHere at this shrine:[He hangs the headdress on a tree.]And here, as on a pyre,I place them, with this pouch, which hidesThe victims of my blind desire.There, at sad cost,I let them tell my pain—the votive partOf one long lost,Who now has found himself in nature’s heart.—Ornis, my trail divides:There lie the ashes of the thing I was.Henceforth, I walk with you—[Turning toAlwynandShy.]and these.ALWYNA compact, then, we three: that when we goForth from these gracious treesInto the world, we go as witnessesBefore the men who make our country’s laws,And by our witness showIn burning wordsThe meaning of these sylvan mysteries:Freedom and sanctuary for the birds!Say, is our compact sworn?STARKI swear.SHYAnd I.[EnterQuercusandTacita.]

STARK

[Glancing at his gun.]

Why, then,—why have I brought this instrumentOf murder here? What black intentClouded my mind with blood?

Why, then,—why have I brought this instrument

Of murder here? What black intent

Clouded my mind with blood?

[Flinging it from him.]

Out of my hands!—My sister, can it beThat still you soar above my sanguine floodOf passion, and forgive? Though yet I kill,Oh, is it true indeed—you love me still?

Out of my hands!—My sister, can it be

That still you soar above my sanguine flood

Of passion, and forgive? Though yet I kill,

Oh, is it true indeed—you love me still?

ORNIS

Ha, put me to the test!Show me the field that breeds your harvest pestOf chinch or weevil,Where all the blossoms wither with strange evil,Or where, in filmy tents,The hairy creepers gorge in regimentsYour budding apple boughs;Show your ancestral elmsGaunt limbed with leprosy, which overwhelmsTheir green old age in death;Or those swift locust clouds, whose breathBlasts the ripe loveliness of Spring;Show these, and moreThan these, and cry onOrnis! She shall bring—From hill and shoreAnd plain—her wingèd flocks and warbling broods,And swinge away their deadly multitudes.—Ifservicebe true love, I love you, brother.

Ha, put me to the test!

Show me the field that breeds your harvest pest

Of chinch or weevil,

Where all the blossoms wither with strange evil,

Or where, in filmy tents,

The hairy creepers gorge in regiments

Your budding apple boughs;

Show your ancestral elms

Gaunt limbed with leprosy, which overwhelms

Their green old age in death;

Or those swift locust clouds, whose breath

Blasts the ripe loveliness of Spring;

Show these, and more

Than these, and cry onOrnis! She shall bring—

From hill and shore

And plain—her wingèd flocks and warbling broods,

And swinge away their deadly multitudes.—

Ifservicebe true love, I love you, brother.

ALWYN

[Drawing near.]

And for her sake, sowewill love each other.

[He takesStark’sright hand.]

SHY

[Taking his left.]

A greenwood partnership!

STARK

[Pressing their hands.]

Thanks!

SHY

[Whispering to the faun.]

Quercus, run!

QUERCUS

I skip,I gambol, master. Ha!I have a tale to tell to Tacita!

I skip,

I gambol, master. Ha!

I have a tale to tell to Tacita!

[He leaps away.]

ORNIS

[AsStarktears off his headdress of plumes.]

And those—?

STARK

For these my heart shall build a fireHere at this shrine:

For these my heart shall build a fire

Here at this shrine:

[He hangs the headdress on a tree.]

And here, as on a pyre,I place them, with this pouch, which hidesThe victims of my blind desire.There, at sad cost,I let them tell my pain—the votive partOf one long lost,Who now has found himself in nature’s heart.—Ornis, my trail divides:There lie the ashes of the thing I was.Henceforth, I walk with you—

And here, as on a pyre,

I place them, with this pouch, which hides

The victims of my blind desire.

There, at sad cost,

I let them tell my pain—the votive part

Of one long lost,

Who now has found himself in nature’s heart.—

Ornis, my trail divides:

There lie the ashes of the thing I was.

Henceforth, I walk with you—

[Turning toAlwynandShy.]

and these.

ALWYN

A compact, then, we three: that when we goForth from these gracious treesInto the world, we go as witnessesBefore the men who make our country’s laws,And by our witness showIn burning wordsThe meaning of these sylvan mysteries:Freedom and sanctuary for the birds!Say, is our compact sworn?

A compact, then, we three: that when we go

Forth from these gracious trees

Into the world, we go as witnesses

Before the men who make our country’s laws,

And by our witness show

In burning words

The meaning of these sylvan mysteries:

Freedom and sanctuary for the birds!

Say, is our compact sworn?

STARK

I swear.

SHY

And I.

[EnterQuercusandTacita.]

Tacita.Quercus.Stark.Ornis.Shy.Alwyn.

STARK[ToOrnis.]LLook, sister: friends are coming.Now lead us to their shrine close by.ORNISOh, first let all make joy of this our union!For now my glad heart, like a partridge drumming,Calls for my mates to join us, all together,In frolicsome communion.Ho, Quercus, Quercus, call them!—Tacita,Summon them with your fairy feet!QUERCUS[Bounding forward.]Holá!ALWYN[Taking from his pouchQuercus’pipe.]Call loud and long!Here’s our old pipe, to carry a new song.[Alwynputs the pipe to his lips, whileQuercussings to it, calling to the birds. At the end,Quercusbegs in pantomime for the pipe whichAlwyn,smiling, restores to him.]QUERCUSCome here, come here, you little comrades coy,From hill and swamp and heather:Make joy, make joyTogether!—Tawny beak and scarlet vest,Slant wing and sleek feather,Bulging bill and cocking crest,Hither!Tumble out of nest,Topple out of windy weatherHere, holá!With preenings quaint,Purple dyes and crimson paint,Here, holá, in merry state!Up from dew-grass, down from aerie,Tacita—TacitaSummons you to dedicateHere her sanctuary![WhileQuercuscalls, from all sides Birds of many species and colors—likeOrnishuman in form—gather, and peer from the edges of the scene. To theseTacitanow beckons, and by her gesture summons to her dance, whileQuercusplays joyously on his pipe.]ORNISBird and faun and man and fairy,Gather now to sanctuary![Tacitafirst dances alone, then withQuercus;then, inviting and leading them all in pied procession, she marshals all away into her woodland shrine.]

STARK

[ToOrnis.]

LLook, sister: friends are coming.Now lead us to their shrine close by.

LLook, sister: friends are coming.

Now lead us to their shrine close by.

ORNIS

Oh, first let all make joy of this our union!For now my glad heart, like a partridge drumming,Calls for my mates to join us, all together,In frolicsome communion.Ho, Quercus, Quercus, call them!—Tacita,Summon them with your fairy feet!

Oh, first let all make joy of this our union!

For now my glad heart, like a partridge drumming,

Calls for my mates to join us, all together,

In frolicsome communion.

Ho, Quercus, Quercus, call them!—Tacita,

Summon them with your fairy feet!

QUERCUS

[Bounding forward.]

Holá!

ALWYN

[Taking from his pouchQuercus’pipe.]

Call loud and long!Here’s our old pipe, to carry a new song.

Call loud and long!

Here’s our old pipe, to carry a new song.

[Alwynputs the pipe to his lips, whileQuercussings to it, calling to the birds. At the end,Quercusbegs in pantomime for the pipe whichAlwyn,smiling, restores to him.]

QUERCUS

Come here, come here, you little comrades coy,From hill and swamp and heather:Make joy, make joyTogether!—Tawny beak and scarlet vest,Slant wing and sleek feather,Bulging bill and cocking crest,Hither!Tumble out of nest,Topple out of windy weatherHere, holá!With preenings quaint,Purple dyes and crimson paint,Here, holá, in merry state!Up from dew-grass, down from aerie,Tacita—TacitaSummons you to dedicateHere her sanctuary!

Come here, come here, you little comrades coy,

From hill and swamp and heather:

Make joy, make joy

Together!—

Tawny beak and scarlet vest,

Slant wing and sleek feather,

Bulging bill and cocking crest,

Hither!

Tumble out of nest,

Topple out of windy weather

Here, holá!

With preenings quaint,

Purple dyes and crimson paint,

Here, holá, in merry state!

Up from dew-grass, down from aerie,

Tacita—Tacita

Summons you to dedicate

Here her sanctuary!

[WhileQuercuscalls, from all sides Birds of many species and colors—likeOrnishuman in form—gather, and peer from the edges of the scene. To theseTacitanow beckons, and by her gesture summons to her dance, whileQuercusplays joyously on his pipe.]

ORNIS

Bird and faun and man and fairy,Gather now to sanctuary!

Bird and faun and man and fairy,

Gather now to sanctuary!

[Tacitafirst dances alone, then withQuercus;then, inviting and leading them all in pied procession, she marshals all away into her woodland shrine.]

FINIS

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