Chastelard, Pierre de Bocosel de, 1540-1562 -- Drama; Mary, Queen of Scots, 1542-1587 -- Drama; Tragedies (Drama)
Produced by Tony Adam
_Chastelard, a tragedy_.
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Boston: E.P. Dutton, 1866.
(author's edition)
PERSONS.
MARY STUART.
MARY BEATON.
MARY SEYTON.
MARY CARMICHAEL.
MARY HAMILTON.
PIERRE DE BOSCOSEL DE CHASTELARD.
DARNLEY.
MURRAY.
RANDOLPH.
MORTON.
LINDSAY.
FATHER BLACK.
Guards, Burgesses, a Preacher, Citizens, &c.
Another Yle is there toward the Northe, in the See Occean,
where that ben fulle cruele and ful evele Wommen of Nature:
and thei han precious Stones in hire Eyen; and their ben of
that kynde, that zif they beholden ony man, thei slen him anon
with the beholdynge, as dothe the Basilisk.
MAUNDEVILE'S Voiage and Travaile, Ch. xxviii.
I DEDICATE THIS PLAY,
AS A PARTIAL EXPRESSION OF REVERENCE
AND GRATITUDE,
TO THE CHIEF OF LIVING POETS;
TO THE FIRST DRAMATIST OF HIS AGE;
TO THE GREATEST EXILE, AND THEREFORE
TO THE GREATEST MAN OF FRANCE;
TO
VICTOR HUGO.
ACT I.
MARY BEATON.
SCENE I.--The Upper Chamber in Holyrood.
The four MARIES.
MARY BEATON (sings):--
1.
Le navire
Est a l'eau;
Entends rire
Ce gros flot
Que fait luire
Et bruire
Le vieux sire
Aquilo.
2.
Dans l'espace
Du grand air
Le vent passe
Comme un fer;
Siffle et sonne,
Tombe et tonne,
Prend et donne
A la mer.
3.
Vois, la brise
Tourne au nord,
Et la bise
Souffle et mord
Sur ta pure
Chevelure
Qui murmure
Et se tord.
MARY HAMILTON.
You never sing now but it makes you sad;
Why do you sing?
MARY BEATON.
I hardly know well why;
It makes me sad to sing, and very sad
To hold my peace.
MARY CARMICHAEL.
I know what saddens you.
MARY BEATON.
Prithee, what? what?
MARY CARMICHAEL.
Why, since we came from France,
You have no lover to make stuff for songs.
MARY BEATON.
You are wise; for there my pain begins indeed,
Because I have no lovers out of France.
MARY SEYTON.
I mind me of one Olivier de Pesme,
(You knew him, sweet,) a pale man with short hair,
Wore tied at sleeve the Beaton color.
MARY CARMICHAEL.
Blue--
I know, blue scarfs. I never liked that knight.
MARY HAMILTON.
Me? I know him? I hardly knew his name.
Black, was his hair? no, brown.
MARY SEYTON.
Light pleases you:
I have seen the time brown served you well enough.
MARY CARMICHAEL.
Lord Darnley's is a mere maid's yellow.
MARY HAMILTON.
No,
A man's, good color.
MARY SEYTON.
Ah, does that burn your blood?
Why, what a bitter color is this read
That fills your face! if you be not in love,
I am no maiden.
MARY HAMILTON.
Nay, God help true hearts!
I must be stabbed with love then, to the bone,
Yea to the spirit, past cure.
MARY SEYTON.
What were you saying?
I see some jest run up and down your lips.
MARY CARMICHAEL.
Finish your song; I know you have more of it;
Good sweet, I pray you do.
MARY BEATON.
I am too sad.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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