Lancéor!... His eyes have opened and closed again and I saw the light
bathe in their blue! And here are his hands, which seem to seek
mine!... Here they are, Lancéor, here they are in your own, which
are no longer frozen!... They dare not leave them, lest they should
lose them; and yet I would support your shoulder and embrace your
neck which droops upon my breast.... Ah, all the good things are
returning and returning together!... I hear his heart beat, I breathe
his breath: they took all away from me, but they have given it all
back!... Listen to me, Lancéor: I want to see you, I am looking for
your face, do not hide your forehead in my hair, which loves you; my
eyes love you still more and want their share too!... (_LANCÉOR lifts
his head a little._) Oh, he has heard me and listened to me!... He is
here, he is here, there is no doubt of it now, he is here, before me,
more living than life!... He is here before me and the roses of dawn
and the flowers of awakening have brought colour to his cheeks and
are covering his smile, for he smiles already as though he saw me!...
Ah, the gods are too good!... They have pity on men!... There are
skies that open! There are gods of love! There are gods of life!...
We must thank them and love one another, since they also love!...
Come, come, come to my arms; your eyes still seek me, but your lips
find me.... They open at last to call to mine; and mine are here,
carrying all love!...
[_A pause; she kisses him long and eagerly._
LANCÉOR.
(_Recovering consciousness._) Joyzelle....
JOYZELLE.
Yes, yes, it is I, it is I; look at me, look!... Here are my hands,
my forehead, my hair, my shoulder.... And here are my kisses, which
yours recognize!...
LANCÉOR.
Yes, it is you, it is indeed you, it is you and the light.... And
then this room, too, which I saw before.... Wait a little.... What
happened to me?... I remember, I remember.... I was lying yonder,
yonder, I know not where, before great doors which some one was
trying to open.... I was buried and was turning cold.... And then I
called to you, I called without ceasing and you did not come....
JOYZELLE.
But I did, I came, I was there, I was there!...
LANCÉOR.
No, you were not there.... I was seized with icy coldness, I was
seized with darkness and I was losing my life.... But now it is
you!... Yes, yes, my eyes see you, they behold you suddenly as they
emerge from the dark.... Scared though they be by the glaring light,
it is you they see and I am passing from the tomb to the joy of the
sunlight in the arms of love! That seems impossible to one coming
from so far!... I must touch you, I must cling to the caresses of
your hands, to the light of your eyes, I must seize the real gold of
the hair that bears witness to the daylight!... Oh, you could never
believe how one loves when dying, nor how I mean to love you after
losing you and finding you again!...
JOYZELLE.
I too, I too!...
LANCÉOR.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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