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 A NIGHT IN 
 AVIGNON 
 
 E rOVNG RICE 
 
 r 
 
A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 
 
A Night in Avignon 
 
 BY 
 
 CALE YOUNG RICE 
 
 Author of "Charles Di Tocca," "David, 
 "Plays and Lyrics," etc. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY 
 
 MCMXIII 
 
Copyright, iqoj, by 
 CALE YOUNG RICE 
 
 Published, March, 1907 
 
 

 TO 
 DONALD ROBERTSON 
 
 324919 
 
A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 
 
Francesco Petrarca 
 
 Gherardo 
 
 Lello 
 
 Orso . . 
 
 Filippa 
 
 Sancia 
 
 Madonna Laura 
 
 CHARACTERS 
 
 A Young Poet and Scholar 
 His Brother, a Monk 
 His Friend 
 His Servant 
 
 ' I Ladies of light life in Avig' 
 ( non 
 
A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 
 
 Scene : A room in the chambers of Petrarca at 
 Avignon. It opens on a loggia overlook- 
 ing, on higher ground, the spired church 
 o] Santa Clara and the gray cloisters of 
 a Carthusian monastery. Beyond lie the 
 city walls under glamour of the blue Pro- 
 vencal night. 
 
 The room, faintly frescoed, is lighted 
 with many candles; some glittering on a 
 wine-table heavy with wines toward the 
 right front. A door on the left leads to 
 
 other rooms, and an arrased one opposite, 
 3 
 
4 A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 
 
 down to the street. Bookshelves and a 
 writing-desk strewn with a lute and writ- 
 ings are also on the lejt; a crimson couch is 
 in the centre; and garlands oj myrtle and 
 laurel deck the wine-table. 
 
 Gherardo, the monk f is seated by the 
 desk, following with severe looks the steps 
 oj Petrarca, who is walking feverishly to 
 and fro. 
 
 Gherardo (after a pause). Listen. Another 
 word, Francesco. 
 
 Petrarca. Aih ! 
 
 And then another — that will breed another. 
 
 Gherardo. Dote on this Laura still — if still 
 you must: 
 Woman's your destiny. 
 
A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 5 
 
 But quench these lights and set away that 
 wine. 
 Petrarca. And to no other lips turn? hers 
 denied me? 
 Never, Gherardo! 
 Gherardo. Virtue bids you. 
 
 Petrarca. Vainly! 
 
 I've borne until I will not . . . For it is 
 Two years now since in the aisles 
 Of Santa Clara yonder my heart first 
 Went from me on mad wings. 
 Two years this April morning 
 Since it fell fluttering before her feet . . . 
 As she stood there beside our blessed Lady, 
 Gowned as young Spring in green and 
 violets! . . . 
 
6 A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 
 
 Gherardo. And these two years have been 
 inviolate; 
 
 Your life as pure as hers, 
 
 As virgin — 
 
 Save for the songs you've sung to her; 
 those songs 
 
 This idle city echoes with. But now 
 
 Petrarca. Now I will open all the gates to 
 Pleasure ! 
 
 To rosy Pleasure — warm, unspiritual, 
 
 Ready to spring 
 
 Into the arms of all 
 
 Whom bloodless Virtue pales. 
 
 For, of restraint and hoping, I have drunk 
 
 But a vintage of tears! 
 
 And what has been my gain? 
 
A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 7 
 
 Gherardo. Her chastity. 
 
 Pelrarca. A chastity unchallenged of desire — 
 
 And therefore none! 
 
 Aih, none! 
 
 For, were it other; 
 
 Could I aver that once, that ever once 
 
 Her lids had fallen low in fear of love, 
 
 I'd bid the desert of my heart burn dry — 
 
 To the last oasis — 
 
 With resignation! 
 
 But never have they, never! and I'm mad. 
 (Pours out wine.) 
 Gherardo. And you will seek to cure it with 
 more madness? 
 
 To cast the devil of love out of your veins 
 
 With other love and lower! 
 
8 A NIGHT W AVIGNON 
 
 Petrarca. Yes, yes, yes! {drinks.) 
 
 With little Sancia's! 
 
 Whose soul is a sweet sin! 
 
 Who lives but for this life and asks of 
 Death 
 
 Only a breath of time before he ends it, 
 
 To tell three beads and fill her mouth with 
 aves. 
 
 Just for enough, she says, 
 
 "To tell God that He made me"- as He 
 did. 
 Gherardo. And to blaspheme with! O ob- 
 sessed man. 
 
 (Has risen, flushed.) 
 
 But you will fail! For this vain revelry 
 
 Will ease not. And I see all love is base — 
 
A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 9 
 
 As say the Fathers — 
 All! . . . and the body of woman 
 Is vile from the beginning. 
 Petrarca. Monkish lies! 
 
 (Drinks again jor courage.) 
 The body of woman's born of bliss and 
 
 beauty. 
 Only one thing is fairer — that's her soul. 
 Gherardo. And is that Word which says thou 
 shalt not look 
 Upon another's wife a monkish lie? 
 
 (Silence.) 
 Your Laura is another's. 
 Petrarca (torn). As I found! 
 
 After my heart became a poison flame — 
 Within me! 
 
A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 
 
 A fierce inquisitor against my peace! 
 
 After I followed her from Santa Clara, 
 
 That mass-hour, 
 
 To an escutcheoned door! 
 
 After and not before . . . And such an- 
 other's ! 
 
 Ugo di Sade's! 
 
 A beast whose sullen mind two thoughts 
 would drain; 
 
 Whose breath is a poltroon's; 
 
 Who is unkind. . . . I've seen her weep; 
 who loves 
 
 Her not. . . . And yet the fane of song I 
 frame her, 
 
 The love I burn on it, she laughs away. 
 
 To hide her own? . . . I will not so believe. 
 
A NIGHT IN AVIGNON n 
 
 Gherardo. Nor should you. 
 
 Petrarca. Yet you bid me quarry still 
 
 The deeps of me to shrine her? 
 
 And be Avignon's laughter? 
 
 A mock, a titter on the tongue of geese 
 
 That gad the city gates? 
 
 A type of fools that sigh while others kiss? 
 
 "Francesco Petrarca! 
 
 Who never clasped his mistress — but in a 
 sonnet ! 
 
 Who fills empty canzone with his passion — 
 
 But never her ears ! 
 
 Never! — though she was wed against her 
 will 
 
 To an unlettered boor out bartering — 
 
 One whom she well could leave!" . . . 
 
12 A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 
 
 I'll not, Gherardo ! . . . Sonnets? 
 
 (Tears several from desk.) 
 Vain, all! . . . 
 
 (Casts them away.) 
 But Lello comes! and brings me Sancia! 
 Filippa! merry Filippa and Sancia! 
 We'll drink! — wine of Rocella! 
 Wine of the Rhine ! Bielna! San Porciano! — 
 And kiss! 
 
 (Throws back his head.) 
 Kiss with the lips of life and not of . . . 
 (A knell has begun to beat jrom the church 
 without. He hears it, and, awed, 
 sinks, crossing himself, to the couch.) 
 (Gherardo, exalted, shudders.) 
 Gherardo. It is the knell of Matteo Banista, 
 
A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 13 
 
 Whose soul is gone for its licentious days 
 Upon steep purgatory. 
 
 (Prepares to go.) 
 
 Your sin be on you . . . and it will. 
 
 Petrarca (jearjul). No! ... no! 
 
 (Starts up.) 
 
 But hear, Gherardo, hear! 
 
 (His words come stifled.) 
 There in the cloister have you peace — in 
 
 prayer? 
 In visions — penances? . . . 
 Swear that you have! swear to me! once! 
 
 . . . but once! 
 And I ...!.. . 
 No, never! . . . never! 
 
 (He wipes his brow.) 
 
A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 
 While we are in the world the world's in us. 
 The Holy Church I own — 
 Confess her Heaven's queen; 
 But we are flesh and all things that are fair 
 God made us to enjoy — 
 Or, high in Paradise, we'll know but 
 
 sorrow. 
 You though would ban earth's beauty, 
 Even the torch of Glory 
 That kindled Italy once and led great 
 
 Greece — 
 The torch of Plato, Homer, Virgil, all 
 The sacred bards and sages, pagan-born! 
 I love them! they are divine! 
 And so to-night ...!... 
 (Voices.) 
 
A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 
 Thev! it is Lello! Lello! Sancia !- 
 
 (Hears a lute and laughter below, then a 
 call, "Sing, Sancia"; then Sancia 
 singing:) 
 To the maids of Saint Remy 
 
 All the gallants go for pleasure; 
 To the maids of Saint Remy — 
 
 Tripping to love's measure! 
 To the dames of Avignon 
 
 All the masters go for wiving; 
 To the dames of Avignon — 
 
 That shall be their shriving! 
 (He goes to the Loggia as they gayly ap- 
 plaud. Then Lello cries:) 
 Lello. Ho-ho! Petrarca! Pagan! are you 
 in? 
 
16 A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 
 
 What! are you sonnet-monger? 
 Petrarca. Ai, ai, aih! 
 
 (Motions Gherardo — who goes.) 
 Lello. Come then! Your door is locked! 
 down! let us in! 
 
 {Rattles it.) 
 Petrarca. No, ribald! hold! the key is on the 
 sill! 
 Look for it and ascend ! 
 
 (Orso enters.) 
 Stay, here is Orso! 
 
 (The old servant goes through and down 
 
 the stairs to meet them. In a moment 
 
 the tramp oj jeet is heard and they 
 
 enter — Lello between them — singing:) 
 
 Guelph! Guelph! and Ghibbeline! 
 
A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 17 
 
 Ehyo! ninni! onni! onz! 
 I went fishing on All Saints' Day 
 And — caught but human bones! 
 
 I went fishing on All Saints' Day. 
 The Rhone ran swift, the wind blew black! 
 I went fishing on All Saints' Day — 
 But my love called me back! 
 
 She called me back and she kissed my 
 
 lips — 
 Oh, my lips! Oh, onni! onz! 
 "Better take life than death," said she, 
 Better take love than— bones! bones! 
 
 (Sancia kisses Petrarca.) 
 Better take love than bones." 
 
18 A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 
 
 (They scatter with glee and Petrarca seizes 
 
 Sancia to him.) 
 Petrarca. Yes, little Sancia! and you, my 
 friends ! 
 Warm love is better, better! 
 And braver! Come, Lello! give me your 
 
 hand! 
 
 And you, Filippa ! No, I'll have your lips ! 
 
 Sancia (interposing). Or — less? One at a 
 
 time, Messer Petrarca! 
 
 You learn too fast. Mine only for to-night. 
 
 Petrarca. And for a thousand nights, Sancia 
 
 fair! 
 Sancia. You hear him? Santa Madonna! 
 pour us wine, 
 To pledge him in! 
 
A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 19 
 
 Petrarca. The tankards bubble o'er! 
 
 (They go to the table.) 
 And see, they are wreathed of April, 
 With loving myrtle and laurel intertwined. 
 We'll hold symposium, as bacchanals! 
 Sancia. And that is — what? some dull and 
 silly show 
 Out of your sallow books? 
 Petrarca. Those books were writ 
 
 With ink of the gods, my Sancia, upon 
 Papyri of the stars ! 
 Sancia. And — long ago? 
 
 Ha! long ago? 
 Petrarca. Returnless centuries! 
 
 Sancia (contemptuously). Who loves the past, 
 loves mummies and their dust — 
 
20 A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 
 
 And he will mould! 
 
 Who loves the future loves what may not be, 
 And feeds on fear. 
 Only one flower has Time — its name is 
 
 Now! 
 Come, pluck it! pluck it! 
 Lello. Brava, maid! the Now! 
 
 Sancia {dancing). Come, pluck it! pluck it! 
 Petrarca. By my soul, I will! 
 
 (Seizes her again.) 
 It grows upon these lips — and if to-night 
 They leant out over the brink of Hell, I 
 would. 
 
 (She breaks from him.) 
 Filippa. Enough! the wine! the wine! 
 Sancia. O ever-thirsty 
 
A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 21 
 
 And ever- thrifty Pippa! Well, pour out! 
 
 (She lifts a brimming cup.) 
 We'll drink to Messer Petrarca — 
 Who's weary of his bed-mate, Solitude. 
 May he long revel in the courts of Venus ! 
 
 All (drinking). Aih, long! 
 
 Petrarca. As long as Sancia enchants them! 
 
 Filippa. I'd trust him not, Sancia. Put him 
 to oath. 
 
 Sancia. And, to the rack, if faithless? This 
 Filippa! 
 Messer Petrarca, should she not be made 
 High Jurisconsult to our lord, the Devil, 
 Whose breath of life is oaths? . . . 
 But, swear it! ... by the Saints! 
 Who were great sinners all! 
 
22 A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 
 
 And by the bones of every monk or nun 
 Who ever darkened the world ! 
 Lello. Or ever shall! 
 
 {A pause.) 
 Petrarca. I'll swear your eyes are singing 
 Under the shadow of your hair, mad Sancia, 
 Like nightingales in the wood. 
 Sancia. Pah! Messer Poet . . . 
 
 Such words as those you vent without an 
 
 end — 
 To the Lady Laura! 
 Petrarca. Stop! 
 
 {Grows pale.) 
 Not her name — here! 
 
 {All have sat dawn; he rises.) 
 Sancia. O-ho ! this air will soil it ? and it might 
 
A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 23 
 
 Not sound so sweet in sonnets ever after? 
 
 (To the rest — rising:) 
 Shall we depart, that he may still indite 
 
 them? 
 *To Laura — On the Vanity of Pas- 
 sion"? 
 "To Laura— Unrelenting"? 
 "To Laura — Whose Departing Darkens 
 the Sky"? 
 
 (Laughs.) 
 "To Laura — Who Deigns Not a Single 
 Tear"? 
 
 (Orso enters.) 
 Shall we depart? 
 Lello. Peace! Sancia. 
 
 Sancia. Ah-ha! 
 
24 A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 
 
 (Moves away.) 
 Petrarca (still tensely — to Orso). Speak. 
 Orso. Sir, you are desired. 
 
 Petrarca. By whom? 
 
 Orso. Her veil 
 
 Was lifted and she told me: 
 Therefore I say it out — Madonna Laura. 
 (All stare y amazed. Silence.) 
 Petrarca (hoarsely). What lie is this! 
 Orso. I am too old to lie. 
 
 Sancia (laughing). Who was the goddess that 
 his books tell of, 
 The cold one so long chaste, but who at 
 
 last 
 
 Lello. Be silent, Sancia ! Francesco . . .what? 
 Petrarca (to Orso) . Lead Monna Laura here — 
 
A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 25 
 
 (Orso goes.) 
 If it is she! . . . 
 But you, my friends, must know how 
 
 strange this is, 
 And how — ! ... I have no words! . . . 
 Wait me, I pray you, yonder, in that 
 
 chamber. 
 (They go, left, Sancia shrugging. Then 
 Orso brings Laura, whom Petrarca 
 is helpless to greet, and who falters — 
 yet nobly determining, comes down.) 
 Laura. Messer Petrarca, . . . I have been im- 
 pelled 
 To come . . . and as the purest should, 
 
 boldly. 
 With lifted veil, to say . . • 
 
26 A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 
 
 Petrarca. Lady! 
 
 Laura. To say— 
 
 (Of gratitude I cannot give another . . . 
 For life to a woman is but resignation, 
 And that at last is shame) . . . 
 
 Petrarca. At last . . . shame 
 
 Laura. To say — Love is to us as light to the 
 lilies 
 That lean by Mont Ventoux. 
 The love of one pure man for one pure 
 woman. 
 Petrarca {dazed). Lady! . . . 
 Laura. Yes, and — I've been 
 
 unkind to you. 
 Ungentle ever. 
 
 {Shakes her head.) 
 
A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 27 
 
 But there's no other way sometimes for 
 those 
 
 Who would be wholly true. 
 
 And yet ... do I owe any truth to him} 
 Petrarca. To— Ugo di Sade? 
 Laura {bitterly). Who is called my husband? 
 
 How I was bound to him, you know! and 
 how 
 
 I've dwelt and have endured more than his 
 bursts 
 
 Of burning cruelty. For still, I thought, 
 
 He is my husband! 
 
 And still — He is my husband! . . . 
 
 But now no more I think it — oh! no more! 
 
 Too visible it is 
 
 That he belongs to any — who sell love. 
 
28 A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 
 
 So I may innocently say to you 
 Who for two years have sung my name 
 
 and suffered, 
 Yet never once have turned unto another — 
 
 (Petrarca pales.) 
 I well may say . . . 
 
 (Stopped by his manner.) 
 There's something that you ... Ah ! 
 (Sees, stricken, his grief and shame. Then 
 her glance goes round the room and jails 
 on the wine-table . . . Then Sancia is 
 heard within:) 
 Sancia. Well, well, Messer Petrarca! How 
 long will 
 You shut us in this dark — that is as black 
 As old Pope John the twenty-second's soul? 
 
A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 29 
 
 A pretty festa, this! 
 Petrarca {brokenly). Merciless God! 
 
 (Falls abased before Laura's look, tor- 
 tured with remorse.) 
 
 lady, what have I done beyond re- 
 
 pair! . . . 
 
 (She gathers her veil.) 
 What have I lost within this gulf of shame ! 
 For a paltry pleasure have I sold my dream, 
 Whose pinions would have lifted you at 
 last? 
 Laura (very pale). I did not know, Messer 
 Petrarca, you 
 Had friends awaiting. 
 
 (Pauses numbly.) 
 
 1 came to-night, as first I would have said, 
 

 3 o A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 
 
 * With holy gratitude — 
 For a love I thought you gave. 
 With gratitude that honor well could 
 
 speak, 
 I thought, and yet be honor; 
 With gratitude forgetful of all else . . . 
 And trusting . . . But no matter: 
 All trust shall be embalmed and laid 
 
 away. 
 I go with pity; seeing 
 My husband — is even as other men. 
 (She passes to the door and out : Petrarca 
 moans. Then Lello enters and comes 
 to him anxiously.) 
 Lello. Francesco ! 
 Petrarca. Lello! 
 
A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 31 
 
 (Dazed.) 
 Lello ! Have I dreamed ? 
 
 (Rising, with anguish.) 
 Did Laura come to me out of the night — 
 Come as the first voice breaking beyond 
 
 death 
 To one despairing t . . . 
 And was I lifted up to Heaven's dawn? 
 And then . . . 
 
 (Reels.) 
 God ! am I falling . . . ? shall I ever . . . ? 
 Down this ...?... My friend stay 
 
 with me! 
 No, go . . . and take them with you — 
 
 Sancia — all! . . . 
 I have slain the Spring forever 1 
 
32 A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 
 
 The green of the whole fair world ! . . . O 
 
 Laura! Laura! 
 (Sinks down on the couch and buries his jace 
 
 in his arms. Lello goes sorrowfully 
 
 out.) 
 
 The End. 
 
THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS 
 GARDEN CITY, N. Y. 
 
I 
 
 PORZIA 
 
 By 
 
 CALE YOUNG RICE 
 
 T PRESENTS a last phase of the Renais- 
 sance with great effect." Sir Sidney Lee. 
 
 " • Porzia ' is a very romantic and beauti- 
 ful thing. After a third reading I enjoy and 
 admire it still more." Gilbert Murray. 
 
 "There are certain lyrical qualities in the 
 dramas of Cale Young Rice and certain dra- 
 matic qualities in many of his finest lyrics 
 that make it very difficult for the critic to 
 resolve whether he is highest as singer or 
 dramatist. * Porzia' is a poetic play in which 
 these two gifts blend with subtle and powerful 
 effectiveness. It is not written in stereotyped 
 heroic verse, but in sensitive metrical fines 
 that vary in beat and measure with the 
 strength, the tenderness, the anguish, bitter- 
 ness and passion of love or hate they have to 
 express. The bizarre and poignant central 
 incident on which the action of ' Porzia ' turns 
 is such as would have appealed irresistibly 
 to the imagination and dramatic instincts 
 of the great Elizabethan dramatists, and Mr. 
 Rice has developed it with a force and imagina- 
 tive beauty that they alone could have 
 equaled and with a restraint and delicacy of 
 touch which makes pitiful and beautiful a 
 
story they would have clothed in horror. 
 . . . He turns what might have been a 
 tragic close to something that is loftier and 
 more moving. ... It matters little that 
 we hesitate between ranking Mr. Rice highest 
 as dramatist or lyrist; what matters is that 
 he has the faculty divine beyond any living 
 poet of America; his inspiration is true, and 
 his poetry is the real thing." The London 
 Bookman. 
 
 "'Porzia* has the swift human movement 
 which Mr. Rice puts into his dramas, and 
 technique of a very high order. . . . The 
 dramatic form is the most difficult to sustain 
 harmoniously and this Mr. Rice always 
 achieves." The Baltimore News. 
 
 "To the making of 'Porzia' Mr. Rice has 
 summoned all the resources of his dramatic 
 skill. On the constructive side it is particu- 
 larly strong. . . . The opening scene is 
 certainly one of the happiest Mr. Rice has 
 written, while the climaxing third act is a 
 brilliant piece of character study .... 
 The play is rich in poetry; . . in it Mr. 
 Rice has scored another success ... in 
 a field where work of permanent value is 
 rarely achieved." Albert S. Henry {The 
 Book News Monthly). 
 
 "Mr. Rice apes neither the high-flown style 
 of the Elizabethans, nor the turgid and cryptic 
 
style of Browning . . . 'Porzia' should 
 attract the praise of all who wish to see real 
 literature written in this country again." 
 The Covington (Ky.) Post. 
 
 "The complete mastery of technique, the 
 dignity and dramatic force of the characters, 
 the beauty of the language and clear directness 
 of the style together with the vivid imagina- 
 tion needed to portray so strikingly the 
 renaissance spirit and atmosphere, make the 
 work one that should last." The Springfield 
 (Mass.) Homestead, 
 
 "It is not unjust to say that Cale Young 
 Rice holds in America the position that 
 Stephen Phillips holds in England." The 
 Scotsman {Edinburgh). 
 
 "Had no other poetic drama than this been 
 written in America, there would be hope for 
 the future of poetry on the stage." John G. 
 Neihardt (The Minneapolis Journal). 
 
FAR QUESTS 
 
 CALE YOUNG RICE 
 
 THE countrymen of Cale Young Rice 
 apparently regard him as the equal of 
 the great American poets of the past. 
 Far Quests is good unquestionably. It 
 shows a wide range of thought, and sympathy, 
 and real skill in workmanship, while occasion- 
 ally it rises to heights of simplicity and truth, 
 that suggest such inspiration as should mean 
 lasting fame. — The Daily Telegraph {London). 
 
 "Mr. Rice's lyrics are deeply impressive. 
 A large number are complete and full-blooded 
 works of art."— Prof. Wm. Lyon Phelps {Yale 
 University). 
 
 "Far Quests contains much beautiful work — 
 the work of a real poet in imagination and 
 achievement." — Prof. J. W. Mackail {Oxford 
 University). 
 
 "Mr. Rice is determined to get away from 
 local or national limitations and be at what- 
 ever cost universal. . . . These poems 
 are always animated by a force and freshness 
 of feeling rare in work of such high virtu- 
 osity." — The Scotsman {Edinburgh). 
 
 "Mr. Cale Young Rice is acknowledged by 
 his countrymen to be one of their great poets. 
 
There is great charm in his nature songs (of 
 this volume) and in his songs of the East. 
 Mr. Rice writes with great simplicity and 
 beauty." — The Sphere (London). 
 
 Mr. Rice's forte is poetic drama. Yet in 
 the act of saying this the critic is confronted 
 by such poems as The Mystic . . . These 
 are the poems of a thinker, a man of large 
 horizons, an optimist profoundly impressed 
 with the pathos of man's quest for happiness 
 in all lands." — The Chicago Record-Herald. 
 
 " Mr. Rice's latest volume shows no diminu- 
 ition of poetic power. Fecundity is a mark 
 of the genuine poet, and a glance through 
 these pages will demonstrate how rich Mr. 
 Rice is in vitality and variety of thought 
 
 . . There is too, the unmistakable qual- 
 ity of style. It is spontaneous, flexible, and 
 strong with the strength of simplicity — a style 
 of rare distinction. — Albert S. Henry, (The 
 Book News Monthly, Philadelphia). 
 
THE IMMORTAL LURE 
 
 CALE YOUNG RICE 
 
 It is great art — with great vitality. 
 
 James Lane Allen. 
 
 In the midst of the Spring rush there arrives one 
 book for which all else is pushed aside . . . We 
 have been educated to the belief that a man must be 
 long dead before he can be enrolled with the great 
 ones. Let us forget this cruel teaching . . . This 
 volume contains four poetic dramas all different in 
 setting, and all so beautiful that we cannot choose 
 one more perfect than another. . . . Too extra- 
 vagant praise cannot be given Mr. Rice. 
 
 The San Francisco Call. 
 
 Four brief dramas, different from Paola & Francesca, 
 but excelling it — or any other of Mr. Phillips's work, it 
 is safe to say — in a vivid presentment of a supreme 
 moment in the lives of the characters . . . They 
 form excellent examples of the range of Mr. Rice's 
 genius in this field. The New York Times Review- 
 
 Mr. Rice is quite the most ambitious, and most 
 distinguished of contemporary poetic dramatists in 
 America. The Boston Transcript {W. S. Braithwaite.) 
 
 The vigor and originality of Mr. Rice's work never 
 outweigh that first qualification, beauty . . . No 
 American writer has so enriched the body of our poetic 
 literature in the past few years. , 
 
 The New Orleans Picayune. 
 
 Mr. Rice is beyond doubt the most distinguished 
 poetic dramatist America has yet produced. 
 
 The Detroit Free Press. 
 
 That in Cale Young Rice a new American poet 
 of great power and originality has arisen cannot be 
 denied. He has somehow discovered the secret 
 of the mystery, wonder and spirituality of human 
 
existence, which has been all but lost in our commer- 
 cial civilization. May he succeed in awakening our 
 people from sordid dreams of gain. 
 
 Rochester (N. Y. ) Post Express. 
 
 No writer in England or America holds himself to 
 higher ideals (than Mr. Rice) and everything he does 
 bears the imprint of exquisite taste and the finest 
 poetic instinct. The Portland Oregonian. 
 
 In simplicity of art form and sheer mystery of 
 romanticism these poetic dramas embody the new 
 century artistry that is remaking current imaginative 
 literature. The Philadelphia North American. 
 
 Cale Young Rice is justly regarded as the leading 
 master of the difficult form of poetic drama. 
 
 Portland {Me.) Press. 
 
 Mr. Rice has outlived the prophesy that he would 
 one day rival Stephen Phillips in the poetic drama. 
 As dexterous in the mechanism of his art, the young 
 American is the Englishman's superior in that unforced 
 quality which bespeaks true inspiration, and in a wider 
 variety of manner and theme. 
 
 San Francisco Chronicle. 
 
 Mr. Rice's work has often been compared to Stephen 
 Phillips's and there is great resemblance in their ex- 
 pression of high vision. Mr. Rice's technique is sure 
 . . . his knowledge of his settings impeccable, and 
 one feels sincerely the passion, power and sensuous 
 beauty of the whole. "Arduin"(one of the plays) 
 is perfect tragedy; as rounded as a sphere, as terrible 
 as death. Review of Reviews. 
 
 The Immortal Lure is a very beautiful work. 
 
 The Springfield (Mass.) Republican. 
 
 The action in Mr. Rice's dramas is invariably 
 compact and powerful, his writing remarkably forcible 
 and clear, with a rare grasp of form. The plays are 
 brief and classic. Baltimore News. 
 
These four dramas, each a separate unit perfect 
 in itself and differing widely in treatment, are yet 
 vitally related by reason of the one central theme, 
 wrought out with rich imagery and with compelling 
 dramatic power. The Louisville Times {U. S) 
 
 The literary and poetical merit of these dramas is 
 undeniable, and they are charged with the emotional 
 life and human interest that should, but do not, al- 
 ways go along with those other high gifts. 
 
 The (London) Bookman. 
 
 Mr. Rice never [like Stephen Phillips] mistakes 
 strenuous phrase for strong thought. He makes his 
 blank verse his servant, and it has the stage merit of 
 possessing the freedom of prose while retaining the 
 impassioned movement of poetry. 
 
 The Glasgow {Scotland) Herald. 
 
 These firm and vivid pieces of work are truly wel- 
 come as examples of poetic force that succeeds with- 
 out the help of poetic license. 
 
 The Literary World {London) 
 
 We do not possess a living American poet whose 
 utterance is so clear, so felicitous, so free from the 
 inane and meretricious folly of sugared lines. . . . 
 No one has a better understanding of.the development 
 of dramatic action than Mr. Rice. 
 
 The Book News Monthly {Albert S. Henry.) 
 
 © 
 
 OTAMeiuca \£/ VVi/ magazine 
 
 DOUBLED AY, PAGE & CO.. GARDEN CITY, N. Y. 
 
MANY GODS 
 
 By 
 
 CALE YOUNG RICE 
 
 THESE poems are flashingly, glowingly 
 full of the East. . . . What I 
 am sure of in Mr. Rice is that here 
 we have an American poet whom we may 
 claim as ours." The North American Review 
 {William Dean Howells). 
 
 "Mr. Rice has the gift of leadership. . 
 and he is a force with whom we must reckon." 
 The Boston Transcript. 
 
 . . . "We find here a poet who strives 
 to reach the goal which marks the best that 
 can be done in poetry." The Book News 
 Monthly (A. S. Henry). 
 
 "When ycu hear the pessimists bewailing 
 the good old time when real poets were abroad 
 in the land ... do not fail to quote 
 them almost anything by Cale Young Rice, 
 a real poet writing to-day. ... He has 
 done so much splendid work one can scarcely 
 praise him too highly." The San Francisco 
 Call. 
 
 "'In Many Gods' the scenes are those of 
 the East, and while it is not the East of 
 Loti, Arnold or Hearn, it is still a place of 
 
brooding, majesty, mystery and subtle fasci- 
 nation. There is a temptation to quote 
 such verses for their melody, dignity of form, 
 beauty of imagery and height of inspiration.' ' 
 The Chicago Journal. 
 
 "'Love's Cynic' (a long poem in the vol- 
 ume) might be by Browning at his best." 
 Pittsburg Gazette-Times. 
 
 "This is a serious, and from any standpoint, 
 a successful piece of work . . . in it 
 are poems that will become classic." Passaic 
 {New Jersey) News. 
 
 "Mr. Rice must be hailed as one among 
 living masters of his art, one to whom we may 
 look for yet greater things." Presbyterian 
 Advance. 
 
 "This book is in many respects a remark- 
 able work. The poems are indeed poems." 
 The Nashville Banner. 
 
 "Mr. Rice's poetical plays reach a high 
 level of achievement. . . . But these 
 poems show a higher vision and surer mastery 
 of expression than ever before." The London 
 Bookman. 
 
 Net, $1.25 {postage 12c.) 
 
NIRVANA DAYS 
 
 Poems by 
 
 CALE YOUNG RICE 
 
 MR. RICE has the technical cunning 
 that makes up almost the entire 
 equipment of many poets nowadays, 
 but human nature is more to him always 
 . . . and he has the feeling and imagina- 
 tive sympathy without which all poetry is 
 but an empty and vain thing." The London 
 Bookman. 
 
 " Mr. Rice's note is a clarion call, and of his 
 two poems, 'The Strong Man to His Sires' and 
 'The Young to the Old,' the former will send 
 a thrill to the heart of every man who has the 
 instinct of race in his blood, while the latter 
 should be printed above the desk of every 
 minor poet and pessimist. . . . The son- 
 nets of the sequence, 'Quest and Requital/ 
 have the elements of great poetry in them." 
 The Glasgow {Scotland) Herald. 
 
 "Mr. Rice's poems are singularly free from 
 affectation, and he seems to have written be- 
 cause of the sincere need of expressing some- 
 thing that had to take art form." The Sun 
 (New York). 
 
 "The ability to write verse that scans is 
 quite common. . . . But the inspired 
 thought behind the lines is a different 
 
thing; and it is this thought untrammeled 
 — the clear vision searching into the deeps 
 of human emotion — which gives the verse 
 of Mr. Rice weight and potency. ... In 
 the range of his metrical skill he easily stands 
 with the best of living craftsmen . . . 
 and we have in him ... a poet whose 
 dramas and lyrics will endure." The Book 
 News Monthly (A. S. Henry). 
 
 "These poems are marked by a breadth 
 of outlook, individuality and beauty of 
 thought. The author reveals deep, sincere 
 feeling on topics which do not readily lend 
 themselves to artistic expression and which 
 he makes eminently worth while." The 
 Buffalo (N. Y.) Courier. 
 
 "We get throughout the idea of a vast 
 universe and of the soul merging itself in the 
 infinite. . . . The great poem of the 
 volume, however, is 'The Strong Man to His 
 Sires.'" The Louisville Post {Margaret S. 
 Anderson). 
 
 "The poems possess much music . . . 
 and even in the height of intensified feeling 
 the clearness of Mr. Rice's ideas is not dimmed 
 by the obscure haze that too often goes with 
 the divine fire." The Boston Globe. 
 
 Paper boards. Net, $1.25 {postage 12c.) 
 
A NIGHT IN AVIGNON 
 
 By 
 
 CALE YOUNG RICE 
 
 Successfully produced by Donald Robertson 
 
 IT IS as vivid as a page from Browning. 
 Mr. Rice has the dramatic pulse." 
 James Huneker. 
 
 "It embraces in small compass all the 
 essentials of the drama. New York Saturday 
 Times Review (Jessie B. Rittenhouse) . 
 
 "It presents one of the most striking 
 situations in dramatic literature and its 
 climax could not be improved." The San 
 Francisco Call. 
 
 "It has undeniable power, and is a very- 
 decided poetic achievement." The Boston 
 Transcript. 
 
 "It leaves an enduring impression of a 
 soul tragedy." The Churchman. 
 
 "Since the publication of his 'Charles di 
 Tocca' and other dramas, Cale Young Rice 
 has justly been regarded as a leading Ameri- 
 can master of that difficult form, and many 
 critics have ranked him above Stephen 
 Phillips, at least on the dramatic side of his 
 art. And this judgment is further confirmed 
 by 'A Night in Avignon.' It is almost in- 
 credible that in less than 500 lines Mr. Rice 
 should have been able to create so perfect a 
 
play with so powerful a dramatic effect." The 
 Chicago Record-Herald {Edwin S. Shuman) 
 
 "There is poetic richness in this brilliant 
 composition; a beauty of sentiment and 
 grace in every line. It is impressive, metri- 
 cally pleasing and dramatically powerful." 
 The Philadelphia Record. 
 
 "It offers one of the most striking situa- 
 tions in dramatic literature." The Louisville 
 Courier- Journal. 
 
 "The publication of a poetic drama of the 
 quality of Mr. Rice's is an important event 
 in the present tendency of American litera- 
 ture. He is a leader in this most significant 
 movement, and 'A Night in Avignon' is 
 marked, like his other plays, by dramatic 
 directness, high poetic fervor, clarity of 
 poetic diction, and felicity of phrasing." 
 The Chicago Journal. 
 
 "It is a dramatically told episode, and the 
 metre is most effectively handled, making 
 a welcome change for blank verse, and greatly 
 enhancing the interest." Sydney Lee. 
 
 "Many critics, on hearing Mr. Bryce's 
 prediction that America will one day have a 
 poet, would be tempted to remind him of 
 Mr. Rice." The Hartford {Conn.) Courant. 
 Net 50c. {postage 5c.) 
 
YOLANDA OF CYPRUS 
 
 A Poetic Drama by 
 
 CALE YOUNG RICE 
 
 i 
 
 T HAS real life and drama, not merely 
 beautiful words, and so differs from the 
 great mass of poetic plays. 
 
 Prof. Gilbert Murray. 
 
 Minnie Maddern Fisk says: "No one can 
 doubt that it is superior poetically and 
 dramatically to Stephen Phillips's work," 
 and that Mr. Rice ranks with Mr. Phillips 
 at his best has often been reaffirmed. 
 
 "It is encouraging to the hope of a native 
 
 drama to know that an American has written 
 
 a play which is at the same time of decided 
 
 poetic merit and of decided dramatic power. " 
 
 The New York Times. 
 
 "The most remarkable quality of the play 
 is its sustained dramatic strength. Poetically 
 it is frequently of great beauty. It is also 
 lofty in conception, lucid and felicitous in 
 style, and the dramatic pulse throbs in every 
 line." The Chicago Record-Herald. 
 
 "The characters are drawn with force and 
 the play is dignified and powerful," and adds 
 that if it does not succeed on the stage it 
 will be "because of its excellence." 
 
 The Springfield Republican. 
 
"Mr. Rice is one of the few present-day 
 poets who have the steadiness and weight; for 
 a well-sustained drama." 
 
 The Louisville Post {Margaret Anderson). 
 
 "It has equal command of imagination, 
 dramatic utterance, picturesque effectiveness 
 and metrical harmony. " 
 
 The London {England) Bookman. 
 
 T. P.'s Weekly says: "It might well stand 
 the difficult test of production and will be 
 welcomed by all who care for serious verse. " 
 
 The Glasgow {Scotland) Herald says: "Yo- 
 landa of Cyprus is finely constructed; the 
 irregular blank verse admirably adapted for 
 the exigencies of intense emotion; the char- 
 acters firmly drawn; and the climax serves 
 the purpose of good stagecraft and poetic 
 justice. " 
 
 "It is well constructed and instinct with 
 dramatic power." Sydney Lee. 
 
 "It is as readable as a novel. " 
 
 The Pittsburg Post. 
 
 "Here and there an almost Shakespearean 
 note is struck. In makeup, arrangement, 
 and poetic intensity it ranks with Stephen 
 Phillips's work. " The Book News Monthly. 
 (Net, $1.25 (postage 10c.) 
 
 C UUW T Hy tETB fW\ fHEWbfilD'S'WbKK fS\ TkeGAKDZW 
 JNAMERICA \g/ ^gr HAOAZaZtX 
 
 DOUBLEDAY. PAGE & CO., GARDEN CITY, N. Y. 
 
DAVID 
 
 A Poetic Drama by 
 
 CALE YOUNG RICE 
 
 I WAS greatly impressed with it and de- 
 rived a sense of personal encouragement 
 from the evidence of so fine and lofty 
 a product for the stage." Richard Mansfield. 
 
 "It is a powerful piece of dramatic por- 
 traiture in which Cale Young Rice has again 
 demonstrated his insight and power. What 
 he did before in 'Charles di Tocca' he has 
 repeated and improved upon. . . . Not 
 a few instances of his strength might be 
 cited as of almost Shakespearean force. 
 Indeed the strictly literary merit of the tragedy 
 is altogether extraordinary. It is a con- 
 tribution to the drama full of charm and 
 power." The Chicago Tribune. 
 
 "From the standpoint of poetry, dignity 
 of conception, spiritual elevation and finish 
 and beauty of line, Mr. Rice's 'David' is, 
 perhaps, superior to his 'Yolanda of Cyprus,' 
 but the two can scarcely be compared." 
 The New York Times {Jessie B. Rittenhouse). 
 
 " Never before has the theme received treat- 
 ment in a manner so worthy of it." The 
 St. Louis Globe-Democrat. 
 
"It needs but a word, for it has been passed 
 upon and approved by critics all over the 
 country." Book News Monthly, And again: 
 "But few recent writers seem to have found 
 the secret of dramatic blank verse; and of 
 that small number, Mr. Rice is, if not first, 
 at least without superior." 
 
 "With instinctive dramatic and poetic 
 power, Mr. Rice combines a knowledge of 
 the exigencies of the stage." Harper's 
 Weekly. 
 
 "It is safe to say that were Mr. Rice an 
 Englishman or a Frenchman, his reputation 
 as his country's most distinquished poetic 
 dramatist would have been assured by a 
 more universal sign of recognition. The 
 Baltimore News (writing of all Mr. Rice's 
 plays). 
 
 Net, $1.25 {postage 12c.) 
 
CHARLES DI TOCCA 
 
 By 
 
 CALE YOUNG RICE 
 
 I TAKE off my hat to Mr. Rice. His 
 play is full of poetry, and the pitch and 
 dignity of the whole are remarkable." 
 James Lane Allen. 
 
 "It is a dramatic poem one reads with a 
 heightened sense of its fine quality through- 
 out. It is sincere, strong, finished and noble, 
 and sustains its distinction of manner to the 
 end. , . . The character of Helena is 
 not unworthy of any of the great masters of 
 dramatic utterance." The Chicago Tribune. 
 
 "The drama is one of the best of the kind 
 ever written by an American author. Its 
 whole tone is masterful, and it must be classed 
 as one of the really literary works of the 
 season." (1903). The Milwaukee Sentinel. 
 
 "It shows a remarkable sense of dramatic 
 construction as well as poetic power and 
 strong characterization." James Mac Arthur, 
 in Harper's Weekly. 
 
 "This play has many elements of perfection. 
 Its plot is developed with ease and with a large 
 dramatic force; its characters are drawn with 
 sympathy and decision; and its thoughts 
 
rise to a very real beauty. By reason of it 
 the writer has gained an assured place among 
 playwrights who seek to give literary as well 
 as dramatic worth to their plays." The 
 Richmond (Va.) News-Leader. 
 
 "The action of the play is admirably com- 
 pact and coherent, and it contains tragic 
 situations which will afford pleasure not only 
 to the student, but to the technical reader." 
 The Nation. 
 
 "It is the most powerful, vital, and truly 
 tragical drama written by an American for 
 some years. There is genuine pathos, mighty 
 yet never repellent passion, great sincerity 
 and penetration, and great elevation and 
 beauty of language." The Chicago Post. 
 
 "Mr. Rice ranks among America's choicest 
 poets on account of his power to turn music 
 into words, his virility, and of the fact that he 
 has something of his own to say." The Boston 
 Globe. 
 
 "The whole play breathes forth the inde- 
 finable spirit of the Italian renaissance. In 
 poetic style and dramatic treatment it is 
 a work of art." The Baltimore Sun. 
 
 Paper boards. Net, $1.25 (postage, gc.) 
 
SONG-SURF 
 
 (Being the Lyrics of Plays and Lyrics) by 
 
 CALE YOUNG RICE 
 
 MR. RICE'S work betrays wide sym- 
 pathies with nature and life, and a 
 welcome originality of sentiment and 
 metrical harmony." Sydney Lee. 
 
 "In his lyrics Mr. Rice's imagination works 
 most successfully. He is an optimist — and 
 in these days an optimist is irresistible — 
 and he can touch delicately things too holy 
 for a rough or violent pathos." The London 
 Star {James Douglas). 
 
 "Mr. Rice's highest gift is essentially 
 lyrical. His lyrics have a charm and grace 
 of melody distinctively their own." The 
 London Bookman. 
 
 "Mr. Rice is keenly responsive to the 
 loveliness of the outside world, and he re- 
 veals this beauty in words that sing them- 
 selves." The Boston Transcript. 
 
 "Mr. Rice's work is everywhere marked 
 by true imaginative power and elevation of 
 feeling." The Scotsman. 
 
 " Mr. Rice's work would seem to rank with 
 the best of our American poets of to-day." 
 The Atlanta Constitution. 
 
"Mr. Rice's poems are touched with the 
 magic of the muse. They have inspiration, 
 grace and true lyric quality." The Book 
 News Monthly. 
 
 "Mr. Rice's poetry as a whole is both 
 strongly and delicately spiritual. Many of 
 these lyrics have the true romantic mystery 
 and charm. ... To write thus is no 
 indifferent matter. It indicates not only long 
 work but long brooding on the beauty and 
 mystery of life." The Louisville Post. 
 
 " Mr. Rice is indisputably one of the greatest 
 poets who have lived in America. . . . 
 And some of these (earlier) poems are truly 
 beautiful. The Times-Union (Albany, N. Y.) 
 
 Net, $1.25 {postage 12c.) 
 
1'XIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY, 
 BERKELEY 
 
 THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 
 STAMPED BELOW 
 
 Books not returned on time are subject to a fine of 
 volume after the third day overdue, in< 
 1 per volume after the sixth day. Books not in 
 demand may be renewed if application is made before 
 expiration of toan period. 
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY