B E RKELEyX LIBRARY UNIVERSITY Of/ CALir-ORNIiJc/^^ .'^.^'i■'-^ ^^ THE PITY OF LOVE WRATISLAW LARGE PAPER (Limited to Twenty-One Copies) ilo. /y. S. S. & Co. THE PITY OF LOVE THE PITY OF LOVE A TRAGEDY BY THEODORE WRA.TISLAW SWAN SONNENSCHEIN & CO PATERNOSTER SQUARE LONDON 1895 Ru^by, Printed by Geo. E. Over, The Rugby Press. NO TE The circu7nstances of the murder of Count Konigsmarck as hereafter related are not precisely those which are generally accepted as historic ; but although its details are vague enough to admit of the treatment known cls poetical license, I have followed as closely as I could the course of the actual story. T.W. 439 PERSONS REPRESENTED Augustus, Duke of Celle, Elector of Hanover. George, Electoral Prince of Hanover, afterwards George I. of England. Count von Platen. Philip von Konigsmarck. Sophia Dorothea, Electoral Princess of Hanover. Elizabeth von Platen, wife of Count von Platen. Aurora von Konigsmarck, Sister to Philip. Time : July 1694. Place: The Duke's Palace at Celle. THE PITY OF LOVE SCENE I A Room in the Palace, with Windows in the Background opening upon a large Lawn cut by Gravel-paths and dotted with brilliant Flower-beds. There are two Doors, R and L. Enter PHILIP arid AURORA VON KoNiGSMARCK, talking. AURORA It is not thee, but thy rash heart I blame. PHILIP I met a greybeard wizard ere I came, Who bade me back, for did I lightly spurn His words, said he, I should not hence return. AURORA Why then didst thou not heed him } PHILIP Pish! What, I? I will see reason for it ere I die. AURORA Philip, thou knowest that ere thou went'st she said Didst thou return to Celle thou wert as dead. And death were thine own will and seeking. THE PITY OF LOVE PHILIP She ? Elizabeth Platen ? Death may wait for me, Or here or there, I care not. Good or ill, Whate'er it be, it comes whene'er it will. And that Death is I weep not nor deplore. But death that is to fright us should be more Than the threat of a cast-off mistress. By my hand, Did God now strike me down, here where I stand, Somehow or other I would drag, before I died, my broken body to her door, And she, I know, would kneel down at my side And kiss mine eyes and white lips ere I died ! AURORA The Princess ! O my Philip, is thy love Not dead? PHILIP By heaven and half the saints above. Madden me not ! I am no brain-sick girl, Enamoured of an eyebrow or a curl. Nor is my love a boy's first fancy thrown On her who first of women seems his own. A man's love holds him like the gates of hell. AURORA Pray heaven thy journey and thy love end well ! PHILIP 1 prithee now go seek her chamber, dear. And lightly whisper that I wait her h,ere. 10 THE PITY OF LOVE AURORA I will not aid thee. PHILIP Nay, I prithee, sweet. Go for my sake. I would but kiss her feet And listen to her voice, since little more Fate grants such lovers from her niggard store. Do this for me and ask me what thou wilt. AURORA Nay, I will stand no partner in thy guilt. PHILIP Guilt ! Why, great God, what ails thee thus to prate Of guilt } In such a world as this, so great With teeming horrors that the very sun Should hide his face from things done and undone. Thou dar'st to call such love as ours a crime ! Thou art or crazed or born out of due time. AURORA God knows it is not I should speak of shame. Nor honour, woe is me ! Yet thee I blame, For honour yet is left to thee and her. She still has honour for a cloak to wear ; Her fame stands good and still her sin is dark, If sin it be ; but let one mongrel bark And all the gutters' brood of ribald curs Responds and howls. Thus with thy name and hers. PHILIP One cannot heed the worm beneath one's heel 1 1 THE PITY OF LOVE And spitting unwashed burghers on one's steel Were sorry work for any noble's hand. Ah dear, if there be anv natural band Of blood or love or aught between us, though Thy heart forbid thee, yet, I pray thee, go. Thou knowest her love is all my life, and save For her nought lives that I desire or crave. My queen for whom I have endured more woe Than any man that lives should bear or know. Yea, I have borne such evils for her sake That I must see her lest my heart should break. AURORA Peace, I will go : but when death chases sin, Though long the course, yet death, thou knowest, will win. {Exit. Enter ELIZABETH VON PLATEN. ELIZABETH Count Konigsmarck ! PHILIP Ah INIadam ! On thy hand My homage let me tender. ELIZABETH Whose command Has brought thee hither } PHILIP The command of none. An idle wish performed ere half begun, A freak of fancy keen to while away Between two dances half a tedious day. 12 THE PITY OF LOVE I am a bird that loves to range and change. ELIZABETH So wert thou ever, Philip. Yet 'tis strange That our sweet Princess is not where thou art. PHILIP Why so } ELIZABETH Ah Philip, strike not at my heart. Though with long years my face be worn and old My heart beats warm towards thee. Thou hast grown cold And full of loathing for me since the days When even my love was sweet to thee, my praise As honey in thine ears ; for she, for she Has stolen thy love and lips away from me. Go not to her ! For that thy love is gone And taken from me as a sun that shone I may endure though ill it be to bear : But if she be thy mistress, boy, I swear Nor she nor thou shall live. Ah Philip, go, Choose other women whom I shall not know, Find other hands to twine amidst thy curls And lend thy lips to lips of other girls : But ah not hers, not hers ! This only I Will never bear, so heed thee lest thou die. PHILIP This have I heard ere now. ELIZABETH Ah, well I know 13 THE PITY OF LOVE That I am old, unbcautiful, and thou Hast youth exulting and thine eyes and hair And form are as Apollo's, yea more fair. Thou art more lovely to me than a god. And yet thy feet upon my heart have trod. Thou hast despised me and my love, and spurned My sorrow from thee when I would have turned For comfort to thee, as thou dost anew. God aid me for I know not what to do ! I hate thee, Philip, with a serpent's hate. I hate thee since my love is very great. My fingers itch to slay thee. Day by day I ache and long to take thy life away. And so, if God will speed my hands, I will. PHILIP In God's name, woman, hold thy peace, be still. You tire me out of courtesy apace. Enter the DUKE, PRINCE GEORGE and PLATEN. DUKE Von Konigsmarck ! on leave 1 PHILIP Even so, your Grace. DUKE We are glad to see you. Platen, is it wise To let these youngsters loose to turn their eyes Upon our wives ? See what an innocent air Our valiant hero Konigsmarck doth wear Though here we trap him head to head with thine. H THE PirV OF LOVE PLATEN In wives, your Grace, there is no thine or mine. DUKE Faith, it is so. Come, Konigsmarck, and see Some Arab stallions sent of late to me. PHILIP INTy lord, I wait my sister. DUKE Come ere long. Thou wilt .'* PHILIP I will, my lord. \_Exit the DUKE, PRINCE GEORGE and PLATEN. ELIZABETH O right and wrong ! If aught live past the sunlight and the stars, Beyond the mournful body's prison-bars, Beyond the white way and autumnal Seven, Man's right and wrong are wrong and right in heaven. O for some old fierce Hun's victorious hand To sweep our customs from the sea and land, Some Tamburlaine with wild barbaric mirth To purify intolerable earth. Yet, Philip, though no world will do me right, — Since now I hate thee in my love's despite, Full measure will I pay thee for thy scorn, Thou, vile as hell, false to thy word, foresworn, False to thine oath and traitor to thy King ! \Exit. IS THE PITY OF LOVE PHILIP Heaven shield us from the toil these women bring ! Traitor forsooth : why, so perchance I am Since now the servant steals the King's ewe-lamb, Reversing half the antique fable. O I wrong thee, love, in thinking of thee so. No wife of this mute prince art thou, but mine, Tied to my heart by virtues too divine To be not cursed and evil in men's eyes, Poor race of fools who deem themselves so wise. Whose noblest laws vast folly hides within And whose best virtue is the vilest sin ! Enter SOPHIA. Philip ! IMy queen SOPHIA PHILIP SOPHIA. Nay, kneel not at my feet. 'Tis I should kneel at thine. PHILIP Thou art too sweet And rich in heavenly graces, fairest love, For one to greet you standing. SOPHIA Nay, above jNIe, Philip, art thou even as far as heaven. Whence by thy love how far have I been driven ! 16 THE PITY OF LOVE PHILIP My star, thou art more near to heaven than I Or any soul of men that Hve and die. O love, if love be sinful, I will pray That God may take thy sin of love away And lay it on my head, and I will bear Thy sin and mine as one, without despair, Since I shall make atonement, sweet, for thee And save the soul that once saved life in me. SOPHIA Philip ! and bid God part us after death Like men in this harsh life of mortal breath ? How shall I live without thee ? Heaven will be No heaven if thou dwell not in heaven with me. PHILIP Yet for thy sake, sweet, would I choose to dwell, Could heaven thereby be gained for thee, in hell. SOPHIA Not without me ! For, love, like Ruth of old. Where thou wilt go will I go and behold What thou beholdest, whether in heaven we stand And praise God with the harpstrings in our hand, Or like the lovers of the Italian lyre Forever wander in the frost and fire. On earth may men for honour's trivial name Prevent and part us lest we gather shame. But after death though even God forgive Together will we ever love and live. ^7 THE PITY OF LOVE PHILIP Would that we did on earth ! O sweet, sweet, sweet. Let us cast off these fetters from our feet ! Take wing and fly together, Love knows where, Like doves escaping through the breasted air, Take wing, and in some lone enchanted isle Live out in love and joy life's little while. What then were shame and honour ? We should be Free as the rollers of the sea are free, The sweet green sliding rollers that all day Laugh under summery skies in silent play ; Free as the birds that live and take their rest Upon the sweet sea's palpitating breast. Who heed not men, being bold and wild and free And portion of the world's infinity. Unlike us men, who, slaves in word and deed. Bow to unspoken law and written creed. Take horse with me and eight mad hoofs shall bear Our bodies, light as flower-dust, through swift air, Across deep vales and mountain-girdled plains And rivers swollen with hot summer rains. High in the wild Bohemian hills adored, Where kings have crashed through fight with mace and sword, I have a castle perched 'twixt earth and sky ; Mountains and forests are the sole things nigh. There like the eagles may we dwell, and make A hiding-place and home for Love's sweet sake, And so forget all things save that at last We dwell together bound by Love's hand fast. And then the life that will be ours shall glide i8 THE PITY' OF LOVE Soft as leaves murmuring by the river-side And sweet as visions that in sleep we see. SOPHIA I pray thee cease, for, love, it may not be. Never for us, O never. After years May make amends for sorrow and for tears, And time may grant us some small shred of right. But in our eyes will never gleam the light That shines in happy lovers'. Flower and seed Will come and go and coming springtime speed The parting winter and the earth's bare breast With frondage and new blades of grass be drest, And dove in woodland deeps will call to dove, But no new year will ever bring us love. We are accursed of Love perchance for crime Against him done in some forgotten time. Some old life unremembered. Still, we know Nothing, but that on earth we suffer woe And haply for each fleeting joy shall pay A thousand times when we have passed away. PHILIP Nay, come with me, for in old days gone by Have other lovers chosen to live and die In that sweet shame whereat men gibe and stare But which heaven surely loves if Love dwell there. We praise them and we glory in their sin Since spite of bonds and laws their love could win The resting-place and home of their desire. 19 THE PITY OF LOVE SOPHIA Be still : your words sting me and hurt like fire. I will not, cannot. PHILIP Is thy love then dead .? SOPHIA No, Philip, no. Why dost thou bend thy head } Why need'st thou weep ? O Philip, trust me, dear ; Best for us both that I should tarry here Thou knowest it is. O weep not for my sake. For every tear thou sheddest is a snake That stings my heart. Kiss me lest I weep too. PHILIP I am a fool, and what to knaves is due, Is due to me for tempting thee. My queen, It was a dream that came to me between Thy words and mine, a dream of life that we Might now enjoy had God but bidden it be, A life on happier earth 'neath sunnier skies, That bade me play the woman with mine eyes. 'Tis gone and it shall not return. But I, What rests for me save but to live and die, Since now I have not thee } I can but play Against the trivial chances of the day. Seeking what best may kill the length of time, A woman's face, a battle or a rhyme, Or what the issues of the moment give. Such life has been and will be mine to live. Sweet, since thou canst not love as I love thee. 20 THE PITY OF LOVE SOPHIA O I do love thee, yet this cannot be. Why dost thou blame me who am chained and tied By custom and by honour at the side Of one thou knowest how much I loathe and hate, I\Iy Philip, though thy beauty is so great, Forgive me and forget me ! PHILIP I forget! never whilst with love abides regret ; And, for forgiveness, sweet, not I but thou Must pardon. Humbly to thy grace I bow A suppliant head that thou mayst doom or save. SOPHIA 1 pardon thee. PHILIP Another gift I crave. SOPHIA I cannot give my word. I know not why They leave me here without some maid or spy. The very birds in cages are more free. I cannot tell how thou canst come to me Nor when. PHILIP To-night, when the world lies asleep. SOPHIA I cannot give my word. So many keep 21 THE PITY OF LOVE Watch in the palace wlio might unawares Track thee along the passages and stairs. Perchance I shall not be alone. PHILIP My God! SOPHIA Philip, this path have other lovers trod That now we tread. Love is no April jest, But a most venomous snake that eats the breast, And many times we swoon beneath its bite. For some few moments of most vain delight Unnumbered are the pangs and woes we bring Upon ourselves. Love is a dangerous thing, Pregnant with sorrow and all kind of ill, And bitterest when he may not work his will. PHILIP Who better knows than I that Love is this ? But O sweet lips ! for one unfettered kiss Prolonged between thy breasts and in thine hair Would I not give this tedious life of care ? And thou, if thou didst love me as I love, Wouldst rate no lasting fame or shame above The perishable rapture of a day. SOPHIA I love thee in a sweeter, holier way: But, O my love, my king, if life alone Were all Love asked for payment, to atone For those sweet hours when I at length should live 22 THE PITY OF LOVE Life and its fruits I would most gladly give. But life for us — who better knows than thou ? — For us whose heads from ancient years might bow To death but not dishonour, keeps in hold The names and honour of our sires of old. All that I can and may, I give to thee Saving the honour of their memory. PHILIP Yet thou dost love me } SOPHIA. Sweet, why need'st thou ask ? Too fierce for my poor brain is this my task. Listen ! I will before the lights burn low Send thee a secret message, ' Yes ' or ' No,' Though * Yes ' may mean not freedom from all fear. Then thou wilt come or stay. PHILIP Heaven keep thee, dear ! O sweet, my heart beats higher in hope than yet Beat any lover's. Sorrow and regret Are vanished from beneath my sad heaven's cope And in their stead is born and soars my hope. SOPHIA Hope not too much, for in a mortal breast Than hope there is a no more treacherous guest; And, love, heed not too well thy love's command Since thou wilt have mine honour in thy hand. Be wise and wary lest some chance betray My sin and shame, thine honour and thy way. 23 THE PITY OF LOVE PHILIP O trust me wholly, dear, or not at all. My head shall sooner than thine honour fall. SOPHIA Go now and leave me, love. Whilst thou art here My heart each moment stops in sudden fear. The Platen hates thee and she spies on me. PHILIP Curse her ! SOPHIA But yet the fault, dear, lies with thee. PHILIP For yielding, yes. I made no love to her. Her worn and patched-up face that scarce can stir The amorous pulses of our gracious lord Could scarce by me be worshipped and adored. But thou, my flower of women, whom I won, My morning star and evening star in one. Some moments longer tarry with me still. SOPHIA So would I, Philip, had I all my will. Yea, dwell with thee forever if the might Of fate forbade not such divine delight, But fate that has each mortal for its foe Forbids our joy, and now it bids thee go. PHILIP Farewell, farewell, my queen. 'Tis ill to say, Worse to perform. 24 THE PITY OF LOVE SOPHIA Philip, thou knowest the way, Up the broad staircase from the hall and through Tlie passages ? PHILIP More well than aught I knew Or know, for in my dreams I pass and pass Along them vainly, seeking thee, alas ! SOPHIA To-night perchance thou shalt not seek in vain. But now I dare not stay. PHILIP Farewell again, And yet again farewell. SOPHIA Sweet heart, farewell. PHILIP My princess and my love ! \Exeunt severally. Enter ELIZABETH. ELIZABETH Ay, part till hell Receive your gasping souls in tireless flame And shake with echoing laughter at your shame I Sweet, sweet may be your youth, your love's hot wine. But sweeter the revenge that shall be mine. May God reward thee, Philip, for my pain 25 THE PITY OF LOVE And thee, my princess, for thy stolen gain ! Hell torture you with cutthroat, thief and liar, And whip you with its chains and snakes of fire ! But would to God that I on earth might sate Upon your limbs the measure of my hate ! Ye should be torn asunder, burned and flayed, Bound naked in the market-place and made The mockery of the ribald gutters' scum, Racked, maimed and crushed, made deaf and blind and dumb. Woe's me I may not this ! But in my hand I hold your lives and ye tonight shall stand Before God's throne and hear his voice proclaim Eternal torture in eternal flame. O joy to cut your beauty's scarce-blown flower. To slay you in your spring's exultant hour When many a joy and many a dream too sweet To last till age are laid before your feet. False hopes beguile you through the lingering day, And when night comes with death will I repay! Enter the DUKE, PRINCK GEORGE and PLATEN. DUKE Where is von Konigsmarck ? ELIZABETH He has but now Gone, my good lord. DUKE Long audience thou Dost grant to him. 26 THE PITY OF LOVE ELIZABETH I'faith, it was not I Who held him from thee by so close a tie. Scant reverence hath Count Konigsmarck for me. DUKE Why, who can Konigsmarck's last conquest be } Who is it } come ! ELIZABETH Her Highness, as it seems, Though such a thought might seem too wild for dreams. DUKE You jest. ELIZABETH I do not. DUKE What has she to do With Konigsmarck or Konigsmarck with her } ELIZABETH I too Had wondered, had I not by fortune heard Half of their converse. DUKE Platen, this the third Time is when such report has reached our ears. 'Tis time to search more deeply what one fears. Thou hast strange knowledge written on thy brow, Countess : speak all thou knowest, standing now Before thy Duke and Council. 27 THE PITY OF LOVE ELIZABETH All I heard Were easily spoken in a single word, For coming hither by the garden way I heard two voices and the Princess say / will, my dearest, when the lights burn low Send thee a secret message, Ves or No, Which any lover knoivs inean Stay or Come. As for the rest, pray ye my lips be dumb, For they did so revile the Prince's grace That did I speak, my words would shame my face. DUKE This on thine oath ? ELIZABETH I swear it. DUKE Then by God, If fortune aid, the jest will end in blood. Advise us. Platen. PLATEN 'Twere not ill, my lord, To stay his lover's progress with the sword. DUKE Ay, if we trap him in the very deed ! But not unjudged, unheard. Our honour's creed Demands more knowledge ere it strike a blow. We needs must watch him if he come or go. We will speak more of this ere evening come. Meanwhile I charge you let your lips be dumb. \_Exeunt severally. 28 THE PITY OF LOVE SCENE II Several Hours have elapsed. The Scene is the Princess's Bed- chamber. She is wearing a loose white Night-robe of spun Silk xvith lace Ruffles at the Neck and Sleeves, and her bare Feet are shod with white embroidered Slippers. As she sits before a Crucifix one of her Maids brushes out her dead-gold Hair and at length goes. She rises and walks up and down. SOPHIA Ah, had I bidden him come now should I wait As one who stands before heaven's opening gate. Alas, I dared not bid him. Woe is me For all that might have been and yet might be ! My God, why didst thou tempt me thus } O why Didst thou foredoom me to a state so high } Far happier lives the serf that tills the field Than we who gain all things the earth doth yield Save joy and love, of all earth's gifts the best And without which how vain are all the rest ! Why didst thou mate me with this witless fool When Philip's love has been mine only school } If I have sinned, thine was the guilt and crime So slowly drags along the length of time. [weeping Philip come and take me far away, 1 will not longer live if I must stay. Come, Philip, come. I have no shame or fear Left in me now. PHILIP [Enteri?tg My goddess, I am here ! 29 THE PITY OF LOVE SOPHIA {Throwing herself on his neck O thou hast come ! Sweet, didst thou hear my prayer So very far from me ? Did angels bear The message of my tears and weeping ? O Kiss me, my love, I have desired thee so ! Take me away, my PhiUp. Nothing now Shall hold me from thee, love, if only thou Wilt take me hence and be most true to me. PHILIP How could I not, sweet lips, be true to thee ? Ay, come and ere the cock crow will we fly Eastward, to watch the golden sun mount high. The Duke and that dumb fool who calls thee wife Sit round the tables at their gaming strife With half the court, bemused with food and wine. let thy lips once more be wholly mine Ere I go rouse my grooms ! SOPHIA Nay, Philip, nay, 1 dare not, else I had not bidden thee stay. Thou badst me come. PHILIP SOPHIA I did not. PHILIP Thou didst write ! 30 THE PITY OF LOVE I did not, Philip. This letter? SOPHIA PHILIP Didst thou not endite SOPHIA I ? Why no ! Come, let me see. Philip, this is not mine ! Whose can it be .'' 'Tis like my hand, yet is not mine. 'Tis hers ! The she-devil Platen! PHILIP God's eternal curse Blast and consume her soul ! Why wrote she this ? SOPHIA Oh ! Oh ! I see ! Can'st thou see what it is 1 This is the devil's own trick to trap us both. Didst thou of old not tell me of her oath To have thy life shouldst thou come here again ? And now thou art caught, thou art tricked and trapped and slain. What can we do } Thou canst not go. They wait Surely in every passage, stair and gate, Hot for thy blood. I will not let thee die. PHILIP Nay, loose my hands. I have not learned to fly Death, and by this it is too late to learn. Come, let me go. 31 THE PITY OF LOVE SOPHIA Philip, why dost thou spurn Me from thee ? Speak ! Philip, O speak to me ! Thou canst not dream me traitorous to thee ? PHILIP Forgive me if my thought did do thee wrong, So swiftly woven seemed the toils and strong. Yet let me go, for haply time remains Wherein to free us from these close-dra\vn chains. SOPHIA I will not now. Come, kiss me. Good or ill, Whatever come, feed on me all thy will. Kiss me and crush me to thee. Sweet, I am tired Of lacking all my heart has long desired. I am sick of this pale world. Let honour fall, Thy body and thy lips are all in all. I ache for thee : for thee I am nigh dead. What when thine arms are closed about mine head Is honour } Kiss me as in the days that were. Over the eyes and mouth and throat and hair; Come kiss my breasts and lip my tender skin And let us die together and within Each other's arms as once we slept of old. Thou shalt not go, thou shalt not loose my hold. I need thee now. Thou shalt not say me nay, Thou canst not spurn me if I kneel and pray! PHILIP Listen, canst thou hear aught } 32 THE PITY OF LOVE SOPHIA There is no sound. Thou shalt not go. Sweet, place thy sweet arms round My neck and hearken to me! PHILIP Dear my love ! Thou knowest how I have loved thee, far above All other women whom the chanceful day Gave to my hand or cast across my way. Above all hope of fame or wealth or place Shone ever in my heart thy heavenly face. Alone for thee I lived and gave no heed To aught save this one hope that was my meed — My hungering heart's sole food, my spirit's wine — The chance that Fate should bring thy lips to mine. And, sweet, when chance did give what oft we missed Thou knowest how well my ravenous lips have kissed Thy body fragrant as a flower is fair From thy white feet to thine enchanted hair. My heart stands still, to dream how oft of old Thy body quivered in mine arms' hot hold. When mouth ate mouth and breast was crushed on breast, And such an hour of all things seemed the best. Yet now no longer let thy love beguile My feet to stay, for else my love were vile That loving only thy sweet lips aflame Could love not more thine honour and good name. SOPHIA Nay, for thou shalt not go ! Love is more great Than life or name. Stay with me now and wait 33 THE PITY OF LOVE Their coming. Theirs shall be the shame, not mine ! Why, who shall blame me if my heart was thine ? My shame shall be my honour's very crown. And from the height I gain will I look down On those poor fools who weep and moan beneath And toil for virtue's soiled and tattered wreath. Stay, for they dare not slay thee with me here, But if thou goest thou hast the worst to fear. PHILIP Thine honour, sweet, I yet am fain to save. SOPHIA That was no bargain 'twixt us when I gave It unto thee ! It still is mine to lose If so I will, or keep if so I choose, And now I choose to lose it. PHILIP Thou shalt not, Or I am viler than a worm, God wot ! SOPHIA Hear me, for Death lies there in wait for thee. When thou art dead, what shall become of me ? What will my life be in the years when thou Art dust, if life be weary to me now } Shall I worn white with sorrow hide my heart And paint my lips to play my weary part Among the shallow fopperies of the world. Smiling, though ten times in my bosom curled The snake of grief bites harder than a tear } 34 THE PITY OF LOVE I would that thou didst slay me standing here, Lest I should live such life as once I had, Weary and full of loathing and most sad, Barren of joy, fulfilled with grief and strife. Ere like a god thou cam'st into my life. Look what a life were mine when thou art dead ! Each dawn shall I wake weeping on my bed And weep the weary day through and the night, Remembering all our dead and gone delight. Thy face, thy lips, thy gracious words and ways. Thy kisses on me shed, the sweet bright days That came each one like some enchanted bride And laden with the ghosts of kisses died. Thou shalt not die : I will not let thee go ! Listen 1 PHILIP What is it? SOPHIA On the steps below Methought I heard a sword clank. PHILIP Here is mine. I heard no sound. O love, these words of thine, If they have watched me hither, can but make Mine end more sure. SOPHIA Yet tarry for my sake. Come sit by me. I think I am grown mad. 35 THE PITY OF LOVE I am not fearful now, nor glad nor sad, But only tired. Come, Philip, shall we sleep ? Methinks I would lie down a while and weep A little, on thy shoulder. Is't not strange The world should be so full of toil and change } I have i' faith oft wished that I were dead 1 Hold me a while before we go to bed, I cannot sit upright, I am so tired. So much there was of old that I desired, So little now remains : I would but sleep. Ever within their graves the dead men keep Eternal silence, and I do believe They neither sorrow, mourn nor moan nor grieve. They are most happy, Philip, for I know It is not well to live and love. Ah, no ! I had a lover once, and where is he } Methinks they drowned him in the cruel sea. PHILIP Dorothy ! SOPHIA Yes, that is my name. They say It means the gift of God. Ah, well-a-day, I do not think God meant to do me wrong. PHILIP My God, thou might'st have spared me this ! SOPHIA Not long Will God spare anybody. No, my love, No more amongst the living wilt thou move, 36 THE PITY OF LOVE And nevermore wilt thou return to me. Thou art dead and buried in the bitter sea And over thee the great waves ever go ! PHILIP Dorothy ! wake and speak ! SOPHIA I do not know Who thou canst be, unless thou art the ghost Of that sweet lover whom of old I lost. Put me to bed, I am so fain to sleep. And let me dream for ever, lest I weep. \She lies down on the Bed and faints. He kisses her and speaks, bending over her. PHILIP Sweet heart, farewell ! This is a sorry end For us, though life was never yet our friend. Sleep on, sweet eyes I close with this last kiss : Ye did not dream so harsh a fate as this. Sleep on and wake not, if God will, again. Dear face that was my pleasure and my pain, Dear little hands that held my life between Their tender palms, and little breasts half-seen, Fair bosom where my weary head oft fell, Of you I take my long and last farewell. Some joy, though all too little, once we knew, Some days of pleasure had we, all too few : And yet for these, though they have passed away, Life's very self is not too much to pay. Fain would I live beneath the sun and sky. 37 THE PITY OF LOVE But if death waits I am not feared to die ; I only fear to leave thee to thy fate. Who knows what years and weariness await Thee now ? May heaven be gentle to thee, sweet ! Thou wert not made for pain. It were more meet If I alone should pay our love's deep debt And thou live longer only to forget. Come, one more kiss, it is the last. Farewell ! Sleep hold thee in the magic of its spell And life be tender to thee as the breath Between thy lips. And now, my heart, for death ! \Exit. After some Minutes she awakes and starts up. SOPHIA Philip ! Where art thou } Philip ! Come to me ! Thou shalt not die unless I die with thee ! \She goes hastily out of the Room. 38 THE PITY OF LOVE SCENE in The Scene has changed to the Great Hall in the Palace. A Balcony runs round it, with a Staircase descending upon the Stage. It is dark, but by the Light of Spirits burning in a Punch-bowl, the Figures of Elizabeth and four of the duke's Guards can be seen standing round it. Enter the DUKE, PRINCE GEORGE atid PLATEN. They speak in low Tones. DUKE Hath he now come ? ELIZABETH Not yet. We watched him by, An hour ago. GEORGE The knave is feared to die. DUKE Then, by the angels, shalt thou be the first To meet him ! GEORGE I ? His sword is half accursed. I am no coward, yet I will not fight. DUKE Go then and rouse him, lest we watch all night. GEORGE 'Tis not my task. 39 THE PITY OF LOVE DUKE Not thine ? Why, then, whose wife Is now with him ? GEORGE I am not keen for strife, DUKE Fool, get thee hence ! I am lialf shamed that one As gallant and as fearless as the sun Should die not by a noble's hand : and now. Von Konigsmarck seems such a knight and thou So base a fool, I fain would let him live. ELIZABETH Thy son's wife's shame is thine. DUKE Pish ! Could I give The man his life, I were not waiting here. Listen, he comes ! PLATEN DUKE He does not step with fear. [PHILIP appears in the Balcony. He descends a few Steps and halts. DUKE Von Konigsmarck, thou art condemned to die. PHILIP It were not ill, perchance, did I know why. 40 THE PITY OF LOVE DUKE We know thine errand. PHILIP If thou dost, thou art More wise than now I think thee ! DUKE Play thy part But thou art nigh to death. PHILIP My gracious lord, That I fear death from carbine, pike or sword Thou knowest is false : but hear me lest ye slight A woman wrongly. I did go tonight To try the Princess' chamber. I have failed : My love was vanquished and her will prevailed. ELIZABETH 'Tis false, 'tis false ! She bade thee go to her. PHILIP The lie is thine, thou devil's minister ! Hadst thou not sent thy lying letter, I Had never gone. ELIZABETH This IS no time to lie. Count Konigsmarck. I heard her speak with thee, And now the Duke knows all thy craft. 4' THE PITY OF LOVE PHILIP [Turning to the DUKE. For me, I can but plead my innocence of crime. Nor is her Highness guiltier. DUKE 'Tis time ! Set on him, men I \_The Guards attack PHILIP. He defends himself for some time, and after wounding three, kills 07ie of them, but his Sword breaks: he is run through and falls to the Bottom of the Stairs. PHILIP Curse you ! I would have slain You all like dogs ! Ah curse this sickening pain ! Come near and I will kill you with my teeth ! I am finished now, ready to lie beneath The earth and fatten worms. 'Tis a sweet end. By heaven ! Cursed hag, may God ere long amend Thy face and drive thy soul to shriek in hell ! Ah 1 Curse this pain 1 DUKE Von Konigsmarck, 'twere well If thou didst now speak truth. Wilt thou deny Thou wert the Princess' lover ? PHILIP That will I. She is more pure than that cursed hag is foul ! O this is sweet for one like me to howl, Dying, slain by a cast-off harlot's hand ! 42 THE PIT}' OF LOVE God curse you all, blind fools who gape and stand Fooled by the strumpeted hag I spat away ! [ELIZABETH sets her Heel on his Mouth and crushes it. ELIZABETH Swallow thy lie — 'twill choke thee lest thou pray — And bear it with thee in thy throat to hell, And writhing there in sulphurous torments tell The fiends that they may laugh with echoing scorn Of thee, thou saint more pure than thou wert born ! PHILIP Ah! GEORGE Strangle him ! 'o' DUKE [To ELIZABETH. Take otf thy foot. Get hence ! PHILIP O, in God's name I swear her innocence. Dorothy ! [SOPHIA appears on the Balcony. She descends and throws herself upon philip. Philip! SOPHIA PHILIP Dearest, I am dead. The curs have done their work. 43 THE PITY OF LOVE SOPHIA [Liftifig his Head. Sweet, lean thine head Upon me. \Turnmg to the others, who have drawn back. Ye, do ye get hence, who dared Not fight him save with seven to one and snared By most ignoble fraud. Leave us alone ! Base murderers that ye are, I would not moan Nor weep while such as ye are standing by. PHILIP O kiss me once and let me quickly die. Farewell, sweet lips, farewell, remember me ! \He dies. SOPHIA rises to her Feet and gazes at him, lifting her Arms above her Head. SOPHIA PhiHp, Philip ! Can I not die with thee } \She falls swooning upon his Body. CURTAIN BY THE SAME WRITER. Love's Memorial. Over, Rugby, 1892 (out of print). Sojne Verses. Over, Rugby, 1892 (out of print, but partly reprinted in the following book). Caprices. Poems. Gay & Bird, London, 1893. The Republic of Plato, translated by Thomas Taylor, edited with an introduction by T. W. (W. Scott, London, 1894). 14 DAY USE LOAN DEPT. RECEIV lUL 9 13B ^jc:0r3»ir?^ LIBRARY use ONiY AUG 2 4 1991 General Library /P ix:.w