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pilgrim Players Series. No. 3, Price 6d. net. 
 
 COPHETUA 
 
 A Pby in One Act 
 
 PA 
 
 OHN DRINKWATER 
 
 XonDon : 
 DAVID NUTT, 57-59 Long Acre 
 
COP/IETUA 
 
 This %)la]j was produced by The Pilgrim Players 
 on Saturday, November 18th, 1911, and all dramatic 
 rights are reserved by the Author. 
 
To 
 John Galsworthy. 
 
COPHETUA 
 
 A Play in One Act 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN DRINKWATER 
 
 Xonbon : 
 
 DAVID NUTT, 57-59 Long Acre 
 1911. 
 
THE PEOPLE OF THE PLAY, 
 
 KING COPHETUA, 
 A CAPTAIN. 
 FIVE WISE MEN. 
 THE KING'S MOTHER. 
 THE MAID. 
 .BEGGARS. 
 
 Scene— The Hall of th^- King's Palace. 
 
GOPHETUA. 
 
 NOTE, 
 
 The King^s Mother y the Captain and the Five Wise 
 Men act throughout the -play as a kind of chorus, but each 
 expresses a distinct point of view. 
 
 The King' s Mother that of perplexity for her child, 
 almost imperceptibly influenced by considera- 
 tions of State. 
 The Captain that of the massed and blind power of 
 
 the people. 
 The First Wise Man that of absolute confidence in 
 
 the traditions of kingship. 
 The Second Wise Man that of a rather narrow 
 
 worldly wisdom and knowledge of men. 
 The Third Wise Man that of belief in the divine 
 
 ris:ht of kings. 
 The Fourth Wise Man that of a vague terror and 
 
 trouble induced by physical infliction. 
 The Fifth Wise Man that of unquestioning faith in 
 . a traditional God 
 
 // is an essential part of the play that these diverse 
 attitudes are drawn into one point by the influence of 
 the Maid. 
 
 The Scene is the King' s Hall. On the left are two 
 thrones, one above the other, with chairs below 
 them. 
 At the back of the stage is a tall doorway, open, 
 shoiving a path to a broad flight of steps ivhick 
 leads up to the Temple. Two or three BEGGARS 
 are sitting on the steps. 
 There is an open corridor to the right of the stage. 
 The King's Mother is seated on the lower throne 
 On the chairs beloiu are five WISE MEN and a 
 Captain. 
 
 274735 
 
• . • ' COPHETUA. 
 
 Cafiqin, ,.'Tis> xieon, and with echoing wing 
 
 ■ ' '■•'■ The- dayS'^of a month have sped, 
 And we stay to know if the king 
 Will take a queen to his bed. 
 
 The King's Mother. You have the oath of a king 
 That, be it for weal or woe. 
 In the space of a month he would speak of this 
 
 thing. 
 He will come, he will come — you shall know. 
 
 First Wise Man. {Very Old). He will hear. Not in 
 vain, not in vain 
 Shall his people beseech him of this. 
 He will hear us, nor count of the pain 
 Which may bloom peradventure to bliss. 
 I have stood at the gates of the kings, 
 His fathers, by year and by year, 
 They failed not to grant us the things 
 That were shaped in our. prayers. He will hear. 
 
 Second Wise Man. He is haughty and fiery proud, 
 A spirit not easy to tame, 
 He will face us unbroken, unbowed. 
 And scorn us and put us to shame. 
 
 Third Wise Man. He is King, and howbeit he turns 
 To the right or the left it is well, 
 H he hearkens our crying or spurns. 
 He IS King. It is well, it is well. 
 
 Fourth Wise Man. {Blind?) Since the day when God 
 shattered my sight 
 
 I fear whatso things may befall. 
 
 Who shall know if he answer aright? 
 
 Who shall say if of wisdom our call ? 
 Fifth Wise Man. I wait for his word unafraid. 
 
 The ways of the world are set out. 
 
 By God's will, shall we tremble dismayed 
 
 However this thing come about ? 
 
 Captain. By the might of the spear, he shall speak 
 As we bid him to speak, or his crown 
 Shall be broken — what, are we so meek 
 That we bow if a king should but frown ? 
 
 King' s Mother. I fear him. My son, should you be 
 Too stubborn, how then should I set 
 Any peace in my heart or go free 
 
COPHETVA. 
 
 Of a fear that I might not forget ? 
 How then, with a sword set between 
 Your crown and the men of the land, 
 Should the pride in my heart keep clean 
 For a son who held hate by the hand ? 
 
 Enter, from the corridor, KING COPHETUA. 
 
 They ALL rise as he goes uf to his throne. As he 
 takes his place he motions them to sit. 
 
 Cophetua. I have come. As a slave ye have called me. 
 
 As a dog to his masters I come 
 
 With the sting of your tongues ye have galled 
 me — 
 
 Do you bid me to speak or be dumb ? 
 
 O my masters, your Kmg is before you, 
 
 A playthm^, a chattel, a fool. 
 
 Cry shame on the mothers who bore you 
 
 If you bend not his will to your rule. 
 
 Shall a king in his folly be daring 
 
 To speak as he would, to be wise 
 
 As he knows in his heart, and set flaring 
 
 His nisolent flame to the skies ? 
 
 Shall a^ king give a thought to his vision 
 
 When his masters forbid him and frown ? 
 
 Throw your dust in his teeth, and derision 
 
 Pluck out all the gems of his crown ! 
 Second Wise Man. He is haughty and fiery proud, 
 
 A spirit not easy to tame. 
 Fourth Wise Man. There is fear in my heart, and a 
 cloud 
 
 On my soul. 
 First Wise Man. O my King, when they came. 
 
 The people, to speak with the kings 
 
 Long ago they were heard. 
 Third Wise Man. Let him speak. 
 
 He is King, and a holiness clings 
 
 To the words of a king. 
 Fifth Wise Man. We are weak, 
 
 We are creatures of God, and his will 
 
 Is over us all. He alone 
 
 Is mighty to save and to spill. 
 Kijig's Mother. A sword on the steps of the throne 
 
 Is lying, and blood on the blade. 
 
COPHETUA. 
 
 Captain. Enough ! Shall we chaffer with speech 
 
 As men in a market dismayed, 
 
 Shall we take not the thing we may reach 
 
 With little of toil ? 
 
 For a year 
 
 Has the voice of the men of the land 
 
 Cried out for a king to hear 
 
 Of his grace. For an answer we st^nd. 
 
 It is little enough that we pray, 
 
 But here, in the name of the dead, 
 
 I swear you shall hearken to-day — 
 
 Will you take a queen to your bed ? 
 Cofhetua. It is well. I am bidden to speak. 
 
 You are gracious to grant me this thing. 
 
 You are strong and you bear with the weak, 
 
 You will loosen the tongue of a king. 
 Second Wise Man. He is haughty and fiery proud. 
 Captain. No more. There are rumours that go 
 
 In the streets — 
 Cophetua. Unbroken, unbowed,. 
 
 I give you your answer — I know 
 
 Of the rumours and threatening spears, 
 
 I know of the sword in the night, 
 
 But nothing of pitiful fears, 
 
 I will answer — and hear me aright — 
 
 I will not take a queen to my bed, 
 
 Though the world should clamour and cry. 
 
 Till my will is so shaped. It is said. 
 
 You may go — I have spoken it, I. 
 
 For a 7no7nent there is silence. Then mere 
 assertion gives place to reasoning. 
 
 First Wise Man. Who shall be king in the end 
 
 When you are fallen to sleep. 
 
 To whom shall our children look to keep 
 
 Peace between friend and friend ? 
 Cophetua. Your children shall carve a way 
 
 To peace with the might of their hands. 
 
 Shall they bear to their doors the fruit of the 
 lands 
 
 Because, on a far-off day, 
 
 A king of their fathers fell 
 
 And sold the gates of his soul 
 
COPHETUA. 
 
 To the rabble ranks for a pitiful dole, 
 And married his love to hell ? 
 
 Second Wise Man. You are haughty and fiery proud. 
 Cophetua. The meanest man of you all 
 
 May mate where he would. Shall a king then 
 fall 
 
 And tremble before you, cowed, 
 
 And be humbled and shorn of fame. 
 
 Be called a braggart, a knave, 
 
 That he dares no less than a thrall to save 
 
 The shrine of his heart from shame ? 
 Third Wise Man. You are King, and I dare not cross 
 
 My will with a crowned king's, 
 
 But your will so set to your people brings 
 
 Peril of branded loss. 
 
 There are kingdoms over the seas, 
 
 And kingdoms near to your gates. 
 
 Whose daughters are moulded for comely mates. 
 
 And will you not choose of these, 
 
 And gather about your throne 
 
 A safety fashioned of might ? 
 Co-phetua. t will break my body to dust m hght, 
 
 I am careless of blood and bone, 
 
 I will forfeit my latest breath, 
 
 I will harry the stranger Iprds, 
 
 I will face unfriended the outland hordes, 
 
 I will kiss the lips of death, 
 
 I will keep no secret store 
 
 Of peace in my house, I will spare 
 
 No strength in what things a man may dare 
 
 Or men have dared before, 
 
 But the doors of my love shall be 
 
 Guarded and unbetrayed, 
 
 And reckoning there shall be surely made 
 
 'Twixt none but my God and me. 
 Fourth Wise Man. I fear the striving of men 
 
 And the challenge of boasting lips. 
 
 Co-phetua. Old man, you are nigh to your day's eclipse. 
 Would you have in your fancy, when 
 You pass away to the night, 
 The strands of a troubled tale 
 Of a high king setting his love for sale ? 
 
COPHETUA. 
 
 Fourth Wise Man. (jBezuildered merely^. The Lord hath 
 
 shattered my sight. 
 Fifth Wise Man. Be it as you have said, 
 
 God watches. 
 Co-phetua. He watches well. 
 
 I have strayed too near to the gates of hell, 
 
 But he watched me, and his hand led. 
 Captain. You blacken his name. We are proud, 
 
 We people, aye, proud as a kmg. 
 
 You shall rue the day when you chose to fling 
 
 Your scorn as pence to the crowd. 
 
 We will that a queen should sit 
 
 On the king's right hand, and still 
 
 We stand as men for the fruits of our will, 
 
 Nor abate one word of it. 
 King's Mother. My son, O my son, be not 
 
 Too stubborn — I fear the end, 
 
 I fear the day that no days may mend, 
 
 And the happening un forgot. 
 
 Is it little, my son, you lose ? 
 
 There are women with faces fair. 
 
 And maddening limbs and shining hair. 
 
 And goodly women to choose. 
 
 Women whose kisses would fire 
 
 Your lips and quicken your blood. 
 
 And set a tumult, a golden flood 
 
 In your soul, and a new desire 
 
 In the season of scents and stars. 
 
 And a sweeter song in the day — 
 Cophetua. My mother, you have no word to say 
 
 Of worth. Would you set in bars 
 
 The sacred spirit of me ? 
 
 No, mother, you know I speak 
 
 As a man should speak, but your will is weak 
 
 For fear of the things to be. 
 
 You are true, my mother, you bring 
 
 A deep wise love to the child, — 
 
 Let your love be stainless, and undefiled 
 
 By craven fears for the king. 
 Captain. STie is wise of her fear — 
 Copheiua. Be still — 
 
 You are rude sir, sharpen your tongue 
 
 On the steps of a throne whose king is sung 
 
COPHETUA. 
 
 For a poor unkingly will. 
 I have given my answer ; to each 
 - As he spake I have answered again. 
 Do you hold me a gibbering clod among men, 
 To waver and juggle wkh speech ? 
 
 He moves from the throne to the open doonvay 
 
 at the back. 
 For my people, I know them aright, 
 They will hear me, they hold not in scorn 
 A man whose flame without fear is borne, 
 With the wings of the wind in flight. 
 I will tell theln. I wait the call 
 Of my soul and none else beside; 
 I will bring to the hall of their kings a bride 
 When my choice unbidden fall. 
 
 During the foregoing speeches other BEGGARS 
 have joined those sitting on the steps. Among 
 them is a MAID. As the KiNG now goes out of 
 the hall and up the steps to the Tejnple, the 
 Beggars hold out their hands for alms. The 
 King gives. The MAID, who is seated on an 
 upper step alone^ by the door of the Temple^ 
 asks nothing.- The KING pauses for a 77ioment 
 to look at her; she touches his cloak zuith her 
 handy and lifts it to her lips. He passes into the 
 Temple. 
 
 Second Wise Man. He has gone. He is fiery proud. 
 Third Wise Man. He is King. It is well, it is well. 
 Fourth Wise Man. There is fear on my heart, and a 
 
 cloud. 
 King^s Mother. There is building a story to tell — 
 First Wise Man. He leaves the clear ways that are 
 
 worn. 
 Fifth Wise Man. 'Tis the pu];pose of God — we must 
 
 bend. 
 Captain. Not in vain shall he mock us and scorn. 
 King's Mother. A story — who knows of the end ? 
 Second Wise Man. This day is fulfilled my foretelling. 
 Third Wise Man. The stars are in counsel with kings. 
 iFourth Wise Man.^ There is gloom in the house of our 
 
 dwelling. 
 
COPHETUA. 
 
 Fifth Wise Man. To God be the shaping of things. 
 First Wise Man. The thread of the years now is broken' 
 Ca-ptain. To the edge of his sword be the shame. 
 King' s Mother. What word of this day will be spoken ? 
 What song will be ,sung of our fame ? 
 
 TJie King comes through the Temple doors. The 
 Beggars, as before, hold out their hands; the 
 Maid alone asks nothing. COPHETUA offers her 
 a bag of gold, which she takes; she rises and 
 stands with the KING at the top of the steps; 
 she pours the gold from the bag down the 
 steps, and the BEGGARS collect the scattered 
 coins. She kisses the bag, and ties it in her 
 girdle. THE KING stands looking at her for a 
 moment, then comes down to the hall; he 
 stands by the open doors. 
 
 Cophetua. I knelt before God's altar rail 
 
 And something leapt within my brain ; 
 
 God's mother smiled; her beauty pale 
 
 Was over me ; and then again 
 
 I heard my people crying out, 
 
 And woven in the cries of them 
 
 I heard a kiss that clung about 
 
 The colours of my raiment's hem. 
 
 My prayers went up with feathered speed, , 
 But still I saw the face of one 
 Who said no word of all her need 
 Among the beggars in the sun, 
 Of one who sought no little dole 
 But gave great tribute to her King, 
 And something fiery in my soul 
 Stirred with the passion of the spring. 
 
 And still I heard my people cry 
 
 'A queen, a queen, we seek a queen.' 
 
 No pride was on my lips, and I 
 
 Told God what thing I then had seen. 
 
 What rumour through my blood was sent 
 
 As I passed through his holy gate. 
 
 And surely up to God they went — 
 
 My little secret words of fate. 
 
COPHETVA. 
 
 Out of God's house I came. She stood 
 Before me. She had nought to brmg 
 Of land or warrant counted good 
 To hre the temper of a king, 
 Only a treasure m her eyes 
 Of pure and consecrated days, 
 And presage that her soul was wise 
 Of travel m the starry ways. 
 
 You counselled me. I heard your words, 
 
 Your threats i heard, your cunnmg* speech. 
 
 Your clamouring of sheathless swords, 
 
 But citadelled beyond the reach 
 
 Of all these things my heart was free; 
 
 Yet then a secret word was said 
 
 In the blue air. This thing shall be — 
 
 A queen is coming to my bed. 
 
 Ca-ptam. The child of a beggar ! 
 
 Second Wise Man. You dare 
 
 Lift up this shame m your land ? 
 First Wise Man. You speak not in wisdom — beware. 
 Fourth Wise Man. God give me to understand. 
 King^s Mother. My son, O my son, but wait 
 
 A little — how should this be — 
 
 A son of proud old kings to mate 
 
 With a girl base-born ? 
 Fourth Wise Man. Ah, me! 
 
 ■Co-phetua. How ! Would ye drive me to and fro 
 
 As straw beneath the goodman's flail ! 
 
 God's angels laugh, I think', to know 
 
 How much a king's word may avail. 
 
 I stand, road-girt, before a sweet 
 
 New land of holy joys to-day. 
 
 And she alone has led my feet, 
 
 And she alone shall say me nay. 
 
 * Base-born,' you cry — ' a beggar's child.' 
 So be it. Yet there haply ran 
 Some strain of passion undefiled 
 When in the twilight some tall man 
 Bore homeward to his bridal bed 
 Of curling leaves beneath the sky 
 A clear-limbed girl who beauty led 
 Love laughing in captivity. 
 
COPHETUA. 
 
 You bid me mate. And it shall be 
 
 To make adultery a thing 
 
 Honoured from sea to shining sea 
 
 For that the sinner is a king ! 
 
 My blood is kingly ? It shall take 
 
 A strain of vagrant wind and sun, 
 
 I, born a king, henceforth will make 
 
 The people^ and the sceptre one. 
 
 He walks up the steps to the Maid; he stands- 
 speaking to her, and then leads her down intO' 
 the Hall. She is grave y and beautiful with the 
 
 (\ beauty before which men* s reason is trans- 
 
 ^ figured into understanding. 
 The Maid. It seemed a very little thing 
 
 That you should come and lead me down 
 
 Here to your throne. You are a king. 
 
 There is a splendour on your crown. 
 
 Yet you were born of changing dust 
 
 Even as I, and when you spoke 
 
 That word to me, the great God thrust 
 
 His arm out and the barrier broke, 
 
 And I was maid and you were man. 
 
 Built of one flesh ; it was as though 
 
 No word had been since time began 
 
 Of kings and beggars. 
 
 Cophetua. And a low 
 
 Sweet sound of music fell about 
 My senses, as of beating wings 
 Of loves that sway the world without 
 A thought of beggars or of kings. 
 
 The Maid. You are a king, and kings are great, 
 Yet, though Tld kneel before a throne, 
 My heart would be inviolate — 
 No king should claim it for his own ; 
 I worship kingly men, I bow 
 Before the king's ancestral might. 
 Yet all these things are nought, and now 
 No king is standing in my sight. 
 
 I see a man who spoke to me 
 
 As a man should speak, loving well. 
 
 Cophetua. I see a queen whose lips might be 
 Fashioned p-reat histories to tell. 
 
COPHETUA. 
 
 The Maid. I see a man who set aflame 
 
 My womanhood and made it whole. 
 Cofhetua. I see a holy queen who came 
 
 As a great song into my soul. 
 The Maid. 1 saw an eagle in the air — 
 Cofhetua. The eagle clove the cloudy ways — 
 The Maid. Strong wmged he was and proud and fair — 
 Cofhetua And there he met the golden rays 
 
 Hidden to earth — 
 The Maid. And far and far 
 
 He sped with swift and level flight, 
 Cofhetua. And wrung the glory of a star 
 
 Out of the garners of the night. 
 First Wise Man. Great queens might take her by the 
 
 hand, 
 Third Wise Mart. Great kings might kiss her on the lips, 
 Fifth Wise Man. God's laughter now is on the land. 
 Fourth Wise Man. Light trembles through my day's 
 
 eclipse, 
 Second Wise Man. The king establishes his pride, 
 Caftain. I kneel to her, no threat is now 
 
 Upon my tongue, she is a bride 
 
 To whom a king's folk well may bow. 
 King' s Mother. My child, what way the King may 
 choose 
 
 Is well ; the soul of you is wise. 
 
 And a queen's crown will no way lose 
 
 Its splendour set above your eyes ; 
 
 The word is spoken, and aloud 
 
 Along the day as Are it runs, 
 
 And you shall bear your King a proud 
 
 And comely line of kingly sons. 
 The Maid. Not dowe^-ed as a queen might be. 
 
 Who sold herself you see me here. 
 
 Yet something do I bring for fee, 
 
 Good counsel, comfortable cheer, 
 
 A body undeflled, a soul 
 
 Not alien before the Lord, 
 
 A will unbent, a purpose whole, 
 
 A passion shining as a sword. 
 
 To YOU in humble-wise, my King, 
 
 With nought of fear or servile greed. 
 
 My sacred love unsoiled I bring, 
 
 My service, and my woman's need, 
 
COPHETUA. 
 
 A story of some careful days 
 Spent in a cloister no man knows, 
 Some peace of silent lilied ways, 
 Some beauty of the curling rose. 
 
 The King leads her up to the throne. They 
 stand one 07i each side of it. 
 Co-phetua. (To the People). Am I the less a king that 
 here 
 I choose as might a man uncrowned, 
 Or should you hold queen more dear 
 For armed men or tribute ground ? 
 Is so it be, the word be said, 
 And we will pass from out your land, 
 And sleep upon a stranger bed 
 And prosper by a stranger hand. 
 First Wise Man. She too shall pass where queens have 
 
 trod. 
 Third Wise Man. You being King have chosen well, 
 Fifth Wise Man. Not niggard is the hand of God, 
 Fourth Wise Man. No veiled fear is now to tell, 
 Second- Wise Man. Kow beautiful is all your pride, 
 Captain. My sword shall bring your peace alone, 
 King^s Mother. My trouble now is purified . 
 
 And love is laughing from a throne. 
 Cophetua. In the years far away, far away, 
 
 Our love shall be told as a song. 
 The Maid. Many men shall remember, and say 
 
 "They kept their love guarded from wrong." 
 Cophetua. Your beauty shall be as a tale 
 For the firing of hearts to the end. 
 The Maid. And never the story shall fail 
 Of a king who was mighty to lend 
 A glory to love in his land. 
 Cophetua. And the children of men unbegot 
 Shall listen, and understand 
 The tale of a love un forgot. 
 Our kiss shall be set on the crest 
 Of the travelling years, and be borne 
 As a torch from the east to the west. 
 Till the sinews of love be outworn. 
 
 Curtain. 
 
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 ARTHUR 
 
 in spe 
 by JE 
 
 1. 
 
 III. 
 
 IV. 
 
 VI. 
 
 VII. 
 
 Drinkwa' 
 
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 Hearne 
 episoc 
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 Peacock 
 
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