Bill French Assistant Director of
Camp Kabeyun, Alton Bay New Hampshire in 1997 with his mother Mrs. Barbara
French and his sister Nancy #1197 p 68 {K}
|
Bill French's father
Frank was one ofthe first five campers when John Porter started Camp Kabeyun
summer 1924. Bill's first season was 1954. He specialized in canoeing with
Peter Nathan and latter others and sang in Gilbert and Sullivan "Gondoliers"
and other operettas. His mother was always exceptionally courteous to Sophie
Barrett on her many summer weekend visits to camp.Bill graduated from
Rutgers University New Jersey about 1963. The Barretts frequently visited
the French family home in Woburn, where Bill's father's father lived with
them in 1950s. ----- THE YEOMEN OF THE GUARD or The Merryman and His Maid
Book by W.S. GILBERT Music by ARTHUR SULLIVAN First produced at the Savoy
Theatre in London, England,on October 3, 1888. THE YEOMEN OF THE GUARD
DRAMATIS PERSONAE SIR RICHARD CHOLMONDELEY [pronounced Chum'lee] (Lieutenant
of the Tower) Baritone COLONEL FAIRFAX (under sentence of death) Tenor
SERGEANT MERYLL (of the Yeomen of the Guard) Bass/BaritoneLEONARD MERYL(his
son) Tenor JACK POINT (a Strolling Jester) Light Baritone WILFRED SHADBOLT
(Head Jailer and Assistant Tormentor) Bass/Baritone THE HEADSMAN Non-singing
FIRST YEOMAN BaritoneSECOND YEOMAN TenorTHIRD YEOMAN[optional] Baritone
FOURTH YEOMAN [optional] Tenor FIRST CITIZEN ChorusSECOND CITIZEN Chorus
ELSIE MAYNARD (a Strolling Singer) Soprano PHOEBE MERYLL(Sergeant Meryll's
Daughter) Mezzo-Soprano DAME CARRUTHERS (Housekeeper to the Tower) Contralto
KATE (her Niece) Soprano Chorus of YEOMEN of the Guard, GENTLEMEN, CITIZENS,
etc.SCENE: Tower Green 16th Century THE YEOMEN OF THE GUARD MUSICAL NUMBERS
Overture ACT I 1. When maiden loves, she sits and sighs (INTRODUCTION AND
SONG) Phoebe 1A. When jealous torments rack my soul (OPTIONAL SONG) Wilfred
2. Tower warders, Under orders (DOUBLE CHORUS) People and Yeomen, with Solo
2nd Yeoman 3. When our gallant Norman foes (SONG WITH CHORUS) Dame
Carruthers and Yeomen 3A. A laughing boy (OPTIONAL SONG) Sergeant Meryll 4.
Alas! I waver to and fro (TRIO) Phoebe, Leonard, and Meryll 5. Is life a
boon? (BALLAD) Fairfax 6. Here's a man of jollity (CHORUS) People, Elsie,
and Jack Point 7. I have a song to sing, O! (DUET) Elsie and Point 8. How
say you, maiden, will you wed (TRIO) Elsie, Point, and Lieutenant 9. I've
jibe and joke (SONG) Point 10.'Tis done! I am a bride! (RECITATIVE AND SONG)
Elsie 11. Were I thy bride (SONG) Phoebe 12. Oh, Sergeant Meryll, is it true
(FINALE OF ACT I) Ensemble Act II 13. Night has spread her pall once more
(CHORUS AND SOLO)People, Yeomen, and Dame Carruthers 14. Oh! a private
buffoon is a light-hearted loon (SONG) Point 15. Hereupon we're both agreed
(DUET) Point and Wilfred 16. Free from his fetters grim (BALLAD) Fairfax 17.
Strange adventure! (QUARTET)Kate,Dame, Carruthers, Fairfax and Sergeant
Meryll 18. Hark! What was that, sir? (SCENE) Elsie, Phoebe, DameCarruthers,
Fairfax. Wilfred, Point, Lieutenant, Sergeant Meryll, and Chorus 19. A man
who would woo a fair maid (TRIO) Fairfax, Elsie, and Phoebe 20. When a wooer
goes a-wooing (QUARTET) Elsie, Phoebe, Fairfax, and Point 21. Rapture,
rapture! (DUET) Dame Carruthers and Sergeant Meryll 22. Comes the pretty
young bride (FINALE) Ensemble ACT I [Scene.- Tower Green][Phoebe discovered
spinning. No. 1. When maiden loves, she sits and sighs (INTRODUCTION and
SONG) Phoebe PHOEBE When maiden loves, she sits and sighs, She wanders to
and fro; Unbidden tear-drops fill her eyes,And to all questions she
replies,With a sad "Heigh-ho!"'Tis but a little word--"Heigh-ho!" So soft,
'tis scarcely heard--"Heigh-ho!"An idle breath--Yet life and death May hang
upon a maid's "Heigh-ho!" When maiden loves, she mopes apart, As owl mopes
on a tree; Although she keenly feels the smart, She cannot tell what ails
her heart, With its sad "Ah, me!" 'Tis but a foolish sigh--"Ah, me!"Born but
to droop and die--"Ah, me!" Yet all the sense Of eloquence Lies hidden in a
maid's "Ah, me!" Yet all the sense Of eloquenceLies hidden in a maid's "Ah,
me!""Ah, me!", "Ah,me!" Yet all the sense Of eloquence Lies hidden in a
maid's "Ah, me!" [PHOEBE weeps [Enter WILFRED WILFRED Mistress Meryll!
PHOEBE[looking up] Eh! Oh! it's you, is it? You may go away,if you like.
Because I don't want you, you know. WILFRED Haven't you anything to say to
me? PHOEBE Oh yes! Are the birds all caged? The wild beasts all littered
down? All the locks, chains, bolts, and bars in good order? Is the Little
Ease sufficiently comfortable? The racks, pincers, and thumbscrews all ready
for work? Ugh! you brute! WILFRED These allusions to my professional duties
are in doubtful taste. I didn't become a head-jailer because I like
head-jailing. I didn't become an assistant-tormentor because I like
assistant-tormenting. We can't all be sorcerers, you know. [PHOEBE is
annoyed] Ah! you brought that upon yourself. PHOEBE Colonel Fairfax is not a
sorcerer. He's a man of science and an alchemist. WILFRED Well, whatever he
is, he won't be one for long, for he's to be beheaded to-day for dealings
with the devil. His master nearly had him last night, when the fire broke
out in the Beauchamp [pronounced Bee'cham]Tower. PHOEBE Oh! how I wish he
had escaped in the confusion! But take care; there's still time for a reply
to his petition for mercy. WILFRED Ah! I'm content to chance that. This
evening at half-past seven-- ah! [Gesture of chopping off a head.] PHOEBE
You're a cruel monster to speak so unfeelingly of the death of a young and
handsome soldier. WILFRED Young and handsome! How do you know he's young and
handsome? PHOEBE Because I've seen him every day for weeks past taking his
exercise on the Beauchamp [pronounced Bee'cham] Tower. WILFRED Curse him!
PHOEBE There, I believe you're jealous of him, now. Jealous of a man I've
never spoken to! Jealous of a poor soul who's to die in an hour! WILFRED I
am! I'm jealous of everybody and everything. I'm jealous of the very words I
speak to you-- because they reach your ears-- and I mustn't go near 'em!
PHOEBE How unjust you are! Jealous of the words you speak to me! Why, you
know as well as I do that I don't even like them. WILFRED You used to like 'em.
PHOEBE I used to pretend I like them. It was mere politeness to comparative
strangers. [Exit PHOEBE, with spinning wheel WILFRED I don't believe you
know what jealousy is! I don't believe you know how it eats into a man's
heart-- and disorders his digestion-- and turns his interior into boiling
lead. Oh, you are a heartless jade to trifle with the delicate organization
of the human interior.No.1A. When jealous torment(OPTIONALSONG)
WilfredWILFRED When jealous torments rack my soul, My agonies I can't
control,Oh, better sit on red hot coal Than love a heartless jade. The red
hot coal will hurt no doubt, But red hot coals in time die out, But jealousy
you can not rout,Its fires will never fade. It's much less painful on the
whole To go and sit on red hot coal 'Til you're completely flayed,Or ask a
kindly friend to crack Your wretched bones upon the rack Than love a
heartless jade,Than love a heartless jade. The kerchief on your neck of snow
I look on as a deadly foe, It goeth where I dare not go And stops there all
day long.The belt that holds you in its grasp Is to my peace of mind a rasp,
It claspeth what I can not clasp,Correct me if I'm wrong. It's much less
painful on the whole To go and sit on red hot coal 'Til you're completely
flayed, Or ask a kindly friend to crack Your wretched bones upon the rack
Than love a heartless jade,Than love a heartless jade. The bird that
breakfasts on your lip, I would I had him in my grip, He sippeth where I
dare not sip, I can't get over that. The cat you fondle soft and sly, He
layeth where I dare not lie. We're not on terms, that cat and I. I do not
like that cat. It's much less painful on the whole To go and sit on red hot
coal 'Til you're completely flayed, Or ask a kindly friend to crack Your
wretched bones upon the rack Than love a heartless jade, Than love a
heartless jade.Or ask a kindly friend to crack Your wretched bones upon the
rack Than love a heartless jade. [Exit WILFRED. Enter people excitedly,
followed by YEOMEN of the Guard with SERGEANT MERYLL at rear. No. 2. Tower
warders, Under orders (Double Chorus) CROWD and YEOMEN, with Solo 2ND YEOMEN
CROWD Tower warders,Under orders, Gallant pikemen, valiant sworders! Brave
in bearing, Foemen scaring, In their bygone days of daring Ne'er a stranger
There to danger- Each was o'er the world a ranger: To the story Of our glory
Each a bold, a bold contributory! YEOMEN In the autumn of our life, Here at
rest in ample clover,We rejoice in telling over Our impetuous May and
June.In the evening of our day, With the sun of life declining, We recall
without repining All the heat of bygone noon,We recall withoutrepining All
the heat, We recall, recall All of bygone noon. 2ND YEOMAN This the autumn
of our life, This the evening of our day; Weary we of battle strife, Weary
we of mortal fray. But our year is not so spent, And our days are not so
faded,But that we with one consent, Were our loved land invaded,Still would
face a foreign foe, As in days of long ago,Still would face a foreign foe,As
in days of long ago, As in days of long ago,As in days of long ago. YEOMEN
Still would face a foreign foe,As in days of long ago. CROWD Tower
warders,Under orders,Gallant pikemen, valiant sworders!Brave in bearing,
Foemen scaring, In their bygone days of daring! CROWD YEOMEN Tower warders,
This the autumn of our life Under orders, Gallant pikemen, Valiant sworders
Brave in bearing, This the evening of our day; Foemen scaring, In their
bygone days of daring! Ne'er a stranger Weary we of battle strife, There to
danger Each was o'er the world a ranger: To the story Weary we of mortal
fray. Of our glory Each a bold,A bold contributory. To the story This the
autumn of our life. Of our glory Each a bold contributory! This the evening
of ourday Each a bold contributory! This the evening of our day. [Exit
CROWD. Manent YEOMEN. Enter DAME CARRUTHERS. DAME A good day to you! 2ND
YEOMAN Good day, Dame Carruthers. Busy to-day? DAME Busy, aye! the fire in
the Beauchamp [pronounced Bee'cham] last night has given me work enough. A
dozen poor prisoners-- Richard Colfax, Sir Martin Byfleet, Colonel Fairfax,
Warren the preacher-poet, and half-a- score others-- all packed into one
small cell, not six feet square. Poor Colonel Fairfax, who's to die to- day,
is to be removed to no. 14 in the Cold Harbour that he may have his last
hour alone with his confessor; and I've to see to that. 2ND YEOMAN Poor
gentleman! He'll die bravely. I fought under him two years since, and he
valued his life as it were feather! PHOEBE He's the bravest, the handsomest,
and the best young gentleman in England! He twice saved my father's life;
and it's a cruel thing, a wicked thing, and a barbarous thing that so
gallant a hero should lose his head-- for it's the handsomest head in
England! DAME For dealings with the devil. Aye! if all were beheaded who
dealt with him, there'd be busy things on Tower Green. PHOEBE You know very
well that Colonel Fairfax is a student of alchemy-- nothing more, and
nothing less; but this wicked Tower, like a cruel giant in a fairy-tale,
must be fed with blood, and that blood must be the best and bravest in
England, or it's not good enough for the old Blunderbore. Ugh! DAME Silence,
you silly girl; you know not what you say. I was born in the old keep, and
I've grown grey in it, and, please God, I shall die and be buried in it; and
there's not a stone in its walls that is not as dear to me as my right hand.
No. 3. When our gallant Norman foes (SONG WITH CHORUS) Dame Carruthers and
Yeomen DAME When our gallant Norman foes Made our merry land their own, And
the Saxons from the Conqueror were flying, At his bidding it arose, In its
panoply of stone, A sentinel unliving and undying. Insensible, I trow, As a
sentinel should be, Though a queen to save her head should come a-suing,
There's a legend on its brow That is eloquent to me, And it tells of duty
done and duty doing. The screw may twist and the rack may turn, And men may
bleed and men may burn, O'er London town and its golden hoard I keep my
silent watch and ward! CHORUS The screw may twist and the rack may turn,
O'er London town and all its hoard, And men may bleed and men may burn, O'er
London town and all its hoard, O'er London town and its golden hoard I keep
my silent watch and ward! DAME Within its wall of rock The flower of the
brave Have perished with a constancy unshaken. From the dungeon to the
block, From the scaffold to the grave, Is a journey many gallant hearts have
taken. And the wicked flames may hiss Round the heroes who have fought For
conscience and for home in all its beauty, But the grim old fortalice Takes
little heed of aught That comes not in the measure of its duty. The screw
may twist and the rack may turn, And men may bleed and men may burn, O'er
London town and its golden hoard I keep my silent watch and ward! CHORUS The
screw may twist and the rack may turn, O'er London town and all its hoard,
And men may bleed and men may burn, O'er London town and all its hoard, O'er
London town and its golden hoard I keep my silent watch and ward! [Exeunt
all but PHOEBE. Enter SERGEANT MERYLL. PHOEBE Father! Has no reprieve
arrived for the poor gentleman? MERYLL No, my lass; but there's one hope
yet. Thy brother Leonard, who, as a reward for his valour in saving his
standard and cutting his way through fifty foes who would have hanged him,
has been appointed a Yeoman of the Guard, will arrive to-day; and as he
comes straight from Windsor, where the Court is, it may be--it may be-- that
he will bring the expected reprieve with him. PHOEBE Oh, that he may!
MERYLLAmen to that! For the Colonel twice saved my life, and I'd give the
rest of my life to save his! And wilt thou not be glad to welcome thy brave
brother, with the fame of whose exploits all England is a-ringing? PHOEBE
Aye, truly, if he brings the reprieve. MERYLL And not otherwise? PHOEBE
Well, he's a brave fellow indeed, and I love brave men. MERYLL All brave
men? PHOEBE Most of them, I verily believe! But I hope Leonard will not be
too strict with me-- they say he is a very dragon of virtue and
circumspection! Now, my dear old father is kindness itself, and---- MERYLL
And leaves thee pretty well to thine own ways, eh? Well, I've no fears for
thee; thou hast a feather-brain, but thou'rt a good lass. PHOEBE Yes, that's
all very well, but if Leonard is going to tell me that I may not do this and
I may not do that, and I must not talk to this one, or walk with that one,
but go through the world with my lips pursed up and my eyes cats down, like
a poor nun who has renounced mankind-- why, as I have not renounced mankind,
and don't mean to renounce mankind, I won't have it-- there! MERYLL Nay,
he'll not check thee more than is good for thee,Phoebe! He's a brave fellow,
and bravest among brave fellows, and yet it seems but yesterday that he
robbed the Lieutenant's orchard. No. 3A. A laughing boy (OPTIONAL
SONG)Sergeant Meryll MERYLL A laughing boy but yesterday, A merry urchin
blithe and gay, Whose joyous shout came ringing out Unchecked by care or
sorrow.Today a warrior all sunbrown,When deeds of soldierly renown Are not
the boast of London town, A veteran tomorrow, today a warrior, A veteran
tomorrow! When at my Leonard's deeds sublime,A soldier's pulse beats double
time, And grave hearts thrill as brave hearts will.At tales of martial
glory. I burn with flush of pride and joy,A pride unbittered by alloy,To
find my boy, my darling boy,The theme of song and story, To find my darling
boy The theme of song and story! To find my boy, my darling boy,The theme of
song and story! [Enter LEONARD MERYLL -LEONARD Father! MERYLL Leonard! my
brave boy! I'm right glad to see thee, and so is Phoebe! PHOEBE Aye-- hast
thou brought Colonel Fairfax's reprieve? LEONARD Nay, I have here a despatch
for the Lieutenant, but no reprieve for the Colonel! PHOEBE Poor gentleman!
poor gentleman! LEONARD Aye, I would I had brought better news. I'd give my
right hand-- nay,my body-- my life,to save his! MERYLL Dost thou speak in
earnest, my lad? LEONARD Aye, father-- I'm no braggart. Did he not save thy
life? and am I not his foster-brother? MERYLL Then hearken to me. Thou hast
come to join the Yeomen of the Guard! LEONARD Well? MERYLL None has seen
thee but ourselves? LEONARD And a sentry, who took scant notice of me.
MERYLL Now to prove thy words. Give me the despatch and get thee hence at
once! Here is money, and I'll send thee more. Lie hidden for a space, and
let no one know. I'll convey a suit of Yeoman's uniform to the Colonel's
cell-- he shall shave off his beard, so that none shall know him, and I'll
own him as my son, the brave Leonard Meryll, who saved his flag and cut his
way through fifty foes who thirsted for his life. He will be welcomed
without question by my brother- Yeomen, I'll warrant that. Now, how to get
access to the Colonel's cell? [To PHOEBE] The key is with they sour-faced
admirer, Wilfred Shadbolt. PHOEBE [demurely] I think-- I say, I think-- I
can get anything I want from Wilfred. I think-- mind I say, I think-- you
may leave that to me. MERYLL Then get thee hence at once, lad-- and bless
thee for this sacrifice. PHOEBE And take my blessing, too, dear, dear
Leonard! LEONARD And thine. eh? Humph! Thy love is newborn; wrap it up
carefully, lest it take cold and die. No. 4. Alas! I waver to and fro (TRIO)
Phoebe, Leonard, and Meryll PHOEBE Alas! I waver to and fro! Dark danger
hangs upon the deed! ALL Dark danger hangs upon the deed! LEONARD The scheme
is rash and well may fail; But ours are not the hearts that quail, The hands
that shrink, the cheeks that pale In hours of need! ALL No, ours are not the
hearts that quail, The hands that shrink, the cheeks that pale The hands
that shrink, the cheeks that pale In hours of need! MERYLL The air I breathe
to him I owe: My life is his-- I count it naught! PHOEBEand LEONARD That
life is his--so count it naught! MERYLL And shall I reckon risks I run When
services are to be done To save the life of such an one? Unworthy thought!
Unworthy thought! PHOEBE and LEONARD And shall we reckon risks we run To
save the life of such an one? ALL Unworthy thought! Unworthy thought! We may
succeed-- who can foretell? May heav'n help our hope-- May heav'n help our
hope, farewell! May heav'n help our hope, Help our hope, farewell! [LEONARD
embraces MERYLL and PHOEBE, and then exits. PHOEBE weeping. MERYLL [goes up
to PHOEBE] Nay, lass, be of good cheer, we may save him yet. PHOEBE Oh! see,
after-- they bring the poor gentleman from the Beauchamp! [pronounced
Bee'cham] Oh, father! his hour is not yet come? MERYLL No, no-- they lead
him to the Cold Harbour Tower to await his end in solitude. But softly-- the
Lieutenant approaches! He should not see thee weep. [Enter FAIRFAX, guarded
by YEOMEN. The LIEUTENANT enters, meeting him. LIEUT. Halt! Colonel Fairfax,
my old friend, we meet but sadly. FAIRFAX Sir, I greet you with all
good-will; and I thank you for the zealous acre with which you have guarded
me from the pestilent dangers which threaten human life outside. In this
happy little community, Death, when he comes, doth so in punctual and
business-like fashion; and, like a courtly gentleman, giveth due notice of
his advent, that one may not be taken unawares. LIEUT. Sir, you bear this
bravely, as a brave man should. FAIRFAX Why, sir, it is no light boon to die
swiftly and surely at a given hour and in a given fashion! Truth to tell, I
would gladly have my life; but if that may not be, I have the next best
thing to it, which is death. Believe me, sir, my lot is not so much amiss!
PHOEBE [aside to MERYLL] Oh, father, father, I cannot bear it! MERYLL My
poor lass! FAIRFAX Nay, pretty one, why weepest thou? Come, be
comforted.Such a life as mine is not worth weeping for. [sees MERYLL]
Sergeant Meryll, is it not? [to LIEUTENANT] May I greet my old friend?
[Shakes MERYLL's hand; MERYLL begins to weep] Why, man, what's all this?
Thou and I have faced the grim old king a dozen times, and never has his
majesty come to me in such goodly fashion. Keep a stout heart, good fellow--
we are soldiers, and we know how to die, thou and I. Take my word for it, it
is easier to die well than to live well-- for, in sooth, I have tried both.
No. 5. Is life a boon? Fairfax FAIRFAX Is life a boon? If so, it must befall
That Death, whene'er he call, Must call too soon. Though fourscore years he
give, Yet one would pray to live Another moon! What kind of plaint have I,
Who perish in July, who perish in July? I might have had to die, Perchance,
in June! I might have had to die, Perchance, in June! Is life a thorn? Then
count it not a whit! Nay, count it not a whit! Man is well done with it;
Soon as he's born He should all means essay To put the plague away; And I,
war-worn, Poor captured fugitive,My life most gladly give--I might have had
to live, Another morn! I might have had to live, Another morn! [At the end,
PHOEBE is led off,weeping, by MERYLL. FAIRFAX And now, Sir Richard, I have a
boon to beg. I am in this strait for no better reason than because my
kinsman, Sir Clarence Poltwhistle, one of the Secretaries of State, has
charged me with sorcery, in order that he may succeed in my estate, which
devolves to him provided I die unmarried. LIEUT. As thou wilt most surely
do. FAIRFAX Nay, as I will most surely not do, by your worship's grace! I
have a mind to thwart this good cousin of mine. LIEUT. How? FAIRFAX By
marrying forthwith, to be sure! LIEUT.But heaven ha' mercy, whom wouldst
thou marry? FAIRFAX Nay, I am indifferent on that score. Coming Death hath
made of me a true and chivalrous knight, who holds all womankind in such
esteem that the oldest, and the meanest, and the worst-favoured of them is
good enough for him. So, my good Lieutenant, if thou wouldst serve a poor
soldier who has but an hour to live, find me the first that comes-- my
confessor shall marry us, and her dower shall be my dishonoured name and a
hundred crowns to boot. No such poor dower for an hour of matrimony! LIEUT.
A strange request. I doubt that I should be warranted in granting it.
FAIRFAX There never was a marriage fraught with so little of evil to the
contracting parties. In an hour she'll be a widow, and I-- a bachelor again
for aught I know! LIEUT. Well, I will see what can be done, for I hold thy
kinsman in abhorrence for the scurvy trick he has played thee. FAIRFAX A
thousand thanks, good sir; we meet again in this spot in an hour or so. I
shall be a bridegroom then,and your worship will wish me joy.Till then,
farewell. [To GUARD] I am ready, good fellows. [Exit with GUARD into Cold
Harbour Tower] LIEUT. He is a brave fellow, and it is a pity that he should
die. Now, how to find him a bride at such short notice? Well, the task
should be easy! [Exit] [Enter JACK POINT and ELSIE MAYNARD, pursued by a
CROWD of men and women. POINT and ELSIE are much terrified; POINT, however,
assuming an appearance of self-possession. No. 6. Here's a man of jollity (CHORUS)People,
Elsie, and Jack Point CHORUS Here's a man of jollity, Jibe, joke, jollify!
Give us of your quality,Come, fool, follify! If you vapour vapidly, River
runneth rapidly, Into it we fling Fool who doesn't follify, Bird who doesn't
sing! Give us an experiment In the art of merriment; Into it we throw Cock
who doesn't crow! Banish your timidity, And with all rapidity Give us quip
and quiddity-- Willy-nilly, O! River none can mollify Into it we throw Fool
who doesn't follify, Cock who doesn't crow! Banish your timidity, And with
all rapidity Give us quip and quiddity- Willy-nilly, O! POINT [alarmed] My
masters, I pray you bear with us, and we will satisfy you, for we are merry
folk who would make all merry as ourselves. For, look you, there is humour
in all things, and the truest philosophy is that which teaches us to find it
and to make the most of it. ELSIE [struggling with 1ST CITIZEN] Hands off, I
say,unmannerly fellow! [she boxes his ears] POINT [to 1ST CITIZEN] Ha! Didst
thou hear her say, "Hands off"? 1ST CITIZEN Aye, I heard her say it, and I
felt her do it! What then? POINT Thou dost not see the humour of that?
1STCITIZEN Nay, if I do, hang me! POINT Thou dost not? Now, observe. She
said, "Hands off! "Whose hands? Thine. Off whom? Off her. Why? Because she
is a woman. Now, had she not been a woman, thine hands had not been set upon
her at all. So the reason for the laying on of hands is the reason for the
taking off of hands, and herein is contradiction contradicted! It is the
very marriage of pro with con; and no such lopsided union either, as times
go, for pro is not more unlike con than man is unlike woman-- yet men and
women marry every day with none to say, "Oh, the pity of it!" but I and
fools like me! Now wherewithal shall we please you? We can rhyme you
couplet, triolet, quatrain, sonnet,rondolet, ballade,what you will. Or we
can dance you saraband, gondolet,carole, pimpernel, or Jumping Joan. ELSIE
Let us give them the singing farce of the Merryman and his Maid - therin is
song and dance too!ALL Aye, the Merryman and his Maid! No. 7. I have a song
to sing, O!(DUET) Elsie and Point POINT I have a song to sing, O! ELSIE Sing
me your song, O! POINT It is sung to the moon By a love-lorn loon, Who fled
from the mocking throng, O! It's a song of a merryman, moping mum, Whose
soul was sad, and whose glance was glum, Who sipped no sup, and who craved
no crumb, As he sighed for the love of a ladye. Heighdy! heighdy! Misery
me--lack-a-day-dee! He sipped no sup, and he craved no crumb, As he sighed
for the love of a ladye! ELSIE I have a song to sing, O! POINT Sing me your
song, O! ELSIE It is sung with the ringOf the songs maids sing Who love with
a love life-long, O! It's the song of a merrymaid, peerly proud, Who loved a
lord, and who laughed aloud At the moan of the merryman, moping mum, Whose
soul was sad, and whose glance was glum, Who sipped no sup, and who craved
no crumb, As he sighed for the love of a ladye! Heighdy! heighdy! Misery
me--lack-a-day-dee! He sipped no sup, and he craved no crumb, As he sighed
for the love of a ladye! POINT I have a song to sing, O! ELSIE Sing me your
song, O! POINT It is sung to the knell Of a churchyard bell, And a doleful
dirge, ding dong, O! It's a song of a popinjay, bravely born, Who turned up
his noble nose with scorn At the humble merrymaid, peerly proud, Who loved a
lord, and who laughed aloud At the moan of the merryman, moping mum, Whose
soul was sad, and whose glance was glum, Who sipped no sup, and who craved
no crumb, As he sighed for the love of a ladye! Heighdy! heighdy! Misery
me--lack-a-day-dee! He sipped no sup, and he craved no crumb, As he sighed
for the love of a ladye! ELSIE I have a song to sing, O! POINT Sing me your
song, O! ELSIE It is sung with a sigh And a tear in the eye, For it tells of
a righted wrong, O! It's a song of the merrymaid, once so gay, Who turned on
her heel and tripped away From the peacock popinjay, bravely born, Who
turned up his noble nose with scorn At the humble heart that he did not
prize: So she begged on her knees, with downcast eyes, For the love of the
merryman, moping mum, Whose soul was sad, and whose glance was glum, Who
sipped no sup, and who craved no crumb, As he sighed for the love of a ladye!
BOTH Heighdy! heighdy! Misery me--lack-a-day-dee! His pains were o'er, and
he sighed no more, For he lived in the love of a ladye! Heighdy! heighdy!
Misery me--lack-a-day-dee! His pains were o'er, and he sighed no more, For
he lived in the love of a ladye! 1ST CITIZEN Well sung and well danced!
2NDCITIZEN A kiss for that, pretty maid! ALL Aye, a kiss all round. [CROWD
gathers around her] ELSIE [drawing dagger] Best beware! I am armed! POINT
Back, sirs-- back! This is going too far. 2ND CITIZEN Thou dost not see the
humour of it, eh? Yet there is humour in all things-- even in this. [Trying
to kiss her] ELSIE Help! Help! [Enter LIEUTENANT with GUARD. CROWD falls
back LIEUT. What is the pother? ELSIE Sir, we sang to these folk, and they
would have repaid us with gross courtesy, but for your honour's coming.
LIEUT. [to CROWD] Away with ye! Clear the rabble. [GUARDS push CROWD off,
and go off with them] Now, my girl, who are you, and what do you here? ELSIE
May it please you, sir, we are two strolling players, Jack Point and I,
Elsie Maynard, at your worship's service. We go from fair to fair, singing,
and dancing, and playing brief interludes; and so we make a poor living.
LIEUT. You two, eh? Are ye man and wife? POINT No, sir; for though I'm a
fool, there is a limit to my folly. Her mother, old Bridget Maynard, travels
with us (for Elsie is a good girl), but the old woman is a- bed with fever,
and we have come here to pick up some silver to buy an electuary for her.
LIEUT. Hark ye, my girl! Your mother is ill? ELSIE Sorely ill, sir. LIEUT.
And needs good food, and many things that thou canst not buy? ELSIE Alas!
sir, it is too true. LIEUT. Wouldst thou earn an hundred crowns? ELSIE An
hundred crowns! They might save her life! LIEUT. Then listen! A worthy but
unhappy gentleman is to be beheaded in an hour on this very spot. For
sufficient reasons, he desires to marry before he dies, and he hath asked me
to find him a wife. Wilt thou be that wife? ELSIE The wife of a man I have
never seen! POINT Why, sir, look you, I am concerned in this; for though I
am not yet wedded to Elsie Maynard, time work wonders, and there's no
knowing what may be in store for us. Have we your worship's word for it that
this gentleman will die to-day? LIEUT. Nothing is more certain, I grieve to
say. POINT And that the maiden will be allowed to depart the very instant
the ceremony is at an end? LIEUT. The very instant. I pledge my honour that
it shall be so. POINT An hundred crowns? LIEUT. An hundred crowns! POINT For
my part, I consent. It is for Elsie to speak. No. 8. How say you, maiden,
will you wed (TRIO) Elsie, Point, and Lieutenant LIEUT. How say you, maiden,
will you wed A man about to lose his head? For half an hour You'll be his
wife, And then the dower Is your for life. A headless bridegroom why
refuse?If truth the poets tell,Most bridegrooms, 'ere they marry,Lose both
head and heart as well! ELSIE A strange proposal you reveal, It almost makes
my senses reel. Alas! I'm very poor indeed, And such a sum I sorely need. My
mother, sir, is like to die. This money life may bring. Bear this in mind, I
pray, If I consent to do this thing! POINT Though as a general rule of life
I don't allow my promised wife, My lovely bride that is to be, To marry
anyone but me, Yet if the fee is promptly paid, And he, in well-earned
grave, Within the hour is duly laid, Objection I will waive! Yes, objection
I will waive! ALL Temptation, oh, temptation, Were we, I pray, intended To
shun, what e'er our station, Your fascinations splendid; Or fall, whene'er
we view you, Head over heels into you? Head over heels, Head over heels,
Head over heels into you! Head over heels, Head over heels, Head over heels,
Right into you! Head over heels, Head over heels, etc. Temptation, oh,
temptation! [During this, the LIEUTENANT has whispered to WILFRED (who has
entered). WILFRED binds ELSIE's eyes with a kerchief, and leads her into the
Cold Harbour Tower LIEUT. And so, good fellow, you are a jester? POINT
Aye,sir,and like some of my jests, out of place. LIEUT. I have a vacancy for
such an one. Tell me, what are your qualifications for such a post? POINT
Marry, sir, I have a pretty wit. I can rhyme you extempore; I can convulse
you with quip and conundrum;I have the lighter philosophies at my tongue's
tip; I can be merry, wise, quaint, grim, and sardonic, one by one, or all at
once; I have a pretty turn for anecdote; I know all the jests-- ancient and
modern-- past, present, and to come; I can riddle you from dawn of day to
set of sun, and, if that content you not, well on to midnight and the small
hours. Oh, sir, a pretty wit, I warrant you-- a pretty, pretty wit! No. 9.
I've jibe and joke (SONG)Point POINT I've jibe and joke And quip and crank
For lowly folk And men of rank. I ply my craft And know no fear. But aim my
shaft At prince or peer. At peer or prince-- at prince or peer, I aim my
shaft and know no fear! I've wisdom from the East and from the West, That's
subject to no academic rule; You may find it in the jeering of a jest, Or
distil it from the folly of a fool. I can teach you with a quip, if I've a
mind; I can trick you into learning with a laugh; Oh, winnow all my folly,
folly, folly, and you'll find A grain or two of truth among the chaff! Oh,
winnow all my folly, folly, folly, and you'll find A grain or two of truth
among the chaff! I can set a braggart quailing with a quip, The upstart I
can wither with a whim; He may wear a merry laugh upon his lip, But his
laughter has an echo that is grim. When they're offered to the world in
merry guise, Unpleasant truths are swallowed with a will, For he who'd make
his fellow, fellow, fellow creatures wise Should always gild the philosophic
pill! For he who'd make his fellow, fellow, fellow creatures wise Should
always gild the philosophic pill! LIEUT. And how came you to leave your last
employ? POINT Why, sir, it was in this wise. My Lord was the Archbishop of
Canterbury, and it was considered that one of my jokes was unsuited to His
Grace's family circle. In truth, I ventured to ask a poor riddle,sir--
Wherein lay the difference between His Grace and poor Jack Point? His Grace
was pleased to give it up, sir. And thereupon I told him that whereas His
Grace was paid 10,000 a year for being good, poor Jack Point was good-- for
nothing. 'Twas but a harmless jest, but it offended His Grace, who whipped
me and set me in the stocks for a scurril rogue, and so we parted. I had as
lief not take post again with the dignified clergy. LIEUT. But I trust you
are very careful not to give offence. I have daughters. POINT Sir, my jests
are most carefully selected, and anything objectionable is expunged. If your
honour pleases, I will try then first on your honour's chaplain. LIEUT. Can
you give me an example? Say that I had sat me down hurriedly on something
sharp? POINT Sir, I should say that you had sat down on the spur of the
moment. LIEUT. Humph! I don't think much of that. Is that the best you can
do? POINT It has always been much admired, sir, but we will try again.
LIEUT. Well, then, I am at dinner, and the joint of meat is but half cooked.
POINT Why then, sir, I should say that what is underdone cannot be helped.
LIEUT. I see. I think that manner of thing would be somewhat irritating.
POINT At first, sir, perhaps; but use is everything, and you would come in
time to like it. LIEUT. We will suppose that I caught you kissing the
kitchen wench under my very nose. POINT Under her very nose, good sir-- not
under yours! That is where I would kiss her. Do you take me? Oh, sir, a
pretty wit-- a pretty, pretty wit! LIEUT. The maiden comes. Follow me,
friend, and we will discuss this matter at length in my library. POINT I am
your worship's servant. That is to say, I trust I soon shall be. But, before
proceeding to a more serious topic, can you tell me, sir, why a cook's
brain-pan is like an overwound clock? LIEUT. A truce to this fooling--
follow me. POINT Just my luck; my best conundrum wasted! [Exeunt LIEUTENANT
and POINT. Enter ELSIE from Tower, led by WILFRED, who removes the bandage
from her eyes, and exits. No. 10. 'Tis done! I am a bride!(RECITATIVE AND
SONG) ElsieELSIE 'Tis done! I am a bride! Oh, little ring, That bearest in
thy circlet all the gladness That lovers hope for, and that poets sing, What
bringest thou to me but gold and sadness? A bridegroom all unknown, save in
this wise, To-day he dies! To-day, alas, he dies! Though tear and long-drawn
sigh Ill fit a bride, No sadder wife than I The whole world wide! Ah me! Ah
me! Yet maids there be Who would consent to lose The very rose of youth, The
flow'r of life, To be, in honest truth, A wedded wife, No matter whose! No
matter whose! Ah me! what profit we, O maids that sigh, Though gold, though
gold should live If wedded love must die? Ere half an hour has rung, A widow
I! Ah, heaven, he is too young, Too brave to die! Ah me! Ah me! Yet wives
there be So weary worn, I trow, That they would scarce complain, So that
they could In half an hour attain To widowhood, No matter how! No matter
how! O weary wives Who widowhood would win, Rejoice, rejoice, that ye have
time To weary in. O weary wives Who widowhood would win,Rejoice, rejoice,
rejoice, that ye have time O weary, weary wives, rejoice! [Exit ELSIE as
WILFRED re-enters. WILFRED [looking after ELSIE] 'Tis an odd freak for a
dying man and his confessor to be closeted alone with a strange singing
girl. I would fain have espied them,but they stopped up the keyhole. My
keyhole! [Enter PHOEBE with SERGEANT MERYLL. MERYLL remains in the
background, unobserved by WILFRED. PHOEBE [aside] Wilfred-- and alone!
WILFRED Now what could he have wanted with her? That's what puzzles me!
PHOEBE [aside] Now to get the keys from him. [Aloud] Wilfred-- has no
reprieve arrived? WILFRED None. Thine adored Fairfax is to die. PHOEBE Nay,
thou knowest that I have naught but pity for the poor condemned gentleman.
WILFRED I know that he who is about to die is more to thee than I, who am
alive and well. PHOEBE Why, that were out of reason, dear Wilfred. Do they
not say that a live ass is better than a dead lion? No, I didn't mean that!
WILFRED Oh, they say that, do they? PHOEBE It's unpardonably rude of them,
but I believe they put it in that way. Not that it applies to thee, who art
clever beyond all telling! WILFRED Oh yes, as an assistant-tormentor. PHOEBE
Nay, as a wit, as a humorist, as a most philosophic commentator on the
vanity of human resolution. [PHOEBE slyly takes bunch of keys from WILFRED's
waistband and hands them to MERYLL, who enters the Tower, unnoticed by
WILFRED. WILFRED Truly, I have seen great resolution give way under my
persuasive methods [working with a small thumbscrew]. In the nice regulation
of a thumbscrew-- in the hundredth part of a single revolution lieth all the
difference between stony reticence and a torrent of impulsive unbosoming
that the pen can scarcely follow. Ha! ha! I am a mad wag. PHOEBE [with a
grimace] Thou art a most light-hearted and delightful companion, Master
Wilfred. Thine anecdotes of the torture-chamber are the prettiest hearing.
WILFRED I'm a pleasant fellow an' I choose. I believe I am the merriest dog
that barks. Ah, we might be passing happy together-- PHOEBE Perhaps. I do
not know. WILFRED For thou wouldst make a most tender and loving wife.
PHOEBE Aye, to one whom I really loved. For there is a wealth of love within
this little heart-- saving up for-- I wonder whom? Now, of all the world of
men, I wonder whom? To think that he whom I am to wed is now alive and
somewhere! Perhaps far away, perhaps close at hand! And I know him not! It
seemeth that I am wasting time in not knowing him. WILFRED Now say that it
is I-- nay! suppose it for the nonce.Say that we are wed-- suppose it only--
say that thou art my very bride, and I thy cherry, joyous, bright,frolicsome
husband-- and that, the day's work being done, and the prisoners stored away
for the night,thou and I are alone together-- with a long, long evening
before us! PHOEBE [with a grimace] It is a pretty picture-- but I scarcely
know. It cometh so unexpectedly-- and yet--and yet-- were I thy bride--
WILFRED Aye!-- wert thou my bride--? PHOEBE Oh, how I would love thee! No.
11. Were I thy bride (SONG)Phoebe PHOEBE Were I thy bride, Then all the
world beside Were not too wide To hold my wealth of love-- Were I thy bride!
Upon thy breast My loving head would rest, As on her nest The tender turtle
dove-- Were I thy bride! This heart of mine Would be one heart with thine,
And in that shrine Our happiness would dwell-- Were I thy bride! And all day
long Our lives should be a song: No grief, no wrong Should make my heart
rebel-- Were I thy bride! The silvery flute, The melancholy lute, Were
night-owl's hoot To my low-whispered coo-- Were I thy bride! The skylark's
trill Were but discordance shrill To the soft thrill Of wooing as I'd woo--
Were I thy bride! [MERYLL re-enters; gives keys to PHOEBE, who replaces them
at WILFRED's girdle, unnoticed by him. Exit MERYLL. The rose's sigh Were as
a carrion's cry To lullaby Such as I'd sing to thee, Were I thy bride! A
feather's press Were leaden heaviness to my caress. But then, of course, you
see, I'm not thy bride. [Exit PHOEBE WILFRED No, thou'rt not-- not yet! But,
Lord, how she woo'd; I should be no mean judge of wooing, seeing that I have
been more hotly woo'd than most men. I have been woo'd by maid, widow, and
wife, timidly, tearfully, shyly-- by direct assault, by suggestion, by
implication, by inference, and by innuendo. But this wooing is not of the
common order; it is the wooing of one who must needs me, if she die for it!
[Exit WILFRED. Enter SERGEANT MERRILL, cautiously, from Tower. MERYLL
[looking after them] The deed is, so far, safely accomplished. The slyboots,
how she wheedled him! What a helpless ninny is a love-sick man! He is but as
a lute in a woman's hands-- she plays upon him whatever tune she will. But
the Colonel comes. I' faith, he's just in time, for the Yeomen parade here
for his execution in two minutes! [Enter FAIRFAX, without beard and
moustache, and dressed in Yeoman's uniform. FAIRFAX My good and kind friend,
thou runnest a grave risk for me! MERYLL Tut, sir, no risk. I'll warrant
none here will recognise you. You make a brave Yeoman, sir! So-- this ruff
is too high; so-- and the sword should hang thus.Here is your halbert, sir;
carry it thus. The Yeomen come. Now, remember, you are my brave son, Leonard
Meryll. FAIRFAX If I may not bear mine own name, there is none other I would
bear so readily. MERYLL Now, sir, put a bold face on it, for they come. No.
12. Oh, Sergeant Meryll, is it true (FINALE OF ACT I) Ensemble [Enter YEOMEN
of the Guard YEOMEN Oh, Sergeant Meryll, is it true-- The welcome news we
read in orders? Thy son, whose deeds of derring-do Are echoed all the
country through, Has come to join the Tower Warders? If so, we come to meet
him, That we may fitly greet him, And welcome his arrival here With shout on
shout and cheer on cheer, Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! MERYLL Ye Tower warders,
nursed in war's alarms,Suckled on gunpowder, and weaned on glory, Behold my
son, whose all-subduing arms Have formed the theme of many a song and story!
Forgive his aged father's pride; nor jeer His aged father's sympathetic
tear![Pretending to weep] YEOMEN Leonard Meryll! Leonard Meryll! Dauntless
he in time of peril!Man of power, Knighthood's flower, Welcome to the grim
old Tower, To the Tower, welcome thou! FAIRFAX Forbear, my friends, and
spare me this ovation,I have small claim to such consideration; The tales
that of my prowess are narrated Have been prodigiously exaggerated,
prodigiously exaggerated! YEOMEN 'Tis ever thus! Wherever valor true is
found, True modesty will there abound. 1ST YEOMAN Didst thou not, oh,
Leonard Meryll! Standard lost in last campaign, Rescue it at deadly peril--
Bear it safely back again? YEOMEN Leonard Meryll, at his peril, Bore it
safely back again! 2ND YEOMAN Didst thou not, when prisoner taken, And
debarred from all escape, Face, with gallant heart unshaken, Death in most
appalling shape? YEOMEN Leonard Meryll, faced his peril, Death in most
appalling shape! FAIRFAX [aside] Truly I was to be pitied, Having but an
hour to live, I reluctantly submitted,I had no alternative! FAIRFAX [aloud]
Oh! the tales that are narrated Of my deeds of derring-do Have been much
exaggerated, Very much exaggerated, Scarce a word of them is true! Scarce a
word of them is true! YEOMEN They are not exaggerated, Not at all
exaggerated, Could not be exaggerated, Ev'ry word of them is true! 3RD
YEOMAN [optional] You, when brought to execution, Like a demigod of yore,
With heroic resolution Snatched a sword and killed a score. YEOMEN
[optional] Leonard Meryll, Leonard Meryll Snatched a sword and killed a
score! 4TH YEOMAN [optional] Then escaping from the foemen, Boltered with
the blood you shed, You, defiant, fearing no men, Saved your honour and your
head! YEOMEN [optional] Leonard Meryll, Leonard Meryll Saved his honour and
his head. FAIRFAX [optional] True, my course with judgement shaping,
Favoured, too, by lucky star, I succeeded in escaping Prison-bolt and prison
bar! FAIRFAX [optional] Oh! the tales that are narrated Of my deeds of
derring-do Have been much exaggerated, Very much exaggerated, Scarce a word
of them is true! Scarce a word of them is true! YEOMEN [optional] They are
not exaggerated, Not at all exaggerated, Could not be exaggerated, Ev'ry
word of them is true! [Enter PHOEBE. She rushes to FAIRFAX. Enter WILFRED.
PHOEBE Leonard! FAIRFAX [puzzled] I beg your pardon? PHOEBE Don't you know
me? I'm little Phoebe! FAIRFAX [still puzzled] Phoebe? Is this Phoebe? What!
little Phoebe? [aside] Who the deuce may she be? It can't be Phoebe, surely?
WILFRED Yes, 'tis Phoebe-- Your sister Phoebe! Your own little sister!
YEOMEN Aye, he speaks the truth; 'Tis Phoebe! FAIRFAX [pretending to
recognise her] Sister Phoebe! PHOEBE Oh, my brother! FAIRFAX Why, how you've
grown! I did not recognize you! PHOEBE So many years! Oh, brother! FAIRFAX
Oh, my sister! BOTH Oh, brother!/Oh, sister! WILFRED Aye, hug him, girl!
There are three thou mayst hug-- Thy father and thy brother and-- myself!
FAIRFAX Thyself, forsooth? And who art thou thyself? WILFRED Good sir, we
are betrothed. [FAIRFAX turns inquiringly to PHOEBE PHOEBE Or more or less--
But rather less than more! WILFRED To thy fond care I do commend thy sister.
Be to her An ever-watchful guardian-- eagle-eyed! And when she feels (as
sometimes she does feel) Disposed to indiscriminate caress, Be thou at hand
to take those favours from her! YEOMEN Be thou at hand to take those favours
from her!PHOEBE Yes, yes. Be thou at hand to take those favours from me!
WILFRED To thy fraternal care Thy sister I commend; From every lurking snare
Thy lovely charge defend; And to achieve this end, Oh! grant, I pray, this
boon-- Oh! grant this boon She shall not quit my sight; From morn to
afternoon-- From afternoon to night-- From sev'n o'clock to two-- From two
to eventide-- From dim twilight to 'lev'n at night, From dim twilight to 'lev'n
at night She shall not quit my side! YEOMEN From morn to afternoon-- From
afternoon to 'lev'n at night She shall not quit thy side! PHOEBE So amiable
I've grown, So innocent as well, That if I'm left alone The consequences
fell No mortal can foretell. So grant, I pray, this boon-- Oh! grant this
boon I shall not quit thy sight: From morn to afternoon-- From afternoon to
night-- From sev'n o'clock to two-- From two to eventide-- From dim twilight
to 'lev'n at night From dim twilight to 'lev'n at night I shall not quit thy
side! YEOMEN From morn to afternoon-- From afternoon to 'lev'n at night She
shall not quit thy side! FAIRFAX With brotherly readiness, For my fair
sister's sake, At once I answer "Yes"-- That task I undertake-- My word I
never break. I freely grant that boon, And I'll repeat my plight. From morn
to afternoon-- [kiss] From afternoon to night-- [kiss] From sev'n o'clock to
two-- [kiss] From two to evening meal-- [kiss] From dim twilight to 'lev'n
at night, From dim twilight to 'lev'n at night, That compact I will seal.
[kiss] YEOMEN From morn to afternoon, From afternoon to 'lev'n at night He
freely grants that boon. [The bell of St. Peter's begins to toll. The CROWD
enters; the block is brought on to the stage, and the HEADSMAN takes his
place. The YEOMEN of the Guard form up. The LIEUTENANT enters and takes his
place, and tells off FAIRFAX and two others to bring the prisoner to
execution. WILFRED, FAIRFAX, and TWO YEOMEN exeunt to Tower. CHORUS The
prisoner comes to meet his doom; The block, the headsman, and the tomb. The
funeral bell begins to toll; May Heav'n have mercy on his soul! May Heav'n
have mercy on his soul! ELSIE Oh, Mercy, thou whose smile has shone So many
a captive heart upon; Of all immured within these walls, To-day the very
worthiest falls! ALL Oh, Mercy, thou whose smile has shone So many a captive
heart upon; Of all immured within these walls, The very worthiest falls. Oh,
Mercy, Oh, Mercy! [Enter FAIRFAX and TWO YEOMEN from Tower in great
excitement. FAIRFAX My lord! I know not how to tell The news I bear! I and
my comrades sought the pris'ner's cell-- He is not there! ALL He is not
there! They sought the pris'ner's cell-- he is not there! FAIRFAX AND TWO
YEOMEN As escort for the prisoner We sought his cell, in duty bound; The
double gratings open were, No prisoner at all we found! We hunted high, we
hunted low, We hunted here, we hunted there-- The man we sought with anxious
care Had vanished into empty air! The man we sought with anxious care Had
vanished into empty air! [Exit LIEUTENANT WOMEN Now, by my troth, the news
is fair, The man has vanished into air! ALL As escort for the prisoner
We/they sought his cell in duty bound; The double gratings open were, No
prisoner at all we/they found, We/they hunted high, we/they hunted low,
We/they hunted here, we/they hunted there, The man we/they sought with
anxious care Had vanished into empty air! The man we/they sought with
anxious care Had vanished into empty air! [Enter WILFRED, followed by
LIEUTENANT LIEUT. Astounding news! The pris'ner fled! [To WILFRED] Thy life
shall forfeit be instead! [WILFRED is arrested WILFRED My lord, I did not
set him free, I hate the man-- my rival he! MERYLL The pris'ner gone-- I'm
all agape! LIEUT. Thy life shall forfeit be instead! MERYLL Who could have
helped him to escape? WILFRED My lord, I did not set him free! PHOEBE Indeed
I can't imagine who! I've no idea at all, have you? [Enter JACK POINT DAME
Of his escape no traces lurk, Enchantment must have been at work! ELSIE
[aside to POINT] What have I done? Oh, woe is me! PHOEBE & DAME Indeed I
can't imagine who! I've no idea at all, have you? ELSIE I am his wife, and
he is free! POINT Oh, woe is you? Your anguish sink! Oh, woe is me, I rather
think! Oh, woe is me, I rather think! Yes, woe is me, I rather think!
Whate'er betide You are his bride, And I am left Alone-- bereft! Yes, woe is
me, I rather think! Yes, woe is me, I rather think! Yes, woe is me, Yes, woe
is me, Yes, woe is me, Yes, woe is me, I rather think! ENSEMBLE All frenzied
with despair I/they rave, The grave is cheated of its due. Who is, who is
the misbegotten knave Who hath contrived this deed to do? Let search, let
search Be made throughout the land, Or his/my vindictive anger dread-- A
thousand marks, a thousand marks he'll/I'll hand Who brings him here, alive
or dead, Who brings him here, alive or dead! A thousand marks, a thousand
marks, Alive, alive or dead Alive, alive or dead Who brings him here, alive,
alive, or dead. [At the end, ELSIE faints in FAIRFAX's arms; all the YEOMEN
and CROWD rush off the stage in different directions, to hunt for the
fugitive, leaving only the HEADSMAN on the stage, and ELSIE insensible in
FAIRFAX's arms.END OF ACT I ACT II |