<html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="" class="head">The Remembered Gods</h1><span class="smallcaps">Calum</span>, <em>Shepherd.</em><span class="smallcaps">Ian</span>, <em>Shepherd.</em><span class="smallcaps">Lior</span>, <em>God of the Sea.</em><span class="smallcaps">Balor</span>, <em>God of War.</em><span class="smallcaps">Angus</span>, <em>God of Love.</em><span class="smallcaps">Alastair</span>, <em>a young stranger.</em><span class="smallcaps">Mairi</span>, <em>daughter of Ian.</em><h1 align="" class="head">Dedication</h1><div class="stanza"><p class="line">If in my song the heart of love</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Looks from another maiden's eyes,</p><p class="line">Where on the hills of Morven move</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">The kings too proud for Paradise;</p><p class="line">Though to your ears the autumn brings</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">No sounds of crying, you will know</p><p class="line">The murmur of immortal things</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">In this dark tale of long ago.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">If in the silence of the nights</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">The song of Angus calls no more,</p><p class="line">If all the sea is ringed with lights</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">And no waves moaning on the shore.</p><p class="line">Though Balor, sleeping on the hills,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Forgets the dew in his drenched hair.</p><p class="line">You will remember ancient ills,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Pitying another Alastair.</p></div><h1 align="" class="head">The Remembered Gods</h1><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">TIME: <em>A long time ago.</em></span><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">SCENE: <em>A glen in Morven in the West Highlands, with big stones</em>scattered. Behind, a big ben. The stage is dark, but in the middle a tall tree shows blacker. Beneath it sits Angus in a wreath of mist. </span><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"> (<em>sings</em>).</span><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Angus</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Are the gods forgotten in Morven of the hinds,</p><p class="line">The beauty that slew men, the golden eyes that shone,</p><p class="line">The gods that would be walking on the rocks of the winds,</p><p class="line">That little men would die for the love of looking on?</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Are the gods forgotten in Morven of the stags,</p><p class="line">The old gods, the fair gods, that were too high for love,</p><p class="line">The white feet pressing on the grasses of the crags,</p><p class="line">The black hair hidden in the black clouds above?</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">The gods are forgotten in Morven of the glens.</p><p class="line">The sun shines clearly, and gentle is the day.</p><p class="line">Like snow in summer corries, like mist upon the bens,</p><p class="line">The lovely gods of darkness are vanished away.</p></div><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">[<em>Day dawns, and the stage is empty</em>.</span><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="smallcaps">Calum</span><em>and</em><span class="smallcaps">Ian</span><em>come in</em>.</span><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Calum.</span></p><p class="line"> I thought I heard one of the men of peace.</p><p class="line">Singing alone within the narrow glen.</p><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Ian.</span></p><p class="line"> There is none in it.</p><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Calum.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Yet I thought I heard</p><p class="line">A man of peace and he at sorrowing.</p><p class="line">God's pity on the people of the hills,</p><p class="line">For they have lost the changing love of men,</p><p class="line">And won their fear.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Ian.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line"> My mother used to say</p><p class="line">That when a man would walk the darkened hills,</p><p class="line">The men of peace would take his soul from him</p><p class="line">And use it for their pleasure. As they did,</p><p class="line">My mother said, in the old misty times,</p><p class="line">Before the word of God came into Alba.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Calum.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line"> Poor fallen gods, that were the lords of men,</p><p class="line">God's peace upon you. Make your peace with Him.</p><p class="line">Lose your sad pride to win His ready grace,</p><p class="line">And stand upon the golden floor of Heaven</p><p class="line">With other song than this. And yet, who knows,</p><p class="line">May be your pride is of more worth to you</p><p class="line">Than all the melodies of Paradise,</p><p class="line">And these sad songs of yours more beautiful</p><p class="line">Than any you could sing with happier lips.</p><p class="line">Perhaps our Lord's sweet face might make you dumb.</p></div><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"> (<em>outside singing</em>).</span><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Alastair</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Summer is gone at last, and autumn leaves are falling,</p><p class="line">And through the naked trees the wind is breathing low.</p><p class="line">Let us arise and go, for the old gods are calling,</p><p class="line">The beautiful cruel gods we loved so long ago.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Let us arise and go, for far beyond the city</p><p class="line">We hear the old gods singing the years from which we came,</p><p class="line">The merry heartless years that knew not pain or pity,</p><p class="line">The happy lustful years that knew not fear or shame.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">The bitter music calls, and we must follow after</p><p class="line">Back through the gentler years to the old time again,</p><p class="line">To wake their lovely mirth, to move the gods to laughter,</p><p class="line">This is the end of man, the full reward of pain.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">The golden eyes aglow, the silver laughter ringing,</p><p class="line">Shall we not suffer pain for lovely things as these?</p><p class="line">Let us arise and go, for the old gods are singing,</p><p class="line">The beautiful cruel gods that mock our miseries.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Ian.</span></p><p class="line">What voice is this? The men of peace are out.</p><p class="line">May God protect us!</p><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Calum.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Ian make an end.</p><p class="line">Though all the beaten fairies of the air</p><p class="line">Rise against heaven, we can cast them down,</p><p class="line">But it were better save them with a kiss.</p></div><span class="stage">[Raising his voice.</span><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Whoe'er you be that sing to us this morn,</p><p class="line">Whether your dwelling be below the hills</p><p class="line">Or in the mazy fastness of the air,</p><p class="line">Draw near in peace. For I have learned too well</p><p class="line">The lesson of Christ's love, to hate the sad</p><p class="line">Discrownèd gods that are His enemies.</p></div><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="smallcaps">Alastair</span><em>comes in</em>.</span><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Alastair.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Christ's love? Then even here men pray to Christ,</p><p class="line">The pitiful intruder; even here</p><p class="line">In Western Morven of the windy rocks,</p><p class="line">Where once the old gods would be wandering</p><p class="line">Along the outer fringes of the world,</p><p class="line">The loving god is master.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Ay and you,</p><p class="line">With love and pity shining from your eyes,</p><p class="line">Can you not mind upon your fathers' swords,</p><p class="line">Anger and hate and pride and cruelty?</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Ian.</span></p><p class="line">Blasphemer of the world, the Lord is King,</p><p class="line">And has set all your gods below His feet.</p><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Calum.</span></p><p class="line">If Christ the loving God is naught to you,</p><p class="line">Anger and hate more dear to you than love,</p><p class="line">What god would you be praying to at all?</p><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Alastair.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">The bitter gods, the beautiful white gods,</p><p class="line">That will be walking on the darkened cliffs,</p><p class="line">Lior the haunter of the roaring tides.</p><p class="line">Whose emerald eyes the drowning sailors see</p><p class="line">For one sweet instant, and are swallowed up.</p><p class="line">And Balor panoplied in shining rain.</p><p class="line">And armoured with the lightnings of the hills</p><p class="line">That fire our hearts to war. And chief of all,</p><p class="line">Angus the white-foot conqueror of men.</p><p class="line">The mist that would destroy the moon with love</p><p class="line">If she could hold him, the eternal mist</p><p class="line">That wanders still within our quiet hearts,</p><p class="line">Stirring the bitter love we may not sate</p><p class="line">Save with his own white beauty. These are they</p><p class="line">That were your father's gods in the old days.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Calum.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line"> The gods are fallen. On the misty crags</p><p class="line">They walk and sorrow for the olden times.</p><p class="line">And on the surf-beat rocks the whole night through</p><p class="line">Lior is moaning for his vanished loves,</p><p class="line">For we have girdled all the seas with flame,</p><p class="line">And our new night is gentle as the day.</p><p class="line">And the apostles' swords have pierced the rain</p><p class="line">That armoured Balor, and the angels' hands</p><p class="line">Have rent the fiery lightnings from his grasp,</p><p class="line">And war is dying, dying in our hearts.</p><p class="line">And the white feet of Angus walk the hill,</p><p class="line">But with him go no beautiful young men,</p><p class="line">And the young maidens bide within the house.</p><p class="line">And you may be, that walk the city ways,</p><p class="line">Dream that the gods are mighty yet. But we</p><p class="line">In Western Morven, by the winter fires,</p><p class="line">Hear all night long above the talk of men</p><p class="line">Our broken masters wailing on the hills.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Alastair.</span></p><p class="line">The gods are living yet, and have their thrones</p><p class="line">In the invisible desires of men.</p><p class="line">Below the quiet current of our lives</p><p class="line">They move and labour to destroy the chains</p><p class="line">Your saints have cast upon our memory.</p><p class="line">Still in our hearts the ancient fires burn high,</p><p class="line">And Balor, tempest-armoured, calls to us.</p><p class="line">And you with gentle prayer and song adore</p><p class="line">Your pitiful, sad god the whole day long.</p><p class="line">But in the echoing nights when none is by,</p><p class="line">In the lone nights do they not burn you still?</p><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Ian</span><span class="stage"> (<em>dreamily</em>).</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line"> I do remember clamorous desires,</p><p class="line">And lusts awaking in the frozen night,</p><p class="line">White maidens dancing underneath the moon,</p><p class="line">And the long roll and tumble of the waves.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Calum.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Ian, remember greater things than these,</p><p class="line">The little baby god new-born on earth,</p><p class="line">With soft lips sucking at his mother's breast.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Alastair.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">The sword of night has severed the gentle chains that bound you,</p><p class="line">The lovely gods of darkness rise in your heart anew.</p><p class="line">Beautiful gods and mighty, in dreams they stand around you,</p><p class="line">Kneel down in dreams and worship as once you used to do.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Ian.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">White maidens dancing underneath the moon,</p><p class="line">And the fierce glow of battle on the hills,</p><p class="line">And red, wet blood upon the slayer's hands.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Calum.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Oh, Ian, wake and see the face of Christ.</p><p class="line">The worn sad face, the pitiful sweet eyes,</p><p class="line">And the feet torn and bloody from the stones.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Alastair.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Dream on, dream on my brother, forget the man of sorrow.</p><p class="line">The way-worn feet and bloody, the eyes too dim with tears.</p><p class="line">Dream of the lords of beauty, for you shall see to-morrow</p><p class="line">The older day returning and the forgotten years.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Ian.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">The slow tides calling, calling on the beach,</p><p class="line">And all the little waves of night afire,</p><p class="line">And the cool emerald depths of Lior's eyes,</p><p class="line">That none may look upon and live again.</p><p class="line">Oh beautiful cool depths to drown my life,--</p><p class="line">I have remembered Lior, and the moon</p><p class="line">Is full again and there is mist abroad,</p><p class="line">And Angus singing clear upon the hills.</p><p class="line">Oh young men follow Angus of the Birds,</p><p class="line">Young maidens dance with him below the moon.</p><p class="line">You will grow old and hear his song no more.</p><p class="line">Oh, follow Angus now while you are young.--</p><p class="line">Angus has passed me by, but Balor's fires</p><p class="line">Burn fiercely in my bosom as of old,</p><p class="line">The lust of slaying, and the bitter blood,</p><p class="line">And the cold smile upon the foeman's face.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Calum.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Oh Ian, Ian, will you not remember</p><p class="line">The poor feet that the nails were driven through,</p><p class="line">The piercèd hands and the spear-riven side,</p><p class="line">And the heroic brow false-crowned with thorns?</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Ian.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">The night is ending. With the day will come</p><p class="line">The memory that dreamers may forget,</p><p class="line">But I will yet dream on a little while,</p><p class="line">Before day claims me for its own again,</p><p class="line">And the soft fetters close about my soul.</p></div><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">[<em>Looking round</em>.</span><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Am I awake, and you that bade me dream</p><p class="line">Bid me remember in the eye of day?</p><p class="line">Is there an end of the new heaven and hell,</p><p class="line">And all save earth and the immortal isle,</p><p class="line">They used to tell of in the olden times?</p></div><span class="stage">[<em>Sinks down</em>.</span><div class="stanza"><p class="line">1 have been dreaming, as I dream alone</p><p class="line">In the dim nights; but after them the day</p><p class="line">Brings back to me anew the face of Christ.</p><p class="line">I am afraid of this new dawn that brings</p><p class="line">No Christ, but memories of older things.</p></div><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">END OF ACT I</span><h1 align="" class="head">Act II</h1><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><p><em>The scene is</em><span class="smallcaps">Ian's</span><em>cottage. A wide fireplace with peats burning,and big chests along the walls. At a table sits</em><span class="smallcaps">Mairi Bain</span>. <span class="smallcaps">Ian</span><em>and</em><span class="smallcaps">Alastair</span><em>come in.</em></p></span><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Ian.</span></p><p class="line">Mairi put out more peats upon the fire,</p><p class="line">For we have strangers in the house to-night.</p><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Mairi.</span></p><p class="line">The blessings of our Lord be with you, stranger.</p><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Alastair.</span></p><p class="line">Blessings be with you, woman of the house,</p><p class="line">From older gods and greater lords than he.</p><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Mairi.</span></p><p class="line">Stranger, that is no luck-word to the house.</p><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Alastair.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Have you forgotten too, and do you bow,</p><p class="line">Pale lily of Morven, to the beaten god,</p><p class="line">Who should be following the mist of love</p><p class="line">Over the hills beneath a summer moon?</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Ian.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Mairi the days of memory are on us,</p><p class="line">For I have heard the coronach for Christ</p><p class="line">Wail up the corries of the windy hills,</p><p class="line">And high and clear above them Angus sang.</p><p class="line">But the apostles' souls fled crying, crying</p><p class="line">Over the hills across the boundless sea.</p><p class="line">I heard the noise of their lament grow faint,</p><p class="line">As the waves stilled it; and on the hills of Morven,</p><p class="line">Among the unseen secrets of the world,</p><p class="line">Christ that we knelt to once is lying dead.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Mairi.</span></p><p class="line">Father, have you forgotten God so soon?</p><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Ian.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">I have forgotten all things save the song</p><p class="line">Of Angus that I cannot follow now,</p><p class="line">And the fierce music of the lords of war,</p><p class="line">When fighting heroes meet in the glad ring</p><p class="line">Of sword on sword and cries of wounded men.</p></div><span class="stage">[<em>Recalls himself.</em></span><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Mairi put meat and drink before the stranger.</p><p class="line">I must be going with the sheep again.</p></div><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">[<em>He goes out.</em><span class="smallcaps">Mairi</span><em>bursts into tears.</em></span><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Mairi.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">My sorrow on the people of the hills,</p><p class="line">My sorrow on the heart that could forget,</p><p class="line">My sorrow on you, stranger, who have cast</p><p class="line">A misty spell before my father's eyes,</p><p class="line">So that the face of Christ grows dark to him.</p></div><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">(<em>kneels beside her</em>).</span><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Alastair</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Oh beautiful in sorrow still weep on,</p><p class="line">Shrouding your face within a veil of tears.</p><p class="line">Weep, for your grief will roll away the years</p><p class="line">That have drawn long forgetfulness between us.</p></div><span class="stage">[<em>She turns away.</em></span><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Hear me, forgetting for a little while</p><p class="line">That I am he who woke the gods again.</p><p class="line">Think I am Alastair, who would awake</p><p class="line">The drowsy loveliness that sleeps too long.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Mairi</span><span class="stage">(<em>staring at him</em>).</span></p><p class="line">You are too beautiful for me to hate,</p><p class="line">And yet too evil for my love.</p><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Alastair.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Oh wait,</p><p class="line">For in my heart remembrance is awake</p><p class="line">Of the old time when we went hand in hand,</p><p class="line">Following the harp a thousand years ago.</p><p class="line">And I will make a song of memory,</p><p class="line">That shall call love to your dim eyes again.</p></div><span class="stage">SONG</span><div class="song"><p class="line">Long ago beneath the moon,</p><p class="line">In a corrie of the hills</p><p class="line">We forgot our ancient ills</p><p class="line">Dancing to a wizard tune.</p><p class="line">We remembered song and spell</p><p class="line">Chanted in a Lochlainn rune.</p><p class="line">Flower of Morven, it was well</p><p class="line">Long ago beneath the moon.</p></div><div class="song"><p class="line">Now the moon is full again,</p><p class="line">And the song of Angus cries</p><p class="line">Underneath the Summer skies</p><p class="line">Till the nights of Summer wane.</p><p class="line">Follow now while still you may,</p><p class="line">Ere his music calls in vain,</p><p class="line">Where the harps of Angus play,</p><p class="line">Now the moon is full again.</p></div><div class="song"><p class="line">Flower of Morven, long ago</p><p class="line">In the corrie where we met,</p><p class="line">Did you think you could forget,</p><p class="line">Did you dream you would not know</p><p class="line">Lips that sang the lovers' tune,</p><p class="line">And the heart that loved you so?</p><p class="line">Did forgetfulness come soon,</p><p class="line">Flower of Morven long ago?</p></div><div class="song"><p class="line">Oh remember me once more,</p><p class="line">Now the mist is on the hills</p><p class="line">And the harp of Angus stills</p><p class="line">Moaning waves along the shore,</p><p class="line">For the songs I made for you,</p><p class="line">For the love that was before,</p><p class="line">For the heart that still is true</p><p class="line">Oh remember me once more.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Mairi.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line"> I cannot tell if it be memory</p><p class="line">That burns me so, or if the heart of love</p><p class="line">Looks out from eyes I never saw till now.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Alastair.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">The memory of a thousand years is on us,</p><p class="line">The darkened years since our young souls, new-made,</p><p class="line">Looked out through other eyes on other lands.</p><p class="line">For you and I spoke with a hundred tongues,</p><p class="line">And saw a hundred lives passing us by,</p><p class="line">Before we came to Morven of the stags.</p><p class="line">They have fled by like the light winds that blow</p><p class="line">Swift shadows o'er a waveless loch. But we,</p><p class="line">Like the loch water, bide the same for ever,</p><p class="line">Since first the gods fashioned our souls of mist,</p><p class="line">That at the end will take them back again.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Mairi.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">The gods are dead, or if they have I care not,</p><p class="line">For over my poor heart they have no power.</p><p class="line">Here in the changing world we stand alone,</p><p class="line">Ourselves for ever. I am Mairi Bain,</p><p class="line">And you are Alastair, my love. Forget</p><p class="line">The gods that haunted you, for they were dreams,</p><p class="line">And I hold truth for you in these two hands.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Alastair</span><span class="stage">(<em>coming nearer</em>).</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Oh draw me close and help me to forget,</p><p class="line">As though there were no gods in all the world.</p><p class="line">All the delight of living, all the beauty</p><p class="line">That lingers in the depths of mountain pools</p><p class="line">Is in your eyes, and on your dewy lips</p><p class="line">The joy of lying in the grass at morning,</p><p class="line">Before the sun is risen in the sky.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Mairi.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">I dreamed I saw you seven years ago.</p><p class="line">You brought me heather-honey and blue flowers,</p><p class="line">And wild raspberries picked in an upland glen.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Alastair.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">I will bring you gold from the fairy houses,</p><p class="line">That are below the hills. I will forget</p><p class="line">All, and grow old and happy, loving you.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Mairi</span><span class="stage"> (<em>puts her arms round his neck</em>).</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">We will not care now for the flying shadows,</p><p class="line">For we have come into the heart of the world.</p></div><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><p>[<em>They kiss. Outside a faint music is heard. ALASTAIR starts and turns round</em>.</p></span><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Mairi.</span></p><p class="line">What is it that you hear?</p><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Alastair.</span></p><p class="line">The song of Angus</p><p class="line">Calling across the misty hills to me.</p><p>END OF Act II</p><h1 align="" class="head">Act III</h1><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><em>A grassy place in the clachan. In the middle an altar with peat and some sacrifice burning. Around it the people are standing. They sing.</em></span><p>Song</p><div class="song"><p class="line">Cry for the gods returning,</p><p class="line">Cry for the saints that go,</p><p class="line">Cry for the altars burning,</p><p class="line">And the beacon lights burnt low.</p><p class="line">Now in the hills above us</p><p class="line">The masters of joy and pain,</p><p class="line">Our loves that will not love us,</p><p class="line">The gods are come again.</p></div><div class="song"><p class="line">Cry for the day of slaughter,</p><p class="line">Cry for the happy dead,</p><p class="line">The dooms of men and the water</p><p class="line">Over the drowning head.</p><p class="line">Cry for the lightnings gleaming,</p><p class="line">And the thunder answering,</p><p class="line">The things that we longed for dreaming,</p><p class="line">And the songs we could not sing.</p></div><div class="song"><p class="line">Cry for the wandering singer,</p><p class="line">And for his magic tune,</p><p class="line">And dances that weave and linger</p><p class="line">Under a summer moon.</p><p class="line">Cry for the fight and tourney,</p><p class="line">The harp the mother of tears,</p><p class="line">And the world that with backward journey</p><p class="line">Moves down the older years.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">1st Man.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">We had our fill of slaying and wild joy</p><p class="line">When Balor gave us victory in Appin.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">2nd Man.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Uisdean was fighting like a great hero</p><p class="line">Of those that were the guard of Fionnagal.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">3rd Man.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Uisdean is lying cold upon the hills</p><p class="line">And in the houses they are wailing him,</p><p class="line">And the wife dumb with sorrow.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">1st Man.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">It was fine</p><p class="line">Ta hear the way the Appin men were crying,</p><p class="line">And though Bean-Uisdean will be sorrowing,</p><p class="line">The gods love slaying and the clash of swords.</p></div><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">ALASTAIR <em>comes in</em>.</span><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Alastair.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Oh praise the gods that have renewed the world,</p><p class="line">Until our old desires are young again.</p><p class="line">The sun is growing weary, and draws on</p><p class="line">The fairy-haunted stillness of the night,</p><p class="line">That is the end of all my wandering.</p><p class="line">For you have heard the voices that were crying</p><p class="line">Through the long years of your forgetfulness,</p><p class="line">And known the end of prisoning.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">But I</p><p class="line">Bid you farewell, for the last chain of all</p><p class="line">Must be destroyed, and the last honour paid.</p></div><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="smallcaps">Mairi</span><em>and</em><span class="smallcaps">Calum</span><em>come in</em>.</span><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">The gods are calling for the sacrifice,</p><p class="line">And on the hills the fairy harps are playing,</p><p class="line">That I must follow at the end of all.</p><p class="line">Here at the altar of the king of love</p><p class="line">I give myself the first-fruits of his fires</p><p class="line">To die to-night upon the sacred tree.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">1st Man.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">We will fulfil the sacrifice hereafter.</p><p class="line">And tread behind you in the way of death.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">2nd Man.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">The servant of the gods will go his way,</p><p class="line">That ends beyond the sight of human eyes</p><p class="line">In the immortal island of the west.</p></div><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><p>[<em>They go out in reverent silence, leaving on the stage only</em><span class="smallcaps">Alastair, Mairi,</span><em>and</em><span class="smallcaps">Calum</span>. <span class="smallcaps">Mairi</span><em>is struck at first with terror. Then she comes up to</em><span class="smallcaps">Alastair</span><em>and speaks, weeping.</em></p></span><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Mairi.</span></p><p class="line">Oh heart of mine, you will not leave me so,</p><p class="line">But turn again to see the face of Christ,</p><p class="line">And love that brought us into the bright heaven.</p><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Alastair</span><span class="stage">(<em>uplifted with the joy of worship</em>).</span></p><p class="line">Pale lily that I would not pluck, farewell.</p><p class="line">A greater love than yours is calling me,</p><p class="line">And I must follow where the harper plays</p><p class="line">Through the short bitterness into the joy</p><p class="line">That none may know save those who see the eyes,</p><p class="line">The golden eyes of Angus opening.</p><p class="line">Farewell. Our love was soiled with mortal clay,</p><p class="line">And I am seeing the white feet of the mist.</p><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">[<em>He goes out</em>. <span class="smallcaps">Mairi</span><em>sits down with her head in her hands.</em></span><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Mairi.</span></p><p class="line">Oh sorrow for the fleeting love of man,</p><p class="line">That the desires of hell have stolen away.</p><p class="line">Oh love of mine, that the dark gods have charmed</p><p class="line">To follow down the misty path that leads</p><p class="line">To the eternal gloom of the abyss.</p><p class="line">It is a farewell for us two evermore.</p><p class="line">The gods have conquered, and the heart of love</p><p class="line">Is bruisèd with the beating of their wings.</p><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Calum.</span></p><p class="line">Mairi, the gods are masters for an hour,</p><p class="line">But in the end our Lord will come again</p><p class="line">With all the host of Heaven for His guard.</p><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Mairi.</span></p><p class="line">Our Lord will come too late for him. And I</p><p class="line">Have forgot all the sorrow of the world,</p><p class="line">But the swift agony upon the tree</p><p class="line">And the immortal pain of him I love.</p><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">[<em>She is silent a while. Then she raises her head.</em></span><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"></p><p class="line">There is an end of joy, for I have bowed</p><p class="line">My spirit to the harsh commands of love.</p><p class="line">God will forget me who have cast Him off.</p><p class="line">The doors of heaven are shut, and the dark fires</p><p class="line">Burn high to-night for me.</p><span class="stage">[<em>She turns to</em><span class="smallcaps">Calum</span>.</span><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">But you will know</p><p class="line">The sorrow of my love that I must die</p><p class="line">For him I set above the joy of heaven.</p><span class="stage">[<em>She stretches out her arms to where</em><span class="smallcaps">Alastair</span><em> has gone out.</em></span><p class="line">Oh you that brought the bitter gift to me,</p><p class="line">Rejoice. Angus will have his sacrifice.</p><p>END OF ACT III</p><h1 align="" class="head">Act IV</h1><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><p><em>The scene is the same as the first. It is night, but the great tree shows blacker. Below it sits </em>ANGUS<em> in a wreath of mist.</em></p></span><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Angus</span><span class="stage">(<em>sings</em>).</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Let the gods awake, for memory has woken,</p><p class="line">The little men that loved us remember us again,</p><p class="line">The chains that were wrought of the love of Christ are broken,</p><p class="line">And little men come back to our beauty and their pain.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Let the gods awake, for the hearts of men are waking</p><p class="line">The little hearts that warmed us when we were a-cold.</p><p class="line">The old time is back again, the old day is breaking--</p><p class="line">What is man's forgetting to us who wax not old?</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Let the gods awake, for the old fires are burning,</p><p class="line">And little men remember the words they used to pray.</p><p class="line">In all the lands of Morven our lovers are returning,</p><p class="line">The gentle chains that bound them are vanished away.</p></div><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">[<em>From the left of the stage the waves of the sea moan, and</em> LIOR<em> speaks.</em></span><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Lior.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Who will be calling, who will be calling</p><p class="line">The master of waters to waken again?</p><p class="line">In my ears is the noise of the waves that are falling,</p><p class="line">And over my head is the sound of the rain.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Who will be crying, who will be crying</p><p class="line">To Lior the watcher, the emerald-eyed?</p><p class="line">Is there a story that men will be dying</p><p class="line">For me, as their fathers, my lovers, have died?</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Who will be singing, who will be singing</p><p class="line">Of waking to me who awaken no more?</p><p class="line">For men have forgot me, and no winds are bringing</p><p class="line">The lives for my drowning they brought me before.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Angus.</span></p><p class="line">Awake, awake, Lior, the time is gone for sleeping;</p><p class="line">The hearts of men remember the haunter of the waves;</p><p class="line">Let your tides awake, for soon they will be keeping</p><p class="line">The watch they kept of old time upon your lovers' graves.</p><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><p>[<em>The murmur of the sea swells into a roar, and the darkness in the west lightens to an emerald glow. From it </em>LIOR <em>speaks</em>.</p></span><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Lior.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Awake my waters, for men are returning</p><p class="line">From the new god to the lord of the tide.</p><p class="line">On the rocks of drowning no watch-fires are burning.</p><p class="line">For men have remembered the emerald-eyed.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Awake my waters. The north wind is blowing,</p><p class="line">And seaward the sailors are toiling in vain,</p><p class="line">We are the lords of their coming and going,</p><p class="line">Men have remembered the sea-god again.</p></div><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">[<em>From the great ben</em> BALOR <em>speaks through the falling rain.</em></span><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Balor.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">I will sleep still, for my trumpet of thunder,</p><p class="line">The master of fear, has been silent for long.</p><p class="line">The rain-clouds that armed me are riven asunder,</p><p class="line">I will sleep still for the new god is strong.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">I will sleep on, for his angels have reft me</p><p class="line">Of lightnings that burned in my servants of yore.</p><p class="line">War is gone from me, I only have left me</p><p class="line">Sleep that is good at the ending of war.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">I will sleep on, for men are forgetting</p><p class="line">Balor that strode on the heads of the slain.</p><p class="line">Anger is dead, and the old day is setting;</p><p class="line">My servants will turn to me never again.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Angus</span></p><p class="line">Oh wake, my brother, wake. The hearts of men grown younger</p><p class="line">Remember Balor striding above the battle-cry.</p><p class="line">The old fires are lit, for the old lusts are stronger;</p><p class="line">And men are born to slay again, and born again to die.</p><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><p>[<em>Lightning flashes across the sky, and the thunder rolls.</em></p></span><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Balor.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">I will rise up in the castles of singing,</p><p class="line">The houses of feasting my trumpet shall hear.</p><p class="line">The winds of the hills will come back with me bringing</p><p class="line">The rouser of battle, the master of fear.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">I will rise up where the arrows are hailing,</p><p class="line">In the hearts of the dying I will lie down.</p><p class="line">In the houses of Morven new widows are wailing,</p><p class="line">For men have remembered my ancient renown.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Angus.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Now the gods are wakened, now the world is old,</p><p class="line">Now the lightnings flash above the rain,</p><p class="line">Now the hymns are chanted, and the stories told,</p><p class="line">For the ancient faith has come again.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Now the world remembers, love is passed away,</p><p class="line">Pity buried with forgotten things.</p><p class="line">High among the mountains, low along the bay</p><p class="line">Men are praying to the older kings.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Now the smoke of burning scents the western winds,</p><p class="line">Now the victim bleeds upon the sod.</p><p class="line">The gods are remembered in Morven of the hinds,</p><p class="line">And men have forgotten God.</p></div><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><p>[<em>All is quiet</em>. <span class="smallcaps">Calum</span><em>and</em><span class="smallcaps">Mairi</span><em>come in</em>.</p></span><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Calum.</span></p><p class="line">This is the place of Angus.</p><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Mairi.</span></p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Are the hills</p><p class="line">As full of terror as they are to-night,</p><p class="line">When you are herding in the nights of spring?</p><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Calum</span></p><p class="line">To-night the men of peace have power on earth,</p><p class="line">For men have loosed them. Now the hollow caves</p><p class="line">Send forth a thousand walkers of the hills,</p><p class="line">And all along the beach the voices call,</p><p class="line">And fairy torches move among the rocks.</p><p class="line">Now the old gods are masters of the world,</p><p class="line">And wait to-night the keystone of their power.</p><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Mairi.</span></p><div class="stanza"><p class="line">I see them all about me cold and still,</p><p class="line">The cruel, lovely faces. From the sea</p><p class="line">I hear the voices of a thousand sorrows</p><p class="line">Crying the coronach along the beach</p><p class="line">For them that will be drowned in years to come.</p><p class="line">And in the houses there is wailing too,</p><p class="line">And moaning of strong fighters on the hill,</p><p class="line">And maidens weeping their virginity,</p><p class="line">And old men sorrowing for lost desires.</p><p class="line">And the gods sit for ever cold and still,</p><p class="line">Mocking the sorrows of the heart of men</p><p class="line">With cruel, lovely faces.</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">I remember</p><p class="line">Alastair's face and I am brave again,</p><p class="line">And all the fairies of the lower air</p><p class="line">Powerless as autumn leaves before the wind</p><p class="line">Against the burning purpose of my heart.</p></div><span class="stage">[<em>Wistfully</em>.</span><div class="stanza"><p class="line">I wish that I might live the summer through,</p><p class="line">Milking the cattle in the upland glens,</p><p class="line">And singing songs before the shelling door,</p><p class="line">Careless and happy as I used to be.</p><p class="line">Eilidh will miss my hand at milking-time,</p><p class="line">But you will tell them to be soft with her.</p></div><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Calum.</span></p><p class="line">Eilidh will be the princess of the cows,</p><p class="line">When they are herded in the upland glens.</p><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Mairi</span></p><p class="line">And you will bid the children think of me.</p><p class="line">I shall be happy if I hear them weep,</p><p class="line">And see their tears across the flames of Hell.</p><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Calum.</span></p><p class="line">Oh Mairi, there will be no Hell for you,</p><p class="line">But the soft grass that is the floor of Heaven,</p><p class="line">With lilies of the south between each blade,</p><p class="line">And angels to go with you hand in hand,</p><p class="line">And God the Father at the end of all.</p><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Mairi.</span></p><p class="line">Calum, soft words are harder than sharp stones</p><p class="line">To hearts that know the end of happiness;</p><p class="line">For I will never press the floor of Heaven,</p><p class="line">Nor hear the angels' voices sweet and clear,</p><p class="line">Nor ever kiss the piercèd feet of Christ.</p><p class="line">But sometimes I shall hear them far away</p><p class="line">Singing the melodies of Paradise,</p><p class="line">While I lie torn and anguished evermore,</p><p class="line">The mate of demons in the lower Hell.</p><p class="line">Not only this poor body, oh my God,</p><p class="line">But all my soul's eternal ecstasy</p><p class="line">I cast away to-night of my own will.</p><p class="line">Go now, but kiss me once before you go,</p><p class="line">That the last kiss may cool my lips in Hell.</p><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Calum.</span></p><p class="line">I will not go and leave you on the hills,</p><p class="line">Alone and weak within the fairy ring.</p><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Mairi.</span></p><p class="line">The men of peace can do no harm to me,</p><p class="line">For I am dead and lost by my own will.</p><p class="line">But go, for I am weakening again,</p><p class="line">And dreaming of my life's lost happiness;</p><p class="line">It is a lonely thing for me to die.</p><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><p>[<em>He goes out. She turns away to the tree.</em></p></span><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Mairi.</span></p><p class="line">Darkness, and all around the waiting gods.</p><p class="line">Oh Alastair, your heart will comfort me</p><p class="line">If you remember me a little while.</p><p class="line">As in the darkness I remember you.</p><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><p>[<em>She hangs herself. There is quiet and then</em><span class="smallcaps">Alastair</span><em>comes in</em>. </p></span><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Alastair.</span></p><p class="line">This is the last of nights on earth for me,</p><p class="line">Since all is done that I was sent to do,</p><p class="line">Down in the clachan there is wailing now</p><p class="line">For son and husband stricken in their pride.</p><p class="line">And on the hills lie the unburied dead</p><p class="line">With hate and anger cold upon their lips,</p><p class="line">Or terror still upon the frozen face.</p><p class="line">And on the rocks the beacons are burnt out,</p><p class="line">And in all Morven no man tends the fire,</p><p class="line">And Lior takes his lovers back again.</p><p class="line">Along the hills the song of Angus calls</p><p class="line">White maidens and the beautiful young men</p><p class="line">To dance with him to-night below the moon.</p><p class="line">White maidens, and will Mairi go with them,</p><p class="line">The pale lily of Morven I have held</p><p class="line">Within my hands, and left to grow alone,</p><p class="line">Because I love the beauty of the mist</p><p class="line">More than the heavy fragrance of her hair,</p><p class="line">And the dim soul that looks from her two eyes.</p><p class="line">Oh, the pale shadows of immortal love,</p><p class="line">That shiver in the eyes of mortal maids.</p><p class="line">Cannot drink up the waters of desire,</p><p class="line">That eddy stormily, until my heart</p><p class="line">Is borne upon them to the last of isles,</p><p class="line">The spring of life, the love of all the world.</p><p class="line">Oh Angus, oh white haunter of the world,</p><p class="line">Wandering mist that hides the heart of earth,</p><p class="line">I come at last back to the king of love,</p><p class="line">And cast my soul into the endless sea.</p><span class="stage"><p>[<em>He turns to the tree. Seeing </em><span class="smallcaps">Mairi's</span><em> figure in the branches he starts.</em></p></span><p class="line">There is a shadow in the lower branches</p><p class="line">Too dark to be the bright wraith of the mist.</p><span class="stage"><p>[<em>He goes towards the tree and sees who it is.</em></p></span><p class="line">Mairi!</p><span class="stage"><p>[<em>He is silent. Then he realizes.</em></p></span><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">And did you cast away your life,</p><p class="line">Lily of Morven, cast your soul away</p><p class="line">For me, oh love?</p><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><p>[<em>A light shines over her heart, and gradually spreads over the whole body.</em></p></span><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Alastair.</span></p><p class="line">My brain is all afire,</p><p class="line">And in the flames great temples crashing down,</p><p class="line">The houses of the gods are rent asunder,</p><p class="line">And through them sweep the angels triumphing,</p><p class="line">And over all I see</p><span class="stage"><p>[<em>The light reaches the face.</em></p></span><p class="line">The face of Christ!</p><span class="stage"><p>[<em>He clasps her hanging feet.</em></p></span><p class="line">Oh heart of earthly lovers keep me safe.</p><p class="line">Oh blessed anguished feet, let me hold you still.</p><span class="stage" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><p>[<em>The light spreads over the stage and drives back the mist.</em></p></span><p class="speech" xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><span class="speaker">Angus.</span></p><p class="line">The gods are forgotten in Morven of the glens;</p><p class="line">The sun shines clearly, and gentle is the day;</p><p class="line">Like snow in summer corries, like the mist upon the bens,</p><p class="line">The lovely gods of darkness are vanished away.</p><p class="trailer">End of the Play</p></body></html> · Great War