Imaginations and Reveries Part 12

A LEGEND IN THREE ACTS

Dramatis Personae:

CONCOBAR............... Ardrie of Ulla.

NAISI AINLE, ARDAN............ Brothers of Naisi.

FERGUS BUINNE, ILANN.......... Sons of Fergus CATHVAH................. A Druid DEIRDRE LAVARCAN................ A Druidess Herdsman, Messenger

ACT I.

SCENE.--The dun of DEIRDRE'S captivity. LAVARCAM, a Druidess, sits before the door in the open air. DEIRDRE comes out of the dun.

DEIRDRE--Dear fostermother, how the spring is beginning! The music of the Father's harp is awakening the flowers. Now the winter's sleep is over, and the spring flows from the lips of the harp. Do you not feel the thrill in the wind--a joy answering the trembling strings? Dear fostermother, the spring and the music are in my heart!

LAVARCAM--The harp has but three notes; and, after sleep and laughter, the last sound is of weeping.

DEIRDRE--Why should there be any sorrow while I am with you? I am happy here. Last night in a dream I saw the blessed Sidhe upon the mountains, and they looked on me with eyes of love.

(An old HERDSMAN enters, who bows before LAVARCAM.)

HERDSMAN--Lady, the High King is coming through the woods.

LAVARCAM--Deirdre, go to the grianan for a little. You shall tell me your dream again, my child.

DEIRDRE--Why am I always hidden from the King's sight.

LAVARCAM--It is the King's will you should see no one except these aged servants.

DEIRDRE--Am I indeed fearful to look upon, foster-mother? I do not think so, or you would not love me.

LAVARCAM--It is the King's will.

DEIRDRE--Yet why must it be so, fostermother? Why must I hide away? Why must I never leave the valley?

LAVARCAM--It is the king's will.

While she is speaking CONCOBAR enters. He stands still and looks on DEIRDRE. DEIRDRE gazes on the KING for a moment, and then covering her face with her hands, she hurries into the dun. The HERDSMAN goes out.

LAVARCAM sees and bows before the KING.

CONCOBAR--Lady, is all well with you and your charge?

LAVARCAM--All is well.

CONCOBAR--Is there peace in Deirdre's heart?

LAVARCAM--She is happy, not knowing a greater happiness than to roam the woods or to dream of the immortal ones can bring her.

CONCOBAR--Fate has not found her yet hidden in this valley.

LAVARCAM--Her happiness is to be here. But she asks why must she never leave the glen. Her heart quickens within her. Like a bird she listens to the spring, and soon the valley will be narrow as a cage.

CONCOBAR--I cannot open the cage. Less ominous the Red Swineherd at a feast than this beautiful child in Ulla. You know the word of the Druids at her birth.

LAVARCAM--Aye, through her would come the destruction of the Red Branch.

But sad is my heart, thinking of her lonely youth.

CONCOBAR--The G.o.ds did not guide us how the ruin might be averted. The Druids would have slain her, but I set myself against the wise ones, thinking in my heart that the chivalry of the Red Branch would be already gone if this child were slain. If we are to perish it shall be n.o.bly, and without any departure from the laws of our order. So I have hidden her away from men, hoping to stay the coming of fate.

LAVARCAM--King, your mercy will return to you, and if any of the Red Branch fall, you will not fall.

CONCOBAR--If her thoughts turned only to the Sidhe her heart would grow cold to the light love that warriors give. The birds of Angus cannot breathe or sing their maddening song in the chill air that enfolds the wise. For this, Druidess, I made thee her fosterer. Has she learned to know the beauty of the ever-living ones, after which the earth fades and no voice can call us back?

LAVARCAM--The immortals have appeared to her in vision and looked on her with eyes of love.

CONCOBAR--Her beauty is so great it would madden whole hosts, and turn them from remembrance of their duty. We must guard well the safety of the Red Branch. Druidess, you have seen with subtle eyes the shining life beyond this. But through the ancient traditions of Ulla, which the bards have kept and woven into song, I have seen the shining law enter men's minds, and subdue the lawless into love of justice. A great tradition is shaping a heroic race; and the G.o.ds who fought at Moytura are descending and dwelling in the heart of the Red Branch. Deeds will be done in our time as mighty as those wrought by the giants who battled at the dawn; and through the memory of our days and deeds the G.o.ds will build themselves an eternal empire in the mind of the Gael. Wise woman, guard well this beauty which fills my heart with terror. I go now, and will doubly warn the spearmen at the pa.s.ses, but will come hither again and speak with thee of these things, and with Deirdre I would speak also.

LAVARCAM--King of Ulla, be at peace. It is not I who will break through the design of the G.o.ds. (CONCOBAR goes through the woods, after looking for a time at the door of the dun.) But Deirdre is also one of the immortals. What the G.o.ds desire will utter itself through her heart. I will seek counsel from the G.o.ds.

[DEIRDRE comes slowly through the door.]

DEIRDRE--Is he gone? I fear this stony king with his implacable eyes.

LAVARVAM--He is implacable only in his desire for justice.

DEIRDRE--No! No! There is a hunger in his eyes for I know not what.

LAVARCAM--He is the wisest king who ever sat on the chair of Macha.

DEIRDRE--He has placed a burden on my heart. Oh! fostermother, the harp of life is already trembling into sorrow!

LAVARCAM--Do not think of him. Tell me your dream, my child.

[DEIRDRE comes from the door of the dun and sits on a deerskin at LAVARCAM's feet.]

DEIRDRE--Tell me, do happy dreams bring happiness, and do our dreams of the Sidhe ever grow real to us as you are real to me? Do their eyes draw nigh to ours, and can the heart we dream of ever be a refuge for our hearts.

LAVARCAM--Tell me your dream.

DEIRDRE--Nay; but answer first of all, dear fostermother--you who are wise, and who have talked with the Sidhe.

LAVARCAM--Would it make you happy to have your dream real, my darling?

DEIRDRE--Oh, it would make me happy!

[She hides her face on LAVARCAM's knees.]