Queen Mary; and, Harold Part 49

EDWARD. Treble denial of the tongue of flesh, Like Peter's when he fell, and thou wilt have To wail for it like Peter. O my son!

Are all oaths to be broken then, all promises Made in our agony for help from heaven?

Son, there is one who loves thee: and a wife, What matters who, so she be serviceable In all obedience, as mine own hath been: G.o.d bless thee, wedded daughter.

[_Laying his hand on the_ QUEEN'S _head_.

QUEEN. Bless thou too That brother whom I love beyond the rest, My banish'd Tostig.

EDWARD. All the sweet Saints bless him!

Spare and forbear him, Harold, if he comes!

And let him pa.s.s unscathed; he loves me, Harold!

Be kindly to the Normans left among us, Who follow'd me for love! and dear son, swear When thou art king, to see my solemn vow Accomplish'd.

HAROLD. Nay, dear lord, for I have sworn Not to swear falsely twice.

EDWARD. Thou wilt not swear?

HAROLD. I cannot.

EDWARD. Then on thee remains the curse, Harold, if thou embrace her: and on thee, Edith, if thou abide it,--

[_The_ KING _swoons;_ EDITH _falls and kneels by the couch_.

STIGAND. He hath swoon'd!

Death?... no, as yet a breath.

HAROLD. Look up! look up!

Edith!

ALDRED. Confuse her not; she hath begun Her life-long prayer for thee.

ALDWYTH. O n.o.ble Harold, I would thou couldst have sworn.

HAROLD. For thine own pleasure?

ALDWYTH. No, but to please our dying king, and those Who make thy good their own--all England, Earl.

ALDRED. _I_ would thou couldst have sworn. Our holy king Hath given his virgin lamb to Holy Church To save thee from the curse.

HAROLD. Alas! poor man, _His_ promise brought it on me.

ALDRED. O good son!

That knowledge made him all the carefuller To find a means whereby the curse might glance From thee and England.

HAROLD. Father, we so loved--

ALDRED. The more the love, the mightier is the prayer; The more the love, the more acceptable The sacrifice of both your loves to heaven.

No sacrifice to heaven, no help from heaven; That runs thro' all the faiths of all the world.

And sacrifice there must be, for the king Is holy, and hath talk'd with G.o.d, and seen A shadowing horror; there are signs in heaven--

HAROLD. Your comet came and went.

ALDRED. And signs on earth!

Knowest thou Senlac hill?

HAROLD. I know all Suss.e.x; A good entrenchment for a perilous hour!

ALDRED. Pray G.o.d that come not suddenly! There is one Who pa.s.sing by that hill three nights ago-- He shook so that he scarce could out with it-- Heard, heard--

HAROLD. The wind in his hair?

ALDRED. A ghostly horn Blowing continually, and faint battle-hymns, And cries, and clashes, and the groans of men; And dreadful shadows strove upon the hill, And dreadful lights crept up from out the marsh-- Corpse-candles gliding over nameless graves--

HAROLD. At Senlac?

ALDRED. Senlac.

EDWARD (_waking_).

Senlac! Sanguelac, The Lake of Blood!

STIGAND. This lightning before death Plays on the word,--and Normanizes too!

HAROLD. Hush, father, hus.h.!.+

EDWARD. Thou uncanonical fool, Wilt _thou_ play with the thunder? North and South Thunder together, showers of blood are blown Before a never-ending blast, and hiss Against the blaze they cannot quench--a lake, A sea of blood--we are drown'd in blood--for G.o.d Has fill'd the quiver, and Death has drawn the bow-- Sanguelac! Sanguelac! the arrow! the arrow! [_Dies_.

STIGAND. It is the arrow of death in his own heart-- And our great Council wait to crown thee King.

SCENE II.--IN THE GARDEN. THE KING'S HOUSE NEAR LONDON.

EDITH. Crown'd, crown'd and lost, crown'd King--and lost to me!

(_Singing_.)

Two young lovers in winter weather, None to guide them, Walk'd at night on the misty heather; Night, as black as a raven's feather; Both were lost and found together, None beside them.

That is the burthen of it--lost and found Together in the cruel river Swale A hundred years ago; and there's another,

Lost, lost, the light of day,

To which the lover answers lovingly

'I am beside thee.'

Lost, lost, we have lost the way.

'Love, I will guide thee.'

Whither, O whither? into the river, Where we two may be lost together, And lost for ever? 'Oh! never, oh! never, Tho' we be lost and be found together.'

Some think they loved within the pale forbidden By Holy Church: but who shall say? the truth Was lost in that fierce North, where _they_ were lost, Where all good things are lost, where Tostig lost The good hearts of his people. It is Harold!