Collected Poems Volume II Part 42

ELINOR

Ah, well, forgive me, Robin. I'll save you yet From all these troubles of your outlawry!

Trust me--for I can wind my poor Prince John Around my little finger. Who knows--with me To help you--there are but my two sons' lives That greatly hinder it--why, yourself might reign Upon the throne of England.

ROBIN

Are you so wrapped In treacheries, helplessly false, even to yourself, That now you do not know falsehood from truth, Darkness from light?

ELINOR

O Robin, I was true At least to you. If I were false to others, At least I--

ROBIN

No--not that--that sickening plea Of truth in treachery. Treachery cannot live With truth. The soul wherein they are wedded dies Of leprosy.

ELINOR

[_Coming closer to him._]

Have you no pity, Robin, No kinder word than this for the poor creature That crept--Ah, feel my heart, feel how it beats!

No pity?

ROBIN

Five years ago this might have moved me!

ELINOR

No pity?

ROBIN

None. There is no more to say.

My men shall guide you safely through the wood.

ELINOR

I never forgive!

[_Enter MARIAN from the cave; she stands silent and startled._]

ROBIN

My men shall guide you back.

[_Calls._]

Ho, there, my lads!

[_Enter several of the OUTLAWS._]

This lady needs a guide Back thro' the wood.

ELINOR

Good-bye, then, Robin, and good-bye to you, Sweet mistress! You have wronged me! What of that?

For--when we meet--Come, lead on, foresters!

[_Exeunt the QUEEN and her guides._]

MARIAN

O Robin, Robin, how the clouds begin To gather--how that woman seems to have brought A nightmare on these woods.

ROBIN

Forget it all!

She is so tangled in those lies the world Draws round some men and women, none can help her.

Marian, for G.o.d's sake, let us quite forget That nightmare! Oh, that perfect brow of yours, Those perfect eyes, pure as the violet wells That only mirror heaven and are not dimmed Except by clouds that drift thro' heaven and catch G.o.d's glory in the sunset and the dawn.

MARIAN

It is enough for them simply to speak The love they hold for you. But--I still fear.

Robin--think you--she might have overheard Your plan--the rescue of Will Scarlet?

ROBIN

Why-- No--No--some time had pa.s.sed, and yet--she seemed To have heard your charge against her! No, she guessed it.

Come--let us brush these cobwebs from our minds.

Look how the first white star begins to tremble Like a big blossom in that sycamore.

Now you shall hear our forest ritual.

Ho, Little John! Summon the lads together!

[_The OUTLAWS come out of the cave. LITTLE JOHN blows a bugle and others come in from the forest._]

Friar, read us the rules.

FRIAR TUCK

First, shall no man Presume to call our Robin Hood or any By name of Earl, lord, baron, knight or squire, But simply by their names as men and brothers: Second, that Lady Marian while she shares Our outlaw life in Sherwood shall be called Simply Maid Marian. Thirdly, we that follow Robin, shall never in thought or word or deed Do harm to widow, wife or maid; but hold, Each, for his mother's or sister's or sweetheart's sake, The glory of womanhood, a sacred thing, A star twixt earth and heaven. Fourth, whomsoever Ye meet in Sherwood ye shall bring to dine With Robin, saving carriers, posts and folk That ride with food to serve the market towns Or any, indeed, that serve their fellow men.

Fifth, you shall never do the poor man wrong, Nor spare a priest or usurer. You shall take The waste wealth of the rich to help the poor, The baron's gold to stock the widow's cupboard, The naked ye shall clothe, the hungry feed, And lastly shall defend with all your power All that are trampled under by the world, The old, the sick and all men in distress.

ROBIN

So, if it be no dream, we shall at last Hasten the kingdom of G.o.d's will on earth.

There shall be no more talk of rich and poor, Norman and Saxon. We shall be one people, One family, cl.u.s.tering all with happy hands And faces round that glowing hearth, the sun.

Now let the bugle sound a golden challenge To the great world. Greenleaf, a forest call!