Authors: William Alexander Percy
(
He falls impetuously on his knees before
S
ERLE
,
catching hold of his hands. So close, he sees his hideous, disfigured face and falls back with an involuntary cry of loathing. It is twilight
.)
S
ERLE
(
gazing intently at his hands
). Are these my hands? Rotted and numb!
(
He slowly realizes, and with a strangled groan falls to the ground
.)
S
ERLE
. Leper! Leper!
G
UIDO
. Old man, old man, forgive me!
D
AVID
. Hush … He speaks!
S
ERLE
. Dost think that I have lived these bloody years,
Endured these agonies and fought this fight,
That I should now deliver thee my soul
Because thou eatest away this flesh of mine,
Stealing the maggots’ certain meal? Back, back,
O Prince of Darkness, this flame thou canst not eat!
(
Staggers to his feet
.)
Shepherd, I feel the stars!
D
AVID
. There will be many soon.
S
ERLE
(
lifting his arms
). God of battles, I, that was a man,
Do offer up to Thee that which remains!
Thine enemy hath eat the flesh of me
And made me fetid in the sight of men,
And soon he sendeth death to bear me hence.
O Lord, the little life vouchsafèd me,
Let it not waste in useless burial.
Thou comest soon again to see Thy people.
O let me go once more to my Provence
To tell them of Thy coming and of Thee!
Thou that dost love the fighting heart of man,
Let me prepare them! Let me, O Lord, go home.
D
AVID
(
kneeling
). Lord, I am Thy child! Forgive me all
And let me fight again in Thy behalf!
Bless me, old man, for I shall take thee home.
G
UIDO
. David, thou’lt set him free?
D
AVID
. And more, much more.
I’ll go with him, protect him, follow him,
And preach with him the God he’s shown to me.…
I’ll steal the horses and set forth to-night;
Across the Tuscan border we are safe.
G
UIDO
. But what, old man, is this that you would preach?
S
ERLE
. Prepare, prepare! The Lord walks in His world!
G
UIDO
. And should they ask your name?
S
ERLE
. Serle de Lanlarazon.
G
UIDO
. The heretic!
S
ERLE
. But come to preach with late-learned gentleness
A God all men accept.
D
AVID
. The wars have ceased, Guido.
G
UIDO
. Because the heretics are slain.
S
ERLE
. They could not wholly die.
G
UIDO
. If they should ask, “Serle de Lanlarazon,
When you cursed Rome, did you then lie?”
S
ERLE
. It was the truth.
G
UIDO
. Is evil still itself, eternal?
S
ERLE
. As always, hence the eternal strife.
G
UIDO
. Do you recant? Submit you to the church?
S
ERLE
. A thousand times, no.
G
UIDO
. David, you ride to death!
When they discover he who preaches God’s
Lanlarazon, they’ll burn the two of you,
No matter if his words were learned of Christ!
S
ERLE
. Wouldst counsel cowardice?
G
UIDO
. Not that, I swear, not that! But what’s the gain?
S
ERLE
. There is no gain, perhaps; the fight is all.
G
UIDO
. I see no fight. I see a wide-flung glory,
A world that is not bad, so full of beauty
I need no proof, as thou, it comes from God.
S
ERLE
. The beauty thou dost know is temporal.
Thou seest the world dew-drenched! ’Tis drenched in blood!
G
UIDO
. I am not less a-shine with God than thou!
S
ERLE
. The God of youth, a fair god but most frail.
G
UIDO
. Him I adore; I see, I need no other.
S
ERLE
. Already thou dost fear and wait His death!
This little prelude to eternity,
Is it an hour of roses and of song?
This throe that leads at last to heaven or hell,
Is loveliness its only quality?
What of the large endurance of the soul?
The heroic heart, the wild nobility?
G
UIDO
. All that will come — I have so many years to live!
S
ERLE
. If thou wert free this instant, where wouldst thou go?
G
UIDO
. To Sicily!
S
ERLE
. Once there, what wouldst thou do?
G
UIDO
. The Emperor’s court has thousands of delights.
S
ERLE
. And is that all?
G
UIDO
. Then, later —
S
ERLE
. What? What?
D
AVID
. No crusades, Guido.
S
ERLE
. Wilt thou not offer up thy gallant heart
To something sterner than delights of youth?
Thou hast drunk deep of happiness, wilt still
Drink on, oblivious to all but bliss?
(
Tenderly
.) Child of the springtime voice, could youth last always
There were no need of heaven.…
In youth the world is but an April wood
Through which we ride with holiday, light hearts.
The boughs are dreamy with new-opened blooms,
The laughter of the air shakes petals down,
The forest paths are dappled with the sun,
And youth rides by with half-closed, taunting eyes,
Drinking his fill of Life’s delicious prime,
In idleness that is a noble dream.
He hears the breathing of the magic world,
And, head-bent, listens to the inner song
That gushes lustrously from his own heart.
Yet, as he rides, anon he hears far off
Across the boughs a trumpet note; he stops,
And something stirs and answers deep in him.
The sound fades; on he rides. A nearer blast
Shouts out; Youth listens with his lifted eyes;
Another! The blossoms are broken! Another, more loud!
And suddenly all of the wood is shaken with trumpets and shouts
And calls and commands and sounds of the battle affray.
For, lo! the wood leads out to the bloody, bare plain
Where the legions of God are engaged to the death.
Hard pressed are the knights of the Lord; they charge and are felled,
And arise and return to be slain.
And over the clamor and dust of the fight,
The thundering voice of the Lord
Giving heart to the banners of purple and red of His hosts!
And filled with the dreams and the wonder he learned in the woods,
Youth rushes in, turns his back to the sunshine and glamor,
Draws sword and brings succor to them that are faint
And oppressed with the strife, and fights on till he dies.
Thou too, thou too art lordly-souled, O youth,
Thou wilt not shun the sword-play of thy God!
Choose! The bare plain is ahead!
D
AVID
(
turning passionately to
G
UIDO
). Come with us, Guido. His words seem God’s to me;
And thou art not afraid. Thou broughtest
Into the evil world around me here
Goodness, and I remembered Nicholas.
Thou art my only friend. Come with us, Guido.
(G
UIDO
stands with lifted head, deeply moved, uncertain. A film of amethyst afterglow is across the west; there are many stars. Intense silence, then the sound of a shepherd’s flute rises from the road, passes, and fades. A long pause
. G
UIDO
listens, entranced
.)
G
UIDO
. Didst hear that flute?
S
ERLE
. Not when the voice of God rings in my ears!
G
UIDO
(
passionately
). My God spoke also! My God is not your God!
Why do ye think the trees disrobe themselves
In gales of color gorgeously,
Instead of one swift greyness;
Why do ye think the stars swing past
In visible magnificence?
The sea could bear its traffic
Without the tumult of its coloring;
Sheep could be led without that shepherd’s fluting,
And children born without the primrose moon
In western skies! Deaf and blind!
Ye speak as transients through life, who know
Nothing of this divine, mysterious earth
My element! Speak not to me of purposes,
Sure death, eternal wrong!
I am a leaf of scarlet,
A summer-tinted cloud,
A kiss in the dark, forgotten soon,
But red, desired of many!
Hell does not gape beneath my feet, and if
About my head the almond blossoms crowd,
What need have I of heaven? … David, David,
I cannot go!
(
A pause. The sound of horses approaching on the road. All listen
.)
G
UIDO
. The guards returning!
D
AVID
. No, not before midnight.
G
UIDO
. What can it be? … God, let me out of this place!
(
The horses stop below. A boy’s voice calls “Master!
”)
G
UIDO
(
calls
down). Felice! It’s my page, David! He’s come for me!
Page of mine, come up, come quickly up!
(
Watching over the parapet
.)
An empty saddle! That’s for me! Free, free!
They’ve tied their horses just below us —
They’ve crossed the moat — They’re coming —
Sicily! At last! At last!
D
AVID
(
rousing himself
). But you are prisoners!
If you are seen, then I am prisoner too.
(
Sound of footsteps in the corridor
.) Too late!
(F
ELICE
,
a thirteen-year-old page, rushes in, leaps into
G
UIDO
’s
arms.
A guard follows with a torch; fixes it in the wall and goes out
.)
F
ELICE
. Master, I found the Emperor at Capua
In conference with the papal delegates.
The long feud’s at an end.
He and the Pope are friends and you’re released —
Downstairs his nuncio makes all arrangements.
Our horses wait below!
G
UIDO
. What a page! David, you know Felice.
I wish that you could go with us!
We’ll start at once. Good-bye, good-bye,
Dear friends, we’re off to Sicily!
F
ELICE
. Not Sicily.
G
UIDO
. Not Sicily?
F
ELICE
. The Emperor sends us on a mission north.
G
UIDO
. But where?
F
ELICE
. Into Provence.
G
UIDO
. With roundelays to some fair Queen of Love?
F
ELICE
. Nay, Master, ’tis at last the great adventure!
G
UIDO
. Speak out, Felice.
F
ELICE
. We bear the tidings of a great crusade.
To-morrow we’ll be soldiers of the Cross.
G
UIDO
. Go on.
F
ELICE
. The Pope has won the Emperor’s consent
To lead an army ’gainst the heretics.
G
UIDO
. ’Tis a lie!
F
ELICE
. It is the truth.
And we to bishops, princes, potentates
Bring the good news —
War, war, till the last heretic is dead.
S
ERLE
. My people, O my people!
Shepherd, we must go now!
D
AVID
. Too late. The guard who brought the page is now below
Warning them I’ve unloosed the prisoners.
They will return to put us both in chains.
S
ERLE
. O God, the murders and the burnings once again!
Must the truth die utterly, utterly!
(
A sound of footsteps
.)
D
AVID
. There is the guard.
G
UIDO
. Close that door. (D
AVID
hesitates
.) Close it,
Bolt it.
(D
AVID
and
F
ELICE
close and bolt the great door leading into the interior of the castle
.)
G
UIDO
. Up on my shoulder, page. Take down the ladder.
(F
ELICE
on
G
UIDO
’s
shoulder climbs up and takes down the rope ladder from
G
UIDO
’s
window
.)
’Twill reach the ground.
(
A loud knock on the door
.)
Quick, make it fast.