Read The Plough and the Stars Online
Authors: Sean O'Casey
The Covey
He must ha’ hitten you in mistake. I don’t know what you ever done for th’ Labour Movement.
Fluther
(
loudly
) D’ye not? Maybe, then, I done as much, an’ know as much about th’ Labour Movement as th’ chancers that are blowin’ about it!
Barman
Speak easy, Fluther, thry to speak easy.
The Covey
There’s no necessity to get excited about it, comrade.
Fluther
(
more loudly
) Excited? Who’s gettin’ excited? There’s no one gettin’ excited! It would take something more than a thing like you to flutther a feather o’ Fluther. Blatherin’, an’, when all is said, you know as much as th’ rest in th’ wind up!
The Covey
Well, let us put it to th’ test, then, an’ see what you know about th’ Labour Movement: what’s the mechanism of exchange?
Fluther
(
roaring, because he feels he is beaten
) How th’ hell do I know what it is? There’s nothin’ about that in th’ rules of our Thrades Union!
Barman
For God’s sake, thry to speak easy, Fluther.
The Covey
What does Karl Marx say about th’ Relation of Value to th’ Cost o’ Production?
Fluther
(
angrily
) What th’ hell do I care what he says? I’m Irishman enough not to lose me head be follyin’ foreigners!
Barman
Speak easy, Fluther.
The Covey
It’s only waste o’ time talkin’ to you, comrade.
Fluther
Don’t be comradin’ me, mate. I’d be on me last legs if I wanted you for a comrade.
Rosie
(
to the Covey
) It seems a highly rediculous thing to hear a thing that’s only an inch or two away from a kid, swingin’ heavy words about he doesn’t know th’ meanin’ of, an’ uppishly thryin’ to down a man like Misther Fluther here, that’s well flavoured in th’ knowledge of th’ world he’s livin’ in.
The Covey
(
savagely to Rosie
) Nobody’s askin’ you to be buttin’ in with your prate … I have you well taped, me lassie … Just you keep your opinions for your own
place … It’ll be a long time before th’ Covey takes any insthructions or reprimandin’ from a prostitute!
Rosie
(
wild with humiliation
) You louse, you louse, you! … You’re no man … You’re no man … I’m a woman, anyhow, an’ if I’m a prostitute aself, I have me feelin’s … Thryin’ to put his arm around me a minute ago, an’ givin’ me th’ glad eye, th’ little wrigglin’ lump o’ desolation turns on me now, because he saw there was nothin’ doin’ … You louse, you! If I was a man, or you were a woman, I’d bate th’ puss o’ you!
Barman
Ay, Rosie, ay! You’ll have to shut your mouth altogether, if you can’t learn to speak easy!
Fluther
(
to Rosie
) Houl’ on there, Rosie; houl’ on there. There’s no necessity to flutther yourself when you’re with Fluther … Any lady that’s in th’ company of Fluther is goin’ to get a fair hunt … This is outside your province … I’m not goin’ to let you demean yourself be talkin’ to a tittherin’ chancer … Leave this to Fluther – this is a man’s job. (
To the Covey
) Now, if you’ve anything to say, say it to Fluther, an’, let me tell you, you’re not goin’ to be pass-remarkable to any lady in my company.
The Covey
Sure I don’t care if you were runnin’ all night afther your Mary o’ th’ Curlin’ Hair, but, when you start tellin’ luscious lies about what you done for th’ Labour Movement, it’s nearly time to show y’up!
Fluther
(
fiercely
) Is it you show Fluther up? G’way, man, I’d beat two o’ you before me breakfast!
The Covey
(
contemptuously
) Tell us where you bury your dead, will you?
Fluther
(
with his face stuck into the face of the Covey
) Sing a little less on th’ high note, or, when I’m done with
you, you’ll put a Christianable consthruction on things, I’m tellin’ you!
The Covey
You’re a big fella, you are.
Fluther
(
tapping the Covey threateningly on the shoulder
) Now, you’re temptin’ Providence when you’re temptin’ Fluther!
The Covey
(
losing his temper, and bawling
) Easy with them hands, there, easy with them hands! You’re startin’ to take a little risk when you commence to paw the Covey!
Fluther suddenly springs into the middle of the shop, flings his hat into the corner, whips off his coat, and begins to paw the air.
Fluther
(
roaring at the top of his voice
) Come on, come on, you lowser; put your mits up now, if there’s a man’s blood in you! Be God, in a few minutes you’ll see some snots flyin’ around, I’m tellin’ you … When Fluther’s done with you, you’ll have a vice versa opinion of him! Come on, now, come on!
Barman
(
running from behind the counter and catching hold of the Covey
) Here, out you go, me little bowsey. Because you got a couple o’ halves you think you can act as you like. (
He pushes the Covey to the door
.) Fluther’s a friend o’ mine, an’ I’ll not have him insulted.
The Covey
(
struggling with the Barman
) Ay, leggo, leggo there; fair hunt, give a man a fair hunt! One minute with him is all I ask; one minute alone with him, while you’re runnin’ for th’ priest an’ th’ doctor.
Fluther
(
to the Barman
) Let him go, let him go, Tom: let him open th’ door to sudden death if he wants to!
Barman
(
to the Covey
) Go on, out you go an’ do th’ bowsey somewhere else. (
He pushes the Covey out and comes back
.)
Rosie
(
getting Fluther’s hat as he is putting on his coat
) Be God, you put th’ fear o’ God in his heart that time! I thought you’d have to be dug out of him … Th’ way you lepped out without any of your fancy side-steppin’! ‘Men like Fluther’, say I to meself, ‘is gettin’ scarce nowadays.’
Fluther
(
with proud complacency
) I wasn’t goin’ to let meself be malignified by a chancer … He got a little bit too derogatory for Fluther … Be God, to think of a cur like that comin’ to talk to a man like me!
Rosie
(
fixing on his hat
) Did j’ever!
Fluther
He’s lucky he got off safe. I hit a man last week, Rosie, an’ he’s fallin’ yet!
Rosie
Sure, you’d ha’ broken him in two if you’d ha’ hitten him one clatther!
Fluther
(
amorously, putting his arm around Rosie
) Come on into th’ snug, me little darlin’, an’ we’ll have a few dhrinks before I see you home.
Rosie
Oh, Fluther, I’m afraid you’re a terrible man for th’ women.
They go into the snug as Clitheroe, Captain Brennan, and Lieut. Langon of the Irish Volunteers enter hurriedly. Captain Brennan carries the banner of the Plough and the Stars, and Lieut. Langon a green, white and orange Tricolour. They are in a state of emotional excitement. Their faces are flushed and their eyes sparkle; they speak rapidly, as if unaware of the meaning of what they said. They have been mesmerized by the fervency of the speeches.
Clitheroe
(
almost pantingly
) Three glasses o’ port!
The Barman brings the drinks.
Capt. Brennan
We won’t have long to wait now.
Lieut. Langon
Th’ time is rotten ripe for revolution.
Clitheroe
You have a mother, Langon.
Lieut. Langon
Ireland is greater than a mother.
Capt. Brennan
You have a wife, Clitheroe.
Clitheroe
Ireland is greater than a wife.
Lieut. Langon
Th’ time for Ireland’s battle is now – th’ place for Ireland’s battle is here.
The tall, dark figure again is silhouetted against the window. The three men pause and listen.
Voice of the Man
Our foes are strong, but strong as they are, they cannot undo the miracles of God, who ripens in the heart of young men the seeds sown by the young men of a former generation. They think they have pacified Ireland; think they have foreseen everything; think they have provided against everything; but the fools, the fools, the fools! – they have left us our Fenian dead, and, while Ireland holds these graves, Ireland, unfree, shall never be at peace!
Capt. Brennan
(
catching up the Plough and the Stars
) Imprisonment for th’ Independence of Ireland!
Lieut. Langon
(
catching up the Tricolour
) Wounds for th’ Independence of Ireland!
Clitheroe
Death for th’ Independence of Ireland!
The Three
(
together
) So help us God!
They drink. A bugle blows the Assembly. They hurry out. A pause. Fluther and Rosie come out of the snug;
Rosie is linking Fluther, who is a little drunk. Both are in a merry mood.
Rosie
Come on home, ower o’ that, man. Are you afraid or what? Are you goin’ to come home, or are you not?
Fluther
Of course I’m goin’ home. What ud ail me that I wouldn’t go?
Rosie
(
lovingly
) Come on, then, oul’ sport.
Officer’s Voice
(
giving command outside
) Irish Volunteers, by th’ right, quick march!
Rosie
(
putting her arm round Fluther and singing
)
I once had a lover, a tailor, but he could do nothin’ for me,
An’ then I fell in with a sailor as strong an’ as wild as th’ sea.
We cuddled an’ kissed with devotion, till th’ night from th’ mornin’ had fled;
An’ there, to our joy, a bright bouncin’ boy
Was dancin’ a jig in th’ bed!
Dancin’ a jig in th’ bed, an’ bawlin’ for butther an’ bread.
An’ there, to our joy, a bright bouncin’ boy
Was dancin’ a jig in th’ bed!
They go out with their arms round each other.
Clitheroe’s Voice
(
in command outside
) Dublin Battalion of the Irish Citizen Army, by th’ right, quick march!
Curtain.
The corner house in a street of tenements: it is the home of the Clitheroes. The house is a long, gaunt, five-storey tenement; its brick front is chipped and scarred with age and neglect. The wide and heavy hall door, flanked by two pillars, has a look of having been charred by a fire in the distant past. The door lurches a little to one side, disjointed by the continual and reckless banging when it is being closed by most of the residents. The diamond-paned fanlight is destitute of a single pane, the framework alone remaining. The windows, except the two looking into the front parlour (
Clitheroe’s room
), are grimy, and are draped with fluttering and soiled fragments of lace curtains. The front parlour windows are hung with rich, comparatively, casement cloth. Five stone steps lead from the door to the path on the street. Branching on each side are railings to prevent people from falling into the area. At the left corner of the house runs a narrow lane, bisecting the street, and connecting it with another of the same kind. At the corner of the lane is a street lamp. As the house is revealed, Mrs Gogan is seen helping Mollser to a chair, which stands on the path beside the railings, at the left side of the steps. She then wraps a shawl around Mollser’s shoulders. It is some months later.
Mrs Gogan
(
arranging shawl around Mollser
) Th’ sun’ll do you all th’ good in th’ world. A few more weeks o’ this weather, an’ there’s no knowin’ how well you’ll be … Are you comfy, now?
Mollser
(
weakly and wearily
) Yis, ma; I’m all right.
Mrs Gogan
How are you feelin’?
Mollser
Betther, ma, betther. If th’ horrible sinkin’ feelin’ ud go, I’d be all right.
Mrs Gogan
Ah, I wouldn’t put much pass on that. Your stomach maybe’s out of ordher … Is th’ poor breathin’ any betther, d’ye think?
Mollser
Yis, yis, ma; a lot betther.
Mrs Gogan
Well, that’s somethin’ anyhow … With th’ help o’ God, you’ll be on th’ mend from this out … D’your legs feel any sthronger undher you, d’ye think?
Mollser
(
irritably
) I can’t tell, ma. I think so … A little.
Mrs Gogan
Well, a little aself is somethin’ … I thought I heard you coughin’ a little more than usual last night … D’ye think you were?
Mollser
I wasn’t, ma, I wasn’t.
Mrs Gogan
I thought I heard you, for I was kep’ awake all night with th’ shootin’. An’ thinkin’ o’ that madman, Fluther, runnin’ about through th’ night lookin’ for Nora Clitheroe to bring her back when he heard she’d gone to folly her husband, an’ in dhread any minute he might come staggerin’ in covered with bandages, splashed all over with th’ red of his own blood, an’ givin’ us barely time to bring th’ priest to hear th’ last whisper of his final confession, as his soul was passin’ through th’ dark doorway o’ death into th’ way o’ th’ wondherin’ dead … You don’t feel cold, do you?
Mollser
No, ma; I’m all right.
Mrs Gogan
Keep your chest well covered, for that’s th’ delicate spot in you … if there’s any danger, I’ll whip you in again … (
Looking up the street
) Oh, here’s th’ Covey an’ oul’ Pether hurryin’ along. God Almighty,
sthrange things is happenin’ when them two is pullin’ together.
The Covey and Peter come in, breathless and excited.
(
To the two men
) Were yous far up th’ town? Did yous see any sign o’ Fluther or Nora? How is things lookin’? I hear they’re blazin’ away out o’ th’ GPO. That th’ Tommies is sthretched in heaps around Nelson’s Pillar an’ th’ Parnell Statue, an’ that th’ pavin’ sets in O’Connell Street is nearly covered be pools o’ blood.
Peter
We seen no sign o’ Nora or Fluther anywhere.
Mrs Gogan
We should ha’ held her back be main force from goin’ to look for her husband … God knows what’s happened to her – I’m always seein’ her sthretched on her back in some hospital, moanin’ with th’ pain of a bullet in her vitals, an’ nuns thryin’ to get her to take a last look at th’ crucifix!
The Covey
We can do nothin’. You can’t stick your nose into O’Connell Street, an’ Tyler’s is on fire.
Peter
An’ we seen th’ Lancers –
The Covey
(
interrupting
) Throttin’ along, heads in th’ air; spurs an’ sabres jinglin’, an’ lances quiverin’, an’ lookin’ as if they were assin’ themselves, ‘Where’s these blighters, till we get a prod at them?’ when there was a volley from th’ Post Office that stretched half o’ them, an’ sent th’ rest gallopin’ away wondherin’ how far they’d have to go before they’d feel safe.
Peter
(
rubbing his hands
) ‘Damn it,’ says I to meself, ‘this looks like business!’
The Covey
An’ then out comes General Pearse an’ his staff, an’, standin’ in th’ middle o’ th’ street, he reads th’ Proclamation.
Mrs Gogan
What proclamation?
Peter
Declarin’ an Irish Republic.
Mrs Gogan
Go to God!
Peter
The gunboat
Helga
’s shellin’ Liberty Hall, an’ I hear the people livin’ on th’ quays had to crawl on their bellies to Mass with th’ bullets that were flyin’ around from Boland’s Mills.
Mrs Gogan
God bless us, what’s goin’ to be th’ end of it all!
Bessie
(
looking out of the top window
) Maybe yous are satisfied now; maybe yous are satisfied now. Go on an’ get guns if yous are men – Johnny get your gun, get your gun, get your gun! Yous are all nicely shanghaied now; th’ boyo hasn’t a sword on his thigh now! Oh, yous are all nicely shanghaied now!
Mrs Gogan
(
warningly to Peter and the Covey
) S-s-sh, don’t answer her. She’s th’ right oul’ Orange bitch! She’s been chantin’ ‘Rule, Britannia’ all th’ mornin’.
Peter
I hope Fluther hasn’t met with any accident, he’s such a wild card.
Mrs Gogan
God grant it; but last night I dreamt I seen gettin’ carried into th’ house a sthretcher with a figure lyin’ on it, stiff an’ still, dhressed in th’ habit of Saint Francis. An, then, I heard th’ murmurs of a crowd no one could see sayin’ th’ litany for th’ dead; an’ then it got so dark that nothin’ was seen but th’ white face of th’ corpse, gleamin’ like a white wather-lily floatin’ on th’ top of a dark lake. Then a tiny whisper thrickled into me ear, sayin’, ‘Isn’t the face very like th’ face o’ Fluther?’ an’ then, with a thremblin’ flutther, th’ dead lips opened, an’, although I couldn’t hear, I knew they were sayin’, ‘Poor oul’ Fluther, afther havin’ handed in
his gun at last, his shakin’ soul moored in th’ place where th’ wicked are at rest an’ th’ weary cease from throublin’.’
Peter
(
who has put on a pair of spectacles, and has been looking down the street
) Here they are, be God, here they are; just afther turnin’ th’ corner – Nora an’ Fluther!
The Covey
She must be wounded or something – he seems to be carryin’ her.
Fluther and Nora enter. Fluther has his arm around her and is half-leading, half-carrying her in. Her eyes are dim and hollow, her face pale and strained-looking; her hair is tossed, and her clothes are dusty.
Mrs Gogan
(
running over to them
) God bless us, is it wounded y’are, Mrs Clitheroe, or what?
Fluther
Ah, she’s all right, Mrs Gogan; only worn out from thravellin’ an’ want o’sleep. A night’s rest, now, an’ she’ll be as fit as a fiddle. Bring her in, an’ make her lie down.
Mrs Gogan
(
to Nora
) Did you hear e’er a whisper o’ Mr Clitheroe?
Nora
(
wearily
) I could find him nowhere, Mrs Gogan. None o’ them would tell me where he was. They told me I shamed my husband an’ th’ women of Ireland be carryin’ on as I was … They said th’ women must learn to be brave an’ cease to be cowardly … Me who risked more for love than they would risk for hate … (
Raising her voice in hysterical protest
) My Jack will be killed, my Jack will be killed! … He is to be butchered as a sacrifice to th’ dead!
Bessie
(
from upper window
) Yous are all nicely shanghaied now! Sorra mend th’ lasses that have been kissin’ an’
cuddlin’ their boys into th’ sheddin’ of blood! … Fillin’ their minds with fairy tales that had no beginnin’, but, please God, ’ll have a bloody quick endin’! … Turnin’ bitther into sweet, an’ sweet into bitther … Stabbin’ in th’ back th’ men that are dyin’ in th’ threnches for them! It’s a bad thing for anyone that thries to jilt th’ Ten Commandments, for judgements are prepared for scorners an’ sthripes for th’ back o’ fools! (
Going away from window as she sings
)
Rule, Britannia, Britannia rules th’ waves,
Britons never, never, never shall be slaves!
Fluther
(
with a roar up at the window
) Y’ignorant oul’ throllope, you!
Mrs Gogan
(
to Nora
) He’ll come home safe enough to you, you’ll find, Mrs Clitheroe; afther all, there’s a power o’ women that’s handed over sons an’ husbands to take a runnin’ risk in th’ fight they’re wagin’.
Nora
I can’t help thinkin’ every shot fired ’ll be fired at Jack, an’ every shot fired at Jack’ll be fired at me. What do I care for th’ others? I can think only of me own self … An’ there’s no woman gives a son or a husband to be killed – if they say it, they’re lyin’, lyin’, against God, Nature, an’ against themselves! … One blasted hussy at a barricade told me to go home an’ not be thryin’ to dishearten th’ men … That I wasn’t worthy to bear a son to a man that was out fightin’ for freedom … I clawed at her, an’ smashed her in th’ face till we were separated … I was pushed down th’ street, an’ I cursed them – cursed the rebel ruffians an’ Volunteers that had dhragged me ravin’ mad into th’ sthreets to seek me husband!
Peter
You’ll have to have patience, Nora. We all have to put up with twarthers an’ tormentors in this world.
The Covey
If they were fightin’ for anything worth while, I wouldn’t mind.
Fluther
(
to Nora
) Nothin’ derogatory ’ll happen to Mr Clitheroe. You’ll find, now, in th’ finish up it’ll be vice versa.
Nora
Oh, I know that wherever he is, he’s thinkin’ of wantin’ to be with me. I know he’s longin’ to be passin’ his hand through me hair, to be caressin’ me neck, to fondle me hand an’ to feel me kisses clingin’ to his mouth … An’ he stands wherever he is because he’s brave? (
Vehemently
) No, but because he’s a coward, a coward, a coward!
Mrs Gogan
Oh, they’re not cowards anyway.
Nora
(
with denunciatory anger
) I tell you they’re afraid to say they’re afraid! … Oh, I saw it, I saw it, Mrs Gogan … At th’ barricade in North King Street I saw fear glowin’ in all their eyes … An’ in th’ middle o’ th’ sthreet was somethin’ huddled up in a horrible, tangled heap … His face was jammed again th’ stones, an’ his arm was twisted round his back … An’ every twist of his body was a cry against th’ terrible thing that had happened to him … An’ I saw they were afraid to look at it … An’ some o’ them laughed at me, but th’ laugh was a frightened one … An’ some o’ them shouted at me, but th’ shout had in it th’ shiver o’ fear … I tell you they were afraid, afraid, afraid!
Mrs Gogan
(
leading her towards the house
) Come on in, dear. If you’d been a little longer together, th’ wrench asundher wouldn’t have been so sharp.
Nora
Th’ agony I’m in since he left me has thrust away every rough thing he done, an’ every unkind word he spoke; only th’ blossoms that grew out of our lives are before me now; shakin’ their colours before me face, an’
breathin’ their sweet scent on every thought springin’ up in me mind, till, sometimes, Mrs Gogan, sometimes I think I’m goin’ mad!
Mrs Gogan
You’ll be a lot betther when you have a little lie down.
Nora
(
turning towards Fluther as she is going in
) I don’t know what I’d have done, only for Fluther. I’d have been lyin’ in th’ streets, only for him … (
As she goes in
) They have dhriven away th’ little happiness life had to spare for me. He has gone from me for ever, for ever … Oh, Jack, Jack, Jack!
She is led in by Mrs Gogan as Bessie comes out with a shawl around her shoulders. She passes by them with her head in the air. When they have gone in, she gives a mug of milk to Mollser silently.
Fluther
Which of yous has th’ tossers?
The Covey
I have.
Bessie
(
as she is passing them to go down the street
) You an’ your Leadhers an’ their sham-battle soldiers has landed a body in a nice way, havin’ to go an’ ferret out a bit o’ bread God knows where … Why aren’t yous in th’ GPO if yous are men? It’s paler an’ paler yous are gettin’ … A lot o’ vipers, that’s what th’ Irish people is! (
She goes out.
)
Fluther
Never mind her … (
To the Covey
) Make a start an’ keep us from th’ sin o’ idleness. (
To Mollser
) Well, how are you today, Mollser, oul’ son? What are you dhrinkin’, milk?
Mollser
Grand, Fluther, grand, thanks. Yis, milk.
Fluther
You couldn’t get a betther thing down you … This turn-up has done one good thing, anyhow; you
can’t get dhrink anywhere, an’ if it lasts a week, I’ll be so used to it that I won’t think of a pint.
The Covey
(
who has taken from his pocket two worn coins and a thin strip of wood about four inches long
) What’s th’ bettin’?
Peter
Heads, a juice.
Fluther
Harps, a tanner.
The Covey places the coins on the strip of wood, and flips them up into the air. As they jingle on the ground the distant boom of a big gun is heard. They stand for a moment listening.