{"id":179,"date":"2013-07-13T01:26:25","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=179"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:26:25","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:26:25","slug":"62-juvenilia-act-3-sc-1-vol-07-collected-plays-part-ii-volume-07","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/07-collected-plays-part-ii-volume-07\/62-juvenilia-act-3-sc-1-vol-07-collected-plays-part-ii-volume-07","title":{"rendered":"-62_Juvenilia Act-3 Sc-1.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n
\n

\n Act Three <\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n 
\n<\/font>
\nSCENE I<\/b><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\nBefore Alaciel’s House.<\/i><\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tGUENDOLEN <\/font><\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nBut what you tell me is not credible.
\nCould Love at the prime vision slip your fence
\nAnd his red bees wing humming to your heart ?
\nWhat, at the premier interchange of eyes
\nSeed bulged into the bud, the bud to flower,
\nBloom waxing into fruit ? can passion sink
\nThus deep embedded in a maiden soil ?
\nMasks not your love in an unwonted guise ?<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tA<\/font>LACIEL
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nSweet girl, you are a casket yet unused,
\nA fair, unprinted page. These mysteries
\nAre alien to your grasp, until Love pen
\nHis novel lithograph and write in you
\nSongs bubbling with the music of a name.
\nOh, I am faster tangled in his eyes
\nThan, in the net smoke-blasted Vulcan threw,
\nFoam-bosomed Cytherea to her Mars.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tG<\/font>UENDOLEN<\/font><\/p>\n

\nBut will he push his fancy to your bent.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tA<\/font>LACIEL
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nHow else ? for in the coy glance of a girl
\nA subtle sorcery lies that draws men on
\nAs with a thread, nor snaps not ere it should.
\nLove’s palate is with acid flowers edged
\nWhen what the lips repel, the eyes invite.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage .\u2013 1074<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tGUENDOLEN <\/font><\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nHave you forgotten then, my sister, how<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nSince war’s ensanguined dice have thrown a cast<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nSo fatal to our peace, the sweet confines<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nOf Ilni and her primitive content<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nAre hedged and "meted by the savage Law?<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tA<\/font>LACIEL
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nChild, I have not forgotten; but first love
\nPoseidon-like submerges with his sea
\nAll barriers, and the checks that men oppose
\nBut make him fret and spume against the sky.
\nWho shall withstand him ? not the gnawing flame
\nNor toothed rocks nor gorgon-fronted piles
\nNor metal bars; thro’ all he walks unharmed.
\nBut lo where on the forest’s lip there dawns
\nMy noon-star in the garish paths of day
\nHe should not see you, sweet. Prithee, go in.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nEnter Melander.<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\nHow now ? was this your compact ? Lift your glance
\nWhere yet the primrose-pale Hyperion clings
\nUpon the purple arches of the air
\nNor on the cornice prints his golden seal.
\nYou are too soon. Why with this fire-eyed haste
\nHave you overshot the target of your vows ?<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tM<\/font>ELANDER
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAh, cruel child! what hast thou done to me?
\nWhat expiation in the balance pends
\nAgainst thy fault ? Not the low sweets of sound
\nFetched by thy piping tongue from ruby stops,
\nNor fluttering glances under velvet lids,
\nNor the rich tell-tale blush that sweetly steals
\nAs if a scarlet pencil would indite
\nA love-song in thy cheeks. These candid brows,
\nThe hushed seraglio to thy veiled thoughts,
\nThese light wind-kissing feet, these milky paps<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage .\u2013 1075<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nThat peep twixt edge and loosely married edge,<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nThy slumber-swollen purple-fringed orbs,<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nThy hands, cinque-petalled rosebuds just apart<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nBeneath the wheedling kiss of spring, thy sides<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nThose continents of warm, unmelting snow,<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nAll in the balance are but precious air.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nNay, with thy whole dear sum of beauties fill<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nThe scale, it will not tremble to the dust<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nSave hooped upon thy breast my weight helps thine.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nTherefore, dear girl, let thy necessity<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nUpon the linked union of our loves<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPronounce a solemn benediction.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tA<\/font>LACIEL
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nI owe you not a doit. You shall not have
\nSo much of tender as will serve to buy
\nOne grain of sand, one withered blade of grass.
\nMy riches, sir, are in good coffers locked
\nAnd will evade a hungrier search than yours.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tM<\/font>ELANDER
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nIf you deny me my just claim, I’ll snatch
\nYou from yourself and torture with the whips
\nOf Love, till you disclose your hoardings. Oh
\nTo seize this loaded honeycomb of bliss
\nAnd make a rich repast! Oh turn from me
\nThe serious wonder of those orbed fires!
\nTheir lustre stabs my heart with agony.
\nHide in thy hair those passion-moulded lips!
\nVeil up those milky glimpses from my sight!
\nOh I will drag thy soul out in a kiss!
\nWilt thou add fire to fire ? Torture not
\nMy longing with reluctance; forge not now
\nThe pouted simulation of disdain.
\nLeap quick into my arms! there lose thyself.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n(She embraces him)<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

\nPardon me, sweet: thy beauties in my soul<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage .\u2013 1076<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nBlow high the leaping billows of desire
\nAnd temperance is a wreck merged in his sea.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tA<\/font>LACIEL
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nLoveliest Melander, if I have offended,
\nHere like a Roman debtor yield I up
\nMy body to thy mercy or thy doom.
\nTake my soul too! and in thy princely pomp
\nLet this rebellious heart that needs will fret
\nTo be thy slave, be dragged to thraldom. See,
\nI hang, a lustrous jewel, on thy neck:<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nBreak me or keep" me! I am thine to keep
\nOr break: fear not to do thy utmost will.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tM<\/font>ELANDER
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nHang there till thou hast grown a part of me!
\nAh yet, if passion be Love’s natural priest
\nLet not his fire-lipped homage scare thy soul.
\nThy ripe, unspotted girlhood give to me,
\nFor which the whole world yearns. A gift is sweet
\nAnd thou, O subtle thief, hast stolen my calm
\nWho was before not indigent of bliss.
\nOh closer yet! Let’s glue our lips together,
\nThat all eternity may be a kiss.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tA<\/font>LACIEL
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nWhat, will you bury me with kisses ? Dear,
\nBe modest. Tell me why by a full hour
\nYou outran expectation’s reaching eye ?<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tM<\/font>ELANDER
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nInquire the glowing moon why she has dared
\nForestal the set nor wait the ushering star;<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nInquire the amorous wind why he has plucked,
\nEre Autumn’s breath have tempered with her hair,
\nPetal on crimson petal the red rose:<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\nNay, catechise the loud rebombing sea<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage .\u2013 1077<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nWho in a thunderous summer dim with rain
\nConspired with hoarse rebellious winds to merge
\nThe lonely life of ocean-wading ships:<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nThen ask fire-footed passion why his rage<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nHas shipwrecked me upon thy silver breasts.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nAh love, thyself the culprit, thine the fault,<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nAlaciel, thou \u2014 O sweet unconscious sin I \u2014<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nHast in my members kindled such a fire<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nAs only sorcery knows: which to atone<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nThy virgin hours must sweetly swoon to death<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nWhile in the snowy summer of thy lap<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nKind Night shall cool these passion-melted Imibs.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nWhen thou dost imitate the blushing rose,<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nI swear thy tint is truer than the life,<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nThan loveliness more lovely. Dearest one,<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nLet naked Love abash the curtained prude.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nShame was not made to burn thy field of roses<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nNor in this married excellence of hues<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nUnfurl disorder’s ruby-tinted flag.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tA<\/font>LACIEL
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nDear, if I blush, ’tis modesty, not shame.
\nI can refuse you nothing. When ’tis night
\nAnd like a smile upon a virgin’s lips
\nYoung moonlight dallies with a sleepy rose,
\nThen come and call me gently twice and thrice,
\nAnd I will answer you. Observe this well
\nIn that the harsh and beldam Law excludes
\nNature’s sweet rites and Paphian marriage.
\nUnless his bleared eyes be privy too.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tM<\/font>ELANDER
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nO love, have you forgot the long elapse
\nAnd weary pomp of hours ere the sun
\nThat follows now a path sincere of foam
\nMake sanguine shipwreck on the lurid west?
\nScarce now his golden eye drops vertical<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage .\u2013 1078<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nUpon the belt and midline of our scope.
\nShorten your sentence by a term of hours
\nWhen I shall ease my pain. Turn caution out
\nTo graze in nunneries: his sober feint
\nOf prudence suits not with a lover’s tryst.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n\tA<\/font>LACIEL
\n\t<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nContent you, sweet: let patience feed on hope.
\nUntil night’s purple awning bar from view
\nThe hidden thefts of love. Nay, go not yet:<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nSit here awhile until yon sloping disk
\nSwings prone above the poplar. Sweet, come in.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nExeunt.<\/i><\/font>
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\nPage .\u2013 1079<\/font><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Act Three   SCENE I     Before Alaciel’s House. GUENDOLEN But what you tell me is not credible. Could Love at the prime vision…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-07-collected-plays-part-ii-volume-07","wpcat-6-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}