MIDI file [3' 50", 24Kb] |
JOAN. | 'Look yon — 'tis she! my little Laine! | ||
LAINE. | Mother! Mother! | ||
SIMON. | The flood is out, the night is wild! | ||
How came you through the blinding rain? | |||
JOAN. | 'Tis Heaven hath sent us back our child! | ||
Then weep — then weep not, weep not, thou art home again! | |||
LAINE. | Mother! Mother! | ||
JOAN. | Hush! think no more of what is past Enough that thou art safe at last, art safe at last!! |
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LAINE. | Not safe, not safe! I may not rest | ||
The while this stone Doth tear and chafe |
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My wounded breast! | |||
O! would 'twere gone! Yea that were best! | |||
Mother! Mother! |
LAINE. | JOAN and SIMON. |
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Then let me cast | Stay, stay! hold fast |
Away this snare | To what is there! |
That made my lord | Though this false lord |
To use me ill, | Hath used thee ill, |
For all the past | That now is past |
Still lingers there; | Still thou art fair; |
Allthe past | That now is past |
Still lingers there; | Still thou art fair; |
My heart is scored | And life's reward |
And aching still! | Awaits thee still! |
My heart is aching still, | Life's reward awaits thee still, |
Is aching still, | Awaits thee still, |
Is aching still. | Awaits thee still. |
JOAN. | |
Aye, truly all are not as he; Thy beauty yet remains to thee! |
LAINE. | ||
Beauty! ah, let that beauty go! 'Twas Beauty brought lord Philip low, |
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Whose spirit once had soared so high; | ||
'Tis Beauty wrought my woe! | ||
Dear Mother Mary, hear my cry! — | ||
Take it away, away! | ||
It breeds not joy, but sorrow, | ||
Though seeming fair to-day, | ||
'Tis false to-morrow. | ||
'Twas Death, not Life, that came | ||
When Beauty first was born! | ||
It brings not love, but shame, | ||
And hate, and scorn! | ||
Once more I fain would be | ||
Crooked, as when the day | ||
I knelt and prayed to thee! | ||
Once more, once more I fain would be | ||
Crooked, as when the day | ||
I knelt and prayed to thee! | ||
Ah! take this thing away! | ||
Away! away! |
She tears open her dress, removes the stone from about her neck, and casts it
upon the ground at their feet; then, covering her face with her hands, she rushes away into her bed-chamber.
Page modified 2 October 2011