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      Household Gods / A Comedy

      SCENE

      THE HEARTH OF CRASSUS; AFTERWARDS THE LAWNS, THE WOODS, THE LAKE, THE ISLE.

      CHARACTERS

      CRASSUS, a barbarian from Britain.

      ADELA, his wife, a noble Roman lady.

      ALICIA, a servant in the house.

      A STATUE OF PAN.

      A FAUN.

      HOUSEHOLD GODS

      THE SCENE is at the hearth of CRASSUS, where is a little bronze altar dedicated to the Lares and Penates. A pale flame rises from the burning sandal-wood, on which CRASSUS throws benzoin and musk. He is standing in deep dejection.

      CRASSUS.

      Smoke without fire!

      No thrill of tongues licks up

      The offerings in the cup.

      Dead falls desire.

      Black smoke thou art,

      O altar-flame, that dost dismember,

      Devour the hearth, to leave no ember

      To warm this heart.

      I see her still -

      Adela dancing here

      Till dim gods did appear

      To work our will.

      The delicate girl!

      Diaphanous gossamer

      Subtly revealing her

      Brave breast of pearl!

      Now – she's withdrawn

      At dusk to the wild woods,

      Mystic beatitudes

      That dure till dawn.

      Let life exclaim

      Against these things of spirit,

      Mankind that disinherit

      Of love's pure flame!

      [He bends before the altar and begins to weep.]

      Ye household gods!

      By these male tears I swear

      That ye shall grant this prayer.

      All things at odds

      Shall be put straight -

      Harmonized, reconciled

      By some appointed child

      Of some far Fate!

      [A curtain has been drawn aside during this invocation, and

      ALICIA advances. She smiles subtly upon him; and, giving a

      strange gesture, makes one or two noiseless steps of dancing.]

      ALICIA.

      Master still sad?

      CRASSUS.

      These faint and fearful shores

      Of time are beaten by the surge of sense,

      Love worn away – by love? – to indifference.

      Who knows what god – or demon – she adores?

      Or in what wood she shelters, or what grove

      Sees her profane our sacrament of love?

      ALICIA.

      I saw her follow

      The stream in the hollow

      Where never Apollo

      Abides.

      So thick are the trees

      That never the breeze

      Stirs them, or sees

      What satyr inhabits the glen, what nymph in the

      pools of it hides.

      Lighter of foot

      Than a sylph or a fairy,

      Sinuous, wary,

      I passed from the airy

      Lawns, where the flute

      Of the winds made tremulous music for man.

      I followed the ripple

      Of the stream; I crept

      Where the waters wept -

      The floss in the foss

      Gurgling across

      The bosses of moss,

      Like a dryad's nipple

      In the mouth of Pan!

      CRASSUS.

      O pearl of the house! you came to the end?

      ALICIA.

      The dusk of the slave, the dawn of a friend?

      CRASSUS.

      Freedom is thine for the skill and the will.

      ALICIA.

      The skill is mine – but the will lies still,

      Still as the earth that dare not stir

      Till the kiss of the sun awaken her!

      CRASSUS.

      Yet at these secrets and riddles? Behold!

      I can fill thy lap with a harvest of gold.

      ALICIA.

      Yet all the gold you could give to me

      Would fall at my feet when I rose to be free.

      CRASSUS.

      What will you then?

      ALICIA.

      No gift from men.

      Of my own free will I give you wit,

      (O man so sorely in need of it!)

      And happiness; and the flame that hath dwindled

      On this dull hearth shall be rekindled.

      But this you must swear:

      To will, and to dare,

      To seek the spirit and slay the sense;

      And for this hour

      To give me power

      To lead you in silent obedience,

      Though I bade you fall on your sword….

      CRASSUS.

      Enough!

      I give my life as I gave my love.

      ALICIA.

      O! love you have not understood.

      You have not guessed its secret food.

      You have not seen its single eye;

      But fear and doubt and jealousy

      Have risen, and now your love is trembling

      Like a mountebank dissembling

      When his trick's detected. Come!

      To find home we must leave home.

      CRASSUS.

      Starless and moonless, hidden in cloud,

      The night's one flame of pearl.

      ALICIA.

      The bat flaps; the owl hoots aloud.

      CRASSUS.

      Lead on; I trust you, girl.

      ALICIA.

      You are bold to trust me; or, have you divined

      My secret?

      CRASSUS.

      No;

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