Fragmentary Scenes From The Road To Avernus: An Unpublished Dramatic Lyric Poem Rhyme Scheme

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Adam Lindsay Gordon

Fragmentary Scenes From The Road To Avernus: An Unpublished Dramatic Lyric Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

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Scene I	A
Discontent	B
	-
Laurence Raby	C
	-
	-
	-
Laurence	D
I said to young Allan M'Ilveray	E
Beside the swift swirls of the North	F
When in lilac shot through with a silver ray	E
We haul'd the strong salmon fish forth	F
Said only He gave us some trouble	G
To land him and what does he weigh	E
Our friend has caught one that weighs double	G
The game for the candle won't pay	E
Us to day	E
We may tie up our rods and away	E
	-
I said to old Norman M'Gregor	E
Three leagues to the west of Glen Dhu	H
I had drawn with a touch of the trigger	E
The best bead that ever I drew	E
Said merely For birds in the stubble	G
I once had an eye I could swear	E
He's down but he's not worth the trouble	G
Of seeking You once shot a bear	E
In his lair	E
'Tis only a buck that lies there	E
	-
I said to Lord Charles only last year	E
The time that we topp'd the oak rail	I
Between Wharton's plough and Whynne's pasture	E
And clear'd the big brook in Blakesvale	I
We only at Warburton's double	I
He fell then I finish'd the run	J
And kill'd clean said So bursts a bubble	I
That shone half an hour in the sun	J
What is won	J
Your sire clear'd and captured a gun	J
	-
I said to myself in true sorrow	E
I said yestere'en A fair prize	K
Is won and it may be to morrow	E
'Twill not seem so fair in thine eyes	K
Real life is a race through sore trouble	I
That gains not an inch on the goal	I
And bliss an intangible bubble	I
That cheats an unsatisfied soul	I
And the whole	I
Of the rest an illegible scroll	I
	-
	-
Scene VII	E
Two Exhortations	L
	-
A Shooting box in the West of Ireland A Bedchamber	E
Laurence Raby and Melchior Night	M
	-
	-
Melchior	E
Surely in the great beginning God made all things good and still	I
That soul sickness men call sinning entered not without His will	I
Nay our wisest have asserted that as shade enhances light	M
Evil is but good perverted wrong is but the foil of right	M
Banish sickness then you banish joy for health to all that live	E
Slay all sin all good must vanish good being but comparative	E
Sophistry you say yet listen look you skyward there 'tis known	N
Worlds on worlds in myriads glisten larger lovelier than our own	N
This has been and this still shall be here as there in sun or star	E
These things are to be and will be those things were to be and are	E
Man in man's imperfect nature is by imperfection taught	O
Add one cubit to your stature if you can by taking thought	O
	-
Laurence	D
Thus you would not teach that peasant though he calls you father	E
	-
Melchior True	E
I should magnify this present mystify that future too	E
We adapt our conversation always to our hearer's light	M
	-
Laurence	D
I am not of your persuasion	J
	-
Melchior Yet the difference is but slight	M
	-
Laurence	D
I even I say He who barters worldly weal for heavenly worth	P
He does well your saints and martyrs were examples here on earth	P
	-
Melchior	E
Aye in earlier Christian ages while the heathen empire stood	Q
When the war 'twixt saints and sages cried aloud for saintly blood	R
Christ was then their model truly Now if all were meek and pure	E
Save the ungodly and the unruly would the Christian Church endure	E
Shall the toiler or the fighter dream by day and watch by night	M
Turn the left cheek to the smiter smitten rudely on the right	M
Strong men must encounter bad men so called saints of latter days	S
Have been mostly pious madmen lusting after righteous praise	S
Or the thralls of superstition doubtless worthy some reward	T
Since they came by their condition hardly of their free accord	T
'Tis but madness sad and solemn that these fakir Christians feel	I
Saint Stylites on his column gratified a morbid zeal	I
	-
Laurence	D
By your showing good is really on a par of worth with ill	I
	-
Melchior	E
Nay I said not so I merely tell you both some ends fulfil	I
Priestly vows were my vocation fast and vigil wait for me	C
You must work and face temptation Never should the strong man flee	C
Though God wills the inclination with the soul at war to be Pauses	U
In the strife 'twixt flesh and spirit while you can the spirit aid	V
Should you fall not less your merit be not for a fall afraid	V
Whatsoe'er most right most fit is you shall do When all is done	J
Chaunt the noble Nunc Dimittis Benedicimur my son	J
Exit Melchior	E
	-
Laurence alone	N
Why do I provoke these wrangles Melchior talks as well he may	E
With the tongues of men and angels	W
Takes up a pamphlet What has this man got to say	E
Reads Sic sacerdos fatur ejus nomen quondam erat Burgo	E
Mala mens est caro pejus anima infirma ergo	E
I nunc ora sine mora orat etiam Sancta Virgo	E
Thinks	X
Speaks So it seems they mean to make her wed the usurer Nathan Lee	C
Poor Estelle her friends forsake her what has this to do with me	C
Glad I am at least that Helen still refuses to discard	Y
Her through tales false gossips tell	I
in spite or heedlessness 'Tis hard	Y
Lee the Levite some few years back Herbert horsewhipp'd him the cur	E
Show'd his teeth and laid his ears back Now his wealth has purchased her	E
Must his baseness mar her brightness Shall the callous cunning churl	I
Revel in the rosy whiteness of that golden headed girl	I
Thinks and smokes	Z
Reads Cito certe venit vitae finis sic sacerdos fatur	E
Nunc audite omnes ite vobis fabula narratur	E
Nunc orate et laudate laudat etiam Alma Mater	E
Muses Such has been and such shall still be	C
here as there in sun or star	E
These things are to be and will be those things were to be and are	E
If I thought that speech worth heeding I should Nay it seems to me	C
More like Satan's special pleading than like Gloria Domine	C
Lies down on his couch	A2
Reads Et tuquoque frater meus facta mala quod fecisti	Y
Denique confundit Deus omnes res quas tetegisti	Y
Nunc si unquam nunc aut nunquam sanguine adjuro Christi	Y
	-
Scene IX	Z
In the Garden	J
	-
Aylmer's Garden near the Lake Laurence Raby and Estelle	I
	-
	-
He	Y
Come to the bank where the boat is moor'd to the willow tree low	I
Bertha the baby won't notice Brian the blockhead won't know	I
	-
She	Y
Bertha is not such a baby sir as you seem to suppose	Z
Brian a blockhead he may be more than you think for he knows	Z
	-
He	Y
This much at least of your brother from the beginning he knew	E
Somewhat concerning that other made such a fool of by you	E
	-
She	Y
Firmer those bonds were and faster Frank was my spaniel my slave	E
You you would fain be my master mark you the difference is grave	E
	-
He	Y
Call me your spaniel your starling take me and treat me as these	Z
I would be anything darling aye whatsoever you please	Z
Brian and Basil are punting leave them their dice and their wine	B2
Bertha is butterfly hunting surely one hour shall be mine	B2
See I have done with all duty see I can dare all disgrace	Z
Only to look at your beauty feasting my eyes on your face	Z
	-
She	Y
Look at me aye till your eyes ache How let me ask will it end	Y
Neither for your sake nor my sake but for the sake of my friend	Y
	-
He	Y
Is she your friend then I own it this is all wrong and the rest	Y
Frustra sed anima monet caro quod fortius est	Y
	-
She	Y
Not quite so close Laurence Raby not with your arm round my waist	Y
Something to look at I may be nothing to touch or to taste	Y
	-
He	Y
Wilful as ever and wayward why did you tempt me Estelle	I
	-
She	Y
You misinterpret each stray word you for each inch take an ell	I
Lightly all laws and ties trammel me I am warn'd for all that	Y
	-
He aside	Y
Perhaps she will swallow her camel when she has strained at her gnat	Y
	-
She	Y
Therefore take thought and consider weigh well as I do the whole	I
You for mere beauty a bidder say would you barter a soul	I
	-
He	Y
Girl That may happen but this is after this welcome the worst	Y
Blest for one hour by your kisses let me be evermore curs'd	Y
Talk not of ties to me reckless here every tie I discard	Y
Make me your girdle your necklace	Z
	-
She Laurence you kiss me too hard	Y
	-
He	Y
Aye 'tis the road to Avernus n'est ce pas vrai donc ma belle	I
There let them bind us or burn us mais le jeu vaut la chandelle	I
Am I your lord or your vassal Are you my sun or my torch	C2
You when I look at you dazzle yet when I touch you you scorch	C2
	-
She	Y
Yonder are Brian and Basil watching us fools from the porch	C2
	-
	-
Scene X	Z
After the Quarrel	I
	-
Laurence Raby's Chamber Laurence enters a little the worse for liquor	E
	-
	-
Laurence	Z
He never gave me a chance to speak	D2
And he call'd her worse than a dog	E2
The girl stood up with a crimson cheek	D2
And I fell'd him there like a log	E2
	-
I can feel the blow on my knuckles yet	Y
He feels it more on his brow	E
In a thousand years we shall all forget	Y
The things that trouble us now	E
	-
	-
Scene XI	Y
Ten Paces Off	E
	-
An open country Laurence Raby and Forrest Brian Aylmer and Prescot	Y
	-
	-
Forrest	Y
I've won the two tosses from Prescot	Y
Now hear me and hearken and heed	Y
And pull that vile flower from your waistcoat	Y
And throw down that beast of a weed	Y
I'm going to give you the signal	I
I gave Harry Hunt at Boulogne	E
The morning he met Major Bignell	I
And shot him as dead as a stone	E
For he must look round on his right hand	Y
To watch the white flutter that stops	Z
His aim for it takes off his sight and	Y
I cough while the handkerchief drops	Z
And you keep both eyes on his figure	E
Old fellow and don't take them off	E
You've got the sawhandled hair trigger	E
You sight him and shoot when I cough	E
	-
Laurence aside	Y
Though God will never forgive me	Y
Though men make light of my name	F2
Though my sin and my shame outlive me	Y
I shall not outlast my shame	F2
The coward does he mean to miss me	Y
His right hand shakes like a leaf	E
Shall I live for my friends to hiss me	Y
Of fools and of knaves the chief	E
Shall I live for my foes to twit me	Y
He has master'd his nerve again	E
He is firm he will surely hit me	Y
Will he reach the heart or the brain	E
One long look eastward and northward	Y
One prayer Our Father which art	Y
And the cough chimes in with the fourth word	Y
And I shoot skyward the heart	Y
	-
	-
Last Scene	E
Exeunt	Y