Honeymoon Scene (From The Drama Of Mizpah)

AHASUERAS     What were thy thoughts, sweet Esther?    Something passed     Across thy face, that for a moment veiled     Thy soul from mine, and left me desolate.     Thy thoughts were not of me?     ESTHER         Ay, ALL of thee!     I wondered, if in truth, thou wert content     With me - thy choice.    Was there no other one     Of all who passed before thee at thy court     Whose memory pursues thee with regret?     AHASUERAS     I do confess I much regret that day     And wish I could relive it.     ESTHER         Oh!    My lord!     AHASUERAS     Yea!    I regret those hours I wasted on     The poor procession that preceded thee.     Hadst thou come first, then all the added wealth          Of one long day of loving thee were mine -     A boundless fortune squandered.    Though I live     To three score years and ten, as I do hope,     In wedded love beside thee, that one day     Was filched from me and cannot be restored.     ESTHER     And then to think how frightened and abashed     I hung outside thy gates from early morn,     Not daring to go in and meet thine eyes,     Till pitying twilight clothed me in her veil,     And evening walked beside me to thy door.     AHASUERAS     So it was thou, fair thief, who stole that day,     And made me poorer, by - how many hours?     ESTHER     Full eight, I think.    They seemed a hundred then,     And now time flies a hundred times too fast.     AHASUERAS     Then eight more kisses do I claim from thee,     This very hour - first tithes of many due.     I shall exact these payments as I will,     And if they be not ready on demand,     I'll lock thee in the prison of my arms,     Like this - and take them so - and so - and so!     ESTHER     But kings must think of other things than love     And live for other aims than happiness.     I would not drag thee from thy altitude     Of mighty ruler and great conqueror     To chain thee by my side.     AHASUERAS         Such slavery     Would please me better than to conquer earth     Without thee, Esther.    I have stood on heights     And heard the cheers of multitudes below;     Have known the loneliness of being great.     Now, let me live and love thee, like a man,     Forgetting I am king -     I am content.     ESTHER     Content is not the pathway to great deeds.     As man, I hold thee higher than all kings;     As king, thou must stand higher than all men     In other eyes.    Let no one say of me:     'She spoiled his greatness by her littleness;     She made a languorous lover of a king,     And silenced war-cries on commanding lips -     With honeyed kisses; made her woman's arms     Preferred to armour, and her couch to tents,     Until the kingdom, with no guiding hand,     Plunged down to ruin.'     AHASUERAS         Thou wouldst have me go -     So soon thy heart hath wearied?     ESTHER     My heart is bursting with its love for thee!     Canst thou not feel its fervour?    But great men     Need wiser guidance than a woman's heart.     My pride in thee is equal to my love,     And I would have thee greater than thou art -     Ay, greater than all other men on earth -     Though forced long years to feed my hungry heart     On food of memories and wine of tears,     Wert thou but winning glory and renown.     AHASUERAS     Thou art most noble, Esther; thou art fit     To be the consort of a king of kings.     But I have chewed upon ambition's husks     And starved for love through all my manhood's years;     And now the mighty gods have seen it fit     To spread love's banquet and to name thee host,     May I not feast my fill?    O Esther, take     The tempting nectar of those lips away     And give me wine to rouse the brute in me,     To make me thirst for blood instead of love!     Wine!    Wine!    I say!     ESTHER         Ahasueras, wait!     Methinks good music is wine turned to sound.     Here comes thy minstrel with an offering     Pressed from the ripened fruit of my fond heart.     Mine own the words and mine the melody     And may it linger longer in thine ear     Than on thy lip would stay the taste of wine.     Sing on!     MINSTREL     When from the field returning,     Love is a warrior's yearning,     Love in his heart is burning,          Love is his dream.     Talk not to him of glory,     Speak not of faces gory,     Sing of love's tender story,          Make it thy theme.     Sing of his lady's tresses,     Sing of the smile that blesses,     Sing of the sweet caresses,          And yet again     Sing of fair children's faces,     Sing of the dear home graces,     Sing till the vacant places,          Ring with thy strain.     Yet as the days go speeding,     Shall he arise unheeding     Love songs or words of pleading,          Strong in his might!     Helmet and armour wearing,     Hies he to deeds of daring,     Forth to the battle faring,          Back to the fight.     Sing now of ranks contending,     Sing of loud voices blending,     Sing of great warriors sending          Death to their foes!     Sing of war missiles humming,     Strike into martial drumming,     Sing of great victory coming,          As forth he goes.     Back to the battle faring,     Back into deeds of daring,          Back to the fight.     AHASUERAS     No less a lover but a greater man,     A better warrior and a nobler king,     I will be from this hour for thy dear sake.