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On the Tower
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Oh bid me go no farther lest I fall, |
| K. | Are you afraid, Who were so dauntless till the walls gave way? Courage, my sweet. I would that I could climb A thousand times by wind-swept stairs like these, That lead so near to heaven. |
| L. | Sir, you may, You are a knight and very valorous; I am a woman. I shall never come This way but once. (The Knight and the Lady appear on the top of the tower.) |
| K. | Kiss me at last, my love. |
| L. | Oh, my sweet lord, I am too tired to kiss. Look how the earth is like an emerald, With rivers veined and flawed with fallow fields. |
| K. | (Lifting her veil) Then I kiss you, a thousand thousand kisses For all the days ere I had won to you Beyond the walls and gates you barred so close. Call me at last your love, your castle's lord. |
| L. | (After a pause) I love you. (She kisses him. Her veil blows away like a white butterfly over the parapet. Faint cries and laughter from men and women under the tower.) |
| Men and Women. | The veil, the lady's veil! (The knight takes the lady in his arms.) |
| L. | My lord, I pray you loose me from your arms Lest that my people see how much we love, |
