happen a third time. But the third calling of the note shall be more joyous, and at the close of it there shall descend or enter the little Twentieth Century who shall strike the City of Dreadful Night a blow, whereupon, figure, throne and all shall tumble with a cry into the earth. At this, the stage being again dark, a hymn of triumph shall be heard from behind, and all the voices of the children as of those lost and now once more found, shall bear triumphant witness to a cause that cannot die.
THE HYMN.
Perchance that radiant spirit of the dawn
Whose colours treasured in the womb of right[errata 1]
Are hueless first, but when through grey mists drawn,
They form to prisméd glories of new light;
Perchance he marvelling such things to see,
Shall set a morning change upon this earth,
Shall by mere willing bid the new things be
That breathe already in concealéd birth;
Shall as an artist who on canvas lays
The landscape kindling to his dear desires,
Transform these factories to palaces,
And change these smoke-bound chimneys into spires,
Transmute wealth, labour, ugliness, and lo!
Call to the Century—you meant it so!
THE SIXTH SCENE.
THE SYMBOL OF THE CROWNING.
THE PROLOCUTOR.
See now the symbol of the crowning and the prophecy that comes with it. In the dance of the children have ye heard a truth, from the lips of the children shall ye bear wisdom. Great was the Past, and greater shall be the Future as long as ye be true to the lesson of the Past. Like unto a poet whose words are yet to be, whose music is still to make, the Child Century stands upon the threshold of time. Mark now the symbol of the crowning, and as we, your masquers pass like shadows into the night, so do we leave with you the aftermath of our mumming, a sweet rede of the unity of the race.
The crown is the symbol of the Past, but see ye now how it is the children of the coming time who bear it, & at their will and pleasure alone it continues. It was Edward the Confessor brought the mystic morning light of the childhood of England, the Lawgiver brought justice, the lesson of the uncrowning came with the Second Edward, and with the Third the passing of Chivalry, the Fourth came as a strong man bringing seed, & the Fifth the sorrow of unfulfilment, the Sixth was the little founder, and to the Seventh have the fates thrown a guerdon, not his own but that of the peoples at whose will and for whom he stands. It tells of the Empire of England over sea, of the passing and the mission of the Celt, of the power born in the West, and in the coming and crowning of the Seventh Edward do we see the beginnings of the reunion of the peoples into the greater force to be—mark them that assemble about the throne, heed ye the symbol of the crowning. For us mummers, we pass like shadows into the night.
(He folds his scroll and departs.
The back curtain now rises for the last time and displays behind a veil the empty throne of England, being the coronation chair of the kings, its seat the stool of Scone, the stone of destiny, the throne of Tara, on which have sat the ancient Kings of Ireland, of Scotland and of England, & which shall be rendered in similitude from the venerable seat in Westminster.
Then begins with great solemnity, & at first low & gently, a march, into which may be woven the hymn or threnody here below following, set to the Elizabethan air of 'Courtiers, courtiers.'
During the hymn and while the march is stiff in movement; there shall pass in front of the throne alone and unattended the Edwards of England, Edward the Confessor first, then Edward the Lawgiver, then Edward the Second, then Edward the King of Chivalry, then Edward the Fourth, then Edward the Child King, the last being Edward the Founder. Each as he passes from left to right behind the veil shall touch the throne and so move out.
THE THRENODY.
Kings and Queens have been carried to rest,
Or come to be crowned on Thorney Eye,
Where once the ladder of Angels blessed
The King Confessor's offering high.
Could the King Confessor prophesy
As he sat dreaming, dreaming, dreaming,
As he sat dreaming on Thorney Eye?
Came the Conqueror stark and strong,
With fury and flame throughout the land,
Norman stone and Angevin song
Honoured the deeds of his red right hand,
And the rede that he taught, he taught us well,
As those that did fear him, fear him, fear him,
Those that did fear him once might tell.
Kings and Queens may come and may go,
The greatest are those that bring love and law,
To Edward the Lawgiver Englishmen owe
The justice that holds the world in awe,
And to Elinor manners and majesty,
To Elinor lady, lady, lady,
Lady of love and chivalry.
Brave and gentle, splendid and young,
The Agincourt hero next along,
Harry the fifth his peers among,
Rides on in triumph of chant and song,
With the cross of St. George and the English rose,
As he that hath heard it, heard it, heard it,
Heard it of Shakespeare, surely knows.
Comes with pomp of pageant and play,
She who was born the world to bless,
Like perfumed light on a midsummer day,
Her island England, good Queen Bess,
And her poets they yield her their crownèd bays
As they follow her singing, singing, singing,
Singing a paean of English praise.
After the fifth verse has been sung, the music rising to a great solemnity, the figure of Queen Victoria habited in her coronation robes & portrayed as she was known & remembered by our fathers before us, passes across the stage; she pauses for a few moments upon the steps of the throne while the final verse is in singing, then descends and passes out.
