Picture Show (Sassoon collection)/Cinema Hero
CINEMA HERO
O, this is more than fiction! It's the truthThat somehow never happened. Pay your bob,And walk straight in, abandoning To-day.(To-day's a place outside the picture-house;Forget it, and the film will do the rest.)
There's nothing fine in being as large as life:The splendour starts when things begin to moveAnd gestures grow enormous. That's the wayTo dramatise your dreams and play the partAs you'd have done if luck had starred your face.
I'm 'Rupert from the Mountains'! (Pass the stout)...Yes, I'm the Broncho Boy we watched to-night,That robbed a ranch and galloped down the creek.(Moonlight and shattering hoofs....O moonlight of the West!Wind in the gum-trees, and my swerving mareBeating her flickering shadow on the post.)
Ah, I was wild in those fierce days! You saw meFix that saloon? They stared into my faceAnd slowly put their hands up, while I stoodWith dancing eyes,-romantic to the world!
Things happened afterwards...You know the story...The sheriff's daughter, bandaging my head;Love at first sight; the escape; and making good(To music by Mascagni). And at last—Peace; and the gradual beauty of my smile.
But that's all finished now. One has to takeLife as it comes. I've nothing to regret.For men like me, the only thing that countsIs the adventure. Lord, what times I've had!
God and King Charles! And then my mistress's arms....(To-morrow evening I'm a Cavalier.)
Well, what's the news to-night about the Strike?