Classic Poem

Sherwood Forest: dusk. Outside the cave, as in the second
act. SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF runs quickly across the glade, followed by PUCK.

PUCK

Shadow-of-a-Leaf! Shadow-of-a-Leaf! Shadow-of-a-Leaf!
Don't dance away like that; don't hop; don't skip
Like that, I tell you! I'll never do it again,
I promise. Don't be silly now! Come here;
I want to tell you something. Ah, that's right.
Come, sit down here upon this bank of thyme
"While I thine amiable ears"--Oh, no,
Forgive me, ha! ha! ha!

SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF

Now, Master Puck,
You'll kindly keep your word! A foxglove spray
In the right hand is deadlier than the sword
That mortals use, and one resounding thwack
Applied to your slim fairyhood's green limbs
Will make it painful, painful, very painful,
Next time your worship wishes to sit down
Cross-legged upon a mushroom.

PUCK

Ha! ha! ha!
Poor Shadow-of-a-Leaf!

SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF

You keep your word, that's all!

PUCK

Haven't I kept my word? Wasn't it I
That made you what these poor, dull mortals call
Crazy? Who crowned you with the cap and bells?
Who made you such a hopeless, glorious fool
That wise men are afraid of every word
You utter? Wasn't it I that made you free
Of fairyland--that showed you how to pluck
Fern-seed by moonlight, and to walk and talk
Between the lights, with urchins and with elves?
Is there another fool twixt earth and heaven
Like you--ungrateful rogue--answer me that!

SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF

All true, dear gossip, and for saving me
From the poor game of blind man's buff men call
Wisdom, I thank you; but to hang and buzz
Like a mad dragon-fly, now on my nose,
Now on my neck, now singing in my ears,
Is that to make me free of fairyland?
No--that's enough to make the poor fool mad
And take to human wisdom.

PUCK

Yet you love me,
Ha! ha!--you love me more than all the rest.
You can't deny it! You can't deny it! Ha! ha!

SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF

I won't deny it, gossip. E'en as I think
There must be something loves us creatures, Puck,
More than the Churchmen say. We are so teased
With thorns, bullied with briars, baffled with stars.
I've lain sometimes and laughed until I cried
To see the round moon rising o'er these trees
With that same foolish face of heavenly mirth
Winking at lovers in the blue-bell glade.

PUCK

Lovers! Ha! ha! I caught a pair of 'em
Last night, behind the ruined chapel! Lovers!
O Lord, these mortals, they'll be the death of me!
Hist, who comes here?

SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF

Scarlet and Little John,
And all the merry men--not half so merry
Since Robin went away. He was to come
And judge between the rich and poor to-day,
I think he has forgotten.

PUCK

Hist, let me hide
Behind this hawthorn bush till they are gone.

[Enter the FORESTERS--they all go into the cave except SCARLET
and LITTLE JOHN, who stand at the entrance, looking
anxiously back.]

LITTLE JOHN

I have never known the time when Robin Hood
Said "I will surely come," and hath not been
Punctual as yonder evening star.

SCARLET

Pray God
No harm hath fallen him. Indeed he said,
"Count on my coming."

LITTLE JOHN

I'll sound yet one more call.
They say these Courts will spoil a forester.
It may be he has missed the way. I'd give
My sword-hand just to hear his jolly bugle
Answer me.

[He blows a forest call. They listen. All is silent.]

SCARLET

Silence--only the sough of leaves!

LITTLE JOHN

Well, I'm for sleep: the moon is not so bright
Since Robin left us.

SCARLET

Ha! Shadow-of-a-Leaf, alone?
I thought I heard thy voice.

LITTLE JOHN

Oh, he will talk
With ferns and flowers and whisper to the mice!
Perfectly happy, art thou not, dear fool?

SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF

Perfectly happy since I lost my wits!

SCARLET

Pray that thou never dost regain them, then,
Shadow-of-a-Leaf.

SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF

I thank you kindly, sir,
And pray that you may quickly lose your own,
And so be happy, too. Robin's away,
But, if you'd lost your wits, you would not grieve.

SCARLET

Good-night, good fool.

SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF

I will not say "Good-night,"
Wise man, for I am crazed, and so I know
'Tis good, and yet you'll grieve. I wish you both
A bad night that will tease your wits away
And make you happy.

[The OUTLAWS enter the cave. SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF beckons to
PUCK, who steals out again.]

PUCK

Shadow-of-a-Leaf, some change
Is creeping o'er the forest. I myself
Scarce laugh so much since Robin went away!
Oh, my head hangs as heavily as a violet
Brimmed with the rain. Shadow-of-a-Leaf, a cloud,
A whisper steals across this listening wood!
I am growing afraid. Dear fool, I am thy Puck,
But I am growing afraid there comes an end
To all our Sherwood revels, and I shall never
Tease thee again.

SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF

Here comes the King!

[Enter OBERON.]

Hail, Oberon.
King of the fairies, I strew ferns before you.
There are no palms here: ferns do just as well!

OBERON

Shadow-of-a-Leaf, our battles all are wasted;
Our fairy dreams whereby we strove to warn
Robin and Marian, wasted. Shadow-of-a-Leaf,
Dear Robin Hood, the lover of the poor,
And kind Maid Marian, our forest queen,
Are in the toils at last!

[He pauses.]

SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF

Speak, speak!

OBERON

Prince John
Hath trapped and taken Robin.

SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF

Is not Richard
King of this England? Did not Richard tempt
Robin, for Marian's sake, to leave the forest?
Did he not swear upon the Holy Cross
That Robin should be Earl of Huntingdon
And hold his lands in safety?

OBERON

Only fear
Of Richard held the wicked Prince in leash.
But Richard roamed abroad again. Prince John
Would murder Robin secretly.

SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF

Wise men
Fight too much for these holy sepulchres!
Are not the living images of God
Better than empty graves?

OBERON

One grave is filled
Now; for our fairy couriers have brought
Tidings that Richard Lion-Heart is dead.

SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF

Dead?

OBERON

Dead! In a few brief hours the news will reach
The wicked Prince. He will be King of England,
With Marian in his power!

SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF

No way to save them!

OBERON

We cannot break our fairy vows of silence.
A mortal, Shadow-of-a-Leaf, can break those vows,
But only on pain of death.

SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF

Oberon, I,
Shadow-of-a-Leaf, the fool, must break my vows!
I must save Robin Hood that he may save
Marian from worse than death.

OBERON

Shadow-of-a-Leaf,
Think what death means to you, never to join
Our happy sports again, never to see
The moonlight streaming through these ancient oaks
Again, never to pass the fairy gates
Again. We cannot help it. They will close
Like iron in your face, and you will hear
Our happy songs within; but you will lie
Alone, without, dying, and never a word
To comfort you, no hand to touch your brow.

SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF

So be it. I shall see them entering in!
The time is brief. Quick, tell me, where is Robin?
Quick, or the news that makes Prince John a king
Will ruin all.

OBERON

Robin is even now
Thrust in the great dark tower beyond the wood,
The topmost cell where foot can never climb.

SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF

Cannot an arrow reach it? Ay, be swift;
Come, lead me thither.

OBERON

I cannot disobey
The word that kills the seed to raise the wheat,
The word that--Shadow-of-a-Leaf, I think I know
Now, why great kings ride out to the Crusade.


SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF

Quickly, come, quickly!

[Exeunt OBERON and SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF. PUCK remains
staring after them, then vanishes with a sob, between
the trees. LITTLE JOHN and SCARLET appear once
more at the mouth of the cave.]

SCARLET

I thought I heard a voice.


LITTLE JOHN

'Twas only Shadow-of-a-Leaf again. He talks
For hours among the ferns, plays with the flowers,
And whispers to the mice, perfectly happy!


SCARLET

I cannot rest for thinking that some harm
Hath chanced to Robin. Call him yet once more.

[LITTLE JOHN blows his bugle. All is silent. They stand
listening.]