Classic Poem

ACT I

A room on the ground floor of a rustic house. The great door opens upon a sunny threshing-floor; and a scarf of scarlet wool is stretched across the door to impede passers; the scarf is held at one end by a pitchfork and at the other by a distaff, and against one of the lintels hangs a cross of wax to protect the house from evil spirits. A closed door draped with myrtle is in the wall at the right; and against this wall stand three wooden chests. At the left, in the depth of the wall, is a chimney with a deep hood; and a little farther on a small door, and near this a loom.
There are various utensils and pieces of furniture about the room, such as chests of drawers, benches, shelves, reels, spindles, skeins of hemp and wool hanging upon a cord stretched between two nails; mortars, jars, bowls, salt-jars and flasks made from gourds emptied and dried. And there is an ancient kneading-trough, on which is carved an image of Our Lady. There is a jug of water and a table. From the ceiling hangs by cords a long shelf laden with cheeses. Two barred windows five or six feet from the floor make light at the sides of the great door, and each has its sprig of red buckwheat to ward off evil spirits.

Scene I Splendore, Favetta, and Ornella, the three sisters, are kneeling in front of the three chests that contain the bridal outfit, choosing garments for the bride. Their fresh voices are like the morning songs of birds .

Splendore:

What wilt thou have, Vienda, dearest?

Favetta:

Our little sister, newest, nearest!

Splendore:

Wilt thou have a gown of woollen?
Or wilt thou have one soft and silken,
All with blossoms overspread,
Blossoms yellow and blossoms red?

Ornella, singing:

Only green I would be wearing,
To San Giovanni's feast a-faring.
Green, for by a sweet green way
One came to woo me on a day.
Well-a-way, ah, well-a-way!

Splendore:

Here is the bodice of broidery,
And the little silver stomacher;
Here is the twelve-gored skirt for her
And here, little sister, look and see
The necklace a hundred corals long,
That thy new mother gives to thee!

Ornella, singing:

Only of green the drapery
For the chamber on a wedding-day;
Well-a-way, ah, well-a-way!

Favetta:

What wilt thou have, Vienda, dearest?

Splendore:

Our little sister, newest, nearest!

Ornella:

Here are necklace and earrings for the bride,
And a little red ribbon, gayly tied.
Now the bell goes ringing, ringing,
The great bell that rings at noon.

Splendore:

All the kinsfolk will come soon;
All the folk, they come a-bringing
Baskets of the ripe spring wheat,
And thou art not ready, sweet.

Ornella:

The silly sheep on the hillside
Feeding, does not know
How the wolf seeks through the valley
To find where filberts grow,
Fresh little filberts and pistachio.

What a bride for early waking!
Like the little mole she sleeps,
But he's up when dawn is breaking,
And out the dormouse peeps,
And even the badger who sleeps well.
O listen, listen to the bell! She sings her little song rapidly, then breaks into a great laugh; and the others laugh with her.

The three sisters:

Aligi! Aligi! art thou here?

Splendore:

Wilt thou wear clothes of velvet, dear?

Favetta:

Would'st thou like to sleep for a century
With the sleeping beauty, thou and she?

Splendore:

Thy father in the fields is reaping,
Brother mine, since the day-star, peeping,
Was mirrored bright in the sickle's blade,
The sickle whose toil is never stayed.
Favetta:

And thy mother has put spice in the wine,
And in the water is anise, fine,
And cloves are thrust into the meat,
And the newmade cheese with thyme is sweet.

Splendore:

And a yearling lamb they killed last night,
His head was spotted black and white.
He is for the bridegroom and the bride.

Favetta:

And the left shoulder is set aside
For the old prophet, Ustorgio
Of La Fara, that he may
Foretell good luck on your wedding-day.

Ornella:

To-morrow, to-morrow is San Giovanni,
Brother dear, it is San Giovanni!
Up to La Plaia I will run
To see poor San Giovanni's head
Lie within the rising sun.
To see, in a platter of bright gold,
How his blood is bubbling red.

Favetta:

Up, Vienda, golden head!
Wild periwinkles are thine eyes.
In the harvest-field, new fallen, lies
The wheat that is like thy golden hair.

Splendore:

Listen, listen, what says the mother?
" Once I had three olive-trees,
And now a blossoming-plum with these,
My three daughters, and yet another. "

Ornella:

Pale plum-blossom, lazy one,
Why art thou waiting? Writing the sun
A little blue letter, that will pray
Him never, never set to-day?

She laughs and her sisters laugh with her.

Scene 2 From the little door enters their mother, Candia della Leonessa .

Candia:

Ah, little crickets, chatterers three,
One in a fury of merry song
Burst his sides in the poplar-tree.
Now the cocks will crow no more
To waken those who sleep too long.
There'll be only cicalas singing soon,
Three cicalas at high noon.
A chamber they took with a fast-shut door
For a leafy nook in the poplar's shade,
But the bride hears not a word that's said.
Aligi! Aligi! O may son! The door opens and the bridegroom comes in, gravely saluting .

Aligi:

Praised be Maria and Ges u !
And you, O mother, who have to me
This flesh baptized in the Trinity.
Mother, blessed may you be!
Blessed be ye, sisters three,
Flowers of this blood of mine,
Forgive, for me, the cross I sign
On the brow, that, there, the evil one
May never pass in life or death;
That flame touch not, nor fiery breath,
Nor taint of poison, nor any stain;
That tears bathe not, nor sweat of pain.
Holy Spirit, Father, Son! The sisters cross themselves and gathering up the garments pass through the little door. Aligi draws near to his mother as if under a spell.

Candia:

Flesh of my living flesh, I touch thy brow
With this bread that is made of finest wheat,
Made in the trough that was a century old
Before thy birth, yes, and before my birth,
Rolled out upon the board a century old,
Moulded with these my hands that tended thee.

I touch thy forehead that it may be pure,
I touch thy breast that it be without pain;
I touch this shoulder, so, and this, that they
May guide thy arms, arms that are strong for toil,
And that thy love may lean her sweet cheek here.
Oh, may Christ speak to thee, and mayest thou hear! With the bread the mother makes the sign of the cross over her son who falls on his knees before her .

Aligi:

I laid me down and slept, and dreamed of Christ;
Christ spoke to me and said: " Be not afraid. "
And San Giovanni spoke: " Be sure, " he said,
" Without the taper's light thou wilt not lie; "
He said: " An evil death thou wilt not die. "

And you, O mother! have chosen for me my fate,
O! mother you have chosen a bride for me,
A bride for your son, in your house to be.
My mother, you have brought to me a bride,
That with me on the pillow she may sleep;
That she and I may eat from the one dish.
I pasture flocks upon the mountain side;
O mother! I must go back to my sheep! The mother touches his brow with her hand as if to drive away an evil shadow .

Candia:

Rise up, rise up, my son, strange words are these!
Thy words change colour even while thou dost speak,
As when the wind blows through the olive-trees. The son rises, dazed.

Candia:

Down in the wheat-field with the harvesters,
Binding the sheaves there in the grace of God.

Aligi:

I reaped the grain once in his body's shade.
I was so little that I had not made
My first communion. My head reached his thigh.
The first time that I struck, I cut a vein,

Here, where the scar is. With fresh leaves they stayed
The flowing of the blood. My father said:
" Aligi, son, " he said, " Aligi, son,
Give up the sickle, and take to thee the crook,
And be a shepherd on the mountain-side. "
And all that he commanded has been done.

Candia:

My son, my son, what is it pains thee thus?
Perhaps it is the burden of thy dream?
Thy words are like the twilight when it falls,
And one sits on the stone by the wayside,
And follows not the road, because he knows
He may not come where his heart doth abide,
When twilight falls while yet one cannot hear
The Ave Maria sounding far or near.

Aligi:

Back to the mountain I must be returning.
Mother, where have you put my shepherd's crook
Which knows by night and day the grassy paths?
I want it, when our kinsfolk come to-day,
That they may see how I have carved it all.
The mother brings the crook from a corner near the fireplace.

Candia:

Here it is, son; thy sisters, look and see,
For San Giovanni they have decked it out
With red clove-pinks and spicy garden herbs.

Aligi, showing the carving:

I have them in the red wood of my crook,
Always, and in my hand, my sisters three,
Who go with me along the grassy paths.
Here are three little maidens, mother, look,
And here three angels flying over them,
And here three trailing stars, and here three doves,
And for each one I have made a little flower,
And this is the sun, and this the crescent moon;
This is the stole, and this the sacrament;
And this, see, this is San Biagio's tower.
This is the river, here, and this my house,
But who is this that stands within the door?

Candia:

Aligi, Aligi, why wilt thou make me weep?

Aligi:

And there, low down, near to the iron foot,
There is the shepherd, and there are the sheep;
Shepherd and sheep and mountain all are there.
I must go to the mountain and the sheep,
Even though you weep, my mother, even though I weep. He leans both hands on the crook and bows his head absorbed in thought .
Candia:

And Hope, Aligi, where hast thou put her?

Aligi:

Her face I never yet could learn to know,
That I might carve it, mother, verily. A wild clamor is heard far off .
O mother, who is this that shrieks so loud?

Candia:

It is the tumult of the harvesters;
God save them from the madness of the sun;
And may the Baptist keep their hands from blood!

Aligi:

Mother, whoever put that red scarf there,
Stretched out across the doorway of our house,
And leaned the distaff and the pitchfork there?
If evil things are not to enter there,
Ah, pile the plough and cart and oxen there,
Against the sill, and heap up stones and sods,
And all the lime of all the furnaces,
And the rock with Samson's footprint pile above,
And heap Maiella there with all its snows.

Candia:

My son, what is it stirring in thy heart?
Christ said to thee that thou shouldst have no fear.
Art thou awake? Look at the cross of wax,
For it was blessed on last Ascension Day;
And holy water was sprinkled on the hinge.
There is no evil thing can enter there.
It was thy sisters stretched the scarf across.
It is the prize that thou thyself didst win,
Before thou hadst turned shepherd, O my son,
Didst win it, victor in the ploughing match.
Dost thou remember? They have placed it there
That it may stop our kinsfolk as they pass,
That, passing, each may give a pleasant gift.
Why dost thou ask? Thou knowest the custom well.

Aligi:

O mother, I have slept seven hundred years,
Seven hundred years; and I am come from far.
My cradle, mother, I remember not.

Candia:

What is the matter, son? Are thy words mad?
Has thy bride poured for thee, perchance, black wine,
And thou, from fasting, art frenzied by the wine,
So that thy feeling overbears thy thought?
O Mary, Virgin, give, oh, give me peace!

Voice of Ornella, singing:

Only the green I would be wearing,
To San Giovanni's feast a-faring;
Green, for by a sweet green way
One came to win me on a day, —
Well-a-way, ah, well-a-way!

Scene 3

The bride enters, accompanied by the sisters of Aligi and is welcomed by his mother with various household ceremonies. An evil omen follows: Vienda and Aligi are solemnly seated before the door of the bridal chamber, when Vienda, rising suddenly, lets the split loaf of bread, which Candia has given her, fall to the floor. All are filled with dismay. Ornella calls upon San Sisto to drive all evil from their home .
The kinswomen come in, bearing on their heads baskets of grain trimmed with ribbons. Upon the grain in each basket lies a loaf of bread and in each loaf a flower is thrust. The women enter one by one with rural ceremonies, calling down blessings upon the bride at whose feet they place the baskets. They scatter a little grain upon the heads of bride and bridegroom. A bell is ringing. Without are heard the voices of reapers; they seem to increase in number and to draw nearer. Suddenly a woman's cry is heard: " Help for Christ's sake. People of God, people of God, save me! "

Scene 5

The woman rushes in, breathless from haste and fright. She is covered with dust and thorns, like a hunted animal. She cowers in the chimney corner, calling upon the good people to save her; to shut and bolt the door: the reapers, crazed by sun and by wine, are after her like mad dogs. The other women crowd together on the opposite side of the room. Suddenly Ornella runs and shuts and bolts the door. She approaches the frightened stranger, speaking gently, and brings her a bowl of wine and water. The uproar without grows louder and nearer; the reapers call brutally and beat upon the door. One of them looks through the window bars and spies the stranger; at this the mob grows wilder. They call out to Candia that the girl she is hiding is Mila di Codra, the daughter of the magician, Jorio. They use threats and evil words at which the sisters stop their ears. The kinsfolk clamor, urging Aligi to drive the stranger forth; his mother commands him to do so. He approaches Mila and draws aside the veil which has covered her head. He stares at her as if bewitched, forgetting to drop the end of the veil. Then he starts to drive her out. Mila begs for protection and warns him that the hearth is sacred, where she has taken refuge. Aligi, blind with rage and fear at the violation of his hearth, raises his crook to strike her. His sisters try to protect her, weeping. Suddenly Aligi falls on his knees, crying out that he sees the mute angel weeping like his sisters. It is he who has sinned against the hearth. He begs his sisters to pray for him and to care for Mila, and he takes the flowers of San Giovanni from his crook and lays them at her feet. He tries to burn the offending hand with a coal from the fire. The threats of the reapers are renewed with more and more violence. The women kneel and begin the Litany. Aligi places the wax crucifix upon the threshold and opens the door: " Good Christians, this cross was blessed upon Ascension Day. I have placed it on the threshold that you may guard yourselves from sinning against the poor girl who has taken refuge on this hearth. Reapers of Norca, may Heaven help you. " The reapers uncover, reach out their hands to touch the cross, put their hands to their lips and silently withdraw. The Litany continues. Lazaro di Roio comes in, wounded, his head bound up. Mila veils herself again and creeps to the door, waiting a chance to escape.