Complete Works of Henrik Ibsen (60 page)

FALK.
                                       No!
I’ve pointed to the goal, — now leap with me,
My high-souled Svanhild — if you dare, and show
That you have heart and courage to be free.

SVANHILD.
Be free?

FALK.
         Yes, free, for freedom’s all-in-all
Is absolutely to fulfil our Call.
And you by heaven were destined, I know well,
To be my bulwark against beauty’s spell.
I, like my falcon namesake, have to swing
Against the wind, if I would reach the sky!
You are the breeze I must be breasted by,
You, only you, put vigour in my wing:
Be mine, be mine, until the world shall take you,
When leaves are falling, then our paths shall part.
Sing unto me the treasures of your heart,
And for each song another song I’ll make you;
So may you pass into the lamplit glow
Of age, as forests fade without a throe.

SVANHILD
[with suppressed bitterness]
.
I cannot thank you, for your words betray
The meaning of your kind solicitude.
You eye me as a boy a sallow, good
To cut and play the flute on for a day.

FALK.
Yes, better than to linger in the swamp
Till autumn choke it with her grey mists damp!
                                  [Vehemently.
You must! you shall! To me you must present
What God to you so bountifully lent.
I speak in song what you in dreams have meant.
See yonder bird I innocently slew,
Her warbling was Song’s book of books for you.
O, yield your music as she yielded hers!
My life shall be that music set to verse!

SVANHILD.
And when you know me, when my songs are flown,
And my last requiem chanted from the bough, —
What then?

FALK
[observing her]
.
           What then? Ah, well, remember now!
                       [Pointing to the garden.

SVANHILD
[gently]
.
Yes, I remember you can drive a stone.

FALK
[with a scornful laugh]
.
This is your vaunted soul of freedom therefore!
All daring, if it had an end to dare for!
                                   [Vehemently.
I’ve shown you one; now, once for all, your yea
Or nay.

SVANHILD.
        You know the answer I must make you:
I never can accept you in your way.

FALK
[coldly, breaking off]
.
Then there’s an end of it; the world may take you!

   [SVANHILD has silently turned away. She supports
      her hands upon the verandah railing, and rests
      her head upon them.

FALK [Walks several times up and down, takes a cigar,
    stops near her and says, after a pause:
You think the topic of my talk to-night
Extremely ludicrous, I should not wonder?
    [Pauses for an answer. SVANHILD is silent.
I’m very conscious that it was a blunder;
Sister’s and daughter’s love alone possess you;
Henceforth I’ll wear kid gloves when I address you,
Sure, so, of being understood aright.

   [Pauses, but as SVANHILD remains motionless, he
      turns and goes towards the right.

SVANHILD [lifting her head after a brief silence,
        looking at him and drawing near.
Now I will recompense your kind intent
To save me, with an earnest admonition.
That falcon-image gave me sudden vision
What your “emancipation” really meant.
You said you were the falcon, that must fight
Athwart the wind if it would reach the sky,
I was the breeze you must be breasted by,
Else vain were all your faculty of flight;
How pitifully mean! How paltry! Nay
How ludicrous, as you yourself divined!
That seed, however, fell not by the way,
But bred another fancy in my mind
Of a far more illuminating kind.
You, as I saw it, were no falcon, but
A tuneful dragon, out of paper cut,
Whose Ego holds a secondary station,
Dependent on the string for animation;
Its breast was scrawled with promises to pay
In cash poetic, — at some future day;
The wings were stiff with barbs and shafts of wit
That wildly beat the air, but never hit;
The tail was a satiric rod in pickle
To castigate the town’s infirmities,
But all it compass’d was to lightly tickle
The casual doer of some small amiss.
So you lay helpless at my feet imploring:
“O raise me, how and where is all the same!
Give me the power of singing and of soaring,
No matter at what cost of bitter blame!”

FALK
[clenching his fists in inward agitation]
.
Heaven be my witness — !

SVANHILD.
                        No, you must be told: —
For such a childish sport I am too old.
But you, whom Nature made for high endeavour,
Are you content the fields of air to tread
Hanging your poet’s life upon a thread
That at my pleasure I can slip and sever?

FALK
[hurriedly]
.
What is the date to-day?

SVANHILD
[more gently]
.
                         Why, now, that’s right!
Mind well this day, and heed it, and beware;
Trust to your own wings only for your flight,
Sure, if they do not break, that they will bear.
The paper poem for the desk is fit,
That which is lived alone has life in it;
That only has the wings that scale the height;
Choose now between them, poet: be, or write!
                                   [Nearer to him.
Now I have done what you besought me; now
My requiem is chanted from the bough;
My only one; now all my songs are flown;
Now, if you will, I’m ready for the stone!

[She goes into the house; FALK remains motionless, looking after her; far out on the fjord is seen a boat, from which the following chorus is faintly heard:

CHORUS.

My wings I open, my sails spread wide,
And cleave like an eagle life’s glassy tide;
  Gulls follow my furrow’s foaming;
Overboard with the ballast of care and cark;
And what if I shatter my roaming bark,
  It is passing sweet to be roaming!

FALK
[starting from a reverie]
.
What, music? Ah, it will be Lind’s quartette
Getting their jubilation up. — Well met!
    [To GULDSTAD, who enters with an overcoat on his arm.
Ah, slipping off, sir?

GULDSTAD.
                       Yes, with your goodwill.
But let me first put on my overcoat.
We prose-folks are susceptible to chill;
The night wind takes us by the tuneless throat.
Good evening!

FALK.
              Sir, a word ere you proceed!
Show me a task, a mighty one, you know — !
I’m going in for life — !

GULDSTAD
[with ironical emphasis]
.
                         Well, in you go!
You’ll find that you are in for it, indeed.

FALK
[looking reflectively at him, says slowly]
.
There is my program, furnished in a phrase.
                          [In a lively outburst.
Now I have wakened from my dreaming days,
I’ve cast the die of life’s supreme transaction,
I’ll show you — else the devil take me —

GULDSTAD.
                                        Fie,
No cursing: curses never scared a fly.

FALK.
Words, words, no more, but action, only action!
I will reverse the plan of the Creation; —
Six days were lavish’d in that occupation;
My world’s still lying void and desolate,
Hurrah, to-morrow, Sunday — I’ll create!

GULDSTAD
[laughing]
.
Yes, strip, and tackle it like a man, that’s right!
But first go in and sleep on it. Good-night!

   [Goes out to the left. SVANHILD appears in the
      room over the verandah; she shuts the window
      and draws down the blind.

FALK.
No, first I’ll act. I’ve slept too long and late.
    [Looks up at SVANHILD’s window, and exclaims, as
      if seized with a sudden resolution:
Good-night! Good-night! Sweet dreams to-night be thine;
To-morrow, Svanhild, thou art plighted mine!

   [Goes out quickly to the right; from the water the
      CHORUS is heard again.

CHORUS.

Maybe I shall shatter my roaming bark,
But it’s passing sweet to be roaming!

[The boat slowly glides away as the curtain falls.

ACT SECON
D

Sunday afternoon. Well-dressed ladies and gentlemen are drinking coffee on the verandah. Several of the guests appear through the open glass door in the garden-room; the following song is heard from within.

CHORUS.

Welcome, welcome, new plighted pair
To the merry ranks of the plighted!
Now you may revel as free as air,
Caress without stint and kiss without care, —
No longer of footfall affrighted.

Now you are licensed, wherever you go,
To rapture of cooing and billing;
Now you have leisure love’s seed to sow,
Water, and tend it, and make it grow; —
Let us see you’ve a talent for tilling!

MISS JAY
[within]
.
Ah Lind, if I only had chanced to hear,
I would have teased you!

A LADY
[within]
.
                         How vexatious though!

ANOTHER LADY
[in the doorway]
.
Dear Anna, did he ask in writing?

AN AUNT.
                                  No!
Mine did.

A LADY
[on the verandah]
.
          How long has it been secret, dear?
                         [Runs into the room.

MISS JAY.
To-morrow there will be the ring to choose.

LADIES
[eagerly]
.
We’ll take his measure!

MISS JAY.
                        Nay; that she must do.

MRS. STRAWMAN
[on the verandah, to a lady who is busy with embroidery]
. What kind of knitting-needles do you use?

A SERVANT
[in the door with a coffee-pot]
.
More coffee, madam?

A LADY.
                    Thanks, a drop or two.

MISS JAY
[to ANNA]
.
How fortunate you’ve got your new manteau
Next week to go your round of visits in!

AN ELDERLY LADY
[at the window]
.
When shall we go and order the trousseau?

MRS. STRAWMAN.
How are they selling cotton-bombasine?

A GENTLEMAN
[to some ladies on the verandah]
.
Just look at Lind and Anna; what’s his sport?

LADIES
[with shrill ecstasy]
.
Gracious, he kissed her glove!

OTHERS
[similarly, springing up]
.
                        No! Kiss’d it! Really?

LIND
[appears, red and embarrassed, in the doorway]
.
O, stuff and nonsense! [Disappears.

MISS JAY.
                       Yes, I saw it clearly.

STIVER
[in the door, with a coffee-cup in one hand and
      a biscuit in the other]
.
The witnesses must not mislead the court;
I here make affidavit, they’re in error.

MISS JAY
[within]
.
Come forward, Anna; stand before this mirror!

SOME LADIES
[calling]
.
You, too, Lind!

MISS JAY.
                Back to back! A little nearer!

LADIES.
Come, let us see by how much she is short.

   [All run into the garden-room; laughter and shrill
      talk are heard for a while from within.

[FALK, who during the preceding scene has been walking about in the garden, advances into the foreground, stops and looks in until the noise has somewhat abated.

FALK.
There love’s romance is being done to death. —
The butcher once who boggled at the slaughter,
Prolonging needlessly the ox’s breath, —
He got his twenty days of bread and water;
But these — these butchers yonder — they go free.
                           [Clenches his fist.
I could be tempted — ; hold, words have no worth,
I’ve sworn it, action only from henceforth!

LIND
[coming hastily but cautiously out]
.
Thank God, they’re talking fashions; now’s my chance
To slip away —

FALK.
               Ha, Lind, you’ve drawn the prize
Of luck, — congratulations buzz and dance
All day about you, like a swarm of flies.

LIND.
They’re all at heart so kindly and so nice;
But rather fewer clients would suffice.
Their helping hands begin to gall and fret me;
I’ll get a moment’s respite, if they’ll let me.
                       [Going out to the right.

FALK.
Wither away?

LIND.
             Our den; — it has a lock;
In case you find the oak is sported, knock.

FALK.
But shall I not fetch Anna to you?

LIND.
                                       No —
If she wants anything, she’ll let me know.
Last night we were discussing until late;
We’ve settled almost everything of weight;
Besides I think it scarcely goes with piety
To have too much of one’s beloved’s society.

FALK.
Yes, you are right; for daily food we need
A simple diet.

LIND.
               Pray, excuse me, friend.
I want a whiff of reason and the weed;
I haven’t smoked for three whole days on end.
My blood was pulsing in such agitation,
I trembled for rejection all the time —

FALK.
Yes, you may well desire recuperation —

LIND.
And won’t tobacco’s flavour be sublime!

   [Goes out to the right. MISS JAY and some other
      LADIES come out of the garden-room.

MISS JAY
[to FALK]
.
That was he surely?

FALK.
                    Yes, your hunted deer.

LADIES.
To run away from us!

OTHERS.
                     For shame! For shame!

FALK.
‘Tis a bit shy at present, but, no fear,
A week of servitude will make him tame.

MISS JAY
[looking round]
.
Where is he hid?

FALK.
                 His present hiding-place
Is in the garden loft, our common lair;
                                    [Blandly.
But let me beg you not to seek him there;
Give him a breathing time!

MISS JAY.
                           Well, good: the grace
Will not be long, tho’.

FALK.
                        Nay, be generous!
Ten minutes, — then begin the game again.
He has an English sermon on the brain.

MISS JAY.
An English — ?

LADIES.
              O you laugh! You’re fooling us!

FALK.
I’m in grim earnest. ‘Tis his fixed intention
To take a charge among the emigrants,
And therefore —

MISS JAY
[with horror]
.
                Heavens, he had the face to mention
That mad idea? [To the ladies.
                      O quick — fetch all the aunts!
Anna, her mother, Mrs. Strawman too.

LADIES
[agitated]
.
This must be stopped!

ALL.
                      We’ll make a great ado!

MISS JAY.
Thank God, they’re coming.

   [To ANNA, who comes from the garden-room with STRAWMAN,
      his wife and children, STIVER, GULDSTAD, MRS. HALM and
      the other guests.

MISS JAY.
                           Do you know what Lind
Has secretly determined in his mind?
To go as missionary —

ANNA.
                      Yes, I know.

MRS. HALM.
And you’ve agreed — !

ANNA
[embarrassed]
.
                     That I will also go.

MISS JAY
[indignant]
.
He’s talked this stuff to you!

LADIES
[clasping their hands together]
.
                               What tyranny!

FALK.
But think, his Call that would not be denied — !

MISS JAY.
Tut, that’s what people follow when they’re free:
A bridegroom follows nothing but his bride. —
No, my sweet Anna, ponder, I entreat:
You, reared in comfort from your earliest breath — ?

FALK.
Yet, sure, to suffer for the faith is sweet!

MISS JAY.
Is one to suffer for one’s bridegroom’s faith?
That is a rather novel point of view.
                                    [To the ladies.
Ladies, attend!
                                 [Takes ANNA’s arm.
                   Now listen; then repeat
For his instruction what he has to do.

[They go into the background and out to the right in eager talk with several of the ladies; the other guests disperse in Groups about the garden. FALK stops STRAWMAN, whose wife and children keep close to him. GULDSTAD goes to and fro during the following conversation.

FALK.
Come, pastor, help young fervour in its fight,
Before they lure Miss Anna from her vows.

STRAWMAN
[in clerical cadence]
.
The wife must be submissive to the spouse; —
                                      [Reflecting.
But if I apprehended him aright,
His Call’s a problematical affair,
The offering altogether in the air —

FALK.
Pray do not judge so rashly. I can give
You absolute assurance, as I live,
His Call is definite and incontestable —

STRAWMAN
[seeing it in a new light]
.
Ah — if there’s something fixed — investable —
Per annum — then I’ve nothing more to say.

FALK
[impatiently]
.
You think the most of what I count the least;
I mean the inspiration, — to the pay!

STRAWMAN
[with an unctuous smile]
.
Pay is the first condition of a priest
In Asia, Africa, America,
Or where you will. Ah yes, if he were free,
My dear young friend, I willingly agree,
The thing might pass; but, being pledged and bound,
He’ll scarcely find the venture very sound.
Reflect, he’s young and vigorous, sure to found
A little family in time; assume his will
To be the very best on earth — but still
The means, my friend — ? ‘Build not upon the sand,’
Says Scripture. If, upon the other hand,
The Offering —

FALK.
               That’s no trifle, I’m aware.

STRAWMAN.
Ah, come — that wholly alters the affair.
When men are zealous in their Offering,
And liberal —

FALK.
              There he far surpasses most.

STRAWMAN.
“He” say you? How? In virtue of his post
The Offering is not what he has to bring
But what he has to get.

MRS. STRAWMAN
[looking towards the background]
.
                        They’re sitting there.

FALK
[after staring a moment in amazement suddenly
    understands and bursts out laughing.]
.
Hurrah for Offerings — the ones that caper
And strut — on Holy-days — in bulging paper!

STRAWMAN.
All the year round the curb and bit we bear,
But Whitsuntide and Christmas make things square.

FALK
[gaily]
.
Why then, provided only there’s enough of it,
Even family-founders will obey their Calls.

STRAWMAN.
Of course; a man assured the
quantum suff
of it
Will preach the Gospel to the cannibals.
                                       [Sotto voce.
Now I must see if she cannot be led,
                       [To one of the little girls.
My little Mattie, fetch me out my head —
My pipe-head I should say, my little dear —
                    [Feels in his coat-tail pocket.
Nay, wait a moment tho’: I have it here.

   [Goes across and fills his pipe, followed by his
      wife and children.

GULDSTAD
[approaching]
.
You seem to play the part of serpent in
This paradise of lovers.

FALK.
                         O, the pips
Upon the tree of knowledge are too green
To be a lure for anybody’s lips.
         [To LIND, who comes in from the right.
Ha, Lind!