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Read Ebook: Fenris the Wolf: A Tragedy by MacKaye Percy
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Ebook has 861 lines and 68238 words, and 18 pages
ODIN BALDUR THOR LOKI FENRIS FENRIS'S PACK FREYJA
OF THE PLAY
FOLK, PRIESTS, VIRGINS, CHILDREN
SCENES
THE
Foreground--a frozen crater
ODIN He sleeps, yet restive still; with eyelids squint Through which his eyes, in dreams still shifting, flash Like flame through knot-holes. Yet he sleeps; beside him His wild pack, crouching, share his chain.--A lull: Betwixt moonset and sunrise, one at least, One lull in that insensate harsh defiance, The beast-night-barking of my wolfish son. You stars! Fenris is quiet. Now the dews May fall in silence, now the mountain birds Nest silent by the unawakened morning, The wide dark fold its wings and dream. Now peace, The infinite soliloquy of thought, Descends on Odin.
THE PACK Ulfr! Ulfr sofnathi!
ODIN That this dread should breathe! And yon beast born from out my loins--to me, To me, that from this forehead plucked an eye To pawn for Mimi's knowledge.--Wisdom, truth, Beauty, and law, the tranquil goals of mind, All these had I attained, and I a god; Yet on the lank, alluring hag of Chaos Begat this son, this living fang.
THE PACK Ulfr! Ulfr sofnathi!
ODIN O thou Dumb spirit of the mind! O mystery! Were there a god whom Odin might invoke, To thee would Odin sue for pity.--Ages, A thousand ages, anguish; Anguish, remorse, forgiveness, malediction, Light into darkness, horror into hope, Revolving evermore.--O pain, O pain, Sear not my spirit blind!--Thou, tameless wolf, God of the void eternal retrograde, Prone deity of self, by that thou art-- Illimitable passion, joyance mad Of being, hate, brute-cunning, gnawing lust, Fenris, I curse thee.
THE PACK Ulfr! Ulfr vaknathi!
FENRIS Father!
ODIN Still that name!
FENRIS Father!
ODIN Fenris, my son, forgive me.
FENRIS Fetch Fenris Freyja.
ODIN Bastard wolf, Be silent.
FENRIS Baldur, my brother's bride betroth?d, Freyja, fetch me.
ODIN Still no longing but 'tis lust, No aspiration but 'tis appetite.
FENRIS Anarch! anarch! anarch! Father, free me!
ODIN Free thee, thou poor antagonist. Knowest thou Not yet why thou art chained? Retarded thing, Emancipate thyself! What might it avail Though Odin burst these links and loosed thee?--Thou Thyself art thine own bondage and thy pain.
THE PACK Ulfr! Ulfr!
FENRIS Anarch! anarch! Ulfr!
ODIN Yet could'st thou show some genesis of good, Some spring of growth. Hadst thou, in all these ages, Waxed toward my stature imperceptibly Even as the seed, that germinates in darkness, Feels toward the sky; yea, hadst thou now one pale Potential spark of godhood, nobler desire, Evolving intellect, one lineal trait To prove that upward through thy brutish heart Yearns infinite Reason, even now, poor son, Would I strike off these fetters, set thee free, Thee and thy pack, and put my hope in time.
THE PACK Heil! Heil, Othinn!
FENRIS Fenris! Free him.
ODIN But lo! instead, what art thou? Ye faint stars, Before you close your eyes in day, once more Behold him! Ye icy craters and hoar caves, Thou solitary dawn, eternal sky, Perennial snows--you timeless presences, Behold your consummation: this, even this, Is Odin's elder son, creation's heir!
FENRIS Anarch! anarch! anarch! anarch! anarch!
BALDUR Flushing peak, fainting star, Freyja! Torches in thy temple are, Freyja! Spirits of air, Anses and elves, Brightens the dawn, Freyja is gone. Come! let us go to her, girding ourselves.
CHORUS Freyja, where art thou? Where? Where?
FREYJA Those giant beards and backs!--They turn and look. The peaks pursue me, and the nudging cliffs Thrust out great chins and stare. Where should this lead?
BALDUR Mortal day, man's desires, Freyja! Feed on earth thine altar-fires, Freyja! Spirits of earth, Wood-sprites and Wanes, Gone is our mirth, Sorrow remains. Come! let us hasten and bid her beware!
CHORUS Freyja, where art thou? Where? Where?
FREYJA Can this place be i' the world? And were such shapes Wrought in the dear creation? And that voice-- Was it this crater's frozen mouth that moaned For blossoms and the south wind and my love?
BALDUR Freyja!
FREYJA O Baldur, come!
BALDUR What hast thou seen? Why hast thou left the silver roof of shields, Thy lover's eyes, the laughter of the gods, To wander forth in night?
FREYJA Barkings I heard.
BALDUR Hush, Freyja!
FREYJA Through the music of the gods Faintly I heard it knell and yearn for me; And so I stole away. But tell me--
BALDUR Come!
FREYJA Tell me what thing of nameless woe--
BALDUR Oh, come And ask not. Come away to Valhal.
FREYJA Baldur!
BALDUR Freyja, look down! Spring leaps among the valleys And calls his universal flocks, to drink The love of Freyja. The forests rush together and the groves, And the male oaks, like herded elk at war, Tangle their budding antlers, and moan loud For Freyja's love.
Look down! The silvered pastures and the lakes Lift all their sacrificial clouds, to crave The love of Freyja; And day's bright stallion, snorting in the east, Paws the pale stream of morning into gold And champs his golden curb to burning foam For Freyja's love.
THE PACK Ulfr! Ulfr vaknathi!
FREYJA Listen! They cry-- "The wolf awakeneth!" What wolf? And why That clang of steel?
BALDUR His chain.
BALDUR A beast Untamed and tameless.--Ask not with thine eyes!-- Fenris, my brother.
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