ACT III: ROSALYN’S BOOK OF DREAMS
(Scene: Rosalyn’s Tower bedroom, wide and stone, with strange occult markings all over the floor, and stars outside her window.)
NARRATOR
What monstrous fate for her did await, helpless,
Spawned in the pits of Hades, and given shape,
The shape of incarnate lust and blind obsession,
By a man who longed for the heart of a woman?
The greatest minds could scarce answer this question.
For fate is ever mysterious, from the antique days
Of Greek and Roman glory, when she masqueraded
As the fearful and implacable ancient sisters three;
To the times of the rule of the one God true.
Still, Fate pains with uncertainty men such as we.
Rosalyn was the image of God’s perfected work- she
Glowed in youth with the secret life of Zoe, immortal;
She was no innocent, yet wise and beautiful the same.
A compassionate girl, vibrant and true, this grace
Many a man’s passion fought so long to tame.
(ROSALYN enters, and begins walking about her room and looking at the markings on the floor, while studying a book in her hand.)
NARRATOR
But she lived in her father’s castellated keep, alone
And oblivious to the darkness that surrounded her.
Her days never passed with dreams and aspirations
That a fair love true would take her from here, away
With a tearful wedding, blessing, and congratulations.
She was schooled more than others of her time, her
Governess was insistent that she learn the written word.
So the pen and a secret journal were her lonely friends
To pass the days on the estate, and the secret trysts,
That she sometimes took, for thrill to make amends.
(Rosalyn begins to sing, while standing in the middle of the circle of symbols on the floor):
Lift Me to the Stars (Rosalyn's Cabbalistic Ode)
They don’t know me, they don’t understand
They keep me locked away, till I marry some man;
Does the chance of a woman’s birth mean so much,
That I should not long
For adventures’ touch?
My tutor shows me things in secret,
She shows me books and wondrous signs;
Within these I have found the way-
To rise above
These weary times…
Oh, Potencies, in your planet’s hours,
With secret names of God, marked out right!
Oh, Unseen Archangelic Powers,
(Signs of Earth, Signs of Mars,)
Seal this room and fill it full of light!
I never saw a spring day so lovely
As the books say Michael’s brow is fine
No more will I be lonely
When I summon the divine androgyne!
I call you, oh angel of God
To be with me in this hour
Come to the call, angel of God
And be with me in this tower.
Oh, Potencies, in your planet’s hours,
With secret names of God, marked out right!
Oh, Unseen Archangelic Powers,
(Signs of Earth, Signs of Mars,)
Seal this room and fill it full of light!
I never longed
For one half so much,
As he who beholds the throne;
I never called
Another quite this way,
Compelled by mystic formulae!
I never longed
For one half so much,
As he who beholds the throne:
So Come!
And I will no longer be alone!
And I will no longer be alone!
(She waits, humming the tune, and nothing happens)
Come, Come why do you delay?
I have used the ineffable name today!
Oh, what unpronounceable word
Need I speak to be by angels heard?
Come, Come, why do you stray?
I have used forbidden rites today!
Oh, what stone or scent must burn,
To make you appear in your turn?
You are disobedient, and this be odd,
For I have called, in the name of God!
(Jehosaphay)
Your pride will turn to ash, I pray,
(Come I say, Come I say!)
Or you will answer me, on judgment day!
(Come I say, Come I say!)
And appear to me today!
(Nothing happens, and she collapses and sobs a bit)
(She walks over the window, and begins looking at the stars, and continues to sing):
“I am a prisoner of the stones
I am bound to earth, as sure as a tree,
I yearn for the stars, and infinity,
I yearn to rise and be free.
I am a prisoner of my time
My father’s ways are not mine
I am a prisoner of my fears
And all I have are these tears.
Lift me to the stars, take me away,
My heart wishes for their light
Lift me to the stars, this I pray
Let whoever shall hear,
Know my plight.
Is there no mercy in the heavens?
Can an angel not hear,
And now appear?
If magic fails me, will a simple plea
Move the high celestial sphere?
Lift me to the stars, take me away,
My heart wishes for their light
Lift me to the stars, this I pray
Let whoever shall hear,
Heal my plight.”
(Song ends, and she puts her head down against a pillow on the floor and goes to sleep)
(LUCIFER Appears in the corner of the Room, in a brilliant light)
LUCIFER
I have heard a call, but certainly…
And what a beauty that lies here before me!
I sense the sorrow here, and a heart straining to be free:
Well do I know these feelings, from mine own eternity.
Fallen Ones, Heroes, Faithful Brothers and Sisters, join me here,
And may the blessed Muse descend on us.
(A CHOIR OF FALLEN ANGELS all appear and gather behind LUCIFER, angels all dressed in flowing white robes, with black wings, pale faces, and black hair).
(Lucifer begins his song to Rosalyn):
East of the Invisible: Lucifer's Song to Rosalyn
LUCIFER
Why art thou confounded?
I will reveal unto thee
The mystery of the womanly,
…And of the Beast that carries her.
CHOIR OF FALLEN ANGELS
Name thy be hallowed,
Heaven, in art who father our.
LUCIFER
I sing in terms of a hidden world
I am living luminescence;
Shining everywhere, yet unseen
I cast light on the forms in your head
And I illuminate all your dreams.
Candle flames are shadows of a hidden glory!
I am that glory, east of the invisible.
CHOIR OF FALLEN ANGELS
Name thy be hallowed,
Heaven, in art who father our
LUCIFER
I want to lie with you every night, My Lady,
My mystery is a serpent’s whisper soft
It is a dream,
The night-boat sail,
A parted veil,
It is the magical wine that I can give you,
For your deepest promise not to tell.
CHOIR OF FALLEN ANGELS
Name thy be hallowed,
Heaven, in art who father our.
(Lucifer dashes over to Rosalyn’s sleeping form and pulls her up into his arms)
LUCIFER
Awake! Gently, then strongly, my sweetest lover
The hosts of the air, most delectable
Principalities will serve you
My nourishing and enlightening seed
Every moment of your secret life.
Cast off the trappings of the slave, the gowns,
So much silk, and cloth, and lace
The falsehoods, the ignorance, the sin
Nothing before now, ‘fore this embrace
Shall ever reign o’er your mind again
Who am I? Who are you? Why do you cry?
This is the end of nighttime’s power
My light will pierce the darkness within
As the lust filled lover, desiring sin,
Does part the petals of the flower
Cry until a secret joy, welling up,
Dries the tears away
Already I see your changing eyes
As you writhe in bliss and final release
And satisfied, in my arms lay…
EMBRACE ME ROSALYN! You will not be alone again.
(Rosalyn embraces him)
CHOIR OF FALLEN ANGELS
Name thy be hallowed,
Heaven, in art who father our.
LUCIFER
Once more now, part forever with tears
And wait not for death to release you from your fears;
Such a life is a waste of many precious years.
Fear, my truest love, has no tomorrow.
(Song ends and Choir of Angels disappears).
LUCIFER
I love you, Rosalyn, and I have loved your kind from the start.
What I have done, from the taste of the apple
To the foundations of Hell itself, I have done for you.
Come fly with me Rosalyn, and please this ancient heart.
Come fly with me.
(Rosalyn and Lucifer go flying over the nighttime countryside of Europe.)
(They fly over a clearing on a mountaintop where the NIGHT-RIDING WITCHES OF WOE are having a celebration or a rite).
ROSALYN
My lord, these mountains below are dark and cold.
Who are those people, gathering for purposes untold?
LUCIFER
Witches, My Rosalyn, the eldest children of my fold,
Keepers of the first teachings I brought to your world
As a Refulgent Smith who beat the metals of old.
Hear them, Rosalyn! They sing a song of deadly grace:
The Waking Dream: The Song of the Witches of Woe
O, Fate, Dame Dark and Inconceivable,
With breath of frozen dew, and the reek below,
Kiss the blackened shells of lost human forms,
And bathe them in your fatal glow
Let there be no desire, nor a lingering chance:
Bonewarder Queen, hatched from frozen vows,
Living amid Saturnian trees and the screams of Owls
Take these offerings of bitter words and chips of stone
And lead your supplicants, sipping venom, quite alone
Alone Into the Waking Dream of your trance!
Thus bathed in your pale, fatal glow,
Take us to your breast; let us fall at your feet,
In the wraith-choked darkness below:
Let us kiss your lips of rose and leprosy,
And spit the honey ambrosia of the Gods from our mouths
And see that it has turned into writhing maggotry.
Thus entranced with the disgust of immortality,
Thrilling to the cold winds of atrocity,
And the final liberation of melancholy,
Bonewarder Queen, hatched from frozen vows,
Living amid Saturnian trees and the screams of Owls
Take these offerings of bitter words and chips of stone
And lead your supplicants, sipping venom, quite alone
Alone Into the Waking Dream!
Let us rake off our human flesh, our warm faces
Whose eyes and mouths once showed joy,
And sobbed useless for petty concern-
Let us see the funeral dresses and ebon laces
As the livery of the pastor and abbess of hard Fate
And preach, with worm-tongues what the dead learn.
Let us rise and wreak malice on all places,
In the faint and decaying mortal world!
Let us be a hateful, baneful curse on all races!
(Howls of delight)
Bonewarder Queen, hatched from frozen vows,
Living amid Saturnian trees and the screams of Owls
Take these offerings of bitter words and chips of stone
And lead your supplicants, sipping venom, quite alone
Alone Into the Waking Dream!
(The witches all take flight)
Let us cast off the cloak of flesh and take the pale mantle
Let us scatter the stars and extinguish lamp and candle
As the un-living chosen, bereft of worldly breath and light
Let us go forth, streaming into the night,
Let us take the ribbons of shame and entangle them
Round young hearts that harbor kind intent, and then,
Cast the black mood of the cynical and the heart-sick
Into the well of mankind’s dreams, tainted and caustic,
Give us the power to find you in nightmares, O Fate,
Give us the power to glide the threads of the corpse-roads
To perch with darkling crows, and croak among the toads
And to reach the sleeping windows of those we hate:
And drag these mortal foes to the Fates’ embrace
Into early graves, their bodies in cold encased,
Let us have the thrill of their final fears,
And toast to you with a cup of their tears.
(One witch screams)
Come, Sisters! This way to the suffering world, shaped by love:
See what Dame Fate’s Eternal Love has made of us!
(Song ends and they fly away howling and cackling)
ROSALYN
It makes my heart tremble! Why do they think that love motivates them?
LUCIFER
Perhaps it does, who can say? Love is a great mystery.
And to mankind, the greatest joys and sorrow it sends:
It reveals its face, but never its thoughts;
It shows many desires, but never desire’s ends.
ROSALYN
And you, fallen one of the brightest hue, can you not answer this question?
What is love’s place then?”
LUCIFER
I can only say this: All will say that Love moves them,
But far more often ‘tis is their mistaken dreams of love
Than Love himself, as I have known him.”
ROSALYN
Is there no end to the illusions of man, then?
LUCIFER
Rosalyn, sweet Rosalyn, wise beyond your years,
You have asked the question of all questions
And the answer is simpler than it appears:
You fly now with the one who fell from grace
To spare from hateful illusions you and your race.
ROSALYN
But so many still suffer, despite your sacrifice.
What say you to that? Why should that be?
LUCIFER
Only Fate’s mysterious hand restrains me
From knowing the answer to that myself:
I sense in the tears of the world, a strange necessity
A time of sleeping, before they can awake and truly see.
But even I, a fallen, have dreams and know hope;
See me they shall, and when they do,
True Love they shall know for the first time
And a peace that will redeem this fall of mine.
(They find themselves flying over a forest in India, where they see a brilliant and colorful blue-skinned man, who is KRISHNA, surrounded by his dancing and celebrating CHOIR OF KRISHNA VIRGINS.)
ROSALYN
Who is this? See his women, how beautiful they are!
LUCIFER
He is the light of a greater light. I knew this light well,
And still maintain it, though it is hard to tell-
Listen to his song:”
(Krishna dances about gleefully, and his Choir of Virgins circle him, singing):
I Am the Eternal OM (Krishna’s Song)
KRISHNA
I am the feeling at the heart of all;
I am their birth, their life, their end
I am the stones in every wall,
I am the true and eternal friend!
I am the Eternal OM!
OMMMMMMMMMMM
KRISHNA VIRGINS
He is the eternal OM!
OMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
KRISHNA
I am the Eternal OM!
OMMMMMMMMMMM
KRISHNA VIRGINS
He is the eternal OM!
OMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
KRISHNA
I am the sacred song of lore;
I am the God of the Gods:
I am the saint and the whore,
As bright as a thousand suns
I am the Eternal OM!
OMMMMMMMMMM
KRISHNA VIRGINS
He is the eternal OM!
OMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
KRISHNA
I am the eternal OM!
OMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
KRISHNA VIRGINS
He is the eternal OM!
OMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
KRISHNA
I am the traveler returning home,
I am the priest of great seers;
Of words, I am the eternal OM,
The sound that Brahman hears!
I am the Eternal OM!
OMMMMMMMMM
KRISHNA VIRGINS
He is the eternal OM!
OMMMMMMMMMM
KRISHNA
I am the eternal OM!
OMMMMMMMMMM
KRISHNA VIRGINS
He is the eternal OM!
OMMMMMMMMMM
(Song Fades out, and Lucifer and Rosalyn fly away as Krishna’s party continues)
(They fly high towards the Stars, and Rosalyn holds her hands out)
ROSALYN
The Stars…. they glow like a million fires in God!
(The scene fades out, and when it fades back in, Rosalyn is lying on her bed asleep in the morning.)
(She wakes and looks around as though surprised to be there)
(She gets up, goes to her writing-desk, picks up her journal, and moves to the window, looks outside, and starts singing)
A New Day: Rosalyn’s Song of Awakening
The Sun
Has Come up
On a new day
Did I dream
In the night
Magic dreams?
Angel of mine,
Where are you?
Was it true?
I feel you
Your soft hands
Holding me
Angel of mine,
Where are you?
Was it true?
Memories
Are all that
I have now
I don’t want
To sleep deep
Anymore
Keep night back
My angel,
Forever.
Come, journal
Take my words
Within you
Under your cover
Take regret
From me
Come, pen
Make my words
Within.
(Rosalyn sits at her writing desk and gets a quill and starts to write in the journal)
NARRATOR:
These forlorn journals still survive unto this night
Hear now her written words, and all they hopeful say:
(Rosalyn puts her quill away and begins to read her journal aloud):
ROSALYN
Today the rain has ended, and soon I’ll be away!
Into the city, with all its sights, I’ll wander
I have waited so long for this perfect golden day.
It was upon a day like this, but a year ago today,
At harvest-tide I met a man, Nicolas, and quite fancied him
He was eloquent, and dark and handsome, and very
Skilled was he in pleasing women, of this I be sure!
We loved in the dark of a mill, secret and happy!
Him I could have loved, and left this dismal place,
He loved me, with longing, and a sweetly boyish face;
But I could not be certain, as our times passed on by!
Pressing he was, and demanding so much, I wonder,
If I was not upset by the force with which he tried?
I did not return to meet him, by our favorite mill,
One night, I decided, to end quiet our secret times.
Though I missed him, and still quite do, I only
Think on it now for sorrow, and certainly I do!
I think on him sometimes, when here I grow lonely.
I speak of him now, a week since the solstice-night,
For that eve, by my father’s front gate, I saw a sight!
He came to me, while I sat in the rose garden dim
He seemed so handsome, He seemed so different,
I felt very little choice but to wantonly give in…
He was wonderful, and he was thrice-passionate, insatiate,
I apologized to him for the unkind way in which I had
Left him alone to wonder, had withdrawn so discreet,
He bade me think on it not, to say it never more.
I loved him for an evening, feeling quietly complete.
‘Tis hard, and perhaps I am unfair, or inconstant
But in the days since, I do not wish his company.
That night was magical, something very like a dream
But now, my loving interests do not seem to thrive.
‘Twas happy, and exciting, but meaningless, it seems.
I look daily into yon vanity, and wonder aloud
If any other look upon me and see more than
Lord Isadora’s daughter: pretty, a suitable wife.
I wonder so much, if I will ever know true love,
If I will ever know lasting joy, in this earthly life.
Another man suits me well, I think upon him daily,
Lord Hewin’s son, Martin. Brave and bold, though
Softly quiet-spoken, since children we have known
Each other’s name. He courts me, to my delight, for
Often in time’s long fields are the truest loves sown.
I must, with grace, release poor Nicolas. Despite his
Vigor and non-respite in sending me flowers or
Perfumes to delight my senses and affections, I must
Follow my own heart, for it is all I know; and youth
Is my true master, despite its failures and its lust.”
(Act ends with her sitting at her desk).
Go to ACT IV