Scene
The Wayside House
HUGO waking in his chamber. ORION unseen at first. Morning.
Hugo:Vanish, fair and fatal vision!Fleeting shade of fever’d sleep,Chiding one whose indecisionWaking substance failed to keep;Picture into life half starting,As in life once seen before,Parting somewhat sadly, partingSlowly at the chamber door.
Were my waking senses duller?Have I seen with mental eyeLight and shade, and warmth and colour,Plainer than reality?Sunlight that on tangled tressesEvery ripple gilds and tips;Balm and bloom, and breath of kisses,Warm on dewy, scarlet lips.
Dark eyes veiling half their splendour’Neath their lashes’ darker fringe,Dusky, dreamy, deep and tender,Passing smile and passing tinge;Dimpling fast and flushing faster,Ivory chin and coral cheek,Pearly strings, by alabasterNeck and arms made faint and weak;
Drooping, downcast lids enduringGaze of man unwillingly;Sudden, sidelong gleams alluring,Partly arch and partly shy.Do I bless or curse that beauty?Am I longing, am I loth?Is it passion, is it dutyThat I strive with, one or both?
Round about one fiery centreWayward thoughts like moths revolve.[He sees Orion.]Ha! Orion, thou didst enterUnperceived. I pray thee solveThese two questions: Firstly, tell me,Must I strive for wrong or right?Secondly, what things befell me—Facts, or phantasies—last night?
Orion:First, your strife is all a sham, youKnow as well as I which wins;Second, waking sins will damn you,Never mind your sleeping sins;Both your questions thus I answer;Listen, ere you seek or shun:I at least am no romancer,What you long for may be won.Turn again and travel Rhineward,Tread once more the flowery path.
Hugo:Aye, the flowery path that, sinwardPointing, ends in sin and wrath.
Orion:Songs by love-birds lightly caroll’d,Even the just man may allure.
Hugo:To his shame; in this wise HaroldSinn’d, his punishment was sure.
Orion:Nay, the Dane was worse than you are,Base and pitiless to boot;Doubtless all are bad, yet few areCruel, false, and dissolute.
Hugo:Some sins foreign to our natureSeem; we take no credit whenWe escape them.
Orion: Yet the creature,Sin-created, lives to sin.
Hugo:Be it so; come good, come evil,Ride we to the Rhine again!
Orion (aside):’Gainst the logic of the devilHuman logic strives in vain.