FullReads

[# With a climax of whispered mourning. #]

“I am slain,”
Cries true-love
There in the shadow.
“And I die,”
Cries true-love,
There laid low.
“When the fire-dreams come,
The wise dreams go.”

[# Suddenly interrupting. To be read or sung in
a heavy bass. First eight lines as harsh as possible.
Then gradually musical and sonorous. #]

BUT HIS CRY IS DROWNED
BY THE PROUD BAND-MASTER.
And now great gongs whang,
Sharper, faster,
And kettledrums rattle
And hide the shame
With a swish and a swirk
In dead love’s name.
Red and crimson
And scarlet and rose
Magical poppies
The sweethearts bloom.
The scarlet stays
When the rose-flush goes,
And love lies low
In a marble tomb.
“‘Tis the
NIGHT
Of doom,”
Call the ding-dong doom-bells.
“NIGHT
Of Doom,”
Call the ding-dong doom-bells.

[# Sharply interrupting in a very high key. #]

Hark how the piccolos still make cheer.
“‘Tis a moonlight night in the spring of the year.”

[# Heavy bass. #]

CLANGARANGA, CLANGARANGA,
CLANG… CLANG… CLANG.
CLANG… A… RANGA…
CLANG… A… RANGA…
CLANG… CLANG… CLANG…
LISTEN… TO… THE… MUSIC…
OF… THE… FIREMEN’S BALL…
LISTEN… TO… THE… MUSIC…
OF… THE… FIREMEN’S… BALL….

Section Three

In Which, contrary to Artistic Custom, the moral of the piece is placed before the reader.

(From the first Khandaka of the Mahavagga: “There Buddha thus addressed his disciples: ‘Everything, O mendicants, is burning. With what fire is it burning? I declare unto you it is burning with the fire of passion, with the fire of anger, with the fire of ignorance. It is burning with the anxieties of birth, decay and death, grief, lamentation, suffering and despair…. A disciple,… becoming weary of all that, divests himself of passion. By absence of passion, he is made free.'”)

[# To be intoned after the manner of a priestly service. #]

I once knew a teacher,
Who turned from desire,
Who said to the young men
“Wine is a fire.”
Who said to the merchants:–
“Gold is a flame
That sears and tortures
If you play at the game.”
I once knew a teacher
Who turned from desire
Who said to the soldiers,
“Hate is a fire.”
Who said to the statesmen:–
“Power is a flame
That flays and blisters
If you play at the game.”
I once knew a teacher
Who turned from desire,
Who said to the lordly,

“Pride is a fire.”
Who thus warned the revellers:–
“Life is a flame.
Be cold as the dew
Would you win at the game
With hearts like the stars,
With hearts like the stars.”

[# Interrupting very loudly for the last time. #]

SO BEWARE,
SO BEWARE,
SO BEWARE OF THE FIRE.
Clear the streets,
BOOM, BOOM,
Clear the streets,
BOOM, BOOM,
GIVE THE ENGINES ROOM,
GIVE THE ENGINES ROOM,
LEST SOULS BE TRAPPED
IN A TERRIBLE TOMB.
SAYS THE SWIFT WHITE HORSE
TO THE SWIFT BLACK HORSE:–
“THERE GOES THE ALARM,
THERE GOES THE ALARM.
THEY ARE HITCHED, THEY ARE OFF,
THEY ARE GONE IN A FLASH,
AND THEY STRAIN AT THE DRIVER’S IRON ARM.”
CLANG… A… RANGA…. CLANG… A… RANGA….
CLANG… CLANG… CLANG….
CLANG… A… RANGA…. CLANG… A… RANGA….
CLANG… CLANG… CLANG….
CLANG… A… RANGA…. CLANG… A… RANGA….
CLANG… CLANG… CLANG….