Lord Rochester
Allow me to be frank at the commencement.
You will not like me. The gentlemen will be envious and the
ladies will be repelled. You will not like me now and you will
like me a good deal less as we go on. Ladies, an announcement. I
am up for it. All the time. That id not a boast or an opinion.
It is bone-hard medical fact. I put it round, you know. And you
will watch me putting it round and sigh for it. Don't. It is a
deal of trouble for you, and you are better off watching and
drawing your conclusions from a distance, than you would be if I
got my tarse up your petticoats. Gentlemen, do not despair. I am
up for that as well. And the same warning applies. Still your
cheesy erections till I've had my say, but later when you shag,
and later you will shag, I shall expect it of you, and I will
know if you have let me down. I wish you to shag with my
homuncular image rattling in your gonads. Feel. . . how it was
for me, how it is for me. And ponder. Was that shudder the same
shudder he sensed? Did he know something more profound? Or is
there some wall of wretchedness that we all batter with our
heads at that shining live-long moment? That is it. That is my
prologue. Nothing in rhyme. No protestations of modesty. You
were not expecting that, I hope. I am John Wilmot. Second Earl
of Rochester. And I do not want you to like me.
Man 1
Wrens' upset. The clergy approved the
most conventional design for the cathedral. Now he feels there's
no room for artistic manoeuvre.
King
Put a sub-clause in the warrant
'Variations in the design are to be ornamental rather than
essential'. Then he can do what he wants. Next.
Man 1
There are representations for you to be
more careful in public.
Man 2
Perhaps a bodyguard.
King
Whose idea is that?
Man 2
Your brother.
King
Ha! No-one's going to kill me if it means
having him on the throne. Next.
Man 1
Danby says the army is costing too much.
It's Danby's job to balance the books.
King
If he thinks it's good economics to
disband the army and be invaded by the French, he can look for
another position. Anything else?
Man 2
You asked me to remind you about the Earl
of Rochester.
King
When did I banish him?
Man 2
Three months ago.
King
For how long?
Man 2
A year.
King
Bring him back. Now.
J's Mother
John. Be attentive to your wife. She's
not accustomed to London.
John
Mother, I shall in all things endeavour
to serve her and you.
J's Mother
Serve God.
John
You must not fear London.
Elizabeth
It is not London I fear. You abducted me
in a coach like this when I was still a virgin heiress.
John
And did you like abduction?
Elizabeth
Passionately.
John
Speak of it.
Elizabeth
John! This is not the place.
John
Speak to me of abduction.
Elizabeth
I was eighteen. And worth two and a half
thousand a year. You ambushed me, bundled me from my coach, and
drove me away. The King thrust you in the Tower for it. And I
dug in my heels and spurned and shunned the other men. I would
only embrace my dear abductor.
George
Dryden's new play. Here, Chas, grab a
wodge.
Charles
Dryden couldn't write a laundry list.
Man
Rochester!
Charles
Johnny!
George
Johnny. We were pining for you. Even now
we're pining.
John
When I wake in the country, I dream of
being in London, and then when I get here, it's full of people
like you.
George
Johnny.
John
This reign's a shambles, do you not
think? My father risked life and limb hiding that thing Charles
up an oak tree.
George
Has he forgiven you?
John
Oh, he's forgiven me. I shan't forgive
him.
George
Why did he banish you this time?
John
Well, it is a fine morning, I'm walking
through the galleries. The King is walking through the
galleries. I'm splendidly alone. The King is surrounded by a
slow-moving troop, of Mediterraneans.
Charles
The wife's family.
John
And he must make show of me. 'Behold, the
Earl of Rochester, the wit. The poet. Pray, let us have some of
your muse'. What am I to do? Then I recall in my pocket I have a
sketch of something rustic with nymphs. I pull it out and
deliver. "In the Isle of Britain, long since famous grown For
breeding the best cunts in Christendom." Rat me, thinks I, this
is not the piece of paper I had supposed. The King's eyes are
more piercing than I can remember. The jaws of his entourage are
decidedly earthbound. This piece of paper is not covered merely
with the thump and slop of congress. This poem is an attack on
the monarch itself. Culminating in depiction of the royal
mistress striving to flog the flaccid royal member into a state
of excitement. "This you'd believe had I but time to tell you,
The pains it cost to poor laborious Nelly. Whilst she employs
hands, fingers, mouth and thighs, Ere she can raise the member
she enjoys. All monarchs I hate, and the thrones they sit on,
From the hector of France to the cully of Britain."
George
It's damn good, though, Johnny.
John
Course it's good. That's not the point.
The point is he couldn't appreciate it. It took me nearly an
hour to write it, just to please him. Three months in the
fucking country at the height of the season. Missed all the good
plays.
George
Boring old Rowley. We love you, Johnny.
Give us a stanza and we'll laugh in the King's place.
John
To Etherege, I drink a pledge. His life
has run the gamut. He's penned nought good since She Would If
She Could. He would if he could, but he cannot.
George
Well, Johnny, it is a damn well said
thing, but it ain't true, do you see?
John
Oh, but it is true, Georgie. You think
you can still enjoy the town's esteem for something you wrote
seven years ago. You can't be promising for ever, George. Sooner
or later you must do something.
George
But that's what I'm saying. I have
written a new play.
John
Oh. Written a new play has he? All those
afternoons he was pretending to slope off and roger his mistress
like a decent chap, he was lurking in his rooms, poking away at
a play. That is disgusting, George.
Charles
Disgusting and shameful.
John
What's it about, your play? A satire on
Dryden?
George
Pox o' Dryden. It's about you.
John
And in your play, do you tell the truth
about me?
George
Well, I've attempted to show you. . .
John
Yes?
George
Well, I enjoy your company.
John
You've made me endearing.
George
Well, only the public can. . .
John
Don't smarm around, George.
George
You're an endearing sort of. . .
chap.
John
So you haven't told the truth. Good. We
don't want to go frightening people. Now, how about a real
play?
Charles
The Duke's have the new Otway.
John
Oh, I have high hopes of young Tom Otway.
Let me finish him off, sir.
Master
This fellow is my servant. He has just
filched two shillings from my coat pocket.
John
A thief and a rogue.
Master
My lord, you express it.
John
Haven't quite got the hang of the reign
yet, have you?
Master
I will not employ a thief.
John
Then I will. How much was your master
paying you?
Alcock
Six shillings a week, sir.
John
Who talks of thieving? George, give him
five pounds. Buy a brown livery and report to me at the Duke's
Theatre.
Master
He will steal your gold.
John
I hope so. If he turned honest after
coming into my orbit, then I am not the malicious planet I had
hoped. Now begone, sir.
Tailor
And er. . . how will your lordship be
paying?
John
Credit. I only use coin vulgarised with
the monarch's head for transactions with servants.
Tailor
I am ever your humble servant.
John
No, Mr Ratcliffe, you are the very prince
of drapery.
Tailor
The prince is always happy to see the
King's head.
John
But hot to carry it around in his
pocket.
Tailor
Credit then.
George
Billy. Join us. Johnny. This is Billy
Downs. Billy, this is the Earl of Rochester.
John
How old are you, Mr Downs?
Billy
Eighteen, my lord.
John
Young man, you will die of this company.
Do not laugh. I'm serious. Mr Ratcliffe, this hangs very
well.
Billy
My lord, I saw you just now with the
gent's servant.
John
Do you think I dispensed wisely in the
matter?
Billy
If the fool run off with the gold, then
you prove a point, but at your loss. If he return in your
livery, then you've gained a servant who is a known cheat. So
you prove a different point, but again at your own expense.
John
You summarise well, Mr Downs. And in such
a manner, I deduce you were trained at one of the 'count the
angels on a pinhead' Cambridge colleges. King's, was it not?
Billy
It was, my lord.
John
King's, yes. And yet you do not draw the
moral of the incident.
Billy
Which is?
John
That any experiment of interest in life
will be carried out at your own expense. Mark it well.
Alcock
My lord! My Lord Rochester.
John
You've come back.
Alcock
In your livery, my lord.
John
Then you are turned honest. I cannot
support that.
Alcock
I regret the deed's honesty. My Lord. But
I considered that if I performed it and fell into your service,
I would have more. . . enjoyment of life.
John
You see, this fellow has the hang of the
reign. I like this fellow exceedingly. What is your name?
Alcock
Alcock.
George
Like master, like servant.
John
Well, Alcock, you shall drink and shag
more than any serving man in the kingdom. Go at once and spend
the rest of the money on a whore, a large, greasy one. Then when
you are done, return here to me. Now begone.
Man 1
Rochester!
Woman 1
Disgrace!
Man 1
Rochester! Rochester! Missed you, Lord
Rochester! He is risen! My Lord!
Woman 2
My Lord!
Man 2
Impertinent bastard!
Man 3
Johnny! My Lord Rochester!
Man 4
Rochester, you are a cunt, sir!
Woman 3
I smell a rotten odour.
Woman 4
I'll suck it for you, Johnny, if you
promise not to marry me!
Woman 5
Johnny said 'cunt' to the King!
Charles
I'm going to brazen my arse at them.
George
They've all seen it.
Charles
Well, they can bloody well put up with it
again.
Woman 5
Johnny said 'cunt' to the King!
All
Johnny said 'cunt' to the King! Johnny
said 'cunt' to the King! Johnny said 'cunt' to the King! Johnny
said 'cunt' to the King!
Jane
My Lord.
John
Dear Jane.
Jane
Give you your first London spurt of the
summer.
John
I brought the wife with me.
Jane
Bit of a waste. Shooting good jism up the
lawful.
Mr Harris
Ladies and gallants all, the King!
John
Oh, freeze my piss, if the royal finger
ain't beckoning me. How exciting. Did you miss me?
Jane
I missed the money.
John
Good. Don't like a whore with
sentiment.
King
I could have ignored your poem, Johnny,
but I made a fuss about it for a reason. I won't hide anything
from you. The country's on the brink. People are still reeling
from the fire, the plague. The Catholics are plotting, the Dutch
are a bunch of bastards. And the French are ten times worse, and
there's no money. I can only get funds by crawling to parliament
or plotting against them. And I don't want to lock antlers with
them head on in the way my father did.
John
'Head on'. That's quite good.
King
When you first came to court, Johnny, you
were a boy of eighteen. A certain flippancy, a whiff of
impertinence. This was acceptable. But we're ten years down the
road and the view is different. The tone has to change. I have
to look responsible, sober. I want you with me. That's why I
brought you back. I want you to take on a new role.
John
Here? In the playhouse?
King
No, the House of Lords. Your father
spirited me out of England when my life was at stake, so I
looked after him and after you.
John
You put me in the Tower.
King And I let you out. The time has
come for you to pay your dues. People listen to you, Johnny. If
you took your seat in the Lords, you could make great speeches
that would influence events. Anyone can oppose. It's fun to be
against things. But there comes a time when you have to start
being for things as well.
John
Your Majesty.
Woman
Mr Etherege. Take a nibble?
George
I've had my dinner, thank you, madam.
Billy
George.
Lizzie
Is this thy plighted faith? Is this thy
truth? Oh, too unkind! False and unconstant youth! Madam,
believe not but my brother's just.
John
Who's she?
George
She's Lizzie Barry. And she just won't
do.
Lizzie
You wrong his honour by this mean
distrust.
Man
Louder!
John
Well.
Actress
That does alleviate my griefs and give my
wearied soul a soft and kind reprieve. Which ever to forget
would be as hard and as impossible as to reward.
Lizzie
Serving you my happiness secures. Since
equally with yours my hopes are crossed.
Audience
Get off.
Lizzie
Of all but sorry and sad despair.
Molly
Lizzie. Lizzie! On stage. You must take
your bow for the public. Why do you insist in doing the opposite
of what you are told? If girls like you do not do what they are
told, then it is all up with our sex on the stage. You cannot
ignore the advice of them that know! Now, acknowledge your
audience.
Lizzie
They can kiss my arse.
Charles
She's a good fuck, but she costs. She
gives a nice gobble, but she won't do the full
wibbly-wobbly.
George
She does it with me.
Charles
She does not! Mary, if I may say so a
statuesque performance.
George
Bursting with Grecian promise.
Mr Harris
Mrs Barry, the work we did beforehand,
did it mean nothing to you/
Lizzie
That is correct, Mr Harris.
Mr Harris
Molly, I cannot tech those who will not
be disposed to learn. Mr Etherege, how do you do, sir?
George
Well, Mr Harris.
Mr Harris
Was my Lord Rochester in with you?
George
Darted off.
Mr Harris
Did you care for the play?
George
The play was well enough.
Billy
Most of the acting, too.
John
Mrs Barry.
Molly
She has been dismissed.
John
I bring word from Mt Betterton.
Lizzie
I've had such already.
John
This is quite another.
Lizzie
You have obtained a reprieve for me.
John
Yes, madam, but there is a price. This is
your first season on the London stage.
Lizzie
It is, my lord.
John
Mrs Barry, you must acquire the trick of
ignoring those who do not like you. In my experience, those who
do not like you fall into two categories, the stupid and the
envious. The stupid will like you in five years' time, the
envious never. With my training, you will become the best, the
most fascinating actress on the London Stage. I shall come to
the theatre tomorrow.
George
What are you up to, Johnny? She can't
act.
Billy
She has neither the cadence of the heroic
nor the posture.
John
I will wager you twenty guineas she will
become the finest actress on our stage.
Charles
This is the prick talking, not the head.
Knob her and have done.
John
Is it a wager?
George
My dear friend, you do not have twenty
guineas.
John
Is it a wager?
Charles
We've missed the fuck. Can we get a
drink?
Billy
There's a new toping house hard by called
Deaf Marion's.
George
Ah, the Cambridge boy knows his books by
heart. Lead on, King's.
John
Alcock.
Alcock
My lord.
John
Something rotten has got into my
guts.
Alcock
I trust it is not me, my lord.
John
No, Alcock, it is not. Not yet.
Elizabeth
We should mark the front lawn at
Adderbury for pall-mall. I had always thought it a foolish
game.
John
Depends on who you play with.
Elizabeth
The King plays with a common prostitute,
not his wife.
John
The Portuguese have little flair for
outdoor pursuits. Except navigating, of course.
Elizabeth
I mean that the etiquette of it is
singular.
John
I know what you mean.
Elizabeth
You must always be ace, king and jack, my
dear. But heaven has not disposed your cards so.
George
Johnny! It's your shot!
John
I'm not playing!
King
Oh, but you are, John. You are if I say
you are. The most advanced scientific instrument in western
Europe. It cost £60,000. It tells the time in every corner of
the globe. Understand? That is achievement. The man who did that
was not continually pissed for the last three years.
John
What do you want from me?
King
Writing something profound that will
stand as a monument to my reign. You're my literary giant.
Dryden? Plodder. But look what he's achieved. Elizabeth had her
Shakespeare. You can be mine. Give me a major work of literature
and I'll give you five hundred guineas.
John
When would you like it? Friday?
King
Don't fuck it up, John. I love you.
Molly
Mrs Barry! I cannot let you have long. I
must prepare Tamburlaine. There's a great deal of setting
up.
John
Mrs Barry.
Molly
. . . And a great deal of taking
down.
Lizzie
My Lord Rochester.
John
I'm come as I said I would.
Lizzie
Would you have me lift my skirt? Or do
you have a mind to raise it by your own endeavours?
John
I'm come to train you. . . in your
acting.
Lizzie
So you said when we first met, but your
reputation being what it is, I thought you meant something
different.
John
I have, I hope, many reputations. I am
come, I say, to train you in your stage acting.
Lizzie
Never in my life have I heard you spoken
of as an actor.
John
That does not deter me from spreading my
insights to others.
Lizzie
I thought it would not.
John
Then we shall begin. You are familiar
with the plays of Mr Etherege?
Lizzie
There are but two, my lord.
John
Not for long, I fear. The Comical Revenge
or Love In A Tub. Have you seen Mrs Betterton playing
Garciana?
Lizzie
Yes, I'm her understudy.
John
Indeed. Act Two, Scene Two. I shall play
Beaufort. Graciana, why do you condemn your love? Your beauty
without that, alas, would prove but my destruction. An unlucky
star prognosticating ruin and despair.
Lizzie
You mistake. 'Tis not my love I blame,
but my discretion. Here the active flame should yet a longer
time have been concealed. Too soon, too soon I fear it was
revealed. Our weaker sex glories in surprise. We boast the
sudden conquests of our eyes. But men esteem a foe that dares
contend. One that with noble courage does defend a wounded
heart. The victories they gain, they prize by their own hazard
and their pain.
John
That was not Elizabeth Barry. That was
Mrs Betterton.
Lizzie
An understudy must imitate, not
create.
John
Yesterday you created.
Lizzie
Yesterday I was dismissed.
John
But you played truthfully.
Lizzie
It costs too much to play the truth.
John
I do not think you have considered this
speech at all.
Lizzie
Well, how would you have me do it?
John
Let us consider now. What does it mean,
that speech that Mrs Betterton mangled so?
Lizzie
Graciana means that she has given away
the secrets of her heart too freely. Something that a
gentlewoman must not do to a gentleman.
John
Why not?
Lizzie
Because men will take love for granted
and then not prize it.
John
And is our author right? Do you believe
that?
Lizzie
I believe men are hurdles that must be
negotiated.
John
Is that all? Do you never feel passion
for us?
Lizzie
I've counterfeited passion in gentlemen's
beds if that is your meaning.
John
Counterfeit will not serve you on the
stage.
Lizzie
Yesterday I was jeered and taunted by
four hundred ruffians. I know that will not serve me.
John
And so you will take their word against
both of ours and traffic in falsehood from now on?
Lizzie
I don't know.
John
Then let us gain knowledge. To the speech
again. You played it sweetly. Graciana is not innocent or she
would not have such insight. If you had ever loved a man, you
would say that speech with regret. Because you would fear the
loss of him.
Lizzie
And supposing I have loved?
John
Then show me in the speech.
Lizzie
Sir, you mistake. 'Tis not my love I
blame, but my discretion. Here the active flame should yet a
longer time have been concealed. Too soon, too soon I fear it
was revealed. Our weaker sex glories in surprise. We boast the
sudden conquests of our eyes. But men esteem a foe that dares
contend. One that with noble courage does defend a wounded
heart. The victories they gain, they prize by their own hazard
and their pain. Well? Was there improvement?
John
Did you think so?
Lizzie
I wish to know your thoughts.
John
It was better. But now you're too
angry.
Lizzie
Of course I'm fucking angry! You walk
into this theatre in tour thirty shilling boots telling me how I
should set about my work! I warn you, I have a temper. And I
have been known to strike out with the first object at hand.
Well, and if that be a property blade, some have sharper edges
than is needful, so have a care.
John
Ahhh. To die onstage at the hands of a
beautiful woman.
Lizzie
I am no such!
John
I think I can make you an actress of
truth, not a creature of artifice. I can do this. But I cannot
train you unless you give a little towards me.
Lizzie
It's not in my nature to give. I have my
talent and I'm jealous of it. And though I give you credit that
you and you alone in all the town have seen it, I am not so
dazzled by the lord and master in you that I cannot resent you.
Yes. You are right. I am intent on doing something that no other
has yet done. And I lost my purpose yesterday with fear of the
pit. But I will conquer them. And it shall not be said when I
have my fame and my two pounds a week that Lord Rochester took
to me and touched me with the shining wing of his genius and so
turned me into a little corner of his greatness. No! I shall be
valued for me. And for what I knew I could do upon this stage!
And for what I, Lizzie Barry. . . how I. . . I took the heat of
my own soul and moulded it and turned it into a wondrous thing
and so triumphed.
John
If I can help you to that triumph, I am
not so devoted to the trumpeting of my own works that I would
wish to take credit.
Lizzie
So you say now. But in the ale house,
when the play is done, and the talk is of my Cleopatra, will you
not glide towards your cronies with a 'I taught her that piece
of business' or 'She could not be heard in the gallery until I
instructed her in a trick or two'?
John
Madam, I offer my services. If you see no
advantage in them, they can as easy be withdrawn.
Lizzie
You could buy my slit for a pound a
night, sir. I would not mind that. But I think you would not
have it so. What I think you want is power over me, which I do
bridle at. For it is only I who can do what you say I can do. If
you wish to play a part in this, I would strongly know why.
John
Ask yourself what you want from the
theatre.
Lizzie
I want the passionate love of my
audience. I want when I make a sweep of my arm to carry their
hearts away. And for when I die, for them to sigh for never
seeing me again. 'Till the next afternoon.
John
There is your answer. I want to be one of
that multitude. I wish to be moved. I cannot feel in life. I
must have others do it for me here in the theatre.
Lizzie
You are spoken of as a man with a stomach
for life.
John
I am the cynic of our golden age. This
bounteous dish, which our great Charles and our great God have,
more or less in equal measure, placed before us, sets my teeth
permanently on edge. Life has no purpose. It is everywhere
undone by arbitrariness. I do this and it matters not a jot if I
do the opposite. But in a playhouse, every action, good or bad,
has it's consequences. Drop a handkerchief and it will return to
smother you. The theatre is my drug. And my illness is so far
advanced that my physic must be of the highest quality.
Lizzie
Oh, my lord, on these conditions, I
endeavour to do what you want.
John
What I want is that we meet again
tomorrow to consider Ophelia.
Lizzie
Ophelia?
John
Mr Betterton will revive hamlet next
month and you will play Ophelia.
Lizzie
Ophelia then if you wish. But let us not
neglect the lesson in Mr Etherege's speech.
John
And what is that?
Lizzie
That women should ever view men with
suspicion.
John
I shall be happy to return and address
our work with that instruction written on the inside of my
skull. Do me now.
Jane
How?
John
Mouth. Trembling, confused, despairing,
limber, dry, A wishing, weak, unmoving lump I lie. This. . .
dart of love, whose piercing point, oft tried, With virgin blood
ten thousand maids have dyed, Now languid lies in this unhappy
hour. Shrunk up. . . and sapless, like a withered flower.
Jane
I have a feeling this is going
nowhere.
John
I have that feeling too. I've met this
woman. Lizzie Barry.
Jane
That new actress? She ain't no
looker.
John
There is spirit in her.
Jane
When a gent sees the spirit and not the
eyes or the tits, then a gent is in trouble.
John
Would you call me a cynic, Jane?
Jane
I would call you a man who pretends to
like life more than he does.
John
Is that a cynic?
Jane
I'm just a moll-sack. I don't do
questions.
John
If I am a cynic, how have I fallen in
love with a plain woman, whom I do not know?
Jane
You saw her on stage. All the colours and
them poems they say. Gives them a glow. You've seen her out of
the theatre?
John
No.
Jane
Well, then it's not her. It's the
theatre. That, or. . .
John
Or what?
Jane
They say men fall three times. First is
calf love. Second is the one you marry.
John
And third?
Jane
Third. . . Third is your deathbed bride.
You sniff her, you sniff your own shroud.
John
Ah. How you have cheered me.
Jane
Go home and sleep.
John
I don't want to sleep.
Jane
Then go home and think.
John
I don't ever want to think again.
Jane
John. Don't make me care for you. I'd
rather you came your fetch over my face than leave me with that,
a lump of caring. Now go home and forget.
John (voice)
Much wine had passed with grave discourse
Of who fucks who and who does worse. When I, who still take care
to see Drunkenness relieved by lechery, Went our into St.
James's Park To cool my head and fire my heart. But though St.
James has the honour on't, 'Tis consecrate to prick and cunt.
There, by a most incestuous birth, Strange woods spring from the
teeming earth. And nightly now, beneath their shade, Are
buggeries, rapes and incests made.
John
Mr Huysmans. Perhaps a bottle and a glass
would be handsome adornments to your composition?
Mr Huysmans
They are not appropriate objects in a
family portrait, my lord.
John
Mr Huysmans, here is another thought. You
see that monkey yonder dancing to the fiddle? Can't help but
notice how human these creatures are. I would sit that monkey on
a pile of solemn volumes, and place in her hand a scrap of paper
as if it were a poem she'd just written, do you see? And while
she is offering the poem to me, I am crowning her with the
bays.
Mr Huysmans
I find Lady Rochester a more elegant and
interesting subject.
John
You are wide of the point, sir. Elegance,
interest, all very well in their way. But what do they
illuminate?
Elizabeth
Am I not then an apt partner for you to
sit with?
John
You are apt, Elizabeth. You are very
apt.
Elizabeth
But you would rather be painted with a
monkey?
John
It is of a muchness. You are both apt in
your different ways. In this portrait I am no better than a
monkey who knows the names of his ancestors.
Elizabeth
And I?
John
A gaudy female monkey, gloating over the
opulence of your cage. I love London. Everyone catches it's
generous spirit so quickly.
Alcock
Indeed.
John
I do not mean to upset people, Alcock,
but I have to speak my mind, because what is in my mind is
always more interesting than what is happening in the world
outside my mind.
Alcock
Makes you impossible to live with,
though, do you see?
John
Did I once praise you for your blunt
manner?
Alcock
It was your reason for employing me.
John
It could as easy be your grounds for
dismissal. Now, get me the monkey.
Elizabeth
John. John, I would bear our marriage
more easily if there were no pretence. If I were merely a
housekeeper and a conduit for the noble line. But when you're
away you write so beguilingly of how you love me and. . . I do
not think you mean to torture me, but it is a torture to be
informed of passion from a distance and then in the flesh to be
so reviled.
John
You know I always mean to be well when we
are together, but after a few weeks, I find I have no gift for
it. In my mind I am somewhere else.
Elizabeth
Then cut me out of your heart completely
and have done.
John
Do not command me to do something beyond
my power.
Elizabeth
Is the fault mine? If I were a batter
wife. . . would you not need the whorehouse and the inn?
John
Every man needs the whorehouse and the
inn.
Elizabeth
But it's not the inn or a whore that I
see in your eyes. It's some other creature. The playhouse.
John
An actress.
Elizabeth
And when your eyes shone the other day,
they were shining for her.
John
They were.
Elizabeth
I see I am more of an obstacle to your
London life than I supposed. I'll be gone by the morning.
Alcock
My lord.
John
How is Ophelia in this scene?
Lizzie
Well, she's mad. She's out of her
wits.
John
There are many ways to be out of your
wits.
Lizzie
Yes. There's grief.
John
And drink.
Lizzie
And love.
John
So I hear. These different states, how
would you show them?
Lizzie
Show them?
John
Their physical manifestation. Close your
eyes. Close your eyes.
Lizzie
O, what a noble mind is here overthrown.
The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's, eye, tongue, sword, and I.
. .
John
Again.
Lizzie
O, what a noble mind is here overthrown.
The courtier's, soldier's. . .
John
Again.
Lizzie
O, what a noble mind is here overthrown.
The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's, eye. . .
John
Again.
Lizzie
. . . eye, tongue, sword. . .
John
Again!
Lizzie
O, what a noble mind is here overthrown.
The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's. . .
John
Again.
Lizzie
What was wrong?
John
You know what was wrong. Again.
Molly
She has done this speech twenty times
this afternoon.
John
And she will do it twenty more.
Molly
No-one has worked like this in the
history of the theatre.
John
Exactly.
Lizzie
O, what a noble mind is here overthrown.
The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's, eye, tongue, sword, and I.
. . of ladies most deject and wretched. . . that sucked the
honey of his music vows. O, what a noble mind is here
overthrown. The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's, eye, tongue,
sword, and I. . . of ladies most deject and wretched. . . that
sucked the honey of his music vows. O, woe is me. To see what I
have seen. O, see what I see. And there's some fennel for you
and columbine. And there's rue for you. And here's some for me.
We may call it herb of grace o' Sundays. O, but you must wear
the rue with a difference. He is gone. He is gone. And we. . .
cast away, moan. God have mercy on his soul. And of ye Christian
souls. . .
George
No-one likes a clever bastard.
Lizzie
I pray God. God be wi' ye.
Mr Harris
Well, Lizzie, my congratulations.
Lizzie
Thank you, Mr Harris.
Mr Harris
Will you take the air with me? I was
thinking. . . a drink. Lord Rochester left at the curtain.
Lizzie
Then I shall take the air alone. Good
night.
Driver
Go on!
Alcock
My lord.
John
Hurry!
Elizabeth
John.
John
Madam, this driveway will not do.
Elizabeth
Good afternoon, my lord. You sent no
warning of your arrival.
John
The road is not functional and the
grounds are a swamp.
Elizabeth
If you were here more often, you'd know
that Oxfordshire is not a dry county. It is a good thing, if a
novelty, that John devote himself to the house. I will not hear
him reproved for it.
J's Mother
I understood that he was devoting himself
to an engagement in the theatre.
John
That would not be appropriate for a man
of breeding.
J's Mother
Anyone can drink.
John
Only a few can match my
determination.
J's Mother
We who are nobility rise above the calls
of the flesh.
John
It is true. We have our strength of will,
do we not?
J's Mother
I hope we do.
John
But supposing we are perverse, and use
our will to bad ends?
J's Mother
Then we search deep inside ourselves, and
we tear out the evil.
John
Tear deeper, Mother. Lizzie Barry! Lizzie
Barry! Lizzie Barry! I ran away from your love and now I run
towards it. Test my love in any way you see fit! Test me! I will
not fail!
George
Fifteen. Get back some of the money I
lost on Lizzie 'Horse-face' Barry.
Charles
Yes, how is that little caper going,
Johnny? I hear she charges by the minute.
George
Come on, Johnny. All gentlemen
together.
John
You're not a gentleman, George. You were
trained as a lawyer. And you write plays for money.
George
Oh, yes. And what about your commission
from the King? Does that not count?
John
That is quite different.
George
Different? Of course. May one enquire how
the great work progresses? Written the first line yet?
John
I, at least, do not plagiarise the wit of
my friends and pass it off as my own.
Billy
Come on, Johnny, be fair.
John
Sit!
Billy
What was the wager?
George
The wager was fifteen guineas.
Servant
My Lord, the actress Elizabeth Barry's
outside.
Charles
She will wait.
Servant
She's very insistent.
Charles
She is a whore and she will wait! It's a
made hand!
Lizzie
I was not good in the play this
afternoon. I craved reassurance. All I could think about was
you. You see, that is where there is still imbalance between us.
Because you demand so much of me and so little of yourself. You
took my small gift and polished it until it shone. Yet your own
great gift you just throw away. There. You see? I went too far.
A trait which in you is fascinating, but in me is a fault.
John
And wit was his vain, frivolous pretence,
of pleasing others at his own expense. Lizzie Barry.
Lizzie
Read me some more.
King
The French, I keep coming back to the
French. There they are, the envy of Europe.
John
They keep a nice class of brothel.
King
Of course. They're a bunch of cunts.
That's not the point. I need money and they can provide it, and
I won't hide it from you, Johnny, things are bad. I can't get
money out of Louis unless I dissolve Parliament and I can't get
money out of Parliament unless I fight Louis.
John
Well, choose.
King
I need money from both of them.
John
You spoke of a big challenge.
King
Louis's sent in a new ambassador.
Cultivated type. Here's my plan. Your great work, we stage it to
welcome him to London. Big gesture of friendship. And we show
we're better than they are. A spectacle with some really
profound writing. You're the man for it. Will you do it for me?
At Betterton's next spring when the season's finished.
John
You're desperate.
King
What we need to celebrate is life
itself.
John
Well, I'm obviously the man for that.
King
Good. I'll send Chiffinch to talk to you
about the money. Costumes, settings, something really
splendid.
John
Splendid, yes. And unusual.
King
There, John. Fruit. Fruit from South
America. . . growing here. Dazzles the mind. Do you see what can
be done with knowledge and application?
John
I eat to swive and swive to eat again.
(Muttering). Ink! Ink! Bring me ink! Not 'drink', lump. Ink!
Alcock, did I not leave you in the country?
Alcock
I walked back, my lord.
John
Back again? Back again. Sceptres bear.
Fear.
King
I'm worried. This French business
couldn't be more important. What's he doing?
Lizzie
He's writing. For the first time since
I've known him.
King
But what?
Lizzie
Sublime thoughts. Philosophy in verse. I
believe he is on the verge of greatness.
King
You've read some?
Lizzie
He shares everything with me.
King
You should wear more jewellery.
Lizzie
I cannot provide for it on my wages.
King
Does not the Earl provide?
Lizzie
The Earl is not one of life's
providers.
King
But the King is. If you want the best,
you may receive it from me.
Lizzie
I shall be everything you wish me to
be.
King
I wish you to be my eyes and ears on his
earlship.
Lizzie
I am his lover. But I am your true
subject.
King
Then you'll serve me in this matter?
Lizzie
Yes, I will.
King
And we shall both. . . profit.
Alcock
Does the writing of the play go well, my
lord?
John
Alcock, try not to be a cunt. We will do
this until you get it right.
Molly
My lord, Alice Twooney has sent word. Her
child is sick and she shan't come.
John
What was to be her role?
Molly
She was playing little Clytoris.
John
Of course. Alcock! This is your moment.
You will stand in for her.
Alcock
No, my lord.
John
I beg your pardon.
Alcock
I'm Alcock. Little Clytoris is beyond my
range.
John
Molly.
Molly
I am not a visible person.
John
Do not cross me.
Molly
Madam, your dildos are not to compare
with what I've seen.
Jane
Indeed, they're paltry ware.
Molly
Short dildos leave the pleasure half
undone. I'm sorry, my lord, I do have a question. Are you sure
this entertainment will be fitting for both the occasion and the
company?
John
Molly, the entire piece has been devised
with the French in mind. In Paris, fornication in the streets
with total strangers is compulsory.
Molly
Oh, beg pardon, my lord, my most
southerly venture is Epsom.
Mr Harris
My lord!
John
I asked for no interruptions.
Mr Harris
My suit is one of the most utmost
urgency. The stage direction at the end of this scene requires,
in my opinion, some authorial exposition.
John
It seems straightforward enough.
Mr Harris
Yes, um. . . 'Then dance six naked men
and women, the men doing obedience to the women's cunts, kissing
and touching them often. The women in like manner to the men's
pricks, kissing and dandling their cods, and then fall to
fucking, after which the women sigh and the men look simple, and
so sneak off.' The end of the second act.
John
A strong scene. An eminently playable
scene, and, though I say it myself, a climactic one.
Mr Harris
And will the kind of equipment that young
lady has in her hand be available to gentlemen for. . .
strapping around the middle for the execution of this scene?
John
I had not envisaged you to be so
encumbered. I feel the scene should be given. . . in the
flesh.
Mr Harris
And will we give. . . two performances on
the day?
John
No, Mr Harris.
Mr Harris
Oh, I am glad to hear that from the
author.
John
With the dress rehearsal, the court
performance and the public showing, I envisage three.
Mr Harris
Right. I don't know if you've met my
regular understudy, Mr Lightman. He's a most dependable
fellow.
John
Sir, you have the honour of playing my
understudy.
Mr Harris
Well, I shall take this opportunity to
withdraw from the engagement.
John
You are one of life's understudies!
Charles
If tonight goes wrong, we'll be at war
within a week.
George
Have faith.
Billy
Whatever else may go wrong, your words
will command admiration.
John
They always do. Lizzie, you're looking
pale. Molly, work the magic of your art on Mrs Barry.
George
There's the French ambassador. No. Makes
me weepy.
Singer
All you ladies of Merrie England who have
been to kiss the Duchess's hand Pray did you lately observe in
the show A noble Italian called Signor Dildo?
Charles
I weep, but from a different end.
Singer
Who helped to conduct her over the Main
But now she cries out, 'To the Duke I will go'. 'I have no more
need for Signor Dildo'. The good lady Southesk broke into a
laugh. . .
Ambassador
Very good, this Italian workmanship.
People pay more for quality.
Singer
The frops were undone, did their graces
but know The discretion and vigour of Signor Dildo. . .
Ambassador
I'd like to meet the man who wrote
this.
Singer
Then away with these nasty devices and
show How you rate the just merits of Signor Dildo Ooh, aah,
Signor Dildo Ooh, aah, Signor Dildo.
John
Thus in the zenith of my lust I reign. I
eat to swive and swive to eat again. Let other monarchs, who
their sceptres bear to keep their subjects less in love and
fear, be slaves to crowns. My nation shall be free. My pintle
only shall me sceptre be. My laws shall act more pleasure than
command, and with my prick, I'll govern all the land.
George
Chas, tell me this ain't happening.
Charles
His prick out any second. I can feel it
in my water.
Ambassador
It's very amusing, because in France he
would be executed for this.
John
The King commands all men from humid cunt
to humane arsonist. Buggery we choose and buggery we'll allow. I
do proclaim the manly arse so firm shall be the sole recipient
of sperm!
King
Lord Rochester, this portrayal of yours.
. . would it be based on a particular monarch?
John
No, Your Highness. My character is far
too fantastic a creation ever to have drawn breath. Now resume
your seat. You're intruding on my stage.
King
No, you're intruding on mine. I hand you
a chance to show your shining talent and what do you give me in
return? A pornographic representation of a royal court where the
men deal only in buggery and the women's sole object of interest
is the dildo!
John
A monument to your reign.
Billy
Johnny!
King
Disappear? People don't disappear.
Monsieur Barrillon.
Ambassador
Your majesty, it is with regret that I
must make my return to France tout de suite.
George
I hate racing. The sport of Kings? The
sport of peasants!
Charles
Come on, Georgie. You like it when you
win.
George
I must have seen the backside of sixty
pounds today. I could have bought a horse. Vanishing Spark. Why
did you let me bet on a horse called Vanishing Spark?
Charles
What the fuck?
George
Johnny!
John
Gents, spare a drink for a couple of
chums?
Charles
Where've you been?
John
Our show was such a success in the
capital, we had to undertake an extensive tour of the provinces.
Now, where's the fucking drink?
George
Come on, Charlie, get out your
winnings.
Charles
This is it, gentlemen! This is the
residence of the whore personally recommended by Mr Dryden
himself, who glories in the name of Molly Noakes.
Billy
Well, what are we waiting for? Open up,
keeper of the gate!
Charles
Molly! Molly!
George
Molly. . .
Charles
Molly!
Man 1
Gentlemen?
John
Where's Molly?
Billy
We want Molly and we want her fast.
Man 1
Young man, you are pissing on my top
boots.
Billy
Yes, fellow. But you are a whorehouse
doorstep man and we are the cream of the country.
Man 1
I am Constable of the Watch.
George
Dryden can't even write a shag map.
Billy
You, sir, are a rogue and a liar.
Man 2
Murder! Help!
Man 1
Now, then, gentlemen. . .
George
I do believe there's been a small species
of error. We are. . . Johnny! Johnny!
Billy
Johnny!
Man 1
No!
Billy
Aargh. Aargh. My eyes! Johnny, please. .
. Johnny!
John
I told you.
King
It's been six months. Where the fuck is
he? Find him.
Courtier
Your Majesty.
John (voice)
I find myself at the gates of death,
almost blind and utterly lame. Scarce with the reasonable hope
of ever seeing you again. With my sickness it seems the world
has turned hateful of me. But I will rise again to right this
injustice and take back your heart.
John
The mercury cures the pox, but it
scrambles the mind. Poses a problem for a gent, does it not? The
prick or the brain?
Jane
Sshhh. Johnny, shush.
Courtier 1
He's been seen in Cheapside, accompanied
by a serving man and a whore. If he's very drunk, he'll be no
problem. If he's a bit drunk, be careful.
Courtier 2
What if he's sober?
Courtier 1
You've got the wrong man.
Jane
Ladies and gents! Gather near! Listen
well. For I got a doctor's cure to sell. Mouth, stomach, knees
and toes. All be cured by Dr Bendo.
John
(Muttering). Little chicken. (Muttering).
Questurino! (Jabbering). Mayo. In honestus. Gulpo. (Jabbering).
Poofay. In flatuo. In flatuo.
King
The French, Parliament, his syphilitic
earlship. I'm being pissed on from half a dozen directions at
once, and it don't accord with my majestic dignity.
Courtier 1
We have three confirmed sightings. Our
sources are impeccable.
King
Take me to them. Now.
Alcock
I've shut up shop for the day. I had to
turn forty people away.
John
I think it mean work cozening citizens of
their money.
Alcock
We made eighty pounds today.
John
We are here for our recreation.
Alcock
We're here 'cos we can't show our
faces.
John
Do you ever think. . . on our Lord Jesus
Christ? He was cast like me into the wilderness. He was scorned
and reviled. He was betrayed by his followers.
Alcock
I believe that in most respects, his life
was of a different character from yours.
John
He would have brought Billy Downs back
from death.
Alcock
Ach, them are wandering thoughts.
John
Leave me. Go!
Jane
Johnny! Johnny! Aargh! Johnny! Leave him
alone!
Courtier
On your knees.
John
I'm not impressed. It has taken you six
months to find me.
King
You think in six months I've given you
more than five minutes' thought? Those Parliament bastards are
trying to shaft me again with the new bill to exclude my
successors. Subtle. Instead of chopping kings' heads off, you
pick and choose the ones you want. That's my civil war. Not you.
Mr Etherege is packing out the Dorset Gardens with you as the
greatest spark on Earth. The East End is throwing down it's
purse for you to be a quack doctor. And the town has you branded
as a coward who leaves his friend to die in a brawl.
John
All men would be cowards. . . if they
only had the courage.
King
The boy died and you ran off.
John
I have to go to far, do you see? I must
always exceed or I do not feel like I'm alive.
King
And that's why the great epic about my
reign became a squalid little play about knobbing. And that's
why Downs died. I thought about putting you in the Tower. I even
considered putting your head on a spike. But I've decided on
something worse. I'm going to ignore you. I will no longer
encourage any hope in my breast for you. I am condemning you to
be you, for the rest of your days.
John
How I hate the country. Drink. Drink!
Alcock
The shelves are empty, my lord.
John
Go to the cellars, cunt! I said, find me
a fucking drink. Are you unable to discharge your duties as
housekeeper?
Alcock
I fear this is the last, my lord.
John
Elizabeth, why has the cellar not been
replenished?
Elizabeth
Leave us. Leave us!
Alcock
My lady.
Elizabeth
I am ever your last resort. When your
mistress has kicked you into the street and the last whore in
Covent Garden refuses to attend to you, then and only then do
you come to me!
John
I think you will never be a contented
woman until you are a much-respected widow. And I am hard at
work on doing you that last good service.
Elizabeth
I don't want you to die! I want you to
live, and live differently!
John
Ow!
Elizabeth
Stop it!
John
Ow! Elizabeth!
Elizabeth
Why? If it's good for you, is it not good
for me, too?
John
It is not good for me.
Elizabeth
Why then do you pursue that path? When
were you last a sober man?
John
Three years. . . No, four. . . four years
ago. Five. Five.
Elizabeth
And are you not, John, a rational man?
Has not your intellect been widely praised?
John
It has.
Elizabeth
So, this man of intellect, this rational
man, knowing that five years of constant drinking have rendered
his body feeble and his spirit low, what would this man of
intellect do?
John
You seek to trap me like a. . .
Elizabeth
What would he do?
John
. . . cunning lawyer! He would desist!
Cunt!
Elizabeth
Yes, he would desist. And those he loved
would they not show their love by beseeching him to desist?
John
It is not so simple, my darling.
Elizabeth
I've heard men say that the devil is in
you. If that be so, I know how he made his entrance.
J's Mother
He has suffered much both in sickness and
in reputation. You are a man of God. Bring my son to him. My
son, God has seen fit to visit these terrible diseases on you.
But it torments me less as a mother to see you die in agony in
the arms of God. . . than live an atheist.
John
Mother. If God wants men to have faith,
why does he not make us more disposed to believe?
Vicar
Most men are so disposed.
John
But not me.
Vicar
Because you set your reason against
religion.
John
I despised reason.
Vicar
You clung to reason. You laughed in the
face of God with the aid of reason.
John
Speak me that speech again. Those words
from Isaiah.
Vicar
'And he is despised and rejected of men.
A man of sorrows. . . and acquainted with grief'.
John
'And we hid our faces from him.' God
raise me from this bed to do what I must do.
Courtier
We've taken soundings. It's very close.
We may be fifteen votes short.
Lord 1
The House cannot give way to the King on
this matter!
King
Then get me fifteen votes.
Lord 1
And I believe it will not!
Lords
Hear, hear!
Lord 1
The Earl of Rochester.
Lord 2
Coward!
Lord 3
Coward!
Lord 4
Coward!
Lord 5
Coward!
Lord 6
Coward!
John
Mt lord. . . the bill before us would
seek to bar the King's brother from succeeding to the throne on
the grounds that he is a Catholic. And for this reason, it has
been said that no good Protestant can speak against this bill.
And yet, sir, I cannot forbear to offer some objections against
it. But the question will arise in the minds of some lords here
present. . . as to whether I am indeed. . . a good Protestant.
No man here will question, I hope, my goodness. . . in any one
of the three chief pursuits of our age, the scribbling of
verses, the emptying of bottles, and the filling of wenches.
There may be those with a claim to be as good as I, but taking
these three pursuits simultaneously. . . and, sir, I have so
taken them, and can vouch that considerable manual dexterity is
required, I cannot be equalled, let alone bettered. So, let not
my goodness be questioned. It is not so many years since our
present King's father. . . was killed on a kind of stage,
outside the walls of this very building. And, in time, his
murderers were condemned and themselves executed. But. . . were
they condemned without being heard? They were not. In spite of
the certainty of their guilt and the horrid weight of their
cowardly crimes, they were allowed the due process of law. But
what is suggested before this House. . . is that we condemn that
murdered king's second son with less shrift than was given to
his killers. My lord, let us have justice. When the time arrives
for our good and present king to be taken from us, let then his
Catholic brother be impeached in this House in the normal way.
And if he be found wanting, then let his head be chopped off at
the neck. . . if the House feel that is what he merits. But for
my part, I shall believe my oath of allegiance to the throne to
be a thing inviolable. . . and that whatever the faith of the
successor to the throne, his pre-eminence in the royal lineage
must hold sway over all other considerations. Sir, my humble
motion. . . is that the monarchy. . . be
Lords
Hear, hear!
Lord 1
Kings are Kings! You can't pick and
choose!
Lord 2
Throw it out! Throw it out!
Lord 3
He spoke for us all!
King
Johnny. You did it. You finally did
something for me.
John
I didn't do it for you. I did it for
me.
Courtier
Your Majesty, we won. By forty votes.
King
There you are, Johnny. You did it.
George
Molly. I've brought in the Earl to gawp
at my triumph.
Molly
Authors have a place, Mr Etherege. It is
in the garret. I do not like them cluttering up my theatre.
George
Lizzie won't see him. She won't see
Johnny. This is the only way.
Molly
I don't want her upset.
John
I could have written a splendid play.
George
NO, you couldn't. The Man Of Mode. The
spirit of the age caught for all time. I did it. You didn't,
because you don't have the gift.
John
Gentle George.
Lizzie
What is he doing here?
Molly
Don't blame me.
George
John, I'll see you after. I'll be at
Long's.
John
Very well. Lockett's?
George
Long's.
John
Long's. I saw the first two acts.
Lizzie
And you didn't like me?
John
To the contrary. I could bear your
brilliance no longer. Mr Harris, you are playing me. The
understudy has become the actor.
Mr Harris
My lord, I heard news of your death six
months ago and experienced a spasm of regret. But your
subsequent resurrection has quite cured my grief.
John
I am nature, and you are art. Let us see
how we compare.
Molly
Mr Harris has a quick change and you will
let him be.
John
Here we have him, your Restoration gent.
He's not pissed his breeches today and he can walk in a straight
line for two hundred yards without falling on his face and
retching. Now, look you upon this picture and on this. He has
not washed. He cannot walk. And he most certainly will not be
able to raise either the price of his dinner or his own
pintle.
Mr Harris
I must be got into my nightgown.
John
This is what I envy in you stage people.
You make time seem so important. I must change my clothes now! I
must make my entrance now! But life is not a succession of
urgent nows. It is a listless trickle of Why should I's.
Molly
You're on. Five minutes only, Mrs
Barry.
John
I never wanted you for a mistress,
Lizzie. I wanted you for my wife.
Lizzie
You have no understanding, do you? It was
not being your mistress that I was tired of, John. I was tired
of you. I did not wish to be your wife. I do not wish to be
anyone's wife. I wish to continue being the creature I am.
London walks into this theatre to see me. Not George's play, nor
Mr Betterton. They want me, and they want me over and over
again. I will not swap my certain glory for your undependable
love.
John
I wanted you to have my child.
Lizzie
I had your child. A daughter. When the
theatres were closed in the summer. By the start of the season I
was flat enough to play Desdemona in a nightgown.
Molly
Two minutes, Mrs Barry, please.
John
What is her name?
Lizzie
Elizabeth.
John
Elizabeth? The child of our passion. When
I bred my other children, I placed no value on human life at
all, and. . . now you send me away. And I cannot go back to
where I was before. I shall never forgive you for teaching me to
love life.
Lizzie
If I taught you that, then our account is
settled. Your lesson to me was my livelihood. And mine to you
was life itself. We have no need to meet again.
John
Lizzie.
Lizzie
If you are in London, and you have half a
crown in your pocket, you may see me there. For the rest, I hope
I shall always be in your heart, sometimes in your thoughts, but
never in your debt.
John
I am thirty three. . . years old. I am
dying. I have tried to speak the truth. But I have been
betrayed. Elizabeth. . . speak to me of abduction.
Elizabeth
I was eighteen. And worth two and a half
thousand a year. You ambushed me, bundled me into your coach and
rattled me away. The King thrust. . .
Singer
If underneath death's cold wing His
restless soul should fly. . .
Lizzie
He charmed the tenderest virgins with
delight. And with his style did fiercest blockheads fright.
Singer
Beyond the grasp of fools T'would meet
with the bliss they deny So stand for him Knell for him As he
lies low in kneaded clay Pray for him who prayed too late That
he might shine on Judgement Day. . .
John
So, there he lies at the last. The
deathbed convert. The pious debauchee. Could not dance half a
measure, could I? Give me wine, I'd drain the dregs and toss the
empty bottle at the world. Show me our Lord Jesus in agony, and
I mount the cross and steal his nails for my own palms. There I
go, shuffling from the world, my dribble fresh upon a Bible. I
look upon a pinhead. . . and I see angels dancing. Well? Do you
like me now? Do you like me now? Do you like me now? Do you like
me. . . now?
Singer
Christe Eleison. O Domine Deus. Dona
nobis pacem. O Domine Deus. Dona nobis pacem. O Domine Deus.
Dona nobis pacem. O Domine Deus. Dona nobis pacem.
THE
END
