{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_70498/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_70498","id":"gutenberg_70498","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/70498","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Plays/Films/Dramas","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Christmas plays","Masques"],"text":"WORKS BY PERCY MACKAYE\n\n\n_PLAYS_\n\n THE CANTERBURY PILGRIMS. A Comedy.\n JEANNE D\u2019ARC. A Tragedy.\n SAPPHO AND PHAON. A Tragedy.\n FENRIS, THE WOLF. A Tragedy.\n A GARLAND TO SYLVIA. A Dramatic Reverie.\n THE SCARECROW. A Tragedy of the Ludicrous.\n YANKEE FANTASIES. Five One-Act Plays.\n MATER. An American Study in Comedy.\n ANTI-MATRIMONY. A Satirical Comedy.\n TO-MORROW. A Play in Three Acts.\n A THOUSAND YEARS AGO. A Romance of the Orient.\n\n_COMMUNITY DRAMAS_\n\n CALIBAN. A Community Masque.\n SAINT LOUIS. A Civic Masque.\n SANCTUARY. A Bird Masque.\n THE NEW CITIZENSHIP. A Civic Ritual.\n THE EVERGREEN TREE. A Christmas Masque.\n\n_OPERAS_\n\n SINBAD, THE SAILOR. A Fantasy.\n THE IMMIGRANTS. A Tragedy.\n THE CANTERBURY PILGRIMS. A Comedy.\n\n_POEMS_\n\n THE SISTINE EVE, AND OTHER POEMS.\n URIEL, AND OTHER POEMS.\n LINCOLN. A Centenary Ode.\n THE PRESENT HOUR. Poems of War and Peace.\n POEMS AND PLAYS. In Two Volumes.\n\n_ESSAYS_\n\n THE PLAYHOUSE AND THE PLAY.\n THE CIVIC THEATRE.\n A SUBSTITUTE FOR WAR.\n COMMUNITY DRAMA. An Interpretation.\n\n_ALSO (As Editor)_\n\n THE CANTERBURY TALES. A Modern Rendering into Prose.\n THE MODERN READER\u2019S CHAUCER (with Professor J. S. P. Tatlock).\n\n_AT ALL BOOKSELLERS_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: DANCE-CAROL OF THE EVERGREEN\n\n _So we will sing our even-song_\n _And dance for thee, like king and queen,\u2014_\n _O Evergreen, dear Evergreen!\u2014_\n _To make thy heart be merry._ (Page 42)]\n\n\n\n\n The\n EVERGREEN TREE\n\n by\n PERCY MACKAYE\n\n [Illustration]\n\n D. APPLETON AND COMPANY\n NEW YORK LONDON\n 1917\n\n _Copyright, 1917, by_\n PERCY MACKAYE\n\n _All Rights Reserved_\n\n NOTE: For Information concerning Permission to\n produce this Masque or to read it in Public, see\n ANNOUNCEMENTS, on page 81 of this volume.\n\n Printed in the United States of America\n\n\n\n\n The\n EVERGREEN TREE\n\n A Masque of Christmas Time for\n Community Singing and Acting\n\n by\n PERCY MACKAYE\n\n With Scenic and Costume Designs\n by\n ROBERT EDMOND JONES\n\n Together with\n THREE MONOGRAPHS ON THE MASQUE\n written by\n the Author, the Scenic Designer,\n and\n ARTHUR FARWELL\n Composer of the Music\n\n\n\n\n TO\n\n THOSE FRIENDLY THOUSANDS\n OF MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN\n IN AMERICAN TOWNS AND CITIES, WHO HAVE\n SHARED WITH THE AUTHOR IN HIS MASQUES\n A COMMON DEVOTION TO THE HAPPY CAUSE\n OF A COMMUNAL ART\n\n THIS MASQUE IS DEDICATED\n IN CHRISTMAS FELLOWSHIP\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nAlways an evergreen tree points up at a star.\n\nAlways a star looks somewhere down on the cradle of a child.\n\nAlways, once in the year, a child laughs up at evergreen boughs.\n\nTree, star and child are triune in the poetry of nature\u2014a constellation\nof man that never sets.\n\nThe antic mirth, the na\u00efve awe of paganism, the joy and passion of\nChristianity, are masks happy and tragic which the Folk Spirit of\nchildhood has worn for ages, and shall wear for ages more, in ritual of a\ntree that never dies.\n\nOn the verge of No-Man\u2019s-Land, where the blasted earth reels amid war\u2019s\nstench and thunder; in calm cathedrals, to carolling choirs; by lonely\nchimney sides, or amid the young, tense assemblies of army camps,\nChristmas\u2014this Christmas of our new age\u2014grows again in the ancient\ngreenness of a little tree.\n\nHow may we, too, do it homage?\n\nNot forgetting the old simple merriment of folk days gone by, how shall\nwe say\u2014and sing\u2014to our tree something of that deep response which we feel\nto-day to the creative sadness of our time?\n\nOur young men are going out to the war: our country is grappling the\nissue of a planet. Here is a dramatic conflict, not for us as spectators,\nbut as participants. Here is a theme, not of the traditional theatre,\nbut of a communal drama, the action of which is at once a battle and a\nprayer. How may we take part together in expressing such a theme, at this\nnew Christmas time?\n\nSurely it must be through some simple festival\u2014chiefly of song, for\nsong is elemental to us all: a festival in which our people\u2014young,\nold, rich, poor, women, men, but chiefly our young soldiers\u2014may share,\noutdoors or indoors, in a ritual, democratic and devotional, on a scale\ngreat or small, simple to act and symbolize: a drama not designed for a\nhollow amphitheatre of spectators, but for a level-floored cathedral of\ncommunicants: a drama in which the goal of world liberty we battle for\nis clearly contrasted with its opposite, that we ourselves may not lose\nsight of our goal or swerve from it, as our common prayer, in the midst\nof battle. And there, as the focus-point of our festival and symbol of\nit\u2014the tree of light: light of our own childhood and of the world\u2019s.\n\nI do not know whether this simple masque will prove worthy to help in\ncreating such a festival for our new Christmas time\u2014I can only wish and\nhope that it may.\n\n PERCY MACKAYE.\n\nCornish, New Hampshire, September, 1917.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n PAGE\n\n _INTRODUCTORY_\n\n DEDICATION ix\n\n PREFACE xi\n\n LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xiv\n\n PERSONS AND GROUPS xv\n\n CHORUSES AND CAROLS xvi\n\n THE COMMUNITY CHORUS xvii\n\n TIME AND PLACE xvii\n\n QUOTATION FROM ST. MATTHEW xviii\n\n _TEXT OF THE MASQUE IN TWELVE ACTIONS_\n\n I. \u201cWHO KEEPETH WATCH?\u201d 1\n\n II. THE LANTERN IN THE DESERT 9\n\n III. \u201cSOMEBODY IS COMING!\u201d 11\n\n IV. THE LIGHT-CHILD 14\n\n V. \u201cSWORD OF THE WORLD\u201d 21\n\n VI. THE BEFRIENDING 28\n\n VII. THE THREE WISE MEN 31\n\n VIII. \u201cWHICH, O LORD, IS WISEST?\u201d 34\n\n IX. OUTCASTS 44\n\n X. THE WOUNDED PEDLAR 48\n\n XI. THE PERSECUTING HOST 53\n\n XII. THE MORNING STARS 54\n\n _COMMENTARIES_\n\n COMMUNITY PRELUDE 69\n\n COMMUNITY EPILUDE 72\n\n THREE MONOGRAPHS:\n\n I. DRAMATIZING COMMUNITY SONG, BY PERCY MACKAYE 73\n\n II. COMMUNITY MUSIC AND THE COMPOSER, BY ARTHUR FARWELL 77\n\n III. DESIGNS FOR \u201cTHE EVERGREEN TREE,\u201d BY ROBERT EDMOND JONES 78\n\n ACTION OF \u201cTHE EVERGREEN TREE\u201d 80\n\n ANNOUNCEMENTS CONCERNING MUSIC AND PRODUCTION 81\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n _I. SCENES_\n\n DANCE-CAROL OF THE EVERGREEN _Frontispiece_\n\n FACING PAGE\n\n THE LIGHT-CHILD 16\n\n SWORD OF THE WORLD 24\n\n THE THREE WISE MEN 32\n\n OUTCASTS 44\n\n THE PEDLAR-KING 62\n\n THE MORNING STARS 66\n\n _II. GROUND-PLAN_ 69\n\n _III. COSTUMES_\n\n GNOME, TREE, ELF 78\n\n BEAR, WOLF, LION 78\n\n JOSEPH, MARY, SHEPHERDS 78\n\n HOST, HEROD, CAPTAIN 78\n\n BELSHASAR, CASPAR, MELCHIOR 78\n\n FOLLOWERS OF BELSHASAR, CASPAR, MELCHIOR 78\n\n SORROW, SONG, DEATH, POVERTY 78\n\n RUTH, CLAUS, CHILDREN, CHORUS B 78\n\n\n\n\n_PERSONS AND GROUPS_\n\nIn the Order of their Appearance\n\n\nPERSONS\n\n ELF\n GNOME\n TREE\n WOLF\n BEAR\n LION\n\n JOSEPH\n MARY (Mute)\n SHEPHERD\n\n CAPTAIN OF THE HOST OF HEROD\n HEROD\n\n BELSHASAR\n MELCHIOR\n CASPAR\n\n RUTH\n CLAUS\n SONG (Mute)\n SORROW (Mute)\n DEATH\n POVERTY (Mute)\n\nGROUPS\n\n SHEPHERDS\n HOST OF HEROD\n FOLLOWERS OF THE THREE KINGS\n OUTCASTS: FOLLOWERS OF SONG, SORROW AND POVERTY\n\nFor Army Camp productions, in camps where it may not be practicable to\nhave women as acting principals, the two mute female figures, MARY and\nSONG, may\u2014if necessary\u2014be omitted, and RUTH be acted by some well-skilled\nyouth, as was the custom in Elizabethan days. The part of TREE, in any\nproduction, may be acted either by a young woman or by a young man (in\nsmall-scale productions preferably by a young woman). ELF and GNOME are\npreferably acted by children: a girl and a boy, or\u2014if desirable\u2014by two\nboys. In Chorus A, and in the first Semi-Chorus of the Outcasts, choir\nboys may, if need be, take the places of women.\n\n\n\n\n_CHORUSES AND CAROLS_\n\n\nCHORUSES\n\n _First Action_ I. (A,1) Chorus of the Wilderness.\n _Fourth Action_ II. (A,2) Light of the World.\n _Fourth Action_ III. (A,3) The Star.\n _Fifth Action_ IV. (B,1) The Might of Herod.\n _Fifth Action_ V. (A,4 B,2) The Wrath of Herod.\n _Fifth and Eleventh_ VI. and X. Song of the Persecuting Host.\n (B,3 and 4)\n _Sixth Action_ VII. and VIII. Glory and Serenity.\n (A,5 and 6)\n _Ninth Action_ IX. (A,7) Dirge of the Outcasts.\n _Twelfth Action_ XI. (A,8 and B,5) Chorus of the Christmas Tree.\n Part I: The Pedlar-King.\n Part II: The Tree.\n Part III: The Child.\n\n\nCAROLS\n\n _Second Action_ 1. Joseph\u2019s Carol.\n _Third Action_ 2. Fairy Round.\n _Fourth Action_ 3. Luck Song.\n _Fourth Action_ 4. The Tree-Child\u2019s Lullaby.\n _Seventh Action_ 5. \u201cWe Three Kings of Orient Are.\u201d\n _Eighth Action_ 6. The Bell, the Sword and the Laughter.\n _Eighth Action_ 7. Dance-Carol of the Evergreen.\n _Tenth Action_ 8. Ballad of the Kings and the Pedlar.\n\nIn modified small-scale productions of the Masque, where it may be\nimpracticable to render all the music in its completeness, the Carols\nalone may be sung. In that event, the Choruses should not be wholly\nomitted, but may be rendered as Choral Poems spoken in chanted speech by\nproperly qualified leaders (at Stage A and Stage B), as indicated in the\n\u201cGuide to the Evergreen Tree\u201d pamphlet, referred to in the Announcements\non the last page of this volume.\n\n\n\n\n_THE COMMUNITY CHORUS_\n\n\nis in two divisions, as follows:\n\nCHORUS A, in White: Men and Women: located near Stage A.\n\nCHORUS B, in Red: Men: located near Stage B.\n\n\n\n\n_TIME AND PLACE_\n\n\nTIME\n\nThe Time is laid on a night shortly after the birth of Christ.\n\n\nPLACE\n\nThe Masque takes place in Four Regions, indicated by Two Stages, and Two\nAisles, the Audience being located between the two stages.\n\nStage A represents the Place of Outcasts: a knoll, with path, in the\nWilderness, before the Evergreen Tree.\n\nStage B (located opposite Stage A) represents the Place of Empire: the\nGateway and Steps to the Palace of Herod.\n\nAisle I (located on the right of Stage B, as one faces Stage A)\nrepresents a Pathway from the land of Herod into the Wilderness.\n\nAisle II (located on the left of Stage B and parallel to Aisle I)\nrepresents another Pathway into the Wilderness.\n\nSee Ground Plan opposite page 69.\n\n\n\n\n_From the Gospel of Saint Matthew: Chapter II_\n\n\nNow when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Jud\u00e6a in the days of Herod the\nking, behold, there came Wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying,\n\u201cWhere is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in\nthe east, and are come to worship him.\u201d\n\nWhen Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled....\n\nAnd he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, \u201cGo and search diligently for\nthe young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I\nmay come and worship him also.\u201d\n\nWhen they had heard the king, they departed; and lo, the star, which they\nsaw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the\nyoung child was....\n\nAnd being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod,\nthey departed into their own country another way.\n\nNow when they were departed, behold an angel of the Lord appeareth to\nJoseph in a dream, saying, \u201cArise and take the young child and his\nmother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I tell thee: for\nHerod will seek the young child to destroy him.\u201d\n\nAnd he arose and took the young child and his mother by night, and\ndeparted into Egypt....\n\nThen Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the Wise men, was exceeding\nwroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem,\nand in all the borders thereof, from two years old and under.\n\n\n\n\nTHE EVERGREEN TREE\n\n\n\n\nFIRST ACTION\n\n(\u201cWho Keepeth Watch?\u201d)\n\n\n_STAGE A: THE PLACE OF OUTCASTS_\n\nIt is night.\n\nIn a dark place of the wilderness, a tree is growing.\n\nBefore it is an open space on a knoll, from which\u2014left and right\u2014a path\nleads down away into the desert.\n\nAt one side, in shadow, sit ELF and GNOME.\n\nAt centre, in starlight, stands TREE, half emerged from dim boughs.\n\n[Sidenote: _First Chorus: A,1. Chorus of the Wilderness_]\n\n _CHORUS_\n\n _Who keepeth watch in the lone wilderness_\n _For the coming of a sign?_\n _Who sendeth her roots down into the dark places_\n _Seeking the springs of life,_\n _And is restored:_\n _And lifteth up her boughs in prayer of quiet,_\n _And lo, they are filled with starlight?_\n _The Tree: the Tree keepeth watch for the coming of a sign._\n _Who waiteth very patiently in the night desert_\n _For dawn of a new morrow?_\n _And the wild beasts draw near unto her: they are tired_\n _But none is afraid,_\n _For her lap is like to a mother\u2019s, where little children_\n _Play till they weary and sleep:_\n _There dryads bring her their dreams,_\n _And the fairy folk are at home.\u2014_\n _Who liveth very old, alive with young green,_\n _And waketh her heart with song for the coming of light?_\n _The Tree: the Tree:_\n _The Tree keepeth watch in her heart for the coming of light._\n\n (A long wailing cry resounds from the dark.)\n\n THE VOICE\n\n Hi-ih!\n\n ELF\n\n What\u2019s that?\n\n GNOME\n\n That is Wolf.\n He\u2019s coming from the desert. He is lonely.\n\n ELF\n\n Why is he coming here?\n\n GNOME\n\n Tree is here.\n All the creatures come to Tree, when they are lonely.\n\n ELF\n\n Even Tree seems lonely to-night,\n With eyes that look far away.\u2014\n Tree, what are you watching for?\n\n TREE\n\n A star.\n\n ELF\n\n But the sky is filled with starlight.\n\n TREE\n\n I am watching for a new star.\n I have been waiting for it a long while.\n I think I shall see it again soon.\n\n GNOME\n\n Again?\u2014Have you seen it before?\n\n TREE\n\n Yes: once:\n One night, not long ago,\n I saw it rising in the east, across the desert.\n It made a path of wonderful shining.\n Then it stood still in the sky\u2014far over yonder!\u2014\n And seemed I heard shepherds singing.\n\n (WOLF enters.)\n\n WOLF\n\n Hi-ih! It\u2019s a cold night.\n I want to come out of the wind.\n\n GNOME\n\n Ask Tree.\n\n WOLF\n\n High-o! Green-and-alive!\n Can a fellow come out of the wind, here?\n\n TREE\n\n Welcome, Wolf.\n\n WOLF\n\n And what may you three be talking about?\n\n ELF\n\n A star.\n\n GNOME\n\n A new star in the east.\n\n (Noises of puffing and growling are heard.)\n\n THE NOISES\n\n Ooff!\u2014Ah-yarrr!\n\n ELF\n\n Who now?\n\n GNOME\n\n That\u2019s Bear and Lion coming.\n They\u2019re tired and sleepy.\n\n (BEAR and LION enter. Bear carries a bee-hive; Lion, a large bone.)\n\n BEAR\n\n Ooff! Ooff! Where\u2019s a hollow to sleep in?\n\n GNOME\n\n Ask Tree.\n\n TREE\n\n Welcome, Bear! Break a bough for your pillow.\n\n WOLF\n\n (Edging away)\n\n Hi! Not my tail!\n\n LION\n\n Ah-yarrr! I\u2019m tired of killing.\n Where can I bury my bone?\n\n GNOME\n\n Ask Tree!\n\n TREE\n\n Welcome, Lion. Lay your head on my roots and rest.\n\n LION\n\n Yarrr! It\u2019s a night of cold.\n You kill nothing, Bear: how do you keep so fat?\n\n WOLF\n\n His belly is full of wild honey.\u2014\n Here! he\u2019s soft and round:\n Keep him in the middle.\n\n BEAR\n\n Three are warmer than one. Go to sleep.\n\n (WOLF and LION lean against BEAR. Slowly all fall into slumber\n and low snoring.)\n\n THE THREE\n\n (Murmuring together)\n\n Hi-yo!\u2014Ooff! Ooff!\u2014Ah-yarrr!\n\n ELF\n\n And why do you wish the star to come, Tree?\n\n TREE\n\n Because of my dream.\n\n GNOME\n\n What dream?\n\n TREE\n\n Because I have dreamed a new star will come in the night;\n And will gather all the old stars out of the heaven\n To sparkle upon my branches.\n And there they shall sing all together.\n And in the midst of them the new star\n Shall laugh aloud,\n Shall laugh like a young child,\n And my boughs shall be as sheltering arms to make him a home.\n And there we shall dwell no more, dreadful in the desert,\n Where wild beasts kill one another, and weary of killing;\n And there shall be no more lonely things;\n But there shall be carolling of stars and a young child\u2019s laughter;\n And I shall be the angel in his home.\n\n ELF\n\n The wild beasts are fast asleep.\n\n GNOME\n\n Nothing is stirring in the world.\n\n ELF\n\n Yes: look! I think I see\u2014\n\n GNOME\n\n Where?\n\n ELF\n\n Don\u2019t you see\u2014there! through the dark:\n It is moving towards us.\n\n GNOME\n\n I think I hear some one singing.\n\n ELF\n\n It is drawing nearer.\n\n TREE\n\n O my dear dream!\n\n ELF AND GNOME\n\n Is it the new star?\n\n TREE\n\n Yes; but it has fallen down out of the heaven.\n It has made itself very small and lowly.\n It has made itself into a little lantern,\n To light the feet of them who wander in the wilderness.\n\n ELF\n\n See!\n\n GNOME\n\n Hark.\n\n\n\n\nSECOND ACTION\n\n(The Lantern in the Desert)\n\n\n_AISLE I: A PATHWAY INTO THE WILDERNESS_\n\nMoving toward the Tree, a Procession enters singing.\n\nFirst comes JOSEPH in white. He holds high a tall staff, from which a\nswinging lantern shines. Behind him comes, in pale blue, MARY, attended\nby SHEPHERDS in white. These carry lighted candles and long crooks, and\nthey are ranged about a MANGER, borne in their midst.\n\n[Sidenote: _Carol 1. Joseph\u2019s Carol_]\n\n JOSEPH\n\n _As Joseph I was walking,_\n _I heard an angel sing:_\n\n JOSEPH AND SHEPHERDS\n\n \u201c_This night shall be the birthnight_\n _Of Christ our heavenly King._\n\n _His birth-bed shall be neither_\n _In housen nor in hall,_\n _Nor in the place of paradise,_\n _But in the oxen\u2019s stall._\n\n _He neither shall be rock\u00e8d_\n _In silver nor in gold,_\n _But in the wooden manger_\n _That lieth on the mould._\n\n _He neither shall be cloth\u00e8d_\n _In purple nor in pall,_\n _But in the fair white linen_\n _That usen babies all._\u201d\n\n JOSEPH\n\n _As Joseph I was walking_\n _Thus did the angel sing;_\n\n JOSEPH AND SHEPHERDS\n\n _And Mary\u2019s Son at midnight_\n _Was born to be our King._\n\n\n\n\nTHIRD ACTION\n\n(\u201cSomebody Is Coming!\u201d)\n\n\n_STAGE A_\n\nTree and the FAIRIES have watched and listened eagerly.\n\n TREE\n\n (To ELF and GNOME)\n\n Look, look! The light is coming here.\n Rouse up the wild beasts,\n And let us make a welcome for these wanderers.\n\n[Sidenote: _Carol 2. Fairy Round_]\n\n TREE, ELF, GNOME\n\n (Sing in a round)\n\n _Wolf, Bear, Lion!_\n _Wolf, Bear, Lion!_\n\n _Are you awake?_\n _Are you awake?_\n\n _Somebody is coming!_\n _Somebody is coming!_\n\n LION\n\n (Waking and rubbing his eyes, joins in the round)\n\n _Who can it be?_\n _Who can it be?_\n\n BEAR\n\n (Rolling to his feet with an \u201cOoff!\u201d imitates LION)\n\n _Let\u2019s go and see!_\n _Let\u2019s go and see!_\n\n WOLF, BEAR AND LION\n\n (Scrambling down the path)\n\n Hi-ih! Ooff! Yarrr!\n\n TREE\n\n Peace, wild folk! Make a welcome for these new comers.\n\n LION\n\n (Grinning savagely)\n\n Welcome, they are! My mouth waters for them.\n\n WOLF\n\n (To LION)\n\n Hi! Let me pass.\n I\u2019ll pick a bone with you\u2014after the meat\u2019s gone.\n\n BEAR\n\n You talk loud, but you keep your tail between your legs.\n\n WOLF\n\n That\u2019s more than _you_ can do\u2014with yours!\n\n LION\n\n Now for a new kill!\n\n\n\n\nFOURTH ACTION\n\n(The Light-Child)\n\n\n_APPROACHING-SPACE and STEPS A; Then, STAGE A_\n\nApproaching along the path, JOSEPH and his GROUP pause, confronted by the\nBEASTS.\n\n JOSEPH\n\n God save you, Sir Lion!\n\n LION\n\n Save yourself, Sir Man\u2014if you can.\n\n WOLF\n\n Look sharp: there\u2019s more there behind.\n\n BEAR\n\n They carry a trough there. What\u2019s in it?\n\n SHEPHERD\n\n Keep off!\u2014Aim your blows, fellows: strike!\n\n (The SHEPHERDS, with their crooks, drive back the BEASTS. JOSEPH\n intervenes.)\n\n JOSEPH\n\n Stay, good Shepherds! Put away your crooks.\n Fear nothing, Mary.\n These wild folk crave our leave to behold the Child\n And do Him homage.\n\n LION\n\n Man-child!\u2014Yarrr!\n\n JOSEPH\n\n (Pausing before the Evergreen Tree)\n\n Pray you set down the manger. Now, Sir Beasts,\n And you, Elf Folk, will it please you draw near and look in?\n\n (On either side the SHEPHERDS draw back, revealing at centre\n the MANGER, out from which a wonderful glow shines upward,\n touching the faces of the SHEPHERDS and hushing the BEASTS with\n awe.)\n\n TREE\n\n The light! The light!\n\n[Sidenote: _Second Chorus: A,2. Light of the World_]\n\n _CHORUS_\n\n _Where sleepeth till dawn-break the light of the new morrow?_\n\n _Alleluia!_\n _Lo, as a babe, it sleepeth in a little manger:_\n _Light of the World! Alleluia!_\n\n _The dark is his cradle;_\n _The beasts come about him;_\n _The stars in their watches_\n _Are covered with cloud._\n\n _Home hath he none;_\n _The desert receives him\u2014_\n _The place of outcasts_\n _And lonely things._\n\n _No sound is heard there_\n _Save shepherds singing;_\n _The lords of earth_\n _Avert their faces;_\n _Dark\u2014dark is his cradle._\n\n _Yet surely will dawn break with light of his new morrow:_\n\n _Alleluia!_\n _Yea, for the babe that sleepeth in a little manger_\n _Is Light of the World: Alleluia!_\n\n (The FAIRIES and BEASTS peer in the MANGER with awed delight.\n Murmuring aloud, they speak to JOSEPH.)\n\n ELF\n\n May we not dance for him?\n\n GNOME\n\n And make gambols?\n\n LION\n\n May I give him my bone? \u2019Twill make him a rare toy!\n\n BEAR\n\n Ooff!\u2014If he lie in my lap, my fur will warm him.\n\n WOLF\n\n Look-ee! If I wag my tail for him, he will laugh.\n\n JOSEPH\n\n Hush! He is asleep. Please do not wake Him.\n\n (The BEASTS draw back. Kneeling down with ELF and GNOME, all\n Five sing together.)\n\n[Sidenote: _Carol 3. Luck Song_]\n\n THE BEASTS AND FAIRIES\n\n _While this Light-Child sleeping lies,_\n _Word or murmur never wake him!_\n _But when he shall open his eyes,_\n _Mirth and antics we will make him._\n _Amen!_\n\n JOSEPH\n\n Thank you, friends, for your courtesies;\n But now the night grows old, and we are weary of wandering.\n Out of the land of Herod we are fled, and go into Egypt.\n Mary and Joseph are we, and Jesus, the little Child,\n Whom these good Shepherds bear with us in his birth-cradle.\n Now we must needs find shelter for the babe to rest.\n\n TREE\n\n Now welcome, Mary and Joseph, and Jesus, the little Child!\n Rest you, I pray, with these Shepherds, under my boughs.\n\n JOSEPH\n\n Gentle Tree, you say kindly.\n\n SHEPHERD\n\n (To MARY, with gladness)\n\n Here Herod can never harm Him, Lady dear.\n\n TREE\n\n Who is Herod, that he would harm a little child?\n\n JOSEPH\n\n Herod is lord of the world\u2014there, in the land we have fled from.\n Mighty is he, yet afraid: for out of the east\n Three Wise Men followed a star to this poor manger,\n Telling Herod a little child should inherit his kingdom.\n Mighty is Herod, yet trembles now on his throne,\n And wishes this Little One death.\n\n SHEPHERD\n\n But shall never find Him!\n\n JOSEPH\n\n Nay, for none in Herod\u2019s kingdom knows\n Where Child and Mother and Manger and guiding Star\n Are vanished away. Only you, dear folk of the desert,\n Share now our secret.\n\n TREE\n\n And shall ward it full well.\n So enter into my shelter, with your good Shepherds,\n Joseph and Mary and Manger-Child\u2014and rest.\n\n (TREE and MARY pass behind within shadow. As the SHEPHERDS with\n the MANGER follow, a sweet, lulling VOICE sings from within.)\n\n[Sidenote: _Carol 4. The Tree-Child\u2019s Lullaby_]\n\n THE VOICE\n\n _Babe of my love,_\n _Lull thee to rest!_\n _Bird of my heart,_\n _Night is thy nest._\n\n _Evergreen bough,_\n _Shadow my babe!_\n _Shelter my bird,_\n _Evergreen bough!_\n\n _Star of my dreams,_\n _Soon thou wilt shine:_\n _Dream of the stars,_\n _Splendor be thine!_\n\n _Evergreen bough,_\n _Shine with my Star!_\n _Shelter his dreams,_\n _Evergreen bough!_\n\n (JOSEPH, pausing a moment before he follows, speaks to his\n lantern.)\n\n JOSEPH\n\n Now lantern, that dost hide His holy light,\n Show forth on high thy little Master\u2019s star!\n\n (He blows out the lantern.\n\n Instantly a shining Star appears on the top of the Tree.\n Staring upward with gestures of surprise, the CREATURES murmur\n aloud.)\n\n BEASTS, ELF AND GNOME\n\n The star! The star!\n\n (In wonder, while the CHORUS sings, they follow after the\n others.)\n\n[Sidenote: _Third Chorus: A,3. The Star_]\n\n _CHORUS_\n\n _Where shineth in whiteness the star of the new Master?_\n _Alleluia!_\n _Lo, from the tree that sheltereth a child\u2019s dreaming_\n _Shineth His star: Alleluia!_\n\n[Illustration: THE LIGHT-CHILD\n\n _CHORUS_\n\n _Where sleepeth till dawn-break the light of the new morrow?_\n _Alleluia!_\n _Lo, as a babe it sleepeth in a little manger:_\n _Light of the World! Alleluia!_]\n\n\n\n\nFIFTH ACTION\n\n(\u201cSword of the World\u201d)\n\n\n_STAGE B: THE PLACE OF EMPIRE_\n\nGateway and Steps in front of HEROD\u2019S Palace.\n\nWith spears and in armor, the CAPTAIN and the HOST OF HEROD are\nassembling.\n\nWith deep, pounding reverberation, VOICES of the male CHORUS conflict\nwith the far, high singing of the other CHORUS, now dying away.\n\n[Sidenote: _Fourth Chorus: B,1. The Might of Herod_]\n\n _CHORUS_\n\n _Herod\u2014Herod\u2014Herod\u2014Herod, the mighty_\n _Lord of the world!_\n _Hail him, hail him, hail him Herod the Master!_\n _Bow to his will!_\n\n _His power what star can confound?_\n _Or cloud can darken his splendor,_\n _Who bindeth his brow with the lightning_\n _And girdeth his loins with the storm!_\n\n _For he maketh the world of men_\n _The winnowing floor of his glory:_\n _And he weareth the mail of the Most High,_\n _And shareth the mantle of God.\u2014_\n\n _Millions obey him,_\n _Man is his tool._\n\n _Forth on his errands_\n _Fly his red legions;_\n _Domes of his dwelling_\n _Glow in the dawn._\n\n _Fire\u2014fire_\n _Forgeth his empire;_\n _Slaves\u2014slaves_\n _Rear his dominion;_\n _Sowing and harvest_\n _Bleed in his furrows;_\n\n _Peace is his footstool,_\n _War is his crown._\n\n _Herod\u2014Herod\u2014Herod\u2014Herod, the mighty_\n _Lord of the world!_\n\n (Beside the gate, the CAPTAIN of the HOST strikes a deep-toned\n gong and calls aloud.)\n\n CAPTAIN\n\n Herod! Herod, the most High!\n\n (HEROD comes forth with his Followers. Clad in long robe of Tyrian\n purple, he wears on his head a gold helmet. In his hand, he holds\n a great staff, surmounted by a globe of the world.)\n\n HEROD\n\n Who calls so loud at my gate?\n\n CAPTAIN\n\n I, Captain of the Host of Herod.\n\n HEROD\n\n Why do you cry on my name?\n\n CAPTAIN\n\n For I am come at your bidding, King of Men.\n Lo, we are here to do your command.\n\n HEROD\n\n My command I gave you, to bring unto me three Wise Men,\n Kings of the East. Show them before me now.\n\n CAPTAIN\n\n Most High, they are not here. We have made far searching\n But they are vanished away.\n\n HEROD\n\n Where are they gone?\n\n CAPTAIN\n\n No man has seen.\n\n HEROD\n\n Where shines their star?\n\n CAPTAIN\n\n Heaven has no sign.\n\n HEROD\n\n Where was he found\u2014the child they worshipped?\n\n CAPTAIN\n\n Lowly he lay, in a poor manger.\n\n HEROD\n\n Now bring him before me!\n\n CAPTAIN\n\n He too has departed.\n\n HEROD\n\n My command! My command! My command!\n Have ye not slain him? Speak!\n\n CAPTAIN\n\n Herod, most High, how shall the vanished be slain?\n No sign gives us token\n Where child and mother and manger and guiding star\n Are vanished away.\n\n HEROD\n\n Powers of my crown and throne! Am I not Herod,\n Herod, the Mighty? Who shall defeat my power?\n\n[Sidenote: _Fifth Chorus: B,2 & A,4. The Wrath of Herod._]\n\n (Close by, from the Place of Empire, deep CHORAL VOICES\n reiterate HEROD\u2019S boasts of triumph; far off, from the Place of\n Outcasts, they are answered in antiphony by high, sweet CHOIRS,\n affirming his defeat.)\n\n[Sidenote: _B,2, Reiterative_]\n\n _CHORUS B_\n\n _Herod, our lord and king! Who shall defy his command?_\n\n[Sidenote: _A,4, Antiphonal_]\n\n _CHORUS A_\n\n _A star! A star shall confound him._\n\n HEROD\n\n Am I the Sword of the World, and shall a weakling disarm me?\n\n[Sidenote: _B,2, Reiterative_]\n\n _CHORUS B_\n\n _How shall the crook of a shepherd shatter the sword of a king?_\n\n[Sidenote: _A,4, Antiphonal_]\n\n _CHORUS A_\n\n _A child! A child shall disarm him!_\n\n HEROD\n\n Hath God anointed me, yea, and shall a babe disinherit?\n\n[Sidenote: _B,2, Reiterative_]\n\n _CHORUS B_\n\n _Lo, shall the light of a manger outshine his glory of palaces?_\n\n[Sidenote: _A,4, Antiphonal_]\n\n _CHORUS A_\n\n _A dream! A dream shall survive him!_\n\n HEROD\n\n Now, by my host of power! he shall not escape me\u2014\n This babe low-born, but for his sake shall all\n The hosts of childhood perish. Go forth and slay them,\n All newly born of women, that he among them\n May not escape, and all who shall resist\n My power, young men or old, brothers or fathers,\n Destroy them likewise\u2014yea, with red fire and spear\n And burning sword-blade. Go! My will is God\u2019s,\n For I am Herod\u2014Herod, lord of the world!\n\n (Raising his sword, the CAPTAIN makes sign to the HOST, who\n lift high their spears. As the CHORUS breaks into song, they\n depart, marching, while HEROD re\u00ebnters his palace.)\n\n[Sidenote: _Sixth Chorus: B,3. Song of the Persecuting Host_]\n\n _CHORUS_\n\n _Go forth, ye host of power!_\n _Lay waste, lay waste the lowly!_\n _For Herod\u2019s might is a blazing tower,_\n _And Herod\u2019s wrath is holy._\n _Yea, Herod\u2019s wrath_\n _God\u2019s ire it hath_\n _As he rends the weak asunder._\n _Go forth upon his fiery path_\n _Go forth, ye host, in thunder!_\n\n _The strong, the strong shall reign!_\n _Unleash the hounds of pain,_\n _And loose their cry_\n _Where the wounded lie_\n _And the weakling race are slain._\n\n _Go forth, ye host of power!_\n _Destroy, destroy the dreaming!_\n _For none may pause for a dream to flower_\n _Where Herod\u2019s might goes streaming._\n _Yea, Herod\u2019s might_\n _God maketh His right_\n _When the weak of the world go under._\n _Go forth upon their darkling flight,_\n _Go forth, ye host, in thunder!_\n\n[Illustration: SWORD OF THE WORLD\n\n _CHORUS B_\n\n _Herod, our lord and king! Who shall defy his command?_\n\n _CHORUS A_\n\n _A star! A star shall confound him!_]\n\n\n\n\nSIXTH ACTION\n\n(The Befriending)\n\n\n_STAGE A_\n\nNow, from the Place of Outcasts, CHORAL VOICES sing, while once more\nJOSEPH, MARY and SHEPHERDS bearing the MANGER appear, coming forth from\nthe shelter of the Evergreen. With them TREE also appears.\n\n[Sidenote: _Seventh Chorus: A,5. Glory and Serenity_]\n\n _CHORUS_\n\n _Glory and serenity,_\n _Beauty of desire,_\n _Bless to-night this holy tree_\n _And our candle fire._\n _Tree of our hearts, behold!_\n _How the dreams of a child in your boughs unfold_\n _And the weary of earth put off their pain_\n _Where the Child of our love has lain._\n\n JOSEPH\n\n Shepherd, the morrow\u2019s light will soon begin\n To wake the desert world. Here we have lain\n This night in quiet refuge; yet through sleep\n I heard far off the host of Herod rage\n Against this Child His kingdom. So once more\n Let us go forth our way, till He is safe\n Beyond the war-lord\u2019s might.\n\n SHEPHERD\n\n Yea, let us go,\n Yet not till we have thanked this gentle Tree.\n\n JOSEPH\n\n Dear Tree, you have befriended in his need\n This little Child new-born. So\u2014for His sake\u2014\n Your gracious boughs shall evermore be green,\n Nor ever in winter lose their April sap,\n But freshly, at this season of His birth,\n They shall be fragrant of the hallowed dreams\n His happy heart bequeathes you.\n\n TREE\n\n He was welcome,\n And I will deck my boughs with infant joys\n In his remembrance.\n\n SHEPHERD\n\n So we say\u2014God keep you!\n And not \u2018Goodbye\u2019!\n\n JOSEPH\n\n (To TREE)\n\n Nay, still another token\n We leave with you: His star\u2014to be henceforth\n A morning star of song for other children\n Who rest from Herod\u2019s wrath. So you shall be\n No more a forest sprite, but a hallow\u2019d angel\u2014\n His shining angel with a sheath\u00e8d sword\n To guard all childhood\u2019s home. Keep here his star:\n Farewell!\n\n TREE\n\n O fare you well, dear wanderers,\n That have fulfilled with love my lonely dream!\n\n (With lighted candles, in processional, the SHEPHERDS with\n MANGER, MARY and JOSEPH depart toward the desert. While the\n CHORUS sings, TREE stands gazing after them.)\n\n[Sidenote: _Eighth Chorus: A,6. Glory and Serenity_]\n\n CHORUS\n\n _Glory and serenity,_\n _Beauty of desire,_\n _Blend the song of men set free_\n _With their children\u2019s choir._\n _Child of our hearts, behold!_\n _How the dark is strewn with your fairy gold_\n _And the bitter of soul lay-by their spleen_\n _Where the Tree of our love grows green._\n\n (TREE goes within.)\n\n\n\n\nSEVENTH ACTION\n\n(The Three Wise Men)\n\n\n_AISLE II: ANOTHER PATHWAY INTO THE WILDERNESS_\n\nEntering from its farther end appear, in procession, the THREE WISE MEN,\nand their FOLLOWERS. Lighted by torches of their Attendants, this PAGEANT\nOF THE KINGS moves onward in oriental splendor.\n\nEach KING wears a crown of gold.\n\nThe crown of the youngest, BELSHASAR, is set on a turban. He is clean\nshaven, pale and recluse. The garb of him and his Group has a tone of\nasceticism.\n\nThe crown of the middle-aged, MELCHIOR, is placed on a helmet. He is\nthick-set, black-bearded and sharp-eyed. A martial glitter touches him\nand his Group.\n\nThe crown of the oldest, CASPAR, is set on a high-peaked hat with wide\nflapping brims. His beard is silver white, his face ruddy and wrinkled\nwith laughter. His ample gown is gorgeous with red dyes and jewels. Like\nhim in jocular splendor are his Followers.\n\nAs they approach the place of the Tree, KINGS and FOLLOWERS come singing\na carol, led by the KINGS.\n\n[Sidenote: _Carol 4. Trio and Chorus: \u201cWe Three Kings of Orient Are\u201d_]\n\n BELSHASAR, MELCHIOR AND CASPAR\n\n _TRIO_\n\n _We three kings of Orient are:_\n _Wending home, we traverse afar_\n _Field and fountain_\n _Moor and mountain_\n _Seeking for our lost star._\n\n _CHORUS_\n\n (Of the THREE KINGS and their FOLLOWERS)\n\n _O Star of Wonder,_\n _Star of Night,_\n _Star with royal beauty bright!_\n _Eastward leading,_\n _Home proceeding,_\n _Show once more Thy perfect light!_\n\n _TRIO_\n\n _Where the guiding glory once shone_\n _Dark we wander onward and on,_\n _Watching, hoping,_\n _Dimly groping,_\n _Seeking the light that\u2019s gone._\n\n _CHORUS_\n\n _O Star of Wonder,_\n _Star of Night,_\n _Star with royal beauty bright!_\n _Eastward leading,_\n _Home proceeding,_\n _Show once more Thy perfect light!_\n\n[Illustration: THE THREE WISE MEN]\n\n\n\n\nEIGHTH ACTION\n\n(\u201cWhich, O Lord, is Wisest?\u201d)\n\n\n_STAGE A_\n\nThe THREE KINGS enter before the Tree, their Followers grouped on the\nright. As he comes, KING CASPAR lifts his voice in a carol, solo, in\nwhich BELSHASAR and MELCHIOR soon join with him. Each of them, in his\nsinging, acts out the sung carol in his bearing and movement.\n\n[Sidenote: _Carol 5. Solo and Trio. The Bell, the Sword and the Laughter_]\n\n CASPAR\n\n _Lord of life! how pleasant ways_\n _Are thy paths of danger,_\n _Leading down from Herod\u2019s place_\n _By an ox\u2019s manger:_\n _Lo, there lay a little child_\n _Rosy \u2019neath the rafter.\u2014_\n _Ahaha! how glad he smiled!_\n _Lord, how blithe his laughter!_\n\n MELCHIOR\n\n _Laughter! Nay, I heard none laugh._\n _Whom thou heardest\u2014say now!_\n\n CASPAR\n\n _Him, the child, where mid the chaff_\n _He lay on the hay-mow._\n _Sure, Belshasar, thou didst bend_\n _Nigh him and thou heardest._\n\n BELSHASAR\n\n _Caspar, nay: I comprehend_\n _Not one thing thou wordest._\n\n CASPAR\n\n _Ohoho! Still, Lord, I hear_\n _Music of that laughter._\n\n MELCHIOR\n\n _Daft thou ever wert: I fear_\n _Still thou growest dafter._\n _Nothing heard I, by my soul_\n _But a sword its clanging._\n\n BELSHASAR\n\n _Nay, a bell, I heard it toll:_\n _On a cross \u2019twas hanging._\n\n MELCHIOR\n\n _Now, am I not Melchior?_\n _By my crown its keeping!_\n _\u2019Twas a sword that dangled o\u2019er_\n _Where the babe lay sleeping._\n\n BELSHASAR\n\n _Nay, a bell\u2014a passing-bell:_\n _Lonely was its ringing._\n\n CASPAR\n\n _Ahaha! I heard full well_\n _\u2018Merry Christmas!\u2019 singing._\n\n CASPAR, BELSHASAR AND MELCHIOR\n\n (Sing together)\n\n _Lord, how may we wise men tell_\n _How to clothe our starkness?_\n _Song and sword and passing-bell_\n _Lure us through the darkness._\n _Send us sign of hidden things\u2014_\n _Thou who naught despisest!_\n _Lo, of us three crown\u00e8d kings,_\n _Which, O Lord, is wisest?_\n\n VOICES OF ELF AND GNOME\n\n (Echo in song, within)\n\n \u201c_Which, O Lord, is wisest?_\u201d\n\n (In songful laughter)\n\n _\u00d3hoho! Ah\u00e1ha!_\n\n CASPAR\n\n Lord, Lord, Thy sign! Harken, wise men, my brothers:\n Laughter, laughter He sends us for a sign!\n\n BELSHASAR\n\n Nay, voices of the desert places!\n\n MELCHIOR\n\n Mockings of midnight!\n\n ELF AND GNOME\n\n (Enter, laughing lyricly)\n\n _\u00d3hoho! Ah\u00e1ha!_\n\n CASPAR\n\n Heigh! What is here? Elf!\u2014Gnome!\n\n BELSHASAR\n\n Keep back! They are imps of evil.\n\n MELCHIOR\n\n Stay! Do not speak with them. Hush!\n\n (CASPAR pays no heed, but greets the FAIRIES, who return his\n greeting with blithe bows.)\n\n CASPAR\n\n Now, neighbors, God rest you merry!\n\n ELF\n\n Welcome, Wise Man!\n\n GNOME\n\n Welcome, Sir King!\n\n MELCHIOR\n\n (To BELSHASAR)\n\n He speaks with them.\n\n BELSHASAR\n\n (To MELCHIOR)\n\n Come. He is lost!\n\n (They draw away.)\n\n GNOME\n\n Where are you from\u2014ye Kings?\n\n CASPAR\n\n From the East, returning home from Herod\u2019s land.\n\n ELF\n\n What went you there for to do?\n\n CASPAR\n\n To worship a new-born Child.\n\n GNOME\n\n How did you find your way?\n\n CASPAR\n\n We followed a star.\n\n ELF AND GNOME\n\n (Nodding to each other)\n\n A star!\n\n CASPAR\n\n Yea, but our path now has lost it.\u2014\n Why do ye laugh there so merry?\n\n ELF AND GNOME\n\n (Pointing)\n\n Look up!\n\n CASPAR\n\n The star! The star!\n Ho, Melchior, Belshasar, look up!\n His star\u2014the star we have lost\u2014is found:\n Behold, it shines on the tree!\n\n MELCHIOR\n\n I see no star.\n\n BELSHASAR\n\n \u2019Tis darkness all.\n\n CASPAR\n\n What! Can you see nothing shining yonder?\n\n MELCHIOR\n\n Nothing. Your eyes are bleary with night.\n\n BELSHASAR\n\n Nay, he\u2019s grown old and merry and cracked.\n\n CASPAR\n\n Deaf to His laughter, blind to His star!\n God save you, Wise Men! Let me grow old\n And merry and cracked,\n And talk with His wild, silly creatures.\n\n (Enter WOLF, BEAR and LION.)\n\n BELSHASAR\n\n (To MELCHIOR)\n\n Come farther!\u2014Wild beasts they draw near.\n\n (They move aside into shadow.)\n\n CASPAR\n\n Halloa, goodman Bear! Good even!\n\n BEAR\n\n (Forlornly)\n\n Ooff! Ooff! My honey hive\u2019s empty.\n\n LION\n\n Look you! My bone is picked bare.\n\n WOLF\n\n I\u2019ve never a bone left to pick,\n And I\u2019m losing the fur on my tail.\n\n CASPAR\n\n Heigh, Master Wolf, Sir Lion!\n How come ye so down at heart?\n\n LION\n\n The Light-Child is gone on his way.\n\n WOLF\n\n When a fellow can\u2019t sing, he feels hungry.\n\n CASPAR\n\n Nay, neighbors, the Light-Child is with us;\n He smiles from His twinkling star\n Yonder, yea laughs in His light\n And bids us make merry together\n For joy of His shining.\u2014Hoho!\n Bring hither my music, good fellows!\n Bring hither my fiddles and cakes\n To make Him a feast night.\n\n (From among CASPAR\u2019S FOLLOWERS, cakes and instruments are\n brought before him. To WOLF, BEAR and LION he gives each a\n cake; to ELF and GNOME a stringed instrument.)\n\n Here, neighbors,\n Have each of you now a sweet frosting:\n Here\u2019s moon-cake and sun-cake and star-cake,\n To mind us His birth-time. And you\u2014\n Here\u2019s tune-strings to play, while we sing\n To praise this good tree of His star.\n\n (TREE enters, winged, all in white.)\n\n ELF\n\n Look, look! Tree now is his angel.\n\n TREE\n\n Welcome, dear passers in darkness!\n The Light-Child is gone on His way,\n But He leaves you His star, to make glad\n Your path in the wilderness.\u2014Welcome\n Under His star!\n\n CASPAR\n\n Thank you, Tree.\n His star hath made merry our hearts\n To dance in His light\u2014aye, to sing\n As we enter your place of His dreams.\n Come, neighbors, now blithe be our carol!\n\n (With his sceptre for baton, CASPAR leads in dance and song\n WOLF, BEAR, LION, ELF and GNOME, the BEASTS holding their\n cakes, the FAIRIES playing their instruments. Joining in their\n blithe dance of devotion, the old KING clutches the great flap\n of his crown, to keep it from joggling off.)\n\n[Sidenote: _Carol 6. Dance-Carol of the Evergreen._]\n\n ALL\n\n (Sing, to the strongly stressed dance-rhythm)\n\n _O Evergreen, our Evergreen!_\n _Thy boughs are brave and bright o\u2019 sheen,_\n _Thy bark and wood are live and strong_\n _And bonny with the berry._\n _So we will sing our even-song_\n _And dance for thee, like king and queen.\u2014_\n _O Evergreen, dear Evergreen!\u2014_\n _To make thy heart be merry._\n\n _O Even-song, our Even-song,_\n _Thy notes this holy night belong_\n _To Him who came to heal our teen_\n _With love and starry leaven._\n _His childhood keepeth ever green_\n _All hearts of creatures here that long\u2014_\n _O Even-song, dear Even-song\u2014_\n _To make our earth His heaven._\n\n (Following TREE, they dance joyously within. Outside, MELCHIOR,\n BELSHASAR and their Followers wait in the dimness.)\n\n BELSHASAR\n\n A bell! I hear a bell tolling.\n\n MELCHIOR\n\n A sword! The clang of a sword!\n\n\n\n\nNINTH ACTION\n\n(Outcasts)\n\n\n_STAGE B AND AISLE I_\n\nFrom the right of HEROD\u2019S Gate sounds the tolling of bells\u2014from the left,\nthe clangor of swords.\n\nDuring this, HEROD comes forth and stands on his dais. There, in shifting\nlight and darkness, HELMETED MEN with swords hurry to him, confer in\npantomime and depart.\n\nThen, as HEROD stands looking down from his height, there passes below\nhim a PROCESSION OF OUTCASTS, which\u2014moving from Aisle II to Aisle\nI\u2014passes on along Aisle I toward the Place of the Tree. When the last of\nthis dirgeful Pageant has gone by him, HEROD returns in darkness within\nthe gate.\n\nThe Procession of Outcasts is accompanied by FOUR MASKED FIGURES in\nsymbolic garb, and consists of the FOLLOWERS of these, walking before and\nafter a stretcher, borne at the middle of the Pageant. First of the Four\nis a Female Figure, SONG, who leads the Procession, looking upward; last,\nis a Male Figure, POVERTY, bowed in stature. The other two Male Figures\nwalk at the head and foot of the stretcher, the first being SORROW,\nstaring before him, the second one\u2014DEATH, who bears a muffled babe in his\narms, lulling it, with a calm smile.\n\n[Illustration: OUTCASTS]\n\nOn the stretcher a Poor Man lies wounded\u2014a PEDLAR, with his pack for a\nhead-rest. He wears a red jerkin and great boots and a workman\u2019s cap. His\nbeard is brown. His face is pale, his side bandaged. In one hand he holds\na broken sword. The Man is CLAUS, whose Wife, RUTH, walks beside him, in\npeasant garb. At his other side walk two small tattered Figures\u2014a BOY and\na GIRL, their children.\n\nAs all pass slowly onward, the OUTCASTS chant their song-dirge, out of\nwhich rises momentarily, first, the Voice of RUTH, then of CLAUS, while\nat times Full Chorus gives deeper volume to the singing. Rhythms of\ntolled bells and of clanging swords accompany the two Semi-Choruses.\n\n[Sidenote: _Ninth Chorus: A,7. Dirge of the Outcasts._]\n\n THE OUTCASTS\n\n (Semi-Chorus of Women)\n\n _Bells, bells of the dark!_\n _Tongues of iron and terror!_\n _Toll no more, no more,_\n _Bells of my breaking heart!_\n\n RUTH\n\n _Beautiful I bore him,_\n _Babe of my life and milk:_\n _Wonderful I wore him,_\n _Yea, as a scarf of silk:_\n _Terrible\u2014terrible\u2014_\n _They tore him!_\n\n THE OUTCASTS\n\n (Semi-Chorus of Women)\n\n _Bells of my breaking heart,_\n _Toll no more, no more,_\n _Tongues of iron and terror,_\n _Bells, bells of the dark!_\n\n _FULL CHORUS_\n\n (Men and Women)\n\n _God!\u2014God of the broken heart!_\n _Lord of the tolling bell!_\n _God, our God, if thou art, if thou art,_\n _Tell us, our Father, tell:_\n _How darkly long_\n _Shall the reign of the strong_\n _Endure, to make of Thine earth our hell,_\n _Ere thou, O Lord of the bleeding dart,_\n _Rise in Thy light, to quell?_\n\n THE OUTCASTS\n\n (Semi-Chorus of Men)\n\n _Swords, swords in my soul!_\n _Tongues of fire and horror!_\n _Clang aloud, aloud,_\n _Swords of my burning heart!_\n\n CLAUS\n\n _Newly born I named him_\n _Babe of my joy and ruth:_\n _Kin of heart I claimed him,_\n _Yea, as my star of youth:_\n _Murderous\u2014murderous\u2014_\n _They maimed him!_\n\n THE OUTCASTS\n\n (Semi-Chorus of Men)\n\n _Swords of my burning heart!_\n _Clang aloud, aloud,_\n _Tongues of fire and horror,_\n _Swords, swords in my soul!_\n\n _FULL CHORUS_\n\n (Men and Women)\n\n _God!\u2014God of the burning soul!_\n _Lord of the clanging sword!_\n _God, our God, from Thy kindling goal,_\n _Answer us, answer, Lord!_\n _How far and blind_\n _Shall the kings of our kind_\n _Beguile our hearts on their paths abhorred,_\n _Ere thou, O Christ of a race made whole,_\n _Come in Thy world-accord?_\n\n\n\n\nTENTH ACTION\n\n(The Wounded Pedlar)\n\n\n_STAGE A_\n\nWhile the OUTCASTS have been approaching, CASPAR has come forth from the\nPlace of the Tree and watched them coming.\n\nNow, where he joins BELSHASAR and MELCHIOR, the THREE KINGS call, in\nsong, to the dim Figures who draw near.\n\n[Sidenote: _Carol 8. Trio and Solo. Ballad of the Kings and the Pedlar_]\n\n THE THREE KINGS\n\n _Who are ye that come singing in darkness,_\n _Outcast in the desert so late?_\n\n CLAUS\n\n _O Kings, it is me, Claus the Pedlar,_\n _And these be my children and mate._\n\n THE THREE KINGS\n\n _Who are those there, your comrades, beside you:_\n _Those shadows, say, who should they be?_\n\n CLAUS\n\n _They be Death, and his young brother, Sorrow,_\n _And his old brother, Poverty._\n\n THE THREE KINGS\n\n _Nay, but who is that other amidst them,_\n _That lifteth her face: What is she?_\n\n CLAUS\n\n _That is Song, and she is their sister_\n _Who waiteth upon them, all three._\n\n (CLAUS, RUTH and the two CHILDREN have now joined the THREE KINGS.)\n\n CASPAR\n\n _Goodman, why are the eyes of your woman_\n _So weary of look and so wild?_\n\n CLAUS\n\n _He hath broken our home, hath King Herod,_\n _And killed us our new-born child._\n\n _Now tell us, ye Kings that be Wise Men,_\n _Now tell us, where darkly we roam:_\n _What right hath a king of a pedlar_\n _To rob him his child and his home?_\n\n MELCHIOR\n\n _A king hath the right of his power_\n _To raise high his glory and crown._\n\n CLAUS\n\n _Then it\u2019s Claus hath the right of a pedlar_\n _To pull his high glory adown._\n\n CASPAR\n\n _A king hath his host and his captains_\n _To shatter the weak with his horde._\n\n CLAUS\n\n _Then it\u2019s Claus he will be his own captain_\n _To sharpen the edge of his sword._\n\n BELSHASAR\n\n _Nay, a king hath the might of his lordship_\n _\u2019Tis death for his slave to defy._\n\n CLAUS\n\n _Then it\u2019s me hath the right of my manship_\n _To master his might or to die._\n\n _For \u2019tis God is my King and not Herod,_\n _And God he keepeth no slave;_\n _And liever than live Herod\u2019s henchman_\n _I\u2019ll lie a free man in the grave._\n\n _So I dared him his host and his captains,_\n _And struck for my babe a sword blow;_\n _And \u2019tis here they have broken my body;_\n _With Death now right soon must I go._\n\n CASPAR\n\n Nay, cheerly, Claus! Cheerly, goodwife and kiddies!\n Now you have wandered to a lucky place.\n Our Evergreen shall heal your hurt. Run, Elf,\n And fetch him balsam gum to balm his wounds.\n\n (ELF runs within.)\n\n CLAUS\n\n No balsam gum can heal us our lost babe.\n Ruth, wife, where lieth now his little body?\n\n RUTH\n\n Death holds him fast. Death holdeth him forever.\n\n MELCHIOR\n\n Herod is king. Ye should have awe of kings\n And bow before them.\n\n BELSHASAR\n\n We are kings and wise,\n And warn you what you owe to Herod.\n\n CLAUS\n\n Herod!\n I have paid back to Herod all I owe him\u2014\n The red blade of this broken sword.\n\n CASPAR\n\n Brave said!\n Give me the hasp. See, we will hang it here\n On this green bough, to be your shining cross\n Of freedom and remembrance\u2014yea, a sign\n For Herods, when they pass, to pause and think on.\n\n MELCHIOR\n\n (To BELSHASAR)\n\n He flouteth what we say!\n\n (BELSHASAR shrugs, but motions MELCHIOR to listen. ELF returns.)\n\n CASPAR\n\n So, Pedlar Claus,\n Lay-by thy pack, and rest you here till morrow;\n Tend him, good Elf and Gnome. Now, mother, bravely!\n These beasties shall make hospitality\n And share their holy frost-cakes with your children,\n Wiping their eyes with love: And these war-weary,\n Glad of our Evergreen, shall take new hope\n From yon clear star.\n\n (He helps CLAUS to rise and supports him to the foot of the\n Tree, where he places his pack for CLAUS to recline. The\n stretcher is borne away. Far off, a long blast sounds.)\n\n BELSHASAR\n\n Hark, hark! What trumpet calls?\n\n MELCHIOR\n\n \u2019Tis Herod\u2019s host. Take heed!\n\n RUTH\n\n God shield us now!\n\n (She turns toward CASPAR, who comforts her and the CHILDREN.)\n\n\n\n\nELEVENTH ACTION\n\n(The Persecuting Host)\n\n\n_AISLE I AND AISLE II_\n\nPouring forth from the Place of Empire, the HOST OF HEROD and their\nLEADERS, with spears held high, come marching on both pathways toward the\nTree, singing in chorus as they march.\n\n[Sidenote: _Tenth Chorus: B,4. Song of the Persecuting Host_]\n\n _CHORUS_\n\n _Go forth, ye host of power!_\n _Enslave, enslave the humble!_\n _\u2019Fore Herod\u2019s host their hearts shall cower,_\n _Their builded hopes shall crumble._\n _Yea, Herod\u2019s host_\n _Shall trample them most_\n _Where they build their shrines of wonder.\u2014_\n _Go forth with Vengeance\u2019 war-red ghost,_\n _Go forth, go forth in thunder!_\n\n\n\n\n\nTWELFTH ACTION\n\n(The Morning Stars)\n\n\n_STAGE A_\n\nStaying his Followers, the CAPTAIN OF THE HOST approaches the THREE KINGS\nby the Tree.\n\nIn his hand he bears the Staff of Herod.\n\n CAPTAIN\n\n Halt here!\u2014Behold them. They are found.\n Stand forth, ye Kings of East! What make ye\n So far from Herod\u2019s throne?\n\n MELCHIOR\n\n We journey home.\n\n CAPTAIN\n\n Know ye not Herod\u2019s wrath, what \u2019tis!\u2014\n Why brought ye not your tidings back\n To him? Where is the Manger-Child?\n\n MELCHIOR\n\n We know him not.\n\n BELSHASAR\n\n Our trail we lost.\n His star is dark.\n\n CASPAR\n\n Nay, shineth yonder!\n\n CAPTAIN\n\n (Staring)\n\n Where shineth?\n\n BELSHASAR\n\n He is old and daft.\n\n MELCHIOR\n\n Hail, Captain of our lord his host!\n Welcome you are in Herod\u2019s name.\u2014\n\n CLAUS\n\n (Rising painfully)\n\n Nay, curst is he in Herod\u2019s name.\u2014\n Give back my babe!\n\n CAPTAIN\n\n (Strikes him with his staff.)\n\n Take hence thy life!\n\n (CLAUS falls back motionless. DEATH draws near and bends over\n him.)\n\n DEATH\n\n Come, Claus: Awake! Thy babe is here.\n\n CLAUS\n\n Friend Death, now raise me up.\u2014Methought\n Thou hadst been deaf and dumb, but now\n We speak together.\n\n DEATH\n\n Here I hold\n Thy little babe.\n\n CLAUS\n\n (Taking the muffled child)\n\n O little babe,\n Now are we both in Death his arms\n Safe held from Herod\u2019s wrath. Be glad\n Thy father was not Herod\u2019s slave.\n\n (In his great cloak DEATH leads him away. RUTH stares after them.)\n\n RUTH\n\n Claus! Claus!\u2014Now Death hath taken him.\n\n CASPAR\n\n Poor woman, do not weep for Claus.\n Friend Death is kind.\n\n RUTH\n\n Now are we left\n Alone, and none to shield us.\n\n CASPAR\n\n Yea,\n A king shall shield ye.\n\n CAPTAIN\n\n King! What king\n Would shield these Herod\u2019s outcasts?\n\n CASPAR\n\n One\n That\u2019s old and merry and cracked, and wears\n This crown of Caspar, king of babes\n Made fatherless.\n\n MELCHIOR\n\n (To the CAPTAIN, shrewdly)\n\n You hear?\n\n BELSHASAR\n\n He\u2019s mad!\n\n CAPTAIN\n\n Nay, give me sign what manner wise men\n And kings you are. Make sign, ye three,\n Now to this staff; for, by its power!\n All lesser kings who bow them not\n To Herod\u2019s staff shall lose their crowns.\n Bow! Bow ye low to Herod, lord of the world!\n\n MELCHIOR\n\n (Bows low to the staff.)\n\n Herod, most High!\n\n CAPTAIN\n\n Thy crown keep safe.\n\n BELSHASAR\n\n (Bows low to the staff.)\n\n Herod, the Mighty!\n\n CAPTAIN\n\n Keep thy crown.\n\n CASPAR\n\n (Remains standing, and smiles.)\n\n Herod, the Poor!\n\n CAPTAIN\n\n What now! How name ye\n Herod\u2014the poor?\n\n CASPAR\n\n Is he not poor\n To lose him both my brothers\u2019 crowns,\n And needs ask alms of me, old Caspar?\u2014\n Ho, take him this my crown, poor Herod!\n And this, my sceptre, yea, and this\n My cloak also, and bid him keep\n His staff for kings of sadder heart\n To bow them to. Mine is too merry.\u2014\n Now, kiddies, come: where be your cakes\n And frosting?\n\n (Having put off his King\u2019s robe, sceptre and crown, CASPAR now\n appears in his under-jerkin of red, with long boots, like a\n Peasant.)\n\n MELCHIOR\n\n (To BELSHASAR)\n\n Mad! Stark gone!\n\n CAPTAIN\n\n (Tossing aside the robe, sceptre and crown, speaks to his\n Followers.)\n\n Lay-by\n These tokens, men! Your spears! Your spears!\n This wise man shall learn wisdom now\n In Herod\u2019s name.\n\n BELSHASAR\n\n (Interposing)\n\n Forbear! He raves.\n\n (HE and MELCHIOR draw the CAPTAIN momentarily aside.)\n\n RUTH\n\n (To CASPAR)\n\n Alas! How can you help us now\n And have no kingdom?\n\n CASPAR\n\n Ha, my dears!\n A joyful heart finds many a job\n Can earn a kingdom.\n\n (Taking the little BOY and GIRL, one on each knee, he speaks to\n them and their Mother.)\n\n Cheerly, woman!\n Thy goodman plied a goodly trade.\u2014\n Poor Claus he was a pedlar: Ho!\n A pedlar now will Caspar be,\n And take thy goodman\u2019s pack and name,\n And ply his trade of children\u2019s toys\n By neighbor chimneys, house to house,\n With jingling bells in winter air;\n And hearth to hearth the mirth shall spread\n Around the fire, and yule logs blaze,\n And apples toast, and stockings spill\n With candy dolls and popping tricks;\n And tiptoe boys and girls shall peep\n To spy the pedlar with his sack,\n And pay his wage in wonder coin\n Left on the hearthstone; and through all\n The evergreen and evergreen,\n Around the tree of light shall run\u2014\n With fairy twinklings of His star\u2014\n The laughter of a Manger Child.\n\n (Rising, he lifts the CHILDREN in his arms.)\n\n Up, kiddies, now, with Pedlar Claus\n To find His kingdom!\n\n CAPTAIN\n\n (To BELSHASAR, brushing him and MELCHIOR aside)\n\n Nay, no more!\n He bowed not down, and shall pay dear\n For Herod\u2019s anger.\n\n CASPAR\n\n (Swinging the Pedlar\u2019s pack upon his back)\n\n Ho, good hearts!\n Now, Sorrow, come! and Poverty!\n And you, dear Song, that serve on them!\n You, Elf and Gnome, and desert beasts!\n Ye children all, both old and young,\n Come, gather by this holy Tree\n And share with Pedlar Claus his pack!\n\n CAPTAIN\n\n (Mocking)\n\n Ho, Claus, the Pedlar-King! Hail Claus!\n\n THE HOST OF HEROD\n\n Hail, Claus, the Pedlar-King! King Claus!\n\n (They crowd toward him; his cap is struck off.)\n\n CAPTAIN\n\n (Raising the cap on a spear)\n\n Lo, Claus, his crown! Behold the crown!\n\n THE HOST\n\n Hail to the crown! The Pedlar\u2019s crown!\n\n CAPTAIN\n\n Ye Spears of Herod, spill him wine!\n Yea, with his blood anoint him!\n\n (Pointing their spears, the HOST turn to rush upon CASPAR, when\n suddenly A BLAZE OF LIGHT checks and astounds them: silverly\n A BLAST OF TRUMPETS sounds; the Evergreen branches burst into\n bloom of stars, while TREE, as ANGEL, comes forth, holding\n sheathed a shining Sword, its hasp in a Crown of Holly.)\n\n TREE\n\n Stay!\n Bow, Host of Herod! Bow ye down\n And hail our Saint of Evergreen:\n Hail _Santa_ Claus!\n\n (TREE places the Holly Crown on CASPAR\u2019S head. A BURST OF\n SLEIGH-BELLS sounds, filling the air with their circlings of\n silver music.)\n\n THE CHILDREN, FAIRIES AND BEASTS\n\n (Shout with wild joy)\n\n Hail, Santa Claus!\n\n THE CAPTAIN AND THE HOST\n\n (Falling back, murmur in awe)\n\n Hail, Santa Claus!\n\n (Overwhelmed, they bow down. Choirs of shrilly gladness break\n forth in Chorus, as the jingling sleigh-bells change to PEALING\n CHIMES.)\n\n[Sidenote: _Eleventh Chorus: A,8 and B,5. Chorus of the Christmas Tree_]\n\n[Sidenote: _Part I. (Chorus A) The Pedlar-King_]\n\n _CHORUS_\n\n _Hail\u2014Santa Claus!_\n _Saint of our Evergreen!_\n _Hail, dear Pedlar of starry joys!_\n\n _On your own shoulders_\n _Now you have lifted_\n _All the world\u2019s weariness\u2014_\n _Pack of old burdens,_\n _Sack of our sorrows:_\n _Lifted it, stored anew,_\n _Crammed with enchantment,_\n _Bursting with merry_\n _And magical laughter,_\n _Wonder of children\u2014_\n _Mirth of our Lord!_\n _Hail, dear Pedlar\u2014_\n _King of our Evergreen:_\n _Santa! Santa!_\n _Holly-crown\u2019d saint of us!_\n _Hail, eternal_\n _Wise man and child!_\n\n (During this Chorus and while it continues, SANTA\u2014with beaming\n face\u2014opens his great pack and distributes forth gifts to the\n CHILDREN, the OUTCASTS, and the HOST OF HEROD, who now rise\n joyfully and press round him. CHORUS now answers CHORUS across\n the assembled People, the deep voices of the Men\u2019s Chorus (B)\n now singing in Antiphony.)\n\n[Sidenote: _Part II. (Choruses A and B) The Tree_]\n\n _CHORUS A_\n\n _Who wakened her heart with song for the coming of light?_\n _Who harked for the morning stars their singing together?_\n\n[Sidenote: _Antiphonal_]\n\n _CHORUS B_\n\n _The Tree! The Tree!_\n _The Evergreen Tree!_\n _The light of her heart hath blossomed\u2014_\n _Hath bloomed with stars_\n _In the places of desert._\n\n _CHORUS A_\n\n _Who nourished a dream in the lone wilderness,_\n _Where wild beasts kill one another and weary of killing?_\n\n[Sidenote: _Antiphonal_]\n\n _CHORUS B_\n\n _The Tree! The Tree!_\n _The Evergreen Tree!_\n _The power of her dream hath blossomed_\n _With blinding stars_\n _In the hearts of the terrible._\n\n _CHORUS A_\n\n _Herod, lord of the world! Who hath defeated his power?_\n\n[Sidenote: _Antiphonal_]\n\n _CHORUS B_\n\n _A star! A star doth confound him!_\n\n _CHORUS A_\n\n _Herod, sword of the world! Who hath surmounted his cunning?_\n\n[Sidenote: _Antiphonal_]\n\n _CHORUS B_\n\n _A child! A child hath disarmed him!_\n\n _CHORUS A_\n\n _Herod, wrath of the world! What hath o\u2019erthrown his dominion?_\n\n[Sidenote: _Antiphonal_]\n\n _CHORUS B_\n\n _A dream! A dream hath survived him!_\n\n[Sidenote: _Part III. (Choruses A and B) The Child_]\n\n _CHORUS A_\n\n (Appearing in their over-garments of WHITE, look toward the\n place of HEROD while they sing.)\n\n _Where are ye that through the blindness of the slaughter,_\n _Through the terror and the tempest of the night,\u2014_\n _Where are ye that bowed you down to a helmet and a crown?_\n _Have you seen the Child His stars?_\n _Have you heard the morning stars\u2014_\n _His stars that sing around the Tree of light?_\n\n _Will you hasten? Will you heed?_\n _Will you bind His wounds that bleed?_\n _Will you build his works of joy and charity?_\n _Are you risen? Do you hark?_\n _Are you coming through the dark\u2014_\n _Are you coming, are you coming to the Tree?_\n\n _CHORUS B_\n\n (In their over-garments of RED, rise from the place of their\n singing, and move forward in procession toward the CHORUS IN\n WHITE.)\n\n _Here are we that knew the blindness of the slaughter,_\n _Knew the terror and the tempest of the night:_\n _Here are we that bowed us down to a helmet and a crown,_\n _But we\u2019ve seen the Child His stars,_\n _We have heard the morning stars\u2014_\n _His stars that sing around the Tree of light._\n\n _We will hasten! We will heed!_\n _We will bind His wounds that bleed;_\n _We will build His works of joy and charity._\n _We are risen, and we hark!_\n _We are coming through the dark\u2014_\n _We are coming, we are coming to the Tree!_\n\n (As they approach the Tree, the Singers of CHORUS B lay off\n their RED over-garments and join the CHORUS IN WHITE. The two\n CHORUSES now form one.\n\n Joined, in their singing, by the HOST OF HEROD, the OUTCASTS,\n and by ALL THE ASSEMBLED PEOPLE, they raise their Voices\n together.)\n\n _ALL_\n\n _Child of God, forgive the blindness and the slaughter!_\n _Child of Pity, calm the terror of the night!_\n _Yea, and all that bow them down to a helmet and a crown\u2014_\n _Let them see, like us, Thy stars!_\n _Let them join the morning stars\u2014_\n _Thy stars that sing around the Tree of light!_\n\n _Child of Heaven, now we heed!_\n _We will bind Thy wounds that bleed;_\n _We will build Thy works of joy and charity._\n _We are risen in Thy right:_\n _We are singing through the night\u2014_\n _We are singing, we are singing to the Tree!_\n\n _Alleluia!_\n _Amen!_\n\n[Illustration: THE PEDLAR-KING\n\n Bow, Host of Herod! Bow ye down\n And hail our Saint of Evergreen:\n Hail _Santa_ Claus!]\n\n[Illustration: THE MORNING STARS\n\n _CHORUS_\n\n _Child of Heaven, now we heed!_\n _We will bind Thy wounds that bleed,_\n _We will build Thy works of joy and charity:_\n _We are risen in Thy right,_\n _We are singing through the night\u2014_\n _We are singing, we are singing to the Tree!_]\n\n\n\n\nCOMMENTARIES ON THE MASQUE\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: GROUND PLAN OF \u201cTHE EVERGREEN TREE\u201d\n\n(Not drawn to Scale)\n\n(For Standard Outdoor Production\u2014Alterable for Indoors)]\n\n\n\n\nSUGGESTIONS FOR COMMUNITY PRELUDE AND EPILUDE\n\n\n\n\nI.\u2014PRELUDE\n\n\nIn producing this Masque, different communities will doubtless wish to\nobserve different ways of assembling to prepare and begin its production.\n\nSome, especially those given on a small scale, may need and desire no\nprelusive form of ceremony, in action, speech or song.\n\nFor productions given on a larger scale, however, since a receptive and\ndevotional state of feeling is greatly to be desired for its proper\nrendering and its impression upon those who witness and take part, it is\nstrongly recommended that some kind of brief, general Song Overture of\nthe people be held just before the Masque begins.\n\nWith this need in mind, the suggestions here made by the author are given\nfor whatever service they may render to the desired end.\n\nAs Prelude to the production of \u201cThe Evergreen Tree,\u201d the following kind\nof Song Overture and informal Ceremony are suggested for such large-scale\ntypes of the Masque\u2019s production as are witnessed and performed by all\nclasses, races, ages and creeds of the community.\n\nAfter night-fall, on a winter\u2019s evening, let us imagine men, women and\nchildren of a town or city gathered together out of doors in a public\nsquare or park, or indoors within some level-floored structure, to\nassemble by the community Christmas Tree, and to join in general singing\nunder a leader.\n\nThe Leader will gather the best trained singers at a central place\n(indicated by the roped-off circle in the Ground Plan on the page\nopposite), and will start the community singing, or guide its spontaneous\nbeginnings under his leadership.\n\nThe trained Chorus will perhaps sing the \u201cAdeste Fidelis,\u201d or \u201cHark! the\nHerald Angels Sing,\u201d and the carollers will raise their voices in such\nold Christmas songs as may best appeal to them. So, perhaps for twenty\nminutes or half an hour, the singers will hold an informal Overture, in\nwhich all the gathered people may have joined.\n\nMeanwhile, or beforehand, the Chorus will have put on their outer\ngarments of red and white (designed according to Mr. Jones\u2019 costume\nsuggestions), and will have divided into their two separate bodies\u2014(1)\nthe mixed voices, Chorus A, and (2) the male choir, Chorus B.\n\nThen the Chorus Leader, or some one appointed by him, when the Masque is\nalmost ready to begin, will rise at the centre\u2014visible above the heads of\nthe Chorus and the people\u2014and will speak to the assemblage, perhaps in\nhis own words, or perhaps\u2014using some portion or all of the speech here\ngiven\u2014he will speak substantially as follows:\n\n THE CHORUS LEADER\n\n Neighbors and Friends\u2014we have been singing together:\n Wherever friends sing together out of their hearts\n There God sings with them.\n We believe many different ideas, many differing creeds.\u2014\n To-night let us forget how we differ:\n Let us remember only how we believe in one great thing\u2014\n One Spirit in common\u2014and this is its holy name:\n\n SINGING TOGETHER.\n\n In old, old times, when plays were sung by the people,\n They built for them altars, sacred places of singing;\n And before their dramas began,\n They used to pray there\n And ask a blessing on the players, on the chorus and the people.\n And there, on those altars, they wrote the name of their Lord.\n\n Friends, we are gathered here now by an old, old altar:\n The altar of Song\u2014\n Song of the people: old, young; happy, sad; rich and poor.\n We cannot see it with our eyes,\n But we know it in our hearts;\n And there we can read what is written\u2014the name of our Lord,\n Whose hallowed name is called\n\n SINGING TOGETHER.\n\n Now out of our Singing will rise an Acted Pageant\n To tell an old story newly\u2014\n The story of a Child.\n Over yonder, by the Christmas Tree\u2014there is the Wilderness,\n The Place of Outcasts:\n Over there\u2014is the Gate of a Palace: the Palace of Herod\u2014\n Herod, the mighty king in the Bible,\n His place of Empire;\n And there\u2014and there\u2014are two Paths, that lead to the Tree.\n\n Now let us sing one more carol,\n And take our places;\n Then listen, and watch for a sign, while the Chorus sings:\n And when all is over\u2014each of us, all together,\n Let us raise up our hearts and voices to one great Spirit\n That will make of us all one people:\n The Spirit whose glorious name is\n\n SINGING TOGETHER.\n\nSo concluding, the Chorus Leader and his Assistant Leader will accompany\ntheir Choruses (the one\u2014Chorus A, the other\u2014Chorus B) to the places where\nthey sit during the Masque (indicated on the diagram) in front of their\nrespective stages.\n\nAs they go to their places, the Choruses will sing the carol \u201cGood King\nWencelas.\u201d Then, when all is still, the Masque of \u201cThe Evergreen Tree\u201d\nwill commence with the Chorus of the Wilderness.\n\n\n\n\nII.\u2014EPILUDE\n\n\nAt the conclusion of the Masque, it is not advisable that any other\nformal ceremony should follow.\n\nThe participants, the children and the people will naturally be gathering\nabout Santa Claus and partaking of the gifts from his pack, or otherwise\nsharing in happy festivity.\n\nIn order, however, that the Masque shall not end in a general, disordered\nscattering of the assemblage, it is recommended that those in costume,\nincluding the Choruses (now united), shall march in good order to the\nplaces of their costuming, or to such other places as the Director of the\nMasque may designate, singing together stanzas of the Masque hymn\u2014easily\nlearned, in unison, to the appealing music of Arthur Farwell\u2014\n\n \u201cGlory and serenity,\n Beauty of desire,\n Bless to-night this holy tree\n And our candle-fire.\u201d\u2014etc.\n\n\n\n\nTHREE MONOGRAPHS\n\n\n\n\nI.\u2014DRAMATIZING COMMUNITY SONG\n\nBY PERCY MACKAYE\n\n\nThe allurement of the communal field in drama is its freshness of\nopportunity\u2014its infinite potential variety.\n\nDefinitions have not yet hedged it; criticism has not yet charted,\nnor pedagogy catalogued its boundless horizons and creative streams;\ncommercialism has not yet invaded its unstinted harvests, to store and\ncan them for the market, under the labels of middlemen.\n\nSo, in approaching this realm of \u201cThe Evergreen Tree,\u201d I have felt\nsomething of that thrill of discovery which must more often have been\nfelt in earlier days on American soil: a feeling, I think, such as John\nMuir once told me he experienced when he gazed first, from the top of a\ngreat tree, over uncharted miles of the redwood region. Only here I have\nseemed to look upon the conjoining of a great, structural continent\u2014the\nDrama\u2014with a primal sea\u2014the tides of Community Song, now carolling in\nquiet inlets, now choral with tempestuous music from fathomless deeps.\n\nIf, then, I were to suggest the nature of this kind of community drama by\na topographical line, rather than by a definition of theory, I would do\nso perhaps by a line such as this:\n\n[Illustration]\n\nwherein the rising pyramid would represent an emerging contour of that\ncontinent (the Drama), whose base is submerged and fused with those\nsinging tides (Community Music).\n\nSo perhaps, as dramatist, I might suggest the coming together of those\ntwo realms or \u201cmovements\u201d of social art, to which my friend Arthur\nFarwell refers in his comments, as composer.\n\nObviously, this coming together implies a new technique of the\ncommunity dramatist\u2014a technique not for a hollowed amphitheatre (that\nof the traditional theatre), but for a level assembly place (that of\nthe cathedral): where visually, from a floor thronged with choral\ncommunicants, there rises a sharp focal point of dramatic action\u2014a small\nraised stage, for such few acting characters as are typical of the\ncommunity dramatic ritual.\n\nSo the setting of the Masque takes form according to its nature (as\nindicated by the Ground Plan opposite page 69, and by the worded\ndescription in the front of this volume). And so, as the dramatic\narchitect by his design shapes the conditions for the co\u00f6peration of the\ncomposer, he shapes also the conditions for the co\u00f6peration of the scenic\nproducer\u2014in this case, Robert Edmond Jones, whose fresh and fertile\ngenius becomes in a production as significant for the eye as the creative\nardor of Arthur Farwell does for the ear.\n\nIn the following pages, each of these representative artists describes\nbriefly his distinctive approach and viewpoint toward the ensemble\nproduction. As well as may be in brief space, we hope thus to suggest\u2014for\nall who read the Masque with a view to its performance on however\nsimple a scale\u2014something of our own feelings for the right creative and\ninterpretive approach to this fresh field, in which we are planning to\nco\u00f6perate personally in at least some one production of \u201cThe Evergreen\nTree.\u201d\n\nIn the pioneering attempt of this Masque, my own purpose is to dramatize\ncommunity singing\u2014for conditions of our own time, especially in America,\nduring this new, formative period which the world war has begun.\n\nIn other lands and ages of folk art, community song has been dramatized,\nas it can only be dramatized vitally, by artists moved by the spirit of\nreligion; and relics of such forms still survive amongst us in rituals\nof the churches. But these rituals necessarily have attained their\ngrowth\u2014nobly classic at their best, at their worst\u2014dully disintegrated.\n\nNow new forces of an age religiously urgent for democracy demand a\nre-creation of the forms of folk art, plastic to the living currents of\nthe new time. These currents, though continuous from the past, widen now\nbetween strange banks and other horizons; though perennial, they require\nfresh co\u00f6rdination.\n\nThe carol, for instance, and the ballad\u2014old forms of folk art\u2014survive\nwith us only in their archaic appeal. We in America cannot hope or wisely\ndesire to revive them for what they once were\u2014spontaneous expressions of\ncontinuous communal life in villages and peasant heaths, for that life\nhas gone from us, not to return. But we can do this\u2014and in so doing,\ngive them new life. We can relate them definitely to a form of art for\nus still living and indigenous\u2014to the drama, and essentially to that\ncommunity kind of drama which is but now beginning its renascence of\nworld forms portentous for the future.\n\nSo in \u201cThe Evergreen Tree,\u201d perhaps for the first time, I have embodied\nthe acted carol and the acted ballad as structural parts of a dramatic\nunity\u2014a communal dramatic unity, to which the forms of folk music are\nallied and essential.\n\nHere, then, comes into being a new kind of music drama\u2014far removed from\nthe connotation of opera\u2014a _Song Drama_ of the people. From this, speech\nwill not be absent; but it will necessarily be related to the simplicity\nof folk song and folk poetry, in being rhythmic and chantable in its\ncadences\u2014taking on forms of spoken poetry definitely related to the\npeople\u2019s poetry of song.\n\nThis Song Drama, too, of its nature\u2014though susceptible of splendid\npageantry\u2014will depend, for its dramatic conflict, far less on wills\nopposed in visual action than on contrasted emotions of song\u2014of choral\nsong, thus bringing again the Chorus back to its rightful place, heard\nand visible, among the people\u2014as with the Greeks; only now for us it\nbecomes a _double_ Chorus, oppositional in will and definitely divided\nin two parts (the antiphonal Choruses, A and B, of this Masque, costumed\nalso in visual contrast), until its parts become reconciled in emotion,\nwhen\u2014both aurally and visibly\u2014the two unite, as at the end of \u201cThe\nEvergreen Tree.\u201d\n\nThis much at least expresses my conception of a new art implied in the\npresent work\u2014not as an _a priori_ theory, nor as a generalization for\nothers\u2014but as the working method which has seemed for me best adapted to\nperform a definite task in the community field involved.\n\nThe theme of the Masque I will only touch upon here to say that, in\ninventing its legend of Caspar and Claus, I hope I may not wholly miss\nthat unconscious approval, which would be dearer than any other\u2014the\nbelief of the children.\n\nCornish, N. H., September, 1917.\n\n\n\n\nII.\u2014COMMUNITY MUSIC AND THE COMPOSER\n\nBY ARTHUR FARWELL\n\n\nThe birth of our national self-consciousness in music, from the creative\nstandpoint, occurred less than twenty years ago. Not until the last two\ndecades did the prodigious musical studies of our young people at home\nand abroad produce composers in sufficient quantity to make American\nmusic, its character and potentialities, a national question.\n\nEven so brief a period as this has, however, sufficed to witness a\nsuccession of distinct phases in our national musical attitude and\nachievement, phases so strongly contrasted as to represent radical\nchanges of artistic tendency and almost complete reversals in belief and\ndirection of effort.\n\nThe last and greatest of these changes is that one which has withdrawn\nattention from the composer as an abstract phenomenon, and from fruitless\ntheories of American music, and has centered it upon the immediate\nservice which music can render to the people of our nation. In the\nlong run, the nation cannot go one way and its music another. That the\nideal in the spirit of music must sooner or later, in this country, be\nreconciled to and wedded with the ideal of the spirit of democracy, is an\nidea which has met with general acceptance only in the last three years,\nalthough it has been ardently championed by a few individuals for nearly\ntwo decades.\n\nTaking its rise in the compelling necessity of this principle, the\n\u201ccommunity music\u201d movement has swept the country in the last few years,\nplunging it anew into violent discussion, annihilating personal theories\nand products of the musical hot-house, demanding the wholesome and the\ntrue\u2014and giving the people expression.\n\nIn this movement the composer of the music for \u201cThe Evergreen Tree\u201d has\nbeen immersed. In the communal dramatic work and ideas of Percy MacKaye,\nhe has recognized a similar development in the art of the theatre. It\nwas inevitable that these two movements should come together and unite\ntheir powers in seeking to make a helpful contribution to the quest for\na drama\u2014and should it not truly be a music drama?\u2014that shall serve most\nappropriately the deep need of the American people for expression in such\na form.\n\nAnything which may prove to be of worth in my compositions for \u201cThe\nEvergreen Tree,\u201d I owe to the new influx of life which I have received\nfrom my contact with the soul of the people, as revealed in the movement\nwhich is making us a singing nation.\n\nCornish, N. H., September, 1917.\n\n\n\n\nIII.\u2014DESIGNS FOR \u201cTHE EVERGREEN TREE\u201d\n\nBY ROBERT EDMOND JONES\n\n\nThe drawings in this book will prove most helpful if they are thought of\nmerely as notes to be amplified or varied according to the special needs\nof each community production.\n\nDifferent communities will develop the main scheme in various ways.\n\nThe production indicated here is on a large scale in the open air;\nbut the arrangement of stages and aisles is equally impressive in the\nsmallest church.\n\nFacilities for lighting will vary widely in different communities.\n\nDon\u2019t be discouraged if you haven\u2019t an elaborate electric equipment\nat your disposal. Think how beautiful the Masque might be, done by\ncandle-light in an old country meetinghouse!\n\nThe costumes are extremely simple, and depend largely for their\neffectiveness on the dignity with which they are worn.\n\nThe two _Choruses_ wear surplice-like over-garments, red or white. _Elf_\nsuggests a butterfly: _Gnome_, a beetle: _Tree_, a Fra Angelico angel.\n_Wolf_, _Bear_ and _Lion_ wear masks, rudely made, like mummers of the\nMiddle Ages. _Wolf\u2019s_ tail is attached to a belt, which he pulls from\nside to side.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n GNOME\n TREE\n ELF\n\nTREE wears green hose bound with silver thongs, a green smock on which\nthe tree symbol is embroidered in silver, and flat silver wings. Later,\nTREE appears in a white smock with the symbol in gold. GNOME wears loose\ngreen trousers, a long tunic striped black and white and two long coats,\norange over green. The hood has eyes of red, white and black at the\nsides. ELF wears a white smock with silver bells (mute) and butterfly\nspots of red and black. ]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n BEAR\n WOLF\n LION\n\nThe three beasts wear masks of white cloth stretched over a foundation\nof cardboard or buckram. WOLF wears a blue-and-white striped jerkin over\nblue leggings bound with white, and a big gray tail, fastened to a belt.\nBEAR has a padded gray coat over loose padded leggings. LION\u2019S jerkin and\nhose are gray, with fringes and thongs of red. ]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n JOSEPH\n MARY\n SHEPHERDS\n\nJOSEPH, MARY and the SHEPHERDS wear semi-circular cloaks over long, loose\nunder-robes. JOSEPH\u2019S cape is white over a blue robe; MARY wears blue\nover white; the SHEPHERDS are in white. JOSEPH\u2019S cap is blue with a white\nband; his lantern has star-shaped panes.]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n HOST OF HEROD\n HEROD\n CAPTAIN\n\nHEROD wears a triple gold crown and a heavy robe of scarlet on which is\na black design edged with white buttons. His staff is gold. The drawings\nfor the CAPTAIN and the HOST show the costume adapted to army use. The\nHOST wears a scarlet tunic over the Khaki; the CAPTAIN a great scarlet\ncloak edged with a scimitar design in white. The CAPTAIN\u2019S shield is\nsilver and black; the other, silver and scarlet.]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n BELSHASAR\n CASPAR\n MELCHIOR\n\nBELSHASAR: a cloak of blue, banded with white, over a long black robe; a\nhigh-crowned turban, blue and white. MELCHIOR: a blue cloak with zigzag\ntrimmings of black and white, a black gown, a black-and-white helmet\nwith a red hood. CASPAR wears a high-peaked hat of brilliant orange and\na great orange cloak trimmed with bands of red and white and large white\nbuttons. Underneath he wears a costume exactly like that of CLAUS: long\nhigh boots and a red jerkin trimmed with conventionalized holly leaves in\ngreen and edged with white fur. All three kings wear gold crowns.]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n FOLLOWERS OF BELSHASAR\n FOLLOWERS OF CASPAR\n FOLLOWERS OF MELCHIOR\n\nThe costumes of the FOLLOWERS recall those of the three kings, but are\nmore simply made: the FOLLOWERS OF BELSHASAR wear blue capes over black\ngowns, white hoods and tall, blue hats; the FOLLOWERS OF CASPAR wear\ncoats of orange banded with white over green gowns sashed with red, and\norange hats; the FOLLOWERS OF MELCHIOR have black gowns and blue capes\nwith black-and-white designs like those on MELCHIOR\u2019S costume.]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n SORROW\n SONG\n DEATH\n POVERTY\n\nSORROW, POVERTY and DEATH are in black and white. SONG wears white with\nbands of blue, and a wreath of white flowers in her hair. The FOLLOWERS\nhave costumes cut exactly like those of their leaders, but of gray\ninstead of white. The FOLLOWERS of SONG carry long silver trumpets.]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n RUTH\n CLAUS\n THE CHILDREN\n CHORUS B\n\nRUTH wears a white jacket over a red bodice and a gray skirt over a\nblack-and-white striped under-skirt. CLAUS has high boots, a red jerkin\nedged with white fur and a red cap also edged with white fur. There\nshould be no green trimming on his jerkin. His costume and RUTH\u2019S should\nbe extremely ragged and the two children should be roughly wrapped in\nrags. CHORUS B wears a short red coat with white bands and a design of\nspear-heads on the shoulders. When this coat is removed at the end of the\nMasque, the white coat of CHORUS A is seen. This bears a tree in green on\neither shoulder.]\n\nNearly all the other costumes consist of a simple, cloak-like\nundergarment, over which are worn tunics and robes to characterize the\nHost of Herod, the Shepherds, the Followers of the Three Kings, or the\nOutcasts. There is nothing realistic in these clothes: they merely\n_suggest_ the characters, broadly, as if they were made by children for\na child\u2019s play. They may be carried out by any dressmaker in inexpensive\nmaterials\u2014muslin, cambric, cheesecloth, flannel\u2014keeping always to a few\nbrilliant, flat colors: strong red, strong blue, black and white, gray,\nand orange.\n\nMake these costumes yourselves: use your own ingenuity in cutting and\ndraping them: wear them with a sense of what each costume means. Then\nyour ceremony will be beautiful.\n\nNew York, September, 1917.\n\n\n\n\n_ACTION OF \u201cTHE EVERGREEN TREE\u201d_\n\n\nThe Masque is performed in Twelve Actions, taking place as follows:\n\nFirst Action: Stage A (Chorus; Speech).\n\nSecond Action: Aisle I (Carol; Processional).\n\nThird Action: Stage A (Carol; Speech).\n\nFourth Action: Approaching Space and Steps A; then Stage A (Chorus;\nCarols; Speech).\n\nFifth Action: Stage B (Chorus; Speech).\n\nSixth Action: Stage A (Chorus; Speech).\n\nSeventh Action: Aisle II (Carol; Processional).\n\nEighth Action: Stage A (Carols; Speech).\n\nNinth Action: Stage B and Aisle I (Choral Song; Chorus; Processional;\nPantomime).\n\nTenth Action: Stage A (Carol; Speech).\n\nEleventh Action: Aisle I and Aisle II (Choral Song; Processional).\n\nTwelfth Action: Stage A (Chorus; Speech).\n\n\n\n\nANNOUNCEMENTS IN REGARD TO THIS MASQUE\n\n\nTHE MUSIC\n\nfor the Choruses and Carols of \u201cThe Evergreen Tree\u201d has been composed by\n\nARTHUR FARWELL\n\nand is Published, with the Words of the Same, by\n\nTHE JOHN CHURCH COMPANY\n\n39 West 32nd Street, New York City. Price $1.50\n\n\nTHE PRODUCTION\n\nof the Masque can be adapted to any scale of expense, simple or\nelaborate, and to any practical number of participants, few or many.\nWith a view to assisting any community, army camp, or naval station, to\norganize and adapt a production to its own local conditions,\n\n\n\u201cA GUIDE TO \u2018THE EVERGREEN TREE,\u2019\u201d\n\na Series of QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS relating to all phases to the Masque\u2019s\nproduction, has been compiled by PERCY J. BURRELL, under sanction of the\nAuthor, Composer and Costume Designer, and will be sent, by The John\nChurch Company, on request, free of expense to any one interested.\n\nNO PERFORMANCE WITHOUT PERMISSION first having been obtained, and NO\nPUBLIC READINGS, where money is charged for admission, can legally be\ngiven.\n\nPERMISSION MAY BE OBTAINED to produce this Masque, or to read it in\nPublic, by applying to the Masque Organizer of \u201cThe Evergreen Tree,\u201d 39\nWest 32nd Street, New York (Care The John Church Company), who will be\nglad to supply further information and to arrange, wherever practicable,\nfor personal conference in regard to productions.\n\n[Illustration]","title":"The evergreen tree","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":13295}