Purganax. That is the very thing that I was saying, Gentlemen Swine; the Queen Iona being Most innocent, no doubt, returns to Thebes, And the lean sows and boars collect about her, Wishing to make her think that WE believe (I mean those more substantial pigs, who swill Of the Cisalpine mountains, in fresh dews Of lotus-grass and blossoming asphodel, Sleeking their silken hair, and with sweet breath Loading the morning winds until they faint With living fragrance, are so beautiful!- Well, I say nothing; but Europa rode On such a one from Asia into Crete, Rich hog-wash, while the others mouth And the enamoured sea grew calm That she is guilty; thus, the lean-pig His gliding beauty. faction Seeks to obtain that hog-wash, which has been Your immemorial right, and which I will And Pasiphae, Iona's grandmother,--but she is inno cent! And that both you and I, and all assert. First Boar. Most innocent! BAG; a bag Purganax. Maintain you in to the last drop of—— Purganax. green, Behold this Oh! no GREEN Jealousy's eyes are Scorpions are green, and water-snakes, and efts, First Boar. Order! order! be not rash! I never saw so fine a dash Since I first began to wean pigs. Second Boar (solemnly). The Queen will be an angel time enough. I vote, in form of an amendment, that Purganax rub a little of that stuff Upon his face. Purganax (His heart is seen to beat Gods! What would ye be at? Purganax has plainly shown a I vote Swellfoot and Iona Try the magic test together; Whenever royal spouses bicker, Both should try the magic liquor. An old Boar (aside). A miserable state is that of pigs, The swine must bite each other's ear therefore. itself to those within. During the first Strophe, the doors of the Stye are On staved in, and a number of exceedingly lean PIGS and Sows and BOARS rush in. Semichorus I. No! Yes! Semichorus II. Yes! No! Semichorus I. A law! Semichorus II. A flaw! Semichorus I. Porkers, we shall lose our wash, Or must share it with the lean pigs! An old Sow (aside). A wretched lot Jove has assigned to swine, Squabbling makes pig-herds hungry, and they dine bacon, and whip sucking-pigs the more. Chorus. Hog-wash has been ta'en away: Hunted, stript, exposed, molested; That she shall not be arrested. QUEEN, we entrench you with walls of brawn, And palisades of tusks, sharp as a bayonet : Place your most sacred person here. We pawn Our lives that none a finger dare to Walked from Killarney to the Giant's Riding upon the IONIAN MINO- Must please the pigs. You cannot fail of being A heavenly angel. Smoke your bits of glass, Ye loyal swine, or her transfiguration my Lord, They do not smoke you first. Purganax. Take care, At the approach ing feast content of all, I, most interior of the The statue of the SCENE II.-The Temple of FAMINE. Goddess, a skeleton clothed in partycoloured rags, seated upon a heap of skulls and loaves intermingled. A number of exceedingly fat Priests in black garments arrayed on each side, with marrow-bones and cleavers in their hands. A flourish of trumpets. Enter MAMMON as arch-priest, SWELL FOOT, DAKRY, PURGANAX, LAOCTONOS, followed by IONA TAURINA guarded. On the other side enter the SWINE. Chorus of PRIESTS, accompanied by the Court Porkman on marrowbones and cleavers. GODDESS bare, and gaunt, and pale, We call thee FAMINE! Could scarcely disagree. After the trial, And these fastidious pigs are gone, perhaps I may recover my lost appetite, Goddess of fasts and feasts, starving and I feel the gout flying about my Through thee, for emperors, kings, and Give me a glass of Maraschino punch. priests and lords, Who rule by viziers, sceptres, banknotes, words, The earth pours forth its plenteous fruits, Corn, wool, linen, flesh, and roots Those who consume these fruits thro' thee grow fat, Purganax (filling his glass, and standing up). The glorious constitution of the Pigs! Those who produce these fruits thro' Puts me in mind of blood, and blood more wine, And let things be as they have ever But 'tis his due. Yes, you have drunk been; At least while we remain thy priests, And shed more blood than any man in And proclaim thy fasts and feasts! Through thee the sacred SWELLFOOT Thebes. [To PURGANAX. God's sake stop the grunting of those pigs! Purganax. We dare not, Sire, 'tis Chorus of Swine. Hail to thee, hail to thee, Famine! robe is of rags; Thou devil which livest on damning; Saint of new churches, and cant, and GREEN BAGS, Till in pity and terror thou risest, Confounding the schemes of the wisest, When thou liftest thy skeleton form, When the loaves and the skulls roll about, We will greet thee-the voice of a storm Would be lost in our terrible shout! Then hail to thee, hail to thee, Hail to thee, Empress of Earth! When thou risest, dividing posses- [A graceful figure in a semi-transparent sions; When thou risest, uprooting oppres sions; In the pride of thy ghastly mirth. Over palaces, temples, and graves, We will rush as thy minister-slaves, Trampling behind in thy train, Till all be made level again! Mammon. I hear a crackling of the giant bones Of the dread image, and in the black pits Which once were eyes, I see two livid flames. These prodigies are oracular, and show The presence of the unseen Deity. Mighty events are hastening to their doom! Swellfoot. I only hear the lean and mutinous swine Grunting about the temple. veil passes unnoticed through th Temple; the word LIBERTY is seen through the veil, as if it were written in fire upon its forehead. Its words are almost drowned in the furious grunting of the PIGS, and the business of the trial. She kneels on the steps of the Altar, and speaks in tones at first faint and low, but which ever become louder and louder. Mighty Empress! Death's white wife! By the starving and the cramming, I charge thee! when thou wake the multitude Thou lead them not upon the paths of blood The earth did never mean her foison For those who crown life's cup with poison Of fanatic rage and meaningless re venge But for those radiant spirits, who are still The standard bearers in the van of Change. Be they th' appointed stewards, to fill The lap of Pain, and Toil, and Age!— Remit, O Queen! thy accustomed rage! Be what thou art not! In voice faint and low FREEDOM calls Famine, - her eternal foe, A spot or two on me would do no harm, To brief alliance, hollow truce.-Rise Nay, it might hide the blood, which the sad genius Of the Green Isle has fixed, as by a spell, Upon my brow-which would stain all its seas, But which those seas could never wash away! Iona Taurina. My Lord, I am ready -nay, I am impatient To undergo the test. now! [Whilst the Veiled Figure has been chaunting this strophe, MAMMON, DAKRY, LAOCTONOS, and SWELLFOOT, have surrounded IONA TAURINA, who, with her hands folded on her breast, and her eyes lifted to Heaven, stands, as with saint-like resignation, to wait the issue of the business, in perfect confidence of her innocence. |