Poems of Progress | Page 9

lord,
And mocked and shamed me in the people's eyes,

But thou hast wronged all princes and all men
By thy pernicious
and rebellious ways.
Queens act and subjects imitate. So let
Queen
Vashti weigh her conduct and her words,
Or be no more called
'queen!'
VASHTI

I was a princess ere I was a queen,
And worthy of a better fate than
this!
There lies the crown that made me queen in name!
Here stands
the woman--wife in name alone!
Now, no more queen--nor wife--but
woman still -
Ay, and a woman strong enough to be
Her own
avenger.
THE CHOOSING OF ESTHER
(FROM THE DRAMA OF
MIZPAH)
AHASUERAS
Tell me thy name!
ESTHER
My name, great sire, is Esther.
AHASUERAS
So thou art Esther? Esther! 'tis a name
Breathed into sound as softly
as a sigh.
A woman's name should melt upon the lips
Like Love's
first kisses, and thy countenance
Is fit companion for so sweet a
name!
ESTHER
Thou art most kind. I would my name and face
Were mine own
making and not accident.
Then I might feel elated at thy praise,

Where now I feel confusion.
AHASUERAS
Thou hast wit
As well as beauty, Esther. Both are gems
That do
embellish woman in man's sight.
Yet they are gems of second
magnitude!
Dost THOU possess the one great perfect gem -
The
matchless jewel of the world called LOVE?

ESTHER
Sire, in the heart of every woman dwells
That wondrous perfect gem!
AHASUERAS
Then, Esther, speak!
And tell me what is LOVE! I fain would know

Thy definition of that much-mouthed word,
By woman most
employed--least understood.
ESTHER
What can a humble Jewish maiden know
That would instruct a
warrior and a king?
I have but dreamed of love as maidens will

While thou hast known its fulness. All the world
Loves Great
Ahasueras!
AHASUERAS
All the world
FEARS GREAT Ahasueras! Kings, my child,
Are
rarely loved as anything but kings.
Love, as I see it in the court and
camp,
Means seeking royal favour. I would know
How love is
fashioned in a maiden's dreams.
ESTHER
Sire, love seeks nothing that kings can bestow.
Love is the king of all
kings here below;
Love makes the monarch but a bashful boy,
Love
makes the peasant monarch in his joy;
Love seeks not place, all
places are the same,
When lighted by the radiance of love's flame.

Who deems proud love could fawn to power and splendour
Hath
known not love, but some base-born pretender.
AHASUERAS
If this be love, I would know more of it.
Speak on, fair Esther! What
is love beside?

ESTHER
Love is in all things, all things are in love.
Love is the earth, the sea,
the skies above;
Love is the bird, the blossom, and the wind;
Love
hath a million eyes, yet love is blind;
Love is a tempest, awful in its
might;
Love is the silence of a moon-lit night;
Love is the aim of
every human soul;
And he who hath not loved hath missed life's goal!
AHASUERAS
But tell me of thyself, of thine own dreams!
How wouldst thou love,
and how be loved again?
ESTHER
Who most doth love thinks least of love's return;
She is content to
feel the passion burn
In her own bosom, and its sacred fire

Consumes each selfish purpose and desire.
'Tis in the giving, love's
best rapture lies,
Not in the counting of the things it buys.
AHASUERAS
Yet, is there not vast anguish and despair
In love that finds no
answering word or smile?
ESTHER
So radiant is love, it lends a glow
To each dark sorrow and to every
woe.
To love completely is to part with pain,
Nor is there mortal
who can love in vain.
Love is its own reward, it pays full measure,

And in love's sharpest grief lies subtlest pleasure.
AHASUERAS
Methinks, a mighty warrior, lord or king
Must in thy fancy play the
lover's part;
None else could wake such reverential thought.

ESTHER
When woman loves one born of lowly state,
Her thought gives crown
and sceptre to her mate;
Yet be he king, or chief of some great clan,

She loves him but as woman loves a man.
Monarch or peasant, 'tis
the same, I wis
When once she gives him love's surrendering kiss.
HONEYMOON SCENE
(FROM THE DRAMA OF MIZPAH)
AHASUERAS
What were thy thoughts, sweet Esther? Something passed
Across thy
face, that for a moment veiled
Thy soul from mine, and left me
desolate.
Thy thoughts were not of me?
ESTHER
Ay, ALL of thee!
I wondered, if in truth, thou wert content
With
me--thy choice. Was there no other one
Of all who passed before thee
at thy court
Whose memory pursues thee with regret?
AHASUERAS
I do confess I much regret that day
And wish I could relive it.
ESTHER
Oh! My lord!
AHASUERAS
Yea! I regret those hours I wasted on
The poor procession that
preceded thee.
Hadst thou come first, then all the added wealth
Of one long day of loving thee were mine -
A boundless fortune
squandered. Though I live
To three score years and ten, as I do hope,

In wedded love beside thee, that one day
Was filched from me and

cannot be restored.
ESTHER
And then to think how frightened