ACT ONE SCENE TWO THE WOODS, MUR Y CASTELL, ARDUDWY Enter Gronw and Blodeuwedd. |
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| Blodeuwedd |
Have you had enough? |
| Gronw |
Of food and drink, yes. |
| Blodeuwedd |
What else is there? |
| Gronw |
Don't ask. |
| Blodeuwedd |
Are you afraid of saying? |
| Gronw |
I don't fear anything Except for losing honour. |
| Blodeuwedd |
Fear never caught a stag, or woman. |
| Gronw |
Is there a way from here back to Penllyn Through the dark? I've not hunted this far before. |
| Blodeuwedd |
Yes. Over the hills where loping wolves Howl their hunger at the high moon. |
| Gronw |
Is there a servant who could show us the way? |
| Blodeuwedd |
No one would dare do that. Except me. |
| Gronw |
You? |
| Blodeuwedd |
The night and I are cousins And wolves don't hunt the scent of flowers. |
| Gronw |
I've heard things. We all have. Is it true you were conjured from wild flowers? |
| Blodeuwedd |
Do you see these? (She scoops a handful of leaves and petals from the woodland floor.) You could imagine Their beauty is eternal, and yet they're dead. Dropped wings of vibrant colour Now pale and faded, fallen to the floor. (She pauses.) Would you say I'm beautiful? |
| Gronw |
The world's rose. |
| Blodeuwedd |
But I'm fading too. I've got no root among men. A wizard plundered nature's bloom, cut it And put it on display in a stone hall. I was wrenched by that uncaring hand And put here to serve my purpose and to die. |
| Gronw |
What do you want? |
| Blodeuwedd |
Tell me your secret Then I'll tell you what I want. |
| Gronw |
From the moment I saw you, I wanted you. |
| Blodeuwedd |
And is that why you want to leave me tonight? |
| Gronw |
You're already married – Am I not Duty bound to respect his rights? |
| Blodeuwedd |
Duty? Rights? What are they Gronw? |
| Gronw |
Oh, I'm so lost in my lust for you, That I can't think of duty or honour now. This face, my fair creature, this body Fills me with wild excitement. |
| Blodeuwedd |
So no more talk of leaving? |
| Gronw |
No. |
| Blodeuwedd |
Choose between me and your peers and your honour. Their sober morals, honed by civilisation; And my unfettered kisses and my lust. And think before you choose. From them The security of lifelong friends, a future partner Perhaps, to share your estate and life, Traditions and expectations to smother you, An honourable burial in your forebears' vault And dutiful children to carry your coffin. With me there's no security beyond the present He who loves me must love danger, and tread The lonely road to freedom. In his life He'll have no friends, no family to nurse him To his grave. Only this wild cascade of hair To swamp his senses, and these, my breasts To give him blissful moments And here, now shall be his heaven... You choose. |
| Gronw |
I've chosen. |
| Blodeuwedd |
Come lover, We lay claim to life – and to make love is to be free. |
| They are overwhelmed by desire for each other. Blodeuwedd draws Gronw deeper into the woods. Exeunt. |
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INTERLUDE |
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| CAER ARIANRHOD, ARFON Enter Arianrhod. |
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| Arianrhod |
Three days ago I woke and the cub was gone. His scent stays on this blanket. I'll put A fresh pelt in its place. Last year A fledgling kestrel was blown down From a nest high in the battlements. That one stayed with me for two weeks. I fed it scraps of meat and watched Its yellow pebble eyes get to know me, Its hooked beak, soft rimmed, seek out my hand. I wish that Math had taken me as his pupil And tutored me in the making of live things. Gwydion gathered the most perfect petals And most delicate fronds from broom and meadowsweet And young oak leaves burnished by spring sun Rubbed supple by saliva and sweat and tears Gathered from young girls in feverish nights And wove and beaded and teased these into life. To make her. But nothing in that preparation Endowed her with rationality or responsibility No sense of duty, no honour. How could perfection have neglected The crowning achievements of the human mind? If I'd had his skills I would have fashioned A small soft animal or bird, weak and timid Whose loyalty was to the giver of food and warmth. The sense of duty bred by grateful dependence. Yes, I'd have made a companion, a comfort To spare my nights from being endless things. |
| Exit Arianrhod. |