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The King in Yellow
Along the shore the cloud waves break,
The twin suns sink behind the lake,
The shadows lengthen
In Carcosa
Strange is the night where black stars rise,
And strange moons circle through the skies,
But stranger still is
Lost Carcosa
Songs that the Hyades shall sing,
Where flap the tatters of the King,
Must die unheard in
Dim Carcosa.
Song of my soul, my voice is dead,
Die though, unsung, as tears unshed
Shall dry and die in
Lost Carcosa
Cassilda's Song in "The King in Yellow" Act 1, Scene 2.
"Ne raillons pas les fous; leur folie dure plus longtemps que la nôtre.... Voilà toute la differénce."
CAMILLA: You sir, should unmask.
STRANGER: Indeed?
CASSILDA: Indeed it's time. We all have laid aside disguise but you.
STRANGER: I wear no mask.
CAMILLA: (Terrified, aside to Cassilda.) No mask? No mask!
"Oh Thou who burn'st in heart for those who burn In Hell, whose fires thyself shall feed in turn; How long be crying, 'Mercy on them, God!' Why, who art thou to teach and He to learn?"
"Let the red dawn surmise
What we shall do,
When this blue starlight dies
And all is through."
"Mais je croy que je
Suis descendu on puiz
Tenebreux onquel disoit
Heraclytus estre Verité cachée."
"If but the Vine and Love Abjuring Band
Are in the Prophets' Paradise to stand,
Alack, I doubt the Prophets' Paradise,
Were empty as the hollow of one's hand."
"Ferme tes yeux à demi,
Croise tes bras sur ton sein,
Et de ton coeur endormi
Chasse à jamais tout dessein.
"Je chante la nature,
Les étoiles du soir, les larmes du matin,
Les couchers de soleil à l'horizon lointain,
Le ciel qui parle au coeur d'existence future!"
"Be of Good Cheer, the Sullen Month will die,
And a young Moon requite us by and by;
Look how the Old one, meagre, bent, and wan
With age and Fast, is fainting from the sky."
"Et tous les jours passés la tristesse Nous sont comptés comme les jours heureux!"
"For let Philosopher and Doctor preach
Of what they will and what they will not,—each
Is but one link in an eternal chain
That none can slip nor break nor over-reach."
"Crimson nor yellow roses nor
The savour of the mounting sea
Are worth the perfume I adore
That clings to thee."
"The languid-headed lilies tire,
The changeless waters weary me;
I ache with passionate desire
Of thine and thee."
"There are but these things in the world—
Thy mouth of fire,
Thy breasts, thy hands, thy hair upcurled
And my desire."
The King in Yellow
Written By: #@$^%*
Religion
Along the shore the cloud waves break,
The twin suns sink behind the lake,
The shadows lengthen
In Carcosa
Strange is the night where black stars rise,
And strange moons circle through the skies,
But stranger still is
Lost Carcosa
Songs that the Hyades shall sing,
Where flap the tatters of the King,
Must die unheard in
Dim Carcosa.
Song of my soul, my voice is dead,
Die though, unsung, as tears unshed
Shall dry and die in
Lost Carcosa
"Ne raillons pas les fous; leur folie dure plus longtemps que la nôtre.... Voilà toute la differénce."
CAMILLA: You sir, should unmask.
STRANGER: Indeed?
CASSILDA: Indeed it's time. We all have laid aside disguise but you.
STRANGER: I wear no mask.
CAMILLA: (Terrified, aside to Cassilda.) No mask? No mask!
"Oh Thou who burn'st in heart for those who burn In Hell, whose fires thyself shall feed in turn; How long be crying, 'Mercy on them, God!' Why, who art thou to teach and He to learn?"
"Let the red dawn surmise
What we shall do,
When this blue starlight dies
And all is through."
"Mais je croy que je
Suis descendu on puiz
Tenebreux onquel disoit
Heraclytus estre Verité cachée."
"If but the Vine and Love Abjuring Band
Are in the Prophets' Paradise to stand,
Alack, I doubt the Prophets' Paradise,
Were empty as the hollow of one's hand."
"Ferme tes yeux à demi,
Croise tes bras sur ton sein,
Et de ton coeur endormi
Chasse à jamais tout dessein.
"Je chante la nature,
Les étoiles du soir, les larmes du matin,
Les couchers de soleil à l'horizon lointain,
Le ciel qui parle au coeur d'existence future!"
"Be of Good Cheer, the Sullen Month will die,
And a young Moon requite us by and by;
Look how the Old one, meagre, bent, and wan
With age and Fast, is fainting from the sky."
"Et tous les jours passés la tristesse Nous sont comptés comme les jours heureux!"
"For let Philosopher and Doctor preach
Of what they will and what they will not,—each
Is but one link in an eternal chain
That none can slip nor break nor over-reach."
"Crimson nor yellow roses nor
The savour of the mounting sea
Are worth the perfume I adore
That clings to thee."
"The languid-headed lilies tire,
The changeless waters weary me;
I ache with passionate desire
Of thine and thee."
"There are but these things in the world—
Thy mouth of fire,
Thy breasts, thy hands, thy hair upcurled
And my desire."