Part 5

MYRRHINA. Honorius, farewell. No, no, do not go.

. . . . .

I have cursed my beauty for what it has done, and cursed the wonder of my body for the evil that it has brought upon you.

Lord, this man brought me to Thy feet. He told me of Thy coming upon earth, and of the wonder of Thy birth, and the great wonder of Thy death also. By him, O Lord, Thou wast revealed to me.

HONORIUS. You talk as a child, Myrrhina, and without knowledge. Loosen your hands. Why didst thou come to this valley in thy beauty?

MYRRHINA. The God whom thou worshippest led me here that I might repent of my iniquities and know Him as the Lord.

HONORIUS. Why didst thou tempt me with words?

MYRRHINA. That thou shouldst see Sin in its painted mask and look on Death in its robe of Shame.

A FLORENTINE TRAGEDY WITH OPENING SCENE BY T. STURGE MOORE

This play is only a fragment and was never completed. For the purposes of presentation, the well-known poet, Mr. T. Sturge Moore, has written an opening scene which is here included. Wilde’s work begins with the entrance of Simone.

A private performance was given by the Literary Theatre Club in 1906. The first public presentation was given by the New English Players at the Cripplegate Institute, Golden Lane, E.C., in 1907. German, French and Hungarian translations have been presented on the Continental stage.

Dramatic and literary rights are the property of Robert Ross. The American literary and dramatic rights are vested in John Luce and Co., Boston, U.S.A.

First Published by Methuen and Co. February 1908 (Limited Editions on handmade paper and Japanese vellum) First F’cap. 8vo Edition November 1909 Second F’cap. 8vo Edition October 1910 Third F’cap. 8vo Edition December 1911 Fourth F’cap. 8vo Edition May 1915 Fifth F’cap. 8vo Edition 1917

CHARACTERS

GUIDO BARDI, A Florentine prince.

SIMONE, a merchant.

BIANNA, his wife.

MARIA, a tire-woman.

The action takes place at Florence in the early sixteenth century.

A FLORENTINE TRAGEDY

As the Curtain rises enter BIANCA, with her Servant, MARIA.

MARIA. Certain and sure, the sprig is Guido Bardi, A lovely lord, a lord whose blood is blue!

BIANCA. But where did he receive you?

MARIA. Where, but there In yonder palace, in a painted hall!— Painted with naked women on the walls,— Would make a common man or blush or smile But he seemed not to heed them, being a lord.

BIANCA. But how know you ’tis not a chamberlayne, A lackey merely?

MARIA. Why, how know I there is a God in heaven? Because the angels have a master surely. So to this lord they bowed, all others bowed, And swept the marble flags, doffing their caps, With the gay plumes. Because he stiffly said, And seemed to see me as those folk are seen That will be never seen again by you, ‘Woman, your mistress then returns this purse Of forty thousand crowns, is it fifty thousand? Come name the sum will buy me grace of her.’

BIANCA. What, were there forty thousand crowns therein?

MARIA. I know it was all gold; heavy with gold.