Ruba'iyat

1st Guard	How this wind doth scour me to the bone!
2nd Guard	Only the long-dead jacketed in stone Escape the scourge of passing time, my friend.
1st Guard	Yet how do we know but having met their end No sooner do they spurn him and begin afresh?
2nd Guard	Because, philosopher, fast unto flesh Is thy daft spirit manacled, as firm As yon maid in her irons, and the term Of sentence served beyond hope of appeal. Where's bread? A soldier's appetite is real.
1st Guard	Pardon, captain, but I fancy that thy gut More glibly 'suades thee than thy mind or heart.
2nd Guard	Trooper, take care that . . .
1st Guard	--------------------Hush! Didst hear that cry?
2nd Guard	'Twas but a lizard-bird, man. Fix thine eye Upon the vast mysteries of supper and let drop This . . .
1st Guard	-------List! That was no dragon-bird! My cup Trembles with terror so, the red mead spills Like blood and all around, the rocks and hills Reverberate my pulse down to the planet's root!
2nd Guard	Peace, man! Thou'rt some poet and an ass to boot. The girl talks with herself - and doubtless she Gets more sense of an echo than she would of thee!
Enter 3rd Soldier
3rd Soldier	Guards!
1st & 2nd	---------Sir!
3rd Soldier	----------------How fares the prisoner?
2nd Guard	She converseth with fancy on the theme of 'home', m'lord.
3rd Soldier	She shall converse more factually with my whip! Fling wide the bars. I shall exact one stripe For every word that is not acid truth To etch the incredulous iron of my mind! Resistless as the pollen 'fore the wind Shall soon disperse these dubious dreams of 'Earth' . . .
Inside the prison cave. Girl sings and listens for the answering echoes
Girl (sings)	When shall I see my home again . . . home again? Blue skies and fields of golden grain . . . golden grain Cool waterfalls of light Warm, fragrant shades of night All vanished from my sight, like a dream
	Wind spinning clouds in silken skeins . . . silken skeins Cascades of rainbow-braided rains . . . -braided rains. Birds sing their weaving song All summer evening long Weaving the dusk among the slant sunbeams.
	Echo, my sole and faithful friend . . . faithful friend When shall my prison have an end . . . have an end? Do you know where we are? What planet of what star? And are my people far, far away?
Despairing of the echo, the girl withdraws and sings to herself, whereupon the echo answers.
Girl	What gifts can living now impart? . . . youth and art Can youth and time be held apart? . . . in your heart Climbing the mount of years Finding fresh founts of tears . . .
Echo	Only surmount your fears Through the clear pollened air To the summit of care, You'll see Verdurous new vistas Luminous far pastures Infinite blue distance . . .
Suddenly the 3rd Soldier enters, the gate crashing shut behind him.
3rd Soldier	Stay not thy song, maid, for thy case is such As scarce could be imperilled overmuch By this mad parley. Come, unpack your tale . . .