Page:Passions 2.pdf/134

Ber.Dost thou remember
How, on our throne of turf, with birchen crowns
And willow branches waving in our hands,
We shook our careless feet and caroll'd out,
And call'd ourselves the king and queen of Kent?

Ethw. Yes, children ever in their mimick play
Such fairy state assume.

Ber.And bearded men
Do sometimes gild the dull enchanting face
Of sombre stilly life with like conceits.
Come, an' you will we'll go to play again.
(tripping gayly round him.)

Ethw. Who sent thee here to gambol round me thus?

Ber. Nay, fie upon thee! for thou know'st right well
It is an errand of my own good will.
Knowest thou not the wand'ring clown is here,
Who doth the osier wands and rushes weave
Into all shapes: who chants gay stories too;
And who was wont to tell thee, when a boy,
Of all the bloody wars of furious Penda?
E'en now he is at work before the gate,
With heaps of pliant rushes round him strew'd;
In which birds, dogs, and children roll and nestle,
Whilst, crouching by his side, with watchful eye
The playful kitten marks each trembling rush
As he entwists his many circling bands.
Nay, men and matrons, too, around him flock,
And Ethelbert, low seated on a stone,