Cathleen Monologue from The Countess Cathleen

From The Countess Cathleen by W. B. (William Butler) Yeats

female · anguished · 1:03 min

I kiss your forehead. And yet I send you from me. Do not speak; There have been women that bid men to rob Crowns from the Country-under-Wave or apples Upon a dragon-guarded hill, and all That they might sift men's hearts and wills, And trembled as they bid it, as I tremble That lay a hard task on you, that you go, And silently, and do not turn your head; Goodbye; but do not turn your head and look; Above all else, I would not have you look. (ALEEL goes.) I never spoke to him of his wounded hand, And now he is gone. (She looks out.) I cannot see him, for all is dark outside. Would my imagination and my heart Were as little shaken as this holy flame! (She goes slowly into the chapel. The two MERCHANTS enter.)

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