The Complete Dramatic Works of Samuel Beckett

by Samuel Beckett

  Thirty seconds before end of speech lamplight begins to fail.

  Lamp out. Silence, SPEAKER, globe, foot of pallet, barely visible in diffuse light.

  Ten seconds.

  Curtain.

  SPEAKER: Birth was the death of him. Again. Words are few. Dying too. Birth was the death of him. Ghastly grinning ever since. Up at the lid to come. In cradle and crib. At suck first fiasco. With the first totters. From mammy to nanny and back. All the way. Bandied back and forth. So ghastly grinning on. From funeral to funeral. To now. This night. Two and a half billion seconds. Again. Two and a half billion seconds. Hard to believe so few. From funeral to funeral. Funerals of … he all but said of loved ones. Thirty thousand nights. Hard to believe so few. Born dead of night. Sun long sunk behind the larches. New needles turning green. In the room dark gaining. Till faint light from standard lamp. Wick turned low. And now. This night. Up at nightfall. Every nightfall. Faint light in room. Whence unknown. None from window. No. Next to none. No such thing as none. Gropes to window and stares out. Stands there staring out. Stock still staring out. Nothing stirring in that black vast. Gropes back in the end to where the lamp is standing. Was standing. When last went out. Loose matches in right-hand pocket. Strikes one on his buttock the way his father taught him. Takes off milk white globe and sets it down. Match goes out. Strikes a second as before. Takes off chimney. Smoke-clouded. Holds it in left hand. Match goes out. Strikes a third as before and sets it to wick. Puts back chimney. Match goes out. Puts back globe. Turns wick low. Backs away to edge of light and turns to face east. Blank wall. So nightly. Up. Socks. Nightgown. Window. Lamp. Backs away to edge of light and stands facing blank wall. Covered with pictures once. Pictures of … he all but said of loved ones. Unframed. Unglazed. Pinned to wall with drawing-pins. All shapes and sizes. Down one after another. Gone. Torn to shreds and scattered. Strewn all over the floor. Not at one sweep. No sudden fit of … no word. Ripped from the wall and torn to shreds one by one. Over the years. Years of nights. Nothing on the wall now but the pins. Not all. Some out with the wrench. Some still pinning a shred. So stands there facing blank wall. Dying on. No more no less. No. Less. Less to die. Ever less. Like light at nightfall. Stands there facing east. Blank pinpocked surface once white in shadow. Could once name them all. There was father. That grey void. There mother. That other. There together. Smiling. Wedding day. There all three. That grey blot. There alone. He alone. So on. Not now. Forgotten. All gone so long. Gone. Ripped off and torn to shreds. Scattered all over the floor. Swept out of the way under the bed and left. Thousand shreds under the bed with the dust and spiders. All the … he all but said the loved ones. Stands there facing the wall staring beyond. Nothing there either. Nothing stirring there either. Nothing stirring anywhere. Nothing to be seen anywhere. Nothing to be heard anywhere. Room once full of sounds. Faint sounds. Whence unknown. Fewer and fainter as time wore on. Nights wore on. None now. No. No such thing as none. Rain some nights still slant against the panes. Or dropping gentle on the place beneath. Even now. Lamp smoking though wick turned low. Strange. Faint smoke issuing through vent in globe. Low ceiling stained by night after night of this. Dark shapeless blot on surface elsewhere white. Once white. Stands facing wall after the various motions described. That is up at nightfall and into gown and socks. No. In them already. In them all night. All day. All day and night. Up at nightfall in gown and socks and after a moment to get his bearings gropes to window. Faint light in room. Unutterably faint. Whence unknown. Stands stock still staring out. Into black vast. Nothing there. Nothing stirring. That he can see. Hear. Dwells thus as if unable to move again. Or no will left to move again. Not enough will left to move again. Turns in the end and gropes to where he knows the lamp is standing. Thinks he knows. Was last standing. When last went out. Match one as described for globe. Two for chimney. Three for wick. Chimney and globe back on. Turns wick low. Backs away to edge of light and turns to face wall. East. Still as the lamp by his side. Gown and socks white to take faint light. Once white. Hair white to take faint light. Foot of pallet just visible edge of frame. Once white to take faint light. Stands there staring beyond. Nothing. Empty dark. Till first word always the same. Night after night the same. Birth. Then slow fade up of a faint form. Out of the dark. A window. Looking west. Sun long sunk behind the larches. Light dying. Soon none left to die. No. No such thing as no light. Starless moonless heaven. Dies on to dawn and never dies. There in the dark that window. Night slowly falling. Eyes to the small pane gaze at that first night. Turn from it in the end to face the darkened room. There in the end slowly a faint hand. Holding aloft a lighted spill. In the light of spill faintly the hand and milkwhite globe. Then second hand. In light of spill. Takes off globe and disappears. Reappears empty. Takes off chimney. Two hands and chimney in light of spill. Spill to wick. Chimney back on. Hand with spill disappears. Second hand disappears. Chimney alone in gloom. Hand reappears with globe. Globe back on. Turns wick low. Disappears. Pale globe alone in gloom. Glimmer of brass bedrail. Fade. Birth the death of him. That nevoid smile. Thirty thousand nights. Stands at edge of lamplight staring beyond. Into dark whole again. Window gone. Hands gone. Light gone. Gone. Again and again. Again and again gone. Till dark slowly parts again. Grey light. Rain pelting. Umbrellas round a grave. Seen from above. Streaming black canopies. Black ditch beneath. Rain bubbling in the black mud. Empty for the moment. That place beneath. Which … he all but said which loved one? Thirty seconds. To add to the two and a half billion odd. Then fade. Dark whole again. Blest dark. No. No such thing as whole. Stands staring beyond half hearing what he’s saying. He? The words falling from his mouth. Making do with his mouth. Lights lamp as described. Backs away to edge of light and and turns to face wall. Stares beyond into dark. Waits for first word always the same. It gathers in his mouth. Parts lips and thrusts tongue forward. Birth. Parts the dark. Slowly the window. That first night. The room. The spill. The hands. The lamp. The gleam of brass. Fade. Gone. Again and again. Again and again gone. Mouth agape. A cry. Stifled by nasal. Dark parts. Grey light. Rain pelting. Streaming umbrellas. Ditch. Bubbling black mud. Coffin out of frame. Whose? Fade. Gone. Move on to other matters. Try to move on. To other matters. How far from wall? Head almost touching. As at window. Eyes glued to pane staring out. Nothing stirring. Black vast. Stands there stock still staring out as if unable to move again. Or gone the will to move again. Gone. Faint cry in his ear. Mouth agape. Closed with hiss of breath. Lips joined. Feel soft touch of lip on lip. Lip lipping lip. Then parted by cry as before. Where is he now? Back at window staring out. Eyes glued to pane. As if looking his last. Turns away at last and gropes through faint unaccountable light to unseen lamp. White gown moving through that gloom. Once white. Lights and moves to face wall as described. Head almost touching. Stands there staring beyond waiting for first word. It gathers in his mouth. Birth. Parts lips and thrusts tongue between them. Tip of tongue. Feel soft touch of tongue on lips. Of lips on tongue. Fade up in outer dark of window. Stare beyond through rift in dark to other dark. Further dark. Sun long sunk behind the larches. Nothing stirring. Nothing faintly stirring. Stock still eyes glued to pane. As if looking his last. At that first night. Of thirty thousand odd. Turn away in the end to darkened room. Where soon to be. This night to be. Spill. Hands. Lamp. Gleam of brass. Pale globe alone in gloom. Brass bedrail catching light. Thirty seconds. To swell the two and a half billion odd. Fade. Gone. Cry. Snuffed with breath of nostrils. Again and again. Again and again gone. Till whose grave? Which … he all but said which loved one’s? He? Black ditch in pelting rain. Way out through the grey rift in dark. Seen from on high. Streaming canopies. Bubbling black mud. Coffin on its way. Loved one … he all but said loved one on his way. Her way. Thirty seconds. Fade. Gone. Stands there staring beyond. Into dark whole again. No. No such thing as whole. Head almost touching wall. White hair catching light. White gown. White socks. White foot of pallet edge of frame stage left. Once white. Least … give and head rests on wall. But no.
Stock still head haught staring beyond. Nothing stirring. Faintly stirring. Thirty thousand nights of ghosts beyond. Beyond that black beyond. Ghost light. Ghost nights. Ghost rooms. Ghost graves. Ghost … he all but said ghost loved ones. Waiting on the rip word. Stands there staring beyond at that black veil lips quivering to half-heard words. Treating of other matters. Trying to treat of other matters. Till half hears there are no other matters. Never were other matters. Never two matters. Never but the one matter. The dead and gone. The dying and the going. From the word go. The word begone. Such as the light going now. Beginning to go. In the room. Where else? Unnoticed by him staring beyond. The globe alone. Not the other. The unaccountable. From nowhere. On all sides nowhere. Unutterably faint. The globe alone. Alone gone.

  Rockaby

  Written in English in 1980. First performed in Buffalo, NY, in 1981. First published by Faber and Faber, London, in 1982.

  NOTES

  Light:

  Subdued on chair. Rest of stage dark.

  Subdued spot on face constant throughout, unaffected by successive fades. Either wide enough to include narrow limits of rock or concentrated on face when still or at mid-rock. Then throughout speech face slightly swaying in and out of light.

  Opening fade-up: first spot on face alone, long pause, then light on chair.

  Final fade-out: first chair, long pause with spot on face alone, head slowly sinks, come to rest, fade out spot.

  W:

  Prematurely old. Unkempt grey hair. Huge eyes in white expressionless face. White hands holding ends of armrests.

  Eyes:

  Now closed, now open in unblinking gaze. About equal proportions section 1, increasingly closed 2 and 3, closed for good halfway through 4.

  Costume:

  Black lacy high-necked evening gown. Long sleeves. Jet sequins to glitter when rocking. Incongruous flimsy head-dress set askew with extravagant trimming to catch light when rocking.

  Attitude:

  Completely still till fade-out of chair. Then in light of spot head slowly inclined.

  Chair:

  Pale wood highly polished to gleam when rocking. Footrest. Vertical back. Rounded inward curving arms to suggest embrace.

  Rock:

  Slight. Slow. Controlled mechanically without assistance from W.

  Voice:

  Towards end of 4, say from ‘saying to herself’ on, gradually softer. Lines in italics spoken by w with V. A little softer each time, W’s ‘more’ a little softer each time.

  W: Woman in chair.

  V: Her recorded voice.

  Fade up on W in rocking-chair facing front downstage slightly off centre audience left.

  Long pause.

  W: More.

  [Pause. Rock and voice together.]

  V: till in the end

  the day came

  in the end came

  close of a long day

  when she said

  to herself

  whom else

  time she stopped

  time she stopped

  going to and fro

  all eyes

  all sides

  high and low

  for another

  another like herself

  another creature like herself

  a little like

  going to and fro

  all eyes

  all sides

  high and low

  for another

  till in the end

  close of a long day

  to herself

  whom else

  time she stopped

  time she stopped

  going to and fro

  all eyes

  all sides

  high and low

  for another

  another living soul

  going to and fro

  all eyes like herself

  all sides

  high and low

  for another

  another like herself

  a little like

  going to and fro

  till in the end

  close of a long day

  to herself

  whom else

  time she stopped

  going to and fro

  time she stopped

  time she stopped

  [Together: echo of ‘time she stopped’, coming to rest of rock, faint fade of light.

  Long pause.]

  W: More.

  [Pause. Rock and voice together.]

  V: so in the end

  close of a long day

  went back in

  in the end went back in

  saying to herself

  whom else

  time she stopped

  time she stopped

  going to and fro

  time she went and sat

  at her window

  quiet at her window

  facing other windows

  so in the end

  close of a long day

  in the end went and sat

  went back in and sat

  at her window

  let up the blind and sat

  quiet at her window

  only window

  facing other windows

  other only windows

  all eyes

  all sides

  high and low

  for another

  at her window

  another like herself

  a little like

  another living soul

  one other living soul

  at her window

  gone in like herself

  gone back in

  in the end

  close of a long day

  saying to herself

  whom else

  time she stopped

  time she stopped

  going to and fro

  time she went and sat

  at her window

  quiet at her window

  only window

  facing other windows

  other only windows

  all eyes

  all sides

  high and low

  for another

  another like herself

  a little like

  another living soul

  one other living soul

  [Together: echo of ‘living soul’, coming to rest of rock, faint fade of light.

  Long pause.]

  W: More.

  [Pause. Rock and voice together.]

  V: till in the end

  the day came

  in the end came

  close of a long day

  sitting at her window

  quiet at her window

  only window

  facing other windows

  other only windows

  all blinds down

  never one up

  hers alone up

  till the day came

  in the end came

  close of a long day

  sitting at her window

  quiet at her window

  all eyes

  all sides

  high and low

  for a blind up

  one blind up

  no more

  never mind a face

  behind the pane

  famished eyes

  like hers

  to see

  be seen

  no

  a blind up

  like hers

  a little like

  one blind up no more

  another creature there

  somewhere there

  behind the pane

  another living soul

  one other living soul

  till the day came

  in the end came

  close of a long day

  when she said

  to herself

  whom else

  time she stopped

  time she stopped

  sitting at her window

  quiet at her window

  only window

  facing
other windows

  other only windows

  all eyes

  all sides

  high and low

  time she stopped

  time she stopped

  [Together: echo of ‘time she stopped’, coming to rest of rock, faint fade of light.

  Long pause.]

  W: More.

  [Pause. Rock and voice together.]

  V: so in the end

  close of a long day

  went down

  in the end went down

  down the steep stair

  let down the blind and down

  right down

  into the old rocker

  mother rocker

  where mother rocked

  all the years

  all in black

  best black

  sat and rocked

  rocked

  till her end came

  in the end came

  off her head they said

  gone off her head

  but harmless

  no harm in her

  dead one day

  no

  night

  dead one night

  in the rocker

  in her best black

  head fallen

  and the rocker rocking

  rocking away

  so in the end

  close of a long day

  went down

  in the end went down

  down the steep stair

  let down the blind and down

  right down

  into the old rocker

  those arms at last

  and rocked

  rocked

  with closed eyes

  closing eyes

  she so long all eyes

  famished eyes

  all sides

  high and low

  to and fro

  at her window

  to see

  be seen

  till in the end

  close of a long day

  to herself

  whom else

  time she stopped

  let down the blind and stopped

  time she went down

  down the steep stair

  time she went right down