Works of Edwin Arlington Robinson
Page 73
RACHEL
[Sorrowfully]
No, you don’t. You never can. You have never loved me very much, you see, and that is why you will never be able to know.
LARRY
[With obvious difficulty]
But how do you know how much I have — loved you, —
or how much I love you now?
RACHEL
If you loved me now, you would not ask me that.
LARRY
Well, what’s the use of my saying things, if you aren’t going to believe them?
RACHEL
There is no use, I suppose.
LARRY
[After examining the head of his stick]
Then let me tell you something that you can believe, and must believe.
[With sincerity]
Let me tell you that the rest of my life is in your hands, at your command, and at your service. All that I have, all that I am, and all that I can ever make of myself, will be for you, and for him.
[He looks at the door of the child’s room]
And if the future that I am setting before you now seems to you to be in the nature of a hard lot, I wish in heaven’s .name that you would tell me what sort of flower-show affair it is that you take this human life of ours to be. Now, Rachel, I’m not very good at saying things when I’m really in earnest, but surely I have said enough to make you decide for yourself whether you and I are going to be wise and happy, or whether we are going to be silly and miserable.... Didn’t I tell you there was a way out of this?
RACHEL
[Looking towards the window]
When you said that, you were thinking of that woman.
LARRY
I was thinking more of you.
RACHEL
I know what you mean, Larry, but you must listen....Listen to me, Larry; and try to remember — sometimes — how much I have loved you, all these years. You will never know how much, but you will remember me — sometimes. Not so often as you think you will, but you will remember me, for you must....
LARRY
[With kind irony]
And you are sure that I must listen to you?
RACHEL
[With less conviction as she goes along]
You tell me there is a way out of this, and I know that you believe what you are saying. And I know too well that I have not made Rollo happy.... But I married him; and marriages are made, for better or for worse, before God....
[Her voice breaks, with a note of almost indignant protest. She sinks into the chair again, and covers her face with her hands.
LARRY
[Looking down at her]
They may be sometimes, but I know of several that must have been made when He wasn’t looking.
[He puts his hand to his chin and continues to watch her. She does not look up at him until the child calls]
VOICE OF THE CHILD
Uncle Larry! Uncle Larry!
LARRY
[With an eager change of manner]
There! Do you hear that? He knows all about it — all about your false reasoning, and your self-tormenting superstition.
[Rapidly]
Don’t you know what he wants? He wants we. He wants me to fiddle to him, and he doesn’t want a dead march either.
[Putting his hands on RACHEL’S shoulders and shaking her gently]
The wise little beggar!
RACHEL
[Painfully]
Yes, Larry, it is you that he wants.
LARRY
He wants me, and he wants you.
RACHEL
[Touching her eyes with her handkerchief]
He doesn’t seem to — know me — very well.
LARRY
[Patting her shoulders]
Rachel, what do you think you are talking about?
RACHEL
[Getting up and looking into his face]
Don’t you see that I am alone? — alone?... O
Larry!... Larry!...
LARRY
You will never be alone again while I am alive.
[He leans forward and touches her forehead with his lips. She draws away from him slowly, as if half afraid, and looks into his eyes. Then she looks at the floor. He watches her and smiles very kindly.
VOICE OF THE CHILD
Uncle Larry! Uncle Larry!
RACHEL
There! — go!... He wants you.
[She covers her eyes with her hands and her body trembles]
Go — go — go!
LARRY
[Tapping her arm lightly with his stick and laughing]
All right, — I’ll go. And you stay here.
[With mock warning]
Be sure you don’t run away.
[He takes a few steps to the left, and RACHEL holds out her hands towards him]
RACHEL
[Choking]
Wait, Larry! — Wait!
LARRY
[Stopping and turning about]
Why — what’s the matter now?
RACHEL
[Bewildered and helpless]
Nothing.... Nothing.
[With assumed strength]
Go — go! He wants you.
LARRY
[Greatly troubled, but forcing a laugh]
Yes... and I’m going.
VOICE OF THE CHILD
[Within]
Uncle Larry!
LARRY
[Looking back and smiling]
Do you hear him?
[He takes a few steps backward, still looking at her]
Now be sure that you stay where you are till I come back.
[He shakes his finger at her, repeating his admonition once or twice silently on his way to the door, and disappears into the child’s room, leaving the door ajar. In a few moments he begins to play “Roy’s Wife of Aldivalloch” with a great deal of spirit, while Rachel stands gazing at the door. Presently she begins to move slowly to the bookcase, stopping at times, but always drawn on again as if by a mysterious and irresistible force. She takes the vial from behind the books, returns to the table, and, after a long pause, drinks the contents, shivering as the music becomes more spirited. Then she begins to move slowly towards the door of the child’s room, still drawn as if by a tower outside, herself. She reaches out with her arms and whispers Larry’s name. Larry, within, plays faster and fasted, while the curtain falls slowly]
CURTAIN
Oak Grove Cemetery, Gardiner, Maine — Robinson’s final resting place
Robinson’s grave