The Forest shall conquer! The Forest shall conquer! The Forest shall conquer!
O hearts that are weary of pain,
Come back to your home in Faërie
And wait till she wakes again.
[The victims of the forest-laws steal out of the thicket once more—dark, distorted, lame, blind, serfs with iron collars roun their necks, old men, women and children; and as the fairy song breaks into chorus they pass in procession thro' the beautiful gates. The gates slowly close. The fairy song is heard as dying away in the distance.]
TITANIA
[Coming out into the glade and holding up her hands to the evening star beyond the tree-tops.]
Shine, shine, dear star of Love, yet one night more.
Scene II. A banqueting hall in Fitzwalter's castle. The guests are assembling for the betrothal feast of Robin and Marian. Some of Robin Hood's men, clad in Lincoln green, are just arriving at the doors. Shadow-of-a-Leaf runs forward to greet them.
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Come in, my scraps of Lincoln green; come in,
My slips of greenwood. You're much wanted here!
Head, heart and eyes, we are all pent up in walls
Of stone—nothing but walls on every side—
And not a rose to break them—big blind walls,
Neat smooth stone walls! Come in, my ragged robins;
Come in, my jolly minions of the moon,
My straggling hazel-boughs! Hey, bully friar,
Come in, my knotted oak! Ho, little Much,
Come in, my sweet green linnet. Come, my cushats,
Larks, yellow-hammers, fern-owls, Oh, come in,
Come in, my Dian's foresters, and drown us
With may, with blossoming may!
FITZWALTER
Out, Shadow-of-a-Leaf!
Welcome, welcome, good friends of Huntingdon,
Or Robin Hood, by whatsoever name
You best may love him.