OBERON
Hush, the poor dark mortals come!
[The crowd of serfs, old men, poor women, and children, begin to enter as the fairy song swells up within the gates again. Robin and Marian are led along by a crowd of fairies at the end of the procession.]
TITANIA
And there, see, there come Robin and his bride.
And the fairies lead them on, strewing their path
With ferns and moon-flowers. See, they have entered in!
[The last fairy vanishes thro' the gates.]
OBERON
And we must follow, for the gates may close
For ever now. Hundreds of years may pass
Before another mortal gives his life
To help the poor and needy.
[Oberon and Titania follow hand in hand thro' the gates. They begin to close. Shadow-of-a-Leaf steals wistfully and hesitatingly across, as if to enter. They close in his face. He goes up to them and leans against them sobbing, a small green figure, looking like a greenwood spray against their soft ivory glow. The fairy music dies. He sinks to his knees and holds up his hands. Immediately a voice is heard singing and drawing nearer thro' the forest.]
[Song—drawing nearer.]