ARIEL [Bowing, as Prologue.] ’You lost The view of earthly glory: men might say Till this time pomp was single, but now married To one above itself. Each following day Became the next day’s master, till the last Made former wonders its. To-day, the French, All clinquant, all in gold, like heathen gods, Shone down the English; and to-morrow, they Made Britain India: every man that stood Show’d like a mine. Their dwarfish pages were As cherubins, all gilt: the madams too, Not used to toil, did almost sweat to bear The pride upon them, that their very labor Was to them as a painting: now this masque Was cried incomparable, and the ensuing night Made it a fool and beggar. The two Kings, Equal in lustre, were now best, now worst, As presence did present them.’[18]—Lo, now, see How first they met, and clasped their hands in peace!
[Lifting Prospero’s staff, Ariel makes a gesture toward the Cloudy Curtains, which part, discovering the
SIXTH INNER SCENE
Here, to an opening fanfare of golden trumpets, takes place a PANTOMIME, all of gold, depicting to the eye, as in a glowing fantasy, the meeting of the Kings and their Retinues: the alighting of the Kings from horseback, their embracement and their clasping of hands.
During this enactment of the pantomime, the choirs of Ariel’s Spirits sing, unseen:]
SPIRITS OF ARIEL Glory and serenity, Splendor of desire, Blend where golden lilies bloom Mid St. George’s fire: Lilies of France!—behold How they glow on the Field of the Cloth of Gold, And the battle-captains curb their bands Where the kings of earth clasp hands.
Power and principality Raise to Peace their choir Where Lord Christ his lilies cling Round the Dragon’s ire: Lilies of Christ!—behold How they flame from the Field of the Cloth of Gold, Where the captains bow to their Lord’s commands And the kings of men clasp hands.
[At the climax of the meeting of the Kings,
THE CLOUDY CURTAINS CLOSE