The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-05-03
MAEYBRMNCK'S LATER PLAYS
CONCLUSION or THE STUDY or
TIE DELGIAN POET.

mime I'm "Aginyaine AMI Se'yseVe
"SIopna ynpna" q Powerful. Som.
brr. Fascinating Drama influence OF
rterIinck Upon Ills Cont enpOrar'es'
The second act Of "Pel!eas and Nell
candle begins at an immemorial iountanl
10 the royal park Hero tho young Pr'noe
sits with the wife Of his brother Mcnsdhde
10 one OF the poets most successful iuh'
length portraits She ia cXqusitely girhsh'
Ii charming with her strange Cndine airs
and 10 touched by singular atmosphere OF
the remote Hiuptnann has reallHeu az
ethereal type in Rdutendelein .hehsdnoe
IL very romantic AT times she Is on the
point Of melting into the green tapestry
Of the forest for she is woodland creature.
More uoelancholv than Mirontd. she Ia not
without traces Of her highbfed tempera-
\ ment; less real than Juliet. she seems quite
"A r,assion-l,:vit Not altogether COM
prehensibe creation, Mflisdnde PiQues one
at every reading, with her waywardness'
her infantiie change of moods IS enc
really possible on the boards'
At the spring the two converse OF the
water and its healing powers You wouiu
cay that my hands were sick to-day she
nurmurs as she dips her hand INTO the
pool She loses her wedding ring The
conversation is all as indirect. as elliptical.
as Henry James or Robert Browning Leu
IL be said that the afrecta ton OF understand
ing Browning at all points Is not so oanai
as the pretence of not understanding Mae'-
erlinck. The symbol floats like han
ner in his dramas, hut tho device may
be decphered by all except those mentally
fatigued persons who oppose the intrusion
of new ideas or new methods of expression
Compared to Browning. Maeterlinck is
youth in intellectual grasp. His art has
neither the poetic splendor nor the pro-
foundly human depth, reach, and variety
of the Enellshman Why, then. should we
halk at the new man after learning to love
the other?
IN the interim Gol1ud has been wounded
while hunting. II is not serious, but 1t
unlooses the heart Of MeiisInie, who con-
fesses that she. too, is ILL., With her habitual
avoidance Of the definite she does not. or will
no.. tell her husband the cause of her vague
unrest and spiritual nostalgia The inter-
view is affecting. Goldu I'd. the middle-aged,
cannot overhear the shell-like murmurings
of this baby soul Sho recounts the loss
of her wedding ring. but prevarlcates'
Golaud bids her go search for it in company
with I'6ufas-nlways PfLl6as. In grotto
the two again meet. The cave Is fuli CT
.blue darks." and outside the moon has
torn through a great c!ond.' Suddenly
three sleeping beggars arc discovered
(again recurrence Of the earlier style).
They mean something of course. though
they do not awaken In certain pages OF
Maeterfinck it is we'll TO let sleeping symbols
lie undistrrbed The action now moves
apace. PtHtos. fearing danger, wishes to
fy, but is dssuaded by his grandfather
In Act III Ptlleas and Melisande sit and
converse. Little Ynihli with his curious
child's brain and child's candor. really
discovers to the lovers their mutual love.
1t is done captivatingly.
'You have been weeping. little mother.
he says TO his mother. in his fathers pres
ence .Do not hold the lamp under their
eyes So" responds Golaud. Then fellows
the poetic and famous scene Of Mthsdnde
on the tower combing her unbound locks
and singing in the moonlight. 1t Is a
magical picture One recalls Lilith, that
first wife OF Adam, painted by Rosseti who
also combed dangerous slken tresses.
Pelleds enters and the ensuing duologue is
rich in tenderness and amorous poetry.
One in vain endeavors to recall so intensely
vivid a scene in dramatic literature since
Romeo and Juliet" If it exists it is we'll
bestowed where none may find it, The
romance Of the French romantics always
verged on the melodraynatic and artificial,
and the stately classics are not happy In
moments Of this kind. The similar scene
in -Cyrano" when compared to 'Pelleas
and Melisande' is mere rocco pasteboard,
though theatrically effective. Rostand is.
at his hest, Orientally sentimental. az BELTS
his blood; he is never truly poetic. for he
is o winning rhetorician, a rhyming Sardou.
rather than a dramatic poet. But charm
and delicaoy and grace are his
The mad apostrophe to the hair OF Ne
Esande ia in key with the entire setting
of this moving tableau Il have never seen
such hair "a thine Melisande. Isee the sky
no longer through thy locks.
They are alive like birds in my hands
Even the surprising of the lovers by the
sleepless husband has nothing thcatric in
it. He tells them that they are children
what childrdn!r-and bids Mtlisande not
to lean 80 far out Of her window In the
noxt scene we see him with Ptlifas in
the vaults Of the castle, There is some
thing evil in his hart; in the brain Of Mae,-
erlinck there was Poe when he wrote this
episode. Goldud leads PelleGs through
the vault. Pelleds almost s,umbles into
an abyss-his brother has made a misstep.
We feel ourselves listening here on the
brink Of a catastrophe, that does not hap
pen. 1t recalls Poe's -Cask Of Amontil-
lado"
A painful scene is the questioning OF
little Ynihli bv his father. He asks the
boy what Melisande and Pelleds talked
Of when together asked Of their move
ments. Then he lifts his son TO the win
dow and bids him look on and report 1t
is mastery in its cruel directness Are
they near each other?' he demands. .No.
lit le father" and the bed? Are
they near the bed?" Il cant see the bed.
little father" When tho unfortunate spy
Ia clutcAed in a fierce grip he cries 4Ah!
Ali little father you have hurt me'- I'm
consciously Golaud has betrayed his woful
agitation
Mthsande is pitied by Arkci She re-
plies that she Is not unhappy. He responds
Perhaps you are Of those who are unhappy
without knowing IT. Goi1ud enters and
reproaches her. saizes her hair. Her con-