Marpessa

BY M. V. RAMA SHARMA

(based on the poem “Marpessa” by Stephen Phillips)

CAST–

Marpessa–Daughter of Evenus

Idas–Her lover

Apollo–Son of Zeus (Sun-god)

Zeus–The supreme God.

(The sun is rising in the east, dispelling darkness from the world. The garden is full of roseate hues and jasmine smells. There is a mystic grandeur and a sublime beauty about it. The birds prepare to leave their snug, little homes and there is an inexplicable charm in their crude, shrill sounds. The cuckoo songs in blithe tones, the peacock dances in merriment, the flowers laugh and play in felicity. The insects hop from flower to flower and whisper to them the mysterious message of the Infinite.

Marpessa enters the garden with nimble steps, leaving behind traces of her dew-pearled, feet. She is of phenomenal beauty and angelic grace; and in her countenance do meet ‘sweet records. Promises as sweet.’ Nature has lavished on her all her profuse gifts. The Earth seems to love her and Heaven smiles above her. Her steps are full of ‘virgin liberty’ and she is roaming with morning thoughts amid the dew, all fresh from sleeping. Her ruddy cheeks indicate the bloom of pure repose and the perfection of her too feminine graces. In a jubilant tone she sings a sportive song, a song that rejuvenates the world and fills it with optimism.)

Marpessa-(sings)

“The year is at the spring,

And the day is at the morn;

...........................................

The lark is on the wing:

The snail is on the thorn:

God is in His heaven

All’s right with the world.”

(The symphony of her tone allures the garden. Young Idas enters from the other side. The song of Marpessa rouses him into activity and he rushes into the garden in the expectation of meeting the unseen singer of that thrilling song. With outstretched hands he comes out, crying, ‘Marpessa, my sweet and darling angel.’ He alters the last lines of the song and sings in a melancholic strain, revealing thereby the utter futility of earthly longings.)

Idas–(sings)

“God’s not in His Heaven

All’s wrong with the world.

Marpessa–What makes you alter the song and thereby denude it of its charm?

Idas–Nothing but the uncertainty of possessing your hand of winning your smile and of diving into the depths of your heart, makes me contemplate a paradise that I may lose.

Marpessa–I admire your innocence, sweet Idas. Human nature is such. It oscillates between hope and despair, between cheer and gloom, between optimism and pessimism. I cannot blame you for that. At times, we are elated and dream of a symphonious life. But frail as we are, fraier are our thoughts and they make us conceive of abject misery and ignominious life in the very next moment. Our thoughts fall from heights into depths.

Idas–What is all this talk, my blessed Marpessa? As I gaze on your sublime beauty, I wonder how we have been too near, yet too far. Now we are only friends, but a single word from you will land me into Elysium and make me an altered being. Then our hearts should beat in unison and our looks should commune with each other in an inexplicable and unutterable manner.

Marpessa–(looks at him slyly) You speak in a sad, but delightful manner. Ask of the winds that blow on you. They reveal my intense affection towards you. Who can check the blowing of the winds or the roaring of the waves? So will my heart be pure and chaste, unsullied, free and joyous and no other person than you dare to have any claim upon it. What its smell is to the rose, what its light is to the sun, what its music is to the wind, that will I be to you, inseparable and indivisible from you. I need not frequently remind you of my pure love towards you.

Idas–What you say is all true, but there are circumstances over which man has absolutely no control. Nature may be antagonistic or the supernatural beings may serve as an impediment to the onward prowess of our love.

Marpessa-(taking his hand into hers) Now his will be my earnest promise and this serves as a holy covenant between us. We shall I be ‘one spirit within two frames’, ‘one passion in twin hearts’. Ours will be

‘One hope within two wills, one will beneath

Two overshadowing minds, one life, one death.

One heaven, one hell, one immortality,

And one annihilation.’

Idas–Your words sound like the echoes of an antenatal dream. In the touch of your hands I experience elysian bliss and I am quite oblivious of all mundane fetters. (kisses her hands)

(The sun then rises up high into the sky and his red rays seem to be chiding the hasty actions of the mortals below. Apollo, the sun god, gazes on the sweetness and extraordinary beauty of Marpessa. He has long been cherishing an inextinguishable love for her. He comes clothed in white samite, mystic and wonderful. The long loose garments come trailing behind him. With amiable looks, he approaches Marpessa.)

Apollo–Marpessa, my sweet nymph, come to me and receive one immortal kiss from me. Bathed in the freshness of the morn, you seem to be more lovely than Alpheus, the River God, in ‘wanton Arethusa’s azured arms.’ You are brighter than

‘..........................flaming Jupiter

When he appeared to hapless Semele.’

Your face is more enchanting than that of Helen for whom a thousand ships were launched to burn the topless towers of Ilium. Choose between Idas and myself –a mortal or an eternal lover. Be my spouse, my beloved wife, and you will enjoy elysian happiness of the immortals. (springs to embrace her)

(A sound of thunder is heard and from the Olympian heights comes Zeus with his magic wand. He steps between Apollo and Marpessa and speaks in a calm and dignified tone. He assumes paternal fondness towards the fresh, virginal daughter of Nature.)

Zeus–(to Apollo) Let her decide for herself, Don’t be in haste and sully her pure and guileless heart. She should have the freedom of selecting her own lord.

Apollo–(obeys in meek silence–exit God Zeus–turning to Marpessa) Gentle lady, now is the time for you to decide. Yours is the history of a flower in the air and you are as rich as is the rose. The rose, the queen of all flowers, casts its magic spells all round, but fades away too soon. What is its history but that of a single moment? It is the nature of human beauty to grow pale and stale after the first intoxicating period of love is over. Human love itself is fleeting and it is as evanescent as a bubble that bursts or a foam that fades away in the twinkling of an eye. You, paragon of loveliness, you could not have been created by God thus to be an object of momentary dalliance.

Marpessa–Immortal God, your praise of me is too magnificent and eloquent. I am a mortal, susceptible to all weakness and I shall be no fitting companion to you.

Apollo-Do not disparage yourself thus. For love many great goods have taken upon themselves even the shapes of beasts. Jupiter became ‘a bull, and bellowed’, the green Neptune transformed himself into a ram and bleated. There is nothing unnatural or debasing about my seeking your hand. Your beauty is exceptional and for winning your love I would willingly undergo a metamorphosis, be it into a swineherd or an ordinary individual.

Marpessa-Too generous and benign. Mighty lord, I am painfully aware of the limitations of earthly longings and their futility. I do not cherish even the glimmering notion of obtaining and retaining eternal happiness and everlasting joy. I do not aspire to immortality, for contentment is the root cause of all happiness.

Apollo-(smiles) Love sought is good, but given unsought is better. Be more ambitious and extend your imagination over the ever-green fields of Paradise. You will behold there pellucid streams,

‘An ampler ether, a diviner air,

And fields invested with purpureal gleams.’

I cannot endure the thought of your withering away into nothingness. Earthly love is frail. Man courts you for his entertainment and deems you a toy. When your face loses its freshness, its glossy surface, indicating youth, health and cheer, then will you be neglected. The beauty being sipped, the lover is disappointed and gropes in vain for the rosy cheeks that first fanned his desire and led him to ecstatic moments. Life on earth is dull and unprofitable and I will carry you above the world, there to partake of my joy.

Idas–Marpessa, what Apollo says is true. But a mortal is a mortal and since it is in ‘women to pity rather than to aspire’ I will lay bare my thoughts before you. I love you not because you possess a face that stirs the bosom to madness and infatuation, but because there is a sublime grandeur about you which suggests to me surprisingly mysterious thoughts, thoughts that the winds have failed to convey to me. Your voice is more melodious than the unseen chorus sung by spirits. Your face is familiar, yet strange, and in this dark and ugly world you are my dazzling star, the anchor and purest guide of my heart. Your looks reveal vistas of infinite thought and you are a perfect woman to warm, to comfort and command. You are more of a spirit, with something of angelic light.

Marpessa–Beloved Idas, your words kindle in me a perpetual longing for you.

Apollo–You seem to be incorrigible and inflexible. You are failing to conjure up before your mind’s eye the felicity of immortal life. Come with me. We two will dance merrily in heaven, accompanied by gay looking nymphs. As we run in jocund spirits, mortals will gape and gaze at you in bewilderment and surprise. You will be endowed with all supernatural powers and you will be my queen, my darling and my seraph.

Marpessa–If you will take me as your bride, I shall be deprived of one noble heritage of mortals–that is, sadness. ‘Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.’ Even from my early years I have been melancholic. Life with no perils, no hardships and no mishaps is no life at all. Trials and tribulations bring out the inward spirit of a human being and they test the unflinching resolve and tenacity of individuals. If life is one round of incessant joys, what thrill, what charm can it have? Our laughter is always interspersed and inter-woven with tears and that rich gift is not possessed by you, immortals.

Apollo–I pity your ignorance and dogged contentment with human life, with its ills and sufferings.

Marpessa–As I grow old and infirm, you will be still young, as fresh as on the day you were born. It will be a displeasing phenomenon to watch you blooming and without any change from day to day. Mortal that I am, with the lapse of years, I shall grow old and lose my charm. Then I should try to captivate you by little devices and artifices. But if I marry Idas, we two will live like two inseparable friends and in old age we will feel delight by looking at our children lisping and prattling. We stand against bitter winds and unforeseen misfortunes, linked hand in hand and leaning cheek to cheek. He will not despise me in my old age and we will wander over hills and dales, watch the farmers reaping the harvest or idle away our time at some village festivity. So shall we live and though the glamour of the first secret kiss that I bestow upon him be rare in later years, yet he will not forsake me, for he too grows old deprived of all his former agility and strength.

Idas–Exquisite Marpessa, fine words. We shall live in friendship and experience the wear and tear of human life. Through sadness we will ennoble ourselves and lead a calm life.

Marpessa–Farewell to you mighty God. Bear with the little frailties of your children.

Apollo–(coldly) Be it so.

Idas–Now can I dream of a millennium, a golden age. In your company time fleets away, affliction withers away and your looks will always be a source of comfort to me. If you stand by me, what care I whether empires be ruined, or the world itself be engulfed in a deluge?

Marpessa–(holding his hand warmly) Idas, don’t extol me. I am no supernatural being endowed with extraordinary gifts. Nature will be our home. Oh, what a nice fragrance! What lovely music, what dancing of the playful insects! The birds are smiling at us. We will sing and dance, skip and play and leave the world to groan and to be weary. If music be the food of love, let us sing and sing–play on

Marpessa, Idas (sing in unison)

“The lark is on the wing

The snail is on the thorn:

God is in His Heaven–

All’s right with the world”

(Curtain)

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