Chapter L: Ave Maria! gratia plena, Dominus

Voice of the Page (from the foot of the tower.) My lord, my lord, they call for you at court!

(The knight wakes. It is now quite dark.)

There is a tourney toward; your enemy Has challenged you. My lord, make haste to come!

(The knight rises and gropes his way toward the stairs.)

K. I will make haste. Await me where you are.

(To himself.) There was a lady on this tower with me----

(He glances around hurriedly but does not see her in the darkness.)

Page. My lord has far to ride before the dawn!

K. (To himself.) Why should I tarry?

(To the page.) Bring my horse and shield!

(He descends. As the noise of his footfall on the stairs dies away, the lady gropes toward the stairway, then turns suddenly, and going to the ledge where they have sat, she throws herself over the parapet.)

CURTAIN.

[End of Helen of Troy And Other Poems.]

Sara Teasdale

Sara Teasdale was born in St. Louis, Missouri, where she attended a school that was founded by the grandfather of another great poet from St. Louis--T. S. Eliot. She later associated herself more with New York City. Her first book of poems was "Sonnets to Duse" (1907), but "Helen of Troy" (1911) was the true launch of her career, followed by "Rivers to the Sea" (1915), "Love Songs" (1917), "Flame and Shadow" (1920) and more. Her final volume, "Strange Victory", is considered by many to be predictive of her suicide.

It is interesting to note that in Teasdale's Collected Works, about half of the poems in this volume--some more justly than others--have been excluded, and most of the rest have been slightly changed. Most of the poems from this volume which were selected to be included in "Love Songs" also had some minor changes. This edition preserves the original readings, but they are not to be considered authoritative.

End of Project Gutenberg's Helen of Troy and Other Poems, by Sara Teasdale