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ACT II

No. 20: FINALE ACT II
"Oh joy! our chief is saved"

MIDI File [92KB, 11' 46"]

Women.
Oh joy! our chief is saved
	And by Hillarion's hand;
The torrent fierce he braved,
		And brought her safe to land!
		For his intrusion we must own This doughty deed may well atone!

Princess.
	Stand forth ye three, Whoe'er ye be,
And hearken to our stern decree!

Hilarion, Cyril & Florian.

Have mercy, O Lady – disregard your oaths!

Princess.
I know not mercy, men in women's clothes!
	The man whose sacrilegious eyes Invade our strict seclusion, dies. Arrest these coarse intruding spies!

They are arrested by the 'Daughters of the Plough'.

Women.

Have mercy, O Lady, – disregard your oaths.

Princess.

I know not mercy, men in women's clothes!

Cyril & Florian are bound.

Hilarion (Thomas Round) appeals to Princess Ida (Victoria Sladen)

Hilarion.
Whom thou has chained must wear his chain,
	Thou canst not set him free,
He wrestles with his bonds in vain
	Who lives by loving thee!
If heart of stone for heart of fire,
	Be all thou hast to give,
If dead to my heart's desire,
	Why should I wish to live?

Cyril, Florian & Women.
	Have mercy, O Lady.

	Hilarion.
No word of thine – no stern command
	Can teach my heart to rove,
Then rather perish by thy hand,
	Than live without thy love!
	A loveless life apart from thee Were hopeless slavery, Were hopeless slavery.

Hilarion.		Women.
If kindly death will set me free, Why should I fear to die?
		Have mercy!
If kindly death
		Have mercy!
Will set me free, If kindly death will set me free, Why should I fear,
	Why should I fear to die?

He is bound by two of the attendants, the three gentlemen are marched off.
Enter Melissa.

Melissa.
Madam, without the castle walls
	An armèd band
Demand admittance to our halls
	For Hildebrand!
All.
	Oh, horror!
Princess.
Deny them! We will defy them!
All.
	Too late – too late! The castle gate
Is battered by them!

The gate yields. Soldiers rush in. Arac, Guron, and Scynthius are with them,
but with their hands handcuffed.

Soldiers.
Walls and fences scaling,
	Promptly we appear;
Walls are unavailing,
	We have entered here.
Female execration
	Stifle if you're wise.
Stop your lamentation,
	Dry your pretty, pretty eyes!

Women.
Rend the air with wailing,
	Shed the shameful tear!
Walls are unavailing!
	Man has entered here!

Women.				Soldiers.
Rend the air with				Walls and fences scaling,
					Promptly we appear;
		wailing		Walls are unavailing,
					We have entered here.
Shed the				Female execration
		shameful tear!			Stifle if you're wise.
Man has				Stop your lamentation,
		entered here!			Dry your pretty eyes!
Walls are una-				Oh, stop your lamentation,
		vailing,			Dry your pretty, pretty eyes!
Man				Female execration
	has				Stifle if you're wise.
		entered		Stop your lamentation,
			here!		Dry your pretty eyes!

Enter Hildebrand.

Princess.

Audacious tyrant, do you dare
To beard a maiden in her lair?

Hildebrand.

Since you inquire,
We've no desire
To beard a maiden here, or anywhere!

Soldiers.

No, no. We've no desire
To beard a maiden here or anywhere!
No, no, no, no!

Rutland Barrington as King Hildebrand
in the original production, 1884

Hildebrand.
	Some years ago, No doubt you know
(And if you don't I'll tell you so)
	You gave your troth Upon your oath
To Hilarion my son.
	A vow you make You must not break,
(If you think you may, it's a great mistake),
	For a bride's a bride Though the knot were tied
		At the early age of one!
	A vow you make You must not break,
(If you think you may, it's a great mistake),
	For a bride's a bride Though the knot were tied
		At the early age of one!
			And I'm a peppery kind of King, Who's indisposed for parleying To fit the wit of a bit of chit, And that's the long and the short of it!
Soldiers.
			For he's a peppery kind of King, Who's indisposed for parleying To fit the wit of a bit of chit, And that's the long and the short of it!

Hildebrand.
	If you decide To pocket your pride
And let Hilarion claim his bride,
	Why, well and good, It's understood
We'll let bygones go by –
	But if you choose To sulk in the blues
I'll make the whole of you shake in your shoes.
	I'll storm your walls, And level your halls,
		In the twinkling of an eye!
	But if you choose To sulk in the blues
I'll make the whole of you shake in your shoes.
	I'll storm your walls, And level your halls,
		In the twinkling of an eye!
			For I'm a peppery Potentate, Who's little inclined his claim to bate, To fit the wit of a bit of a chit, And that's the long and the short of it!
Soldiers.
			For he's a peppery Potentate, Who's little inclined his claim to bate, To fit the wit of a bit of chit, And that's the long and the short of it!

Lilley & Sandford — Barbara Lilley as Princess Ida & Kenneth Sandford as King Hildebrand, 1977

Guron (James Conroy-Ward), Arac (Michael Rayner)
and Scynthius (Jon Ellison), 1977

Arac, Guron & Scynthius.
We may remark, though nothing can
		Dismay us,
That if you thwart this gentleman,
		He'll slay us.
We don't fear death, of course – we're taught
		To shame it;
But still upon the whole we thought
		We'd name it.
Scynthius.
	Yes!
Guron.
		Yes!
Arac.
			Yes!
All.
	Better perhaps to name it.

Arac, Guron & Scynthius.
Our interests we would not press
		With chatter,
Three hulking brothers more or less
		Don't matter;
If you'd pooh-pooh this monarch's plan
		Pooh-pooh it,
But when he says he'll hang a man,
		He'll do it.
Scynthius.
	Yes!
Guron.
		Yes!
Arac.
			Yes!
All.
	Devil doubt he'll do it.

1954 Production

Princess.

Be reassured, nor fear his anger blind,
His menaces are idle as the wind.
He dares not kill you – vengeance lurks behind!

Arac, Guron & Scynthius.

We rather think he dares, but never, never mind!

Hildebrand.	Arac, Guron & Scynthius.
I rather think I dare, but never, never mind!	No! no! no! Never, never mind!
Enough of parley, as a special boon,	No! no! Never, never mind!
We give you till tomorrow afternoon;
	No! no! Never, never mind!
Release Hilarion, then, and be his bride Or you'll incur the guilt of fratricide!

Princess.
To yield at once to such a foe
	With shame were rife;
So quick! away with him, although
	He sav'd my life!
That he is fair, and strong, and tall Is very evident to all, Yet I will die, Yet I will die, before I call
	Myself his wife!

Ida & Hildebrand — Princess Ida (Victoria Sladen) snubs King Hildebrand (Fisher Morgan), 1954

Princess.	Others.
	Oh, yield at once, 'twere better so, Than risk a strife! And let the Prince Hilarion go – He saved thy life!
That he is fair, and strong, and tall	Hilarion's fair, and strong, and tall –
Is very evident to all,	A worse misfortune might befall –
Yet I will die, will die before I call	It's not so dreadful after all,
Myself his wife!	To be his wife!

Princess.
Though I am but a girl, Defiance thus I hurl,
	Our banners all On outer wall
We fearlessly unfurl.

All.
Though she is but a girl, Defiance thus to hurl,
	Our banners all On outer wall
We fearlessly unfurl.

Women.	Men.
	Their banners all,
Our banners all,
	On outer wall,
On outer wall,
We fearlessly unfurl.	They fearlessly unfurl.

Princess.	Others.
To yield at once to such a foe With shame we're rife;	Oh, yield at once, 'Twere better so,
So quick! away with him, although He sav'd my life!	Oh, yield, Oh, yield at once!
That he is fair, and strong, and tall	Hilarion's fair, and strong, and tall –
Yet I will die, will die before I call	It's not so dreadful after all,
Myself his wife!	To be his wife!

Women.	Men.
Defiance!	Their banners all,
Defiance!	On outer wall,
Defiance thus we hurl!	They fearlessly, fearlessly unfurl.
Defiance!	Their banners all,
Defiance!	On outer wall,
Defiance!	They fearlessly unfurl.
Defiance!	Their banners
Defiance!	They fearlessly unfurl.
Defiance!	Defiance!
Defiance!	Defiance!

The conclusion of Act II in 1954

The Princess stands, surrounded by girls kneeling. Hildebrand and soldiers
stand on built rocks at back and sides of stage. Picture.

END OF ACT II

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