ACT II

SCENE I. A broad forest glade, woodman's hut at one
side with half-door; Foresters are looking to their
bows and arrows, or polishing their swords.
Foresters sing (as they disperse to their work).
There is no land like England

Where'er the light of day be;
There are no hearts like English hearts
Such hearts of oak as they be.
There is no land like England
Where'er the light of day be;
There are no men like Englishmen
So tall and bold as they be.

(Full Chorus.)

And these will strike for England
And man and maid be free
To foil and spoil the tyrant

Beneath the greenwood tree.

There is no land like England

Where'er the light of day be;

There are no wives like English wives
So fair and chaste as they be.
There is no land like England
Where'er the light of day be;

There are no maids like English maids
So beautiful as they be.

(Full Chorus.)

And these shall wed with freemen,
And all their sons be free,'
To sing the songs of England
Beneath the greenwood tree.

Robin (alone). My lonely hour!

The king of day hath stept from off his throne,
Flung by the golden mantle of the cloud,

And sets, a naked fire. The King of England
Perchance this day may sink as gloriously,
Red with his own and enemy's blood- but no!
We hear he is in prison. It is my birthday.

I have reign'd one year in the wild wood. My mother,
For whose sake, and the blessed Queen of Heaven,
I reverence all women, bade me, dying,
Whene'er this day should come about, to carve
One lone hour from it, so to meditate
Upon my greater nearness to the birthday
Of the after-life, when all the sheeted dead
Are shaken from their stillness in the grave
By the last trumpet.

Am I worse or better?
I am outlaw'd. I am none the worse for that.
I held for Richard, and I hated John.

I am a thief, ay, and a king of thieves.

Ay! but we rob the robber, wrong the wronger,
And what we wring from them we give the poor.
I am none the worse for that, and all the better
For this free forest-life, for while I sat
Among my thralls in my baronial hall

The groining hid the heavens; but since I breathed,
A houseless head beneath the sun and stars,

The soul of the woods hath stricken thro' my blood, The love of freedom, the desire of God,

The hope of larger life hereafter, more

Tenfold than under roof. (Horn blown.)

True, were I taken
They would prick out my sight. A price is set
On this poor head; but I believe there lives
No man who truly loves and truly rules

His following, but can keep his followers true.
I am one with mine. Traitors are rarely bred
Save under traitor kings. Our vice-king John,
True king of vice-true play on words—our John
By his Norman arrogance and dissoluteness,

Hath made me king of all the discontent

Of England up thro' all the forest land.

North to the Tyne: being outlaw'd in a land
Where law lies dead, we make ourselves the law.

ACT IV

SCENE I. A forest bower, cavern in background. Sun

rise.

King Richard. What shouts are these that ring along the wood?

Friar Tuck (coming forward). Hail, knight, and help us. Here is one would clutch

Our pretty Marian for his paramour,

This other, willy-nilly, for his bride.

King Richard. Damsel, is this the truth?

Marian. Ay, noble knight.

Friar Tuck. Ay, and she will not marry till Richard come.

King Richard (raising his vizor). I am here, and I am he.

Prince John (lowering his, and whispering to his It is not he - his face- tho'

men).

like

No, no! we have certain news he died in prison.
Make at him, all of you, a traitor coming

In Richard's name it is not he not he.

very

(The men stand amazed.)

Friar Tuck (going back to the bush). Robin, shall

we not move?

Robin. It is the King

Who bears all down. Let him alone awhile.

He loves the chivalry of his single arm.

Wait till he blow the horn.

Friar Tuck (coming back). If thou be king, Be not a fool! Why blowest thou not the horn?

King Richard. I that have turn'd their Moslem crescent pale

I blow the horn against this rascal rout!

(Friar Tuck plucks the horn from him and blows. Richard dashes alone against the Sheriff and John's men, and is almost borne down, when Robin and his men rush in and rescue him.)

King Richard (to Robin Hood). Thou hast saved my head at the peril of thine own.

Prince John. A horse! a horse! I must away at

once;

I cannot meet his eyes. I go to Nottingham.
Sheriff, thou wilt find me at Nottingham.

[Exit.

Sheriff. If anywhere, I shall find thee in hell. What! go to slay his brother, and make me

The monkey that should roast his chestnuts for him! King Richard. I fear to ask who left us even

now.

Robin. I grieve to say it was thy father's son. Shall I not after him and bring him back?

King Richard. No, let him be. Sheriff of Nottingham. (Sheriff kneels.)

I have been away from England all these years,
Heading the holy war against the Moslem,
While thou and others in our kingless realms
Were fighting underhand unholy wars.

Against your lawful king.

Sheriff. My liege, Prince John

King Richard. Say thou no word against my brother John.

Sheriff. Why then, my liege, I have no word to say.

King Richard (to Robin). My good friend Robin, Earl of Huntingdon,

For Earl thou art again, hast thou no fetters

For those of thine own band who would betray thee? Robin. I have; but these were never worn as yet, I never found one traitor in my band.

Our forest games are ended, our free life,
And we must hence to the King's court. I trust
We shall return to the wood. Meanwhile, farewell
Old friends, old patriarch oaks. A thousand winters
Will strip you bare as death, a thousand summers
Robe you life-green again. You seem, as it were,