Francesca: a play in verse
By David Wisehart
ACT ONE, SCENE 1
Courtyard of the Polenta Castle. FRANCESCA and GUIDO DA POLENTA.FRANCESCA: A marriage? What marriage? My marriage?
GUIDO: Yes.
FRANCESCA: But Papa--
GUIDO: But nothing. I gave my vow.
FRANCESCA: The vow was mine to give.
GUIDO: Nevertheless,
Francesca, it is done.
FRANCESCA: Undone. So now
You've harvested a husband?
GUIDO: With success.
FRANCESCA: What duke did you endeavor to endow?
Have I been sold to Florence or Milan?
GUIDO: He's not a man you know.
FRANCESCA: I've known no man.
GUIDO: You are eighteen. It's time that you were wed.
You will not sacrifice your life to Vesta.
I have arranged to give your maidenhead
Unto a future head of state, podesta
Of Rimini, to put this war to bed.
FRANCESCA: An enemy?
GUIDO: Giovanni Malatesta.
FRANCESCA: Malatesta? You'd send me to the slaughter?
GUIDO: Francesca, do your duty as my daughter.
FRANCESCA: How many of my kinsman has he killed?
How many of my brothers has he slain?
How many of our graveyards have we tilled,
Till only graven images remain?
How could you?
GUIDO: You will wed as I have willed.
FRANCESCA: Then write my will, Papa. Why must I feign
A bride?
GUIDO: For peace. To bridle battle plans.
To banish civil war --
FRANCESCA: With wedding banns?
GUIDO: I'm doing this for you.
FRANCESCA: For me?
GUIDO: For all
Of us.
FRANCESCA: Is this the vengeance that you swore?
GUIDO: I have foresworn all vengeance.
FRANCESCA: I recall
You once detested Malatesta, your
Archenemy.
GUIDO: No more. Your wedding hall,
Your vows of love, will put an end to war.
No lust for blood, when blood unites in lust.
There's what we want to do, and what we must.
FRANCESCA: Why must I?
GUIDO: You are tempting my displeasure.
FRANCESCA: Resist temptation.
GUIDO: Why do you dispute
My cause?
FRANCESCA: Because this funeral cortege, your
Idea of a wedding march, this mute
Parade of mal-attested troths, mismeasure
Of marriage, leads abruptly to a brute.
Please, call this off.
GUIDO: Entreaties lead to treasons.
If you would take my honor, give me reasons.
FRANCESCA: I love a man.
GUIDO: Remand him. Rise above
Your passions.
FRANCESCA: Passions are a storm.
GUIDO: Then change your
Affections with the weather.
FRANCESCA: But --
GUIDO: This love --
If it is love, Francesca -- is a danger.
FRANCESCA: You know him.
GUIDO: Who?
FRANCESCA: He is the captain of
Your guard.
GUIDO: Ermanno? Treat him as a stranger.
FRANCESCA: He is my love.
GUIDO: No man is what he seems.
You are of age. Forget these childish dreams.
No more outlandish books. No more romances.
I never should have given you a teacher.
You read too much. No more exchanging glances.
You must constrain your passions. Find a preacher.
Confess your sins. Have faith in second chances.
Repent. Kneel down to Mary and beseech her.
No more romantic nonsense. Do you hear?
You are not Lancelot and Guinevere.
FRANCESCA: Ermanno wants to marry me.
GUIDO: He told
You this?
FRANCESCA: We talk of nothing else.
GUIDO: Then find
A better subject.
FRANCESCA: He would have me, hold
Me, love me, leave our sacred love enshrined.
For him, I'd shout my vows a thousandfold.
GUIDO: Hush.
FRANCESCA: God is love. Our love brings God to mind.
We're meant to love. It's written the Bible.
GUIDO: Renounce this love.
FRANCESCA: Turn Scripture into libel?
Love brands the heart and cauterizes cares.
Love baptizes by fire, not by water.
Love smolders low, to catch us unawares.
Love bakes the clay, makes kings of every cotter.
Love kindles spirit, answering our prayers,
And lets the raging man forgive his daughter.
God gave us love, that we might know Him well,
To let us taste of Heaven while in Hell.
GUIDO: Francesca, you're no peasant in a hovel,
Who mixes, matches, marries as she may,
Who spends her days with ox and plow and shovel,
And spends her nights as passion's protegée.
FRANCESCA: But --
GUIDO: Lords and ladies are constrained. True love'll
Remain the proper subject for a lay,
For troubadours with bawdy bailiwicks.
When passion calls, we follow politics.
FRANCESCA: Papa, you've met my husband?
GUIDO: On the field.
FRANCESCA: What is he like?
GUIDO: The man can ride a horse
And lead an army, fight with sword and shield.
FRANCESCA: He's handsome?
GUIDO: You will tell him so, of course.
FRANCESCA: Without a lie?
GUIDO: He took a wound, but healed.
FRANCESCA: And so shall I.
GUIDO: You'll marry? No remorse?
FRANCESCA: On one condition.
GUIDO: Name it.
FRANCESCA: Let me see
Him first, before we wed.
GUIDO: So shall it be.
FRANCESCA: Then I will pledge fidelity to foe,
Pretend to love the man I've sworn to hate,
Put on the veil and wear a false trousseau.
I'll lie to him, and he on me. I'll sate
My passion with secret tears, never show
My state of mind, be mindful of my state.
GUIDO: In passion lies the ruin of us all.
Some fall in love, but if we love, we fall.
(Blackout.)
Francesca: a play in verse © 2007 by David Wisehart. All Rights Reserved.
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