Branksome Hall - Slogan Yearbook (Toronto, Ontario Canada)

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18 The Branksome Slogan Sir Walter Eialeigii: It ' s the tobacco plant, Ben . You should come to America and see it for yourself. It ' s a wonderful country, Ben, a country with a future. The potentialities of the country are enormous, — boundless. Think of it — America — a vast, free land without stain or taint, a veritable treasure chest. One day it will become England ' s most priceless jewel, and the sooner His Majesty realizes it and sends colonists abroad, the better. (Exit Raleigh.) Ben Jonson: There gees a real man, a noble, restless spirit. What a strange mixture is there, of the poet, the scholar, the ad- venturer. Sir Harry : The court is buzzing like an angry beehive about your out- rageous new ideas. Sir Francis. Typists at Work

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The Branksome Slogan 17 An Evening in the Mermaid Tavern Voice: Searching- the annals of the past, we find no age to exceed that of Eh ' zabeth in glory; it has been compared to the glorious age of Pericles in Athens. It was a time of dreams, of un- bounded enthusiasm; it was a time when England ' s explorers were searching the new world for the fountain of youth, and her poets were creating literary works that were young forever. The most popular meeting place of the period was the Mer- maid Tavern. There the wits and writers would gather at all all hours of the day and night. This scene takes place in the year 1609, several years after the death of Good Queen Bess. ' ' Souls of poets dead and gone, What Elysium have ye known Happy fields or mossy cavern Choicer than the Mermaid Tavern. (A gong is heard.) (There is talking and laughter. A piano is softly playing ' ' Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes. Glasses are clinking merrily.) Sir Walter Raleigh : Come on, Annie, give us a song, won ' t you ? Annie: (giggling coyly) I couldn ' t really, sirs. I (Loud protests. Annie is pushed to the piano.) Sir Walter Raleigh: The author will accompany you in person. Give her a chord, Ben. (Annie sings the first half of Drink to Me Only raucously. The men join in the last half enthusiastically.) You were superb, wonderful Annie! (He kisses her.) Annie: (slapping him with spirit) ' Ere, ' Ere — you can ' t do that to me. Sir Walter. I ' m a respectable married woman, I am. But, h ' if I wsis tv enty years younger, dearie (Sir Harry, a rotund and jolly courtier, coughs and splutters.) Ben Jonson: (laughing heartily) Having a little trouble Sir Harry? Raleigh, exactly what is in this obminable weeds- you brought back from the New World ?

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The Branksome Slogan 19 Sir Francis Bacon: Let their tongues wag. It will be choice scandal for a few days, and then I will be forgotten for some new intrigue or love affair. Sir Harry: Perhaps. But you ' ve been airing your views rather strongly lately, especially when you denounced Aristotle ' s philosophj as a childish delusion which had produced no fruit. I hear that one of the Oxford professors took offence, and tried to bribe George Chapman to lampoon you in his next play. Sir Francis Bacon: (laughing nastily) I think our worthy professor should be advised not to make any rash moves. Perhaps he has forgotten Sir Francis Bacon ' s nimble tongue. Ben Jonson: Here come our inseparable pair, Beaumont and Fletcher. (Laughter.) Ah! and here ' s gentle Will at last. You ' re late tonight. Will Will Shakespeare: Fve been at the Globe. We were having a reading of Macbeth. Banquo has come down with smallpox and Fm hav- ing a devil of a time with our new man. Ben Jonson: (rapping on the table) Ann-i-ee. A round of Canary wine. And Where ' s your good husband, Jacko? Annie: ' e ' ll be here presently, sir. Six canaries coming up h ' in a jiffy, sir. Ben Jonson : Will, Sir Francis was expatiating over his favorite theory when you came in. It seems to me that, although he seeks to discover Truth, he also seeks to monopolize it, eh ? Shakespeare : Perhaps. But then, much can be said on both sides. Sir Francis Bacon: The trouble with you five gentlemen is that you busy yourself uselessly with romance and ancient philosophy. Ben Jonson: (Spluttering) And who are you to set yourself on a ped- estal above the classics? Why dammit, men, the philosophers and dramatists of Greece and Rome have created a wealth of literature that has spanned the centuries. English drama will per- ish dismally, and soon, if this flagrant disregard of the classics and this careless mixing of comedy and tragedy continue. I . . .