Colombine

Description

About this book

"Colombine : a fantasy : and other verses by Reginald Arkell" is a verse drama with a companion collection of poems, written in the early 20th century. The book blends a fanciful one-act play, drawing on commedia dell’arte figures, with lyrical and dialect pieces. The play opens on Cissbury Beacon, where an old laborer, Dan’l, and the boy Nathan’l muse about fairy rings and the Roman past before Colombine appears. She expects a duel for her favor, but Harlequin and Pierrot propose arbitration, pulling Dan’l in as judge. Harlequin dazzles with promises—the Land of Yesterday and a crystal that reveals the future—while Colombine gently refuses both nostalgia and fortune-telling. Pierrot offers little but honest love, which she chooses; Harlequin flounces off, and Colombine and Pierrot depart together as night falls, leaving Dan’l half-believing he has seen a fairy.