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111ἅπανθ᾽ ὁ μακρὸς κἀναρίθμητος χρόνος φύει τ᾽ ἄδηλα καὶ φανέντα κρύπτεται: κοὐκ ἔστ᾽ ἄελπτον οὐδέν, ἀλλ᾽ ἁλίσκεται χὠ δεινὸς ὅρκος χαἰ περισκελει̂ς φρένες. Sophocles: Ajax 646In the Name of Time. A Tragedy
Michael Field
2πολλά βροτοίς έστιν έδουσιν γνώναι. πρίν ιδείν δ ', ουδείς μάντις των μελλόντων, ό τι πράξει. *In the Name of Time [Winter's Tale IV Cho. ] *3ἅπανθ᾽ ὁ μακρὸς κἀναρίθμητος χρόνος φύει τ᾽ ἄδηλα καὶ φανέντα κρύπτεται: κοὐκ ἔστ᾽ ἄελπτον οὐδέν, ἀλλ᾽ ἁλίσκεται χὠ δεινὸς ὅρκος χαἰ περισκελει̂ς φρένες. Sophocles -- Ajax 646*
224

PersonsPersons

5

Act I*

3IOnward. 161.

Act I Scene 1Scene

June 25. 1895 - August -Paris. A Hall in the Royal Palace.
Carloman is pacing backward + forward: he pauses by a crucifix set up at the further end of the hall.
Carloman*
He said wwWho laid His life down on the cross,,⟨:⟩
*
So will I be a King. I will possess in sooth
The great Rrreality. I war ++and  govern,
I can strike hard asaslike⟨as⟩  Charles the Hammerer;
*
Men say I have my father's qualities,
And in the brief months of my sovereignty
The infidelin fidelin fidel  has recognised my blood:
Have made the throne phantasmal. I have felt
In Zacharias*,,,  the great Pope,,,  a forceforcepowerforce
That spreads,,,  like spring across the world. No more
Will I be petty marshalmarshallmarshall  to a crew
That hack + murder, while the royal faces
Of wandering mMmartyrs scintillate + thrill.
There is a glorious bBbetterness at work.
Amid the highways + the solitudes;
I would be with it -- in obscurity,
4IINo matter! -- with the rrsriveriver* as it shapes
Its cistern in the hills, or where the wind
First draws its silver volumes to a voice:
Behind, at the beginning, from within!
2⟨How shall I face him⟩3
A cry, a prayerprayerpang-- what shall respond to it,72.
Who help me? I have fiery thoughts of God;;,
I would attempt HhHHim; i; i. In the wilderness
*
May beMay beMaybe  He will unbosom.
*
AttendantAttendantServant
Consul,  the AaArchbishop
Of Mentz would see you..
*
Carloman
My spirit leaps within me to be born,
Beholding you.
4⟨W. /⟩5
Boniface
My son, the Holy Father
Receives you joyously.
Living, unscathed, to give Him everything
One has, to pour one's soul into His lap,
To let Him play upon one as the wind,
To feel His alternations...!
Boniface
Carloman,
Your childlike transport shall be surely blest;blest;blessed:
Yet in the convent there are bitter hours
Boniface
The holy  brethren chauntchauntchant  in unison
About the cloisterFor hours within the chapel; there is buzz
About the cloister like a hive of bees,..
*
There have been hermits! Might I live alone,
I could breathe unrepiningly the while
It pleased God to keep silence. I would tame
Some wistful, kingly beast to roam with me,
And we would wait HHhHis pleasure. Boniface,
6x Ere you renounced it. C. Scanned the heir of Clovis Drawn like a senseless idol in his car. You judge unworthily. God bade me come Up highe, to Him on a battlefield Where I was victor. it was in the night; I moved about among my sleeping men I heard them shout for triumph in their dreams, It was enough. Yes, all is vanity The pride of life, of youth, even life itself There is no vanity in life, life utters (with sudden passion) W. 7
And travelled,-- for His sake a wayfarer,--
Boniface
Carloman
Great nobles of the East, + all my service*
Boniface
Thou speakest truth, my son;, --;  there are some souls
Loved of the Lord as Paul in Araby
*
With whom one must not meddle.,.  In good time
You will exalt the Church::;  meanwhile your brother
Who has a tighter grip of circumstance
Than you —
He is short-sighted, politic,
External in his bent. I lead the charge
In battle, I forsee the combinations
Of foreign forces::;  he is good at siegesiege,sierge,
And all the hectoring process of delay;..
He is not like my father. That great fight
At Tours----!  I feel the onslaught in my blood;
*
It never can run sluggish
Boniface
Had you seen
The heir of Clovis  King Chilperic's* wreatheéed waggon in the streets!
You should have looked a last time on the world,
Ere you renounced it. All is vanity
Carloman*
Drawn like a senseless idol in his car!
*
Boniface*
Carloman
There is no vanity in life,;;  life utters
Unsparing truth to us,;, --  there is no marklineline
Or recordof her  in our bodiesyy  of hernewher  printing
What makes thethisthe  show out in the streets so vile
Is that it blazons forth the lie that youthhonouryouth,youth,
A show of death whencer ncere  life should radiate
Is vanity. A;A⟨a⟩. A. And if I now fling off
The honourable titles of my state,,
Consul,,  + Patriarch, it is not because
I have not nobly borne them: by my sword
The ccChurch hasthss  been defended, + the corn
*
That bows in shocks about your monasteries,
Bows down above the battlefieldsbattlefieldsbattle fields  I won.
Boniface
(aside)  A sweep of piety
CarlomanFrom Boniface. || Wilt thou find martyrdom10 A sweep of piety Beyond my censure. C. Boniface you have The liefe of martydom — Yes, I must flush You have — O were I worthy_ B My beloved I pray God take no care about my death So He will guid you to Him, when your hour Shall come — I have no vision of your endNot wantedBut do not cloud for that. Were repented All would be well — the thing you call my soul Flees like a sly girl who escapes pursuit From but oh the burthen To justify to Pepin my intent, To speak of it! the thing you call my soul Flees! º*11The path of life choosing to be a monk,
Boniface
Carloman9
dr. f. p. [?]
In Pepin's eyes. He will not understand
Boniface
My son, confession
Is just the pain of seeing a torch stagger
th' uncomprehending confines of the dark.
Speak out to Pepin.
Carloman
Yes, but not today,
When straight from the procession of that cursed
Do-nothing Chilperic
Boniface
Set your purpose forth
At once, +let him freely misconceive.
Take your shame meekly. Do not let your eyes
Grow wild +hostile.
10VII. I have a burthen,I have a burthen,Now's must face my brother. Would he come
Boniface
Carloman
Boniface
Let;LetSet  your purpose forth.
At once, + let him freely misconceive.:
Carloman
Boniface
Take your shame meekly. Do not letyouryr.your  eyes
Grow wild + hostile.!
Pepin
Woden, what a sceneceneight!
*
Will rid us of the calf. We pull together
*
In right food sortpartpart, fraternal, taking pride
Each in the other's excellence;;:  ere long
The Pope will pour his oil upon our heads
*
To nourish our short curls.
Carloman
He has the power
11VIIIOf making kings??
14
Wait till he seek us. Frankland is his hope
Against the Lombards. wait. and by + my e[?]
That something that we lack to give our strength
Supremacy --
15
Pepin
Liutbrand,  the Lombard winced
*
Before him, + resigned the exarchite
*
And he who can unimpoverish maymaycanmay  endow.
Carloman
Of Zacharias: I am bound for Rome.
Pepin*
Wait till he seek us as a suppliant, then
We twain canwill prwill pr  offer him our dutiful,,
Strong swords, + keep S..t.  Peter's realm intact;
*
While, inin, as  inreturn,,  that gracious influence,
That something that we lack to give our strength
Supremacy, shall be poured down on us.
Carloman
None wrests them from me.?.
Pepin
Are you clean gone mad??!
Become a monk !-- Y!Yy, you, c-- C,cConsul, pPPatriarch!
Our mother had been Christian scarce a year
Before your birth,,  + haply took the priest
12IX16*
Of pottage.
P Free at blows! You go too far.
I loved you as a boy + set my teeth
Of pottage or.
*
Pepin Dam you!
But own it.
Give a fellow truth:
Don't muttle and demand apology.
You have our father's temper: that is the test!
Why should we part, when we have pulled together
In right goodfashionsoul. I loved you from a boy
And set my teeth
Against a rare, sweet craziness that took you
In certain moods. You need a keeper then
I know the secret, how to humour you
And weave your projects in my policy
17
Too much into her privacy. By Thor......--
*
Carloman
You own me son of Christendom's great guard,
Ere you again draw unimperilled breath..!
I, Carloman, your elder, the first-born
Of Charles Martel,,  of my own choice renounce
My portion in his kingdomkingdomhonours. Own my birthright--,!
Pepin
Carloman
Pepin
Against a rare, sweet craziiyness that tookookakes  you
In certain moods; y. Y-- you need a keeper then..:
Carloman
Pepin
Carloman(wincing)Be tolerant⟨Be tolerant⟩18* T'will be cold work without you -- Geneviva For me to govern -- What say Boniface* Oh — he clxxxxx[?] -- No matter -- Hold fast to your birthright man -- Don't trust me with temptation. In the convent What would you see but men that cook + pray And wash their clothes, base ignominious slaves No royal pageants. (xxxxx)xxxxxxx[?] the king the fading prowess, the blood-tangled mane19
Pepin
Fie, fie! GenevivaFie, fie,) Geneviva*
Carloman
Pepin
Carloman
Pepin
CarlomanCarloman
Pepin
Don't trust me with temptation. In the convent; guard yr. rights,. Geneviva
CarlomanCarloman
PepinPepin20You drew The crowd back with your ungiy shouts[?], + made me Almost a king in majesty. Henceforth*
C. Or is brutish work,
Bearing this long parade. I hope to hear
No more of disaffection or revolt
For a long while. To know they have a king
Should be sufficient for the mob; to know
There is a God indifferent to its whims
Gives the world courage of its natural awe.
Ask me no more for counsel -- your good brother
Has conduct of the state, + for the man
Of singing creatures in the streets 'tis well
Sometimes forgive them sight of my long curls.
P. But, sire my brother craves dc.
*
So I expose these curls.
Pepin But, Sire, my brother
Craves freedom, + entreats of me to take
His duties, +his honours, being summoned,
He holds by God to a monastic life
21
Carloman
Carloman
Pepin
Carloman
Pepin
Carloman
Pepin
CarlomanCarloman
Pepin
.[to Chilperic]   Sire, you looklooklook ⟨ are⟩  weary. May. May, yet  we crave the grace
Of a brief audience??.
Chilperic
Business! I can brook,149
No more of these distractions. Your good brother
Relieves me of all business. I can hear
Scarcely the people's clamour when they shout,
And I am shy at facing them. To know
There is a god indifferent to its whims
Gives the world courage of its natural awe;,;
So I expose these curls,--;  that duty done,,
Pepin
But, sire, my brother has persuaded me,
22
Of doing, being nothing that attracts
I fear too rapidly this deniant fad
Is taking fashion: for our royalty
It is the happy + pre-destined lot
But for an untamed youth whose pleasures still ⟨ bléssedness⟩
Are running in the current of his blood
Such choice is of ill-omen.
23
IfSoSo ⟨ If⟩  you consent, to take on me his burthens,
His duties, + his honours, being summoned,,,
He holds by God,,  to a monastic life.
Chilperic
Of dignity;--! --  but I applaud his sense:.:
The convent is a place for peace of mind::;
One has no interruption, one may watch
The gold-fish in the fountain half a day,
If so one will; +,,  though the prayers are long,
One grows accustomed to them as to meals
And looks for their reccs⟨c⟩urrence [turning to Carloman]15XIII
[suspiciously]  But, my Consul,
With you it cannot be the luxury
Of doing nothing that attracts. F: f. For us
It is the happy + predestinedpre-destinedpredestined  lot..;
But for an untamed youth whose pleasures lie⟨still⟩stillstill
Are running in the current of his blood,,
Such choice is of ill-omen.
Carloman
Courage, sire,
Is constant industry towardtowardfor  happiness.
When I become a monk --
Chilperic
Nay, no confession,
No putting reasons to your overlordover lordOverlord.
We leavegiveleave  you a ⟨this ⟩astout leader for your wars
,24
Why this is a mere pageant + a masqué
A slow, decrepit, dolorous old man
Who has no sight of Heaven, is imbecile
And dropping into clay. I will not let
This show dishearten me. God beckoned Moses
Up to the Holy Mount, a simpleton [called
Had climbed there +learnt nothing, one is
Of one divines while yet a great way off
The carnage, the burthen of the Heavenly voice. --
[enter Geneviva
II And here is Geneviva
Now I can be alone, sole preparation
The soul can make when she would be with God,
The cloistral peace; -- and all this vanity
Removed
(enter Geneviva)
Does Geneviva come now⟨? ⟩
III
And for this folly, I must see my choice
Rated with his! I cannot bear the shame,
The vile comparison. ⟨I cannot bear the shame +⟩Iwill escape
At once, in silence, without taking leave.
Who has no clinging hope to meet again
Should never say farewell. My exaltation,
My joy is the certainty that time
Will never draw me back to any wish,
To any fondness I am flinging off --
25*
He has no sight of God, is unbeate;
And dropping into clay. I should not am dismissed
By this old dotard with a sigh
Of envy who forgx [?]⟨o⟩ the battlefield,
The council-chamber, the sweet clang (arms
For just a pricking wonder army heart.
A knowledge I would give to secrecy,
Plunging⟨ And plunge⟩ ~ headlong in the Ear of God.
Am I not chosen? As the hidden spring
26,
(to Carloman](to Carloman)[to Carloman]   And you, your liberty. What use of it
You make is of no moment to the world,
And does not rouserouseraise  my curiosity,
Who for myself have found in meat + drink,
In sleep, + long, long abstinence from care
The pleasure proper to me. Pepin, come!
Carloman
He has no sight of God, is imbecile
And dropping into clay!..  I should not let
This show dishearten me; but I have suffered
A vulgar tongue to tell what from my lips16XIII
Alone is truth,;--  that as the hidden spring,
Restless at searchsearchtouch  of the diviner's rod,
SoSoIs  dragged through to the surface by his spells,
I am discovered + borne upward, made
The answer to some perilous appeal:;: *
  Is Geneviva come to me
Geneviva
Now the dull monk has left you!!!  Raise your head. 17XIV⟨head;⟩head!
I have been taking thought how best to trim
27
All is abandoned ... Geneviva here!
x You leave me lonely
Carloman You have seen
The new books of the missals, wonderful
With gold + crimson, in a corner quite[?]
Below the letters there is set a saint
Full of a deep, new beauty. You may note
How all the world seems new ... the things that⟨ crowd⟩
Upon the plantain have a perfect life
28
My beauty for you. Boniface was slow
In giving counsel,,;  slowly I took up,
Handled, + dropt my jewels. Of a sudden,
When Pepin's voice was heart upon the stair,1711.
(With haste)  Thus, hasty on my bosom. Come to me..,
xxxx[?]My lord,you owe me many hours of love,
In vain. You do not see me when I singin the choirwhen I sing,
You miss the marks of music in my face,
fxxxx[?]You do not love the hunt, + you have never
xx[?]Ridden beside me in the morning light.
You see me but as now when I am vexed
And haughty for caresses.

About this transcription

TextIn the Name of Time : a digital edition
AuthorField, Michael.
Extent Note: partial: part of Act I.
ResponsibilityEdited by Elsa Kienberger.
EditionTaylor edition
SeriesTaylor Editions: Manuscript
Additional notes

TIFF2

Folio

Transcribed from: Bodleian Libraryshelfmark MSS. Eng. poet. c. 36 and shelfmark MSS. Eng. poet. d. 110, Images scanned from Bodleian Library shelfmark MSS. Eng. poet. c. 36 , shelfmark MSS. Eng. poet. d. 110 , and shelfmark MSS. Eng. poet. d. 108 .

This is a born-digital scholarly edition of the first half of Act I of Michael Field's verse drama In the Name of Time from the Papers of Michael Field. Shelf mark: MSS. Eng. poet. c. 36 and MSS. Eng. poet. d. 110 Katherine Bradley (b.1846-d.1914) and Emma Cooper (b.1862-d.1913) wrote together under the pseudonym Michael Field. Literary- and life-partners, the couple published verse dramas and collections of poetry between the years 1881 and 1913. Their will donated all of their writing materials, including journals and unpublished works, including In the Name of Time to the Bodleian Libraries, British Library, and the Fitzwilliam Museum. Thomas Sturge Moore, their literary executor published this play in 1919 under their posthumous directive along with an edition of parts of their journals. This is the first new edition of any part of the play since its first public appearance 101 years ago. The transcription was encoded in TEI P5 XML by Elsa Kienberger.

About the source text

Bibliographic information

Identification

Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS. Eng. Lett. e. 33

Contents

Papers of 'Michael Field', arranged into five groups:

  • Correspondence of 'Michael Field', 1867-1926
  • Drafts, manuscripts and proofs of their plays, a few in prose (which are unpublished), the majority in verse, c. 1874-1918
  • Drafts and manuscripts of their verse, 1861-1912
  • Miscellaneous papers, mainly of personal and biographical interest, 1832-1924
  • Later papers relating to 'Michael Field', 1890-1970

History

1832-1970.

Text versionsMSS. Eng. poet. d. 110a (MSS46229a); MSS. Eng. poet. d. 110b (MSS46229b); MSS. Eng. poet. c. 36 (MSS46231)
Languageeng

Editorial statement

About the encoding

Created by encoding transcriptions from manuscripts and compiling them into an edition.

Editorial principles

Treatment of the base text:

I. Manuscripts and Versioning History
  • MSS. Eng. poet. d. 110 contains two versions of Act I of In the Name of Time , which I have labeled 110a and 110b to distinguish between the earlier and later version respectively
  • MSS. Eng. poet. d. 109 also contains versions of Act I. I have not included this version in my transcriptions or genetic edition because Michael Field explicitly writes at the end of the first version ' Not to be printed'. I have also intentionally excluded loose papers belonging to another version of the first pages of Act I that were glued to the end pages of the MSS. Eng. poet. d. 110 notebook.
  • Bradley and Cooper take turns writing, transcribing, and editing versions of the play. Bradley's handwriting is large and loopy, whereas Cooper's is smaller and does not interlock as much. MSS. Eng. poet. d. 110a is written entirely in Bradley's hand, MSS. Eng. poet. c. 36 is written entirely in Cooper's hand, and MSS. Eng. poet. d. 110b is written in Bradley's hand with Cooper's notes. Footnotes in the MSS. Eng. poet. d. 110b transcription indicate when the hand changes.
  • Black lettering indicates black ink, red lettering indicates brown ink, gray lettering indicates pencil, and blue hyperlinks indicate syntax, word, and sentence differences between manuscript versions.
II. Spelling and Syntax
  • Epsilon (ε) usage standardized to e
  • Overwritten text cannot be displayed through XML mark-up and have been replaced with deletions in this file. Below are the instances of overwrites in MSS. Eng. poet. c. 36 (not present in other versions) with the letter overwritten in parantheses:
    • - (s)river [folio p. 6]
    • (h)His [folio p. 7]
    • a(r)rested [folio p. 9]
    • (c)Consul [folio p. 11]
    • (o)Own [folio p. 11]
  • Em dashes are not possible in XML mark-up and have been replaced with two en dashes
  • MSS. Eng. poet. c. 36 has extra spaces between words and punctuation. For example: 'So will I be , a king .' instead of 'So will I be, a king.'. As a fair copy, the intention behind the increased space (not present in MSS. Eng. poet. d. 110a and MSS. Eng. poet. d. 110b) might be an effort to increase comprehension for the printing process, so that typesetters can easily distinguish punctuation. Since we can never know the authorial intention, these spaces should be recorded in a responsible transcription. Due to the time constraints of this project, however, I minimized coding the individual choices between manuscripts by removing the spaces around the punctuation in MSS. Eng. poet. c. 36. Please see images of this MSS for an accurate representation of Michael Field's concept of space on the page.
III. Defining the Act
  • Due to the time constraints of this edition, I have only transcribed until Geneviva's first monologue in each of the versions. Not only is this location roughly halfway through the first act regardless of the version, it gives readers the chance to read a female character.

This edition would not be possible without the help and guidance of the professors and administrators at the University of Oxford and the transcendent work of Michael Field. I am entirely responsible for any errors or mistakes in this edition.

Publication information

Publisher
  • Taylor Institution Library, one of the Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford,
Imprint 2020.
Identifiers
AvailabilityXML files are available for download under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images are available for download under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.