Orlando Page #2

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I kissed thee ear. I killed thee.

No way but this.

By killing myself...

To die upon a kiss.

Terrific play.

She will. She will be here.

Help. Help.

The treachery of women.

Ehm, ehm.

Ehm.

Good morning.

It's now time to awake.

To such a fine morning.

From such a long refreshing sleep.

Six days you say?

- Tomorrow will be the seventh.

This pleasing

shining wondrous day.

The Lord Orlando...

...is sleeping.

I can find only three words

to describe the female sex.

None of which are worth expressing.

When in disgrace with

fortune and men's eyes.

I all alone be weep

my outcast state.

and trouble heaven...

...with my bootless cries.

and look upon myself...

...and curse my fate.

Aah.

Poetry.

Get off.

Get off.

Off. Off.

Thank you.

I was thinking.

Sitting here, as we are.

It's odd. Considering how

common the name of Greene is,

that the Greene family came

over with the conquerer.

And is in fact,

from the highest

nobility in France.

Oh.

Oh, really?

Unfortunately the Greens came

down in the world and erm..

We've little more than leave our

name to the burrower of Greenwich.

And now Mr Greene to the subject

closer to my heart and yours.

The sacred subject of poetry.

Aah.

You know, I once broke a lady's fan

in my enthusiasm to find a rime.

Enthusiasm can be dangerous.

As a youth I was often mocked for

my love of poetry and solitude.

Tragic.

And of course Mr

Greene, your works...

...hold pride of

place in my library.

Uh-uh.

To me there is a

certain glory about...

...a man who can

express in words...

...those great emotions

that others can only feel.

Oh.

You know I scarcely dared to

ask to make your acquaintance...

...for I feel that I can

offer nothing in return.

I'm sure that any

writer would be more...

...than willing to

except your hospitality.

Oh, do you think so?

If we would speak of poetry...

...then let us first

speak of poets lives.

Do you know how

'Hamlet' was written?

Written while bailiffs were

pounding on Shakespeare's door.

No wonder so many of his

plays were falsey too.

Aw, I'm sure you're right.

How can a...How can a genius work

when he cannot pay the bills?

When I say work...

Erm, work you see... is...

...people who haven't laboured

in this way don't understand...

...that real poetry neither

easy nor easily produced.

Then I feel that I can

understand a little Mr Greene.

Because I have myself

been so righteous...

...to attempt to

write some poems...

Did I hear a mouse's squeak?

I must say I didn't hear any.

That's saying you're

in good health.

My own my lord have been so bad

it's a marvel I'm still alive.

I have an enlarged heart, a

spleen and a diseased liver.

Above all there are sensations in

my spine which defy description.

There is one nob about a third from

the top which burns like fire.

Second from the

bottom...cold as ice.

Sometimes I feel as if a

thousand wax tapers were alight.

And people were throwing

fireworks inside my brain and I...

I'm so sensitive.

I can feel a rose leaf

through my mattress.

In short.

I'm a piece of machinery

so finely made...

...and curiously put together...

...that it confounds me to think

That I've only sold

115 copies of my poem.

But it has to be said this

is largely due to what...

...can only be descried as

a conspiracy against me.

But Mr Greene surely

your work is...

...widely admired by

all the young poets?

Including dare I say it...

All young writers will turn

at any trash that will sell.

It hurts me to say it.

For I love literature,

as I love life.

But the art of poetry

is dead in England.

You think so?

Of course... erhm...

That I have pension...

...of...

...300 pounds a year?

paid...

...quarterly...

I'd live for literature alone..

I'd dedicate myself

to fine writing.

But...sadly...

It's necessary to have

a pension to do it.

About 300 pounds a year.

Paid quarterly.

Mr Greene, I wonder

would you be so kind...

...as to give me your

opinion of my efforts?

By all means... If

I can find the time.

For time is money.

And I must write to eat.

We're not in the pursuit of art.

Of course I will arrange for the

small matter of the 300 pounds.

To be paid...

Quarterly?

As you wish.

- My dear friend.

'Death of a lover'.

Listen to this my friend.

This is the great work

Of my gracious host,

the soon to be,

congratulate me

friend, my pension...

'His heart was broken'

'cleft in two'

'abandoned, lost'

'what could he do?'

'And into this he retched cried'

'She said she loved me'

'But she lied'

'And so betrayed'

'He fell and died'.

Try as he might.

This gracious noble lord.

Who lifts his pen.

And thinks he then can write.

Cannot, for who can pen.

When he is bored.

The mind of leisure

only can be trite.

This pretty knight who

feebly lifts his sword

To make a witless thrust

against his doom.

Is foiled by what his

noble birth affords

Dogs, dogs more dogs

and far too many rooms.

So fortune smiles on

those that own the land

And frowns at the trivia

from the dabblers hand.

I would like you to drop this in

the midst of the filthiest manure.

And Mr Greene's pension, sir?

Pay it, quarterly.

Abroad?

As your ambassador, your majesty.

Ambassador?

I see, once the balance of power...

...has been established

here in Europe.

We must certainly turn

our attention to the east.

Well Orlando.

I fear you will be quite

starved of conversation...

...and amusement in such a

remote corner of the world.

However, I believe they

have an interest in...

...horticulture.

I'd like you to bring

them some tulips.

POLITICS:

My dear sir, please

accept my hospitality.

Feel that my home is your home.

And call upon me as you would a

brother, for any of your needs.

You really are to kind.

And I must say I'm

most impressed by...

...your command of

the English language.

I hadn't expect... I mean...

I wasn't led to believe...

Why...are you here?

I'm here as a representative

of his majesty's government.

Yes?

It has been said to me that the

English make a habit

of collecting...

...countries.

Oh. We have no designs upon

your sovereignty at all.

No one at all.

You would assist us...

...in defence against

mutual enemies?

So Orlando, I salute your country.

To England, green

and pleasant land.

And...

And I salute your country...

So...

...spacious...

And...

So... warm.

Ah, yes.

To the glorious sun which shines so

brightly on this bountiful earth.

Quite so.

Erm.

Yes.

Yes.

To beauty of nature.

And of course to

the beauty of women.

And the joys of love.

I see.

You're here as a casualty

of love, my friend.

They're not like us fellows.

Women...

...it is said...

...man should...

...reverence his guarding

lord who created them.

And from a single being

created of like nature his mate.

then from those two...

...scattered like seeds...

...countless men...

...and women.

So Orlando...

Let us now drink to brotherly love.

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