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No wonder the French nation is gay; it is their method of showing their gratitude for the country that gave them birth. Finally the woman and girl reached the pool in the woods which Nona had once named "the pool of Melisande," and Eugenia had afterwards called "the pool of truth."
The Pelléas theme, sung by two flutes, opens the brief introduction to the second act. It is repeated, interwoven with harp arpeggios. Immediately preceding the entrance of Pelléas and Mélisande a muted horn, two flutes, two oboes, and harp sound a chord of singularly liquid quality one of those fragmentary effects in the invention of which Debussy is so curiously happy.
The 'cellos intone the Mélisande theme as Pelléas tells her that he has never seen anyone so beautiful as she; the theme of Ecstasy follows in the strings, horns, and wood-wind, forte; the theme of The Shadows returns as Pelléas again invites her into the darkness beneath the trees; there is a dolorous hint of the Mélisande theme as she says that she is happy, yet sad.
In this theatre, which produced Carmen in 1875, Manon in 1884, and the Roi d'Ys in 1888, were played the principal dramas of M. Bruneau, as well as M. Charpentier's Louise, M. Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande, and M. Dukas's Ariane et Barbebleue. It may seem astonishing that such works should have found a place at the Opéra-Comique and not at the Opera.
The last act opens with a dolorous phrase derived from the variant of the Mélisande theme noted on page 82 of the piano score. It is played by the violas, with harp accompaniment.
"I like it," she said, with a queer shake in her voice. "Don't you, Elizabeth?" I liked it so much that I felt it wise to hide my pleasure in a pretense of indifference. "Well, it is original to say the least." But it was more than original, it was poetic. It was Melisande in the wood one of Sinding's haunting melodies, an old Saga caught and fixed in color and carving.
The characters are these: ARKËL, King of Allemonde PELLÉAS & GOLAUD, half-brothers, grandsons of ARKËL MÉLISANDE, an unknown princess; later the bride of GOLAUD LITTLE YNIOLD, Son of GOLAUD by a former marriage GENEVIÈVE, Mother of PELLÉAS and GOLAUD A PHYSICIAN Servants, Beggars, etc. The opening scene is in a forest, in an unknown land. It is autumn.
Mélisande is entrapped by her hair, which is caught in the branches of a tree. "What are you doing here?" asks Golaud. They are confused, and stammer inarticulately. "Mélisande, do not lean so far out of the window," cautions her husband. "Do you not know how late it is? It is almost midnight. Do not play so in the darkness. You are a pair of children!" He laughs nervously. "What children!"
"Oh, dearest child, do you realize the privilege you have? Think of actually living so close to a poet that you become a part of his inspiration. Dear little Joy " Mrs. Harmsworth-Jones was one of the nicest, kindest, fattest people that ever lived, and furthermore, she had taken Joy, all by herself, to a performance of "Pelleas and Melisande" only the spring before.
"Black and pink, were they not, when you took them?" "Of course. And then I forgot that I had them. When I undressed, they must have rolled on to the carpet. Melisande found them this morning when she was making the room ready for me to dress. That was just after she came back from bringing you my first letter. I was bewildered. I doubted.
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