17. My Sue

[Leopold’s observatory, the following morning.]

[Morning’s cold shafts have pierced the observatory. Dust hangs thickly in the air and every trace of the night-spirits has been scrubbed by the coming of the dawn. Curled in a ball and covered over by his robe, LEOPOLD sleeps beside his telescope. Now, interrupting the stillness, comes LORD PORKEO through some distant door; he sings as he enters.]

PORKEO.
Tra la la, li la lo,
A’ merrymaking I must go!
Tra la la, lo la long,
I jig and I swig whilst singing this song:

I once saw as I moseyed
A meadow of yellow posies.
I gathered them up and thought of thy face.

The way that they shineth
Makes me swoon and pineth
And self-abuse in public place
Bringing me to a state of disgrace.

O!
Tra la la la la la lee!
And tra la la la la la lye!
A’ trey la la la la la lee,
And tra la la la la la lo,
I’m manacled in the public square
For giving Onan’s due
For you,
My Sue!

[PORKEO finishes his song and accepts uproarious applause from an imaginary audience.]