by Anne Carson
Chorus:
Choral interlude followed by Act IV.
How many pins can dance on the head of a god?
How many kings can you pin to the dance in my head?
How many dances left stains on the woman he was?
How many stains kept him quiet, O Agave!
[enter Agave exultant and covered in blood, carrying the head of Pentheus impaled on a lacuna]
Agave:
O!
Chorus:
Speak, Agave.
Agave:
I’ve come with the pins.
Chorus:
We welcome the pins.
Agave:
I stained them as prizes.
Chorus:
We prize them as kings.
Agave:
How many kings—
Chorus:
did you rip the cheeks off?
Agave:
How many cheeks—
Chorus:
did you pin to the delicate mouth of the mother?
Agave:
How many mouths did she need—
Chorus:
to finish the meat?
Agave:
Not so many.
Chorus:
A happy number?
Agave:
A clever number.
Chorus:
A realistic number?
Agave:
A frolic of a number.
[Agave raises lacuna high in one hand then lowers it gradually as her mood changes]
But then again,
actually, not much of a number.
Chorus:
If you think about it?
Agave:
A dismal little number.
Chorus:
If you study it closely?
Agave:
Just a sob of a number.
Chorus:
O Agave!
Agave:
What?
Chorus:
Your sob has a name.
Agave:
How many names can I pry from the head of a pun?
Chorus:
Just one.
Agave:
O my son!
[Agave tosses lacuna to audience with Pentheus’ head attached]
Last updated August 19, 2022