Second Plays

Alan Alexander Milne

Knopf, 1922 - Drama - 266 pages

Popular passages

Page 153 - The moon shines bright : — In such a night as this, When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees, And they did make no noise ; in such a night, Troilus, methinks, mounted the Trojan walls, And sigh'd his soul toward the Grecian tents, Where Cressid lay that night.‎

Page 20 - IT wAS a summer evening; Old Kaspar's work was done. And he before his cottage door Was sitting in the sun; And by him sported on the green His little grandchild Wilhelmine. She saw her brother Peterkin Roll something large and round. Which he beside the rivulet In playing there had found; He came to ask what he had found. That was so large and smooth and round. Old...‎

Page 64 - He has his back to the door as DINAH comes in. She is nineteen, very pretty, very happy, and full of boyish high spirits and conversation. DINAH. Hullo ! PIM. [Turning round.] Ah, good morning, Mrs. Marden. You must forgive my — er DINAH. Oh I say, I'm not Mrs. Marden. I'm Dinah. PIM. [With a bow.] Then I will say, Good morning, Miss Diana. DINAH. [Reproachfully.] Now, look here, if you and I are going to be friends you mustn't do that. Dinah, not Diana. Do remember it, there's a good man, because...‎

Page 89 - DINAH. Well, that's rather disappointing of you. I saw myself fascinating your aged father at the same time that you were fascinating George. I should have done it much better than you. As a George-fascinator you aren't very successful, sweetheart. BRIAN. What am I like as a Dinah-fascinator? DINAH. Plus six, darling. BRIAN. Then I'll stick to that and leave George to Olivia. DINAH. I expect she'll manage him all right. I have great faith in Olivia. But you'll marry me, anyhow, won't you, Brian?...‎

Page 100 - OLIVIA. Well then? GEORGE. Well, naturally I — you mustn't Oh, this is horrible ! [He comes back to his desk as the others come in. OLIVIA. [Getting up.] George and I have had some rather bad news, Aunt Julia. We wanted your advice. Where will you sit? LADY MARDEN. Thank you, Olivia. I can sit down by myself. [She does so, near GEORGE. DINAH sits on the sofa with OLIVIA, and BRIAN half leans against the back of it. There is a hush of expectation. . . .] What is it? Money, I suppose. Nobody's safe...‎

Page 83 - Landseer for old gentleman in Bayswater. Design antimacassar for middle-aged sofa in Streatham. Earn a living for you, Dinah. DINAH [giggling]. Oh, Brian, you're heavenly. What fun we shall have when we're married. BRIAN [stiffly]. Sir Brian Strange, RA, if you please, Miss Marden. Sir Brian Strange, RA, writes: "Your Sanogene has proved a most excellent tonic. After completing the third acre of my Academy picture 'The Mayor and Corporation of Pudsey...‎

Page 106 - ... own home. Doomed to travel. GEORGE (angrily). I've had enough of this. Do you mean all this nonsense? OLIVIA. I do mean, George, that I am in no hurry to go up to London and get married. I love the country just now, and (with a sigh) after this morning, I'm— rather tired of husbands. GEORGE (in a rage). I've never heard so much— damned nonsense in my life. I will leave you to come to your senses. (He goes out indignantly.) (OLIVIA, who has forgiven him already, throws a loving kiss after...‎

Page 94 - But then we could really get married, and we shouldn't be living in — living in — whatever we were living in before. GEORGE. I can't understand you, Olivia. You talk about it so calmly, as if there was nothing blameworthy in being divorced, as if there was nothing unusual in my marrying a divorced woman, as if there was nothing wrong in our having lived together for years without having been married. OLIVIA. What seems wrong to me is that I lived for five years with a bad man whom I hated. What...‎

Page 111 - OLIVIA. [Smiling to herself.] I shouldn't quite say that, Dinah. [She stands up and shakes out the curtains. DINAH. I say, aren't they jolly? OLIVIA. [Demurely.] I'm so glad everybody likes them. Tell George I'm ready, will you? DINAH. I say, is he going to hang them up for you? OLIVIA. Well, I thought he could reach best. DINAH. Righto! What fun! [At the windows.] George! George! [To OLIVIA.] Brian is just telling George about the five shillings he's got in the Post Office. . . . George! GEORGE....‎

Page 153 - In such a night Stood Dido with a willow in her hand Upon the wild sea banks and waft her love To come again to Carthage.‎

About the author

A prolific writer, A. A. Milne published 35 plays, 6 novels, 3 books of verse, 3 collections of short stories, and several works of nonfiction, including sketches for Punch magazine, of which he was the assistant editor. Nevertheless, his fame rests on four books for children: two of whimsical stories about the stuffed animals in his son's bedroom (Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner) and two of verse (When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six). All are considered classics and have been included among the Children's Literature Association's Touchstone books as the best in children's literature, on the Lewis Carroll Shelf list, and on the Choice magazine list of books for the academic library. He also wrote Toad of Toad Hall, a play based on Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, and Once upon a Time: A Fairy Tale for Grown-ups, both of which are sometimes included in volumes with the four classic works. Milne had a son, Christopher Robin, who served as the model for the little boy in his children's books.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Second Plays
• Author: Alan Alexander Milne
• Publisher: Knopf, 1922
• Original from: the University of Michigan
• Digitized: May 6, 2005
• ISBN: 1421944073, 9781421944074
• Length: 266 pages
• Subjects: Drama / General