Le Roi en Jaune

Along the shore the cloud waves break,
The twin suns sink behind the lake,
The shadows lengthen
In Carcosa.

Strange is the night where black stars rise,
And strange moons circle through the skies,
But stranger still is
Lost Carcosa.

Songs that the Hyades shall sing,
Where flap the tatters of the King,
Must die unheard in
Dim Carcosa.

Song of my soul, my voice is dead,
Die thou, unsung, as tears unshed
Shall dry and die in
Lost Carcosa

"Cassilda's Song," Act I, Scene II

Document Structure

Clauses

The play consists of two acts.

References

Fragments of the play appear in Robert W. Chambers collection of short stories under the same name. Chambers has regularly refused to discuss where he got access to the text.

Publication Status

The play is not presently in publication, nor are any copies listed in publicly available catalogues.

Historical Details

Background

Two dramaturgical scholars have stated the play was shocking for its time, in that it incorporated a cast consisting solely of persons of color. Another claims it was the first true surrealist piece of art.

History

Believed to have been initially published in 1890 in France, this is contradicted in other sources, which state that the play was translated into French around that time, though none of these sources identify the original language.

Legacy

The only known production of the play was in a community theater in Pont Saint-Esprit in 1903. The only evidence that the play took place is a handmade poster, kept with a canvas-colored dress at the National Center of Stage Costume in Moulins. The site where the theater existed is a burnt-out ruin and no one in the town will speak of it.

Medium

Vellum / Skin

Authoring Date

1890 (suspected)