CHRISTUS: A MYSTERYINTROITUSThe ANGEL bearing the PROPHET HABAKKUK through the air.PROPHET. Why dost thou bear me aloft, O Angel of God, on thy pinions O'er realms and dominions? Softly I float as a cloud In air, for thy right hand upholds me, Thy garment enfolds me!ANGEL. Lo! as I passed on my way In the harvest-field I beheld thee, When no man compelled thee, Bearing with thine own hands This food to the famishing reapers, A flock without keepers!The fragrant sheaves of the wheat Made the air above them sweet; Sweeter and more divine Was the scent of the scattered grain, That the reaper's hand let fall To be gathered again By the hand of the gleaner! Sweetest, divinest of all, Was the humble deed of thine, And the meekness of thy demeanor!PROPHET. Angel of Light, I cannot gainsay thee, I can but obey thee!ANGEL. Beautiful was it in the lord's sight, To behold his Prophet Feeding those that toil, The tillers of the soil. But why should the reapers eat of it And not the Prophet of Zion In the den of the lion? The Prophet should feed the Prophet! Therefore I thee have uplifted, And bear thee aloft by the hair Of thy head, like a cloud that is drifted Through the vast unknown of the air! Five days hath the Prophet been lying In Babylon, in the den Of the lions, death-defying, Defying hunger and thirst; But the worst Is the mockery of men! Alas! how full of fear Is the fate of Prophet and Seer! Forevermore, forevermore, It shall be as it hath been heretofore; The age in which they live Will not forgive The splendor of the everlasting light, That makes their foreheads bright, Nor the sublime Fore-running of their time!PROPHET. Oh tell me, for thou knowest, Wherefore and by what grace, Have I, who am least and lowest, Been chosen to this place, To this exalted part?ANGEL. Because thou art The Struggler; and from thy youth Thy humble and patient life Hath been a strife And battle for the Truth; Nor hast thou paused nor halted, Nor ever in thy pride Turned from the poor aside, But with deed and word and pen Hast served thy fellow-men; Therefore art thou exalted!PROPHET. By thine arrow's light Thou goest onward through the night, And by the clear Sheen of thy glittering spear! When will our journey end?ANGEL. Lo, it is ended! Yon silver gleam Is the Euphrates' stream. Let us descend Into the city splendid, Into the City of Gold!PROPHET. Behold! As if the stars had fallen from their places Into the firmament below, The streets, the gardens, and the vacant spaces With light are all aglow; And hark! As we draw near, What sound is it I hear Ascending through the dark?ANGEL. The tumultuous noise of the nations, Their rejoicings and lamentations, The pleadings of their prayer, The groans of their despair, The cry of their imprecations, Their wrath, their love, their hate!PROPHET. Surely the world doth wait The coming of its Redeemer!ANGEL. Awake from thy sleep, O dreamer? The hour is near, though late; Awake! write the vision sublime, The vision, that is for a time, Though it tarry, wait; it is nigh; In the end it will speak and not lie.PART ONETHE DIVINE TRAGEDYTHE FIRST PASSOVERIVOX CLAMANTISJOHN THE BAPTIST. Repent! repent! repent! For the kingdom of God is at hand, And all the land Full of the knowledge of the Lord shall be As the waters cover the sea, And encircle the continent!Repent! repent! repent! For lo, the hour appointed, The hour so long foretold By the Prophets of old, Of the coming of the Anointed, The Messiah, the Paraclete, The Desire of the Nations, is nigh! He shall not strive nor cry, Nor his voice be heard in the street; Nor the bruised reed shall He break, Nor quench the smoking flax; And many of them that sleep In the dust of earth shall awake, On that great and terrible day, And the wicked shall wail and weep, And be blown like a smoke away, And be melted away like wax. Repent! repent! repent!O Priest, and Pharisee, Who hath warned you to flee From the wrath that is to be? From the coming anguish and ire? The axe is laid at the root Of the trees, and every tree That bringeth not forth good fruit Is hewn down and cast into the fire!Ye Scribes, why come ye hither? In the hour that is uncertain, In the day of anguish and trouble, He that stretcheth the heavens as a curtain And spreadeth them out as a tent, Shall blow upon you, and ye shall wither, And the whirlwind shall take you away as stubble! Repent! repent! repent!PRIEST. Who art thou, O man of prayer! In raiment of camel's hair, Begirt with leathern thong, That here in the wilderness, With a cry as of one in distress, Preachest unto this throng? Art thou the Christ?JOHN. Priest of Jerusalem, In meekness and humbleness, I deny not, I confess I am not the Christ!PRIEST. What shall we say unto them That sent us here? Reveal Thy name, and naught conceal! Art thou Elias?JOHN.No!PRIEST. Art thou that Prophet, then, Of lamentation and woe, Who, as a symbol and sign Of impending wrath divine Upon unbelieving men, Shattered the vessel of clay In the Valley of Slaughter?JOHN.Nay.I am not he thou namest!PRIEST. Who art thou, and what is the word That here thou proclaimest?JOHN. I am the voice of one Crying in the wilderness alone: Prepare ye the way of the Lord; Make his paths straight In the land that is desolate!PRIEST. If thou be not the Christ, Nor yet Elias, nor he That, in sign of the things to be, Shattered the vessel of clay In the Valley of Slaughter, Then declare unto us, and say By what authority now Baptizest thou?JOHN. I indeed baptize you with water Unto repentance; but He, That cometh after me, Is mightier than I and higher; The latchet of whose shoes I an not worthy to unloose; He shall baptize you with fire, And with the Holy Ghost! Whose fan is in his hand; He will purge to the uttermost His floor, and garner his wheat, But will burn the chaff in the brand And fire of unquenchable heat! Repent! repent! repent!IIMOUNT QUARANTANIAILUCIFER.Not in the lightning's flash, nor in the thunder,Not in the tempest, nor the cloudy storm,Will I array my form;But part invisible these boughs asunder,And move and murmur as the wind upheavesAnd whispers in the leaves.Not as a terror and a desolation,Not in my natural shape, inspiring fearAnd dread, will I appear;But in soft tones of sweetness and persuasion,A sound as of the fall of mountain streams,Or voices heard in dreams.He sitteth there in silence, worn and wastedWith famine, and uplifts his hollow eyesTo the unpitying skies;For forty days and nights he hath not tastedOf food or drink, his parted lips are pale,Surely his strength must fail.Wherefore dost thou in penitential fastingWaste and consume the beauty of thy youth.Ah, if thou be in truthThe Son of the Unnamed, the Everlasting,Command these stones beneath thy feet to beChanged into bread for thee!CHRISTUS. 'T is written! Man shall not live by bread alone, But by each word that from God's mouth proceedeth!IILUCIFER.Too weak, alas! too weak is the temptationFor one whose soul to nobler things aspiresThan sensual desires!Ah, could I, by some sudden aberration,Lend and delude to suicidal deathThis Christ of Nazareth!Unto the holy Temple on Moriah,With its resplendent domes, and manifoldBright pinnacles of gold,Where they await thy coming, O Messiah!Lo, I have brought thee! Let thy glory hereBe manifest and clear.Reveal thyself by royal act and gestureDescending with the bright triumphant hostOf all the hithermostArchangels, and about thee as a vestureThe shining clouds, and all thy splendors showUnto the world below!Cast thyself down, it is the hour appointed;And God hath given his angels charge and careTo keep thee and upbearUpon their hands his only Son, the Anointed,Lest he should dash his foot against a stoneAnd die, and be unknown.CHRISTUS. 'T is written: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God!IIILUCIFER.I cannot thus delude him to perdition!But one temptation still remains untried,The trial of his pride,The thirst of power, the fever of ambition!Surely by these a humble peasant's sonAt last may be undone!Above the yawning chasms and deep abysses,Across the headlong torrents, I have broughtThy footsteps, swift as thought;And from the highest of these precipices,The Kingdoms of the world thine eyes behold.Like a great map unrolled.From far-off Lebanon, with cedars crested,To where the waters of the Asphalt LakeOn its white pebbles break,And the vast desert, silent, sand-invested,These kingdoms all are mine, and thine shall be,If thou wilt worship me!CHRISTUS. Get thee behind me, Satan! thou shalt worship The Lord thy God; Him only shalt thou serve!ANGELS MINISTRANT.The sun goes down; the evening shadows lengthen,The fever and the struggle of the dayAbate and pass away;Thine Angels Miniatrant, we come to strengthenAnd comfort thee, and crown thee with the palm,The silence and the calm.IIITHE MARRIAGE IN CANATHE MUSICIANS. Rise up, my love, my fair one, Rise up, and come away, For lo! the winter is past, The rain is over and gone, The flowers appear on the earth, The time of the singing of birds is come, And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.THE BRIDEGROOM. Sweetly the minstrels sing the Song of Songs! My heart runs forward with it, and I say: Oh set me as a seal upon thine heart, And set me as a seal upon thine arm; For love is strong as life, and strong as death, And cruel as the grave is jealousy!THE MUSICIANS. I sleep, but my heart awaketh; 'T is the voice of my beloved Who knocketh, saying: Open to me, My sister, my love, my dove, For my head is filled with dew, My locks with the drops of the night!THE BRIDE. Ah yes, I sleep, and yet my heart awaketh. It is the voice of my beloved who knocks.THE BRIDEGROOM. O beautiful as Rebecca at the fountain, O beautiful as Ruth among the sheaves! O fairest among women! O undefiled! Thou art all fair, my love, there's no spot in thee!THE MUSICIANS. My beloved is white and ruddy, The chiefest among ten thousand His locks are black as a raven, His eyes are the eyes of doves, Of doves by the rivers of water, His lips are like unto lilies, Dropping sweet-smelling myrrh.ARCHITRICLINUS. Who is that youth with the dark azure eyes, And hair, in color like unto the wine, Parted upon his forehead, and behind Falling in flowing locks?PARANYMPHUS.The NazareneWho preacheth to the poor in field and villageThe coming of God's Kingdom.ARCHITRICLINUS.How sereneHis aspect is! manly yet womanly.PARANYMPHUS. Most beautiful among the sons of men! Oft known to weep, but never known to laugh.ARCHITRICLINUS. And tell me, she with eyes of olive tint, And skin as fair as wheat, and pale brown hair, The woman at his side?PARANYMPHUS.His mother, Mary.ARCHITRICLINUS. And the tall figure standing close behind them, Clad all in white, with lace and beard like ashes, As if he were Elias, the White Witness, Come from his cave on Carmel to foretell The end of all things?PARANYMPHUS.That is ManahemThe Essenian, he who dwells among the palmsNear the Dead Sea.ARCHITRICLINUS.He who foretold to HerodHe should one day be King?PARANYMPHUS.The same.ARCHITRICLINUS.Then whyDoth he come here to sadden with his presenceOur marriage feast, belonging to a sectHaters of women, and that taste not wine?THE MUSICIANS. My undefiled is but one, The only one of her mother, The choice of her that bare her; The daughters saw her and blessed her; The queens and the concubines praised her; Saying, Lo! who is this That looketh forth as the morning?MANAHEM aside. The Ruler of the Feast is gazing at me, As if he asked, why is that old man here Among the revellers? And thou, the Anointed! Why art thou here? I see as in a vision A figure clothed in purple, crowned with thorns; I see a cross uplifted in the darkness, And hear a cry of agony, that shall echo Forever and forever through the world!ARCHITRICLINUS. Give us more wine. These goblets are all empty.MARY to CHRISTUS. They have no wine!CHRISTUS.O woman, what have ITo do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come.MARY to the servants. Whatever he shall say to you, that do.CHRISTUS. Fill up these pots with water.THE MUSICIANS. Come, my beloved, Let us go forth into the field, Let us lodge in the villages; Let us get up early to the vineyards, Let us see if the vine flourish, Whether the tender grape appear, And the pomegranates bud forth.CHRISTUS.Draw out nowAnd bear unto the Ruler of the Feast.MANAHEM aside. O thou, brought up among the Essenians, Nurtured in abstinence, taste not the wine! It is the poison of dragons from the vineyards Of Sodom, and the taste of death is in it!ARCHITRICLINUS to the BRIDEGROOM. All men set forth good wine at the beginning, And when men have well drunk, that which is worse; But thou hast kept the good wine until now.MANAHEM aside.The things that have been and shall be no more, The things that are, and that hereafter shall he, The things that might have been, and yet were not, The fading twilight of great joys departed, The daybreak of great truths as yet unrisen, The intuition and the expectation Of something, which, when come, is not the same, But only like its forecast in men's dreams, The longing, the delay, and the delight, Sweeter for the delay; youth, hope, love, death, And disappointment which is also death, All these make up the sum of human life; A dream within a dream, a wind at night Howling across the desert in despair, Seeking for something lost it cannot find. Fate or foreseeing, or whatever name Men call it, matters not; what is to be Hath been fore-written in the thought divine From the beginning. None can hide from it, But it will find him out; nor run from it, But it o'ertaketh him! The Lord hath said it.THE BRIDEGROOM to the BRIDE, on the balcony. When Abraham went with Sarah into Egypt, The land was all illumined with her beauty; But thou dost make the very night itself Brighter than day! Behold, in glad procession, Crowding the threshold of the sky above us, The stars come forth to meet thee with their lamps; And the soft winds, the ambassadors of flowers, From neighboring gardens and from fields unseen, Come laden with odors unto thee, my Queen!THE MUSICIANS. Awake, O north-wind, And come, thou wind of the South. Blow, blow upon my garden, That the spices thereof may flow out.IVIN THE CORNFIELDSPHILIP. Onward through leagues of sun-illumined corn, As if through parted seas, the pathway runs, And crowned with sunshine as the Prince of Peace Walks the beloved Master, leading us, As Moses led our fathers in old times Out of the land of bondage! We have found Him of whom Moses and the Prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph.NATHANAEL. Can any good come out of Nazareth? Can this be the Messiah?PHILIP.Come and see.NATHANAEL. The summer sun grows hot: I am anhungered. How cheerily the Sabbath-breaking quail Pipes in the corn, and bids us to his Feast Of Wheat Sheaves! How the bearded, ripening ears Toss in the roofless temple of the air; As if the unseen hand of some High-Priest Waved them before Mount Tabor as an altar! It were no harm, if we should pluck and eat.PHILIP. How wonderful it is to walk abroad With the Good Master! Since the miracle He wrought at Cana, at the marriage feast, His fame hath gone abroad through all the land, And when we come to Nazareth, thou shalt see How his own people will receive their Prophet, And hail him as Messiah! See, he turns And looks at thee.CHRISTUS.Behold an IsraeliteIn whom there is no guile.NATHANAEL.Whence knowest thou me?CHRISTUS. Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast Under the fig-tree, I beheld thee.NATHANAEL.Rabbi!Thou art the Son of God, thou art the KingOf Israel!CHRISTUS.Because I said I saw theeUnder the fig-tree, before Philip called thee,Believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things.Hereafter thou shalt see the heavens unclosed,The angels of God ascending and descendingUpon the Son of Man!PHAIRISEES, passing.Hail, Rabbi!CHRISTUS.Hail!PHARISEES. Behold how thy disciples do a thing Which is not lawful on the Sabbath-day, And thou forbiddest them not!CHRISTUS.Have ye not readWhat David did when he anhungered was,And all they that were with him? How he enteredInto the house of God, and ate the shew-bread,Which was not lawful, saving for the priests?Have ye not read, how on the Sabbath-daysThe priests profane the Sabbath in the Temple,And yet are blameless? But I say to you,One in this place is greater than the Temple!And had ye known the meaning of the words,I will have mercy and not sacrifice,The guiltless ye would not condemn. The SabbathWas made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.Passes on with the disciples.PHARISEES. This is, alas! some poor demoniac Wandering about the fields, and uttering His unintelligible blasphemies Among the common people, who receive As prophecies the words they comprehend not! Deluded folk! The incomprehensible Alone excites their wonder. There is none So visionary, or so void of sense, But he will find a crowd to follow him!VNAZARETHCHRISTUS, reading in the Synagogue. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. He hath anointed me to preach good tidings Unto the poor; to heal the broken-hearted; To comfort those that mourn, and to throw open The prison doors of captives, and proclaim The Year Acceptable of the Lord, our God!He closes the book and sits down.A PHARISEE. Who is this youth? He hath taken the Teacher's seat! Will he instruct the Elders?A PRIEST.Fifty yearsHave I been Priest here in the Synagogue,And never have I seen so young a manSit in the Teacher's seat!CHRISTUS.Behold, to-dayThis scripture is fulfilled. One is appointedAnd hath been sent to them that mourn in Zion,To give them beauty for ashes, and the oilOf joy for mourning! They shall build againThe old waste-places; and again raise upThe former desolations, and repairThe cities that are wasted! As a bridegroomDecketh himself with ornaments; as a brideAdorneth herself with jewels, so the LordHath clothed me with the robe of righteousness!A PRIEST. He speaks the Prophet's words; but with an air As if himself had been foreshadowed in them!CHRISTUS. For Zion's sake I will not hold my peace, And for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest Until its righteousness be as a brightness, And its salvation as a lamp that burneth! Thou shalt be called no longer the Forsaken, Nor any more thy land the Desolate. The Lord hath sworn, by his right hand hath sworn, And by his arm of strength: I will no more Give to thine enemies thy corn as meat; The sons of strangers shall not drink thy wine. Go through, go through the gates! Prepare a way Unto the people! Gather out the stones! Lift up a standard for the people!A PRIEST.Ah!These are seditious words!CHRISTUS.And they shall call themThe holy people; the redeemed of God!And thou, Jerusalem, shalt be called Sought out,A city not forsaken!A PHARISEE.Is not thisThe carpenter Joseph's son? Is not his motherCalled Mary? and his brethren and his sistersAre they not with us? Doth he make himselfTo be a Prophet?CHRISTUS.No man is a ProphetIn his own country, and among his kin.In his own house no Prophet is accepted.I say to you, in the land of IsraelWere many widows in Elijah's day,When for three years and more the heavens were shut,And a great famine was throughout the land;But unto no one was Elijah sentSave to Sarepta, to a city of Sidon,And to a woman there that was a widow.And many lepers were then in the landOf Israel, in the time of EliseusThe Prophet, and yet none of them was cleansed,Save Naaman the Syrian!A PRIEST.Say no more!Thou comest here into our SynagogueAnd speakest to the Elders and the Priests,As if the very mantle of ElijahHad fallen upon thee! Are thou not ashamed?A PHARISEE. We want no Prophets here! Let him be driven From Synagogue and city! Let him go And prophesy to the Samaritans!AN ELDER. The world is changed. We Elders are as nothing! We are but yesterdays, that have no part Or portion in to-day! Dry leaves that rustle, That make a little sound, and then are dust!A PHARISEE. A carpenter's apprentice! a mechanic, Whom we have seen at work here in the town Day after day; a stripling without learning, Shall he pretend to unfold the Word of God To men grown old in study of the Law?CHRISTUS is thrust out.VITHE SEA OF GALILEE.PETER and ANDREW mending their nets.PETER. Never was such a marvellous draught of fishes Heard of in Galilee! The market-places Both of Bethsaida and Capernaum Are full of them! Yet we had toiled all night And taken nothing, when the Master said: Launch out into the deep, and cast your nets; And doing this, we caught such multitudes, Our nets like spiders' webs were snapped asunder, And with the draught we filled two ships so full That they began to sink. Then I knelt down Amazed, and said: O Lord, depart from me, I am a sinful man. And he made answer: Simon, fear not; henceforth thou shalt catch men! What was the meaning of those words?ANDREW.I know not.But here is Philip, come from Nazareth.He hath been with the Master. Tell us, Philip,What tidings dost thou bring?PHILIP.Most wonderful!As we drew near to Nain, out of the gateUpon a bier was carried the dead bodyOf a young man, his mother's only son,And she a widow, who with lamentationBewailed her loss, and the much people with her;And when the Master saw her he was filledWith pity; and he said to her: Weep notAnd came and touched the bier, and they that bare itStood still; and then he said: Young man, arise!And he that had been dead sat up, and soonBegan to speak; and he delivered himUnto his mother. And there came a fearOn all the people, and they glorifiedThe Lord, and said, rejoicing: A great ProphetIs risen up among us! and the LordHath visited his people!PETER.A great Prophet?Ay, greater than a Prophet: greater evenThan John the Baptist!PHILIP.Yet the NazarenesRejected him.PETER.The Nazarenes are dogs!As natural brute beasts, they growl at thingsThey do not understand; and they shall perish,Utterly perish in their own corruption.The Nazarenes are dogs!PHILIP.They drave him forthOut of their Synagogue, out of their city,And would have cast him down a precipice,But, passing through the midst of them, he vanishedOut of their hands.PETER.Wells are they without water,Clouds carried with a tempest, unto whomThe mist of darkness is reserved forever.PHILIP. Behold, he cometh. There is one man with him I am amazed to see!ANDREW.What man is that?PHILIP. Judas Iscariot; he that cometh last, Girt with a leathern apron. No one knoweth His history; but the rumor of him is He had an unclean spirit in his youth. It hath not left him yet.CHRISTUS, passing.Come unto me,All ye that labor and are heavy laden,And I will give you rest! Come unto me,And take my yoke upon you and learn of me,For I am meek, and I am lowly in heart,And ye shall all find rest unto your souls!PHILIP. Oh, there is something in that voice that reaches The innermost recesses of my spirit! I feel that it might say unto the blind: Receive your sight! and straightway they would see! I feel that it might say unto the dead, Arise! and they would hear it and obey! Behold, he beckons to us!CHRISTUS to PETER and ANDREW.Follow me!PETER. Master, I will leave all and follow thee.VIITHE DEMONIAC OF GADARAA GADARENE. He hath escaped, hath plucked his chains asunder, And broken his fetters; always night and day Is in the mountains here, and in the tombs, Crying aloud, and cutting himself with stones, Exceeding fierce, so that no man can tame him!THE DEMONIAC from above, unseen. O Aschmedai! O Aschmedai, have pity!A GADARENE. Listen! It is his voice! Go warn the people Just landing from the lake!THE DEMONIAC.O Aschmedai!Thou angel of the bottomless pit, have pity!It was enough to hurl King Solomon,On whom be peace! two hundred leagues awayInto the country, and to make him scullionIn the kitchen of the King of Maschkemen!Why dost thou hurl me here among these rocks,And cut me with these stones?A GADARENE.He raves and muttersHe knows not what.THE DEMONIAC, appearing from a tomb among the rocks.The wild cock TarnegalSingeth to me, and bids me to the banquet,Where all the Jews shall come; for they have slainBehemoth the great ox, who daily croppedA thousand hills for food, and at a draughtDrank up the river Jordan, and have slainThe huge Leviathan, and stretched his skinUpon the high walls of Jerusalem,And made them shine from one end of the worldUnto the other; and the fowl Barjuchne,Whose outspread wings eclipse the sun, and makeMidnight at noon o'er all the continents!And we shall drink the wine of ParadiseFrom Adam's cellars.A GADARENE.O thou unclean spirit!THE DEMONIAC, hurling down a stone. This is the wonderful Barjuchne's egg, That fell out of her nest, and broke to pieces And swept away three hundred cedar-trees, And threescore villages!—Rabbi Eliezer, How thou didst sin there in that seaport town When thou hadst carried safe thy chest of silver Over the seven rivers for her sake! I too have sinned beyond the reach of pardon. Ye hills and mountains, pray for mercy on me! Ye stars and planets, pray for mercy on me! Ye sun and moon, oh pray for mercy on me!CHRISTUS and his disciples pass.A GADARENE. There is a man here of Decapolis, Who hath an unclean spirit; so that none Can pass this way. He lives among the tombs Up there upon the cliffs, and hurls down stones On those who pass beneath.CHRISTUS.Come out of him,Thou unclean spirit!THE DEMONIAC.What have I to doWith thee, thou Son of God? Do not torment us.CHRISTUS. What is thy name?THE DEMONIAC.Legion; for we are many.Cain, the first murderer; and the King Belshazzar,And Evil Merodach of Babylon,And Admatha, the death-cloud, prince of PersiaAnd Aschmedai the angel of the pit,And many other devils. We are Legion.Send us not forth beyond Decapolis;Command us not to go into the deep!There is a herd of swine here in the pastures,Let us go into them.CHRISTUS.Come out of him,Thou unclean spirit!A GADARENE.See how stupefied,How motionless he stands! He cries no more;He seems bewildered and in silence staresAs one who, walking in his sleep, awakesAnd knows not where he is, and looks about him,And at his nakedness, and is ashamed.THE DEMONIAC. Why am I here alone among the tombs? What have they done to me, that I am naked? Ah, woe is me!CHRISTUS.Go home unto thy friendsAnd tell them how great things the Lord hath doneFor thee, and how He had compassion on thee!A SWINEHERD, running. The herds! the herd! O most unlucky day! They were all feeding quiet in the sun, When suddenly they started, and grew savage As the wild boars of Tabor, and together Rushed down a precipice into the sea! They are all drowned!PETER.Thus righteously are punishedThe apostate Jews, that eat the flesh of swine,And broth of such abominable things!GREEKS OF GADARA. We sacrifice a sow unto Demeter At the beginning of harvest and another To Dionysus at the vintage-time. Therefore we prize our herds of swine, and count them Not as unclean, but as things consecrate To the immortal gods. O great magician, Depart out of our coasts; let us alone, We are afraid of thee.PETER.Let us depart;For they that sanctify and purifyThemselves in gardens, eating flesh of swine.And the abomination, and the mouse,Shall be consumed together, saith the Lord!VIIITALITHA CUMIJAIRUS at the feet of CHRISTUS. O Master! I entreat thee! I implore thee! My daughter lieth at the point of death; I pray thee come and lay thy hands upon her, And she shall live!CHRISTUS.Who was it touched my garments?SIMON PETER. Thou seest the multitude that throng and press thee, And sayest thou: Who touched me? 'T was not I.CHRISTUS. Some one hath touched my garments; I perceive That virtue is gone out of me.A WOMAN.O Master!Forgive me! For I said within myself,If I so much as touch his garment's hem,I shall be whole.CHRISTUS.Be of good comfort, daughter!Thy faith hath made thee whole. Depart in peace.A MESSENGER from the house. Why troublest thou the Master? Hearest thou not The flute players, and the voices of the women Singing their lamentation? She is dead!THE MINSTRELS AND MOURNERS. We have girded ourselves with sackcloth! We have covered our heads with ashes! For our young men die, and our maidens Swoon in the streets of the city; And into their mother's bosom They pour out their souls like water!CHRISTUS, going in. Give place. Why make ye this ado, and weep? She is not dead, but sleepeth.THE MOTHER, from within.Cruel Death!To take away front me this tender blossom!To take away my dove, my lamb, my darling!THE MINSTRELS AND MOURNERS. He hath led me and brought into darkness, Like the dead of old in dark places! He hath bent his bow, and hath set me Apart as a mark for his arrow! He hath covered himself with a cloud, That our prayer should not pass through and reach him!THE CROWD. He stands beside her bed! He takes her hand! Listen, he speaks to her!CHRISTUS, within.Maiden, arise!THE CROWD. See, she obeys his voice! She stirs! She lives! Her mother holds her folded in her arms! O miracle of miracles! O marvel!IXTHE TOWER OF MAGDALAMARY MAGDALENE. Companionless, unsatisfied, forlorn, I sit here in this lonely tower, and look Upon the lake below me, and the hills That swoon with heat, and see as in a vision All my past life unroll itself before me. The princes and the merchants come to me, Merchants of Tyre and Princes of Damascus. And pass, and disappear, and are no more; But leave behind their merchandise and jewels, Their perfumes, and their gold, and their disgust. I loathe them, and the very memory of them Is unto me as thought of food to one Cloyed with the luscious figs of Dalmanutha! What if hereafter, in the long hereafter Of endless joy or pain, or joy in pain, It were my punishment to be with them Grown hideous and decrepit in their sins, And hear them say: Thou that hast brought us here, Be unto us as thou hast been of old! I look upon this raiment that I wear, These silks, and these embroideries, and they seem Only as cerements wrapped about my limbs! I look upon these rings thick set with pearls, And emerald and amethyst and jasper, And they are burning coals upon my flesh! This serpent on my wrist becomes alive! Away, thou viper! and away, ye garlands, Whose odors bring the swift remembrance back Of the unhallowed revels in these chambers! But yesterday,—and yet it seems to me Something remote, like a pathetic song Sung long ago by minstrels in the street,— But yesterday, as from this tower I gazed, Over the olive and the walnut trees Upon the lake and the white ships, and wondered Whither and whence they steered, and who was in them, A fisher's boat drew near the landing-place Under the oleanders, and the people Came up from it, and passed beneath the tower, Close under me. In front of them, as leader, Walked one of royal aspect, clothed in white, Who lifted up his eyes, and looked at me, And all at once the air seemed filled and living With a mysterious power, that streamed from him, And overflowed me with an atmosphere Of light and love. As one entranced I stood, And when I woke again, lo! he was gone; So that I said: Perhaps it is a dream. But from that very hour the seven demons That had their habitation in this body Which men call beautiful, departed from me!This morning, when the first gleam of the dawn Made Lebanon a glory in the air, And all below was darkness, I beheld An angel, or a spirit glorified, With wind-tossed garments walking on the lake. The face I could not see, but I distinguished The attitude and gesture, and I knew 'T was he that healed me. And the gusty wind Brought to mine ears a voice, which seemed to say: Be of good cheer! 'T is I! Be not afraid! And from the darkness, scarcely heard, the answer: If it be thou, bid me come unto thee Upon the water! And the voice said: Come! And then I heard a cry of fear: Lord, save me! As of a drowning man. And then the voice: Why didst thou doubt, O thou of little faith! At this all vanished, and the wind was hushed, And the great sun came up above the hills, And the swift-flying vapors hid themselves In caverns among the rocks! Oh, I must find him And follow him, and be with him forever!Thou box of alabaster, in whose walls The souls of flowers lie pent, the precious balm And spikenard of Arabian farms, the spirits Of aromatic herbs, ethereal natures Nursed by the sun and dew, not all unworthy To bathe his consecrated feet, whose step Makes every threshold holy that he crosses; Let us go forth upon our pilgrimage, Thou and I only! Let us search for him Until we find him, and pour out our souls Before his feet, till all that's left of us Shall be the broken caskets that once held us!XTHE HOUSE OF SIMON THE PHARISEEA GUEST at table. Are ye deceived? Have any of the Rulers Believed on him? or do they know indeed This man to be the very Christ? Howbeit We know whence this man is, but when the Christ Shall come, none knoweth whence he is.CHRISTUS. Whereunto shall I liken, then, the men Of this generation? and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the markets, And calling unto one another, saying: We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced We have mourned unto you, and ye have not wept! This say I unto you, for John the Baptist Came neither eating bread nor drinking wine Ye say he hath a devil. The Son of Man Eating and drinking cometh, and ye say: Behold a gluttonous man, and a wine-bibber; Behold a friend of publicans and sinners!A GUEST aside to SIMON. Who is that woman yonder, gliding in So silently behind him?
The ANGEL bearing the PROPHET HABAKKUK through the air.
PROPHET. Why dost thou bear me aloft, O Angel of God, on thy pinions O'er realms and dominions? Softly I float as a cloud In air, for thy right hand upholds me, Thy garment enfolds me!
ANGEL. Lo! as I passed on my way In the harvest-field I beheld thee, When no man compelled thee, Bearing with thine own hands This food to the famishing reapers, A flock without keepers!
The fragrant sheaves of the wheat Made the air above them sweet; Sweeter and more divine Was the scent of the scattered grain, That the reaper's hand let fall To be gathered again By the hand of the gleaner! Sweetest, divinest of all, Was the humble deed of thine, And the meekness of thy demeanor!
PROPHET. Angel of Light, I cannot gainsay thee, I can but obey thee!
ANGEL. Beautiful was it in the lord's sight, To behold his Prophet Feeding those that toil, The tillers of the soil. But why should the reapers eat of it And not the Prophet of Zion In the den of the lion? The Prophet should feed the Prophet! Therefore I thee have uplifted, And bear thee aloft by the hair Of thy head, like a cloud that is drifted Through the vast unknown of the air! Five days hath the Prophet been lying In Babylon, in the den Of the lions, death-defying, Defying hunger and thirst; But the worst Is the mockery of men! Alas! how full of fear Is the fate of Prophet and Seer! Forevermore, forevermore, It shall be as it hath been heretofore; The age in which they live Will not forgive The splendor of the everlasting light, That makes their foreheads bright, Nor the sublime Fore-running of their time!
PROPHET. Oh tell me, for thou knowest, Wherefore and by what grace, Have I, who am least and lowest, Been chosen to this place, To this exalted part?
ANGEL. Because thou art The Struggler; and from thy youth Thy humble and patient life Hath been a strife And battle for the Truth; Nor hast thou paused nor halted, Nor ever in thy pride Turned from the poor aside, But with deed and word and pen Hast served thy fellow-men; Therefore art thou exalted!
PROPHET. By thine arrow's light Thou goest onward through the night, And by the clear Sheen of thy glittering spear! When will our journey end?
ANGEL. Lo, it is ended! Yon silver gleam Is the Euphrates' stream. Let us descend Into the city splendid, Into the City of Gold!
PROPHET. Behold! As if the stars had fallen from their places Into the firmament below, The streets, the gardens, and the vacant spaces With light are all aglow; And hark! As we draw near, What sound is it I hear Ascending through the dark?
ANGEL. The tumultuous noise of the nations, Their rejoicings and lamentations, The pleadings of their prayer, The groans of their despair, The cry of their imprecations, Their wrath, their love, their hate!
PROPHET. Surely the world doth wait The coming of its Redeemer!
ANGEL. Awake from thy sleep, O dreamer? The hour is near, though late; Awake! write the vision sublime, The vision, that is for a time, Though it tarry, wait; it is nigh; In the end it will speak and not lie.
JOHN THE BAPTIST. Repent! repent! repent! For the kingdom of God is at hand, And all the land Full of the knowledge of the Lord shall be As the waters cover the sea, And encircle the continent!
Repent! repent! repent! For lo, the hour appointed, The hour so long foretold By the Prophets of old, Of the coming of the Anointed, The Messiah, the Paraclete, The Desire of the Nations, is nigh! He shall not strive nor cry, Nor his voice be heard in the street; Nor the bruised reed shall He break, Nor quench the smoking flax; And many of them that sleep In the dust of earth shall awake, On that great and terrible day, And the wicked shall wail and weep, And be blown like a smoke away, And be melted away like wax. Repent! repent! repent!
O Priest, and Pharisee, Who hath warned you to flee From the wrath that is to be? From the coming anguish and ire? The axe is laid at the root Of the trees, and every tree That bringeth not forth good fruit Is hewn down and cast into the fire!
Ye Scribes, why come ye hither? In the hour that is uncertain, In the day of anguish and trouble, He that stretcheth the heavens as a curtain And spreadeth them out as a tent, Shall blow upon you, and ye shall wither, And the whirlwind shall take you away as stubble! Repent! repent! repent!
PRIEST. Who art thou, O man of prayer! In raiment of camel's hair, Begirt with leathern thong, That here in the wilderness, With a cry as of one in distress, Preachest unto this throng? Art thou the Christ?
JOHN. Priest of Jerusalem, In meekness and humbleness, I deny not, I confess I am not the Christ!
PRIEST. What shall we say unto them That sent us here? Reveal Thy name, and naught conceal! Art thou Elias?
JOHN.No!
PRIEST. Art thou that Prophet, then, Of lamentation and woe, Who, as a symbol and sign Of impending wrath divine Upon unbelieving men, Shattered the vessel of clay In the Valley of Slaughter?
JOHN.Nay.I am not he thou namest!
PRIEST. Who art thou, and what is the word That here thou proclaimest?
JOHN. I am the voice of one Crying in the wilderness alone: Prepare ye the way of the Lord; Make his paths straight In the land that is desolate!
PRIEST. If thou be not the Christ, Nor yet Elias, nor he That, in sign of the things to be, Shattered the vessel of clay In the Valley of Slaughter, Then declare unto us, and say By what authority now Baptizest thou?
JOHN. I indeed baptize you with water Unto repentance; but He, That cometh after me, Is mightier than I and higher; The latchet of whose shoes I an not worthy to unloose; He shall baptize you with fire, And with the Holy Ghost! Whose fan is in his hand; He will purge to the uttermost His floor, and garner his wheat, But will burn the chaff in the brand And fire of unquenchable heat! Repent! repent! repent!
LUCIFER.Not in the lightning's flash, nor in the thunder,Not in the tempest, nor the cloudy storm,Will I array my form;But part invisible these boughs asunder,And move and murmur as the wind upheavesAnd whispers in the leaves.
Not as a terror and a desolation,Not in my natural shape, inspiring fearAnd dread, will I appear;But in soft tones of sweetness and persuasion,A sound as of the fall of mountain streams,Or voices heard in dreams.
He sitteth there in silence, worn and wastedWith famine, and uplifts his hollow eyesTo the unpitying skies;For forty days and nights he hath not tastedOf food or drink, his parted lips are pale,Surely his strength must fail.
Wherefore dost thou in penitential fastingWaste and consume the beauty of thy youth.Ah, if thou be in truthThe Son of the Unnamed, the Everlasting,Command these stones beneath thy feet to beChanged into bread for thee!
CHRISTUS. 'T is written! Man shall not live by bread alone, But by each word that from God's mouth proceedeth!
LUCIFER.Too weak, alas! too weak is the temptationFor one whose soul to nobler things aspiresThan sensual desires!Ah, could I, by some sudden aberration,Lend and delude to suicidal deathThis Christ of Nazareth!
Unto the holy Temple on Moriah,With its resplendent domes, and manifoldBright pinnacles of gold,Where they await thy coming, O Messiah!Lo, I have brought thee! Let thy glory hereBe manifest and clear.
Reveal thyself by royal act and gestureDescending with the bright triumphant hostOf all the hithermostArchangels, and about thee as a vestureThe shining clouds, and all thy splendors showUnto the world below!
Cast thyself down, it is the hour appointed;And God hath given his angels charge and careTo keep thee and upbearUpon their hands his only Son, the Anointed,Lest he should dash his foot against a stoneAnd die, and be unknown.
CHRISTUS. 'T is written: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God!
LUCIFER.I cannot thus delude him to perdition!But one temptation still remains untried,The trial of his pride,The thirst of power, the fever of ambition!Surely by these a humble peasant's sonAt last may be undone!
Above the yawning chasms and deep abysses,Across the headlong torrents, I have broughtThy footsteps, swift as thought;And from the highest of these precipices,The Kingdoms of the world thine eyes behold.Like a great map unrolled.
From far-off Lebanon, with cedars crested,To where the waters of the Asphalt LakeOn its white pebbles break,And the vast desert, silent, sand-invested,These kingdoms all are mine, and thine shall be,If thou wilt worship me!
CHRISTUS. Get thee behind me, Satan! thou shalt worship The Lord thy God; Him only shalt thou serve!
ANGELS MINISTRANT.The sun goes down; the evening shadows lengthen,The fever and the struggle of the dayAbate and pass away;Thine Angels Miniatrant, we come to strengthenAnd comfort thee, and crown thee with the palm,The silence and the calm.
THE MUSICIANS. Rise up, my love, my fair one, Rise up, and come away, For lo! the winter is past, The rain is over and gone, The flowers appear on the earth, The time of the singing of birds is come, And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.
THE BRIDEGROOM. Sweetly the minstrels sing the Song of Songs! My heart runs forward with it, and I say: Oh set me as a seal upon thine heart, And set me as a seal upon thine arm; For love is strong as life, and strong as death, And cruel as the grave is jealousy!
THE MUSICIANS. I sleep, but my heart awaketh; 'T is the voice of my beloved Who knocketh, saying: Open to me, My sister, my love, my dove, For my head is filled with dew, My locks with the drops of the night!
THE BRIDE. Ah yes, I sleep, and yet my heart awaketh. It is the voice of my beloved who knocks.
THE BRIDEGROOM. O beautiful as Rebecca at the fountain, O beautiful as Ruth among the sheaves! O fairest among women! O undefiled! Thou art all fair, my love, there's no spot in thee!
THE MUSICIANS. My beloved is white and ruddy, The chiefest among ten thousand His locks are black as a raven, His eyes are the eyes of doves, Of doves by the rivers of water, His lips are like unto lilies, Dropping sweet-smelling myrrh.
ARCHITRICLINUS. Who is that youth with the dark azure eyes, And hair, in color like unto the wine, Parted upon his forehead, and behind Falling in flowing locks?
PARANYMPHUS.The NazareneWho preacheth to the poor in field and villageThe coming of God's Kingdom.
ARCHITRICLINUS.How sereneHis aspect is! manly yet womanly.
PARANYMPHUS. Most beautiful among the sons of men! Oft known to weep, but never known to laugh.
ARCHITRICLINUS. And tell me, she with eyes of olive tint, And skin as fair as wheat, and pale brown hair, The woman at his side?
PARANYMPHUS.His mother, Mary.
ARCHITRICLINUS. And the tall figure standing close behind them, Clad all in white, with lace and beard like ashes, As if he were Elias, the White Witness, Come from his cave on Carmel to foretell The end of all things?
PARANYMPHUS.That is ManahemThe Essenian, he who dwells among the palmsNear the Dead Sea.
ARCHITRICLINUS.He who foretold to HerodHe should one day be King?
PARANYMPHUS.The same.
ARCHITRICLINUS.Then whyDoth he come here to sadden with his presenceOur marriage feast, belonging to a sectHaters of women, and that taste not wine?
THE MUSICIANS. My undefiled is but one, The only one of her mother, The choice of her that bare her; The daughters saw her and blessed her; The queens and the concubines praised her; Saying, Lo! who is this That looketh forth as the morning?
MANAHEM aside. The Ruler of the Feast is gazing at me, As if he asked, why is that old man here Among the revellers? And thou, the Anointed! Why art thou here? I see as in a vision A figure clothed in purple, crowned with thorns; I see a cross uplifted in the darkness, And hear a cry of agony, that shall echo Forever and forever through the world!
ARCHITRICLINUS. Give us more wine. These goblets are all empty.
MARY to CHRISTUS. They have no wine!
CHRISTUS.O woman, what have ITo do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come.
MARY to the servants. Whatever he shall say to you, that do.
CHRISTUS. Fill up these pots with water.
THE MUSICIANS. Come, my beloved, Let us go forth into the field, Let us lodge in the villages; Let us get up early to the vineyards, Let us see if the vine flourish, Whether the tender grape appear, And the pomegranates bud forth.
CHRISTUS.Draw out nowAnd bear unto the Ruler of the Feast.
MANAHEM aside. O thou, brought up among the Essenians, Nurtured in abstinence, taste not the wine! It is the poison of dragons from the vineyards Of Sodom, and the taste of death is in it!
ARCHITRICLINUS to the BRIDEGROOM. All men set forth good wine at the beginning, And when men have well drunk, that which is worse; But thou hast kept the good wine until now.
MANAHEM aside.
The things that have been and shall be no more, The things that are, and that hereafter shall he, The things that might have been, and yet were not, The fading twilight of great joys departed, The daybreak of great truths as yet unrisen, The intuition and the expectation Of something, which, when come, is not the same, But only like its forecast in men's dreams, The longing, the delay, and the delight, Sweeter for the delay; youth, hope, love, death, And disappointment which is also death, All these make up the sum of human life; A dream within a dream, a wind at night Howling across the desert in despair, Seeking for something lost it cannot find. Fate or foreseeing, or whatever name Men call it, matters not; what is to be Hath been fore-written in the thought divine From the beginning. None can hide from it, But it will find him out; nor run from it, But it o'ertaketh him! The Lord hath said it.
THE BRIDEGROOM to the BRIDE, on the balcony. When Abraham went with Sarah into Egypt, The land was all illumined with her beauty; But thou dost make the very night itself Brighter than day! Behold, in glad procession, Crowding the threshold of the sky above us, The stars come forth to meet thee with their lamps; And the soft winds, the ambassadors of flowers, From neighboring gardens and from fields unseen, Come laden with odors unto thee, my Queen!
THE MUSICIANS. Awake, O north-wind, And come, thou wind of the South. Blow, blow upon my garden, That the spices thereof may flow out.
PHILIP. Onward through leagues of sun-illumined corn, As if through parted seas, the pathway runs, And crowned with sunshine as the Prince of Peace Walks the beloved Master, leading us, As Moses led our fathers in old times Out of the land of bondage! We have found Him of whom Moses and the Prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph.
NATHANAEL. Can any good come out of Nazareth? Can this be the Messiah?
PHILIP.Come and see.
NATHANAEL. The summer sun grows hot: I am anhungered. How cheerily the Sabbath-breaking quail Pipes in the corn, and bids us to his Feast Of Wheat Sheaves! How the bearded, ripening ears Toss in the roofless temple of the air; As if the unseen hand of some High-Priest Waved them before Mount Tabor as an altar! It were no harm, if we should pluck and eat.
PHILIP. How wonderful it is to walk abroad With the Good Master! Since the miracle He wrought at Cana, at the marriage feast, His fame hath gone abroad through all the land, And when we come to Nazareth, thou shalt see How his own people will receive their Prophet, And hail him as Messiah! See, he turns And looks at thee.
CHRISTUS.Behold an IsraeliteIn whom there is no guile.
NATHANAEL.Whence knowest thou me?
CHRISTUS. Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast Under the fig-tree, I beheld thee.
NATHANAEL.Rabbi!Thou art the Son of God, thou art the KingOf Israel!
CHRISTUS.Because I said I saw theeUnder the fig-tree, before Philip called thee,Believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things.Hereafter thou shalt see the heavens unclosed,The angels of God ascending and descendingUpon the Son of Man!
PHAIRISEES, passing.Hail, Rabbi!
CHRISTUS.Hail!
PHARISEES. Behold how thy disciples do a thing Which is not lawful on the Sabbath-day, And thou forbiddest them not!
CHRISTUS.Have ye not readWhat David did when he anhungered was,And all they that were with him? How he enteredInto the house of God, and ate the shew-bread,Which was not lawful, saving for the priests?Have ye not read, how on the Sabbath-daysThe priests profane the Sabbath in the Temple,And yet are blameless? But I say to you,One in this place is greater than the Temple!And had ye known the meaning of the words,I will have mercy and not sacrifice,The guiltless ye would not condemn. The SabbathWas made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
Passes on with the disciples.
PHARISEES. This is, alas! some poor demoniac Wandering about the fields, and uttering His unintelligible blasphemies Among the common people, who receive As prophecies the words they comprehend not! Deluded folk! The incomprehensible Alone excites their wonder. There is none So visionary, or so void of sense, But he will find a crowd to follow him!
CHRISTUS, reading in the Synagogue. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. He hath anointed me to preach good tidings Unto the poor; to heal the broken-hearted; To comfort those that mourn, and to throw open The prison doors of captives, and proclaim The Year Acceptable of the Lord, our God!
He closes the book and sits down.
A PHARISEE. Who is this youth? He hath taken the Teacher's seat! Will he instruct the Elders?
A PRIEST.Fifty yearsHave I been Priest here in the Synagogue,And never have I seen so young a manSit in the Teacher's seat!
CHRISTUS.Behold, to-dayThis scripture is fulfilled. One is appointedAnd hath been sent to them that mourn in Zion,To give them beauty for ashes, and the oilOf joy for mourning! They shall build againThe old waste-places; and again raise upThe former desolations, and repairThe cities that are wasted! As a bridegroomDecketh himself with ornaments; as a brideAdorneth herself with jewels, so the LordHath clothed me with the robe of righteousness!
A PRIEST. He speaks the Prophet's words; but with an air As if himself had been foreshadowed in them!
CHRISTUS. For Zion's sake I will not hold my peace, And for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest Until its righteousness be as a brightness, And its salvation as a lamp that burneth! Thou shalt be called no longer the Forsaken, Nor any more thy land the Desolate. The Lord hath sworn, by his right hand hath sworn, And by his arm of strength: I will no more Give to thine enemies thy corn as meat; The sons of strangers shall not drink thy wine. Go through, go through the gates! Prepare a way Unto the people! Gather out the stones! Lift up a standard for the people!
A PRIEST.Ah!These are seditious words!
CHRISTUS.And they shall call themThe holy people; the redeemed of God!And thou, Jerusalem, shalt be called Sought out,A city not forsaken!
A PHARISEE.Is not thisThe carpenter Joseph's son? Is not his motherCalled Mary? and his brethren and his sistersAre they not with us? Doth he make himselfTo be a Prophet?
CHRISTUS.No man is a ProphetIn his own country, and among his kin.In his own house no Prophet is accepted.I say to you, in the land of IsraelWere many widows in Elijah's day,When for three years and more the heavens were shut,And a great famine was throughout the land;But unto no one was Elijah sentSave to Sarepta, to a city of Sidon,And to a woman there that was a widow.And many lepers were then in the landOf Israel, in the time of EliseusThe Prophet, and yet none of them was cleansed,Save Naaman the Syrian!
A PRIEST.Say no more!Thou comest here into our SynagogueAnd speakest to the Elders and the Priests,As if the very mantle of ElijahHad fallen upon thee! Are thou not ashamed?
A PHARISEE. We want no Prophets here! Let him be driven From Synagogue and city! Let him go And prophesy to the Samaritans!
AN ELDER. The world is changed. We Elders are as nothing! We are but yesterdays, that have no part Or portion in to-day! Dry leaves that rustle, That make a little sound, and then are dust!
A PHARISEE. A carpenter's apprentice! a mechanic, Whom we have seen at work here in the town Day after day; a stripling without learning, Shall he pretend to unfold the Word of God To men grown old in study of the Law?
CHRISTUS is thrust out.
PETER and ANDREW mending their nets.
PETER. Never was such a marvellous draught of fishes Heard of in Galilee! The market-places Both of Bethsaida and Capernaum Are full of them! Yet we had toiled all night And taken nothing, when the Master said: Launch out into the deep, and cast your nets; And doing this, we caught such multitudes, Our nets like spiders' webs were snapped asunder, And with the draught we filled two ships so full That they began to sink. Then I knelt down Amazed, and said: O Lord, depart from me, I am a sinful man. And he made answer: Simon, fear not; henceforth thou shalt catch men! What was the meaning of those words?
ANDREW.I know not.But here is Philip, come from Nazareth.He hath been with the Master. Tell us, Philip,What tidings dost thou bring?
PHILIP.Most wonderful!As we drew near to Nain, out of the gateUpon a bier was carried the dead bodyOf a young man, his mother's only son,And she a widow, who with lamentationBewailed her loss, and the much people with her;And when the Master saw her he was filledWith pity; and he said to her: Weep notAnd came and touched the bier, and they that bare itStood still; and then he said: Young man, arise!And he that had been dead sat up, and soonBegan to speak; and he delivered himUnto his mother. And there came a fearOn all the people, and they glorifiedThe Lord, and said, rejoicing: A great ProphetIs risen up among us! and the LordHath visited his people!
PETER.A great Prophet?Ay, greater than a Prophet: greater evenThan John the Baptist!
PHILIP.Yet the NazarenesRejected him.
PETER.The Nazarenes are dogs!As natural brute beasts, they growl at thingsThey do not understand; and they shall perish,Utterly perish in their own corruption.The Nazarenes are dogs!
PHILIP.They drave him forthOut of their Synagogue, out of their city,And would have cast him down a precipice,But, passing through the midst of them, he vanishedOut of their hands.
PETER.Wells are they without water,Clouds carried with a tempest, unto whomThe mist of darkness is reserved forever.
PHILIP. Behold, he cometh. There is one man with him I am amazed to see!
ANDREW.What man is that?
PHILIP. Judas Iscariot; he that cometh last, Girt with a leathern apron. No one knoweth His history; but the rumor of him is He had an unclean spirit in his youth. It hath not left him yet.
CHRISTUS, passing.Come unto me,All ye that labor and are heavy laden,And I will give you rest! Come unto me,And take my yoke upon you and learn of me,For I am meek, and I am lowly in heart,And ye shall all find rest unto your souls!
PHILIP. Oh, there is something in that voice that reaches The innermost recesses of my spirit! I feel that it might say unto the blind: Receive your sight! and straightway they would see! I feel that it might say unto the dead, Arise! and they would hear it and obey! Behold, he beckons to us!
CHRISTUS to PETER and ANDREW.Follow me!
PETER. Master, I will leave all and follow thee.
A GADARENE. He hath escaped, hath plucked his chains asunder, And broken his fetters; always night and day Is in the mountains here, and in the tombs, Crying aloud, and cutting himself with stones, Exceeding fierce, so that no man can tame him!
THE DEMONIAC from above, unseen. O Aschmedai! O Aschmedai, have pity!
A GADARENE. Listen! It is his voice! Go warn the people Just landing from the lake!
THE DEMONIAC.O Aschmedai!Thou angel of the bottomless pit, have pity!It was enough to hurl King Solomon,On whom be peace! two hundred leagues awayInto the country, and to make him scullionIn the kitchen of the King of Maschkemen!Why dost thou hurl me here among these rocks,And cut me with these stones?
A GADARENE.He raves and muttersHe knows not what.
THE DEMONIAC, appearing from a tomb among the rocks.The wild cock TarnegalSingeth to me, and bids me to the banquet,Where all the Jews shall come; for they have slainBehemoth the great ox, who daily croppedA thousand hills for food, and at a draughtDrank up the river Jordan, and have slainThe huge Leviathan, and stretched his skinUpon the high walls of Jerusalem,And made them shine from one end of the worldUnto the other; and the fowl Barjuchne,Whose outspread wings eclipse the sun, and makeMidnight at noon o'er all the continents!And we shall drink the wine of ParadiseFrom Adam's cellars.
A GADARENE.O thou unclean spirit!
THE DEMONIAC, hurling down a stone. This is the wonderful Barjuchne's egg, That fell out of her nest, and broke to pieces And swept away three hundred cedar-trees, And threescore villages!—Rabbi Eliezer, How thou didst sin there in that seaport town When thou hadst carried safe thy chest of silver Over the seven rivers for her sake! I too have sinned beyond the reach of pardon. Ye hills and mountains, pray for mercy on me! Ye stars and planets, pray for mercy on me! Ye sun and moon, oh pray for mercy on me!
CHRISTUS and his disciples pass.
A GADARENE. There is a man here of Decapolis, Who hath an unclean spirit; so that none Can pass this way. He lives among the tombs Up there upon the cliffs, and hurls down stones On those who pass beneath.
CHRISTUS.Come out of him,Thou unclean spirit!
THE DEMONIAC.What have I to doWith thee, thou Son of God? Do not torment us.
CHRISTUS. What is thy name?
THE DEMONIAC.Legion; for we are many.Cain, the first murderer; and the King Belshazzar,And Evil Merodach of Babylon,And Admatha, the death-cloud, prince of PersiaAnd Aschmedai the angel of the pit,And many other devils. We are Legion.Send us not forth beyond Decapolis;Command us not to go into the deep!There is a herd of swine here in the pastures,Let us go into them.
CHRISTUS.Come out of him,Thou unclean spirit!
A GADARENE.See how stupefied,How motionless he stands! He cries no more;He seems bewildered and in silence staresAs one who, walking in his sleep, awakesAnd knows not where he is, and looks about him,And at his nakedness, and is ashamed.
THE DEMONIAC. Why am I here alone among the tombs? What have they done to me, that I am naked? Ah, woe is me!
CHRISTUS.Go home unto thy friendsAnd tell them how great things the Lord hath doneFor thee, and how He had compassion on thee!
A SWINEHERD, running. The herds! the herd! O most unlucky day! They were all feeding quiet in the sun, When suddenly they started, and grew savage As the wild boars of Tabor, and together Rushed down a precipice into the sea! They are all drowned!
PETER.Thus righteously are punishedThe apostate Jews, that eat the flesh of swine,And broth of such abominable things!
GREEKS OF GADARA. We sacrifice a sow unto Demeter At the beginning of harvest and another To Dionysus at the vintage-time. Therefore we prize our herds of swine, and count them Not as unclean, but as things consecrate To the immortal gods. O great magician, Depart out of our coasts; let us alone, We are afraid of thee.
PETER.Let us depart;For they that sanctify and purifyThemselves in gardens, eating flesh of swine.And the abomination, and the mouse,Shall be consumed together, saith the Lord!
JAIRUS at the feet of CHRISTUS. O Master! I entreat thee! I implore thee! My daughter lieth at the point of death; I pray thee come and lay thy hands upon her, And she shall live!
CHRISTUS.Who was it touched my garments?
SIMON PETER. Thou seest the multitude that throng and press thee, And sayest thou: Who touched me? 'T was not I.
CHRISTUS. Some one hath touched my garments; I perceive That virtue is gone out of me.
A WOMAN.O Master!Forgive me! For I said within myself,If I so much as touch his garment's hem,I shall be whole.
CHRISTUS.Be of good comfort, daughter!Thy faith hath made thee whole. Depart in peace.
A MESSENGER from the house. Why troublest thou the Master? Hearest thou not The flute players, and the voices of the women Singing their lamentation? She is dead!
THE MINSTRELS AND MOURNERS. We have girded ourselves with sackcloth! We have covered our heads with ashes! For our young men die, and our maidens Swoon in the streets of the city; And into their mother's bosom They pour out their souls like water!
CHRISTUS, going in. Give place. Why make ye this ado, and weep? She is not dead, but sleepeth.
THE MOTHER, from within.Cruel Death!To take away front me this tender blossom!To take away my dove, my lamb, my darling!
THE MINSTRELS AND MOURNERS. He hath led me and brought into darkness, Like the dead of old in dark places! He hath bent his bow, and hath set me Apart as a mark for his arrow! He hath covered himself with a cloud, That our prayer should not pass through and reach him!
THE CROWD. He stands beside her bed! He takes her hand! Listen, he speaks to her!
CHRISTUS, within.Maiden, arise!
THE CROWD. See, she obeys his voice! She stirs! She lives! Her mother holds her folded in her arms! O miracle of miracles! O marvel!
MARY MAGDALENE. Companionless, unsatisfied, forlorn, I sit here in this lonely tower, and look Upon the lake below me, and the hills That swoon with heat, and see as in a vision All my past life unroll itself before me. The princes and the merchants come to me, Merchants of Tyre and Princes of Damascus. And pass, and disappear, and are no more; But leave behind their merchandise and jewels, Their perfumes, and their gold, and their disgust. I loathe them, and the very memory of them Is unto me as thought of food to one Cloyed with the luscious figs of Dalmanutha! What if hereafter, in the long hereafter Of endless joy or pain, or joy in pain, It were my punishment to be with them Grown hideous and decrepit in their sins, And hear them say: Thou that hast brought us here, Be unto us as thou hast been of old! I look upon this raiment that I wear, These silks, and these embroideries, and they seem Only as cerements wrapped about my limbs! I look upon these rings thick set with pearls, And emerald and amethyst and jasper, And they are burning coals upon my flesh! This serpent on my wrist becomes alive! Away, thou viper! and away, ye garlands, Whose odors bring the swift remembrance back Of the unhallowed revels in these chambers! But yesterday,—and yet it seems to me Something remote, like a pathetic song Sung long ago by minstrels in the street,— But yesterday, as from this tower I gazed, Over the olive and the walnut trees Upon the lake and the white ships, and wondered Whither and whence they steered, and who was in them, A fisher's boat drew near the landing-place Under the oleanders, and the people Came up from it, and passed beneath the tower, Close under me. In front of them, as leader, Walked one of royal aspect, clothed in white, Who lifted up his eyes, and looked at me, And all at once the air seemed filled and living With a mysterious power, that streamed from him, And overflowed me with an atmosphere Of light and love. As one entranced I stood, And when I woke again, lo! he was gone; So that I said: Perhaps it is a dream. But from that very hour the seven demons That had their habitation in this body Which men call beautiful, departed from me!
This morning, when the first gleam of the dawn Made Lebanon a glory in the air, And all below was darkness, I beheld An angel, or a spirit glorified, With wind-tossed garments walking on the lake. The face I could not see, but I distinguished The attitude and gesture, and I knew 'T was he that healed me. And the gusty wind Brought to mine ears a voice, which seemed to say: Be of good cheer! 'T is I! Be not afraid! And from the darkness, scarcely heard, the answer: If it be thou, bid me come unto thee Upon the water! And the voice said: Come! And then I heard a cry of fear: Lord, save me! As of a drowning man. And then the voice: Why didst thou doubt, O thou of little faith! At this all vanished, and the wind was hushed, And the great sun came up above the hills, And the swift-flying vapors hid themselves In caverns among the rocks! Oh, I must find him And follow him, and be with him forever!
Thou box of alabaster, in whose walls The souls of flowers lie pent, the precious balm And spikenard of Arabian farms, the spirits Of aromatic herbs, ethereal natures Nursed by the sun and dew, not all unworthy To bathe his consecrated feet, whose step Makes every threshold holy that he crosses; Let us go forth upon our pilgrimage, Thou and I only! Let us search for him Until we find him, and pour out our souls Before his feet, till all that's left of us Shall be the broken caskets that once held us!
A GUEST at table. Are ye deceived? Have any of the Rulers Believed on him? or do they know indeed This man to be the very Christ? Howbeit We know whence this man is, but when the Christ Shall come, none knoweth whence he is.
CHRISTUS. Whereunto shall I liken, then, the men Of this generation? and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the markets, And calling unto one another, saying: We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced We have mourned unto you, and ye have not wept! This say I unto you, for John the Baptist Came neither eating bread nor drinking wine Ye say he hath a devil. The Son of Man Eating and drinking cometh, and ye say: Behold a gluttonous man, and a wine-bibber; Behold a friend of publicans and sinners!
A GUEST aside to SIMON. Who is that woman yonder, gliding in So silently behind him?