The luckless daughter of perdition and Slowly confesses her secret shame! The time, the place, the lover's name! Here the grim murderer, with a groan, From his bruised conscience rolls the stone, Thinking that thus he can atone!T For ravages of sword and flame! AT Indeed, I marvel, and marvel greatly, How a priest can sit here so sedately, Reading, the whole year out and in, Naught but the catalogue of sin, And still keep any faith whatever In human virtue! Never! never t
I cannot repeat a thousandth part Of the horrors and crimes and sins and woes That arise, when with palpitating throes The grave-yard in the human heart Gives up its dead, at the voice of the priest, As if he were an archangel, at least. It makes a peculiar atmosphere,
This odour of earthly passions and crimes, Such as I like to breathe, at times," And such as often brings me here
In the hottest and most pestilential season, To-day, I come for another reason; To foster and ripen an evil thought
In a heart that is almost to madness wrought, And to make a murderer out of a prince, A slight of hand I learned long since!
He comes. In the twilight he will not see The difference beween his priest and me In the same the mother caught!
Prince Henry Vasen mond kneeling at the confessional.) Remorseful, penitent, and lowly,, I come to crave, O Father holy, Thy benediction on my head.
Lucifer. The benediction shall be said After confession not before!
"Tis a God-speed to the parting guest, Who stands already at the door,
Sandalled with holiness, and dressed In garments pure from earthly stain.
Repeats its awful prophecies!
Weakness is wretchedness! To be strong Is to be happy! I am weak,
And cannot find the good I seek, Because I feel and fear the wrong!
Lucifer. Be not alarmed! The Church is kind, And in her mercy and her meekness
She meets half-way her children's weakness, Writes their transgressions in the dust! Though in the Decalogue we find
The mandate written, "Thou shalt not kill;" Yet there are cases when we must,
In war, for instance, or from scathe To guard and keep the one true Faith! We must look at the Decalogue in the light Of an ancient statue, that was meant For a mild and general application, To be understood with the reservation, That, in certain instances, the Right Must yield to the Expedient!
Thou art a Prince. If thon shouldst die, What hearts and hopes would prostrate lie! What noble deeds, what fair renown, Into the grave with thee go down! What acts of valour and courtesy Remain undone, and die with thee! Thou art the last of all thy race! With thee a noble name expires, And vanishes from the earth's face The glorious memory of thy sires! She is a peasant! In her veins Flows common and plebeian blood; but such and hourly
The dust and the turf of butt plains, By vassals shed in a crimson flood. Without reserve, and without reward.old or At the slightest summons of their lord!defl But thine is precious; the fore-apponited C Blood of kings, of God's anointed! Totte Moreover, what has the world in store, zitaan of For one like her, but tears and toil?ew H Daughter of sorrow, serf of the soil, freestr A peasant's child and a peasant's wife, Jonna T
Meanwhile, hast thou searched well thy breast? And her soul within her sick and sore" i poż
Does the same madness fill thy brain?
Or have thy passion and unrest Vanished for ever from thy mind?
Prince Henry. By the same madness still made blind.
By the same passion still possessed,
I come again to the house of prayer,
A man afflicted and distressed!
As in a cloudy atmosphere,
Through unseen sluices of the air, A sudden and impetuous wind Strikes the great forest white with fear, And every branch, and bough, and spray, Points all its quivering leaves one way, And meadows of grass, and fields of grain, And the clouds above, and the slanting rain, And smoke from chimneys of the town, Yield themselves to it, and bow down. So does this dreadful purpose press Onward, with irresistible stress. And all my thoughts and faculties, Struck level by the strength of this, From their true inclination turn, And all stream forward to Salern!
Lucifer. Alas! we are but eddies of dust, Uplifted by the blast, and whirled Along the highway of the world A moment only, then to fall
Back to a common level all,
At the subsiding of the gust!
Prince Henry. O holy Father! pardon in me The oscillation of a mind Unsteadfast, and that cannot find Its centre of rest and harmony! For evermore before mine eyes This ghastly phantom flits and flies, And as a madman through a crowd,, With frantic gestures and wild cries, It hurries onward, and aloud
With the roughness and barremess of life fo I marvel not at the heart's recoil- 7: 25 T:21 From a fate like this in one so tender, Nor at its eagerness to surrender All the wretchedness, want, and woe That await it in this world below, For the unutterable splendour Of the world of rest beyond the skies. So the Church sanctions the sacrifice # Therefore inhale this healing balm, And breathe this fresh life into thine Accept the comfort and the calm She offers, as a gift divine;
Let her fall down and anoint thy feet
With the ointment costly and most sweet
Of her young blood, and thou shalt live,
Prince Henry. And will the righteous Heaven forgive?
No action, whether foul or fair,
Is ever done, bnt it leaves somewhere A record, written by fingers ghostly, As a blessing or a curse, and mostlynge the[77 In the greater weakness or greater strength 77 Of the acts which follow it, till at length ↑ Hire? The wrongs of ages are redressed, Dino) And the justice of God made manifest!om 7. Lucifer. In ancient records it is stated rie vr ̃// That, whenever an evil deed is done, ww bra Another devil is created 11.09 BonT
To scourge and torment the offending one brost But evil is only good perverted,
And Lucifer, the Bearer of Light, engros aff But an angel fallen and deserted, meditat Ju
Thrust from his Father's House with a curse T
Into the black and endless night.
And thus the balance restored again.
Prince Henry. If justice rules the universe,132 From the good actions of good men Angels of light should be begotten,
A Room in the Farm-House.
Gottlieb. It is decided! For many days, And nights as many, we have had A nameless terror in our breast, Making us timid, and afraid
Of God, and his mysterious ways! We have been sorrowful and sad;
Much have we suffered, much have prayed That he would lead us as is best, And show us what his will required. It is decided; and we give Our child, O Prince, that you may live! Ursula. It is of God. He has inspired This purpose in her; and through pain, Out of a world of sin and woe, He takes her to himself again. The mother's heart resists no longer; With the angel of the Lord in vain It wrestled, for he was the stronger.
Gottlieb. As Abraham offered long ago His son unto the Lord, and even The Everlasting Father in heaven Gave his, as a lamb unto the slaughter, So do I offer up my daughter!
Elsie. My life is little, Only a cup of water, But pure and limpid. Take it, O my Prince! Let it refresh you,
Let it restore you. It is given willingly, It is given frsely: May God bless the gift!
Prince Henry. And the giver! Gottlieb. Amen!
Prince Henry. I accept it!
Gottlieb. Where are the children? Ursula. They are already asleep. Gottlieb. What if they were dead?
When we are gone from here, and on our way Are journeying to Salerno, you will not, By word or deed, endeavour to dissuade me, And turn me from my purpose; but remember That as a pilgrim to the Holy City
Walks unmolested, and with thoughts of pardon Occupied wholly, so would I approach The gates of Heaven, in this great jubilee With my petition, putting off from me
All thoughts of earth, as shoes from off my feet. Promise me this.
Prince Henry. Thy words fall from thy lips Like roses from the lips of Angelo; and Angels Might stoop to pick them up!
Elsie. Will you not promise? Prince Henry. If ever we depart upon this journey,
So long to one or both of us. I promise.
Elsie. Shall we not go, then? Have you lifted
Into the air, only to hurl me back
Wounded upon the ground? and offered me The waters of eternal life, to bid me
Drink the polluted puddles of this world? Prince Henry. O Elsie! what a lesson thou dost teach me!
The life which is, and that which is to come, Suspended hang in such nice equipoise,
A breath disturbs the balance; and that scale In which we throw our hearts, preponderates, And the other, like an empty one, flies up, And is accounted vanity and air!
To me the thought of death is terrible, Having such hold on life. To thee it is not So much even as the lifting of a latch; Only a step into the open air
Out of a tent already luminous
With light that shines through its transparent walls!
O pure in heart! from thy sweet dust shall
Pray for the living, in whose breast The struggle between right and wrong What is it? Is raging terrible and strong,
Elste. I have one thing to ask of you. Prince Henry. It is already granted. Elsie
As when good angels war with devils! This is the Master of the Revels,
Pray for the Dead!
Pray for the Dead!
Rocked on the topmost bough of life, Wilt thou, too, from our sky depart, And in the clangour of the strife Mingle the music of thy words?
Walter. My hopes are high, my heart is prond, And like a trumpet long and loud,
Thither my thoughts all clang and ring! My life is in my hand, and lo!
I grasp and bend it as a bow,
And shoot forth from its trembling string An arrow that shall be, perchance, Like the arrow of the Israelite king
Prince Henry. Wake not, beloved! be thy sleep Shot from the window towards the east,
Silent as night is, and as deep!
There walks a sentinel at thy gate Whose heart is heavy and desolate,
And the heavings of whose bosom number The respirations of thy slumber,
As if some strange, mysterious fate,
Had linked two hearts in one, and mine Went madly wheeling about thine, Only with wider and wilder sweep!
Crier of the dead (at a distance). Wake! wake! All ye that sleep! Pray for the Dead! Pray for the Dead!
Prince Henry. Lo! with what depth of blackness thrown
Against the clouds, far up the skies, The walls of the cathedral rise, Like a mysterious grove of stone,
With fitful lights and shadows blending, As from behind, the moon, ascending, Lights its dim aisles and paths unknown! The wind is rising; but the boughs Rise not and fall not with the wind
That through their foliage sobs and soughs; Only the cloudy rack behind,
Drifting onward, wild and ragged,
Gives to each spire and buttress jagged,. A seeming motion undefined.
Below on the square, an armed knight,
Still as a statue and as white,
Sits on his steed, and the moonbeams quiver Upon the points of his armour bright,
As on the ripples of a river.
He lifts the visor from his cheek,
And beckons, and makes as he would speak.
Walter (the Minnesinger). Friend! can you tell me where alight
Thuringia's horsemen for the night? For I have lingered in the rear, And wandered vainly up and down.
Prince Henry I am a stranger in the town,
As thou art; but the voice I hear
Is not a stranger to mine ear.
Thou art Walter of the Vogelweid!
That of the Lord's deliverance!
Prince Henry. My life, alas! is what thou seest!
O enviable fate! to be
Strong, beautiful, and armed like thee
With lyre and sword, with song and steel;
A hand to smite, a heart to feel!
Thy heart, thy hand, thy lyre, thy sword, Thou givest all unto thy Lord;
While I, so mean and abject grown, Am thinking of myself alone.
Walter. Be patient; Time will reinstate Thy health and fortunes.
I cannot strive against my fate!
Walter. Come with me, for my steed is weary: Our journey has been long and dreary,
And, dreaming of his stall, he dints
With his impatient hoofs the flints.
Prince Henry (aside). I am ashamed, in my dis
Thine eager and impatient speed.
Besides my pathway leads me round
To Hirschau, in the forest's bound, Where I assemble man and steed, And all things for my journey's need.
(They go out.) Lucifer (flying over the city). Sleep, sleep O city! till the light
Wakes you to sin and crime again, Whilst on your dreams, like dismal rain,
I scatter downward through the night
My maledictions dark and deep.
I have more martyrs in your walls Than God has; and they cannot sleep;
Walter. Thou hast guessed rightly; and thy They are my bondsmen and my thralls;
Prince Henry. Walter (embracing him) Come closer, closer, closer to my side!
What brings thee hither? What potent charm Has drawn thee from thy German farm Into the old Alsatian city?
Prince Henry. A tale of wonder and of pity! A wretched man, almost by stealth Dragging my body to Salern,
In the vain hope and search for health, And destined never to return. Already thou hast heard the rest.
But what brings thee, thus armed and dight In the equipments of a knight?
Walter. Dost thou not see upon my breast The cross of the Crusaders shine?
My pathway leads to Palestine.
Prince Henry. Ah, would that way were also
O noble poet! thou whose heart Is like a nest of singing-birds.
Their wretched lives are full of pain, Wild agonies of nerve and brain; And every heart-beat, every breath, Is a convulsion worse than death! Sleep, sleep, O city! though within The circuit of your walls there lies No habitation free from sin, And all its nameless miseries; The aching heart, the aching head, Grief for the living and the dead, And foul corruption of the time. Disease, distress, and want, and woe, And crimes, and passions that may grow Until they ripen into crime!
Square in front of the Cathedral. Easter Sunday. FRIAR CUTHBERT preaching to the crowd from a pulpit in the open air. PRINCE HENRY and ELSIE crossing the square.
Prince Henry. This is the day, when from the dead
Our Lord arose; and everywhere.
Out of their darkness and despair, Triumphant over fears and foes, The hearts of his disciples rose, When to the women, standing near, The Angel in shining vesture said, "The Lord is risen: he is not here!" And, mindful that the day is come, On all the hearths in Christendom The fires are quenched, to be again Rekindled froin the sun, that high Is dancing in the cloudless sky.
The churches are all decked with flowers, The salutations among men Are but the Angel's word divine, "Christ is arisen!" and the bells Catch the glad murmur, as it swells, And chaunt together in their towers.
'All hearts are glad; and free froin care The faces of the people shine. See what a crowd is in the square, Gaily and gallantly arrayed!
Elsie. Let us go back; I am afraid!
Prince Henry. Nay, let us mount the churchsteps here,
Under the doorway's sacred shadow;
We can see all things, and be freer
From the crowd that madly heaves and presses! Elsie. What a gay pageant! what bright
It looks like a flower-besprinkled meadow. What is that yonder on the square?
Prince Henry. A pulpit in the open air:
And a Friar who is preaching to the crowd, In a voice so deep and clear and loud, That, if we listen, and give heed, His lowest words will reach the ear.
Friar Cuthbert (gesticulating and cracking a postilion's whip.)
What ho! good people! do you not hear? Dashing along at the top of his speed, Booted and spurred, on his jaded steed, A courier comes with words of cheer. Courier; what is the news, I pray?
Christ is arisen!" Whence come you? "From court. '
Then I do not believe it; you say it in sport. (Cracks his whip again.) Ah! here comes another, riding this way; We soon shall know what he has to say. Courier; what are the tidings to-day? "Christ is arisen!" Whence come you? "From town."
Then I do not believe it; away with you, clown. (Cracks his whip more violently.) And here comes a third, who is spurring amain; What news do you bring with your loose-hang, ing rein, Your spurs wet with blood, and your bridle with foum?
"Christ is arisen!" Whence come you? "From Rome."
Ah, now I believe. He is risen, indeed. Ride on with the news at the top of your speed; (Great applause ainong the crowd.) The Cathedral bells ring.
But Hark; the bells are beginning to chime,. And I feel that I am growing hoarse; 1 will put an end to my discourse, And leave the rest for some other time. For the bells themselves are the best of
Is the mind of man, that round and round Sways, aud maketh the tongue to sound! And the rope, with its twisted cordage three, Denoteth the Scriptural Trinity
Of Morals, and Symbols, and History: And the upward and downward motions show That we touch upon matters high and low; And the constant change and transmutation Of action and of contemplation,
Downward, the Scripture brought from on high,
Upward, exalted again to the sky; Downward, the literal interpretation, Upward, the Vision and Mystery!
And now, my hearers, to make an end,
I have only one word more to say; In the church, in honour of Easter-day, Will be represented a Miracle Play; And I hope you will all have the grace to attend. Christ bring us at last to his felicity! Pax vobiscum! et Benedicite!
In the Cathedral. Chaunt.
Kyrie Eleison!
Christe Eleison!
Elsie. I am at home here in my Father's house!
These paintings of the Saints upon the walls Have all familiar and benignant faces.
Prince Henry. The portraits of the family of God!
Thine own hereafter shall be placed among them.
Elsie. How very grand it is and wonderful! Never have I beheld a church so splendid! Such columns, and such arches, and such win- dows.
So many tombs and statues in the chapels, And under them so many confessionals. They must be for the rich. I should not like To tell my sins in such a church as this. Who built it?
Prince Henry. A great master of his craft, Erwin von Steinbach; but not he alone, For many generations laboured with him. Children that came to see these saints in stone, As day by day out of the blocks they rose, Grew old and died, and still the work went on, And on, and on, and is not yet completed, The generation that succeeds our own Perhaps may finish it. The architect Built his great heart into the sculptured stones, And with him toiled his children, and their lives
Were builded, with his own, into the walls, As offerings unto God. You see that statue Fixing its joyous, but deep-wrinkled eyes Upon the Pillar of the Angels yonder. That is the image of the master, carved By the fair hand of his own child, Sabina. Elsie. How beautiful is the column that he looks at!
Prince Henry. That, too, she sculptured. At the base of it
Stand the Evangelists; above their heads Four Angels blowing upon marble trumpets, And over them the blessed Christ, surrounded By his attendant ministers, upholding The instruments of his passion.
Elsie. O my Lord! Would I could leave behind me upon earth Some monument to thy glory, such as this! Prince Henry. A greater monument than this thou leavest
In thine own life, all purity and love!
Mercy (at the feet of God). Have pity, Lord! be not afraid
To save mankind, whom thou hast made, Nor let the souls that were:betrayed Perish eternally!
Justice. It cannot be, it must not be! When in the garden placed by thee, The fruit of the forbidden tree
He ate, and he must die!
Mercy. Have pity, Lord! let penitence Atone for disobedience,
Nor let the fruit of man's offence
Be endless misery!
Justice. What penitence proportionate Can e'er be felt for sin so great? Of the forbidden fruit he ate,
And damned must he be!
God. He shall be saved, if that within The bounds of earth one free from sin Be found, who for his kith and kin Will suffer martyrdom.
The Four Virtues. Lord! we have searched the world around,
From centre to the utmost bound, But no such mortal can be found; Despairing, back we come.
Wisdom. No mortal, but a God-made man, Can ever carry out this plan, Achieving what none other can, Salvation unto all!
God. Go, then, O my beloved Son!
It can by thee alone be done;
By thee the victory shall be won
O'er Satan and the Fall!
(Here the Angel Gabriel shall leave Paradise, and fly towards the earth: the jaws of Hell open below, and the Devils walk about, making a great noise.)
II.-MARY AT THE WELL.
Mary. Along the garden walk, and thence Through the wicket in the garden fence. I steal with quiet pace,
My pitcher at the well to fill, That lies so deep and cool and still In this sequestered place. These sycamores keep guard around;
I see no face, I hear no sound, Save bubblings of the spring, And my companions, who within The threads of gold and scarlet spin, And at their labour sing.
The Angel Gabriel. Hail, Virgin Mary, full of grace!
(Here Mary looketh around her, trembling, and then saith:)
Mary. Who is it speaketh in this place With such a gentle voice?
Gabriel. The Lord of heaven is with thee now! Blessed among all women thou,
Who art his holy choice!
Mary (setting down the patcher). What can this mean? No one is near,
And yet such sacred words I hear.
I almost fear to say.
(Here the Angel, appearing to her, shall say:) Gabriel. Fear not, O Mary! but believe! For thou, a Virgin, shalt conceive
A child this very day.
Fear not, O Mary! from the sky
The Majesty of the Most High
Shall overshadow thee!
Mary. Behold the handmaid of the Lord! According to thy holy word,
(Here the Devils shall again make a great noise under the stage.)
III. THE ANGELS OF THE SEVEN PLANETS, BEAR- ING THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM.
The Angels. The Angels of the Planets Seven, Across the shining flelds of heaven
The natal star we bring! Dropping our sevenfold virtues down, As priceless jewels in the crown
Of Christ, our new-born King. Raphael. I am the Angel of the Sun, Whose flaming wheels began to run, When God's almighty breath, Said to the Darkness and the Night, Let there be light! and there was light! I bring the gift of Faith.
Gabriel. I am the Angel of the Moon, Darkened, to be rekindled soon,
Beneath the azure cope!
Nearest to earth, it is my ray That best illumes the midnight way.
I bring the gift of Hope!
Angel. The Angel of the Star of Love, The Evening Star, that shines above The place where lovers be, Above all happy hearths and homes, On roofs of thatch, or golden Domes, I give him Charity!
Zobiachel. The Planet Jupiter is mine! The mightiest star of all that shine, Except the sun alone!
He is the High Priest of the Dove, And sends, from his great throne above, Justice, that shall atone!
Michael. The Planet Mercury, whose place Is nearest to the sun in space,
Is my allotted spl.ere!
And with celestial ardour swift I bear upon my hands the gift Of heavenly Prudence here! Uriel. I am the Minister of Mars, The strongest star among the stars! My songs of power prelude The march and battle of man's life, And for the suffering and the strife, I give him Fortitude!
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