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 rain, 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 Salem!
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 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 statute, 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 thou 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 valor 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;It is such as daily and hourly stains The dust and the turf of battle plains, By vassals shed, in a crimson flood, Without reserve and without reward, At the slightest summons of their lord!
But thine is precious; the fore-appointed Blood of kings, of God's anointed!
Moreover, what has the world in store For one like her, but tears and toil?
Daughter of sorrow, serf of the soil, A peasant's child and a peasant's wife, And her soul within her sick and sore With the roughness and barrenness of life!
I marvel not at the heart's recoil 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 splendor 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 foal or fair, Is ever done, but it leaves somewhere A record, written by fingers ghostly, As a blessing or a curse, and mostly In the greater weakness or greater strength Of the acts which follow it, till at length The wrongs of ages are redressed, And the justice of God made manifest!
LUCIFER.
In ancient records it is stated That, whenever an evil deed is done, Another devil is created To scourge and torment the offending one!
But evil is only good perverted, And Lucifer, the bearer of Light, But an angel fallen and deserted, Thrust from his Father's house with a curse Into the black and endless night.
PRINCE HENRY.
If justice rules the universe, From the good actions of good men Angels of light should be begotten.
And thus the balance restored again.
LUCIFER.
Yes; if the world were not so rotten, And so given over to the Devil!
PRINCE HENRY.
But this deed, is it good or evil?
Have I thine absolution free To do it, and without restriction?
LUCIFER.
Ay; and from whatsoever sin Lieth around it and within, From all crimes in which it may involve thee, I now release thee and absolve thee!
PRINCE HENRY.
Give me thy holy benediction.
LUCIFER, stretching forth his hand and muttering.
Maledictione perpetua Maledicat vos Pater eternus!
THE ANGEL, with the aeolian harp.
Take heed! take heed!
Noble art thou in thy birth, By the good and the great of earth Hast thou been taught!
Be noble in every thought And in every deed!
Let not the illusion of thy senses Betray thee to deadly offences, Be strong! be good! be pure!
The right only shall endure, All things else are but false pretences.
I entreat thee, I implore, Listen no more To the suggestions of an evil spirit, That even now is there, Making the foul seem fair, And selfishness itself a virtue and a merit!
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!