Delphi Complete Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Delphi Poets Series Book 13)

Home > Other > Delphi Complete Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Delphi Poets Series Book 13) > Page 93
Delphi Complete Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Delphi Poets Series Book 13) Page 93

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


  On them, and bless them.

  CHRISTUS.

  Suffer little children 25

  To come unto me, and forbid them not;

  Of such is the kingdom of heaven; and their angels

  Look always on my Father’s face.

  Takes them in his arms and blesses them.

  A YOUNG RULER, running.

  Good Master!

  What good thing shall I do, that I may have

  Eternal life?

  CHRISTUS.

  Why callest thou me good? 30

  There is none good but one, and that is God.

  If thou wilt enter into life eternal,

  Keep the commandments.

  YOUNG RULER.

  Which of them?

  CHRISTUS.

  Thou shalt not

  Commit adultery; thou shalt not kill;

  Thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not bear false witness; 35

  Honor thy father and thy mother; and love

  Thy neighbor as thyself.

  YOUNG RULER.

  From my youth up

  All these things have I kept. What lack I yet?

  JOHN.

  With what divine compassion in his eyes

  The Master looks upon this eager youth, 40

  As if He loved him!

  CHRISTUS.

  Wouldst thou perfect be,

  Sell all thou hast, and give it to the poor,

  And come, take up thy cross, and follow me,

  And thou shalt have thy treasure in the heavens.

  JOHN.

  Behold, how sorrowful he turns away! 45

  CHRISTUS.

  Children! how hard it is for them that trust

  In riches to enter into the kingdom of God!

  ‘T is easier for a camel to go through

  A needle’s eye, than for the rich to enter

  The kingdom of God!

  JOHN.

  Ah, who then can be saved? 50

  CHRISTUS.

  With men this is indeed impossible,

  But unto God all things are possible!

  PETER.

  Behold, we have left all, and followed thee.

  What shall we have therefor?

  CHRISTUS.

  Eternal life.

  IX.

  At Bethany

  MARTHA busy about household affairs. MARY sitting at the feet of CHRISTUS.

  MARTHA.

  SHE sitteth idly at the Master’s feet,

  And troubles not herself with household cares.

  ‘T is the old story. When a guest arrives

  She gives up all to be with him; while I

  Must be the drudge, make ready the guest-chamber, 5

  Prepare the food, set everything in order,

  And see that naught is wanting in the house.

  She shows her love by words, and I by works.

  MARY.

  O Master! when thou comest, it is always

  A Sabbath in the house. I cannot work; 10

  I must sit at thy feet; must see thee, hear thee!

  I have a feeble, wayward, doubting heart,

  Incapable of endurance or great thoughts,

  Striving for something that it cannot reach,

  Baffled and disappointed, wounded, hungry; 15

  And only when I hear thee am I happy,

  And only when I see thee am at peace!

  Stronger than I, and wiser, and far better

  In every manner, is my sister Martha.

  Thou seest how well she orders everything 20

  To make thee welcome; how she comes and goes,

  Careful and cumbered ever with much serving,

  While I but welcome thee with foolish words!

  Whene’er thou speakest to me, I am happy;

  When thou art silent, I am satisfied. 25

  Thy presence is enough. I ask no more.

  Only to be with thee, only to see thee,

  Sufficeth me. My heart is then at rest.

  I wonder I am worthy of so much.

  MARTHA.

  Lord, dost thou care not that my sister Mary 30

  Hath left me thus to wait on thee alone?

  I pray thee, bid her help me.

  CHRISTUS.

  Martha, Martha,

  Careful and troubled about many things

  Art thou, and yet one thing alone is needful!

  Thy sister Mary hath chosen that good part, 35

  Which never shall be taken away from her!

  X.

  Born Blind

  A JEW.

  WHO is this beggar blinking in the sun?

  Is it not he who used to sit and beg

  By the Gate Beautiful?

  ANOTHER.

  It is the same.

  A THIRD.

  It is not he, but like him, for that beggar

  Was blind from birth. It cannot be the same. 5

  THE BEGGAR.

  Yea, I am he.

  A JEW.

  How have thine eyes been opened?

  THE BEGGAR.

  A man that is called Jesus made a clay

  And put it on mine eyes, and said to me:

  Go to Siloam’s Pool and wash thyself.

  I went and washed, and I received my sight. 10

  A JEW.

  Where is He?

  THE BEGGAR.

  I know not.

  PHARISEES.

  What is this crowd

  Gathered about a beggar? What has happened?

  A JEW.

  Here is a man who hath been blind from birth,

  And now he sees. He says a man called Jesus

  Hath healed him.

  PHARISEES.

  As God liveth, the Nazarene! 15

  How was this done?

  THE BEGGAR.

  Rabboni, he put clay

  Upon mine eyes; I washed, and now I see.

  PHARISEES.

  When did he this?

  THE BEGGAR.

  Rabboni, yesterday.

  PHARISEES.

  The Sabbath day. This man is not of God

  Because he keepeth not the Sabbath day! 20

  A JEW.

  How can a man that is a sinner do

  Such miracles?

  PHARISEES.

  What dost thou say of him

  That hath restored thy sight?

  THE BEGGAR.

  He is a Prophet.

  A JEW.

  This is a wonderful story, but not true.

  A beggar’s fiction. He was not born blind, 25

  And never has been blind!

  OTHERS.

  Here are his parents.

  Ask them.

  PHARISEES.

  Is this your son?

  THE PARENTS.

  Rabboni, yea;

  We know this is our son.

  PHARISEES.

  Was he born blind?

  THE PARENTS.

  He was born blind.

  PHARISEES.

  Then how doth he now see?

  THE PARENTS, aside.

  What answer shall we make? If we confess 30

  It was the Christ, we shall be driven forth

  Out of the Synagogue! We know, Rabboni,

  This is our son, and that he was born blind;

  But by what means he seeth, we know not,

  Or who his eyes hath opened, we know not. 35

  He is of age; ask him; we cannot say;

  He shall speak for himself.

  PHARISEES.

  Give God the praise!

  We know the man that healed thee is a sinner!

  THE BEGGAR.

  Whether He be a sinner, I know not;

  One thing I know; that whereas I was blind, 40

  I now do see.

  PHARISEES.

  How opened he thine eyes?

  What did he do?

  THE BEGGAR.

  I have already told you.

  Ye did not hear: why would ye hear again?

  Will ye
be his disciples?

  PHARISEES.

  God of Moses!

  Are we demoniacs, are we halt or blind, 45

  Or palsy-stricken, or lepers, or the like,

  That we should join the Synagogue of Satan,

  And follow jugglers? Thou art his disciple,

  But we are disciples of Moses; and we know

  That God spake unto Moses; but this fellow, 50

  We know not whence he is!

  THE BEGGAR.

  Why, herein is

  A marvellous thing! Ye know not whence He is,

  Yet He hath opened mine eyes! We know that God

  Heareth not sinners; but if any man

  Doeth God’s will, and is his worshipper, 55

  Him doth He hear. Oh, since the world began

  It was not heard that any man hath opened

  The eyes of one that was born blind. If He

  Were not of God, surely He could do nothing!

  PHARISEES.

  Thou, who wast altogether born in sins 60

  And in iniquities, dost thou teach us?

  Away with thee out of the holy places,

  Thou reprobate, thou beggar, thou blasphemer!

  THE BEGGAR is cast out.

  XI.

  Simon Magus and Helen of Tyre

  On the house-top at Endor. Night. A lighted lantern on a table.

  SIMON.

  SWIFT are the blessed Immortals to the mortal

  That perseveres! So doth it stand recorded

  In the divine Chaldæan Oracles

  Of Zoroaster, once Ezekiel’s slave,

  Who in his native East betook himself 5

  To lonely meditation, and the writing

  On the dried skins of oxen the Twelve Books

  Of the Avesta and the Oracles!

  Therefore I persevere; and I have brought thee

  From the great city of Tyre, where men deride 10

  The things they comprehend not, to this plain

  Of Esdraelon, in the Hebrew tongue

  Called Armageddon, and this town of Endor,

  Where men believe; where all the air is full

  Of marvellous traditions, and the Enchantress 15

  That summoned up the ghost of Samuel

  Is still remembered. Thou hast seen the land;

  Is it not fair to look on?

  HELEN.

  It is fair,

  Yet not so fair as Tyre.

  SIMON.

  Is not Mount Tabor

  As beautiful as Carmel by the Sea? 20

  HELEN.

  It is too silent and too solitary;

  I miss the tumult of the streets; the sounds

  Of traffic, and the going to and fro

  Of people in gay attire, with cloaks of purple,

  And gold and silver jewelry!

  SIMON.

  Inventions 25

  Of Ahriman, the spirit of the dark,

  The Evil Spirit!

  HELEN.

  I regret the gossip

  Of friends and neighbors at the open door

  On summer nights.

  SIMON.

  An idle waste of time.

  HELEN.

  The singing and the dancing, the delight 30

  Of music and of motion. Woe is me,

  To give up all these pleasures, and to lead

  The life we lead!

  SIMON.

  Thou canst not raise thyself

  Up to the level of my higher thought,

  And though possessing thee, I still remain 35

  Apart from thee, and with thee, am alone

  In my high dreams.

  HELEN.

  Happier was I in Tyre.

  Oh, I remember how the gallant ships

  Came sailing in, with ivory, gold, and silver,

  And apes and peacocks; and the singing sailors, 40

  And the gay captains with their silken dresses,

  Smelling of aloes, myrrh, and cinnamon!

  SIMON.

  But the dishonor, Helen! Let the ships

  Of Tarshish howl for that!

  HELEN.

  And what dishonor?

  Remember Rahab, and how she became 45

  The ancestress of the great Psalmist David;

  And wherefore should not I, Helen of Tyre,

  Attain like honor?

  SIMON.

  Thou art Helen of Tyre,

  And hast been Helen of Troy, and hast been Rahab,

  The Queen of Sheba, and Semiramis, 50

  And Sara of seven husbands, and Jezebel,

  And other women of the like allurements;

  And now thou art Minerva, the first Æon,

  The Mother of Angels!

  HELEN.

  And the concubine

  Of Simon the Magician! Is it honor 55

  For one who has been all these noble dames,

  To tramp about the dirty villages

  And cities of Samaria with a juggler?

  A charmer of serpents?

  SIMON.

  He who knows himself

  Knows all things in himself. I have charmed thee, 60

  Thou beautiful asp: yet am I no magician.

  I am the Power of God, and the Beauty of God!

  I am the Paraclete, the Comforter!

  HELEN.

  Illusions! Thou deceiver, self-deceived!

  Thou dost usurp the titles of another; 65

  Thou art not what thou sayest.

  SIMON.

  Am I not?

  Then feel my power.

  HELEN.

  Would I had ne’er left Tyre!

  He looks at her, and she sinks into a deep sleep.

  SIMON.

  Go, see it in thy dreams, fair unbeliever!

  And leave me unto mine, if they be dreams,

  That take such shapes before me, that I see them; 70

  These effable and ineffable impressions

  Of the mysterious world, that come to me

  From the elements of Fire and Earth and Water,

  And the all-nourishing Ether! It is written,

  Look not on Nature, for her name is fatal! 75

  Yet there are Principles, that make apparent

  The images of unapparent things,

  And the impression of vague characters

  And visions most divine appear in ether.

  So speak the Oracles; then wherefore fatal? 80

  I take this orange-bough, with its five leaves,

  Each equidistant on the upright stem;

  And I project them on a plane below,

  In the circumference of a circle drawn

  About a centre where the stem is planted, 85

  And each still equidistant from the other;

  As if a thread of gossamer were drawn

  Down from each leaf, and fastened with a pin.

  Now if from these five points a line be traced

  To each alternate point, we shall obtain 90

  The Pentagram, or Solomon’s Pentangle,

  A charm against all witchcraft, and a sign,

  Which on the banner of Antiochus

  Drove back the fierce barbarians of the North,

  Demons esteemed, and gave the Syrian King 95

  The sacred name of Soter, or of Savior.

  Thus Nature works mysteriously with man;

  And from the Eternal One, as from a centre,

  All things proceed, in fire, air, earth, and water,

  And all are subject to one law, which broken 100

  Even in a single point, is broken in all;

  Demons rush in, and chaos comes again.

  By this will I compel the stubborn spirits,

  That guard the treasures, hid in caverns deep

  On Gerizim, by Uzzi the High-Priest, 105

  The ark and holy vessels, to reveal

  Their secret unto me, and to restore

  These precious things to the Samaritans.

  A mist is rising fro
m the plain below me,

  And as I look, the vapors shape themselves 110

  Into strange figures, as if unawares

  My lips had breathed the Tetragrammaton,

  And from their graves, o’er all the battlefields

  Of Armageddon, the long-buried captains

  Had started, with their thousands, and ten thousands, 115

  And rushed together to renew their wars,

  Powerless, and weaponless, and without a sound!

  Wake, Helen, from thy sleep! The air grows cold;

  Let us go down.

  HELEN, awaking.

  Oh, would I were at home!

  SIMON.

  Thou sayest that I usurp another’s titles. 120

  In youth I saw the Wise Men of the East,

  Magalath and Pangalath and Saracen,

  Who followed the bright star, but home returned

  For fear of Herod by another way.

  Oh shining worlds above me! in what deep 125

  Recesses of your realms of mystery

  Lies hidden now that star? and where are they

  That brought the gifts of frankincense and myrrh?

  HELEN.

  The Nazarene still liveth.

  SIMON.

  We have heard

  His name in many towns, but have not seen Him. 130

  He flits before us; tarries not; is gone

  When we approach, like something unsubstantial,

  Made of the air, and fading into air.

  He is at Nazareth, He is at Nain,

  Or at the Lovely Village on the Lake, 135

  Or sailing on its waters.

  HELEN.

  So say those

  Who do not wish to find Him.

  SIMON.

  Can this be

  The King of Israel, whom the Wise Men worshipped?

  Or does He fear to meet me? It would seem so.

  We should soon learn which of us twain usurps 140

 

‹ Prev