Delphi Complete Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Delphi Poets Series Book 13)
Page 94
The titles of the other, as thou sayest.
They go down.
The Third Passover.
I.
The Entry into Jerusalem
THE SYRO-PHŒNICIAN WOMAN and her DAUGHTER on the house-top at Jerusalem.
THE DAUGHTER, singing.
BLIND Bartimeus at the gates
Of Jericho in darkness waits;
He hears the crowd; — he hears a breath
Say, It is Christ of Nazareth!
And calls, in tones of agony, 5
The thronging multitudes increase:
Blind Bartimeus, hold thy peace!
But still, above the noisy crowd,
The beggar’s cry is shrill and loud; 10
Until they say, He calleth thee!
Then saith the Christ, as silent stands
The crowd, What wilt thou at my hands?
And he replies, Oh, give me light! 15
Rabbi, restore the blind man’s sight!
And Jesus answers,
Ye that have eyes, yet cannot see,
In darkness and in misery, 20
Recall those mighty voices three,
THE MOTHER.
Thy faith hath saved thee! Ah, how true that is! 25
For I had faith; and when the Master came
Into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, fleeing
From those who sought to slay Him, I went forth
And cried unto Him, saying: Have mercy on me,
O Lord, thou Son of David! for my daughter 30
Is grievously tormented with a devil.
But He passed on, and answered not a word.
And his disciples said, beseeching Him:
Send her away! She crieth after us!
And then the Master answered them and said: 35
I am not sent but unto the lost sheep
Of the House of Israel! Then I worshipped Him,
Saying: Lord, help me! And He answered me,
It is not meet to take the children’s bread
And cast it unto dogs! Truth, Lord, I said; 40
And yet the dogs may eat the crumbs which fall
From off their master’s table; and He turned,
And answered me; and said to me: O woman,
Great is thy faith; then be it unto thee
Even as thou wilt. And from that very hour 45
Thou wast made whole, my darling! my delight!
THE DAUGHTER.
There came upon my dark and troubled mind
A calm, as when the tumult of the city
Suddenly ceases, and I lie and hear
The silver trumpets of the Temple blowing 50
Their welcome to the Sabbath. Still I wonder,
That one who was so far away from me,
And could not see me, by his thought alone
Had power to heal me. Oh that I could see Him!
THE MOTHER.
Perhaps thou wilt; for I have brought thee here 55
To keep the holy Passover, and lay
Thine offering of thanksgiving on the altar.
Thou mayst both see and hear Him. Hark!
VOICES afar off.
Hosanna!
THE DAUGHTER.
A crowd comes pouring through the city gate!
O mother, look!
VOICE in the street.
Hosanna to the Son 60
Of David!
THE DAUGHTER.
A great multitude of people
Fills all the street; and riding on an ass
Comes one of noble aspect, like a king!
The people spread their garments in the way,
And scatter branches of the palm-trees!
VOICES.
Blessed 65
Is He that cometh in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest!
OTHER VOICES.
Who is this?
VOICES.
Jesus of Nazareth!
THE DAUGHTER.
Mother, it is He!
VOICES.
He hath called Lazarus of Bethany
Out of his grave, and raised him from the dead! 70
Hosanna in the highest!
PHARISEES.
Ye perceive
That nothing we prevail. Behold, the world
Is all gone after him!
THE DAUGHTER.
What majesty,
What power is in that care-worn countenance!
What sweetness, what compassion! I no longer 75
Wonder that He hath healed me!
VOICES.
Peace in heaven,
And glory in the highest!
PHARISEES.
Rabbi! Rabbi!
Rebuke thy followers!
CHRISTUS.
Should they hold their peace
The very stones beneath us would cry out!
THE DAUGHTER.
All hath passed by me like a dream of wonder! 80
But I have seen Him, and have heard his voice,
And I am satisfied! I ask no more!
II.
Solomon’s Porch
GAMALIEL THE SCRIBE.
WHEN Rabban Simeon, upon whom be peace!
Taught in these Schools, he boasted that his pen
Had written no word that he could call his own,
But wholly and always had been consecrated
To the transcribing of the Law and Prophets. 5
He used to say, and never tired of saying,
The world itself was built upon the Law.
And ancient Hillel said, that whosoever
Gains a good name, gains something for himself,
But he who gains a knowledge of the Law 10
Gains everlasting life. And they spake truly.
Great is the Written Law; but greater still
The Unwritten, the Traditions of the Elders,
The lovely words of Levites, spoken first
To Moses on the Mount, and handed down 15
From mouth to mouth, in one unbroken sound
And sequence of divine authority,
The voice of God resounding through the ages.
The Written Law is water; the Unwritten
Is precious wine; the Written Law is salt, 20
The Unwritten costly spice; the Written Law
Is but the body; the Unwritten, the soul
That quickens it and makes it breathe and live.
I can remember, many years ago,
A little bright-eyed school-boy, a mere stripling, 25
Son of a Galilean carpenter,
From Nazareth, I think, who came one day
And sat here in the Temple with the Scribes,
Hearing us speak, and asking many questions,
And we were all astonished at his quickness. 30
And when his mother came, and said: Behold
Thy father and I have sought thee, sorrowing;
He looked as one astonished, and made answer,
How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not
That I must be about my Father’s business? 35
Often since then I see him here among us,
Or dream I see him, with his upraised face
Intent and eager, and I often wonder
Unto what manner of manhood he hath grown!
Perhaps a poor mechanic, like his father, 40
Lost in his little Galilean village
And toiling at his craft, to die unknown
And be no more remembered among men.
CHRISTUS in the outer court.
The Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat;
All, therefore, whatsoever they command you, 45
Observe and do; but follow not their works;
They say and do not. They bind heavy burdens
And very grievous to be borne, and lay them
Upon men’s shoulders, but they move them not
With so much as a finger!
GAMALIEL, looking forth.
Who is this
50
Exhorting in the outer courts so loudly?
CHRISTUS.
Their works they do for to be seen of men.
They make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge
The borders of their garments, and they love
The uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats 55
In Synagogues, and greetings in the markets,
And to be called of all men Rabbi, Rabbi!
GAMALIEL.
It is that loud and turbulent Galilean,
That came here at the Feast of Dedication,
And stirred the people up to break the Law! 60
CHRISTUS.
Woe unto you, ye Scribes and Pharisees,
Ye hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom
Of heaven, and neither go ye in yourselves
Nor suffer them that are entering to go in!
GAMALIEL.
How eagerly the people throng and listen, 65
As if his ribald words were words of wisdom!
CHRISTUS.
Woe unto you, ye Scribes and Pharisees,
Ye hypocrites! for ye devour the houses
Of widows, and for pretence ye make long prayers;
Therefore shall ye receive the more damnation. 70
GAMALIEL.
This brawler is no Jew, — he is a vile
Samaritan, and hath an unclean spirit!
CHRISTUS.
Woe unto you, ye Scribes and Pharisees,
Ye hypocrites! ye compass sea and land
To make one proselyte, and when he is made 75
Ye make him twofold more the child of hell
Than you yourselves are!
GAMALIEL.
O my father’s father!
Hillel of blessed memory, hear and judge!
CHRISTUS.
Woe unto you, ye Scribes and Pharisees,
Ye hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint, 80
Of anise, and of cumin, and omit
The weightier matters of the law of God,
Judgment and faith and mercy; and all these
Ye ought to have done, nor leave undone the others!
GAMALIEL.
O Rabban Simeon! how must thy bones 85
Stir in their grave to hear such blasphemies!
CHRISTUS.
Woe unto you, ye Scribes and Pharisees,
Ye hypocrites! for ye make clean and sweet
The outside of the cup and of the platter,
But they within are full of all excess! 90
GAMALIEL.
Patience of God! canst thou endure so long?
Or art thou deaf, or gone upon a journey?
CHRISTUS.
Woe unto you, ye Scribes and Pharisees,
Ye hypocrites! for ye are very like
To whited sepulchres, which indeed appear 95
Beautiful outwardly, but are within
Filled full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness!
GAMALIEL.
Am I awake? Is this Jerusalem?
And are these Jews that throng and stare and listen?
CHRISTUS.
Woe unto you, ye Scribes and Pharisees, 100
Ye hypocrites! because ye build the tombs
Of prophets, and adorn the sepulchres
Of righteous men, and say: If we had lived
When lived our fathers, we would not have been
Partakers with them in the blood of Prophets. 105
So ye be witnesses unto yourselves,
That ye are children of them that killed the Prophets!
Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
I send unto you Prophets and Wise Men,
And Scribes, and some ye crucify, and some 110
Scourge in your Synagogues, and persecute
From city to city; that on you may come
The righteous blood that hath been shed on earth,
From the blood of righteous Abel to the blood
Of Zacharias, son of Barachias, 115
Ye slew between the Temple and the altar!
GAMALIEL.
Oh, had I here my subtle dialectician,
My little Saul of Tarsus, the tent-maker,
Whose wit is sharper than his needle’s point,
He would delight to foil this noisy wrangler! 120
CHRISTUS.
Jerusalem! Jerusalem! O thou
That killest the Prophets, and that stonest them
Which are sent unto thee, how often would I
Have gathered together thy children, as a hen
Gathereth her chickens underneath her wing, 125
And ye would not! Behold, your house is left
Unto you desolate!
THE PEOPLE.
This is a Prophet!
This is the Christ that was to come!
GAMALIEL.
Ye fools!
Think ye, shall Christ come out of Galilee?
III.
Lord, is it I?
CHRISTUS.
ONE of you shall betray me.
THE DISCIPLES.
Is it I?
Lord, is it I?
CHRISTUS.
One of the Twelve it is
That dippeth with me in this dish his hand;
He shall betray me. Lo, the Son of Man
Goeth indeed as it is written of Him; 5
But woe shall be unto that man by whom
He is betrayed! Good were it for that man
If he had ne’er been born!
JUDAS ISCARIOT.
Lord, is it I?
CHRISTUS.
Ay, thou hast said. And that thou doest, do quickly.
JUDAS ISCARIOT, going out.
Ah, woe is me!
CHRISTUS.
All ye shall be offended 10
Because of me this night; for it is written:
Awake, O sword against my shepherd! Smite
The shepherd, saith the Lord of hosts, and scattered
Shall be the sheep! — But after I am risen
I go before you into Galilee. 15
PETER.
O Master! though all men shall be offended
Because of thee, yet will not I be!
CHRISTUS.
Simon,
Behold how Satan hath desired to have you,
That he may sift you as one sifteth wheat!
Whither I go thou canst not follow me — 20
Not now; but thou shalt follow me hereafter.
PETER.
Wherefore can I not follow thee? I am ready
To go with thee to prison and to death.
CHRISTUS.
Verily say I unto thee, this night,
Ere the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice! 25
PETER.
Though I should die, yet will I not deny thee.
CHRISTUS.
When first I sent you forth without a purse,
Or scrip, or shoes, did ye lack anything?
THE DISCIPLES.
Not anything.
CHRISTUS.
But he that hath a purse,
Now let him take it, and likewise his scrip; 30
And he that hath no sword, let him go sell
His clothes and buy one. That which hath been written
Must be accomplished now: He hath poured out
His soul even unto death; he hath been numbered
With the transgressors, and himself hath borne 35
The sin of many, and made intercession
For the transgressors. And here have an end
The things concerning me.
PETER.
Behold, O Lord,
Behold, here are two swords!
CHRISTUS.
It is enough.
IV.
The Garden of Gethsemane
CHRISTUS.
MY spirit is exceeding sorrowful
Even unto death! Tarry ye here and watch.
He goes apart.
PETER.
Under t
his ancient olive-tree, that spreads
Its broad centennial branches like a tent,
Let us lie down and rest.
JOHN.
What are those torches, 5
That glimmer on Brook Kedron there below us?
JAMES.
It is some marriage feast; the joyful maidens
Go out to meet the bridegroom.
PETER.
I am weary.
The struggles of this day have overcome me.
They sleep.
CHRISTUS, falling on his face.
Father! all things are possible to thee, — 10
Oh let this cup pass from me! Nevertheless
Not as I will, but as thou wilt, be done!
Returning to the Disciples.
What! could ye not watch with me for one hour?
Oh watch and pray, that ye may enter not
Into temptation. For the spirit indeed 15
Is willing, but the flesh is weak!
JOHN.
Alas!
It is for sorrow that our eyes are heavy. —
I see again the glimmer of those torches
Among the olives; they are coming hither.
JAMES.
Outside the garden wall the path divides; 20
Surely they come not hither.
They sleep again.
CHRISTUS, as before.
O my Father!
If this cup may not pass away from me,
Except I drink of it, thy will be done.
Returning to the Disciples.
Sleep on; and take your rest!
JOHN.
Beloved Master,
Alas! we know not what to answer thee! 25
It is for sorrow that our eyes are heavy. —
Behold, the torches now encompass us.
JAMES.