“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. 45
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-hanging rein, 50
Your spurs wet with blood, and your bridle with foam?
“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 among the crowd.
To come back to my text! When the news was first spread 55
That Christ was arisen indeed from the dead,
Very great was the joy of the angels in heaven;
And as great the dispute as to who should carry
The tidings thereof to the Virgin Mary,
Pierced to the heart with sorrows seven. 60
Old Father Adam was first to propose,
As being the author of all our woes;
But he was refused, for fear, said they,
He would stop to eat apples on the way!
Abel came next, but petitioned in vain, 65
Because he might meet with his brother Cain!
Noah, too, was refused, lest his weakness for wine
Should delay him at every tavern-sign;
And John the Baptist could not get a vote,
On account of his old-fashioned camel’s-hair coat; 70
And the Penitent Thief, who died on the cross,
Was reminded that all his bones were broken!
Till at last, when each in turn had spoken,
The company being still at loss,
The Angel, who rolled away the stone, 75
Was sent to the sepulchre, all alone.
And filled with glory that gloomy prison,
And said to the Virgin, “The Lord is arisen!”
The Cathedral bells ring.
But hark! the bells are beginning to chime;
And I feel that I am growing hoarse. 80
I will put an end to my discourse,
And leave the rest for some other time.
For the bells themselves are the best of preachers;
Their brazen lips are learned teachers,
From their pulpits of stone, in the upper air, 85
Sounding aloft, without crack or flaw,
Shriller than trumpets under the Law,
Now a sermon, and now a prayer.
The clangorous hammer is the tongue,
This way, that way, beaten and swung, 90
That from mouth of brass, as from Mouth of Gold,
May be taught the Testaments, New and Old.
And above it the great cross-beam of wood
Representeth the Holy Rood,
Upon which, like the bell, our hopes are hung. 95
And the wheel wherewith it is swayed and rung
Is the mind of man, that round and round
Sways, and maketh the tongue to sound!
And the rope, with its twisted cordage three,
Denoteth the Scriptural Trinity 100
Of Morals, and Symbols, and History;
And the upward and downward motion show
That we touch upon matters high and low;
And the constant change and transmutation
Of action and of contemplation, 105
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, 110
I have only one word more to say;
In the church, in honor of Easter day
Will be presented a Miracle Play;
And I hope you will all have the grace to attend.
Christ bring us at last to his felicity! 115
Pax vobiscum! et Benedicite!
In the Cathedral
CHANT.
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. 5
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 windows, 10
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, 15
Erwin von Steinbach; but not he alone,
For many generations labored 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, 20
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 these sculptured stones,
And with him toiled his children, and their lives 25
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 Pillars of the Angels yonder.
That is the image of the master, carved 30
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, 35
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! 40
PRINCE HENRY.
A greater monument than this thou leavest
In thine own life, all purity and love!
See, too, the Rose, above the western portal
Resplendent with a thousand gorgeous colors,
The perfect flower of Gothic loveliness! 45
ELSIE.
And, in the gallery, the long line of statues,
Christ with his twelve Apostles watching us!
A BISHOP in armor, booted and spurred, passes with his train.
PRINCE HENRY.
But come away; we have not time to look.
The crowd already fills the church, and yonder
Upon a stage, a herald with a trumpet, 50
Clad like the Angel Gabriel, proclaims
The Mystery that will now be represented.
The Nativity: A Miracle-Play.
Introitus.
I.
Heaven
PRÆCO.
COME, good people, all and each,
Come and listen to our speech!
In your presence here I stand,
With a trumpet in my hand,
To announce the Easter Play, 5
Which we represent to-day!
First of all we shall rehearse,
In our action and our verse,
The Nativity of our Lord,
As written in the old record 10
Of the Protevangelion,
So that he who reads may run!
Blows his trumpet.
I. Heaven.
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 15
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! 20
MERCY.
Have pity, Lord! let penitence
Atone for disobedience,
Nor let the fruit of man’s offence
Be endless misery!
JUSTICE.
What penitence proportionate 25
Can e’er be felt for sin so great?
Of the forbidden fruit he ate,
And damnèd must he be!
GOD.
He shall be saved, if that within
The bounds of earth one free from sin 30
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; 35
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! 40
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 5
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, 10
The threads of gold and scarlet spin,
And at their labor 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? 15
GABRIEL.
The Lord of heaven is with thee now!
Blessed among all women thou,
Who art his holy choice!
MARY, setting down the pitcher.
What can this mean? No one is near,
And yet, such sacred words I hear, 20
I almost fear to stay.
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 25
The majesty of the Most High
Shall overshadow thee!
MARY.
Behold the handmaid of the Lord!
According to thy holy word,
So be it unto me!
Here the Devils shall again make a great noise, under the stage. 30
III.
The Angels of the Seven Planets Bearing the Star of Bethlehem
THE ANGELS.
THE ANGELS of the Planets Seven,
Across the shining fields of heaven
The natal star we bring!
Dropping our sevenfold virtues down
As priceless jewels in the crown 5
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, 10
Let there be light! and there was light
I bring the gift of Faith.
ONAFIEL.
I am the Angel of the Moon,
Darkened to be rekindled soon
Beneath the azure cope! 15
Nearest to earth, it is my ray
That best illumes the midnight way;
I bring the gift of Hope!
ANAEL.
The Angel of the Star of Love,
The Evening Star, that shines above 20
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! 25
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! 30
MICHAEL.
The Planet Mercury, whose place
Is nearest to the sun in space,
Is my allotted sphere!
And with celestial ardor swift
I bear upon my hands the gift 35
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, 40
And for the suffering and the strife,
I give him Fortitude!
ORIFEL.
The Angel of the uttermost
Of all the shining, heavenly host,
From the far-off expanse 45
Of the Saturnian, endless space
I bring the last, the crowning grace,
The gift of Temperance!
A sudden light shines from the windows of the stable in the village below.
IV.
The Wise Men of the East
The stable of the Inn. The VIRGIN and CHILD. Three Gypsy Kings, GASPAR, MELCHIOR, and BELSHAZZAR, shall come in.
GASPAR.
HAIL to thee, Jesus of Nazareth!
Though in a manger thou draw breath,
Thou art greater than Life and Death,
Greater than Joy or Woe!
This cross upon the line of life 5
Portendeth struggle, toil, and strife,
And through a region with peril rife
In darkness shalt thou go!
MELCHIOR.
Hail to thee, King of Jerusalem!
Though humbly born in Bethlehem, 10
A sceptre and a diadem
Await thy brow and hand!
The sceptre is a simple reed,
The crown will make thy temples bleed,
And in thine hour of greatest need, 15
Abashed thy subjects stand!
BELSHAZZAR.
Hail to thee, Christ of Christendom!
O’er all the earth thy kingdom come!
From distant Trebizond to Rome
Thy name shall men adore! 20
Peace and good-will among all men,
The Virgin has returned again,
Returned the old Saturnian reign
And Golden Age once more.
THE CHILD CHRIST.
Jesus, the Son of God, am I, 25
Born here to suffer and to die
According to the prophecy,
That other men may live!
THE VIRGIN.
And now these clothes, that wrapped Him, take
And keep them precious, for his sake; 30
Our benediction thus we make,
Naught else have we to give.
She gives them swaddling-clothes, and they depart.
V.
The Flight into Egypt
Here JOSEPH shall come in, leading an ass, on which are seated MARY and the CHILD.
MARY.
HERE will we rest us, under these
O’erhanging branches of the trees,
Where robins chant their Litanies
And canticles of joy.
JOSEPH.
My saddle-girths have given way 5
With trudging through the heat to-day;
To you I think it is but play
To ride and hold the boy.
MARY.
Hark! how the robins shout and sing,
As if to hail their infant King! 10
I will alight at yonder spring
To wash his little coat.
JOSEPH.
And I will hobble well the ass,
Lest, being loose upon the grass,
He should escape; for, by the mass, 15
He ‘s nimble as a goat.
Here MARY shall alight and go to the spring.
MARY.
O Joseph! I am much afraid,
For men are sleeping in the shade;
I fear that we shall be waylaid,
And robbed and beaten sore!
Here a band of robbers shall be seen sleeping, two of whom shall rise and come forward. 20
DUMACHUS.
Cock’s soul! deliver up your gold!
JOSEPH.
I pray you, Sirs, let go your hold!
You see that I am weak and old,
Of wealth I have no store.
DUMACHUS.
Give up your money!
TITUS.
Prithee cease. 25
Let these people go in peace.
DUMACHUS.
First let them pay for their release,
And then go on their way.
TITUS.
These forty groats I give in fee,
Delphi Complete Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Delphi Poets Series Book 13) Page 102
