Delphi Complete Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Delphi Poets Series Book 13)
Page 118
MARTHA.
Oh, that is false. I know it to be false.
COREY.
He has been dead these fourteen years or more. 205
Why can’t they let him rest? Why must they drag him
Out of his grave to give me a bad name?
I did not kill him. In his bed he died.
As most men die, because his hour had come.
I have wronged no man. Why should Proctor say 210
Such things about me? I will not forgive him
Till he confesses he has slandered me.
Then, I ‘ve more trouble. All my cattle gone.
MARTHA.
They will come back again.
COREY.
Not in this world.
Did I not tell you they were overlooked? 215
They ran down through the woods, into the meadows,
And tried to swim the river, and were drowned.
It is a heavy loss.
MARTHA.
I ‘m sorry for it.
COREY.
All my dear oxen dead. I loved them, Martha,
Next to yourself. I liked to look at them, 220
And watch the breath come out of their wide nostrils,
And see their patient eyes. Somehow I thought
It gave me strength only to look at them.
And how they strained their necks against the yoke
If I but spoke, or touched them with the goad! 225
They were my friends; and when Gloyd came and told me
They were all drowned, I could have drowned myself
From sheer vexation; and I said as much
To Gloyd and others.
MARTHA.
Do not trust John Gloyd
With anything you would not have repeated. 230
COREY.
As I came through the woods this afternoon,
Impatient at my loss, and much perplexed
With all that I had heard there in the village,
The yellow leaves lit up the trees about me
Like an enchanted palace, and I wished 235
I knew enough of magic or of Witchcraft
To change them into gold. Then suddenly
A tree shook down some crimson leaves upon me,
Like drops of blood, and in the path before me
Stood Tituba the Indian, the old crone. 240
MARTHA.
Were you not frightened?
COREY.
No, I do not think
I know the meaning of that word. Why frightened?
I am not one of those who think the Lord
Is waiting till He catches them some day
In the back yard alone! What should I fear? 245
She started from the bushes by the path,
And had a basket full of herbs and roots
For some witch-broth or other, — the old hag!
MARTHA.
She has been here to-day.
COREY.
With hand outstretched
She said: “Giles Corey, will you sign the Book?” 250
“Avaunt!” I cried: “Get thee behind me, Satan!”
At which she laughed and left me. But a voice
Was whispering in my ear continually:
“Self-murder is no crime. The life of man
Is his, to keep it or to throw away!” 255
MARTHA.
‘T was a temptation of the Evil One!
Giles, Giles! why will you harbor these dark thoughts?
COREY (rising).
I am too tired to talk. I ‘ll go to bed.
MARTHA.
First tell me something about Bridget Bishop.
How did she look? You saw her? You were there? 260
COREY.
I ‘ll tell you that to-morrow, not to-night.
I ‘ll go to bed.
MARTHA.
First let us pray together.
COREY.
I cannot pray to-night.
MARTHA.
Say the Lord’s Prayer,
And that will comfort you.
COREY.
I cannot say,
“As we forgive those that have sinned against us,” 265
When I do not forgive them.
MARTHA (kneeling on the hearth).
God forgive you!
COREY.
I will not make believe! I say, to-night
There ‘s something thwarts me when I wish to pray,
And thrusts into my mind, instead of prayers,
Hate and revenge, and things that are not prayers. 270
Something of my old self, — my old, bad life, —
And the old Adam in me, rises up,
And will not let me pray. I am afraid
The Devil hinders me. You know I say
Just what I think, and nothing more nor less, 275
And, when I pray, my heart is in my prayer.
I cannot say one thing and mean another.
If I can’t pray, I will not make believe!
[Exit COREY. MARTHA continues kneeling.
Act III
SCENE I. — GILES COREY’S kitchen. Morning. COREY and MARTHA sitting at the breakfast-table.
COREY (rising).
WELL, now I ‘ve told you all I saw and heard
Of Bridget Bishop; and I must be gone.
MARTHA.
Don’t go into the village, Giles, to-day.
Last night you came back tired and out of humor.
COREY.
Say, angry; say, right angry. I was never 5
In a more devilish temper in my life.
All things went wrong with me.
MARTHA.
You were much vexed;
So don’t go to the village.
COREY (going).
No, I won’t.
I won’t go near it. We are going to mow
The Ipswich meadows for the aftermath, 10
The crop of sedge and rowens.
MARTHA.
Stay a moment.
I want to tell you what I dreamed last night.
Do you believe in dreams?
COREY.
Why, yes and no.
When they come true, then I believe in them;
When they come false, I don’t believe in them. 15
But let me hear. What did you dream about?
MARTHA.
I dreamed that you and I were both in prison;
That we had fetters on our hands and feet;
That we were taken before the Magistrates,
And tried for Witchcraft, and condemned to death! 20
I wished to pray; they would not let me pray;
You tried to comfort me, and they forbade it.
But the most dreadful thing in all my dream
Was that they made you testify against me!
And then there came a kind of mist between us; 25
I could not see you; and I woke in terror.
I never was more thankful in my life
Than when I found you sleeping at my side!
COREY (with tenderness).
It was our talk last night that made you dream.
I ‘m sorry for it. I ‘ll control myself 30
Another time, and keep my temper down!
I do not like such dreams. — Remember, Martha,
I ‘m going to mow the Ipswich River meadows;
If Gardner comes, you ‘ll tell him where to find me. [Exit.
MARTHA.
So this delusion grows from bad to worse. 35
First, a forsaken and forlorn old woman,
Ragged and wretched, and without a friend;
Then something higher. Now it ‘s Bridget Bishop;
God only knows whose turn it will be next!
The Magistrates are blind, the people mad! 40
If they would only seize the Afflicted Children,
And put them in the Workhouse, where they should be,
There ‘d be an end of all this wicke
dness. [Exit.
SCENE II. — A street in Salem Village. Enter MATHER and HATHORNE.
MATHER.
Yet one thing troubles me.
HATHORNE.
And what is that?
MATHER.
May not the Devil take the outward shape 45
Of innocent persons? Are we not in danger,
Perhaps, of punishing some who are not guilty?
HATHORNE.
As I have said, we do not trust alone
To spectral evidence.
MATHER.
And then again,
If any shall be put to death for Witchcraft, 50
We do but kill the body, not the soul.
The Unclean Spirits that possessed them once
Live still, to enter into other bodies.
What have we gained? Surely, there ‘s nothing gained.
HATHORNE.
Doth not the Scripture say, “Thou shalt not suffer 55
A Witch to live?”
MATHER.
The Scripture sayeth it,
But speaketh to the Jews; and we are Christians.
What say the laws of England?
HATHORNE.
They make Witchcraft
Felony without the benefit of Clergy.
Witches are burned in England. You have read — 60
For you read all things, not a book escapes you —
The famous Demonology of King James?
MATHER.
A curious volume. I remember also
The plot of the Two Hundred, with one Fian,
The Registrar of the Devil, at their head, 65
To drown his Majesty on his return
From Denmark; how they sailed in sieves or riddles
Unto North Berwick Kirk in Lothian,
And, landing there, danced hand in hand, and sang,
“Goodwife, go ye before! goodwife, go ye! 70
If ye ‘ll not go before, goodwife, let me!”
While Geilis Duncan played the Witches’ Reel
Upon a jews-harp.
HATHORNE.
Then you know full well
The English law, and that in England Witches,
When lawfully convicted and attainted, 75
Are put to death.
MATHER.
When lawfully convicted;
That is the point.
HATHORNE.
You heard the evidence
Produced before us yesterday at the trial
Of Bridget Bishop.
MATHER.
One of the Afflicted,
I know, bore witness to the apparition 80
Of ghosts unto the spectre of this Bishop,
Saying, “You murdered us!” of the truth whereof
There was in matter of fact too much suspicion.
HATHORNE.
And when she cast her eyes on the Afflicted,
They were struck down; and this in such a manner 85
There could be no collusion in the business.
And when the accused but laid her hand upon them,
As they lay in their swoons, they straight revived,
Although they stirred not when the others touched them.
MATHER.
What most convinced me of the woman’s guilt 90
Was finding hidden in her cellar wall
Those poppets made of rags, with headless pins
Stuck into them point outwards, and whereof
She could not give a reasonable account.
HATHORNE.
When you shall read the testimony given 95
Before the Court in all the other cases,
I am persuaded you will find the proof
No less conclusive than it was in this.
Come, then, with me, and I will tax your patience
With reading of the documents so far 100
As may convince you that these sorcerers
Are lawfully convicted and attainted.
Like doubting Thomas, you shall lay your hand
Upon these wounds, and you will doubt no more. [Exeunt.
SCENE III. — A room in COREY’S house. MARTHA and two Deacons of the church.
MARTHA.
Be seated. I am glad to see you here. 105
I know what you are come for. You are come
To question me, and learn from my own lips
If I have any dealings with the Devil;
In short, if I ‘m a Witch.
DEACON (sitting down).
Such is our purpose.
How could you know beforehand why we came? 110
MARTHA.
‘T was only a surmise.
DEACON.
We came to ask you,
You being with us in church covenant,
What part you have, if any, in these matters.
MARTHA.
And I make answer, No part whatsoever.
I am a farmer’s wife, a working woman; 115
You see my spinning-wheel, you see my loom,
You know the duties of a farmer’s wife,
And are not ignorant that my life among you
Has been without reproach until this day.
Is it not true?
DEACON.
So much we ‘re bound to own; 120
And say it frankly, and without reserve.
MARTHA.
I ‘ve heard the idle tales that are abroad;
I ‘ve heard it whispered that I am a Witch;
I cannot help it. I do not believe
In any Witchcraft. It is a delusion. 125
DEACON.
How can you say that it is a delusion,
When all our learned and good men believe it? —
Our Ministers and worshipful Magistrates?
MARTHA.
Their eyes are blinded, and see not the truth.
Perhaps one day they will be open to it. 130
DEACON.
You answer boldly. The Afflicted Children
Say you appeared to them.
MARTHA.
And did they say
What clothes I came in?
DEACON.
No, they could not tell.
They said that you foresaw our visit here,
And blinded them, so that they could not see 135
The clothes you wore.
MARTHA.
The cunning, crafty girls!
I say to you, in all sincerity,
I never have appeared to any one
In my own person. If the Devil takes
My shape to hurt these children, or afflict them, 140
I am not guilty of it. And I say
It ‘s all a mere delusion of the senses.
DEACON.
I greatly fear that you will find too late
It is not so.
MARTHA (rising).
They do accuse me falsely.
It is delusion, or it is deceit. 145
There is a story in the ancient Scriptures
Which much I wonder comes not to your minds.
Let me repeat it to you.
DEACON.
We will hear it.
MARTHA.
It came to pass that Naboth had a vineyard
Hard by the palace of the King called Ahab. 150
And Ahab, King of Israel, spake to Naboth,
And said to him, Give unto me thy vineyard,
That I may have it for a garden of herbs,
And I will give a better vineyard for it,
Or, if it seemeth good to thee, its worth 155
In money. And then Naboth said to Ahab,
The Lord forbid it me that I should give
The inheritance of my fathers unto thee.
And Ahab came into his house displeased
And heavy at the words which Naboth spake, 160
And laid him down upon his bed, and turned
His face away; and he would eat no bread.
And Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, came
And said to him, Why is thy spirit sad?
And he said unto her, Because I spake 165
To Naboth, to the Jezreelite, and said,
Give me thy vineyard; and he answered, saying,
I will not give my vineyard unto thee.
And Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, said,
Dost thou not rule the realm of Israel? 170
Arise, eat bread, and let thy heart be merry;
I will give Naboth’s vineyard unto thee.
So she wrote letters in King Ahab’s name,
And sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters
Unto the elders that were in his city 175
Dwelling with Naboth, and unto the nobles;
And in the letters wrote, Proclaim a fast;
And set this Naboth high among the people,
And set two men, the sons of Belial,
Before him, to bear witness and to say, 180
Thou didst blaspheme against God and the King;
And carry him out and stone him, that he die!
And the elders and the nobles in the city
Did even as Jezebel, the wife of Ahab,
Had sent to them and written in the letters. 185
And then it came to pass, when Ahab heard
Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose to go
Down unto Naboth’s vineyard, and to take
Possession of it. And the word of God
Came to Elijah, saying to him, Arise, 190
Go down to meet the King of Israel
In Naboth’s vineyard, whither he hath gone
To take possession. Thou shalt speak to him,
Saying, Thus saith the Lord! What! hast thou killed
And also taken possession? In the place 195
Wherein the dogs have licked the blood of Naboth
Shall the dogs lick thy blood, — ay, even thine!
Both of the Deacons start from their seats.
And Ahab then, the King of Israel,
Said, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?
Elijah the Prophet answered, I have found thee! 200