Chapter 2 A FARM IN THE ODENWALD

* * *

A garden; morning; PRINCE HENRY seated, with a book. ELSIE, at a distance, gathering flowers. Prince Henry (reading). One morning, all alone,

Out of his convent of gray stone,

Into the forest older, darker, grayer,

His lips moving as if in prayer,

His head sunken upon his breast

As in a dream of rest,

Walked the Monk Felix. All about

The broad, sweet sunshine lay without,

Filling the summer air;

And within the woodlands as he trod,

The twilight was like the Truce of God

With worldly woe and care;

Under him lay the golden moss;

And above him the boughs of hemlock-tree

Waved, and made the sign of the cross,

And whispered their Benedicites;

And from the ground

Rose an odor sweet and fragrant

Of the wild flowers and the vagrant

Vines that wandered,

Seeking the sunshine, round and round.

These he heeded not, but pondered

On the volume in his hand,

A volume of Saint Augustine;

Wherein he read of the unseen

Splendors of God's great town

In the unknown land,

And, with his eyes cast down

In humility, he said:

"I believe, O God,

What herein I have read,

But alas! I do not understand!"And lo! he heard

The sudden singing of a bird,

A snow-white bird, that from a cloud

Dropped down,

And among the branches brown

Sat singing

So sweet, and clear, and loud,

It seemed a thousand harp strings ringing.

And the Monk Felix closed his book,

And long, long,

With rapturous look,

He listened to the song,

And hardly breathed or stirred,

Until he saw, as in a vision,

The land Elysian,

And in the heavenly city heard

Angelic feet

Fall on the golden flagging of the street.

And he would fain

Have caught the wondrous bird,

But strove in vain;

For it flew away, away,

Far over hill and dell,

And instead of its sweet singing

He heard the convent bell

Suddenly in the silence ringing

For the service of noonday.

And he retraced

His pathway homeward sadly and in haste.In the convent there was a change!

He looked for each well known face,

But the faces were new and strange;

New figures sat in the oaken stalls,

New voices chaunted in the choir,

Yet the place was the same place,

The same dusky walls

Of cold, gray stone,

The same cloisters and belfry and spire.A stranger and alone

Among that brotherhood

The Monk Felix stood

"Forty years," said a Friar.

"Have I been Prior

Of this convent in the wood,

But for that space

Never have I beheld thy face!"The heart of the Monk Felix fell:

And he answered with submissive tone,

"This morning, after the hour of Prime,

I left my cell,

And wandered forth alone,

Listening all the time

To the melodious singing

Of a beautiful white bird,

Until I heard

The bells of the convent ringing

Noon from their noisy towers,

It was as if I dreamed;

For what to me had seemed

Moments only, had been hours!""Years!" said a voice close by.

It was an aged monk who spoke,

From a bench of oak

Fastened against the wall;--

He was the oldest monk of all.

For a whole century

Had he been there,

Serving God in prayer,

The meekest and humblest of his creatures.

He remembered well the features

Of Felix, and he said,

Speaking distinct and slow:

"One hundred years ago,

When I was a novice in this place,

There was here a monk, full of God's grace,

Who bore the name

Of Felix, and this man must be the same."And straightway

They brought forth to the light of day

A volume old and brown,

A huge tome, bound

With brass and wild-boar's hide,

Therein were written down

The names of all who had died

In the convent, since it was edified.

And there they found,

Just as the old monk said,

That on a certain day and date,

One hundred years before,

Had gone forth from the convent gate

The Monk Felix, and never more

Had entered that sacred door.

He had been counted among the dead!

And they knew, at last,

That, such had been the power

Of that celestial and immortal song,

A hundred years had passed,

And had not seemed so long

As a single hour! (ELSIE comes in with flowers.)

Elsie. Here are flowers for you,

But they are not all for you.

Some of them are for the Virgin

And for Saint Cecilia. Prince Henry. As thou standest there,

Thou seemest to me like the angel

That brought the immortal roses

To Saint Cecilia's bridal chamber. Elsie. But these will fade.

Prince Henry. Themselves will fade,

But not their memory,

And memory has the power

To re-create them from the dust.

They remind me, too,

Of martyred Dorothea,

Who from celestial gardens sent

Flowers as her witnesses

To him who scoffed and doubted. Elsie. Do you know the story

Of Christ and the Sultan's daughter?

That is the prettiest legend of them all. Prince Henry. Then tell it to me.

But first come hither.

Lay the flowers down beside me.

And put both thy hands in mine.

Now tell me the story. Elsie. Early in the morning

The Sultan's daughter

Walked in her father's garden,

Gathering the bright flowers,

All full of dew. Prince Henry. Just as thou hast been doing

This morning, dearest Elsie. Elsie. And as she gathered them,

She wondered more and more

Who was the Master of the Flowers,

And made them grow

Out of the cold, dark earth.

"In my heart," she said,

"I love him; and for him

Would leave my father's palace,

To labor in his garden." Prince Henry. Dear, innocent child!

How sweetly thou recallest

The long-forgotten legend,

That in my early childhood

My mother told me!

Upon my brain

It reappears once more,

As a birth-mark on the forehead

When a hand suddenly

Is laid upon it, and removed! Elsie. And at midnight,

As she lay upon her bed,

She heard a voice

Call to her from the garden,

And, looking forth from her window,

She saw a beautiful youth

Standing among the flowers.

It was the Lord Jesus;

And she went down to him,

And opened the door for him;

And he said to her, "O maiden!

Thou hast thought of me with love,

And for thy sake

Out of my Father's kingdom

Have I come hither:

I am the Master of the Flowers.

My garden is in Paradise,

And if thou wilt go with me,

Thy bridal garland

Shall be of bright red flowers."

And then he took from his finger

A golden ring,

And asked the Sultan's daughter

If she would be his bride.

And when she answered him with love,

His wounds began to bleed,

And she said to him,

"O Love! how red thy heart is,

And thy hands are full of roses,"

"For thy sake," answered he,

"For thy sake is my heart so red,

For thee I bring these roses.

I gathered them at the cross

Whereon I died for thee!

Come, for my Father calls.

Thou art my elected bride!"

And the Sultan's daughter

Followed him to his Father's garden. Prince Henry. Wouldst thou have done so, Elsie?

Elsie. Yes, very gladly.

Prince Henry. Then the Celestial Bridegroom

Will come for thee also.

Upon thy forehead he will place,

Not his crown of thorns,

But a crown of roses.

In thy bridal chamber,

Like Saint Cecilia,

Thou shall hear sweet music,

And breathe the fragrance

Of flowers immortal!

Go now and place these flowers

Before her picture.

* * *

A ROOM IN THE FARM-HOUSE.

* * *

Twilight. URSULA spinning. GOTTLIEB asleep in his chair. Ursula. Darker and darker! Hardly a glimmer

Of light comes in at the window-pane;

Or is it my eyes are growing dimmer?

I cannot disentangle this skein,

Nor wind it rightly upon the reel.

Elsie! Gottlieb (starting). The stopping of thy wheel

Has wakened me out of a pleasant dream.

I thought I was sitting beside a stream,

And heard the grinding of a mill,

When suddenly the wheels stood still,

And a voice cried "Elsie" in my ear!

It startled me, it seemed so near. Ursula. I was calling her: I want a light.

I cannot see to spin my flax.

Bring the lamp, Elsie. Dost thou hear? Elsie (within). In a moment!

Gottlieb. Where are Bertha and Max?

Ursula. They are sitting with Elsie at the door.

She is telling them stories of the wood,

And the Wolf, and Little Red Ridinghood. Gottlieb. And where is the Prince?

Ursula. In his room overhead;

I heard him walking across the floor,

As he always does, with a heavy tread.(ELSIE comes in with a lamp. MAX and BERTHA follow her; and they all sing the Evening Song on the lighting of the lamps.) EVENING SONG.

O gladsome light

Of the Father Immortal,

And of the celestial

Sacred and blessed

Jesus, our Saviour!

Now to the sunset

Again hast thou brought us;

And, seeing the evening

Twilight, we bless thee,

Praise thee, adore thee!

Father omnipotent!

Son, the Life-giver!

Spirit, the Comforter!

Worthy at all times

Of worship and wonder!

Prince Henry (at the door). Amen!

Ursula. Who was it said Amen?

Elsie. It was the Prince: he stood at the door,

And listened a moment, as we chaunted

The evening song. He is gone again.

I have often seen him there before. Ursula. Poor Prince!

Gottlieb. I thought the house was haunted!

Poor Prince, alas! and yet as mild

And patient as the gentlest child! Max. I love him because he is so good,

And makes me such fine bows and arrows,

To shoot at the robins and the sparrows,

And the red squirrels in the wood! Bertha. I love him, too!

Gottlieb. Ah, yes! we all

Love him, from the bottom of our hearts;

He gave us the farm, the house, and the grange,

He gave us the horses and the carts,

And the great oxen in the stall,

The vineyard, and the forest range!

We have nothing to give him but our love! Bertha. Did he give us the beautiful stork above

On the chimney-top, with its large, round nest? Gottlieb. No, not the stork; by God in heaven,

As a blessing, the dear, white stork was given;

But the Prince has given us all the rest.

God bless him, and make him well again. Elsie. Would I could do something for his sake,

Something to cure his sorrow and pain! Gottlieb. That no one can; neither thou nor I,

Nor any one else. Elsie. And must he die?

Ursula. Yes; if the dear God does not take

Pity upon him, in his distress,

And work a miracle! Gottlieb. Or unless

Some maiden, of her own accord,

Offers her life for that of her lord,

And is willing to die in his stead. Elsie. I will!

Ursula. Prithee, thou foolish child, be still!

Thou shouldst not say what thou dost not mean! Elsie. I mean it truly!

Max. O father! this morning,

Down by the mill, in the ravine,

Hans killed a wolf, the very same

That in the night to the sheepfold came,

And ate up my lamb, that was left outside. Gottlieb. I am glad he is dead. It will be a warning

To the wolves in the forest, far and wide. Max. And I am going to have his hide!

Bertha. I wonder if this is the wolf that ate

Little Red Ridinghood! Ursula. O, no!

That wolf was killed a long while ago.

Come, children, it is growing late. Max. Ah, how I wish I were a man,

As stout as Hans is, and as strong!

I would do nothing else, the whole day long,

But just kill wolves. Gottlieb. Then go to bed,

And grow as fast as a little boy can.

Bertha is half asleep already.

See how she nods her heavy head,

And her sleepy feet are so unsteady

She will hardly be able to creep upstairs. Ursula. Good-night, my children. Here's the light.

And do not forget to say your prayers

Before you sleep. Gottlieb. Good-night!

Max and Bertha. Good-night!

(They go out with ELSIE.)

Ursula, (spinning). She is a strange and wayward child,

That Elsie of ours. She looks so old,

And thoughts and fancies weird and wild

Seem of late to have taken hold

Of her heart, that was once so docile and mild! Gottlieb. She is like all girls.

Ursula. Ah no, forsooth!

Unlike all I have ever seen.

For she has visions and strange dreams,

And in all her words and ways, she seems

Much older than she is in truth.

Who would think her but fourteen?

And there has been of late such a change!

My heart is heavy with fear and doubt

That she may not live till the year is out.

She is so strange,--so strange,--so strange! Gottlieb. I am not troubled with any such fear!

She will live and thrive for many a year.

* * *

ELSIE'S CHAMBER.

* * *

Night. ELSIE praying. Elsie. My Redeemer and my Lord,

I beseech thee, I entreat thee,

Guide me in each act and word,

That hereafter I may meet thee,

Watching, waiting, hoping, yearning,

With my lamp well trimmed and burning!Interceding

With these bleeding

Wounds upon thy hands and side,

For all who have lived and erred

Thou hast suffered, thou hast died,

Scourged, and mocked, and crucified,

And in the grave hast thou been buried!If my feeble prayer can reach thee,

O my Saviour, I beseech thee,

Even as thou hast died for me,

More sincerely

Let me follow where thou leadest,

Let me, bleeding as thou bleedest,

Die, if dying I may give

Life to one who asks to live,

And more nearly,

Dying thus, resemble thee!

* * *

THE CHAMBER OF GOTTLIEB AND URSULA.

* * *

Midnight. ELSIE standing by their bedside, weeping. Gottlieb. The wind is roaring; the rushing rain

Is loud upon roof and window-pane,

As if the Wild Huntsman of Rodenstein,

Boding evil to me and mine,

Were abroad to-night with his ghostly train!

In the brief lulls of the tempest wild,

The dogs howl in the yard; and hark!

Some one is sobbing in the dark,

Here in the chamber! Elsie. It is I.

Ursula. Elsie! what ails thee, my poor child?

Elsie. I am disturbed and much distressed,

In thinking our dear Prince must die,

I cannot close mine eyes, nor rest. Gottlieb. What wouldst thou? In the Power Divine

His healing lies, not in our own;

It is in the hand of God alone. Elsie. Nay, he has put it into mine,

And into my heart! Gottlieb. Thy words are wild!

Ursula. What dost thou mean? my child! my child!

Elsie. That for our dear Prince Henry's sake

I will myself the offering make,

And give my life to purchase his. Ursula Am I still dreaming, or awake?

Thou speakest carelessly of death,

And yet thou knowest not what it is. Elsie. 'T is the cessation of our breath.

Silent and motionless we lie;

And no one knoweth more than this.

I saw our little Gertrude die,

She left off breathing, and no more

I smoothed the pillow beneath her head.

She was more beautiful than before.

Like violets faded were her eyes;

By this we knew that she was dead.

Through the open window looked the skies

Into the chamber where she lay,

And the wind was like the sound of wings,

As if angels came to bear her away.

Ah! when I saw and felt these things,

I found it difficult to stay;

I longed to die, as she had died,

And go forth with her, side by side.

The Saints are dead, the Martyrs dead,

And Mary, and our Lord, and I

Would follow in humility

The way by them illumined! Ursula. My child! my child! thou must not die!

Elsie Why should I live? Do I not know

The life of woman is full of woe?

Toiling on and on and on,

With breaking heart, and tearful eyes,

And silent lips, and in the soul

The secret longings that arise,

Which this world never satisfies!

Some more, some less, but of the whole

Not one quite happy, no, not one! Ursula. It is the malediction of Eve!

Elsie. In place of it, let me receive

The benediction of Mary, then. Gottlieb. Ah, woe is me! Ah, woe is me!

Most wretched am I among men! Ursula. Alas! that I should live to see

Thy death, beloved, and to stand

Above thy grave! Ah, woe the day! Elsie. Thou wilt not see it. I shall lie

Beneath the flowers of another land,

For at Salerno, far away

Over the mountains, over the sea,

It is appointed me to die!

And it will seem no more to thee

Than if at the village on market-day

I should a little longer stay

Than I am used. Ursula. Even as thou sayest!

And how my heart beats, when thou stayest!

I cannot rest until my sight

Is satisfied with seeing thee.

What, then, if thou wert dead? Gottlieb Ah me!

Of our old eyes thou art the light!

The joy of our old hearts art thou!

And wilt thou die? Ursula. Not now! not now!

Elsie Christ died for me, and shall not I

Be willing for my Prince to die?

You both are silent; you cannot speak.

This said I, at our Saviour's feast,

After confession, to the priest,

And even he made no reply.

Does he not warn us all to seek

The happier, better land on high,

Where flowers immortal never wither,

And could he forbid me to go thither? Gottlieb. In God's own time, my heart's delight!

When he shall call thee, not before! Elsie. I heard him call. When Christ ascended

Triumphantly, from star to star,

He left the gates of heaven ajar.

I had a vision in the night,

And saw him standing at the door

Of his Father's mansion, vast and splendid,

And beckoning to me from afar.

I cannot stay! Gottlieb. She speaks almost

As if it were the Holy Ghost

Spake through her lips, and in her stead!

What if this were of God? Ursula. Ah, then

Gainsay it dare we not. Gottlieb. Amen!

Elsie! the words that thou hast said

Are strange and new for us to hear,

And fill our hearts with doubt and fear.

Whether it be a dark temptation

Of the Evil One, or God's inspiration,

We in our blindness cannot say.

We must think upon it, and pray;

For evil and good in both resembles.

If it be of God, his will be done!

May he guard us from the Evil One!

How hot thy hand is! how it trembles!

Go to thy bed, and try to sleep. Ursula. Kiss me. Good-night; and do not weep!

> (ELSIE goes out.)

Ah, what an awful thing is this!

I almost shuddered at her kiss.

As if a ghost had touched my cheek,

I am so childish and so weak!

As soon as I see the earliest gray

Of morning glimmer in the east,

I will go over to the priest,

And hear what the good man has to say!

* * *

A VILLAGE CHURCH.

* * *

A woman kneeling at the confessional. The Parish Priest (from within). Go, sin no

more! Thy penance o'er,

A new and better life begin!

God maketh thee forever free

From the dominion of thy sin!

Go, sin no more! He will restore

The peace that filled thy heart before,

And pardon thine iniquity! (The woman goes out. The Priest comes forth, and walks slowly up and down the church.)

O blessed Lord! how much I need

Thy light to guide me on my way!

So many hands, that, without heed,

Still touch thy wounds, and make them bleed!

So many feet, that, day by day,

Still wander from thy fold astray!

Unless thou fill me with thy light,

I cannot lead thy flock aright;

Nor, without thy support, can bear

The burden of so great a care,

But am myself a castaway! (A pause.)

The day is drawing to its close;

And what good deeds, since first it rose,

Have I presented, Lord, to thee,

As offerings of my ministry?

What wrong repressed, what right maintained

What struggle passed, what victory gained,

What good attempted and attained?

Feeble, at best, is my endeavor!

I see, but cannot reach, the height

That lies forever in the light,

And yet forever and forever,

When seeming just within my grasp,

I feel my feeble hands unclasp,

And sink discouraged into night!

For thine own purpose, thou hast sent

The strife and the discouragement! (A pause.)

Why stayest thou, Prince of Hoheneck?

Why keep me pacing to and fro

Amid these aisles of sacred gloom,

Counting my footsteps as I go,

And marking with each step a tomb?

Why should the world for thee make room,

And wait thy leisure and thy beck?

Thou comest in the hope to hear

Some word of comfort and of cheer.

What can I say? I cannot give

The counsel to do this and live;

But rather, firmly to deny

The tempter, though his power is strong,

And, inaccessible to wrong,

Still like a martyr live and die! (A pause.)

The evening air grows dusk and brown;

I must go forth into the town,

To visit beds of pain and death,

Of restless limbs, and quivering breath,

And sorrowing hearts, and patient eyes

That see, through tears, the sun go down,

But never more shall see it rise.

The poor in body and estate,

The sick and the disconsolate.

Must not on man's convenience wait. (Goes out. Enter LUCIFER, as a Priest. LUCIFER, with a genuflexion, mocking.)

This is the Black Pater-noster.

God was my foster,

He fostered me

Under the book of the Palm-tree!

St. Michael was my dame.

He was born at Bethlehem,

He was made of flesh and blood.

God send me my right food,

My right food, and shelter too,

That I may to yon kirk go,

To read upon yon sweet book

Which the mighty God of heaven shook.

Open, open, hell's gates!

Shut, shut, heaven's gates!

All the devils in the air

The stronger be, that hear the Black Prayer! (Looking round the church.)

What a darksome and dismal place!

I wonder that any man has the face

To call such a hole the House of the Lord,

And the Gate of Heaven,--yet such is the word.

Ceiling, and walls, and windows old,

Covered with cobwebs, blackened with mould;

Dust on the pulpit, dust on the stairs,

Dust on the benches, and stalls, and chairs!

The pulpit, from which such ponderous sermons

Have fallen down on the brains of the Germans,

With about as much real edification

As if a great Bible, bound in lead,

Had fallen, and struck them on the head;

And I ought to remember that sensation!

Here stands the holy water stoup!

Holy-water it may be to many,

But to me, the veriest Liquor Gehennae!

It smells like a filthy fast day soup!

Near it stands the box for the poor;

With its iron padlock, safe and sure,

I and the priest of the parish know

Whither all these charities go;

Therefore, to keep up the institution,

I will add my little contribution! (He puts in money.)

Underneath this mouldering tomb,

With statue of stone, and scutcheon of brass,

Slumbers a great lord of the village.

All his life was riot and pillage,

But at length, to escape the threatened doom

Of the everlasting, penal fire,

He died in the dress of a mendicant friar,

And bartered his wealth for a daily mass.

But all that afterward came to pass,

And whether he finds it dull or pleasant,

Is kept a secret for the present,

At his own particular desire.And here, in a corner of the wall,

Shadowy, silent, apart from all,

With its awful portal open wide,

And its latticed windows on either side,

And its step well worn by the bended knees

Of one or two pious centuries,

Stands the village confessional!

Within it, as an honored guest,

I will sit me down awhile and rest! (Seats himself in the confessional.)

Here sits the priest, and faint and low,

Like the sighing of an evening breeze,

Comes through these painted lattices

The ceaseless sound of human woe,

Here, while her bosom aches and throbs

With deep and agonizing sobs,

That half are passion, half contrition,

The luckless daughter of perdition

Slowly confesses her secret shame!

The time, the place, the lover's name!

Here the grim murderer, with a groan,

From his bruised conscience rolls the stone,

Thinking that thus he can atone

For ravages of sword and flame!

Indeed, I marvel, and marvel greatly,

How a priest can sit here so sedately,

Reading, the whole year out and in,

Naught but the catalogue of sin,

And still keep any faith whatever

In human virtue! Never! never!I cannot repeat a thousandth part

Of the horrors and crimes and sins and woes

That arise, when with palpitating throes

The graveyard in the human heart

Gives up its dead, at the voice of the priest,

As if he were an archangel, at least.

It makes a peculiar atmosphere,

This odor of earthly passions and crimes,

Such as I like to breathe, at times,

And such as often brings me here

In the hottest and most pestilential season.

To-day, I come for another reason;

To foster and ripen an evil thought

In a heart that is almost to madness wrought,

And to make a murderer out of a prince,

A sleight of hand I learned long since!

He comes In the twilight he will not see

the difference between his priest and me!

In the same net was the mother caught! (Prince Henry entering and kneeling at the confessional.)

Remorseful, penitent, and lowly,

I come to crave, O Father holy,

Thy benediction on my head. Lucifer. The benediction shall be said

After confession, not before!

'T is a God speed to the parting guest,

Who stands already at the door,

Sandalled with holiness, and dressed

In garments pure from earthly stain.

Meanwhile, hast thou searched well thy breast?

Does the same madness fill thy brain?

Or have thy passion and unrest

Vanished forever from thy mind? Prince Henry. 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 grain,

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 he!

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 shall live. Prince Henry. And will the righteous Heaven forgive?

No action, whether foul 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 ?olian 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! (URSULA hides her face.)

Elsie. My life is little,

Only a cup of water,

But pure and limpid.

Take it, O my Prince!

Let it refresh you,

Let it restore you.

It is given willingly,

It is given freely;

May God bless the gift! Prince Henry. And the giver!

Gottlieb. Amen!

Prince Henry. I accept it!

Gottlieb. Where are the children?

Ursula. They are already asleep.

Gottlieb. What if they were dead?

* * *

IN THE GARDEN.

* * *

Elsie. I have one thing to ask of you.

Prince Henry. What is it?

It is already granted. Elsie. Promise me,

When we are gone from here, and on our way

Are journeying to Salerno, you will not,

By word or deed, endeavor to dissuade me

And turn me from my purpose, but remember

That as a pilgrim to the Holy City

Walks unmolested, and with thoughts of pardon

Occupied wholly, so would I approach

The gates of Heaven, in this great jubilee,

With my petition, putting off from me

All thoughts of earth, as shoes from off my feet.

Promise me this. Prince Henry. Thy words fall from thy lips

Like roses from the lips of Angelo: and angels

Might stoop to pick them up! Elsie. Will you not promise?

Prince Henry. If ever we depart upon this journey,

So long to one or both of us, I promise. Elsie. Shall we not go, then? Have you lifted me

Into the air, only to hurl me back

Wounded upon the ground? and offered me

The waters of eternal life, to bid me

Drink the polluted puddles of this world? Prince Henry. O Elsie! what a lesson thou dost teach me!

The life which is, and that which is to come,

Suspended hang in such nice equipoise

A breath disturbs the balance; and that scale

In which we throw our hearts preponderates,

And the other, like an empty one, flies up,

And is accounted vanity and air!

To me the thought of death is terrible,

Having such hold on life. To thee it is not

So much even as the lifting of a latch;

Only a step into the open air

Out of a tent already luminous

With light that shines through its transparent walls!

O pure in heart! from thy sweet dust shall grow

Lilies, upon whose petals will be written

"Ave Maria" in characters of gold!

* * *