The demons, the terrible powers Of the air, that haunt its towers And hide in its water-spouts, Deafen me with the din Of their laughter and their shouts For the crimes that are done within!
Sink back into the earth, Or vanish into the air, Thou castle of despair!
Let it all be but a dream Of the things of monstrous birth, Of the things that only seem!
White Angel of the Moon, Onafiel! be my guide Out of this hateful place Of sin and death, nor hide In you black cloud too soon Thy pale and tranquil face!
A trumpet is blown from the walls.
Hark! hark! It is the breath Of the trump of doom and death, From the battlements overhead Like a burden of sorrow cast On the midnight and the blast, A wailing for the dead, That the gusts drop and uplift!
O Herod, thy vengeance is swift!
O Herodias, thou hast been The demon, the evil thing, That in place of Esther the Queen, In place of the lawful bride, Hast lain at night by the side Of Ahasuerus the king!
The trumpet again.
The Prophet of God is dead!
At a drunken monarch's call, At a dancing-woman's beck, They have severed that stubborn neck And into the banquet-hall Are bearing the ghastly head!
A body is thrown from the tower.
A torch of red Lights the window with its glow;And a white mass as of snow Is hurled into the abyss Of the black precipice, That yawns for it below!
O hand of the Most High, O hand of Adonai!
Bury it, hide it away From the birds and beasts of prey, And the eyes of the homicide, More pitiless than they, As thou didst bury of yore The body of him that died On the mountain of Peor!
Even now I behold a sign, A threatening of wrath divine, A watery, wandering star, Through whose streaming hair, and the white Unfolding garments of light, That trail behind it afar, The constellations shine!
And the whiteness and brightness appear Like the Angel bearing the Seer By the hair of his head, in the might And rush of his vehement flight.
And I listen until I hear From fathomless depths of the sky The voice of his prophecy Sounding louder and more near!
Malediction! malediction!
May the lightnings of heaven fall On palace and prison wall, And their desolation be As the day of fear and affliction, As the day of anguish and ire, With the burning and fuel of fire, In the Valley of the Sea!
IV
NICODEMUS AT NIGHT
NICODEMUS.
The streets are silent.The dark houses seem Like sepulchres, in which the sleepers lie Wrapped in their shrouds, and for the moment dead.
The lamps are all extinguished; only one Burns steadily, and from the door its light Lies like a shining gate across the street.
He waits for me.Ah, should this be at last The long-expected Christ! I see him there Sitting alone, deep-buried in his thought, As if the weight of all the world were resting Upon him, and thus bowed him down.O Rabbi, We know thou art a Teacher come from God, For no man can perform the miracles Thou dost perform, except the Lord be with him.
Thou art a Prophet, sent here to proclaim The Kingdom of the Lord.Behold in me A Ruler of the Jews, who long have waited The coming of that kingdom.Tell me of it.
CHRISTUS.
Verily, verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot Behold the Kingdom of God!
NICODEMUS.
Be born again?
How can a man be born when he is old?
Say, can he enter for a second time Into his mother's womb, and so be born?
CHRISTUS.
Verily I say unto thee, except A man be born of water and the spirit, He cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.
For that which of the flesh is born, is flesh;And that which of the spirit is born, is spirit.
NICODEMUS.
We Israelites from the Primeval Man Adam Ahelion derive our bodies;Our souls are breathings of the Holy Ghost.
No more than this we know, or need to know.
CHRISTUS.
Then marvel not, that I said unto thee Ye must be born again.
NICODEMUS.
The mystery Of birth and death we cannot comprehend.
CHRISTUS.
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and we hear The sound thereof, but know not whence it cometh, Nor whither it goeth.So is every one Born of the spirit!
NICODEMUS, aside.
How can these things be?
He seems to speak of some vague realm of shadows, Some unsubstantial kingdom of the air!
It is not this the Jews are waiting for, Nor can this be the Christ, the Son of David, Who shall deliver us!
CHRISTUS.
Art thou a master Of Israel, and knowest not these things?
We speak that we do know, and testify That we have seen, and ye will not receive Our witness.If I tell you earthly things, And ye believe not, how shall ye believe, If I should tell you of things heavenly?
And no man hath ascended up to heaven, But he alone that first came down from heaven, Even the Son of Man which is in heaven!
NICODEMUS, aside.
This is a dreamer of dreams; a visionary, Whose brain is overtasked, until he deems The unseen world to be a thing substantial, And this we live in, an unreal vision!
And yet his presence fascinates and fills me With wonder, and I feel myself exalted Into a higher region, and become Myself in part a dreamer of his dreams, A seer of his visions!
CHRISTUS.
And as Moses Uplifted the serpent in the wilderness, So must the Son of Man be lifted up;That whosoever shall believe in Him Shall perish not, but have eternal life.
He that believes in Him is not condemned;He that believes not, is condemned already.
NICODEMUS, aside.
He speaketh like a Prophet of the Lord!
CHRISTUS.
This is the condemnation; that the light Is come into the world, and men loved darkness Rather than light, because their deeds are evil!
NICODEMUS, aside.
Of me he speaketh! He reproveth me, Because I come by night to question him!
CHRISTUS.
For every one that doeth evil deeds Hateth the light, nor cometh to the light Lest he should be reproved.
NICODEMUS, aside.
Alas, how truly He readeth what is passing in my heart!
CHRISTUS.
But he that doeth truth comes to the light, So that his deeds may be made manifest, That they are wrought in God.
NICODEMUS.
Alas! alas!
V
BLIND BARTIMEUS
BARTIMEUS.