Be not impatient, Chilion; it is pleasant To sit here in the shadow of the walls Under the palms, and hear the hum of bees, And rumor of voices passing to and fro, And drowsy bells of caravans on their way To Sidon or Damascus.This is still The City of Palms, and yet the walls thou seest Are not the old walls, not the walls where Rahab Hid the two spies, and let them down by cords Out of the window, when the gates were shut, And it was dark.Those walls were overthrown When Joshua's army shouted, and the priests Blew with their seven trumpets.
CHILION.
When was that?
BARTIMEUS.
O my sweet rose of Jericho, I know not Hundreds of years ago.And over there Beyond the river, the great prophet Elijah Was taken by a whirlwind up to heaven In chariot of fire, with fiery horses.
That is the plain of Moab; and beyond it Rise the blue summits of Mount Abarim, Nebo and Pisgah and Peor, where Moses Died, whom the Lord knew face to face? and whom He buried in a valley, and no man Knows of his sepulchre unto this day.
CHILION.
Would thou couldst see these places, as I see them.
BARTIMEUS.
I have not seen a glimmer of the light Since thou wast born.I never saw thy face, And yet I seem to see it; and one day Perhaps shall see it; for there is a Prophet In Galilee, the Messiah, the Son of David, Who heals the blind, if I could only find him.
I hear the sound of many feet approaching, And voices, like the murmur of a crowd!
What seest thou?
CHILION.
A young man clad in white Is coming through the gateway, and a crowd Of people follow.
BARTIMEUS.
Can it be the Prophet!
O neighbors, tell me who it is that passes?
ONE OF THE CROWD.
Jesus of Nazareth.
BARTIMEUS, crying.
O Son of David!
Have mercy on me!
MANY OP THE CROWD.
Peace.Blind Bartimeus!
Do not disturb the Master.
BARTIMEUS, crying more vehemently.
Son of David, Have mercy on me!
ONE OF THE CROWD.
See, the Master stops.
Be of good comfort; rise, He calleth thee!
BARTIMEUS, casting away his cloak.
Chilion! good neighbors! lead me on.
CHRISTUS.
What wilt thou That I should do to thee?
BARTIMEUS.
Good Lord! my sight--
That I receive my sight!
CHRISTUS.
Receive thy sight!
Thy faith hath made thee whole!
THE CROWD.
He sees again!
CHRISTUS passes on, The crowd gathers round BARTIMEUS.
BARTIMEUS.
I see again; but sight bewilders me!
Like a remembered dream, familiar things Come back to me.I see the tender sky Above me, see the trees, the city walls, And the old gateway, through whose echoing arch I groped so many years; and you, my neighbors;But know you by your friendly voices only.
How beautiful the world is! and how wide!
Oh, I am miles away, if I but look!
Where art thou, Chilion?
CHILION.
Father, I am here.
BARTIMEUS.
Oh let me gaze upon thy face, dear child!
For I have only seen thee with my hands!
How beautiful thou art! I should have known thee;Thou hast her eyes whom we shall see hereafter!
O God of Abraham! Elion! Adonai!
Who art thyself a Father, pardon me If for a moment I have thee postponed To the affections and the thoughts of earth, Thee, and the adoration that I owe thee, When by thy power alone these darkened eyes Have been unsealed again to see thy light!
VI
JACOB'S WELL
A SAMARITAN WOMAN.
The sun is hot; and the dry east-wind blowing Fills all the air with dust.The birds are silent;Even the little fieldfares in the corn No longer twitter; only the grasshoppers Sing their incessant song of sun and summer.
I wonder who those strangers were I met Going into the city? Galileans They seemed to me in speaking, when they asked The short way to the market-place.Perhaps They are fishermen from the lake; or travellers, Looking to find the inn.And here is some one Sitting beside the well; another stranger;A Galilean also by his looks.
What can so many Jews be doing here Together in Samaria? Are they going Up to Jerusalem to the Passover?
Our Passover is better here at Sychem, For here is Ebal; here is Gerizim, The mountain where our father Abraham Went up to offer Isaac; here the tomb Of Joseph,--for they brought his bones Egypt And buried them in this land, and it is holy.
CHRISTUS.
Give me to drink.
SAMARITAN WOMAN.
How can it be that thou, Being a Jew, askest to drink of me Which am a woman of Samaria?
You Jews despise us; have no dealings with us;Make us a byword; call us in derision The silly folk of Sychar.Sir, how is it Thou askest drink of me?
CHRISTUS.
If thou hadst known The gift of God, and who it is that sayeth Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of Him;He would have given thee the living water.
SAMARITAN WOMAN.
Sir, thou hast naught to draw with, and the well Is deep ! Whence hast thou living water?
Say, art thou greater than our father Jacob, Which gave this well to us, and drank thereof Himself, and all his children and his cattle?
CHRISTUS.
Ah, whosoever drinketh of this water Shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh The water I shall give him shall not thirst Forevermore, for it shall be within him A well of living water, springing up Into life everlasting.
SAMARITAN WOMAN.
Every day I must go to and fro, in heat and cold, And I am weary.Give me of this water, That I may thirst not, nor come here to draw.
CHRISTUS.
Go call thy husband, woman, and come hither.
SAMARITAN WOMAN.
I have no husband, Sir.
CHRISTUS.
Thou hast well said I have no husband.Thou hast had five husbands;And he whom now thou hast is not thy husband.
SAMARITAN WOMAN.
Surely thou art a Prophet, for thou readest The hidden things of life! Our fathers worshipped Upon this mountain Gerizim; and ye say The only place in which men ought to worship Is at Jerusalem.
CHRISTUS.
Believe me, woman, The hour is coming, when ye neither shall Upon this mount, nor at Jerusalem, Worship the Father; for the hour is coming, And is now come, when the true worshippers Shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth!
The Father seeketh such to worship Him.
God is a spirit; and they that worship Him Must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
SAMARITAN WOMAN.
Master, I know that the Messiah cometh, Which is called Christ; and he will tell us all things.
CHRISTUS.
I that speak unto thee am He!