Prepare ye the way of the Lord;
Make his paths straight In the land that is desolate!
PRIEST.
If thou be not the Christ, Nor yet Elias, nor he That, in sign of the things to be, Shattered the vessel of clay In the Valley of Slaughter, Then declare unto us, and say By what authority now Baptizest thou?
JOHN.
I indeed baptize you with water Unto repentance; but He, That cometh after me, Is mightier than I and higher;The latchet of whose shoes I an not worthy to unloose;He shall baptize you with fire, And with the Holy Ghost!
Whose fan is in his hand;
He will purge to the uttermost His floor, and garner his wheat, But will burn the chaff in the brand And fire of unquenchable heat!
Repent! repent! repent!
II
MOUNT QUARANTANIA
I
LUCIFER.
Not in the lightning's flash, nor in the thunder, Not in the tempest, nor the cloudy storm, Will I array my form;But part invisible these boughs asunder, And move and murmur as the wind upheaves And whispers in the leaves.
Not as a terror and a desolation, Not in my natural shape, inspiring fear And dread, will I appear;But in soft tones of sweetness and persuasion, A sound as of the fall of mountain streams, Or voices heard in dreams.
He sitteth there in silence, worn and wasted With famine, and uplifts his hollow eyes To the unpitying skies;For forty days and nights he hath not tasted Of food or drink, his parted lips are pale, Surely his strength must fail.
Wherefore dost thou in penitential fasting Waste and consume the beauty of thy youth.
Ah, if thou be in truth The Son of the Unnamed, the Everlasting, Command these stones beneath thy feet to be Changed into bread for thee!
CHRISTUS.
'T is written! Man shall not live by bread alone, But by each word that from God's mouth proceedeth!
II
LUCIFER.
Too weak, alas! too weak is the temptation For one whose soul to nobler things aspires Than sensual desires!
Ah, could I, by some sudden aberration, Lend and delude to suicidal death This Christ of Nazareth!
Unto the holy Temple on Moriah, With its resplendent domes, and manifold Bright pinnacles of gold, Where they await thy coming, O Messiah!
Lo, I have brought thee! Let thy glory here Be manifest and clear.
Reveal thyself by royal act and gesture Descending with the bright triumphant host Of all the hithermost Archangels, and about thee as a vesture The shining clouds, and all thy splendors show Unto the world below!
Cast thyself down, it is the hour appointed;And God hath given his angels charge and care To keep thee and upbear Upon their hands his only Son, the Anointed, Lest he should dash his foot against a stone And die, and be unknown.
CHRISTUS.
'T is written: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God!
III
LUCIFER.
I cannot thus delude him to perdition!
But one temptation still remains untried, The trial of his pride, The thirst of power, the fever of ambition!
Surely by these a humble peasant's son At last may be undone!
Above the yawning chasms and deep abysses, Across the headlong torrents, I have brought Thy footsteps, swift as thought;And from the highest of these precipices, The Kingdoms of the world thine eyes behold.
Like a great map unrolled.
From far-off Lebanon, with cedars crested, To where the waters of the Asphalt Lake On its white pebbles break, And the vast desert, silent, sand-invested, These kingdoms all are mine, and thine shall be, If thou wilt worship me!
CHRISTUS.
Get thee behind me, Satan! thou shalt worship The Lord thy God; Him only shalt thou serve!
ANGELS MINISTRANT.
The sun goes down; the evening shadows lengthen, The fever and the struggle of the day Abate and pass away;Thine Angels Miniatrant, we come to strengthen And comfort thee, and crown thee with the palm, The silence and the calm.
III
THE MARRIAGE IN CANA
THE MUSICIANS.
Rise up, my love, my fair one, Rise up, and come away, For lo! the winter is past, The rain is over and gone, The flowers appear on the earth, The time of the singing of birds is come, And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.
THE BRIDEGROOM.
Sweetly the minstrels sing the Song of Songs!
My heart runs forward with it, and I say:
Oh set me as a seal upon thine heart, And set me as a seal upon thine arm;For love is strong as life, and strong as death, And cruel as the grave is jealousy!
THE MUSICIANS.
I sleep, but my heart awaketh;
'T is the voice of my beloved Who knocketh, saying: Open to me, My sister, my love, my dove, For my head is filled with dew, My locks with the drops of the night!
THE BRIDE.
Ah yes, I sleep, and yet my heart awaketh.
It is the voice of my beloved who knocks.
THE BRIDEGROOM.
O beautiful as Rebecca at the fountain, O beautiful as Ruth among the sheaves!
O fairest among women! O undefiled!
Thou art all fair, my love, there's no spot in thee!
THE MUSICIANS.
My beloved is white and ruddy, The chiefest among ten thousand His locks are black as a raven, His eyes are the eyes of doves, Of doves by the rivers of water, His lips are like unto lilies, Dropping sweet-smelling myrrh.
ARCHITRICLINUS.
Who is that youth with the dark azure eyes, And hair, in color like unto the wine, Parted upon his forehead, and behind Falling in flowing locks?
PARANYMPHUS.
The Nazarene Who preacheth to the poor in field and village The coming of God's Kingdom.
ARCHITRICLINUS.
How serene His aspect is! manly yet womanly.
PARANYMPHUS.
Most beautiful among the sons of men!
Oft known to weep, but never known to laugh.
ARCHITRICLINUS.
And tell me, she with eyes of olive tint, And skin as fair as wheat, and pale brown hair, The woman at his side?
PARANYMPHUS.
His mother, Mary.
ARCHITRICLINUS.
And the tall figure standing close behind them, Clad all in white, with lace and beard like ashes, As if he were Elias, the White Witness, Come from his cave on Carmel to foretell The end of all things?
PARANYMPHUS.
That is Manahem The Essenian, he who dwells among the palms Near the Dead Sea.
ARCHITRICLINUS.
He who foretold to Herod He should one day be King?
PARANYMPHUS.
The same.
ARCHITRICLINUS.
