When, where, and wherefore Lucifer fell, And whether he now is chained in hell."I think I can answer that question well!
So long as the boastful human mind Consents in such mills as this to grind, I sit very firmly upon my throne!
Of a truth it almost makes me laugh, To see men leaving the golden grain To gather in piles the pitiful chaff That old Peter Lombard thrashed with his brain, To have it caught up and tossed again On the horns of the Dumb Ox of Cologne!
But my guests approach! there is in the air A fragrance, like that of the Beautiful Garden Of Paradise, in the days that were!
An odor of innocence and of prayer, And of love, and faith that never fails, Such as the fresh young heart exhales Before it begins to wither and harden!
I cannot breathe such an atmosphere!
My soul is filled with a nameless fear, That after all my trouble and pain, After all my restless endeavor, The youngest, fairest soul of the twain, The most ethereal, most divine, Will escape from my hands for ever and ever.
But the other is already mine!
Let him live to corrupt his race, Breathing among them, with every breath, Weakness, selfishness, and the base And pusillanimous fear of death.
I know his nature, and I know That of all who in my ministry Wander the great earth to and fro, And on my errands come and go, The safest and subtlest are such as he.
Enter PRINCE HENRY and ELSIE, with attendants.
PRINCE HENRY.
Can you direct us to Friar Angelo?
LUCIFER.
He stands before you.
PRINCE HENRY.
Then you know our purpose.
I am Prince Henry of Hoheneck, and this The maiden that I spake of in my letters.
LUCIFER.
It is a very grave and solemn business!
We must nor be precipitate.Does she Without compulsion, of her own free will, Consent to this?
PRINCE HENRY.
Against all opposition, Against all prayers, entreaties, protestations, She will not be persuaded.
LUCIFER.
That is strange!
Have you thought well of it?
ELSIE.
I come not here To argue, but to die.Your business is not To question, but to kill me.I am ready, I am impatient to be gone from here Ere any thoughts of earth disturb again The spirit of tranquillity within me.
PRINCE HENRY.
Would I had not come here! Would I were dead, And thou wert in thy cottage in the forest, And hadst not known me! Why have I done this?
Let me go back and die.
ELSIE.
It cannot be;
Not if these cold, flat stones on which we tread Were coulters heated white, and yonder gateway Flamed like a furnace with a sevenfold heat.
I must fulfil my purpose.
PRINCE HENRY.
I forbid it!
Not one step further.For I only meant To put thus far thy courage to the proof.
It is enough.I, too, have strength to die, For thou hast taught me!
ELSIE.
O my Prince! remember Your promises.Let me fulfil my errand.
You do not look on life and death as I do.
There are two angels, that attend unseen Each one of us, and in great books record Our good and evil deeds.He who writes down The good ones, after every action closes His volume, and ascends with it to God.
The other keeps his dreadful day-book open Till sunset, that we may repent; which doing, The record of the action fades away, And leaves a line of white across the page.
Now if my act be good, as I believe, It cannot be recalled.It is already Sealed up in heaven, as a good deed accomplished.
The rest is yours.Why wait you? I am ready.
To her attendants.
Weep not, my friends! rather rejoice with me.
I shall not feel the pain, but shall be gone, And you will have another friend in heaven.
Then start not at the creaking of the door Through which I pass.I see what lies beyond it.
To PRINCE HENRY.
And you, O Prince! bear back my benison Unto my father's house, and all within it.
This morning in the church I prayed for them, After confession, after absolution, When my whole soul was white, I prayed for them.
God will take care of them, they need me not.
And in your life let my remembrance linger, As something not to trouble and disturb it, But to complete it, adding life to life.
And if at times beside the evening fire, You see my face among the other faces, Let it not be regarded as a ghost That haunts your house, but as a guest that loves you.
Nay, even as one of your own family, Without whose presence there were something wanting.
I have no more to say.Let us go in.
PRINCE HENRY.
Friar Angelo! I charge you on your life, Believe not what she says, for she is mad, And comes here not to die, but to be healed.
ELSIE.
Alas! Prince Henry!
LUCIFER.
Come with me; this way.
ELSIE goes in with LUCIFER, who thrusts PRINCE HENRY back and closes the door.
PRINCE HENRY.
Gone! and the light of all my life gone with her!
A sudden darkness falls upon the world!
Oh, what a vile and abject thing am I
That purchase length of days at such a cost!
Not by her death alone, but by the death Of all that's good and true and noble in me All manhood, excellence, and self-respect, All love, and faith, and hope, and heart are dead!
All my divine nobility of nature By this one act is forfeited forever.
I am a Prince in nothing but in name!
To the attendants.
Why did you let this horrible deed be done?
Why did you not lay hold on her, and keep her From self destruction? Angelo! murderer!
Struggles at the door, but cannot open it.
ELSIE, within.
Farewell, dear Prince! farewell!
PRINCE HENRY.
Unbar the door!
LUCIFER.
It is too late!
PRINCE HENRY.
It shall not be too late.
They burst the door open and rush in.
THE FARM-HOUSE IN THE ODENWALD
URSULA spinning.A summer afternoon.A table spread.
URSULA.
I have marked it well,--it must be true,--Death never takes one alone, but two!
Whenever he enters in at a door, Under roof of gold or roof of thatch, He always leaves it upon the latch, And comes again ere the year is o'er.
Never one of a household only!
Perhaps it is a mercy of God, Lest the dead there under the sod, In the land of strangers, should be lonely!
Ah me! I think I am lonelier here!
It is hard to go,--but harder to stay!
Were it not for the children, I should pray That Death would take me within the year!
