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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8917def --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #66238 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66238) diff --git a/old/66238-0.txt b/old/66238-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index a5e8ad3..0000000 --- a/old/66238-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,11970 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Collected Works of Henrik Ibsen -Vol. 03 (of 11), by Henrik Ibsen - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Collected Works of Henrik Ibsen Vol. 03 (of 11) - -Author: Henrik Ibsen - -Editor: William Archer - -Release Date: September 8, 2021 [eBook #66238] - -Language: English - -Produced by: KD Weeks, Emmanuel Ackerman, Sigal Alon, Eileen Gormly and - the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at - https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images - generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian - Libraries) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COLLECTED WORKS OF HENRIK -IBSEN VOL. 03 (OF 11) *** - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Transcriber’s Note: - -This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects. -Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character as _italic_. In the printed -original, emphasis is indicated by gesperrt (spaced) text, but is here -also delimited as the italic. - -Footnotes have been collected at the end of each section or act in which -they are referenced. - -Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please -see the transcriber’s note at the end of this text for details regarding -the handling of any other textual issues encountered during its -preparation. - - - - -THE COLLECTED WORKS OF - HENRIK IBSEN - - VOLUME III - - BRAND - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - THE COLLECTED WORKS OF - HENRIK IBSEN - - _Copyright Edition. Complete in 12 Volumes._ - _Crown 8vo, price 4s. each._ - - =ENTIRELY REVISED AND EDITED BY= - =WILLIAM ARCHER= - - Vol. I. Lady Inger, The Feast at Solhoug, Love’s - Comedy - - Vol. II. The Vikings, The Pretenders - - Vol. III. Brand - - Vol. IV. Peer Gynt - - Vol. V. Emperor and Galilean (2 parts) - - Vol. VI. The League of Youth, Pillars of Society - - Vol. VII. A Doll’s House, Ghosts - - Vol. VIII. An Enemy of the People, The Wild Duck - - Vol. IX. Rosmersholm, The Lady from the Sea - - Vol. X. Hedda Gabler, The Master Builder - - Vol. XI. Little Eyolf, John Gabriel Borkman, When - We Dead Awaken - - LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN - 21 BEDFORD STREET, W.C. - - THE COLLECTED WORKS OF - HENRIK IBSEN - - COPYRIGHT EDITION - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - VOLUME III - - BRAND - - TRANSLATED AND WITH INTRODUCTION BY - - C. H. HERFORD, LITT.D., M.A. - -[Illustration: title page] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - LONDON - WILLIAM HEINEMANN - 1912 - - - - - - - - - _First printed (small 4to, 7s 6d) January 1894_ - _New Impressions October 1898, March 1903_ - - _COLLECTED EDITION_ - - _First printed November 1906_ - _New Impressions December 1908, May 1912_ - - - _Copyright 1894 by William Heinemann_ - - - - - CONTENTS - - - PAGE - INTRODUCTION TO “BRAND” vii - “BRAND” 1 - _Translated by_ C. H. HERFORD - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - BRAND. - - - - - INTRODUCTION.[1] - - -_Brand_ was written in the summer of 1865, at Ariccia, near Rome. -Fifteen months before, Ibsen had left Christiania, a voluntary exile, -eager to escape from the narrow Scandinavian world, and burning with the -sense of national disgrace. Denmark was in the throes of the heroic but -hopeless struggle to which her northern kinsmen had sent only a handful -of volunteers. He had travelled southward, almost within hearing of the -Prussian guns; and among the passengers on the steamer was that -venerable silver-haired mother who, as his sarcastic verses tell, -believed so firmly in the safety of her soldier-son, and with such good -ground, “for he was a _Norwegian_ soldier.”[2] On arriving at Rome he -turned resolutely away from these rankling memories, broke all the bonds -that tied him to his country, plunged into the study of the ancient -world, and made preparation for that colossal drama on the Emperor -Julian which eight years later saw the light. - -But the genius of the North held him in too strong a grip. “Never have I -seen the Home and its life so fully, so clearly, so near by,” he told -the Christiania students in 1873, “as precisely from a distance and in -absence.”[3] Under the Italian sky, among the myrtles and aloes of the -“Paradise of exiles,” there rose before him more vividly than ever the -vision of the stern and rugged Norwegian landscape, the solemn twilight -of the fjord, the storm-swept glacier, the peasant-folk absorbed in the -desperate struggle for bread, officialdom absorbed in material progress, -“intelligence” growing refined, “humane,” and somewhat effeminate; and, -emerging here and there, glimpses somewhat futile and forlorn of heroic -manhood. A summer tour which he had made among the western fjords in -July 1862, on a commission from Government to collect popular legends, -supplied a crowd of vivid local and personal reminiscences; a ruined -parsonage under a precipice, a little mouldering church, a wild march -across Jotunheim in storm and snow, and then the dizzy plunge down into -one of those deep lowland valleys that strike up like huge rocky rifts -from the fjord-head into the heart of the mountains. A few months of -intense labour sufficed to organise these scattered images into a moving -world of drama, penetrated through and through with Ibsen’s -individuality, and clothed in rich and many-coloured poetry. He had as -yet written nothing at once so original, so kindling, and so profusely -strewn with the most provocative brilliances of style; nothing which, -with all its fierce invective against Norway, was so profoundly and -intimately Norwegian in colouring and in spirit. Upon its publication, -on March 15, 1866, at Copenhagen, the whole Scandinavian world was taken -by storm. - -The sale was from the outset immense, and has continued, though at a -diminished pace, till the present day. Four editions appeared before the -close of 1866; the eleventh in 1889. Ibsen was little accustomed to such -success. It is said that immediately after the publication his -sister-in-law drank to the “tenth edition”; the poet confidently shook -his head and declared that the profits of the tenth edition should be -hers. She took him at his word, and has not repented her prophetic -gift.[4] Outside Scandinavia, too, the name of the author of _Brand_ -rapidly became famous. It was the beginning of his European fame. In -Germany, its intellectual suggestiveness and philosophical mysticism -were keenly appreciated; it was compared with _Hamlet_ and with _Faust_. -No less than four translations appeared there between 1872 and 1882. - -Even on the stage, for which it was never meant, _Brand_ has not been -quite unknown. In Christiania the Fourth Act has repeatedly been played; -but it was reserved for the Director of the New Theatre at Stockholm, L. -Josephson, to undertake the bold experiment of performing the whole. On -March 24, 1885, a crowded house sat through a performance which lasted -from 6.30 to 1.15. It was repeated fifteen times.[5] - -In 1893 a single performance of the Fourth Act, in the present version, -was given in London. - -Together with its still more splendid and various, yet completely -dissimilar successor, _Peer Gynt_, _Brand_ marks an epoch in -Scandinavian literature. A large majority of those who know the original -believe that it marks an epoch in the literature of Europe. Nothing in -English literature in the least resembles a work, which is nevertheless -peculiarly fitted to impress and to fascinate the English nature.[6] But -those who can imagine the prophetic fire of Carlyle fused with the -genial _verve_ and the intellectual athleticism of Browning, and -expressed by aid of a dramatic faculty to parallel which we must go two -centuries backward, may in some degree understand that fascination. - -Primarily, however, _Brand_ was addressed to Norway and to Norway alone. -It was the passionate cry—at once invective and appeal—of a Norwegian, -to the mother-country, of which, grievous as her failings are, he cannot -bring himself to despair. The situation must be recalled. When the -Danish King, in November 1863, supported by the King of Sweden, declared -Slesvig an integral part of Denmark, there was much loud jubilation in -Norway at the extension of “Scandinavian” rule, even among people not at -all prepared to allow that the cause of Denmark and of Norway were one; -while the more ardent spirits pledged themselves over flowing cups to -support their “brothers” in the field. The actual invasion of Denmark by -Prussia and Austria which followed (February 1864) was, in Ibsen’s eyes -for his own country too, a moral crisis which could be manfully met only -in one way; and when the Storthing, by virtually refusing war,[7] forced -the King, to his bitter shame, to leave Denmark to her fate, Ibsen’s -heroic scorn broke into flame, and found its fiercest and keenest -expression in the invectives of his hero, Brand. - -Brand was no doubt originally intended to be simply an embodiment of -Ibsen’s own heroic ideal of character. He is represented as a priest of -modern Norway. But Ibsen has himself declared that this was not at all -essential for his purpose. “I could have applied the whole syllogism -just as well,” he told Georg Brandes, “to a sculptor, or a politician, -as to a priest. I could quite as well have worked out the impulse which -drove me to write, by taking Galileo, for instance, as my hero—assuming, -of course, that Galileo should stand firm and never concede the fixity -of the earth;—or you yourself in your struggle with the Danish -reactionaries.”[8] The gist of the whole is therefore ethical, in spite -of its theological clothing, and in spite of the theological phraseology -in which Ibsen’s own ethical conceptions were as yet habitually -entangled. The faith which inspires it is the faith in the spirit of -man—“the one eternal thing,” as Brand declares in a splendid outburst, -that of which churches and creeds are only passing moods, and which, now -dispersed and disintegrated among the torsos of humanity, shall one day -gather once more into a whole. - -Brand was to be the ideal antitype of the Norwegian people. But Ibsen’s -own complexity of nature, and perhaps also his keen dramatic instinct -interfered with this simple scheme. The ideal type grew human and -individual; the Titan going forth with drawn sword against the world -became a struggling and agonised soul, swayed by doubts and entangled by -illusion; the vices he denounces are represented by men, drawn mostly -with a genial and humorous, and, in the case of the “humane” old Doctor, -with a kindly and sympathetic hand. The beautiful creation of Agnes -serves the purpose of satire admirably in the Second Act, where her -heroism is set off against the “faintheartedness” of the Peasants and -Einar; but in the Third and Fourth Acts she has passed into the domain -of tragedy; her heroism is no longer an example hurled at the cringing -patriots of 1864, but a pathetic sacrifice to the idol which holds her -husband in its spell. Thus the tragedy of Brand, the man, struggling in -the grip of his formula, disengages itself from the “satire” of Brand, -the Titan, subduing the world to his creed. - -_Brand_ is written throughout in one or other of two varieties of -four-beat verse. “I wanted a metre in which I could career where I -would, as on horseback,” Ibsen said to the present translator in 1893. -And in his hands the metre develops a versatility of tone, rhythm and -rhyme arrangement for which Browning’s _Christmas Eve and Easter Day_ is -the only proximate English parallel. But the two varieties—iambic and -trochaic, instead of being deftly mingled, as in _L’Allegro_ and _Il -Penseroso_, are kept strictly apart and used with felicitous effect to -heighten the distinction between two classes of scene. The iambic is the -measure of the more familiar and pedestrian scenes, where the tone is -colloquial, argumentative, satirical, or, again, bustling and lively. -The swifter and more sensitive trochaic, on the other hand, is used in -scenes of passion and poetry, of poignant emotion, of mystic vision, of -solitary thought. Thus all the great revealing crises of the action, the -points at which the informing fire breaks through—the monologues of -Brand, the visions of Agnes (Acts II. V.), and the scenes in which they -successively “stand at the crossway” to choose (end of Acts II. III. -IV.)—are conveyed in the more lyrical metre, while the more -conversational clothes the intervening tracts of common life.[9] - -The present translation retains the metres of the original, and follows -the text, in general, line for line. But no attempt has been made at -exact correspondence in points, such as the use of single or double -rhymes, and the sequence and arrangement of rhymes, where the original -itself is completely arbitrary. - ------ - -Footnote 1: - - For a more detailed discussion of _Brand_ the reader may be referred - to the Introduction prefixed to the original edition of the present - translation (London, 1894). - -Footnote 2: - - The poem _Troens grund_. It is translated by Mr. Wicksteed, _Lect._, - p. 24. This admirable little volume is indispensable to the English - student of Ibsen’s poetry. - -Footnote 3: - - Speech to the students, printed in full in Halvorsen, _Norsk - Forfatter-lexikon_, art. “Ibsen.” - -Footnote 4: - - Halvorsen, _Forfatter-lexikon_, _u.s._ - -Footnote 5: - - The Stockholm _Ny ill. Tidning_, 1885, Nos. 14, 15, gives an - interesting account of the performance, with several illustrations. - _Brand_ was played by E. Hillberg. Ibsen congratulated the Director in - a letter printed by Halvorsen, _u.s._ - -Footnote 6: - - Mr. Gosse has, however, pointed out that it has points of likeness, - striking rather than important, to Dobell’s dramatic poem _Balder_ - (1854). - -Footnote 7: - - They accepted the King’s demand that the army should be placed - absolutely in his hands, but coupled the condition that he was to make - war only in alliance with England or France. - -Footnote 8: - - First published by Brandes in his _Gjennembrudtsmænd_, partially - quoted by Jæger, _H. Ibsen_ (Eng. Tr. p. 155). - -Footnote 9: - - In Spain, conversely, the trochaic was the normal metre, the iambic a - comparatively rare variation in situations of exceptional dignity. - - BRAND - (1865) - - - - - PERSONS REPRESENTED. - - BRAND. - HIS MOTHER. - EINAR, _a painter._ - AGNES. - THE MAYOR. - THE DOCTOR. - THE DEAN. - THE SEXTON. - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - GERD. - A PEASANT. - HIS YOUNG SON. - ANOTHER PEASANT. - A WOMAN. - ANOTHER WOMAN. - A CLERK. - PRIESTS AND OFFICIALS. - CROWD: MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN. - THE TEMPTER IN THE DESERT. - THE INVISIBLE CHOIR. - A VOICE. - - _The action takes place in our own time, at various points - around a fjord-hamlet on the west coast of Norway._ - - - - - BRAND. - - - - - ACT FIRST. - - _High up in the mountain snowfields. The mist lies thick and - close; it is raining, and nearly dark._ - - _BRAND in black, with stick and wallet, is struggling on - westward. A PEASANT AND HIS YOUNG SON, who have joined - him, are a little way behind._ - - THE PEASANT. - [_Calling after BRAND._] - - Hullo, you stranger fellow, stay! - Where are you? - - BRAND. - - Here! - - THE PEASANT. - - You’ve got astray! - The fog’s so thick, my sight it passes - To see a staff’s-length ’fore or back—— - - THE SON. - - Father, here’s clefts! - - THE PEASANT. - - And here crevasses! - - BRAND. - - And not a vestige of the track. - - THE PEASANT. - [_Crying out._] - - Hold, man! God’s death—! The very ground - Is but a shell! Don’t stamp the snow! - - BRAND. - [_Listening._] - - I hear the roaring of a fall. - - THE PEASANT. - - A beck has gnawed its way below; - Here’s an abyss that none can sound; - ’Twill open and engulf us all! - - BRAND. - - As I have said, I _must_ go on. - - THE PEASANT. - - That’s past the power of any one. - I tell you—the ground’s a rotten crust— - Hold, hold, man! Death is where it’s trod. - - BRAND. - - A great one gave me charge; I _must_. - - THE PEASANT. - - What is his name? - - BRAND. - - His name is God. - - THE PEASANT. - - And what might you be, pray? - - BRAND. - - A priest. - - THE PEASANT. - - Maybe; but one thing’s clear at least; - Though you were dean and bishop too - Death will have laid his grip on you - Ere daybreak, if you dare to breast - The glacier’s cavern-cloven crest. - [_Approaching warily and insinuatingly._] - Hark, priest, the wisest, learned’st man - Cannot do more than what he can. - Turn back; don’t be so stiff and stout! - A man has but a single life;— - What has he left if that goes out? - The nearest farm is two leagues off, - And for the fog, it’s thick enough - To hack at with a hunting-knife. - - BRAND. - - If the fog’s thick, no glimmering ray - Of marsh-light lures our feet astray. - - THE PEASANT. - - All round lie ice-tarns in a ring, - And an ice-tarn’s an ugly thing. - - BRAND. - - We’ll walk across. - - THE PEASANT. - - On waves you’ll walk! - Your deeds will hardly match your talk. - - BRAND. - - Yet one has proved,—whose faith is sound - May walk dry-footed on the sea. - - THE PEASANT. - - Yes, men of olden time, maybe; - But nowadays he’d just be drowned. - - BRAND. - [_Going_.] - - Farewell! - - THE PEASANT. - - You throw your life away! - - BRAND. - - If God should haply need its loss,—— - Then welcome chasm, and flood, and foss. - - THE PEASANT. - [_To himself_.] - - Nay, but his wits are gone astray! - - THE SON. - [_Half-crying._] - - Come away, Father! see how black - With coming tempest is the wrack! - - BRAND. - [_Stopping and approaching again._] - - Hear, peasant; you at first profess’d, - Your daughter by the fjordside lying, - Had sent you word that she was dying, - But could not with a gladsome breast, - Until she saw you, go to rest? - - THE PEASANT. - - That’s certain, as I hope for bliss! - - BRAND. - - And as her last day mentioned—_this_? - - THE PEASANT. - - Yes. - - BRAND. - - Not a later? - - THE PEASANT. - - No. - - BRAND. - - Then come. - - THE PEASANT. - - The thing’s impossible—turn home! - - BRAND. - [_Looking fixedly at him._] - - Listen! Would you give twenty pound - If she might have a blest release? - - THE PEASANT. - - Yes, parson! - - BRAND. - - Forty? - - THE PEASANT. - - House and ground - I’d very gladly sign away - If so she might expire in peace! - - BRAND. - - But would you also give your _life_? - - THE PEASANT. - - What? life? My good friend——! - - BRAND. - - Well? - - THE PEASANT. - [_Scratching his head._] - - Nay, nay, - I draw the line somewhere or other——! - In Jesus’ name, remember, pray, - At home I’ve children and a wife. - - BRAND. - - He whom you mention had a mother. - - THE PEASANT. - - Ay, that was in the times of yore;— - Then marvels were of every day; - Such things don’t happen any more. - - BRAND. - - Go home. You travel in death’s track. - You know not God, God knows not you. - - THE PEASANT. - - Hoo, you are stern! - - THE SON. - [_Pulling him away._] - - Come back! come back! - - THE PEASANT. - - Ay, ay; but he must follow too! - - BRAND. - - Must I? - - THE PEASANT. - - Ay, if I let you bide - Up here in this accursed weather, - And rumour told, what we can’t hide, - That you and we set out together, - I’m haul’d some morning to the dock,— - And if you’re drown’d in flood and fen, - I’m sentenced to the bolt and lock—— - - BRAND. - - You suffer in God’s service, then. - - THE PEASANT. - - Nor his nor yours is my affair; - My own is hard enough to bear. - Come then! - - BRAND. - - Farewell! - - [_A hollow roar is heard in the distance._ - - THE SON. - [_Shrieking._] - - An avalanche roar! - - BRAND. - [_To the PEASANT who has seized his collar._] - - Off! - - THE PEASANT. - - Nay! - - BRAND. - - This instant! - - THE SON. - - Stay no more! - - THE PEASANT. - [_Struggling with BRAND._] - - Nay, devil take me——! - - BRAND. - [_Shakes him off and throws him down in the snow._] - - That, depend - On it, he will do in the end! - [_Goes._ - - THE PEASANT. - [_Sitting and rubbing his arm._] - - Ow, ow; his arm’s an iron rod; - And that’s what he calls serving God. - [_Calling as he gets up._] - Ho, priest! - - THE SON. - - He’s gone athwart the hill. - - THE PEASANT. - - Ay, but I see him glimmer still. - [_Calling again._] - Hear me,—if you remember, say, - Where was it that we lost the way? - - BRAND. - [_In the mist._] - - You need no cross to point you right;— - The broad and beaten track you tread. - - THE PEASANT. - - God grant it were but as he said, - And I’d sit snug at home to-night. - - [_He and his Son retire eastwards._ - - BRAND. - [_Reappears higher up, and listens in the direction in which - the PEASANT went._] - - Homeward they grovel! Thou dull thrall, - If but thy feeble flesh were all, - If any spark of living will - Sprang in thee, I had help’d thee still. - With breaking back, and feet way-worn, - Lightly and swift I had thee borne;— - But help is idle for the man - Who nothing wills but what he can. - [_Goes further on._] - Ah life! ah life! Why art thou then - So passing sweet to mortal men? - In every weakling’s estimation - His own life does as grossly weigh - As if the load of man’s salvation - Upon his puny shoulders lay. - For every burden he’s prepared, - God help us,—so his life be spared! - [_Smiles as in recollection._] - Two thoughts in boyhood broke upon me, - And spasms of laughter in me woke, - And from our ancient school-dame won me - Many a just and bitter stroke. - An Owl I fancied, scared by night; - A Fish that had the water-fright; - I sought to banish them;—in vain, - They clung like leeches to my brain. - Whence rose that laughter in my mind? - Ah, from the gulf, dimly divined, - Between the living world we see - And the world as it ought to be, - Between enduring what we must, - And murmuring, it is unjust! - Ah, whole or sickly, great or small, - Such owls, such fishes, are we all. - Born to be tenants of the deep, - Born to be exiles from the sun, - This, even this, does us appal; - We dash against the beetling steep, - Our starry-vaulted home we shun, - And crying to heaven, bootless pray - For air and the glad flames of day! - [_Pauses a moment, starts, and listens._] - What do I hear? A sound of singing. - Ay, blended song and laughter ringing. - With now a cheer and now a hollo,— - Another—and another—follow! - Lo, the sun rises; the mist lifts. - Already through the breaking rifts - The illimitable heights I see; - And now that joyous company - Stands out against the morning light - Upon the summit of the height. - Their shadows taper to the west, - Farewells are utter’d, hands are pressed. - And now they part, the others move - Eastward away, two westward wend, - And, waving hats and kerchiefs, send - Their farewell messages of love. - - [_The sun gradually breaks through and disperses the - mist. BRAND stands and looks down on the two as - they approach._] - - How the light glitters round these two! - It is as if the mist took flight, - And flowering heather clothed the height, - And heaven laugh’d round them where they go. - Brother and sister, hand in hand, - They spring along the hill together, - She scarcely stirs the dewy heather, - And he is lissome as a wand. - Now she darts back, he rushes after, - Now slips aside, eludes his aim,— - Out of their gambols grows a game——! - And hark, a song out of their laughter! - - [_EINAR and AGNES, in light summer dress, both of - them warm and glowing, come playing across the - level. The mist is gone; a bright summer morning - lies on the mountains._] - - EINAR. - - Agnes, my beautiful butterfly, - Playfully shalt thou be caught! - I am weaving a net, and its meshes fine - Are all of my music wrought! - - AGNES. - [_Dancing backwards and always eluding him._] - - And am I a butterfly, dainty and slight, - Let me sip of the heather-bell blue, - And art thou a boy, let me be thy sport, - But oh! not thy captive too! - - EINAR. - - Agnes, my beautiful butterfly, - I have woven my meshes so thin, - And never availeth thy fluttering flight, - Soon art thou my captive within. - - AGNES. - - And am I a butterfly young and bright, - Full joyously I can play, - But if in thy net I a captive lie - Oh, touch not my wings, I pray! - - EINAR. - - Nay, I will lift thee with tender hand, - And lock thee up in my breast, - And there thou shalt play thy whole life long - At the game thy heart loves best. - - [_They have unwittingly approached a sheer - precipice, and are now close to the edge._ - - BRAND. - [_Calls down to them._] - - Hold! hold! You stand by an abyss! - - EINAR. - - Who calls us? - - AGNES. - [_Pointing up._] - - See! - - BRAND. - - Heed where you go - Your feet are on the hollow snow - That overhangs a precipice. - - EINAR. - [_Clasping her, and laughing up to BRAND._] - - Needless for her and me your fears! - - AGNES. - - We have a whole life long to play! - - EINAR. - - In sunshine lies our destined way, - And ends but with a hundred years. - - BRAND. - - And then you perish? So! - - AGNES. - [_Waving her veil._] - - No; then - We fly to heaven and play again! - - EINAR. - - A hundred years to revel given, - Each night the bridal lamps aflame,— - A century of glorious game—— - - BRAND. - - And then—? - - EINAR. - - Then home again to heaven,— - - BRAND. - - Aha! so that is whence you came? - - EINAR. - - Of course; how should we not come thence? - - AGNES. - - That is, our very latest flight - Is from the valley, eastward hence. - - BRAND. - - I think I saw you on the height. - - EINAR. - - Ay, it was there on those loved faces - Even but now we look’d our last, - And with clasp’d hands, kisses, embraces - Seal’d all our tender memories fast! - Come down to us, and I will tell - How God’s been good beyond compare— - And you shall all our gladness share——! - Pooh, stand not like an icicle! - Come, thaw now! There, I like you so. - First, I’m a painter, you must know, - And even this to me was sweet,— - To lend my fancy wings and feet, - In colours to bid life arise, - As He of grubs breeds butterflies. - But God surpass’d Himself when He - My Agnes gave me for my bride! - I came from travels over sea, - My painter’s satchel at my side—— - - AGNES. - [_Eagerly._] - - Glad as a king, and fresh, and free,— - And knew a thousand songs beside! - - EINAR. - - Just as the village I pass’d through, - She chanced to dwell an inmate there. - She longed to taste the upland air, - The scented woods, the sun, the dew; - Me God unto the mountains drew,— - My heart cried out: Seek Beauty’s might - In forests dim and rivers bright - And flying clouds beneath the blue.— - Then I achieved my height of art: - A rosy flush upon her cheek, - Two joyous eyes that seem’d to speak, - A smile whose music filled the heart— - - AGNES. - - For you, though, all that art was vain, - You drank life’s beaker, blind and rapt, - And then, one sunny morn, again - Stood, staff in hand and baggage strapp’d— - - EINAR. - - Then suddenly the thought occurr’d: - “Why, friend, the wooing is forgot!” - Hurrah! I ask’d, she gave her word, - And all was settled on the spot. - Our good old doctor, like a boy, - Was all beside himself with joy; - So three whole days, and whole nights three, - Held revelry for her and me; - Mayor and constable, clerk and priest,— - All the grown youth was at the feast. - Last night we left, but not for that - The revel or the banquet ceased; - With banner’d pole and wreathed hat, - Up over bank, on over brae, - Our comrades brought us on our way. - - AGNES. - - The mountain-side we danced along, - In couples now, and now in groups,— - - EINAR. - - Drank luscious wine from silver stoups,— - - AGNES. - - Awoke the summer night with song,— - - EINAR. - - And the thick mist before our feet - Beat an obsequious retreat. - - BRAND. - - And now your way lies—? - - EINAR. - - To the town - Before us. - - AGNES. - - To my parents’ home. - - EINAR. - - First over yonder peak, then down - To the fjord haven in the west; - On Egir’s courser through the foam - Ride homeward to the bridal feast,— - So to the sunny south together - Like paired swans in their first flight—— - - BRAND. - - And there——? - - EINAR. - - A life of summer weather, - A dream, a legend of delight. - For on this Sabbath morn have we, - High on the hills, without a priest, - From fear and sorrow been released - And consecrated to gaiety. - - BRAND. - - By whom? - - EINAR. - - By all the merry crowd. - With ringing glasses every cloud - Was banish’d that might dash the leaves - Too rudely at our cottage eaves. - Out of our speech they put to flight - Each warning word of stormy showers, - And hail’d us, garlanded with flowers, - The true-born children of Delight. - - BRAND. - [_Going._] - - Farewell, ye two. - - EINAR. - [_Starting and looking more closely at him._] - - I pray you, hold - Something familiar in your face—— - - BRAND. - [_Coldly._] - - I am a stranger. - - EINAR. - - Yet a trace - Surely there lingers of an old - Friend of my school-days— - - BRAND. - - School-friends, true; - But now I am no more a boy. - - EINAR. - - Can it be——? - [_Cries out suddenly._] - Brand! It is! O joy! - - BRAND. - - From the first moment I knew you. - - EINAR. - - Well met! a thousand times well met! - Look at me!—Ay, the old Brand yet, - Still centred on the things within, - Whom never any one could win - To join our gambols. - - BRAND. - - You forget - That I was homeless and alone. - Yet you at least I loved, I own. - You children of the southern land - Were fashion’d of another clay - Than I, born by a rocky strand - In shadow of a barren brae. - - EINAR. - - Your home is here, I think? - - BRAND. - - My way - Lies past it. - - EINAR. - - Past? What, further? - - BRAND. - - Far - Beyond, beyond my home. - - EINAR. - - You are - A priest? - - BRAND. - [_Smiling._] - - A mission-preacher, say. - I wander like the woodland hare, - And where I am, my home is there. - - EINAR. - - And whither is your last resort? - - BRAND. - [_Sternly and quickly._] - - Inquire not! - - EINAR. - - Wherefore? - - BRAND. - [_Changing his tone._] - - Ah,—then know, - The ship that stays for you below - Shall bear me also from the port. - - EINAR. - - Hurrah! My bridal-courser true - Think, Agnes, he is coming too! - - BRAND. - - But _I_ am to a burial bound. - - AGNES. - - A burial. - - EINAR. - - You? Why, who is dead? - - BRAND. - - The God who was _your_ God, you said. - - AGNES. - [_Shrinking back._] - - Come, Einar! - - EINAR. - - Brand! - - BRAND. - - With cerements wound - The God of each mechanic slave, - Of each dull drudger, shall be laid - By broad day in his open grave. - End of the matter must be made; - And high time is it you should know - He ail’d a thousand years ago. - - EINAR. - - Brand, you are ill! - - BRAND. - - No, sound and fresh - As juniper and mountain-pine! - It is our age whose pining flesh - Craves burial at these hands of mine. - Ye will but laugh and love and play, - A little doctrine take on trust, - And all the bitter burden thrust - On One who came, ye have been told, - And from your shoulders took away - Your great transgressions manifold. - He bore for you the cross, the lance— - Ye therefore have full leave to dance; - Dance then,—but where your dancing ends - Is quite another thing, my friends! - - EINAR. - - Ah, I perceive, the latest cry, - That folks are so much taken by. - You come of the new brood, who hold - That life is only gilded mould, - And with God’s penal fires and flashes - Hound all the world to sack and ashes. - - BRAND. - - No, I am no “Evangelist,” - I speak not as the Church’s priest; - That I’m a Christian, even, I doubt; - That I’m a man, though, I know well, - And that I see the cancer fell - That eats our country’s marrow out. - - EINAR. - [_Smiling._] - - I never heard, I must confess, - Our country taxed with being given - To worldly pleasure in excess! - - BRAND. - - No, by delight no breast is riven;— - Were it but so, the ill were less! - Be passion’s slave, be pleasure’s thrall,— - But be it utterly, all in all! - Be not to-day, to-morrow, one, - Another when a year is gone; - Be what you are with all your heart, - And not by pieces and in part. - The Bacchant’s clear, defined, complete, - The sot, his sordid counterfeit; - Silenus charms; but all his graces - The drunkard’s parody debases. - Traverse the land from beach to beach, - Try every man in heart and soul, - You’ll find he has no virtue whole, - But just a little grain of each. - A little pious in the pew, - A little grave,—his fathers’ way,— - Over the cup a little gay,— - It was his father’s fashion too! - A little warm when glasses clash, - And stormy cheer and song go round - For the small Folk, rock-will’d, rock-bound, - That never stood the scourge and lash. - A little free in promise-making; - And then, when vows in liquor will’d - Must be in mortal stress fulfill’d, - A little fine in promise-breaking. - Yet, as I say, all fragments still - His faults, his merits, fragments all, - Partial in good, partial in ill, - Partial in great things and in small;— - But here’s the grief—that, worst or best, - Each fragment of him wrecks the rest! - - EINAR. - - Scoffing’s an easy task: it were - A nobler policy to spare—— - - BRAND. - - Perhaps, if it were wholesome too. - - EINAR. - - Well, well, the indictment I endorse - With all my heart; but can’t divine - What in the world it has to do - With Him, the God you count a corse, - Whom yet I still acknowledge mine. - - BRAND. - - My genial friend, your gift is Art;— - Show me the God you have averr’d. - Him you have painted, I have heard, - And touch’d the honest people’s heart. - Old is he haply; am I right? - - EINAR. - - Well, yes—— - - BRAND. - - Of course; and, doubtless, white? - Hairs straggling on a reverend head, - A beard of ice or silver-thread; - Kindly, yet stern enough to fright - A pack of children in the night. - I will not ask you, if your God - With fireside slippers you have shod; - But ’twere a pity, without doubt, - To leave skull-cap and glasses out. - - EINAR. - [_Angrily._] - - What do you mean? - - BRAND. - - I do not flout; - Just so he looks in form and face, - The household idol of our race. - As Catholics make of the Redeemer - A baby at the breast, so ye - Make God a dotard and a dreamer, - Verging on second infancy. - And as the Pope on Peter’s throne - Calls little but his keys his own, - So to the Church you would confine - The world-wide realm of the Divine; - ’Twixt Life and Doctrine set a sea, - Nowise concern yourselves to be; - Bliss for your souls ye would receive, - Not utterly and wholly _live_. - Ye need, such feebleness to brook, - A God who’ll through his fingers look, - Who, like yourselves, is hoary grown, - And keeps a cap for his bald crown. - Mine is another kind of God! - Mine is a storm, where thine’s a lull, - Implacable where thine’s a clod, - All-loving there, where thine is dull; - And He is young like Hercules, - No hoary sipper of life’s lees! - His voice rang through the dazzled night - When He, within the burning wood, - By Moses upon Horeb’s height - As by a pigmy’s pigmy stood. - In Gibeon’s vale He stay’d the sun, - And wonders without end has done, - And wonders without end would do, - Were not the age grown sick,—like you! - - EINAR. - [_Smiling faintly._] - - And now the age shall be made whole? - - BRAND. - - It shall, I say, and that as sure - As that I came to earth to cure - The sapping fester of its soul. - - EINAR. - [_Shaking his head._] - - Ere yet the radiant torchlight blazes, - Throw not the taper to the ground! - Nor blot the antiquated phrases - Before the great new words be found! - - BRAND. - - Nothing that’s new do I demand; - For Everlasting Right I stand. - It is not for a Church I cry, - It is not dogmas I defend; - Day dawn’d on both, and, possibly, - Day may on both of them descend. - What’s made has “finis” for its brand; - Of moth and worm it feels the flaw, - And then, by nature and by law, - Is for an embryo thrust aside. - But there is one that shall abide;— - The Spirit, that was never born, - That in the world’s fresh gladsome Morn - Was rescued when it seem’d forlorn, - That built with valiant faith a road - Whereby from Flesh it climb’d to God. - Now but in shreds and scraps is dealt - The Spirit we have faintly felt; - But from these scraps and from these shreds, - These headless hands and handless heads, - These torso-stumps of soul and thought, - A Man complete and whole shall grow, - And God His glorious child shall know, - His heir, the Adam that He wrought! - - EINAR. - [_Breaking off._] - - Farewell. I judge that it were best - We parted. - - BRAND. - - You are going west, - I northward. To the fjord from here - Two pathways lead,—both alike near. - Farewell! - - EINAR. - - Farewell. - - BRAND. - [_Turning round again._] - - Light learn to part - From vapour.—Know that Life’s an art! - - EINAR. - [_Waving him off._] - - Go, turn the universe upside down; - Still in my ancient God I trust! - - BRAND. - - Good; paint his crutches and his crown,— - I go to lay him in the dust! - - [_Disappears over the pass._ - - [_Einar goes silently to the edge and looks after him._] - - AGNES. - [_Stands a moment lost in thought; then starts, looks about - her uneasily, and asks_:] - - Is the sun set already? - - EINAR. - - Nay, - A shadowing cloud; and now ’tis past. - - AGNES. - - The wind is cold! - - EINAR. - - Only a blast - That hurried by. Here lies our way. - - AGNES. - - Yon mountain southward, sure, till now, - Wore not that black and beetling brow. - - EINAR. - - Thou saw’st it not for game and glee - Ere with his cry he startled thee. - Let him pursue his toilsome track, - And we will to our gambols back! - - AGNES. - - No, now I’m weary. - - EINAR. - - And indeed - I’m weary too, to tell the truth,— - And here our footing asks more heed - Than on yon upland broad and smooth. - But once we’re on the level plain - We’ll dance defiantly once more, - Ay, in a tenfold wilder vein - And tenfold swifter than before. - See Agnes, yon blue line that sparkles, - Fresh from the young sun’s morning kiss, - And now it dimples and now darkles, - Silver one moment, amber this; - It is the ocean glad and free - That in the distance thou dost see. - And seest thou the smoky track - In endless line to leeward spread? - And seest thou the point of black - Just rounding now the furthest head? - It is the steamer—thine and mine— - And now it speeds into the fjord, - Then out into the foaming brine - To-night with thee and me on board!— - The mists have veil’d the mountain brow— - Saw’st thou how vividly, but now, - Heaven’s image in the water woke! - - AGNES. - [_Looking absently about her._] - - Oh, yes. But tell me—sawest thou——? - - EINAR. - - What? - - AGNES. - [_In a hushed voice, without looking at him._] - - How he tower’d as he spoke? - [_She goes down over the pass, EINAR follows._ - - -------------- - - [_A path along the crags, with a wild valley beyond to the - right. Above, and beyond the mountain, are glimpses of - greater heights, with peaks and snow._] - - BRAND. - [_Comes up along the path, descends, stops half-way upon a - jutting crag, and gazes into the valley._] - - Yes, I know myself once more! - Every boat-house by the shore, - Every home; the landslip-fall, - And the inlet’s fringe of birch, - And the ancient moulder’d church, - And the river alders, all - From my boyhood I recall. - But methinks it all has grown - Grayer, smaller than I knew; - Yon snow-cornice hangs more prone - Than of old it used to do, - From that scanty heaven encloses - Yet another strip of blue, - Beetles, looms, immures, imposes— - Steals of light a larger due. - [_Sits down and gazes into the distance._] - And the fjord too. Crouch’d it then - In so drear and deep a den? - ’Tis a squall. A square-rigg’d skiff - Scuds before it to the land. - Southward, shadow’d by the cliff, - I descry a wharf, a shed, - Then, a farm house, painted red.— - ’Tis the farm beside the strand! - ’Tis the widow’s farm. The home - Of my childhood. Thronging come - Memories born of memories dead. - I, where yonder breakers roll, - Grew, a lonely infant-soul. - Like a nightmare on my heart - Weighs the burden of my birth, - Knit to one, who walks apart - With her spirit set to earth. - All the high emprise that stirr’d - In me, now is veil’d and blurr’d. - Force and valour from me fail, - Heart and soul grow faint and frail - As I near my home, I change, - To my very self grow strange— - Wake, as baffled Samson woke, - Shorn and fetter’d, tamed and broke. - [_Looks again down into the valley._] - What is stirring down below? - Out of every garth they flow, - Troops of children, wives and men, - And in long lines meet and mingle, - Now among the rocks and shingle - Vanish, now emerge again;— - To the ancient Church they go. - [_Rises._] - Oh, I know you, through and through! - Sluggard spirits, souls of lead! - All the Lord’s Prayer, said by you, - Is not with such anguish sped, - By such passion borne on high, - That one tittle thrills the sky - As a ringing human cry, - Save the prayer for daily bread! - That’s this people’s battle-call, - That’s the blazon of them all! - From its context pluck’d apart, - Branded deep in every heart— - There it lies, the tempest-tost - Wreckage of the Faith you’ve lost. - Forth! out of this stifling pit! - Vault-like is the air of it! - Not a Flag may float unfurl’d - In this dead and windless world! - - [_He is going; a stone is thrown from above and - rolls down the slope close by him._ - - BRAND. - [_Calling upward._] - - Ha! who throws stones there? - - GERD. - [_A girl of fifteen, running along the crest with stones in - her apron._] - - Ho! Good aim! - He screams! - [_She throws again._] - - BRAND. - - Hullo, child, stop that game! - - GERD. - - Without a hurt he’s sitting now, - And swinging on a wind-swept bough! - [_She throws again and screams._] - Now fierce as ever he’s making for me. - Help! Hoo! With claws he’ll rend and gore me! - - BRAND. - - In the Lord’s name—— - - GERD. - - Whist! who are you? - Hold still, hold still; he’s flying. - - BRAND. - - Who? - - GERD. - - Didn’t you see the falcon fly? - - BRAND. - - Here? no. - - GERD. - - The laidly fowl with crest - Thwart on its sloping brow depress’d, - And red-and-yellow circled eye. - - BRAND. - - Which is your way? - - GERD. - - To church I go. - - BRAND. - - Then we can go along together. - - GERD. - [_Pointing upward._] - - We? But the way I’m bound is thither. - - BRAND. - [_Pointing downward._] - - But yonder is the church, you know! - - GERD. - [_Pointing downward with a scornful smile._] - - That yonder? - - BRAND. - - Truly; come with me. - - GERD. - - No; yon is ugly. - - BRAND. - - Ugly? Why? - - GERD. - - Because it’s small. - - BRAND. - - Where did you see - A greater? - - GERD. - - I could tell you, I. - Farewell. - [_She turns away upwards._ - - BRAND. - - Lies _there_ that church of yours? - Why, that way leads but to the moors. - - GERD. - - Come with me, you; I’ve got to show - A church that’s built of ice and snow! - - BRAND. - - Of ice and snow! I see the truth! - There, amid peak and precipice - As I remember from my youth, - There yawns a cavernous abyss; - “Ice-church” they call’d the place of old; - And of it many a tale was told; - A frozen tarn has paved the floor; - Aloft, in massy-piled blocks, - The gather’d snow-drifts slope and soar - Arch-like over the yawning rocks. - - GERD. - - It seems a mountain-cleft,—ah, yes, - It is a church, though, none the less. - - BRAND. - - Never go there; a sudden gust - Has often crack’d that hollow crust; - A rifle shot, a scream, a whoop—— - - GERD. - [_Without listening to him._] - - Just come and see a reindeer troop - Gulf’d in the fall, and never found - Till spring and the great thaw came round. - - BRAND. - - Yonder is danger; go not near it! - - GERD. - [_Pointing down._] - - Yonder is foulness; thou must fear it! - - BRAND. - - God’s peace with you! - - GERD. - - Nay, this way pass! - Yonder the cataract’s singing Mass; - There on the crags the whistling weather - Preaches you hot and cold together. - Thither the hawk will ne’er steal in; - Down, down he sweeps from Svartetind,— - Yonder he sits, the ugly block, - Like my church-steeple’s weathercock. - - BRAND. - - Wild is thy way, and wild thy soul,— - A cittern with a shatter’d bowl. - Of dulness dulness is the brood,— - But evil’s lightly won to good. - - GERD. - - With whirring wings I hear him come! - I’ll e’en make shift to get me home! - In yonder church I’m safe,—farewell; - He’s on me,—hoo, how fierce and fell! - [_She screams._] - I’ll throw a stone! No nearer, now. - If thou hast talons, I’ve a bough! - - [_She runs off up the mountain._ - - BRAND. - [_After a pause._] - - This was a church-goer, like the rest. - Mountain- or Dale-church, which is best? - Which wildest reel, which blindest grope, - Which furthest roam from home and hope:— - _Light-heart_ who, crown’d with leafage gay, - Loves by the dizziest verge to play,— - _Faint-heart_, who marches slack and slow, - Because old Wont will have it so;— - _Wild-heart_, who, borne on lawless wings, - Sees fairness in the foulest things? - War front and rear, war high and low, - With this fell triple-banded foe! - I see my Call! It gleams ahead - Like sunshine through a loop-hole shed! - I know my task; these demons slain, - The sick Earth shall grow sound again;— - Once let them to the grave be given, - The fever-fumes of Earth shall fly! - Up, Soul, array thee! Sword from thigh! - To battle for the heirs of Heaven! - - [_He descends to the hamlet._ - - - - - ACT SECOND - - _By the fjord-side, steep precipices all around. The ancient - and tumble-down church stands on a little knoll hard - by. A storm is coming on._ - - _The country-folk,—men, women, and children,—are gathered in - knots, some on the shore, some on the slopes. The - MAYOR sits in the midst, on a stone; a CLERK is - helping him; corn and provisions are being - distributed. EINAR and AGNES stand surrounded by a - crowd, a little apart. Some boats lie on the beach. - BRAND comes forward, unnoticed, to the church-knoll._ - - A MAN. - [_Breaking through the crowd._] - - Out of the way! - - A WOMAN. - - I’m first! - - THE MAN. - [_Thrusting her aside._] - - Get back! - [_Pushing towards the Mayor._] - Ho! look you, fill me up my sack! - - THE MAYOR. - - All in good time. - - THE MAN. - - I cannot stay;— - I’ve four—five—babes of bread bereft! - - THE MAYOR. - [_Facetiously._] - - You don’t know just how many, eh? - - THE MAN. - - One was e’en dying when I left. - - THE MAYOR. - - Hold. You are enter’d, are you not? - [_Examines his papers._] - No. Yes, you are though. Well for you. - [_To the CLERK._] - Give Number Twenty-nine his lot. - Come, come, good folks, be patient, do! - Nils Snemyr? - - THE MAN. - - Ay, ay! - - THE MAYOR. - - We must pare - A quarter off your former share. - You’re fewer now, you know. - - THE MAN. - - Yes, yes,— - My Ragnhild died yestreen. - - THE MAYOR. - [_Making a note._] - - One less. - Saving is saving, howsoe’er. - [_To the MAN, who is retiring._] - But look you, now, you needn’t run - And marry another on the spot! - - CLERK. - [_Sniggering._] - - Hee, hee! - - THE MAYOR. - [_Sharply._] - - You laugh? - - CLERK. - - Your Worship’s fun - Is irresistible. - - THE MAYOR. - - Have done! - This work’s no jesting; but the best - Method with mourners is a jest. - - EINAR. - [_Coming out of the throng with AGNES._] - - Now my last pocket’s clean and bare, - Spent every stiver, every note;— - A very beggar I go afloat, - And pawn my watch to pay my fare! - - THE MAYOR. - - Yes, in good time you came along. - What I’ve collected is a song,— - By no means answers to the call - When needy hand and mouth ill-fed - Must halve the sharing of shared bread - With those who’ve ne’er a bit at all. - [_He perceives BRAND, and points up to him._] - One more! You’re welcome! If report - Of our drought-flood-and-famine curse - Has reach’d you, promptly loose your purse - (If yet unloosen’d). Every sort - Of contribution meets the case. - Our store’s nigh spent. Five fishes scant - In the wide wilderness of Want - Don’t make a square meal nowadays. - - BRAND. - - Myriads, idolatrously given, - Would lift the soul no nearer heaven. - - THE MAYOR. - - It was not words I bade you share: - They’re barren when the belly’s bare. - - EINAR. - - I can’t believe that you recall - What long and fierce calamities - They’ve suffered:—famine, drought, disease. - Men die, Brand—— - - BRAND. - - I perceive it all. - Each livid-circled eye makes clear - Who it is holds assizes here. - - THE MAYOR. - - Yet there you stand, a very flint! - - BRAND. - - If life here ran its sluggish round - Of common toil and common stint, - Pity with me your pangs had found. - Who homeward crawls with earth-set eyes, - In him the sleeping beast will rise. - When days in drowsy calm go by, - Like funerals, at walking pace, - You well may fear that the Most High - Has struck you from His Book of Grace. - But unto you He was more good, - He scatter’d terror in your blood, - He scourged you with the rods that slay, - The gifts He gave, He took away—— - - VOICES. - [_Fiercely interrupting him._] - - He mocks us in our bitter need! - - THE MAYOR. - - He rails at us who tend and feed! - - BRAND. - [_Shaking his head._] - - Oh, if the blood of all my heart - Could heal you from the hunger-smart, - In welling streams it should be shed, - Till every vein was a dry bed. - But here it were a sin to give! - God seeks to pluck you from your bane;— - Nations, though poor and sparse, that _live_, - Suck might and marrow from their pain. - The purblind sight takes falcon-wings, - Sees clear into the heart of things, - The faltering will stands stout at bay, - And sees the triumph through the fray. - But men whom misery has not mann’d - Are worthless of the saving hand! - - A WOMAN. - - Yonder a storm breaks on the fjord, - As if awaken’d by his word! - - ANOTHER WOMAN. - - He tempts God! Mark what I foretell. - - BRAND. - - _Your_ God ne’er wrought a miracle! - - WOMEN. - - See, see! the storm! - - VOICES AMONG THE THRONG. - - Stab,—stone him! chase - The flinty fellow from the place! - - [_The peasants close menacingly round BRAND. The MAYOR - intervenes. A WOMAN, wild and dishevelled, comes - hurriedly down the slopes._] - - THE WOMAN. - [_Crying out towards the throng._] - - Oh, where is help, for Jesus’ grace! - - THE MAYOR. - - What do you need? Explain your case. - - THE WOMAN. - - Nothing I need; no alms I seek, - But oh, the horror, horror—— - - THE MAYOR. - - Speak! - - THE WOMAN. - - I have no voice,—O comfort, aid! - Where is the priest? - - THE MAYOR. - - Here there is none— - - THE WOMAN. - - I am undone! I am undone! - Stern wast thou, God, when I was made! - - BRAND. - [_Approaching._] - - Maybe, however, there is _one_. - - THE WOMAN. - [_Seizing his arm._] - - Then let him come, and swiftly! - - BRAND. - - Tell - Your need, and he will surely come. - - THE WOMAN. - - Across the fjord—my husband—— - - BRAND. - - Well? - - THE WOMAN. - - Three starving babes, and ne’er a crumb,—— - Say no,—he is not sent to hell! - - BRAND. - - Your story first. - - THE WOMAN. - - My breast was dry; - Man sent no help, and God was dumb; - My babe was dying in agony; - Cut to the heart,—his child he slew!— - - BRAND. - - He slew——! - - THE THRONG. - [_Shuddering._] - - His child! - - THE WOMAN. - - The horror of his deed of blood! - His grief ran brimming like a flood; - He struck himself the death-wound too. - Come, save him, save him from perdition, - Spite of wild water and wild sky! - He cannot live, and dare not die! - There lies he, clasping the dead frame, - And shrieking on the Devil’s name! - - BRAND. - [_Quietly._] - - Yes, _here_ is need. - - EINAR. - [_Pale._] - - Great God on high! - - THE MAYOR. - - He doesn’t live in my Division. - - BRAND. - [_Curtly, to the Peasants._] - - Unmoor a boat and row me there! - - A MAN. - - When such a storm is _up_? Who dare? - - THE MAYOR. - - A path goes round the fjord—— - - THE WOMAN. - - Nay, nay, - There’s now no practicable way; - The footbridge as I came across - Was broken by the foaming foss. - - BRAND. - - Unmoor the boat. - - A MAN. - - It can’t be done; - O’er rock and reef the breakers run. - - ANOTHER. - - Down sweeps a blast! See, at a stroke - The whole fjord vanishes in smoke! - - A THIRD. - - With waves so wild and wind so rough, - The Dean would put the service off. - - BRAND. - - A sinful soul that nears its end - Waits not until the weather mend! - - [_Goes down to a boat and looses the sail._] - - You’ll risk the boat? - - THE OWNER. - - I will; but stay! - - BRAND. - - Now, who will risk his _life_, I say! - - A MAN. - - I’ll not go with him. - - ANOTHER. - - No, nor I. - - SEVERAL. - - It were just putting out to die! - - BRAND. - - _Your_ God helps none across the fjord; - Remember, though, that _mine’s_ on board! - - THE WOMAN. - [_Wringing her hands._] - - He’ll die unsaved! - - BRAND. - [_Calling from the boat._] - - _One_ will avail - To bail the leakage, shift the sail; - Come, one of you that lately gave; - Give now to death and to the grave. - - SEVERAL. - [_Shrinking back._] - - Never ask such-like of us! - - ONE. - [_Menacingly._] - - Land! - ’Tis overbold to tempt God’s hand! - - SEVERAL VOICES. - - See, the storm thickens! - - OTHERS. - - The ropes break! - - BRAND. - [_Holding himself fast with the boat-hook, and calling to - the strange WOMAN._] - - Good; come then you; but speedily! - - THE WOMAN. - [_Shrinking back._] - - I! Where no others——! - - BRAND. - - Let them be! - - THE WOMAN. - - I cannot! - - BRAND. - - Cannot? - - THE WOMAN. - - My babes’ sake——! - - BRAND. - [_Scornfully laughing._] - - You build upon a quaking sand! - - AGNES. - [_Turns with glowing cheeks to EINAR, lays her hand on his - arm, and says_:] - - Did you hear _all_? - - EINAR. - - A valiant heart. - - AGNES. - - Thank God, Einar, you see your part. - [_Calls to BRAND._] - - See,—here is one man, brave and true, - To go the saving way with you! - - BRAND. - - Come on then! - - EINAR. - [_Pale._] - - I! - - AGNES. - - I give you! Go! - Mine eyes are lifted, that were low! - - EINAR. - - Ere I found you, with willing feet - I would have follow’d where he led—— - - AGNES. - [_Trembling._] - - But now——! - - EINAR. - - My life is new and sweet;— - I _cannot_ go! - - AGNES. - [_Starting back._] - - What have you said! - - EINAR. - - I _dare_ not go! - - AGNES. - [_With a cry._] - - Now roars a sea - Of sweeping flood and surging foam - World-wide, world-deep, ’twixt you and me! - [_To BRAND._] - _I_ will go with you! - - BRAND. - - Good; then come! - - EINAR. - [_Clutching desperately after her._] - - Agnes! - - THE WHOLE THRONG. - [_Hurrying towards her._] - - Come back! Come back! - - WOMEN. - [_In terror as she springs into the boat._] - - Help, Lord! - - BRAND. - - Where does the house lie! - - WOMEN. - [_Pointing._] - - By the fjord, - Behind yon black and jutting brink! - [_The boats put out._ - - EINAR. - [_Calling after them._] - - Your home, your mother, Agnes! Think! - O save yourself! - - AGNES. - - We are _three_ on board! - - [_The boat sails. The people crowd together on the - slopes, and watch in eager suspense._ - - A MAN. - - He clears the headland! - - ANOTHER. - - Nay! - - THE FIRST. - - Yes, see,— - Astern he has it, and in lee! - - ANOTHER. - - A squall! It’s caught them! - - THE MAYOR. - - Look at that,— - The wind has swept away his hat! - - A WOMAN. - - Black as a rook’s wing, his wet hair - Streams backward on the angry air. - - FIRST MAN. - - All seethes and surges! - - EINAR. - - What a yell! - Rang through the storm! - - A WOMAN. - - ’Twas from the fell. - - ANOTHER. - [_Pointing up._] - - See, there stands Gerd upon the cliff, - Hallooing at the passing skiff! - - FIRST WOMAN. - - She’s flinging pebbles like witch-corn, - And blowing through a twisted horn. - - SECOND WOMAN. - - Now she has slung it like a wand, - And pipes upon her hollow’d hand. - - A MAN. - - Ay, pipe away, thou troll abhorr’d! - He has a Guide and Guard on board! - - ANOTHER. - - In a worse storm, with him to steer, - I’d put to sea and never fear. - - FIRST MAN. - [_To EINAR._] - - What is he? - - EINAR. - - A priest. - - SECOND MAN. - - What is he, nay— - That’s plain: he is a _man_, I say! - Strong will is in him, and bold deed. - - FIRST MAN. - - That were the very priest we need! - - MANY VOICES. - - Ay, ay, the very priest we need! - - [_They disperse along the slopes._ - - THE MAYOR. - [_Collecting his books and papers._] - - Well, ’tis opposed to all routine - To labour in a strange vocation, - Intrusively to risk one’s skin - Without an adequate occasion.— - _I_ do my duty with precision,— - But always in my own Division. - [_Goes._ - - -------------- - - [_Outside the hut on the Ness. Late afternoon. The fjord is - smooth and gleaming. AGNES is sitting_ _by the beach. - Presently BRAND comes out of the hut._] - - BRAND. - - _That_ was death. The horror-rifted - Bosom at its touch grew whole. - Now he looks a calm great soul, - All illumined and up-lifted. - Has a false illusion might - Out of gloom to win such light? - Of his devil’s-deed he saw - Nothing but the outward flaw,— - That of it which tongue can tell - And to hands is palpable,— - That for which his name’s reviled,— - The brute slaying of his child. - But those two, that sat and gazed - With great frighten’d eyes, amazed, - Speechless, like two closely couching - Birdlets, in the ingle crouching,— - Who but look’d, and look’d, and ever - Look’d, unwitting upon what,— - In whose souls a poison-spot - Bit and sank, which they shall never - Even as old men bent and gray, - In Time’s turmoil wear away,— - They, whose tide of life proceeds - From this fountain of affright, - Who by dark and dreadful deeds - Must be nurtured into light, - Nor by any purging flames - May that carrion thought consume,— - This he saw not, being blind, - That the direst of the doom - Was the doom he left behind. - And from them shall haply rise - Link’d offences one by one. - Wherefore? The abyss replies: - From the father sprang the son! - What shall be by Love erased? - What be quietly effaced? - Where, O where, does guilt begin - In our heritage of sin? - What Assizes, what Assessors, - When that Judgment is declared? - Who shall question, who be heard, - Where we’re all alike transgressors? - Who will venture then to plead - His foul-borrow’d title-deed? - Will the old answer profit yet: - “From my father dates my debt?” - O, abysmal as the night, - Riddle, who can read thee right! - But the people dance light-footed, - Heedless by the dizzy brink; - Where the soul should cry and shrink, - None has vision to perceive - What uptowering guilt is rooted - In that little word: _We live._ - - [_Some men of the community come from behind the house and - approach BRAND._] - - A MAN. - - We were to meet again, you see. - - BRAND. - - His need of human help has ceased. - - THE MAN. - - Yes; he is ransom’d and released; - But in the chamber still sit three. - - BRAND. - - And what then? - - THE MAN. - - - Of the scraps we got - Together, a few crumbs we’ve brought—— - - BRAND. - - Though you give all, and life retain, - I tell you that your gift is vain. - - THE MAN. - - Had he to-day, who now lies dead, - By mortal peril been bested, - And I had heard his foundering cry, - I also would have dared to die. - - BRAND. - - But peril of the _Soul_ you slight? - - THE MAN. - - Well, we’re but drudgers day by day. - - BRAND. - - Then from the downward-streaming light - Turn your eyes utterly away; - And cease to cast the left askance - At heaven, while with the right you glance - Down at the mould where, crouching low, - Self-harness’d in the yoke you go. - - THE MAN. - - I thought you’d say we ought to shake us - Free of the yoke we toil in? - - BRAND. - - Yea, - If you are able. - - THE MAN. - - You can make us! - - BRAND. - - Can I? - - THE MAN. - - Full many have been sent - Who told us truly of the way; - The path they pointed to, you _went_. - - BRAND. - - You mean——? - - THE MAN. - - A thousand speeches Brand - Less deeply than one dint of deed. - Here in our fellows’ name we stand;— - We see, a _man_ is what we need. - - BRAND. - [_Uneasily._] - - What will you with me? - - THE MAN. - - Be our priest. - - BRAND. - - I? Here! - - THE MAN. - - You’ve maybe heard it told, - There is no pastor for this fold. - - BRAND. - - Yes; I recall. - - THE MAN. - - The place of old - Was large, which now is of the least. - When evil seasons froze the field, - And blight on herdsman fell, - When want struck down the Man, and seal’d - The Spirit with its drowsing spell, - When there was dearth of beef and brew,— - _Then_ came a dearth of parsons too. - - BRAND. - - Aught else: but this ye must not ask! - I’m summoned to a greater task. - The great world’s open ear I seek; - Through Life’s vast organ I must speak. - What should I here? By mountains pent - The voice of man falls impotent. - - THE MAN. - - By mountains echoed, longer heard - Is each reverberating word. - - BRAND. - - Who in a cavern would be bound, - When broad meads beckon all around? - Who’ll sweat to plough the barren land - When there are fruitful fields at hand? - Who’ll rear his fruitage from the seed - When orchards ripen to the skies? - Who’ll struggle on with daily need - When vision gives him wings and eyes? - - THE MAN. - [_Shaking his head._] - - Your deed I fathom’d,—not your word. - - BRAND. - [_Going._] - - Question no more! On board! on board! - - THE MAN. - [_Barring his way._] - - This calling that you must fulfil, - This work, whereon you’ve set your will, - Is it so precious to you, say? - - BRAND. - - It is my very life! - - THE MAN. - - Then stay! - [_Pointedly._] - “Though you give all and life retain, - Remember, that your gift is vain.” - - BRAND. - - One thing is yours you may not spend? - Your very inmost Self of all. - You may not bind it, may not bend, - Nor stem the river of your call. - To make for ocean is its end. - - THE MAN. - - Though tarn and moorland held it fast,— - As dew ’twould reach the sea at last. - - BRAND. - [_Looking fixedly at him._] - - Who gave you power to answer thus? - - THE MAN. - - You, by your deed, you gave it us. - When wind and water raged and roar’d, - And you launch’d out through wind and wave, - When, a poor sinning soul to save, - You set your life upon a board, - Deep into many a heart it fell, - Like wind and sunshine, cold and hot, - Rang through them like a chiming bell,— - [_With lowered voice._] - To-morrow, haply, all’s forgot, - And furl’d the kindling banner bright - You just now lifted in our sight. - - BRAND. - - Duty is not, where power is not. - [_Sternly._] - If you cannot be what you ought, - Be in good earnest what you may; - Be heart and soul a man of clay. - - THE MAN. - [_After gazing on him a moment._] - - Woe! you, who quench the lamp you lit; - And us, who had a glimpse of it! - - [_He goes; the others silently follow._ - - BRAND. - [_After long watching them._] - - Homewards, one by one, with flagging - Spirits, heavily and slow, - Foreheads bowed, and weary lagging - Footsteps, silently they go. - Each with sorrow in his eyes, - Walks as from a lifted rod, - Walks like Adam spurn’d by God - From the gates of Paradise,— - Walks like him, with sin-veil’d sight,— - Sees, like him, the gathering night, - All his gain of knowledge shares, - All his loss of blindness bears. - I have boldly dared to plan - The refashioning of Man,— - —_There’s_ my work,—Sin’s image grown, - Whom God moulded in His own.— - Forth! to wider fields away! - Here’s no room for battle-play! - - [_Going; but pauses as he sees AGNES by the beach._] - - See, she listens by the shore, - As to airy songs afloat. - So she listen’d in the boat - As the stormy surge it tore,— - Listening, to the thwart she clung,— - Listening still, the sea-foam hoar - From her open forehead flung. - ’Tis as though her ear were changing - Function, and her eye were listening. - [_He approaches._] - Maiden, is it o’er those glistening - Reaches that your eye is ranging? - - AGNES. - [_Without turning round._] - - Neither those nor aught of earth; - Nothing of them I descry. - But a greater earth there gleams - Sharply outlined on the sky, - Foaming floods and spreading streams, - Mists and sunshine breaking forth. - Scarlet-shafted flames are playing - Over cloud-capp’d mountain heads, - And an endless desert spreads, - Whereupon great palms are swaying - In the bitter-breathing blast. - Swart the shadows that they cast. - Nowhere any living thing; - Like a new world at its birth; - And I hear strange accents ring, - And a Voice interpreting: - “Choose thy endless loss or gain, - Do thy work and bear thy pain;— - Thou shalt people this new earth!” - - BRAND. - [_Carried away._] - - Say, what further! - - AGNES. - [_Laying her hand on her breast._] - - In my soul - I can feel new powers awaking, - I can see a dayspring breaking, - I can feel full floods that roll, - And my heart grows larger, freer, - Clasps the world within its girth, - And a voice interprets: Here - Shalt thou people a new earth! - All the thoughts that men shall utter, - All the deeds men shall achieve, - Waken, whisper, quiver, mutter, - As if now they were to live; - And I rather feel than see - Him who sits enthroned above, - Feel that He looks down on me - Full of sadness and of love, - Tender-bright as morning’s breath, - And yet sorrowing unto death: - And I hear strange accents wake: - “Now thou must be made, and make; - Choose thy endless loss or gain!— - Do thy work and bear thy pain!” - - BRAND. - - Inwards! In! O word of might, - Now I see my way aright. - In _ourselves_ is that young Earth, - Ripe for the divine new-birth; - Will, the fiend, must there be slain, - Adam _there_ be born again. - Let the world then take its way, - Brutal toil or giddy play; - But if e’er we meet in fight, - If my work it seek to blight, - Then, by heaven, I’ll smite and slay! - Room within the wide world’s span, - Self completely to fulfil,— - That’s a valid right of Man, - And no more than that I will! - [_After pondering awhile in silence._] - To fulfil oneself! And yet, - With a heritage of debt? - [_Pauses and looks out._] - Who is she, that, stooping deep, - Chambers hither up the steep,— - Crooked back and craning crop? - Now for breath she has to stop, - Clutches wildly lest she stumble, - And her skinny fingers fumble - Fierce for something that she drags - In those deep and roomy bags. - Skirt, like folds of feather’d skin, - Dangling down her shrivelled shin; - Hands, a pair of clenched hooks; - So the eagle’s carcase looks - Nail’d against the barn-door top. - [_In sudden anguish._] - What chill memories upstart,— - O what gusts from childhood dart - Frosty showers on her—and other - Fiercer frost upon my heart—? - God of grace! It is my Mother! - - BRAND’S MOTHER. - - [_Comes up, stops when half seen above the slope, holds her - hand up to shade her eyes, and looks round._] - - He’s here, they told me. - [_Coming nearer._] - Drat the blaze,— - It nearly takes away my sight! - Son, is that you? - - BRAND. - - Yes. - - HIS MOTHER. - [_Rubbing her eyes._] - - Hoo, those rays, - They burn one’s very eyes outright; - I can’t tell priest from boor. - - BRAND. - - Sun’s light - At home I never saw at all - ’Twixt fall of leaf and cuckoo’s call. - - HIS MOTHER. - [_Laughing quietly._] - - Ay, _there_ ’tis good. One’s gripped with frost - Like icicles o’er a plunging river, - Strong to _dare_ anything whatever, - —And yet believe one is not lost. - - BRAND. - - Farewell. My leisure time is spent. - - HIS MOTHER. - - Ay, thou wast ever loth to stay. - As boy thou long’dst to be away— - - BRAND. - - It was at your desire I went. - - HIS MOTHER. - - Ay, and good reason too, I say - ’Twas needful thou shouldst be a priest. - [_Examines him more closely._] - H’m, he is grown up strong and tall. - But heed this word of mine, at least,— - Care for thy life, son! - - BRAND. - - Is that all? - - HIS MOTHER. - - Thy life? What’s dearer? - - BRAND. - - I would say: - Have you more counsels to convey? - - HIS MOTHER. - - For others, use them as you may, - And welcome. But thy life, O save it - For my sake; it was I that gave it. - [_Angrily_] - Your mad deed’s talked of far and near; - It scares and harrows me to hear. - On such a day to dare the fjord, - And squander what you’re bound to hoard! - You of our clan survive alone, - You are my son, my flesh and bone; - The roof-tree beam that copes and clinches - The house I’ve builded up by inches. - Stick fast; hold out; endure; survive! - Guard your life! Never let it go! - An heir is bound to keep alive,— - And you’ll be mine—one day—you know—— - - BRAND. - - Indeed? And that was why you plann’d - With loaded purse to seek me here? - - HIS MOTHER. - - Son, are you raving? - [_Steps back._] - Don’t come near - Stay where you are! You’ll feel my hand! - [_More calmly._] - What were you meaning?—Just attend - I’m getting older year by year; - Sooner or later comes the end; - Then you’ll inherit all I’ve treasured, - ’Tis duly counted, weighed and measured— - Nay, nay, I’ve nothing on me now!— - It’s all at home. It is but scant; - But he that gets it will not want. - Stand back there! Don’t come near!—I vow - I’ll fling no stiver of my store - Down fissures, nor in spot unknown - Hide any, nor below a stone. - In wall, or underneath a floor; - All shall be yours, son, you shall be - My sole and single legatee. - - BRAND. - - And the conditions? - - HIS MOTHER. - - One I make, - No more; don’t set your life at stake. - Keep up our family and name, - That’s all the gratitude I claim. - Then see that nothing go to waste,— - Naught be divided or displaced;— - Add much or little, as you will; - But O preserve, preserve it still! - - BRAND. - [_After a short pause._] - - One thing needs clearing ’twixt us two. - From childhood I have thwarted you;— - You’ve been no mother, I no son, - Till you are gray, my childhood gone. - - HIS MOTHER. - - I do not ask to be caress’d. - Be what you please; I am not nice. - Be stern, be fierce, be cold as ice, - It will not cleave my armour’d breast; - Keep, though you hoard it, what was mine, - And never let it leave our line! - - BRAND. - [_Going a step nearer._] - - And if I took it in my head - To strew it to the winds, instead? - - HIS MOTHER. - [_Reeling back._] - - Strew, what through all these years of care - Has bent my back and bleach’d my hair? - - BRAND. - [_Nodding slowly._] - - To strew it. - - HIS MOTHER. - - Strew it! If you do, - It is my soul that you will strew! - - BRAND. - - And if I do it, even so? - If I one evening vigil keep - With lighted taper by your bed, - While you with clasped Psalter sleep - The first night’s slumber of the dead,— - If I then fumble round about, - Draw treasure after treasure out, - Take up the taper, hold it low—? - - HIS MOTHER. - [_Approaching excitedly._] - - Whence comes this fancy? - - BRAND. - - Would you know? - - HIS MOTHER. - - Ay. - - BRAND. - - From a childish scene that still - Lives in my mind, and ever will, - That seams my soul with foul device - Like an infestering cicatrice. - It was an autumn evening. Dead - Was father; you lay sick in bed. - I stole where he was laid by night, - All pallid in the silver light. - I stood and watched him from my nook, - Saw how his two hands clasp’d the Book; - I marvell’d why he slept so long, - Mark’d his thin wrists, and smelt the strong - Odour of linen newly dried;— - And then I heard a step outside;— - A woman enter’d, strode apace - Up to the bed, nor saw my face. - Then she began to grope and pry; - First put the corpse’s vesture by, - Drew forth a bundle, then a store, - Counted, and whisper’d: There is more! - Then, grubbing deeper in the ground, - Clutch’d a seal’d packet tightly bound, - With trembling fingers strove and tore, - Bit it in two, groped deeper, found, - Counted, and whisper’d; There is more! - She cried, she cursed, she wail’d, she wept, - She scented where the treasure lay, - And then with eager anguish swept - Down like a falcon on her prey. - When she had ransacked all the room, - She turn’d, like one who hears her doom, - Wrapp’d up her booty in a shawl, - And faintly groan’d: So _that_ was all! - - HIS MOTHER. - - I needed much, I little won; - And very dearly was it bought. - - BRAND. - - Even more dearly than you thought; - Son’s-heart you shattered in your son. - - HIS MOTHER. - - Tut, tut. To barter hearts for gold - Was customary from of old. - Still dearer once I had to pay,— - I think I gave my life away. - Something I gave that now is not;— - I seem to see it flash in air - Like something foolish and yet fair; - I gave—I know not rightly what;— - “Love” was the name it used to bear.— - I know it was a bitter choice; - I know my father gave his voice: - “Forget the peasant-boy and wed - The other, ’spite his frosty pate; - A fellow with a knowing head, - He’ll fairly double the estate!” - I took him, and he brought me shame. - The doubled gettings never came. - But I have drudged with streaming brow, - And there is little lacking now. - - BRAND. - - And do you, as you near your grave, - Know that it was your _soul_ you gave? - - HIS MOTHER. - - It’s clear that I knew that, at least, - Giving my son to be a priest. - When the hour comes, a grateful heir - Of my salvation will take care; - I own the acres and the pence, - And you the deathbed eloquence. - - BRAND. - - With all your cunning you mistook; - You read me wrong in childhood’s book. - And many dwell by bank and brae - Who love their children in that way;— - A child’s a steward, you suppose, - Of the parental cast-off clothes; - A glimpse of the Eternal flits - At times across your wandering wits; - You snatch at it, and dream you spring - Into the essence of the thing - By grafting Riches upon Race;— - That Death with Life you can displace, - That years, if steadily amass’d, - Will yield Eternity at last. - - HIS MOTHER. - - Don’t rummage in your Mother’s mind, - But take what she will leave behind. - - BRAND. - - The debt as well? - - HIS MOTHER. - - The debt? What debt? - There is none. - - BRAND. - - Very good; but yet - Suppose there were,—I should be bound - To settle every claim I found. - The son must satisfy each call - Before the mother’s burial. - Though but four empty walls I took, - I still should own your debit-book. - - HIS MOTHER. - - No law commands it. - - BRAND. - - Not the kind - That ink on parchment ever writ; - But deep in every honest mind - Another law is burnt and bit,— - And that I execute. Thou blind! - Learn to have sight! Thou hast debased - The dwelling-place of God on earth, - The spirit He lent thee hast laid waste, - The image that thou bor’st at birth - With mould and filthiness defaced; - Thy Soul, that once had flight and song, - Thrust, clipp’d, among the common throng. - That is your debt. What will you do - When God demands His own of you? - - HIS MOTHER. - [_Confused._] - - What will I do? Do?—— - - BRAND. - - Never fear; - I take your debt upon me whole. - God’s image, blotted in your soul, - In mine, Will-cleansed, shall stand clear. - Go with good courage to your rest. - By debt you shall not sleep oppress’d. - - HIS MOTHER. - - My debt and sin you’ll wipe away? - - BRAND. - - Your debt. Observe. The debt: no more. - Your debt alone I can repay; - Your sin yourself must answer for. - The sum of native human worth - Crush’d in the brutish toil of earth - Can verily by human aid - To the last atom be repaid; - But in the _losing_ of it lies - The sin, which who repents not—dies! - - HIS MOTHER. - [_Uneasily._] - - ’Twere best I took my homeward way - To the deep valley, to the gloom; - Such rank and poisonous fancies bloom - In this insufferable ray; - I’m almost fainting at the fume. - - BRAND. - - Seek you the shadow; I abide. - And if you long for light and sky, - And fain would see me ere you die, - Call me, and I am by your side. - - HIS MOTHER. - - Yes, with a sermon on my doom! - - BRAND. - - No, tender both as priest and child - I’ll shield you from the wind of dread, - And singing low beside your bed - Lull to repose your anguish wild. - - HIS MOTHER. - - And that with lifted hand you swear? - - BRAND. - - When you repent I will be there. - [_Approaching her._] - But I too make conditions. Hear. - Whatever in this world is dear - Willingly you must from you rend, - And naked to the grave descend. - - HIS MOTHER. - [_Wildly repulsing him._] - - Bid fire be sever’d from its heat, - Snow from its cold, wave from its wet! - Ask less! - - BRAND. - - Toss a babe overboard, - And beg the blessing of the Lord. - - HIS MOTHER. - - Ask something else: ask hunger, thirst,— - But not what all men deem the worst! - - BRAND. - - If just that _worst_ is asked in vain, - No other can His grace obtain. - - HIS MOTHER. - - A money-alms I will present you! - - BRAND. - - _All?_ - - HIS MOTHER. - - All! Son, will not _much_ content you? - - BRAND. - - Your guilt you never shall put by - Till you, like Job, in ashes die. - - HIS MOTHER. - [_Wringing her hands._] - - My life destroy’d, my soul denied, - My goods soon scatter’d far and wide! - Home then, and in these fond arms twine - All that I still can say is _mine_! - My treasure, child in anguish born, - For thee my bleeding breast was torn;— - Home then, and weep as mothers weep - Over their sickly babes asleep.— - Why did my soul in flesh take breath, - If love of flesh is the soul’s death?— - Stay near me, priest!—I am not clear - How I shall feel when death is near. - “Naked into the grave descend,”— - I’ll wait, at least, until the end. - [_Goes._ - - BRAND. - [_Gazing after her._] - - Yes, thy son shall still be near, - Call to him, and he shall hear. - Stretch thy hand, and, cold and perish’d, - At his heart it shall be cherish’d. - [_Goes down to Agnes._] - As the Morn not so the Night. - Then my soul was set on fight, - Then I heard the war-drum rattle, - Yearn’d the sword of Wrath to swing, - Lies to trample, Trolls to fling, - Fill the world with clashing battle. - - AGNES. - [_Has turned round to him, and looks radiantly up._] - - By the Night the Morn was pale. - Then I sought the joys that fail; - Sought to triumph by attaining - What in losing I am gaining. - - BRAND. - - Visions stirring, visions splendid - Like a flock of swans descended, - On their spreading wings upbore me, - And I saw my way before me;— - Sin-subduer of the Age - Sternly stemming seas that rage. - Church-processions, banners streaming - Anthems rolling, incense steaming - Golden goblets, victor-songs, - Rapt applause of surging throngs, - Made a glory where I fought. - All in dazzling hues was wrought;— - Yet it was an empty dream, - A brief mountain-vision, caught - Half in glare and half in gleam. - Now I stand where twilight gray - Long forestalls the ebb of day, - ’Twixt the water and the wild, - From the busy world exiled, - Just a strip of heaven’s blue dome - Visible;—but this is _Home_. - Now my Sabbath dream is dark; - To the stall my winged steed; - But I see a higher Mark. - Than to wield the knightly sabre,— - Daily duty, daily labour, - Hallow’d to a Sabbath-deed. - - AGNES. - - And that God, who was to fall? - - BRAND. - - He shall, none the less, be fell’d,— - But in secret, unbeheld, - Not before the eyes of all. - Now I see, I judged astray - Where the Folk’s salvation lay. - Not by high heroic charges - Can you make the People whole; - That which faculty enlarges - Does not heal the fissured soul. - It is _Will_ alone that matters - Will alone that mars or makes, - Will, that no distraction scatters, - And that no resistance breaks.— - [_Turns towards the hamlet, where the shades of - night are beginning to fall._] - Come then, Men, who downcast roam - The pent valley of my home;— - Close conversing we will try - Our own souls to purify, - Slackness curb and falsehood kill, - Rouse the lion’s cub of Will! - Manly, as the hands that smite, - Are the hands that hold the hoe; - There’s _one_ end for all,—to grow - Tablets whereon God may write. - - [_He is going. EINAR confronts him._ - - EINAR. - - Stand, and what you took restore! - - BRAND. - - Is it she? You see her there. - - EINAR. - [_To AGNES_] - - Choose between the sunny shore - And this savage den of care. - - AGNES. - - There I have no choice to make. - - EINAR. - - Agnes, Agnes, hear me yet! - The old saying you forget, - Light to lift and hard to bear. - - AGNES. - - Go with God, thou tempter fair; - I shall bear until I break. - - EINAR. - - For thy mother’s, sisters’ sake! - - AGNES. - - Bring my greetings to my Home; - I will write—if words should come. - - EINAR. - - Over ocean’s gleaming breast - White sails hurry from the strand;— - Like the sighs of dreaming brows, - Lofty, diamond-beaded prows - Speed them to their haven-rest - In a far-off vision’d land. - - AGNES. - - Sail to westward, sail to east;— - Think of me as one deceased. - - EINAR. - - As a sister come with me. - - AGNES. - [_Shaking her head._] - - ’Twixt us rolls a boundless sea. - - EINAR. - - O, then homeward to thy mother! - - AGNES. - [_Softly._] - - Not from Master, Friend, and Brother. - - BRAND. - [_Coming a step nearer._] - - Youthful maiden, weigh it well. - In this mountain-prison pent, - Oversoar’d by crag and fell, - In this dim and yawning rent, - Life henceforward shall be gray - As an ebbing autumn-day. - - AGNES. - - Gloom appals no more; afar - Through the cloud-wrack gleams a star. - - BRAND. - - Know, that I am stern to crave, - _All_ or _Nothing_ I will have; - If that call you disobey, - You have flung your life away. - No abatement in distress, - And for sin no tenderness,— - If life’s service God refuse, - Life you joyfully must lose. - - EINAR. - - Fly this wild insensate play! - Spurn the sullen Doomer’s sway; - Live the life you know you may! - - BRAND. - - At the crossway standst thou:—choose. - [_Goes._ - - EINAR. - - Choose the stillness or the strife! - For the choice to _go_ or _stay_ - Is a choice of calm or fray, - Is a choice of Night or Day, - Is a choice of Death or Life! - - AGNES. - [_Rises, and then says slowly_:] - - On through Death. On into Night.— - Dawn beyond glows rosy-bright. - - [_She follows, where BRAND has gone. EINAR gazes a - moment in bewilderment after her, then bows his - head, and goes back to the fjord._ - - - - - ACT THIRD. - - _Three years later. A little garden by the Parsonage. A - great precipice above, a stone wall round. The fjord, - narrow and pent in, appears in the background. The - house-door opens upon the garden. Afternoon._ - - _BRAND is standing on the steps outside the house. AGNES is - sitting on the step at his feet._ - - AGNES. - - My dearest husband, still your eye - Over the fjord roves anxiously— - - BRAND. - - I wait a summons. - - AGNES. - - With brows bent! - - BRAND. - - My Mother’s summons. This three years - I’ve waited between hopes and fears - The summons that was never sent. - To-day ’twas told me, past a doubt, - That her life’s span is almost out. - - AGNES. - [_Softly and tenderly._] - - Brand, _without_ summons you should go? - - BRAND. - [_Shakes his head._] - - Till she of her offence repent - I have no comfort to bestow. - - AGNES. - - She is your mother. - - BRAND. - - It were sin - To worship idols in my kin. - - AGNES. - - Brand, you are stern! - - BRAND. - - To you? - - AGNES. - - Oh no - - BRAND. - - I warn’d you that the way was steep. - - AGNES. - [_Smiling._] - - It was not true; you did not keep - Your word. - - BRAND. - - Yes, here the ice-wind rives; - Your cheek has lost its youthful glow, - Your tender heart is touch’d with snow. - Our home is built where nothing thrives, - Amid a barren waste of stone. - - AGNES. - - It lies the safer, then! So prone - Beetles yon jutting mountain-wall, - That, when the leafy spring is near, - The brimming avalanche vaults sheer - Over our heads, and we lie clear - As in the hollow of a fall. - - BRAND. - - The sun we never see at all. - - AGNES. - - Oh, yet he dances warm and bright - Atop yon mountain that we face. - - BRAND. - - For three weeks, true,—at summer’s height,— - But never struggles to its base! - - AGNES. - [_Looks fixedly at him, rises and says_:] - - Brand, there’s _one_ thought at which you shrink. - - BRAND. - - No, _you_! - - AGNES. - - No, you! - - BRAND. - - Within you bear - A secret terror. - - AGNES. - - Which you share! - - BRAND. - - You reel as from a dizzy brink! - Out with it! speak it out! - - AGNES. - - ’Tis true - I’ve trembled, whiles—— - [_Hesitates_ - - BRAND. - - Trembled! At what! - - AGNES. - - For Alf. - - BRAND. - - For Alf? - - AGNES. - - And so have you! - - BRAND. - - At times. But no, God takes him not! - God’s merciful! My child shall grow - To be a strong man yet, I know. - Where is he now? - - AGNES. - - He’s sleeping. - - BRAND. - [_Looks in through the door._] - - See; - Of pain and grief he dreams not, he; - The little hand is plump and round—— - - AGNES. - - Yet pale. - - BRAND. - - But that will pass. - - AGNES. - - How deep, - Restful and quickening is his sleep. - - BRAND. - - God bless thee; in thy sleep grow sound! - [_Shuts the door._] - To all my labours you and he - Have brought light and tranquillity; - Each irksome task, each mournful care, - ’Twas easy, in your midst, to bear; - You near, I never felt dismay, - Grew braver by his baby-play. - A martyrdom I held my Call, - But something has transform’d it all,— - Success still follows my footfall. - - AGNES. - - Yes, Brand; but you _deserve_ success. - Oh, you have battled, in storm and stress;— - Toil’d on through woe and weariness;— - But tears of blood you wept, apart—— - - BRAND. - - And yet it seem’d so light a thing; - With you, love stole upon my heart - Like a glad sunny day in Spring. - In me Love never had been lit; - No parents’ hand had kindled it, - Rather they quench’d the fitful flashes - That gleam’d at moments in the ashes. - It was as though the tender Soul - That mute and darkling in me slept, - Had, closely garner’d, all been kept - To be my sweet Wife’s aureole. - - AGNES. - - Not mine alone: but whosoe’er - In our great Household has a share, - Each sorrowing son, each needy brother, - Each weeping child, each mourning mother, - Of quickening nurture have their part, - At the rich banquet of thy heart. - - BRAND. - - Only through you two. By your hand - That heavenly bridge of love was spann’d; - No single soul can all contain - Except it first have yearn’d for _one_. - I had to long and yearn in vain, - So my heart harden’d into stone. - - AGNES. - - And yet—your love is merciless; - You chasten whom you would caress. - - BRAND. - - You, Agnes? - - AGNES. - - _Me?_ O nay, dear, nay! - On me a lightsome load you lay. - But many falter at the call - To offer _Nothing_ or else _all_. - - BRAND. - - What the world calls by that name “Love,” - I know not and I reck not of. - God’s love _I_ recognise alone, - Which melts not at the piteous plaint, - Which is not moved by dying groan, - And its caress _is_ chastisement. - What answer’d through the olive-trees - God, when the Son in anguish lay, - Praying, “O take this cup away!” - Did He then take it? Nay, child, nay: - He made him drink it to the lees. - - AGNES. - - By such a measure meted, all - The souls of earth are forfeited. - - BRAND. - - None knows on whom the doom shall fall; - But God in flaming speech hath said: - “Be faithful through the hour of strife: - Haggling wins not the crown of life!” - Anguish’d repentance scales not heaven, - The martyr’s doom you must fulfil. - That you lack’d _strength_ may be forgiven,— - But never that you wanted _will_. - - AGNES. - - Yes, it shall be as you have said; - O lift me to those heights you tread; - To your high heaven lead me forth, - My spirit is strong, my flesh is frail; - Oft, anguish-struck, I faint, I fail,— - My clogg’d foot drags upon the earth. - - BRAND. - - See, child; of all men God makes one - Demand: No coward compromise! - Whose work’s half done or falsely done, - Condemn’d with God his whole word lies. - We must give sanction to this teaching - By _living_ it and not by preaching. - - AGNES. - [_Throws herself on his neck._] - - Lead where you will; I follow you! - - BRAND. - - No precipice is too steep for _two_. - - _Enter the DOCTOR; he has come down the road, and stops - outside the garden fence._ - - THE DOCTOR. - - Ha! loving doves at their caresses - In these dark craggy wildernesses? - - AGNES. - - My dear old Doctor, here at last! - Come in, come in! - - [_Runs down and opens the garden gate._ - - THE DOCTOR. - - Ho, not so fast! - We’ve first to settle an old score.— - What! Tie yourself to this wild moor, - Where piercing winds of winter tear - Like ice, soul, body to the core—— - - BRAND. - - Not soul. - - THE DOCTOR. - - Not? Well, I must admit, - That seems about the truth of it. - Your hasty compact has an air - Of standing firm, unmoved, erect, - Though otherwise, one might expect, - By ancient usage, soon to fade - That which so suddenly was made. - - AGNES. - - A sunbeam’s kiss, a bell’s note, may - Awaken for a summer’s day. - - THE DOCTOR. - - A patient waits for me. Farewell. - - BRAND. - - _My_ mother? - - THE DOCTOR. - - Yes. You also go? - - BRAND. - - Not now. - - THE DOCTOR. - - _Have_ been, I daresay? - - BRAND. - - No. - - THE DOCTOR. - - Priest, you are hard. Through mist and snow - I’ve trudged across the desolate fell, - Well knowing that she is of those - Who pay like paupers. - - BRAND. - - May God bless - Your skill and your unweariedness! - Ease, if you can, her bitter throes. - - THE DOCTOR. - - Bless my goodwill! I tarried not - A moment when I heard her state. - - BRAND. - - You she has summon’d: I’m forgot,— - And sick at heart, I wait, I wait. - - THE DOCTOR. - - Come without summons! - - BRAND. - - Till she calls, - I have no place within those walls. - - THE DOCTOR. - [_To_ AGNES.] - - You hapless blossom, laid within - The pitiless grasp of such a lord! - - BRAND. - - I am not pitiless. - - AGNES. - - He had pour’d - His blood, to wash her soul from sin. - - BRAND. - - Unask’d, upon myself I took - The clearance of her debit-book. - - THE DOCTOR. - - Clear off your own! - - BRAND. - - _One_ man may get - Hundreds acquitted, in God’s eyes. - - THE DOCTOR. - - Ay; not a Beggar though, who lies - Himself o’er head and ears in debt. - - BRAND. - - Beggar or rich,—with all my soul - I _will_;—and that one thing’s the _whole_ - - THE DOCTOR. - - Yes, in your ledger, truly, Will - Has enough entries and to spare: - But, priest, your _Love_-account is still - A virgin-chapter, blank and bare. - [_Goes._ - - BRAND. - [_Follows him awhile with his eyes._] - - Never did word so sorely prove - The smirch of lies, as this word _Love_: - With devilish craft, where will is frail, - Men lay _Love_ over, as a veil, - And cunningly conceal thereby - That all their life is coquetry. - Whose path’s the steep and perilous slope, - Let him but _love_,—and he may shirk it; - If he prefer Sin’s easy circuit, - Let him but _love_,—he still may hope; - If God he seeks, but fears the fray, - Let him but _love_,—’tis straight his prey; - If with wide-open eyes he err, - Let him but _love_,—there’s safety there! - - AGNES. - - Yes, it is false: yet still I fall - Questioning: Is it, after all? - - BRAND. - - _One_ point’s omitted: First the Will - Law’s thirst for righteousness must still. - You must _first_ will! Not only things - Attainable, in more or less, - Nor only where the action brings - Some hardship and some weariness; - No, you must will with flashing eyes - Your way through all earth’s agonies. - It is not martyrdom to toss - In anguish on the deadly cross: - But to have _will’d_ to perish so, - To _will_ it through each bodily throe, - To will it with still-tortured mind, - This, only this, redeems mankind. - - AGNES. - [_Clinging closely to him._] - - If at the terrible call I cower, - Speak, strong-soul’d husband, in that hour! - - BRAND. - - If Will has conquer’d in that strife, - _Then_ comes at length the hour of Love; - Then it descends like a white dove, - Bearing the olive-leaf of life: - But in this nerveless, slothful state, - The true, the sovereign Love is—Hate! - [_In horror._] - Hate! Hate! O Titan’s toil, to will - That one brief easy syllable! - - [_Goes hurriedly into the house._ - - AGNES. - [_Looking through the open door._] - - He kneels beside his little son, - And heaves as if with bursts of tears; - He clutches close the bed, like one - That knows no refuge from his fears.— - O what a wealth of tender ruth - Lies hidden in this breast of steel! - Alf he _dares_ love: the baby-heel - Has not yet felt Earth’s serpent-tooth. - [_Cries out in terror._] - Ha! he leaps up with ashy brow! - Wringing his hands! what sees he now. - - BRAND. - [_Coming out._] - - A summons came? - - AGNES. - - No summons, no. - - BRAND. - [_Looking back into the house._] - - His parch’d skin burns in fever-glow; - His temples throb, his pulses race——! - Oh fear not, Agnes! - - AGNES. - - God of grace—— - - BRAND. - - Nay, have no fear—— - [_Calls out over the road._] - The summons, see. - - A MAN. - [_Through the garden-gate._] - - You must come _now_, priest! - - BRAND. - - Instantly! - What message? - - THE MAN. - - A mysterious one. - Sitting in bed she forward bent, - And said: “Get the priest here: begone! - My half-goods for the sacrament.” - - BRAND. - [_Starts back._] - - Her _half_-goods! No! Say no! - - THE MAN. - [_Shakes his head._] - - My word - Would then not utter what I heard. - - BRAND. - - _Half! Half!_ It was the _whole_ she meant! - - THE MAN. - - Maybe; but she spoke loud and high; - And I don’t easily forget. - - BRAND. - [_Seizes his arm._] - - Before God’s Judgment, will you yet - Dare to attest she spoke it? - - THE MAN. - - Ay. - - BRAND. - [_Firmly._] - - Go, tell her, this reply was sent: - “Nor priest shall come, nor sacrament.” - - THE MAN. - [_Looking at him doubtfully._] - - You surely have not understood - It is your Mother that appeals. - - BRAND. - - I know no law that sternlier deals - With strangers than with kindred blood. - - THE MAN. - - A hard word, that. - - BRAND. - - She knows the call,— - To offer _Nothing_, or else all. - - THE MAN. - - Priest! - - BRAND. - - Dock the gold-calf as she will, - Say, it remains an idol still. - - THE MAN. - - The scourge you send her I will lay - As gently on her as I may. - She has this comfort left her, too: - God is not quite so hard as you! - [_Goes._ - - BRAND. - - Yes, with that comfort’s carrion-breath - The world still sickens unto death; - Prompt, in its need, with shriek and song - To lubricate the Judge’s tongue. - Of course! The reasonable plan! - For from of old they know their man;— - Since all his works the assurance breathe: - “Yon gray-beard may be haggled with!” - - [_THE MAN has met another man on the road; they come - back together._ - - BRAND. - - A second message! - - FIRST MAN. - - Yes. - - BRAND. - [_To the SECOND MAN._] - - Consent! - - SECOND MAN. - - Nine-tenths of it is now the word. - - BRAND. - - Not _all_? - - SECOND MAN. - - Not all. - - BRAND. - - As you have heard:— - Nor priest shall come, nor sacrament. - - SECOND MAN. - - She begg’d it, bitterly distress’d—— - - FIRST MAN. - - Priest, once she bore you on her breast. - - BRAND. - [_Clenching his hands._] - - I may not by two measures weigh - My kinsman and my enemy. - - SECOND MAN. - - Sore is her state and dire her need; - Come, or else send her a God-speed. - - BRAND. - [_To_ FIRST MAN.] - - Go; tell her still: God’s wine and bread - Must on a spotless board be spread. - - [_The Men go._ - - AGNES. - - I tremble Brand. You seem a Sword - Swung flaming by a wrathful Lord! - - BRAND. - [_With tears in his voice._] - - Does not the world face me no less - With swordless sheath upon its thigh? - Am I not torn and baffled by - Its dull defiant stubbornness? - - AGNES. - - A hard condition you demand. - - BRAND. - - Dare you impose a lighter? - - AGNES. - - Lay - That stern demand on whom you may, - And see who, tested so, will stand. - - BRAND. - - Nay, you have reason for that fear. - So base, distorted, barren, sere, - The aspiring soul in men is grown. - ’Tis thought a marvel,—by bequest - To give away one’s wealth unknown. - And be anonymously bless’d. - The hero, bid him blot his name, - Content him with the service wrought, - Kings, Kaisers, bid him do the same— - And see how many fields are fought! - The poet, bid him unbeholden - Loose his bright fledglings from the cage, - So that none dream he gave that golden - Plumage, and he that vocal rage; - Try the green bough, or try the bare, - _Sacrifice_ is not anywhere. - Earth has enslaved all earthly things;— - Over Life’s precipices cast, - Each to its mouldering branches clings, - And, if they crumble, clutches fast - With tooth and nail to straws and bast - - AGNES. - - And, while they helpless, hopeless fall, - You cry: Give _nothing_ or give all! - - BRAND. - - He who would conquer still must fight, - Rise, fallen to the highest height. - [_A brief silence: his voice changes._] - And yet, when with that stern demand - Before some living soul I stand, - I seem like one that floats afar - Storm-shatter’d on a broken spar. - With solitary anguish wrung - I’ve bitten this chastising tongue, - And thirsted, as I aim’d the blow, - To clasp the bosom of my foe. - Go, Agnes, watch the sleeping boy. - And sing him into dreams of joy. - An infant’s soul is like the sleep - Of still clear tarns in summer-light. - A mother over it may sweep - And hover, like the bird, whose flight - Is mirror’d in the deepest deep. - - AGNES. - - What does it mean, Brand? Wheresoe’er - You aim your thought-shafts—they fly _there_! - - BRAND. - - Oh, nothing. Softly watch the child. - - AGNES. - - Give me a watchword. - - BRAND. - - Stern? - - AGNES. - - No, mild. - - BRAND. - [_Clasping her._] - - The blameless shall not taste the grave. - - AGNES. - [_Looking brightly up at him._] - - Then _one_ is ours God may not crave! - - [_Goes into the house._ - - BRAND. - [_Looking fixedly before him._] - - But if he _might_? What “Isaac’s Fear” - Once ventured, He may venture here. - [_Shakes off the thought._] - No, no, my sacrifice is made, - The calling of my life gainsaid— - Like the Lord’s thunder to go forth - And rouse the sleepers of the earth. - Sacrifice! Liar! there was none! - I miss’d it when my Dream was done, - When Agnes woke me—and follow’d free - To labour in the gloom with me. - [_Looks along the road._] - Why tarries still the dying call, - Her word, that she will offer all, - That she has won that which uproots - Sin’s deepest fibres, rankest shoots! - See there——! No, it is but the Mayor, - Well-meaning, brisk, and debonnaire, - Both hands in pockets, round, remiss, - A bracketed parenthesis. - - _Enter MAYOR._ - - THE MAYOR. - [_Through the garden gate._] - - Good-day! Our meetings are but rare, - Perhaps my time is chosen amiss—— - - BRAND. - [_Pointing to house._] - - Come in. - - THE MAYOR. - - Thanks; here I’m quite content. - Should my proposal meet assent, - I’m very sure the upshot of it - Would issue in our common profit. - - BRAND. - - Name your desire. - - THE MAYOR. - - Your mother’s state, - I understand, is desperate. - I’m sorry. - - BRAND. - - That I do not doubt. - - THE MAYOR. - - I’m _very_ sorry. - - BRAND. - - Pray, speak out. - - THE MAYOR. - - She’s old, however. Welladay, - We are all bound the selfsame way— - And, as I just drove by, occurr’d - The thought that, after all, “to leap - Is just as easy as to creep”: - Moreover, many have averr’d, - That she and you have been imbrued - For years in a domestic feud—— - - BRAND. - - Domestic feud? - - THE MAYOR. - - She’s out and out - Close-fisted, so they say, you know. - You think it goes too far, no doubt. - A man’s own claims he can’t forego. - She keeps exclusive occupation - Of all that was bequeath’d to you. - - BRAND. - - Exclusive occupation, true. - - THE MAYOR. - - A ready cause of irritation - In families. Surmising thence - That you await with resignation - The moment of her going hence, - I hope I may without offence - Speak out, although I quite admit - The time I’ve chosen is unfit. - - BRAND. - - Or now or later, nought I care. - - THE MAYOR. - - Well, to the point then, fair and square. - When once your mother’s dead and blest, - In the earth’s bosom laid to rest, - You’re _rich_! - - BRAND. - - You think so? - - THE MAYOR. - - Think? Nay, man, - That’s sure. She’s land in every port, - Far as a telescope can scan. - You’re rich! - - BRAND. - - ’Spite the Succession Court? - - THE MAYOR. - [_Smiling._] - - What of it? That cuts matters short - When many fight for pelf and debt. - Here no man’s interest suffers let. - - BRAND. - - And what if some day, all the same, - Came a coheir to debt and pelf - Crying: “I’m he!” and urged his claim? - - THE MAYOR. - - He’d have to be the devil himself! - Just look to me! None else has here - The smallest right to interfere. - I know my business: lean on me! - Well, then; you’ll now be well-to-do, - Rich even; you’ll no longer brook - Life in this God-forsaken nook; - The whole land’s open now to you. - - BRAND. - - Mayor, is not what you want to say, - Pithily put, just: “Go _away_”? - - THE MAYOR. - - Pretty much that. All parties’ good - Were so best answered. If you would - But eye attentively the herd - To whom you minister God’s word, - You’d find you’re no more of a piece - With them than foxes are with geese. - Pray, understand me! You have gifts, - Good where the social field is wide, - But dangerous for folk whose pride - Is to be Lords of rocky rifts - And Freemen of the ravine-side. - - BRAND. - - To a man’s feet his native haunt - Is as unto the tree the root. - If there his labour fill no want - His deeds are doomed, his music mute. - - THE MAYOR. - - Success means just: Self-adaptation - To the requirements of the nation. - - BRAND. - - Which from the heights you best o’erlook, - Not from the crag-encompass’d nook. - - THE MAYOR. - - That talk is fit for citizens, - Not for poor peasants of the glens. - - BRAND. - - O, still your limitation vain - Between the mountain and the plain! - World-citizens you’d be of right, - While every civic claim you slight; - And think, like dastards, to go free - By whining: “We’re a small folk, we!” - - THE MAYOR. - - All has its time, each time its need, - Each age its proper work to do; - We also flung our mite into - The world’s great treasure of bold deed. - True, that’s long since; but, after all, - The mite was not so very small. - Now the land’s dwindled and decay’d, - But our renown still lives in story. - The days of our reported glory - Were when the great King Belë sway’d. - Many a tale is still related - About the brothers Wulf and Thor, - And gallant fellows by the score, - Went harrying to the British shore, - And plunder’d till their heart was sated. - The Southrons shriek’d with quivering lip, - “Lord, help us from these fierce men’s grip,” - And these “fierce men,” beyond all doubt, - Had from our harbours sallied out. - And how these rovers wreak’d their ire, - And dealt out death with sword and fire! - Nay, legend names a lion-hearted - Hero that took the cross; in verity, - It is not mentioned that he started—— - - BRAND. - - He left behind a large posterity, - This promise-maker? - - THE MAYOR. - - Yes, indeed; - But how came you to——? - - BRAND. - - O, I read - His features clearly in the breed - Of promise-heroes of to-day, - Who take the Cross in just his way. - - THE MAYOR. - - Yes, his descendants still remain. - But we were on King Belë’s reign! - So first abroad we battled. Then, - Visited our own countrymen - And kinsmen, with the axe and fire; - Trampled their harvests gaily down, - Scorch’d mansion-wall and village spire, - And wove ourselves the hero’s crown.— - Over the blood thus set a-flowing - There’s been perhaps excessive crowing; - But, after what I’ve said, I may, - I think, without a touch of vanity, - Point backward to the stir we made - In the great Age long since decay’d, - And hold that we indeed have paid - Our little mite of Fire and Fray - Towards the Progress of Humanity. - - BRAND. - - Yet do you not, in fact, eschew - The phrase, “Nobility’s a trust,”— - And drive hoe, plough, and harrow through - King Belë’s patrimonial dust? - - THE MAYOR. - - By no means. Only go and mark - Our parish on its gaudy-nights, - Where I with Constable and Clerk, - And Judge, preside as leading lights; - You’ll warrant, when the punch goes round, - King Belë’s memory is sound. - With toasts and clinking cups and song, - In speeches short and speeches long, - We drink his health and sound his fame. - I myself often feel inclined - The spinnings of my brain to wind - In flowery woof about his name, - And edify the local mind. - A little poetry pleases me, - And all our folks, in their degree; - But—moderation everywhere! - In _life_ it never must have share,— - Except at night, when folks have leisure, - Between the hours of seven and ten, - When baths of elevating pleasure - May fit the mood of weary men. - Here’s where we differ, you and we, - That you desire with main and might - At the same time to _plough_ and _fight_. - Your scheme, as far as I can see, - Is: Life and Faith in unity,— - God’s warfare and potato-dressing - Inseparably coalescing, - As coal, salt, sulphur, fusing fast, - Evolve just gunpowder at last. - - BRAND. - - Somewhat so. - - THE MAYOR. - - Here you’ll scheme in vain! - Out in the great world that may stand;— - Go thither with your big demand, - And let us plough our moors and main. - - BRAND. - - Plough first your brag of old renown - Into the main, and plough it down! - The pigmy is not more the man - For being of Goliath’s clan. - - THE MAYOR. - - Great memories bear the seed of growth. - - BRAND. - - Yes, _memories_ that to _life_ are bound; - But you, of memory’s empty mound, - Have made a stalking-horse for sloth. - - THE MAYOR. - - I said at first, and still I say:— - To leave us were the wisest way. - Your work here cannot come to good, - Nor your ideas be understood. - The little flights to purer air, - The lifting-up which, now and then, - Is doubtless well for working men, - Shall be my unremitting care. - Many agreeable facts declare - My ceaseless energy as mayor,— - Through me the population’s grown - Double, nay, almost three to one, - Since for the district I have bred - Ever new ways of getting fed. - With stubborn nature still at strife - We’ve steam’d ahead: our forward march - Here hew’d a road, there flung an arch— - To lead from—— - - BRAND. - - Not from Faith to Life. - - THE MAYOR. - - To lead from fjordside to the hill. - - BRAND. - - But not from Doctrine unto Will. - - THE MAYOR. - - First of all, get a passage clear - From men to men, from place to place. - There were no two opinions here - On that, until you show’d your face. - Now you’ve made all confusion, dashing - Aurora-flames with lantern light; - With such cross-luminaries flashing, - Who can distinguish wrong from right, - Tell what will mar, and what will mend? - All diverse things you mix and blend, - And into hostile camps divide - Those who should triumph side by side. - - BRAND. - - Here, notwithstanding, I abide. - Man chooses not his labour’s sphere. - Who knows and follows out his call, - Has seen God’s writing on the wall, - In words of fire, “Your place is here!” - - THE MAYOR. - - Stay, then, but keep within your borders; - You’re free to purge the folk of crimes, - Vices, and other rifle disorders; - God knows, it’s needed oftentimes! - But don’t make every working-day - A Sabbath, and your flag display, - As if the Almighty were on board - Of every skiff that skims the fjord. - - BRAND. - - To use your counsel, I must change - My soul and all her vision’s range; - But we are called, _ourselves_ to be, - Our own cause bear to victory; - And I will bear it, till the land - Is all illumined where I stand! - The people, your bureaucrat-crew - Have lull’d asleep, shall wake anew; - Too long you’ve cramp’d and caged apart - These remnants of the Mountain heart; - Out of your niggard hunger-cure - They pass dejected, dull, demure: - Their best, their bravest blood you tap, - Scoop out their marrow and their sap, - Pound into splinters every soul, - That should have stood a welded whole;— - But you may live to hear the roar - Of revolution thunder: _War!_ - - THE MAYOR. - - War? - - BRAND. - - War! - - THE MAYOR. - - Be sure, if you should call - To arms, you’ll be the first to fall. - - BRAND. - - The day will come when we shall know - That triumph’s height is Overthrow. - - THE MAYOR. - - Consider, Brand, you have to choose! - Don’t stake your fortune on one card. - - BRAND. - - I do, however! - - THE MAYOR. - - If you lose, - Your life’s irreparably marr’d. - All this world’s bounties you possess, - You, a rich Mother’s only heir, - With wife and child to be your care,— - It was a kindly hand, confess, - That dealt _your_ terms of happiness! - - BRAND. - - And what if I should, all the same, - Reject these terms? and _must_? - - THE MAYOR. - - Your game - Is over, if you’ve once unfurl’d - In this last cranny of the world - The standard of your world-wide war. - Turn southward, to yon prosperous shore - Where a man dares lift up his head; - There you may perorate of right - And bid them bleed and bid them fight; - _Our_ bloodshed is the sweat we pour - In daily wringing rocks for bread. - - BRAND. - - Here I remain. My home is here! - And here the battle-flag I’ll rear. - - THE MAYOR. - - Think what you lose, if overthrown, - And, chiefly, think of what you quit! - - BRAND. - - Myself I lose, if I submit. - - THE MAYOR. - - Hopeless is he that fights alone. - - BRAND. - - The _best_ are with me. - - THE MAYOR. - [_Smiling._] - - That may be, - But they’re the _most_, who follow _me_. - - [_Goes._ - - BRAND. - [_Looking after him._] - - A people’s champion, thorough-bred! - Active, with fair and open hand, - Honest of heart and sound of head, - But yet a scourge upon the land! - No avalanche, no winter-blast, - No flood, nor frost, nor famine-fast - Leaves half the ruin in its rear - That such a man does, year by year. - Life only by a plague is reft; - But he——! How many a thought is cleft, - How many an eager will made numb, - How many a valiant song struck dumb - By such a narrow soul as this! - What smiles on simple faces breaking, - What fires in _lowly_ bosoms waking, - What pangs of joy and anger, seed - That might have ripened into deed, - Die by that bloodless blade of his! - - [_Suddenly, in anxiety._] - - But O the summons! the summons—No! - It is the Doctor! - - _Enter_ DOCTOR. - [_Hurries to meet him._] - - Say! say! How——? - - THE DOCTOR. - - She stands before her Maker now. - - BRAND. - - Dead!—But repentant? - - THE DOCTOR. - - Scarcely so; - She hugg’d Earth’s goods with all her heart - Till the Hour struck, and they must part. - - BRAND. - [_Looking straight before him in deep emotion._] - - Is here an erring soul undone? - - THE DOCTOR. - - She will be mildly judged, maybe;— - And Law temper’d with equity, - - BRAND. - [_In a low tone._] - - What said she? - - THE DOCTOR. - - Low she mutter’d: _He_ - Is no hard dealer, like my son. - - BRAND. - [_Sinking in anguish upon the bench._] - - Guilt-wrung or dying, still that lie - That every soul is ruin’d by! - - [_Hides his face in his hands._ - - THE DOCTOR. - [_Goes towards him, looks at him, and shakes his head._] - - You seek, a day that is no more, - In one and all things to restore. - You think, God’s venerable pact - With man is still a living fact;— - Each Age in its own way will walk; - Ours is not scared by nurses’ talk - Of hell-bound soul and burning brand;— - Humanity’s our first command! - - BRAND. - [_Looking up._] - - Humanity!—That sluggard phrase - Is the world’s watchword nowadays. - With this each bungler hides the fact - That he dare not and will not act; - With this each weakling masks the lie, - That he’ll risk all for victory; - With this each dastard dares to cloak - Vows faintly rued and lightly broke; - Your puny spirits will turn Man - Himself Humanitarian! - Was God “humane” when Jesus died? - Had _your_ God then his counsel given, - Christ at the cross for grace had cried— - And the Redemption signified - A diplomatic note from Heaven. - - [_Hides his head, and sits in mute grief._ - - THE DOCTOR. - [_Softly._] - - Rage, rage thy fill, thou soul storm-stress’d;— - Best were it for thee to find tears. - - AGNES. - [_Comes out on to the steps: pale and terrified she whispers - to the DOCTOR._] - - In! Follow me! - - THE DOCTOR. - - You raise my fears! - What is it, child? - - AGNES. - - Into my breast - Creeps cold a serpent of affright——! - - THE DOCTOR. - - What is it? - - AGNES. - [_Pulling him away._] - - Come!—Great God of Might. - - [_They go into the house; BRAND does not notice._ - - BRAND. - [_To himself._] - - Impenitent alive,—and dead! - This is the finger of the Lord! - Now through my means shall be restored - The treasure she has forfeited; - Else tenfold woe upon my head! - [_Rises._] - Henceforth as by my sonship bound, - Unflinching, on my native ground - I’ll battle, a soldier of the Cross, - For Spirit’s gain by Body’s loss. - Me with His purging fire the Lord - Hath arm’d, and with His riving Word: - Mine is that Will and that strong Trust - That crumbles mountains into dust! - - THE DOCTOR. - [_Followed by AGNES comes hastily out, and cries._] - - Order your house and haste away! - - BRAND. - - Were there an earthquake I would stay! - - THE DOCTOR. - - Then you have doom’d your child to death. - - BRAND. - [_Wildly._] - - The child! Alf! Alf! What phantom wraith - Of fear is this! My child! - - [_Is about to rush into the house._ - - THE DOCTOR. - [_Holding him back._] - - Stay, stay.— - Here summer sunshine pierces not, - Here polar ice-blasts rive and rend,— - Here dank and stifling mists descend. - Another winter in this spot - Will shrivel the tender life away. - Go hence, you’ll save him! No delay! - To-morrow’s best. - - BRAND. - - To-night,—to-day! - Now, ere another hour is out! - O yet he shall grow strong and stout;— - No blast from mountain or from shore - Shall chill his baby-bosom more. - Come, Agnes, lift him gently in sleep! - Away along the winding deep! - O Agnes, Agnes, death has spun - His web about our little son! - - AGNES. - - Foreboding trembled in my heart,— - And yet I only knew a part. - - BRAND. - [_To the DOCTOR._] - - But flight will save him? That is sure? - - THE DOCTOR. - - The life a father day and night - Watches, all perils can endure. - Be all to him! and healthy, bright, - You soon shall see him, be secure! - - BRAND. - - Thanks, thanks! - [_To AGNES._] - In down enclose him well; - Chill sweeps the night-wind from the fell. - - [_AGNES goes in._ - - _The DOCTOR silently watches BRAND, who gazes fixedly - through the door; then goes to him, and lays his hand - on his shoulder._ - - THE DOCTOR. - - So tender to his own distress. - And to the world so merciless! - For them avails not _more_ nor _less_! - Only Law’s absolute _Nought_ or _All_, - But now—no sooner sees he fall - The dooming lot,—his valour’s flown; - —The sacrificial lamb’s his own! - - BRAND. - - What mean you? - - THE DOCTOR. - - In the dying ear - You thunder’d the decree of fear: - To perish, unless All she gave, - And went down naked to her grave! - And that cry rang again, again, - When need was direst among men! - _You_’re now the shipwreckt sailor, cleaving - To swamp’d boat through the storms of doom, - And from its upturned bottom heaving - To see your tracts on Wrath to Come, - To sea, to sea, the bulky tome - That struck your Brothers’ bosoms home; - Now you ask only wind and wave - To waft your infant from death’s reach. - Fly, only fly, by bay and beach, - Fly from your very mother’s grave,— - from the souls you’re sent to save;— - “The Parson does not mean to preach!” - - BRAND. - [_Wildly clutching his head as if to gather his thoughts._] - - Am I _now_ blind? Or _was_ I? - - THE DOCTOR. - - Nay, - A father has no other way; - Don’t fancy that your act I blame; - I hold you greater, clipt and tame, - Than in your giant strength secure.— - Farewell! I’ve held you up a glass; - Use it and sigh: “Alas, alas, - Is this a Titan’s portraiture?” - [_Goes._ - - BRAND. - _Gazing a while before him: then bursts out._] - - Before—or now,—when did I stray? - - _AGNES comes out with a cloak over her shoulders and the - child in her arms; BRAND does not see her; she is - about to speak, but stands petrified with terror at - the look in his face. At the same moment A MAN comes - in hastily through the garden-gate. The sun is - setting._ - - THE MAN. - - Hark, priest, you have a foe! - - BRAND. - [_Clenching his hand against his breast._] - - Yes, _here_! - - THE MAN. - - Watch well the Mayor. The seed you sow - Sprang ever bravely into ear, - Till blighting slanders laid it low. - With meaning hints he has implied - That by-and-by this house would lack - A tenant, and you’d turn your back, - The day your wealthy mother died. - - BRAND. - - And if it were so—— - - THE MAN. - - Priest, I know you; - Know, why these poisonous tales are rife; - You stood against him still at strife; - He could not bend your purpose;—lo, you, - That’s what these slanders signified—— - - BRAND. - [_Hesitating._] - - Suppose the case—that he spoke true? - - THE MAN. - - Then to us all you’ve basely lied. - - BRAND. - - Have I——? - - THE MAN. - - How oft you’ve told us, you, - That God has call’d you to the strife, - That here you’ve made your home for life, - That _here_ you’ll bear the battle through, - That none may shirk the call to serve, - That all must fight and never swerve, - _You_ have the Call! How flames and flashes - In many a heart the fire you’ve fed! - - BRAND. - - This people’s heart is hard and dead! - Their ear is deaf, their fire is ashes! - - THE MAN. - - O, you know better;—radiant day - To many a heart has found its way. - - BRAND. - - In tenfold others all is night. - - THE MAN. - - You’re sent to be their beacon-light - But be the numbers as you choose, - Here is no need to closely scan; - For here I stand, one only Man, - And bid you: Leave us, if you can! - I have a soul I would not lose, - Like others; books I cannot use, - You bore me from the depths below,— - Try if you now can let me go! - You cannot,—I so closely grip, - My soul were lost if I should slip. - Farewell; I look to learn at last: - My priest by me—and God—stands fast. - [_Goes._ - - AGNES. - [_Timidly._] - - Your lips are blanch’d, and white your cheek; - You seem to utter an inward shriek! - - BRAND. - - Each strong word flung at yonder rock - Thrills back with tenfold echo’s shock. - - AGNES. - [_Advancing a step._] - - I’m ready! - - BRAND. - - Ready? Whereunto? - - AGNES. - [_Vehemently._] - - For what a mother needs must do! - - GERD. - [_Runs by outside and stops at the garden-gate; claps her - hands and cries in wild joy._] - - Have you heard? The priest’s flown off.— - Up from hillocks, out of howes, - Swarm the demons and the Drows, - Black and ugly, big and little— - Ugh, how fierce they cut and cuff—! - Half my eye away they whittle; - Half my soul they’ve carried off; - With the stump I’ll e’en make shift, - It will serve me well enough! - - BRAND. - - Girl, your thoughts are all adrift; - See, I stand before you. - - GERD. - - You? - Ay, but not the parson? Swift - From the peak my falcon flew, - Fiercely down the fells he hied him, - He was bitted and saddled too, - Through the nightfall blast he hiss’d, - And a man was set astride him,— - ’Twas the parson, ’twas the priest! - Now the valley church is bare, - Lock and bar are bolted there; - Ugly-church’s day is past; - _Mine_ shall get its due at last. - There the priest stands, tall and strong - Snowy surplice swathes his flank, - Woven of winter’s drip and dank, - If you’d see him, come along; - Parish-church is bare and blank; - _My_ priest has so brave a song, - That the whole earth rings to hear it. - - BRAND. - - Who has bidden thee, shattered spirit, - Lure me with this idol-lay? - - GERD. - [_Coming into the garden._] - - Idols, idols? What are they? - Oho! That is what you mean: - Giant or pigmy, large or lean, - Always gilded, always gay. - Idols! Look you where she stands! - See you ’neath her mantle stray - Baby-feet and baby-hands? - See you how those robes are gay, - That close-folded something keep - Like a little child asleep? - Back she shudders! Hides her son! - Idols?—Man, I show you _one_! - - AGNES. - - Have you tears, Brand? Can you pray? - Terror scorches mine away! - - BRAND. - - Woe’s me, Agnes—I forbode - In her words the voice of God. - - GERD. - - Hark; now all the bells are loud, - Clanging down the savage fells! - See, what moving masses crowd - Upwards to those bidding bells! - See the thousand trolls uprisen - From the ocean-caves, their prison; - See the thousand dwarfs up-leaping - From the graves where they were sleeping - With the priest’s seal on them set: - Grave and ocean cannot bind them, - Out they’re swarming, chill and wet;— - Troll-babes that but shammed to die, - Grinning roll the rocks behind them: - “Mother, father!” hark, they cry; - Goodman, Goodwife, make reply; - Then, as fathers among sons, - Move among their buried ones; - Women lay their risen dead - At their bosoms to be fed, - Strutted scarce with prouder front - When they bore them to the font. - Life begins! The parson’s fled! - - BRAND. - - Get thee from me! Direr still - Grows the vision—— - - GERD. - - Hark, he’s mocking! - He that sits by yon way-border, - Where it rears to scale the hill, - All their names as they go flocking - In his book he writes in order;— - Ho! he’s wellnigh all the pack; - For the parish-church is bare, - Lock and bar are bolted there,— - And parson’s off on falcon-back! - - [_Leaps over the garden-fence and is lost in the - moraine. Stillness._ - - AGNES. - [_Approaches, and says in a low voice._] - - Late we linger: let us go. - - BRAND. - [_Looking fixedly at her._] - - Shall our way be—— - - [_Points first to the garden-gate, then to the house-door._] - - So?—or so? - - AGNES. - [_Starts back shuddering._] - - Brand, your child,—your child! - - BRAND. - [_Following her._] - - Say rather: - Was I priest ere I was father? - - AGNES. - [_Drawing further back._] - - Though in thunder-crash it peal’d, - Unto that my lips are seal’d. - - BRAND. - [_Following._] - - You are Mother: it is due - That the last word come from you. - - AGNES. - - I am Wife: I shall fulfil - All that you have heart to will. - - BRAND. - [_Trying to grasp her arm._] - - Take the Cup of Choice from me! - - AGNES. - [_Retreating behind the tree._] - - Mother then I should not be! - - BRAND. - - There a Judgment is let fall! - - AGNES. - [_Vehemently._] - - _Have_ you any choice at all! - - BRAND. - - Still the Judgment, gathering force! - - AGNES. - - Trust you wholly in God’s Call? - - BRAND. - - Yes! - [_Grasps her hand firmly._] - And now ’tis yours to give - Final sentence: Die or live! - - AGNES. - - Go where God has fix’d your course - [_Pause._ - - BRAND. - - Late we linger: let us go. - - AGNES. - [_Voiceless._] - - Shall our way be——? - - BRAND. - [_Silent._] - - AGNES. - [_Pointing to the garden-gate._] - - So? - - BRAND. - [_Pointing to the house-door._] - - Nay,—so! - - AGNES. - [_Raising the child aloft in her arms._] - - God! The gift Thou canst require - I can lift it to thy sight! - Guide me through life’s martyr-fire! - [_Goes in._ - - BRAND. - - [_Gazes a while before him, bursts into tears, clasps his - hands over his head, throws himself down on the steps - and cries_:] - - Jesus, Jesus give me light! - - - - - ACT FOURTH. - - - _Christmas Eve in the Manse. The room is dark. Garden-door - in the background; a window on one side, a door on the - other. AGNES, in mourning, stands at the window and - gazes out into the darkness._ - - AGNES. - - Still he comes not! Comes not yet!— - Oh, how hard, with gloom beset,— - Still to wait and still to cry,— - Winning never a reply,— - Fast they fall, the softly sifted - Snowflakes; in a shroud-like woof - They have swathed the old church roof—— - [_Listens._] - Hark! the garden-latch is lifted! - Steps! A man’s step, firm and fast! - [_Hurries to the door and opens it._] - Is it thou? Come home! At last! - - _BRAND comes in, snowy, in travelling dress, which he - removes during what follows._ - - AGNES - [_Throwing her arms about him._] - - Oh, how long thou wast away! - Go not from me, go not from me; - All alone I cannot sway - The black clouds that overcome me; - What a night, what days have been - These two—and the night between! - - BRAND. - - I am with thee, child, once more. - [_He lights a single candle, which throws - a pale radiance over the room._] - Thou art pale. - - AGNES. - - And worn and sad. - I have watch’d and long’d so sore; - And this little leafy bough— - Little, it was all I had, - Saved from summer until now - To bedeck our Christmas-tree,— - I have hung it there, Brand, see! - _His_ the bush was, so we said; - Ah, _’twas_ his—it crown’d him dead! - [_Bursts into tears._] - Look, from the snow it peers - Yonder, his—O God—— - - BRAND. - - His grave. - - AGNES. - - O that word! - - BRAND. - - Have done with tears. - - AGNES. - - Yes—be patient—I’ll be brave! - But my soul is bleeding still, - And the wound is raw and new— - Sapp’d is all my strength of will. - Oh, but better shall ensue! - Once these days are overworn, - Thou shalt never see me mourn! - - BRAND. - - Keep’st thou so God’s _holy_ Night? - - AGNES. - - Ah! Too much thou must not crave! - Think—last year so sweet and bright, - This year carried from my sight; - Carried—carried—— - - BRAND - [_Loudly._] - - To the grave. - - AGNES. - [_Shrieks._] - - Name it not! - - BRAND. - - With lungs that crack, - Named it must be, if thou shrink— - Named, till echo rolls it back, - Like a billow from the brink. - - AGNES. - - Ah! The word gives thee, too, pain. - How-so passionless thou boast thee! - On thy brow I see the stain - Of the agony it cost thee! - - BRAND. - - On my brow the drops that lie - Are but sea-spray from the storm. - - AGNES. - - And that dewdrop in thine eye, - Has it fallen from the sky? - No, ah! no, it is too warm, - ’Tis thy heart’s dew! - - BRAND. - - Agnes, wife, - Let us bravely face the strife; - Stand together, never flinch, - Struggle onward, inch by inch. - Oh, I felt a man out there! - Surges o’er the reef were dashing; - Horror of the storm-lit air - Still’d the sea-gull; hail was thrashing - Down upon the boiling sea. - In my skiff, that mid-fjord quiver’d, - Mast and tackle creak’d and shiver’d, - Tatter’d sails blew far a-lee, - Scarce a shred of them remaining, - Every nail and stanchion straining! - From the beetling summits sunder’d. - Down the avalanches thunder’d; - Stiff and stark, with corpse-like faces - Sat the rowers in their places. - Then the soul in me wax’d high; - From the helm I ruled them all, - Knowing well that One thereby - Had baptized me to His call! - - AGNES. - - In the tempest to be strong, - Eager in the stress of fight, - That is easy, that is light; - Think of me, who, all day long, - Still must croon without relief - The low swallow-song of grief; - Think of me, who have no charm - For the tedious pain of life; - Me, who, far from war’s alarm, - Lack the fiery joys of strife: - Think, oh think, of me, who share not - Noble work, but brood and wait; - Me, who to remember dare not, - And who never can forget! - - BRAND. - - Thou no noble life-work! Thou! - Never was it great as now. - Listen, Agnes; thou shalt know - What to me our loss has brought. - Oftentimes my light is low. - Dim my reason, dull my thought, - And there seems a kind of gladness - In immeasurable sadness. - Agnes—in such hours I see - God, as at no other, near; - Oh, so near, it seems to me - I could speak, and He would hear. - Like a lost child then I long - To be folded to his breast, - And be gather’d by His strong - Tender Father-arms to rest! - - AGNES. - - Brand, oh see Him so alway! - To thy supplication near— - God of love and not of fear! - - BRAND. - - No; I may not bar his way, - Nor run counter to my Call; - I must see Him vast, sublime - As the heavens,—a pigmy Time - Needs a giant God withal! - Oh, but _thou_ mayst see Him near, - See Him as a Father dear, - Bow _Thy_ head upon His breast, - There, when thou art weary, rest, - Then return, with face aglow - From His presence, fair and free, - Bear His glory down to me - Worn with battle-thrust and throe! - See, my Agnes; so to share - Is the soul of wedded life: - His, the turmoil and the strife, - Hers the healing and the care; - This and this alone, the true - Wedlock, that makes one of two. - Since thou turnedst from the life - Of the world to be my wife, - Boldly cast thy lot with me, - This the work appointed thee - Mine the stir and stress of fight, - Battle in the burning sun, - Watching in the winter night; - But for thee, when all is done, - To my parching lips to hold - Love’s full wine-cup, and to fold - ’Neath the breastplate’s iron stress - The soft robe of tenderness. - Surely that work is not light! - - AGNES. - - Every work that I have sought - Is too hard for my weak skill; - All the fibres of my will - Gather round a single thought. - Like a vision seems it still: - Let me have of tears my fill. - _Help_ me so myself to see,— - What I am, and ought to be! - Brand,—last night, in stillest hush, - Open’d he my chamber door, - On his cheek a rosy flush, - And his little shirt he wore,— - Toddled so with childish tread - To the couch where I lay lonely, - “Mother!” call’d to me, and spread - Both his arms, and smiled, but only - As if praying: “Make me warm.” - Yea, I saw!—Oh, my heart bled—— - - BRAND. - - Agnes! - - AGNES. - - Ah, his little form - Was a-cold, Brand! Needs it must, - Pillow’d in the chilly dust. - - BRAND. - - That which lies beneath the sod - Is the _corse_; the child’s with God. - - AGNES. - [_Shrinking from him._] - - Oh, canst thou without remorse - Thus our bleeding anguish tear? - What thou sternly call’st the corse— - Ah, to me, my child is _there_! - Where is body, there is soul: - These apart I cannot keep, - Each is unto me the whole; - Alf beneath the snow asleep - Is my very Alf in Heaven! - - BRAND. - - Many a raw wound must be riven - Ere thy deep disease give way. - - AGNES. - - Yet have patience with me, pray, - Let me follow, not be driven. - Give me thy strong hand and guide me - Oh, and gently, gently chide me! - Thou whose voice in thunder-tones - Vibrates in the hour of strife, - For the soul that still with groans - Fights a fight for very life, - Hast thou no soft, piteous lay, - To beguile its pangs away? - Ne’er a message to uplift, - Point me to the dawn-fired rift? - God, as thou wouldst have me view Him, - Is a monarch on His throne. - How dare I, then, turn unto Him - With my lowly mother’s moan? - - BRAND. - - Wouldst thou rather, haply, turn - To the God thou knew’st before? - - AGNES. - - Never, never, nevermore! - And yet oftentimes I yearn - Towards the daybreak, towards the light, - Towards the sunshine warm and golden. - Oh, the ancient saw is right: - “Lightly lifted, hardly holden” - All too vast this realm of thine, - Too gigantic to be mine. - Thou, thy word, thy work, thy goal, - Will austere, and steadfast soul, - Overhead the beetling height, - And the barrier fjord below, - Grief and memory, toil and night, - All vast,—were the Church but so! - - BRAND. - [_Starting._] - - What! the Church? Again that thought? - Is it bred an instinct blind - In the air? - - AGNES. - [_Shaking her head sadly._] - - Oh ask me not - To find reasons for my thought. - Instinct steals upon the sense - Like a perfume,—to and fro, - Blowing whither? Blowing whence? - I perceive it, that is all - And, unknowing, yet I know - That for me it is too small. - - BRAND. - - Truth may be from dreams divined. - In a hundred hearts I find - Self-begotten this one word; - Even in hers, whose frantic call - From the mountain-side I heard: - “It is ugly, for ’tis small!” - So she said; and like the rest - Left her meaning half-express’d. - Then of women came a score, - “Yes, it is too small,” they cried; - They would have it spread and soar, - Like a palace in its pride. - Agnes—ah! I see it clear; - Thou the woman art whom God - Gave me for His angel-guide. - Safe alike from doubt and fear - Through the darkness thou hast trod, - Keeping still the even way, - Where I blindly went astray. - Thee no glamour captivated— - Once thy finger show’d the fated - Region where my life-work waited, - Check’d me, as I sought sublime, - To the vault of heaven to climb, - Turn’d my soaring glance within, - And that kingdom bade me win. - Now, a second time, thy word - Penetrates my soul like day, - Guides me where I vainly err’d, - Glorifies my weary way. - Small the Church is? Be it so: - Then a greater Church shall grow. - Never, never did I wot - All God gave me, giving thee; - Now that cry of thine’s for me: - Leave me not! Oh leave me not! - - AGNES. - - All my sorrow I will quell, - I will dry the tears that well, - Seal in still sepulchral sleep - Memory’s lone castle-keep; - Lay oblivion like a sea - Open between it and me, - I will blot the joyous gleams - From my little world of dreams, - Live, thy wife, alone for thee! - - BRAND. - - Steep the path is, high the goal. - - AGNES. - - Lead, nor sternly spur, my soul! - - BRAND. - - In a greater name I call. - - AGNES. - - One of whom thou saidst that still - He accepts the steadfast will, - Though the flesh be weak withal! - [_Going._ - - BRAND. - - Whither, Agnes? - - AGNES. - [_Smiles._] - - Ah, to-day - Home must have its feast array - Thou my lavishness didst chide, - Mindest thou, last Christmastide? - All the chamber flash’d with lights, - From the Christmas-tree there hung - Toys and wreaths and quaint delights; - There was laughter, there was song. - Brand, for us this year also - Shall the Christmas-candles glow, - Here shall all be deck’d and dight - For the great, still Feast to-night! - Here, if haply God should peep, - He of meek and lowly mind - Shall His stricken children find, - Babes, that humbly understand, - To have felt their Father’s hand - Gives them not a right to weep.— - Seest thou now of tears a sign? - - BRAND. - [_Presses her to him a moment._] - - Child, make light: that work is thine. - - AGNES. - [_Smiles sadly._] - - Thou thy greater Church shalt rear: - Oh—but end ere Spring is here! - [_Goes._ - - BRAND. - - Willing in her torments still, - Willing at the martyr’s stake; - Flesh may flag and spirit break, - But unbroken is her Will. - Lord, to her poor strength add Thine;— - Be the cruel task not mine - At Thy bidding to unchain - Angry vultures of the Law, - Swift to swoop with ravening maw - And her heart’s warm blood to drain! - I have strength to stand the strain. - Twofold agony let me bear,— - But be merciful to her! - - _A knock at the outer door. THE MAYOR enters._ - - THE MAYOR. - - A beaten man, I seek your door. - - BRAND. - - A beaten man? - - THE MAYOR. - - As such I stand - Before you. When I open’d war, - And sought to drive you from the land, - The end I augur’d, I confess, - For you, was not just—well—success. - - BRAND. - - Indeed——? - - THE MAYOR. - - But though my cause I boast - The better, I’ll contend no more. - - BRAND. - - And why? - - THE MAYOR. - - Because you have the _most_. - - BRAND. - - Have I? - - THE MAYOR. - - Oh, that you can’t ignore: - Folks flock to you by sea and shore; - And in the whole of my confine - A spirit has of late been rife, - Which, God’s my witness, is not mine; - Whence to conclude is only due, - That it originates with you. - Here is my hand: we’ll end the strife! - - BRAND. - - War such as we wage does not cease, - Howe’er the vanquished cry “No more!” - - THE MAYOR. - - Why, what should be the end of war - But reasonable terms of peace? - To kick at pricks is not my way, - I’m made of common human clay; - When at your breast the lance you feel - It is but reason to give place;— - With but a switch to parry steel, - ’Tis just to make a volte-face; - Left of your cause the sole defender, - It is the wisest to surrender. - - BRAND. - - Two things are noticeable here. - First, that you call me strong. Of men - I have the larger part. - - THE MAYOR. - - That’s clear. - - BRAND. - - Now, possibly: but when shall rise - The great dread day of sacrifice, - Who will have more supporters _then_? - - THE MAYOR. - - Of sacrifice? Why, goodness me, - That’s just the day we never see - At least, the sacrifice no worse is - Than drafts upon good people’s purses; - The age is too humane to bring - Any more costly offering. - And what’s most vexing is, that I - Myself have all along been noted - Of those who the Humane promoted - And hinder’d sacrifice thereby. - So that it may be fairly said, - I’ve put the axe to my own head, - Or, at the least, laid rods in store - To baffle all I’ve struggled for. - - BRAND. - - You may be right. But, furthermore - I hardly know how you can dare - Surrender your own cause as lost. - Be rods, or be they not, the cost, - Man’s work is what he’s fashion’d for, - And Paradise, for him, lies _there_. - ’Twixt him and it though oceans swell, - And close at hand lie Satan’s quarter, - May he for that cry “Toil, farewell— - The way to hell’s distinctly shorter!”? - - THE MAYOR. - - To that I answer: Yes and No. - Some final haven man must win;— - If all our toil brings nothing in, - Who on a barren quest will go? - The fact stands thus: we want reward - For every labour, light or hard; - And if in arms we miss the prize,— - We gain our point by compromise. - - BRAND. - - But _black_ will never turn to _white_! - - THE MAYOR. - - Respected friend, the gain is slight - Of saying: “White as yonder brae,” - When the mob’s shouting: “Black as snow.” - - BRAND. - - You join them, possibly? - - THE MAYOR. - - Why, no— - I rather shout, not black, but _gray_, - The time’s humane; asks apt compliance, - Not blunt and absolute defiance. - We stand on democratic ground, - Where what the people thinks is right; - Shall _one_ against the mass propound - His special views on black and white? - In short, you, having a majority, - Are best entitled to authority. - So I submit, as they submitted, - With you my humble lot I cast, - And may I by no soul be twitted - For not contending to the last! - Folks now consider, I perceive, - Petty and poor all I achieve; - They say there’s something of more worth - Than richer harvests wrung from earth; - They are not willing as they were, - The necessary mite to spare; - And the best cause, if will’s not in it,— - There’s very little hope to win it. - Believe me, ’tis no easy thing - To drop one’s plans for roads and bridges, - For tapping meres and draining ridges, - And more besides that was in swing. - But, good Lord, what’s a man to say? - If he can’t win, he must give way; - Patiently trust that Time’s his friend, - And to the blast astutely bend. - Now,—the folks’ favour I’ve foregone - In just the way it first was won; - Ay, ay,—and by another track - I’ll get my old possession back. - - BRAND. - - So all your cunning, all your art, - Aim’d but to win the people’s heart? - - THE MAYOR. - - God help me, no! The common good - And profit of this neighbourhood - Has been my single, sole desire. - But, I admit, there did conspire - The worker’s hope of worthy hire - For day’s work honestly pursued. - The fact stands thus: a resolute - And able man, with sense to boot, - Demands to see his labour’s fruit, - And not to drudge and sweat and groan - To profit an Idea alone. - With the best will I can’t afford - To throw my interests overboard, - And give my brains without reward. - I’ve a large household to supply, - A wife, and of grown girls a store, - Who must be first provided for;— - Belly that’s empty, throat that’s dry, - The _idea_ scarce will satisfy, - Where mouths so many must be fill’d. - And any man who should demur, - For him I have but one reply,— - He’s an unworthy householder. - - BRAND. - - And now your object is—? - - THE MAYOR. - - To build. - - BRAND. - - To _build_? - - THE MAYOR. - - Why, yes,—the common state - To better, and my own to boot. - First I will build up the repute - I stood in till a recent date:— - The elections soon will be on foot:— - So I must set some scheme afloat, - Some booming enterprise promote; - Thus I regain my lost authority, - And check the wane of my majority. - Now, I’ve reflected, to compete - With wind and tide wins no man’s praises; - The folk want “lifting,” as the phrase is, - A work for which I’m all unmeet; - I can but set them on their feet; - Which can’t be done unless they please,— - And here all are my enemies! - Whence I’ve resolved since such the case is, - After ripe thought, to find a basis - For making war with poverty. - - BRAND. - - You would uproot it? - - THE MAYOR. - - No, not I! - It is a necessary ill - In every state: we must endure it; - Yet may we, with a little skill, - In certain forms confine, secure it, - If only we begin in time. - He who would grow a bed of crime, - Let him with poverty manure it: - I’ll set a dam to this manure! - - BRAND. - - How? - - THE MAYOR. - - Do you take me? I can cure - A want, of long and bitter proof, - By building, for the Town’s behoof, - A Pest-house for the afflicted Poor. - Pest-house I call a thing projected - To rid us of the crime-infected. - And, I reflected, to the Pest-house - Might well be added an Arrest-house, - The cause with its effect confined - The selfsame bars and bolts behind, - And nothing but a wall between. - And, while my hand is in, I mean - In the same block to build withal - A wing for balls and ballotings, - Social and business gatherings, - With platform and Assembly-Hall; - In short, a half-political, - Half-social, smart and festive Guest-house. - - BRAND. - - Sorely required; this most of all; - But yet there’s _one_ thing needed more. - - THE MAYOR. - - You mean a Mad-house? Yes, indeed; - A very peremptory need; - That was my own idea before. - But now, by friendly counsel wrought, - I’ve utterly renounced the thought; - For who’s to furnish the supplies - For such a giant enterprise? - To put a Mad-house up would come, - Believe me, to a pretty sum, - If all whom need and merit fitted, - Should be within its walls admitted. - We must not build for our caprice, - But note Time’s current as it glides;— - The world moves on with giant strides, - Last year abundance, famine this; - You see to what a monstrous girth - The folks’ necessities have swell’d, - Talents for everything on earth, - Headlong by seven-league boots propell’d, - Are swarming madly to the birth. - Thus it would be too dear a jest - To build posterity a nest - And let self, wife, and children go; - This tooth, I say, we can’t afford: - Out with it therefore, by the Lord! - - BRAND. - - And then, there’s the great Hall, you know, - For any madder than the rest. - - THE MAYOR. - [_Delighted._] - - Yes, it would mostly be to spare! - Why, Brand, you’ve hit the nail-head there! - If fortunate our project’s fate is, - We get to boot—a Mad-house gratis; - Here, shelter’d by the selfsame roof, - And by the selfsame flag defended, - All the essential strands are blended - That tinge and tone our social woof. - Here in one haven disembogues - The flood of Paupers and of Rogues; - With Lunatics who roam’d at large, - Subject to no man’s check or charge; - Here too our Freedom’s highest reach, - The election-strife, the storm of speech; - And here our Council-Hall, for framing - Measures to meet each public pest; - And here our Feast-Hall, for proclaiming - How well we’ll guard the Past’s bequest. - You see, then, if our Project stand, - The Cragsman has at his command - All he in reason can demand,— - The right to live as he thinks best. - God knows, how slender our resources, - But once our enterprise in force is, - I trust we may be with impunity - Styled a well-organised community. - - BRAND. - - But then the means—? - - THE MAYOR. - - Ay, there’s the knot, - As in all other things, in this. - Hardly to contributions wrought - Is Will, and if your help I miss, - I furl my flag without a thought: - But with your eloquent alliance - I’ll bid all obstacles defiance, - And when all’s done, your kind compliance, - Believe me, shall not be forgot. - - BRAND. - - In short, you’d _buy_ me. - - THE MAYOR. - - For my aim - I should prefer another name: - I seek, with general good in view, - That gulf of difference to cross - Which you from me and me from you - Has sever’d, to our common loss. - - BRAND. - - In an ill-omen’d hour you came—— - - THE MAYOR. - - Unfortunately yes, I own it: - Your recent loss,—I might have known it, - But your brave bearing re-assured me, - And need of public credit lured me. - - BRAND. - - In grievous or in gladsome season - I render help where need is plain; - But, for another weighty reason, - This time your mission is in vain. - - THE MAYOR. - - And which, pray—? - - BRAND. - - _I_ am building too. - - THE MAYOR. - - You building? You adopt my view? - - BRAND. - - Not altogether. - - [_Pointing out of the window._] - - Do you see? - - THE MAYOR. - - Yonder - - BRAND. - - Yes. - - THE MAYOR. - - That great ugly stall?— - Why, that’s the Parsonage granary. - - BRAND. - - No, not that;—but the ugly, _small_—— - - THE MAYOR. - - The Church? - - BRAND. - - I mean to build it _great_. - - THE MAYOR. - - That, by the devil! you shall not! - No man shall alter it one jot! - My plan ’twould utterly frustrate. - Mine’s urgent, only waits the word, - By yours I’m absolutely floor’d; - Two weapons can’t at once be wielded, - Yield therefore—! - - BRAND. - - I have never yielded. - - THE MAYOR. - - You must, man, here. Build my Arrest-house, - My Pest-house and my festive Guest-house, - Build all, the Mad-house comprehending, - And who’ll ask, where the Church wants mending? - And why condemn it now to fall? - ’Twas well enough a while ago. - - BRAND. - - Possibly; _now_ it is too small. - - THE MAYOR. - - _I_ never saw it full, I know. - - BRAND - - Even a single soul is scanted, - And has not room therein to soar. - - THE MAYOR. - [_Shaking his head in amazement._] - - (Which single soul but proves the more - How sorely my Asylum’s wanted.) - [_Changing his tone._] - Let the Church be, is my advice. - One may regard it, in some wise, - As a rich heirloom of our age; - In fact, a noble heritage, - Which we not lightly may remove. - Nay, if my building project crashes, - I, like a Phoenix from the ashes, - Will live again in public love, - As one chivalrously intent - To save our ancient monument! - Here stood a heathen fane of old,— - ’Twas in King Belë’s reign, no doubt; - Then, later heroes more devout - Founded the Church with looted gold. - All-sacred in its antique dress, - Grand in its simple stateliness, - Till our own days it tower’d sublime—— - - BRAND. - - But all these glories of old time - Lie long since buried deep in mould, - Of all surviving sign bereft. - - THE MAYOR. - - Just so! They are so very old - That not a trace of them is left. - But in my late grandfather’s day - A wall-hole still defied decay! - - BRAND. - - A wall-hole? - - THE MAYOR. - - Fit to hold a tun! - - BRAND. - - But the wall’s self? - - THE MAYOR. - - Oh, that was gone. - In plain terms then, I am compell’d - To say, your scheme is out of court:— - A barbarous and unparallel’d - Horrible sacrilege, in short. - And then the money,—do you dream - These folks are so profuse in spending, - That they’ll contrive new cost by lending - Existence to a half-hatch’d scheme? - When with a little deftness they - May so far patch the crumbling wall - That in _our_ time it will not fall? - But just go out!—the field survey,— - You’ll find, I’m winner after all. - - BRAND. - - From no man will I wring a jot - To give my God house-harbourage: - With my own goods it shall be wrought; - In that one work my heritage - To the last penny shall be spent.— - Now, Mayor, are you still confident - That you can shake me from my thought? - - THE MAYOR. - [_With folded hands._] - - I stand—as from the clouds dropp’d down - Such things are even in a Town - Scarce heard of,—and yet here, for us, - Who long to the necessitous - Have closed our purses and our doors, - You loose this flood of gifts unbounded - That ripples, flashes, foams and pours—. - —No, Brand, I’m utterly dumbfounded. - - BRAND. - - In thought I long ago resign’d - My wealth—— - - THE MAYOR. - - Yes, whisper’d hints have flown - Pointing to something of the kind. - But I regarded them as wind. - How many men give all they own - Without a tangible return? - However, that’s your own concern.— - Go on! I’ll follow. You’re in feather, - You can act freely, work and sway.— - Brand, we will build the Church _together_. - - BRAND. - - What, you are willing to give way? - - THE MAYOR. - - Dear God’s my witness, that I am! - And shall be while my wits are sound! - When _one_ would fatten, pamper, cram,— - Another milk and shear and flay,— - Where, think you, will the flock be found? - Death and destruction, I’m your man! - I’m fire and fury for the plan! - Thrill’d, agitated, nay, affected! - Providence prompted the design - That led me to your door to-night, - For sure, without the hint of _mine_, - _Your_ plan had scarcely been projected, - Or, at the least, scarce seen the light! - And thus the Church, conceived aright, - Will by _my_ means have been erected! - - BRAND. - - But, don’t forget, we must lay low - That towering relic of the past! - - THE MAYOR. - [_Looking out._] - - Seen in the twofold glimmer cast - By the new moon and the fresh snow, - It seems a sort of—rubbish-heap. - - BRAND. - - What, Mayor! - - THE MAYOR. - - It is too old to keep! - I fail entirely to explain it, - Till now it never struck my eye,— - The weathercock stands all awry; - It would be monstrous to retain it. - And where are architecture, style, - Rightly regarded, in the pile? - What terms can give that arch its due? - An architect would call it _vile_;— - And really I must share his view. - And then that roof with moss-tufts blowing,— - Bless me, they’re none of Belë’s growing. - No, we may overmuch assert - The reverence for ancient glories! - One fact, at least, there’s no o’erthrowing, - That this old rotten hut no more is - But just a very heap of dirt! - - BRAND. - - But if the people’s voice should storm - At those who seek to lay it low—? - - THE MAYOR. - - _I_ will it though they all cry No. - This Christmas with the least delay - I’ll put the thing in proper form, - And launch it smoothly on its way. - I’ll write, I’ll agitate, I’ll sway! - Ay, ay—you know the stuff I’m made of! - And if I cannot hire or hound - The foolish flock to help to end it, - With my own hands I’ll rive and rend it, - Timber by timber, to the ground. - Nay, though I had to call the aid of - My wife and all my girls as well, - Down it should come, by death and hell. - - BRAND. - - This language has another sound - Than that which earlier from you fell. - - THE MAYOR. - - To be humane is to repress - All manner of _One-sidedness_. - And sure, if truth the poet utters, - Precisely what is to be sought - In thinking is “the winged thought,”— - That is to say—the thought that flutters. - Farewell. - [_Taking his hat._] - I have to see the band. - - BRAND. - - The what? - - THE MAYOR. - - Just think, within our land - This morning two of us laid hand - On a foul-favour’d gipsy-horde, - So I got help with rope and cord, - And now they’re in your neighbour’s ward - Next to the North, but—devil clip me!— - If just a couple didn’t slip me—— - - BRAND. - - The bells are ringing: Peace to Men. - - THE MAYOR. - - Why came this hell-brood hither, then? - Yet in a sense, they are, ’tis true, - Kin to this parish,— - [_Laughing._] - Nay to you. - Hark to a riddle; read it right, - If you have power and appetite. - There be, who in effect derive - From her, by whom you are alive, - But owe their actual origin - To coming of another kin. - - BRAND. - [_Shaking his head._] - - O God, so many riddles rise - Before our baffled, helpless eyes! - - THE MAYOR. - - But this one’s very lightly guess’d. - You must have often, heretofore, - Heard tell one story or another - Of that poor fellow here by West - Whose head four parsons’ learning bore; - He went a-wooing to your Mother. - - BRAND. - - What then? - - THE MAYOR. - - Conceive,—a girl of gold - She sent him to the right-about - Promptly, as might have been foretold. - And how d’ye think he took the flout? - Half mad with grief he wander’d out, - Mated at last another bride, - A gipsy,—and, before he died, - Enrich’d with issue this foul band - That sins and starves about the land. - Nay, on this parish he conferr’d - One bastard imp—as souvenir - Of his illustrious career. - - BRAND. - - Namely—? - - THE MAYOR. - - The gipsy-urchin Gerd. - - BRAND. - [_In muffled tones._] - - Ah—so! - - THE MAYOR. - [_Gaily._] - - Confess, the riddle’s good! - His issue in effect derive - From her by whom you are alive; - For the first cause of all the brood - Was, that he loved and she withstood. - - BRAND. - - Advise me, Mayor; can you tell - Some means of giving them relief? - - THE MAYOR. - - Tut, clap them in a Bridewell cell. - They’re overhead in debt to hell; - To save them were to play the thief - With Satan, who will lose his trade - If earth restore not what he made. - - BRAND. - - You plann’d to build a house, to better - This naked misery and dearth—— - - THE MAYOR. - - That plan was, by its own begetter, - Slain in the moment of its birth. - - BRAND. - - If after all though—it were well—— - - THE MAYOR. - [_Smiling._] - - This language has another sound - Than that which earlier from you fell. - [_Clapping him on the shoulder._] - What’s buried, leave it in the ground - Man must not dash his deed with doubt. - Farewell, farewell, I can’t remain, - I must be off and scour the fell, - To seek this nest of truants out. - A merry _Yule_! We’ll meet again! - My greetings to your wife. Farewell! - [_Goes._ - - BRAND. - [_After a meditative silence._] - - O expiation without end!— - So wildly mingle, strangely blend - The threads that human fortune spin,— - Sin tangled with the fruit of sin, - Pouring its own pollution in,— - That he who eyes their mazy flight - Sees foulest Wrong grow one with Right. - [_Goes to the window, and after a long look out._] - My little child, lamb without stain, - Thou for my mother’s deed wast slain; - A shatter’d spirit bore His voice - Whose throne the crested heavens sustain, - And bade me cast the die of choice. - And this distracted soul had birth - Because my mother’s clave to earth. - Thus the Lord, sowing fruit of crime, - Reaps retribution in His time, - And, reaching down from His high dome, - Strikes the third generation home. - [_Starts back in horror from the window._] - Yes, God is above all things just, - And retribution is His goal; - Only by sacrifice the soul - Achieves redemption from the dust; - Hard truth, our age appall’d descries, - And, therefore, stubbornly denies. - [_Walks up and down the room._] - To pray? Ah, pray—a word that slips - Easily over all men’s lips; - A coin by all men lightly paid. - What’s prayer? In storm and stress to shout - Unto the vague Unknown for aid. - Upon Christ’s shoulders beg a place, - And stretch both hands to Heaven for grace— - While knee-deep in the slough of doubt. - Ha! if there needed nothing more - I might like others dare to raise - My hand and batter at His door - Who still is “terrible in praise.”— - [_Pauses and reflects._] - And yet in uttermost despair, - In shuddering sorrow’s deepest deep, - When Alf at last had sunk to sleep, - And all his mother’s kisses vain - Won not the lost smile back again— - What felt I—if it was not prayer? - Whence came that trance, that ecstasy, - That rushing music, like a blast, - That sang afar and hurried past, - Bore me aloft and set me free? - Was it the ecstasy of prayer? - Did I with God hold converse there? - My anguish—did it reach his ears? - Did he look down and see my tears? - I know not. Barr’d is now the door, - The darkness deeper than before, - And nowhere, nowhere any light! - Yes, She—who, darkling, yet hath sight— - [_Calls in anguish._] - Light, Agnes—light, if light thou hast! - - _AGNES opens the door and enters with the lighted - Christmas candles; a bright glow falls over the - room._ - - BRAND. - - Light! - - AGNES. - - See, the Yule light, Brand, at last! - - BRAND. - [_Softly._] - - The Yule light! Ha! - - AGNES. - [_Putting them on the table._] - - Have I been slow? - - BRAND. - - No, no. - - AGNES. - - Thou must be cold, Brand! - - BRAND. - [_Loudly._] - - No! - - AGNES. - [_Smiling, fills the stove._] - - How stern! It is thy pride of will, - That scorns the darkness and the chill. - - BRAND. - [_Walking up and down._] - - H’m, Will! - - AGNES. - [_To herself as she decks the room._] - - Here must the candles stand. - Last year he stretch’d his tiny hand - After the glancing, dancing light: - He was so joyous and so bright; - He started from his little chair, - And ask’d me if a sun it were. - [_Moves the candles a little._] - See! now the candle’s glow falls—_there_! - Now from his bed my boy can see - The window gleaming cheerily; - Now can he peer out of the gloom - Silently into our lit room— - But, ah! the glass is dim; stay, stay— - I’ll wipe the dew of tears away - And make it smile—— - [_Dries the pane._ - - BRAND. - [_Softly as he watches her._] - - When in this breast - Will the wild waters sink to rest? - To rest they _must_! - - AGNES. - [_To herself._] - - How bright the glow - It seems as though the sundering wall - Had sunk; the low room grown a hall, - The murky world of ice and snow - Sudden become a shelter’d nest, - Where cosily my child may rest. - - BRAND. - - What dost thou, Agnes? - - AGNES. - [_To herself._] - - Peace, I pray! - - BRAND. - [_Nearer._] - - Why didst thou ope the curtain? - - AGNES. - - Nay, - I dreamt, and knew not what I did! - - BRAND. - - Snares in that dream of thine lie hid; - Close it again. - - AGNES. - [_Pleading._] - - Brand! - - BRAND. - - Close, I say! - - AGNES. - - Oh, be not harsh, it is not right. - - BRAND. - - Close, close! - - AGNES. - [_Drawing it._] - - Now all is close and tight; - Yet in my heart I scarce can deem - God injured if, at sorest need, - In the brief respite of a dream - I tasted comfort. - - BRAND. - - No, indeed! - He is a feeling Judge and kind, - And will indulgently forbear, - If in thy service He should find - Some idol-worship here and there. - - AGNES. - [_Bursts into tears._] - - Oh, say, _when_ will He cease to crave? - My wings are weak—I faint and fall—— - - BRAND. - - He gives to the devouring wave - Who in his giving gives not _all_. - - AGNES. - - I _have_ given all; I have no more. - - BRAND. - [_Shakes his head._] - - Yet other gifts remain behind. - - AGNES. - [_Smiling._] - - Ask: I’ve the courage of the poor! - - BRAND. - - Give! - - AGNES. - - Take! Ah, Brand, thou’lt nothing find. - - BRAND. - - Thy memories and thy moans thou hast, - Thy longings and thy sinful sighs—— - - AGNES. - [_Despairingly._] - - I have my heart of agonies! - Tear, tear it from me! - - BRAND. - - Thou hast cast - Thy offerings in the yawning deep - For nothing, if thou count them losses. - - AGNES. - [_Shudders._] - - Narrow is thy Lord’s way, and steep. - - BRAND. - - That way _Will_ cannot choose but keep. - - AGNES. - - And Mercy’s is—— - - BRAND. - [_Peremptorily._] - - Beset with crosses. - - AGNES. - [_Gazes before her; then, trembling._] - - Now manifest and open lies, - Abysmal as the depths of space, - That mystic Word. - - BRAND. - - What word? - - AGNES. - - _He dies - Who sees Jehovah face to face._ - - BRAND. - [_Throws his arms about her and clasps her close._] - - O look not on Him! Close thine eyes! - Hide thee, O hide thee! - - AGNES. - - Must I? - - BRAND. - [_Lets her go._] - - No. - - AGNES. - - Thou sufferest, Brand. - - BRAND. - - Thou art so dear. - - AGNES. - - Thou lov’st me, but thy love I fear. - ’Tis stern. - - BRAND. - - Too stern? - - AGNES. - - Ask not; whereso - Thou goest, I will also go! - - BRAND. - - Think’st thou without design I won thee - Out of thy gladsome gay content, - Or, half in earnest, laid upon thee - The call to self-abandonment? - Woe to us both; too dear we paid, - Too vast a sacrifice we made; - Thou art my wife: I crave thee _all_ - To live according to our call. - - AGNES. - - Crave; only leave me not. - - BRAND. - - Indeed - I must; for rest and peace I need. - Soon shall the great new Church arise! - - AGNES. - - My little Church a ruin lies. - - BRAND. - - It was a blessed wind that blew - And thy heart’s idol overthrew! - [_Clasps her as if in dread._] - Peace be upon thee—and, through thee, - Peace also upon mine and me! - [_Goes towards the side-door._ - - AGNES. - - Brand, may I softly set ajar - One hateful window-barrier,—so? - Only a little? May I? - - BRAND. - [_In the doorway._] - - No. - [_Goes into his room._ - - AGNES. - - Closed, all closed with bolt and bar! - Seals on every passion set! - Seal’d to sorrow and to sigh, - Seal’d the grave and seal’d the sky, - Seal’d to feel—and to forget! - I will out! I gasp for breath - In this lonely house of death. - Out? Oh, whither? Angry eyes - Glare upon me from the skies! - Can I, flying, high or low, - Bear my treasure where I go? - Can I from my breast unsphere - The mute vacancy of fear?— - [_Listens at BRAND’S door._] - Loud he reads, he cannot hear. - There’s no comfort! There’s no way - God is busy; lists to-day - But to song and praise and blessing - Of the happy, child-possessing, - Richly-gifted of the earth. - Christmas is the feast of mirth. - _Me He_ sees not, nor takes heed - Of a lonely mother’s need.— - [_Goes cautiously to the window._] - Shall I draw the curtain back, - Till the clear and kindly ray - Chase the horror of night away - From his chamber bare and black? - Nay, he is not there at all. - Yule’s the children’s festival, - He hath got him leave to rise, - Haply now he stands, and cries, - Stretches little arms in vain - To his mother’s darken’d pane. - Was not that a baby’s voice? - Alf, I’ve neither will nor choice! - All is barr’d and bolted here. - ’Tis thy father’s bidding, dear! - Alf, I may not open now! - An obedient child art thou! - We ne’er grieved him, thou and I. - Oh, fly home then to the sky, - There is gladness, there is light, - There thy merry comrades stay - Till thou come to join their play. - Oh, but weep not in their sight, - Nor to any soul betray - That thy father bade me lock, - When thy little hand did knock. - Years bring sterner, sadder stress - Than a little child may guess. - Say, he sorrow’d, say, he sigh’d; - Say, he wove the garden’s pride - All into a wreath for thee. - ’Tis his doing! Canst thou see? - [_Listens, starts, and shakes her head._] - Oh, I dream! Not bar and wall - Only from my love divide me. - When the purging fire hath tried me - In its anguish, then alone - Shall the parting barriers fall - And the mighty bolts be batter’d, - And the vaulted dungeons shatter’d, - And the prison hinges groan! - Much, oh, much is to be done - Ere we parted twain be one. - I with silent, toiling hands - Still will labour on, to fill - The abyss of his commands; - I shall nerve me, I shall will. - But it is the Feast this eve— - Last year’s how unlike! And wait - We will honour it in state. - I will fetch my treasures forth, - Whereof the uncounted worth - Best a mother can conceive, - To whose spirit they express - All her life-lost happiness. - - [_She kneels down by the cupboard, and takes various - things out of a drawer. At the same moment, - BRAND opens the door, and is about to speak, - when he observes her occupation, checks himself - and remains standing. AGNES does not see him._ - - BRAND. - [_Softly._] - - Haunting still the mortal mound, - Playing in Death’s garden-ground. - - AGNES. - - Lo, the robe, the veil that clad - At the font my little lad. - Under it his cloak I’ve laid— - [_Holds it up, gazes at it, and laughs._] - Lord, how brave it looks and bright! - Ah, he was a bonny sight - In his festal robes array’d! - Here’s the scarf, the cape he wore - When the keen wind first he bore; - Longer was it than was meet - Then, but quickly grew too spare— - I will lay it with them there. - Gloves and stockings—(Oh, what feet!) - And his hood of silken fold - That had fenced him from the cold, - All unused and clean and sweet. - Oh, and there the wrappings warm - That should shield his little form - For the journey, from the storm - When again I laid them by, - Weary unto death was I! - - BRAND. - [_Clasps his hands in anguish._] - - Mercy, God! I strive in vain! - Shatter her last idol-shrine - By some other hand than mine! - - AGNES. - - Did I weep? Behold, a stain! - Oh, my treasure! Jewell’d prize, - Bath’d in floods from aching eyes, - Lit with fires of tortured Will, - Holy Crowning-vesture, worn - By a child to Death’s font borne, - Oh, what riches have I still! - - _A sharp knock at the outer door; AGNES turns with a cry, - and at the same moment sees BRAND. The door is burst - open, and a WOMAN, raggedly dressed, enters hastily, - with a child in her arms._ - - THE WOMAN. - [_Looking at the child’s clothes, calls to AGNES._] - - Thou rich mother, share with me! - - AGNES. - - Thou art richer far! - - THE WOMAN. - - I see, - Thou art of the common breed, - Cramm’d with words, and void of deed. - - BRAND. - [_Approaching her._] - - Tell me what thou seekest. - - THE WOMAN. - - _Thee_, - Troth, I do not seek, at least! - Rather to the wind and rain - Will I hurry out again, - Than be sermon’d by a priest; - Rather to the wild sea fly, - Drown and rot beneath the sky, - Than I’ll hear the black man tell - How I’m on my way to hell; - Can I help—the devil take me— - Being what God chose to make me? - - BRAND. - [_To himself._] - - Voice and feature pierce me still - With a dim and icy dread. - - AGNES. - - Thou shalt warm thee, if thou’rt chill; - And thy hungry child be fed. - - THE WOMAN. - - Where there’s warmth and where there’s light - Brats of gipsies may not stay; - We must haunt the lone highway, - Hill and forest, heath and height; - We must wander, we must roam, - Leave to others house and home. - I must swiftly from this place. - Dogs of justice are behind me, - Mayor, bailiff, all in chase, - Hungering to catch and bind me! - - BRAND. - - Here thou shalt have shelter. - - THE WOMAN. - - Here! - Roof’d above and wall’d about? - No! The winter night is clear, - And the breezes blithe without. - But a rag to wrap the child! - That were something! Sooth, its wild - Rascal brother fled, and bore - With him all the clouts it wore. - Look, it lies half naked—blue, - Stiff and stark and frozen through, - By the storm-wind’s icy breath. - - BRAND. - - Woman, on the road to death, - Free thy infant from thy doom; - Free him from thy grief and gloom - Of his birth I’ll blot the brand. - - THE WOMAN. - - Much, sooth, _thou_ dost understand! - Such a wonder none on earth - Can, nor shall do, though he can! - War on you that set the ban,— - Wot ye where it was, that birth? - In a ditch-side, on the ground, - Gamblers drank and shouted round— - Christen’d in the sleety slime, - Cross’d with charcoal-ashes’ grime, - Suckled with a spirit-flask;— - When his mother bore him first - There were some stood by and cursed, - Who could they be, do you ask? - Bless you! Why, the baby’s father, - Or,—the baby’s fathers rather! - - BRAND. - - Agnes? - - AGNES. - - Yes. - - BRAND. - - Thy duty’s clear. - - AGNES. - [_Shuddering._] - - Never! never! Brand, to her! - - THE WOMAN. - - Give me, give me! Give me all! - Silk and broider’d jacket small! - Nought’s too good, and nought too bad, - If ’twill warm my starving lad. - He’ll be going by-and-by. - Thaw his body ere he die! - - BRAND. - [_To AGNES._] - - Choice is calling! Hear’st thou now? - - THE WOMAN. - - Store enough of clothes hast thou - For thy dead child: hast thou none - For my death-doom’d living one? - - BRAND. - - Is not this a warning cry - Importuning bodefully? - - THE WOMAN. - - Give! - - AGNES. - - ’Tis sacrilege blood-red - Desecration of the dead! - - BRAND. - - Vainly given to death he was - If thou at the threshold pause. - - AGNES. - [_Crushed._] - - I obey. My heart’s quick root - I will trample under foot. - Woman, come thou and receive, - I will share it with thee. - - THE WOMAN. - - Give! - - BRAND. - - _Share_ it, say’st thou?—Agnes; _share_ it? - - AGNES. - [_Wildly._] - - I will rather die than spare it - All! See, inch by inch I’ve bent - To thy will; my force is spent! - Half’s enough; she needs no more! - - BRAND. - - Was the whole too much before, - When for _thy_ child it was meant? - - AGNES. - [_Gives._] - - Woman, take; in this was clad - At the font my little lad. - Here the scarf, cloak, mantle, good - For the night-air, here the hood - Warm for winter; take this last—— - - THE WOMAN. - - Give me! - - BRAND. - - Is this all thou hast? - - AGNES. - [_Gives again._] - - Take the crowning vesture worn, - By the child to Death’s Font. - - THE WOMAN. - - So! I see there’s nothing more. - I’ll clear out without delay, - Dress my baby at the door— - Then with all my pack away! - [_Goes._ - - AGNES. - [_In violent inner conflict; at length asks._] - - Is it reason, Brand, to lay - Further bidding on me? - - BRAND. - - Say, - Didst thou with a glad heart go - To thy task of giving? - - AGNES. - - No. - - BRAND. - - Then thy gift is vainly will’d - And His bidding unfulfill’d. - [_Going._ - - AGNES. - [_Remains silent until he is near the door, then calls._] - - Brand! - - BRAND. - - What wilt thou? - - AGNES. - - I have lied— - See, I’m humbled, I am grieved. - Never knew’st thou nor believed, - Anything was left beside. - - BRAND. - - Well? - - AGNES. - [_Takes a folded child’s cap from her bosom._] - - See, _one_ I thought to hide— - One! - - BRAND. - - The _cap_? - - AGNES. - - Yes, tear-bewet, - Clammy with his mortal sweat, - There in my beating bosom set! - - BRAND. - - In thy idol-bonds abide. - [_Going._ - - AGNES. - - Hold! - - BRAND. - - What wilt thou? - - AGNES. - - Thou dost know. - [_Holds out the cap to him._ - - BRAND. - [_Approaches and asks, without taking it._] - - Gladly given? - - AGNES. - - Gladly! - - BRAND. - - So. - At the door she lingers yet. - [_Goes._ - - AGNES. - - Shiver’d, shatter’d—pluck’d away— - All that bound me to the clay. - - [_Stands a while motionless; by degrees her face - assumes an expression of radiant gladness. BRAND - returns; she flies joyously towards him, flings - herself about his neck, and cries._] - - I am free, Brand, I am free! - - BRAND. - - Agnes! - - AGNES. - - Night is fled from me! - All the terrors that oppress’d - Like an incubus my breast, - In the gulf are sunk to rest! - Will hath conquer’d in the fray, - Cloud and mist are swept away; - Through the night, athwart the Dead, - Streaks of morning glimmer red. - Graveyard! Graveyard! By the word - Now no more a tear is stirr’d; - By the name no wound is riven, - Risen is the child to heaven! - - BRAND. - - Agnes! Thou hast conquered now. - - AGNES. - - I indeed have conquer’d. Yes; - Conquer’d death and bitterness! - Oh, look up, look heavenward, thou - See, before the throne he stands— - As in old days—radiant, glad, - To us stretching down his hands! - Though a thousand mouths I had, - Leave to ask, and to obtain, - Never one of them should pray - For his coming back again. - O how wond’rous is God’s way! - By that sacrifice, so grievous, - Won from bondage is my soul; - He was given us but to leave us, - Died to lure me to the goal. - Thanks be to thee that thy hand - Stoutly strove and firmly led— - Ah, I saw thine own heart bled. - Now it is for _thee_, instead, - In the vale of choice to stand, - Now for _thee_ to hear the call - Of the awful _Nought_ or _All_. - - BRAND. - - Agnes, this is darkly said;— - Vanquish’d, lo, our sorrow lies! - - AGNES. - - Thou forget’st the word of dread: - _Whoso sees Jehovah dies!_ - - BRAND. - [_Starts back._] - - Woe upon me! What a light - Thou has kindled! Never! No! - I have stalwart hands for fight, - And I will not let thee go! - Tear all earthly ties from me, - All possessions I will lose, - Only never, never thee! - - AGNES. - - At the cross-way stand’st thou: choose! - Quench the kindled light I brought, - Fence the fountain of my thought, - Give me back my idol treasures - (Still she lingers by the door), - Give me back the earthly pleasures - Of the bright, blind days of yore; - Thrust me back into the pit - Where till now I lulled my sin, - Deeper, deeper thrust me in— - Thou canst lightly compass it; - Clip my wings and check my flight, - Load my feet, and drag me bound - Down, down from thy dizzy height - To my lowly native ground; - Let me lead the life I led - When the darkness yet was dread: - If thou darest thus to lose, - Then, as ever, I am thine; - At the cross-way stand’st thou: choose! - - BRAND. - - Woe, if such a choice were mine. - Ah, but in some place afar, - Where no bitter memories are, - Death and darkness thou shalt brave! - - AGNES. - - Hast thou _here_ thy work forgotten, - Holy work—and holy grave? - And the thousands sin-besotten, - It is _here_ thy task to save— - Those thou guidest for God’s sake - To the Fountain that renews? - At the cross-way stand’st thou: choose! - - BRAND. - - Then I have no choice to make. - - AGNES. - [_Throws herself on his neck._] - - Thanks for that, and thanks for all! - Thou the weary one hast led; - Over me the dank mists fall, - Thou wilt watch beside my bed. - - BRAND. - - Sleep! thy day’s work now is done. - - AGNES. - - Done, and now the lamp alight. - I have fought out all my might, - I am weary of the sun. - Oh, but praising God is best! - Brand, good-night! - - BRAND. - - Good-night! - - AGNES. - - Good-night. - Thanks for all. Now I will rest. - [_Goes._ - - BRAND. - [_Clenches his hands against his breast._] - - Soul, be patient in thy pain! - Triumph in its bitter cost. - All to lose was all to gain; - Nought abideth but the Lost! - - - - - ACT FIFTH. - - _A year and a half later. The new Church stands complete, - and adorned for consecration. The river runs close - beside it. A misty morning, early._ - - _The SEXTON is busy hanging garlands outside the Church; - shortly after comes the SCHOOLMASTER._ - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - At work already? - - THE SEXTON. - - None too soon. - Lend me a hand; I must festoon - The path, to keep the march in trim. - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - Before the Manse I see ascending - Something that rears a rounded rim— - - THE SEXTON. - - Ay, surely, surely! - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - What is pending? - - THE SEXTON. - - Why, it is what they call a shield - With Parson’s name in a gold field. - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - To-day the valley’s in high feather. - From far and wide they’re flocking hither, - The fjord with sails is all agleam. - - THE SEXTON. - - Yes; they’ve awaken’d from their dream. - In the late Pastor’s day, no breast - With bitterness and strife was cumber’d, - Each slumber’d as his neighbour slumber’d, - —I’m not quite certain which is best. - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - Life, Sexton, life! - - THE SEXTON. - - Yet you and I - Pass this “life” unregarding by; - How comes it? - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - Why, before, the folk - Slumber’d, and nowise toil’d, as we did; - We fell asleep when they awoke, - Because we were no longer needed. - - THE SEXTON. - - But yet you said that life was best? - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - By Dean and deacon that’s profess’d. - And I too say so, like the rest,— - Provided, mind, the “life” in view - Is that of the great Residue. - But we two serve another law - Than that which holds the mass in awe; - Set by the State to guard and guide,— - Look, we must stand against the tide, - Cherish the Church and Education, - And keep aloof from agitation. - Briefly, in nothing take a side. - - THE SEXTON. - - But Parson’s in it, heart and soul. - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - And just in that forgets his rôle. - His own superiors, well I know, - Look with displeasure on his action, - And, dared they but offend his faction, - Had thrown him over long ago. - But he is fine; he smells a rat; - He’s got a recipe for that. - He builds the Church. Here you may glue - All eyes up, if you will but _do_. - _What’s_ done none has a thought to spare for; - The _doing_ of it’s all they care for. - So they who follow, and we who lead, - All equally are men of deed. - - THE SEXTON. - - Well, you have sat in the great Thing, - And ought to know the Land and Folk; - But one who travell’d through the glen - A little after we awoke - Said, we’d been sleeping folks till then, - But, having waked,—were _promising_. - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - Yes; we’re a promising folk, of course,— - And mighty promises we’re giving,— - So fast we stride, we’ll soon be living - Elucidations of their force. - - THE SEXTON. - - One thing I’ve ponder’d many a day; - You’ve studied,—what do folks intend - By that same “People’s Promise,” pray? - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - A People’s Promise, my good friend? - That were a long investigation; - But ’tis a thing that is pursued - By force of sheer anticipation; - A grand Idea they must make good - In _future_, be it understood. - - THE SEXTON. - - Thanks; I see that at any rate; - But there’s another point I’d fain - Beg of you briefly to explain. - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - Speak freely. - - THE SEXTON. - - Tell me, at what date - Comes, what is call’d the future? - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - Why, - It never does come! - - THE SEXTON. - - Never! - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - No, - And only follows Nature so. - For when it comes, you see, ’tis grown - The Present, and the Future’s flown. - - THE SEXTON. - - Why, yes, to that there’s no reply; - That logic one must needs accept. - But—when then is the promise kept? - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - A Promise is a future-dated - Pact, as I have already stated; - ’Tis kept in Future. - - THE SEXTON. - - That is clear. - When will the Future, though, be here! - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - [_Aside._] - - You blessed Sexton! - [_Aloud._] - Worthy friend, - Must I the argument recall? - The Future cannot come at all, - Because its coming is its end. - - THE SEXTON - - Thank you. - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - In all conceptions lies - Something that looks like artifice, - But yet is quite direct and plain,— - That is to say, for any brain - Able to reckon up to ten. - To make a promise means, at last, - To _break_ it, spite of best intent; - Truth to one’s word has always pass’d - For hard; but you may just as well - Prove it purely impossible,— - If you’ve an eye for argument.— - There, let this Promise-question be! - Come tell me——! - - THE SEXTON. - - Hist! - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - What is it? - - THE SEXTON. - - Hark! - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - I hear the organ play! - - THE SEXTON. - - ’Tis he. - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - The Pastor? - - THE SEXTON. - - Even so. - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - Save the mark - But he is out betimes! - - THE SEXTON. - - I guess - He stirr’d no pillow yesternight. - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - What do you say? - - THE SEXTON. - - All is not right. - He’s felt the pang of loneliness - Since first his widowhood began. - He hides his sorrow all he can; - But, whiles, it may not be controll’d; - His heart’s a jar that will not hold, - And overflows by base and brim;— - So then he plays. ’Tis like a wild - Weeping for buried wife and child. - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - It is as if they talk’d with him—— - - THE SEXTON. - - As if _one_ suffered, _one_ consoled—— - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - H’m—if one dared to be affected! - - THE SEXTON. - - Ah,—if one did not serve the State - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - Ah,—if one bore no leaden weight - Of forms that have to be respected - - THE SEXTON. - - Ah,—if one dared toss tape and seal - And ledger to the deuce for ever! - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - And leave off striving to be clever; - And, Sexton, if one dared to _feel_! - - THE SEXTON. - - No one is near,—let’s feel, my friend! - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - We cannot fitly condescend - To smirch ourselves in human slime. - Let no man, says the Parson, dare - To be two things at the same time; - And, with the best will, no one can - Be an official and a man; - Our part in all things is, to swear - By our great exemplar—the Mayor. - - THE SEXTON. - - Why just by him? - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - Do you recall - The fire that wreck’d his house, and yet - The deeds were rescued, one and all? - - THE SEXTON. - - It was an evening—— - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - Wild and wet, - And like ten toiling men toiled he; - But indoors stood the Devil in glee - Guffawing, and his wife shriek’d out: - “O save your soul, sweet husband! See, - Satan will have you!” Then a shout - Rang backward through the surging vapours: - “My soul may go to hell for me; - Just lend a hand to save the papers!” - Look, that’s a Mayor—without, within! - From top to toe, from core to skin; - He’ll win his way, I’m certain, yonder, - Where his life’s toil shall have its price. - - THE SEXTON. - - And where may that be? - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - Where, I wonder, - But in the good Mayors’ Paradise. - - THE SEXTON. - - My learned friend! - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - What now? - - THE SEXTON. - - A token - Of our fermenting age I hear, - Methinks, in every word you’ve spoken; - For that it _does_ ferment is clear. - Witness the reverence all refuse - To old-established Wont and Use. - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - What moulders, in the mould’s its doom, - What rots must nourish what is fresh; - Their vitals canker and consume, - Let them cough up the imposthume, - Or to the grave with their dead flesh! - There’s ferment, yes; past fear or hope, - That’s plain without a telescope. - The day our ancient Church lay low, - Everything with it seem’d to go - Wherein our life struck root and found - Its home-soil and its native-ground. - - THE SEXTON. - - Then on the throng a stillness came. - “Down with it! Down with it!” they cried - At first; but soon that clamour died, - And many felt their ears a-flame, - And stole shy glances of distrust. - When the ancestral House of Prayer - Was to be levell’d—then and there,— - By hands unhallow’d, in the dust. - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - But countless bonds, they fancied, knit - Them ever to the ghost of it, - So long as yonder Palace lack’d - The final seal of consecration; - And so in anguish’d expectation - They watch’d it growing into fact, - And blinked before the glorious End, - When the old tatter should descend - And the new colours flaunt the gale. - But ever as the spire upclomb - They grew more silent and more pale, - And now,—well, now the End is come. - - THE SEXTON. - - Look at the throng. Both young and old - Swarm hither. - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - And by thousands told.— - How still they are! - - THE SEXTON. - - And yet they moan, - Like sea fore-feeling tempest’s fret. - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - It is the People’s hearts that groan, - As if, with piercing doubts beset, - The great new age they did forebode, - Or were in solemn sessions met - To nominate another God. - Where, where’s the priest,—I stifle here. - Would heaven that I could disappear! - - THE SEXTON. - - I too, I too! - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - In hours like this - No man well knows how deep he is. - Each depth a deeper depth revealing, - We will, then will not, and then doubt—— - - THE SEXTON. - - My friend! - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - My friend! - - THE SEXTON. - - H’m! - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - Speak it out! - - THE SEXTON. - - I think, in very truth, we’re feeling! - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - Feeling? Not I! - - THE SEXTON. - - Nor I, take warning! - A single witness I defy! - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - We’re men, not school-girls, you and I. - My youngsters wait for me. Good-morning. - [_Goes._ - - THE SEXTON. - - Just now I’d visions like a fool: - Now I’m again collected, cool, - And close as clasps! To work I’ll press! - Here’s no more scope for hand or tool, - And Satan’s couch is idleness. - [_Goes out at the other side._ - - _The organ, which during what precedes has been heard in an - undertone, suddenly peals forth, and ends with a - discordant shriek. Shortly afterwards BRAND comes - out._ - - BRAND. - - No, I vainly, vainly seek - To unlock the heart of sound; - All the song becomes a shriek. - Walls and arches, vault and ground, - Seem to stoop and crowd and throng, - Seem to clasp with iron force, - Seem to close around the song, - As the coffin round the corse! - Vain my effort, vain my suit, - All the organ’s music’s mute, - Fain a prayer I would have spoken, - But my lifted voice fell broken,— - Like the muffled moan it fell - Of a riven and rusted bell. - ’Twas as if the Lord were seated - In the chancel, and beheld, - And in wrath, while I entreated, - All my piteous prayer repell’d!— - Great shall be the House of God; - In my confidence I swore it; - Fearless, smote and wreck’d and tore it, - Swept it level with the sod. - Now the finish’d work stands fast. - As the people throng before it, - Still they cry: “How vast! how vast!” - Is it they see true or I, - Who no vastness can descry? - Is it great? The thing I will’d, - Is it in _this_ House fulfill’d? - Can the rushing fire of passion - That begot it, _here_ be still’d? - Was the Temple of this fashion - That I dream’d should overspan - All the misery of Man? - Ah, had Agnes stay’d with me, - Not thus vainly had I striven! - Small things greatly she could see, - From doubt’s anguish set me free, - Clasp together Earth and Heaven - Like the green roof of the tree. - [_He observes the preparations for the festival._] - All with wreaths and banners hung; - Children practising their song; - So the Manse they surge and throng,— - Festal greetings they would bring me;— - Yonder gleams my name in gold!— - Give me light, O God, or fling me - Fathom-deep beneath this mould! - In an hour begins the Feast - Every thought and every tongue - Will be ringing with “the priest” - All their thoughts I can discern; - All their words I feel them burn; - All their praise, on elf-wings sped, - Rives me like an icy blast! - Oh, to be enfolded fast - In oblivion, hide my head - In a wild beast’s hole at last! - - THE MAYOR. - - [_Enters in full uniform, radiant with satisfaction, - and greets him._] - - Here is the great day come at last, - The Sabbath to the toiling six; - Now we can strike our sail, and fix - Our Sunday pennon to the mast, - Glide softly with the gliding flood - And find that all is very good. - Bravo!—great, noble man, whose fame - Will soon be far and wide related. - Bravo!—I’m moved, yet all the same - Most inexpressibly elated! - But you appear——? - - BRAND. - - I’m suffocated. - - THE MAYOR. - - Pooh, a mere momentary whim! - Preach you now, till it roars again!— - Fill the folks’ bushel to the brim. - Not one his wonder can contain, - The resonance is so full and plain. - - BRAND. - - Indeed? - - THE MAYOR. - - The Dean himself is warm - In admiration and delight. - And then, what elegance of form, - And what a grandeur, what a height - In every part—— - - BRAND. - - You’ve noted this? - - THE MAYOR. - - What noted? - - BRAND. - - It seems great to you? - - THE MAYOR. - - Why, it not only _seems_, but _is_, - No matter what the point of view. - - BRAND. - - It is great? Really? That is true—? - - THE MAYOR. - - Great?—yes, God bless me,—and to spare— - For folks so far to North. Elsewhere - They’ve higher standards, I’m aware. - But among us who captive dwell - Amid drear wastes and barren mounds, - On the scant verge of fjord and fell, - Its greatness ’mazes and confounds. - - BRAND. - - Yes, that is so, and all we do - Is,—change an old lie for a new. - - THE MAYOR. - - What? - - BRAND. - - We have lured their hearts away - From the time-honour’d gloom and mould - To soaring spire and open day. - “How venerable!” they cried of old. - “How vast!” in chorus now they roar— - “The like was never seen before!” - - THE MAYOR. - - My worthy friend, I needs must hold - His breeding scarcely _quantum suff._ - For whom it is not great enough. - - BRAND. - - But clear it shall be unto all - That, as it stands, the Church is small. - To keep that hidden were to lie. - - THE MAYOR. - - Nay, listen,—let such whimsies fly! - What can it profit to dispraise - What you yourself have toil’d to raise? - You’ve satisfied their utmost dream; - It seems to them more rich and rare - Than aught they e’er saw anywhere:— - Let it continue so to seem! - Why should we vex their silly sight - With proffers of the flaming link, - When they’re indifferent to light? - The question’s only what they _think_. - It does not signify a jot - Though the Church were a pigeon-cot, - If in the faith they’re rooted fast, - That it is infinitely vast. - - BRAND. - - In every matter the same thought. - - THE MAYOR. - - To-day, moreover, we hold fête; - The whole assembly is our guest; - It is a point of etiquette - That everything should look its best; - And for your own sake, most of all, - It were judicious to keep clear - Of that sore fact—that it is small. - - BRAND. - - How so? - - THE MAYOR. - - Well, listen, you shall hear. - Firstly, the headmen of the town - Are giving you a piece of plate, - Whose graved inscription is frustrate - If the work’s size is whittled down; - And then the Ode, composed express, - And my inaugural address,— - You leave them helpless in the lurch, - Docking the greatness of the Church. - You see then, you must yield your doubt, - And boldly face the matter out. - - BRAND. - - I see, what oft has stung my eye, - A lying triumph crown the lie. - - THE MAYOR. - - But, in God’s name, my worthy friend, - Where do these strong expressions tend? - However, waiving points of taste, - Hear now my second reason,—gold, - As that was silver; for, behold, - You, like a chosen son, are graced - With favour in the royal sight; - In short,—you have been named a Knight! - This very day you’ll walk elate, - Cross upon breast, a titled man. - - BRAND. - - Another, heavier cross’s weight - I bear; take that from me who can. - - THE MAYOR. - - What’s this? You do not seem to shake - With agitation at such prize? - You mystery of mysteries! - But pray consider, for God’s sake—— - - BRAND. - [_Stamping._] - - This is mere babble of vain speech:— - Nothing I learn and nothing teach; - You have not grasp’d the smallest shred - Of the true sense of what I said. - I meant not greatness men compute, - And measure by the inch and foot, - But that which, viewless, darts and streams, - Pierces the soul with frosts and fires, - That beckons to impassion’d dreams, - And like the starlit heaven inspires— - That—leave me! I am worn, oppress’d;— - Convince, teach, edify the rest. - [_Goes up towards the Church._ - - THE MAYOR. - [_To himself._] - - In such a labyrinth who can stray - And find an issue? Greatness lay - In something that is “viewless,” “streams,” - “Not inchwise measured,” “lifts to dreams,” - And “starlit heaven”? It went so, surely? - Has he been lunching prematurely? - [_Goes._ - - BRAND. - [_Comes down over the open ground._] - - So desolate on the upland drear - I never stood as I stand here; - My impotent questionings evoke - Echoes that cackle and that croak. - [_Looks towards the MAYOR._] - For him, I would my heel might bruise - His head! Each time I make emprise - To loose him from the bond of lies, - With shameless wantonness he spews - His rotten soul before my eyes!— - O Agnes, why wast thou so frail? - Would that this hollow game were done, - Where none give in, and none prevail;— - Yes, hopeless he that fights alone! - - THE DEAN. - [_Coming up._] - - O, my beloved! O, my sheep—! - Nay, I beg pardon,—would have said - My reverend brother!—cannot keep - My predication from my head; - I got it yesterday by rote, - The taste still lingers in my throat. - Enough of that.—To you I offer - My thanks, whose energy began, - Whose firmness carried through, the plan, - Despite the babbler and the scoffer; - Fell’d that which was about to fall, - And worthily restored it all! - - BRAND. - - Far from that yet. - - THE DEAN. - - How say you, friend? - Is Consecration not the end? - - BRAND. - - A House new-builded asks, as well, - A cleansed Soul, therein to dwell. - - THE DEAN. - - All that will come without our stir. - So gay, so elegant a roof - Will be an adequate reproof - To every unwash’d worshipper. - And that delightful sounding-board, - That doubles every pious word, - Will render without fail our flocks - Fivescore per cent. more orthodox, - Results so notable as these - The first-rate Nationalities - Themselves, ’tis said, can hardly better.— - For this your Country is your debtor, - Yours only; let me then express - These heartfelt, brotherly thanks of mine, - To be re-echoed, as I guess, - In winged words across the wine, - By many a fiery young divine, - When at the festal board we crown - This the great day of your renown.— - But, my dear Brand, you look so faint—? - - BRAND. - - My heart and hope have long been spent. - - THE DEAN. - - No wonder;—with so grave a care, - And all unaided and unfriended. - But now the worst of it is ended, - And all gives promise of a splendid - Day for our function. Don’t despair! - All will go well. Reflect! A throng - Has gather’d, many thousand strong, - From far-off parishes,—and who - Can vie in eloquence with you? - See where your reverend brethren stand, - To welcome you with heart and hand; - While all these lowly bosoms beat - With ardour for you, first to last! - And then, the work, so ably plann’d, - The decoration, so complete,— - The general theme—How great! How vast! - —And the unparallel’d repast! - Into the kitchen I was looking - Just now, and saw the calf a-cooking. - Nay, Brand, a pretty beast, I vow! - You must have had some trouble, now, - In these hard times, before you found - So fine a bit of flesh to cater, - With meat at half a crown a pound! - But that can be deferr’d till later. - I’m on another errand bound. - - BRAND. - - Speak freely; slash, stab, rive and rend! - - THE DEAN. - - I have a milder way, my friend. - But briefly; for our duties press. - One little matter, I confess, - I’d have you from to-day set right; - A task that cannot but be light. - Nay, I imagine you can guess - Half what I’m hinting at, at least? - I mean, your duties as a priest. - Hitherto you have been a loose - Observer still, of Wont and Use; - But Use and Wont, if not the best - Of things, are yet the needfulest. - Well, well, I will not be severe; - You’re young, and but a novice here, - Town-bred, and scarcely understand - What country usages demand. - But now, now it is urgent, friend, - The lack of judgment to amend. - You hitherto have too much heeded - What this man and what that man needed; - That error (in your private ear) - Is grievous. Weigh them in the block; - Use the same comb for all the flock; - You won’t repent it, never fear. - - BRAND. - - Be more explicit. - - THE DEAN. - - The thing’s clear. - You for the Parish’s behoof - Have built a Church. That is the woof - That robes the spirit of Law and Peace; - For to the State, religion is - The power that lifts and purifies, - The stronghold where its safety lies, - The universal moral measure. - You see, the State is scant of treasure, - And wants full value for its pence. - “Good Christians” means “good citizens.” - Do you suppose it pays its pelf - To be for God and Man a tool, - And bring annoyance on itself? - No, faith, the State is not a fool; - And all our course would run amiss, - Did not the State, by strictest rule, - Look only to the life that is. - But the State’s object, my good friend, - Through its officials must be gain’d, - In this case through its priests—— - - BRAND. - - Each word - Is wisdom! Speak! - - THE DEAN. - - I’m near the end. - This Church, you see, you have conferr’d - Upon the State, for its sole profit; - And, therefore, all the uses of it - Must to the State’s advantage tend. - This is the meaning, note it well, - Of our forthcoming celebration, - This shall be meant by chiming bell, - And this by Gift-deed’s recitation. - A promise thus the Gift implies, - Whose force I’d have you scrutinise—— - - BRAND. - - By God, I never meant it so! - - THE DEAN. - - Yes; but it’s now too late, you know—— - - BRAND. - - Too late? Too late! That will be seen! - - THE DEAN. - - Be sensible! I can’t keep grave! - What is the tragedy therein? - You are not ask’d to promise sin? - Souls do not grow more hard to save - Because the Country profits too; - With due discretion and despatch - Two masters’ bidding you may do; - You were not made a priest, to snatch - Peter or Harry’s single soul - Out of the torments of the lake; - But that the Parish as a whole - Might of the shower of grace partake; - And, the whole Parish saved, it’s clear, - You save every Parishioner. - The State is (what you hardly dream) - Exactly half republican: - Liberty held in strictest ban, - Equality in high esteem. - Yet is Equality never won - But by destroying More and Less,— - And it is that you have not done! - Nay, you have striven to express - And emphasise unlikenesses - That slumber’d hitherto unknown. - Men, mere Church-members till of late, - To Personalities are grown. - That does no service to the State; - And thus it is, each Parish rate, - Each offering to the common good, - Is from unwilling niggards bled; - The Church no longer is the hood - That fits alike on every head. - - BRAND. - - O, vistas infinite unfold! - - THE DEAN. - - Don’t be cast down; no gain in that - Though I must own I shudder at - The dire confusion I behold. - But while there’s life there’s hope, and you - Are by this gift baptized anew - To obligations yet more great - Of serving, by your Church, the State. - Men need a rule in all they do; - Or reckless forces, breaking loose, - Like colts undaunted by the curb, - Spurn gates and fences, and disturb - The thousand landmarks of old Use. - Each order’d mode of life proclaims - One Law, that goes by many names. - The Artist calls it School, and I’m - Mistaken if I have not heard - Our soldiers call it keeping time. - Ah yes, friend, that’s the very word! - That’s what the State desires at last! - Double-quick time gets on too fast, - And goose-step lags too far behind; - All men to step alike, and beat - The selfsame music with their feet, - That is the method to its mind! - - BRAND. - - Kennel the eagle;—and let loose - On empyrean flights the goose! - - THE DEAN. - - We, thank the Lord, are not as these;— - But if we must use allegory, - We’ll turn to Scripture, if you please. - For every case it has a story, - From Genesis to Revelation - It swarms with stimulating Fable; - I will but hint, in illustration, - At that projected Tower of Babel - How did the good folks prosper, pray? - And why? The answer’s clear as day; - Their ranks divided, sort by sort, - Each one his private language spoke, - They drew not in the common yoke, - Grew “Personalities,” in short. - That’s half the twofold core that lies - Embedded in this shell of fable;— - That all strength, sever’d, is unstable, - And death-doom’d who the world defies. - When God desires a man to fall - He makes him an Original; - The Romans had it, ’faith, that God - Made the man mad; but mad is odd, - And oddness singleness, you know; - Therefore who fights without a friend - Must look to suffer in the end - The fate that overtook the man - Whom David posted in the van. - - BRAND. - - Yes, very likely: but what though? - In Death I see not Overthrow. - And is your faith quite firm and fast - That had those builders spoken still - One speech, and acted with one will, - They would have piled the pinnacle - Of Babel up to heaven at last? - - THE DEAN. - - To heaven? No, that is where it lies: - No man gets quite to Paradise. - There, see, we have the second core, - Embedded in this shell of fable;— - That every building is unstable - Which to the starry heaven would soar! - - BRAND. - - Yet, Jacob’s ladder reach’d that goal. - Thither by longing soars the Soul. - - THE DEAN. - - In that way! Why, God bless me, yes - Further discussion’s needless there. - Heaven is the wage of faithfulness, - Of course, of moral life and prayer. - But life and faith hold such dissent, - They only thrive, when kept apart; - Six days for toiling hands are meant. - The seventh, for stirring of the heart; - If all the week we preach’d and pray’d, - The Sabbath had in vain been made. - God’s incense, rightly to be used, - Must not be lavishly diffused; - Worship, like Art, was not created - To be in perfume dissipated. - The Ideal you may safely sound - From pulpit’s holy vantage-ground; - But with your surplice lay it by, - When you emerge beneath the sky. - All things, as I have said, are based - On laws that strictly must be traced, - And my sole end in speaking is - To give this fact due emphasis. - - BRAND. - - One thing I very clearly see: - No State Soul-case is fit for me. - - THE MAYOR. - - A perfect fit, I will engage, - My friend,—but on a loftier stage:— - You must go up—— - - BRAND. - - Is that an end - I reach by plunging in the mire? - - THE DEAN. - - Whoso him humbleth shall go higher! - Hooks will not catch, unless they bend. - - BRAND. - - Man can’t be used, unless he perish! - - THE DEAN. - - Good God! How can you think I cherish - Any such purpose? - - BRAND. - - Ay, indeed, - That’s the condition! First to bleed! - Your bloodless spirit to put on - Man must be first a skeleton! - - THE DEAN. - - I would not put the lancet through - A very kitten—far less you; - But yet I thought no harm were done - In leaving just ajar the door - That opens, where I went before. - - BRAND. - - And do you know what you have sought? - This, that upon the State’s cock-cry - I that Ideal should deny - For which I until now have fought? - - THE DEAN. - - Deny, friend? Who makes such request? - Duty is all I bid you follow: - I ask you quietly to swallow - That which your people can’t digest. - Keep it intact, if you’re disposed,— - But yet hermetically closed; - At home, in God’s name, soar and swell, - Not as a public spectacle; - Trust me, the will that won’t be bent - Brings its unfailing punishment. - - BRAND. - - Ay, fear of torment, hope of gain, - Are on thy brow the brand of Cain, - Which cries that thou by worldly art - Hast slain the Abel in thy heart! - - THE DEAN. - [_To himself._] - - Upon my word he calls me “Thou”; - That is too much!— - [_Aloud._] - I will not now - Prolong our strife, but, to conclude, - Would have it clearly understood, - That if you’d prosper, you must weigh - What land you live in, and what day. - For no man wins the fight with fortune, - But in alliance with his time. - Which of the men who paint and rhyme - Dare fail when social claims importune? - Look at our soldiers! Why, the gleam - Of sabres is become a dream! - And wherefore? Since a law commands: - Postpone thy own need to the Land’s! - Let each his own excrescence pare, - Neither uplift him, nor protrude, - But vanish in the multitude. - “Humane the age is,” says the Mayor: - And if humanely it be met - Will bring you fame and fortune yet. - But all your angles must be rounded, - Your gnarls and bosses scraped and pounded! - You must grow sleek as others do, - All singularities eschew, - If you would labour without let. - - BRAND. - - Away! away! - - THE DEAN. - - I quite agree. - Men of your stamp must finally - Be summon’d to a higher seat; - But, in the greater as the less, - Only the regimental dress - Will make your happiness complete. - The corporal, staff in hand, must knock - The sense of Time into his flock; - For, to our mind, the best of all - Commanders is the corporal. - Just as the corporal leads his men - Into the church, battalion-wise, - So must the priest lead his, again, - By parishes to Paradise. - It’s all so easy!—Faith, you say, - Broad-based upon authority; - Which, being upon learning stay’d, - May be implicitly obey’d: - While rules and ritual leave no doubt - How faith ought to be acted out. - Wherefore, my brother,—pluck up cheer! - Employ the time for meditation; - Reflect upon your situation, - And don’t give way to futile fear! - I’ll see just now if I can pitch - My music to a higher note: - Though with an unaccustom’d throat, - A sounding-board’s so seldom here. - Farewell, farewell! I mean to preach - Of human nature’s sinful prime, - God’s image nigh obliterated.— - But now I’m thinking it is time - The inner mortal should be baited. - [_Goes._ - - BRAND - [_Stands for a moment as if petrified in thought._] - - All I have offer’d for my call, - God’s as I vainly held it,—all; - And now one trumpet-blast reveal’d - Before what idols I had kneel’d. - Not yet! not yet! I’m not their slave! - Yon churchyard has had blood to sup, - Light, life I’ve laid in yonder grave;— - My soul shall not be yielded up! - O horrible to stand alone,— - Amid a glimmering world of dead; - Horrible to receive a stone, - Howe’er I hunger after bread.— - How true, how deadly true, his strain,— - But yet how vacant and how vain. - Dim broods God’s dove of piercing eyes; - Alas, to me she never flies.— - O, had I but _one_ faithful breast— - To give me strength, to give me rest. - - _EINAR, pale, emaciated, dressed in black, comes along the - road and stops on perceiving BRAND._ - - BRAND - [_Cries out._] - - You, Einar? - - EINAR. - - By that name I’m known. - - BRAND. - - I was just thirsting for a breast - That was not made of wood or stone! - Come, to my heart of hearts be press’d! - - EINAR. - - My haven’s found, I am at rest. - - BRAND. - - You bear a grudge for the event - Of our last meeting—— - - EINAR. - - In no wise; - I blame you not. You were but sent - To be the passive instrument - Wherewith God oped my erring eyes. - - BRAND - [_starts back._] - - What tongue is this? - - EINAR. - - The tongue of peace— - The tongue they learn, who, timely torn - From Sleep of Sin, awake new-born. - - BRAND. - - Marvellous! I had heard of this,— - That you in quite another way - Were walking—— - - EINAR. - - I was led astray - By pride, in my own strength secure. - The idols the world holds divine, - The talent I was told was mine, - My singer’s voice, were all malign - Seductions unto Satan’s lure. - But God (I praise Him) for me wrought, - Left not His erring sheep unsought, - He help’d me in my hour of need. - - BRAND. - - Help’d you—in what way? - - EINAR. - - Yes, indeed:— - I fell. - - BRAND. - - Fell? How? - - EINAR. - - To dissipation. - With gambling tastes He me imbued— - - BRAND. - - And that was God’s solicitude? - - EINAR. - - ’Twas the first step to my salvation. - On that my health He undermined, - The talent from my fingers fled, - My love of revelry declined, - Then, to the hospital consign’d, - Long I lay sick, and round my bed - Flames seem’d to glare, and on each wall - Myriads of giant flies to crawl;— - Came out, and soon acquaintance made - With certain sisters, three in all, - Soldiers in God’s cause arm’d and paid. - And they, together with a priest, - Me from the yoke of Earth released - Pluck’d me from Sin that held me fast, - And made me the Lord’s child at last. - - BRAND. - - Indeed? - - EINAR. - - Divergent paths we follow; - One seeks the height, and one the hollow. - - BRAND. - - But after? - - EINAR. - - True; I turn’d me thence, - To preach for Total Abstinence; - But since that Work for the unwary - Is strewn with perilous temptation, - I chose another occupation, - And travel now as Missionary—— - - BRAND. - - Where? - - EINAR. - - To the Caudate-nigger State. - But now, I think, we’ll separate; - My time is precious—— - - BRAND. - - Won’t you stay? - You see here’s festival to-day. - - EINAR. - - Thanks, no; the swarthy Heathens wait.— - Farewell. - [_Going._ - - BRAND. - - And does no memory stir, - Bidding you ask—? - - EINAR. - - Of what? - - BRAND. - - Of her - Who would have grieved at the abyss, - That parts another day from this. - - EINAR. - - I guess your meaning; you refer - To that young female, whose allure - Held me in pleasure’s net secure, - Till Faith’s ablution made me pure. - —Yes, and how is it then with her? - - BRAND. - - Next year I won her for my wife. - - EINAR. - - That’s unimportant, I prefer - To leave these trivial facts unknown - What’s _weighty_ I desire alone. - - BRAND. - - God richly bless’d our common life - With joy and sorrow: The child pined—— - - EINAR. - - That’s unimportant—— - - BRAND. - - So it is; - He was but given to be resign’d; - Our eyes one day shall look on his. - But afterwards she also died; - Their graves bloom yonder side by side. - - EINAR. - - That’s unimportant—— - - BRAND. - - That likewise? - - EINAR. - - Such things are trifles in my eyes, - How did she die, I want to know? - - BRAND. - - With Hope that yet a Dawn shall glow, - With all her heart’s rich treasure whole. - With Will that never lost control, - With thanks for all that life had lent - And life had taken away, she went. - - EINAR. - - Trumpery figments every one. - Say what the faith she died in was. - - BRAND. - - Unshaken. - - EINAR. - - In what? - - BRAND. - - In God. - - EINAR. - - Alas - Only in Him? She is undone. - - BRAND. - - What say you? - - EINAR. - - Damn’d, to my regret. - - BRAND. - [_Quietly._] - - Go, scoundrel! - - EINAR. - - _You_ shall feel as well - The clutches of the Lord of hell;— - For both, eternal torments wait. - - BRAND. - - You, wretch, dare sentence to the Fire! - Yourself late wallow’d in the mire—— - - EINAR. - - On me no spot is to be seen; - The tub of Faith hath wash’d me clean; - Each splash has vanish’d, scraped and scored - On Holiness’s washing-board; - In Vigilance’s mangle I - Have wrung my Adam’s-vesture dry; - And shine like snowy surplice fair, - Soap-lather’d with the suds of Prayer! - - BRAND. - - Hold! - - EINAR. - - Hold, yourself! Here’s sulphur fume, - I see the glints of Satan’s horn! - I am Salvation’s good wheat-corn, - And you the shovell’d chaff of Doom. - [_Goes._ - - BRAND. - [_Looks a while after him; all at once his eyes flash and he - breaks out._] - - _That_, that is the man I need! - Now all bonds are burst that bound me; - Now my flag shall wave around me - Though none follow where I lead! - - THE MAYOR. - [_Comes hastily in._] - - Pray, dear Pastor, hasten, do! - The procession-people stand - Waiting only the command— - - BRAND. - - Let them come then! - - THE MAYOR. - - Wanting you! - Pray reflect, and hasten in! - All impatient to begin, - See, the whole mass throng and strain; - Like a torrent after storm - On the Manse they surge and swarm, - Shouting for the Priest. Again, - Hark you, for “the Priest” they shout, - Pray make haste! I much misdoubt, - They may scarcely prove humane! - - BRAND. - - Never will I hide my face - In the crowd that you command; - Let them seek me: here I stand. - - THE MAYOR. - - Are you sane? - - BRAND. - - The path you pace - Is too narrow for my tread. - - THE MAYOR. - - And ’twill still grow less and less - As the people push ahead. - Zounds! They spurn at rod and check! - Parsons, Dean, and Corporation - Jostled to the brimming beck—! - Quickly, friend, make application - Of the scourge of your persuasion! - Ha, too late, they smash the line; - The procession is a wreck! - - _The multitude stream in, and break in wild disorder through - the procession to the church._ - - VOICES. - - Priest! - - OTHERS. - - [_Pointing up to the Church steps, where BRAND - stands._] - - See yonder! - - OTHERS AGAIN. - - Give the sign! - - THE DEAN. - [_Jostled in the throng._] - - Mayor, Mayor, control them, pray! - - THE MAYOR. - - All my words are thrown away! - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - [_To_ BRAND.] - - Speak to them, and cast a gleam - On their spirits’ troubled stream! - What you summon’d us to see, - Was it Feast or foolery? - - BRAND. - - O, there stirs a current, then, - In these stagnant waters.—Men, - At the crossway stand ye: choose! - _Wholly_ ye must will to lose - The old vesture of your lust, - Utterly anew be clad, - Ere our Temple from the dust - Rises, as it shall and must! - - OFFICIALS. - - He is raving! - - CLERGY. - - He is mad! - - BRAND. - - Yes, I was so, when I thought - Ye in some sense also wrought - For the God who hateth Lies! - When I dream’d that I could lure - To your hearts His Spirit pure - By a feat of compromise. - Small the Church was; logic thence - Palter’d to the inference: - Twice the size—that cannot fail; - Fivefold,—that must needs prevail! - O, I saw not that the call - Was for _Nothing_ or else _All_. - Down that easy way I reel’d, - But to-day the Lord has spoken, - In this very hour has peal’d - Overhead the awful blast - Of His Judgment-trump at last,— - And I listen’d, in the wind - Of my anguish, baffled, broken,— - Even as David, having sinn’d—; - Now all hesitation dies. - Men! The Devil is _compromise_! - - THE MULTITUDE. - [_With growing excitement._] - - Down with them that quench’d our light - Sapp’d the marrow of our might! - - BRAND. - - In your souls the demon dwells - That has bound you with his spells. - You have put your powers at mart, - You have cleft yourselves in twain; - Discord therefore numbs your brain, - Petrifies your hollow heart. - To the Church to-day what drew you? - But the show, the show—nought else!— - Roll of organ, clash of bells,— - And to feel the tingle through you - Of a speaking-furnace dart, - As it lisps and lilts and prattles, - As it rolls and roars and rattles, - By the strictest rules of Art! - - THE DEAN. - [_To himself._] - - The Mayor’s chatter, he must mean. - - THE MAYOR. - [_Likewise._] - - That’s the twaddle of the Dean! - - BRAND. - - Nothing but the altar-glow - Of the Festival you know. - Get you home then to your sloth, - Get you home to toil and stress, - Soul as well as body clothe - In its common work-day dress,— - And the Bible slumber sound - Till the next Saint’s day comes round. - O, it was not to this end - That the Offering-cup I drain’d! - I the Greater Church ordain’d, - That its shadow might descend, - Not alone on Faith and Creed - But on everything in life - That by God’s leave lives indeed;— - On our daily strain and strife, - Midnight weeping, evening rest, - Youth’s impetuous delight, - All that harbours of good right, - Mean or precious, in the breast. - Yonder foss’s hidden thunder, - And the beck that sparkles under, - And the bellow of wild weather, - And the murmurous ocean’s tongue - Should have melted, soul-possess’d, - With the organ’s roll together, - And the gather’d people’s song. - Sweep this lying Labour hence! - Mighty only in pretence! - Stricken inly with decay - On its consecration day,— - Symbol of your impotence. - All the germs of soul you aim - By divided toil to maim; - For the week’s six days ye drag - To the deepest deep God’s flag, - For one only of the seven, - Let it flutter forth to heaven! - - VOICES FROM THE THRONG. - - Lead us, lead us! Tempest lowers! - Lead us, and the day is ours! - - THE DEAN. - - Do not hear him! Nought he knows - Of the Faith a Christian owes! - - BRAND. - - Ay, thou nam’st the flaw whereby - Both the throng, and thou and I, - Are beset! To souls alone - Faith is possible,—show me one! - Show me one that his best treasure - Has not inly flung to waste - In his fumbling, or his haste! - First, the reeling plunge for pleasure - To the tabor’s juggling strain - Till the zest of pleasure’s slain; - Then, soul-ruins, charr’d and stark, - Turn to dance before the Ark! - When the cup’s last liquor slips - Through the brain-worn cripple’s lips, - Ho! ’tis time to pray and mend, - Sure of pardon in the end. - First God’s image you outwear, - Live the beast within you bare, - Then to Mercy cry your needs, - Seeking God—as invalids! - So, His Kingdom’s overthrown. - What should He with souls effete - Grovelling at His mercy-seat? - Said He not that then alone - When your lifeblood pulses tense, - Through all veins of soul and sense, - Ye His kingdom shall inherit? - Children ye must be to share it; - No man hobbles through its gate. - Come then, ye whose cheek is rife - With the bloom of childhood yet - To the greater Church of Life! - - THE MAYOR. - - Open it then! - - THE MULTITUDE. - [_Crying out as in anguish._] - - No! Not this! - - BRAND. - - It has neither mark nor bound, - But its floor the green earth is, - Mead and mountain, sea and sound; - And the overarching sky - Is its only canopy. - There shall all thy work be wrought - As an anthem for God’s ear, - There thy week-day toil be sought - With no sacrilege to fear. - There the World be like a tree - Folded in its shielding bark; - Faith and Action blended be. - There shall daily labour fuse - With right Teaching and right Use, - Daily drudgery be one - With star-flights beyond the sun, - One with Yule-tide revelry - And the Dance before the Ark. - - [_A stormy agitation passes over the multitude; some - retire; most press close about BRAND._ - - A THOUSAND VOICES. - - Light is kindled in the dark;— - Life and serving God’s the same! - - THE DEAN. - - Woe on us! He wins them—hark! - Mayor, sexton, beadle, clerk! - - THE MAYOR. - [_Aside._] - - Do not scream so, o’ God’s name! - With a bull who wants a bout? - Let him roar his ravin out! - - BRAND. - [_To the multitude._] - - Hence—away! God is afar! - Cannot be where such men are! - Fair His kingdom is and free! - - [_Locks the church-door and takes the keys in his - hand._] - - Here I will be priest no more. - I revoke my gift;—from me - No man shall receive the key - Of the yet unopen’d door! - [_Throws the keys into the river._] - Wilt thou in, thou slave of clay,— - Through the crypt-hole worm thy way; - Lithe thy back is, creep and ply; - From that charnel let thy sigh - Roam the earth with venom’d breath, - Like the flagging gasp of death! - - THE MAYOR. - [_Aside with relief._] - - Ha, _his_ hope of knighthood’s dim! - - THE DEAN. - [_Similarly._] - - Well; no bishopric for him! - - BRAND. - - Come thou, young man—fresh and free— - Let a life-breeze lighten thee - From this dim vault’s clinging dust. - Conquer with me! For thou must - One day waken, one day rise, - Nobly break with compromise;— - Up, and fly the evil days, - Fly the maze of middle ways, - Strike the foeman full and fair, - Battle to the death declare! - - THE MAYOR. - - Hold! I’ll read the Riot Act! - - BRAND. - - Read! With you I break my pact. - - THE MULTITUDE. - - Show the way, and we will follow! - - BRAND. - - Over frozen height and hollow, - Over all the land we’ll fare, - Loose each soul-destroying snare - That this people holds in fee, - Lift and lighten, and set free, - Blot the vestige of the beast, - Each a Man and each a Priest, - Stamp anew the outworn brand, - Make a Temple of the land. - - [_The multitude, including the SEXTON and - SCHOOLMASTER, throng around him. BRAND is lifted - on to their shoulders._ - - MANY VOICES. - - ’Tis a great Time! Visions fair - Dazzle through the noontide glare. - - [_The great mass of the assemblage streams away up - the valley; a few remain._ - - THE DEAN. - [_To the departing crowd._] - - O, ye blinded ones, what would you? - Lo! behind his seeming sooth - Satan scheming to delude you! - - THE MAYOR. - - Ho there! Turn! Folks born to track - Safe home-waters still and smooth! - Stop!—ye go to ruin and wrack!— - (Dogs! And not a word comes back!) - - THE DEAN. - - Think of household and of home! - - VOICES FROM THE MULTITUDE. - - To a greater Home we come! - - THE MAYOR. - - Think of meadow-plot and field; - Think of teeming stall and fold! - - VOICES. - - Heavenly dews did manna yield - When the chosen starved of old! - - THE DEAN. - - Hark! your women cry in chorus! - - VOICES. - [_In the distance._] - - Ours they are not if they quail! - - THE DEAN. - - “Father’s gone!” your children wail. - - THE WHOLE MULTITUDE. - - Be against us, or be for us! - - THE DEAN. - [_Gazes a while with folded hands after them; then - dejectedly._] - - By his faithless flock deserted - Stands the old shepherd, heavy-hearted, - Plunder’d to the very skin! - - THE MAYOR. - [_Shaking his fist at BRAND._] - - _His_ the scandal; _his_ the sin! - But we’ll shortly win the fight! - - THE DEAN. - [_Almost breaking down._] - - Win? Of all our people cheated?— - - THE MAYOR. - - Ay, but we are not defeated, - If I know my lambs aright! - [_Follows them._ - - THE DEAN. - - Whither will he, in heaven’s name? - As I live, he’s after them! - Ha, my drooping courage rises, - I will also do and dare,— - Make assaults and capture prizes! - Bring my steed;—that is, prepare - A safe, steady mountain mare! - [_They go._ - - -------------- - - _By the highest farms in the valley. The land rises in the - background, and passes into great barren mountains. - Rain._ - - _BRAND, followed by the multitude—men, women, and - children,—comes up the slopes._ - - BRAND. - - Look onward! Triumph flies ahead! - Your homes are hidden in the deep, - And over it, from steep to steep, - The storm his cloudy tent has spread. - Forget the pit of sloth ye trod, - Fly free aloft, ye sons of God! - - A MAN. - - Wait; my old father is dead beaten. - - ANOTHER. - - Since yesterday I’ve nothing eaten—— - - SEVERAL. - - Ay, still our hunger, slake our thirst! - - BRAND. - - On, on, across the mountain first! - - SCHOOLMASTER. - - Which way? - - BRAND. - - All ways alike are right - That reach the goal. This way pursue—— - - A MAN. - - Nay, it is steep, and ’twill be night - Ere we are well upon the height. - - THE SEXTON. - - And that way lies the Ice-church too. - - BRAND. - - The steep way is the short way still. - - A WOMAN. - - My foot is sore! - - ANOTHER. - - My child is ill! - - A THIRD. - - Where shall I get a drop to drink? - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - Priest, feed the people;—see, they sink. - - MANY VOICES. - - A miracle! A miracle! - - BRAND. - - O, the slave-stamp has branded deep; - The toil you shirk, the hire you crave. - Up, and shake off this deadly sleep,— - Or else, get back into the grave! - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - Ay, he is right; first face the foe; - The hire comes afterwards, you know. - - BRAND. - - It shall, as sure as God looks forth - Over the breadth and depth of Earth! - - MANY VOICES. - - He’s prophesying! He’s prophesying! - - SEVERAL. - - Hark, priest, will it be warm, this fight? - - OTHERS. - - And bloody? And will it last till night? - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - [_Aside._] - - I trust there is no risk of dying? - - A MAN. - - Priest, must we really face the fire? - - ANOTHER. - - What is _my_ portion of the hire? - - A WOMAN. - - You’re sure I shall not lose my son? - - THE SEXTON. - - By Tuesday will the field be won? - - BRAND. - [_Looking round in bewilderment on the throng._] - - What would you know? What’s your demand? - - THE SEXTON. - - Firstly, how long we shall make war. - Then, of our total loss therein. - And finally,—how much we win? - - BRAND. - - This ye demand? - - THE SEXTON. - - Yes, ’faith; before - We did not rightly understand. - - BRAND. - [_Deeply moved._] - - Then ye shall understand it now! - - THE MULTITUDE. - [_Thronging closer._] - - Speak! Speak! - - BRAND. - - How long the war will last? - As long as life, till ye have cast - All ye possess before the Lord, - And slain the Spirit of Accord; - Until your stiff will bend and bow, - And every coward scruple fall - Before the bidding: Nought or All! - What you will lose? Your gods abhorr’d, - Your feasts to Mammon and the Lord, - The glittering bonds ye do not loathe, - And all the pillows of your sloth! - What you will gain? A will that’s whole,— - A soaring faith, a single soul, - The willingness to lose, that gave - Itself rejoicing to the grave;— - A crown of thorns on every brow;— - That is the wage you’re earning now! - - THE MULTITUDE. - [_With a furious cry._] - - Betray’d! Betray’d! Deceived! Misled! - - BRAND. - - I say but what I always said! - - SEVERAL. - - You promised us the victor’s prize; - And now it turns to sacrifice! - - BRAND. - - I promised victory,—and to you - Victory shall indeed be due. - But every man who fights in front - Must perish in the battle’s brunt; - If that he dares not, let him lay - His arms down ere the battle-day - The flag’s predestined to surrender - That has a timorous defender; - And he that shudders at the cost, - Ere he is wounded, he is lost. - - THE MULTITUDE. - - He insolently bids us die - To serve unborn posterity! - - BRAND. - - Through thorny steeps of sacrifice, - The way unto our Canaan lies. - Triumph through death! I call you all, - As Champions of God to fall! - - THE SEXTON. - - Well, we are in a pretty plight! - No mercy to expect below—— - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - Nay, we have bade the dale good-night. - - THE SEXTON. - - And forward, forward, who will go? - - SOME. - - To death with him! - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - ’Twere pity, so! - We want a general, you know! - - WOMEN. - [_Pointing in terror downwards._] - - The Dean! The Dean! - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - [_To the throng._] - - Nay, never fear! - - THE DEAN. - [_Comes in, followed by some of those who remained behind._] - - O my beloved! O my sheep! - To the old shepherd’s voice give ear! - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - [_To the throng._] - - A home no more we have below; - Better we follow up the steep! - - THE DEAN. - - That ye could grieve my heart so sore, - And pierce me with a wound so deep! - - BRAND. - - Thou wast their soul’s scourge evermore! - - THE DEAN. - - Don’t heed him! He is stuffing you - With idle promises. - - SEVERAL. - - That’s true! - - THE DEAN. - - But we are gracious, and forgive - Where we true penitence perceive. - O, turn your eyes into your hearts - And mark the diabolic arts - With which he won you to his aid! - - THE MULTITUDE. - - Ay, sure enough; we were betray’d! - - THE DEAN. - - And then consider; what can ye, - A knot of scatter’d dalesmen, do? - Are high heroic deeds for you? - Can ye give bondsmen liberty? - You have your daily task; pursue it! - Whatever is beyond, eschew it! - What can your prowess brave or baulk? - Ye have your humble homes to keep. - What would you between eagle and hawk? - What would you between wolf and bear? - Ye fall but to the strongest’s share. - O my beloved! O my sheep! - - THE MULTITUDE. - - Ay, woe on us,—his words are true! - - THE SEXTON. - - And yet, when from the dale we drew, - Upon ourselves we locked the door; - We have no home there, as before. - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - No, he has open’d all our eyes, - Laid bare sins, sicknesses, and lies; - The sleepy people sleeps no more; - And deadly to our waking seems - The life that satisfied our dreams. - - THE DEAN. - - Ah, trust me, that will soon pass over. - All will return to the old state, - If you will just be still and wait. - These folks, I’ll wage, will soon recover - The wonted calm they have foregone. - - BRAND. - - Choose, men and women! - - SOME. - - Home! - - OTHERS. - - Too late! - Too late! Along the height press on! - - THE MAYOR. - [_Enters in haste._] - - O lucky chance I caught you up. - - WOMEN. - - Ah, dear kind master, don’t be stern. - - THE MAYOR. - - Not now; provided you return! - A better day, a brighter season - Dawns for us! If you’ll hark to reason, - You’ll all be rich men ere you sup! - - SEVERAL. - - How so? - - THE MAYOR. - - There is a herring-horde - By millions swimming in the fjord! - - THE MULTITUDE. - - What does he say? - - THE MAYOR. - - Set all to rights! - Fly from these stormy uplands bare. - Till now the herrings swam elsewhere; - Now, friends, at last, our barren bights - Good fortune tardily requites. - - BRAND. - - Between God’s summons choose, and his! - - THE MAYOR. - - Consult your own shrewd faculties! - - THE DEAN. - - A Miracle Divine is here! - A Providential Token clear! - How oft I dreamt that this befell! - I took it for a nightmare’s spell; - And now its meaning is revealed—— - - BRAND. - - Yourselves you ruin, if you yield! - - MANY. - - A herring-horde! - - THE MAYOR. - - By millions told! - - THE DEAN. - - For wife and children, bread and gold! - - THE MAYOR. - - You see, then, this is not an hour - To waste your forces in a fray, - And against energies whose power - Strikes in the very Dean dismay. - Now ye have other ends in view - Than idly pining for the sky. - Heaven, trust me, can your arms defy, - And God’s not easy to subdue. - Don’t mix yourselves in others’ strife, - But gather in the proffer’d fruit, - That is a practical pursuit, - That does not call for blood and knife; - That asks no sacrifice of life, - And gives you its good things to boot! - - BRAND. - - Just sacrifice is His demand,— - Flame-writ in Heaven by His hand! - - THE DEAN. - - Ah, if you feel a call that way, - Just come to me next Sunday, say, - And on my word I’ll—— - - THE MAYOR. - [_Interrupting._] - - Yes, yes, yes! - - THE SEXTON. - [_Aside to the DEAN._] - - Shall I be suffer’d keep my place? - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - [_Similarly._] - - Shall I be forced to leave my school? - - THE DEAN. - [_Aside to them._] - - If these stiff necks you overrule - We will deal mildly with your case. - - THE MAYOR. - - Away—away with you! time flies! - - THE SEXTON. - - To boat, to boat, whoever’s wise! - - SOME. - - Ay, but the priest?—— - - THE SEXTON. - - O, leave the fool! - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - Here speaks the Lord as clearly, look, - As in an open printed book! - - THE MAYOR. - - Leave him; that’s law and justice too; - With babbling tales he flouted you. - - SEVERAL. - - He lied to us! - - THE DEAN. - - His creed’s accursed; - And think, he never got a First! - - SOME. - - Never got _what_? - - THE MAYOR. - - A grain of sense. - - THE SEXTON. - - Nay, of that we have evidence! - - THE DEAN. - - Vainly his mother’s dying breath - For the last sacrament made suit! - - THE MAYOR. - - His child he almost did to death! - - THE SEXTON. - - His wife as well! - - WOMEN. - - O heartless brute! - - THE DEAN. - - Bad spouse, bad father, and bad son,— - Worse Christian surely there is none! - - MANY VOICES. - - Our ancient Church he overthrew! - - OTHERS. - - And shot the bolt upon the new! - - OTHERS AGAIN. - - He wreck’d us in a roaring stream! - - THE MAYOR. - - He pilfer’d my Asylum-scheme! - - BRAND. - - On every branded brow I see - This generation’s destiny. - - THE WHOLE THRONG. - [_Roaring._] - - Hoo, never heed him! Stone and knife! - Send the fiend flying for his life! - - [_BRAND is driven with stones out into the wild. His - pursuers then return._ - - THE DEAN. - - O my beloved! O my sheep! - Back to your homes and hearths once more; - Your eyes in true repentance steep, - And see what blessings are in store. - God in His mercy is so good, - He asketh not the guiltless blood;— - And our authorities as well - Are singularly placable; - Mayor, magistrate, and sheriff too, - Will not be over hard on you; - And for myself, that large humanity - That marks our modern Christianity - Is mine; your rulers will descend - And dwell with you, as friend with friend. - - THE MAYOR. - - But should abuses be detected, - They must, past question, be corrected. - When we’ve a little time to move, - I’ll have appointed a commission, - To seek how best we may improve - Your intellectual condition. - Some clergymen it should include - Such as the Dean and I think good,— - And furthermore, if you prefer, - The Sexton and the Schoolmaster, - With others of a humbler sort,— - You’ll all be satisfied, in short. - - THE DEAN. - - Yes, we’ll relieve your burdens all, - As ye this day have brought relief - To your old shepherd in his grief. - Let each find comfort in the thought - That here a miracle was wrought. - Farewell! Good fortune to your haul! - - THE SEXTON. - - Ah, there’s true charity, if you will! - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - So meek and unassuming still. - - WOMEN. - - So kindly, and so nice! - - OTHER WOMEN. - - And then - Such condescending gentlemen! - - THE SEXTON. - - _They_ don’t demand the martyr’s throe. - - THE SCHOOLMASTER. - - The Lord’s Prayer is not all they know. - - [_The throng passes on downwards._ - - THE DEAN. - [_To the MAYOR._] - - Ah, that has taken. It is plain - A great revulsion is in train; - For, by God’s blessed benefaction, - There is a thing men call Reaction. - - THE MAYOR. - - ’Twas my achievement, to control - The infant riot ere it grew. - - THE DEAN. - - Ah, to the miracle most was due. - - THE MAYOR. - - What miracle? - - THE DEAN. - - The herring-shoal. - - THE MAYOR. - [_Whistling._] - - That was, I need not say, a lie. - - THE DEAN. - - Really, a lie? - - THE MAYOR. - - I just let loose - At the first fancy that came by; - Is it a sin such means to use - In such a cause? - - THE DEAN. - - God bless me, no - Need is an adequate excuse. - - THE MAYOR. - - And then, to-morrow, when the glow - Of agitation’s dead, or dying, - What will it matter if the end - Was gain’d by telling truth, or lying? - - THE DEAN. - - I am no formalist, my friend. - [_Looks up into the wild._] - But is’t not Brand that yonder drags - His slow course upward? - - THE MAYOR. - - Ay, you’re right! - A lonely warrior off to fight! - - THE DEAN. - - Nay, there’s another too—that lags - Far in the rear! - - THE MAYOR. - - Why;—that is Gerd; - The herdsman’s worthy of the herd. - - THE DEAN. - [_Facetiously._] - - When he has still’d his losing whim, - This is the epitaph for him: - “Here lieth Brand; his tale’s a sad one; - One soul he saved,—and that a mad one!” - - THE MAYOR. - [_With his finger to his nose._] - - But, on reflection, I have some - Misgivings that the folk’s decree - A little lack’d humanity. - - THE DEAN. - [_Shrugging his shoulders._] - - _Vox populi vox Dei._ Come! - - [_They go._ - - -------------- - - _High up among the mountains. A storm is rising and chasing - the clouds heavily over the snow-slopes; black peaks - and summits appear here and there, and are veiled - again by the mist._ - - _BRAND comes, bleeding and broken, up the mountain._ - - BRAND. - [_Stops and looks backward._] - - From the vale they follow’d thronging, - Never one has reached the height. - Through all bosoms thrill’d the longing - For a greater Day’s dawn-light; - Through all souls subduing strode - The alarum-call of God. - But the sacrifice they dread! - Will, the weakling, hides his head;— - _One_ man died for them of yore,— - Cowardice is crime no more! - [_Sinks down on a stone, and looks with - shrinking gaze around._] - Oft I shudder’d at their doom; - And I walk’d, with horror quivering, - As a little child walks shivering - Amid shrieking shapes that loom - In a dim and haunted room. - But I check’d my bosom’s quaking, - And bethought me, and consoled it: - Out of doors the day is breaking, - Not of night it is, this gloom, - But the shutters barr’d enfold it; - And I thought, the day inwelling, - Rich with summer’s golden bloom, - Shall anon prevail, expelling - All the darkness that is dwelling - In the dim and haunted room. - O how bitter my dismay! - Pitchy darkness on me broke,— - And, without, a nerveless folk - Sat forlorn by fjord and bay, - Dim traditions treasuring - While their sotted souls decay. - Even as, year by year, the king - Treasured up his Snefrid dead, - Loosed the linen shroud o’erspread - By her mute heart listening low, - Still upon hope’s fragments fed, - Thinking, “_Now_ the roses red - In her pallid ashes blow!” - None, like him, arose, and gave - The grave’s debt unto the grave; - None among them wise to know: - “Dreaming cannot kindle dust, - Down into the earth it must, - Dust is only made to breed - Nurture for the new-sown seed.” - Night, black night,—and night again - Over children, women, men! - O could I with levin-flame - Save them from the straw-death’s shame! - [_Leaps up._] - Gloomy visions I see sweep - Like the Wild Hunt through the night. - Lo, the Time is Tempest-dight, - Calls for heroes, death to dare, - Calls for naked steel to leap, - And for scabbards to hang bare;— - Kinsfolk, lo, to battle riding, - While their gentle brothers, hiding, - From the hat of darkness peep. - And yet more I do divine— - All the horror of their shame,— - Men that shriek and wives that whine, - Deaf to every cry and claim, - See them on their brows imprinting - “Poor folks sea-bound” for their name, - “Humble farthings of God’s minting!” - Pale they listen to the fray,— - Willing-weakness for their shield.— - Rainbow o’er the mead of May, - Flag, where fliest thou now afield? - Where’s that tricolor to-day,— - Which the wind of myriad song, - Beat and bellied from the mast - Till a zealot king at last - Split it into teeth and tongue? - But you used the tongue to brag; - And what boots the toothed flag - If the dragon dares not bite? - Would the folk had spared those cheers, - And the zealot king those shears! - Four-square flag of peace suffices, - When a stranded craft capsizes, - To give warning of her plight! - Direr visions, worse foreboding, - Glare upon me through the gloom! - Britain’s smoke-cloud sinks corroding - On the land in noisome fume; - Smirches all its tender bloom, - All its gracious verdure dashes, - Sweeping low with breath of bane, - Stealing sunlight from the plain, - Showering down like rain of ashes - On the city of God’s doom.— - Fouler featured men are grown;— - Dropping water’s humming drone - Echoes through the mine’s recesses: - Bustling, smug, a pigmy pack - Plucks its prey from ore’s embraces, - Walks with crooked soul and back, - Glares like dwarfs with greedy eyes - For the golden glittering lies; - Speechless souls with lips unsmiling, - Hearts that fall of brothers rends not, - Nor their own to fury frets, - Hammer-wielding, coining, filing; - Light’s last gleam forlornly flies; - For this bastard folk forgets - That the need of willing ends not - When the power of willing dies! - Direr visions, direr doom, - Glare upon me through the gloom. - Craft, the wolf, with howl and yell, - Bays at Wisdom, sun of earth; - Cries of ruin ring to North, - Call to arms by fjord and fell; - And the pigmy, quaking, grim, - Hisses: “What is that to him?” - Let the other nations glow, - Let the mighty meet the foe, - We can ill afford to bleed,— - We are weak, may fairly plead - From a giants’ war exemption, - Need not offer All as meed - For our fraction of Redemption. - Not for us the cup He drank, - Not for us the thorny wreath - In His temples drove its teeth, - Not for us the spear-shaft sank - In the Side whose life was still. - Not for us the burning thrill - Of the nails that clove and tore. - We, the weak, the least accounted, - Battle-summons may ignore! - Not for us the Cross He mounted! - Just the stirrup-slash’s stain, - Just the gash the cobbler scored - In the shoulder of the Lord, - Is our portion of His pain! - [_Throws himself down in the snow and covers - his face; presently he looks up._] - Was I dreaming! Dream I still? - Mist-enshrouded is the hill. - Were those visions but the vain - Phantoms of a fever’d brain? - Is the image clean outworn - Whereunto Man’s soul was born? - Is the Maker’s spirit fled—— - [_Listening._] - Ha, what song breaks overhead? - - INVISIBLE CHOIR. - [_In the sough of the storm._] - - Never shalt thou win His spirit; - Thou in mortal flesh wast born: - Spurn his bidding or revere it; - Equally thou art forlorn. - - BRAND. - [_Repeats the words, and says softly._] - - Woe’s me, woe; I well may fear it! - Stood He not, and saw me pray, - Sternly smote my prayer away? - All I loved He has demanded, - All the ways of light seal’d fast, - Made me battle single-handed, - And be overthrown at last! - - THE CHOIR. - [_Louder, above him._] - - Worm, thou mayst not win His spirit,— - For Death’s cup thou hast consumed; - Fear His Will, or do not fear it, - Equally thy work is doom’d. - - BRAND. - [_Softly._] - - Agnes, Alf, the gladsome life - When unrest and pain I knew not— - I exchanged for tears and strife, - In my own heart plunged the knife,— - But the fiend of evil slew not. - - THE CHOIR. - [_Tender and alluring._] - - Dreamer, thine is not His spirit, - Nought to Him thy gifts are worth; - Heaven thou never shalt inherit, - Earth-born creature, live for Earth! - - BRAND. - [_Breaks into soft weeping._] - - Alf and Agnes, come unto me! - Lone I sit upon this peak! - Keen the north wind pierces through me, - Phantoms seize me, chill ones, meek——! - - _He looks up; a glimmering space opens and clears in the - mist; the APPARITION of a WOMAN stands in it, brightly - clad, with a cloak over its shoulders. It is AGNES._ - - THE PHANTOM. - [_Smiles, and spreads its arms towards him._] - - See, again, Brand, I have found thee! - - BRAND. - [_Starting up in bewilderment._] - - Agnes! Agnes! What is this? - - THE PHANTOM. - - Dearest, it is thy release - From the fever’d dreams that bound thee! - - BRAND. - - Agnes! Agnes! - - [_He is hurrying towards her._ - - THE PHANTOM. - [_Screams._] - - Cross not! Deep - Rolls between us the abyss, - Where the mountain-torrents sweep! - [_Tenderly._] - Thou dost dream not, neither sleep, - Nor with phantoms wagest war; - Dear, by sickness thou wast wasted,— - Frenzy’s bitter cup hast tasted, - Dreamt, thy wife had fled afar. - - BRAND. - - Oh, thou livest! Blessed be——! - - THE PHANTOM. - [_Hastily._] - - Peace! Of that no murmur now! - Follow fast, the moments press. - - BRAND. - - Oh, but Alf! - - THE PHANTOM. - - Alive, no less. - - BRAND. - - Lives! - - THE PHANTOM. - - And with unfaded brow! - All thy sorrows did but seem! - All thy battles were a dream, - Alf is with thy mother; she - Vigorous yet, and stalwart he; - Still the old Church stands entire; - Pluck it down if thou desire;— - And the dalesmen still drudge on - As they did in good days gone. - - BRAND. - - “Good!” - - THE PHANTOM. - - For days of peace they were. - - BRAND. - - “Peace?” - - THE PHANTOM. - - O haste thee, Brand, O fly! - - BRAND. - - Woe, I dream! - - THE PHANTOM. - - Thy dream’s gone by, - But thou needest sheltering care—— - - BRAND. - - I am strong. - - THE PHANTOM. - - Ah me, not yet; - Still the fell dream lies in wait. - Once again from wife and child - It shall sweep thee, cloud-beguiled, - Once again thy soul obscure,— - If thou wilt not seek the cure. - - BRAND. - - Oh, vouchsafe it! - - THE PHANTOM. - - Thou availest, - Thou alone, that cure to reach. - - BRAND. - - Name it then! - - THE PHANTOM. - - The aged leech, - Who has conn’d so many a page,— - The unfathomably sage, - He discovered where thou ailest. - All the phantoms of thy strife, - _Three words_ conjured them to life. - Them thou boldly must recall, - From thy memory efface them, - From thy conscience blot, erase them; - At their bidding, lo, thou burnest - In this maddening blast of bane;— - O forget them, if thou yearnest - To make white thy soul again! - - BRAND. - - Say, what are they? - - THE PHANTOM. - - _Nought or all._ - - BRAND. - [_Reeling back._] - - Is it so? - - THE PHANTOM. - - So sure as I - Am alive, and thou wilt die. - - BRAND. - - Woe on us! The sword once more - Swings above us, as before! - - THE PHANTOM. - - Brand, be kind; my breast is warm; - Clasp me close in thy strong arm;— - Let us fly where summer’s sun—— - - BRAND. - - Never more that plague shall bind me. - - THE PHANTOM. - - Ah, Brand, all is not yet won. - - BRAND. - [_Shaking his head._] - - I have flung that dream behind me. - Me no more that phantom-strife’s - Horror thrills;—but Life’s! but Life’s! - - THE PHANTOM. - - Life’s? - - BRAND. - - Come, Agnes, where I lead! - - THE PHANTOM. - - Brand, what is it thou wilt do? - - BRAND. - - What I must: the _dream_ make _true_,— - Live the vision into deed. - - THE PHANTOM. - - Ha, thou canst not! Think but whither - That road led thee. - - BRAND. - - Thither! Thither! - - THE PHANTOM. - - What thou dared’st, dream-beguiled, - Wilt thou, whole and waking, dare? - - BRAND. - - Whole and waking. - - THE PHANTOM. - - Lose the child? - - BRAND. - - Lose it. - - THE PHANTOM. - - Brand! - - BRAND. - - I must. - - THE PHANTOM. - - And tear - Me all bleeding from the snare? - With the rods of sacrifice - Scourge me to the death? - - BRAND. - - I must. - - THE PHANTOM. - - Quench the glow of sunny skies, - Turn all bright things into dust, - Never pluck life’s fruitage fair, - Never be upborne by song? - Ah, so many memories throng! - - BRAND. - - Nought avails. Lose not thy prayer. - - THE PHANTOM. - - Heed’st thou not thy martyr’s meed? - Baffled where thou sought’st to waken, - Stoned by all, by all forsaken? - - BRAND. - - Not for recompense I bleed; - Not for trophies do I fight. - - THE PHANTOM. - - For a race that walks entomb’d. - - BRAND. - - One to many can give light. - - THE PHANTOM. - - All their generation’s doom’d. - - BRAND. - - Much availeth one will’s might. - - THE PHANTOM. - - “One” with fiery sword of yore - Man of Paradise bereft! - At the gate a gulf he cleft;— - Over that thou mayst not soar! - - BRAND. - - But the path of _yearning’s_ left. - - THE PHANTOM. - - [_Vanishes in a thunder-clap; the mist fills the place where - it stood; and a piercing scream is heard, as of one - flying._] - - Die! Earth cannot use thee more! - - BRAND. - [_Stands a moment in bewilderment._] - - Out into the mist it leapt,— - Plumy wings of falcon beating, - Down along the moorland swept. - For a finger it was treating, - That the hand might be its prize—! - Ha, the Spirit of Compromise! - - GERD. - [_Comes with a rifle._] - - Hast thou seen the falcon? - - BRAND. - - Yea; - This time I have seen him. - - GERD. - - Say, - Quick, which way thou saw’st him fly; - We will chase him, thou and I. - - BRAND. - - Steel and bullet he defies; - Oftentimes you think he flies - Stricken by the mortal lead,— - But draw near to strike him dead, - Up he starts again, secure, - With the old cajoling lure. - - GERD. - - See, the hunter’s gun I’ve got, - Steel and silver is the shot; - ’Trow, my wits are less astray - Than they reckon! - - BRAND. - - Have thy way. - - [_Going._ - - GERD. - - Priest, thou walkest lame afoot. - - BRAND. - - I was hunted. - - GERD. - - Red thy brow - As the blood of thy heart’s root! - - BRAND. - - I was beaten. - - GERD. - - Musical - Was thy voice of old, that now - Rattles like the leaves of Fall. - - BRAND. - - I was—— - - GERD. - - What? - - BRAND. - - By one and all - Spurn’d. - - GERD. - [_Looking at him with great eyes._] - - Aha,—I know thee now! - For the priest I took thee;—pest - Take the priest and all the rest! - The One, greatest Man art thou! - - BRAND. - - So I madly dared to trust. - - GERD. - - Let me look upon thy hands! - - BRAND. - - On my hands? - - GERD. - - They’re pierced and torn! - In thy hair the blood-dew stands, - Riven by the fanged thorn - In thy forehead fiercely thrust, - Thou the crucifix didst span! - In my childhood Father told me - ’Twas another, long ago, - Far away, that suffer’d so;— - Now I see he only fool’d me;— - Thou art the Redeeming man! - - BRAND. - - Get thee hence! - - GERD. - - Shall I not fall - Low before thy feet and pray? - - BRAND. - - Hence! - - GERD. - - _Thou_ gavest the blood away - That hath might to save us all! - - BRAND. - - Oh, no saving plank I see, - In my own soul’s agony! - - GERD. - - Take the rifle. Shoot them dead— - - BRAND. - [_Shaking his head._] - - Man must struggle till he falls. - - GERD. - - Oh, not thou; thou art the head! - By the nails thy hands were gored;— - Thou art chosen; thou art Lord. - - BRAND. - - I’m the meanest worm that crawls. - - GERD. - [_Looks up; the clouds are lifting._] - - Know’st thou where thou stand’st? - - BRAND. - [_Gazing before him._] - - Below - The first step of the ascent; - It is far, and I am faint. - - GERD. - [_More fiercely._] - - Say! Where art thou, dost thou know? - - BRAND. - - Yes, now falls the misty shroud. - - GERD. - - Yes, it falls: without a cloud - Svartetind impales the blue! - - BRAND. - [_Looking up._] - - Svartetind? The ice-church? - - GERD. - - Yea! - Here thou camest churchward, too! - - BRAND. - - Hence! a thousand miles away!— - How I long to fly afar, - Where the sunlight and the balm - And the holy hush of calm, - And Life’s summer-kingdoms are! - [_Bursts into tears._] - Jesus, I have cried and pleaded,— - From thy bosom still outcast; - Thou hast pass’d me by unheeded - As a well-worn word is passed; - Of salvation’s vesture, stain’d - With the wine of tears unfeign’d, - Let me clasp one fold at last! - - GERD. - [_Pale._] - - What is this? Then weepest, thou, - Hot tears, till thy cheek is steaming,— - And the glacier’s death-shroud streaming - Silently from crag and crest,— - And my memory’s frozen tides - Melt to weeping in my breast,— - And the snowy surplice glides - Down the Ice-priest’s giant sides— - [_Trembling._] - Man, why wept’st thou not till now? - - BRAND. - [_Radiant, clear, and with an air of renewed youth._] - - Through the Law an ice-track led,— - Then broke summer overhead! - Till to-day I strove alone - To be God’s pure tablet-stone;— - From to-day my life shall stream - Lambent, glowing, as a dream. - The ice-fetters break away, - I can weep,—and kneel,—and pray! - - [_Sinks upon his knees._ - - GERD. - [_Looks askance upwards, and then, softly and timidly._] - - There he sits, the ugly sprite! - ’Tis his shadow sweeps the land, - Where he flogs the mountain height - With his flapping vans in flight. - Now Redemption is at hand—— - If the silver will but bite! - - [_Puts the rifle to her cheek and shoots. A hollow - roar, as of distant thunder, is heard far up the - precipice._ - - BRAND. - [_Starting up._] - - Ha, what dost thou? - - GERD. - - Down he slides! - I have hit him;—down he swings,— - Shrieking, till the echo rings; - Plumes in thousand from his sides - Flutter down the beetling brae;— - See how large he looms, how white—! - Ha, he’s rolling down this way! - - BRAND. - [_Sinking down._] - - Blood of children must be spilt - To atone the parent’s guilt! - - GERD. - - Tenfold vaster at his fall - Grew the tent of Heaven above! - See him tumble; see him sprawl—! - Ah, I will not shudder more; - He is white, see, as a dove—! - [_Shrieks in terror._] - Hu, the horrible thunder-roar! - - [_Throws herself down in the snow._ - - BRAND. - [_Crouches under the descending avalanche, and, looking up, - speaks._] - - God, I plunge into death’s night,— - Shall they wholly miss thy Light - Who unto man’s utmost might - Will’d—? - - [_The avalanche buries him; the whole valley is - swallowed up._ - - A VOICE. - [_Calls through the crashing thunder._] - - He is the God of Love. - - - - - THE END. - - PRINTED BY - BALLANTYNE & COMPANY LTD - AT THE BALLANTYNE PRESS - TAVISTOCK STREET COVENT GARDEN - LONDON - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Transcriber’s Note - -There are quite a few instances of missing punctuation. The conventional -period following the character’s name is sometimes missing and has been -added for consistency’s sake without further comment. Those missing from -setting and stage direction are also added without comment, since there -is no obvious purpose to be served by the omission. However, the -restoration of punctuation missing from dialogue is noted below, since -the punctuation is frequently expressive. - -Volume I of this series included errata for each succeeding volume. -Some, but not all, of the corrections indicated there had been made -before the printing employed here. Those that remained unchanged have -been corrected here, and noted as such. - -Other errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, -and are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the -original. - - vii.7 sense of national disgrace[.] Added. - - 3.4 _and nearly dark[.]_ Added. - - 4.19 is where it’s trod[.] Added. - - 7.8 Then come[.] Added. - - 8.20 come back[!] Added. - - 10.4 he calls serving God[.] Added. - - 32.39 And red-and-yellow circled eye[.] Added. - - 37.12 BRAND comes forward, unnoticed[,] Added. - - 38.6 You don’t know just how many, e[n/h?] - - 41.33 The purblind sight takes falcon-wing[s] Added, per - Errata. - - 44.19 Great God on high[!] Added. - - 46.16 and to the grave[.] Added. - - 47.26 you see your part[.] Added. - - 71.3 [’]Twere best I took Restored. - - 75.31 and hard to bear[.] Added. - - 84.19 calls by that name “Love,[”] Added. - - 88.9 to wash her soul from sin. Added. - - 88.20 Yes, in you[r] ledger Added. - - 90.29 what sees he now[.] Added. - - 91.2 No summons, no[.] Added. - - 94.21 or else send her a God-speed[.] Added. - - 113.22 To-morrow’s best[.] Added. - - 134.32 meaning half-express[’]d Inserted. - - 136.17 But unbroken i[n/s] her Will. Replaced, - per Errata. - - 139.31 “Black as snow[.”] Added. - - 148.5 And has not room therein to soar[.] Added. - - 150.13 No, Brand, I’m utterly dumbfounded[.] Added. - - 152.25 by death and hell[.] Added. - - 154.8 B[L/R]AND. Replaced. - - 158.13 No[!] Added. - - 161.15 thou’lt nothing find[.] Added. - - 177.2 At the cross-way stand’st thou: choose[!] Added. - - 177.34 At the cross-way stand’st thou: choose[!] Added. - - 172.28 By the child to Death’s Font[.] Added. - - 175.26 Thou hast conquered now[.] Added. - - 178.18 Good-night[.] Added. - - 179.23 in a gold field[.] Added. - - 182.27 Never[!] Added. - - 184.12 Hark[!] Added. - - 191.34 Will be ringing with “the priest[”] Added. - - 192.21 I’m suffocated[.] Added. - - 193.18 They’ve higher standards, I’m aware[?/.] Replaced. - - 204.1 At that projected Tower of Babe[l] Added, per - Errata. - - 213.22 That[’s] unimportant, I prefer Added. - - 226.14 Hark! your women cry in chorus[!] Added. - - 229.17 He’s prophesying! He’s prophesying[!] Added. - - 235.8 O lucky chance I caught you up[.] Added. - - 235.10 Ah, dear kind master, don’t be stern[.] Added. - - 254.17 I must[.] Added. - - 255.5 For a race that walks entomb’d[.] Added. - - 255.18 But the path of _yearning’s_ left[.] Added. - - 258.30 Take the rifle[.] Added. - - 259.28 Svartetind? The ice-church[?] Added. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COLLECTED WORKS OF HENRIK -IBSEN VOL. 03 (OF 11) *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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display: none; } - .htmlonly {visibility: visible; display: inline; } - .x-ebookmaker .htmlonly { visibility: hidden; display: none; } - .x-ebookmaker .epubonly { visibility: visible; display: inline; } - div.box { border: 2px black solid; width: 80%; margin: auto; font-size: 90%; } - ins.correction { text-decoration:none; border-bottom: thin dotted gray; } - .quote { font-size: 95%; margin-top: 1.0em; margin-bottom: 1.0em; } - .lg-container-l .linegroup { min-width: 100%; } - .linegroup .group { margin: 0.5em auto; } - span.float-right { float: right; clear: both; } - div.direction { text-align: left; display: block; margin-top: 0.0em; - margin-left: 20%; } - </style> - </head> - <body> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Collected Works of Henrik Ibsen Vol. 03 (of 11), by Henrik Ibsen</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Collected Works of Henrik Ibsen Vol. 03 (of 11)</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Henrik Ibsen</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Editor: William Archer</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: September 8, 2021 [eBook #66238]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: KD Weeks, Emmanuel Ackerman, Sigal Alon, Eileen Gormly and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COLLECTED WORKS OF HENRIK IBSEN VOL. 03 (OF 11) ***</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='tnotes'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>Transcriber’s Note:</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Footnotes have been collected at the end of each section or act, -and are linked for ease of reference.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please -see the transcriber’s <a href='#endnote'>note</a> at the end of this text -for details regarding the handling of any other textual issues encountered -during its preparation.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The front cover, which had only an embossed decoration, has been augmented -with information from the title page, and, as such, is added to the -public domain.</p> - -<div class='htmlonly'> -<p class='c001'>Any corrections are indicated using an <ins class='correction' title='original'>underline</ins> -highlight. Placing the cursor over the correction will produce the -original text in a small popup.</p> -</div> - -<div class='epubonly'> -<p class='c001'>Any corrections are indicated as hyperlinks, which will navigate the -reader to the corresponding entry in the corrections table in the -note at the end of the text.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='htmlonly'> -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/cover.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c002'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>THE COLLECTED WORKS OF</div> - <div class='line in5'>HENRIK IBSEN</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='large'>VOLUME III</span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='xxlarge'>BRAND</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> - -<div class='box'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='large'>THE COLLECTED WORKS OF</span></div> - <div><span class='xlarge'>HENRIK IBSEN</span></div> - <div class='c000'><i>Copyright Edition. Complete in 12 Volumes.</i></div> - <div><i>Crown 8vo, price 4s. each.</i></div> - <div class='c000'><b>ENTIRELY REVISED AND EDITED BY</b></div> - <div><b><span class='large'>WILLIAM ARCHER</span></b></div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='23%' /> -<col width='76%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c003'>Vol. I.</td> - <td class='c004'>Lady Inger, The Feast at Solhoug, Love’s Comedy</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'>Vol. II.</td> - <td class='c004'>The Vikings, The Pretenders</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'>Vol. III.</td> - <td class='c004'>Brand</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'>Vol. IV.</td> - <td class='c004'>Peer Gynt</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'>Vol. V.</td> - <td class='c004'>Emperor and Galilean (2 parts)</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'>Vol. VI.</td> - <td class='c004'>The League of Youth, Pillars of Society</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'>Vol. VII.</td> - <td class='c004'>A Doll’s House, Ghosts</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'>Vol. VIII.</td> - <td class='c004'>An Enemy of the People, The Wild Duck</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'>Vol. IX.</td> - <td class='c004'>Rosmersholm, The Lady from the Sea</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'>Vol. X.</td> - <td class='c004'>Hedda Gabler, The Master Builder</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'>Vol. XI.</td> - <td class='c004'>Little Eyolf, John Gabriel Borkman, When We Dead Awaken</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>London</span>: <span class='large'>WILLIAM HEINEMANN</span></div> - <div>21 <span class='sc'>Bedford Street</span>, W.C.</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div> - <h1 class='c005' title='Collected Works of Henrik Ibsen: Volume 3'>THE COLLECTED WORKS OF <br /> HENRIK IBSEN</h1> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Copyright Edition</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class='c006' /> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>VOLUME III</div> - <div class='c000'><span class='large'>BRAND</span></div> - <div class='c000'>TRANSLATED AND WITH INTRODUCTION BY</div> - <div class='c000'>C. H. HERFORD, <span class='sc'>Litt.D.</span>, M.A.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_title_page.jpg' alt='title page' class='ig001' /> -</div> -<hr class='c006' /> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>LONDON</div> - <div>WILLIAM HEINEMANN</div> - <div>1912</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c007'> - <div><i>First printed (small 4to, 7s 6d) January 1894</i></div> - <div><i>New Impressions October 1898, March 1903</i></div> - <div class='c000'><i>COLLECTED EDITION</i></div> - <div class='c000'><i>First printed November 1906</i></div> - <div><i>New Impressions December 1908, May 1912</i></div> - <div class='c008'><i>Copyright 1894 by William Heinemann</i></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c009'>CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - -<table class='table1' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='83%' /> -<col width='16%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c003'> </td> - <td class='c010'><span class='small'>PAGE</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><span class='sc'>Introduction to “Brand”</span></td> - <td class='c010'><a href='#Page_vii'>vii</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'>“<span class='sc'>Brand</span>”</td> - <td class='c010'><a href='#Page_1'>1</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td class='c011' colspan='2'> <i>Translated by</i> <span class='sc'>C. H. Herford</span></td></tr> -</table> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_vii'>vii</span><span class='xxlarge'>BRAND.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c009'>INTRODUCTION.<a id='r1' /><a href='#f1' class='c012'><sup>[1]</sup></a></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c013'><cite>Brand</cite> was written in the summer of 1865, at -Ariccia, near Rome. Fifteen months before, Ibsen -had left Christiania, a voluntary exile, eager to escape -from the narrow Scandinavian world, and burning -with the sense of national <a id='corrvii.7'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='disgrace'>disgrace.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_vii.7'><ins class='correction' title='disgrace'>disgrace.</ins></a></span> Denmark was -in the throes of the heroic but hopeless struggle to -which her northern kinsmen had sent only a handful -of volunteers. He had travelled southward, almost -within hearing of the Prussian guns; and among the -passengers on the steamer was that venerable silver-haired -mother who, as his sarcastic verses tell, -believed so firmly in the safety of her soldier-son, and -with such good ground, “for he was a <em>Norwegian</em> -soldier.”<a id='r2' /><a href='#f2' class='c012'><sup>[2]</sup></a> On arriving at Rome he turned resolutely -away from these rankling memories, broke all the -bonds that tied him to his country, plunged into the -study of the ancient world, and made preparation for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_viii'>viii</span>that colossal drama on the Emperor Julian which -eight years later saw the light.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But the genius of the North held him in too -strong a grip. “Never have I seen the Home -and its life so fully, so clearly, so near by,” he -told the Christiania students in 1873, “as precisely -from a distance and in absence.”<a id='r3' /><a href='#f3' class='c012'><sup>[3]</sup></a> Under the -Italian sky, among the myrtles and aloes of the -“Paradise of exiles,” there rose before him more -vividly than ever the vision of the stern and -rugged Norwegian landscape, the solemn twilight of -the fjord, the storm-swept glacier, the peasant-folk -absorbed in the desperate struggle for bread, officialdom -absorbed in material progress, “intelligence” -growing refined, “humane,” and somewhat effeminate; -and, emerging here and there, glimpses somewhat -futile and forlorn of heroic manhood. A summer -tour which he had made among the western fjords in -July 1862, on a commission from Government to -collect popular legends, supplied a crowd of vivid local -and personal reminiscences; a ruined parsonage -under a precipice, a little mouldering church, a wild -march across Jotunheim in storm and snow, and then -the dizzy plunge down into one of those deep lowland -valleys that strike up like huge rocky rifts from the -fjord-head into the heart of the mountains. A few -months of intense labour sufficed to organise these -scattered images into a moving world of drama, -penetrated through and through with Ibsen’s -individuality, and clothed in rich and many-coloured -poetry. He had as yet written nothing at once so -original, so kindling, and so profusely strewn with -the most provocative brilliances of style; nothing -<span class='pageno' id='Page_ix'>ix</span>which, with all its fierce invective against Norway, -was so profoundly and intimately Norwegian in -colouring and in spirit. Upon its publication, on -March 15, 1866, at Copenhagen, the whole Scandinavian -world was taken by storm.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The sale was from the outset immense, and has -continued, though at a diminished pace, till the -present day. Four editions appeared before the close -of 1866; the eleventh in 1889. Ibsen was little -accustomed to such success. It is said that immediately -after the publication his sister-in-law drank to -the “tenth edition”; the poet confidently shook his -head and declared that the profits of the tenth edition -should be hers. She took him at his word, and has -not repented her prophetic gift.<a id='r4' /><a href='#f4' class='c012'><sup>[4]</sup></a> Outside Scandinavia, -too, the name of the author of <cite>Brand</cite> rapidly -became famous. It was the beginning of his European -fame. In Germany, its intellectual suggestiveness -and philosophical mysticism were keenly -appreciated; it was compared with <cite>Hamlet</cite> and with -<cite>Faust</cite>. No less than four translations appeared there -between 1872 and 1882.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Even on the stage, for which it was never meant, -<cite>Brand</cite> has not been quite unknown. In Christiania -the Fourth Act has repeatedly been played; but it -was reserved for the Director of the New Theatre at -Stockholm, L. Josephson, to undertake the bold experiment -of performing the whole. On March 24, 1885, -a crowded house sat through a performance which -lasted from 6.30 to 1.15. It was repeated fifteen -times.<a id='r5' /><a href='#f5' class='c012'><sup>[5]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_x'>x</span>In 1893 a single performance of the Fourth Act, in -the present version, was given in London.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Together with its still more splendid and various, -yet completely dissimilar successor, <cite>Peer Gynt</cite>, <cite>Brand</cite> -marks an epoch in Scandinavian literature. A large -majority of those who know the original believe that -it marks an epoch in the literature of Europe. -Nothing in English literature in the least resembles a -work, which is nevertheless peculiarly fitted to -impress and to fascinate the English nature.<a id='r6' /><a href='#f6' class='c012'><sup>[6]</sup></a> But -those who can imagine the prophetic fire of Carlyle -fused with the genial <em>verve</em> and the intellectual -athleticism of Browning, and expressed by aid of a -dramatic faculty to parallel which we must go two -centuries backward, may in some degree understand -that fascination.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Primarily, however, <cite>Brand</cite> was addressed to -Norway and to Norway alone. It was the passionate -cry—at once invective and appeal—of a Norwegian, to -the mother-country, of which, grievous as her failings -are, he cannot bring himself to despair. The situation -must be recalled. When the Danish King, in -November 1863, supported by the King of Sweden, -declared Slesvig an integral part of Denmark, there -was much loud jubilation in Norway at the extension -of “Scandinavian” rule, even among people not at -all prepared to allow that the cause of Denmark -and of Norway were one; while the more ardent -spirits pledged themselves over flowing cups to -support their “brothers” in the field. The actual -invasion of Denmark by Prussia and Austria which -followed (February 1864) was, in Ibsen’s eyes for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_xi'>xi</span>his own country too, a moral crisis which could -be manfully met only in one way; and when the -Storthing, by virtually refusing war,<a id='r7' /><a href='#f7' class='c012'><sup>[7]</sup></a> forced the King, -to his bitter shame, to leave Denmark to her fate, -Ibsen’s heroic scorn broke into flame, and found its -fiercest and keenest expression in the invectives -of his hero, Brand.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Brand was no doubt originally intended to be simply -an embodiment of Ibsen’s own heroic ideal of character. -He is represented as a priest of modern Norway. -But Ibsen has himself declared that this was not at -all essential for his purpose. “I could have applied -the whole syllogism just as well,” he told Georg -Brandes, “to a sculptor, or a politician, as to a priest. -I could quite as well have worked out the impulse -which drove me to write, by taking Galileo, for -instance, as my hero—assuming, of course, that -Galileo should stand firm and never concede the fixity -of the earth;—or you yourself in your struggle with -the Danish reactionaries.”<a id='r8' /><a href='#f8' class='c012'><sup>[8]</sup></a> The gist of the whole is -therefore ethical, in spite of its theological clothing, -and in spite of the theological phraseology in which -Ibsen’s own ethical conceptions were as yet habitually -entangled. The faith which inspires it is the faith in -the spirit of man—“the one eternal thing,” as Brand -declares in a splendid outburst, that of which churches -and creeds are only passing moods, and which, now -dispersed and disintegrated among the torsos of -humanity, shall one day gather once more into a -whole.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Brand was to be the ideal antitype of the Norwegian -<span class='pageno' id='Page_xii'>xii</span>people. But Ibsen’s own complexity of -nature, and perhaps also his keen dramatic instinct -interfered with this simple scheme. The ideal type -grew human and individual; the Titan going forth -with drawn sword against the world became a -struggling and agonised soul, swayed by doubts and -entangled by illusion; the vices he denounces are -represented by men, drawn mostly with a genial and -humorous, and, in the case of the “humane” old -Doctor, with a kindly and sympathetic hand. The -beautiful creation of Agnes serves the purpose of -satire admirably in the Second Act, where her -heroism is set off against the “faintheartedness” of -the Peasants and Einar; but in the Third and Fourth -Acts she has passed into the domain of tragedy; her -heroism is no longer an example hurled at the cringing -patriots of 1864, but a pathetic sacrifice to the idol -which holds her husband in its spell. Thus the -tragedy of Brand, the man, struggling in the grip of -his formula, disengages itself from the “satire” of -Brand, the Titan, subduing the world to his creed.</p> - -<p class='c001'><cite>Brand</cite> is written throughout in one or other of two -varieties of four-beat verse. “I wanted a metre -in which I could career where I would, as on horseback,” - Ibsen said to the present translator in 1893. -And in his hands the metre develops a versatility of -tone, rhythm and rhyme arrangement for which -Browning’s <cite>Christmas Eve and Easter Day</cite> is the only -proximate English parallel. But the two varieties—iambic -and trochaic, instead of being deftly -mingled, as in <cite><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">L’Allegro</span></cite> and <cite><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Il Penseroso</span></cite>, are kept -strictly apart and used with felicitous effect to -heighten the distinction between two classes of scene. -The iambic is the measure of the more familiar and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_xiii'>xiii</span>pedestrian scenes, where the tone is colloquial, argumentative, -satirical, or, again, bustling and lively. -The swifter and more sensitive trochaic, on the other -hand, is used in scenes of passion and poetry, of -poignant emotion, of mystic vision, of solitary -thought. Thus all the great revealing crises of the -action, the points at which the informing fire breaks -through—the monologues of Brand, the visions of -Agnes (Acts <span class='fss'>II. V.</span>), and the scenes in which they -successively “stand at the crossway” to choose (end -of Acts <span class='fss'>II. III. IV.</span>)—are conveyed in the more lyrical -metre, while the more conversational clothes the -intervening tracts of common life.<a id='r9' /><a href='#f9' class='c012'><sup>[9]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'>The present translation retains the metres of the -original, and follows the text, in general, line for line. -But no attempt has been made at exact correspondence -in points, such as the use of single or -double rhymes, and the sequence and arrangement of -rhymes, where the original itself is completely -arbitrary.</p> - -<hr class='c014' /> -<div class='footnote' id='f1'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r1'>1</a>. For a more detailed discussion of <cite>Brand</cite> the reader may be -referred to the Introduction prefixed to the original edition of -the present translation (London, 1894).</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f2'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r2'>2</a>. The poem <cite><span lang="no" xml:lang="no">Troens grund</span></cite>. It is translated by Mr. Wicksteed, -<cite>Lect.</cite>, p. 24. This admirable little volume is indispensable to the -English student of Ibsen’s poetry.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f3'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r3'>3</a>. Speech to the students, printed in full in Halvorsen, <cite><span lang="no" xml:lang="no">Norsk -Forfatter-lexikon</span></cite>, art. “Ibsen.”</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f4'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r4'>4</a>. Halvorsen, <cite><span lang="no" xml:lang="no">Forfatter-lexikon</span></cite>, <i>u.s.</i></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f5'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r5'>5</a>. The Stockholm <span lang="sw" xml:lang="sw"><cite>Ny ill. Tidning</cite></span>, 1885, Nos. 14, 15, gives an -interesting account of the performance, with several illustrations. -<cite>Brand</cite> was played by E. Hillberg. Ibsen congratulated the -Director in a letter printed by Halvorsen, <i>u.s.</i></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f6'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r6'>6</a>. Mr. Gosse has, however, pointed out that it has points of -likeness, striking rather than important, to Dobell’s dramatic -poem <cite>Balder</cite> (1854).</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f7'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r7'>7</a>. They accepted the King’s demand that the army should be -placed absolutely in his hands, but coupled the condition that -he was to make war only in alliance with England or France.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f8'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r8'>8</a>. First published by Brandes in his <cite><span lang="no" xml:lang="no">Gjennembrudtsmænd</span></cite>, -partially quoted by Jæger, <cite>H. Ibsen</cite> (Eng. Tr. p. 155).</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f9'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r9'>9</a>. In Spain, conversely, the trochaic was the normal metre, the -iambic a comparatively rare variation in situations of exceptional -dignity.</p> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_1'>1</span><span class='xlarge'>BRAND</span></div> - <div>(1865)</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_2'>2</span> - <h3 class='c015'>PERSONS REPRESENTED.</h3> -</div> - - <ul class='ul_1 c000'> - <li><span class='sc'>Brand.</span> - </li> - <li><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span> - </li> - <li><span class='sc'>Einar</span>, <i>a painter.</i> - </li> - <li><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span> - </li> - <li><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span> - </li> - <li><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span> - </li> - <li><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span> - </li> - <li><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span> - </li> - <li><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span> - </li> - <li><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span> - </li> - <li><span class='sc'>A Peasant.</span> - </li> - <li><span class='sc'>His Young Son.</span> - </li> - <li><span class='sc'>Another Peasant.</span> - </li> - <li><span class='sc'>A Woman.</span> - </li> - <li><span class='sc'>Another Woman.</span> - </li> - <li><span class='sc'>A Clerk.</span> - </li> - <li><span class='sc'>Priests and Officials.</span> - </li> - <li><span class='sc'>Crowd: Men, Women and Children.</span> - </li> - <li><span class='sc'>The Tempter in the Desert.</span> - </li> - <li><span class='sc'>The Invisible Choir.</span> - </li> - <li><span class='sc'>A Voice.</span> - </li> - </ul> - -<p class='c016'><i>The action takes place in our own time, at various points -around a fjord-hamlet on the west coast of Norway.</i></p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_3'>3</span><span class='xlarge'>BRAND.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c009'>ACT FIRST.</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c017'><i>High up in the mountain snowfields. The mist lies -thick and close; it is raining, and nearly <a id='corr3.4'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='dark'>dark.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_3.4'><ins class='correction' title='dark'>dark.</ins></a></span></i></p> -<p class='c016'><i><span class='sc'>Brand</span> in black, with stick and wallet, is struggling on -westward. <span class='sc'>A Peasant and his Young Son</span>, who -have joined him, are a little way behind.</i></p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Calling after <span class='sc'>Brand</span>.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Hullo, you stranger fellow, stay!</div> - <div class='line'>Where are you?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in15'>Here!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in21'>You’ve got astray!</div> - <div class='line'>The fog’s so thick, my sight it passes</div> - <div class='line'>To see a staff’s-length ’fore or back——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Son.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Father, here’s clefts!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in23'>And here crevasses!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_4'>4</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And not a vestige of the track.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Crying out.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Hold, man! God’s death—! The very ground</div> - <div class='line'>Is but a shell! Don’t stamp the snow!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Listening.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I hear the roaring of a fall.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A beck has gnawed its way below;</div> - <div class='line'>Here’s an abyss that none can sound;</div> - <div class='line'>’Twill open and engulf us all!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>As I have said, I <em class='gesperrt'>must</em> go on.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>That’s past the power of any one.</div> - <div class='line'>I tell you—the ground’s a rotten crust—</div> - <div class='line'>Hold, hold, man! Death is where it’s <a id='corr4.19'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='trod'>trod.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_4.19'><ins class='correction' title='trod'>trod.</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A great one gave me charge; I <em class='gesperrt'>must</em>.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What is his name?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>His name is God.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And what might you be, pray?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in29'>A priest.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Maybe; but one thing’s clear at least;</div> - <div class='line'>Though you were dean and bishop too</div> - <div class='line'>Death will have laid his grip on you</div> - <div class='line'>Ere daybreak, if you dare to breast</div> - <div class='line'>The glacier’s cavern-cloven crest.</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Approaching warily and insinuatingly.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Hark, priest, the wisest, learned’st man</div> - <div class='line'>Cannot do more than what he can.</div> - <div class='line'>Turn back; don’t be so stiff and stout!</div> - <div class='line'>A man has but a single life;—</div> - <div class='line'>What has he left if that goes out?</div> - <div class='line'>The nearest farm is two leagues off,</div> - <div class='line'>And for the fog, it’s thick enough</div> - <div class='line'>To hack at with a hunting-knife.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>If the fog’s thick, no glimmering ray</div> - <div class='line'>Of marsh-light lures our feet astray.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>All round lie ice-tarns in a ring,</div> - <div class='line'>And an ice-tarn’s an ugly thing.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>We’ll walk across.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in19'>On waves you’ll walk!</div> - <div class='line'>Your deeds will hardly match your talk.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yet one has proved,—whose faith is sound</div> - <div class='line'>May walk dry-footed on the sea.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes, men of olden time, maybe;</div> - <div class='line'>But nowadays he’d just be drowned.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Going</i>.]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Farewell!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in10'>You throw your life away!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>If God should haply need its loss,——</div> - <div class='line'>Then welcome chasm, and flood, and foss.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - <div>[<i>To himself</i>.]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Nay, but his wits are gone astray!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Son.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Half-crying.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Come away, Father! see how black</div> - <div class='line'>With coming tempest is the wrack!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Stopping and approaching again.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Hear, peasant; you at first profess’d,</div> - <div class='line'>Your daughter by the fjordside lying,</div> - <div class='line'>Had sent you word that she was dying,</div> - <div class='line'>But could not with a gladsome breast,</div> - <div class='line'>Until she saw you, go to rest?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>That’s certain, as I hope for bliss!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And as her last day mentioned—<em class='gesperrt'>this</em>?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in5'>Not a later?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>No.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in22'>Then <a id='corr7.8'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='come'>come.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_7.8'><ins class='correction' title='come'>come.</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The thing’s impossible—turn home!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Looking fixedly at him.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Listen! Would you give twenty pound</div> - <div class='line'>If she might have a blest release?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes, parson!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in13'>Forty?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>House and ground</div> - <div class='line'>I’d very gladly sign away</div> - <div class='line'>If so she might expire in peace!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But would you also give your <em class='gesperrt'>life</em>?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What? life? My good friend——!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in32'>Well?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Scratching his head.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in38'>Nay, nay,</div> - <div class='line'>I draw the line somewhere or other——!</div> - <div class='line'>In Jesus’ name, remember, pray,</div> - <div class='line'>At home I’ve children and a wife.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>He whom you mention had a mother.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ay, that was in the times of yore;—</div> - <div class='line'>Then marvels were of every day;</div> - <div class='line'>Such things don’t happen any more.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Go home. You travel in death’s track.</div> - <div class='line'>You know not God, God knows not you.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Hoo, you are stern!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Son.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Pulling him away.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>Come back! come <a id='corr8.20'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='back'>back!</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_8.20'><ins class='correction' title='back'>back!</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ay, ay; but he must follow too!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Must I?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in8'>Ay, if I let you bide</div> - <div class='line'>Up here in this accursed weather,</div> - <div class='line'>And rumour told, what we can’t hide,</div> - <div class='line'>That you and we set out together,</div> - <div class='line'>I’m haul’d some morning to the dock,—</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span>And if you’re drown’d in flood and fen,</div> - <div class='line'>I’m sentenced to the bolt and lock——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You suffer in God’s service, then.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Nor his nor yours is my affair;</div> - <div class='line'>My own is hard enough to bear.</div> - <div class='line'>Come then!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in11'>Farewell!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c019'>[<i>A hollow roar is heard in the distance.</i></div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Son.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Shrieking.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in21'>An avalanche roar!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>To the <span class='sc'>Peasant</span> who has seized his collar.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Off!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in5'>Nay!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in10'>This instant!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Son.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in24'>Stay no more!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Struggling with <span class='sc'>Brand</span>.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Nay, devil take me——!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Shakes him off and throws him down in the snow.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in24'>That, depend</div> - <div class='line'>On it, he will do in the end!</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Goes.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Sitting and rubbing his arm.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ow, ow; his arm’s an iron rod;</div> - <div class='line'>And that’s what he calls serving <a id='corr10.4'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='God'>God.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_10.4'><ins class='correction' title='God'>God.</ins></a></span></div> - <div class='line in9'>[<i>Calling as he gets up.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Ho, priest!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Son.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in12'>He’s gone athwart the hill.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ay, but I see him glimmer still.</div> - <div class='line in8'>[<i>Calling again.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Hear me,—if you remember, say,</div> - <div class='line'>Where was it that we lost the way?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>In the mist.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You need no cross to point you right;—</div> - <div class='line'>The broad and beaten track you tread.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Peasant.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>God grant it were but as he said,</div> - <div class='line'>And I’d sit snug at home to-night.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c019'>[<i>He and his Son retire eastwards.</i></div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Reappears higher up, and listens in the direction in which the <span class='sc'>Peasant</span> went.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Homeward they grovel! Thou dull thrall,</div> - <div class='line'>If but thy feeble flesh were all,</div> - <div class='line'>If any spark of living will</div> - <div class='line'>Sprang in thee, I had help’d thee still.</div> - <div class='line'>With breaking back, and feet way-worn,</div> - <div class='line'>Lightly and swift I had thee borne;—</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span>But help is idle for the man</div> - <div class='line'>Who nothing wills but what he can.</div> - <div class='line in12'>[<i>Goes further on.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Ah life! ah life! Why art thou then</div> - <div class='line'>So passing sweet to mortal men?</div> - <div class='line'>In every weakling’s estimation</div> - <div class='line'>His own life does as grossly weigh</div> - <div class='line'>As if the load of man’s salvation</div> - <div class='line'>Upon his puny shoulders lay.</div> - <div class='line'>For every burden he’s prepared,</div> - <div class='line'>God help us,—so his life be spared!</div> - <div class='line in5'>[<i>Smiles as in recollection.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Two thoughts in boyhood broke upon me,</div> - <div class='line'>And spasms of laughter in me woke,</div> - <div class='line'>And from our ancient school-dame won me</div> - <div class='line'>Many a just and bitter stroke.</div> - <div class='line'>An Owl I fancied, scared by night;</div> - <div class='line'>A Fish that had the water-fright;</div> - <div class='line'>I sought to banish them;—in vain,</div> - <div class='line'>They clung like leeches to my brain.</div> - <div class='line'>Whence rose that laughter in my mind?</div> - <div class='line'>Ah, from the gulf, dimly divined,</div> - <div class='line'>Between the living world we see</div> - <div class='line'>And the world as it ought to be,</div> - <div class='line'>Between enduring what we must,</div> - <div class='line'>And murmuring, it is unjust!</div> - <div class='line in2'>Ah, whole or sickly, great or small,</div> - <div class='line'>Such owls, such fishes, are we all.</div> - <div class='line'>Born to be tenants of the deep,</div> - <div class='line'>Born to be exiles from the sun,</div> - <div class='line'>This, even this, does us appal;</div> - <div class='line'>We dash against the beetling steep,</div> - <div class='line'>Our starry-vaulted home we shun,</div> - <div class='line'>And crying to heaven, bootless pray</div> - <div class='line'>For air and the glad flames of day!</div> - <div class='line in3'>[<i>Pauses a moment, starts, and listens.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>What do I hear? A sound of singing.</div> - <div class='line'>Ay, blended song and laughter ringing.</div> - <div class='line'>With now a cheer and now a hollo,—</div> - <div class='line'>Another—and another—follow!</div> - <div class='line in2'>Lo, the sun rises; the mist lifts.</div> - <div class='line'>Already through the breaking rifts</div> - <div class='line'>The illimitable heights I see;</div> - <div class='line'>And now that joyous company</div> - <div class='line'>Stands out against the morning light</div> - <div class='line'>Upon the summit of the height.</div> - <div class='line'>Their shadows taper to the west,</div> - <div class='line'>Farewells are utter’d, hands are pressed.</div> - <div class='line'>And now they part, the others move</div> - <div class='line'>Eastward away, two westward wend,</div> - <div class='line'>And, waving hats and kerchiefs, send</div> - <div class='line'>Their farewell messages of love.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='direction'> -<p class='c021'>[<i>The sun gradually breaks through and disperses -the mist. <span class='sc'>Brand</span> stands and looks -down on the two as they approach.</i>]</p> -</div> -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>How the light glitters round these two!</div> - <div class='line'>It is as if the mist took flight,</div> - <div class='line'>And flowering heather clothed the height,</div> - <div class='line'>And heaven laugh’d round them where they go.</div> - <div class='line'>Brother and sister, hand in hand,</div> - <div class='line'>They spring along the hill together,</div> - <div class='line'>She scarcely stirs the dewy heather,</div> - <div class='line'>And he is lissome as a wand.</div> - <div class='line'>Now she darts back, he rushes after,</div> - <div class='line'>Now slips aside, eludes his aim,—</div> - <div class='line'>Out of their gambols grows a game——!</div> - <div class='line'>And hark, a song out of their laughter!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='direction'> -<p class='c021'>[<i><span class='sc'>Einar</span> and <span class='sc'>Agnes</span>, in light summer dress, -both of them warm and glowing, come -playing across the level. The mist is gone; -a bright summer morning lies on the -mountains.</i>]</p> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Agnes, my beautiful butterfly,</div> - <div class='line'>Playfully shalt thou be caught!</div> - <div class='line'>I am weaving a net, and its meshes fine</div> - <div class='line'>Are all of my music wrought!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Dancing backwards and always eluding him.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And am I a butterfly, dainty and slight,</div> - <div class='line'>Let me sip of the heather-bell blue,</div> - <div class='line'>And art thou a boy, let me be thy sport,</div> - <div class='line'>But oh! not thy captive too!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Agnes, my beautiful butterfly,</div> - <div class='line'>I have woven my meshes so thin,</div> - <div class='line'>And never availeth thy fluttering flight,</div> - <div class='line'>Soon art thou my captive within.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And am I a butterfly young and bright,</div> - <div class='line'>Full joyously I can play,</div> - <div class='line'>But if in thy net I a captive lie</div> - <div class='line'>Oh, touch not my wings, I pray!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Nay, I will lift thee with tender hand,</div> - <div class='line'>And lock thee up in my breast,</div> - <div class='line'>And there thou shalt play thy whole life long</div> - <div class='line'>At the game thy heart loves best.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='direction'> -<p class='c021'>[<i>They have unwittingly approached a sheer -precipice, and are now close to the edge.</i></p> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Calls down to them.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Hold! hold! You stand by an abyss!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Who calls us?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Pointing up.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>See!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in19'>Heed where you go</div> - <div class='line'>Your feet are on the hollow snow</div> - <div class='line'>That overhangs a precipice.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Clasping her, and laughing up to <span class='sc'>Brand</span>.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Needless for her and me your fears!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>We have a whole life long to play!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>In sunshine lies our destined way,</div> - <div class='line'>And ends but with a hundred years.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And then you perish? So!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Waving her veil.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in25'>No; then</div> - <div class='line'>We fly to heaven and play again!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A hundred years to revel given,</div> - <div class='line'>Each night the bridal lamps aflame,—</div> - <div class='line'>A century of glorious game——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And then—?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in12'>Then home again to heaven,—</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Aha! so that is whence you came?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Of course; how should we not come thence?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>That is, our very latest flight</div> - <div class='line'>Is from the valley, eastward hence.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I think I saw you on the height.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ay, it was there on those loved faces</div> - <div class='line'>Even but now we look’d our last,</div> - <div class='line'>And with clasp’d hands, kisses, embraces</div> - <div class='line'>Seal’d all our tender memories fast!</div> - <div class='line'>Come down to us, and I will tell</div> - <div class='line'>How God’s been good beyond compare—</div> - <div class='line'>And you shall all our gladness share——!</div> - <div class='line'>Pooh, stand not like an icicle!</div> - <div class='line'>Come, thaw now! There, I like you so.</div> - <div class='line'>First, I’m a painter, you must know,</div> - <div class='line'>And even this to me was sweet,—</div> - <div class='line'>To lend my fancy wings and feet,</div> - <div class='line'>In colours to bid life arise,</div> - <div class='line'>As He of grubs breeds butterflies.</div> - <div class='line'>But God surpass’d Himself when He</div> - <div class='line'>My Agnes gave me for my bride!</div> - <div class='line'>I came from travels over sea,</div> - <div class='line'>My painter’s satchel at my side——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Eagerly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Glad as a king, and fresh, and free,—</div> - <div class='line'>And knew a thousand songs beside!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Just as the village I pass’d through,</div> - <div class='line'>She chanced to dwell an inmate there.</div> - <div class='line'>She longed to taste the upland air,</div> - <div class='line'>The scented woods, the sun, the dew;</div> - <div class='line'>Me God unto the mountains drew,—</div> - <div class='line'>My heart cried out: Seek Beauty’s might</div> - <div class='line'>In forests dim and rivers bright</div> - <div class='line'>And flying clouds beneath the blue.—</div> - <div class='line'>Then I achieved my height of art:</div> - <div class='line'>A rosy flush upon her cheek,</div> - <div class='line'>Two joyous eyes that seem’d to speak,</div> - <div class='line'>A smile whose music filled the heart—</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>For you, though, all that art was vain,</div> - <div class='line'>You drank life’s beaker, blind and rapt,</div> - <div class='line'>And then, one sunny morn, again</div> - <div class='line'>Stood, staff in hand and baggage strapp’d—</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Then suddenly the thought occurr’d:</div> - <div class='line'>“Why, friend, the wooing is forgot!”</div> - <div class='line in1'>Hurrah! I ask’d, she gave her word,</div> - <div class='line'>And all was settled on the spot.</div> - <div class='line'>Our good old doctor, like a boy,</div> - <div class='line'>Was all beside himself with joy;</div> - <div class='line'>So three whole days, and whole nights three,</div> - <div class='line'>Held revelry for her and me;</div> - <div class='line'>Mayor and constable, clerk and priest,—</div> - <div class='line'>All the grown youth was at the feast.</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>Last night we left, but not for that</div> - <div class='line'>The revel or the banquet ceased;</div> - <div class='line'>With banner’d pole and wreathed hat,</div> - <div class='line'>Up over bank, on over brae,</div> - <div class='line'>Our comrades brought us on our way.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The mountain-side we danced along,</div> - <div class='line'>In couples now, and now in groups,—</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Drank luscious wine from silver stoups,—</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Awoke the summer night with song,—</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And the thick mist before our feet</div> - <div class='line'>Beat an obsequious retreat.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And now your way lies—?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in25'>To the town</div> - <div class='line'>Before us.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in11'>To my parents’ home.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>First over yonder peak, then down</div> - <div class='line'>To the fjord haven in the west;</div> - <div class='line'>On Egir’s courser through the foam</div> - <div class='line'>Ride homeward to the bridal feast,—</div> - <div class='line'>So to the sunny south together</div> - <div class='line'>Like paired swans in their first flight——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And there——?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in15'>A life of summer weather,</div> - <div class='line'>A dream, a legend of delight.</div> - <div class='line'>For on this Sabbath morn have we,</div> - <div class='line'>High on the hills, without a priest,</div> - <div class='line'>From fear and sorrow been released</div> - <div class='line'>And consecrated to gaiety.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>By whom?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in9'>By all the merry crowd.</div> - <div class='line'>With ringing glasses every cloud</div> - <div class='line'>Was banish’d that might dash the leaves</div> - <div class='line'>Too rudely at our cottage eaves.</div> - <div class='line'>Out of our speech they put to flight</div> - <div class='line'>Each warning word of stormy showers,</div> - <div class='line'>And hail’d us, garlanded with flowers,</div> - <div class='line'>The true-born children of Delight.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Going.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Farewell, ye two.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Starting and looking more closely at him.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>I pray you, hold</div> - <div class='line'>Something familiar in your face——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Coldly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I am a stranger.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in17'>Yet a trace</div> - <div class='line'>Surely there lingers of an old</div> - <div class='line'>Friend of my school-days—</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in26'>School-friends, true;</div> - <div class='line'>But now I am no more a boy.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Can it be——?</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Cries out suddenly.</i>]</div> - <div class='line in15'>Brand! It is! O joy!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>From the first moment I knew you.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Well met! a thousand times well met!</div> - <div class='line'>Look at me!—Ay, the old Brand yet,</div> - <div class='line'>Still centred on the things within,</div> - <div class='line'>Whom never any one could win</div> - <div class='line'>To join our gambols.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in21'>You forget</div> - <div class='line'>That I was homeless and alone.</div> - <div class='line'>Yet you at least I loved, I own.</div> - <div class='line'>You children of the southern land</div> - <div class='line'>Were fashion’d of another clay</div> - <div class='line'>Than I, born by a rocky strand</div> - <div class='line'>In shadow of a barren brae.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Your home is here, I think?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in28'>My way</div> - <div class='line'>Lies past it.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Past? What, further?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in21'>Far</div> - <div class='line'>Beyond, beyond my home.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in24'>You are</div> - <div class='line'>A priest?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Smiling.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in10'>A mission-preacher, say.</div> - <div class='line'>I wander like the woodland hare,</div> - <div class='line'>And where I am, my home is there.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And whither is your last resort?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Sternly and quickly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Inquire not!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in13'>Wherefore?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Changing his tone.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in24'>Ah,—then know,</div> - <div class='line'>The ship that stays for you below</div> - <div class='line'>Shall bear me also from the port.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Hurrah! My bridal-courser true</div> - <div class='line'>Think, Agnes, he is coming too!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But <i>I</i> am to a burial bound.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A burial.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in10'>You? Why, who is dead?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The God who was <em class='gesperrt'>your</em> God, you said.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Shrinking back.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Come, Einar!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in13'>Brand!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>With cerements wound</div> - <div class='line'>The God of each mechanic slave,</div> - <div class='line'>Of each dull drudger, shall be laid</div> - <div class='line'>By broad day in his open grave.</div> - <div class='line'>End of the matter must be made;</div> - <div class='line'>And high time is it you should know</div> - <div class='line'>He ail’d a thousand years ago.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Brand, you are ill!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>No, sound and fresh</div> - <div class='line'>As juniper and mountain-pine!</div> - <div class='line'>It is our age whose pining flesh</div> - <div class='line'>Craves burial at these hands of mine.</div> - <div class='line'>Ye will but laugh and love and play,</div> - <div class='line'>A little doctrine take on trust,</div> - <div class='line'>And all the bitter burden thrust</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>On One who came, ye have been told,</div> - <div class='line'>And from your shoulders took away</div> - <div class='line'>Your great transgressions manifold.</div> - <div class='line'>He bore for you the cross, the lance—</div> - <div class='line'>Ye therefore have full leave to dance;</div> - <div class='line'>Dance then,—but where your dancing ends</div> - <div class='line'>Is quite another thing, my friends!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ah, I perceive, the latest cry,</div> - <div class='line'>That folks are so much taken by.</div> - <div class='line'>You come of the new brood, who hold</div> - <div class='line'>That life is only gilded mould,</div> - <div class='line'>And with God’s penal fires and flashes</div> - <div class='line'>Hound all the world to sack and ashes.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>No, I am no “Evangelist,”</div> - <div class='line in1'>I speak not as the Church’s priest;</div> - <div class='line'>That I’m a Christian, even, I doubt;</div> - <div class='line'>That I’m a man, though, I know well,</div> - <div class='line'>And that I see the cancer fell</div> - <div class='line'>That eats our country’s marrow out.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Smiling.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I never heard, I must confess,</div> - <div class='line'>Our country taxed with being given</div> - <div class='line'>To worldly pleasure in excess!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>No, by delight no breast is riven;—</div> - <div class='line'>Were it but so, the ill were less!</div> - <div class='line'>Be passion’s slave, be pleasure’s thrall,—</div> - <div class='line'>But be it utterly, all in all!</div> - <div class='line'>Be not to-day, to-morrow, one,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>Another when a year is gone;</div> - <div class='line'>Be what you are with all your heart,</div> - <div class='line'>And not by pieces and in part.</div> - <div class='line'>The Bacchant’s clear, defined, complete,</div> - <div class='line'>The sot, his sordid counterfeit;</div> - <div class='line'>Silenus charms; but all his graces</div> - <div class='line'>The drunkard’s parody debases.</div> - <div class='line'>Traverse the land from beach to beach,</div> - <div class='line'>Try every man in heart and soul,</div> - <div class='line'>You’ll find he has no virtue whole,</div> - <div class='line'>But just a little grain of each.</div> - <div class='line'>A little pious in the pew,</div> - <div class='line'>A little grave,—his fathers’ way,—</div> - <div class='line'>Over the cup a little gay,—</div> - <div class='line'>It was his father’s fashion too!</div> - <div class='line'>A little warm when glasses clash,</div> - <div class='line'>And stormy cheer and song go round</div> - <div class='line'>For the small Folk, rock-will’d, rock-bound,</div> - <div class='line'>That never stood the scourge and lash.</div> - <div class='line'>A little free in promise-making;</div> - <div class='line'>And then, when vows in liquor will’d</div> - <div class='line'>Must be in mortal stress fulfill’d,</div> - <div class='line'>A little fine in promise-breaking.</div> - <div class='line'>Yet, as I say, all fragments still</div> - <div class='line'>His faults, his merits, fragments all,</div> - <div class='line'>Partial in good, partial in ill,</div> - <div class='line'>Partial in great things and in small;—</div> - <div class='line'>But here’s the grief—that, worst or best,</div> - <div class='line'>Each fragment of him wrecks the rest!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Scoffing’s an easy task: it were</div> - <div class='line'>A nobler policy to spare——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Perhaps, if it were wholesome too.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Well, well, the indictment I endorse</div> - <div class='line'>With all my heart; but can’t divine</div> - <div class='line'>What in the world it has to do</div> - <div class='line'>With Him, the God you count a corse,</div> - <div class='line'>Whom yet I still acknowledge mine.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>My genial friend, your gift is Art;—</div> - <div class='line'>Show me the God you have averr’d.</div> - <div class='line'>Him you have painted, I have heard,</div> - <div class='line'>And touch’d the honest people’s heart.</div> - <div class='line'>Old is he haply; am I right?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Well, yes——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>Of course; and, doubtless, white?</div> - <div class='line'>Hairs straggling on a reverend head,</div> - <div class='line'>A beard of ice or silver-thread;</div> - <div class='line'>Kindly, yet stern enough to fright</div> - <div class='line'>A pack of children in the night.</div> - <div class='line'>I will not ask you, if your God</div> - <div class='line'>With fireside slippers you have shod;</div> - <div class='line'>But ’twere a pity, without doubt,</div> - <div class='line'>To leave skull-cap and glasses out.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Angrily.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What do you mean?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>I do not flout;</div> - <div class='line'>Just so he looks in form and face,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>The household idol of our race.</div> - <div class='line'>As Catholics make of the Redeemer</div> - <div class='line'>A baby at the breast, so ye</div> - <div class='line'>Make God a dotard and a dreamer,</div> - <div class='line'>Verging on second infancy.</div> - <div class='line'>And as the Pope on Peter’s throne</div> - <div class='line'>Calls little but his keys his own,</div> - <div class='line'>So to the Church you would confine</div> - <div class='line'>The world-wide realm of the Divine;</div> - <div class='line'>’Twixt Life and Doctrine set a sea,</div> - <div class='line'>Nowise concern yourselves to be;</div> - <div class='line'>Bliss for your souls ye would receive,</div> - <div class='line'>Not utterly and wholly <em class='gesperrt'>live</em>.</div> - <div class='line'>Ye need, such feebleness to brook,</div> - <div class='line'>A God who’ll through his fingers look,</div> - <div class='line'>Who, like yourselves, is hoary grown,</div> - <div class='line'>And keeps a cap for his bald crown.</div> - <div class='line'>Mine is another kind of God!</div> - <div class='line'>Mine is a storm, where thine’s a lull,</div> - <div class='line'>Implacable where thine’s a clod,</div> - <div class='line'>All-loving there, where thine is dull;</div> - <div class='line'>And He is young like Hercules,</div> - <div class='line'>No hoary sipper of life’s lees!</div> - <div class='line'>His voice rang through the dazzled night</div> - <div class='line'>When He, within the burning wood,</div> - <div class='line'>By Moses upon Horeb’s height</div> - <div class='line'>As by a pigmy’s pigmy stood.</div> - <div class='line'>In Gibeon’s vale He stay’d the sun,</div> - <div class='line'>And wonders without end has done,</div> - <div class='line'>And wonders without end would do,</div> - <div class='line'>Were not the age grown sick,—like you!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Smiling faintly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And now the age shall be made whole?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>It shall, I say, and that as sure</div> - <div class='line'>As that I came to earth to cure</div> - <div class='line'>The sapping fester of its soul.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Shaking his head.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ere yet the radiant torchlight blazes,</div> - <div class='line'>Throw not the taper to the ground!</div> - <div class='line'>Nor blot the antiquated phrases</div> - <div class='line'>Before the great new words be found!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Nothing that’s new do I demand;</div> - <div class='line'>For Everlasting Right I stand.</div> - <div class='line'>It is not for a Church I cry,</div> - <div class='line'>It is not dogmas I defend;</div> - <div class='line'>Day dawn’d on both, and, possibly,</div> - <div class='line'>Day may on both of them descend.</div> - <div class='line'>What’s made has “finis” for its brand;</div> - <div class='line'>Of moth and worm it feels the flaw,</div> - <div class='line'>And then, by nature and by law,</div> - <div class='line'>Is for an embryo thrust aside.</div> - <div class='line'>But there is one that shall abide;—</div> - <div class='line'>The Spirit, that was never born,</div> - <div class='line'>That in the world’s fresh gladsome Morn</div> - <div class='line'>Was rescued when it seem’d forlorn,</div> - <div class='line'>That built with valiant faith a road</div> - <div class='line'>Whereby from Flesh it climb’d to God.</div> - <div class='line'>Now but in shreds and scraps is dealt</div> - <div class='line'>The Spirit we have faintly felt;</div> - <div class='line'>But from these scraps and from these shreds,</div> - <div class='line'>These headless hands and handless heads,</div> - <div class='line'>These torso-stumps of soul and thought,</div> - <div class='line'>A Man complete and whole shall grow,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span>And God His glorious child shall know,</div> - <div class='line'>His heir, the Adam that He wrought!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Breaking off.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Farewell. I judge that it were best</div> - <div class='line'>We parted.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in11'>You are going west,</div> - <div class='line'>I northward. To the fjord from here</div> - <div class='line'>Two pathways lead,—both alike near.</div> - <div class='line'>Farewell!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in10'>Farewell.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Turning round again.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>Light learn to part</div> - <div class='line'>From vapour.—Know that Life’s an art!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Waving him off.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Go, turn the universe upside down;</div> - <div class='line'>Still in my ancient God I trust!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Good; paint his crutches and his crown,—</div> - <div class='line'>I go to lay him in the dust!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c019'>[<i>Disappears over the pass.</i></div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>[<i>Einar goes silently to the edge and looks after him.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Stands a moment lost in thought; then starts, looks about her uneasily, and asks</i>:]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Is the sun set already?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in24'>Nay,</div> - <div class='line'>A shadowing cloud; and now ’tis past.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The wind is cold!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>Only a blast</div> - <div class='line'>That hurried by. Here lies our way.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yon mountain southward, sure, till now,</div> - <div class='line'>Wore not that black and beetling brow.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Thou saw’st it not for game and glee</div> - <div class='line'>Ere with his cry he startled thee.</div> - <div class='line'>Let him pursue his toilsome track,</div> - <div class='line'>And we will to our gambols back!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>No, now I’m weary.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in19'>And indeed</div> - <div class='line'>I’m weary too, to tell the truth,—</div> - <div class='line'>And here our footing asks more heed</div> - <div class='line'>Than on yon upland broad and smooth.</div> - <div class='line'>But once we’re on the level plain</div> - <div class='line'>We’ll dance defiantly once more,</div> - <div class='line'>Ay, in a tenfold wilder vein</div> - <div class='line'>And tenfold swifter than before.</div> - <div class='line'>See Agnes, yon blue line that sparkles,</div> - <div class='line'>Fresh from the young sun’s morning kiss,</div> - <div class='line'>And now it dimples and now darkles,</div> - <div class='line'>Silver one moment, amber this;</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>It is the ocean glad and free</div> - <div class='line'>That in the distance thou dost see.</div> - <div class='line'>And seest thou the smoky track</div> - <div class='line'>In endless line to leeward spread?</div> - <div class='line'>And seest thou the point of black</div> - <div class='line'>Just rounding now the furthest head?</div> - <div class='line'>It is the steamer—thine and mine—</div> - <div class='line'>And now it speeds into the fjord,</div> - <div class='line'>Then out into the foaming brine</div> - <div class='line'>To-night with thee and me on board!—</div> - <div class='line'>The mists have veil’d the mountain brow—</div> - <div class='line'>Saw’st thou how vividly, but now,</div> - <div class='line'>Heaven’s image in the water woke!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Looking absently about her.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Oh, yes. But tell me—sawest thou——?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>In a hushed voice, without looking at him.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>How he tower’d as he spoke?</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>She goes down over the pass, <span class='sc'>Einar</span> follows.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class='c022' /> - -<p class='c016'>[<i>A path along the crags, with a wild valley beyond to -the right. Above, and beyond the mountain, -are glimpses of greater heights, with peaks and -snow.</i>]</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Comes up along the path, descends, stops half-way upon a jutting crag, and gazes into the valley.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes, I know myself once more!</div> - <div class='line'>Every boat-house by the shore,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>Every home; the landslip-fall,</div> - <div class='line'>And the inlet’s fringe of birch,</div> - <div class='line'>And the ancient moulder’d church,</div> - <div class='line'>And the river alders, all</div> - <div class='line'>From my boyhood I recall.</div> - <div class='line'>But methinks it all has grown</div> - <div class='line'>Grayer, smaller than I knew;</div> - <div class='line'>Yon snow-cornice hangs more prone</div> - <div class='line'>Than of old it used to do,</div> - <div class='line'>From that scanty heaven encloses</div> - <div class='line'>Yet another strip of blue,</div> - <div class='line'>Beetles, looms, immures, imposes—</div> - <div class='line'>Steals of light a larger due.</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Sits down and gazes into the distance.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>And the fjord too. Crouch’d it then</div> - <div class='line'>In so drear and deep a den?</div> - <div class='line'>’Tis a squall. A square-rigg’d skiff</div> - <div class='line'>Scuds before it to the land.</div> - <div class='line'>Southward, shadow’d by the cliff,</div> - <div class='line'>I descry a wharf, a shed,</div> - <div class='line'>Then, a farm house, painted red.—</div> - <div class='line'>’Tis the farm beside the strand!</div> - <div class='line'>’Tis the widow’s farm. The home</div> - <div class='line'>Of my childhood. Thronging come</div> - <div class='line'>Memories born of memories dead.</div> - <div class='line'>I, where yonder breakers roll,</div> - <div class='line'>Grew, a lonely infant-soul.</div> - <div class='line in2'>Like a nightmare on my heart</div> - <div class='line'>Weighs the burden of my birth,</div> - <div class='line'>Knit to one, who walks apart</div> - <div class='line'>With her spirit set to earth.</div> - <div class='line'>All the high emprise that stirr’d</div> - <div class='line'>In me, now is veil’d and blurr’d.</div> - <div class='line'>Force and valour from me fail,</div> - <div class='line'>Heart and soul grow faint and frail</div> - <div class='line'>As I near my home, I change,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>To my very self grow strange—</div> - <div class='line'>Wake, as baffled Samson woke,</div> - <div class='line'>Shorn and fetter’d, tamed and broke.</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Looks again down into the valley.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>What is stirring down below?</div> - <div class='line'>Out of every garth they flow,</div> - <div class='line'>Troops of children, wives and men,</div> - <div class='line'>And in long lines meet and mingle,</div> - <div class='line'>Now among the rocks and shingle</div> - <div class='line'>Vanish, now emerge again;—</div> - <div class='line'>To the ancient Church they go.</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Rises.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Oh, I know you, through and through!</div> - <div class='line'>Sluggard spirits, souls of lead!</div> - <div class='line'>All the Lord’s Prayer, said by you,</div> - <div class='line'>Is not with such anguish sped,</div> - <div class='line'>By such passion borne on high,</div> - <div class='line'>That one tittle thrills the sky</div> - <div class='line'>As a ringing human cry,</div> - <div class='line'>Save the prayer for daily bread!</div> - <div class='line'>That’s this people’s battle-call,</div> - <div class='line'>That’s the blazon of them all!</div> - <div class='line'>From its context pluck’d apart,</div> - <div class='line'>Branded deep in every heart—</div> - <div class='line'>There it lies, the tempest-tost</div> - <div class='line'>Wreckage of the Faith you’ve lost.</div> - <div class='line'>Forth! out of this stifling pit!</div> - <div class='line'>Vault-like is the air of it!</div> - <div class='line'>Not a Flag may float unfurl’d</div> - <div class='line'>In this dead and windless world!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='direction'> -<p class='c021'>[<i>He is going; a stone is thrown from -above and rolls down the slope close by -him.</i></p> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Calling upward.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ha! who throws stones there?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - <div>[<i>A girl of fifteen, running along the crest with stones in her apron.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in29'>Ho! Good aim!</div> - <div class='line'>He screams!</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>She throws again.</i>]</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in12'>Hullo, child, stop that game!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Without a hurt he’s sitting now,</div> - <div class='line'>And swinging on a wind-swept bough!</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>She throws again and screams.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Now fierce as ever he’s making for me.</div> - <div class='line'>Help! Hoo! With claws he’ll rend and gore me!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>In the Lord’s name——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in22'>Whist! who are you?</div> - <div class='line'>Hold still, hold still; he’s flying.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in37'>Who?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Didn’t you see the falcon fly?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Here? no.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in10'>The laidly fowl with crest</div> - <div class='line'>Thwart on its sloping brow depress’d,</div> - <div class='line'>And red-and-yellow circled <a id='corr32.39'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='eye'>eye.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_32.39'><ins class='correction' title='eye'>eye.</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Which is your way?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in19'>To church I go.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Then we can go along together.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Pointing upward.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>We? But the way I’m bound is thither.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Pointing downward.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But yonder is the church, you know!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Pointing downward with a scornful smile.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>That yonder?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in13'>Truly; come with me.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>No; yon is ugly.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in17'>Ugly? Why?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Because it’s small.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in19'>Where did you see</div> - <div class='line'>A greater?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I could tell you, I.</div> - <div class='line'>Farewell.</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>She turns away upwards.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in10'>Lies <em class='gesperrt'>there</em> that church of yours?</div> - <div class='line'>Why, that way leads but to the moors.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Come with me, you; I’ve got to show</div> - <div class='line'>A church that’s built of ice and snow!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Of ice and snow! I see the truth!</div> - <div class='line'>There, amid peak and precipice</div> - <div class='line'>As I remember from my youth,</div> - <div class='line'>There yawns a cavernous abyss;</div> - <div class='line'>“Ice-church” they call’d the place of old;</div> - <div class='line'>And of it many a tale was told;</div> - <div class='line'>A frozen tarn has paved the floor;</div> - <div class='line'>Aloft, in massy-piled blocks,</div> - <div class='line'>The gather’d snow-drifts slope and soar</div> - <div class='line'>Arch-like over the yawning rocks.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>It seems a mountain-cleft,—ah, yes,</div> - <div class='line'>It is a church, though, none the less.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Never go there; a sudden gust</div> - <div class='line'>Has often crack’d that hollow crust;</div> - <div class='line'>A rifle shot, a scream, a whoop——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Without listening to him.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Just come and see a reindeer troop</div> - <div class='line'>Gulf’d in the fall, and never found</div> - <div class='line'>Till spring and the great thaw came round.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yonder is danger; go not near it!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Pointing down.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yonder is foulness; thou must fear it!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>God’s peace with you!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in22'>Nay, this way pass!</div> - <div class='line'>Yonder the cataract’s singing Mass;</div> - <div class='line'>There on the crags the whistling weather</div> - <div class='line'>Preaches you hot and cold together.</div> - <div class='line'>Thither the hawk will ne’er steal in;</div> - <div class='line'>Down, down he sweeps from Svartetind,—</div> - <div class='line'>Yonder he sits, the ugly block,</div> - <div class='line'>Like my church-steeple’s weathercock.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Wild is thy way, and wild thy soul,—</div> - <div class='line'>A cittern with a shatter’d bowl.</div> - <div class='line'>Of dulness dulness is the brood,—</div> - <div class='line'>But evil’s lightly won to good.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>With whirring wings I hear him come!</div> - <div class='line'>I’ll e’en make shift to get me home!</div> - <div class='line'>In yonder church I’m safe,—farewell;</div> - <div class='line'>He’s on me,—hoo, how fierce and fell!</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>She screams.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>I’ll throw a stone! No nearer, now.</div> - <div class='line'>If thou hast talons, I’ve a bough!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c019'>[<i>She runs off up the mountain.</i></div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>After a pause.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>This was a church-goer, like the rest.</div> - <div class='line'>Mountain- or Dale-church, which is best?</div> - <div class='line'>Which wildest reel, which blindest grope,</div> - <div class='line'>Which furthest roam from home and hope:—</div> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>Light-heart</em> who, crown’d with leafage gay,</div> - <div class='line'>Loves by the dizziest verge to play,—</div> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>Faint-heart</em>, who marches slack and slow,</div> - <div class='line'>Because old Wont will have it so;—</div> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>Wild-heart</em>, who, borne on lawless wings,</div> - <div class='line'>Sees fairness in the foulest things?</div> - <div class='line'>War front and rear, war high and low,</div> - <div class='line'>With this fell triple-banded foe!</div> - <div class='line'>I see my Call! It gleams ahead</div> - <div class='line'>Like sunshine through a loop-hole shed!</div> - <div class='line'>I know my task; these demons slain,</div> - <div class='line'>The sick Earth shall grow sound again;—</div> - <div class='line'>Once let them to the grave be given,</div> - <div class='line'>The fever-fumes of Earth shall fly!</div> - <div class='line'>Up, Soul, array thee! Sword from thigh!</div> - <div class='line'>To battle for the heirs of Heaven!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c019'>[<i>He descends to the hamlet.</i></div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span> - <h2 class='c009'>ACT SECOND</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c017'><i>By the fjord-side, steep precipices all around. The -ancient and tumble-down church stands on a little -knoll hard by. A storm is coming on.</i></p> -<p class='c016'><i>The country-folk,—men, women, and children,—are -gathered in knots, some on the shore, some on the -slopes. The <span class='sc'>Mayor</span> sits in the midst, on a stone; -a <span class='sc'>Clerk</span> is helping him; corn and provisions are -being distributed. <span class='sc'>Einar</span> and <span class='sc'>Agnes</span> stand surrounded -by a crowd, a little apart. Some boats -lie on the beach. <span class='sc'>Brand</span> comes forward, <a id='corr37.12'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='unnoticed'>unnoticed,</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_37.12'><ins class='correction' title='unnoticed'>unnoticed,</ins></a></span> -to the church-knoll.</i></p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>A Man.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Breaking through the crowd.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Out of the way!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>A Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in16'>I’m first!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Thrusting her aside.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in27'>Get back!</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Pushing towards the Mayor.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Ho! look you, fill me up my sack!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>All in good time.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>I cannot stay;—</div> - <div class='line'>I’ve four—five—babes of bread bereft!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Facetiously.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You don’t know just how many, <a id='corr38.6'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='en'>eh?</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_38.6'><ins class='correction' title='en'>eh?</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>One was e’en dying when I left.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Hold. You are enter’d, are you not?</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Examines his papers.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>No. Yes, you are though. Well for you.</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>To the <span class='sc'>Clerk</span>.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Give Number Twenty-nine his lot.</div> - <div class='line'>Come, come, good folks, be patient, do!</div> - <div class='line'>Nils Snemyr?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in13'>Ay, ay!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in21'>We must pare</div> - <div class='line'>A quarter off your former share.</div> - <div class='line'>You’re fewer now, you know.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in28'>Yes, yes,—</div> - <div class='line'>My Ragnhild died yestreen.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Making a note.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in27'>One less.</div> - <div class='line'>Saving is saving, howsoe’er.</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>To the <span class='sc'>Man</span>, who is retiring.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>But look you, now, you needn’t run</div> - <div class='line'>And marry another on the spot!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Clerk.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Sniggering.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Hee, hee!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Sharply.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in10'>You laugh?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Clerk.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in21'>Your Worship’s fun</div> - <div class='line'>Is irresistible.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in17'>Have done!</div> - <div class='line'>This work’s no jesting; but the best</div> - <div class='line'>Method with mourners is a jest.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Coming out of the throng with <span class='sc'>Agnes</span>.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Now my last pocket’s clean and bare,</div> - <div class='line'>Spent every stiver, every note;—</div> - <div class='line'>A very beggar I go afloat,</div> - <div class='line'>And pawn my watch to pay my fare!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes, in good time you came along.</div> - <div class='line'>What I’ve collected is a song,—</div> - <div class='line'>By no means answers to the call</div> - <div class='line'>When needy hand and mouth ill-fed</div> - <div class='line'>Must halve the sharing of shared bread</div> - <div class='line'>With those who’ve ne’er a bit at all.</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>He perceives <span class='sc'>Brand</span>, and points up to him.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>One more! You’re welcome! If report</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>Of our drought-flood-and-famine curse</div> - <div class='line'>Has reach’d you, promptly loose your purse</div> - <div class='line'>(If yet unloosen’d). Every sort</div> - <div class='line'>Of contribution meets the case.</div> - <div class='line'>Our store’s nigh spent. Five fishes scant</div> - <div class='line'>In the wide wilderness of Want</div> - <div class='line'>Don’t make a square meal nowadays.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Myriads, idolatrously given,</div> - <div class='line'>Would lift the soul no nearer heaven.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>It was not words I bade you share:</div> - <div class='line'>They’re barren when the belly’s bare.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I can’t believe that you recall</div> - <div class='line'>What long and fierce calamities</div> - <div class='line'>They’ve suffered:—famine, drought, disease.</div> - <div class='line'>Men die, Brand——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>I perceive it all.</div> - <div class='line'>Each livid-circled eye makes clear</div> - <div class='line'>Who it is holds assizes here.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yet there you stand, a very flint!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>If life here ran its sluggish round</div> - <div class='line'>Of common toil and common stint,</div> - <div class='line'>Pity with me your pangs had found.</div> - <div class='line'>Who homeward crawls with earth-set eyes,</div> - <div class='line'>In him the sleeping beast will rise.</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>When days in drowsy calm go by,</div> - <div class='line'>Like funerals, at walking pace,</div> - <div class='line'>You well may fear that the Most High</div> - <div class='line'>Has struck you from His Book of Grace.</div> - <div class='line'>But unto you He was more good,</div> - <div class='line'>He scatter’d terror in your blood,</div> - <div class='line'>He scourged you with the rods that slay,</div> - <div class='line'>The gifts He gave, He took away——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Voices.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Fiercely interrupting him.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>He mocks us in our bitter need!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>He rails at us who tend and feed!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Shaking his head.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Oh, if the blood of all my heart</div> - <div class='line'>Could heal you from the hunger-smart,</div> - <div class='line'>In welling streams it should be shed,</div> - <div class='line'>Till every vein was a dry bed.</div> - <div class='line'>But here it were a sin to give!</div> - <div class='line'>God seeks to pluck you from your bane;—</div> - <div class='line'>Nations, though poor and sparse, that <em class='gesperrt'>live</em>,</div> - <div class='line'>Suck might and marrow from their pain.</div> - <div class='line'>The purblind sight takes <a id='corr41.33'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='falcon-wing'>falcon-wings</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_41.33'><ins class='correction' title='falcon-wing'>falcon-wings</ins></a></span>,</div> - <div class='line'>Sees clear into the heart of things,</div> - <div class='line'>The faltering will stands stout at bay,</div> - <div class='line'>And sees the triumph through the fray.</div> - <div class='line'>But men whom misery has not mann’d</div> - <div class='line'>Are worthless of the saving hand!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>A Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yonder a storm breaks on the fjord,</div> - <div class='line'>As if awaken’d by his word!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span><span class='sc'>Another Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>He tempts God! Mark what I foretell.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>Your</em> God ne’er wrought a miracle!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Women.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>See, see! the storm!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Voices among the Throng.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in21'>Stab,—stone him! chase</div> - <div class='line'>The flinty fellow from the place!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c016'>[<i>The peasants close menacingly round <span class='sc'>Brand</span>. The -<span class='sc'>Mayor</span> intervenes. <span class='sc'>A Woman</span>, wild and dishevelled, -comes hurriedly down the slopes.</i>]</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Woman.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Crying out towards the throng.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Oh, where is help, for Jesus’ grace!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What do you need? Explain your case.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Nothing I need; no alms I seek,</div> - <div class='line'>But oh, the horror, horror——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in30'>Speak!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I have no voice,—O comfort, aid!</div> - <div class='line'>Where is the priest?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in21'>Here there is none—</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span><span class='sc'>The Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I am undone! I am undone!</div> - <div class='line'>Stern wast thou, God, when I was made!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Approaching.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Maybe, however, there is <em class='gesperrt'>one</em>.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Woman.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Seizing his arm.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Then let him come, and swiftly!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in32'>Tell</div> - <div class='line'>Your need, and he will surely come.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Across the fjord—my husband——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in33'>Well?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Three starving babes, and ne’er a crumb,——</div> - <div class='line'>Say no,—he is not sent to hell!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Your story first.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>My breast was dry;</div> - <div class='line'>Man sent no help, and God was dumb;</div> - <div class='line'>My babe was dying in agony;</div> - <div class='line'>Cut to the heart,—his child he slew!—</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>He slew——!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span><span class='sc'>The Throng.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Shuddering.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in13'>His child!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The horror of his deed of blood!</div> - <div class='line'>His grief ran brimming like a flood;</div> - <div class='line'>He struck himself the death-wound too.</div> - <div class='line'>Come, save him, save him from perdition,</div> - <div class='line'>Spite of wild water and wild sky!</div> - <div class='line'>He cannot live, and dare not die!</div> - <div class='line'>There lies he, clasping the dead frame,</div> - <div class='line'>And shrieking on the Devil’s name!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Quietly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes, <em class='gesperrt'>here</em> is need.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Pale.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in19'>Great God on <a id='corr44.19'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='high'>high!</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_44.19'><ins class='correction' title='high'>high!</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>He doesn’t live in my Division.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Curtly, to the Peasants.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Unmoor a boat and row me there!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>A Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>When such a storm is <em class='gesperrt'>up</em>? Who dare?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A path goes round the fjord——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span><span class='sc'>The Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in32'>Nay, nay,</div> - <div class='line'>There’s now no practicable way;</div> - <div class='line'>The footbridge as I came across</div> - <div class='line'>Was broken by the foaming foss.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Unmoor the boat.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>A Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in17'>It can’t be done;</div> - <div class='line'>O’er rock and reef the breakers run.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Another.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Down sweeps a blast! See, at a stroke</div> - <div class='line'>The whole fjord vanishes in smoke!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>A Third.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>With waves so wild and wind so rough,</div> - <div class='line'>The Dean would put the service off.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A sinful soul that nears its end</div> - <div class='line'>Waits not until the weather mend!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c019'>[<i>Goes down to a boat and looses the sail.</i>]</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You’ll risk the boat?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Owner.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in22'>I will; but stay!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Now, who will risk his <em class='gesperrt'>life</em>, I say!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>A Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I’ll not go with him.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span><span class='sc'>Another.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in22'>No, nor I.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Several.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>It were just putting out to die!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>Your</em> God helps none across the fjord;</div> - <div class='line'>Remember, though, that <em class='gesperrt'>mine’s</em> on board!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Woman.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Wringing her hands.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>He’ll die unsaved!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Calling from the boat.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in16'><em class='gesperrt'>One</em> will avail</div> - <div class='line'>To bail the leakage, shift the sail;</div> - <div class='line'>Come, one of you that lately gave;</div> - <div class='line'>Give now to death and to the <a id='corr46.16'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='grave'>grave.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_46.16'><ins class='correction' title='grave'>grave.</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Several.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Shrinking back.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Never ask such-like of us!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>One.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Menacingly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in27'>Land!</div> - <div class='line'>’Tis overbold to tempt God’s hand!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Several Voices.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>See, the storm thickens!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Others.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in25'>The ropes break!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Holding himself fast with the boat-hook, and calling to the strange <span class='sc'>Woman</span>.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Good; come then you; but speedily!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Woman.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Shrinking back.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I! Where no others——!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in24'>Let them be!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I cannot!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in10'>Cannot?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>My babes’ sake——!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Scornfully laughing.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You build upon a quaking sand!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Turns with glowing cheeks to <span class='sc'>Einar</span>, lays her hand on his arm, and says</i>:]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Did you hear <em class='gesperrt'>all</em>?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>A valiant heart.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Thank God, Einar, you see your <a id='corr47.26'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='part'>part.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_47.26'><ins class='correction' title='part'>part.</ins></a></span></div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Calls to <span class='sc'>Brand</span>.</i>]</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span>See,—here is one man, brave and true,</div> - <div class='line'>To go the saving way with you!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Come on then!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Pale.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>I!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in17'>I give you! Go!</div> - <div class='line'>Mine eyes are lifted, that were low!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ere I found you, with willing feet</div> - <div class='line'>I would have follow’d where he led——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Trembling.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But now——!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in13'>My life is new and sweet;—</div> - <div class='line'>I <em class='gesperrt'>cannot</em> go!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Starting back.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in13'>What have you said!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I <em class='gesperrt'>dare</em> not go!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>With a cry.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in15'>Now roars a sea</div> - <div class='line'>Of sweeping flood and surging foam</div> - <div class='line'>World-wide, world-deep, ’twixt you and me!</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>To <span class='sc'>Brand</span>.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'><i>I</i> will go with you!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>Good; then come!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Clutching desperately after her.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Agnes!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The whole Throng.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Hurrying towards her.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in7'>Come back! Come back!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Women.</span></div> - <div>[<i>In terror as she springs into the boat.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in29'>Help, Lord!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Where does the house lie!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Women.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Pointing.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in26'>By the fjord,</div> - <div class='line'>Behind yon black and jutting brink!</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>The boats put out.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Calling after them.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Your home, your mother, Agnes! Think!</div> - <div class='line'>O save yourself!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in17'>We are <em class='gesperrt'>three</em> on board!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='direction'> -<p class='c021'>[<i>The boat sails. The people crowd together -on the slopes, and watch in eager suspense.</i></p> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>A Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>He clears the headland!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Another.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in23'>Nay!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span><span class='sc'>The First.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in29'>Yes, see,—</div> - <div class='line'>Astern he has it, and in lee!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Another.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A squall! It’s caught them!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in28'>Look at that,—</div> - <div class='line'>The wind has swept away his hat!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>A Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Black as a rook’s wing, his wet hair</div> - <div class='line'>Streams backward on the angry air.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>First Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>All seethes and surges!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in24'>What a yell!</div> - <div class='line'>Rang through the storm!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>A Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in24'>’Twas from the fell.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Another.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Pointing up.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>See, there stands Gerd upon the cliff,</div> - <div class='line'>Hallooing at the passing skiff!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>First Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>She’s flinging pebbles like witch-corn,</div> - <div class='line'>And blowing through a twisted horn.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Second Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Now she has slung it like a wand,</div> - <div class='line'>And pipes upon her hollow’d hand.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span><span class='sc'>A Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ay, pipe away, thou troll abhorr’d!</div> - <div class='line'>He has a Guide and Guard on board!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Another.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>In a worse storm, with him to steer,</div> - <div class='line'>I’d put to sea and never fear.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>First Man</span>.</div> - <div>[<i>To <span class='sc'>Einar</span>.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What is he?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in12'>A priest.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Second Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in22'>What is he, nay—</div> - <div class='line'>That’s plain: he is a <em class='gesperrt'>man</em>, I say!</div> - <div class='line'>Strong will is in him, and bold deed.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>First Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>That were the very priest we need!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Many Voices.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ay, ay, the very priest we need!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c019'>[<i>They disperse along the slopes.</i></div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Collecting his books and papers.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Well, ’tis opposed to all routine</div> - <div class='line'>To labour in a strange vocation,</div> - <div class='line'>Intrusively to risk one’s skin</div> - <div class='line'>Without an adequate occasion.—</div> - <div class='line'><i>I</i> do my duty with precision,—</div> - <div class='line'>But always in my own Division.</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Goes.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class='c022' /> - -<p class='c016'>[<i>Outside the hut on the Ness. Late afternoon. The -fjord is smooth and gleaming. <span class='sc'>Agnes</span> is sitting</i> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span><i>by the beach. Presently <span class='sc'>Brand</span> comes out of -the hut.</i>]</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>That</em> was death. The horror-rifted</div> - <div class='line'>Bosom at its touch grew whole.</div> - <div class='line'>Now he looks a calm great soul,</div> - <div class='line'>All illumined and up-lifted.</div> - <div class='line'>Has a false illusion might</div> - <div class='line'>Out of gloom to win such light?</div> - <div class='line in2'>Of his devil’s-deed he saw</div> - <div class='line'>Nothing but the outward flaw,—</div> - <div class='line'>That of it which tongue can tell</div> - <div class='line'>And to hands is palpable,—</div> - <div class='line'>That for which his name’s reviled,—</div> - <div class='line'>The brute slaying of his child.</div> - <div class='line in2'>But those two, that sat and gazed</div> - <div class='line'>With great frighten’d eyes, amazed,</div> - <div class='line'>Speechless, like two closely couching</div> - <div class='line'>Birdlets, in the ingle crouching,—</div> - <div class='line'>Who but look’d, and look’d, and ever</div> - <div class='line'>Look’d, unwitting upon what,—</div> - <div class='line'>In whose souls a poison-spot</div> - <div class='line'>Bit and sank, which they shall never</div> - <div class='line'>Even as old men bent and gray,</div> - <div class='line'>In Time’s turmoil wear away,—</div> - <div class='line'>They, whose tide of life proceeds</div> - <div class='line'>From this fountain of affright,</div> - <div class='line'>Who by dark and dreadful deeds</div> - <div class='line'>Must be nurtured into light,</div> - <div class='line'>Nor by any purging flames</div> - <div class='line'>May that carrion thought consume,—</div> - <div class='line'>This he saw not, being blind,</div> - <div class='line'>That the direst of the doom</div> - <div class='line'>Was the doom he left behind.</div> - <div class='line in2'>And from them shall haply rise</div> - <div class='line'>Link’d offences one by one.</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>Wherefore? The abyss replies:</div> - <div class='line'>From the father sprang the son!</div> - <div class='line'>What shall be by Love erased?</div> - <div class='line'>What be quietly effaced?</div> - <div class='line'>Where, O where, does guilt begin</div> - <div class='line'>In our heritage of sin?</div> - <div class='line'>What Assizes, what Assessors,</div> - <div class='line'>When that Judgment is declared?</div> - <div class='line'>Who shall question, who be heard,</div> - <div class='line'>Where we’re all alike transgressors?</div> - <div class='line'>Who will venture then to plead</div> - <div class='line'>His foul-borrow’d title-deed?</div> - <div class='line'>Will the old answer profit yet:</div> - <div class='line'>“From my father dates my debt?”</div> - <div class='line in1'>O, abysmal as the night,</div> - <div class='line'>Riddle, who can read thee right!</div> - <div class='line'>But the people dance light-footed,</div> - <div class='line'>Heedless by the dizzy brink;</div> - <div class='line'>Where the soul should cry and shrink,</div> - <div class='line'>None has vision to perceive</div> - <div class='line'>What uptowering guilt is rooted</div> - <div class='line'>In that little word: <em class='gesperrt'>We live.</em></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div>[<i>Some men of the community come from behind the house and approach <span class='sc'>Brand</span>.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>A Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>We were to meet again, you see.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>His need of human help has ceased.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes; he is ransom’d and released;</div> - <div class='line'>But in the chamber still sit three.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And what then?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in15'>Of the scraps we got</div> - <div class='line'>Together, a few crumbs we’ve brought——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Though you give all, and life retain,</div> - <div class='line'>I tell you that your gift is vain.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Had he to-day, who now lies dead,</div> - <div class='line'>By mortal peril been bested,</div> - <div class='line'>And I had heard his foundering cry,</div> - <div class='line'>I also would have dared to die.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But peril of the <em class='gesperrt'>Soul</em> you slight?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Well, we’re but drudgers day by day.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Then from the downward-streaming light</div> - <div class='line'>Turn your eyes utterly away;</div> - <div class='line'>And cease to cast the left askance</div> - <div class='line'>At heaven, while with the right you glance</div> - <div class='line'>Down at the mould where, crouching low,</div> - <div class='line'>Self-harness’d in the yoke you go.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I thought you’d say we ought to shake us</div> - <div class='line'>Free of the yoke we toil in?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in29'>Yea,</div> - <div class='line'>If you are able.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in17'>You can make us!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Can I?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in7'>Full many have been sent</div> - <div class='line'>Who told us truly of the way;</div> - <div class='line'>The path they pointed to, you <em class='gesperrt'>went</em>.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You mean——?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>A thousand speeches Brand</div> - <div class='line'>Less deeply than one dint of deed.</div> - <div class='line'>Here in our fellows’ name we stand;—</div> - <div class='line'>We see, a <em class='gesperrt'>man</em> is what we need.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Uneasily.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What will you with me?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in23'>Be our priest.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I? Here!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in9'>You’ve maybe heard it told,</div> - <div class='line'>There is no pastor for this fold.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes; I recall.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in15'>The place of old</div> - <div class='line'>Was large, which now is of the least.</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>When evil seasons froze the field,</div> - <div class='line'>And blight on herdsman fell,</div> - <div class='line'>When want struck down the Man, and seal’d</div> - <div class='line'>The Spirit with its drowsing spell,</div> - <div class='line'>When there was dearth of beef and brew,—</div> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>Then</em> came a dearth of parsons too.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Aught else: but this ye must not ask!</div> - <div class='line'>I’m summoned to a greater task.</div> - <div class='line'>The great world’s open ear I seek;</div> - <div class='line'>Through Life’s vast organ I must speak.</div> - <div class='line'>What should I here? By mountains pent</div> - <div class='line'>The voice of man falls impotent.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>By mountains echoed, longer heard</div> - <div class='line'>Is each reverberating word.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Who in a cavern would be bound,</div> - <div class='line'>When broad meads beckon all around?</div> - <div class='line'>Who’ll sweat to plough the barren land</div> - <div class='line'>When there are fruitful fields at hand?</div> - <div class='line'>Who’ll rear his fruitage from the seed</div> - <div class='line'>When orchards ripen to the skies?</div> - <div class='line'>Who’ll struggle on with daily need</div> - <div class='line'>When vision gives him wings and eyes?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Shaking his head.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Your deed I fathom’d,—not your word.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand</span>.</div> - <div>[<i>Going.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Question no more! On board! on board!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Barring his way.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>This calling that you must fulfil,</div> - <div class='line'>This work, whereon you’ve set your will,</div> - <div class='line'>Is it so precious to you, say?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>It is my very life!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>Then stay!</div> - <div class='line in10'>[<i>Pointedly.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>“Though you give all and life retain,</div> - <div class='line'>Remember, that your gift is vain.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>One thing is yours you may not spend?</div> - <div class='line'>Your very inmost Self of all.</div> - <div class='line'>You may not bind it, may not bend,</div> - <div class='line'>Nor stem the river of your call.</div> - <div class='line'>To make for ocean is its end.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Though tarn and moorland held it fast,—</div> - <div class='line'>As dew ’twould reach the sea at last.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Looking fixedly at him.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Who gave you power to answer thus?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You, by your deed, you gave it us.</div> - <div class='line'>When wind and water raged and roar’d,</div> - <div class='line'>And you launch’d out through wind and wave,</div> - <div class='line'>When, a poor sinning soul to save,</div> - <div class='line'>You set your life upon a board,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>Deep into many a heart it fell,</div> - <div class='line'>Like wind and sunshine, cold and hot,</div> - <div class='line'>Rang through them like a chiming bell,—</div> - <div class='line in12'>[<i>With lowered voice.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>To-morrow, haply, all’s forgot,</div> - <div class='line'>And furl’d the kindling banner bright</div> - <div class='line'>You just now lifted in our sight.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Duty is not, where power is not.</div> - <div class='line in16'>[<i>Sternly.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>If you cannot be what you ought,</div> - <div class='line'>Be in good earnest what you may;</div> - <div class='line'>Be heart and soul a man of clay.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - <div>[<i>After gazing on him a moment.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Woe! you, who quench the lamp you lit;</div> - <div class='line'>And us, who had a glimpse of it!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c019'>[<i>He goes; the others silently follow.</i></div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>After long watching them.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Homewards, one by one, with flagging</div> - <div class='line'>Spirits, heavily and slow,</div> - <div class='line'>Foreheads bowed, and weary lagging</div> - <div class='line'>Footsteps, silently they go.</div> - <div class='line'>Each with sorrow in his eyes,</div> - <div class='line'>Walks as from a lifted rod,</div> - <div class='line'>Walks like Adam spurn’d by God</div> - <div class='line'>From the gates of Paradise,—</div> - <div class='line'>Walks like him, with sin-veil’d sight,—</div> - <div class='line'>Sees, like him, the gathering night,</div> - <div class='line'>All his gain of knowledge shares,</div> - <div class='line'>All his loss of blindness bears.</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span>I have boldly dared to plan</div> - <div class='line'>The refashioning of Man,—</div> - <div class='line'>—<em class='gesperrt'>There’s</em> my work,—Sin’s image grown,</div> - <div class='line'>Whom God moulded in His own.—</div> - <div class='line'>Forth! to wider fields away!</div> - <div class='line'>Here’s no room for battle-play!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c019'>[<i>Going; but pauses as he sees <span class='sc'>Agnes</span> by the beach.</i>]</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>See, she listens by the shore,</div> - <div class='line'>As to airy songs afloat.</div> - <div class='line'>So she listen’d in the boat</div> - <div class='line'>As the stormy surge it tore,—</div> - <div class='line'>Listening, to the thwart she clung,—</div> - <div class='line'>Listening still, the sea-foam hoar</div> - <div class='line'>From her open forehead flung.</div> - <div class='line'>’Tis as though her ear were changing</div> - <div class='line'>Function, and her eye were listening.</div> - <div class='line in11'>[<i>He approaches.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Maiden, is it o’er those glistening</div> - <div class='line'>Reaches that your eye is ranging?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Without turning round.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Neither those nor aught of earth;</div> - <div class='line'>Nothing of them I descry.</div> - <div class='line'>But a greater earth there gleams</div> - <div class='line'>Sharply outlined on the sky,</div> - <div class='line'>Foaming floods and spreading streams,</div> - <div class='line'>Mists and sunshine breaking forth.</div> - <div class='line'>Scarlet-shafted flames are playing</div> - <div class='line'>Over cloud-capp’d mountain heads,</div> - <div class='line'>And an endless desert spreads,</div> - <div class='line'>Whereupon great palms are swaying</div> - <div class='line'>In the bitter-breathing blast.</div> - <div class='line'>Swart the shadows that they cast.</div> - <div class='line'>Nowhere any living thing;</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>Like a new world at its birth;</div> - <div class='line'>And I hear strange accents ring,</div> - <div class='line'>And a Voice interpreting:</div> - <div class='line'>“Choose thy endless loss or gain,</div> - <div class='line'>Do thy work and bear thy pain;—</div> - <div class='line'>Thou shalt people this new earth!”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Carried away.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Say, what further!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Laying her hand on her breast.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in19'>In my soul</div> - <div class='line'>I can feel new powers awaking,</div> - <div class='line'>I can see a dayspring breaking,</div> - <div class='line'>I can feel full floods that roll,</div> - <div class='line'>And my heart grows larger, freer,</div> - <div class='line'>Clasps the world within its girth,</div> - <div class='line'>And a voice interprets: Here</div> - <div class='line'>Shalt thou people a new earth!</div> - <div class='line'>All the thoughts that men shall utter,</div> - <div class='line'>All the deeds men shall achieve,</div> - <div class='line'>Waken, whisper, quiver, mutter,</div> - <div class='line'>As if now they were to live;</div> - <div class='line'>And I rather feel than see</div> - <div class='line'>Him who sits enthroned above,</div> - <div class='line'>Feel that He looks down on me</div> - <div class='line'>Full of sadness and of love,</div> - <div class='line'>Tender-bright as morning’s breath,</div> - <div class='line'>And yet sorrowing unto death:</div> - <div class='line'>And I hear strange accents wake:</div> - <div class='line'>“Now thou must be made, and make;</div> - <div class='line'>Choose thy endless loss or gain!—</div> - <div class='line'>Do thy work and bear thy pain!”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Inwards! In! O word of might,</div> - <div class='line'>Now I see my way aright.</div> - <div class='line'>In <em class='gesperrt'>ourselves</em> is that young Earth,</div> - <div class='line'>Ripe for the divine new-birth;</div> - <div class='line'>Will, the fiend, must there be slain,</div> - <div class='line'>Adam <em class='gesperrt'>there</em> be born again.</div> - <div class='line'>Let the world then take its way,</div> - <div class='line'>Brutal toil or giddy play;</div> - <div class='line'>But if e’er we meet in fight,</div> - <div class='line'>If my work it seek to blight,</div> - <div class='line'>Then, by heaven, I’ll smite and slay!</div> - <div class='line'>Room within the wide world’s span,</div> - <div class='line'>Self completely to fulfil,—</div> - <div class='line'>That’s a valid right of Man,</div> - <div class='line'>And no more than that I will!</div> - <div class='line in3'>[<i>After pondering awhile in silence.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>To fulfil oneself! And yet,</div> - <div class='line'>With a heritage of debt?</div> - <div class='line in6'>[<i>Pauses and looks out.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Who is she, that, stooping deep,</div> - <div class='line'>Chambers hither up the steep,—</div> - <div class='line'>Crooked back and craning crop?</div> - <div class='line'>Now for breath she has to stop,</div> - <div class='line'>Clutches wildly lest she stumble,</div> - <div class='line'>And her skinny fingers fumble</div> - <div class='line'>Fierce for something that she drags</div> - <div class='line'>In those deep and roomy bags.</div> - <div class='line'>Skirt, like folds of feather’d skin,</div> - <div class='line'>Dangling down her shrivelled shin;</div> - <div class='line'>Hands, a pair of clenched hooks;</div> - <div class='line'>So the eagle’s carcase looks</div> - <div class='line'>Nail’d against the barn-door top.</div> - <div class='line in9'>[<i>In sudden anguish.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>What chill memories upstart,—</div> - <div class='line'>O what gusts from childhood dart</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span>Frosty showers on her—and other</div> - <div class='line'>Fiercer frost upon my heart—?</div> - <div class='line'>God of grace! It is my Mother!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand’s Mother.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c016'>[<i>Comes up, stops when half seen above the slope, -holds her hand up to shade her eyes, and looks -round.</i>]</p> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>He’s here, they told me.</div> - <div class='line in9'>[<i>Coming nearer.</i>]</div> - <div class='line in25'>Drat the blaze,—</div> - <div class='line'>It nearly takes away my sight!</div> - <div class='line'>Son, is that you?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>Yes.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Rubbing her eyes.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in23'>Hoo, those rays,</div> - <div class='line'>They burn one’s very eyes outright;</div> - <div class='line'>I can’t tell priest from boor.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in31'>Sun’s light</div> - <div class='line'>At home I never saw at all</div> - <div class='line'>’Twixt fall of leaf and cuckoo’s call.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Laughing quietly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ay, <em class='gesperrt'>there</em> ’tis good. One’s gripped with frost</div> - <div class='line'>Like icicles o’er a plunging river,</div> - <div class='line'>Strong to <em class='gesperrt'>dare</em> anything whatever,</div> - <div class='line'>—And yet believe one is not lost.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Farewell. My leisure time is spent.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ay, thou wast ever loth to stay.</div> - <div class='line'>As boy thou long’dst to be away—</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>It was at your desire I went.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ay, and good reason too, I say</div> - <div class='line'>’Twas needful thou shouldst be a priest.</div> - <div class='line in10'>[<i>Examines him more closely.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>H’m, he is grown up strong and tall.</div> - <div class='line'>But heed this word of mine, at least,—</div> - <div class='line'>Care for thy life, son!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in24'>Is that all?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Thy life? What’s dearer?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in25'>I would say:</div> - <div class='line'>Have you more counsels to convey?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>For others, use them as you may,</div> - <div class='line'>And welcome. But thy life, O save it</div> - <div class='line'>For my sake; it was I that gave it.</div> - <div class='line in10'>[<i>Angrily</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Your mad deed’s talked of far and near;</div> - <div class='line'>It scares and harrows me to hear.</div> - <div class='line'>On such a day to dare the fjord,</div> - <div class='line'>And squander what you’re bound to hoard!</div> - <div class='line'>You of our clan survive alone,</div> - <div class='line'>You are my son, my flesh and bone;</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>The roof-tree beam that copes and clinches</div> - <div class='line'>The house I’ve builded up by inches.</div> - <div class='line'>Stick fast; hold out; endure; survive!</div> - <div class='line'>Guard your life! Never let it go!</div> - <div class='line'>An heir is bound to keep alive,—</div> - <div class='line'>And you’ll be mine—one day—you know——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Indeed? And that was why you plann’d</div> - <div class='line'>With loaded purse to seek me here?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Son, are you raving?</div> - <div class='line in12'>[<i>Steps back.</i>]</div> - <div class='line in21'>Don’t come near</div> - <div class='line'>Stay where you are! You’ll feel my hand!</div> - <div class='line in12'>[<i>More calmly.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>What were you meaning?—Just attend</div> - <div class='line'>I’m getting older year by year;</div> - <div class='line'>Sooner or later comes the end;</div> - <div class='line'>Then you’ll inherit all I’ve treasured,</div> - <div class='line'>’Tis duly counted, weighed and measured—</div> - <div class='line'>Nay, nay, I’ve nothing on me now!—</div> - <div class='line'>It’s all at home. It is but scant;</div> - <div class='line'>But he that gets it will not want.</div> - <div class='line'>Stand back there! Don’t come near!—I vow</div> - <div class='line'>I’ll fling no stiver of my store</div> - <div class='line'>Down fissures, nor in spot unknown</div> - <div class='line'>Hide any, nor below a stone.</div> - <div class='line'>In wall, or underneath a floor;</div> - <div class='line'>All shall be yours, son, you shall be</div> - <div class='line'>My sole and single legatee.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And the conditions?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>One I make,</div> - <div class='line'>No more; don’t set your life at stake.</div> - <div class='line'>Keep up our family and name,</div> - <div class='line'>That’s all the gratitude I claim.</div> - <div class='line'>Then see that nothing go to waste,—</div> - <div class='line'>Naught be divided or displaced;—</div> - <div class='line'>Add much or little, as you will;</div> - <div class='line'>But O preserve, preserve it still!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>After a short pause.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>One thing needs clearing ’twixt us two.</div> - <div class='line'>From childhood I have thwarted you;—</div> - <div class='line'>You’ve been no mother, I no son,</div> - <div class='line'>Till you are gray, my childhood gone.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I do not ask to be caress’d.</div> - <div class='line'>Be what you please; I am not nice.</div> - <div class='line'>Be stern, be fierce, be cold as ice,</div> - <div class='line'>It will not cleave my armour’d breast;</div> - <div class='line'>Keep, though you hoard it, what was mine,</div> - <div class='line'>And never let it leave our line!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Going a step nearer.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And if I took it in my head</div> - <div class='line'>To strew it to the winds, instead?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Reeling back.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Strew, what through all these years of care</div> - <div class='line'>Has bent my back and bleach’d my hair?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Nodding slowly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>To strew it.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in13'>Strew it! If you do,</div> - <div class='line'>It is my soul that you will strew!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And if I do it, even so?</div> - <div class='line'>If I one evening vigil keep</div> - <div class='line'>With lighted taper by your bed,</div> - <div class='line'>While you with clasped Psalter sleep</div> - <div class='line'>The first night’s slumber of the dead,—</div> - <div class='line'>If I then fumble round about,</div> - <div class='line'>Draw treasure after treasure out,</div> - <div class='line'>Take up the taper, hold it low—?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'> His Mother.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Approaching excitedly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Whence comes this fancy?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in25'>Would you know?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ay.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in4'>From a childish scene that still</div> - <div class='line'>Lives in my mind, and ever will,</div> - <div class='line'>That seams my soul with foul device</div> - <div class='line'>Like an infestering cicatrice.</div> - <div class='line'>It was an autumn evening. Dead</div> - <div class='line'>Was father; you lay sick in bed.</div> - <div class='line'>I stole where he was laid by night,</div> - <div class='line'>All pallid in the silver light.</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>I stood and watched him from my nook,</div> - <div class='line'>Saw how his two hands clasp’d the Book;</div> - <div class='line'>I marvell’d why he slept so long,</div> - <div class='line'>Mark’d his thin wrists, and smelt the strong</div> - <div class='line'>Odour of linen newly dried;—</div> - <div class='line'>And then I heard a step outside;—</div> - <div class='line'>A woman enter’d, strode apace</div> - <div class='line'>Up to the bed, nor saw my face.</div> - <div class='line'>Then she began to grope and pry;</div> - <div class='line'>First put the corpse’s vesture by,</div> - <div class='line'>Drew forth a bundle, then a store,</div> - <div class='line'>Counted, and whisper’d: There is more!</div> - <div class='line'>Then, grubbing deeper in the ground,</div> - <div class='line'>Clutch’d a seal’d packet tightly bound,</div> - <div class='line'>With trembling fingers strove and tore,</div> - <div class='line'>Bit it in two, groped deeper, found,</div> - <div class='line'>Counted, and whisper’d; There is more!</div> - <div class='line'>She cried, she cursed, she wail’d, she wept,</div> - <div class='line'>She scented where the treasure lay,</div> - <div class='line'>And then with eager anguish swept</div> - <div class='line'>Down like a falcon on her prey.</div> - <div class='line'>When she had ransacked all the room,</div> - <div class='line'>She turn’d, like one who hears her doom,</div> - <div class='line'>Wrapp’d up her booty in a shawl,</div> - <div class='line'>And faintly groan’d: So <em class='gesperrt'>that</em> was all!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I needed much, I little won;</div> - <div class='line'>And very dearly was it bought.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Even more dearly than you thought;</div> - <div class='line'>Son’s-heart you shattered in your son.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Tut, tut. To barter hearts for gold</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>Was customary from of old.</div> - <div class='line'>Still dearer once I had to pay,—</div> - <div class='line'>I think I gave my life away.</div> - <div class='line'>Something I gave that now is not;—</div> - <div class='line'>I seem to see it flash in air</div> - <div class='line'>Like something foolish and yet fair;</div> - <div class='line'>I gave—I know not rightly what;—</div> - <div class='line'>“Love” was the name it used to bear.—</div> - <div class='line'>I know it was a bitter choice;</div> - <div class='line'>I know my father gave his voice:</div> - <div class='line'>“Forget the peasant-boy and wed</div> - <div class='line'>The other, ’spite his frosty pate;</div> - <div class='line'>A fellow with a knowing head,</div> - <div class='line'>He’ll fairly double the estate!”</div> - <div class='line in1'>I took him, and he brought me shame.</div> - <div class='line'>The doubled gettings never came.</div> - <div class='line'>But I have drudged with streaming brow,</div> - <div class='line'>And there is little lacking now.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And do you, as you near your grave,</div> - <div class='line'>Know that it was your <em class='gesperrt'>soul</em> you gave?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>It’s clear that I knew that, at least,</div> - <div class='line'>Giving my son to be a priest.</div> - <div class='line'>When the hour comes, a grateful heir</div> - <div class='line'>Of my salvation will take care;</div> - <div class='line'>I own the acres and the pence,</div> - <div class='line'>And you the deathbed eloquence.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>With all your cunning you mistook;</div> - <div class='line'>You read me wrong in childhood’s book.</div> - <div class='line'>And many dwell by bank and brae</div> - <div class='line'>Who love their children in that way;—</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>A child’s a steward, you suppose,</div> - <div class='line'>Of the parental cast-off clothes;</div> - <div class='line'>A glimpse of the Eternal flits</div> - <div class='line'>At times across your wandering wits;</div> - <div class='line'>You snatch at it, and dream you spring</div> - <div class='line'>Into the essence of the thing</div> - <div class='line'>By grafting Riches upon Race;—</div> - <div class='line'>That Death with Life you can displace,</div> - <div class='line'>That years, if steadily amass’d,</div> - <div class='line'>Will yield Eternity at last.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Don’t rummage in your Mother’s mind,</div> - <div class='line'>But take what she will leave behind.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The debt as well?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>The debt? What debt?</div> - <div class='line'>There is none.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in15'>Very good; but yet</div> - <div class='line'>Suppose there were,—I should be bound</div> - <div class='line'>To settle every claim I found.</div> - <div class='line'>The son must satisfy each call</div> - <div class='line'>Before the mother’s burial.</div> - <div class='line'>Though but four empty walls I took,</div> - <div class='line'>I still should own your debit-book.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>No law commands it.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>Not the kind</div> - <div class='line'>That ink on parchment ever writ;</div> - <div class='line'>But deep in every honest mind</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>Another law is burnt and bit,—</div> - <div class='line'>And that I execute. Thou blind!</div> - <div class='line'>Learn to have sight! Thou hast debased</div> - <div class='line'>The dwelling-place of God on earth,</div> - <div class='line'>The spirit He lent thee hast laid waste,</div> - <div class='line'>The image that thou bor’st at birth</div> - <div class='line'>With mould and filthiness defaced;</div> - <div class='line'>Thy Soul, that once had flight and song,</div> - <div class='line'>Thrust, clipp’d, among the common throng.</div> - <div class='line'>That is your debt. What will you do</div> - <div class='line'>When God demands His own of you?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Confused.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What will I do? Do?——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in24'>Never fear;</div> - <div class='line'>I take your debt upon me whole.</div> - <div class='line'>God’s image, blotted in your soul,</div> - <div class='line'>In mine, Will-cleansed, shall stand clear.</div> - <div class='line'>Go with good courage to your rest.</div> - <div class='line'>By debt you shall not sleep oppress’d.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>My debt and sin you’ll wipe away?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Your debt. Observe. The debt: no more.</div> - <div class='line'>Your debt alone I can repay;</div> - <div class='line'>Your sin yourself must answer for.</div> - <div class='line'>The sum of native human worth</div> - <div class='line'>Crush’d in the brutish toil of earth</div> - <div class='line'>Can verily by human aid</div> - <div class='line'>To the last atom be repaid;</div> - <div class='line'>But in the <em class='gesperrt'>losing</em> of it lies</div> - <div class='line'>The sin, which who repents not—dies!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Uneasily.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><a id='corr71.3'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='Twere'>’Twere</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_71.3'><ins class='correction' title='Twere'>’Twere</ins></a></span> best I took my homeward way</div> - <div class='line'>To the deep valley, to the gloom;</div> - <div class='line'>Such rank and poisonous fancies bloom</div> - <div class='line'>In this insufferable ray;</div> - <div class='line'>I’m almost fainting at the fume.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Seek you the shadow; I abide.</div> - <div class='line'>And if you long for light and sky,</div> - <div class='line'>And fain would see me ere you die,</div> - <div class='line'>Call me, and I am by your side.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes, with a sermon on my doom!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>No, tender both as priest and child</div> - <div class='line'>I’ll shield you from the wind of dread,</div> - <div class='line'>And singing low beside your bed</div> - <div class='line'>Lull to repose your anguish wild.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And that with lifted hand you swear?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>When you repent I will be there.</div> - <div class='line in9'>[<i>Approaching her.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>But I too make conditions. Hear.</div> - <div class='line'>Whatever in this world is dear</div> - <div class='line'>Willingly you must from you rend,</div> - <div class='line'>And naked to the grave descend.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Wildly repulsing him.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Bid fire be sever’d from its heat,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>Snow from its cold, wave from its wet!</div> - <div class='line'>Ask less!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in10'>Toss a babe overboard,</div> - <div class='line'>And beg the blessing of the Lord.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ask something else: ask hunger, thirst,—</div> - <div class='line'>But not what all men deem the worst!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>If just that <em class='gesperrt'>worst</em> is asked in vain,</div> - <div class='line'>No other can His grace obtain.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A money-alms I will present you!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>All?</em></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in5'>All! Son, will not <em class='gesperrt'>much</em> content you?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Your guilt you never shall put by</div> - <div class='line'>Till you, like Job, in ashes die.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>His Mother.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Wringing her hands.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>My life destroy’d, my soul denied,</div> - <div class='line'>My goods soon scatter’d far and wide!</div> - <div class='line'>Home then, and in these fond arms twine</div> - <div class='line'>All that I still can say is <em class='gesperrt'>mine</em>!</div> - <div class='line'>My treasure, child in anguish born,</div> - <div class='line'>For thee my bleeding breast was torn;—</div> - <div class='line'>Home then, and weep as mothers weep</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span>Over their sickly babes asleep.—</div> - <div class='line'>Why did my soul in flesh take breath,</div> - <div class='line'>If love of flesh is the soul’s death?—</div> - <div class='line'>Stay near me, priest!—I am not clear</div> - <div class='line'>How I shall feel when death is near.</div> - <div class='line'>“Naked into the grave descend,”—</div> - <div class='line'>I’ll wait, at least, until the end.</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Goes.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Gazing after her.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes, thy son shall still be near,</div> - <div class='line'>Call to him, and he shall hear.</div> - <div class='line'>Stretch thy hand, and, cold and perish’d,</div> - <div class='line'>At his heart it shall be cherish’d.</div> - <div class='line in10'>[<i>Goes down to Agnes.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>As the Morn not so the Night.</div> - <div class='line'>Then my soul was set on fight,</div> - <div class='line'>Then I heard the war-drum rattle,</div> - <div class='line'>Yearn’d the sword of Wrath to swing,</div> - <div class='line'>Lies to trample, Trolls to fling,</div> - <div class='line'>Fill the world with clashing battle.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Has turned round to him, and looks radiantly up.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>By the Night the Morn was pale.</div> - <div class='line'>Then I sought the joys that fail;</div> - <div class='line'>Sought to triumph by attaining</div> - <div class='line'>What in losing I am gaining.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Visions stirring, visions splendid</div> - <div class='line'>Like a flock of swans descended,</div> - <div class='line'>On their spreading wings upbore me,</div> - <div class='line'>And I saw my way before me;—</div> - <div class='line'>Sin-subduer of the Age</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span>Sternly stemming seas that rage.</div> - <div class='line'>Church-processions, banners streaming</div> - <div class='line'>Anthems rolling, incense steaming</div> - <div class='line'>Golden goblets, victor-songs,</div> - <div class='line'>Rapt applause of surging throngs,</div> - <div class='line'>Made a glory where I fought.</div> - <div class='line'>All in dazzling hues was wrought;—</div> - <div class='line'>Yet it was an empty dream,</div> - <div class='line'>A brief mountain-vision, caught</div> - <div class='line'>Half in glare and half in gleam.</div> - <div class='line in2'>Now I stand where twilight gray</div> - <div class='line'>Long forestalls the ebb of day,</div> - <div class='line'>’Twixt the water and the wild,</div> - <div class='line'>From the busy world exiled,</div> - <div class='line'>Just a strip of heaven’s blue dome</div> - <div class='line'>Visible;—but this is <em class='gesperrt'>Home</em>.</div> - <div class='line'>Now my Sabbath dream is dark;</div> - <div class='line'>To the stall my winged steed;</div> - <div class='line'>But I see a higher Mark.</div> - <div class='line'>Than to wield the knightly sabre,—</div> - <div class='line'>Daily duty, daily labour,</div> - <div class='line'>Hallow’d to a Sabbath-deed.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And that God, who was to fall?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>He shall, none the less, be fell’d,—</div> - <div class='line'>But in secret, unbeheld,</div> - <div class='line'>Not before the eyes of all.</div> - <div class='line'>Now I see, I judged astray</div> - <div class='line'>Where the Folk’s salvation lay.</div> - <div class='line'>Not by high heroic charges</div> - <div class='line'>Can you make the People whole;</div> - <div class='line'>That which faculty enlarges</div> - <div class='line'>Does not heal the fissured soul.</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>It is <em class='gesperrt'>Will</em> alone that matters</div> - <div class='line'>Will alone that mars or makes,</div> - <div class='line'>Will, that no distraction scatters,</div> - <div class='line'>And that no resistance breaks.—</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Turns towards the hamlet, where the shades of night are beginning to fall.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Come then, Men, who downcast roam</div> - <div class='line'>The pent valley of my home;—</div> - <div class='line'>Close conversing we will try</div> - <div class='line'>Our own souls to purify,</div> - <div class='line'>Slackness curb and falsehood kill,</div> - <div class='line'>Rouse the lion’s cub of Will!</div> - <div class='line'>Manly, as the hands that smite,</div> - <div class='line'>Are the hands that hold the hoe;</div> - <div class='line'>There’s <em class='gesperrt'>one</em> end for all,—to grow</div> - <div class='line'>Tablets whereon God may write.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c019'>[<i>He is going. <span class='sc'>Einar</span> confronts him.</i></div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Stand, and what you took restore!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Is it she? You see her there.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - <div>[<i>To <span class='sc'>Agnes</span></i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Choose between the sunny shore</div> - <div class='line'>And this savage den of care.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>There I have no choice to make.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Agnes, Agnes, hear me yet!</div> - <div class='line'>The old saying you forget,</div> - <div class='line'>Light to lift and hard to <a id='corr75.31'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='bear'>bear.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_75.31'><ins class='correction' title='bear'>bear.</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Go with God, thou tempter fair;</div> - <div class='line'>I shall bear until I break.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>For thy mother’s, sisters’ sake!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Bring my greetings to my Home;</div> - <div class='line'>I will write—if words should come.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Over ocean’s gleaming breast</div> - <div class='line'>White sails hurry from the strand;—</div> - <div class='line'>Like the sighs of dreaming brows,</div> - <div class='line'>Lofty, diamond-beaded prows</div> - <div class='line'>Speed them to their haven-rest</div> - <div class='line'>In a far-off vision’d land.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Sail to westward, sail to east;—</div> - <div class='line'>Think of me as one deceased.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>As a sister come with me.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Shaking her head.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>’Twixt us rolls a boundless sea.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>O, then homeward to thy mother!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Softly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Not from Master, Friend, and Brother.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Coming a step nearer.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Youthful maiden, weigh it well.</div> - <div class='line'>In this mountain-prison pent,</div> - <div class='line'>Oversoar’d by crag and fell,</div> - <div class='line'>In this dim and yawning rent,</div> - <div class='line'>Life henceforward shall be gray</div> - <div class='line'>As an ebbing autumn-day.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Gloom appals no more; afar</div> - <div class='line'>Through the cloud-wrack gleams a star.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Know, that I am stern to crave,</div> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>All</em> or <em class='gesperrt'>Nothing</em> I will have;</div> - <div class='line'>If that call you disobey,</div> - <div class='line'>You have flung your life away.</div> - <div class='line'>No abatement in distress,</div> - <div class='line'>And for sin no tenderness,—</div> - <div class='line'>If life’s service God refuse,</div> - <div class='line'>Life you joyfully must lose.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Fly this wild insensate play!</div> - <div class='line'>Spurn the sullen Doomer’s sway;</div> - <div class='line'>Live the life you know you may!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>At the crossway standst thou:—choose.</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Goes.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Choose the stillness or the strife!</div> - <div class='line'>For the choice to <em class='gesperrt'>go</em> or <em class='gesperrt'>stay</em></div> - <div class='line'>Is a choice of calm or fray,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>Is a choice of Night or Day,</div> - <div class='line'>Is a choice of Death or Life!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Rises, and then says slowly</i>:]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>On through Death. On into Night.—</div> - <div class='line'>Dawn beyond glows rosy-bright.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='direction'> -<p class='c021'>[<i>She follows, where <span class='sc'>Brand</span> has gone. <span class='sc'>Einar</span> -gazes a moment in bewilderment after -her, then bows his head, and goes back to -the fjord.</i></p> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span> - <h2 class='c009'>ACT THIRD.</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c017'><i>Three years later. A little garden by the Parsonage. -A great precipice above, a stone wall round. -The fjord, narrow and pent in, appears in the -background. The house-door opens upon the -garden. Afternoon.</i></p> -<p class='c016'><i><span class='sc'>Brand</span> is standing on the steps outside the house. -<span class='sc'>Agnes</span> is sitting on the step at his feet.</i></p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>My dearest husband, still your eye</div> - <div class='line'>Over the fjord roves anxiously—</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I wait a summons.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>With brows bent!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>My Mother’s summons. This three years</div> - <div class='line'>I’ve waited between hopes and fears</div> - <div class='line'>The summons that was never sent.</div> - <div class='line'>To-day ’twas told me, past a doubt,</div> - <div class='line'>That her life’s span is almost out.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Softly and tenderly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Brand, <em class='gesperrt'>without</em> summons you should go?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Shakes his head.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Till she of her offence repent</div> - <div class='line'>I have no comfort to bestow.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>She is your mother.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>It were sin</div> - <div class='line'>To worship idols in my kin.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Brand, you are stern!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in22'>To you?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in30'>Oh no</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I warn’d you that the way was steep.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Smiling.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>It was not true; you did not keep</div> - <div class='line'>Your word.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in11'>Yes, here the ice-wind rives;</div> - <div class='line'>Your cheek has lost its youthful glow,</div> - <div class='line'>Your tender heart is touch’d with snow.</div> - <div class='line'>Our home is built where nothing thrives,</div> - <div class='line'>Amid a barren waste of stone.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>It lies the safer, then! So prone</div> - <div class='line'>Beetles yon jutting mountain-wall,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span>That, when the leafy spring is near,</div> - <div class='line'>The brimming avalanche vaults sheer</div> - <div class='line'>Over our heads, and we lie clear</div> - <div class='line'>As in the hollow of a fall.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The sun we never see at all.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Oh, yet he dances warm and bright</div> - <div class='line'>Atop yon mountain that we face.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>For three weeks, true,—at summer’s height,—</div> - <div class='line'>But never struggles to its base!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Looks fixedly at him, rises and says</i>:]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Brand, there’s <em class='gesperrt'>one</em> thought at which you shrink.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>No, <em class='gesperrt'>you</em>!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in9'>No, you!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>Within you bear</div> - <div class='line'>A secret terror.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in17'>Which you share!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You reel as from a dizzy brink!</div> - <div class='line'>Out with it! speak it out!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in27'>’Tis true</div> - <div class='line'>I’ve trembled, whiles——</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Hesitates</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in26'>Trembled! At what!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>For Alf.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in9'>For Alf?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>And so have you!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>At times. But no, God takes him not!</div> - <div class='line'>God’s merciful! My child shall grow</div> - <div class='line'>To be a strong man yet, I know.</div> - <div class='line'>Where is he now?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in17'>He’s sleeping.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Looks in through the door.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in32'>See;</div> - <div class='line'>Of pain and grief he dreams not, he;</div> - <div class='line'>The little hand is plump and round——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yet pale.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in10'>But that will pass.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in30'>How deep,</div> - <div class='line'>Restful and quickening is his sleep.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>God bless thee; in thy sleep grow sound!</div> - <div class='line in13'>[<i>Shuts the door.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span>To all my labours you and he</div> - <div class='line'>Have brought light and tranquillity;</div> - <div class='line'>Each irksome task, each mournful care,</div> - <div class='line'>’Twas easy, in your midst, to bear;</div> - <div class='line'>You near, I never felt dismay,</div> - <div class='line'>Grew braver by his baby-play.</div> - <div class='line'>A martyrdom I held my Call,</div> - <div class='line'>But something has transform’d it all,—</div> - <div class='line'>Success still follows my footfall.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes, Brand; but you <em class='gesperrt'>deserve</em> success.</div> - <div class='line'>Oh, you have battled, in storm and stress;—</div> - <div class='line'>Toil’d on through woe and weariness;—</div> - <div class='line'>But tears of blood you wept, apart——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And yet it seem’d so light a thing;</div> - <div class='line'>With you, love stole upon my heart</div> - <div class='line'>Like a glad sunny day in Spring.</div> - <div class='line'>In me Love never had been lit;</div> - <div class='line'>No parents’ hand had kindled it,</div> - <div class='line'>Rather they quench’d the fitful flashes</div> - <div class='line'>That gleam’d at moments in the ashes.</div> - <div class='line'>It was as though the tender Soul</div> - <div class='line'>That mute and darkling in me slept,</div> - <div class='line'>Had, closely garner’d, all been kept</div> - <div class='line'>To be my sweet Wife’s aureole.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Not mine alone: but whosoe’er</div> - <div class='line'>In our great Household has a share,</div> - <div class='line'>Each sorrowing son, each needy brother,</div> - <div class='line'>Each weeping child, each mourning mother,</div> - <div class='line'>Of quickening nurture have their part,</div> - <div class='line'>At the rich banquet of thy heart.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Only through you two. By your hand</div> - <div class='line'>That heavenly bridge of love was spann’d;</div> - <div class='line'>No single soul can all contain</div> - <div class='line'>Except it first have yearn’d for <em class='gesperrt'>one</em>.</div> - <div class='line'>I had to long and yearn in vain,</div> - <div class='line'>So my heart harden’d into stone.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And yet—your love is merciless;</div> - <div class='line'>You chasten whom you would caress.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You, Agnes?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in12'><em class='gesperrt'>Me?</em> O nay, dear, nay!</div> - <div class='line'>On me a lightsome load you lay.</div> - <div class='line'>But many falter at the call</div> - <div class='line'>To offer <em class='gesperrt'>Nothing</em> or else <em class='gesperrt'>all</em>.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What the world calls by that name <a id='corr84.19'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='“Love,'>“Love,”</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_84.19'><ins class='correction' title='“Love,'>“Love,”</ins></a></span></div> - <div class='line'>I know not and I reck not of.</div> - <div class='line'>God’s love <i>I</i> recognise alone,</div> - <div class='line'>Which melts not at the piteous plaint,</div> - <div class='line'>Which is not moved by dying groan,</div> - <div class='line'>And its caress <em class='gesperrt'>is</em> chastisement.</div> - <div class='line'>What answer’d through the olive-trees</div> - <div class='line'>God, when the Son in anguish lay,</div> - <div class='line'>Praying, “O take this cup away!”</div> - <div class='line in1'>Did He then take it? Nay, child, nay:</div> - <div class='line'>He made him drink it to the lees.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>By such a measure meted, all</div> - <div class='line'>The souls of earth are forfeited.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>None knows on whom the doom shall fall;</div> - <div class='line'>But God in flaming speech hath said:</div> - <div class='line'>“Be faithful through the hour of strife:</div> - <div class='line'>Haggling wins not the crown of life!”</div> - <div class='line in1'>Anguish’d repentance scales not heaven,</div> - <div class='line'>The martyr’s doom you must fulfil.</div> - <div class='line'>That you lack’d <em class='gesperrt'>strength</em> may be forgiven,—</div> - <div class='line'>But never that you wanted <em class='gesperrt'>will</em>.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes, it shall be as you have said;</div> - <div class='line'>O lift me to those heights you tread;</div> - <div class='line'>To your high heaven lead me forth,</div> - <div class='line'>My spirit is strong, my flesh is frail;</div> - <div class='line'>Oft, anguish-struck, I faint, I fail,—</div> - <div class='line'>My clogg’d foot drags upon the earth.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>See, child; of all men God makes one</div> - <div class='line'>Demand: No coward compromise!</div> - <div class='line'>Whose work’s half done or falsely done,</div> - <div class='line'>Condemn’d with God his whole word lies.</div> - <div class='line'>We must give sanction to this teaching</div> - <div class='line'>By <em class='gesperrt'>living</em> it and not by preaching.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Throws herself on his neck.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Lead where you will; I follow you!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>No precipice is too steep for <em class='gesperrt'>two</em>.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><i>Enter the <span class='sc'>Doctor</span>; he has come down the road, and stops outside the garden fence.</i></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ha! loving doves at their caresses</div> - <div class='line'>In these dark craggy wildernesses?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>My dear old Doctor, here at last!</div> - <div class='line'>Come in, come in!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c019'>[<i>Runs down and opens the garden gate.</i></div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>Ho, not so fast!</div> - <div class='line'>We’ve first to settle an old score.—</div> - <div class='line'>What! Tie yourself to this wild moor,</div> - <div class='line'>Where piercing winds of winter tear</div> - <div class='line'>Like ice, soul, body to the core——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Not soul.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in10'>Not? Well, I must admit,</div> - <div class='line'>That seems about the truth of it.</div> - <div class='line'>Your hasty compact has an air</div> - <div class='line'>Of standing firm, unmoved, erect,</div> - <div class='line'>Though otherwise, one might expect,</div> - <div class='line'>By ancient usage, soon to fade</div> - <div class='line'>That which so suddenly was made.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A sunbeam’s kiss, a bell’s note, may</div> - <div class='line'>Awaken for a summer’s day.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A patient waits for me. Farewell.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>My</em> mother?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in11'>Yes. You also go?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Not now.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in9'><em class='gesperrt'>Have</em> been, I daresay?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in31'>No.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Priest, you are hard. Through mist and snow</div> - <div class='line'>I’ve trudged across the desolate fell,</div> - <div class='line'>Well knowing that she is of those</div> - <div class='line'>Who pay like paupers.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in22'>May God bless</div> - <div class='line'>Your skill and your unweariedness!</div> - <div class='line'>Ease, if you can, her bitter throes.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Bless my goodwill! I tarried not</div> - <div class='line'>A moment when I heard her state.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You she has summon’d: I’m forgot,—</div> - <div class='line'>And sick at heart, I wait, I wait.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Come without summons!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in22'>Till she calls,</div> - <div class='line'>I have no place within those walls.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>To</i> <span class='sc'>Agnes</span>.]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You hapless blossom, laid within</div> - <div class='line'>The pitiless grasp of such a lord!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I am not pitiless.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in19'>He had pour’d</div> - <div class='line'>His blood, to wash her soul from <a id='corr88.9'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='sin'>sin.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_88.9'><ins class='correction' title='sin'>sin.</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Unask’d, upon myself I took</div> - <div class='line'>The clearance of her debit-book.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Clear off your own!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'><em class='gesperrt'>One</em> man may get</div> - <div class='line'>Hundreds acquitted, in God’s eyes.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ay; not a Beggar though, who lies</div> - <div class='line'>Himself o’er head and ears in debt.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Beggar or rich,—with all my soul</div> - <div class='line'>I <em class='gesperrt'>will</em>;—and that one thing’s the <em class='gesperrt'>whole</em></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes, in <a id='corr88.20'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='you'>your</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_88.20'><ins class='correction' title='you'>your</ins></a></span> ledger, truly, Will</div> - <div class='line'>Has enough entries and to spare:</div> - <div class='line'>But, priest, your <em class='gesperrt'>Love</em>-account is still</div> - <div class='line'>A virgin-chapter, blank and bare.</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Goes.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Follows him awhile with his eyes.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Never did word so sorely prove</div> - <div class='line'>The smirch of lies, as this word <em class='gesperrt'>Love</em>:</div> - <div class='line'>With devilish craft, where will is frail,</div> - <div class='line'>Men lay <em class='gesperrt'>Love</em> over, as a veil,</div> - <div class='line'>And cunningly conceal thereby</div> - <div class='line'>That all their life is coquetry.</div> - <div class='line'>Whose path’s the steep and perilous slope,</div> - <div class='line'>Let him but <em class='gesperrt'>love</em>,—and he may shirk it;</div> - <div class='line'>If he prefer Sin’s easy circuit,</div> - <div class='line'>Let him but <em class='gesperrt'>love</em>,—he still may hope;</div> - <div class='line'>If God he seeks, but fears the fray,</div> - <div class='line'>Let him but <em class='gesperrt'>love</em>,—’tis straight his prey;</div> - <div class='line'>If with wide-open eyes he err,</div> - <div class='line'>Let him but <em class='gesperrt'>love</em>,—there’s safety there!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes, it is false: yet still I fall</div> - <div class='line'>Questioning: Is it, after all?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>One</em> point’s omitted: First the Will</div> - <div class='line'>Law’s thirst for righteousness must still.</div> - <div class='line'>You must <em class='gesperrt'>first</em> will! Not only things</div> - <div class='line'>Attainable, in more or less,</div> - <div class='line'>Nor only where the action brings</div> - <div class='line'>Some hardship and some weariness;</div> - <div class='line'>No, you must will with flashing eyes</div> - <div class='line'>Your way through all earth’s agonies.</div> - <div class='line'>It is not martyrdom to toss</div> - <div class='line'>In anguish on the deadly cross:</div> - <div class='line'>But to have <em class='gesperrt'>will’d</em> to perish so,</div> - <div class='line'>To <em class='gesperrt'>will</em> it through each bodily throe,</div> - <div class='line'>To will it with still-tortured mind,</div> - <div class='line'>This, only this, redeems mankind.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Clinging closely to him.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>If at the terrible call I cower,</div> - <div class='line'>Speak, strong-soul’d husband, in that hour!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>If Will has conquer’d in that strife,</div> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>Then</em> comes at length the hour of Love;</div> - <div class='line'>Then it descends like a white dove,</div> - <div class='line'>Bearing the olive-leaf of life:</div> - <div class='line'>But in this nerveless, slothful state,</div> - <div class='line'>The true, the sovereign Love is—Hate!</div> - <div class='line in15'>[<i>In horror.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Hate! Hate! O Titan’s toil, to will</div> - <div class='line'>That one brief easy syllable!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c019'>[<i>Goes hurriedly into the house.</i></div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Looking through the open door.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>He kneels beside his little son,</div> - <div class='line'>And heaves as if with bursts of tears;</div> - <div class='line'>He clutches close the bed, like one</div> - <div class='line'>That knows no refuge from his fears.—</div> - <div class='line'>O what a wealth of tender ruth</div> - <div class='line'>Lies hidden in this breast of steel!</div> - <div class='line'>Alf he <em class='gesperrt'>dares</em> love: the baby-heel</div> - <div class='line'>Has not yet felt Earth’s serpent-tooth.</div> - <div class='c011'> [<i>Cries out in terror.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Ha! he leaps up with ashy brow!</div> - <div class='line'>Wringing his hands! what sees he <a id='corr90.29'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='now'>now.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_90.29'><ins class='correction' title='now'>now.</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Coming out.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A summons came?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in16'>No summons, <a id='corr91.2'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='no'>no.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_91.2'><ins class='correction' title='no'>no.</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Looking back into the house.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>His parch’d skin burns in fever-glow;</div> - <div class='line'>His temples throb, his pulses race——!</div> - <div class='line'>Oh fear not, Agnes!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>God of grace——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Nay, have no fear——</div> - <div class='line in6'>[<i>Calls out over the road.</i>]</div> - <div class='line in21'>The summons, see.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>A Man.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Through the garden-gate.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You must come <em class='gesperrt'>now</em>, priest!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in29'>Instantly!</div> - <div class='line'>What message?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>A mysterious one.</div> - <div class='line'>Sitting in bed she forward bent,</div> - <div class='line'>And said: “Get the priest here: begone!</div> - <div class='line'>My half-goods for the sacrament.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Starts back.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Her <em class='gesperrt'>half</em>-goods! No! Say no!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_92'>92</span><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Shakes his head.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in30'>My word</div> - <div class='line'>Would then not utter what I heard.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>Half! Half!</em> It was the <em class='gesperrt'>whole</em> she meant!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Maybe; but she spoke loud and high;</div> - <div class='line'>And I don’t easily forget.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Seizes his arm.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Before God’s Judgment, will you yet</div> - <div class='line'>Dare to attest she spoke it?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in29'>Ay.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Firmly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Go, tell her, this reply was sent:</div> - <div class='line'>“Nor priest shall come, nor sacrament.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Looking at him doubtfully.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You surely have not understood</div> - <div class='line'>It is your Mother that appeals.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I know no law that sternlier deals</div> - <div class='line'>With strangers than with kindred blood.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A hard word, that.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in19'>She knows the call,—</div> - <div class='line'>To offer <em class='gesperrt'>Nothing</em>, or else all.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Priest!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in8'>Dock the gold-calf as she will,</div> - <div class='line'>Say, it remains an idol still.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The scourge you send her I will lay</div> - <div class='line'>As gently on her as I may.</div> - <div class='line'>She has this comfort left her, too:</div> - <div class='line'>God is not quite so hard as you!</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Goes.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes, with that comfort’s carrion-breath</div> - <div class='line'>The world still sickens unto death;</div> - <div class='line'>Prompt, in its need, with shriek and song</div> - <div class='line'>To lubricate the Judge’s tongue.</div> - <div class='line'>Of course! The reasonable plan!</div> - <div class='line'>For from of old they know their man;—</div> - <div class='line'>Since all his works the assurance breathe:</div> - <div class='line'>“Yon gray-beard may be haggled with!”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='direction'> -<p class='c021'>[<i><span class='sc'>The Man</span> has met another man on the road; -they come back together.</i></p> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A second message!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>First Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>Yes.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>To the <span class='sc'>Second Man</span>.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in23'>Consent!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span><span class='sc'>Second Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Nine-tenths of it is now the word.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Not <em class='gesperrt'>all</em>?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Second Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in11'>Not all.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>As you have heard:—</div> - <div class='line'>Nor priest shall come, nor sacrament.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Second Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>She begg’d it, bitterly distress’d——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>First Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Priest, once she bore you on her breast.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Clenching his hands.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I may not by two measures weigh</div> - <div class='line'>My kinsman and my enemy.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Second Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Sore is her state and dire her need;</div> - <div class='line'>Come, or else send her a <a id='corr94.21'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='God-speed'>God-speed.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_94.21'><ins class='correction' title='God-speed'>God-speed.</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>To</i> <span class='sc'>First Man</span>.]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Go; tell her still: God’s wine and bread</div> - <div class='line'>Must on a spotless board be spread.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c019'>[<i>The Men go.</i></div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I tremble Brand. You seem a Sword</div> - <div class='line'>Swung flaming by a wrathful Lord!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>With tears in his voice.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Does not the world face me no less</div> - <div class='line'>With swordless sheath upon its thigh?</div> - <div class='line'>Am I not torn and baffled by</div> - <div class='line'>Its dull defiant stubbornness?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A hard condition you demand.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Dare you impose a lighter?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in27'>Lay</div> - <div class='line'>That stern demand on whom you may,</div> - <div class='line'>And see who, tested so, will stand.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Nay, you have reason for that fear.</div> - <div class='line'>So base, distorted, barren, sere,</div> - <div class='line'>The aspiring soul in men is grown.</div> - <div class='line'>’Tis thought a marvel,—by bequest</div> - <div class='line'>To give away one’s wealth unknown.</div> - <div class='line'>And be anonymously bless’d.</div> - <div class='line'>The hero, bid him blot his name,</div> - <div class='line'>Content him with the service wrought,</div> - <div class='line'>Kings, Kaisers, bid him do the same—</div> - <div class='line'>And see how many fields are fought!</div> - <div class='line'>The poet, bid him unbeholden</div> - <div class='line'>Loose his bright fledglings from the cage,</div> - <div class='line'>So that none dream he gave that golden</div> - <div class='line'>Plumage, and he that vocal rage;</div> - <div class='line'>Try the green bough, or try the bare,</div> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>Sacrifice</em> is not anywhere.</div> - <div class='line'>Earth has enslaved all earthly things;—</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span>Over Life’s precipices cast,</div> - <div class='line'>Each to its mouldering branches clings,</div> - <div class='line'>And, if they crumble, clutches fast</div> - <div class='line'>With tooth and nail to straws and bast</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And, while they helpless, hopeless fall,</div> - <div class='line'>You cry: Give <em class='gesperrt'>nothing</em> or give all!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>He who would conquer still must fight,</div> - <div class='line'>Rise, fallen to the highest height.</div> - <div class='line in4'>[<i>A brief silence: his voice changes.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>And yet, when with that stern demand</div> - <div class='line'>Before some living soul I stand,</div> - <div class='line'>I seem like one that floats afar</div> - <div class='line'>Storm-shatter’d on a broken spar.</div> - <div class='line'>With solitary anguish wrung</div> - <div class='line'>I’ve bitten this chastising tongue,</div> - <div class='line'>And thirsted, as I aim’d the blow,</div> - <div class='line'>To clasp the bosom of my foe.</div> - <div class='line in2'>Go, Agnes, watch the sleeping boy.</div> - <div class='line'>And sing him into dreams of joy.</div> - <div class='line'>An infant’s soul is like the sleep</div> - <div class='line'>Of still clear tarns in summer-light.</div> - <div class='line'>A mother over it may sweep</div> - <div class='line'>And hover, like the bird, whose flight</div> - <div class='line'>Is mirror’d in the deepest deep.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What does it mean, Brand? Wheresoe’er</div> - <div class='line'>You aim your thought-shafts—they fly <em class='gesperrt'>there</em>!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Oh, nothing. Softly watch the child.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Give me a watchword.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in21'>Stern?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in28'>No, mild.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Clasping her.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The blameless shall not taste the grave.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Looking brightly up at him.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Then <em class='gesperrt'>one</em> is ours God may not crave!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c019'>[<i>Goes into the house.</i></div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Looking fixedly before him.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But if he <em class='gesperrt'>might</em>? What “Isaac’s Fear”</div> - <div class='line in1'>Once ventured, He may venture here.</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Shakes off the thought.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>No, no, my sacrifice is made,</div> - <div class='line'>The calling of my life gainsaid—</div> - <div class='line'>Like the Lord’s thunder to go forth</div> - <div class='line'>And rouse the sleepers of the earth.</div> - <div class='line'>Sacrifice! Liar! there was none!</div> - <div class='line'>I miss’d it when my Dream was done,</div> - <div class='line'>When Agnes woke me—and follow’d free</div> - <div class='line'>To labour in the gloom with me.</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Looks along the road.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Why tarries still the dying call,</div> - <div class='line'>Her word, that she will offer all,</div> - <div class='line'>That she has won that which uproots</div> - <div class='line'>Sin’s deepest fibres, rankest shoots!</div> - <div class='line'>See there——! No, it is but the Mayor,</div> - <div class='line'>Well-meaning, brisk, and debonnaire,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span>Both hands in pockets, round, remiss,</div> - <div class='line'>A bracketed parenthesis.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><i>Enter <span class='sc'>Mayor</span>.</i></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Through the garden gate.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Good-day! Our meetings are but rare,</div> - <div class='line'>Perhaps my time is chosen amiss——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Pointing to house.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Come in.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in9'>Thanks; here I’m quite content.</div> - <div class='line'>Should my proposal meet assent,</div> - <div class='line'>I’m very sure the upshot of it</div> - <div class='line'>Would issue in our common profit.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Name your desire.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>Your mother’s state,</div> - <div class='line'>I understand, is desperate.</div> - <div class='line'>I’m sorry.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in11'>That I do not doubt.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I’m <em class='gesperrt'>very</em> sorry.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in16'>Pray, speak out.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>She’s old, however. Welladay,</div> - <div class='line'>We are all bound the selfsame way—</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span>And, as I just drove by, occurr’d</div> - <div class='line'>The thought that, after all, “to leap</div> - <div class='line'>Is just as easy as to creep”:</div> - <div class='line'>Moreover, many have averr’d,</div> - <div class='line'>That she and you have been imbrued</div> - <div class='line'>For years in a domestic feud——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Domestic feud?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in15'>She’s out and out</div> - <div class='line'>Close-fisted, so they say, you know.</div> - <div class='line'>You think it goes too far, no doubt.</div> - <div class='line'>A man’s own claims he can’t forego.</div> - <div class='line'>She keeps exclusive occupation</div> - <div class='line'>Of all that was bequeath’d to you.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Exclusive occupation, true.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A ready cause of irritation</div> - <div class='line'>In families. Surmising thence</div> - <div class='line'>That you await with resignation</div> - <div class='line'>The moment of her going hence,</div> - <div class='line'>I hope I may without offence</div> - <div class='line'>Speak out, although I quite admit</div> - <div class='line'>The time I’ve chosen is unfit.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Or now or later, nought I care.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Well, to the point then, fair and square.</div> - <div class='line'>When once your mother’s dead and blest,</div> - <div class='line'>In the earth’s bosom laid to rest,</div> - <div class='line'>You’re <em class='gesperrt'>rich</em>!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in13'>You think so?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in27'>Think? Nay, man,</div> - <div class='line'>That’s sure. She’s land in every port,</div> - <div class='line'>Far as a telescope can scan.</div> - <div class='line'>You’re rich!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in13'>’Spite the Succession Court?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Smiling.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What of it? That cuts matters short</div> - <div class='line'>When many fight for pelf and debt.</div> - <div class='line'>Here no man’s interest suffers let.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And what if some day, all the same,</div> - <div class='line'>Came a coheir to debt and pelf</div> - <div class='line'>Crying: “I’m he!” and urged his claim?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>He’d have to be the devil himself!</div> - <div class='line'>Just look to me! None else has here</div> - <div class='line'>The smallest right to interfere.</div> - <div class='line'>I know my business: lean on me!</div> - <div class='line'>Well, then; you’ll now be well-to-do,</div> - <div class='line'>Rich even; you’ll no longer brook</div> - <div class='line'>Life in this God-forsaken nook;</div> - <div class='line'>The whole land’s open now to you.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Mayor, is not what you want to say,</div> - <div class='line'>Pithily put, just: “Go <em class='gesperrt'>away</em>”?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Pretty much that. All parties’ good</div> - <div class='line'>Were so best answered. If you would</div> - <div class='line'>But eye attentively the herd</div> - <div class='line'>To whom you minister God’s word,</div> - <div class='line'>You’d find you’re no more of a piece</div> - <div class='line'>With them than foxes are with geese.</div> - <div class='line'>Pray, understand me! You have gifts,</div> - <div class='line'>Good where the social field is wide,</div> - <div class='line'>But dangerous for folk whose pride</div> - <div class='line'>Is to be Lords of rocky rifts</div> - <div class='line'>And Freemen of the ravine-side.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>To a man’s feet his native haunt</div> - <div class='line'>Is as unto the tree the root.</div> - <div class='line'>If there his labour fill no want</div> - <div class='line'>His deeds are doomed, his music mute.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Success means just: Self-adaptation</div> - <div class='line'>To the requirements of the nation.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Which from the heights you best o’erlook,</div> - <div class='line'>Not from the crag-encompass’d nook.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>That talk is fit for citizens,</div> - <div class='line'>Not for poor peasants of the glens.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>O, still your limitation vain</div> - <div class='line'>Between the mountain and the plain!</div> - <div class='line'>World-citizens you’d be of right,</div> - <div class='line'>While every civic claim you slight;</div> - <div class='line'>And think, like dastards, to go free</div> - <div class='line'>By whining: “We’re a small folk, we!”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>All has its time, each time its need,</div> - <div class='line'>Each age its proper work to do;</div> - <div class='line'>We also flung our mite into</div> - <div class='line'>The world’s great treasure of bold deed.</div> - <div class='line'>True, that’s long since; but, after all,</div> - <div class='line'>The mite was not so very small.</div> - <div class='line'>Now the land’s dwindled and decay’d,</div> - <div class='line'>But our renown still lives in story.</div> - <div class='line'>The days of our reported glory</div> - <div class='line'>Were when the great King Belë sway’d.</div> - <div class='line'>Many a tale is still related</div> - <div class='line'>About the brothers Wulf and Thor,</div> - <div class='line'>And gallant fellows by the score,</div> - <div class='line'>Went harrying to the British shore,</div> - <div class='line'>And plunder’d till their heart was sated.</div> - <div class='line'>The Southrons shriek’d with quivering lip,</div> - <div class='line'>“Lord, help us from these fierce men’s grip,”</div> - <div class='line in1'>And these “fierce men,” beyond all doubt,</div> - <div class='line'>Had from our harbours sallied out.</div> - <div class='line'>And how these rovers wreak’d their ire,</div> - <div class='line'>And dealt out death with sword and fire!</div> - <div class='line'>Nay, legend names a lion-hearted</div> - <div class='line'>Hero that took the cross; in verity,</div> - <div class='line'>It is not mentioned that he started——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>He left behind a large posterity,</div> - <div class='line'>This promise-maker?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>Yes, indeed;</div> - <div class='line'>But how came you to——?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in25'>O, I read</div> - <div class='line'>His features clearly in the breed</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span>Of promise-heroes of to-day,</div> - <div class='line'>Who take the Cross in just his way.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes, his descendants still remain.</div> - <div class='line'>But we were on King Belë’s reign!</div> - <div class='line'>So first abroad we battled. Then,</div> - <div class='line'>Visited our own countrymen</div> - <div class='line'>And kinsmen, with the axe and fire;</div> - <div class='line'>Trampled their harvests gaily down,</div> - <div class='line'>Scorch’d mansion-wall and village spire,</div> - <div class='line'>And wove ourselves the hero’s crown.—</div> - <div class='line'>Over the blood thus set a-flowing</div> - <div class='line'>There’s been perhaps excessive crowing;</div> - <div class='line'>But, after what I’ve said, I may,</div> - <div class='line'>I think, without a touch of vanity,</div> - <div class='line'>Point backward to the stir we made</div> - <div class='line'>In the great Age long since decay’d,</div> - <div class='line'>And hold that we indeed have paid</div> - <div class='line'>Our little mite of Fire and Fray</div> - <div class='line'>Towards the Progress of Humanity.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yet do you not, in fact, eschew</div> - <div class='line'>The phrase, “Nobility’s a trust,”—</div> - <div class='line'>And drive hoe, plough, and harrow through</div> - <div class='line'>King Belë’s patrimonial dust?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>By no means. Only go and mark</div> - <div class='line'>Our parish on its gaudy-nights,</div> - <div class='line'>Where I with Constable and Clerk,</div> - <div class='line'>And Judge, preside as leading lights;</div> - <div class='line'>You’ll warrant, when the punch goes round,</div> - <div class='line'>King Belë’s memory is sound.</div> - <div class='line'>With toasts and clinking cups and song,</div> - <div class='line'>In speeches short and speeches long,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span>We drink his health and sound his fame.</div> - <div class='line'>I myself often feel inclined</div> - <div class='line'>The spinnings of my brain to wind</div> - <div class='line'>In flowery woof about his name,</div> - <div class='line'>And edify the local mind.</div> - <div class='line'>A little poetry pleases me,</div> - <div class='line'>And all our folks, in their degree;</div> - <div class='line'>But—moderation everywhere!</div> - <div class='line'>In <em class='gesperrt'>life</em> it never must have share,—</div> - <div class='line'>Except at night, when folks have leisure,</div> - <div class='line'>Between the hours of seven and ten,</div> - <div class='line'>When baths of elevating pleasure</div> - <div class='line'>May fit the mood of weary men.</div> - <div class='line'>Here’s where we differ, you and we,</div> - <div class='line'>That you desire with main and might</div> - <div class='line'>At the same time to <em class='gesperrt'>plough</em> and <em class='gesperrt'>fight</em>.</div> - <div class='line'>Your scheme, as far as I can see,</div> - <div class='line'>Is: Life and Faith in unity,—</div> - <div class='line'>God’s warfare and potato-dressing</div> - <div class='line'>Inseparably coalescing,</div> - <div class='line'>As coal, salt, sulphur, fusing fast,</div> - <div class='line'>Evolve just gunpowder at last.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Somewhat so.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in13'>Here you’ll scheme in vain!</div> - <div class='line'>Out in the great world that may stand;—</div> - <div class='line'>Go thither with your big demand,</div> - <div class='line'>And let us plough our moors and main.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Plough first your brag of old renown</div> - <div class='line'>Into the main, and plough it down!</div> - <div class='line'>The pigmy is not more the man</div> - <div class='line'>For being of Goliath’s clan.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Great memories bear the seed of growth.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes, <em class='gesperrt'>memories</em> that to <em class='gesperrt'>life</em> are bound;</div> - <div class='line'>But you, of memory’s empty mound,</div> - <div class='line'>Have made a stalking-horse for sloth.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I said at first, and still I say:—</div> - <div class='line'>To leave us were the wisest way.</div> - <div class='line'>Your work here cannot come to good,</div> - <div class='line'>Nor your ideas be understood.</div> - <div class='line'>The little flights to purer air,</div> - <div class='line'>The lifting-up which, now and then,</div> - <div class='line'>Is doubtless well for working men,</div> - <div class='line'>Shall be my unremitting care.</div> - <div class='line'>Many agreeable facts declare</div> - <div class='line'>My ceaseless energy as mayor,—</div> - <div class='line'>Through me the population’s grown</div> - <div class='line'>Double, nay, almost three to one,</div> - <div class='line'>Since for the district I have bred</div> - <div class='line'>Ever new ways of getting fed.</div> - <div class='line'>With stubborn nature still at strife</div> - <div class='line'>We’ve steam’d ahead: our forward march</div> - <div class='line'>Here hew’d a road, there flung an arch—</div> - <div class='line'>To lead from——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in16'>Not from Faith to Life.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>To lead from fjordside to the hill.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But not from Doctrine unto Will.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>First of all, get a passage clear</div> - <div class='line'>From men to men, from place to place.</div> - <div class='line'>There were no two opinions here</div> - <div class='line'>On that, until you show’d your face.</div> - <div class='line'>Now you’ve made all confusion, dashing</div> - <div class='line'>Aurora-flames with lantern light;</div> - <div class='line'>With such cross-luminaries flashing,</div> - <div class='line'>Who can distinguish wrong from right,</div> - <div class='line'>Tell what will mar, and what will mend?</div> - <div class='line'>All diverse things you mix and blend,</div> - <div class='line'>And into hostile camps divide</div> - <div class='line'>Those who should triumph side by side.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Here, notwithstanding, I abide.</div> - <div class='line'>Man chooses not his labour’s sphere.</div> - <div class='line'>Who knows and follows out his call,</div> - <div class='line'>Has seen God’s writing on the wall,</div> - <div class='line'>In words of fire, “Your place is here!”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Stay, then, but keep within your borders;</div> - <div class='line'>You’re free to purge the folk of crimes,</div> - <div class='line'>Vices, and other rifle disorders;</div> - <div class='line'>God knows, it’s needed oftentimes!</div> - <div class='line'>But don’t make every working-day</div> - <div class='line'>A Sabbath, and your flag display,</div> - <div class='line'>As if the Almighty were on board</div> - <div class='line'>Of every skiff that skims the fjord.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>To use your counsel, I must change</div> - <div class='line'>My soul and all her vision’s range;</div> - <div class='line'>But we are called, <em class='gesperrt'>ourselves</em> to be,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_107'>107</span>Our own cause bear to victory;</div> - <div class='line'>And I will bear it, till the land</div> - <div class='line'>Is all illumined where I stand!</div> - <div class='line'>The people, your bureaucrat-crew</div> - <div class='line'>Have lull’d asleep, shall wake anew;</div> - <div class='line'>Too long you’ve cramp’d and caged apart</div> - <div class='line'>These remnants of the Mountain heart;</div> - <div class='line'>Out of your niggard hunger-cure</div> - <div class='line'>They pass dejected, dull, demure:</div> - <div class='line'>Their best, their bravest blood you tap,</div> - <div class='line'>Scoop out their marrow and their sap,</div> - <div class='line'>Pound into splinters every soul,</div> - <div class='line'>That should have stood a welded whole;—</div> - <div class='line'>But you may live to hear the roar</div> - <div class='line'>Of revolution thunder: <em class='gesperrt'>War!</em></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>War?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in5'>War!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in10'>Be sure, if you should call</div> - <div class='line'>To arms, you’ll be the first to fall.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The day will come when we shall know</div> - <div class='line'>That triumph’s height is Overthrow.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Consider, Brand, you have to choose!</div> - <div class='line'>Don’t stake your fortune on one card.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I do, however!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_108'>108</span><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in15'>If you lose,</div> - <div class='line'>Your life’s irreparably marr’d.</div> - <div class='line'>All this world’s bounties you possess,</div> - <div class='line'>You, a rich Mother’s only heir,</div> - <div class='line'>With wife and child to be your care,—</div> - <div class='line'>It was a kindly hand, confess,</div> - <div class='line'>That dealt <em class='gesperrt'>your</em> terms of happiness!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And what if I should, all the same,</div> - <div class='line'>Reject these terms? and <em class='gesperrt'>must</em>?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in32'>Your game</div> - <div class='line'>Is over, if you’ve once unfurl’d</div> - <div class='line'>In this last cranny of the world</div> - <div class='line'>The standard of your world-wide war.</div> - <div class='line'>Turn southward, to yon prosperous shore</div> - <div class='line'>Where a man dares lift up his head;</div> - <div class='line'>There you may perorate of right</div> - <div class='line'>And bid them bleed and bid them fight;</div> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>Our</em> bloodshed is the sweat we pour</div> - <div class='line'>In daily wringing rocks for bread.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Here I remain. My home is here!</div> - <div class='line'>And here the battle-flag I’ll rear.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Think what you lose, if overthrown,</div> - <div class='line'>And, chiefly, think of what you quit!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Myself I lose, if I submit.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_109'>109</span><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Hopeless is he that fights alone.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The <em class='gesperrt'>best</em> are with me.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Smiling.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in24'>That may be,</div> - <div class='line'>But they’re the <em class='gesperrt'>most</em>, who follow <em class='gesperrt'>me</em>.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c019'>[<i>Goes.</i></div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Looking after him.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A people’s champion, thorough-bred!</div> - <div class='line'>Active, with fair and open hand,</div> - <div class='line'>Honest of heart and sound of head,</div> - <div class='line'>But yet a scourge upon the land!</div> - <div class='line'>No avalanche, no winter-blast,</div> - <div class='line'>No flood, nor frost, nor famine-fast</div> - <div class='line'>Leaves half the ruin in its rear</div> - <div class='line'>That such a man does, year by year.</div> - <div class='line'>Life only by a plague is reft;</div> - <div class='line'>But he——! How many a thought is cleft,</div> - <div class='line'>How many an eager will made numb,</div> - <div class='line'>How many a valiant song struck dumb</div> - <div class='line'>By such a narrow soul as this!</div> - <div class='line'>What smiles on simple faces breaking,</div> - <div class='line'>What fires in <em class='gesperrt'>lowly</em> bosoms waking,</div> - <div class='line'>What pangs of joy and anger, seed</div> - <div class='line'>That might have ripened into deed,</div> - <div class='line'>Die by that bloodless blade of his!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div>[<i>Suddenly, in anxiety.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But O the summons! the summons—No!</div> - <div class='line'>It is the Doctor!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span><i>Enter</i> <span class='sc'>Doctor</span>.</div> - <div>[<i>Hurries to meet him.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>Say! say! How——?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>She stands before her Maker now.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Dead!—But repentant?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in22'>Scarcely so;</div> - <div class='line'>She hugg’d Earth’s goods with all her heart</div> - <div class='line'>Till the Hour struck, and they must part.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Looking straight before him in deep emotion.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Is here an erring soul undone?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>She will be mildly judged, maybe;—</div> - <div class='line'>And Law temper’d with equity,</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>In a low tone.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What said she?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in15'>Low she mutter’d: <em class='gesperrt'>He</em></div> - <div class='line'>Is no hard dealer, like my son.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Sinking in anguish upon the bench.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Guilt-wrung or dying, still that lie</div> - <div class='line'>That every soul is ruin’d by!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c019'>[<i>Hides his face in his hands.</i></div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Goes towards him, looks at him, and shakes his head.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You seek, a day that is no more,</div> - <div class='line'>In one and all things to restore.</div> - <div class='line'>You think, God’s venerable pact</div> - <div class='line'>With man is still a living fact;—</div> - <div class='line'>Each Age in its own way will walk;</div> - <div class='line'>Ours is not scared by nurses’ talk</div> - <div class='line'>Of hell-bound soul and burning brand;—</div> - <div class='line'>Humanity’s our first command!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Looking up.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Humanity!—That sluggard phrase</div> - <div class='line'>Is the world’s watchword nowadays.</div> - <div class='line'>With this each bungler hides the fact</div> - <div class='line'>That he dare not and will not act;</div> - <div class='line'>With this each weakling masks the lie,</div> - <div class='line'>That he’ll risk all for victory;</div> - <div class='line'>With this each dastard dares to cloak</div> - <div class='line'>Vows faintly rued and lightly broke;</div> - <div class='line'>Your puny spirits will turn Man</div> - <div class='line'>Himself Humanitarian!</div> - <div class='line'>Was God “humane” when Jesus died?</div> - <div class='line'>Had <em class='gesperrt'>your</em> God then his counsel given,</div> - <div class='line'>Christ at the cross for grace had cried—</div> - <div class='line'>And the Redemption signified</div> - <div class='line'>A diplomatic note from Heaven.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c019'>[<i>Hides his head, and sits in mute grief.</i></div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Softly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Rage, rage thy fill, thou soul storm-stress’d;—</div> - <div class='line'>Best were it for thee to find tears.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Comes out on to the steps: pale and terrified she whispers to the <span class='sc'>Doctor</span>.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>In! Follow me!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in15'>You raise my fears!</div> - <div class='line'>What is it, child?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in19'>Into my breast</div> - <div class='line'>Creeps cold a serpent of affright——!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What is it?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Pulling him away.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in11'>Come!—Great God of Might.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='direction'> -<p class='c021'>[<i>They go into the house; <span class='sc'>Brand</span> does not -notice.</i></p> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>To himself.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Impenitent alive,—and dead!</div> - <div class='line'>This is the finger of the Lord!</div> - <div class='line'>Now through my means shall be restored</div> - <div class='line'>The treasure she has forfeited;</div> - <div class='line'>Else tenfold woe upon my head!</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Rises.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Henceforth as by my sonship bound,</div> - <div class='line'>Unflinching, on my native ground</div> - <div class='line'>I’ll battle, a soldier of the Cross,</div> - <div class='line'>For Spirit’s gain by Body’s loss.</div> - <div class='line'>Me with His purging fire the Lord</div> - <div class='line'>Hath arm’d, and with His riving Word:</div> - <div class='line'>Mine is that Will and that strong Trust</div> - <div class='line'>That crumbles mountains into dust!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Followed by <span class='sc'>Agnes</span> comes hastily out, and cries.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Order your house and haste away!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Were there an earthquake I would stay!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Then you have doom’d your child to death.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Wildly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The child! Alf! Alf! What phantom wraith</div> - <div class='line'>Of fear is this! My child!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c019'>[<i>Is about to rush into the house.</i></div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Holding him back.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in27'>Stay, stay.—</div> - <div class='line'>Here summer sunshine pierces not,</div> - <div class='line'>Here polar ice-blasts rive and rend,—</div> - <div class='line'>Here dank and stifling mists descend.</div> - <div class='line'>Another winter in this spot</div> - <div class='line'>Will shrivel the tender life away.</div> - <div class='line'>Go hence, you’ll save him! No delay!</div> - <div class='line'>To-morrow’s <a id='corr113.22'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='best'>best.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_113.22'><ins class='correction' title='best'>best.</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in17'>To-night,—to-day!</div> - <div class='line'>Now, ere another hour is out!</div> - <div class='line'>O yet he shall grow strong and stout;—</div> - <div class='line'>No blast from mountain or from shore</div> - <div class='line'>Shall chill his baby-bosom more.</div> - <div class='line'>Come, Agnes, lift him gently in sleep!</div> - <div class='line'>Away along the winding deep!</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span>O Agnes, Agnes, death has spun</div> - <div class='line'>His web about our little son!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Foreboding trembled in my heart,—</div> - <div class='line'>And yet I only knew a part.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>To the <span class='sc'>Doctor</span>.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But flight will save him? That is sure?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The life a father day and night</div> - <div class='line'>Watches, all perils can endure.</div> - <div class='line'>Be all to him! and healthy, bright,</div> - <div class='line'>You soon shall see him, be secure!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Thanks, thanks!</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>To <span class='sc'>Agnes</span>.</i>]</div> - <div class='line in16'>In down enclose him well;</div> - <div class='line'>Chill sweeps the night-wind from the fell.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c019'>[<i><span class='sc'>Agnes</span> goes in.</i></div> -<p class='c016'><i>The <span class='sc'>Doctor</span> silently watches <span class='sc'>Brand</span>, who gazes -fixedly through the door; then goes to him, and -lays his hand on his shoulder.</i></p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>So tender to his own distress.</div> - <div class='line'>And to the world so merciless!</div> - <div class='line'>For them avails not <em class='gesperrt'>more</em> nor <em class='gesperrt'>less</em>!</div> - <div class='line'>Only Law’s absolute <em class='gesperrt'>Nought</em> or <em class='gesperrt'>All</em>,</div> - <div class='line'>But now—no sooner sees he fall</div> - <div class='line'>The dooming lot,—his valour’s flown;</div> - <div class='line'>—The sacrificial lamb’s his own!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What mean you?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in15'>In the dying ear</div> - <div class='line'>You thunder’d the decree of fear:</div> - <div class='line'>To perish, unless All she gave,</div> - <div class='line'>And went down naked to her grave!</div> - <div class='line'>And that cry rang again, again,</div> - <div class='line'>When need was direst among men!</div> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>You</em>’re now the shipwreckt sailor, cleaving</div> - <div class='line'>To swamp’d boat through the storms of doom,</div> - <div class='line'>And from its upturned bottom heaving</div> - <div class='line'>To see your tracts on Wrath to Come,</div> - <div class='line'>To sea, to sea, the bulky tome</div> - <div class='line'>That struck your Brothers’ bosoms home;</div> - <div class='line'>Now you ask only wind and wave</div> - <div class='line'>To waft your infant from death’s reach.</div> - <div class='line'>Fly, only fly, by bay and beach,</div> - <div class='line'>Fly from your very mother’s grave,—</div> - <div class='line'>from the souls you’re sent to save;—</div> - <div class='line'>“The Parson does not mean to preach!”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Wildly clutching his head as if to gather his thoughts.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Am I <em class='gesperrt'>now</em> blind? Or <em class='gesperrt'>was</em> I?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Doctor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in26'>Nay,</div> - <div class='line'>A father has no other way;</div> - <div class='line'>Don’t fancy that your act I blame;</div> - <div class='line'>I hold you greater, clipt and tame,</div> - <div class='line'>Than in your giant strength secure.—</div> - <div class='line'>Farewell! I’ve held you up a glass;</div> - <div class='line'>Use it and sigh: “Alas, alas,</div> - <div class='line'>Is this a Titan’s portraiture?”</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Goes.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_116'>116</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div><i>Gazing a while before him: then bursts out.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Before—or now,—when did I stray?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c016'><i><span class='sc'>Agnes</span> comes out with a cloak over her shoulders -and the child in her arms; <span class='sc'>Brand</span> does not see -her; she is about to speak, but stands petrified -with terror at the look in his face. At the same -moment <span class='sc'>A Man</span> comes in hastily through the -garden-gate. The sun is setting.</i></p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Hark, priest, you have a foe!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Clenching his hand against his breast.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in30'>Yes, <em class='gesperrt'>here</em>!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Watch well the Mayor. The seed you sow</div> - <div class='line'>Sprang ever bravely into ear,</div> - <div class='line'>Till blighting slanders laid it low.</div> - <div class='line'>With meaning hints he has implied</div> - <div class='line'>That by-and-by this house would lack</div> - <div class='line'>A tenant, and you’d turn your back,</div> - <div class='line'>The day your wealthy mother died.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And if it were so——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in22'>Priest, I know you;</div> - <div class='line'>Know, why these poisonous tales are rife;</div> - <div class='line'>You stood against him still at strife;</div> - <div class='line'>He could not bend your purpose;—lo, you,</div> - <div class='line'>That’s what these slanders signified——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_117'>117</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Hesitating.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Suppose the case—that he spoke true?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Then to us all you’ve basely lied.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Have I——?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in12'>How oft you’ve told us, you,</div> - <div class='line'>That God has call’d you to the strife,</div> - <div class='line'>That here you’ve made your home for life,</div> - <div class='line'>That <em class='gesperrt'>here</em> you’ll bear the battle through,</div> - <div class='line'>That none may shirk the call to serve,</div> - <div class='line'>That all must fight and never swerve,</div> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>You</em> have the Call! How flames and flashes</div> - <div class='line'>In many a heart the fire you’ve fed!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>This people’s heart is hard and dead!</div> - <div class='line'>Their ear is deaf, their fire is ashes!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>O, you know better;—radiant day</div> - <div class='line'>To many a heart has found its way.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>In tenfold others all is night.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You’re sent to be their beacon-light</div> - <div class='line'>But be the numbers as you choose,</div> - <div class='line'>Here is no need to closely scan;</div> - <div class='line'>For here I stand, one only Man,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_118'>118</span>And bid you: Leave us, if you can!</div> - <div class='line'>I have a soul I would not lose,</div> - <div class='line'>Like others; books I cannot use,</div> - <div class='line'>You bore me from the depths below,—</div> - <div class='line'>Try if you now can let me go!</div> - <div class='line'>You cannot,—I so closely grip,</div> - <div class='line'>My soul were lost if I should slip.</div> - <div class='line'>Farewell; I look to learn at last:</div> - <div class='line'>My priest by me—and God—stands fast.</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Goes.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Timidly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Your lips are blanch’d, and white your cheek;</div> - <div class='line'>You seem to utter an inward shriek!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Each strong word flung at yonder rock</div> - <div class='line'>Thrills back with tenfold echo’s shock.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Advancing a step.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I’m ready!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in11'>Ready? Whereunto?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Vehemently.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>For what a mother needs must do!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Runs by outside and stops at the garden-gate; claps her hands and cries in wild joy.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Have you heard? The priest’s flown off.—</div> - <div class='line'>Up from hillocks, out of howes,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_119'>119</span>Swarm the demons and the Drows,</div> - <div class='line'>Black and ugly, big and little—</div> - <div class='line'>Ugh, how fierce they cut and cuff—!</div> - <div class='line'>Half my eye away they whittle;</div> - <div class='line'>Half my soul they’ve carried off;</div> - <div class='line'>With the stump I’ll e’en make shift,</div> - <div class='line'>It will serve me well enough!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Girl, your thoughts are all adrift;</div> - <div class='line'>See, I stand before you.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in25'>You?</div> - <div class='line'>Ay, but not the parson? Swift</div> - <div class='line'>From the peak my falcon flew,</div> - <div class='line'>Fiercely down the fells he hied him,</div> - <div class='line'>He was bitted and saddled too,</div> - <div class='line'>Through the nightfall blast he hiss’d,</div> - <div class='line'>And a man was set astride him,—</div> - <div class='line'>’Twas the parson, ’twas the priest!</div> - <div class='line'>Now the valley church is bare,</div> - <div class='line'>Lock and bar are bolted there;</div> - <div class='line'>Ugly-church’s day is past;</div> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>Mine</em> shall get its due at last.</div> - <div class='line'>There the priest stands, tall and strong</div> - <div class='line'>Snowy surplice swathes his flank,</div> - <div class='line'>Woven of winter’s drip and dank,</div> - <div class='line'>If you’d see him, come along;</div> - <div class='line'>Parish-church is bare and blank;</div> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>My</em> priest has so brave a song,</div> - <div class='line'>That the whole earth rings to hear it.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Who has bidden thee, shattered spirit,</div> - <div class='line'>Lure me with this idol-lay?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_120'>120</span><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Coming into the garden.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Idols, idols? What are they?</div> - <div class='line'>Oho! That is what you mean:</div> - <div class='line'>Giant or pigmy, large or lean,</div> - <div class='line'>Always gilded, always gay.</div> - <div class='line'>Idols! Look you where she stands!</div> - <div class='line'>See you ’neath her mantle stray</div> - <div class='line'>Baby-feet and baby-hands?</div> - <div class='line'>See you how those robes are gay,</div> - <div class='line'>That close-folded something keep</div> - <div class='line'>Like a little child asleep?</div> - <div class='line'>Back she shudders! Hides her son!</div> - <div class='line'>Idols?—Man, I show you <em class='gesperrt'>one</em>!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Have you tears, Brand? Can you pray?</div> - <div class='line'>Terror scorches mine away!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Woe’s me, Agnes—I forbode</div> - <div class='line'>In her words the voice of God.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Hark; now all the bells are loud,</div> - <div class='line'>Clanging down the savage fells!</div> - <div class='line'>See, what moving masses crowd</div> - <div class='line'>Upwards to those bidding bells!</div> - <div class='line'>See the thousand trolls uprisen</div> - <div class='line'>From the ocean-caves, their prison;</div> - <div class='line'>See the thousand dwarfs up-leaping</div> - <div class='line'>From the graves where they were sleeping</div> - <div class='line'>With the priest’s seal on them set:</div> - <div class='line'>Grave and ocean cannot bind them,</div> - <div class='line'>Out they’re swarming, chill and wet;—</div> - <div class='line'>Troll-babes that but shammed to die,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_121'>121</span>Grinning roll the rocks behind them:</div> - <div class='line'>“Mother, father!” hark, they cry;</div> - <div class='line'>Goodman, Goodwife, make reply;</div> - <div class='line'>Then, as fathers among sons,</div> - <div class='line'>Move among their buried ones;</div> - <div class='line'>Women lay their risen dead</div> - <div class='line'>At their bosoms to be fed,</div> - <div class='line'>Strutted scarce with prouder front</div> - <div class='line'>When they bore them to the font.</div> - <div class='line'>Life begins! The parson’s fled!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Get thee from me! Direr still</div> - <div class='line'>Grows the vision——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>Hark, he’s mocking!</div> - <div class='line'>He that sits by yon way-border,</div> - <div class='line'>Where it rears to scale the hill,</div> - <div class='line'>All their names as they go flocking</div> - <div class='line'>In his book he writes in order;—</div> - <div class='line'>Ho! he’s wellnigh all the pack;</div> - <div class='line'>For the parish-church is bare,</div> - <div class='line'>Lock and bar are bolted there,—</div> - <div class='line'>And parson’s off on falcon-back!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='direction'> -<p class='c021'>[<i>Leaps over the garden-fence and is lost in -the moraine. Stillness.</i></p> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Approaches, and says in a low voice.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Late we linger: let us go.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Looking fixedly at her.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Shall our way be——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div>[<i>Points first to the garden-gate, then to the house-door.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>So?—or so?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_122'>122</span><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Starts back shuddering.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Brand, your child,—your child!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Following her.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in32'>Say rather:</div> - <div class='line'>Was I priest ere I was father?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Drawing further back.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Though in thunder-crash it peal’d,</div> - <div class='line'>Unto that my lips are seal’d.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Following.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You are Mother: it is due</div> - <div class='line'>That the last word come from you.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I am Wife: I shall fulfil</div> - <div class='line'>All that you have heart to will.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Trying to grasp her arm.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Take the Cup of Choice from me!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Retreating behind the tree.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Mother then I should not be!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>There a Judgment is let fall!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_123'>123</span><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Vehemently.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>Have</em> you any choice at all!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Still the Judgment, gathering force!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Trust you wholly in God’s Call?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes!</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Grasps her hand firmly.</i>]</div> - <div class='line in5'>And now ’tis yours to give</div> - <div class='line'>Final sentence: Die or live!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Go where God has fix’d your course</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Pause.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Late we linger: let us go.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Voiceless.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Shall our way be——?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Silent.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Pointing to the garden-gate.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in22'>So?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Pointing to the house-door.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in26'>Nay,—so!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_124'>124</span><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Raising the child aloft in her arms.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>God! The gift Thou canst require</div> - <div class='line'>I can lift it to thy sight!</div> - <div class='line'>Guide me through life’s martyr-fire!</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Goes in.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c016'>[<i>Gazes a while before him, bursts into tears, clasps his -hands over his head, throws himself down on the -steps and cries</i>:]</p> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Jesus, Jesus give me light!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_125'>125</span> - <h2 class='c009'>ACT FOURTH.</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c017'><i>Christmas Eve in the Manse. The room is dark. -Garden-door in the background; a window on -one side, a door on the other. <span class='sc'>Agnes</span>, in mourning, -stands at the window and gazes out into the -darkness.</i></p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Still he comes not! Comes not yet!—</div> - <div class='line'>Oh, how hard, with gloom beset,—</div> - <div class='line'>Still to wait and still to cry,—</div> - <div class='line'>Winning never a reply,—</div> - <div class='line'>Fast they fall, the softly sifted</div> - <div class='line'>Snowflakes; in a shroud-like woof</div> - <div class='line'>They have swathed the old church roof——</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Listens.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Hark! the garden-latch is lifted!</div> - <div class='line'>Steps! A man’s step, firm and fast!</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Hurries to the door and opens it.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Is it thou? Come home! At last!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><i><span class='sc'>Brand</span> comes in, snowy, in travelling dress, which he removes during what follows.</i></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes</span></div> - <div>[<i>Throwing her arms about him.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Oh, how long thou wast away!</div> - <div class='line'>Go not from me, go not from me;</div> - <div class='line'>All alone I cannot sway</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_126'>126</span>The black clouds that overcome me;</div> - <div class='line'>What a night, what days have been</div> - <div class='line'>These two—and the night between!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I am with thee, child, once more.</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>He lights a single candle, which throws a pale radiance over the room.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Thou art pale.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in15'>And worn and sad.</div> - <div class='line'>I have watch’d and long’d so sore;</div> - <div class='line'>And this little leafy bough—</div> - <div class='line'>Little, it was all I had,</div> - <div class='line'>Saved from summer until now</div> - <div class='line'>To bedeck our Christmas-tree,—</div> - <div class='line'>I have hung it there, Brand, see!</div> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>His</em> the bush was, so we said;</div> - <div class='line'>Ah, <em class='gesperrt'>’twas</em> his—it crown’d him dead!</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Bursts into tears.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Look, from the snow it peers</div> - <div class='line'>Yonder, his—O God——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in23'>His grave.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>O that word!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in13'>Have done with tears.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes—be patient—I’ll be brave!</div> - <div class='line'>But my soul is bleeding still,</div> - <div class='line'>And the wound is raw and new—</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_127'>127</span>Sapp’d is all my strength of will.</div> - <div class='line'>Oh, but better shall ensue!</div> - <div class='line'>Once these days are overworn,</div> - <div class='line'>Thou shalt never see me mourn!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Keep’st thou so God’s <em class='gesperrt'>holy</em> Night?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ah! Too much thou must not crave!</div> - <div class='line'>Think—last year so sweet and bright,</div> - <div class='line'>This year carried from my sight;</div> - <div class='line'>Carried—carried——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand</span></div> - <div>[<i>Loudly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in21'>To the grave.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Shrieks.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Name it not!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in13'>With lungs that crack,</div> - <div class='line'>Named it must be, if thou shrink—</div> - <div class='line'>Named, till echo rolls it back,</div> - <div class='line'>Like a billow from the brink.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ah! The word gives thee, too, pain.</div> - <div class='line'>How-so passionless thou boast thee!</div> - <div class='line'>On thy brow I see the stain</div> - <div class='line'>Of the agony it cost thee!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>On my brow the drops that lie</div> - <div class='line'>Are but sea-spray from the storm.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_128'>128</span><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And that dewdrop in thine eye,</div> - <div class='line'>Has it fallen from the sky?</div> - <div class='line'>No, ah! no, it is too warm,</div> - <div class='line'>’Tis thy heart’s dew!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in22'>Agnes, wife,</div> - <div class='line'>Let us bravely face the strife;</div> - <div class='line'>Stand together, never flinch,</div> - <div class='line'>Struggle onward, inch by inch.</div> - <div class='line'>Oh, I felt a man out there!</div> - <div class='line'>Surges o’er the reef were dashing;</div> - <div class='line'>Horror of the storm-lit air</div> - <div class='line'>Still’d the sea-gull; hail was thrashing</div> - <div class='line'>Down upon the boiling sea.</div> - <div class='line'>In my skiff, that mid-fjord quiver’d,</div> - <div class='line'>Mast and tackle creak’d and shiver’d,</div> - <div class='line'>Tatter’d sails blew far a-lee,</div> - <div class='line'>Scarce a shred of them remaining,</div> - <div class='line'>Every nail and stanchion straining!</div> - <div class='line'>From the beetling summits sunder’d.</div> - <div class='line'>Down the avalanches thunder’d;</div> - <div class='line'>Stiff and stark, with corpse-like faces</div> - <div class='line'>Sat the rowers in their places.</div> - <div class='line'>Then the soul in me wax’d high;</div> - <div class='line'>From the helm I ruled them all,</div> - <div class='line'>Knowing well that One thereby</div> - <div class='line'>Had baptized me to His call!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>In the tempest to be strong,</div> - <div class='line'>Eager in the stress of fight,</div> - <div class='line'>That is easy, that is light;</div> - <div class='line'>Think of me, who, all day long,</div> - <div class='line'>Still must croon without relief</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_129'>129</span>The low swallow-song of grief;</div> - <div class='line'>Think of me, who have no charm</div> - <div class='line'>For the tedious pain of life;</div> - <div class='line'>Me, who, far from war’s alarm,</div> - <div class='line'>Lack the fiery joys of strife:</div> - <div class='line'>Think, oh think, of me, who share not</div> - <div class='line'>Noble work, but brood and wait;</div> - <div class='line'>Me, who to remember dare not,</div> - <div class='line'>And who never can forget!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Thou no noble life-work! Thou!</div> - <div class='line'>Never was it great as now.</div> - <div class='line'>Listen, Agnes; thou shalt know</div> - <div class='line'>What to me our loss has brought.</div> - <div class='line'>Oftentimes my light is low.</div> - <div class='line'>Dim my reason, dull my thought,</div> - <div class='line'>And there seems a kind of gladness</div> - <div class='line'>In immeasurable sadness.</div> - <div class='line'>Agnes—in such hours I see</div> - <div class='line'>God, as at no other, near;</div> - <div class='line'>Oh, so near, it seems to me</div> - <div class='line'>I could speak, and He would hear.</div> - <div class='line'>Like a lost child then I long</div> - <div class='line'>To be folded to his breast,</div> - <div class='line'>And be gather’d by His strong</div> - <div class='line'>Tender Father-arms to rest!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Brand, oh see Him so alway!</div> - <div class='line'>To thy supplication near—</div> - <div class='line'>God of love and not of fear!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>No; I may not bar his way,</div> - <div class='line'>Nor run counter to my Call;</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_130'>130</span>I must see Him vast, sublime</div> - <div class='line'>As the heavens,—a pigmy Time</div> - <div class='line'>Needs a giant God withal!</div> - <div class='line'>Oh, but <em class='gesperrt'>thou</em> mayst see Him near,</div> - <div class='line'>See Him as a Father dear,</div> - <div class='line'>Bow <em class='gesperrt'>Thy</em> head upon His breast,</div> - <div class='line'>There, when thou art weary, rest,</div> - <div class='line'>Then return, with face aglow</div> - <div class='line'>From His presence, fair and free,</div> - <div class='line'>Bear His glory down to me</div> - <div class='line'>Worn with battle-thrust and throe!</div> - <div class='line'>See, my Agnes; so to share</div> - <div class='line'>Is the soul of wedded life:</div> - <div class='line'>His, the turmoil and the strife,</div> - <div class='line'>Hers the healing and the care;</div> - <div class='line'>This and this alone, the true</div> - <div class='line'>Wedlock, that makes one of two.</div> - <div class='line'>Since thou turnedst from the life</div> - <div class='line'>Of the world to be my wife,</div> - <div class='line'>Boldly cast thy lot with me,</div> - <div class='line'>This the work appointed thee</div> - <div class='line'>Mine the stir and stress of fight,</div> - <div class='line'>Battle in the burning sun,</div> - <div class='line'>Watching in the winter night;</div> - <div class='line'>But for thee, when all is done,</div> - <div class='line'>To my parching lips to hold</div> - <div class='line'>Love’s full wine-cup, and to fold</div> - <div class='line'>’Neath the breastplate’s iron stress</div> - <div class='line'>The soft robe of tenderness.</div> - <div class='line'>Surely that work is not light!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Every work that I have sought</div> - <div class='line'>Is too hard for my weak skill;</div> - <div class='line'>All the fibres of my will</div> - <div class='line'>Gather round a single thought.</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span>Like a vision seems it still:</div> - <div class='line'>Let me have of tears my fill.</div> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>Help</em> me so myself to see,—</div> - <div class='line'>What I am, and ought to be!</div> - <div class='line'>Brand,—last night, in stillest hush,</div> - <div class='line'>Open’d he my chamber door,</div> - <div class='line'>On his cheek a rosy flush,</div> - <div class='line'>And his little shirt he wore,—</div> - <div class='line'>Toddled so with childish tread</div> - <div class='line'>To the couch where I lay lonely,</div> - <div class='line'>“Mother!” call’d to me, and spread</div> - <div class='line'>Both his arms, and smiled, but only</div> - <div class='line'>As if praying: “Make me warm.”</div> - <div class='line in1'>Yea, I saw!—Oh, my heart bled——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Agnes!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in7'>Ah, his little form</div> - <div class='line'>Was a-cold, Brand! Needs it must,</div> - <div class='line'>Pillow’d in the chilly dust.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>That which lies beneath the sod</div> - <div class='line'>Is the <em class='gesperrt'>corse</em>; the child’s with God.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Shrinking from him.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Oh, canst thou without remorse</div> - <div class='line'>Thus our bleeding anguish tear?</div> - <div class='line'>What thou sternly call’st the corse—</div> - <div class='line'>Ah, to me, my child is <em class='gesperrt'>there</em>!</div> - <div class='line'>Where is body, there is soul:</div> - <div class='line'>These apart I cannot keep,</div> - <div class='line'>Each is unto me the whole;</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span>Alf beneath the snow asleep</div> - <div class='line'>Is my very Alf in Heaven!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Many a raw wound must be riven</div> - <div class='line'>Ere thy deep disease give way.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yet have patience with me, pray,</div> - <div class='line'>Let me follow, not be driven.</div> - <div class='line'>Give me thy strong hand and guide me</div> - <div class='line'>Oh, and gently, gently chide me!</div> - <div class='line'>Thou whose voice in thunder-tones</div> - <div class='line'>Vibrates in the hour of strife,</div> - <div class='line'>For the soul that still with groans</div> - <div class='line'>Fights a fight for very life,</div> - <div class='line'>Hast thou no soft, piteous lay,</div> - <div class='line'>To beguile its pangs away?</div> - <div class='line'>Ne’er a message to uplift,</div> - <div class='line'>Point me to the dawn-fired rift?</div> - <div class='line'>God, as thou wouldst have me view Him,</div> - <div class='line'>Is a monarch on His throne.</div> - <div class='line'>How dare I, then, turn unto Him</div> - <div class='line'>With my lowly mother’s moan?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Wouldst thou rather, haply, turn</div> - <div class='line'>To the God thou knew’st before?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Never, never, nevermore!</div> - <div class='line'>And yet oftentimes I yearn</div> - <div class='line'>Towards the daybreak, towards the light,</div> - <div class='line'>Towards the sunshine warm and golden.</div> - <div class='line'>Oh, the ancient saw is right:</div> - <div class='line'>“Lightly lifted, hardly holden”</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_133'>133</span>All too vast this realm of thine,</div> - <div class='line'>Too gigantic to be mine.</div> - <div class='line'>Thou, thy word, thy work, thy goal,</div> - <div class='line'>Will austere, and steadfast soul,</div> - <div class='line'>Overhead the beetling height,</div> - <div class='line'>And the barrier fjord below,</div> - <div class='line'>Grief and memory, toil and night,</div> - <div class='line'>All vast,—were the Church but so!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Starting.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What! the Church? Again that thought?</div> - <div class='line'>Is it bred an instinct blind</div> - <div class='line'>In the air?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Shaking her head sadly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in12'>Oh ask me not</div> - <div class='line'>To find reasons for my thought.</div> - <div class='line'>Instinct steals upon the sense</div> - <div class='line'>Like a perfume,—to and fro,</div> - <div class='line'>Blowing whither? Blowing whence?</div> - <div class='line'>I perceive it, that is all</div> - <div class='line'>And, unknowing, yet I know</div> - <div class='line'>That for me it is too small.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Truth may be from dreams divined.</div> - <div class='line'>In a hundred hearts I find</div> - <div class='line'>Self-begotten this one word;</div> - <div class='line'>Even in hers, whose frantic call</div> - <div class='line'>From the mountain-side I heard:</div> - <div class='line'>“It is ugly, for ’tis small!”</div> - <div class='line in1'>So she said; and like the rest</div> - <div class='line'>Left her meaning <a id='corr134.32'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='half-express'>half-express’d</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_134.32'><ins class='correction' title='half-express'>half-express’d</ins></a></span>.</div> - <div class='line'>Then of women came a score,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_134'>134</span>“Yes, it is too small,” they cried;</div> - <div class='line'>They would have it spread and soar,</div> - <div class='line'>Like a palace in its pride.</div> - <div class='line'>Agnes—ah! I see it clear;</div> - <div class='line'>Thou the woman art whom God</div> - <div class='line'>Gave me for His angel-guide.</div> - <div class='line'>Safe alike from doubt and fear</div> - <div class='line'>Through the darkness thou hast trod,</div> - <div class='line'>Keeping still the even way,</div> - <div class='line'>Where I blindly went astray.</div> - <div class='line'>Thee no glamour captivated—</div> - <div class='line'>Once thy finger show’d the fated</div> - <div class='line'>Region where my life-work waited,</div> - <div class='line'>Check’d me, as I sought sublime,</div> - <div class='line'>To the vault of heaven to climb,</div> - <div class='line'>Turn’d my soaring glance within,</div> - <div class='line'>And that kingdom bade me win.</div> - <div class='line'>Now, a second time, thy word</div> - <div class='line'>Penetrates my soul like day,</div> - <div class='line'>Guides me where I vainly err’d,</div> - <div class='line'>Glorifies my weary way.</div> - <div class='line'>Small the Church is? Be it so:</div> - <div class='line'>Then a greater Church shall grow.</div> - <div class='line'>Never, never did I wot</div> - <div class='line'>All God gave me, giving thee;</div> - <div class='line'>Now that cry of thine’s for me:</div> - <div class='line'>Leave me not! Oh leave me not!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>All my sorrow I will quell,</div> - <div class='line'>I will dry the tears that well,</div> - <div class='line'>Seal in still sepulchral sleep</div> - <div class='line'>Memory’s lone castle-keep;</div> - <div class='line'>Lay oblivion like a sea</div> - <div class='line'>Open between it and me,</div> - <div class='line'>I will blot the joyous gleams</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_135'>135</span>From my little world of dreams,</div> - <div class='line'>Live, thy wife, alone for thee!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Steep the path is, high the goal.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Lead, nor sternly spur, my soul!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>In a greater name I call.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>One of whom thou saidst that still</div> - <div class='line'>He accepts the steadfast will,</div> - <div class='line'>Though the flesh be weak withal!</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Going.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Whither, Agnes?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Smiles.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in16'>Ah, to-day</div> - <div class='line'>Home must have its feast array</div> - <div class='line'>Thou my lavishness didst chide,</div> - <div class='line'>Mindest thou, last Christmastide?</div> - <div class='line'>All the chamber flash’d with lights,</div> - <div class='line'>From the Christmas-tree there hung</div> - <div class='line'>Toys and wreaths and quaint delights;</div> - <div class='line'>There was laughter, there was song.</div> - <div class='line'>Brand, for us this year also</div> - <div class='line'>Shall the Christmas-candles glow,</div> - <div class='line'>Here shall all be deck’d and dight</div> - <div class='line'>For the great, still Feast to-night!</div> - <div class='line'>Here, if haply God should peep,</div> - <div class='line'>He of meek and lowly mind</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_136'>136</span>Shall His stricken children find,</div> - <div class='line'>Babes, that humbly understand,</div> - <div class='line'>To have felt their Father’s hand</div> - <div class='line'>Gives them not a right to weep.—</div> - <div class='line'>Seest thou now of tears a sign?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Presses her to him a moment.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Child, make light: that work is thine.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Smiles sadly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Thou thy greater Church shalt rear:</div> - <div class='line'>Oh—but end ere Spring is here!</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Goes.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Willing in her torments still,</div> - <div class='line'>Willing at the martyr’s stake;</div> - <div class='line'>Flesh may flag and spirit break,</div> - <div class='line'>But unbroken <a id='corr136.17'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='in'>is</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_136.17'><ins class='correction' title='in'>is</ins></a></span> her Will.</div> - <div class='line'>Lord, to her poor strength add Thine;—</div> - <div class='line'>Be the cruel task not mine</div> - <div class='line'>At Thy bidding to unchain</div> - <div class='line'>Angry vultures of the Law,</div> - <div class='line'>Swift to swoop with ravening maw</div> - <div class='line'>And her heart’s warm blood to drain!</div> - <div class='line'>I have strength to stand the strain.</div> - <div class='line'>Twofold agony let me bear,—</div> - <div class='line'>But be merciful to her!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><i>A knock at the outer door. <span class='sc'>The Mayor</span> enters.</i></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A beaten man, I seek your door.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_137'>137</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A beaten man?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>As such I stand</div> - <div class='line'>Before you. When I open’d war,</div> - <div class='line'>And sought to drive you from the land,</div> - <div class='line'>The end I augur’d, I confess,</div> - <div class='line'>For you, was not just—well—success.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Indeed——?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in12'>But though my cause I boast</div> - <div class='line'>The better, I’ll contend no more.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And why?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in9'>Because you have the <em class='gesperrt'>most</em>.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Have I?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in8'>Oh, that you can’t ignore:</div> - <div class='line'>Folks flock to you by sea and shore;</div> - <div class='line'>And in the whole of my confine</div> - <div class='line'>A spirit has of late been rife,</div> - <div class='line'>Which, God’s my witness, is not mine;</div> - <div class='line'>Whence to conclude is only due,</div> - <div class='line'>That it originates with you.</div> - <div class='line'>Here is my hand: we’ll end the strife!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>War such as we wage does not cease,</div> - <div class='line'>Howe’er the vanquished cry “No more!”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_138'>138</span><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Why, what should be the end of war</div> - <div class='line'>But reasonable terms of peace?</div> - <div class='line'>To kick at pricks is not my way,</div> - <div class='line'>I’m made of common human clay;</div> - <div class='line'>When at your breast the lance you feel</div> - <div class='line'>It is but reason to give place;—</div> - <div class='line'>With but a switch to parry steel,</div> - <div class='line'>’Tis just to make a volte-face;</div> - <div class='line'>Left of your cause the sole defender,</div> - <div class='line'>It is the wisest to surrender.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Two things are noticeable here.</div> - <div class='line'>First, that you call me strong. Of men</div> - <div class='line'>I have the larger part.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in24'>That’s clear.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Now, possibly: but when shall rise</div> - <div class='line'>The great dread day of sacrifice,</div> - <div class='line'>Who will have more supporters <em class='gesperrt'>then</em>?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Of sacrifice? Why, goodness me,</div> - <div class='line'>That’s just the day we never see</div> - <div class='line'>At least, the sacrifice no worse is</div> - <div class='line'>Than drafts upon good people’s purses;</div> - <div class='line'>The age is too humane to bring</div> - <div class='line'>Any more costly offering.</div> - <div class='line'>And what’s most vexing is, that I</div> - <div class='line'>Myself have all along been noted</div> - <div class='line'>Of those who the Humane promoted</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_139'>139</span>And hinder’d sacrifice thereby.</div> - <div class='line'>So that it may be fairly said,</div> - <div class='line'>I’ve put the axe to my own head,</div> - <div class='line'>Or, at the least, laid rods in store</div> - <div class='line'>To baffle all I’ve struggled for.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You may be right. But, furthermore</div> - <div class='line'>I hardly know how you can dare</div> - <div class='line'>Surrender your own cause as lost.</div> - <div class='line'>Be rods, or be they not, the cost,</div> - <div class='line'>Man’s work is what he’s fashion’d for,</div> - <div class='line'>And Paradise, for him, lies <em class='gesperrt'>there</em>.</div> - <div class='line'>’Twixt him and it though oceans swell,</div> - <div class='line'>And close at hand lie Satan’s quarter,</div> - <div class='line'>May he for that cry “Toil, farewell—</div> - <div class='line'>The way to hell’s distinctly shorter!”?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>To that I answer: Yes and No.</div> - <div class='line'>Some final haven man must win;—</div> - <div class='line'>If all our toil brings nothing in,</div> - <div class='line'>Who on a barren quest will go?</div> - <div class='line'>The fact stands thus: we want reward</div> - <div class='line'>For every labour, light or hard;</div> - <div class='line'>And if in arms we miss the prize,—</div> - <div class='line'>We gain our point by compromise.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But <em class='gesperrt'>black</em> will never turn to <em class='gesperrt'>white</em>!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Respected friend, the gain is slight</div> - <div class='line'>Of saying: “White as yonder brae,”</div> - <div class='line in1'>When the mob’s shouting: “Black as <a id='corr139.31'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='snow'>snow.”</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_139.31'><ins class='correction' title='snow'>snow.”</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You join them, possibly?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in25'>Why, no—</div> - <div class='line'>I rather shout, not black, but <em class='gesperrt'>gray</em>,</div> - <div class='line'>The time’s humane; asks apt compliance,</div> - <div class='line'>Not blunt and absolute defiance.</div> - <div class='line'>We stand on democratic ground,</div> - <div class='line'>Where what the people thinks is right;</div> - <div class='line'>Shall <em class='gesperrt'>one</em> against the mass propound</div> - <div class='line'>His special views on black and white?</div> - <div class='line'>In short, you, having a majority,</div> - <div class='line'>Are best entitled to authority.</div> - <div class='line'>So I submit, as they submitted,</div> - <div class='line'>With you my humble lot I cast,</div> - <div class='line'>And may I by no soul be twitted</div> - <div class='line'>For not contending to the last!</div> - <div class='line'>Folks now consider, I perceive,</div> - <div class='line'>Petty and poor all I achieve;</div> - <div class='line'>They say there’s something of more worth</div> - <div class='line'>Than richer harvests wrung from earth;</div> - <div class='line'>They are not willing as they were,</div> - <div class='line'>The necessary mite to spare;</div> - <div class='line'>And the best cause, if will’s not in it,—</div> - <div class='line'>There’s very little hope to win it.</div> - <div class='line'>Believe me, ’tis no easy thing</div> - <div class='line'>To drop one’s plans for roads and bridges,</div> - <div class='line'>For tapping meres and draining ridges,</div> - <div class='line'>And more besides that was in swing.</div> - <div class='line'>But, good Lord, what’s a man to say?</div> - <div class='line'>If he can’t win, he must give way;</div> - <div class='line'>Patiently trust that Time’s his friend,</div> - <div class='line'>And to the blast astutely bend.</div> - <div class='line'>Now,—the folks’ favour I’ve foregone</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_141'>141</span>In just the way it first was won;</div> - <div class='line'>Ay, ay,—and by another track</div> - <div class='line'>I’ll get my old possession back.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>So all your cunning, all your art,</div> - <div class='line'>Aim’d but to win the people’s heart?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>God help me, no! The common good</div> - <div class='line'>And profit of this neighbourhood</div> - <div class='line'>Has been my single, sole desire.</div> - <div class='line'>But, I admit, there did conspire</div> - <div class='line'>The worker’s hope of worthy hire</div> - <div class='line'>For day’s work honestly pursued.</div> - <div class='line'>The fact stands thus: a resolute</div> - <div class='line'>And able man, with sense to boot,</div> - <div class='line'>Demands to see his labour’s fruit,</div> - <div class='line'>And not to drudge and sweat and groan</div> - <div class='line'>To profit an Idea alone.</div> - <div class='line'>With the best will I can’t afford</div> - <div class='line'>To throw my interests overboard,</div> - <div class='line'>And give my brains without reward.</div> - <div class='line'>I’ve a large household to supply,</div> - <div class='line'>A wife, and of grown girls a store,</div> - <div class='line'>Who must be first provided for;—</div> - <div class='line'>Belly that’s empty, throat that’s dry,</div> - <div class='line'>The <em class='gesperrt'>idea</em> scarce will satisfy,</div> - <div class='line'>Where mouths so many must be fill’d.</div> - <div class='line'>And any man who should demur,</div> - <div class='line'>For him I have but one reply,—</div> - <div class='line'>He’s an unworthy householder.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And now your object is—?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_142'>142</span><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in26'>To build.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>To <em class='gesperrt'>build</em>?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in12'>Why, yes,—the common state</div> - <div class='line'>To better, and my own to boot.</div> - <div class='line'>First I will build up the repute</div> - <div class='line'>I stood in till a recent date:—</div> - <div class='line'>The elections soon will be on foot:—</div> - <div class='line'>So I must set some scheme afloat,</div> - <div class='line'>Some booming enterprise promote;</div> - <div class='line'>Thus I regain my lost authority,</div> - <div class='line'>And check the wane of my majority.</div> - <div class='line'>Now, I’ve reflected, to compete</div> - <div class='line'>With wind and tide wins no man’s praises;</div> - <div class='line'>The folk want “lifting,” as the phrase is,</div> - <div class='line'>A work for which I’m all unmeet;</div> - <div class='line'>I can but set them on their feet;</div> - <div class='line'>Which can’t be done unless they please,—</div> - <div class='line'>And here all are my enemies!</div> - <div class='line'>Whence I’ve resolved since such the case is,</div> - <div class='line'>After ripe thought, to find a basis</div> - <div class='line'>For making war with poverty.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You would uproot it?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in21'>No, not I!</div> - <div class='line'>It is a necessary ill</div> - <div class='line'>In every state: we must endure it;</div> - <div class='line'>Yet may we, with a little skill,</div> - <div class='line'>In certain forms confine, secure it,</div> - <div class='line'>If only we begin in time.</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_143'>143</span>He who would grow a bed of crime,</div> - <div class='line'>Let him with poverty manure it:</div> - <div class='line'>I’ll set a dam to this manure!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>How?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in5'>Do you take me? I can cure</div> - <div class='line'>A want, of long and bitter proof,</div> - <div class='line'>By building, for the Town’s behoof,</div> - <div class='line'>A Pest-house for the afflicted Poor.</div> - <div class='line'>Pest-house I call a thing projected</div> - <div class='line'>To rid us of the crime-infected.</div> - <div class='line'>And, I reflected, to the Pest-house</div> - <div class='line'>Might well be added an Arrest-house,</div> - <div class='line'>The cause with its effect confined</div> - <div class='line'>The selfsame bars and bolts behind,</div> - <div class='line'>And nothing but a wall between.</div> - <div class='line'>And, while my hand is in, I mean</div> - <div class='line'>In the same block to build withal</div> - <div class='line'>A wing for balls and ballotings,</div> - <div class='line'>Social and business gatherings,</div> - <div class='line'>With platform and Assembly-Hall;</div> - <div class='line'>In short, a half-political,</div> - <div class='line'>Half-social, smart and festive Guest-house.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Sorely required; this most of all;</div> - <div class='line'>But yet there’s <em class='gesperrt'>one</em> thing needed more.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You mean a Mad-house? Yes, indeed;</div> - <div class='line'>A very peremptory need;</div> - <div class='line'>That was my own idea before.</div> - <div class='line'>But now, by friendly counsel wrought,</div> - <div class='line'>I’ve utterly renounced the thought;</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_144'>144</span>For who’s to furnish the supplies</div> - <div class='line'>For such a giant enterprise?</div> - <div class='line'>To put a Mad-house up would come,</div> - <div class='line'>Believe me, to a pretty sum,</div> - <div class='line'>If all whom need and merit fitted,</div> - <div class='line'>Should be within its walls admitted.</div> - <div class='line'>We must not build for our caprice,</div> - <div class='line'>But note Time’s current as it glides;—</div> - <div class='line'>The world moves on with giant strides,</div> - <div class='line'>Last year abundance, famine this;</div> - <div class='line'>You see to what a monstrous girth</div> - <div class='line'>The folks’ necessities have swell’d,</div> - <div class='line'>Talents for everything on earth,</div> - <div class='line'>Headlong by seven-league boots propell’d,</div> - <div class='line'>Are swarming madly to the birth.</div> - <div class='line'>Thus it would be too dear a jest</div> - <div class='line'>To build posterity a nest</div> - <div class='line'>And let self, wife, and children go;</div> - <div class='line'>This tooth, I say, we can’t afford:</div> - <div class='line'>Out with it therefore, by the Lord!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And then, there’s the great Hall, you know,</div> - <div class='line'>For any madder than the rest.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Delighted.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes, it would mostly be to spare!</div> - <div class='line'>Why, Brand, you’ve hit the nail-head there!</div> - <div class='line'>If fortunate our project’s fate is,</div> - <div class='line'>We get to boot—a Mad-house gratis;</div> - <div class='line'>Here, shelter’d by the selfsame roof,</div> - <div class='line'>And by the selfsame flag defended,</div> - <div class='line'>All the essential strands are blended</div> - <div class='line'>That tinge and tone our social woof.</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_145'>145</span>Here in one haven disembogues</div> - <div class='line'>The flood of Paupers and of Rogues;</div> - <div class='line'>With Lunatics who roam’d at large,</div> - <div class='line'>Subject to no man’s check or charge;</div> - <div class='line'>Here too our Freedom’s highest reach,</div> - <div class='line'>The election-strife, the storm of speech;</div> - <div class='line'>And here our Council-Hall, for framing</div> - <div class='line'>Measures to meet each public pest;</div> - <div class='line'>And here our Feast-Hall, for proclaiming</div> - <div class='line'>How well we’ll guard the Past’s bequest.</div> - <div class='line'>You see, then, if our Project stand,</div> - <div class='line'>The Cragsman has at his command</div> - <div class='line'>All he in reason can demand,—</div> - <div class='line'>The right to live as he thinks best.</div> - <div class='line'>God knows, how slender our resources,</div> - <div class='line'>But once our enterprise in force is,</div> - <div class='line'>I trust we may be with impunity</div> - <div class='line'>Styled a well-organised community.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But then the means—?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in22'>Ay, there’s the knot,</div> - <div class='line'>As in all other things, in this.</div> - <div class='line'>Hardly to contributions wrought</div> - <div class='line'>Is Will, and if your help I miss,</div> - <div class='line'>I furl my flag without a thought:</div> - <div class='line'>But with your eloquent alliance</div> - <div class='line'>I’ll bid all obstacles defiance,</div> - <div class='line'>And when all’s done, your kind compliance,</div> - <div class='line'>Believe me, shall not be forgot.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>In short, you’d <em class='gesperrt'>buy</em> me.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_146'>146</span><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in26'>For my aim</div> - <div class='line'>I should prefer another name:</div> - <div class='line'>I seek, with general good in view,</div> - <div class='line'>That gulf of difference to cross</div> - <div class='line'>Which you from me and me from you</div> - <div class='line'>Has sever’d, to our common loss.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>In an ill-omen’d hour you came——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Unfortunately yes, I own it:</div> - <div class='line'>Your recent loss,—I might have known it,</div> - <div class='line'>But your brave bearing re-assured me,</div> - <div class='line'>And need of public credit lured me.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>In grievous or in gladsome season</div> - <div class='line'>I render help where need is plain;</div> - <div class='line'>But, for another weighty reason,</div> - <div class='line'>This time your mission is in vain.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And which, pray—?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in19'><i>I</i> am building too.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You building? You adopt my view?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Not altogether.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div>[<i>Pointing out of the window.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in16'>Do you see?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yonder</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_147'>147</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in7'>Yes.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in12'>That great ugly stall?—</div> - <div class='line'>Why, that’s the Parsonage granary.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>No, not that;—but the ugly, <em class='gesperrt'>small</em>——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The Church?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in12'>I mean to build it <em class='gesperrt'>great</em>.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>That, by the devil! you shall not!</div> - <div class='line'>No man shall alter it one jot!</div> - <div class='line'>My plan ’twould utterly frustrate.</div> - <div class='line'>Mine’s urgent, only waits the word,</div> - <div class='line'>By yours I’m absolutely floor’d;</div> - <div class='line'>Two weapons can’t at once be wielded,</div> - <div class='line'>Yield therefore—!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in19'>I have never yielded.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You must, man, here. Build my Arrest-house,</div> - <div class='line'>My Pest-house and my festive Guest-house,</div> - <div class='line'>Build all, the Mad-house comprehending,</div> - <div class='line'>And who’ll ask, where the Church wants mending?</div> - <div class='line'>And why condemn it now to fall?</div> - <div class='line'>’Twas well enough a while ago.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Possibly; <em class='gesperrt'>now</em> it is too small.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_148'>148</span><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><i>I</i> never saw it full, I know.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Even a single soul is scanted,</div> - <div class='line'>And has not room therein to <a id='corr148.5'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='soar'>soar.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_148.5'><ins class='correction' title='soar'>soar.</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Shaking his head in amazement.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>(Which single soul but proves the more</div> - <div class='line'>How sorely my Asylum’s wanted.)</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Changing his tone.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Let the Church be, is my advice.</div> - <div class='line'>One may regard it, in some wise,</div> - <div class='line'>As a rich heirloom of our age;</div> - <div class='line'>In fact, a noble heritage,</div> - <div class='line'>Which we not lightly may remove.</div> - <div class='line'>Nay, if my building project crashes,</div> - <div class='line'>I, like a Phoenix from the ashes,</div> - <div class='line'>Will live again in public love,</div> - <div class='line'>As one chivalrously intent</div> - <div class='line'>To save our ancient monument!</div> - <div class='line'>Here stood a heathen fane of old,—</div> - <div class='line'>’Twas in King Belë’s reign, no doubt;</div> - <div class='line'>Then, later heroes more devout</div> - <div class='line'>Founded the Church with looted gold.</div> - <div class='line'>All-sacred in its antique dress,</div> - <div class='line'>Grand in its simple stateliness,</div> - <div class='line'>Till our own days it tower’d sublime——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But all these glories of old time</div> - <div class='line'>Lie long since buried deep in mould,</div> - <div class='line'>Of all surviving sign bereft.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_149'>149</span><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Just so! They are so very old</div> - <div class='line'>That not a trace of them is left.</div> - <div class='line'>But in my late grandfather’s day</div> - <div class='line'>A wall-hole still defied decay!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A wall-hole?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in13'>Fit to hold a tun!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But the wall’s self?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in21'>Oh, that was gone.</div> - <div class='line'>In plain terms then, I am compell’d</div> - <div class='line'>To say, your scheme is out of court:—</div> - <div class='line'>A barbarous and unparallel’d</div> - <div class='line'>Horrible sacrilege, in short.</div> - <div class='line'>And then the money,—do you dream</div> - <div class='line'>These folks are so profuse in spending,</div> - <div class='line'>That they’ll contrive new cost by lending</div> - <div class='line'>Existence to a half-hatch’d scheme?</div> - <div class='line'>When with a little deftness they</div> - <div class='line'>May so far patch the crumbling wall</div> - <div class='line'>That in <em class='gesperrt'>our</em> time it will not fall?</div> - <div class='line'>But just go out!—the field survey,—</div> - <div class='line'>You’ll find, I’m winner after all.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>From no man will I wring a jot</div> - <div class='line'>To give my God house-harbourage:</div> - <div class='line'>With my own goods it shall be wrought;</div> - <div class='line'>In that one work my heritage</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_150'>150</span>To the last penny shall be spent.—</div> - <div class='line'>Now, Mayor, are you still confident</div> - <div class='line'>That you can shake me from my thought?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>With folded hands.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I stand—as from the clouds dropp’d down</div> - <div class='line'>Such things are even in a Town</div> - <div class='line'>Scarce heard of,—and yet here, for us,</div> - <div class='line'>Who long to the necessitous</div> - <div class='line'>Have closed our purses and our doors,</div> - <div class='line'>You loose this flood of gifts unbounded</div> - <div class='line'>That ripples, flashes, foams and pours—.</div> - <div class='line'>—No, Brand, I’m utterly <a id='corr150.13'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='dumbfounded'>dumbfounded.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_150.13'><ins class='correction' title='dumbfounded'>dumbfounded.</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>In thought I long ago resign’d</div> - <div class='line'>My wealth——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>Yes, whisper’d hints have flown</div> - <div class='line'>Pointing to something of the kind.</div> - <div class='line'>But I regarded them as wind.</div> - <div class='line'>How many men give all they own</div> - <div class='line'>Without a tangible return?</div> - <div class='line'>However, that’s your own concern.—</div> - <div class='line'>Go on! I’ll follow. You’re in feather,</div> - <div class='line'>You can act freely, work and sway.—</div> - <div class='line'>Brand, we will build the Church <em class='gesperrt'>together</em>.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What, you are willing to give way?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Dear God’s my witness, that I am!</div> - <div class='line'>And shall be while my wits are sound!</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_151'>151</span>When <em class='gesperrt'>one</em> would fatten, pamper, cram,—</div> - <div class='line'>Another milk and shear and flay,—</div> - <div class='line'>Where, think you, will the flock be found?</div> - <div class='line'>Death and destruction, I’m your man!</div> - <div class='line'>I’m fire and fury for the plan!</div> - <div class='line'>Thrill’d, agitated, nay, affected!</div> - <div class='line'>Providence prompted the design</div> - <div class='line'>That led me to your door to-night,</div> - <div class='line'>For sure, without the hint of <em class='gesperrt'>mine</em>,</div> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>Your</em> plan had scarcely been projected,</div> - <div class='line'>Or, at the least, scarce seen the light!</div> - <div class='line'>And thus the Church, conceived aright,</div> - <div class='line'>Will by <em class='gesperrt'>my</em> means have been erected!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But, don’t forget, we must lay low</div> - <div class='line'>That towering relic of the past!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Looking out.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Seen in the twofold glimmer cast</div> - <div class='line'>By the new moon and the fresh snow,</div> - <div class='line'>It seems a sort of—rubbish-heap.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What, Mayor!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in13'>It is too old to keep!</div> - <div class='line'>I fail entirely to explain it,</div> - <div class='line'>Till now it never struck my eye,—</div> - <div class='line'>The weathercock stands all awry;</div> - <div class='line'>It would be monstrous to retain it.</div> - <div class='line'>And where are architecture, style,</div> - <div class='line'>Rightly regarded, in the pile?</div> - <div class='line'>What terms can give that arch its due?</div> - <div class='line'>An architect would call it <em class='gesperrt'>vile</em>;—</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_152'>152</span>And really I must share his view.</div> - <div class='line'>And then that roof with moss-tufts blowing,—</div> - <div class='line'>Bless me, they’re none of Belë’s growing.</div> - <div class='line'>No, we may overmuch assert</div> - <div class='line'>The reverence for ancient glories!</div> - <div class='line'>One fact, at least, there’s no o’erthrowing,</div> - <div class='line'>That this old rotten hut no more is</div> - <div class='line'>But just a very heap of dirt!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But if the people’s voice should storm</div> - <div class='line'>At those who seek to lay it low—?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><i>I</i> will it though they all cry No.</div> - <div class='line'>This Christmas with the least delay</div> - <div class='line'>I’ll put the thing in proper form,</div> - <div class='line'>And launch it smoothly on its way.</div> - <div class='line'>I’ll write, I’ll agitate, I’ll sway!</div> - <div class='line'>Ay, ay—you know the stuff I’m made of!</div> - <div class='line'>And if I cannot hire or hound</div> - <div class='line'>The foolish flock to help to end it,</div> - <div class='line'>With my own hands I’ll rive and rend it,</div> - <div class='line'>Timber by timber, to the ground.</div> - <div class='line'>Nay, though I had to call the aid of</div> - <div class='line'>My wife and all my girls as well,</div> - <div class='line'>Down it should come, by death and <a id='corr152.25'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='hell'>hell.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_152.25'><ins class='correction' title='hell'>hell.</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>This language has another sound</div> - <div class='line'>Than that which earlier from you fell.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>To be humane is to repress</div> - <div class='line'>All manner of <em class='gesperrt'>One-sidedness</em>.</div> - <div class='line'>And sure, if truth the poet utters,</div> - <div class='line'>Precisely what is to be sought</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_153'>153</span>In thinking is “the winged thought,”—</div> - <div class='line'>That is to say—the thought that flutters.</div> - <div class='line'>Farewell.</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Taking his hat.</i>]</div> - <div class='line in10'>I have to see the band.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The what?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in10'>Just think, within our land</div> - <div class='line'>This morning two of us laid hand</div> - <div class='line'>On a foul-favour’d gipsy-horde,</div> - <div class='line'>So I got help with rope and cord,</div> - <div class='line'>And now they’re in your neighbour’s ward</div> - <div class='line'>Next to the North, but—devil clip me!—</div> - <div class='line'>If just a couple didn’t slip me——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The bells are ringing: Peace to Men.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Why came this hell-brood hither, then?</div> - <div class='line'>Yet in a sense, they are, ’tis true,</div> - <div class='line'>Kin to this parish,—</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Laughing.</i>]</div> - <div class='line in22'>Nay to you.</div> - <div class='line'>Hark to a riddle; read it right,</div> - <div class='line'>If you have power and appetite.</div> - <div class='line'>There be, who in effect derive</div> - <div class='line'>From her, by whom you are alive,</div> - <div class='line'>But owe their actual origin</div> - <div class='line'>To coming of another kin.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Shaking his head.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>O God, so many riddles rise</div> - <div class='line'>Before our baffled, helpless eyes!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_154'>154</span><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But this one’s very lightly guess’d.</div> - <div class='line'>You must have often, heretofore,</div> - <div class='line'>Heard tell one story or another</div> - <div class='line'>Of that poor fellow here by West</div> - <div class='line'>Whose head four parsons’ learning bore;</div> - <div class='line'>He went a-wooing to your Mother.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'><a id='corr154.8'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='Bland'>Brand</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_154.8'><ins class='correction' title='Bland'>Brand</ins></a></span>.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What then?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in11'>Conceive,—a girl of gold</div> - <div class='line'>She sent him to the right-about</div> - <div class='line'>Promptly, as might have been foretold.</div> - <div class='line'>And how d’ye think he took the flout?</div> - <div class='line'>Half mad with grief he wander’d out,</div> - <div class='line'>Mated at last another bride,</div> - <div class='line'>A gipsy,—and, before he died,</div> - <div class='line'>Enrich’d with issue this foul band</div> - <div class='line'>That sins and starves about the land.</div> - <div class='line'>Nay, on this parish he conferr’d</div> - <div class='line'>One bastard imp—as souvenir</div> - <div class='line'>Of his illustrious career.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Namely—?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in10'>The gipsy-urchin Gerd.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>In muffled tones.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ah—so!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Gaily.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in8'>Confess, the riddle’s good!</div> - <div class='line'>His issue in effect derive</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_155'>155</span>From her by whom you are alive;</div> - <div class='line'>For the first cause of all the brood</div> - <div class='line'>Was, that he loved and she withstood.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Advise me, Mayor; can you tell</div> - <div class='line'>Some means of giving them relief?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Tut, clap them in a Bridewell cell.</div> - <div class='line'>They’re overhead in debt to hell;</div> - <div class='line'>To save them were to play the thief</div> - <div class='line'>With Satan, who will lose his trade</div> - <div class='line'>If earth restore not what he made.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You plann’d to build a house, to better</div> - <div class='line'>This naked misery and dearth——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>That plan was, by its own begetter,</div> - <div class='line'>Slain in the moment of its birth.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>If after all though—it were well——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Smiling.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>This language has another sound</div> - <div class='line'>Than that which earlier from you fell.</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Clapping him on the shoulder.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>What’s buried, leave it in the ground</div> - <div class='line'>Man must not dash his deed with doubt.</div> - <div class='line'>Farewell, farewell, I can’t remain,</div> - <div class='line'>I must be off and scour the fell,</div> - <div class='line'>To seek this nest of truants out.</div> - <div class='line'>A merry <em class='gesperrt'>Yule</em>! We’ll meet again!</div> - <div class='line'>My greetings to your wife. Farewell!</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Goes.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_156'>156</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>After a meditative silence.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>O expiation without end!—</div> - <div class='line'>So wildly mingle, strangely blend</div> - <div class='line'>The threads that human fortune spin,—</div> - <div class='line'>Sin tangled with the fruit of sin,</div> - <div class='line'>Pouring its own pollution in,—</div> - <div class='line'>That he who eyes their mazy flight</div> - <div class='line'>Sees foulest Wrong grow one with Right.</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Goes to the window, and after a long look out.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>My little child, lamb without stain,</div> - <div class='line'>Thou for my mother’s deed wast slain;</div> - <div class='line'>A shatter’d spirit bore His voice</div> - <div class='line'>Whose throne the crested heavens sustain,</div> - <div class='line'>And bade me cast the die of choice.</div> - <div class='line'>And this distracted soul had birth</div> - <div class='line'>Because my mother’s clave to earth.</div> - <div class='line'>Thus the Lord, sowing fruit of crime,</div> - <div class='line'>Reaps retribution in His time,</div> - <div class='line'>And, reaching down from His high dome,</div> - <div class='line'>Strikes the third generation home.</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Starts back in horror from the window.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Yes, God is above all things just,</div> - <div class='line'>And retribution is His goal;</div> - <div class='line'>Only by sacrifice the soul</div> - <div class='line'>Achieves redemption from the dust;</div> - <div class='line'>Hard truth, our age appall’d descries,</div> - <div class='line'>And, therefore, stubbornly denies.</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Walks up and down the room.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>To pray? Ah, pray—a word that slips</div> - <div class='line'>Easily over all men’s lips;</div> - <div class='line'>A coin by all men lightly paid.</div> - <div class='line'>What’s prayer? In storm and stress to shout</div> - <div class='line'>Unto the vague Unknown for aid.</div> - <div class='line'>Upon Christ’s shoulders beg a place,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_157'>157</span>And stretch both hands to Heaven for grace—</div> - <div class='line'>While knee-deep in the slough of doubt.</div> - <div class='line'>Ha! if there needed nothing more</div> - <div class='line'>I might like others dare to raise</div> - <div class='line'>My hand and batter at His door</div> - <div class='line'>Who still is “terrible in praise.”—</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Pauses and reflects.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>And yet in uttermost despair,</div> - <div class='line'>In shuddering sorrow’s deepest deep,</div> - <div class='line'>When Alf at last had sunk to sleep,</div> - <div class='line'>And all his mother’s kisses vain</div> - <div class='line'>Won not the lost smile back again—</div> - <div class='line'>What felt I—if it was not prayer?</div> - <div class='line'>Whence came that trance, that ecstasy,</div> - <div class='line'>That rushing music, like a blast,</div> - <div class='line'>That sang afar and hurried past,</div> - <div class='line'>Bore me aloft and set me free?</div> - <div class='line'>Was it the ecstasy of prayer?</div> - <div class='line'>Did I with God hold converse there?</div> - <div class='line'>My anguish—did it reach his ears?</div> - <div class='line'>Did he look down and see my tears?</div> - <div class='line'>I know not. Barr’d is now the door,</div> - <div class='line'>The darkness deeper than before,</div> - <div class='line'>And nowhere, nowhere any light!</div> - <div class='line'>Yes, She—who, darkling, yet hath sight—</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Calls in anguish.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Light, Agnes—light, if light thou hast!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='direction'> -<p class='c021'><i><span class='sc'>Agnes</span> opens the door and enters with the lighted -Christmas candles; a bright glow falls over the -room.</i></p> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Light!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in7'>See, the Yule light, Brand, at last!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_158'>158</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Softly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The Yule light! Ha!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Putting them on the table.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>Have I been slow?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>No, no.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in8'>Thou must be cold, Brand!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Loudly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in34'><a id='corr158.13'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='No'>No!</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_158.13'><ins class='correction' title='No'>No!</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Smiling, fills the stove.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>How stern! It is thy pride of will,</div> - <div class='line'>That scorns the darkness and the chill.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Walking up and down.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>H’m, Will!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>To herself as she decks the room.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in11'>Here must the candles stand.</div> - <div class='line'>Last year he stretch’d his tiny hand</div> - <div class='line'>After the glancing, dancing light:</div> - <div class='line'>He was so joyous and so bright;</div> - <div class='line'>He started from his little chair,</div> - <div class='line'>And ask’d me if a sun it were.</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Moves the candles a little.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>See! now the candle’s glow falls—<em class='gesperrt'>there</em>!</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_159'>159</span>Now from his bed my boy can see</div> - <div class='line'>The window gleaming cheerily;</div> - <div class='line'>Now can he peer out of the gloom</div> - <div class='line'>Silently into our lit room—</div> - <div class='line'>But, ah! the glass is dim; stay, stay—</div> - <div class='line'>I’ll wipe the dew of tears away</div> - <div class='line'>And make it smile——</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Dries the pane.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Softly as he watches her.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in21'>When in this breast</div> - <div class='line'>Will the wild waters sink to rest?</div> - <div class='line'>To rest they <em class='gesperrt'>must</em>!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>To herself.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>How bright the glow</div> - <div class='line'>It seems as though the sundering wall</div> - <div class='line'>Had sunk; the low room grown a hall,</div> - <div class='line'>The murky world of ice and snow</div> - <div class='line'>Sudden become a shelter’d nest,</div> - <div class='line'>Where cosily my child may rest.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What dost thou, Agnes?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>To herself.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in23'>Peace, I pray!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Nearer.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Why didst thou ope the curtain?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in32'>Nay,</div> - <div class='line'>I dreamt, and knew not what I did!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_160'>160</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Snares in that dream of thine lie hid;</div> - <div class='line'>Close it again.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Pleading.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in16'>Brand!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in23'>Close, I say!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Oh, be not harsh, it is not right.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Close, close!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Drawing it.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>Now all is close and tight;</div> - <div class='line'>Yet in my heart I scarce can deem</div> - <div class='line'>God injured if, at sorest need,</div> - <div class='line'>In the brief respite of a dream</div> - <div class='line'>I tasted comfort.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>No, indeed!</div> - <div class='line'>He is a feeling Judge and kind,</div> - <div class='line'>And will indulgently forbear,</div> - <div class='line'>If in thy service He should find</div> - <div class='line'>Some idol-worship here and there.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Bursts into tears.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Oh, say, <em class='gesperrt'>when</em> will He cease to crave?</div> - <div class='line'>My wings are weak—I faint and fall——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_161'>161</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>He gives to the devouring wave</div> - <div class='line'>Who in his giving gives not <em class='gesperrt'>all</em>.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I <em class='gesperrt'>have</em> given all; I have no more.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Shakes his head.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yet other gifts remain behind.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Smiling.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ask: I’ve the courage of the poor!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Give!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in6'>Take! Ah, Brand, thou’lt nothing <a id='corr161.15'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='find'>find.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_161.15'><ins class='correction' title='find'>find.</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Thy memories and thy moans thou hast,</div> - <div class='line'>Thy longings and thy sinful sighs——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Despairingly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I have my heart of agonies!</div> - <div class='line'>Tear, tear it from me!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in23'>Thou hast cast</div> - <div class='line'>Thy offerings in the yawning deep</div> - <div class='line'>For nothing, if thou count them losses.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_162'>162</span><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Shudders.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Narrow is thy Lord’s way, and steep.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>That way <em class='gesperrt'>Will</em> cannot choose but keep.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And Mercy’s is——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Peremptorily.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>Beset with crosses.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Gazes before her; then, trembling.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Now manifest and open lies,</div> - <div class='line'>Abysmal as the depths of space,</div> - <div class='line'>That mystic Word.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>What word?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in29'><em class='gesperrt'>He dies</em></div> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>Who sees Jehovah face to face.</em></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Throws his arms about her and clasps her close.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>O look not on Him! Close thine eyes!</div> - <div class='line'>Hide thee, O hide thee!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in24'>Must I?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Lets her go.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in32'>No.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_163'>163</span><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Thou sufferest, Brand.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in23'>Thou art so dear.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Thou lov’st me, but thy love I fear.</div> - <div class='line'>’Tis stern.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in12'>Too stern?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in23'>Ask not; whereso</div> - <div class='line'>Thou goest, I will also go!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Think’st thou without design I won thee</div> - <div class='line'>Out of thy gladsome gay content,</div> - <div class='line'>Or, half in earnest, laid upon thee</div> - <div class='line'>The call to self-abandonment?</div> - <div class='line'>Woe to us both; too dear we paid,</div> - <div class='line'>Too vast a sacrifice we made;</div> - <div class='line'>Thou art my wife: I crave thee <em class='gesperrt'>all</em></div> - <div class='line'>To live according to our call.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Crave; only leave me not.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in26'>Indeed</div> - <div class='line'>I must; for rest and peace I need.</div> - <div class='line'>Soon shall the great new Church arise!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>My little Church a ruin lies.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_164'>164</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>It was a blessed wind that blew</div> - <div class='line'>And thy heart’s idol overthrew!</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Clasps her as if in dread.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Peace be upon thee—and, through thee,</div> - <div class='line'>Peace also upon mine and me!</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Goes towards the side-door.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Brand, may I softly set ajar</div> - <div class='line'>One hateful window-barrier,—so?</div> - <div class='line'>Only a little? May I?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>In the doorway.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in22'>No.</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Goes into his room.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Closed, all closed with bolt and bar!</div> - <div class='line'>Seals on every passion set!</div> - <div class='line'>Seal’d to sorrow and to sigh,</div> - <div class='line'>Seal’d the grave and seal’d the sky,</div> - <div class='line'>Seal’d to feel—and to forget!</div> - <div class='line'>I will out! I gasp for breath</div> - <div class='line'>In this lonely house of death.</div> - <div class='line'>Out? Oh, whither? Angry eyes</div> - <div class='line'>Glare upon me from the skies!</div> - <div class='line'>Can I, flying, high or low,</div> - <div class='line'>Bear my treasure where I go?</div> - <div class='line'>Can I from my breast unsphere</div> - <div class='line'>The mute vacancy of fear?—</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Listens at <span class='sc'>Brand’s</span> door.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Loud he reads, he cannot hear.</div> - <div class='line'>There’s no comfort! There’s no way</div> - <div class='line'>God is busy; lists to-day</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_165'>165</span>But to song and praise and blessing</div> - <div class='line'>Of the happy, child-possessing,</div> - <div class='line'>Richly-gifted of the earth.</div> - <div class='line'>Christmas is the feast of mirth.</div> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>Me He</em> sees not, nor takes heed</div> - <div class='line'>Of a lonely mother’s need.—</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Goes cautiously to the window.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Shall I draw the curtain back,</div> - <div class='line'>Till the clear and kindly ray</div> - <div class='line'>Chase the horror of night away</div> - <div class='line'>From his chamber bare and black?</div> - <div class='line'>Nay, he is not there at all.</div> - <div class='line'>Yule’s the children’s festival,</div> - <div class='line'>He hath got him leave to rise,</div> - <div class='line'>Haply now he stands, and cries,</div> - <div class='line'>Stretches little arms in vain</div> - <div class='line'>To his mother’s darken’d pane.</div> - <div class='line'>Was not that a baby’s voice?</div> - <div class='line'>Alf, I’ve neither will nor choice!</div> - <div class='line'>All is barr’d and bolted here.</div> - <div class='line'>’Tis thy father’s bidding, dear!</div> - <div class='line'>Alf, I may not open now!</div> - <div class='line'>An obedient child art thou!</div> - <div class='line'>We ne’er grieved him, thou and I.</div> - <div class='line'>Oh, fly home then to the sky,</div> - <div class='line'>There is gladness, there is light,</div> - <div class='line'>There thy merry comrades stay</div> - <div class='line'>Till thou come to join their play.</div> - <div class='line'>Oh, but weep not in their sight,</div> - <div class='line'>Nor to any soul betray</div> - <div class='line'>That thy father bade me lock,</div> - <div class='line'>When thy little hand did knock.</div> - <div class='line'>Years bring sterner, sadder stress</div> - <div class='line'>Than a little child may guess.</div> - <div class='line'>Say, he sorrow’d, say, he sigh’d;</div> - <div class='line'>Say, he wove the garden’s pride</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_166'>166</span>All into a wreath for thee.</div> - <div class='line'>’Tis his doing! Canst thou see?</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Listens, starts, and shakes her head.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Oh, I dream! Not bar and wall</div> - <div class='line'>Only from my love divide me.</div> - <div class='line'>When the purging fire hath tried me</div> - <div class='line'>In its anguish, then alone</div> - <div class='line'>Shall the parting barriers fall</div> - <div class='line'>And the mighty bolts be batter’d,</div> - <div class='line'>And the vaulted dungeons shatter’d,</div> - <div class='line'>And the prison hinges groan!</div> - <div class='line'>Much, oh, much is to be done</div> - <div class='line'>Ere we parted twain be one.</div> - <div class='line'>I with silent, toiling hands</div> - <div class='line'>Still will labour on, to fill</div> - <div class='line'>The abyss of his commands;</div> - <div class='line'>I shall nerve me, I shall will.</div> - <div class='line'>But it is the Feast this eve—</div> - <div class='line'>Last year’s how unlike! And wait</div> - <div class='line'>We will honour it in state.</div> - <div class='line'>I will fetch my treasures forth,</div> - <div class='line'>Whereof the uncounted worth</div> - <div class='line'>Best a mother can conceive,</div> - <div class='line'>To whose spirit they express</div> - <div class='line'>All her life-lost happiness.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='direction'> -<p class='c021'>[<i>She kneels down by the cupboard, and takes -various things out of a drawer. At the -same moment, <span class='sc'>Brand</span> opens the door, and -is about to speak, when he observes her -occupation, checks himself and remains -standing. <span class='sc'>Agnes</span> does not see him.</i></p> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Softly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Haunting still the mortal mound,</div> - <div class='line'>Playing in Death’s garden-ground.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_167'>167</span><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Lo, the robe, the veil that clad</div> - <div class='line'>At the font my little lad.</div> - <div class='line'>Under it his cloak I’ve laid—</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Holds it up, gazes at it, and laughs.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Lord, how brave it looks and bright!</div> - <div class='line'>Ah, he was a bonny sight</div> - <div class='line'>In his festal robes array’d!</div> - <div class='line'>Here’s the scarf, the cape he wore</div> - <div class='line'>When the keen wind first he bore;</div> - <div class='line'>Longer was it than was meet</div> - <div class='line'>Then, but quickly grew too spare—</div> - <div class='line'>I will lay it with them there.</div> - <div class='line'>Gloves and stockings—(Oh, what feet!)</div> - <div class='line'>And his hood of silken fold</div> - <div class='line'>That had fenced him from the cold,</div> - <div class='line'>All unused and clean and sweet.</div> - <div class='line'>Oh, and there the wrappings warm</div> - <div class='line'>That should shield his little form</div> - <div class='line'>For the journey, from the storm</div> - <div class='line'>When again I laid them by,</div> - <div class='line'>Weary unto death was I!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Clasps his hands in anguish.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Mercy, God! I strive in vain!</div> - <div class='line'>Shatter her last idol-shrine</div> - <div class='line'>By some other hand than mine!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Did I weep? Behold, a stain!</div> - <div class='line'>Oh, my treasure! Jewell’d prize,</div> - <div class='line'>Bath’d in floods from aching eyes,</div> - <div class='line'>Lit with fires of tortured Will,</div> - <div class='line'>Holy Crowning-vesture, worn</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_168'>168</span>By a child to Death’s font borne,</div> - <div class='line'>Oh, what riches have I still!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c016'><i>A sharp knock at the outer door; <span class='sc'>Agnes</span> turns with a -cry, and at the same moment sees <span class='sc'>Brand.</span> The -door is burst open, and a <span class='sc'>Woman</span>, raggedly -dressed, enters hastily, with a child in her arms.</i></p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Woman.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Looking at the child’s clothes, calls to <span class='sc'>Agnes</span>.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Thou rich mother, share with me!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Thou art richer far!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in21'>I see,</div> - <div class='line'>Thou art of the common breed,</div> - <div class='line'>Cramm’d with words, and void of deed.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Approaching her.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Tell me what thou seekest.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in27'><em class='gesperrt'>Thee</em>,</div> - <div class='line'>Troth, I do not seek, at least!</div> - <div class='line'>Rather to the wind and rain</div> - <div class='line'>Will I hurry out again,</div> - <div class='line'>Than be sermon’d by a priest;</div> - <div class='line'>Rather to the wild sea fly,</div> - <div class='line'>Drown and rot beneath the sky,</div> - <div class='line'>Than I’ll hear the black man tell</div> - <div class='line'>How I’m on my way to hell;</div> - <div class='line'>Can I help—the devil take me—</div> - <div class='line'>Being what God chose to make me?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_169'>169</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>To himself.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Voice and feature pierce me still</div> - <div class='line'>With a dim and icy dread.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Thou shalt warm thee, if thou’rt chill;</div> - <div class='line'>And thy hungry child be fed.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Where there’s warmth and where there’s light</div> - <div class='line'>Brats of gipsies may not stay;</div> - <div class='line'>We must haunt the lone highway,</div> - <div class='line'>Hill and forest, heath and height;</div> - <div class='line'>We must wander, we must roam,</div> - <div class='line'>Leave to others house and home.</div> - <div class='line'>I must swiftly from this place.</div> - <div class='line'>Dogs of justice are behind me,</div> - <div class='line'>Mayor, bailiff, all in chase,</div> - <div class='line'>Hungering to catch and bind me!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Here thou shalt have shelter.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in30'>Here!</div> - <div class='line'>Roof’d above and wall’d about?</div> - <div class='line'>No! The winter night is clear,</div> - <div class='line'>And the breezes blithe without.</div> - <div class='line'>But a rag to wrap the child!</div> - <div class='line'>That were something! Sooth, its wild</div> - <div class='line'>Rascal brother fled, and bore</div> - <div class='line'>With him all the clouts it wore.</div> - <div class='line'>Look, it lies half naked—blue,</div> - <div class='line'>Stiff and stark and frozen through,</div> - <div class='line'>By the storm-wind’s icy breath.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_170'>170</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Woman, on the road to death,</div> - <div class='line'>Free thy infant from thy doom;</div> - <div class='line'>Free him from thy grief and gloom</div> - <div class='line'>Of his birth I’ll blot the brand.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Much, sooth, <em class='gesperrt'>thou</em> dost understand!</div> - <div class='line'>Such a wonder none on earth</div> - <div class='line'>Can, nor shall do, though he can!</div> - <div class='line'>War on you that set the ban,—</div> - <div class='line'>Wot ye where it was, that birth?</div> - <div class='line'>In a ditch-side, on the ground,</div> - <div class='line'>Gamblers drank and shouted round—</div> - <div class='line'>Christen’d in the sleety slime,</div> - <div class='line'>Cross’d with charcoal-ashes’ grime,</div> - <div class='line'>Suckled with a spirit-flask;—</div> - <div class='line'>When his mother bore him first</div> - <div class='line'>There were some stood by and cursed,</div> - <div class='line'>Who could they be, do you ask?</div> - <div class='line'>Bless you! Why, the baby’s father,</div> - <div class='line'>Or,—the baby’s fathers rather!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Agnes?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in7'>Yes.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in12'>Thy duty’s clear.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Shuddering.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Never! never! Brand, to her!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Give me, give me! Give me all!</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_171'>171</span>Silk and broider’d jacket small!</div> - <div class='line'>Nought’s too good, and nought too bad,</div> - <div class='line'>If ’twill warm my starving lad.</div> - <div class='line'>He’ll be going by-and-by.</div> - <div class='line'>Thaw his body ere he die!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>To <span class='sc'>Agnes</span>.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Choice is calling! Hear’st thou now?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Store enough of clothes hast thou</div> - <div class='line'>For thy dead child: hast thou none</div> - <div class='line'>For my death-doom’d living one?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Is not this a warning cry</div> - <div class='line'>Importuning bodefully?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Give!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in6'>’Tis sacrilege blood-red</div> - <div class='line'>Desecration of the dead!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Vainly given to death he was</div> - <div class='line'>If thou at the threshold pause.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Crushed.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I obey. My heart’s quick root</div> - <div class='line'>I will trample under foot.</div> - <div class='line'>Woman, come thou and receive,</div> - <div class='line'>I will share it with thee.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_172'>172</span><span class='sc'>The Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in27'>Give!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>Share</em> it, say’st thou?—Agnes; <em class='gesperrt'>share</em> it?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Wildly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I will rather die than spare it</div> - <div class='line'>All! See, inch by inch I’ve bent</div> - <div class='line'>To thy will; my force is spent!</div> - <div class='line'>Half’s enough; she needs no more!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Was the whole too much before,</div> - <div class='line'>When for <em class='gesperrt'>thy</em> child it was meant?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Gives.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Woman, take; in this was clad</div> - <div class='line'>At the font my little lad.</div> - <div class='line'>Here the scarf, cloak, mantle, good</div> - <div class='line'>For the night-air, here the hood</div> - <div class='line'>Warm for winter; take this last——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Give me!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in9'>Is this all thou hast?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Gives again.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Take the crowning vesture worn,</div> - <div class='line'>By the child to Death’s <a id='corr172.28'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='Font'>Font.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_172.28'><ins class='correction' title='Font'>Font.</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_173'>173</span><span class='sc'>The Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>So! I see there’s nothing more.</div> - <div class='line'>I’ll clear out without delay,</div> - <div class='line'>Dress my baby at the door—</div> - <div class='line'>Then with all my pack away!</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Goes.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>In violent inner conflict; at length asks.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Is it reason, Brand, to lay</div> - <div class='line'>Further bidding on me?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in23'>Say,</div> - <div class='line'>Didst thou with a glad heart go</div> - <div class='line'>To thy task of giving?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in23'>No.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Then thy gift is vainly will’d</div> - <div class='line'>And His bidding unfulfill’d.</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Going.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Remains silent until he is near the door, then calls.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Brand!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in7'>What wilt thou?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in23'>I have lied—</div> - <div class='line'>See, I’m humbled, I am grieved.</div> - <div class='line'>Never knew’st thou nor believed,</div> - <div class='line'>Anything was left beside.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_174'>174</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Well?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Takes a folded child’s cap from her bosom.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in6'>See, <em class='gesperrt'>one</em> I thought to hide—</div> - <div class='line'>One!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in5'>The <em class='gesperrt'>cap</em>?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>Yes, tear-bewet,</div> - <div class='line'>Clammy with his mortal sweat,</div> - <div class='line'>There in my beating bosom set!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>In thy idol-bonds abide.</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Going.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Hold!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in6'>What wilt thou?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in22'>Thou dost know.</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Holds out the cap to him.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Approaches and asks, without taking it.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Gladly given?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>Gladly!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in22'>So.</div> - <div class='line'>At the door she lingers yet.</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Goes.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_175'>175</span><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Shiver’d, shatter’d—pluck’d away—</div> - <div class='line'>All that bound me to the clay.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='direction'> -<p class='c021'>[<i>Stands a while motionless; by degrees her -face assumes an expression of radiant -gladness. <span class='sc'>Brand</span> returns; she flies joyously -towards him, flings herself about his -neck, and cries.</i>]</p> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I am free, Brand, I am free!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Agnes!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in7'>Night is fled from me!</div> - <div class='line'>All the terrors that oppress’d</div> - <div class='line'>Like an incubus my breast,</div> - <div class='line'>In the gulf are sunk to rest!</div> - <div class='line'>Will hath conquer’d in the fray,</div> - <div class='line'>Cloud and mist are swept away;</div> - <div class='line'>Through the night, athwart the Dead,</div> - <div class='line'>Streaks of morning glimmer red.</div> - <div class='line'>Graveyard! Graveyard! By the word</div> - <div class='line'>Now no more a tear is stirr’d;</div> - <div class='line'>By the name no wound is riven,</div> - <div class='line'>Risen is the child to heaven!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Agnes! Thou hast conquered <a id='corr175.26'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='now'>now.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_175.26'><ins class='correction' title='now'>now.</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I indeed have conquer’d. Yes;</div> - <div class='line'>Conquer’d death and bitterness!</div> - <div class='line'>Oh, look up, look heavenward, thou</div> - <div class='line'>See, before the throne he stands—</div> - <div class='line'>As in old days—radiant, glad,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_176'>176</span>To us stretching down his hands!</div> - <div class='line'>Though a thousand mouths I had,</div> - <div class='line'>Leave to ask, and to obtain,</div> - <div class='line'>Never one of them should pray</div> - <div class='line'>For his coming back again.</div> - <div class='line'>O how wond’rous is God’s way!</div> - <div class='line'>By that sacrifice, so grievous,</div> - <div class='line'>Won from bondage is my soul;</div> - <div class='line'>He was given us but to leave us,</div> - <div class='line'>Died to lure me to the goal.</div> - <div class='line'>Thanks be to thee that thy hand</div> - <div class='line'>Stoutly strove and firmly led—</div> - <div class='line'>Ah, I saw thine own heart bled.</div> - <div class='line'>Now it is for <em class='gesperrt'>thee</em>, instead,</div> - <div class='line'>In the vale of choice to stand,</div> - <div class='line'>Now for <em class='gesperrt'>thee</em> to hear the call</div> - <div class='line'>Of the awful <em class='gesperrt'>Nought</em> or <em class='gesperrt'>All</em>.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Agnes, this is darkly said;—</div> - <div class='line'>Vanquish’d, lo, our sorrow lies!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Thou forget’st the word of dread:</div> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>Whoso sees Jehovah dies!</em></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Starts back.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Woe upon me! What a light</div> - <div class='line'>Thou has kindled! Never! No!</div> - <div class='line'>I have stalwart hands for fight,</div> - <div class='line'>And I will not let thee go!</div> - <div class='line'>Tear all earthly ties from me,</div> - <div class='line'>All possessions I will lose,</div> - <div class='line'>Only never, never thee!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_177'>177</span><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>At the cross-way stand’st thou: <a id='corr177.2'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='choose'>choose!</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_177.2'><ins class='correction' title='choose'>choose!</ins></a></span></div> - <div class='line'>Quench the kindled light I brought,</div> - <div class='line'>Fence the fountain of my thought,</div> - <div class='line'>Give me back my idol treasures</div> - <div class='line'>(Still she lingers by the door),</div> - <div class='line'>Give me back the earthly pleasures</div> - <div class='line'>Of the bright, blind days of yore;</div> - <div class='line'>Thrust me back into the pit</div> - <div class='line'>Where till now I lulled my sin,</div> - <div class='line'>Deeper, deeper thrust me in—</div> - <div class='line'>Thou canst lightly compass it;</div> - <div class='line'>Clip my wings and check my flight,</div> - <div class='line'>Load my feet, and drag me bound</div> - <div class='line'>Down, down from thy dizzy height</div> - <div class='line'>To my lowly native ground;</div> - <div class='line'>Let me lead the life I led</div> - <div class='line'>When the darkness yet was dread:</div> - <div class='line'>If thou darest thus to lose,</div> - <div class='line'>Then, as ever, I am thine;</div> - <div class='line'>At the cross-way stand’st thou: choose!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Woe, if such a choice were mine.</div> - <div class='line'>Ah, but in some place afar,</div> - <div class='line'>Where no bitter memories are,</div> - <div class='line'>Death and darkness thou shalt brave!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Hast thou <em class='gesperrt'>here</em> thy work forgotten,</div> - <div class='line'>Holy work—and holy grave?</div> - <div class='line'>And the thousands sin-besotten,</div> - <div class='line'>It is <em class='gesperrt'>here</em> thy task to save—</div> - <div class='line'>Those thou guidest for God’s sake</div> - <div class='line'>To the Fountain that renews?</div> - <div class='line'>At the cross-way stand’st thou: <a id='corr177.34'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='choose'>choose!</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_177.34'><ins class='correction' title='choose'>choose!</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_178'>178</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Then I have no choice to make.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Throws herself on his neck.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Thanks for that, and thanks for all!</div> - <div class='line'>Thou the weary one hast led;</div> - <div class='line'>Over me the dank mists fall,</div> - <div class='line'>Thou wilt watch beside my bed.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Sleep! thy day’s work now is done.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Done, and now the lamp alight.</div> - <div class='line'>I have fought out all my might,</div> - <div class='line'>I am weary of the sun.</div> - <div class='line'>Oh, but praising God is best!</div> - <div class='line'>Brand, good-night!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in19'>Good-night!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Agnes.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in31'><a id='corr178.18'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='Good-night'>Good-night.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_178.18'><ins class='correction' title='Good-night'>Good-night.</ins></a></span></div> - <div class='line'>Thanks for all. Now I will rest.</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Goes.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Clenches his hands against his breast.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Soul, be patient in thy pain!</div> - <div class='line'>Triumph in its bitter cost.</div> - <div class='line'>All to lose was all to gain;</div> - <div class='line'>Nought abideth but the Lost!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_179'>179</span> - <h2 class='c009'>ACT FIFTH.</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c017'><i>A year and a half later. The new Church stands -complete, and adorned for consecration. The -river runs close beside it. A misty morning, -early.</i></p> - -<p class='c016'><i>The <span class='sc'>Sexton</span> is busy hanging garlands outside the -Church; shortly after comes the <span class='sc'>Schoolmaster</span>.</i></p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>At work already?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in17'>None too soon.</div> - <div class='line'>Lend me a hand; I must festoon</div> - <div class='line'>The path, to keep the march in trim.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Before the Manse I see ascending</div> - <div class='line'>Something that rears a rounded rim—</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ay, surely, surely!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>What is pending?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Why, it is what they call a shield</div> - <div class='line'>With Parson’s name in a gold <a id='corr179.23'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='field'>field.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_179.23'><ins class='correction' title='field'>field.</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_180'>180</span><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>To-day the valley’s in high feather.</div> - <div class='line'>From far and wide they’re flocking hither,</div> - <div class='line'>The fjord with sails is all agleam.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes; they’ve awaken’d from their dream.</div> - <div class='line'>In the late Pastor’s day, no breast</div> - <div class='line'>With bitterness and strife was cumber’d,</div> - <div class='line'>Each slumber’d as his neighbour slumber’d,</div> - <div class='line'>—I’m not quite certain which is best.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Life, Sexton, life!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>Yet you and I</div> - <div class='line'>Pass this “life” unregarding by;</div> - <div class='line'>How comes it?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>Why, before, the folk</div> - <div class='line'>Slumber’d, and nowise toil’d, as we did;</div> - <div class='line'>We fell asleep when they awoke,</div> - <div class='line'>Because we were no longer needed.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But yet you said that life was best?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>By Dean and deacon that’s profess’d.</div> - <div class='line'>And I too say so, like the rest,—</div> - <div class='line'>Provided, mind, the “life” in view</div> - <div class='line'>Is that of the great Residue.</div> - <div class='line'>But we two serve another law</div> - <div class='line'>Than that which holds the mass in awe;</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_181'>181</span>Set by the State to guard and guide,—</div> - <div class='line'>Look, we must stand against the tide,</div> - <div class='line'>Cherish the Church and Education,</div> - <div class='line'>And keep aloof from agitation.</div> - <div class='line'>Briefly, in nothing take a side.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But Parson’s in it, heart and soul.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And just in that forgets his rôle.</div> - <div class='line'>His own superiors, well I know,</div> - <div class='line'>Look with displeasure on his action,</div> - <div class='line'>And, dared they but offend his faction,</div> - <div class='line'>Had thrown him over long ago.</div> - <div class='line'>But he is fine; he smells a rat;</div> - <div class='line'>He’s got a recipe for that.</div> - <div class='line'>He builds the Church. Here you may glue</div> - <div class='line'>All eyes up, if you will but <em class='gesperrt'>do</em>.</div> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>What’s</em> done none has a thought to spare for;</div> - <div class='line'>The <em class='gesperrt'>doing</em> of it’s all they care for.</div> - <div class='line'>So they who follow, and we who lead,</div> - <div class='line'>All equally are men of deed.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Well, you have sat in the great Thing,</div> - <div class='line'>And ought to know the Land and Folk;</div> - <div class='line'>But one who travell’d through the glen</div> - <div class='line'>A little after we awoke</div> - <div class='line'>Said, we’d been sleeping folks till then,</div> - <div class='line'>But, having waked,—were <em class='gesperrt'>promising</em>.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes; we’re a promising folk, of course,—</div> - <div class='line'>And mighty promises we’re giving,—</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_182'>182</span>So fast we stride, we’ll soon be living</div> - <div class='line'>Elucidations of their force.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>One thing I’ve ponder’d many a day;</div> - <div class='line'>You’ve studied,—what do folks intend</div> - <div class='line'>By that same “People’s Promise,” pray?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A People’s Promise, my good friend?</div> - <div class='line'>That were a long investigation;</div> - <div class='line'>But ’tis a thing that is pursued</div> - <div class='line'>By force of sheer anticipation;</div> - <div class='line'>A grand Idea they must make good</div> - <div class='line'>In <em class='gesperrt'>future</em>, be it understood.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Thanks; I see that at any rate;</div> - <div class='line'>But there’s another point I’d fain</div> - <div class='line'>Beg of you briefly to explain.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Speak freely.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>Tell me, at what date</div> - <div class='line'>Comes, what is call’d the future?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in34'>Why,</div> - <div class='line'>It never does come!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'><a id='corr182.27'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='Never'>Never!</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_182.27'><ins class='correction' title='Never'>Never!</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in27'>No,</div> - <div class='line'>And only follows Nature so.</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_183'>183</span>For when it comes, you see, ’tis grown</div> - <div class='line'>The Present, and the Future’s flown.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Why, yes, to that there’s no reply;</div> - <div class='line'>That logic one must needs accept.</div> - <div class='line'>But—when then is the promise kept?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A Promise is a future-dated</div> - <div class='line'>Pact, as I have already stated;</div> - <div class='line'>’Tis kept in Future.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in21'>That is clear.</div> - <div class='line'>When will the Future, though, be here!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Aside.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You blessed Sexton!</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Aloud.</i>]</div> - <div class='line in20'>Worthy friend,</div> - <div class='line'>Must I the argument recall?</div> - <div class='line'>The Future cannot come at all,</div> - <div class='line'>Because its coming is its end.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Thank you.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in11'>In all conceptions lies</div> - <div class='line'>Something that looks like artifice,</div> - <div class='line'>But yet is quite direct and plain,—</div> - <div class='line'>That is to say, for any brain</div> - <div class='line'>Able to reckon up to ten.</div> - <div class='line'>To make a promise means, at last,</div> - <div class='line'>To <em class='gesperrt'>break</em> it, spite of best intent;</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_184'>184</span>Truth to one’s word has always pass’d</div> - <div class='line'>For hard; but you may just as well</div> - <div class='line'>Prove it purely impossible,—</div> - <div class='line'>If you’ve an eye for argument.—</div> - <div class='line'>There, let this Promise-question be!</div> - <div class='line'>Come tell me——!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>Hist!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in24'>What is it?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in36'><a id='corr184.12'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='Hark'>Hark!</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_184.12'><ins class='correction' title='Hark'>Hark!</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I hear the organ play!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in23'>’Tis he.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The Pastor?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in12'>Even so.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in21'>Save the mark</div> - <div class='line'>But he is out betimes!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in23'>I guess</div> - <div class='line'>He stirr’d no pillow yesternight.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What do you say?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_185'>185</span><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in17'>All is not right.</div> - <div class='line'>He’s felt the pang of loneliness</div> - <div class='line'>Since first his widowhood began.</div> - <div class='line'>He hides his sorrow all he can;</div> - <div class='line'>But, whiles, it may not be controll’d;</div> - <div class='line'>His heart’s a jar that will not hold,</div> - <div class='line'>And overflows by base and brim;—</div> - <div class='line'>So then he plays. ’Tis like a wild</div> - <div class='line'>Weeping for buried wife and child.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>It is as if they talk’d with him——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>As if <em class='gesperrt'>one</em> suffered, <em class='gesperrt'>one</em> consoled——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>H’m—if one dared to be affected!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ah,—if one did not serve the State</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ah,—if one bore no leaden weight</div> - <div class='line'>Of forms that have to be respected</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ah,—if one dared toss tape and seal</div> - <div class='line'>And ledger to the deuce for ever!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And leave off striving to be clever;</div> - <div class='line'>And, Sexton, if one dared to <em class='gesperrt'>feel</em>!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>No one is near,—let’s feel, my friend!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_186'>186</span><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>We cannot fitly condescend</div> - <div class='line'>To smirch ourselves in human slime.</div> - <div class='line'>Let no man, says the Parson, dare</div> - <div class='line'>To be two things at the same time;</div> - <div class='line'>And, with the best will, no one can</div> - <div class='line'>Be an official and a man;</div> - <div class='line'>Our part in all things is, to swear</div> - <div class='line'>By our great exemplar—the Mayor.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Why just by him?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in17'>Do you recall</div> - <div class='line'>The fire that wreck’d his house, and yet</div> - <div class='line'>The deeds were rescued, one and all?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>It was an evening——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in21'>Wild and wet,</div> - <div class='line'>And like ten toiling men toiled he;</div> - <div class='line'>But indoors stood the Devil in glee</div> - <div class='line'>Guffawing, and his wife shriek’d out:</div> - <div class='line'>“O save your soul, sweet husband! See,</div> - <div class='line'>Satan will have you!” Then a shout</div> - <div class='line'>Rang backward through the surging vapours:</div> - <div class='line'>“My soul may go to hell for me;</div> - <div class='line'>Just lend a hand to save the papers!”</div> - <div class='line in1'>Look, that’s a Mayor—without, within!</div> - <div class='line'>From top to toe, from core to skin;</div> - <div class='line'>He’ll win his way, I’m certain, yonder,</div> - <div class='line'>Where his life’s toil shall have its price.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_187'>187</span><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And where may that be?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in23'>Where, I wonder,</div> - <div class='line'>But in the good Mayors’ Paradise.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>My learned friend!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in19'>What now?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in29'>A token</div> - <div class='line'>Of our fermenting age I hear,</div> - <div class='line'>Methinks, in every word you’ve spoken;</div> - <div class='line'>For that it <em class='gesperrt'>does</em> ferment is clear.</div> - <div class='line'>Witness the reverence all refuse</div> - <div class='line'>To old-established Wont and Use.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What moulders, in the mould’s its doom,</div> - <div class='line'>What rots must nourish what is fresh;</div> - <div class='line'>Their vitals canker and consume,</div> - <div class='line'>Let them cough up the imposthume,</div> - <div class='line'>Or to the grave with their dead flesh!</div> - <div class='line'>There’s ferment, yes; past fear or hope,</div> - <div class='line'>That’s plain without a telescope.</div> - <div class='line'>The day our ancient Church lay low,</div> - <div class='line'>Everything with it seem’d to go</div> - <div class='line'>Wherein our life struck root and found</div> - <div class='line'>Its home-soil and its native-ground.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Then on the throng a stillness came.</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_188'>188</span>“Down with it! Down with it!” they cried</div> - <div class='line'>At first; but soon that clamour died,</div> - <div class='line'>And many felt their ears a-flame,</div> - <div class='line'>And stole shy glances of distrust.</div> - <div class='line'>When the ancestral House of Prayer</div> - <div class='line'>Was to be levell’d—then and there,—</div> - <div class='line'>By hands unhallow’d, in the dust.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But countless bonds, they fancied, knit</div> - <div class='line'>Them ever to the ghost of it,</div> - <div class='line'>So long as yonder Palace lack’d</div> - <div class='line'>The final seal of consecration;</div> - <div class='line'>And so in anguish’d expectation</div> - <div class='line'>They watch’d it growing into fact,</div> - <div class='line'>And blinked before the glorious End,</div> - <div class='line'>When the old tatter should descend</div> - <div class='line'>And the new colours flaunt the gale.</div> - <div class='line'>But ever as the spire upclomb</div> - <div class='line'>They grew more silent and more pale,</div> - <div class='line'>And now,—well, now the End is come.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Look at the throng. Both young and old</div> - <div class='line'>Swarm hither.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>And by thousands told.—</div> - <div class='line'>How still they are!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>And yet they moan,</div> - <div class='line'>Like sea fore-feeling tempest’s fret.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>It is the People’s hearts that groan,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_189'>189</span>As if, with piercing doubts beset,</div> - <div class='line'>The great new age they did forebode,</div> - <div class='line'>Or were in solemn sessions met</div> - <div class='line'>To nominate another God.</div> - <div class='line'>Where, where’s the priest,—I stifle here.</div> - <div class='line'>Would heaven that I could disappear!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I too, I too!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>In hours like this</div> - <div class='line'>No man well knows how deep he is.</div> - <div class='line'>Each depth a deeper depth revealing,</div> - <div class='line'>We will, then will not, and then doubt——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>My friend!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in11'>My friend!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in22'>H’m!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in27'>Speak it out!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I think, in very truth, we’re feeling!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Feeling? Not I!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in16'>Nor I, take warning!</div> - <div class='line'>A single witness I defy!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_190'>190</span><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>We’re men, not school-girls, you and I.</div> - <div class='line'>My youngsters wait for me. Good-morning.</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Goes.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Just now I’d visions like a fool:</div> - <div class='line'>Now I’m again collected, cool,</div> - <div class='line'>And close as clasps! To work I’ll press!</div> - <div class='line'>Here’s no more scope for hand or tool,</div> - <div class='line'>And Satan’s couch is idleness.</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Goes out at the other side.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c016'><i>The organ, which during what precedes has been -heard in an undertone, suddenly peals forth, and -ends with a discordant shriek. Shortly afterwards -<span class='sc'>Brand</span> comes out.</i></p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>No, I vainly, vainly seek</div> - <div class='line'>To unlock the heart of sound;</div> - <div class='line'>All the song becomes a shriek.</div> - <div class='line'>Walls and arches, vault and ground,</div> - <div class='line'>Seem to stoop and crowd and throng,</div> - <div class='line'>Seem to clasp with iron force,</div> - <div class='line'>Seem to close around the song,</div> - <div class='line'>As the coffin round the corse!</div> - <div class='line'>Vain my effort, vain my suit,</div> - <div class='line'>All the organ’s music’s mute,</div> - <div class='line'>Fain a prayer I would have spoken,</div> - <div class='line'>But my lifted voice fell broken,—</div> - <div class='line'>Like the muffled moan it fell</div> - <div class='line'>Of a riven and rusted bell.</div> - <div class='line'>’Twas as if the Lord were seated</div> - <div class='line'>In the chancel, and beheld,</div> - <div class='line'>And in wrath, while I entreated,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_191'>191</span>All my piteous prayer repell’d!—</div> - <div class='line in2'>Great shall be the House of God;</div> - <div class='line'>In my confidence I swore it;</div> - <div class='line'>Fearless, smote and wreck’d and tore it,</div> - <div class='line'>Swept it level with the sod.</div> - <div class='line'>Now the finish’d work stands fast.</div> - <div class='line'>As the people throng before it,</div> - <div class='line'>Still they cry: “How vast! how vast!”</div> - <div class='line in1'>Is it they see true or I,</div> - <div class='line'>Who no vastness can descry?</div> - <div class='line'>Is it great? The thing I will’d,</div> - <div class='line'>Is it in <em class='gesperrt'>this</em> House fulfill’d?</div> - <div class='line'>Can the rushing fire of passion</div> - <div class='line'>That begot it, <em class='gesperrt'>here</em> be still’d?</div> - <div class='line'>Was the Temple of this fashion</div> - <div class='line'>That I dream’d should overspan</div> - <div class='line'>All the misery of Man?</div> - <div class='line in2'>Ah, had Agnes stay’d with me,</div> - <div class='line'>Not thus vainly had I striven!</div> - <div class='line'>Small things greatly she could see,</div> - <div class='line'>From doubt’s anguish set me free,</div> - <div class='line'>Clasp together Earth and Heaven</div> - <div class='line'>Like the green roof of the tree.</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>He observes the preparations for the festival.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>All with wreaths and banners hung;</div> - <div class='line'>Children practising their song;</div> - <div class='line'>So the Manse they surge and throng,—</div> - <div class='line'>Festal greetings they would bring me;—</div> - <div class='line'>Yonder gleams my name in gold!—</div> - <div class='line'>Give me light, O God, or fling me</div> - <div class='line'>Fathom-deep beneath this mould!</div> - <div class='line'>In an hour begins the Feast</div> - <div class='line'>Every thought and every tongue</div> - <div class='line'>Will be ringing with “the <a id='corr191.34'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='priest'>priest”</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_191.34'><ins class='correction' title='priest'>priest”</ins></a></span></div> - <div class='line'>All their thoughts I can discern;</div> - <div class='line'>All their words I feel them burn;</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_192'>192</span>All their praise, on elf-wings sped,</div> - <div class='line'>Rives me like an icy blast!</div> - <div class='line'>Oh, to be enfolded fast</div> - <div class='line'>In oblivion, hide my head</div> - <div class='line'>In a wild beast’s hole at last!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='direction'> -<p class='c023'>[<i>Enters in full uniform, radiant with -satisfaction, and greets him.</i>]</p> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Here is the great day come at last,</div> - <div class='line'>The Sabbath to the toiling six;</div> - <div class='line'>Now we can strike our sail, and fix</div> - <div class='line'>Our Sunday pennon to the mast,</div> - <div class='line'>Glide softly with the gliding flood</div> - <div class='line'>And find that all is very good.</div> - <div class='line'>Bravo!—great, noble man, whose fame</div> - <div class='line'>Will soon be far and wide related.</div> - <div class='line'>Bravo!—I’m moved, yet all the same</div> - <div class='line'>Most inexpressibly elated!</div> - <div class='line'>But you appear——?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>I’m <a id='corr192.21'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='suffocated'>suffocated.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_192.21'><ins class='correction' title='suffocated'>suffocated.</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Pooh, a mere momentary whim!</div> - <div class='line'>Preach you now, till it roars again!—</div> - <div class='line'>Fill the folks’ bushel to the brim.</div> - <div class='line'>Not one his wonder can contain,</div> - <div class='line'>The resonance is so full and plain.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Indeed?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in8'>The Dean himself is warm</div> - <div class='line'>In admiration and delight.</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_193'>193</span>And then, what elegance of form,</div> - <div class='line'>And what a grandeur, what a height</div> - <div class='line'>In every part——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>You’ve noted this?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What noted?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in12'>It seems great to you?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Why, it not only <em class='gesperrt'>seems</em>, but <em class='gesperrt'>is</em>,</div> - <div class='line'>No matter what the point of view.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>It is great? Really? That is true—?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Great?—yes, God bless me,—and to spare—</div> - <div class='line'>For folks so far to North. Elsewhere</div> - <div class='line'>They’ve higher standards, I’m <a id='corr193.18'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='aware?'>aware.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_193.18'><ins class='correction' title='aware?'>aware.</ins></a></span></div> - <div class='line'>But among us who captive dwell</div> - <div class='line'>Amid drear wastes and barren mounds,</div> - <div class='line'>On the scant verge of fjord and fell,</div> - <div class='line'>Its greatness ’mazes and confounds.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes, that is so, and all we do</div> - <div class='line'>Is,—change an old lie for a new.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in6'>We have lured their hearts away</div> - <div class='line'>From the time-honour’d gloom and mould</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_194'>194</span>To soaring spire and open day.</div> - <div class='line'>“How venerable!” they cried of old.</div> - <div class='line'>“How vast!” in chorus now they roar—</div> - <div class='line'>“The like was never seen before!”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>My worthy friend, I needs must hold</div> - <div class='line'>His breeding scarcely <i>quantum suff.</i></div> - <div class='line'>For whom it is not great enough.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But clear it shall be unto all</div> - <div class='line'>That, as it stands, the Church is small.</div> - <div class='line'>To keep that hidden were to lie.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Nay, listen,—let such whimsies fly!</div> - <div class='line'>What can it profit to dispraise</div> - <div class='line'>What you yourself have toil’d to raise?</div> - <div class='line'>You’ve satisfied their utmost dream;</div> - <div class='line'>It seems to them more rich and rare</div> - <div class='line'>Than aught they e’er saw anywhere:—</div> - <div class='line'>Let it continue so to seem!</div> - <div class='line'>Why should we vex their silly sight</div> - <div class='line'>With proffers of the flaming link,</div> - <div class='line'>When they’re indifferent to light?</div> - <div class='line'>The question’s only what they <em class='gesperrt'>think</em>.</div> - <div class='line'>It does not signify a jot</div> - <div class='line'>Though the Church were a pigeon-cot,</div> - <div class='line'>If in the faith they’re rooted fast,</div> - <div class='line'>That it is infinitely vast.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>In every matter the same thought.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>To-day, moreover, we hold fête;</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_195'>195</span>The whole assembly is our guest;</div> - <div class='line'>It is a point of etiquette</div> - <div class='line'>That everything should look its best;</div> - <div class='line'>And for your own sake, most of all,</div> - <div class='line'>It were judicious to keep clear</div> - <div class='line'>Of that sore fact—that it is small.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>How so?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in8'>Well, listen, you shall hear.</div> - <div class='line'>Firstly, the headmen of the town</div> - <div class='line'>Are giving you a piece of plate,</div> - <div class='line'>Whose graved inscription is frustrate</div> - <div class='line'>If the work’s size is whittled down;</div> - <div class='line'>And then the Ode, composed express,</div> - <div class='line'>And my inaugural address,—</div> - <div class='line'>You leave them helpless in the lurch,</div> - <div class='line'>Docking the greatness of the Church.</div> - <div class='line'>You see then, you must yield your doubt,</div> - <div class='line'>And boldly face the matter out.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I see, what oft has stung my eye,</div> - <div class='line'>A lying triumph crown the lie.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But, in God’s name, my worthy friend,</div> - <div class='line'>Where do these strong expressions tend?</div> - <div class='line'>However, waiving points of taste,</div> - <div class='line'>Hear now my second reason,—gold,</div> - <div class='line'>As that was silver; for, behold,</div> - <div class='line'>You, like a chosen son, are graced</div> - <div class='line'>With favour in the royal sight;</div> - <div class='line'>In short,—you have been named a Knight!</div> - <div class='line'>This very day you’ll walk elate,</div> - <div class='line'>Cross upon breast, a titled man.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_196'>196</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Another, heavier cross’s weight</div> - <div class='line'>I bear; take that from me who can.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What’s this? You do not seem to shake</div> - <div class='line'>With agitation at such prize?</div> - <div class='line'>You mystery of mysteries!</div> - <div class='line'>But pray consider, for God’s sake——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Stamping.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>This is mere babble of vain speech:—</div> - <div class='line'>Nothing I learn and nothing teach;</div> - <div class='line'>You have not grasp’d the smallest shred</div> - <div class='line'>Of the true sense of what I said.</div> - <div class='line'>I meant not greatness men compute,</div> - <div class='line'>And measure by the inch and foot,</div> - <div class='line'>But that which, viewless, darts and streams,</div> - <div class='line'>Pierces the soul with frosts and fires,</div> - <div class='line'>That beckons to impassion’d dreams,</div> - <div class='line'>And like the starlit heaven inspires—</div> - <div class='line'>That—leave me! I am worn, oppress’d;—</div> - <div class='line'>Convince, teach, edify the rest.</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Goes up towards the Church.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>To himself.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>In such a labyrinth who can stray</div> - <div class='line'>And find an issue? Greatness lay</div> - <div class='line'>In something that is “viewless,” “streams,”</div> - <div class='line'>“Not inchwise measured,” “lifts to dreams,”</div> - <div class='line'>And “starlit heaven”? It went so, surely?</div> - <div class='line'>Has he been lunching prematurely?</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Goes.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_197'>197</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Comes down over the open ground.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>So desolate on the upland drear</div> - <div class='line'>I never stood as I stand here;</div> - <div class='line'>My impotent questionings evoke</div> - <div class='line'>Echoes that cackle and that croak.</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Looks towards the <span class='sc'>Mayor</span>.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>For him, I would my heel might bruise</div> - <div class='line'>His head! Each time I make emprise</div> - <div class='line'>To loose him from the bond of lies,</div> - <div class='line'>With shameless wantonness he spews</div> - <div class='line'>His rotten soul before my eyes!—</div> - <div class='line in2'>O Agnes, why wast thou so frail?</div> - <div class='line'>Would that this hollow game were done,</div> - <div class='line'>Where none give in, and none prevail;—</div> - <div class='line'>Yes, hopeless he that fights alone!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Coming up.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>O, my beloved! O, my sheep—!</div> - <div class='line'>Nay, I beg pardon,—would have said</div> - <div class='line'>My reverend brother!—cannot keep</div> - <div class='line'>My predication from my head;</div> - <div class='line'>I got it yesterday by rote,</div> - <div class='line'>The taste still lingers in my throat.</div> - <div class='line'>Enough of that.—To you I offer</div> - <div class='line'>My thanks, whose energy began,</div> - <div class='line'>Whose firmness carried through, the plan,</div> - <div class='line'>Despite the babbler and the scoffer;</div> - <div class='line'>Fell’d that which was about to fall,</div> - <div class='line'>And worthily restored it all!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Far from that yet.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_198'>198</span><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in19'>How say you, friend?</div> - <div class='line'>Is Consecration not the end?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A House new-builded asks, as well,</div> - <div class='line'>A cleansed Soul, therein to dwell.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>All that will come without our stir.</div> - <div class='line'>So gay, so elegant a roof</div> - <div class='line'>Will be an adequate reproof</div> - <div class='line'>To every unwash’d worshipper.</div> - <div class='line'>And that delightful sounding-board,</div> - <div class='line'>That doubles every pious word,</div> - <div class='line'>Will render without fail our flocks</div> - <div class='line'>Fivescore per cent. more orthodox,</div> - <div class='line'>Results so notable as these</div> - <div class='line'>The first-rate Nationalities</div> - <div class='line'>Themselves, ’tis said, can hardly better.—</div> - <div class='line'>For this your Country is your debtor,</div> - <div class='line'>Yours only; let me then express</div> - <div class='line'>These heartfelt, brotherly thanks of mine,</div> - <div class='line'>To be re-echoed, as I guess,</div> - <div class='line'>In winged words across the wine,</div> - <div class='line'>By many a fiery young divine,</div> - <div class='line'>When at the festal board we crown</div> - <div class='line'>This the great day of your renown.—</div> - <div class='line'>But, my dear Brand, you look so faint—?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>My heart and hope have long been spent.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>No wonder;—with so grave a care,</div> - <div class='line'>And all unaided and unfriended.</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_199'>199</span>But now the worst of it is ended,</div> - <div class='line'>And all gives promise of a splendid</div> - <div class='line'>Day for our function. Don’t despair!</div> - <div class='line'>All will go well. Reflect! A throng</div> - <div class='line'>Has gather’d, many thousand strong,</div> - <div class='line'>From far-off parishes,—and who</div> - <div class='line'>Can vie in eloquence with you?</div> - <div class='line'>See where your reverend brethren stand,</div> - <div class='line'>To welcome you with heart and hand;</div> - <div class='line'>While all these lowly bosoms beat</div> - <div class='line'>With ardour for you, first to last!</div> - <div class='line'>And then, the work, so ably plann’d,</div> - <div class='line'>The decoration, so complete,—</div> - <div class='line'>The general theme—How great! How vast!</div> - <div class='line'>—And the unparallel’d repast!</div> - <div class='line'>Into the kitchen I was looking</div> - <div class='line'>Just now, and saw the calf a-cooking.</div> - <div class='line'>Nay, Brand, a pretty beast, I vow!</div> - <div class='line'>You must have had some trouble, now,</div> - <div class='line'>In these hard times, before you found</div> - <div class='line'>So fine a bit of flesh to cater,</div> - <div class='line'>With meat at half a crown a pound!</div> - <div class='line'>But that can be deferr’d till later.</div> - <div class='line'>I’m on another errand bound.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Speak freely; slash, stab, rive and rend!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I have a milder way, my friend.</div> - <div class='line'>But briefly; for our duties press.</div> - <div class='line'>One little matter, I confess,</div> - <div class='line'>I’d have you from to-day set right;</div> - <div class='line'>A task that cannot but be light.</div> - <div class='line'>Nay, I imagine you can guess</div> - <div class='line'>Half what I’m hinting at, at least?</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_200'>200</span>I mean, your duties as a priest.</div> - <div class='line'>Hitherto you have been a loose</div> - <div class='line'>Observer still, of Wont and Use;</div> - <div class='line'>But Use and Wont, if not the best</div> - <div class='line'>Of things, are yet the needfulest.</div> - <div class='line'>Well, well, I will not be severe;</div> - <div class='line'>You’re young, and but a novice here,</div> - <div class='line'>Town-bred, and scarcely understand</div> - <div class='line'>What country usages demand.</div> - <div class='line'>But now, now it is urgent, friend,</div> - <div class='line'>The lack of judgment to amend.</div> - <div class='line'>You hitherto have too much heeded</div> - <div class='line'>What this man and what that man needed;</div> - <div class='line'>That error (in your private ear)</div> - <div class='line'>Is grievous. Weigh them in the block;</div> - <div class='line'>Use the same comb for all the flock;</div> - <div class='line'>You won’t repent it, never fear.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Be more explicit.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>The thing’s clear.</div> - <div class='line'>You for the Parish’s behoof</div> - <div class='line'>Have built a Church. That is the woof</div> - <div class='line'>That robes the spirit of Law and Peace;</div> - <div class='line'>For to the State, religion is</div> - <div class='line'>The power that lifts and purifies,</div> - <div class='line'>The stronghold where its safety lies,</div> - <div class='line'>The universal moral measure.</div> - <div class='line'>You see, the State is scant of treasure,</div> - <div class='line'>And wants full value for its pence.</div> - <div class='line'>“Good Christians” means “good citizens.”</div> - <div class='line in1'>Do you suppose it pays its pelf</div> - <div class='line'>To be for God and Man a tool,</div> - <div class='line'>And bring annoyance on itself?</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_201'>201</span>No, faith, the State is not a fool;</div> - <div class='line'>And all our course would run amiss,</div> - <div class='line'>Did not the State, by strictest rule,</div> - <div class='line'>Look only to the life that is.</div> - <div class='line'>But the State’s object, my good friend,</div> - <div class='line'>Through its officials must be gain’d,</div> - <div class='line'>In this case through its priests——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in37'>Each word</div> - <div class='line'>Is wisdom! Speak!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>I’m near the end.</div> - <div class='line'>This Church, you see, you have conferr’d</div> - <div class='line'>Upon the State, for its sole profit;</div> - <div class='line'>And, therefore, all the uses of it</div> - <div class='line'>Must to the State’s advantage tend.</div> - <div class='line'>This is the meaning, note it well,</div> - <div class='line'>Of our forthcoming celebration,</div> - <div class='line'>This shall be meant by chiming bell,</div> - <div class='line'>And this by Gift-deed’s recitation.</div> - <div class='line'>A promise thus the Gift implies,</div> - <div class='line'>Whose force I’d have you scrutinise——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>By God, I never meant it so!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes; but it’s now too late, you know——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Too late? Too late! That will be seen!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Be sensible! I can’t keep grave!</div> - <div class='line'>What is the tragedy therein?</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_202'>202</span>You are not ask’d to promise sin?</div> - <div class='line'>Souls do not grow more hard to save</div> - <div class='line'>Because the Country profits too;</div> - <div class='line'>With due discretion and despatch</div> - <div class='line'>Two masters’ bidding you may do;</div> - <div class='line'>You were not made a priest, to snatch</div> - <div class='line'>Peter or Harry’s single soul</div> - <div class='line'>Out of the torments of the lake;</div> - <div class='line'>But that the Parish as a whole</div> - <div class='line'>Might of the shower of grace partake;</div> - <div class='line'>And, the whole Parish saved, it’s clear,</div> - <div class='line'>You save every Parishioner.</div> - <div class='line'>The State is (what you hardly dream)</div> - <div class='line'>Exactly half republican:</div> - <div class='line'>Liberty held in strictest ban,</div> - <div class='line'>Equality in high esteem.</div> - <div class='line'>Yet is Equality never won</div> - <div class='line'>But by destroying More and Less,—</div> - <div class='line'>And it is that you have not done!</div> - <div class='line'>Nay, you have striven to express</div> - <div class='line'>And emphasise unlikenesses</div> - <div class='line'>That slumber’d hitherto unknown.</div> - <div class='line'>Men, mere Church-members till of late,</div> - <div class='line'>To Personalities are grown.</div> - <div class='line'>That does no service to the State;</div> - <div class='line'>And thus it is, each Parish rate,</div> - <div class='line'>Each offering to the common good,</div> - <div class='line'>Is from unwilling niggards bled;</div> - <div class='line'>The Church no longer is the hood</div> - <div class='line'>That fits alike on every head.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>O, vistas infinite unfold!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Don’t be cast down; no gain in that</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_203'>203</span>Though I must own I shudder at</div> - <div class='line'>The dire confusion I behold.</div> - <div class='line'>But while there’s life there’s hope, and you</div> - <div class='line'>Are by this gift baptized anew</div> - <div class='line'>To obligations yet more great</div> - <div class='line'>Of serving, by your Church, the State.</div> - <div class='line'>Men need a rule in all they do;</div> - <div class='line'>Or reckless forces, breaking loose,</div> - <div class='line'>Like colts undaunted by the curb,</div> - <div class='line'>Spurn gates and fences, and disturb</div> - <div class='line'>The thousand landmarks of old Use.</div> - <div class='line'>Each order’d mode of life proclaims</div> - <div class='line'>One Law, that goes by many names.</div> - <div class='line'>The Artist calls it School, and I’m</div> - <div class='line'>Mistaken if I have not heard</div> - <div class='line'>Our soldiers call it keeping time.</div> - <div class='line'>Ah yes, friend, that’s the very word!</div> - <div class='line'>That’s what the State desires at last!</div> - <div class='line'>Double-quick time gets on too fast,</div> - <div class='line'>And goose-step lags too far behind;</div> - <div class='line'>All men to step alike, and beat</div> - <div class='line'>The selfsame music with their feet,</div> - <div class='line'>That is the method to its mind!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Kennel the eagle;—and let loose</div> - <div class='line'>On empyrean flights the goose!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>We, thank the Lord, are not as these;—</div> - <div class='line'>But if we must use allegory,</div> - <div class='line'>We’ll turn to Scripture, if you please.</div> - <div class='line'>For every case it has a story,</div> - <div class='line'>From Genesis to Revelation</div> - <div class='line'>It swarms with stimulating Fable;</div> - <div class='line'>I will but hint, in illustration,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_204'>204</span>At that projected Tower of <a id='corr204.1'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='Babe'>Babel</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_204.1'><ins class='correction' title='Babe'>Babel</ins></a></span></div> - <div class='line'>How did the good folks prosper, pray?</div> - <div class='line'>And why? The answer’s clear as day;</div> - <div class='line'>Their ranks divided, sort by sort,</div> - <div class='line'>Each one his private language spoke,</div> - <div class='line'>They drew not in the common yoke,</div> - <div class='line'>Grew “Personalities,” in short.</div> - <div class='line'>That’s half the twofold core that lies</div> - <div class='line'>Embedded in this shell of fable;—</div> - <div class='line'>That all strength, sever’d, is unstable,</div> - <div class='line'>And death-doom’d who the world defies.</div> - <div class='line'>When God desires a man to fall</div> - <div class='line'>He makes him an Original;</div> - <div class='line'>The Romans had it, ’faith, that God</div> - <div class='line'>Made the man mad; but mad is odd,</div> - <div class='line'>And oddness singleness, you know;</div> - <div class='line'>Therefore who fights without a friend</div> - <div class='line'>Must look to suffer in the end</div> - <div class='line'>The fate that overtook the man</div> - <div class='line'>Whom David posted in the van.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes, very likely: but what though?</div> - <div class='line'>In Death I see not Overthrow.</div> - <div class='line'>And is your faith quite firm and fast</div> - <div class='line'>That had those builders spoken still</div> - <div class='line'>One speech, and acted with one will,</div> - <div class='line'>They would have piled the pinnacle</div> - <div class='line'>Of Babel up to heaven at last?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>To heaven? No, that is where it lies:</div> - <div class='line'>No man gets quite to Paradise.</div> - <div class='line'>There, see, we have the second core,</div> - <div class='line'>Embedded in this shell of fable;—</div> - <div class='line'>That every building is unstable</div> - <div class='line'>Which to the starry heaven would soar!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_205'>205</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yet, Jacob’s ladder reach’d that goal.</div> - <div class='line'>Thither by longing soars the Soul.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>In that way! Why, God bless me, yes</div> - <div class='line'>Further discussion’s needless there.</div> - <div class='line'>Heaven is the wage of faithfulness,</div> - <div class='line'>Of course, of moral life and prayer.</div> - <div class='line'>But life and faith hold such dissent,</div> - <div class='line'>They only thrive, when kept apart;</div> - <div class='line'>Six days for toiling hands are meant.</div> - <div class='line'>The seventh, for stirring of the heart;</div> - <div class='line'>If all the week we preach’d and pray’d,</div> - <div class='line'>The Sabbath had in vain been made.</div> - <div class='line'>God’s incense, rightly to be used,</div> - <div class='line'>Must not be lavishly diffused;</div> - <div class='line'>Worship, like Art, was not created</div> - <div class='line'>To be in perfume dissipated.</div> - <div class='line'>The Ideal you may safely sound</div> - <div class='line'>From pulpit’s holy vantage-ground;</div> - <div class='line'>But with your surplice lay it by,</div> - <div class='line'>When you emerge beneath the sky.</div> - <div class='line'>All things, as I have said, are based</div> - <div class='line'>On laws that strictly must be traced,</div> - <div class='line'>And my sole end in speaking is</div> - <div class='line'>To give this fact due emphasis.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>One thing I very clearly see:</div> - <div class='line'>No State Soul-case is fit for me.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A perfect fit, I will engage,</div> - <div class='line'>My friend,—but on a loftier stage:—</div> - <div class='line'>You must go up——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_206'>206</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in19'>Is that an end</div> - <div class='line'>I reach by plunging in the mire?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Whoso him humbleth shall go higher!</div> - <div class='line'>Hooks will not catch, unless they bend.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Man can’t be used, unless he perish!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Good God! How can you think I cherish</div> - <div class='line'>Any such purpose?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>Ay, indeed,</div> - <div class='line'>That’s the condition! First to bleed!</div> - <div class='line'>Your bloodless spirit to put on</div> - <div class='line'>Man must be first a skeleton!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I would not put the lancet through</div> - <div class='line'>A very kitten—far less you;</div> - <div class='line'>But yet I thought no harm were done</div> - <div class='line'>In leaving just ajar the door</div> - <div class='line'>That opens, where I went before.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And do you know what you have sought?</div> - <div class='line'>This, that upon the State’s cock-cry</div> - <div class='line'>I that Ideal should deny</div> - <div class='line'>For which I until now have fought?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Deny, friend? Who makes such request?</div> - <div class='line'>Duty is all I bid you follow:</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_207'>207</span>I ask you quietly to swallow</div> - <div class='line'>That which your people can’t digest.</div> - <div class='line'>Keep it intact, if you’re disposed,—</div> - <div class='line'>But yet hermetically closed;</div> - <div class='line'>At home, in God’s name, soar and swell,</div> - <div class='line'>Not as a public spectacle;</div> - <div class='line'>Trust me, the will that won’t be bent</div> - <div class='line'>Brings its unfailing punishment.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ay, fear of torment, hope of gain,</div> - <div class='line'>Are on thy brow the brand of Cain,</div> - <div class='line'>Which cries that thou by worldly art</div> - <div class='line'>Hast slain the Abel in thy heart!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - <div>[<i>To himself.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Upon my word he calls me “Thou”;</div> - <div class='line'>That is too much!—</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Aloud.</i>]</div> - <div class='line in20'>I will not now</div> - <div class='line'>Prolong our strife, but, to conclude,</div> - <div class='line'>Would have it clearly understood,</div> - <div class='line'>That if you’d prosper, you must weigh</div> - <div class='line'>What land you live in, and what day.</div> - <div class='line'>For no man wins the fight with fortune,</div> - <div class='line'>But in alliance with his time.</div> - <div class='line'>Which of the men who paint and rhyme</div> - <div class='line'>Dare fail when social claims importune?</div> - <div class='line'>Look at our soldiers! Why, the gleam</div> - <div class='line'>Of sabres is become a dream!</div> - <div class='line'>And wherefore? Since a law commands:</div> - <div class='line'>Postpone thy own need to the Land’s!</div> - <div class='line'>Let each his own excrescence pare,</div> - <div class='line'>Neither uplift him, nor protrude,</div> - <div class='line'>But vanish in the multitude.</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_208'>208</span>“Humane the age is,” says the Mayor:</div> - <div class='line'>And if humanely it be met</div> - <div class='line'>Will bring you fame and fortune yet.</div> - <div class='line'>But all your angles must be rounded,</div> - <div class='line'>Your gnarls and bosses scraped and pounded!</div> - <div class='line'>You must grow sleek as others do,</div> - <div class='line'>All singularities eschew,</div> - <div class='line'>If you would labour without let.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Away! away!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in12'>I quite agree.</div> - <div class='line'>Men of your stamp must finally</div> - <div class='line'>Be summon’d to a higher seat;</div> - <div class='line'>But, in the greater as the less,</div> - <div class='line'>Only the regimental dress</div> - <div class='line'>Will make your happiness complete.</div> - <div class='line'>The corporal, staff in hand, must knock</div> - <div class='line'>The sense of Time into his flock;</div> - <div class='line'>For, to our mind, the best of all</div> - <div class='line'>Commanders is the corporal.</div> - <div class='line'>Just as the corporal leads his men</div> - <div class='line'>Into the church, battalion-wise,</div> - <div class='line'>So must the priest lead his, again,</div> - <div class='line'>By parishes to Paradise.</div> - <div class='line'>It’s all so easy!—Faith, you say,</div> - <div class='line'>Broad-based upon authority;</div> - <div class='line'>Which, being upon learning stay’d,</div> - <div class='line'>May be implicitly obey’d:</div> - <div class='line'>While rules and ritual leave no doubt</div> - <div class='line'>How faith ought to be acted out.</div> - <div class='line'>Wherefore, my brother,—pluck up cheer!</div> - <div class='line'>Employ the time for meditation;</div> - <div class='line'>Reflect upon your situation,</div> - <div class='line'>And don’t give way to futile fear!</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_209'>209</span>I’ll see just now if I can pitch</div> - <div class='line'>My music to a higher note:</div> - <div class='line'>Though with an unaccustom’d throat,</div> - <div class='line'>A sounding-board’s so seldom here.</div> - <div class='line'>Farewell, farewell! I mean to preach</div> - <div class='line'>Of human nature’s sinful prime,</div> - <div class='line'>God’s image nigh obliterated.—</div> - <div class='line'>But now I’m thinking it is time</div> - <div class='line'>The inner mortal should be baited.</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Goes.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand</span></div> - <div>[<i>Stands for a moment as if petrified in thought.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>All I have offer’d for my call,</div> - <div class='line'>God’s as I vainly held it,—all;</div> - <div class='line'>And now one trumpet-blast reveal’d</div> - <div class='line'>Before what idols I had kneel’d.</div> - <div class='line'>Not yet! not yet! I’m not their slave!</div> - <div class='line'>Yon churchyard has had blood to sup,</div> - <div class='line'>Light, life I’ve laid in yonder grave;—</div> - <div class='line'>My soul shall not be yielded up!</div> - <div class='line in2'>O horrible to stand alone,—</div> - <div class='line'>Amid a glimmering world of dead;</div> - <div class='line'>Horrible to receive a stone,</div> - <div class='line'>Howe’er I hunger after bread.—</div> - <div class='line in2'>How true, how deadly true, his strain,—</div> - <div class='line'>But yet how vacant and how vain.</div> - <div class='line'>Dim broods God’s dove of piercing eyes;</div> - <div class='line'>Alas, to me she never flies.—</div> - <div class='line'>O, had I but <em class='gesperrt'>one</em> faithful breast—</div> - <div class='line'>To give me strength, to give me rest.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><i><span class='sc'>Einar</span>, pale, emaciated, dressed in black, comes along the road and stops on perceiving <span class='sc'>Brand</span>.</i></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand</span></div> - <div>[<i>Cries out.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You, Einar?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_210'>210</span><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in12'>By that name I’m known.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I was just thirsting for a breast</div> - <div class='line'>That was not made of wood or stone!</div> - <div class='line'>Come, to my heart of hearts be press’d!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>My haven’s found, I am at rest.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You bear a grudge for the event</div> - <div class='line'>Of our last meeting——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in24'>In no wise;</div> - <div class='line'>I blame you not. You were but sent</div> - <div class='line'>To be the passive instrument</div> - <div class='line'>Wherewith God oped my erring eyes.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand</span></div> - <div>[<i>starts back.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What tongue is this?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in21'>The tongue of peace—</div> - <div class='line'>The tongue they learn, who, timely torn</div> - <div class='line'>From Sleep of Sin, awake new-born.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Marvellous! I had heard of this,—</div> - <div class='line'>That you in quite another way</div> - <div class='line'>Were walking——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_211'>211</span><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in17'>I was led astray</div> - <div class='line'>By pride, in my own strength secure.</div> - <div class='line'>The idols the world holds divine,</div> - <div class='line'>The talent I was told was mine,</div> - <div class='line'>My singer’s voice, were all malign</div> - <div class='line'>Seductions unto Satan’s lure.</div> - <div class='line'>But God (I praise Him) for me wrought,</div> - <div class='line'>Left not His erring sheep unsought,</div> - <div class='line'>He help’d me in my hour of need.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Help’d you—in what way?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in25'>Yes, indeed:—</div> - <div class='line'>I fell.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in8'>Fell? How?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in19'>To dissipation.</div> - <div class='line'>With gambling tastes He me imbued—</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And that was God’s solicitude?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>’Twas the first step to my salvation.</div> - <div class='line'>On that my health He undermined,</div> - <div class='line'>The talent from my fingers fled,</div> - <div class='line'>My love of revelry declined,</div> - <div class='line'>Then, to the hospital consign’d,</div> - <div class='line'>Long I lay sick, and round my bed</div> - <div class='line'>Flames seem’d to glare, and on each wall</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_212'>212</span>Myriads of giant flies to crawl;—</div> - <div class='line'>Came out, and soon acquaintance made</div> - <div class='line'>With certain sisters, three in all,</div> - <div class='line'>Soldiers in God’s cause arm’d and paid.</div> - <div class='line'>And they, together with a priest,</div> - <div class='line'>Me from the yoke of Earth released</div> - <div class='line'>Pluck’d me from Sin that held me fast,</div> - <div class='line'>And made me the Lord’s child at last.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Indeed?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in8'>Divergent paths we follow;</div> - <div class='line'>One seeks the height, and one the hollow.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But after?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in11'>True; I turn’d me thence,</div> - <div class='line'>To preach for Total Abstinence;</div> - <div class='line'>But since that Work for the unwary</div> - <div class='line'>Is strewn with perilous temptation,</div> - <div class='line'>I chose another occupation,</div> - <div class='line'>And travel now as Missionary——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Where?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in7'>To the Caudate-nigger State.</div> - <div class='line'>But now, I think, we’ll separate;</div> - <div class='line'>My time is precious——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in23'>Won’t you stay?</div> - <div class='line'>You see here’s festival to-day.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_213'>213</span><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Thanks, no; the swarthy Heathens wait.—</div> - <div class='line'>Farewell.</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Going.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in10'>And does no memory stir,</div> - <div class='line'>Bidding you ask—?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in19'>Of what?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in28'>Of her</div> - <div class='line'>Who would have grieved at the abyss,</div> - <div class='line'>That parts another day from this.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I guess your meaning; you refer</div> - <div class='line'>To that young female, whose allure</div> - <div class='line'>Held me in pleasure’s net secure,</div> - <div class='line'>Till Faith’s ablution made me pure.</div> - <div class='line'>—Yes, and how is it then with her?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Next year I won her for my wife.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><a id='corr213.22'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='That'>That’s</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_213.22'><ins class='correction' title='That'>That’s</ins></a></span> unimportant, I prefer</div> - <div class='line'>To leave these trivial facts unknown</div> - <div class='line'>What’s <em class='gesperrt'>weighty</em> I desire alone.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>God richly bless’d our common life</div> - <div class='line'>With joy and sorrow: The child pined——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>That’s unimportant——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_214'>214</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in22'>So it is;</div> - <div class='line'>He was but given to be resign’d;</div> - <div class='line'>Our eyes one day shall look on his.</div> - <div class='line'>But afterwards she also died;</div> - <div class='line'>Their graves bloom yonder side by side.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>That’s unimportant——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in22'>That likewise?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Such things are trifles in my eyes,</div> - <div class='line'>How did she die, I want to know?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>With Hope that yet a Dawn shall glow,</div> - <div class='line'>With all her heart’s rich treasure whole.</div> - <div class='line'>With Will that never lost control,</div> - <div class='line'>With thanks for all that life had lent</div> - <div class='line'>And life had taken away, she went.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Trumpery figments every one.</div> - <div class='line'>Say what the faith she died in was.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Unshaken.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in10'>In what?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in19'>In God.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_215'>215</span><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in27'>Alas</div> - <div class='line'>Only in Him? She is undone.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What say you?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>Damn’d, to my regret.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Quietly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Go, scoundrel!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in15'><em class='gesperrt'>You</em> shall feel as well</div> - <div class='line'>The clutches of the Lord of hell;—</div> - <div class='line'>For both, eternal torments wait.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You, wretch, dare sentence to the Fire!</div> - <div class='line'>Yourself late wallow’d in the mire——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>On me no spot is to be seen;</div> - <div class='line'>The tub of Faith hath wash’d me clean;</div> - <div class='line'>Each splash has vanish’d, scraped and scored</div> - <div class='line'>On Holiness’s washing-board;</div> - <div class='line'>In Vigilance’s mangle I</div> - <div class='line'>Have wrung my Adam’s-vesture dry;</div> - <div class='line'>And shine like snowy surplice fair,</div> - <div class='line'>Soap-lather’d with the suds of Prayer!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Hold!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_216'>216</span><span class='sc'>Einar.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in6'>Hold, yourself! Here’s sulphur fume,</div> - <div class='line'>I see the glints of Satan’s horn!</div> - <div class='line'>I am Salvation’s good wheat-corn,</div> - <div class='line'>And you the shovell’d chaff of Doom.</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Goes.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Looks a while after him; all at once his eyes flash and he breaks out.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>That</em>, that is the man I need!</div> - <div class='line'>Now all bonds are burst that bound me;</div> - <div class='line'>Now my flag shall wave around me</div> - <div class='line'>Though none follow where I lead!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Comes hastily in.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Pray, dear Pastor, hasten, do!</div> - <div class='line'>The procession-people stand</div> - <div class='line'>Waiting only the command—</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Let them come then!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>Wanting you!</div> - <div class='line'>Pray reflect, and hasten in!</div> - <div class='line'>All impatient to begin,</div> - <div class='line'>See, the whole mass throng and strain;</div> - <div class='line'>Like a torrent after storm</div> - <div class='line'>On the Manse they surge and swarm,</div> - <div class='line'>Shouting for the Priest. Again,</div> - <div class='line'>Hark you, for “the Priest” they shout,</div> - <div class='line'>Pray make haste! I much misdoubt,</div> - <div class='line'>They may scarcely prove humane!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_217'>217</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Never will I hide my face</div> - <div class='line'>In the crowd that you command;</div> - <div class='line'>Let them seek me: here I stand.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Are you sane?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>The path you pace</div> - <div class='line'>Is too narrow for my tread.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And ’twill still grow less and less</div> - <div class='line'>As the people push ahead.</div> - <div class='line'>Zounds! They spurn at rod and check!</div> - <div class='line'>Parsons, Dean, and Corporation</div> - <div class='line'>Jostled to the brimming beck—!</div> - <div class='line'>Quickly, friend, make application</div> - <div class='line'>Of the scourge of your persuasion!</div> - <div class='line'>Ha, too late, they smash the line;</div> - <div class='line'>The procession is a wreck!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><i>The multitude stream in, and break in wild disorder through the procession to the church.</i></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Voices.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Priest!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Others.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='direction'> -<p class='c023'>[<i>Pointing up to the Church steps, where -<span class='sc'>Brand</span> stands.</i>]</p> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in8'>See yonder!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Others again.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>Give the sign!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_218'>218</span><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Jostled in the throng.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Mayor, Mayor, control them, pray!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>All my words are thrown away!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - <div>[<i>To</i> <span class='sc'>Brand</span>.]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Speak to them, and cast a gleam</div> - <div class='line'>On their spirits’ troubled stream!</div> - <div class='line'>What you summon’d us to see,</div> - <div class='line'>Was it Feast or foolery?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>O, there stirs a current, then,</div> - <div class='line'>In these stagnant waters.—Men,</div> - <div class='line'>At the crossway stand ye: choose!</div> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>Wholly</em> ye must will to lose</div> - <div class='line'>The old vesture of your lust,</div> - <div class='line'>Utterly anew be clad,</div> - <div class='line'>Ere our Temple from the dust</div> - <div class='line'>Rises, as it shall and must!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Officials.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>He is raving!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Clergy.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>He is mad!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes, I was so, when I thought</div> - <div class='line'>Ye in some sense also wrought</div> - <div class='line'>For the God who hateth Lies!</div> - <div class='line'>When I dream’d that I could lure</div> - <div class='line'>To your hearts His Spirit pure</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_219'>219</span>By a feat of compromise.</div> - <div class='line'>Small the Church was; logic thence</div> - <div class='line'>Palter’d to the inference:</div> - <div class='line'>Twice the size—that cannot fail;</div> - <div class='line'>Fivefold,—that must needs prevail!</div> - <div class='line'>O, I saw not that the call</div> - <div class='line'>Was for <em class='gesperrt'>Nothing</em> or else <em class='gesperrt'>All</em>.</div> - <div class='line'>Down that easy way I reel’d,</div> - <div class='line'>But to-day the Lord has spoken,</div> - <div class='line'>In this very hour has peal’d</div> - <div class='line'>Overhead the awful blast</div> - <div class='line'>Of His Judgment-trump at last,—</div> - <div class='line'>And I listen’d, in the wind</div> - <div class='line'>Of my anguish, baffled, broken,—</div> - <div class='line'>Even as David, having sinn’d—;</div> - <div class='line'>Now all hesitation dies.</div> - <div class='line'>Men! The Devil is <em class='gesperrt'>compromise</em>!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Multitude.</span></div> - <div>[<i>With growing excitement.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Down with them that quench’d our light</div> - <div class='line'>Sapp’d the marrow of our might!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>In your souls the demon dwells</div> - <div class='line'>That has bound you with his spells.</div> - <div class='line'>You have put your powers at mart,</div> - <div class='line'>You have cleft yourselves in twain;</div> - <div class='line'>Discord therefore numbs your brain,</div> - <div class='line'>Petrifies your hollow heart.</div> - <div class='line'>To the Church to-day what drew you?</div> - <div class='line'>But the show, the show—nought else!—</div> - <div class='line'>Roll of organ, clash of bells,—</div> - <div class='line'>And to feel the tingle through you</div> - <div class='line'>Of a speaking-furnace dart,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_220'>220</span>As it lisps and lilts and prattles,</div> - <div class='line'>As it rolls and roars and rattles,</div> - <div class='line'>By the strictest rules of Art!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - <div>[<i>To himself.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The Mayor’s chatter, he must mean.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Likewise.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>That’s the twaddle of the Dean!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Nothing but the altar-glow</div> - <div class='line'>Of the Festival you know.</div> - <div class='line'>Get you home then to your sloth,</div> - <div class='line'>Get you home to toil and stress,</div> - <div class='line'>Soul as well as body clothe</div> - <div class='line'>In its common work-day dress,—</div> - <div class='line'>And the Bible slumber sound</div> - <div class='line'>Till the next Saint’s day comes round.</div> - <div class='line'>O, it was not to this end</div> - <div class='line'>That the Offering-cup I drain’d!</div> - <div class='line'>I the Greater Church ordain’d,</div> - <div class='line'>That its shadow might descend,</div> - <div class='line'>Not alone on Faith and Creed</div> - <div class='line'>But on everything in life</div> - <div class='line'>That by God’s leave lives indeed;—</div> - <div class='line'>On our daily strain and strife,</div> - <div class='line'>Midnight weeping, evening rest,</div> - <div class='line'>Youth’s impetuous delight,</div> - <div class='line'>All that harbours of good right,</div> - <div class='line'>Mean or precious, in the breast.</div> - <div class='line'>Yonder foss’s hidden thunder,</div> - <div class='line'>And the beck that sparkles under,</div> - <div class='line'>And the bellow of wild weather,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_221'>221</span>And the murmurous ocean’s tongue</div> - <div class='line'>Should have melted, soul-possess’d,</div> - <div class='line'>With the organ’s roll together,</div> - <div class='line'>And the gather’d people’s song.</div> - <div class='line'>Sweep this lying Labour hence!</div> - <div class='line'>Mighty only in pretence!</div> - <div class='line'>Stricken inly with decay</div> - <div class='line'>On its consecration day,—</div> - <div class='line'>Symbol of your impotence.</div> - <div class='line'>All the germs of soul you aim</div> - <div class='line'>By divided toil to maim;</div> - <div class='line'>For the week’s six days ye drag</div> - <div class='line'>To the deepest deep God’s flag,</div> - <div class='line'>For one only of the seven,</div> - <div class='line'>Let it flutter forth to heaven!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Voices from the Throng.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Lead us, lead us! Tempest lowers!</div> - <div class='line'>Lead us, and the day is ours!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Do not hear him! Nought he knows</div> - <div class='line'>Of the Faith a Christian owes!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ay, thou nam’st the flaw whereby</div> - <div class='line'>Both the throng, and thou and I,</div> - <div class='line'>Are beset! To souls alone</div> - <div class='line'>Faith is possible,—show me one!</div> - <div class='line'>Show me one that his best treasure</div> - <div class='line'>Has not inly flung to waste</div> - <div class='line'>In his fumbling, or his haste!</div> - <div class='line'>First, the reeling plunge for pleasure</div> - <div class='line'>To the tabor’s juggling strain</div> - <div class='line'>Till the zest of pleasure’s slain;</div> - <div class='line'>Then, soul-ruins, charr’d and stark,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_222'>222</span>Turn to dance before the Ark!</div> - <div class='line'>When the cup’s last liquor slips</div> - <div class='line'>Through the brain-worn cripple’s lips,</div> - <div class='line'>Ho! ’tis time to pray and mend,</div> - <div class='line'>Sure of pardon in the end.</div> - <div class='line'>First God’s image you outwear,</div> - <div class='line'>Live the beast within you bare,</div> - <div class='line'>Then to Mercy cry your needs,</div> - <div class='line'>Seeking God—as invalids!</div> - <div class='line'>So, His Kingdom’s overthrown.</div> - <div class='line'>What should He with souls effete</div> - <div class='line'>Grovelling at His mercy-seat?</div> - <div class='line'>Said He not that then alone</div> - <div class='line'>When your lifeblood pulses tense,</div> - <div class='line'>Through all veins of soul and sense,</div> - <div class='line'>Ye His kingdom shall inherit?</div> - <div class='line'>Children ye must be to share it;</div> - <div class='line'>No man hobbles through its gate.</div> - <div class='line'>Come then, ye whose cheek is rife</div> - <div class='line'>With the bloom of childhood yet</div> - <div class='line'>To the greater Church of Life!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Open it then!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Multitude.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Crying out as in anguish.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>No! Not this!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>It has neither mark nor bound,</div> - <div class='line'>But its floor the green earth is,</div> - <div class='line'>Mead and mountain, sea and sound;</div> - <div class='line'>And the overarching sky</div> - <div class='line'>Is its only canopy.</div> - <div class='line'>There shall all thy work be wrought</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_223'>223</span>As an anthem for God’s ear,</div> - <div class='line'>There thy week-day toil be sought</div> - <div class='line'>With no sacrilege to fear.</div> - <div class='line'>There the World be like a tree</div> - <div class='line'>Folded in its shielding bark;</div> - <div class='line'>Faith and Action blended be.</div> - <div class='line'>There shall daily labour fuse</div> - <div class='line'>With right Teaching and right Use,</div> - <div class='line'>Daily drudgery be one</div> - <div class='line'>With star-flights beyond the sun,</div> - <div class='line'>One with Yule-tide revelry</div> - <div class='line'>And the Dance before the Ark.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='direction'> -<p class='c021'>[<i>A stormy agitation passes over the multitude; -some retire; most press close about -<span class='sc'>Brand</span>.</i></p> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>A Thousand Voices.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Light is kindled in the dark;—</div> - <div class='line'>Life and serving God’s the same!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Woe on us! He wins them—hark!</div> - <div class='line'>Mayor, sexton, beadle, clerk!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Aside.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Do not scream so, o’ God’s name!</div> - <div class='line'>With a bull who wants a bout?</div> - <div class='line'>Let him roar his ravin out!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>To the multitude.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Hence—away! God is afar!</div> - <div class='line'>Cannot be where such men are!</div> - <div class='line'>Fair His kingdom is and free!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='direction'> -<p class='c021'>[<i>Locks the church-door and takes the keys -in his hand.</i>]</p> -</div> -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_224'>224</span>Here I will be priest no more.</div> - <div class='line'>I revoke my gift;—from me</div> - <div class='line'>No man shall receive the key</div> - <div class='line'>Of the yet unopen’d door!</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Throws the keys into the river.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Wilt thou in, thou slave of clay,—</div> - <div class='line'>Through the crypt-hole worm thy way;</div> - <div class='line'>Lithe thy back is, creep and ply;</div> - <div class='line'>From that charnel let thy sigh</div> - <div class='line'>Roam the earth with venom’d breath,</div> - <div class='line'>Like the flagging gasp of death!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Aside with relief.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ha, <em class='gesperrt'>his</em> hope of knighthood’s dim!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Similarly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Well; no bishopric for him!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Come thou, young man—fresh and free—</div> - <div class='line'>Let a life-breeze lighten thee</div> - <div class='line'>From this dim vault’s clinging dust.</div> - <div class='line'>Conquer with me! For thou must</div> - <div class='line'>One day waken, one day rise,</div> - <div class='line'>Nobly break with compromise;—</div> - <div class='line'>Up, and fly the evil days,</div> - <div class='line'>Fly the maze of middle ways,</div> - <div class='line'>Strike the foeman full and fair,</div> - <div class='line'>Battle to the death declare!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Hold! I’ll read the Riot Act!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_225'>225</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Read! With you I break my pact.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Multitude.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Show the way, and we will follow!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Over frozen height and hollow,</div> - <div class='line'>Over all the land we’ll fare,</div> - <div class='line'>Loose each soul-destroying snare</div> - <div class='line'>That this people holds in fee,</div> - <div class='line'>Lift and lighten, and set free,</div> - <div class='line'>Blot the vestige of the beast,</div> - <div class='line'>Each a Man and each a Priest,</div> - <div class='line'>Stamp anew the outworn brand,</div> - <div class='line'>Make a Temple of the land.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='direction'> -<p class='c021'>[<i>The multitude, including the <span class='sc'>Sexton</span> and -<span class='sc'>Schoolmaster</span>, throng around him. -<span class='sc'>Brand</span> is lifted on to their shoulders.</i></p> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Many Voices.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>’Tis a great Time! Visions fair</div> - <div class='line'>Dazzle through the noontide glare.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='direction'> -<p class='c021'>[<i>The great mass of the assemblage streams -away up the valley; a few remain.</i></p> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - <div>[<i>To the departing crowd.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>O, ye blinded ones, what would you?</div> - <div class='line'>Lo! behind his seeming sooth</div> - <div class='line'>Satan scheming to delude you!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ho there! Turn! Folks born to track</div> - <div class='line'>Safe home-waters still and smooth!</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_226'>226</span>Stop!—ye go to ruin and wrack!—</div> - <div class='line'>(Dogs! And not a word comes back!)</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Think of household and of home!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Voices from the Multitude.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>To a greater Home we come!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Think of meadow-plot and field;</div> - <div class='line'>Think of teeming stall and fold!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Voices.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Heavenly dews did manna yield</div> - <div class='line'>When the chosen starved of old!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Hark! your women cry in <a id='corr226.14'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='chorus'>chorus!</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_226.14'><ins class='correction' title='chorus'>chorus!</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Voices.</span></div> - <div>[<i>In the distance.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ours they are not if they quail!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Father’s gone!” your children wail.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The whole Multitude.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Be against us, or be for us!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Gazes a while with folded hands after them; then dejectedly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>By his faithless flock deserted</div> - <div class='line'>Stands the old shepherd, heavy-hearted,</div> - <div class='line'>Plunder’d to the very skin!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_227'>227</span><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Shaking his fist at <span class='sc'>Brand</span>.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>His</em> the scandal; <em class='gesperrt'>his</em> the sin!</div> - <div class='line'>But we’ll shortly win the fight!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Almost breaking down.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Win? Of all our people cheated?—</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ay, but we are not defeated,</div> - <div class='line'>If I know my lambs aright!</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>Follows them.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Whither will he, in heaven’s name?</div> - <div class='line'>As I live, he’s after them!</div> - <div class='line'>Ha, my drooping courage rises,</div> - <div class='line'>I will also do and dare,—</div> - <div class='line'>Make assaults and capture prizes!</div> - <div class='line'>Bring my steed;—that is, prepare</div> - <div class='line'>A safe, steady mountain mare!</div> - <div class='c020'>[<i>They go.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class='c022' /> - -<p class='c016'><i>By the highest farms in the valley. The land rises -in the background, and passes into great barren -mountains. Rain.</i></p> -<p class='c016'><i><span class='sc'>Brand</span>, followed by the multitude—men, women, and -children,—comes up the slopes.</i></p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Look onward! Triumph flies ahead!</div> - <div class='line'>Your homes are hidden in the deep,</div> - <div class='line'>And over it, from steep to steep,</div> - <div class='line'>The storm his cloudy tent has spread.</div> - <div class='line'>Forget the pit of sloth ye trod,</div> - <div class='line'>Fly free aloft, ye sons of God!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_228'>228</span><span class='sc'>A Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Wait; my old father is dead beaten.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Another.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Since yesterday I’ve nothing eaten——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Several.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ay, still our hunger, slake our thirst!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>On, on, across the mountain first!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Which way?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in11'>All ways alike are right</div> - <div class='line'>That reach the goal. This way pursue——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>A Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Nay, it is steep, and ’twill be night</div> - <div class='line'>Ere we are well upon the height.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And that way lies the Ice-church too.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The steep way is the short way still.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>A Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>My foot is sore!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Another.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in17'>My child is ill!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>A Third.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Where shall I get a drop to drink?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_229'>229</span><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Priest, feed the people;—see, they sink.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Many Voices.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A miracle! A miracle!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>O, the slave-stamp has branded deep;</div> - <div class='line'>The toil you shirk, the hire you crave.</div> - <div class='line'>Up, and shake off this deadly sleep,—</div> - <div class='line'>Or else, get back into the grave!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ay, he is right; first face the foe;</div> - <div class='line'>The hire comes afterwards, you know.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>It shall, as sure as God looks forth</div> - <div class='line'>Over the breadth and depth of Earth!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Many Voices.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>He’s prophesying! He’s <a id='corr229.17'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='prophesying'>prophesying!</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_229.17'><ins class='correction' title='prophesying'>prophesying!</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Several.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Hark, priest, will it be warm, this fight?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Others.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And bloody? And will it last till night?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Aside.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I trust there is no risk of dying?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>A Man.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Priest, must we really face the fire?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_230'>230</span><span class='sc'>Another.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What is <em class='gesperrt'>my</em> portion of the hire?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>A Woman.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You’re sure I shall not lose my son?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>By Tuesday will the field be won?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Looking round in bewilderment on the throng.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What would you know? What’s your demand?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Firstly, how long we shall make war.</div> - <div class='line'>Then, of our total loss therein.</div> - <div class='line'>And finally,—how much we win?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>This ye demand?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in16'>Yes, ’faith; before</div> - <div class='line'>We did not rightly understand.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Deeply moved.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Then ye shall understand it now!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Multitude.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Thronging closer.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Speak! Speak!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>How long the war will last?</div> - <div class='line'>As long as life, till ye have cast</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_231'>231</span>All ye possess before the Lord,</div> - <div class='line'>And slain the Spirit of Accord;</div> - <div class='line'>Until your stiff will bend and bow,</div> - <div class='line'>And every coward scruple fall</div> - <div class='line'>Before the bidding: Nought or All!</div> - <div class='line'>What you will lose? Your gods abhorr’d,</div> - <div class='line'>Your feasts to Mammon and the Lord,</div> - <div class='line'>The glittering bonds ye do not loathe,</div> - <div class='line'>And all the pillows of your sloth!</div> - <div class='line'>What you will gain? A will that’s whole,—</div> - <div class='line'>A soaring faith, a single soul,</div> - <div class='line'>The willingness to lose, that gave</div> - <div class='line'>Itself rejoicing to the grave;—</div> - <div class='line'>A crown of thorns on every brow;—</div> - <div class='line'>That is the wage you’re earning now!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Multitude.</span></div> - <div>[<i>With a furious cry.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Betray’d! Betray’d! Deceived! Misled!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I say but what I always said!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Several.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You promised us the victor’s prize;</div> - <div class='line'>And now it turns to sacrifice!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I promised victory,—and to you</div> - <div class='line'>Victory shall indeed be due.</div> - <div class='line'>But every man who fights in front</div> - <div class='line'>Must perish in the battle’s brunt;</div> - <div class='line'>If that he dares not, let him lay</div> - <div class='line'>His arms down ere the battle-day</div> - <div class='line'>The flag’s predestined to surrender</div> - <div class='line'>That has a timorous defender;</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_232'>232</span>And he that shudders at the cost,</div> - <div class='line'>Ere he is wounded, he is lost.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Multitude.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>He insolently bids us die</div> - <div class='line'>To serve unborn posterity!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Through thorny steeps of sacrifice,</div> - <div class='line'>The way unto our Canaan lies.</div> - <div class='line'>Triumph through death! I call you all,</div> - <div class='line'>As Champions of God to fall!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Well, we are in a pretty plight!</div> - <div class='line'>No mercy to expect below——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Nay, we have bade the dale good-night.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And forward, forward, who will go?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Some.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>To death with him!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in19'>’Twere pity, so!</div> - <div class='line'>We want a general, you know!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Women.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Pointing in terror downwards.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The Dean! The Dean!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - <div>[<i>To the throng.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>Nay, never fear!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_233'>233</span><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Comes in, followed by some of those who remained behind.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>O my beloved! O my sheep!</div> - <div class='line'>To the old shepherd’s voice give ear!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - <div>[<i>To the throng.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A home no more we have below;</div> - <div class='line'>Better we follow up the steep!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>That ye could grieve my heart so sore,</div> - <div class='line'>And pierce me with a wound so deep!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Thou wast their soul’s scourge evermore!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Don’t heed him! He is stuffing you</div> - <div class='line'>With idle promises.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Several.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>That’s true!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But we are gracious, and forgive</div> - <div class='line'>Where we true penitence perceive.</div> - <div class='line'>O, turn your eyes into your hearts</div> - <div class='line'>And mark the diabolic arts</div> - <div class='line'>With which he won you to his aid!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Multitude.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ay, sure enough; we were betray’d!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And then consider; what can ye,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_234'>234</span>A knot of scatter’d dalesmen, do?</div> - <div class='line'>Are high heroic deeds for you?</div> - <div class='line'>Can ye give bondsmen liberty?</div> - <div class='line'>You have your daily task; pursue it!</div> - <div class='line'>Whatever is beyond, eschew it!</div> - <div class='line'>What can your prowess brave or baulk?</div> - <div class='line'>Ye have your humble homes to keep.</div> - <div class='line'>What would you between eagle and hawk?</div> - <div class='line'>What would you between wolf and bear?</div> - <div class='line'>Ye fall but to the strongest’s share.</div> - <div class='line'>O my beloved! O my sheep!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Multitude.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ay, woe on us,—his words are true!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And yet, when from the dale we drew,</div> - <div class='line'>Upon ourselves we locked the door;</div> - <div class='line'>We have no home there, as before.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>No, he has open’d all our eyes,</div> - <div class='line'>Laid bare sins, sicknesses, and lies;</div> - <div class='line'>The sleepy people sleeps no more;</div> - <div class='line'>And deadly to our waking seems</div> - <div class='line'>The life that satisfied our dreams.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ah, trust me, that will soon pass over.</div> - <div class='line'>All will return to the old state,</div> - <div class='line'>If you will just be still and wait.</div> - <div class='line'>These folks, I’ll wage, will soon recover</div> - <div class='line'>The wonted calm they have foregone.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Choose, men and women!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_235'>235</span><span class='sc'>Some.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in23'>Home!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Others.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in29'>Too late!</div> - <div class='line'>Too late! Along the height press on!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Enters in haste.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>O lucky chance I caught you <a id='corr235.8'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='up'>up.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_235.8'><ins class='correction' title='up'>up.</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Women.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ah, dear kind master, don’t be <a id='corr235.10'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='stern'>stern.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_235.10'><ins class='correction' title='stern'>stern.</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Not now; provided you return!</div> - <div class='line'>A better day, a brighter season</div> - <div class='line'>Dawns for us! If you’ll hark to reason,</div> - <div class='line'>You’ll all be rich men ere you sup!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Several.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>How so?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in8'>There is a herring-horde</div> - <div class='line'>By millions swimming in the fjord!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Multitude.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What does he say?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in17'>Set all to rights!</div> - <div class='line'>Fly from these stormy uplands bare.</div> - <div class='line'>Till now the herrings swam elsewhere;</div> - <div class='line'>Now, friends, at last, our barren bights</div> - <div class='line'>Good fortune tardily requites.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_236'>236</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Between God’s summons choose, and his!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Consult your own shrewd faculties!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A Miracle Divine is here!</div> - <div class='line'>A Providential Token clear!</div> - <div class='line'>How oft I dreamt that this befell!</div> - <div class='line'>I took it for a nightmare’s spell;</div> - <div class='line'>And now its meaning is revealed——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yourselves you ruin, if you yield!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Many.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A herring-horde!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in16'>By millions told!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>For wife and children, bread and gold!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>You see, then, this is not an hour</div> - <div class='line'>To waste your forces in a fray,</div> - <div class='line'>And against energies whose power</div> - <div class='line'>Strikes in the very Dean dismay.</div> - <div class='line'>Now ye have other ends in view</div> - <div class='line'>Than idly pining for the sky.</div> - <div class='line'>Heaven, trust me, can your arms defy,</div> - <div class='line'>And God’s not easy to subdue.</div> - <div class='line'>Don’t mix yourselves in others’ strife,</div> - <div class='line'>But gather in the proffer’d fruit,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_237'>237</span>That is a practical pursuit,</div> - <div class='line'>That does not call for blood and knife;</div> - <div class='line'>That asks no sacrifice of life,</div> - <div class='line'>And gives you its good things to boot!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Just sacrifice is His demand,—</div> - <div class='line'>Flame-writ in Heaven by His hand!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ah, if you feel a call that way,</div> - <div class='line'>Just come to me next Sunday, say,</div> - <div class='line'>And on my word I’ll——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Interrupting.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in24'>Yes, yes, yes!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Aside to the <span class='sc'>Dean</span>.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Shall I be suffer’d keep my place?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Similarly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Shall I be forced to leave my school?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Aside to them.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>If these stiff necks you overrule</div> - <div class='line'>We will deal mildly with your case.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Away—away with you! time flies!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>To boat, to boat, whoever’s wise!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_238'>238</span><span class='sc'>Some.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ay, but the priest?——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in23'>O, leave the fool!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Here speaks the Lord as clearly, look,</div> - <div class='line'>As in an open printed book!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Leave him; that’s law and justice too;</div> - <div class='line'>With babbling tales he flouted you.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Several.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>He lied to us!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in15'>His creed’s accursed;</div> - <div class='line'>And think, he never got a First!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Some.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Never got <em class='gesperrt'>what</em>?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in16'>A grain of sense.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Nay, of that we have evidence!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Vainly his mother’s dying breath</div> - <div class='line'>For the last sacrament made suit!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>His child he almost did to death!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_239'>239</span><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>His wife as well!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Women.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>O heartless brute!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Bad spouse, bad father, and bad son,—</div> - <div class='line'>Worse Christian surely there is none!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Many Voices.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Our ancient Church he overthrew!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Others.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And shot the bolt upon the new!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Others again.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>He wreck’d us in a roaring stream!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>He pilfer’d my Asylum-scheme!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>On every branded brow I see</div> - <div class='line'>This generation’s destiny.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Whole Throng.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Roaring.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Hoo, never heed him! Stone and knife!</div> - <div class='line'>Send the fiend flying for his life!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='direction'> -<p class='c021'>[<i><span class='sc'>Brand</span> is driven with stones out into the wild. -His pursuers then return.</i></p> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>O my beloved! O my sheep!</div> - <div class='line'>Back to your homes and hearths once more;</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_240'>240</span>Your eyes in true repentance steep,</div> - <div class='line'>And see what blessings are in store.</div> - <div class='line'>God in His mercy is so good,</div> - <div class='line'>He asketh not the guiltless blood;—</div> - <div class='line'>And our authorities as well</div> - <div class='line'>Are singularly placable;</div> - <div class='line'>Mayor, magistrate, and sheriff too,</div> - <div class='line'>Will not be over hard on you;</div> - <div class='line'>And for myself, that large humanity</div> - <div class='line'>That marks our modern Christianity</div> - <div class='line'>Is mine; your rulers will descend</div> - <div class='line'>And dwell with you, as friend with friend.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But should abuses be detected,</div> - <div class='line'>They must, past question, be corrected.</div> - <div class='line'>When we’ve a little time to move,</div> - <div class='line'>I’ll have appointed a commission,</div> - <div class='line'>To seek how best we may improve</div> - <div class='line'>Your intellectual condition.</div> - <div class='line'>Some clergymen it should include</div> - <div class='line'>Such as the Dean and I think good,—</div> - <div class='line'>And furthermore, if you prefer,</div> - <div class='line'>The Sexton and the Schoolmaster,</div> - <div class='line'>With others of a humbler sort,—</div> - <div class='line'>You’ll all be satisfied, in short.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes, we’ll relieve your burdens all,</div> - <div class='line'>As ye this day have brought relief</div> - <div class='line'>To your old shepherd in his grief.</div> - <div class='line'>Let each find comfort in the thought</div> - <div class='line'>That here a miracle was wrought.</div> - <div class='line'>Farewell! Good fortune to your haul!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ah, there’s true charity, if you will!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_241'>241</span><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>So meek and unassuming still.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Women.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>So kindly, and so nice!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Other Women.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in24'>And then</div> - <div class='line'>Such condescending gentlemen!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Sexton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>They</em> don’t demand the martyr’s throe.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Schoolmaster.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The Lord’s Prayer is not all they know.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c019'>[<i>The throng passes on downwards.</i></div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - <div>[<i>To the <span class='sc'>Mayor</span>.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ah, that has taken. It is plain</div> - <div class='line'>A great revulsion is in train;</div> - <div class='line'>For, by God’s blessed benefaction,</div> - <div class='line'>There is a thing men call Reaction.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>’Twas my achievement, to control</div> - <div class='line'>The infant riot ere it grew.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ah, to the miracle most was due.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What miracle?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>The herring-shoal.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_242'>242</span><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Whistling.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>That was, I need not say, a lie.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Really, a lie?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in15'>I just let loose</div> - <div class='line'>At the first fancy that came by;</div> - <div class='line'>Is it a sin such means to use</div> - <div class='line'>In such a cause?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in17'>God bless me, no</div> - <div class='line'>Need is an adequate excuse.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And then, to-morrow, when the glow</div> - <div class='line'>Of agitation’s dead, or dying,</div> - <div class='line'>What will it matter if the end</div> - <div class='line'>Was gain’d by telling truth, or lying?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I am no formalist, my friend.</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Looks up into the wild.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>But is’t not Brand that yonder drags</div> - <div class='line'>His slow course upward?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in24'>Ay, you’re right!</div> - <div class='line'>A lonely warrior off to fight!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Nay, there’s another too—that lags</div> - <div class='line'>Far in the rear!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_243'>243</span><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in17'>Why;—that is Gerd;</div> - <div class='line'>The herdsman’s worthy of the herd.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Facetiously.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>When he has still’d his losing whim,</div> - <div class='line'>This is the epitaph for him:</div> - <div class='line'>“Here lieth Brand; his tale’s a sad one;</div> - <div class='line'>One soul he saved,—and that a mad one!”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Mayor.</span></div> - <div>[<i>With his finger to his nose.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But, on reflection, I have some</div> - <div class='line'>Misgivings that the folk’s decree</div> - <div class='line'>A little lack’d humanity.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Dean.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Shrugging his shoulders.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Vox populi vox Dei.</span></em> Come!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c019'>[<i>They go.</i></div> - -<hr class='c024' /> - -<p class='c016'><i>High up among the mountains. A storm is rising and -chasing the clouds heavily over the snow-slopes; -black peaks and summits appear here and there, -and are veiled again by the mist.</i></p> -<p class='c016'><i><span class='sc'>Brand</span> comes, bleeding and broken, up the mountain.</i></p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Stops and looks backward.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>From the vale they follow’d thronging,</div> - <div class='line'>Never one has reached the height.</div> - <div class='line'>Through all bosoms thrill’d the longing</div> - <div class='line'>For a greater Day’s dawn-light;</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_244'>244</span>Through all souls subduing strode</div> - <div class='line'>The alarum-call of God.</div> - <div class='line'>But the sacrifice they dread!</div> - <div class='line'>Will, the weakling, hides his head;—</div> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>One</em> man died for them of yore,—</div> - <div class='line'>Cowardice is crime no more!</div> - <div class='line in3'>[<i>Sinks down on a stone, and looks with</i></div> - <div class='line in11'><i>shrinking gaze around.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Oft I shudder’d at their doom;</div> - <div class='line'>And I walk’d, with horror quivering,</div> - <div class='line'>As a little child walks shivering</div> - <div class='line'>Amid shrieking shapes that loom</div> - <div class='line'>In a dim and haunted room.</div> - <div class='line'>But I check’d my bosom’s quaking,</div> - <div class='line'>And bethought me, and consoled it:</div> - <div class='line'>Out of doors the day is breaking,</div> - <div class='line'>Not of night it is, this gloom,</div> - <div class='line'>But the shutters barr’d enfold it;</div> - <div class='line'>And I thought, the day inwelling,</div> - <div class='line'>Rich with summer’s golden bloom,</div> - <div class='line'>Shall anon prevail, expelling</div> - <div class='line'>All the darkness that is dwelling</div> - <div class='line'>In the dim and haunted room.</div> - <div class='line in2'>O how bitter my dismay!</div> - <div class='line'>Pitchy darkness on me broke,—</div> - <div class='line'>And, without, a nerveless folk</div> - <div class='line'>Sat forlorn by fjord and bay,</div> - <div class='line'>Dim traditions treasuring</div> - <div class='line'>While their sotted souls decay.</div> - <div class='line'>Even as, year by year, the king</div> - <div class='line'>Treasured up his Snefrid dead,</div> - <div class='line'>Loosed the linen shroud o’erspread</div> - <div class='line'>By her mute heart listening low,</div> - <div class='line'>Still upon hope’s fragments fed,</div> - <div class='line'>Thinking, “<i>Now</i> the roses red</div> - <div class='line'>In her pallid ashes blow!”</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_245'>245</span>None, like him, arose, and gave</div> - <div class='line'>The grave’s debt unto the grave;</div> - <div class='line'>None among them wise to know:</div> - <div class='line'>“Dreaming cannot kindle dust,</div> - <div class='line'>Down into the earth it must,</div> - <div class='line'>Dust is only made to breed</div> - <div class='line'>Nurture for the new-sown seed.”</div> - <div class='line in1'>Night, black night,—and night again</div> - <div class='line'>Over children, women, men!</div> - <div class='line'>O could I with levin-flame</div> - <div class='line'>Save them from the straw-death’s shame!</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Leaps up.</i>]</div> - <div class='line in2'>Gloomy visions I see sweep</div> - <div class='line'>Like the Wild Hunt through the night.</div> - <div class='line'>Lo, the Time is Tempest-dight,</div> - <div class='line'>Calls for heroes, death to dare,</div> - <div class='line'>Calls for naked steel to leap,</div> - <div class='line'>And for scabbards to hang bare;—</div> - <div class='line'>Kinsfolk, lo, to battle riding,</div> - <div class='line'>While their gentle brothers, hiding,</div> - <div class='line'>From the hat of darkness peep.</div> - <div class='line'>And yet more I do divine—</div> - <div class='line'>All the horror of their shame,—</div> - <div class='line'>Men that shriek and wives that whine,</div> - <div class='line'>Deaf to every cry and claim,</div> - <div class='line'>See them on their brows imprinting</div> - <div class='line'>“Poor folks sea-bound” for their name,</div> - <div class='line'>“Humble farthings of God’s minting!”</div> - <div class='line in1'>Pale they listen to the fray,—</div> - <div class='line'>Willing-weakness for their shield.—</div> - <div class='line'>Rainbow o’er the mead of May,</div> - <div class='line'>Flag, where fliest thou now afield?</div> - <div class='line'>Where’s that tricolor to-day,—</div> - <div class='line'>Which the wind of myriad song,</div> - <div class='line'>Beat and bellied from the mast</div> - <div class='line'>Till a zealot king at last</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_246'>246</span>Split it into teeth and tongue?</div> - <div class='line'>But you used the tongue to brag;</div> - <div class='line'>And what boots the toothed flag</div> - <div class='line'>If the dragon dares not bite?</div> - <div class='line'>Would the folk had spared those cheers,</div> - <div class='line'>And the zealot king those shears!</div> - <div class='line'>Four-square flag of peace suffices,</div> - <div class='line'>When a stranded craft capsizes,</div> - <div class='line'>To give warning of her plight!</div> - <div class='line in2'>Direr visions, worse foreboding,</div> - <div class='line'>Glare upon me through the gloom!</div> - <div class='line'>Britain’s smoke-cloud sinks corroding</div> - <div class='line'>On the land in noisome fume;</div> - <div class='line'>Smirches all its tender bloom,</div> - <div class='line'>All its gracious verdure dashes,</div> - <div class='line'>Sweeping low with breath of bane,</div> - <div class='line'>Stealing sunlight from the plain,</div> - <div class='line'>Showering down like rain of ashes</div> - <div class='line'>On the city of God’s doom.—</div> - <div class='line'>Fouler featured men are grown;—</div> - <div class='line'>Dropping water’s humming drone</div> - <div class='line'>Echoes through the mine’s recesses:</div> - <div class='line'>Bustling, smug, a pigmy pack</div> - <div class='line'>Plucks its prey from ore’s embraces,</div> - <div class='line'>Walks with crooked soul and back,</div> - <div class='line'>Glares like dwarfs with greedy eyes</div> - <div class='line'>For the golden glittering lies;</div> - <div class='line'>Speechless souls with lips unsmiling,</div> - <div class='line'>Hearts that fall of brothers rends not,</div> - <div class='line'>Nor their own to fury frets,</div> - <div class='line'>Hammer-wielding, coining, filing;</div> - <div class='line'>Light’s last gleam forlornly flies;</div> - <div class='line'>For this bastard folk forgets</div> - <div class='line'>That the need of willing ends not</div> - <div class='line'>When the power of willing dies!</div> - <div class='line in2'>Direr visions, direr doom,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_247'>247</span>Glare upon me through the gloom.</div> - <div class='line'>Craft, the wolf, with howl and yell,</div> - <div class='line'>Bays at Wisdom, sun of earth;</div> - <div class='line'>Cries of ruin ring to North,</div> - <div class='line'>Call to arms by fjord and fell;</div> - <div class='line'>And the pigmy, quaking, grim,</div> - <div class='line'>Hisses: “What is that to him?”</div> - <div class='line in1'>Let the other nations glow,</div> - <div class='line'>Let the mighty meet the foe,</div> - <div class='line'>We can ill afford to bleed,—</div> - <div class='line'>We are weak, may fairly plead</div> - <div class='line'>From a giants’ war exemption,</div> - <div class='line'>Need not offer All as meed</div> - <div class='line'>For our fraction of Redemption.</div> - <div class='line'>Not for us the cup He drank,</div> - <div class='line'>Not for us the thorny wreath</div> - <div class='line'>In His temples drove its teeth,</div> - <div class='line'>Not for us the spear-shaft sank</div> - <div class='line'>In the Side whose life was still.</div> - <div class='line'>Not for us the burning thrill</div> - <div class='line in2'>Of the nails that clove and tore.</div> - <div class='line in2'>We, the weak, the least accounted,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Battle-summons may ignore!</div> - <div class='line'>Not for us the Cross He mounted!</div> - <div class='line'>Just the stirrup-slash’s stain,</div> - <div class='line'>Just the gash the cobbler scored</div> - <div class='line'>In the shoulder of the Lord,</div> - <div class='line'>Is our portion of His pain!</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Throws himself down in the snow and covers his face; presently he looks up.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Was I dreaming! Dream I still?</div> - <div class='line'>Mist-enshrouded is the hill.</div> - <div class='line'>Were those visions but the vain</div> - <div class='line'>Phantoms of a fever’d brain?</div> - <div class='line'>Is the image clean outworn</div> - <div class='line'>Whereunto Man’s soul was born?</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_248'>248</span>Is the Maker’s spirit fled——</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Listening.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Ha, what song breaks overhead?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Invisible Choir.</span></div> - <div>[<i>In the sough of the storm.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Never shalt thou win His spirit;</div> - <div class='line'>Thou in mortal flesh wast born:</div> - <div class='line'>Spurn his bidding or revere it;</div> - <div class='line'>Equally thou art forlorn.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Repeats the words, and says softly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Woe’s me, woe; I well may fear it!</div> - <div class='line'>Stood He not, and saw me pray,</div> - <div class='line'>Sternly smote my prayer away?</div> - <div class='line'>All I loved He has demanded,</div> - <div class='line'>All the ways of light seal’d fast,</div> - <div class='line'>Made me battle single-handed,</div> - <div class='line'>And be overthrown at last!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Choir.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Louder, above him.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Worm, thou mayst not win His spirit,—</div> - <div class='line'>For Death’s cup thou hast consumed;</div> - <div class='line'>Fear His Will, or do not fear it,</div> - <div class='line'>Equally thy work is doom’d.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Softly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Agnes, Alf, the gladsome life</div> - <div class='line'>When unrest and pain I knew not—</div> - <div class='line'>I exchanged for tears and strife,</div> - <div class='line'>In my own heart plunged the knife,—</div> - <div class='line'>But the fiend of evil slew not.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_249'>249</span><span class='sc'>The Choir.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Tender and alluring.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Dreamer, thine is not His spirit,</div> - <div class='line'>Nought to Him thy gifts are worth;</div> - <div class='line'>Heaven thou never shalt inherit,</div> - <div class='line'>Earth-born creature, live for Earth!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Breaks into soft weeping.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Alf and Agnes, come unto me!</div> - <div class='line'>Lone I sit upon this peak!</div> - <div class='line'>Keen the north wind pierces through me,</div> - <div class='line'>Phantoms seize me, chill ones, meek——!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c016'><i>He looks up; a glimmering space opens and clears in -the mist; the <span class='sc'>Apparition</span> of a <span class='sc'>Woman</span> stands in -it, brightly clad, with a cloak over its shoulders. -It is <span class='sc'>Agnes</span>.</i></p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Smiles, and spreads its arms towards him.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>See, again, Brand, I have found thee!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Starting up in bewilderment.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Agnes! Agnes! What is this?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Dearest, it is thy release</div> - <div class='line'>From the fever’d dreams that bound thee!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Agnes! Agnes!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c019'>[<i>He is hurrying towards her.</i></div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_250'>250</span><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Screams.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>Cross not! Deep</div> - <div class='line'>Rolls between us the abyss,</div> - <div class='line'>Where the mountain-torrents sweep!</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Tenderly.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Thou dost dream not, neither sleep,</div> - <div class='line'>Nor with phantoms wagest war;</div> - <div class='line'>Dear, by sickness thou wast wasted,—</div> - <div class='line'>Frenzy’s bitter cup hast tasted,</div> - <div class='line'>Dreamt, thy wife had fled afar.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Oh, thou livest! Blessed be——!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Hastily.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Peace! Of that no murmur now!</div> - <div class='line'>Follow fast, the moments press.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Oh, but Alf!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in13'>Alive, no less.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Lives!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in7'>And with unfaded brow!</div> - <div class='line'>All thy sorrows did but seem!</div> - <div class='line'>All thy battles were a dream,</div> - <div class='line'>Alf is with thy mother; she</div> - <div class='line'>Vigorous yet, and stalwart he;</div> - <div class='line'>Still the old Church stands entire;</div> - <div class='line'>Pluck it down if thou desire;—</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_251'>251</span>And the dalesmen still drudge on</div> - <div class='line'>As they did in good days gone.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Good!”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in8'>For days of peace they were.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Peace?”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in9'>O haste thee, Brand, O fly!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Woe, I dream!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>Thy dream’s gone by,</div> - <div class='line'>But thou needest sheltering care——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I am strong.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in13'>Ah me, not yet;</div> - <div class='line'>Still the fell dream lies in wait.</div> - <div class='line'>Once again from wife and child</div> - <div class='line'>It shall sweep thee, cloud-beguiled,</div> - <div class='line'>Once again thy soul obscure,—</div> - <div class='line'>If thou wilt not seek the cure.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Oh, vouchsafe it!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>Thou availest,</div> - <div class='line'>Thou alone, that cure to reach.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_252'>252</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Name it then!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>The aged leech,</div> - <div class='line'>Who has conn’d so many a page,—</div> - <div class='line'>The unfathomably sage,</div> - <div class='line'>He discovered where thou ailest.</div> - <div class='line'>All the phantoms of thy strife,</div> - <div class='line'><em class='gesperrt'>Three words</em> conjured them to life.</div> - <div class='line'>Them thou boldly must recall,</div> - <div class='line'>From thy memory efface them,</div> - <div class='line'>From thy conscience blot, erase them;</div> - <div class='line'>At their bidding, lo, thou burnest</div> - <div class='line'>In this maddening blast of bane;—</div> - <div class='line'>O forget them, if thou yearnest</div> - <div class='line'>To make white thy soul again!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Say, what are they?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'><em class='gesperrt'>Nought or all.</em></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Reeling back.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Is it so?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in10'>So sure as I</div> - <div class='line'>Am alive, and thou wilt die.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Woe on us! The sword once more</div> - <div class='line'>Swings above us, as before!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Brand, be kind; my breast is warm;</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_253'>253</span>Clasp me close in thy strong arm;—</div> - <div class='line'>Let us fly where summer’s sun——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Never more that plague shall bind me.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ah, Brand, all is not yet won.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Shaking his head.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I have flung that dream behind me.</div> - <div class='line'>Me no more that phantom-strife’s</div> - <div class='line'>Horror thrills;—but Life’s! but Life’s!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Life’s?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in8'>Come, Agnes, where I lead!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Brand, what is it thou wilt do?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What I must: the <em class='gesperrt'>dream</em> make <em class='gesperrt'>true</em>,—</div> - <div class='line'>Live the vision into deed.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ha, thou canst not! Think but whither</div> - <div class='line'>That road led thee.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>Thither! Thither!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What thou dared’st, dream-beguiled,</div> - <div class='line'>Wilt thou, whole and waking, dare?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_254'>254</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Whole and waking.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>Lose the child?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Lose it.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in9'>Brand!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in16'>I must.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in24'>And tear</div> - <div class='line'>Me all bleeding from the snare?</div> - <div class='line'>With the rods of sacrifice</div> - <div class='line'>Scourge me to the death?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in25'>I <a id='corr254.17'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='must'>must.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_254.17'><ins class='correction' title='must'>must.</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Quench the glow of sunny skies,</div> - <div class='line'>Turn all bright things into dust,</div> - <div class='line'>Never pluck life’s fruitage fair,</div> - <div class='line'>Never be upborne by song?</div> - <div class='line'>Ah, so many memories throng!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Nought avails. Lose not thy prayer.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Heed’st thou not thy martyr’s meed?</div> - <div class='line'>Baffled where thou sought’st to waken,</div> - <div class='line'>Stoned by all, by all forsaken?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_255'>255</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Not for recompense I bleed;</div> - <div class='line'>Not for trophies do I fight.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>For a race that walks <a id='corr255.5'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='entomb’d'>entomb’d.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_255.5'><ins class='correction' title='entomb’d'>entomb’d.</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>One to many can give light.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>All their generation’s doom’d.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Much availeth one will’s might.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“One” with fiery sword of yore</div> - <div class='line'>Man of Paradise bereft!</div> - <div class='line'>At the gate a gulf he cleft;—</div> - <div class='line'>Over that thou mayst not soar!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But the path of <em class='gesperrt'>yearning’s</em> <a id='corr255.18'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='left'>left.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_255.18'><ins class='correction' title='left'>left.</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Phantom.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c016'>[<i>Vanishes in a thunder-clap; the mist fills the place -where it stood; and a piercing scream is heard, -as of one flying.</i>]</p> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Die! Earth cannot use thee more!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Stands a moment in bewilderment.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Out into the mist it leapt,—</div> - <div class='line'>Plumy wings of falcon beating,</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_256'>256</span>Down along the moorland swept.</div> - <div class='line'>For a finger it was treating,</div> - <div class='line'>That the hand might be its prize—!</div> - <div class='line'>Ha, the Spirit of Compromise!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Comes with a rifle.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Hast thou seen the falcon?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in27'>Yea;</div> - <div class='line'>This time I have seen him.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in27'>Say,</div> - <div class='line'>Quick, which way thou saw’st him fly;</div> - <div class='line'>We will chase him, thou and I.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Steel and bullet he defies;</div> - <div class='line'>Oftentimes you think he flies</div> - <div class='line'>Stricken by the mortal lead,—</div> - <div class='line'>But draw near to strike him dead,</div> - <div class='line'>Up he starts again, secure,</div> - <div class='line'>With the old cajoling lure.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>See, the hunter’s gun I’ve got,</div> - <div class='line'>Steel and silver is the shot;</div> - <div class='line'>’Trow, my wits are less astray</div> - <div class='line'>Than they reckon!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>Have thy way.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c019'>[<i>Going.</i></div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_257'>257</span><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Priest, thou walkest lame afoot.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I was hunted.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>Red thy brow</div> - <div class='line'>As the blood of thy heart’s root!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I was beaten.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>Musical</div> - <div class='line'>Was thy voice of old, that now</div> - <div class='line'>Rattles like the leaves of Fall.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I was——</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in10'>What?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in15'>By one and all</div> - <div class='line'>Spurn’d.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Looking at him with great eyes.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in9'>Aha,—I know thee now!</div> - <div class='line'>For the priest I took thee;—pest</div> - <div class='line'>Take the priest and all the rest!</div> - <div class='line'>The One, greatest Man art thou!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>So I madly dared to trust.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_258'>258</span><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Let me look upon thy hands!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>On my hands?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in13'>They’re pierced and torn!</div> - <div class='line'>In thy hair the blood-dew stands,</div> - <div class='line'>Riven by the fanged thorn</div> - <div class='line'>In thy forehead fiercely thrust,</div> - <div class='line'>Thou the crucifix didst span!</div> - <div class='line'>In my childhood Father told me</div> - <div class='line'>’Twas another, long ago,</div> - <div class='line'>Far away, that suffer’d so;—</div> - <div class='line'>Now I see he only fool’d me;—</div> - <div class='line'>Thou art the Redeeming man!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Get thee hence!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in16'>Shall I not fall</div> - <div class='line'>Low before thy feet and pray?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Hence!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in7'><em class='gesperrt'>Thou</em> gavest the blood away</div> - <div class='line'>That hath might to save us all!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Oh, no saving plank I see,</div> - <div class='line'>In my own soul’s agony!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Take the <a id='corr258.30'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='rifle'>rifle.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_258.30'><ins class='correction' title='rifle'>rifle.</ins></a></span> Shoot them dead—</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_259'>259</span><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Shaking his head.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Man must struggle till he falls.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Oh, not thou; thou art the head!</div> - <div class='line'>By the nails thy hands were gored;—</div> - <div class='line'>Thou art chosen; thou art Lord.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I’m the meanest worm that crawls.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Looks up; the clouds are lifting.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Know’st thou where thou stand’st?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Gazing before him.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in34'>Below</div> - <div class='line'>The first step of the ascent;</div> - <div class='line'>It is far, and I am faint.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - <div>[<i>More fiercely.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Say! Where art thou, dost thou know?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes, now falls the misty shroud.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Yes, it falls: without a cloud</div> - <div class='line'>Svartetind impales the blue!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Looking up.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Svartetind? The <a id='corr259.28'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='ice-church'>ice-church?</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_259.28'><ins class='correction' title='ice-church'>ice-church?</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_260'>260</span><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in33'>Yea!</div> - <div class='line'>Here thou camest churchward, too!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Hence! a thousand miles away!—</div> - <div class='line'>How I long to fly afar,</div> - <div class='line'>Where the sunlight and the balm</div> - <div class='line'>And the holy hush of calm,</div> - <div class='line'>And Life’s summer-kingdoms are!</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Bursts into tears.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Jesus, I have cried and pleaded,—</div> - <div class='line'>From thy bosom still outcast;</div> - <div class='line'>Thou hast pass’d me by unheeded</div> - <div class='line'>As a well-worn word is passed;</div> - <div class='line'>Of salvation’s vesture, stain’d</div> - <div class='line'>With the wine of tears unfeign’d,</div> - <div class='line'>Let me clasp one fold at last!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Pale.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What is this? Then weepest, thou,</div> - <div class='line'>Hot tears, till thy cheek is steaming,—</div> - <div class='line'>And the glacier’s death-shroud streaming</div> - <div class='line'>Silently from crag and crest,—</div> - <div class='line'>And my memory’s frozen tides</div> - <div class='line'>Melt to weeping in my breast,—</div> - <div class='line'>And the snowy surplice glides</div> - <div class='line'>Down the Ice-priest’s giant sides—</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Trembling.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Man, why wept’st thou not till now?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Radiant, clear, and with an air of renewed youth.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Through the Law an ice-track led,—</div> - <div class='line'>Then broke summer overhead!</div> - <div class='line'>Till to-day I strove alone</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_261'>261</span>To be God’s pure tablet-stone;—</div> - <div class='line'>From to-day my life shall stream</div> - <div class='line'>Lambent, glowing, as a dream.</div> - <div class='line'>The ice-fetters break away,</div> - <div class='line'>I can weep,—and kneel,—and pray!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c019'>[<i>Sinks upon his knees.</i></div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Looks askance upwards, and then, softly and timidly.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>There he sits, the ugly sprite!</div> - <div class='line'>’Tis his shadow sweeps the land,</div> - <div class='line'>Where he flogs the mountain height</div> - <div class='line'>With his flapping vans in flight.</div> - <div class='line'>Now Redemption is at hand——</div> - <div class='line'>If the silver will but bite!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='direction'> -<p class='c021'>[<i>Puts the rifle to her cheek and shoots. A -hollow roar, as of distant thunder, is -heard far up the precipice.</i></p> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Starting up.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ha, what dost thou?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>Down he slides!</div> - <div class='line'>I have hit him;—down he swings,—</div> - <div class='line'>Shrieking, till the echo rings;</div> - <div class='line'>Plumes in thousand from his sides</div> - <div class='line'>Flutter down the beetling brae;—</div> - <div class='line'>See how large he looms, how white—!</div> - <div class='line'>Ha, he’s rolling down this way!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Sinking down.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Blood of children must be spilt</div> - <div class='line'>To atone the parent’s guilt!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_262'>262</span><span class='sc'>Gerd.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Tenfold vaster at his fall</div> - <div class='line'>Grew the tent of Heaven above!</div> - <div class='line'>See him tumble; see him sprawl—!</div> - <div class='line'>Ah, I will not shudder more;</div> - <div class='line'>He is white, see, as a dove—!</div> - <div class='c011'>[<i>Shrieks in terror.</i>]</div> - <div class='line'>Hu, the horrible thunder-roar!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c019'>[<i>Throws herself down in the snow.</i></div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Brand.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Crouches under the descending avalanche, and, looking up, speaks.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>God, I plunge into death’s night,—</div> - <div class='line'>Shall they wholly miss thy Light</div> - <div class='line'>Who unto man’s utmost might</div> - <div class='line'>Will’d—?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='direction'> -<p class='c021'>[<i>The avalanche buries him; the whole valley -is swallowed up.</i></p> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>A Voice.</span></div> - <div>[<i>Calls through the crashing thunder.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-l c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>He is the God of Love.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div>THE END.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Printed by</span></div> - <div>BALLANTYNE & COMPANY LTD</div> - <div>AT THE BALLANTYNE PRESS</div> - <div><span class='sc'>Tavistock Street Covent Garden</span></div> - <div><span class='sc'>London</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<p class='c001'><a id='endnote'></a></p> -<div class='tnotes'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='large'>Transcriber’s Note</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>There are quite a few instances of missing punctuation. The -conventional period following the character’s name is sometimes -missing and has been added for consistency’s sake without -further comment. Those missing from setting and stage direction -are also added without comment, since there is no obvious purpose to be -served by the omission. However, the restoration of punctuation -missing from dialogue is noted below, since the punctuation is -frequently expressive.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Volume I of this series included errata for each succeeding volume. -Some, but not all, of the corrections indicated there had been made -before the printing employed here. Those that remained unchanged have -been corrected here, and noted as such.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Other errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and -are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the original.</p> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='12%' /> -<col width='69%' /> -<col width='18%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_vii.7'></a><a href='#corrvii.7'>vii.7</a></td> - <td class='c003'>sense of national disgrace[.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_3.4'></a><a href='#corr3.4'>3.4</a></td> - <td class='c003'><i>and nearly dark[.]</i></td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_4.19'></a><a href='#corr4.19'>4.19</a></td> - <td class='c003'>is where it’s trod[.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_7.8'></a><a href='#corr7.8'>7.8</a></td> - <td class='c003'>Then come[.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_8.20'></a><a href='#corr8.20'>8.20</a></td> - <td class='c003'>come back[!]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_10.4'></a><a href='#corr10.4'>10.4</a></td> - <td class='c003'>he calls serving God[.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_32.39'></a><a href='#corr32.39'>32.39</a></td> - <td class='c003'>And red-and-yellow circled eye[.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_37.12'></a><a href='#corr37.12'>37.12</a></td> - <td class='c003'><span class='sc'>Brand</span> comes forward, unnoticed[,]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_38.6'></a><a href='#corr38.6'>38.6</a></td> - <td class='c003'>You don’t know just how many, e[n/h?]</td> - <td class='c025'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_41.33'></a><a href='#corr41.33'>41.33</a></td> - <td class='c003'>The purblind sight takes falcon-wing[s]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added, per Errata.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_44.19'></a><a href='#corr44.19'>44.19</a></td> - <td class='c003'>Great God on high[!]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_46.16'></a><a href='#corr46.16'>46.16</a></td> - <td class='c003'>and to the grave[.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_47.26'></a><a href='#corr47.26'>47.26</a></td> - <td class='c003'>you see your part[.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_71.3'></a><a href='#corr71.3'>71.3</a></td> - <td class='c003'>[’]Twere best I took</td> - <td class='c025'>Restored.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_75.31'></a><a href='#corr75.31'>75.31</a></td> - <td class='c003'>and hard to bear[.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_84.19'></a><a href='#corr84.19'>84.19</a></td> - <td class='c003'>calls by that name “Love,[”]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_88.9'></a><a href='#corr88.9'>88.9</a></td> - <td class='c003'>to wash her soul from sin.</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_88.20'></a><a href='#corr88.20'>88.20</a></td> - <td class='c003'>Yes, in you[r] ledger</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_90.29'></a><a href='#corr90.29'>90.29</a></td> - <td class='c003'>what sees he now[.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_91.2'></a><a href='#corr91.2'>91.2</a></td> - <td class='c003'>No summons, no[.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_94.21'></a><a href='#corr94.21'>94.21</a></td> - <td class='c003'>or else send her a God-speed[.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_113.22'></a><a href='#corr113.22'>113.22</a></td> - <td class='c003'>To-morrow’s best[.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_134.32'></a><a href='#corr134.32'>134.32</a></td> - <td class='c003'>meaning half-express[’]d</td> - <td class='c025'>Inserted.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_136.17'></a><a href='#corr136.17'>136.17</a></td> - <td class='c003'>But unbroken i[n/s] her Will.</td> - <td class='c025'>Replaced, per Errata.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_139.31'></a><a href='#corr139.31'>139.31</a></td> - <td class='c003'>“Black as snow[.”]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_148.5'></a><a href='#corr148.5'>148.5</a></td> - <td class='c003'>And has not room therein to soar[.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_150.13'></a><a href='#corr150.13'>150.13</a></td> - <td class='c003'>No, Brand, I’m utterly dumbfounded[.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_152.25'></a><a href='#corr152.25'>152.25</a></td> - <td class='c003'>by death and hell[.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_154.8'></a><a href='#corr154.8'>154.8</a></td> - <td class='c003'><span class='sc'>B[l/r]and.</span></td> - <td class='c025'>Replaced.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_158.13'></a><a href='#corr158.13'>158.13</a></td> - <td class='c003'>No[!]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_161.15'></a><a href='#corr161.15'>161.15</a></td> - <td class='c003'>thou’lt nothing find[.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_177.2'></a><a href='#corr177.2'>177.2</a></td> - <td class='c003'>At the cross-way stand’st thou: choose[!]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_177.34'></a><a href='#corr177.34'>177.34</a></td> - <td class='c003'>At the cross-way stand’st thou: choose[!]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_172.28'></a><a href='#corr172.28'>172.28</a></td> - <td class='c003'>By the child to Death’s Font[.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_175.26'></a><a href='#corr175.26'>175.26</a></td> - <td class='c003'>Thou hast conquered now[.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_178.18'></a><a href='#corr178.18'>178.18</a></td> - <td class='c003'>Good-night[.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_179.23'></a><a href='#corr179.23'>179.23</a></td> - <td class='c003'>in a gold field[.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_182.27'></a><a href='#corr182.27'>182.27</a></td> - <td class='c003'>Never[!]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_184.12'></a><a href='#corr184.12'>184.12</a></td> - <td class='c003'>Hark[!]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_191.34'></a><a href='#corr191.34'>191.34</a></td> - <td class='c003'>Will be ringing with “the priest[”]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_192.21'></a><a href='#corr192.21'>192.21</a></td> - <td class='c003'>I’m suffocated[.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_193.18'></a><a href='#corr193.18'>193.18</a></td> - <td class='c003'>They’ve higher standards, I’m aware[?/.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Replaced.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_204.1'></a><a href='#corr204.1'>204.1</a></td> - <td class='c003'>At that projected Tower of Babe[l]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added, per Errata.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_213.22'></a><a href='#corr213.22'>213.22</a></td> - <td class='c003'>That[’s] unimportant, I prefer</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_226.14'></a><a href='#corr226.14'>226.14</a></td> - <td class='c003'>Hark! your women cry in chorus[!]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_229.17'></a><a href='#corr229.17'>229.17</a></td> - <td class='c003'>He’s prophesying! He’s prophesying[!]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_235.8'></a><a href='#corr235.8'>235.8</a></td> - <td class='c003'>O lucky chance I caught you up[.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_235.10'></a><a href='#corr235.10'>235.10</a></td> - <td class='c003'>Ah, dear kind master, don’t be stern[.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_254.17'></a><a href='#corr254.17'>254.17</a></td> - <td class='c003'>I must[.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_255.5'></a><a href='#corr255.5'>255.5</a></td> - <td class='c003'>For a race that walks entomb’d[.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_255.18'></a><a href='#corr255.18'>255.18</a></td> - <td class='c003'>But the path of <em class='gesperrt'>yearning’s</em> left[.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_258.30'></a><a href='#corr258.30'>258.30</a></td> - <td class='c003'>Take the rifle[.]</td> - <td class='c025'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c003'><a id='c_259.28'></a><a href='#corr259.28'>259.28</a></td> - <td class='c003'>Svartetind? 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