Dramas of Camp 
 and Cloister 
 
 ARCHIE E. BARTLETT 
 
Class 
 
 .P< 
 
 3AJ23.. 
 
 Rnnk .fyJ ZZlfr 
 
 Copyright N°. 
 
 J20.7 
 
 COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 
 
Dramas of Camp an< 
 Cloister 
 
 By 
 ARCHIE E. BARTLETT 
 
 ^ART!erV6RlWljft 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 RICHARD G. BADGER 
 
 2Ihp C&orham |Ir?aB 
 
Copyright" 1907 by Archie E. Bartlett 
 
 All Rights Reserved 
 
 LIBRARY of 00 NGRESSf 
 Two CeBles Received 
 
 JUN24 130/ 
 
 /; Copyright Entry 
 
 #LASS <X XXC, No. 
 
 / 16 / 7 t 
 COPY B. 
 
 
 Printed at 
 
 The Ookham Pbebb 
 
 Boston, U.S.A. 
 
Contents 
 
 T^ahna's Triumph / 
 
 *Che Last Judgment 13 
 
 Five Acts of Love ....... 2/ 
 
 Love's Enchantment 35 
 
 Empire of Talink ....... 73 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2011 with funding from 
 The Library of Congress 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/dramasofcampctoiOObart 
 
RAHNA'S TRIUMPH 
 
 i. 
 
 Priest. O Altheus, Rahna's altars blaze with 
 
 light, 
 And ripe fruits in their golden splendor heaped, 
 Mingle their odors with the finer incense 
 Of delicate flowers ; these in their witchery sub- 
 tile 
 Like the exquisite spell of woman's tranquil 
 
 presence, 
 Which quickens yet subdues ; those more akin 
 To manhood's sturdier glory. Feel'st thou not, 
 Even thou, the sacred spell? 
 Altheus. I feel indeed 
 
 My heart grow tender. 
 Pr. Not with barbarous rite 
 
 We celebrate our worship. In this feast 
 Of thanks for garnered grain, we shed no blood 
 Of lowliest creature, but we share our gladness 
 With even the voiceless peoples of the sod. 
 Al. I know, I know — and praise you. 
 Pr. Rahna's love 
 
 Embraced all creatures, nor e'er gave consent 
 To death or pain. The food of innocence 
 Alone he blesses, nor permits his people 
 To prey on weaker life. 
 Al. 'Tis noble, noble ; 
 
 Deny me not my brotherhood. I, too, 
 Love the same mercy. 
 Pr. Yet 'tis Rahna's mercy, 
 
 Whom thou deniest. Altheus, all our race, 
 Save thee and these, thy desolate followers, 
 This handful of dissenters, blend their prayers — 
 
2 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Sped on the beams of heaven-uplifted lids, 
 With the kindred worship of this odorous light 
 From Rahna's altars. 
 
 Al. Most ungrudgingly 
 
 I view the honors paid to gentle Rahna, 
 Were they not marred by narrow human credos 
 That circumscribe progression. 
 Pr. What is narrow 
 
 In the noble creed of Rahn? 
 Al. Whate'er is finite, 
 
 Though noble as the galaxy, is narrow. 
 Pr. Altheus, sublime blasphemer, thou thyself 
 Art nobler than the galaxy; yet thou 
 Art also finite ; and contemning thus 
 The ages' triumph, thou, lone pioneer, 
 Wilt now transcend the finite? 
 Al. ; Not the finite, 
 
 But any given finite, even great Rahna's, 
 But give me time, I'll distance. 
 Pr. Ah, how futile 
 
 To wing these misty heights ! Come to the tem- 
 ple- 
 Come daily. We'll convince with arguments 
 More subtle than thy own, perfume and light, 
 Music and song and matchless choral dance, 
 And the thronging presence of all true believers. 
 And hushed recital of his martyrdom, 
 And the blessed story of his perfect life 
 In a brutal generation. 
 
 Al. Yet defects 
 
 May be discerned in even the holy life 
 Of martyred Rahna. And though I had failed 
 To find these flaws, I still should understand 
 Not Rahna perfect, but my own ideals 
 Still too inadequate. The wholly perfect, 
 Being infinite, is not attainable 
 
RAHNA'S TRIUMPH 3 
 
 In finite time. 
 
 Pr. O Altheus, what a loss 
 
 To thee and to religion ! Wert thou ours 
 Thou wert no layman. Such as thou are ever 
 Priests or deniers. 
 
 Al. Yea, I am a priest 
 
 Of these devoted worshippers of truth, 
 Few among many, even as royalty 
 Is rare upon the earth. 
 
 Pr. Alas, alas ! 
 
 Altheus, thy priesthood in its martyrdom 
 Pleadeth with thee for mercy. 
 Al. Nay with thee 
 
 Pleadeth it, brother — for thy recognition 
 And fellowship ungrudging. 
 
 Pr. Why contract 
 
 Thy own development, cut thyself off 
 From human brotherhood, and all the fullness 
 Of a social life! The muses wait to crown thee, 
 If thou but breathe thy thought in language cur- 
 rent 
 .Among thy brethren. Why invite thy ruin 
 In quarrel over terms? Suppose thy thought 
 Be love or purity, then call it Rahn, 
 That men may understand thee and receive thee 
 As priest and benefactor. 
 Al. I'll not lie, 
 
 Though I pine in endless exile. 
 Chorus of Old Men. 
 
 More true the common sense; 
 
 Draw thou thy wisdom thence; 
 
 Wiser the general mind. 
 
 Most noble far, most rich 
 
 The life that hath its pitch 
 
 From the concord of mankind. 
 
 Strongest the pulse that leaps 
 
4 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Fromi the universal deeps, 
 
 From the heart-throb of the race. 
 
 Deeper the common need ; 
 
 Sweeter the ancient creed ; 
 
 Pure its immortal grace. 
 Chorus of Young Men. 
 
 Alone, brave pioneer, alone 
 
 Seek out the nobler thought. 
 
 Seek the wild, pure air of the forest zone, 
 
 With its health undreamed and its grace un- 
 known. 
 
 Hold all the conventions for naught. 
 II. 
 Father. O Altheus, son, hast thou no reverence 
 For these gray hairs, that thou rejectest thus 
 Thy cradle-teachings? 
 
 Mother. Ah, how nearly spent 
 
 The speeding years ! When thou ere long shak 
 
 stand 
 Beside our biers wilt thou with sullen spirit 
 Behold the solemn rites, bitterly listen 
 To every sacred prayer, and still disloyal 
 To our dishonored memory, frown as now 
 On the sacred book of Rahn? 
 Al. I'll still, as now, 
 
 In reverent sorrow show true loyalty 
 By being true, nor ever seek relief, 
 In that great loneliness, by violation 
 Of my own conscience. 
 
 Mother. Time hath been when sons. 
 
 Even to their own hoar age have cherished still 
 The prayers their mothers taught them. 
 Al. I must answer 
 
 For my own actions. Pray can you relieve me 
 Of this stupendous burden? I revere you 
 With unfeigned piety ; and yet, forgive me, 
 
RAHNA'S TRIUMPH 5 
 
 I pay the deeper awe and reverence 
 
 To my unborn children. 'Tis posterity 
 
 Must nearer limn the imm&nent deity 
 
 In human likeness. Join with me in worship 
 
 Of our common offspring. 
 
 Father. Mother, we outstay 
 
 Our welcome in this world. Let's creep apart 
 
 Into the tomb, and hide us there forever 
 
 From this great sorrow. 
 
 Al. Precious is the truth 
 
 That justifies a sacrifice like this. 
 
 Chorus of Young Men. 
 
 Altheus, our hero, cherish thy free, brave 
 
 thought, 
 To life's fresh calendar true. When locks are 
 
 gray 
 We can sit at ingle-sides in querulous peace, 
 Bewailing the rashness of adventurous youth, 
 That seeker of Cynosure; now let us brave in 
 
 our course 
 The glacial floods, half ocean and mountain half, 
 That threaten us back. Steel-bosomed still let 
 
 us pursue 
 The pole of the universe ever receding from 
 
 view. 
 
 Chorus of Old Men. 
 
 True to our fathers ! Did they not believe 
 
 In priestly sovereignty, 
 
 In miracle and charm? Did they receive, 
 
 Granting thereby a license unto us, 
 
 The impious heresy 
 
 Of Gallileo and Copernicus? 
 
 True to our fathers ! and they passed from earth 
 
6 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Before the penou 
 
 When nature's wonder, and creation's worth 
 
 Had been so superseded on the stage 
 
 By all the myriad 
 
 Malapert novelties of modern rage. 
 
 True to our fathers ! Did they ever hear. 
 
 In all their histories, 
 
 Of ions darting through the atmosphere, 
 
 And all the other upstarts by the score 
 
 Whose vulgar mysteries 
 
 Cheapen the hallowed sanctities of yore? 
 
 True to our fathers ! And henceforth away 
 
 With this frivolity 
 
 Of innovation, spawn of but a day : 
 
 And with the knowledge be we satisfied, 
 
 Eke with the polity, 
 
 In which our honored fathers lived and died. 
 
 Chorus of Young Men. 
 
 True to your fathers? In their earthly cells? 
 
 Or in immortality, 
 
 Living and growing? Where each father dwells. 
 
 Finds he not nobler wisdom now to teach, 
 
 Whose high reality 
 
 Erewhile transcended his encumbered reach? 
 
 True to your fathers ? Think ye that the mind 
 
 With all its dignity 
 
 In swaddling-bands of death can be confined 
 
 Till it could grow no more, nor wiselier think. 
 
 Nor in benignity 
 
 Let hints of inspiration hither sink? 
 
 True to your fathers? Pray, at seventeen 
 
RAHNA'S TRIUMPH 7 
 
 Went ye inquiringly 
 
 To seek the light that by your sires was seen 
 
 At your own age? Or did ye rather learn, 
 
 Gladly, aspiringly, 
 
 The fullest truth their manhood could discern ? 
 
 True to your fathers ? Have ye never guessed 
 
 That this audacity 
 
 Of grand, new thoughts astir within the breast 
 
 Is quickened by our fathers, as they yearn 
 
 Through earth-opacity 
 
 To make one ray of heavenlv radiance burn? 
 
 III. 
 Betrothed. Altheus, I come to join these sup- 
 pliants 
 That plead with thee, these lips of reverend age 
 That should not be thy suitors. Why alone 
 Withstand the wise and good, and hold thyself 
 Wiser than all? Why, from thy point of time 
 Sneer at the garnered wisdom of thy race 
 Through centuries long? If he to whom we 
 
 point thee 
 Had ever cherished harsh or narrow thought 
 We might less wonder that thy fierce rebellion 
 Is thus persistent. No coarse, threatening curse 
 Bring we from Rahna's lips to fright thee back 
 Into his fold. 
 
 Priest. Whether thou wilt or not, 
 
 We have his gracious promise that our loved 
 
 ones, 
 Though straying for a time, shall yet be drawn 
 Into his holy bosom. 
 
 Mother. Sometime, son, 
 
 Thou'lt be restored ; but, oh ! we need thee now. 
 Father. We need thee in this life. 
 Betrothed. O love, I need thee 
 
8 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Close at my side whene'er I kneel to Rahn 
 For courage in those hours of sacred terror 
 When thy dear presence flings its fearful glory 
 Around my trembling womanhood. Ah ! Altheus, 
 Dost thou reject that saint of chastity 
 Almost on the marriage-eve? Methought that 
 
 Altheus, 
 Rahn's faithful servant, would, no less than 
 
 Rahn, 
 Be priest to her he loved. 
 
 Chorus of Old Men. 
 
 Dwells Rahna with his bride 
 
 A score of stainless years, 
 
 Nor from her side 
 
 Wanders disloyal when her beauty's pride 
 
 Sinking from sight back to her soul's profound 
 
 So disappears. 
 
 Rahna, that saintly breast 
 
 But thrice in decades twain 
 
 Unto him pressed ; 
 
 And thrice the heavenly spheres he dispossessed 
 
 Of lovely human spirits meshed and bound 
 
 In Hymen's chain. 
 
 Chorus of Young Men. 
 
 When shall I meet her and greet her, my bride. 
 
 In her beauty's meek pride, 
 
 In whose presence the stress and the strain, 
 
 In whose presence the passion and pain 
 
 Break like waves on the shore 
 
 In miusic once more 
 
 That lulleth my spirit to rest. 
 
 Not today? It is well, it is best — 
 
RAHNA'S TRIUMPH 9 
 
 Let the passion and pain, 
 
 Let the stress and the strain, 
 
 Let the tumult and anguish increase; 
 
 All the deeper the ultimate peace, 
 
 If the storm multiply 
 
 Till the waves mountain-high 
 
 Break sublimely at last on the shore. 
 
 Betrothed. Alas ! what sorrow waits 
 
 Our vain-attempted union ! Must I hide me 
 
 Whene'er I say my prayers? And when oui 
 
 children 
 Are given to us, must I secretly 
 Tell them of Rahn? And wilt thou teach them 
 
 counter 
 That Rahna was but man ? 
 Altheus. Alas! alas! 
 
 Priest. O, Altheus, be our prince and be our 
 
 priest. 
 Make peace with God and man. 
 
 Chorus of Old Men. 
 
 Oh! bend that noble brow 
 Unto the sacred chrism. 
 Oh ! breathe the holy vow ; 
 Escape thy churlish schism ; 
 Nor dizzily daring bow 
 Henceforth o'er thought's abysm. 
 
 Chorus of Young Men. 
 Will Altheus yield? 
 Will he be insincere? 
 Will he be priest of these? 
 Priest will he be of the world? 
 My priest no more ? 
 
 Father, O son, for thee we pray. 
 
io DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Mother. Ah! to thyself pray I. 
 Betrothed. Join thou our prayer. 
 
 Chorus of Worshippers. 
 
 O purifier of the heart, 
 
 Here in our midst today, 
 
 Go with us also when we part ; 
 
 Be with us on the way. 
 
 Let not this hour have been in vain ; 
 Let not its glory cease; 
 Oh ! let its halo still remain ; 
 Let linger still its peace. 
 
 These faces that are now so bright, 
 Transfigured from thy throne — 
 Oh ! bless them still, let still their light 
 Be symbol of thine own. 
 
 Our forms that we have bowed in prayer 
 Humbly before thy face, — 
 Let them the consecration share, 
 Nor lose this moment's grace. 
 
 Our voices that are tremulous 
 In thy great presence, Lord, 
 Oh! keep them ever sacred thus 
 In beautiful accord. 
 
 Yea, make us beautiful and high 
 
 In thought's refining grace ; 
 
 Our human presence dignify; 
 
 Exalt our human face. 
 Altheus. Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbe^ 
 
 lief. 
 Chorus of Old Men. 
 
 The noble, soon or late, \ 
 
RAHNA'S TRIUMPH 1 1 
 
 Seek thus at Raima's shrine 
 Their spirits' home. 
 Why further proof await 
 That Raima's word divine 
 From God hath come? 
 
THE 
 LAST JUDGMENT 
 
 /. The Indictment. Patheos, Theos, Chorus of 
 Priests. 
 
 Pan. Theos, some urgent suit? 
 The. As urgent, father, 
 
 As the summons of a mortal soul by death, 
 Which is, indeed, the occasion that hath brought 
 
 me 
 To thy supreme tribunal. 
 
 Pan. Now, what spirit 
 
 Upon the threshhold of the life immortal 
 Dost thou, O Theos, challenge? 
 The. Atheos, 
 
 That soul unbending. 
 
 Pan. Much like eulogy 
 
 The accusation soundeth. What offence 
 Maketh thee adversary of this soul 
 In the dread transition moment? 
 The. Thou dost know 
 
 That to his age and race I am the form 
 Wherein men worship thee. This man alone 
 Of all his time hath spurned my sovereignty, 
 And walked with head unbowed. 
 Pan. O venerable, 
 
 In whom mankind have imaged their conception 
 Of attributes divine, thou art, indeed, 
 The nearest likeness man hath yet attained 
 Of my own nature. Ages yet shall pass 
 Ere thou shalt lose thy sovereignty, dethroned 
 By a loftier ideal. Man hath made thee 
 To be the image of his higher self, 
 To uplift his lower. If this Atheos 
 Hath cast thee off with all thy dignity 
 
 13 
 
14 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Of hoar tradition round thee, and elected 
 
 A spiritual solitude — 
 
 The. E'en such, I swear, 
 
 Hath been his violent course. 
 
 Pan. Then let us seek 
 
 Whether he walketh blind, or still discerneth 
 
 Some vestige of the truth. 
 
 The. I undertake 
 
 To prove that he hath utterly betrayed 
 
 The sweet faith of his youth. 
 
 Pan. Then what redress 
 
 Seekest thou at my hands? 
 
 The. Either that now 
 
 Upon his dying couch relenting come 
 
 And due remorse, or else, for justice' sake, 
 
 Some visitation on him in the life 
 
 That fast approaches — some degenerate state 
 
 To brand his treason — some ignoble form 
 
 Of savage or of brute. 
 
 Pan. The great ascent 
 
 Of soul is not so baffled. His promotion 
 
 Cannot be thus repressed. Nor am I, Theos, 
 
 Supreme above him to decide his fate 
 
 With arbitrary fiat. He hath part 
 
 In mty own will. His nature and my laws 
 
 Are of one essence. He himself determines 
 
 The rate of his advancement. Go, invite him 
 
 Before this bar to be his own accuser, 
 
 Judge of his own desert. 
 
 Chorus of Priests. 
 
 O Theos, the eternal, 
 
 Creator of the spheres, 
 
 Theos, supreme, supernal. 
 
 Yield mercy to my fears. 
 
 Thou lookest, and I quiver; 
 
THE LAST JUDGMENT 15 
 
 Thou frownest, and I die: 
 Thou smitest me — forever 
 In anguish do I lie. 
 
 Awhile thy will may linger, — 
 Then nature's laws prevail ; 
 Thou liftest but thy finger, — 
 Nature and science fail. 
 
 //. The Summons. Theos, Altheos, Chorus 
 of Mourners. 
 
 The. I summon thee before the eternal bar 
 To give thy last account. Beseech in haste 
 Some priestly intercession, if perchance 
 There still be hope of mercy. 
 Ath. Pan theos 
 
 Himself doth hold his court within my soul, 
 And I partake his life. Through my own con- 
 science 
 Shall he announce his judgment. I decline 
 The intercessor's office. 
 
 The. Think how weak 
 
 Thy little life amid the fearful dangers 
 Of this last hour. 
 
 Ath. My little life is mighty 
 
 With the universal being that doth thrill 
 Through all my spiritual veins. 
 The. How it repents me 
 
 That I must needs accuse thee in thy death 
 Amid these piteous gaspings! 
 Ath. Fitter time 
 
 Had ne'er been found. My soul beginneth now 
 To feel its freedom. While my body struggles 
 In this unconscious travail, and the mourners 
 Throng round it in suspense, my soul is strong 
 To meet the future. 
 
16 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 The. Come, thou haughty spirit, 
 
 And listen to thy doom. 
 Ath. Nay, here I wait 
 
 To meet my accusation. Pantheos here 
 Will utter judgment. At my death-bed now 
 The inquisition fitly may proceed 
 Uninterrupted, and my mourning friends 
 Be none the wiser. 
 Chorus of Mourners. 
 
 Oh ! must this soul so royal, 
 
 So earnest and so grave, 
 
 So stainless and so loyal, 
 
 So hopeful and so brave, 
 
 Pass from the day 
 
 Without a ray 
 
 Of light divine to guide his perilous way? 
 
 777. The Trial. Theos, Atheos, Chorus of 
 Priests. 
 
 Ath. I am ready 
 
 To answer my accuser. 
 The. This defendant 
 
 Hath made himself an outlaw by rejecting 
 The source divine of law. The worshippers 
 Gather devoutly all around the world 
 To pay their reverence — in that faithful number 
 Atheos ne'er was found. 
 Ath. 'Tis man, not God 
 
 Needeth my service. 
 
 The. To that gracious power 
 
 Wherefrom thy being springeth, owest thou not 
 Eternal thanks? 
 
 Ath. May I not fitly pay 
 
 Eternal thanks in silence? Hath the divine 
 An ear of flesh to hoard in vanity 
 Our audible prayers ? Hath it a fleshly eye 
 
THE LAST JUDGMENT 17 
 
 To gloat on our genuflections? 
 The. Yet how meet 
 
 God be well pleased when man is not ashamed 
 To confess before his fellows ! 
 A th. Who hath shame 
 
 Because of loyalty to human ties 
 That he feeleth to be noble? He that blusheth 
 To own his faith hath not a faith, but doubteth 
 The creed that he recites ; let him seek further 
 And supplement his doctrine. I shame not 
 At the worship of my soul. 
 The. Then why repress 
 
 So coward-like its tongue ? 
 Ath. Even so I check 
 
 All public ostentation of my love 
 For wife and child — too personal and sacred 
 For proclamation. 
 
 The. Yet you make your home 
 
 With wife and child, confessing thus to men 
 The depth of your devotion. Why not cherish 
 Some little nook within the house of God 
 In modest witness of your filial faith? 
 Ath. Because within that house 'tis thou thy- 
 self 
 That men adore, and not the perfect god-head 
 That thou dost caricature. 'Twere impious 
 To render thee my service, knowing at heart 
 That thou art not the noblest. 
 The. Hear his words, 
 
 O Pantheos ! Behold what anarchy 
 He kindleth now throughout the universe 
 With these his lawless thoughts. 
 Chorus of Priests. 
 
 Slowly that spirit glideth 
 
 Tnto the presence dread. 
 
 The avenger patient bideth 
 
18 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Crouched at the dying head. 
 
 Vain now the vaunt of morals ; 
 
 Useless the pride of thought ; 
 
 Fruitless are now the quarrels 
 
 O'er the is, the can, the ought. *} 
 
 Art falters ; virtue faileth ; 
 Wisdom is in the dust ; * 
 Nothing henceforth availeth 
 But simple, childlike trust. 
 
 IV. The Verdict. Pantheos, Atheos, Chorus 
 of Philosophers. 
 
 Pan. Alone, my Atheos, 
 
 We stand together ; through thy lips I speak, — 
 Pronounce the verdict. 
 
 Ath. Ever through my lips 
 
 I pray thee speak. I would that I were nobler ; 
 I thank thee I am noble as I am. 
 I thank thee for this glorious ideal 
 That beckons through my life. No longer now 
 I worship coldly with my intellect, 
 But feel my soul a-thrill with tenderness 
 Toward thy infinite life. I worship, worship 
 Till scarcely I can keep the precious secret 
 Of this divine communion. Yet I'll strive 
 To hold my dignity, maintaining sacred 
 The privacy of this most tender union 
 Of thee and me. More fully enter now 
 My vital being. Let some nobler form 
 Attest my mastery in another stage 
 Of cyclic growth. Yea, make me more and more 
 An agent in accomplishing thy will. 
 Chorus of Philosophers. 
 
 Another step is taken, 
 
 Another triumph done, 
 
THE LAST JUDGMENT 19 
 
 Another past forsaken, 
 Another future won ; 
 
 The creeds invalidated, 
 Virtue again supreme; 
 Man's sonship vindicated, 
 His godhead not a dream. 
 
FIVE ACTS OF LOVE 
 
 Prologue. 
 Thus may the minstrel, wandering lone and poor, 
 With the last silence shadowing his face, 
 Pause for a moment at the radiant door 
 Where leaneth some rare form of dreamy grace, 
 Touch his sad harp with yearning in his eyes, — 
 Teach, while she listens in her bright surprise, 
 How she should love some happier man than he, 
 Nobly and sacredly. 
 
 /. Betrothal. 
 Friedrich. 
 
 Brunhilda's God and mine ! 
 In this sweet hour of triumph and of joy, 
 ?rom her face unto thine, 
 
 Love divine, 
 
 1 turn me and the first glad breath employ 
 In thanking thee. 
 
 Brunhilda. 
 
 O love, with thee I bow, ; 
 
 CXiietly, kneeling thus beside thee here, 
 
 Love's consecration vow 
 
 Confirming* now 
 
 B) witnessing through praise to God how dear 
 
 THs gift to me. 
 
 Chrus of Spirits. 
 
 Hdy, holy, holy ! Father strong and tender ! 
 Ttou art manifested below in human love ; 
 Ghdly, gladly turn we from thine unseen 
 
 splendor 
 To this radiant likeness of thy grace above. 
 
 21 
 
22 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Fr. 
 
 I turn me from the sight 
 
 Of this new, costly glory in her face, 
 
 This tender deluge bright 
 
 Of swift love-light, 
 
 This beauty-throe that thrills a moment space 
 
 At eyes' first kiss. 
 
 M|i|.fc! 
 
 Br. 
 
 Even though forever glide, 
 
 Without the fervent homage of his gaze, 
 
 This moment's acme-tide 
 
 Of beauty's pride, 
 
 The costly mutual sacrifice I praise, 
 
 Meekly submiss. 
 
 Cho. 
 
 Holy, holy, holy! to the Father's altar 
 Bring these sacred lovers their priceless offering. 
 Holy, holy, holy! angel voices falter 
 With the awe and rapture round them as ttey 
 sing. 
 
 Fr. j 
 
 O God, our love we bring. 
 
 Richer than all the world's infinity; 
 
 And unto thee our king 
 
 The offering. 
 
 Purely we dedicate and solemnly 
 
 In sacred pricle. 
 
 Br. "*"*■ '". 
 
 O God, thy gift of love, 
 
 The witness of our kinship unto thee, 
 
 Like to a fiery dove 
 
 Sent from above, 
 
FIVE ACTS OF LOVE 23 
 
 Lowly we now accept, henceforth to be 
 In thee affied. 
 
 Cho. 
 
 Holy, holy, holy! hear the Eternal 
 
 Dropping benedictions from out the heavenly 
 
 light. 
 Oh! ye are the children of the love supernal, 
 Children well-beloved, pleasing in his sight ! 
 
 Fr. 
 
 While yet our curfew-hour 
 
 Of temperate custom shall its warning spare, 
 
 Unto the holier power 
 
 For love's rich dower 
 
 Hold we a^moment's holiday of prayer 
 
 With bended brow. 
 
 Br. 
 
 No other fitting rite 1 
 
 To solemnize the covenant of souls 
 
 Save in our Father's sight, 
 
 While love's own light 
 
 All round about like heavenlv music rolls, 
 
 To breathe our vow. 
 
 Cho. 
 
 Holy, holy, holy ! love of man and woman ! 
 Sweetest incense offered before the central Sun ! 
 Holy, holy, holy! love divine and human 
 Solemnly approaching mingle into one. 
 
 //. Bridal. \ ; r?- 
 
 Each guest, O love, departs ; " - 
 
 A hush of awe stiff useth all the air ; 
 
24 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 The stars, like trembling hearts, 
 
 Beat with quick starts ; 
 
 A rapturous terror quivereth everywhere 
 
 To suit the time. 
 
 Br. 
 
 The hour, the hour is here, 
 
 And all the heart's glad courage melts away; 
 
 The soul is faint with fear, 
 
 Scarce keeping cheer; 
 
 How can we bear the dread that holdeth sway 
 
 This night sublime? 
 
 Cho. 
 
 Holy, holy, holy! Father strong and tender! 
 Thou art manifested below in human love ; 
 Gladly, gladly turn we from thy unseen splendor 
 To this radiant likeness of thy grace above. 
 
 Fr. 
 
 Love, at this sacred shrine 
 
 'Tis meet we seek the courage to endure 
 
 From love's own source divine. 
 
 Thy God and mine 
 
 Vouchsafe his strength and keep us ever pure. 
 
 As even tonight! 
 
 Br. 
 
 Oh! God's near presence shed 
 
 Its dignity and beauty in a shower! 
 
 And o'er each bended head 
 
 The sainted dead 
 
 Lean tenderly to bless the hallowed hour, 
 
 With faces bright! 
 
FIVE ACTS OF LOVE 25 
 
 Cho. 
 
 Holy, holy, holy ! to the Father's altar 
 
 Bring these sacred lovers their priceless offering. 
 
 Holy, holy, holy ! angel voices falter 
 
 With the awe and rapture round them as they 
 
 sing. 
 Fr. 
 
 O God, this moment seize 
 In its ideal mystery and grace; 
 And ere like odorous breeze 
 It swiftly flees, 
 
 Limn thou a world of moments from its face 
 For years to come. 
 
 Br. 
 
 O God of light and truth, 
 
 Let love ne'er lose its luster in our sight ; 
 
 Let not a thought uncouth 
 
 Or word's unruth 
 
 E'er wrong the sacred memory of this night, 
 
 Striking it dumb. 
 
 Cho. 
 
 Holy, holy, holy! hear the Eternal 
 
 Dropping benedictions from out the heavenlv 
 
 light. 
 Oh ! ye are the children of the love supernal, 
 Children well-beloved, pleasing in his sight! 
 
 Fr. 
 
 O Father, testify. 
 
 By some rich gladness in my darling's breast, 
 
 With love how pure and high 
 
 Thus draw I nigh 
 
 To share the baptism of the awe unguessed 
 
 Around us here. 
 
26 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Br. 
 
 God, be witness thou, 
 
 Through some new sense of dignity and pride, 
 
 To him with whom I bow 
 
 How eager now, 
 
 With perfect self-surrender doth his bride 
 
 Trust and revere. 
 
 Cho. 
 
 Holy, holy, holy ! love of man and woman ! 
 Sweetest incense offered before the central Sun ! 
 Holy, holy, holy! love divine and human 
 Solemnly approaching mingle into one! 
 
 777. Parentage. 
 Fr. 
 
 Oh, thought of awe and pride! 
 And hath the Angel of the Lord in truth, 
 God's herald glorified, 
 Stood at thy side 
 
 On loftiest embassy that heavenly ruth 
 Sendeth to earth? 
 
 Br. 
 
 Oh! join with me in prayer! 
 
 1 feel too little worthy and too weak; 
 And he that bade me wear 
 
 Halo so fair 
 
 Alone can give the dignity I seek 
 
 Of lowly worth. 
 
 Cho. 
 
 Holy, holy, holy ! Father strong and tender ! 
 Thou art manifested below in human love; 
 Gladly, gladly turn we from thy unseen splendor 
 To this radiant likeness of thy grace above. 
 
FIVE ACTS OF LOVE 2? 
 
 Fr. 
 
 Brunhilda's God and mine, 
 
 Grantest thou us this wondrous living dream, 
 
 This miracle divine 
 
 Alone of thine 
 
 That from the first hath never ceased to seem 
 
 Miraculous ? 
 
 Br. 
 
 Were I in yonder cloud, 
 
 And on my brow a starry crown were placed, 
 
 While solemnly I vowed 
 
 With head low-bowed, 
 
 I were not so exalted or so graced 
 
 As even thus. 
 
 Cho. 
 
 Holy, holy, holy! to the Father's altar 
 Bring these sacred lovers their priceless offering. 
 Holy, holy, holy; angel voices falter 
 With the awe and rapture round them as they 
 sing. 
 
 Fr. 
 
 O Father, honor her ; 
 
 For she is purer than the ethereal air 
 
 That storms can never stir, 
 
 And sacreder 
 
 Than reverend temples incense-filled from 
 
 prayer 
 Breathed by the good. 
 
 Br. 
 
 O Father, thank him thou 
 
 That crowns me with his purifying thought 
 
 To exalt my woman's brow, 
 
28 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 And richly now 
 
 Invests me with this gift that he hath brought 
 
 Of motherhood. 
 
 Cho. 
 
 Holy, holy, holy! hear the Eternal 
 
 Dropping benedictions from out the heavenly 
 
 light. 
 Oh ! ye are the children of the love supernal, 
 Children, well-beloved, pleasing in his sight ! 
 
 Fr. 
 
 O God, be thou her guide! 
 
 Preserve her till the trial-time is o'er, 
 
 The pain so dignified 
 
 And full of pride 
 
 And rich in consecration and in store 
 
 Of comfort high. 
 
 Br. 
 
 Lord, thine forever be 
 
 The new life forming now amid my own. 
 
 The life that thou and he 
 
 Have given to me, 
 
 A treasure richer than the glowing zone 
 
 That spans the sky. 
 
 Cho. 
 
 Holy, holy, holy ! love of man and woman ! 
 Sweetest incense offered before the central Sun ! 
 Holy, holy, holy ! love divine and human 
 Solemnly approaching mingle into one. 
 
 IV. The Separation. 
 Fr. 
 Where hath mv saint now fled 
 
FIVE ACTS OF LOVE 29 
 
 Into the blackness of unfathomed night, 
 
 Leaving a night more dread 
 
 Where late was shed 
 
 The radiant presence of her beauty-light, 
 
 So soon to fade? 
 
 Br. 
 
 My love, to thee I bend 
 
 Out of the beauty of the eternal Home, 
 
 Whence I can not descend, 
 
 But only lend 
 
 Sweet thoughts of comfort wheresoe'er thou 
 
 roam 
 In sorrow-shade. 
 
 Cho. 
 
 Holy, holy, holy! Father strong and tender! 
 Thou art manifested below in human love; 
 Gladly, gladly turn we from thy unseen splendor 
 To this radiant likeness of thy grace above. 
 
 Fr. 
 
 The empty night I greet, 
 
 Nor hear her voice replying from above, 
 
 Whose every bosom-beat 
 
 In music sweet 
 
 Yielded its dear antiphony of love 
 
 Unto my caH. 
 
 Br. 
 
 Into the gloom beneath 
 
 I vainly cry, though once my tones, methought, 
 
 Could ne'er an accent breathe 
 
 And fail to wreathe 
 
 That other voice in unison unsought, 
 
 An eager thrall. 
 
30 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Holy, holy, holy ! to the Father's altar 
 
 Bring these sacred lovers their priceless offering. 
 
 Holy, holy, holy! angel voices falter 
 
 With the awe and rapture round them as they 
 
 sing. 
 Ft. 
 
 Oh! can she love no more? 
 And am I left with desolated heart, 
 Where joy and life before 
 Love's likeness wore, 
 
 And knew no being from their love apart, 
 There clinging fast? 
 
 Br. 
 
 And will his love grow cold, 
 
 Thinking the life he loved hath been destroyed? 
 
 And shall I no more hold 
 
 My throne of old, 
 
 But wandering all forsaken through the void 
 
 Undream the past? 
 
 Cho. 
 
 Holy, holy, holy ! Hear the Eternal 
 
 Dropping benedictions from out the heavenly 
 
 light! 
 Oh! ye are the children of the love supernal, 
 Children well-beloved, pleasing in his sight! 
 
 Fr. 
 
 I will be pure and true; 
 
 And though I never see again her face 
 
 In all I think and do 
 
 Will I renew 
 
 Devotion to that memory of grace 
 
 And nobleness. 
 
FIVE ACTS OF LOVE 31 
 
 Br. 
 
 Glow. on, my heart, the same, 
 
 Cherishing him in loyal widowhood, 
 
 True as when first he came 
 
 And gave his name 
 
 To be a crown of beauty and of good 
 
 That still doth bless. 
 
 Cho. 
 
 Holy, holy, holy! love of man and woman! 
 Sweetest incense offered before the central Sun! 
 Holy, holy, holy ! love divine and human, 
 Solemnly approaching, mingle into one. 
 
 V. The Reunion. 
 Fr. 
 
 Father, thou dost restore — 
 We thank thee for restoring all that life, — 
 The sweet rich life of yore, 
 So full before, 
 
 Now fuller for the passion and the strife, 
 The pain and death. 
 
 Br. 
 
 Father, through thee we greet, 
 
 Breathing our mutual welcome in our prayer; 
 
 For souls can never meet 
 
 Save thou complete 
 
 Thyself that union and thyself do share 
 
 Each tender breath. 
 
 Cho. 
 
 Holy, holy, holy ! Father strong and tender ! 
 Thou art manifested below in human love. 
 Gladly, gladly turn we from thy unseen splendor 
 To this radiant likeness of thy - grace above. 
 
32 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Fr. 
 
 Brunhilda's God and mine, 
 
 I thank thee for her wondrous added dower 
 
 Of loveliness divine, — 
 
 The radiant sign 
 
 Of all the marvelous, triumphant power 
 
 Of holiness. 
 
 Br. 
 
 O Lord, 'tis not of me; 
 
 This priceless beauty, all unearned, unsought, 
 
 Came sacred down from thee, 
 
 And it shall be 
 
 Thine angel to ennoble life and thought 
 
 And heal and bless. 
 
 Cho. 
 
 Holy, holy, holy! to the Father's altar 
 Bring these sacred lovers their priceless offering, 
 Holy, holy, holy! angel voices falter 
 With the awe and rapture round them as they 
 sing. 
 
 Fr. 
 
 Yet, even thus radiant bright, 
 
 She cannot be more sacred or more dear 
 
 Than when in thy pure sight 
 
 Our troth to plight, 
 
 We knelt together in the holy fear 
 
 Of love's first awe. 
 
 Br. 
 
 My lover's new, rich praise 
 
 Can not obscure the precious memory 
 
 Of his dear, reverent gaze 
 
 In other days, 
 
FIVE ACTS OF LOVE 33 
 
 When life was no less pure and sully-free 
 For sorrow's law. 
 
 Cho. 
 
 Holy, holy, holy! hear the Eternal 
 
 Dropping" benedictions from out the heavenly 
 
 light. 
 Oh! ye are the children of the love supernal, 
 Children well-beloved, pleasing in his sight ! 
 
 Fr. 
 
 We praise thy holy name; 
 
 We thank thee for delight, for agony. 
 
 For passion's sacred flame, 
 
 Man's mortal frame, 
 
 Investing with its martyr-dignity 
 
 Of depths untold. 
 
 Br. 
 
 We thank thee, thank thee, Lord, 
 
 For beauty and for purity of heart, 
 
 For love's divine accord, 
 
 And love's reward 
 
 Of ever-deepening newer deeps that start 
 
 Out of the old. 
 
 Cho. 
 
 Holy, holy, holy ! love of man and woman ! 
 Sweetest incense offered before the central Sun ! 
 Holy, holy, holy! love divine and human 
 Solemnly approaching mingle into one ! 
 
 Epilogue. 
 
 My love! my love! 'tis her wedding-night; 
 And the cottage is ready to burst with light; 
 
34 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 It is ready to break from the contact of earth 
 And float in its nimbus of beauty and mirth. 
 
 My love! my love! she is hidden from sight; 
 Her features are lost in their own joy's light, — 
 A lucent center whence richly streams 
 The sweetness of even her secretest dreams. 
 
 A glorious figure beside her stands. 
 A swell of music, a clasp of hands, 
 And he, too, is lost in the aureole 
 Around them both forever to roll. 
 
 No more will I pace the street in vain ; 
 But I leave him now to his priceless gain, 
 Leave her to the rapture and tenderness 
 Of the victor's love in its first excess. 
 
 All night will I kneel in my chamber dim, 
 Praying for her and praying for him ; 
 And if ever a sob my utterance break 
 Twill be but of gladness for her dear sake. 
 
 My love! my love! Tis her wedding-night, 
 And the cottage is ready to burst with light; 
 It is ready to break from the contact of earth, 
 And float in its nimbus of beauty and mirth. 
 
LOVES ENCHANT- 
 MENT. 
 
 Dramatis personae. — Roderick and Bertha; 
 fairies, including Feodore and Feodora; cour- 
 tiers, officers and messenger. 
 
 ACT FIRST. 
 
 Scene I. Rural scene. Roderick and Bertha in 
 rustic attire. 
 
 Roderick. O, Bertha, since my last heroic song 
 I laid aside, that mighty Cham of old 
 And all his deeds and wealth, how weary now 
 And empty-hearted do I wander forth 
 Amid our sylvan scenes! My gentle Muse, 
 Give me some theme, suggest some new device, 
 Some enginery of plot, that all this wealth 
 Of thought-rife feeling may not aimless plunge 
 With idle foaming in a cataract 
 Of unavailing passion, to subside 
 In over-limpid peace, and pass away 
 In vagrant pensiveness. Let it as well 
 To thought and art contribute. Let henceforth 
 Each crystal undulation all transformed 
 Flash forth electric splendor. Give some charm, 
 Some spoken word whose magic sound hath 
 
 power 
 To quicken vague ideas of the mind 
 Into full-sinewed thoughts. 
 Bertha. And why appeal 
 
 To me for theme, while birds are singing round 
 And leaves are fluttering and the blissful brook? 
 Suffuse ithe air with rich antiphonies 
 Of vernal satisfaction ? 
 
 35 
 
36 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Rod. Not for me 
 
 These rural life-outbreathings fill the soul 
 Till it overbrim in song. Though deep and rich 
 They lie within my heart and give the bulk 
 And quality of life, still is there need 
 Of ferment from without, some element 
 Of new experience, which is not a part 
 Of my own fibre. Let the courtier come, 
 And the world-worn monarch, and in pastoral 
 
 song 
 Find stimulus to thought ; but I must turn 
 To courts and camps and deep-thronged thor- 
 oughfares, 
 Where storm and stress and struggle tempt and 
 
 try 
 And strengthen manly virtue. 
 
 Ber. Ah! my poet, 
 
 You should Tiave been a king. How you would 
 
 teach 
 By your example what a king should be 
 In valor and in manhood! 
 Rod. Ha! yourself 
 
 Would make the queenliest queen that ever 
 
 trailed 
 The gilded purple. 
 
 Ber. Would that fairies still 
 
 In our prosaic time had life, and power 
 
 To work their mild enchantments. Then how 
 
 soon 
 The diadems would clasp our brows about 
 And courtiers kneel around us ! 
 
 Rod. Even to-day 
 
 The fairy spirit lives on in the world 
 In love and song and beauty ; and this hour 
 So deep a rapture thrills my leaping pulse 
 
LOVE'S ENCHANTMENT 37 
 
 That all the air seems teeming with the magic 
 Of merry elfin life. 
 
 Ber. Hath it the power 
 
 To bring the court and camp into our vale 
 And furnish you with matter? 
 Rod. Yea, methinks 
 
 Almost it hath. 
 
 Ber. Lo ! then a theme's at hand 
 
 To tax your powers. Suppose, sir, that we two 
 Were royal monarchs. 
 Rod. Sharing one blest throne ? 
 
 Ber. Nay, nay ; but rulers of two rival realms 
 In sanguinary conflict. 
 Rod. True! methinks 
 
 A man's and maiden's friendship is a sort 
 Of gentle warfare. You, my lovely foe, 
 Do daily vanquish me. 
 
 Ber. 'Tis a long feud 
 
 Between your sex and mine. 
 Rod. Since Eve and Adam 
 
 Encountered first in Eden and their eyes 
 Flashed out fierce daring and the sweet defiance 
 Of love's excess, the while at every turn 
 By tacit understanding failed they not 
 To argue counter, in exuberance 
 Of tenderness, because caresses failed 
 To give their feelings vent. 
 Ber. An explanation 
 
 Of family brawls. What comfort would it be 
 To a wife' that's beaten ! 
 Rod. Hush ! euphemei. 
 
 Ber. Ah ! 
 
 You're breathing mystic words. You feel per- 
 chance 
 The approaching fairy-spell that draweth nigh 
 To aid poetic fancy, and uprear 
 
38 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Your lordly palace and your capital 
 Here in our lowly dell. Methinks myself 
 The air unnatural and weirdly wild 
 Suddenly grows. I fear a storm is near. 
 Shall we not go? 
 
 Rod. Why, no! the wind's not right 
 
 To bring a storm. And yet the breezes quicken 
 And tonic freshness in the atmosphere 
 Intoxicates the sense. Let us remain ; 
 Each moment now is worth a score of years 
 To youth and poesy. 
 
 Scene II. A ring of Fairies gather about, 
 dancing and singing. 
 Fairies. — 
 
 Ha ! ha ! a goodly pair ! 
 Manly youth and maiden fair ! 
 Well, well, our plan is weighed ! 
 Well, well our trap is laid! 
 They shall not escape the snare 
 Till a match is made! 
 Ber. Oh ! haste we, haste we quick away ! 
 
 How horrid 't is to hear and see ! 
 Rod. Ah no! ah no! we'll stay, we'll stay! 
 
 'Tis wine and rapture unto me ! 
 Be r. They'll do us harm ; 
 
 I dread some charm. 
 Rod. Nonsense, my dear ! why do you fear ? 
 
 Are you not safe while I am near? 
 Ber. 'Tis true I have no cause for fear 
 
 So long a time as you are here. 
 Fairies. — 
 
 Behold, O youth, the flush 
 Of that priceless maiden-blush 
 Making an El Dorado of her cheek. 
 What! boy, have you not eyes? 
 
LOVE'S ENCHANTMENT 39 
 
 Do you not see the prize ? 
 Why care you any further now to seek ? 
 Ber. Oh ! haste we, haste we quick away ! 
 
 How horrid 'tis to hear and see ! , 
 Rod. Ah, no ! ah, no ! we'll stay, we'll stay ! 
 
 'Tis wine and rapture unto me ! 
 Ber. They'll do us harm! 
 
 I dread some charm. 
 Rod. Nonsense, my dear! why do you fear? 
 
 Are you not safe while I am near ? 
 Ber. 'Tis true I have no cause for fear 
 
 So long a time as you are here. 
 
 Feodore and Feodora, bearing each a goblet, 
 draiv near, the former to Roderick, the latter to 
 Bertha. 
 
 Fairies. Drink, oh ! drink the wondrous draught ! 
 Never yet hath mortal quaffed 
 Beverage rife with joys of life 
 So rich and sweet and love-complete. 
 Drink ! no more thou'lt know a pain, 
 Drink, no more thou'lt seek in vain 
 The unuttered good that thou wouldst 
 
 gain, 
 When from thy heart in silence start 
 The yearnings thou wouldst fain 
 In secrecy maintain. 
 Voice. Beware! beware! 
 Ber. What sound in the air? 
 Rod. 'Tis the murmur of trees 
 
 Astir in the breeze. 
 Feodore. Drink ! 
 Feodora. Drink ! 
 Ber. Oh! do not commit thy soul 
 
 To the perilous control 1 
 
 Of the supernatural powers 
 
40 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Regnant o'er this flesh of ours. 
 Rod. Fear thou not these dwarfish clowns 
 
 With their simpers and their frowns.. 
 
 Each our temporary thrall ; 
 
 Coming docile at our call. 
 Voice. Beware! beware! 
 Fairies. Ha, ha! ha, ha! Drink, drink! 
 Ber. What if we be headlong hurled 
 
 From the order of the world, 
 
 In abysses , fathomless, 
 
 Into blackest hopelessness ? 
 Rod. Drink! drink! I'll not care 
 
 So we be together there. 
 Feodore. Drink ! 
 Feodora. Drink ! 
 Ber. Into conflict and confusion; 
 
 All temptation, all defeat; 
 
 All enchantment and illusion; 
 
 Every error and deceit. 
 Rod. Whate'er enchantment craze our eyes, 
 
 Howe'er our senses trip, 
 
 Though only phantom-forms arise 
 
 For our companionship, — 
 
 Still magic never can convert 
 Ourselves to aught unreal; 
 No sorcery can disconcert 
 Our spirits' own ideal. 
 
 Virtue and duty, still supreme 
 In that fantastic world, 
 Will be unshaken by the dream 
 Through which the sense is hurled. 
 
 Feodore. Ah ! 
 
 Feodora. Ah ! 
 
 Fairies. Ah — h — h ! 
 
LOVE'S ENCHANTMENT 41 
 
 Ber. What menacing tones? 
 
 Rod. 'Tis a chattering squirrel. 
 
 Ber. Let us flee from the peril ! 
 
 Rod. From dwarflings and crones? 
 
 Feodore. Ha ! 
 
 Feodora, Ha ! 
 
 Fairies. Ha — a — a ! 
 
 Feodore. Subdue him, subdue him! 
 
 And break his haughty will! 
 
 Feodora. Pursue him, pursue him! 
 Do everything but kill! 
 
 Fairy-king. [To Feodore and Feodora.] O imps 
 of our band, 
 Malevolent twain, 
 Take these lovers in hand! 
 
 Feodore. ) 
 
 > And ply them with pain ? 
 Feodora. ) 
 
 Fairy-king. Yet release and restore 
 
 When their penance is o'er ; 
 Fairies. And let the termination 
 
 Be joy and jubilation. 
 Feodore. Ha? 
 Feodora. Ha ? 
 Fairies. So ! 
 Feodore. ") 
 
 > Ah— h— h ! 
 Feodora. ) 
 
 Ber. The charms, they begin, — 
 
 The invasion from hell; 
 
 See the shadows that spin, 
 
 We are lost in the spell. 
 Rod. We'll meet the ghosts that flit about 
 
 As nobly as we can, 
 
 Sincere and earnest and devout, — 
 
 True woman and true man. 
 
42 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 And if things seem all strange and weird. 
 Uncanny wind and weather, — 
 Why need the loneliness be feared? 
 We still shall be together. 
 Ber. Why, — to confess I do not mind, — 
 Your faults are all so venial, 
 That your society I find 
 Not often uncongenial. 
 Fairies.— 
 
 Oh ! the coyness of the youth ! 
 Not to see that he hath won ! 
 Oh ! for merriment and ruth 
 Bid him urge the advantage won ; 
 Tell him all that he doth miss 
 Till he claim the expectant kiss. 
 Ber. Oh! haste we, haste we quick away! 
 
 How horrid 'tis to hear and see! 
 Rod. Ah no ! ah no ! we'll stay, we'll stay ! 
 
 'Tis wine and rapture unto me ! 
 Ber. They'll do us harm; 
 I dread some charm. 
 Rod. Nonsense, my dear ! why do you fear ? 
 
 Are you not safe while I am near ? 
 Ber. 'Tis true I have no cause for fear 
 
 So long a time as you are here. 
 Fairies. Drink ! 
 Voice. Beware ! beware ! 
 Rod. ) 
 
 \ We'll drink! we'll drink! 
 Ber. ) 
 
 They drink. 
 
 ACT SECOND. 
 
 Scene I. Before a royal palace. Roderick as 
 king, surrounded by courtiers, including Feodore, 
 
LOVE'S ENCHANTMENT 43 
 
 Bertha as queen, surrounded by courtiers, includ- 
 ing Feodora. 
 Rod. Ha! I will flinch not from the utmost 
 
 glory 
 Of regal state. Have I not ever said 
 To be the kingliest king one hath but need 
 To live the manliest man ? If God now will, 
 I'll prove my policy. 
 
 Courtiers. My Lord! 
 
 Feodore. Observe — 
 
 Feodore converses apart with Roderick; Feo- 
 dora with Bertha. 
 
 Ber. Sir, I approve the lofty sentiment 
 Of your late utterance. Were we peasant-bred 
 Not born unto the purple, we might still 
 With such a guiding principle of life 
 Step to a throne with perfect dignity 
 And win a people's reverence. 
 Rod. Noble queen, 
 
 Your approbation, grateful in my ears, 
 Doth bind me to yourself in sympathy 
 And mutual respect. Motives so high 
 As you and I profess might well, it seems, 
 Serve to facilitate a fair adjustment 
 Of the grave question whereon our two thrones 
 Have been so long at variance, and to-day 
 With reference to which you come to us, 
 An honored, royal guest. 
 
 Ber. I feel assured 
 
 That both of us, so far as may consist 
 With duty to our people, will observe 
 A generous policy; and if, perchance, 
 We cannot come to terms, fair courtesy 
 And kingly chivalry will still redeem 
 Our disagreement and convert the rupture 
 Into a harmony, till variance 
 
44 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Hath its own noble music. 
 
 Rod. Joyously 
 
 My heart responds to kindred sentiments 
 
 Uttered by royal lips. Let us withdraw 
 
 With our advisers to the room prepared 
 
 To hold our consultation. 
 
 Scene II. Evening. Bertha and Feodora. 
 
 Ber. Whene'er he speaks he uttereth some 
 thought 
 Dear to my soul. Ah ! he is not a stranger ; 
 I knew him one time in some other life, 
 And now resume acquaintance, 
 Feodora. Ah ! who knows 
 
 But in some other state you lived the wife 
 Of this superb young king ? 
 Ber. How odd a thought ! 
 
 And how absurd ! 
 
 Fe. You blush as helplessly 
 
 As any peasant girl. My gentle queen, 
 Upon my knees I beg you to forgive me, 
 But you do love the king. 
 
 Ber. And if I do, 
 
 I see no cause why I should disavow it, 
 Or blush, except for pride. 
 Fe. O lady dear, 
 
 In humble suppliance I beg of you 
 A royal boon, — not for myself I beg, 
 And not for you, but for that matchless king, 
 Who loves you, loves you, lady. 
 Ber. How, I pray, 
 
 Know you all this? 
 
 Fe. Ask me not how I know. 
 
 I only know. Speak but the word, fair queen, 
 And swift as thought I'll bring him to your side, 
 Confirmer of my truth. 
 
LOVE'S ENCHANTMENT 45 
 
 Ber. Shall sovereigns 
 
 Turn to law-breakers? 
 
 Fe. Why! you make the laws. 
 
 The laws are but your instruments, to use 
 
 Or to neglect. 'Tis but a courtesy, 
 
 A queenly courtesy that you should welcome 
 
 Most royally this noble hero-king. 
 
 Ber. And this were right queen-worthy ? 
 
 Fe. Even your throne 
 
 Were not more queenly. I avouch, fair lady, 
 
 'Tis royal etiquette. 
 
 Ber. Ah ! then, methinks 
 
 I'll fall back on my simple womanhood 
 
 And break the royal custom. Ha! he said 
 
 The kingliest king is but the manliest man. 
 
 That rule applies; and he and I are one 
 
 In that high sentiment. My mother's breast — 
 
 [Feodora croaks. 
 What was tnat noise? 
 
 Fe. 'Tis naught. I have a cold. 
 
 Ber. That breast whereon I sobbed my childish 
 
 vows 
 Of truth and purity shall teach to me 
 The real queenliness. The love of God — 
 Feodora croaks. Bertha starts. 
 Fe. 'Tis naught ; be not alarmed. 
 Ber. The love of God 
 
 Shall teach my human love its quality ; 
 And I'll be queen of self. 
 Fe. Seest thou yon valley green ? 
 
 Seest thou the sylvan scene? 
 
 Look on the fairy ring. 
 
 Quaff ye both while we sing. 
 
 Dost thou not realize, 
 
 Dost thou not recognize 
 
 This is enchanted ground? 
 
46 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 When the morn cometh round, 
 Nowhere shall then be found 
 All the sublime array, 
 Passed all away. 
 
 Just for this wondrous while 
 Let the deceit beguile : 
 'Tis but a blissful dream; 
 Things are not what they seem. 
 When thou dost wake again 
 Back to the life of men 
 Thou shalt not bear a trace 
 Marring thy maiden-grace ; 
 Nothing shall e'er recall 
 What doth this eve befall, 
 Thou shall salute the light 
 Virgin and bright. 
 
 Ber. Was it the king that said, 
 Lifting his noble head — 
 Someone that once I knew, 
 High-souled and pure and true, 
 Be it the king or no — 
 Fit from his lips to flow : 
 "Though in illusion sad, 
 Though in enchantment mad, 
 Though in wild magic bound, 
 Though the world reel around, 
 Though none but phantoms rise, 
 Greeting our eyes, — 
 "Still would be right and wrong; 
 Still would be stanch and stronr 
 
 Virtue's exalted thought, 
 
 Duty's eternal ought, * 
 
 Manhood's regality. 
 
 Soul's high reality, 
 
LOVE'S ENCHANTMENT 47 
 
 God's sweet creation-plan, — 
 Woman and man." 
 
 Feodora croaks thrice and disappears in the 
 form\ of a frog. 
 Ber. Ah, horrid dream! 
 
 Scene III. Evening. Roderick and Feodore. 
 Rod. Oh, woman beautiful and good! Oh, 
 
 queen 
 Regal and wise! To look upon her face 
 Makes me a man. 
 
 Fe. My king, I can but praise 
 
 Your royal judgment. Round the sunlit globe 
 Lives not her equal. 
 
 Rod. Whosoe'er shall clasp 
 
 That glorious bosom to his own shall then 
 Be utterly a king. Meantime he's still 
 A piteous slave. 
 
 Fe. My lord, my royal liege, 
 
 I give you joy, I give you rapturous joy. 
 She is your guest; and you may be a king, 
 Winning that splendid presence. 
 Rod. Desecrate 
 
 That saintly womanhood ? and violate 
 Love and my chivalry and all the laws 
 Of royal hospitality? 
 
 Fe. Why, sir ! 
 
 Do you forget? or being still but young 
 Have you not learned? Others have done you 
 
 wrong, 
 Leaving you uninformed. 
 
 Rod. I must confess 
 
 I understand you not. 
 
 Fe. You do not know 
 
 The royal privilege; nor understand 
 
48 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Your hospitality is incomplete 
 
 Till you have borne it to the utmost bound 
 
 Of kingly kindness? 
 
 Rod. Do you speak the truth ? 
 
 In heaven's name tell me. You will drive me 
 
 mad, 
 Mocking me thus. 
 
 Fe. I speak the simple truth. 
 
 Rod. And is a king so common ; and a queen 
 A thing so cheap? And is this lovely woman, 
 Even she, perchance, — 
 
 Fe. She never left before 
 
 Her mother's side. She's all that you have 
 
 thought. 
 Rod. And shall remain so till the day of doom, 
 Or I will hang some royal criminal 
 To the topmost dome of his corrupted palace, 
 Protesting thus against the prostitution 
 Of womanhood and manhood. 
 
 [Feodore caws. 
 
 Whence that sound ? 
 Fe. Ah! that? a tame bird in the outer court, 
 Kept by a home-sick soldier. 
 Rod. Ah, poor man ! 
 
 I'll find him in the morning and attempt 
 To comfort him. — What fancies have I harbored. 
 Like a poor idiot! Ha! such callow thoughts 
 Are folly more than crime. I magnify, 
 Like a crude boy, the merest symbolism 
 Into the all of love ; an incident, 
 A simple incident of love's deep life, 
 I take for love itself ; the ritual, 
 The splendid ceremonial pageantry 
 Of this religion I would substitute 
 
LOVE'S ENCHANTMENT 49 
 
 For heart's true worship. Now I see the rite 
 
 Becomes an evil, if it be not buried, 
 
 Lost like a rain-drop in the boundless ocean 
 
 Of a whole life-time's tranquil sympathies 
 
 And reverent ministry. I promise Heaven, 
 
 As solemnly as e'er I made response 
 
 To any call of conscience, that henceforth 
 
 I'll hold it the high purpose of my life 
 
 To win her presence and to lure her hither 
 
 To be my sweet home-saint, the dear Madonna 
 
 Here at my fireside altar. In the meantime 
 
 I'll never wrong- her with the revelry 
 
 Of libertine desire; but I'll suppress 
 
 The very thought of passion, till at last 
 
 In her subduing presence, in the glory 
 
 Of her own spirit-face, the fire of passion 
 
 Is sweetened into dignity and calm, 
 
 To be the beauteous handmaid evermore, 
 
 Lowly and modest, reverent and chaste. 
 
 Of God's dear love, new-manifest in hearts 
 
 Of mortal nativity. 
 
 [Feodore caws. 
 
 The bird again ! 
 
 Lugubrious sound! yet, since I understand 
 
 The circumstances, full enough for me 
 
 Of tenderest suggestion. 
 
 Fe. Ha, ha! the potion over-well 
 Hath duped our gentle poet! 
 Recall that scene of magic spell, — 
 The grove, the brook below it ; 
 Recall the merry elfin bands, 
 The gay, tumultuous singing, 
 The dance, the interwoven hands, 
 The tinkling laughter ringing. 
 
50 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Thou'rt bound beneath a potent charm ; 
 These shows are all unreal ; 
 They have no substance, nor can harm, — 
 All fancied and ideal. 
 
 Seize then these joys that only seem, 
 Before the charm's expended ; 
 No evil can survive the dream ; 
 The occasion soon is ended. 
 
 These pageantries will soon be past ; 
 Mere sorcery and magic : 
 Why thou, amid the mockery vast, 
 So serious and tragic ? 
 
 Rod. So be it. In myself, indeed, 
 
 No phantom thou discernest ; 
 
 But I am real: hence the need 
 
 That I be true and earnest. 
 Feodore caws twice and disappears in the forw 
 of a' raven. 
 Rod. Ah, hateful nightmare! 
 
 Scene IV. Bertha. 
 
 Ber. Alas, alas! I never until now 
 Reluctant turned me homeward. Ah! methinks 
 I leave my heart's home far behind to-day 
 And go to dwell with aliens. Noble king ! 
 I feel a dark foreboding that no more 
 I am to see his face. What if he knew 
 The thoughts unwomanly that yesternight 
 Found entrance to my mind ? 
 
 Feodora enters. 
 
 Fe. u O lady, queen, 
 
LOVE'S ENCHANTMENT 51 
 
 Return, return thou ; yield the point at issue ; 
 
 Preserve the peace and win the princely hand 
 
 That holds thy destiny. 
 
 Ber. Out of my sight, 
 
 Thou dangerous seducer! Ne'er again 
 
 Show me thy face. 
 
 Feodora hisses and disappears in the form of a 
 snake. 
 
 Scene V. Roderick. 
 
 Rod. Now she is gone ; my kingdom is a desert, 
 And we are more than parted ; for henceforth, 
 In duty to our people must we twain 
 Become each other's foes. The smoke of war 
 Will roll between us and forevermore 
 Exclude that starry face — ah ! how it shames 
 With its sweet dignity the lawless thoughts 
 I entertained last night! 
 
 Feodore enters. 
 
 Fe. My king and chief, 
 
 Why doom yourself to grief? You have the 
 
 power 
 To yield that petty principality 
 And win your bride. The people for awhile 
 May grumble somewhat ; but a splendid wedding 
 Will make them hop with joy, till they forget 
 Their brief chagrin. 
 
 Rod. Avaunt! ill monster! 
 
 You never yet approached except to tempt 
 And to betray me. Hence, and no more come 
 Into my presence ! 
 
 Feodore howls and disappears in the form of a 
 dog. 
 
52 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Rod. What a glorious day 
 
 If we might join our kingdoms into one 
 Eradicating those disputed bounds, 
 And ending all the feud ! But quite in vain 
 The splendid dream. These nations far too long 
 Have cherished mutual hate. The love of two, 
 Though they be sovereigns, would be impotent 
 To join these hostile lands. And yet I swear 
 That spite of war and hate I'll love her still, 
 And triumph so forever, and defy 
 The devil and his angels. 
 Voice. Ha, ha ! ha, ha ! a phantasm fine 
 
 Was she in all her splendor! 
 
 Forevermore must thou resign 
 
 This fairy vision tender : 
 
 The mist where melts this dream of thine 
 
 Her form no more doth render. 
 
 Rod. Ha, ha ! ha, ha ! ye fiends of air, 
 I hurl you back defiance : 
 You and the starry heavens fair 
 And history and science 
 May all indeed be phantasms rare 
 In impish world-alliance ; 
 
 Still she of all the firmament 
 Abideth real ever, 
 By matter's magic bounds unpent 
 Fearless of hate's endeavor, — 
 Virtue and life too closely blent 
 For any power to sever. 
 
 And she abides : and I abide 
 So surely as I love her : 
 In virtue's kinship side by side 
 We two shall yet discover 
 
LOVE'S ENCHANTMENT 53 
 
 The glories of that starry pride 
 That reverent bends above her. 
 
 Then roll the battle-smoke between 
 
 To hide that radiant vision ; 
 
 Let hate and horror intervene 
 
 And space's vast derision, 
 
 And death congeal with frost-breath keen 
 
 Love's liquid kiss Elysian. 
 
 Still I am hers, and she is mine; 
 No distance can defeat me; 
 Not clearer could the noon-day shine 
 Than doth her beauty greet me, 
 Nor nearer doth the breeze incline 
 Than hourly she doth meet me : 
 
 For I am hers, a kindred soul 
 
 By virtue's right supernal, 
 
 And mine must be the self-same goal 
 
 As hers whose radiance vernal 
 
 Reveals as in a heavenly scroll 
 
 Mine own the life eternal. 
 
 Voice. Ha, ha! ha, ha! the crazy bard, 
 He'll quite evaporate 
 And in the aether meteor-scarred 
 Seek out his misty mate! 
 
 Rod. The churls! they drive me from thy face 
 And think that thus, forsooth, 
 They'll keep me from thy beauteous grace, 
 And from thy queenly truth. 
 
 Ha ! can they shut me from the flowers, 
 And from the song of birds? 
 
54 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Through many, many happy hours 
 Thou'lt listen to my words. 
 
 The flowers are sister-spirits, dear, 
 Whose form thou wilt assume, 
 The heart-beat of my song to hear, 
 And thank me with perfume. 
 
 Voice. Ha, ha ! ha, ha ! the clouds above, 
 A merry harlequin, 
 The poet, if he fall in love, 
 Will dance and vault and spin ! 
 
 Rod. We'll spend a happy, happy hour, 
 All bright and innocent, 
 Like sportive fairies in their bower 
 Of petaled merriment. 
 
 I'll whisper in the rose's ear, 
 
 The virgin wild-flower bright. 
 
 And make the sweet thing blush to hear. 
 
 And tremble with delight. 
 
 In every flower I'll breathe a joy; 
 Thou'lt listen, love, in each : 
 'Twill never tire thee, ne'er annoy. 
 That airy, rhythmic speech. 
 
 Thy fairy bosom, thy fair throat, 
 Will swell as thou dost hear ; 
 Thou'lt be so glad, dear, thou wilt float 
 In the bright atmosphere. 
 
 Voice. Ha, ha ! ha, ha ! the solemn clown 
 Unconscious of his plight! 
 Hear comet-laughter showering down 
 Hilarious delight. 
 
LOVE'S ENCHANTMENT 55 
 
 Rod. Yet thou shalt never hear offense, 
 Thou'lt never be distressed; 
 No shadow of irreverence 
 Shall stain thy lover's breast. 
 
 For I'll be brave, dear, yet not bold, 
 Brave in my purity ; 
 I'll tell, till naught remains untold, 
 The love I bear to thee. 
 
 I'll tell my love unfaltering; 
 I'll tell it o'er and o'er ; 
 With every bird I'll sing and sing; 
 With every bird I'll soar. 
 
 Voice. Ha, ha ! ha, ha ! the stars of morn 
 Another song will sing ; 
 To greet this maniac forlorn 
 Uproarious shouts will ring. 
 
 Rod. Yet, eager thus, I'll be subdued, 
 Amid a solemn hush ; 
 And even in thought I'll not intrude, 
 And not profane thy blush. 
 
 Ha! I should blush or blanch like thee, 
 If love should be profaned; 
 Not more than thou, where'er I be. 
 Need I to be restrained. 
 
 A fairy-love do I profess ; 
 
 For fairy-like art thou : 
 
 A flower-like love, to cheer and bless, 
 
 A music-love I vow; 
 
 A sunbeam-love, a Sabbath-love, 
 
56 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 A prayer-love, dear, is mine, 
 A dew-drop love, a star above 
 That in a spring doth shine. 
 
 A happy, happy love is ours, 
 If thou wilt share it, dear, — 
 A sacrament of song and flowers, 
 Through the long, happy year. 
 
 Voice. Ha, ha ! ha, ha ! the crazy bard ! 
 He'll quite evaporate, 
 And in the aether meteor-scarred 
 Seek out his misty mate! 
 
 ACT THIRD. 
 
 Scene I. Battlefield. Bertha and officers. 
 
 Ber. In yonder quarter of the hostile line 
 
 I see the king. I recognize him well 
 
 By his noble bearing. Round him is a group 
 
 Of brave and able generals. Aim thither 
 
 Your fiercest fire, my soldiers; we'll not spare 
 
 The world's most precious manhood, when there's 
 
 need 
 To do our country service and defend 
 Our people's honor. 
 
 Scene II. The same. Roderick and officers. 
 
 Rod. And do they say 
 
 The queen herself has ventured on the field? 
 
 ist Of. She's in the very hottest of the fire, 
 
 With all her bravest captains. 
 
 2nd Of. Yet, my liege, 
 
 Be not concerned ; she's but a woman still, 
 
LOVE'S ENCHANTMENT 57 
 
 Even though a queen, even though like Joan of 
 
 Arc, 
 She mad men's blood in battle and subdue 
 The steel of foemen. 
 
 3rd Of. And besides, my lord, 
 
 We've ordered all our heaviest batteries 
 Directed thitherward. 
 
 Rod. 'Tis well, my men, 
 
 She's worth alone the whole of these two king- 
 doms; 
 Yet we'll not slack our duty. — Merciful heaven! 
 That shell hath struck our midst! Oh! sacred 
 
 form 
 Of God in man, now radiant with health, 
 And now thus mangled ! Somewhere is there 
 
 guilt,— 
 Where I know not ; kind heaven forgive us all, 
 And make us gentler. In my impotence 
 I yield this one poor mite of human pity, — 
 My ministry of tears. 
 
 Voice. Ha, ha ! ha, ha \ 
 
 'Tis all illusion ; 'tis enchantment all. 
 Rod. Alas, my brain ! I know not. This I know : 
 Pity is real ; real, suffering love ; 
 And mercy's no delusion : I will kneel 
 Among these quivering forms and let them hear 
 Once more before they die the tender tones 
 Of human love. O God in heaven, I pray 
 Pity thou me ! Ah ! not for these alone 
 Who lie here bleeding, but for me I pray, 
 Who suffer with them all the agonies 
 Of writhing death. 
 Voice. Ha, ha ! ha, ha ! ha, ha ! 
 Rod. And if, indeed, my reason is departing 
 Under the stress, bear witness that its last 
 Spasmodic poor exertion was a throe 
 
58 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Of pity-anguish for the suffering 
 
 Of brother-men. So guard the dignity 
 
 Of the poor, tottering fabric. Grant the ruin 
 
 Its own pathetic grace. 
 
 Voice. Ha, ha ! ha, ha ! 
 
 Scene III. — The same. Roderick and officers. 
 
 Messenger enters. 
 Mess. O hail ! our sovereign ; glad the news we 
 
 bring ! 
 Rod. O God! what news? 
 Mess. The queen and all her staff 
 
 Are prisoners. 
 
 Rod. And is the queen unharmed? 
 
 Mess. She's wounded mortally. 
 Rod. Tis well ! 'tis well ! 
 
 My people triumph ; and myself, myself 
 Am but a single man among our millions, 
 Only one man. 
 Officers. My lord! 
 
 Rod. My countrymen, 
 
 I loved her. 
 Officers. Loved her? 
 
 Rod. Love her, love her, friends. 
 
 Officers. Alas! alas! 
 
 The queen is borne in, accompanied by her 
 staff. 
 
 Ber. My dear and noble king ! 
 
 ist Of. You love him, lady? 
 
 Ber. Yea : I love and die. 
 
 ist Of. Methinks 'tis time to lay aside our hate. 
 
 Be we all brothers now. 
 
LOVE'S ENCHANTMENT 59 
 
 They clasp hands, 
 2nd Of. Ah! would befori 
 
 We had been wise as now. 
 
 2>rd Of. A glorious peace 
 
 For both our nations might have been ar- 
 ranged, — 
 Both victors, and each twice as strong and rich 
 As ever heretofore. 
 
 Rod. What ! do you think 
 
 The people would consent to such alliance? 
 1st Of. Methinks in truth they might. 
 Rod. 'Tis not too late. 
 
 Go forth and seek their pleasure. If, indeed, 
 They'll lay aside their feud and love each other 
 And let us love each other, then I know 
 My queen will live. Wilt thou not live, my queen ? 
 Ber. I'll live, I'll live forever! 
 Rod. Haste, oh, haste ! 
 
 And learn the people's will. 
 1st Of. Nay, nay, my lord, 
 
 We'll answer for the people. 
 One of the queen's staff. We in turn 
 For the subjects of our queen. 
 1st Of. Then these two lands 
 
 Are now betrothed. 
 
 Rod. Oh ! I am weak and helpless ; 
 
 I have no marrow left ; and I could weep 
 Like a poor, weary child. 
 
 Ber. Ah! we are both 
 
 Poor, poor, tired children, poor forsaken orphans 
 Without a guardian. We are mocked and flouted 
 And buffeted around the unloving world, 
 The harsh and hate-filled world. 
 Rod. My bride and queen, 
 
 Give me thy hand ; 'tis mine for life and death. 
 Ber. 'Tis thine for life and life. 
 
60 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Scene IV. Roderick. 
 Rod. The queen, my queen is sleeping peacefully 
 And smiling in her sleep. T»he tide is turned, 
 And life swells full. 'Tis love, 'tis love alone 
 Recalleth her. I am the instrument, 
 Through heaven's dear grace, of her recovery 
 And the world's deliverance from this deep be- 
 reavement 
 That would have darked the sun. I do believe 
 Had I not loved her, she had died. Ah me ! 
 'Tis like God's own divine prerogative, 
 This majesty of heart-power, to be able 
 To blast and ruin, yet to choose instead 
 To bless and save. These two correlatives 
 Can not be separated ; power to help 
 Is equal to power to harm ; and rich affection, 
 Winning the like affection, if it swerve 
 In constancy, doth blight more certainly 
 Than murderous hate. 
 
 Voice. Ha, ha ! ha, ha ! ha, ha ! 
 
 The virtuous man, the self-approving man, 
 The benefactor with complacent smile, 
 With virgin conscience that hath never yet 
 Been kissed awake from that long beauty-sleep 
 Wherein 'tis still embayed. Ha, ha! ha, ha! 
 Rod. O God, shall even the moment of my tri- 
 umph, 
 The glory of my life, shall it behold 
 My reason overthrown? Have not my ways 
 Been ever innocent? Why am I mocked 
 And hourly thus tormented like a felon 
 Reeking with guilt? 
 Voice. What of the maiden lowly 
 The gentle peasant maid? 
 Hath he forgot her wholly 
 With whom his childhood played ? 
 
LOVE'S ENCHANTMENT 61 
 
 Recalls he not the valley 
 The greenwood on the hill, 
 Where fairy legions rally 
 And dance along the rill? 
 
 Her fair cheek smiling, flushing 
 Beneath his ardent gaze, 
 Like a flame-tide sudden-rushing, 
 Lit by the tropic blaze? 
 
 Rod. O God, a bolt from out thy sky 
 Could not so surely blast me ; 
 The wrath of thine accusing eye 
 Less deep in hell would cast me. 
 
 I do recall that beauteous maid, 
 Recall those saintly blushes, 
 Her drooping eyelids' timid shade, 
 The long and rapturous hushes. 
 
 Voice. Oh, fly! oh, fly! thou courier swift 
 To that far greenwood valley, 
 To that wee cottage in the rift 
 Of hills where fairies rally. 
 
 Oh ! fly to her where now she lies, 
 The fair child broken-hearted, 
 Oh! fly to her where now she dies, 
 Fly ere she be departed. 
 
 Oh ! whisper in her dying ear 
 Her lover's not untender; 
 He'd not provoke the tiniest tear, 
 Nor sadden or offend her. 
 
 To bring one tear he never meant, 
 
62 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Or make that fair form totter ; 
 He could not help the accident 
 That thus he quite forgot her. 
 
 Rod. Who biddeth me dream 
 Of a heavenly morn ? — 
 Impertinent theme! 
 I listen with scorn. 
 
 The causer of pain, 
 Involved in that woe, 
 Shall struggle in vain 
 To be rid of its throe. 
 
 Of my victim a part, 
 I walk not alone ; 
 The wreck of that heart 
 Hath ruined my own. 
 
 Voice. Behold the man of worth .immense 
 The blameless and the strong, 
 The prodigy of innocence 
 That never dreamed a wrong. 
 
 Rod-. Though penance and pain 
 Bring respiting brief, 
 Or a gentler deed gain 
 Some moment's relief. 
 
 Can the grave cloud my eyes 
 Till no longer I see 
 That look of surprise 
 At harshness from me? 
 
 Offend but the least 
 Of the innocent train, 
 
LOVE'S ENCHANTMENT 63 
 
 And the mill-stone hath ceased 
 To affright or to pain. 
 
 Who biddeth me dream 
 Of a heavenly morn? — 
 Impertinent theme! 
 I listen with scorn. 
 
 Voice. He's not a deceiver : 
 He never once said 
 To that sweet believer, 
 "Soon, soon shall we wed." 
 
 He came not oath-laden, — 
 Shrewd man of the world ; 
 Yet the eyes of the maiden 
 With grief-drops are pearled. 
 
 He's coy in advances : 
 He's cautious in sport : 
 Can eyes' tender glances 
 Be brought into court? 
 
 No promise he proffered ; 
 She hath not a claim : 
 No love-vow he offered ; 
 He's free from all blame : 
 
 Nor made he the blunder 
 To tarnish her truth. — 
 Too dext'rous in plunder 
 For means so uncouth. 
 
 Did he need for his pleasure 
 That clumsy device? 
 He won the whole treasure 
 By method more nice. 
 
64 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 'Twas her face he o'erpowered 
 With glances of flame ; 
 'Twas her blush he deflowered 
 And sullied with shame. 
 
 From the eyes of the maiden 
 He drew forth her soul, 
 And faintly, sweet-laden, 
 Buzzed away to his hole. 
 
 He did not entwine her 
 In lawless embrace; 
 With luxury finer 
 Despoiled he her face : 
 
 With no less completeness 
 He drained her soul dry 
 Of its glory and sweetness, 
 Its dignity high. 
 
 At a glance's unsealing 
 Her passion's rich wine 
 Gushes forth till he's reeling" 
 With rapture divine. 
 
 With the gaze of a poet 
 He drinketh her eyes : 
 Not a scath will e'er show it — 
 Except that she dies. 
 
 Rod. O locks that whiten into frost! 
 O cheeks that bleach to ashes ! 
 O aspect like a spirit lost, 
 Discerned through sulph'rous flashes ! 
 
 My flesh will wither like a hag's ; 
 
LOVE'S ENCHANTMENT 65 
 
 My powers will all desert me ; 
 
 My limbs will hang like tattered rags ; 
 
 A frown will disconcert me. 
 
 Voice. Ah ! here's our great divinity, 
 One of the world's elite, 
 Quite free from all affinity 
 With illusion and deceit. 
 
 Even in a world of magic 
 He'll be sublimely real, 
 Be earnest still and tragic, 
 And true to each ideal. 
 
 In all his composition 
 No trace of comedy; 
 Not any recognition 
 Of unreality. 
 
 Ha, ha ! blasphemed he proudly 
 The fays' ascendancy, 
 Daring to* vaunt so loudly 
 His independency. 
 
 But now he seemeth lowly, 
 A trifle diffident ; 
 He now will tread more slowly, 
 With haughty forehead bent. 
 
 Rl I. Oh ! I'll betake me back once more 
 To that poor peasant maiden. 
 I'll bid her live, and I'll restore 
 Her spirit sorrow-laden. 
 
 Voice. He'll leave the queen that he hath sworn 
 To cherish and protect; 
 
66 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 That love that he hath proudly worn 
 He'll recklessly reject. 
 
 'Tis not his memory fails him now ; 
 Deliberately he'll choose 
 To violate that sacred vow, 
 That queenly trust abuse. 
 
 Rod. My thought to frenzy hath been turned. 
 My pulse to mad distraction ; 
 My brain to lava hath been burned ; 
 Palsied my every action. 
 
 Voice. Ha, ha ! ha, ha ! one only way, 
 O fervid heart-distracter 
 To make all right and clear as day, 
 And be a benefactor; 
 
 Just wed the ladies both, you know, 
 A double bliss to render ; 
 Yourself already do you show 
 Large-hearted, warm and tender. 
 
 How many others round the world 
 Have you so kindly courted ; 
 How many other eyes impearled 
 With dews not yet reported? 
 
 So much the better. Let each heart 
 Be thrilled with rapture gentle. 
 Wed all these weeping maids and start 
 A harem Oriental. 
 
 Rod. I cannot act or think again, 
 Or know the Sabbath quiet, 
 Or meet the gaze of brother-men, 
 But only rave and riot. 
 
LOVE'S ENCHANTMENT 67 
 
 Voice. Ha, ha! ha, ha! ha, ha! ha, ha! 
 Ha, ha! ha, ha! ha, ha! ha! 
 
 An Officer enters. 
 Rod. Oh ! take this crown that I profane 
 And give it to some yeoman, 
 Some simple brow with ne'er a stain, 
 Some eagle eye of Roman, 
 Not flniching in this guilty pain 
 At glance of friend or foeman. 
 
 Far, far off in a sunny glade 
 A beauteous form is lying, 
 A gentle and a spotless maid, 
 Whose laugh was soft as sighing, 
 Whom I have won, whom I betrayed 
 And left her slowly dying. 
 
 Of. Thou noble prince whom all revere, 
 All pity for thy sorrow, 
 Oh! list to me, and strength and cheer 
 From out the future borrow; 
 This malady will disappear 
 Forever on the morrow. 
 
 We all pronounce thee free from guile; 
 W T hy wilt thou not believe us? 
 Gracious thy welcoming erewhile, 
 Once more in warmth receive us. 
 We languish for thy generous smile; 
 Why must thou longer grieve us ? 
 
 Rod. Alas ! I perish for a sign 
 Of human fellow-feeling ; 
 But all in vain, all men decline 
 To hear my sin's revealing ; 
 
68 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 And I must bear this guilt of mine 
 Without a hope of healing. 
 
 Oh ! I will flee to one within 
 That hath a heart more tender ; 
 The credence I would die to win 
 She'll not refuse to render; 
 She'll help me bear my cross of sin 
 With courage love shall lend her. 
 
 Scene V. Bertha and Roderick. 
 Rod. My own heart's queen, I come to thee 
 
 again, 
 Not strong and confident, but now at last, 
 As ne'er before, soul-humbled, doubting now 
 My own integrity, convinced at last 
 My nature is not noble. Drive me forth 
 From thine all-hallowed presence, nevermore 
 To look upon thy face. 
 
 Ber. My love, my love, 
 
 Thou shalt not thus accuse my noble king. 
 Thou'rt ill and needest cheering. Here's my hand. 
 Wilt thou not take it? Still thy hand doth hang 
 Limp and uneager. Then myself will clasp 
 Thy hand in both mine own, and hold it close 
 Till with this boundless life within my veins, 
 Which thou thyself hast kindled, I succeed 
 In warming thee, and so restore to me 
 My own high tower of strength on which 
 
 through life 
 I'll lean in confidence, and luxury 
 Of willing weakness. O my king and hero 
 Loved and revered! 
 Rod. Alas ! 
 
 Voice. Ha, ha! ha, ha! 
 
LOVE'S ENCHANTMENT 69 
 
 Rod. My love! my love! in vain, in vain 
 
 I long to draw more near her; 
 
 A numbness comes o'er heart and brain ; 
 
 I cannot see or hear her ; 
 
 My deepening love is deepening pain, 
 
 I shrink away and fear her. 
 
 Oh ! she is farther from my reach 
 Than zenith from the nadir; 
 Beyond all sight, beyond all speech 
 Her angel hath conveyed her — 
 Beyond all prayer, though I beseech 
 To injure or to aid her. 
 
 Oh ! we are now of different kind ; 
 
 All vain is my devotion. 
 
 She holds my hand. I cannot find 
 
 One lingering glad emotion, 
 
 Though once I struggled rapture-blind 
 
 In passion deep as ocean. 
 
 My guilt hath made the mighty void 
 Henceforth to yawn around me; 
 My sin forever hath destroyed 
 The kinship dear that bound me 
 In love and gladness unalloyed, 
 And with its glory crowned me. 
 
 Not death or hate, not time or space 
 
 Could so completely sever; 
 
 I gaze on her receding face 
 
 With piteous .endeavor, 
 
 Like Orpheus on that tender grace 
 
 That smiled no more forever. 
 
 Ber. I feel my vital forces fail, 
 Since love no more doth flourish. 
 
70 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Rod. My love though true doth not avail 
 To comfort or to cherish. 
 
 Ber. Thy hand is cold, thy lips are pale ; 
 Together must we perish. 
 
 ACT FOURTH. 
 
 Scene. Rural scene again. Roderick and Ber- 
 tha, in rustic attire and surrounded by fairies, 
 are seated on the ground with closed eyes, Ber- 
 tha holding Roderick's hand in both her ozvn. 
 They open their eyes. Bertha, with a start, drops 
 the hand of Roderick, whereupon he seizes her 
 hand. 
 
 Fairies. Ha! ha! the charm's complete; 
 
 Dance we now with flying feet. 
 
 Ne'er shall be our charm undone ; 
 
 Hands are joined and hearts are one. 
 
 Ber. Oh ! haste we, haste we quick away ! 
 
 How horrid 'tis to hear and see! 
 
 Rod. Ah, no ! ah, no ! we'll stay, we'll stay ! 
 
 'Tis wine and rapture unto me! 
 
 Ber. They'll do us harm ; 
 
 I dread some charm. 
 
 Rod. Nonsense, my dear! why do you fear? 
 
 Are you not safe while I am near? 
 
 Ber. 'Tis true I have no cause for fear 
 
 So long a time as you are here. 
 
 Fairies. Ha ! ha ! the maiden coy ! 
 
 Ha ! ha ! the timid boy ! 
 
 They are man and woman now, 
 
 With the flame upon the brow. 
 
 Ah! the jolly, jolly jest! 
 
 Happy, cosy household nest ! 
 
LOVE'S ENCHANTMENT 71 
 
 Be it full to overflowing 
 With the coming and the going 
 Of the chubbiest, merriest brood 
 That in rivalry e'er wooed 
 Of tumultuous tendernesses 
 Mother's kisses and caresses. 
 Ber. Oh ! the frivolous, rude elves ! 
 Will they not betake themselves 
 Far, far away? 
 
 Let us hasten from their haunts 
 And escape the pranks and taunts 
 All, all the day. 
 
 Rod. Then promise first, where'er we be, 
 In every wind and weather, 
 Although we stay, although we flee, 
 We still shall be together. 
 
 Ber. {while the fairies dance and leap in ex- 
 travagant glee.) 
 Why, to confess I do not mind. 
 Your faults are all so venial. 
 That your society I find 
 Not often uncongenial. 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 
 
 Dramatis Personae. 
 
 Camot, a minister of King Varian. 
 
 Cotaminus, prime-minister and judge. 
 
 Cotamina, daughter of Cotaminus. 
 
 Ena, loved by Nirus and Phinon. 
 
 Melno, a subordinate official. 
 
 Mira, a coquette. 
 
 Nirus, a captain of volunteers. 
 
 Phinon, friend and counterpart of Nirus. 
 
 Reston, a minister of King Varian. 
 
 Varian, king of Talinis. 
 
 Victor, a general in the royal army. 
 
 Miscellaneous : Phinon's mother, a clerk, a 
 masked assassin, a workingman, a herald, minis- 
 ters, officers, soldiers, senators, nobles, citizens, 
 courtiers, friends of Victor, messengers, attend- 
 ants, actors, singers. 
 
 ACT FIRST. 
 
 /. Palace of King Varian of Talinis. Cotami- 
 nus and Nirus. 
 
 Co. I bid you welcome, Nirus. You are the first 
 Of the new captains of our volunteers 
 To present yourself. Your punctual patriotism 
 Will be remembered. Your physique and face 
 Commend the wisdom of your neighbors' choice. 
 Ni. I thank you for your kindness. 
 Co. Your commission 
 
 Already here awaits you. I expect you 
 To win promotion and some modest fame. 
 Ni. 'Tis not for fame I don the garb of war, 
 
 73 
 
74 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Not fame, but service, helping to protect 
 The guiltless people from the punishment 
 That not themselves deserve. 
 Co. That not themselves? 
 
 An ominous phrase ! Pray tell me how the peas 
 
 ants 
 Regard the impending war. 
 JVt. I beg your pardon 
 
 For inadvertently intruding thus 
 My personal sentiments. I have no right 
 To speak for others. 
 
 Co. Give your own opinion : 
 
 Half of a statesman's business is to study 
 The views of manly yeomen. 
 Ni. Had the foe 
 
 For our offence a fair indemnity 
 Honestly sought, nor pressed so ruthless thus 
 Upon our weakest moment, while we stand 
 Guilty before the world, ne'er would I draw 
 The opposing sword. Nations know not remorse ; 
 We cannot trust their vengeance ; they exceed 
 The bounds of retribution, and thus wrong 
 Goes on redoubling. For the people's need 
 I draw my sword, and not to vindicate 
 A policy of state. 
 
 Co. Ha, ha! your worth, 
 
 You sturdy yeomen, sinew of the land. 
 Gives you much license. Serve the people still 
 To the profit of the king. An honest man 
 Is not without utility, despite 
 The divided allegiance. [Exit. 
 Ni. Ah ! my native land, 
 
 Would I might feel for thee the fervent zeal, 
 The impassioned reverence that blessed me once. 
 When first I learned the story of thy youth 
 In its fresh dedication. How I thrilled 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 75 
 
 With that new knowledge, reading the dull page 
 
 In epic meter, every line a trope, 
 
 And flame-rhymes wrapping the insipid words 
 
 Of the rude text-book ! Glorious wast thou then, 
 
 A new Athenae. Wilt thou yet, my country, 
 
 Reveal without a flaw thy nobler self, 
 
 And stand a saint of nations? Would indeed 
 
 That a whole nation might be like a man, 
 
 Ennobled fully by some single will 
 
 In consecration high. It might be thus 
 
 With a great man for the king. So might the 
 
 ideal 
 Be made one with the real. Forbidden fancy ! 
 The quest is vain forever ! None the less, 
 I'll fight for thee, my country, as indeed 
 Thou wert that land ideal. All thy sins 
 I'll turn to virtues. Yea, Madonna-like 
 I'll picture thee to fire my chivalry 
 To the utmost limit. Then I'll force a wrath 
 To nerve my arm ; and if I feel abate 
 The martial heat, I'll make a last appeal 
 To my own wrongs, my own immortal wrongs. 
 Wrought by my brethren, the mere thought of 
 
 which 
 Maketh a man a tiger. I'll forget 
 My country was the wronger, and transfer 
 My vengeance to the enemy. Each foe 
 Shall seem the vice incarnate that hath wrought 
 Such ruin in my hopes. Rekindle now, 
 O passion of revenge, to teach my sword 
 The battle-fury. Come, thou devil of hate, 
 And do angelic service in maintaining 
 The ideal of patriotism. [Exit. 
 
 II. Battle-field. Phinon discovers Nirus 
 wounded. 
 
76 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Phi. What! 
 
 Slain unaware, come I abstractedly, 
 
 To view again my poor, deserted body, 
 
 Ere I depart forever ? Ah, it stirs ! 
 
 There's still a soul within. 
 
 Ni. Alas, alas! 
 
 Can I be now delirious that your face 
 
 Looks so much like my own? 
 
 Phi. To me, the lone one, 
 
 My God hath sent this blessing of a brother 
 
 To attest his fatherhood. Methinks I feel 
 
 A sudden psychic thrill. [Nirus faints. 
 
 Poor, stricken life, 
 I look upon your weakness and your pain 
 With pity's rapture. You are now mine own, 
 Mine own henceforth, and to me dearer far 
 Than all Talinis. Let the battle now 
 Take its own course ; to you do I devote 
 My loyalty and service. I'll not think 
 That you have thus been given me at last 
 Only to die in my arms. 
 
 A Soldier enters. 
 
 Will you assist 
 To bear this comrade? 
 
 Sol. Ah! you two have met, 
 
 Whose strange resemblance made you both dis- 
 tinguished 
 Before even this day's glory when in tumult, 
 Subsiding now, the laurelled victory 
 Has pointed out her heroes, and all eyes 
 Seek you and Nirus, thinking each of twain 
 Is he that checked the flight and led the charge 
 And consummated this immortal triumph 
 By the crowning feat of valor. All this day 
 He has wrought wonders, foremost of the fight, 
 That saves the nation's honor. [In the meantime 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 77 
 
 Nirus has been restored to consciousness. Exe- 
 unt, Nirus carried. 
 
 III. Palace. King V avian, Cotaminus, Camot, 
 Reston. 
 
 Nirus is bovne in convalescent. 
 Va. Noble youth, 
 
 I summon you to give to you such honor 
 As you have merited by valiant deeds, 
 As well as natural parts. I wish that you, 
 Not the degenerate Castux, were my cousin 
 And next of kin. If I had not a hope 
 To find some royal bride of blood untaint, 
 Whose fresh vitality may yet renew 
 Our stock effete, and from the ancient root 
 Call forth a fruitage of young royalty 
 Of the old-time fibre, — if I did not hope 
 For such a happy fortune, I would choose 
 None other than yourself to be my heir 
 And the father of new monarchs. Lowly station 
 Should not disqualify you whom I find 
 The kingliest youth of all. So much I say 
 To show how high an estimate I place 
 Upon your merits. Yet no empty praise 
 Do I bestow upon you. I confirm 
 With more substantial tokens, how sincere 
 My commendations are ; for I appoint you 
 To a full generalship, with confidence 
 That so I raise a mighty bulwark up 
 To be my throne's defence, and no less surely 
 To be my people's safety. 
 A/7. Sir, I thank you. 
 
 To a young heart there is no boon more precious 
 Than a hero's approbation. I will strive 
 To emulate your own high deeds of valor 
 And patriot toil, that you may not regret 
 
78 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 This day's great honor. In my chair I'll ride 
 To the field of carnage, not permitting wounds 
 To arrest my service. 
 Va. Come within now, Nirus. 
 
 I have a question of diplomacy 
 To tax your wit. [Exeunt Varian, and Nirus car- 
 ried. 
 Res. Must we be suitors now 
 
 To this mere stripling, forced to fawn on him, 
 Or lose our master's favor? 
 Ca. A mere clown ! 
 
 Fit for a swineherd ! 
 
 Res. He is a goodly lad, 
 
 Worthy to be the shepherd of the king, 
 An office he might hold with dignity, 
 Winning respect such as we ever give 
 To seemliness in place ; but introduced 
 Into the palace, to an atmosphere 
 So foreign to his habits and his birth, 
 His rustic charm will quickly disappear, 
 Turning to sheepishness. He is too big, 
 And is not graced with ugliness sufficient 
 For a court- fool. 
 
 Co. I warn you that this clown 
 
 Has lordly qualities. King Varian 
 Is a shrewd diviner, and has reared indeed, 
 By this day's policy, a bulwark strong. 
 Where some shall dash themselves. 'Twere well 
 
 for us 
 To be alert, lest we be all hereafter 
 Transformed to shepherds or to fools, and left 
 To tune our pipes or heave our jokes alone, 
 Superfluous at court. 
 
 IV. Chamber of the Ministers. Cotaminus, 
 Camot and Reston. 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 79 
 
 1st Messenger enters. 
 j st M. The battle at Menalapa is lost, 
 Despite the glorious efforts of young Nirus, 
 And all our other heroes. [Exit 
 Res. We are ruined ! 
 
 2nd Messenger enters. 
 2nd M. The haughty chieftain of the Clerian 
 
 hordes 
 Demands a billion francs indemnity, 
 And swears that he will never leave the land 
 Till all is paid. [Exit. 
 
 3rd Messenger enters, 
 yd M. The army is in rout. 
 
 Nirus and Victor now alone remain 
 To guard the capital. [Exit. 
 
 4th Messenger enters. 
 4th M. The king is raging. 
 
 He swears, whate'er they do, he will not treat, 
 Nor indemnify the foe. [Exit. 
 
 $th Messenger enters. 
 $th M. The king so raves 
 
 That no one dares approach him. [Exit. 
 Co. Let me hasten. [Exit. 
 
 6th Messenger enters. 
 6th M. I come from Nirus, begging you post- 
 pone 
 All proffers of submission ; for he hopes, 
 With new recruits now rallying to his summons, 
 To retrieve our hopes. [Exit. 
 Ca. I would that now Prince Castux 
 
 Might be our king! 
 
 Res. He may be. 
 
 Ca. This is no time 
 
 For common means. The king is surely mad : 
 And the country will be prostrate at the feet 
 Of Nirus and Cotaminus. 
 
So DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Res. What tumult? 
 
 Clerians enter. The ministers escape. 
 
 Song. 
 O Cleria, now is thy dignity gained ; 
 The crown of maturity graces thy brow ; 
 And promise and symmetry newly attained 
 Bless the eyes of the nations that look on thee 
 now. 
 
 No longer inviting the martyrs' defence, 
 Thou art grown to a Titan with temples aflame ; 
 The empires of earth are thine to dispense, 
 And genius awakes at the sound of thy name. 
 
 Be earnest and steadily scatter thy ray; 
 For the stars of thy yearning look soberly down ; 
 Hold thy torch up to heaven ; the joy of today 
 And the hope of posterity shine in thy crown. 
 
 V. Assembly of the Ministers. Cotaminus, 
 Camot, Reston and others. 
 
 ist Messenger enters. 
 1st M. I bring appalling news. Our royal liege 
 Is just found lately murdered in his bed, 
 No trace of the doers. [Exit. 
 Co. Oh, my royal liege! 
 
 Ca. Is the king slain? 
 Res. The king, the king is slain ! 
 
 Great confusion. 2nd Messenger enters. 
 2nd M. I bring most glorious tidings ; Nirus, 
 
 at last, 
 Our youthful chief, with new-recruited troops, 
 Has overwhelmed the Clerians. Even now 
 They are embarking for their voyage home. 
 
 [Exit. 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 81 
 
 Co. How glad were we at this, had other news 
 
 Bat been awhile deferred ! But now, alas ! 
 
 Tidings like this can not even mitigate 
 
 Our greater sorrow. Now the land will mourn, 
 
 And not be glad of triumph. 
 
 Res. And the king 
 
 Lived not to hear it ! 
 
 Co. Yet in his new peace 
 
 He needs not pity's ministry. Behold! 
 
 [To the people, who press forward tumultu- 
 ously, addressing them from the door. 
 There is a grandeur in a prince's death 
 To recompense him for the loss of life, 
 And make him enviable. Who would not die 
 To be thus mourned by millions? Is not that 
 The crowning triumph of an august life, 
 Which death alone can bring? We had not 
 
 known 
 How great a soul hath lived, but by the void 
 Succeeding its departure. Luminous Sun, 
 This sudden eclipse shall witness to thy glory, 
 To the utmost bounds of earth. Ah ! there's a 
 
 splendor, 
 Yea, there's a rapture when a nation mourns, 
 Prouder than grief. That pageantry of woe 
 In its own gloom exults. . The hero dieth, 
 And not in vulgar tears men celebrate 
 Bereavement so sublime ; but glorious song 
 And eloquence divine swell heavenward, 
 Like incense from a thousand altar-flames, 
 To make his tomb triumphal. 
 Ca. Ah, our hero! 
 
 ist Voice. Our martyred chief! 
 2nd Voice. Our sainted king! 
 
 3rd Voice. Our father! 
 
 4th Voice. Peace to his ashes ! 
 
82 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 $th Voice. Glory to his name ! 
 
 Res. May heaven now speed the princely Cas- 
 
 tux home 
 To take his birthright and compose the land 
 From all its agitation ! 
 
 VI. Phinoris Home. Phinon and Nirus. 
 Phi. Mother is absent. While we wait for her, 
 Let us converse. During the recent war, 
 To prove your genius, short has been the time, 
 And shorter for this wound ; yet that brief time 
 Has brought promotion and renown, and won 
 The royal smile. 
 
 Ni. The time were vain as brief, 
 
 If there were nothing in it to recall, 
 Except what little favor I have won, 
 And my still pettier service. More I value, 
 And hold more memorable these recent days 
 For your new friendship ; you have saved my 
 
 life, 
 And still preserve me living with your love. 
 Phi. And you have given another life to> me — 
 Taught me to think, pure of authority, 
 In simple, honest quest of simple truth, 
 From all traditions free. 
 Ni. Ah, me! indeed, 
 
 Already have I won my laurel crown 
 Of a saved soul, to justify my living, 
 And compensate for pain ! My dearest friend, 
 My other dearer self, in thee I plant, 
 With righteous motives, this indignant flame 
 Of consecrated wrath — a touch .of the real 
 Of hate's vindictiveness to energize 
 The ideal of truth and love. Thyself I choose 
 To be my minister, because in thee 
 Smoulder infernal passions eager to serve 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 83 
 
 Thy lofty intent. May we not utilize 
 
 Fierce instincts in ourselves and in each other 
 
 To further a noble purpose? 
 
 Phi. Comradeship, 
 
 How it firms the heart ! Ah ! Nature surely meant 
 
 That we be twins, ere some untrusty angel 
 
 To different families brought the pattern souls. 
 
 Placing us far asunder, making life 
 
 Cruel with common pangs. But now at last 
 
 Let us correct .that error. Side by side 
 
 We'll celebrate an hourly sacrament 
 
 Of sympathy ideal. As these forms 
 
 Are thus alike, even so must be akin 
 
 The generating spirits. Ah ! what joy 
 
 To have your presence ever here so close 
 
 Like my, own soul projected at my side 
 
 For me to see and touch ! 
 
 Ni. Mine now at last 
 
 A friend, a bosom friend ! I had not hoped 
 
 For such a triumph. 
 
 Phi. Triumph in my friendship? 
 
 I the .unknown, save for a face resembling 
 
 The face of Nirus ! Humbled am I, Nirus, 
 
 Feeling so little worthy. 
 
 Ni. Nay; to me 
 
 You are, the hero, none the less distinguished 
 
 For being still obscure ; and I, being selfish, 
 
 Am happy thus to keep you to myself, 
 
 And jealous lest the world should, find you out, 
 
 And take you from me. Ah ! we twain, methinks, 
 
 Must keep beside each other all our days, 
 
 And re-enforce each other's solitude 
 
 Of life and thought. Is not our task too hard 
 
 To live on nobly when men look askance 
 
 With half-suspicion? Let us feel henceforth 
 
 That though the world may outlaw and despise 
 
84 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 We still may have each other. Full of peace 
 We can remain from the harsh world apart, 
 And keep our exiled natures gentle still 
 With mutual sympathy. 
 
 Phinon's Mother enters. 
 Moth. What ails my eyes 
 
 That I seem to see you double ? 
 Ni. One is Phinon ; 
 
 The other Phinon's friend. 
 Moth. Most wonderful! 
 
 Phi. And know you quid from quo? 
 Moth. None but a mother 
 
 Had e'er distinguished. Is this, then, the friend ? 
 Why did you never tell me that this friend 
 Was your twin brother? Stay, my other son, 
 And dwell with us ; for you are lone as we, 
 And we need one another. 
 Ni. Gratefully 
 
 Do I accept your welcome. He and I 
 Are so near one that we are placed, it seems, 
 In separate bodies only for the joy 
 Of friendship's dear communion. I must feel 
 His mother to be mine. 
 
 ACT SECOND. 
 /. Phinon. 
 Phi. I shall not stammer now when I reply, 
 And feebly meet the glances of my brethren, 
 Or feel such isolation. No more now 
 Am I so different. I have found my way 
 Into the mystic circle, and partake 
 Of the universal human unity 
 Vital from love. 
 
 Nirus enters. 
 Ni. I'm back again, my Phinon. 
 
 Phi. Did you see Ena there? 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 85 
 
 Ni. My dearest friend, 
 
 Though I have found in you my soul's high 
 
 priest, 
 In her at last I find its deity. 
 Phi. And, having found that deity, dispense 
 With priestly ministrations. Friendship's creed 
 As soon as this divine has been attained 
 Must grow superfluous. 
 
 Ni. Why! are you jealous, 
 
 As if a friendship dear as yours and mine 
 Could now.be crowded out? Friendship and love 
 Are different entities and coexist 
 Like matter and spirit. 
 
 Phi. As matter is to spirit, 
 
 So friendship, too>, to love, — superfluous, 
 And yet compatible. Methinks, indeed, 
 I can relinquish you as willingly 
 As a parent gives his dearest child to one 
 More qualified to bless. 
 Ni. Ah! you are pale. 
 
 W T hy do you seem to emphasize that you, 
 Though trying to avoid it. I recall 
 The words you spoke when briefly last we met, 
 As you were coming thence ; a recent wealth 
 Had filled your bosom ; you would wait for me, 
 And tell me all, and seek my sympathy, 
 As I now yours. And then again today, 
 Thrusting aside my eager salutation, 
 You asked of Ena ; but that magic word, 
 Meant to be prologue of your tremulous shrift, 
 I seized as introduction to my own, 
 Forgetting to marvel. 
 
 Phi. The sympathy you sought 
 
 T yield you, Nirus, from a soul sincere 
 That love and pain enrich. Were I more strong, 
 You had not known at all. I check my dreaming, 
 
86 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 And sink back in the shadow. 
 
 Ni. Ah! methinks 
 
 I was away from you, or I had known 
 
 That friendship is sufficient. If in truth 
 
 This is your friendship, I renounce my love 
 
 With cheerful heart. 
 
 Phi. Nay ; mine this sacrifice, 
 
 This joy and pain, to see united thus 
 
 The two I love most. 
 
 Ni. We have always yearned 
 
 Toward the self -same objects. Now we love 
 
 One woman, too. Yours is the prior claim ; 
 
 You knew her first ; your soul's maturer, then, 
 
 And worthier of her. 
 
 Phi. Have you not seen of late 
 
 How but a portion of your nature's glory 
 
 Has conquered me? How then with all its 
 
 wealth 
 Will you o'erwhelm that spirit sensitive 
 And draw her to your bosom ! No other power 
 That moveth so an innocent young heart 
 As the knowledge sweet of love. 
 Ni. Let us both go 
 
 And bid her choose between us, or perchance 
 Reject us both. How will she choose? Will love 
 For one of us be wise enough to find 
 A world of difference in our lineaments? 
 Or can she look prophetic to the future 
 And see our paths diverge ? 
 Phi. And must I find 
 
 That we can take no blessing for ourselves 
 Without denying others ? Re this true, 
 All life and love are false and valueless. 
 Fittingly ended. 
 
 Ni. Come and be my rival 
 
 In wholesome emulation. This dark mood 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 87 
 
 Will only leave you stronger than before. 
 
 Phi. Tis not a mood ; 'tis my own proper state ; 
 
 For happiness is but a quality, 
 
 Not a condition ; and when happiness 
 
 Is in a nature's horologe, joy comes 
 
 In spite of adverse chances. Misery, 
 
 If it be destined to a soul, fails not, 
 
 Though every evil spirit were perverse 
 
 To execute the sentence. Ena now 
 
 Is safe once more. I will not seek again 
 
 To share my curse with her. 
 
 Ni. She is an angel, 
 
 Who, with her tender cherishing, hath power 
 
 To take away that curse. 
 
 Phi. Beyond my reach 
 
 Is converse with the angels ; and although 
 
 I chance to meet them, I am no Israel 
 
 To wrestle with them. Go you in my stead, 
 
 Taking my love to re-enforce your own, 
 
 And give you double right — like some true prince 
 
 In whom two royal dynasties converge, 
 
 Till disloyalty is dumb. [Exit. 
 
 Ni. If I attain 
 
 The peace of this my dream, and win at last 
 
 Her tranquil presence, at her gentle side 
 
 I'll stifle out ambition and resentment, 
 
 And live the life ideal ; and my song 
 
 Shall breathe along the world its music mild 
 
 Of love's poetic joy, with many a burst 
 
 Of love-taught wisdom echoing sublime 
 
 With rich life-revelations. 
 
 77. Ends Home. Ena and Nirus. 
 Ena. Nirus, I sent for you to let you know 
 That I have found out all. The modest Phinon, 
 Though he refused to come and for himself 
 
88 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Maintain his suit, has found, indeed, in you, 
 
 A faithful advocate. Your letter reached him 
 
 With its announcement that the heart of Ena, 
 
 Through your diplomacy, had been achieved 
 
 In his behalf. He writes that hitherward 
 
 He straightway comes, his laurels to assume, 
 
 Like a conquering hero. He reveals, moreover, 
 
 What I dreamed not, — the rivalry in love 
 
 'Twixt you and him. Yourself you sacrifice. 
 
 But in so doing canonize your name 
 
 In my memory. If you prize that habitation, 
 
 You will be consoled. 
 
 Ni. Consoled and cheered indeed, 
 
 I thank you for my friend and for myself 
 
 That him you love. I never could be happy, 
 
 Seeing my friend unhappy. And today 
 
 My lot's not pitiable. My love remains, 
 
 And your esteem remains ; and I am rich 
 
 Inestimably in both. All my life long 
 
 I enthrone you in a soul you know devout, 
 
 And pay you my chief worship. Watch my life, 
 
 And if you find it noble you may feel 
 
 That still I love you. Every honor now 
 
 That I attain, you share with me. I go 
 
 To live alone, and yet to live for you, 
 
 As if you were my own. Long have I yearned 
 
 For such a dedication, for an hour 
 
 When some devouter act, pre-eminent 
 
 Among my daily deeds, might close the past 
 
 And separate it from me, make an era 
 
 Wherefrom to date my future. Now has come 
 
 The longed-for era. This my love for you 
 
 Inaugurates the new life in my heart 
 
 And shuts the past all out. Ena, farewell ! 
 
 I need not see you more. I need but feel 
 
 That you are in the universe. That knowledge 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 89 
 
 Will make life worth my living. 
 
 Ena. Will you wait, 
 
 And help me welcome Phinon ? 
 
 Ni. Nay; 'twere better 
 
 I hasten back. I'll meet him on the way, 
 
 Refreshing him upon the tedious road 
 
 With tidings of you. All beatitudes 
 
 Cover you robe-like! [Exit. 
 
 Ena. Bless him ! But my Phinon, 
 
 Oh, Phinon, my dear Phinon, dearest Phinon, 
 
 My sweet-voiced singer with the deep, deep brow 
 
 And sad, sad eyes, so sad, so deep, unlike, 
 
 Unlike all others, let my Phinon come — 
 
 [ can not wait. [Sings. 
 
 Ah ? now I love, and the world is fair, 
 And my heart is wondrous pure, 
 And music pulses all the air, 
 And noble thoughts endure. 
 
 Now beauty is bright, and evil dims, 
 And virtue is not rare. 
 Be now no song but sacred hymns, 
 No speech henceforth but prayer. 
 
 Oh ! be mine eyes uplifted now, 
 And my hands crossed on my breast; 
 For the wreathed rays are on my brow, 
 And the holy robes invest. 
 
 III. Nirus. 
 Ni. Losing her, 
 
 I lose my brethren all. How I had hoped, 
 Having her in my home to help and teach me, 
 That I might learn to live a social life, 
 Rejoicing in the love and gratitude 
 
90 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Of cheered and strengthened hearts! Her pres- 
 ence there 
 Would give me courage to endure the terror 
 Of human contact ; and her precious beauty 
 Would keep me light of heart, and lend my lips 
 Vivacious fire; the honor of her love 
 Would give a confidence and dignity 
 And self-command that ne'er could be conferred 
 By rank imperial. I were more than royal, 
 If she stood by my side. Alas ! I lose her ; 
 And losing her I lose the whole bright world, 
 Till an eloquent death regain it, till at last 
 Such utterance I may give to finer tones 
 Of cultured souls that after my departure 
 I shall have part in that society 
 Forbidden to me living. [Sings. 
 
 Forth from thy face into the gloom of old, 
 Whence late I passed ; 
 Into the gloom, into the silence cold, 
 The shadows vast. 
 
 Forth from thy face, forth from the sacred 
 
 light, 
 The joy and peace; 
 
 Forth from thy holy face into the blight 
 That doth not cease. 
 
 Into the dark, but not with darkened soul, 
 As late I came; 
 
 Forth from thy face, wearing a gloriole 
 Of sacred flame. 
 
 Into the dark, lifting the holy light 
 
 For all to see; 
 
 Forth from thy face to spread the glory bright 
 
 Kindled by thee. 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 91 
 
 Into the dark, bearing my sacred pain, 
 
 A priceless store; 
 
 Forth from thy face, blessing the precious gain 
 
 For evermore. 
 
 Forth from thy face with consecrated heart, 
 
 Flower-pure at last ; 
 
 Forth from thy face forever I depart 
 
 Into the past. 
 
 Phinon enters. 
 Ni. Phinon, my friend ! 
 Phi. Now, Nirus, do I feel 
 
 My poor life nobled. 
 
 Ni. Ah ! my laureled victor, 
 
 You triumph not o'er me. I, too, am crowned, 
 And have a world of thoughts to guard devoutly, 
 Wherein she dwelleth. 
 
 Phi. Ah, how zephyr-like 
 
 Her every movement! 
 
 Ni. Scarce surprising were it, 
 
 If she should float among the heavenly clouds, 
 Visiting earth no more. 
 Phi. If she flies not, 
 
 Tis only that she thinks it dignified 
 To walk so queen-like here along the ground, 
 Her every motion music. 
 Ni. Oh ! she is Joy 
 
 Come down from heaven to earth, afflicted here 
 With earthly sorrow, yet continuing 
 To be Joy's self. 
 
 Phi. And she is Grace descended 
 
 To be our minister, her beauteous shape 
 Bearing but such faint traces of earth's flaw 
 As signify a gentle martyrdom, 
 Making the grace more sweet. 
 Ni. And she is Love, 
 
92 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Dwelling amid the hatreds of mankind ; 
 
 Yet, in her pity of men's alienations, 
 
 Becoming Love the more. 
 
 Phi. And Purity, 
 
 Tortured of human passion, and thereby, 
 
 With all the added stimulus of passion, 
 
 Grown more intensely pure. How Ena soothed, 
 
 Even from the first, how quickly soothed in me 
 
 Exhausting passion till it wholly ceased, 
 
 And then surprised me by creating in me 
 
 A new, serener and sublimer passion 
 
 With her its center! I am all at peace 
 
 With the dear thought of her. 
 
 Ni. She gives her peace 
 
 To all that find her presence ; but for Phinon 
 
 Awaits the honor of her hourly blessing. 
 
 Phi. All others must approach her timidly, 
 
 Then go away unglorified ; but I — 
 
 The very sanctuary of her arms 
 
 Will be my daily dwelling. What weird fate, 
 
 What miracle of chance hath brought her hither 
 
 Unto the earth, when myriad worlds around 
 
 W r ere trembling for her presence? Why our 
 
 planet 
 Thus chosen out of all ? And why am I 
 The chosen of all men ? I stand exalted, 
 Conspicuous in the boundless universe 
 With this supreme distinction. What an awe 
 Will now invest me in the sight of men, 
 Coming thus from her presence every morn, 
 And every evening going back once more 
 To renew my halo! 
 
 Ni. Phinon, my dear friend ! 
 
 Phi. What do I care for coronation days 
 Of royal rulers? Or for primal eras 
 Of mightiest revolutions? In that hour 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 93 
 
 When we are recreated into one, 
 
 All history's trivial grandeur we shall scorn; 
 
 All other days will be no more remembered, 
 
 All eras be forgotten and ignored 
 
 In that Apocalypse. Ah ! if the world 
 
 Persist unchanged, and sorrow do not pass, 
 
 And sin cease not, then let me die, nor know 
 
 That I have been thus mocked. 
 
 Ni. Phinon, my friend! 
 
 Phi. Oh! I did dream of gazing on my love, 
 
 The rapture of her undiluted presence, 
 
 Her lily presence, on some tropic eve, 
 
 Upon some blessed Sabbath-eve of life, 
 
 The awe and beauty and the sacred wonder, 
 
 And merry-lightsome grace, divinely free, 
 
 From those toil-coverings free that we indue 
 
 To keep our forms refined from boisterous touch 
 
 Of the rude air, free from those snowy clouds 
 
 Some tropic Sabbath-time when in my arms, 
 
 My cherishing arms, she hath no longer need 
 
 Of other protection. 
 
 Ni. Phinon! Phinon! 
 
 Phi. What have I done? What have I said? 
 
 Alas! 
 Have I been cruel to my benefactor? 
 Have I been mad? Have I been blasphemous? 
 Ni. 'Twere blasphemy, indeed, if less than wor- 
 ship ! 
 Only be moderate, Phinon ; we must guard 
 With firm restraint our nature's poesy, 
 Lest it absorb us and contract our minds 
 To impotence. Has your deep being power, 
 Out of our little, common, temporal life, 
 To secrete this infinite passion ? Thus you prove 
 The infinite in yourself. 
 Phi Nirus, I go; 
 
94 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 I long for Ena's presence. [Exit. 
 
 AH. Farewell, Phinon ! 
 
 I fear for Ena. Oh ! the violent Phinon 
 
 Will never give her peace. Month after month 
 
 The darkling night will gather round her head. 
 
 And I shall not be near. I cannot go 
 
 To learn if she be happy, if her face 
 
 Give evidence of sorrow. If by chance 
 
 I found her weeping, I should have no right 
 
 To offer comfort, none to kiss her hand, 
 
 And let my soul look from my eyes a moment. 
 
 And tell her how I love her, and implore 
 
 That she no longer grieve. I have no hope. 
 
 No hope henceforth, since I can do no good 
 
 To her I love. I feel so deep a need 
 
 To care for her, I cannot understand 
 
 Why she does not need me. My own lone heart 
 
 I pity so that I forget and blend 
 
 With my self-pit)' pity for her, too. 
 
 Although she is so glad, as if our lives 
 
 Made up one tragedy, related close 
 
 In mutual separation. But no more 
 
 Of weak, unmanly plaints ! Why thus expend 
 
 Upon anxiety so frivolous. 
 
 Regret so petty, all my soul's sublime. 
 
 Godlike capacity for pain ? Methinks 
 
 Some great remorse were nobler than a life 
 
 Thus occupied with discontent so vile. 
 
 Why should we let ourselves be throttled thus 
 
 P>y base repinings, when 'twere possible 
 
 Like Titans in a tempest of thunderbolts 
 
 To be consumed? Henceforth, denied forever 
 
 The sweeter private ministries of home, 
 
 With all their lowly peace, I'll serve her still 
 
 In more heroic fashion. She that else 
 
 Had been my tender Psyche, half a child, 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 95 
 
 And saintly-meek beside me, now transformed, 
 Grown dread with this great interval, shall tower 
 My stern Minerva, beckoning with a threat 
 More luring than a smile. Even though denied 
 Home and my fatherhood, I'll still not fail 
 To win an actual from the formless void 
 Of love's vague dreamery. Ah! for her dear 
 
 sake, 
 To glorify her name and justify 
 Love so ambitious, I will draw all men 
 To crown me with their praise ; and all my fame 
 Shall be for her, and my renown shall stand 
 A thousand years 'mid history's shifting sands, 
 A pyramid for her! 
 
 IV. Nirus. 
 Ni. Dearest Ena, 
 
 I knew when first I met thee that at last 
 My soul had now attained its dignity, 
 Achieved its perfect love. The minor peace 
 Of lesser presences that one by one 
 In growing nobleness have gathered round, 
 And blest me for a time, that minor peace 
 Just kept me living and preserved my soul 
 For this true love that comes in at the close 
 And dignifies me perfectly. I chose thee, 
 Because thou wast most noble; and today; 
 I know I have not lost thee. While I live 
 Thou wilt be nearer, realer to me 
 As I become more manly; thou art more near, 
 More real than the living. Since at last 
 I love a spirit, I must henceforth be 
 Myself a spirit. 
 
 Phinon passes by singing: 
 This doubt mankind have long expressed, 
 Amid their troubled, anxious quest 
 
96 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Around the world for joy complete, 
 If life be glad, if life be sweet. 
 
 Now one can answer — well he knows ; 
 
 When hope is gone, all solace goes; 
 
 So 'tis not life, must be confessed, 
 
 Not life, but hope, 'tis hope is blest. 
 Ni. How fares it with my Phinon? I have 
 
 longed 
 To give you consolation, and receive 
 An answering consolation for myself. 
 In vain, you seem to flee me. 
 Phi. Yes, my friend, 
 
 I flee you, though I love. Each human face 
 Hath in it something maddening. Have you seen 
 Brutes, when they die, go off to die alone? 
 So human souls in mortal agony 
 Forget that they have brethren. Crises come, 
 When all is in suspense, our peace, our hope, 
 Our life, our virtue, and we cannot guess 
 What fate impends ; a change, we know is nigh, 
 And wait In terror. Let me go, my friend; 
 My restless soul impels me. 
 Ni. Go not yet ; 
 
 Wait but a moment; let me give you comfort, 
 Or join in your despair. 
 Phi. Yes, I will stay, 
 
 And bid farewell, and yield to you once more, 
 As hitherto, my soul. Beside a grave 
 I have grown thoughtful. Wont were we to say : 
 "So long as high thoughts live to bless the world, 
 So we perpetuate our earnestness 
 In thought and action, what the need to care 
 About our consciousness ? Without a doubt 
 The future will preserve our loftiest thought; 
 Let the rest fade away." But why so sanguine 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 97 
 
 About that conservation? Is the earth 
 
 A treasury safe? Or must our spirit-wealth 
 
 Consume at last in universal flames? 
 
 What winds ethereal to waft the seed 
 
 To other planets, and perpetuate 
 
 Our psychic glories? Goodness hath no rank, 
 
 If it fuse at last in the universal chaos. 
 
 Ni. Phinon, for aught we know, the transient 
 
 earth, 
 And all these stars that seem to twinkle once, 
 And then go out forever, may yet prove 
 To be the busy factories where souls 
 From: fleshly molds are shaped and sent away 
 To glorify the heavens. Our earth, perhaps, 
 A generator of ethereal force, 
 Is helping store eternity with life. 
 Phi. It might be so, but is not. Every moment 
 Derides our frantic efforts to achieve 
 The sacredness we long for. What the use 
 Of all this culture, and this ornament 
 Of thought and sanctity that we bestow 
 On these poor bodies? All that gaudy show 
 Will moulder in the grave. Why all this cost 
 Merely unto our burial? When I think 
 Of this end, I am ready to plunge down 
 In suicide of soul. How piteously, 
 Here in the midst of all our rancid flesh, 
 Aping the angels' gestures, we proceed, 
 And in the intervals of our gluttonies 
 Mumbling the prayer-thoughts that have dropped 
 
 among us 
 Out of the heavens ! Oh, hearts are only flesh ! 
 What matter be they crushed? Knowledge of 
 
 truth 
 Hath never yet been gained, nor joy expressed. 
 Nor love, nor grief, except with tools of flesh 
 
98 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Ni. What matter, so we live on earnestly, 
 
 So we grow wise, and win our dignity, 
 
 So we but joy and grieve and love and worship, 
 
 And give expression to our great emotions, 
 
 What matter for the means ? Let us be glad 
 
 That nature makes the means so beautiful ; 
 
 And if at times the senses do revolt, 
 
 They soon come back again to their allegiance, 
 
 And serve in reverent faith. W T e can upraise 
 
 Our purest prayers to heaven while we attend 
 
 To nature's lowliest needs ; what but is sacred 
 
 Beside a dying-couch? 
 
 Phi. O Ena, Ena ! 
 
 Ni. Although death follow, yet I mean to live 
 
 A spirit's life, and if I have no soul, 
 
 Then on my only treasure, this frail body, 
 
 Soul's symbol, on the earth soul's deputy, 
 
 So agonized with acting that high part, 
 
 On it I mean to lavish all the wealth 
 
 And all the splendor and imperial pomp 
 
 Of thought and aspiration and high dreams 
 
 And consecrated effort, costly chrism 
 
 Unto the day of my burial. I am glad 
 
 That Ena went thus regally to death. 
 
 Be it so with us. 
 
 Phi. While Ena was alive, 
 
 The earthi was beautiful; but she has gone, 
 
 And all is changed, and even the stars look gross. 
 
 Ni. Ah ! she has lived ; and earth is beautiful, 
 
 Luminous with her presence. In our world, 
 
 Weirdest of planets, where a daily magic 
 
 Transforms dead matter into spirit-life, 
 
 We learn this much of knowledge, we discern 
 
 That matter is spirit, since affinity 
 
 It has with spirit, and combines with spirit 
 
 Sweetly in them we love. 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 99 
 
 Phi. Beauteous Ena! 
 
 Image of Ena, come across my thoughts ; 
 Refresh me with thy sweetness, till my mind 
 Is full of spring-time buoyancy and beauty. 
 I will try, Nirus, henceforth will I try 
 To be more pure and dignified. Forgive me 
 That 1 have thus intruded on your presence 
 The ennui of disease. 
 
 V. Phinon. 
 Phi. [Sings. 
 
 Ah, I am not so noble as I thought ! 
 Nature in me hath less divinely wrought, 
 Or less completely; all hath come to naught 
 That eagerly and painfully I sought, 
 And deemed achieved, it all hath come to 
 naught. 
 
 Nirus enters. 
 O Nirus, now is time to say farewell, 
 As if death came. I feel myself decline 
 To my spirit's dissolution. Only a while, 
 A little while, and I shall care no more 
 For any noble thing. The evil thoughts 
 Already press upon me. Eagerness 
 For high achievement passeth ; and henceforth 
 Although I see the earth is beautiful, 
 How little do I joy! As lief were I 
 Twere only a hideous lump. No more I know 
 The love of beauty. Daily do I sink 
 And grow more careless. Soon shall I be mock- 
 ing, 
 In dull security, today's alarm, 
 Scorning high aims. But now at least, my friend, 
 The evil in me is not yet a part 
 Of my own nature. While I still resist it, 
 And while I still can hold your presence dear, 
 
 Lore. 
 
ioo DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 I pray you to neglect affairs a little, 
 
 And give your time to me. The leprosy 
 
 Is in my blood ; but not yet need I leave 
 
 To be an outcast and to cry "Unclean" ! 
 
 Till Pity flee in terror. Even now 
 
 A time remains for love. A little time 
 
 The cares of life shall all be thrown aside, 
 
 And all their selfish aims ; now thoughtfulness 
 
 And trifling charities disdained before 
 
 I will perform, nor hoard the moments now, 
 
 So miserly, but give them to my friends, 
 
 And learn to hide the tears, and oftener smile, 
 
 Because the time is short. 
 
 Ni. No, Phinon, no! 
 
 Throw off this fancy ; it will mar your peace 
 
 If harbored thus. 'Tis nothing but a fancy, 
 
 And has no substance. 
 
 Phi. Nirus, do not acts 
 
 Grow out of thought? And thought cannot be 
 
 ruled, 
 But masters us, comes on us from without, 
 Or from the inner vagueness, where we blend 
 With chaos and float backward into mist, 
 As a sea-god's body billows back amorphous 
 Under the saline flood. When evil thoughts 
 Beset me thus, what reason, pray, to hope 
 That I possess some proud immunity 
 At nature's partial hands ? The misery 
 Of sin's subjection would as fitly fall 
 On me as any other ; and I sit — 
 We all sit passive, waiting for the lot 
 That gives us glory or the hell of sin. 
 Ni. My friend, your lot already has been 
 
 drawn, 
 The happier destiny. 
 Phi. But know we not 
 
EMPIRE OF TALIXIS 101 
 
 That even virtue in this age of matter 
 
 Depends upon material conditions? 
 
 How slight disorganization in the brain 
 
 Availeth to transform the noblest man 
 
 Into a criminal ; a piece of bone 
 
 Pressing upon the brain ; a clot of blood ; 
 
 The tiny birth-germ of a wicked thought 
 
 In parent-minds, latent for many years, 
 
 And then evolving monstrous progeny 
 
 Of deeds incredible ! 
 
 Ni. Ah, the infliction 
 
 Of a great thought to him that Atlas-like 
 
 Bends to that burden ! Phinon, dearest friend ! 
 
 The truth is deadly, and such thoughts as these 
 
 Will craze us both, unless we plunge ourselves 
 
 Into the world of action, and dilute 
 
 This truth with phantasy. The world and we 
 
 Shall neutralize each other. We can force 
 
 These traffickers to think, and they in turn 
 
 Can quench our fiery fancy. Let us seek 
 
 Some milder mania to combat this 
 
 Our present madness. Let us now invoke 
 
 Some wild ambition, choose some vanity, 
 
 And cherish that, and so ourselves delude, 
 
 And keep this fatal fatalism down 
 
 With sane and healthy action. Let us henceforth 
 
 As men of action indirectly think 
 
 Through hand and sense; thoughts do not come 
 
 to such 
 In disembodied terror, and so they 
 Can still endure. But the man of contemplation, 
 Gazing upon the unincarnate thought, 
 That very ghost of him which haunts persistent 
 His every step, will he not be destroyed, 
 Unless in haste he weave some body round it, 
 Making the weird ideal tangible 
 
102 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 With the real of action ? 
 
 Phi. Be not troubled, Nirus, 
 
 By my fantastic dread. In last night's dreams 
 
 It came upon me, and I'm scarcely wakened 
 
 To know how false it is. 'Twill soon be past, 
 
 And I shall be my old self once again. 
 
 Ni. And we can once more take our happy 
 
 walks 
 In care-free peace. Ah ! Phinon, we may suffer, 
 But shall not perish. We have looked too high, 
 And grown too fond of starlight e'er to change 
 And gaze on base things. 
 
 Phi. If it prove otherwise, 
 
 And I must have infirmity or sin 
 To humble all my hopes, my dearest friend, 
 I call you now to witness that I choose 
 Virtue and joy, if it is granted me 
 To make my own election. I reject 
 Sorrow and sin. Not by my own consent 
 Shall this choice be reversed. 
 Ni. Then he assured 
 
 That it will hold till chaos come again. 
 Phi. I cannot be assured. All things are dark, 
 Baffling solution. While the pulse is firm. 
 And while the body thrills with fullest life, 
 The soul, in such alliance confident, 
 Feels strong, indeed, and raises boastful prayers, 
 Full of high consecration ; but alas ! 
 When the stout body falters, and its powers 
 Melt away one by one, ah, then how soon 
 The haughty spirit yields ! 
 Ni. Have we not both 
 
 One watchword to preserve us? When we are 
 
 tried 
 And wish for strength ; when we are sad, and 
 long 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 103 
 
 To find sweet comfort; when we contemplate 
 
 Some lofty service, and would be inspired 
 
 To adequate endeavor — then this word 
 
 Will consecrate us wholly : "In her presence !" 
 
 Phi. Even that I doubt ; for I am weak, indeed ; 
 
 And Ena's face is fading fast away 
 
 Out of my vision. Scarcely even now 
 
 Can I recall it from the dimness weird 
 
 Of memory's limbo. Vaguely it appears 
 
 To my most frantic conjurations, weak 
 
 To thrill me and preserve. 
 
 Ni. At least there's hope 
 
 Of quenching thought with deeds. Would for 
 
 your sake 
 Varian still were living. You had won 
 An easy promotion. Now the essay's more hard, 
 Yet not beyond effort. Away with rhyming 
 
 henceforth, 
 And welcome the world of the real. Come, let us 
 
 plan 
 To rise in the realm of affairs. Now better far 
 Than that dead lion of vague idealism 
 Is the living dog of a real, vital purpose, 
 Though it utterly fail! [Exeunt. 
 
 VI. Phinon in bed. 
 Phi. Alas! I waken. Once again, alas! 
 The light returns, and with suspicious eye 
 Peers into our guilty visages, and asks 
 What hideous deed we and the night have 
 
 wrought 
 Of shame or cruelty. But here awaits 
 A still more dread accuser. Ah! too well 
 I know this hand. In one respect, at least, 
 We two have always differed ; for what eye 
 Could not distinguish my chirography 
 
104 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 From such as this ? Ah ! I scarce dare to touch 
 
 it 
 With these my guilty hands. It seems to look 
 With sorrow and reproach. — "My brother dear, 
 Sad tidings have I heard, scarce credible 
 Of one I honored. Is it, is it, indeed — " 
 Aha! what's here? Let not the man of pride, 
 Even in his secret fancy dare indulge 
 In dishabille of morals. There's a hag 
 At every keyhole; even the Deity — 
 So say divines — is fond of playing spy 
 Upon our vices, making them a theme 
 Of gossip with his favorites. Which, I wonder, 
 Of these inquisitors hath Nirus' ear, 
 Omniscience, or some beldame? — "Can it be true 
 That such an end is come? And have you thrown 
 The treasured nobleness of years away 
 Without a pang? Sweet harper, have vou left, 
 Forever left the high, angelic choir, 
 To' bear a part in hell's charivari?" — 
 Yes ; I am guilty, guilty. All the trees 
 Are pointing at me, and the whispering leaves 
 Are hissing : — How they hate me ! — See him — 
 
 "See, see ; 
 Oh, see him shrink from sunshine ! This is he, 
 Is he, is he that desecrates our sight, 
 That mars with shame our peace and innocence. 
 That brings the blights and worms and all the 
 
 pests 
 That curse the sacred soil !" — "A life like yours, 
 So earnestly and eagerly begun, 
 Must not be thus abandoned. You were loved ; 
 Be true to Ena. If you be not true, 
 Shall I not win her from you? You will los- 
 Ml right to hold her in your memory, 
 I Jnless you keep that pure. She is most his 
 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 105 
 
 Who is most worthy of her." — Yes, the work 
 
 That all my life's good angels wrought upon 
 
 Must be preserved. A woman's sacred love 
 
 Has consecrated me ; the ruined shrine 
 
 Must be restored, — "Oh! I will still be faithful, 
 
 And help you rise even to that dignity 
 
 From which you fell. And when my turn shall 
 
 come, 
 You must help me; and let us ever pray 
 That both fall not at once. You saved my life; 
 I owe you my life's service." — Yes, I will hasten, 
 Hasten to Nirus' presence. How I dread 
 To see his face ! Such strange companion now 
 I have with me, 'twill be embarrassing 
 To meet the two together. How I wish 
 That I were once more innocent, could move 
 With step elastic, and could lift my head 
 In the old dignity, and feel again 
 The lustre on my face, know the old joy 
 To meet old friends ! I would that I could bear 
 The dreadful glance of chastity, the prattle 
 Of innocent children, and the recollection 
 Of her that loved me. Nirus, 'twas thy teachings 
 Set me adrift amid the breakers thus 
 Without a pilot. Ah, what dumb despair 
 Has made me cast away the blessed years, 
 And teach myself to sin, protesting thus 
 Against the mockery of my aspiration! 
 Unable to attain the infinite, 
 I scorned all finite worth. "No more," said I, 
 "Am I to be deluded. From the sun 
 All our extremes are blended. How minute 
 The parallax of virtue! Good and bad 
 Are homogeneous in the final dust. 
 Near ever, they are quite identified 
 By the arbiter Death." Indignant threw I off 
 
106 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 The blessed madness of my youth, and strove 
 
 To be more sane, and live in harmony 
 
 With all this chaos. Now I long, alas ! 
 
 To build my little Cosmos up again 
 
 Here in the void, with sweet flowers blooming 
 
 round, 
 Even though they wither and so suddenly 
 Shrivel away. Let there be light! My Nirus, 
 Nirus, who* freed me from authority 
 And its crude morals, now shall teach instead 
 His own diviner ethics, till henceforth 
 I shall be nobler than before I fell. [Sings. 
 O years, I pray you hasten fast, 
 And separate me from the past ; 
 Bear all my sins so far away, 
 That they no more shall darken day. 
 
 Oh ! render so remote their stain 
 That its reproach can not remain ; 
 Let Lethe's cleansing draught be sure, 
 To make even memory sweet and pure. 
 
 Let me be able yet once more 
 To breathe the holy words of yore, 
 To pray as at my mother's knee, 
 Without the fear of blasphemy. 
 
 O years, I pray you hasten fast, 
 And separate me from the past ; 
 Bear all my sins so far away, 
 That they no more shall darken day. 
 
 VII. Phinon. 
 Phi. [Sings. 
 
 In vain, dear friends, do ye invite 
 To join your holiday delight; 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 107 
 
 For I have sinned ; I cannot stay ; 
 I haste forever on my way. 
 
 Dear ones, I know ye love me well, 
 And how I love I need not tell ; 
 But I have sinned ; day after day, 
 Cain-like I roam a castaway. 
 
 O stars, ye offer me release ; 
 O brooks, ye beckon me to peace ; 
 In vain, in vain, I cannot stay ; 
 For I have sinned, I haste away. 
 
 Ah ! Nirus, thou hast felt it. Shall I, too, 
 Become at last thus rythmic in my pain? 
 Yes, I will write, not for the merry world, 
 But for the souls that suffer; a great cry 
 Across the flames to them that share my torture, 
 From deep despair and bitter penitence, 
 And a dim, tremulous hope, and the piety 
 Of a too late dedication ; merely a cry 
 Of doubt and fear and awful loneliness, 
 Fraught with no tearful faith, no meek submis- 
 sion, 
 But only with the moaning, questioning pain 
 Of a stricken brother's heart ; a social voice 
 Of fellow-suffering in this infinite 
 Symposium of sorrow ; outcries wild 
 That cannot be repressed, and yet admit 
 Of many a modulation, till the discord 
 Fuses in music, till the execrations 
 Are softened into prayer. I will not shriek 
 With indiscriminate raving ; nothing vile 
 Shall make its exit from my guarded lips, 
 To lower common men beneath themselves, 
 By teaching them more hideous blasphemies 
 
108 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 From my intenser nature. I will be 
 
 All beautiful to men, however rent 
 
 In my own private bosom. Ah ! that star, 
 
 How radiant and pure! how meek and calm! 
 
 And yet within, what chaos ! flames that shoot 
 
 Through planetary spaces, vapor of rock, 
 
 Frenzy of atoms that grapple promiscuous, 
 
 Disdaining heaven's control, and even thus 
 
 Illuminating earth. Not otherwise 
 
 A soul grows luminous. What chaos here! 
 
 What chemic agitation ! What ennui! 
 
 What sick self-loathing! We can not conceive 
 
 The glory of the aggregate. Within 
 
 All is confusion ; but in face and form 
 
 The fiercely generated radiance 
 
 Will gleam forth to ennoble and to. bless 
 
 The eyes that look upon us. All these thoughts 
 
 That sting and burn and agonize will serve 
 
 To make us scintillate within the sight 
 
 Of them that see us. Who regards the process, 
 
 Cares for the chemistry? We seek results; 
 
 Results alone are real ; processes 
 
 Annul themselves, perpetually destroyed 
 
 Into results. This life must be renewed, 
 
 This radiance replenished ; so cease not 
 
 The generating forces ; still go on 
 
 The mighty ebullitions. Yet those means 
 
 Belong not to the present; they are past 
 
 And primitive, immeasurably remote 
 
 From these resulting glories. All that heat 
 
 Is light to men that see us. What reproach 
 
 In the fierce conflagration ? The vast space 
 
 Will temper it, diffuse it softly forth 
 
 In tranquil glory to all waiting souls 
 
 Within its globe of light. Ah ! when the sun 
 
 Ceases to glow, its rays still journey on 
 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 109 
 
 From world to world, weaving an aureole 
 
 For every saintly brow. Forevermore, 
 
 Remoter and remoter pierce those rays, 
 
 Fainter and fainter, yet not ever lost, 
 
 Although that sun hangs icy in the void, 
 
 Oblivious of past heavings. Grandest age 
 
 Of a star's history, when, consumed at last, 
 
 No more material, it still gleams in space 
 
 A sacred spirit world ! Even such a fate 
 
 I pray for for myself. Grand consummation 
 
 Whene'er the man of thought has borne away 
 
 Into the tomb his vanities and sins, 
 
 All his diseases, all his petulance, 
 
 When his decay is done, and even his tomb 
 
 Obliterated, nothing of him left 
 
 Except his noblest thoughts ! Then has he grown 
 
 To be a spirit, then is fit at last 
 
 For apotheosis. Hasten the day 
 
 When I shall be destroyed, all but my thought, 
 
 Freed from all sense-corruption. And that 
 
 thought. 
 Oh ! it shall blaze forever ; 'tis my due 
 As recompense for pain. When nature blunders 
 And makes a piteous monstrosity, 
 She undertakes in horror and remorse 
 To compensate with some peculiar gift 
 That happier men know not. O sire of song, 
 Death to the weakling thought ! Now prove thee, 
 
 Phinon, 
 A Spartan parent. Strangle the commonplace, 
 Ere it look on the light of day. At last, at last 
 Our age hath found its voice ! 
 
 VIII. Phinon. 
 Phi. Angels and devils, now I bid you all 
 To be spectators of a tragedy 
 
no DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Without a precedent. This manuscript, 
 
 My soul's expression, the rich condensation 
 
 Of all a deep experience, I commit 
 
 To this devouring flame. How recently — 
 
 Some yesterdays gone — 'twas not ! tomorrow 
 
 again 
 It will not be ; today with nerve and sinew 
 And virile glory it standeth symmetric, complete, 
 Unknown to the world, like a mighty soul that 
 
 passeth 
 Through life incognito, silent and self-contained, 
 While dwarflings bluster and brawl. No human 
 
 eye 
 Shall look upon these pages. I reject 
 The mockery of fame, blot out forever 
 The glory of my thoughts, which put to shame 
 A groveling life. I will not suffer men 
 To find me out, and so, when I am dead, 
 To gather round and shout into my ear, 
 And keep me from repose. Ah ! I do wish 
 I were no more, that all whose memory 
 Holds any trace of me might pass away ; 
 Yea, that the earth my erring feet have trod 
 Might be destroyed. Then only could I rest, 
 Dreaming a long, unconscious dream of peace. 
 Such rest I must await, but even now 
 Can stupefy myself and walk benumbed. 
 Dazed into partial calm. O passionate thought. 
 Bodied in flaming words, I give you now 
 A long quietus. Thus myself I slay, 
 And plunge back toward the chaos whence I 
 
 came. 
 The dagger-thrust will be less violent 
 Than this great suicide. 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 1 1 1 
 
 ACT THIRD. 
 
 /. Nirus, Cotaminus. 
 Co. Into her dangerous coils 
 
 Daily she draws him closer. Not a hand 
 Will you lift in rescue? 
 
 Ni. I'm not yet convinced 
 
 I'd dread such coils myself. 
 Co. Shall the earnest Victor 
 
 Be bound to a giddy coquette? 
 Ni. Such often prove 
 
 The rarest of wives, when all that energy 
 No more runs waste in folly, but, directed 
 Into the bosom of one happy man, 
 Yields its superfluous floods to multiply 
 The volume of his life. 
 Co. Then be it so. 
 
 Still deeper the reason that you interfere 
 To hinder this advantage of a rival 
 Strong enough, even unmated. 
 Ni. You advance 
 
 Two counter motives — which sincere? Your 
 
 credit 
 For sagacity's now at stake. 
 Co. We oft must feel 
 
 Around the truth with words, before we know 
 Our own true motive. Now I find the second 
 Nearer my heart. Let Victor be augmented 
 With this new vital force, — you may retire 
 Again to your farm. 
 
 Ni. Truly your foresight's virile 
 
 Far beyond nature; but I fear your conscience 
 Has missed its puberty. 
 
 Co. I'm no moral eunuch, 
 
 Without a conscience : I've but mastered that 
 With my other passions. You yourself methinks 
 
ii2 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Would be a rare success, once gain control 
 
 Of that imperious conscience. Here I worst you, 
 
 Should we he rivals. You have no less foresight 
 
 Than I myself, were not your foresight hampered 
 
 With the incubus of a conscience. 
 
 Ni. Mine the advantage, 
 
 Should we two sit in conclave, and our 
 
 foresights 
 Should prove at variance ; for my conscience 
 
 then 
 Would double my vote. 
 Co. If your wit should prove a 
 
 third, 
 I were overwhelmed with odds. 
 Ni m Be we allies. 
 
 You re-enforce my judgment, I your conscience, 
 We'll make a pair. 
 
 Co. Ah! you're unscrupulous 
 
 Like other men of overweening conscience: 
 You outwit my shrewdness, make it serve 
 
 as lackey 
 To your ideal ends.— We two together 
 May rule some empire yet. [Exeunt, zvith arms 
 thrown over each other's shoulders. 
 
 II. Mir a. 
 Mi. How can I hope that he will think to love 
 
 me 
 If none suggest it to him? and if I — 
 If I durst tell him boldly of my love, 
 He would still more despise : for he is stern 
 Concerning woman's place; he thinks that we 
 Should never love, — only let men love us, 
 If they chance to think about us. — He prefers 
 The words of Nirus to the infinite treasures 
 Of a woman's living heart. Alas! what fate 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 113 
 
 Awaiteth Mira? Shall she, meteor-like, 
 In Victor's atmosphere be all consumed, 
 While Nirus argues on ? or shall she fall 
 In Victor's arms and be of him a part? 
 Would in those arms I might forever tremble ; 
 Yea, tremble in his glorious hero-arms, 
 Veined with the sacred blood of royalty, — 
 Close-clinging there for refuge from the dread 
 Of his own god-like presence. O my love! 
 
 Victor, love, like that celestial star 
 Enshrined within the bosom of the lake 
 Be thou to me ! I cannot rise to thee ; 
 
 But thou canst drop from thine exalted sphere 
 The radiance of thy beauty unto me, 
 Adorning me and making me akin 
 To the high heavens. — Alas ! these weird 
 
 magicians, 
 These burly monsters, how do they enchant us, 
 And draw us tremulous to their rugged 
 
 bosoms, 
 Although we blanch with terror ! Ah ! ah me ! 
 How tender-passionate to them do we come, 
 And quivering sink with sobbing earnestness 
 Down finally in their terrific arms, 
 And passive-eager lie there all our lives ! 
 Though they were flame to scorch us into ashes, 
 What woman's heart would hesitate? — Poor 
 
 Victor ! 
 
 1 know he's lonely: would he'd find his home 
 Here in my loyal bosom, — how much better 
 Than arguing with Nirus ! Ha ! who comes ? — 
 Cotaminus and Victor! They converse. 
 
 Tis said whene'er men meet among themselves 
 They speak of us lightly. Well, we'll see right 
 
 now 
 What these chevaliers will say. [Hides herself. 
 
H4 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Cotaminas and Victor enter. 
 Co. Mere empty show! 
 
 Vic. Yet beauty's the temple where we bow to 
 
 truth, 
 And look on the shadow of God. She is a flower, 
 To be revered for flawless loveliness, 
 Even though the soul be lacking. 
 Co. I suppose 
 
 There are some plants for human sustenance; 
 And there are others to delight the eye. 
 She toileth not and neither doth she spin; 
 She speaks no wisdom, is not even good: 
 And yet she is a goodly parable, 
 Wherewith my friend may teach the vanity 
 Of human duty and nobility 
 That toils in pain to elevate mankind, 
 And has no time for flirting. One would think 
 That Nirus had injected in your ears 
 His moral aesthetics. 
 
 Vic. Though she seems to lack 
 
 The higher qualities, her loveliness 
 Serves her instead, and wakes in all beholders 
 Feelings devout with which herself, perchance, 
 May ne'er have been familiar. Would, indeed, 
 That honor might be kept for nobler women, — 
 For women such as earnest men can wed 
 And hold in perfect reverence. If mere pleasure, 
 If empty pleasure wear such peerless beauty, 
 How duty, truth and love should be arrayed 
 In radiance celestial ! 
 
 Co. Is it not strange 
 
 That she is able to continue thus 
 In constant affectation, never caught 
 A moment off her guard? Were she to sleep, 
 And talk in dreams, I wonder if she then 
 Would use her natural tones. 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 115 
 
 Vic. She has more faults 
 
 Than other women ; yet she has as well 
 
 More qualities than they. I've found the traces 
 
 Of even a soul: I've watched within her eyes, 
 
 At intervals in gayety and folly, 
 
 A heaven-reminding light that seemed to seek 
 
 Its proper place upon her countenance ; 
 
 Yet ruthlessly she thrust that light aside, 
 
 As if ashamed lest men should be reminded 
 
 Of the spirit 'neath her flesh. How long, alas ! 
 
 How long will that sweet angel still return 
 
 To be insulted thus ? Will it not leave, 
 
 And be content to find a lowlier home 
 
 And a more gracious welcome ? — Ah ! to win 
 
 The deep and unfeigned love of such a woman 
 
 Such love as glistens in religious tears, 
 
 And makes all vanity and all coquetry 
 
 Drop mask-like from the long disfigured nature, 
 
 Till it stands forth undisguised, simple as a 
 
 flower. 
 Humble with adoration, tremulous 
 With drooping diffidence, — Ah ! such a hope 
 Might lure adventure. 
 
 Co. Will our Samson woo 
 
 This modern scissors-wielder? 
 Vic. Fear me not. 
 
 I were contented with a humbler triumph, — 
 To bring her for her own ennoblement 
 To that sweet agitation at the thought 
 Of God and duty, — finding thus at last 
 Her woman's soul alive and sensitive, 
 Even as her heart, no less accessible. 
 Co. My friend, you are inspired. Continue still 
 While in the spirit. Tell what you would say 
 Were she now here before you. 
 Vic. I would say: 
 
n6 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 "There is a reason why thou shouldst not be 
 
 Earnest as others, — seeing not this face, 
 
 Only its dulled reflection. We behold 
 
 Day after day, augmenting in our souls 
 
 The glory of thy presence, by the virtue 
 
 Of thine own perfect gifts surpassing thee 
 
 In inner qualities." 
 
 Co. Most subtly reasoned ! 
 
 Shrewd is the diagnosis. Now in turn 
 
 Prescribe the remedy. If she were here, 
 
 What treatment would you order? 
 
 Vic. I would bid her 
 
 Select some quiet hour when shines the sun 
 
 And beams upon her with its fullest light, 
 
 That she may but a little nearer know 
 
 How she would shine if shadows of the earth 
 
 Did not conceal, detracting from her beauty, 
 
 Just as the mirror must detract again, 
 
 Unwillingly remiss, whose sweet religion 
 
 Is but to reproduce her loveliness, 
 
 Giving it back to make her lovelier still 
 
 With such a precious vision, — pure-faced glass, 
 
 Her beauties' armature, renewing them 
 
 With their own inspiration. I would say: 
 
 "Choose such an hour to find out what thou art, 
 
 Searching the lines of that neglected face, — 
 
 Neglected surely, since unheeded so — 
 
 And find an oracle for thee, at once 
 
 Prophecy and command ; and gazing thus, 
 
 See thou if thou canst solve the mystery 
 
 That makes thee sometimes yearn up at the sky 
 
 So eagerly, as if thou wouldst behold 
 
 Through some bright opening left by falling 
 
 stars. 
 Yield to that weird and solemn wonderment, 
 Looking awhile upon no earthly sight, 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 117 
 
 But only on that fragment of sweet heaven, 
 Given to inspire thee. Learn but perfectly 
 That thou art beautiful, and on that day 
 This lowly earth will gain a sacredness, 
 
 beauteous Mira, to translate us all." 
 
 [Mira is discovered. 
 Mi. I have another folly to confess, — 
 Not to repent ; for profit has resulted 
 That justifies the risk: here in the vines 
 
 1 hid myself with curiosity 
 
 To hear what you would say when by yourselves, 
 And under no constraint. The benefit 
 That I receive may serve me for excuse. 
 Vic. Pardon me, Mira, that familiar freedom 
 With which I spoke. Who but is passing bold 
 'Mid hypothetic terrors, till at last 
 The majestical reality encountered 
 Sets him to stammering thus? Can you remem- 
 ber 
 Aught I have said that did not do you honor? 
 Mi. What I have heard has made me under- 
 stand 
 That you have honored me more worthily 
 Than I myself. I did not know before 
 The earnestness of men, or I had tried 
 To be deserving of their reverence 
 And elevated friendship. Time I've lost ; 
 But even yet will I become your equal, 
 Rival perchance. Farewell ! my friends. I go 
 To say my prayers. Hereafter I'll be good, 
 Be very good, and yet be merry, too. [Exit. 
 Co. It may be true that you have found at once 
 Both heart and soul in Mira; yet you see 
 She does not droop or tremble. If at last 
 She does adore, she is not greatly humble. 
 If vanity depart, and all coquetry, 
 
u8 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 And native truth become her sole adornment, 
 
 She will stand erect, and her unwavering eyes 
 
 Will triumph o'er you. 
 
 Vic. Yes, when she attains 
 
 Her destined dignity, she will not be 
 
 A quavering pilgrim doing penances, 
 
 But an archangel, strong as beautiful, 
 
 Glad in the health of perfect spiritual life. 
 
 [Exit Cotaminus. 
 What do I wish for thee? — the rack of torture, 
 A couch of flame beside the dying Lord, 
 So great an anguish as to drive away 
 All desecrating laughters, and to clear 
 Thy purer forehead, — cloudless firmament 
 Of intellectual womanhood. O pain, 
 Come thou to her and give thy ministries 
 To make her earnest ; come such agonies 
 As sweep away all lighter qualities, 
 And leave alone the inherent majesty, 
 To make of her a spirit, burning up 
 All but her womanhood. 
 
 Mir a re-enters. 
 Mi. Victor, my friend, 
 
 You thought me trivial : was such languor, then, 
 About my vanities that you supposed them 
 To be but emptiness? Whate'er I seemed, — 
 Trivial, doubtless, did you not discern, 
 From all the tenseness even in my folly, 
 That I was animated by emotions 
 Deep enough to be worthy of a soul? 
 Your eyes have been as far from seeing me 
 As from beholding yonder distant star, 
 Which quivers on its flame-rack, yet appears, 
 Seen so remote, to dance the hours away, 
 An unsubstantial ignis-fatuus 
 Amid the waste of cloud. 
 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 119 
 
 Vic. Tis, true, indeed ; 
 
 I should have known that such a countenance, 
 
 So full of beauty and expressiveness, 
 
 Was molded in the flarnes. And yet I wish 
 
 That I might see a little of the terror, 
 
 Not kept so distant from your truest self, 
 
 That all your grandeur dims to pettiness, 
 
 Lost in incredible space. Mira, my friend, 
 
 Be oftener, then, sublime as even to-night. 
 
 In earnestness like this. 
 
 Mi. Ah ! hence it is 
 
 That I am overwhelmed whene'er we meet, 
 
 And you unmoved. You assume no veiling 
 
 cloud 
 Of mockery and jesting gayety 
 To hide your nature, but sincere you stand, 
 Without disguise, to overawe the world. 
 I would that I could disentangle me 
 From such investments, and appear to you 
 As you to me. — Alas, alas ! I fear 
 I betray myself. 
 
 Vic. Ah ; I prefer, indeed 
 
 The old disguises. Nay, my sister dear, 
 My soul is full of honoring chivalry, 
 And full of understanding, too. I know 
 The power of deep emotion. I revere 
 Weakness as well as strength ; and I will make 
 A shrine within my memory for this day, 
 And cherish it with reverent sympathy. 
 Have not a fear but you can trust your honor 
 Within my presence or upon my lips 
 Or in my daily memory. I am sure 
 Your guardian angel had not left you thus, 
 Had it not been that chancing here with me, 
 You had no need of her protecting care. 
 
120 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Mi. You are not more startled, Victor, by my 
 
 rashness 
 Than I myself. Yet even my shame is tempered 
 With a sacred pride. I know that I have erred, 
 And uninvited tried to crowd myself 
 Within the sanctuary ; yet I swear 
 Mine was true worship, not a profanation. 
 Vic. Mira, farewell ; I honor you the more 
 For this day's revelation : you have proved 
 Your nature's earnestness. 
 Mi. I thank thee, Victor. [Exit. 
 
 Vic. Why should I, too, not love, and have my 
 
 life 
 Rendered profound in that religion? Why 
 Should not my brow, too, wear the aureole? 
 If other men have dared accept that crown, 
 Why should not I? Am I not worthy, too? 
 We never find a rank above our worth ; 
 Wherever we are placed, howe'er exalted, 
 We feel ourselves at ease, — we wear the purple 
 Like true-born princes. I will not now shrink 
 From this permitted glory. 
 
 Nirus enters. 
 
 Tell me, Nirus, 
 Would I show my folly, if I sought the hand 
 Of Mira, the coquette? 
 
 Ni. 'Tis said all lovers 
 
 Must needs betray their follies. 
 Vic. But I meant 
 
 Would I show mine in the seeking? 
 Ni. You will show 
 
 Somebody's folly in the seeking not 
 Of a hand so peerless. 
 
 Vic. Nirus, you're the adviser 
 
 I long have sought, anticipating thus 
 My own decision. 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 121 
 
 ///. Victor and Mira. 
 Mi. Ah! Victor, can I ever extricate me 
 From this habitual levity? So long 
 I have affected it that scarcely now 
 I could keep it from my prayers. Even yes- 
 terday, 
 While your reproaches rankled in my bosom, 
 The humor took me, and my words were turned 
 To mockery of my feelings. I came back 
 Resolute not to nerve myself again 
 With aught of jesting. But the truth I found 
 Too great for lips to utter; and thus came 
 An act undignified. — Oh ! you shall see 
 That I can fix my gaze as loftily 
 As you yourself do. — But is this the way 
 For recent penitence? Should eyes be red, 
 Hands wrung, and garments rent ? I am a child, 
 A naughty child, and right away forget 
 That I am in disgrace. 
 
 Vic. Like Phaethon 
 
 Have you wrecked some planet, that you seek in 
 
 vain 
 An adequate penance? — Even as dreams of love 
 That gladden weary years — 
 Mi. A perilous theme 
 
 For priestly lips to venture. 
 Vic. Like bright love-hopes 
 
 Should be our upward yearnings, — solace and joy 
 And prophecy divine, needing no aid 
 Of austere conscience. 
 
 Mi. Gentle monitor, 
 
 And therefore potent! If my soul's now saved 
 Let us go back and join the social games. 
 Vic. Wait, Mira ! feel you not the night around, 
 In its solemn beauty? This is a spirit world 
 Whose soul appears projected to our eyes, 
 
122 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 As when a maiden smiles. Is not this hour 
 
 A proper birth-time for our mutual love, — 
 
 For our two- souls to start those tender hymnings 
 
 That ever grow more sweetly passionate, 
 
 Until at last they burst in symphonies 
 
 Of marriage-rapture? Let this hour not pass 
 
 Until consummate with the utterance 
 
 Of our hearts' unsounded deeps. Mira, my 
 
 love! 
 Mi. What! my confessor, makes he love to 
 
 Mira, 
 To mock his sacred calling? 
 Vic. Doth Mira still 
 
 Continue mocking, mocking her own heart's 
 
 glory? 
 Mocking my love? Making a jest of me? 
 Then I must leave ; for I am serious, 
 And brook no levity. — The stars of heaven, 
 The stars are earnest : I'll commune with 
 
 them. [Exit. 
 Mi. O, Victor, Victor ! Victor, pray return ; 
 Leave me not thus. 
 
 Victor re-enters. 
 Vic. Did Mira call? 
 
 Mi. If Victor 
 
 Kindly will now repeat his recent words, 
 Mira will strive to hear attentively 
 And give them serious answer. 
 Vic. I am sorry 
 
 Your memory fails you ; for my own, indeed. 
 Is no less treacherous. What, pray, have T 
 
 spoken 
 Worthy of repetition? 
 
 Mi. Mocks Victor, too? 
 
 If he can not be lured, then, to repeat 
 Those eloquent words, I must remain content 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 123 
 
 With the glad memory. Not one syllable 
 Shall elude my hoarding. I will count them 
 
 over, 
 Miser-like, word by word ; or if, perchance, 
 I become good, I'll whisper them like prayers, 
 As I tell my beads. 
 
 Vic. Ah ! Mira, we will live 
 
 For beauty only. Not a sight or sound 
 Or thought unlovely will we e'er permit 
 To intrude upon our peace. 
 
 Mi. And side by side 
 
 We'll blend our breath with breath of flowers, 
 
 the light 
 Of our glad, radiant eyes with the pure beams 
 Of all these ministering orbs. 
 Vic. Will Mira then, 
 
 Be Victor's life-companion? 
 Mi. What long years 
 
 I waited this! 
 
 Vic. And why so silently? 
 
 When one of two finds out their common fate, 
 Methinks that one should prove a faithful 
 
 prophet. 
 And make it known. 
 
 Mi. A change of politics ! 
 
 Vic. And make it known. Ah ! then we had 
 
 been spared 
 This waste of years. No accident, my love, 
 Hath brought us thus together. We were meant 
 From time's beginning for this day's embrace. 
 And far apart, on either hand of God, 
 Within this dual universe were shapened 
 Symmetric with each other, as one hand 
 Is formed to clasp its fellow. [Offers to embrace 
 
 Mira, who motions him back. 
 Mi. Touch me not 
 
124 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Vic. Why tease me thus ? Dearest, I choose but 
 
 thee 
 From all the world. What though I have not 
 
 seen 
 All women on the earth? Not many souls 
 I have met here, yet feel I none the less 
 I chose thee out of all ; for at the first 
 Did I not choose this age ? and why that choice 
 But that thou livedst then? Did I not choose 
 From all the universe this little earth, 
 Where thou wast newly-born? Why did I 
 
 choose 
 This kingdom and this village? Why, indeed, 
 Save that thou drew'st me hither and I longed 
 To be with thee ? I waited one more summons ; 
 Why wast thou silent? 
 
 Mi. Yesterday I spoke: 
 
 You sent me forth in shame, with cheek of flame, 
 Whipped from your presence. 
 Vic. 'Tis my own turn, Mira, 
 
 To feel the red shame mounting to my brow ; 
 I chose, you know, to be deliberate. 
 I'm coy no more. 
 
 Mi. Stand back, sir: I prefer 
 
 The old disguises. — Victor, do not blush ; 
 My soul is chivalrous, and I revere 
 Weakness as well as strength. I scorn you not, 
 But keep a shrine in memory for this day 
 Forevermore. Your honor's safe with me : 
 I'll take your guardian angel's place awhile, 
 Till his vacation's over. 
 Vic. Mira, Mira, 
 
 I cannot bear your laughter. Will you drive me 
 Forever from your presence? 
 Mi. Who, I wonder, 
 
 Will be the benefactor, — you or I, 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 125 
 
 When our cHeeks touch each other ? 
 
 Vic. I care not 
 
 To approach you nearer. 
 
 Mi. Ah ! who started first ? 
 
 Vic. Now, now, we're conquered both — your 
 
 presence gives me 
 Utter simplicity, till I could romp 
 With boyish glee, or play at childish games 
 Without the loss of dignity. The world 
 Has been reduced from painful complications, 
 Till all is homogeneous. All things now 
 Seem right at last. I have no preference, 
 No care to make selection of my words 
 Or of my actions. Whatsoe'er comes first 
 Appears the best. The commonplace is rife 
 With all transcendant meanings. Every word 
 Is of the spirit. Though things vain we utter, 
 They still convey, like tongues of Pentecost, 
 Significance ethereal. 
 
 Mi. I loved first ; 
 
 I was the first to tell you of my love. 
 My love is not a secondary passion 
 Casting its faint reflection. To your ardor 
 I yield not passively a heart inert, 
 But bound to meet you, equal in the tryst, 
 No less aggressive. 
 
 Vic. Every rapturous breath 
 
 Shows more your depth and power, daughter 
 
 true 
 Of this dear earth, and therefore truer child 
 Of the universe and God ; co-ordinate, 
 Coeval with creation. 
 
 Mi. I am earth's child, — 
 
 "Of the earth, earthy." 
 
 Vic. , Earth is beautiful 
 
 And I am glad to live here. 
 
126 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Mi. Isn't this better 
 
 Than talking with Nirus till in sympathy 
 
 E'en the jaws of the donkeys ached? 
 
 Vic. I only sought 
 
 His soul's salvation. 
 
 Mi. Yet in vain you sought it, 
 
 Haply at your soul's peril. 
 
 Cotaminus enters; offers to withdraw. 
 
 Ha! the judge! 
 Co. Victor, the Gorgons are not terribler 
 Than are the Graces. We, your friends, knew 
 
 not 
 Your deadly peril, but have chatted on, 
 The while this fairy charmed. I seek you two 
 On behalf of our friends. I know 'tis wearisome 
 To endure the vainness of society, 
 Its tedious jestings and its compliments, 
 Its stealthy kisses in dark entrances, 
 And all the ambiguous levities of speeech 
 That foolish lovers deem sufficient quite 
 To conceal the courtship. If you stole away 
 Wishing to shun such cloying spectacles, 
 I do not blame you ; but we have at last 
 Some better entertainment, which I know 
 You would not like to miss. I came to find 
 
 you, 
 Thinking that I must seek you separately ; 
 But luckily you happen now to meet 
 As I arrive. How fortunate for me 
 That I should reach you ere you pass each 
 
 other, — 
 Finding thus two as one! If you can bear 
 Each other's and our company awhile, 
 Let me entreat you come; especially 
 * s our fair merry- Andrew, I perceive, 
 Has lately been in tears. 'Tis probable 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 127 
 
 That she has launched a jest at Victor's pate, 
 
 And failed to make him smile. 
 
 Mi. Cotaminus, 
 
 The grave, the stern, — can even he relax 
 
 And stoop to jesting? Such a contradiction 
 
 Put in a book would drive the critics frantic, 
 
 And ruin the author. Victor presently 
 
 Will undertake a pun. And yet, good sir, 
 
 Your very mirth is grim ; 'tis vinegar, 
 
 Not wine. You are not highly qualified 
 
 To wear the motlev. You would shake vour 
 
 bells 
 Too fiercely far to please. — Still there are lives 
 Grave as your own that are grim jokes through- 
 out 
 For devils' laughter : kings that raise themselves 
 From coronation-day solemnities. 
 And then betray their country ; priests whose 
 
 brows, 
 Pressed by the miter, have acquired their 
 
 wrinkles 
 Chiefly by plotting mischief : worshipers 
 That in the closet bend a reverent knee 
 To him that sees in secret, and again 
 A knee as reverent publicly to Mammon ; 
 Bridegrooms that wear a serious countenance 
 Upon the wedding-eve, yet all their lives 
 Are wholly virgin from the sanctities 
 Enveloping true love. A sober face 
 That hides a heart unconsecrate, — that face 
 Is nature's bitterest jest. Tis better far 
 To be the zany with a human heart 
 And treasury of tears. I would not act 
 The solemn ape, and am not bold enough 
 To hope to wear such earnest countenance 
 As Michael or Victor. 
 
128 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Co. Do you wish 
 
 To return with me? 
 
 Mi. Indeed I much prefer 
 
 To stay alone with Victor and escape 
 
 You and the rest. 
 
 Vic. Come Mira ! 
 
 Mi. Yes, we'll go : 
 
 We can be together often when intruders 
 
 Are barred by lock and key. 
 
 Co. Mira, I fear 
 
 You will cease now to love society. 
 
 Mi. I hate it not, and I shall love it still 
 
 If I can find it henceforth what I hope, 
 
 A theater of action for the heart's 
 
 And for the spirit's powers. Yet solitude 
 
 Renews the force society exhausts, 
 
 And makes us trulier social. Hence, you see. 
 
 To fit our spirits for society 
 
 We need much solitude. Cotaminus, 
 
 You know 'tis but the silence of man's thought 
 
 That turns all wheels. Action can only place 
 
 And execute whatever thought contrives. 
 
 Society distributes what is wrought 
 
 In lonely meditation. Hitherto 
 
 My contributions to the social store 
 
 Have been but childish trinkets. In the future 
 
 I think that I shall give less frequently. 
 
 But give more earnestly ; I will toil now 
 
 Through lonely days to render worthier 
 
 My contributions. 
 
 Co. If our friends but knew 
 
 What a missionary now is drawing near, 
 
 How it would set them gasping! Fairest lady, 
 
 What has excited so your gentle brain, 
 
 To render it thus active? Certainly 
 
 Some memorable occurrence that avails 
 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 129 
 
 To start you thinking! 
 
 Mi. Yes, the novel sight 
 
 Of blindfold Justice suddenly transformed 
 To a prying gossip. 
 
 Nirus and Singers enter. 
 Co. Our entertainers deign, 
 
 Meeting us, to economize our quest. 
 Some of his recent songs has Nirus promised, 
 Kept virgin for our ears. 
 Ni. Mira and Victor! 
 
 Well-met, indeed ! 
 
 Co. Who'll solve the mystery 
 
 Why Mira here and Victor, she no soldier , 
 He no coquette, should find themselves at last 
 Congenial thus ? 
 
 Mi. And may one ne'er admire 
 
 Gifts differing from one's own ? How else should 
 
 Nirus, 
 Not being himself a villain, yet revere 
 Another's roguery, as appeareth well 
 In some of his friendships? 
 Ni. Mira, though no soldier 
 
 Can deal terrific blows. Let's all cry truce 
 Before some other innocent bystander 
 Receives a broken head. 
 
 Song. 
 
 Choose well your friends ; 
 
 Be circumspect ; 
 
 Menacing that e'er impends, 
 
 Misery that never ends 
 
 Must ensue, if you neglect 
 
 Warning thus direct. 
 
 Choose well your friends. 
 
 Choose well your friends ; 
 Be wary, pray ; 
 
i30 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Who unfittingly commends, 
 When his wealth of love he lends, 
 When he binds himself for aye, 
 Hurls all hope away. 
 Choose well your friends. 
 
 Choose well your friends ; 
 
 Use all your arts ; 
 
 If the king misapprehends 
 
 Whate'er tokens nature sends 
 
 For detecting human hearts, 
 
 Empire departs. 
 
 Cfioose well your friends. 
 
 Choose well your friend, 
 When love you seek ; 
 Ruin surely will attend, 
 Heaven itself can ill defend 
 From the viper coiling meek 
 Close against your cheek. 
 Choose well your friend. 
 
 Watch well your friend ; 
 He'll soon conspire, 
 Thwarting every noble end, 
 Till the good that you intend. 
 And the virtue you desire 
 Turn out mischief dire. 
 Watch well your friend. 
 
 Watch well your friend ; 
 He seeks your death, 
 Ever plotting how to send 
 Misery you cannot mend, 
 Sucking out your sleeping breath, 
 Thus he tarrieth. 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 131 
 
 Watch well your friend. 
 Co. Which of us, Victor, 
 
 Think you the poet hits ? 
 Mi. Ill-omened song! 
 
 And not like Nirus. 
 
 Nu You are a sorceress, 
 
 And soon detect me. 'Twas Cotaminus 
 Gave the idea, and desired the song 
 For his own pleasure ; since Cotaminus, 
 With all his reverend soberness, must cherish 
 One harmless affectation, fondly nursing 
 A mild misanthropy, which only adds 
 Vivacity desirable in one 
 Else over-solemn, — one friend, by the way, 
 Not to be watched. 
 
 Mi. Not for his beauty, surely. — 
 
 But Nirus, no more raven-croaking, pray, 
 To mar our mirth. Give us a better song, 
 After your heart — and mine. 
 Co. Heart-unison ! 
 
 How flattering to Nirus! 
 Mi. And to you, 
 
 Having, perchance, my admiration doubled 
 With Nirus's. 
 Ni. What song is set down next ? 
 
 1st Singer. O'er One That Repenteth. 
 Co. Capital, indeed! 
 
 Since Mira is a penitent today. 
 Mi. For wasting time on tumbling harlequins 
 So long without a protest. 
 
 Song. 
 
 Ah! if they ever drive away 
 
 Each friend that loveth thee, 
 
 Thou'lt keep no friend beyond a day, 
 
 Bereft continually. 
 
132 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Hearts cannot choose but love thee, dear ; 
 
 For thou art worthiest; 
 
 If they be noble, 'twill appear 
 
 A duty manifest. 
 
 Reproach upon my conscience weighed, 
 
 Meeting thy spirit-eye, 
 
 So long a time as I delayed 
 
 That consecration high ; 
 
 And then when I began to love, 
 And made my final choice, 
 Ah ! there was joy in heaven above, 
 One rapturous, ringing voice. 
 
 Mi. Sing a song now 
 
 To make us weep. 
 
 Ni. I cannot make you weep; 
 
 I'll make you sigh. 
 
 Co. These ladies can yield you tears, 
 
 At trifling cost. Some weep as the prince takes 
 
 snuff 
 For the titillation ; others half dissolve 
 O'er a cat's romance, to excuse the recurring 
 
 flood 
 That springs from their own flirtations. 
 Mi. Others outvie 
 
 Niagara or the geysers from pure mirth 
 O'er No-longer-young's herculean attempts 
 At social vivacity. 
 
 Song. 
 Ah ! art thou sorry ? dost thou pity, dear, 
 That I must suffer thus for thy sweet sake? 
 Nay, pity not, my friend ; withhold thy tear. 
 Let us rejoice, although my heart do break. 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 133 
 
 Know that I would not give this suffering 
 For all the treasures of the Indian store ; 
 It maketh me, my love, to be a king, 
 Sitting among the martyr-souls of yore. 
 
 One only treasure, dear, did once suffice 
 To buy from me one moment of my grief, 
 The tender beaming of thy pitying eyes, 
 When thee I passed, and caught that solace brief. 
 
 Each moment hath from thee a blessing sure ; 
 Within thy presence holy peace doth reign ; 
 And in thy absence no less sweet and pure 
 Cometh the chastening of this holy pain. 
 
 Co. O listen to counsel, Nirus, 
 
 And try to utilize your fine ideals 
 
 By printing a book to swell your bank-account. 
 
 Few realize ideals ; many a bright one 
 
 Has realized upon them. That I call 
 
 The ideal made practical. 
 
 IV. Victor. Mira enters. 
 Mi. Why come you off here, Victor, by your- 
 self, 
 And sit thus gloomy? Only one short hour, 
 And, I shall be your wife! Is it not a dream? 
 Vic. Mira, 'tis real ! Heaven help us ! Life 
 Grows too stupendous. I am more and more 
 Involved in life, until I shrink away 
 In dread and in despafr. Earth and the grave, 
 And duty and the Judgment-day. O God, 
 Prepare us for them ! 
 
 Mi. Why has love been given, 
 
 Except to make life's terror bearable 
 With that sweet presence? Victor, recently 
 
134 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 I have been eavesdropper to clandestine sighs 
 
 That widow Mira. Is this love, indeed, 
 
 So ineffective ? 
 
 Vic. Oh! love's not a joy; 
 
 Love is a light to guide us on our way, 
 
 The same way as before; a sacredness 
 
 To dignify our natural disposition, 
 
 And make our gladness or our sadness sweeter ; 
 
 A melody that mingles with our lives 
 
 To make them rhythmic. And we both must 
 find 
 
 It may accompany the woefulest notes 
 
 That Nature's finger e'er hath learned to sound. 
 
 I am content that now the harmony 
 
 Is sweeping through me. Life henceforth for 
 me 
 
 Will never be discordant. Henceforth, dear, 
 
 The hymning cannot cease. 
 
 Nirus, Cotaminus and Friends enter. 
 
 Co. You're solemner 
 
 Than one bereft. 
 
 Vic. Ah! I am not the man 
 
 For such occasions. Some one else, I fear, 
 
 Should be here in my stead. 
 
 2nd Friend. Ungracious youth ! 
 
 He'll always be a bachelor, though blessed 
 
 With as many wives as a Mormon. 
 
 Ni. [to Victor.] We understand, 
 
 And honor your earnest nature. Wait we, friends. 
 
 Upon their leisure. [Exit, accompanied by sev- 
 eral. 
 
 Mi. I like your melancholy. 
 
 I would not have you love me merrily. 
 
 Our gayety and pensiveness combined 
 
 Will fuse into a common mood for both 
 
 Of cheerful gravity. My gentle friends, 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 135 
 
 I beg your patience. Soon we will return, 
 
 And be more sociable. 
 
 Co. I ne'er from choice 
 
 Intrude on family brawls. 
 
 Mi. Lest you interrupt them, 
 
 And thwart your mission. 
 
 Co. Farewell ! and my good wishes 
 
 Remain with you to season your arguments ! 
 
 Mi. Let mine accompany you, nor ever linger 
 
 This side the Antipodes. [Exeunt all but Mira 
 
 and Victor. 
 
 In other ages, 
 In far-off worlds, shall we not still recall 
 With grateful memory this little earth 
 Where we have grown acquainted, and this 
 
 grove, 
 And the cool spring, our earliest trysting-place, 
 When first we found out that our future lives 
 Should be together? Ah! no place so sweet, 
 But thought of these will sweeten it the more ; 
 No beauty that our spirits shall attain 
 Can dull the memory of the eager light 
 That glistened in each other's fervent eyes 
 Here on the earth, where we are in the body, 
 Each in a separate cell — yet even thus 
 Cannot be kept asunder. I am sure 
 That we shall not forget our lowly earth, 
 Nor ever lose each other. I believe 
 That lovers are to spend eternity 
 Within each other's arms. 
 Vic. I cannot think 
 
 About eternity. Even time suffices 
 To make me stagger. Ah ! it seems today 
 That I can care for common work no more. 
 I wish no other occupation henceforth 
 But converse with thee, Mira. 
 
136 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Mi. Pray, think not 
 
 You'll grow effeminate now. The blood of kings 
 Circulates in your veins. Never before 
 You labored so ambitiously as now, 
 With me to urge. We'll have our holiday 
 To mark this era ; then our work begins, 
 But work together thai shall seem like play. 
 Together as we bend o'er noble books 
 In high communion, studies most abstruse 
 Will then abound in charms. The studious 
 
 frown 
 Will alternate in variation rich 
 With looks of love, our faces to refine 
 With that experience deep. I'll not intrude ; 
 But if thou turn away thine eyes from me. 
 To look upon the heavens, mine own eyes, too, 
 Shall gaze wherever thou dost indicate, 
 Ceasing to watch thee. Be thou studious, 
 In sympathy unfailing will I join thee, 
 Even to indifference of thy very presence, 
 As simply as a child that ne'er hath known 
 The sweet pain and the madness of dear love. 
 Vic. How noble, Mira, shall I be henceforth. 
 Having thy life-long presence to exalt me ! 
 Mi. And I — I have no character ; I wait — 
 Some women do — for love to give me form. 
 In sacred passion at thy feet I lie, 
 Amorphous, neither good nor bad, all void. 
 Until thy spirit move upon the deep, 
 And rearrange my atoms. Such a one lies 
 A bright, insipid shape, till man appears 
 To vitalize her life, and day by day 
 To mould her yielding substance in his arms 
 To his own semblance. Now am I to be 
 No longer void of attributes ; henceforth 
 Profound and thoughtful, animate at last 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 137 
 
 With living breath of thy dear lips, I stand 
 No more a thing of vanity and folly. 
 
 V. Mira and Cotamina. 
 Co. Thou hast attained the fullness of thy life, 
 High now above my level. Methinks already 
 Thou art transformed, subdued and lowly now 
 With thy burden of joy. Oh ! open but thy lips, 
 And some sweet song of love will surely flow 
 To soothe my heart's unrest. Lay but thy hand, 
 Fresh from the altar's light, on my wreathless 
 
 brow, 
 And let me feel that virtue. Tell thy thoughts, 
 Thy new divine emotions. Let me feel, 
 In sympathy with thee, what otherwise 
 Must be from me withheld. Ah ! Mira, dear, 
 The woman unto whom no vows are paid, 
 Who lives alone unworshipped, like a Madonna 
 Kept from her empery of intercession, 
 Dwelling apart unrevcrenced — is she not 
 Forsaken quite? 
 
 Mi. Nay, spirits honor her 
 
 That men neglect. Angels of heaven descend 
 And gather round, exchanging ministries 
 With that deserted woman, till no more 
 She cares for men's devotion. 
 Co. Ah ! the angels 
 
 Are not mv comrades. Merely the crumbs that 
 
 'fall 
 From your human feast will satisfy my hunger 
 Far more than their ambrosia. Tell me, Mira. 
 The wonders of thy state. 
 Mi. What can I say 
 
 In common language of a life like this 
 Transcending speech divine? You can but wait 
 And learn it in the brightening of my eyes, 
 
138 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 And in my deepening nature. We can tell 
 
 Single events and details : can we speak 
 
 Life's very self? Have I not left behind 
 
 My fragmentary life, the broken life, 
 
 Which days and seasons interrupt, and things 
 
 Intrude upon and mar? My life at length 
 
 Has grown a unity; and single things 
 
 Have lost all meaning, are completely fused 
 
 In their divine significance. My life 
 
 Has now combined its separate hues in one, 
 
 And radiates henceforth in perfect white. 
 
 How can I tell you ; time for me has ceased ; 
 
 And who can speak eternity? 
 
 Co. Ah, Mira! 
 
 You are blessed in Victor's love. 
 
 Mi. How kind in Victor 
 
 To care for me, this pensioner on his love. 
 
 This poor, new-rescued waif of vanity! 
 
 Co. Now shall I tell you what my father said 
 
 About you, Mira? 
 
 Mi. I have already heard 
 
 Some bitter words that he saw fit to utter. 
 
 Co. You were misinformed ; he honors you. 
 
 Even I 
 Dreamed not that you possessed such qualities 
 As he attributes to you. He told mother 
 That Mira's genius does not rank beneath 
 Victor's himself ; that all which Victor lacked 
 To render him a rival formidable 
 Among the candidates for power and fame 
 He had attained in Mira. A Nirus comes 
 But once in centuries, born self-complete. 
 Fitted for all attainment. Many a Nirus 
 Ts born and dies before a Victor rises. 
 Thus fortunate to consummate himself 
 With such miraculous marriage, gaining a force 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 139 
 
 Beyond one soul's achieving. Nirus evinces 
 
 The natural union stable and inert, 
 
 Whose elements in Victor free and active, 
 
 Incessantly combining with the strength 
 
 Of chemic passion, will impel his being 
 
 Sublimely with that glorious energy 
 
 To all attainment. Unto Mira then 
 
 Victor must look for all his future greatness. 
 
 Mi. Such words from none could gratify me 
 
 more 
 Than from Cotaminus. 
 
 Co. And yet he added 
 
 That you yourself were of all womankind 
 Most incomplete ; and only as a part 
 Of Victor's life could your life ever gain 
 Sobriety or worth. You owed to Victor 
 Far more than he to you. 
 Mi. Why this, my friend, 
 
 This very qualification of the praise, 
 Renders the praise more welcome, placing thus 
 Victor so far above me, and besides 
 Quite reconciling this excessive praise 
 With certain harsher words. 
 
 ACT FOURTH. 
 
 /. Nirus and an Officer. 
 Ni. I've set the torch at last. The righteous 
 
 flame 
 Is kindled round the world, not to abate 
 Till the throne's ablaze. Our tyrant Castux seeks 
 To win the co-operation of our silence 
 By leaving unmolested all our doubts, 
 While torturing the peasants. 'Twas from us 
 Their doubts had origin. We strewed the seeds 
 Of such a deadly growth. Let us not now 
 
HO DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Leave to their fate our lowly proselytes, 
 
 Though there were none but you and me alone 
 
 To join in the fierce defiance. Let us two 
 
 Protest and die protesting. 
 
 Of. Others, sir, 
 
 In your position love the people less, 
 
 .And willingly permit the savage rites, 
 
 If but themselves may have immunity 
 
 And their old luxurious ease. 
 
 Ni. A messenger ! 
 
 Messenger enters. 
 Mes. Good news, at last ! but in a bloody garb, 
 As good news ever comes in time of war ; 
 A priest, the mortal enemy of Mons, 
 Made prophecy in hearing of the king 
 That Mons would yet dethrone the sovereign 
 And bring about his death. The king forthwith 
 Brought Mons to death on charge of heresy ; 
 And now the nobles rise to join the people. 
 Ni. This is most welcome news. In time of war 
 Such news must be so greeted. 
 Of. Likely then 
 
 The prophecy will be ere long fulfilled. 
 Ni. But how, I wonder, could the credulous 
 
 Mons 
 Have given a priest offence? 
 Mes. One priest o'erpassed 
 
 Even Mons' credulity, asked a staggering loan 
 To be repaid with tempting usury 
 In the future world. He frowned in the father's 
 
 face, 
 And muttered, in turning, that the banks of 
 
 heaven 
 Would have slight dealing with the swindlers' 
 
 hell. 
 Of. Bravo for Mons ! 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 141 
 
 Ni. Poor Mons! his last defiance 
 
 Was worth its cost. We need Cotaminus now. 
 Him we must have. Empire can scarcely stand, 
 Save on the broad foundation of his wisdom. 
 
 Nobles enter. 
 1st N. Nirus, we leave the king's accursed 
 
 cause, 
 And join our peasant brethren, till we win 
 Our country's Runnymede. 
 Ni. Most gratefully 
 
 To this alliance do we bid you welcome, 
 And promise you the deference that befits 
 Your rank and culture. 
 2nd N. First would we consult 
 
 Upon one question that as yet delays 
 Our unanimity. Indulgence, pray, 
 Grant to our classes' weaknesses ; a doubt 
 Has just arisen, if our dignity 
 Were unimpaired, subordinated thus 
 To a cause begun by others ; and we wonder 
 About your origin, which seems, indeed, 
 Involved in clouds of secrecy. 
 yd N. Your honor 
 
 With Varian gives prestige; but you know 
 The fairest, courtier needs new argument 
 For primacy in such war. 
 2nd N. Nor are we, Nirus 
 
 Impertinent in asking some account 
 Of all your youth's obscurity. The knight 
 That sudden looms before us, and assumes 
 This haughtiness of mien may haply drop 
 From yonder sky ; yet unromantic sires, 
 Awaiting his credentials, are most like 
 To take for granted that this prodigy 
 Came not by miracle from out the clouds, 
 But rather in the old prosaic manner 
 
142 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Rose from a grimy cavern. 
 
 ist N. 'Twere much, indeed, 
 
 To know what earnest motive gives you impulse 
 
 Outside of mere adventure. 
 
 Ni. Tell me, pray, 
 
 Your disposition toward the priestly caste 
 
 As represented by the sect that now 
 
 Is holding Castux thrall. 
 
 ist N. So fierce our scorn 
 
 Of those degenerate wretches who profane 
 
 The holiest calling, that in desperation 
 
 Half of our rank are ready to make war 
 
 Upon the Almighty, merely to emphasize 
 
 Our hatred and defiance of the knaves 
 
 That seem to be his spokesmen. 
 
 Ni. Then I'll try 
 
 To satisfy at once your just demands, 
 
 And clear up all the darkness that surrounds 
 
 My early life. During the present lull 
 
 In warlike action I have been at pains 
 
 To furnish pastime for the impatient ranks 
 
 That chafe at all delay ; and presently 
 
 One episode of my experience 
 
 Will be enacted on our mimic stage 
 
 For such as love the drama. In the pauses 
 
 I'll supplement the story, till my life 
 
 Is your familiar knowledge. You shall learn 
 
 How fierce the passion I have kept alive 
 
 To re-enforce my duty. You shall see 
 
 A hell-fire kindled in my peaceful breast. 
 
 Giving me portion in that brutal might 
 
 Intended not for me, like to a lamb 
 
 With blood transfused from out a lion's veins, 
 
 Till her roar affrights the flock. 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 143 
 
 THE PLAY. 
 
 r ". r ' • "' 1 y r v^;'r 
 
 1st Scene. Nirns and Chief-Priests. 
 1st Ch. Our son, we hear with joy that you 
 
 propose 
 To dedicate your wealth of intellect, 
 And all its hoarded knowledge to the service 
 Of the holy Cult. 
 
 Ni. I know no nobler use 
 
 For all my acquisitions and my powers 
 Than service of my God and of mankind. 
 2nd Ch. Well-spoken! and the Cult approves 
 
 and blesses 
 These lesser gifts of intellect when offered 
 In fealty to her. 
 
 Ni. I freely grant 
 
 That even sovereign reason, kingliest gift 
 Wherewith is man endowed, dwindleth away 
 To pettiness when cast in sacrifice 
 At the feet of God. 
 
 1st Ch. Thus truly hast thou spoken 
 
 The sum of earthly wisdom. Then beware 
 Of magnifying in thy thought or speech 
 A faculty so poor. 
 
 2nd Ch. But evermore 
 
 Be faith your trusted guide ; and when these two 
 Prove contrary, be not beguiled, but choose 
 The angel faith. 
 
 Ni. These two, it seems to me, 
 
 Cannot be contrary ; for faith is born — 
 Such faith as I conceive — of reason's self, 
 Of reason and of feeling, that sweet consort 
 Of reason's royal dignity. 
 2nd Ch. Ha, sir! 
 
 What then if revelation should conflict 
 With reason's guidance? 
 
144 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Ni. Revelation, then, 
 
 Is proven false. 
 
 ist Ch. What! do you then reject 
 
 The holy Book? 
 
 Ni. Most surely I do not ; 
 
 I judge it as a book, a holy book, 
 Yet not infallible. 
 
 2nd Ch. Aha ! indeed ! 
 
 Have you ever heard of heresy ? 
 ist Ch. And he 
 
 That blessed the world ere he sank in the Bur- 
 man flames, 
 Have you still faith in Rahn? 
 Ni. As in my mother. 
 
 1st Ch. No more than that? 
 Ni. I could not more. 
 
 2nd Ch. Indeed? 
 
 His blest Metempsychosis, why surprising 
 If that, too, you reject? 
 
 Ni. I do in truth 
 
 Reject that dogma. 
 
 ist Ch. Spurning from you thus 
 
 All Rahna's doctrines, what remaining right 
 To call yourself a Rahnist ? 
 Ni. My acceptance 
 
 Of the Master's primal teachings, of the law 
 Of perfect love, God's fatherhood, the kinship 
 Of living creatures all ; yea, and my need 
 And deep heart-yearning for the sympathy 
 And fellowship of other Rahnist souls. 
 And still more for the kindly ministries 
 Of love and pity wherein Rahna once 
 Walked upon earth. 
 
 2nd Ch. Alas ! a doubtful service 
 
 You'll render while you walk upon the earth, 
 Infecting others with your atheism, 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 145 
 
 And dragging others with you in your fall 
 
 To the doom of death. 
 
 Ni. I beg your pardon, truly, 
 
 That I have been intruding on you thus 
 
 Opinions so distasteful. Pray dismiss me 
 
 That I may go about my new-found duties 
 
 In my own way, no more offending you 
 
 With this my differing faith. 
 
 1st Ch. And do you think 
 
 That Raima's deputies will e'er consent 
 
 To 'give their blessing to an infidel 
 
 In priestly garments, to a ravenous wolf 
 
 Clad in sheep's clothing? Shall we furnish for 
 
 him 
 A spotless fleece to hide his tawny fur, 
 Till the flock is ruined ? Brother, tell me, pray, 
 What is your mind? 
 
 2nd Ch. 'Tis not our privilege 
 
 To extirpate all evil things that menace 
 The welfare of society ; and yet 
 We may at least withhold from them our sanc- 
 tion, 
 Nor furnish them with clerical disguise 
 To mask in. 
 
 Ni. Do not now deny, I pray, 
 
 The privilege to serve my fellow-men 
 That need my ministry. Leave me to God ; 
 And if my service prove beneficent, 
 'Twill prosper then ; if otherwise, the winds 
 Will sweep my fruitless labor to their limbo 
 And leave me empty-handed. 
 1st Ch. We've decided 
 
 And will not reconsider. 
 Ni. Then at last 
 
 Another soul's delivered from the danger 
 Of turning bigot. Being outlawed now, 
 
146 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 And free from your conventions, I'll be sure 
 To live a nobler life. 
 
 2nd Ch. Farewell, my son! 
 
 God bless you, and restore you by his grace 
 To knowledge of himself. [Exeunt chief -priests. 
 Ni. Thus are my dreams 
 
 Forever shattered. I am driven forth 
 With insult by the masters of the harvest 
 From my work amid the sheaves. Within this 
 
 Cult 
 My childhood and my youth have passed away. 
 And I had hoped to lie down at the end 
 In my grave-cradle, while the hand of the Cult, 
 Soft as a mother's, wrapped the turf about me, 
 Remembered henceforth as her cherished child. 
 I thought the life was all ; and when my creed 
 Changed with my years, I hoped the Cult would 
 
 still 
 Give sympathy and blessing, and assist me 
 To realize my mission. Ah ! today 
 I'm more than orphaned. With a breaking heart 
 I gaze on the empty future. 
 
 2nd Scene. Nirus and a Priest. 
 Pr. Nirus, the Brotherhood with grief and pain 
 Have heard about your fall, how even you 
 Have mocked the pleading eyes of martyred 
 
 Rahn 
 And joined the lewd profaners. 
 Ni. Rather, sir, 
 
 I heed at last those piteous orbs of love, 
 Discern their eloquent thought. 
 Pr. Alas, alas ! 
 
 With words of piety you cannot hide 
 The cloven hoofs of infidelity 
 And groveling atheism. There is no hope 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 147 
 
 Except in Rahn. He is the only way 
 Whereby to gain salvation. Who accepts 
 Is blest, is blest forever; he that spurns 
 That sacrificial offer shall in vain 
 Plead for the mercy he hath dared blaspheme. 
 O Rahn, I thank thee for these words of com- 
 fort. 
 Ni, I the heart-hardened can not share your 
 
 comfort. 
 Pr. The natural man receiveth not the things 
 Of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness 
 To such as he. Nor can he ever know them, 
 Being spiritually discerned. And yet refusal 
 To believe these things can make them no less 
 
 true. 
 Ni. Refusal of the reason and the conscience 
 To accept these dogmas proves that they are 
 
 false, 
 Fit to be spurned. 
 
 Pr. Alas ! who once had thought 
 
 That blasphemy like this would ever flow 
 From lips devout as yours were? Tell me, Nirus, 
 With deep, self-searching candor, if indeed 
 You are sincere. 
 
 Ni. Pray wait till you yourself 
 
 Have sacrificed a tithe as much as I 
 For conscience sake, then come to me again 
 And ask that question. 
 
 Pr. I'll not press you now, 
 
 But leave the question with you to revive 
 Daily within your memory. Now I pass 
 To another query. By another test 
 Urge the self-inquisition. Are you, pray, 
 Wholly at peace? 
 
 Ni. My brother, brother-man ! 
 
 Fiendlike you taunt me ; you and all your horde 
 
148 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 As fierce as cannibals assail me round 
 And for diversion's sake pause now and then 
 To ask if I'm at peace. May heaven help me 
 Still to reject your peace. May God preserve 
 
 me 
 In this the great temptation of my life, 
 To be disloyal for the sake of peace, 
 The shameful peace you offer. I'll admit 
 Your Cult hath its beneficence. Its own 
 Receive its benediction; and it blesseth, 
 As doth a beast of prey, the progeny 
 Of its own bosom ; who doth not submit, 
 It crusheth out his life. Why this discussion 
 That cannot bring us nearer? Pray forgive 
 My words of bitterness ; and let us part 
 In Raima's love. 
 
 Pr. With all my heart. And yet 
 
 I cannot but compare your attitude 
 To a rebellions child's that artfully 
 Averts correction due by showering 
 A storm of kisses on the threatening hand 
 Of the offended mother. This I'll say, 
 That Rahna's love can scarcely be expected 
 From one who's not a Rahnist. Furthermore 
 My duty bids me say that Rahna's love, 
 Like the love of God, must not degenerate 
 To sentimental weakness. God upholds 
 With righteous wrath his justice. So must I, 
 God's representative, assume a sternness, 
 Meet for rebellion such as you evince 
 Against the will of God. I tell you plainly 
 Your greatest sin is this morality 
 On which you plume yourself. Your outward 
 
 life 
 May be correct; but God, who searches hearts, 
 Judges e'en you, wrapped in the filthy rags 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 149 
 
 Of your own self-righteousnes. Ha! if in horror 
 We look on convicts with their shameful stripes 
 And shaven crowns, how shall we then regard 
 God's convict who is under sentence here 
 To the endless death-doom! How I beg you, 
 
 Nirus, 
 Turn while you can ! You know not but today 
 May be your final chance. I was myself 
 Once a poor sinner ; and yet Rahna saved me : 
 And you, too, he can save, and though your sins 
 Are now as scarlet, he will wash them, brother, 
 And make them white as snow. 
 Ni. Ha ! 'Tis a creed, 
 
 And not a man insults me ; here's no chance 
 To exercise forgiveness. No offence 
 Have I received from you; but may I say 
 Your creed's impertinent and insolent, 
 And being no person, it can have no claims 
 Upon my tenderness? I hate it, sir, 
 As God himself hates sin. 
 Pr. You show ill-temper 
 
 So natural to the man whose heart's untouched 
 By the love of Rahn. I on the contrary 
 By the help of God feel now no irritation, 
 And leave you in all kindness. Think not, Nirus, 
 That we have given you up ; for night and day 
 Our prayers will rise before the throne of Rahn 
 For your salvation ; you shall be beseiged 
 Month after month my our unw r earied pleadings ; 
 We'll press upon you in the hour of sorrow, 
 When your heart is breaking; when your death 
 
 is near, 
 And your stubborn will grows weak, we'll gather 
 
 round 
 And wrest the faint confession from your lips, 
 As they gasp their last, or, failing this, detect 
 
ISO DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Your tardy recognition of the faith 
 
 In some significant gesture. Oh ! not many 
 
 Escape us finally. [Exit. 
 
 Ni. Aha! methinks 
 
 'Twould be a pleasant task to pillory 
 
 This pious vulgarity to move the mirth 
 
 Of all posterity. What rare mosaic 
 
 I'll some day make of these fantastic ravings 
 
 Of professional saintship — ludicrous enough 
 
 To a happier race, but unto us, alas ! 
 
 Most solemn-tragic with the waiting leer 
 
 Of the headsmen close at hand. I thank my God 
 
 That I am now delivered from the danger 
 
 Of giving up my life to Satan's work 
 
 In this pernicious trade. What other guild 
 
 Has for its only mission to exalt 
 
 And hallow falsehood, and suppress high reason, 
 
 Man's holiest faculty, nipping the bud 
 
 Of every noble thought-life sent by heaven 
 
 To redeem the fallen race ? 'Twas this same tribe 
 
 Slew the world's prophet-saint, and still continues 
 
 In every age its old congenial task 
 
 Of mangling the sweet lips of God's good angels 
 
 Just shaping for the evangel. 
 
 yd Scene. Laura's Home. Nirus. Servant 
 enters. 
 
 Ser. My lady presently will see you, sir, 
 If you'll tarry for a moment. [Exit. 
 Ni. Presently 
 
 My lady will be here ! Oh ! ne'er before 
 Knew I how much I love her, nor how deep 
 My need is for her presence. When she comes, 
 The bitterness and misery will flee 
 As at a spirit's entrance. She alone 
 Of all the world can give me sympathy 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 151 
 
 And perfect understanding. She can make me 
 As gentle as a child, and bring again 
 The angel love to reign within my bosom. 
 Laura enters. 
 
 Laura, my own love, in agony 
 
 As deep as soul hath known I come to you 
 
 For strength and solacing. 
 
 Lau. Nirus, with grief 
 
 Beyond all worlds I heard the sad account 
 
 Of your apostasy. 
 
 Ni. And you, too, Laura, 
 
 Do you, too, turn against me? 
 
 Lau. You yourself 
 
 Turn against me, whene'er you turn against 
 
 The Lord I serve. 
 
 Ni. I have not turned against him , 
 
 1 serve him more than ever, and I love him 
 As you yourself do. I but cast away 
 
 The cruel creed that violates the spirit 
 
 Of his sweet life and teaching. 
 
 Lau. 'Tis no use 
 
 To urge these sophistries. I'd rather die 
 
 Than prostitute myself by such a marriage 
 
 With an ungodly man, or wrong my Savior 
 
 By sharing the devotion due to him 
 
 With an unbeliever. [Exit. 
 
 Ni. Why ; 'tis better surely 
 
 That I have no hostage now within this Cult 
 
 To hinder me from action. I'll no more 
 
 Employ soft words ; I'll compromise no more 
 
 With the evil thing. If ever in my life 
 
 I can persuade a single soul to turn 
 
 And spurn this superstition I shall feel 
 
 My life well-spent. This monstrous tyranny 
 
 Must be resisted. Oh ! I must and must 
 
 Be true and loyal, and must dash myself 
 
152 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Against this heartless and unpitying rock, 
 This Peter who the keys of heaven and hell 
 Holdeth so fast, this cruel Sphinx, the Cult. 
 Can I be saint-like gentle, yet fulfill 
 So stern a mission? Let me cultivate 
 More virile virtues, bid adieu for aye 
 To prayer and sonnet. In our vulgar era 
 No tragic hero is acceptable 
 Without some sparkle of infernal fire 
 Mixed with his aether. All the critics hiss 
 That poor monstrosity. All men agree 
 That we need the ballast of some mundane in- 
 stinct 
 To weigh us earthward and prevent our souls 
 From thinning into vapor ; mine shall be 
 Hatred of mitred falsehood. 
 
 4th Scene. Nirns. 
 Ni. 'Tis not the life I wished, yet after all 
 'Twill be a pleasant life. Among my boys, 
 Teaching my Plato I will live at peace, 
 And in the teacher's ministry I'll merge 
 My ruined priesthood. I'll be like a priest 
 Among my students ; and in faith and love 
 I'll spend my mortal days. I'll not engage 
 In conflict with the Cult. The bitterness 
 Engendered in my bosom when I brood 
 Upon these wrongs would turn my human soul 
 To a living hell. I cannot keep alive 
 A single day unless I smother out 
 These fury-flames. I find mine's not a nature 
 Gentle enough to trust" amid the frenzy 
 Of such a strife ; the fierce delirium, 
 The drunkenness of rage would soon transform me 
 Into a demon. I will live at peace, 
 And pray for love. 
 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 153 
 
 Professor enters. 
 Prof. I beg you, pardon me, 
 
 That I have kept you waiting. News unpleasant 
 Must I communicate. The faculty 
 Have reconsidered, and with deep regret 
 Recalled the nomination. 
 Ni. Can you tell me 
 
 Why the decision? 
 
 Prof. Not our preference, 
 
 But exigence external has impelled 
 To make this change. A protest from the Cult 
 Made necessary, in the interests 
 Of the university, that we revoke 
 Our previous choice. 
 
 Ni. Of course I cannot feign 
 
 To hear such news with pleasure ; yet I'm sure 
 I could not be induced to undertake 
 In any place a service that would prove 
 Injurious to others. 
 
 Prof. Once again 
 
 Let me assure you of our deep regret 
 At the sacrifice that we have all incurred 
 In losing you. I trust that in the future 
 The Cult may modify its opposition, 
 And leave us free. 
 
 Ni. I thank you for your kindness 
 
 Prof. Farewell ! and my good wishes. [Exit. 
 Ni. Hunted ! hunted ! 
 
 Pursued to death by packs of yelping wolves, 
 Famished with cruelty! My every breath, 
 Since I was born, has had the curse of the Cult 
 Heavy upon it ; when I breathe my last 
 This Cult will lay my body in the ground, 
 With a final curse, hissing the words of hate 
 That scorch with all the imagery of hell. 
 Oh ! ere I quite succumb to this despair, 
 
154 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 And make a full submission to my foes 
 By slaughtering myself, let me but once, 
 In sight of heaven, lift a dying protest 
 Against my persecutors. 
 
 Priest enters. 
 Pr. Nirus, my boy, 
 
 I learn with much regret that you are still 
 Without employment. 
 
 Ni. Let my gratitude 
 
 Vie in sincerity with your regret. 
 Pr. My son. I trust you'll learn a useful lesson 
 From this experience harsh. Remember, Nirus, 
 Tis Rahnist young men that will always win 
 The good positions. [Exit. 
 Ni. Ha ! I would to God, 
 
 Or to what brutal force may serve as God, 
 That I were learned in the lore of Clio ! 
 If all the tongues of history were mine, 
 I'd celebrate a Pentecost of scorn 
 In honor of the Cult. E'er since that reptile 
 Learned use of claws, (How came the devil's egg 
 In the dove's nest?) it drags its slimy length 
 In blood and tears. 
 
 $th Scene. Nirus. 
 Ni. Let me now leave the past, 
 
 With all its pain and wrong, with all its hope, 
 All its ambition. I'll betake me now 
 To rural scenes, where nature's love and calm 
 Predominate, and hateful human passions 
 Are but a weak minority of discord, 
 Drowned in the general peace. There I will live 
 A gardener's life ; for I will not consent 
 To fatten breathing souls for sacrifice 
 On the bloody shrine of human appetite. 
 That Moloch-altar. As a gardener, 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 155 
 
 Berries I'll raise and fruits, most innocent 
 
 Of earthly occupations. Kindly there 
 
 I'll spend my days, and haply Raima's saints, 
 
 Though I be an infidel, will not refuse 
 
 To buy my berries. Thus I'll live at peace, 
 
 Nor ever grant my heart but one indulgence 
 
 In its great sense of wrong, but one revenge, 
 
 And that a sacred ministry; I'll seek 
 
 In all my life, to snatch one precious soul, 
 
 A single soul, richer than zodiacs, 
 
 Out of that hell wherefrom myself of late 
 
 Made my escape. That single priceless soul 
 
 I'll bear with me up to the gate of heaven — 
 
 Or down to the tomb, that heaven of broken 
 
 hearts, 
 To be my passport there, and win for me 
 A hallowed fame. 
 
 ^c :j< ■% s}c ^c 
 
 Ni. [to Nobles.] Thus have you learned, my 
 
 friends, 
 The story of my life. By means like this 
 I keep alert in me and in my comrades 
 The demon of resentment to be drudge 
 And eager spaniel of the angelic justice 
 That sways our purpose. I who e'er incline 
 To mercy and forgiveness do now nurse 
 The spirit of revenge, to feed the flame 
 Of righteous war, and with a touch of hate 
 To make the ideal of philanthropic love 
 Real and human. Judge, then, for yourselves, 
 If safely you can trust your interests 
 To my direction. 
 
 1st N. Heartily, gallant Nirus, 
 
 We ratify your leadership, ai\d mingle 
 Loyally in your ranks. 
 Ni. Escort these guests 
 
156 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 To refreshment and repose. [Exit officer, with 
 
 nobles.] Cotarninus, 
 How to win him to us ? Not, certainly, 
 By appealing to his conscience. 
 
 Victor enters, with Escort. 
 
 Welcome, Victor! 
 Vic. O Nirus, my dear friend, could we have 
 
 dreamed 
 That we should meet as foes? 
 Ni. Or that yourself 
 
 Would join with Castux to revive today 
 The Iberian torture-hell? 
 Vic. Oh ! I have striven 
 
 To recall misguided Castux. 
 Ni. Yet for him 
 
 Do you yourself, no less misguided Victor, 
 Fight on subservient still. 
 Vic. No answering speech 
 
 Seek I to wound you with. Bleeding at heart 
 I strive with those I love. I falter on 
 Weak in my agitation when I think 
 Of this unnatural enmity. Alas ! 
 How great a joy 'twill be for me at last, 
 My duty done, to perish by your sword ! 
 Ni. Dear Victor, may I perish miserably 
 Ere I raise hand to injure you. 
 Vic. My chief 
 
 Being ill himself empowers me to act 
 In these negotiations. 
 
 Ni. I am ready. 
 
 Let our aids wait upon us. 
 
 77. Victor's Howe. Mir a. Victor enters. 
 Vic. Mira ! 
 
 Mi. O Victor, Victor! 
 
 Vic. How does the little mother in my absence ? 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 157 
 
 Mi. Oh ! joyfully in dreaming- of your presence ! 
 Vic. Then I can go in peace. My greeting, 
 
 dear, 
 Is a hurried farewell. The army instantly 
 Resumes the march. 
 
 Mi. Indeed? 'Tis likely, then, 
 
 That a battle will ensue. 
 Vic. Yet reassure me 
 
 By promising to keep your mind at ease 
 And leave all things to God. 
 Mi. Is it not strange 
 
 That I never fear, but through the deadliest peril 
 Trust your high destiny? 
 Vic. So I myself 
 
 With equal calm await the arbitrament 
 Of each day's fortune. Keep thvself, my love, 
 Still beautiful with memories of love. 
 With all confiding hopes, all beauteous thoughts 
 That blossom from a heart of purity. 
 Do not forget me in my absences. 
 But cherish in thy soul that flower of love 
 That I have planted there. And cherish, too, 
 That other flower of love so soon to bloom 
 From our engrafted lives. High be her thoughts 
 That hath another nature to exalt, 
 And not her own alone. Ah ! I had hoped, 
 My sweet co-laborer, to share with thee 
 These wondrous holidays, thy comforter 
 And hourly confidant, till we had called 
 The pristine peace of wholesome nature down 
 In blessing on us. We would talk and read, 
 And walk with nature care-free and begin 
 Our consecrated parenthood. The world 
 In agony is waiting for the day 
 Of some great prophet's coming ; and each time 
 When two young hands join trembling at the 
 
158 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 altar 
 A piteous plea from sorrow-burdened earth 
 Is lifted to these new united souls, 
 Beseeching them to dedicate themselves, 
 And make so pure a temple of their home, 
 That they may lure some heavenlier spirit down 
 To that sweet sanctuary. Souls divine 
 Are longing for the hallowed nuptial eve 
 Of some two hearts so earnest and so true 
 That spirits, sharing their devout emotions, 
 May thus find human birth. Who knows, dear 
 
 Mira, 
 But even you and I have triumphed thus, 
 Winning the world's redemption ? Ah ! I would 
 That I might share with you these sacred days, 
 Blending my voice with yours in hourly prayer 
 For the Spirit to descend. And yet, my love, 
 Though I must leave you to endure alone. 
 Do not be lonely. Do not feel a doubt 
 But you shall have my perfect sympathv 
 In all your aspirations and your dreams, 
 All fears and exaltations of your nature. 
 Not so absorbed am I in baser duties 
 That I neglect my higher offices 
 With memory faithless. For my love I cherish 
 All tenderest anxieties and hopes. 
 Potent with intercession heavenward. 
 Seeking the throne of God. 
 Mi. Oh ! be not anxious : 
 
 For whether thou be near or far, my love. 
 The thought of thee exalts me. 
 Vic. What power in love, 
 
 When each augments the other limitlessly, 
 Nor loses aught : but every teeming hour 
 Both grow more opulent. May heaven protect 
 Thee and that new soul. Let it be preserved 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 159 
 
 To see at last thy venerated face, 
 
 And draw poetic nurture from thy bosom, 
 
 And bow a radiant head upon thy knee, 
 
 Praying to thee and God. Ah ! honored Mira, 
 
 I have been full of care and weariness ; 
 
 But thou renewest me till my soul is strong. 
 
 Mi. So, Victor, will I ever give thee comfort 
 
 At every interval of life's hard battle. 
 
 That was my dream. 
 
 Vic. Cherish thyself, my love, 
 
 'For now am I to leave thee here behind. 
 
 Mi. I have mementoes — lips that thou hast 
 
 kissed, 
 And hands that thou hast clasped, and this true 
 
 breast 
 That hath felt thy glorious heart-beat, these are 
 
 all 
 Hallowed to me for thy dear sake. Farewell ! 
 Vic. God keep thee, Mira! 
 Mi. My sweet benefactor, 
 
 Now turn aside from thee the hostile missile, 
 The assassin's knife, and slander's deadly venom ; 
 And nothing ever thwart thy destiny! 
 
 777. Victor's Home. Mira, Phinon and Sol- 
 diers enter. 
 
 Phi. I must require of you a full account 
 Of Victor's plans. Necessity of war 
 Impels to such abruptness. You are safe 
 In our protection, if you now will yield 
 The needed information. 
 
 Mi. I assure you 
 
 I know no plans of Victor. 
 Phi. We all know 
 
 That he consults you often. Recently 
 He called upon you, and 'tis probable 
 
160 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 He told you his intentions. Do you fancy 
 That I am trifling? 
 
 Mi. Sir, I say again, 
 
 I have not heard my husband's recent plans; 
 Would that I had, that I might still defy you 
 To wrench them from my lips. 'Tis waste of 
 
 time 
 For you to stay here longer. 
 Phi. Ah ! indeed ? 
 
 I doubt not I shall be constrained at present 
 To make my quarters here. And I observe 
 Your husband's banner floating from the roof. 
 I must request you that it be removed 
 From such a haughty station. 
 Mi. My husband's banner 
 
 Shall not be moved. 
 
 Phi. Pardon ! by your own hand. 
 
 Mi. Puissant colonel, you exaggerate 
 Your martial power. Mira will never lower 
 Her husband's flag. 
 
 Phi. Not move the flag? My lady, 
 
 My pretty lady, proud yet vulnerable, 
 Comply with my demands ; or, as I live, 
 I will loose you to my regiment, and bid them 
 Forget that they are men. 
 Mi. O Phinon, Phinon, 
 
 I am your cousin ! Is there a soldier here 
 That has a wife or sister? None will aid! 
 Vile wretches, it is woman's blood, not man's, 
 That stains the weapons of such coward slaves ! 
 O butchers, may your bloody visages, 
 Returning home from this disgraceful day, 
 Frighten your wives, and make your offspring 
 monsters ! [Exit a soldier from Phi- 
 non' s rear. 
 Phi. Tood! that is tragic! Bravo, Mira! Now, 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 161 
 
 Since pleasures of the mind so far excel 
 
 All sensual pleasure, you shall have reprieve, 
 
 Scheherezade-like, a little space, 
 
 Until breath fail you, if you but vouchsafe 
 
 The music of your far-famed eloquence. 
 
 Sing, caged songstress, out of this full throat, 
 
 And this voluptuous breast, a cadenced swell 
 
 Of plaints and curses, anguish and despair, 
 
 Terror and scorn, until, exhausted quite, 
 
 You lie a tropic burthen in the arms 
 
 Of even timorous lads. Too much, I know, 
 
 Of Phinon's blood is in these veins of yours 
 
 For you to yield ; and yet I so delight 
 
 In your despairing passion that I shrink 
 
 From choking out that glorious flame at once 
 
 In shrieking torture-throes. 
 
 Mi. Inhuman Phinon ! 
 
 You know that I am vulnerable indeed, 
 
 As in my trembling paleness must appear; 
 
 But you shall see that I am unconquerable, 
 
 And prize my dignity above my life. 
 
 Phi. And do you think your dignity forsooth, 
 
 Will be unruffled? 
 
 Mi. Yes, if I do not yield; 
 
 Only ourselves can ever have the power 
 
 To bring a shame upon us. I prefer 
 
 A great indignity at hands of others 
 
 To a slight one self-inflicted, instrument 
 
 Of my own degradation. You shall find 
 
 That a spirit's not so easily subdued, 
 
 Though manacled in flesh. Your brutal strength 
 
 May grasp — it cannot hold me. Thwarted you'll 
 
 clutch 
 A heap of earth no more desirable, 
 Or passive to you. I shall be transformed 
 As Daphne was. Translated I shall be ; 
 
1 62 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 And when you think that I am in your grasp, 
 
 I shall be trembling in the arms of God, 
 
 Safe, though still frightened. Or if death delay, 
 
 What shall I care to suffer violence 
 
 A little while, and then be free forever? 
 
 Kill me with torture, and leave my insipid form 
 
 Upon the ground, and marvel at your folly. 
 
 Revel in my dust; how trivial is that! 
 
 'Tis but a portion of the meaningless motes 
 
 That are visible in the radiance of a soul. 
 
 And who can harm the soul? Phinon, indeed, 
 
 Can force base matter to obey his will ; 
 
 Spirit eludes him. 
 
 Phi. 'Tis useless waiting. Seises her. 
 
 The Soldier re-enters, with Nirus. 
 Ni. Most honored of all women! Brother 
 
 Phinon, 
 I recall your past ; none with less lofty thoughts 
 Than you have known shall make you prisoner 
 
 now 
 In this your hour of darkness. I myself 
 Will be your guard, my tent your cell. Alas ! 
 You look so strong, they do not think you ill, 
 But stare, and feel no pity. My friend is dying ; 
 I take him to my tent to save his life. 
 My friend and I are one ; his sins are mine; 
 I share in his remorse ; a psychic bond 
 Unites us twain. Together let us go 
 To blend our tears and prayers, and to devise 
 Some fraction of atonement, or some deed 
 Of desperate penance, or some bloody plan 
 To execute death-vengeance on ourselves. 
 Mira, your house shall have a faithful guard 
 Has rendered the great service of his life, 
 Fulfilling thus his noble destiny 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 163 
 
 In Mira's preservation. 
 
 IV. Tent of Nirus. Nirus and Phinon. 
 Ni. Ah, Phinon, Phinon! 
 Phi. You make a great ado 
 
 Over the harlot. 
 Ni. Phinon ! 
 
 Phi. She is a woman ; 
 
 And therefore has a harlot's qualifications. 
 Ni. O Ena, Ena! 
 Phi. Blasphemer, not that name. [Throzvs 
 
 himself face downward on the 
 
 conch. 
 
 Ni. Sleep if you can; I cannot rest or sleep. 
 
 I cannot sleep, but I will pace the tent, 
 
 A weary sentinel. O Phinon, hear ; 
 
 Answer me, friend. Ah! I must be more gentle. 
 
 I should come near. Phinon, repel me not. 
 
 I am not certain but our very crimes, 
 
 By giving pathos to our earthly life, 
 
 Would make us dear to angels. This I know — 
 
 That brother's love grows dearer and more dear 
 
 For to-day's calamity. Oh, what a wreck 
 
 Of how devout a nature! What despair 
 
 Has overwhelmed you ! Even your blasphemy 
 
 Is uttered sobbingly. 'Tis hard for you 
 
 To live a gross life. Be not sullen thus 
 
 In nature's smiling face. Give back that smile 
 
 In purity and hope. In Ena's name 
 
 I call you to renewal of the joy, 
 
 The goodness once you chose, invoking me 
 
 To be your witness. Ah ! you tremble, Phinon ? 
 
 Is the music, then, not all departed from thee? 
 
 Let this soft dulcet be the prelude now 
 
 To a full burst of grief's wild melody, 
 
1 64 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 And then be still forever, that finale 
 
 Echoing in my memory evermore 
 
 With no succeeding discord to displace it. 
 
 Phi. Nirus, you know fate rules. Why do yo»i 
 
 plead 
 Thus inconsistently as if we two 
 Could revoke a destiny? 
 
 Ni. O heavenly powers, 
 
 Are ye not all profane and impious, 
 Thus faithlessly to give up such a spirit 
 To sin's control? And I — is this my trophy 
 To carry with me to eternity? 
 This my saved soul ? Alas ! what base alloy 
 Of coarser motive, lurking unobserved 
 In that apostleship, hath brought this curse 
 Upon my priesthood? Phinon, do not think 
 That I am ignorant, that I never sinned , 
 Or knew remorse, or fell back once again 
 When I had thought me safe. Ah ! we are broth- 
 ers, 
 And share the same dread destiny. O Phinon, 
 Brother, look up, look out upon the world, 
 And see how beautiful, and then confess 
 That you were right in youth, when, full of 
 
 faith, 
 You gazed on beauty, and read deity 
 In each sweet lineament. Is all dark now? 
 All things were once so bright. Ah! do you 
 
 think 
 Your vision now is truer, when you stare 
 Into the blackness, than your vision once 
 When radiant beauties met your priestly gaze 
 Where'er you chanced to turn ? Oh ! trust again 
 Those early revelations and believe 
 Once more in beauty, and so once again 
 Acknowledge goodness, that divinest beauty, 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 165 
 
 Renewing your old vows. Look, dearest brother, 
 Look through those gathering tears up at the 
 
 light, 
 The holy light, and find the iris there, 
 The beauteous iris, symbol of man's hope ; 
 And consecrate yourself once more a priest 
 Of light and purity. The sunshine now 
 Is resting on your brow, a golden blessing, 
 Transfiguring and making beautiful 
 Your grief-worn temples, sweet rays sent to 
 
 prove 
 That you can wear a halo. Oh ! accept it, 
 And win back Ena's presence ! 
 Phi. I accept. 
 
 V . Senate of the Revolutionary Government. 
 President of the Senate, Nirus and Senators. 
 
 Ni. I wonder at your summons. It disturbs 
 Plans of the greatest moment ; yet I trust 
 That you will not now ask me to reveal. 
 And through this secret session spread abroad 
 My recent more elaborate designs, 
 Just ripe for execution. All is lost, 
 If they should now be published. 
 Pres. Pray be patient, 
 
 And wait the Senate's pleasure. [Senate assem- 
 bles.] Senators, 
 The general obeys our recent summons, 
 And waits to hear your orders. Let the clerk 
 Read now our late decree. 
 Senators. Read the decree ! 
 
 CI. Decreed by the Senate : Nirus, general 
 Of all the people's armies, is relieved 
 From further service, in the interest 
 Of all the people ; Phinon, aid and colonel 
 Of the same Nirus, is hereby dismissed, 
 
1 66 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Degraded to the ranks. 
 Ni. My poor Phinon ! 
 
 They have cast him out to frenzy. In her pres- 
 ence! 
 1st S. Do not yield, Nirus, to this cursed plot. 
 2nd S. The army will support you, and the 
 
 people. 
 3rd S. As you are a patriot, now be resolute ; 
 Be faithful to the people. 
 Many Senators. Silence, traitors. [Great 
 
 uproar. 
 Ni. With dutiful heart from lofty undertakings, 
 In the midst of my success I now desist. 
 I am a poor man ; I have not been born 
 With mighty hosts to be my property. 
 These armies are my country's, not my own ; 
 I have no right to wield them disallowed, 
 Not even for unselfish service. I acknowledge 
 That this glorious breath of life which late was 
 
 mine 
 My country gave, and it can take away ; 
 And I complain not. 
 
 4th S. Bravo, bravo, Nirus ! 
 
 $th S. Demagogue! 
 6th S. Hypocrite! 
 
 Ni. My country's will, 
 
 Once delegated to this great assembly, 
 Is exercised through it, and till recalled 
 Requires my full submission, till at last 
 My sentence is revoked, and I am 1 given 
 The hope of life again. Oh ! I do feel 
 A leaping of the blood that prophesies 
 All glorious achievement ; and methinks 
 That I should find it quite as easy now 
 To do great deeds as to upraise my eyes 
 To yonder regal heavens — how close they are 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 167 
 
 To him whose heart is true ! But I refuse 
 
 To be great lawlessly ; I choose death first ; 
 
 And dead I am unless I be engaged 
 
 In lofty deeds. I wait the resurrection ; 
 
 Not as a mutinous ghost, reproachably 
 
 Will I embrace the glory of a life 
 
 To walk an outlawed spirit in the night ; 
 
 But I will wait till called forth honorably 
 
 To renew my destined triumph. 
 
 Senators. Bravo, bravo! 
 
 1st S. Shame on the Senate! 
 
 $th S. Silence! 
 
 Ni'. If that time 
 
 Shall never come, then I will still be dead, 
 
 And silent rest with patience in the tomb, 
 
 And not usurp the light. 
 
 Senators. Ah, Nirus, Nirus ! 
 
 Pres. Let us have order ! 
 
 Senators. Order ! 
 
 Ni. If you grant 
 
 That I may choose my grave, let me depart 
 
 This moment to the front, and be entombed 
 
 There in the ranks, among my noble comrades, 
 
 A faithful soldier, proud enough to serve, 
 
 Although I might command. I yield my sword 
 
 To the officer of the Senate, to be held 
 
 In trust for my successor. May our country 
 
 Be gainer from; the change! And now farewell, 
 
 Neighbors and countrymen ! 
 
 3rd S. Honor to Nirus ! 
 
 4th S. Down with the tyrant Senate! 
 
 $th S. A traitor's voice! 
 
 Let it be silenced ! 
 
 6th S. Down with all senators 
 
 That are traitors to their order. 
 
 Ni. I'll not now 
 
1 68 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Abandon Phinon ; I will stay beside him ; 
 And he shall yet be saved. I now am freed 
 From other duties, and can dedicate 
 My service all to him. 
 
 Song of Partisans. 
 He that standeth at our head, 
 We can trust him surely. 
 We shall be no more misled, 
 He will guide us purely. 
 
 Like a king in force of will, 
 Fit for scepter-wielding, 
 Lives he like a peasant still, 
 All his kingship yielding. 
 
 History can never know 
 Half our hero's greatness, 
 He himself represseth so 
 All its dread completeness. 
 
 VI. Two Officers. 
 1st Of. Good morning, comrade. Now what 
 
 pleasing thought ? 
 2nd Of. I know good news for us and for Ta- 
 
 linis. 
 ist Of. Good news? How possible, with Nirus 
 
 gone, 
 The army mutinous, and this great defeat? 
 2nd Of. Have you not heard ? Ah ! you have 
 
 been abroad, 
 And only just now landed. On the high seas 
 One's wholly out of the world. 
 1st Of. Pray, tell me all. 
 
 2nd Of. I'll tell if you are patient, and will wait, 
 Nor be importunate, while I go back 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 169 
 
 To make my tale connected, humoring thus 
 My literary instinct. Victor, you know, 
 The earnest Victor, never seemed at ease 
 As tyranny's defender. Nirus oft, 
 In many a parley, moved him to remorse, 
 Pleading the people's cause ; yet still the oath 
 Sworn to the king, and churchly fealty 
 Held Victor back, as well as the strange spell 
 Of kingly birthright, and the deep reproach 
 Upon the name of traitor, and perhaps 
 The thought of his own kinship to the purple, 
 Remote, yet not forgotten. Still he hoped 
 That his great influence would prevail at last, 
 And end the persecution. Vain that hope ; 
 And he at length resolved. Then came the story 
 Of Phinon's wickedness, and with it reached him 
 Accounts perverted of the seeming slight 
 That Nirus, pardoning Phinon, offered Mira, 
 Who is, indeed, in peril of her life, 
 Because of that fright and insult. Victor, then, 
 Remained aloof from Nirus, and was fierce 
 Upon the royal side, and soon eclipsed 
 His former glory with a victory 
 That nearly ruined us ; for on the day 
 When Nirus was recalled, our army, left 
 Without its leader, was attacked by Victor 
 And almost overwhelmed. But then he learned 
 That Nirus was dismissed. The senate, thinking 
 That Nirus might be spared and Victor won, 
 Had shamefully discharged our general, 
 Phinon and him together, twin offenders, 
 A two-fold obstacle. Then Victor, glad 
 For honor's sake to seize our darkest hour, 
 Came to our side; and all his own command, 
 Eager to share his fortunes, willingly 
 Followed him hither, half the king's best men, 
 
170 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Varian's veterans. But the generalship 
 
 The upright Victor spurns, no base deserter 
 
 For mere promotion. Now's a quandary 
 
 Whom we shall choose. 
 
 1st Of. Why, any one of twenty 
 
 Among the friends of Victor, so he possess 
 
 Good sense and dignity, and the modesty 
 
 To repress himself and follow Victor's counsel. 
 
 2nd Of. Why check the historian's rhetoric, 
 
 needlessly 
 Marring your entertainment. The noble Nirus, 
 Yielding submissively his high command 
 Did not thereby resign his fiery zeal 
 Against the priest-led tyrant, but set forth 
 To join the people's ranks with musket borne 
 More proudly than a sword, leaving the Senate 
 Uneasy for the outcome. Then so swift 
 Was Victor's action, that when Nirus came, 
 The brief, decisive battle had been fought, 
 And Victor, learning the disgrace of Nirus, 
 Had now declared for us. Nirus at once 
 Hearing the cause of Victor's alienation, 
 Sought Victor out, and wringing from his eyes 
 Compassionate tears for wretched Phinon's fate, 
 Won back the friendship and esteem of Victor 
 Stronger than ever. While the Senate waited 
 In growing trepidation, there was brought 
 A generous message from the hand of Victor, 
 Which set them all a-flutter. Quickly then 
 The courier lightning sped upon its way 
 To summon Nirus back. Anxious he came 
 Into the Senate's midst, the while they sat 
 Ashamed and yet well-pleased, not to condemn. 
 As he expected, but with loud applause 
 To give back all his honors. There as he stood 
 Astonished in the midst, Cotaminus, 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 171 
 
 Escorted to his side, with graceful speech 
 
 Transferred to us his civic skill, as lately 
 
 Victor his martial genius. Then what triumph 
 
 Shone in our hero's eye! "Cotaminus," 
 
 With radiant face he cried, "far better this 
 
 Than a victory won in arms. I take your coming 
 
 As a happy omen for our new Talinis, 
 
 To which I welcome you — you that have served 
 
 In two kings' counsels with such diligence, 
 
 And yet are stainless of their tyrannies." 
 
 A louder peal of acclamation rolled, 
 
 Re-echoing Nirus' name. Then swiftly gleamed 
 
 Within his eye a glitter Caesar-like 
 
 Of vanity divine, as if a splendor 
 
 Before undreamed — a scepter's glorious flame — 
 
 Plashed out in vision from futurity. 
 
 1st Of. Ah! no; it could not be. Mar not my 
 
 trust 
 That Nirus is all-innocent of heart, 
 A Cincinnatus, a child-humble hero 
 For all men to repose in. 
 
 2nd Of. A moment later 
 
 The pastoral mien returned. Yet for an instant, 
 The crown was in his thought, and not disdained, 
 And not rejected, till in sight of men 
 It blazed sublimely forth. What flattery 
 From the godhead of his genius thus to win 
 The glorious homage of his vast desire ! 
 O world, be proud, and deck thyself with flowers. 
 If even great Nirus bows to us his soul, 
 Needing the bounteous fullness of our love 
 To complete his being's void. That passionate 
 
 mood 
 May have left no memory there, to burn and 
 
 glow 
 In his wonted thought; yet for a moment-space 
 
172 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Its light shone forth effulgent. Ah ! be sure 
 
 If Nirus care to win us, he'll not find us 
 
 Coy to his wooing. 
 
 ist Of. I fear that you yourself 
 
 Would reverse nature and yourself turn wooer. 
 
 I rebuke you not ; I, too, begin to share 
 
 The eager agitation. 
 
 2nd Of. But the news. 
 
 The wondrous news that lighted up my face, 
 
 And called forth your inquiry, I have not yet 
 
 Told you that news. My recapitulation — 
 A Group of Soldiers enter. 
 
 ist Sol. Our divine Nirus breathes the breath 
 of life 
 
 From his own nostrils into every creature. 
 
 Till it is recreated in his image. 
 
 And can itself perform like miracles 
 
 Of lofty heroism. 
 
 ist Of. What new achievement' 
 
 2nd Sol. The Arctic expedition is returned. 
 
 ^rd Sol. And comes in triumph from the mar- 
 velous pole. 
 
 2nd Of. That was the news that gave me such 
 delight. 
 
 4th Sol. Attained is the goal of centuries. 
 
 2nd Of. Twas Nirus 
 
 Inspired the enterprise. 
 
 $th Sol. Except for him 
 
 It ne'er had been accomplished. 
 
 Song. 
 The frigid monarch of snow. 
 The monarch of war and woe, 
 Was reigning there on the mountains. 
 The mountains of ice and snow. 
 We entered the ice-bound bay : 
 We battered the ramparts away : 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 173 
 
 We reached the frozen fountains, 
 Reached them on Freedom's day. 
 
 Refrain, 
 
 Oh, glorious jubilee! 
 Ours the golden key 
 To the heart of all mystery ! 
 
 We hurled the ice-king prone 
 Down from his hateful throne, 
 And gave to new-born Science 
 The mystic North for her own. 
 Polaris, tremble thou 
 To rest upon her brow. 
 Hail, Freedom's world-alliance! 
 Hail, banner regnant now ! 
 
 Refrain. 
 
 We planted our ensign bright 
 In realms of arctic night, 
 To banish the gloom infernal 
 With beams of that banner of light. 
 O flag of the free, e'er shine 
 'Neath the orbs that ne'er decline 
 And let earth's homage diurnal, 
 Till it rotate no longer, be thine. 
 
 Refrain. 
 
 3rd Officer enters. 
 3rd Of. More happy news. The land is wild 
 
 with triumph ! 
 Soronia and Cleria are convulsed 
 With our great general's footsteps. Secretly 
 
174 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 He sent his arms to overwhelm them both, 
 
 And all his plans succeed. 
 
 2nd Of. What brought about 
 
 This sudden revolution? 
 
 $rd Of. You recall 
 
 The story told of Nirus when in youth 
 
 He went as envoy to Soronia, 
 
 Sent by K&ng Castux. Aged Hensius 
 
 Was so delighted with the kingly youth, 
 
 Who put on hauteur like a robe of state, 
 
 Even in the royal presence, and maintained 
 
 His manly dignity as no less high 
 
 Than majesty itself — old Hensius 
 
 Was gleeful, and exclaimed, "Ah ! he is royal ; 
 
 He is no piteous slave, like common men, 
 
 Made for a subject ; Nirus is a king, 
 
 And only waits a throne. Let him have mine." 
 
 When Hensius should die, a distant kinsman 
 
 Must gain the throne, to rule with feeble hand, 
 
 And sacrifice the honor of the crown 
 
 In many a timid makeshift policy, 
 
 And many a deed of shame to bring the blush 
 
 For manhood's sake upon the subject's cheek. 
 
 Before the royal patriarch expired, 
 
 Nirus became the hero of the world. 
 
 And rumor spread among the peasantry 
 
 That good King Hensius had prophesied 
 
 That Nirus should be king, and had desired 
 
 That Nirus should succeed him. Then the people 
 
 Kept telling one another of his deeds 
 
 And of his virtues. Fair Soronia wished 
 
 To be his bride, and longed to cast herself 
 
 Down at his feet to be within his power, 
 
 And over her to feel his mighty presence. 
 
 In vain the king protested and denied ; 
 
 The king had made a prophecy; and kings 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 175 
 
 Inspired of heaven foretell futurity, 
 Though they know it not themselves ; nay, verily 
 'Twas but a surer proof — this very fact 
 That Hensius did not understand himself 
 The meaning of his words. It rendered certain 
 That some diviner prescience spoke through him, 
 And made the future known. Then when at 
 
 last 
 King Hensius was no more, and they were ruled 
 By such a piteous imbecile, they cried 
 For Nirus to relieve them. 
 1st Of. And how, pray, 
 
 Has Cleria now been won ? 
 $rd Of. In Varian's time 
 
 Nirus was friendly to the Clerians, 
 And they have not forgotten. Then of late 
 Their banished kings have plotted for the throne, 
 With our king's aid ; they dread with equal dread 
 Castux and their own tyrants, still alive, 
 And venomously formidable of race. 
 Nirus approached them with his matchless skill, 
 And won them to him. If we gain this war, 
 All Cleria will be ours. 
 
 Confusion without. Shouts of, "Castux is 
 slain/' Soldiers enter. 
 
 1st Of. Is Castux slain? 
 
 6th Sol. Yes ; he is dead, slain by a treacherous 
 
 servant. 
 Our victory is won ; his soldiery 
 Are all disbanded, and his brother fled. 
 2nd Of. Ah! chaos is upon us, and will last 
 Till Nirus comes to end it. If he calm 
 The anarchy of three empires, let him reign. 
 Citizens. Down with Nirus! Long live the re- 
 public ! 
 
176 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Song. 
 Talinis, now, prophet-like, gentle and strong, 
 Walk thou with one soul in the pathway of truth, 
 Redeeming the nations from bondage and wrong, 
 Extending the empire of justice and ruth. 
 
 The wise men prophetic who came from the east 
 Pointed out the bright star that hung over thy 
 
 way; 
 And poor men watched as thy stature increased, 
 Impatient with hopes that are fruitful today. 
 
 And now, at last is thy dignity gained ; 
 The crown of maturity graces thy brow ; 
 And promise and symmetry newly attained 
 Bless the eyes of the nations that look on thee 
 now. 
 
 Talinis, now, prophet-like, gentle and strong, 
 Walk thou single-sou led in the pathway of truth, 
 Redeeming the nations from bondage and wrong, 
 Extending the empire of justice and ruth. 
 
 VII. Phinon, standing over a dead Body. 
 Phi. Furies ! I would 1 had torn the living heart 
 Out of his naked body, rending the giblet 
 While still 'twas beating! Ha! I'm drunk with 
 
 rage, 
 Till I can only reel ; and all my passions 
 Are fiercely roused within me, as if all 
 Were gratified in hate. My fleshly substance 
 Is changed to air, my blood to a winged thing 
 That beats its red wings through me like a harpy, 
 Eager for loathsome cruelty. Ye fiends ! 
 Although my foe were set with poisonous darts 
 As close as quills on a porcupine, not less 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 177 
 
 My passion would upon him. Ah ! those limbs 
 That moved so proudly, they are mangled now 
 To utter shapelessness. That bosom grand 
 Which so defied the world is torn and hacked 
 To invite the maggots sooner. And that brow 
 Which would have scorned the very crown it 
 
 wore 
 Had I let him live to wear it — now ye see 
 That brow is hideous with frightful death. 
 I will not lacerate his countenance; 
 That shall remain for all to recognize, 
 Knowing that it is Nirus thus debased 
 And shamed eternally. Hark! footsteps come! 
 
 [Goes out, but immediately returns. 
 A false alarm ! Now he is low indeed 
 And has no virtue. Can that face now flush 
 At any coarseness, or become more pale, 
 Or change its aspect till the hand of death 
 Blackens all into humus ? Ah ! I will shout 
 All vileness in his ear; soon we shall see 
 If still he have sufficient virtue in him 
 To bring an anguish to these eyes that stare, 
 Glazed into horror. What though I always failed 
 To make him grovel? He held out while he 
 
 could ; 
 But now he yields. In one dread moment's time 
 He falls in ashes. My decay has come 
 More gradual. I have let my nature sink 
 More easily and gracefully ; and death 
 Will not be such a shock. He's viler now 
 Than had he sinned. The dead thing's far below 
 The very brutes. We were so much more wise 
 To recognize our station, nor disown 
 The kindred dust. Whenever we resist 
 Surrounding chaos, we can only add 
 One more discordant element to swell 
 
178 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 The vast confusion. Every lovely thing, 
 Each harmony divine, only augments 
 The roaring chaos. Ha! a form approaches! 
 Let me escape! [Goes out, and then re-enters. 
 
 Again am I deceived! 
 My senses fail me ! I alone am true, 
 And he disloyal. Truth he taught to me 
 That himself abides not by. Reason he preached, 
 In place of faith, and yet clandestinely 
 Reserved one strenuous faith to save himself 
 In defiance of his reason, still reserved 
 Unreasoning faith in virtue, and refused 
 To stand by me when I would be consistent 
 By making vice my ethics. Why did he lure me 
 From my strong tower, the stable centuries, 
 That center-rooted rock whose firm support 
 No earthquake can unfix? Curses upon him! 
 Why did he rob me of the guardianship 
 Of the great paternal past? Did he suppose, 
 When he had ruined the authority 
 Of hoary eld, that maxims of a day 
 Would check my unyoked impulse? 
 
 Nothing less 
 Than flames of hell, licking across the void, 
 Like tongues of hungry wolves, with fearful 
 
 menace, 
 Could fright that passion silent. Fierce revenge, 
 Be thou exultant. See how poor lies here 
 He that looked loftily, and now is thrust 
 Lower than reptiles ! Hasten, pitying Time, 
 Hider of shame ; roll round a few more months, 
 Till he shall be no more repulsive thing 
 Than the odorless clay. Let all the dupes ap- 
 proach 
 That warship him, and put him hastily 
 Out of their loathing sight! Ah! how I pray 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 179 
 
 That they may not discover him for weeks, 
 And then come on him in a gorgeous train 
 Of pride and pomp! Such punishment is fit 
 For them that violate their natural state 
 By striving to be upright. What are they 
 But mere excrescences of this vile earth 
 That try to shine like stars? This man I slew 
 Has taunted me with his heroic life 
 That I knew was false, because so contrary 
 To all our human destiny. I choose 
 The life more rational, although it jar 
 With sensibility. Ha! is he slain? 
 I hate him now no longer ; hate, indeed, 
 Calls loud for blood, but soon is satisfied, 
 And then is passive. Now 'tis done at last, 
 And I'm at peace. How simple an enterprise 
 To take a life ! I'll end by slaying myself 
 Before the moon shall wane. Goblins and devils ! 
 [He ascends a thick-branched tree. Nirus and 
 Cotaminus, in conversation, go by, accompanied 
 by Melno. 
 
 Ni. Destiny ruleth ; yet his human will, 
 The child of destiny, but uttereth 
 That larger will, till he is proudly free 
 In the universe his home. He feels himself 
 Not Nature's tool, but part of Nature's being, 
 Harmonious with her purpose. 
 Mel. The very words 
 
 I said myself only the other day 
 When Myron and I were rubbing down our 
 
 nags. 
 Co. Will you hold your tongue? 
 Mel. I didn't mean any harm. 
 
 [They pass on. Phinon descends. 
 Phi. Nirus himself goes by, he that I slew! 
 Have I made a spirit of my mortal foe, 
 
180 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Strong to revenge with tortures brought from 
 
 hell, 
 Himself invulnerable? Is't Nirus yonder? 
 Or is it I ? Uncanny is my life, 
 To be thus multiplied. I shall not dare 
 To look on any face, lest I may find 
 My own blood-curdling features sent to mock 
 
 me. 
 Ah ! what convulsion has rent up my soul 
 Into so many fragments ? Part of myself 
 I miss most poignantly ; my virtue's gone, 
 Wandering bodiless, an eccentric soul, 
 Or occupying some more blessed form 
 Made in my image. Nirus did I see? 
 And is he double? Can he thus divide, 
 To multiply my task ? So much I hate him, 
 I'd have him sprout like the Hydra to renew 
 The joy of his killing. Wonderful his resem- 
 blance 
 To Nirus and me ! But Nirus is out of the prob- 
 lem; 
 Fll vouch for Nirus ; the houris of Paradise 
 Couldn't kiss him awake. 
 
 A W orkingman rushes by shrieging. Phinon 
 runs out in another direction. Nirus, Cotaminus 
 and Melno hasten back. 
 Ni. Oh, Phinon, Phinon! 
 Co. No, 'tis one disguised. 
 
 Ni. 'Tis the actor, Mira's brother. Melno, go 
 Bring Victor, and the proper officers. 
 Mel. You honor me with such a high commis- 
 sion, 
 To the great Victor from still greater Nirus. 
 
 [Exit. 
 Ni. Ah! he has personated me tonight, 
 In this disguise going through all my life 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 181 
 
 In one short evening, reaching the final scene, 
 
 Sooner than I do. Does he die for me ? 
 
 By my foe's hand, perchance ? I feel, my friend, 
 
 That I have died by proxy, that this pain, 
 
 And this unspeakable indignity 
 
 Are mine, not his. Ah ! I am vulnerable. 
 
 Co. He was our greatest actor. 
 
 Ni. And a man 
 
 ©f upright character. 
 
 Co. No other actor 
 
 Has yet succeeded with this noble play 
 
 That celebrates your fame. The others all 
 
 Are hooted from the stage ; and he alone, 
 
 Whose solemn earnestness and dignity 
 
 Make a religion of the mimicry, 
 
 Is heard with joy and eager applause. 
 
 Melno enters from behind. 
 Ni. This sight 
 
 Enforces what I said a moment past, 
 When that fearful cry appalled us. 'Tis for us 
 To glory in the nobleness we win, 
 Not as our own, but as a light divine 
 That plays a moment o'er our mortal brows 
 To evidence itself, and so by chance 
 Renders us beautiful, until again 
 It passes on to others, leaving us 
 Invisible and cold. 
 
 Co. Tis true. 
 
 Mel. Why, yes! 
 
 That's what I always said to my good woman. 
 Co. Well, fool! Where's Victor? 
 
 Victor and Officers enter. 
 Mel. Here he comes. He's a hero, 
 
 And bears up bravely. 
 Vic. Only an hour ago 
 
182 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 I saw him sound and well. I walked here with 
 
 him 
 After the play. 
 
 Mel. How fortunate it is 
 
 That you were with him, you of all the world ! 
 It must have been a comfort when he died 
 To know that he had seen you. 
 Ni. Melno, peace! 
 
 Where shall we have him borne ? To your home, 
 
 Victor? 
 Mel. Why, yes ! Where else ? 
 Vic. Not there — on Mira's account. 
 
 Co. To my house, then. 
 Mel. Why, yes! the very place! 
 
 VIII. Phinon and Cotaminus. 
 Phi. Now to prove, 
 
 As I have been asserting, that the crime 
 Was done by Victor's hand. 
 Co. Have you procured 
 
 Evidence ample? 
 
 Phi. Men of such repute, 
 
 So numerous support us that a jury 
 Is likely to convict him. Do your part, 
 And the issue is certain. 
 Co. Sir, do not forget 
 
 That, being the judge, and not the prosecutor, 
 I shall maintain my attitude impartial, 
 And follow the evidence strictly. 
 Phi. I understand 
 
 The situation fully, and I thank you, 
 As one fiend thanks another. Do you fancy 
 I'd have you show yourself a partisan, 
 To vitiate the verdict? Nothing I ask 
 That can sully your ermine. I ask but that you 
 show 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 183 
 
 No fear or favor. I myself can answer 
 For the part of the accusation. Let them howl 
 At their vice-god's sudden peril. In the court 
 They'll sink into gasping silence, not one voice 
 To tell me I lie, or thwart me in revenge, 
 Or foil your primacy. Then will I speed 
 To the deepest sea, and plunge me headlong 
 
 down 
 To drench the memory out. [Exit. 
 Co. Ugh! how I loathe him! 
 
 The fellow seems quite desperate enough 
 To have done the deed himself. — Merciful 
 
 heavens ! 
 That man of mine who came home raving mad, 
 And now, confined, keeps shrieking with white 
 
 lips 
 About three Niruses, one running fast 
 With bloody knife, another lying dead, 
 And still another, he accompanied 
 By two vile horned devils ; if he now 
 Were sane enough to testify, who knows 
 But he might change the verdict? 
 
 IX. The Senate. 
 President. The time has now arrived, as you 
 
 recall, 
 Fixed for a weighty subject. We discuss 
 Our future government, if we prefer 
 Republic, or if monarchy. To-day 
 Do we decide what further we desire 
 That Nirus serve us, whether as late proposed 
 He shall be now rewarded with the throne 
 Of this new empire. 
 
 1st Sen. If I have permission 
 
 To correct the statement, not for his reward, 
 Who needs no guerdon, but for our salvation, 
 
1 84 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Who need his guidance, patriots now propose 
 
 The imperial honor. It may be, indeed, 
 
 That he will not accept. He knows not yet 
 
 Of this new proposition. There is doubt 
 
 Of his approval. Still, at duty's call 
 
 I trust he'll not repulse us, but be gracious 
 
 To our appeal. 
 
 2nd S. He must, he must! 
 
 yd S. Beware! 
 
 If he were a winged angel, we might shrink 
 
 From tempting him thus. 
 
 4th S. If he were a very devil, 
 
 Such consecration well might make him earnest 
 
 And higher-thoughted. 
 
 2nd Sen. Anything for a king 
 
 But the imbeciles of the past! 
 
 yd S. No king at all, 
 
 Not even great Nirus, though I honor him 
 
 Beyond all men ! Though he crown all history, 
 
 'Twere better slay him outright than awake 
 
 That fierce fire of ambition in his breast, 
 
 Kinghood's high passion, planted in our veins, 
 
 Like manhood's vigor, for beneficent 
 
 And fruitful services, and yet endowed 
 
 With energy so terrible that nothing 
 
 Save mediocrity can save the statesman 
 
 From ruining his country and himself 
 
 With that great madness. 
 
 $th S. Madness well you say 
 
 Of one whose eccentricities fall short 
 
 But little of that state. 
 
 6th S. Pray, on what ground 
 
 Base you that calumny? Does he converse 
 
 With shapes invisible, beholding fiends 
 
 In the blank air? Or does he fail to see 
 
 What other men behold ? Does he look awry, 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 185 
 
 Seeing some objects crooked? Do his senses 
 
 Ever mislead him, so that he disputes 
 
 With other men's perceptions ? Pray, what then ? 
 
 He is peculiar, does not wear his cap 
 
 According to the standard, does not wink 
 
 In concert with the burghers, absents himself 
 
 iFrom social muster-days, forgets to smile 
 
 When senators make puns. Ah ! certainly 
 
 His Genius leads him into desert paths, 
 
 And great emotions do contort his face 
 
 Incongruous with its fellows, and his lips 
 
 Wear not the current sneer. Do you demand 
 
 From that deep brow a pretty social simper, 
 
 As shallow as a pebble-bottomed brook's, 
 
 From that great brow which globes eternally 
 
 Oceanic depths of thought? Nay, rather say 
 
 Thought soul-deep, at all angles raying forth 
 
 Indefinite, a vast sphere-universe. 
 
 Tis true, alas ! our Nirus takes no part 
 
 In weather-senates, or in tournaments 
 
 Of repartee. Thank God, he does not mingle 
 
 Among the harlequins ; yet he retires 
 
 For no uncanny purpose, for no converse 
 
 With fiends and phantoms. He retires to live 
 
 A soul's own life ; and even you marketers, 
 
 If ever you grow sane and serious, 
 
 And know a tranquil passion, you will feel 
 
 The fellowship of Nirus ; you will find 
 
 Our Nirus not eccentric, but yourselves 
 
 And all your generation, who depart 
 
 From central truth, and wander aimlessly 
 
 Amid the coarse conventions. 
 
 $th Sen. He's a skeptic. 
 
 Shall such a man be seated on our throne, 
 
 To make us all turn heathen ? 
 
 ?th Sen. Ha! the gods, 
 
i86 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 May they not scorn each other, yet demand 
 The worship of the world? We have no vote 
 In their morality. 'Tis ours alone 
 To bow before their glory. Such a man 
 Has quite outgrown the time of worshipping, 
 Ready himself to be worshipped; majesty 
 Higher than goodness. All those human blots 
 That hide the nobleness of lesser lives 
 Are but as dots on his world-ample brow. 
 The breath of being such a man derives 
 From another god than ours ; his entity 
 Is not our own. 'Tis something after all 
 That he has not a moment been beguiled 
 By these tongued heretics ; them he repulsed 
 As much as us. 
 
 Sth S. Alas ! how piteous 
 
 To see that earnest man's appealing eyes, 
 Seeking in vain some mission ! A great pain 
 Out from the depths of his forlorn priesthood 
 Slow-gathers o'er his face. Yes ; it is sad, 
 But calls for no apology from us 
 Whose faith is vowed to Nirus and to God, 
 And who believe that God is far too good 
 Not to admire and love a man like Nirus ; 
 For God is a profound and earnest spirit, 
 Who thinks high thoughts, and lives for noble 
 
 ends, 
 And loves high-minded men, and is not vain 
 To hear the clamorous plaudits of the world, 
 Like a mere politician, or men's thanks, 
 Like a frail human parent. I suppose 
 When men kneel down and utter long praise- 
 speeches, 
 As if he were unable to hear thought, 
 He listens lovingly and tenderly, 
 And thinks he has good children after all, 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 187 
 
 Despite their little errors; still I fancy 
 
 That God could live without such things. I 
 
 fancy 
 He is more pleased to see men grown mature, 
 Able to help him in his benefactions. 
 That spirit is most precious in God's sight 
 Who takes God's gift of manhood most devoutly, 
 And guards that sacred fragment of the godhead 
 Most tenderly and purely. God, perchance, 
 Prizes no whit the less our hero's worship 
 For its noble blasphemies. What if our God 
 Be large of heart himself, magnanimous, 
 Like a great man, well-pleased when noble souls, 
 Even in their adoration, stand erect 
 Not undefiantly, with haughtiness, 
 Responsive to his own? 
 
 gth S. Creeds are no more 
 
 Than garments of our thought, not more than 
 
 dress 
 Authoritative to establish rank 
 Or prove the heart. An earnest mind retains 
 Through all the wide vicissitudes of creed 
 Its high direction. Who but envies Nirus 
 His triumph in the test of outlawry? 
 Whene'er society deprives a man 
 Of all its recognition and protection, 
 Dissolving the old covenantal bonds 
 With the individual, and by such affront 
 Annuls his obligations, then his conduct 
 No more restrained, no more directed then 
 By influence conventional, reveals 
 What spirit's in him. I envy Nirus, truly, 
 His attitude unique. We may be led 
 By hope or fear. The world can never know 
 How lofty are our motives. But here's Nirus, 
 Who has no hope or fear, still keeping the way, 
 
1 88 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Among the foremost ; proving to all ages 
 
 That love of good impels him. 
 
 $th S. Ah, indeed! 
 
 I have no doubt that he considered this, 
 
 When he chose his course. Hypocrisy unique, 
 
 A sanctimonious infidel ! 
 
 6th S. Of course 
 
 You are resentful that a man is found 
 
 Practicing Sabbath virtues all the week, 
 
 To cheapen your own piety. If God, 
 
 Supposing God there be, should undertake 
 
 To let our Nirus into heaven, will you 
 
 Cast an opposing ballot, nor consent 
 
 To his admission ? Oh ! I know that you 
 
 Compose the aristocracy of faith ; 
 
 And we are doubtless outcasts from the pale 
 
 Of all religious circles, nor belong 
 
 To you of the elite. We poor plebeians 
 
 Are only boors, and pay but slight regard 
 
 To recognized conventions used in worship. 
 
 We who care not to enter society, 
 
 And so continue still outside your Cult, 
 
 Are quite unfashionable. Oh, yes, indeed ! 
 
 We are entirely unpresentable 
 
 In fine religious drawing-rooms. And yet 
 
 I cannot help believing that we know 
 
 As well as you the fine amenities 
 
 Of love and of devotion, are not less 
 
 Familiar with the natural etiquette 
 
 Appropriate to spirits. If in truth 
 
 You do consign us to the dread Gehenna 
 
 Of your disapprobation, we will find 
 
 In hell itself a home and sanctuary, 
 
 And have the flowers of truth and love and faith 
 
 And reverence blooming there, an oasis 
 
 Even there amid the desert. We will scorn, 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 189 
 
 Scorn and defy you, whether bitterly 
 
 You cry against us, or, compassionate, 
 
 Look curious upon us, as it were 
 
 Tapping your foreheads, the only charity 
 
 Permitted by your creed. Yes, we are outlawed, 
 
 Though in this desolation and denial 
 
 We find our consecration ; and our priest, 
 
 Our Nirus pure with pain, who long ago 
 
 Renounced the world in that great sacrifice 
 
 Of human brotherhood, when he left hope 
 
 And chose the desert, Nirus, our pure saint, 
 
 Is sadder than to need your suffrages 
 
 Or your approval. This day's great decision 
 
 Can not affect him. Now we cast our votes 
 
 For a sublime idea, not for Nirus. 
 
 We have no hope to temper the dread glory 
 
 On the face of Nirus, with vivacious gleams 
 
 Of worldly eagerness. He is beyond 
 
 Our hopes and our ambitions. Not for him, 
 
 But for ourselves and you, do we aspire 
 
 To this our new ideal, to behold 
 
 A nation's consecration. 
 
 4th S. Must we listen 
 
 To rant that never ends upon a theme 
 
 Wholly irrelevant? Not five here present, 
 
 Though he worshiped a whole Pantheon, would 
 
 suppose him 
 A whit more qualified. I make appeal 
 To the President to limit this debate 
 To legitimate topics. 
 
 Pres. Pray, confine discussion 
 
 To the question of public policy. 
 6th S. I yield 
 
 To my laconic colleague. He'll not fail 
 To speak to the point. 
 4th S P Make an exception now 
 
tqo DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 In history's latest law. Suspend awhile 
 The sovereignty of the people. Raise we Nirus 
 To the throne of the world, that so may be re- 
 newed 
 The dull historic page, that mighty poets 
 May be again called forth, and the land be filled 
 With oratoric glory, till we prove 
 That heavenly genius, not yet obsolete, 
 Waits only for the call of lofty deeds, 
 That all the maiden beauty of the world 
 Sleeps ever youthful, waiting to be roused, 
 Waiting some touch of ancient chivalry 
 To revive the blush of life. Ah ! break we now 
 The great rule of equality. Let Nirus 
 Be now developed. As we saw unfold 
 His intellectual powers, no less completely 
 Let now his power in action be expanded 
 To its full natural glory. This is the hero 
 To whom the piety of all our race 
 Has evermore aspired ; no deity 
 With startling claims and miracles' attest 
 And largess of high gifts ; only a man, 
 A common man in whom our shapeless passions 
 Fuse into sacred symmetry, a mesh 
 For the spiritual breath of life, our vulgar hues 
 Blent in the white of manly dignity, 
 Our pitiful noises grown harmonious 
 To join the spheric music. 
 
 $th S. You that have spurned — 
 
 4th S. Am I interrupted? 
 $th S. Only a question, please. 
 
 'Twill furnish you with a text. 
 4th S. Pray, briefly, then, 
 
 Let us hear the question. 
 
 *th S. You, sir, that have spurned 
 
 The heaven -blest claims of legitimate royalty, 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 191 
 
 Why mock us with the title? Having ejected 
 The anointed occupants from the temple-doors, 
 Pray yield the sacred edifice to the flames, 
 Nor transform it to a stable. I give my suffrage 
 Against a spurious crown. Let all the world 
 Behold our kingless state, and recognize 
 The interregnum. 
 
 4th S. How shall a patriot 
 
 Hearing this speech, now doubt our need of 
 
 Nirus 
 To fill the vacant throne, and thus exclude 
 Our plotting tyrants? 
 
 $th S. O rash, deluded people, 
 
 Thus to reject that one great house which gave 
 
 us 
 All the glory and pride of the past! 
 4th S. For the sake of that past 
 
 We hide from sight forever the disgrace 
 Of a house once noble. 
 
 $th S. Some temporary slip 
 
 Of procreant nature will you magnify 
 To a final decadence ? I tell you that this house. 
 Except by accident, cannot produce 
 Any but heroes. Childish petulance, 
 Because of a flaw or two in the last impression. 
 To smash the mold that gave us a hundred 
 
 heroes, 
 And can give a hundred more ! 
 4th S. I tell you, sir, 
 
 This house has lost the power of reproducing 
 A kingly character. 
 
 $tk S. Only try it again ; 
 
 A single generation may suffice 
 Te renew the glories of old. You must not 
 
 crown 
 This peasant prodigy, Nirus. Think you his race 
 
192 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Can yield you monarchs ? You'll see a crown- 
 prince soon 
 Desert his throne to be keeper of the ale-house 
 Where his cousins hiccough. 
 4th S. Some recent royal princes 
 
 Had won eulogium by so wisely gauging 
 Their native endowments. Should we be de- 
 prived 
 Of prince so precious, we would seek again, 
 Among the peasants one more prodigy 
 Of Jesse's stock, wearing the aureole 
 Of truth and wisdom on his innocent brow, 
 Marking it for the crown. We'll serve hence- 
 forth 
 The man that's kingly himself, and not accept 
 A caitiff again, though he boast a thousand 
 
 grandsires 
 That sat on the throne. 
 6th S. If heirship you demand, 
 
 Shall Varian's will be null? Who longer doubts. 
 From the evidence now published, that he pur- 
 posed, 
 Should issue fail him, to adopt as heir 
 The gifted Nirus, and exclude forever 
 Beggarly Castux ? 
 
 $th S. Ah ! the world hath seen 
 
 Its noblest days, if blasphemy like this 
 Against the royal blood can now find tongue. 
 And men not blanch with horror. 
 3rd S. O Liberty, 
 
 O Liberty, what ignominious death 
 O'ertaketh thee, when T, thy lowliest lover, 
 Falter thus at thy name ! 
 4th S. Sincere old man, 
 
 You strive in vain to impede the splendid 
 pageant 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 193 
 
 Of this imperial epoch. 
 
 i>rd S. Ah ! you desire 
 
 Merely a splendid spectacle for men, 
 
 Careless of one man's passion? Is it well 
 
 That for the pastime of the multitude 
 
 One man should perish ? Nirus, then, is worthy 
 
 That you should place him as a gladiator 
 
 Before the nations. Drag Apollo down 
 
 To mutilating combat, that the world 
 
 May see what gods are able to perform, 
 
 Before they perish. Let that noble shape, 
 
 With all its radiant and voluptuous life, 
 
 Be bowed before you in the agony 
 
 Of torture manifold, the fire of being 
 
 Consumed away in one o'ertopping flame, 
 
 Filling the world with momentary glow, 
 
 And wasting out afar. 'T will soon be past, 
 
 And you will then have spent a century's light 
 
 In one huge conflagration ; and the dark 
 
 Will gather o'er the earth. 'Tis true that Rome 
 
 Would make a royal blaze ; and yet withhold 
 
 The torch of Nero ; let those glorious towers 
 
 Flash back the sunshine for a million years, 
 
 Making a luminous circle on the earth 
 
 Amid the darkness. This phosphoric life 
 
 Unwasting gives its own effulgence forth 
 
 Incessantly. Why this disastrous meddling 
 
 That seeks to end it in a transient blaze 
 
 Of violent glory? Let it still continue 
 
 To send the radiance of its nature forth 
 
 In luminous thoughts, each one a little flame, 
 
 Caught midway in its flight and frozen there 
 
 By spell of more than magic potency. 
 
 4th S. What would yourself with Nirus? Do 
 
 you wish 
 That he shall be our poet, not our king? 
 
194 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 And would he thus escape? Would he the less 
 
 Stoop to our service, or the less be spent 
 
 For our delight? Shall he not be consumed, 
 
 Being combustible? You cannot save him; 
 
 The martyrdom of genius has involved him, 
 
 A Titan figure for the tragic Muse 
 
 To make her own forever. 
 
 5//* S. Not a doubt 
 
 But he is dramatic, posing night and day 
 
 Upon the cothurns. 
 
 4th S. Let us be heroic, 
 
 Nor flinch from all the terror. Make we now 
 
 A tragedy of Nirus, fit for angels, 
 
 To exalt our trivial world. In these our days 
 
 Passion is too diffused ; and half mankind 
 
 Are grumbling abject in their peevish pangs, 
 
 Whose throes had been most godlike, were they 
 
 centered 
 In some one Titan brow. Ah, Nirus, hasten! 
 Our petty tragedies are but the prelude, 
 Waiting thy adolescence, till thou come 
 To gather in thy one heroic bosom 
 The terror and the glory of the world. 
 Like Winkelreid at Sempach. 
 $th S. The brevity 
 
 Of our eloquent brother, threatens once again 
 To bankrupt time. 
 
 4th S. I mean not to repress 
 
 The speech of others, nor force a hasty vote 
 Ere all are heard from. This inspiring topic 
 Has touched our lips with unknown eloquence, 
 And filled our souls with fire. When finally 
 The occasion passes, we must all subside 
 To our wonted torpor. 'Twere a robbery 
 Of history and art and the shining page 
 Of oratoric glory to curtail 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 195 
 
 This memorable debate. Therefore I move 
 
 Adjournment till tomorrow. 
 
 $th S. I desire 
 
 To second the senator's motion. 
 
 Pres. Those approving 
 
 The motion to adjourn may manifest 
 
 Their affirmation. 
 
 Senators. Aye! Aye! Aye! 
 
 Pres. Opposed, 
 
 The contrary response. The senate, therefore, 
 
 Adjourns until tomorrow. 
 
 X. Nirus. 
 Ni. All the great dreams of youth are now 
 
 fulfilled 
 In splendors multiplied. The things I wished 
 Are one by one now granted at the close, 
 When all have been renounced, and never more 
 Can do me good, except to solemnize 
 And give me inspiration. Henceforth, now, 
 All outer states become mere parables, 
 Mere fables with a moral. 
 
 Cotaminus enters. 
 
 Ah! you come 
 To receive my answer to my people's call. 
 Co. Nirus, resist that voice. The world is wild 
 For mere sensation. Here's but luxury, 
 And not a holy worship. Men will tire 
 Of common rapture, and will find delight 
 In your despairing anguish, as they now 
 Find in your radiant gladness. They desire 
 Uninterrupted pageantry. At last 
 A tragedy alone can satiate. 
 They raise your seat to please themselves. Again 
 Twill suit them to down-hurl the glorious 
 
 throne, 
 
196 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 In utter desolation, while they howl 
 
 Most gleefully to see their god beneath 
 
 Lie mangled in the ruins of his state. 
 
 Ni. So let it be. There is no voice from heaven 
 
 To give me guidance ; let my brethren, then, 
 
 Be prophets to me, let my soul decide 
 
 By its own thrilling when the word is uttered. 
 
 'Tis not a trivial pride that makes me bound 
 
 To meet the glory ; 'tis the sacred passion 
 
 Of my own priesthood in me. If, in truth, 
 
 An ending so disastrous must ensue, 
 
 I shun it not ; I need not lose my soul ; 
 
 And I would gladly lose all other things 
 
 'For the sake of this great glory. All things else 
 
 One must give for it, since 'tis poetry, 
 
 And has that penalty. Although I nerish, 
 
 Although the halo scorches whom it crowns, 
 
 Yet I would be illumined. Even as they 
 
 That undertook the service of the cross 
 
 Must lose all joy, and sacrifice for aye 
 
 The hope of love, and all the world's delight, 
 
 So every soul that serves humanity 
 
 On any nobler plane must undergo 
 
 Such discipline as turns away all hope 
 
 Of aught except the sacred offices 
 
 Of that high mission. He must be a ruin, 
 
 With desolation looking from his eyes, 
 
 Where hope once shone, and human eagerness ; 
 
 And I do wish that I were such a ruin, 
 
 With poets gathered round me solemnly, 
 
 And wandering harpers hymning at the shrines ; 
 
 That all the petty world-utility 
 
 Were gone from me, and I were consecrated 
 
 In poesy's perpetual holiday, 
 
 As Rome's great ruins, which now, Caesar-like, 
 
 Their history complete, are glorified, 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 197 
 
 No longer mundane, but ethereal. 
 Ah! I invite the terror; I accept. 
 Co. Shall I return that answer, then? 
 Ni. Ah, yes! 
 
 I fervently accept. [Exit Cotaminus. 
 Ha! savage glory, kinghood's passion fierce, 
 Primeval flame, demonic ecstacy ! 
 Exultant feel I now within my veins 
 Thy splendid tumult, which I fondly fancied 
 Was all refined away. Thou heaven-sent spark 
 Of diabolic force, thou perilous, 
 Fierce benefaction, I surrender me 
 To all thy matchless riot. Make me now 
 One conflagration of divine ambition, 
 To overawe the ages. Lo! where stands 
 This virgin empire, waiting tremulous 
 The sweet subjection. Let her not repent 
 Ere every vein be filled with me, and she, 
 A wild Bacchante, lose forevermore 
 Her own identity to form with me 
 A rich, imperial world. Cotaminus 
 Shall be my chief adviser, born and bred 
 For second in the empire. Were I now 
 Utopia's monarch, I might choose, indeed, 
 A man more spiritual, more scrupulous, 
 And less unfeeling. Ruling here on earth, 
 I choose an earth-born minister, whose con- 
 science 
 Knows but one precept, to maintain the honor 
 Of his own sagacity, by utterance, 
 Blunt and straightforward, of the visions seen 
 By that clairvoyant foresight. He and I 
 Shall each to each supply deficiency, 
 Making a unit. Ah, Cotaminus ! 
 
 Cotaminus enters, accompanied by the Sen- 
 ate, and a Multitude. 
 
198 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Co. [to the people.] When we have done, sing 
 
 the prophetic song 
 Of Nirus in his youth. — Nirus, our chief. 
 The Senate and the people here attend 
 To make you emperor of our triple realm. 
 The people choose you, and the people's senate 
 Give you this crown. We that were sovereign 
 
 once 
 Are in your power. The state has chosen freely, 
 But having chosen she can not revoke 
 Her solemn choice. You are selected now 
 For better or for worse. Be merciful, 
 And make us happy. Let your lofty mind 
 Pierce ray-like into every lowliest home, 
 And brighten kindred features till their glance 
 Meet in new fervor. Let your skeptic justice 
 Temper our over-passionate devoutness, 
 And interpose protection to us all, 
 One from another. Now defend us all, 
 And yet restrain us. We are full of hope, 
 And look to see a long and glorious reign. 
 The monarch who so sits upon the throne, 
 And wields the scepter so, so wears the crown, 
 Is God's anointed, and by right divine 
 Assumes the majesty, waving aside 
 All imbecile throne-fillers in his way, 
 To bring back royal dignity once more. 
 Our late republic was the regency 
 That gladly gave the power up to you 
 When the time came. When such a man appears. 
 New dynasties begin, and history 
 Takes a new start. Peasants that otherwise 
 Would only grovel worm-like in the furrows, 
 Or grow as weeds, impoverishing the soil, 
 Tower grandly up to glorify the earth. 
 Touched by that majesty. How great our lot, 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 199 
 
 To see time young, and watch the heroes spring 
 
 At the magic voice of genius, from the dust, 
 
 And strive together in voluptuous death, 
 
 Ecstatic with their own mortality, 
 
 Until that glorious passion calms itself, 
 
 And hymning peace descends upon mankind, 
 
 And earth is fruitful with illustrious lives ! 
 
 Not warriors only, but exalted seers 
 
 Will come from out the circle of great souls, 
 
 Attracted by such deeds. The earth will be 
 
 A gathering-place for lofty natures now, 
 
 And thou shalt be their august emperor. 
 
 Ni. In her presence ! — Sincerely have I tried 
 
 To root out all importunate desires 
 
 Of natural ambition and to choose 
 
 My destiny dispassionately. Today 
 
 Bewildered I accept what you bestow. 
 
 Not knowing whether I am right or not, 
 
 Until the issue. Should I deprecate, 
 
 As if reluctant to your glorious call, 
 
 I were not then sincere. So much in life 
 
 Brings us reproach and mocks our aspiration, 
 
 That all men yearn for honoring investments, 
 
 For such adornments of exalted rank 
 
 As befit the soul, and hide the calumnies 
 
 Of temporal circumstance. How fervently, 
 
 Taking this consecration of the state, 
 
 I choose henceforth a briefer, sadder life 
 
 For the sake of its glorious impulse and high 
 
 service ! 
 I recognize the needs of our Talinis, 
 And accept her as she is, to give her strength, 
 And fit her for her nobler destiny. 
 I am the people's regent, and but rule 
 Till they attain their growth. I wait with you 
 To see the great republic of the future. 
 
200 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Song. 
 I would be kingly ; I would wear a crown 
 Of regal or poetical renown, 
 To pour its splendor o'er my many a shame, 
 Hiding me wholly in a blaze of fame. 
 
 Oh ! I would have it in the social hour, 
 To flood around me in a radiant shower, 
 Investing me within my neighbors' sight, 
 To make me unreal, soul-like in its light. 
 
 And when I love and offer up my soul, 
 Then I would have it as an aureole 
 To re-enforce my poverty's disgrace, 
 Helping me bear love's glory face to face. 
 
 Oh ! when I come to that terrific hour, 
 I would bring something glorious as a dower, 
 Concentering in my world-illumined face 
 The dignity and grandeur of the race. 
 
 No groveling passion then were in my heart ; 
 No bliss plebeian should I then impart ; 
 An empire's transport then were mine to give. 
 The centered majesty of all that live. 
 
 Bright sun of heaven, look down upon my face, 
 My poor, dull form, and cover them with grace, 
 Luminous from thy disk; O sun of fame, 
 Now radiate thy light and hide my shame. 
 
 XI. Court-room. Citizens conversing, 
 ist C. Ah, brother, brother! 
 
 We have our hero. 
 
 2nd C. You care not for the man, 
 
 Nor show him mercy. Your hero you destroy 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 201 
 
 Without one qualm of conscience, that great soul 
 
 Whom I, too, reverence, not a common hero 
 
 For street-hurrahings. Though reluctantly 
 
 I went to see him crowned, I came away 
 
 Better for that great vision. Wonderful 
 
 Even to the eye is Nirus. His great presence 
 
 Is stately as an oak of centuries, 
 
 As all-embracing as a banyan-tree 
 
 That shelters armies. He is of the spirits 
 
 That make earth great among the circling orbs 
 
 Of radiant star-worlds. Glorious despotism 
 
 To take a feeble people from themselves, 
 
 And make them conquerors of all the world, 
 
 Lords of all history. Though the childish mob 
 
 May fickly pass the most exalted by, 
 
 And choose a pygmy for their guardian, 
 
 Tis not so this time. He that they have crowned 
 
 Is more than great. 
 
 1st C. Ah ; I could not attend, 
 
 And all my life 'twill be my deep regret 
 
 That I have missed it. 
 
 2nd C. Well, indeed, it may. 
 
 Yet one ill omen startled all the throng, 
 
 The haggard Phinon crouching in the rear, 
 
 His face distorted with despair and hate, 
 
 Looking like Nirus's degenerate ghost, 
 
 Like a fiendish, grinning skeleton of Nirus, 
 
 Renounced by the virtuous soul. 
 
 J st C. Why did vou speak 
 
 Of killing Nirus? 
 
 2nd C. Look but in his face, 
 
 A countenance where delicacy and strength 
 
 Alternately prevail, as diamonds 
 
 In scintillating give forth different hues 
 
 To perplex beholders. Surely that rare nature 
 
 Was never meant to rule material things, 
 
202 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Nor yet be governed by them. His true realm 
 Is in the world of thought. When you dis- 
 covered 
 That we had such a spirit in our midst, 
 Why did you put it to so harsh a service ? 
 Already he declines. 
 
 Cotaniinus enters. 
 Co. You spoke of Nirus ? 
 
 His load is hard to bear, harder for him. 
 Because he ever bears it all himself, 
 Nor shares it with the fates. Whate'er he do, 
 He blames his execution. Though his acts 
 Are resolute and single, rarely wrong, 
 Marred only by the necessary flaws 
 In his material, still he has no peac^ 
 Seeing the work imperfect.- 
 yrd C. The diplomat 
 
 Is off his guard. What miracle at length 
 Has loosed the padlocked tongue ? 
 4th C. Intoxication 
 
 At a rival's downfall. 
 
 3d C. Hush, you heretic! 
 
 Incipient treason ! 
 
 4th C. Hark, then, to the chit-chat ! 
 
 1st C. And full of inspiration, — this great man 
 Blessing the world with genius so exalted. 
 Yet tortured so with doubt and self-distrust 
 On his lonely height. Seeing the perfect work. 
 We cannot know that it has given a pang 
 To him that wrought it ; yet, while we extol. 
 He hears not for the pain. Ah ! 'tis a sight 
 Far too sublime for pathos. He is too godlike 
 For a creature's pity. He agonizes there 
 Upon the cross, while mortals such as we 
 Worship below in rapture ! Ah ! our Nirus, 
 We have thee in the snare ! Seldom, indeed, 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 203 
 
 In boundless time hath Nature's skill succeeded 
 In dropping thus her net of matter down 
 Upon a full-grown angel, holding him fast 
 For all the world's embraces, as we wrestle 
 Like Israels with a captive Gabriel, 
 All glorified with that pure spirit's anguish. 
 2nd C. Yet still he triumphs. Though the flesh 
 
 confines 
 And tortures him, how he transfigures that 
 Until he renders it a gloriole ! 
 1st C. His was a sordid family; and coarse 
 His first associates ; yet out of them 
 He grew to nobleness. At first I saw him, 
 A new soul in a ravening world, all round, 
 Objects adapted to degrade each sense, 
 Perverting it to evil ; natures fiendish 
 Born to corrupt him, waiting his arrival, 
 Fluent in language of the human heart 
 For the purpose of seducing. In food and drink, 
 In the very air was poison. Satan was ready, 
 Ready at the very cradle-side to breathe 
 In blasphemy the names of God and love, 
 Before religion breathed them in a prayer. 
 He would be lost if some one did not hasten 
 To warn him and watch over him and guide. 
 I sought him like a lover, sued in vain 
 To win his confidence. I was repulsed, 
 Not with unkindness, but with deep reserve. 
 Not to be passed. His lot was solitude, 
 Inviolate shrine ; and I, the officious one, 
 Was quite excluded. Nirus remains today 
 Still weird and solitary, awing all 
 With grandeur of his timid, calm reserve, 
 Yet not now inaccessible : he lives 
 In solitude, but such a solitude 
 As that of priests to whom all souls may come 
 
204 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 That stand in need of solace. Still he lives 
 
 Without adviser, without comforter, 
 
 Still his own monitor ; but now at last 
 
 I can approach him in his exaltation 
 
 Whose lowliness repulsed me. Not at ease 
 
 Was he with men, so long as they appeared 
 
 To be his equals ; now does he become 
 
 Sweetest of friends, less haughty than in youth 
 
 When he was poor and humble. He has risen 
 
 To this position without bending once 
 
 To court the world ; but having reached at last 
 
 The pinnacle whence he can bend himself 
 
 Nor seemi a servitor, relaxing now 
 
 All his rigidity, he does not shrink 
 
 From stooping in kindness. 
 
 2nd C. Ah ! Cotaminus, 
 
 What is this genius that so quickly dwarfs 
 
 Your old nobility, and humbles kings 
 
 To eagerest subjection ? When you pay 
 
 These reverent tributes to plebeian genius. 
 
 You seem to me to weaken the position 
 
 Of aristocracy, advantaging 
 
 The democratic heresy. 
 
 Co. Ah, no! 
 
 We all acknowledge the exalted genius 
 
 As true aristocrat ; for he unites 
 
 His separate ancestors within himself 
 
 To form a house. Richly inheriting 
 
 The qualities intense of all his fathers, 
 
 He attains thereby to greatness. Thus in him 
 
 These separate ancestors have been combined 
 
 Into an ancestry. By some divine, 
 
 Miraculous primogeniture, he joins 
 
 All the attainments of his sires. He gives 
 
 His family a history, and so 
 
 Fully ennobles it. He demonstrates 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 205 
 
 The greatness of his house by uttering 
 Its latent powers, a race wherein was gathered 
 Great passion unappeased, and hidden sin, 
 And silent penitence, and woman's tears 
 And yearnings, and sad youth's crushed aspira- 
 tions, 
 And crazed despair. All these accumulate 
 Until no longer they can be restrained, 
 Breaking forth some dread moment suddenly 
 In mortal convulsions of one agonized, 
 One grand, disastrous, brief and lawless life 
 That scorches earth with fertilizing lava, 
 And then subsides in fearful calm and silence 
 Amid the awe of men. 
 
 1st C. Ah! rightly, judge, 
 
 You apprehend the character of genius, 
 That glorious affliction ; you perceive 
 Its mission to the past, its ministry 
 Of uttering impassioned centuries 
 In Sabbath melody. Thus common hearts 
 Record their lonely lives. Though lacking 
 
 speech 
 For adequate expression of their thought, 
 And for perpetuation of the feelings 
 That oftentimes appear through wistful eyes, 
 They yet combine and concentrate themselves 
 Now and then in one scarce embodied voice, 
 A voice that is a cry, a raving voice, 
 All inconsistent from promiscuous, 
 Importunate nerve-impulses that sweep 
 In floods from generations long-repressed 
 To find an utterance. In that voice we hear 
 The broken-hearted moanings of pure youths 
 Who, yearning high, were crushed so low. We 
 
 hear 
 The sacred prayers of woman's heart for love 
 
2o6 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 And home and rest. We hear the hopeless sobs 
 
 Of wives that woke from dreams of maidenhood 
 
 To find themselves profaned, still desolate, 
 
 Denied all sympathy, still all unworshiped. 
 
 We hear their groans that sinned in ignorance 
 
 Or in some moment of delirium 
 
 Made their whole future hopeless. Ah ! we hear 
 
 All the excess and hope and piety 
 
 Of all the dumb, unnoticed generations. 
 
 Co. In this voice all these speak. The genius 
 
 differs 
 From common men only because in him 
 Develop those hereditary germs 
 Latent in other natures. He is an heir 
 Completer of his ancestors. In him 
 The deep past culminates. A family, 
 Able no longer to endure the stress 
 Of its great passions, finds an outlet thus, 
 In tumult brief, until at last exhausted 
 It sinks again to mediocrity, 
 Peaceful and healthy. 
 2nd C. These great histories 
 
 To us that share their eras are the chief 
 Of all our inspirations. 
 ist C. Yes; to Nirus 
 
 I owe my latest and my loftiest thoughts, 
 As many younger men to that same source 
 Can trace their nature's whole development. 
 I heard the lyric morning of his life, 
 A humble, unobtrusive melody, 
 Unnoticed, save for nearness, 'mid the roar 
 Of worldly noises, 'mid the thunderous rage 
 Of vengeful cannon, 'mid the shrieking death 
 Of raving monarchs, or the glorious burst 
 Of royal wedding oratorios. 
 Humble the lyric music of his youth, 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 207 
 
 That low, sweet music, only now and then 
 Distinguished by its nearness in the crash 
 Of more obtrusive sounds. Yet year by year 
 That life's harmonious meter drew more heed 
 From every high-souled listener, every year 
 Grew sweeter, stronger, fuller and more dread 
 With meaning transcendental, till at last 
 It burst in tragic chords of joy and pain 
 Filling the utmost concave. 
 
 Victor enters, in Melno's custody. 
 Mel. I'm in luck. 
 
 I never caged so big a bird before. 
 I would as lief arrest a general 
 As any other man that you can show me. 
 Justice should not discriminate for rank. 
 yrd C. Victor a murderer? Impossible! 
 2nd C. Nay, I am not surprised. I always 
 
 looked 
 For some black revelation in his life : 
 He was so silent. These deep, reticent men, 
 Who hear not when addressed, and quickly tire 
 Of courteous conversation, — men like him 
 Are gathering in their bosoms storms of passion 
 To break in a fearful tempest. 
 
 The Court assembles. 
 Co. Victor, the sentence, 
 
 The solemn sentence of the outraged law 
 Awaits you now. All justice has been done ; 
 You have had counsel, witness, open trial, 
 And our good wishes for your vindication. 
 If you have aught to say now at the end 
 That privilege is granted. 
 Mel. Go on, judge ; 
 
 He's mum as an oyster. 
 Co. Let us, then, proceed ; 
 
 When men of fame and popularity 
 
208 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Commit great crimes, how seldom they are 
 
 brought 
 To retribution! For no soul suspects, 
 And few are willing to suspect their heroes ; 
 Few dare to risk the enmity of power, 
 And all desire its favor; even law 
 When great men are accused, will suddenly 
 Begin to tangle, failing of its purpose. 
 Till some convenient technical device 
 Closes the trial. So we score a triumph 
 In bringing this offender to account, 
 Despite his famous name. No proof of guilt 
 Could be more satisfying. Proof was brought 
 Of an early feud. True, they were reconciled ; 
 A marriage following made the foemen brothers, 
 Till the quarrel seemed forgotten ; but alas ! 
 How long hate smoulders! It was proved again 
 That Victor on the evening of the murder 
 Was seen by many following stealthily 
 His brother-in-law. His conduct was suspicious 
 After the deed. Moreover, if in truth 
 We were assured that he had quite given up 
 That ancient enmity, there still would be 
 Good reason for suspicion ; in some freak 
 The actor left the theater attired 
 As in the play, disguised to represent 
 The emperor himself ; and so perhaps 
 Victor might think it Phinon, toward whom 
 'Tis known he had a grudge. Nor were it 
 
 strange 
 If such a fierce ambition as 'tis known 
 Victor possesses had impelled him even 
 To assail the Empire's head. We all remember 
 That Victor heard ungraciously the plan 
 Of our new polity. We know besides 
 That claiming kinship with our banished tyrants 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 209 
 
 He long upheld their cause. Nor is this all : 
 
 Two witnesses beheld the very act, 
 
 And watched him leave the spot. I cannot think, 
 
 As some aver, that rivals have conspired 
 
 To ruin Victor with a perjury 
 
 So daring and elaborate. 'Tis true 
 
 That some who helped on Victor's prosecution 
 
 Were his bitter foes; so much the better this 
 
 For the cause of justice. Pray, how otherwise 
 
 Would civic prudence venture to oppose 
 
 The second of the Empire? This we know, 
 
 That men of worth and standing have been here 
 
 Among the witnesses — most upright men 
 
 Whose word was ne'er impeached. No fear have 
 
 I 
 But justice has been done. Shall I, the judge, 
 Shrink from mty duty, and permit this crime 
 To pass without its meed? Slight cause for 
 
 wonder 
 That men grow fierce pursuing this deed, — 
 Met. That's me! 
 
 Co. All feeling in their own unshielded flesh 
 The next knife-thrust! Is some one ever plot- 
 ting 
 Your death and mine? And whose turn next? 
 
 Who dreamed 
 Of such a deed by Victor? Dare we trust 
 Our children or parents or our cradle-mates, 
 Or our wedded consorts ? Will they not arise 
 And stab us in our sleep ? To him I sentence 
 I will not use harsh words. 'Tis hard, I know. 
 To hold back from our fundamental dust. 
 What constant strain to keep up in the heart 
 Our forced soul-animation ! But alas ! 
 That he who now has fallen should be of all 
 Most noted for his piety. Henceforth 
 
210 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Will men not feel that they are only mocked 
 By those who call upon the name of God ? 
 They will judge the hidden souls of men devout 
 By this soul now revealed. In justice' name, 
 In the name of mercy, in religion's name, 
 By the Empire's laws, Victor, I sentence you 
 To die the death. 
 
 XII. Nirus. 
 Ni. Ah! even our virtue grows monotonous. 
 For man no peace, no triumph. Each success 
 Is but an opportunity. Each triumph 
 As soon as won grows commonplace. We stand 
 With feet upon the field of victory, 
 And find it tedious-stable. Underneath us 
 Lie all our conquests, and we cannot feel 
 A glory in them. The imperial robe 
 Is cheap to him that wears it. 
 Mir a enters. 
 
 Mira, my friend! 
 Mi. Oh ! do you think it possible for Victor 
 To have done this deed ? He is as pure of hate 
 As God's archangels. And he loved my brother 
 And mourned his death. Oh! how can you 
 
 conceive 
 That one so god-like thoughtful could descend 
 To brutal hatred? 
 
 Ni Phinon ! Ah ! he fell ; 
 
 Who else is safe ? 
 
 Mi. So Victor is to die, 
 
 My brother dead already, murdered both, — 
 All Phinon's work. You saved me from hiin 
 
 once; 
 Will you not save my husband, and save me 
 From his revenge, who bribed the witnesses, 
 And roused their brutal jealousy of Victor, 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 211 
 
 Because, though recent on the popular side, 
 
 He stood most high in favor ? Are you, too, 
 
 Jealous like them, fearing his rivalry? 
 
 Ni. My dearest lady, honored of Talinis, 
 
 I cannot think that question was sincere. 
 
 Mi. The people all love Victor; they'll sustain 
 you 
 
 In his release ; 'twill make your power secure. 
 
 Ni. I am no politician, and I choose 
 
 Rather to lose my throne than pardon Victor 
 
 Against my sense of right. 
 
 Cotaminus enters. 
 
 Mi. You'll not permit 
 
 A deed so brutal. Not even tearless justice 
 
 Could be so heartless. How were it possible 
 
 For any gentle will to give consent 
 
 To deed so hideous? 
 
 Co. With a gentle nature 
 
 We must needs be gentle; but when man com- 
 mits 
 
 Some act of brutal cruelty, we all 
 
 Can easily be harsh and pitiless 
 
 Dealing with him. 
 
 Ni. Cotaminus, my friend! 
 
 [Exit Cotaminus. 
 
 Mi. O God, how frightful! He is more gentle 
 far, 
 
 More sensitive than I. If such a fate 
 
 Is meet for him, pray, what can you devise 
 
 More horrible for me ? Oh ! I deserve 
 
 Less tenderness than Victor. 
 
 Ni. Noble Mira, 
 
 I will not strive to justify myself 
 
 By mocking your loyal faith. Yet I change the 
 sentence 
 
 To imprisonment for life. 
 
212 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Mi. And must I thank you 
 
 For cruelty like this ? Ah, do your will ! 
 Lock us in separate cells, till life that else 
 Were glad and useful loses for us both 
 All worth and gladness. Yet can you imagine 
 That you will ever lock us up so close, 
 Though in the very center of the earth, 
 That we can not escape? Seeking" our cells 
 Some day you'll find your passive victims gone, 
 The doors secure as ever, and within 
 Only a pale resemblance of us left, 
 Mere shadows without life. So will you know 
 That we are fled from all your cruelty; 
 And you must own how hideous a deed 
 You have been doing. 
 
 Ni. Your woes oppress me, Mira ; 
 
 I bear your burdens ; is the load for you 
 Not therefore any lighter? Go home, Mira, 
 And find a comfort in this milder doom. 
 We will not desecrate the noble love 
 Of such a woman ; never violent hand 
 Shall touch the man loved thus. 
 Mi. Go home, you say? 
 
 Go home to whom ? My husband ? Or my chil- 
 dren? 
 God pity me ! You make me comfortless 
 And desolate for life. [Exit. 
 Ni. Was ever soul 
 
 Yet so uplifted that it did not need 
 Some other soul to warm it, perishing 
 For lack of such a comfort ? Through this exile 
 I am still honored like the king that rules 
 The isle of lepers, or like him that holds 
 His fearful sovereignty over Purgatory. 
 Would I might be a little householder 
 In some love-gladdened cottage by the sea, 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 213 
 
 Where ease and duty might together dwell, 
 And high ambition might not lose its grace, 
 Translated to the clumsy speech of action. 
 Then might my face wear freely its full love, 
 Not masked in frowns, the slave of ugly jus- 
 tice. 
 Would I might be a scholar o'er his books, 
 Bearing amid his studious dignity 
 A ceaseless benediction. In the sage, 
 Only in the sage is mercy absolute.. 
 Flooding the features ; in the magistrate 
 'Tis but a pitying radiance to render 
 The brow of Justice less unbearable, 
 Adding a priesthood to the headsman's office. 
 Men think me cold. They do not dream what 
 
 pain 
 I find in this stern office. They know not 
 That when one towers above the heads of men, 
 As rugged as a mountain, and as still, 
 'Tis but the surging passions in his breast 
 That swell amain and hurl him to that height. 
 Nor let him be so unheroical, 
 So inaccordant with his kingly state, 
 As to spurn this glory. Let him tower in gloom, 
 And bear the freezing snows upon his brow, 
 And feel the prisoned fire within his heart, 
 Rather than miss this diadem of stars, 
 Or lose his function of condensing ever 
 All nature's blessings into prosperous clouds 
 To pour in showers upon the homes of men. 
 Oh ! I am never hesitant to choose 
 To have missed the dear companionship of Ena, 
 And even God's paternal realness, 
 Rather than choose to miss my heroship. 
 
 XIII.l Victor's Cell. Victor, Mir a, Melno. 
 
2i 4 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Vic. Ah! Mira, if your child had only lived 
 
 I might be comforted; for I could hope 
 
 That you would not be wholly desolate 
 
 The rest of life. 
 
 Mi. The little creature breathed, 
 
 Just drew a tender breath ; then I was childless. 
 
 And desolate indeed. 
 
 Vic. I would my birth 
 
 Had been so fortunate. O Mira, Mira ! 
 
 How many deeds I promised you to do, 
 
 Surpassing common men, bringing the world 
 
 To prove it with applause. That promise, now, 
 
 Too rashly given, I repudiate, 
 
 A crestfallen braggart; for my brother-men 
 
 Forbid me to be noble ; from a king 
 
 They change me to a cobbler. So behold, 
 
 I'm nothing but a cobbler ; and my work 
 
 Is mocked at by the fellows of my shame, 
 
 The loathsome human vermin. 
 
 Mi. Victor, my love, 
 
 We'll end this shameful wrong ; the world shall 
 
 know 
 That every honor which you won is vile, 
 And you and I despise it, 'tis so base 
 Compared with your exalted destiny, 
 With all your inner greatness, and the fame 
 That you must yet achieve. 
 Vic. If I had marble, 
 
 After long years of pain and disappointment, 
 I could work my soul's conceptions out of that, 
 Contriving still to give embodiment 
 To what is in me, though the plastic globe 
 Were kept from my impassioned hand. But now 
 What fine ideal may a plowman's shoe 
 Serve to embody? What is a regal mind 
 Without material? Go, Mira, go; 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 215 
 
 I am no more thy husband ; I am a cobbler. 
 
 Mi. O my poor Victor, my sweet love, is love 
 
 So little tender that 'tis thus profaned 
 
 With these unpitying indignities? 
 
 Vic. Were I a poet, I might live my life, 
 
 Defying every hindrance. But alas ! 
 
 I am not independent like the poet, 
 
 Able to weave bright phantasms in mid air. 
 
 Like an unpeopled, undiscovered world 
 
 Useless must I remain. I cannot live 
 
 For centuries, until these prison-walls 
 
 Crumble around me, letting me go free 
 
 To renew my task. My opportunity 
 
 Is fleeting swift ; and he that otherwise, 
 
 With unencumbered hand, had swayed the globe 
 
 Must hide himself in a mere crevice of it, 
 
 Made mortal by disappointment. 
 
 Mi. Hope we! sorrow, 
 
 Sorrow and death make spirits of us all. 
 
 Vic. I dread not, Mira, to lose the sense of life. 
 
 But to live thus, feeling the sacredness 
 
 Of life profaned within me, unennobled 
 
 With lofty effort. On the field of war 
 
 To die mightily, that were indeed divine ; 
 
 Let me not live on thus. 
 
 Mi. The regal nature 
 
 Shall not be silenced till its will be published 
 
 To the bounds of the solar system ; and that will. 
 
 When known at last, is sure to be obeyed 
 
 Though Alps obstruct. Will not all creatures 
 
 know, 
 Through all disguise, their rightful sovereign, 
 And be obedient all ? Through them at large 
 He will accomplish what, restrained of body, 
 He cannot do himself. 'Tis sovereignty 
 To do by others what can not be done 
 
216 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Without the aid of others. Do not fear; 
 The noble principles of government 
 That you have championed will yet prevail, 
 Though you are kept from action. 
 
 ACT FIFTH. 
 
 /. Jail. Victor, Mira, Melno. 
 Mi. Farewell, Victor! 
 
 Vic. Mira, Mira ! come back ! Will you call her ? 
 
 Mira! 
 Melno goes out, and returns with Mira. 
 Why came you not? 
 Mi. I heard not. 
 
 Vic. Did not hear ? 
 
 How could you help? 'Tis likelier far, I fancy, 
 You did not wish to hear. So eager were you 
 To reach the freer air? Ha! one would think 
 A wife might linger here so brief a time, 
 And then go out among the flowers and trees, 
 And feel no hardship. 
 
 Mi. Dearest, have I not pleaded 
 
 To share your cell ? And though forbidden this, 
 Am I not still a prisoner? I leave not 
 My cheerless room except to visit you ; 
 And on the dreary way I never see 
 Either the trees or flowers. I only think 
 Of your great misery, and our ruined hope, 
 Till scarcely can I find my way for tears. 
 Vic. They have at last their will, who put me 
 
 here, 
 Wishing to see me grovel. I am fallen, 
 Am fallen indeed, to speak thus unto Mira, 
 My queen and saint. 
 
 Mi. Victor, my king of men, 
 
 My hero on whose head the great world's wrath 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 217 
 
 Has fallen so fierce, how patient you have been ! 
 How good and gentle! You have been trium- 
 phant, 
 And are and will be ! Do not weep, my love ; 
 Or if thou wiltfi anoint my bosom now 
 With these thy tears. Let me sit close beside 
 
 thee, 
 And be a comfort to thee. What shall I do? 
 Shall I not sing? 
 
 Vic. Yes ; sing, dear, if you like, — 
 
 Anything, Mira, so I have your presence. 
 Mi. [Sings. 
 
 Not for me the strong endeavor ; 
 
 Not for me the civic worth ; 
 
 Not for me the mighty lever 
 
 That shall heave the balanced earth ; 
 
 Not for me the royal duty 
 With its gloriole of pain ; 
 Not for me the dreadful beauty 
 Of the Age's martial train ; 
 
 Not for me the trumpet sounding ; 
 Not for me the clarion tone : 
 How all other hearts are bounding ! 
 I am silent here alone. 
 
 We, the weary, worn, and dying, 
 
 Are released from every care ; 
 
 In the quiet shadow lying, 
 
 All our duty is to bear. 
 Vic. O poets who are living on the earth, 
 Or who are absent from it, were it sweet 
 To know the good that ye have done to Victor? 
 The tearful thanks of one whose heart is touched 
 Are far more precious than the cold applause 
 
218 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Of the careless multitude. With tears I bless 
 
 you 
 Who soothe the dying anguish of my life, 
 And take away my shame, and make me feel 
 A soul's true dignity. 
 
 Mi. O Victor, Victor, 
 
 I would that Nirus had remained a poet, 
 Breathing these boons of rhythmic sympathy, 
 Like embraces of pity. How he now descends 
 To let himself be made an instrument 
 Of jealous politicians ! Oh ! I feel 
 The air is not so bracing, and the stars 
 Not so ethereal since our poet fell, 
 Ceasing to bless us with those songs devout 
 That I and Ena waited eagerly 
 And sang together, giving glad response 
 With our own pulse-beat to each sacred throb 
 Of the noble poet's heart. We sang no songs 
 But those of Nirus. Was 't Nirus that she loved, 
 Dying of grief that she had given her word 
 Unto another, and could not withdraw 
 Her hand from Phinon's and devote her life 
 In cloistered secrecy before the shrine 
 Of this high, unattainable poet-nature? 
 But I, the while we sang, thought but of Victor. 
 Each sacred rhythmic prayer made vivider 
 Great Victor's noble image. Ah ! I too 
 Aspired to glories inaccessible ; 
 And I had died, too, had not Victor come, 
 Exalting me even to this peerless state 
 Of Victor's wife. 
 
 Mel. Well, now, it's time for me 
 
 To eat my dinner, and for Victor here 
 To go to work. The last shoes that you made, 
 Victor, were worst of all. You have required 
 So many years to learn your trade, and still 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 219 
 
 Do not yet know it ? Great men soon are tested, 
 When they have to earn their bread. 
 
 //. The Jail. Melno and Mira at the Cell- 
 door. Victor within. 
 
 Vic. O Mira, Mira, I had never thought 
 That you would doubt. 
 Mi. I doubt not. This being true, 
 
 What care you for the injustice of the world? 
 Vic. You do believe me guilty ; I detect it 
 In your face and actions. Not one friend is 
 
 left me 
 In all this brutal world. 
 
 Mi. My dearest husband, 
 
 What cruel enchantment of our enemies 
 Has roused this fancy? I indeed mistrust 
 All but my God and Victor ; but these two 
 I trust with equal faith. 
 Vic. You shall be gone; 
 
 The blood of kings is flowing in my veins, 
 And I will not submit to ignominy. 
 
 [Cell-door closed. Exit Melno. 
 Mi. Ah, Victor! I have lost thee for awhile, 
 But not forever. Patient will I wait 
 To the end of time. I love, I love, I love, 
 Nor have ever loved before ! Sorrow and joy 
 Are love's two passionate arms, and mighty 
 
 indeed 
 Is their embrace. I love, I love, I love! 
 When he we love has lost the power to bless, 
 When comes disease with all its peevishness, 
 When pain wrings harsh words from once tend- 
 er lips, 
 Then, then is love's high triumph ; then we prove 
 That love is no luxurious epicure, 
 But an angelic minister. Ah ! now 
 
220 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 I prove this passion spirit-like and pure, 
 Not sensual. My love is justified, 
 Wearing the martyr crown. Victor, my love 
 Was worthy of thy worth. Thy youthful glory 
 Finer, indeed, and sweeter than the breath 
 Of loveliest dewy flowers, attracted Mira, 
 Yet could not of itself have won her heart 
 Or gained her hand. Only thy lofty spirit 
 Subdued her to this lowliness of love 
 That worships at a prison or a tomb, 
 Untempted of delight. Ah! if thy mind 
 At last hath failed thee, and thy presence dear 
 Is taken from me, I'll still wait beside thee, 
 Nor be impatient till the hour of doom, 
 Faithful forevermore, till in some bath 
 Of liquid stars far off from this poor earth 
 Thou art restored, and turning unto Mira, 
 As one that wakes from dreaming, thou dost find 
 That I ami close beside thee, watching true, 
 Keeping myself all virgin for thy love, 
 Ready to give thee my unsullied hand 
 To renew the journey together. If thou sleep, 
 I will lie down beside thee in the tomb ; 
 And if I wake first, I will watch thy slumber 
 And wait till thou art ready to go with me. 
 Ere I depart. I will stay there forever. 
 Rather than go without thee. Ah, indeed 
 I will be patient ! patience is woman's valor. 
 
 ///. Before the Cell. Melno and Mira. 
 Mi. May I see Victor now? 
 Mel. Of course you may. 
 
 You see the door is open ; just go in, 
 You may see him if you wish ; but you will find 
 He'll not talk much today. 
 Mi. Why will he not? 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 221 
 
 Mel. Because you'll find he's dead. He killed 
 
 himself 
 This morning with a knife. He could not bear 
 The torments of his guilt. I felt quite sure 
 The law was right. Poor man ! This proves his 
 
 crime 
 Beyond a doubt. Go in, why don't you? See, 
 The door is open. What's the matter? Woman. 
 Why are you standing there? What ails the 
 
 gypsy 
 
 That she doesn't budge? Lady, I'm very sorry, 
 I'm sorry that it happened ; but such things 
 Must happen in our world ; we all must die. 
 Death is a common thing; so never mind. 
 Cheer up, good woman, God is merciful, 
 And who can tell but he may find some means 
 To save your husband yet, and cleanse away 
 This dreadful crime. She doesn't know a thing, 
 No more than he does. Annat, Annat, Annat! 
 Do run and fetch a doctor and a priest, 
 Both of them, mind. I don't know which she 
 
 needs. 
 Poor woman ! She shall have the finest broth 
 That my good wife can make. 
 
 IV. Nirus, Cotaminus and other Ministers. 
 Melno. Mira enters. 
 Mi. One, one more niche must now, must now 
 
 be filled 
 Of this sepulchral globe, and one more void 
 Be left responsive in a human heart. 
 Oh, they are heartless! They are murderers, 
 Who triumph in my woe. Even when I ask 
 Only to have his cell the little while 
 That I remain on earth, they drive me forth 
 From that dear refuge. Think they I am worthy 
 
222 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Of a happier life than Victor's? I would live 
 
 As he has lived so long. If they refuse, 
 
 I can at least die such a death as Victor's. 
 
 Were it not a crime for me to live on still, 
 
 Happy and free after his piteous fate? 
 
 M el. Poor thing ! She need not have a fear that 
 
 she 
 Will ever be happy. 
 
 [Mira goes out, and then re-enters. 
 Mi. O self -abandoned Nirus, 
 
 You have not yet been tried. The time will 
 
 come, 
 When, in the battle's roar, with deadly foes 
 Thronging around you, and the ill-got power 
 Fast slipping from you, you will find at last 
 How weak a thing you are. Then will you long 
 For Victor's coolness and sagacity 
 To be your guidance. You will call on Victor, 
 And hearing not his footstep's quick approach, 
 You will be panic-stricken, and will die 
 A craven's death, vain suppliant for mercy. 
 
 [Goes out and then re-enters. 
 Co. Shall we have the woman ejected? 
 Mel. Speak the word. 
 
 And I'll not shirk my duty. 
 Ni. Suggest it not. 
 
 I and my empire are at Mira's beck. 
 Assuring her protection wheresoe'er 
 She wander in her sorrow and distraction. 
 Mi. Now he is dead ; he is removed at last, 
 And cannot harm you. Now will you admit 
 That he was guiltless? Be less cruel, Nirus. 
 And tell me you believe him innocent. 
 NL Noble woman, unhappiest of wives, 
 I cannot say it. Comfort come to Mira ! 
 And all rewards of loyalty and love 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 223 
 
 Bless her forever! 
 
 Mi. You know not of love, 
 
 Or you would be less heartless. Woman's grief 
 
 Moves not your lone and loveless desolation. 
 
 I ask no more of him, but turn to you [to 2nd 
 
 minister 
 Was Victor guilty? 
 
 2nd M. Honored of womanhood, 
 
 For your sake I am willing to forget 
 That he was guilty. 
 
 Mi. Oh ! the emperor 
 
 Gave you the cue. What else could you have 
 
 said 
 Without some taint of treason ? You, at least, 
 
 [to 3rd minister 
 Have independence. Was he not innocent? 
 3rd M. He was not guiltless ; but your lofty 
 
 faith 
 Shall be his absolution unto us 
 And unto heaven. 
 Mi. You are a courtier, too. 
 
 Israel, do you believe him guilty? 
 
 4th M. Poor woman, I have never dared to say 
 
 That any man is guilty. 
 
 Mi. Oh, once more! 
 
 4th M. It may be he was innocent. 
 
 Mi. Thank God! 
 
 1 knew the tide would turn. O noble Jew, 
 Let me kiss your hand! God bless you! I'm so 
 
 glad 
 
 That I have lived for this! They pity me; 
 
 But you have given me comfort. Have you chil- 
 dren? 
 
 4th M. I have none living. 
 
 Mi. Ah, I am so sorry! 
 
 I have no children, either. Nirus there 
 
224 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Has sentenced me to childlessness forever, 
 Thinking I'd not be good at rearing courtiers. 
 You and I have no children. If we had, 
 If we had children, we could teach to them 
 That Victor was not guilty, till the world 
 Would sometime be converted. Yet we two 
 Will spend our lives in doing this good work, 
 Till all acquit him, and this emperor, 
 This atheist, who knows not love or pity 
 Becomes the execration of mankind. [Exit. 
 Ni. Only a hangman ! Is this the kingly glory 
 That lured my youth? 
 Mi. [Without — sings. 
 
 Under a hillock green 
 
 A wild bird's tiny nest, 
 
 And the white little eggs in hope serene, 
 
 And the mother's downy breast. 
 
 Above, the encircling sky, 
 
 Now smiling, and now a-f rown ; 
 
 And the glorious suns, and the vision high 
 
 Of starlight streaming down. 
 
 Under the hillock green 
 
 The tiny wild-bird's nest, 
 
 And the white little eggs in hope serene, 
 
 And the downy mother's breast. 
 Ni Alas ! I feel 
 
 That I have been dethroned ; the diadem 
 Of poesy that rested on my brow 
 Is gone, is gone for aye ! Is't well, I wonder, 
 Is't well to lose all beauty and delight 
 From out our vision to be made a part 
 Of the world's joy and beauty? To lose God 
 From out our contemplation as we sink 
 [ore rtear his soul, identified with the eye 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 225 
 
 That seeth not itself? 
 
 Mel. Just what I say 
 
 To Myron over our bumpers. 
 
 Ni. Melno, peace! 
 
 You thrust yourself in to no purpose. 
 
 Mel. I keep forgetting. 
 
 I must be more careful. 
 
 A masked Assassin entering aims a pistol at 
 Nirus. Melno rushing between is fatally 
 wounded. The Assassin escapes. 
 Co. Nirus, that woman's work. 
 
 Ni. Yes ; but molest her not. 
 Mel. O sir, are you safe? 
 
 Ni. I am saved, my deliverer ! 
 Mel. Then I die happy ! 
 
 Co. He tries 
 
 To continue. 
 
 Mel. Did I— 
 
 Ni. Yes, Melno. 
 
 Mel. Did I— 
 
 Ni. I hearken 
 
 Mel. Did I thrust myself in to some purpose? 
 Ni. My hero of heroes ! 
 
 V. — Death-bed of Cotaminus. Nirus and Min- 
 isters. 
 
 Co. My emperor, I die. 
 
 Ni. Honored and loved, 
 
 Farewell, farewell ! 
 
 Co. I have served you faithfully. 
 
 Ni. My worthy friend, you have in truth been 
 
 faithful, 
 Faithful and honest, diligent and earnest, 
 As such a calm and peaceful death confirms. 
 He that has not yet died a death like this 
 Has not yet reached the crown of life. This 
 
 death 
 
226 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Completes the symmetry of a pure career. 
 
 Co. And I am to die tonight ! Will 't not seem 
 
 strange 
 For me to lie on past the dawn, nor rise 
 To do the morrow's duties ? Ah ! I feel, 
 In these last moments, all appendages, — 
 Pleasures and pains, desires and dreads and 
 
 dreams, 
 Have all departed. Nothing now remains 
 But mere existence, its profoundness now 
 No longer lost in myriad shifting forms 
 Of petty emotion. Life, "the while it lasts, 
 Is its own eternity. Hath not each instant 
 An immortality of its own ? If life 
 Cannot continue always, I am glad 
 To have the substitute of such a death. 
 While I am living have I not all life 
 That I desire? And I shall care for none 
 When I am dead. 
 
 Ni. And is there anything 
 
 That I can do ? Anything that you wish ? 
 Co. Nothing except my life; and since I know 
 I cannot keep that, I bequeath it now 
 To all posterity. 
 
 Ni. Posterity 
 
 Will cherish it. I feel you have not reached 
 The height you merited. More lofty honors 
 Were waiting for you ; they will come at last 
 After your death. 
 
 Co. A dreamless sleep, indeed, 
 
 Hath naught of pleasure; yet the luxury 
 Of sinking down in sleep's delicious arms 
 Compensates for the long, long, silent night, 
 And makes the experience precious. 
 Ni. Ah, he is gone! 
 
 Farewell, farewell! He spent a long career 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 227 
 
 In service of his country, and through all 
 
 His honor ne'er was doubted. True, he lacked 
 
 In gentle qualities, was practical, 
 
 Nor gave high names to things, and seemed at 
 
 times 
 Obtuse to some fine feelings ; yet within 
 His patient heart was true. [Exit.] 
 2nd Minister. He is deeply moved. 
 
 2>rd M. I seldom have beheld him so affected. 
 4th M. The state has had great loss. Cotaminus 
 Was always cool and thoughtful. When the rest 
 Were quite disabled by excitement, he 
 Continued still sagacious and serene. 
 $th M. He was the hardest worker in Talinis, 
 A sober man burdened with world-wide cares. 
 'Twas seldom that he smiled. 
 2nd M. He was quite free 
 
 From self-conceit. 
 
 4th M. Do you not all remember 
 
 The playful-serious eulogy of Nirus, 
 Only last month? "Be yours," said he, "forever 
 The canonization of common sense, of freedom 
 From the vice of being good." 
 $th M. Without a doubt 
 
 Nirus preferred him. Likely had he lived 
 He would have gained the throne. Now he is 
 
 gone, 
 Who will succeed in honor? 
 2nd M. Sirs, I trust 
 
 That I shall have your influence in obtaining 
 The vacant ministrv. 
 
 yrd M. I crave your pardon. 
 
 Methinks that post belongs of right to me. 
 $th M. Wait ! I myself have claims a thousand- 
 fold 
 Stronger than yours. But shame upon you both, 
 
228 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 To violate the presence of the dead. 
 
 And the emperor's bereavement ! 
 
 2nd M. Ha! not I 
 
 Have caused this scene, but you that enviously 
 
 Grudge my legitimate claims. 
 
 6th M. I'll go straightway 
 
 To seek for Nirus, and appeal to him 
 
 Against your base and covetous designs ! 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
 VI. Battlefield on the Seashore. Two Offi- 
 cers conversing. 
 
 ist Of. The tragedy of genius blackens now ; 
 The final peal is nigh. 
 2nd Of. Life is grown horror. 
 
 1st Of. After so great a reign, crowded so full 
 With lofty deeds of peace and war, so famed 
 In all the people's love, now all at once 
 Society dissolves. 
 
 2nd Of. To manage men 
 
 Needs a lion-tamer's nerve. Only so long 
 As one can keep his eyes unwavering, 
 And steadfast stand, they crouch and cringe be- 
 fore him ; 
 But let him falter or relax his gaze, 
 They leap at once to his throat. 
 ist Of. Do you suppose 
 
 That this upheaval could have been prevented 
 By any human power? I cannot see 
 That Nirus was at fault. From the lava-fire 
 Of inner earth this earthquake took its rise, 
 And might not be repressed. 
 2nd Of. Yet recently 
 
 You know he has blundered, by one compromise 
 Followers once devoted. Save for that slip 
 Weakening his righteous cause, driving away 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 229 
 
 There were another chance, and this dread hour 
 Would not hold all our hope. 
 1st Of. His loss of sleep, 
 
 And abstinence from food impaired his judg- 
 ment, 
 Till he made that sad mistake. But now at 
 
 last 
 He is again himself, and he may yet 
 Retrieve our fortunes. 
 
 2nd Of. Yes ; he now has dined, 
 
 And is once more a king. 'Tis wonderful 
 How much creative genius lies concealed 
 In a dish of tubers, how much royalty 
 In a little bread. 
 
 1st Of. Not every man is able 
 
 To turn such substance into royalty ; 
 His is a rare digestion. 
 2nd Of. Ah! 'tis sad 
 
 That things so petty work so awful wreck. 
 When a sacred nation's fate 
 Hangs upon a single creature, 
 That should render him too great 
 For the common needs of nature. 
 Nirus enters. 
 Ni. Ah! you were right. Had I followed your 
 
 advice, 
 Earth's future now were brighter. I imagined 
 That one small indirection would subserve 
 Our sacred purpose. Now I realize 
 I had saved the ideal end by means ideal, 
 And my conscience were exultant. I preferred 
 The judgment of my trusted counselor. 
 The wise Cotaminus, before the dictates 
 Of my own more sensitive conscience. What 
 
 evil charm 
 Has made me act so madly? 
 
230 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 ist Of. Now, indeed, 
 
 You act most madly when you risk your life, 
 
 As you do to-day. 
 
 2nd Of. Our prince, we draw from you 
 
 Our vital pulse. We would shield this heart of 
 
 us 
 Lest it be pierced, and the nation's life be ended 
 At a single blow. 
 
 Ni. A pleasant dogma, truly, 
 
 That has made excuse for acts of cowardice 
 In many a man of valor. When you desire 
 That I act the craven for my country's sake, 
 You ask too much. 'Tis sacrifice enough 
 That I give my life. Must I yield my very 
 
 honor, 
 And leave my memory ruined? 
 2nd Of. If you are brave, 
 
 As all the world attests, what further need 
 To prove yourself? It cannot be you fear 
 Lest men may think you timid ? 
 ist Of. If you do, 
 
 O'ercome that fear for our dear country's sake, 
 Whose fate is linked in yours. 
 Ni. Each man on earth 
 
 Is quite superfluous, so many others 
 Being ready to take his place. You'll never lack 
 For men to rule you. There are everywhere 
 Tough skulls to wear the crown, and patient 
 
 limbs 
 To hold the hard high seat ; but there are few 
 Unselfish souls to render daring deeds 
 And by the inspiration of example 
 To multiply the valiant and the true. 
 There are more princes in the world than heroes. 
 And if you lose a prince to gain a hero, 
 Happy is history. But will you go, 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 231 
 
 To the right wing, one — the other to the left 
 And carry these instructions? [Exeunt officers. 
 
 O my soul, 
 Crucified to the body, when at last 
 Will all be over and the darkness come? 
 See these mad soldiers. Love to them this 
 
 moment 
 Is foreign as a thought that ne'er hath stirred 
 Under their shaggy breasts. In such a mood 
 Would they not rend their tender wives and 
 
 babes 
 Were foemen not in sight? And I, their chief, 
 Calmly direct this fury I feel not, 
 A cunning Mephistopheles. Indeed 
 War hath no saintship; he that sheddeth blood, 
 Even in the holiest cause, must ever bear, 
 Must bear forever on his ruined front 
 The brand of Cain. Now do the latter days 
 Involve decrepit earth? Now must the lights, 
 The holy lights of science be extinguished? 
 The vestal fires of poesy expire, 
 Leaving no spark to be renewed again, 
 If better times should come ? Must all our wealth, 
 This long developed wisdom and devoutness, 
 Must all be lost by one degenerate age, 
 And earth be left to recommence its life, 
 As nothing had been gained ? That I have failed 
 Is not my shame alone, but Nature's too. 
 Nature defeated hath not lifted soul 
 Above the needs of matter. Now the sun 
 Seems to be burning low; and matter fails, 
 And soul fails with it, and the world is lost, 
 In spite of all philanthropy. Alas! 
 They would not think. How could they ? Twas 
 
 too much 
 For those poor sleepy heads. I tried to stir them, 
 
232 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 To spur them on like school-boys. Then I roused 
 
 them, 
 Till wolf-like they howl for my blood, 
 i st Officer re-enters. 
 
 How fares the field ? 
 ist Of. Still subbornly contested. So unyield- 
 ing 
 Are both antagonists, rooted so firm 
 The fearful pageant, like a monstrous forest 
 Sprung from the soil, that one might half expect 
 The bloody show to last forevermore 
 A feature of the landscape. Verily, 
 A strife so matched would be perpetual, 
 If men were not thus mortal. 
 Ni. Will you now 
 
 Hasten to Alson? Bid him lead across 
 To yonder hill his battery, and defend it 
 Against all possible comers. [Exit ist Officer. 
 
 Even in youth 
 The swift decadence of our peasantry 
 I noticed with alarm, and marvelled much 
 The king could be so blind, permitting thus 
 The ruin of the country. Oftentimes 
 I talked with Phinon, and again with Victor, 
 And with Cotaminus ; and then we four 
 Combined in lasting league to civilize 
 This barbarous age. Among the lowliest homes 
 Schools should be planted, and the ranks of 
 
 learning 
 Should be recruited yearly. Once again 
 The forge should teach philosophy, the plow 
 Should yield immortal poems. Ours should be 
 A country to be proud of. Peasantry 
 Make up a nation ; peasants must be noble, 
 Or kings can not be patriots. We resolved 
 To have a land like those of olden times, 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 233 
 
 Which kings and nobles could remember proudly 
 And die defending. Thus we four would tame 
 With patient effort all these savages, 
 Assimilate them into citizens, 
 Make them a people. Ah! were one but left mc 
 Of those my colleagues, I should not today 
 Feel this despair. Two of these missionaries 
 Have rushed in frenzy from their shrines away, 
 And plunged with yells into the midst, them- 
 selves 
 Transformed to cannibals. The third is gone, 
 A manly soul, worn out before his time 
 With faithful toil ; and I alone am; left, 
 Alone on earth, surrounded every side 
 With surging savage hordes. Now do I hide me, 
 Forced to abandon proselyting henceforth, 
 And flee for refuge. All I now desire 
 Is some obscure retreat, where I may crouch 
 In breathless safety, while they howl without 
 And do their will. If they would all prefer 
 The privilege of burning at the risk 
 Of being burned, why, let them merrily 
 Burn one another. Ah ! too well I see 
 By my resistance to their growing fury, 
 I foil them now only to suffer more 
 When they at last shall seize me. How the 
 
 flood 
 Is rolling round me far above my head! 
 Awhile the dike that I have built about me 
 Will keep the waters out ; but finally 
 The waves will burst through all with violence 
 As great as my resistance and delay. 
 What is a king? His royal offices 
 Make delicate his body till a peasant 
 Could tear his frame like cobweb. He forgets. 
 And thinks himself omnipotent. Awhile, 
 
234 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 With all these shouting millions gathered round, 
 
 Praising us in a trivial caprice, 
 
 How proud our mien ! And how we lord it o'er 
 them, 
 
 Not seeming to perceive at all, poor things ! 
 
 That all these crowds only amuse themselves, 
 
 And have us in their power ! How piteous 
 
 The sight of one pale, vulnerable mortal, 
 
 With a few poor threads of gauze half -inter- 
 posed 
 
 Between his subjects and his nakedness, 
 
 Striving to sway a people, menacing, 
 
 Trying to fright them to obedience, 
 
 As if not knowing they at any time 
 
 Could rend him like a parchment! Sage or king 
 
 May serve a savage for a barbecue, 
 
 Valued according to the quality 
 
 Of the flesh he yields. 
 
 2nd Officer re-enters. 
 
 2nd Of. I'm back, sir. 
 
 Ni. What report? 
 
 2nd Of. So even-balanced is our fierce en- 
 counter 
 
 That e'en the artillery's sky-deafening roar 
 
 Seems muffled in the hush of deep suspense 
 
 Into a sort of silence. 
 
 Ni. Order Cam 
 
 To send a fourth toward yonder vantage-ground, 
 
 Anticipating thus a hostile force 
 
 That now moves thitherward. [Exit 2nd Officer. 
 
 Cotaminus, 
 
 How true thy warning words! and how I 
 wronged, 
 
 How I betrayed my sacred poetship 
 
 When I assumed the crown! Less frivolous 
 
 Should I have been, if I had wreathed my brow 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 235 
 
 With simple ivy and had been content 
 
 To write mere popular verse, though I was called 
 
 To wear a true, high poet's crown of thorns. 
 
 A crown of thorns I wear in very truth, 
 
 But all without the halo. How I yearn 
 
 Jo be once more the poet ! Gentlest Ena, 
 
 Once more in thy fine presence! Had I lived 
 
 The life ideal, lived a life of peace, 
 
 Giving myself to thought, my life had then 
 
 Been less imposing, less adapted then 
 
 To epic, doubtless, or to tragedy, 
 
 But how much more exalted ! 'Tis a crime 
 
 For him that sees the ideal to degrade 
 
 His holy priesthood, and to stain his hands 
 
 With mere utility. Is he not bound 
 
 To do his highest work, even though the weeds 
 
 Grow rank about his door-step? Now I see 
 
 I am the foolish man that built my house 
 
 On vanities, not on the solid rock 
 
 Of truth ideal. Ah ! had I been faithful, 
 
 And reared the sacred shrines of poesy 
 
 Beyond the howling of the wind and wave, 
 
 My work of life had been immortal, then, 
 
 Not toppling headlong at the first assault 
 
 Of temporal circumstance. 
 
 yd Officer enters. 
 yd Of. Sir, I am sent 
 
 From the left wing to beg for speedy aid 
 To check a fierce attack made by a force 
 Of far superior numbers. 
 Mi. You may go 
 
 To yonder regiment, and bid the colonel 
 Hasten to bear relief. [Exit yd Officer. 
 
 I cannot enter 
 Into the battle's passion. No great thought 
 Comes like an inspiration to reveal 
 
236 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Clear to the end the varied combinations 
 Of the day's victory. My mind is forced 
 In other channels. Now philosophy, 
 So long repressed, insists upon her sway 
 And fills me with indifference to the issue 
 Of all this noise and tumult. 
 
 A Messenger enters, 
 Mes. Nirus, fly ! 
 
 For you have made the interval so great 
 Between you and the army that the foe 
 Hem in your body-guard. 
 Ni. If they vouchsafe 
 
 To free me from the burden of my crown, 
 Even though the head go with it, I'll not 
 
 grumble, 
 I'll hail them gratefully. 
 
 VII. Seashore. Nirus and Ministers. 
 Ni. Ah ! I had thought 
 
 That when that ancient flood overwhelmed the 
 
 world, 
 And from the wreck a chosen stock was saved, 
 And over all appeared the iris-hues 
 Of universal letters — that no more 
 The race would be destroyed ; yet now again 
 Another Rome is deluged, and again 
 Earth is a seething whirlpool. Can it be. 
 When we have spent our strength, and groaning 
 
 sunk 
 Into the vast abyss, that hour by hour 
 The fury will subside, and peace and joy 
 Return to bless the earth ? Ah ! hides this flood 
 Religion and philosophy? And means it 
 Only that these strong savages desire 
 That we should civilize them ? Do they force us 
 To minister to them ? Does the mighty instinct 
 Of a noble race but seek thus franticly 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 237 
 
 To be consummated? Though they themselves 
 Cannot perceive the purpose, yet within 
 This monstrous body doth some soul ideal 
 Yearn in the dark and impel the gross mass on 
 To a richer, nobler future? Thus of yore 
 In the coarse Teutons that o'erwhelmed old Rome 
 Was hid the soul of Germany and England 
 And freedom's prophet-land across the sea. 
 Is't God, "in whom all creatures live and move 
 And have their being?" Do these deluge throes 
 Mean only that at last the area 
 Of civilization draws now to itself 
 The whole world's life? The mighty currents 
 
 all 
 Hither direct themselves to be a part 
 Of this our noble sea. There needs must follow 
 A temporary vortex. Let the whole deep 
 Commingle now its agitated flood 
 With the infinite virtues of our great Talinis. 
 All will be well. The ocean for a while 
 Will be in perturbation ; and the clouds 
 Will overwhelm the sunny peace of heaven ; 
 Yet calm will come at last, and life again 
 Will be in equilibrium. Who comes? 
 
 Enter Officers of the hostile army. 
 1st Of. Brave Nirus, we so fully trust your 
 
 honor, 
 That if you only abdicate the throne, 
 Confessing Rahn our God as king of kings, 
 Then live henceforth in silence, you are free ; 
 If you refuse us, you shall meet a death 
 Heroic in its anguish. 
 Ni. In her presence ! 
 
 If they so trust me, I will honor their trust 
 By being true. Tell them I wait my death. 
 
 [Exeunt officers, 
 
238 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Is a king but clay for any brutal slave 
 To knead into his image ? Can they change me 
 To any shape obscene that strikes their fancy? 
 Can they really raze the summit of my brain, 
 And lodge the debris in my distended neck ? 
 Can they sfTde my brow aslant, and fringe it 
 
 with bristles? 
 Can they take away a cubit from my stature 
 And add it to my girth ? Have they not seen me ? 
 Do they suppose my spirit smothered up 
 In gallons of lard? Do they, indeed, suppose 
 
 me 
 A blear-eyed craven wretch with pipe in mouth? 
 Whatever they have thought me, they shall learn 
 That I am made of such material 
 As may be shattered, but can not be shaped, 
 Yea, substance that however broken, still 
 Keeps the same symmetry. An honest man 
 Was never made of dust, nor will return 
 Into the dust. He cannot be unmade. 
 ist M. You need not be unmade. Preserve 
 
 yourself, 
 And live your life in silent dignity, 
 Scorning the world too much to give it tribute 
 Of bootless opposition. For the ideal 
 If her champion perish, how shall he realize 
 The heavenly aspiration ? Were it not wisdom 
 For the sake of that glorious object to abate 
 A tithe of your scrupulous aim, and be content 
 To approximate your purpose, achieving thus 
 A tangible gain? 
 
 Ni. A single dying gasp 
 
 True to ideals, free from compromise 
 With low utilities, is far more precious 
 Than life eternal in subservience 
 To the grossness of the real. 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 239 
 
 2nd M. Be not rash. 
 
 Ni. These knees were never made for genuflec- 
 tion, 
 These shoulders for yoke-bearing. This is my 
 
 chance. 
 I had been fearful lest some way my death 
 Might breathe a calumny upon my life, 
 Repudiating all its earnestness, 
 Making it void. Were slow disease to come 
 And bring its weakness, I might be induced 
 To shameful conformation. But today 
 I dare, I dare; the time is opportune. 
 1st M. Think of the torture. 
 Ni. I feel no wavering. 
 
 There is no power to intimidate 
 An upright man. His spirit is impelled 
 As irresistibly to stand its ground 
 As the coward's is to flee. There may be ter- 
 ror; 
 But still is honor stronger than all fear, 
 And holds the trembling limbs from ignominy. 
 2nd M. What use to make resistance? What 
 
 result 
 Can follow such a course? 
 Ni. When the designs 
 
 That man pursues are rendered impotent 
 Of their external purpose, still remains 
 Necessity existing from within 
 That they be followed to the uttermost, 
 Whene'er 'twere shameful that they be aban- 
 doned. 
 The act begun, and not repented of 
 Has passed beyond the power of fickle will 
 To be the ward of honor. 
 3rd M. But how proper, 
 
 Now at the close of this illustrious reign, 
 
240 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Quietly to withdraw and live at peace! 
 
 Ni. I would not have a taint of doubt to mar 
 
 My unstained honor. Choose for yourselves, 
 
 my brethren, 
 As you rate your merit. I feel that I deserve 
 Even this stupendous sacrifice. Long years 
 I have rejoiced in life's pure dignity; 
 And shall I now repudiate it all 
 By hurling from me all its blessed trophies, 
 All acquisitions that have made it noble? 
 All I have lived for is my manhood's honor ; 
 Now when I find I have not lived in vain, 
 Shall I throw from me all life's dear results, 
 And leave the eager angel of my nature 
 Henceforth to flee without a habitation, 
 Crazed through chaotic space? 
 A Herald enters. 
 Her. Nirus, I herald 
 
 Even him that leads our arms to victory. 
 Ni. The mystery profound is yet unsolved 
 Of his identity; and I am glad 
 That I may see him. I can not even hear 
 What name he goes by. 
 
 Her. Mine is not the right 
 
 To speak aught of him. It suffices me 
 That he will give you such a fearful death 
 As the ages have not dreamed. I will be present 
 To encore your shrieks. Ah ! but for his re- 
 straint 
 How quickly we would rend you ! As of yore 
 A tyrant wished of Rome, so I of tyrants 
 Wish that they had one neck, that despotism 
 Heaped in one house, might blow up all to- 
 gether. 
 And now my wish is granted ; here is Nirus 
 With every crown upon his single head ; 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 241 
 
 And we can strike and end all government, 
 Bidding the nations in a frenzy of freedom 
 Tear the old globe to pieces. All mankind, 
 Like a milliard fierce Malays will run amuck 
 And desolate creation. [Sings — joined by the 
 
 advance guard, who now enter. 
 Come hasten, now, for a rollicking game 
 To the waist of the world, all men ; 
 And string pontoons in the vernal flame 
 Bridging rivers and oceans ; and then, 
 
 Let us form a circle of linking hands 
 That shall forty times girdle the earth, 
 With all the people of all the lands 
 Ashriek in immoderate mirth. 
 
 Then let us join in an Indian dance 
 
 To shake off the horrors of life, 
 
 And swing the hatchet and fling the lance, 
 
 Spring the arrow and plunge the knife. 
 
 And every time when one falls dead 
 Let us give a shout of glee, 
 And heap the dust gayly over his head, 
 And sing of the ceasing to be. 
 
 And every time when one is born, 
 Let us quickly dash out his brain, 
 And hurl into coldness and stiffness forlorn 
 Life's passion, impatience and pain. 
 
 Let us stab the beating breast of the earth, 
 Till his fiery blood runs out, 
 And he reels into space to our infinite mirth, 
 While the stars are aghast all about. 
 
242 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Ni. See, friends! the night is come; the stars 
 
 appear. 
 Here is the ocean-beach ; and all night long 
 The sea in striving to shake off the stars 
 From its great bosom, only mingles them 
 More closely with its waters. 
 
 Phinon enters. The others, except Nirus and 
 the Herald, withdraw. 
 
 Phi. There were two angels in the universe, 
 And one was Love, and one was Hate ; and these 
 Were greater than all others ; and they strove ; 
 And one was vanquished, and was hurled away 
 Into the outer chaos. He that won 
 Sublimely wrought the infinite expanse, 
 Inventing harmony, a spirit-essence, 
 To vitalize the void, and crystallize 
 Like snow-flakes into myriad various forms 
 Of cosmic life. But while he triumphed thus, 
 Think not the rival tamely bore his fate, 
 Or toiled impolitic; but he diffused 
 His spirit, discord, through infinity, 
 And organized the void in hostile empire 
 To ruin all creation. I, like him, 
 A fallen angel, with my attributes 
 Remaining to me, all but love alone, 
 Have made for me a kingdom in the midst 
 Of this exalted sovereignty of yours, 
 And ruined all. These long and peaceful years 
 I have been slowly, surely building up 
 A power to overwhelm you. I have blent 
 All seething, hostile elements together 
 In temporary concord ; anarchists, 
 And the partisans of exiled royalty, 
 And frenzied priests of a degenerate sect, 
 Leading in packs their savage proselytes 
 Of a dusky race — all bound in monstrous league 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 243 
 
 For your destruction. Side by side arise 
 The bellowing from hordes of cannibals, 
 And hideous oaths and prayers more blasphem- 
 ous 
 In tarry volumes that obscure the sky, 
 Transforming heaven to hell. This mighty host 
 I have created. Well you marvel, Nirus, 
 As men have marvelled at your own great deeds. 
 Did you not know me once? Did you not think 
 That I was equal to you? I retain 
 The Nirus in me to accomplish wonders, 
 Even in my spiritual fall. Behold my work: 
 Your empire is no more; your death is near; 
 And we have sworn your ruin to complete 
 By hunting all your writings from the earth, 
 To the last line. 'Twill be a miracle 
 If a few pitiful fragments should survive, 
 Even though the poorest, to inform the world 
 That once a certain Nirus had existence, 
 Who cherished hopes of fame. Ah ! I confess 
 That part of me yet flinches in your presence", 
 You triumph while you live; but now so soon 
 You and your virtue will be blotted out, 
 And I shall then be victor. I desired 
 To see you living, groveling on the ground, 
 The vital breath in your corrupted nostrils 
 Serving no purpose but to keep you reeling 
 Above the sod in sight of all men's loathing. 
 Yet why? Is not the basest life on earth 
 Better than dying? When you lie in death, 
 You will be less than I, and I more noble 
 Than Nirus then. Your death is near at hand ; 
 And such a death! More full of agony 
 Than you have ever dreamed. 
 Ni. I bid it welcome. 
 
 There is a martyr-passion in us all 
 
244 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 That leaps to meet the anguish. Let it hasten. 
 
 I feel an exultation in my soul 
 
 To temper all the terror. Tis a glory 
 
 That we can suffer thus. I feel a pride 
 
 To greet these Titan pains. Were we not great, 
 
 We could not yield such mighty answering 
 
 throes 
 To meet our doom. 
 
 Phi. But not mere torture only, 
 
 But shame incredible shall you endure, 
 To make you hideous in memory 
 With such a death's disgrace. 
 Ni. Ah, be it so! 
 
 That, too, will prove a triumph. If our lives 
 Were not exalted, we could never know 
 Indignity or shame. I welcome that 
 As part of martyrdom. As I am pure, 
 You have no power to render me ignoble, 
 Or make me loathe myself, or take away 
 The sacredness of my pure memory. 
 There is no shame but high-souled chivalry 
 Is equal to it. I will trust myself 
 Unflinching to my brothers' reverence, 
 And look up fearless to the glorious heavens 
 Through all that shame. Twill be another woe 
 For pity's reverence. I received my life 
 Devoutly from its sacred source; to-day 
 I give it stainless back. My brethren wait me. 
 Phi. You may rejoin them. [Exit Nirus. 
 
 I am vanquished still. 
 A nobleness within me leaps for joy 
 To see this grandeur. I had thought that now 
 The good in me was dead ; and yet I find it 
 Vital as ever, captive, true, like Nirus, 
 Awaiting martyrdom, yet living still, 
 And fervent as of old. 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 245 
 
 Her. And that was Nirus, 
 
 The mighty man of earth? Why, he is tall; 
 
 Yet not so big as I am. 
 
 Phi. How indeed 
 
 Should any man be famous, if his height 
 
 Is not prodigious, and his strength of arm 
 
 Not more than common ? Did he not make me 
 
 quail ? 
 Was that like common men ? Did you before 
 E'er see me flinch? If you felt not his might, 
 Tis only that so dull a clod you are, 
 Without a spirit's vulnerabilities. 
 Spoke he like other men? Did you not hear? 
 Or was his mien like others? Did you mark 
 How came the martyr-triumph to his face, 
 The radiance and anguish and despair, 
 The courage and the terror ? No ; of course 
 You could not see them. Oh ! you need not fear 
 Lest Phinon shrink. Fear not lest I abandon 
 The purpose of my life. Even twice already 
 Have I aimed the fatal blow. Twice did his 
 
 minions 
 My vengeance intercept, and with their blood 
 Secure him respite till this fatal day 
 That rounds the period of the weird creation 
 And brings on chaos again. 
 
 VIII. The Seashore. Nirus. 
 Ni. Once more beside the sea, the scolding sea 
 That chides its restless wavelets. Here I wait 
 In new-attained tranquillity, not sharing 
 The agitation of my foes, who fret, 
 Arranging for my death. At last, at last, 
 My head is burdenless ; my brow is free 
 To the caressing breezes ; and the beams 
 Of the sweet sun are lured back once again 
 To wreathe my temples. Ah ! how many years 
 
246 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 Those beams have shunned me, constantly re- 
 pelled 
 By the coarse glare of worldly diadems! 
 But now my brow is free, and once again 
 The light can come and weave among my locks 
 Its aureole of dreamery. Behold 
 That little rise that slopes up to the sky, 
 Showing a path to heaven ! How mystical 
 These faint, ethereal perfumes, as they steal 
 At intervals upon me like the breath 
 Of a rich Aeolian harp ! The spring-times comes, 
 The joyous spring-time; we can look again 
 On pretty feet of children, and can hear 
 The tender nuptial murmurs of the earth 
 In a blessed tryst with heaven. Ah ! radiant day ! 
 A day that has a halo like a saint ! 
 How glorious it ends ! The imperial Sun, 
 With but the splendor of his passing by 
 Has kindled all the sky, and rippling flames 
 Sweep o'er the west as o'er a summer prairie. 
 
 ist Minister enters. 
 1st M. Nirus, the time is near. 
 Ni. And we are ready, 
 
 Are we not, brother? 
 
 1st M. Think you we shall die, 
 
 And live no more? O Nirus, could such fate 
 Follow a life like yours? 
 
 Ni. I know not, friend. 
 
 15/ M. But think of all your deeds. 
 Ni. All over now, 
 
 Such as they were, which, being such, bespeak 
 Only a man, a living man, no more, 
 Nor, thanks to nature, less ; in common moods 
 Merely a gossip, in great situations 
 Rising straightway a hero. 
 ist M. You have sat 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 247 
 
 On the sovereign throne of earth. 
 
 Ni. And now at length 
 
 I lay me down in cheerful weariness, 
 
 So tired I do not care to think of waking. 
 
 1st M. That glorious face transcending light 
 
 of suns, 
 Will that face fade forever? 
 Ni. I rejoice 
 
 If but a moment I have been entrusted 
 With some of heaven's rays; and I will keep 
 The sacred trust, guarding myself devoutly. 
 Not to disgrace the spirit. 
 1st M. These high thoughts, 
 
 And this life-long devotion, can all this 
 Be unrewarded? 
 
 Ni. Yea ! At least I hope 
 
 That Nature doth not give her sanction thus 
 To our coarse bargaining. Let her demand, 
 And let us give a sacrifice, nor chaffer 
 In terms of usury. 
 
 1st M. Then you are certain 
 
 That you will live no more beyond today ? 
 Cruel is your despair, involving thus 
 Us feebler souls. 
 
 Ni. Shall we not be in error 
 
 If we hope too much, and so becloud our vision 
 With mists of fancy, like luxurious fogs 
 Of Oriental incense? Be we brave 
 And patient to the end, and honestly 
 Wait for the truth, pleased with uncertainty, 
 Glad of the rich, full mystery in death, 
 Exulting in a faith too ignorant 
 For even a hope. Ah! now, at last, my friend, 
 After a blank of many barren years 
 I stammer a death-hymn. Here approach our 
 
 friends 
 
248 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 To sing my song. 
 
 Enter Singers. 
 Hymn. 
 Why this doubting, dropping pronely? 
 Certain is our destiny; 
 To be true and tender only ; 
 All the rest is phantasy. 
 
 We are spirits just as truly, 
 Though we perish in a day ; 
 Guard the entrusted soulship duly ; 
 Holy let it pass away. 
 
 Let death have dominion never, 
 Until life shall be no more; 
 Let us keep the halo ever 
 Round our life, till life is o'er. 
 
 What of doubt and dying? Surely 
 Past and future both are naught ; 
 Let us keep the moment purely, 
 Watching till relief is brought. 
 
 See our ruined lives' prostration, 
 Dying anguish and despair; 
 See the near annihilation ; 
 What of that? We need not care. 
 
 Let the chaos devastate us, 
 Overwhelm us when it will ; 
 Demons cannot violate us, 
 While our hearts are fervent still. 
 
 Let them flame in phantom riot, 
 Till, acclimatized below, 
 We shriek not, and hell is quiet 
 With the fullness of our woe. 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 249 
 
 What of that? Why need we fear it? 
 If they leave us sacred still, 
 They may have us, body, spirit, 
 Do with us whate'er they will. 
 
 But one dread for our endeavor, 
 
 Lest we cease to be devout ; 
 
 Keep us free from that forever, 
 
 Welcome ruin, welcome rout. 
 Other Ministers enter. 
 2nd M. Nirus, the time 
 
 Is close at hand. 
 
 yd M. An hour sooner, Nirus, 
 
 Than we had heard. 
 
 Ni. O good Cotaminus, 
 
 I envy thee, the only one deemed worthy 
 Of a peaceful end. 
 
 1st M. I see our death-men coming. 
 
 Ni. Now calm, my brothers, calmer than hith- 
 erto, 
 Worthy of this great moment. Lo! the sweet 
 
 breezes, 
 On missions that we cannot understand, 
 As hastening by they go, how serious, 
 And yet not stern! They go by hand in hand, 
 And seem to love; and they are bright with 
 
 sunbeams, 
 Like a saint's halo. They caress our faces, 
 Passing their soft hands lightly through our 
 
 hair, 
 Setting it gladly free. Earnest are they, 
 And yet not stern or troubled ; light of heart, 
 And yet not frivolous. They speak to us 
 Of joy and care-free living ; and they go 
 On missions that we almost understand. 
 O bright-eyed, tripping fairies, full of cheer, 
 
250 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 What can ye be ? Are ye not embryo thoughts ? 
 Or radiant prairie-fays? or Nereids 
 Home-hastening from a joyous holiday, 
 Bearing the wreaths of light that ye have 
 
 plucked 
 From the descending sun? In shining motion, 
 Mixture of rippling cool and warmth, the light, 
 The dancing light goes by. How now it quick- 
 ens, 
 As if the sun had struck a livelier strain, 
 Compelling the bright pageant to advance 
 With nimbler footstep! Boisterous-gentle winds, 
 Myriads of them, coming from the west, 
 That gather sunbeams up, and shake them out 
 Into a shining mist; frolicsome winds, 
 Glad, sunny winds in April's tresses fair ; 
 Mock-martial winds, with sheen of fairy armor. 
 Thus playful seem the winds, and yet withal 
 So earnest that in passing they appear 
 To drop a hurried exhortation, sweet 
 With promise. 
 
 Enter Phinon and his Follozvers. 
 In her presence! 
 Phi. Halt, men ! Nirus, 
 
 Here's the logic of our creed. You were a 
 
 dastard, 
 And shrank from consequences, though you 
 
 knew 
 Virtue had not reality sufficient 
 To survive three-score and ten. I give you now 
 A traitor's due — you that abandoned me 
 In my consistent service of despair, 
 Left me alone, and went off by yourself, 
 Disguised in virtue's weak hypocrisy, 
 That livery of cowards. None the less, 
 I learn my faith of you. 
 
EMPIRE OF TALINIS 251 
 
 Ni. Alas ! then, Phinon, 
 
 Would I had ne'er been born. 
 
 Phi. Oh! soon enough 
 
 Like one unborn you'll be. Long have I striven 
 
 To render you that service. Twice my blows 
 
 Have sought your heart; and twice a substitute 
 
 Fell in your stead; but now — 
 
 Ni. O Phinon, stop! 
 
 Victor was innocent ? 
 
 Phi. Could such a weakling 
 
 Attain guilt's heroism ? 
 
 Ni. Cotaminus ! 
 
 Was he, too, thus deceived? 
 
 Phi. Cotaminus ? 
 
 He was my partner. 
 
 Ni. Ha ! my alchemy 
 
 Has mingled not the ideal and the real 
 
 In the right proportions. 
 
 Phi. When within your mortars 
 
 You bray together infernal and divine, 
 
 The stronger force prevails. Your vaunted divine 
 
 Inevitably succumbs. 
 
 Ni. Come on, ye flames, 
 
 Penetrate to my marrow; I'll not feel you. 
 
 Phi. Yea, come, swift flames. Aha! injurious 
 
 fate 
 Must now be quick, indeed, to check my triumph. 
 I shall outlive my foe. 
 Ni. O Ena, Ena! 
 
 [Phinon stabs himself. As he dies, a number 
 of his followers, clasping hands, form a circle 
 about him, and sing, Phinon joining them till his 
 voice fails.] 
 
 Song. 
 
 Maddened world, thy future quiet 
 
 Seem I now to see ahead; 
 
252 DRAMAS OF CAMP AND CLOISTER 
 
 For this raging and this riot, 
 Utter stillness then instead. 
 
 Pallid, unimpassioned, ghastly, 
 Bloodless as the corse-like moon, 
 Thou wilt hang forever vastly, 
 Listless of the flaming noon. 
 
 Fiends of passion come to bait thee, 
 Then will find thee nerveless quite ; 
 Impotent to irritate thee, 
 They will rush in headlong flight. 
 
 Mind, insanity of matter, 
 
 Let it pass away from ken ; 
 
 Let the tangled atoms scatter ; 
 
 Bring the natural void again. 
 
 The march begins. 
 Ni. Ah ! brother, thou art free ; the world ex- 
 pands, 
 Till thou art in the universe, a part 
 Of all its mystery. A moment more 
 And I shall follow after. I come, I come, 
 Impersonal Truth, unknown Beneficence, 
 Source of my being. Into thy sheltering arms 
 Return I now world-stained, too worn and 
 
 weary 
 For an adequate penitence, and yet, methinks, 
 Not all disgraced. Into thy crucible 
 Receive my spirit for such future use, 
 Or such rejection as may please thyself. 
 
Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
 Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
 Treatment Date: Oct. 2009 
 
 PreservationTechnologies 
 
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 Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
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