<-o3501 L75C5 NIVERSITY OF CA RIVERS DE LIBRARY 3 121001817 2369 A A 1 2 6 7 5 2 LIBRARY^ UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE CHAOS "At intervals strange shapes in myriads." CHAOS A VISION OF ETERNITY BY ALTAIR ILLUSTRATED BY VICTOR PERARD From designs by the author "It is an open secret to the few who know it but a mystery and a stumbling block to the many that Science and Poetry are own sisters." Sir FREDERICK POLLOCK NEW YORK DOUGLAS C. McMURTRIE 1919 PS 3SD | Copyright, JOIQ Douglas C. McMurtrie All Rights Reserved DEDICATED TO THOSE 'WHO THEMSELVES IN SOME MEASURE ALSO SEE VISIONS AND DREAM DREAMS." CONTENTS vii Page PREFACE ix INTRODUCTION xi PROLOGUE in two scenes : Scene I. Birth of the Universe I Scene II. The Eternal Question 6 THE VISION OF ETERNITY: I. To-day 10 II. To-morrow 20 III. The End of Man 28 IV. Disintegration 37 V. The Skeptic in Chaos 45 INDEX 53 Vlll ILLUSTRATIONS Opposite Page 1. At intervals strange shapes in myriads . . Frontispiece 2. The western bank of Hudson' s mighty stream . . 10 3. The steel-framed structures that once pierced the sky 28 4. Great bridges that once spanned the river's tide . 30 5. A library far-famed in all the land ...... 32 6. The crumbling world is vitrified and bare .... 37 7. Art thou the famed Aurora of the classic age? . . 40 8. A peace-dispensing radiance filled the scene . . . 45 PREFACE IX PREFACE Should any optimist feel disposed to object to the doleful picture of man's character, life and destiny de- picted in this drama, let it be remembered that it is all a dream. Yet, dreams come true! Since this work was written a great war has devastated Europe and embroiled the entire world. In the midst of universal culture, when mankind was serenely contemplating an age of peace and enlightened development, the great storm broke. The barbarities of primitive ages were duplicated, and, even surpassed. Rapine and torture ; the taking and killing of hostages; the bombardment and destruction of unfortified places and the ruthless murder of non-combatants all of these brutalities were unexpectedly revived ; to the horror and amazement of a startled world. In the wake of all this came other ills hardly less dis- creditable to human nature: While the true men of the world were fighting the battles of civilization, other men, debased and sordid, preaching patriotism in the meantime at a safe distance from the zone of danger, were insidiously profiteering in all the necessities of life; turning the sacri- fice of their brothers-in-arms to their own selfish advantage. And now, with the war over, the evil still continues. Even religious intolerance, suspended for a time, has reawakened and, while its blinded votaries are struggling for tactical X PREFACE advantage, Paganism runs rampant with poisonous fangs aimed at the heart of all religion. Races, too, are stirred again to selfish rivalries. Imperialism, for the destruction of which the war was fought, still lurks in unexpected places and diplomats are still striving to solve international prob- lems by the methods of Machiavelli. In short, we are wearing the habiliments of civilization; but our culture is largely cold formula. We speak the phrases of the Twenti- eth Century; but cherish in our hearts the fears, the hates, and the passions of Medievalism. Sooner or later, it will be realized that there exists in the universe a law of retributive justice, akin to, and as inexorable as, the law of compensation. For thousands of years mankind has been fluctuating between the extremes of individual selfishness and race selfishness. It is only a short step from Emerson's philosophy of Self-Reliance to the arrogant Superman theory of Nietzsche. The indi- vidual must be taught that what is best for the community is best for himself; and races must learn that what is best for mankind is best for every race in common. In this lies the hope of the world. INTRODUCTION XI INTRODUCTION A. FEW words as to the form in which this work is pre- sented, would seem to be appropriate. Though in the nature of an epic in conception and scope, its movement is inherently dramatic. Its theme is the creation, the culmination and disintegration of the material universe. The primitive simplicity of the plot and the vastness of its range seemed to call for a revival of the simpler methods of the ancient Greek drama. For this reason, the chorus has been introduced as it existed prior to the time of ^Eschylus. Thus the skeptic narrates his experience and the chorus makes appropriate observations from time to time expressive of the feelings which the stage pictures presented might arouse in an intelligent audience. According to Eschenburg, "the chorus is charged with the exposition of the fable" (plot), "it praised the Gods and justified them against the complaints of the suffering and unhappy; it sought to soothe the excited passions and to impart lessons of wisdom and experience, and in general to suggest useful practical reflections." The chorus is a convenient medium by which to express the author's opinions. As Professor Gilbert Murray says, in the intro- duction to his translation of Euripides (p. Iviii, Vol. Ill, The Athenian Drama), the chorus "is a method wonder- fully contrived for expressing those vaguer faiths and Xll CHAOS aspirations which a man feels haunting him, and calling to him, but which he cannot state in plain language or uphold with a full acceptance of responsibility." In the performance of a modern drama, in which so much depends upon the scenery and action, there is no need for a chorus; but in the following poem it will be obvious that the expedient of resorting to the chorus is required by the nature of the drama and of the observa- tions which could not properly come from its sole actor. Under the law of the Grecian drama, the chorus was not permitted to leave the orchestra throughout the course of the drama. This called forth the following caustic com- ment from Sir Walter Scott, in his essay on the Drama: "when a deed of violence was to be acted, the helpless chorus, instead of interfering to prevent the atrocity, to which the perpetrator had made them privy, could only, by the rules of the theater, exhaust their sorrow and sur- prise in dithyrambics." Scott was not the first to find fault with the chorus. Aristophanes puts into the mouth of Euripides the follow- ing comment upon the chorus of /Eschylus and Phrynichus: . . . "And on the chorus spluttered Through long song-systems, four on end, the actors mute as fishes." The chorus was retained in the early English drama; but was used chiefly for the declamation of the Prologue or Epilogue. In Milton's Samson Agonistes, the chorus participates in the dialogue. It announces the entrance INTRODUCTION xiii of the actors and fulfils all of the functions of the early Greek drama. In answer to the possible objection that the want of action might militate against the use of the dramatic form in the following poem, it may be observed that the Per- sians of ^Eschylus is practically a narrative. Attossa asks for news of Xerxes. The messenger complies, de- scribing the Battle of Salamis. The chorus intervenes with running comment. The ghost of Darius is introduced; pats himself on the back, and condemns Xerxes. The latter enters and bemoans his fate. The chorus concludes with Strophe and Anti-Strophe and the drama closes with a procession in which actors and chorus march out wailing and rending their robes. Not a change in scene; not a single action. PROLOGUE PROLOGUE SCENE I BIRTH OF THE UNIVERSE Utter Darkness CHORUS Now Chaos comes, who rules the potent realms, Where Night and Death eternal vigil keep. From out his bosom all that lives shall spring; Into his bosom all that dies shall sink. In yonder depths, long, long before Time was, The primal elements all dormant lay Profoundly resting in pre-natal sleep. Throughout the formless cavernous abyss, 1 The infinite bounds were silent, dark, and still; (Distant rumbling is heard) Now hark ! a murmur echoes from afar, A stir of life pervades the stagnant void. Anon a movement starts within the deep, And rolling thunder rises from the depths The Elements in violent birth awake; 2 Lights flash and joyous sounds reverberate. Partial Illumination (Disclosing three castles abovethe clouds. Lower stage still dark) 1 See note on Nebular Hypothesis, p. 1 7. 2 Referring to the chemical elements (eighty in number) out of which all forms of matter are constituted. 2 CHAOS CENTRE. Castle of Hydrogen RIGHT. Castle of Oxygen LEFT. Castle of Nitrogen Gates of the Castle of Oxygen open and two sturdy youths with wings appear dressed in armor. One flies toward the Castle of Hydrogen. Throws a spear against the gates which fly open and two beautiful girls with wings flutter out. The other throws a spear against the gates of Nitrogen Castle, which open also, and there appears a young girl with wings, dressed in white, flying slowly. (Ftdl illumination) ENTER, in wild confusion, Elements represented by young men and women with shouts of joy. {Music appropriate} Execute dance in pantomime. CHORUS Behold the birth of Love and Hate, As ancient sages taught, 3 While some repel, 'tis others' fate To be by Cupid caught. 8 Empedocles and the Greek School of Philosophers which fol- lowed his guidance, taught that the elements of nature were brought into combination and separated from each other by the powers of Love and Hate, and that from the influence of these forces all things were created. PROLOGUE A vagrant beau called Oxygen, 4 Impulsive strong and gay, Assails the Court of Hydrogen; 6 But soon is brought to bay. He's smitten by its daughters fair And two he takes to wife The fiery damsels of the void Whose destiny is strife. Mid din and crash and rumbling roar And flashing, flickering lights, And laughter from the Titan host And countless scores of sprites * Oxygen, named by Lavoisier, first separated and identified by Dr. Priestley. The chief constituent of water, in the formation of which, in combination with Hydrogen, it is approximately eight- ninths by weight. In combination with Nitrogen, in the ratio of one to five, it forms the air. It is the great supporter of combustion and animal life. It is the most versatile of the elements, and is not only the basic element of air and water but enters largely into the formation of all solid substances, even being approximately one-half by weight of the rocks composing the earth's sub- stance. B Hydrogen is the lightest of the elements and, perhaps, the most inflammable. Upon its discovery by Cavendish, he called it "inflammable air." The spectroscope reveals its presence in the Sun. It is one of the paradoxes of nature that this light inflam- mable gaseous element upon being chemically combined with Oxygen should form water, the eternal foe of fire. 4 CHAOS Amidst the roar of Elements, The nuptials are a lark; They honeymoon in a crystal sphere Afloat on a crystal barque. (Loud explosion and sound of rushing waters. From the center of the group of Elements appears a large crystal globe in which the groom and his two mates stand with hands joined.) A brother of the sturdy groom Pays court to a damsel rare. Dame Nitrogen is fair but cold; 6 Their union forms the air. Then other Elements unite According to affinity; The partners join and dance in glee, And so on to infinity. ' Nitrogen forms nearly eighty per cent, by volume, and seventy-seven per cent, by weight of the atmosphere. Nitrogen and Oxygen have only the feeblest attraction for each other. Their mixture to form the air is not a chemical combination. The chief attribute of Nitrogen is to deprive all the elements, with which it combines, of the power of combining with Oxygen that is, of undergoing combustion. It may be said, therefore, to be a damper upon affection or affinity. Yet it is indispensable to vegetation. Without it the world would be barren. PROLOGUE In spirals, circles, in and out, From chaos order settles, To outer realms the lighter float Now in the centre, metals. 7 And thus are formed the stars and suns And satellites attending, Which now bedeck the universe, Illumination lending. Scene darkens. Discloses the sky at night with stars and planets brightly shining. Meteors and comets flash across the sky. Mists and clouds The sun rises. CHORUS Hail ! mighty Sun ! to earth the King of Kings, Of all the suns the firmament upholds! About thy throne thy satellites attend, In solemn grandeur since their fiery birth Long years ago when all was nebulous. Thy potent rays have stirred the Elements To huge and infinite reactions and To Titan conflicts through long Geologic days. Thy forces set the earth and air apart And made the waters take their wonted course; With verdure clad the inhospitable mass; Prepared the globe for divers forms of life. 7 See note on Nebular Hypothesis, p. 17. 6 CHAOS Thou wert beholder of the birth of man And mothered then his infant helplessness. To thee in gratitude he raised his head In prayer, and decked his altars with thy fire. 8 Thou hast beheld the world from chaos rise And into chaos wilt thou see it fall. SCENE II THE ETERNAL QUESTION A balcony overlooking the Hudson River. The Palisades in the distance. SKEPTIC You ask me how I know that death's the end And that 'Hereafter' is an idle myth Because I've had the experience of sleep, Which is the living prototype of death. For if we gain release from pain and woe By grateful slumber's dead unconsciousness, Why not the more should death's eternal sleep Give final surcease to our mortal toil; Extinguish mind, aye, soul if such there be Annihilate the future with the past? 8 Primitive man in all ages has had a singular respect for the sun as the source of heat and light. The worship of the sun as a deity was common and temples were erected in his honor. The stone ruins at Stonehenge are now believed to have marked a temple to the sun erected about 1680 B. c. PROLOGUE FRIEND Aye, you have slept, but have you never dreamt? Are dreams no hint of that mysterious state Vague interregnum when the heartbeats cease? If we're to hold by that criterion, Which is but part of living man's economy, And say, because a sleep may be profound, Without suggestion of a mental act, That therefore death is one eternal blank ; Then we might claim with equal show of right, That as our sleep is often wrought with dreams, The sleep of death may also have its form Of consciousness. And as the mind oft acts Without the body's aid, so may the soul. SKEPTIC Ah ! soul is mind and mind is not a thing, But consequence of Matter's interaction; For Matter rules all else is inconceivable. FRIEND But why, I ask, why risk your future fate By snap decisions on so deep a question? Accept at least do not deny the force Of intuition's sense, a sixth sense, if you please; 8 CHAOS The sense at which the great agnostic hints. 9 As all mankind, in every age and clime, Has had some vague conception of the soul, Why not accord some basis to this faith Of deeper import than mere whim of man? SKEPTIC This talk of soul is trite and patience tries. For taking things on faith, I have no taste. FRIEND It is not faith, but that subconscious sense That most men feel but cannot analyze; For certain intuitions of mankind Lie deeper than the vulgar mind can probe. SKEPTIC Let sciolists and faddists have their way In building doubts from creeds or creeds from doubts. FRIEND I only urge the normal mind should take An attitude of sane receptiveness. It's well observed that those who rail the most 9 The great agnostic Herbert Spencer. But he was not alone in his deference to the fundamental intuitions of mankind. Euripides wrote: "The simple nameless herd of humanity Hath deeds and faith that are truth enough for me." PROLOGUE At other's faith are oft the blindest slaves, Themselves, of faith in some new-fangled cult And brains and culture seem to be no bar To this inherent weakness of the vain ; For all that's sought, it seems, is novelty, Or anything that marks them from the crowd. Another class are those half read, half trained, Who delve in mysteries beyond their ken And take for granted things that suit their whim, Or help uphold the folly they maintain. SKEPTIC What things for granted does the Atheist take? You know his cult is absolute denial. FRIEND No, no, my friend, although he cannot solve The simplest problem out of Euclid's book, He quotes the distances of every star With firm conviction, e'en their size and weight, And prates of things his mind could never grasp ; Now what, pray tell me, what is this but faith? But I perceive you weary of the theme Your drowsy lids but mock my argument I'll say good-by and wish you pleasant dreams. (Exit, Friend) SKEPTIC, in reverie. (Scene darkens.) IO CHAOS ACT I TO-DAY SCENE. Overlooking the Hudson River. Sunset beyond the Palisades. ARGUMENT. The theme outlined. Sunset described in the purlieus of a great city. Reflections on the advance- ment of the age in things material. The failure of civilization to keep pace with the strides of Science and Art. The passions of men are the same in every age. The grandeur of the firmament and the insignificance of man. CHORUS Our theme is man's achievements and his end: The universe its grandeur and decay. The art of man has weighed the distant stars; Deduced their orbits, distances and speed; Divined some inkling of their origin. His skill has wrung her secrets from the Earth: Sounded her seas, explored their depths and scaled Her mountains; wormed himself into her bowels; Surveyed her strata, timed their place and age And made Creation comprehensible. But knowledge ends at that mysterious gate "The -western bank of Hudson's mighty stream." TO-DAY II Called Death. To that dread portal vistas clear Confront his vision out beyond there lie The impenetrable shadows of Eternity. SKEPTIC (in reverie) The orb of day in gorgeous splendor sinks Beyond the Palisades that grimly guard The western bank of Hudson's mighty stream; And to mine ear there comes the hum of life, The murmur of the city's daily toil, Which fainter grows as traffic ebbs away: A distant drone in deep dull monotone, Soft crooning in the vibrant summer air; Now chiming into cadence with the trees As gentle zephyrs stir their dark green depths And rouse the leaves to rustling sibilance. Now, hark ! the trill of birds the chorus joins As fluttering nestward their melodious notes Swell Nature's greeting to the reign of Night. CHORUS Great steamers cleave the waters with their prows And hurl the billows surging on the shores. While flashing in the sunset glow, the sails Of flitting yachts, like moths before a flame, Reflect the radiant glory of the sky. Anon is heard the clanking clash of steel; 12 CHAOS Huge red-eyed monsters, hissing steam and smoke, Resistless come with rush and rumbling roar, Like flying serpents loom into the view And pass into the twilight bearing on Their various burdens to their different marts. SKEPTIC Methinks how great the age in which we live ; How great to join this mighty continent, Its every part, with ringing ribs of steel And make the journey to Pacific's coast But three short days, which would in former times Have taken weary months. And then to send The human voice a thousand miles or more Through wires charged by lightning from the skies. And that deed done to send the message then Unaided through the ether that we breathe ; To store by art on cylinders of wax, Or rubber discs of more enduring form, For future times to hear, the human voice And music's noble and enchanting strain; Create with ev'ry pleasing sound and note Of well-appointed modern orchestra, A symphony from work-day dynamos; Explore the source and mystery of light And vibratory waves of mortal sense unfelt; To penetrate by Roentgen rays and see Through substances the human eye cannot; TO-DAY 13 Unloose the atoms from their wonted place Weigh, count and clarify their deep intent; And by the spectroscope disclose the state, The speed and elements of distant stars. Of its achievements surely Progress can Must justly boast, save in the state of man. CHORUS While science, art, and manual skill improve, No sage has found the formula to change The primal moral weakness of the race. And those defects of character and heart, That men were taught in ancient times to shun, Are still the rocks that wreck his happiness. SKEPTIC For man remains unchanged throughout the years; The same, in love, in hate, in war and peace The just, unjust, are quite the same to-day, As when the dawn of History began. 10 CHORUS Beneath the thin veneer and polish of the times, There lie concealed the passions of the cave. 10 Well expressed in Kipling's 'General Summary': "We are very slightly changed From the semi-apes who ranged India's prehistoric clay." 14 CHAOS But customs change the crimson wrath of old Has been refined to cold and subtle arts. The body is no longer lashed but, ah ! What thorns into tender heart are driven! The basic thought that drove the primitive man To reeking altars with his sacrifice, Is that which raised the penal stake and cross, The torture chamber, wheel and pillory, And underlies intolerance to-day ! SKEPTIC Peruse again the page of History, Take heed the fate of mighty nations past That rose in ancient times, their zenith reached In full development of every art, Then sank in hopeless ruins on their plains. CHORUS The amethyst and turquoise of the sky, The carmine glow and topaz hue are gone; The sunset colors melt into a gray, And one by one the orbs of night appear. SKEPTIC There Venus shines resplendent in the west; Her narrow orbit does not let her stray Far from the God of day. So when she comes, TO-DAY 15 As morning or as evening star, we know Her charms are destined not too long to last; 11 And even now she's sinking fast and soon Will drop into the gloom. But Jupiter, The steadfast friend of earth, whose orbit takes Him thirty years to turn, shines steadily More like a beacon than celestial orb. While Mars, our ruddy neighbor of the skies, Provokes the dwellers of this earth to ask, If those strange markings, single and in pairs, That seem his world-like surface to indent, Can be the work of human hands like ours. 12 There Saturn with concentric rings appears And shows to man the way that worlds are made. u CHORUS Now in the east the full round moon appears Earth's satellite that rules the surging tides Whose presence pales the mighty distant stars; Its silvery rays lend beauty to the night, And beam benignly on the land and sea. Withal it is a whited sepulchre 11 The orbit of Venus being between that of the earth and the sun, the angle which she may subtend during her annual revolu- tion is limited. Therefore she is never far above the horizon, either as an evening or as a morning star. 12 The lines discovered by, and named after, the Italian astronomer, Giovanni Schiaparelli. 13 See note on Nebular Hypothesis, p. 17. 16 CHAOS Celestial portent of the fate of earth. No atmosphere to soothe the solar wrath, Its arid plains all parched and waterless; Its sterile slopes and craters cavernous, Reveal to man the way that -worlds shall die. SKEPTIC Out in the deep blue vault of Heaven shine Vast suns to which our sun is but a grain Of sand ; whose light it takes some thousand years To reach our human eyes; and yet beyond 14 The limits of the faintest stars revealed By mighty telescopes there well may be, In depths remote, still other stars, and Nebulae, The womb of suns and systems yet unborn. 16 CHORUS Alas, how insignificant is man An atom by the infinite o'erwhelmed ! How wide, how deep the universe ; how grand, Magnificent the scale on which it's planned! 14 Astronomers estimate that there are approximately one billion stars within the range of human vision through the instru- mentality of the modern telescope. All of these stars are suns like the great orb which gives us day and night. But our sun is a mere pygmy- compared to the stupendous bodies visible to us at night as twinkling stars in the heavens. The distances of TO-DAY I/ these stars stagger the imagination. To make the figures compre- hensible, astronomers have adopted a new unit of measurement, namely, the distance which light traveling at the rate of 186,000 miles every second traverses in a year. This is called a "light- year." Distances up to one hundred light-years have been measured with gratifying accuracy. Probably half of the stars visible to the naked eye are more than four hundred light-years distant; while as to the telescopic stars up to the tenth magnitude the majority are probably over one thousand light-years from us. In the plane of the Milky Way, the stars probably extend in all direc- tions to a distance of from eight to ten thousand light-years. At right angles to the plane of the Milky Way the stars seem to thin out considerably at five hundred light-years and none have been measured more than sixteen thousand light-years from the central plane. Our stellar system is probably a vast flattened aggregation of stars about fifteen thousand light-years in diameter and from two to three thousand light-years in thickness. The part most thickly set with stars appears to our view as the "Milky Way." The smaller Magellanic Nebula in the southern celestial sphere is said to be at a distance of thirty thousand light-years. 16 The Nebular Hypothesis. The presence of those mysterious clusters in the heavens not only suggests, but, by their form, con- stitution and movement, gives apparent confirmation to the most plausible theory yet advanced for the evolution of the universe. Nebulae have always been the subject of keen interest. At first they were assumed to be only clusters of stars; but the failure of the largest telescope to resolve them into separate bodies awakened the first doubt as to their constitution. Then came the revelations of the spectroscope which showed them to be, not clusters of remote minute stars, but chaotic aggregations of luminous matter showing clearly defined signs of spiral, elliptical and circular motion. The Nebular Hypothesis had its inception successively and independently in the minds of Swedenborg, Kant and Laplace. Let us extend its application by indulging in a corollary which l8 CHAOS the state of physical science in their day would not have justi- fied: Assume all of the primary elements lying dormant in the vast void of the universe. Without motion there can be no heat. In the intense cold of the great void the gaseous elements would be first liquefied, then solidified. (Oxygen, Nitrogen and Hydro- gen have been solidified by man by ingenious processes.) The moment that the process of liquefaction or solidification set in the law of gravitation would instantly become a factor in their destiny. Centers of gravity form ; attractions are generated and movement begins. With movement comes friction, heat, com- bustion, and light. With heat the gaseous elements are dissolved from, solid form into liquids or assume their gaseous state. The heaviest elements, singly or in combination, will form Nuclei toward which the others will gravitate. Affinities assert them- selves and as the elements converge, cross or touch one another in the great maelstrom, chemical combinations are made and new substances take birth. The converging masses assume spherical forms. As more and more aggregations of matter impinge on the embryo spheres, it would be a miracle if they were all evenly distributed. The slightest irregularity would change the balance and set up a rotary motion a motion which the surrounding atmosphere and particles within the zone of gravitation would quite reasonably follow. When the central masses condensed sufficiently they would mani- fest themselves as stars or suns with vaporous masses about them extending to the limits of their range of attraction. As condensation proceeded the central masses would be detached and the vaporous envelopes would divide into rings each ring the progenitor of a planetary system. We may imagine the same process to go on in the condensation of the planetary rings in the formation of satellites. Saturn with his rings stands out to-day as an example of world-making fortunately vouchsafed for our study and reflection. The density of Saturn is less than that of water. The planet is in its formative state. It will, no doubt, TO-DAY 19 pass through the same process as the earth Oxygen and Hydro- gen forming water; Oxygen and Nitrogen forming an atmosphere. The heavier matters contained in the surrounding envelope, attracted to the planet, will break through the atmosphere, impinge on the water, sink to the center and solidify in due course. The Nebulae in Orion, Andromeda, Lyra and Canes Venatici are visible examples of how solar systems are evolved. 2O CHAOS ACT II TO-MORROW ARGUMENT. The skeptic, in a dream, views as a spectator, apart from the world, its progress and decay through many ages. Beholds wars and internecine dissensions of the races. The improvidence of man and its punish- ment: sterility, plague and famine. Old age of the world. CHORUS Long ages seem to pass as in a dream. Before us panoramic visions rise : Of man, his life and growth, and future fate; Of earth, its changes in the course of time. SKEPTIC I seem to drift in upper air serene And view with vague delight the rolling sphere. Before me lies a virgin plain untrod Up sloping gently from the silver sea. I gaze again as if by magic's art There come the signs of life, the homes of men. And these increase in number as I gaze, Until the village has become a town ; The town, a city of enormous size. TO-MORROW 21 CHORUS The city's streets encroach on farm and field ; The wood, the dell, the babbling brook are gone, And nature's beauties, by the vandal hand Of highly wrought refinement, have been marred. The iron rails of traffic span the earth ; The smoke and steam of factories obscure The purple vault of Heaven with its stars; Their chimneys quite o'ercap the churches' spires; SKEPTIC Throughout the streets and avenues appear Inhabitants preoccupied with all The joys and sorrows of their narrow lives. And thus the world in every part becomes The home of teeming millions of mankind. CHORUS But yet man seems, though skilled in every art, To cling persistently to savage ways And scorn the gentle voice of Charity and Peace; For moral sense still keeps in infancy, And foolish man has failed to grasp the thought : That though his wealth should rival Croesus' dream, And culture reach its apex in all arts; Though science penetrate through every veil, That keeps the unknown from his vision, yet, If not applied to help his fellow-man, The strides of knowledge and of art are vain. 22 CHAOS SKEPTIC Contending armies battle on the land, And steel-clad navies on the ocean clash. Upon their issue destiny appears To hang the fate of all the trembling world. Then greedy powers rob their prostrate foes; Assign among themselves and loyal friends Their so-called separate spheres of influence! Thus nations rise and fall and maps are changed. CHORUS Grim war shall last while greed and hate endure; M So long as locks and bolts our treasures guard, Or watchmen pace the narrow dimlit street ; So long as oaths are taken in our courts Or bonds demanded to secure just debts; 16 Since this was written the greatest war in history has been fought and twelve million of the manhood of the world and countless numbers of its womanhood have fallen in battle or died in consequence of its accompanying horrors. By so much has the potentiality of the human race for future civilization been de- pleted and impaired. In so far as paganistic ideas may have been crushed and higher ideals stimulated in the human mind, let us hope that the world is better for the sacrifice. Yet, judging from the attitude of some of the nations at the peace table their greed, their selfishness there is little ground for hope that they have taken seriously to heart the true lesson of the war. TO-MORROW 23 So long as vice impels the human heart And self's the mainspring of a sordid world. While kings for greed invoke the God of War So long must nations stand upon their guard. Against the curse of war there's one recourse The sword is yet its own best antidote. Against injustice to resist is right When Might offends the only shield is Might! SKEPTIC Internal strife embitters every land; The rich still richer grow, the poor more poor; The tyranny of Capital bears down Its yoke relentless on the toiler's neck An ill much greater than abuse of kings. Injustice, Hate and Fear go hand in hand; Domestic strife divides the husband, wife; Their children often bitter foes of both ; The courts of law still gravely sit with pomp In technical denial of equity; CHORUS And votes are brazen bought and brazen sold. In every walk of life Corruption stalks With smiling face to coax the weakling man Her right hand holds the shining cursed gold; 24 CHAOS But in its midst is hid the canker worm of death And all who touch it fester at the heart Both they and their posterity are curst. SKEPTIC Vast steamers swarm in every gulf and bay And streak the greater oceans with their foam. While in the air audacious man in glee Has shamed the feathered couriers of the sky. CHORUS The ten commandments, which on Zion's Mount To Moses, prophet of the Jews, were given, Are idly mouthed or calmly laughed to scorn The symbols of a better age o'erthrown And pagan idols in their places raised Upon all sides decadence swiftly spreads. By paradox unique an attribute, Most worthy and sublime the love of Him, The great first cause, the Father of Mankind, Has been transformed to anger, hate and fear. A thousand creeds divide the human race. Each claims its own, the only road to bliss, And vows all others doomed to Hell's Abyss. TO-MORROW 25 SKEPTIC The Christian creed in scores of warring sects Is split in vain dissensions o'er mere texts From the great book from which they all have sprung. As though a God all merciful and just Would spurn the longing of a single soul, Sincerely striving to attain His love, Obey His law and pay Him reverence. Thus foolish man vies with his fellow-man, To reach the goal of Heaven's Golden Gate By wrangling on diverging paths of hate. CHORUS In earlier days there had been some respect For virtue heroes smiling gave their blood For freedom and uplifting of the race; But when the growth of luxury increased And competition keener had become, Both envious pride and selfish greed combined To make men fight like soulless animals For mere existence ; then the good Samaritan Was banished from their lives, and in his place Were Hate and Fear and unfair Rivalry. Despite its noble past it is a dying race ; For white and yellow, brown, red, black are one, And all the divers tribes of each, which have, Throughout long ages, warred with varying fate 26 CHAOS In struggles for supremacy, are merged Into a common stream of mediocrity The vices of the worst commingled with The vices of the best; the virtues of The best dragged down to one dead average. And in their selfish aims, their lust, their greed, They quite forget there comes a day of reckoning. SKEPTIC The fertile land, that once so fairly bloomed With every blessing of the field and vine, Is desolate, and deserts mark the site Of splendid cities, populous and great. CHORUS The forest shade that dulled the sun's fierce ray And tempered winds that blew from ice-chilled lands; Whose gnarled and tangled roots upheld the soil And stayed the angry rivers' ruthless flood ; Whose verdure drew the welcome rain and made The earth to smile in beauty and abundance; Ungrateful man, unmindful of the past, Has burned in wilful waste, or hewed for greed To fill the gaping jaws of Industry. 17 17 There is no doubt that the beginning of the downfall of many ancient lands may be directly traced to their disregard of forest preservation. To-day the making of paper from wood TO-MORROW 27 Oh, Man improvident! insensible that Fate Condemns the least infraction of the Law, That Wisdom throughout nature hath ordained, And for each trespass, soon or late, exacts, Without a qualm, her meed of punishment Ye have lacked in every age the foresight to preserve The source from which your greatest gifts have come, And now behold your cherished cities meet, With all their art, their learning, and their wealth, The doom of Ninevah and Babylon ! Now plague and famine show their heads abhorred And sweep their countless millions off the earth. In vain the farmer tills the sterile soil ; The roots are withered e'er the shoots have grown The soil is barren for the world is old. pulp and the greed of industry in cutting down our forests en- dangers the future of man and requires that immediate steps be taken co-operatively by all the nations of the world to put into practice the wise precaution that for every tree cut down another should be planted. 28 CHAOS ACT III THE END OF MAN ARGUMENT. The skeptic, having witnessed the culmina- tion, now beholds the running down of progress The gradual depopulation of the Earth. General desolation. The ruins of great cities described. The death of the last man. Observations on the futility of human achievements and ambitions. SKEPTIC The sun now shines with fainter light than when In earlier days it stirred. a fertile globe With myriad forms of palpitating life; His feeble rays of reddish orange hue Diffuse on earth a hazy twilight glow. CHORUS The panorama now appears reversed Instead of life, activity and growth, That in the former pictures were so marked, There seems to be a running down, as when A clock exhausted slowly tolls the hour. The icy caps that decked the poles "The steel-framed structures that once pierced the sky." THEENDOFMAN 29 With narrow margins, toward Equator creep, In snow-white, fate-like, rings of death; 18 SKEPTIC The towns and cities that once spread the plains Seem palpably to shrink before my view Their buildings gently crumble into earth. CHORUS The steel-framed structures that once pierced the sky, And were the marvel of man's handiwork, Have tottered to their doom reluctantly. The brick and stone that cased their skeletons Have sunk into the dust about their base; While pier and girder web-like naked stand Sad relics of man's bootless industry. And when the earth revolves its back upon The fading sun, and twilight's feeble glow Has changed to inky night, the twinkling stars Gleam mockingly between the iron tracery. 18 This refers to the return of the glacial period, which will probably be the precurser of the end of the world as a place of habitation. The next recurrence, ending the present geologic stage, may not, and most probably will not, end the world's life history. The finding of extensive coal-beds within the Arctic and Antarctic circles indicates a prolific vegetation in those regions which may be accounted for by the variation in the inclination of the earth's axis to the plane of the ecliptic during the course of the revolution of our solar system through the great nebula of which our solar system forms a part. 3O CHAOS SKEPTIC Great bridges that once spanned the rivers' tide Colossus-like in towering majesty Of stone and steel erected with a skill That taxed the ingenuity of man; Beneath whose interlacing members passed The tallest masts of ships that sailed the seas; Now fallen and dismembered choke the course Through which the tumbling waters roar, and wake Resounding murmurs from the death-like shores. CHORUS Where once the streets and avenues have rung With human steps and traffic's noisy strain ; With sounds of joy or mortal agony; A strange dread silence now pervades the scene. Anon the sparse inhabitants emerge From out their shelter in some ruined shrine And totter feebly, aimlessly about; Their footsteps echo in once busy streets Like heart beats in a dismal sepulchre. SKEPTIC My vision now seems limited to grow; Instead of broad expanse of land and sea, Diversified by mountain, vale and bay, I see a parching plain with many stones Of various shapes in great disorder strewn "Great bridges that once spanned the river's tide." THE END OF MAN 31 The ruins of some old metropolis. Unburied bodies lie in heaps around And bones of mortals bleaching on the sand. There is no sign of life save in one place, That seems the cellar of some ancient edifice. CHORUS Behold, within is spread a rough skin rug And on it lies a man in writhing agony. His breath comes fast and restless move his arms; Anon he plaintive calls a woman's name 19 Now all is still! SKEPTIC But, look! there seems to rise A mist-like thing or shape of shadowy form; But yet of beauty undefinable; Mysterious, weird, and awe-inspiring: And, as it hovers for a moment by The body whence it seems to emanate, The air is filled with perfume of sweet flowers. Dread premonitions fill my tortured mind I dare not question what it all can mean. CHORUS It means the end of man and end of earth! 19 Woman the strongest and most enduring tie that binds man to earth. 32 CHAOS SKEPTIC Thus dies the race that aimed to pierce the veil Of things eternal and of things unknown! Yes, this the race perfection hoped to reach In youthful dreams of the millennium. CHORUS What counts ambition now, or miser's greed What recks the toil by which their ends were reached? The power and pelf of all the world shall fade ! Where is the gain when all must pass away? SKEPTIC A library far-famed in all the land, Upon a hill in stately ruin stands; Resisting time and dissolution's force With utmost strength of massive masonry. A fungus growth half cloaks the crumbling walls Kind nature's aid to hide the scars of time. The columns of the grand fagade Uphold no more the shattered pediment; The dome and roof have fallen to decay, And block the aisles and corridors in which The learning of long ages has been stored. Books! books! aisle after aisle and tier on tier Unread, unopened, thick with dust of years! "A library far-famed in all the land." THEENDOFMAN 33 I gaze in sadness, while upon me creeps, A shade of awe, unspeakable regret, That here man's wisdom has its limit reached ! That here the fame of sage and poet ends Between the covers of these musty tomes! What toil and mental energy were spent! What pains, discouragements, ambitions wrecked, While their poor authors strove for name and fame! CHORUS A fame, alas, not more enduring now Than that of those who lived without a thought Of present or of future praise or blame. Oh, Fame! thou art a futile bubble blown, The toy of fate, the idol of great minds! SKEPTIC The hall wherein the Legislature sat (Vicarious symbol of a pygmy race), Pretentious capitol that was, is now No more. The ornate arch and sculptured vault, The columns, stairs, the rail and balustrade All richly wrought, lie broken and awry ; And midst the crumbling statues of the great The screech owl sits in solemn irony. 34 CHAOS CHORUS Here orators descanted on the times And tried to turn the course of nature back, In vain attempts to make man good by rule Until all sense of human liberty was lost; Oblivious that by nature's higher law It is ordained that those who fall to vice, A prey to their own weakness, are not meant To flourish or perpetuate the race. Forgetting this their vain effeminate laws Destroyed all strength of will, all exercise Of moral force and quelled initiative Pampered, humored, circumscribed as well And thus upraised a coddled race of weaklings. 20 SKEPTIC The high-domed Court where Justice sat enthroned, Coerced to blush as her gold-burnished scales Insidiously sank to either side, And wished the bandage from her eyes withdrawn To wield the sword her helpless hand engrasped; 20 You cannot legislate into the human heart the ten command- ments. They were written on stone. Think of thatl You can- not make men good or sober or virtuous by law; but you may destroy the human will by law. If men cannot live cleanly nature sentences them to death. If nations do not live uprightly they too must die. THEENDOFMAN 35 Where lawyers quibbled, litigants forswore And truth discouraged trembled at the door. The shrine wherein the preacher marked the way, That man should go to win eternal life The narrow way which he himself hath sped Oblivious of all other ways than his, Which might as likely lead to God's eternal throne; The school of learning where the restless seer, Tugged at the veil of the unknowable All, all are sunk in crumbling ruined heaps! CHORUS In yonder field where once the willows grew, Were serried ranks of humble soldier dead The graves of those whose only claim to fame Was that they fought the battles of their land. Above each grassy mound a modest slab But briefly told their date of birth and death, Their name, their Company and Regiment. O'ershadowing these were huge majestic shafts, With graven records of more glorious deeds As if 'twere nobler to give up one's life, In epaulets on horseback than on foot. The pride of birth and arrogance of place Are here reduced, in last analysis, To common clay from which they all have sprung. 36 CHAOS SKEPTIC Of what avail are monuments high reared Above insensate clay; how vain the hope, That lingers in the breast of man, to keep, By crumbling stone and fading epitaph, Posterity apprised of mortal fame, That dies with the last man to read the tale. CHORUS The marble mausoleum of the rich; The lofty shaft above the warrior's bones, No higher stand nor more conspicuous Than humble slab that marks the plowman's grave! And show strange irony of human fate The vanity of worldly ostentation, When none are left to profit by the lesson. 'The crumbling world is vitrified and bare." DISINTEGRATION 37 ACT IV DISINTEGRATION ARGUMENT. The skeptic beholds a world vitrified and bare no sign of vegetation or water. The seas have dried up. Suddenly the whole earth crumbles before his gaze. Is overwhelmed with horror at his isolation. The sun gradually fades and disappears. He now becomes conscious that he is without material form. Drifts through the universe. The end of gravitation and of nature's laws. The reign of Disintegration begins. The gradual disappearance of the stars. Hears the thunders and beholds the myriad scintilla- tions of their final disintegration. CHORUS Now turn your glance upon a purpled sky, Bedecked with constellations, and behold The solemn sweep of systems through the universe. Red comets flash on their erratic course Past stars that faithful keep their orbits' path 21 The shining milestones of Eternity. 51 With respect to the earth and the solar system, the stars have no orbit. With respect to us pygmies in the vast universe, they are fixed and immovable. Yet they are doubtless pursuing 38 CHAOS SKEPTIC The desert world shines with a pallid light; There is no sign of verdure on the plains; The streams are dried, the forests all are gone; The seas no longer lap the sloping shores; The foaming cataracts at last are still No breath of life bestirs the livid waste. CHORUS The human race has passed and left no mark Of its achievements, habitation there Throughout the countless years; nor yet the trace Of wondrous lower life, that was the spur Of thought to man, is seen. The spider's web; The hill of ants and labyrinths within ; The nests of birds intelligently wrought; And all the marvels of the living world Have long been swept into oblivion. SKEPTIC The crumbling world is vitrified and bare Lo ! while I gaze, from some internal force, their magnificent way in regular rotation even as our sun and his satellites are moving onward upon their appointed path. Astronomers are generally agreed that there is a well-established movement of our solar system in the general direction of Vega, in the constellation of Lyra. DISINTEGRATION 39 Its surface breaks into a thousand forms, Which burst apart and scatter like a shell Ejected from some huge artillery ! A flash of flame that marks the fateful blast, A cloud of smoke that follows in its wake Attract the eye a moment and dissolve. The fragments spread throughout the cavernous void And vanish like the dust before the wind ! CHORUS A deep resounding crash abruptly breaks In monstrous volume ripping through the void! The ether trembles at the awful shock, Then rolling onward rumbling into space It sinks into a murmur and expires. SKEPTIC 'Twas day a moment since, but now 'tis night. Without the vanished Earth's reflected light, A deep and solemn shade o'erspreads the scene. I seem transfixed and poised within The hollow of the great celestial sphere. The glittering stars make radiant the depths Above, beneath, on every side they gleam With cold and calm relentless brilliancy And taunting mock my helpless isolation. 40 CHAOS Disconsolate I gaze in poignant grief. Up to this moment I have had some hope An undefined and subtle confidence, That all these changing scenes were but a dream; That soon or late I should return to earth. But now when I perceive my refuge gone, Without a thought or hope of other port, A chill of horror overwhelms my heart Such horror as might fill the mind of some Poor mariner marooned upon a rock To die alone out on the boundless sea. Like traveller returned from wandering, Who halts afar to gaze upon the scene Of boyhood's haunts and home he had so loved, And finds no trace of those familiar signs, His memory had cherished through the years; So I gaze vainly, anxiously and long Upon the void where once the world revolved. The sun, which for some time, has grown more dim, Now drowsily it drags athwart the sky, With molten metal's deep expiring glow. Upon me now there dawns the weird import Of that dull disc in heaven's darkling vault. CHORUS Art thou the famed Aurora of the classic age, Whose chariot swept the eastern sky at morn "Art thou the famed Aurora of the classic age?" DISINTEGRATION 4! And touched the clouds and mountain tops with fire? Aye, this is the genial sun whose rising gleam, Once waked the birds to sing their morning hymn ; Whose radiance hung the dew-clad trees with pearls, And warmed again the fecund earth to life! To this sad state has sunk the bounteous source Whence flowed the vital force of many worlds! Fainter and fainter grow the dying rays, At last its outline softly, slowly blends Upon the sullen background of the sky ! 'Tis but a spot, a ghastly blur 'tis naught But one dead cinder more in heaven's mighty deep! SKEPTIC Anon my meditation is disturbed By consciousness of some o'ermastering force, That bears me irresistibly away. I feel the sense of inward struggle strong; But seem to know to struggle were in vain. Then comes the shock, the fearful consciousness, That I am now without material form A spiritual speck aswirl in space; An atom fluttering in the star beams! Then like an arrow darting to its goal Among the shining stars my path is shaped. But, ah, how changed! the Pleiades have lost Not one, but many orbs; Orion stands 42 CHAOS Shorn of his belt and shining sword; Rigel and Betelgeuse are fading fast. The Little Bear and Polar Star whose ray Has guided long poor mortals on their way; Vega, Arcturus and Capella's glow, That once did make night brilliant on old earth, Have sunk into the shadow of the past. The Sailors' Plow, Great Bear, and Southern Cross And all the constellations I have loved, Are crippled remnants of their former selves; And that trite phrase philosophers have wrought About the 'Eternal' stars is proved awry. From star to star in ceaseless round I reel And at each circuit see some orb decay. Yes, one by one the stars recede and die, Or break in countless atoms on my view. CHORUS Disintegration now begins its reign And nothing seems to hold its entity. Cohesion and affinity that kept The molecules and atoms in their place And gave to matter its variety, Its properties and attributes, are dead; And in their place repulsion is the rule. The basic elements are now unloosed, DISINTEGRATION 43 Resolved into their primal form and fly Precipitate to outer realms of space. For gravitation's force has ceased to act And marks the end of nature's cherished laws. SKEPTIC 'Tis thus with matter, what now of the soul If such there is shall it too pass away? So I have thought, and still am doomed to think. It were a shame indeed if those great minds, Whose deeds advanced the welfare of the race; Whose labors lent a halo to their age, Should be resolved at last to nothingness. Eternal justice wakes the pregnant thought, Whate'er the fate of things material, Oblivion shall not claim the human soul. CHORUS Now crash on crash alarms the silent void ; The infinite sphere is rent with shriek and roar No mortal ear could bear the awful din As thunders piled on thunders, far and near, Reverberate and echo from the depths. While lights fantastic gleam on every side ; From merest specks at first, they swelling grow Like trembling rainbows, lace and interlace ; Break into myriad forms and scintillate, Until the double arch of heaven's vault, Vibrates and thrills with weird supernal light. 44 CHAOS Then by degrees the violent glare abates; The varied colors blend and slowly fade. As when the summer's thunder-storm is past, The fitful glow of lightning sweeps the sky ; So now the lightning's flash illumes the closing scene And distant thunders mutter in the void Then all is dark and still. "A peace- dispensing radiance filled the scene." THE SKEPTIC IN CHAOS 45 ACT V THE SKEPTIC IN CHAOS ARGUMENT. Cimmerian darkness realized. No light, no life, no sound. Awakening of the soul, rebellion. Ceaseless motion for long ages through the immeasur- able depths of space. A spirit derelict. Agony and despair. A cry for mercy. Consciousness of other souls' existence. CHORUS Now has arrived the all-enduring night! And in the broad expanse of universe No friendly orb remains to guide the way. Cimmerian darkness is at last conceived; All light, all life, all sound has ceased the universe Is silent, still, throughout its infinite extent A silence deep and awful as eternity. SKEPTIC And I alone am left in the appalling shade The only conscious speck in all the void* The only thing that keeps its entity; The only living atom in the wreck of worlds. 46 CHAOS Up to this moment I endure the pain Of my abandonment with stoic zeal And have not sought to question what I was, Or what my destiny; for soon methought This dream, infliction or whate'er it is, Will doubtless end in everlasting sleep. I seem to thread eternal fastnesses Now falling from tremendous heights I sink Into the dark, the silent dismal depths; Again I rise in flights immeasurable. I strive to rest but find no pillow but The yawning chasm of the frightful void And sink again to depths unfathomable. Now swirled in eddies of some hidden force, To unknown realms by ruthless currents driven- A human phantom doomed to endless life; A spirit derelict in endless space. Hark! strange sounds become articulate; A solemn voice from out the darkness swells: CHORUS Vain man, if thou'rt sufficient for thyself And matter only is thy hope, let it be so, Material is all thou'lt ever know! THE SKEPTIC IN CHAOS 47 SKEPTIC At intervals strange shapes in myriads Of varied hue, self-luminous, athwart The darksome void incontinently sweep ; And as they pass I seem to hear the wail Of human souls in dire agony. Then comes the thought, indefinite and dull But whereat I rebel with conscious shame The wonderful reflection that the soul As well as matter too may well survive ; CHORUS For nothing dies nor deed, nor word, nor thought Although their memory perchance may fade Somewhere, sometime, 'though in some other sphere, There comes from distant long-forgotten shore A whisper rising to sweet melody, Or murmur rumbling into dissonant Deep thunder peal to punish or reward. SKEPTIC And now the consciousness of soul creeps in, Commands my being and asserts itself: 48 CHAOS CHORUS Matter resolved into its elements Or decomposed into its primal state To human eyes is imperceptible. Great though the power of lens to magnify, No eye has e'er discerned the atom's form; Nor yet the shape of larger molecule; Yet in a single atom you aver Electrons swim that taunt your chemistry. 22 What then, O man, is matter that you know But visible forms of things you cannot see? Ye who believe that matter has no end, Why not extend your logic to the soul? Must sense e'er be the test of man's belief? Must he reject his intuition's guide And ever with negation stifle hope? Why drive it out from your Philosophy? Who taught the infant chick to break its shell? Who taught the busy ant its house to build? Who taught the spider weave its wondrous web? And last who taught your first forefathers bend The head in worship of the unknown God? He who ignores the spiritual side within 24 Electrons. The theory is advanced that electrons are the basic constituents of matter that even the Atom is not the last unit into which matter may be reduced; thus tending to confirm the Monistic theory of Haeckel. They are said to have a mass equal to i-iyooth of an atom of Hydrogen. THE SKEPTIC IN CHAOS 49 Is like the worm in egotist content, Too satisfied within his cramped abode To break the shell that keeps him from the world; Not knowing that beyond the fragile wall There is an outer and a greater life. SKEPTIC What sounds are these; which less in words than waves Of thought home-pressing with compelling force, Bore into my being and arouse strange fears? CHORUS A disembodied worm within the shell Of prejudice upbuilt in former life. Alas, the awful truth has dawned too late There can be now no surcease from his fate. SKEPTIC My thoughts run back and mournful I recall The skill and wisdom of an age long past; An age that gained the mastery of matter; That from the dead evolved new life and use, And from the waste the workmen did reject, Reformed and recreated other forms. Might not that Providence, that's said to rule, Perform with souls and immaterial things 5O CHAOS What man has done with things material? Recall the scattered ions from the void And recreate anew the universe? Endow again the indestructible soul With other forms more beautiful incarnate So death and life shall constitute a chain In endless cycles of e'erlasting good? CHORUS Without the stars to mark the flight of time He cannot tell the ages that have passed, Nor yet conceive the ages still to pass Ere he shall be released from his unhappy plight. SKEPTIC With all the boundless stretch of universe At my disposal yet I seem to be A prisoner fast locked to endless motion. CHORUS The dark, the dreadful silence of the void; The cold, unfelt, but notwithstanding known; The sense of misery wrought by consciousness Of inability to rest or sleep; THE SKEPTIC IN CHAOS 51 The fearful lonesomeness of deprivation Of human company, o'ermasters pride; Weighs down his spirit and his tortured soul SKEPTIC Oh, God have mercy! Hear my anguished cry! CHORUS Mark at the word the awful motion ends Sweet music falls upon his famished ears And to his eyes there comes the blessed light ; A peace dispensing radiance fills the scene. And then there comes from out the weary ages, The sound of voices; then the consciousness Of other souls' existence voices that Salute with welcome and a cheerful hail : Rest, rest at last in sweet eternal peace! SKEPTIC (awakens) Who spoke? Am I in Death's embrace or dreaming? Give me some token, Lord, to wake my faculties! The summer breeze across my fevered brow Blows gently, and, before my wearied eyes, The myriad stars, which Westward sink to rest, Flash out their welcome from the deep blue vault. 52 CHAOS The time perchance is near the Midnight hour; The sailor's constellation and Great Bear Have leaped a quarter circuit round the Polar Star. Thank God, I live! have not been dead for ages; But, oh, more blest, the soul aroused within Apprises me that I shall never die. INDEX 53 INDEX (Numbers indicate pages. Notes are indicated by *) Aeronauts 24 ^Eschylus, Persians (Intro- duction) xiii Affinity 42 Agnostic * 8 Ambition 32 Andromeda, Nebula in * . 19 Aristophanes (Introduc- tion) xii Armies 22 Arrow 4 1 Atheist 9 Atoms 13 Aurora 40 Books Bridges 32 30 Canes Venatici, Nebula in * 19 Charity 21 Cimmerian Darkness ... 45 City's Streets 21 Chorus, Greek Drama (In- troduction) xi Christianity 25 Cohesion 4 2 Constellations .... 41. 42 Corruption 23 Courts 34 Creeds 8, 25 Cults 9 Culture 21 Customs 14 Day of Reckoning .... 26 Death . .11 Decadence Deserts Disintegration, Reign of Domestic Strife .... Dreams 24 26 42 23 7 Eschenburg, Professor J. J. (Introduction) . . . . xi Electrons* 48 Elements, Chemical * . . I Elements 42 Empedocles * 2 Epitaphs 36 Euripides * (Intro, xi) . . 8 Factories 21 Faith 8 Fame 33 Fertile Land 26 54 CHAOS Fire Worshippers . Folly Footsteps Forests Forest Preservation * 6 8 30 26 26 Glaciers 28 Glacial Period * 29 Greek Drama (Introduc- tion) xi Haeckel. Ernst II.* . . .48 Heroes 25 History 14 Hydrogen * 3, 18 Immortality (see Soul) Injustice 23 Internal Strife 23 Intolerance 14 Intuitions* 8 Jews 24 Jupiter 15 Justice 34 Kant, Immanuel * . Kipling, Rudyard * 13 Laplace, Pierre Simon . .17 Laws 34 Lawyers 35 Lavoisier * 3 Learning, School of . . . .35 Legislature 33 Light 17 Light-Year * 17 Lightning and Thunder . 44 Luxury 25 Lyra, Nebula in * . . . .19 Magellanic Nebula * . . .17 Man 16, 21 Mars 15 Matter 48 Matter, Mastery of ... 49 Alillennium 32 Milton's Samson Agonistes (Introduction) . . . . xii Molecules 42 Monistic Theory * .... 48 Monuments 36 Moon 15 Morality, legislating * . . 34 Moral Weakness . . . 13,21 Moses 24 Murray, Professor Gilbert (Introduction) . . . . xi Navies 22 Nebulae 16, 17 Nebular Hypothesis * . . 17 Negation 48 . Nitrogen * 4, 18 Novelty 9 Oblivion 43 Orators 34 INDEX 55 Orion, Nebula in * . Oxygen * . 19 3.18 Palisades (on the Hudson) n Passions of the Cave ... 13 Peace 21 Phonograph 12 Phrynichus (Introduction) xii Plague and Famine ... 27 Power and Pelf 32 Preachers 35 Priestley, Dr. Joseph * . . 3 Railroads 12 Reincarnation 50 Ruins 32 Samaritan, Good .... 25 Satellites 5. 18 Saturn 15. 18 Schiaparelli, Giovanni * .15 Scott, Sir Walter (Intro- duction) xii Self-sufficiency 46 Soldiers' Graves 35 Soul . . . 6, 7, 47, 50, 51, 52 Spirit 3i Spectroscope 13 Spencer, Herbert * .... 8 Spiritual Side of Man . .48 Stoic Zeal 46 Stars, Eternal 42 Stars. Orbit of * 37 Steamers 24 Stonehenge * 6 Structures 29 Sun 5 Sun, Death of 41 Sunset it Sun Worship * 6 Swedenborg, Emanuel * . .17 Telephones 12 Ten Commandments ... 24 Twinkling Stars 29 Unchangeability of Man .13 Universe * 18 Universe, End of .... 45 Vega* 38 Venus 14 Venus, Orbit of * .... 15 Vice and Virtue 26 Void 45 War 22 World, End of 39 X-Rays 12 DATE DUE GAYLORD PRINTED IN U.S A. UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACIL TY AA 001 267 502 1