Longfellow's poetical works. Author's complete copyr. ed

How shall I save him? Yet one effort | Maketh himself a King, speaks against

Voices (within the Palace). Put on thy royal robes; put on thy crown, And take thy sceptre! Hail, thou King of the Jews!

Pilate. I bring him forth to you, that may know

I find no fault in him. Behold the man!

Cæsar.

Take him, then,
Take him, ye cruel and bloodthirsty Priests,
More merciless than the plebeian mob,
Who pity and spare the fainting gladiator
Blood-stained in Roman amphitheatres,—
Take him, and crucify him if ye will;
But if the immortal Gods do ever mingle
With the affairs of mortals, which I doubt
not,

And hold the attribute of justice dear, They will commission the Eumenides To scatter you to the four winds of heaven, (CHRISTUS is led in, with the purple robe Exacting tear for tear, and blood for blood. Here, take ye this inscription, Priests, and nail it

and crown of thorns.)

Chief Priests and Officers. Crucify him! Upon the cross, above your victim's head:

crucify him!

Pilate.
Take ye him ;
I find no fault in him.
Chief Priests. We have a Law,
And by our Law he ought to die; because
He made himself to be the Son of God.
Pilate (aside). Ah! there are Sons of
God, and demi-gods

More than ye know, ye ignorant High-
Priests!

(To CHRISTUS.)

Whence art thou?

Chief Priests. Crucify him! crucify him!
Pilate (to Christus). Dost thou not
answer me? Dost thou not know
That I have power enough to crucify thee?
That I have also power to set thee free?
Christus. Thou couldest have no power
at all against me
Except that it were given thee from above;
Therefore hath he that sent me unto thee
The greater sin.

Chief Priests. If thou let this man go,
Thou art not Cæsar's friend. For who-

soever

Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.

Chief Priests. Nay, we entreat! write
not, the King of the Jews;

But that he said: I am the King of the
Jews!

Pilate. Enough. What I have written,
I have written !

Here nor hereafter? That I soon shall know.

Into the darkness of the other world,
As if to bed? Or wherefore was I born,
If thou in thy foreknowledge didst per- O God, have mercy! Christ have mercy
ceive

All that I am, and all that I must be?

on me!

I know I am not generous, am not gentle (Throws himself headlong from the cliff.)
Like other men; but I have tried to be,
And I have failed. I thought by following

Him,

Those feet that wandered homeless through the world

Now crossed and bleeding, and at rest for ever!

And the three faithful Maries, overwhelmed

By this great sorrow, kneeling, praying, weeping!

O Joseph Caiaphas, thou great HighPriest,

How wilt thou answer for this deed of blood?

Scribes and Elders. Thou that destroyest the Temple, and dost build it In three days, save thyself; and if thou be

The Son of God, come down now from the cross.

Chief Priests. Others he saved, himself
he cannot save!

Let Christ the King of Israel descend,
That we may see and believe!

Scribes and Elders. In God he trusted; Let him deliver him, if he will have him, And we will then believe.

But what he said, hath brought him unto this.

I will speak evil of no dignitaries.
This is my hour of triumph, Nazarene !
The Young Ruler. This is the end of
him who said to me:

Sell that thou hast, and give unto the poor! This is the treasure in heaven he promised me!

Christus. Eloi, Eloi, lama sabacthani! A Soldier (preparing the hyssop). He calleth for Elias!

Another. Nay, let be! See if Elias now will come to save him! Christus. I thirst.

A Soldier. Give him the wormwood! Christus (with a loud cry, bowing his head). It is finished!

XI.

THE TWO MARIES.

Mary Magdalene. We have arisen early, yet the sun

O'ertakes us ere we reach the sepulchre, To wrap the body of our blessed Lord With our sweet spices.

Mary, mother of James. Lo, this is the garden,

And yonder is the sepulchre. But who Shall roll away the stone for us to enter? Mary Magdalene. It hath been rolled away! The sepulchre

Is open! Ah, who hath been here before

us,

When we rose early, wishing to be first? Mary, mother of James. I am affrighted! Mary Magdalene. Hush! I will stoop down

And look within. There is a young man sitting

On the right side, clothed in a long white garment!

It is an angel!

The Angel. Fear not; ye are seeking Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified. Why do ye seek the living among the dead? He is no longer here; he is arisen! Come see the place where the Lord lay! Remember

How he spake unto you in Galilee, Saying The Son of Man must be delivered

Into the hands of sinful men; by them
Be crucified, and the third day rise again!
But go your way, and say to his disciples,
He goeth before you into Galilee;
There shall ye see him as he said to you.
Mary, mother of James. I will go swiftly
for them.

Mary Magdalene (alone, weeping). They

have taken

Put forth your strength; we are not far from shore;

The net is heavy, but breaks not. All is safe.

Peter (on the shore). Dear Lord! I heard thy voice and could not wait.

That we were princes, and we wake to Let me behold thy face, and kiss thy feet! find Thou art not dead, thou livest! Again I

We are but fishermen.

Peter.

Fishers of men!

see thee.

Who should have been Pardon, dear Lord! I am a siaful man ; I have denied thee thrice. Have mercy on me!

John. We have come back again To the old life, the peaceful life, among The white towns of the Galilean lake.

Peter. They seem to me like silent sepulchres

In the gray light of morning! The old

life,

Yea, the old life! for we have toiled all

night

And have caught nothing.

John.
Do ve see a man
Standing upon the beach and beckoning?
'Tis like an apparition. He hath kindled
A fire of coals, and seems to wait for us.
He calleth.

Christus (from the shore). Children,
have ye any meat?

Peter. Alas! We have caught nothing.
Christus.
Cast the net
ye shall

On the right side of the ship, and
find

The Others (coming to land). Dear Lord! stay with us! cheer us! comfort us! Lo! we again have found thee! Leave us not!

Christus. Bring hither of the fish that ye have caught,

And come and eat.

The doors and window-blinds, and makes
Mysterious moanings in the halls;
The convent-chimneys seem almost
The trumpets of some heavenly host,
Setting its watch upon our walls!
Where it listeth, there it bloweth ;
We hear the sound, but no man knoweth
Whence it cometh or whither it goeth,
And thus it is with the Holy Ghost.
O breath of God! O my delight
In many a vigil of the night,
Like the great voice in Patmos heard
By John, the Evangelist of the Word,
I hear thee behind me saying: Write
In a book the things that thou hast seen,
The things that are, and that have been,
And the things that shall hereafter be !

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