At Cæsarea soon the Sanhedrim,
By deputy and advocate, appeared
Before the bar of Felix governor,
To implead the prisoner Paul.
By deputy and advocate, appeared
Before the bar of Felix governor,
To implead the prisoner Paul.
The high-priest brought
The weight and dignity of rulership
Supreme among his people, to impress
On Felix fitting sense of the grave cause
Now come before him to be judged. Thin veiled
Beneath the decent fair exterior show
Of only public and judicial aim
And motive in that ruler of the Jews
(The high-priest Ananias), deep there wrought
A leaven of personal vindictiveness
Twofold, sullen resentment of affront,
And, added, that least placable, that worst
Hatred, the hatred toward a brother wronged.
Whom he, from his own judgment-seat—profaned
Thus by his profanation of the law—
Had wantonly commanded to be smitten
Upon the mouth, this outraged man must now
Be proved, forsooth, a wretch unmeet to live.
The weight and dignity of rulership
Supreme among his people, to impress
On Felix fitting sense of the grave cause
Now come before him to be judged. Thin veiled
Beneath the decent fair exterior show
Of only public and judicial aim
And motive in that ruler of the Jews
(The high-priest Ananias), deep there wrought
A leaven of personal vindictiveness
Twofold, sullen resentment of affront,
And, added, that least placable, that worst
Hatred, the hatred toward a brother wronged.
Whom he, from his own judgment-seat—profaned
Thus by his profanation of the law—
Had wantonly commanded to be smitten
Upon the mouth, this outraged man must now
Be proved, forsooth, a wretch unmeet to live.
But Shimei, as prime mover, was left, too,
To be prime manager, of all. Far less
Festive, than his old wont, in exercise
Of that exhaustless wit his own in wile,
Serious he now, yea even to sadness, seemed.
To be prime manager, of all. Far less
Festive, than his old wont, in exercise
Of that exhaustless wit his own in wile,
Serious he now, yea even to sadness, seemed.
And reason was. For Claudius Lysias
Had summoned him to presence in the fort;
And there, hap not to have been imagined, he,
Besides the haughty Roman chief, had met
Another face more welcome scarce than his.
Had summoned him to presence in the fort;
And there, hap not to have been imagined, he,
Besides the haughty Roman chief, had met
Another face more welcome scarce than his.
Young Stephen's purpose, not revealed, had been
To move some action against Shimei.
This gentle Hebrew youth inherited
Large measure of the wilful spirit high
That in the blood of all his kindred ran.
Of his own motion he, without advice,
Nay, headstrong, in the teeth of thwart advice,
Which, though he sought it not, he full well felt
In current counter to his wish—self-moved
Thus, and self-willed, Paul's nephew had resolved
To try what might to him be possible—
By putting in the place of the accused
Instead of the accuser's, that base man,
His uncle's foe—to free his uncle's state,
Once and for all, from danger and annoy
Due to the restless hate of Shimei.
The friendly chiliarch was his first resort.
To move some action against Shimei.
This gentle Hebrew youth inherited
Large measure of the wilful spirit high
That in the blood of all his kindred ran.
Of his own motion he, without advice,
Nay, headstrong, in the teeth of thwart advice,
Which, though he sought it not, he full well felt
In current counter to his wish—self-moved
Thus, and self-willed, Paul's nephew had resolved
To try what might to him be possible—
By putting in the place of the accused
Instead of the accuser's, that base man,
His uncle's foe—to free his uncle's state,
Once and for all, from danger and annoy
Due to the restless hate of Shimei.
The friendly chiliarch was his first resort.
In one swift glance, which more was of the mind
Itself, perceiving as it were without
Organ, than of the eye with which it saw,
Stephen that night, upon the point of time
When Shimei was arrested and brought in,
A glimpse had caught of two receding forms
Of men upon the street, flying as seemed;
Whom instantly he knew to be the same
With that pair of conspirators to slay,
Whose whispers had revealed their plot to him:
These were the stout young fellows Shimei set
To lie in wait for the escaping Paul.
The moment they beheld their master seized,
They quickly had betaken them to flight;
But Stephen's mind flew faster than their feet,
And with intangible tether had them bound.
This his new observation of the twain
Made him secure of recognizing them
Whenever or wherever seen again.
With so much clue as this, no more, in hand,
To guide him in the quest of testimony
That might his crimes bring home to Shimei—
Supposed still safe in keeping at the fort—
Stephen his audience with the chiliarch sought.
Itself, perceiving as it were without
Organ, than of the eye with which it saw,
Stephen that night, upon the point of time
When Shimei was arrested and brought in,
A glimpse had caught of two receding forms
Of men upon the street, flying as seemed;
Whom instantly he knew to be the same
With that pair of conspirators to slay,
Whose whispers had revealed their plot to him:
These were the stout young fellows Shimei set
To lie in wait for the escaping Paul.
The moment they beheld their master seized,
They quickly had betaken them to flight;
But Stephen's mind flew faster than their feet,
And with intangible tether had them bound.
This his new observation of the twain
Made him secure of recognizing them
Whenever or wherever seen again.
With so much clue as this, no more, in hand,
To guide him in the quest of testimony
That might his crimes bring home to Shimei—
Supposed still safe in keeping at the fort—
Stephen his audience with the chiliarch sought.
The bright hope that he brought in coming, sprung
From grateful recollection of the grace
He found, that morning, in the Roman's eyes,
Was promptly damped to deep dejection now.
The chiliarch met him with a cold and sour
Severity of aspect that repelled,
Beyond the youth's capacity—unbuoyed,
For this occasion, with approving sense
Of well-advised attempt at least, if vain—
To front it with unruffled brow. Abashed
He stood, confused; the blood rushed to his face;
His tongue clung to his mouth's roof; and in all
He less looked like that youthful innocence
Which won the Roman so in his soft mood,
Than like the conscious guilt, uncovered now,
In Shimei's slant insinuation shown.
The chiliarch by reaction was relapsed
Into his sternest temper of disdain
Embittered by suspicious cynicism;
Apt sequel of the interview prolonged
With Shimei, and the final passionate
Ejection of that Hebrew from the fort.
He now awaiting Shimei, summoned back
Once more, to be to Cæsarea sent,
Here was that Stephen—despicable he
Too, doubtless, like his despicable race!
Such was the prompt involuntary set,
Inhospitable, of the chiliarch's thought,
For welcome of the youth before him there.
From grateful recollection of the grace
He found, that morning, in the Roman's eyes,
Was promptly damped to deep dejection now.
The chiliarch met him with a cold and sour
Severity of aspect that repelled,
Beyond the youth's capacity—unbuoyed,
For this occasion, with approving sense
Of well-advised attempt at least, if vain—
To front it with unruffled brow. Abashed
He stood, confused; the blood rushed to his face;
His tongue clung to his mouth's roof; and in all
He less looked like that youthful innocence
Which won the Roman so in his soft mood,
Than like the conscious guilt, uncovered now,
In Shimei's slant insinuation shown.
The chiliarch by reaction was relapsed
Into his sternest temper of disdain
Embittered by suspicious cynicism;
Apt sequel of the interview prolonged
With Shimei, and the final passionate
Ejection of that Hebrew from the fort.
He now awaiting Shimei, summoned back
Once more, to be to Cæsarea sent,
Here was that Stephen—despicable he
Too, doubtless, like his despicable race!
Such was the prompt involuntary set,
Inhospitable, of the chiliarch's thought,
For welcome of the youth before him there.
To Stephen's stammering words about those men,
And how they might be made to testify
Of Shimei's desperate plot to murder Paul,
Thus bringing Shimei to deservéd doom,
The Roman tartly said: "Aye, aye, young sir,
I think it like, seems altogether like.
You Jews could, all of you, I doubt not, swear
Of one another, brethren as ye be,
Things damnable enough to crucify
Ye all, and, what is more, for just that once,
Swear true! But thanks, lad, I have had my fill
At present of these proffered services."
And how they might be made to testify
Of Shimei's desperate plot to murder Paul,
Thus bringing Shimei to deservéd doom,
The Roman tartly said: "Aye, aye, young sir,
I think it like, seems altogether like.
You Jews could, all of you, I doubt not, swear
Of one another, brethren as ye be,
Things damnable enough to crucify
Ye all, and, what is more, for just that once,
Swear true! But thanks, lad, I have had my fill
At present of these proffered services."
The manner was dismissory, more even
Than were the words, and Stephen bowed to go.
But his own manner in thus bowing changed,
Although he spoke not, to such dignity,
Recovered from his discomposure late,
So instantly recovered, and so pure—
Adulterate in no trace with hardihood—
A dignity comportable with youth,
While eloquent of virtue and high mind,
And, like a robe, so beautifully worn
Over a person and a gesture fair,
That Claudius Lysias, cynic as he was
That moment, seeing could not but admire.
Than were the words, and Stephen bowed to go.
But his own manner in thus bowing changed,
Although he spoke not, to such dignity,
Recovered from his discomposure late,
So instantly recovered, and so pure—
Adulterate in no trace with hardihood—
A dignity comportable with youth,
While eloquent of virtue and high mind,
And, like a robe, so beautifully worn
Over a person and a gesture fair,
That Claudius Lysias, cynic as he was
That moment, seeing could not but admire.
He, on the point to bid the youth remain,
Wavering, not quite persuaded,—at the door,
Bowing his different bow, stood Shimei;
That sight and contrast fixed his wavering mind.
"Stay thou, my lad," abruptly he exclaimed—
Wherewith another fall the countenance fell
Of Shimei, cringing, to his footsteps glued.
"Look ye on one another, ye two Jews,"
The chiliarch in a sudden humor said;
"I have a fancy I should like to see
How two reciprocal accusers such
As you are, rogues both—though one young, one old,
In roguery—if your mutual witness hold—
I say, the fancy takes me to observe
How two accusers of each other, like
Yourselves, confronted in close quarters thus,
Will severally enjoy each other's stare."
Wavering, not quite persuaded,—at the door,
Bowing his different bow, stood Shimei;
That sight and contrast fixed his wavering mind.
"Stay thou, my lad," abruptly he exclaimed—
Wherewith another fall the countenance fell
Of Shimei, cringing, to his footsteps glued.
"Look ye on one another, ye two Jews,"
The chiliarch in a sudden humor said;
"I have a fancy I should like to see
How two reciprocal accusers such
As you are, rogues both—though one young, one old,
In roguery—if your mutual witness hold—
I say, the fancy takes me to observe
How two accusers of each other, like
Yourselves, confronted in close quarters thus,
Will severally enjoy each other's stare."
An indescribable something in the tone
Of Claudius Lysias speaking thus, or look
Perhaps, couched in the eye or on the face
Playing, signified clear to Shimei
That the same words were differently meant
To Stephen and to him; spoken to him
In earnest, in but pleasantry to Stephen.
Stephen's high air, in proud sense of his worth
Wronged by misdoubt, had Shimei led astray.
He saw it as a sign of prosperous suit—
Doubtless against himself—just finished there.
Already tuned to fear, his conscious mind,
Quite disconcerted by this fresh surprise
Of some detection that he could not guess,
Suddenly wrote abroad on all his mien
A patent full conviction of himself.
As more and more his heart misgave him, worse
Ever and worse his brow was discomposed.
Of Claudius Lysias speaking thus, or look
Perhaps, couched in the eye or on the face
Playing, signified clear to Shimei
That the same words were differently meant
To Stephen and to him; spoken to him
In earnest, in but pleasantry to Stephen.
Stephen's high air, in proud sense of his worth
Wronged by misdoubt, had Shimei led astray.
He saw it as a sign of prosperous suit—
Doubtless against himself—just finished there.
Already tuned to fear, his conscious mind,
Quite disconcerted by this fresh surprise
Of some detection that he could not guess,
Suddenly wrote abroad on all his mien
A patent full conviction of himself.
As more and more his heart misgave him, worse
Ever and worse his brow was discomposed.
The lively opposite of Shimei's change
Was meantime making Stephen's face more fair.
He, at the chiliarch's mating of himself
With Shimei, though in veriest raillery meant,
Felt all the soul of manliness in him
Stung to its most resistant; as he turned,
Obedient to the chiliarch's word, and looked
At Shimei, such transfigurement there passed
Upon him that he stood there glorified.
An infinite repellence seemed to ray
From out his eyes, and put impassable
Remove between him and that other, while
Ascendance, as peculiar to a race
And rank of being wholly different,
Endued him, like a natural right to reign.
Such kingly to such servile seen opposed,
Surprised the chiliarch into altered mood.
"Enough," said he; and, writing while those stayed,
He gave to Shimei what he wrote to read.
It was a letter Shimei should himself
Convey to Felix governor; it ran:
"Who brings this is a rascal, as I judge;
He comes to accuse the Jewish prisoner Paul.
Detain him, if thee please, to see the end;
The end should be perhaps a cross for him!"
Wincing, the miscreant read; he, reading, felt
Draw, from Rome's hand, the coil about his neck.
Choking for speech, he, ere he found it, heard
The chiliarch say, with voice hard like a flint:
"Thou hast thine errand; tarry not, but go.
Nay, bide a moment; let the youngster see
What message I have given thee to bear;
Then, if so chance thou lose it on the way,
He can supply thy lack of carefulness!"
Was meantime making Stephen's face more fair.
He, at the chiliarch's mating of himself
With Shimei, though in veriest raillery meant,
Felt all the soul of manliness in him
Stung to its most resistant; as he turned,
Obedient to the chiliarch's word, and looked
At Shimei, such transfigurement there passed
Upon him that he stood there glorified.
An infinite repellence seemed to ray
From out his eyes, and put impassable
Remove between him and that other, while
Ascendance, as peculiar to a race
And rank of being wholly different,
Endued him, like a natural right to reign.
Such kingly to such servile seen opposed,
Surprised the chiliarch into altered mood.
"Enough," said he; and, writing while those stayed,
He gave to Shimei what he wrote to read.
It was a letter Shimei should himself
Convey to Felix governor; it ran:
"Who brings this is a rascal, as I judge;
He comes to accuse the Jewish prisoner Paul.
Detain him, if thee please, to see the end;
The end should be perhaps a cross for him!"
Wincing, the miscreant read; he, reading, felt
Draw, from Rome's hand, the coil about his neck.
Choking for speech, he, ere he found it, heard
The chiliarch say, with voice hard like a flint:
"Thou hast thine errand; tarry not, but go.
Nay, bide a moment; let the youngster see
What message I have given thee to bear;
Then, if so chance thou lose it on the way,
He can supply thy lack of carefulness!"
His air that of the miser who, compelled,
Gives up gold hoarded, like his own heart's blood,
Shimei, with griping pangs, in sick recoil
Of grudging overmastered to submit,
Yielded, as if he were withholding it,
The hateful letter into Stephen's hand.
Stephen, as one not daring otherwise,
Deigned a reluctant look, that, seeking not,
Yet seized, the sense of that which Shimei showed;
Softened, he gave the parchment back to him.
Gives up gold hoarded, like his own heart's blood,
Shimei, with griping pangs, in sick recoil
Of grudging overmastered to submit,
Yielded, as if he were withholding it,
The hateful letter into Stephen's hand.
Stephen, as one not daring otherwise,
Deigned a reluctant look, that, seeking not,
Yet seized, the sense of that which Shimei showed;
Softened, he gave the parchment back to him.
Prodded with such oblique sarcastic spur
To heed of sinister commission such,
Shimei withdrew, a miserable man.
To heed of sinister commission such,
Shimei withdrew, a miserable man.
The chiliarch then to Stephen—who, at once
Pity of Shimei's utter wretchedness,
Shame of his utter abjectness, conceived—
Said, with changed tone: "My lad, I think thee true;
That miscreant vexed me into petulance.
Thou hast not altogether missed thy mark
In coming hither now, although I thus
Seem to let Shimei for the present slip.
Follow him, if thou wilt, to Cæsarea.
With letter of Bellerophon in charge,
He carries his own sentence thither hence;
Watch it—if slow in execution, sure!"
Pity of Shimei's utter wretchedness,
Shame of his utter abjectness, conceived—
Said, with changed tone: "My lad, I think thee true;
That miscreant vexed me into petulance.
Thou hast not altogether missed thy mark
In coming hither now, although I thus
Seem to let Shimei for the present slip.
Follow him, if thou wilt, to Cæsarea.
With letter of Bellerophon in charge,
He carries his own sentence thither hence;
Watch it—if slow in execution, sure!"
Forth from the hour when Shimei, so dismissed,
Shrank out of presence at Antonia
Collapsed in spirit as in mien and port,
He to the end was seen an altered man.
Dejected, absent, like a criminal
Convicted of his crime, sentenced to die,
Though day of death unfixed, imprisoned not,
Nay, moving, as if free, about the world,
To view not different from his fellow-men,
Yet with a sense forever haunting him
Of doom uncertainly suspended still
Above him, that at any moment might
In avalanche descend upon his head—
So he lived joyless, the elastic spring
Broken that buoyed him to his wickedness.
But loth he had to Cæsarea gone,
Where, with wry looks and deprecation vain,
He gave the letter to the governor;
Had he, to ease his case, dared fail the trust,
The failure would have failed his case to ease,
Nay, rather, would have harder made his case,
Since Stephen could report what he did not,
And could besides report his negligence.
But Shimei dared not fail; he knew offence,
Added, of disobedience, would but draw
Speedier the dreaded danger ruining down.
Shrank out of presence at Antonia
Collapsed in spirit as in mien and port,
He to the end was seen an altered man.
Dejected, absent, like a criminal
Convicted of his crime, sentenced to die,
Though day of death unfixed, imprisoned not,
Nay, moving, as if free, about the world,
To view not different from his fellow-men,
Yet with a sense forever haunting him
Of doom uncertainly suspended still
Above him, that at any moment might
In avalanche descend upon his head—
So he lived joyless, the elastic spring
Broken that buoyed him to his wickedness.
But loth he had to Cæsarea gone,
Where, with wry looks and deprecation vain,
He gave the letter to the governor;
Had he, to ease his case, dared fail the trust,
The failure would have failed his case to ease,
Nay, rather, would have harder made his case,
Since Stephen could report what he did not,
And could besides report his negligence.
But Shimei dared not fail; he knew offence,
Added, of disobedience, would but draw
Speedier the dreaded danger ruining down.
Joy is to some a spring of energy,
Which failing, all their force for action fails—
They having in themselves no virtue proof
Against the palsying touch ill fortune brings;
Of such was Shimei. In his broken state,
His measures he took feebly, without hope.
The wish—which with the expectation joined
Would have made hope—yea, even the very wish,
That life and strength of hope, was well-nigh dead
In him; for he no longer now desired
The thing he wrought for still, under constraint
Of habit, and that strange necessity
Which sense of many eyes upon him fixed
To watch him working the familiar wont
Of Shimei, bred within this wretched man,
Forcing him like a fate.
Which failing, all their force for action fails—
They having in themselves no virtue proof
Against the palsying touch ill fortune brings;
Of such was Shimei. In his broken state,
His measures he took feebly, without hope.
The wish—which with the expectation joined
Would have made hope—yea, even the very wish,
That life and strength of hope, was well-nigh dead
In him; for he no longer now desired
The thing he wrought for still, under constraint
Of habit, and that strange necessity
Which sense of many eyes upon him fixed
To watch him working the familiar wont
Of Shimei, bred within this wretched man,
Forcing him like a fate.
Fit tool he found
In one Tertullus—hireling Roman tongue,
Or function mere, not organ—who, for price,
Spoke customary things accusing Paul
To Felix, for the Jews; these joined their voice
In sanction of the truth of what he said.
But Paul denying their base charges all,
Denying and defying to the proof,
The governor postponed them for a time.
Paul he remanded into custody,
But bade with courteous ways distinguish him;
Whereof the secret cause was, not a sense
In Felix of the righteousness of Paul,
With therefore sweet magnanimous desire
To grace him what in loyalty he could—
Of no such height was Felix capable—
The cause none other was than Shimei;
Who Paul however served not, but himself.
In one Tertullus—hireling Roman tongue,
Or function mere, not organ—who, for price,
Spoke customary things accusing Paul
To Felix, for the Jews; these joined their voice
In sanction of the truth of what he said.
But Paul denying their base charges all,
Denying and defying to the proof,
The governor postponed them for a time.
Paul he remanded into custody,
But bade with courteous ways distinguish him;
Whereof the secret cause was, not a sense
In Felix of the righteousness of Paul,
With therefore sweet magnanimous desire
To grace him what in loyalty he could—
Of no such height was Felix capable—
The cause none other was than Shimei;
Who Paul however served not, but himself.
For Shimei dreaded what he seemed to seek,
The sentence "Guilty," at the judgment-bar
Of Felix on this prisoner Paul pronounced;
Dreaded it, lest appeal therefrom be claimed
By Paul to the imperial ear at Rome.
He himself, Shimei, then might be compelled
To go likewise the same unwelcome way,
Though witness and accuser only named,
Yet labelled target for suspicious eyes,
Where eyes suspicious oft portended doom.
So he to Felix—less with words than signs,
Mysterious looks and reticences deep,
As of a man who could, if but he would,
And were it wise, tell much that, left untold,
Might well be guessed from things kept back, yet thus,
And thus, and thus (in Shimei's pantomime)
Winked with the eye and with the shoulder shrugged—
Hint signalled that there hid a gold mine here,
For who, with power like his, conjoined the skill
To make it yield its treasure to demand;
This Paul had wealthy friends who gladly would
Buy at large price indulgences for him.
Let Felix hold out hopes, deferring still,
Suffer his friends to come and visit Paul,
Give hearings to his case, but naught decide,
Weary him out, and them, with long delays—
Till a realm's ransom woo his clutch at last.
The sentence "Guilty," at the judgment-bar
Of Felix on this prisoner Paul pronounced;
Dreaded it, lest appeal therefrom be claimed
By Paul to the imperial ear at Rome.
He himself, Shimei, then might be compelled
To go likewise the same unwelcome way,
Though witness and accuser only named,
Yet labelled target for suspicious eyes,
Where eyes suspicious oft portended doom.
So he to Felix—less with words than signs,
Mysterious looks and reticences deep,
As of a man who could, if but he would,
And were it wise, tell much that, left untold,
Might well be guessed from things kept back, yet thus,
And thus, and thus (in Shimei's pantomime)
Winked with the eye and with the shoulder shrugged—
Hint signalled that there hid a gold mine here,
For who, with power like his, conjoined the skill
To make it yield its treasure to demand;
This Paul had wealthy friends who gladly would
Buy at large price indulgences for him.
Let Felix hold out hopes, deferring still,
Suffer his friends to come and visit Paul,
Give hearings to his case, but naught decide,
Weary him out, and them, with long delays—
Till a realm's ransom woo his clutch at last.
Now Shimei thus consummately contrived;
For Felix was a mercenary soul,
Who governed in the spirit of a slave.
He, therefore, doubting not that Shimei
(Confessed the player of a double part,
Pander to him, accuser for the Jews)
Was all the rascal that the chiliarch guessed,
Yet deemed he saw his profit in the man.
He could use Shimei to his own behoof,
In winning what he coveted from Paul;
Meantime remitting not his hold on him
For final expiation of his crimes.
The two, well fitted to each other, thus
Played each his several sordid game with each,
And neither by the other was deceived,
Both equally incapable of trust,
As equally unworthy to be trusted—
Until, two years accomplished, Felix fell
From power at Cæsarea; when, his greed
Long disappointed of its glut of gain
From Paul, he left him there in prison. He hoped
The dreaded accusation of the Jews
For his abuse of power, surpassing bound,
Might less fierce follow him to Rome, should he,
By that injustice added, in their eyes
His thousands of injustices atone.
For Felix was a mercenary soul,
Who governed in the spirit of a slave.
He, therefore, doubting not that Shimei
(Confessed the player of a double part,
Pander to him, accuser for the Jews)
Was all the rascal that the chiliarch guessed,
Yet deemed he saw his profit in the man.
He could use Shimei to his own behoof,
In winning what he coveted from Paul;
Meantime remitting not his hold on him
For final expiation of his crimes.
The two, well fitted to each other, thus
Played each his several sordid game with each,
And neither by the other was deceived,
Both equally incapable of trust,
As equally unworthy to be trusted—
Until, two years accomplished, Felix fell
From power at Cæsarea; when, his greed
Long disappointed of its glut of gain
From Paul, he left him there in prison. He hoped
The dreaded accusation of the Jews
For his abuse of power, surpassing bound,
Might less fierce follow him to Rome, should he,
By that injustice added, in their eyes
His thousands of injustices atone.
Moreover Felix hated Paul, as hates
The upbraided ever his upbraider, when,
The conscience yielding, yet the will withstands.
For, during the imprisonment of Paul,
And that prolonged delay of trial due
Him, this base freedman—basely raised to be
A ruler—as a pleasure to his wife,
Devised a feast of eloquence for her.
She was a Jewess, beautiful as vile,
And as in beauty brilliant, so in wit;
She would enjoy it, like a spectacle,
To sit, in emulated state, a queen
Beside her husband in his judgment-hall,
And there, at ease reclined, her lord's delight,
In her resplendent and voluptuous bloom,
Disport herself at leisure, eye and ear
Tasting their satisfaction to the full,
To see and hear her famous countryman
Expound his doctrine and defend his cause.
Not often, in his rude Judæan seat
Of government in banishment, could he
Proffer the stately partner of his throne
An equal hope of entertainment rare.
The upbraided ever his upbraider, when,
The conscience yielding, yet the will withstands.
For, during the imprisonment of Paul,
And that prolonged delay of trial due
Him, this base freedman—basely raised to be
A ruler—as a pleasure to his wife,
Devised a feast of eloquence for her.
She was a Jewess, beautiful as vile,
And as in beauty brilliant, so in wit;
She would enjoy it, like a spectacle,
To sit, in emulated state, a queen
Beside her husband in his judgment-hall,
And there, at ease reclined, her lord's delight,
In her resplendent and voluptuous bloom,
Disport herself at leisure, eye and ear
Tasting their satisfaction to the full,
To see and hear her famous countryman
Expound his doctrine and defend his cause.
Not often, in his rude Judæan seat
Of government in banishment, could he
Proffer the stately partner of his throne
An equal hope of entertainment rare.
So, royal in their pomp of progress, came,
One day, the lustful Felix with his bride,
Adulterous Drusilla, guilty pair!
And, on his throne of judgment seating him,
Bade Paul before them, in his prisoner's chain,
To burn the splendors of his oratory
In pleading for the faith of Jesus Christ—
Fresh pastime to the cloyed and jaded sense
For pleasure those voluptuaries brought!
Uncalculated thrills, not of delight,
That lawless Roman ruler had purveyed
Himself, to chase each other in their chill
Procession through the currents of his blood,
And, shuddering, shoot along his nerves, and freeze
His marrow!—conscience in him her last sign
Making perhaps that day.
One day, the lustful Felix with his bride,
Adulterous Drusilla, guilty pair!
And, on his throne of judgment seating him,
Bade Paul before them, in his prisoner's chain,
To burn the splendors of his oratory
In pleading for the faith of Jesus Christ—
Fresh pastime to the cloyed and jaded sense
For pleasure those voluptuaries brought!
Uncalculated thrills, not of delight,
That lawless Roman ruler had purveyed
Himself, to chase each other in their chill
Procession through the currents of his blood,
And, shuddering, shoot along his nerves, and freeze
His marrow!—conscience in him her last sign
Making perhaps that day.
But will he heed?
Or will the terrors of the world to come
Vainly appal him with the eternal fear?
Or will the terrors of the world to come
Vainly appal him with the eternal fear?
BOOK VI.
PAUL BEFORE FELIX.
Paul discourses solemnly before Felix and his queen Drusilla, treating the topics of righteousness, self-control, and impending judgment. The effect is to make Felix show visible signs of discomposure on his judgment-seat. Drusilla, apprehensive of consequences disastrous to herself from her wicked husband's awakened remorse and fear, invokes the intervention of Simon, that Cyprian Jewish sorcerer who had at first been instrumental in bringing the guilty pair together. Simon plays upon the superstition of Felix with his pretended magic arts.
PAUL BEFORE FELIX.
The power of the Most High, descending, fell
On Paul, as, led of soldiers, he came in,
Bound, at the mercy of the governor,
And took his station in that presence proud.
At once, but without observation, changed
Became the parts of Felix and of Paul.
Paul, from a prisoner of Felix, now
To Felix was as captor and as judge;
And Felix was as prisoner, bound, to Paul.
On Paul, as, led of soldiers, he came in,
Bound, at the mercy of the governor,
And took his station in that presence proud.
At once, but without observation, changed
Became the parts of Felix and of Paul.
Paul, from a prisoner of Felix, now
To Felix was as captor and as judge;
And Felix was as prisoner, bound, to Paul.
Paul his right hand in manacles stretched forth,
As if it were a scepter that he swayed,
And said: "Most excellent lord Felix, hear,
And thou, Drusilla, unto Felix spouse!
Obedient, at thy bidding, I am come
To make thee know the faith in Jesus Christ,
And wherefore I obey it, and proclaim.
Know, then, that Jesus, He of Nazareth,
The Crucified of Calvary, is Christ,
The Christ of that Jehovah God Most High
Who by His word created heaven and earth,
And Him anointed to be Lord of all.
God was incarnate in Him here on earth,
To reconcile the world unto Himself;
And I beseech men—I, ambassador
From Him, as if the Lord God did by me
Beseech—beseeching them, 'Be reconciled
To God.'
As if it were a scepter that he swayed,
And said: "Most excellent lord Felix, hear,
And thou, Drusilla, unto Felix spouse!
Obedient, at thy bidding, I am come
To make thee know the faith in Jesus Christ,
And wherefore I obey it, and proclaim.
Know, then, that Jesus, He of Nazareth,
The Crucified of Calvary, is Christ,
The Christ of that Jehovah God Most High
Who by His word created heaven and earth,
And Him anointed to be Lord of all.
God was incarnate in Him here on earth,
To reconcile the world unto Himself;
And I beseech men—I, ambassador
From Him, as if the Lord God did by me
Beseech—beseeching them, 'Be reconciled
To God.'
"For all men everywhere are found
By wicked works God's enemies; on all,
God's wrath, weight insupportable, abides;
A message this, that down from heaven He brought,
That Christ of God, that Savior of the world.
But His atonement lifts the load of wrath,
Which down toward hell the sinking spirit weighed,
Lifts, nay, transmutes it to a might of love,
Which bears the spirit soaring up to heaven.
'Believe in Jesus, and be reconciled
To God'; that is the gospel which I preach.
Obey my gospel, and be saved—rebel,
And pray the mountains to fall down on thee
To hide thee from the wrath of God, and hide
Thee from the wrath, more dreadful, of the Lamb.
For Lamb was Jesus, when on Calvary
In sacrifice for sin He died; but when,
Resurgent from the tomb, above all height
Into the heaven of heavens He rose, and sat
On the right hand of glory and of power
With God, then the Lamb slain from far before
The world was founded, by His blood our guilt
To purge, as capable of wrath became,
As He before was capable of love.
He burns against unrighteousness, in flame
Which, kindling on the wicked, them devours.
There is no quenching of that fearful flame,
As ending none is there of what it burns;
The victim lives immortally, to feed
The immortal hunger of that vengeful flame.
It swifter than the living lightning flies,
To fasten on its victim in his flight;
No refuge is there in the universe
For fugitive from it. Thou, Felix, knowest
No hider can elude the ranging eyes,
No runner can outrun the wingéd feet,
No striver can resist the griping hands,
That to the emperor of the world belong;
Whom Cæsar wishes, Cæsar has for prey."
By wicked works God's enemies; on all,
God's wrath, weight insupportable, abides;
A message this, that down from heaven He brought,
That Christ of God, that Savior of the world.
But His atonement lifts the load of wrath,
Which down toward hell the sinking spirit weighed,
Lifts, nay, transmutes it to a might of love,
Which bears the spirit soaring up to heaven.
'Believe in Jesus, and be reconciled
To God'; that is the gospel which I preach.
Obey my gospel, and be saved—rebel,
And pray the mountains to fall down on thee
To hide thee from the wrath of God, and hide
Thee from the wrath, more dreadful, of the Lamb.
For Lamb was Jesus, when on Calvary
In sacrifice for sin He died; but when,
Resurgent from the tomb, above all height
Into the heaven of heavens He rose, and sat
On the right hand of glory and of power
With God, then the Lamb slain from far before
The world was founded, by His blood our guilt
To purge, as capable of wrath became,
As He before was capable of love.
He burns against unrighteousness, in flame
Which, kindling on the wicked, them devours.
There is no quenching of that fearful flame,
As ending none is there of what it burns;
The victim lives immortally, to feed
The immortal hunger of that vengeful flame.
It swifter than the living lightning flies,
To fasten on its victim in his flight;
No refuge is there in the universe
For fugitive from it. Thou, Felix, knowest
No hider can elude the ranging eyes,
No runner can outrun the wingéd feet,
No striver can resist the griping hands,
That to the emperor of the world belong;
Whom Cæsar wishes, Cæsar has for prey."
Paul fixed his gaze point-blank on Felix while
These things he said, not as with personal aim—
Which might have been resented, being such,
Resented, and thereby avoided quite—
Rather as if, through body, he beheld
His hearer's soul, and set it with his eyes
Far forward into the eternal world,
And there saw the fierce flame he spoke of, fast
Adhering or inhering, burn that soul,
With burning unescapable by flight
Or refuge through the universe of God.
Paul's vision was so vivid that his eyes
Imprinted what he saw upon the soul
Of Felix, that almost he saw it too.
He stared and listened, with that thought intense
Wherewith sometimes the overmastering mind
Will blind the eyesight and the hearing blur.
These things he said, not as with personal aim—
Which might have been resented, being such,
Resented, and thereby avoided quite—
Rather as if, through body, he beheld
His hearer's soul, and set it with his eyes
Far forward into the eternal world,
And there saw the fierce flame he spoke of, fast
Adhering or inhering, burn that soul,
With burning unescapable by flight
Or refuge through the universe of God.
Paul's vision was so vivid that his eyes
Imprinted what he saw upon the soul
Of Felix, that almost he saw it too.
He stared and listened, with that thought intense
Wherewith sometimes the overmastering mind
Will blind the eyesight and the hearing blur.
A sense of insecurity in power,
Bred in him by his consciousness of crime,
With dread, too, of the moment, then perhaps
Already nigh! when that omnipotence,
That omnipresence, that omniscience, Rome's,
Might beset him, to cut him off from hope—
This feeling blindly wrought the while beneath,
Like struggling earthquake, to unsettle him;
Thus weakened, half unconsciously, his will
Fell childlike-helpless in the power of Paul.
Now fear hath torment, and to Felix, prey
Of fear with torment, Paul still added fear;
Perhaps his fear intolerable grown
Might save the sufferer from the thing he feared!
Paul further said: "O Felix, Cæsar's sway
Over this world, inevitable thus,
Subduing all, is yet but image pale
Of the supreme dominion absolute
Which to Christ Jesus in the heaven belongs.
The captives of the emperor need but wait
Patient a while and sure release arrives;
Since death at least, to all, or soon or late,
Comes, one escape at last from Cæsar's power,
Who owns no empire in that world beyond.
But of that world beyond, no end, no bound,
Whither we all must flee in fleeing hence,
Still the Lord Christ abides eternal King;
Death is but door to realm of His more wide.
Here, the sheathed sword of His avenging ire
Will sometimes touch, undrawn, with blunted edge,
The wincing conscience of the wicked man
That knows himself a criminal unjudged.
Those touches are the mercy of the Lord
That would betimes the guilty soul alarm;
Those pains of conscience are the smouldering fires
Which, quenched not now in sin-atoning blood,
Will, blown to fury, by and by burst forth,
And, fuelled of the substance of the soul,
That cannot moult its immortality,
One inextinguishable vengeance burn.
Bred in him by his consciousness of crime,
With dread, too, of the moment, then perhaps
Already nigh! when that omnipotence,
That omnipresence, that omniscience, Rome's,
Might beset him, to cut him off from hope—
This feeling blindly wrought the while beneath,
Like struggling earthquake, to unsettle him;
Thus weakened, half unconsciously, his will
Fell childlike-helpless in the power of Paul.
Now fear hath torment, and to Felix, prey
Of fear with torment, Paul still added fear;
Perhaps his fear intolerable grown
Might save the sufferer from the thing he feared!
Paul further said: "O Felix, Cæsar's sway
Over this world, inevitable thus,
Subduing all, is yet but image pale
Of the supreme dominion absolute
Which to Christ Jesus in the heaven belongs.
The captives of the emperor need but wait
Patient a while and sure release arrives;
Since death at least, to all, or soon or late,
Comes, one escape at last from Cæsar's power,
Who owns no empire in that world beyond.
But of that world beyond, no end, no bound,
Whither we all must flee in fleeing hence,
Still the Lord Christ abides eternal King;
Death is but door to realm of His more wide.
Here, the sheathed sword of His avenging ire
Will sometimes touch, undrawn, with blunted edge,
The wincing conscience of the wicked man
That knows himself a criminal unjudged.
Those touches are the mercy of the Lord
That would betimes the guilty soul alarm;
Those pains of conscience are the smouldering fires
Which, quenched not now in sin-atoning blood,
Will, blown to fury, by and by burst forth,
And, fuelled of the substance of the soul,
That cannot moult its immortality,
One inextinguishable vengeance burn.
"'Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings, be ye
Instructed, judges of the earth;' so God
Cries in our Scriptures in the ears of men.
'Kiss ye the Son,' He says, 'in homage kiss
The Son of Mine anointing, Christ the Lord,
Kiss Him lest He be angry, and His wrath
Ready to be enkindled you devour.
But in the living scriptures of the soul
Itself, the holy word of God in man,
The selfsame admonition beats and burns—
If men would read it and would understand!
The raging of desire not satisfied,
The sickness of the surfeit of desire,
The ravages of passion uncontrolled,
And waste of being, by itself consumed,
To bury or deface what else were fair—
Like lava spouted from the crater's mouth
Of the volcano burning its own bowels
To belch them torrent over fertile fields—
These things, O Felix, in the conscious heart,
Are muffled footfalls of oncoming doom."
Instructed, judges of the earth;' so God
Cries in our Scriptures in the ears of men.
'Kiss ye the Son,' He says, 'in homage kiss
The Son of Mine anointing, Christ the Lord,
Kiss Him lest He be angry, and His wrath
Ready to be enkindled you devour.
But in the living scriptures of the soul
Itself, the holy word of God in man,
The selfsame admonition beats and burns—
If men would read it and would understand!
The raging of desire not satisfied,
The sickness of the surfeit of desire,
The ravages of passion uncontrolled,
And waste of being, by itself consumed,
To bury or deface what else were fair—
Like lava spouted from the crater's mouth
Of the volcano burning its own bowels
To belch them torrent over fertile fields—
These things, O Felix, in the conscious heart,
Are muffled footfalls of oncoming doom."
Peculiar commination seemed to flame,
Volcanic, in Paul's manner as he spoke.
One might have felt the figure prophecy—
For some fulfilment in this present world
Impending to be symbol of his thought—
His likening of the self-consuming soul,
Disgorging desolation round about,
To a volcano its own entrails burning,
And in eruption pouring them abroad;
So real, so living, so in imminent act,
Paul's speaking made his fiery simile.
Drusilla, when, long after, with her son
Agrippa, born to Felix, overwhelmed
In that destruction from Vesuvius
Which under ashen rain and lava flood
Pompeii rolled with Herculaneum,
Like Sodom and Gomorrah whelmed again!—
Drusilla then, despairing, for one fierce
Fleet instant—instant endless, though so fleet—
Saw, as from picture branded on her brain,
Heard, as from echo hoarded in its cells,
The very image of the speaker's form,
His posture, gesture, features in their play,
These, and the tones, reliving, of the voice
Wherewith, in Cæsarea judgment-hall,
He fulmined, yea, as if this self-same wo!
Volcanic, in Paul's manner as he spoke.
One might have felt the figure prophecy—
For some fulfilment in this present world
Impending to be symbol of his thought—
His likening of the self-consuming soul,
Disgorging desolation round about,
To a volcano its own entrails burning,
And in eruption pouring them abroad;
So real, so living, so in imminent act,
Paul's speaking made his fiery simile.
Drusilla, when, long after, with her son
Agrippa, born to Felix, overwhelmed
In that destruction from Vesuvius
Which under ashen rain and lava flood
Pompeii rolled with Herculaneum,
Like Sodom and Gomorrah whelmed again!—
Drusilla then, despairing, for one fierce
Fleet instant—instant endless, though so fleet—
Saw, as from picture branded on her brain,
Heard, as from echo hoarded in its cells,
The very image of the speaker's form,
His posture, gesture, features in their play,
These, and the tones, reliving, of the voice
Wherewith, in Cæsarea judgment-hall,
He fulmined, yea, as if this self-same wo!
But Paul, no pause, immitigably said:
"Belshazzar, Babylonian king of old,
Once in a season of high festival
Held in his palace with a thousand lords,
Saw visionary fingers of a hand
Come out upon the palace walls and write.
Then that king's countenance was changed in him,
In answer to the trouble of his thoughts;
The very jointings of his loins were loosed,
And his knees, shaken, on each other smote.
In language that he did not understand,
But prophet Daniel told the sense to him,
Belshazzar had his own swift ruin read.
Thus, O lord Felix, in our hours of feast,
Oft, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN,
Dread warning to us that the end is come,
That we have been full proved and wanting found,
That now our vantage must another's be—
Appalling words of final doom from God,
In lurid letters live along the walls
Of the soul's pleasure-house—for who will heed!
Remorses, doubts, recoils, forebodings, fears,
And fearful lookings for of judgment nigh,
Previsions flashed on the prophetic soul
Refusing to be hooded not to see—
These are handwritings on the wall from God;
They, syllabling the sentence of His ire,
Spell MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN,
For pleasure-lovers lost in lust and pride.
Well for Belshazzar, if betimes he heed!"
"Belshazzar, Babylonian king of old,
Once in a season of high festival
Held in his palace with a thousand lords,
Saw visionary fingers of a hand
Come out upon the palace walls and write.
Then that king's countenance was changed in him,
In answer to the trouble of his thoughts;
The very jointings of his loins were loosed,
And his knees, shaken, on each other smote.
In language that he did not understand,
But prophet Daniel told the sense to him,
Belshazzar had his own swift ruin read.
Thus, O lord Felix, in our hours of feast,
Oft, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN,
Dread warning to us that the end is come,
That we have been full proved and wanting found,
That now our vantage must another's be—
Appalling words of final doom from God,
In lurid letters live along the walls
Of the soul's pleasure-house—for who will heed!
Remorses, doubts, recoils, forebodings, fears,
And fearful lookings for of judgment nigh,
Previsions flashed on the prophetic soul
Refusing to be hooded not to see—
These are handwritings on the wall from God;
They, syllabling the sentence of His ire,
Spell MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN,
For pleasure-lovers lost in lust and pride.
Well for Belshazzar, if betimes he heed!"
Had Felix been alone, deep in the dark,
And a wide waste of solitude around,
A comfort it had seemed to him to loose
One mighty agitation of his frame
And shiver his blood-curdling terror off;
Or, in one wanton, wild, voluptuous cry,
Shriek it into the startled universe.
But, seated there upon his throne of power,
Drusilla by his side regarding him,
To tremble, like a culprit being judged,
Before a culprit waiting judgment! He,
With last resistant agony of will,
Kept moveless his blanched lips, and on his seat
Sat stricken upright, and so stared at Paul.
And a wide waste of solitude around,
A comfort it had seemed to him to loose
One mighty agitation of his frame
And shiver his blood-curdling terror off;
Or, in one wanton, wild, voluptuous cry,
Shriek it into the startled universe.
But, seated there upon his throne of power,
Drusilla by his side regarding him,
To tremble, like a culprit being judged,
Before a culprit waiting judgment! He,
With last resistant agony of will,
Kept moveless his blanched lips, and on his seat
Sat stricken upright, and so stared at Paul.
There Paul stood tranquil, choosing thunderbolts,
And this the thunderbolt that last he launched:
"Hearken, O Felix. In the clouds of heaven,
Attended by the angels of His might,
The Lord Christ Jesus I behold descend.
The trumpet of the resurrection sounds,
And sea and land give up their wakened dead;
These all to judgment hasten at His call:
The books are opened and the witness found;
All the least thoughts of men, with all their words
And deeds, all their dumb motions of desire,
Their purposes, and their endeavors all,
Are written in the record of those books.
They blaze out in the light of that great day.
Like lightning, fixed from fleeting, on the sky;
Deem not one guilty can his guilt conceal.
A parting of the evil and the good;
The good at His right hand He bids sit down,
The awful Judge, omnipotent as just;
The evil, frowning, bids from Him depart.
Swift, them departing—who would not know God,
And not obey the gospel of His Son—
He, taking vengeance, follows in their flight
With flaming fire and dreadful punishment,
Destruction everlasting from His face,
From the Lord's face, and glory of His power!"
And this the thunderbolt that last he launched:
"Hearken, O Felix. In the clouds of heaven,
Attended by the angels of His might,
The Lord Christ Jesus I behold descend.
The trumpet of the resurrection sounds,
And sea and land give up their wakened dead;
These all to judgment hasten at His call:
The books are opened and the witness found;
All the least thoughts of men, with all their words
And deeds, all their dumb motions of desire,
Their purposes, and their endeavors all,
Are written in the record of those books.
They blaze out in the light of that great day.
Like lightning, fixed from fleeting, on the sky;
Deem not one guilty can his guilt conceal.
A parting of the evil and the good;
The good at His right hand He bids sit down,
The awful Judge, omnipotent as just;
The evil, frowning, bids from Him depart.
Swift, them departing—who would not know God,
And not obey the gospel of His Son—
He, taking vengeance, follows in their flight
With flaming fire and dreadful punishment,
Destruction everlasting from His face,
From the Lord's face, and glory of His power!"
The shudder that had slept uneasy sleep
Within the breast of Felix lulling it,
Woke startled at these minatory words
Spoken as with the voice of God by Paul.
That couchant shudder from its ambush broke,
And openly ran wantoning over all
The members of the terror-stricken man.
But the cry clamoring in him for escape,
To ease the anguish of his mortal fear,
Felix found strength to modulate to this,
In forced tones uttered, and with failing breath:
"Go thy way this time, Paul; at season fit
Hereafter I will call for thee again."
Within the breast of Felix lulling it,
Woke startled at these minatory words
Spoken as with the voice of God by Paul.
That couchant shudder from its ambush broke,
And openly ran wantoning over all
The members of the terror-stricken man.
But the cry clamoring in him for escape,
To ease the anguish of his mortal fear,
Felix found strength to modulate to this,
In forced tones uttered, and with failing breath:
"Go thy way this time, Paul; at season fit
Hereafter I will call for thee again."
The soldier duly led his prisoner out,
And Felix was full easily rid of Paul;
Of Paul, but of Paul's haunting presence not
The image of that orator in chains,
The solemn echo of the words he spoke,
Swam before Felix, sounded in his ears,
So real, the real world round him seemed less real.
And Felix was full easily rid of Paul;
Of Paul, but of Paul's haunting presence not
The image of that orator in chains,
The solemn echo of the words he spoke,
Swam before Felix, sounded in his ears,
So real, the real world round him seemed less real.
Drusilla, to her discomposure, found
Her husband strangely alien from his spouse;
The blandishments so potent with him late
Lost on an absent or repellent mind.
The awe of Felix under Paul's discourse
She had remarked with unconcerned surprise.
She now recalled it with a doubt, a fear.
The jealous thought woke in her: 'If my lord
Should, overwrought in conscience, cast me off!
What byword and what hissing then were I,
Stranded and branded an adulteress!
I, who the scion of a kingly house,
Haughty Antiochus Epiphanes,
Haughtily spurned as suitor for my hand,
Because he would not for my sake be Jew;
Who wedded then Azizus, eastern king,
Willing to win me at the price I fixed;
Who next with scandal parted from his bed,
To snatch this dazzle of a Roman spouse—
I to be now by him flung to the dogs!
All at the beck of an apostate Jew,
Arraigned a culprit at his judgment-bar!
Drusilla, rouse thee, say, It must not be!
Drusilla, arm thee, swear, It shall not be!'
Her husband strangely alien from his spouse;
The blandishments so potent with him late
Lost on an absent or repellent mind.
The awe of Felix under Paul's discourse
She had remarked with unconcerned surprise.
She now recalled it with a doubt, a fear.
The jealous thought woke in her: 'If my lord
Should, overwrought in conscience, cast me off!
What byword and what hissing then were I,
Stranded and branded an adulteress!
I, who the scion of a kingly house,
Haughty Antiochus Epiphanes,
Haughtily spurned as suitor for my hand,
Because he would not for my sake be Jew;
Who wedded then Azizus, eastern king,
Willing to win me at the price I fixed;
Who next with scandal parted from his bed,
To snatch this dazzle of a Roman spouse—
I to be now by him flung to the dogs!
All at the beck of an apostate Jew,
Arraigned a culprit at his judgment-bar!
Drusilla, rouse thee, say, It must not be!
Drusilla, arm thee, swear, It shall not be!'
She summoned straight that Cyprian sorcerer who
Had played the pander's part between herself
And Felix, when they twain at first were brought
In guilt together. "Simon, know," she said,
"I with cause hate this Jewish prisoner Paul.
He, insolence intolerable, is fain
To come between my Roman lord and me.
Withstand him, and undo his hateful spell."
Had played the pander's part between herself
And Felix, when they twain at first were brought
In guilt together. "Simon, know," she said,
"I with cause hate this Jewish prisoner Paul.
He, insolence intolerable, is fain
To come between my Roman lord and me.
Withstand him, and undo his hateful spell."
"His hateful spell, O stately queen, my liege,"
Said Simon, "I far rather would assay
Unbinding from thy spouse's soul enthralled,
Than him withstand, the binder of that spell,
Meeting him face to face. At Paphos once,
Of Cyprus, Elymas, a master mind
In magic—at the court proconsular
Of Sergius Paulus, regent of the isle,
Wielding great power—withstood this self-same Paul.
But Paul denounced a curse deipotent
Against him, and forthwith upon his eyes
A mist fell and a darkness, that he walked
Wandering in quest of one to lead him, late
Redoubtable magician, by the hand.
This conjuration on the conjurer,
Himself proconsul Sergius Paulus saw,
And, overpowered with wonder and with fear,
Roman and governor as he was, became
Fast docile dupe and devotee to Paul.
Said Simon, "I far rather would assay
Unbinding from thy spouse's soul enthralled,
Than him withstand, the binder of that spell,
Meeting him face to face. At Paphos once,
Of Cyprus, Elymas, a master mind
In magic—at the court proconsular
Of Sergius Paulus, regent of the isle,
Wielding great power—withstood this self-same Paul.
But Paul denounced a curse deipotent
Against him, and forthwith upon his eyes
A mist fell and a darkness, that he walked
Wandering in quest of one to lead him, late
Redoubtable magician, by the hand.
This conjuration on the conjurer,
Himself proconsul Sergius Paulus saw,
And, overpowered with wonder and with fear,
Roman and governor as he was, became
Fast docile dupe and devotee to Paul.
"Perhaps indeed there was a cause for this
Older in date than such a feat of Paul's.
Long years before, when Paul and he were young,
By chance they fared together on the way
Damascus-ward out of Jerusalem,
When, nigh Damascus, of a sudden, Paul
On Sergius tried a novel magic trick.
In broad noon, with unclouded sun ablaze
Above him, burning all that tract of sand,
He flashed a sheen of mimic lightning forth,
With stage effect of thunder overhead
Muttering words. Thereon as dead fell Paul,
Yet to that unintelligible voice
From heaven intelligible answer made,
Pretending dialogue with some unseen
High dweller in the upper air, with whom
Colluding, he thenceforth his spells of power
Might surer, deadlier, fling on whom he would.
Sergius was then too full of youth to yield;
The lusty blood in him fought off the spell;
But somewhat wrought upon, no less, was he,
And secretly, in mind and will, prepared
To fall in weaker age a prey to Paul.
A potent master Paul is in his kind,
Owning some secret from us others hid,
That makes our vaunts against him void and vain.
I would not needlessly his curse provoke
By too close quarters with him front to front.
His spell on Felix I may hope to solve,
Let me but have thy husband by himself,
In privileged audience safe apart from Paul;
I will see Felix, but Paul let me shun."
Older in date than such a feat of Paul's.
Long years before, when Paul and he were young,
By chance they fared together on the way
Damascus-ward out of Jerusalem,
When, nigh Damascus, of a sudden, Paul
On Sergius tried a novel magic trick.
In broad noon, with unclouded sun ablaze
Above him, burning all that tract of sand,
He flashed a sheen of mimic lightning forth,
With stage effect of thunder overhead
Muttering words. Thereon as dead fell Paul,
Yet to that unintelligible voice
From heaven intelligible answer made,
Pretending dialogue with some unseen
High dweller in the upper air, with whom
Colluding, he thenceforth his spells of power
Might surer, deadlier, fling on whom he would.
Sergius was then too full of youth to yield;
The lusty blood in him fought off the spell;
But somewhat wrought upon, no less, was he,
And secretly, in mind and will, prepared
To fall in weaker age a prey to Paul.
A potent master Paul is in his kind,
Owning some secret from us others hid,
That makes our vaunts against him void and vain.
I would not needlessly his curse provoke
By too close quarters with him front to front.
His spell on Felix I may hope to solve,
Let me but have thy husband by himself,
In privileged audience safe apart from Paul;
I will see Felix, but Paul let me shun."
So Simon to his moody master went,
And, well dispensing with preamble, said:
"What will mine excellent lord Felix please
Command the service of his servant in?"
"Unbidden thou art present," Felix frowned.
"So bidden I retire," the mage replied.
"Nay, tarry," with quick wanton veer of whim,
Said Felix, "tarry and declare to me,
If with exertion of thy skill thou canst,
What is it that this hour perturbs my thought?
Answer me that, pretender to be wise,
Or own thy weird pretensions nothing worth.
No paltering, no evasion, doubling none
In ambiguity like oracle,
But instant, honest, simple, true reply;
Else, I have done with all thy trumpery tricks,
Haply, too, with some certain fruits thereof
That thee buy little thanks, as me small joy."
And, well dispensing with preamble, said:
"What will mine excellent lord Felix please
Command the service of his servant in?"
"Unbidden thou art present," Felix frowned.
"So bidden I retire," the mage replied.
"Nay, tarry," with quick wanton veer of whim,
Said Felix, "tarry and declare to me,
If with exertion of thy skill thou canst,
What is it that this hour perturbs my thought?
Answer me that, pretender to be wise,
Or own thy weird pretensions nothing worth.
No paltering, no evasion, doubling none
In ambiguity like oracle,
But instant, honest, simple, true reply;
Else, I have done with all thy trumpery tricks,
Haply, too, with some certain fruits thereof
That thee buy little thanks, as me small joy."
"My master pleases to make hard demand,
In couple with condition hard, to-day,"
The sorcerer, with dissembled pleasure, said.
Simon full ready felt to meet his test;
For, in an antechamber to the hall
Of judgment, he, with Shimei too, had lurked,
And, overhearing Paul's denouncement, marked
The trepidation of the judge's mien.
"Lord Felix suffers from an evil spell
Cast on him by a wicked conjurer;"
So, with deep calculation of effect,
The sorcerer to the sovereign firmly said.
"A hit—perhaps," said Felix, some relief
Of tension to his conscience-crowded mind
Welcoming already in the hint conveyed;
"Repeat to me," he added, keen to hear,
"Repeat to me the phrasing of the spell;
That I may know it not a groping guess,
But certain knowledge, what thou thus hast said."
In couple with condition hard, to-day,"
The sorcerer, with dissembled pleasure, said.
Simon full ready felt to meet his test;
For, in an antechamber to the hall
Of judgment, he, with Shimei too, had lurked,
And, overhearing Paul's denouncement, marked
The trepidation of the judge's mien.
"Lord Felix suffers from an evil spell
Cast on him by a wicked conjurer;"
So, with deep calculation of effect,
The sorcerer to the sovereign firmly said.
"A hit—perhaps," said Felix, some relief
Of tension to his conscience-crowded mind
Welcoming already in the hint conveyed;
"Repeat to me," he added, keen to hear,
"Repeat to me the phrasing of the spell;
That I may know it not a groping guess,
But certain knowledge, what thou thus hast said."
That challenge flung to Simon's hand the clue
He needed for his guidance in the maze.
He sees the Roman's superstitious mind
In grapple with imaginative awe
Infused by recollection of those words
Barbaric—of comminatory sound,
Though understood not, therefore dreaded more—
Which Paul, two several times, in his discourse,
Had solemnly recited in his ear.
"The spell," he said, "O Felix, that enthralls
Thee was of three Chaldæan words composed;
But one word was repeated, making four.
I dare not utter those dire syllables
In the fixed order which creates the spell.
My wish is to undo, and not to bind."
He needed for his guidance in the maze.
He sees the Roman's superstitious mind
In grapple with imaginative awe
Infused by recollection of those words
Barbaric—of comminatory sound,
Though understood not, therefore dreaded more—
Which Paul, two several times, in his discourse,
Had solemnly recited in his ear.
"The spell," he said, "O Felix, that enthralls
Thee was of three Chaldæan words composed;
But one word was repeated, making four.
I dare not utter those dire syllables
In the fixed order which creates the spell.
My wish is to undo, and not to bind."
Felix was frightened, like a little child
Told ghostly stories in the dead of night;
He watched and waited, with set eye intense.
The conjurer, standing in struck attitude,
Made with his voice an inarticulate sign
Intoned in tone to thrill the listening blood.
Thereon, in silence, through the opening door,
With gliding motion, a familiar stole
Into the chamber, which now more and more,
To Felix's impressionable fears,
As if a vestibule to Hades was.
That noiseless minister to Simon gave
Into his master's hand a rod prepared.
"Hearken, lord Felix," low the conjurer said,
"Hearken and heed. Well needs it thou, with me,
Fail now in nothing through a mind remiss.
Hear thou aright, while I aright reverse
The order of the phrasing of that spell.
Beware thou think it even no otherwise
Than as I give it, weighing word and word.
I turn the sentence end for end about,
UPHARSIN, TEKEL, MENE, MENE, say;
All is not done, still keep thy mind intent,
And, with thine eyes now, as erst with thine ears,
Watch what I do, and let thy will consent."
Told ghostly stories in the dead of night;
He watched and waited, with set eye intense.
The conjurer, standing in struck attitude,
Made with his voice an inarticulate sign
Intoned in tone to thrill the listening blood.
Thereon, in silence, through the opening door,
With gliding motion, a familiar stole
Into the chamber, which now more and more,
To Felix's impressionable fears,
As if a vestibule to Hades was.
That noiseless minister to Simon gave
Into his master's hand a rod prepared.
"Hearken, lord Felix," low the conjurer said,
"Hearken and heed. Well needs it thou, with me,
Fail now in nothing through a mind remiss.
Hear thou aright, while I aright reverse
The order of the phrasing of that spell.
Beware thou think it even no otherwise
Than as I give it, weighing word and word.
I turn the sentence end for end about,
UPHARSIN, TEKEL, MENE, MENE, say;
All is not done, still keep thy mind intent,
And, with thine eyes now, as erst with thine ears,
Watch what I do, and let thy will consent."
Therewith his wizard wand he waved in air,
As who wrote viewless words upon the wind.
A hollow reed the wand he wielded was,
With secret seed asleep of fire enclosed.
This, at the end that in his hand he held;
Powder of sulphur at the other end
Was hidden in the hollow of the reed.
The sulphur and the fire, unconscious each
Of other, had, though neighboring, since apart,
Slept; for the sorcerer's minion brought the rod,
As first the sorcerer held it, levelled true.
But with the motion of the magian's hand,
The dipping virgule sent the ember down
The polished inner of its chamber-walls,
And breath let in to blow it living red,
Until it touched the sulphur at the tip.
Issue of fume there followed, edged with flame,
And wafting pungent odor from the vent,
Which, woven in circlet and in crescent, seemed
To knit a melting legend on the air.
"So vanish and be not, thou hateful spell,
And leave this late so vexéd spirit free!"
With mutter of which words, the sorcerer turned
To Felix, and thus farther spoke: "Breathe thou,
Lord Felix, from that bond emancipate.
Yet, that thou fall not unawares again
Beneath its power, use well a countercharm
I give thee, which, both night and day, wear thou
A prophylactic to thy menaced mind.
Gold—let the thought, the motive, the desire,
The purpose, and the fancy, and the dream,
Not leave thee nor forsake thee till thou die.
The sight, the sound, the touch, the clutch, of gold
Is sovereign absolution to a soul
Beset like thine with fear of things to be
Beyond the limit of this mortal state;
But, failing that, the thought itself will serve.
The thought at least must never absent be,
If thou wouldst live a freeman in thy mind."
As who wrote viewless words upon the wind.
A hollow reed the wand he wielded was,
With secret seed asleep of fire enclosed.
This, at the end that in his hand he held;
Powder of sulphur at the other end
Was hidden in the hollow of the reed.
The sulphur and the fire, unconscious each
Of other, had, though neighboring, since apart,
Slept; for the sorcerer's minion brought the rod,
As first the sorcerer held it, levelled true.
But with the motion of the magian's hand,
The dipping virgule sent the ember down
The polished inner of its chamber-walls,
And breath let in to blow it living red,
Until it touched the sulphur at the tip.
Issue of fume there followed, edged with flame,
And wafting pungent odor from the vent,
Which, woven in circlet and in crescent, seemed
To knit a melting legend on the air.
"So vanish and be not, thou hateful spell,
And leave this late so vexéd spirit free!"
With mutter of which words, the sorcerer turned
To Felix, and thus farther spoke: "Breathe thou,
Lord Felix, from that bond emancipate.
Yet, that thou fall not unawares again
Beneath its power, use well a countercharm
I give thee, which, both night and day, wear thou
A prophylactic to thy menaced mind.
Gold—let the thought, the motive, the desire,
The purpose, and the fancy, and the dream,
Not leave thee nor forsake thee till thou die.
The sight, the sound, the touch, the clutch, of gold
Is sovereign absolution to a soul
Beset like thine with fear of things to be
Beyond the limit of this mortal state;
But, failing that, the thought itself will serve.
The thought at least must never absent be,
If thou wouldst live a freeman in thy mind."
'Freedman,' he would have said, but did not dare;
He had dared much already in his word,
'Freeman,' so nigh overt allusion glanced
At the opprobrious quality of slave,
Out of which Felix sprang to be a king.
To that, contempt and hatred of a lord
Served but from hard self-interest and from fear
Had irresistibly pressed Simon on
Beyond the bound of calculated speech.
Therewith, and waiting not dismissal, both,
The sorcerer and his minion, silently
Slid out of presence, and left Felix there
To rally as he might to his true self.
But, not too trustful to his sorcery,
Simon thought well to follow and confirm
The influence won on Felix through his art,
With worldly wisdom suited to his end.
He bade Drusilla open all access
Ever for Shimei to her husband's ear,
And even from her own treasure help him ply
Felix's avid mind with hope of gold—
Assured to him through earnest oft in hand—
An ample guerdon in due time to come
From Paul's rich friends to buy release for Paul.
He had dared much already in his word,
'Freeman,' so nigh overt allusion glanced
At the opprobrious quality of slave,
Out of which Felix sprang to be a king.
To that, contempt and hatred of a lord
Served but from hard self-interest and from fear
Had irresistibly pressed Simon on
Beyond the bound of calculated speech.
Therewith, and waiting not dismissal, both,
The sorcerer and his minion, silently
Slid out of presence, and left Felix there
To rally as he might to his true self.
But, not too trustful to his sorcery,
Simon thought well to follow and confirm
The influence won on Felix through his art,
With worldly wisdom suited to his end.
He bade Drusilla open all access
Ever for Shimei to her husband's ear,
And even from her own treasure help him ply
Felix's avid mind with hope of gold—
Assured to him through earnest oft in hand—
An ample guerdon in due time to come
From Paul's rich friends to buy release for Paul.
At Cæsarea, in the judgment hall
That day, a solemn crisis of his life,
To Felix, he not knowing, there had passed.
Successfully, with sad success! he had
Resisted conscience in her last attempt,
Her last and greatest, to alarm a soul
Sufficiently to save it from itself.
At length, with the still process of the days
Dulled, and besides with opiate medicines drugged,
That conscience, so resisted, sank asleep,
Sank dead asleep in Felix, to awake
Never again. He indeed sent for Paul
Afterward oft, and talked with him at large;
But always only in that sordid hope—
Blown to fresh flame with seasonable breath,
That never failed, from Shimei, prompt in watch
To play on his cupidity—the hope
Of princely ransom from his prisoner won.
That day, a solemn crisis of his life,
To Felix, he not knowing, there had passed.
Successfully, with sad success! he had
Resisted conscience in her last attempt,
Her last and greatest, to alarm a soul
Sufficiently to save it from itself.
At length, with the still process of the days
Dulled, and besides with opiate medicines drugged,
That conscience, so resisted, sank asleep,
Sank dead asleep in Felix, to awake
Never again. He indeed sent for Paul
Afterward oft, and talked with him at large;
But always only in that sordid hope—
Blown to fresh flame with seasonable breath,
That never failed, from Shimei, prompt in watch
To play on his cupidity—the hope
Of princely ransom from his prisoner won.
Such hope, so kept alive, led this bad man—
Although he hated Paul for shaking him
To terror, and to open shameful show
Of terror, in his very pitch of pride—
To palter with his prisoner, month by month,
Until the end came of his long misrule.
Then, hope deferred, defeated hope at last,
Let loose the hatred that in leash had lain
Of avarice, in the kennel of that breast,
And Felix found a sullen feast for it
In leaving Paul at Cæsarea bound.
Although he hated Paul for shaking him
To terror, and to open shameful show
Of terror, in his very pitch of pride—
To palter with his prisoner, month by month,
Until the end came of his long misrule.
Then, hope deferred, defeated hope at last,
Let loose the hatred that in leash had lain
Of avarice, in the kennel of that breast,
And Felix found a sullen feast for it
In leaving Paul at Cæsarea bound.
BOOK VII.
"TO CÆSAR."
Paul, in preferred alternative to being judged, as was proposed, by his murderous fellow-countrymen, appeals to Cæsar. He is in consequence embarked on a ship for Rome. With him sail certain kindred and friends of his, young Stephen among them. Fellow-voyagers with him are also Felix and Drusilla, fallen now from power and under cloud at Rome. Shimei and Simon the sorcerer are of the company. The voyage is described, together with some of the notable prospects of the coasts along which the vessel sails. Shimei plots against the life of Paul. His plot is thwarted by young Stephen, and the culprit is thrown into dungeon in the hold under chains.
"TO CÆSAR."