Get thee hence!
Gerd.
Shall I not fall
Low before thy feet and pray?
Brand.
Hence!
Gerd.
Thou gavest the blood away
That hath might to save us all!
Brand.
Oh, no saving plank I see,
In my own soul’s agony!
Gerd.
Take the rifle.rifle. Shoot them dead—
Brand.
[Shaking his head.]
Man must struggle till he falls.
Gerd.
Oh, not thou; thou art the head!
By the nails thy hands were gored;—
Thou art chosen; thou art Lord.
Brand.
I’m the meanest worm that crawls.
Gerd.
[Looks up; the clouds are lifting.]
Know’st thou where thou stand’st?
Brand.
[Gazing before him.]
Below
The first step of the ascent;
It is far, and I am faint.
Gerd.
[More fiercely.]
Say! Where art thou, dost thou know?
Brand.
Yes, now falls the misty shroud.
Gerd.
Yes, it falls: without a cloud
Svartetind impales the blue!
Brand.
[Looking up.]
Svartetind? The ice-church?ice-church?
Gerd.
Yea!
Here thou camest churchward, too!
Brand.
Hence! a thousand miles away!—
How I long to fly afar,
Where the sunlight and the balm
And the holy hush of calm,
And Life’s summer-kingdoms are!
[Bursts into tears.]
Jesus, I have cried and pleaded,—
From thy bosom still outcast;
Thou hast pass’d me by unheeded
As a well-worn word is passed;
Of salvation’s vesture, stain’d
With the wine of tears unfeign’d,
Let me clasp one fold at last!
Gerd.
[Pale.]
What is this? Then weepest, thou,
Hot tears, till thy cheek is steaming,—
And the glacier’s death-shroud streaming
Silently from crag and crest,—
And my memory’s frozen tides
Melt to weeping in my breast,—
And the snowy surplice glides
Down the Ice-priest’s giant sides—
[Trembling.]
Man, why wept’st thou not till now?
Brand.
[Radiant, clear, and with an air of renewed youth.]
Through the Law an ice-track led,—
Then broke summer overhead!
Till to-day I strove alone
To be God’s pure tablet-stone;—
From to-day my life shall stream
Lambent, glowing, as a dream.
The ice-fetters break away,
I can weep,—and kneel,—and pray!
[Sinks upon his knees.
Gerd.
[Looks askance upwards, and then, softly and timidly.]
There he sits, the ugly sprite!
’Tis his shadow sweeps the land,
Where he flogs the mountain height
With his flapping vans in flight.
Now Redemption is at hand——
If the silver will but bite!

[Puts the rifle to her cheek and shoots. A hollow roar, as of distant thunder, is heard far up the precipice.

Brand.
[Starting up.]
Ha, what dost thou?
Gerd.
Down he slides!
I have hit him;—down he swings,—
Shrieking, till the echo rings;
Plumes in thousand from his sides
Flutter down the beetling brae;—
See how large he looms, how white—!
Ha, he’s rolling down this way!
Brand.
[Sinking down.]
Blood of children must be spilt
To atone the parent’s guilt!
Gerd.
Tenfold vaster at his fall
Grew the tent of Heaven above!
See him tumble; see him sprawl—!
Ah, I will not shudder more;
He is white, see, as a dove—!
[Shrieks in terror.]
Hu, the horrible thunder-roar!
[Throws herself down in the snow.
Brand.
[Crouches under the descending avalanche, and, looking up, speaks.]
God, I plunge into death’s night,—
Shall they wholly miss thy Light
Who unto man’s utmost might
Will’d—?

[The avalanche buries him; the whole valley is swallowed up.

A Voice.
[Calls through the crashing thunder.]
He is the God of Love.
THE END.
Printed by
BALLANTYNE & COMPANY LTD
AT THE BALLANTYNE PRESS
Tavistock Street Covent Garden
London

Transcriber’s Note

There are quite a few instances of missing punctuation. The conventional period following the character’s name is sometimes missing and has been added for consistency’s sake without further comment. Those missing from setting and stage direction are also added without comment, since there is no obvious purpose to be served by the omission. However, the restoration of punctuation missing from dialogue is noted below, since the punctuation is frequently expressive.

Volume I of this series included errata for each succeeding volume. Some, but not all, of the corrections indicated there had been made before the printing employed here. Those that remained unchanged have been corrected here, and noted as such.

Other errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the original.

vii.7 sense of national disgrace[.] Added.
3.4 and nearly dark[.] Added.
4.19 is where it’s trod[.] Added.
7.8 Then come[.] Added.
8.20 come back[!] Added.
10.4 he calls serving God[.] Added.
32.39 And red-and-yellow circled eye[.] Added.
37.12 Brand comes forward, unnoticed[,] Added.
38.6 You don’t know just how many, e[n/h?]  
41.33 The purblind sight takes falcon-wing[s] Added, per Errata.
44.19 Great God on high[!] Added.
46.16 and to the grave[.] Added.
47.26 you see your part[.] Added.
71.3 [’]Twere best I took Restored.
75.31 and hard to bear[.] Added.
84.19 calls by that name “Love,[”] Added.
88.9 to wash her soul from sin. Added.
88.20 Yes, in you[r] ledger Added.
90.29 what sees he now[.] Added.
91.2 No summons, no[.] Added.
94.21 or else send her a God-speed[.] Added.
113.22 To-morrow’s best[.] Added.
134.32 meaning half-express[’]d Inserted.
136.17 But unbroken i[n/s] her Will. Replaced, per Errata.
139.31 “Black as snow[.”] Added.
148.5 And has not room therein to soar[.] Added.
150.13 No, Brand, I’m utterly dumbfounded[.] Added.
152.25 by death and hell[.] Added.
154.8 B[l/r]and. Replaced.
158.13 No[!] Added.
161.15 thou’lt nothing find[.] Added.
177.2 At the cross-way stand’st thou: choose[!] Added.
177.34 At the cross-way stand’st thou: choose[!] Added.
172.28 By the child to Death’s Font[.] Added.
175.26 Thou hast conquered now[.] Added.
178.18 Good-night[.] Added.
179.23 in a gold field[.] Added.
182.27 Never[!] Added.
184.12 Hark[!] Added.
191.34 Will be ringing with “the priest[”] Added.
192.21 I’m suffocated[.] Added.
193.18 They’ve higher standards, I’m aware[?/.] Replaced.
204.1 At that projected Tower of Babe[l] Added, per Errata.
213.22 That[’s] unimportant, I prefer Added.
226.14 Hark! your women cry in chorus[!] Added.
229.17 He’s prophesying! He’s prophesying[!] Added.
235.8 O lucky chance I caught you up[.] Added.
235.10 Ah, dear kind master, don’t be stern[.] Added.
254.17 I must[.] Added.
255.5 For a race that walks entomb’d[.] Added.
255.18 But the path of yearning’s left[.] Added.
258.30 Take the rifle[.] Added.
259.28 Svartetind? The ice-church[?] Added.