thy pure nature lies that potent force,
That hath so wholly shattered me to bits.
Thou canst ascend the clearest heights of truth,
And scan with steadfast gaze life’s tangled path;
And whether in the darkness or the light
Thou wilt retain thine own identity.
But me each moment may deprive of Self.
Deep down I had to dive within the hearts
Of those who late revealed themselves in speech.
I followed one to cloistered solitude—
And in another’s soul I listened to
Felicia’s fairy lore. I was each one;
Only unto myself I seemed as dead;
For I must fain believe that primal life
Did spring from very Nothingness itself,
If it were right to entertain the hope,
That out of that dread nothingness in me
A human being ever could arise.
For I am driven from fear into the dark
And from the darkness back again to fear
By wisdom stored within these living words:
‘Know thou thyself, O man. Know thou thyself.’
(From the springs and rocks the words resound:)
Know thou thyself, O man.
Curtain
Scene 3
A room for meditation. The background is a great purple curtain. The scene is purple in colour with a large yellow pentagonal lamp suspended from the ceiling. No other furniture or ornaments are in the room except the lamp and one chair. Benedictus, Johannes, Maria, and a child.
Maria:
I bring to thee this child who needs some word
From out thy mouth.
Benedictus:
From out thy mouth. My child, henceforth each eve
Thou shalt come unto me to hear the word
That shall fill full thy soul ere thou dost tread
The realm of souls in sleep. Wilt thou do this?
Child:
Most gladly will I come.
Benedictus:
Most gladly will I come. This very eve
Fill thy soul full ere sleep embraceth thee,
With strength from these few words: ‘The powers of light
Bear me aloft unto the spirit’s home.’
(Maria leads the child away.)
Maria:
And now, that this child’s destiny doth flow
Harmoniously through future days beneath
The shadow of thy gracious fatherhood,
I too may claim my leader’s kind advice,
Who am its mother, not by bond of blood
But through the mighty power of destiny.
For thou hast shown to me the way wherein
I had to guide its footsteps from that day,
When I discovered it before my door
Left by its unknown mother desolate.
And wonder-working proved themselves those rules
Whereby thou madest me train my foster-child.
All powers, that deep in body and in soul
Lay hidden, issued forth to light and life:
Clear proof it was that all thy counselling
Sprang from the realm which sheltered this child’s soul
Before it built its body’s covering.
We saw the hopes of manhood blossom forth
And radiate more brightly each new day;
Thou dost know well how hard it was for me
To gain the child’s affection, at the first.
It grew up ’neath my care, and yet nought else
Save habit chained its soul at first to mine.
It only realized and felt that I
Gave it the nurture and the food that served
The needs of body and the growth of soul.
Then came the time when in the child-like heart
There dawned the love for her who fostered it.
An outer incident brought forth this change—
The visit of the seeress to our group.
Gladly the child did go about with her
And soon did learn full many a beauteous word
Steeped in the mystic charm that graced her speech.
Then came the moment when her ecstasy
Descended on our friend with magic power.
The child could see her eyes’ strange smouldering light,
And, terrified unto its vital core,
The young soul dawned to consciousness of self.
In her dismay she fled unto mine arms;
And
