THE GOLDEN LEGEND. PROLOGUE. THE SPIRE OF STRASBURG CATHEDRAL. Night and storm. LUCIFER, with the Powers of the Air, trying to tear down the Cross. Lucifer. Hasten! hasten! O ye spirits! From its station drag the ponderous Is uplifted high in air! Voices. O, we cannot ! For around it All the Saints and Guardian Angels Throng in legions to protect it; They defeat us everywhere! The Bells. Laudo Deum verum! Congrego clerum ! Lucifer. Lower! lower! Seize the loud, vociferous bells, and Voices. All thy thunders Here are harmless ! For these bells have been anointed And baptized with holy water! They defy our utmost power. The Bells. Defunctos ploro! Pestem fugo! Festa decoro ! Lucifer. Shake the casements! Panes, that flame with gold and crimson ; Scatter them like leaves of Autumn, Swept away before the blast! Voices. O, we cannot ! The Archangel Michael flames from every window, With the sword of fire that drove us The Bells. Funero plango! Fulgora frango! Sabbata pango! Lucifer. Aim your lightnings At the oaken, Massive, iron-studded portals! Sack the house of God, and scatter Voices. O, we cannot ! The Apostles And the Martyrs, wrapped in mantles, Stand as sentinels o'erhead! Lucifer. Baffled! baffled! Craven spirits! leave this labour Voices. Onward! onward! With the night-wind, Over field and farm and forest, Lonely homestead, darksome hamlet. Blighting all we breathe upon! They sweep away. Organ and Gregorian Chant. Choir. Nocte surgentes Vigilemus omnes ! I. THE CASTLE OF VAULTSBERG ON THE RHINE. A Chamber in a tower. PRINCE HENRY, sitting alone, ill and restless. Midnight. Prince H. I cannot sleep! my fervid brain Calls up the vanished Past again, And throws its misty splendours deep Into the pallid realms of sleep! A breath from that far-distant shore To stony channels in the sun! Come back! ye friends, whose lives are ended! Which seemed to darken and decay When ye arose and went away! They come, the shapes of joy and woe, The dreams and fancies known of yore, They make the dark and dreary hours And outward things unchanged remain ; Nor set our souls to the same key Rest! rest! O, give me rest and peace! A weight I am too weak to bear ! A flash of lightning, out of which LUCIFER appears, in the garb of a travelling Physician. Lucifer. All hail, Prince Henry! Prince H. (starting.) Who and what are you? Lucifer. Who is it speaks? One who seeks A moment's audience with the Prince. Prince Henry. When came you in? A moment since. I found your study door unlocked, And thought you answered when I knocked. You heard the thunder; It was loud enough to waken the dead. Prince H. What may your wish or purpose be? Only a travelling Physician; One of the few who have a mission To cure incurable diseases, Or those that are called so. Prince Henry. The dead to life? Lucifer. Can you bring Yes; very nearly. And, what is a wiser, and better thing, By showing conclusively and clearly That death is a stupid blunder merely, My being here is accidental; The storm that against your casement drives, And I hastened hither, though late in the night, Prince Henry (ironically). For this you came! Ah, how can I ever hope to requite This honour from one so erudite! Lucifer. The honour is mine, or will be when I have cured your disease. Prince Henry. But not till then. Lucifer. What is your illness? It has no name. A smouldering, dull, perpetual flame, As in a kiln, burns in my veins, Sending up vapours to the head. My heart has become a dull lagoon, Which a kind of leprosy drinks and drains; I see the book lies open before you,— Evolves in its progress, rank and rife. Prince Henry. Ay, whole schools Of doctors, with their learned rules; But the case is quite beyond their science. Send me back word they can discern |