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

Thou art a Prophet, sent here to proclaim |
The Kingdom of the Lord. Behold in me
A Ruler of the Jews, who long have waited
The coming of that Kingdom. Tell me

of it.

Christus. Verily, verily I say unto thee Except a man be born again, he cannot Behold the Kingdom of God!

Nicodemus. Be born again? How can a man be born when he is old? Say, can he enter for a second time Into his mother's womb, and so be born? Christus. Verily I say unto thee, except A man be born of water and the spirit, He cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. For that which of the flesh is born, is flesh;

And that which of the spirit is born, is spirit.

Nicodemus. We Israelites from the Pri-
meval Man

Adam Ahelion derive our bodies;
Our souls are breathings of the Holy
Ghost.

No more than this we know, or need to know.

Christus. Then marvel not, that I said unto thee

Ye must be born again.

Nicodemus.

The mystery

Of birth and death we cannot comprehend.

That we have seen, and ye will not receive Our witness. If I tell you earthly things, And ye believe not, how shall ye believe, If I should tell you of things heavenly? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, But he alone that first came down from heaven,

Even the Son of Man which is in heaven! Nicodemus (aside). This is a dreamer of dreams; a visionary,

Whose brain is overtasked, until he deems The unseen world to be a thing substantial,

And this we live in an unreal vision!
And yet his presence fascinates and fills me
With wonder, and I feel myself exalted
Into a higher region, and become
Myself in part a dreamer of his dreams,
A seer of his visions!

Christus.
And as Moses
Uplifted the serpent in the wilderness,
So must the Son of Man be lifted up;
That whosoever shall believe in him
Shall perish not, but have eternal life.
He that believes in him is not condemned;
He that believes not, is condemned
already.

Nicodemus (aside). He speaketh like a
Prophet of the Lord!

Christus. This is the condemnation :
that the light

Christus. The wind bloweth where it Is come into the world, and men loved

listeth, and we hear

it cometh,

darkness

The sound thereof, but know not whence Rather than light, because their deeds are

Nor whither it goeth. So is every one
Born of the spirit!

Nicodemus (aside). How can these things be?

He seems to speak of some vague realm of

shadows,

Some unsubstantial kingdom of the air! It is not this the Jews are waiting for, Nor can this be the Christ, the Son of David,

Who shall deliver us !

Christus. Art thou a master Of Israel, and knowest not these things? We speak that we do know, and testify

Hundreds of years ago. And over there
Beyond the river, the great prophet Elijah
Was taken by a whirlwind up to heaven,
In chariot of fire, with fiery horses.
That is the plain of Moab; and beyond it
Rise the blue summits of Mount Abarim,
Nebo and Pisgah and Peor, where Moses
Died, whom the Lord knew face to face,
and whom

He buried in a valley, and no man
Knows of his sepulchre unto this day.
Chilion. Would thou couldst see these
places, as I see them.

Bartimeus. I have not seen a glimmer of the light

Since thou wast born. I never saw thy face,

And yet I seem to see it; and one day Perhaps shall see it; for there is a Prophet

In Galilee, the Messiah, the Son of David,

Chilion. Father, I am here. | Of Joseph,-for they brought his bones Bartimeus. O let me gaze upon thy from Egypt face, dear child!

For I have only seen thee with my hands! How beautiful thou art! I should have known thee;

Thou hast her eyes whom we shall see

Sitting beside the well; another stranger;
A Galilean also by his looks.
What can so many Jews be doing here
Together in Samaria? Are they going
Up to Jerusalem to the Passover?
Our Passover is better here at Sychem,
For here is Ebal; here is Gerizim,

And buried them in this land, and it is

holy.

Christus. Give me to drink.
Samaritan Woman.

be that thou,

How can it

Being a Jew, askest to drink of me
Which am a woman of Samaria?
You Jews depise us; have no dealings
with us;

Make us a by-word; call us in derision
The silly folk of Sychar. Sir, how is it
Thou askest drink of me?

Christus. Thou hast well said
I have no husband.
husbands;

The mountain where our father Abraham And he whom now thou hast is not thy

Went up to offer Isaac; here the tomb

husband.

And is now come, when the true worshippers

Shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth!

The Father seeketh such to worship him.
God is a Spirit; and they that worship
him

Must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Samaritan Woman. Master, I know
that the Messiah cometh,
Which is called Christ; and he will tell
us all things.

Christus. I that speak unto thee am he!
The Disciples (returning). Behold,

The Master sitting by the well, and talking
With a Samaritan woman!

man

With a wo

him that sent me, and to finish his work.

Do ye not say, Lo! there are yet four months

And cometh harvest? I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look upon the fields,

For they are white already unto harvest!

Of Sychar, the silly people, always boast-That thou art John the Baptist; some, ing

Of their Mount Ebal, and Mount Gerizim, Their Everlasting Mountain, which they think

Higher and holier than our Mount Mo-
riah!

Why, once upon the Feast of the New
Moon,

When our great Sanhedrim of Jerusalem
Had all its watch-fires kindled on the hills
To warn the distant villages, these people
Lighted up others to mislead the Jews,
And make a mockery of their festival!
See, she has left the Master; and is run-
ning

Back to the city!

Samaritan Woman. O, come see a

man

Elias;

And others, Jeremiah.
James.

Or that one
Of the old Prophets is risen again.
Christus. But who say ye I am?
Peter.
Thou art the Christ!

Thou art the Son of God!

Christus.
Blessed art thou,
Simon Barjona! Flesh and blood hath

not

Revealed it unto thee, but even my Father,
Which is in heaven. And I say unto thee
That thou art Peter; and upon this rock
I build my Church, and all the gates of
Hell

Shall not prevail against it. But take
heed

Ye tell to no man that I am the Christ.

Who hath told me all things that I ever For I must go up to Jerusalem,

did!

And suffer many things, and be rejected

Of the Chief Priests, and of the Scribes
and Elders,

And must be crucified, and the third day
Shall rise again!
Peter.

Be it far from thee, Lord!
This shall not be !

Christus. Get thee behind me, Satan!
Thou savourest not the things that be of
God,

But those that be of men! If any will
Come after me, let him deny himself,
And daily take his cross, and follow me.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose
it,

Voice from the cloud. Lo! this is my beloved Son! Hear him!

Peter. It is the voice of God. He
speaketh to us,

As from the burning bush he spake to
Moses!

John. The cloud-wreaths roll away.
The veil is lifted;

We see again. Behold! he is alone.
It was a vision that our eyes beheld,
And it hath vanished into the unseen.
Christus (coming down from the moun-
tain). I charge ye, tell the vision

unto no one,

And whosoever will lose his life shall find Till the Son of Man be risen from the

Their white beards blowing on the moun- A crowd of people; coming, going,

tain air,

Are talking with him.

James.
I am sore afraid!
Peter. Who and whence are they?
John.
Moses and Elias!
Peter. O Master! it is good for us to
be here!

If thou wilt, let us make three taber-
nacles;

For thee one, and for Moses and Elias!
John. Behold a bright cloud sailing in
the sun!

It overshadows us. A golden mist
Now hides them from us, and envelops us
And all the mountain in a luminous
shadow!

thronging

Round the disciples, that we left behind

us,

Seeming impatient that we stay so long. Peter. It is some blind man, or some paralytic

That waits the Master's coming to be healed.

James. I see a boy, who struggles and
demeans him

As if an unclean spirit tormented him!
A certain Man (running forward).
Lord! I beseech thee, look upon
my son.

He is mine only child; a lunatic,
And sorely vexed; for oftentimes he falleth

I see no more. The nearest rocks are Into the fire and oft into the water.

hidden.

Wherever the dumb spirit taketh him

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