Festus · Scene 29

XXIX

Scene⁠—Elsewhere.
Festus Alone. I feel as if I could devour the days Till the time came when I shall gain mine end; God shall have made me ruler, and all worlds Signed the sublime recognizance. Till then⁠— Even as a boat lies rocking on the beach, Waiting the one white wave to float it free, Wait I the great event;⁠—too great it seems. Yet, Lord, thou knowest that the power I seek Is but for others’ good and Thine own glory, And the desire for it inspired by Thee. So use me as I use it. Thou hast passed Thy word that such I shall enjoy, and then My mission is accomplished in this world. I go unto another, where all souls Begin again, or take, up life from where Death broke it at. I cannot think there will be Like disproportion there between our powers And will, as here; if not, I shall be happy. I feel no bounds. I cannot think but thought On thought springs up, illimitably, round, As a great forest sows itself; but here There is nor ground nor light enough to live. Could I, I would be every where at once, Like the sea, for I feel as if I could Spread out my spirit o’er the endless world, And act at all points:⁠—I am bound to one. I must be here, and there, and everywhere, Or I am nowhere. Sense, flesh, fueling, fail Before the feet of the imperious mind, To which they are but as the dust she treads⁠— Windlike treads o’er, uplifts and leaves behind. How mind will act with body glorified And spiritualized, and senses fined, And pointed brilliantwise, we know not. Here Even, it may be wrong in us to deem The senses degradations, otherwise Than as fine steps, whereby the Queenly soul Comes down from her bright throne to view the mass She hath dominion over, and the things Of her inheritance; and reascends, With an indignant fiery purity, Not to be touched, her seat. The visible world, Whereby God maketh Nature known to us, Is not derogatory to Himself As the pure Spirit Infinite. A world Is but, perhaps, a sense of God’s, by which He may explain His nature, and receive Fit pleasure. But the hour is hard at hand, When Time’s grey wing shall winnow all away, The atoms of the earth, the stars of Heaven; When the created and Creator mind Shall know each other, worlds and bodies both Put off for aye; man and his Maker meet Where all, who through the universe do well, Embrace their heart’s desire; what things they will, And whom remember; live, too, where they list; And with the beings they love best, and God, Inherit and inhabit boundless bliss. Hear me, all-favouring God! my latest prayer; Thou unto whom all nations of the world Lift up their hearts, like grass-blades to the sun; Thou who hast all things and hast need of nought; Thou who hast given me Earth and all it holds, Give me, from out Thy garner stored with good, Some sign, Lord! while I live, in proof to earth My prayers are with Thee; that they rend the clouds, And, rising through the sightless dark of space, Reach to Thy central throne. Oh! let me feel, What was my constant dream in my young years, And is in all my better moments now⁠— My hope, my faith, my nature’s sum and end, Oneness with Thee and Heaven. Lord! make me sure My soul already is in unison With the triumphant. Ah! I surely hear The voices of the spirits of the saints, And witnesses to the Redeeming Truth; Not, as of old, in scanty scattered strains, Breathed from the caves of earth and cells of cities⁠— Nor as the voice of martyr choked with fire⁠— But in one solemn Heaven-pervading hymn Of happiness impregnable, as when From the bright walls of the Son’s city they Looked on the war of Hell, host upon host, Foiled by God’s single sword before their gates Of perfect pearl;⁠—nearer and nearer now! This is the sign, O God! which Thou hast given, And I will praise Thee through Eternity.
The Saints From Heaven. Call all who love Thee, Lord, to Thee! Thou knowest how they long To leve these broken lays, and aid In Heaven’s unceasing song; How they long, Lord, to go to Thee, And hail Thee with their eyes⁠— Thee in Thy blessedness, and all The nations of the skies; All who have loved Thee and done well, Of every age, creed, clime, The boat of saved ones from the ends And all the worlds of time: The wise in matter and in mind, The soldier, sage, and priest, King, prophet, hero, saint, and bard, The greatest soul and least; The old and young and very babe, The maiden and the youth, All re-born angels of one age⁠— The age of Heaven and truth; The rich, the poor, the good, the bad, Redeemed, alike, from sin; Lord! close the book of time, and let Eternity begin.
Festus Will ye away, ye blessed ones? To God I then commend ye, and my soul with yours. And midst the light in which ye live, oh! mind Of all the sunless days and starless nights Which myriads pass on earth, and pray for them! Oh! pray for those who in the world’s dark womb Are bound, Who know not yet their Father, God!⁠— Lord of all earth, all worlds, all Heaven! lift up My spirit to Thy glory! Let me share The comfort of Thy love, and while ordained To the great task I have to go through, let No more misgivings, fears, nor mortal doubts, With the cold dew of darkness chill the soul Which Thou hast hallowed with Thy love, and which, Like molten gold within its mould, hath made The thing that holds it precious;⁠—or if, Lord! For Thine own purpose, Thou wilt suffer such, May they pass quick and perish tracelessly; So, too, all thoughts of earth and pangs of death May I o’ercome at last, and with Thy chosen, Seraphs and saints, and all-possessing souls, Which minister unto the universe, Enthroned in spirit and intensest bliss, Succeed to Heaven for ever.
Guardian Angel Mortal, hear! The soul once saved shall never cease from bliss, Nor God lose that He buyeth with His blood. She doth not sin. The deeds which look like sin, The flesh and the false world, are all to her Hallowed and glorified. The world is changed. She hath a resurrection unto God While in the flesh, before the final one, And is with God. Her state shall never fail. Even the molten granite which hath split Mountains, and lieth now like curdled blood In marble veins, shall flow again when comes The heat which is to end all; when the air Is as a ravening fire, and what at first Produced, at last consumeth; but the soul Redeemed is dear to God as His own throne, And shall no sooner perish. Hearken, man! Wilt thou distrust God? Doubt on doubt no more. Prepare thee for the power and lot sublime Whereto the Lord hath called thee. He hath heard The prayers with which thou hast entreated Him, And bids me tell thee, shrink not, doubt not. He Will comfort and uphold thee at the end; For after God the Chooser, God the Slain, Cometh the God of Comfort to the heart, Whose action and effect is ministrant For ever after⁠—consummating all.
Festus I fear, I fear this miracle of Death Is something terrible. But go to God, Thou angel, and declare that I repent Of all misdeeds; that but for His own grace I should repent of my whole life; that on That grace, which now hath sanctified the whole, I trust for all the rest of it, and then For ever; that I am prepared to act And suffer as He bids, and in all things To do His will rejoicing.
Angel It is done.
Festus Oh! I repent me of a thousand sins, In number as the breaths which I have breathed. Am I forgiven?
Angel Child of God, thou art. It is God prompts, inspires, and answers prayer; Not sin, nor yet repentance, which avails: And none can truly worship but who have The earnest of their glory from on high⁠— God’s nature in them. The world cannot worship. And whether the lip speak, or in inspired Silence we clasp our hearts as a shut book Of song unsung, the silence and the speech Is each His; and as coming from and going To Him, is worthy of Him and His Love. Prayer is the spirit speaking truth to Truth; The expiration of the thing inspired. I go. Thy God is with thee. We shall meet Again in Heaven, no more to part
Festus Thou art gone! ’Tis sweet to feel we are encircled here By breath of angels as the stars by Heaven; And the soul’s own relations, all divine, As kind as even those of blood;⁠—and thus While friends and kin, like Saturn’s double rings, Cheer us along our orbit, we may feel We are not lone in life, but that earth’s part Of Heaven and all things. Praise we, therefore God! O all ye angels, pray and praise with us!⁠—