,,good ,,friday ,,and ,,other ,,poems ,,by ,,john ,,masefield ,,author ,,of ,,the ,,everlasting ,,mercy ,,the ,,widow ,,in ,,the ,,bye ,,street ,,the ,,tragedy ,,of ,,pompey ,,the ,,great1 ,,etc ,new ,york ,,the ,,macmillan ,,company #aiaf ,all rights reserved ,,copyright1 #aiae and #aiaf ,,by ,,john ,,masefield ,set up and electrotyped4 ,published ,february1 #aiaf4 ,reprinted ,february1 #aiaf4 ,,good ,,friday ,a ,,dramatic ,,poem ,,persons ,,pontius ,,pilate1 ,procurator of ,juda4 ,,procula1 ,his ,wife4 ,,longinus1 ,a ,centurion4 ,a ,,jew1 ,leader of the ,rabble4 ,a ,,madman4 ,a ,,sentry4 ,,joseph ,,of ,,ramah4 ,,herod4 ,,soldiers1 ,,servants1 ,,the ,,jewish ,,rabble1 ,,loiterers1 ,,idlers4 ,,the ,,scene ,the ,pavement1 or ,paved ,court1 outside the ,roman ,citadel in ,jerusalem4 ,at the back is the barrack wall1 pierced in the centre with a double bronze door1 weathered to a green color4 ,on the right and left sides of the stage are battlemented parapets overlooking the city4 ,the stage or pavement is approached by stone steps from the front1 and by narrow stone staircases in the wings1 one on each side1 well forward4 ,these steps are to suggest that the citadel is high up above the town1 and that the main barrack gate is below4 ,,the ,,chief ,,citizen1 ,,the ,,rabble1 ,,joseph1 ,,the ,,madman1 ,,herod1 and ,,the ,,loiterers1 etc41 enter by these steps4 ,,pilate1 ,,procula1 ,,longinus1 ,,the ,,soldiers and ,,servants enter by the bronze doors4 ,,good ,,friday ,a ,,dramatic ,,poem ,,pilate4 ,longinus4 ,,longinus4 ,lord4 ,,pilate giving scroll4 ,your warrant4 ,take the key4 ,go to ,barabbas' cell and set him free1 ,the mob has chosen him4 ,,longinus4 ,and ,jesus8 ,,pilate4 ,wait4 ,he can be scourged and put outside the gate1 ,with warning not to make more trouble here4 ,see that the sergeant be not too severe4 ,i want to spare him4 ,,longinus4 ,and the ,jew1 the ,priest1 ,outside8 ,,pilate4 ,i'll see him now4 ,,longinus4 ,passover ,feast ,always brings trouble1 ,lord4 ,all shall be done4 ,dismiss8 ,,pilate4 ,dismiss4 ,exit ,,longinus4 ,there's blood about the sun1 ,this earthquake weather presses on the brain4 ,enter ,,procula4 ,you8 ,,procula4 ,dear1 forgive me1 if ,i come again ,about this ,jesus1 but ,i long to know ,what ,herod said4 ,did he dismiss him8 ,,pilate4 ,no4 ,he sent him back to me for me to try1 ,the charge being local4 ,,procula4 ,have you tried him8 ,,pilate4 ,ay1 ,henceforth he will be kept outside the walls4 ,now1 listen1 wife3 whatever dream befalls1 ,never again send word to me in ,court ,to interrupt a case4 ,the ,jews made sport ,of what you dreamed and what you bade me fear ,about this ,jesus man4 ,the laws are clear4 ,i must apply them1 asking nothing more ,than the proved truth4 ,now tell me of your dream3 ,what was it8 ,tell me then4 ,,procula4 ,i saw a gleam ,reddening the world out of a blackened sky1 ,then in the horror came a hurt thing's cry ,protesting to the death what no one heard4 ,,pilate4 ,what did it say8 ,,procula4 ,a cry1 no spoken word ,but crying1 and a horror1 and a sense ,of one poor man's naked intelligence1 ,pitted against the world and being crushed4 ,then1 waking1 there was noise2 a rabble rushed ,following this ,jesus here1 crying for blood1 ,like beasts half-reptile in a jungle mud4 ,and all the horror threatening in the dim1 ,in what ,i dreamed of1 seemed to threaten him4444 ,so in my terror ,i sent word to you1 ,begging you dearly to have nought to do ,with that wise man4 ,,pilate4 ,i grant he says wise things4 ,too wise by half1 and too much wisdom brings ,trouble1 ,i find4 ,it disagrees with men4 ,we must protect him from his wisdom then4 ,,procula4 ,what have you done to him8 ,,pilate4 ,made it more hard ,for him to wrangle in the ,temple yard ,henceforth1 ,i hope4 ,enter ,,longinus4 ,,procula4 ,you have not punished him8 ,,pilate4 ,warned him4 ,,longinus4 ,the envoy from the ,sanhedrim ,is here1 my lord4 ,,pilate4 ,go4 ,i must see him4 ,stay4 ,you and your women1 keep within to-day4 ,it is the ,jewish ,feast and blood runs high ,against us ,romans when the zealots cry ,songs of their old ,deliverance through the land4 ,stay1 yet4 ,lord ,herod says that he has planned ,to visit us to-night1 have all prepared4 ,,procula4 ,i would have gone to ,herod had ,i dared1 ,to plead for this man ,jesus4 ,all shall be ,made ready4 ,dear1 my dream oppresses me4 ,exit4 ,,pilate4 ,it is this earthquake weather3 it will end ,after a shock4 ,farewell4 ,enter ,,chief ,,citizen4 ,,chief ,,cit4 ,hail1 ,lord and friend4 ,i come about a man in bonds with you1 ,one ,jesus1 leader of a perverse crew ,that haunts the ,temple4 ,,pilate4 ,yes1 the man is here4 ,,chief ,,cit4 ,charged with sedition8 ,,pilate4 ,it did not appear ,that he had been seditious4 ,it was proved ,that he had mocked at rites which people loved4 ,no more than that4 ,i have just dealt with him4 ,you wish to see him8 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,no1 the ,sanhedrim ,send me to tell you of his proved intent4 ,you know how1 not long since1 a prophet went ,through all ,juda turning people's brains ,with talk of ,one coming to loose their chains8 ,,pilate4 ,john the ,baptiser whom old ,herod killed4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,the ,jews expect that word to be fulfilled1 ,they think that ,one will come4 ,this ,jesus claims ,to be that ,man1 ,son of the ,name of ,names1 ,the ,anointed ,king who will arise and seize ,israel from ,rome and you4 ,such claims as these ,might be held mad in other times than ours4 ,,pilate4 ,he is not mad4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,but when rebellion lowers ,as now1 from every hamlet1 every farm1 ,one word so uttered does unreckoned harm4 ,,pilate4 ,how do you know this8 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,from a man1 his friend1 ,frightened by thought of where such claims would end4 ,there had been rumors1 yet we only heard ,the fact but now4 ,we send you instant word4 ,,pilate4 ,yes4 ,this is serious news4 ,would ,i had known4 ,but none the less1 this ,jesus is alone4 ,a common country preacher1 as men say1 ,no more than that1 he leads no big array2 ,no one believes his claim8 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,at present1 no4 ,he had more friends a little while ago1 ,before he made these claims of being ,king4 ,,pilate4 ,you know about him then8 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,his ministering ,was known to us1 of course4 ,,pilate4 ,and disapproved8 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,not wholly1 no2 some1 truly2 some we loved4 ,at first he only preached4 ,he preaches well4 ,,pilate4 ,what of8 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,of men1 and of escape from hell ,by good deeds done4 ,but when he learned his power ,and flatterers came1 then1 in an evil hour1 ,as far as ,i can judge1 his head was turned4 ,a few days past1 from all that we have learned ,he made this claim1 and since persists therein4 ,deluders are best checked when they begin4 ,so1 when we heard it from this frightened friend1 ,we took this course to bring it to an end4 ,,pilate4 ,rightly4 ,i thank you4 ,do ,i understand ,that friends have fallen from him since he planned ,to be this ,king8 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,they have1 the most part4 ,,pilate4 ,why8 ,what makes them turn8 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,the claim is blasphemy ,punished by death under the ,jewish laws4 ,,pilate4 ,and under ours1 if sufficient cause ,appear1 and yet1 if all the ,jews despise ,this claimant's folly1 would it not be wise ,to pay no heed1 not make important one ,whom all contemn8 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,his evil is not done4 ,his claim persists1 the rabble's mind will turn4 ,better prevent him1 ,lord1 by being stern4 ,the man has power4 ,,pilate4 ,that is true1 he has4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,his is the first claim since the ,baptist was1 ,better not let it thrive4 ,,pilate4 ,it does not thrive4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,all ill weeds prosper1 ,lord1 if left alive4 ,the soil is ripe for such a weed as this4 ,the ,jews await a message such as his1 ,the ,anointed ,man1 of whom our ,holy ,books ,prophesy much4 ,the ,jewish people looks ,for ,him to come4 ,,pilate4 ,these ancient prophecies ,are drugs to keep crude souls from being wise4 ,time and again ,rome proves herself your friend1 ,then some mad writing brings it to an end4 ,time and again1 until my heart is sick4 ,dead prophets spreading madness in the quick4 ,and now this ,jesus whom ,i hoped to save4 ,have you the depositions8 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,yes1 ,i have4 ,,pilate4 ,give me4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,this is the docquet4 ,,pilate4 ,this is grave4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,i thought that you would think so4 ,,pilate4 ,i will learn ,what he can say to this and then return4 ,wait4 ,i must speak4 ,although ,i shall not spare ,anyone1 man or woman1 who may dare ,to make a claim that threatens ,roman rule1 ,i do not plan to be a priestly tool4 ,i know your ,temple plots2 pretend not here ,that you1 the priest1 hold me1 the ,roman1 dear4 ,you1 like the other ,jews1 await this ,king ,who is to set you free1 who is to ding ,rome down to death1 as your priests' brains suppose4 ,this case of ,jesus shows it1 plainly shows4 ,he and his claim were not at once disowned2 ,you waited1 while you thought ,he shall be throned1 ,we will support him1 if he wins the crowd4 ,you would have1 too4 ,he would have been endowed ,with all your power to support his claim ,had he but pleased the rabble as at first4 ,but1 since he will not back the priestly aim1 ,nor stoop to lure the multitude1 you thirst ,to win my favor by denouncing him4 ,this rebel does not suit the ,sanhedrim4 ,i know4444 ,the next one may4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,you wrong us1 ,sire4 ,,pilate4 ,unless he blench1 you 'complish your desire ,with ,jesus1 though2 there is no king save ,rome ,here1 while ,i hold the reins4 ,wait till ,i come4 ,exit ,,pilate4 ,,the ,,madman4 ,only a penny1 a penny1 ,lilies brighter than any ,white lilies picked for the ,feast4 ,he enters1 tapping with his stick4 ,i am a poor old man who cannot see1 ,will the great noble present tell to me ,if this is the ,paved ,court8 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,it is4 ,,madman4 ,where men ,beg for a prisoner's freedom8 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,yes4 ,what then8 ,,madman4 ,i come to help the choosing4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,you can go4 ,,madman4 ,where1 lord8 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,why1 home4 ,you hear that noise below1 ,or are you deaf8 ,,madman4 ,no1 lordship1 only blind4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,come this-day-next-year if you have the mind4 ,this year you come too late1 go home again4 ,,madman4 ,lord4 ,is the prisoner loosed8 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,yes1 in the lane4 ,can you not hear them cry ,barabbas there8 ,,madman4 ,barabbas1 ,lord8 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,the prisoner whom they bear ,in triumph home4 ,,madman4 ,barabbas8 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,even he4 ,,madman4 ,are not you wrong1 my ,lord8 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,why should ,i be8 ,,madman4 ,there was another man in bonds1 most kind ,to me1 of old1 who suffer1 being blind4 ,surely they called for him8 ,one ,jesus8 ,no8 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,the choice was made a little while ago4 ,barabbas is set free1 the man you name ,is not to be released4 ,,madman4 ,and yet ,i came ,hoping to see him loosed4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,he waits within ,till the just pain is fitted to his sin4 ,it will go hard with him1 or ,i mistake4 ,pray ,god it may4 ,,madman4 ,i sorrow for his sake4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,god's scathe4 ,enter more ,,jews4 ,,madman4 ,a penny for the love of ,heaven4 ,a given penny is a sin forgiven4 ,only a penny1 friends4 #a,,st ,,cit4 ,the case was proved4 ,he uttered blasphemy4 ,yet ,pilate gives him stripes3 the man should die4 #c,,rd ,,cit4 ,wait here awhile4 ,it is not over yet4 ,this is the door1 the man shall pay his debt4 ,after the beating they will let him go ,and we shall catch him4 #b,,nd ,,cit4 ,we will treat him so ,that he will not be eager to blaspheme ,so glibly1 soon4 #c,,rd ,,cit4 ,we will4 #a,,st ,,cit4 ,did ,pilate seem ,to you1 to try to spare him8 #b,,nd ,,cit4 ,ay1 he did1 ,the ,roman dog4 #c,,rd ,,cit4 ,we will not4 #b,,nd ,,cit4 ,god forbid4 #a,,st ,,cit4 ,well1 we'll stay here4 #b,,nd ,,cit4 ,we will anoint this ,king4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,you talk of ,jesus8 #a,,st ,,cit4 ,yes4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,i had to bring ,news from the ,temple but a minute past1 ,to-day is like to be ,king ,jesus' last4 #a,,st ,,cit4 ,so8 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,it is sure4 ,wait here a little while4 #a,,st ,,cit4 ,we mean to1 ,lord4 ,his tongue shall not defile ,our ,lord again1 by ,god4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,by a happy chance ,there came a hang-dog man with looks askance1 ,troubled in mind1 who wished to speak with us4 ,he said that he had heard the man speak thus ,that he was the ,messiah1 ,god in man4 ,he had believed this1 but his doubts began ,when ,jesus1 not content1 claimed further things2 ,to be a yoke upon the necks of ,kings1 ,emperor and ,priest4 ,then1 though he found him kind ,in friendship1 he was troubled4 ,with bowed mind ,he came to us and swore what ,jesus claimed4 ,this ,emperor over ,kings will now be tamed4 ,,voices4 ,will ,pilate back the priests8 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,he cannot fail4 ,it threatens ,roman power4 ,a ,,voice4 ,listen1 friends1 ,pilate is coming2 hark6 the sitting ends4 ,no4 ',tis the ,bench4 ,the bench is set by ,,slaves4 ,what will ,lord ,pilate do8 ,,the ,,slaves do not answer4 ,you ,nubian eunuchs answer to the ,jew4 ,is the man cast8 ,a ,,slave4 ,the circumcised will see ,when ,rome is ready4 ,goes in and shuts the door4 ,a ,,voice4 ,there4 ,they nail a tree4 ,they make a cross1 for those are spikes being driven4 ,he's damned4 ,a ,,voice4 ,not so1 he still may be forgiven4 ,the cross may be for one of those two thieves4 ,a ,,voice4 ,i had forgotten them4 ,a ,,voice4 ,this man believes ,that ,pilate was inclined to let him go4 #b,,nd ,,cit4 ,that was before this charge came4 ,a ,,voice4 ,even so ,this ,roman swine is fond of swine like these4 ,a ,,voice4 ,come1 ,pilate1 come4 ,a ,,voice4 ,he will not have much ease ,this ,paschal ,feast1 if ,jesus is not cast4 ,a ,,voice4 ,there is the door4 ,lord ,pilate comes at last4 ,no4 ',tis the trumpet4 ,a ,,trumpeter comes out4 ,,voices4 ,blow the trumpet1 friend4 ,a ,,voice4 ,roman4 ,recruit4 ,when will the sitting end8 ,,voices4 ,fling something at him4 ,roman4 ,a ,,voice4 ,o1 have done4 ,he will not hang until the midday sun ,and we shall lose our sleeps4 ,let sentence pass4 ,a ,,voice singing4 ,as ,i came by the market ,i heard a woman sing3 ,my love did truly promise to wed me with a ring1 ,but1 oh1 my love deceived me and left me here forlorn ,with my spirit full of sorrow1 and my baby to be born4 ,a ,,voice4 ,why are you standing here8 ,a ,,voice4 ,i came to see4 ,a ,,voice4 ,o1 did you so8 ,a ,,voice4 ,why do you look at me8 ,a ,,voice4 ,you were his friend3 you come from ,galilee4 ,a ,,voice4 ,i do not4 ,a ,,voice4 ,yes1 you do4 ,a ,,voice4 ,i tell you1 ,no4 ,a ,,voice4 ,you know this man quite well4 ,a ,,voice4 ,i do not know ,one thing about him4 ,a ,,voice4 ,does he know the cur8 ,a ,,voice4 ,ay1 but denies4 ,he was his follower4 ,a ,,voice4 ,i was not4 ,a ,,voice4 ,why1 ,i saw you in the hall1 ,i watched you4 ,a ,,voice4 ,i was never there at all4 ,a ,,voice4 ,so he would be a ,king4 ,a ,,voice4 ,that was the plan4 ,a ,,voice4 ,i swear to ,god ,i never saw the man4 ,a ,,voice4 ,he did2 you liar2 fling him down the stair4 ,a ,,voice4 ,i did not1 friends4 ,i hate the man1 ,i swear4 ,,voices4 ,you swear too much for truth1 down with him1 sons4 ,leave him1 here's ,pilate4 ,enter ,,longinus and ,,soldiers4 ,,longinus4 ,stand back4 ,keep further back4 ,get down the stair1 ,stop all this wrangling4 ,make less babble there4 ,keep back yet further4 ,see you keep that line4 ,silence4 ,these ,jewish pigs4 ,,the ,,jews4 ,the ,roman swine4 ,enter ,,pilate4 ,,pilate4 ,longinus4 ,,longinus4 ,lord4 ,,pilate4 ,no ,jew here thinks him ,king4 ,they want his blood4 ,,longinus4 ,they would want anything ,that would beguile the hours until the ,feast4 ,,pilate4 ,i would be glad to disappoint the priest4 ,i like this ,jesus man4 ,a man so wise ,ought not to end through crazy prophecies4 ,still1 he persists4 ,,longinus4 ,they are a stubborn breed4 ,the medicine ,cross is what they mostly need4 ,,pilate4 ,still1 this man is1 in fact1 a kind of king1 ,a ,god beside these beasts who spit and sting1 ,the best ,jew ,i have known4 ,,longinus4 ,he had his chance4 ,,pilate4 ,o1 yes1 he had4 ,we'll let the ,jews advance ,into the court4 ,i tried to set him free4 ,still1 if he will persist1 the thing must be4 ,and yet ,i am sorry4 ,,longinus4 ,i am sorry1 too4 ,he seemed a good brave fellow1 for a ,jew4 ,still1 when a man is mad there is no cure ,but death1 like this4 ,,pilate4 ,i fear so4 ,,longinus4 ,i am sure4 ,shall ,i begin8 ,,pilate4 ,yes4 ,,longinus4 ,sound the ,assembly4 ,trumpet4 ,sound ,the ,imperial call4 ,trumpet4 ,,pilate4 ,you people1 gathered round1 ,behold your ,king4 ,,voices4 ,our ,king4 ,i see him4 ,where8 ,that heap of clothes behind the soldiers there4 ,he has been soundly beaten4 ,look1 he bleeds4 ,a cross on ,old ,skull ,hill is what he needs4 ,,pilate4 ,what would you1 then1 that ,i should do to him8 ,,voices4 ,stone the blasphemer1 tear him limb from limb1 ,kill him with stones1 he uttered blasphemy1 ,give him to us1 for us to crucify4 ,crucify6 ,,pilate4 ,would you crucify your ,king8 ,,voices4 ,he is no ,king of ours2 we have no ,king ,but ,csar4 ,crucify6 ,,pilate4 ,bring pen and ink4 ,,longinus4 ,hold up the prisoner1 ,lucius2 give him drink4 ,,pilate4 ,i come to sentence4 ,,servant4 ,writing things1 my lord4 ,,pilate4 ,fasten the parchment to the piece of board4 ,so4 ,i will write4 ,,voices4 ,what does his writing mean8 ,it is the sentence of this ,nazarene1 ,condemning him to death4 ,a little while ,and he'll be ours4 ,see ,lord ,pilate smile4 ,why does he smile8 ,,pilate4 ,longinus4 ,,longinus4 ,lord4 ,,pilate4 ,come here4 ,go to that man1 that upland targeteer1 ,i want this writ in ,hebrew4 ,bid him write ,big easy letters that will catch the sight4 ,,longinus4 ,i will1 my lord4 ,make way4 ,exit ,,longinus4 ,a ,,voice4 ,what's on the scroll8 ,a ,,voice4 ,it gives the prisoner into his control ,to nail to death1 the foul blaspheming beast4 ,a ,,voice4 ,d'you think he will be dead before the ,feast8 ,a ,,voice4 ,they'll spear him if he lingers until dark4 ,a ,,voice4 ,when ,feast begins he will be stiff and stark4 ,there's little life left in him as it is4 ,,voices4 ,we'll hammer iron through those hands of his1 ,and through his feet1 and when the cross is set ,jolt it2 remember4 ,i will not forget4 ,a ,,voice4 ,here comes the sentence4 ,enter ,,longinus4 ,a ,,voice4 ,wait2 it is not signed4 ,a ,,voice4 ,come to the hill1 you will be left behind4 ,i want a good place at the cross's foot4 ,a ,,voice4 ,i've got a stone for when they move the brute4 ,besides1 ,i mean to bait him on the way4 ,i'll spatter him with filth4 ,a ,,voice4 ,no1 come away4 ,,pilate4 ,imperial finding in the ,high ,priest's suit4 ,in the name of ,csar and of ,rome4444 ,,longinus4 ,salute4 ,,pilate4 ,i1 ,procurator of ,juda1 say ,that ,jesus1 called the ,king1 be led away ,to death by crucifixion1 here and now4 ,in the name of ,csar and of ,rome4444 ,,longinus4 ,we bow ,to the sentence of the court4 ,,pilate4 ,see sentence done4 ,this is your warrant4 ,,longinus4 ,sentence shall be done4 ,,voices4 ,away1 friends1 hurry4 ,keep a place for me4 ,get there before they come1 then we shall see ,all of the nailing and the fixing on4 ,,pilate4 ,longinus4 ,,longinus4 ,lord4 ,,pilate4 ,display this scroll upon ,the head of ,jesus' cross1 that men may read4 ,wait2 ,i'll declare it publicly4 ,take heed4444 ,i add this word1 that over ,jesus' head ,this scroll shall be displayed till he is dead4 ,show it1 ,longinus4 ,read it if you choose4 ,,voices4 ,jesus of ,nazareth1 the ,king of the ,jews4 ,we'll make him ,king1 we'll set him up in state4 ,at ,golgotha4 ,come2 drag him through the gate4 ,give him his cross4 ,come1 soldiers4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,israel1 wait4 ,wait4 ,i must speak4 ,lord ,pilate4 ,,voices4 ,stand aside4444 ,are we to miss his being crucified8 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,wait4 ,only wait4 ,one word4 ,,madman4 ,lord ,pilate4 ,lord4 ,,sentry4 ,stand back4 ,,madman4 ,i'll speak4 ,,sentry4 ,i'll tame you with the sword4 ,,madman4 ,lord ,pilate1 ,jesus is an upright man1 ,i heard his teaching since it first began4 ,you are mistaken1 ,lord1 you are misled4 ,spare him1 great ,king4 ,,sentry4 ,get down4 ,,madman4 ,kill me instead4 ,he never said this thing4 ,he is beaten aside4 ,,longinus4 ,the company1 ,attention4 ,front4 ,take up the prisoner4 ,by ,the left1 quick wheel4 ,down to the courtyard1 wheel4 ,,the ,,troops go out by the doors1 into the barracks1 so as to reach the main gate from within4 ,the ,,prisoner is not shown1 but only suggested4 ,a ,,voice4 ,he cannot lift his cross1 ,i saw him reel4 ,a ,,voice4 ,we'll find a man to bring it4 ,hurry1 friends4 ,three to be nailed4 ,a ,,voice4 ,the thieves will make good ends2 ,they always do4 ,this fellow will die soon4 ,a ,,voice4 ,the troops will spear them all before full moon4 ,come2 watch them march them out4 ,get mud to fling4 ,they hurry down the staircase ,o4,p4 side4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 to ,pilate4 ,lord ,pilate1 do not write ,jesus the ,king4 ,but that ,he called himself1 ',jesus the ,king4' ,,pilate4 ,empty this water here4 ,,servant does4 ,remove this board4 ,take in the bench4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,i have to ask1 my lord1 ,that you will change the wording of your scroll1 ,my lord1 it cuts my people to the soul4 ,,pilate4 ,tell ,caius ,scirrus that ,i want him4 ,exit ,,servant4 ,so4 ,to ,,chief ,,citizen4 ,what ,i have written1 ,i have written4 ,go4 ,exit ,,chief ,,citizen4 ,,pilate watches him4 ,a yell below as the ,,troops march out from the main gate4 ,,longinus' voice is heard shouting4 ,,longinus4 ,right wheel4 ,quick march4 ,close up4 ,keep your files close4 ,a march is played1 oboe and trumpet4 ,,pilate goes in1 the ,,troops salute1 the bronze doors are closed1 but a ,,sentry stands outside them4 ,,the ,,madman remains4 ,,madman4 ,they cut my face1 there's blood upon my brow4 ,so1 let it run1 ,i am an old man now1 ,an old1 blind beggar picking filth for bread4 ,once ,i wore silk1 drank wine1 ,spent gold on women1 feasted1 all was mine2 ,but this uneasy current in my head ,burst1 one full moon1 and cleansed me1 then ,i saw ,truth like a perfect crystal1 life its flaw1 ,i told the world1 but ,i was mad1 they said4 ,i had a valley farm above a brook1 ,my sheep bells there were sweet1 ,and in the summer heat ,my mill wheels turned1 yet all these things they took2 ,ah1 and ,i gave them1 all things ,i forsook ,but that green blade of wheat1 ,my own soul's courage1 that they did not take4 ,i will go on1 although my old heart ache4 ,not long1 not long4 ,soon ,i shall pass behind ,this changing veil to that which does not change1 ,my tired feet will range ,in some green valley of eternal mind ,where ,truth is daily like the water's song4 ,enter the ,,chief ,,citizen4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,where is ,lord ,pilate8 ,,madman4 ,gone within4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,you heard ,the way he spoke to me8 ,,madman4 ,no1 not a word4 ,the dogs so bayed for blood1 ,i could not hear4 ,ask the tall sentry yonder with the spear4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,i wish to see ,lord ,pilate4 ,,sentry4 ,stand aside4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,send word to him2 ,i cannot be denied4 ,i have to see him2 it concerns the ,state ,urgently1 too1 ,i tell you4 ,,sentry4 ,it can wait4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,it may mean bloodshed4 ,,sentry4 ,bloodshed is my trade4 ,a sentry's orders have to be obeyed ,the same as ,god's1 that you were talking of4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,i tell you1 ,i must see him4 ,,sentry4 ,that's enough4 ,you cannot now4 ,,madman4 ,the soldier's words are true4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,could you send word8 ,,sentry4 ,sir1 ,i have answered you4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,those words that ,pilate wrote1 the ,hebrew screed1 ,may cause a riot4 ,,madman4 ,yes8 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,and death4 ,,sentry4 ,indeed4 ,you got the poor man's life1 what would you more8 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,means to see ,pilate4 ,,sentry4 ,as ,i said before1 ,you cannot4 ,stand away4 ,a man like you ,ought to know better than to lead a crew ,to yell for a man's blood4 ,god stop my breath1 ,what does a man like you with blood and death8 ,go to4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,you will not send8 ,,sentry4 ,i will not send4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 going4 ,you shall regret this4 ,,sentry4 ,right4 ,goodbye1 my friend4 ,,ch4 ,,cit4 ,means will be found4 ,exit4 ,,sentry4 ,these priests1 these preaching folk4 ,pause4 ,sings4 ,upon a summer morning1 ,i bade my love goodbye1 ,in the old green glen so far away1 ,to go to be a soldier on biscuits made of rye4 ,it is darker than it was4 ,,madman4 ,it is falling dark4 ,,sentry4 ,it feels like earthquake weather4 ,listen4 ,,madman4 ,hark4 ,,sentry4 ,it sounded like a shock inside the walls4 ,,madman4 ,god celebrates the madman's funerals4 ,,sentry4 ,the shouts came from the ,temple4 ,,madman4 ,yes1 they sing ,glory to ,god there1 having killed their ,king4 ,,sentry4 ,you knew that man they are hanging8 ,,madman4 ,yes4 ,did you8 ,,sentry4 ,not till ,i saw him scourged4 ,was he a ,jew8 ,,madman4 ,no4 ,wisdom comes from ,god1 and he was wise4 ,i have touched wisdom since they took my eyes4 ,,sentry4 ,so you were blinded8 ,why8 ,,madman4 ,thinking aloud1 ,one ,passover4 ,,sentry4 ,how so8 ,,madman4 ,i told the crowd ,that only a bloody ,god would care for blood4 ,the crowd kill kids and smear the lintel wood1 ,to honor ,god1 who lives in the pure stars4 ,,sentry4 ,you must have suffered2 they are angry scars4 ,,madman4 ,there is no scar inside4 ,,sentry4 ,that may be so2 ,still1 it was mad2 men do not wish to know ,the truth about their customs1 nor aught else4 ,cries off4 ,,madman4 ,they have nailed the teacher ,jesus by those yells4 ,,sentry4 ,it is darker4 ,there'll be earthquake before night4 ,what sort of man was he8 ,,madman4 ,he knew the right ,and followed her1 a stony road1 to this4 ,,sentry4 ,i find sufficient trouble in what is ,without my seeking what is right or wrong4 ,,madman4 ,all have to seek her1 and the search is long4 ,,sentry4 ,maybe4 ,,madman4 ,and hard4 ,,sentry4 ,maybe4 ,pause4 ,sings4 ,i mean to be a captain before ,i do return1 ,though the winters they may freeze and the summers they may burn1 ,i mean to be a captain and command a hundred men ,and the women who444 ,a bugle call off4 ,there is recall4 ,the doors are opened and the ,,sentry goes4 ,,madman4 ,the wild-duck1 stringing through the sky1 ,are south away4 ,their green necks glitter as they fly1 ,the lake is gray1 ,so still1 so lone1 the fowler never heeds4 ,the wind goes rustle1 rustle1 through the reeds4 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,there they find peace to have their own wild souls4 ,in that still lake1 ,only the moonrise or the wind controls ,the way they take1 ,through the gray reeds1 the cocking moorhen's lair1 ,rippling the pool1 or over leagues of air4 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,not thus1 not thus are the wild souls of men4 ,no peace for those ,who step beyond the blindness of the pen ,to where the skies unclose4 ,for them the spitting mob1 the cross1 the crown of thorns1 ,the bull gone mad1 the saviour on his horns4 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,beauty and ,peace have made ,no peace1 no still retreat1 ,no solace1 none4 ,only the unafraid ,before life's roaring street ,touch ,beauty's feet1 ,know ,truth1 do as ,god bade1 ,become ,god's son4 ,pause4 ,darkness come down1 cover a brave man's pain4 ,let the bright soul go back to ,god again4 ,cover that tortured flesh1 it only serves ,to hold that thing which other power nerves4 ,darkness1 come down1 let it be midnight here1 ,in the dark night the untroubled soul sings clear4 ,it darkens4 ,i have been scourged1 blinded and crucified1 ,my blood burns on the stones of every street ,in every town2 wherever people meet ,i have been hounded down1 in anguish died4 ,it darkens4 ,the creaking door of flesh rolls slowly back4 ,nerve by red nerve the links of living crack1 ,loosing the soul to tread another track4 ,beyond the pain1 beyond the broken clay1 ,a glimmering country lies ,where life is being wise1 ,all of the beauty seen by truthful eyes ,are lilies there1 growing beside the way4 ,those golden ones will loose the torted hands1 ,smooth the scarred brow1 gather the breaking soul1 ,whose earthly moments drop like falling sands ,to leave the spirit whole4 ,now darkness is upon the face of the earth4 ,he goes4 ,,pilate entering1 as the darkness reddens to a glare4 ,,pilate4 ,this monstrous day is in the pangs of birth4 ,there was a shock4 ,i wish the troops were back ,from ,golgotha4 ,the heavens are more black ,than in the great shock in my first year's rule4 ,please ,god these zealot pilgrims will keep cool ,nor think this done by ,god for any cause4 ,the lightning jags the heaven in bloody scraws ,like chronicles of judgment4 ,now it breaks4 ,now rain4 ,,procula entering4 ,o ,pilate4 ,,pilate4 ,what8 ,,procula4 ,for all our sakes ,speak4 ,where is ,jesus8 ,,pilate4 ,he is crucified4 ,,procula4 ,crucified8 ,,pilate4 ,put to death4 ,my wife1 ,i tried ,to save him1 but such men cannot be saved4 ,truth to himself till death was all he craved4 ,he has his will4 ,,procula4 ,so what they said is true4 ,o ,god1 my ,god4 ,but when ,i spoke to you ,you said that you had warned him4 ,,pilate4 ,that is so4 ,another charge was brought some hours ago1 ,that he was claiming to be that great ,king ,foretold by prophets1 who shall free the ,jews4 ,this he persisted in4 ,i could not choose ,but end a zealot claiming such a thing4 ,,procula4 ,he was no zealot4 ,,pilate4 ,yes1 on this one point4 ,had he recanted1 well4 ,but he was firm4 ,so he was cast4 ,,procula4 ,the gouts of gore anoint ,that temple to the service of the worm4 ,it is a desecration of our power4 ,a rude poor man who pitted his pure sense ,against what holds the world its little hour1 ,blind force and fraud1 priests' mummery and pretence1 ,could you not see that this is what he did8 ,,pilate4 ,most clearly1 wife4 ,but ,roman laws forbid ,that ,i should weigh1 like ,god1 the worth of souls4 ,i act for ,rome1 and ,rome is better rid ,of these rare spirits whom no law controls4 ,he broke a statute1 knowing from the first ,whither his act would lead1 he was not blind4 ,,procula4 ,no1 friend1 he followed hungry and athirst ,the lonely exaltation of his mind4 ,so ,rome1 our mother1 profits by his death1 ,you think so8 ,,pilate4 ,ay4 ,,procula4 ,we draw securer breath1 ,we ,romans1 from his gasping on the cross8 ,,pilate4 ,some few will be the calmer for his loss4 ,many1 perhaps2 he made a dangerous claim4 ,even had ,i spared it would have been the same ,a year1 or two1 from now4 ,forget him1 friend4 ,,procula4 ,i have no part nor parcel in his end4 ,rather than have it thought ,i buy my ease1 ,my body's safety1 honor1 dignities1 ,life and the rest at such a price of pain ,there she stabs her arm with her dagger is my blood1 to wash away the stain4 ,there4 ,there once more4 ,it fetched too dear a price4 ,o ,god1 receive that soul in paradise4 ,,pilate4 ,what have you done8 ,,pbocula4 ,no matter2 it atones4 ,his blood will clamor from the city stones4 ,,pilate4 ,go in4 ,no1 let me bind it4 ,,procula4 ,someone comes4 ,a councillor1 ,i think4 ,ask what he wants4 ,enter ,,joseph4 ,,joseph4 ,greetings1 ,lord ,pilate4 ,,pilate4 ,and to you4 ,,joseph to ,,procula4 ,and you4 to ,,pilate4 ,i have a boon to ask4 ,,procula4 ,what can we do8 ,,joseph4 ,lord ,pilate1 may ,i speak8 ,,pilate to ,,procula4 ,go in4 ,she goes in4 ,go on to ,,joseph4 ,,joseph4 ,the man called ,christ1 the follower of ,john1 ,was crucified to-day by your decree4 ,,pilate bows4 ,he was my master1 very dear to me4 ,i will not speak of that4 ,i only crave ,leave to prepare his body for the grave1 ,and then to bury him4 ,may ,i have leave8 ,,pilate4 ,yes1 you may have him when the guards give leave4 ,wait4 ,in a case like this1 men may believe ,that the dead master is not really dead4 ,this preaching man1 this ,king1 has been the head ,of men who may be good and mean no harm1 ,whose tenets1 none the less1 have caused alarm ,first to the priests1 and through the priests to me4 ,i wish this preacher's followers to see ,that teaching of the kind is to be curbed4 ,i mean1 established truths may be disturbed1 ,but not the ,jews1 nor ,rome4 ,you understand8 ,,joseph4 ,i follow2 yes4 ,,pilate4 ,a riot might be fanned1 ,such things have been1 over the martyr's grave4 ,,joseph4 ,his broken corpse is all his followers crave4 ,,pilate4 ,why1 very well then4 ,,joseph4 ,will you give your seal8 ,,pilate4 ,my seal8 ,what for8 ,,joseph4 ,that ,i may show the guard ,and have the body4 ,,pilate4 ,gladly2 but ,i feel444 ,not yet2 not until dark4 ,,joseph4 ,it will be hard ,to bury him to-night 444 the feast begins4 ,,pilate4 ,i know1 but still1 when men are crucified444 ,,joseph4 ,there is no hope of that4 ,the man has died4 ,,pilate4 ,died8 ,dead already8 ,,joseph4 ,yes4 ,,pilate4 ',tis passing soon4 ,,joseph4 ,god broke that bright soul's body as a boon4 ,he died at the ninth hour4 ,,pilate4 ,are you sure8 ,,joseph4 ,i saw him1 ,lord4 ,,pilate4 ,i thought he would endure ,longer than that2 he had a constant mind4 ,,joseph4 ,the great soul burns the body to a rind4 ,,pilate4 ,but dead1 already2 strange4 ,calling4 ,you in the court1 ,send me ,longinus here with his report4 ,a ,,voice4 ,i will1 my lord4 ,,pilate4 ,this teacher was your friend8 ,,joseph4 ,was1 is1 and will be1 till the great world end2 ,which ,god grant may be soon4 ,,pilate4 ,i disagree ,with teachers of new truth4 ,for men like me ,there is but one religion1 which is ,rome4 ,no easy one to practise1 far from home4 ,you come from ,ramah8 ,,joseph4 ,yes4 ,,pilate4 ,what chance is there ,of olives being good8 ,,joseph4 ,they should be fair4 ,,pilate4 ,you will not use ,italian presses8 ,no8 ,,joseph4 ,man likes his own1 my lord1 however slow2 ,what the land made1 we say1 it ought to use4 ,,pilate4 ,your presses waste2 oil is too good to lose4 ,but ,i shall not persuade4 ,,servant4 ,longinus1 ,lord4 ,,pilate4 ,make your report1 centurion4 ,where's your sword8 ,what makes you come thus jangled8 ,are you ill8 ,,longinus4 ,there was a shock of earthquake up the hill4 ,i have been shaken4 ,i had meant to come ,before2 but ,i was whirled 444 was stricken dumb4 ,i left my sword within4444 ,,pilate4 ,leave it4 ,attend4 ,is the man1 ,jesus1 dead8 ,this is his friend ,who wants to bury him1 he says he is4 ,,longinus4 ,jesus is out of all his miseries4 ,yes1 he is dead1 my lord4 ,,pilate4 ,already8 ,,longinus4 ,yes4 ,the men who suffer most endure the less4 ,he died without our help4 ,,joseph4 ,then may ,i have ,his body1 ,lord1 to lay it in the grave8 ,,pilate4 ,a sentry's there8 ,,longinus4 ,yes1 ,lord4 ,,pilate4 ,have you a scroll8 ,takes paper4 ,right4 ,now some wax4 ,writes4 ,give into his control ,the body of the teacher2 see it laid ,inside the tomb and see the doorway made ,secure with stones and sealed1 then bring me word4 ,this privilege of burial is conferred ,on the conditions ,i have named to you4 ,see you observe them strictly4 ,,joseph4 ,i will do ,all that himself would ask to show my sense ,of this last kindness4 ,i shall go from hence ,soon1 perhaps far2 ,i give you thanks1 my lord4 ,now the last joy the niggard fates afford2 ,one little service more1 and then an end ,of that divineness touched at through our friend4 ,exit4 ,,pilate4 ,see that the tomb is sealed by dark to-night4 ,where were you hurt1 ,longinus8 ,you are white4 ,what happened at the cross8 ,,longinus4 ,we nailed him there ,aloft1 between the thieves1 in the bright air4 ,the rabble and the readers mocked with oaths1 ,the hangman's squad were dicing for his clothes4 ,the two thieves jeered at him4 ,then it grew dark1 ,till the noon sun was dwindled to a spark1 ,and one by one the mocking mouths fell still4 ,we were alone on the accursed hill ,and we were still1 not even the dice clicked1 ,only the heavy blood-gouts dropped and ticked ,on to the stone2 the hill is all bald stone4 ,and now and then the hangers gave a groan4 ,up in the dark1 three shapes with arms outspread4 ,the blood-drops spat to show how slow they bled4 ,they rose up black against the ghastly sky1 ,god1 ,lord1 it is a slow way to make die ,a man1 a strong man1 who can beget men4 ,then there would come another groan1 and then ,one of those thieves 7tough cameleers those two7 ,would curse the teacher from lips bitten through ,and the other bid him let the teacher be4 ,i have stood much1 but this thing daunted me1 ,the dark1 the livid light1 and long long groans ,one on another1 coming from their bones4 ,and it got darker and a glare began ,like the sky burning up above the man4 ,the hangman's squad stood easy on their spears ,and the air moaned1 and women were in tears1 ,while still between his groans the robber cursed4 ,the sky was grim3 it seemed about to burst4 ,hours had passed3 they seemed like awful days4 ,then 444 what was that8 ,,pilate4 ,what8 ,where8 ,,longinus4 ,a kind of blaze1 ,fire descending4 ,,pilate4 ,no4 ,,longinus4 ,i saw it4 ,,pilate4 ,yes8 ,what was it that you saw8 ,,longinus4 ,a fiery tress ,making red letters all across the heaven4 ,lord ,pilate1 pray to ,god we be forgiven4 ,,pilate4 ,the sky was grim1 you said1 there at the cross4 ,what happened next8 ,,longinus4 ,the towers bent like moss ,under the fiery figures from the sky4 ,horses were in the air1 there came a cry4 ,jesus was calling ,god3 it struck us dumb4 ,one said ,he is calling ,god4 ,wait4 ,will ,god come8 ,wait4 ,and we listened in the glare4 ,o sir1 ,he was ,god's son1 that man1 that minister1 ,for as he called1 fire tore the sky in two1 ,the sick earth shook and tossed the cross askew1 ,the earthquake ran like thunder1 the earth's bones ,broke1 the graves opened1 there were falling stones4 ,,pilate4 ,i felt the shock even here4 ,so8 ,,longinus4 ,jesus cried ,once more and drooped1 ,i saw that he had died4 ,lord1 in the earthquake ,god had come for him4 ,the thought of 't shakes me sick1 my eyes are dun4 ,,pilate4 ,tell ,scirrus to relieve you4 ,,longinus4 ,lord4444 ,,pilate4 ,dismiss4 ,lie down and try to sleep2 forget all this4 ,tell ,scirrus ,i command it4 ,rest to-night4 ,go in1 ,longinus1 go4 ,,longinus4 ,thank you1 ,lord ,pilate4 ,exit ,,longinus4 ,,pilate alone4 ,no man can stand an earthquake4 ,men can bear ,tumults of water and of fire and air1 ,but not of earth1 man's grave and standing ground2 ,when that begins to heave the will goes round4 ,longinus1 too4 ,noise below4 ,listen4 ,does ,herod come8 ,i heard his fifes4 ,the doors open4 ,,servants enter4 ,,servant4 ,lord ,herod is at hand2 ,will it please your ,lordship robe8 ,,pilate4 ,sprinkle fresh sand1 ,for blood was shed to-day1 here1 under foot4 ,he robes4 ,well1 that2 the other clasp4 ,music off4 ,a ,,voice4 ,cohort4 ,salute4 ,,pilate4 ,leave torches at the door4 ,dismiss4 ,,servants go4 ,he comes ,welcomed by everyone2 the city hums ,with joy when ,herod passes4 ,ah1 not thus ,do ,i go through the town4 ,they welcome us ,with looks of hate1 with mutterings1 curses1 stones4 ,enter ,,procula4 ,come1 stand with me4 ,welcome ,lord ,herod here4 ,welcome must make amends for barrack cheer4 ,,the ,,nubians hold torches at the door4 ,,herod enters4 ,come in1 good welcome1 ,herod4 ,,procula4 ,welcome1 sir4 ,,herod4 ,to ,rome1 to ,pilate1 and to ,beauty1 greeting2 ,give me your hands4 ,what joy is in this meeting4 ,pilate1 again4 ,you1 you have hurt your hand8 ,,pilate4 ,it is nothing1 sir4 ,,herod4 ,beauty has touched this land1 ,a wound has followed4 ,,pbocula4 ,what you please to call ,beauty1 my lord1 did nothing of the kind4 ,an earthen vessel tilted with a wall4 ,,herod4 ,may it soon mend4 ,now let me speak my mind4 ,pilate1 since you have ruled here1 there have been ,moments of 444 discord1 shall we say8 between ,your government and mine4 ,i am afraid ,that ,i1 the native here1 have seldom made ,efforts for friendship with you4 ,,pilate4 ,come4 ,,herod4 ,i should ,have done more than ,i have1 done all ,i could1 ,healed the raw wound between the land and ,rome1 ,helped you to make this hellish town a home1 ,not left it1 as ,i fear it has been1 hell ,to you and yours cooped in a citadel ,above rebellion brewing4 ,for the past ,i offer deep regret1 grief that will last1 ,and shame2 your generous mind leaves me ashamed4 ,,pilate4 ,really1 my lord4 ,,procula4 ,these things must not be named4 ,,pilate4 ,it is generous of you to speak like this1 ,but1 ,herod1 hark4 ,,procula4 ,if things have been amiss1 ,the fault was ours4 ,,herod4 ,no1 the fault was mine4 ,your generous act this morning was a sign ,of scrupulous justice done to me by you ,for all these years1 unnoticed hitherto1 ,unrecognized1 unthanked4 ,i thank you now4 ,give me your hand 444 so 444 thus4 ,,pilate4 ,herod1 ,i bow ,to what you say4 ,to think that ,i have done ,something 7,i know not what7 that has begun ,a kindlier bond between us1 touches home4 ,i have long grieved lest ,i have injured ,rome ,by failing towards yourself1 where other men ,might have been wiser4444 ,that is over1 then8 ,our differences henceforth may be discussed ,in friendly talk together2 ,,herod4 ,so ,i trust4 ,,pilate4 ,give me your hand2 ,i have long hoped for this4 ,i need your help1 and you1 perhaps1 need mine4 ,the tribes are restless on the border-line1 ,the whole land seethes3 the news from ,rome is bad4 ,but this atones4 ,,procula4 ,o1 fully4 ,,herod4 ,i am glad4 ,,pilate4 ,let us go in4 ,,herod4 ,you lead4 ,,procula4 ,a moment1 one4444 ,you named a generous act that he had done44448 ,,herod4 ,this morning1 yes2 you sent that man to me ,because his crime was laid in ,galilee4 ,a little thing1 but still it touched me close2 ,it made me think how our disputes arose ,when thieves out of your province brought to me ,were punished with a fine1 perhaps set free1 ,not sent to you to judge1 as you sent him4 ,in future you will find me more a friend4 ,or so ,i hope4 ,,pilate4 ,thanks4 ,may the gods so send ,that this may lead to happier days for us4 ,,voices ,,of ,,the ,,crowd who are now flocking in1 among them ,,the ,,madman4 ,herod the good1 ,herod the glorious4 ,long life to ,herod4 ,,pilate4 ,come1 the crowd begin4444 ,,voices4 ,herod for ever4 ,,pilate4 ,let us go within4444 ,,herod4 ,yes4 ,by the by1 what happened to the man8 ,i sent him back to you2 a rumor ran ,that he was crucified4 ,,pilate4 ,he was4 ,,herod4 ,the priests ,rage upon points of doctrine at the feasts4 ,,voices4 ,god bless you1 ,herod2 give you length of days1 ,herod4 ,,herod to the ,,crowd4 ,go home4 ,to ,god alone give praise4 ,this is ,deliverance ,night2 go home1 for soon ,over the dusty hill will come the moon1 ,and you must feast1 with prayer to the ,adored4 ,to ,,pilate4 ,he well deserved his death4 ,,voices4 ,god bless you1 ,lord4 ,,pilate4 ,i'll lead the way4444 ,,voices4 ,herod4 ,,herod to ,,procula4 ,lady1 your hand4 ,,procula4 ,there is a just man's blood upon the sand4 ,mind how you tread4 ,they go in4 ,the bronze doors are closed4 ,the ,,crowd remains for an instant watching the doors4 ,a ,,voice4 ,herod the ,fox makes friends with ,pilate4 ,why8 ,a ,,voice4 ,he needs a ,roman loan4 ,a ,,voice4 ,look at the sky1 ,the ,paschal moon has risen4 ,a ,,voice4 ,god is great4 ,why did ,i linger here8 ,i shall be late4 ,going4 ,a ,,voice4 ,good night and blessing4 ,a ,,voice going4 ,pilate's color changed ,when we cheered ,herod4 ,a ,,voice4 ,they have been estranged ,a long while now2 but now they will be friends4 ,going4 ,a ,,voice4 ,what joy it is when ,preparation ends4 ,now to our ,feast4 ,do you go down the stair8 ,a ,,voice4 ,yes1 past the pools2 will you come with me there8 ,a ,,voice4 ,i love to walk by moonlight2 let us go4 ,they go4 ,a ,,voice singing4 ,friends1 out of ,egypt1 long ago1 ,our wandering fathers came1 ,treading the paths that ,god did show ,by pointing cloud and flame4 ,by land and sea ,his darkness and ,his light ,led us into ,his peace4444 ,the voice dies away4 ,a ,,voice off4 ,good-night4 ,only ,,the ,,madman remains4 ,he takes lilies from a box and begins to tie them in bunches4 ,,madman4 ,only a penny1 a penny1 ,lilies brighter than any1 ,lilies whiter than snow4 ,he feels that he is alone4 ,beautiful lilies grow ,wherever the truth so sweet ,has trodden with bloody feet1 ,has stood with a bloody brow4 ,friend1 it is over now1 ,the passion1 the sweat1 the pains1 ,only the truth remains4 ,he lays lilies down4 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,i cannot see what others see2 ,wisdom alone is kind to me1 ,wisdom that comes from ,agony4 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,wisdom that lives in the pure skies1 ,the untouched star1 the spirit's eyes2 ,o ,beauty1 touch me1 make me wise4 ,,curtain ,,sonnets ,,note ,some few of these sonnets appeared serially in the ,atlantic ,monthly1 ,scribner's ,magazine1 ,harper's ,monthly1 and 7perhaps7 in one or two other papers4 ,i thank the ,editors of these papers for permission to reprint them here4 ,,john ,,masefield4 ,,london1 #afth ,dec4 #aiae4 ,long long ago1 when all the glittering earth ,was heaven itself1 when drunkards in the street ,were like mazed kings shaking at giving birth ,to acts of war that sickle men like wheat1 ,when the white clover opened ,paradise ,and ,god lived in a cottage up the brook1 ,beauty1 you lifted up my sleeping eyes ,and filled my heart with longing with a look2 ,and all the day ,i searched but could not find ,the beautiful dark-eyed who touched me there1 ,delight in her made trouble in my mind1 ,she was within all ,nature1 everywhere1 ,the breath ,i breathed1 the brook1 the flower1 the grass1 ,were her1 her word1 her beauty1 all she was4 ,night came again1 but now ,i could not sleep4 ,the owls were watching in the yew1 the mice ,gnawed at the wainscot2 the mid dark was deep1 ,the death-watch knocked the dead man's summons thrice4 ,the cats upon the pointed housetops peered ,about the chimneys1 with lit eyes which saw ,things in the darkness1 moving1 which they feared4 ,the midnight filled the quiet house with awe4 ,so1 creeping down the stair1 ,i drew the bolt ,and passed into the darkness1 and ,i knew ,that ,beauty was brought near by my revolt4 ,beauty was in the moonlight1 in the dew1 ,but more within myself whose venturous tread ,walked the dark house where death ticks called the dead4 ,even after all these years there comes the dream ,of lovelier life than this in some new earth1 ,in the full summer of that unearthly gleam ,which lights the spirit when the brain gives birth1 ,of a perfected ,i1 in happy hours1 ,treading above the sea that trembles there1 ,a path through thickets of immortal flowers ,that only grow where sorrows never were4 ,and1 at a turn1 of coming face to face ,with ,beauty's self1 that ,beauty ,i have sought ,in women's hearts1 in friends1 in many a place1 ,in barren hours passed at grips with thought1 ,beauty of woman1 comrade1 earth and sea1 ,incarnate thought come face to face with me4 ,if ,i could come again to that dear place ,where once ,i came1 where ,beauty lived and moved1 ,where1 by the sea1 ,i saw her face to face1 ,that soul alive by which the world has loved2 ,if1 as ,i stood at gaze among the leaves1 ,she would appear again1 as once before1 ,while the red herdsman gathered up his sheaves ,and brimming waters trembled up the shore2 ,if1 as ,i gazed1 her ,beauty that was dumb1 ,in that old time1 before ,i learned to speak1 ,would lean to me and revelation come1 ,words to the lips and color to the cheek1 ,joy with its searing-iron would burn me wise1 ,i should know all2 all powers1 all mysteries4 ,men are made human by the mighty fall ,the mighty passion led to1 these remain4 ,the despot1 at the last assaulted wall1 ,by long disaster is made man again1 ,the faithful fool who follows the torn flag1 ,the woman marching by the beaten man1 ,make with their truth atonement for the brag1 ,and earn a pity for the too proud plan4 ,for in disaster1 in the ruined will1 ,in the soiled shreds of what the brain conceived1 ,something above the wreck is steady still1 ,bright above all that cannot be retrieved1 ,grandeur of soul1 a touching of the star ,that good days cover but by which we are4 ,here in the self is all that man can know ,of ,beauty1 all the wonder1 all the power1 ,all the unearthly color1 all the glow1 ,here in the self which withers like a flower2 ,here in the self which fades as hours pass1 ,and droops and dies and rots and is forgotten1 ,sooner1 by ages1 than the mirroring glass ,in which it sees its glory still unrotten4 ,here in the flesh1 within the flesh1 behind1 ,swift in the blood and throbbing on the bone1 ,beauty herself1 the universal mind1 ,eternal ,april wandering alone1 ,the god1 the holy ghost1 the atoning lord1 ,here in the flesh1 the never yet explored4 ,flesh1 ,i have knocked at many a dusty door1 ,gone down full many a windy midnight lane1 ,probed in old walls and felt along the floor1 ,pressed in blind hope the lighted window-pane4 ,but useless all1 though sometimes1 when the moon ,was full in heaven and the sea was full1 ,along my body's alleys came a tune ,played in the tavern by the ,beautiful4 ,then for an instant ,i have felt at point ,to find and seize her1 whosoe'er she be1 ,whether some saint whose glory does anoint ,those whom she loves1 or but a part of me1 ,or something that the things not understood ,make for their uses out of flesh and blood4 ,but all has passed1 the tune has died away1 ,the glamour gone1 the glory2 is it chance8 ,is the unfeeling mud stabbed by a ray ,cast by an unseen splendor's great advance8 ,or does the glory gather crumb by crumb ,unseen1 within1 as coral islands rise1 ,till suddenly the apparitions come ,above the surface1 looking at the skies8 ,or does sweet ,beauty dwell in lovely things1 ,scattering the holy hintings of her name ,in women1 in dear friends1 in flowers1 in springs1 ,in the brook's voice1 for us to catch the same8 ,or is it we who are ,beauty1 we who ask1 ,we by whose gleams the world fulfils its task8 ,these myriad days1 these many thousand hours1 ,a man's long life1 so choked with dusty things1 ,how little perfect poise with perfect powers1 ,joy at the heart and ,beauty at the springs4 ,one hour1 or two1 or three1 in long years scattered1 ,sparks from a smithy that have fired a thatch1 ,are all that life has given and all that mattered1 ,the rest1 all heaving at a moveless latch4 ,for these1 so many years of useless toil1 ,despair1 endeavor1 and again despair1 ,sweat1 that the base machine may have its oil1 ,idle delight to tempt one everywhere4 ,a life upon the cross4 ,to make amends ,three flaming memories that the deathbed ends4 ,there1 on the darkened deathbed1 dies the brain ,that flared three several times in seventy years2 ,it cannot lift the silly hand again1 ,nor speak1 nor sing1 it neither sees nor hears4 ,and muffled mourners put it in the ground ,and then go home1 and in the earth it lies1 ,too dark for vision and too deep for sound1 ,the million cells that made a good man wise4 ,yet for a few short years an influence stirs ,a sense or wraith or essence of him dead1 ,which makes insensate things its ministers ,to those beloved1 his spirit's daily bread2 ,then that1 too1 fades2 in book or deed a spark ,lingers1 then that1 too1 fades2 then all is dark4 ,so in the empty sky the stars appear1 ,are bright in heaven marching through the sky1 ,spinning their planets1 each one to his year1 ,tossing their fiery hair until they die2 ,then in the tower afar the watcher sees ,the sun1 that burned1 less noble than it was1 ,less noble still1 until by dim degrees1 ,no spark of him is specklike in his glass4 ,then blind and dark in heaven the sun proceeds1 ,vast1 dead and hideous1 knocking on his moons1 ,till crashing on his like creation breeds1 ,striking such life a constellation swoons4 ,from dead things striking fire a new sun springs1 ,new fire1 new life1 new planets with new wings4 ,it may be so with us1 that in the dark1 ,when we have done with ,time and wander ,space1 ,some meeting of the blind may strike a spark1 ,and to ,death's empty mansion give a grace4 ,it may be1 that the loosened soul may find ,some new delight of living without limbs1 ,bodiless joy of flesh-untrammelled mind1 ,peace like a sky where starlike spirit swims4 ,it may be1 that the million cells of sense1 ,loosed from their seventy years' adhesion1 pass ,each to some joy of changed experience1 ,weight in the earth or glory in the grass2 ,it may be that we cease2 we cannot tell4 ,even if we cease life is a miracle4 ,man has his unseen friend1 his unseen twin1 ,his straitened spirit's possibility1 ,the palace unexplored he thinks an inn1 ,the glorious garden which he wanders by4 ,it is beside us while we clutch at clay ,to daub ourselves that we may never see4 ,like the lame donkey lured by moving hay ,we chase the shade but let the real be4 ,yet1 when confusion in our heaven brings stress1 ,we thrust on that unseen1 get stature from it1 ,cast to the devil's challenge the man's yes1 ,and stream our fiery hour like a comet1 ,and know for that fierce hour a friend behind1 ,with sword and shield1 the second to the mind4 ,what am ,i1 ,life8 ,a thing of watery salt ,held in cohesion by unresting cells1 ,which work they know not why1 which never halt1 ,myself unwitting where their ,master dwells4 ,i do not bid them1 yet they toil1 they spin2 ,a world which uses me as ,i use them1 ,nor do ,i know which end or which begin ,nor which to praise1 which pamper1 which condemn4 ,so1 like a marvel in a marvel set1 ,i answer to the vast1 as wave by wave ,the sea of air goes over1 dry or wet1 ,or the full moon comes swimming from her cave1 ,or the great sun comes north1 this myriad ,i ,tingles1 not knowing how1 yet wondering why4 ,if ,i could get within this changing ,i1 ,this ever altering thing which yet persists1 ,keeping the features it is reckoned by1 ,while each component atom breaks or twists1 ,if1 wandering past strange groups of shifting forms1 ,cells at their hidden marvels hard at work1 ,pale from much toil1 or red from sudden storms1 ,i might attain to where the ,rulers lurk4 ,if1 pressing past the guards in those grey gates1 ,the brain's most folded intertwisted shell1 ,i might attain to that which alters fates1 ,the ,king1 the supreme self1 the ,master ,cell1 ,then1 on ,man's earthly peak1 ,i might behold ,the unearthly self beyond1 unguessed1 untold4 ,what is this atom which contains the whole1 ,this miracle which needs adjuncts so strange1 ,this1 which imagined ,god and is the soul1 ,the steady star persisting amid change8 ,what waste1 that smallness of such power should need ,such clumsy tools so easy to destroy1 ,such wasteful servants difficult to feed1 ,such indirect dark avenues to joy4 ,why1 if its business is not mainly earth1 ,should it demand such heavy chains to sense8 ,a heavenly thing demands a swifter birth1 ,a quicker hand to act intelligence4 ,an earthly thing were better like the rose ,at peace with clay from which its beauty grows4 ,ah1 we are neither heaven nor earth1 but men2 ,something that uses and despises both1 ,that takes its earth's contentment in the pen1 ,then sees the world's injustice and is wroth1 ,and flinging off youth's happy promise1 flies ,up to some breach1 despising earthly things1 ,and1 in contempt of hell and heaven1 dies1 ,rather than bear some yoke of priests or kings4 ,our joys are not of heaven nor earth1 but man's1 ,a woman's beauty or a child's delight1 ,the trembling blood when the discoverer scans ,the sought-for world1 the guessed-at satellite2 ,the ringing scene1 the stone at point to blush ,for unborn men to look at and say ,hush4 ,roses are beauty1 but ,i never see ,those blood drops from the burning heart of ,june ,glowing like thought upon the living tree1 ,without a pity that they die so soon1 ,die into petals1 like those roses old1 ,those women1 who were summer in men's hearts ,before the smile upon the ,sphinx was cold1 ,or sand had hid the ,syrian and his arts4 ,o myriad dust of beauty that lies thick ,under our feet that not a single grain ,but stirred and moved in beauty and was quick ,for one brief moon and died nor lived again2 ,but when the moon rose lay upon the grass ,pasture to living beauty1 life that was4 ,over the church's door they moved a stone ,and there1 unguessed1 forgotten1 mortared up1 ,lay the priest's cell where he had lived alone2 ,there was his ashy hearth1 his drinking cup2 ,there was the window whence he saw the host1 ,the god whose beauty quickened bread and wine1 ,the skeleton of a religion lost1 ,the ghostless bones of what had been divine4 ,o many a time the dusty masons come1 ,knocking their trowels in the stony brain1 ,to cells where perished priests had once a home1 ,or where devout brows pressed the window pane1 ,watching the thing made ,god1 the god whose bones ,bind underground our soul's foundation stones4 ,i never see the red rose crown the year1 ,nor feel the young grass underneath my tread1 ,without the thought ,this living beauty here ,is earth's remembrance of a beauty dead4 ,surely where all this glory is displayed ,love has been quick1 like fire1 to high ends1 ,here1 in this grass1 an altar has been made ,for some white joy1 some sacrifice of friends2 ,here1 where ,i stand1 some leap of human brains ,has touched immortal things and left its trace1 ,the earth is happy here1 the gleam remains2 ,beauty is here1 the spirit of the place1 ,i touch the faith which nothing can destroy1 ,the earth1 the living church of ancient joy4 ,out of the clouds come torrents1 from the earth ,fire and quakings1 from the shrieking air ,tempests that harry half the planet's girth4 ,death's unseen seeds are scattered everywhere4 ,yet in his iron cage the mind of man ,measures and braves the terrors of all these1 ,the blindest fury and the subtlest plan ,he turns1 or tames1 or shows in their degrees4 ,yet in himself are forces of like power1 ,untamed1 unreckoned2 seeds that brain to brain ,pass across oceans bringing thought to flower1 ,new worlds1 new selves1 where he can live again1 ,eternal beauty's everlasting rose ,which casts this world as shadow as it goes4 ,o little self1 within whose smallness lies ,all that man was1 and is1 and will become1 ,atom unseen that comprehends the skies ,and tells the tracks by which the planets roam4 ,that1 without moving1 knows the joys of wings1 ,the tiger's strength1 the eagle's secrecy1 ,and in the hovel can consort with kings1 ,or clothe a god with his own mystery4 ,o with what darkness do we cloak thy light1 ,what dusty folly gather thee for food1 ,thou who alone art knowledge and delight1 ,the heavenly bread1 the beautiful1 the good4 ,o living self1 ,o god1 ,o morning star1 ,give us thy light1 forgive us what we are4 ,i went into the fields1 but you were there ,waiting for me1 so all the summer flowers ,were only glimpses of your starry powers1 ,beautiful and inspired dust they were4 ,i went down by the waters1 and a bird ,sang with your voice in all the unknown tones ,of all that self of you ,i have not heard1 ,so that my being felt you to the bones4 ,i went into my house1 and shut the door ,to be alone1 but you were there with me2 ,all beauty in a little room may be ,though the roof lean and muddy be the floor4 ,then in my bed ,i bound my tired eyes ,to make a darkness for my weary brain1 ,but like a presence you were there again1 ,being and real1 beautiful and wise1 ,so that ,i could not sleep and cried aloud1 ,you strange grave thing1 what is it you would say8 ,the redness of your dear lips dimmed to grey1 ,the waters ebbed1 the moon hid in a cloud4 ,there are two forms of life1 of which one moves1 ,seeking its meat in many forms of ,death1 ,on scales1 on wings1 on all the myriad hooves ,which stamp earth's exultation in quick breath4 ,it rustles through the reeds in shivering fowl1 ,cries over moors in curlew1 glitters green ,in the lynx' eye1 is fearful in the howl ,of winter-bitten wolves whose flanks are lean4 ,it takes dumb joy in cattle1 it is fierce1 ,it torts the tiger's loin1 the eagle's wings1 ,its tools are claws to smite and teeth to pierce1 ,arms to destroy1 and coils1 and poison stings2 ,wherever earth is quick and life runs red ,its mark is death1 its meat is something dead4 ,restless and hungry1 still it moves and slays ,feeding its beauty on dead beauty's bones1 ,most merciless in all its million ways1 ,its breath for singing bought by dying groans1 ,roving so far with such a zest to kill 7,its strongness adding hunger7 that at last ,its cells attain beyond the cruel skill ,to where life's earliest impulses are past4 ,then this creation of the linked lusts1 ,to move and eat1 still under their control1 ,hunts for his prey in thought1 his thinking thrusts ,through the untrodden jungle of the soul1 ,through slip and quag1 morasses dripping green1 ,seeking the thing supposed but never seen4 ,how many ways1 how many different times ,the tiger ,mind has clutched at what it sought1 ,only to prove supposed virtues crimes1 ,the imagined godhead but a form of thought4 ,how many restless brains have wrought and schemed1 ,padding their cage1 or built1 or brought to law1 ,made in outlasting brass the something dreamed1 ,only to prove themselves the things of awe1 ,yet1 in the happy moment's lightning blink1 ,comes scent1 or track1 or trace1 the game goes by1 ,some leopard thought is pawing at the brink1 ,chaos below1 and1 up above1 the sky4 ,then the keen nostrils scent1 about1 about1 ,to prove the ,thing ,within a ,thing ,without4 ,the other form of ,living does not stir2 ,where the seed chances there it roots and grows1 ,to suck what makes the lily or the fir ,out of the earth and from the air that blows4 ,great power of ,will that little thing the seed ,has1 all alone in earth1 to plan the tree1 ,and1 though the mud oppresses1 to succeed1 ,and put out branches where the birds may be4 ,then the wind blows it1 but the bending boughs ,exult like billows1 and their million green ,drink the all-living sunlight in carouse1 ,like dainty harts where forest wells are clean4 ,while it1 the central plant1 which looks o'er miles1 ,draws milk from the earth's breast1 and sways1 and smiles4 ,is there a great green commonwealth of ,thought ,which ranks the yearly pageant1 and decides ,how ,summer's royal progress shall be wrought1 ,by secret stir which in each plant abides8 ,does rocking daffodil consent that she1 ,the snowdrop of wet winters1 shall be first8 ,does spotted cowslip with the grass agree ,to hold her pride before the rattle burst8 ,and in the hedge what quick agreement goes1 ,when hawthorn blossoms redden to decay1 ,that ,summer's pride shall come1 the ,summer's rose1 ,before the flower be on the bramble spray8 ,or is it1 as with us1 unresting strife1 ,and each consent a lucky gasp for life8 ,beauty1 let be2 ,i cannot see your face1 ,i shall not know you now1 nor touch your feet1 ,only within me tremble to your grace ,tasting this crumb vouchsafed which is so sweet4 ,even when the full-leaved ,summer bore no fruit1 ,you give me this1 this apple of man's tree2 ,this planet sings when other spheres were mute1 ,this light begins when darkness covered me4 ,now1 though ,i know that ,i shall never know ,all1 through my fault1 nor blazon with my pen ,that path prepared where only ,i could go1 ,still1 ,i have this1 not given to other men4 ,beauty1 this grace1 this spring1 this given bread1 ,this life1 this dawn1 this wakening from the dead4 ,here1 where we stood together1 we three men1 ,before the war had swept us to the ,east ,three thousand miles away1 ,i stand again ,and hear the bells1 and breathe1 and go to feast4 ,we trod the same path1 to the self-same place1 ,yet here ,i stand1 having beheld their graves1 ,skyros whose shadows the great seas erase1 ,and ,seddul ,bahr that ever more blood craves4 ,so1 since we communed here1 our bones have been ,nearer1 perhaps1 than they again will be1 ,earth and the world-wide battle lie between1 ,death lies between1 and friend-destroying sea4 ,yet here1 a year ago1 we talked and stood ,as ,i stand now1 with pulses beating blood4 ,i saw her like a shadow on the sky ,in the last light1 a blur upon the sea1 ,then the gale's darkness put the shadow by1 ,but from one grave that island talked to me2 ,and1 in the midnight1 in the breaking storm1 ,i saw its blackness and a blinking light1 ,and thought1 ,so death obscures your gentle form1 ,so memory strives to make the darkness bright2 ,and1 in that heap of rocks1 your body lies1 ,part of the island till the planet ends1 ,my gentle comrade1 beautiful and wise1 ,part of this crag this bitter surge offends1 ,while ,i1 who pass1 a little obscure thing1 ,war with this force1 and breathe1 and am its king4 ,not that the stars are all gone mad in heaven ,plucking the unseen reins upon men's souls1 ,not that the law that bound the planets seven ,is discord now2 man probes for new controls4 ,he bends no longer to the circling stars1 ,new moon and full moon and the living sun1 ,love-making ,venus1 ,jove and bloody ,mars ,pass from their thrones1 their rule of him is done4 ,and paler gods1 made liker men1 are past1 ,like their sick eras to their funeral urns1 ,they cannot stand the fire blown by the blast ,in which man's soul that measures heaven burns4 ,man in his cage of many millioned pain ,burns all to ash to prove if ,god remain4 ,there is no ,god1 as ,i was taught in youth1 ,though each1 according to his stature1 builds ,some covered shrine for what he thinks the truth1 ,which day by day his reddest heart-blood gilds4 ,there is no ,god2 but death1 the clasping sea1 ,in which we move like fish1 deep over deep ,made of men's souls that bodies have set free1 ,floods to a ,justice though it seems asleep4 ,there is no ,god1 but still1 behind the veil1 ,the hurt thing works1 out of its agony4 ,still1 like a touching of a brimming ,grail1 ,return the pennies given to passers by4 ,there is no ,god1 but we1 who breathe the air1 ,are ,god ourselves and touch ,god everywhere4 ,beauty retires2 the blood out of the earth ,shrinks1 the stalk dries1 lifeless ,november still ,drops the brown husk of ,april's greenest birth4 ,through the thinned beech clump ,i can see the hill4 ,so withers man1 and though his life renews ,in ,aprils of the soul1 an autumn comes ,which gives an end1 not respite1 to the thews ,that bore his soul through the world's martyrdoms4 ,then all the beauty will be out of mind1 ,part of man's store1 that lies outside his brain1 ,touch to the dead and vision to the blind1 ,drink in the desert1 bread1 eternal grain2 ,part of the untilled field that beauty sows ,with flowers untold1 where quickened spirit goes4 ,wherever beauty has been quick in clay ,some effluence of it lives1 a spirit dwells1 ,beauty that death can never take away1 ,mixed with the air that shakes the flower bells2 ,so that by waters where the apples fall1 ,or in lone glens1 or valleys full of flowers1 ,or in the streets where bloody tidings call1 ,the haunting waits the mood that makes it ours4 ,then at a turn1 a word1 an act1 a thought1 ,such difference comes1 the spirit apprehends ,that place's glory1 for where beauty fought ,under the veil the glory never ends1 ,but the still grass1 the leaves1 the trembling flower1 ,keep1 through dead time1 that everlasting hour4 ,you are more beautiful than women are1 ,wiser than men1 stronger than ribbd death1 ,juster than ,time1 more constant than the star1 ,dearer than love1 more intimate than breath2 ,having all art1 all science1 all control ,over the still unsmithied1 even as ,time ,cradles the generations of man's soul1 ,you are the light to guide1 the way to climb4 ,so1 having followed beauty1 having bowed ,to wisdom and to death1 to law1 to power1 ,i like a blind man stumble from the crowd ,into the darkness of a deeper hour1 ,where in the lonely silence ,i may wait ,the prayed-for gleam--your hand upon the gate4 ,out of the barracks to the castle yard ,those ,roman soldiers came1 buckling their gear2 ,the word was passed that they were prison guard2 ,the sergeant proved their dressing with his spear4 ,then1 as the prisoner came1 a wretch who bled ,holding a cross1 those nearest cursed his soul3 ,he might have died some other time1 they said1 ,not at high noon3 the sergeant called the roll4 ,then1 sloping spears1 the files passed from the court ,into the alleys1 thrusting back the crowd1 ,they cursed the bleeding man for stepping short2 ,the drums beat time3 the sergeant hummed aloud2 ,the rabble closed behind3 the soldiers cursed ,the prisoner's soul1 the flies1 their packs1 their thirst4 ,not for the anguish suffered is the slur1 ,not for the women's mocks1 the taunts of men1 ,no1 but because you never welcomed her1 ,her of whose beauty ,i am only the pen4 ,there was a dog1 dog-minded1 with dog's eyes1 ,damned by a dog's brute-nature to be true1 ,something within her made his spirit wise1 ,he licked her hand1 he knew her1 not so you4 ,when all adulterate beauty has gone by1 ,when all inanimate matter has gone down1 ,we will arise and walk1 that dog and ,i1 ,the only two who knew her in the town1 ,we'll range the pleasant mountains side by side1 ,seeking the blood-stained flowers where ,christs have died4 ,beauty was with me once1 but now1 grown old1 ,i cannot hear nor see her3 thus a king ,in the high turret kept him from the cold ,over the fire1 with his magic ring ,which1 as he wrought1 made pictures come and go ,of men and times1 past1 present1 and to be1 ,now like a smoke1 now flame-like1 now a glow1 ,now dead1 now bright1 but always fantasy4 ,while1 on the stair without1 a faithful slave ,stabbed to the death1 crawled bleeding1 whispering ,sir1 ,they come to kill you1 fly3 ,i come to save2 ,o you great gods1 have pity1 let him hear4 ,then1 with his last strength tapped and muttered1 ,sire1 ,while the king smiled and drowsed above the fire4 ,so beauty comes1 so with a failing hand ,she knocks and cries1 and fails to make me hear1 ,she who tells futures in the falling sand ,and still1 by signs1 makes hidden meanings clear2 ,she1 who behind this many peopled smoke1 ,moves in the light and struggles to direct1 ,through the deaf ear and by the baffled stroke1 ,the wicked man1 the honored architect4 ,yet at a dawn before the birds begin1 ,in dreams1 as the horse stamps and the hound stirs1 ,sleep slips the bolt and beauty enters in ,crying aloud those hurried words of hers1 ,and ,i awake and1 in the birded dawn1 ,know her for ,queen and own myself a pawn4 ,if ,beauty be at all1 if1 beyond sense1 ,there be a wisdom piercing into brains1 ,why should the glory wait on impotence1 ,biding its time till blood is in the veins8 ,there is no beauty1 but1 when thought is quick1 ,out of the noisy sickroom of ourselves1 ,some flattery comes to try to cheat the sick1 ,some drowsy drug is groped for on the shelves4 ,and1 for the rest1 we play upon a scene ,beautiful with the blood of living things2 ,we move and speak and wonder and have been1 ,upon the dust as dust1 not queens and kings2 ,we know no beauty1 nor does beauty care ,for us1 this dust1 that men make everywhere4 ,each greedy self1 by consecrating lust1 ,desire pricking into sacrifice1 ,adds1 in his way1 some glory to the dust1 ,brings1 to the light1 some haze of ,paradise1 ,hungers and thirsts for beauty2 like the hound ,snaps it1 to eat alone2 in secret keeps ,his miser's patch of consecrated ground ,where beauty's corns are dug down to the deeps4 ,so when disturbing death digs up our lives1 ,some little gleam among the broken soil ,may witness for us as the shovel rives ,the dirty heap of all our tiny toil2 ,some gleam of you may make the digger hold1 ,touched for an instant with the thought of gold4 ,time being an instant in eternity1 ,beauty above man's million years must see ,the heaped corrupted mass that had to die1 ,the husk of man that set the glitter free2 ,now from those million bodies in the dark1 ,forgotten1 rotten1 part of fields or roads1 ,the million gleam united makes a spark ,which ,beauty sees among her star abodes4 ,and1 from the bodies1 comes a sigh1 ,alas1 ,we hated1 fought and killed1 as separate men2 ,now all is merged and we are in the grass1 ,our efforts merged1 would we had known it then4 ,all our lives' battle1 all our spirits' dream1 ,nought in themselves1 a clash which made a gleam4 ,you will remember me in days to come ,with love1 or pride1 or pity1 or contempt2 ,so will my friends 7not many friends1 yet some7 ,when this my life will be a dream out-dreamt2 ,and one1 remembering friendship by the fire1 ,and one1 remembering love time in the dark1 ,and one1 remembering unfulfilled desire1 ,will sigh1 perhaps1 yet be beside the mark2 ,for this my body with its wandering ghost ,is nothing solely but an empty grange1 ,dark in a night that owls inhabit most1 ,yet when the king rides by there comes a change2 ,the windows gleam1 the cresset's fiery hair ,blasts the blown branch and beauty lodges there4 ,they took the bloody body from the cross1 ,they laid it in its niche and rolled the stone4 ,one said1 ,our blessed ,master1 one ,his loss ,ends us companions1 we are left alone4 ,and one1 ,i thought that ,pilate would acquit ,right to the last2 and one1 ,the sergeant took ,the trenching mall and drove the nails with it4 ,one who was weeping went apart and shook4 ,then one1 ,he promised that in three short days ,he would return1 oh ,god2 but ,he is dead4 ,and one1 ,what was it that ,he meant to raise8 ,the ,temple8 ,no8 ,what was it that ,he said8 ,he said that ,he would build8 ,that ,he would rise8 ,no1 answered one1 but come from ,paradise4 ,come to us fiery with the saints of ,god ,to judge the world and take ,his power and reign4 ,then one4 ,this was the very road we trod ,that ,april day1 would it could come again2 ,the day they flung the flowers4 ,let be1 said one1 ,he was a lovely soul1 but what ,he meant ,passes our wit1 for none among us1 none1 ,had brains enough to fathom ,his intent4 ,his mother did not1 nor could one of us1 ,but while ,he spoke ,i felt ,i understood4 ,and one1 ,he knew that it would finish thus4 ,let ,his thought be1 ,i know that ,he was good4 ,there is the orchard see1 the very same ,where we were sleeping when the soldiers came4 ,so from the cruel cross they buried ,god2 ,so1 in their desolation1 as they went ,they dug him deeper with each step they trod1 ,their lightless minds distorting what ,he meant4 ,lamenting ,him1 their leader1 who had died1 ,they heaped the stones1 they rolled the heavy door2 ,they said1 ,our glory has been crucified1 ,unless ,he rise our glory will be o'er4 ,while in the grave the spirit left the corpse ,broken by torture1 slowly1 line by line1 ,and saw the dawn come on the eastern thorpes1 ,and shook his wings and sang in the divine1 ,crying ,i told the truth1 even unto death1 ,though ,i was earth and now am only breath4 ,if all be governed by the moving stars1 ,if passing planets bring events to be1 ,searing the face of ,time with bloody scars1 ,drawing men's souls even as the moon the sea2 ,if as they pass they make a current pass ,across man's life and heap it to a tide1 ,we are but pawns1 ignobler than the grass ,cropped by the beast and crunched and tossed aside4 ,is all this beauty that does inhabit heaven ,trail of a planet's fire8 ,is all this lust ,a chymic means by warring stars contriven ,to bring the violets out of ,csar's dust8 ,better be grass1 or in some hedge unknown ,the spilling rose whose beauty is its own4 ,in emptiest furthest heaven where no stars are ,perhaps some planet of our master sun ,still rolls an unguessed orbit round its star ,unthought1 unseen1 unknown of any one4 ,roving dead space according to its law ,casting our light on burnt-out suns and blind ,singing in the frozen void its word of awe ,one wandering thought in all that idiot mind4 ,and1 in some span of many a thousand year1 ,passing through heaven1 its influence may arouse ,beauty unguessed in those who habit here1 ,and men may rise with glory on their brows1 ,and feel new life like fire1 and see the old ,fall from them dead1 the bronze's broken mould4 ,perhaps in chasms of the wasted past1 ,that planet wandered within hail of ours1 ,and plucked men's souls to loveliness and cast ,the old1 that was1 away1 like husks of flowers2 ,and made them stand erect and bade them build ,nobler than hovels plaited in the mire1 ,gave them an altar and a god to gild1 ,bridled the brooks for them and fettered fire2 ,and1 in another coming1 forged the steel ,which1 on life's scarlet wax1 forever set ,longing for beauty bitten as a seal ,that blood not clogs nor centuries forget1 ,that built ,atlantis1 and1 in time will raise ,that grander thing whose image haunts our days4 ,for1 like an outcast from the city1 ,i ,wander the desert strewn with traveller's bones1 ,having no comrade but the starry sky ,where the tuned planets ride their floating thrones4 ,i pass old ruins where the kings caroused ,in cups long shards from vines long since decayed1 ,i tread the broken brick where queens were housed ,in beauty's time ere beauty was betrayed2 ,and in the ceaseless pitting of the sand ,on monolith and pyle1 ,i see the dawn1 ,making those skeletons of beauty grand ,by fire that comes as darkness is withdrawn2 ,and in that fire the art of men to come ,shines with such glow ,i bless my martyrdom4 ,death lies in wait for you1 you wild thing in the wood1 ,shy-footed beauty dear1 half-seen1 half-understood1 ,glimpsed in the beech wood dim1 and in the dropping fir1 ,shy like a fawn and sweet and beauty's minister4 ,glimpsed as in flying clouds by night the little moon1 ,a wonder1 a delight1 a paleness passing soon4 ,only a moment held1 only an hour seen1 ,only an instant known in all that life has been1 ,one instant in the sand to drink that gush of grace ,the beauty of your way1 the marvel of your face4 ,death lies in wait for you1 but few short hours he gives1 ,i perish even as you by whom all spirit lives1 ,come to me1 spirit1 come1 and fill my hour of breath ,with hours of life in life that pay no toll to death4 ,what are we given1 what do we take away8 ,five little senses1 startling with delight1 ,that dull to death and perish into clay ,and pass from human memory as from sight4 ,so the new penny glittering from the mint1 ,bears the king's head awhile1 but ,time effaces ,the head1 the date1 the seated queen1 the print ,even as a brook the stone in pebbly places4 ,we bear the stamp1 are current1 and are prized1 ,hoarded or spent1 the while the mintage passes1 ,then1 like light money1 challenged or despised1 ,we join the heap of dross which ,time amasses1 ,erased1 uncurrent discs no more to range ,the clanging counters in the great exchange4 ,they called that broken hedge ,the ,haunted ,gate4 ,strange fires 7they said7 burnt there at moonless times4 ,evil was there1 men never went there late1 ,the darkness there was quick with threatened crimes4 ,and then one digging in that bloodied clay ,found1 but a foot below1 a rotted chest4 ,coins of the ,romans1 tray on rusted tray1 ,hurriedly heaped there by a digger prest4 ,so that one knew how1 centuries before1 ,some ,roman flying from the sack by night1 ,digging in terror there to hide his store1 ,sweating his pick1 by windy lantern light1 ,had stamped his anguish on that place's soul1 ,so that it knew and could rehearse the whole4 ,there was an evil in the nodding wood ,above the quarry long since overgrown1 ,something which stamped it as a place of blood ,where tortured spirit cried from murdered bone4 ,then1 after years1 ,i saw a rusty knife ,stuck in a woman's skull1 just as 'twas found1 ,blackt with a centuried crust of clotted life1 ,in the red clay of that unholy ground4 ,so that ,i knew the unhappy thing had spoken1 ,that tongueless thing for whom the quarry spoke1 ,the evil seals of murder had been broken ,by the red earth1 the grass1 the rooted oak1 ,the inarticulate dead had forced the spade1 ,the hand1 the mind1 till murder was displayed4 ,go1 spend your penny1 ,beauty1 when you will1 ,in the grave's darkness let the stamp be lost4 ,the water still will bubble from the hill1 ,and ,april quick the meadows with her ghost2 ,over the grass the daffodils will shiver1 ,the primroses with their pale beauty abound1 ,the blackbird be a lover and make quiver ,with his glad singing the great soul of the ground2 ,so that if the body rot1 it will not matter2 ,up in the earth the great game will go on1 ,the coming of ,spring and the running of the water1 ,and the young things glad of the womb's darkness gone2 ,and the joy we felt will be a part of the glory ,in the lover's kiss that makes the old couple's story4 ,not for your human beauty nor the power ,to shake me by your voice or by your touch1 ,summer must have its rose1 the rose must flower1 ,beauty burn deep1 ,i do not yield to such4 ,no1 but because your beauty where it falls ,lays bare the spirits in the crowded streets1 ,shatters the lock1 destroys the castle walls1 ,breaks down the bars till friend with comrade meets1 ,so that ,i wander brains where beauty dwelled ,in long dead time1 and see again the rose ,by long dead men for living beauty held1 ,that ,death's knife spares1 and ,winter with his snows1 ,and know it bloodied by that pulse of birth ,which greens the grass in ,aprils upon earth4 ,the little robin hopping in the wood ,draws friendship from you1 the rapt nightingale ,making the night a marvellous solitude1 ,only of you to darkness tells the tale4 ,kingfishers are but jewels on your dress1 ,dun deer that rove and timid rabbits shy ,are but the hintings of your gentleness4 ,upon your wings the eagle climbs the sky4 ,fish that are shadows in the water pass ,with mystery from you1 the purpled moth ,dust from your kirtle on his broidery has1 ,out of your bounty every beauty flowth4 ,for you are all1 all fire1 all living form1 ,marvel in man and glory in the worm4 ,though in life's streets the tempting shops have lured1 ,because all beauty1 howsoever base1 ,is vision of you1 marred1 ,i have endured ,tempted or fall'n1 to look upon your face4 ,now through the grinning death's head in the paint1 ,within the tavern-song1 hid in the wine1 ,in many kinded man1 emperor and saint1 ,i see you pass1 you breath of the divine4 ,i see you pass1 as centuries ago ,the long dead men with passionate spirit saw1 ,o brother man1 whom spirit habits so1 ,through your red sorrows ,beauty keeps her law1 ,beauty herself1 who takes your dying hand1 ,to leave through ,time the ,memnon in the sand4 ,when all these million cells that are my slaves ,fall from my pourried ribs and leave me lone1 ,a living speck among a world of graves1 ,what shall ,i be1 that spot in the unknown8 ,a glow-worm in a night that floats the sun8 ,or deathless dust feeling the passer's foot8 ,an eye undying mourning things undone8 ,or seed for quickening free from prisoning fruit8 ,or an eternal jewel on your robe1 ,caught to your heart1 one with the ,april fire ,that made me yours as man upon the globe1 ,one with the ,spring1 a breath in all desire1 ,one with the primrose1 present in all joy8 ,or pash that rots1 which pismires can destroy8 ,let that which is to come be as it may1 ,darkness1 extinction1 justice1 life intense1 ,the flies are happy in the summer day1 ,flies will be happy many summers hence4 ,time with his antique breeds that built the ,sphynx ,time with her men to come whose wings will tower1 ,poured and will pour1 not as the wise man thinks1 ,but with blind force1 to each his little hour4 ,and when the hour has struck1 comes death or change1 ,which1 whether good or ill1 we cannot tell1 ,but the blind planet will wander through her range ,bearing men like us who will serve as well4 ,the sun will rise1 the winds that ever move ,will blow our dust that once were men in love4 ,,the ,,madman',s ,,song ,you have not seen what ,i have seen1 ,the town besieged by a million men2 ,i saw it though1 the people starved1 ,my rib-bones here came through my skin4 ,thousands were killed and thousands died1 ,we ate dead blow-flies from the stalls2 ,help us1 ,o ,lord1 our ,king1 we cried2 ,he could not help1 for all our calls4 ,no1 but there was a poor mean man1 ,a skinny man and mad1 like me1 ,he saw3 he told the ,king his plan1 ,a plan to set our city free4 ,the ,king in fury had him bound1 ,dragged to the walls with kick and curse1 ,and flung from off them to the ground2 ,daily our agonies grew worse4 ,and all our sallies came to wreck1 ,we ate the dead men from the grave1 ,our troops were killed or put in check1 ,o ,king1 we cried1 in pity1 save1 ,save us or we shall die1 we cried4 ,he could not save us1 so we died4 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,but then he called to mind the man ,whose bones the dogs had picked by this1 ,he murmured1 ,we will try the plan1 ,death would be better than what is4 ,i'll try the madman's plan to-night4 ,do ,i remember it aright8 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,we did the madman's will1 we won1 ,we left the million rotting there2 ,not one remained alive1 not one1 ,the madman's wisdom was most rare4 ,we laughed1 we ate again1 we drank1 ,rebuilt the city1 walls and towers1 ,we cried ,we have the ,king to thank4 ,we strewed his royal path with flowers4 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,but ,i who am mad am wiser now1 ,i wander in the city ditch1 ,for wisdom grows on the withered bough4 ,flowers are fair and fruit is rich1 ,but wisdom is lovelier than them all4 ,so when the world is hard at work1 ,i kneel in the foss below the wall ,on the rubble where the lizards lurk4 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,the goutweed hides the poor man's bones1 ,the mint-scent warms in the hot air1 ,an influence comes out of the stones1 ,the dead man's spirit quickens there1 ,singing1 ,i trod the piteous way ,the world despised me1 comrades failed1 ,but from above an unquenched ray ,burned in my brain3 it never quailed2 ,my body shook1 my mind had doubt1 ,that star within me helped me on1 ,man1 the walled town which cast me out1 ,was powerless like a fever gone4 ,and now ,i know that light is like the sea1 ,i was the rock it girt1 it beat on me4 ,i was the deaf-mute1 blinded by a curse1 ,outside me was the starry universe ,i had but to unlatch to let it in4 ,nothing but mental blindness can be sin1 ,all seeing saves1 all hearing1 all delight1 ,i am a star4 ,i wander through the night4 ,printed in the ,united ,states of ,america4