A DRAMA OF EXILE.
19
Burnt on my forehead, which you taunt me with,
Is God's sign that it bows not unto God;
The potter's mark upon his work, to show
It rings well to the striker. I and the earth
Can hear more curse.
Gabriel. O miserable earth,
O ruined angel!
Lucifer. Well! and if it be,
I chose this ruin: I elected it
Of my will, not of service. What I do,
I do volitient, not obedient,
And overtop thy crown with my despair.
My sorrow crowns me. Get thee back to Heaven;
And leave me to the earth which is mine own
In virtue of her misery, as I hers,
In virtue of my ruin! turn from both,
That bright, impassive, passive angelhood;
And spare to read us backward any more
Of your spent hallelujahs.
Gabriel.Spirit of scorn!
I might say, of unreason! I might say,
That who despairs, acts; that who acts, connives
With God's relations set in time and space;
That who elects, assumes a something good
Which God made possible; that who lives, obeys
The law of a life-maker . . .
Lucifer.Let it pass!
No more, thou Gabriel! What if I stand up
And strike my brow against the crystalline
Hoofing the creatures,—shall I say for that,
My stature is too high for me to stand,—
Henceforward I must sit? Sit thou.
Gabriel.I kneel.
Lucifer. A heavenly answer. Get thee to thy Heaven,
And leave my earth to me.
Gabriel.Through Heaven and earth
God's will moves freely; and I follow it,
As colour follows light. He overflows
Is God's sign that it bows not unto God;
The potter's mark upon his work, to show
It rings well to the striker. I and the earth
Can hear more curse.
Gabriel. O miserable earth,
O ruined angel!
Lucifer. Well! and if it be,
I chose this ruin: I elected it
Of my will, not of service. What I do,
I do volitient, not obedient,
And overtop thy crown with my despair.
My sorrow crowns me. Get thee back to Heaven;
And leave me to the earth which is mine own
In virtue of her misery, as I hers,
In virtue of my ruin! turn from both,
That bright, impassive, passive angelhood;
And spare to read us backward any more
Of your spent hallelujahs.
Gabriel.Spirit of scorn!
I might say, of unreason! I might say,
That who despairs, acts; that who acts, connives
With God's relations set in time and space;
That who elects, assumes a something good
Which God made possible; that who lives, obeys
The law of a life-maker . . .
Lucifer.Let it pass!
No more, thou Gabriel! What if I stand up
And strike my brow against the crystalline
Hoofing the creatures,—shall I say for that,
My stature is too high for me to stand,—
Henceforward I must sit? Sit thou.
Gabriel.I kneel.
Lucifer. A heavenly answer. Get thee to thy Heaven,
And leave my earth to me.
Gabriel.Through Heaven and earth
God's will moves freely; and I follow it,
As colour follows light. He overflows
