Polyeucte Part 18

Thou thoughtst me coward, liar--thou shalt see All oaths Severus swears fulfilled shall be.

Poor moth! I might have saved thee--nay, I planned to save, Thy perfidy the torch that marks thee for the grave.

Drench earth in blood,--for Jove pour forth malignant zeal, The strokes that thou hast dealt redoubled shalt thou feel!

I go: the storm shall break o'er this devoted land, From Jove the bolt?--maybe--but I direct his hand.

FELIX.

Why lags that hand? A willing victim I, I choose to suffer for my perfidy; My doubts, my fears unworthy, all I own, I have offended--let my death atone.

Take thou my honours, their poor l.u.s.tre thine, I kneel before another, n.o.bler shrine.

The Power that moved me, groping through the night Of wrong and darkness, wafts me to The Light!

I slew thee, Polyeucte, but thy pardoning hand Shall guide thy murderer to the better land!

He prays for me, and by his sacrifice, New-born upon his ashes I arise.

(To Pauline.) Raised by his death from out the grave of sin, Thou tread'st the path thy father shall begin; By me his martyr-crown, as all my bliss By him. His Christ is mine, and I am his; O, blessed Christian vengeance! All my loss Is turned to gain by the redeeming Cross!

Now, Pauline, am I thine, a Christian I, That Death gives life by which alike we die!

(To Severus.) Then slay us both! Behold a willing prey!

PAUL.

(To Felix.) Yes, mine for ever now! Hail, glorious day, That sees earth's loss transformed to endless gain!

FELIX.

The gain, the glory, Christ's! By Him we reign.

SEV.

Now am I dumb, some miracle is here; Their courage and their faith must I revere; We slay them; yet, like Cadmus' seed, new-born They sprout afresh, and laugh our scythe to scorn.

We give them cord and flame, they torture hail; Friends fail them, but themselves they never fail.

We mow them down, fresh nurslings to unbare, What moves the seed lies hid, but _it is there_.

They bless the world, though by the world accurst, Their s.h.i.+eld am I--let Decius do his worst.

I yet may own their power, though now my will That each to his own G.o.ds be faithful still, Let each still search for truth, and truth adore.

(To Felix).

A Christian thou? Then fear my wrath no more, Thy sect I cherish; this their awful cult Severus will protect, but ne'er insult.

Keep thou thy power from Roman sword secure, So long as loyalty with faith endure; I swear it: ay, the Emperor shall learn The guiltless from the traitor to discern; His persecution baseless as his fear.

FELIX.

Severus--thou who hast the hearing ear,-- Freeman of Rome--G.o.d's Spirit grant thee grace To be Christ's Freeman, and behold His face: To these--Christ's martyrs--earth's last rites be given, Earth, guard their ashes as a trust for Heaven!

Earth hides their dust. When envious time is o'er, That dust shall wake to life for evermore!