No More Learning

Why, I must live; life's only on that side!
Hear you the tribunes shout? Caesar has set
A price upon your head ! {He draws his sword. ^

Iridion {felling him to the earth). Go down to Hell !
On that route, soon or late, you will meet Caesar !

{Exit. ')

SCENE VI. The court of Iridion' s palace. The still
smoking pyre of Elsinoe stands in the court. Gladiators,
slaves, soldiers enter, bearing torches. Pilades is seen
hurrying across the stage.

Sevej-al Voices. Where are you going, Pilades, so fast?
Pilades. To bring fresh pine and cypress from the

cave.
Many Men. Tear the torch from his hand ! He shall

not go !
Pilades. No nearer come ! Do you not know me,
Brothers ?
I must do as my Lord directed me.

Many Men. I'hrow down your torch at once ! Stand

still, or die !
Several Voices. Aristomachus' eagles must be near !
Other Voices. And Tubero must be almost upon us !
Iridion {entering). Brothers, you are deceived. No
day will ever dawn
For Tubero ! {He mounts the base of an obelisk. )

Why, what means this? Axes,
Shields, arms, thrown down, and my men in disorder?



IRIDION. 435

For the last time I call you to the fight : —

Then, Brothers, rest and silence evermore !

{A pause. The men stand motionless and make no reply. ')

Why do you gaze so furtively at me?

Why let the arms drop from your sturdy hands?

The very flames grow pale before your pallor !

To arms !

First Soldier. My chief! I fought from break of day
Until the moon went down. I scarce can stand.

Another Soldier. What has become of our associates?
Some fainting, exhausted, nearly dead ;
Some die in torture; others kill themselves;
Many have gone to yield themselves to Caesar!

Other Soldiers {showing their wounds').
Look at our wounds ! We cannot stand upright !

A Soldier. Aristomachus broke his heavy lance
Off in my breast. Iridion, water ! water!

Iridion. Ah ! I can only give you fire ! fire !

All. O impious ! The gods themselves desert you I

Iridion. Diomedes, were you not born in Corinth?
Will you humiliate yourself before
The tyrants of your country ? You, Glaucus, you ?
Eutelles, beautiful as Greek god?
How can you, Greeks, shame Greece before her foe ?

CHORUS OF GREEKS.

Woe ! Woe ! Our agonies are useless
To our dead Fatherland !
Iridion. Die for her glory !

CHORUS OF MEN.

Life ! Life ! Not fame ! Food, rest ! — not useless glory !
Iridion. Poor wretches, I have heard your many
oaths.
Have seen your swords oft deeply dyed in blood.
And know how bravely you have borne the brunt !
But now you stand on the very brink of the grave.
When one short hour would bring you lasting fame ;
And will you die as men are wont to die,
Not in despair, blindness, fury of combat,
But shame, submission, treachery, cowardice?



436 IRIDION.

CHORUS.

Ccesar still loves you ! For yourself, for us,
Obtain his pardon ! It is not yet too late !

Iridion. If Rome should now forgive you, can you
think
You would be suffered long to live ? Not so !
Grief, shame, I know, would not cut short your days.
But they would send you into desert sands,
Where water flows not, where the blazing sun
AVould scorch your feet, would crisp your hair and burn
Your brains, destroying you as Greeks !
Invited to their banquets, they would pledge
You deep in poisoned cups, accuse of crimes !
Know, men, that all who'd enter Caesar's service
Would find their blood sold cheaply to his foes
Because he still would number you among them.
You will be forced to fight with tigers, lions,
For the amusement of the Roman people.
Procuring them another holiday !
You cannot save your lives ! Die then as men.
With arms in your brave hands ! Die not as slaves !

A Soldier. You now abuse us ! You, who have be-
trayed us !

Another Soldier. You promised victory ! {lie seizes
Filades. ) Hold, Pi lades !

Iridion. Stab him who holds you, Pilades, and go !

A Soldier. Your head is doomed !

Another Soldier. We'll carry it to Csesar !

Iridion. Strike, wretch ! See, I have thrown away my
shield !
But your hands tremble so you cannot strike me !
(^Filades is stabbed by a soldier with ivhom he is struggling. ^
Ah ! my poor Pilades ! My faithful friend !

Filades. Son of Amphilochus, Iridion!
Thy fate is far more bitter to me than my oivn !

(ylle falls and dies. ^

CHORUS.

Seest tliou the golden eagles? Caesar's purple?
Hearest thou the trumpets of his legions swell ?



I RID ION. 437

Iridion {spriiigitig down from the base of the obelisk on
which he stood).
Each of these swords is at a traitor's throat !
Wretch, see thyself in Sigurd's glittering blade !
Miscreant, the sword of Tubero is keen !
Traitors, no nearer come ! Out of my way !
Grow not so pale ! I have no wish to kill you !
Go! press your trembling knees into the dust I
Go, beg for pity ! fold your hands in prayer !
Adore the Romans 1 I will not die a slave !
{He passes betweeti his men with a naked sword in either
hand, and mounts upon the pyre of Elsinoe. ')

CHORUS.

Son of misfortune ! May the floods of blood
Which thou hast shed, soon bear thee into Erebus !
The curses of the living follow thee !
May they still thunder on thine ears, until
Thou shiverest upon the gloomy shores of Styx I

Iridion. Father ! _ I die, weary of my few days,
Satiate with poison, bitterness of life !
Father, forgive not cowards I Cruel victors !
(Masinissa appears by Iridion upon the pyre of Elsinoe. ^
Ah ! thou appearest at last when all is o'er !
Go ! go, old man ! thine hour is not yet come !
Go ! join the traitors ! Caesar may forgive thee I

Masinissa. Son, follow me !

Iridion. No longer do I know thee !

Masinissa. I saved in battle ; but thou saw'st me not ;
Aided in thy despair ; thou knewest me not :
And I am here only to save thee now !

Iridion. To save me? No ! Die with me if a man !

Masinissa. What if I cannot die ?

(^Ile takes Iridion in his arms. )

Iridion. Why, what art thou?

Masinissa. A god !

(^He disappears with Iridion. )

(Enter Alexander, Domitian, Aristomachus, Koman

cohorts, etc.

Alexander. Rebels! Where is the son of Amphilochus?



438 I RID ION.

CHORUS.

We saw him mount upon his sister's pyre ;

We heard him speak but once ; then all was still ;

He disappeared, we cannot answer where.

See ! We lay down our arms, and pray for pardon !

Soldiers. We would have given him up to thee, O

Caesar !
Alexander. My mercy is worn out !

CHORUS.

Be pitiful !
Iridion alone was guilty !
He
Deceived us all I He led us to destruction !

Domitian. Woe to the conquered ! Call the lictors
here !



The top of a mountain. On the one side Rome is seen as

if through a fog ; on the other side, the sea. Iridion is

supported on the arm of Masinissa.

Iridion. Oh, thou that for thy sufferings I loved,
Hellas ! my Hellas ! wert thou but a shadow?
Art thou forever crushed, my cherished country,
While thy invincible foe still stands erect.
Glaring his marbles in the face of the sun,
Like the white teeth of a fierce tiger? . . .
Why am I here? Fire rages in my brain !
Thoughts gnaw my soul, as worms destroy a corpse !
i^He throws himself upon the earth. ^

Masinissa. Refresh thy forces in this morning mist ;
Drink this cool air, bathe in this strengthening light !

Iridion. Grasping my hand in thine, like iron links,
Thou'st dragged me here ! . . . I am confused ! . . .

know not . . .
Man lives but once . . . this once is past for me . . .
For I died yesterday. . . . Is all but dream ?

Masinissa. Thy course is not yet ended, O my son !

Iridion. Nay, torture me no more ! My father died



IRIDION.



439



Held in your arms ; my sister, sent by you,
Perished by her own hand in Caesar's palace;
And at your feet I lie in agony !
Is this not yet enough, stern Masinissa?

{He raises his head from the ground. ^
The innocent girl I sacrificed to you
Melted away in piteous sighs and wails.
I hear her voice still quivering in my ears;
I see her cross upon the Blue of Heaven !
Oh, if her God were greater than all gods !
What \i He were the sole Truth of the world !

Masinissa. And were it so, what wouldst thou do,
my son ?

Iridion. Dying, this broken sword still in my hand,
I would acknowledge Him, invoke, adore Him !

Masinissa {with irony). Thou'dst kneel, and say:
Father who art in Heaven,
Give life to Rome! Save those who have betrayed me 1
Deliver those who've never ceased to oppress
My Fatherland !

Iridion. No. I would kneel and pray :

Father who art in Heaven ! deign to love
My Hellas well, as I myself have loved her —
Speak, Masinissa, in this solemn hour !
You who have still deceived me, promised much,
And nothing done, making me ever wretched ;
You on whose breast my young head used to slumber;
You who even now stand o'er me like a god,
As if you had the rule of the whole universe; —
Answer ! for my brain reels and my thoughts whirl, —
Answer me quickly, truly, I conjure you !
Is Jesus Christ the Lord of Heaven and earth?

Masinissa. Thou hast said it !

Iridion. You also bear Him witness !

Masinissa. As an immortal foe, to his immortal foe I
He rules to-day the old Empyrean
And the decrepit earth ! . . . But there exist
Immensities where His name is effaced,
As my name is effaced within His Heaven !
Worlds of immortal youth there are which roll
On in confusion, full of embryos,



440



IRIDION.



Working and bringing forth in agony !

There, there are suns still without brilliancy ;

Strong future gods in chains; vast oceans, which

As yet receive no name, whose swollen waves

Forever seek, and tend toward shores of pleasure !

But He . . . He chained Himself . . . mounted a throne,

And said I Am 1 . , . And bowed His Head ! . . .

No. I deny Him not ! I see Him now !

But I turn toward the abyss of glooms, — my hopes —

Eyes wounded by His light ! . . . But from these glooms

Shall spring the victory ! Iridion, choose !

Jridion. Upon your brow is iron constancy,
The shadow of eternal suffering;
But 'midst its many wrinkles, there is not
One thought of hope ! No ! No ! From the abyss
Of gloomy centuries you'll rise no more !
You have deceived, betrayed, and ruined me !

Masinissa. Forsake me not, as cowards have forsaken
thee !

(Zf<? lifts 21 p Iridion. ^
P'loat over this abyss, and look into
The city of thy hate ! Ha ! knowest thou
Who is to tear it from thy brothers' hands.
When they, as Crimhild prophesied, shall come
To ravage Italy, to sow its soil
With salt, and plough its furrows red with blood?
The Nazarene !

And when the Purple from the Caesars falls,
Dost thou know who will seize it, wear their crown ?
The Nazarene !

In Him will be the perfidy of the Senate;
In Him will be the cruelty of the peojjle.
As an eternal heritage.
His hair is white; His heart as merciless
As that of the first Cato ; His words are sweet ;
His voice effeminate ; He fasts and [)rays.
The warriors of the North will come and sit
Like little innocent children at His feet;
And for the second time He will raise Rome
To be the god and ruler of the world !

Iridion. Alas ! how boundless my desires have been ;



I RID ION.



441



How I have labored only to destroy ;
Have sacrificed all I held dear on earth
To satiate a sacred vengeance !
As others strain to bless the souls they love,
I've strained to ruin those most dear to me !
I die, — and you come to announce to me —
To me, the dying ! — the eternal life of Rome !

Masinissa. Despair not ! for a day will surely come
When the shadow of the Cross will seem to scathe
The nations of the earth like burning heat ;
When they will seek a god 'neath newer suns.
Then He will stretch out wide His arms in vain
To press unto His heart those who abandon Him !
One after one, they will arise and say :
* ' We will no longer serve you /' '
There will be heard at all the city gates
Complaints, confusion, threats, and mutterings !
The Genius then of Rome will veil his face,
His tears, sobs, sorrows, will be infinite!
For on the Forum will be only dust ;
And ruins on the amphitheatre ;
And of the Capitol, but infamy !
And I will walk upon these desolate plains,
Inhabited by wild beasts and a few
Pale shepherds, the last denizens of Rome !
Then my long strife on earth draws near its end !

Iridion. My heart begins to beat 1 This longed-for
day,
Is it far distant? Tell me, Masinissa !

Masinissa. So far, I scarcely can myself divine it !

Iridion. Amphilochus, then was thy son a dream,
A shade astray, cast from a distant Future,
A toy too early born, the sport of Fate !
(71; Afasinissa. ) Go, Masinissa, go! Neither to thee,
Nor any other god, will I give up my soul !
Upon this rock, with my eyes fixed on Rome,
I'll die as I have lived, — in solitude of spirit !

Masinissa. Hear me, my son ! The pallor of thy
cheeks
I will give back to death, and kindle life anew;
I will restore the strength within thy fiery heart ;

38



442



IRIDION.



I will obliferate all memory of the Past,
And I will give thee ignorance of the Future !
Iriifion. Away !

Masinissa. 1 will awake a thousand keen desires,
And give a thousand powers to gratify them.
I will revive the beauties of the Past ;
All of them, ere they vanish, shall devote
Their charnis to thee ; shall burn, consume, and melt
In rapture in thine arms ! Helen of Troy,
The radiant daughter of dark Ptolemy,
Venus of Ida; all that fancy asks ! . . .
And from translucent waves and rays of flame,
Nay, even from the crawling slime of earth.
Voluptuous raptures still for thee shall glow !

Iridion. Tempt me no more !

Masinissa. . In a far-distant land

I'll give thee generations of a race
Supple, obedient 'neath the palace-roof,
But terrible upon the battle-field.
Intoxicated by their adulation,

Thou' It love thyself, as once thou hast loved Hellas.
I'll steep thee in the power desired by kings.
Teach thee their loves, and fill thee with their honors : —
Until I come to set my seal upon thee.
Saying, " The hour of eternal combat sounds ! "

Iridion. Tempt me no more, or crush these walls in
ruins ;
Destroy the accursed race that blighted Hellas !
You claim great power: renew with me the combat;
The son of Ampliilochus would conquer Rome !

Masinissa. Vainly on me thou urg'st thy prayer to-
day !

Iridion. Then not to-day I yield myself to you !

Masinissa. Hear me ! Yet hear !

Iridion. O Genius without power!

In all your boasted treasures there is naught
To tempt Iridion's soul ! He scorns them all !
He scorns you with them, for such offerings!

Masinissa. What if I could destroy the ages for thee?

Iridion. I comprehend you not.

Masinissa. If \ shpuld tear



IRIDION.



443



Thee from the hurrying waves of Time; should lay
Thee safely on the banks of this still shore;
Rock thee to sleep upon oblivion's heart,
Until these towers shall tumble into dust, —
And then awake thee, such as now thou art ?

Iridion. In Rome?