No More Learning

Iridion. Metella, seem they so?

Metella. Yes, — you are changed !

Are you the brother whom I taught to pray,
With whom I knelt upon Euphemia's grave?
The very same baptized Hieronymus?

Iridion. The same. Metella, see !

Metella. I've prayed so long;

Fasted so many days and nights, and . . .

Iridion. And you will thus win Heaven, I do not
doubt.

Metella. I prayed not for myself, — no, not myself.

Iridion. For whom? Metella, speak!

Metella. A brother who . . ,

Iridion. A brother ? Speak !

Metella. How terrible you are !

Iridion. Tell me his name ! Ay, whosoe'er he be,
He shall be yours. It were i^x better so !
But hasten, maiden ! There will be no time
Left for betrothals by the Cross you love ;
But I will see you married, richly dowered.
And sent to Thebes, where you may live in peace.
Passion has gained the soul of the Elect !

{^Ile laughs scornfully. ')

Metella. Why, brother, are you mad ?

Iridion. His name ! His name !

Metella. His name was Hieronymus ! such as
I knew him once, devout and calm, not he
Who like a very madman stands by me,
Whose eyes roll wildly in their sockets. Apage !



JRIDION.



353



Iridion. Pure, blessed maiden ! Nay, Metella, look,
I'm calm and tranquil now !

Metella. And gentle as of old ?

Iridion. Humble and calm near thee !

Metella. But humble before God?

Iridion. See, I will kneel here at your feet and call
Upon the name of Christ !

Aletella. Then promise me

You will not join these men ; you will not arm
For worldly strife or aim.

Iridion. You know not what you ask.

Metella. But promise me !

Iridio? i. I am myself to lead them !

Metella. Woe ! Woe is me !

Iridion. Have you not heard it said

By holy men the appointed time draws nearp^
Remember the words spoken by the Lord
To His disciples, when about to leave them.
That He would come again, and rule o'er them.
Revealed He not to His beloved John
On Patmos' lonely shore, that Babylon
Should surely fall ; the Just inherit Earth ?

Metella. Yes, at some future time. Not now ! not
now !

Iridion. Metella, now or never it must be !

Metella. Victor condemned Eugene for teaching thus !

Iridion. The Romans killed Eudore for teaching thus !

Metella. Come to the Bishop and confess your sins,
And, like a" faithful child, be ruled by him.

Iridion. Nay, I can only be a child with you,
And that but for a fleeting moment, like
A flying wave that never can return.
Beyond your gaze, and I must bathe in blood !
No grass must grow where my horse sets his hoof!

Metella. My brother, you blaspheme !

Iridion. Not so. I but

Divine the coming triumphs of your God !

Aletella. His lessons teach not bloodshed nor re-
venge.
He pardons all. Did He not bless the poor
Because of their humility ? Did He



354



IRIDION.



Not promise Heaven itself to little children,
For their docility and innocence?

L-idion. That was at first ! The weak have now grown
strong;
The children now are men.

Metella. Have mercy, Heaven !

Strike him not dead before my pitying eyes !
What do I say ? Am I not vowed to God ?

For the first time I dread the unseen world !
Who is this standing close beside me here?
The wings spread o'er me like a monstrous pall !
How dark it grows ! How cold ! I shiver ! fear !

Iridion. Let me support you ! Lean on my strong
arm !

Metella. Brother, I see it all ! Grace will be given !
Angels and fiends in combat, — love will win !
I know that I was born to save your soul !

Iridion. Not you nor any other can slake the thirst
That burns, destroys my soul. Even if our God
Called not so audibly upon us now.
And if the saints had promised not their aid, —
I would commence the work unseconded, alone !
Metella, do not start away from me;
Perhaps we'll never meet on earth again !
I have related you my mother's fate,
But the great object of my father's life
I have not yet revealed to you. Be strong,
And drop by drop prepare to drink with me
The secret poison that consumes my soul !

Metella. " Perhaps we'll never meet on earth again" ?
The last time, did you say? Hieronymus!

Iridion {seating himself at the foot of the sarcophagus
against which she leans).
Upon the thirteenth anniversary
Of Crimhild's death, Amphilochus sent for me,
Wishing to speak with me without delay.
For many days before I had remarked
A mortal pallor on his suffering face.
" My son," he said, " let them prepare a feast
Within the Delphian Apollo's Hall ;



1 RID ION. 355

For the last time in life we sit to-day

At the same table. Thy mother's God pursues

Me still in vengeance, and before the sun

Again pours his full radiance over earth,

I shall have gone forever and forever 1"

Great sadness seized me as I left his room

To obey his command. He spent the day shut up

With the old man from Mauritania.

Sometimes their voices swelled upon the ear;

Then died away like a retreating fight,

Till all was lost in long and utter silence.

At last they came together to the hall

Of festival.

Metella. A shiver like a cold snake chills my vems!
Iridion. My father pressed my sister to his heart,

Then gently putting her aside, he said :

"That which thy brother shall command thee, do

For love of me ! "

No other word he spake to the weeping girl,

But pouring a libation to the gods.

He drank from a Greek goblet, myrtle-crowned :

" The memory of great men ! "

A freedman read to him from Plato's Phsedon.

After the reading ceased, he ordered up

A hundred slaves, and gave them all their freedom.

In answer to their thanks, he said : "As I

Now break your chains, remember you must break

The chains of slaves, your brothers ! Ever remain

To my House faithful ! Always obey my son !

What he shall order, you will do for me ! "

His face glowed with a radiance soft as eve

When shadows first begin to dim the sky,

The purple hues still lingering in the west.

{^A moment of silejice. )
Then in the Palace of my Fathers fell
That gloomy night which sealed my fate forever !
Fire flashed from every tripod, while from time to time
Old Masinissa cast fresh incense on them.
My father's manly head at last reposed
Upon the bosom of his friend ; his life
Went slowly out ;— suffering could not destroy



356



IRIDION.



His dignity, although on his cahii face

We read the anguish of resigning plans

Long cherished, — far from their accomplishment !

Vainly the agonies of death increased,

The cold scorn on his lips alone revealed

His suffering as it ever deeper grew :

He died as the gods live ! . . .

Metella. I see ! I see him ! Where is his guardian

angel ? . . .
Iridio7i. 'Twas then he left to me his plans of ven-
geance,

And traced that future which he longed to mould.

Laying his hand upon my head, he said :

" Thou shalt not bow thy head to aught on earth !

Thou shalt not lose thy faith in evil hours !

Thou shalt not pardon ever ! — Thou shalt pursue

Thy vengeance always ! Thou shalt keep back naught

In weak compassion, but trample o'er the forms

Of those already fallen, so to reach

And ruin those who still may stand beyond !

Thy soul shall never know weakness nor pity !

Never despair ! As the young moon in Heaven,

So wax the nations upon earth, again to wane.

The star of Rome stands at this very hour

Upon the horizon's verge, ready to sink

In the abyss of darkness, ruin, death ! "

And thus he spake and taught me all that night,

Revealing to me a new life : — meanwhile,

Ever more heavy grew the vengeful hand

Of a fierce God upon my dying sire.

And when the kindling rays of that sunrise

Which he was not to see lighted the East,

He held his hands above my head : — I swore

To obey him, — never to know a hope ;

Never to yield to pity ! Never to love !

To offer my young bloom on Hellas' shrine !

I've sworn to live but to destroy, Metella !

Metella. Forgive him, Christ ! He knows not what

he says !
Iridion. Then Masinissa ])oured a smoking cup

Of blood upon my head, and on my father's hands.



I RID ION. 357

The first rays of the sun shone on the bed
Of the dying Greek : " Hellas ! Remember Hellas ! "
He cried in tones of quivering passionate love ;
Then looked around him like a conqueror
Through victory transfigured to a god !
******

Metella, vengeance is my heritage,

And with this vengeance I will live — or die !

Metella.
But upon whom will you revenge yourself?
Who injures you? injured Amphilochus?

Iridion. Who drives jiw/ down into these catacombs?
Would give you to the lions, were it known
You were a Christian? Who assails your God,
And tramples the divine out in the soul?
Know you naught of the history of the past?
I'll teach it you, Metella, as Christ taught
The hidden meaning of the Holy Scriptures
To the disciples on their way to Emmaus,
The night of the world was near; the innocent flowers
Of morning withered, and the fire of youth
Died into misery on the shores of Egypt ;*
Once more the voices of the Free swelled on
From the wild North ;t then they died out again,
And slavery ruled the world. A single man,
Amphilochus, stood boldly up, and cried :
" I will bring back again your ancient glory :
We will destroy the Destroyer of the world ! "
Daughter of Christ, the Merciful, could you
Condemn this man, whose constant task it was
To strike the fetters from the limbs of slaves.
Restore the wretched, teach the deaf and dumb
The sweet speech spoken in their Father's house.
And bring the oppressed and wandering exiles home ?
Has He not thus announced the coming of
The God of love? John cried out from the depths
Of the wide desert that the Son of man.
The Lord of hope, was coming to the world,
But that He would be crucified, and die



* Allusion to the rcis^n of Lagides.
f Allusion to Mithridates.
31



358 I RID I ON.

In agony ! My father has declared

His second coming, and made straight the way

Before Him who comes conquering and to conquer;

Before Him who will rule in justice, peace;

In whom, Metella, you do not believe !

Mctella. I not believe?

Iridion {seizing hei- by the ami). No. You believe
that He
Will give His world a prey to cruel Rome ;
Nor e'er be satiated with the blood
Of His adoring, faithful, murdered people!

Metella. Lost soul ! eternal fire shines in his eye . . .
The lambent flame of God's own cherubim !

Iridion. Believe ! You know not what a day may
bring ;
Nor what I may effect even on the morrow !
Believe, — I am the Leader of your People !
Believe, and the great Jupiter shall fall
Forever from the Forum — to rise no more !
(^Footsteps are heard approaching. ^ There Victor comes,

the unbeliever ! Stay
And meet him here ! I Avill return ere long.

{He disappears in one of the dark passages. )

Metella {kneeling). Poor heart, no longer mine !
throbbing so like
A stranger in my breast, — whence these wild bounds?
I'll pray to Christ . . . .

O Lord, look down upon and answer thy handmaid !
I've never turned my looks away from the Cross
To gaze into the face of mortals, yet
Two mortal eyes are burned into my soul !
His eyes, O Lord ! He stands before me like
One of Thy prophets, saints, or holy angels, —
He speaks — I hear his words — and long to die !

{She buries her face in her hands. )
Have pity on me, Christ 1 Deliver me !
(Victor enters, folloioed by the procession. It passes on,
lohile he remains. )

Victor. "As oft as in my name ye shall together
meet,



I R IDIOM. 359

I will be in your midst. " {^To Meiella. ) Daughter, you

have
Not been with us to-day, to hearken to His Word.
Simeon and others I have missed from prayer.
Leave solitary ways to wicked men.
And turn away from those who furtively
Lurk through these graves, weaving their plots of guile,
Sowing dissension even 'midst the saints.
Metella. Father!

Victor. Hast thou been praying here ?

Metella. \ P^^y-

Victor. Hast thou been quite alone?

Metella. I ^"^^ z^or^Q.

Victor. Thou flutterest like a flickering, dying lamp!
Metella, what means this?

Metella. I seek the Lord,

My God,— and cannot find Him. Pray for me !

Victor. The greatest saints have moments of despair,
A sign the Fiend is near. Watch then and pray ;
The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Metella. Father !
Victor. What is it, daughter ?

Metella. Is it near dawn ?

Victor. ' Nay, daughter, the long night is just begun.
Metella. But, Father, is the Day of Judgment near ?
Victor. The Son of man may come at any hour.
To call us to His bar. Art thou afraid ?

Metella. No : but I am so weak,— I fain would know. . .
Victor. I will remember thee at sacrifice.
Thy soul is sad ; thy body weak with fasts :
Rise, daughter, and fear nothing ! Try to sleep.

*= (Exit Victor. ^

Metella. Why did I not detain the Bishop ? . . . Hark !
I hear light steps {^Enter Iridion), the footsteps of the

tempter !
(She turns toward hifii. ) As perfect as a Seraph ! Beautiful!
Victor ! Victor !

Iridion. He is too far to hear you.
Metella {throwing her arms round the sarcophagus).
O ashes of the holy dead, protect
Metella through this lingering, dreadful night !



360



IRIDION.



Iridion. What do you fear?

Mete/la. I know not what I fear.
It grows so dark ! so dark ! so bitter cold !
It seems as if the living all were dead,
And we alone remained alive on earth !
And we are damned : the rest are safe in Heaven !

Iridion. The hour of which I told you comes, and is
Too hard for your soft heart.

Metella. It is not so.

Have I not longed to bear the martyr's palm,
And shall I tremble when my Lord prevails? . . .
Something so black, vast, wild, and terrible
Is tearing up my soul, breaking my heart.
Whirling my brain ! What is it, Hieronymus?

Iridion. A woman needs no deeds. In tranquil prayers
She may find her redemption. If she feel
Not strong enough to follow on my path,
Let her forsake me ! Here part our ways, — farewell !
Young virgin of the Lord, you may be blest
As ere we met ! We may meet once again,
Though never more, Metella, upon earth !

Metella. So were it best, my brother ; I will go !
Feet rise, and bear my soul far . . . far from here !
{She struggles to rise, Iridion gives his hand to aid her. )
You plunge me back anew, — I cannot move . . .
Ah, me !

Iridion. Unhappy girl ! Fly while you can from me !

Metella. Something Immortal seizes upon me !
All-powerful arms embrace me — hold me here!

Iridion. For the last time I speak, — Metella, fly!

Metella. I will not leave you, brother, to the Fiend !
Until your soul is dead in mortal sin.
You are my brother, signed with the same cross
Before the face of our great God in Heaven !

Iridion. Bones of the dead, and thou, my mother earth,
Bear witness, I would brave a thousand deaths
To save this innocent victim ! Her alone !

{He paces up and down in agitation. ')
Thus did my father once destroy the soul
Of the young dedicated priestess !



IRIDION. 361

O powerful Fate, thou triumphest o'er all !

{He approaches Afetcl/a. ) There's no escape ! Metella !

O Metella !
Metella. I pray for you. Kneel here. Give up re-
venge !
Say, I forgive them for Metella' s sake ;
Kneel and repeat the prayer after me !

Iridion. It cannot be ! To-morrow must begin
My prayer of blood, not muttered in a vault,
But loudly breathed through the wide air to heaven,
Amid the sobs, wails, shrieks of dying foes !

{A cry is heard approaching). To arms ! To arms !
Iridion. I come !

Metella. 'Tis Simeon !

Iridion. Yes, — thousands more like him await me
now,
And chide me with delay ! I may not stay !