 | A Song of Heroes |  |
53
ST PAUL.
Farewell, Rome. A nobler gospel
Stirs my soul and shapes my song,
March of love divinely fervid,
March of truth divinely strong.
Stirs my soul and shapes my song,
March of love divinely fervid,
March of truth divinely strong.
I will sing a mighty marvel,
How the lordly Roman drew
Fountain of new life pure-blooded
From the mean unvalued Jew.
How the lordly Roman drew
Fountain of new life pure-blooded
From the mean unvalued Jew.
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How the Greek, the subtle-thoughted,
With his cunning fence of wit,
At the feet of Hebrew teachers
Learned with greedy ear to sit.
With his cunning fence of wit,
At the feet of Hebrew teachers
Learned with greedy ear to sit.
In Jerusalem's holy city,
Where grave judgment loves to dwell,
Wisest of the seventy wise men,
Sate the wise Gamaliel.
Where grave judgment loves to dwell,
Wisest of the seventy wise men,
Sate the wise Gamaliel.
Near him sate a youth observant
Of the wise words of the men,
Noting all their sharp decisions
With quick ear and faithful pen,
Of the wise words of the men,
Noting all their sharp decisions
With quick ear and faithful pen,
Saul of Tarsus. Short of stature,
Slight of limb, and with an high-
Mounting forehead, and beneath
Well-massed brows a piercing eye.
Slight of limb, and with an high-
Mounting forehead, and beneath
Well-massed brows a piercing eye.
Quick to learn what statutes Moses
Gave from God, and memoried well
In the best lore of the Talmud,
Taught by wise Gamaliel.
Gave from God, and memoried well
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Taught by wise Gamaliel.
Bold to plan and swift to venture,
Counting danger for a jest,
When strong love, or mighty hatred,
Flowed like spring-tide in his breast.
Counting danger for a jest,
When strong love, or mighty hatred,
Flowed like spring-tide in his breast.
He had seen unlettered preachers
Bred in Jesus' lowly school,
With a loose unlicensed doctrine
Spurn the high priest's lawful rule.
Bred in Jesus' lowly school,
With a loose unlicensed doctrine
Spurn the high priest's lawful rule.
He had seen its foremost spokesman
With a death of heavy stoning,
For his rude-mouthed contradiction,
Give the Law its due atoning.
With a death of heavy stoning,
For his rude-mouthed contradiction,
Give the Law its due atoning.
And he vowed with words of fiery
Vengeance, and with purpose fell,
In the holy city's cincture
Nevermore such brood shall dwell.
Vengeance, and with purpose fell,
In the holy city's cincture
Nevermore such brood shall dwell.
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And he chased them as a hunter
Chases with a keen-nosed hound,
To Gerizim, to Mount Tabor,
To Mount Hermon's utmost bound.
Chases with a keen-nosed hound,
To Gerizim, to Mount Tabor,
To Mount Hermon's utmost bound.
And he seized both men and women
Where the hated sect prevailed,
Old and young, and to the prison's
Gloomy den of durance haled.
Where the hated sect prevailed,
Old and young, and to the prison's
Gloomy den of durance haled.
And he journeyed to Damascus
In the fever of his wrath—
When, behold! a flash from Heaven
Flared across his blinded path.
In the fever of his wrath—
When, behold! a flash from Heaven
Flared across his blinded path.
And he heard a strange voice crying,
“Saul, O Saul! what moveth thee
With hot breath of persecution
Sharply thus to follow me?
“Saul, O Saul! what moveth thee
With hot breath of persecution
Sharply thus to follow me?
“Rise, and get thee to Damascus;
Thou shalt learn there what to do.
Thine old life is dead. My servant
There shall shape thy course anew.”
Thou shalt learn there what to do.
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There shall shape thy course anew.”
Paul hath hied him to Damascus,
Where the white-walled splendour gleams
Through the wide-spread green, the dowry
Of the many-branching streams.
Where the white-walled splendour gleams
Through the wide-spread green, the dowry
Of the many-branching streams.
He hath entered fair Damascus;
And the servant of the Lord
Touched him there with spirit-piercing
Power of truth and healing word.
And the servant of the Lord
Touched him there with spirit-piercing
Power of truth and healing word.
And he rose as one that riseth
From long death, into a new
Stretch of blissful life, with warmer
Pulse of love and larger view.
From long death, into a new
Stretch of blissful life, with warmer
Pulse of love and larger view.
And he went into the desert,
There with searching thought to pray
O'er the purpose of the Lord,
That led him in a wondrous way.
There with searching thought to pray
O'er the purpose of the Lord,
That led him in a wondrous way.
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And he looked, and with new eyes
The inner soul of things he saw,
Soul of Right that for its service
Brooketh fleshly forms of Law,
The inner soul of things he saw,
Soul of Right that for its service
Brooketh fleshly forms of Law,
Forms of Law that wisely fetter
Idle eye and wandering foot,
Till the bud grow to the blossom,
Till the blossom grow to fruit.
Idle eye and wandering foot,
Till the bud grow to the blossom,
Till the blossom grow to fruit.
Meats and drinks, and times and seasons,
Feasts that wait upon the moon,
Prayers with formal iteration
Conned at matin-bell or noon.
Feasts that wait upon the moon,
Prayers with formal iteration
Conned at matin-bell or noon.
Sabbaths, washings, circumcisions,
Sanctities that brush the skin,
Making clean the fleshly cover,
Leaving foul the soul within.
Sanctities that brush the skin,
Making clean the fleshly cover,
Leaving foul the soul within.
Holy vestments fringed with Scripture,
Hearts unholy big with pride,
And where widows' homes are plundered,
Tithes and taxes multiplied.
Hearts unholy big with pride,
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Tithes and taxes multiplied.
All this 'fore his brooding spirit
Passed in penitent review;
And he cast old things behind him,
And he leapt into the new.
Passed in penitent review;
And he cast old things behind him,
And he leapt into the new.
In the queenly state of Antioch
By Orontes' winding flood,
Here the new pure faith, firm rooted,
First shot forth a lusty bud.
By Orontes' winding flood,
Here the new pure faith, firm rooted,
First shot forth a lusty bud.
Thither Paul, divinely missioned,
Came; and holy brethren there
Sent him forth on wings of faith,
The message of God's love to bear
Came; and holy brethren there
Sent him forth on wings of faith,
The message of God's love to bear
To distant shores. And first to Cyprus,
Where the foam-born Paphian queen
Turned to shame the grace of beauty
With unholy rites obscene.
Where the foam-born Paphian queen
Turned to shame the grace of beauty
With unholy rites obscene.
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There the high-souled Hebrew preacher
Swayed the wise proconsul's mind,
But with ban of condemnation
Smote the godless sorcerer blind.
Swayed the wise proconsul's mind,
But with ban of condemnation
Smote the godless sorcerer blind.
Thence across Cilician waters,
O'er the rough Pisidian ridges,
Over cliffs that knew no pathway,
Over floods that knew no bridges.
O'er the rough Pisidian ridges,
Over cliffs that knew no pathway,
Over floods that knew no bridges.
By the haunts of thieves and robbers,
'Neath the scowling tempest's frown,
Lashed by scourge of persecution
From unfriendly town to town;
'Neath the scowling tempest's frown,
Lashed by scourge of persecution
From unfriendly town to town;
Through a wide unwatered country,
Dreary slope and cheerless meadow,
On to Derbe, on to Lystra,
Where the black mount casts his shadow.
Dreary slope and cheerless meadow,
On to Derbe, on to Lystra,
Where the black mount casts his shadow.
There the rude unlettered people,
Circling round to gaze on Paul,
When they saw a lame man leaping
At the preacher's potent call,
Circling round to gaze on Paul,
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At the preacher's potent call,
Deemed they saw a god—Mercurius—
Come to earth in mortal guise;
And they came with ox and garlands,
And with smoke of sacrifice
Come to earth in mortal guise;
And they came with ox and garlands,
And with smoke of sacrifice
Stood before him. But with lofty-
Souled rebuke he raised his hand,
And named the God that owns all worship,
Lord of sky and sea and land.
Souled rebuke he raised his hand,
And named the God that owns all worship,
Lord of sky and sea and land.
Thence he passed on through Galatia,
Where the lewd unchastened priest
Serves the car-drawn mighty mother
Of each huge-maned tawny beast;
Where the lewd unchastened priest
Serves the car-drawn mighty mother
Cybele, the Earth, and, as such, drawn by a car of lions; a representation familiar to the student of coins and marbles. The chief site of her worship was Pessinus in Phrygia (Strabo, xii. 567), whence, as identified with the Latin Rhea, her image was transferred to Rome in the time of the Hannibalian war (Livy, xxix. 11). Closely allied to her, perhaps only a local variation, is the many-breasted goddess seen on the coins of Ephesus, whom some Greeks superficially confounded with their own Artemis or Diana; referred to in the text, and familiar to readers of the Bible from the part she plays in Acts Apost., xix.
Of each huge-maned tawny beast;
And they heard his word with gladness,
And their carnal creed denied,
And new spirit-life within them
Sprang from Christ the crucified.
And their carnal creed denied,
And new spirit-life within them
Sprang from Christ the crucified.
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But now Europe claimed the preacher;
Touched by power of truth divine,
O'er the broad Ægean waters
Greece must bow to Palestine.
Touched by power of truth divine,
O'er the broad Ægean waters
Greece must bow to Palestine.
Macedonia hailed his coming;
On Philippi's storied plains
Many a generous host received him,
Unbound from unworthy chains.
On Philippi's storied plains
Many a generous host received him,
Unbound from unworthy chains.
On to Athens. As a soldier
Gladly goes where dangers wait,
So the wisest of the wise men
Paul will front in high debate.
Gladly goes where dangers wait,
So the wisest of the wise men
Paul will front in high debate.
On the hill of Mars he met them,
Where Athena's pillared shrine
Looks serenely o'er the gardened
Wealth of olive and of vine.
Where Athena's pillared shrine
Looks serenely o'er the gardened
Wealth of olive and of vine.
There they flocked around him; Stoics
And a looser-girdled crew—
Sophists, rhetors, glib discoursers,
With quick ears for something new.
And a looser-girdled crew—
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With quick ears for something new.
What a hot-brained fool shall babble
May amuse an hour to hear;
Dreamful Jews are wisely answered,
When a subtle Greek shall sneer.
May amuse an hour to hear;
Dreamful Jews are wisely answered,
When a subtle Greek shall sneer.
Paul arose; and “Men and brethren,”—
Thus he spake,—“well known to me
Is your vague and wide-armed worship
Of all idol gods that be.
Thus he spake,—“well known to me
Is your vague and wide-armed worship
Of all idol gods that be.
“As I passed I saw an altar
Scriptured to the god unknown;
God is known in all His doings,
God supreme, and God alone;
Scriptured to the god unknown;
God is known in all His doings,
God supreme, and God alone;
“God who looks forth from the heavens,
God whose love makes glad the earth,
God from whom this well-compacted
Cosmos takes its wondrous birth;
God whose love makes glad the earth,
God from whom this well-compacted
Cosmos takes its wondrous birth;
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“God of whom we are the offspring,
Common-blooded, great and small,
Breathing common breath that pulses
Through the oneness of the All;
Common-blooded, great and small,
Breathing common breath that pulses
Through the oneness of the All;
“God whom men do vainly shape
As man in silver or in stone,
Broad as day, and wide as space,
And in no human likeness shown.
As man in silver or in stone,
Broad as day, and wide as space,
And in no human likeness shown.
“Him hath Christ His chosen prophet,
Born of Hebrew seed, declared,
And in fulness of the ages
His eternal counsel bared,
Born of Hebrew seed, declared,
And in fulness of the ages
His eternal counsel bared,
“That no longer with unchastened
Fancy men may forge a lie,
Human gods to touch and handle,
Gods to sell, and gods to buy.
Fancy men may forge a lie,
Human gods to touch and handle,
Gods to sell, and gods to buy.
“And now He commandeth all men
With a reasonable faith
To receive as wise disciples
What the God-sent teacher saith;
With a reasonable faith
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What the God-sent teacher saith;
“Teacher promised long, and visioned
In dim gleamings scantly shed,
Now revealed; and with miraculous
Rising raised up from the dead;
In dim gleamings scantly shed,
Now revealed; and with miraculous
Rising raised up from the dead;
“Raised, and on a throne high-seated,
To be judge of all below,
Greek and Hebrew, bond and freeman,
In the day that He doth know.”
To be judge of all below,
Greek and Hebrew, bond and freeman,
In the day that He doth know.”
Thus he spake; some jeered, some doubted,
Some denied; a noble few
Nursed the seed of truth that soon
To world-wide green luxuriance grew.
Some denied; a noble few
Nursed the seed of truth that soon
To world-wide green luxuriance grew.
Thence to Corinth. With unwearied
Courier pace that spurns repose,
Where the sickliest sick are pining,
There the good physician goes.
Courier pace that spurns repose,
Where the sickliest sick are pining,
There the good physician goes.
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In the busy mart of nations,
Pomp of art and golden splendour,
From the earthly Aphrodite
He redeemed the gross offender.
Pomp of art and golden splendour,
From the earthly Aphrodite
He redeemed the gross offender.
Thence to Ephesus, where Diana,
In her many-breasted pride,
From her many-pillared temple
Flings her glamour far and wide.
In her many-breasted pride,
From her many-pillared temple
Flings her glamour far and wide.
There with still small voice of gospel
Nobly true and simply wise,
He dispersed a drift of babblers
Making merchandise of lies.
Nobly true and simply wise,
He dispersed a drift of babblers
Making merchandise of lies.
Paul has conquered. In Europa,
In rich Asia's fair domains,
Hoary Error feels a tremor
Travelling through her fretful veins.
In rich Asia's fair domains,
Hoary Error feels a tremor
Travelling through her fretful veins.
Priestly fear grim Superstition's
Hasty-marching doom foretells,
Priestly venom in Jerusalem's
Breast with sacred rancour swells.
Hasty-marching doom foretells,
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Breast with sacred rancour swells.
Fearless, to the priestly city
Paul on pious quest doth go;
There he stands with calm assurance,
As a man that knows his foe.
Paul on pious quest doth go;
There he stands with calm assurance,
As a man that knows his foe.
With an oath of hellish hatred
They have vowed to work his woe;
He hath called for help to Cæsar,
And to Cæsar he shall go.
They have vowed to work his woe;
He hath called for help to Cæsar,
And to Cæsar he shall go.
O'er the treacherous Cretan waters,
O'er the mid-sea's stormy roar,
Bound with fetters, heaped with slander,
To Imperial Latium's shore
O'er the mid-sea's stormy roar,
Bound with fetters, heaped with slander,
To Imperial Latium's shore
They have sent him. He hath trodden
The long Appian Way to Rome,
And beneath the Seven Hills' shelter
Found a prison and a home.
The long Appian Way to Rome,
And beneath the Seven Hills' shelter
Found a prison and a home.
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But, as oft hath chanced, the tyrant
Showed more mercy than the priest;
Cæsar's truthful doom the true man
From their net of lies released.
Showed more mercy than the priest;
Cæsar's truthful doom the true man
From their net of lies released.
And he sped like an unpinioned
Eagle to the extreme West,
Where Hispania's rocky barrier
Flouts wide Ocean's billowy breast.
Eagle to the extreme West,
Where Hispania's rocky barrier
Flouts wide Ocean's billowy breast.
Westward, Eastward, never-resting,
Like the rain, now here now there,
Bringing increase to the Churches
Watered by his kindly care.
Like the rain, now here now there,
Bringing increase to the Churches
Watered by his kindly care.
But the end was nigh. The storm
Lulled a moment, might not pass;
Where he comes, strong hate comes with him,
Snakes are lurking in the grass.
Lulled a moment, might not pass;
Where he comes, strong hate comes with him,
Snakes are lurking in the grass.
Rome beneath a monster-Cæsar
Groans—brute, madman, devil, fool;
Great men are a mark for murder
Where a Nero bears the rule.
Groans—brute, madman, devil, fool;
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Where a Nero bears the rule.
'Neath that hotbed of putrescence,
Where Corruption grossly grew,
With the leaven of the Hebrew
God was making all things new.
Where Corruption grossly grew,
With the leaven of the Hebrew
God was making all things new.
But the Old with stout persistence
Revelled wildly in its shame,
And ramped through blood in heathen triumph
O'er the hated Christian name.
Revelled wildly in its shame,
And ramped through blood in heathen triumph
O'er the hated Christian name.
Laws were loveless; lies were blushless;
And the lust with feeding grew,
To glut the greed of wolf-nursed Rome
With blood of Christian and of Jew.
And the lust with feeding grew,
To glut the greed of wolf-nursed Rome
With blood of Christian and of Jew.
Paul was marked for doom. Behold him
On the bristling front of lies,
In the Prætor's hall of justice,
Looking with untroubled eyes,
On the bristling front of lies,
In the Prætor's hall of justice,
Looking with untroubled eyes,
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Hoping nought, and nothing fearing;
Well he knew his hour was nigh,
Bravely schooled in face of foemen
As a Christian dies to die.
Well he knew his hour was nigh,
Bravely schooled in face of foemen
As a Christian dies to die.
Outside of the bloody city,
Close by Caius Cestius' tomb,
On the road that leads to Ostia,
There they marched him to his doom.
Close by Caius Cestius' tomb,
On the road that leads to Ostia,
There they marched him to his doom.
Through the streaming of the people
Forth he marched, a motley crew,
Merchants, sailors, usurers, wondering
At the calm front of the Jew.
Forth he marched, a motley crew,
Merchants, sailors, usurers, wondering
At the calm front of the Jew.
To a grassy place they led him,
Where three bubbling fountains flow,
O'er the dry growth of the summer
Spreading freshness from below.
Where three bubbling fountains flow,
O'er the dry growth of the summer
Spreading freshness from below.
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There they made a ring around him;
And the headsman with a sword
Headless by the bubbling fountains
Laid the servant of the Lord.
And the headsman with a sword
Headless by the bubbling fountains
Laid the servant of the Lord.
| A Song of Heroes | |