 | A Song of Heroes |  |
127
LUTHER.
I will sing of Saxon Luther,
Who from lowly peasant-home,
With brave word of truth forth-thundered,
Shook the throne of mighty Rome.
Who from lowly peasant-home,
With brave word of truth forth-thundered,
Shook the throne of mighty Rome.
Not for sway of sceptred Pontiffs,
Gilded pomp, and purple pride,
High-poised domes and painted porches,
Christ had lived and Christ had died.
Gilded pomp, and purple pride,
High-poised domes and painted porches,
Christ had lived and Christ had died.
Not the great and not the mighty,
Not the lords of princely hall,
But the mean unvalued people,
Answered to His holy call.
Not the lords of princely hall,
But the mean unvalued people,
Answered to His holy call.
128
Not the churchman, not the learnèd
Rabbis felt a Saviour's need,
In the lofty pride of station,
In the nice conceit of creed.
Rabbis felt a Saviour's need,
In the lofty pride of station,
In the nice conceit of creed.
Not for crowns and not for kingdoms
Soldier Paul went forth to fight,
With the sharp sword of the Spirit,
In the banded world's despite;
Soldier Paul went forth to fight,
With the sharp sword of the Spirit,
In the banded world's despite;
But for truth, and for redemption
From crude faiths and fancies odd,
And for love to all who own
A common fatherhood in God.
From crude faiths and fancies odd,
And for love to all who own
A common fatherhood in God.
But old times were gone. The bishop
Now on Cæsar's earthly throne
Sate, and lust of domination
Crept into him, blood and bone;
Now on Cæsar's earthly throne
Sate, and lust of domination
Crept into him, blood and bone;
Lust of wealth and lust of splendour,
And the charm in priestly eyes
To be worshipped by the millions
For a god in mortal guise;
And the charm in priestly eyes
129
For a god in mortal guise;
And the lust of sacred wrath,
To hurl the thunderbolt of ban
On who dared with contradiction
To confront the mitred clan;
To hurl the thunderbolt of ban
On who dared with contradiction
To confront the mitred clan;
And the lust with mighty Cæsars
To conspire for forceful deed,
Or to lie with subtle statesmen
When a lie might serve the need.
To conspire for forceful deed,
Or to lie with subtle statesmen
When a lie might serve the need.
God was mocked in His own temple:
When their sin was at full tide,
He prepared a Saxon miner's
Son to lop their mounting pride.
When their sin was at full tide,
He prepared a Saxon miner's
Son to lop their mounting pride.
Little Luther little fancied
Such high honour on his head,
When he made the rounds at Eisenach,
Singing Christmas hymns for bread.
Such high honour on his head,
When he made the rounds at Eisenach,
Singing Christmas hymns for bread.
130
But the poor street-boy had broodings,
Books he loved, and lute and lyre,
And beneath a breast of hardship
Nursed a holy glowing fire;
Books he loved, and lute and lyre,
And beneath a breast of hardship
Nursed a holy glowing fire;
Holy fear, and holy reverence
For the voice that speaks within;
Holy fear of God, that judgeth
Sinners self-condemned in sin;
For the voice that speaks within;
Holy fear of God, that judgeth
Sinners self-condemned in sin;
Fears of death, that in a moment
Might strike down a guilty head:
By such holy terrors haunted,
From the bustling world he fled
Might strike down a guilty head:
By such holy terrors haunted,
From the bustling world he fled
Into cloistered life at Erfurt;
Thence was called to learnèd school,
O'er the high-souled youth of Deutschland
There to bear high-thoughted rule;
Thence was called to learnèd school,
O'er the high-souled youth of Deutschland
There to bear high-thoughted rule;
There to teach to prince and people,
Not trite lessons of the hour,
But with flaming inspiration,
And with touch of Spirit-power.
Not trite lessons of the hour,
131
And with touch of Spirit-power.
And they held him high in honour,
And they missioned him to Rome,
There to see strange sights undreamt of
In his honest German home;
And they missioned him to Rome,
There to see strange sights undreamt of
In his honest German home;
There to see a swearing Pontiff,
Jesters dressed in priestly guise,
Monks with luxury bloated, bishops
Juggling souls with holy lies.
Jesters dressed in priestly guise,
Monks with luxury bloated, bishops
Juggling souls with holy lies.
And he saw with sacred shudder
Dark-stoled salesmen, blushless, bold,
Selling grace of God for silver,
Opening gates of heaven for gold.
Dark-stoled salesmen, blushless, bold,
Selling grace of God for silver,
Opening gates of heaven for gold.
And he came back to his teaching,
Far from purple sins to dwell;
And he preached to Saxon princes,
“Surely Rome is built on hell.”
Far from purple sins to dwell;
And he preached to Saxon princes,
“Surely Rome is built on hell.”
132
Tetzel came, a monk with red cross;
In the market-place he stood,
Vending pardons by the sixpence
To a gaping multitude.
In the market-place he stood,
Vending pardons by the sixpence
To a gaping multitude.
In the market-place at Wittenberg
High he stood, and lit a fire
To consume all bold protesters
Who should cross the Pope's desire.
High he stood, and lit a fire
To consume all bold protesters
Who should cross the Pope's desire.
Luther heard—not made for skulking
When a lie parades the street,
When the feeder of the people
Vends a tainted drug for meat—
When a lie parades the street,
When the feeder of the people
Vends a tainted drug for meat—
And he rose; and as a prophet,
Fearing none but God on high,
Planted words of strong denial
Boldly, in the public eye,
Fearing none but God on high,
Planted words of strong denial
Boldly, in the public eye,
On the church door, five-and-ninety.
Truth is mighty, and it spread
Like the blazing furze in summer,
Like a voice that wakes the dead.
Truth is mighty, and it spread
133
Like a voice that wakes the dead.
Leo heard it in his palace;
Tetzel heard, and foamed with ire,
And at Frankfurt flung the truthful
Witness in the public fire.
Tetzel heard, and foamed with ire,
And at Frankfurt flung the truthful
Witness in the public fire.
He too marshalled forth his sentence,
Blushless prophet of a lie,
And would plant his strong denial
Boldly in the public eye.
Blushless prophet of a lie,
And would plant his strong denial
Boldly in the public eye.
But the students, with young heart's blood
Boiling hot and mounting high,
'Mid the market throngs applausive,
Burnt them in the public eye.
Boiling hot and mounting high,
'Mid the market throngs applausive,
Burnt them in the public eye.
Trembled Leo in his palace,
Trembled while he seemed to jest,
Humming tunes and twirling verses,
With no churchly cares oppressed.
Trembled while he seemed to jest,
Humming tunes and twirling verses,
With no churchly cares oppressed.
134
And he missioned glib discoursers,
Legates, sophists, doctors, bred
In the school of high-conceited
Insolence, with fatness fed.
Legates, sophists, doctors, bred
In the school of high-conceited
Insolence, with fatness fed.
And he hurled a ban against him,
Puny creature of the clod,
Launching bolts of mimic thunder
In the mimic name of God!
Puny creature of the clod,
Launching bolts of mimic thunder
In the mimic name of God!
Foolish Pope! that boastful ban
Is paper, nothing more, which brings
Fear to none who claims his right
Of thinking from the King of kings.
Is paper, nothing more, which brings
Fear to none who claims his right
Of thinking from the King of kings.
All your marshalled pomp of curses,
Blastful swell of priestly ban,
Like a whiff of breath it passes
O'er the free soul of a Man.
Blastful swell of priestly ban,
Like a whiff of breath it passes
O'er the free soul of a Man.
Luther brought his troop together,
Men with learnèd cap and gown,
Teachers and the taught together,
To the east gate of the town.
Men with learnèd cap and gown,
135
To the east gate of the town.
And they piled a heap of fagots,
And at touch of torch the flame
Rose; and forward to the crackling
Pile the bold monk gravely came.
And at touch of torch the flame
Rose; and forward to the crackling
Pile the bold monk gravely came.
In his hand the false Decretals
And the big-mouthed boastful Bull,
Priest-made laws, and subtle dogmas
Of an empty-witted school.
And the big-mouthed boastful Bull,
Priest-made laws, and subtle dogmas
Of an empty-witted school.
And to the flame he freely gave them,
And he said with solemn cheer,
“Let the wrath of God consume them
As this flame consumes them here!
And he said with solemn cheer,
“Let the wrath of God consume them
As this flame consumes them here!
“Canon law and false Decretals!
Long, too long have lies prevailed—
Tiger-hearted, cruel monsters,
Baby-brained and serpent-tailed!”
Long, too long have lies prevailed—
Tiger-hearted, cruel monsters,
Baby-brained and serpent-tailed!”
136
And loud echoes rose applausive,
And at Wittenberg each man
Freely breathed that day, rejoicing
O'er the ashes of the ban.
And at Wittenberg each man
Freely breathed that day, rejoicing
O'er the ashes of the ban.
Bulls are cindered, Popes are scouted;
What shall startled Europe do?
Let the holy Roman Cæsar
Calm the strife with judgment true.
What shall startled Europe do?
Let the holy Roman Cæsar
Calm the strife with judgment true.
Charles hath come to Worms; and with him
His great lords in courtly show,
Waiting on his high decision,
Big with mighty weal or woe!
His great lords in courtly show,
Waiting on his high decision,
Big with mighty weal or woe!
Luther comes: no fear might hold him,
Not the deathful shadow cast
From plotting priests and perjured kaisers
In the memory of the past.
Not the deathful shadow cast
From plotting priests and perjured kaisers
In the memory of the past.
The Council of Constance, a.d. 1414, in which the Emperor Sigismund, to the disgrace of the imperial name, broke his word of honour, and allowed his safeconduct given to John Huss to be trampled under foot by priestly insolence, and the preacher of Gospel truth to be sacrificed to the blind vengeance of those who had a secular interest in the advocacy of lies. See Menzel's ‘Geschichte der Deutschen,’ 298-301.
Rome had seen the axe of Nero
Red with blood of holy Paul;
Constance taught that oaths were worthless
When Popes bribed the judgment-hall.
Red with blood of holy Paul;
137
When Popes bribed the judgment-hall.
Luther came: it might rain devils;
Devils bring no fear to him;
In the drowning of a world,
He who trusts in God will swim.
Devils bring no fear to him;
In the drowning of a world,
He who trusts in God will swim.
Luther stands before the Kaiser:
In the power of truth, that day,
Stood the miner's son of Mansfeld
Mildly firm, nor knew dismay,
In the power of truth, that day,
Stood the miner's son of Mansfeld
Mildly firm, nor knew dismay,
'Fore the banded might of princes,
'Fore the purple Pope's array,
Stamping lies with name of Jesus,
With red murder in their pay.
'Fore the purple Pope's array,
Stamping lies with name of Jesus,
With red murder in their pay.
There he stood, like Paul when Nero
Fixed on him his hangman's eye,
Ready for all fiery torture,
But not ready for a lie.
Fixed on him his hangman's eye,
Ready for all fiery torture,
But not ready for a lie.
138
Sooner would he swear that night
Was day, and flout the front of fact,
Than of God's truth, in God's eye spoken,
One smallest honest word retract.
Was day, and flout the front of fact,
Than of God's truth, in God's eye spoken,
One smallest honest word retract.
Fumed the priest, and lowered the legate;
Luther heard his sure death-knell,
“Let the fire consume his body,
As his soul shall burn in hell!”
Luther heard his sure death-knell,
“Let the fire consume his body,
As his soul shall burn in hell!”
But Charles was young, and Charles was prudent;
Worms might milder show than Rome:
So he gave half-hearted licence,
And brave Luther wandered home.
Worms might milder show than Rome:
So he gave half-hearted licence,
And brave Luther wandered home.
But a ban was sent behind him,
That he breathed his breath in fear,
Doomed to wander, marked for judgment,
With a lurking terror near.
That he breathed his breath in fear,
Doomed to wander, marked for judgment,
With a lurking terror near.
But God keeps watch o'er His prophets.
He had friends; and they, not blind,
From the ambushed murder snatched him,
And in kindly ward confined
He had friends; and they, not blind,
139
And in kindly ward confined
High upon the castled Wartburg:
There his soul had time to brood
For what end the Lord had caught him
From the murtherous multitude.
There his soul had time to brood
For what end the Lord had caught him
From the murtherous multitude.
There he prayed and there he doubted,
Doubted, prayed, and prayed again,
Tossed on sleepless pillow, doubting
If his life had been in vain;
Doubted, prayed, and prayed again,
Tossed on sleepless pillow, doubting
If his life had been in vain;
Doubting if he should not rather
Break the shell of his disguise,
And face to face in deadly grapple
Perish as a brave man dies;
Break the shell of his disguise,
And face to face in deadly grapple
Perish as a brave man dies;
By a host of terrors haunted,
Demons mocking in despite,
Heaven close barred, and hell wide gaping,
As he floundered through the night.
Demons mocking in despite,
Heaven close barred, and hell wide gaping,
As he floundered through the night.
140
“De profundis, De profundis!
Hear, dear God, O hear my cry!”
And a voice came through his slumber
With an answer from on high:
Hear, dear God, O hear my cry!”
And a voice came through his slumber
With an answer from on high:
“Take the Book; the Book shall help thee;
Teach thy folk to read and think:
Priests may fight with axe and fagot;
Thou shalt gain with pen and ink.”
Teach thy folk to read and think:
Priests may fight with axe and fagot;
Thou shalt gain with pen and ink.”
Luther rose, new-born, from slumber,
Vanished clean all shapes of fear,
Braced for battle like a soldier,
And he saw his mission clear.
Vanished clean all shapes of fear,
Braced for battle like a soldier,
And he saw his mission clear.
Give the Book, the Book to all men,
Let them see God face to face,
Let them hear the words of healing,
Let them drink the well of grace.
Let them see God face to face,
Let them hear the words of healing,
Let them drink the well of grace.
From no priest that mumbles Latin
With dumb gesture and grimace,
Tinkling bells, and smoking incense
To becloud the holy place,
With dumb gesture and grimace,
141
To becloud the holy place,
But from God's own mouth, or prophet's
Clearly signed with faithful pen,
They shall hear God's word to Germans
In the speech of German men!
Clearly signed with faithful pen,
They shall hear God's word to Germans
In the speech of German men!
Here was work, and here was plainly
What the Lord would have him do;
Better here to write and ponder,
Than abroad, in public view,
What the Lord would have him do;
Better here to write and ponder,
Than abroad, in public view,
Talking, wrangling, and disputing
With a school-bred sophist crew
Using sleight of logic deftly
Into false to twist the true.
With a school-bred sophist crew
Using sleight of logic deftly
Into false to twist the true.
And he worked with pious patience,
As a German loves to plod,
Strong in lexicon and grammar,
Till he sent the Word of God,
As a German loves to plod,
Strong in lexicon and grammar,
Till he sent the Word of God,
142
In its primal strength and freshness,
Full of quickening spirit-power,
To bring forth the Gospel seed-time
From the ferment of the hour.
Full of quickening spirit-power,
To bring forth the Gospel seed-time
From the ferment of the hour.
And he sent it forth electric,
And it travelled like the fire,
Through the heart and through the pulsing
Veins, to reach the heart's desire,
And it travelled like the fire,
Through the heart and through the pulsing
Veins, to reach the heart's desire,
Till the Council of the Princes,
Each man master in his home,
Doffed the badge of base subjection
To usurping priests in Rome;
Each man master in his home,
Doffed the badge of base subjection
To usurping priests in Rome;
Recking not if Popes might bluster,
Legates rage both North and South;
In the Book, the Book, were written
Words that gagged each boaster's mouth;
Legates rage both North and South;
In the Book, the Book, were written
Words that gagged each boaster's mouth;
Recking not if witless weavers,
Or hot doctors of the school,
With a self-blown inspiration,
Scorned the rein of healthy rule.
Or hot doctors of the school,
143
Scorned the rein of healthy rule.
They had God's Book for their teacher,
They had Luther for their guide;
And he came with fervid shrewdness
To rebuke the windy pride
They had Luther for their guide;
And he came with fervid shrewdness
To rebuke the windy pride
Of each brainless preaching braggart.
And the word of soundness grew,
And new thousands mustered daily,
Swore allegiance to the true.
And the word of soundness grew,
And new thousands mustered daily,
Swore allegiance to the true.
Popes were raging; kings and kaisers
Counsel took against the Lord;
But the Book, the Book was stronger
Than the crosier and the sword.
Counsel took against the Lord;
But the Book, the Book was stronger
Than the crosier and the sword.
Wars had been, and wars were brewing—
War and strife will ever be;
But the truth of God will triumph
When the Word of God is free.
War and strife will ever be;
But the truth of God will triumph
When the Word of God is free.
144
Luther triumphed with the Bible;
And the Bible, now as then,
Peals the knell of death to despots,
Peals the psalm of life to men.
And the Bible, now as then,
Peals the knell of death to despots,
Peals the psalm of life to men.
| A Song of Heroes | |