University of Virginia Library

Appendix.

NOTE A.

Act V.—Scene II.

(Second Version).
Mary.
Forbidden to die for him, I choose to die
With him at least; Jesus, receive my soul
And let me, ignorant of joy on earth,
Find joy triumphant, passing earthly speech,
With thee, my Lord and Master, where thou art—
For where thou art, it must be well for me
To tarry with thee, gazing as of old
Deep in thine eyes wherethrough the love of God
Shone verily. Master, I follow thee!
(She raises the dagger—stabs herself).
Farewell, ye stars that cheer the weary earth!
Soon, it may be, far closer to your gleams,
I shall exchange this land of gloom and death
For some more radiant home of endless light.
(She dies.—The bodies of Judas and Ben-Aaron lie on the front of the stage, exposed to the view of the audience.

A party of disciples passes along the back of the stage, carrying the dead body of Jesus to burial, and singing this funeral dirge).
[Disciples.]

(The voices slowly die away in the distance).

Act V.—Scene II.

(Third Version).
Mary.
Forbidden to die for him, I choose to die
With him at least; Jesus, receive my soul
And let me, ignorant of joy on earth,
Find joy triumphant, passing earthly speech,
With thee, my Lord and Master, where thou art—
For where thou art, it must be well for me
To tarry with thee, gazing as of old
Deep in thine eyes wherethrough the love of God
Shone verily.

(She raises the dagger.—A party of disciples passes along the back of the stage, carrying the dead body of Jesus to burial, and singing the following funeral dirge.—Mary hears the music of the dirge and pauses,—the dagger uplifted in her hand).
[Disciples.]

(The voices slowly die away in the distance).
Mary.
They carry him to burial.—Ah! my Lord,
My Master, thou wilt pardon me my sin.
Was it a sin to take such lives as these?
If it be sin, my own life shall atone:
I give my life-blood freely.

(She again raises the dagger—a figure appears behind her).
Jesus.
Mary, pause.

Mary.
Not thou? Oh, speak again—thou art not dead;
My brain is wild with wonder.

Jesus.
It is I.
Be not afraid.

Mary.
Nay, was I ever afraid,
Afraid of thee? Thy face I could not fear
Though full of power unearthly! Is it thou?
Let me draw near, and with these loving hands—
Ah God, the blood-spots on them!—I have sinned.

Jesus.
Thou hast sinned: thou shouldst have waited for revenge
Till God my Father—and the Father too
Of these poor sinners—spoke; and whether he spoke
In thunder, or by gentler sunnier means
Won their lost souls, the ending had been well.

Mary.
But, Lord, I saw thy body just now borne—

Jesus.
The body dies: the deathless spirit survives.
Nor mine alone, but thine, the spirits of all;
All shall survive, for all alike are safe
Within the Father's hand.—Nay, touch me not:
I am not yet ascended to my Father.
Go thou; tell all my followers I am risen.
To thee, red-handed, still I give my blessing;
I pardon thy great sin—yet sin no more:
Man's justice—as they call it—shall not reach thee.
For thee far loftier fate is in reserve:
Thou shalt teach women; all thy sex shall learn,
Aye learn through strange wild hours of coming years,
From thee the laws of purity and love.
Thou hast taken life: but many and many a time
Have women taken life, and many a time
Shall they take life, and men shall take it too,
Yet in my Father's eyes, the eyes whose light
Transpierces all disguises, every veil,
Seem far less guilty often it may be
Than those who judge them, for my Father knows
The hidden motives, he can weigh them all:
He knows that often love itself destroys,
And that a woman's mute complete despair
Spurs on towards acts of frenzy. For the lives
That thou hast taken thou shalt fully atone,
For thou shalt save innumerable lives:
Yea, thou shalt tend the poor, and nurse the sick,
And save thy sisters from far worse than death,
The soul's destruction; thou hast been the type
Of woman's sin and madness, be thou now
Through every age the pattern and the type
Of her supreme repentance.

Mary.
But I long,
Lord, to be with thee! I would see thy face,
Thine eyes for ever.

Jesus.
Thou shalt see my face,
But in my Father's kingdom. Here on earth
I may not longer tarry. Tell the world
That thou hast seen me; that there is no death,
Save only sin. Farewell.

Mary.
My Lord and God!

(The figure of Jesus vanishes.—Mary falls, fainting).