A Historical Tragedy In Five Acts. This Play Is Dedicated, In Profound Veneration And Respect, To The Memory Of George Eliot, The Illustrious Writer, Who Did Most Among The Artists Of Our Day Towards Elevating And Ennobling The Spirit Of Jewish Nationality. The Persons. Frederick The Grave, Landgrave Of Thuringia And Margrave Of Meissen, Protector And Patron Of The Free City Of Nordhausen. Prince William Of Meissen, His Son. Susskind Von Orb, A Jew. Henry Schnetzen, Governor Of Salza. Henry Nordmann Of Nordmannstein, Knight Of Treffurt. Reinhard Peppercorn, Prior Of Wartburg Monastery. Rabbi Jacob. Dietrich Von Tettenborn, President Of The Council. Reuben Von Orb, A Boy, Susskind'S Son. Baruch And Naphtali,Jews. Rabbi Cresselin. Lay-Brother. Page. Public Scrivener. Princess Mathildis, Wife To Frederick. Liebhaid Von Orb. Claire Cresselin. Jews, Jewesses, Burghers, Senators, Citizens, Citizen'S Wife And Boy, Flagellants, Servants, Guardsmen. Scene - Partly In Nordhausen, Partly In Eisenach. Time, May, 4Th, 5Th, 6Th, 1349. Act I. - In Nordhausen. Scene I. A Street In The Judengasse, Outside The Synagogue. During This Scene Jews And Jewesses, Singly And In Groups, With Prayer-Books In Their Hands, Pass Across The Stage, And Go Into The Synagogue. Among Them, Enter Baruch And Naphtali. Naphtali. Hast Seen Him Yet? Baruch. Nay; Rabbi Jacob'S Door Swung To Behind Him, Just As I Puffed Up O'Erblown With Haste. See How Our Years Weigh, Cousin. Who'D Judge Me With This Paunch A Temperate Man, A Man Of Modest Means, A Man Withal Scarce Overpast His Prime? Well, God Be Praised, If Age Bring No Worse Burden! Who Is This Stranger? Simon The Leech Tells Me He Claims To Bear Some Special Message From The Lord - No Doubt To-Morrow, Fresh From Rest, He'll Publish It Within The Synagogue. Naphtali. To-Morrow, Man? He Will Not Hear Of Rest - He Comes Anon - Shall We Within? Baruch. Rather Let'S Wait, And Scrutinize Him As He Mounts The Street. Since You Denote Him So Remarkable, You've Whetted My Desire. Naphtali. A Blind, Old Man, Mayhap Is All You'll Find Him - Spent With Travel, His Raiment Fouled With Dust, His Sandaled Feet Road-Bruised By Stone And Bramble. But His Face! - Majestic With Long Fall Of Cloud-White Beard, And Hoary Wreath Of Hair - Oh, It Is One Already Kissed By Angels. Baruch. Look, There Limps Little Manasseh, Bloated As His Purse, And Wrinkled As A Frost-Pinched Fruit. I Hear His Last Loan To The Syndic Will Result In Quadrupling His Wealth. Good Lord! What Luck Blesses Some Folk, While Good Men Stint And Sweat And Scrape, To Merely Fill The Household Larder. What Said You Of This Pilgrim, Naphtali? These Inequalities Of Fortune Rub My Sense Of Justice So Against The Grain, I Lose My Very Name. Whence Does He Come? Is He Alone? Naphtali. He Comes From Chinon, France. Rabbi Cresselin He Calls Himself - Alone Save For His Daughter Who Has Led Him Hither. A Beautiful, Pale Girl With Round Black Eyes. Baruch. Bring They Fresh Tidings Of The Pestilence? Naphtali. I Know Not - But I Learn From Other Source It Has Burst Forth At Erfurt. Baruch. God Have Mercy! Have Many Of Our Tribe Been Stricken? Naphtali. No. They Cleanse Their Homes And Keep Their Bodies Sweet, Nor Cease From Prayer - And So Does Jacob'S God Protect His Chosen, Still. Yet Even His Favor Our Enemies Would Twist Into A Curse. Beholding The Destroying Angel Smite The Foal Idolater And Leave Unscathed The Gates Of Israel - The Old Cry They Raise - We Have Begotten The Black Death - We Poison The Well-Springs Of The Towns. Baruch. God Pity Us! But Truly Are We Blessed In Nordhausen. Such Terrors Seem Remote As Egypt'S Plagues. I Warrant You Our Landgrave Dare Not Harry Such Creditors As We. See, Here Comes One, The Greatest And Most Liberal Of Them All - Susskind Von Orb. Susskind Von Orb, Liebhaid, And Reuben Enter, All Pass Across The Stage, And Disappear Within The Synagogue. I'd Barter My Whole Fortune, And Yours To Boot, That's Thrice The Bulk Of Mine, For Half The Bonds He Holds In Frederick'S Name. The Richest Merchant In Thuringia, He - The Poise Of His Head Would Tell It, Knew We Not. How Has His Daughter Leaped To Womanhood! I Mind When She Came Toddling By His Hand, But Yesterday - A Flax-Haired Child - To-Day Her Brow Is Level With His Pompous Chin. Naphtali. How Fair She Is! Her Hair Has Kept Its Gold Untarnished Still. I Trace Not Either Parent In Her Face, Clean Cut As A Gem. Baruch. Her Mother Was Far-Off Kin To Me, And I Might Pass, I'm Told, Unguessed In Christian Garb. I Know A Pretty Secret Of That Scornful Face. It Lures High Game To Nordhausen. Naphtali. Baruch, I Marvel At Your Prompt Credulity. The Prince Of Meissen And Liebhaid Von Orb! A Jest For Gossips And - Look, Look, He Comes! Baruch. Who's That, The Prince? Naphtali. Nay, Dullard, The Old Man, The Rabbi Of Chinon. Ah! His Stout Staff, And That Brave Creature'S Strong Young Hand Suffice Scarcely To Keep Erect His Tottering Frame. Emaciate-Lipped, With Cavernous Black Eyes Whose Inward Visions Do Eclipse The Day, Seems He Not One Re-Risen From The Grave To Yield The Secret? Enter Rabbi Jacob, And Rabbi Cresselin Led By Claire. They Walk Across The Stage, And Disappear In The Synagogue. Baruch (Exaltedly). Blessed Art Thou, O Lord, King Of The Universe, Who Teachest Wisdom To Those Who Fear Thee! Naphtali. Haste We In. The Star Of Sabbath Dawns. Baruch. My Flesh Is Still A-Creep From The Strange Gaze Of Those Wide-Rolling Orbs. Didst Note, Man, How They Fixed Me? His Lean Cheeks, As Wan As Wax, Were Bloodless; How His Arms Stretched Far Beyond The Flowing Sleeve And Showed Gaunt, Palsied Wrists, And Hands Blue-Tipped With Death! Well, I Have Seen A Sage Of Israel. [They Enter The Synagogue. Scene Closes.] Scene Ii. The Synagogue Crowded With Worshippers. Among The Women In The Gallery Are Discovered Liebhaid Von Orb And Claire Cresselin. Below, Among The Men, Susskind Von Orb And Reuben. At The Reader'S Desk, Rabbi Jacob. Fronting The Audience Under The Ark Of The Covenant, Stands A High Desk, Behind Which Is Seen The White Head Of An Old Man Bowed In Prayer. Baruch And Naphtali Enter And Take Their Seats. Baruch. Think You He Speaks Before The Service? Naphtali. Yea. Lo, Phantom-Like The Towering Patriarch! [Rabbi Cresselin Slowly Rises Beneath The Ark.] Rabbi Cresselin. Woe Unto Israel! Woe Unto All Abiding 'Mid Strange Peoples! Ye Shall Be Cut Off From That Land Where Ye Made Your Home. I, Cresselin Of Chinon, Have Traveled Far, Thence Where My Fathers Dwelt, To Warn My Race, For Whom The Fire And Stake Have Been Prepared. Our Brethren Of Verdun, All Over France, Are Burned Alive Beneath The Goyim'S Torch. What Terrors Have I Witnessed, Ere My Sight Was Mercifully Quenched! In Gascony, In Savoy, Piedmont, Round The Garden Shores Of Tranquil Leman, Down The Beautiful Rhine, At Lindau, Costnitz, Schaffhausen, St. Gallen, Everywhere Torture, Smoking Synagogues, Carnage, And Burning Flesh. The Lights Shine Out Of Jewish Virtue, Jewish Truth, To Star The Sanguine Field With An Immortal Blazon. The Venerable Mar-Isaac In Cologne, Sat In His House At Prayer, Nor Lifted Lid From Off The Sacred Text, While All Around The Fanatics Ran Riot; Him They Seized, Haled Through The Streets, With Prod Of Stick And Spike Fretted His Wrinkled Flesh, Plucked His White Beard. Dragged Him With Gibes Into Their Church, And Held A Crucifix Before Him. "Know Thy Lord!" He Spat Thereon; He Was Pulled Limb From Limb. I Saw - God, That I Might Forget! - A Man Leap In The Loire, With His Fair, Stalwart Son, A-Bloom With Youth, And Midst The Stream Unsheathe A Poniard, Sheathing It In His Boy'S Heart, While He Pronounced The Blessing For The Dead. "Amen!" The Lad Responded As He Sank, And The White Water Darkened As With Wine. I Saw - But No! You Are Glutted, And My Tongue, Blistered, Refuseth To Narrate More Woe. I Have Known Much Sorrow. When It Pleased The Lord To Afflict Us With The Horde Of Pastoureaux, The Rabble Of Armed Herdsmen, Peasants, Slaves, Men-Beasts Of Burden - Coarse As The Earth They Tilled, Who Like An Inundation Deluged France To Drown Our Race - My Heart Held Firm, My Faith Shook Not Upon Her Rock Until I Saw, Smit By God'S Beam, The Big Black Cloud Dissolve. Then Followed With Their Scythes, Spades, Clubs, And Banners Flaunting The Cross, The Hosts Of Armleder, From Whose Fierce Wounds We Scarce Are Healed To-Day. Yet Do I Say The Cup Of Bitterness That Israel Has Drained Is But A Draught Of Cordial, To The Cup That Is Prepared. The Black Death And The Brothers Of The Cross, These Are Our Foes - And These Are Everywhere. I Who Am Blind See Ruin In Their Wake; Ye Who Have Eyes And Limbs, Arise And Flee! To-Morrow The Flagellants Will Be Here. God'S Angel Visited My Sleep And Spake: "Thy Jewish Kin In The Thuringian Town Of Nordhausen Shall Be Swept Off From Earth, Their Elders And Their Babes - Consumed With Fire. Go Summon Israel To Flight - Take This As Sign That I, Who Call Thee, Am The Lord, Thine Eyes Shalt Be Struck Blind Till Thou Hast Spoken." Then Darkness Fell Upon My Mortal Sense, But Light Broke O'Er My Soul, And All Was Clear, And I Have Journeyed Hither With My Child O'Er Mount And River, Till I Have Announced The Message Of The Everlasting God. [Sensation In The Synagogue.] Rabbi Jacob. Father, Have Mercy! When Wilt Thou Have Done With Rod And Scourge? Beneath Thy Children'S Feet Earth Splits, Fire Springs. No Rest, No Rest! No Rest, A Voice. Look To The Women! Marianne Swoons! Another Voice. Woe Unto Us Who Sinned! Another Voice. We'Re All Dead Men. Fly, Fly Ere Dawn As Our Forefathers Fled From Out The Land Of Egypt. Baruch. Are Ye Mad? Shall We Desert Snug Homes? Forego The Sum Scraped Through Laborious Years To Smooth Life'S Slope, And Die Like Dogs Unkenneled And Untombed, At Bidding Of A Sorrow-Crazed Old Man? A Voice. He Flouts The Lord'S Anointed! Cast Him Forth! Susskind Von Orb. Peace, Brethren, Peace! If I Have Ever Served Israel With Purse, Arm, Brain, Or Heart - Now Hear Me! May God Instruct My Speech! This Wise Old Man, Whose Brow Flames With The Majesty Of Truth, May Be Part-Blinded Through Excess Of Light, As One Who Eyes Too Long The Naked Sun, Setting In Rayless Glory, Turns And Finds Outlines Confused, Familiar Colors Changed, All Objects Branded With One Blood-Bright Spot. Nor Chafe At Baruch'S Homely Sense; Truth Floats Midway Between The Stars And The Abyss. We, By God'S Grace, Have Found A Special Nest I' The Dangerous Rock, Screened Against Wind And Hawk; Free Burghers Of A Free Town, Blessed Moreover With The Peculiar Favor Of The Prince, Frederick The Grave, Our Patron And Protector. What Shall We Fear? Rather, Where Shall We Seek Secure Asylum, If Here Be Not One? Fly? Our Forefathers Had The Wilderness, The Sea Their Gateway, And The Fire-Cored Cloud Their Divine Guide. Us, Hedged By Ambushed Foes, No Frank, Free, Kindly Desert Shall Receive. Death Crouches On All Sides, Prepared To Leap Tiger-Like On Our Throats, When First We Step From This Safe Covert. Everywhere The Plague! As Nigh As Erfurt It Has Crawled - The Towns Reek With Miasma, The Rank Fields Of Spring, Rain-Saturated, Are One Beautiful - Lie, Smiling Profuse Life, And Secreting Death. Strange How, Unbidden, A Trivial Memory Thrusts Itself On My Mind In This Grave Hour. I Saw A Large White Bull Urged Through The Town To Slaughter By A Stripling With A Goad, Whom But One Sure Stamp Of That Solid Heel, One Toss Of Those Mooned Horns, One Battering Blow Of That Square Marble Forehead, Would Have Crushed, As We Might Crush A Worm, Yet On He Trudged, Patient, In Powerful Health To Death. At Once, As Though O' The Sudden Stung, He Roared Aloud, Beat With Fierce Hoofs The Air, Shook Desperately His Formidable Head, And Heifer-Swift, Raced Through Scared, Screaming Streets. Well, And The End? He Was The Promptlier Bound And Killed And Quartered. The World Belongs To Man; Dreams The Poor Brute Some Nook Has Been Apportioned For Brute Life? Where Shall A Man Escape Men'S Cruelty? Where Shall God'S Servant Cower From His Doom? Let Us Bide, Brethren - We Are In His Hand. Rabbi Cresselin (Uttering A Piercing Shriek). Ah! Woe Unto Israel! Lo, I See Again, As The Ineffable Foretold. I See A Flood Of Fire That Streams Towards The Town. Look, The Destroying Angel With The Sword, Wherefrom The Drops Of Gall Are Raining Down, Broad-Winged, Comes Flying Towards You. Now He Draws His Lightning-Glittering Blade! With The Keen Edge He Smiteth Israel - Ah! [He Falls Back Dead. Confusion In The Synagogue.] Claire (From The Gallery). Father! My Father! Let Me Go Down To Him! Liebhaid. Sweet Girl, Be Patient. This Is The House Of God, And He Hath Entered. Bow We And Pray. [Meanwhile, Some Of The Men Surround And Raise From The Ground The Body Of Rabbi Cresselin. Several Voices Speaking At Once.] 1St Voice. He'S Doomed. 2D Voice. ????????Dead! Dead! 3D Voice. A Judgment! 4Th Voice. Make Way There! Air! Carry Him Forth! He'S Warm! 3D Voice. Nay, His Heart'S Stopped - His Breath Has Ceased - Quite Dead. 5Th Voice. Didst Mark A Diamond Lance Flash From The Roof, And Strike Him 'Twixt The Eyes? 1St Voice. Our Days Are Numbered. This Is The Token. Rabbi Jacob. Lift The Corpse And Pray. Shall We Neglect God'S Due Observances, While He Is Manifest In Miracle? I Saw A Blaze Seven Times More Bright Than Fire, Crest, Halo-Wise, The Patriarch'S White Head. The Dazzle Stung My Burning Lids - They Closed, One Instant - When They Oped, The Great Blank Cloud Had Settled On His Countenance Forever.* Departed Brother, Mayest Thou Find The Gates Of Heaven Open, See The City Of Peace, And Meet The Ministering Angels, Glad, Hastening Towards Thee! May The High Priest Stand To Greet And Bless Thee! Go Thou To The End! Repose In Peace And Rise Again To Life. No More Thy Sun Sets, Neither Wanes Thy Moon. The Lord Shall Be Thy Everlasting Light, Thy Days Of Mourning Shall Be At An End. For You, My Flock, Fear Nothing; It Is Writ As One His Mother Comforteth, So I Will Comfort You And In Jerusalem Ye Shall Be Comforted. [Scene Closes.] *From This Point To The End Of The Scene Is A Literal Translation Of The Hebrew Burial Service. Scene Iii. Evening. A Crooked Byway In The Judengasse. Enter Prince William. Prince William. Cursed Be These Twisted Lanes! I Have Missed The Clue Of The Close Labyrinth. Nowhere In Sight, Just When I Lack It, A Stray Gaberdine To Pick Me Up My Thread. Yet When I Haste Through These Blind Streets, Unwishful To Be Spied, Some Dozen Hawk-Eyes Peering O'Er Crook'D Beaks Leer Recognition, And Obsequious Caps Do Kiss The Stones To Greet My Princeship. Bah! Strange, 'Midst Such Refuse Sleeps So White A Pearl. At Last, Here Shuffles One. Enter A Jew. Give You Good Even! Sir, Can You Help Me To The Nighest Way Unto The Merchant'S House, Susskind Von Orb? Jew. Whence Come You Knowing Not The High Brick Wall, Without, Blank As My Palm, O' The Inner Side, Muring A Palace? But - Do You Wish Him Well? He Is My Friend - We Must Be Wary, Wary, We All Have Warning - Oh, The Terror Of It! I Have Not Yet My Wits! Prince William. I Am His Friend. Is He In Peril? What'S The Matter, Man? Jew. Peril? His Peril Is No Worse Than Mine, But The Rich Win Compassion. God Is Just, And Every Man Of Us Is Doomed. Alack! He Said It - Oh Those Wild, White Eyes! Prince William. I Pray You, Tell Me The Way To Susskind'S Home. Jew. Sweet Master, You Look The Perfect Knight, What Can You Crave Of Us Starved, Wretched Jews? Leave Us In Peace. The Judengasse Gates Will Shut Anon, Nor Ope Till Morn Again For Jew Or Gentile. Prince William. Here'S Gold. I Am The Prince Of Meissen - Speak! Jew. Oh Pardon! Let Me Kiss Your Mantle'S Edge. This Way, Great Sir, I Lead You There Myself, If You Deign Follow One So Poor, So Humble. You Must Show Mercy In The Name Of God, For Verily Are We Afflicted. Come. Hard By Is Susskind'S Dwelling - As We Walk By Your Good Leave I'll Tell What I Have Seen. [Exeunt.] Scene Iv. A Luxuriously-Furnished Apartment In Susskind Von Orb'S House. Upon A Richly-Spread Supper-Table Stands The Seven-Branched Silver Candlestick Of The Sabbath Eve. At The Table Are Seated Susskind Von Orb, Liebhaid, And Reuben. Susskind. Drink, Children, Drink! And Lift Your Hearts To Him Who Gives Us The Vine'S Fruit. [They Drink.] How Clear It Glows; Like Gold Within The Golden Bowl, Like Fire Along Our Veins, After The Work-Day Week Rekindling Sabbath-Fervor, Sabbath-Strength. Verily God Prepares For Me A Table In Presence Of Mine Enemies! He Anoints My Head With Oil, My Cup Is Overflowing. Praise We His Name! Hast Thou, My Daughter, Served The Needs O' The Poor, Suddenly-Orphaned Child? Naught Must She Lack Beneath My Roof. Liebhaid. Yea, Father. She Prays And Weeps Within: She Had No Heart For Sabbath Meal, But Charged Me With Her Thanks - Susskind. Thou Shalt Be Mother And Sister In One To Her. Speak To Her Comfortably. Reuben. She Has Begged A Grace Of Me I Happily Can Grant. After Our Evening-Prayer, To Lead Her Back Unto The Synagogue, Where Sleeps Her Father, A Light At Head And Foot, O'Erwatched By Strangers; She Would Hold Vigil. Susskind. 'T Is A Pious Wish, Not To Be Crossed, Befitting Israel'S Daughter. Go, Reuben; Heavily The Moments Hang, While Her Heart Yearns To Break Beside His Corpse. Receive My Blessing. [He Places His Hands Upon His Son'S Head In Benediction. Exit Reuben.] Henceforth Her Home Is Here. In The Event To-Night, God'S Finger Points Visibly Out Of Heaven. A Thick Cloud Befogs The Future. But Just Here Is Light. Enter A Servant Ushering In Prince William. Servant. His Highness Prince Of Meissen. [Exit.] Susskind. Welcome, Prince! God Bless Thy Going Forth And Coming In! Sit At Our Table And Accept The Cup Of Welcome Which My Daughter Fills. [Liebhaid Offers Him Wine.] Prince William (Drinking). To Thee! [All Take Their Seats At The Table.] I Heard Disquieting News As I Came Hither. The Apparition In The Synagogue, The Miracle Of The Message And The Death. Susskind Von Orb, What Think'St Thou Of These Things? Susskind. I Think, Sir, We Are In The Hand Of God, I Trust The Prince - Your Father And My Friend. Prince William. Trust No Man! Flee! I Have Not Come To-Night To Little Purpose. Your Arch Enemy, The Governor Of Salza, Henry Schnetzen, Has Won My Father'S Ear. Since Yester Eve He Stops At Eisenach, Begging Of The Prince The Jews' Destruction. Susskind (Calmly). Schnetzen Is My Foe, I Know It, But I Know A Talisman, Which At A Word Transmutes His Hate To Love. Liebhaid, My Child, Look Cheerly. What Is This? Harm Dare Not Touch Thee; The Oppressor'S Curse, Melts Into Blessing At Thy Sight. Liebhaid. Not Fear Plucks At My Heart-Strings, Father, Though The Air Thickens With Portents; 'T Is The Thought Of Flight, But No - I Follow Thee. Prince William. Thou Shalt Not Miss The Value Of A Hair From Thy Home Treasures. All That Thou Lovest, Liebhaid, Goes With Thee. Knowest Thou, Susskind, Schnetzen'S Cause Of Hate? Susskind. 'T Is Rooted In An Ancient Error, Born During His Feud With Landgrave Fritz The Bitten, Your Highness' Grandsire - Ten Years - Twenty - Back. Misled To Think I Had Betrayed His Castle, Who Knew The Secret Tunnel To Its Courts, He Has Nursed A Baseless Grudge, Whereat I Smile, Sure To Disarm Him By The Simple Truth. God Grant Me Strength To Utter It. Prince William. You Fancy The Rancor Of A Bad Heart Slow Distilled Through Venomed Years, So At A Breath, Dissolves. O Good Old Man, I' The World, Not Of The World! Belike, Himself Forgets The Doubtful Core Of This Still-Curdling, Petrifying Ooze. Truth? Why Truth Glances From The Callous Mass, A Spear Against A Rock. He Hugs His Hate, His Bed-Fellow, His Daily, Life-Long Comrade; Think You He Has Slept, Ate, Drank With It This While, Now To Forego Revenge On Such Slight Cause As The Revealed Truth? Susskind. You Mistake My Thought, Great-Hearted Prince, And Justly - For I Speak In Riddles, Till God'S Time To Make All Clear. When His Day Dawns, The Blind Shall See. Prince William. Forgive Me, If I, In Wit And Virtue Your Disciple, Seem To Instruct My Master. Accident Lifts Me Where I Survey A Broader Field Than Wise Men Stationed Lower. I Spy Peril, Fierce Flame Invisible From The Lesser Peaks. God'S Time Is Now. Delayed Truth Leaves A Lie Triumphant. If You Harbor Any Secret, Potent To Force An Ear That's Locked To Mercy, In God'S Name, Now Disbosom It. Susskind. Kind Heaven! Would That My People'S Safety Were Assured So Is My Child'S! Where Shall We Turn? Where Flee? For All Around Us The Black Angel Broods. We Step Into The Open Jaws Of Death If We Go Hence. Prince William. Better To Fall Beneath The Hand Of God, Than Be Cut Off By Man. Susskind. We Are Trapped, The Springe Is Set. Not Ignorantly I Offered Counsel In The Synagogue, Quelled Panic With Authoritative Calm, But Knowing, Having Weighed The Opposing Risks. Our Friends In Strasburg Have Been Overmastered, The Imperial Voice Is Drowned, The Papal Arm Drops Paralyzed - Both, Lifted For The Truth; We Can But Front With Brave Eyes, Brow Erect, As Is Our Wont, The Fullness Of Our Doom. Prince William. Then Meissen'S Sword Champions Your Desperate Cause. I Take My Stand Here Where My Heart Is Fixed. I Love Your Daughter - If Her Love Consent, I Pray You, Give Me Her To Wife. Liebhaid. Ah! Susskind. Prince, Let Not This Saxon Skin, This Hair'S Gold Fleece, These Rhine-Blue Eyes Mislead Thee - She Is Alien. To The Heart'S Core A Jewess - Prop Of My House, Soul Of My Soul - And I? A Despised Jew. Prince William. Thy Propped House Crumbles; Let My Arm Sustain Its Tottering Base - Thy Light Is On The Wane, Let Me Relume It. Give Thy Star To Me, Or Ever Pitch-Black Night Engulf Us All - Lend Me Your Voice, Liebhaid, Entreat For Me. Shall This Prayer Be Your First That He Denies? Liebhaid. Father, My Heart'S Desire Is One With His. Susskind. Is This The Will Of God? Amen! My Children, Be Patient With Me, I Am Full Of Trouble. For You, Heroic Prince, Could Aught Enhance Your Love'S Incomparable Nobility, 'T Were The Foreboding Horror Of This Hour, Wherein You Dare Flash Forth Its Lightning-Sword. You Reckon Not, In The Hot, Splendid Moment Of Great Resolve, The Cold Insidious Breath Wherewith The Outer World Shall Blast And Freeze - But Hark! I Own A Mystic Amulet, Which You Delivering To Your Gracious Father, Shall Calm His Rage Withal, And Change His Scorn Of The Jew'S Daughter Into Pure Affection. I Will Go Fetch It - Though I Drain My Heart Of Its Red Blood, To Yield This Sacrifice. [Exit Susskind.] Prince William. Have You No Smile To Welcome Love With, Liebhaid? Why Should You Tremble? Liebhaid. Prince, I Am Afraid! Afraid Of My Own Heart, My Unfathomed Joy, A Blasphemy Against My Father'S Grief, My People'S Agony. I Dare Be Happy - So Happy! In The Instant'S Lull Betwixt The Dazzle And The Crash Of Doom. Prince William. You Read The Omen Falsely; Rather Is Your Joy The Thrilling Harbinger Of General Dawn. Did You Not Tell Me Scarce A Month Agone, When I Chanced In On You At Feast And Prayer, The Holy Time'S Bright Legend? Of The Queen, Strong, Beautiful, Resolute, Who Denied Her Race To Save Her Race, Who Cast Upon The Die Of Her Divine And Simple Loveliness, Her Life, Her Soul, - And So Redeemed Her Tribe. You Are My Esther - But I, No Second Tyrant, Worship Whom You Adore, Love Whom You Love! Liebhaid. If I Must Die With Morn, I Thank My God, And Thee, My King, That I Have Lived This Night. Enter Susskind, Carrying A Jewelled Casket. Susskind. Here Is The Chest, Sealed With My Signet-Ring, A Mystery And A Treasure Lies Within, Whose Worth Is Faintly Symboled By These Gems, Starring The Case. Deliver It Unopened, Unto The Landgrave. Now, Sweet Prince, Good Night. Else Will The Judengasse Gates Be Closed. Prince William. Thanks, Father, Thanks. Liebhaid, My Bride, Good-Night. [He Kisses Her Brow. Susskind Places His Hands On The Heads Of Liebhaid And Prince William.] Susskind. Blessed, O Lord, Art Thou, Who Bringest Joy To Bride And Bridegroom. Let Us Thank The Lord. [Curtain Falls.] Act Ii. - At Eisenach. Scene I. A Room In The Landgrave'S Palace. Frederick The Grave And Henry Schnetzen. Landgrave. Who Tells Thee Of My Son'S Love For The Jewess? Schnetzen. Who Tells Me? Ask The Judengasse Walls, The Garrulous Stones Publish Prince William'S Visits To His Fair Mistress. Landgrave. Mistress? Ah, Such Sins The Provost Of St. George'S Will Remit For Half A Pound Of Coppers. Schnetzen. Think It Not! No Light Amour This, Leaving Shield Unflecked; He Wooes The Jewish Damsel As A Knight The Lady Of His Heart. Landgrave. Impossible! Schnetzen. Things More Impossible Have Chanced. Remember Count Gleichen, Doubly Wived, Who Pined In Egypt, There Wed The Pasha'S Daughter Malachsala, Nor Blushed To Bring His Heathen Paramour Home To His Noble Wife Angelica, Countess Of Orlamund. Yea, And The Pope Sanctioned The Filthy Sin. Landgrave. Himself Shall Say It. Ho, Gunther! (Enter A Lackey.) Bid The Prince Of Meissen Here. [Exit Lackey. The Landgrave Paces The Stage In Agitation.] Enter Prince William. Prince William. Father, You Called Me? Landgrave. Ay, When Were You Last In Nordhausen? Prince William. This Morning I Rode Hence. Landgrave. Were You At Susskind'S House? Prince William. I Was, My Liege. Landgrave. I Hear You Entertain Unseemly Love For The Jew'S Daughter. Prince William. Who Has Told Thee This? Schnetzen. This I Have Told Him. Prince William. Father, Believe Him Not. I Swear By Heaven 'T Is No Unseemly Love Leads Me To Susskind'S House. Landgrave. With What High Title Please You To Qualify It? Prince William. True, I Love Liebhaid Von Orb, But 'T Is The Honest Passion Wherewith A Knight Leads Home His Equal Wife. Landgrave. Great God! And Thou Wilt Brag Thy Shame! Thou Speakest Of Wife And Jewess In One Breath! Wilt Make Thy Princely Name A Stench In German Nostrils? Prince William. Hold, Father, Hold! You Know Her - Yes, A Jewess In Her Domestic Piety, Her Soul Large, Simple, Splendid Like A Star, Her Heart Suffused With Syrian Sunshine - But No More - The Aspect Of A Princess Of Thuringia, Swan-Necked, Gold-Haired, Madonna-Eyed. I Love Her! If You Will Quench This Passion, Take My Life! [He Falls At His Father'S Feet. Frederick, In A Paroxysm Of Rage, Seizes His Sword.] Schnetzen. He Is Your Son! Landgrave. Oh That He Ne'Er Were Born! Hola! Halberdiers! Yeomen Of The Guard! Enter Guardsmen. Bear Off This Prisoner! Let Him Sigh Out His Blasphemous Folly In The Castle Tower, Until His Hair Be Snow, His Fingers Claws. [They Seize And Bear Away Prince William.] Well, What'S Your Counsel? Schnetzen. Briefly This, My Lord. The Jews Of Nordhausen Have Brewed The Prince A Love-Elixir - Let Them Perish All! [Tumult Without. Singing Of Hymns And Ringing Of Church-Bells. The Landgrave And Schnetzen Go To The Window.] Song* (Without). The Cruel Pestilence Arrives, Cuts Off A Myriad Human Lives. See The Flagellants' Naked Skin! They Scourge Themselves For Grievous Sin. Trembles The Earth Beneath God'S Breath, The Jews Shall All Be Burned To Death. *A Rhyme Of The Times. See Graetz'S "History Of The Jews," Page 374, Vol. Vii. Landgrave. Look, Foreign Pilgrims! What An Endless File! Naked Waist-Upward. Blood Is Trickling Down Their Lacerated Flesh. What Do They Carry? Schnetzen. Their Scourges - Iron-Pointed, Leathern Thongs, Mark How They Lash Themselves - The Strict Flagellants. The Brothers Of The Cross - Hark To Their Cries! Voice From Below. Atone, Ye Mighty! God Is Wroth! Expel The Enemies Of Heaven - Raze Their Homes! [Confused Cries From Below, Which Gradually Die Away In The Distance.] Woe To God'S Enemies! Death To The Jews! They Poison All Our Wells - They Bring The Plague. Kill Them Who Killed Our Lord! Their Homes Shall Be A Wilderness - Drown Them In Their Own Blood! [The Landgrave And Schnetzen Withdraw From The Window.] Schnetzen. Do Not The People Ask The Same As I? Is Not The People'S Voice The Voice Of God? Landgrave. I Will Consider. Schnetzen. Not Too Long, My Liege. The Moment Favors. Later 'T Were Hard To Show Due Cause To His Imperial Majesty, For Slaughtering The Vassals Of The Crown. Two Mighty Friends Are Theirs. His Holiness Clement The Sixth And Kaiser Karl. Landgrave. 'T Were Rash Contending With Such Odds. Schnetzen. Courage, My Lord. These Battle Singly Against Death And Fate. Your Allies Are The Sense And Heart O' The World. Priests Warring For Their Christ, Nobles For Gold, And Peoples For The Very Breath Of Life Spoiled By The Poison-Mixers. Kaiser Karl Lifts His Lone Voice Unheard, Athwart The Roar Of Such A Flood; The Papal Bull Is Whirled An Unconsidered Rag Amidst The Eddies. Landgrave. What Credence Lend You To The General Rumor Of The River Poison? Schnetzen. Such As Mine Eyes Avouch. I Have Seen, Yea Touched The Leathern Wallet Found On The Body Of One From Whom The Truth Was Wrenched By Salutary Torture. He Confessed, Though But A Famulus Of The Master-Wizard, The Horrible Old Moses Of Mayence, He Had Flung Such Pouches In The Rhine, The Elbe, The Oder, Danube - In A Hundred Brooks, Until The Wholesome Air Reeked Pestilence; 'T Was An Ell Long, Filled With A Dry, Fine Dust Of Rusty Black And Red, Deftly Compounded Of Powdered Flesh Of Basilisks, Spiders, Frogs, And Lizards, Baked With Sacramental Dough In Christian Blood. Landgrave. Such Goblin-Tales May Curdle The Veins Of Priest-Rid Women, Fools, And Children. They Are Not For The Ears Of Sober Men. Schnetzen. Pardon Me, Sire. I Am A Simple Soldier. My God, My Conscience, And My Suzerain, These Are My Guides - Blindfold I Follow Them. If Your Keen Royal Wit Pierce The Gross Web Of Common Superstition - Be Not Wroth At Your Poor Vassal'S Loyal Ignorance. Remember, Too, Susskind Retains Your Bonds. The Old Fox Will Not Press You; He Would Bleed Against The Native Instinct Of The Jew, Rather His Last Gold Doit And So Possess Your Ease Of Mind, Nag, Chafe, And Toy With It; Abide His Natural Death, And Other Jews Less Devilish-Cunning, Franklier Hebrew-Viced, Will Claim Redemption Of Your Pledge. Landgrave. How Know You That Susskind Holds My Bonds? Schnetzen. You Think The Jews Keep Such Things Secret? Not A Jew But Knows Your Debt Exact - The Sum And Date Of Interest, And That You Visit Susskind, Not For Love, But For His Shekels. Landgrave. Well, The Jews Shall Die. This Is The Will Of God. Whom Shall I Send To Bear My Message To The Council? Schnetzen. I Am Ever At Your 'Hest. To-Morrow Morn Sees Me In Nordhausen. Landgrave. Come Two Hours Hence. I Will Deliver You The Letter Signed. Make Ready For Your Ride. Schnetzen (Kisses Frederick'S Hand). Farewell, My Master. (Aside.) Ah, Vengeance Cometh Late, Susskind Von Orb, But Yet It Comes! My Wife Was Burned Through Thee, Thou And Thy Children Are Consumed By Me! [Exit.] Scene Ii. A Room In The Wartburg Monastery. Princess Mathildis And Prior Peppercorn. Prior. Be Comforted, My Daughter. Your Lord'S Wisdom Goes Hand In Hand With His Known Piety Thus Dealing With Your Son. To Love A Jewess Is Flat Contempt Of Heaven - To Ask In Marriage, Sheer Spiritual Suicide. Let Be; Justice Must Take Its Course. Princess. Justice Is Murdered; Oh Slander Not Her Corpse. For My Son'S Fault, A Thousand Innocents Are Doomed. Is That God'S Justice? Prior. Yea, Our Liege Is But His Servant. Did Not He Purge With Fiery Hail Those Twain Blotches Of Festering Sin, Gomorrah, Sodom? The Jews Are Never Innocent, - When Christ Agonized On The Cross, They Cried - "His Blood Be On Our Children'S Heads And Ours!" I Mark A Dangerous Growing Evil Of These Days, Pity, Misnamed - Say, Criminal Indulgence Of Reprobates Brow-Branded By The Lord. Shall We Excel The Christ In Charity? Because His Law Is Love, We Tutor Him In Mercy And Reward His Murderers? Justice Is Blind And Virtue Is Austere. If The True Passion Brimmed Our Yearning Hearts The Vision Of The Agony Would Loom Fixed Vividly Between The Day And Us: - Nailed On The Gaunt Black Cross The Divine Form, Wax-White And Dripping Blood From Ankles, Wrists, The Sacred Ichor That Redeems The World, And Crowded In Strange Shadow Of Eclipse, Reviling Jews, Wagging Their Heads Accursed, Sputtering Blasphemy - Who Then Would Shrink From Holy Vengeance? Who Would Offer Less Heroic Wrath And Filial Zeal To God Than To A Murdered Father? Princess. But My Son Will Die With Her He Loves. Prior. Better To Perish In Time Than In Eternity. No Question Pends Here Of Individual Life; Our Sight Must Broaden To Embrace The Scope Sublime Of This Trans-Earthly Theme. The Jew Survives Sword, Plague, Fire, Cataclysm - And Must, Since Christ Cursed Him To Live Till Doomsday, Still To Be A Scarecrow To The Nations. None The Less Are We Beholden In Christ'S Name At Whiles, Whe