Gabriel. Lucifer

Gabriel:

Lord Stadtholder, how? Whither bound?

Lucifer:

To thee, O Herald and Interpreter of Heaven.

Gabriel:

Methinks I read thy purpose on thy brow.

Lucifer:

Thou who canst fathom and who canst reveal, Through the deep-searching light of thy mind's eye, The shadowy mysteries of God, relieve Me with thy coming.

Gabriel:

What doth burden thee?

Lucifer:

The late decision of the ruling Powers, The new decree made by the Godhead, who Esteems celestial joys as of less worth Than earthly elements, oppresses Heaven, Even from the low abyss the Earth exalts Above the stars, sets man high in the seat Of the Angels, whom, shorn of primordial powers, He then commands for human happiness To sweat and slave. The Spirits once consecrate To service in empyreal palaces Shall serve an Earth-worm that from out the dust Hath crawled and grown; and on his bidding wait, And see him them excel in rank and numbers. Why doth the endless Mercy us degrade So soon? What Angel hath forgot to render Due reverence? How could the Deity Mingle with base mankind and thus pass by The nature of His chosen Angels here, While His own nature and His Being He pours Into a body?—thus eternity Unite with its beginning, time, and what Is highest to what is lowest of the low? —The great Creator to His creature bind? Who can the import glean of this decree? Shall now eternity's bright, quenchless sun Set in the gathering darkness of the world? Shall we, the Stadtholder of God, thus kneel Before this shadow power, this puny lord; And see the countless hosts of souls divine And incorporeal bow themselves before A gross and sluggish element upon Which God hath stamped His Being and majesty? We Spirits are yet too gross to comprehend This mystery. Thou, who the key dost guard Of God's rich treasure-house of mysteries, Unlock, if so thou mayest, this secret dark From out thy sealèd book: unfold to us The will of Heaven.

Gabriel:

As much as is to us Permitted to unfold out of God's book: Much knowledge doth not profit one alway; Indeed, may damage bring. The Sovran Power Revealeth only what He deems most fit. The inner light blinds even Seraphim. The spotless Wisdom would, in part, her will Conceal, in part would it disclose. Himself E'er to submit and to conform unto A well-established law, this best becomes The subject, who unto his master's will And charge stands bound. The reason why the Lord (Which secret we shall know, when first shall pass A lineage of Earth-born generations) Who, in the course of time, both God and man Become, shall reign,—shall sceptre sway, and rule, Afar and wide, the stars, the sea, the Earth And all that live, the Heavens conceal from thee: Time shall divulge the cause. God's trumpet heed: His will thou now hast heard.

Lucifer:

Shall then on high A worm, an alien, wield the greatest power? Must they who native are to Heaven thus yield To foreign rule? Shall man then found a throne Even o'er the Throne of God?

Gabriel:

Content thee with Thy lot, the rank and state and worthiness Once granted thee by God. For thee He made The head of all the Hierarchies, though not To envy others' glory or renown. Rebellion flattens both her crown and head, Whene'er she rears her crest 'gainst God's commands. Thy splendor owes its lustre to God's power Alone.

Lucifer:

Till now my crown hath bowed to none But God.

Gabriel:

Then also bow before this last Decree of God, who leadeth all that have Their being from naught, yea, all that e'er shall live, Unto their end and certain destiny, Though we may fail to comprehend His plan.

Lucifer:

Thus to see man into the light of God Exalted, to behold him deified With God on His high Throne, to see towards him The censers swinging 'mid the joyous tones Of thousand thousand holy choristers, With one voice pealing symphonies of praise— Such grandeur doth bedim the lofty splendors, And diamond rays of our own morning-star, That dazzles then no more, while Heaven's joy Shall pine in grief away.

Gabriel:

The highest bliss Alone in calm contentment can be found And in agreement with God's will, in full Compliance with His law.

Lucifer:

The majesty Of God and of the Godhead is debased, If with the blood of man his nature ever Unites, combines, or otherwise is bound. We Spirits to God and His deep nature come Far closer, as children from one father sprung; And are like Him, if unto us it be Allowed to bring in such similitude This inequality of endless powers With those determinate, of definite might With might indefinite. Should once the sun Err from his orbit's path, and veil himself Behind a mist, to light the globe of Earth Through clouds of smoke and darkling damps, how soon The joys of Earth would die! How would the race Below then want all light and life! How too The sun would lack his dazzling majesty, Circling his daily round! I see the skies Piled up with gloom, the stars confused with fright. Disorders fell and chaos, where now law And order reign, should once the fount of light Plunge with its splendors into some dark fen. Think not too harshly then, I do beseech Thee, Gabriel, if now thy trumpet's voice, The new-made law given by the High Command, I do resist, or seemingly oppose. We strive for God's own honor, yea, to give To God His Right, should I become thus daring And wander far beyond the narrow path Of my obedience.

Gabriel:

Thou art, indeed, Most zealous for the glory of God's name; Though truly without weighing well that God, The point wherein His majesty doth lie, Far better knows than we. Cease therefore now This inquisition. For when God as man Shall have become, He shall this book of His Own mysteries, now sealed with seven seals. Himself unseal. To taste the kern within Is not for thee; thou seest the shell alone. Then of this long concealment we shall learn The cause and hidden reason, all the while Deep-gazing; in the unveiled Holy of Holies. It now behooves us ever to obey And to revere this rising dawn, to use Our light with thankfulness until the time When knowledge in her power shall drive all doubt Away, even as the sun the night. Now learn We gradually, with modest reverence, God's Wisdom to approach. And this to us Reveals, by slow degrees, the light of truth And knowledge, and requires that, on his watch, Each shall submit himself to reason's rule, Lord Stadtholder, be calm. Be foremost, thou, Now to maintain the law. God sends me hence. I must away.

Lucifer:

I shall observe it well!