Part II. The Golden Legend. II. I. A Farm in the Odenwald. Christus: A Mystery. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 1893. Complete Poetical Works

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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882). Complete Poetical Works. 1893.

Christus: A Mystery

Part II. The Golden Legend.
II. I. A Farm in the Odenwald


A garden; morning; PRINCE HENRY seated, with a book. ELSIE at a distance gathering flowers. PRINCE HENRY, reading. ONE morning, all alone,
Out of his convent of gray stone,
Into the forest older, darker, grayer,
His lips moving as if in prayer,
His head sunken upon his breast	5
As in a dream of rest,
Walked the Monk Felix. All about
The broad, sweet sunshine lay without,
Filling the summer air;
And within the woodlands as he trod,	10
The dusk was like the Truce of God
With worldly woe and care;
Under him lay the golden moss;
And above him the boughs of hoary trees
Waved, and made the sign of the cross,	15
And whispered their Benedicites;
And from the ground
Rose an odor sweet and fragrant
Of the wild-flowers and the vagrant
Vines that wandered,	20
Seeking the sunshine, round and round.

These he heeded not, but pondered
On the volume in his hand,
Wherein amazed he read:
“A thousand years in thy sight	25
Are but as yesterday when it is past,
And as a watch in the night!”
And with his eyes downcast
In humility he said:
“I believe, O Lord,	30
What is written in thy Word,
But alas! I do not understand!”

And lo! he heard
The sudden singing of a bird,
A snow-white bird, that from a cloud	35
Dropped down,
And among the branches brown
Sat singing,
So sweet, and clear, and loud,
It seemed a thousand harp-strings ringing.	40
And the Monk Felix closed his book,
And long, long,
With rapturous look,
He listened to the song,
And hardly breathed or stirred,	45
Until he saw, as in a vision,
The land Elysian,
And in the heavenly city heard
Angelic feet
Fall on the golden flagging of the street.	50
And he would fain
Have caught the wondrous bird,
But strove in vain;
For it flew away, away,
Far over hill and dell,	55
And instead of its sweet singing
He heard the convent bell
Suddenly in the silence ringing
For the service of noonday.
And he retraced	60
His pathway homeward sadly and in haste.

In the convent there was a change!
He looked for each well-known face,
But the faces were new and strange;
New figures sat in the oaken stalls,	65
New voices chanted in the choir;
Yet the place was the same place,
The same dusky walls
Of cold, gray stone,
The same cloisters and belfry and spire.	70

A stranger and alone
Among that brotherhood
The Monk Felix stood.
“Forty years,” said a Friar,
“Have I been Prior	75
Of this convent in the wood,
But for that space
Never have I beheld thy face!”

The heart of the Monk Felix fell:
And he answered, with submissive tone,	80
“This morning, after the hour of Prime,
I left my cell,
And wandered forth alone,
Listening all the time
To the melodious singing	85
Of a beautiful white bird,
Until I heard
The bells of the convent ringing
Noon from their noisy towers.
It was as if I dreamed;	90
For what to me had seemed
Moments only, had been hours!”

“Years!” said a voice close by.
It was an aged monk who spoke,
From a bench of oak	95
Fastened against the wall;—
He was the oldest monk of all.
For a whole century
Had he been there,
Serving God in prayer,	100
The meekest and humblest of his creatures
He remembered well the features
Of Felix, and he said,
Speaking distinct and slow:
“One hundred years ago,	105
When I was a novice in this place,
There was here a monk, full of God’s grace,
Who bore the name
Of Felix, and this man must be the same.”

And straightway	110
They brought forth to the light of day
A volume old and brown,
A huge tome, bound
In brass and wild-boar’s hide,
Wherein were written down	115
The names of all who had died
In the convent, since it was edified.
And there they found,
Just as the old monk said,
That on a certain day and date,	120
One hundred years before,
Had gone forth from the convent gate
The Monk Felix, and never more
Had entered that sacred door.
He had been counted among the dead!	125
And they knew, at last,
That, such had been the power
Of that celestial and immortal song,
A hundred years had passed,
And had not seemed so long	130
As a single hour! ELSIE comes in with flowers.

ELSIE. Here are flowers for you,
But they are not all for you.
Some of them are for the Virgin
And for Saint Cecilia.	135

PRINCE HENRY. As thou standest there,
Thou seemest to me like the angel
That brought the immortal roses
To Saint Cecilia’s bridal chamber.

ELSIE. But these will fade.	140

PRINCE HENRY. Themselves will fade,
But not their memory,
And memory has the power
To re-create them from the dust.
They remind me, too,	145
Of martyred Dorothea,
Who from celestial gardens sent
Flowers as her witnesses
To him who scoffed and doubted.

ELSIE. Do you know the story	150
Of Christ and the Sultan’s daughter?
That is the prettiest legend of them all.

PRINCE HENRY. Then tell it to me.
But first come hither.
Lay the flowers down beside me,	155
And put both thy hands in mine.
Now tell me the story.

ELSIE. Early in the morning
The Sultan’s daughter
Walked in her father’s garden,	160
Gathering the bright flowers,
All full of dew.

PRINCE HENRY. Just as thou hast been doing
This morning, dearest Elsie.

ELSIE. And as she gathered them	165
She wondered more and more
Who was the Master of the Flowers,
And made them grow
Out of the cold, dark earth.
“In my heart,” she said,	170
“I love him; and for him
Would leave my father’s palace,
To labor in his garden.”

PRINCE HENRY. Dear, innocent child!
How sweetly thou recallest	175
The long-forgotten legend,
That in my early childhood
My mother told me!
Upon my brain
It reappears once more,	180
As a birth-mark on the forehead
When a hand suddenly
Is laid upon it, and removed!

ELSIE. And at midnight,
As she lay upon her bed,	185
She heard a voice
Call to her from the garden,
And, looking forth from her window,
She saw a beautiful youth
Standing among the flowers.	190
It was the Lord Jesus;
And she went down to Him,
And opened the door for Him;
And He said to her, “O maiden!
Thou hast thought of me with love,	195
And for thy sake
Out of my Father’s kingdom
Have I come hither:
I am the Master of the Flowers.
My garden is in Paradise,	200
And if thou wilt go with me,
Thy bridal garland
Shall be of bright red flowers.”
And then He took from his finger
A golden ring,	205
And asked the Sultan’s daughter
If she would be his bride.
And when she answered Him with love.
His wounds began to bleed,
And she said to him,	210
“O Love! how red thy heart is,
And thy hands are full of roses.”
“For thy sake,” answered He,
“For thy sake is my heart so red,
For thee I bring these roses;	215
I gathered them at the cross
Whereon I died for thee!
Come, for my Father calls.
Thou art my elected bride!”
And the Sultan’s daughter	220
Followed Him to his Father’s garden.

PRINCE HENRY. Wouldst thou have done so, Elsie?

ELSIE. Yes, very gladly.

PRINCE HENRY. Then the Celestial Bridegroom
Will come for thee also.	225
Upon thy forehead He will place
Not his crown of thorns,
But a crown of roses.
In thy bridal chamber,
Like Saint Cecilia,	230
Thou shalt hear sweet music,
And breathe the fragrance
Of flowers immortal!
Go now and place these flowers
Before her picture.	235

CONTENTS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

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