SOUL OF MAN
Then welcome, and thrice welcome, good Religion—
Coming to serve, men will be glad to follow.
O happy folk of ages yet to be
New flowering from the pollen of the past,
I see your budding glory everywhere.
This is the spring and this the shining dawn—
The men shall be as great grave trees at rest
With the new strength that grapples, grows, and gives,
And the world’s women even as her men,
And fruitful as the orchards of the valley,
And little children dancing with delight
Shall blossom fearlessly, in perfect grace,
Like windblown poppies nodding in the sun.
And all The World Field shall be cropped in peace
And all the sheaves of life shall be brought home—
Such fruitage for High God is in your lives
As I had never dreamed in life’s beginning.
This is the dawn, the spring, and we are planting
The harvest that the race shall gather in.
Therefore to Mars, and quickly bring him hither!
(Religion and The Old Mother lead the people up the steps and into The World Inn, the people cheering and shouting. Then there is a moment of silence, after which they come out again, carrying the dead body of Mars.)
A MAN
He is dead, old Mars, and must have died of fear!
(The chains drop from the body of Soul of Man, and he, leaping to his feet, runs to take his place in the center, in front of the body of Mars and in a widening semi-circle of the people. His black garment falls on Mars, and Soul of Man is transfigured, a radiant figure in blue and gold and crimson, with flaming wings rising behind him and above. The people, also, are glorified by the rising of the sun behind them. They kneel.)
(There is heard the triumphant singing of “The Hallelujah Chorus”).
CURTAIN
Published and for sale by
MARGUERITE WILKINSON
CORONADO, CAL.
Price, 50 cents, postpaid