KING. So you say, and I have nothing
To confirm what you advance here
But your word. Some proof now give me,
Give me something I can handle,
Something tangible to convince me
Of this truth, that I may grasp it,
And know what it is. And since
So much power and influence have you
With your God, implore His grace,
That I may believe the faster,
Some material fact to give me,
Something that we all can grapple,
Not mere creatures of the mind.
And remember that at farthest
But an hour remains in which
You must give me sure and ample
Signs of punishment and glory,
Or you die. These mighty marvels
Of your God here let them come,
Where the truth we can examine
For ourselves. And if we neither
Heaven or hell deserve to have here,
Show us, then, this Purgatory,
Which is different from the latter,
So that here we all may know
His omnipotence and grandeur.
Mind, God's honour rests upon you,
Tell Him to defend and guard it.
[Exeunt all but PATRICK.
* * * * *
SCENE XV.
PATRICK.
PATRICK. Here, mighty Lord, dart down thy searching glance,
Arm'd with the dreadful lightnings of Thine ire,
Wing'd with Thy vengeance, as the bolt with fire,
And rout the squadrons of fell ignorance:
Come not in pity to the hostile band,
Treat not as friends Thy enemies abhorr'd,
But since they ask for portents, mighty Lord,
Come with the blood-red lightnings in Thy hand.
Of old Elias asked with burning sighs
For chastisement, and Moses did display
Wonders and portents; in the self-same way
Listen, O Lord, to my beseeching cries,
And though I be not great or good as they,
Still let my accents pierce the listening skies!
Portents and chastisement, both day and night
I ask, O Lord, may from Thy hand be given,
That Purgatory, Hell and Heaven,
May be revealed unto these mortals' sight.
* * * * *
SCENE XVI.
A Good Angel at one side, and on the other a Bad Angel. — PATRICK.
BAD ANGEL [to himself]. Fearful that the favouring skies
May accede to Patrick's prayer,
And discover to him where
Earth's most wondrous treasure lies,
Like a minister of light,
Full of scorn, I hither fly
It to chill and nullify.
Covering with my poison blight
His petition.
GOOD ANGEL. Then give o'er,
Cruel monster; for in me
His protecting angel see.
But be silent, speak no more.—
[to him.
Patrick, God has heard Thy prayer,
He has listen'd to thy vows,
And, as thou hast asked, allows
Earth's great secrets to lie bare.
Seek along this island ground
For a vast and darksome cave,
Which restrains the lake's dark wave.
And supports the mountains round;
He who dares to go therein,
Having first contritely told
All his faults, shall there behold
Where the soul is purged from sin.
He shall see, with mortal eyes,
Hell itself, where those who die
In their sins for ever lie
In the fire that never dies.
He shall see, in blest fruition,
Where the happy spirits dwell.
But of this be sure as well —
He who without due contrition
Enters there to idly try
What the cave may be, doth go
To his death; he'll suffer woe,
While the Lord doth reign on high,
Who thy soul this day shall free
From this poor world's weariness.
It is thus that God doth bless
Those who love His name like thee.
He shall grant to thee in pity,
Bliss undreamed by mortal men,
Making thee a denizen
Of His own celestial city.
He shall to the world proclaim
His omnipotence and glory,
By the wondrous Purgatory
Which shall bear thy sainted name.
Lest thou think the promise vain
Of this miracle divine,
I will take this shape malign,
Which came hither to profane
Thy devotion, and within
This dark cavern's dark abyss
Fling it,— there to howl and hiss
In the everlasting din.
[They disappear.