As I lay in the empty house,
Alone and forsaken.
By day they lurked in the shadows;
But as night fell,
Stealing forth from dark corners,
Like toads, bats, and owls,
They crawled and flittered round my temples,
Filling my soul with horror.
Rending and gnawing,
Devouring sleep,
Like vampires did they sap my strength,
So that the dawning of day
Found me hag-ridden,
Shattered and broken.
Jeremiah, I adjure you,
Leave me not again.
Jeremiah, I implore you,
Stay with me, stay with me,
For the time is short.
JEREMIAH
Mother, what mean you?
THE MOTHER
Seek not to deceive me.
Think you I know not
That death draws near?
Even as on a dial
The shadow rises
Stage by stage up the wall
While the sun sinks in the west,
So, with every breath I draw,
Does darkness rise within me.
Woe is me that, still living and aware,
I feel the grip of death's cold hand.
JEREMIAH
Nay, Mother, God's purpose with us is plain.
How can you think he will part us anew?
No more am I froward. Your child once again,
I am sent back by him for a fresh life with you.
Were it otherwise, say to me why should I be
Unclouded by visions, from dreaming set free?
THE MOTHER
Do you dream no longer?
JEREMIAH
My sleep is dreamless; my slumber is mute.
The night-time faces trouble me no more.
My dreams have become daylight realities.
Revealed in full horror, they stalk 'neath the sun.
I dream no longer, now the world's awake.
THE MOTHER
[Ecstatically, for she has heeded only the first part of JEREMIAH'S
speech]
Your dreaming is over?
Then joy comes again.
Indeed, I was certain
That God in his mercy
Would scatter the darkness
That clouded your brain.
Recall but my words
When we parted in pain:
Ne'er shall an enemy circle our wall,
David's city be taken, Jerusalem fall.
Though foes from the ends of the earth should rage,
The towering battlements ever shall stand.
Firm Israel's heart, and mighty her hand,
Eternal the days of Jerusalem.
JEREMIAH
[Rises from his knees. He stares blankly as he mutters in amaze] Ne'er
shall ... an enemy ... circle ... our wall?
THE MOTHER
What sudden fear assails your soul?
What thought steals color from your cheek?
JEREMIAH
[Still shuddering] Ne'er shall ... an enemy ... circle ... our wall?
THE MOTHER
Jeremiah,
What has befallen you?
What has frightened you?
What has taken you aback?
And you,
Ahab and Jochebed,
Why are you making signs to him?
Jeremiah, I conjure you,
Tell me what is amiss.
JEREMIAH
There is nothing wrong, Mother, nothing at all.
I was but mazed for a moment,
Startled out of myself by your words.
THE MOTHER
Nay, nay, it is false.
Your faces, of a sudden, grew dark and careworn;
Now you all turn away, exchange glances, and whisper.
Awesome, indeed, must be the secret you hide.
It chills me like death;
Like God's wrath it affrights me.
JEREMIAH
[Stammering] Nothing, Mother, we are hiding nothing.
THE MOTHER
Why seek to deceive me? Why hoodwink my eyes?
Not yet am I dead, nor in coffin enclosed.
Life's breath in my lungs,
Life's pulse at my heart,
I can hear, I can speak;
Why then hide ye the truth?
JEREMIAH
Mother, you are distraught with fever. Your temples are burning, your
hands are cold.
THE MOTHER
Why are doors and windows curtained so close?
Why is all so dark and still?
You stifle me in wrappings,
Bury me in cushions,
Me, who am yet alive.
Tell me, tell me why.
JEREMIAH
Mother, calm yourself. Take my hands. I am here beside you.
THE MOTHER
I live, I live; I say to you that I live.
No longer shall you deceive me.
Fearful is my awakening.
Too well do I know the truth,
That my dreams were not dreams but realities.
Again and again did I hear
The rolling of the chariots,
The trampling of the chargers,
The clashing of the weapons,
The singing of the hosannas.
Muffled were the sounds,
As they reached me in this darkened room;
And I fancied all was a dream.
Yet now I am awake,
Horribly awake.
Death has forced open my lids.
I know
Why you have shut away light and sound.
Disaster assails the city, has entered the gates.
We are besieged, we are lost.
Woe is me, there is war in Israel!
JEREMIAH
Mother, Mother!
THE MOTHER
Jeremiah, speak!
Tell me,
Is he come,
He whose advent you foretold,
The king of kings from the north?
JEREMIAH
Mother, you are dreaming.
JOCHEBED
[Whispering] Lie to her! For her life's sake, lie to her!
THE MOTHER
[In delirium] Alas, hear the trumpets
Sounding the onslaught!
He comes in his panoply,
The king from the north.
War is upon us.
They swarm to attack.
The ramparts are crumbling,
The gates broken down.
The city is lost,
The temple destroyed.
I am crushed in the ruins,
I burn in my bed.
Save me, oh save me,
Jeremiah, save me,
Carry me forth!
JEREMIAH
[Kneels beside her] Mother, an evil fancy
Enthrals your mind.
Mother, hearken.
THE MOTHER
I hold your hands.
Swear to me, swear,
That it is not true.
Swear to me, swear,
That no danger threatens Israel.
Swear to me, swear,
That no enemy shall disturb my last rest,
That my burial place shall be Zion.
JEREMIAH
So shall it be. God will be gracious to us in death as in life.
THE MOTHER
Jeremiah,
Do I wander in mind?
Is the foe at the gates?
Or is our world filled with peace?
[JEREMIAH struggles vainly for words]
AHAB
[Breaking in on his hesitation] Deceive her, speak ere she passes.
Can you not see
How the darkness shadows her face,
As the angel of death hovers nigh?
Speak, and chase the terror from her soul.
JOCHEBED
Speak, or it will be too late.
A word, only one word,
So that she may die in peace.
JEREMIAH
[Still struggling with contending passions] I cannot, I cannot.
There is one grips my throat,
Holds my soul in his grasp.
THE MOTHER
He is silent.
It must then be true
That God has smitten his own people:
May the day perish wherein I was born!
Alas, the darkness gains on me.
Fire ravages the land.
I burn. Bear me forth.
AHAB
[Interrupting, to JEREMIAH] A word, only one word.
JEREMIAH
[Choking, as if strangled] No such word can I utter.
God's hand grips my throat;
God's hand grasps my soul.
Ah, cruel one, free me ...
THE MOTHER
[With a wild cry] Lost, all is lost.
I burn.
The city ... the temple ... God falls.
God has fallen!
The flames of Gehenna strike home to my heart.
Jerusalem!
[She collapses suddenly. There is silence]
[AHAB and JOCHEBED move in alarm to the bedside and bend over the dead
woman]
JEREMIAH
[His voice bursting forth as when a fountain is unsealed]
It is false!
I lied, I lied!
Eternal the days of Jerusalem.
Ne'er shall an enemy circle our wall,
David's city be taken, Jerusalem fall.
O Mother, once again give ear.
I swear it, look you, I solemnly swear,
Eternal the days of Jerusalem!
AHAB
[Fiercely] Away!
Your oaths will not waken her!
Leave her in peace!
JEREMIAH
She must hear me before 'tis too late.
AHAB
[Bitterly] As you say, 'tis too late.
Away from the room.
Your cries will not waken her,
Nor your lies break her sleep.
While she lived you were silent,
Unfeeling as stone.
Idle dreamer and outcast,
Hence, get you begone!
JOCHEBED
Away, rejected of men,
Scorn of the just,
Away from the house.
Why, ah why,
Did she readmit you?
Away, man accurst,
Break not the calm
Of the death which you wrought.
JEREMIAH
[Overwhelmed] Ever accursed,
Ever rejected,
Thrust forth from home,
Unfriended to roam.
God, God, it is hard to bear men thy word!
[AHAB and JOCHEBED pay the last duties to the dead, pressing down the
eyelids, and wrapping the body in a shroud. AHAB goes to the pitchers
and sprinkles water on the ground. No sound but their solemn paces can
be heard. JEREMIAH stares before him in stupor. Silence prevails for a
time, full of the mystery of death. Then a clamor is heard without.
There is a vehement knocking at the door]
AHAB
Who knocks?
JOCHEBED
There is a turbulent crowd without.
AHAB
They assail the door as if they were enemies. You had better open.
JOCHEBED
Hark to the savages, they have burst in the door.
[The sound of splintering wood is heard. Then hasty footsteps. ZEBULON,
PASHUR, HANANIAH, the FIRST SENTRY, and many others, rush in]
ZEBULON
He must be here.
A BOY
I saw him go in.
VOICES
So did I.--He slipped in an hour back.--I was on watch as you
ordered.--I saw him too.
AHAB
Whom do you seek?
PASHUR
Deliver him up--the man you are hiding.
ZEBULON
We will have blood for blood.
AHAB
What mean ye by breaking in here? Away, rabble.
PASHUR
[Catching sight of the corpse, raises his hands and speaks reverently]
Praise to the eternal judge. May he be merciful to the just. [Turning
away he passes into the background]
THE OTHERS
[Suddenly stilled, murmur] Praise to the eternal judge.
ONE SPEAKS
[Gently] Who has died?
AHAB
One from whom God had hidden the light of his countenance. One full of
sorrows, and acquainted with grief. One whose bitterest affliction was
that she gave birth to the enemy of her nation.
ANOTHER SPEAKS
Jeremiah!
ZEBULON
It is Jeremiah whom we seek. Where is Jeremiah?
JEREMIAH
[Comes forward, speaking loudly in grief and indignation] Who seeks
Jeremiah? Who still desires to rain curses on me? Let him come, let him
curse. I am the mark for all the curses in the world.
ZEBULON
It is I, wretch, who come to curse you, I, Zebulon, father of Baruch,
whom you have led astray. Where is my son?
JEREMIAH
[Tonelessly] How should I know? Am I your son's keeper?
HANANIAH
This man makes a charge against you. Answer, Jeremiah.
JEREMIAH
He, too, makes a charge. Should I begin to bring charges I should speak
from now till midnight.
VOICES
He answers not.--He talks at random, evading the charge.--Pashur,
Hananiah, make an end.--Pass judgment upon him.
HANANIAH
Have you brought witnesses, Zebulon?
ZEBULON
My son has vanished from the town. He has been continually with
Jeremiah. On the ramparts, last night, this man heard Jeremiah inciting
Baruch to desert to the enemy.
HANANIAH
[To the FIRST SENTRY] Do you bear this witness?
FIRST SENTRY
Verily, prophet, while I stood on guard, there came two men. One was
Jeremiah, well known to me. The other was young, little more than a boy,
with black hair and flashing eyes.
ZEBULON
It was Baruch my son, whom this man hath corrupted.
FIRST SENTRY
There was much talk between them. Jeremiah prophesied disaster, so that
my heart grew hot within me.
HANANIAH
[To the others] Do you hear? He prophesied the fall of Zion.
FIRST SENTRY
When the king had gone, and Jeremiah and the other were alone, then the
other, he whom you name Baruch, climbed down the wall and deserted to
the enemy, leaving Jeremiah on the ramparts.
ZEBULON
Do you hear, men of Israel? I charge Jeremiah with leading my son
astray, with bringing shame upon my house.
PASHUR
[Advancing to the front] Your answer, Jeremiah. What say you to this
charge? [JEREMIAH is silent] Do you call witnesses?
JEREMIAH
[In low tones] The one who would testify for me must not be named.
PASHUR
Will he come forward in due time?
[JEREMIAH is silent]
VOICES
Make an end, make an end.
PASHUR
Silence. I will hold just judgment! Jeremiah, I cite you to answer.
[JEREMIAH is silent] You are charged with having, in defiance of the
king's command, foretold disaster.
[JEREMIAH is silent]
HANANIAH
Do you deny your words? [JEREMIAH still holds his peace] Lo, the fear of
death has moved him at length. For the first time he is silent.
JEREMIAH
You who have misled Israel, would you tempt me to say No when God says
Yes, and Yes when God says No? More strongly hath he tempted me to
depart from his ways, yet would I not depart from them. He raised up one
against me whose breath was dearer to me than the breath of my own life,
but I would not yield to her, for the Lord cuts from the tree of life
him whom he hath chosen for a scourge. Go, and leave me in peace.
ZEBULON
I will not go. He has destroyed my son. I demand judgment.
PASHUR
Twice have I charged you to speak. You have spoken when you should have
been silent; now you are silent when you should speak. For the third
time I cite you. [JEREMIAH is silent] Hear then my judgment. No longer
shall you seek to daunt the courageous, no longer shall you lead youth
astray, Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah in Israel.
JEREMIAH
Make short work! Wither me no longer with your glances. Enough, enough.
PASHUR
You shall be lowered into a pit, that you may no longer be an offence to
God's daylight, nor your voice an affliction to the city. May you
perish, and your words with you, in the darkness of the earth.
JEREMIAH
Life is affliction! Words are affliction! Blessed be darkness, thrice
blessed the tomb.
PASHUR
Lay hands on him. Execute judgment!
VOICES
Oh, just judgment!--Great is the wisdom of Pashur.--Away with
Jeremiah.--Fetch a rope, that we may lower him into the pit.
JEREMIAH
[Shrinking from their touch] Touch me not. Better, far better is
darkness, for the hour is at hand in Israel when the living will envy
the dead, and when those that wake will envy the sleepers. My heart
yearns for silence; my soul is consumed with longing that I may become
brother to the dead. Make way, I will bury myself, that I may deliver
myself from the world, and Israel of my presence. [He folds his arms and
moves towards the doorway. The others begin to follow him hesitatingly]
HANANIAH
[Bursting in on the silence with an exultant cry] Rejoice, Zion, for
broken is the song of thy destruction, rent are the lips of thy
slanderer. Rejoice, Zion, for eternal is thy springtime. Jerusalem
endureth for ever!
[JEREMIAH turns fiercely, raising his arms as if about to rebuke
HANANIAH. His eyes flash fire. Those at his heels draw back in alarm, as
from a wild beast at bay. But JEREMIAH controls himself. His arms sink
to his sides, and the fierce expression vanishes from his countenance.
With a last look at the dead form of his mother, he regains composure.
Covering his face, he walks forth alone, like one carrying a heavy
burden. The rest follow in disorder. Last of all walks PASHUR, deep in
thought. AHAB and JOCHEBED are left, looking at one another uneasily.
AHAB takes a linen sheet and spreads it reverently over the body]
VOICES IN THE NIGHT
SCENE SIX
Evening cometh and the shadows lengthen. JEREMIAH, VI, 4.
SCENE SIX
KING ZEDEKIAH'S bed-chamber, large and stately. It is dimly lighted, so
that details are scarcely visible. What light there is comes from a lamp
hanging in a golden bowl, and from the soft moonbeams which stream in
through the casement. This is widely open and commands a view of the
town. In the foreground stands a large table surrounded by broad seats.
The curtained bed occupies the center of the background. ZEDEKIAH is
standing motionless at the window, looking down on the moonlit city.
JOAB, a young spearman, enters, and stands respectfully waiting for the
king to notice him. ZEDEKIAH pays no heed, but continues to gaze out of
the window.
THE LAD
[After a pause ventures to speak] My Lord King! [ZEDEKIAH turns with a
start] It is midnight, O King. This is the hour at which thou orderedst
me to summon the council.
ZEDEKIAH
Are they all here?
THE LAD
All, at thy command.
ZEDEKIAH
Have they come unseen by the people and by the palace servants?
THE LAD
Unseen, Lord King. By secret ways I led them hither.
ZEDEKIAH
Where is the spy? Hast thou kept him apart?
THE LAD
He tarries with the doorkeepers.
ZEDEKIAH
Let him tarry. Summon the council.
[THE LAD bows, and disappears through the doorway]
ZEDEKIAH
[Strides to and fro, and then returns to the window. He soliloquizes]
Never have I seen the stars shine so brightly. They stand confusedly in
rows, like letters on the dark background of heaven, a writing which no
man can read. In Babylon, they say, are interpreters and priests who
serve the stars, conversing with them by night. Other kings can talk
with their gods; they have shrines on their towers where they can learn
the will of heaven when their hearts are troubled. Why have I no
soothsayers who can tell the future? It is terrible to be the servant of
a god who is always silent; whom no one has ever seen! [A pause while he
contemplates the city] They are all asleep, those over whom I rule; they
rest beside their wives or beside their weapons; in me is centered their
need and their wakefulness. I must counsel others, but who shall counsel
me? I must lead others, but who shall lead me? I am exalted over others,
but over me is exalted one whom I cannot see. Below is sleep; above is
silence.
[THE LAD draws aside the curtain; and the five councilors enter
noiselessly. They are PASHUR, the high priest; HANANIAH, the prophet;
IMRE, the oldest burgher; ABIMELECH, the general; NAHUM, the steward.
ZEDEKIAH turns to receive them. They bow]
ZEDEKIAH
I summoned you by night that our talk might be private. I demand from
you a pledge of secrecy. Lay your hands within the priest's hands; he
will answer for you to the Most High. [Silently they raise their hands
in adjuration, and each in turn lays his hand in PASHUR'S] I swear by
Almighty God that I will show no anger against any who opposes me. [He
lays his hand in PASHUR'S] Now let us take counsel. [He waves them
towards the table, and all take their seats] We are in the eleventh
month of the siege. The vines are green once more. Nebuchadnezzar has
been unable to take Jerusalem, but we on our part have not been able to
force him to raise the siege. His sword against us beats the water, but
so likewise does ours beat the water against him. We have left nothing
undone that might bring aid. I have sent envoys to the king of the
Medes; I have sent to the princes of the east, asking their help against
Ashur. The missions were fruitless. We stand alone.
HANANIAH
[Fiercely] God is on our side.
[The others say nothing]
ZEDEKIAH
[Quietly] God is on our side. He has set up his tabernacle upon this
hill, and my own roof stands in the shadow of his holy house. But God
sends trials upon his own people. Those who swore faith to us, betrayed
us; the Egyptians abandoned us; we are alone. Let us take counsel
together, how to fight out our quarrel with Nebuchadnezzar, or whether
we can find a means to end it.
HANANIAH
Let us pray to God for a miracle. Let our hearts overflow with prayer,
our altars smoke with sacrifices. What we have done once hitherto, let
us now do twice over.
NAHUM
There is nothing left to sacrifice, neither bulls nor rams.
HANANIAH
It is false. I have heard the lowing of the cattle which you refuse to
deliver up to the sacrifice.
NAHUM
The last we have. They are milch cows to provide food for nursing
mothers and the sick.
HANANIAH
Such thrift is impious where God is concerned. Let the sick starve and
the breasts of the women run dry, so long as God receives due meed of
sacrifice.
PASHUR
[Earnestly] God requires no gifts to make him aware of our distresses.
HANANIAH
Naught is sweeter to the Lord than the gifts of the needy. We should
give to the uttermost, tearing the morsels from our own mouths.
PASHUR
I know the customs. It is not for you, Hananiah, to teach me my duty,
which I know better perchance than you know God's word and God's will.
HANANIAH
Who sacrifices grudgingly, who sacrifices with a cold heart, is but a
slaughterman, and no true servant of the Lord. Lo, I say unto you unless
ye give of your uttermost need, ye are unworthy to stand in the light of
his countenance.
ZEDEKIAH
[Passionately] Hold your peace. Your words are past bearing. But a few
grains of sand have run through the hour glass, and already you rail
against one another. We do not meet to discuss what it is fitting we
should render unto God. We meet to consider our pressing need, and how
we can relieve it. We are in the throes of war, and to you therefore I
turn first for counsel, Abimelech, general of my army.
ABIMELECH
Stout are the walls of Jerusalem, O King, but stouter still is my heart.
ZEDEKIAH
And your men, old stalwart; are they, too, stout-hearted? Rarely do I
hear them raise exultant cries. When I pass among them, no longer do
they strike their shields. They turn away their faces.
ABIMELECH
War makes men silent, but it steels their hearts. No longer, indeed, do
they shout with delight, for that they can use their swords freely.
Custom stales all joys. But they watch and wait; strong as brass are
they, guarding the walls of Jerusalem.
ZEDEKIAH
But what if the moons still wax and wane; what if the second year of the
siege begins? There is no help coming from outside.
ABIMELECH
The siege will last as long as God pleases, and we shall last as long as
the siege.
ZEDEKIAH
May the Lord fulfil thy words. [To the others] Are ye all of the same
opinion?
PASHUR
We must be steadfast, enduring patiently until the end.
ZEDEKIAH
What sayest thou, Hananiah?
HANANIAH
Never shall Nebuchadnezzar overthrow us. Woe unto all faint-hearts. Did
it rest with me, I would put them to the sword.
IMRE
Mine eyes are dim with age, but being old, I saw the days when
Senaccherib was arrayed against Israel, and I saw his men lying dead in
heaps around our walls. Never were the jackals so fat as in the year
when Jerusalem was encircled by the enemies of the Lord. The same may
happen again to those who now besiege us. Let mine eyes not be wholly
darkened ere this day dawn. Jerusalem endureth for ever!
ABIMELECH, HANANIAH, PASHUR
Jerusalem endureth for ever!
[A pause]
ZEDEKIAH
Thou sayest nothing, Nahum. Wherefore art thou silent?
NAHUM
Gloomy are my thoughts, Lord King, and bitter will be my speech. He
thrusts not himself forward, to whom joy is lacking.
ZEDEKIAH
I summoned you in council, one and all. Welcome is the bearer of good
tidings, but no less welcome he who brings wise warnings. Speak freely.
NAHUM
Shortly before you called me to the council, I was visiting the
storehouses, and having the grain measured, bushel by bushel. They were
full when the siege began, but now they are almost empty. No longer can
we provide a whole loaf for the day's ration.
[All sit in dismayed silence]
ZEDEKIAH
Was there not ample provision of grain from the villages? Was not an
abundance of milch cows and other beasts driven within the walls?
NAHUM
Forget not that the siege has lasted nearly a year, and that there are
many mouths to feed.
ZEDEKIAH
[After another pause] We can reduce the rations yet further. Let nothing
be wasted.
NAHUM
Long have we been careful to avoid waste. Yet the storehouses gape with
emptiness. Time is a mighty eater.
ZEDEKIAH
How long, then, thinkest thou, ere famine is upon us?
NAHUM
[In low tones] Three weeks, Lord. No more.
[A pause]
ZEDEKIAH
Three weeks ... And then?
NAHUM
How can I answer thee, O King? God alone knows the answer. [Renewed
silence]
HANANIAH
[In great excitement] Cut the loaves in half. Cut them in three, and let
that suffice for the day. Too long have they lived riotously, they and
their concubines; let them grow lean, now, fighting the Lord's fight.
ABIMELECH
My soldiers must not have their food cut down. No man can fight on an
empty stomach.
HANANIAH
We must all share and share alike, the soldiers as well as the others.
Jerusalem is at stake.
ABIMELECH
My men must have their strength kept up. Let the useless mouths go
hungry, the windbags and the prattlers.
NAHUM
You talk folly. What would it avail to pinch ourselves unduly, seeing
that there are an hundred thousand within the walls. There is food to
last us three weeks. If we slaughter the beasts reserved for the temple,
we can hold out a fortnight more.
PASHUR
Let us keep the peace among ourselves. Ye rail against one another like
enemies. Let us stand united against Nebuchadnezzar and likewise against
our own people. Neither he nor they must know aught of our need.
ZEDEKIAH
What if he know it already?
NAHUM
None can know it. Daily I set my seal on the doors of the storehouses.
Neither the people nor Nebuchadnezzar can be aware of our distress.
ABIMELECH
God be praised. Nebuchadnezzar would show us no mercy if he knew.
ZEDEKIAH
[After a pause] I have called you in council, elders of the people. Wars
are not ended by the sword alone. I have summoned you to ask whether I
should send an envoy to Nebuchadnezzar, praying him that there should be
peace between our nations.
HANANIAH
No peace with the blasphemers of the Almighty!
ABIMELECH
Let him make the first offer.
PASHUR
I think it would be dangerous for us to begin. Should we open the
parley, he would seek to make slaves of us.
ZEDEKIAH
I hold other views. Though as yet he knows nothing of our desperate
plight, it can remain hidden for a few days only. We must turn these
days to account.
NAHUM
True are thy words, O King. We must seek mercy of Nebuchadnezzar before
he triumphs over us with the sword.
ABIMELECH
[Bitterly] Sue for mercy! Death were better!
PASHUR
We need God's mercy, not man's.
HANANIAH
[To NAHUM] Coward and traitor!
IMRE