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condense to solid gold;

      And with such gold thou shalt be paid thy debt.’

      The merchant will not willingly await

      To have his ducats made from fog and mist;

      And yet whene’er his soul doth thirst to find

      Solution of the riddles set by life,

      Should science offer him such payments then

      For spirit needs and debts, right willingly

      Will he accept whole solar systems built

      Out of primeval world-containing fog.

      The teacher who discovers some unknown

      And luckless layman, who hath raised himself

      To heights of science or of scholarship

      Without examinations duly passed

      Will surely threaten him with his contempt.

      Yet science doth not doubt that without proof

      And without spirit earth’s primeval beasts

      Could change themselves to men by their own power.

      Theodosius:

      Why dost thou not thyself reveal to men

      The sources of this light of thine, which streams

      Forth from thy soul with such resplendent ray?

      Felix Balde:

      A fancy-monger and a man of dreams

      They call me, who are well-disposed to me:

      But others think of me as some dull fool

      Who, all untaught of them, doth follow out

      His own peculiar bent of foolishness.

      Retardus:

      Thou show’st already how untaught thou art

      By the simplicity of this thy speech:

      Thou dost not know that men of science have

      Sufficient shrewdness to make just the same

      Objection to themselves as unto thee.

      And if they make it not they know well why.

      Felix Balde:

      I know full well that they are shrewd enough

      To understand objections they have made,

      But not so shrewd as to believe in them.

      Theodosius:

      What must we do that we may forthwith give

      The powers of earth what they do need so much?

      Felix Balde:

      So long as on the earth men only heed

      Such men as these, who wish not to recall

      Their spirit’s primal source, so long will starve

      The mineral forces buried in earth’s depths.

      The Other Maria:

      I gather, brother Felix, from thy words,

      That thou dost think the time hath now expired

      When we did serve earth’s purposes the best

      Through wisdom’s light, ourselves unconsecrate—

      When we showed forth from roots in our own life

      The living way of spirit and of love.

      In thee the spirits of the earth arose

      To give thee light without the lore of books:

      In me did love hold sway, the love that dwells

      And works within the life of men on earth.

      And now we wish to join our brethren here—

      Who, consecrate, within this temple serve—

      And bring forth fruitful work in human souls.

      Benedictus:

      If ye unite your labour now with us,

      Then must the consecrated work succeed.

      The wisdom which I gave unto my son

      Will surely blossom forth in him as power.

      Theodosius:

      If ye unite your labour now with us,

      Then must the thirst for sacrifice arise.

      And through the soul life of whoever seeks

      The spirit-path, will breathe the warmth of love.

      Romanus:

      If ye unite your labour now with us,

      Then must the fruits of spirit ripen fast.

      Deeds will spring up, which through the spirit’s work

      Will blossom from your soul’s discipleship.

      Retardus:

      If they unite their labour now with you

      What shall become of me? My deeds will prove

      Fruitless to those who would the spirit seek.

      Benedictus:

      Then wilt thou change into thine other self:

      Since now thou hast accomplished all thy work.

      Theodosius:

      Henceforth thou wilt live on in sacrifice

      If thou dost freely sacrifice thyself.

      Romanus:

      Thou wilt bear fruit on earth in human deeds

      If I myself may tend the fruits for thee.

      Johannes (speaking out of his meditation, as in the previous scene):

      The brethren in the temple showed themselves

      To my soul-sight, resembling in their form

      Men whose appearance I already know.

      Yet Benedictus seemed a spirit too.

      He who stood on his left seemed like that man

      Who through the feelings only would draw nigh

      The spirit-realms. The third resembled him,

      Who doth but recognize the powers of life

      When they show forth through wheels and outward works.

      The fourth I do not know. The wife who saw

      The spirit’s light after her husband’s death,

      I recognized in her own inmost being.

      And Felix Balde came just as in life.

       The curtain falls slowly.

      Scene 6

       Table of Contents

       Scene the same as the Fourth.

      (The Spirit of the Elements stands in the same place.)

      Felicia:

      Thou calledst me. What wouldst thou hear of me?

      Spirit:

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