The Heaven of Heavens
SCENE — The Heaven of Heavens .
The R ECORDING A NGEL , L UCIFER , F ESTUS , A NGELS .
The R ECORDING A NGEL . All men are judged save one.
S ON OF G OD .
He too is saved.
Immortal! I have saved thy soul to Heaven.
Come hither. All hearts bare themselves to me,
As clouds unbind their bosoms to the sun,
And thine was wealthy in the gifts of good.
And, if its guilt and glory lay in love,
Let light outweigh the darkness! Thou art saved.
S AINTS . Rejoice! Rejoice!
F ESTUS . Could I, Lord! pour my soul out,
In thanks, even as a river rolling ever,
'T would be too scant for what I owe to Thee.
S ON OF G OD .
Nay; immortality is long enough,
As life, or as a moment is, to show
Thy love of good, thy thanks to me and God.
One heart-throb sometimes earneth Heaven — one tear.
F ESTUS . My Maker! let me thank Thee, I have lived,
And live a deathless witness of Thy grace.
And Thee, the Holy One, who hast chosen me,
From old eternity, while yet I lay
Hid, like a thought in God, unuttered — Thou,
Who makest finite full with the Infinite,
As is a womb with an immortal spirit,
Oh! let me thank Thee that I witness to Thee.
And Thou, mid-God! my Saviour, and my Judge!
Sun of the soul, whose day is now all noon —
Who makest of the universe one Heaven —
I praise Thee. Heaven doth praise Thee. God doth praise Thee.
The Holy Ghost doth praise Thee. Praise Thy-self!
L UCIFER . Is he not mine?
G OD .
Evil! away for aye!
In the beginning, ere I bade things be —
Or ever I begat the worlds on space,
I knew of him, and saved him in my Son,
Who now hath judged; for, fraught with God-hood, He
Yet feels the frailties of the things He has made;
And therefore can, like-feelingly, judge them.
For I abide not sin; and in my Son
There is no sin — not thaThe takes away.
It is destroyed forever and made nothing.
S ON OF G OD .
Spirit, depart! this mortal loved me.
With all his doubts, he never doubted God:
But from doubt gathered truth, like snow from clouds,
The most, and whitest, from the darkest. Go!
L UCIFER . I leave thee, Festus. Here thou wilt be happy.
To be in Heaven is to love forever
God — and thou must love here. Here thou wilt find
All that thou canst and oughtst to love: for souls,
Re-made of God, and moulded over again
Into his sun-like emblems, multiply
His might and love: the saved are suns, not earths;
And with original glory shine of God.
While I shall keep on deepening in my darkness,
With not one gleam across the gloom of being.
F ESTUS . Let us part, spirit! it may be, in the coming,
That as we sometime were all worth God's making,
We may be worth forgiving; taking back
Into His bosom, pure again — and then,
All shall be one with Him, who is one in all.
L UCIFER . It may be, then, that I shall die.
Farewell.
Forgive me that I tempted thee!
F ESTUS . I am glad.
G OD .
Stay, spirit! all created things unmade
It suits not the eternal laws of good
That Evil be immortal. In all space
Is joy and glory, and the gladdened stars,
Exultant in the sacrifice of sin,
And of all human matter in themselves,
Leap forth as though to welcome earth to Heaven —
Leap forth and die. All nature disappears.
Shadows are passed away. Through all is light.
Man is as high above temptation now, —
And where by Grace he alway shall remain
As ever sun o'er sea; and sin is burned
In hell to ashes with the dust of death.
The worlds themselves are but as dreams within
Their souls who lived in them, and thou art null,
And thy vocation useless, gone with them.
Therefore shall Heaven rejoice in thee again,
And the lost tribes of angels, who with thee
Wedded themselves to woe, and all who dwell
Around the dizzy centres of all worlds,
Again be blessed with the blessedest.
Lo! ye are all restored, rebought, rebrought
To Heaven by Him who cast ye forth, your God.
Receive ye tenfold of all gifts and powers.
And thou who cam'st to Heaven to claim one soul,
Remain possessed by all. The sons of bliss
Shall welcome thee again, and all thy hosts,
Whereof thou first in glory as in woe —
In brightness as in darkness erst — shall shine.
Take, Lucifer, thy place. This day art thou
Redeemed to archangelic state. Bright child
Of morning, once again thou shinest fair
O'er all the starry ornaments of light.
L UCIFER . The highest and the humblest I of all
The beings Thou hast made, Eternal Lord!
A NGEL . Behold they come, the Legions of the lost,
Transformed already by the bare behest
Of God our Maker to the purest form
Of seraph brightness.
The RESTORED A NGELS . His be all the praise!
And ours submissive thanks. When evil had done
Its worst, then God most blessed us and forgave.
Oh, He hath triumphed over all the world,
In mercy, over death, and earth, and hell!
S ON OF G OD .
All God hath made are saved. Heaven is complete.
G UARDIAN A NGEL . Hither with me!
F ESTUS . But where are those I love?
A NGEL . Yon happy troop!
F ESTUS . Ah! blest ones, come to me!
Loves of my heart, on earth; and soul in Heaven!
Are ye all here, too, with me?
A LL . All
F ESTUS . It is Heaven.
A NGEL . Come, let us join our souls into the song
Of glory, which the Saved all sing, to God.
The Saved . Father of goodness,
Son of love,
Spirit of comfort,
Be with us!
God who hast made us,
God who hast saved,
God who hast judged us,
Thee we praise.
Heaven our spirits,
Hallow our hearts;
Let us have God-light
Endlessly.
Ours is the wide world,
Heaven on Heaven;
What have we done, Lord,
Worthy this?
Oh! we have loved Thee;
That alone
Maketh our glory,
Duty, meed.
Oh! we have loved Thee!
Love we will,
Ever, and every
Soul of us.
God of the saved,
God of the tried,
God of the lost ones,
Be with all!
Let us be near Thee
Ever and aye;
Oh! let us love Thee
Infinite!
F ESTUS . So, soul and song, begin and end in
Heaven,
Your birth-place and your everlasting home.
The H OLY G HOST .
Time there hath been when only God was all;
And it shall be again. The hour is named,
When seraph, cherub, angel, saint, man, fiend,
Made pure, and unbelievably uplift
Above their present state — drawn up to God,
Like dew into the air — shall be all Heaven;
And all souls shall be in God, and shall be God,
And nothing but God, be.
S ON OF G OD .
Let all be God's.
G OD .
World without end, and I am God alone;
The Aye, the Infinite, the Whole, the One.
I only was — nor matter else, nor mind,
The self-contained Perfection unconfined.
I only am — in might and mercy one;
I live in all things and am closed in none.
I only shall be — when the worlds have done,
My boundless Being will be but begun.
The R ECORDING A NGEL , L UCIFER , F ESTUS , A NGELS .
The R ECORDING A NGEL . All men are judged save one.
S ON OF G OD .
He too is saved.
Immortal! I have saved thy soul to Heaven.
Come hither. All hearts bare themselves to me,
As clouds unbind their bosoms to the sun,
And thine was wealthy in the gifts of good.
And, if its guilt and glory lay in love,
Let light outweigh the darkness! Thou art saved.
S AINTS . Rejoice! Rejoice!
F ESTUS . Could I, Lord! pour my soul out,
In thanks, even as a river rolling ever,
'T would be too scant for what I owe to Thee.
S ON OF G OD .
Nay; immortality is long enough,
As life, or as a moment is, to show
Thy love of good, thy thanks to me and God.
One heart-throb sometimes earneth Heaven — one tear.
F ESTUS . My Maker! let me thank Thee, I have lived,
And live a deathless witness of Thy grace.
And Thee, the Holy One, who hast chosen me,
From old eternity, while yet I lay
Hid, like a thought in God, unuttered — Thou,
Who makest finite full with the Infinite,
As is a womb with an immortal spirit,
Oh! let me thank Thee that I witness to Thee.
And Thou, mid-God! my Saviour, and my Judge!
Sun of the soul, whose day is now all noon —
Who makest of the universe one Heaven —
I praise Thee. Heaven doth praise Thee. God doth praise Thee.
The Holy Ghost doth praise Thee. Praise Thy-self!
L UCIFER . Is he not mine?
G OD .
Evil! away for aye!
In the beginning, ere I bade things be —
Or ever I begat the worlds on space,
I knew of him, and saved him in my Son,
Who now hath judged; for, fraught with God-hood, He
Yet feels the frailties of the things He has made;
And therefore can, like-feelingly, judge them.
For I abide not sin; and in my Son
There is no sin — not thaThe takes away.
It is destroyed forever and made nothing.
S ON OF G OD .
Spirit, depart! this mortal loved me.
With all his doubts, he never doubted God:
But from doubt gathered truth, like snow from clouds,
The most, and whitest, from the darkest. Go!
L UCIFER . I leave thee, Festus. Here thou wilt be happy.
To be in Heaven is to love forever
God — and thou must love here. Here thou wilt find
All that thou canst and oughtst to love: for souls,
Re-made of God, and moulded over again
Into his sun-like emblems, multiply
His might and love: the saved are suns, not earths;
And with original glory shine of God.
While I shall keep on deepening in my darkness,
With not one gleam across the gloom of being.
F ESTUS . Let us part, spirit! it may be, in the coming,
That as we sometime were all worth God's making,
We may be worth forgiving; taking back
Into His bosom, pure again — and then,
All shall be one with Him, who is one in all.
L UCIFER . It may be, then, that I shall die.
Farewell.
Forgive me that I tempted thee!
F ESTUS . I am glad.
G OD .
Stay, spirit! all created things unmade
It suits not the eternal laws of good
That Evil be immortal. In all space
Is joy and glory, and the gladdened stars,
Exultant in the sacrifice of sin,
And of all human matter in themselves,
Leap forth as though to welcome earth to Heaven —
Leap forth and die. All nature disappears.
Shadows are passed away. Through all is light.
Man is as high above temptation now, —
And where by Grace he alway shall remain
As ever sun o'er sea; and sin is burned
In hell to ashes with the dust of death.
The worlds themselves are but as dreams within
Their souls who lived in them, and thou art null,
And thy vocation useless, gone with them.
Therefore shall Heaven rejoice in thee again,
And the lost tribes of angels, who with thee
Wedded themselves to woe, and all who dwell
Around the dizzy centres of all worlds,
Again be blessed with the blessedest.
Lo! ye are all restored, rebought, rebrought
To Heaven by Him who cast ye forth, your God.
Receive ye tenfold of all gifts and powers.
And thou who cam'st to Heaven to claim one soul,
Remain possessed by all. The sons of bliss
Shall welcome thee again, and all thy hosts,
Whereof thou first in glory as in woe —
In brightness as in darkness erst — shall shine.
Take, Lucifer, thy place. This day art thou
Redeemed to archangelic state. Bright child
Of morning, once again thou shinest fair
O'er all the starry ornaments of light.
L UCIFER . The highest and the humblest I of all
The beings Thou hast made, Eternal Lord!
A NGEL . Behold they come, the Legions of the lost,
Transformed already by the bare behest
Of God our Maker to the purest form
Of seraph brightness.
The RESTORED A NGELS . His be all the praise!
And ours submissive thanks. When evil had done
Its worst, then God most blessed us and forgave.
Oh, He hath triumphed over all the world,
In mercy, over death, and earth, and hell!
S ON OF G OD .
All God hath made are saved. Heaven is complete.
G UARDIAN A NGEL . Hither with me!
F ESTUS . But where are those I love?
A NGEL . Yon happy troop!
F ESTUS . Ah! blest ones, come to me!
Loves of my heart, on earth; and soul in Heaven!
Are ye all here, too, with me?
A LL . All
F ESTUS . It is Heaven.
A NGEL . Come, let us join our souls into the song
Of glory, which the Saved all sing, to God.
The Saved . Father of goodness,
Son of love,
Spirit of comfort,
Be with us!
God who hast made us,
God who hast saved,
God who hast judged us,
Thee we praise.
Heaven our spirits,
Hallow our hearts;
Let us have God-light
Endlessly.
Ours is the wide world,
Heaven on Heaven;
What have we done, Lord,
Worthy this?
Oh! we have loved Thee;
That alone
Maketh our glory,
Duty, meed.
Oh! we have loved Thee!
Love we will,
Ever, and every
Soul of us.
God of the saved,
God of the tried,
God of the lost ones,
Be with all!
Let us be near Thee
Ever and aye;
Oh! let us love Thee
Infinite!
F ESTUS . So, soul and song, begin and end in
Heaven,
Your birth-place and your everlasting home.
The H OLY G HOST .
Time there hath been when only God was all;
And it shall be again. The hour is named,
When seraph, cherub, angel, saint, man, fiend,
Made pure, and unbelievably uplift
Above their present state — drawn up to God,
Like dew into the air — shall be all Heaven;
And all souls shall be in God, and shall be God,
And nothing but God, be.
S ON OF G OD .
Let all be God's.
G OD .
World without end, and I am God alone;
The Aye, the Infinite, the Whole, the One.
I only was — nor matter else, nor mind,
The self-contained Perfection unconfined.
I only am — in might and mercy one;
I live in all things and am closed in none.
I only shall be — when the worlds have done,
My boundless Being will be but begun.
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