Cantata: For the Graduation Festival at Upsala, the Sixth of September, 1877
FOR THE GRADUATION FESTIVAL AT UPSALA, THE SIXTH OF SEPTEMBER , 1877
Chorus
From the dark of the ages gliding
Toward a goal unknown to thee,
Through the desert thou hast been striding
Long, long, O Humanity!
Thy day is only a glimmer
Of feeble and pallid light, —
Before, the mist is yet dimmer;
Behind is the void of night.
The armies with which thou farest
Droop earthwards day by day,
And, trembling, thou nigh despairest:
" Almighty, whither leads the way? "
What sight upon Earth reveals not
That all things earthly fade like grass;
Look upward, and Heaven conceals not
That even there the glories pass, —
That suns in those lofty regions
Are halted or cease to be,
And quenched are the starry legions
In the aether's unmeasured sea.
Thou hearest how voices lonely
Cry: " All is transient here,
And Time and Space are only
A mighty prison dark and drear. "
Recitative
And yet, though thou be sunken deep in doubt
And tarriest brooding by the road, anon
Thou tak'st again thy banner with a shout
And through the desert bear'st it boldly on.
What matter if a thousand suns are thrown
To Chaos from their firmament sublime?
What though a starry harvest lieth mown
Like golden grain beneath the scythe of Time?
Thy noble thoughts, thy acts of love, thy dreams
Of beauty — these Time never can devour;
Eternity like some great store-house teems
With sheaves safe-garnered from destruction's power.
Go forth, Mankind! be glad, thy cares at rest,
Thou bear'st Eternity within thy breast.
Arioso
Every soul that, yearning, gloweth
Toward The Good unceasingly
In its inmost being knoweth
Proof of immortality.
Let thy selfishness be chidden,
Let God's image in thee hidden
Toward His perfect likeness tend
With each age and generation,
So shalt thou through desolation
Win to Jordan at the end.
Chorus
Let thy selfishness be chidden,
Let God's image in thee hidden
Toward His perfect likeness tend
With each age and generation,
So shalt thou through desolation
Win to Jordan at the end.
Theology
Dost thou doubt that in the distance waits for thee the Promised Land?
Dost thou faint with thirst and hunger, hopeless mid the burning sand?
See! the rod of Moses smiteth, from the rock the waters well.
On, Mankind, across the desert, on, thou greater Israel!
Still hast thou the rod to smite with and thy bitter thirst allay;
And the Rock — oh, glorious marvel! — follows ever on thy way.
Bend thy knee above the fountain, let its pure transparent wave
Cool thee, and go on rejoicing in the wondrous strength it gave!
Jurisprudence
As before the hot simoon the clouds of dust are whirled along,
So the Tribes of Israel drifted forth from Horeb in a throng.
Can they ever reach the Jordan, marching thus in disarray?
See! Mount Sinai lifts its summit heavenward where the lightnings play!
Hill and vale resound with thunder at the voice of Justice then,
And each man's astounded bosom echoes back a deep " Amen! "
So the straggling ranks take order by the Law's divine commands,
Grown into a glorious people bound in one by sacred bands.
Medicine
With the Law's high tabernacle now they march unitedly,
Making way through hostile weapons toward the Land of Liberty.
But what strikes the troops with pallor? Wherefore did the banner sink?
Dread, insidious fever-serpents through the stricken army slink.
What can save them? This can save them. See the token sent of God,
See the gleaming brazen serpent coiled around the Prophet's rod!
And as, rescued by that symbol, Israel sought the path to find,
So do ye, O strengthened nations, seek the goal of all mankind!
Philosophy
Forth, O wise and lovely peoples, to the goal which God hath placed!
Ah, but how discern the pathway mid the phantoms of the waste?
See, a fiery pillar leads us when the shadows dim the light!
'T is the glow of Thought that shineth as a beacon in the night.
Through the noon-tide haze before us goes a cloud-white pillar fair,
Woven all of pure ideals, and God's spirit dwelleth there
Last, a poet-seer on Nebo shouts exulting from the peak,
" Look, our Father's home is yonder! Forward to the land ye seek! "
Chorus
From the dark of the ages gliding
Toward a goal unknown to thee,
Through the desert thou hast been striding
Long, long, O Humanity!
Thy day is only a glimmer
Of feeble and pallid light, —
Before, the mist is yet dimmer;
Behind is the void of night.
The armies with which thou farest
Droop earthwards day by day,
And, trembling, thou nigh despairest:
" Almighty, whither leads the way? "
What sight upon Earth reveals not
That all things earthly fade like grass;
Look upward, and Heaven conceals not
That even there the glories pass, —
That suns in those lofty regions
Are halted or cease to be,
And quenched are the starry legions
In the aether's unmeasured sea.
Thou hearest how voices lonely
Cry: " All is transient here,
And Time and Space are only
A mighty prison dark and drear. "
Recitative
And yet, though thou be sunken deep in doubt
And tarriest brooding by the road, anon
Thou tak'st again thy banner with a shout
And through the desert bear'st it boldly on.
What matter if a thousand suns are thrown
To Chaos from their firmament sublime?
What though a starry harvest lieth mown
Like golden grain beneath the scythe of Time?
Thy noble thoughts, thy acts of love, thy dreams
Of beauty — these Time never can devour;
Eternity like some great store-house teems
With sheaves safe-garnered from destruction's power.
Go forth, Mankind! be glad, thy cares at rest,
Thou bear'st Eternity within thy breast.
Arioso
Every soul that, yearning, gloweth
Toward The Good unceasingly
In its inmost being knoweth
Proof of immortality.
Let thy selfishness be chidden,
Let God's image in thee hidden
Toward His perfect likeness tend
With each age and generation,
So shalt thou through desolation
Win to Jordan at the end.
Chorus
Let thy selfishness be chidden,
Let God's image in thee hidden
Toward His perfect likeness tend
With each age and generation,
So shalt thou through desolation
Win to Jordan at the end.
Theology
Dost thou doubt that in the distance waits for thee the Promised Land?
Dost thou faint with thirst and hunger, hopeless mid the burning sand?
See! the rod of Moses smiteth, from the rock the waters well.
On, Mankind, across the desert, on, thou greater Israel!
Still hast thou the rod to smite with and thy bitter thirst allay;
And the Rock — oh, glorious marvel! — follows ever on thy way.
Bend thy knee above the fountain, let its pure transparent wave
Cool thee, and go on rejoicing in the wondrous strength it gave!
Jurisprudence
As before the hot simoon the clouds of dust are whirled along,
So the Tribes of Israel drifted forth from Horeb in a throng.
Can they ever reach the Jordan, marching thus in disarray?
See! Mount Sinai lifts its summit heavenward where the lightnings play!
Hill and vale resound with thunder at the voice of Justice then,
And each man's astounded bosom echoes back a deep " Amen! "
So the straggling ranks take order by the Law's divine commands,
Grown into a glorious people bound in one by sacred bands.
Medicine
With the Law's high tabernacle now they march unitedly,
Making way through hostile weapons toward the Land of Liberty.
But what strikes the troops with pallor? Wherefore did the banner sink?
Dread, insidious fever-serpents through the stricken army slink.
What can save them? This can save them. See the token sent of God,
See the gleaming brazen serpent coiled around the Prophet's rod!
And as, rescued by that symbol, Israel sought the path to find,
So do ye, O strengthened nations, seek the goal of all mankind!
Philosophy
Forth, O wise and lovely peoples, to the goal which God hath placed!
Ah, but how discern the pathway mid the phantoms of the waste?
See, a fiery pillar leads us when the shadows dim the light!
'T is the glow of Thought that shineth as a beacon in the night.
Through the noon-tide haze before us goes a cloud-white pillar fair,
Woven all of pure ideals, and God's spirit dwelleth there
Last, a poet-seer on Nebo shouts exulting from the peak,
" Look, our Father's home is yonder! Forward to the land ye seek! "
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