  SCENE: The House of MIRIAM, the “Witch of Endor,” by Mount Gilboa—where Saul is encamped against the Philistines. It is of one story, built rectangularly about an inner court, which is dimly lighted. Under the gallery which ranges around the court are doors leading to the sleeping and other apartments; before one of these, a lattice. On the left is the gate opening to the street. In the back to one side, the teraphim, or image of divination; on the other side a stairway mounts to the roof. Above is the night, and vague lightning amid a moan of wind. During the act comes dawn. Forward on a divan sits MIRIAM alone, in blind restlessness. MIRIAM Adah! The child is sunken in a sleep. Yet would I have her near me in this night, And hear again the boding of her tale. Unto the blind the vision and the awe Of the invisible sway ever in, The shadow of nativities that lead Upon fatality. Girl! Adah! girl! [The wind passes. Adah enters from a chamber, rubbing her eyes.] Thou art awake? ADAH I slumbered. MIRIAM Stand you where Fathoming I may feel within you. Now, Again—you’ve hither fled your mistress Merab, In fear of her? ADAH Yes. MIRIAM At Engeddi Michal By Saul was apprehended? Merab now Plotteth against her—she and Doeg? ADAH Still. MIRIAM And ’twas in Merab’s tent you heard, the king Despairing of to-morrow’s battle, comes Hither to-night to bid me lift the spirit Of Samuel out of the dead and learn The issue? ADAH Doeg said it. MIRIAM And—you hear?— Many within the army urge for David, Would cry him king, if Saul were slain? ADAH O many. [A knock at the gate. They start up fearful.] MIRIAM Who seeks blind Miriam of Endor’s roof, Under the night and unextinguished storm? Come you a friend? DAVID [Without.] A friend. MIRIAM As knows my soul! [Breathless she opens the gate. David and Abiathar enter cloaked.] Thy voice again!—this blindness of my eyes— If it be David, speak. DAVID Yes, Miriam. MIRIAM David of Jesse, Israel’s desire! Let me behold thee [Her hands go over him.] with my fingers’ sight, And gather in them touch of thee again! Thy voice is as dream-dulcimers that stir Quivering myrrh of memory and joy— But, aie! why are you here? You have been there? DAVID Yes—in the camp of Saul. MIRIAM In spite of death! Do you not know——? DAVID I know—that Saul would rather O’ertrample me than a multitude of foes. That it is told him I who shun his ire— Though death were easier, if dutiful— Am come up with the Philistines to win The kingdom. That he would slay me though I fought For Israel!—But, Michal!—— MIRIAM Aie—— DAVID What brews? She was not in the camp. MIRIAM Men all are mad! And you who should be never. DAVID She is in Some peril. MIRIAM You, in more! And must from here Swiftly away, for Saul is—— DAVID I must see her. MIRIAM Unholy! DAVID Yet unholier were flight. MIRIAM You are the anointed! [A heavy knock at the gate.] Ah, calamity! You would not heed—’tis Saul! DAVID Here? MIRIAM He is come That I shall call up Samuel. DAVID You, you— The awful dead? SAUL [Calls.] Woman of Endor! MIRIAM Hide! The lattice yonder! SAUL Woman of Endor! woman! [David and Abiathar conceal themselves behind the lattice. The knocking, hastier.] Woman of Endor! Woman of Endor! Woman! MIRIAM Who crieth at my gate? SAUL Unbar and learn. MIRIAM To danger? SAUL None. MIRIAM To thieves? SAUL To rueing if You tarry! [She opens the gate. Adah cowers down. Saul, Ishui, and Adriel enter.] MIRIAM Whom seek you? SAUL Witch of Endor, you, Who of the fate-revealing dead divine. Out of the Pit you call them! MIRIAM What is this? SAUL I say that you can lift them! MIRIAM You are come With snaring! knowing well that Saul the king Is woe and bitterness to all who move With incantation. SAUL He is not. MIRIAM Depart! SAUL I must have up out of the Awfulness Him I would question. MIRIAM Perilous! SAUL Prepare Before thy teraphim. No harm, I swear, Shall come of it. Bid Samuel appear. The battle! its event! MIRIAM [With a cry.] I know thee now! Saul! thou art Saul! the Terror! SAUL Call him up. Ready is it, the battle—but I am Forsaken of all prophecy and dream, Of voices and of priest and oracle, To augur it. MIRIAM A doom in this! SAUL He must Hold comfort, and the torrent of despair Within me stay and hush. MIRIAM Then must it be. [Turning towards the teraphim amid wind and pallid lightning, and prostrating herself before it.] Prophet of Israel, who art beyond The troubling and the terrifying grave, Th’ immeasurable moan and melancholy Of ways that win to Sheol—Rise! Arise! [She waits. Only the gust. Then springing up and stretching wide her arms with wild, blind eyes.] Prophet of Israel, arise! Not in The name of Baal, Amon, Ashtoreth, Dagon or all the deities that dream In trembling temples of Idolatry, But of Jehovah! of Jehovah! rise! [An elemental cry is heard. Then vast wavering forms rise out of the earth, in continuous stream. Miriam, with a long curdling shriek, sinks moaning to her knees.] SAUL Woman, I cannot—dare not—look upon it. Utter thy sight. [The spirit of Samuel begins to take shape through the phantoms.] MIRIAM I saw ascending Forms as of gods in swaying ghostliness, Dim apparitions of a dismal might, And now is one within a mantle clad, Who looketh—— SAUL Samuel! MIRIAM Who looketh with Omniscience in his mien, and all the chill And cling about him of eternity. His eyes impale me! SAUL Spirit, give me word! [He falls heavily to the ground.] SAMUEL [As afar.] O evil king! and wretched king! why hast Thou brought me from the quietness and rest. SAUL The battle on the morrow——! SAMUEL Evil thou art For underneath this night thou hast conspired Death to thy daughter Michal—if at dawn The battle shall be lost—lest she may fall Into the hands of David—— DAVID [In horror.] O! ISHUI Whose cry? SAMUEL I tell thee, Saul, thy sceptre shrivels fast. The battle shall be lost—it shall be lost. [The spirit of Samuel disappears. A wail of wind.] ADRIEL Ishui, true? Is Michal to be slain? ISHUI This is no hour for fools and questioning. SAUL [Struggling up.] The battle, Ishui, at once command It shall begin! To Jonathan and say it. [Ishui goes.] No prophecy shall sink me and no shade. I am the king, and Israel, my own. [Frenzied he goes. A silence.] DAVID [Breaking forth.] Michal to die and Israel to fall! Prophet of prophets, Samuel, return! [Adriel goes.] The quivering Quicksands of destiny beneath her stir. Is heaven a mocking shield which ever keeps God from our prayers? MIRIAM David, contain thy heart. [A faint uproar begins afar; and dawn.] DAVID The battle! on the wind. Abiathar, Speed out upon the mountain-side and cull All that befalls. [Adah opens the gate. Abiathar goes.] ADAH [Springing back.] Oh! DAVID Child, why do you quail? ADAH My mistress, Merab! DAVID Girl? ADAH I saw her—she Is coming hither! Do not let her—she I fear—I fear her! DAVID Hither coming? [Merab throws open the gate and enters.] ADAH Oh! MERAB Woman and witch, did Adriel, my husband, Come to you with the king? [She sees David and shrinks.] DAVID Unnatural, Unkind, most cruel sister! MERAB You are here? DAVID Once me you would have poisoned, but the coil Within your bosom I beheld. And now Michal your sister is the victim. MERAB I— Know not your meaning. DAVID The battle burning yonder, If it adversely veers, the king has planned Michal is not to live, lest she may hap Unto my arms. MERAB That Michal shall be slain? [The tumult again.] DAVID Almighty, smite, and save to thee thy people! And save thy altars unto Israel. [He bows his head. A stir comes at the gate.] MERAB David, ’tis Adriel! ADRIEL Ope! open you! DAVID At last the word. MERAB Girl, Adah, draw the bar. [David throws a cloak over his face. Adah obeys. Adriel enters, and Doeg, who pauses in quick alarm, as David goes between him and the gate.] DOEG What place is this? Why do you bar that gate? Merab, ’tis you? Why do you gaze, rigid? And this is the blind witch, Miriam? DAVID It is. [He throws off his cloak.] DOEG Lured? I am snared? a trap? DAVID Where have you Michal? DOEG [Drawing.] No closer! DAVID If she is an atom harmed——! Where is she? DOEG I was the servant of the king, I but obeyed him. DAVID And thy horrible heart. Then speak, or unto frenzy I am driven. DOEG I’ll drive you there with—— [Breaks off with low laugh.] DAVID Tell it! DOEG Unto your Soft sympathy—and passion? [Laughs.] She is dead. DAVID [Immovable, then repressed.] If it is so, the lightning, that is wrath Within the veins of God, should sink its fang Into thy bosom and sear out thy heart. If it is so, this momentary calm, This silence pouring overfull the world, Would rush and in thee cry until thy bones Broken of guilt are crumbled in thy groans. Dead, she is dead? MIRIAM No, David, my lord, he lies! [Strangely, as in a trance.] To wound you, lies! DAVID Not dead? MIRIAM I see her eyes! [All listen amazed.] I see her in a vision. She is near— Is in a cave—is bound—and is alone. I will go to her—quickly bring her. DOEG Not [Lunges at her.] If this shall reach you. DAVID Ah, to pierce a woman! [Miriam finds her way out.] You’ve plotted, false have been and bloody, foul, And as a pestilence of midnight marsh Have oozed corruption into all around you. The kingdom thro’ you is in brokenness, Within its arteries you flow, poison, Incentive of irruption and unrest, Of treachery and disaffection’s sore, Till even the stars of truest ray seem tares Sown hostile o’er the nightly vale of heaven. [Drawing firmly, he coldly, skilfully approaches for attack.] DOEG [Retreating.] No further! DAVID Unto the end! [He rushes in, they engage. Doeg is wounded, recovers, defends furiously, then is disarmed and forced under.] Thy villainy is done. [The gate opens and Abiathar hurries in.] ABIATHAR David, the battle—— [He sees Doeg and stops.] DAVID Fetter him. ABIATHAR Only fetter? [His dagger out.] The murderer Of priestly sanctity and of my father? DAVID Abiathar! You know obedience? [Abiathar sullenly sheathes his weapon and binds Doeg. A dim panic is heard afar, and a lament without. David, who has sunk to a seat, springs anxiously up.] Listen! that cry! THE VOICE Woe! woe! DAVID What is its wail? THE VOICE The battle’s lost! DAVID Abiathar——? THE VOICE Saul flees! DAVID Abiathar, is lost? ABIATHAR I fear it. DAVID Then [Pointing to Doeg.] Off with his armor for me, I will go Forth and perchance may backward bend defeat. Duty to Saul is over. ADRIEL You must not. A fruitless intrepidity it were. ABIATHAR Remember your anointing! ADRIEL The prophesy! [Miriam enters leading Michal. A moment’s suspense.] MERAB See! ADRIEL See! MERAB She liveth! MIRIAM David—— MICHAL [Pleading to him.] It is I. MIRIAM The cords were cruel, hungrily sank in Her wrists and ankles. MICHAL David, look on me. DAVID My words must be alone with her—alone. ADRIEL Come, all of you—the battle. [They go out the gate. David stands speechless.] MICHAL David—my lord! I ask not anything but to be heard— Though once I would not hear. Has all of life No glow for me! DAVID Betrayers should have none. MICHAL I was a woman—the entanglement Of duty amid love we have no skill To loosen, but with passion. DAVID You too late Remember it is so. MICHAL Nobility All unbelievable it seemed that you Could innocently watt on time to tide You to the kingdom. Then forgive, I plead. DAVID But in the wilderness, your perfidy! MICHAL Doubt of it welleth thro’ your voice. No, no, To save you strove I——! DAVID Michal? MICHAL Not to betray! From Saul, my father, penitent I fled, Seeking you in Engeddi’s wild. DAVID And Phalti? MICHAL ’Twas wedding him I loathed. DAVID Say true! MICHAL This knife Unfailingly into my breast had spared Me from him, had not flight. DAVID This—this can be? [A great joy dawning in him.] Beyond all hope is it, even as day’s Wide empery outspans our littleness. [Goes toward her.] A tithing of thy loveliness were beauty Enough for earth. Yet it is mine, is mine? MICHAL David—forever! long as odorous Cooling o’er Lebanon shall blow, long as The swinging sapphire of the sea shall flash Up to the sun: until the soul no more Is soul, but vapor! DAVID Michal! MICHAL Evermore! [She sinks into his arms, and there is a pause. But a sudden confusion of cries is heard and they start apart. The gate is flung back and Adriel enters, shaken with awe. He looks from one to the other, silent.] DAVID [At last.] Adriel! What have you! ADRIEL Saul … is slain! MICHAL My father? ADRIEL Slain! And Jonathan—— DAVID No! ADRIEL Fell beside him down. The fray was fast—Israel fled—the foe Fierce after Saul, whom Jonathan defended. MICHAL My father! DAVID And my brother Jonathan! If I believe it will not miracle Alone bring joy again unto my pain? [The wailing again without, and deeper groans.] O Israel, the Infinite has touched Thy glory and it changes to a shroud! Thy splendor is as vintage overspilt. For Saul upon the mountains low is lying, And Jonathan beside him, beautiful Beyond the mar of battle, and of death. [He bows his head in tears.] O kingly Jonathan, would I might give The beating of my life into your veins— Willing for it would I be drouth and die. How are the mighty fallen and the fair! [With lifted arm, deeply moved.] Peaks, mountains of Gilboa, let no more Dew be upon you, and as sackcloth let Clouds cover you, and ashes be your soil, Until I bring upon Philistia And Gath and Askalon extinguishing, And sorrow—and immensity of tears! [Michal goes to him and takes his hand. He folds her in his arms.] But we must calm the flowing of this grief. Though yet we cannot mind us to remember Love will as sandal-breath and trickling balm O’erheal us in the unbegotten years, Too headlong must not be our agony. Hush now thy woundedness, my Michal, now. See, o’er the East the lifted wings of dawn. [Slowly they climb the stair to the house-top. At they look away toward the battle’s rout the clouds part, and the full brightness of the sun breaks over them.] [CURTAIN.] This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will be renamed. 1.F. 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a refund. 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