Hath not the ill we did
Been heretofore our good?
Been heretofore our good?
Elizabeth Browning
we perish not.
Of old
His will--
_Zerah. _ I seek his will. Seek, seraphim!
My God, my God! where is it? Doth that curse
Reverberate spare us, seraph or universe?
_He_ hath forsaken _him_.
_Ador. _ He cannot fail.
_Angel Voices. _ We faint, we droop,
Our love doth tremble like fear.
_Voices of Fallen Angels from the Earth. _ Do we prevail?
Or are we lost?
Hath not the ill we did
Been heretofore our good?
Is it not ill that one, all sinless, should
Hang heavy with all curses on a cross?
Nathless, that cry! With huddled faces hid
Within the empty graves which men did scoop
To hold more damned dead, we shudder through
What shall exalt us or undo,
Our triumph, or our loss.
_Voice from the Cross. _ IT IS FINISHED.
_Zerah. _ Hark, again!
Like a victor, speaks the slain.
_Angel Voices. _ Finished be the trembling vain!
_Ador. _ Upward, like a well-loved son,
Looketh he, the orphaned one.
_Angel Voices. _ Finished is the mystic pain.
_Voices of Fallen Angels.
His will--
_Zerah. _ I seek his will. Seek, seraphim!
My God, my God! where is it? Doth that curse
Reverberate spare us, seraph or universe?
_He_ hath forsaken _him_.
_Ador. _ He cannot fail.
_Angel Voices. _ We faint, we droop,
Our love doth tremble like fear.
_Voices of Fallen Angels from the Earth. _ Do we prevail?
Or are we lost?
Hath not the ill we did
Been heretofore our good?
Is it not ill that one, all sinless, should
Hang heavy with all curses on a cross?
Nathless, that cry! With huddled faces hid
Within the empty graves which men did scoop
To hold more damned dead, we shudder through
What shall exalt us or undo,
Our triumph, or our loss.
_Voice from the Cross. _ IT IS FINISHED.
_Zerah. _ Hark, again!
Like a victor, speaks the slain.
_Angel Voices. _ Finished be the trembling vain!
_Ador. _ Upward, like a well-loved son,
Looketh he, the orphaned one.
_Angel Voices. _ Finished is the mystic pain.
_Voices of Fallen Angels.
