You must die because no souls have passed over the
threshold
of Heaven
since you came into this country.
since you came into this country.
Yeats
Why have you come to me?
ANGEL.
I have brought you a message.
WISE MAN.
What message have you got for me?
ANGEL.
You will die within the hour. You will die when the last grains have
fallen in this glass.
[_She turns the hour-glass. _
WISE MAN.
My time to die has not come. I have my pupils. I have a young wife and
children that I cannot leave. Why must I die?
ANGEL.
You must die because no souls have passed over the threshold of Heaven
since you came into this country. The threshold is grassy, and the
gates are rusty, and the angels that keep watch there are lonely.
WISE MAN.
Where will death bring me to?
ANGEL.
The doors of Heaven will not open to you, for you have denied the
existence of Heaven; and the doors of Purgatory will not open to you,
for you have denied the existence of Purgatory.
WISE MAN.
But I have also denied the existence of Hell!
ANGEL.
Hell is the place of those who deny.
WISE MAN [_kneels_].
I have, indeed, denied everything, and have taught others to deny. I
have believed in nothing but what my senses told me. But, oh! beautiful
Angel, forgive me, forgive me!
ANGEL.
