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ANCIENT CORNISH DRAMA

The Vision of Seth.

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[Adam bids Seth journey to the Gate of Paradise—the way to be known to him because of the burnt imprints of the feet of himself and Eve on the day they were driven forth, sere marks never grass-grown since—and, after telling him to ask for the oil of mercy, blesses him, and sees him go.]

CHERUBIN.

Seth, what is thy errand,

That thou wouldst come so long a way?

Tell me soon.

SETH.

O angel, I will tell thee:

My father is old and weary,

He would not wish to live longer;

And through me he prayed thee

To tell the truth

Of the oil promised to him

Of mercy in the last day.

CHERUBIN.

Within the gate put thy head,

And behold it all, nor fear,

Whatever thou seest,

And look on all sides;

Examine well every particular;

Search out everything diligently.

SETH.

Very joyfully I will do it;

I am glad to have permission

To know what is there,

To tell it to my father.

And he looks, and turns round, saying:—]

Fair field is this;

Unhappy he who lost the country:

And the tree, it is to me

A great wonder that it is dry;

But I believe that it is dry,

And all made bare, for the sin

Which my father and mother sinned.

Like the prints of their feet,

They are all dry, like herbs.

Alas, that the morsel was eaten.

CHERUBIN.

O Seth, thou art come

Within the Gate of Paradise;

Tell me what thou sawest.

SETH.

All the beauty that I saw

The tongue of no man in the world can

Tell it ever.

Of good fruit, and fair flowers,

Minstrels and sweet song,

A fountain bright as silver;

And four springs, large indeed,

Flowing from it,

That there is a desire to look at them.

In it there is a tree,

High with many boughs;

But they are all bare, without leaves.

And around it, bark

There was none, from the stem to the head

All its boughs are bare.

And at the bottom, when I looked,

I saw its roots

Even into hell descending,

In the midst of great darkness.

And its branches growing up,

Even to heaven high in light;

And it was without bark altogether,

Both the head and the boughs.

CHERUBIN.

Look yet again within,

And all else thou shalt see

Before thou come from it.

SETH.

I am happy that I have permission;

I will go to the gate immediately,

That I may see further good.

He goes, and looks, and returns.

CHERUBIN.

Dost thou see more now,

Than what there was just now?

SETH.

There is a serpent in the tree;

An ugly beast, without fail.

CHERUBIN.

Go yet a third time to it,

And look better at the tree.

Look, what you can see in it,

Besides roots and branches.

Again he goes up.

SETH.

Cherub, angel of the God of grace,

In the tree I saw,

High up on the branches,

A little child newly born;

And he was swathed in cloths,

And bound fast with napkins.

CHERUBIN.

The Son of God it was whom thou sawest,

Like a little child swathed.

He will redeem Adam, thy father,

With his flesh and blood too,

When the time is come,

And thy mother, and all the good people.

He is the oil of mercy,

Which was promised to thy father;

Through his death, clearly,

All the world will be saved.

SETH.

Blessed be he:

O God, now I am happy;

Knowing the truth all plainly,

I will go from thee.

CHERUBIN.

Take three kernels of the apple,

Which Adam, thy father, ate.

When he dies, put them, without fail,

Between his teeth and tongue.

From them thou wilt see

Three trees grow presently;

For he will not live more than three days

After thou reachest home.

SETH.

Blessed be thou every day;

I honour thee ever very truly:

My father will be very joyful,

If he soon passes from life.