4. The Garden of Gethsemane

CHRISTUS.


My spirit is exceeding sorrowful
Even unto death! Tarry ye here and watch.
He goes apart


PETER.


Under this ancient olive-tree, that spreads
Its broad centennial branches like a tent,
Let us lie down and rest.


JOHN

What are those torches,
That glimmer on Brook Kedron there below us?


JAMES

It is some marriage feast; the joyful maidens
Go out to meet the bridegroom


PETER.



I am weary.
The struggles of this day have over come me.


CHRISTUS.


Father! all things are possible to thee, —
Oh, let this cup pass from me! Nevertheless
Not as I will, but as thou wilt, be done!
Returning to the Disciples.

What! could ye not watch with me for one hour?
Oh, watch and pray, that ye may enter not
Into temptation. For the spirit indeed
Is willing, but the flesh is weak!


JOHN


Alas!
It is for sorrow that our eyes are heavy —
I see again the glimmer of those torches
Among the olives; they are coming hither.


JAMES.


Outside the garden wall the path divides;
Surely they come not hither.


CHRISTUS , as before

O my Father!
If this cup may not pass away from me,
Except I drink of it, thy will be done.
Returning to the Disciples.
Sleep on; and take your rest!


JOHN.



Beloved Master,
Alas! we know not what to answer thee!
It is for sorrow that our eyes are heavy —
Behold, the torches now encompass us


JAMES.


They do but go about the garden wall,
Seeking for some one, or for something lost
They sleep again


CHRISTUS.


If this cup may not pass away from me,
Except I drink of it, thy will be done.
Returning to the Disciples.

It is enough! Behold, the Son of Man
Hath been betrayed into the hands of sinners!
The hour is come. Rise up, let us be going;
For he that shall betray me is at hand.


JOHN.


Ah me! See, from his forehead, in the torchlight,
Great drops of blood are falling to the ground!


PETER.


What lights are these? What torches glare and glisten
Upon the swords and armor of these men?
And there among them Judas Iscariot!
He smites the servant of the High-Priest with his sword.


CHRISTUS.

Put up thy sword into its sheath; for they
That take the sword shall perish with the sword
The cup my Father hath given me to drink,
Shall I not drink it? Think'st thou that I cannot
Pray to my Father, and that He shall give me
More than twelve legions of angels presently?

JUDAS to CHRISTUS .


Hail, Master! hail!


CHRISTUS

Friend, wherefore art thou come?
Whom seek ye?


CAPTAIN OF THE TEMPLE.


Jesus of Nazareth


CHRISTUS.



I am he
Are ye come hither as against a thief,
With swords and staves to take me?
When I daily
Was with you in the Temple, ye stretched forth
No hands to take me! But this is your hour,
And this the power of darkness. If ye seek
Me only, let these others go their way.


The Disciples depart . C HRISTUS is bound and led
away. A certain young man follows Him, having a
linen cloth cast about his body. They lay hold of
him, and the young man flees from them naked .
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