Some error must have crept into thy soul With cunning tread, if this be possible; And if dull care instead of happiness, And moods of sorrow flow forth from the source Of truth itself instead of spirit-bliss In free abundance: seek then in thyself The stumbling-blocks that thus impede thy way. How often are we told that only health Is the true fruitage of our teaching here, Which makes to blossom forth the powers of life. Shall it then show the contrary in thee? I see its fruitage in so many lives, Which, trusting me, find union in themselves. Their former mode of life grows day by day Strange and still stranger to such souls as these; As well-springs are fresh opened in their hearts, Thenceforth renewing life within themselves. To gaze into the primal depths of being Doth not create those passionate desires Which torture and torment the souls of men. (Exit.) JOHANNES.JOHANNES: It took me many years to understand And know the vanity of things of sense When spirit-knowledge is not joined with them In close and intimate companionship: And yet one single moment proves to me That e'en the highest wisdom's words may be But vanity of soul in man's own self. Curtain SCENE 2 In the open. Rocks and springs. The entire scene is to be thought of as taking place in the soul of Johannes Thomasius. What follows is the content of his meditation. (There sounds from the springs and rocks:) Know thou thyself, O man. JOHANNES: 'Tis thus I hear them, now these many years, These words of weighty import all around, (hear them in the wind and in the wave: Out from earth's depths do they resound to me: And as a tiny acorn's mystery, Confines the structure of a mighty oak, So in the kernel of these words there lies, All elemental nature; all I grasp Of soul, of spirit, time, eternity. It seems mine own peculiarities And all the world besides live in these words: 'Know thou thyself, O man. Know thou thyself.' (From the springs and rocks resounds:) Know thou thyself, O man. JOHANNES: And now--I feel Mine inmost being terrified to life: Without the gloom of night doth weave me round, And deep within my soul thick darkness yawns: And sounding from this universal gloom And up from out the darkness of my soul These words ring forth: 'Know thou thyself, O man.' (From the springs and rocks resounds:) Know thou thyself, O man. JOHANNES: