Know thou thyself, O man. Curtain SCENE 3 A room for meditation. The background is a great purple curtain. The scene is purple in colour with a large yellow pentagonal lamp suspended from the ceiling. No other furniture or ornaments are in the room except the lamp and one chair. Benedictus, Johannes, Maria, and a child. MARIA: I bring to thee this child who needs some word From out thy mouth. BENEDICTUS: My child, henceforth each eve Thou shalt come unto me to hear the word That shall fill full thy soul ere thou dost tread The realm of souls in sleep. Wilt thou do this? CHILD: Most gladly will I come. BENEDICTUS: This very eve Fill thy soul full ere sleep embraceth thee, With strength from these few words: 'The powers of light Bear me aloft unto the spirit's home.' (Maria leads the child away.) MARIA: And now, that this child's destiny doth flow Harmoniously through future days beneath The shadow of thy gracious fatherhood, I too may claim my leader's kind advice, Who am its mother, not by bond of blood But through the mighty power of destiny. For thou hast shown to me the way wherein I had to guide its footsteps from that day, When I discovered it before my door Left by its unknown mother desolate. And wonder-working proved themselves those rules Whereby thou madest me train my foster-child. All powers, that deep in body and in soul Lay hidden, issued forth to light and life: Clear proof it was that all thy counselling Sprang from the realm which sheltered this child's soul Before it built its body's covering. We saw the hopes of manhood blossom forth And radiate more brightly each new day; Thou dost know well how hard it was for me To gain the child's affection, at the first. It grew up 'neath my care, and yet nought else Save habit chained its soul at first to mine. It only realized and felt that I Gave it the nurture and the food that served The needs of body and the growth of soul. Then came the time when in the child-like heart There dawned the love for her who fostered it. An outer incident brought forth this change-- The visit of the seeress to our group. Gladly the child did go about with her And soon did learn full many a beauteous word Steeped in the mystic charm that graced her speech. Then came the moment when her ecstasy Descended on our friend with magic power. The child could see her eyes' strange smouldering light, And, terrified unto its vital core, The young soul dawned to consciousness of self.