Felicia cannot reconcile herself To this much altered fashion of our life. As she regrets the loneliness of old, So she deplores the many days that pass In which we have but few hours for ourselves. CAPESIUS: What made thee welcome strangers to a house That shut them out so sternly heretofore? FELIX: The spirit-voice which speaks within my heart Bade me of yore be silent; I obeyed. Now that it bids me speak I show myself Equally faithful unto its command. Our human nature undergoes a change As earth's existence gradually evolves. Now are we very near an epoch's close. And spirit-knowledge therefore must in part Be now revealéd unto every man Who chooseth to receive it to himself. I know how little what I have to tell Is in agreement with man's current thought; The spirit-life, they say, must be made known, In strict and logical thought sequences, And men deny all logic to my words. True science on a firm foundation based, Cannot, they say, regard me otherwise, Than as a visionary soul who seeks A solitary road to wisdom's seat, And knows no more of science than of art. Yet not a few declare it worth their while The tangle of my language to explore Because therein from time to time is found Something of worth, to reason not opposed. I am a man into whose heart must flow, Untouched by art, each vision he may see. Nought know I of a knowledge lacking words. When I retreat within mine inmost heart And also when I list to nature's voice Then such a knowledge wakes to life in me As hath no need to seek for any words; Speech is to it as intimately linked As is his body's sheath to man on earth; And knowledge such as this, which in this wise Reveals itself to us from spirit-worlds, Can be of service even unto those Who understand it not. And so it is That every man is free to come to me Who will attend to what I have to say. Many are led by curiosity And other trivial reasons to my door. I know that this is so, but also know That though the souls of just such men as these Are not this moment living for the light, Yet in them have been planted seeds of good Which will not fail to ripen in due time. CAPESIUS: Let me, I pray thee, freely speak my mind. I have admired thee now these many years; Yet up till now I have not grasped the sense Which underlies thy strange mysterious words. FELIX: