Sir T. Never! A phantom life, The actor's; spell-bound drudgery chained And eyeless. What a ruthless tyrant public Opinion is--an armed automaton That fells its victims blindly! Entertain A motley audience for a livelihood You never make; be this, be that--a fop, A fool, a hero, or a villain; lose Conceit of everything except applause; Be certain of success when self-contempt Assures you that you play a popular part; Be courteous to the bully, bland with fools-- The dreadful folk that haunt celebrities, That haunt theatrical celebrities; Be genial with the newsman--glad to see him; Civil to greedy playwrights, artists, cads And cadgers, leeches, lice and vampire-bats That bleed the theatre; everybody's body; Charity, politics, church--their humble servant; And nightly the performance in the cage Before the assorted multitude Of people, people, people: this, and worse; Then death and swift oblivion: nothing done; Nothing at all to be remembered by: No other noise so big as stage renown Is silenced utterly by death. St. J. No fame Outlasts the world: there lives the hope of man: Death's meaning is that consciousness shall cease, The earth be purged of life; thus in the end All men are equal, matter pure from taint Of anguish; in the nebula become Essential fire, free from solicitude. This is the freedom of the Universe. Sir T. Matter grown anxious: that is very man. St. J. Therefore the player's is an envied lot: No other artist so intensely lives In the world's consciousness. Sir T. But after death? St. J. Dread nothing that can happen after death: The world will cease: live in that thought, that mood, Upon the eternal moment. Sir T. But to mark The world before one dies! St. J. The inmost hope Of all men! I believe that you and I Could orientate the world's imagination; And that would make a mark. Sir T. Tell me of that! The whole thing stirs me: tell me more of that! First have I grasped your meaning? All the past, Religion, drama, art is dead to us, Because we know that all is Matter, all Imagination, beauty, passion, power Through time and times and changing suns and orbs From spacious nebula to nebula. This is the freedom of the Universe Wherein imagination must delight, Now that Olympus, Asgard, Heaven and Hell, Gods, God and separate soul are dead and done.