Semi-weekly Louisianian. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1871-1872, 1872-01-18
PO EFT RY.
From Longfellow's New Poem, 1.-The
Divine Tagedy."1
MARY MAGDALENE IN THE TOWER
OF MAGDALA.

me,
Merchants Of Tyre and princes of Dam
ascus;
And pass, and disappear, and are no more
But leave behind their merchandise anl
jewels,
Their perfumes and their gold, and thei
disgust
/ loathe them, and the very memory o
Is unto me as thought of food to one
Cloyed with the luscious figs of Dal
manutha!
What it hereafter, in the long hereafter
Of endless JOY or pain, or joy in pain,
1t were my punishment to be with them
Grown hideous and decrepit in their sins
And hear them say: Thou has brought u
here;
Be unto US as thou hast been of oldt
/ look upon these garments that wear,
These silks, and these embroideries, ant
they seem
Only as cerements wrapped about my
limbs!
l look upon these rings thick set witt
pearls
And emerald and smethyst and jasper.
And they are burning Goals upon my flesh.
This serpent on my wrist becomes alive
Away, thou viper and away, ye garlands
Whose odors bring the swift remembrance,
back
Of the unhallowed revels in these cham
bers
But yesterday-and yet it seems to me
Something remote, like a pathetic song
| Sung long ago by minstrels in the street
But yesterday, as from this tower gazed
Over the olive and the walnut trees,
Upon the lake and the white ships, and
wondered
Whittier and whence they steered, and
who was in them,
A fishers boat drew near the landing
place,
Under the oleanderS; and the people
Came up from it, and passed beneath tn,
tower,
Close under NE. In front of them, a.
leader,
Walked one OF noble aspect, clothed il
white,
Who lifted up his eyes and looked at me
And all at once the air seemed filled ant
living
With a mysterious power, that streamet
from him,
And overfowed me with an atmosphere
Of light and love. As one entranced
stood,
And when woke again, 10 he was gone
So that / said: Perhaps it is dream;
But from that very hour the seven demons
That had their habitation in this body,
Which men call beautiful, departed from
This morning, when the first gleam of the
dawn
Made Lebanon glory in the air,
And all below was darkness, beheld
An angel, or spirit glorifed,
With wind-tossed garments, walking on
the lake.
The face l could not see; but / distin-
guished
The attitude and gesture, and knew
Twas he that healed me. And the gusty
wind
Brought to my ears voice, which seemed
to say:
Be of good cheer Tis Be not afraid!
And from the darkness, scarcely heard,
the answer:
IF it be thou, bid me come unto thee
Upon the water! And the voice said
Come
And then heard cry of fear: Lord, save
me
AS of drowning man. And then the
voice:
Why didst thou doubt, oh thou of little
faith!
At this all vanished, and the storm was
hushed,
And the great sun came up above the hills,
And the swift-fying vapors hid themselves
In caverns among the rocks Oh ! must
find him,
And follow him, and be with him forever
Thou box Of alabaster, in whose walls
The souls of flowers lie pent, the precious
balm
And spikenard of Arabian farms, the spirits
OF aromatic herbs, ethereal natures
Nursed by the sun and dew, not all un.
worthy
To bathe his consecrated feet, whose ster
Makes every threshold holy that he crosses
Let US 60 forth upon our pilgrimage,
Thou and 1 only! Let us search for him
Until we find him, and pour out our souls
Before his feet, till all that's left of US
Shall be the broken caskets that once
held rs