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قراءة كتاب The Epic of Paul
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اللغة: English
الصفحة رقم: 3
go;
What thou must do shall there to thee be told.'
Blind-smitten with the glory of the light,
Into Damascus guided by the hand
I came.
"There, Ananias, a devout
Observer of the law, of good renown
With all the Hebrew Damascenes, found me.
I felt him, though I saw him not, as he
Paused standing there before me, and these words
Spake: 'Brother Saul, receive thy sight.' And I,
That selfsame hour my sight receiving, fixed
My eyes on Ananias, when he said:
'The God of our forefathers hath of thee
Made choice His will to know and to behold
The Righteous One and from His mouth a voice
To hear. For, witness shalt thou be for Him
To all men of the things thou hast beheld
And heard. And now why lingerest thou? Arise
And be baptized and wash away thy sins,
Calling upon His name.'
Observer of the law, of good renown
With all the Hebrew Damascenes, found me.
I felt him, though I saw him not, as he
Paused standing there before me, and these words
Spake: 'Brother Saul, receive thy sight.' And I,
That selfsame hour my sight receiving, fixed
My eyes on Ananias, when he said:
'The God of our forefathers hath of thee
Made choice His will to know and to behold
The Righteous One and from His mouth a voice
To hear. For, witness shalt thou be for Him
To all men of the things thou hast beheld
And heard. And now why lingerest thou? Arise
And be baptized and wash away thy sins,
Calling upon His name.'
"Thereafter I,
Unto Jerusalem returned, and here
Within the temple praying, into trance
Passed, and beheld Him, as to me He said:
'Haste, from Jerusalem to go make speed,
For witness will they not from thee receive
Concerning Me.' 'But, Lord,' said I, 'they know
Themselves how I, of all men I, imprisoned
And scourged from synagogue to synagogue
Them that on Thee believed. And when was shed
Thy martyr Stephen's blood, I, also I,
Stood near, consenting, and their garments kept
Who slew him.' But the Lord to me replied:
'Depart, for I will send thee forth far hence
In mission to the Gentiles—"
Unto Jerusalem returned, and here
Within the temple praying, into trance
Passed, and beheld Him, as to me He said:
'Haste, from Jerusalem to go make speed,
For witness will they not from thee receive
Concerning Me.' 'But, Lord,' said I, 'they know
Themselves how I, of all men I, imprisoned
And scourged from synagogue to synagogue
Them that on Thee believed. And when was shed
Thy martyr Stephen's blood, I, also I,
Stood near, consenting, and their garments kept
Who slew him.' But the Lord to me replied:
'Depart, for I will send thee forth far hence
In mission to the Gentiles—"
To this word
The throng to Paul gave patient ear, but now—
At sign and instigation, ambushed erst
In waiting for the moment meet to spring,
And springing pregnant from the ready wit
Of Shimei, when that hateful hint was heard
Of mission to the Gentiles through a Jew—
Rose an uproar of voices from the crowd,
As when winds mingle sea and sky in storm.
"Away with such a fellow from the earth!"
They cried; "it is not fit that he should live."
The throng to Paul gave patient ear, but now—
At sign and instigation, ambushed erst
In waiting for the moment meet to spring,
And springing pregnant from the ready wit
Of Shimei, when that hateful hint was heard
Of mission to the Gentiles through a Jew—
Rose an uproar of voices from the crowd,
As when winds mingle sea and sky in storm.
"Away with such a fellow from the earth!"
They cried; "it is not fit that he should live."
A wild scene, for with outcry wild was mixed
Wild gesture; the whole madding multitude
Rent off their raiment, and into the air
Dust flung in cloud as where a whirlwind roars.
Astonished stood the chiliarch at the sight,
Nor doubted that some monster was the man
Against whom such a storm of clamor raged.
He bade bring Paul within the castle, there
Bade scourge him that he might his crime confess.
Already they had bound him for the thongs,
When Paul to the centurion standing by
Said, "Is it lawful for you then to scourge
A man that is a Roman—uncondemned?"
This the centurion hearing, straightway he
Went to the chiliarch and abrupt exclaimed:
"What is it thou art on the point to do?
For this man is a Roman." Then to Paul
Hastens the chiliarch and, perturbed, inquires:
"Tell me, art thou a Roman?" "Yea," said Paul.
Surprised, incredulous half, the chiliarch cried:
"I with an ample sum that franchise bought."
"But I," calmly said Paul, "was thereto born."
Wild gesture; the whole madding multitude
Rent off their raiment, and into the air
Dust flung in cloud as where a whirlwind roars.
Astonished stood the chiliarch at the sight,
Nor doubted that some monster was the man
Against whom such a storm of clamor raged.
He bade bring Paul within the castle, there
Bade scourge him that he might his crime confess.
Already they had bound him for the thongs,
When Paul to the centurion standing by
Said, "Is it lawful for you then to scourge
A man that is a Roman—uncondemned?"
This the centurion hearing, straightway he
Went to the chiliarch and abrupt exclaimed:
"What is it thou art on the point to do?
For this man is a Roman." Then to Paul
Hastens the chiliarch and, perturbed, inquires:
"Tell me, art thou a Roman?" "Yea," said Paul.
Surprised, incredulous half, the chiliarch cried:
"I with an ample sum that franchise bought."
"But I," calmly said Paul, "was thereto born."
At that word from their prisoner, the men
Who ready round him stood the lash to ply
Instantly vanished, and the chiliarch too
Was panic-stricken—now in doubt no more
That Paul a Roman was, whom he had bound
For stripes, against a law greater than he,
Nay, sacred as the sacred majesty
Itself of the Republic—ancient name
Disguising empire!—law forbidding stripes
On any flesh that Roman title owned.
Who ready round him stood the lash to ply
Instantly vanished, and the chiliarch too
Was panic-stricken—now in doubt no more
That Paul a Roman was, whom he had bound
For stripes, against a law greater than he,
Nay, sacred as the sacred majesty
Itself of the Republic—ancient name
Disguising empire!—law forbidding stripes
On any flesh that Roman title owned.
Paul slept, in Roman chains, the Christian's sleep,
That night, but ill at ease the chiliarch tossed
In troubled slumbers. He, with early morn,
To council called the Jewish Sanhedrim,
Set Paul unbound before them, and so sought
The truth to know of what on him was charged.
With calmly steadfast eye Paul faced his foes,
But Shimei smiled in confidence of guile;
Whatever the accused might seek to say,
Affront should meet him and torment his pride.
Paul, his fixed eyes pointing his moveless aim
Full in the faces of the elders, said:
"Brethren, in all good conscience have I lived
In loyalty toward God unto this day."
On such a claim from such a prisoner,
Angry the high priest Ananias cried,
"Smite him upon the mouth!" to those near by.
Paul flamed in answering righteous wrath, and said,
Flashing a lightning from his eyes on him:
"Smite thee shall God, thou whited wall! And thou,
Sittest thou here to judge me by the law,
And, the law breaking, biddest me be smitten?"
That night, but ill at ease the chiliarch tossed
In troubled slumbers. He, with early morn,
To council called the Jewish Sanhedrim,
Set Paul unbound before them, and so sought
The truth to know of what on him was charged.
With calmly steadfast eye Paul faced his foes,
But Shimei smiled in confidence of guile;
Whatever the accused might seek to say,
Affront should meet him and torment his pride.
Paul, his fixed eyes pointing his moveless aim
Full in the faces of the elders, said:
"Brethren, in all good conscience have I lived
In loyalty toward God unto this day."
On such a claim from such a prisoner,
Angry the high priest Ananias cried,
"Smite him upon the mouth!" to those near by.
Paul flamed in answering righteous wrath, and said,
Flashing a lightning from his eyes on him:
"Smite thee shall God, thou whited wall! And thou,
Sittest thou here to judge me by the law,
And, the law breaking, biddest me be smitten?"
The bolted word had flown and found its mark,
And Paul stood quivering with the stern recoil.
But the bystanders, tools of Shimei,
In chorus of well-simulated zeal
Of reverence toward authority, cried out:
"The high priest, then, of God revilest thou?"
Tempting the outraged man to further vent
Volcanic of resentment at his wrong.
But Paul had tutored down his rebel
And Paul stood quivering with the stern recoil.
But the bystanders, tools of Shimei,
In chorus of well-simulated zeal
Of reverence toward authority, cried out:
"The high priest, then, of God revilest thou?"
Tempting the outraged man to further vent
Volcanic of resentment at his wrong.
But Paul had tutored down his rebel