Page:Anthology of Modern Slavonic Literature in Prose and Verse by Paul Selver.djvu/282

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258
JAN SVATOPLUK MACHAR

To lure the living till the crack of doom!
Why did you scorn to take all kingdoms then
And glory of the earth? For mine is life,
I, I am life, and lord of all things here,
And age on age I lurk in hearts and souls!"

And Satan then uprising, folded out
His tawny-hued and mighty vampire-wings,
Whose girth with stirring of a tempest waxed
Dread, overwhelming. On all Golgotha,
Above the town, the valley and the hills,
Above the plain, above the distant mountains,
Above blue-watered lakes of Galilee,
Above the realms and oceans far-removed
The black and frowning mantle was outstretched.

And there was mighty gloom on all the earth,
And quaking.
And last time of all, the eyes
Of Jesus turned, and with loud voice he cried:
"Eloi, Eloi lama zabachtani!"
And breathed away his spirit. . .

"Golgotha" (1902).

5. LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT.

Call not the surgeon,—he'll avail me naught,—
It was a goodly wound,—a devilish stripling,—
But only prop my head, that I may set
Last things in order,—As a keep-sake, have