Brand.
[Follows him awhile with his eyes.]
Never did word so sorely prove
The smirch of lies, as this word <g>Love</g>:
With devilish craft, where will is frail,
Men lay <g>Love</g> over, as a veil,
And cunningly conceal thereby
That all their life is coquetry.
Whose path's the steep and perilous slope,
Let him but <g>love</g>,—and he may shirk it;
If he prefer Sin's easy circuit,
Let him but <g>love</g>,—he still may hope;
If God he seeks, but fears the fray,
Let him but <g>love</g>,—'tis straight his prey;
If with wide-open eyes he err,
Let him but <g>love</g>,—there's safety there!
Agnes.
Yes, it is false: yet still I fall
Questioning: Is it, after all?
Brand.
<g>One</g> point's omitted: First the Will
Law's thirst for righteousness must still.
You must <g>first</g> will! Not only things
Attainable, in more or less,
Nor only where the action brings
Some hardship and some weariness;
No, you must will with flashing eyes
Your way through all earth's agonies.
It is not martyrdom to toss
In anguish on the deadly cross:
But to have <g>will'd</g> to perish so,
To <g>will</g> it through each bodily throe,
To will it with still-tortured mind,
This, only this, redeems mankind.
