4. To Earthly Things Was Given Earth
PORKEO.
The clown resigns
To crown’s designs,
O, sovereign mine,
What is thy will?
MAXIMILIAN.
I am too hungry for this star-man’s silly games—amuse him whiles I lick!
PORKEO.
O! At last, a happy task for me!
I thrill to think what I shall see!
[MAXIMILIAN turns happily to his lollipop as PORKEO steps toward LEOPOLD and the telescope, delighted to look in the glass, but for the sudden intervention of the CARDINAL—his boney hand, a ring on every finger, clawing at the milky coat of the clown-prince.]
CARDINAL.
To earthly things was given earth,
To things of heaven, heaven only.
Should to the earth their gaze be turnt,
They come too close, and earth is burnt,
And so, astronomer, beware
Of rousing them that slumber there!
LEOPOLD.
O priest, do not against star-gazers harden!
It is God’s will that Man should tend His Garden,
For Man was made to scent the startling lilies
Of the field, and name them, too, and plant them!
O priest, o priest, do not against star-gazers harden,
Do not against star-gazers harden . . .
CARDINAL.
How widely does your garden range?
What world, what star out-lies your gaze?
What secret kept from your all-sight?
What thing that’s safely cloaked in night?
LEOPOLD.
Nothing.
COURTIERS.
O!
CARDINAL.
Then you see with God’s eyes.
COURTIERS.
O!
LEOPOLD.
You say so.