Thou spirit-child, thou liv'st Johannes' youth In gloomy shadow-realms. To thee in love Bends down the soul which o'er Johannes broods From realms ablaze with light, aglow with love. She will from thine enchantment set thee free If thou wilt take so much of what she feels As shall procure thee life in blessedness. I will ally thee with the elements Which labour unaware in cosmic space Withdrawing ever far from waking souls. With those earth-spirits thou canst fashion forms, And with the fire-souls thou canst ray out power, If thou wilt sacrifice thy conscious life Unto the will that works with light and power But without human wisdom. So shalt thou Preserve thy knowledge, only half thine own, From Lucifer, and to Johannes give The services which are of worth to him. From his soul's being I will bring to thee What causeth him to crave thy being's aid, And find refreshment in the spirit-sleep.
But beauty she can ne'er bestow on thee Since I myself dare take it far from her.
From noble feeling I will find the germ Of beauty which grows ripe through sacrifice.
From free-will she will tear thee and instead Give thee to spirits who dwell in the dark.
I shall awaken sight by spirit filled That e'en from Lucifer knows itself free.
(Lucifer, Theodora, and the Spirit of Johannes' youth disappear. Johannes, awaking from his meditation, sees 'the other Philia' approaching him.)
And clairvoyant dreams Make clear unto souls The magical web That forms their own life.
Thou riddle-speaking spirit--at thy words This world I entered! Of its mysteries One only--is important for my soul: Whether, as living in the spirit worlds, The shadow dwells who sought with Lucifer And Theodora to be shown to me.
He lives--and by thyself was waked to life. E'en as a glass in pictures doth reflect All things by light upon its surface thrown So must whate'er in spirit-realms thou see'st-- Ere full maturity gives thee the right To such clairvoyance--mirrored be in life Within the realm of half-waked spirit-shades.
Yet one that lives and keeps its hold on life So long as thou dost keep within thyself An outlived self which thou indeed canst stun But which as yet thou canst not overthrow. Johannes, thine awakening is but false Until thou shalt thyself set free the shade Whom thine offence doth lend a magic life.