Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE DIVINE NARCISSUS, by JUANA INES DE LA CRUZ


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE DIVINE NARCISSUS, by             Poem Explanation         Poet's Biography
First Line: Human nature -- / ah, weary me! My perilous quest
Last Line: And brilliant stars shall proudly borrow light.
Alternate Author Name(s): Ramirez, Juana De Asbaje Y; Cruz, Juana Ines De La; Juana Ines De La Cruz
Subject(s): Humanity; Love


(A SACRAMENTAL PLAY)

The action begins with a Loa, or prologue in which
the Western World and America appear as persons habited
in the dress of Indians. They are about to offer sacrifice
to the god of seed-time, when Zeal, a Spanish soldier,
interrupts them, and with his armed companions endeavors
to compel them to desist. He is prevented and rebuked
by Religion in the person of a virgin, who invites the
attention of all to the story of the passion of the Divine
Narcissus.
The persons of the play then take the place of those
of the Loa. The Hebrew and the Gentile as Synagogue
and Gentility, in the guise of nymphs accompanied by
an unseen chorus, alternate in songs of praise, -- the first
to the Divine Narcissus, the Son of God, the second
to the spirit of fountains and flowers. Human Nature,
another nymph, asks them to reconcile their songs, and
declares the divinity of Narcissus and her love for him.
Grace, Echo as Angelic Nature, Pride, Self-Love, and other
nymphs, together with a band of shepherds and the chorus,
take part with Human Nature and her loving Narcissus
in acting a beautiful allegory in which the heathen myth
is wedded to Christ's passion. Echo, as Angelic Nature,
sues in vain for the love of Narcissus, and Human Nature
comes to the grove to seek him. On her coming she speaks
the following lament.

Enter Human Nature

Human Nature --
Ah, weary me! my perilous quest
I follow still with faith untired.
My wandering steps may have no rest
Until I find my well-desired,
My loved Narcissus, whom in vain
I seek through shady grove and sunny plain.

Hope leads me to this pleasant glade,
With promise of my lost one's sight.
If I may trust her gentle aid,
His presence caused the sweet delight
Which beams in every fragrant flower,
And sets a-tremble all this leafy bower.

How many days, alas! have I
The woodland, flower by flower, searched
With many a heart-consuming sigh,
By thorns empierced, by slime besmirched;
Each woe to new hope giving birth!
Ages my days, my pilgrimage the earth!

My past declares our sacred troth:
The paths I've trod with ceaseless pain.
My sighs and groans commingling both
With tears that wet my cheeks like rain!
Nay, slavery and prison oft
My unforgetting fealty madly scoffed!

Once was I from his city driven,
E'en by the servants of his power, --
My mantle torn, my sceptre riven,
The watchers of his warden tower
My shoulders scourged with ships of flame.
And thrust me forth with Sin and Evil Fame.

O nymphs, who grace this fair retreat!
Your sympathy I pray impart:
Should you my soul's Beloved meet,
Tell him the longings of my heart;
The patience of my passion tell,
My tortured spirit and my anguish fell.

If sign you need my Loved to know,
His brow is fair as rosy morn,
His bosom whiter than the snow.
With light like that by jasper borne.
His eyes are limpid as the dove's,
And all their deep, unfathomed gleams are Love's.

His breath is like the fragrance thrown
From rarest incense; and his hand
Is jeweled with the hyacinth stone,
The badge of Glory's knightly band,
The jewel of the sigh and tear, --
The crest of all who triumph over fear.

He stands as stately as the shaft
That lifts the temple dome on high;
His graceful gestures gently waft
A spell o'er every gazer's eye.
O maids! perfections all combine
To mark the person of my Love divine! --

Among the myriads you will know him
O'er all the better or the worse;
His god-like form will ever show him
The flower of the universe.
No other shepherd is there, here
Or elsewhere, equal to this Shepherd dear!

Then tell me where my soul's ado
His swift and busy footsteps turns!
What shady bower he fleeth toward
When high the midday sunlight burns!
For sad and weary is my heart,
With wandering through the Forest's every part.

[The action passes naturally to a culmination in the
following scene of the resurrection of Narcissus after his
supposed death in the fountain.]

Enter about the Fountain, Human Nature with all the
nymphs and
shepherds. They bewail the death of Narcissus. Grace enters,
and
addressing Human Nature, says: --

Grace -- Why weep you thus so grievously, fair nymph?
What seek you, and what is your cause of woe?

Human Nature --
The Master of my love in vain I seek.
I know not where the jealous Fates have hid
Him from my eager sight.

Grace -- Lament not! weep not!
Nor seek among the dead the Eternal One.
Narcissus, thy Beloved, lives.

Narcissus, brilliantly dressed and crowned as from the
Resurrection, enters, accompanied by a troop of
rejoicing shepherds. Human Nature turns and sees him.

Narcissus --
Fair maid,
Thy pearly tears are precious to my sight,
And melt my heart to pity! Why does grief
Thus flood thy gentle eyes?

Human Nature --
I weep, my lord,
For my Narcissus. Oh, could you but tell
Me where to seek for my lost love!

Narcissus --
Dear spouse,
Has heaven's glory shining on my brow
So masked me that you know me not?

Human Nature --
O spouse adorable! My joy! My heart
Bows to the earth with its great happiness!
I kiss thy feet.

Narcissus --
No, dear one, thou must not!
A little longer must thou wait, for I
Go now to join my Father on his throne.

Human Nature --
Thou wilt leave me here alone? Dear Lord, I faint
To think without thine arm to shelter me
My enemy the serpent may destroy me.

Enter Echo, Pride, and Self-Love

Echo -- True that! for he has laid in wait for her
With wary cunning for these many years.

[Narcissus rebukes the envious nymphs, and calls
on Grace to declare the Will of God.]

Narcissus --
Then to thy greater pain, since thou canst wish
Such evil to another, know my plan
Of safeguard for my chosen spouse. Speak, Grace,
The meaning of this parable which we
So far have acted. Tell my message.

Grace -- List
Ye all! The master I obey.

Echo -- Alas!
My woe grows heavier at thy words of dole.

Grace -- So shall the beauty of Narcissus bloom
In sovereign state while he enjoys the bliss
Eternally prepared for him, the king
Of happiness, dispenser of all joys.
Perfection's treasurer and crowned cause
Of wonder-making miracles. The orbs
Whose crystal radiance lights the firmament
Shall be his lofty glory's witnesses;
Their circled courses, as with pens of fire,
Shall write his deeds upon the vast of space;
The splendor of the morning stars, the flame
Of purifying fires, the storm-tossed plumes
Of ocean, the uplifted crags of earth,
And the unceasing music of the winds,
Shall praise him, and from him the myriad suns
And brilliant stars shall proudly borrow light.






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