The Theologian's Tale - The Wayside Inn - Part Third

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

    ELIZABETH

    I

    "Ah, how short are the days!    How soon the night overtakes us!
    In the old country the twilight is longer; but here in the forest
    Suddenly comes the dark, with hardly a pause in its coming,
    Hardly a moment between the two lights, the day and the lamplight;
    Yet how grand is the winter!    How spotless the snow is, and perfect!"

        Thus spake Elizabeth Haddon at nightfall to Hannah the housemaid,
    As in the farm-house kitchen, that served for kitchen and parlor,
    By the window she sat with her work, and looked on a landscape
    White as the great white sheet that Peter saw in his vision,
    By the four corners let down and descending out of the heavens.
    Covered with snow were the forests of pine, and the fields and the meadows.
    Nothing was dark but the sky, and the distant Delaware flowing
    Down from its native hills, a peaceful and bountiful river.

        Then with a smile on her lips made answer Hannah the housemaid:
    "Beautiful winter! yea, the winter is beautiful, surely,
    If one could only walk like a fly with one's feet on the ceiling.
    But the great Delaware River is not like the Thames, as we saw it
    Out of our upper windows in Rotherhithe Street in the Borough,
    Crowded with masts and sails of vessels coming and going;
    Here there is nothing but pines, with patches of snow on their branches.
    There is snow in the air, and see! it is falling already;
    All the roads will be blocked, and I pity Joseph to-morrow,
    Breaking his way through the drifts, with his sled and oxen; and then, too,
    How in all the world shall we get to Meeting on First-Day?"

        But Elizabeth checked her, and answered, mildly reproving:
    "Surely the Lord will provide; for unto the snow he sayeth,
    Be thou on the earth, the good Lord sayeth; he is it
    Giveth snow like wool, like ashes scatters the hoar-frost."
    So she folded her work and laid it away in her basket.

        Meanwhile Hannah the housemaid had closed and fastened the shutters,
    Spread the cloth, and lighted the lamp on the table, and placed there
    Plates and cups from the dresser, the brown rye loaf, and the butter
    Fresh from the dairy, and then, protecting her hand with a holder,
    Took from the crane in the chimney the steaming and simmering kettle,
    Poised it aloft in the air, and filled up the earthen teapot,
    Made in Delft, and adorned with quaint and wonderful figures.

        Then Elizabeth said, "Lo! Joseph is long on his errand.
    I have sent him away with a hamper of food and of clothing
    For the poor in the village.    A good lad and cheerful is Joseph;
    In the right place is his heart, and his hand is ready and willing."

        Thus in praise of her servant she spake, and Hannah the housemaid
    Laughed with her eyes, as she listened, but governed her tongue, and was silent,
    While her mistress went on: "The house is far from the village;
    We should be lonely here, were it not for Friends that in passing
    Sometimes tarry o'ernight, and make us glad by their coming."

        Thereupon answered Hannah the housemaid, the thrifty, the frugal:
    "Yea, they come and they tarry, as if thy house were a tavern;
    Open to all are its doors, and they come and go like the pigeons
    In and out of the holes of the pigeon-house over the hayloft,
    Cooing and smoothing their feathers and basking themselves in the sunshine."

        But in meekness of spirit, and calmly, Elizabeth answered:
    "All I have is the Lord's, not mine to give or withhold it;
    I but distribute his gifts to the poor, and to those of his people
    Who in journeyings often surrender their lives to his service.
    His, not mine, are the gifts, and only so far can I make them
    Mine, as in giving I add my heart to whatever is given.
    Therefore my excellent father first built this house in the clearing;
    Though he came not himself, I came; for the Lord was my guidance,
    Leading me here for this service.    We must not grudge, then, to others
    Ever the cup of cold water, or crumbs that fall from our table."

        Thus rebuked, for a season was silent the penitent housemaid;
    And Elizabeth said in tones even sweeter and softer:
    "Dost thou remember, Hannah, the great May-Meeting in London,
    When I was still a child, how we sat in the silent assembly,
    Waiting upon the Lord in patient and passive submission?
    No one spake, till at length a young man, a stranger, John Estaugh,
    Moved by the Spirit, rose, as if he were John the Apostle,
    Speaking such words of power that they bowed our hearts, as a strong wind
    Bends the grass of the fields, or grain that is ripe for the sickle.
    Thoughts of him to-day have been oft borne inward upon me,
    Wherefore I do not know; but strong is the feeling within me
    That once more I shall see a face I have never forgotten."


    II

    E'en as she spake they heard the musical jangle of sleigh-bells,
    First far off, with a dreamy sound and faint in the distance,
    Then growing nearer and louder, and turning into the farmyard,
    Till it stopped at the door, with sudden creaking of runners.
    Then there were voices heard as of two men talking together,
    And to herself, as she listened, upbraiding said Hannah the housemaid,
    "It is Joseph come back, and I wonder what stranger is with him?"

        Down from its nail she took and lighted the great tin lantern
    Pierced with holes, and round, and roofed like the top of a lighthouse,
    And went forth to receive the coming guest at the doorway,
    Casting into the dark a network of glimmer and shadow
    Over the falling snow, the yellow sleigh, and the horses,
    And the forms of men, snow-covered, looming gigantic.
    Then giving Joseph the lantern, she entered the house with the stranger.
    Youthful he was and tall, and his cheeks aglow with the night air;
    And as he entered, Elizabeth rose, and, going to meet him,
    As if an unseen power had announced and preceded his presence,
    And he had come as one whose coming had long been expected,
    Quietly gave him her hand, and said, "Thou art welcome, John Estaugh."
    And the stranger replied, with staid and quiet behavior,
    "Dost thou remember me still, Elizabeth?    After so many
    Years have passed, it seemeth a wonderful thing that I find thee.
    Surely the hand of the Lord conducted me here to thy threshold.
    For as I journeyed along, and pondered alone and in silence
    On his ways, that are past finding out, I saw in the snow-mist,
    Seemingly weary with travel, a wayfarer, who by the wayside
    Paused and waited.    Forthwith I remembered Queen Candace's eunuch,
    How on the way that goes down from Jerusalem unto Gaza,
    Reading Esaias the Prophet, he journeyed, and spake unto Philip,
    Praying him to come up and sit in his chariot with him.
    So I greeted the man, and he mounted the sledge beside me,
    And as we talked on the way he told me of thee and thy homestead,
    How, being led by the light of the Spirit, that never deceiveth,
    Full of zeal for the work of the Lord, thou hadst come to this country.
    And I remembered thy name, and thy father and mother in England,
    And on my journey have stopped to see thee, Elizabeth Haddon.
    Wishing to strengthen thy hand in the labors of love thou art doing."

        And Elizabeth answered with confident voice, and serenely
    Looking into his face with her innocent eyes as she answered,
    "Surely the hand of the Lord is in it; his Spirit hath led thee
    Out of the darkness and storm to the light and peace of my fireside."

        Then, with stamping of feet, the door was opened, and Joseph
    Entered, bearing the lantern, and, carefully blowing the light out,
    Rung it up on its nail, and all sat down to their supper;
    For underneath that roof was no distinction of persons,
    But one family only, one heart, one hearth and one household.

        When the supper was ended they drew their chairs to the fireplace,
    Spacious, open-hearted, profuse of flame and of firewood,
    Lord of forests unfelled, and not a gleaner of fagots,
    Spreading its arms to embrace with inexhaustible bounty
    All who fled from the cold, exultant, laughing at winter!
    Only Hannah the housemaid was busy in clearing the table,
    Coming and going, and hustling about in closet and chamber.

        Then Elizabeth told her story again to John Estaugh,
    Going far back to the past, to the early days of her childhood;
    How she had waited and watched, in all her doubts and besetments
    Comforted with the extendings and holy, sweet inflowings
    Of the spirit of love, till the voice imperative sounded,
    And she obeyed the voice, and cast in her lot with her people
    Here in the desert land, and God would provide for the issue.

        Meanwhile Joseph sat with folded hands, and demurely
    Listened, or seemed to listen, and in the silence that followed
    Nothing was heard for a while but the step of Hannah the housemaid
    Walking the floor overhead, and setting the chambers in order.
    And Elizabeth said, with a smile of compassion, "The maiden
    Hath a light heart in her breast, but her feet are heavy and awkward."
    Inwardly Joseph laughed, but governed his tongue, and was silent.

        Then came the hour of sleep, death's counterfeit, nightly rehearsal
    Of the great Silent Assembly, the Meeting of shadows, where no man
    Speaketh, but all are still, and the peace and rest are unbroken!
    Silently over that house the blessing of slumber descended.
    But when the morning dawned, and the sun uprose in his splendor,
    Breaking his way through clouds that encumbered his path in the heavens,
    Joseph was seen with his sled and oxen breaking a pathway
    Through the drifts of snow; the horses already were harnessed,
    And John Estaugh was standing and taking leave at the threshold,
    Saying that he should return at the Meeting in May; while above them
    Hannah the housemaid, the homely, was looking out of the attic,
    Laughing aloud at Joseph, then suddenly closing the casement,
    As the bird in a cuckoo-clock peeps out of its window,
    Then disappears again, and closes the shutter behind it.



    III

    Now was the winter gone, and the snow; and Robin the Redbreast,
    Boasted on bush and tree it was he, it was he and no other
    That had covered with leaves the Babes in the Wood, and blithely
    All the birds sang with him, and little cared for his boasting,
    Or for his Babes in the Wood, or the Cruel Uncle, and only
    Sang for the mates they had chosen, and cared for the nests they were building.
    With them, but more sedately and meekly, Elizabeth Haddon
    Sang in her inmost heart, but her lips were silent and songless.
    Thus came the lovely spring with a rush of blossoms and music,
    Flooding the earth with flowers, and the air with melodies vernal.

        Then it came to pass, one pleasant morning, that slowly
    Up the road there came a cavalcade, as of pilgrims
    Men and women, wending their way to the Quarterly Meeting
    In the neighboring town; and with them came riding John Estaugh.
    At Elizabeth's door they stopped to rest, and alighting
    Tasted the currant wine, and the bread of rye, and the honey
    Brought from the hives, that stood by the sunny wall of the garden;
    Then remounted their horses, refreshed, and continued their journey,
    And Elizabeth with them, and Joseph, and Hannah the housemaid.
    But, as they started, Elizabeth lingered a little, and leaning
    Over her horse's neck, in a whisper said to John Estaugh
    "Tarry awhile behind, for I have something to tell thee,
    Not to be spoken lightly, nor in the presence of others;
    Them it concerneth not, only thee and me it concerneth."
    And they rode slowly along through the woods, conversing together.
    It was a pleasure to breathe the fragrant air of the forest;
    It was a pleasure to live on that bright and happy May morning!

        Then Elizabeth said, though still with a certain reluctance,
    As if impelled to reveal a secret she fain would have guarded:
    "I will no longer conceal what is laid upon me to tell thee;
    I have received from the Lord a charge to love thee, John Estaugh."

        And John Estaugh made answer, surprised by the words she had spoken,
    "Pleasant to me are thy converse, thy ways, thy meekness of spirit;
    Pleasant thy frankness of speech, and thy soul's immaculate whiteness,
    Love without dissimulation, a holy and inward adorning.
    But I have yet no light to lead me, no voice to direct me.
    When the Lord's work is done, and the toil and the labor completed
    He hath appointed to me, I will gather into the stillness
    Of my own heart awhile, and listen and wait for his guidance."

        Then Elizabeth said, not troubled nor wounded in spirit,
    "So is it best, John Estaugh.    We will not speak of it further.
    It hath been laid upon me to tell thee this, for to-morrow
    Thou art going away, across the sea, and I know not
    When I shall see thee more; but if the Lord hath decreed it,
    Thou wilt return again to seek me here and to find me."
    And they rode onward in silence, and entered the town with the others.



    IV

    Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing,
    Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness;
    So on the ocean of life we pass and speak one another,
    Only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence.

        Now went on as of old the quiet life of the homestead.
    Patient and unrepining Elizabeth labored, in all things
    Mindful not of herself, but bearing the burdens of others,
    Always thoughtful and kind and untroubled; and Hannah the housemaid
    Diligent early and late, and rosy with washing and scouring,
    Still as of old disparaged the eminent merits of Joseph,
    And was at times reproved for her light and frothy behavior,
    For her shy looks, and her careless words, and her evil surmisings,
    Being pressed down somewhat like a cart with sheaves overladen,
    As she would sometimes say to Joseph, quoting the Scriptures.

        Meanwhile John Estaugh departed across the sea, and departing
    Carried hid in his heart a secret sacred and precious,
    Filling its chambers with fragrance, and seeming to him in its sweetness
    Mary's ointment of spikenard, that filled all the house with its odor.
    O lost days of delight, that are wasted in doubting and waiting!
    O lost hours and days in which we might have been happy!
    But the light shone at last, and guided his wavering footsteps,
    And at last came the voice, imperative, questionless, certain.

        Then John Estaugh came back o'er the sea for the gift that was offered,
    Better than houses and lands, the gift of a woman's affection.
    And on the First-Day that followed, he rose in the Silent Assembly,
    Holding in his strong hand a hand that trembled a little,
    Promising to be kind and true and faithful in all things.
    Such were the marriage-rites of John and Elizabeth Estaugh.

        And not otherwise Joseph, the honest, the diligent servant,
    Sped in his bashful wooing with homely Hannah the housemaid;
    For when he asked her the question, she answered, "Nay"; and then added
    "But thee may make believe, and see what will come of it, Joseph."



    INTERLUDE

    "A pleasant and a winsome tale,"
    The Student said, "though somewhat pale
    And quiet in its coloring,
    As if it caught its tone and air
    From the gray suits that Quakers wear;
    Yet worthy of some German bard,
    Hebel, or Voss, or Eberhard,
    Who love of humble themes to sing,
    In humble verse; but no more true
    Than was the tale I told to you."

    The Theologian made reply,
    And with some warmth, "That I deny;
    'T is no invention of my own,
    But something well and widely known
    To readers of a riper age,
    Writ by the skilful hand that wrote
    The Indian tale of Hobomok,
    And Philothea's classic page.
    I found it like a waif afloat
    Or dulse uprooted from its rock,
    On the swift tides that ebb and flow
    In daily papers, and at flood
    Bear freighted vessels to and fro,
    But later, when the ebb is low,
    Leave a long waste of sand and mud."

    "It matters little," quoth the Jew;
    "The cloak of truth is lined with lies,
    Sayeth some proverb old and wise;
    And Love is master of all arts,
    And puts it into human hearts
    The strangest things to say and do."

    And here the controversy closed
    Abruptly, ere 't was well begun;
    For the Sicilian interposed
    With, "Lordlings, listen, every one
    That listen may, unto a tale
    That's merrier than the nightingale;
    A tale that cannot boast, forsooth,
    A single rag or shred of truth;
    That does not leave the mind in doubt
    As to the with it or without;
    A naked falsehood and absurd
    As mortal ever told or heard.
    Therefore I tell it; or, maybe,
    Simply because it pleases me."