_Prince Henry_。上帝祝福那些在湍急的河流和人类无法通过的深渊上建造桥梁的建筑师，不亚于那些建造教堂的人，他们巨大的墙壁是跨越黑暗和可怕的死亡深渊的桥梁。本提菲克斯这个名字被赋予了教会领袖，作为从人间通往天堂的无形桥梁的主要建造者和建筑师。天变得多黑啊!我们周围墙上的画是什么?亨利王子《魔舞》!_Elsie_什么?亨利王子——死亡之舞!所有来来往往的人都必须注视着它，铭记着自己的未来，而在木桩下面，汹涌的河水奔流着，像生命之河一样奔涌，带着涟漪，永远青翠明亮，除了这座桥的影子落在上面的地方。_Elsie。_ O, yes! I see it now! _Prince Henry_ The grim musician Leads all men through the mazes of that dance, To different sounds in different measures moving; Sometimes he plays a lute, sometimes a drum, To tempt or terrify. _Elsie_ What is this picture? _Prince Henry_ It is a young man singing to a nun, Who kneels at her devotions, but in kneeling Turns round to look at him, and Death, meanwhile, Is putting out the candles on the altar! _Elsie_ Ah, what a pity 't is that she should listen to such songs, when in her orisons She might have heard in heaven the angels singing! _Prince Henry_ Here he has stolen a jester's cap and bells, And dances with the Queen. _Elsie_ A foolish jest! _Prince Henry_ And here the heart of the new-wedded wife, Coming from church with her beloved lord, He startles with the rattle of his drum. _Elsie_ Ah, that is sad! And yet perhaps 't is best That she should die, with all the sunshine on her, And all the benedictions of the morning, Before this affluence of golden light Shall fade into a cold and clouded gray, Then into darkness! _Prince Henry_ Under it is written, 'Nothing but death shall separate thee and me!' _Elsie._ And what is this, that follows close upon it? _Prince Henry_ Death, playing on a ducimer. Behind him, A poor old woman, with a rosary, Follows the sound, and seems to wish her feet Were swifter to o'ertake him. Underneath, The inscription reads, 'Better is Death than Life.' _Elsie._ Better is Death than Life! Ah yes! to thousands Death plays upon a dulcimer, and sings That song of consolation, till the air Rings with it, and they cannot choose but follow Whither he leads. And not the old alone, But the young also hear it, and are still. _Prince Henry_ Yes, in their sadder moments. 'T is the sound Of their own hearts they hear, half full of tears, Which are like crystal cups, half filled with water. Responding to the pressure of a finger With music sweet and low and melancholy. Let us go forward, and no longer stay In this great picture-gallery of Death! I hate it! ay, the very thought of it! _Elsie._ Why is it hateful to you? _Prince Henry._ For the reason That life, and all that speaks of life, is lovely, And death, and all that speaks of death, is hateful. _Elsie._ The grave is but a covered bridge, leading from light to light, through a brief darkness! _Prince Henry (emerging from the bridge)._ I breathe again more freely! Ah, how pleasant To come once more into the light of day, Out of that shadow of death! To hear again The hoof-beats of our horses on firm ground, And not upon those hollow planks, resounding With a sepulchral echo, like the clods On coffins in a churchyard! Yonder lies The Lake of the Four Forest-Towns, apparelled In light, and lingering, like a village maiden, Hid in the bosom of her native mountains, Then pouring all her life into another's, Changing her name and being! Overhead, Shaking his cloudy tresses loose in air, Rises Pilatus, with his windy pines. (_They pass on_.) * * * * * THE DEVIL'S BRIDGE. * * * * * PRINCE HENRY _and_ ELSIE _crossing, with attendants._ _Guide._ This bridge is called the Devil's Bridge. With a single arch, from ridge to ridge, It leaps across the terrible chasm Yawning beneath us, black and deep, As if, in some convulsive spasm, the summits of the hills had cracked, and made a road for the cataract, That raves and rages down the steep! _Lucifer (under the bridge)._ Ha! ha! _Guide._ Never any bridge but this Could stand across the wild abyss; All the rest, of wood or stone, By the Devil's hand were overthrown. He toppled crags from the precipice, And whatsoe'er was built by day In the night was swept away; None could stand but this a