In Prague. The garden of the Imperial Palace. To the right an arbour, to the left the tower of an observatory. Before it is a wide balcony with Kepler’s writing-table, chair and astronomical implements. LUCIFER as Kepler’s Famulus is on the balcony. In the garden groups of courtiers and ladies are walking; among them EVE as Barbara, the wife of Kepler. The Emperor RUDOLPH is deeply engaged in conversation with ADAM as Kepler. In the background is flaming a pyre for a heretic who is being burned at the stake. EVEning; later, night. Two COURTIERS come into the foreground.

FIRST COURTIER
Who burneth yonder in the glowing fire,
A heretic or sorceress, thinkest thou?

SECOND COURTIER
I know not. ’Tis a fashion long outworn
In suchlike scenes an interest to take.
Alone the rabble gather at the stake
And shout no more aloud in frenzied joy,
But murmur sullenly or silent, gaze.

FIRST COURTIER
A solemn ceremony, in my time,
Marked such a scene. The court and noblemen
All took their part. Ah, how old times have changed!
They move on.

LUCIFER
This blaze is welcome on a chilly night.
In truth from olden time it hath me warmed.
But now I fear lest it shall soon die out.
Not because man’s resolve doth quench its flames,
Nor yields it place to a new attitude,
But in this listless age no man is there
To cast a new log on the embers red.
And I may freeze. - Every great intent
Ends but is petty ruin, vanity.
He goes into the tower. RUDOLPH and ADAM advance into the foreground.

RUDOLPH
Kepler, draw up my horoscope for me.
Last night my dreams were evil, and I fear
In what conjunction is my ruling star.
A sign of ill within its realm appeared
A short while since, there, by the Serpent’s head.

ADAM
It shall be done, my Lord, as thou hast said.

RUDOLPH
When the climacteric days shall have passed,
Again we will begin our mighty work
Which, but a short time since, did not succeed.
I Hermes Trismegistus have anew
Conned deeply, and Synesius; new read
Albertus Magnus, Paracelsus, and
The Key of Solomon and other works,
Until I found the error that we made.
When we did make the Aged King a draught
To draw the sweat, then both to us appeared
The Raven and the Lion; after them
The twofold Mercury revealed itself
Under the influence of these planets twain.
And the salt of the Philosopher’s Stone
Sank to the bottom of the alembic.
But then we erred because we married not
Damp Fire and Water Dry, and so was lost
That rare elixir which into the veins
Of age youth poureth, and the virtue hath
To change vile brass to pure and ruddy gold.

ADAM
I understand, my Lord.

RUDOLPH
      One word beside,
A rumour ill of thee runs through the Court,
That thou dost hold to doctrines new and strange,
And questionest the teaching of the Church,
And that, now, when thy mother lieth held
In prison, charged with grievous sorcery.
On thee will come suspicion grave if thou
Dost strive so stubbornly and ceaselessly
To gain her liberty.

ADAM
      My noble liege,
She is my mother and I am her son.

RUDOLPH
Thy mother, rather, is the Holy Church.
Let the world be; it is well as it is.
Strive not with clumsy hand its faults to mend.
Have I not lavished favours upon thee?
Thy father, well thou knowest, kept an inn.
I placed your noble rank beyond all doubt,
Though no small hindrance lay there in the path,
I set thee near my throne, and only thus
Thou hadst the hand of thy fair Barbara.
Therefore I say again, take heed, my son.
Departs. ADAM remains in deep thought and stands at the steps of the balcony. Two COURTIERS advance to the foreground.

THIRD COURTIER
See, the astrologer is wrapped in thought.

FOURTH COURTIER
The luckless man is never at his ease.
He striveth vainly with his new estate:
The peasant birth always proclaimeth him.

THIRD COURTIER
He doth not comprehend that a true knight,
Although he worship woman as divine,
Would ready be to shed his blood for her,
If calumny her virtue e’er should stain.
In homage he suspects a hidden aim.
EVE, with another group, joins the two Courtiers and laughingly taps the SECOND COURTIER on the shoulder with her fan.

EVE
Come, gentle knight, have pity upon me.
I die with laughter at thy merry jests.
See, see, how solemn these two gentlemen!
The blighting spirit of these doctrines new
Perchance ye also now hath seized upon.
Away from me’. I cannot bear these folk
Who in their churlish melancholy hearts
Do envy us our shining world serene
And would a new one set instead of it.

THIRD COURTIER
Fair lady, we are guiltless of this charge;
In such a presence, who would seek a change?

FIRST COURTIER
But if I be mistaken not, there stands
A man who bears this dark sign in his face.

EVE
My husband? Ah, for God’s sake, gentlemen,
From such suspicion spare him in my sight,
For I am joined in holy bonds to him.
And he is sick, his body hath no health.

SECOND COURTIER
Perchance thy radiant eyes do cause him hurt?

THIRD COURTIER
Why in suspicion jealous, doth he that
Which no man else would dare, thy honour wound?
Ah would that I thy champion could be
And fling my gauntlet in the villain’s face.
Meanwhile they reach ADAM.
Ah, master, I am happy that we meet.
I would a journey take to my estates
And seek to know what weather shall befall.

FIRST COURTIER
And I would know the star which ruled the birth
Of my sweet son; last midnight was he born.

ADAM
To-morrow both your biddings shall be done.

FOURTH COURTIER
The company disperses, let us go.

THIRD COURTIER
Here is the stairway, so, Madam, good-night.
whispers
An hour hence.

EVE whispers
      Yonder, in the arbour, there!
aloud
Fair sirs, good-night. Come, Johann, it grows late.
All depart. ADAM and EVE on the balcony. ADAM sinks into an arm-chair. EVE stands before him. It grows darker.

EVE
Johann, I must have money, all is spent.

ADAM
Nay, not one farthing. Thou hast taken all.

EVE
And must I suffer ever poverty?
The ladies of the Court, like peacocks, shine,
And I feel shame to be so seen of them.
Why, when some gallant bows to kiss my hand
And, smiling, vows that I am queen of all,
I feel shame for thee, that thou dost allow
The queen in such mean garments to appear.

ADAM
Do I not, weary, toil by night and day,
Betray I not my knowledge for thy sake,
And render vile my skill, when I draw out
Vain weather prophecies and horoscopes?
For I conceal that which my mind hath grasped,
And that proclaim which I know well is false.
I blush in shame, for I have worse become
Than were the Sibyls, for they yet believed,
That what they spake was true, while in my words
I have no faith. All this I do for thee,
Yet, what reward is mine for my deceit?
For in this wide world nothing would I have,
Only the night and the star-scattered sky,
Only the secret music of the spheres.
All else be thine - and, bear in mind, that if
The emperor’s treasury is empty oft,
Though one may ask, dues are but slowly paid,
To-morrow what I gain thou mayest have,
But little thanks, alas, I have from thee.

EVE weeping
Thou dost reproach me that thou hast so much
Sacrificed for me. Left I nought for thee?
When I, the daughter of a noble house,
To thine own doubtful rank my future joined?
Didst thou not rise then to a higher place
Because of me? Ingrate, say, didst thou not?

ADAM
Are mind and knowledge, then, of doubtful rank?
The ray that shines from heaven’s ageless fire
Upon my brow, are these obscurity?
Where if not here is found nobility?
A crumbling image, lifeless, without soul,
This men call noble; my nobility
Is young for ever and for ever strong.
O woman, if thou couldst but comprehend,
And thy soul were so kindred, as I thought
When first our lips did kiss, thou wouldst be proud
To share my life, and wouldst not otherwhere
Seek happiness. Thou wouldst not shew the world
All the abiding sweetness in thy heart,
And keep for our own hearth thy bitterness.
How infinitely did I love thee; yea,
I love thee now, but with what bitter sting
The sweetness of the honey in my heart.
Thy heart would make thee noble, well I know,
If thou couldst be but woman. Destiny
Hath brought thee low, which setteth woman up
To be an idol: as once chivalry
Held woman as divine: the knight believed
In woman then; then was a mighty age.
Now none believe; for giants there are dwarfs,
And this idolatry veils only sin.
l could part from thee and tear out my heart;
Perchance without thee I might gain more peace,
And thou without me find more happiness.
But law and custom hold us, and the Church
Doth bind us with her rule. Together we
Must yet endure until death sever us.
He buries his head in his hands. EVE, touched by his grief, caresses him.

EVE
Nay, Johann, grieve not if I do but speak
Sometimes of this or that, with thoughtless words.
I would not make thy heart grow sorrowful.
But thou dost see the wonder of the Court,
The ladies are so proud and high of mien,
How should I yet begin to brave their looks?
Thou art not angry with me? Then, good-night!
Forget the money not to-morrow morn!

ADAM
How strangely baseness and nobility
Are joined in woman, sweet with bitter blent.
Wherefore doth she yet bind us? ’Tis because
Her soul is fair, but evil is the age
In which she hath been born. Hey! Famulus!
Lucifer enters with a lamp and sets it on the table.

LUCIFER
Dost thou command me, master? Here am I.

ADAM
A horoscope and weather prophecy
Must be drawn up. Prepare them speedily.

LUCIFER
All must be glittering and brilliant,
For who would money give to know the truth?

ADAM
Yet see they be not unbelievable.

LUCIFER
Perchance I could not make such prophecy
As should give cause for parents to be wroth.
Shall not each babe a new Messiah be,
A shining star to light its house and line,
Who, only afterwards shall grow into
The wonted knave, as thousands like to to him.
Writes. Meanwhile EVE has reached the arbour. The THIRD COURTIER advances to meet her.

THIRD COURTIER
How long thou dost torment me, cruel one.

EVE
Is then the sacrifice so great for thee
To bear the rigours of the cold night wind,
While I a kindly husband yet deceive,
And I draw down Heaven’s curse upon myself,
And brave the judgment of the world for thee?

THIRD COURTIER
Ah, Heaven’s curse, the judgment of the world
Pierce not the secrets of this arbour dark.

ADAM musingly
I did desire an age that strives for nought,
When none should seek to change life’s ordered course
And wander from accustomed quiet ways.
Then could I smile in calm indifference
And heal me of the wounds of weary strife.
That age is come, and what avails it me,
If in this breast the soul doth always dwell,
The gift bestowed by Heaven on foolish Man,
Which spurs him on and will not grant him rest,
And leaps to combat with fond slothful joys.
Ho, Famulus! Bring wine, I am a’cold.
The world is icy; I must fire its soul.
In this dull age we must have vision, life,
And free us from the mire that clings to us.
LUCIFER brings wine. ADAM sips the wine during this scene.
Spread forth, spread forth, o Heaven infinite,
Thy mystic hallowed scroll before mine eyes;
If I may know the wisdom writ therein,
I shall this present weary age forget.
Thou art eternal; all things else do pass;
Thou dost exalt, while all else doth cast down.

THIRD COURTIER
O Barbara, if thou couldst be my wife,
If God would call thy husband from this world,
That he might heaven better comprehend,
For in this life he ever seeks the skies.

EVE
Keep silence, Knight, so sore I pity him
That my salt tears withhold my kiss from thee.

THIRD COURTIER
Thou dost but jest.

EVE
      Nay, ’tis the truth I speak.

THIRD COURTIER
What man may understand this mystery?
For sure, thou dost not love me, Barbara.
Say, if I suffered lonely banishment,
What couldst thou do for me, who love thee so?

EVE
In very truth, I could not tell thee now.

ADAM
Oh, would an age might once dawn that should melt
This cold indifferent world, and with new strength
Confront the outworn lumber of the past,
Rise up to judge, to punish, and raise up.
He rises and totters to the edge of the balcony.
And shrink not from the means to gain its goal,
That should not fear to speak the mystic word
That shall, resistless as an avalanche,
Advance along the course decreed by fate
And crush him who hath uttered it, perchance.
The strains of the Marseillaise are heard.
I hear the anthem of the age to come,
Lo, I have found the mighty kindling word,
The talisman that makes the old world young.