Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Volume 5).djvu/144

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I have fasted and anointed myself.

Then may the night's high festival begin!

[''He gives a sign; dancing-girls and flute-players appear in the outer court. Music and dancing continue during what follows.''

Maximus,—what is this?

Roses in the hair! Sparkling wine! See, see the lovely limbs at play!

And amid this whirl of the senses you would?

Sin lies only in thy sense of sinfulness.

Roses in the hair! Sparkling wine! [He casts himself down on one of the couches beside the table, drains a full goblet, puts it hastily from him, and asks:] Ah! What was in the wine? A spark of that fire which Prometheus stole. [He reclines at the opposite side of the table.

My senses exchange their functions; I hear brightness and I see music.