SPIRIT FIRE - Act II
MUSIC DRAMA
-- WILLIAM MASELLI

THOMAS JEFFERSON
{TOM, son of Sally and Jefferson

{SALLY HEMINGS
{CHANTELLE, daughter of Sally andJefferson

Scenes: Coast of France; Paris; New York; Monticello,Virginia.

SUMMARY

ACT TWO

Jefferson and Sally return to America, arriving in New York. Jefferson is joyously acclaimed by the masses. Alexander Hamilton greets him with enthusiasm and they part amicably. Hamilton wanders from the crowd and his friends; remembering both his lost love and his ancient island home. Sally, awaiting Jefferson in Virginia and soon to give birth to their second child, Chantelle, learns that he will not be home for the birth and in fact will be absent indefinitely. Her song of despair is soon overcome by her faith. She writes Jefferson a letter of hope and love. As she finishes, she is surrounded by happy slave children who induce her to recite the letter. At the Presidential Residence in New York City, Hamilton, Jefferson, and Washington express alternative visions on the nature of human existence and aspiration. The grave ironies of Jefferson’s personal and political situation bind and propel him. He flees in disgrace and despair. The reunion of Sally and Jefferson renews their will to live. Rana, the spiritual leader of the slaves, leads a ceremony which Jefferson and Sally observe. The male slaves voice the bitter despair of contemporary existence for the African American man. Rana swims in similar currents yet transcends in conjuring the erotic power of the spirit and the spirit power of the erotic. When Jefferson and Sally are discovered a negative energy passes, which Sally dispels with an outpouring of truth. She begins the Declaration, which is joined by Jefferson, then Rana and the male slaves, and finally the entire assemblage.

ACT II

Scene: New York, 1789; passengers and cargo unloading in the harbor. A melange of African and caribbean slaves, various immigrants and New York denizens luxuriate in work, celebration, and adoration. Carriages arrive with the cream of New York aristocracy.
The Crowd:

Welcome to America
Where the breathing Constitution
Sustains the Living Republic
Hail to the Masters of our destiny!
Hail Hamilton!
Hail Jefferson!
Hamilton has greeted Jefferson, both accompanied by their entourages; they embrace, engage in conversation, and part amicably.
Alexander Hamilton:
moving away from the crowd to a solitary ocean overlook.
He was so eloquent;
The man is in love,
Or so intoxicated with Paris
That the dust of this outpost does not choke his spirits.
Life is mysterious;
The streams of destiny flow in locked rhyme
Clasped within a dance of chaste embrace
And the flowing blood of ancient fire.
My lover is the Sea
And in her depths I breathed
Flourishing in radiant harmonies of sunlight
Drawn within the deep embrace of her massive soul
But I was cast out onto land
To wander within the dry kiss of shallow soil
To gaze in distance and in grief
At the majesty of the horizon eyes that forever blind and escape
But I drew close to the sea
And have touched her sandy shore
And in fine moments of destiny
I have lain by the waters that rush to the sea
And placed my hands in to the flow of her mystic sources
And lain in chaste embrace
Upon the mist of the breath of her soul
But from those unseen depths of desperate desire
And unfathomable reaches of spirit sway
I am forever banished
The sea is my lover and I taste her still

(Scene: On a Monticello hilltop. 1792. Beautiful fall day. Sally is alone near a stream. She finishes reading a letter).

Sally:

Our second child is two months from entering the world,
I can feel its spirit so strong;
And now, instead of arriving home in two weeks,
The “critical nature of the public welfare will require my absence indefinitely;
It is my fondest desire to be home to you in the spring.”
And here I am, alone and desperate,
And my only strength to endure was your coming to me now.
All is fine with the world, of course, in time;
You who gave me new life, who relit the stars,
Has cast the darkness into the very depths of my soul;
All is fine with the world, of course:
In time.

(She reads his letter again; slowly she becomes more animated, then writes a return letter. As she finishes a group of slave children surround her and beg her to read the letter they have seen her write. Eventually she relents).

In a vision of the world dreaming spirits love with kindness
Drifting melodies foretell harmonies that color blindness
In the suffering of the world dreaming spirits love with kindness
Love sustains the universehHope remains a mystic timeless soul
You create the universe, so my heart has been relating
Lifting up my lonely soul, dreams my art has been creating
In the magic of your eyes fires glitter unabating
Heating up my frozen soul beating in my heart creating love.
Love keeps hope alive
Hope keeps love alive
Angels dressed in robes of white in the spirit’s world transcendent
Holding forth the sacred flame lighting stars in skies resplendent
Lift my long-enduring heart with your love
I touch the essence of creation
Born within Life’s timeless vision
And the magic of your blessing
Timeless sacred love
If on mortal paths we part torn by tragedies unfolding
Save the essence of my soul
Burning love we’ve both been holding
Love soars on high
Is reborn by your prayers
Prayers of love keep hope alive
Only the light of hope keeps my spirit alive
Hope creates the flow of love
And only love sustains the Universe.

Scene: New York, Presidential residence. 1792

Alexander Hamilton:

Romance is illusion
Love and passion’s power
Fade as morning’s glories
Rise above the waters
Truth in massive sway
Conquers scattered dreams
Weakness is eternal
Strength like fleeting lightening
Strikes without emotion
Shattering illusions
Truth in bold display
Rules the battlefield
It is the spirit of survival that we feed
When dreams that blind mankind are scorned and cast away
In mortal life we must survive to rule the day
In mortal life!
In mortal life illusion’s veil is torn away
In mortal life we must survive another day

Lovers dream of freedom
Poets bleed with passion
Mystics preach transcendence
Enraptured states of fashion
Time in sober sway
Casts its cold embrace
Memories and magic
Vanish into blackness
Essence-tasting splendor
Pales as weak as moonlight
Sun, O burning fire,
Chart my destiny
It is the spirit of survival that we feed
By casting off absurd impracticalities
We must be ruled by strength and social destiny
In mortal life
In mortal life embrace the social destiny
In mortal life we cripple freedom to be free
In mortal life

Jefferson:

Visions born of starlight
Captivate eternal
Mystery’s enchantment
Magic child of starlight
Love, eternal glow
Lift my weary soul
Mystery of starlight
Time enchanting essence
Capture’s life’s eternal
Yearning for Creation
Love, in fiery glow,
Burn in freedom’s blaze
It is the spirit of Creation that we free
When chains that choke mankind are scorned and cast away
In freedom’s soul the light of heaven’s glowing bright
In liberty!
In liberty the eyes of God are shining bright
In liberty flourishes Love
Flourishing Love
In Liberty

Washington:

Freedom and commitment
Mystic combination
Sacred base of power
Solemn celebration
Love, not passion’s flame,
Sets the starry sky
Flying from one frenzy
To the next enchantment
Sundering connection
From faith and tradition
All illusion fails!
And what remains? --- Behold!
It is a sacred post our spirits seize upon
To bar the passage of disgrace, depravity
And feel the rushing of the blood-bestirring soul
With Sacred Light!
With Sacred Light the Race transcends mortality
With Sacred Light the Spirit tastes Divinity
With Sacred Light breathe Freedom’s Fire.

Jefferson:
In liberty the eyes of God are shining bright

Washington:
With Sacred Light the Race transcends mortality

Hamilton:
In mortal life we must survive another day

Washington:
With Sacred Light breathe freedom’s fire

Hamilton:
In Mortal life we must survive

Jefferson:
In Liberty Flourishes Love!

Scene: Monticello hilltop. 1793

Jefferson and Sally:

You are the Evening Star!
Your light beams into my soul,
You fill me with your warmth, your love;
I am only in your Light!
The journey carries me
Into regions Dark, Desolate, Lost!
I stagger with the fierce thirst of betrayal and despair
I grasp for my shattering essence
Frozen and fractured amidst the seething void!
Betrayal, Despair;
Seething frozen void!
Oh, Light!
Eyes’ Light!
Oh the light of your eyes,
I am bound to my destiny!
I am bound to your love!
I live only in you
My Evening Star!

They wander into a slave ritual

Male Slaves:

From the swirling of the sand
In the swirling of the sea
Pass the spirit screams
And agonies and melodies of grim despair
In corruption and decay
And the lie of Fortune’s smile
Shadows dance within the morning light
Enshrouding even bitter dreams
And every song of Nature’s call rebounds in time
To frenzied frightened beatings of the brain
Iced with destiny of futility
Hopeless dreams of fire kindle cruel desire
Embrace tortured life
Caress fleeting Time
Rejoice wanton waste
Sing tones of despair

Rana:

From the swirling of the sand
In the swirling of the sea
I invoke the light of mystery:
O ecstacies of mystery!
In the visions of the soul
Shatter shadows of despair
In the beating heart of passion’s fire
Burns ecstacies of mystery
Arouse the flame of passion’s fire:
Enfueled embrace!
Your shimmer shatters shadows of despair
And with Love I rise
Reaching paradise
Soaring into Time
Mystic starry climb
I burn passion’s glow
Caress face of God
I taste spirit’s light
I soar unto God

(Sally and Jefferson are discovered)
Sally:

Peace.
The Jefferson Bill Of Rights.
The Bill for Religious Freedom.
The Declaration of Independence.
Jefferson himself wrote, with these hands,
The Declaration of Independence,
Where he tried to kill the capture and trafficking of Africans.
His draft of the first Constitution for the State of Virginia
Abolished slavery forever!
And you will be free!
In the name of God I promise you
That the day of freedom will come.

We hold these truths to be self-evident
That all men are created equal
And we are endowed by our Creator
With certain inalienable rights
Among these are Life, Liberty,
And the pursuit of happiness.
Life! Liberty!

Jefferson joins, then Rana and Slaves

With faith in God
We pledge our lives
Our fortunes
And our sacred honor.

To assume among the powers of the earth
The separate and equal station
To which the laws of Nature
And Nature’s God entitle them.

By Nature’s God!