Letter 19 – The Arrest of John by Herod Antipas

[Introduction]: The arrest of John the Baptist by order of Herod Antipas, who was concerned about the prophet's immense popularity and his moral criticisms of the tetrarchic power. ​• [Verse 1] In the purple night, the guards appeared, To gag the voice that troubled them here. Herod trembled before this righteous rebuke, And had him walled in, he whose truth touches the heart. John descended into the shadow of the prison, Far from the riverbanks and the horizon. ​• [Chorus] Locked underground, the prophet waits, With a steady gaze and a valiant heart. One can chain the body and the voice, But never the spirit of such a faith... of such a faith... ​• [Verse 2] Herodias smiles in her long finery, Savoring her vengeance and this rupture. But the tetrarch is afraid of this mute prisoner, Whose gaze alone judges him and makes him yield. He sometimes goes to listen to him in his dark cell, Seeking in vain the solace of an armor. ​• [Chorus] Locked underground, the prophet waits, With a steady gaze and a valiant heart. One can chain the body and the voice, But never the spirit of such a faith... of such a faith... ​• [Verse 3] The iron doors cannot imprison the spirit, Which still resonates everywhere in the writing. Injustice has struck the herald of the road, But the seed is sown in the midst of doubt. Soon the silence will be broken by a cry, In the cold dungeons where life is forgotten. ​• [Outro] The cell door closes... Silence weighs heavy on Machaerus...