People riot, but the high priest persuades them to worship the dead “goddess.” On a wooded hillside beyond Vae's walls, Egon and his lover have fled the chaotic city.

Sterling studied Latin for three years while learning to become a Roman Catholic priest at Saint Charles College in Maryland.

In 1896, the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress unveiled Henry Oliver Walker’s mural “Lyric Poetry,” which features a naked woman captioned “TRVTH.” A scandalous movie was a possible inspiration: The 1915 feature film Hypocrites character Truth's onscreen nudity caused controversy in some cities.

Hypocrites was written and directed by Lois Weber (then one of the most powerful people in Hollywood) and produced by writer-movie star-director-producer Hobart Bosworth.

He thought he would have to pay to self-publish Truth, as he had done with his first poetry collection The Testimony of the Suns and Other Poems and his verse dramas Lilith and Rosamund.

I was just about to bring out Truth at my own expense, as I'd done in the case of Lilith and Rosamund, and thought it a good chance to save money: all I want is to see the play in print.

The inside of Bookfellows’ leaflet for Truth was a synopsis of Sterling's play, ending with the declaration that: “The entire story is worked out with constantly increasing interest and the denouement is not short of tremendous.

Every lover of great literature should be proud to possess this book but only a limited number will be fortunate enough to do so.” Page three of the four-page leaflet was unusual.

Coykendall was a wealthy businessman, a Trustee of Columbia University, and a member of New York City's Grolier Club of book lovers (and later its president for four years).

I have kept it longer than I intended because during the greater part of December I was so occupied as to put me out of the mood for fair appreciation of such a lovely piece of writing.

One critic did write a lengthy review, reporting: “the poetry is beautiful, especially the lyrics that are interspersed,” and quoting “Atthan Dances” as an example.

There is nothing like them in poetry.”[12] After Sterling received his bound Truth books, he wanted to have his drama staged as a spectacular Grove Play for the Bohemian Club.

[15] Then Bohemian Domenico Brescia used Sterling's new Truth to compose orchestral music to be performed by 58 San Francisco Symphony musicians whom he would conduct.

This dilemma was solved by sculptor Haig Patigian, who sculpted a female torso that could be worn by a young male actor.

[17] Then-famous artistic attendees included cartoonist George McManus (for most Americans, the biggest celebrity there: the creator of hit comic strip Bringing Up Father, and based on that, seven Broadway shows, nine animated cartoons, three live-action movies, hit songs, comic books, and paperback and hardcover books); artists John Marshall Gamble, Harrison Fisher, Jimmy Swinnerton, and Richard Partington; sculptor Haig Patigian; novelists Charles Caldwell Dobie, Charles Gilman Norris, Stewart Edward White, and Harry Leon Wilson; humorist Irvin S. Cobb; biographer-novelists Thomas Beer and Frank Swinnerton; writer and economist Albert W. Atwood; magazine editor-publisher Charles K. Field; playwright Clay M. Greene; writer and composer Joseph Redding; musicians Mischa Elman, Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Wilbur Hall, and Victor Lichtenstein; opera singers John McCormack and Lawrence Tibbett; actor Everett Glass; and astronomer and MIT president Henry Smith Pritchett.

Reviews were favorable: On August 13, the Club presented a concert of music from of the play in a large San Francisco auditorium.

[21] The next issue, the magazine's front cover was headlined: “Domenico Brescia Writes Charming Music for 1926 Grove Play: George Sterling's Poem Excellent in Literary as Well as Allegorical Beauty.” The entire page was filled with a lengthy review by eminent music critic Alfred Metzger (1875-1943) and a photograph of Brescia.

... Mr. Brescia has adapted his music to the poetic sentiment of the libretto rather than to the dramatic, although he has obtained occasional climaxes of unusual force.

The “Prelude to the Play” is exceptionally skillfully treated, being symphonic in character, beautifully scored as to tone color and shading, and gratefully melodious without becoming banal.

In this scene occurred the principal dances, which proved in every way worthy of the immensity of the spectacle and which Mr. Brescia's music accentuated with unerring effect.

Dion Holm as the High Priest delivered his lines in a resonant, powerful voice that filled the magnificent grove theatre to the remotest corner.

The lighting effects were indescribable, illuminating the huge redwood trees to the very highest branches and putting into startling relief some of the most inspiring scenes of the play.”[22]National music business magazine Musical America ran a full-page review by violinist and composer Victor Lichtenstein with photographs.

Lichtenstein stated the play “was brilliantly presented in the Bohemian Grove, Sonoma County, by members of the Club, assisted by the major portion of the San Francisco Symphony.

There is not a trivial bar in the entire score, in spite of the fluidity of the melodic line, sustained by vigorous rhythms and sometimes strange harmonic combinations.

The character of Truth, as personified by a nude form of unearthly beauty, moves, voiceless, throughout the entire action, and, in a striking close, stands on the mountain top, mutely beckoning the people to follow her.

In 1985, musical historians Richard P. Buck and Forrest J. Baird examined and played Brescia's score and were impressed:  The music of Brescia represents the high plateau of classical form, structure, and orchestration applied to the special requirements of the Grove Stage and the Grove Play.

[25]Perroh, a sentry – E. Malcom Cameron Egon, a poet – Charles F. Bulotti Dendra, a shepherd's daughter – Leo Christianson Eor, a captain of the guard – Boyd Oliver Truth – Mr. Edwards Uliun the Dreamer – Austin W. Sperry Akar, Uliun's wife – H. R. Olds Vursol, a soldier – Frank C. Thompson Akora, a soldier – Everett Glass Krood, a soldier – Benjamin A. Purrington King Ducorial – R. H. Seward Clerk of the Court – J. Ralph Sloan Court singer – Easton Kent High Priest Arkonion – Dion Holm Horeth, a pagan priest – Boyd Oliver Executioner – George L. Bell Enelus, a captain of the guard – John R. Gwynn A baker – M. C. Mason An armourer – Benjamin A. Purrington A butcher – Frederick W. McNulty Heral, a pagan priest – Frank C. Thompson Other soldiers – H. F. McCandless, Percival Dolman, E. L. Taylor, F. A. Corbusier, E. F. Kern, Russell B.

Brewer, Jr., John Howell, Scott Hendricks, Mark C. Elsworthy, H. E. Linden, S. W. MacLewee, P. J. Mohr, Neil H. Peterson, F. F. Janney, Chester Herold, B. K. Vaughan, M. A. Yetter, A. H. Breininger, C. E. Greenfield, C. F. Volker, P. H. Ward, A. R. Angell, C. L. Firebaugh, J. W. Whiteford, F. E. Keast, J. H. Duhring, Wilson Meyer, Cassell Aubyn Townspeople – Fred McNear, J. D. Fletcher, Otis R. Johnson, K. B. Crittenden, H. P. Plummer, H. L. Terwilliger, Harry Robertson, Luther Elkins, A. M. Newhall, F. W. Kroll, F. B. Burland, O. T. Cumberson, Harris C. Allen, H. C. Faulkner, G. H. Henrici, R. L. McWilliams, F. P. Griffiths, Clarence Coonan, Frank R. Girard, W. W. Boardman, A. G. Heunisch, Timothy Healy, Robert Beale, W. H. Crim, Jr., A. H. Brawner, Jr., Joseph J. Henderson, C. B. Bradford, Charles H. Davis, Rea E Ashley, Henley E. Miller, W. H. Robinson, George Hotaling (nephew of Richard M. Hotaling), B. G. McDougall, Eustace Cullinan, T. R. Carskadon, R. D. Holabird, W. R. Bacon, Whitman Symmes, John H. Threlkeld, Horace Clifton, Charles Martin, Tirey L.

Brown, Malcolm Donald, H. R. Freeman, J. J. Mahan, Meredith Parker, W. A. Mitchell, Ralph Bidwell, E. H. McCandlish, R. M. Neily, F. B. Snook, Ramsey Probasco, H. W. Orr, B. F. McKibben, F. D. Andrews, R. C. Baumgartner, A. G. Kellog, W. R. Kneiss, J. S. Selfridge, M. J. Streeter, Marion Vecki, F. P. Watts, M. E. Creswell, L. E. Dicky, G. B. Koch, H. W. Lawrence, Richard Lundgren, O. R. Marston, R. L. Vaughan, C. L. McVey Other priests – A.

A. Thompson, Charles Caldwell Dobie, M. C. Morshead, A. J. Coogan, W. V. Woehlke, E. T. J. Swasey, John J. Parker, H. K. Baxter, Charles L. Bowman, Frank C. Shaughnessy, Milo R. Robbins, L. R. Cupples, R. H. Cochran, Herbert A. Schmidt, Fuller Brawner Dancers – Leslie Irving, W. T. Lion, J. F. Connelly, E. A. Holt, P. J. Kelley, McClure Kelly, Jr., J. M. Hamill, Calvin C. Chapman, C. W. Fay, Jr., F. W, Fuller, Jr., William Cupples, Junius Cravens, John Breeden, A. E. Larsen, J. G. Sutton, Jr. Leader of dancers – A. P. Macdonald Lead solo dancers – R. P. Hooper, Marshall Hale, Jr. Court musicians and servitors – F. Nash Cartan, Arden Davidson, Myron E. Etienne, Ray Durney, Alex J.