"And it came to pass.... that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair ; and they took them wives of all which they chose." Unto some son of clay, and toil and spin! There's Japhet loves thee well, hath loved thee long; Anah. I am glad he is not. I can not outlive him. SCENE I.-A woody and mountainous district near His grief will be of ages, or at least Mount Ararat.-Time, midnight. Mine would be such for him, were I the seraph, And he the perishable. Aho. Rather say, That he will single forth some other daughter Seraph! Albeit thou watchest with "the seven"* Though through space infinite and hoary Before thy bright wings worlds be driven, Yet hear! Oh! think of her who holds thee dear! Thou canst not tell,-and never be Such pangs decreed to aught save me,The bitterness of tears. Eternity is in thy years, Unborn, undying beauty in thine eyes; With me thou canst not sympathize, Except in love, and there thou must Acknowledge that more loving dust Ne'er wept beneath the skies. Thou walk'st thy many worlds, thou see'st The face of him who made thee great, As he hath made me of the least Of those cast out from Eden's gate: Oh hear ! For thou hast loved me, and I would not die Until I know what I must die in knowing, That thou forget'st in thine eternity All pains, all tears, all time, all fears, and peai, Like the eternal thunders of the deep, Into my ears this truth—" thou liv'st for ever 199 But if it be in joy I know not, nor would know; That secret rests with the Almighty giver With him if he will war with us: with ther I can share all things, even immortal sorrow, For thou hast ventured to share life with me And shall I shrink from thine eternity? No! though the serpent's sting should pierce me thorough, And thou thyself wert like the serpent coil And curse thee not; but hold Thee in as warm a fold As -but descend; and prove A mortal's love For an immortal. If the skies contain More joy than thou canst give and take, remain! Her whose heart death could not keep from o'er- Their bright way through the parted night. flowing For thee, inmortal essence as thou art! Great is their love who love in sin and fear; . Forgive, my Seraph! that such thoughts appear, An Eden kept afar from sight, Though sometimes with our visions blent. Which tells me we are not abandon'd quite.— My own Azaziel! be but here, And leave the stars to their own light. Aho. Samiasa! Wheresoe'er Thou rulest in the upper air Or warring with the spirits who Dispute with him may dare Who made all empires, empire; or recalling' Whose tenants dying, while their world is falling, I call thee, I await thee, and I love thee. Many may worship thee, that will I not: If that thy spirit down to mine may move thee, Though I be form'd of clay, And thou of beams More bright than those of day Thine immortality can not repay My love. There is a ray In me, which, though forbidden yet to shine, It may be hidden long: death and decay Our mother Eve bequeath'd us-but my heart • The archangels said to be seven in number. Aho. The clouds from off their pinions flinging, As though they bore to-morrow's light. Anah. But if our father see the sight! Anah. They come! he comes!-Azaziel ! To meet them! Oh! for wings to bear Anah. Lo! they have kindled all the west, On Ararat's late secret crest Which the leviathan hath lash'd Haste My Azaziol! [Exeunt. I loved her well; I would have loved her better, She loves another. Japh. Anah! Trad. Japh. What other? The fountains of the deep, how mightest thou I have some cause to think While thine-Oh, God! at least remit to her No; her sister. As a star in the clouds, which cannot quench, That I know not; but her air, And still would I redeem thee-see thee live If not her words, tells me she loves another. Japh. I love. True, nothing; but Me! why? Japh. For being happy, Japh. If I could rest. Irad. And so would 【 Thou wilt not to our tents then? In love with love, too, which perhaps deserved it; And, in its stead, a heaviness of heart A weakness of the spirit-listless days, And nights inexorable to sweet sleep it He went forth Enter NOAH and SHEм. Noah. What doth he there? It is an evil spot All evil things are powerless on the man Selected by Jehovah-let us on. Shem. To the tents of the father of the sisters? SCENE III.-The Mountains-A Cavern, and the Japh. (solus.) Ye wilds, that look eternal; and thou cave, Which seem'st unfathomable; and ye mountains, And toppling trees that twine their roots with stone Of man would tremble, could he reach them-yes, Perhaps even hours, ye will be changed, rent, hurl'd Shall have its depu. search'd by the sweeping wave, And man- -Oh, men! my fellow-beings! Who Shall weep above your universal grave, Save I? Who shall be left to weep? My kinsmen, Have come upon me. Peace! what peace? the alm Alas! what am I better than ye are, Of desolation, and the stillness of The untrodden forest, only broken by The sweeping tempest through its groaning boughs; Of my mind overworn. The earth's grown wicked, That I must live beyond ye? Where shall be? From its tremendous brow? no more to have Nearest the stars? And can those words "no more" Breath will be still'd at once! All beauteous world! [He pauses. Japh. By all that earth holds holiest, speak! Spirit. (laughs.) Ha! Ha! Japh. By the approaching deluge! by the earth Which will be strangled by the ocean! by The deep which will lay open all her fountains! The heaven which will convert her clouds to seas, And the Omnipotent who makes and crushes! Thou unknown, terrible, and indistinct, Yet Awful Thing of Shadows, speak to me! Why dost thou laugh that horrid laugh? Spirit. Why weep'st thou ? Japh. For earth and all her children. Spirit. Ha! Ha! Ha! [Spirit vanishes. Japh. How the fiend mocks the tortures of a world, The coming desolation of an orb, On which the sun shall rise and warm no life! Why should they wake to meet it? What is here, Spirit. Save of the winds, be on the unbounded wave! Angels shall tire their wings, but find no spot: Not even a rock from out the liquid grave Shall lift its point to save. Shall search you in your secret place, And drive your sullen race Forth, to be roll'd upon the tossing winds When thou and thine have braved The wide and warring element; When the great barrier of the deep is rent, Shall thou and thine be good or happy!—No! Thy new world and new race shall be of wo→ Less goodly in their aspect, in their years Less than the glorious giants, who Yet walk the world in pride, The Sons of Heaven by many a mortal bride. Thine shall be nothing of the past, save tears. And art thou not ashamed As of a different order in the sphere, A life like thine to other wretches-live! Chorus of Spirits issuing from the cavern. No more the human voice Shall vex our joys in middle air With prayer; No more Shall they adore; Yet undisplay'd, And we, who ne'er for ages have adored The prayer-exacting Lord, To whom the omission of a sacrifice Is vice; We, we shall view the deep's salt sources pour'd Until one element shall do the work Of all in chaos; until they, The creatures proud of their poor clay, Shall perish, and their bleached bones shall lurk In caves, in dens, in clefts of mountains, where The deep shall follow to their latest lair; Where even the brutes, in their despair, Is made with Death, who shall forbear Of the subsiding deluge, from its slime, Until Japh. (interrupting them.) The eternal will Of good and evil; and redeem Unto himself all times, all things; And, gather'd under his almighty wings, And to the expiated Earth Restore the beauty of her birth, Her Eden in an endless paradise, Where man no more can fall as once he fell, And even the very demons shall do well! Spirits. And when shall take effect this woudrous spell ? Japh. When the Redeemer cometh; first in pain, And then in glory. Spirits. Meantime still struggle in the mortal chain, War with yourselves, and hell, and heaven, in vain, With the blood reeking from each battle plain; Save to the Spirit's all-pervading eye. Howl! howl! oh Earth! Thy death is nearer than thy recent birth • Tremble, ye mountains, soon to shrink below The ocean's overflow! The wave shall break upon your cliffs; and shells, Where could he rest them, while the whole space brings Brethren, rejoice! And loudly lift each superhuman voice- Save the slight remnant of Seth's seed- Exempt for future sorrow's sake from death. None shall remain ; And all his goodly daughters Must lie beneath the desolating waters; Beings even in death so fair. All die! My father's ark of safety hath announced it; New times, new climes, new arts, new men; but still Shakes them no more in their dim disbelief, The same old tears, old crimes, and oldest ill, Shall be among your race in different forms; But the same moral storms Shall oversweep the future, as the waves In a few hours the glorious giant's graves." Chorus of Spirits. Brethren, rejoice! Mortal, farewell' Hark! hark! already we can hear the voice The winds, too, plume their piercing wings! Their flashing banners, folded still on high, "And there were giants in these days, and after; mighty men, which were of old men of renown."-Generis. Than their last cries shall shake the Almighty purpose Or deaf obedient ocean, which fulfils it. No sign yet hangs its banner in the air; The clouds are few, and of their wonted texture The sun will rise upon the earth's last day God said unto him, "Shine !" and he broke forth •The book of Enoch, preserved by the Ethiopians, is said by therm 67 be anterior to the flood. |