1 '#• ( &*+&& r f«$**. ' * ■ .->. ^arbarti College ILiiirarg KENNETH TAYLOR FUND GIVEN IN 1899 BY JESSIE TAYLOR PHILIPS IN MEMORY OF HER BROTHER KENNETH MATHESON TAYLOR (Class of i8go) FOR ENGLISH LITERATURE a. ^ ri .,33 1 A^ C A I N; & Jtta#terg« BY LORD BYRON. " Now the Serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made." Gen. iii. 1. HotfBon : PRINTED FOR THE BOOKSELLERS, By H. Cray, No. 2, Barbican. 1822. TO SIR WALTER SCOTT, BART. THIS MYSTERY OF CAIN, IS INSCRIBED BY HIS OBLIGED FRIEND, AND FAITHFUL SERVANT, THE AUTHOR. PREFACE. The following scenes are entitled " a Mystery," in conformity with the ancient title annexed to dramas upon similar subjects, which were styled " Mysteries, or Moralities." The author has by no means taken the same liberties with his subject which were common formerly, as may be seen by any reader curious enough to refer to those very profane productions, whether in English, French, Italian, or Spanish. The author has endeavoured ft to preserve the language adapted to his characters ; and where it is (and this is but rarely) taken fcom actual Scripture, he has made as little alteration, even of words, as the rhyme would permit. The reader will recollect that the book of Genesis does not state that Eve was tempted by a demon, but by " the serpent ;*' and that only because he was " the* most subtil of all the beasts of the field." Whatever interpretation the Rabbins and the Fathers may have put upon this, I must take the words as I find them, and reply with Bishop Watson, upon similar occasions, when the Fathers were quoted to him, as Moderator in the Schools of Cambridge, " Behold the Book !" holding up the Scripture. It is to be recollected, that my present subject has nothing to do with the New Testament, to which no reference can here be madewithout anachronism. With the poems upon similar topics I have not been recently familiar. Since I was twenty I have never read Milton ; but vi. PREFACE TO CAIN. I had read him so frequently before, that this may make little difference. Gesner's " Death of Abel" I have never read since I was eight years of age, at Aberdeen. The general impression on my recol- lection is delight ; but of the contents I remember only that Cain's wife was called Mahala, and Abel's Thirza. In the following pages I have called them "-Adah" and " Zillah," the earliest female names which occur in Genesis; they were those of Lamech's wives : those of Cain and Abel are not called by their names. Whether, then, a coincidence of subject may have caused the same in expression, I know nothing, and care as little. The reader will please to bear in mind (what few choose to recollect) that there is no allusion to a fu- ture state in any of the books of Moses, nor indeed in the Old Testament. For a reason for this extraordi- nary omission he may consult " Warburton's Divine Legation ;" whether satisfactory or not, no better has. yet been assigned. I have therefore supposed it new to Cain, without, I hope, any perversion of Holy Writ. With regard to the language of Lucifer, it was difficult for me to make him talk like a Clergyman upon the same subjects ; but I have done what I could to restrain him within the bounds of spiritual politeness. If he disclaims having tempted Eve in the shape of the Serpent, it is only because the book of Genesis has not the most distant allusion to any thing of the kind, but merely to the Serpent in his serpentine ca- pacity. Note.— The reader will perceive that the author has partly adopted in this poem the notion of Cuvier, PREFACE TO CAIN. vii. that the world had been destroyed several times be- fore the creation of man. This speculation, derived from the strata and the bones of enormous and un- known animals found in them, is not contrary to the Mosaic account, but rather confirms it: as no human bones have yet been discovered in those strata, al- though those of many known animals are found near the remains of the unknown. The assertion of Lu- cifer, that the pre-adamite world was also peopled by rational beings much more intelligent than man, and proportion ably powerful to the mammoth, &c. &c. is, of course, a poetical fiction to help him to make out his case. I ought to add, that there is a " Tramelogedie" of Alfieri, called " Abel.''— I have never read that nor any other of the posthumous works of the writer, except his Life. DRAMATIS PERSONS. MEN. Adam. Cain. Abel. SPIRITS. Angel of the Lord. Lucifer. WOMEN. Eve. Adah. Zillah. KAKVA li r> mi; i i i ! CAIN. ACT I. Scene l.—The Land without Paradise. — Time, Sun-rise. Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Adah, Zillah, offer- ing a Sacrifice, Adam. God, the Eternal! Infinite! All- Wise ! — Who out of darkness on the deep did'st make Light on the waters with a word — all hail ! Jehovah, with returning light, all hail I Eve. God ! who didst name the day, and separate Morning from night, till then divided never — Who did'st divide the wave from wave, and call Part of thy work the firmament — all hail! Abel. God! who did'st call the elements into Earth — ocean — air — and fire, and with the day And night, and worlds which these illuminate Or shadow, madest beings to enjoy them, And love both them and thee— all hail ! all hail ! Adah. God, the Eternal! parent of all things ! Who did'st create these best and beauteous beings, To be beloved, more than all, save thee — Let me love thee and them : — All hail ! all hail ! Zillali. Oh, God! who loving, making, blessing all, Yet did'st permit the serpent to creep in, And drive my father forth from Paradise. Keep us from further evil: — Hail ! all hail ! Adam. Son Cain, my first-born, wherefore art thou silent ? Cain. Why should I speak ? Adam. To pray. 10 CA1NJI- Cain. Have ye not pray'd '? Adam. We have most fervently. Cain. And loudly, I Have heard you. Adam. So will God, I trust. Abel. Amen I Adam. But !hou my eldest-born, art silent still. Cain. *Tis better I should be so. Adam. Wherefore so? Cain. I have nought to ask. Adam. Nor aught to thank for ? Cain. No. Adam Dost thou not live ? Cain, Must I not die ! Eve. Alas .' The fruit of our forbidden tree begins To fall. Adam. And we must gather it again. Oh, God ! why did'st thou plant the tree of knowledge ! Cain. And wherefore pluck'd ye not the tree of life ? Ye might have then defied him. i Adam. Oh, my son, Blaspheme not ; these are serpents' words. Cain. Why not ? The snake spoke truth : it was the tree of knowledge ; It was the tree of life : — knowledge is good, And life is good ; and how can both be evil ? ■ Eve. My boy ! thou speakest as I spoke in sin, \ Before thy birth : Jet me not see renew'd | My misery in thine. I have repented. . s Let me not see my offspring fall into <£ • i The snares beyond the walls of Paradise, *, V | Which e'en in Paradise destroyed his parents. ■■& , ' Content thee with what is. Had we been so, Thou now hadst been contented. Oh, my son ! ^ Adam. Our orisons completed, let us hence, Each to his task of toil— not heavy, though CAIN. 11 Needful ; the earth is young, and yields us kindly Her fruits with little labour. Eve. Cain, my son, Behold thy father cheeiful and resigned, And do as he doth. {Exit Ad am and Ev e. Zillah. Wilt thou not, my brother ? Abel. Why wilt thou wear this gloom upon thy brow, Which can avail thee nothing, save to rouse The Eternal anger? Adah. My beloved Cain, Wilt thou frown even on me ? Cain. No, Adah ! no ; I fain would be alone a 1/ttle while. Abel, I am sick at heart ; but it will pass : Precede me, brother. — I will follow shortly. And ywu, too, sisters, tarry not behind j Your gentleness must not be harshly met : I'll follow you anon. Adah. If not, I will lleturn to seek you here. Abel. The peace of God Be on your spirit, brother ! Exit Abel, Zillah, andAvAH. Cain (solus.) And this is JLife!—- Toil! and wherefore should I toil? because My father could not keep his place in Eden. A What had /done in this?— I was unborn, » % I sought not to be born ; nor love the state \^ To which that birth has brought me. Why did he F&7 , ,. Yield to the serpent and the woman ? or ** c ^ Yielding, why suffer? what was there in this ? * 7 V % The tree was planted, and why not for him ? T^, If not, why place him near it, where it grew, { The faires iin the centre i They have but ^ j One answer to all questions, •« 'twas his will, I And he is good." Howjtnow Ijhat^ Because >^ 12 CAIN. He is all-powerful, must all-good, too, follow?- I judge but by the fruits — and they are bitter — Which I must feed on for a fault not mine. Whom have we here? A shape like to the angel?, Yet of a sterner and a sadder aspect Of spiritual essence: why do I quake? Why should I fear him more than other spirits, Whom I see daily wave their fiery swords Before the gates round which I linger oft, In twilight's hour, to catch a glimpse of those Gardens which are my j'ust inheritance, Ere the night closes o'er the inhibited walls- And the immortal trees which overtop The cherubim -defended battlements ? : If I shrink not from these, the fire-armed angels, Why should I quail from him who now approaches? Yet he seems mightier far than them, nor less 4^, Beauteous, and- yet not all as beautiful As he hath been, and might be: sorrow seems. Half of his immortality.. And is it So? and can aught grieve save humanity? He cometh. Enter Lucifer. Lucifer. Mortal ! Cain. Spirit who art thou? Lucifer. Master of Spirits. Cain. And being so, can'st thou Leave them, and walk with dust? Lucifer. I know the thoughts Of dust, and feel for it, and with you^ Cain. How ! You know my thoughts? Lucifer. They are the thoughts of all Worthy of thought ; — 'tis your immortal part Which speaks within you, Cain. YYhat immortal part? CAIN. 13 This has not been reveal'd : the tree of life Was withheld from us by my father's folly, While that of knowledge, by my mother's haste Was pluck'd too soon ; and all the fruit is death ! Lucifer, They have deceived thee ; thou shalt live. Cain. I live, But live to die : and, living, see nothing To make death hateful, save an innate clinging, A loathsome and yet all invincible Instinct of life, which I abhor, as I Despise myself, yet cannot overcome— And so I live. Would I had never lived ! Lucifer. Thou livest, and must live for ever : think not The earth, which is thine outward cov'ring, is Existence— it will cease, and thou wilt be No less than thou art now. Cain. No less! and why No more? Lucifer. It may be thou shalt be as we. Cain. And ye? Lucifer. Are everlasting. Cain. Are ye happy ? Lucifer. We are mighty. Cain. Are ye happy? Lucifer. No: art thou? Cain. How should I be so ? Look on me ! Lucifer. Poor clay ! And thou pretendest to be wretched ! Thou ! Cain. I am: — and thou, with all thy might, what art thou? Lucifer. One who aspired to be what made thee, and Would not have made thee what thou art. Cain. Ah ! Thou look'st almost a god ; and Lucifer. I am none : And having fail'd to be one, would be nought . B.3 H CAIN. Save what I am. He conquer'd ; Jet him reign f Cain. Who? Lucifer. Thy sire's Maker, and the earth's. Cain. And heaven's, And all that in them is. So I have heard His seraphs sing; and so my father saith. Lucifer. They say — what they must sing and say, or pain Of being that which I am — and thou art— Of spirits and of men. Cain. And what is that ? Lucifer. Souls who dare use their immortality- Souls who dare look the Omnipotent tyrant in His everlasting face, and tell him, that His evil is net good ! If he has made, As he saith — which I know not, nor believe- But, if he made us — he cannot unmake : We are immortal ! — nay, he'd have us so, That he may torture : let him ! He is great, ) But, in his greatness, is no happier than ! We in our conflict ! goodness would not make Evil; and what else hath he made ? But let him Sit on his vast and solitary throne, Creating worlds, to make eternity Less burthensome to his immense existence And unparticipated solitude ! Let him crowd orb on orb : he is alone Indefinite, indissoluble tyrant ! Could he but crush himself, 'twere the best boon He ever granted ; but let him reign on, And multiply himself in misery I Spirits and men, at least we sympathise ;- And, suffering in concert, make our pangs, Innumerable, more endurable, By the unbounded sympathy of all — With all ! But He \ so wretched in his height, So restless in his wretchedness, must still CAIN. 15 Create, and re-create Cain. Thou speak'st to me of things which long have swum In visions through my thought ; I never could Reconcile what 1 saw with what I heard. My father and my mother talk to me Of serpents, and of fruits and trees : I see The gates of what they call their Paradise Guarded by fiery-sworded cherubim, Which shut them out, and me : I feel the weight Of daily toil, and constant thought : I look Around a world where I seem nothing, with Thoughts which arise within me, as if they Could master all things : — but I thought alone This misery was mine. — My father is Tamed down ; my mother has forgot the mind Which made her thirst for knowledge at the risk Of an eternal curse ; my brother is A watching shepherd boy, who offers up The firstlings of the flock to him who bids The earth yield nothing to us without sweat ; My sister Zillah sings an earlier hymn Than the birds' matins; and my Adah, my Own and beloved, she too understands not The mind which overwhelms me : never till Now met I aught to sympathise wkh me. 'Tis well — 1 rather would consort wkh spirits. Lucifer. And hadst thou not been fit by thine own soul For such companionship, I would not now Have stood before thee as I am: a serpent Had been enough to charm ye, as before. Cain. Ah! didst thou tempt my mother? Lucifer. I tempt none, Save with the truth : was not the tree, the tree Of knowledge? and was not the tree of life Still fruitful ? Did 1 bid her pluck them not ? Did / plant things prohibited within 16 CAIN. The reach of beings innocent, and curious By their own innocence? I would have made ye_ . Gods : and even He who thrust ye forth, so thrust ye I Because " ye should not eat the fruits of life, *' And become gods as we." Were those his words ? Cain. They were, as I have heard from those who heard them, In thunder. Lucifer. Then who was the demon? He Who would not let ye live, or he who would Have made ye live for ever in the joy And power of knowledge ? Cain. Would they had snatch'd both The fruits, or neither 1 Lucifer. One is yours already, The other may be still. Cain. How so ? Lucifer. By being Yourselves, in your resistance. Nothing can Quench the mind, if the mind will be itself And centre of surrounding things — 'tis made To sway. Cain. But did'st thou tempt my parents ? Lucifer. I i Poor clay ! what should I tempt them for, or how? Cain. They say the serpent was a spirit. Lucifer. Who Said that? it is not written so on high: The proud One will not so far fajsify, Though man's vast fears and little, vanity Would make him cast upon the spiritual nature His own low failing. The snake was the snake — No more ; and yet no less than those he tempted, In nature being earth also — more in wisdom, Since he could overcome them, and foreknew The knowledge fatal to their narrow joys. Think'st thou I'd take the shape of things that die ? CAIN. 37 Cain. But the thing had a demon? Lucifer. He but woke one In those he spake to with his forky tongue. I tell thee that the serpent was no more Than a mere serpent ! ask the cherubim Who guard the tempting tree. When thousand ages flave roll'd o'er your dead ashes, and your seed's, The seed of the then world may thus array Their earliest fault in fable, and thus attribute To me a shape I scorn, as I scorn all That bows to him, who made things but to bend Before this sullen, sole eternity ; But we who see the truth, must speak it.. Thy l'bnd parents listen'd to a creeping thing, And fell. For what should spirits tempt them ? What Was there to envy in the narrow bounds Of Paradise, that spirits who pervade Space but I speak to thee of what thou know'st not,- With all thy tree of knowledge. Cain. But thou canst not Speak aught of knowledge which I would not know,. And do not thirst to know,, and bear a mind To know. , Lucifer. And heart to look on ? Cain. Be it proved. Lucifer. D.ai'st ihou to look on death? )( Cain. He has not yet Been seen. Lucifer. But must be undergone. Cain. My father Says he is something dreadful, and my mother Weeps when he's named ; and Abel lifts his eyes To heaven, and Zillah casts hers to the earth, And sighs a prayer ■> and Adah looks on me, And speaks not, Lucifer. And thou ? Cain. Thoughts unspeakable IS CAIN. Crowd in my breast to burning, when I hear Of this almighty Death, who is, it seems, Inevitable. Could I wrestle with him ? I wrestled with the lion, when a boy, In play, till he run roaring from my gripe. Lucifer. It has no shape ; but will absorb all things That bear the form of earth-born being. Cain. Ah 1 I thought it was a being : who could do Such evil things to beings save a being ? f"" Lucifer. Ask the Destroyer. \ Cain. Who ? / Lucifer. The Maker — call him ; L Which name thou wilt ; he makes but to destroy. Cain. I knew not that, yet thought it, since I heard Of death ; although I know not what it is, Yet it seems horrible. I have look'd out In the vast desolate night in search of him ; And when I saw gigantic shadows in The umbrage of the walls of Eden, chequer'd By the far-flashing of the cherubs' swords, I watch'd for what I thought his coming ; for With fear rose longing in my heart to know What 'twas which shook us all — but nothing came. And then I turn'd my weary eyes from oiT Our native and forbidden Paradise, Up to the lights above us, in the azure, Which are so beautiful: shall they, too, die ? Lucifer. Perhaps — but long outlive both thine and thee. Cain. I'm glad of that ; I would not have them die, They are so lovely. What is death ? 1 fear, I feel it is a dreadful thing ; but what, I cannot compass : 'tis denounced against us, Both them who sinn'd and sinn'd not, as an ill — What ill? Lucifer. To be resolved into the earth. Cain. But shall I know it ? CAIN. 19 Lucifer. As I know not death, I cannot answer. Cain. Were I quiet earth, That were no evil : would I ne'er had been Aught else but dust ! Lucifer. That's a grov'ling wish, Less than thy father's, for he wish'd to know. Cain. But not to live, or wherefore pluck'd he not The life-tree ? Lucifer. He was hinder'd. Cain. Deadly error I Not to snatch first that fruit : — but ere he pluck'd The knowledge, he was ignorant of death. Alas ! 1 scarcely now know what it is, And yet I fear it — fear I know not what ! Lucifer. And I, who know all things, fear nothing : — see What is true knowledge. Cain. Wilt thou teach me all ? Lucifer. Ay, upon one condition. Cain. Name it. Lucifer. That Thou dost fall down and worship me— thy Lord. Cain. Thou art not the Lord my father worships. Lucifer. No. Cain. His equal ? Lucifer. No : — I have nought in common with him ! Nor would : 1 would be aught above — beneath — Aught save a sharer or a servant of His power. I dwell apart ; but I am great :— Many there are who worship me, and more Who shall — be thou amongst the first. Cain. I never As yet have bow'd unto my father's God, Although my brother Abel oft implores That I would join with him in sacrifice : Whv should I bow to thee ? v 20 CAIN. Lucifer. Hast thou ne'er bow'd To him? Cain. Have I not said it? — need I say it ? Could not thy mighty knowledge teach thee that i Lucifer. He who bows not to him has bow'd to me ! Cain. But I will bend to neither. Lucifer. Ne'er the less, Thou art my worshipper : not worshipping Him makes thee mine the same. Cain. And what is that ? Lucifer. Thou'lt know here — and hereafter. Cain. Let me but Be taught the mystery of my being. Lucifer. Follow Where I will lead thee. Cain. But I must retire To till the earth — for I had promised Lucifer. What ? Cain. To cull some fruits. Lucifer. Why ? Cain. To offer up With Abel on an altar. Lucifer. Saidst thou not v Thou ne'er hadst bent to him who made thee ? Cain. Yes — But Abel's earnest prayer has wrought upon me; The offering is more his than mine — and Adah <■ Lucifer. Why dost thou hesitate ? Cain. She is my sister, Born on the same day, of the same womb ; and She wrung from me, with tears, this promise ; and Rather than see her weep, I would, methinks, Bear all — and worship aught. Lucifer. Then follow me ! Cain. I will. Enter Adah. Adah. My brother, I have come for thee ; CAIN. 21 It is our hour of rest and joy — and we Have Jess without thee. Thou hast labour'd not This morn ; but I have done thy task ; the fruits Are ripe, and glowing as the light which ripens : Come away. Cain. See'st thou not ? Adah. I see an angel ; We have seen many \ will he share our hour Of rest ? — he is welcome. Cain. But he is not like The angels we have seen. Adah. Are there, then, others? But he is welcome as they were: they deign'd To be our guests — will he ? Cain. (To Lucifer.) Wilt thou? Lucifer. I ask Thee to be mine. Cam. I must away with him. Adah. And leave us? Cain. Ay, Adah. And me ? Cain. Beloved Adah ! Adah. Let me go with thee. Lucifer. No, she must not. Adah. Who Art thou that steppest between heart and- heart? Cain. He is a god. Adah. How know'st thou? Cain. He speaks like / A god. I Adah. So did the serpent, and it lied. Lucifer. Thou errest, Adah! — was not the tree that Of knowledge ? Adah. Ay — to cur eternal sorrow. Lucifer. And yet that grief is knowledge— so he lied not • c 22 CAIN. And if he did betray you, 'twas with truth ; And truth in its own essence cannot be But good. Adah. But all we know of it has gathered Evil on ill ; expulsion from our home, And dread, and toil, and sweat, and heaviness ; Remorse of that which was — and hope of that Which cometh not. Cain ! walk not with this spirit. Bear with what we have borne, and love me — I Love thee. Lucifer. Mope than thy mother and thy sire ? Adah. I do. Is that a sin, too ? - Lucifer. No, not yet ; It one day will be in your children. Adah. What ! Must not my daughter love her brother Enoch ? Lucifer. No t as thou lovest Cain ! Adah. Oh, my God! Shall they not love and bring forth things that love Out of their love ? have they not drawn their milk Out of this bosom ? was not he, their father, Bern of the same sole womb, in the same hour With me ? did we not love each other ? and In multiplying our being multiply Things which will love each other as we love Them? — And as I love thee, -my Cain ! go not Forth with this spirit ; he is not of ours. Lucifer. The sin I speak of is not of my making, And cannot be a sin in you — whate'er It seem in those who will replace ye in Mortality. Adah. • What is the sin which is not Sin in itself? Can circumstance make sin Or virtue ? — if it doth, we are the slaves Of— Lucifer. Higher things than ye are slaves; and higher CAIN. 23 I Than them or ye would be so, did they not Prefer an independency of torture To the smooth agonies of adulation In hymns and harpings, and self-seeking prayers To that which is omnipotent, because It is omnipotent, and not from love, But terror and self- hope. Adah. Omnipotence Must be all goodness. Lucifer. Was it so in Eden ? Adah. Fiend ! tempt me not with beauty ; thou art fairer Than was the serpent, and as false. Lucifer. As true. Ask Eve, your mother; bears she not the knowledge Of good and evil ? Adah. Oh, my mother ! thou Hast pluck'd a fruit more fatal to thine offspring Than to thyself; thou at the least hast past Thy youth in Paradise, in innocent And happy intercourse with happy spirits ; But we, thy children, ignorant of Eden, Are girt about by demons, who assume The words of God, and tempt us with our own Dissatisfied and curious thoughts — as thou Wert work'd on by the snake, in thy most flush'd And heedless, harmless wantonness of bliss. I cannot answer this immortal thing Which stands before me ; I cannot abhor him : I look upon him with a pleasing fear, And yet I fly not from him ; in his eye *, There is a fastening attraction which Fixes my fluttering eyes on his ; my heart Beats quick ; he awes me, and yet draws me near, Nearer and nearer ; Cain — Cain — save me from him! Cain. What dreads my Adah ? This is no ill spirit. Adah. He is not God— nor God's ! I have beheld 24 CAIN. The cherubs and the seTaphs; he looks not Like them. Cain, But there are spirits loftier still- The archangels. Lucifer. And still loftier than the archangels. Adah. Ay — but not blessed. Lucifer. If the blessedness Consists in slavery — no. Adah. I have heard it said The seraphs love most— cherubim knew most — And this should be a cherub — since he loves not. Lucifer. And if the higher knowledge quenches love, What must he be you cannot love when known ; Since the all-knowing cherubim love least, The seraphs' love can be but ignorance : That they are not compatible, the doom Of thy fond parents, for their daring, proves. Choose betwixt love and knowledge — since there is No other choice ; your sire hath chosen already ; His worship is but fear. Adah. Oh, Cain ! choose love. Cain. For thee, my Adah, I choose not — it was Born with me — but I love nought else. Adah. Our parents ? Cain. Did they love us when they snatch'd from the tree That which hath driven us all from Paradise ? Adah. We were not born then — and if we had been, Should we not love them and our children, Cain ? Cain. My little Enoch ! and his lisping sister ! Could I but deem them happy, I would half Forget— but it can never be forgotten Through thrice a thousand generations ! never Shall men love the remembrance of the man "Who sowed the seed of evil and mankind In the same hour ? They pluck'd the tree of science And sin — and, not content with their own sorrow, CAIN. 25 Begot vie — thee — and all the few that are, And all the unnumber'd and innumerable Multitudes, millions, myriads, which may be, To inherit agonies accumulated By ages ! — And / must be sire of such things ! Thy beauty and thy love — my love and joy, The rapturous moment and the placid hour, All we love in our children and each other, But lead them and ourselves through many years Of sin and pain — or few, but still of sorrow, Intercheck'd with an instant of brief pleasure, To Death — the unknown ! Methinks the tree of know- ledge Hath not fulfill'd its promise: if they sinn'd, At least they ought to have known all things that are Of knowledge — and the mystery of death. What do they know ? — that they are miserable. What need of snakes and fruits to teach us that? Adah. I am not wretched, Cain, and if thou Wert happy Cain. Be thou happy then alone /&. I will have nought to do with happiness, Which humbles me and mine. Adah, Alone I could not, Nor would be happy : but with those around us, 1 think I could be so, despite of death, Which, as I know it not, I dread not, though It seems an awful shadow — if I may Judge from what I have heard. Lucifer. And thou could'st not Alone, thcu say'st, be happy ? Adah. Alone ! Oh, my God ! { Who could be happy and alone, or good ? . ; To me my solitude seems sin: unless When I think how soon I shall see my brother, His brother, and our children, and our parents. c 2 26 CAIN. Lucifer.. Yet thy God is alone, and is he happy ? Lonely and good? Adah. lie is not so; he hath The angels and the mortals to make happy, And thus becomes so in diffusing joy : What else can joy be but the spreading joy \ Lucifer. Ask of your sire, the exile fresh from Eden ; Or of his first-born son ; ask your own heart ; It is not tranquil. Adah, Alas I no; and you — Are you of heaven ' Lucifer. If I am not, inquire The cause of this all- spreading happiness (Which you proclaim) of the all great and good Maker of life and living things; it is His secret, and he keeps it. We must bear, ) And some of us resist, and both in vain, I His seraphs say; but it is worth the trial, ! ; Since better may not be without; there is A wisdom in the spirit which directs To right, as in the dim blue air the eye Of you, young mortals, lights at once upon The star which watches, welcoming the morn. Adah. It is a beautiful star : I love it for Its beauty. Lucifer. And why not adore ? Adah. Our father Adores the Invisible only. Lucifer. But the symbols Of the Invisible are the loveliest Of what is visible ; and yon bright star Is leader of the host of heaven. Adah. Our father Saith that he has beheld the God himself Who made him and our mother. Lucifer. Hast thou seen him ? Adah. Yes —in his works. CAIN. 27 Lucifer. But in his being ? Adah. No- Save in my father, who is God's own image : Or in his angels, who are like to thee— And brighter, yet less beautiful and powerful In seeming ; as the silent sunny noon, All light they look upon us; but thou seem'st Like an ethereal night, where long white clouds Streak the deep purple, and unnumber'd stars Spangle the wonderful mysterious vault With things that look as if they would be suns ; So beautiful, unnumber'd, and endearing, Not dazzling, and yet drawing us to them, . They fill my eyes with tears, and so dost thou. Thou seem'st unhappy ! do not make us so, And I will weep for thee. Lucifer. Alas ! those tears! Could'st thou but know what oceans will be shed Adah. By me ? Lucifer. By all. Adah. What all? Lucifer. The million millions — Thv myriad myriads— the all-peopled earth— ... The unpeopled earth— and the o'er-peopled Hell, Of which thy bosom is the germ. Adah. Oh Cain ! This spirit curseth us. Cain. Let him say on ; Him will I follow. Adah. Whither ? Lucifer. To a place Whejue he shall come back to thee in an hour ; But in that hour see things of many days. Adah. How can that be ? Lcuifer. Did not your Maker make 28 CAIN. Out of old worlds this new one in a few days? And cannot I, who aided in this work, Show in an hour what he hath made in many, Or hath destroy 'd in few ? Cain. Lead on. Adah. Will he In sooth return within an hour? Lucifer. He shall. With us acts are exempt from time, and we Can crowd eternity into an hour, Or stretch an hour into eternity : We breathe not by a mortal measurement — But that's a mystery. Cain come on with me. Adah. Will he return ! Lucifer. Ay, woman ! he alone I Of mortals from that place (the first and last Who shall return, save One) — shall come back to thee, | To make that silent and^expectant world I As populous as this : at present there \ Are few inhabitants. Adah. Where dwellest thou ? Lucifer. Throughout all space. Where should I dwell?/ Where are Thy God or Gods — there am I ; all things are Divided with me ; life and death — and time — Eternity — and heaven and earth — and that Which is not heaven nor earth, but peopled with Those who once peopled or shall people both — These are my realms ! So that I do divide His, and possess a kingdom which is not His. If I were not that which I have said, Could I stand here ? His angels are within Your vision. Adah. So they were when the fair serpent Spoke with our mother first. CAIN. 29 Lucifer. Cain, thou hadst heard. If thou dost long for knowledge, I can satiate That thirst ; nor ask thee to partake of fruits "Which shall deprive thee of a single good The conqueror has left thee. Follow me. . Cain, Spirit, I have said it. Exeunt Lucifer and Ca-hc. Adah {follows, exclaiming) Cain ! my brother ! Cam ! 30 CAIN. ACT II. Scene I.— The Abyss of Space. Cain. I tread on air, and sink not ; yet I fear To sink. Lucifer. Have faith in me, and thou shah be Borne on the air, of which I am the prince. Cain, Can I do so without impiety. Lucifer. Believe — and sink not ! doubt — and perish I thus t Would run the edict of the other God, Who names me demon to his angels ! they Echo the sound to miserable things, Which knowing nought beyond their shallow senses, Worship the word which strikes their ear, and deem Evil or good what is proclaimed to them In their abasement. I will have none such: Worship or worship not, thou shah behold The worlds beyond thy little world, nor be Amerced, for doubts beyond thy little life, With torture of my dooming. There will come An hour, when toss'd upon some water-drops, A man shall say to a man, " Believe in me, And walk the waters ;" and the man shall walk The billows and be safe. I will not say Believe in me, as a conditional creed m To save thee j but fly with me o'er the gulf Of space an equal flight, and 1 will show i What thou dar'st not deny, the history Of past, and present, and of future worlds. Cain. Oh, god, or demon, or whate'er thou art, Is yon our earth ? CAIN. 3l Lucifer. Dost thou not recognize The dust which form'd your father ? Cain. Can it be? Yon small blue circle, swinging in far ether, With an inferior circlet near it still, Which looks like that which lit our earthly night , Is this our Paradise? Where are its walls, And they who guard them ? Lucifer. Point me out the site Of Paradise. Cain How should I ? As we move Like sunbeams onward, it grows small and smaller, And as it waxes little, and then less, Gathers a halo round it, like the light Which shone the roundest of the stars, when 1 Beheld them from the skirts of Paradise : Methinks they both as we recede from them, Appear to join the innumerable stars Which are around us j and as we move on, Increase their myriads. Lucifer. And if there should be Worlds greater than thine own, inhabited By greater things, and they themselves far more In number than the dust of thy dull earth, Thoueh multiplied to animated a*oms, All living, and all doom'd to death, and wretched, What wouldst thou think ? ,.-;-■«. Cain. 1 should be P r0ud thou S ht Which knew such things. Lucifer. But if that high thought were Link'd to a servile mass of matter, and, Knowing such things, aspiring to such things, And science still beyond them, were chain d down To the most gross and petty paltry want?, All foul and fulsome, and the very best Of thine enjoyments a sweet degradation, 32 CAIN. i A most enervating and filthy cheat To lure thee on to the renewal of Fresh souls and bodies, all foredoom'd to be As frail, and few so happy Cain. Spirit ! I Know nought of death, save as a dreadful thing Of which I have heard my parents speak, as of A hideous heritage I owe to them No less than life ? a heritage not happy, If I may judge till now. But, spirit ! if • It be, as thou hast said, (and I within Feel the prophetic torture of its truth) Here let me die : for to give birth to those "Who can but suffer many years and die, Methinks is merely propagating death, And multiplying murder. \ Lucifer. Thou canst not \ All die — there is what must survive. Cain. The Other Spake not of this unto my father, when He shut him forth from Paradise, with death Written upon his forehead. But at least Let what is mortal of me perish, that I may be in the rest as angels are. Lucifer. 1 am angelic : wouldst thou be as I am I Cain. I know not what thou art : I see thy power, And see thou show'st me things beyond my power, Beyond all power of my born faculties, Although inferior still to my desires And my conceptions. Lucifer. What are they, which dwell So humbly in their pride, as to sojourn With worms in clay ? Cain. And what art thou who dwellest So haughtily in spirit, and canst range Nature and immortality — and yet CAIN. 33 Seem'st sorrowful ? Lucifer. 1 seem that which I am ; And therefore do I ask of thee, if thou Wouldst be immortal ? Cain. Thou hast said, I mu9t be Immortal in despite of me. 1 knew not This until lately — but since it must be, Let me, or happy or unhappy, learn To anticipate my immortality. Lucifer. Thou didst before I came upon thee. Cain. How ? Lucifer. By suffering. Cain. And must torture be immortal ! Lucifer. We and thy sons will try. But novv ; behold ! Is it not glorious ? Cain. Oh, thou beautiful And unimaginable ether ! and Ye multiplying masses of increased And still-increasing lights ! what are ye ? what Is this blue wilderness of interminable Air, where ye roll along, as I have seen The leaves along the limpid streams of Eden. Is your course measur'd for ye ? Or do ye Sweep on in your unbounded revelry Through an aerial universe of endless Expansion, at which my soul aches to think, Intoxicated with eternity ? Oh God 1 Oh Gods ! or whatsoe'er ye are ! How beautiful ye are ! how beautiful Your works, or accidents, or whatsoe'er They may be ! Let me die as atoms die, , (If that they die) or know ye in your might And knowledge ! My thoughts are not in this hour Unworthy what I see, though my dust is ; 34 CAIN. Spirit f Jet me expire, or see them nearer. Lucifer, Art thou not nearer ? look back to *hinc earth ! Cain. Where is it ? I see nothing save a mass Of most innumerable lights. Lucifer. Look there I Cain. I cannot see it. Lucifer. Yet it sparkles still. Cain. What, yonder ! Lucifer. Yea. Cain. And wilt thou tell me so ? Why, I have seen the fire-flies and fire, worms Sprinkle the dusky groves and the green banks In the dim twilight, brighter than yon world Which bears them. Lucifer. Thou hast seen both worms and worlds, .Each bright and sparkling — what dost think of them ? Cain. That they are beautiful in their own sphere, And that the night, which makes both beautiful The little shining fire-fly in its flight, And the immortal star in its great course, Must both be guided. Lucifer. But by whom or what ? Cain. Show me. Lucifer. Dar'st thou behold ? Cain. How know I what I dare behold ? as yet, thou hast shown nought I dare not gaze on further. Lucifer. On, then, with me, Wouldst thou behold things mortal or immortal ? Cain. Why, what are things? Lucifer. Both partly : but what doth Sit next thy heart ? Cain. The things I see. Lucifer. Hut what CAJN. 35 Sate nearest it ? Cam. The things I have not seen, Nor ever shall — the mysteries of death, Lucifer. What, if I show to thee things which have ., died, As I have shown thee much which cannot die? Cain. Do so. Lucifer. Away, then ! on our mighty wings. Cain. Oh, how we cleave the blue ! The stars fade from us ! The earth? Where is my earth ? let me look on it, For 1 was made of it. Lucifer. 'lis now beyond thee, Less, in the universe, than thou in it ; Yet deem not that thou canst escape it; thou Shalt soon return to earth, and all its dust ; 'Tis part of thy eternity, and mine. Cain. Where dost thou lead me ? i Lucifer. To what Was before thee \ The phantasm of the world ; of which thy world Is but the wreck. Cain. What ! is it not then new ? Lucifer. No more than life is ; and that was ere thou Or / were, or the things which seem to us Greater than either ; many things will have No end ; and some, which would pretend to have Had no beginning, have had one as mean As thou ; and mightier things have been extinct To make way for much meaner than we can Surmise ; for moments only and the space Have been and must be all unchangeable. But changes,,make not death, except to clay ; But thou art clay — and canst but comprehend That which was clay, and such thou shalt behold. Cain. Clay, spirit ! What thou wilt, I can survey. Lucifer. Away, then ! 36 CAIN. Cain. But the lights fade from me fast, And some till now grew larger as we approach'd, And wore the look of worlds. Lucifer. And such they are. Cain. AndEdens in them ? Lucifer. It maybe. Cain. And men ? Lucifer. Yea, or things higher. Cain. Ay ? and serpents too? Lucifer. Wouldst thou have men without them ? must no reptiles Breathe, save the erect ones ? Cain. How the lights recede ! Where fly we? Lucifer. To the world of phantoms, which Are beings past, and shadows still to come. Cain. But it grows dark, and dark — the stars are gone ! Lucifer. And yet thou seest. Cain. Tis a fearful light ! No sun, no moon, no lights innumerable. The very blue ol the empurpled night Fades to a dreary twilight, yet I see Huge dusky masses ; but unlike the worlds We were approaching, which, begirt with light, Seem'd full of life even when their atmosphere Of light gave way, and show'd them taking shapes Unequal, of deep valleys and vast mountains j And some emitting sparks, and some displaying Enormous liquid plains, and some begirt With luminous belts, and floating moons, which took Like them the features of fair earth ; — instead, All here seems dark and dreadful. Lucifer. But distinct. Thou seekest to behold death, and dead things ? Cain. I seek it not ; but as I know there are CAIN. :37 Such, and that my sire's sin makes him and me, And all that we inherit, liable To such, I would behold at once, what I Must one day see perforce. Lucifer. Behold 1 Cain. 'Tis darkness. Lucifer. And so it shall be ever ; but we will Unfold its gates ! Cain. Enormous vapours roll Apart — what's this ? Lucifer. Enter ! Cain. Can I return ? Lucifer. Return ! be sure : how else should death be peopled I Its present realm is thin to what it will be, Through thee and thine. Cain. The clouds still open wide And wider, and make widening circles round us. Lucifer. Advance! Cain. And thou ! Lucifer. Fear not — without me thou Could'st not have gone beyond thy world. On ! on ! [They disappear through the clouds. SCENE II.— Hades. Enter Lucifeb and Cain. Cain. How silent and how vast are these dim worlds For they seem more than one, and yet more peopled Than the huge brilliant luminous orbs which swung So thickly in the upper air, that I Had deem'd them rather the bright populace Of some old imaginable Heaven Than things to be inhabited themselves, But that on drawing near them I beheld Their swelling into palpable immensity Of matter, which seem'd made for life to dwell 09, Rather than life itself. But here, all is D 3§ CAIN. So shadowy and so full of twilight, that It speaks of a day past. Lucifer. It is the realm Of death. — Would'st have it present? Cain. 'Till I know That which !t really is, I cannot answer. Sutif it be as I have heard my father Deal out in his long homilies, 'tis a thing— Oh God! I dare not think on't ! Cursed be He who invented life thai lead-* to death! Or the dull mass of life, that being life Could not retain, but needs must forfeit it- Even for the innocent ! Lucifer. Dost thou curse thy father ? Cain. Cursed he not me In giving me my birth? Cursed he not me before my birth, in daring To pluck the fruit forbidden? Lucifer. Thou say'st well : The curse is mutual 'twixt thy sire and thee — But for thy sons and brother? Cain. Let them share it With me, their sire and brother ! What else is Bequeath'd to me ? I leave them my inheritance. Oh ye interminable gloomy realms Of swimming shadows and enormous shapes, Some fully shown, some indistinct, and all Mighty and melancholy — what are ye ? Live ye, or have ye lived? Lucifer. Somewhat of both. Cain. Then what is death? Lucifer. What? Hath not he who made ye Said 'US' another life ? Cain. 'Till now he hath Said nothing, save that all shall die. Lucifer. Perhaps He one day will unfold that further secret. Cain. Happy the day ! JLucifer- Yes; happy J when unfolded CAIN. 3$ Through agonies unspeakable, and clogg'd With agonies eternal, to innumerable Yet unborn myriads of unconscious atoms, All to be animated for this only. Cain. What are these mighty phantoms which I see Floating around me? — they wear not the form Of the intelligenciesl have seen Round our regretted and unenter'd Eden, Nor wear the form of man as I have view'd it In Adam's, and in Abel's, and in mine, Nor in my sister-bride's, nor in my children's : And yet they have an aspect, which, though not Of men nor angels, looks like something, which If not the last, rose higher than the first. Haughty, and high, and beautiful, and full Of seeming strength, but of inexplicable Shape : for I ne'er saw such. They bear not The wing of seraph, nor the face of man, Nor form of mightiest brute, nor aught that is Now breathing! mighty yet and beautiful As the most beautiful and mighty which Live, and yet so unlike them, that I scarce Can call them living. "Lucifer. Yet they lived* Cain, Where? Lucifer* Where Thou livest. Cain. When ? Lucifer. On what thou callest earth They did inhabit. Cain. Adam is the first. Lucifer. Of thine, I grant thee— but too mean to be The last of these. Cain. And what are they ? Lucifer. That which Thou shalt be. Cain. But what were they ? 40 GAIN. Lucifer. Living, high Intelligent, good, great, and glorious things, As much superior unto all thy sire, Adam, could e'er have been in Eden, as The sixty-thousandth generation shall be, In its dull damp degeneracy, to Thee and thy son ;— and how weak they are, judge By thy own flesh. Cain. Ah me ! and did they perish ? Lucifer. Yes, from their earth, as thou wilt fade from thine. Cain. But was mine theirs ? Lucifer. It was. Cain. But not as now. It is too little and too lowly to •Sustain such creatures. Lucifer. True, it was more glorious. Cain. And wherefore did it fall i Lucifer. Ask him who fells. Cain. But how ? Lucifer. By a most crushing and inexorable 7 Destruction and disorder of the elements, ) Which struck a world to chaos, as a chaos ' Subsiding has struck out a world: such things, 1 Though rare in time, are frequent in eternity. — r k . Pass on, and gaze upon the past. ^ Cain, 'Tis awful ! Lucifer. And true. Behold these phantoms ! they were once Material as thou art. Cain. And must I be Like them? Lucifer. Let he who made thee answer that. I show thee what thy predecessors are, And what they were thou feelest, in degree Inferior as thy petty feelings and Thy pettier portion of the immortal part Of high intelligence and earthly strtngtk. CAIN. 41 What ye in common have with what they had Is life, and what ye shall have— death ; the rest Of your poor attributes is such as suits Reptiles engender'd out of the subsiding. Slime of mighty universe, crush'd into A scarcely yei shaped planet, peopled with Things whose enjoyments was to be in blindness— A Paradise of Ignorance, from which Knowledge was barr'd as poison. But behold What these superior beiiigs are f»r were ; Gr, if it irk thee, turn thee back and till The earth, thy task— I'll waft thee there in safety. Cain. No: I'll stay here. Lucifer. Ho w To n g ? Cain. For ever 1 Since I must one day return here from the earth, I rather would remain; I am sick of all That dust has shown me— let me dwell in shadows. Lucifer. It cannot be . thou now beholdestas A vision that which is reality. To make thyself fit for this dwelling, thou Must pass through what the things thou see'st have pass'd — The gates of death. Cain. By what gate have we enter'd Even now ? Lucifer. By mine ! But, plighted to return, My spirit buoys thee up to breathe in regions Where all is breathless save thyself. Gaze on; But do not think to dwell here till thine hour Is come. Cain. And these, too; can they neer repass To earth again ? Lucifer. TAm-earth is gone for ever — So changed by its convulsion, they would not Be conscious to a single present spot Gf its new scarcely harden'd surface— 'twas— — Oh, what a beautiful world it was ! 4% CAIN. Cain. And is. It is not with the earth, though I must till it, I feel at war, but that I may not profit By what it bears of beautiful unrolling, Nor gratify my thousand swelling thoughts With knowledge, nor allay my thousand fears Of death and life. Lucifer. What thy world is, thou see'st, But canst not comprehend the shadow of That which it was. Cain. And those enormous creatures. Phantoms inferior in intelligence (At least so seeming) to the things we have pas's'd, Resembling somewhat the wild inhabitants Of the deep woods of earth, the hugest which Boar nightly in the forest, but ten-fold In magnitude and terror ; taller than The cherub-guarded walls of Eden, with Eyes flashing like the fiery swords which fence them, And tusks projecting like the trees stripp'd of Their bark and branches— what were they ? Lucifer. That which The Mammoth is in thy world; but these lie By myriads underneath its surfaee. Cain. But None on it ? Lucifer. No: for thy frail race to war With them would render the curse on it useless— 'Twould be destroy'd so early. Cain. But why war? Lucifer. You have forgotten the denunciation Which drove your race from Eden — war with all things, And death to all things, and disease to most things, And pangs, and bitterness! these were the fruits Of the forbidden tree. €ain. But animals — Did they too eat of it, that they must die J Lucifer. Your Maker told ye, they were made for you, CAIN m As you for him.— You would not have their doom Superior to your own? Had Adam not Fallen, all had stood. Cain- Alas ! the hopeless wretches I They too must share my sire's fate, like his sons; Like them, too, without having* shared the apple ; Like them, too, without the so-dear bought knowledge t It was a lying tree — for we know nothing. At least it promised knowledge at the price Of death — but knowledge still : but what knows man? Lucifer. It may be death leads to the highest know- ledge, And being of all things the sole thing certain, At least leads to the surest science: therefore The tree was true, though deadly. Cain. These dim realms ! I see them, but I know them not. Lucifer. Because « Thy hour is yet afar, and matter cannot Comprehend spirit wholly — but 'tis something To know there are such realms. Cain. We knew already That there was death. Lucifer. But not what was beyond it. Cain. Nor know I now. Lucifer. Thou know'st that there is A state, and many states beyond thine own — And this thou knewest not this mom. Cain. But all Seems dim and shadowy. Lucifer. Be content; it will Seem clearer to thine immortality. Cain. And yon immeasurable liquid space Of glorious azure which floats on beyond us, Which looks like water, and which I should deem The river which flows out of Paradise Past my own dwelling, but that it is bankless And boundless, and of an ethereal hue— m CAIN. What is it? Lucifer. There is still some such on earth, Although inferior, and thy children shall Dwell near it— 'tis the phantasm of an ocean. Cain. Tis like another world ; a liquid sun — And those inordinate creatures sporting o'er Its shining surface? Lucifer. Are its inhabitants, The past leviathans. Cain. And yon immense Serpent, which rears his dripping mane and vasty- Head ten times higher than the haughtiest cedar Forth from the abyss, looking as he could coil Himself around the orbs we lately iook'd on — Is he not of the kind which bask'd beneath- The tree in Eden ? Lucifer. Eve, thy mother, best Can tell what shape of serpent tempted her. Cain. This seems too terrible. No doubt the ether. Had more of beauty. Lucifer. Hast thou ne'er beheld him? Cain. Many of the same kind (at least so call'd), But never that precisely which persuaded The fatal fruit, nor even of the same aspect.. Lucifer. Your father saw him not? Cain. No : 'twas my mother Who tempted him — she tempted by the serpent. Lucifer. Good man ! whenever thy wife, or thy son's wives Tempt thee or them to aught that's new or strange, Be sure thou see'st first who hath tempted them. Cain. Thy precept comes too late : there is no mole For serpents to tempt woman to. Lucifer. But there Are some things still which woman may tempt man to 5 And man tempt woman: — let thy sons look to it ! My counsel is a kind one; for 'tis even Given chiefly at my own expense: 'tis true,, CAIN. 4^ 'Twill not be follow'd, so there's little lost. Cain. I understand not this. Lucifer. The happier thou ; — Thy world and thou are still too young! Thou thinkest Thyself most wicked and unhappy : is it Not so? Cain. For crime, I know; but for pain, I have felt much. Lucifer. First-born of the first man ! Thy present state of sin— and thou are evil, Of sorrow— and thou sufferesr, are both Eden In all its innocence compared to what Thou shortly may'st be ; and that stale again, In its redoubled wretchedness, a Paradise To what thy son's son's sons, accumulating In generations like to dust, (which they In fact but add to,) shall endure and do.— Now let us back to earth ! Cain. And wherefore didst thou Lead me here only to inform me this? Lucifer. Was not thy quest for knowledge ? Cain. Yes : as being The road to happiness- Lucifer. If truth be so, Thou hast it. - Cain. Then my father's God did well When he prohibited the fatal tree. Lucifer. But had done better in not planting it. But ignorance of evil doth not save From evil ! it must still roll on the same, A part of all things. Cain. Not of all things. No: I'll not believe it— for I thirst for good. Lucifer. And who and what doth not? Who covets evil For its own bitter sake }—None— nothing ! 'ti& The leaven of all life, and lifelessness* 4& CAIN. Cam. Within those glorious orbs which we behold, Distant and dazzling, and innumerable, Ere we came down into this phantom realm, III cannot come; they are too beautiful. Lucifer. Thou has seen them from afar. Cain. And what of that ? Distance can but diminish glory — they When nearer must be more ineffable. Lucifer. Approach the things of earth most beauti- ful,. And judge their beauty near* Cain. I have done this — The loveliest thing I know is loveliest nearest. Lucifer. Then there must be delusion— What is that, Which being nearest to thine eyes is still More beautiful than beauteous things remote ?" Cain. My sister Adah.— All the stars of heaven, j The deep blue noon of night, lit by an orb Which looks a spirit, or a spirit's world — ; The hues of twilight — the sun's gorgeous coming — | His setting indescribable, which fills ; My eyes with pleasant tears as I behold I Him sink, and feel my heart float softly with him ; Along that western paradise of clouds — ; The forest shade— the green bough — the bird's voice — The vesper bird's, which seems to sing of love, And mingles with the song of cherubim, As the day closes over Eden's walls; All these are nothing, to my eyes and heart, Like Adah's face : I turn from earth to heaven To gaze on it. Lucifer. Tis frail as fair mortality, In the first dawn and bloom of young creation And earliest embraces of earth's parents, Can make its offspring; still it is delusion. Cain. You think so, being not her brother. Lucifer. Mortal ! CAIN. 47 My brotherhood's with those who have no children. Cain. Then thou canst have no fellowship with us. Lucifer. It may he that thine own shall be for me. But if thou dost possess a beautiful Being beyond all beauty in thine eyes, Why art thou wretched ? Cain. Why do I exist? Why art thou wretched ? why are all things so ? E'en he who made us must be, as the Maker Of things, unhappy! To produce destruction Can surely never be the task of joy, And yet my sire sayt> he's omnipotent: Then why is evil— he being good? I ask'd This question of my father; and he said, Because this evil only was the path To good Strange good, that must rise from out Its deadly opposite. I lately saw A lamb stung by a reptile: the poor suckling Lay foaming on the earth, beneath the vain And piteous bleating of its restless dam; My father pluck'd some herbs, and laid them to The wound; and by degrees the helpless wretch Resum'd its careless life, and rose to drain The mother's milk, who o'er it tremulous Stood licking its reviving limbs with joy. Behold, my son ! said Adam, how from evil Springs good ! Lucifer. What didst thou answer ? Cain. Nothing; for He is my father: but I thought, that 'twere A better portion for the animal Never to have been stuny at all, than to Purchase renewal of its little life With agonies unutterable, though Dispelled by antidotes. Lucifer. But as thou saidst Of all beloved things thou lovest her Who shar'd thy mother's milk, and giveth hei's 48 CAIN. Unto thy children Gain. Most assuredly : What should I be without her r Lucifer. What am I ? Cain. Dost thou love nothing r Lucifer. What does thy God love ? Cain. All things, my father says; but I confess I see it not in their allotment here. Lucifer. And, therefore, thou canst not see if I love Or no, except some vast and general purpose, To which particular things must melt like snows. Cain. Snows ! what are they ? Lucifer. Be happier in not knowing What thy remoter offspring muse encounter; But bask beneath the clime which knows no winter ! Cain. But dost thou not love something like thyself? Lucifer. And dost thou love thyself? Cain. Yes, but love more What makes my feelings more endurable, And is more than myself, because I love it. Lucifer. Thou lovest it, because 'tis beautiful As was the apple in thy mother's eye; And when it ceases to be so, thy love Will cease, like any other appetite. Cain. Cease to be beautiful! how can that be? Lucifer. With time. Cain. But time has past, and hitherto Even Adam and my mother both are fair: Not fair like Adah and the seraphim— But very fair. Lucifer. All that must pass away In them and her. Cain. I'm sorry for it; but Cannot conceive my love for her the less. And when her beauty disappears, methinks He who creates all beauty will lose more Than me in seeing perish such a work. Lucifer. I pity thee who lovest what must perish. CAIN. 49 Cain. And I thee who lov'st nothing. Luciftr, And thy brother — Sits he not near thy heart ? Cain. Why should he not? £ ur^ Lucifer. Thy father loves him well — so does thy God. ' Cain- and so do I. Lucifer. 'Tis well and meekly done. Cain. Meekly! Lucifer. He is the second born of flesh, And is his mother's favourite. Cain. Let him keep Her favour, since the serpent was the first To win ir. Lucifer. And his father's ? Cain. What is that To me ? should I not love that which all love ? Lucifer. And the Jehovah— the indulgent Lord, And bounteous planter of barr'd Paradise — He, too, luoks smilingly on Abel. Cain. I Ne'er saw him, and I know not if he smiles. Lucifer. But you have seen his angels. Cain. Rarely. Lucifer. But Sufficiently to see they love your brother: His sacrifices are acceptable. Cain. So be they ! wherefore speak to me of this? Lucifer. Because thou hast thought of this ere now. Cain. And if I have thought, why recall a thought that— ( he pauses as agitated) — Spirit ! Here we are in thy world ; speak not of mine. Thou hast shown me wonders ; thou hast shown me those Mighty Pre-Adamites who walk'd the earth Of which curs is the wreck ; thou hast pointed out Myriads of starry worlds, of which our own £ /;-■ •ho ;. 50 CAIN. Is the dim and remote companion, in Infinity of life : thou hast shown me shadows Of that existence with the dreaded name Which my sire brought us — Death ; thou hast shown me much — But not all.': show me where Jehovah dwells, In his especial Paradise — or thine: Where is it i Lucifer. Here, and o'er all space. Cain. But ye Have some allotted dwelling — as all things ; Clay has its earth, and other worlds their tenants; All temporary breathing creatures their Peculiar element; and things which have Long ceased to breathe our breath, have theirs, thou say'st ; And the Jehovah and thyself have thine— Ye do not dwell together? Lucifer. No, we reign Together, but our dwellings are asunder. Cain. Would there were only one of ye ! perchance An unity of purpose might make union In elements which seem now jan'd in storms. How came ye, being spirits, wise and infinite, To separate ? Are ye not as brethren in Your essence, and your nature, and your glory? Lucifer. Art thou not Abel's brother? Cain. We are brethren, And so we shall remain ; but were it not so, In spirit like to flesh? can it fall out? Infinity with Immortality ? Jarring and turning space to misery — For what? Lucifer. To reign. Cain. Did ye not tell me that Ye are both eternal ? Lucifer. Yea ! Cain. And what I have seen, Yon blue immensity, is boundless} CAIN. 51 Lucifer. Ay. Cain* And cannot ye both reign then ? — is there not Enough ?— why should ye differ ? Lucifer. We both reign. , Cain. But one of you makes evil. Lucifer. Which? Cain. Thou ! for If thou canst do man good, why dost thou not? Lucifer. And why not he who made? I made ye not; Ye are Aw creatures, and not mine. Cain. Then leave us His creatures, as thou say'st we are, or show me r Thy dwelling, or his dwelling. Lucifer. I could show thee. Both ; but the time will come when thou shah see one Of them for evermore. Cain. And why not now ? Lucifer. Thy human mind hath scarcely grasp to gather The little I have shown thee into calm And clear -.hough?; aud thou wouldst go on aspiring To the great double Mysteries! the two Principles ! And gaze upon them on their secret thrones 1 Dust ! limit thy ambition ; for to see Either of these, would be for thee to perish! Cain. And let me perish, so I see them! Lucifer.. There The son of her who snatch'd the apple spake ! But thou wouldst only perish, and not see them; That sight is for the other state. Cain. Of death? Ludfer. That is the prelude. Cain. Then I dread it less, Now that I know it leads to something definite. Lucifer. And now I will convey thee to thy world, Where thou shalt multiply the race of Adam, Eat, drink, toil, tremble, laugh, weep, sleep, and die. 52. CAIN. Cain- And to what end have I beheld these things Which thou hast shown me? Lucifer. Didst thou not require Knowledge? And have I not, in what I show'd, Taught thee to know thyself? Cain. Alas ! I seem Nothing. Lucifer. And this should be the human sum Of knowledge, to know mortal nature's nothingness ? Bequeath that science to thy children, and 'Twill spare them many tortures. Cain. Haughty spirit ! Thou speak'st it proudly; but thyself, though proud, Hast a superior. Lucifer. No ! By heaven, which He Holds, and the abyss, and the immensity Of worlds and life, which I hold with him— No ! I have a victor — true; but no superior. Homage he has from all — but none from me: 1 battle it against him, as I battled In highest heaven. Through all eternity, And the unfathomable gulfs of Hades, And the interminable realms of space, And the infinity of endless ages, All, all, will I dispute ! And world by world, And star by star, and universe by universe Shall tremble in the balance, till ihe great Conflict shall cease, if ever it shall cease, Which it ne'er shall, tili he or I be quench'd ! And what can quench our immortality, Or mutual and irrevocable hate ? He as a conqueror will call the conquer'd Evil; but what will be the good he gives ? Were I the victor, his works would be deem'd The only evil ones. And you, ye new And scarce- born mortals, what have been his gifts To you already in your little world ? Cain. But few j and some ot tnose but bitter. CAIN. . 53 Lucifer. Back _ With me, then, to thine earth, and try the rest Of his celestial boons to ye and yours. Evil and good are things in their own essence, And not made good or evil by the giver; But if he gives good— so call him; if I Evil springs from him, do not name it mine, j Till ye know better its true fount j and judge Not by words, though of spirits, but the fruits Of your existence, such as it may be. One good gift has the fatal apple given— Your reason:— let it not be oversway'd By tyrannous threats to force you into faith 'Gainst all external sense and inward feeling: Think and endure — and form an inner world In your own bosom — where the outward fails; So shall you nearer be the spiritual ^>e Nature,' and war triumphant with your own. [They disappear. »* 64 CAIN. ACT III. SCENE 1.— The Earth near Eden, as in Act /. Enter Cain and Adah. Adah. Hush ! tread softly, Cain. Cain. I will ; but wherefore ! Adah. Our little Enoch sleeps upon yon bed Of leave?, beneath the cypress. Cain. Cypress! 'tis A gloomy tree, which looks as if it mourn'd O'er what it shadows; wherefore didst thou choose it For our child's canopy ? Adah. Because its branches Shut out the sun like night, and therefore seem'd Fitting to shadow slumber. Cain. Ay, the last— And longest : but no matter — lead me to him. [They go up to the child* How lovely lie appears ! his little cheeks, In their pure incarnation, vying with The rose leaves stiewn beneath them. Adah. And his lips, too, How beautifully parted! No; you shall not Kiss him, at least not now : he will wake soon — His hour of mid-day rest is nearly over ; But it were pity to disturb him till 'Tis closed. Cain. You have said well ; I will contain My heart till then. He smiles, and sleeps ! — sleep on And smile, thou little, young inheritor Of a world scarce less young: sleep on, and smile! Thine are the hours and days when both are cheering And innocent ! thou hast not pluck'd the fruit — Thou know'st not thou art naked ! Must the time Come thou shalt be amerced for sins unknown. CAIN. 55 Which were not thine nor mine ? But now sleep on ! His cheeks are reddening into deeper smiles, And shining lids are trembling o'er his long Lashes, dark as the cypress which waves o'er them; Half open, from beneath them the clear biue Laughs out, although in slumber. He must dream— Of what? Of Paradise ! — Ay ! dream of it, My disinherited l>oy ! Ti» but a dream; For never more thyself, thy sons, nor fathers, Shall walk in that forbidden place of joy! Adah Deai Cain I Nay. do not whisper o'er our son Such melancholy yearnings o'er the past : Why wilt thou always mourn for Paradise? Can we not make another ? Cain. Where ? Adah. Here, or Where'er thou wilt : where'er thou art, I feel not The want of this so much regretted Eden. Have I not thee, our boy, our sire, and brother, And Zillah— our sweet sister, and our Eve, To whom we owe so much besides our birth ? Cain. Yes — death, too, is amongst the debts we owe her. Adah. Cain ! that proud spirit, who withdrew thee hence Hath sadden'd thine still deeper. I had hoped The promised wonders which thou hast beheld, Visions, thou say'st, of past and present worlds, Would have composed thy mind into the calm Of a contented knowledge ; but I see Thy guide hath clone thee evil : still I thank him, Arid can forgive him all, that he so soon Hath given ihee back to us. Cain. So soon I Adah. Tis scarcely Two hours since ye departed : two long hours To me, but only hours upon the sun. Cain, And yet I have approach'd that sun, and seen 56 CAIN. Worlds which he once shone on, and never more Shall light; and worlds he never lit : methought Years had roll'd o'er my absence. » Adah. Hardly hours. Cain. The mind, then, hath capacity of time, And measures it by that which it beholds, Pleasing or painful; little or almighty. I had beheld the immemorial works Of endless btings; skirr'd extinguish'd worlds; And, gazing on eternity, methought I had borrow'd more by a few drops of ages From its immensity ; but now I feel My littleness again. Well said the spirit, That I was nothing ! Adah. Wherefore said he so? Jehovah said not that. Cain. No : he contents him With making us the nothing which we are ; And after flattering dust with glimpses of Eden and Immortality, resolves It back to dust again— for what? Adah. Thou know'st — Even for our parent's error. Cain. What is that To us r they sinn'd, then let them die ! Adah. Thou hast not spoken well, nor is that thought Thy own, but of the spirit who was with thee. Would J could die for them, so they might live ! Cain. Why, so say I — provided that one victim Might satiate the insatiable of life, And that our little rosy sleeper there Might never taste of death nor human sorrow, Nor hand it down to those who spring from him. Adah. How know we that some such atonement one day May not redeem our race ? Cain. By sacrificing The harmless for the guilty ? what atonement GAIN. 57 Were there ? why, we are innocent : what have we Done, that we must be victims for a deed Before our birth, or need have victims to Atone for this mysterious, nameless sin — If it be such a sin to seek for knowledge ? Adah. Alas ! ihou sinnest now, my Cain ; thy words Sound impious in mine ears. Cain. Then leave me ! Adah. Never, Though thy God left thee. Cain, Say, what have we here? Adah. Two altars, which our Abel made During thine absence, whereupon to offer A sacrifice to God on thy return. Cain. And how knew he, that /would be so ready With the burnt offerings, which he daily brings With a meek brow, whose base humility Shows more of fear than worship, as a bribe To the Creator. Adah. Surely 'tis well done. Cain. One altar may suffice ; I have no offering. Adah. The fruits of the earth, the early, beautiful Blossom and bud, and bioom of flowers, and fruits; These are a goodly offering \o the Lord, Given with a gentle and a contrite spirit. < Cain I have toil'd, and till'd, and sweaten in the sun ! According; to the curse: — must I do more? For what should I be gentle? for a war With all Angel. Who shall heal murder? what is done if^ H~ done - ^% *v\; Go forth ! fulfil thy days ! and be thy deeds ^ ^ Unlike the last ! , * \' %J [The Angel disappears. *€ ~%_j Adah. He's gone, let us go forth! v I hear our little Enoch cry within Our bower, Cain. Ah ! little knows he what he weeps for ! And I who have shed blood cannot shed tears ! But the four rivers* would not cleanse my soul. Think'st thou my boy will bear to look on me? Adah. If I thought that he would not, 1 would— Cain, (interrupting her). No, No more of threats: we have had too many of them: Go to our children; I will follow thee. Adah. I will not leave thee lonely with the dead ; Let us depart together. Cain. Oh ! thou dead And everlasting witness! whose unsinking Blood darkens earth and heaven ? what thou now art, I know not ! but if thou see'st what J am, I think thou wilt forgive him, whom his God * The " four rivers" which flowed round Eden, and con- sequently the only waters with which Cain was acquainted upon the earth. 72 CAIN. Can ne'er forgive, nor his own soul. — Farewell ! I must not, dare not touch what I have made thee, I, who sprung from the same womb with thee, drain'd The same breast, clasped thee often to my own, In fondness brotherly and boyish. I Can never meet thee more, nor even dare To do that for thee, which thou should'sthave done For me — compose thy limbs into their grave — The first grave yet dug for mortality. But who hath dug that grave ? O, earth! O, earth! For all the fruits thou hast render'd to me, I Give thee back this. — Now for the wilderness. [Adah stoops down and kisses the body of Abel- Adah. A dreary and an early doom, my brother, Has been thy lot ! Of all who mourn thee, I alone must not weep. My office is Henceforth to dry up tears, and not to shed them ; But yet, of all who mourn, none mourn like me, Not only for thyself, but him who slew thee. Now Cain, I will divide thy burden with thee. Cain. Eastward from Eden we will take our way ! 'Tis the most desolate, and suits my steps. Adah. Lead ! thou shalt be my guide, and may our God Be thine ! Now let us carry forth our children. Cain, And he who lieth there was childless. I ' Have dried the fountain of a gentle race, I Which might have grac'd his recent marriage couch, \ And might have temper'd this stern blood Of mine, Uniting with our children Abel's offspring ! OAbel! Adah. Peace be with him ! Citin. But with me ■ [Exeunt. THE END. H. GRAY, PRINTER 2, BARBICAN. SSili'lpPM ^«8^*«lir 48*-^ ' iimmm