... FOUNDED ON THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE IN GENESIS, CHAP. VI. "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."* SCENE I.-A woody and mountainous district near | This cannot be of good; and though I know not Mount Ararat.-Time, Midnight. *"Heaven and Earth" was written at Ravenna, in October, 1821. In forwarding it to Mr. Murray, in the following month, Lord Byron says-"Enclosed is a lyrical drama, entitled 'A Mystery. You will find it pious enough, I trust at least some of the chorus might have been written by Sternhold and Hopkins themselves for that, and perhaps for melody. As it is longer, and more lyrical and Greek, than I intended at first, I have not divided it into acts, but called what I have sent Part First; as there is a suspension of the action, which That I do wrong, I feel a thousand fears Aho. Anah. I should have loved Azaziel not less were he mortal; yet I am glad he is not. I cannot outlive him. Of the poor child of clay which so adored him, His grief will be of ages, or at least Aho. Anah. And if it should be so, and she loved him, Better thus than that he should weep for me. Aho. If I thought thus of Samiasa's love, All seraph as he is, I'd spurn him from me. But to our invocation!-T is the hour. Anah. Seraph! From thy sphere! Whatever star contain thy glory; 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! And though she nothing is to thee, Thou canst not tell,—and never be Unborn, undying beauty in thine eyes; Except in love, and there thou must Thou walk'st thy many worlds, thou seest 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 Her whose heart death could not keep from o'erflowing For thee, immortal essence as thou art! 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. Appear! Appear! 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 may dare Who made all empires, empire; or recalling Some wandering star, which shoots through the abyss, Whose tenants dying, while their world is falling, Share the dim destiny of clay in this; Or joining with the inferior cherubim, I call thee, I await thee, and I love thee. 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 cannot repay With love more warm than mine My love. There is a ray In me, which, though forbidden yet to shine, I feel was lighted at thy God's and thine. It may be hidden long: death and decay Our mother Eve bequeath'd us-but my heart Defies it: though this life must pass away, Is that a cause for thee and me to part? Thou art immortal- -so am I: I feel I feel my immortality o'ersweep All pains, all tears, all time, all fears, and peal, Into my ears this truth-" Thou liv'st for ever!" I know not, nor would know; That secret rests with the Almighty giver Who folds in clouds the fonts of bliss and woe. But thee and me he never can destroy; Change us he may, but not o'erwhelm; we are Of as eternal essence, and must war With him if he will war with us: with thee 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 Anah. They come! he comes!-Azaziel ! To meet them! Oh! for wings to bear To Samiasa's breast! Anah. Lo! they have kindled all the west, Like a returning sunset-lo! On Ararat's late secret crest A mild and many-color'd bow, The remnant of their flashing path, From his unfathomable home, When sporting on the face of the calm deep, Subsides soon after he again hath dash'd Haste Down, down, to where the ocean's fountains sleep. My Azaziel! [Exeunt. *The archangels, said to be seven in number, and to occupy Oh, Anah! the eighth rank in the celestial hierarchy. Irad. But she loves thee not. Me! why? Yes. Japh. For milk, and wool, and flesh, and fruits, and all Japh. If I could rest. Irad. And so would I, Thou wilt not to our tents then? Forth when they walk its surface. What wouldst thou there? Wherefore so? Soothe further my sad spirit But 't is dangerous; With gloom as sad: it is a hopeless spot, And I am hopeless. Irad. Strange sounds and terrors. I must go with thee. Of desolation, and the stillness of Of my mind overworn. The earth's grown wicked, And still would I redeem thee-see thee live Enter Noah and Shem. Noah. Where is thy brother Japhet? nightly, Like a dove round and round its pillaged nest; Noah. What doth he there? It is an evil spot And that the hour approacheth, should indulge sights have peopled it with SCENE III.-The Mountains.-A Cavern, and the Irad, no; believe me Irad. But evil things will be thy foe the more No, neither, Irad; Then peace be with thee! I must proceed alone. In love-with love, too, which perhaps deserved it; Which seem'st unfathomable; and ye mountains, Here, in your rugged majesty of rocks And toppling trees that twine their roots with stone Of man would tremble, could he reach them-yes, Have come upon me. Peace! what peace? the Save I? Who shall be left to weep? My kinsmen. calm Alas! what am I better than ye are That I must live beyond ye? Where shall be Nearest the stars? And can those words " no more" Such as--Oh God! and canst thou- [He pauses. Of the Most High, what art thou? 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 are here, Which look like death in life, and speak like things Born ere this dying world? They come like clouds! [Various Spirits pass from the cavern. Rejoice! Spirit. The abhorred race Shall they drop off. Behold their last to-morrow! Earth shall be ocean! And no breath, Save of the winds, be on the unbounded wave! Or show the place where strong Despair hath died, For the expected ebb which cometh not: Another element shall be the lord Of life, and the abhorr'd Children of dust be quench'd; and of each hue Shall nought remain Unchanged, or of the level plain; Cedar and pine shall lift their tops in vain : All merged within the universal fountain, Man, earth, and fire, shall die, And sea and sky Look vast and lifeless in the eternal eye. Who shall erect a home? Japh. (coming forward). My sire! Avaunt! ye exulting demons of the waste! Who howl your hideous joy When God destroys whom you dare not destroy; Back to your inner caves! Shall search you in your secret place, 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 woeLess 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 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, Shall cease to prey on man and on each other, And the striped tiger shall lie down to die Beside the lamb, as though he were his brother; Till all things shall be as they were, Silent and uncreated, save the sky: While a brief truce Is made with Death, who shall forbear Japh. (interrupting them). The eternal will Unto himself all times, all things; And, gather'd under his almighty wings, And to the expiated Earth 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 wondrous spell? Japh. When the Redeemer cometh; first in pain, And then in glory. Spirit. Meantime still struggle in the mortal chain, Till earth wax hoary; War with yourselves, and hell, and heaven, in vain, Until the clouds look gory With the blood reeking from each battle plain; The same old tears, old crimes, and oldest ill, But the same moral storms Shall oversweep the future, as the waves Chorus of Spirits. Hark! hark! already we can hear the voice *"And there were giants in the earth in those days, and after; mighty men, which were of old, men of renown."Genesis. "The same day were all the fountains of the great deep The fountains of the great deep shall be broken, And heaven set wide her windows; † while mankind View, unacknowledged, each tremendous tokenStill, as they were from the beginning, blind. We hear the sound they cannot hear, The mustering thunders of the threatening Yet a few hours their coming is delay'd; Save to the Spirit's all-pervading eye. Howl! howl! oh Earth! Thy death is nearer than thy recent birth; The wave shall break upon your cliffs; and shells, Where could he rest them, while the whole space brings Nought to his eye beyond the deep, his grave ? Brethren, rejoice! And loudly lift each superhuman voice All die, We fell ! They fall! So perish all These petty foes of Heaven who shrink from hell! [The Spirits disappear, soaring upwards. Japh. (solus). God hath proclaim'd the destiny of earth; My father's ark of safety hath announced it; Shakes them no more in their dim disbelief, Or deaf obedient ocean, which fulfills it. broken up; and the windows of heaven were opened.”— Ibid. The book of Enoch, preserved by the Ethiopians, is said by them to be anterior to the tlood. |