MANFR E D. ACT I. SCENE I. MANFRED alone-Scene, a Gothic gallery-Time, Midnight. MAN. THE lamp must be replenish'd, but even then Must mourn the deepest o'er the fatal truth, And none have baffled, many fallen before me— Have been to me as rain unto the sands, And feel the curse to have no natural fear, Nor fluttering throb, that beats with hopes or wishes, Or lurking love of something on the earth.— Now to my task.— Mysterious Agency! Ye spirits of the unbounded Universe! Whom I have sought in darkness and in light— Ye, who do compass earth about, and dwell Of mountains inaccessible are haunts, And earth's and ocean's caves familiar things— Which gives me power upon you-Rise! appear! They come not yet.-Now by the voice of him If it be so.-Spirits of earth and air, Ye shall not thus elude me: by a power, By the strong curse which is upon my soul, [A pause. The thought which is within me and around me, I do compel ye to my will.-Appear! [A star is seen at the darker end of the gallery; it is stationary; and a voice is heard singing.] FIRST SPIRIT. Mortal! to thy bidding bow'd, VOL. IV. E Which the breath of twilight builds, With the azure and vermilion, Mortal-be thy wish avow'd! Voice of the SECOND SPIRIT. Mont Blanc is the monarch of mountains, They crown'd him long ago On a throne of rocks, in a robe of clouds, With a diadem of snow. Around his waist are forests braced, The Avalanche in his hand; But ere it fall, that thundering ball The Glacier's cold and restless mass I am the spirit of the place, Could make the mountain bow |