And hold fast by my girdle-softly—well—

The Chalet will be gain'd within an hour—
Come on, we'll quickly find a surer footing,

And something like a pathway, which the torrent
Hath wash'd since winter.-Come, 'tis bravely done-
You should have been a hunter.-Follow me.

(As they descend the rocks with difficulty,

the scene closes.)

ACT II.

SCENE I.

A Cottage amongst the Bernese Alps.

MANFRED and the CHAMOIS HUNTER.

C.HUN. No, no-yet pause-thou must not yet go forth: Thy mind and body are alike unfit

To trust each other, for some hours, at least;

When thou art better, I will be thy guide

But whither ?

MAN.

It imports not: I do know

My route full well, and need no further guidance.

C. HUN. Thy garb and gait bespeak thee of high

lineage

One of the many chiefs, whose castled crags

Look o'er the lower valleys-which of these
May call thee lord? I only know their portals;
My way of life leads me but rarely down
To bask by the huge hearths of those old halls,
Carousing with the vassals; but the paths,

Which step from out our mountains to their doors,
I know from childhood-which of these is thine?

MAN. No matter.

C. HUN.

Well, sir, pardon me the question,

And be of better cheer. Come, taste my wine;
"Tis of an ancient vintage; many a day
"Thas thaw'd my veins among our glaciers, now
Let it do thus for thine-Come, pledge me fairly.
MAN. Away, away! there's blood upon the brim!
Will it then never-never sink in the earth?

C. HUN. What dost thou mean? thy senses wander from thee.

MAN. I say 'tis blood-my blood! the pure warm stream
Which ran in the veins of my fathers, and in ours
When we were in our youth, and had one heart,

And loved each other as we should not love,
And this was shed: but still it rises up,

Colouring the clouds, that shut me out from heaven,

Where thou art not—and I shall never be.

C. HUN. Man of strange words, and some half-mad

dening sin,

Which makes thee people vacancy, whate'er

Thy dread and sufferance be, there's comfort yet

The aid of holy men, and heavenly patience

MAN. Patience and patience! Hence-that word was

made

For brutes of burthen, not for birds of prey;

Preach it to mortals of a dust like thine,—

I am not of thine order.

C. HUN.

Thanks to heaven!

I would not be of thine for the free fame
Of William Tell; but whatsoe'er thine ill,
It must be borne, and these wild starts are useless.
MAN. Do I not bear it ?-Look on me--I live.
C. HUN. This is convulsion, and no healthful life.
MAN. I tell thee, man! I have lived many years,
Many long years, but they are nothing now
To those which I must number: ages-ages—
Space and eternity—and consciousness,

With the fierce thirst of death-and still unslaked!

C. HUN. Why, on thy brow the seal of middle age Hath scarce been set; I am thine elder far.

MAN. Think'st thou existence doth depend on time? It doth; but actions are our epochs: mine Have made my days and nights imperishable, Endless, and all alike, as sands on the shore, Innumerable atoms; and one desert,

Barren and cold, 'on which the wild waves break,

But nothing rests, save carcasses and wrecks,

Rocks, and the salt-surf weeds of bitterness.

C. HUN. Alas! he's mad-but yet I must not leave him. MAN. I would I were-for then the things I see

Would be but a distemper'd dream.

C. HUN.

What is it

That thou dost see, or think thou look'st upon?

MAN. Myself, and thee—a peasant of the Alps— Thy humble virtues, hospitable home,

And spirit patient, pious, proud and free;

Thy self-respect, grafted on innocent thoughts;
Thy days of health, and nights of sleep; thy toils,
By danger dignified, yet guiltless; hopes
Of cheerful old age and a quiet grave,
With cross and garland over its green turf,
And thy grandchildren's love for epitaph;
This do I see-and then I look within-

It matters not-my soul was scorch'd already!

C. HUN. And wouldst thou then exchange thy lot for

mine?

MAN. No, friend! I would not wrong thee, nor ex

change

My lot with living being: I can bear—

However wretchedly, 'tis still to bear—