GET /mashup/cultural/moment
Generate a unique cultural snapshot for any city: combines current weather, a random museum artwork, a random classic poem, elevation data, light pollution levels, and sunrise/sunset times into an atmospheric moment. Perfect for creative apps, daily inspiration features, and cultural tourism tools.
city
required
City name (e.g. oslo, paris, tokyo)
| Name | Required | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
city |
Yes | - | City name (e.g. oslo, paris, tokyo) |
curl "https://nordapi.ee/api/v1/mashup/cultural/moment?city=paris"
{
"artwork_of_the_moment": {
"artist": "Workshop of Dieric Bouts (Netherlandish, 1415–1475)",
"date": "c. 1490",
"department": "Painting and Sculpture of Europe",
"id": 110673,
"image_url": "https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/66c1797f-b87e-8736-cdf6-c490bd34863b/full/843,/0/default.jpg",
"medium": "Oil on panel",
"title": "Mater Dolorosa (Sorrowing Virgin)"
},
"city": "paris",
"country": "FR",
"elevation": {
"dataset": "srtm90m",
"elevation": 44.0,
"latitude": 48.8566,
"longitude": 2.3522
},
"generated_at": "2026-07-05T20:04:15.570362Z",
"light_pollution": {
"aurora_suitability": "poor",
"bortle_class": 9,
"bortle_description": "Inner-city sky. Only the moon, planets, and a few bright stars visible.",
"disclaimer": "This is an estimate based on nearby population density, not satellite measurements. Actual light pollution may vary due to terrain, local lighting, and atmospheric conditions.",
"latitude": 48.8566,
"longitude": 2.3522,
"methodology": "Bortle class estimated from weighted population within 100km. Closer cities contribute more. Accurate for major cities and remote areas; less precise for suburbs and small towns.",
"naked_eye_stars": "<20",
"nearby_population": {
"nearby_cities": [
{
"country": "",
"distance_km": 0.0,
"name": "nearby city",
"population": 11000000
}
],
"nearest_city": "nearby city",
"nearest_distance_km": 0.0,
"total_population": 11000000,
"weighted_population": 11000000
},
"recommendations": [
"Drive 30-60 minutes away from the city for significantly darker skies",
"Urban light pollution makes stargazing very difficult from this location"
],
"sky_quality": "very_bad",
"sqm_estimate": 17.0
},
"mood": "warm",
"poem_of_the_moment": {
"author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron",
"line_count": "2255",
"lines": [
"ACT I.",
"",
"SCENE I.--_The Land without Paradise.--Time, Sunrise_.",
"",
" ADAM, EVE, CAIN, ABEL, ADAH, ZILLAH, _offering a Sacrifice_.",
"",
"_Adam_. God, the Eternal! Infinite! All-wise!--",
"Who out of darkness on the deep didst make",
"Light on the waters with a word--All Hail!",
"Jehovah! with returning light--All Hail!",
"",
"_Eve_. God! who didst name the day, and separate",
"Morning from night, till then divided never--",
"Who didst divide the wave from wave, and call",
"Part of thy work the firmament--All Hail!",
"",
"_Abel_. God! who didst 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 didst create these best and beauteous beings,",
"To be belovéd, more than all, save thee--",
"Let me love thee and them:--All Hail! All Hail!",
"",
"_Zillah_. Oh, God! who loving, making, blessing all,",
"Yet didst 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.",
"",
"_Cain_. Have ye not prayed?",
"",
"_Adam_. We have, most fervently.",
"",
"_Cain_. And loudly: I",
"Have heard you.",
"",
"_Adam_. So will God, I trust.",
"",
"_Abel_. Amen!",
"",
"_Adam_. But thou 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 didst thou plant the tree of knowledge?",
"",
"_Cain_. And wherefore plucked ye not the tree of life?",
"Ye might have then defied him.",
"",
"_Adam_. Oh! my son,",
"Blaspheme not: these are Serpent's 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: let me not see renewed",
"My misery in thine. I have repented.",
"Let me not see my offspring fall into",
"The snares beyond the walls of Paradise,",
"Which even 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",
"Needful: the earth is young, and yields us kindly",
"Her fruits with little labour.",
"",
"_Eve_. Cain--my son--",
"Behold thy father cheerful and resigned--",
"And do as he doth. [_Exeunt_ ADAM _and_ EVE.",
"",
"_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 belovéd Cain",
"Wilt thou frown even on me?",
"",
"_Cain_. No, Adah! no;",
"I fain would be alone a little while.",
"Abel, I'm sick at heart; but it will pass;",
"Precede me, brother--I will follow shortly.",
"And you, too, sisters, tarry not behind;",
"Your gentleness must not be harshly met:",
"I'll follow you anon.",
"",
"_Adah_. If not, I will",
"Return to seek you here.",
"",
"_Abel_. The peace of God",
"Be on your spirit, brother!",
" [_Exeunt_ ABEL, ZILLAH, _and_ ADAH.",
"",
"_Cain_ (_solus_). And this is",
"Life?--Toil! and wherefore should I toil?--because",
"My father could not keep his place in Eden?",
"What had _I_ 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",
"Yield to the Serpent and the woman? or",
"Yielding--why suffer? What was there in this?",
"The tree was planted, and why not for him?",
"If not, why place him near it, where it grew",
"The fairest in the centre? They have but",
"One answer to all questions, \"'Twas _his_ will,",
"And _he_ is good.\" How know I that? Because",
"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 angels",
"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 just 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",
"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, canst 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_. What immortal part?",
"This has not been revealed: the Tree of Life",
"Was withheld from us by my father's folly,",
"While that of Knowledge, by my mother's haste,",
"Was plucked 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 no thing",
"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 failed to be one, would be nought",
"Save what I am. He conquered; let him reign!",
"",
"_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, on 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 not 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!",
"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",
"Create, and re-create--perhaps he'll make",
"One day a Son unto himself--as he",
"Gave you a father--and if he so doth,",
"Mark me! that Son will be a sacrifice!",
"",
"_Cain_. Thou speak'st to me of things which long have swum",
"In visions through my thought: I never could",
"Reconcile what I 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 belovéd--she, too, understands not",
"The mind which overwhelms me: never till",
"Now met I aught to sympathise with me.",
"'Tis well--I rather would consort with 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 _I_ bid her pluck them not?",
"Did I plant things prohibited within",
"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",
"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 snatched both",
"The fruits, or neither!",
"",
"_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 didst thou tempt my parents?",
"",
"_Lucifer_. I?",
"Poor clay--what should I tempt them for, or how?",
"",
"_Cain_. They say the Serpent was a spirit.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. Who",
"Saith that? It is not written so on high:",
"The proud One will not so far falsify,",
"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 not 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_. 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",
"Have rolled o'er your dead ashes, and your seed's,",
"The seed of the then world may thus array",
"Their earliest fault in fable, and attribute",
"To me a shape I scorn, as I scorn all",
"That bows to him, who made things but to bend",
"Before his sullen, sole eternity;",
"But we, who see the truth, must speak it. Thy",
"Fond parents listened 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_. Darest thou 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",
"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 ran roaring from my gripe.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. It has no shape; but will absorb all things",
"That bear the form of earth-born being.",
"",
"_Cain_. Ah!",
"I thought it was a being: who could do",
"Such evil things to beings save a being?",
"",
"_Lucifer_. Ask the Destroyer.",
"",
"_Cain_. Who?",
"",
"_Lucifer_. The Maker--Call him",
"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 looked out",
"In the vast desolate night in search of him;",
"And when I saw gigantic shadows in",
"The umbrage of the walls of Eden, chequered",
"By the far-flashing of the Cherubs' swords,",
"I watched 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 turned my weary eyes from off",
"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? I fear,",
"I feel, it is a dreadful thing; but what,",
"I cannot compass: 'tis denounced against us,",
"Both them who sinned and sinned not, as an ill--",
"What ill?",
"",
"_Lucifer_. To be resolved into the earth.",
"",
"_Cain_. But shall I know it?",
"",
"_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 is a _grovelling_ wish,",
"Less than thy father's--for he wished to know!",
"",
"_Cain_. But not to live--or wherefore plucked he not",
"The Life-tree?",
"",
"_Lucifer_. He was hindered.",
"",
"_Cain_. Deadly error!",
"Not to snatch first that fruit:--but ere he plucked",
"The knowledge, he was ignorant of Death.",
"Alas! I 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_. Aye, 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: I 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 bowed unto my father's God.",
"Although my brother Abel oft implores",
"That I would join with him in sacrifice:--",
"Why should I bow to thee?",
"",
"_Lucifer_. Hast thou ne'er bowed",
"To him?",
"",
"_Cain_. Have I not said it?--need I say it?",
"Could not thy mighty knowledge teach thee that?",
"",
"_Lucifer_. He who bows not to him has bowed 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 first-fruits.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. Why?",
"",
"_Cain_. To offer up",
"With Abel on an altar.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. Said'st thou not",
"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;",
"It is our hour of rest and joy--and we",
"Have less without thee. Thou hast laboured not",
"This morn; but I have done thy task: the fruits",
"Are ripe, and glowing as the light which ripens:",
"Come away.",
"",
"_Cain_. Seest 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 deigned",
"To be our guests--will he?",
"",
"_Cain_ (_to Lucifer_). Wilt thou?",
"",
"_Lucifer_. I ask",
"Thee to be mine.",
"",
"_Cain_. I must away with him.",
"",
"_Adah_. And leave us?",
"",
"_Cain_. Aye.",
"",
"_Adah_. And _me_?",
"",
"_Cain_. Belovéd 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.",
"",
"_Adah_. So did the Serpent, and it lied.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. Thou errest, Adah!--was not the Tree that",
"Of Knowledge?",
"",
"_Adah_. Aye--to our eternal sorrow.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. And yet that grief is knowledge--so he lied not:",
"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_. More 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_. Not 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,",
"Born 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",
"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 plucked a fruit more fatal to thine offspring",
"Than to thyself; thou at the least hast passed",
"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 worked on by the snake, in thy most flushed",
"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",
"The Cherubs and the Seraphs; he looks not",
"Like them.",
"",
"_Cain_. But there are spirits loftier still--",
"The archangels.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. And still loftier than the archangels.",
"",
"_Adah_. Aye--but not blesséd.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. If the blessedness",
"Consists in slavery--no.",
"",
"_Adah_. I have heard it said,",
"The Seraphs _love most_--Cherubim _know 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 snatched 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 plucked the tree of science",
"And sin--and, not content with their own sorrow,",
"Begot _me_--_thee_--and all the few that are,",
"And all the unnumbered and innumerable",
"Multitudes, millions, myriads, which may be,",
"To inherit agonies accumulated",
"By ages!--and _I_ 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,",
"Interchecked with an instant of brief pleasure,",
"To Death--the unknown! Methinks the Tree of Knowledge",
"Hath not fulfilled its promise:--if they sinned,",
"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",
"I 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 couldst not",
"_Alone_, thou 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.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. Yet thy God is alone; and is he happy?",
"Lonely, and good?",
"",
"_Adah_. He 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! no! and you--",
"Are you of Heaven?",
"",
"_Lucifer_. If I am not, enquire",
"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,",
"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.",
"",
"_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 unnumbered stars",
"Spangle the wonderful mysterious vault",
"With things that look as if they would be suns;",
"So beautiful, unnumbered, 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!",
"Couldst thou but know what oceans will be shed----",
"",
"_Adah_. By me?",
"",
"_Lucifer_. By all.",
"",
"_Adah_. What all?",
"",
"_Lucifer_. The million millions--",
"The myriad myriads--the all-peopled earth--",
"The unpeopled earth--and the o'er-peopled Hell,",
"Of which thy bosom is the germ.",
"",
"_Adah_. O Cain!",
"This spirit curseth us.",
"",
"_Cain_. Let him say on;",
"Him will I follow.",
"",
"_Adah_. Whither?",
"",
"_Lucifer_. To a place",
"_Whence_ he shall come back to thee in an hour;",
"But in that hour see things of many days.",
"",
"_Adah_. How can that be?",
"",
"_Lucifer_. Did not your Maker make",
"Out of old worlds this new one in few days?",
"And cannot I, who aided in this work,",
"Show in an hour what he hath made in many,",
"Or hath destroyed 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_. Aye, woman! he alone",
"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",
"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.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. Cain! thou hast 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_ CAIN.",
"",
"_Adah_ (_follows exclaiming_). Cain! my brother! 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 shalt 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! thus",
"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 shalt 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, tossed 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",
"To save thee; but fly with me o'er the gulf",
"Of space an equal flight, and I will show",
"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?",
"",
"_Lucifer_. Dost thou not recognise",
"The dust which formed your father?",
"",
"_Cain_. Can it be?",
"Yon small blue circle, swinging in far ether,",
"With an inferior circlet purpler 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 I",
"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; 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,",
"Though multiplied to animated atoms,",
"All living--and all doomed to death--and wretched,",
"What wouldst thou think?",
"",
"_Cain_. I should be proud of thought",
"Which knew such things.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. But if that high thought were",
"Linked to a servile mass of matter--and,",
"Knowing such things, aspiring to such things,",
"And science still beyond them, were chained down",
"To the most gross and petty paltry wants,",
"All foul and fulsome--and the very best",
"Of thine enjoyments a sweet degradation,",
"A most enervating and filthy cheat",
"To lure thee on to the renewal of",
"Fresh souls and bodies, all foredoomed 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_. _I_ am angelic: wouldst thou be as I am?",
"",
"_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",
"Seem'st sorrowful?",
"",
"_Lucifer_. I seem that which I am;",
"And therefore do I ask of thee, if thou",
"Wouldst be immortal?",
"",
"_Cain_. Thou hast said, I must be",
"Immortal in despite of me. I 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 now, 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 measured for ye? Or do ye",
"Sweep on in your unbounded revelry",
"Through an aërial universe of endless",
"Expansion--at which my soul aches to think--",
"Intoxicated with eternity?",
"Oh God! 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;",
"Spirit! let me expire, or see them nearer.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. Art thou not nearer? look back to thine earth!",
"",
"_Cain_. Where is it? I see nothing save a mass",
"Of most innumerable lights.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. Look there!",
"",
"_Cain_. I cannot see it.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. Yet it sparkles still.",
"",
"_Cain_. That!--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_. But what",
"_Sate_ nearest it?",
"",
"_Cain_. 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 I was made of it.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. 'Tis 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?",
"",
"_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 _I_ 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 shall behold.",
"",
"_Cain_. Clay--Spirit--what thou wilt--I can survey.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. Away, then!",
"",
"_Cain_. But the lights fade from me fast,",
"And some till now grew larger as we approached,",
"And wore the look of worlds.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. And such they are.",
"",
"_Cain_. And Edens in them?",
"",
"_Lucifer_. It may be.",
"",
"_Cain_. And men?",
"",
"_Lucifer_. Yea, or things higher.",
"",
"_Cain_. Aye! 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 of 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,",
"Seemed full of life even when their atmosphere",
"Of light gave way, and showed them taking shapes",
"Unequal, of deep valleys and vast mountains;",
"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",
"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!",
"",
"_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?",
"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",
"Couldst not have gone beyond thy world. On! on!",
" [_They disappear through the clouds_.",
"",
"SCENE II.--_Hades_.",
"",
" _Enter_ LUCIFER _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 deemed them rather the bright populace",
"Of some all unimaginable Heaven,",
"Than things to be inhabited themselves,",
"But that on drawing near them I beheld",
"Their swelling into palpable immensity",
"Of matter, which seemed made for life to dwell on,",
"Rather than life itself. But here, all is",
"So shadowy, and so full of twilight, that",
"It speaks of a day past.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. It is the realm",
"Of Death.--Wouldst have it present?",
"",
"_Cain_. Till I know",
"That which it really is, I cannot answer.",
"But if 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! Curséd be",
"He who invented Life that leads 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",
"Bequeathed 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 'tis 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!",
"",
"_Lucifer_. Yes; happy! when unfolded,",
"Through agonies unspeakable, and clogged",
"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 Intelligences I have seen",
"Round our regretted and unentered Eden;",
"Nor wear the form of man as I have viewed 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 never 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?",
"",
"_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?",
"",
"_Lucifer_. Ask him who fells.",
"",
"_Cain_. But how?",
"",
"_Lucifer_. By a most crushing and inexorable",
"Destruction and disorder of the elements,",
"Which struck a world to chaos, as a chaos",
"Subsiding has struck out a world: such things,",
"Though rare in time, are frequent in eternity.--",
"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 strength.",
"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 engendered out of the subsiding",
"Slime of a mighty universe, crushed into",
"A scarcely-yet shaped planet, peopled with",
"Things whose enjoyment was to be in blindness--",
"A Paradise of Ignorance, from which",
"Knowledge was barred as poison. But behold",
"What these superior beings are or were;",
"Or, 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_. How long?",
"",
"_Cain_. For ever! 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 beholdest as",
"A vision that which is reality.",
"To make thyself fit for this dwelling, thou",
"Must pass through what the things thou seest have passed--",
"The gates of Death.",
"",
"_Cain_. By what gate have we entered",
"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 ne'er repass",
"To earth again?",
"",
"_Lucifer_. _Their_ earth is gone for ever--",
"So changed by its convulsion, they would not",
"Be conscious to a single present spot",
"Of its new scarcely hardened surface--'twas--",
"Oh, what a beautiful world it _was_!",
"",
"_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, untoiling,",
"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 passed,",
"Resembling somewhat the wild habitants",
"Of the deep woods of earth, the hugest which",
"Roar 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 stripped of",
"Their bark and branches--what were they?",
"",
"_Lucifer_. That which",
"The Mammoth is in thy world;--but these lie",
"By myriads underneath its surface.",
"",
"_Cain_. But",
"None on it?",
"",
"_Lucifer_. No: for thy frail race to war",
"With them would render the curse on it useless--",
"'Twould be destroyed 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.",
"",
"_Cain_. But animals--",
"Did they, too, eat of it, that they must die?",
"",
"_Lucifer_. Your Maker told ye, _they_ were made for you,",
"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!",
"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_!",
"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_ knowledge;",
"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 knowest that there is",
"A state, and many states beyond thine own--",
"And this thou knewest not this morn.",
"",
"_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--",
"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 looked on--",
"Is he not of the kind which basked 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 other",
"Had more of beauty.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. Hast thou ne'er beheld him?",
"",
"_Cain_. Many of the same kind (at least so called)",
"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! whene'er thy wife, or thy sons' wives,",
"Tempt thee or them to aught that's new or strange,",
"Be sure thou seest first who hath tempted _them_!",
"",
"_Cain_. Thy precept comes too late: there is no more",
"For serpents to tempt woman to.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. But there",
"Are some things still which woman may tempt man to,",
"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,",
"'Twill not be followed, 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 not; but for pain,",
"I have felt much.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. First-born of the first man!",
"Thy present state of sin--and thou art evil,",
"Of sorrow--and thou sufferest, are both Eden",
"In all its innocence compared to what",
"_Thou_ shortly may'st be; and that state again,",
"In its redoubled wretchedness, a Paradise",
"To what thy sons' sons' 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! 'tis",
"The leaven of all life, and lifelessness.",
"",
"_Cain_. Within those glorious orbs which we behold,",
"Distant, and dazzling, and innumerable,",
"Ere we came down into this phantom realm,",
"Ill cannot come: they are too beautiful.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. Thou hast 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 beautiful,",
"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,",
"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",
"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 and heaven",
"To gaze on it.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. 'Tis fair as frail 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!",
"My brotherhood's with those who have no children.",
"",
"_Cain_. Then thou canst have no fellowship with us.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. It may be 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?",
"Ev'n 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 says he's omnipotent:",
"Then why is Evil--he being Good? I asked",
"This question of my father; and he said,",
"Because this Evil only was the path",
"To Good. Strange Good, that must arise 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 plucked some herbs, and laid them to",
"The wound; and by degrees the helpless wretch",
"Resumed 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 _stung at all_, than to",
"Purchase renewal of its little life",
"With agonies unutterable, though",
"Dispelled by antidotes.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. But as thou saidst",
"Of all belovéd things thou lovest her",
"Who shared thy mother's milk, and giveth hers",
"Unto thy children----",
"",
"_Cain_. Most assuredly:",
"What should I be without her?",
"",
"_Lucifer_. What am I?",
"",
"_Cain_. Dost thou love nothing?",
"",
"_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 must 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 passed, 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_. And I thee who lov'st nothing.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. And thy brother--",
"Sits he not near thy heart?",
"",
"_Cain_. Why should he not?",
"",
"_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 it.",
"",
"_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 barred Paradise--",
"He, too, looks 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 walked the earth",
"Of which ours is the wreck: thou hast pointed out",
"Myriads of starry worlds, of which our own",
"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?",
"",
"_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 jarred 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 not thou Abel's brother?",
"",
"_Cain_. We are brethren,",
"And so we shall remain; but were it not so,",
"Is 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?",
"",
"_Lucifer_. Aye.",
"_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 _his_ creatures, and not mine.",
"",
"_Cain_. Then leave us",
"_His_ creatures, as thou say'st we are, or show me",
"Thy dwelling, or _his_ dwelling.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. I could show thee",
"Both; but the time will come thou shalt 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 thought: and _thou_ wouldst go on aspiring",
"To the great double Mysteries! the _two Principles_!",
"And gaze upon them on their secret thrones!",
"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 snatched the apple spake!",
"But thou wouldst only perish, and not see them;",
"That sight is for the other state.",
"",
"_Cain_. Of Death?",
"",
"_Lucifer_. 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 shall multiply the race of Adam,",
"Eat, drink, toil, tremble, laugh, weep, sleep--and die!",
"",
"_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 showed,",
"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:",
"I 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 the great",
"Conflict shall cease, if ever it shall cease,",
"Which it ne'er shall, till he or I be quenched!",
"And what can quench our immortality,",
"Or mutual and irrevocable hate?",
"He as a conqueror will call the conquered",
"_Evil_; but what will be the _Good_ he gives?",
"Were I the victor, _his_ works would be deemed",
"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; and some of those but bitter.",
"",
"_Lucifer_. Back",
"With me, then, to thine earth, and try the rest",
"Of his celestial boons to you and yours.",
"Evil and Good are things in their own essence,",
"And not made good or evil by the Giver;",
"But if he gives you good--so call him; if",
"Evil springs from _him_, do not name it _mine_,",
"Till ye know better its true fount; and judge",
"Not by words, though of Spirits, but the fruits",
"Of your existence, such as it must be.",
"_One good_ gift has the fatal apple given,--",
"Your _reason_:--let it not be overswayed",
"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",
"Nature, and war triumphant with your own.",
" [_They disappear_.",
"",
"ACT III.",
"",
"SCENE I.--_The Earth, near Eden, as in Act I_.",
"",
" _Enter_ CAIN _and_ ADAH.",
"",
"_Adah_. Hush! tread softly, Cain!",
"",
"_Cain_. I will--but wherefore?",
"",
"_Adah_. Our little Enoch sleeps upon yon bed",
"Of leaves, beneath the cypress.",
"",
"_Cain_. Cypress! 'tis",
"A gloomy tree, which looks as if it mourned",
"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 seemed",
"Fitting to shadow slumber.",
"",
"_Cain_. Aye, the last--",
"And longest; but no matter--lead me to him.",
" [_They go up to the child_.",
"How lovely he appears! his little cheeks,",
"In their pure incarnation, vying with",
"The rose leaves strewn beneath them.",
"",
"_Adah_. And his lips, too,",
"How beautifully parted! No; you shall not",
"Kiss him, at least not now: he will awake 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 plucked the fruit--",
"Thou know'st not thou art naked! Must the time",
"Come thou shalt be amerced for sins unknown,",
"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 blue",
"Laughs out, although in slumber. He must dream--",
"Of what? Of Paradise!--Aye! dream of it,",
"My disinherited boy! 'Tis but a dream;",
"For never more thyself, thy sons, nor fathers,",
"Shall walk in that forbidden place of joy!",
"",
"_Adah_. Dear Cain! 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 saddened 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 done thee evil: still I thank him,",
"And can forgive him all, that he so soon",
"Hath given thee back to us.",
"",
"_Cain_. So soon?",
"",
"_Adah_. 'Tis scarcely",
"Two hours since ye departed: two _long_ hours",
"To _me_, but only _hours_ upon the sun.",
"",
"_Cain_. And yet I have approached that sun, and seen",
"Worlds which he once shone on, and never more",
"Shall light; and worlds he never lit: methought",
"Years had rolled 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 beings; skirred extinguished worlds;",
"And, gazing on eternity, methought",
"I had borrowed 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 parents' error.",
"",
"_Cain_. What is that",
"To us? they sinned, 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 _I_ 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",
"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! thou 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 brother Abel made",
"During thine absence, whereupon to offer",
"A sacrifice to God on thy return.",
"",
"_Cain_. And how knew _he_, that _I_ 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 bloom of flowers and fruits--",
"These are a goodly offering to the Lord,",
"Given with a gentle and a contrite spirit.",
"",
"_Cain_. I have toiled, and tilled, and sweaten in the sun,",
"According to the curse:--must I do more?",
"For what should I be gentle? for a war",
"With all the elements ere they will yield",
"The bread we eat? For what must I be grateful?",
"For being dust, and grovelling in the dust,",
"Till I return to dust? If I am nothing--",
"For nothing shall I be an hypocrite,",
"And seem well-pleased with pain? For what should I",
"Be contrite? for my father's sin, already",
"Expiate with what we all have undergone,",
"And to be more than expiated by",
"The ages prophesied, upon our seed.",
"Little deems our young blooming sleeper, there,",
"The germs of an eternal misery",
"To myriads is within him! better 'twere",
"I snatched him in his sleep, and dashed him 'gainst",
"The rocks, than let him live to----",
"",
"_Adah_. Oh, my God!",
"Touch not the child--my child! _thy_ child! Oh, Cain!",
"",
"_Cain_. Fear not! for all the stars, and all the power",
"Which sways them, I would not accost yon infant",
"With ruder greeting than a father's kiss.",
"",
"_Adah_. Then, why so awful in thy speech?",
"",
"_Cain_. I said,",
"'Twere better that he ceased to live, than give",
"Life to so much of sorrow as he must",
"Endure, and, harder still, bequeath; but since",
"That saying jars you, let us only say--",
"'Twere better that he never had been born.",
"",
"_Adah_. Oh, do not say so! Where were then the joys,",
"The mother's joys of watching, nourishing,",
"And loving him? Soft! he awakes. Sweet Enoch!",
" [_She goes to the child_.",
"Oh, Cain! look on him; see how full of life,",
"Of strength, of bloom, of beauty, and of joy--",
"How like to me--how like to thee, when gentle--",
"For _then_ we are _all_ alike; is't not so, Cain?",
"Mother, and sire, and son, our features are",
"Reflected in each other; as they are",
"In the clear waters, when _they_ are _gentle_, and",
"When _thou_ art _gentle_. Love us, then, my Cain!",
"And love thyself for our sakes, for we love thee.",
"Look! how he laughs and stretches out his arms,",
"And opens wide his blue eyes upon thine,",
"To hail his father; while his little form",
"Flutters as winged with joy. Talk not of pain!",
"The childless cherubs well might envy thee",
"The pleasures of a parent! Bless him, Cain!",
"As yet he hath no words to thank thee, but",
"His heart will, and thine own too.",
"",
"_Cain_. Bless thee, boy!",
"If that a mortal blessing may avail thee,",
"To save thee from the Serpent's curse!",
"",
"_Adah_. It shall.",
"Surely a father's blessing may avert",
"A reptile's subtlety.",
"",
"_Cain_. Of that I doubt;",
"But bless him ne'er the less.",
"",
"_Adah_. Our brother comes.",
"",
"_Cain_. Thy brother Abel.",
"",
" _Enter_ ABEL.",
"",
"_Abel_. Welcome, Cain! My brother,",
"The peace of God be on thee!",
"",
"_Cain_. Abel, hail!",
"",
"_Abel_. Our sister tells me that thou hast been wandering,",
"In high communion with a Spirit, far",
"Beyond our wonted range. Was he of those",
"We have seen and spoken with, like to our father?",
"",
"_Cain_. No.",
"",
"_Abel_. Why then commune with him? he may be",
"A foe to the Most High.",
"",
"_Cain_. And friend to man.",
"Has the Most High been so--if so you term him?",
"",
"_Abel_. _Term him!_ your words are strange to-day, my brother.",
"My sister Adah, leave us for awhile--",
"We mean to sacrifice.",
"",
"_Adah_. Farewell, my Cain;",
"But first embrace thy son. May his soft spirit,",
"And Abel's pious ministry, recall thee",
"To peace and holiness! [_Exit_ ADAH, _with her child_.",
"",
"_Abel_. Where hast thou been?",
"",
"_Cain_. I know not.",
"",
"_Abel_. Nor what thou hast seen?",
"",
"_Cain_. The dead--",
"The Immortal--the Unbounded--the Omnipotent--",
"The overpowering mysteries of space--",
"The innumerable worlds that were and are--",
"A whirlwind of such overwhelming things,",
"Suns, moons, and earths, upon their loud-voiced spheres",
"Singing in thunder round me, as have made me",
"Unfit for mortal converse: leave me, Abel.",
"",
"_Abel_. Thine eyes are flashing with unnatural light--",
"Thy cheek is flushed with an unnatural hue--",
"Thy words are fraught with an unnatural sound--",
"What may this mean?",
"",
"_Cain_. It means--I pray thee, leave me.",
"",
"_Abel_. Not till we have prayed and sacrificed together.",
"",
"_Cain_. Abel, I pray thee, sacrifice alone--",
"Jehovah loves thee well.",
"",
"_Abel_. _Both_ well, I hope.",
"",
"_Cain_. But thee the better: I care not for that;",
"Thou art fitter for his worship than I am;",
"Revere him, then--but let it be alone--",
"At least, without me.",
"",
"_Abel_. Brother, I should ill",
"Deserve the name of our great father's son,",
"If, as my elder, I revered thee not,",
"And in the worship of our God, called not",
"On thee to join me, and precede me in",
"Our priesthood--'tis thy place.",
"",
"_Cain_. But I have ne'er",
"Asserted it.",
"",
"_Abel_. The more my grief; I pray thee",
"To do so now: thy soul seems labouring in",
"Some strong delusion; it will calm thee.",
"",
"_Cain_. No;",
"Nothing can calm me more. _Calm!_ say I? Never",
"Knew I what calm was in the soul, although",
"I have seen the elements stilled. My Abel, leave me!",
"Or let me leave thee to thy pious purpose.",
"",
"_Abel_. Neither; we must perform our task together.",
"Spurn me not.",
"",
"_Cain_. If it must be so----well, then,",
"What shall I do?",
"",
"_Abel_. Choose one of those two altars.",
"",
"_Cain_. Choose for me: they to me are so much turf",
"And stone.",
"",
"_Abel_. Choose thou!",
"",
"_Cain_. I have chosen.",
"",
"_Abel_. 'Tis the highest,",
"And suits thee, as the elder. Now prepare",
"Thine offerings.",
"",
"_Cain_. Where are thine?",
"",
"_Abel_. Behold them here--",
"The firstlings of the flock, and fat thereof--",
"A shepherd's humble offering.",
"",
"_Cain_. I have no flocks;",
"I am a tiller of the ground, and must",
"Yield what it yieldeth to my toil--its fruit:",
" [_He gathers fruits_.",
"Behold them in their various bloom and ripeness.",
" [_They dress their altars, and kindle aflame upon them_.",
"",
"_Abel_. My brother, as the elder, offer first",
"Thy prayer and thanksgiving with sacrifice.",
"",
"_Cain_. No--I am new to this; lead thou the way,",
"And I will follow--as I may.",
"",
"_Abel_ (_kneeling_). Oh, God!",
"Who made us, and who breathed the breath of life",
"Within our nostrils, who hath blessed us,",
"And spared, despite our father's sin, to make",
"His children all lost, as they might have been,",
"Had not thy justice been so tempered with",
"The mercy which is thy delight, as to",
"Accord a pardon like a Paradise,",
"Compared with our great crimes:--Sole Lord of light!",
"Of good, and glory, and eternity!",
"Without whom all were evil, and with whom",
"Nothing can err, except to some good end",
"Of thine omnipotent benevolence!",
"Inscrutable, but still to be fulfilled!",
"Accept from out thy humble first of shepherds'",
"First of the first-born flocks--an offering,",
"In itself nothing--as what offering can be",
"Aught unto thee?--but yet accept it for",
"The thanksgiving of him who spreads it in",
"The face of thy high heaven--bowing his own",
"Even to the dust, of which he is--in honour",
"Of thee, and of thy name, for evermore!",
"",
"_Cain_ (_standing erect during this speech_).",
"Spirit whate'er or whosoe'er thou art,",
"Omnipotent, it may be--and, if good,",
"Shown in the exemption of thy deeds from evil;",
"Jehovah upon earth! and God in heaven!",
"And it may be with other names, because",
"Thine attributes seem many, as thy works:--",
"If thou must be propitiated with prayers,",
"Take them! If thou must be induced with altars,",
"And softened with a sacrifice, receive them;",
"Two beings here erect them unto thee.",
"If thou lov'st blood, the shepherd's shrine, which smokes",
"On my right hand, hath shed it for thy service",
"In the first of his flock, whose limbs now reek",
"In sanguinary incense to thy skies;",
"Or, if the sweet and blooming fruits of earth,",
"And milder seasons, which the unstained turf",
"I spread them on now offers in the face",
"Of the broad sun which ripened them, may seem",
"Good to thee--inasmuch as they have not",
"Suffered in limb or life--and rather form",
"A sample of thy works, than supplication",
"To look on ours! If a shrine without victim,",
"And altar without gore, may win thy favour,",
"Look on it! and for him who dresseth it,",
"He is--such as thou mad'st him; and seeks nothing",
"Which must be won by kneeling: if he's evil,",
"Strike him! thou art omnipotent, and may'st--",
"For what can he oppose? If he be good,",
"Strike him, or spare him, as thou wilt! since all",
"Rests upon thee; and Good and Evil seem",
"To have no power themselves, save in thy will--",
"And whether that be good or ill I know not,",
"Not being omnipotent, nor fit to judge",
"Omnipotence--but merely to endure",
"Its mandate; which thus far I have endured.",
"",
" [_The fire upon the altar of_ ABEL _kindles into a column",
" of the brightest flame, and ascends to heaven;",
" while a whirlwind throws down the altar of_",
" CAIN, _and scatters the fruits abroad",
" upon the earths_",
"",
"_Abel_ (_kneeling_).",
"Oh, brother, pray! Jehovah's wroth with thee.",
"",
"_Cain_. Why so?",
"",
"_Abel_. Thy fruits are scattered on the earth.",
"",
"_Cain_. From earth they came, to earth let them return;",
"Their seed will bear fresh fruit there ere the summer:",
"Thy burnt flesh-offering prospers better; see",
"How Heaven licks up the flames, when thick with blood!",
"",
"_Abel_. Think not upon my offering's acceptance,",
"But make another of thine own--before",
"It is too late.",
"",
"_Cain_. I will build no more altars,",
"Nor suffer any----",
"",
"_Abel_ (_rising_). Cain! what meanest thou?",
"",
"_Cain_. To cast down yon vile flatterer of the clouds,",
"The smoky harbinger of thy dull prayers--",
"Thine altar, with its blood of lambs and kids,",
"Which fed on milk, to be destroyed in blood.",
"",
"_Abel_ (_opposing him_).",
"Thou shalt not:--add not impious works to impious",
"Words! let that altar stand--'tis hallowed now",
"By the immortal pleasure of Jehovah,",
"In his acceptance of the victims.",
"",
"_Cain_. _His_!",
"_His pleasure!_ what was his high pleasure in",
"The fumes of scorching flesh and smoking blood,",
"To the pain of the bleating mothers, which",
"Still yearn for their dead offspring? or the pangs",
"Of the sad ignorant victims underneath",
"Thy pious knife? Give way! this bloody record",
"Shall not stand in the sun, to shame creation!",
"",
"_Abel_. Brother, give back! thou shalt not touch my altar",
"With violence: if that thou wilt adopt it,",
"To try another sacrifice, 'tis thine.",
"",
"_Cain_. Another sacrifice! Give way, or else",
"That sacrifice may be----",
"",
"_Abel_. What mean'st thou?",
"",
"_Cain_. Give--",
"Give way!--thy God loves blood!--then look to it:--",
"Give way, ere he hath _more_!",
"",
"_Abel_. In _his_ great name,",
"I stand between thee and the shrine which hath",
"Had his acceptance.",
"",
"_Cain_. If thou lov'st thyself,",
"Stand back till I have strewed this turf along",
"Its native soil:--else----",
"",
"_Abel_ (_opposing him_). I love God far more",
"Than life.",
"",
"_Cain_ (_striking him with a brand, on the temples, which",
"he snatches from the altar_). Then take thy life unto thy God,",
"Since he loves lives.",
"",
"_Abel_ (_falls_). What hast thou done--my brother?",
"",
"_Cain_. Brother!",
"",
"_Abel_. Oh, God! receive thy servant! and",
"Forgive his slayer, for he knew not what",
"He did--Cain, give me--give me thy hand; and tell",
"Poor Zillah--",
"",
"_Cain_ (_after a moment's stupefaction_).",
" _My_ hand! 'tis all red, and with----",
"What? [_A long pause.--Looking slowly round_.",
" Where am I? alone! Where's Abel? where",
"Cain? Can it be that I am he? My brother,",
"Awake!--why liest thou so long on the green earth?",
"'Tis not the hour of slumber:--why so pale?",
"What hast thou!--thou wert full of life this morn!",
"Abel! I pray thee, mock me not! I smote",
"Too fiercely, but not fatally. Ah, why",
"Wouldst thou oppose me? This is mockery;",
"And only done to daunt me:--'twas a blow--",
"And but a blow. Stir--stir--nay, only stir!",
"Why, so--that's well!--thou breathest! breathe upon me!",
"Oh God! Oh God!",
"",
"_Abel_ (_very faintly_). What's he who speaks of God?",
"",
"_Cain_. Thy murderer.",
"",
"_Abel_. Then may God forgive him! Cain,",
"Comfort poor Zillah:--she has but one brother",
"Now. [ABEL _dies_.",
"",
"_Cain_. And I none!--Who makes me brotherless?",
"His eyes are open! then he is not dead!",
"Death is like sleep; and sleep shuts down our lids.",
"His lips, too, are apart; why then he breathes;",
"And yet I feel it not.--His heart!--his heart!--",
"Let me see, doth it beat? methinks----No!--no!",
"This is a vision, else I am become",
"The native of another and worse world.",
"The earth swims round me:--what is this?--'tis wet;",
" [_Puts his hand to his brow, and then looks at it_.",
"And yet there are no dews! 'Tis blood--my blood--",
"My brother's and my own! and shed by me!",
"Then what have I further to do with life,",
"Since I have taken life from my own flesh?",
"But he can not be dead!--Is silence death?",
"No; he will wake; then let me watch by him.",
"Life cannot be so slight, as to be quenched",
"Thus quickly!--he hath spoken to me since--",
"What shall I say to him?--My brother!--No:",
"He will not answer to that name; for brethren",
"Smite not each other. Yet--yet--speak to me.",
"Oh! for a word more of that gentle voice,",
"That I may bear to hear my own again!",
"",
" _Enter_ ZILLAH.",
"",
"_Zillah_. I heard a heavy sound; what can it be?",
"'Tis Cain; and watching by my husband. What",
"Dost thou there, brother? Doth he sleep? Oh, Heaven!",
"What means this paleness, and yon stream?--No, no!",
"It is not blood; for who would shed his blood?",
"Abel! what's this?--who hath done this? He moves not;",
"He breathes not: and his hands drop down from mine",
"With stony lifelessness! Ah! cruel Cain!",
"Why camest thou not in time to save him from",
"This violence? Whatever hath assailed him,",
"Thou wert the stronger, and shouldst have stepped in",
"Between him and aggression! Father!--Eve!--",
"Adah!--come hither! Death is in the world!",
" [_Exit_ ZILLAH, _calling on her Parents, etc._",
"",
"_Cain_ (_solus_). And who hath brought him there?--I--who abhor",
"The name of Death so deeply, that the thought",
"Empoisoned all my life, before I knew",
"His aspect--I have led him here, and given",
"My brother to his cold and still embrace,",
"As if he would not have asserted his",
"Inexorable claim without my aid.",
"I am awake at last--a dreary dream",
"Had maddened me;--but _he_ shall ne'er awake!",
"",
" _Enter_ ADAM, EVE, ADAH, _and_ ZILLAH.",
"",
"_Adam_. A voice of woe from Zillah brings me here--",
"What do I see?--'Tis true!--My son!--my son!",
"Woman, behold the Serpent's work, and thine! [_To_ EVE.",
"",
"_Eve_. Oh! speak not of it now: the Serpent's fangs",
"Are in my heart! My best beloved, Abel!",
"Jehovah! this is punishment beyond",
"A mother's sin, to take _him_ from me!",
"",
"_Adam_. Who,",
"Or what hath done this deed?--speak, Cain, since thou",
"Wert present; was it some more hostile angel,",
"Who walks not with Jehovah? or some wild",
"Brute of the forest?",
"",
"_Eve_. Ah! a livid light",
"Breaks through, as from a thunder-cloud! yon brand",
"Massy and bloody! snatched from off the altar,",
"And black with smoke, and red with----",
"",
"_Adam_. Speak, my son!",
"Speak, and assure us, wretched as we are,",
"That we are not more miserable still.",
"",
"_Adah_. Speak, Cain! and say it was not _thou_!",
"",
"_Eve_. It was!",
"I see it now--he hangs his guilty head,",
"And covers his ferocious eye with hands",
"Incarnadine!",
"",
"_Adah_. Mother, thou dost him wrong--",
"Cain! clear thee from this horrible accusal,",
"Which grief wrings from our parent.",
"",
"_Eve_. Hear, Jehovah!",
"May the eternal Serpent's curse be on him!",
"For he was fitter for his seed than ours.",
"May all his days be desolate! May----",
"",
"_Adah_. Hold!",
"Curse him not, mother, for he is thy son--",
"Curse him not, mother, for he is my brother,",
"And my betrothed.",
"",
"_Eve_. He hath left thee no brother--",
"Zillah no husband--me _no son!_ for thus",
"I curse him from my sight for evermore!",
"All bonds I break between us, as he broke",
"That of his nature, _in yon_----Oh Death! Death!",
"Why didst thou not take _me_, who first incurred thee?",
"Why dost thou not so now?",
"",
"_Adam_. Eve! let not this,",
"Thy natural grief, lead to impiety!",
"A heavy doom was long forespoken to us;",
"And now that it begins, let it be borne",
"In such sort as may show our God, that we",
"Are faithful servants to his holy will.",
"",
"_Eve_ (_pointing to Cain_).",
"_His will!_ the will of yon Incarnate Spirit",
"Of Death, whom I have brought upon the earth",
"To strew it with the dead. May all the curses",
"Of life be on him! and his agonies",
"Drive him forth o'er the wilderness, like us",
"From Eden, till his children do by him",
"As he did by his brother! May the swords",
"And wings of fiery Cherubim pursue him",
"By day and night--snakes spring up in his path--",
"Earth's fruits be ashes in his mouth--the leaves",
"On which he lays his head to sleep be strewed",
"With scorpions! May his dreams be of his victim!",
"His waking a continual dread of Death!",
"May the clear rivers turn to blood as he",
"Stoops down to stain them with his raging lip!",
"May every element shun or change to him!",
"May he live in the pangs which others die with!",
"And Death itself wax something worse than Death",
"To him who first acquainted him with man!",
"Hence, fratricide! henceforth that word is _Cain_,",
"Through all the coming myriads of mankind,",
"Who shall abhor thee, though thou wert their sire!",
"May the grass wither from thy feet! the woods",
"Deny thee shelter! earth a home! the dust",
"A grave! the sun his light! and heaven her God!",
" [_Exit_ EVE.",
"",
"_Adam_. Cain! get thee forth: we dwell no more together.",
"Depart! and leave the dead to me--I am",
"Henceforth alone--we never must meet more.",
"",
"_Adah_. Oh, part not with him thus, my father: do not",
"Add thy deep curse to Eve's upon his head!",
"",
"_Adam_. I curse him not: his spirit be his curse.",
"Come, Zillah!",
"",
"_Zillah_. I must watch my husband's corse.",
"",
"_Adam_. We will return again, when he is gone",
"Who hath provided for us this dread office.",
"Come, Zillah!",
"",
"_Zillah_. Yet one kiss on yon pale clay,",
"And those lips once so warm--my heart! my heart!",
" [_Exeunt_ ADAM _and_ ZILLAH _weeping_.",
"",
"_Adah_. Cain! thou hast heard, we must go forth. I am ready,",
"So shall our children be. I will bear Enoch,",
"And you his sister. Ere the sun declines",
"Let us depart, nor walk the wilderness",
"Under the cloud of night.--Nay, speak to me.",
"To _me--thine own_.",
"",
"_Cain_. Leave me!",
"",
"_Adah_. Why, all have left thee.",
"",
"_Cain_. And wherefore lingerest thou? Dost thou not fear",
"To dwell with one who hath done this?",
"",
"_Adah_. I fear",
"Nothing except to leave thee, much as I",
"Shrink from the deed which leaves thee brotherless.",
"I must not speak of this--it is between thee",
"And the great God.",
"",
"_A Voice from within exclaims_. Cain! Cain!",
"",
"_Adah_. Hear'st thou that voice?",
"",
"_The Voice within_. Cain! Cain!",
"",
"_Adah_. It soundeth like an angel's tone.",
"",
" _Enter the_ ANGEL _of the Lord_.",
"",
"_Angel_. Where is thy brother Abel?",
"",
"_Cain_. Am I then",
"My brother's keeper?",
"",
"_Angel_. Cain! what hast thou done?",
"The voice of thy slain brother's blood cries out,",
"Even from the ground, unto the Lord!--Now art thou",
"Cursed from the earth, which opened late her mouth",
"To drink thy brother's blood from thy rash hand.",
"Henceforth, when thou shalt till the ground, it shall not",
"Yield thee her strength; a fugitive shalt thou",
"Be from this day, and vagabond on earth!",
"",
"_Adah_. This punishment is more than he can bear.",
"Behold thou drivest him from the face of earth,",
"And from the face of God shall he be hid.",
"A fugitive and vagabond on earth,",
"'Twill come to pass, that whoso findeth him",
"Shall slay him.",
"",
"_Cain_. Would they could! but who are they",
"Shall slay me? Where are these on the lone earth",
"As yet unpeopled?",
"",
"_Angel_. Thou hast slain thy brother,",
"And who shall warrant thee against thy son?",
"",
"_Adah_. Angel of Light! be merciful, nor say",
"That this poor aching breast now nourishes",
"A murderer in my boy, and of his father.",
"",
"_Angel_. Then he would but be what his father is.",
"Did not the milk of Eve give nutriment",
"To him thou now seest so besmeared with blood?",
"The fratricide might well engender parricides.--",
"But it shall not be so--the Lord thy God",
"And mine commandeth me to set his seal",
"On Cain, so that he may go forth in safety.",
"Who slayeth Cain, a sevenfold vengeance shall",
"Be taken on his head. Come hither!",
"",
"_Cain_. What",
"Wouldst thou with me?",
"",
"_Angel_. To mark upon thy brow",
"Exemption from such deeds as thou hast done.",
"",
"_Cain_. No, let me die!",
"",
"_Angel_. It must not be.",
" [_The_ ANGEL _sets the mark on_ CAIN'S _brow_.",
"",
"_Cain_. It burns",
"My brow, but nought to that which is within it!",
"Is there more? let me meet it as I may.",
"",
"_Angel_. Stern hast thou been and stubborn from the womb,",
"As the ground thou must henceforth till; but he",
"Thou slew'st was gentle as the flocks he tended.",
"",
"_Cain_. After the fall too soon was I begotten;",
"Ere yet my mother's mind subsided from",
"The Serpent, and my sire still mourned for Eden.",
"That which I am, I am; I did not seek",
"For life, nor did I make myself; but could I",
"With my own death redeem him from the dust--",
"And why not so? let him return to day,",
"And I lie ghastly! so shall be restored",
"By God the life to him he loved; and taken",
"From me a being I ne'er loved to bear.",
"",
"_Angel_. Who shall heal murder? what is done, is done;",
"Go forth! fulfil thy days! and be thy deeds",
"Unlike the last! [_The_ ANGEL _disappears_.",
"",
"_Adah_. He's gone, let us go forth;",
"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, I 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_ seest what _I_ am,",
"I think thou wilt forgive him, whom his God",
"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, drained",
"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 shouldst have done",
"For me--compose thy limbs into their grave--",
"The first grave yet dug for mortality.",
"But who hath dug that grave? Oh, earth! Oh, earth!",
"For all the fruits thou hast rendered 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 for 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 will we 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,",
"Which might have graced his recent marriage couch,",
"And might have tempered this stern blood of mine,",
"Uniting with our children Abel's offspring!",
"O Abel!",
"",
"_Adah_. Peace be with him!",
"",
"_Cain_. But with _me!_----",
" [_Exeunt_."
],
"title": "Cain: A Mystery"
},
"success": true,
"sun": {
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"sunrise": "2026-07-05T03:52:10+00:00",
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},
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}
}