With the blood of a million he'll answer my care,
With a nation's destruction-his flight and despair.

Second Voice, without.

The ship sail'd on, the ship sail'd fast,

But I left not a sail, and I left not a mast;

There is not a plank of the hull or the deck;

And there is not a wretch to lament o'er his wreck,
Save one, whom I held, as he swam, by the hair,
And he was a subject well worthy my care:
A traitor on land, and a pirate at sea—

But I sav'd him to wreak further havoc for me.

FIRST DESTINY, answering.

The city lies sleeping;

The morn, to deplore it,

May dawn on it weeping:
Sullenly, slowly,

The black plague flew o'er it—
Thousands lie lowly;

Tens of thousands shall perish,
The living shall fly from
The sick they should cherish;
But nothing can vanquish
The touch that they die from.
Sorrow and anguish,

And evil and dread,

Envelope a nation—

The blest are the dead,
Who see not the sight

Of their own desolation

This work of a night

This wreck of a realm-this deed of my doing

For ages I've done, and shall still be renewing!

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Enter the SECOND and THIRD DESTINIES.

The Three.

Our hands contain the hearts of men,
Our footsteps are their graves;
We only give to take again

The spirits of our slaves!

First Des. Welcome!-Where's Nemesis?

Second Des.

At some great work:

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But what I know not, for my hands were full.
Third Des. Behold, she cometh.

First Des.

Enter NEMESIS.

Say, where hast thou been?

My sisters and thyself are slow to-night.

Nem. I was detain'd repairing shatter'd thrones, Marrying fools, restoring dynasties,

Avenging men upon their enemies,

And making them repent their own revenge;
Goading the wise to madness: from the dull
Shaping out oracles to rule the world
Afresh, for they were waxing out of date;
And mortals dared to ponder for themselves,
To weigh kings in the balance, and to speak
Of freedom, the forbidden fruit-Away!

We have outstay'd the hour-mount we our clouds !

[Exeunt.

SCENE IV.—The Hall of Arimanes—ARIMANES on his throne, a Globe of Fire, surrounded by the SPIRITS.

Hymn of the SPIRITS.

Hail to our master!-Prince of Earth and Air!
Who walks the clouds and waters-in his hand

The sceptre of the elements, which tear

Themselves to chaos at his high command! He breatheth-and a tempest shakes the sea:

He speaketh-and the clouds reply in thunder;
He gazeth-from his glance the sunbeams flee;
He moveth-earthquakes rend the world asunder.
Beneath his footsteps the volcanoes rise;

His shadow is the Pestilence; his path
The comets herald through the crackling skies;
And planets turn to ashes at his wrath.
To him War offers daily sacrifice;

To him Death pays his tribute; Life is his,
With all its infinite of agonies—

And his the spirit of whatever is!

Enter the DESTINIES and NEMESIS.

First Des. Glory to Arimanes! on the earth
His power increaseth-both my sisters did
His bidding, nor did I neglect my duty!

Second Des. Glory to Arimanes! we who bow
The necks of men bow down before his throne!
Third Des. Glory to Arimanes! we await his nod!
Nem. Sovereign of sovereigns, we are thine,
And all that liveth, more or less, is ours,
And most things wholly so; still to increase
Our power, increasing thine, demands our care,
And we are vigilant-thy late commands
Have been fulfill'd to the utmost.

ΙΟ

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A Spirit.

Enter MANFRED.

What is here?

A mortal.-Thou most rash and fatal wretch,

Bow down and worship!

Second Spirit.

I do know the man

A Magian of great power, and fearful skill!

Third Spirit. Bow down and worship, slave!

What, know'st thou not

Thine and our Sovereign ?—Tremble, and obey!

All the Spirits. Prostrate thyself, and thy condemned

clay,

Child of the Earth! or dread the worst.

Man.

I know it;

And yet ye see I kneel not.

Fourth Spirit.

'Twill be taught thee.

Man. 'Tis taught already ;—many a night on the earth,

On the bare ground, have I bow'd down my face,

And strew'd my head with ashes; I have known
The fulness of humiliation, for

I sunk before my vain despair, and knelt

To my own desolation.

Fifth Spirit.

Dost thou dare

Refuse to Arimanes on his throne

What the whole earth accords, beholding not

The terror of his glory? Crouch! I say.

Man. Bid him bow down to that which is above him,

The overruling Infinite-the Maker

Who made him not for worship—let him kneel,

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And we will kneel together.

The Spirits.

Tear him in pieces!—

Crush the worm!

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First Des. Hence! Avaunt!-he's mine.

Prince of the Powers Invisible! this man

Is of no common order, as his port

And presence here denote; his sufferings
Have been of an immortal nature, like

Our own; his knowledge, and his powers and will,
As far as is compatible with clay,

Which clogs the ethereal essence, have been such
As clay hath seldom borne; his aspirations
Have been beyond the dwellers of the earth.
And they have only taught him what we know—
That knowledge is not happiness, and science
But an exchange of ignorance for that
Which is another kind of ignorance.

This is not all-the passions, attributes

Of earth and heaven, from which no power, nor being,
Nor breath from the worm upwards is exempt,

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Have pierced his heart; and in their consequence,
Made him a thing, which I, who pity not,
Yet pardon those who pity. He is mine
And thine, it may be-be it so, or not,
No other spirit in this region hath
A soul like his-or power upon his soul.
Nem. What doth he here then?

First Des.

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Let him answer that.

Man. Ye know what I have known; and without

power

I could not be amongst ye; but there are

Powers deeper still beyond-I come in quest

Of such, to answer unto what I seek.

Nem. What wouldst thou?
Man.

Thou canst not reply to me.

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Call up the dead-my question is for them.
Nem. Great Arimanes, doth thy will avouch
The wishes of this mortal?

Shadow! or Spirit!

Whatever thou art,
Which still doth inherit

The whole or a part

Of the form of thy birth,
Of the mould of thy clay,
Which return'd to the earth,

Re-appear to the day!
Bear what thou borest,

The heart and the form,
And the aspect thou worest

Redeem from the worm.

Appear!—appear!—appear!

Who sent thee there requires thee here!

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