Page images
PDF
EPUB

Japhet. May the Heaven, which soon no

more

Will pardon, do so! for thou art greatly tempted.

Aholibamah. Back to thy tents, insulting son of Noah!

We know thee not.

Japhet. The hour may come when thou Mayst know me better; and thy sister know Me still the same which I have ever been. Samiasa. Son of the Patriarch, who hath ever been

Upright before his God, whate’er thy griefs, And thy words seem of sorrow, mix'd with wrath,

How have Azaziel,or myself, brought on thee Wrong?

Japhet. Wrong! the greatest of all wrongs;

but thou

Sayst well! though she be dust, I did not, could not,

Deserve her. Farewell, Anah! I have said
That word so often! but now say it, ne'er
To be repeated. Angel! or whate'er
Thou art, or must be soon, hast thou the
power

To save this beautiful-these beautiful
Children of Cain?

Azaziel. From what?
Japhet. And is it so,

That ye too know not? Angels! angels! ye Have shared man's sin, and, it may be, now must

[ocr errors]
[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors]

Samiasa. Of death to us! and those who are with us!

But that the man seems full of sorrow, I Could smile.

Japhet. I grieve not for myself, nor fear; I am safe, not for my own deserts, but those Of a well-doing sire, who hath been found Righteous enough to save his children. Would

His power was greater of redemption! or That by exchanging my own life for hers, Who could alone have made mine happy,she, The last and loveliest of Cain's race, could

share

The Ark which shall receive a remnant of The seed of Seth!

Aholibamah. And dost thou think that we, With Cain's, the eldest-born of Adam's, blood Warm in our veins,—strong Cain! who was begotten

In Paradise, would mingle with Seth's children?

Seth, the last offspring of old Adam's dotage?

No, not to save all earth, were earth in peril! Our race hath always dwelt apart from thine From the beginning, and shall do so ever.

Japhet. I did not speak to thee, Aholibamah! Too much of the forefather, whom thou vauntest,

[blocks in formation]

In mind, in soul? If I partook thy thought, And dream'd that aught of Abel was in her!— Get thee hence, son of Noah; thou ́mak'st strife.

Japhet. Offspring of Cain, thy father did so! Aholibamah. But

He slew not Seth; and what hast thou to do With other deeds between his God and him? Japhet. Thou speakest well: his God

hath judged him, and

I had not named his deed, but that thyself Didst seem to glory in him, nor to shrink From what he had done.

Aholibamah. He was our fathers' father; The eldest-born of man, the strongest, bravest,

And most enduring:-Shall I blush forhim, From whom we had our being? Look upon

Our race; behold their stature and their | Dost thou here with these children of the

beauty, Their courage, strength, and length of days Japhet. They are number'dAholibamah. Be it so! but while yet their hours endure,

I glory in my brethren and our fathers! Japhet. My sire and race but glory in their God,

Anah! and thou?

Anah. Whate'er our God decrees,
The God of Seth as Cain, I must obey,
And will endeavour patiently to obey:
But could I dare to pray in his dread hour
of universal vengeance (if such should be),
It would not be to live, alone exempt
Of all my house. My sister! Oh, my sister!
What were the world, or other worlds, or all
The brightest future without the sweet past
Thy love-my father's-all the life, and all
The things which sprung up with me, like
the stars,

wicked?

Dreadst thou not to partake their coming doom?

Japhet. Father, it cannot be a sin to seek To save an earth-born being; and behold, These are not of the sinful, since they have The fellowship of angels.

Noah. These are they, then,

Who leave the throne of God, to take them
wives

From out the race of Cain; the sons of
Heaven,

Who seek Earth's daughters for their beauty?
Azaziel. Patriarch!
Thou hast said it.

Noah. Woe, woe, woe to such communion!
Has not God made a barrier between Earth
And Heaven, and limited each, kind to kind?
Samiasa. Was not man made in high
Jehovah's image?

Did God not love what he had made? And what

Making my dim existence radiant with
Soft lights which were not mine? Aholi-Do
bamah!

Oh! if there should be mercy seek it, find it:
I abhor death, because that thou must die.
Aholibamah. What! hath this dreamer,
with his father's ark,

The bugbear he hath built to scare the
world,

Shaken my sister? Are we not the loved
Of Seraphs? and if we were not, must we
Cling to a son of Noah for our lives?
Rather than thus....But the enthusiast dreams
The worst of dreams, the fantasies engender'd
By hopeless love and heated vigils. Who
Shall shake these solid mountains, this firm
earth,

And bid those clouds and waters take a shape
Distinct from that which we and all our sires
Have seen them wear on their eternal way?
Who shall do this?

Japhet. He,whose one word produced them.
Aholibamah. Who heard that word?
Japhet. The Universe, which leap'd
To life before it. Ah! smil'st thou still in
scorn?

Turn to thy Seraphs; if they attest it not,
They are none.

Samiasa. Aholibamah, own thy God!
Aholibamah. I have ever hail'd Our
Maker, Samiasa,

As thine, and mine: a God of love, not

sorrow.

Japhet. Alas! what else is Love but
Sorrow? Even

He who made earth in love, had soon to
grieve

Above its first and best inhabitants.
Aholibamah. 'Tis said so.
Japhet. It is even so..

Enter NOAH and SÊ.

Noah. Japhet! What

we but imitate and emulate
His love unto created love?
Noah. I am

But man, and was not made to judge mankind,
Far less the sons of God, but as our God
Has deign'd to commune with me, and reveal
His judgments, I reply, that the descent
Of Seraphs from their everlasting seat
Unto a perishable and perishing,
Even on the very eve of perishing, world,
Cannot be good.

Azaziel. What! though it were to save?
Noah. Not ye in all your glory can redeem
What He who made you glorious hath
condemn'd.

Were your immortal mission safety, 'twould
Be general, not for two, though beautiful,
And beautiful they are, but not the less
Condenin'd.

Japhet. Oh father! say it not.

Noah. Son! son!

If that thou wouldst avoid their doom, forget
That they exist; they soon shall cease to be,
While thou shalt be the sire of a new world,
And better.

Japhet. Let me die with this, and them!
Noah. Thou shouldst for such a thought,
but shalt not; He
Who can, redeems thee.

Samiasa. And why him and thee,
More than what he, thy son, prefers to both?
Noah. Ask him who made thee greater

than myself

And mine, but not less subject to his own
Almightiness. And lo! his mildest and
Least to be tempted Messenger appears!

Enter RAPHAEL the Archangel.
Raphael. Spirits!

Whose seat is near the throne,
What do ye here?

Is thus a Seraph's duty to be shown

Now that the hour is near When earth must be alone?

Return!

Adore and burn

In their immeasurable forfeiture. Our brother Satan fell, his burning will Rather than longer worship dared endure! But ye who still are pure!

In glorious homage with the elected "seven." Seraphs! less mighty than that mightiest one,

Your place is Heaven,

Samiasa. Raphael!

The first and fairest of the sons of God,
How long hath this been law,
That earth by angels must be left untrod?
Earth! which oft saw
Jehovah's footsteps not disdain her sod!

The world He loved, and made
For love; and oft have we obey'd
His frequent mission with delighted pinions.
Adoring Him in his least works display'd;
Watching this youngest star of His domi-

nions:

And as the latest birth of His great word, Eager to keep it worthy of our Lord. Why is thy brow severe? And wherefore speakst thou of destruction near?

Raphael. Had Samiasa and Azaziel been In their true place, with the angelic choir,

Written in fire

They would have seen

Jehovah's late decree, And not inquired their Maker's breath of me: But ignorance must ever be A part of sin;

And even the spirits' knowledge shall grow

[blocks in formation]

Think how he was undone !

And think if tempting man can compensate
For Heaven desired too late?
Long have I warr'd,

Long must I war

With him who deem'd it hard

To be created, and to acknowledge him
Who 'midst the cherubim

Made him as suns to a dependant star,
Leaving the archangels at his right hand dim.
I loved him beautiful he was: oh Heaven!
Save His who made, what beauty and what

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

Her race, return'd into her womb, must The
wither,

And much which she inherits; but oh! why
Cannot this earth be made, or be destroy'd,
Without involving ever some vast void
In the immortal ranks? immortal still

And that on high
An ocean is prepared,

While from below

deep shall rise to meet Heaven's

overflow.

Few shall be spared,

It seems; and, of that few, the race of Cain Must lift their eyes to Adam's God in vain. Sister! since it is so,

And the eternal Lord

In vain would be implored
For the remission of one hour of woe,
Let us resign even what we have adored,
And meet the wave, as we would meet the
sword,

If not unmoved, yet undismay'd,
And wailing less for us than those who shall
Survive in mortal or immortal thrall,

And, when the fatal waters are allay'd,
Weep for the myriads who can weep no more.
Fly, Seraphs! to your own eternal shore,
Where winds nor howl nor waters roar.
Our portion is to die,
And yours to live for ever;
But which is best, a dead eternity,
Or living, is but known to the great Giver:
Obey him, as we shall obey;
I would not keep this life of mine in clay
An hour beyond His will;
Nor see ye lose a portion of His grace,
For all the mercy which Seth's race
Find still.
Fly!

And as your pinions bear ye back to Heaven,
Think that my love still mounts with thee
on high,
Samiasa!

And if I look up with a tearless eye,
'Tis that an angel's bride disdains to weep.
Farewell! Now rise, inexorable Deep!
Anah. And must we die?

And must I lose thee too,

Azaziel?

Oh, my heart! my heart!

Thy prophecies were true, And yet thou wert so happy too! The blow, though not unlook'd for, falls

as new;

But yet depart!

Ah, why?

Yet let me not retain thee-fly! My pangs can be but brief; but thine would be

Eternal, if repulsed from Heaven for me.

Too much already hast thou deign'd
To one of Adam's race!
Our doom is sorrow; not to us alone,
But to the spirits who have not disdain'd
To love us, cometh anguish with disgrace.
The first who taught us knowledge hath
heen hurl'd

From his once archangelic throne
Into some unknown world:

And thou, Azaziel! No-
Thou shalt not suffer woe

For me. Away! nor weep!
Thou canst not weep; but yet
Mayst suffer more, not weeping: then
forget

Her, whom the surges of the all-strangling
Deep

Can bring no pang like this. Fly! fly!
Being gone, 'twill be less difficult to die.
Japhet. Oh say not so!

[ocr errors]

Father! and thou, archangel, thou!
Surely celestial Mercy lurks below
That pure severe serenity of brow :
Save in our ark, or let me be no more!
Let them not meet this sea without a shore,
Noah. Peace, child of passion, peace!
If not within thy heart, yet with thy tongue
Do God no wrong!

A righteous death, unlike the seed of Cain's.
Live as he wills it-die, when he ordains,
To weary Heaven's ear with thy selfish plaint.
Cease, or be sorrowful in silence; cease
Wouldst thou have God commit a sin
for thee?

Such would it be

For a mere mortal sorrow. Be a man!
To alter his intent
And bear what Adam's race must bear,
and can.

[ocr errors]

Japhet. Ay,father! but when they are gone,
And we are all alone,

Floating upon the azure desert, and

The depth beneath us hides our own dear

land,

And dearer, silent friends and brethren, all
Buried in its immeasurable breast,
Who, who, our tears, our shrieks, shall
then command?

Can we in desolation's peace have rest?
Oh God! be thou a God, and spare
Yet while 'tis time!

Renew not Adam's fall:

Mankind were then but twain,

But they are numerous now as are the waves
And the tremendous rain,

Whose drops shall be less thick than would
their graves,

Were graves permitted to the seed of
Cain.

Noah. Silence, vain boy! each word of
thine's a crime!

Angel! forgive this stripling's fond despair.
Raphael. Seraphs! these mortals speak
in passion: Ye,

May now return with me.
Who are, or should be, passionless and pure,

Samiasa. It may not be:

We have chosen, and will endure.
Raphael. Sayst thou?

Azaziel. He hath said it, and I say, Amen!
Raphael. Again!

Then from this hour,

Shorn as ye are of all celestial power,
And aliens from your God,

Farewell!

Japhet. Alas! where shall they dwell? Hark! hark! Deep sounds, and deeper still, There's not a breath of wind upon the hill, Are howling from the mountain's bosom: Yet quivers every leaf, and drops each

blossom:

Earth groans as if beneath a heavy load.
Noah. Hark! hark! the sea-birds cry!

In clouds they overspread the lurid sky
And hover round the mountain, where before

Never a white wing, wetted by the wave, | Fear not, though we are shut from Heaven,

Yet dared to soar,

Even when the waters wax'd too fierce

to brave.

Soon it shall be their only shore,

And then, no more!

Japhet. The sun! the sun!

He riseth, but his better light is gone;
And a black circle, bound

His glaring disk around,

Proclaims earth's last of summer-days hath shone!

The clouds return into the hues of night, Save where their brazen-colour'd edges streak

The verge where brighter morns were wont to break.

Noah. And lo! yon flash of light, The distant thunder's harbinger, appears! It cometh! hence, away, Leave to the elements their evil prey! Hence to where our all-hallow'd ark uprears Its safe and wreckless sides.

Japhet. Oh, father, stay! Leave not my Anah to the swallowing tides! Noah. Must we not leave all life to such? Begone! Japhet. Not I.

Noah. Then die

With them!

How dar'st thou look on that prophetic sky, And seek to save what all things now condemn,

In overwhelming unison

With just Jehovah's wrath? Japhet. Can rage and justice join in the same path?

Noah. Blasphemer! dar'st thou murmur even now?

Raphael. Patriarch, be still a father! smoothe thy brow:

Thy son, despite his folly, shall not sink; He knows not what he says, yet shall not drink With sobs the salt foam of the swelling waters;

But be, when Passion passeth, good as thou, Nor perish like Heaven's children with Man's daughters.

Aholibamah. The Tempest cometh; Hea-
ven and Earth unite

For the annihilation of all life.
Unequal is the strife

Between our strength and the Eternal Might! Samiasa. But ours is with thee: we will bear ye far

To some untroubled star, Where thou and Anah shall partake our lot: And if thou dost not weep for thy lost earth, Our forfeit Heaven shall also be forgot. Anah. Oh! my dear father's tents, my place of birth!

And mountains, land, and woods, when ye are not,

Who shall dry up my tears?
Azaziel. Thy Spirit-lord.

[ocr errors]

Yet much is ours, whence we can notbe driven. Raphael. Rebel! thy words are wicked, as thy deeds

Shall henceforth be but weak: the flaming sword,

Which chased the first-born out of Paradise, Still flashes in the angelic hands.

Azaziel. It cannot slay us: threaten dust with death,

And talk of weapons unto that which bleeds! What are thy swords in our immortal eyes? Raphael. The moment cometh to approve thy strength;

And learn at length

How vain to war with what thy God commands:

Thy former force was in thy faith.

Enter Mortals, flying for refuge. Chorus of Mortals. The heavens and earth are mingling-God! oh God!

What have we done? Yet spare! Hark! even the forest-beasts howl forth their prayer!

The dragon crawls from out his den, To herd in terror innocent with men; And the birds scream their agony throughair. Yet, yet, Jehovah! yet withdraw thy rod Of wrath, and pity thine own world's despair! Hear not Man only but all Nature plead!

Raphael. Farewell, thou earth! ye wretched sons of clay, I cannot, must not aid you. 'Tis decreed! [Exit Raphael. Japhet. Some clouds sweep on, as vultures for their prey,

While others, fix'd as rocks, await the word At which their wrathful vials shall be pour'd. No azure more shall robe the firmament, Nor spangled stars be glorious: Death hath risen:

In the Sun's place a pale and ghastly glare Hath wound itself around the dying air.

Azaziel. Come, Anah! quit this chaosfounded prison,

To which the elements again repair,
To turn it into what it was: beneath
The shelter of these wings thou shalt be safe,
As was the eagle's nestling once within
Its mother's.-Let the coming chaos chafe
With all its elements! Heed not their din!
A brighter world than this, where thou
shalt breathe
Ethereal life, will we explore:
These darken'd clouds are not the only skies.

[Azaziel and Samiasa fly off, and disappear with Anah and Aholibamah. Japhet. They are gone! They have disappear'd amidst the roar Of the forsaken world; and never more, Whether they live,or die with all earth's life, Now near its last, can aught restore Anah unto these eyes.

« PreviousContinue »