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 To save this beautiful-these beautiful Azaziel. From what? That ye too know not? Angels! angels! ye Have shared man's sin, and, it may be, now must 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, 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, 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 From out the race of Cain; the sons of Who seek Earth's daughters for their beauty? Noah. Woe, woe, woe to such communion! Did God not love what he had made? And what Making my dim existence radiant with Oh! if there should be mercy seek it, find it: The bugbear he hath built to scare the Shaken my sister? Are we not the loved And bid those clouds and waters take a shape Japhet. He,whose one word produced them. Turn to thy Seraphs; if they attest it not, Samiasa. Aholibamah, own thy God! As thine, and mine: a God of love, not sorrow. Japhet. Alas! what else is Love but He who made earth in love, had soon to Above its first and best inhabitants. Enter NOAH and SÊ. Noah. Japhet! What we but imitate and emulate But man, and was not made to judge mankind, Azaziel. What! though it were to save? Were your immortal mission safety, 'twould Japhet. Oh father! say it not. Noah. Son! son! If that thou wouldst avoid their doom, forget Japhet. Let me die with this, and them! Samiasa. And why him and thee, than myself And mine, but not less subject to his own Enter RAPHAEL the Archangel. Whose seat is near the throne, 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, The world He loved, and made 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 Think how he was undone ! And think if tempting man can compensate Long must I war With him who deem'd it hard To be created, and to acknowledge him Made him as suns to a dependant star, Her race, return'd into her womb, must The And much which she inherits; but oh! why And that on high 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 If not unmoved, yet undismay'd, And, when the fatal waters are allay'd, And as your pinions bear ye back to Heaven, And if I look up with a tearless eye, 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 From his once archangelic throne And thou, Azaziel! No- For me. Away! nor weep! Her, whom the surges of the all-strangling Can bring no pang like this. Fly! fly! Father! and thou, archangel, thou! A righteous death, unlike the seed of Cain's. Such would it be For a mere mortal sorrow. Be a man! Japhet. Ay,father! but when they are gone, Floating upon the azure desert, and The depth beneath us hides our own dear land, And dearer, silent friends and brethren, all Can we in desolation's peace have rest? Renew not Adam's fall: Mankind were then but twain, But they are numerous now as are the waves Whose drops shall be less thick than would Were graves permitted to the seed of Noah. Silence, vain boy! each word of Angel! forgive this stripling's fond despair. May now return with me. Samiasa. It may not be: We have chosen, and will endure. Azaziel. He hath said it, and I say, Amen! Then from this hour, Shorn as ye are of all celestial power, 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. In clouds they overspread the lurid sky 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; 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- For the annihilation of all life. 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? 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, [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. |