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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

Or mutual and irrevocable hate?

He as a conqueror will call the conquer'd
Evil; but what will be the good He gives?
Were I the victor, His works would be deem'd
The only evil ones. And you, ye new

And scarce-born mortals, what have been His
To you already, in your little world? gifts

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 ples! Evil springs from Him, do not name it mine, To the great double Mysteries! the two Princi-Till ye know better its true fount; and judge 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 snatch'd the apple spake ! But thou wouldst only perish, and not see them; That sight is for the other state.

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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 over-sway'd
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.

Eat, drink, toil, tremble, laugh, weep, sleep, SCENE I.-The Earth near Eden, as in Act I. and die.

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Bequeath that science to thy children, and
"Twill spare them many tortures.
Cain.
Haughty spirit!
Thou speak'st it proudly; but thyself, though
Hast a superior.
[proud,
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 quench'd!
And what can quench our immortality,

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 mourn'd
O'er what it shadows; wherefore didst thou
For our child's canopy?
[choose it
Because its branches
Shut out the sun like night, and therefore seem'd
Fitting to shadow slumber.

Adah.

Cain.
Ay, 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.

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And innocent! thou hast not pluck'd the fruitThou know'st not thou art naked! Must the time

Come thou shalt be amerced for sins unknown, Which were not mine nor thine? 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 !--Ay! 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?

Where?

Cain. 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. [thee hence, Adah. Cain! that proud spirit, who withdrew | Hath sadden'd 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.

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Worlds which he once shone on, and never more
Shall light; and worlds he never lit: methought
Years had roll'd 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; skirr'd extinguish'd worlds;
And, gazing on eternity, methought

I had borrow'd 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;

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To us? they sinn'd, 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 vic-
Might satiate the insatiable of life,
[tim
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 atone-
May not redeem our race? [ment one day
Cain.
By sacrificing

The harmless for the guilty? What atonement
Were there? Why, we are innocent: what have
Done, that we must be victims for a deed [we
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:
Sound impious in mine ears.

Cain. Adah.

Though thy God left thee. Cain.

[thy words Then leave me !

Never,

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.

[ready

Cain. And how knew he that I would be so 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.

[tiful Adah. The fruits of the earth, the early beauBlossom 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 toil'd, and till'd, and sweaten in the sun,

[ful?

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 grate-
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
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.

should I

Little deems our young blooming sleeper there, The germs of an eternal misery

To myriads is within him! Better 'twere

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I said,

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.
'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.
O 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 tlice, 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 wing'd 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.

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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 check is flush'd with an unnatural hue,--
Thy words are fraught with an unnatural
What may this mean?
[sound:-
Cain. It means- -I pray thee, leave me.
Abel. Not till we have pray'd 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,

Bless thee, boy! If, as my elder, I revered thee not,

If that a mortal blessing may avail thee,
To save thee from the serpent's curse!
Adah.

Surely a father's blessing may avert
A reptile's subtlety.

Cain.

Of that I doubt;
But bless him ne'er the less.
Adah.

Cain. Thy brother Abel.

And in the worship of our God call'd not
On thee to join me, and precede me in
It shall. Our priesthood-'tis thy place.

Cain.
Asserted it.
Abel.
To do so now

But I have ne'er

The more my grief; I pray thee thy soul seems labouring in Our brother comes. Some strong delusion; it will calm thee.

The peace of God be on thee!

Abel.

Cain.

Abel, hail!

Cain.

No;

Nothing can calm me more. Calm! say I?

Never

Enter ABEL.
Welcome, Cain! My brother, Knew I what calm was in the soul, although
I have seen the elements still'd. My Abel, leave
Or let me leave thee to thy pious purpose. [me!
Abel. Neither: we must perform our task
Spurn me not.
[together.
Cain.
If it must be so-well, then,
What shall I do!
Abel.

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
A foe to the Most High.

Cain.

Has the Most High been
Him?

[be

And friend to man.
so-if so you term

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Thine offerings.

Cain.

Abel.

Where are thine?

Behold them here-
The firstlings of the flock, and fat thereof-
A shepherd's humble offering.
Cain.

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 a
flame upon them.

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'stFor what can he oppose? If he be good. I have no flocks ; 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, Nor 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 earth.

Abel. My brother, as the elder, offer first
Thy prayer and thanksgiving with sacrifice.
Cain. No-I am new to this; lead thou the
And I will follow-as I may.
[way,

Abel [kneeling].
O God!
Who made us, and who breathed the breath of
Within our nostrils, who hath blessed us, [life
And spared, despite our father's sin, to make
His children all lost, as they might have been,
Had not Thy justice been so temper'd with
The mercy which is Thy delight, as to
Accord a pardon like a Paradise,
Compared with our great crimes: Sole Lord of
Of good, and glory, and eternity; [light!
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 fulfill'd—
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 crect 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 soften'd 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 unstain'd turf
I spread them on now offers in the face
Of the broad sun which ripen'd them, may seem
Good to Thee, inasmuch as they have not
Suffer'd 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,

Abel kneeling]. Oh, brother, pray! Jehovah's

wroth with thee. Cain. Why so?

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I will build no more altars,

[ance,

Abel. Think not upon my offering's accept-
But make another of thine own before
It is too late.
Cain.
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 destroy'd in blood.

Abel opposing him. Thou shalt not !-add
not impious works to impious
Words! let that altar stand-'tis hallow'd 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-

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SCENE 1.]

Cain.

If thou lov'st thyself, Stand back till I have strew'd 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

ther?

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Enter ZILLAH.

Zillah. I heard a heavy sound; what can it be?

heaven!

'Tis Cain; and watching by my husband. What Dost thou there, brother? Doth he sleep? Oh, [No, no! What means this paleness, and yon stream?— It is not blood; for who would shed his blood? bro-Abel! what's this?-who hath done this? He [mine moves not; He breathes not : and his hands drop down from With stony lifelessness! Ah! cruel Cain! Why cam'st thou not in time to save him from This violence? Whatever hath assail'd him, Thou wert the stronger, and shouldst have stepp'd in

Cain. Brother!
Abel. O 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 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 breath'st! breathe
upon me!

O God! O God!

[God? Abel [very faintly]. What's he who speaks of 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 bro-
therless?

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!
His heart!-his heart!
And yet I feel it not.

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
Empoison'd 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 madden'd 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

Let me see, doth it beat? methinks--No!-Wert present; was it some more hostile angel,
[no! Who walks not with Jehovah ? or some wild
This is a vision, else I am become
The native of another and worse world. [wet; Brute of the forest?
The earth swims round me: what is this?-'tis
[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 cwn; and shed by me!
Then what have I further to do with life,
Since I have taken life from my own flesh?
But he cannot be dead !-Is silence death?
No; he will wake: then let me watch by him.
Life cannot be so slight, as to be quench'd
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!

Eve.

Ah! a livid light
Breaks through, as from a thunder-cloud! Yon

brand

Massy and bloody, snatch'd from oft 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.

- he hangs his guilty head,
I see it now
And covers his ferocious eyes with hands
Incarnadine.

Adah. Mother, thou dost him wrong-
Cain clear thee from this horrible accusal,
Which grief wrings from our parent.
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