Man. Not with my hand, but heart-which broke her heart It gazed on mine, and wither'd. I have shed Blood, but not hers—and yet her blood was shed— Witch. And for this A being of the race thou dost despise, The order which thine own would rise above, The gifts of our great knowledge, and shrink'st back Man. Daughter of Air! I tell thee, since that hour- But peopled with the Furies ;-I have gnash'd The affluence of my soul-which one day was Witch. It may be That I can aid thee. Man. To do this thy power Must wake the dead, or lay me low with them. With any torture-so it be the last. Witch. That is not in my province; but if thou Wilt swear obedience to my will, and do My bidding, it may help thee to thy wishes. Man. I will not swear-Obey! and whom? the spirits Whose presence I command, and be the slave Of those who served me-Never! Witch. Is this all? Hast thou no gentler answer?-Yet bethink thee, Man. Witch. Enough !—I may retire then-say! Man. I have said it. Retire ! [The WITCH disappears. Man. (alone). We are the fools of time and terror: Days Steal on us and steal from us; yet we live, Loathing our life, and dreading still to die. In all the days of this detested yoke— This vital weight upon the struggling heart, Which sinks with sorrow, or beats quick with pain, Or joy that ends in agony or faintness— In all the days of past and future, for In life there is no present, we can number And that is nothing;-if they answer not- On spirit, good or evil-now I tremble, And feel a strange cold thaw upon my heart. And champion human fears.—The night approaches. [Exit. ASTARTE. (MANFRED, Act ii. Scene 4.) The Hall of Arimanes—Arimanes on his Throne, a Globe of Fire, surrounded by the Spirits. Enter the DESTINIES and NEMESIS; then MANFRED. A Spirit. 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. And yet ye see I kneel not. Fourth Spirit. I know it; '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 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, And we will kneel together. The Spirits. Tear him in pieces! First Destiny. Crush the worm! 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 Our own; his knowledge, and his powers and will, Which clogs the ethereal essence, have been such This is not all—the passions, attributes Of earth and heaven, from which no power, nor being, Made him a thing, which I, who pity not, First Des. Let him answer that. Man. Ye know what I have known; and without power |