by Lord Byron
Forbears to pant for death, and yet draws back
As from a stream in winter, though the chill
Be but a moment’s. I have one resource
Still in my science — I can call the dead,
And ask them what it is we dread to be:
The sternest answer can but be the Grave,
And that is nothing: if they answer not — 180
The buried Prophet answered to the Hag
Of Endor; and the Spartan Monarch drew
From the Byzantine maid’s unsleeping spirit
An answer and his destiny — he slew
That which he loved, unknowing what he slew,
And died unpardoned — though he called in aid
The Phyxian Jove, and in Phigalia roused
The Arcadian Evocators to compel
The indignant shadow to depose her wrath,
Or fix her term of vengeance — she replied 190
In words of dubious import, but fulfilled.
If I had never lived, that which I love
Had still been living; had I never loved,
That which I love would still be beautiful,
Happy and giving happiness. What is she?
What is she now? — a sufferer for my sins —
A thing I dare not think upon — or nothing.
Within few hours I shall not call in vain —
Yet in this hour I dread the thing I dare:
Until this hour I never shrunk to gaze 200
On spirit, good or evil — now I tremble,
And feel a strange cold thaw upon my heart.
But I can act even what I most abhor,
And champion human fears. — The night approaches.
[Exit.
Scene III. — The summit of the Jungfrau Mountain.
Enter First Destiny.
The Moon is rising broad, and round, and bright;
And here on snows, where never human foot
Of common mortal trod, we nightly tread,
And leave no traces: o’er the savage sea,
The glassy ocean of the mountain ice,
We skim its rugged breakers, which put on
The aspect of a tumbling tempest’s foam,
Frozen in a moment — a dead Whirlpool’s image:
And this most steep fantastic pinnacle,
The fretwork of some earthquake — where the clouds 10
Pause to repose themselves in passing by —
Is sacred to our revels, or our vigils;
Here do I wait my sisters, on our way
To the Hall of Arimanes — for to-night
Is our great festival — ’tis strange they come not.
A Voice without, singing.
The Captive Usurper,
Hurled down from the throne,
Lay buried in torpor,
Forgotten and lone;
I broke through his slumbers, 20
I shivered his chain,
I leagued him with numbers —
He’s Tyrant again!
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 sailed on, the Ship sailed 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, 30
And he was a subject well worthy my care;
A traitor on land, and a pirate at sea —
But I saved 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; 40
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; 50
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!
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;
But what I know not, for my hands were full.
Third Des. Behold she cometh.
Enter Nemesis.
First Des. Say, where hast thou been? 60
My Sisters and thyself are slow to-night.
Nem. I was detained repairing shattered 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 70
Of Freedom, the forbidden fruit. — Away!
We have outstayed the hour — mount we our clouds!
[Exeunt.
Scene IV. — The Hall ofArimanes. — 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 10
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 20
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 fulfilled to the utmost.
Enter 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 — 30
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 condemnéd 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 bowed down my face,
And strewed my head with ashes; I have known
The fulness of humiliation — for 40
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,
And we will kneel together.
The Spirits. Crush the worm!
Tear him in pieces! —
First Des. Hence! Avaunt! — he’s mine. 50
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 — 60
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,
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 — 70
No other Spirit in this region hath
A soul like his — or power upon his soul.
Nem. What doth he here then?
First Des. 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 would’st thou?
Man. Thou canst not reply to me.
Call up the dead — my question is for them.
Nem. Great Arimanes, doth thy will avouch 80
The wishes of this mortal?
Ari. Yea.
Nem. Whom wouldst thou
Uncharnel?
Man. One without a tomb — call up
Astarte.
Nemesis.
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 returned to the earth, 90
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!
[The Phantom of Astarte rises and stands in the midst.
Man. Can this be death? there’s bloom upon her cheek;
But now I see it is no living hue,
But a strange hectic — like the unnatural red 100
Which Autumn plants upon the perished leaf.
It is the same! Oh, God! that I should dread
To look upon the same — Astarte! — No,
I cannot speak to her — but bid her speak —
Forgive me or condemn me.
Nemesis.
By the Power which hath broken
The grave which enthralled thee,
Speak to him who hath spoken.
Or those who have called thee!
Man. She is silent,
And in that silence I am more than answered. 110
Nem. My power extends no further. Prince of Air!
It rests with thee alone — command her voice.
Ari. Spirit — obey this sceptre!
Nem. Silent still!
She is not of our order, but belongs
To the other powers. Mortal! thy quest is vain,
And we are baffled also.
Man. Hear me, hear me —
Astarte! my belovéd! speak to me:
I have so much endured — so much endure —
Look on me! the grave hath not changed thee more
Than I am changed for thee. Thou lovedst me 120
Too much, as I loved thee: we were not made
To torture thus each other — though it were
The deadliest sin to love as we have loved.
Say that thou loath’st me not — that I do bear
This punishment for both — that thou wilt be
One of the blesséd — and that I shall die;
For hitherto all hateful things conspire
To bind me in existence — in a life
Which makes me shrink from Immortality —
A future like the past. I cannot rest. 130
I know not what I ask, nor what I seek:
I feel but what thou art, and what I am;
And I would hear yet once before I perish
The voice which was my music — Speak to me!
For I have called on thee in the still night,
Startled the slumbering birds from the hushed boughs,
And woke the mountain wolves, and made the caves
Acquainted with thy vainly echoed name,
Which answered me — many things answered me —
Spirits and men — but thou wert silent all. 140
Yet speak to me! I have outwatched the stars,
And gazed o’er heaven in vain in search of thee.
Speak to me! I have wandered o’er the earth,
And never found thy likeness — Speak to me!
Look on the fiends around — they feel for me:
I fear them not, and feel for thee alone.
Speak to me! though it be in wrath; — but say —
I reck not what — but let me hear thee once —
This once — once more!
Phantom of Astarte. Manfred!
Man. Say on, say on —
I live but in the sound — it is thy voice! 150
Phan. Manfred! To-morrow ends thine earthly ills.
Farewell!
Man. Yet one word more — am I forgiven?
Phan. Farewell!
Man. Say, shall we meet again?
Phan. Farewell!
Man. One word for mercy! Say thou lovest me.
Phan. Manfred!
[The Spirit of Astarte disappears.
Nem. She’s gone, and will not be recalled:
Her words will be fulfilled. Return to the earth.
A Spirit. He is convulsed — This is to be a mortal,
And seek the things beyond mortality.
Another Spirit. Yet, see, he mastereth himself, and makes
His torture tributary to his will. 160
Had he been one of us, he would have made
An awful Spirit.
Nem. Hast thou further question
Of our great Sovereign, or his wor
shippers?
Man. None.
Nem. Then for a time farewell.
Man. We meet then! Where? On the earth? —
Even as thou wilt: and for the grace accorded
I now depart a debtor. Fare ye well!
[Exit Manfred.
(Scene closes.)
ACT III
Scene I. — A Hall in the Castle of Manfred.
Manfred and Herman.
Man. What is the hour?
Her. It wants but one till sunset,
And promises a lovely twilight.
Man. Say,
Are all things so disposed of in the tower
As I directed?
Her. All, my Lord, are ready:
Here is the key and casket.
Man. It is well:
Thou mayst retire. [Exit Herman.
Man. (alone). There is a calm upon me —
Inexplicable stillness! which till now
Did not belong to what I knew of life.
If that I did not know Philosophy
To be of all our vanities the motliest, 10
The merest word that ever fooled the ear
From out the schoolman’s jargon, I should deem
The golden secret, the sought “Kalon,” found,
And seated in my soul. It will not last,
But it is well to have known it, though but once:
It hath enlarged my thoughts with a new sense,
And I within my tablets would note down
That there is such a feeling. Who is there?
Re-enter Herman.
Her. My Lord, the Abbot of St. Maurice craves
To greet your presence.
Enter the Abbot of St. Maurice.
Abbot. Peace be with Count Manfred! 20
Man. Thanks, holy father! welcome to these walls;
Thy presence honours them, and blesseth those
Who dwell within them.
Abbot. Would it were so, Count! —
But I would fain confer with thee alone.
Man. Herman, retire. — What would my reverend guest?
Abbot. Thus, without prelude: — Age and zeal — my office —
And good intent must plead my privilege;
Our near, though not acquainted neighbourhood,
May also be my herald. Rumours strange,
And of unholy nature, are abroad, 30
And busy with thy name — a noble name
For centuries: may he who bears it now
Transmit it unimpaired!
Man. Proceed, — I listen.
Abbot. ‘Tis said thou holdest converse with the things
Which are forbidden to the search of man;
That with the dwellers of the dark abodes,
The many evil and unheavenly spirits
Which walk the valley of the Shade of Death,
Thou communest. I know that with mankind,
Thy fellows in creation, thou dost rarely 40
Exchange thy thoughts, and that thy solitude