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MANFRED: A DRAMATIC POEM ACT I Scene I - Manfred alone - Scene, a Gothic Gallery- Time, Midnight Manfred 1 The lamp must be replenished, but even then 2 It will not burn so long as I must watch: 3 My slumbers---if I slumber---are not sleep, 4 But a continuance of enduring thought, 5 Which then I can resist not: in my heart 6 There is a vigil, and these eyes but close 7 To look within; and yet I live, and bear 8 The aspect and the form of breathing men. 9 But Grief should be the Instructor of the wise; 10 Sorrow is Knowledge: they who know the most 11 Must mourn the deepest o'er the fatal truth, 12 The Tree of Knowledge is not that of Life. 13 Philosophy and science, and the springs 14 Of Wonder, and the wisdom of the World, 15 I have essayed, and in my mind there is 16 A power to make these subject to itself--- 17 But they avail not: I have done men good, 18 And I have met with good even among men--- 19 But this availed not: I have had my foes, 20 And none have baffled, many fallen before me--- 21 But this availed not:---Good---or evil---life--- 22 Powers, passions---all I see in other beings, 23 Have been to me as rain unto the sands, 24 Since that all-nameless hour. I have no dread, 25 And feel the curse to have no natural fear, 26 Nor fluttering throb, that beats with hopes or wishes, 27 Or lurking love of something on the earth. 28 Now to my task.--- 28 Mysterious Agency! 29 Ye Spirits of the unbounded Universe! 30 Whom I have sought in darkness and in light--- 31 Ye, who do compass earth about, and dwell 32 In subtler essence---ye, to whom the tops 33 Of mountains inaccessible are haunts, 34 And Earth's and Ocean's caves familiar things--- 35 I call upon ye by the written charm 36 Which gives me power upon you---Rise! Appear! [A pause] 37 They come not yet.---Now by the voice of him 38 Who is the first among you---by this sign, 39 Which makes you tremble---by the claims of him 40 Who is undying,---Rise! Appear!---Appear! [A pause] 41 If it be so.---Spirits of Earth and Air, 42 Ye shall not so elude me! By a power, 43 Deeper than all yet urged, a tyrant-spell, 44 Which had its birthplace in a star condemned, 45 The burning wreck of a demolished world, 46 A wandering hell in the eternal Space; 47 By the strong curse which is upon my Soul, 48 The thought which is within me and around me, 49 I do compel ye to my will.---Appear! [A star is seen at the darker end of the gallery: it is stationary; and a voice is heard singing] First Spirit 50 Mortal! to thy bidding bowed, 51 From my mansion in the cloud, 52 Which the breath of Twilight builds, 53 And the Summer's sunset gilds 54 With the azure and vermilion, 55 Which is mixed for my pavilion; 56 Though thy quest may be forbidden, 57 On a star-beam I have ridden, 58 To thine adjuration bowed: 59 Mortal---be thy wish avowed! Voice of the Second Spirit 60 Mont Blanc is the Monarch of mountains; 61 They crowned him long ago 62 On a throne of rocks, in a robe of clouds, 63 With a Diadem of snow. 64 Around his waist are forests braced, 65 The Avalanche in his hand; 66 But ere it fall, that thundering ball 67 Must pause for my command. 68 The Glacier's cold and restless mass 69 Moves onward day by day; 70 But I am he who bids it pass, 71 Or with its ice delay. 72 I am the Spirit of the place, 73 Could make the mountain bow 74 And quiver to his caverned base--- 75 And what with me would'st Thou? Voice of the Third Spirit 76 In the blue depth of the waters, 77 Where the wave hath no strife, 78 Where the Wind is a stranger, 79 And the Sea-snake hath life, 80 Where the Mermaid is decking 81 Her green hair with shells, 82 Like the storm on the surface 83 Came the sound of thy spells; 84 O'er my calm Hall of Coral 85 The deep Echo rolled--- 86 To the Spirit of Ocean 87 Thy wishes unfold! Fourth Spirit 88 Where the slumbering Earthquake 89 Lies pillowed on fire, 90 And the lakes of bitumen 91 Rise boilingly higher; 92 Where the roots of the Andes 93 Strike deep in the earth, 94 As their summits to heaven 95 Shoot soaringly forth; 96 I have quitted my birthplace, 97 Thy bidding to bide--- 98 Thy spell hath subdued me, 99 Thy will be my guide! Fifth Spirit 100 I am the Rider of the wind, 101 The Stirrer of the storm; 102 The hurricane I left behind 103 Is yet with lightning warm; 104 To speed to thee, o'er shore and sea 105 I swept upon the blast: 106 The fleet I met sailed well---and yet 107 'Twill sink ere night be past. Sixth Spirit 108 My dwelling is the shadow of the Night, 109 Why doth thy magic torture me with light? Seventh Spirit 110 The Star which rules thy destiny (A voice is heard in the Incantation which follows) 192 When the Moon is on the wave, 193 And the glow-worm in the grass, 194 And the meteor on the grave, 195 And the wisp on the morass; 196 When the falling stars are shooting, 197 And the answered owls are hooting, 198 And the silent leaves are still 199 In the shadow of the hill, 200 Shall my soul be upon thine, 201 With a power and with a sign. 202 Though thy slumber may be deep, 203 Yet thy Spirit shall not sleep; 204 There are shades which will not vanish, 205 There are thoughts thou canst not banish; 206 By a Power to thee unknown, 207 Thou canst never be alone; 208 Thou art wrapt as with a shroud, 209 Thou art gathered in a cloud; 210 And for ever shalt thou dwell 211 In the spirit of this spell. 212 Though thou seest me not pass by, 213 Thou shalt feel me with thine eye 214 As a thing that, though unseen, 215 Must be near thee, and hath been; 216 And when in that secret dread 217 Thou hast turned around thy head, 218 Thou shalt marvel I am not 219 As thy shadow on the spot, 220 And the power which thou dost feel 221 Shall be what thou must conceal. 222 And a magic voice and verse 223 Hath baptized thee with a curse; 224 And a Spirit of the air 225 Hath begirt thee with a snare; 226 In the wind there is a voice 227 Shall forbid thee to rejoice; 228 And to thee shall Night deny 229 All the quiet of her sky; 230 And the day shall have a sun, 231 Which shall make thee wish it done. 232 From thy false tears I did distil 233 An essence which hath strength to kill; 234 From thy own heart I then did wring 235 The black blood in its blackest spring; 236 From thy own smile I snatched the snake, 237 For there it coiled as in a brake; 238 From thy own lip I drew the charm 239 Which gave all these their chiefest harm; 240 In proving every poison known, 241 I found the strongest was thine own. 242 By the cold breast and serpent smile, 243 By thy unfathomed gulfs of guile, 244 By that most seeming virtuous eye, 245 By thy shut soul's hypocrisy; 246 By the perfection of thine art 247 Which passed for human thine own heart; 248 By thy delight in others' pain, 249 And by thy brotherhood of Cain, 250 I call upon thee! and compel 251 Thyself to be thy proper Hell! 252 And on thy head I pour the vial 253 Which doth devote thee to this trial; 254 Nor to slumber, nor to die, 255 Shall be in thy destiny; 256 Though thy death shall still seem near 257 To thy wish, but as a fear; 258 Lo! the spell now works around thee, 259 And the clankless chain hath bound thee; 260 O'er thy heart and brain together 261 Hath the word been passed---now wither! Scene II -The Mountain of the Jungfrau - Time, Morning - Manfred alone upon the cliffs Manfred 1 The spirits I have raised abandon me, 2 The spells which I have studied baffle me, 3 The remedy I recked of tortured me; 4 I lean no more on superhuman aid; 5 It hath no power upon the past, and for 6 The future, till the past be gulfed in darkness, 7 It is not of my search.---My Mother Earth! 8 And thou fresh-breaking Day, and you, ye Mountains, 9 Why are ye beautiful? I cannot love ye. 10 And thou, the bright Eye of the Universe, 11 That openest over all, and unto all 12 Art a delight---thou shin'st not on my heart. 13 And you, ye crags, upon whose extreme edge 14 I stand, and on the torrent's brink beneath 15 Behold the tall pines dwindled as to shrubs 16 In dizziness of distance; when a leap, 17 A stir, a motion, even a breath, would bring 18 My breast upon its rocky bosom's bed 19 To rest for ever---wherefore do I pause? 20 I feel the impulse---yet I do not plunge; 21 I see the peril---yet do not recede; 22 And my brain reels---and yet my foot is firm: 23 There is a power upon me which withholds, 24 And makes it my fatality to live,--- 25 If it be life to wear within myself 26 This barrenness of Spirit, and to be 27 My own Soul's sepulchre, for I have ceased 28 To justify my deeds unto myself--- 29 The last infirmity of evil. Aye, 30 Thou winged and cloud-cleaving minister, [An Eagle passes] 31 Whose happy flight is highest into heaven, 32 Well may'st thou swoop so near me---I should be 33 Thy prey, and gorge thine eaglets; thou art gone 34 Where the eye cannot follow thee; but thine 35 Yet pierces downward, onward, or above, 36 With a pervading vision.---Beautiful! 37 How beautiful is all this visible world! 38 How glorious in its action and itself! 39 But we, who name ourselves its sovereigns, we, 40 Half dust, half deity, alike unfit 41 To sink or soar, with our mixed essence make 42 A conflict of its elements, and breathe 43 The breath of degradation and of pride, 44 Contending with low wants and lofty will, 45 Till our Mortality predominates, 46 And men are---what they name not to themselves, 47 And trust not to each other. Hark! the note, [The Shepherd's pipe in the distance is heard] 48 The natural music of the mountain reed--- 49 For here the patriarchal days are not 50 A pastoral fable---pipes in the liberal air, 51 Mixed with the sweet bells of the sauntering herd; 52 My soul would drink those echoes. Oh, that I were 53 The viewless spirit of a lovely sound, 54 A living voice, a breathing harmony, 55 A bodiless enjoyment---born and dying 56 With the blest tone which made me! [Enter from below a Chamois Hunter] Chamois Hunter 56 Even so 57 This way the Chamois leapt: her nimble feet 58 Have baffled me; my gains to-day will scarce 59 Repay my break-neck travail.---What is here? 60 Who seems not of my trade, and yet hath reached 61 A height which none even of our mountaineers, 62 Save our best hunters, may attain: his garb 63 Is goodly, his mien manly, and his air 64 Proud as a free-born peasant's, at this distance: 65 I will approach him nearer. Manfred (not perceiving the other) 65 To be thus--- 66 Grey-haired with anguish, like these blasted pines, 67 Wrecks of a single winter, barkless, branchless, 68 A blighted trunk upon a curséd root, 69 Which but supplies a feeling to Decay--- 70 And to be thus, eternally but thus, 71 Having been otherwise! Now furrowed o'er 72 With wrinkles, ploughed by moments, not by years 73 And hours, all tortured into ages---hours 74 Which I outlive!---Ye toppling crags of ice! 75 Ye Avalanches, whom a breath draws down 76 In mountainous o'erwhelming, come and crush me! 77 I hear ye momently above, beneath, 78 Crash with a frequent conflict; but ye pass, 79 And only fall on things that still would live; 80 On the young flourishing forest, or the hut 81 And hamlet of the harmless villager. Chamois Hunter 82 The mists begin to rise from up the valley; 83 I'll warn him to descend, or he may chance 84 To lose at once his way and life together. Manfred 85 The mists boil up around the glaciers; clouds 86 Rise curling fast beneath me, white and sulphury, 87 Like foam from the roused ocean of deep Hell, 88 Whose every wave breaks on a living shore, 89 Heaped with the damned like pebbles.---I am giddy. Chamois Hunter 90 I must approach him cautiously; if near, 91 A sudden step will startle him, and he 92 Seems tottering already. Manfred 92 Mountains have fallen, 93 Leaving a gap in the clouds, and with the shock 94 Rocking their Alpine brethren; filling up 95 The ripe green valleys with Destruction's splinters; 96 Damming the rivers with a sudden dash, 97 Which crushed the waters into mist, and made 98 Their fountains find another channel---thus, 99 Thus, in its old age, did Mount Rosenberg--- 100 Why stood I not beneath it? Chamois Hunter 100 Friend! have a care, 101 Your next step may be fatal!---for the love 102 Of Him who made you, stand not on that brink! Manfred (not hearing him) 103 Such would have been for me a fitting tomb; 104 My bones had then been quiet in their depth; 61 Would be but a distempered dream. Chamois Hunter 61 What is it 62 That thou dost see, or think thou look'st upon? Manfred 63 Myself, and thee---a peasant of the Alps--- 64 Thy humble virtues, hospitable home, 65 And spirit patient, pious, proud, and free; 66 Thy self-respect, grafted on innocent thoughts; 67 Thy days of health, and nights of sleep; thy toils, 68 By danger dignified, yet guiltless; hopes 69 Of cheerful old age and a quiet grave, 70 With cross and garland over its green turf, 71 And thy grandchildren's love for epitaph! 72 This do I see---and then I look within--- 73 It matters not---my Soul was scorched already! Chamois Hunter 74 And would'st thou then exchange thy lot for mine? Manfred 75 No, friend! I would not wrong thee, nor exchange 76 My lot with living being: I can bear--- 77 However wretchedly, 'tis still to bear--- 78 In life what others could not brook to dream, 79 But perish in their slumber. Chamois Hunter 79 And with this--- 80 This cautious feeling for another's pain, 81 Canst thou be black with evil?---say not so. 82 Can one of gentle thoughts have wreaked revenge 83 Upon his enemies? Manfred 83 Oh! no, no, no! 84 My injuries came down on those who loved me--- 85 On those whom I best loved: I never quelled 86 An enemy, save in my just defence--- 87 But my embrace was fatal. Chamois Hunter 87 Heaven give thee rest! 88 And Penitence restore thee to thyself; 89 My prayers shall be for thee. Manfred 89 I need them not, 90 But can endure thy pity. I depart--- 91 'Tis time---farewell!---Here's gold, and thanks for thee--- 92 No words---it is thy due.---Follow me not--- 93 I know my path---the mountain peril's past: 94 And once again I charge thee, follow not! [Exit Manfred] Scene II -A lower Valley in the Alps - A Cataract [Enter Manfred] Manfred 1 It is not noon---the Sunbow's rays 2 still arch 2 The torrent with the many hues of heaven, 3 And roll the sheeted silver's waving column 4 O'er the crag's headlong perpendicular, 5 And fling its lines of foaming light along, 6 And to and fro, like the pale courser's tail, 7 The Giant steed, to be bestrode by Death, 8 As told in the Apocalypse. No eyes 9 But mine now drink this sight of loveliness; 10 I should be sole in this sweet solitude, 11 And with the Spirit of the place divide 12 The homage of these waters.---I will call her. [Manfred takes some of the water into the palm of his hand and flings it into the air, muttering the adjuration. After a pause, the Witch of the Alps rises beneath the arch of the sunbow of the torrent] 13 Beautiful Spirit! with thy hair of light, 14 And dazzling eyes of glory, in whose form 15 The charms of Earth's least mortal daughters grow 16 To an unearthly stature, in an essence 17 Of purer elements; while the hues of youth,--- 18 Carnationed like a sleeping Infant's cheek, 19 Rocked by the beating of her mother's heart, 20 Or the rose tints, which Summer's twilight leaves 21 Upon the lofty Glacier's virgin snow, 22 The blush of earth embracing with her Heaven,--- 23 Tinge thy celestial aspect, and make tame 24 The beauties of the Sunbow which bends o'er thee. 25 Beautiful Spirit! in thy calm clear brow, 26 Wherein is glassed serenity of Soul, 27 Which of itself shows immortality, 28 I read that thou wilt pardon to a Son 29 Of Earth, whom the abstruser powers permit 30 At times to commune with them---if that he 31 Avail him of his spells---to call thee thus, 32 And gaze on thee a moment. Witch 32 Son of Earth! 33 I know thee, and the Powers which give thee power! 34 I know thee for a man of many thoughts, 35 And deeds of good and ill, extreme in both, 36 Fatal and fated in thy sufferings. 37 I have expected this---what would'st thou with me? Manfred 38 To look upon thy beauty---nothing further. 39 The face of the earth hath maddened me, and I 40 Take refuge in her mysteries, and pierce 41 To the abodes of those who govern her--- 42 But they can nothing aid me. I have sought 43 From them what they could not bestow, and now 44 I search no further. Witch 44 What could be the quest 45 Which is not in the power of the most powerful, 46 The rulers of the invisible? Manfred 46 A boon;--- 47 But why should I repeat it? 'twere in vain. Witch 48 I know not that; let thy lips utter it. Manfred 49 Well, though it torture me, 'tis but the same; 50 My pang shall find a voice. From my youth upwards 51 My Spirit walked not with the souls of men, 52 Nor looked upon the earth with human eyes; 53 The thirst of their ambition was not mine, 54 The aim of their existence was not mine; 55 My joys---my griefs---my passions---and my powers, 56 Made me a stranger; though I wore the form, 57 I had no sympathy with breathing flesh, 58 Nor midst the Creatures of Clay that girded me 59 Was there but One who---but of her anon. 60 I said with men, and with the thoughts of men, 61 I held but slight communion; but instead, 62 My joy was in the wilderness,---to breathe 63 The difficult air of the iced mountain's top, 64 Where the birds dare not build---nor insect's wing 65 Flit o'er the herbless granite; or to plunge 66 Into the torrent, and to roll along 67 On the swift whirl of the new-breaking wave 68 Of river-stream, or Ocean, in their flow. 69 In these my early strength exulted; or 70 To follow through the night the moving moon, 71 The stars and their development; or catch 72 The dazzling lightnings till my eyes grew dim; 73 Or to look, list'ning, on the scattered leaves, 74 While Autumn winds were at their evening song. 75 These were my pastimes, and to be alone; 76 For if the beings, of whom I was one,--- 77 Hating to be so,---crossed me in my path, 78 I felt myself degraded back to them, 79 And was all clay again. And then I dived, 80 In my lone wanderings, to the caves of Death, 81 Searching its cause in its effect; and drew 82 From withered bones, and skulls, and heaped up dust, 83 Conclusions most forbidden. Then I passed 84 The nights of years in sciences untaught, 85 Save in the old-time; and with time and toil, 86 And terrible ordeal, and such penance 87 As in itself hath power upon the air, 88 And spirits that do compass air and earth, 89 Space, and the peopled Infinite, I made 90 Mine eyes familiar with Eternity, 91 Such as, before me, did the Magi, and 92 He who from out their fountain-dwellings raised 93 Eros and Anteros, at Gadara, 94 As I do thee;---and with my knowledge grew 95 The thirst of knowledge, and the power and joy 96 Of this most bright intelligence, until--- Witch 97 Proceed Manfred 97 Oh! I but thus prolonged my words, 98 Boasting these idle attributes, because 99 As I approach the core of my heart's grief--- 100 But---to my task. I have not named to thee 101 Father or mother, mistress, friend, or being, 102 With whom I wore the chain of human ties; 103 If I had such, they seemed not such to me--- 104 Yet there was One--- Witch 104 Spare not thyself---proceed. Manfred 105 She was like me in lineaments---her eyes--- 106 Her hair---her features---all, to the very tone 107 Even of her voice, they said were like to mine; 108 But softened all, and tempered into beauty: 109 She had the same lone thoughts and wanderings, 110 The quest of hidden knowledge, and a mind 111 To comprehend the Universe: nor these 112 Alone, but with them gentler powers than mine, 113 Pity, and smiles, and tears---which I had not; 114 And tenderness---but that I had for her; 115 Humility---and that I never had. 116 Her faults were mine---her virtues were her own--- 6 We skim its rugged breakers, which put on 7 The aspect of a tumbling tempest's foam, 8 Frozen in a moment---a dead Whirlpool's image: 9 And this most steep fantastic pinnacle, 10 The fretwork of some earthquake---where the clouds 11 Pause to repose themselves in passing by--- 12 Is sacred to our revels, or our vigils; 13 Here do I wait my sisters, on our way 14 To the Hall of Arimanes---for to-night 15 Is our great festival---'tis strange they come not. A Voice without, singing 16 The Captive Usurper, 17 Hurled down from the throne, 18 Lay buried in torpor, 19 Forgotten and lone; 20 I broke through his slumbers, 21 I shivered his chain, 22 I leagued him with numbers--- 23 He's Tyrant again! 24 With the blood of a million he'll answer my care, 25 With a Nation's destruction---his flight and despair! Second Voice, without 26 The Ship sailed on, the Ship sailed fast, 27 But I left not a sail, and I left not a mast; 28 There is not a plank of the hull or the deck, 29 And there is not a wretch to lament o'er his wreck; 30 Save one, whom I held, as he swam, by the hair, 31 And he was a subject well worthy my care; 32 A traitor on land, and a pirate at sea--- 33 But I saved him to wreak further havoc for me! First Destiny, answering 34 The City lies sleeping; 35 The morn, to deplore it, 36 May dawn on it weeping: 37 Sullenly, slowly, 38 The black plague flew o'er it--- 39 Thousands lie lowly; 40 Tens of thousands shall perish; 41 The living shall fly from 42 The sick they should cherish; 43 But nothing can vanquish 44 The touch that they die from. 45 Sorrow and anguish, 46 And evil and dread, 47 Envelope a nation; 48 The blest are the dead, 49 Who see not the sight 50 Of their own desolation; 51 This work of a night--- 52 This wreck of a realm---this deed of my doing--- 53 For ages I've done, and shall still be renewing! [Enter the Second and Third Destinies] The Three 54 Our hands contain the hearts of men, 55 Our footsteps are their graves; 56 We only give to take again 57 The Spirits of our slaves! First Destiny 58 Welcome!---Where's Nemesis? Second Destiny 58 At some great work; 59 But what I know not, for my hands were full. Third Destiny 60 Behold she cometh. [Enter Nemesis] First Destiny 60 Say, where hast thou been? 61 My Sisters and thyself are slow to-night. Nemesis 62 I was detained repairing shattered thrones--- 63 Marrying fools, restoring dynasties--- 64 Avenging men upon their enemies, 65 And making them repent their own revenge; 66 Goading the wise to madness; from the dull 67 Shaping out oracles to rule the world 68 Afresh---for they were waxing out of date, 69 And mortals dared to ponder for themselves, 70 To weigh kings in the balance---and to speak 71 Of Freedom, the forbidden fruit.---Away! 72 We have outstayed the hour---mount we our clouds! [Exeunt] Scene IV -The Hall of Arimanes.---Arimanes on his Throne, a Globe of Fire, surrounded by the Spirits Hymn of the Spirits Spirits 1 Hail to our Master!---Prince of Earth and Air! 2 Who walks the clouds and waters---in his hand 3 The sceptre of the Elements, which tear 4 Themselves to chaos at his high command! 5 He breatheth---and a tempest shakes the sea; 6 He speaketh---and the clouds reply in thunder; 7 He gazeth---from his glance the sunbeams flee; 8 He moveth---Earthquakes rend the world asunder. 9 Beneath his footsteps the Volcanoes rise; 10 His shadow is the Pestilence: his path 11 The comets herald through the crackling skies; 12 And Planets turn to ashes at his wrath. 13 To him War offers daily sacrifice; 14 To him Death pays his tribute; Life is his, 15 With all its Infinite of agonies--- 16 And his the Spirit of whatever is! [Enter the Destinies and Nemesis] First Destiny 17 Glory to Arimanes! on the earth 18 His power increaseth---both my sisters did 19 His bidding, nor did I neglect my duty! Second Destiny 20 Glory to Arimanes! we who bow 21 The necks of men, bow down before his throne! Third Destiny 22 Glory to Arimanes! we await 23 His nod! Nemesis 23 Sovereign of Sovereigns! we are thine, 24 And all that liveth, more or less, is ours, 25 And most things wholly so; still to increase 26 Our power, increasing thine, demands our care, 27 And we are vigilant. Thy late commands 28 Have been fulfilled to the utmost. [Enter Manfred] A Spirit 28 What is here? 29 A mortal!---Thou most rash and fatal wretch, 1 Bow down and worship! Second Spirit 30 I do know the man--- 31 A Magian of great power, and fearful skill! Third Spirit 32 Bow down and worship, slave!---What, know'st thou not 33 Thine and our Sovereign?---Tremble, and obey! All the Spirits 34 Prostrate thyself, and thy condemnéd clay, 35 Child of the Earth! or dread the worst. Manfred 35 I know it; 36 And yet ye see I kneel not. Fourth Spirit 36 'Twill be taught thee. Manfred 37 'Tis taught already;---many a night on the earth, 38 On the bare ground, have I bowed down my face, 39 And strewed my head with ashes; I have known 40 The fulness of humiliation---for 41 I sunk before my vain despair, and knelt 42 To my own desolation. Fifth Spirit 42 Dost thou dare 43 Refuse to Arimanes on his throne 44 What the whole earth accords, beholding not 45 The terror of his Glory?---Crouch! I say. Manfred 46 Bid him bow down to that which is above him, 47 The overruling Infinite---the Maker 48 Who made him not for worship---let him kneel, 49 And we will kneel together. The Spirits 49 Crush the worm! 50 Tear him in pieces!--- First Destiny 50 Hence! Avaunt!---he's mine. 51 Prince of the Powers invisible! This man 52 Is of no common order, as his port 53 And presence here denote: his sufferings 54 Have been of an immortal nature---like 55 Our own; his knowledge, and his powers and will, 56 As far as is compatible with clay, 57 Which clogs the ethereal essence, have been such 58 As clay hath seldom borne; his aspirations 59 Have been beyond the dwellers of the earth, 60 And they have only taught him what we know--- 61 That knowledge is not happiness, and science 62 But an exchange of ignorance for that 63 Which is another kind of ignorance. 64 This is not all---the passions, attributes 65 Of Earth and Heaven, from which no power, nor being, 66 Nor breath from the worm upwards is exempt, 67 Have pierced his heart; and in their consequence 68 Made him a thing---which---I who pity not, Manfred 152 Yet one word more---am I forgiven? Phantom 153 Farewell! Manfred 153 Say, shall we meet again? Phantom 153 Farewell! Manfred 154 One word for mercy! Say thou lovest me. Phantom 155 Manfred! [The Spirit of Astarte disappears] Nemesis 155 She's gone, and will not be recalled: 156 Her words will be fulfilled. Return to the earth. A Spirit 157 He is convulsed---This is to be a mortal, 158 And seek the things beyond mortality. Another Spirit 159 Yet, see, he mastereth himself, and makes 160 His torture tributary to his will. 161 Had be been one of us, he would have made 162 An awful Spirit. Nemesis 162 Hast thou further question 163 Of our great Sovereign, or his worshippers? Manfred 164 None. Nemesis 164 Then for a time farewell. Manfred 165 We meet then! Where? On the earth?--- 166 Even as thou wilt: and for the grace accorded 167 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] Manfred 1 What is the hour? Herman 1 It wants but one till sunset, 2 And promises a lovely twilight. Manfred 2 Say, 3 Are all things so disposed of in the tower 4 As I directed? Herman 4 All, my Lord, are ready: 5 Here is the key and casket. Manfred 5 It is well: 6 Thou mayst retire. [Exit Herman] Manfred (alone) 6 There is a calm upon me--- 7 Inexplicable stillness! which till now 8 Did not belong to what I knew of life. 9 If that I did not know Philosophy 10 To be of all our vanities the motliest, 11 The merest word that ever fooled the ear 12 From out the schoolman's jargon, I should deem 13 The golden secret, the sought "Kalon," found, 14 And seated in my soul. It will not last, 15 But it is well to have known it, though but once: 16 It hath enlarged my thoughts with a new sense, 17 And I within my tablets would note down 18 That there is such a feeling. Who is there? [Re-enter Herman] Herman 19 My Lord, the Abbot of St. Maurice craves 20 To greet your presence. [Enter the Abbot of St. Maurice] Abbot 20 Peace be with Count Manfred! Manfred 21 Thanks, holy father! welcome to these walls; 22 Thy presence honours them, and blesseth those 23 Who dwell within them. Abbot 23 Would it were so, Count!--- 24 But I would fain confer with thee alone. Manfred 25 Herman, retire.---What would my reverend guest? Abbot 26 Thus, without prelude:---Age and zeal---my office--- 27 And good intent must plead my privilege; 28 Our near, though not acquainted neighbourhood, 29 May also be my herald. Rumours strange, 30 And of unholy nature, are abroad, 31 And busy with thy name---a noble name 32 For centuries: may he who bears it now 33 Transmit it unimpaired! Manfred 33 Proceed,---I listen. Abbot 34 'Tis said thou holdest converse with the things 35 Which are forbidden to the search of man; 36 That with the dwellers of the dark abodes, 37 The many evil and unheavenly spirits 38 Which walk the valley of the Shade of Death, 39 Thou communest. I know that with mankind, 40 Thy fellows in creation, thou dost rarely 41 Exchange thy thoughts, and that thy solitude 42 Is as an Anchorite's---were it but holy. Manfred 43 And what are they who do avouch these things? Abbot 44 My pious brethren---the scaréd peasantry--- 45 Even thy own vassals---who do look on thee 46 With most unquiet eyes. Thy life's in peril! Manfred 47 Take it. Abbot 47 I come to save, and not destroy: 48 I would not pry into thy secret soul; 49 But if these things be sooth, there still is time 50 For penitence and pity: reconcile thee 51 With the true church, and through the church to Heaven. Manfred 52 I hear thee. This is my reply---whate'er 53 I may have been, or am, doth rest between 54 Heaven and myself---I shall not choose a mortal 55 To be my mediator---Have I sinned 56 Against your ordinances? prove and punish! Abbot 57 My son! I did not speak of punishment, 58 But penitence and pardon;---with thyself 59 The choice of such remains---and for the last, 60 Our institutions and our strong belief 61 Have given me power to smooth the path from sin 62 To higher hope and better thoughts; the first 63 I leave to Heaven,---"Vengeance is mine alone!" 64 So saith the Lord, and with all humbleness 65 His servant echoes back the awful word. Manfred 66 Old man! there is no power in holy men, 67 Nor charm in prayer, nor purifying form 68 Of penitence, nor outward look, nor fast, 69 Nor agony---nor, greater than all these, 70 The innate tortures of that deep Despair, 71 Which is Remorse without the fear of hell, 72 But all in all sufficient to itself 73 Would make a hell of Heaven---can exorcise 74 From out the unbounded spirit the quick sense 75 Of its own sins---wrongs---sufferance---and revenge 76 Upon itself; there is no future pang 77 Can deal that justice on the self-condemned 78 He deals on his own soul. Abbot 78 All this is well; 79 For this will pass away, and be succeeded 80 By an auspicious hope, which shall look up 81 With calm assurance to that blessed place, 82 Which all who seek may win, whatever be 83 Their earthly errors, so they be atoned: 84 And the commencement of atonement is 85 The sense of its necessity. Say on--- 86 And all our church can teach thee shall be taught; 87 And all we can absolve thee shall be pardoned. Manfred 88 When Rome's sixth Emperor was near his last, 9 Most glorious Orb! that wert a worship, ere 10 The mystery of thy making was revealed! 11 Thou earliest minister of the Almighty, 12 Which gladdened, on their mountain tops, the hearts 13 Of the Chaldean shepherds, till they poured 14 Themselves in orisons! Thou material God! 15 And representative of the Unknown--- 16 Who chose thee for his shadow! Thou chief Star! 17 Centre of many stars! which mak'st our earth 18 Endurable, and temperest the hues 19 And hearts of all who walk within thy rays! 20 Sire of the seasons! Monarch of the climes, 21 And those who dwell in them! for near or far, 22 Our inborn spirits have a tint of thee 23 Even as our outward aspects;---thou dost rise, 24 And shine, and set in glory. Fare thee well! 25 I ne'er shall see thee more. As my first glance 26 Of love and wonder was for thee, then take 27 My latest look: thou wilt not beam on one 28 To whom the gifts of life and warmth have been 29 Of a more fatal nature. He is gone--- 30 I follow. [Exit Manfred] Scene III -The Mountains-The Castle of Manfred at some distance-A Terrace before a Tower-Time, Twilight. [Herman, Manuel , and other dependants of Manfred] Herman 1 'Tis strange enough! night after night, for years, 2 He hath pursued long vigils in this tower, 3 Without a witness. I have been within it,--- 4 So have we all been oft-times; but from it, 5 Or its contents, it were impossible 6 To draw conclusions absolute, of aught 7 His studies tend to. To be sure, there is 8 One chamber where none enter: I would give 9 The fee of what I have to come these three years, 10 To pore upon its mysteries. Manuel 10 'Twere dangerous; 11 Content thyself with what thou know'st already. Herman 12 Ah! Manuel! thou art elderly and wise, 13 And couldst say much; thou hast dwelt within the castle--- 14 How many years is't? Manuel 14 Ere Count Manfred's birth, 15 I served his father, whom he nought resembles. Herman 16 There be more sons in like predicament! 17 But wherein do they differ? Manuel 17 I speak not 18 Of features or of form, but mind and habits; 19 Count Sigismund was proud, but gay and free,--- 20 A warrior and a reveller; he dwelt not 21 With books and solitude, nor made the night 22 A gloomy vigil, but a festal time, 23 Merrier than day; he did not walk the rocks 24 And forests like a wolf, nor turn aside 25 From men and their delights. Herman 25 Beshrew the hour, 26 But those were jocund times! I would that such 27 Would visit the old walls again; they look 28 As if they had forgotten them. Manuel 28 These walls 29 Must change their chieftain first. Oh! I have seen 30 Some strange things in them, Herman. Herman 30 Come, be friendly; 31 Relate me some to while away our watch: 32 I've heard thee darkly speak of an event 33 Which happened hereabouts, by this same tower. Manuel 34 That was a night indeed! I do remember 35 'Twas twilight, as it may be now, and such 36 Another evening:---yon red cloud, which rests 37 On Eigher's pinnacle, so rested then,--- 38 So like that it might be the same; the wind 39 Was faint and gusty, and the mountain snows 40 Began to glitter with the climbing moon; 41 Count Manfred was, as now, within his tower,--- 42 How occupied, we knew not, but with him 43 The sole companion of his wanderings 44 And watchings---her, whom of all earthly things 45 That lived, the only thing he seemed to love,--- 46 As he, indeed, by blood was bound to do, 47 The Lady Astarte, his--- 47 Hush! who comes here? [Enter the Abbot] Abbot 48 Where is your master? Herman 48 Yonder in the tower. Abbot 49 I must speak with him. Manuel 49 'Tis impossible; 50 He is most private, and must not be thus 51 Intruded on. Abbot 51 Upon myself I take 52 The forfeit of my fault, if fault there be--- 53 But I must see him. Herman 53 Thou hast seen him once 54 This eve already. Abbot 54 Herman! I command thee, 55 Knock, and apprize the Count of my approach. Herman 56 We dare not. Abbot 56 Then it seems I must be herald 57 Of my own purpose. Manuel 57 Reverend father, stop--- 58 I pray you pause. Abbot 58 Why so? Manuel 58 But step this way, 59 And I will tell you further. [Exeunt] Scene IV -Interior of the Tower [Manfred alone] Manfred 1 The stars are forth, the moon above the tops 2 Of the snow-shining mountains.---Beautiful! 3 I linger yet with Nature, for the Night 4 Hath been to me a more familiar face 5 Than that of man; and in her starry shade 6 Of dim and solitary loveliness, 7 I learned the language of another world. 8 I do remember me, that in my youth, 9 When I was wandering,---upon such a night 10 I stood within the Coliseum's wall, 11 'Midst the chief relics of almighty Rome; 12 The trees which grew along the broken arches 13 Waved dark in the blue midnight, and the stars 14 Shone through the rents of ruin; from afar 15 The watch-dog bayed beyond the Tiber; and 16 More near from out the Cæsars' palace came 17 The owl's long cry, and, interruptedly, 18 Of distant sentinels the fitful song 19 Begun and died upon the gentle wind. 20 Some cypresses beyond the time-worn breach 21 Appeared to skirt the horizon, yet they stood 22 Within a bowshot. Where the Cæsars dwelt, 23 And dwell the tuneless birds of night, amidst 24 A grove which springs through levelled battlements, 25 And twines its roots with the imperial hearths, 26 Ivy usurps the laurel's place of growth; 27 But the gladiators' bloody Circus stands, 28 A noble wreck in ruinous perfection, 29 While Cæsar's chambers, and the Augustan halls, 30 Grovel on earth in indistinct decay.--- 31 And thou didst shine, thou rolling Moon, upon 32 All this, and cast a wide and tender light, 33 Which softened down the hoar austerity 34 Of rugged desolation, and filled up, 35 As 'twere anew, the gaps of centuries; 36 Leaving that beautiful which still was so, 37 And making that which was not---till the place 38 Became religion, and the heart ran o'er 39 With silent worship of the Great of old,--- 40 The dead, but sceptred, Sovereigns, who still rule 41 Our spirits from their urns. 41 'Twas such a night! 42 'Tis strange that I recall it at this time; 43 But I have found our thoughts take wildest flight 44 Even at the moment when they should array 45 Themselves in pensive order.