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ACT II
SCENE IV
The Hall of ARIMANES.-- 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 380
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 DESTINY.
Glory to Arimanes! on the earth
His power increaseth-- both
my sisters did
His bidding, nor did I neglect my duty!
SECOND DESTINY.
Glory to Arimanes! we who bow 390
The necks of men, bow down before his throne!
THIRD DESTINY.
Glory to Arimanes!-- we await His nod!
NEMESIS.
;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 fulfill'd 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-- 400
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 condemnèd
clay,
Child of the Earth! or dread the worst.
MANFRED.
I know it;
And yet ye see I kneel not.
FOURTH SPIRIT.
'T will be taught thee.
MANFRED.
'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 410
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.
MANFRED.
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 DESTINY.
Hence! Avaunt!-- he's mine. 420
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-- 430
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 440
No other Spirit in this region hath
A soul like his-- or power upon his soul.
NEMESIS.
What doth he here then?
FIRST DESTINY.
Let him answer that.
MANFRED.
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.
NEMESIS.
What wouldst thou?
MANFRED.
Thou canst not reply to me.
Call up the dead-- my question is for them.
NEMESIS.
Great Arimanes, doth thy will avouch 450
The wishes of this mortal?
ARIMANES.
Yea.
NEMESIS.
Whom wouldst thou
Un
charnel?
MANFRED.
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,-- 460
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.)
MANFRED.
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 470
Which
Autumn plants upon the perish'd 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 enthrall'd thee,
Speak to him who hath spoken,
Or those who have call'd thee!
MANFRED.
She is silent,
And
in that silence I am more than answered. 480
NEMESIS.
My power extends no further.
Prince of air! It rests with thee alone-- command her voice.
ARIMANES.
Spirit-- obey this sceptre!
NEMESIS.
Silent still!
She is
not of our order, but belongs
To
the other powers. Mortal!
thy quest is vain,
And we are baffled also.
MANFRED.
Hear me, hear me--
Astarte! my
belovèd! 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 lovèdst me 490
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 blessèd-- 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. 500
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 call'd on thee in the still night,
Startled the slumbering birds from the hush'd boughs,
And woke the
mountain wolves, and made the caves
Acquainted with thy vainly echo'd name,
Which answer'd me-- many things answer'd me--
Spirits and men-- but thou wert silent all. 510
Yet speak to me! I have outwatch'd the stars,
And gazed o'er heaven in vain in search of thee.
Speak to me!
I have wander'd 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!
MANFRED.
Say on, say on--
I live but in the sound--it is thy voice! 520
PHANTOM.
Manfred! To-morrow ends thine earthly ills.
Farewell!
MANFRED.
Yet one word more--
am I forgiven?
PHANTOM.
Farewell!
MANFRED.
Say, shall we meet again?
PHANTOM.
Farewell!
MANFRED.
One word for mercy!
Say, thou lovest me.
PHANTOM.
Manfred!
(The Spirit of ASTARTE departs.)
NEMESIS.
She's gone, and will not be recall'd;
Her words will be fulfill'd. 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. 530
Had he been one of us, he would have made
An awful spirit.
NEMESIS.
Hast thou further question
Of our great sovereign, or his worshippers?
MANFRED.
None.
NEMESIS.
Then for a time farewell.
MANFRED.
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).
CST Approved