University of Virginia Library

SCENE VII.

A Druidical Grove near Eman. Enter Caffa attended by Lucifer.
CAFFA.
When was God first called Elohim?

LUCIFER.
Not long
After the fall of Lucifer, who was
King over one-third of the Host of Heaven.
I was Lightbringer then, as now, of Night.
Is that upon the scroll? What more wouldst know?

CAFFA.
When did the Rooakh Elohim first speak
To Moses?—Lucifer, tell me the truth!

LUCIFER.
Not in the first beginning, but the last;
For this world was created Berashith.

CAFFA.
Your last words, Lucifer, are true. What is
The number of the Spiritual World?

LUCIFER.
Three—as the Trinity is Three.

CAFFA.
Which one
Was thine?

LUCIFER.
The second from the Throne of God.

CAFFA.
What were thine Angels called?

LUCIFER.
The Morning Stars.

CAFFA.
How many fell with thee?

LUCIFER.
Twelve legions fell.

CAFFA.
That is the third part of the heavenly host!

LUCIFER.
Who told you so? Is that upon the scroll?
If thou wouldst know the dignity of Man,
Remember, he was first called “Man” in Heaven—
(Adam was his last name in Paradise—)
For he was once an Angel like I am.

CAFFA.
Was he one of the Angel-men who fell?

LUCIFER.
That thou shouldst know, seeing thou art not now
In Heaven.

CAFFA.
Has he the same soul that he had
In Heaven?

LUCIFER.
Man's soul is Man. Thou art thy soul.

CAFFA.
What darkened earth?

LUCIFER.
The fall of Lucifer,
Son of the Morning.

CAFFA.
Ah! the evil thou
Hast done! Hadst thou but kept thy former state,
I would be happy now in Heaven.

LUCIFER.
But why
Was I not happy there?

CAFFA.
It was thy pride
That brought thee low!

LUCIFER.
I know that I was proud,
But wisdom made me so—that which thou dost
Desire the most.

CAFFA.
That should have kept thee pure;
For by it thou couldst know the more of God.

LUCIFER.
But not in knowledge equal Him. This is
The fruit of knowledge, that it cannot be
Made satisfied with what it has, but must
Have more. This is the curse of all mankind!
I sought to know that which cannot be known
To any one but God, which, seeking, made
Me what you see me now!

CAFFA.
A soul most damned,
Yet proud in thy damnation!

LUCIFER.
Thou sayest true.

CAFFA.
Thy wisdom should have told thee thou couldst not
Be wise as God.

LUCIFER.
I did not make my soul.
It was my nature to desire. The fault
Was not in me.

CAFFA.
Who was it in? not God.
Thou wert created free to choose. Thou didst
Desire that which was not to be desired.

LUCIFER.
Had not my soul been made, it would
Not have desired. How came it by that power?

CAFFA.
It was thy wilful pride that made thee fall.

LUCIFER.
Will is the attribute of soul. Had not
My soul been made, I would have had no will.
How came I by that soul?

CAFFA.
God gave the soul—
Its power was misapplied.

LUCIFER.
But how? not by
My will, which is the attribute of soul—
It was my destiny.

CAFFA.
But are you now
More wise than when you fell?

LUCIFER.
In many things
I am. I know more of this world—of Man.
My being, then, was but the Prophecy
In Heaven of what I was to be on earth.

CAFFA.
But how can you remember what I have
So long forgot,—my former state in Heaven?

LUCIFER.
Because thy body hides it from thy soul.

CAFFA.
You say that Man came from the Angel-World;
But where was Woman all this time?

LUCIFER.
In Man.
Was she not taken from his side?

CAFFA.
Methinks
His Heaven should have been by his side in Heaven.

LUCIFER.
But her identity was lost in his.
It is so at this day. She has no will
Nor being separate from his. This is
The reason why she must submit to him.

CAFFA.
What an oblivion was Man's fall from Heaven—
Blotting the memory of his former joys!
Where shall I bathe my weary soul to bring
Me back remembrance of that blessed day—
The Goshen of sweet peace—the spring of joy—
Around the Old Jerusalem above?
There is no Lethe but the grave—the grave!

LUCIFER.
Why, you seem sad. What is the matter now?

CAFFA.
This earth is then thy throne?

LUCIFER.
It is my throne;
But has been purified from what it was,
To what it is, since Man came down on it.
The Heavens were first created at high noon,
Which was the first beginning of all things—
Except this earth, which was created in
The afternoon, which soon was darkened by
The fall of Lucifer, which brought on night.
But after it was purified for Man,
The Morning then came on, which brought on Day.
Thus, wisdom is compared to Heaven's own light.
It is the soul's pure vision of the noon
Of God's eternal glory coming down
From Heaven.

CAFFA.
Ignorance, then, must be called Night.
For if thy falling brought on night, thy state
Must be—most ignorant indeed.

LUCIFER.
I care
Not for the state, so long as I can know
My origin. It is this knowledge in
My soul which makes me long to be in Heaven
Again! 'Tis this which tells thee thou art Man—
And, therefore, canst not die.

CAFFA.
The Devils are
Immortal, though, methinks, they long to die.

LUCIFER.
It is not in their nature thus to wish.
No part of God can wish to be that which
It cannot be.

CAFFA.
Thou art a part of God—
Dost thou not wish to be in Heaven again?

LUCIFER.
The time is coming when I will be there.
I am the shadow of my former self.

CAFFA.
Then you have hopes?

LUCIFER.
Why should I not? Is God
Not good? If He is good—as I well know,
From having dwelt so near His throne—why should
He not restore me, at some future day,
Back to my former glory in the Heavens?

CAFFA.
Then why do you deceive the sons of men?

LUCIFER.
Alas!
The sons of men deceive themselves—as you
Do now, presuming this of me.

CAFFA.
The Word
Of God bears record of the truth.

LUCIFER.
Men first
Reject the Word of God—then lay the blame
On me.

CAFFA.
That is not written on the scroll.
Why wert thou hurled from Heaven? Why did thy fall
Make dark the earth?

LUCIFER.
Why did Man fall? Why is
He not the same that he was once in Heaven?
For I am sure he did not spring from earth.
These questions must be answered—but not now.
Remember this, that what I am, I am!
That, what I am, that I was made to be,
Else I had never been. There was, at first,
A place for everything—then everything
Was made to suit that place. We both are proofs
Of this.

CAFFA.
Has not the earth been cursed but once?

LUCIFER.
Yes, many times. 'Twas cursed when Adam fell—
Then in the flood—or, rather, it was drowned.

CAFFA.
Thou wert the cause of it.

LUCIFER.
It is thy want
Of sense which makes thee tell me so. Is that
Upon the scroll?

CAFFA.
When was it blest?

LUCIFER.
When Christ
Came down, to show mankind how they might be
Restored back to their former glory whence
They fell.

CAFFA.
Most true—like everything on earth,
Its curses many, but its blessings few.
Farewell!

LUCIFER.
Farewell! till we shall meet again.

[Exeunt severally.