University of Virginia Library

SCENE III.

—In the moonlight.
NOEMA.
Afrael!

AFRAEL.
Yes, I am here, true as yon rounded moon,
Thou didst appoint to register my fate;
And I am come for judgment!

NOEMA.
Oh, 'tis soon!
I never dreamed that Time could fly so fast,
Or reach a point so quickly! Nay, I think,
The moon hath played me false.

AFRAEL.
Played false to thee!
None would do that! But upon me, I swear,
Her craft of late hath foisted many a trick.
A thousand times she nearly filled her horns,
Then from that margin thousand times retired;
Now let a golden flush creep o'er her face,
And, as I gazed upon the rising tide,
Ere it suffused her fully, rolled it back,
And, like this lonely watcher of her whims,
Again was pale and empty! But no more
Will I insist to thee how dull the load
Of waiting's weary interval hath been
To patience all impatient! For 'tis past!
And all I now would pour into thine ears,
Is Love's long-bridled torrent.

NOEMA.
Wait! O wait!
I am not ready, Afrael, for the rush
Of such a swollen current! Dost not see
My banks are broken down, my channels choked,
My bed a desolation, dry, and strewn
With drift, and sand, and naked boulders left
By the rough stream which flowed there once, but now
Hath run out to the ocean?

AFRAEL.
That is why
I now must fill thy shrunk stream up again,
That ne'er was meant to be left parched and bare.
And I will do't with such a gentle course,
And with such even flowing, thou wilt know
Thou art anew being flushed and plenishëd,
Only by seeing old havoc disappear,
And the hard rocks sink slowly out of sight.
Mine shall be waters only, waters sweet
Charged with no rude encumbrance, that with time
Will wear away, unfelt and unperceived,
The obstructions of the past!

NOEMA.
O Afrael!
Be silent for a little while! For I
Cannot resist thy voice!

AFRAEL.
Nor I thine ears,
Thine eyes, thy lipe, thy body, that everything
Which is unutterable Thou! Too late
Thou tell'st me to be silent. I have ta'en
Of the Eternal Heavens eternal leave,
And bidden the stars farewell! Thine am I now,
And never, never, never, can I turn
Back to the Spheres, that I have left for Thee!

NOEMA.
Thou know'st not what thou dost. Think, think once more,
What 'tis to be a Spirit, and what 'twill be
To be encased in flesh! Death, sorrow, pain,
And disenchantment, are familiars
That never quit its side.

AFRAEL.
What, if they be!
All the foul fiends and furies walk by my side,
So I but walk by thine!

NOEMA
Oh! no! no! no!
Look up! Look up! Remember thy abode,
And contemplate those interspersëd orbs,
The golden gleams on yon lake lazulite,
The glittering gems on the all-circling crown
Of Majesty Eternal! Lift thy gaze
Back unto those, not lower it down on me,
Where thou wilt but a crude amalgam find
Of dust and yearning! If a falling star
Ne'er yet touched aught but darkness, how wilt thou
Reach light and life by such a headlong plunge?

AFRAEL.
Nay, but away with these half-arguments!
Didst ever see a star that tried to turn?
I will not back! Though constellations glowed
A thousand times as bright, and boundless space
Yet infinitely more unbounded spread,
I'd leap the one, and blow the other out,
If they did keep me from thee!

NOEMA.
Then, 'tis vain!
Since thou dost range thy Spirit's potency
Upon the side of flesh, flesh needs must win.
I am the victor and the vanquished, too.

AFRAEL.
But, dost thou love me?

NOEMA.
Shall I cease to love,
Who loved thee once, because thou lov'st me thus?
Why, any love, in such a rapturous guise,
Would from the ground lift resolution up,
And leave it nought to stand on!

AFRAEL.
Then, thou art mine!
And in these wings, I call thee to annul,
For the last time I fold thee!

[As his wings encircle her, she throws her arms around him, and they kiss.
NOEMA.
Oh! sweet love!

AFRAEL.
See, they are fading now, and in their place
Fresh definite members come! I feel the rush
As of a thousand torrents through my being,
But torrents at volcanic sources warmed!
And now I burn and shiver all at once!
Canst thou not feel me now, as ne'er before?
For I, as ne'er before, do now feel thee!

NOEMA.
Yes! Thou art waxing human to my touch,
And thee intensely do I see, hear, know,
As though thou wert myself!

AFRAEL.
And so I am!

NOEMA.
Yes, love! thou art! And I? oh! what am I?

AFRAEL.
My own, my own! My deep, my very own!