 | Prince Deukalion |  |
SCENE VI.
[The highest verge of the rocky table-land of Hades, looking eastward.]PROMETHEUS.
O Goddess of the far, flushed fields of Heaven,
Swiftly enthroned between the moon and sun,
And swiftly passing as thy roses die,
To make us love thee more; the dewy-eyed
And blossom-sandal'd opener of eyes;
Quickener of human hearts, yea, hearts of Gods,
Not one so stubborn but thy smile subdues
To tenderness; in whom all light and love
Are one, at whose pure lamp all rising Hours
Of hope and deed and victory snatch fire
For torches soon extinguished else,—appear!
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Deceived so many times, why should she dip
Her shining robes in this unfriendly gloom,—
Why smirch the star that on her forehead burns
And breathe these vapors, when the brighter earth
Forgets her?
PYRRHA.
Speak not thus! What virtue lies
More in achievement than its hot desire?
To shake the drowsed indifference of men
Even Gods are powerless: thy wisdom wears
Sad colors of experience; dark thou showest
Against the light whereto we set our brows.—
But thou, who waitest near, as one too proud
Or to evade or spurn shame undeserved,—
Unhappy wert thou woman, angry if
A goddess, tranquil being neither,—speak!
PANDORA.
No other words had opened patient lips.
I have not made complaint, though every sin
Still cheats its base possessor to transfer
Its blame to me,—though she, who now my place
Usurps, takes Egypt's serpent for the Gods,
And eats the apple, not on Ida's hill!
The passion of the race offends its pride,
So this turns back on that, and finds its source—
Where, but in us? Wilt thou accept it?
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No!
PANDORA.
There is no sign in yonder moveless mist
That she hath heard: thine answer bids me call.—
O Goddess, that from sleep and guilty dreams
Sprung from the dregs of day, from weary vice
And all suspended selfishness of men,
Bidst one pure moment breathe upon the world,
Renewing youth and beauty ere the sun
Shall lighten wrinkles and thin hair,—whose heart
Dreams back Tithonus and dear early love,
And morning visions of unwedded girls,
And sweet desires of uncorrupted men,
Shy as thou art, because divinely proud,
Proud as thou art, because divinely pure,
Hear thou my woman's voice!
PROMETHEUS.
Thine hath she heard.
Faint, rosy gleams, unused to Hades, steal
Forth from the sullen vapor: here no star
May rise before her, nor the clover-dews
Refresh her feet; but every nightly crag
And jutting foreland of invisible hills
Is angered with the glory!
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Goddess, rise!
Forgive the darkness, not of us: so much
As we may see, so much may hear, reveal!
[A sound, as of trumpets.
EOS
(unseen).
So far away
From my high vestibule of Day,
What voices call?
PROMETHEUS.
Titan and human, each and all.
EOS.
I, long withdrawn,
Leave to my Hours the service of the Dawn:
The Earth, henceforth, shall see
Only their lower ministry.
But when the race
Lifts unto me a fixed, believing face,
I will return!
PRINCE DEUKALION.
Say, shall not I that distant glory earn?
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Thou!—thou and she,
Inheritors of holy destiny!
Faith, when none believe;
Truth, when all deceive;
Freedom, when force restrains;
Courage to sunder chains;
Pride, when good is shame;
Love, when love is blame,—
These shall call me in stars and flame!
Thus if your souls have wrought,
Ere ye approach me, I shine unsought!
PROMETHEUS.
Yea, under thee the wavering tide
Of the Ages that, stream-like, wind as they glide,
Shall mirror or lose the gleam,
And brighten as truth or darken as dream!
EOS.
If he but guard his youth,
His dream shall be wondrous truth!
PRINCE DEUKALION.
Call, command!—I obey:
When there is Dawn, there shall be Day!
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I feel, I love, I see!—
Faithful to him is faith in thee.
EOS.
Oft shall I lift the dark
With fringe of brightness and starry spark;
Oft shall I seem to rise
With the glory of Gods in the waiting skies;
But the Hour shall miss its place,
And the shadow recede on the dial's face!
Say, are ye strong
To endure the wrong
That cheats the promise and mocks the trust?
PRINCE DEUKALION.
I have borne, and shall bear,—because I must.
PYRRHA.
The end shall crown us: The Gods are just.
EOS.
When darkness falls,
And what may come is hard to see;
When solid adamant walls
Seem built against the Future that should be;
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Think most of Morning, and of me!
[The rosy glow in the sky fades away.
PROMETHEUS
(to Prince Deukalion).
Go back to Earth, and wait!
PANDORA
(to Pyrrha).
Go: and fulfil our fate!
| Prince Deukalion | |