University of Virginia Library

EXTRACTS FROM THE ADAMO OF ANDREINI

CHORUS of Angels singing the Glory of GOD.

To Heav'n's bright lyre let Iris be the bow,
Adapt the spheres for chords, for notes the stars,
Let new-born gales discriminate the bars,
Nor let old time to measure times be slow.
Hence to new music of the eternal lyre
Add richer harmony, and praise to praise,
For him, who now his wond'rous might displays,
And shows the universe its awful sire,
O thou, who ere the world, or heav'n, was made,
Didst in thyself that world, that heav'n enjoy,
How does thy bounty all its powers employ,
What inexpressive good hast thou displayed.
O thou, of sov'reign love almighty source,
Who know'st to make thy works thy love express,
Let pure devotion's fire the soul possess,
And give the heart and hand a kindred force.
Then shalt thou hear, how, when the world begun,
Thy life producing voice gave myriads birth,
Call'd forth from nothing all in heav'n and earth,
Bless'd in thy light as eagles in the sun.

ACT THE FIRST.

SCENE THE SECOND.

LUCIFER.
Who from my dark abyss
Calls me to gaze on this excess of light?
What miracles unseen
Show'st thou to me, O God?
Art thou then tired of residence in Heav'n?
Why hast thou raised on earth
This lovely Paradise,
And wherefore placed in it
Two earthly demi-gods of human mould?
Say, thou vile architect,
Forming thy works of dust,
What will befal this naked helpless man,
The sole inhabitant of glens and woods?
Does he then dream of treading on the stars?
Heav'n is impoverish'd, and I, alone
The cause, enjoy the ruin I produced:
Let him unite above
Star upon star, moon, sun,
And let his Godhead toil
To re-adorn and re-illume his heav'n;
Since in the end derision
Shall prove his works, and all his efforts, vain;
For Lucifer alone was that full light,
Which scatter'd radiance o'er the plains of Heav'n.
But these his present fires are shade and smoke,
Base counterfeits of my more potent beams;
I reck not what he means to make his heav'n;
Nor care I what this creature man may be,
Too obstinate and firm
Is my undaunted thought
In proving that I am implacable,
'Gainst heav'n, 'gainst man, the angels, and their God.

ACT THIRD.

SCENE I.

ADAM AND EVE.
O my belov'd companion,
O thou of my existence
The very heart and soul,
Hast thou, with such excess of tender haste,
With ceaseless pilgrimage,
To find again thy Adam
Thus solitary wandered?
Behold him, speak, what are thy gentle orders?
Why dost thou pause? O God, what art thou doing?

EVE.
Adam, my best beloved,
My guardian and my guide,
Thou source of all my comfort, all my joy,
Thee, thee alone I wish,
And in these pleasing horrors
Thee only have I sought.

ADAM.
Since thou may'st call thy Adam
(Most beautiful companion)
The source and happy fountain of thy joy,
Eve; if to walk with me
It now may please thee, I will show thee, love,
A sight thou hast not seen,
A sight so lovely, that in wonder thou
Wilt arch thy graceful brow;
Look thou, my gentle bride, towards that path
Of this so intricate and verdant grove,
Where sit the birds embower'd;
Just there, where now, with soft and snowy plumes,
Two social doves have spread their wings for flight;
Just there thou shalt behold (O pleasing wonder)
Springing amid the flow'rs,
A living stream, that with a winding course
Flies rapidly away,
And as it flies allures,
And tempts you to exclaim, sweet river stay;
Hence, eager in pursuit,
You follow, and the stream, as if it had
Desire to sport with you,
Thro' many a florid, many a grassy way,
Well known to him, in soft concealment flies;
But when at length he hears
You are afflicted to have lost his sight
He rears his watry locks, and seems to say,
Gay with a gurgling smile,
Follow, ah follow still my placid course,
If thou art pleased with me, with thee I sport;
And thus, with sweet deceit, he leads you on
To the extremest bound
Of a fair flow'ry meadow, then at once,
With quick impediment,
Says, stop, adieu, for now, yes, now I leave you,
Then down a rock descends;
There, as no human foot can follow farther,
The eye alone must follow him, and there,
In little space, you see a mass of water
Collected in a deep and fruitful vale,
With laurel crowned and olive,
With cypress, oranges, and losty pines;
The limpid water in the sun's bright ray
A perfect crystal seems;
Hence in its deep recess,
In the translucent wave,
You see a precious glittering sand of gold,
And bright as moving silver
Innumerable fish;
Here with melodious notes
The snowy swans upon the shining streams
Form their sweet residence,
And seem in warbling to the wind to say,
Here let those rest who wish for perfect joy.
So that, my dear companion,
To walk with me will please thee.

EVE.
So well thy language to my sight has brought
What thou desiredst to show me,
I see thy flying river as it sports,
And hear it as it murmurs:
And beauteous also is this scene where now
Pleas'd we sojourn; and here, perhaps e'en here
The lily whitens with the purest lustre,
And the rose reddens with the richest hue;
Here also bath'd in dew,
Plants of minutest growth
Are painted all with flowers;
Here trees of amplest leaf
Extend their rival shades,
And stately rise to heav'n.

ADAM.
Now by these cooling shades,
The beauty of these plants,
By these delightful meadows,
These variegated flow'rs,
By the soft music of the rills and birds,
Let us sit down in joy.

EVE.
Behold then I am seated;
How I rejoice in viewing, not alone,
These flow'rs, these herbs, these high and graceful plants.
But Adam, more my lover,
Thou, thou art he by whom the meadows seem
More beautiful to me,
The fruit more blooming, and the streams more clear.

ADAM.
These decorated fields,
With all their flow'ry tribute, cannot equal
Those lovelier flowers that with delight I view
In the fair garden of your beauteous face;
Be pacified, ye flow'rs,
My words are not untrue,
You shine besprinkl'd with ethereal dew,
You give the humble earth to grow with joy
At one bright sparkle of the blazing sun;
But with the falling sun ye also fall:
But these more living flow'rs
Of my dear beauteous Eve
Seem freshen'd every hour
By soft devotion's dew,
That she with pleasure sheds,
Praising her mighty Maker;
And by the rays of two terrestrial suns,
In that pure Heav'n her face,
They rise, and not to fall,
Decking the Paradise
Of an enchanting visage.

EVE.
Dear Adam, do not seek
With tuneful eloquence
To sooth my ear by speaking of thy love;
The heart is confident
That fondly flames with pure and hallow'd ardor;
In sweet exchange accept, my gentle love,
This vermeil tinctur'd gift; you know it well;
This is the fruit forbidden;
This is the blessed apple.

ADAM.
Alas! what see I! Ah! what hast thou done?
Invader of the fruit
Forbidden by thy God!

EVE.
It would be long to tell
The reason that induced me
To make this fruit my prey; let it suffice,
I've gained thee wings to raise thy flight to heav'n.

ADAM.
Ne'er be it true, ah! never,
That to obtain thy favor
I prove to Heav'n rebellious and ungrateful
And to obey a woman
So disobey my Maker and my God.
Then did not death denounc'd
With terror's icy paleness blanch thy cheek?

EVE.
And think'st thou, if the apple
Were but the fruit of death,
The great Producer would have raised it there,
Where being is eternal;
Think'st thou, that if of error
This fruit tree were the cause,
In man's delighted eye
So fertile and so fair
He would have form'd it flourishing in air?
Ah! were it so, he would indeed have giv'n
A cause of high offence,
Since nature has ordain'd
(A monitress sagacious)
That to support his being man must eat,
And trust in what looks fair as just and good.

ADAM.
If the celestial tiller,
Who the fair face of heav'n
Has thickly sown with stars,
Amidst so many plants, fruitful and fair,
Placed the forbidden apple,
The fairest and most sweet,
'T was to make proof of man
As a wise keeper of his heav'nly law,
And to afford him scope for high desert;
For he alone may gain the name of brave
Who rules himself, and all his own desires;
Man might, indeed, find some excuse for sin,
If scantily with fruits
This garden were supplied;
But this abounding in so many sweets,
Man ought not to renounce
The clear command of heav'n.

EVE.
And is it thus you love me?
Ne'er be it true, ah never,
That I address you as my heart, my life;
From you, alone, I'll wander;
Bath'd in my tears and sighing,
And hating e'en myself,
I'll hide me from the sun.

ADAM.
Dear Eve, my sweetest love,
My spirit and my heart,
O haste to dry thine eyes,
For mine are all these tears
That bathe thy cheek and stream upon thy bosom.

EVE.
Ah my unhappy state,
I that so much have said, so much have done
To elevate this man
Above the highest heav'n, and now so little
Can he or trust or love me.

ADAM.
Ah do not grieve, my life;
Too much it wounds my soul
To see thee in affliction.

EVE.
I know your sole desire
Is to be witness to my sighs and tears;
Hence to the winds and seas
I pay this bitter tribute.

ADAM.
Alas, my heart is splitting!
What can I do? When I look up to heav'n
I feel an icy tremor,
E'en thro' my bones, oppress me;
Anxious alone to guard the heav'nly precept,
If I survey my partner,
I share her tears and echo back her sighs;
'T is torture and distraction
To wound her with refusal: my kind heart
Would teach my op'ning hand to seize the apple,
But in my doubtful breast
My spirit bids it close:
Adam, thou wretch, how many
Various desires besiege thy trembling heart;
One prompts thee now to sigh,
Another to rejoice, nor canst thou know
Which shall incline thee most,
Or sighs or joyous favor
From woman or from God.

EVE.
Yet he reflects and wishes
That Eve should now forsake
Her hope of being happy
In elevating man,
E'en while I hold the fruit of exaltation.

ADAM.
Tho' mute yet eloquent
Are all your looks, my love;
Alas, whate'er you ask
You're certain to obtain,
And my heart grants before your tongue can speak:
Eyes that to me are suns,
The heav'n of that sweet face,
No more, no more obscure,
Return, alas, return
To scatter radiance o'er that cloudy cheek:
Lift up, O lift thy brow
From that soft mass of gold that curls around it,
Locks like the solar rays,
Chains to my heart, and lightning to my eyes,
O let thy lovely tresses,
Now light and unconfined,
Sport in the air, and all thy face disclose
That paradise that speaks a heart divine.
I yield thee full obedience;
Thy prayers are all commands;
Dry, dry thy streaming eyes, and on thy lips
Let tender smiles like harmless light'ning play.

EVE.
Ah misbelieving Adam,
Be now a kind receiver
Of this delightful fruit;
Hasten, now hasten to extend thy hand
To press this banquet of beatitude.

ADAM.
O my most sweet companion,
Behold thy ardent lover
Now banish from his heart
The whirlpool of affliction, turn'd to him
His dearest guide, his radiant polar star:
Show me that lovely apple,
Which, 'midst thy flow'rs and fruits,
Ingenious plunderer, thou hid'st from me.

EVE.
Adam, behold the apple:
What say'st thou? I have tasted, and yet live.
Ah, 't will ensure our lives,
And make us equal to our God in heav'n;
But first the fruit entire
We must between us eat,
And when we have enjoyed it,
Then to a radiant throne, a throne of stars,
Exulting angels will direct our flight.

ADAM.
Give me the pilfer'd fruit,
Thou courteous pilferer,
Give me the fruit that charms thee,
And let me yield to her,
Who to make me a god, has toiled and wept.
Alas! what have I done!
How sharp a thorn is piercing in my heart
With instantaneous anguish;
How am I overwhelm'd
In a vast flood of tears.

EVE.
Alas! what do I see?
Oh bitter knowledge, unexpected sight!
All is prepared for human misery.

ADAM.
O precious liberty, where art thou fled?

EVE.
O precious liberty! O dire enthralment!

ADAM.
Is this the fruit so sweet,
The source of so much bitter?
Say, why would'st thou betray me?
Ah why of heav'n deprive me?
Why make me forfeit thus
My state of innocence,
Where cheerful I enjoy a blissful life?
Why make me thus a slave
To the fierce arms of death,
Thou whom I deemed my life?

EVE.
I have been blind to good,
Quick-sighted but to evil,
An enemy to Adam,
A rebel to my God;
For daring to exalt me
To the high gates of heav'n,
I fall presumptuous to the depths of hell.

ADAM.
Alas, what dart divine appears in heav'n,
Blazing with circling flame?

EVE.
What punishment,
Wretch that I am, hangs o'er me? Am I naked,
And speaking still to Adam?

ADAM.
Am I too naked? Shelter, hence.

EVE.
I fly.

Exeunt.