University of Virginia Library

SCENE THE THIRD.

Cherubim, Guardian of Adam, Adam, The Flesh, and Lucifer.
Cherubim.
'Tis time to succour man: Alas! what dost thou,
Most miserable Adam?

Lucifer.
Why dost thou silent stand? what are thy thoughts?

Adam.
I seem'd to hear a plaintive, pleasing voice,
That in this manner spoke: Alas! what dost thou?
Most miserable Adam!

THE FLESH.
A vain desire, and dread
Now lords it o'er thy heart.

Cherubim.
Since thy heart trembles, evils must be nigh.

Adam.
I tremble at deceit.

Lucifer.
Thou must have lost thy reason,
If thou canst fear thy mistress, and thy brother.

Cherubim.
Fear! for they are thy foes.

Adam.
Thou say'st thou art my brother, she my mistress;
But if ye were my foes?—

THE FLESH.
Cruel to treat us so!
What enemy can man now have on earth?

Cherubim.
The enemy of Eve.

Adam.
He, who occasion'd misery to Eve,
And he, who was the cause, that from this brow
The painful sweat must now descend in streams.

Lucifer.
So little wilt thou trust us?
So lightly dost thou love us?
Yet it is fit thy fault
Call forth the tears to flow into thy bosom.

THE FLESH.
With treachery 'tis fit to treat with man
In gesture, tears, and voice,
Only to plunge him in Tartarean fires.

Adam.
They weep in such abundance,
That every tear, they shed, strikes on my bosom;
And though like marble hard,
I fear, I fear, that if it does not split,
It may at least be soften'd.

Angel.
These are the poisonous waters of Avernus,
(Incautious man!) that from their eyes distill.

Lucifer.
Ah Heaven! why didst thou form me?
Why didst thou join my lot
With this ungrateful, misbelieving Adam,
That feels not his own good, or my affliction?

Adam.
Restrain thy grief, thy tears! and suffer me,
(If it is true, thy soul desires my good,)
To speak to thee apart,
And I to thee will open all my thoughts.

Lucifer.
Hast thou no other wish?

Adam.
No! I require no more.

Lucifer.
Behold us now apart! behold us far!
If any other wish
Strike thee, command! behold! we are obedient
Not to thy words alone, but to thy nod.

Adam.
What wouldst thou, O my heart?
What is thy wish, my soul?
Now quiet thy desires! quiet thy pains!

Cherubim.
Tell him, if he's thy brother,
And both descendants from the starry sphere,
They should with thee, in pure and perfect zeal,
Adore the Maker of the heaven and earth.

Adam.
That which my heart suggests, I now will do.

THE FLESH.
O tempter! now I fear
Some singular mischance.

Cherubim.
Now, now the fraud is known.

Adam.
Now, brother, if you wish,
With this your pure celestial paramour,
Hail'd as the soul of love,
That I should think the one an heavenly Adam,
And her the only love of our great Maker,
Now bend with me your humble knees to earth!

Lucifer.
How in one instant can two opposites,
Humility and pride,
Together reign in me?

Adam.
Can Adam so delay?

Lucifer.
I'll tell thee; ah, it seems a thing unfit
That a celestial knee
Should bend to this vile earth.

Adam.
Thou hast already told me,
That in the high celestial plains above
Thou must no longer dwell,
But here with me enjoy delightful days,
Amid these sunny spots;
Let it not then displease thee
With earthly habitudes
To have thy breast, O Adam, fraught like mine!

THE FLESH.
Well dost thou speak, O Adam! I am ready
To pay thee prompt obedience.

Lucifer.
And I will also show,
This fair one's pleasure shall my pleasure be.

Adam.
Behold I bow myself! behold me bend!
Now let united hands be raised to heaven.

Lucifer.
To make palm meet with palm, in vain we strive.

Adam.
In truth there seems much pain.

Lucifer.
Perhaps you wish
Our hands united thus?

Adam.
No! what,—do you not see
That both united form a knot together,
Finger entwisting finger?

THE FLESH.
Perhaps you choose them thus?

Adam.
Alas! the example,
That with my hands before your eyes I show you,
Serves it so little? heavens! what do I see?
So destitute of sense
Are heavenly creatures?

Lucifer.
Now behold them join'd.

THE FLESH.
In truth I cannot tell,
If Hell this day more tries the strength of Adam,
Or Adam more torments the powers of Hell.

Lucifer.
Vigour, soul! animation!
For in proportion as our strife is bloody,
So will our palm of conquest rise in glory.

Adam.
Why do you thus apart
In such confusion speak?
Now raise your eyes to heaven,
And with delight contemplate
Of all those starry sapphires
The pure resplendent rays,
And those fair blessed seats!
Alas, thou shutt'st thine eyes,
That stream upon the ground.

Lucifer.
O Adam, cease at length!
Those rays so splendid dazzle us too much.

Adam.
This is my foe: I now discern him well.
The eagle of the sun
Is used with pleasure on the sun to gaze;
And thou, an heavenly eagle,
Accustom'd to the brightest rays of heaven,
Dost thou disdain, or shun them
Dazzled, and in confusion?

THE FLESH.
Who knows what splendours in high heaven are kindled?
He, who surveys them oft,
Is satiated at last;
There's nought created so divine and dear,
That in long intercourse becomes not tiresome.

Adam.
Celestial good ne'er satiates, but delights,
And magnifies itself in God's perfection;
As the fair landscape's beauty
(Though 'tis a low example)
Becomes more perfect, and more flowery seems,
When the sun gilds the vallies and the hills.
But as I wish what ye too both desire,
Now let your eyes be closed
And with your opening lips pronounce these words:
“Thee I adore.”

Lucifer.
Go on!

Adam.
Say then “Thee I adore.”

Lucifer.
Go on! for such a memory have I,
That by a single effort
I will repeat thy words.

Adam.
I am contented;
Yet thou observe my words! Thee I adore,
Thus with my knees to earth, and streaming eyes,
Lord of the empyrean!
Great sovereign of the heavens, and only God!
Holy, firm, formidable, just, and pious!
And still dost thou delay?

Lucifer.
I meditate thy speech,
Which to me seems so long,
I doubt my power to speak it.

Adam.
Shall I again pronounce it?

Lucifer.
This I cannot desire,
But find a great defect
In this imploring speech.

Adam.
Pray tell me what?

Lucifer.
No humble worshipper, not the adorer,
But the adored, 'tis just that I should be.
Alas! I can no longer
Such outrages endure:
No! who I am, I must at length reveal.

THE FLESH.
Alas! the same thing even I must do.

Adam.
Alas! what do I see?
What horrid form, amidst the clustering trees,
Does this false denizen of heaven assume?
And his immodest partner?
Alas! their winged feet
The false ones move to me,
And from their pomp and gold,
Breathe forth infuriate flame!
Succour me! help, O God!
Take pity on my failing!

Lucifer.
Fly, as thou canst, from these my rapid wings
Thy flying must be vain.
Alas! to my great grief, this day I see
Who has the prize of conquest,
Who soonest yields, and from his rival flies.
So that I well can say
To the eternal gulf,
That in this hard and perilous contention,
The toil belongs to Hell; to man the glory.
I lose, alas! I lose: now with what face
Can this my foot be turn'd again to hell?

THE FLESH.
Ah! sad and dire event! ah strife! ah death!

Lucifer.
Yes, yes, 'tis just, that my infernal rage
Should all now turn on me,
Since I have vainly tried
To work the condemnation of this man.
But can this be? (ah! hard is my belief,)
Exalted providence!

Cherubim.
Thou canst not mount, fierce monster! I affirm it,
By this high brandish'd dart of penal fire.

Lucifer.
Ah, for the seats of hell
I spread my rapid wings.

Cherubim.
And I these happier wings lucid and light,
Will exercise around
For man's protection, and in scorn of hell.