[MANFRED advances to the Window of the Hall. Glorious Orb! the idol Of early nature, and the vigorous race More beautiful than they, which did draw down The erring spirits who can ne'er return. Most glorious orb that wert a worship, ere Which gladden'd, on their mountain tops, the hearts Who chose thee for his shadow! Thou chief star! And hearts of all who walk within thy rays! thou dost rise, Fare thee well! I ne'er shall see thee more. As my first glance [Exit MANFRED. SCENE III. The Mountains The Castle of Manfred at some distance-A Terrace before a Tower. - Time, Twilight. HERMAN, MANUEL, and other Dependants of MANFRED. Her. "Tis strange enough; night after night, for "And it came to pass, that the Sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair," &c." There were pants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the Sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown." — Genesis, ch. vi. verses 2 and 4. [Pray, was Manfred's speech to the Sun still retained in Act third I hope so: it was one of the best in the thing, and better than the Coliseum."- Byron Letters, 1817.] These walls Oh! I have seen Come, be friendly; Must change their chieftain first. Vassal. Hark! No-all is silent-not a breath the flame Which shot forth such a blaze is also gone : What may this mean? Let's enter! Faith, not I, Peasant. Not that, if one, or two, or more, will join, He's dead. -come. 'Tis all in vain Her. (within). Not so-even now methought he moved; But it is dark-so bear him gently outSoftly how cold he is! take care of his temples In winding down the staircase. Within a bowshot. Where the Cæsars dwelt, While Cæsar's chambers, and the Augustan halls, As 't were anew, the gaps of centuries; 'Twas such a night! "Tis strange that I recall it at this time; I linger yet with Nature, for the Night I learn'd the language of another world. And stedfastly; Not I; What dost mean? Look there! Nothing. Look there, I say, -now tell me what thou seest. With strange accompaniments and fearful signs- [MANFRED having said this expires. Her. His eyes are fixed and lifeless. He is gone. Manuel. Close them. My old hand quivers. He deWhither? I dread to think — but he is gone!] parts [The opening of this scene is, perhaps, the finest passage in the drama; and its solemn, calm, and majestic character throws an air of grandeur over the catastrophe, which was in danger of appearing extravagant, and somewhat too much in the style of the " Devil and Dr. Faustus."- WILSON.] 2 ["Drove at midnight to see the Coliseum by moonlight: but what can I say of the Coliseum? It must be seen; to describe it I should have thought impossible, if I had not read Manfred To see it aright, as the Poet of the North telis us of the fair Melrose, one must see it by the pale moonlight.' The stillness of night, the whispering echoes, the moonlight shadows, and the awful grandeur of the impending ruins, form a scene of romantic sublimity, such as Byron alone could describe as it deserves. His description is the very thing itself."- MATTHEWS's Diary of an Invalid.] Spirit. Old man! We know ourselves, our mission, and thine order; It were in vain: this man is forfeited. do defy ye, though I feel my soul Reluctant mortal! Is this the Magian who would so pervade [In the first edition, this line was accidentally left out. On discovering the omission, Lord Byron wrote to Mr. Murray You have destroyed the whole effect and moral of the poem, by omitting the last line of Manfred's speaking."] * [In June, 1820, Lord Byron thus writes to Mr. Murray: Enclosed is something which will interest you; to wit, the opinion of the greatest man in Germany - perhaps in Europe- upon one of the great men of your advertiseents (all famous hands,' as Jacob Tonson used to say of bis ragamuffins) in short, a critique of Goethe's upon Manfred. There is the original, an English translation, and an Italian one: keep them all in your archives; for the opinions Man. But thy many crimes What are they to such as thee? And its own place and time: its innate sense I have not been thy dupe, nor am thy prey- My own hereafter.- Back, ye baffled fiends! [The Demons disappear. Abbot. Alas! how pale thou art-thy lips are white And thy breast heaves-and in thy gasping throat The accents rattle: Give thy prayers to HeavenPray- -albeit but in thought, but die not thus. Man. 'Tis over-my dull eyes can fix thee not; But all things swim around me, and the earth Heaves as it were beneath me. Fare thee wellGive me thy hand. Abbot. Cold-cold-even to the heartBut yet one prayer-Alas! how fares it with thee? Man. Old man! 'tis not so difficult to die. 1 [MANFRED expires. Abbot. He's gone-his soul hath ta'en his earthless flight Whither? I dread to think- but he is gone. ? of such a man as Goethe, whether favourable or not, are always interesting and this is more so, as favourable. His Faust I never read, for I don't know German; but Matthew Monk Lewis, in 1816, at Coligny, translated most of it to me viva voce and I was naturally much struck with it: but it was the Staubbach and the Jungfrau, and something else, much more than Faustus, that made me write Manfred. The first scene, however, and that of Faustus are very similar." The following is the extract from Goethe's Kunst und Altherthum (i. e. Art and Antiquity) which the above letter enclosed: |