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She, as he gazed with grateful wonder,
press'd

Her shelter'd love to her impassion'd breast;
And, suited to her soft caresses, told
An elden tale of Love,-for Love is old,
Old as Eternity, but not outworn
With each new being born or to be born:
How a young Chief, a thousand moons ago,
Diving for turtle in the depths below,
Had risen, in tracking fast his ocean-prey.
Into the cave which round and o'er them lay

How, in some desperate feud of after-time,
He shelter'd there a daughter of the clime,
A foe beloved, and offspring of a foe,
Saved by his tribe but for a captive's woe;
How, when the storm of war was still'd,

he led

His island-clan to where the waters spread Their deep green shadow o'er the rocky door, Then dived-it seem'd as if to rise no more: His wondering mates, amazed within their bark,

Or deem'd him mad,or prey to the blue shark, Row'd round in sorrow the sea-girded rock, Then paused upon their paddles from the shock,

When, fresh and springing from the deep, they saw

A Goddess rise-so deem'd they in their awe;
And their companion, glorious by her side,
Proud and exulting in his Mermaid-bride;
And how, when undeceived, the pair they
bore

With sounding conchs and joyous shouts
to shore;
How they had gladly loved and calmly died,
And why not also Torquil and his bride?
Not mine to tell the rapturous caress
Which follow'd wildly in that wild recess
This tale; enough that all within that cave
Was Love, though buried strong as in the
grave

Where Abelard, through twenty years of death,

When Eloisa's form was lower'd beneath
Their nuptial vault, his arms outstretch'd,
and prest
The kindling ashes to his kindled breast.

The waves without sang round their couch, their roar

As much unheeded as if life were o'er: Within, their hearts made all their harmony, Love's broken murmur and more broken sigh.

And they, the cause and sharers of the shock Which left them exiles of the hollow rock, Where were they? O'er the sea for life To seek from Heaven the shelter men denied. they plied, Another course had been their choice-but

where?

The wave which bore them still, their foes

would bear. Who, disappointed of their former chase, In search of Christian now renew'd their race. Eager with anger, their strong arms made Like vultures baffled of their previous prey. way, They gain'd upon them, all whose safety lay In some bleak crag or deeply-hidden bay: No further chance or choice remain'd; and For the first further rock which met their right They steer'd, to take their latest view of land, sight And yield as victims, or die sword in hand;

Would still have battled for that scanty Dismiss'd the natives and their shallop, who

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eye,

Stern and sustain'd, of man's extremity, When Hope is gone, nor Glory's self remains To cheer resistance against death or chains,-They stood, the three, as the three hundred stood

Who dyed Thermopyla with holy blood.
But, ah! how different! 'tis the cause makes
all,
Degrades or hallows courage in its fall.
O'er them no fame, eternal and intense,
Blazed through the clouds of death and
beckon'd hence;
No grateful country, smiling through her
tears,

Begun the praises of a thousand years;
No nation's eyes would on their tomb be bent,
No heroes envy them their monument;
However boldly their warm blood was spilt,
Their life was shame, their epitaph was
guilt.

And this they knew and felt, at least the one,

The leader of the band he had undone; Who,born perchance for better things, had set His life upon a cast which linger'd yet: But now the die was to be thrown, and all The chances were in favour of his fall: And such a fall! But still he faced the shock, Obdurate as a portion of the rock Whereon he stood,and fix'd his levell'd gun, Dark as a sullen cloud before the sun.

The boat drew nigh, well arm'd, and firm

the crew

To act whatever Duty bade them do;
Careless of danger, as the onward Wind
Is of the leaves it strews, nor looks behind :
And yet perhaps they rather wish'd to go
Against a nation's than a native foe,
And felt that this poor victim of self-will,
Briton no more,had once been Britain's still.
They hail'd him to surrender-no reply;
Their arms were poised, and glittered in
the sky.

They hail'd again no answer; yet once more
They offered quarter louder than before.
The echoes only, from the rock's rebound,
Took their last farewell of the dying sound.
Then flashed the flint, and blazed the vol-
leying flame,

And the smoke rose between them and their aim,

While the rock rattled with the bullets' knell,

Which peal'd in vain, and flatten'd as they fell;

Then flew the only answer to be given
By those who had lost all hope in earth or

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But by a thread, like sharks who have
gorged the bait;

Yet to the very last they battled well,
| And not a groan inform'd their foes who fell.
Christian died last-twice wounded; and

once more

Mercy was offer'd when they saw his gore; Too late for life, but not too late to die, With though a hostile hand to close his eye. A limb was broken, and he droop'd along The crag, as doth a falcon reft of young. The sound revived him, or appear'd to wake Some passion which a weakly gesture spake; He beckon'd to the foremost who drew nigh, But, as they near'd, he rear'd his weapon high

His last ball had been aim'd, but from his breast

He tore the topmost button of his vest, Down the tube dash'd it, levelled, fired, and smiled

As his foe fell; then, like a serpent, coil'd His wounded, weary form, to where the steep Look'd desperate as himself along the deep; Cast one glance back, and clench'd his

His last rage 'gainst

Then plunged: the

hand, and shook the earth which he forsook; rock below received like glass His body crush'd into one gory mass, With scarce a shred to tell of human form, Or fragment for the sea-bird or the worm; A fair-hair'd scalp, besmear'd with blood and weeds,

Yet reek'd,the remnant of himself and deeds; Some splinters of his weapons (to the last, As long as hand could hold, he held them fast) Yet glitter'd, but at distance-hurl'd away To rust beneath the dew and dashing spray. The rest was nothing-save a life mis-spent, And soul - but who shall answer where it went?

And ere the word upon the echo died,
Two fell; the rest assail'd the rock's rough | "Tis ours to bear, not judge the dead; and

side,

And, furious at the madness of their foes, Disdain'd all further efforts, save to close. But steep the crag, and all without a path, Each step opposed a bastion to their wrath; While, placed 'midst clefts the least accessible,

Which Christian's eye was train'd to mark full well, The three maintain'd a strife which must not yield, In spots where eagles might have chosen to build. Their every shot told;while the assailant fell, Dash'd on the shingles like the limpet shell; But still enough survived, and mounted still, Scattering their numbers here and there, until

Surrounded and commanded, though not nigh Enough for seizure, near enough to die, The desperate trio held aloof their fate

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And screaming high their harsh and hungry | Swam round the rock, to where a shallow

dirge:

cleft

But calm and careless heaved the wave | Hid the canoe that Neuha there had left

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'Twas morn; and Neuha, who by dawn of day Swam smoothly forth to catch the rising ray, And watch if aught approach'd the amphibious lair

Where lay her lover, saw a sail in air:
It flapp'd, it fill'd, and to the growing gale
Bent its broad arch: her breath began to fail
With fluttering fear, her heart beat thick
and high,

While yet a doubt sprung where its course might lie:

But no! it came not; fast and far away The shadow lessen'd as it clear'd the bay. She gazed, and flung the sea-foam from her eyes,

To watch as for a rainbow in the skies. On the horizon verged the distant deck, Diminish'd, dwindled to a very speckThen vanish'd. All was ocean, all was joy! Down plunged she through the cave to rouse her boy;

Told all she had seen, and all she hoped, and all

That happy Love could augur or recal; Sprung forth again, with Torquil following free

His bounding Nereid over the broad sea;

Drifting along the tide, without an oar, That eve the strangers chased them from the shore;

But when these vanish'd, she pursued her prow, Regain'd, and urged to where they found it now:

Nor ever did more Love and Joy embark, Than now was wafted in that slender ark.

Again their own shore rises on the view, No more polluted with a hostile hue; No sullen ship lay bristling o'er the foam, A floating dungeon: all wasHope and Home! A thousand proas darted o'er the bay, With sounding shells, and heralded their way;

The Chiefs came down, around the people pour'd,

And welcomed Torquil as a son restored; The women throng'd, embracing and embraced

By Neuha, asking where they had been chased,

And how escaped? The tale was told; and then

One acclamation rent the sky again;
And from that hour a new tradition gave
Their sanctuary the name of "Neuha'sCave."
An hundred fires, far flickering from the
height,

Blazed o'er the general revel of the night,
The feast in honour of the guest, return'd
To Peace and Pleasure, perilously earn'd;
A night succeeded by such happy days
As only the yet infant world displays.

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ACT I.

SCENE I.—MANFRED alone.—Scene, a Gothic
Gallery.-Time, Midnight.

Whom I have sought in darkness and in
light--

Ye, who do compass earth about, and dwell
In subtler essence-ye, to whom the tops
Of mountains inaccessible are haunts,

Manfred. THE
HE lamp must be replenish'd, | And earth's and ocean's caves familiar
but even then

It will not burn so long as I must watch:
My slumbers-if I slumber-are not sleep,
But a continuance of enduring thought,
Which then I can resist not: in my heart
There is a vigil, and these eyes but close
To look within; and yet I live, and bear
The aspect and the form of breathing men.
But grief should be the instructor of the
wise:

Sorrow is knowledge: they who know the
most

Must mourn the deepest o'er the fatal truth;
The Tree of Knowledge is not that of Life.
Philosophy and science, and the springs
Of wonder, and the wisdom of the world,
I have essay'd, and in my mind there is
A power to make these subject to itself
But they avail not: I have done men good,
And I have met with good even among

men

But this avail'd not: I have had my foes,
And none have baffled, many fallen before

me

But this avail'd not: - Good, or evil, life,
Powers, passions, all I see in other beings,
Have been to me as rain unto the sands,
Since that all-nameless hour. I have no
dread,

And feel the curse to have no natural fear,
Nor fluttering throb, that beats with hopes
or wishes,

Or lurking love of something on the earth.—
Now to my task.-Mysterious Agency!
Ye spirits of the unbounded Universe!

things

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I call upon ye by the written charm,
Which gives me power upon you Rise!
appear!
[A pause.
They come not yet. -Now by the voice of him
Who is the first among you - by this sign,
Which makes you tremble-by the claims
of him

Who is undying,-Rise! appear!—Appear!
[A pause.

If it be so.—Spirits of earth and air,
Ye shall not thus elude me: by a power,
Deeper than all yet urged, a tyrant-spell,
Which had its birth-place in a star condemn'd,
The burning wreck of a demolish'd world,
A wandering hell in the eternal space;
By the strong curse which is upon my soul,
The thought which is within me and
around me,

I do compel ye to my will.- Appear!

[A star is seen at the darker end
of the gallery; it is stationary;
and a voice is heard singing.]
First Spirit.

Mortal! to thy bidding bow'd,
From my mansion in the cloud,
Which the breath of twilight builds,
And the summer's sun-set gilds
With the azure and vermilion,

Which is mix'd for my pavilion:
Though thy quest may be forbidden,
On a star-beam I have ridden;
To thine adjuration bow'd,
Mortal—be thy wish avow'd!

Voice of the Second Spirit. Mont-Blanc is the monarch of mountains. They crowned him long ago

On a throne of rocks, in a robe of clouds,
With a diadem of snow.

Around his waist are forests braced,
The Avalanche in his hand;
But ere it fall, that thundering ball
Must pause for my command.
The Glacier's cold and restless mass
Moves onward day by day;
But I am he who bids it pass,
Or with its ice delay.
I am the Spirit of the place,

Could make the mountain bow
And quiver to his cavern'd base—
And what with me wouldst Thou?

Voice of the Third Spirit.

In the blue depth of the waters,
Where the wave hath no strife,
Where the wind is a stranger,

And the sea-snake hath life,
Where the Mermaid is decking

Her green hair with shells;
Like the storm on the surface
Came the sound of thy spells;
O'er my calm Hall of Coral
The deep echo roll❜d—
To the Spirit of Ocean
Thy wishes unfold!

Fourth Spirit.

Where the slumbering earthquake
Lies pillow'd on fire,
And the lakes of bitumen

Rise boilingly higher;
Where the roots of the Andes
Strike deep in the earth,
As their summits to heaven
Shoot soaringly forth;
I have quitted my birth-place,
Thy bidding to bide-
Thy spell hath subdued me,
Thy will be my guide!
Fifth Spirit.

I'm the Rider of the wind,
The Stirrer of the storm;

The hurricane I left behind

Is yet with lightning warm;
To speed to thee, o'er shore and sea
I swept upon the blast:

The fleet I met sail'd well, and yet
"Twill sink ere night be past.
Sixth Spirit.

My dwelling is the shadow of the night,
Why doth thy magic torture me with light?
Seventh Spirit.

The star which rules thy destiny,
Was ruled, ere earth began, by me:
It was a world as fresh and fair
As e'er revolved round sun in air;
Its course was free and regular,

Space bosom'd not a lovelier star.
The hour arrived-and it became
A wandering mass of shapeless flame,
A pathless comet, and a curse,
The menace of the universe;
Still rolling on with innate force,
Without a sphere, without a course,
A bright deformity on high.
The monster of the upper sky!

And thou! beneath its influence born-
Thou worm! whom I obey and scorn-
Forced by a power (which is not thine,
And lent thee but to make thee mine)
For this brief moment to descend,
Where these weak spirits round thee bend
And parley with a thing like thee-
What would'st thou, Child of Clay! with me!
The Seven Spirits.

Earth, ocean, air, night, mountains, winds, thy star,

Are at thy beck and bidding, Child of
Clay!

Before thee, at thy quest, their spirits areWhat would'st thou with us,son of mortals -say?

Manf. Forgetfulness

First Spirit. Of what-of whom and why? Manf. Of that which is within me; read it there

Ye know it, and I cannot utter it.

Spirit. We can but give thee that which we possess:

Ask of us subjects, sovereignty, the power O'er earth, the whole, or portion, or a sign Which shall control the elements, whereof We are the dominators, each and all, These shall be thine.

Manf. Oblivion, self-oblivion Can ye not wring from out the hidden realms Ye offer so profusely what I ask?

Spirit. It is not in our essence,in our skill; But-thou may'st die.

Manf. Will death bestow it on me? Spirit. We are immortal,and do not forget; We are eternal; and to us the past Is, as the future, present. Art thou answered? Manf. Ye mock me-but the power which brought ye here

Hath made you mine. Slaves, scoff not at my will!

The mind, the spirit, the Promethean spark, The lightning of my being, is as bright, Pervading, and far-darting as your own, And shall not yield to yours, though coop'd in clay!

Answer, or I will teach ye what I am. Spirit. We answer as we answer'd; our reply

Is even in thine own words.
Manf. Why say ye so?

Spirit. If, as thou say'st, thine essence be

as ours,

We have replied in telling thee, the thing Mortals call death hath nought to do with us.

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