and leave the dead to me--I am
Henceforth alone--we never must meet more.
Henceforth alone--we never must meet more.
Byron
_His_!
_His pleasure! _ what was his high pleasure in
The fumes of scorching flesh and smoking blood,
To the pain of the bleating mothers, which 300
Still yearn for their dead offspring? or the pangs
Of the sad ignorant victims underneath
Thy pious knife? Give way! this bloody record
Shall not stand in the sun, to shame creation!
_Abel_. Brother, give back! thou shalt not touch my altar
With violence: if that thou wilt adopt it,
To try another sacrifice, 'tis thine.
_Cain_. Another sacrifice! Give way, or else
That sacrifice may be----
_Abel_. What mean'st thou?
_Cain_. Give--
Give way! --thy God loves blood! --then look to it:-- 310
Give way, ere he hath _more_!
_Abel_. In _his_ great name,
I stand between thee and the shrine which hath
Had his acceptance.
_Cain_. If thou lov'st thyself,
Stand back till I have strewed this turf along
Its native soil:--else----
_Abel_ (_opposing him_). I love God far more
Than life.
_Cain_ (_striking him with a brand, on the temples, which
he snatches from the altar_). Then take thy life unto thy God,
Since he loves lives.
_Abel_ (_falls_). What hast thou done--my brother?
_Cain_. Brother!
_Abel_. Oh, God! receive thy servant! and
Forgive his slayer, for he knew not what
He did--Cain, give me--give me thy hand; and tell 320
Poor Zillah--
_Cain_ (_after a moment's stupefaction_).
_My_ hand! 'tis all red, and with----
What? [_A long pause. --Looking slowly round_.
Where am I? alone! Where's Abel? where
Cain? Can it be that I am he? My brother,
Awake! --why liest thou so long on the green earth?
'Tis not the hour of slumber:--why so pale?
What hast thou! --thou wert full of life this morn!
Abel! I pray thee, mock me not! I smote
Too fiercely, but not fatally. Ah, why
Wouldst thou oppose me? This is mockery;
And only done to daunt me:--'twas a blow-- 330
And but a blow. Stir--stir--nay, only stir!
Why, so--that's well! --thou breathest! breathe upon me!
Oh God! Oh God!
_Abel_ (_very faintly_). What's he who speaks of God?
_Cain_. Thy murderer.
_Abel_. Then may God forgive him! Cain,
Comfort poor Zillah:--she has but one brother
Now. [ABEL _dies_.
_Cain_. And I none! --Who makes me brotherless?
His eyes are open! then he is not dead!
Death is like sleep[132]; and sleep shuts down our lids.
His lips, too, are apart; why then he breathes;
And yet I feel it not. --His heart! --his heart! -- 340
Let me see, doth it beat? methinks----No! --no!
This is a vision, else I am become
The native of another and worse world.
The earth swims round me:--what is this? --'tis wet;
[_Puts his hand to his brow, and then looks at it_.
And yet there are no dews! 'Tis blood--my blood--
My brother's and my own! and shed by me!
Then what have I further to do with life,
Since I have taken life from my own flesh?
But he can not be dead! --Is silence death?
No; he will wake; then let me watch by him. 350
Life cannot be so slight, as to be quenched
Thus quickly! --he hath spoken to me since--
What shall I say to him? --My brother! --No:
He will not answer to that name; for brethren
Smite not each other. Yet--yet--speak to me.
Oh! for a word more of that gentle voice,
That I may bear to hear my own again!
_Enter_ ZILLAH.
_Zillah_. I heard a heavy sound; what can it be?
'Tis Cain; and watching by my husband. What
Dost thou there, brother? Doth he sleep? Oh, Heaven! 360
What means this paleness, and yon stream? --No, no!
It is not blood; for who would shed his blood?
Abel! what's this? --who hath done this? He moves not;
He breathes not: and his hands drop down from mine
With stony lifelessness! Ah! cruel Cain!
Why camest thou not in time to save him from
This violence? Whatever hath assailed him,
Thou wert the stronger, and shouldst have stepped in
Between him and aggression! Father! --Eve! --
Adah! --come hither! Death is in the world! 370
[_Exit_ ZILLAH, _calling on her Parents, etc. _
_Cain_ (_solus_). And who hath brought him there? --I--who abhor
The name of Death so deeply, that the thought
Empoisoned all my life, before I knew
His aspect--I have led him here, and given
My brother to his cold and still embrace,
As if he would not have asserted his
Inexorable claim without my aid.
I am awake at last--a dreary dream
Had maddened me;--but _he_ shall ne'er awake!
_Enter_ ADAM, EVE, ADAH, _and_ ZILLAH.
_Adam_. A voice of woe from Zillah brings me here-- 380
What do I see? --'Tis true! --My son! --my son!
Woman, behold the Serpent's work, and thine! [_To_ EVE.
_Eve_. Oh! speak not of it now: the Serpent's fangs
Are in my heart! My best beloved, Abel!
Jehovah! this is punishment beyond
A mother's sin, to take _him_ from me!
_Adam_. Who,
Or what hath done this deed? --speak, Cain, since thou
Wert present; was it some more hostile angel,
Who walks not with Jehovah? or some wild
Brute of the forest?
_Eve_. Ah! a livid light 390
Breaks through, as from a thunder-cloud! yon brand
Massy and bloody! snatched from off the altar,
And black with smoke, and red with----
_Adam_. Speak, my son!
Speak, and assure us, wretched as we are,
That we are not more miserable still.
_Adah_. Speak, Cain! and say it was not _thou_!
_Eve_. It was!
I see it now--he hangs his guilty head,
And covers his ferocious eye with hands
Incarnadine!
_Adah_. Mother, thou dost him wrong--
Cain! clear thee from this horrible accusal, 400
Which grief wrings from our parent.
_Eve_. Hear, Jehovah!
May the eternal Serpent's curse be on him!
For he was fitter for his seed than ours.
May all his days be desolate! May----
_Adah_. Hold!
Curse him not, mother, for he is thy son--
Curse him not, mother, for he is my brother,
And my betrothed.
_Eve_. He hath left thee no brother--
Zillah no husband--me _no son! _ for thus
I curse him from my sight for evermore!
All bonds I break between us, as he broke 410
That of his nature, _in yon_----Oh Death! Death!
Why didst thou not take _me_, who first incurred thee?
Why dost thou not so now?
_Adam_. Eve! let not this,
Thy natural grief, lead to impiety!
A heavy doom was long forespoken to us;
And now that it begins, let it be borne
In such sort as may show our God, that we
Are faithful servants to his holy will.
_Eve_ (_pointing to Cain_).
_His will! _ the will of yon Incarnate Spirit
Of Death, whom I have brought upon the earth 420
To strew it with the dead. May all the curses
Of life be on him! and his agonies
Drive him forth o'er the wilderness, like us
From Eden, till his children do by him
As he did by his brother! May the swords
And wings of fiery Cherubim pursue him
By day and night--snakes spring up in his path--
Earth's fruits be ashes in his mouth--the leaves
On which he lays his head to sleep be strewed
With scorpions! May his dreams be of his victim! 430
His waking a continual dread of Death!
May the clear rivers turn to blood as he[133]
Stoops down to stain them with his raging lip!
May every element shun or change to him!
May he live in the pangs which others die with!
And Death itself wax something worse than Death
To him who first acquainted him with man!
Hence, fratricide! henceforth that word is _Cain_,
Through all the coming myriads of mankind,
Who shall abhor thee, though thou wert their sire! 440
May the grass wither from thy feet! the woods
Deny thee shelter! earth a home! the dust
A grave! the sun his light! and heaven her God[134]!
[_Exit_ EVE.
_Adam_. Cain! get thee forth: we dwell no more together.
Depart!
and leave the dead to me--I am
Henceforth alone--we never must meet more.
_Adah_. Oh, part not with him thus, my father: do not
Add thy deep curse to Eve's upon his head!
_Adam_. I curse him not: his spirit be his curse.
Come, Zillah!
_Zillah_. I must watch my husband's corse[135]. 450
_Adam_. We will return again, when he is gone
Who hath provided for us this dread office.
Come, Zillah!
_Zillah_. Yet one kiss on yon pale clay,
And those lips once so warm--my heart! my heart!
[_Exeunt_ ADAM _and_ ZILLAH _weeping_.
_Adah_. Cain! thou hast heard, we must go forth. I am ready,
So shall our children be. I will bear Enoch,
And you his sister. Ere the sun declines
Let us depart, nor walk the wilderness
Under the cloud of night. --Nay, speak to me.
To _me--thine own_.
_Cain_. Leave me!
_Adah_. Why, all have left thee. 460
_Cain_. And wherefore lingerest thou? Dost thou not fear
To dwell with one who hath done this?
_Adah_. I fear
Nothing except to leave thee, much as I
Shrink from the deed which leaves thee brotherless.
I must not speak of this--it is between thee
And the great God.
_A Voice from within exclaims_. Cain! Cain!
_Adah_. Hear'st thou that voice?
_The Voice within_. Cain! Cain!
_Adah_. It soundeth like an angel's tone.
_Enter the_ ANGEL _of the Lord_. [136]
_Angel_. Where is thy brother Abel?
_Cain_. Am I then
My brother's keeper?
_Angel_. Cain! what hast thou done?
The voice of thy slain brother's blood cries out, 470
Even from the ground, unto the Lord! --Now art thou
Cursed from the earth, which opened late her mouth
To drink thy brother's blood from thy rash hand.
Henceforth, when thou shalt till the ground, it shall not
Yield thee her strength; a fugitive shalt thou
Be from this day, and vagabond on earth!
_Adah_. This punishment is more than he can bear.
Behold thou drivest him from the face of earth,
And from the face of God shall he be hid.
A fugitive and vagabond on earth, 480
'Twill come to pass, that whoso findeth him
Shall slay him.
_Cain_. Would they could! but who are they
Shall slay me? Where are these on the lone earth
As yet unpeopled?
_Angel_. Thou hast slain thy brother,
And who shall warrant thee against thy son?
_Adah_. Angel of Light! be merciful, nor say
That this poor aching breast now nourishes
A murderer in my boy, and of his father.
_Angel_. Then he would but be what his father is.
Did not the milk of Eve give nutriment 490
To him thou now seest so besmeared with blood?
The fratricide might well engender parricides. --
But it shall not be so--the Lord thy God
And mine commandeth me to set his seal
On Cain, so that he may go forth in safety.
Who slayeth Cain, a sevenfold vengeance shall
Be taken on his head. Come hither!
_Cain_. What
Wouldst thou with me?
_Angel_. To mark upon thy brow[cl]
Exemption from such deeds as thou hast done.
_Cain_. No, let me die!
_Angel_. It must not be.
[_The_ ANGEL _sets the mark on_ CAIN'S _brow_.
_Cain_. It burns 500
My brow, but nought to that which is within it!
Is there more? let me meet it as I may.
_Angel_. Stern hast thou been and stubborn from the womb,
As the ground thou must henceforth till; but he
Thou slew'st was gentle as the flocks he tended.
_Cain_. After the fall too soon was I begotten;
Ere yet my mother's mind subsided from
The Serpent, and my sire still mourned for Eden.
That which I am, I am; I did not seek
For life, nor did I make myself; but could I 510
With my own death redeem him from the dust--
And why not so? let him return to day,
And I lie ghastly! so shall be restored
By God the life to him he loved; and taken
From me a being I ne'er loved to bear.
_Angel_. Who shall heal murder? what is done, is done;
Go forth! fulfil thy days! and be thy deeds
Unlike the last! [_The_ ANGEL _disappears_.
_Adah_. He's gone, let us go forth;
I hear our little Enoch cry within
Our bower.
_Cain_. Ah! little knows he what he weeps for! 520
And I who have shed blood cannot shed tears!
But the four rivers[137] would not cleanse my soul.
Think'st thou my boy will bear to look on me?
_Adah_. If I thought that he would not, I would----
_Cain_ (_interrupting her_). No,
No more of threats: we have had too many of them:
Go to our children--I will follow thee.
_Adah_. I will not leave thee lonely with the dead--
Let us depart together.
_Cain_. Oh! thou dead
And everlasting witness! whose unsinking
Blood darkens earth and heaven! what thou _now_ art 530
I know not! but if _thou_ seest what _I_ am,
I think thou wilt forgive him, whom his God
Can ne'er forgive, nor his own soul. --Farewell!
I must not, dare not touch what I have made thee.
I, who sprung from the same womb with thee, drained
The same breast, clasped thee often to my own,
In fondness brotherly and boyish, I
Can never meet thee more, nor even dare
To do that for thee, which thou shouldst have done
For me--compose thy limbs into their grave-- 540
The first grave yet dug for mortality.
But who hath dug that grave? Oh, earth! Oh, earth!
For all the fruits thou hast rendered to me, I
Give thee back this. --Now for the wilderness!
[ADAH _stoops down and kisses the body of_ ABEL.
_Adah_. A dreary, and an early doom, my brother,
Has been thy lot! Of all who mourn for thee,
I alone must not weep. My office is
Henceforth to dry up tears, and not to shed them;
But yet of all who mourn, none mourn like me,
Not only for thyself, but him who slew thee. 550
Now, Cain! I will divide thy burden with thee.
_Cain_. Eastward from Eden will we take our way;
'Tis the most desolate, and suits my steps.
_Adah_. Lead! thou shalt be my guide, and may our God
Be thine! Now let us carry forth our children.
_Cain_. And _he_ who lieth there was childless! I
Have dried the fountain of a gentle race,
Which might have graced his recent marriage couch,
And might have tempered this stern blood of mine,
Uniting with our children Abel's offspring! 560
O Abel!
_Adah_. Peace be with him!
_Cain_. But with _me! _----
[_Exeunt_.
FOOTNOTES:
[86] {205}[On the 13th December [1821] Sir Walter received a copy of
Cain, as yet unpublished, from Murray, who had been instructed to ask
whether he had any objection to having the "Mystery" dedicated to him.
He replied in these words--
"Edinburgh, _4th December_, 1821.
"My Dear Sir,--I accept, with feelings of great obligation, the
flattering proposal of Lord Byron to prefix my name to the very grand
and tremendous drama of 'Cain. '[*] I may be partial to it, and you will
allow I have cause; but I do not know that his Muse has ever taken so
lofty a flight amid her former soarings. He has certainly matched Milton
on his own ground. Some part of the language is bold, and may shock one
class of readers, whose line will be adopted by others out of
affectation or envy. But then they must condemn the 'Paradise Lost,' if
they have a mind to be consistent. The fiend-like reasoning and bold
blasphemy of the fiend and of his pupil lead exactly to the point which
was to be expected,--the commission of the first murder, and the ruin
and despair of the perpetrator.
"I do not see how any one can accuse the author himself of Manicheism.
The Devil talks the language of that sect, doubtless; because, not being
able to deny the existence of the Good Principle, he endeavours to exalt
himself--the Evil Principle--to a seeming equality with the Good; but
such arguments, in the mouth of such a being, can only be used to
deceive and to betray. Lord Byron might have made this more evident, by
placing in the mouth of Adam, or of some good and protecting spirit, the
reasons which render the existence of moral evil consistent with the
general benevolence of the Deity. The great key to the mystery is,
perhaps, the imperfection of our own faculties, which see and feel
strongly the partial evils which press upon us, but know too little of
the general system of the universe, to be aware how the existence of
these is to be reconciled with the benevolence of the great Creator.
"To drop these speculations, you have much occasion for some mighty
spirit, like Lord Byron, to come down and trouble the waters; for,
excepting 'The John Bull,'[**] you seem stagnating strangely in London.
"Yours, my dear Sir,
"Very truly,
"WALTER SCOTT.
"To John Murray, Esq. "-_Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott_, by J.
G. Lockhart, Esq. , 1838, iii. 92, 93.
[[*] "However, the praise often given to Byron has been so exaggerated
as to provoke, perhaps, a reaction in which he is unduly disparaged. 'As
various in composition as Shakespeare himself, Lord Byron has embraced,'
says Sir Walter Scott, 'every topic of human life, and sounded every
string on the divine harp, from its slightest to its most powerful and
heart-astounding tones. . . . In the very grand and tremendous drama of
Cain,' etc. . . . 'And Lord Byron has done all this,' Scott adds, 'while
managing his pen with the careless and negligent ease of a man of
quality. '"--_Poetry of Byron, chosen and arranged by Matthew Arnold_,
1881, p. xiii.
Scott does not add anything of the kind. The comparison with Shakespeare
was written after Byron's death in May, 1824; the appreciation of Cain
in December, 1821 (_vide supra_); while the allusion to "a man of
quality" is to be found in an article contributed to the _Quarterly
Review_ in 1816! ]
[[**] The first number of _John Bull_, "For God, the King, and the
People," was published Sunday, December 17, 1820. Theodore Hook was the
editor, and it is supposed that he owed his appointment to the
intervention of Sir Walter Scott. The _raison d'etre_ of _John Bull_ was
to write up George IV. , and to write down Queen Caroline. "The national
movement (in favour of the Queen) was arrested; and George IV. had
mainly _John Bull_ to thank for that result. "--_A Sketch_, [by J. G.
Lockhart], 1852, p. 45. ]]
[87] {207}["Mysteries," or Mystery Plays, were prior to and distinct
from "Moralities. " Byron seems to have had some acquaintance with the
archaeology of the drama, but it is not easy to divine the source or
extent of his knowledge. He may have received and read the Roxburghe
reprint of the _Chester Plays_, published in 1818; but it is most
probable that he had read the pages devoted to mystery plays in
_Warton's History of Poetry_, or that he had met with a version of the
_Ludus Coventriae_ (reprinted by J. O. Halliwell Phillipps, in 1841),
printed in Stevens's continuation of Dugdale's _Monasticon_, 1722, i.
139-153. There is a sixteenth-century edition of _Le Mistere du Viel
Testament_, which was reprinted by the Baron James de Rothschild, in
1878 (see for "De la Mort d'Abel et de la Malediction Cayn," pp.
103-113); but it is improbable that it had come under Byron's notice.
_His pleasure! _ what was his high pleasure in
The fumes of scorching flesh and smoking blood,
To the pain of the bleating mothers, which 300
Still yearn for their dead offspring? or the pangs
Of the sad ignorant victims underneath
Thy pious knife? Give way! this bloody record
Shall not stand in the sun, to shame creation!
_Abel_. Brother, give back! thou shalt not touch my altar
With violence: if that thou wilt adopt it,
To try another sacrifice, 'tis thine.
_Cain_. Another sacrifice! Give way, or else
That sacrifice may be----
_Abel_. What mean'st thou?
_Cain_. Give--
Give way! --thy God loves blood! --then look to it:-- 310
Give way, ere he hath _more_!
_Abel_. In _his_ great name,
I stand between thee and the shrine which hath
Had his acceptance.
_Cain_. If thou lov'st thyself,
Stand back till I have strewed this turf along
Its native soil:--else----
_Abel_ (_opposing him_). I love God far more
Than life.
_Cain_ (_striking him with a brand, on the temples, which
he snatches from the altar_). Then take thy life unto thy God,
Since he loves lives.
_Abel_ (_falls_). What hast thou done--my brother?
_Cain_. Brother!
_Abel_. Oh, God! receive thy servant! and
Forgive his slayer, for he knew not what
He did--Cain, give me--give me thy hand; and tell 320
Poor Zillah--
_Cain_ (_after a moment's stupefaction_).
_My_ hand! 'tis all red, and with----
What? [_A long pause. --Looking slowly round_.
Where am I? alone! Where's Abel? where
Cain? Can it be that I am he? My brother,
Awake! --why liest thou so long on the green earth?
'Tis not the hour of slumber:--why so pale?
What hast thou! --thou wert full of life this morn!
Abel! I pray thee, mock me not! I smote
Too fiercely, but not fatally. Ah, why
Wouldst thou oppose me? This is mockery;
And only done to daunt me:--'twas a blow-- 330
And but a blow. Stir--stir--nay, only stir!
Why, so--that's well! --thou breathest! breathe upon me!
Oh God! Oh God!
_Abel_ (_very faintly_). What's he who speaks of God?
_Cain_. Thy murderer.
_Abel_. Then may God forgive him! Cain,
Comfort poor Zillah:--she has but one brother
Now. [ABEL _dies_.
_Cain_. And I none! --Who makes me brotherless?
His eyes are open! then he is not dead!
Death is like sleep[132]; and sleep shuts down our lids.
His lips, too, are apart; why then he breathes;
And yet I feel it not. --His heart! --his heart! -- 340
Let me see, doth it beat? methinks----No! --no!
This is a vision, else I am become
The native of another and worse world.
The earth swims round me:--what is this? --'tis wet;
[_Puts his hand to his brow, and then looks at it_.
And yet there are no dews! 'Tis blood--my blood--
My brother's and my own! and shed by me!
Then what have I further to do with life,
Since I have taken life from my own flesh?
But he can not be dead! --Is silence death?
No; he will wake; then let me watch by him. 350
Life cannot be so slight, as to be quenched
Thus quickly! --he hath spoken to me since--
What shall I say to him? --My brother! --No:
He will not answer to that name; for brethren
Smite not each other. Yet--yet--speak to me.
Oh! for a word more of that gentle voice,
That I may bear to hear my own again!
_Enter_ ZILLAH.
_Zillah_. I heard a heavy sound; what can it be?
'Tis Cain; and watching by my husband. What
Dost thou there, brother? Doth he sleep? Oh, Heaven! 360
What means this paleness, and yon stream? --No, no!
It is not blood; for who would shed his blood?
Abel! what's this? --who hath done this? He moves not;
He breathes not: and his hands drop down from mine
With stony lifelessness! Ah! cruel Cain!
Why camest thou not in time to save him from
This violence? Whatever hath assailed him,
Thou wert the stronger, and shouldst have stepped in
Between him and aggression! Father! --Eve! --
Adah! --come hither! Death is in the world! 370
[_Exit_ ZILLAH, _calling on her Parents, etc. _
_Cain_ (_solus_). And who hath brought him there? --I--who abhor
The name of Death so deeply, that the thought
Empoisoned all my life, before I knew
His aspect--I have led him here, and given
My brother to his cold and still embrace,
As if he would not have asserted his
Inexorable claim without my aid.
I am awake at last--a dreary dream
Had maddened me;--but _he_ shall ne'er awake!
_Enter_ ADAM, EVE, ADAH, _and_ ZILLAH.
_Adam_. A voice of woe from Zillah brings me here-- 380
What do I see? --'Tis true! --My son! --my son!
Woman, behold the Serpent's work, and thine! [_To_ EVE.
_Eve_. Oh! speak not of it now: the Serpent's fangs
Are in my heart! My best beloved, Abel!
Jehovah! this is punishment beyond
A mother's sin, to take _him_ from me!
_Adam_. Who,
Or what hath done this deed? --speak, Cain, since thou
Wert present; was it some more hostile angel,
Who walks not with Jehovah? or some wild
Brute of the forest?
_Eve_. Ah! a livid light 390
Breaks through, as from a thunder-cloud! yon brand
Massy and bloody! snatched from off the altar,
And black with smoke, and red with----
_Adam_. Speak, my son!
Speak, and assure us, wretched as we are,
That we are not more miserable still.
_Adah_. Speak, Cain! and say it was not _thou_!
_Eve_. It was!
I see it now--he hangs his guilty head,
And covers his ferocious eye with hands
Incarnadine!
_Adah_. Mother, thou dost him wrong--
Cain! clear thee from this horrible accusal, 400
Which grief wrings from our parent.
_Eve_. Hear, Jehovah!
May the eternal Serpent's curse be on him!
For he was fitter for his seed than ours.
May all his days be desolate! May----
_Adah_. Hold!
Curse him not, mother, for he is thy son--
Curse him not, mother, for he is my brother,
And my betrothed.
_Eve_. He hath left thee no brother--
Zillah no husband--me _no son! _ for thus
I curse him from my sight for evermore!
All bonds I break between us, as he broke 410
That of his nature, _in yon_----Oh Death! Death!
Why didst thou not take _me_, who first incurred thee?
Why dost thou not so now?
_Adam_. Eve! let not this,
Thy natural grief, lead to impiety!
A heavy doom was long forespoken to us;
And now that it begins, let it be borne
In such sort as may show our God, that we
Are faithful servants to his holy will.
_Eve_ (_pointing to Cain_).
_His will! _ the will of yon Incarnate Spirit
Of Death, whom I have brought upon the earth 420
To strew it with the dead. May all the curses
Of life be on him! and his agonies
Drive him forth o'er the wilderness, like us
From Eden, till his children do by him
As he did by his brother! May the swords
And wings of fiery Cherubim pursue him
By day and night--snakes spring up in his path--
Earth's fruits be ashes in his mouth--the leaves
On which he lays his head to sleep be strewed
With scorpions! May his dreams be of his victim! 430
His waking a continual dread of Death!
May the clear rivers turn to blood as he[133]
Stoops down to stain them with his raging lip!
May every element shun or change to him!
May he live in the pangs which others die with!
And Death itself wax something worse than Death
To him who first acquainted him with man!
Hence, fratricide! henceforth that word is _Cain_,
Through all the coming myriads of mankind,
Who shall abhor thee, though thou wert their sire! 440
May the grass wither from thy feet! the woods
Deny thee shelter! earth a home! the dust
A grave! the sun his light! and heaven her God[134]!
[_Exit_ EVE.
_Adam_. Cain! get thee forth: we dwell no more together.
Depart!
and leave the dead to me--I am
Henceforth alone--we never must meet more.
_Adah_. Oh, part not with him thus, my father: do not
Add thy deep curse to Eve's upon his head!
_Adam_. I curse him not: his spirit be his curse.
Come, Zillah!
_Zillah_. I must watch my husband's corse[135]. 450
_Adam_. We will return again, when he is gone
Who hath provided for us this dread office.
Come, Zillah!
_Zillah_. Yet one kiss on yon pale clay,
And those lips once so warm--my heart! my heart!
[_Exeunt_ ADAM _and_ ZILLAH _weeping_.
_Adah_. Cain! thou hast heard, we must go forth. I am ready,
So shall our children be. I will bear Enoch,
And you his sister. Ere the sun declines
Let us depart, nor walk the wilderness
Under the cloud of night. --Nay, speak to me.
To _me--thine own_.
_Cain_. Leave me!
_Adah_. Why, all have left thee. 460
_Cain_. And wherefore lingerest thou? Dost thou not fear
To dwell with one who hath done this?
_Adah_. I fear
Nothing except to leave thee, much as I
Shrink from the deed which leaves thee brotherless.
I must not speak of this--it is between thee
And the great God.
_A Voice from within exclaims_. Cain! Cain!
_Adah_. Hear'st thou that voice?
_The Voice within_. Cain! Cain!
_Adah_. It soundeth like an angel's tone.
_Enter the_ ANGEL _of the Lord_. [136]
_Angel_. Where is thy brother Abel?
_Cain_. Am I then
My brother's keeper?
_Angel_. Cain! what hast thou done?
The voice of thy slain brother's blood cries out, 470
Even from the ground, unto the Lord! --Now art thou
Cursed from the earth, which opened late her mouth
To drink thy brother's blood from thy rash hand.
Henceforth, when thou shalt till the ground, it shall not
Yield thee her strength; a fugitive shalt thou
Be from this day, and vagabond on earth!
_Adah_. This punishment is more than he can bear.
Behold thou drivest him from the face of earth,
And from the face of God shall he be hid.
A fugitive and vagabond on earth, 480
'Twill come to pass, that whoso findeth him
Shall slay him.
_Cain_. Would they could! but who are they
Shall slay me? Where are these on the lone earth
As yet unpeopled?
_Angel_. Thou hast slain thy brother,
And who shall warrant thee against thy son?
_Adah_. Angel of Light! be merciful, nor say
That this poor aching breast now nourishes
A murderer in my boy, and of his father.
_Angel_. Then he would but be what his father is.
Did not the milk of Eve give nutriment 490
To him thou now seest so besmeared with blood?
The fratricide might well engender parricides. --
But it shall not be so--the Lord thy God
And mine commandeth me to set his seal
On Cain, so that he may go forth in safety.
Who slayeth Cain, a sevenfold vengeance shall
Be taken on his head. Come hither!
_Cain_. What
Wouldst thou with me?
_Angel_. To mark upon thy brow[cl]
Exemption from such deeds as thou hast done.
_Cain_. No, let me die!
_Angel_. It must not be.
[_The_ ANGEL _sets the mark on_ CAIN'S _brow_.
_Cain_. It burns 500
My brow, but nought to that which is within it!
Is there more? let me meet it as I may.
_Angel_. Stern hast thou been and stubborn from the womb,
As the ground thou must henceforth till; but he
Thou slew'st was gentle as the flocks he tended.
_Cain_. After the fall too soon was I begotten;
Ere yet my mother's mind subsided from
The Serpent, and my sire still mourned for Eden.
That which I am, I am; I did not seek
For life, nor did I make myself; but could I 510
With my own death redeem him from the dust--
And why not so? let him return to day,
And I lie ghastly! so shall be restored
By God the life to him he loved; and taken
From me a being I ne'er loved to bear.
_Angel_. Who shall heal murder? what is done, is done;
Go forth! fulfil thy days! and be thy deeds
Unlike the last! [_The_ ANGEL _disappears_.
_Adah_. He's gone, let us go forth;
I hear our little Enoch cry within
Our bower.
_Cain_. Ah! little knows he what he weeps for! 520
And I who have shed blood cannot shed tears!
But the four rivers[137] would not cleanse my soul.
Think'st thou my boy will bear to look on me?
_Adah_. If I thought that he would not, I would----
_Cain_ (_interrupting her_). No,
No more of threats: we have had too many of them:
Go to our children--I will follow thee.
_Adah_. I will not leave thee lonely with the dead--
Let us depart together.
_Cain_. Oh! thou dead
And everlasting witness! whose unsinking
Blood darkens earth and heaven! what thou _now_ art 530
I know not! but if _thou_ seest what _I_ am,
I think thou wilt forgive him, whom his God
Can ne'er forgive, nor his own soul. --Farewell!
I must not, dare not touch what I have made thee.
I, who sprung from the same womb with thee, drained
The same breast, clasped thee often to my own,
In fondness brotherly and boyish, I
Can never meet thee more, nor even dare
To do that for thee, which thou shouldst have done
For me--compose thy limbs into their grave-- 540
The first grave yet dug for mortality.
But who hath dug that grave? Oh, earth! Oh, earth!
For all the fruits thou hast rendered to me, I
Give thee back this. --Now for the wilderness!
[ADAH _stoops down and kisses the body of_ ABEL.
_Adah_. A dreary, and an early doom, my brother,
Has been thy lot! Of all who mourn for thee,
I alone must not weep. My office is
Henceforth to dry up tears, and not to shed them;
But yet of all who mourn, none mourn like me,
Not only for thyself, but him who slew thee. 550
Now, Cain! I will divide thy burden with thee.
_Cain_. Eastward from Eden will we take our way;
'Tis the most desolate, and suits my steps.
_Adah_. Lead! thou shalt be my guide, and may our God
Be thine! Now let us carry forth our children.
_Cain_. And _he_ who lieth there was childless! I
Have dried the fountain of a gentle race,
Which might have graced his recent marriage couch,
And might have tempered this stern blood of mine,
Uniting with our children Abel's offspring! 560
O Abel!
_Adah_. Peace be with him!
_Cain_. But with _me! _----
[_Exeunt_.
FOOTNOTES:
[86] {205}[On the 13th December [1821] Sir Walter received a copy of
Cain, as yet unpublished, from Murray, who had been instructed to ask
whether he had any objection to having the "Mystery" dedicated to him.
He replied in these words--
"Edinburgh, _4th December_, 1821.
"My Dear Sir,--I accept, with feelings of great obligation, the
flattering proposal of Lord Byron to prefix my name to the very grand
and tremendous drama of 'Cain. '[*] I may be partial to it, and you will
allow I have cause; but I do not know that his Muse has ever taken so
lofty a flight amid her former soarings. He has certainly matched Milton
on his own ground. Some part of the language is bold, and may shock one
class of readers, whose line will be adopted by others out of
affectation or envy. But then they must condemn the 'Paradise Lost,' if
they have a mind to be consistent. The fiend-like reasoning and bold
blasphemy of the fiend and of his pupil lead exactly to the point which
was to be expected,--the commission of the first murder, and the ruin
and despair of the perpetrator.
"I do not see how any one can accuse the author himself of Manicheism.
The Devil talks the language of that sect, doubtless; because, not being
able to deny the existence of the Good Principle, he endeavours to exalt
himself--the Evil Principle--to a seeming equality with the Good; but
such arguments, in the mouth of such a being, can only be used to
deceive and to betray. Lord Byron might have made this more evident, by
placing in the mouth of Adam, or of some good and protecting spirit, the
reasons which render the existence of moral evil consistent with the
general benevolence of the Deity. The great key to the mystery is,
perhaps, the imperfection of our own faculties, which see and feel
strongly the partial evils which press upon us, but know too little of
the general system of the universe, to be aware how the existence of
these is to be reconciled with the benevolence of the great Creator.
"To drop these speculations, you have much occasion for some mighty
spirit, like Lord Byron, to come down and trouble the waters; for,
excepting 'The John Bull,'[**] you seem stagnating strangely in London.
"Yours, my dear Sir,
"Very truly,
"WALTER SCOTT.
"To John Murray, Esq. "-_Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott_, by J.
G. Lockhart, Esq. , 1838, iii. 92, 93.
[[*] "However, the praise often given to Byron has been so exaggerated
as to provoke, perhaps, a reaction in which he is unduly disparaged. 'As
various in composition as Shakespeare himself, Lord Byron has embraced,'
says Sir Walter Scott, 'every topic of human life, and sounded every
string on the divine harp, from its slightest to its most powerful and
heart-astounding tones. . . . In the very grand and tremendous drama of
Cain,' etc. . . . 'And Lord Byron has done all this,' Scott adds, 'while
managing his pen with the careless and negligent ease of a man of
quality. '"--_Poetry of Byron, chosen and arranged by Matthew Arnold_,
1881, p. xiii.
Scott does not add anything of the kind. The comparison with Shakespeare
was written after Byron's death in May, 1824; the appreciation of Cain
in December, 1821 (_vide supra_); while the allusion to "a man of
quality" is to be found in an article contributed to the _Quarterly
Review_ in 1816! ]
[[**] The first number of _John Bull_, "For God, the King, and the
People," was published Sunday, December 17, 1820. Theodore Hook was the
editor, and it is supposed that he owed his appointment to the
intervention of Sir Walter Scott. The _raison d'etre_ of _John Bull_ was
to write up George IV. , and to write down Queen Caroline. "The national
movement (in favour of the Queen) was arrested; and George IV. had
mainly _John Bull_ to thank for that result. "--_A Sketch_, [by J. G.
Lockhart], 1852, p. 45. ]]
[87] {207}["Mysteries," or Mystery Plays, were prior to and distinct
from "Moralities. " Byron seems to have had some acquaintance with the
archaeology of the drama, but it is not easy to divine the source or
extent of his knowledge. He may have received and read the Roxburghe
reprint of the _Chester Plays_, published in 1818; but it is most
probable that he had read the pages devoted to mystery plays in
_Warton's History of Poetry_, or that he had met with a version of the
_Ludus Coventriae_ (reprinted by J. O. Halliwell Phillipps, in 1841),
printed in Stevens's continuation of Dugdale's _Monasticon_, 1722, i.
139-153. There is a sixteenth-century edition of _Le Mistere du Viel
Testament_, which was reprinted by the Baron James de Rothschild, in
1878 (see for "De la Mort d'Abel et de la Malediction Cayn," pp.
103-113); but it is improbable that it had come under Byron's notice.
