His frequent mission with delighted pinions:
Adoring him in his least works display'd;
Watching this youngest star of his dominions;
And, as the latest birth of his great word,
Eager to keep it worthy of our Lord.
Why is thy brow severe ?

And wherefore speak'st thou of destruction near?
Raph. Had Samiasa and Azaziel been
In their true place, with the angelic choir,
Written in fire

They would have seen Jehovah's late decree,

And not inquired their Maker's breath of me :

But ignorance must ever be
A part of sin;

The angels, from his further snares exempt:
But man hath listen'd to his voice,
And ye to woman's-beautiful she is,
The serpent's voice less subtle than her kiss.
The snake but vanquish'd dust; but she will draw
A second host from heaven, to break heaven's law.
Yet, yet, oh fly!
Ye cannot die;
But they

Shall pass away,

As they wax proud within;

For Blindness is the first-born of Excess.

When all good angels left the world, ye stay'd, Stung with strange passions, and debased By mortal feelings for a mortal maid : But ye are pardon'd thus far, and replaced With your pure equals. Hence! away! away! Or stay,

And lose eternity by that delay! Aza. And thou! if earth be thus forbidden In the decree

To us until this moment hidden,

Dost thou not err as we

In being here?

Raph. I came to call ye back to your fit sphere, In the great name and at the word of God. Dear, dearest in themselves, and scarce less dear That which I came to do: till now we trod Together the eternal space; together [die! Let us still walk the stars. True, earth must Her race, return'd into her womb, must wither, And much which she inherits: but oh! why Cannot this earth be made, or be destroy'd, Without involving ever some vast void In the immortal ranks? immortal still In their immeasurable forfeiture. Our brother Satan fell; his burning will Rather than longer worship dared endure ! But ye who still are pure !

Seraphs! less mighty than that mightiest one,
Think how he was undone !

And think if tempting man can compensate
For heaven desired too late?

Long have I warr'd,

Long must I war

With him who deem'd it hard

To be created, and to acknowledge him
Who midst the cherubim

Made him as surs to a dependent star, Leaving the archangels at his right hand dim.

I loved him-beautiful he was: oh, heaven! Save his who made, what beauty and what power Was ever like to Satan's ! Would the hour

In which he fell could ever be forgiven !
The wish is impious: but, oh ye!
Yet undestroy'd, be warn'd! Eternity

With him, or with his God, is in your choice: He hath not tempted you; he cannot tempt

The agony to which they must be heirs--
Born to be plough'd with years, and sown with

cares,

And reap'd by Death, lord of the human soil? Even had their days been left to toil, their path Through time to dust, unshorten'd by God's wrath,

Still they are Evil's prey and Sorrow's spoil.
Aho.
Let them fly!

I hear the voice which says that all must die,
Sooner than our white-bearded patriarchs died;
And that on high

An ocean is prepared,

While from below

The deep shall rise to meet heaven's overflow. Few shall be spared,

It seems; and, of that few, the race of Cain Must lift their eyes to Adam's God in vain. Sister! since it is so,

And the eternal Lord

In vain would be implored

For the remission of one hour of woe, Let us resign even what we have adored, And meet the wave, as we would meet the sword, If not unmoved, yet undismay'd, And wailing less for us than those who shall Survive in mortal or immortal thrall,

And, when the fatal waters are allay'd, Weep for the myriads who can weep no more. Fly, seraphs! to your own eternal shore, Where winds nor howl nor waters roar.

Our portion is to die,
And yours to live for ever:
But which is best, a dead eternity,
Or living, is but known to the great Giver.
Obey him, as we shall obey;

I would not keep this life of mine in clay
An hour beyond his will;
Nor see ye lose a portion of his grace,
For all the mercy which Seth's race
Find still.
Fly!

And as your pinions bear ye back to heaven,
Think that my love still mounts with thee on
Samiasa!
[high

And if I look up with a tearless eye, "Tis that an angel's bride disdains to weep,Farewell! Now rise, inexorable deep!

May'st suffer more, not weeping; then forget Her, whom the surges of the all-strangling deep Can bring no pang like this. Fly! fly! Being gone, 'twill be less difficult to die. Japh. Oh, say not so!

Father! and thou, archangel, thou! Surely celestial mercy lurks below

That pure severe serenity of brow;

Let them not meet this sea without a shore,
Save in our ark, or let me be no more!
Noah. Peace, child of passion, peace!
If not within thy heart, yet with thy tongue
Do God no wrong!

Live as he wills it-die, when he ordains,
A righteous death, unlike the seed of Cain's.
Cease, or be sorrowful in silence; cease
To weary Heaven's ear with thy selfish plaint.
Wouldst thou have God commit a sin for thee?
Such would it be

To alter his intent

For a mere mortal sorrow. Be a man!
And bear what Adam's race must bear, and can.
Japh. Ay, father! but when they are gone,
And we are all alone,
Floating upon the azure desert, and
The depth beneath us hides our own dear land,
And dearer, silent friends and brethren all
Buried in its immeasurable breast, [mand?
Who, who, our tears, our shrieks, shall then com-
Can we in desolation's peace have rest?
Oh God! be thou a God, and spare
Yet while 'tis time!

Renew not Adam's fall:
Mankind were then but twain,

Angel! forgive this stripling's fond despair.

Raph. Seraphs these mortals speak in pas

Who are, or should be, passionless and pure,
May now return with me.
Sam."

It may not be :
We have chosen, and will endure.

Raph. Say'st thou ?

Aza. He hath said it, and I say, Amen! Raph. Again!

Then from this hour,

Shorn as ye are of all celestial power,
And aliens from your God,
Farewell!

Faph.
Alas! where shall they dwell?
Hark, hark! Deep sounds, and deeper still,
Are howling from the mountain's bosom :
There's not a breath of wind upon the hill,
Yet quivers every leaf, and drops each blossom:
Earth groans as if beneath a heavy load.
Noah. Hark, hark! the sea-birds cry!
In clouds they overspread the lurid sky,
And hover round the mountain, where before
Never a white wing, wetted by the wave,
Yet dared to soar,

Even when the waters wax'd too fierce to brave.
Soon it shall be their only shore,
And then, no more!

Japh.

The sun! the sun!

[shone!

He riseth, but his better light is gone;
And a black circle, bound
His glaring disk around,
Proclaims earth's last of summer days hath
The clouds return into the hues of night,
Save where their brazen-colour'd edges streak
The verge where brighter morns were wont to
Noah. And lo! yon flash of light, [break.
The distant thunder's harbinger, appears
It cometh! hence away!

Leave to the elements their evil prey!
Hence to where our all-hallow'd ark uprears
Its safe and wreckless sides!
Japh. Oh, father, stay!

Leave not my Anah to the swallowing tides
Noah. Must we not leave all life to such?
Japh.
Not I.
[Begone!
Noah.
Then die

With them!

How darest thou look on that prophetic sky, And seek to save what all things now condemn, In overwhelming unison

With just Jehovah's wrath! [path? Japh. Can rage and justice join in the same Noah. Blasphemer ! darest thou murmur even now!

Raph. Patriarch, be still a father! smooth thy Thy son, despite his folly, shall not sink : [brow: He knows not what he says, yet shall not drink With sobs the salt foam of the swelling waters : But he, when passion passeth, good as thou, Nor perish like heaven's children with man's daughters.

Aho. The tempest cometh; heaven and earth For the annihilation of all life. [unite

Unequal is the strife

Between our strength and the Eternal Might!
Sam. But ours is with thee: we will bear ye
To some untroubled star,
[far
Where thou and Anah shall partake our lot:
And if thou dost not weep for thy lost earth,
Our forfeit heaven shall also be forgot. [birth,
Anah. Oh! my dear father's tents, my place of
And mountains, land, and woods! when ye are
Who shall dry up my tears?
[not,

Aza.
Thy spirit-lord.
Fear not; though we are shut from heaven,
Yet much is ours, whence we cannot be driven.
Raph. Rebel! thy words are wicked, as thy
deeds

Shall henceforth be but weak: the flaming sword, Which chased the first-born out of Paradise, Still flashes in the angelic hands. [death,

Aza. It cannot slay us: threaten dust with
And talk of weapons unto that which bleeds.
What are thy swords in our immortal eyes?
Raph. The moment cometh to approve thy
And learn at length
[strength;
How vain to war with what thy God commands:
Thy former force was in thy faith.

Enter Mortals, flying for refuge.
Chorus of Mortals.

[God!

The heavens and earth are mingling-God! oh
What have we done? Yet spare!
Hark! even the forest beasts howl forth their
prayer!

The dragon crawls from out his den,
To herd, in terror, innocent with men ;
And the birds scream their agony through air.
Yet, yet, Jehovah! yet withdraw thy rod
Of wrath, and pity thine own world's despair!
Hear not man only but all nature plead !
Raph. Farewell, thou earth! ye wretched
sons of clay,

I cannot, must not, aid you. 'Tis decreed!
[Exit RAPHAEL.
Japh. Some clouds sweep on as vultures for
their prey,

While others, fix'd as rocks, await the word
At which their wrathful vials shall be pour'd.
No azure more shall robe the firmament,
Nor spangled stars be glorious: Death hath
risen:

In the sun's place a pale and ghastly glare
Hath wound itself around the dying air.

Aza. Come, Anah! quit this chaos-founded
To which the elements again repair, [prison,
To turn it into what it was: beneath
The shelter of these wings thou shalt be safe,
As was the eagle's nestling once within
Its mother's. Let the coming chaos chafe
With all its elements! Heed not their din !
A brighter world than this, where thou shalt
Ethereal life, will we explore:
These darken'd clouds are not the only skies.
[AZAZIEL and SAMIASA fly off and disappear
with ANAH and AHOLIBAMAH.

[breathe

Japh. They are gone! They have disappear'd amidst the roar

Of the forsaken world; and never more,
Whether they live, or die with all earth's life,
Now near its last, can aught restore
Anah unto these eyes.

Chorus of Mortals.

Oh son of Noah! mercy on thy kind!
What! wilt thou leave us all-all--all behind?
While safe amidst the elemental strife,
Thou sitt'st within thy guarded ark?

A Mother offering her infant to JAPHET].
Oh let this child embark!
brought him forth in woe,

But thought it joy

To see him to my bosom clinging so.
Why was he born?
What hath he done-
My unwean'd son-

To move Jehovah's wrath or scorn?
What is there in this milk of mine, that death
Should stir all heaven and earth up to destroy
My boy,

And roll the waters o'er his placid breath?
Save him, thou seed of Seth!

Or cursed be-with him who made
Thee and thy race, for which we are betray'd!
Japh. Peace! 'tis no hour for curses, but for
prayer!

If he hath made earth, let it be his shame,
To make a world for torture.-Lo! they come,
The loathsome waters, in their rage! [dumb!
And with their roar make wholesome nature
The forests' trees (coeval with the hour
When Paradise upsprung,

Ere Eve gave Adam knowledge for her dower,
Or Adam his first hymn of slavery sung),
So massy, vast, yet green in their old age,
Are overtopp'd,

Their summer blossoms by the surges lopp'd,
Which rise, and rise, and rise.

Vainly we look up to the lowering skies—
They meet the seas,

And shut out God from our beseeching eyes.
Fly, son of Noah, fly! and take thine ease,
In thine allotted ocean-tent;

And view, all floating o'er the element,