From the red earth, like Adam, 1
Thy likeness I shape,

As the being who made him,
Whose actions I ape.
Thou clay, be all glowing,

Till the rose in his check
Be as fair as, when blowing,
It wears its first streak!
Ye violets, I scatter,

Now turn into eyes! And thou, sunshiny water,

Of blood take the guise! Let these hyacinth boughs

Be his long flowing hair,
And wave o'er his brows,

As thou wavest in air!
Let his heart be this marble
I tear from the rock!
But his voice as the warble
Of birds on yon oak!
Let his flesh be the purest

Of mould, in which grew

The lily-root surest,

And drank the best dew! Let his limbs be the lightest.

Which clay can compound, And his aspect the brightest On earth to be found! Elements, near me,

Be mingled and stirr'd, Know me, and hear me,

And leap to my word! Sunbeams, awaken

This earth's animation! "T is done! He hath taken

His stand in creation!

Clay! not dead, but soul-less!

Though no man would choose thee,

An immortal no less

Deigns not to refuse thee.

Clay thou art; and unto spirit

All clay is of equal merit.

Fire without which nought can live;
Fire! but in which nought can live,

Save the fabled salamander,

Or immortal souls, which wander, Praying what doth not forgive, Howling for a drop of water,

Burning in a quenchless lot:

Fire the only element

Where nor fish, beast, bird, nor worm,
Save the worm which dieth not,
Can preserve a moment's form,

But must with thyself be blent:
Fire! man's safeguard and his slaughter:
Fire Creation's first-born daughter,

And Destruction's threaten'd son,
When heaven with the world hath done.
Fire! assist me to renew

Life in what lies in my view

Stiff and cold!

His resurrection rests with me and you!
One little, marshy spark of flame
And he again shall seem the same;
But I his spirit's place shall hold !
[An ignis-fatuus flits through the wood and rests
on the brow of the body. The Stranger dis-
appears: the body rises.

Arn. (in his new form). Oh! horrible! [thou?
Stran. (in ARNOLD's late shape). What! tremblest
Not so-
Arn.

I merely shudder. Where is fled the shape
Thou lately worest?

Stran.

To the world of shadows. But let us thread the present. Whither wilt thou? Arn. Must thou be my companion? Stran.

Your betters keep worse company.

Arn.

Wherefore not?

My betters!

Stran. Oh! you wax proud, I see, of your new

form:

I'm glad of that. Ungrateful too! That's well;
You improve apace; — two changes in an instant,
And you are old in the world's ways already.
But bear with me: indeed you'll find me useful
Upon your pilgrimage. But come, pronounce
Where shall we now be errant ?
Arn.

Is thickest, that I may behold it in
Its workings.

Stran.

Where the world

That's to say, where there is war And woman in activity. Let's see! Spain-Italy-the new Atlantic world— Afric, with all its Moors. In very truth, There is small choice: the whole race are just now Tugging as usual at each other's hearts.

Arn. I have heard great things of Rome. Stran. A goodly choiceAnd scarce a better to be found on earth, Since Sodom was put out. The field is wide too; For now the Frank, and Hun, and Spanish scion Of the old Vandals are at play along The sunny shores of the world's garden. Arn.

Shall we proceed?

Stran.

How

Like gallants, on good coursers. What ho! my chargers! Never yet were better, Since Phaeton was upset into the Po.

Who bears the golden horn, and wears such bright
And blooming aspect, Huon; for he looks
Like to the lovely boy lost in the forest,
And never found till now. And for the other
And darker, and more thoughtful, who smiles not,
But looks as serious though serene as night,
He shall be Memnon, from the Ethiop king
Whose statue turns a harper once a day.
And you?

Stran. I have ten thousand names, and twice As many attributes; but as I wear

A human shape, will take a human name.

Arn. More human than the shape (though it was mine once)

I trust.

[steed

Arn. Or in an order for a battle-field.
Cas. (sings). To horse! to horse! my coal-black
Paws the ground and snuffs the air!
There's not a foal of Arab's breed

More knows whom he must bear ;
On the hill he will not tire,
Swifter as it waxes higher;
In the marsh he will not slacken,
On the plain be overtaken;

In the wave he will not sink,

Nor pause at the brook's side to drink;
In the race he will not pant,

In the combat he'll not faint!

On the stones he will not stumble,

Tine nor toil shall make him humble;
In the stall he will not stiffen,

But be winged as a griffin,

Only flying with his feet:

And will not such a voyage be sweet?
Merrily! merrily! never unsound,

Shall our bonny black horses skim over the ground!
From the Alps to the Caucasus, ride we, or fly!
For we'll leave them behind in the glance of an eye.
[They mount their horses and disappear.

Cas. You are well enter'd now. Arn. Ay; but my path Has been o'er carcasses: mine eyes are full Of blood.

Cæs. Then wipe them, and see clearly. Why! Thou art a conqueror; the chosen knight And free companion of the gallant Bourbon, Late constable of France: and now to be Lord of the city which hath been earth's lord Under its emperors, and-changing sex, Not sceptre, an hermaphrodite of empireLady of the old world.

Cæs.

Your obedient humble servant. Arn. Say master rather. Thou hast lured me on, Through scenes of blood and lust, till I am here. Cas. And where wouldst thou be? Arn.

Oh, at peace-in peace.

Cas. And where is that which is so? From the star
To the winding worm, all life is motion; and
In life commotion is the extremest point

Of life. The planet wheels till it becomes
A comet, and destroying as it sweeps

The stars, goes out. The poor worm winds its way,
Living upon the death of other things,

But still, like them, must live and die, the subject
Of something which has made it live and die.
You must obey what all obey, the rule

Of fix'd necessity: against her edict

Rebellion prospers not.

I saw him.

Thus

Cæs. Arn. You! Cas. Yes, sir. You forget I am or was Spirit, till I took up with your cast shape And a worse name. I'm Cæsar and a hunchback Now. Well the first of Cæsars was a bald-head, And loved his laurels better as a wig (So history says) than as a glory. 1 The world runs on, but we'll be merry still. I saw your Romulus (simple as I am) Slay his own twin, quickborn of the same womb, Because he leapt a ditch ('t was then no wall, Whate'er it now be); and Rome's earliest cement Was brother's blood; and if its native blood Be spilt till the choked Tiber be as red As c'er 'twas yellow, it will never wear The deep hue of the ocean and the earth, Which the great robber sons of fratricide Have made their never-ceasing scene of slaughter For ages. Arn. But what have these done, their far Remote descendants, who have lived in peace, The peace of heaven, and in her sunshine of Piety? Cas. And what had they done, whom the old Romans o'erswept ? — Hark!

Arn.

They are soldiers singing

A reckless roundelay, upon the eve
Of many deaths, it may be of their own.
Cas. And why should they not sing as well as

swans ?

They are black ones, to be sure.

What?

The crucifix

Arn.

I see, too? Cæs.

Above, and many altar shrines below.

Also some culverins upon the walls,
And harquebusses, and what not; besides
The men who are to kindle them to death
Of other men.

Arn.
And those scarce mortal arches,
Pile above pile of everlasting wall,
The theatre where emperors and their subjects
(Those subjects Romans) stood at gaze upon
The battles of the monarchs of the wild
And wood, the lion and his tusky rebels
Of the then untamed desert, brought to joust
In the arena (as right well they might,
When they had left no human foe unconquer'd);
Made even the forest pay its tribute of
Life to their amphitheatre, as well
As Dacia men to die the eternal death
For a sole instant's pastime, and "Pass on
To a new gladiator!"- Must it fall?

Cas. The city, or the amphitheatre ?
The church, or one, or all? for you confound
Both them and me.

So, you are learn'd,

In my grammar, certes. I Was educated for a monk of all times, And once I was well versed in the forgotten Etruscan letters, and—were I so minded — Could make their hieroglyphics plainer than Your alphabet.

Arn.

And wherefore do you not?

Cas. It answers better to resolve the alphabet Back into hieroglyphics. Like your statesman, And prophet, pontiff, doctor, alchymist, Philosopher, and what not, they have built More Babels, without new dispersion, than The stammering young ones of the flood's dull ooze, Who fail'd and fled each other. Why? why, marry, Because no man could understand his neighbour. They are wiser now, and will not separate For nonsense. Nay, it is their brotherhood, Their Shibboleth, their Koran, Talmud, their Cabala; their best brick-work, wherewithal They build more

Arn. (interrupting him). Oh, thou everlasting

Cæs.

Song of the Soldiers within. The black bands came over

The Alps and their snow; With Bourbon, the rover,

They pass'd the broad Po. We have beaten all foemen,

We have captured a king,

We have turn'd back on no men,
And so let us sing!
Here's the Bourbon for ever!

Though penny less all,

We'll have one more endeavour

At yonder old wall.

With the Bourbon we'll gather

At day-dawn before The gates, and together

Or break or climb o'er The wall: on the ladder

As mounts each firm foot, Our shout shall grow gladder,

And death only be mute.

With the Bourbon we'll mount o'er The walls of old Rome,

And who then shall count o'er

The spoils of each dome?

Up! up with the lily!

And down with the keys!

In old Rome, the seven-hilly,
We'll revel at ease.

Her streets shall be gory,
Her Tiber all red,

And her temples so hoary

Shall clang with our tread.

Oh, the Bourbon! the Bourbon !
The Bourbon for aye!

Of our song bear the burden!
And fire, fire away!
With Spain for the vanguard,
Our varied host comes;
And next to the Spaniard

Beat Germany's drums;

And Italy's lances

Are couch'd at their mother;
But our leader from France is,

Who warr'd with his brother.
Oh, the Bourbon! the Bourbon !
Sans country or home,
We'll follow the Bourbon,

To plunder old Rome.

An indifferent song

In such an enterprise to die is rather The dawn of an eternal day, than death. [Count ARNOLD and CÆSAR advance. Cas. And the mere men-do they too sweat beneath The noon of this same ever-scorching glory?

Ah!

Bourb. Welcome the bitter hunchback! and his master, The beauty of our host, and brave as beauteous, And generous as lovely. We shall find Work for you both ere morning.

Cæs.

You will find,

So please your highness, no less for yourself.
Bourb. And if I do, there will not be a labourer
More forward, hunchback!

For you have seen that back -as general,

also by the king, he transferred his services to the Emperor Charles V.]

Slight crooked friend's as snake-like in his words
As his deeds.

Cæs.
Your highness much mistakes me.
The first snake was a flatterer-I am none;
And for my deeds, I only sting when stung.
Bourb. You are brave, and that's enough for me;
and quick

In speech as sharp in action-and that's more.
I am not alone a soldier, but the soldiers'
Comrade.

Ces. They are but bad company, your highness: And worse even for their friends than foes, as being More permanent acquaintance.

[der,

Been first, with that swart face and mountain shoul-
In field or storm, and patient in starvation;
And for his tongue, the camp is full of licence,
And the sharp stinging of a lively rogue
Is, to my mind, far preferable to
The gross, dull, heavy, gloomy execration
Of a mere famish'd, sullen, grumbling slave,
Whom nothing can convince save a full meal,
And wine, and sleep, and a few maravedis,
With which he deems him rich.
Cas.

It would be well
If the earth's princes ask'd no more.
Bourb.

Be silent!

Retain'd her sway o'er nations, and the Cæsars,
But yielded to the Alarics, the Alarics
Unto the pontiffs. Roman, Goth, or priest,
Still the world's masters! Civilised, barbarian,
Or saintly, still the walls of Romulus
Have been the circus of an empire.
'Twas their turn-now 't is ours; and let us hope
That we will fight as well, and rule much better.
Cæs. No doubt, the camp's the school of civic
rights.

What would you make of Rome ?
Bourb.

Cæs. In Alaric's time?
Bourb.

Well!

That which it was.

No, slave in the first Cæsar's, And kings!

Whose name you bear like other curs Cæs.

"Tis a great name for blood-hounds. Bourb.

There's a demon

In that fierce rattle-snake thy tongue. Wilt never Be serious?

Cas.

On the eve of battle, no;

That were not soldier-like. "Tis for the general
To be more pensive: we adventurers
Must be more cheerful. Wherefore should we think?
Our tutelar deity, in a leader's shape,

Takes care of us. Keep thought aloof from hosts!
If the knaves take to thinking, you will have
To crack those walls alone.
Bourb.

You may sneer, since 'Tis lucky for you that you fight no worse for 't. Cæs. I thank you for the freedom; 'tis the only Pay I have taken in your highness' service.

Bourb. Well, sir, to-morrow you shall pay yourself. Look on those towers; they hold my treasury: But, Philibert, we'll in to council. Arnold, We would request your presence. Arn.

Is yours, as in the field.

Bourb.

Prince my service

In both we prize it,

To follow glory with the Bourbon.

And yours will be a post of trust at daybreak.
Cæs. And mine?
Bourb.

Good night!

Arn. (to CÆSAR). Prepare our armour for the

assault,

And wait within my tent.

[Exeunt BOURBON, ARNOLD, PHILIBERT, SC. Cæs. (solus). Within thy tent!

Think'st thou that I pass from thee with my presence? Or that this crooked coffer, which contain'd

Thy principle of life, is aught to me

Except a mask? And these are men, forsooth!
Heroes and chiefs, the flower of Adam's bastards!
This is the consequence of giving matter

The power of thought. It is a stubborn substance,
And thinks chaotically, as it acts.

Ever relapsing into its first elements.

Well! I must play with these poor puppets: 'tis
The spirit's pastime in his idler hours.
When I grow weary of it, I have business
Amongst the stars, which these poor creatures deem
Were made for them to look at. 'T were a jest now
To bring one down amongst them, and set fire
Unto their anthill: how the pismires then
Would scamper o'er the scalding soil, and, ceasing
From tearing down each other's nests, pipe forth
One universal orison! Ha! ha!

[Exit CESAR