A DRAMA OF EXILE.
67
Infant voices passing.
Rock us softly,
Though it he all in vain.
Old voices passing.
O we live, O we live—
And this life that we receive,
Is a gloomy thing and brief,
Which, consummated in grief,
Leaveth ashes for all gain.
Is it not all in vain?
Infant voices passing.
Rock us softly,
Though it be all in vain.[Voices die away.
Earth Spirits. And bringer of the curse upon all these.
Eve. The voices of foreshown Humanity
Die off;—so let me die.
Adam.So let us die,
When God's will soundeth the right hour of death.
Earth Spirits. And bringer of the curse upon all these.
Eve. O spirits! by the gentleness ye use
In winds at night, and floating clouds at noon,—
In gliding waters under lily-leaves,—
In chirp of crickets, and the settling hush
A bird makes in her nest, with feet and wings,—
Fulfil your natures! Do not any more
Taunt us or mock us—let us die alone.
Earth Spirits.
Agreed; allowed!
We gather out our natures like a cloud,
And thus fulfil their lightenings! Thus, and thus!
Hearken, O hearken to us!
First Spirit.
As the east wind blows bleakly in the norland,—
As the snow-wind beats blindly from the moorland,—
As the simoom drives wild across the desert,—
As the thunder roars deep in the Unmeasured,—
Rock us softly,
Though it he all in vain.
Old voices passing.
O we live, O we live—
And this life that we receive,
Is a gloomy thing and brief,
Which, consummated in grief,
Leaveth ashes for all gain.
Is it not all in vain?
Infant voices passing.
Rock us softly,
Though it be all in vain.[Voices die away.
Earth Spirits. And bringer of the curse upon all these.
Eve. The voices of foreshown Humanity
Die off;—so let me die.
Adam.So let us die,
When God's will soundeth the right hour of death.
Earth Spirits. And bringer of the curse upon all these.
Eve. O spirits! by the gentleness ye use
In winds at night, and floating clouds at noon,—
In gliding waters under lily-leaves,—
In chirp of crickets, and the settling hush
A bird makes in her nest, with feet and wings,—
Fulfil your natures! Do not any more
Taunt us or mock us—let us die alone.
Earth Spirits.
Agreed; allowed!
We gather out our natures like a cloud,
And thus fulfil their lightenings! Thus, and thus!
Hearken, O hearken to us!
First Spirit.
As the east wind blows bleakly in the norland,—
As the snow-wind beats blindly from the moorland,—
As the simoom drives wild across the desert,—
As the thunder roars deep in the Unmeasured,—
