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ACT II.

SCENE I.—The Catacombs, showing long low-roofed aisles, in different directions, supported by thick pillars of the rough unhewn rock, with rude tombs and heaps of human bones, and the walls in many places lined with human skulls.

Enter Cordenius Maro, speaking to a Christian Father, on whose arm he leans, and followed by Sylvius.

CORDENIUS.

One day and two bless'd nights, spent in acquiring

Your heavenly lore, so powerful and sublime,—
Oh! what an altered creature they have made me!

FATHER.

Yes, gentle son, I trust that thou art altered.

CORDENIUS.

I am, methinks, like one who, with bent back

And downward gaze—if such a one might be—
Hath only known the boundless azure sky
By the strait circle of reflected beauty,
Seen in the watery gleam of some deep pit:
Till of a sudden roused, he stands erect,
And wondering looks aloft and all around
On the bright sunny firmament:—like one
(Granting again that such a one might be)