SEVENTH SPIRIT. The star which rules thy destiny, Was ruled, ere earth began, by me: As e'er revolved round sun in air; Space bosom'd not a lovelier star. A wandering mass of shapeless flame, Still rolling on with innate force, And thou! beneath its influence born- For this brief moment to descend, Where these weak spirits round thee bend And parley with a thing like thee What wouldst thou, Child of Clay! with me? The SEVEN SPIRITS. Earth, ocean, air, night, mountains, winds, thy star, What wouldst thou with us, son of mortals-say? MAN. Forgetfulness FIRST SPIRIT. Of what-of whom-and why? MAN. Of that which is within me; read it there Ye know it, and I cannot utter it. SPIRIT. We can but give thee that which we possess: Ask of us subjects, sovereignty, the power O'er earth, the whole, or portion, or a sign We are the dominators, each and all, These shall be thine. MAN. Oblivion, self-oblivion Can ye not wring from out the hidden realms Ye offer so profusely what I ask? SPIRIT. It is not in our essence, in our skill; But-thou mayst die. MAN. Will death bestow it on me? SPIRIT. We are immortal, and do not forget; We are eternal; and to us the past Is, as the future, present. Art thou answer'd? here Hath made you mine. Slaves, scoff not at my will! And shall not yield to yours, though coop'd in clay! SPIRIT. We answer as we answer'd; our reply Is even in thine own words. MAN. Why say ye so? SPIRIT. If, as thou say'st, thine essence be as ours, We have replied in telling thee, the thing Mortals call death hath nought to do with us. MAN. I then have call'd ye from your realms in vain; Ye cannot, or ye will not, aid me, SPIRIT. Say; What we possess we offer; it is thine; Bethink ere thou dismiss us, ask again Kingdom, and sway, and strength, and length of days MAN. Accursed! what have I to do with days? They are too long already.-Hence-begone! SPIRIT. Yet pause: being here, our will would do thee service; Bethink thee, is there then no other gift Which we can make not worthless in thine eyes? MAN. No, none: yet stay-one moment, ere we part I would behold ye face to face." I hear Your voices, sweet and melancholy sounds, As music on the waters; and I see The steady aspect of a clear large star; SPIRIT. We have no forms beyond the elements But choose a form-in that we will appear. MAN. I have no choice; there is no form on earth Hideous or beautiful to me. Let him, Who is most powerful of ye, take such aspect As unto him may seem most fitting.-Come! SEVENTH SPIRIT. (Appearing in the shape of a beautiful female figure.) Behold! MAN. Oh God! if it be thus, and thou Art not a madness and a mockery, I yet might be most happy.-I will clasp thee, And we again will be [The figure vanishes. My heart is crush'd! [MANFRED falls senseless. (A voice is heard in the Incantation which follows.) When the moon is on the wave, And the meteor on the grave, And the wisp on the morass; And the silent leaves are still In the shadow of the hill, Shall my soul be upon thine, With a power and with a sign. Though thy slumber may be deep, Yet thy spirit shall not sleep, There are shades which will not vanish, There are thoughts thou canst not banish; |