Cain. One altar may suffice; I have no offering. Adah. The fruits of the earth, the early beautiful Blossom and bud, and bloom of flowers, and fruits; These are a goodly offering to the Lord, Given with a gentle and a contrite spirit.

Cain. I have toil'd, and till'd, and sweaten in the sun
According to the curse:-must I do more?
For what should I be gentle? for a war
With all the elements ere they will yield

The bread we eat? For what must I be grateful?
For being dust, and groveling in the dust,
Till I return to dust? If I am nothing-
For nothing shall I be an hypocrite,

And seem well-pleased with pain? For what should I
Be contrite? for my father's sin, already
Expiate with what we all have undergone,
And to be more than expiated by
The ages prophesied, upon our seed.

Little deems our young blooming sleeper, there,
The germs of an eternal misery

To myriads is within him! better 't were

I snatch'd him in his sleep, and dash'd him 'gainst The rocks, than let him live to

Oh, my God!

Adah.
Touch not the child-my child! thy child! Oh Cain!
Cain. Fear not! for all the stars, and all the power
Which sways them, I would not accost yon infant
With rider greeting than a father's kiss.

Adah. Then, why so awful in thy speech?
Cain.

'T were better that he ceased to live, than give Life to so much of sorrow as he must Endure, and, harder still, bequeath; but since That saying jars you, let us only say"Twere better that he never had been born.

I said,

Adah. Oh, do not say so! Where were then the joys,
The mother's joys of watching, nourishing,
And loving him? Soft! he awakes. Sweet Enoch!
[She goes to the child.
Oh Cain! look on him; see how full of life,
Of strength, of bloom, of beauty, and of joy,
How like to me-how like to thee, when gentle,
For then we are all alike; is't not so, Cain?
Mother, and sire, and son, our features are
Reflected in each other; as they are

In the clear waters, when they are gentle, and
When thou art gentle. Love us, then, my Cain!
And love thyself for our sakes, for we love thee.
Look! how he laughs and stretches out his arms,
And opens wide his blue eyes upon thine,
To hail his father; while his little form
Flutters as wing'd with joy. Talk not of pain!
The childless cherubs well might envy thee
The pleasures of a parent! Bless him, Cain!
As yet he hath no words to thank thee, but
His heart will, and thine own too.(1)
Cain.

[dering

Abel. Our sister tells me that thou hast been wanIn high communion with a spirit, far Beyond our wonted range. Was he of those We have seen and spoken with, like to our father? Cain. No.

Abel. Why then commune with him? he may be A foe to the Most High. Cain. And friend to man. Has the Most High been so-if so you term him? Abel. Term him! your words are strange to-day, My sister Adah, leave us for a while [my brother. ¡ We mean to sacrifice.

Abel. Cain.

Nor what thou hast seen?
The dead,

The immortal, the unbounded, the omnipotent,
The overpowering mysteries of space-
The innumerable worlds that were and are-
A whirlwind of such overwhelming things,
Suns, moons, and earths, upon their loud-voiced sphe
Singing in thunder round me, as have made me
Unfit for mortal converse: leave me, Abel.

Abel. Thine eyes are flashing with unnatural light-
Thy cheek is flush'd with an unnatural hue—
Thy words are fraught with an unnatural sound-
What may this mean?

Cain. It means- -I pray thee, leave me Abel. Not till we have pray'd and sacrificed together Cain. Abel, I pray thee, sacrifice aloneJehovah loves thee well.

If that a mortal blessing may avail thee, To save thee from the serpent's curse! Adah.

It shall.

(1) "The third act shows us Cain gloomily lamenting over the future fortunes of his infant son, and notwithstanding all the consolation and entreaties of Adah, who is anxious to soften him to the task of submission and to a participation

The firstlings of the flock, and fat thereof

A shepherd's humble offering.
Cain.

I have no flocks; I am a tiller of the ground, and must Yield what it yieldeth to my toil-its fruit: [He gathers fruits. Behold them in their various bloom and ripeness. [They dress their altars, and kindle a flame upon them.

Abel. My brother, as the elder, offer first Thy prayer and thanksgiving with sacrifice.

Cain. No-I am new to this; lead thou the way, And I will follow-as I may.

Abel (kneeling).

Oh God !

Who made us, and who breathed the breath of life Within our nostrils, who hath blessed us,

And spared, despite our father's sin, to make(1) His children all lost, as they might have been, Jad not thy justice been so temper'd with

Che

mercy which is thy delight, as to

Accord a pardon like a Paradise,

In the first of his flock, whose limbs now reek In sanguinary incense to thy skies;

Or if the sweet and blooming fruits of earth,
And milder seasons, which the unstain'd turf
I spread them on now offers in the face
Of the broad sun which ripen'd them, may seem
Good to thee, inasmuch as they have not
Suffer'd in limb or life, and rather form
A sample of thy works, than supplication
To look on ours! If a shrine without victim,
And altar without gore, may win thy favour,
Look on it! and for him who dresseth it,
He is—such as thou madest him; and seeks nothing
Which must be won by kneeling; if he's evil,
Strike him! thou art omnipotent, and mayst-
For what can he oppose? If he be good,
Strike him, or spare him, as thou wit! since all
Rests upon thee; and good and evil seem
To have no power themselves, save in thy will;
And whether that be good or ill I know not,
Not being omnipotent, nor fit to judge
Omnipotence, but merely to endure

Its mandate; which thus far I have endured.
[The fire upon the altar of ABEL kindles into a
column of the brightest flame, and ascends to
heaven; while a whirlwind throws down the
altar of CAIN, and scatters the fruits abroad
upon the earth.

Abel (kneeling). Oh, brother, pray! Jehovah's wroth
Cain. Why so?

[with thee.
Abel.
Thy fruits are scatter'd on the earth.
Cain. From earth they came, to earth let them

return:

f good, and glory, and eternity;

Without whom all were evil, and with whom

Nothing can err, except to some good end
Of thine omnipotent benevolence-
nscrutable, but still to be fulfill'd-

Accept from out thy humble first of shepherd's
First of the first-born flocks-an offering,
n itself nothing-as what offering can be
Aught unto thee?-but yet accept it for
The thanksgiving of him who spreads it in
The face of thy high heaven, bowing his own
Even to the dust, of which he is, in honour
Of thee, and of thy name, for evermore!

Cain (standing erect during this speech). Spirit!
whate'er or whosoe'er thou art,
Omnipotent, it may be-and, if good,
Shown in the exemption of thy deeds from evil;
Jehovah upon earth! and God in heaven!
And it may be with other names, because
Thine attributes seem many, as thy works:-
If thou must be propitiated with prayers,
Take them! If thou must be induced with altars,
And soften'd with a sacrifice, receive them!
Two beings here erect them unto thee.
If thou lovest blood, the shepherd's shrine, which
On my right hand, hath shed it for thy service

(1) In the MS.

[smokes

"And despised not for our father's sin to make."-L. E.

It is too late.

His pleasure! what was his high pleasure in
The fumes of scorching flesh and smoking blood,
To the pain of the bleating mothers, which
Still yearn for their dead offspring? or the pangs
Of the sad ignorant victims underneath
Thy pious knife? Give way! this bloody record
Shall not stand in the sun, to shame creation!
Abel. Brother, give back! thou shalt not touch my
With violence: if that thou wilt adopt it,
To try another sacrifice, 'tis thine.
Cain. Another sacrifice! Give way, or else
That sacrifice may be-

Abel. Cain.

[altar

What mean'st thon?

Give

Give way!-thy God loves blood!-then look to it.—

[A long pause.-Looking slowly round. Where am I? alone! Where's Abel? where Cain? Can it be that I am he? My brother, Awake!-why liest thou so on the green earth? "Tis not the hour of slumber:-why so pale? What hast thou!- -thou wert full of life this morn! Abel! I pray thee, mock me not! I smote Too fiercely, but not fatally. Ah, why (2) Wouldst thou oppose me? This is mockery; And only done to daunt me:-'twas a blowAnd but a blow. Stir-stir-nay, only stir! Why, so that's well!-thou breath'st! breathe upon Oh, God! Oh, God! [me! Abel (very faintly). What's he who speaks of God? Cain. Thy murderer. Abel. Then may God forgive him! Cain, Comfort poor Zillah:--she has but one brother Now. [ABEL. dies.(3) Cain. And I none!-Who makes me brotherless? His eyes are open! then he is not dead! Death is like sleep; and sleep shuts down our lids. His lips, too, are apart; why then he breathes; And yet I feel it not.-His heart!-his heart!— Let me see, doth it beat? methinks--No!--no! This is a vision, else I am become

The native of another and worse world.

Then what have I further to do with life,
Since I have taken life from my own flesh?
But he can not be dead!-Is silence death?
No: he will wake; then let me watch by him.
Life cannot be so slight, as to be quench'd
Thus quickly!-he hath spoken to me since-
What shall I say to him?-My brother!-No:
He will not answer to that name; for brethren
Smite not each other. Yet-yet-speak to me.
Oh! for a word more of that gentle voice,
That I may bear to hear my own again!

Enter ZILLAB.

Zillah. I heard a heavy sound; what can it be? 'Tis Cain; and watching by my husband. What Dost thou there, brother? Doth he sleep? Oh, Heaven! What means this paleness, and you stream?—No, no It is not blood; for who would shed his blood? Abel! what's this?-who hath done this? He moves not;

He breathes not: and his hands drop down from mine
With stony lifelessness! Ah! cruel Cain!
Why camest thou not in time to save him from
This violence? Whatever hath assail'd him,
Thou wert the stronger, and shouldst have stepp'd i
Between him and aggression? Father!-Eve!-
Adah!-come hither! Death is in the world!

[Exit ZILLAH, calling on her Parents, etc Cain (solus). And who hath brought him there?— I-who abhor

The name of Death so deeply, that the thought
Empoison'd all my life, before I knew
His aspect I have led him here, and given
My brother to his cold and still embrace,
As if he would not have asserted his
Inexorable claim without my aid.

I am awake at last- -a dreary dream
Had madden'd me;-but he shall ne'er awake!

Enter ADAM, EVE, ADAH, and ZILLAB. Adam. A voice of woe from Zillah brings me here. What do I see?-Tis true!-My son!-my son! Woman, behold the serpent's work, and thine!

[To Eve Eve. Oh! speak not of it now: the serpent's fang Are in my heart. My best-beloved, Abel! Jehovah! this is punishment beyond

A mother's sin, to take him from me!
Adam.

Who

(I) "It is evident that Lord Byron had studied his subject very deeply; and, though he has varied a little from, or gone a little beyond, the letter of Scripture, which is very concise, yet he has apparently entered with great exactness into the minds of Cain and Abel in this most interesting scene: and were it allowable to ascribe to the author of a dramatic work the principles or feelings of all or any of his characters, except as adopting them for his particular purpose, one would be at a loss to say, whether Lord Byron ought most to be identified with Cain, or with Abel; so appropriately has he maintained the character of each." Grant's "Notes on Cain," p. 401.-L. E.

(2) In the MS.

"Too hard, but it was not my purpose-why," etc.-L. E. (3) The sacrifices of Abel and Cain follow: the first is accepted, the second rejected by Jehovah. Cain, in wrath, attempts to throw down the altars, is opposed by Abel, and strikes him with a half-burnt brand. As a whole, this scene

Who walks not with Jehovah? or some wild

is heavy and clumsily managed. It can hardly fail to strike the reader as a defect in poetry, no less than a departure fr history, that the event which is the catastrophe of the dram is no otherwise than incidentally, we may say accidentally produced by those which precede it. Cain, whose whole character is represented in Scripture as envious and mali cious, rather than impious;-this Cain, as painted by Lord Byron, has no quarrel with his brother whatever, nor, except in a single word, does he intimate any jealousy of him. Te acts, and half the third, are passed without our advancing single step towards the conclusion; and Abel at length falls by a random blow given in a struggle of which the objecti not his destruction, but the overthrow of Jehovah's altar. we could suppose a reader to sit down to a perusal of the drama in ignorance of its catastrophe, he could scarcely he less surprised by its termination in such a stroke of chance medley, than if Abel had been made to drop down in an ap plexy, or Cain to die of grief over his body." Ileber.-L. E

Breaks through, as from a thunder-cloud! yon brand,
Massy and bloody! snatch'd from off the altar,

And black with smoke, and red with-
Adam.

Speak, my son!
Speak, and assure us, wretched as we are,
That we are not more miserable still.

Adah. Speak, Cain! and say it was not thou!
Eve.

I see it now-he hangs his guilty head,

And covers his ferocious eye with hands
Incarnadine.

Adah. Mother, thou dost him wrong-
Cain! clear thee from this horrible accusal,
Which grief wrings from our parent.
Eve.

It was.

Hear, Jehovah!

May the eternal serpent's curse be on him!
For he was fitter for his seed than ours.
May all his days be desolate! May-
Adah.

Hold!

Adam.

Eve! let not this,
Thy natural grief, lead to impiety!

A heavy doom was long forespoken to us;
And, now that it begins, let it be borne

such sort as may show our God that we

re faithful servants to his holy will.

Eve (pointing to Cain). His will!! the will of yon incarnate spirit

f death, whom I have brought upon the earth
strew it with the dead. May all the curses
f life be on him! and his agonies

rive him forth o'er the wilderness, like us (1)
rom Eden, till his children do by him
she did by his brother! May the swords
ad wings of fiery cherubim pursue him

y day and night-snakes spring up in his path-
arth's fruits be ashes in his mouth-the leaves
which he lays his head to sleep be strew'd
With scorpions! May his dreams be of his victim!
is waking a continual dread of death!
lay the clear rivers turn to blood as he
toops down to stain them with his raging lip!
lay every element shun or change to him!
lay he live in the pangs which others die with!
ad death itself wax something worse than death
him who first acquainted him with man!
lence, fratricide! henceforth that word is Cain,
hrough all the coming myriads of mankind,
Vho shall abhor thee, though thou wert their sire!
lay the grass wither from thy feet! the woods
Jeny thee shelter! earth a home! the dust

A grave! the sun his light! and heaven her God! (2) [Exit Eve. Adam. Cain! get thee forth: we dwell no more Depart! and leave the dead to me--I am [together. Henceforth alone-we never must meet more.

Adah. Oh, part not with him thus, my father: do Add thy deep curse to Eve's upon his head! [not

Adam. I curse him not: his spirit be his curse. Come, Zillah!

Zillah. I must watch my husband's corse.
Adam. We will return again, when he is gone
Who hath provided for us this dread office.
Come, Zillah!

Zillah. Yet one kiss on yon pale clay,
And those lips once so warm-my heart! my heart!
[Exeunt ADAM and ZILLAH, weeping.
Adah. Cain! thou hast heard, we must go forth.

I am ready,

So shall our children be. I will bear Enoch,
And you his sister. Ere the sun declines
Let us depart, nor walk the wilderness
Under the cloud of night.-Nay, speak to me.
To me-thine own.

Cain.

Adah.

Leave me!

Why, all have left thee.
Cain. And wherefore lingerest thou? Dost thou
To dwell with one who hath done this?
[not fear
Adah.
I fear

Nothing except to leave thee, much as I
Shrink from the deed which leaves thee brotherless.
I must not speak of this-it is between thee
And the great God.

A Voice from within exclaims, Cain! Cain!
Adah.
Hear'st thou that voice?

The Voice within. Cain! Cain!
Adah.

It soundeth like an angel's tone.
Enter the ANGEL of the Lord.

Angel. Where is thy brother Abel?
Cain.

My brother's keeper?

Angel.

Am I then

Cain! what hast thou done? The voice of thy slain brother's blood cries out, Even from the ground, unto the Lord!-Now art thou Cursed from the earth, which open'd late her mouth To drink thy brother's blood from thy rash hand. Henceforth, when thou shalt till the ground, it shall Yield thee her strength; a fugitive shalt thou Be from this day, and vagabond on earth!

[not

Adah. This punishment is more than he can bear.
Behold, thou drivest him from the face of earth,
And from the face of God shall he be hid.
A fugitive and vagabond on earth,
'Twill come to pass, that whoso findeth him
Shall slay him.
Cain.
Would they could! but who are they
Shall slay me? Where are these on the lone earth,
As yet unpeopled?

Angel.
Thou hast slain thy brother,
And who shall warrant thee against thy son?
Adah. Angel of Light! be merciful, nor say
That this poor aching breast now nourishes

for you, when joined to the lines already sent, as you may wish to meet with in the course of your business. But don't forget the addition of these three lines, which are clinchers to Eve's speech. Let me know what Gifford thinks, for I have a good opinion of the piece, as poetry; it is in my gay metaphysical style, and in the Manfred line."-L. E.