The thought which is within me and around me, (A star is seen at the darker end of the gallery ; it is FIRST SPIRIT. Mortal! to thy bidding bow'd, Voice of the SECond spirit. Mont Blanc is the monarch of mountains, On a throne of rocks, in a robe of clouds, Around his waist are forests braced, I am the spirit of the place, Could make the mountain bow And quiver to his cavern'd base And what with me would'st Thou? Voice of the THird spirit. In the blue depth of the waters, Her green hair with shells, O'er 'my calm hall of coral FOURTH SPIRIT. Where the slumbering earthquake Lies pillow'd on fire, And the lakes of bitumen Rise boilingly higher; Where the roots of the Andes Strike deep in the earth, I have quitted my birth-place, Thy spell hath subdued me, FIFTH SPIRIT. I am the rider of the wind, Is yet with lightning warm; To speed to thee, o'er shore and sea The fleet I met sailed well, and yet SIXTH SPIRIT. My dwelling is the shadow of the night, SEVENTH SPIRIT. The star which rules thy destiny, And thou, beneath its influence born- Where these weak spirits round thee bend What would'st thou, Child of Clay! with me? THE SEVEN SPIRITS. Earth, ocean, air, night, mountains, winds, thy star, Forgetfulness MANFRED. FIRST SPIRIT. Of what-of whom-and why? MANFRED. Of that which is within me; read it there- SPIRIT. We can but give thee that which we possess : MANFRED. 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; MANFRED. Will Death bestow it on me? SPIRIT. We are immortal, and do not forge; We are eternal; and to us the past Is, as the future, present. Art thou answered? MANFRED. Ye mock me but the power which brought ye here And shall not yield to yours, though coop'd in clay! SPIRIT. We answer as we answered; our reply MANFRED. Why say ye so? SPIRIT. If, as thou say'st, thine essence be as ours, What we possess we offer; it is thine : Bethink ere thou dismiss us; ask again Kingdom, and sway, and strength, and length of days |