And cannot ye both reign then?—is there not

Enough? why should ye differ?

LUCIFER.

We both reign.

CAIN.

But one of you makes evil.

LUCIFER.

Which?

CAIN.

Thou! for

If thou canst do man good, why dost thou not?

LUCIFER.

And why not he who made? I made ye not;
Ye are his creatures, and not mine.

CAIN.

Then leave us

His creatures, as thou say'st we are, or show me

Thy dwelling, or his dwelling.

LUCIFER.

I could show thee

Both; but the time will come thou shalt see one

Of them for evermore.

CAIN.

And why not now?

LUCIFER.

Thy human mind hath scarcely grasp to gather
The little I have shown thee into calm

And clear thought; and thou wouldst go on aspiring
To the great double Mysteries! the two Principles!
And gaze upon them on their secret thrones!
Dust! limit thy ambition, for to see
Either of these, would be for thee to perish!

CAIN.

And let me perish, so I see them!

LUCIFER.

There

The son of her who snatch'd the apple spake !

But thou wouldst only perish, and not see them; That sight is for the other state.

CAIN.

Of death?

97

That is the prelude.

LUCIFER.

CAIN.

Then I dread it less,

Now that I know it leads to something definite.

LUCIFER.

And now I will convey thee to thy world,
Where thou shalt multiply the race of Adam,

Eat, drink, toil, tremble, laugh, weep, sleep, and

die.

CAIN.

And to what end have I beheld these things

Which thou hast shown me?

LUCIFER.

Didst thou not require

Knowledge? And have I not, in what I show'd,
Taught thee to know thyself?

Nothing.

CAIN.

Alas! I seem

LUCIFER.

And this should be the human sum

Of knowledge, to know mortal nature's nothing

ness;

Bequeath that science to thy children, and "Twill spare them many tortures.

No! By heaven, which He

Holds, and the abyss, and the immensity

Of worlds and life, which I hold with him-No!
I have a victor-true; but no superior.
Homage he has from all-but none from me:
I battle it against him, as I battled

In highest heaven. Through all eternity,
And the unfathomable gulfs of Hades,

And the interminable realms of space,
And the infinity of endless ages,

All, all, will I dispute! And world by world,
And star by star, and universe by universe
Shall tremble in the balance, till the great
Conflict shall cease, if ever it shall cease,
Which it ne'er shall, till he or I be quench'd!
And what can quench our immortality,

Or mutual and irrevocable hate?

He as a conqueror will call the conquer'd
Evil; but what will be the good he gives?
Were I the victor, his works would be deem'd

The only evil ones. And

you, ye new

And scarce-born mortals, what have been his gifts To you already in your little world?

CAIN.

But few; and some of those but bitter.

LUCIFER.

Back

With

me, then, to thine earth, and try the rest
Of his celestial boons to ye and yours.
Evil and good are things in their own essence,
And not made good or evil by the giver;
But if he gives you good-so call him; if
Evil springs from him, do not name it mine,
Till ye know better its true fount; and judge
Not by words, though of spirits, but the fruits
Of
your existence, such as it must be.
One good gift has the fatal apple given—
Your reason:-let it not be over-sway'd
By tyrannous threats to force you into faith