Scene II

(The Garden of Eden. In the centre, the tree of knowledge and the tree of life. Adam and Eve walking, surrounded by all kinds of animals, following them in affectionate confidence. A halo shines through the open gate of Heaven, and the soft harmonies of the celestial choirs are heard. Bright daylight.)

EVE.
To live, to live! how glorious, how sweet!
ADAM.
And to be lord of all one's eyes can meet.

EVE.
To feel above us all this loving care,
And for it all, but breathe our grateful prayer
To him who gave these joys.

ADAM.
I see thy lot
Dependence is — I thirst, Eve, see'st thou not
Those tempting fruits?

EVE.
I'll pluck of them for thee.

THE LORD.
Abstain, abstain! All earth by my decree
Is yours, but those two trees, placed here by me ;
For evil lies in their enticing fruit,
And bitter death is their one attribute.
Sweet grapes are beck'ning thee from yonder vines.
Now when the midday sun most sultry shines
The cool and shady bower invites to rest.

ADAM.
A strange command, but grave seems the behest.

EVE.
Why fairer than the rest, should be these trees?
Since all he gave, why are forbidden these?

ADAM.
Why green the grass, why blue the Heaven above?
Heed we the mandate; follow me, my love.
(They enter a bower.)
EVE.

Lean on my breast, and I will fan thee, dear.
(A violent gust of wind. Lucifer appears amid the foliage.)

ADAM.
O woman, that strange sound did'st thou not hear?
Unknown before, as if some hostile power
O'er us did break?

EVE.
In trembling fear, I cower.
Mute have become the heavenly harmonies.
ADAM.
Here on thy breast, I seem to hear e'en these.

EVE.
And if obscured, the radiance on high,
I'd think, my love, to see it in thine eye.
How could I find it elsewhere, but in thee,
Whose warm desire hath e'en begotten me?
Just as the royal sun, with playful grace,
Who mirrors on the waves his radiant face, —
Forgets in generous mood that which was done,
That he might not forever be alone, —
His own work was ; and when his own rays fade.
The image fair dissolves, which he has made.

ADAM.
O speak not so, Eve, shame not thus mine ear!
For where were sound, if there were none to hear?
Where were the rays, if not in glowing hues
They fell? And I, did I not thus diffuse,
Like tone and flower, my being too in thee,
In whom my other self I loving see?

(A bird sings in a neighboring tree.)

EVE.
Adam, dost understand what it doth sing —
The love song of that foolish little thing?

ADAM.
And I was list'ning to the brooklet's song —
The selfsame lay,— as it did flow along.

LUCIFER.
Why do I wait? The deed that I have vowed,
To-day I'll carry out. I am not cowed ;
And yet, I hesitate; myself I ask,
Will it fulfill my chosen hellish task?
Will their desire for knowledge, by its stress,
Have power to rob them of their happiness?
Between them and my plans, their hearts' true love
Stands as a guard, a gift from Him above.
And yet, why fear? Who dares, succeeds alway.
(Another gust of wind. Lucifer appears before the)
terrified human pair. Phe nimbus is obscured.
Lucifer laughs.)

LUCIFER.
At what are ye amazed?

(To Eve, who is about to run away.)

Fair woman, stay !
One moment let me gaze upon thy charms.

(Eve stops, by degrees gaining confidence.)
(Aside.) This type will be a million times renewed.
(Aloud.) Thou'rt frightened, Adam?

ADAM.
By thee, thou monster vile!

LUCIFER (Aside).
A fine progenitor for proud mankind!
(Aloud.) I give thee greeting, brother spirit.

ADAM.
Who
Art thou? From above, or from below,
Dost come?

LUCIFER.
As thou wilt; to us it is the same.
ADAM.
I thought that we alone did here abide.

LUCIFER.
Hoho! much else there is, thou knowest not,
And ne'er wilt know. Think'st thou perhaps, for this,
The holy sire created thee from dust,
That he might share his realm with thee alone?
Thou praisest him ; he holds thee in his hand ;
This, to avoid, commanding; that, to fear.
He guides and leads thee as he would a lamb,
So that of reason thou hast never need.

ADAM.
Do I not think? have I not consciousness?
No feeling for the blessed sunshine's ray,
The sweetness and the bliss of living too,
The great and boundless mercy of my God,
Who maketh me a god here on the earth?

LUCIFER.
Such consciousness the little worm might feel ;
The little worm that eateth of thy fruits ;
The eagle, too, that snatches the tiny bird.
What elevates thee, then, above all these?
'Tis but a spark that lies within thy breast,
The feeble flutt'ring of an endless power ;
Like waves, that, for a moment, light the stream,
Then lose themselves again in ocean's gray
And misty depths. Yes, thought, perhaps might be,
That dormant lies within thy breast; knowledge
To thee, it might bring, of thyself to judge
'Twixt good and ill, that thy fate thou might'st guide,
And throw aside the Providence above. —
Perhaps for thee, 't were better, like the dung-worm,
To thrive within thy tiny sphere, there soft
Embedded lie, and without knowledge wear
Thy life away. To rest in our belief
Is sweet; but hard, though noble 'tis to stand
Alone.

ADAM.
These great thoughts make my brain to reel.
EVE.
Their beauty and their novelty inspire me.

LUCIFER.
But knowledge of itself, were not enough:
Our great thoughts to embody, there must be
Immortality. What can this span
Of human life achieve? — In these two trees,
These wondrous powers are hidden, but forbidden
By him who brought them forth. Of that, if thou
Dost eat, thou wilt become as wise as God;
And this will bless thee with eternal youth.

EVE.
Cruel indeed is he who did create us!
ADAM.
But if thou dost deceive?

(The nimbus becomes brighter.)

CELESTIAL CHOIR.
Woe to thee, world, beware!
Negation old is tempting thee!

THE LORD.
O man, beware, beware!
ADAM.
That voice again I hear! Ah, me!

LUCIFER.
The branches swaying in air !

Mankind to gain,
For our dark reign,
Ghosts of my train,
Your help now deign!

(A gust of wind. The rainbow is obscured.)
— These trees are mine.
ADAM.
And who art thou, who seemest of our kind?

LUCIFER.
Yon eagle see, as 'mid the clouds he soars;
The mole, as blind within the earth he graves ;
Each one, to his own vision limited.
So hovers far beyond thy view, the realm
Of souls, and man to thee, the highest seems.
The dog's ideal too, is but a dog,
Who honored feels in his companionship ;
But e'en as thou upon him lookest down,
So too, we proud ones of the spirit world,
Look down upon the creatures of the earth.

ADAM.
So then, of that proud kingdom, thou art one?

LUCIFER.
Yes, and 'mong the great ones, mightiest;
Who by the Lord's throne, once did stand, sharing
In all his greatest glory there.

ADAM.
Why then.
In that most glorious Heaven didst thou not stay?
Why cam'st among us, to this world of dust?

LUCIFER.
It galled me, there to hold the second place;
That life, monotonous and regular,
Did fill me with disgust, with the insipid
Childish descant of the heavenly choir,
Praising eternally, both good and bad.
I long for strife, disharmony ; new powers,
New worlds, wherein my soul, alone, its greatness
Finds, and whither the bold may follow me.

ADAM.
Our God hath said that he will punish us,
If other paths than his, we choose to tread.

EVE.
Why punish? Surely, if the path which we
Must tread, he hath marked out, hath he not also
So created us, that we might never
Be drawn away by evil tendencies?
For why, beside a deep abyss, should he
Have placed us, our destruction planning thus?
And e'en if error in his plan have part,
Like tempests, breaking o'er the fairest day ;
Who then would say, that in the driving storm
More evil lay, than in the sunshine's warmth?

LUCIFER.
Behold! The first philosopher appears.
The long line after thee, my sister fair,
In full a million ways will teach the same;
Many will be, whose road to madness leads,
And many retreat, affright; none reach the goal.
So give your reasoning o'er, for ev'rything
Contains so many shades, that he who long
Contemplates them, knows in the end far less
Than at the first swift glance, and reaches ne'er
The goal ; for reasoning is action's death.

EVE.
To pluck the fruit then I am free?
ADAM.
The curse of God is on the tree !

(Lucifer laughs.)

But pluck it, bring it weal or woe.
Like God, we all things fain would know ;
(From the tree of knowledge Eve plucks an apple, first tasting it herself, then giving it to Adam.)

EVE.
Forever young to be !

LUCIFER.
Be quick, come, follow me!
The fruit of yonder tree,
Gives immortality.

(He leads them to the other tree, where a cherub, with flaming sword, guards the way.)

CHERUB.
Sinners, begone! Ye have betrayed His trust.

THE LORD.
Adam, Adam, thou hast forsaken me;
To thine own weakness, I abandon thee.
EVE.
Woe unto us, we're lost! It is unjust.

LUCIFER.
Are ye afraid?

ADAM.
No, no. I only shake
The thraldom off, and now I am awake.
Away, my spouse ; let's go, whitherso'er !
This place is strange become, gloomy and bare.

CELESTIAL CHOIR.
Victorious lie its banner hath unfurled.
Bemoan our brother's fall ; lost is the world !