SCENE VIII.

I SRAPHIL , A ZOARA , O RAZIEL , A STARTE , I RAD

ISRAPHIL .

Oraziel!
The portent is revealed.

AZOARA .

Unfold it.

ISRAPHIL .

I
Gazed from the heights of Hermon; on the verge
Of angels' ken, I saw the fiery plague,
The star of wrath recoiling its fierce way
To wreak its vials here.

ASTARTE .

God! may this be?
It is our conscious fear; earth is corrupt,

SCENE VII

I RAD , O RAZIEL , A STARTE .

IRAD .

Astarte,
Reposing on an angel's bosom?

ASTARTE .

Irad!
Nay, hide me from his gaze. Let me depart.

IRAD .

Astarte! it is I will leave thee. Stay;
Thou little knowest of this heart to deem
I could reproach thee now, its hope extinct.
Nor passion nor resistance has despair;
Resigned beneath calamity, it seems
Like patience, while within — but fare thee well!

SCENE VI.

WOODS OF MOUNT HERMON.

O RAZIEL , A STARTE

ORAZIEL .

Here let me feel the life I draw from thine.
The hours lie before us, the bright hours,
Prophets of joy unproved, are all our own.
Thou art my life of immortality;
I live in thee, or rather I forget
Existence in thy presence; what is time,
Or life, beside? Visions absorbed in thee.

ASTARTE .

If Irad come.

ORAZIEL .

SCENE V.

N OAH , H AMMON , I RAD .

NOAH .

My son! why loiterest thou, wasting here
Our Sabbath-rest devoted to the Lord?
The day is spent, our offerings unpiled;
Art thou infected with the sloth that dooms
This generation's punishment?

HAMMON .

My father!
I am thine own; the speech of Irad dwelt
Upon earth's changes, and the sin —

NOAH .

My son!

SCENE IV.

IRAD; HAMMON .

HAMMON .

Brother! I sought thee. Turnest thou away
To commune with the airs that answer not?
Thy grief is vain.

IRAD .

Therefore I cling to it.

HAMMON .

In sharing ills the bosom is relieved

IRAD .

When in confession the heart feels relief;
I have outlived hope till I cease to feel
The weight of life.

HAMMON .

SCENE III.

MOUNT HERMON. — SUNSET.

IRAD .

How motionless the time and scene! earth lies
Basking beneath broad heaven, feeling the life
Existent between her and yonder sun.
The dews, her respirations, float above her,
Folding as with a mantle, from the gaze
Of his too ardent eye, while in her deep
And silent gladness she doth feel his rays
Inspiring her as with a living soul
Watcher of life! all-seeing, fount of light!
Thou sittest there even as a visible god,

SCENE II.

A ZOARA ; A STARTE .

AZOARA .

My sister! listening to the Adamite,
In tears? nay, then, his tongue was eloquent,
If unsuccessful.

ASTARTE .

Thy light laugh is vain;
I feel the heart returns to its first love:
I cannot give that love again to Irad;
I dare not take it from another.

AZOARA .

Live,
As Lillah lives with Hammon Toil and spin,
Tend children, flocks, and herds; shut up thy soul

SCENE I

DESERTS OF MOUNT HERMON

IRAD .

Ay, this is loneliness, no life is here;
The black woods frown on me as if I were
The first to break their solemn solitudes,
Talking of human griefs. Methinks rebuke
Looks from their brows, that Nature answers me;
Voices of love and wrath alike are hers,
And I have felt silent communion
While dwelling on her face.
I may confess
My bosom here, unheard; what hath love taught me?

Even then ere loath their hands could part
A promise the youth gave which bore
Some balm unto the maiden's heart,
That, soon as the fierce fight was o'er,
To home he'd speed, if safe and free —
Nay, even if dying, still would come,
So the blest word of " Victory! "
Might be the last he'd breathe at home.
" By day, " he cried, " thou 'lt know my bark;
" But should I come thro' midnight dark,
" A blue light on the prow shall tell

As once a Grecian maiden wove
Her garland mid the summer bowers,
There stood a youth with eyes of love
To watch her while she wreathed the flowers.
The youth was skilled in Painting's art,
But ne'er had studied woman's brow,
Nor knew what magic hues the heart
Can shed o'er Nature's charms till now.

CHORUS .

Blest be Love to whom we owe