ft is not blood; for who would shed his blood ?
•^bel! what's this ? — who hath done this ?moves not;
breathes not: and his hands drop downmine
Wit-h stony lifelessness ? Ah! cruel Cain!
**i«y cam’st thou not in time to save him fromr j,hi 3 violence ? Whatever hath assailed him,
*hou wert the stronger, and shouldst have stepped
^tyeen him and aggression ! Father!—Eve!
■^da!—come hither! Death is in the world!
{Exit Zillah , calling on her Parents , dec.Cain (solus). And who hath brought him there ?—p, I—who abhor
£he name of Death so deeply, that the thought^“poison'd all my life, before I knewJJis aspect—I have led him here, and giv’n% brother to his cold and still embrace,
As if he would not have asserted hisinexorable claim without my aid.awake at last—a dreary dreammadden’d me; but he shall ne’er awake.
Enter ADAM, EYE, ADAH, and ZILLAH.
Adam. A voice of woe from Zillah brings mehere.—
What do I see ?—’Tis true!—My eon!—my son!Woman, behold the serpent's work, and thine! {ToEve.
Eve. Oh! speak not of it now; the serpent’s fangsAre in my heart. My best beloved, Abel!
“ e hovah! this is punishment beyondA mother's sin, to take him from me!
Adam. "Who,
Of what hath done this deed?—speak, Cain, gincethou
Wert present; was it some more hostile angel,
Who walks not with Jehovah ? or some wildBrute of the forest?
Eve. Ah! a livid light
Breaks through, as from a thunder-cloud! yonbrand,
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,
Ihat we are not more miserable still.
Adah. Speak, Cain! and say it was not thou!
Eve. It was. J see it now: he hangs his guilty. head,
^*nd covers his ferocious eye with handstbcamadine.
Adah. Mother, thou dost him wrong—
-mi clear thee from this horrible accusal,v nich grief wrings from our parent..
Hear, Jehovah!
May the eternal serpent’s curse be on him!
^ or he was fitter for his seed than ours.
May all his days be desolate. May-
0 A dah. Hold!
Marse him not, mother, for he is thy son—urse him not, mother, for he is my brother,
And my betroth’d.
2 ;;^ f' He hath left thee no brother—
j a “ n o husband—me no son! —for thus* i, u £ se “ini from my sight for evermore!
Th of pi 8 . * **reak between us! as he broke
Whv°Vfl nature, in yon-Oh death! death!
y must thou not take me t who first incurr’d
Why dost thou'uot so now ?
159 '
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 borneIn such sort as may show our God , that weAre faithful servants to His holy will.
Eve ( pointing to Cain). His Kill? the will of yonincarnate spirit
Of death, whom I have brought upon the earthTo strew it with the dead. May all the cursesOf life be on him! and hiB agoniesDrive him forth, o’er the wilderness, like usFrom Eden, till his children do by himAs he did by his brother! May the swordsAnd wiDgs of fiery cherubim pursue himBy day and night—snakes spring up in his path--Earth ’s fruits be ashes in his mouth—the leavesOn which he lays his head to sleep be strew’dWith scorpions! May hfs dreams be of his victim!His waking a continual dread of death!
May the clear rivers turn to blood, as heStoops down to stain them with his raging lip!
May every element shun or change to him!
May he live in the pangs which others die with!And death itself wax something worse than deathTo him who first acquainted him with man !
Hence, fratricide! henceforth that word is Cain ,Through all the coming myriads of mankind,
Who shall abhor thee, though thou wert their sire!May the grass wither from thy feet! the woodsDeny thee shelter ! earth a home! the dustA grave! the sun his light \ and heaven her God !
[Exit Eve.
Adam. Cain! get thee forth; we dwell no moretogether.
Depart! and leave the dead to me-1 am
Henceforth alone—we never must meet more.
Adah. Oh, part not with him thus, my father: donot
Add thy deep curse to Eve’s upon his head!
Adam. I curse him not; his spirit be his curse.Come, Zillah!
ZiUah. I must watch my husband’s corse.
Adam. We will return again, when he is goneWho 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.1 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 wildernessUnder the cloud of night. Nay, speak to me—
To me—thine own.
Cain. Leave me!
Adah. Why, all have left thee.
Cain. And wherefore lingerest thou? Dost thounot fear
To dwell with one who hath done this?
Adah. I fear
Nothing except to leave thee, much as IShrink from the deed which leaves thee brotherless.1 must not speak of this—it is between theeAnd the great God .
A Voice from wtthin exclaims , Cain! Cain!
Adah. Hear’st thou that voice?
The Voice within. Cain! Cain 1
Adah. It soundeth like an angel's tone.
CAIN.
Hefrom