The Earth, near Eden, as in ACT I.

Enter Cain and Adah.

ADAH

Hush! tread softly, Cain!

CAIN

I will — but wherefore?

ADAH

Our little Enoch sleeps upon yon bed

Of leaves, beneath the cypress.

CAIN

Cypress! 'Tis

A gloomy tree, which looks as if it mourned

O'er what it shadows; wherefore didst thou choose it

For our child's canopy?

ADAH

Because its branches

Shut out the sun like Night, and therefore seemed

Fitting to shadow slumber.

CAIN

Aye, the last —

And longest; but no matter — lead me to him.

They go up to the child.

How lovely he appears! his little cheeks,

In their pure incarnation, vying with

The rose leaves strewn beneath them.

ADAH

And his lips, too,

How beautifully parted! No; you shall not

Kiss him, at least not now: he will awake soon —

His hour of mid-day rest is nearly over;

But it were pity to disturb him till

'Tis closed.

CAIN

You have said well; I will contain

My heart till then. He smiles, and sleeps! — sleep on,

And smile, thou little, young inheritor

Of a world scare less young: sleep on, and smile!

Thine are the hours and days when both are cheering

And innocent! thou hast not plucked the fruit —

Thou know'st not thou art naked! Must the time

Come thou shalt be amerced for Sins unknown,

Which were not thine nor mine? But now sleep on!

His cheeks are reddening into deeper smiles,

And shining lids are trembling o'er his long

Lashes, dark as the cypress which waves o'er them;

Half open, from beneath them the clear blue

Laughs out, although in slumber. He must dream —

Of what? Of Paradise! — Aye!dream of it,

My disinherited boy! 'Tis but a dream;

For never more thyself, thy sons, nor fathers,

Shall walk in that forbidden place of joy!

ADAH

Dear Cain! Nay, do not whisper o'er our son

Such melancholy yearnings o'er the past:

Why wilt thou always mourn for Paradise?

Can we not make another?

CAIN

Where?

ADAH

Here, or

Where'er thou wilt: where'er thou art, I feel not

The want of this so much regretted Eden.

Have I not thee — our boy — our sire, and brother,

And Zillah — our sweet sister, and our Eve,

To whom we own so much besides our birth?

CAIN

Yes — Death, too, is among the debts we owe her.

ADAH

CAIN! that proud Spirit, who withdrew thee hence,

Hath saddened thine still deeper. I had hoped

The promised wonders which thou hast beheld,

Visions, thou say'st, of past and present worlds,

Would have composed thy mind into the calm

Of a contented knowledge; but I see

Thy guide hath done thee evil: still I thank him,

And can forgive him all, that he so soon

Hath given thee back to us.

CAIN

So soon?

ADAH

'Tis scarcely

Two hours since ye departed: two long-years

To me, but only lioureupon the sun.

CAIN

And yet I have approached that sun, and seen

Worlds which he once shone on, and never more

Shall light; and worlds he never lit: methought

Years had rolled o'er my absence.

ADAH

Hardly hours.

CAIN

The mind then hath capacity of time,

And measures it by that which it beholds,

Pleasing or painful; little or almighty.

I had beheld the immemorial works

Of endless beings; skirred extinguished worlds;

And, gazing on Eternity, methought

I'd borrowed more by a few drops of ages

From its immensity: but now I feel

My littleness again. Well said the Spirit,

That I was nothing!

ADAH

Wherefore said he so?

Jehovah said not that.

CAIN

No: he contents him

With making us the noth ing which we are;

And after flattering dust with glimpses of

Eden and Immortality, resolves

It back to dust again — for what?

ADAH

Thou know'st —

EVEn for our parents' error.

CAIN

What is that

To us? they sinned, then let them die!

ADAH

Thou hast not spoken well, nor is that thought

Thy own, but of the Spirit who was with thee.

Would I could die for them, so they might live!

CAIN

Why, so say I — provided that one victim

Might satiate the Insatiable of life,

And that our little rosy sleeper there

Might never taste of Death nor human sorrow,

Nor hand it down to those who spring from him.

ADAH

How know we that some such atonementone day

May not redeem our race?

CAIN

By sacrificing

The harmless for the guilty? what atonement

Were there? Why, we are innocent: what have we

Done, that we must be victims for a deed

Before our birth, or need have victims to

Atone for this mysterious, nameless Sin —

If it be such a Sin to seek for knowledge?

ADAH

Alas! thou sinnest now, my Cain: thy words

Sound impious in mine ears.

CAIN

Then leave me!

ADAH

Never!

Though thy God left thee.

CAIN

Say, what have we here?

ADAH

Two altars, which our brother Abel made

During thine absence, whereupon to offer

A sacrifice to God on thy return.

CAIN

And how knew he, that I would be so ready

With the burnt offerings, which he daily brings

With a meek brow, whose base humility

Shows more of fear than worship — as a bribe

To the Creator?

ADAH

Surely, 'tis well done.

CAIN

One altar may suffice; I have no offering.

ADAH

The fruits of the earth, the early, beautiful,

Blossom and bud — and bloom of flowers and fruits —

These are a goodly offering to the Lord,

Given with a gentle and a contrite Spirit.

CAIN

I've toiled, and tilled, and sweaten in the sun,

According to the curse — must I domore?

For what should I be gentle? for a war

With all the elements ere they will yield

The bread we eat? For what must I be grateful?

For being dust, and grovelling in the dust,

Till I return to dust? If I am nothing —

For nothing shall I be an hypocrite,

And seem well-pleased with pain? For what should I

Be contrite? for my father's Sin, already

Expiate with what we all have undergone,

And to be more than expiated by

The ages prophesied, upon our seed.

Little deems our young blooming sleeper, there,

The germs of an eternal misery

To myriads is within him! better 'twere

I snatched him in his sleep, and dashed him 'gainst

The rocks, than let him live to —

ADAH

Oh, my God!

Touch not the child — my child! thy child! Oh, Cain!

CAIN

Fear not! for all the stars, and all the power

Which sways them I would not accost yon infant

With ruder greeting than a father's kiss.

ADAH

Then, why so awful in thy speech?

CAIN

I said,

'Twere better that he ceased to live, than give

Life to so much of sorrow as he must

Endure, and, harder still, bequeath; but since

That saying jars you, let us only say —

'Twere better that he never had been born.

ADAH

Oh, do not say so! Where were then the joys,

The mother's joys of watching, nourishing,

And loving him? Soft! he awakes. Sweet Enoch!

She goes to the child.

Oh, Cain! look on him; see how full of life,

Of strength, of bloom, of beauty, and of joy—

How like to me — how like to thee, when gentle —

For then we are all alike; is't not so, Cain?

Mother, and sire, and son, our features are

Reflected in each other; as they are

In the clear water, when they are gentle, and

When thou art gentle . Love us, then, my Cain!

And love thyself for our sakes, for we love thee.

Look! how he laughs and stretches out his arms,

And opens wide his blue eyes upon thine,

To hail his father; while his little form

Flutters as winged with joy. Talk not of pain!

The childless Cherubs wellmight envy thee

The pleasures of a parent! Bless him, Cain!

As yet he hath no words to thank thee, but

His heart will, and thine own too.

CAIN

Bless thee, boy!

If that a mortal blessing may avail thee,

To save thee from the Serpent's curse!

ADAH

It shall.

Surely a father's blessing may avert

A reptile's subtlety.

CAIN

Of that I doubt;

But bless him ne'er the less.

ADAH

Our brother comes.

CAIN

Thy brother Abel.

EnterAbel.

ABEL

Welcome, Cain! My brother,

The peace of God be on thee!

CAIN

Abel, hail!

ABEL

Our sister tells me that thou hast been wandering,

In high communion with a Spirit, far

Beyond our wonted range. Was he of those

We have seen and spoken with, like to our father?

CAIN

No.

ABEL

Why then commune with him? he may be

A foe to the Most High.

CAIN

And friend to man.

Has the Most High been so — if so you term him?

ABEL

Term him! your words are strange today, my brother.

My sister Adah, leave us for awhile —

We mean to sacrifice.

ADAH

Farewell, my Cain;

But first embrace thy son. May his soft Spirit,

And Abel's pious ministry, recall thee

To peace and holiness!

Exit Adah, with her child.

ABEL

Where hast thou been?

CAIN

I know not.

ABEL

Nor whatthou hast seen?

CAIN

The dead —

The Immortal — the Unbounded — the Omnipotent —

The overpowering mysteries of space —

The innumerable worlds that were and are —

A whirlwind of such overwhelming things,

Suns, moons, and Earth, upon their loud-voiced spheres

Singing in thunder round me, as have made me

Unfit for mortal converse: leave me, Abel.

ABEL

Thine eyes are flashing with unnatural light —

Thy cheek is flushed with an unnatural hue —

Thy words are fraught with an unnatural sound —

What may this mean?

CAIN

It means — I pray thee, leave me.

ABEL

Not till we have prayed and sacrificed together.

CAIN

ABEL, I pray thee, sacrifice alone —

Jehovah loves thee well.

ABEL

Bothwell, I hope.

CAIN

But thee the better: I care not for that;

Thou art fitter for his worship than I am;

Revere him, then — but let it be alone —

At least, without me.

ABEL

Brother, I should ill

Deserve the name of our great father's son,

If, as my elder, I revered thee not,

And in the worship of our God, called not

On thee to join me, and precede me in

Our priesthood — 'tis thy place.

CAIN

But I have ne'er

Asserted it.

ABEL

The more my grief; I pray thee

To do so now: thy soul seems labouring in

Some strong delusion; it will calm thee.

CAIN

No;

Nothing can calm me more. Calm! say I? Never

Knew I what calm was in the soul, although

I have seen the elements stilled. My Abel, leave me!

Or let me leave thee to thy pious purpose.

ABEL

Neither; wemust perform our task together.

Spurn me not.

CAIN

If it must be so — well, then,

What shall Ido?

ABEL

Choose one of those two altars.

CAIN

Choose for me: they to me are so much turf

And stone.

ABEL

Choose thou!

CAIN

I have chosen.

ABEL

'Tis the highest,

And suits thee, as the elder. Now prepare

Thine offerings.

CAIN

Where are thine?

ABEL

Behold them here —

The firstlings of the flock, and fat thereof—

A shepherd's humble offering.

CAIN

I have no flocks;

I am a tiller of the ground, and must

Yield what it yieldeth to my toil — its fruit;

He gathers fruits.

Behold them in their various bloom and ripeness.

They dress their altars, and kindle aflame upon them.

ABEL

My brother, as the elder, offer first

Thy prayer and thanksgiving with sacrifice.

CAIN

No — I am new tothis; lead thou the way,

And I will follow — as I may.

ABEL

(kneeling) Oh, God!

Who made us, and who breathed the breath of life

Within our nostrils, who hath blessed us,

And spared, despite our father's Sin, to make

His children all lost, as they might have been,

Had not thy justice been so tempered with

The mercy which is thy delight, as to

Accord a pardon like a Paradise,

Compared with our great crimes — Sole Lord of light!

Of good, and glory, and Eternity!

Without whom all were evil, and with whom

Nothing can err, except to some good end

Of thine omnipotent benevolence!

Inscrutable, but still to be fulfilled!

Accept from out thy humble first of shepherds'

First of the first-born flocks — an offering,

In itself nothing — as what offering can be

Aught unto thee? — but yet accept it for

The thanksgiving of him who spreads it in

The face of thy high Heaven — bowing his own

EVEn tothe dust, of which he is — in honour

Of thee, and of thy name, for evermore!

CAIN

(standing erect during this speech)

Spirit whate'er or whose'er thou art,

Omnipotent, it may be — and, if good,

Shown in the exemption of thy deeds from evil;

Jehovah upon Earth! and God in Heaven!

And it may be with other names, because

Thine attributes seem many, as thy works —

If thou must be propitiated with prayers,

Take them! If thou must be induced with altars,

And softened with a sacrifice, receive them;

Two beings here erect them unto thee.

If thou lov'st blood, the shepherd's shrine, which smokes

On my right hand, hath shed it for thy service

In the first of his flock, whose limbs now reek

In sanguinary incense to thyskies;

Or, if the sweet and blooming fruits of earth,

And milder seasons, which the unstained turf

I spread them on now offersin the face

Of the broad sun which ripened them, may seem

Good to thee — inasmuch as they have not

Suffered in limb or life — and rather form

A sample of thy works, than supplication

To look on ours! If a shrine without victim,

And altar without gore, may win thy favour,

Look on it! and for him who dresseth it,

He is — such as thou mad'st him; and seeks nothing

Which must be won by prayers — if he be evil,

Strike him! thou art omnipotent, and may'st —

For what can he oppose? If he be good,

Strike him! or spare him, as thou wilt! since all

Rests upon thee; and Good and Evil seem

To have no power themselves, save in thy will —

And whether that be good or ill I know not,

Not being omnipotent, nor fit to judge

Omnipotence — but merely to endure

Its mandate; which thus far I have endured.

The fire upon the altar of ABEL kindles

into a column of the brightest flame, and ascends to Heaven;

while a whirlwind throws down the altar of CAIN,

and scatters the fruits abroad upon the earth.

ABEL

(kneeling) Oh, brother, pray! Jehovah's wroth with thee!

CAIN

Why so?

ABEL

Thy fruits are scattered on the earth.

CAIN

From earth they came, to earth let them return;

Their seed will bear fresh fruit there ere the summer:

Thy burnt-flesh offering prospers better; see

How Heaven licks up the flames, when thick with blood!

ABEL

Think not upon my offering's acceptance,

But make another of thy own — before

It is too late.

CAIN

I will build no more altars,

Nor suffer any —

ABEL

(rising) Cain! what meanest thou?

CAIN

To cast down yon vile flatterer of the clouds,

The smoky harbinger of thy dull prayers

Thine altar, with its blood of lambs and kids,

Which fed on milk, to be destroyed in blood.

ABEL (opposing him)

Thou shalt not — add not impious works to impious

Words! let that altar stand — 'tis hallowed now

By the immortal pleasure of Jehovah,

In his acceptance of the victims.

CAIN

"DERECHA"His!

His pleasure! what was his high pleasure in

The fumes of scorching flesh and smoking blood,

To the painof the bleating mothers, which

Still yearn for their dead offspring? or the pangs

Of the sad ignorant victims underneath

Thy pious knife? Give way! this bloody record

Shall not stand in the sun, to shame creation!

ABEL

Brother, give back! thou shall not touch my altar

With violence: if that thou wilt adopt it,

To try another sacrifice, 'tis thine.

CAIN

Another sacrifice! Give way, or else

That sacrifice may be —

ABEL

What mean'st thou?

CAIN

Give-

Give way! — thy God loves blood! — then look to it -

Give way, ere he hath more!

ABEL

In his great name,

I stand between thee and the shrine which hath

Had his acceptance.

CAIN

If thou lov'st thyself,

Stand back till I have strewed this turf along

Its native soil — else —

ABEL (opposing him)

I love God far more

Than life.

CAIN (striking him with a brand, on the temples,

which he snatches from the altar)

Then take thy life unto thy God,

Since he loves lives.

ABEL (falls)

What hast thou done — my brother?

CAIN

Brother!

ABEL

Oh, God! receive thy servant! and

Forgive his slayer, for he knew not what

He did — Cain, give me — give me thy hand; and tell

Poor Zillah —

CAIN (after a moment's stupefaction)

My hand! 'tis all red, and with —

What?

(A long pause. — Looking slowly round) -.

Where am I? alone! Where's Abel? where

Cain? Can it be that I am he? My brother,

Awake! — why liest thou so long on the green earth?

'Tis not the hour of slumber — why so pale?

What hast thou! — thou wert full of life this morn!

ABEL! I pray thee, mock me not! I smote

Too fiercely, but not fatally. Ah, why

Wouldst thou oppose me? This is mockery;

And only done to daunt me — 'twas a blow —

And but a blow. Stir — stir — nay, only stir!

Why, so — that's well! — thou breathest! breathe upon me!

Oh God! Oh God!

ABEL (very faintly)

What's he who speaks of God?

CAIN

Thy murderer.

ABEL

Then may God forgive him! Cain,

Comfort poor Zillah — she has but one brother

Now.

ABEL dies.

CAIN

And I none! — Who makes me brotherless?

His eyes are open! then he is not dead!

Death is like sleep; and sleep shuts down our lids.

His lips, too, are apart; why then he breathes;

And yet I feel it not. — His heart! — his heart! —

Let me see, doth it beat? methinks — No! — no!

This is a vision, else I am become

The native of another and worse world.

The Earth swims round me:—what is this? — 'tis wet;

Puts his hand to his brow, and then looks at it.

And yet there are no dews! 'Tis blood — my blood —

My brother's and my own! and shed by me!

Then what have I further to do withlife,

Since I have taken life from my ownflesh?

But he can not be dead! — Is silence Death?

No; he will wake; then let me watch by him.

Life cannot be so slight, as to be quenched

Thus quickly! — he hath spoken to me since —

What shall I say to him? — My brother! — No:

He will not answer to that name; for brethren

Smite not each other. Yet — yet — speak to me.

Oh! for a word more of that gentle voice,

That I may bear to hear my own again!

Enter Zillah.

ZILLAH

I heard a heavy sound; what can it be?

'Tis Cain; and watching by my husband. What

Dost thou there, brother? Doth he sleep? Oh, Heaven!

What means this paleness, and yon stream? — No, no!

It is not blood; for who would shed his blood?

ABEL! what's this? — who hath done this? He moves not;

He breathes not: and his hands drop down from mine

With stony lifelessness!Ah! cruel Cain!

Why earnest thou not in time to save him from

This violence? Whatever hath assailed him,

Thou wert the stronger, and shouldst have stepped in

Between him and aggression! Father! — Eve! —

ADAH! — come hither! Death is in the world!

Exit ZIllah, calling on her Parents, etc.

CAIN (solus)

And who hath brought him there? — I — who abhor

The name of Death so deeply, that the thought

Empoisoned all my life, before I knew

His aspect — I have led him here, and given

My brother to his cold and still embrace,

As if he would not have asserted his

Inexorable claim without my aid.

I am awake at last — a dreary dream

Had maddened me; — but he shall ne'er awake!

Enter Adam, Eve, Adah, and /jllah.

ADAM

A voice of woe from Zillah brings me here —

What do I see? — 'Tis true! — My son! — my son!

(To Eve) Woman, behold theSerpent's work, and thine!

EVE

Oh!speak not of it now: the Serpent's fangs

Are in my heart! My best beloved, Abel!

Jehovah! this is punishment beyond

A mother's Sin, to take him from me!

ADAM

Who,

Or what hath done this deed? — speak, Cain, since thou

Wert present; was it some more hostile Angels,

Who walks not with Jehovah? or some wild

Brute of the forest?

EVE

Ah! a livid light

Breaks through, as from a thunder-cloud! yon brand

Massy and bloody! snatched from off the altar,

And black with smoke, and red with —

ADAM

Speak, my son!

Speak, and assure us, wretched as we are,

That we are not more miserable still.

ADAH

Speak, Cain! and say it was not thou!

EVE

It was!

I see it now — he hangs his guilty head,

And covers his ferocious eye with hands

Incarnadine!

ADAH

Mother, thou dosthim wrong —

CAIN! clear thee from this horrible accusal,

Which grief wrings from our parent.

EVE

Hear, Jehovah!

May the eternal Serpent's curse be on him!

For he was fitter for his seed than ours.

May all his days be desolate! May —

ADAH

Hold!

Curse him not, Mother, for he is thy son —

Curse him not, Mother, for his is my brother,

And my betrothed.

EVE

He hath left thee no brother —

ZILLAH no husband — me no son! for thus

Icurse him from my sight for evermore!

All bonds I break between us, as he broke

That of his nature, in yon — Oh Death! Death!

Why didst thou nottake me, who first incurred thee?

Why dost thou not so now?

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 borne

In such sort as may show our God, that we

Are faithful servants to his holy will.

EVE

(pointing to Cain): His will! the will of yon Incarnate Spirit

Of Death, whom I have brought upon the Earth

To strew it with the dead. May all the curses

Of life be on him! and his agonies

Drive him forth o'er the wilderness, like us

From Eden, till hischildren do by him

As he did by his brother! May the swords

And wings of fiery Cherubim pursue him

By day and Night — snakes spring up in his path —

Earth's fruits be ashes in his mouth — the leaves

On which he lays his head to sleep be strewed

With scorpions! May his dreams be of his victim!

His waking a continual dread of Death!

May the clear rivers turn to blood as he

Stoops 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 Death

To him who first acquainted him with man!

Hence, fratricide!henceforth that word isCain,

Through all the coming myriads of mankind,

Who shall abhor thee, though thou wert their sire

May the Grass wither from thy feet! the Woods

Deny thee shelter!Earth a home! the Dust

A Grave! the Sun his light! and Heaven her God!

Exit Eve.

ADAM

CAIN! get thee forth: we dwell no more together.

Depart! and leave the dead to me — I am

Henceforth alone — we never must meet more.

ADAH

Oh, part not with him thus, my father: do not

Add thy deep curse to Eve's upon his head!

ADAM

I curse him not: his Spirit be his curse.

Gome, Zillah!

ZILLAH

I must watch my husband's corse.

ADAM

We will return again, when he is gone

Who hath provided for us this dread office.

Gome, Zillah!

ZILLAH

Yet one kiss on yon pale clay,

And those lips once so warm — my heart! my heart!

Exeunt Adam and^jllah weeping.

ADAH

CAIN! thou hast heard, we must go forth. I 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 wilderness

Under 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 thou not fear

To dwell with one who hath done this?

ADAH

I fear

Nothing except to leave thee, much as I

Shrink from the deed which leaves thee brotherless.

I must not speak of this — it is between thee

And the great God.

A VOICE from within exclaims

Cain! Cain!

ADAH

Hear'st thou that voice?

THE VOICE within

CAIN! Cain!

ADAH

It soundeth like an Angels's tone.

Enter the Angel of the Lord.

ANGEL

Where is thy brother Abel?

CAIN

Am I then

My brother's keeper?

ANGEL

Cain! what hast thou done?

The voice of thy slain brother's blood cries out,

EVEn from the ground, unto the Lord! — Now art thou

Cursed from the Earth, which opened late her mouth

To drink thy brother's blood from thy rash hand.

Henceforth, when thou shalt till the ground, it shall not

Yield thee her strength; a fugitive shalt thou

Be from this day, and vagabond on Earth!

ADAH

This punishment is more than he can bear.

Behold thou drivest him from the face of Earth,

And from the face of God shall he be hid.

A fugitive and vagabond on Earth,

'Twill come to pass, that whosofindeth him

Shall slay him.

CAIN

Would they could! but who are they

Shall slay me? Where are these on the lone Earth

As yet unpeopled?

ANGEL

Thou hast slain thy brother,

And who shall warrant thee against thy son?

ADAH

Angel of Light! be merciful, nor say

That this poor aching breast now nourishes

A murderer in my boy, and of his father.

ANGEL

Then he would but be what his father is.

Did not the milk of Eve give nutriment

To him thou now seest so besmeared with blood?

The fratricide might well engender parricides. —

But it shall not be so — the Lord thy God

And mine commandeth me to set his seal

On Cain, so that he may go forth in safety.

Who slayeth Cain, a sevenfold vengeance shall

Be taken on his head. Come hither!

CAIN

What

Wouldst thou with me?

ANGEL

To mark upon thy brow

Exemption from such deeds as thou hast done.

CAIN

No, let me die!

ANGEL

It must not be.

The Angel sets the mark on Cain's brow.

CAIN

It burns

My brow, but nought to that which is within it!

Is there more? Let me meet it as I may.

ANGEL

Stern hast thou been and stubborn from the womb,

As the ground thou must henceforth till; but he

Thou slew'st was gentle as the flocks he tended.

CAIN

After the fall too soon was I begotten;

Ere yet my mother's mind subsided from

The Serpent, and my sire still mourned for Eden.

That which I am, I am; I did not seek

For life, nor did I make myself but could I

With my own Death redeem him from the dust —

And why not so? let him return today,

And I lie ghastly! so shall be restored

By God the life to him he loved; and taken

From me a being I ne'er loved to bear.

ANGEL

Who shall heal murder? what is done, is done;

Go forth! fulfil thy days! and be thy deeds

Unlike the last!

The Angel disappears.

ADAH

He'sgone, let us go forth;

I hear our little Enoch cry within

Our bower.

CAIN

Ah! little knows he what he weeps for!

And I who have shed blood cannot shed tears!

But the four rivers would not cleanse my soul.

Think'st thou my boy will bear to look on me?

ADAH

If I thought that he would not, I would —

CAIN (interrupting her)

No,

No more of threats: we've had too many of them:

Go to our children — I will follow thee.

ADAH

I will not leave thee lonely with the dead —

Let us depart together.

CAIN

Oh! thou dead

And everlasting witness! whose unsinking

Blood darkens Earth and Heaven! what thou now art

I know not! but if thou seest what I am,

I think thou wilt forgive him, whom his God

Can ne'er forgive, nor his own soul. — Farewell!

I must not, dare not touch what I have made thee.

I, whosprung from the same womb with thee, drained

The same breast clasped thee often tomy own,

In fondness brotherly and boyish, I

Can never meet thee more, nor even dare

To do that for thee, which thou shouldst have done

For me — compose thy limbs into their grave —

The first grave yet dug for mortality.

But who bath dug that grave? Oh, Earth! Oh, Earth!

For all the fruits thou hast rendered to me, I

Give thee back this. — Now for the wilderness!

Adah stoops down and kisses the body of Abel.

ADAH

A dreary, and an early doom, my brother,

Has been thy lot! Of all who mourn for thee,

I alone must not weep. My office is

Henceforth to dry up tears, and not to shed them;

But yet of all who mourn, none mourn like me,

Not only for thyself, but him who slew thee.

Now, Cain!I will divide thy burden with thee.

CAIN

Eastward from Eden will we take our way;

'Tis the most desolate, and suits my steps.

ADAH

Lead! thou shalt be my guide, and may our God

Be thine! Now let us carry forth our children.

CAIN

And he who lieth there was childless! I

Have dried the fountain of a gentle race,

Which might have graced his recent marriage couch,

And might have tempered this stern blood of mine,

Uniting with our children Abel's offspring!

O Abel!

ADAH

Peace be with him!

CAIN

But with me!—

Exeunt