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النشر الإلكتروني

135

The SEVEN SPIRITS.

Earth, ocean, air, night, mountains, winds, thy star,
Are at thy beck and bidding, Child of Clay!
Before thee at thy quest their spirits are —
What wouldst thou with us, son of mortals

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say?

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Man. Of that which is within me; read it there Ye know it, and I cannot utter it.

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Spirit. We can but give thee that which we possess:

140 Ask of us subjects, sovereignty, the power

O'er earth, the whole, or portion, or a sign
Which shall control the elements, whereof
We are the dominators, each and all,
These shall be thine.

Man.

Oblivion, self-oblivion

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145 Can ye not wring from out the hidden realms Ye offer so profusely what I ask?

Spirit. It is not in our essence, in our skill; But thou mayst die.

Man.

Will death bestow it on me?

Spirit. We are immortal, and do not forget;

150 We are eternal; and to us the past

Is, as the future, present. Art thou answered?

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Man. Ye mock me but the power which brought ye here Hath made you mine. Slaves, scoff not at my will!

The mind, the spirit, the Promethean spark,

155 The lightning of my being, is as bright,

160

165

Pervading, and far-darting as your own,

And shall not yield to yours, though coop'd in clay!
Answer, or I will teach ye what I am.

Spirit. We answer as we answered; our reply
Is even in thine own words.

Man.

Why say ye so?

Spirit. If, as thou say'st, thine essence be as ours, We have replied in telling thee, the thing

Mortals call death hath nought to do with us.

Man. I then have call'd ye from your realms in vain; Ye cannot, or ye will not, aid me.

Spirit.

Say;

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Kingdom, and sway, and strength, and length of days
Man. Accursed! what have I to do with days?

170 They are too long already. - Hence - begone!

Spirit. Yet pause: being here, our will would do thee service; Bethink thee, is there then no other gift

Which we can make not worthless in thine eyes?

Man. No, none: yet stay- one moment, ere we part-
175 I would behold ye face to face. I hear
Your voices, sweet and melancholy sounds,
As music on the waters; and I see

The steady aspect of a clear large star;
But nothing more. Approach me as ye are,
180 Or one, or all, in your accustom'd forms.

Spirit. We have no forms beyond the elements Of which we are the mind and principle:

But choose a form in that we will appear.

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Man. I have no choice; there is no form on earth

185 Hideous or beautiful to me. Let him,

Who is most powerful of ye, take such aspect

As unto him may seem most fitting.

Come!

Seventh Spirit. (Appearing in the shape of a beautiful female figure.) Behold!
Man.

Art not a madness and a mockery,

Oh God! if it be thus, and thou

190 I yet might be most happy. I will clasp thee,

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And we again will be — (The figure vanishes.) My heart is crush'd! (Manfred falls senseless.)

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Though thy slumber may be deep,
Yet thy spirit shall not sleep,
There are shades which will not vanish,
205 There are thoughts thou canst not banish;
By a power to thee unknown,

Thou canst never be alone;

Thou art wrapt as with a shroud,
Thou art gathered in a cloud;

210 And for ever shalt thou dwell
In the spirit of this spell.

Though thou seest me not pass by,
Thou shalt feel me with thine eye
As a thing that, though unseen,
215 Must be near thee, and hath been;
And when in that secret dread
Thou hast turn'd around thy head,

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Thou shalt marvel I am not
As thy shadow on the spot,

220 And the power which thou dost feel
Shall be what thou must conceal.

And a magic voice and verse
Hath baptized thee with a curse;
And a spirit of the air

225 Hath begirt thee with a snare;
In the wind there is a voice
Shall forbid thee to rejoice;
And to thee shall Night deny
All the quiet of her sky;

230 And the day shall have a sun,
Which shall make thee wish it done.

From thy false tears I did distil

An essence which hath strength to kill;
From thy own heart I then did wring
235 The black blood in its blackest spring;
From thy own smile I snatch'd the snake;
For there it coil'd as in a brake;
From thy own lip I drew the charm
Which gave all these their chiefest harm;

240 In proving every poison known,

I found the strongest was thine own.

By thy cold breast and serpent smile,
By thy unfathom'd gulfs of guile,
By that most seeming virtuous eye,

245 By thy shut soul's hypocrisy;
By the perfection of thine art

Which pass'd for human thine own heart;
By thy delight in others' pain,

And by thy brotherhood of Cain,

250 I call upon thee! and compel

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Thyself to be thy proper Hell! Adel lean ma

And on thy head I pour the vial

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Which doth devote thee to this trial;
Nor to slumber, nor to die,

255 Shall be in thy destiny;

Though thy death shall still seem near

To thy wish, but as a fear;

Lo! the spell now works around thee, And the clankless chain hath bound thee; 260 O'er thy heart and brain together

Hath the word been pass'd

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now wither!

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12

From DON JUAN.

I.

Canto II, Stanzas 27-39 (1819): The Shipwreck.

At one o'clock the wind with sudden shift
Threw the ship right into the trough of the sea,
Which struck her aft, and made an awkward rift,
Started the stern-post, also shatter'd the
Whole of her stern-frame, and, ere she could lift
Herself from out her present jeopardy,
The rudder tore away: 'twas time to sound
8 The pumps, and there were four feet water found.

One gang of people instantly was put

Upon the pumps, and the remainder set
To get up part of the cargo, and what not;
But they could not come at the leak as yet;

At last they did get at it really, but

Still their salvation was an even bet:

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The water rush'd through in a way quite puzzling, 16 While they thrust sheets, shirts, jackets, bales of muslin,

20

Into the opening; but all such ingredients

Would have been vain, and they must have gone down,
Despite of all their efforts and expedients,

But for the pumps: I'm glad to make them known
To all the brother tars who may have need hence,
For fifty tons of water were upthrown

By them per hour, and they had all been undone, 24 But for the maker, Mr. Mann, of London.

28

As day advanced the weather seem'd to abate,
And then the leak they reckon'd to reduce,
And keep the ship afloat, though three feet yet
Kept two hand and one chain-pump still in use.
The wind blew fresh again: as it grew late

A squall came on, and while some guns broke loose,
A gust
which all descriptive power transcends -
82 Laid with one blast the ship on her beam-ends.

36

There she lay, motionless, and seem'd upset;
The water left the hold, and wash'd the decks,
And made a scene men do not soon forget;
For they remember battles, fires, and wrecks,

Or any other thing that brings regret,

Or breaks their hopes, or hearts, or heads, or necks; Thus drownings are much talk'd of by the divers, 40 And swimmers, who may chance to be survivors.

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44

Immediately the masts were cut away,
Both main and mizen; first the mizen went,
The main-mast follow'd; but the ship still lay
Like a mere log, and baffled our intent.
Foremast and bowsprit were cut down, and they
Eased her at last (although we never meant
To part with all till every hope was blighted),
48 And then with violence the old ship righted.

52

It may be easily supposed, while this

Was going on, some people were unquiet,
That passengers would find it much amiss.

To lose their lives, as well as spoil their diet;
That even the able seaman, deeming his

Days nearly o'er, might be disposed to riot,
As upon such occasions tars will ask

56 For grog, and sometimes drink rum from the cask.

60

There's nought, no doubt, so much the spirit calms
As rum and true religion: thus it was,

Some plunder'd, some drank spirits, some sung psalms,
The high wind made the treble, and as bass

The hoarse harsh waves kept time; fright cured the qualms
Of all the luckless landsmen's sea-sick maws:
Strange sounds of wailing, blasphemy, devotion,
64 Clamour'd in chorus to the roaring ocean.

Perhaps more mischief had been done, but for
Our Juan, who, with sense beyond his years,
Got to the spirit-room, and stood before
68 It with a pair of pistols; and their fears,
As if Death were more dreadful by his door

Of fire than water, spite of oaths and tears,
Kept still aloof the crew, who, ere they sunk,
72 Thought it would be becoming to die drunk.

76

'Give us more grog,' they cried, 'for it will be

All one an hour hence.' Juan answer'd, 'No! "Tis true that death awaits both you and me, But let us die like men, not sink below Like brutes:' and thus his dangerous post kept he, And none liked to anticipate the blow; And even Pedrillo, his most reverend tutor, 80 Was for some rum a disappointed suitor.

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