530
And cannot I, who aided in this work,
Show in an hour what he hath made in many,
Or hath destroyed in few?
And cannot I, who aided in this work,
Show in an hour what he hath made in many,
Or hath destroyed in few?
Byron
_Lucifer_. The million millions--
The myriad myriads--the all-peopled earth--
The unpeopled earth--and the o'er-peopled Hell,
Of which thy bosom is the germ.
_Adah_. O Cain!
This spirit curseth us.
_Cain_. Let him say on;
Him will I follow.
_Adah_. Whither?
_Lucifer_. To a place
_Whence_ he shall come back to thee in an hour;
But in that hour see things of many days.
_Adah_. How can that be?
_Lucifer_. Did not your Maker make
Out of old worlds this new one in few days?
530
And cannot I, who aided in this work,
Show in an hour what he hath made in many,
Or hath destroyed in few?
_Cain_. Lead on.
_Adah_. Will he,
In sooth, return within an hour?
_Lucifer_. He shall.
With us acts are exempt from time, and we
Can crowd eternity into an hour,
Or stretch an hour into eternity:
We breathe not by a mortal measurement--
But that's a mystery. Cain, come on with me.
_Adah_. Will he return?
_Lucifer_. Aye, woman! he alone 540
Of mortals from that place (the first and last
Who shall return, save ONE), shall come back to thee,
To make that silent and expectant world
As populous as this: at present there
Are few inhabitants.
_Adah_. Where dwellest thou?
