Was not thy quest for
knowledge?
Byron
[117]
_Cain_. I understand not this.
_Lucifer_. The happier thou! --
Thy world and thou are still too young! Thou thinkest
Thyself most wicked and unhappy--is it
Not so?
_Cain_. For crime, I know not; but for pain,
I have felt much.
_Lucifer_. First-born of the first man!
Thy present state of sin--and thou art evil, 220
Of sorrow--and thou sufferest, are both Eden
In all its innocence compared to what
_Thou_ shortly may'st be; and that state again,
In its redoubled wretchedness, a Paradise
To what thy sons' sons' sons, accumulating
In generations like to dust (which they
In fact but add to), shall endure and do. --
Now let us back to earth!
_Cain_. And wherefore didst thou
Lead me here only to inform me this?
_Lucifer_.
Was not thy quest for knowledge?
_Cain_. Yes--as being 230
The road to happiness!
_Lucifer_. If truth be so,
Thou hast it.
_Cain_. Then my father's God did well
When he prohibited the fatal Tree.
_Lucifer_. But had done better in not planting it.
But ignorance of evil doth not save
From evil; it must still roll on the same,
A part of all things.
_Cain_. Not of all things. No--
I'll not believe it--for I thirst for good.
_Lucifer_. And who and what doth not? _Who_ covets evil
For its own bitter sake?
_Cain_. I understand not this.
_Lucifer_. The happier thou! --
Thy world and thou are still too young! Thou thinkest
Thyself most wicked and unhappy--is it
Not so?
_Cain_. For crime, I know not; but for pain,
I have felt much.
_Lucifer_. First-born of the first man!
Thy present state of sin--and thou art evil, 220
Of sorrow--and thou sufferest, are both Eden
In all its innocence compared to what
_Thou_ shortly may'st be; and that state again,
In its redoubled wretchedness, a Paradise
To what thy sons' sons' sons, accumulating
In generations like to dust (which they
In fact but add to), shall endure and do. --
Now let us back to earth!
_Cain_. And wherefore didst thou
Lead me here only to inform me this?
_Lucifer_.
Was not thy quest for knowledge?
_Cain_. Yes--as being 230
The road to happiness!
_Lucifer_. If truth be so,
Thou hast it.
_Cain_. Then my father's God did well
When he prohibited the fatal Tree.
_Lucifer_. But had done better in not planting it.
But ignorance of evil doth not save
From evil; it must still roll on the same,
A part of all things.
_Cain_. Not of all things. No--
I'll not believe it--for I thirst for good.
_Lucifer_. And who and what doth not? _Who_ covets evil
For its own bitter sake?
