_70
CYPRIAN:
'Tis singular that even within the sight
Of the high towers of Antioch you could lose
Your way.
CYPRIAN:
'Tis singular that even within the sight
Of the high towers of Antioch you could lose
Your way.
Shelley
]
CYPRIAN:
Now, since I am alone, let me examine _50
The question which has long disturbed my mind
With doubt, since first I read in Plinius
The words of mystic import and deep sense
In which he defines God. My intellect
Can find no God with whom these marks and signs _55
Fitly agree. It is a hidden truth
Which I must fathom.
[CYPRIAN READS;
THE DAEMON, DRESSED IN A COURT DRESS, ENTERS. ]
NOTE:
_57 Stage Direction: So transcr. Reads. Enter the Devil as a fine
gentleman 1824.
DAEMON:
Search even as thou wilt,
But thou shalt never find what I can hide.
CYPRIAN:
What noise is that among the boughs? Who moves?
What art thou? --
DAEMON:
'Tis a foreign gentleman. _60
Even from this morning I have lost my way
In this wild place; and my poor horse at last,
Quite overcome, has stretched himself upon
The enamelled tapestry of this mossy mountain,
And feeds and rests at the same time. I was _65
Upon my way to Antioch upon business
Of some importance, but wrapped up in cares
(Who is exempt from this inheritance? )
I parted from my company, and lost
My way, and lost my servants and my comrades.
_70
CYPRIAN:
'Tis singular that even within the sight
Of the high towers of Antioch you could lose
Your way. Of all the avenues and green paths
Of this wild wood there is not one but leads,
As to its centre, to the walls of Antioch; _75
Take which you will, you cannot miss your road.
DAEMON:
And such is ignorance! Even in the sight
Of knowledge, it can draw no profit from it.
But as it still is early, and as I
Have no acquaintances in Antioch, _80
Being a stranger there, I will even wait
The few surviving hours of the day,
Until the night shall conquer it. I see
Both by your dress and by the books in which
You find delight and company, that you _85
Are a great student;--for my part, I feel
Much sympathy in such pursuits.
NOTE:
_87 in transcr. ; with 1824.
CYPRIAN:
Have you
Studied much?
DAEMON:
No,--and yet I know enough
Not to be wholly ignorant.
CYPRIAN:
Pray, Sir,
What science may you know? --
DAEMON:
Many.
CYPRIAN:
Alas! _90
Much pains must we expend on one alone,
And even then attain it not;--but you
Have the presumption to assert that you
Know many without study.
DAEMON:
And with truth.
For in the country whence I come the sciences _95
Require no learning,--they are known.
CYPRIAN:
Now, since I am alone, let me examine _50
The question which has long disturbed my mind
With doubt, since first I read in Plinius
The words of mystic import and deep sense
In which he defines God. My intellect
Can find no God with whom these marks and signs _55
Fitly agree. It is a hidden truth
Which I must fathom.
[CYPRIAN READS;
THE DAEMON, DRESSED IN A COURT DRESS, ENTERS. ]
NOTE:
_57 Stage Direction: So transcr. Reads. Enter the Devil as a fine
gentleman 1824.
DAEMON:
Search even as thou wilt,
But thou shalt never find what I can hide.
CYPRIAN:
What noise is that among the boughs? Who moves?
What art thou? --
DAEMON:
'Tis a foreign gentleman. _60
Even from this morning I have lost my way
In this wild place; and my poor horse at last,
Quite overcome, has stretched himself upon
The enamelled tapestry of this mossy mountain,
And feeds and rests at the same time. I was _65
Upon my way to Antioch upon business
Of some importance, but wrapped up in cares
(Who is exempt from this inheritance? )
I parted from my company, and lost
My way, and lost my servants and my comrades.
_70
CYPRIAN:
'Tis singular that even within the sight
Of the high towers of Antioch you could lose
Your way. Of all the avenues and green paths
Of this wild wood there is not one but leads,
As to its centre, to the walls of Antioch; _75
Take which you will, you cannot miss your road.
DAEMON:
And such is ignorance! Even in the sight
Of knowledge, it can draw no profit from it.
But as it still is early, and as I
Have no acquaintances in Antioch, _80
Being a stranger there, I will even wait
The few surviving hours of the day,
Until the night shall conquer it. I see
Both by your dress and by the books in which
You find delight and company, that you _85
Are a great student;--for my part, I feel
Much sympathy in such pursuits.
NOTE:
_87 in transcr. ; with 1824.
CYPRIAN:
Have you
Studied much?
DAEMON:
No,--and yet I know enough
Not to be wholly ignorant.
CYPRIAN:
Pray, Sir,
What science may you know? --
DAEMON:
Many.
CYPRIAN:
Alas! _90
Much pains must we expend on one alone,
And even then attain it not;--but you
Have the presumption to assert that you
Know many without study.
DAEMON:
And with truth.
For in the country whence I come the sciences _95
Require no learning,--they are known.
