One latest boon I ask, for which I kneel!

We meet no more upon this earth: thou goest
To join the spirits of thy fathers; I,

To dwell on thy remembrances-to live
Upon the light which thou hast left behind,
And soon, perchance, to follow thee. But, oh!
When in the realms of death, where thou wilt be
So hallowed and revered-forget not Lilis!
If memories of earth cling to us there,
As sure they do; for the dead come to us
In dreams, and woo us to revisit them;
Then, when thou meetest me again, remember
How I looked up to thee on earth, and smile
A look of welcome on me then!

PROMETHEUS.

My own

Beautiful being !-with thy golden hair,
Like sun-rays floating round thy face, with eyes
Reflecting the pure azure, with cheeks which
The beauty and the glory of thy youth
Crown with fresh roses, but more delicate
Than ever shone the sun on,-what hast thou
In common with myself? what see'st thou
In this worn frame, and early blanched hair?
It is thy noble nature that deceives thee!
Love of the high and pure, abstract from me,
Which thou embodiest in myself: it is
My isolation from Humanity
Hath wrought on thy imagination; this
A feeling that is past or passing. Nay,

Turn not aside in anger or in grief!

Time imperceptibly will teach thy heart

Truths I too rudely press on it: all feelings

Of youth change, flower-like; honour stands alone,
Like the impassive rock, unchangeable;

Thou wilt pass by me as the streamlet glides,
Embosoming the shadow to its depths,

Till again laughing in the light of heaven!

LILIS.

Oh, thou wilt judge me worthier yet, or here,

Or in hereafter !

PROMETHEUS.

My own Lilis! chide not

This brow's austerity, that shews alone
The resolution of the mind within.

I stand before the gates of Death; do not
Soften a heart that needeth all its courage,
Nor aid thy sire in conquering a mind
His racks will fail to do. Oh! tempt me not
To cling to life I should despise, and thee,
Lilis! even thee, for so debasing me!

I am but man, and feel-even now I feel

How man's strong will melts at the breath of woman! Depart-depart! I am no mate for love.

Look on me: there are men of highest order,

Upon whose foreheads Destiny doth set

Her seal, marking them out for deeds that raise them Above the common roll of men. She makes them Stifle all human feelings, burying in

Their hearts all passions, yea, without a pang!

She bids them bare their heads to meet the storms
Of war, and persecution: their whole lives

Are one stern self-denial! if they faint

Or quail in their high task, she points to them
Where, far above the clouds, Fame's holy star
Shews them their crown of immortality!
Farewell-embrace me with a brother's love:
When I am gone think of me, till we meet,
As one who on the earth would have been thine,
And trod the paths of love; but who was snatched
From them in youth, and brought up in the desert
By Liberty, until he grew like her,
Inflexible; and offered up himself
The sacrifice on her deserted altar,

To feed the fire which he had kindled there!

Say that thou dost approve me. From the hour
That thou didst save my father-oh! he was
My father!—I felt that our hearts were one:
My spirit from that moment fled to thine,
Never to be repulsed, but joined till death!

PROMETHEUS.

My gentle Lilis! we shall meet again;

Yea, link our destinies together in

A happier life than this. I feel the gods

Have so ordained it. Who could look on thee,

Nor read the stamp of immortality

On that high brow, in those mysterious eyes?
The Beautiful never dies, it doth but fade

In Nature to renew itself again :

Could it be less with glorious hearts like thine?
Could the immortal gods be thus unjust?

And if I yielded to the love of life,

And thou couldst wish it, Lilis!-which thou dost not

It were too late; what art could now evade

The inevitable death that closes round?

And wouldst thou darken with disgrace the brightness
Of my last parting?

LILIS.

Never!

PROMETHEUS.

Then-farewell!

And be thou blest!-she doth not hear me-hark!

(The clank of chains is heard without.)

The guard-yet gain thou but yon secret gate,
My Lilis!-waken, love, farewell!-

LILIS.

For ever!

(Prometheus bears her out.)