Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 5.djvu/248

220 Now met I aught to sympathise with me. 'Tis well—I rather would consort with spirits.
 * Lucifer. And hadst thou not been fit by thine own soul

For such companionship, I would not now Have stood before thee as I am: a serpent Had been enough to charm ye, as before.
 * Cain. Ah! didst thou tempt my mother?
 * Lucifer. I tempt none,

Save with the truth: was not the Tree, the Tree Of Knowledge? and was not the Tree of Life Still fruitful ? Did I bid her pluck them not? Did I plant things prohibited within The reach of beings innocent, and curious By their own innocence? I would have made ye Gods; and even He who thrust ye forth, so thrust ye Because "ye should not eat the fruits of life, "And become gods as we." Were those his words?
 * Cain. They were, as I have heard from those who heard them,

In thunder.
 * Lucifer. Then who was the Demon? He

Who would not let ye live, or he who would Have made ye live for ever, in the joy And power of Knowledge?
 * Cain. Would they had snatched both

The fruits, or neither!
 * Lucifer. One is yours already.

The other may be still.
 * Cain. How so?
 * Lucifer.By being

Yourselves, in your resistance. Nothing can Quench the mind, if the mind will be itself And centre of surrounding things—'tis made To sway.
 * Cain. But didst thou tempt my parents?
 * Lucifer. I?

Poor clay—what should I tempt them for, or how?
 * Cain. They say the Serpent was a spirit.
 * Lucifer. Who