their depth;
105 They had not then been strewn upon the rocks For the wind's pastime?as thus?thus they shall be? In this one plunge.?Farewell, ye opening heavens! Look not upon me thus reproachfully? Ye were not meant for me?Earth! take these atoms!
[As MANFRED is in act to spring from the cliff, the CHAMOIS HUNTER seizes and retains him with a sudden grasp.]8
no CHAMOIS HUNTER Hold, madman!?though aweary of thy life, Stain not our pure vales with thy guilty blood.? Away with me?I will not quit my hold.
MANFRED I am most sick at heart?nay, grasp me not? I am all feebleness?the mountains whirl 115 Spinning around me?I grow blind?What art thou?
CHAMOIS HUNTER I'll answer that anon.?Away with me? The clouds grow thicker?there?now lean on me? Place your foot here?here, take this staff, and cling A moment to that shrub?now give me your hand,
120 And hold fast by my girdle?softly?well? The Chalet will be gained within an hour? Come on, we'll quickly find a surer footing, And something like a pathway, which the torrent Hath wash'd since winter.?Come,'tis bravely done?
125 You should have been a hunter.?Follow me. [As they descend the rocks with difficulty, the scene closes. ]
Act 2
SCENE 1. A Cottage amongst the Bernese Alps.9 MANFRED and the CHAMOIS HUNTER.
CHAMOIS HUNTER NO, no?yet pause?thou must not yet go forth: Thy mind and body are alike unfit To trust each other, for some hours, at least; When thou art better, I will be thy guide?
7. In 1806, ten years before the composition of 8. See the color insert for John Martin's visual rep- Manfred, a huge landslide on Mount Rossberg resentation of this moment in his watercolorMati(' Rosenberg') had destroyed four villages and fred on the Jnngfrau. killed 457 people. 9. A mountain range in south-central Switzerland.
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64 6 / GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON
But whither? MANFRED It imports not; I do know My route full well, and need no further guidance.
CHAMOIS HUNTER Thy garb and gait bespeak thee of high lineage? One of the many chiefs, whose castled crags Look o'er the lower valleys?which of these May call thee Lord? I only know their portals; My way of life leads me but rarely down To bask by the huge hearths of those old halls, Carousing with the vassals; but the paths, Which step from out our mountains to their doors, I know from childhood?which of these is thine?
MANFRED No matter.
CHAMOIS HUNTER Well, sir, pardon me the question, And be of better cheer. Come, taste my wine; 'Tis of an ancient vintage; many a day 'T has thawed my veins among our glaciers, now Let it do thus for thine?Come, pledge me fairly.
MANFRED Away, away! there's blood upon the brim!
Will it then never?never sink in the earth? CHAMOIS HUNTER What dost thou mean? thy senses wander from thee. MANFRED I say 'tis blood?my blood! the pure warm stream
Which ran in the veins of my fathers, and in ours When we were in our youth, and had one heart, And loved each other as we should not love, And this was shed: but still it rises up, Colouring the clouds, that shut me out from heaven, Where thou art not-?and I shall never be.
CHAMOIS HUNTER Man of strange words, and some half-maddening sin, Which makes thee people0 vacancy, whate'er populate Thy dread and sufferance be, there's comfort yet? The aid of holy men, and heavenly patience?
MANFRED Patience and patience! Hence?that word was made For brutes of burthen, not for birds of prey; Preach it to mortals of a dust like thine,? I am not of thine order.
Thanks to heaven!
CHAMOIS HUNTER I would not be of thine for the free fame Of William Tell;' but whatsoe'er thine ill, It must be borne, and these wild starts are useless.
MANFRED Do I not bear it??Look on me?J live. CHAMOIS HUNTER This is convulsion, and no healthful life. MANFRED I tell thee, man! I have lived many years,
Many long years, but they are nothing now To those which I must number: ages?ages? Space and eternity?and consciousness, With the fierce thirst of death?and still unslaked!
CHAMOIS HUNTER Why, on thy brow the seal of middle age Hath scarce been set; I am thine elder far.
I. The hero who, according to legend, liberated Switzerland from Austrian oppression in the 14th century.
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IMANFRED, ACT 2 / 64 7
MANFRED Think'st thou existence doth depend on time? It doth; but actions are our epochs: mine Have made my days and nights imperishable, Endless, and all alike, as sands on the shore, Innumerable atoms, and one desart, Barren and cold, on which the wild waves break, But nothing rests, save carcases and wrecks, Rocks, and the salt-surf weeds of bitterness.
CHAMOIS HUNTER Alas! he's mad?but yet I must not leave him. MANFRED I would I were?for then the things I see Would be but a distempered0 dream. disturbed CHAMOIS HUNTER What is it That thou dost see, or think thou look'st upon?
MANFRED Myself, and thee?a peasant of the Alps? Thy humble virtues, hospitable home, And spirit
