And we shall sink in the impossible strife, And be astray forever. Slave of sense I have in no wise been; but slave of thought? And who can say: I have been always free, Lived ever in the light of my own soul? I cannot; I have lived in wrath and gloom, Fierce, disputatious, ever at war with man, Far from my own soul, far from warmth and light; But I have not grown easy in these bonds, But I have not denied what bonds these were. Yea, I take myself to witness, That I have loved no darkness, Sophisticated no truth, Nursed no dlusion, Allowed no fear! And therefore, O ye elements! I know know-- Ye know it too--it hath been granted me Not to die wholly, not to be all enslaved. I feel it in this hour. The numbing cloud Mounts off my soul; I feel it, I breathe free. Is it but for a moment? --Ah, boil up, ye vapors! Leap and roar, thou sea of fire! My soul glows to meet you. Ere it flag, ere the mists Of despondency and gloom Rush over it again, Receive me, save me! [_He plunges into the crater._ CALLICLES (_from below_). Through the black, rushing smoke-bursts, Thick breaks the red flame; All Etna heaves fiercely Her forest-clothed frame. Not here, O Apollo! Are haunts meet for thee; But where Helicon breaks down In cliff to the sea,-- Where the moon-silvered inlets Send far their light voice Up the still vale of Thisbe,-- Oh, speed, and rejoice! On the sward at the cliff-top Lie strewn the white flocks: On the cliff-side the pigeons Roost deep in the rocks. In the moonlight the shepherds, Soft lulled by the rills, Lie wrapped in their blankets Asleep on the hills. --What forms are these coming So white through the gloom? What garments out-glistening The gold-flowered broom? What sweet-breathing presence Out-perfumes the thyme? What voices enrapture The night’s balmy prime? ’Tis Apollo comes leading His choir, the Nine. The leader is fairest, But all are divine. They are lost in the hollows! They stream up again! What seeks on this mountain The glorified train? They bathe on this mountain, In the spring by their road; Then on to Olympus, Their endless abode. --Whose praise do they mention? Of what is it told? What will be forever, What was from of old. First hymn they the Father Of all things; and then, The rest of immortals, The action of men. The day in his hotness, The strife with the palm; The night in her silence, The stars in their calm. _BACCHANALIA; OR, THE NEW AGE._ I.