_Cain_. I seek it not; but as I know there are Such, and that my sire's sin makes him and me, And all that we inherit, liable To such, I would behold, at once, what I Must one day see perforce. _Lucifer_. Behold! _Cain_. 'Tis darkness! _Lucifer_. And so it shall be ever--but we will Unfold its gates! _Cain_. Enormous vapours roll Apart--what's this? _Lucifer_. Enter! _Cain_. Can I return? _Lucifer_. Return! be sure: how else should Death be peopled? 200 Its present realm is thin to what it will be, Through thee and thine. _Cain_. The clouds still open wide And wider, and make widening circles round us! _Lucifer_. Advance! _Cain_. And thou! _Lucifer_. Fear not--without me thou Couldst not have gone beyond thy world. On! on! [_They disappear through the clouds_. SCENE II.--_Hades_. _Enter_ LUCIFER _and_ CAIN. _Cain_. How silent and how vast are these dim worlds! For they seem more than one, and yet more peopled Than the huge brilliant luminous orbs which swung So thickly in the upper air, that I Had deemed them rather the bright populace Of some all unimaginable Heaven, Than things to be inhabited themselves,[cg] But that on drawing near them I beheld Their swelling into palpable immensity Of matter, which seemed made for life to dwell on, 10 Rather than life itself. But here, all is So shadowy, and so full of twilight, that It speaks of a day past. _Lucifer_. It is the realm Of Death.--Wouldst have it present? _Cain_. Till I know That which it really is, I cannot answer. But if it be as I have heard my father Deal out in his long homilies, 'tis a thing-- Oh God! I dare not think on't! Curséd be He who invented Life that leads to Death! Or the dull mass of life, that, being life, 20 Could not retain, but needs must forfeit it-- Even for the innocent! _Lucifer_. Dost thou curse thy father? _Cain_. Cursed he not me in giving me my birth? Cursed he not me before my birth, in daring To pluck the fruit forbidden? _Lucifer_. Thou say'st well: The curse is mutual 'twixt thy sire and thee-- But for thy sons and brother?