The Works of Lord Byron Volume V Part 82

[143] [_Vide post_, p. 294.]

[144] {294}[Byron's knowledge of Mount Ararat was probably derived from the following pa.s.sage in Tournefort: "It is a most frightful sight; David might well say such sort of places show the grandeur of the Lord.

One can't but tremble to behold it; and to look on the horrible precipices ever so little will make the head turn round. The noise made by a vast number of crows [hence the 'rus.h.i.+ng sound,' _vide post_, p.

295], who are continually flying from one side to the other, has something in it very frightful. To form any idea of this place you must imagine one of the highest mountains in the world opening its bosom, only to show the most horrible spectacle that can be thought of. All the precipices are perpendicular, and the extremities are rough and blackish, as if a smoke came out of the sides and s.m.u.tted them."--_A Voyage in the Levant_, by M. [Joseph Pitton de] Tournefort, 1741, iii.

205, 206.

Kitto also describes this "vast chasm," which contained "an enormous ma.s.s of ice, which seems to have fallen from a cliff that overhangs the ice" (_Travels in Persia_, 1846, i. 34); but Professor Friedrich Parrot, who was the first to ascend Mount Ararat, does not enlarge upon the "abyss" or chasm.--_Journey to Ararat_, translated by W. D. Cowley, 1845, p. 134.]

[145] [Compare the description of the "roots like snakes," which "wind out from rock and sand," in the scene on the Hartz Mountains in Goethe's _Faust_.]

[146] {296} [Medwin (_Conversations_, 1824, p. 233) compares the laughter of the fiends in the cave of Caucasus with the snoring of the Furies in the _Eumenides_ of aeschylus--

??????s? d' o? p?at??s? f?s??as??

[R(e/gkousi d' ou) platoi~si physia/masin] (line 53).

("Their snoring nostrils blow fearsome breath.")

There is a closer parallel with--

Ge?? d? da??? ?p' ??d?? ?e??

[Gela~ de dai/mon e)p' a)ndri thermo~] (line 560).

("The spirit mocketh the headlong soul.")]

[147] {297}[Matthew Arnold, _Poetry of Byron_, 1881, xiv., xv., quotes this line in proof of Byron's barbarian insensibility, "to the true artist's fine pa.s.sion for the correct use and consummate management of words."]

[148] {300} "[And] there were giants in the earth in those days; and ...

after, ... mighty men, which were of old, men of renown."--_Genesis_ [vi. 4].

[149] "The same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened."--_Genesis_ [vii. II].

[150] {301}[Byron falls in with the popular theory as to the existence of fossil remains of marine animals at a height above the level of the sea. The "deluge" accounted for what was otherwise inexplicable.]

[151] {302} The book of Enoch, preserved by the Ethiopians, is said by them to be anterior to the flood.

[Some fragments of the _Book of Enoch_ (_vide ante_, Introduction to _Heaven and Earth_, p. 281), which were included by Georgius Syncellus (a Byzantine writer of the eighth century A.D.) in his _Chronographia_, pp. ii, 26 (_Corpus Script. Hist. Byzantintae_, 1829, i. 20), were printed by J. J. Scaliger in 1606. They were, afterwards, included (i.

347-354) in the _Spicilegium SS. Patrum_ of Joannes Ernestus Grabius, which was published at Oxford in 1714. A year after (1715) one of the fragments was "made English," and published under the t.i.tle of _The History of the Angels and their Gallantry with the Daughters of Men_, written by Enoch the Patriarch.

In 1785 James Bruce, the traveller, discovered three MSS. of the _Book of Enoch_. One he conveyed to the library at Paris: a second MS. he presented to the Bodleian Library at Oxford (_Travels_, ii. 422, 8vo ed.

1805). In 1801 an article ent.i.tled, "Notice du Libre d'Enoch," was contributed by Silvestre de Sacy to the _Magasin Encyclopedique_ (An.

vi. tom. i. p. 369); and in 1821 Richard Laurence, LL.D., published a translation "from the Ethiopic MS. in the Bodleian Library." This was the first translation of the book as a whole.

The following extracts, which were evidently within Byron's recollection when he planned _Heaven and Earth_, are taken from _The Book of Enoch_, translated from Professor Dillman's Ethiopic Text, by R. H. Charles, Oxford, 1892:--

"Chap. vi. [1. And it came to pa.s.s when the children of men had multiplied in those days that beautiful and comely daughters were born unto them. [2. And the angels, the sons of the Heavens, saw and l.u.s.ted after them, and spake one to another, 'Come now, let us choose us wives from among the children of men, and beget children.' [3. And Semjaza, who was the leader, spake unto them: I fear ye will not indeed agree to do this deed.... [6. And they descended in the days of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon....

"Chap. viii. [i. And Azazel taught men to make swords, etc.

"Chap. x. Then spake the Most High, the Great, the Holy One, and sent Arsjalaljur (= Uriel) to the son of Lamech, and said to him, 'Tell him in My Name to hide thyself!' and reveal to him that the end is approaching; for the whole earth will be destroyed, and a deluge will presently cover up the whole earth, and all that is in it will be destroyed. [3. And now instruct him that he may escape, as his seed may be preserved for all generations. [4. And again the Lord spake to Rafael; Bind Azazel hand and foot, and place him in darkness; make an opening in the desert which is in Dudael and place him therein. [5. And place upon him rough and ragged rocks," etc.]

[152] {306}[This does not correspond with Cain's statement--"After the fall too soon was I begotten," _Cain_, act. iii. sc. I, line 506 (_vide ante_).

Bayle (_Hist. and Crit. Dict._, 1735, art. "Eve," note B) has a great deal to say with regard to the exact date of the birth of Cain. He concludes with _Cornelius a Lapide_, who quotes Torniellus, "Cain genitum ease mox post expulsionem Adae et Evae ex Paradiso."]

[153] {309}[Byron said that it was difficult to make Lucifer talk "like a clergyman." He contrived to make Noah talk like a street-preacher.]

[154] [In the original MS. "Michael."--"I return you," says Byron, "the revise. I have softened the part to which Gifford objected, and changed the name of Michael to Raphael, who was an angel of gentler sympathies."--July 6, 1822, _Letters_, vi. 93.]

[155] {311}[That is, "to call you back." His ministry and function of clemency were almost as dear to him as his ministry and function of adoration and obedience.]

[156] [For the connection of stars with angels, see _Book of Enoch_, xxv. 1.]

[157] {315}[Compare _Darkness_, lines 2-5, _Poetical Works_, 1891, iv.

42, 43.]

[158] {321}[Sketch of Second Part of _Heaven and Earth_, as reported by Medwin (_Conversations_, 1824, pp. 234-237)--

"Azazael and Samiasa ... rise into the air with the two sisters.... The appearance of the land strangled by the ocean will serve by way of scenery and decorations. The affectionate tenderness of Adah for those from whom she is parted, and for ever, and her fears contrasting with the loftier spirit of Aholibamah triumphing in the hopes of a new and greater destiny will make the dialogue. They, in the meantime, continue their aerial voyage, everywhere denied admittance in those floating islands over the sea of s.p.a.ce, and driven back by guardian-spirits of the different planets, till they are at length forced to alight on the only peak of the earth uncovered by water. Here a parting takes place between the lovers.... The fallen angels are suddenly called, and condemned, their destination and punishment unknown. The sisters cling to the rock, the waters mounting higher and higher. Now enter Ark. The scene draws up, and discovers j.a.phet endeavouring to persuade the Patriarch, with very strong arguments of love and pity, to receive the sisters, or at least Adah, on board. Adah joins in his entreaties, and endeavours to cling to the sides of the vessel. The proud and haughty Aholibamah scorns to pray either to G.o.d or man, and antic.i.p.ates the grave by plunging into the waters. Noah is still inexorable. [Adah] is momentarily in danger of peris.h.i.+ng before the eyes of the Arkites.

j.a.phet is in despair. The last wave sweeps her from the rock, and her lifeless corpse floats past in all its beauty, whilst a sea-bird screams over it, and seems to be the spirit of her angel lord. I once thought of conveying the lovers to the moon or one of the planets; but it is not easy for the imagination to make any unknown world more beautiful than this; besides, I did not think they would approve of the moon as a residence. I remember what Fontenelle said of its having no atmosphere, and the dark spots having caverns where the inhabitants reside. There was another objection: all the human interest would have been destroyed, which I have even endeavoured to give my angels."]

WERNER;

OR,

THE INHERITANCE:

A TRAGEDY.

[_Werner_ was produced, for the first time, at the Park Theatre, New York, in 1826. Mr. Barry played "Werner."

_Werner_ was brought out at Drury Lane Theatre, and played, for the first time, December 15, 1830. Macready appeared as "Werner," J. W.

Wallack as "Ulric," Mrs. Faucit as "Josephine," and Miss Mordaunt as "Ida." According to the _Times_, December 16, 1830, "Mr. Macready appeared to very great advantage. We have never seen him exert himself more--we have never known him to exert himself with more powerful effect. Three of his scenes were masterpieces." Genest says that _Werner_ was acted seventeen times in 1830-31.

There was a revival in 1833. Macready says (_Diary_, March 20) that he acted "'Werner' with unusual force, truth, and collectedness ...

finished off each burst of pa.s.sion, and, in consequence, entered on the following emotion with clearness and earnestness" (Macready's _Reminiscences_, 1875, i 36.6).

_Werner_ was played in 1834, 5, 6, 7, 9; in 1841; in 1843-4 (New York, Boston, Baltimore, New Orleans, Cincinnati, Montreal); in 1845 (Paris, London, Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin); in 1846, 1847; in America in 1848; in the provinces in 1849; in 1850; and, for the last time, at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, January 14, 1851. At the farewell performance Macready appeared as "Werner," Mr. Davenport as "Ulric," Mrs. Warner as "Josephine," Mrs. Ryder as "Ida." In the same year (1851) a portrait of Macready as "Werner," by Daniel Maclise, R.A., was on view at the Exhibition at the Royal Academy. The motto was taken from _Werner_, act i. sc. 1, lines 114, _sq._ (See, for a detailed criticism of Macready's "Werner," _Our Recent Actors_, by Westland Marston, 1881, i. 89-98; and for the famous "Macready _burst_," in act ii. sc. 2, and act v. sc. 1, _vide ibid._, i. 97.)

_Werner_ was brought out at Sadler's Wells Theatre, November 21, 1860, and repeated November 22, 23, 24, 28, 29; December, 3, 4, 11, 13, 14, 1860. Phelps appeared as "Werner," Mr. Edmund Phelps as "Ulric," Miss Atkinson as "Josephine." "Perhaps the old actor never performed the part so finely as he did on that night. The ident.i.ty between the real and ideal relations of the characters was as vivid to him as to the audience, and gave a deeper intensity, on both sides, to the scenes between father and son." (See _The London Stage_, by H. Barton Baker, 1889, ii. 217.)

On the afternoon of June 1, 1887, _Werner_ (four acts, arranged by Frank Marshall) was performed at the Lyceum Theatre for the benefit of Westland Marston. [Sir] Henry Irving appeared as "Werner," Miss Ellen Terry as "Josephine," Mr. Alexander as "Ulric." (See for an appreciation of Sir Henry Irving's presentation of _Werner_, the _Athenaeum_, June 4, 1887.)]

INTRODUCTION TO _WERNER_.