Second Voice.I hearken.
First Voice.Is it true besides—
Aright true—that mine orient Star will give
Her name of "Bright and Morning-Star" to Him,—
And take the fairness of his virtue back
To cover loss and sadness?
Second Voice.It is true.
First Voice. Untrue, Untrue! O Morning Star, O Mine,
Who sittest secret in a veil of light
Far up the starry spaces, say—Untrue!
Speak but so loud as doth a wasted moon
To Tyrrhene waters. I am Lucifer.
[A pause. Silence in the stars.
All things grow sadder to me, one by one.
Angel Chorus.
Exiled human creatures,
Let your hope grow larger!
Larger grows the vision
Of the new delight.
From this chain of Nature's
God is the Discharger,
And the Actual's prison
Opens to your sight.
Semichorus.
Calm the stars and golden
In a light exceeding:
What their rays have measured
Let your feet fulfil!
These are stars beholden
By your eyes in Eden,
Yet, across the desert,
See them shining still!
Chorus.
Future joy and far light
Working such relations,
Hear us singing gently
Exiled is not lost!
God, above the starlight,
God, above the patience,
Shall at last present ye
Guerdons worth the cost.
Patiently enduring,
Painfully surrounded,
Listen how we love you,
Hope the uttermost!
Waiting for that curing
Which exalts the wounded,
Hear us sing above you—
Exiled, but not Lost!
[The stars shine on brightly while Adam and Eve pursue their way into the far wilderness. There is a sound through the silence, as of the falling tears of an angel.