End of Act II.
ACT III.
SCENE I.
Paradise: A beautiful country. Trees, flowers, shrubs, vines of great luxuriance abound. Brilliant birds of unfamiliar plumage can be heard singing in the boughs. They dip, blazing, through the air. The grass is bright, and like short fur in effect. The sheen of water, like the surface of a lake or sea, glimmers beyond. Sails of faint, fair tints, move and melt upon the sea. At a distance, upon a hill, are outlines of graceful architecture. A narrow brook can be seen, with strange shells upon its little banks. There are no highways visible. Foot-worn walks and paths, trodden through the grass, intersperse the landscape. The grass, however, springs afresh beneath the foot, and is not crushed or sear. Annunciation lilies and scarlet passion-flowers grow in the foreground. Bluebells, in clusters, spring beyond. Roses are many. Flowers unknown to the botanies of earth are frequent; and among those to which we are used, it will be noticed that the blossoms of the tropics and of the North countries flourish side by side. The whole impression is one of delight and beauty. The sky has a misty softness, and the atmosphere is capable of taking on (and takes on) sudden and subtle changes of effect. It is now seen to be early morning, and all the tints of the landscape are tender and fresh.
The scene is populous with bright beings. These are seen to differ from the people of this planet chiefly in their joyousness of manner, and in a certain high expression, of which it might be said, in a word, that the absence of low motive, and the presence of a sense of ease and security, are the predominant features. These beings wear flowing robes of various tints—dove, rose, blue, corn, violet, silver, gold, and pearl. Here and there one appears garbed in the color of the pale leaf, and, in moving among the foliage, seems to have sprung from it. Many spirits are clothed in shining white. Happy conversation and gentle laughter can be heard.
Enter Two Children. These play in the
brook, and gather the shells. They are
robed in short, childish garments—a
little frock, a little dress, both white,
and each clasped by a small, golden
cross.
First Child (a boy, four or five years old). I never saw such pretty shells in that other place we lived. They took me to the seaside summers, but there weren’t any there that began to be so pretty.
Second Child (a girl). I never played with any shells before. We lived in a street. It was dark and dirty. I never saw the sea till I came here.
First Child. I never saw you in that other place, did I?