“Mother Earth, what is this hidden mystery?”
Sin. “Eat, and thou shalt be as God.”
Then follow the Fall and a powerful scene depicting Nature’s confusion and grief, as she is dragged off by Satan as his slave, while Sin claims Free-will as her prey.
The Artist enters and finds Knowledge, Innocence, and Grace in tears; the latter informs him of the Fall.
He thus reproaches his creation for her ingratitude: “What more could I do for thee, my best design, than form thee with my own hands? I gave thee my image, a soul that cost thee nothing, and yet thou desertest me for my greatest enemy.”
He then pronounces the curse upon Mankind and the Serpent, and declares he will blot out the world, the scene of their sin.
The clouds break and the sea bursts its limits; the Earth trembles and struggles with the waves, and in agony calls on the Lord for mercy.
In the midst of this confusion of the elements Human Nature is heard crying for help.
Lucifer. “Why callest thou for aid, if I, the only one whom it behooves to give it, delight in seeing thee annihilated?”
Sin also makes the same declaration. The World alone attempts to save its queen.