lligence
(At least so seeming) to the things we have passed,
Resembling somewhat the wild habitants
Of the deep woods of earth, the hugest which
Roar nightly in the forest, but ten-fold
In magnitude and terror; taller than
The cherub-guarded walls of Eden--with
Eyes flashing like the fiery swords which fence them-- 140
And tusks projecting like the trees stripped of
Their bark and branches--what were they?

_Lucifer_. That which
The Mammoth is in thy world;--but these lie
By myriads underneath its surface.

_Cain_. But
None on it?

_Lucifer_. No: for thy frail race to war
With them would render the curse on it useless--
'Twould be destroyed so early.

_Cain_. But why _war_?

_Lucifer_. You have forgotten the denunciation
Which drove your race from Eden--war with all things,
And death to all things, and disease to most things, 150
And pangs, and bitterness; these were the fruits
Of the forbidden tree.

_Cain_. But animals--
Did they, too, eat of it, that they must die?

_Lucifer_. Your Maker told ye, _they_ were made for you,
As you for him.--You would not have their doom
Superior to your own? Had Adam not
Fallen, all had stood.

_Cain_. Alas! the hopeless wretches!
They too must share my sire's fate, like his sons;
Like them, too, without having shared the apple;
Like them, too, without the so dear-bought _knowledge_! 160
It was a lying tree--for we _know_ nothing.
At least it _promised knowledge_ at the _price_
Of death--but _knowledge_ still: but what _knows_ man?

_Lucifer_. It may be death leads to the _highest_ knowledge;
And being of all things the sole thing certain,[ch]
At least leads to the _surest_ science: therefore
The Tree was true, though deadly.

_Cain_. These dim realms!
I see them, but I know them not.

_Lucifer_. Because
Thy hour is yet afar, and matter cannot
Comprehend spirit wholly--but 'tis something 170
To know there are such realms.

_Cain_. We knew already
That there was Death.

_Lucifer_. But not what was beyond it.

_Cain_. N