LIBRARY^CONGRESS. 
 
 Chap. Copyright No. 
 
 ShelLi5^S:ZA ^ 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
Here at this spring angels were wont to come. 
 
 Page 28. 
 
IN LAMECH'S REIGN. 
 
 A. GLANVILLE. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM RECENTLY DISCOVERED 
 AND VERY VALUABLE MANUSCRIPT PO- 
 ETRY OF THE ANTE-DILUVIANS. 
 
 CHICAGO. 
 
 A. FRANCOEUR & COMPANY. 
 1896. 
 
 

 ^ 
 
 Copyright, r8g6, by A, Glanville. 
 All rights reserved. 
 
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HISTORICAL. 
 
 Showing that the following poem was undoubtedly 
 founded upon facts. 
 
 And a river went out of Eden to water the 
 garden; and from thence it was parted, and be- 
 came into four heads. The name of the first is 
 Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole 
 land of Havilah, where there is gold. — Genesis 
 2: 10-11. 
 
 Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, 
 and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of 
 
 Eden And he builded a city, and called 
 
 the name of the city, after the name of his son, 
 Enoch. And unto Enoch was born Irad: and 
 Irad begat Mahujaei: and Mahujael begat Ma- 
 thusael: and Mathusael begat Lamech: and La- 
 mech took unto him two wives: the name of 
 one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zil- 
 lah. And Ada bare Jabal And his broth- 
 er's name was Jubal; he was the father of all 
 such as handle the harp and the organ. And 
 Zillah, she also bare Tubal Cain, an instructor 
 of every artificer in brass and Iron. — Genesis 
 Jf: 16-22. 
 
 The sons of God came in unto the daugh- 
 
ters o men and they bare children to them, the 
 same became mighty men which were of old, 
 men of renown. — Genesis 6: . 
 
 And Cain built a city named Nod He 
 
 built a city and fortified it with walls and called 
 it Enoch. He augmented his household sub- 
 stance with much wealth, by rapine and vio- 
 lence. Lamech's son, Jubal, who was born of 
 Ada, exercised himself in music, and invented 
 the psaltery and the harp; but Tubal, one of 
 his children by the other wife, exceeded all 
 other men in strength, and was very expert and 
 famous in martial performances. — Josephus. 
 
 -^I^ 
 
 Take me, O Muse, far back amidst first scenes : 
 Let me drink in such strains as Jubal played 
 When nature's face was perfect, ere the flood. 
 Beside thee let me stroll where Pison flowed, ^ 
 To east of Eden, and where mighty men, 
 Long-lived, renowned, Cain's generations ruled. 
 Unblind me to the glories of the days, 
 O let my soul pour forth the tale of things, 
 When Lamech reigned, son of Mathusael, 
 And valorous and victorious Tubal led. 
 
'Jubal exercised himself in music, and invented 
 the psaltery and the harp." 
 
 .J 
 

 IN LAMECH'S REIGN.* 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 LOVE. 
 
 Synopsis:— The trio, Jubal, Hannah and Rhoda, await 
 the appearance of the messenger from the war. Their con- 
 versation, during which Hannah malces known Aziel's ap- 
 pearance to her. The messenger's report. Jubal repeats 
 the legend of love. 
 
 LOVE SONG. 
 
 To be loved is just as sweet 
 
 As 'tis to love; words that rise 
 From my heart cannot repeat 
 
 Their message; but, sweatheart, ray eyes 
 Mirror all thy bliss! 
 
 Love divine, so kindly blent 
 
 Into all, and felt unspoken, 
 Fell from heavenly heights, unpent 
 
 When the golden urn was broken 
 By some hand remiss. 
 
 *ln which the author has tried not so much to make an 
 interesting tale as to portray three of the governing at- 
 tributes of mankind. 
 
1 6 IN LAMECH'S REIGN, 
 
 Never dream so sweet before 
 
 Held my heart so surely fast — 
 Dream that whispers "wake no morel" 
 
 My first love shall be my last 
 In other world or this. 
 
 Sweet was the voice that softly sang the song, 
 While flowed melodious the notes from strings 
 That seemed to thrill with life at Jubal's touch, 
 For from that harp which knew no hand but his 
 Came breathing sounds that silenced all the birds 
 With wonder, and upon the bending branch 
 They perched and listened spellbound while he 
 
 woke 
 Such strains as seemed part of celestial themes. 
 
 Beside him sat fair Rhoda whom his heart 
 Held pure as the lily newly bloomed, 
 For fond affection such as lovers know 
 Star-lit his day and dream. And she, his love 
 i And color of his life, (daughter of Tishra, 
 \ He who sat 'mong Enoch's honored men,) 
 ( Loved best his voice when it was tuned to woo. 
 f And close beside her sister Hannah stood, 
 ( In her own musings lost, filled with fond thoughts 
 ( Of Tubal Cain, her lover, absent now, 
 > For in distance remote, he, in the war 
 
That called his valor forth, was in the conflict, 
 Foremost, There had her thoughts gone wan- 
 dering; 
 She saw him leading on the host, his ire 
 The dreaded semblance of an unkind fate 
 To every enemy. Or else she saw 
 Him resting in his tent, his happier thoughts 
 Not of the rage of battle, but of love. 
 Of her. And when the tuneful echoes ceased 
 And silence brought the feathered throng again 
 Their sense of fear, unmoved still Hannah gazed 
 Into the distance with a dreamy eye, 
 In reverie lost, till Rhoda thus began: 
 
 Rhoda. There is a dimness in your eyes that 
 
 seems ^ 
 
 Like twilight when the spirit wanders forth, 
 Sweet sister mine; is there no charm for thee 
 In scene and sound that hold entranced all else.? 
 
 Hannah. What is the setting when the jewel's 
 
 gone? 
 This grass, these trees, are green, and yonder 
 
 brook 
 Runs careless onward, gurgling at its banks. 
 And when prince Jubal sings the wonted charm 
 
 .J 
 
"1 
 
 LV LAM EC IPS RE/GX. 
 
 Is in sweet music. But true love is greater 
 Than all these, and when affection such 
 As Tubal's speaks to memory, it strikes 
 All distance out and brings us to its source: 
 Thus was I borne away. 
 
 Rhoda. 'Tis sweet indeed 
 
 To be so borne away; next happiest state 
 To being with our loves. But let our hearts, 
 Combining, call you back again. 
 
 Hannah. They do. 
 
 Your love comes to my soul as comes the dew 
 Upon the thirsty flowers. Yet the rain 
 Must fall in drenching streams to make them live. 
 His love's the rain unto my soul that yearns, 
 As whose, indeed, does not? for more than balmy 
 Breaths of sympathy. I'd have him great 
 Yet would I give his glory for his presence, ^ 
 And be so happy with the exchange that all 
 My hoarded smiles would fly into my lips. 
 
 Twas only yester eve that, going forth 
 Into the garden just when comes the hour 
 That changes day into the night, I knelt 
 Beneath the trees, and lifting up my eyes 
 I asked a token of my lover's welfare. 
 
 L. 
 
A seeming vision of heaven's lovliness 
 To give me angel converse. 
 — Page 21. 
 
 J 
 
L. 
 
IN^ LA ME CH' S REIGN, 2 1 
 
 Ah! and then among the branches like 
 A falling leaf came fluttering down 
 A seeming vision of heaven's loveliness 
 To give me angel-converse. Loosely flowed 
 His silver-silken robe his shoulders o'er 
 And fell around beneath his snowy wings, 
 Half hiding that perfected form that we, 
 Poor dwellers of the earth, do have no more. 
 His face benign and eyes like drops of love, 
 His moulded limbs, self painted with the glow 
 Of animated life, with loveliness 
 So stunned me that I knelt in sudden silence, 
 My half -spoken prayer upon my lips, 
 Gazing transfixed upon him. With a step 
 So light as scarcely seemed to bend the grass 
 Beneath his feet, he with such grace approached 
 Me that the bending even of his knee did seem 
 Significant of music; and in voice 
 Melodious fell from his lips these words: 
 "Our God, fair servant bid me answer those 
 Who love him." 
 
 With one deep drawn sigh of 
 
 rapture 
 
 I became as a new-planted flower 
 
1 
 
 IN L A ME Ch'S RE IGN. 
 
 In the sun, and with th' excess of beauty 
 Or of love, I know not which, in tears 
 I bent before him. 
 
 JUBAL. Ah ! God's trusted one » 
 
 'Twas he they call Aziel. He has come 
 In troubled times to others of our land. 
 Hannah. Full soon my scattered thoughts re- 
 turning, thus 
 I faltering spoke: "O heavenly messenger, 
 Thou knowest all my heart, first tell me is 
 My lover well, and will he gain such fame 
 As victors crave?" and then again he spake 
 In that rich angel-voice, "Fair servant, great 
 Is Tubal Cain, Havillah's mighty prince. 
 Fear not, for he is seen by those beyond 
 The stars that chain fair heaven in. Rest thou 
 Content, for woe is banned from heaven, and 
 
 should 
 He fall what could we do but weep?" Again 
 I asked: "And will he be victorious?" 
 Thus answered he: "The just can never fail." 
 "But will my lover come as conqueror comes. 
 The saviour of his land?" persisted I. 
 He answered not, but thrice his downy wings 
 
 L.. 
 
IV LAMECH'S REIGiW 
 
 He wafted, and into the swadowy night 
 Arose and passed away hke a soft zepher. 
 
 ^ Thus Hannah ceased, and Jubal would have 
 spoken, 
 Rhoda too, so strong the interest 
 Of this angehc visitation spun 
 Its storied charm about them both, had not, 
 Meanwhile, the messenger appeared, and now 
 With that abruptness born of hardy life — 
 His low obeisance turning all their thoughts 
 With startling suddenness to lower themes — 
 And sentence brief, he thus accosted them: 
 
 Messenger. Your pardon, though I have some 
 
 moments stood, 
 Not being able to deliver what 
 Is now no more a charge. 
 
 Jubal. We pardon thee; 
 
 For such a wondrous incident so filled 
 Our ears we heard you not approach. If you 
 Do wear your thoughts in open countenance 
 We have no news to. dread. Then what advance 
 Has Tubal's courage made, and what of him 
 Of whom the angels seem solicitous? 
 
 Mess. According to the compact made between 
 
"1 
 
 2 4 /iV LAME C//' S REIGN, 
 
 Your worthy selves and Tubal Cain the while 
 
 He yet was in Havillah, I do serve 
 
 To let you know his fortunes, which, as far 
 
 As war's wild clamors go, is turbulent 
 
 As stormy sea. They meet us blow for blow, 
 
 But mighty Tubal Cain has hope, and leads 
 
 With eye as clear and arm as strong as when 
 
 He left the court. He bade me first of all 
 
 Repeat his love to her who loves him most. 
 
 Hannah. Traitorous prince, to think of women 
 
 ere 
 Th' affairs of state. 
 
 Mess. Next did he charge me give 
 
 This missive into her own hands, which now 
 1 do. To all he sends his fondest greetings, 
 Steadfast in the true determination 
 Soon or late will bring our honest cause 
 Success. This is the very sum of all 
 The sundry items to the king writ out 
 At length, save that unnumbered warriors fell 
 When last we met the stubborn enemy, 
 And more are made to mourn. 
 
 JUBAL. Ah, true, indeed ! 
 
 And must the pain of lesser lives be felt 
 
r 
 
 IN LAMECH'S REIGN, 25 
 
 To ir.dke our heroes great ? Thus do th' extremes 
 Of love and duty meet and bring life's sadness 
 In. O, War ! how many years meanest thou 
 To stay? How many an eye, red-fingered thou 
 Hast closed since first the direful news of this 
 Invasion came! And yet not surfeited 
 Alone with blood, rich in its fearless flow, 
 As though thy heart had thirsted for an age. 
 You vengeful hold the cup of bitter grief 
 To mothers', fathers', sisters', trembling lips. 
 That, drunken down, quite chokes life's color out 
 And leaves but woful years! What curious 
 Mixture of a stuff is Fate that broods 
 Oe'r such as this? 
 
 Mess. I beg you do not think 
 
 Upon this strain, most worthy prince; believe 
 Me, 'tis not meet for a musician's soul. 
 
 JUBAL. 1 love it not, indeed. God grant the 
 day 
 Miiy speedy come when all this strife will end. 
 
 Meanwhile to Hannah Rhoda spoke with fond 
 Caiess: Go, sister, for thy heart saith thou 
 Wouldst rather be alone to read the lines 
 Which are thy very own. I know, being 
 
IN LAMECH'S REIGN. 
 
 Woman, how much the sweeter are such words 
 When lingered oe'r unwatched by others' gaze. 
 
 Hannah. Sweet sister mine, your eyes are 
 
 wondrous wise: 
 What's in these few small leaves within my heart 
 Must be in secret locked, for love is real 
 To those who love tho humor to all else. 
 Not many hours shall hold us so apart; 
 A short farewell that shall not last a day. 
 
 And looking back with happy smile ere lost 
 To view far in the turning pathway, Hannah 
 Went. Unto the arm^d messenger 
 Turned Rhoda, and impulsively arose 
 These words upon her lips: 
 
 Rhoda. Messenger, how' looks 
 
 Prince Tubal Cain } and is he well ? and does 
 He smile when one by chance of Hannah speaks? 
 And does he seem to love her as she him ? 
 
 Mess. Fair maiden, I am past my prime, and 
 
 this 
 My hair is turning from its color; but I know 
 What 'tis to love, and know the signs of love. 
 Even in the falling eyelash, or a sigh, 
 A blush — which is 'bove all, a woman's chief est 
 
IN LAMECH'S REIGN. 27 
 
 Jewel — lovers hold their secrets up 
 That whosoever hath observant eye 
 And spark of humor in his soul, do know 
 The purport of. And when prince Tubal sent 
 Of late this message to his love, I could 
 But think how often in a passing glance 
 Great destinies are caught. Could heaven take 
 The last drop of all filial love from out 
 Her heart, and pour it full of love for him 
 Until it overflows, yet would his heart — 
 Held it no more— seem like an empty vessel; 
 So great his heart is and so deep his love. 
 But let not briefness for unkindness be 
 Mistook, tho more I say not. I am charged 
 With me ssage to the king. I have too long 
 Delayed. And with your gentle leave 1 will 
 Toward the expectant court to finish this, 
 In warlike times that roar about us now, 
 A journey hazardous. God bless you both. 
 
 V Rhoda. How did his stern soul melt into his 
 
 V words. 
 Remembering: *i know what 'tis to love". 
 
 JUBAL. The source of joy to those who have 
 ^rown old 
 
m LAMECH'S REIGN. 
 
 "^ 
 
 L, 
 
 When time has dulled all else. It is, indeed, 
 The spirit's blood and precious part of us. 
 There is a legend old concerning it 
 I think you have not heard. Thus it is told: 
 
 There is in bright Elysium a spring 
 That sends the waters of undying love 
 Eternal forth into the flowering meadow. 
 A spring set in among lilies abloom 
 Which never die in heaven, its pure stream 
 Runs on amid adorned banks until 
 It enters and is lost into the calm 
 Unceasing flow of life's eternal river. 
 Here at this spring angels were wont to come 
 Upon heaven's festivals, and take into 
 Their urns of pearl the waters of love that they 
 Might pledge their deep devotion and renew 
 The soul with that refreshment which it craves. 
 And so it was that Ajal filled his urn. 
 And on his flake-like wings began his flight 
 Returning. All was well save that the earth 
 Was young; and setting down the urn upon 
 The ramparts of the city, down he looked 
 To see the earth, the latest gift of God 
 To lesser beings — work miraculous 
 
n 
 
 JUBAL. Flowei-b 
 
 Are always on the lea when summer's in 
 The heart. 
 
 —Page 32. 
 
 J 
 
IiV LAME CW S REIGN. 3 1 
 
 Even in an angel's eyes. Long gazed he down 
 In raptured wonder lost, till with a sigh 
 He rose with thoughtful mein, forgetting all 
 Else but such mighty work, what time his arm 
 O'erturned the urn, and like thick falling rain 
 Its contents fell down, down upon the earth. 
 Ah ! then it was the world grew beautiful 
 Indeed! For then full-blown the flowers first 
 Were sudden born, and where each drop did fall 
 Some scented bloom upsprang. And trees that now 
 Do bear us fruit in season, then first shook 
 Their petals out and showed the sun their blossom. 
 Earth and all her trees and shrubs and plants 
 Ecstatic shivered, and burst forth into 
 Their myriad colors, blent harmoniously, 
 So beautiful that those whose eyes ne'er saw 
 In happiest dreams imagine only part. 
 
 Such is the legend old, and held by some 
 As something sacred. 
 
 Rhoda. It is beautiful ! 
 
 JUBAL. So beautiful we cannot call it false: 
 Still may it be a tale told to fill up 
 An empty hour, poured out from poet's lips 
 To solitude. Our hearts ask not the source; 
 
 / 
 
32 IN LAMECH'S REIGN, 
 
 From birth to death, and all the time between. 
 We feel the truth that love's so mixed in all 
 It links us with the unconscious tree that spreads 
 Its green leaves to the sun. And when we meet 
 As you and I, and friendly looks the soul 
 Unto a friend, how more than sweet to feel 
 The thrill of love, new-born, and not in vain. 
 
 Rhoda. We love the rose abloom, but when it 
 fades — 
 What do we with our roses when they fade ? 
 
 JUBAL. If this my love for you should fade 
 
 and die 
 Dream then no longer of eternal things, 
 For that same hour know that my spirit ceased ! 
 My love shall be to thee the sheltering forest. 
 Warding off the storms of life that fret 
 And toss the soul— aye, and 't shall hold aloof 
 The summer sun lest some fierce ray should burn 
 Thy tinted cheek. 
 
 Rhoda. And when the autumn comes ? 
 
 JUBAL. It never comes to truest love. Flowers 
 Are alv/ays on the lea when summer's in 
 The heart. But should it be, then would I pile 
 The driftwood on the hearth and there enfold < 
 
 
 \ 
 
IN LAMECH'S REIGN. 
 
 Thee in undying warmth. I love thee truly— 
 Do not doubt my love. 
 
 Rhoda. I do not doubt, 
 
 hideed. Love-laden words, sweet delicacies 
 Of the tongue, lose not their charm in speech. 
 'Tis woman's fault to like their mellow sound: 
 
 "To be loved is just as sweet 
 As 'tis to love. Words that rise 
 
 From my heart cannot repeat 
 
 Their message; but, sweetheart, my eyes 
 Mirror all thy bliss." 
 
"Mighty men, men of renown. 
 
"1 
 
PATRIOTISM. 
 
 Synopsis— Hannah, having returned to her chaml>or and 
 read her lover's message, her mind ri'verts to the incidents 
 which have contrived to separate tliem. 1st.— The war: 
 2nd.— Their General's death, the resolution of Tubal Cain 
 and his departure. 
 
 Meanwhile alone within her chamber Hannah 
 Sat. Upon her lap the letter lay, 
 And down beside her feet the wrapper torn 
 Across. With elbow resting on her knee 
 And nestling cheek deep-seated in her palm, 
 She through the open casement looked across 
 The garden in deep thought. 
 
 The happy smile 
 Still lingered on her lips, called forth by those 
 Sweet lines that lay unheeded in her lap, 
 And memory fond, unsurfeited with what 
 The present held, brought back the past, and bid 
 Ethereal fancy raise the sombre scene: 
 
 And war was in Havillah. Foreign foe 
 
 J 
 
38 IN LAMECH'S REIGN. 
 
 Had trespassed on their shores with v/arlike signs, 
 Possessed himself of part of their fair land, 
 And dared resist in boldness and disdain. 
 Then had the insult's bitter feeling come, 
 Kindling; a patriotic lire that 
 Even a mother's teardrops could not quench ; 
 The peaceful instrument thrown down to grasp 
 The battle blade, and went their general forth, 
 With gathered host, in stern array — the tramp 
 Of trained feet, the clattering hoofs, all mixt 
 Amidst the thunder of grim wheels, and all 
 To meet the foe, and some to meet their death. 
 
 This Hannah saw and then another scene: 
 
 Days intervened, and weeks and months made 
 
 up 
 The passing seasons, yet no peaceful signs, 
 Till weary of the burden of the times. 
 King Lamech called his trusted councilors 
 And state affairs they with grave mein reviewed. 
 There honored Ashur stood with serious face, 
 In thoughtful attitude; he who, when ranged 
 Bold Zeram's band over Havillah's plains, 
 Had by sage council saved his city, Nod, 
 
 L-. 
 
AV LAMECH'S REIGN, 39 
 
 From plunder. Near him sat Othniel; he 
 Whose warlike mood shone through his reverence, 
 For in his youth full many a foe had felt 
 His iron strength: and others, mighty men, 
 Men of renown — Joachem, Pileser, 
 Dositham, Malchan, Ush, Noachial 
 And Jashuk. There prince Jubal stood, far-famed 
 In gentleness and song; prince Tubal Cain, 
 Renowned for strength and brave and martial 
 
 deeds; 
 And others were who bore their fears upon 
 Their visages. 
 
 Then were the hours filled up 
 With totals and particulars, and grave 
 Discussions and debates, till lo ! amidst 
 It all, uncalled, abrupt and heedless, burst 
 A messenger, spent with his haste and terror. 
 Crying out, "O worthy king, the general's slain ! 
 Our noble general's dead !" And turning all, 
 They saw him quaking stand, with woful face, 
 In fear lest in their wrath some hand might strike 
 Him down. Dead, dead ! O from that word 
 
 what ghosts 
 Arise ! And when the messenger speaks on 
 
IN LAMECH'S REIGN. 
 
 It is more woe: *'0 pardon, noble king ! 
 The warriors' loud lament more awful is 
 Than all the din of war. In him we all 
 Are slain, for those who stand up in his stead 
 Lead on hut to defeat; and Enoch's walls 
 Shall save us not unless his like arise." 
 Then were there lamentations, then grim looks 
 Forshadowing dire revenge, and exclamations 
 And resolves such as great men are wont 
 In wrath to speak; and Malchan, far-famed son 
 Of Kishi, thus: 
 
 "O Lamech, king of all 
 Havillah. Well he knew how dangerous 
 His charge, but without fear he was and true 
 To his own land and us. I weep for us 
 Who lose him. Between Enoch's walls and those 
 Who lead our enemy, he was a wall 
 Without a wall, 'gainst arms impregnable. 
 In Dor, when sore oppressed the Ithnan host, 
 He cleft a way through the opposing ranks 
 And led liis followers out. And when there broke 
 The dreadful thunder of the Elon war 
 Upon us, who dared to come out against 
 His mighty arm ? Who is there cannot cite { 
 
IN LAMECH'S REIGN, 41 
 
 Some instance of his valor ? All for what ? 
 Because he loved his land and all therein ! 
 And shall his fall so fire the common heart 
 That children shall be warriors grown with 
 
 thoughts 
 Of full revenge !" 
 
 Then old Othniel thus 
 The silence broke with angry mood: "O had 
 I back my youth ! Tis age's curse to have 
 An eye to see and not the power to do ! 
 To live to see such foreign foe to come, 
 March on unchallenged, and when send we forth 
 Hack off our limbs and laugh to see us bleed. 
 O, you who plead for peace, let drift your souls 
 Some farther out and see us as we are; 
 The time is ripe, and hastes its harvest day. 
 Shall we be traitors to the day and need 
 That call for sacrifice, and murder virtue 
 Lest our selfish bodies want ? I speak, 
 And speak for many more, that this the land 
 1 love shall drink my feeble blood ere I 
 Will live my few remaining years the slave 
 Of those who plunder us. My strength is past, 
 Yet can I weep and die to feel the hurt 
 
42 /y^ LAM EC US REIGN, 
 
 And see our valor ebbing out. O words ! 
 Are ye our all? O for some hand to do!" 
 
 Thus aged Othniel spoke. 'Gain Hannah saw 
 The tempest stir the heart of Tubal Cain, 
 Till now, with honor tlashing from his eye 
 And stern determination on his face, 
 He rose up midst them as one when the last 
 Stay of his patience totters and falls down, 
 And deep emotion bursts forth uncontrolled 
 Until the spiirt shakes the very limbs 
 That hold it captive, and he thundered forth: 
 •'Before high heaven 1 swear that I will lift 
 This, Tubal's hand, and I will die before 
 The cause be lost !" Then fixed their many eyes 
 Themselves upon him; saw the valor tlame 
 Into his cheek, and saw his mighty arm 
 Uplifted, not in anger but as one 
 Who registers a solemn vow before 
 The unforgetting God. None spake until 
 At last old Rumah found protesting voice: 
 
 Rl.mah. There may be peace, O prince, with- 
 out more deeds 
 Of blood. 
 
"1 
 
r 
 
 /JV L A ME CH' S REIGA\ 4 5 
 
 Tubal. That may be true for others; for my- 
 self 
 I cannot longer sleep contentedly 
 Neglecting what has been bequethed to me. 
 I ask but what is honest, and the call 
 Of duty will not let me calmly stand 
 And see my own and rightful property 
 Be stewarded by others. 
 
 RUMAH. Shall we give 
 
 More heroes' blood for a few feet of clay .? 
 
 Tubal. Do you, when sickness comes and 
 
 steals away 
 The sunshine from the eyes you fondly love, 
 The rose-red from the lips, the sprightliness 
 That marks the body in its happy state. 
 Leave the afflicted one in death's cold grasp 
 And say "take this but take no more" .? Or do 
 You quick apply such remedies as bring 
 Again the glow of health into the cheek, 
 The light into the eye, with prayers to God 
 Your treasure be not lost ? This too is true: 
 The country needs a patriot where home 
 Doth need a friend. Peace is a word too often 
 Used to cloak men's cowardice. Thy scant 
 
 J 
 
) 46 
 
 IN LAMECH'S REIGN. 
 
 Aged argument thou wilt do well to spout 
 Upon some infant mind where have not yet 
 Sweet patriotism been awaked from sleep. 
 I will be true to honor or will lay 
 This lifeless clay before some stronger arm. 
 
 RUMAH. Perhaps some of my youthful fire 
 
 burns out, 
 But yet experience hath not dulled my mind. 
 I know it for a truth that it is far 
 More easy to advance than to retreat. 
 Weigh well your thoughts; I, too, have fought, 
 
 and know 
 The sweetness of success, but if — 
 
 Tubal. if ? say 
 
 Not if to m.e; a treacherous, hollow word, 
 Which now smacks of a sound that's traitorous. 
 I'll waste no more these moments when an hour 
 May save a kingdom. Let our people know 
 That Tubal Cain no longer stays, for here 
 And now I say to all, farewell. 
 
 But scarce 
 The words had fallen from his lips, when she, 
 Fair Hannah's self, o'erwrought and nervous, 
 stood 
 
r 
 
 IN LAMECH'S REIGN. 47 
 
 A moment on the portal, for that word 
 "Farewell" had stolen her will and blanched her 
 
 cheek 
 Into a deadly whiteness. She, next moment, 
 Clutching his arm, and with uplifted face 
 And woful, thinking not but of his safety 
 Whom she loved, was looking in his eyes, 
 While he, stunned by her sorrow, stood quite still. 
 With head bent down, as though some power un- 
 seen 
 Had robbed him of his speech. 
 
 " Give up the light, 
 Perhaps the life" she said, ''that hath in it 
 The lives of all of us ? Farewell ? No, no ! 
 O let these eyes of mine be suns to melt 
 Away your icy will !" 
 
 Tubal. Sweetheart, they are 
 
 The sun, the moon and all the stars to me.. 
 None other could thus move me for I love 
 You more than I do love all else. Make me 
 Not think the voice of duty stronger than 
 The voice of truest love. No sacrifice, 
 No victory. Let these your misty eyes 
 Grow brighter, for I shall return and soon. 
 
 J 
 
"1 
 
 IN LAMECH'S REIGN. 
 
 ) Hannah. Ah, if I hmio thou wouldst. O do 
 
 \ but take 
 
 \ The danger from the times and I will rest \ 
 
 ) Content indeed. But war is waged to kill. 
 O say you will not go ! Look you but on 
 Thy kingly father, aged with this new grief, 
 His head bent forth until it rests upon 
 His bosom, and fast gathering tears o'erflow 
 
 > The lids and fall upon his royal robe — 
 
 / A voice that more than speaks. O do not go! 
 
 ( We may be happy though not conquerors. 
 
 Tubal. Would that I heard no other voice 
 
 than this! 
 It cannot be. Now doth the future need 
 A friend. The present bitterness shall be 
 The seed to bring us happy harvest. When your 
 Sweet voice cannot persuade none else need 
 
 speak. 
 But ask me not to hide my face when times 
 Are dangerous. 'Tis but your love that speaks, 
 Not your whole self. When time has shown to 
 
 you 
 How groundless are your fears, 'twill also show 
 The justness of my way. 1 charge you keep 
 
r 
 
 IN" LAMECH'S REIGIST. 
 
 n 
 
 49 
 
 The clouds away from these now rainy eyes: 
 Farewell ! 
 
 And he with many a backward glance 
 Had gone, and left her drooping in the arms 
 Of those who loved her less. 
 
 Thus had it been; 
 And thus did fancy call it up again 
 From out the shadowy past; and Hannah's soul 
 Grew wondrous sad, and kindly folding up 
 The re-read missive, she, with lips from which 
 The smile had faded, kissed it with a sigh. 
 
 .J 
 
'Tubal exceeded all other men in strength, and 
 
 was very expert and famous in martial 
 
 performances.'' 
 
BOOK 
 
 GREATNESS. 
 
 Synopsis.— Jubal repeats to Rhoda the beginning of the 
 final conflict; its progress; the generous love of Tubal Cain 
 shown at the defeat of prince Tasmah. and its reward. 
 
 Beside the bank of that clear rivulet 
 Which had their only listener been so oft 
 They loved it, sat Jubal and Rhoda. She 
 With happy countenance drank in his words, 
 While he, his brother's praises on his lips, 
 Recounted Tubal Cain's heroic deeds 
 With voice of love that seemed to take away 
 The awfulness of war: 
 
 Nor night nor day 
 When through the broken shadows of the east, 
 In robes of gray, the Spirit of the Morning 
 Came; and slow her step and sad her heart 
 As down across the unhappy hill she moved 
 Contemplating. For in her mind was bom 
 
54 
 
 IN LAMECH'S REIGN-. 
 
 Th' impending horrors of the day that soon 
 
 Would break the stillness. And her soft caress 
 
 Lingered as she woke the violet 
 
 And daisy, saying: "Soon the sun will see 
 
 Your fragrance quite crushed out, your beauty 
 
 lost, 
 Beneath unheeding feet, and you shall lift 
 Your kindly eyes to those that feel no pity. 
 A tiny seed set out, your little lives 
 Have hoarded up the summer sunshine's cheer, 
 The dewdrop's purity, the evening's glow, 
 And blending all into your happy lives 
 Are pleased to be the jewels of the grass. 
 O happy flowers! No pomp, no vanity; 
 Content to bud and bloom in modest worth. 
 O that great man might spend his given time 
 Half so devout: that when there comes full bloom 
 Of manhood we might say, 'Here is combined 
 The virtue of his season, and the smile 
 Of charity, the fragrant breath of peace.' 
 But no. Deep in his heart is set the thought 
 Of conquest, and his eye, so coated o'er 
 With the thin film of pride, looks eager out 
 Toward the rapine and the violence 
 
r 
 
 The Spirit of the Morning. 
 
 L 
 
 J 
 
IN LAMECirS REIGN. 57 
 
 Filling the days. How fiendish Hell shall laugh 
 This woful day to see heaven's mortals bleed, 
 For ere the sun has reached one-fourth his course 
 The trembling air shall thicken with the souls 
 That wing their way from this unhappy vale. 
 Ah ! many an eye shall ope in yonder tents 
 To close again while yet the day is full: — 
 Approaching morn throws her gray signals out; 
 I must away. Alas! the hour has come." 
 And frightened from the scene, with hurried steps 
 She noiseless passed beyond the western hill. 
 
 Approached the day. Roused up the slumb'ring 
 
 camps, 
 Grim preparations for the conflict made 
 That soon would shake the vale of Kirzaith-Arba. 
 Long lines of moving bodies gathered thick } 
 
 To squares and columns, as if some great arm I 
 
 Invisible reaehed out and them toward 
 One common center swept. They outward 
 
 moved, 
 Each arm^d host to slaughter bent, and met 
 With thunderous roar. As when the lowering 
 
 clouds 
 
IN LAMECirS REIGN. 
 
 Meet in mid-heavens, and grows dark the day 
 And fearful, till there falls the horrid flash 
 And then hoarse-bellowing the tempest comes, 
 So did this battle break. And downward looked 
 The ascending sun, dull-blazing as it climbed, 
 And watched them till high noon. 
 
 Tumultuous 
 Around arose the wrack of war — the clash 
 Of arms, the thunder of the chargers' hoofs, 
 And thick as leaves from trees shaken by chilling 
 Autumn winds the heroes fell. Amidst 
 It rose the form of Tubal Cain, his spirit 
 Spreadmg till it made all near him seem 
 His lesser counterparts. When downward came 
 His iron arm so surely fell a foe. 
 For no one was who could withstand his strength. 
 Clearly and far around his eye surveyed, 
 Bespeaking mind tireless, and when and where 
 His heavy blade uplifted shone it was 
 Grim, heeded sign for foemen to retreat 
 And followers to advance. He stood alone: 
 O, all the woful years had been a day 
 Had we a solid phalanx such as he! 
 
 L. 
 
IN LAMECH'S REIGN. 59 
 
 But raged the battle on because there were 
 
 No other Tubals. Warriors less renowned 
 
 Fell in the trodden dust, their giant souls, 
 
 Wrenched from their falling habitats of clay, 
 
 Leave-taking with a shudder. The feverish day 
 
 Not man alone felt. Chargers riderless. 
 
 Dilating nostrils giving signs of fear, 
 
 Over the prostrate form plunged uncontrolled: 
 
 Or foaming, fiery steeds, undriven, dragged 
 
 The reckless car, and on its floor stretched out 
 
 The warrior lay, whose breast inanimate 
 
 No longer felt the deadly spear transfixed 
 
 His heart, relaxed his guiding grasp, and turned 
 
 Eager advance into retreat terriffic. 
 
 O, how the unfeeling fates together clash 
 
 The elements when two such equal armies 
 
 Meet ! Discordant thus the hosts of earth 
 
 Or hell care not to strive, nor can unceasing, 
 
 And the end of this great battle came, 
 
 Yet not with stormy fury of revenge, 
 
 But in such act of nobleness as seemed 
 
 A kindly lily left untouched within . 
 
 A trampled garden. 
 
"1 
 
 63 /.V LAMECirS REIGN. 
 
 Came now forth a foe^ 
 And in his veins ran royal blood, no less 
 Than Tasmah, son of the opposing king, 
 Havillah's enemy, against our great 
 And valiant prince. In times of peace they would 
 Have met in courtesy and kindness, but 
 So wrought by warfare's bitterness, that form 
 Fashioned to be admired, was but a prized 
 Receptacle that held appeasing blood. 
 Long time they fought, for none so exercised 
 Prince Tubal's prowess as this royal foe. 
 Afar their glittering, weildy weapons shone, 
 And lesser warriors kept far back beyond 
 Their awful reach. Now did each moment seem 
 To be the herald of disastrous fall 
 Of him 'gainst whom the fates their anger raised, 
 But with full stroke impending doom was 'scaped, 
 Or else protecting shield proved worthy guard. 
 And 'gain the disturbed air, their thunderous blows 
 Feeling, hissed at their blades. So fought they 
 
 on 
 Yet could not always fight, being mortal: 
 And heaven or chance or fate or hell decreed 
 The final blow of all the war had come — 
 
As comes the final crash of forest tree, 
 
 Huge, shaking all the woods — when Tasmah 
 
 turned 
 His glinting, savage weapon, cleaving part 
 Of Tubal Cain's conspicuous helmet off, 
 So close the thirsty steel descending moved. 
 Unhappy stroke! For with his massive strength 
 Prince Tubal plucked away the falling blade, 
 Which, like a straw struck by the angry gust, 
 From Tasmah's grasp a sudden parting took, 
 And leaping wildly from him sought the earth 
 In dangerous circuit. Before our prince, 
 Unsuccored, Tasmah fell, vanquished, undone, 
 And from his lips the blood inconstant fled. 
 For well he saw in that stern countenance 
 The shortness of his life. Then, as if some 
 Great sadness came upon him, sigh escaped 
 Him great as seemed to rend his heart in twain. 
 And raising up anon an anguished face 
 These words fell from his lips: 
 
 "Think not that fear 
 Thus moves me, valorous Tubal Cain. My life 
 Is thine, and bravely hast thou won a prize 
 
n 
 
 IN LAMECH'S REIGN. 
 
 L, 
 
 That other foes risked death to gain and gained 
 Death in the risk. But yet 1 know the bravest 
 Are most merciful. Perhaps thy neck 
 Hath felt the fond caress of woman's arms. 
 If thy great heart doth know true love's eternal 
 Warmth, — if thou hast loved, remember her 
 Who loves thee, and then think how one do love 
 Me, virtuous and beautiful as she. 
 Could this unfeeling blade dispatch at once 
 Both she and 1, then would we not say 'hold'. 
 But ah ! that lingering and mysterious death 
 That sometimes we call grief: to think how life's 
 Long bitterness will slowly steal the roses 
 From her cheeks, bend down her queenly form 
 And wrinkle that fair brow before life's winter 
 Comes, makes me to speak for her. If thy 
 Lips hast not breathed forth vows to virtuous 
 
 woman, 
 Let that mighty stroke fall down at once 
 Lest thou shouldst think I make a craven plea." 
 
 As when the storm is passed, the sun comes 
 forth, 
 And nature takes her fair serenity 
 

 
 But nature's blank indifference that sat 
 On all the scene. . . . 
 — Page 67. 
 
 L 
 
IN LAMECH'S REIGN. 65 
 
 Again, so changed the wrathful countenance 
 Of Tubal Cain. His warlike aspect vanished; 
 Down at his side his harmless weapon fell, 
 Over his face love's sunshine came again, 
 And in a voice so kind he seemed to speak 
 To one he loved, he said: "Go prince, and may 
 God speed thee." 
 
 "O, what noble act!" cried Rhoda. 
 
 *' 'Twas truly so" said Jubal: "and it was 
 Rewarded nobly. For the vanquished prince 
 Returning to the presence of the king, 
 Made known the happenings of the day— for 
 
 now 
 The night had come and both the armies had 
 
 Retired unvictorious to their tents— 
 
 And spake in such a way of Tubal's deeds, 
 
 His valor and his honor, as to move 
 
 The old, stern king to sympathy, to tears. 
 
 'O worthy king and father,' thus the prince; 
 
 '1 had been honored to have such a one 
 
 For executioner. But when it seemed 
 
 That I must part this life, before my eyes 
 
 Its every beauty flashed. 
 
L_ 
 
 66 IN LAMECH'S REIGN, 
 
 The scenes I loved, \ 
 
 The seaward flowing stream that wound along j 
 
 Until its dimmer line was lost among ^- 
 
 The rising willows; the hills and thickets where ) 
 
 Angelic spring changed by a smile the cold, ^ 
 
 Dead snow into a living vesture; where { 
 
 Loved summer with her magic touch did change 
 The blossom into fruit, and where we saw 
 The solemn autumn come, and gath'ring up 
 Tne beauty of the seasons thrust them all 
 Into a few short glorious days. This all 
 Before me came, then her sw^eet face stole in 
 And then my heart cried out whether i would 
 Or no. And this my love so moved him that 
 1 found this mighty conqueror, this stern 
 And valiant foe, had so much soul in him 
 That at the slightest feeling it did bubble 
 At his eyes. O king! this hand shall raise 
 No more against such noble enemy.' 
 
 'Well thou resolvest' spoke the king, in deep 
 Emotion shaken; 'and such worthy deed 
 Far as our tardy efforts doth allow, 
 Shall be at once and in his mood repaid. 
 
L 
 
 IN LAMECH'S REIGN. 67 { 
 
 Let every hostage go, and more than that, j 
 
 Let richest gifts be piled up much as their 
 Full arms will hold— and us tomorrow's sun 
 Shall find not where we planned to be, for from 
 These famed but kindly shores we will return, 
 Not as an arm^d host that homeward bring 
 The plunder of sacked towns, but with the rich 
 And untold treasure of a new-found love 
 That conquers us within. Aye, Tubal shall 
 Be held now and forever in repute, 
 A reference in the heart of all that hath 
 A noble soul.' 
 
 "And thus it was: for when 
 Fair morn had brushed aside the gathered dews 
 Our warriors found no enemy; they saw 
 But nature's blank indifference that sat 
 On all the scene, unbroken save whence stood 
 Their tents came our own countrymen laden 
 With richest gifts, and bearing on their tongues 
 Many a version of this happy end." 
 
 Thus Jubal ceased; and looking in her eyes. 
 And she back into his, so lovingly, 
 So fond, their thoughts shone forth in happy smiles. 
 
 / 
 
68 
 
 /.V LAM EC IPS REIGN. 
 
 "What else is fresh in memory," Jubal said. 
 "And when prince Tubal Cain triumphant came 
 What joy for all of us, for then you were 
 My bride and Hannah his. And who can tell 
 But when the years have passed, tho' lazy time 
 May drop some phrases out, still may they love 
 To speak of fair and virtuous Hannah, wife 
 Of Tubal Cain, and him exceeding all 
 In strength, expert and famous in great deeds, 
 And Rhoda, lovely bride of Jubal, famed 
 Musician and inventor of the harp ?" 
 
i