More say we not, excepting that the
motivation of the scene in which Abel perishes is of the rarest
excellence, and what follows is equally great and priceless. There now
lies Abel! That now is Death--there was so much talk about it, and man
knows about it as little as he did before.
"We must not forget, that through the whole piece there runs a kind of
presentiment of a Saviour, so that the poet at this point, as well as in
all others, has known how to bring himself near to the ideas by which we
explain things, and to our modes of faith.
"Of the scene with the parents, in which Eve at last curses the
speechless Cain, which our western neighbour lifts into such striking
prominence, there remains nothing more for us to say: we have to
approach the conclusion with astonishment and reverence.
"With regard to this conclusion, an intelligent and fair friend, related
to us through esteem for Byron, has asserted that everything religious
and moral in the world was put into the last three words of the piece."
{143}
We have now heard enough from Goethe to prove that Mr.
Pages:
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135