ess
Deigns not to refuse thee.
Clay thou art; and unto spirit
All clay is of equal merit.
Fire! _without_ which nought can live;
Fire! but _in_ which nought can live, 460
Save the fabled salamander,
Or immortal souls, which wander,
Praying what doth not forgive,
Howling for a drop of water,
Burning in a quenchless lot:
Fire! the only element
Where nor fish, beast, bird, nor worm,
Save the Worm which dieth not,
Can preserve a moment's form,
But must with thyself be blent: 470
Fire! man's safeguard and his slaughter:
Fire! Creation's first-born Daughter,
And Destruction's threatened Son,
When Heaven with the world hath done:
Fire! assist me to renew
Life in what lies in my view
Stiff and cold!
His resurrection rests with me and you!
One little, marshy spark of flame--[224]
And he again shall seem the same; 480
But I his Spirit's place shall hold!

[_An ignis-fatuus flits through the wood and rests
on the brow of the body. The Stranger
disappears: the body rises_.

_Arn._ (_in his new form_). Oh! horrible!

_Stran._ (_in_ ARNOLD'S _late shape_). What! tremblest thou?

_Arn._ Not so--
I merely shudder. Where is fled the shape
Thou lately worest?

_Stran._ To the world of shadows.
But let us thread the present. Whither wilt thou?

_Arn._ Must thou be my companion?

_Stran._ Wherefore not?
Your betters keep worse company.

_Arn._ _My_ betters!

_Stran._ Oh! you wax proud, I see, of your new form:
I'm glad of that. Ungrateful too! That's well;
You improve apace;--two changes in an instant, 490
And you are old in the World's ways already.
But bear with me: indeed you'll find me useful
Upon your pilgrimage. But come, pronounce
Where shall we now be errant?

_Arn._ Where the World
Is thickest, that I may behold it in
Its workings.

_Stran._ Th