demands our care,
And we are vigilant. Thy late commands
Have been fulfilled to the utmost.

_Enter_ MANFRED.

_A Spirit_. What is here?
A mortal!--Thou most rash and fatal wretch,
Bow down and worship!

_Second Spirit_. I do know the man-- 30
A Magian of great power, and fearful skill!

_Third Spirit_. Bow down and worship, slave!--What, know'st thou not
Thine and our Sovereign?--Tremble, and obey!

_All the Spirits_. Prostrate thyself, and thy condemned clay,
Child of the Earth! or dread the worst.

_Man_. I know it;
And yet ye see I kneel not.

_Fourth Spirit_. 'Twill be taught thee.

_Man_. 'Tis taught already;--many a night on the earth,
On the bare ground, have I bowed down my face,
And strewed my head with ashes; I have known
The fulness of humiliation--for 40
I sunk before my vain despair, and knelt
To my own desolation.

_Fifth Spirit_. Dost thou dare
Refuse to Arimanes on his throne
What the whole earth accords, beholding not
The terror of his Glory?--Crouch! I say.

_Man_. Bid _him_ bow down to that which is above him,
The overruling Infinite--the Maker
Who made him not for worship--let him kneel,
And we will kneel together.

_The Spirits_. Crush the worm!
Tear him in pieces!--

_First Des_. Hence! Avaunt!--he's mine. 50
Prince of the Powers invisible! This man
Is of no common order, as his port
And presence here denote: his sufferings
Have been of an immortal nature--like
Our own; his knowledge, and his powers and will,
As far as is compatible with clay,
Which clogs the ethereal essence, have been such
As clay hath seldom borne; his aspirations
Have been beyond the dwellers of the earth,
And they have only taught him what we know-- 60
That knowledge is not happiness, and science[146]
But an exchange of ignorance for that
Which is another kind of ignorance.
This is not all--the passions, attributes
Of Earth and Heaven, from which no power, nor being,
Nor breath from the worm upwards is exempt,
Have pierced his heart; and in their consequence
Made him a thing