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Icon - ResearchSpace@Auckland - The University of Auckland

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However, after describing the affective virtues <strong>of</strong> the stars, the night sky, the moon,the sun, the forest, the birds, and the songs <strong>of</strong> the angels, Cain says,All these are nothing, to my eyes and heart,Like Adah’s face: I turn from earth and heavenTo gaze on it. (2.2.267-9).Unfortunately, in the end, Cain fails to depend upon his love for her: love-Romanticism does not fail him; he fails it.One <strong>of</strong> the initial complexities <strong>of</strong> Cain is the fact that a Romantic argument is placedin the mouth <strong>of</strong> Lucifer, a character who is demonstrably dishonest. <strong>The</strong> apparentparadox is resolved in the presentation, in Adah, <strong>of</strong> another version <strong>of</strong> the sameargument, superior to Lucifer’s. Where Lucifer preaches the formation <strong>of</strong> an innerworld based upon reason alone, the poet presents here the formation <strong>of</strong> an inner worldbased in love, which will obviate the failings that this drama attributes to Lucifer’slonely dependence upon mind alone. Adah’s view forms the Romantic dream.Lucifer is the evil angel, advising Cain to do wrong, while Adah takes the role <strong>of</strong> thegood angel, advising him to do right.Interestingly, the evil spirits in Heaven and Earth identify a missing element in theSerpent’s discourse, when referring to humans as<strong>The</strong> abhorred raceWhich could not keep in Eden their high place,But listened to the voiceOf knowledge without power (HE 1.3.76-9).Lucifer’s knowledge without love, being ineffective in ameliorating the world, is,indeed, knowledge without power. Lucifer, far from revealing <strong>of</strong> the Gospel <strong>of</strong>Romanticism, is presented as a false prophet, and as an unreliable witness againstGod.324

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