No doubt, apart from this main purport and essence of his song, his sensitive spirit responded to other and fainter influences. There are "points of resemblance," as Jeffrey pointed out and Byron proudly admitted, between _Manfred_ and the _Prometheus_ of Æschylus. Plainly, here and there, "the tone and pitch of the composition," and "the victim in the more solemn parts," are Æschylean. Again, with regard to the supernatural, there was the stimulus of the conversation of the Shelleys and of Lewis, brimful of magic and ghost-lore; and lastly, there was the glamour of _Christabel_, "the wild and original" poem which had taken Byron captive, and was often in his thoughts and on his lips. It was no wonder that the fuel kindled and burst into a flame.
For the text of Goethe's review of _Manfred_, and Hoppner's translation of that review, and an account of Goethe's relation with Byron, drawn from Professor A. Brandl's _Goethes Verhältniss zu Byron (Goethe-Jahrbuch, Zwanzigster Band_, 1899), and other sources, see _Letters_, 1901, v. Appendix II. pp. 503-521.
For contemporary and other notices of _Manfred_, in addition to those already mentioned, see _Eclectic Review_, July, 1817, New Series, vol. viii. pp. 62-66; _Gentleman's Magazine_, July, 1817, vol. 87, pp. 45-47; _Monthly Review_, July, 1817, Enlarged Series, vol. 83, pp. 300-307; _Dublin University Magazine_, April, 1874, vol. 83, pp. 502-508, etc.
Manfred. Chamois Hunter. Abbot of St. Maurice. Manuel. Herman.
Witch of the Alps. Arimanes. Nemesis. The Destinies. Spirits, etc.
_The Scene of the Drama is amongst the Higher Alps--partly in the Castle of Manfred, and partly in the Mountains._
SCENE 1.--Manfred _alone_.--_Scene, a Gothic Gallery._[107]-- _Time, Midnight._
_Man_. The lamp must be replenished, but even then It will not burn so long as I must watch: My slumbers--if I slumber--are not sleep, But a continuance, of enduring thought, Which then I can resist not: in my heart There is a vigil, and these eyes but close To look within; and yet I live, and bear The aspect and the form of breathing men. But Grief should be the Instructor of the wise; Sorrow is Knowledge: they who know the most 10 Must mourn the deepest o'er the fatal truth, The Tree of Knowledge is not that of Life. Philosophy and science, and the springs[108] Of Wonder, and the wisdom of the World, I have essayed, and in my mind there is A power to make these subject to itself-- But they avail not: I have done men good, And I have met with good even among men-- But this availed not: I have had my foes, And none have baffled, many fallen before me-- 20 But this availed not:--Good--or evil--life-- Powers, passions--all I see in other beings, Have been to me as rain unto the sands, Since that all-nameless hour. I have no dread, And feel the curse to have no natural fear, Nor fluttering throb, that beats with hopes or wishes, Or lurking love of something on the earth. Now to my task.-- Mysterious Agency! Ye Spirits of the unbounded Universe![ap] Whom I have sought in darkness and in light-- 30 Ye, who do compass earth about, and dwell In subtler essence--ye, to whom the tops Of mountains inaccessible are haunts,[aq] And Earth's and Ocean's caves familiar things-- I call upon ye by the written charm[109] Which gives me power upon you--Rise! Appear! [A pause. They come not yet.--Now by the voice of him Who is the first among you[110]--by this sign, Which makes you tremble--by the claims of him Who is undying,--Rise! Appear!----Appear! 40 [A pause. If it be so.--Spirits of Earth and Air, Ye shall not so elude me! By a power, Deeper than all yet urged, a tyrant-spell, Which had its birthplace in a star condemned, The burning wreck of a demolished world, A wandering hell in the eternal Space; By the strong curse which is upon my Soul,[111] The thought which is within me and around me, I do compel ye to my will.--Appear!