Manuel (speaking within). 'Tis all in vain— He's dead.
Her. (within). Not so—even now methought he moved;20 But it is dark—so bear him gently out— Softly—how cold he is! take care of his temples In winding down the staircase.
Re-enter Manuel and Herman, bearing Manfred in their arms.
Manuel. Hie to the castle, some of ye, and bring What aid you can. Saddle the barb, and speed For the leech to the city—quick! some water there!
Her. His cheek is black—but there is a faint beat Still lingering about the heart. Some water. They sprinkle Manfred with water: after a pause, he gives some signs of life.
Manuel. He seems to strive to speak—come—cheerly, Count! He moves his lips—canst hear him! I am old,30 And cannot catch faint sounds. Herman inclining his head and listening.
Her. I hear a word Or two—but indistinctly—what is next? What's to be done? let's bear him to the castle. Manfred motions with his hand not to remove him.
Manuel. He disapproves—and 'twere of no avail— He changes rapidly.
Her. 'Twill soon be over.
Manuel. Oh! what a death is this! that I should live To shake my gray hairs over the last chief Of the house of Sigismund.—And such a death! Alone—we know not how—unshrived—untended— With strange accompaniments and fearful signs—40 I shudder at the sight—but must not leave him.
Manfred (speaking faintly and slowly). Old man! 'tis not so difficult to die. Manfred, having said this, expires. Her. His eyes are fixed and lifeless.—He is gone.—
Manuel. Close them.—My old hand quivers.—He departs— Whither? I dread to think—but he is gone!
End of Act Third, and of the poem."]
bf Sirrah! I command thee.—[MS.]
165 [Compare Childe Harold, Canto III. stanza lxxxvi. line 1; stanza lxxxix. lines 1, 2; and stanza xc. lines 1, 2.]
166 ["Drove at midnight to see the Coliseum by moonlight: but what can I say of the Coliseum? It must be seen; to describe it I should have thought impossible, if I had not read Manfred.... His [Byron's] description is the very thing itself; but what cannot he do on such a subject, when his pen is like the wand of Moses, whose touch can produce waters even from the barren rock?"—Matthews's Diary of an Invalid, 1820, pp. 158, 159. (Compare Childe Harold, Canto IV. stanzas cxxviii.-cxxxi.)]
167 [Compare Childe Harold, Canto IV. stanzas cvi.-cix.]
168 [For "begun," compare Don Juan, Canto II. stanza clxvii. line 1.]
169 [Compare—
" ... but his face
Deep scars of thunder had intrenched."
Paradise Lost, i. 600.]
bg Summons——.—[MS. M.]
170 "The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven."
Paradise Lost, i. 254, 255.]
171 [In the first edition (p. 75), this line was left out at Gifford's suggestion (Memoirs, etc., 1891, i. 387). Byron was indignant, and wrote to Murray, August 12, 1817 (Letters, 1900, iv. 157), "You have destroyed the whole effect and moral of the poem, by omitting the last line of Manfred's speaking."]
172 [For Goethes translation of the following passages in Manfred, viz (i) Manfred's soliloquy, act 1. sc. 1, line 1 seq.; (ii) "The Incantation." act i. sc. 1, lines 192-261; (iii)Manfred's soliloquy, act ii, sc. 2 lines 164-204; (iv.) the duologue between Manfred and Astarte, act ii. sc. 4, lines 116-155; (v) a couplet, "For the night hath been to me," etc., act iii. sc. 4, lines 3, 4;—see Professor A. Brandl's Goethe-Jahrbuch. 1899, and Goethe's Werke, 1874, iii. 201, as quoted in Appendix II., Letters, 1901. v. 503-514.]
The Life of Lord Byron by John Galt
