Phantasmagoria
Characters
THE LORD OF THE UNIVERSE
BEAUTY
AMBITION
PITY
LOVE
HATE
DESPAIR
REASON
HOPE
FEAR
GREED
FIRST —POWERS OF DARKNESS
SECOND
THIRD
FOURTH
FIFTH
SIXTH
SERAPHIM
CHERUBIM
Clouds upon clouds of birds, snakes, fish, animals, men, flowers, trees, planets, suns.
SCENE I—The House of Birth.
SCENE II—The House of Life.
SCENE III—The House of Death.
Scene I. THE HOUSE OF BIRTH
SCENE: Darkness and illimitable space. Æons of time, as measured by the illusion of time, elapse. THE LORD OF THE UNIVERSE, as force, inert, yet all-in-all, rests quiescent. A faint pulsing begins. Without thought or reason, restless, chaotic, the idea of separateness and individuality generates—an insane dream. The cloudy length of a giant outlines itself, reclining in endless space. It appears and disappears, now a thigh, now an arm, only to fade again. The vague outlines of a brow and cheek appear, only to fade again. Æons of time elapse. The illusion reasserts itself. Cloudy fire-mists pour from his nostrils. Poles of light erect themselves from materialized temples. Blazing suns and meteors burst forth and swirl about his head. Strange and multitudinous forms manifest themselves—animals, birds, fishes, horned and winged things. They appear and disappear, as thoughts form and fade. He is blind, aged, insane. He erects imaginary titanic arms and rubs his changing, stupendous face with his changing hands.