Prince Henry. Purge with your nostrums and drugs infernal
The spouts and gargoyles of these towers,
Not me!  My faith is utterly gone
In every power but the Power Supernal! 
Pray tell me, of what school are you?

Lucifer. Both of the Old and of the New! 
The school of Hermes Trismegistus,
Who uttered his oracles sublime
Before the Olympiads, in the dew
Of the early dawn and dusk of Time,
The reign of dateless old Hephaestus! 
As northward, from its Nubian springs,
The Nile, forever new and old,
Among the living and the dead,
Its mighty, mystic stream has rolled;
So, starting from its fountain-head
Under the lotus-leaves of Isis,
From the dead demigods of eld,
Through long, unbroken lines of kings
Its course the sacred art has held,
Unchecked, unchanged by man’s devices. 
This art the Arabian Geber taught,
And in alembics, finely wrought,
Distilling herbs and flowers, discovered
The secret that so long had hovered
Upon the misty verge of Truth,
The Elixir of Perpetual Youth,
Called Alcohol, in the Arab speech! 
Like him, this wondrous lore I teach!

  Prince Henry. What! an adept?

  Lucifer. Nor less, nor more!

Prince Henry. I am a reader of such books,
A lover of that mystic lore! 
With such a piercing glance it looks
Into great Nature’s open eye,
And sees within it trembling lie
The portrait of the Deity! 
And yet, alas! with all my pains,
The secret and the mystery
Have baffled and eluded me,
Unseen the grand result remains!

Lucifer (showing a flask). Behold it here! this little flask
Contains the wonderful quintessence,
The perfect flower and efflorescence,
Of all the knowledge man can ask! 
Hold it up thus against the light!

Prince Henry. How limpid, pure, and crystalline,
How quick, and tremulous, and bright
The little wavelets dance and shine,
As were it the Water of Life in sooth!

Lucifer. It is!  It assuages every pain,
Cures all disease, and gives again
To age the swift delights of youth. 
Inhale its fragrance.

Prince Henry. It is sweet. 
A thousand different odors meet
And mingle in its rare perfume,
Such as the winds of summer waft
At open windows through a room!

  Lucifer. Will you not taste it?

Prince Henry. Will one draught Suffice?

  Lucifer. If not, you can drink more.

Prince Henry. Into this crystal goblet pour So much as safely I may drink.

Lucifer (pouring). Let not the quantity alarm you:  You may drink all; it will not harm you.