Spots 
Sardanapalus prefers banquets and indolence over war, believing gentleness can rule Nineveh without blood. When his generals Arbaces and Beleses stage an armed rebellion, the pacifist monarch is forced onto the battlefield to defend his throne. Triumphant in courage yet defeated by overwhelming force, he chooses self-immolation alongside his loyal Ionian companion Myrrha rather than surrender to captors.
Doge Francesco Foscari sits atop Venetian power while his son Jacopo suffers torture and exile under the cold authority of the Council of Ten. Driven by Loredano's relentless vengeance, the state demands total obedience from its leader, forcing the elder Foscari to sign his own son's banishment. Jacopo dies of heartbreak upon the shore, leaving the deposed Doge to collapse as the church bells ring for his successor.
Lucifer approaches Cain in the fields outside Eden, tempting him with infinite cosmic visions of dead worlds and forgotten realities. Driven mad by questions about death, evil, and Jehovah's demand for blood sacrifice, Cain rejects his brother Abel's meek piety. A sudden burst of fury turns argument into fratricide, leaving Cain marked by Jehovah and condemned to wander the earth as an outcast.
The angelic spirits Samiasa and Azaziel abandon their heavenly duties to love the mortal women Anah and Aholibamah. As Noah prepares his ark for the impending Deluge, divine judgment looms over human passion. The angels carry their beloveds into the sky, leaving the remaining mortals to face the rising waters as divine law overrules earthly affection.
Mutineers from an English vessel find refuge in the lush landscape of Tahiti, where Torquil marries the native woman Neuha. When an armed naval frigate arrives to enforce British law, the fugitives retreat to hidden sea caves beneath the tides. Neuha leads Torquil through underwater tunnels to safety, preserving a fragile ideal of freedom against the reach of imperial discipline.
Dramatic verse plays and late narrative poems examining power, rebellion, mortality, and human defiance.