Zóphiël ; or, the bride of seven

The time has been—this holiest records tell—
When restless spirits raised a war in heaven.
Great was the crime; and, banished thence, they fell
To depths unknown, yet kept the potence, given

For nobler use, to tempt the hapless race
Of feeble mortals, who but form a grade
'Twixt spirits and the courser of the chase.
Man, thing of heaven and earth, why thou wert made

Ev'n spirits knew not; yet they loved to sport
With thy mysterious mind, and lent their powers
The good to benefit, the ill to hurt.
Dark fiends assailed thee in thy dangerous hours;

But better angels thy far perils eyed,
And often, when in heaven they might have staid,
Came down to watch by some just hero's side,
Or meet the aspiring love of some high-gifted maid.

University of Virginia Library

VII.