The Demon of Destiny :: :: University of Virginia Library

“At that solemnity,” said he, “in Heaven,
When Justice told how the Avenger Wrath
Had sternly swept the guilty world away,
The wonted oracle of God proclaim'd

A new creation, destin'd to unfold
The renovation of the world destroy'd.

“‘Now Hell rejoices,’ said the oracle,
‘And rings with triumph, as for vict'ry won
O'er Heaven's all-conquering host, deeming mankind,
In direful preference for ill, will now
As vassals serve her spirits doom'd to woe;
But a new myst'ry shall anon appear,
And from the remnants that sail rudderless
In yon black ark upon the shoreless sea,
Superior beings shall hereafter rise,
Made hence perfectable; for with the swarms
Cleans'd by the deluge from the world destroy'd,
Ends the stain'd lineage of the Adamites.’

“Silence did then awhile prevail on high;
But soon anthems of thankfulness arose
From all the choral, numberless around,
For the glad tidings. And as flame afar,
An angel rising with his wings unfurl'd,
Bade them repair to where embattl'd tower'd
The walls of Heaven, to see in space below
New wonders, and the myst'ries of the Great.

“Obedient to the summons, they arose,
And wing'd their solemn flight to where sublime
The ramparts guarded by the seraphim
Survey the realms wherein the planets spher'd,
Bowl'd by Jehovah, in their orbits roll.
Their flight was as the emigrant beholds
Millions on millions of star-sparks ascend
When flaming forests fire the viewless air.

“They saw advance the legions of the fiends,
With banner'd pride and crested insolence,
Forth from the darkness that black shadowing screens
The gates of Hell,—and deem'd would thence ensue
Thunder and war; nor did the demons arm'd—
By Satan marshall'd—when on high they saw
Heaven's armies bright, for less prepare to dare.

“But in the instant of defying vaunt,
A trumpet sounded, and the startl'd souls
Of all the sentenc'd of the world appear'd,—
Dismal and wild they were, lurid and grim;
And at the sight, the banded fiends, appall'd,
Paus'd in their course, while with magnificence

The glorious myriads of the seraphim
Exulting shouted, ‘our eternal Lord
Reigns irresponsible,—behold him here!’

“Hell's squadrons heard, and turning round in dread,
Their haughty banners stoop'd when they beheld
The blaze with which Omnipotence is veil'd;
And ere their former habitude of awe
Relaps'd to ill, the oracle of God
Paling declar'd, that to the rebel fiends
The guilty spirits, sentenc'd to perdition,
Were then consign'd. Loud, at the word of doom,
The hollow vast echo'd with cries of woe;
For all the convicts with one wail confess'd
Their sentence just; and the blasphemous fiends
Banning, exclaim'd, that only for themselves
They, by their craft, had earn'd new punishment.

“Ere the lament and rage had ceas'd, the fiends,
Convinced—by their metamorphos'd speares
Chang'd into hissing serpents, and their swords
To torment stings—of their new functions, wept
Their lost condition; for angelic hearts
As theirs could still, though curs'd, fell anguish feel
In baffl'd wishes to be kind, and may not.
With gnash and ban they spurn'd the yelling damn'd;
With wail and woe they rued their own estate.

“While thus dejected to their dread abodes,
The outcasts downward their dark travel held
With the despairing droves, a cry went forth
That the bright Guardian, station'd o'er the earth,
Was smit with change, and withering with decay,
As if immortal beings could partake
Such transformations as the chrysalis.

“Anon he waxed from that wane, improv'd,
Like a rich jewel in augmented light;
And by the sign, the multitudes that blaz'd
On tower and battlement, thought that, disclos'd,
The new creation would resplendent dawn;
And they were stirr'd as forest foliage owns
The summer's breath, when air appears sunshine.
For all imaginations, things that think,
Mete power by pomp, and deem th' Almighty never
Comes with creative energy abroad,
To bid the nothing teem with worlds without

Such show of Majesty as makes to thought—
Might loom a vision that could be reveal'd.

“While they expectant stood, they saw what seem'd
A glorious mental element outglance,—
And heard a voice resounding loud around:
‘This sown in man shall germinate, and Earth,
Now all envelop'd by yon shrouding sea,
Shall, thence reviv'd, a race for Heaven prepare,
Who will for ever bright and brighter grow
Than angels, children of eternity,
Who safe from lapses ever beam unchang'd.’

“A scout of Hell, whose vigil is to watch,
Then brought the tidings of the new creation
To sceptr'd Satan, who, long time perplext,
Rued the new punishment his outcast train
Was doom'd to reap, as earthly monarchs rue
Increase of sorrow with extended sway.
For well he knew, by old Experience taught,
That what seem'd as a seed, to them would be
An Upas terrible, whose scent is death—
If death it may be call'd,—that is, to gnash
In anguish, agony, and woe for ever.

“By heralds summon'd, all the exasp'rate fiends,
On vampyre wings, around him mustering came
Like pestilence that flickers from the fen
To populous cities,—or as flies that swarm
On war-fields, murmuring joyous o'er the slain.

“Enrag'd, perturbed, they malignant curs'd
Whate'er was deem'd an antidote to bane;
For well they knew that the Avenger's arm,
Who hurl'd them headlong from the walls of Heaven,
Would only plunge them more in hopelessness.

“At last grim Satan, as a master fire
Flaps its flame mantle when a war-ship burns,
Declaim'd in rage, as cataracts declaim:—

“‘That which we hate may have created might;
But yet by hostile force, or subtle fraud,
We can unconquerable hatred prove.
All that he makes are as ourselves, created:
And than our ills he cannot make a greater,
Else had his vengeance fashion'd it before.
This mental element which he has call'd
To work us woe, and widen to himself

Dominion, scarcely may be quell'd or quench'd—
Come, therefore, to your banded squadrons,—come
Auxiliar evils to incense new war!
Come forth ye entities who conscious own
Innate possession of all secret banes!
Come Poverty, thou ever squalid fiend!
Come Friendlessness, that pines for lack of kin!
Come starv'd Disease, cloth'd with a winding sheet!
Come Need, with Thriftlessness, parents of crime!
Come gaunt Desire, Need's sullen paramour!
Come wind-wing'd Promise! come Ingratitude!
Come Insolence, with bloated bags of gold!
Come Love betray'd! despis'd Affection come!
Come smiling Treachery! come liar Hope!
Come fawning Friendship, whelp of Scorn and Dread
Come heartless Sympathy, with scalding whine!
Come Fears and Cares, all ye that 'numb and gnaw!
Come dotard Beggary, to weep at walls
For thy old dames sent almless from the door!
Come Crimes that jig around the gallows-tree!
With all for hatefulness, that I must love.’

“The evils, gathering at his dreadful call,
Came forth, as vultures to a carnage field;
And when they saw themselves, awhile they stood
Thrilling amaz'd. Then silence was in Hell.

“‘I will myself go with you,’ the arch fiend
Exulting cried, pleas'd to behold such ills
As he might marshal to rekindle war.
And when towards the Earth they bent their flight,
The radiant wardens, on the walls of Heaven,
Seeing them pass, gaz'd, shuddering, at the sight.

“Slowly and diffident, at first they rose,—
Conscious of their appalling shapes; but as
They near'd towards the fated sphere of man,
Swifter and swifter, they triumphant flew;
So are their tactics still. At first they seem
Simple and fearful, warring by degrees,—
But waxing fierce when firm with mastery—
They grasp and grin with Confidence and Crave.

“Rushing, they pass'd below; and in their rear
Dumb Death, with spectre hand towards them rais'd,
Appear'd to say, ‘my pioneers behold:’
And pale behind came Fame, that follows Death

Like pompous obsequies on bards bestow'd—
Such as insulted the cold clay of Burns.

“Meanwhile before, the warden of the Earth,
Appriz'd by Heaven's sublimest minister,
That Hell was coming,—to the region sped
Where dwelt the angels that allay'd to man
The ills and ails of his inheritance,
When the foul Adamites drove them away.

“He told how, then, with honourless intent,
Their adversaries were on hostile wing.
‘It is enough,’ gentle Religion said,
‘For me again to sojourn on the Earth:
Servant of Heaven, I may but hope to help;
Be as the soil that nourishes the flower.’

“Then leaving her to guide the virtues back,
He to his ward return'd. His meteor flight
Was as a splendour in the midnight air
From depths unknown, dimming the dazzl'd stars.
And to Religion, at her bidding rose
The holy exiles, kirtl'd for the Earth.

“Far different were their aspects, bright and fair,
From those of them that Satan summon'd forth.
And, oh! their smiles,—they were as infant's smile,
Caress'd and fondling on their mothers' breast,—
When they were told what Wisdom had design'd.
Anon so rich, in one harmonious stream,
Their hallelujahs flow'd, that Mercy then,
On some blest errand to an erring sphere,
Paus'd in her flight, and lingering, listening, turn'd
To hear the cadence of their psalm afar.

“When near Mount Ararat, by Satan led,
The squadron'd demons stoop'd their dragon wings.
All round was herbless as the desert main;
The Earth lay black, as if a funeral pall
Cover'd the corpse of some tremendous thing,
By the Jehovah in displeasure slain;
And with a sigh, grieving for vengeance marr'd,
They saw the silent desolation wide,—
Leaving no work for them. Vext Satan scowl'd,
And muttering, cried, ‘Accursed, ye are free!’

“While they dispers'd, the murky morning frown'd—
The awning clouds were as a cavern's ceil
Of vaulted gloom, o'er all the ravag'd earth;

But in his passion of despair, the lost
Beheld the blackness sunder in the sky,
And from his eastern throne the monarch Sun,
In all his glory, look abroad again.

“Amidst the waste, as Satan pensive stood,
He saw the desolation green become—
To him dread evidence of Wrath recall'd;
For Heaven, he knew, with blessings wars with Hell.

“As with defeat dismay'd, he gaz'd around—
Afar the fiends, on dismal quests intent,
Look'd back derisively with mirthless grins,
That one, who strove to earn their gratitude,
Stood needing aid—and yell'd with wild delight.

“But in the arid laughter of their scorn,
They saw the west, as if the morn return'd
Back to the east, with more than morning's glow;
And while they gaz'd, Religion, with her train
Ascending, holy, gladden'd light and life.

“On fluttering pinions, at the sight, the fiends
Towards their Sultan then perturbed flew,
Like sea birds whirling in the van of storms,
To hear what he would counsel, now that those
Whom they had deem'd for ever gone, yet were,
And he conven'd them to a dungeon deep
Within th' Elora caves of nameless space.

“‘Yon bright battalions omen no repose;
For not with Genius,’ said he, ‘but with them—
The foes that you so oft in battle brav'd,
When Violence, our vizier, rul'd the earth—
We now must war. Be vigilant and firm;
Not whatsoe'er is wonderful or wise
Alone should be the target of our aims.
But jealous note with what auxiliar aid
Yon baleful crew portend annoy or woe.
Fraud, Bigotry, and Pride, and Arrogance,
Den in the priestly heart: be there your home;
And you, ye lepros'd ills, whose charnel stare
Begets in Hate what Beauty does in Love—
With Hope, that feeds on woe's substanceless fare,
Make your abiding with the shunn'd and fear'd;
But chiefly imp your several stern resolves,
To grind the heart with grudges undivulg'd,
When conscious worth endures the proud man's scorn;

But wherefore more should I advise? full well
Your natures, prompted by their own desires,
Will best instruct you how to wage the war.’

“As thus he spoke, around the demons near'd;
But when he ended, they dispersing scatter'd—
And since, on earth, voracious to subdue,
They with the virtues wage incessant war.”

Thus, while the Demon, as the pastor, feign'd
Tremendous loomings of eternal things,
To fume Salome to think himself endow'd
With Genius destin'd to improve mankind—
That he might dare—he had the heart to do—
Some bold emprize, which Nature's course would mar,
The veteran sat with meditative eyes,
Whose orbs were patent, though their sense was shut;
And at the close, as from a trance awaken'd,
He said irreverently, “such themes and legends
Beget but phantasies of sceptic thought;
Even when beautiful as on the cloud
The apparition of the rainbow shines,—
They are as unsubstantial, and deceive
Those who, pursuing, stretch their hands to seize.”

The Demon, daunted, shrunk, as if he own'd
Some fearful cognizance of Truth, yet said,
Still resolute to lure Salome to woe—
“What, Sir, art thou, and wherefore so blaspheme
These holy mysteries?” Firmly severe
The veteran answer'd, and towards Salome
Look'd with compassion oft, as thus he spoke:—

“Nine times hath Fortune, with Delilah's smiles,
Invited me to her refulgent feasts,
But never farther than the vestibule
Did e'er my fated feet attain, before
Her vision'd fare and favour disappear'd.
But not unmanly do I droop for this,
Convinc'd, that with the coming round of things,
That which so grides, by sordid movements press'd,
Will issue smooth and radiant at the last,
As the fair moon comes from the cloud of storms,
Serene into the starry of the sky.
Man lives in vassalage to earthly ills;
And he who made the beauty of the day,
For every evil made a compensation.

Time treads the granite mountains into sand,
To fill the hungry of the ocean's vast;
The wither'd leaves become fertility,
And the dead beggar, wrapt in shroudless clay,
Kithes in the likeness of the well-clothed lamb,
Whose cast-off vestment decorates the King;
Yea, purpl'd Cæsar with his golden crest
Sublim'd in Nature's wondrous crucible,
Comes forth, fit alm's-gift for the gentle heart.”