The Descent into Hell :: :: University of Virginia Library

The Descent into Hell

Second Edition, Revised and Re-arranged, with an Analysis and Notes: To which are added, Uriel, a Fragment and Three Odes. By John A. Heraud

Heraud, John A. (1799-1887)

THE DESCENT INTO HELL

II.

IV.

VI.

III.

IV.

XI.

XII.

XII. THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH.

XIII.

XIV.

XV.

XVI.

XVI. THE SOMETIME DISOBEDIENT.

VI.

PART THE SIXTH.

XVII.

XVII. THE HOLY OF HOLIES.

XVIII.

XVIII. NOAH.

XIX.

XIX. THE FATHER OF THE FAITHFUL.

XX.

VII.

II.

II. THE HOST OF HEAVEN.

ODES.

KLOPSTOCK'S “DER FRÜHLINGSFEYER;”

THE AUTUMNAL BENEDICTION;

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183

VI. PART THE SIXTH.

THE PREACHING.

184

“In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.

For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.

For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.”

Isaiah liv. 8—10.

185

XVII. THE HOLY OF HOLIES.

Moriah! holy hill! ascend by thee
The pure of heart, the clean of hand—before
Thy “Beautiful Gate,” a sainted Company.

Michael the sacred ramparts hovers o'er,
The Angel of God's presence. Thus he cries,
Thus hails the Myriads, friends of God of yore;

—“Zion! that comes with tidings good, arise!
Now get thee up into the mountain high;
Jerusalem! lift up thy voice, thine eyes;

Lift up thy voice with strength, and fearlessly—
‘Behold your God!’—say to the Isles around.”
—Thus from above those Hosts are welcomed by

God's Angel; and beneath perceive, as bound
For distant bourn, four Cherub heralds wait,
And question of them, what? and whence? propound.

186

—They, of whom thus was asked, before the gate
Of the blest City stood. Four Chariots they,
Vision whereof doth Iddo's Son relate,

With Steeds, red, black and white, grisled and bay;
The Angel of God's presence spake again;
—“These are the Spirits four who stand alway

Before the Lord, and from between the twain
Of brazen mountains, firm as his decrees,
(Swift Powers of Heaven,) like rushing Winds, amain,

Go forth to do His pleasure. Such are these.
Behold! yon two wend toward the South, and call
Her people forth; that seeks the North to appease

His Spirit there, constrained in wonderous thrall:
But to the Earth these Bay have sought to go;
Get hence, pervade the Earth.” So vanish all.

—And now the assembled Hosts advance, and glow
Into a hymn as they ascend the Hill,
In numbers without number, singing so.

“Glad was I when they said to me, We will
Go up into the Temple of the Lord;
Lo, we shall dwell in Salem.”—Thus, until

They reached the sacred gates, did they record
Their raptures in no mortal verse; then strain
Of higher mood they raised and bolder word—

—“Attired with majesty, the Lord doth reign,
And girt with strength. The World immoveably
Is stablished, and His Throne shall aye remain!

187

Thou art for ever! The Floods have lifted high,
O Lord! the Floods have lifted high their voice,
The Floods lift up their billows mightily—

The Lord on high is mightier than the noise
Of many waters, stronger than the seas—
Thy Word is sure—let all the Earth rejoice!”

—Now those innumerable Companies
Of the Diluvian and the After-time,
According to their orders and degrees,

Enter the cloistered space. Men of each clime,
Of every creed, the righteous and the good,
Have entered now the nine-fold Gates sublime.

There in one Court that great Assembly stood,
Inner as outer, for the Wall was not,
That made distinction of belief and blood,

Partition obsolete—a catholick spot!
Advancing thence, they pass the Portico,
A priestly band, and by one spirit taught,

Wherewith inspired and guided on they go,
Nor pause 'till they the Halidom have hailed—
And lo! the Glory of the Holiest! Lo!

The Glory of the Holiest is unveiled!
The Veil, the Veil, by earthquake rent and riven,
To publick view the Holiest is detailed!

Holiest of Sanctuaries, Shadow of Heaven,
Where God is seen in beatifick Vision;
And that on earth of this, whereof was given

188

To Moses in the Mount sweet intuition,
Entrancing there the meekest of mankind,
In colloquy divine and dream elysian.

—The Glory! oh, the Glory! All the Mind
Of all the Earth in vain thereon would gaze,
Wherein Messiah is in Mercy shrined,

But that his Mercy tempers the full blaze
Of godlike Majesty, from whose far stream
Recoil the Nations, with immense amaze,

And prostrate fall, adoring the Supreme.
There sate the God-like on his sapphire Throne,
Exalted o'er the sky-crowned Cherubim,

And there-within the ambient Amber shone,
And gloriously the Bow of Promise wove,
About the Son of Man, its blended zone,

Arching the Filial Deity of Love;
Upon the obedient firmanent he trod,
Stretched forth crystalline o'er the heads above

Of fulminating Cherubim, and awed
The People with his Power, whenas they viewed
The perfect Man, the Coeternal God.

Beneath his Coming were the Heavens subdued,
Borne on the wings of Angels, folded now;
The Chariot of their Maker. So they stood.

So also stood the involved Wheels below,
Great fourfold orbs irradiate all with eyes,
And elevated high, terrifick show,

189

Up to the dreadful cope that canopies
The Almighty, populous and hovered o'er,
With Seraphim, on flaming ministries.

—But, on the footstool of his Throne before,
With humble heart a contrite Sinner lay,
Adoring him whose blood he witnessed pour,

And from his cross, upon this selfsame day,
His fellow Sufferer for his Saviour owned,
And in that blood washed all his sins away,

And his unrighteousness with faith atoned.
Swathed in the penal robes of sunken shame,
Silent he prayed to Him who sate enthroned—

He pleaded nothing, nor could plead; no claim
Had he for pardon; and the Arch-Enemy
Summed his transgressions and denounced the same.

There, in the Presence of the Lord Most High,
The Adversary stood, and urged his plea,
Disputing yet for Death 'gainst Victory.

—“The Soul that sinneth, it shall die,”—said he—
Thus glozcd the Tempter and Accuser, lies
Founding on Truth, pronounced maliciously.

His tongue was cunning mischief to devise,
And keen of edge for guile's infernal deed,
Satanick craft of vain logomachies.

—“He stood on Sinai, and the chosen seed
Admonished of his Law, in thunder spoken,
And the loud trumpet bade His people heed;

190

And Him the lightning-terrours girt, in token
Both Curse and Death should swift pursue and smite
The Man by whom their prescript should be broken.

Is not the Sentence just; and mine, by right,
The power of Death? What hindereth then that I
Resume my own? if Reason rule, not Might.

The violated Laws for Vengeance cry!
If one—then all. Adoring what he stole,
He sacrificed, in fond idolatry,

Thereto his sacred and immortal soul,
Dishonouring his Father in the act,
Slaying the Tree that bore him, branch and bole,

Remorseless Matricide, and with the fact
Charging her cold remains—false witness, worse
Than he who from his Neighbour would detract,

His Mother's teaching who did thus rehearse!
What need of more? all these his crime includes—
His Maker's name who doubts he oft would curse,

His Sabbaths break, and have his lustful moods?
Bring me the Thief who can these faults forego—
'Tis clear he coveted another's goods—

What! was the smoking Mountain but a show?
I stand for Moses, and his written law,
And plead it to the letter. Judge thou so!”

—While Satan pled, in penitential awe,
The Thief breathed fervently his silent prayer,
Heard by his ear whose eye his spirit saw.

191

—“Satan”—replied the Judge—“Why art thou here?
What Sinai claimed did Golgotha fulfil,
And Death even died with the Incarnate there.

For Moses' body why disputest still?
God's word hath double edge, destroys to save,
And makes alive even while it seems to kill.”

Whereat th' Archfiend exclaimed—“Laws then but rave:
But by the Form can we the Spirit know,
But by the Letter they expression have—

If that uncertain be, must be even so
The truth it represents;..for who can see,
The Spirit formless, wordless?..who can show?”

—“Yet,” said the Word eternal, “Truth shall be
Known by the Spirit only, although read
By the dishonest most dishonestly—

The Spirit of the thing interpreted
Is that which doth interpret, they accord—
If that be faithful, error none need dread—

Get thee behind me, Satan! Thus the Lord
Rebukes thee!”—At these words, the Accuser fell,
As lightning flashed from heaven; the Heaven abhorred,

From God's right hand, evanished into Hell.

The penitent thief.

192

XVIII. NOAH.

Then to that Brand thus plucked from out the fire,
The Lord spake—“Stand upon thy feet!”—and lo,
The entering Spirit did with life inspire,

And set him on his feet, and, standing so,
The penal swathings of his shame fell down
From off his limbs, which now with glory glow,

Invested with new raiment and a crown,
A mitre fair, on his anointed head;
Angelick garb, and he an angel grown.

—Nor heard they not, those Armies of the Dead,
Who vailed o'erpowered, before that glorious Throne,
Their prostrate brows with reverential dread;

Nor, by the Spirit reanimate, alone
He rose, but the same spirit pervaded wide,
The adoring Nations; thus they arose, as one,

As one man they arose, and magnified
The triumph of redemption. There might be
Patriarch and Prophet, King and Priest descried—

And thee, who saw a World expire, even thee,
Oh Noah, I beheld—encouraged so,
With thine innumerable Company,

193

To hope, though great their wickedness and wo,
Aiming at heaven by means forbid to men,
Odious to Order, whence did deluge flow.

—His lips the Merciful unsealed, and then
He spake and said: “Oh, Lord my God! I kneel
Beneath the Seat of Judgement, now, as when

Of ancient time I prayed, with fervent zeal,
That thou wouldst spare the World, and pretermit
The penal Deluge. Behold, I appeal

To Thee, O Judge of Earth! Have mercy yet
Upon the Sinners whose imaginings
Were evil, and their hearts on evil set.

A World implores—Men tried by Sufferings,
Lured by Temptation into errour's maze,
By length of years, by angel-ministrings.

Oh, speak unto thy Servant! Are the days
Of old forgotten by thee? Shall the Past
Call thee its Saviour, worship thee and praise?”

—Whereto Messiah—“Noah, this thou hast
Spoken for others. For thyself,..I bear
Thee witness, that thy Faith withstood the blast

Of Tempest, and Death's sorrow, and Hell's fear.
Then came thy cry, when the Floods compast thee,
Within his Temple into the Almighty's ear.

—Prisoners of Hope! Heirs of Eternity!
Waiting for the consummate Day when Time
Shall be no more—Why on the past dwell ye?

194

Prisoners of Hope! Look to the goal sublime
Of the expanded Future, and behold
The Flesh redeemed to its immortal prime.

—I am ere the Beginning. Manifold
Creation, of the Father's will, by me
Expressed, in its begotten Order rolled—

Image express of Him whom none may see,
My glory veils and shadows, for behoof
Of all his Creatures, his great Deity:

Whereof ye are partakers, though aloof
It dwell from you, ye in its light do dwell,
Sun of the Soul—a pattern and a proof.

—The Father sitteth inaccessible,
To eye or ear. In me his plentitude
Abides—his only Son from whom ye well,

Rays of that Radiance wherein may be viewed
His Glory only. I his Brightness am,
His Word in whom he sole is understood.

I am th' Eternal, ye of me forth came,
The Second Adam, ere the First am I,
Saviour of every Age and Clime the same.

God of the Dead and Living,..born to die,
Dying to live, and rising to redeem,
Suffering..rejoicing, with Humanity,

Made of my Substance, with its quickening stream
Nourished, replenished with the Blood devote
For aye upon the Shrine of the Supreme—

195

Perpetual Sacrifice. For not without
Expense of Godhead may Creation be,
Much less Redemption of the Creature wrought.

Such His great Will, the inscrutable Decree,
Which I delight to do; Obedience pure,
Free to submit, when most submiss most free.

—Ye live but in my Life, with me endure,
But die not in my Death, who, once for all,
Died, and your Sufferings are mine, besure!

Members are ye of mine Incarnate Thrall,
I feel the pains of your Mortality,
Temptation, and infirmity, and fall;

Each feels its own. I sympathize, even I,
With all—all human Suffering, of mine
A partial echo, meant to purify

And perfect Souls till they become divine.
Earth's Griefs touch me in Heaven. My Spirit pleads
With groans unutterable, Man, for thine.

—Art born to trouble and to travail?..bleeds
Thy heart with the affliction of the strife,
That good and evil in thine embryo breeds,

And makes contention of thy future life,
Between the Flesh and Spirit, whose great war
In childhood and in age alike is rife,

Strongest in the most powerful, whom the star
Of their nativity directs to rule,
In arts or arms, the nations from afar?

196

Do Climes and Times, the madness of the Fool,
The wrath of the Unskilful—the Proud's scorn,
The wisdom of the World, the Porch, the School,

Oppose the purpose wherefore thou art born,
And with thy Blood compel thee to baptize
The teeming age in its prophetick morn?

—So Suffered I, in all thine agonies
Partaker; for it so behoved that I
Should feel the sense of thine infirmities;

So it became the filial Deity,
Creation's God, and yet Creation's heir,
The Ways of God to Men to justify.

My Father chastens whom He loves most dear,
Not for His pleasure, but to exercise
The Chastened for his profit, in severe

Affliction, teaching patience, making wise,
And bringing peace to the obedient Soul,
Whom out of suffering He glorifies.

Albeit a Son, me only such control
Obedience taught unto His perfect will,
And my reward awaits me at the goal.

A regal fortune fitted to fulfil,
A little lower than the Angels made,
Yet crowned with honour and with glory still—

For, by the Power of my Word, were laid
The bases of the Universe, wherein
I, as in me the Father, am pourtrayed.

197

The Mountains as my righteousness have been,
But not so stedfast; and the great Abyss
As my decree, whose depth may not be seen,

My Judgement more unfathomable is:
Ere my Voice thunders, lo, the Lightning flies,
My Fiat swifter executes than this.

Thus, Adam, thou beheldst in Paradise
The present God, and felt him in all things;
But most in thine inherent energies,

The heart's expansion and the spirit's wings,
The plastick power of Thought and of Desire,
Delight and Sorrow, Sin and Sufferings,

Knowledge and Death, whose supernatural fire
Kindled and killed, that ye might be redeemed,
And after a far better life aspire.

—Therefore Law was, Earth might be less esteemed,
And Imperfection become manifest,
And Nature checked, however good it seemed,

Not wholly good, and Will evolved, when best
Man's Freedom might be chartered, tried and proved,
And Life revealed, and Charity possest.

For dear to God, as I his Son beloved,
The Freedom of the Soul, the Will, supreme
O'er Law, and Love fulfilling what behoved—

This is the Mystery whereof all misdeem
On Earth, but ye are taught by Death and Time
The Truth and Meaning of the immortal Theme.

198

Through Faith on earth Man holds a Life sublime,
And in the Past and Future, as he lists,
Expatiates and confers with every clime—

Through Faith he knows whereby the frame subsists
Of the expanded Universe, by whom
Created, and whereto it yet exists,

A Stranger and a Pilgrim,..till the tomb
Open the way to the celestial land
Where God prepares a City, as a womb—

So hopeful o'er the Grave the Faithful stand,
Wherein their Brethren in the dust repose,
Grasped in the Father's Omnipresent hand—

The Grave the Gate of Hope, whereof none knows
Save he who passes inward. There with earth
Earth mingles, changes and more perfect grows,

Sown as a seed, that dieth to have birth
More glorious, meet for spirit to indwell,
Perfect in Love, and consummate in worth—

A spiritual body,..capable
Of large performance, destined to aspire,
All will and purpose to accomplish well.

Witness the Body, which the Eternal Sire
Prepared for me, who came to do his Will,
Left in the tomb. But thence shall I require

It back, won from corruption, and fulfil
Redemption, captive lead Captivity,
And gifts receive for you..for all—until

199

The Kingdom cometh. So in hope wait ye.
—Lo, I am with you ever; and to you
The Gospel now is preached, that ye may be

Adjudged in righteousness, according to
Men in the flesh, but in the spirit live
According unto God. This hear, and do.

—What I receive, that unto you I give.”

XIX. THE FATHER OF THE FAITHFUL.

Thus spake Messiah from his skiey throne
To that innumerable Company,
I'th' presence of the Angels, who thereon

Divinely ministered. Down from on high,
Within the circle of the Rainbow, they
Rejoiced, and clapped their wings triumphantly.

Joy was in all their motions; their array
Was glorious; to and fro, with gladsome speed,
They did their messages of love convey.

Like Transports kindled all. Now hear and heed,
What next I saw. Behold, Melchizedek!
And he who for himself and for his seed

Paid tithes to him, and he who thus bespake
His pious Father: “But where is the Lamb
For sacrifice?”—his dignity partake.

200

Humbly with Isaac and with Abraham,
The eternal Priest bowed down in silent prayer.
Messiah thus—“Ere Abraham was, I am!

And thou, thou Priest of Salem, who while-ere
Greeted the Faithful from his Victory
With sacramental blessing;..thou wert heir

Of th' everlasting Order and Decree,
Whence Bread from heaven,..angelick food for man,..
And Life divine outpoured in Blood. With thee

That sacramental Ordinance began,
Accomplished now. Be thou a Priest for ever;
I swear, nor shall repent. I will—I can—

After thine Order rule, and it shall never,
In righteousness and peace, surcease to hold
Sway and dominion when and wheresoever.

So sware I unto Abraham of old,
Sware by myself, that from his barren eld
Should issue generations manifold;

Heirs of his faith, the promise that it held,
The City truly based, divinely built,
Whereof unto his seed was oracled—

I will have mercy on unrighteous guilt,
And not remember Sin,—but multiply
Thy Seed, O Abraham! For whom thou wilt,

I will inscribe upon their hearts, even I,
My Laws, and write them in their minds, and they
Shall be my people everlastingly,

201

And I will be their God for ever and for aye.”
—Then Abraham rose, and by the Spirit moved,
Thus reverently answered.—“Lord, alway,

That thou art gracious I have well approved!
To my dead body thou didst raise an heir,
And from the dead restore my Son beloved—

And, lo, not of my flesh, thou dost uprear
Children to me, and of my bosom name
The Paradise whereto thou dost appear.

More numerous than the stars, which do proclaim
The glory of thy power unto all lands,
Behold, the peoples that of me became,

Hebrew and Greek, the Bond and Free. My hands
Present their acceptable offerings.
Whoe'er loves mercy, whoe'er understands

Thee present in all time and place, and brings
His heart a holocaust, or unto thee
Doth sacrifice a tear;..oh, for these things,

Receive the Penitent, and let him be
Adopted, and from Sin and Death redeemed!
But chief for him pray I—who barbarously

Wanders the Wild untutored, yet hath dreamed
Of mightier power than Nature, when he sought
To read her volume, that with marvels teemed,

But, uninterpreted and he untaught,
Astonished and o'erwhelmed the excited Soul
With Fear, and unintelligible Thought!

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Unseal for him the Mystery, control
The Chaos of his mind, and on his heart
Of thy great Love and Bounty pour the whole—

Unto his Spirit all thy Grace impart!
Was not all Earth baptized on which Man trod?
Oh! is not thine its universal Chart?

What, though blind Ignorance, misdeem of God,
Or poisonous Nurture misdirect the Mind—
Be thou not wroth, nor, with an iron rod,

Take Vengeance—but have mercy on mankind!
Thou laugh'st in heaven—thou laughest in thy love,
And thou for Man hast righteously designed,

Thy tender Mercies all thy Works above!”—
—He spake and there was silence. Every eye
Was on Messiah fixed—if he approve,

Then all is well. Divine Benignity
Made radiant his celestial Countenance,
So shone abroad that Frequence gloriously.

“My way is in the Darkness. I advance
Upon the wings of Tempest, and in Cloud
Descend, with Terrours compast, and entrance

The souls of men with Awe. My voice aloud
Walks in the Thunder, but its dreadful tone
Hath Blessing to the Universe avowed.

Health and Fecundity from out my Throne
Go forth to Earth; and Peace to Man—I bruise
To heal again—and break to reatone.

203

I judge among the Mighty, who refuse
Justice unto the needy; I preside
Over the Gods, the nations who abuse;

And they shall mine inheritance abide—
Behold, they do my work—prepare my way—
But they shall perish—Man be justified.

For ever, since Creation's primal day,
My Spirit hath been present every where,
Brooding o'er Chaos with Omnifick Sway—

Educing Order, luculent and clear,
From the imperfect growth of human Mind,
Whose manhood shall like deity appear,

Image of God, and righteously defined—
Then shall my head its golden Crown assume,
Then shall I reap the Harvest of Mankind—

Earth shall be fully ripe, her Vineyard bloom
Maturely beautiful. But He shall thrust
His Sickle in her Vine, and gather from

Its clusters the dissolving grapes; which must
Be trodden in the Winepress, and with blood
Appease the Wrath of the divinely Just.

Then shall by you my Voice be understood,
Prisoners, go forth!—and ye shall reign with me,
(Earth rebaptized, but with a fiery flood,)

In Judgement o'er the angels.—Verily,
The Grave shall throughly heave like to a womb,
And, from her Chambers, hasten to set free

204

Her captive Spirits, when her hour be come!”
—Thus spake Messiah, seated royally
Between the Cherubim, who now assume

His praise in Song, resounding like the Sea,
Saying, “Holy—holy—holy—Omnipotent,
Worthy, who wast, and art, and art to be!”—

—And now, upon their wings, that Firmament
Is lifted up, and, with the mighty motion,
Is heard a noise of musical concent,

As of great waters in the myriad ocean,
As of the winds that strive upon the wave—
The voice of speech, in praise and in devotion,

Majestick as his Word—a choral stave;
Hymned to the Lord of Hosts upon his throne,
From universal Being, solemn, grave.

—The Son of Man, they sing—who sought his own,
The King..whose throne is Heaven, whose footstool Earth,
The Priest..who shed the blood that shall atone,

The God..that was made flesh—the blessed birth,
The happy bridal of the earth and sky!
—And, ever as they sang their holy mirth,

Their wings were spread for flight, and now on high
They bear the enthroned One, and, as they go,
Behold, the fourfold wheels which stood thereby,

Orb within orb, in harmony also,
By the same Mind inspired, remove forth right
Rapt on a whirlwind's wing. The Temple,—lo!

205

Expands in its dimensions, as the sight
Conceives its majesty, increasing still,
Interminably opened. Sheeted Light

Reveals Infinitude, and Thunders fill
The space, with Voices multitudinous,
Proceeding from that Throne ineffable,

Which now, from off the Seat of Mercy thus,
Borne on the wings of hymning Cherubim,
Afar, into the Void diaphanous,

Careers, o'ercanopied with Seraphim,
Charioting their Creator, who forth goes
With thousands and ten thousands tending him,

Numberless numbers,..sainted ones. There flows
Still inward—inward still—that following Tide
Of peoples, where Messiah leads,..and glows

With hallelujahs and with multiplied
Hosannas:—Inward, in the distance, they
Host after and around the Deified,

Afar..afar..until they stretch away
Beyond my ken; for to the Precipice
Do they arrive, in orderly array,

Which hangs o'er Hell. Down, down, into the Abyss,
Sustained by power supernal, they descend,
The Co-Assessors, and the Witnesses,

Of Judgement whereon Angel-dooms suspend.

206

XX. THE GODS.

I.1.

He rides upon the Cherubim, among
The Gods, supreme; in orbs concentrick roll
The Worlds beneath his feet, not without song.

One Law, one Spirit, one pervading Soul,
Guides, rules, and animates, in each and all,
And the same God is present to the whole,

Infinite and Eternal. He shall call,
And Time shall answer, and the unflying hours
Rest, like the stars in their ethereal hall,

In fellowship together; and all Powers,
All Energies, of Nature and of Man,
To him yield their dominion..heavenly dowers.

I.2.

Sun of all Souls! of whom reflection wan,
Thy universal Church shines like the Moon,
Irradiate with thy Glory. Whence began

Truth but in thee? And thou shalt clothe her soon,
She who in the beginning of thy way
Thou didst possess, with everlasting noon—

She who rejoiced before thee, ere the day
Of thy Earth's founding, and took after-joy
Within its habitable parts to play

207

Delightedly with Men—Oh! Wisdom coy,
Whose Tree of Life the Cherubim ensphered
From touch profane, commissioned to destroy.

Thou wert the Daughter of his Voice, prepared
Before the depths, or ere the fountains flowed;
Thou wert his Sister, and his pleasures shared,

When he the heavens gloriously endowed,
And set a compass on the darkling face
Of the Profound, and its due limits showed;

Thou wert his Bride, enthroned in pride of place,
On Earth; Thou art his mother, seated high
Above the Moon, star-crowned, in virgin grace;

Oh, Wisdom—one in all, unchangeably,
And one with him, whose glory covers thee,
As with a garment, sun-clad, in the sky.

II.1.

Hosanna! Sun of Righteousness!..for she
Is radiant with thy glory, in all ages,
Among all people. Mutability

Rolls underneath her feet; to Seers and Sages,
Hast thou appeared in vision and in dream,
Whereof bear record their prophetick pages,

Who in all Forms and Symbols told the theme,
To those whose hearts within them, like their own,
Glowed and expanded, with the truth supreme.

Truth dwells sublime, immutable, alone;—
One..manifold..entire: but Souls embrute
Bow to the Image meant to make her known.

208

II.2.

Earth hath of thee had glimpses, shaped to suit
The contemplative Spirit, suffering
From occultation of the Absolute,

The shadow of the spiritual thing
That, passing, veils the Truth. Let it pass on!
Shine forth, O Sun! the universal King,

Intelligible God. Thy stedfast Throne
For ever is, immovable, and Earth
Light from thine aspect borrows, and, anon,

In constant revolution, giveth birth
To darkness, not forsaken; for the Moon
And Stars reflect thy glory faintly forth,

In Night, most holy Night, in whose high Noon
Majestick Heaven itself alone reveals
To Faith,..a starry spell,..a visible tune,..

Until thy Reappearing opes the seals
Of the mysterious Tome, and supersedes
Their borrowed Lights,..their spirit-motived wheels.

Yet are they Gods!—how happy he who reads
Their office rightly;—Oracles Earth hears
In visionary slumber, hears and heeds;

The Deities of Darkness, on the spheres
Enthroned; Angels of Night, whose choral gleams
Echo the Word unto the Worlds He cheers.

III.1.

He judges 'mong the Gods of whom misdeems
Idolatrous Earth, reposing on the lap
Of Nature, lost in maze of errant dreams,

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Threading in vain the universal map,
The Archetypal Image to discern,
And finding none to stand within the gap.

First-born of Creatures, Fountain from whose urn
The floods of Being flow. Unformed, unseen,
Unchanged, art thou; Creator sempitern,

The Mediator God and Man between—
Around a greater than Apollo throng
The Lights of Life, immortal and serene!

III.2.

Bel boweth down and Nebo stoopeth; Song
Is silent, Art is shamed, and Nature hushed,
Before thy coming, Lord of Lords! Along

The Shores of Nile, upon his throne hath blushed
The Demiurgick Mind through the obscure
Of his dark aspect, Emeph. He hath crushed

The sceptre in his girdled hand impure,
And vailed the princely plume upon his head;
Nor vaunts his word a world. No more,..besure—

Mythras maintains long Conflict, while his dread
And everlasting Sire reposes, 'till
The times of strife are all accomplished.

Jupiter, in his winged Chariot, still
Stands, and adores a greater Guide than he;
And Neptune, Son of Sorrow, wise of will,

Whence Seas have motions and sweet harmony,
Yields his dominion to a greater power:
And Pluto hails aloud the Deity

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Who shall from Hell deliver and restore
The Souls detained by Love and by Desire,
Prepared for perfect Bliss. Let Mars adore,

Behold a greater Victor. God of Fire!
Who fell like Lucifer from heaven, behold
The Gatherer of the Just; Son of the Sire!

IV.1.

Hosannas, hallelujahs manifold
To the Messiah! Let all Gods bow down
Before him. Lo! he cometh, all-extolled;

Hosanna, the Creator cometh! Crown
Him King,..him God! The King of kings,..the God
Of Gods—the knowing-all, the all-unknown—

The Warrior, and the Victor—whose abode
Is in the Heaven, whose sway is on the Sea,
Whose judgements are in Hell for ever showed—

His heel is bruised. Who bruised it, where is he?
Deeper into the Abyss of Darkness driven,
The Adversary flees from dread of Thee!

IV.2.

Hail, Realms of Darkness! for to you is given
Death, and the Power of Death! Hail, Darkness, hail!
Hail, central Darkness! utter and unriven,

Serried, compact, intense; beyond the pale
Of Life. The Lord of Life—the Lord of Light,
Even in thy deepest pit of saddest bale,

Is present aye, invisible in night,
In non-existence all impalpable,
Shining in darkness, breathing in despite.

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But thou shalt see and feel, Abyss of Hell!
His coming whom we herald. Hast thou hied
Into thy Centre inaccessible?—

But not to him who made thee, deep and wide
Thy firm foundations cast, and, based on thee,
His Universe of Mercy edified.

Thou broodest o'er the Formless Void. But He
Calls Light into existence, from the womb
Of hidden being. Earth appears—and she,

The indefatigable Mother, from the gloom
Emerged irradiate, rolls amidst the Day,
A solitary Orb, till Night resume

Dominion. She revolves—alternate they.
Darkness retires, above, beneath, around,
(Its immaterial Centre,) far away—

Then forth reissues, from its chains unbound.