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 |
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| II. |
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| III. |
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| XI. |
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| XVIII. |
| XIX. |
| XX. |
| VII. |
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| I. | I. THE ARK OF HADES. |
| II. |
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 | The Descent into Hell |  |
I. THE ARK OF HADES.
Uriel.
The tale is told; the Hours are numbered now;
Earth, the great Mother, Children bears no more;
And Man knows all that he can ever know.
Earth, the great Mother, Children bears no more;
And Man knows all that he can ever know.
Being not Knowing, on the further shore
Of the Pacifick Deep, where Hades sails,
The Ship of Souls, awaits him, as of yore;
Of the Pacifick Deep, where Hades sails,
The Ship of Souls, awaits him, as of yore;
Lost Eden, but regained; he feels the gales,
Of this more blessed Araby, salute
The populous Bark, and their delight inhales,
Of this more blessed Araby, salute
The populous Bark, and their delight inhales,
With pleasure motionless, with pleasure mute.
—Billowless Gulf, upon thy bosom moves
Nor ship, nor galley, Ocean absolute!
—Billowless Gulf, upon thy bosom moves
Nor ship, nor galley, Ocean absolute!
Nought save yon Ark, which every Angel loves,
May hover o'er that Ocean of Repose,
With those bright Spirits, those descending Doves,
May hover o'er that Ocean of Repose,
With those bright Spirits, those descending Doves,
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Ocean profound, that neither ebbs nor flows;
O glorious JAH! wilt thou to her not be
Broad world of streams and rivers, where none goes
Save thy Beloved in her Majesty.O glorious JAH! wilt thou to her not be
Broad world of streams and rivers, where none goes
HYMN OF THE FLOOD From the Ark.
The world of waters is about us,
The voices of the storm are high,
All is wrath and wreck without us—
All within, security.
The voices of the storm are high,
All is wrath and wreck without us—
All within, security.
Hark! to that shriek our vessel swerveth—
Some desperate wretch clings to it!—vain!
None but us her keel preserveth—
Silence—on she speeds again;
Some desperate wretch clings to it!—vain!
None but us her keel preserveth—
Silence—on she speeds again;
Bounds o'er the billows proud and lonely,
A thing of life, she stems the flood—
Nought the peril bides, save only
The Ark of Almighty God.
A thing of life, she stems the flood—
Nought the peril bides, save only
The Ark of Almighty God.
Hark! to the surges heaving, dashing—
We rise, and reel, and rock—and, lo!
All above the window flashing,
Lightnings ever come and go!
We rise, and reel, and rock—and, lo!
All above the window flashing,
Lightnings ever come and go!
Behold! the gleaming spray is o'er us,
It rushes in a tide of doom—
Heaven is ravished from before us,
Earth is universal gloom!
It rushes in a tide of doom—
Heaven is ravished from before us,
Earth is universal gloom!
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When will the face of heaven brighten,
And the dread Curse of God depart,
And the field and forest lighten,
And the aspect and the heart
And the dread Curse of God depart,
And the field and forest lighten,
And the aspect and the heart
Of man and beast, and all things living,
With renovation, love and joy;
Jubilant in God forgiving,
Who would prosper not destroy?
Uriel.
With renovation, love and joy;
Jubilant in God forgiving,
Who would prosper not destroy?
Being! mysterious Word! Eternal Son!
Oh, Life of Light!—The Sea of the Abyss
Covers the sands, and Time can gather none!
The Shadow breaks that pageant Glass of his,
Still gazing on the Vessel while she soars,
And, as on Voyage to the Isle of Bliss,
Like a sea-bird, her noiseless way explores.
Satan,
(Having risen unperceived by Uriel, now exclaims behind him)
His Bow was bent! Thou Great and Most Glorious!
Was thine ire 'gainst the Rivers wild?
Was thine anger against the Sea?
The Mountains confest Thee victorious—
The waters o'erflowing and tempest-piled
Passed by, and the Deep raised his voice unto Thee,
And lifted his hands to thy Deity!
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At the flash of thine arrows and glittering spear,
They shrunk from the sky they were chartered to fill
With the flood of their light,—for the Ocean's was there!
HYMN OF THE FLOOD
What! is His smile for ever vanished,
And is His anger without end,
Ever from His presence banished
All that Earth could comprehend?
And is His anger without end,
Ever from His presence banished
All that Earth could comprehend?
And in this floating cradle crowded,
Shut out from all that lived before,
As within the grave dark shrouded,
Must we visit her no more?
Shut out from all that lived before,
As within the grave dark shrouded,
Must we visit her no more?
Never within the pure blue ether,
The fields of heaven, the golden sun,
Never seek a glimpse to gather
Of that purest, brightest One!
The fields of heaven, the golden sun,
Never seek a glimpse to gather
Of that purest, brightest One!
Never again on Ocean's margin
Note the broad waves sublimely swell,
And the billowy West enlarging
With the setting day's farewell,
Note the broad waves sublimely swell,
And the billowy West enlarging
With the setting day's farewell,
Whose hues are heaven's, of heaven a token,
As, mid the light of other sphere,
Spirits, though unheard, had spoken
Into life the glory there,
As, mid the light of other sphere,
Spirits, though unheard, had spoken
Into life the glory there,
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To kindle Hope in human bosom,
The nurse of Faith, and Peace, and Love,
Which without her may not blossom—
They exist not—but above!
The nurse of Faith, and Peace, and Love,
Which without her may not blossom—
They exist not—but above!
Thou spakest like a Seraph, and thou art
Such in thy form and spirit. Whence camest thou?
Satan.
From going to and fro through Earth and Hades
And Heaven.
Uriel.
Thy mission?—
Satan.
It is written on the Tables
Of Prophecy, which shine above the Altar
Of Vengeance and Redemption, that “there shall be
Nor sun, nor moon, since He becomes henceforth
The Light himself, for in His holy eyes
Even Angels are not pure, but charged with folly.”
Uriel.
The Father's Will be done!
HYMN OF THE FLOOD
Far happier ye, who have contended
With God's fierce might, and vengeance too,
Every doubt with being ended,
Death hath no more dread for you!
With God's fierce might, and vengeance too,
Every doubt with being ended,
Death hath no more dread for you!
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When shall we rest? where find a haven?
Submerged is every mountain's height!
Lo, the flood arrests the raven,
And the loftier eagle's flight!
Submerged is every mountain's height!
Lo, the flood arrests the raven,
And the loftier eagle's flight!
His Will be done!
And Uriel be no more of Light the Angel,
Than Lucifer is now the Son of Morn!
Uriel.
Ha! Tempter? thou art he!
HYMN OF THE FLOOD
Swathed in the clouds, by darkness swaddled,
Flung on the waters waste and wide,
In the wind and tempest cradled,
On the neck of fear we ride,
Flung on the waters waste and wide,
In the wind and tempest cradled,
On the neck of fear we ride,
Guideless and shoreless! Impious terrours!
Avaunt, begone! ye warp the heart,
Smiting man with gloomy errours—
Faith admits ye not—depart!
Avaunt, begone! ye warp the heart,
Smiting man with gloomy errours—
Faith admits ye not—depart!
Hope looks to Thee, thou Great and Powerful,
And when in trouble triumphs most;
Not alone when fields are flowerful,
But in winter and in frost.
And when in trouble triumphs most;
Not alone when fields are flowerful,
But in winter and in frost.
And though the summer fig no blossom,
And though the tree no fruit should bear,
She shall flourish in the bosom,
If the heart be faithful there.
And though the tree no fruit should bear,
She shall flourish in the bosom,
If the heart be faithful there.
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What! if I be—
The die is thrown 'twixt Satan now and God—
Beneath his feet must all things be subdued
Ere the Son yields the Kingdom to the Father—
Must Satan then not bow?
Uriel.
Seraph, once bright,
And now not shorn of glory utterly,
Still beautiful, though fearful in thy beauty,
Of form majestick, if erect of soul;
Comest thou to make submission?
Satan.
Wherefore not?
Shall Uriel's brightness, perfect, yet expire?
Then what of mine remains may well be merged!
Uriel.
We are but for his glory.
Satan.
So are all.
His boundless glory is from everlasting
To everlasting—circling all, uncircled—
Incomprehensible—omnipotent—
What can exist without it? Man or Angel?
It crushes all—engulphs—devours—absorbs—
Into its infinite capacity.
Earth cannot hold it, Heaven is even too little,
And Hell is compassed with it round about.
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Thy words are of the truth.
Satan.
They are the truth.
And Truth is very Being, and he is,
Who utters, Truth.
Uriel.
That is, the Son of God.
HYMN OF THE FLOOD
But the Old World which is departed
Turned from thy truth its rebel eye,
Every bosom, evil hearted,
Teemed with all iniquity.
Turned from thy truth its rebel eye,
Every bosom, evil hearted,
Teemed with all iniquity.
Creation groaned, and Life did languish,
Thy holy Spirit was aggrieved
With unutterable anguish,
Deep, mysterious, unconceived!
Thy holy Spirit was aggrieved
With unutterable anguish,
Deep, mysterious, unconceived!
Thou spakest, and Earth and Heaven trembled;
“I have repented of my work,
Man, whose heart hath still dissembled,
Still my spirit sought to irk.”
“I have repented of my work,
Man, whose heart hath still dissembled,
Still my spirit sought to irk.”
Oh, gracious God! who of my being
Wert mindful then—and shall I now
Doubt thine help, oh, thou All Seeing,
Thou, my God—my Saviour, thou!
Wert mindful then—and shall I now
Doubt thine help, oh, thou All Seeing,
Thou, my God—my Saviour, thou!
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We all are Sons of God—nay, we are gods,
For Scripture is inviolate—then, why
Should not his glory shine in us, as in
The Son himself, but sole-begotten named
For excellence of merit, not of essence?
Uriel.
True, they are gods to whom God's Word hath come—
He is the Word.
Satan.
More words than one proceed
From God's prolifick mouth. His Words are Things;
And all things that exist, they are his words.
Words and Works differ in a letter only,
In meaning nought.
Uriel.
Creation is the Book
Of the Almighty—
Satan.
An Incarnation of
The Deity in mythick wise expressed.
Heaven, and the Glory of the Stars, declare,
As in Apocalypse, that all his works
Are in his words, and every word incarnate.
Uriel.
Oh! all things speak of Him, all his works praise Him!
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How glorious is the Sun! that doth embody
The Light thou art; magnifick Work, wherein
Is tabernacled Word magnificent
Of Him, who said, Be Light! and Uriel was.
What wonder men the Sun should have adored,
In Thrace, as god Apollo, or in the isle
Of Erytheia, where the bright red herds,...
Betwixt your territory, Atintanes,
And the Ceraunian mountains, northward of
Epirus, on the borders of famed Greece,
Nigh to the Dorian land, there, on the banks
Of Aous, running from the Lacmon mount,...
Grazed, sacred to the sun, guarded through day
At large, and in a mountain cave through night,
By holy shepherds? In learned Corinth too
The sun was worshipped. Nor need wonder be,
Symbol so glorious was identified
With him, who reigned of Art and Eloquence
Divine Inventor. But, O Uriel, thou
Wert not as element a deity,
But far removed from Nature, Essence pure!
Uriel.
Get thee behind me, Satan! Thus, of old,
Changed from thy proper shape, a stripling Cherub,
With habit fit for speed succinct, and held
Before thy decent steps a silver wand,
Didst thou with flatteries accost me once,
Answer to win which might direct thy way
To that one of these shining Orbs, where Man
Held fixed seat, while yet in Paradise,
Whence, duped by thy temptation, he was driven.
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HYMN OF THE FLOOD
He rose in wrath—the Eternal Father,
The Mighty and the Glorious One!
Storms and shadows round him gather,
Brightness that subdues the Sun—
The Mighty and the Glorious One!
Storms and shadows round him gather,
Brightness that subdues the Sun—
He stood—and, in his great displeasure,
Cast o'er the world his eye of wrath,
Did the vast circumference measure,
Doomed to universal scathe!
Cast o'er the world his eye of wrath,
Did the vast circumference measure,
Doomed to universal scathe!
The pride of Art, the pomp of Nature,
Were hidden by the swelling surge,
Every vestige of the creature
Trembled on Destruction's verge.
Were hidden by the swelling surge,
Every vestige of the creature
Trembled on Destruction's verge.
He spake! the windows of the heaven
Oped, and Earth's springs were broken up;
Thunder went abroad, and leven—
Poured the flood from wrath's full cup!
Oped, and Earth's springs were broken up;
Thunder went abroad, and leven—
Poured the flood from wrath's full cup!
He drave the nations all asunder—
He scattered the everlasting mountains—
He bowed the perpetual hills to his thunder,
He clave the earth with her rivers and fountains!
He scattered the everlasting mountains—
He bowed the perpetual hills to his thunder,
He clave the earth with her rivers and fountains!
List to the lay! 'tis of that broken Orb,
Now once more to be broken; nay, Creation
Thoroughly purged, that He may make anew,
Or rather, making that he may destroy.
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Blasphemer! Well should I that time remember—
Then didst thou, 'midst the Sons of God, denounce
Me, as once Job, for one who would resign
Integrity, if trial came severe;
And hadst permission so to attempt my faith,
As if that Baptism were of Fire not Flood,
As now it is indeed:—ay, haply, now,
In this extreme, thou, at thy like request,
Permission hast again. But I defy
Thine arts, even now as then, and from my Orb
Thee hurl, with weapon of ethereal temper, down
Into the dark abyss.
[Elances his Spear at Satan—it recoils.
Satan.
Behold, O Seraph!
Thou art forsaken of thy vaunted God;
Or, wiselier, know thy god in me. Fall down,
And worship. In my name, shall yet the Father
Receive his creatures, as the victor in
Strife long and sore, by perseverance gained—
Acknowledge thy Messiah; of his names
Once Lucifer was one.
Uriel.
Thou hast no power
But what the Highest lends. With this keen trial
I must comply, but He will make a way,
For my escape. His holy Will be done!
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He doth abandon thee, he hath abandoned—
Nor thee alone, but all. Thy rule and realm
He takes from thee, thine Orb he will abolish,
Thy glory will dissolve, for sake of One.
But all things first must lie beneath his feet;
Submit not to prostration. Up! delay
The time's accomplishment, and still preserve
Thy proper glory, thine unforfeit state.
Uriel.
Light was before Light-bearers, may be after—
Though the foundations of the Universe
Subvert and be supplanted, yet will I
In faith adore the Mercy of the Lord.
HYMN OF THE FLOOD
Hail! to the Ark by God commanded,
Prime Architect, and Lord of All,
Built by Man,—securely stranded,
Waiting the prophetick call,
Prime Architect, and Lord of All,
Built by Man,—securely stranded,
Waiting the prophetick call,
To ride the universal Ocean—
Hail! Mother of the future World!
Travailling in wild commotion,
On the billowy desert hurled!
Hail! Mother of the future World!
Travailling in wild commotion,
On the billowy desert hurled!
Charmed by no seraph song which blended
The first World into light and life,
Lo! the next unseen, untended,
Embryo of the womb of strife—
The first World into light and life,
Lo! the next unseen, untended,
Embryo of the womb of strife—
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Its musick the storm's thousand voices,
The shriek, the groan, the dash, the cry—
Ruin that aloud rejoices—
And its guard the louring sky!
The shriek, the groan, the dash, the cry—
Ruin that aloud rejoices—
And its guard the louring sky!
In their war-chariots they confided;
They boasted of their steeds of strife;
Ships above the water guided,
Things of motion and of life—
They boasted of their steeds of strife;
Ships above the water guided,
Things of motion and of life—
But we in Him, the God who sitteth
O'er the earth's circle, and to whom,
As the grasshopper that twitteth
Vainly in its own green home,
O'er the earth's circle, and to whom,
As the grasshopper that twitteth
Vainly in its own green home,
Are her proud giants—him who spreadeth
Heaven as a curtain and a tent—
Whom the might of demons dreadeth—
Holy and Omnipotent;
Heaven as a curtain and a tent—
Whom the might of demons dreadeth—
Holy and Omnipotent;
Alone, who poured abroad the Ocean,
And poised the Orb of Earth—alone!
Lord of Life, Death, Rest, and Motion—
Earth his footstool, heaven his throne—
And poised the Orb of Earth—alone!
Lord of Life, Death, Rest, and Motion—
Earth his footstool, heaven his throne—
Who spake, and the wild flood descended—
And launched thee o'er the stormy waste!
Fear not...By his presence tended,
Haven shalt thou have at last!
And launched thee o'er the stormy waste!
Fear not...By his presence tended,
Haven shalt thou have at last!
The future world wherewith thou travaillest,
To thee shall look in peril, pain—
And the riddle thou unravellest
Hope shall bless, and joy attain.
To thee shall look in peril, pain—
And the riddle thou unravellest
Hope shall bless, and joy attain.
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Affliction's heart, and sorrow's spirit,
In Him shall trust who thee preserves,
And the Faith that doth inherit
What it seeks, but sees not, nerves.
In Him shall trust who thee preserves,
And the Faith that doth inherit
What it seeks, but sees not, nerves.
And to the heart and to the spirit
Shall it create an unseen Ark,
Wrought of Love, and Mind and Merit,
To oppose the deep and dark;
Shall it create an unseen Ark,
Wrought of Love, and Mind and Merit,
To oppose the deep and dark;
The tide of peril bravely riding,
Till joyful they arrive at length
To their haven's rest, confiding
In their Saviour and their Strength!
Till joyful they arrive at length
To their haven's rest, confiding
In their Saviour and their Strength!
Tempt me no more, Deceiver—hence—begone.
Satan.
Weak Slave! Had I not power on Him ye worship,
To hold him in the Wilderness? to take him
Up into mountain high, and show him thence
The kingdoms of the world? Him set I not
On loftiest pinnacle of that proud pile,
The glorious Temple, soon by Titus razed?
My power is more on thee. Here stay I, seraph,
Here by thy side; and hence behold with thee
The Universe, to swift destruction doomed!
Hence make thee see such Visions, not unreal,
As shall convince thee of misconfidence.
Behold!
| The Descent into Hell | |