The Judgement of the Flood :: :: University of Virginia Library

Meantime as one new-risen from the dead,
Unlike his former self, by friend and foe
Unrecognized, came Samiasa nigh
The City of his name—but from the wild
Not free'd, nor from his doom. Nor would he pass
Into the public ways, though sternly urged
By Palal, who there left him for awhile,
Alone within the Desert. There he lay
Three days, a passive brute; but on the fourth
He was a-hungered, and fierce appetite
With bestial rage stirred in him, and he scoured
The Wilderness for food. In fury thus,
A Lion crossed his path—on it he seized,
With more than giant might. Long time they strove
In mutual war, but the ferocious man
Was braver than the merely animal,
And him before the inferior creature quailed—
Even by the teeth asunder rent the jaws,
The noble Lion slain lay by his side;
Anon, stript of its skin, a royal robe
For him who slew it; and of flesh deprived,
Its victor's royal meal.

Now, Sabbath brake,
And Samiasa saw what desperate feat
He had performed, but not with triumph felt;
And earnestly resolved within his breast,
How to regain communion with his kind.
Not that he had not been beheld by man,

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But whoso saw him shrank from him in dread,
And he from them in shame, but proudly shewn.

And now rose Noah early, as was wont,
On Sabbath-morn, with Japhet, Shem, and Ham,
To duly visit Adam's sepulchre,
And warn the multitudes upon the plain
Assembled, not for worship but for sport;
And ready found Zateel, and Tamiel come,
To bear them company, and aid the cause
Of piety. No loiterers they, yet were
The Youth, and Scribe arrested in their speed,
To gaze on Japhet's growing handiwork—
The yet unfinished Statue of the Seed
Who should the Serpent bruise—unfinished yet,
Yet all but finished, moulded to that point
Of execution, where alike begins
The Artist's pleasure and the Admirer's both;
Almost adorable, yet something left,
To shew the labour human, not divine.

Brief space for converse, none for censure now;
Noah broceeded forth, and, on each hand,
The frendly train. With Tamiel was the Book
Of Enoch, and with Shem the yearling Lamb.
Along he vales they went; between the hills;
And into that mid vale, which opened wide
Upon the plain, and by the leafy way.
—Forthight into the plain, they now immerge,
Emerging to the people. There, behold,
As on a continent the enormous throng.
Well knew they him. “Ho, ho;—the Prophet comes—
The Ark-builder, and his Sons. Hence, ye profane.”
The scorn of multitudes was in the air,
And everyecho heard it loud, and long.
The noise of waters, when their demon howls
Round some predestined bark, less than that din

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Of multitudes, the universal din,
Which made heaven's vault to tremble, as with shout
Titanian. Then surceased heroic spot.

Passed, fearless, on the faithful Man of God.
Before him nameless awe prepared the way;
Awe, yet not holy, though of holiness,
Mere superstition's awe: for souls embrute
By sin perceive with gross predicament
Aught spiritual, or sacred: Conscience blends
Extremes; in better men the voice of God,
In evil, but the memory, whereon
Fancy wild shapes begetteth, as in dreams.
Such straights are theirs, who from all holy things
Alien the unwilling ear and sceptic eye:
They see not, hear not; yet must hear, and see,
That which the imaginative mind of man,
And the indefatigable faculties,
Create;—then whatsoever is not, is.
O'ersceptic ever is o'ercredulous.

Passed, fearless, on the faithful Man of God:
Followed, in pairs, Japhet with Shem, and Ham
With Tamiel. This was all the preacher's train;
Strong in himself, and with his virtues graced.
I' th' centre of the plain, the Sepulchre
Of the First Man, a pile of unhewn stone,
Stood eminent: the Columns of his Son,
Inscribed with old traditions true, beside;
By their ancestral founder meant to speak,
Ay, of the grave, and of the world beyond.

There Voices had been heard, and Visions seen
By holy men; thence issued Oracles
Of Death, Eternity, and Fate, and God.
—Now as a goal, the rivals in the race
Looked to them for the Crown, afar.

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Arrived,
Noah the Altar-Tomb demands; but Ham,
Proud of his Father's patriarchal sway,
Did with no gentle voice rebuke the crowd,
Did with no gentle hand oppose the press.

‘I preach of Peace, and Truth hath its own power;
No might of man it needs, his anger less;
Forbear, my son,’ said Noah. Calm he stood,
And quiet in his greatness; then surveyed
The populous scene.

Frequent, and full the tents;
Plenteous the boards, and manifold; with feast
Burthened, and overflowed with wine, and oil:
Copious were the libations . . Bacchus reigned,
And Mirth allied to Madness. Morning saw
The grape's blood, evening that of man, outpoured.
—Nor wonder: sanguine were his festivals.

For him Beast shed, in rampant sport, the blood
Of beast. Encaged were they on that wide field,
And kept apart awhile, awaiting war
With hunger stern. But now, they lift the doors
The Cells dividing; and, with rush, and bound,
Tiger, and Bear, Leopard, and Buffalo
Are huddled in the midst.

At once, his horns
The furious Bull plied on the sluggish Bear,
And tossed him to the roof. Then, on him sprang
The Tiger, and his dewlap tugged away;
But not himself unwounded, for his head
Was gashed, and ran with gore.

The Leopard slunk
From conflict—but not long. For now the stage
Was entered by Rhinoceros, and on
The spotted animal he came in wrath,
And roused him to the fight. Anon, in death
The lovely lay.

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Then with the many-horned
The single 'gan to strive: fight terrible
And horrid: but, with many instruments,
Choice meets confusion oft; while, but with one,
One simple aim drives straight to its effect.

Next, the large Elephants were armed against
Each other—on a sandy islet placed,
Making the middle of an ample lake.
Driven by their Riders, with a mighty shock
They intermingled, their probosces twined
With violent repulsion; till the Brute,
Wiser than man who him abuses so,
His adversary's strength confessed, and turned
Flying, not unpursued, nor unannoyed,
Attacked in rear. Nor further harm had come,
But that on them fierce Tigers were let loose;
And various deaths, with fury, rage, and blood,
Made glad the feasting heart of gazing man.

What wonder, then, at last the feasters bled?
Nay—not the blood of Beasts alone—but Man's,
His blood flowed with each wine-cup. Men were slain
For sport. There gladiator Giants strove;
Strength in each nerve sublimely agonized;
Dilated every muscle, and artery,
Into the majesty of human might;
Defiance in their attitudes, and loured
Courage upon their brows. How beautiful
The human form in extreme energy . .
Soul was in every lineament, and limb:
Fiercely they died. Their spirits went abroad,
Inflamed congenial souls, already inflamed
With banqueting; whence they in heat arose,
Flown with pride, insolence, or vanity,
With madness more than all, and fell in broil.

Away the prophet turned his sickened eye,

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And looked into the East; and, in the far
Horizon, sum of all the prospect, saw
The Mount of Paradise. The Cherubim
Still waved the excluding brand of angry flame
Above, around the place once fortunate,
Where bloomed the Tree of Lives, a fiery guard;
A living miracle, and constant sign;
A caution manifest, and visible;
The presence of God's vengeance, to warn man,
If aught might warn, of sin, and truth persuade:
Of more especial note, and greater power,
Than if the bourn of death had been repassed,
For a returning spirit to convince.
—Nor this alone:—but on the hill-side too,
Arose the appointed Ark, the Deluge-ship,
For which the axe had long the forest shorn;
Birds with its terrour scared from their retreat,
And beasts the violated woods expelled:
The labour of a century; and yet
So vast a wonder, though a work of time,
Of such endurance, who beheld it, deemed
That nothing less than miracle performed
Strange fabric so capacious, yet so strong.

And in the sight of all the people there,
Did Noah lift his hand toward Eden gate,
And bade men look upon the present God.
—Shem slew the yearling lamb, and straight disposed
The sacrifice upon that Altar-Tomb:
Then Noah bowed his face before the Lord.