FROM THE LIBRARY OF 
 
 REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON, D. D. 
 
 BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO 
 
 THE LIBRARY OF 
 
 PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
 
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YESTERDAY, 
 TO-DAY, AND FOR EVER. 
 
YESTERDAY, 
 
 FOR EYER: 
 
 a $oem, 
 
 IN TWELVE BOOKS, 
 
 EDWARD HENRY BICKERSTETH, M.A. 
 
 INCUMBENT OF CHRIST CHURCH, HAMPSTEAD, 
 AND CHAPLAIN TO THE BISHOP OF RIPON. 
 
 KIVINGTONS, 
 
 Honfcon, <%fortr, anfc Cam&rfoge. 
 
 1866. 
 
The design of the following poem has been laid up in 
 my heart for more than twenty years. Other claims 
 however prevented me from seriously undertaking the 
 work until little more than two years ago. But then 
 the deep conviction,, that those solemn events, to which 
 the latter books of my poem relate, were already begin- 
 ning to cast their prophetic lights and shadows on the 
 world, constrained me to make the attempt. If it may 
 please God to awaken any minds to deeper thought on 
 things unseen and eternal, by this humble effort to 
 combine some of the pictorial teaching supplied by His 
 most holy Word, it will be the answer to many prayers. 
 
 E. H. B. 
 
 Hampstead, Loudon, 
 
 September 7th, 1866. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2013 
 
 http://archive.org/details/todaiyfoOObick 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 BOOK PAGE 
 
 I. The Seer's Death, and Descent to Hades .... 1 
 
 II. The Paradise of the Blessed Dead 33 
 
 III. The Prison of the Lost 71 
 
 IV. The Creation of Angels and of Men 112 
 
 V. The Fall of Angels and of Men 148 
 
 VI. The Empire of Darkness 183 
 
 VII. Redemption . .210 
 
 VIII. The Church Militant 251 
 
 IX. The Bridal of the Lamb 289 
 
 X. The Millennial Sabbath 314 
 
 XI. The Last Judgment 336 
 
 XII. The Many Mansions 373 
 
 Notes . 397 
 
YESTERDAY, 
 TO-DAY, AND FOR EVER. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 THE SEEE/S DEATH, AND DESCENT TO HADES. 
 
 The last day of my earthly pilgrimage 
 
 Was closing ; and the end was peace : for, as 
 
 The sunset glory on the hills grew pale, 
 
 The burning fever left me — I was free 
 
 From pain — albeit my strength was ebbing fast. 
 
 And quickly as dreams, though not confusedly, 
 
 The landscapes of my life before me rose, 
 
 From the first breath of dewy morn to that 
 
 Its sultry afternoon. Nor seemed my past, 
 
 As often heretofore in retrospect, 10 
 
 A fragmentary discontinuous whole, 
 
 But one and indivisible, — a brief 
 
 Short journey, only steepest at the last. 
 
 Seven nights agone the message came for me. 
 The midnight chimes had struck : the echoes sank 
 
:2 THE SEEll's DEATH, [BOOK 
 
 Far in the distance, and the air grew still, — 
 
 A strange oppressive stillness. In the woods 
 
 The leaves were motionless, and on the grass 
 
 Unwavering the moonlight shadows slept. 
 
 And I was communing* with solitude, 20 
 
 And listening to the silence ; when I thought 
 
 A voice, as of an angel, spake to me, 
 
 " Thy time is come, prepare to meet thy God." 
 
 Twas gently spoken, yet a sudden chill 
 
 Struck to my heart ; for I was scarcely more 
 
 Than midway on life's pathway, nor had thought 
 
 For long years to lay down my pilgrim's staff, 
 
 Unless the Bridegroom's voice were heard in heaven. 
 
 And was I now already summon'd home ? 
 
 I ask'd, and half incredulously gazed 30 
 
 Upon the crystal of that starlit sky, 
 
 Until again within my spirit's depths 
 
 I seem'd to hear that subtle spiritual voice, 
 
 " Seven days, and thou shalt enter into rest." 
 
 And then I knew it was no idle dream/ 
 
 I felt that One was standing by me, whom 
 
 I saw not, and with trembling lips replied, 
 
 " Thou calledst me, O Lord, and here am I." 
 
 That night I spent in prayer. The lamp that hung 
 Suspended in my chamber slowly paled 40 
 
 And flicker'd in its socket. But my soul 
 Was lit up with a clearer purer light, 
 The daybreak of a near eternity, 
 
I.J AND DESCENT TO HADES. 3 
 
 Which cast its penetrating 1 beams across 
 
 The isthmus of my life, and fringed with gold 
 
 The mists of childhood, and revealed beyond 
 
 The outline of the everlasting hills. 
 
 'Twas more than half a jubilee of years 
 
 Since first I knelt a suppliant at the throne 
 
 Of mercy, and bewaiFd my sins, and heard 50 
 
 The voice of absolution, " Go in peace \" 
 
 And daily since that birth-time of my soul 
 
 Had I found shelter at the feet of Christ. 
 
 But in the glory of that light, aware 
 
 Of the immediate presence of my God, 
 
 I saw myself, as I had never seen, 
 
 Polluted and undone ; and, clothed in shame, 
 
 Awestruck, like Peter, cried aloud, " Depart 
 
 From me, who am a sinful man, O Lord." 
 
 But, as I raised my eye to read His will, 60 
 
 I saw, as never hitherto, the cross 
 
 Irradiated with celestial light, 
 
 And love divine, unutterable, poured 
 
 Around the form of Him who hung thereon. 
 
 I gazed entranced, enraptured ; and anew 
 
 I washed the dark stains of my travelling dress 
 
 White in the fountain of His blood ; and then, 
 
 Methought, He laid His hand upon my head, 
 
 And whispered, " Go in peace, and sin no more." 
 
 And the words seemed to linger in the air, 70 
 
 Whether an angel caught them up or not 
 
 I know not, but they seemed to float around me, 
 
4 THE SEER'S DEATH, [BOOK 
 
 " Sin no more, weary pilgrim, sin no more, 
 No more at all for ever, sin no more." 
 
 And thus long hours of peace and prayer and praise 
 Passed noiselessly, as gliding slumber ; though 
 That night was more to me than years of life, 
 If life be measured, its true gauge, by love. 
 I feasted upon love ; I drank, I breathed 
 Nothing but love. But when the morning came so 
 
 I knew no more what passed around me : earth 
 Sank from my view, and yet I was not free 
 To climb the heavens. As when the aeronaut, 
 Borne sunward on his too adventurous car, 
 At length emerging from the seas of mist 
 (Which circumfused long while about his path 
 Clung darkling, but now roll in lucid waves 
 Of clouds beneath him) hovers there a while, 
 A stranger in that crystal atmosphere, 
 Exiled from earth, and yet not winged for heaven : 90 
 So in my fever dreams I seemed to hang 
 On the far confines of the world of sense, 
 Unconscious of the lapse of day or night, 
 If lonely or in loved society ; 
 But conscious of my spirit's fellowship 
 With the Eternal Spirit. God was there : 
 I knew it : I was with Him. And meanwhile 
 His angel gently loosen'd all the cords 
 Of my frail tabernacle, and the tent 
 Fluttered to every breeze. 100 
 
I.] AND DESCENT TO HADES. 5 
 
 Six days I lay 
 In that strange borderland, so she, who watch'd 
 Unwearied as an angel day and night 
 Beside my pillow, told me when I woke 
 From the fruition of celestial love 
 To drink in, like a thirsty traveller, 
 The sweetness of her human love once more : — 
 Never so sweet as now. They sin who deem 
 There can be discord betwixt love and love. 
 Six days had passed ; and now the morning sun 
 Bore through the open casement all the glow no 
 
 Of summer ; more than six days out of seven 
 Since that strange midnight summons : — so I knew 
 My hours were numbered, and that I should see 
 No other sunrise on this weary world ; 
 And gently said, intolerant of suspense, 
 " My wife, my darling, I am going home ; 
 God wills it,- darling, — going home to-night." 
 Sorely I fear'd the first shock of my words 
 Upon the tenderest of human hearts, 
 A wife's, a mother's heart. But softly laying 120 
 
 Her hand upon my burning brow, she said, 
 u I know it all, beloved husband. God 
 Hath spoken to me also, and hath given 
 These brief hours to my wrestling prayers. Enough, 
 To-morrow and all after life for tears, 
 To-day and all eternity for love." 
 
 And leaning then her ear close to my lips, 
 
6 THE SEER'S DEATH, [BOOK 
 
 Her soft cheek touching mine, we spoke or thought 
 
 (A broken word was clue to many thoughts) 
 
 Of things long past, and holy memories, 1 30 
 
 That glow'd in sunlight through the mist of years, 
 
 Or cast their solemn shadow o'er the hills ; 
 
 Those anniversaries, that sanctify 
 
 So many Sabbaths in a pilgrim's life : 
 
 The day that interlink'd her heart with mine, 
 
 Our ramble through a laurel greenery, 
 
 My soul full charged with its own feelings, nor 
 
 Well able to restrain their passionate flow 
 
 Into the waveless mirror of her love ; 
 
 Not able long. The intervening years uo 
 
 Of tried affection and of hope deferred ; 
 
 And then the plucking of the tree of life 
 
 With its ambrosial fruitage, and fresh flowers 
 
 Upon our bridal day. We took and ate 
 
 And lived — God's smile upon us. Then our home, 
 
 All fragrant with parental thoughtfulness, 
 
 Close nestling by the village church, my charge ; 
 
 Say rather ours : our lambs, our flock, our fold, 
 
 For I was shepherd, and she shepherdess, 
 
 And we, as one, were married to one spouse. 3 5fl 
 
 Indissoluble bond ! names, faces, hearts 
 
 Came back upon us fresh as yesterday : 
 
 The precious seed not seldom sown with tears, 
 
 The golden grain that ripen'd here and there, 
 
 A wave-sheaf of our husbandry. And link'd 
 
 With all the memories of pastoral life 
 
I.] AND DESCENT TO HADES. 7 
 
 The birth-days of our children, those dear ties 
 
 That bound us ever closer each to each, 
 
 Us to our people, them and us to God. 
 
 Nor births alone : for twice the gates of pearl 1 60 
 
 Had opened on their musical hinges, while 
 
 The angels ministrant had ta'en each time 
 
 A little tender ewe-lamb from our arms, 
 
 To nurture it, so Jesus willed, in heaven. 
 
 And then we spoke of other blessed dead, 
 
 Akin to us by blood, akin by grace, 
 
 And friends, and fellow-travellers, whose names 
 
 Sprang to our eager lips spontaneously : 
 
 Their forms that hour were present as when last 
 
 We wrung their hands upon the shore of time. 170 
 
 And ever the horizon grew more clear 
 
 And wider as we gazed. Our little life 
 
 Was interwoven with the universe 
 
 Of God's eternal counsels. We were part 
 
 Of the whole family in heaven and earth ; 
 
 The many were in heaven, the few on earth ; 
 
 Part of the mighty host whose foremost ranks 
 
 Long since had crossed the river, and had pitched 
 
 Their tents upon the everlasting hills. 
 
 How shrunken Jordan seemed. iso 
 
 The day wore fast. 
 My wife looked up. I saw her anxious eye 
 Measuring the shadows more aslant, and read 
 Her thought, and whispered, " Call them to us." Soon 
 
 . 
 
8 THE SEER'S DEATH, [BOOK 
 
 Our children clustered round my bed. Dear hearts, — 
 
 The eldest only in the bloom of spring, 
 
 The next in earliest prime of youth, the rest 
 
 In order opening like forest flowers, 
 
 A wreath of girls with brothers intertwined, 
 
 Down to the rosebud in the nurse's arms. 
 
 They were but learners in the infant school 190 
 
 Of sorrow, and were scarcely able yet 
 
 To spell its simplest signs. But when they caught 
 
 The meaning of their mother's words,, and knew 
 
 That I was going to leave them, one low sob 
 
 Broke from them, like the sighing of the wind 
 
 That frets the bosom of a silver lake 
 
 Before a tempest. Each on the other look'd; 
 
 And every lip trembled \ and tears, hot tears, 
 
 Gusk'd forth, and quickly woidd have drench'd all eyes. 
 
 But fearing their most innocent distress 200 
 
 Would, like an irresistible tide, break down 
 
 The barrier of their mother's holy calm, 
 
 I raised my head upon the pillow, saying, 
 
 " Weep not, my children, that your father's work 
 Is over, and his travelling days are done. 
 For I am going to our happy home, 
 Jerusalem the golden, of which we 
 On Sabbath evenings have so often sung, 
 And wish'd the weary interval away 
 That lay betwixt us and its pearly gates. -210 
 
 You must not weep for me. Nor for yourselves. 
 
I.] AND DESCENT TO HADES. 9 
 
 Nor for your mother grieve too bitterly. 
 
 The Father of the fatherless will be 
 
 Your Father and your God. You know who says,, 
 
 I will not leave you orphans. He will send 
 
 The Blessed Comforter to comfort you, 
 
 And soon will come and take you to Himself, 
 
 That where He is there you may also be 
 
 In glory. And the time I know is short. 
 
 The Bridegroom cometh quickly. Let your loins 220 
 
 Be girded, and your lamps be trimmed alway. 
 
 Methinks your earthly sojourn will be closed, 
 
 Not like your father's with the sleep of death, 
 
 But by the archangel's clarion. Be it so : 
 
 Or be it that ye walk the pilgrim's course 
 
 To life's far bourn, the God of Israel 
 
 Will shield you, and will give you bread to eat 
 
 And raiment to put on, until you reach 
 
 Your Father's house in peace. 
 
 w Come here, my child, 
 My firstborn, who hast ever been to me 230 
 
 Thy mother's image, doubly blessed thus ; 
 Subdue thy grief that thou may'st solace hers, 
 And with a daughter's heavenly art reflect 
 Her former brightness on a widow's heart : 
 I leave it thee thy charge. And thou, my boy, 
 Son, brother, father, pastor thou must be, 
 And with a thoughtfulness beyond thy years 
 Enfold thy mother in thy filial love, 
 
10 THE SEER'S DEATH, [BOOK 
 
 As the leaves cluster round a shaken rose ; 
 
 And shade thy sisters and thy brothers, as 240 
 
 A granite wall the flowers. Thy hour is come 
 
 To take the banner of the cross : it was 
 
 Thy sainted grandsire's once, and fearlessly 
 
 He bore it in the thickest fight, and then 
 
 Entrusted it to my unequal hands. 
 
 Now it is thine. I leave it thee to guard 
 
 And part from only with thy parting breath. 
 
 " Come near to me, my children. Let the hand 
 That traced the cross upon your infant brow, 
 Rest on your heads once more : come hither, nurse, 260 
 Upon my babe, my tenderest blossom first, 
 God bless him : and the others, dear, dear lambs, 
 On each and all a father's blessing abide. 
 And Thou, Great Shepherd of the flock, look down 
 In mercy from Thy throne of heavenly grace 
 On those whom Thou hast given me. From Thy hand 
 I first received them, and to Thee again, 
 Thee only, I resign them. Let not one 
 Be wanting in the day Thou countest up 
 The jewels in Thy diadem of saints. 260 
 
 I ask not for the glories of the world, 
 I ask not freedom from its weariness 
 Of daily toil : but, O Lord Jesu Christ, 
 Let Thy omnipotent prayer prevail for them, 
 And keep them from the evil. In the hour 
 Of trial, when the subtle tempter's voice 
 
I.] AND DESCENT TO HADES. 11 
 
 Sounds like a seraph's, and no human friend 
 
 Is nigh, let my words live before Thee then, 
 
 And hide my lambs beneath Thy shadowing wings, 
 
 And keep them as the apple of Thine eye : 270 
 
 My prayers are ended, if Thy will be done 
 
 In them and by them : till at last we meet 
 
 Within the mansions of our Father's house, 
 
 A circle never to be sunder'd more, 
 
 No broken link, a family in heaven/' 
 
 And now the sun had sunk behind the hills ; 
 The twilight deepened ; and the stars jpeep'd forth 
 Betwixt the drapery of silver clouds. 
 And the nurse understood the sign I gave, 
 And led the younger children from my room ; 280 
 
 And what with weeping and with weariness 
 It was not long before they slept. The rest 
 Silently praying lean'd against the foot 
 Of my low couch. Never a word they spoke, 
 But look'd their inexpressible love, till thoughts 
 Of luminous stars, and large and loving eyes, 
 Were strangely blended in a dream that came 
 Enamell'd with rich pictures of my life, 
 And floated like a golden mist away. 
 
 The time-piece striking nine recalled me ; for 290 
 
 I felt the involuntary thrill it sent 
 Through my wife's heart, as kneeling by my side 
 
12 THE SEEIl's DEATH, [BOOK 
 
 She clung : and almost unawares my lips 
 
 Repeated words she loved in other days 
 
 Though long forgotten — " All thine own on earth, 
 
 Beloved, and in glory all thine own." 
 
 They opened a deep fountain ; and her tears 
 
 Fell quick as rain upon my hand, — hot tears 
 
 On a cold hand, — so sluggishly my blood 
 
 Crept now. And I said, u Let the children read 300 
 
 Some of God's words." All others would have jarr'd 
 
 That night, but His are tender in their strength, 
 
 And in their very tenderness are strong. 
 
 And straightway, like a chime of evening bells 
 
 Melodiously o'er broken waters borne, 
 
 They read in a low voice most musical 
 
 Some fragments of the book of life. 
 
 The first 
 Chose words she loved from David's pastoral, — 
 " The Lord my Shepherd is ; I shall not want : 
 He leads me in green pastures, and beside 310 
 
 Still waters ; and restores my soul to tread 
 For His name's sake the paths of righteousness. 
 Yea, though I walk the shadowy vale of death, 
 I fear not ; Thou art with me ; and Thy crook 
 It comforts me. My table is prepared 
 In presence of my enemies : my head 
 Thou, Lord, anointest ; and my cup o'erllows. 
 Goodness and mercy shall attend my steps, 
 And in Thy house I shall for ever dwell." 
 
I.] AXD DESCENT TO HADES. 13 
 
 She ceased; and then another from the Psalm 320 
 Of him, who call'd his son u a stranger here/' 
 Read, "Thou, O Lord, hast been our dwelling-place 
 Prom age to age, the everlasting Thou/' 
 Until he lingered on the children's prayer, 
 " O satisfy us early with Thy love 
 That we may live rejoicing all our days/' 
 t 
 
 Methinks, they hardly caught my low amen, 
 For almost without pause a gentle girl, 
 With a voice tremulous for tears not shed, 
 Repeated, for she knew them, the dear words 330 
 
 Of Jesus on the night He was betray'd, 
 u Let not your heart be troubled \ ye believe 
 In God ..." nor ceased till she had pleaded all 
 The eloquence of His High-priestly prayer. 
 
 And then my son began, " Now is Christ risen, 
 The first-fruits of the dead who sleep in Him." 
 The words burnt brightly' as beacon fires at night, 
 Till as he utter'd " This corruptible 
 Must put on incorruption, and this mortal 
 Its immortality /' and ask'd in tones 3 to 
 
 Where faith with feeling wrestled and prevail'd, 
 " Where is thy sting, O death ! and where, O grave, 
 Thy victory ?" We heard, but heeded not, 
 The warning that another hour had pass'd, 
 For our responsive hearts were echoing " Thanks 
 To God who ffiveth us the victory ! " 
 

 14 THE SEER'S DEATH, [BOOK 
 
 And now for the last time the manna fell 
 
 Around my pilgrim tent. My eldest child 
 
 Turned with true instinct to our home, and read 
 
 The vision of the new Jerusalem, 350 
 
 The Bridal city, built of crystal gold 
 
 And bright with jewels, whether real types 
 
 Or rather typical realities. 
 
 And, as she read, we often paused and spoke, 
 
 Though but as children speak of things unseen ; 
 
 Until the closing words, " His servants there 
 
 Shall serve Him ; they shall see His face ; His name 
 
 Writ in their forehead. And they need no sun 
 
 Or moon to shine upon them, for the Lord 
 
 Doth lighten them with uncreated light, 360 
 
 And they shall reign for ever and for ever/' 
 
 Then there was silence : and my children knelt 
 Around my bed — our latest family prayer. 
 Listen — it is eleven striking. Then 
 I whispered to my wife, " The time is short ; 
 I hear the Spirit and the Bride say, Come, 
 And Jesus answering, c I come quickly/ Listen / J 
 And as she wiped the death-dews from my brow, 
 She faltered, " He is very near," and I 
 Could only faintly say, " Amen, amen." 370 
 
 And then my power of utterance was gone : 
 I beckoned and was speechless : I was more 
 Than ankle deep in Jordan's icy stream. 
 My children stood upon its utmost verge, 
 
I.] AND DESCENT TO HADES. 15 
 
 Gazing imploringly, persuasively, 
 
 While the words " Dear, dear father/' now and then 
 
 Would drop, like dew, from their unconscious lips. 
 
 My gentle wife, with love stronger than death, 
 
 Was leaning over those cold gliding waves. 
 
 I heard them speaking, but could make no sign ; 380 
 
 I saw them weeping, but could shed no tear ; 
 
 I felt their touch upon my flickering pulse, 
 
 Their breath upon my cheek, but I could give 
 
 No answering pressure to the fond hands pressed 
 
 In mine. So rapidly the river-bed 
 
 Shelved downward, I had passed or almost passed 
 
 Beyond the interchange of loving signs 
 
 Into the very world of love itself. 
 
 The waters were about my knees ; they washed 
 
 My loins ; and still they deepened. Unawares 390 
 
 I saw, I listened — who is He who speaks ? — 
 
 A Presence and a Voice. That Presence moved 
 
 Beside me like a cloud of glory ; and 
 
 That Voice was like a silver trumpet, saying, 
 
 " Be of good comfort. It is I. Fear not." 
 
 And whether now the waters were less deep 
 
 Or I was borne upon invisible arms, 
 
 I know not ; but methought my mortal robes 
 
 Now only brushed the smoothly gliding stream, 
 
 And like the edges of a sunset cloud 400 
 
 The beatific land before me lay. 
 
 One long, last look behind me : gradually 
 
 The figures faded on the shore of time, 
 
16 THE SEEIt's DEATH, [BOOK 
 
 And, as the passing bell of midnight struck, 
 One sob, one effort, and my spirit was free. 
 
 They err who tell us, that the spirit unclothed, 
 And from its mortal tabernacle loosed, 
 Has neither lineament of countenance, 
 Nor limit of ethereal mould, nor form 
 Of spiritual substance. The Eternal Word, 410 
 
 Before He hung upon the Virgin's breasts, 
 Was wont to manifest Himself to men, 
 In visible similitude defined : 
 And, when on Calvary He gave up the ghost, 
 In that emancipated Spirit went forth, 
 And preached glad tidings to the souls below. 
 The angels are but spirits, a flame of fire, 
 And subtle as the viewless winds of heaven ; 
 Yet are they each to the other visible, 
 And beautiful with those original forms 420 
 
 That crown'd the morn of their nativity. 
 Each has his several beauty. It is true 
 The changes that diversify their state, 
 Wrought with the speed of washes at their will 
 And pleasure who are pleased as pleases God, 
 Are many as are the leaves and bloom and fruit 
 That shed new lustre on the orange groves 
 And vineyards of the south : but still remains 
 Their angel ideality the same, 
 
 As we confuse not orange-trees and vines. 430 
 
 And so the spirit inbreathed in human flesh, 
 
I.] AND DESCENT TO HADES. 17 
 
 By death divested of its mortal robes. 
 
 Retains its-individual character, 
 
 Ay, and the very mould of its sojourn 
 
 Within this earthly tabernacle. Face 
 
 Answers to face, and limb to limb : nor lacks 
 
 The saint immediate investiture 
 
 "With saintly' apparel. Only then the mind 
 
 Which struggles here beneath this fleshly veil, 
 
 As the pure fire in a half polished gem — 440 
 
 Ruby or amethyst or diamond — 
 
 Imprisoned, when the veil is rent in twain, 
 
 Beams as with solar radiance forth, and sheds 
 
 Its glow o'er every motion, every look : 
 
 That which is born of spirit is spirit, and seems 
 
 All ear, all eye, all feeling, and all heart ; — 
 
 A crystal shrine of life. 
 
 And I was now 
 A spirit, new born into a spiritual world. 
 Half dreaming, half awake, I lay awhile 
 In an Elysium of repose : as glides 450 
 
 A vessel long beset with boisterous winds 
 Into some tranquil port, and all is still, 
 Except the liquid ripple round the keel : 
 So in a trance I lay. But gradually, 
 As wakes an infant from its rosy sleep 
 To find its mother keeping by its side 
 Enamoured vigil, dreaming I awoke, 
 And slowly then bethought me whence I came 
 
18 THE SEEll's DEATH, [BOOK 
 
 And what I was, and ask'd instinctively 
 
 " Where am I ? " And a gentle voice, in tones 460 
 
 More musically soft than those the wind 
 
 Elicits from iEolian harp or lute, 
 
 Made answer, u Brother, thou art by my side, 
 
 By me thy guardian angel, who have watch'd 
 
 Thy footsteps from the wicket gate of life, 
 
 And now am here to tend thy pathway home." 
 
 I turned to see who spake, and being turned 
 
 I saw two overshadowing wings that veiled 
 
 The unknown speaker. Slowly they disclosed 
 
 A form of light which seemed to rest on them, 470 
 
 So, to compare the things of earth and heaven, 
 
 As rests the body of the bird, which men 
 
 Call for delight the bird of Paradise, 
 
 Upon its waving feathers poised in air, 
 
 Feathers, or rather clouds of golden down, 
 
 With streamers thrown luxuriantly out 
 
 In all the wantonness of winged wealth. 
 
 Not otherwise behind that angel waved 
 
 His pinions tremulous with starry light, 
 
 Then drooped close folded to his radiant side : 480 
 
 But, folded or diffuse, with equal ease 
 
 Buoyant he floated on the obedient air. 
 
 The very sight was melody ; such grace 
 
 Flowed in his lightest motion. Save his wings 
 
 The form was human in the spring of youth : 
 
 I guessed a warrior by the fiery sword 
 
 Girt to his thigh ; and yet his flowing robes, 
 
I.] AND DESCENT TO HADES. , 19 
 
 White as if woven of the beams that fall 
 
 On the untrodden snows, bespoke a priest ; 
 
 And his mysterious crown, a king : but when 490 
 
 Smiling he looked on me, so much of love — 
 
 Pure, holy, unimaginable love — 
 
 In that one glance his spirit poured into mine ; 
 
 Nor warrior then, nor priest, nor king he seem'd, 
 
 But only brother. 
 
 And again he spoke, 
 " Before yon hills have caught the Eastern glow 
 Will they expect us at heaven's golden gates. 
 The road is long ; but swifter than the beams 
 Of morning is the angelical convoy 
 Sent for thy escort home. Myself thy guide : 500 
 
 And with me other two, who on their hands 
 Shall bear thee as they bore blest Lazarus 
 Into his father's bosom, ready stand, 
 Waiting our summons. But, so pleases thee, 
 Ere we set forth, rise, brother, and look round 
 Upon the battle-field where thou hast fought 
 The fight of faith/' 
 
 Immediately I rose, 
 My spiritual essence to my faintest will 
 Subservient, as is flame to wind, and gazed, 
 Myself invisible, around. O sight 510 
 
 Surpassing utterance, when the mists, that veil'd 
 That borderland of heaven and earth and hell, 
 c 2 
 
SM) THE SEER'S DEATH, [BOOK 
 
 Dispersed, or rather when my eyes became 
 
 Used to the mysteries of tilings unseen ! 
 
 My dwelling had been situate beside 
 
 The myriads of a vast metropolis : 
 
 But now astonished I beheld, and lo ! 
 
 There were more spirits than men, more habitants 
 
 Of the thin air than of the solid ground : 
 
 The firmament was quick with life. As when 520 
 
 The prophet's servant looked from Dothan forth 
 
 On Syria's thronging multitudes, and saw, 
 
 His eyes being opened at Elisha's prayer, 
 
 Chariots of fire by fiery horses drawn, 
 
 The squadrons of the sky around the seer 
 
 Encamping. Thus in numbers numberless 
 
 The hosts of darkness and of light appear 'd 
 
 Thronging the air. They were not ranged for fight, 
 
 But mingled host with host, angels with men. 
 
 Nor was it easy to discern the lost 530 
 
 From the elect. There were no horned fiends 
 
 As some have fabled, no gaunt skeletons 
 
 Of naked horror ; but the fallen wore, 
 
 Even as the holy angels, robes of light ; 
 
 Nor did their ruin otherwise appear 
 
 Than in dark passions, envy, and pride, and hate, 
 
 Which like a brand upon their brow obscured 
 
 The lustre of angelic loveliness. 
 
 It was not open battle, might with might 
 
 Contesting ; but uninterrupted war 540 
 
 Of heavenlv faithfulness and hellish craft. 
 
I.] AND DESCENT TO HADES. 21 
 
 By every saint a holy watcher stood ; 
 
 By some a company of blessed spirits ; 
 
 Each had their ministry assigned. And oft 
 
 From some superior chief the watchword pass'd, 
 
 Or warnings came of stratagems foreseen. 
 
 Or tidings from the court of glory sped 
 
 From lip to lip more quickly than the thoughts 
 
 Which men decypher from electric signs. 
 
 Far off their armour gleam/d. On the other hand 550 
 
 The spirits of darkness freely intermixed 
 
 With all ; innumerable legions arm'd ; 
 
 And, baffled oft, to their respective lords 
 
 The thrones and principalities of hell 
 
 Repairing, better learned their cursed lore 
 
 To win or storm the ramparts of the heart 
 
 Except to treachery impregnable. 
 
 Around some dwellings, thick as locust-swarms, 
 
 I saw them cluster. Flushed with wine there passed 
 
 A young man through the solitary streets — 56o 
 
 Not solitary to angelic eyes — 
 
 Home to his father's house : a dark spirit waved 
 
 A fascinating spell before his face : 
 
 And straightway to those tents of wickedness 
 
 He bent his easy steps ; and, as he crossed 
 
 The threshold through the crowd invisible, 
 
 I heard their fiendish laugh of triumph. Soon 
 
 Another, on the call of charity, 
 
 With haste that dimly-lighted pavement trod ; 
 
 And him the spirits malign assayed to draw 5 70 
 
22 the seer's death, [book 
 
 With the same sorcery : but an angel stoop'd 
 
 And interposed his buckler, and the youth 
 
 Went on unscathed, though mindless of his peril. 
 
 A lonely garret drew my eye ; for thence 
 
 A flood of roseate brilliance streamed afar, 
 
 Such brilliance as a spirit alone may see : 
 
 There on a bed of straw a sufferer lay 
 
 Feeble, but strong in faith ; and by her side 
 
 Two of heaven's noblest principalities 
 
 Kept watch : and to my look of marvel, why 580 
 
 Such high pre-eminence was hers, my guide 
 
 Made answer, " She is one whom Jesus loves/' 
 
 But now another sight attracted me : 
 
 'Twas but a children's orphanage ; but there, 
 
 Say, is it Jacob's ladder once again 
 
 Planted upon the earth ? Such forms of light 
 
 Were passing to and fro continually, 
 
 So frequent was the intercourse with heaven. 
 
 It boots not further to declare what things 
 I saw that hour : but wheresoe'er I look'd 590 
 Methought there was an earnestness and awe 
 Presaging coming crisis. As I gazed, 
 Questions innumerable to my lips 
 Rose as live waters to a fountain's brim. 
 But I was mute with wonder ; and my guide, 
 Responding to my quick unspoken thoughts, 
 Said, " Brother, I will tell thee all ere long 
 But now one more permitted glance of love 
 
I.] AND DESCENT TO HADES. 23 
 
 Upon thy earthly home, and we must then 
 
 Assay our long, precipitate descent." 600 
 
 I followed where he led. Is it my home, 
 My widow'd, desolate, and orphaned home ? 
 O hush ! o'er every child an angel bent, 
 Nor was the nurse the only one who watched 
 The cradle of my sleeping babe. My wife 
 Had stolen to our silent chamber back, 
 And knelt in tears beside my lifeless clay : 
 And o'er her stood a seraph, watching her 
 With wondrous tenderness and love and grief. 
 " And is it true/' I ask'd — my words were quick 6lo 
 And irrepressible for eager thought, — 
 " Hath it been ever granted those who have pass'd 
 The river, to appear and show themselves, 
 Unchanged in form, in heart unchangeable, 
 To loved ones they have left behind ?" u 'Tis true 
 It hath been so/' gently my guardian said, 
 " But only by His sovereign will and word 
 Who holds the keys of Hades and of Death, 
 And opens, as He wills, the mortal eye 
 To see the mysteries of things unseen. 620 
 
 There are who fondly call upon the dead 
 To hear them, and imagine they receive 
 Some dark response in symbols or in sounds : 
 But either in their minds their own prayers raise 
 Distemper'd phantasies, or spirits unblest, 
 
24 the seer's death, [book 
 
 Perceiving that the bond of fealty 
 
 Is broken with the One and Only God, 
 
 Assume the very lineaments and voice 
 
 Of those invoked, and answering them allure 
 
 Their worshippers to ruin. Yet sometimes 630 
 
 The veil is lifted by His high behest 
 
 "Who separates eternity from time, 
 
 And spirits have spoken unto men, and then 
 
 Their eye is open, and their ear attent. 
 
 Blest seers, blest auditors : but higher still 
 
 And holier is the pure beatitude 
 
 On those who have not seen and yet believe ; 
 
 And such is hers who kneels before thee : hers, 
 
 As thine was, is the victory of faith. 
 
 Leave her to God. Our journey summons us." 640 
 
 " Enough, enough," I answered, " all is well ; 
 
 I would not pluck one jewel from her crown : 
 
 Arise, let us be going." And at my words 
 
 The spirit who watched beside her looked on me 
 
 A look of tender gratitude, and waved 
 
 His hand in token of a short farewell. 
 
 And I was now aware of two who stood 
 Beside me, courier angels, winged for speed : 
 Twin brothers they appeared, so like their mien, 
 So like their garments dipt in rainbow hues ; 650 
 
 They bent on me the beauty of their smile, 
 And singing, as they took my hand in theirs, 
 
I.] AND DESCENT TO HADES. 25 
 
 " Home, brother, home/' unclosed their wings of light : 
 And we, my guardian leading us the way, 
 Set forth upon the road to Paradise. 
 
 Smooth, easy, swifter than the winds of heaven 
 Our flight was. In the twinkling of an eye 
 We brush'd the mantle of a silver cloud 
 That floated in mid sky. Like flames of fire 
 We mounted upward, for awhile within 660 
 
 The limits of the mighty shadow cast 
 From the earth's solid globe athwart the heavens. 
 But soon, emerging from its gloom, we saw 
 The sun unclouded, but its disc reduced 
 To half its former radiance, — faint its warmth, 
 Feeble its light, and lessening every league. 
 But when I saw that we had left the earth 
 Beneath us, and were ever soaring higher, 
 I turned me to my radiant guide and said, 
 " O blessed angel, wherefore calledst thou 670 
 
 The road to Paradise a long descent 
 Precipitate ? Upward our pathway leads, 
 Ascending, not descending : and the earth 
 Already lies a planet at our feet/' 
 
 And he, benignly smiling, answered me, 
 " Call me, I pray thee, Oriel, such my name — 
 One little beam from God's great orb of light. 
 Ascension and descension, height and depth, 
 Are here not measured by a line through space 
 
2ti THE SEER'S DEATH, [BOOK 
 
 Drawn vertical or perpendicular 680 
 
 From any spot on the revolving earth, 
 
 Of which let it suffice thee to reflect 
 
 Thy highest hitherto hath ever been 
 
 The lowest to the other hemisphere. 
 
 Not so our zenith and our nadir lie : 
 
 But height with us is where the Eternal God, 
 
 Though omnipresent in the universe, 
 
 Reveals the lustre of His throne supreme, 
 
 Through clouds of glory in the heaven of heavens : 
 
 And depth is the remotest opposite. 690 
 
 We are descending now : for Hades lies 
 
 More distant from the everlasting throne 
 
 Than central earth. Fear not ; for He who sits 
 
 High throned above all height pre-eminent, 
 
 Not only stooped from thence to Bethlehem, 
 
 But dying, descended lower than the earth, 
 
 And captive led captivity, His prey, 
 
 In those vast realms beneath. Descending first, 
 
 Soon He ascended far above the heavens, 
 
 And with His presence fills the universe. Too 
 
 His pathway, brother, must be thine. Nor think 
 
 That Paradise, though situate in the deep 
 
 Which lieth under, is not real heaven : 
 
 Heaven is where Jesus is, and He is there. 
 
 Even as in those mysterious temple courts 
 
 Built on mount Zion, figures of the true, 
 
 There was the outer court, the hoi}- place, 
 
 The Holiest of Holies, and yet all 
 
I.] AND DESCENT TO HADES. 27 
 
 Were but one house, One Father's house of prayer ; 
 
 So is it in the heaven of heavens. And now 710 
 
 The veil is rent for ever, and He walks 
 
 Who bears thy name engraven on His heart 
 
 Before the throne of mercy, and amid 
 
 The golden candlesticks, and where the souls 
 
 Beneath the altar ciy l How long, O Lord T 
 
 Fear not ; there thou shalt see Him as He is, 
 
 There clasp His sacred feet, and rest beneath 
 
 The beaming sunlight of His countenance, 
 
 And follow where He leads through fairer fields 
 
 Than Eden, by the gushing springs of life 720 
 
 Fresh watered. He makes heaven : and every part 
 
 Of His great temple with His glory shines/' 
 
 So spake he ; and I hung upon his lips 
 Entranced, whose words w^ere sweeter to my taste 
 Than droppings of the honey dew. But now 
 I was aware the pathway that we clomb 
 No longer was a solitary track, 
 Rather a mighty highway of the heavens : 
 For other travellers, angels they seem'd, 
 Were passing to and fro unweariedly, 730 
 
 On manifold behests commissioned. Some 
 Swept by us, swift as lightning, on their road 
 From Paradise to earth : and other some 
 Journeying the way we went, in groups of light, 
 Bore in their hands, like my angelic guard, 
 A weary pilgrim to his home of rest. 
 
28 the seer's death, [book 
 
 Others, and they were many, had each in charge 
 
 A sleeping infant folded to his bosom, 
 
 And ever and anon would stoop and gaze 
 
 Upon it with unutterable love. 740 
 
 Of some the flight was slow : but when I looked, 
 
 The spirit they carried was in chains, and all 
 
 His stricken lineaments bespoke despair. 
 
 And still the path became more thronged, and shone 
 
 With living meteors, so as to compare 
 
 The things of sight and faith, at midnight when 
 
 A rose-blush as of morning seems to steal 
 
 Across the northern firmament, with jets 
 
 Of ardent flame and undulating light 
 
 Incessant. On our right hand and our left 750 
 
 The stars sang Hallelujah, as we passed 
 
 Now in the splendour of some nearer orb, 
 
 Whether a satellite or blazing sun, 
 
 And now within the twilight interval 
 
 That lay betwixt their vast domains. But I, 
 
 Solicitous regarding those whose look 
 
 Of woe once seen was ineffaceable, 
 
 AskMj " Holy Oriel, are those prisoners, 
 
 Whose slower course we pass continually, 
 
 Angelic, or lost spirits of human birth ? 760 
 
 And wherefore are they on this road with us V* 
 
 And he replied, his words were grave but calm, 
 " They are the disembodied souls of men 
 Who lived and died in sin. Lightly they spent 
 
I.] AND DESCENT TO HADES. 29 
 
 In Godless mirth or prayerless toil unblest 
 
 Their brief inestimable day of proof, 
 
 Till the last golden sands ran out : and now 
 
 Their hour is come, and they are on the road 
 
 To that profound abysmal deep, wherein 
 
 The rich man lifted up his anguished eyes — 770 
 
 Eyes never to be closed in sleep again : 
 
 Nor marvel that one track their footsteps leads 
 
 And ours. Remember he of whom I spake, 
 
 Himself in torments, though far off, beheld 
 
 The holy Lazarus, and call'd aloud — 
 
 A bootless prayer — on Abraham for aid. 
 
 And when that desperate monarch, Saul of old, 
 
 Impenitent, besought of Endows witch 
 
 The knowledge that insulted Heaven refused, 
 
 The prophet's spirit, which rose at God's behest, 780 
 
 Baffling the arts of sorcery, replied, 
 
 ' To-morrow thou and thine shall be with me/ 
 
 All die, for all have sinn'd. Their mother earth 
 
 Has but one sepulchre for all. And here 
 
 One Hades, by us called the under-world, 
 
 Receives the spirits of the damn'd and blest : 
 
 One world, but widely sunder'd by a gulf 
 
 Inevitably fixed, impassable, 
 
 Which severs to the left hand and the right 
 
 The prison-house of woe and Paradise. 790 
 
 Before us now it lies/' 
 
 I look'd, and lo 
 
30 the seer's death, [book 
 
 Before us lay a sphere girdled with clouds, 
 
 And glorious with illimitable lights 
 
 And shadows mingling. Momently it grew 
 
 Dilated, as with undiminished speed 
 
 We outstripped lightnings m our homeward path, 
 
 Until in vain I toiPd to mark the line 
 
 Of its horizon. Boundless it appeared 
 
 As space itself, a nether sea of mist 
 
 Unfathomable, shoreless, infinite. 800 
 
 Thither our pathway led. But as we near'd 
 
 Its extreme confines, I beheld what seemed 
 
 A defile in those mountainous clouds, a chasm 
 
 Whence issued floods of radiance, pure white light, 
 
 And rainbow tints, roseate, and gold, and blue, 
 
 Unparalleled on earth : though He who sees 
 
 The virgin snows upon the Alps suffused 
 
 With blushes underneath the first salute 
 
 Of morning, sees a shadow of this light. 
 
 This was the gorgeous avenue which led 81 o 
 
 Straight to the gates of bliss — a pass to which 
 
 The grandest and the most sublime on earth, 
 
 From Caubul to the sunny plains of Ind, 
 
 Were but a miner's arch. The massive sides, 
 
 Massive they seemed, of this ravine were built 
 
 Of clouds which ever hung there undispersed, 
 
 And caught on every vaporous fold and skirt 
 
 The glory of the sportive rays that streamed 
 
 Forth from the happy Paradise beyond 
 
 Innumerable. But before we passed 820 
 
I.] AND DESCENT TO HADES. 31 
 
 Under that radiant canopy, I saw 
 
 Another road far stretching on our left 
 
 Into the outer darkness, vast and void, 
 
 And from its depths methought I faintly heard 
 
 The sighings of despair. Time was not now 
 
 For mute surprise or question. On we flew, 
 
 As shoots a vessel laden with the wealth 
 
 Of Ceylon's isle, or Araby the blest, 
 
 Right onward, every sailyard bent with wind, 
 
 Into her long'd-for port. And now the air 830 
 
 Grew tremulous with heavenly melody. 
 
 Far off at first it seemed and indistinct, 
 
 As swells and sinks the multitudinous roar 
 
 Of ocean : but ere long the waves of sound 
 
 RolPd on articulate, and then I knew 
 
 The voice of harpers harping on their harps. 
 
 And lo, upon the extreme verge of cloud, 
 
 As once at Eden's portals there appeared 
 
 A company of angels clothed in light, 
 
 Thronging the path or in the amber air 840 
 
 Suspense. And in the twinkling of an eye 
 
 We were among them, and they clustered round 
 
 And waved their wings, and struck their harps again 
 
 For gladness : every look was tenderness, 
 
 And every w r ord was musical with joy. 
 
 " Welcome to heaven, dear brother, welcome home ! 
 Welcome to thy inheritance of light ! 
 Welcome for ever to thy Master's joy ! 
 
32 the seer's death. [book I. 
 
 Thy work is done, thy pilgrimage is past ; 
 
 Thy guardian angel's vigil is fulfilled ; 850 
 
 Thy parents wait thee in the bowers of bliss ; 
 
 Thy infant babes have woven wreaths for thee ; 
 
 Thy brethren who have entered into rest 
 
 Long for thy coming ; and the angel choirs 
 
 Are ready with their symphonies of praise. 
 
 Nor shall thy voice be mute : a golden harp 
 
 For thee is hanging on the trees of life ; 
 
 And sweetly shall its chords for ever ring, 
 
 Responsive to thy touch of ecstasy, 
 
 With Hallelujahs to thy Lord and ours." 860 
 
 So sang they ; and that vast defile of clouds 
 Re-echoed with the impulses of song 
 And music, and the atmosphere serene 
 Throbbed with innumerable greetings. Sounds, 
 Such as no mortal ear hath ever heard, 
 Save those who watcVd their flocks at Bethlehem, 
 Ravished my soul, and sights surpassing words, 
 Till, ear and eye fulfilled with pure delight, 
 I turned me to my angel guide, and said 
 Unconsciously, u 'Twere good to sojourn here!" 870 
 
 But he, in tones of buoyant hope, replied, 
 " Brother, thou shalt see greater things than these." 
 
 EXD OF THE FIRST BOOK. 
 
33 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. 
 
 On, through that mountainous defile of clouds, 
 
 My guardian and his winged ministers 
 
 Bore me with smooth undeviating flight, 
 
 And speed unslacken'd : round about us play'd 
 
 Our retinue of angels, carolling 
 
 And harping as they flew : the while an hour 
 
 Passed peradventure of terrestrial time, 
 
 Measuring in space leagues almost measureless, 
 
 Though travellers along that blissful road 
 
 Wished it were longer. But at last aware 10 
 
 Of brighter radiance circumfused, I looked 
 
 Far in the gleaming distance, and behold, 
 
 Barring our onward course, were gates of pearl, 
 
 Translucent pearl, through which the glory' of heaven 
 
 Came softened in a thousand tender hues — 
 
 Distinguishable Iris, chrysolite, 
 
 Sapphire, and emerald, and sardius, 
 
 And peerless hyacinthine amethyst. 
 
 The deep foundations of those gates were sunk 
 
34 THE PARADISE OP THE BLESSED DEAD. [BOOK 
 
 Lower than thought may fathom, and their top 20 
 
 Appeared to touch the empyrean's arch ; 
 
 But at the echo of the harpers' song 
 
 Back with melodious sound they softly flew, 
 
 As if themselves instinct with sympathies 
 
 Of welcome, and disclosed the scenes of bliss 
 
 That lay beyond them bathed in amber light. 
 
 Here first upon the threshold of those gates 
 My heavenly escort paused. Here first I trod 
 A pavement of transparent gold, and gazed 
 Upon that luminous ravine, which brought 30 
 
 Us hither, in admiring marvel. Such 
 A cincture, to compare great things with small, 
 Of w r aters and of vaporous clouds composed 
 Some hold the golden ring wdiich circulates 
 Round Saturn's orb : or such, as others tell, 
 The lucid atmosphere enveloping 
 The central sun, whose solid globe opaque 
 Is only visible through rents which show 
 As spots to the inhabitants of earth. 
 But what might be the mantle, which enwrapt 40 
 
 The unseen world of spirits, I ask'd not. Clouds 
 Were none before us. Through the gates of pearl 
 We pass'd, and on a terraced platform stood, 
 Which overlooked the realms of Paradise, 
 And gazed awhile, like Moses from the rocks 
 Of Pisgah on the promised land. O, scene 
 Surpassing words ! Beneath us lay outstretched 
 
II.] THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. 35 
 
 A garden far more large than if the earth. 
 From pole to pole, from sunrise to sunset, 
 Bloomed with the countless roses of Cashmere ; 50 
 
 And yet not larger to the dark abyss 
 That couched beneath it and beyond, than was 
 Blest Eden to the whole primeval world. 
 And this, like Adam's sinless nursery, 
 Was planted by the hand of God Himself, 
 And watered with the rivulets of life, 
 And shaded with innumerable trees, 
 Fragrant and flowering and hung with fruit — 
 Trees beautiful to view and good for food. 
 All here was good. Nor were there wanting hills Go 
 With vallies interspersed, and placid lakes, 
 And plains, and forests, as of cedars, fit 
 For holy intercourse of friend with friend, 
 And opening glades between. The distant seemed 
 Near as we looked upon it : whether this 
 Were due to that crystalline atmosphere 
 Purged from all film, or rather that the eyes 
 Of spirits and angels in themselves excel 
 The virtues of those lenses wherewith men 
 Have arm'd their ineffective vision, as 70 
 
 A microscope and telescope in one. 
 For a brief space we gazed enamoured. Then 
 Cleaving with ease the light elastic air, 
 By love's strong magnet drawn, we sloped our flight, 
 As slopes a meteor with its train of gold 
 Across the summer firmament, nor stayed 
 
 d 2 
 
36 THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. [BOOK 
 
 Till in a wooded vale beside a stream 
 We lighted — we and our angelic choir. 
 
 We lighted \ and my guardian with a smile 
 Of gladness, which no thought of self obscured, 80 
 
 Turned to me, saying, a Brother, this is home : 
 This is thy Saviour's rest, and this is thine, 
 Until the archangels trumpet sound in heaven, 
 Here thou with Jesus art, Jesus with thee ; 
 Go forth and meet thy Lord. Beneath this shade 
 Mean time we tarry for thee, while alone 
 Thou seest Him whom thou hast loved unseen : 
 That is an incommunicable joy 
 With which no other hearts, angels or men, 
 Can intermeddle. By yon grassy bank 90 
 
 Follow where leads thee on thy way this stream 
 Of flowing crystal ; such is His command : 
 And here will we await thy blest return/' 
 
 So they retired a little space aside, 
 Under the grateful shadow of those trees 
 Rich with ambrosial fruit : and ere my lips 
 Could utter thanks I found myself alone — 
 Alone, and on my way to meet my God. 
 The solitude was sweet. So many scenes 
 Of glory and unprecedented joy 100 
 
 Had crowded on my vision, that I longed 
 To gather and compose my thoughts awhile 
 In meditation. Such an interval 
 
II.] THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. .'37 
 
 Of brief but blissful solitude the bride. 
 
 Left lonely on her bridal evening, feels 
 
 To still the beating of a heart that beats 
 
 Too high with virgin bashfulness and hope, 
 
 Ere she receives her spouse. And, as I trod 
 
 Those banks enamelled with the freshest flowers, 
 
 Soothed with the gliding music which that stream 1 10 
 
 Made ever, brokenly at intervals, 
 
 Communing with myself, I thought aloud. 
 
 " And am I then in heaven ? Is this the land 
 To which my yearning heart so often turned 
 Desirous ? This the Paradise of saints ? 
 And is it I myself who speak ? The same 
 Who wandered in the desert far astray, 
 Till the Good Shepherd found me perishing, 
 And drew me to Himself with cords of love ? 
 Has He now brought me to His heavenly fold, 1 20 
 
 Which sin can never touch nor sorrow cloud, 
 Me who have watered with my frequent tears 
 The thorny wilderness, and struggled on 
 Footsore and weary — me, the wayward one ? 
 And shall I never wander from Him more, 
 And never grieve His brooding Spirit again ? 
 O, joy ineffable ! But am I now 
 About to meet Him, see Him face to face 
 Who made me, and who knows me what I am, 
 Of all His saints unworthiest of His love? 130 
 
 Why beats this heart so tremulously ? Why 
 
38 THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. [BOOK 
 
 Do thoughts within me rise ? Is it not He 
 
 Who bought me with His blood ? Hath He not led 
 
 Me on my journey hither step by step ? 
 
 Came He not to me at the hour of death, 
 
 And whispered that my sins were all forgiven, 
 
 And now hath sent His angels to convoy 
 
 My spirit safely home, and welcome me 
 
 With songs of Hallelujah ? What is love, 
 
 If this indissoluble bond that links 140 
 
 Me and my Lord for ever be not love ? 
 
 His costly, precious, infinite, divine : 
 
 Mine human, limited, and mean, and poor, 
 
 And yet His inward Spirit whispers true. 
 
 For what were all this gorgeous Paradise, 
 
 The music of these waters, and these bowers 
 
 Fragrant with fruitage, what were all to me, 
 
 And tenfold all, twice measured, without Him ? 
 
 Without Him heaven were but a desert rude ; 
 
 With Him, a desert heaven. And art Thou here 1 50 
 
 Jesu, my Lord, my life, my light, my all ? 
 
 When wilt Thou come to me, or bid me come 
 
 To Thee, that I may see Thee as Thou art, 
 
 And love Thee even as Thou lovest me?" 
 
 And as I spake I heard a gentle Voice 
 Calling me by my name. So Adam heard 
 And conscience-stricken Eve the voice of God 
 Walking abroad through Eden in the cool 
 Of sunset. But with other thoughts to theirs 
 
II.] THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. &9 
 
 I turned to see who called me ; and lo, One ] Go 
 
 Wearing a form of human tenderness 
 
 Approached. Human He was, but love divine 
 
 Breathed in His blessed countenance, a love 
 
 Which drew me onwards irresistibly 
 
 Persuasive : whether now He veiPd His beams 
 
 More closely than the hour His brightness shone 
 
 Around the prophet by Ulai's banks, 
 
 And in the solitary Patmos smote 
 
 Prostrate to earth the Apocalyptic seer ; 
 
 Or whether the Omnipotent Spirit of God J7o 
 
 Strengthens enfranchised spirits to sustain 
 
 More of His glory. I drew near to Him, 
 
 And He to me. O beatific sight ! 
 
 vision with which nothing can compare ! 
 The angel ministrant who brought me hither 
 Was exquisite in beauty, and my heart 
 Clave to his heart : the choristers of light, 
 Who sang around our pathway, none who saw 
 Could choose but love for very loveliness. 
 
 But this was diverse from all other sights : 180 
 
 Not living only, it infused new life ; 
 
 Not beautiful alone, it beautified ; 
 
 Nor only glorious, for it glorified. 
 
 For a brief space methought I looked on Him, 
 
 And He on me. O blessed look ! how brief 
 
 1 know not, but eternity itself 
 
 Will never from my soul erase the lines 
 Of that serene transfiguring aspect. 
 
40 THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. [BOOK 
 
 For a brief space I stood, by Him upheld, 
 
 Gazing, and then in adoration fell 1 90 
 
 And clasped His sacred feet, while holy tears, 
 
 Such tears as disembodied spirits may weep, 
 
 Flowed from my eyes. But bending over me, 
 
 As bends a mother o'er her waking babe, 
 
 He raised me tenderly, saying, " My child." 
 
 And I, like Thomas on that sacred eve, 
 
 Could only answer Him, " My Lord, my God." 
 
 And then He drew me closer, and Himself 
 
 With His own hand, His pierced hand of love, 
 
 Wiped the still Killing tear-drops from my face, 200 
 
 And told me I was His and He was mine, 
 
 And how my Father loved me and He loved. 
 
 That hour for brevity a moment seemed ; 
 For benediction, ages. But at last 
 Calmly He said, " The night is almost spent ; 
 The morning is at hand. Fearless meanwhile 
 Rest thou in peace. Oriel, thy guardian spirit, 
 Shall lead thee to those bowers felicitous, 
 Where now thy parents and thy babes await 
 My kingdom, with the other Blessed Dead." 210 
 
 So saying, by the hand He led me forth, 
 (Lowly in heart as when He stoop'd and led 
 The blind man of Bethsaida aside), 
 And brought me to the spot where Oriel stayed 
 Expectant with those courier seraphim 
 
II.] THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. 41 
 
 And all that choir of angels. Reverent 
 They rose, and knelt in worship at His feet ; 
 And there was silence till again His voice 
 Breathed new delight ineffable in all. 
 
 " Soldier and servant of the Lord, well done ! 220 
 
 My faithful Oriel, well hast thou discharged 
 Thy long and arduous ministry of love 
 'Twixt earth and heaven, now for six thousand years : 
 And not least faithful proved in guarding this 
 Thy youngest brother from the hosts of hell 
 Confederate to destroy My child in vain. 
 And ye, My winged ministers of light, 
 Well have ye brought him hither. And, ye choirs 
 Celestial, I have heard well-pleased your songs 
 And notes of welcome. For a little while 230 
 
 Abide ye in these happy fields, for soon 
 A mightier triumph shall awake your harps. 
 And, Oriel, be it thine to take thy ward 
 Where wait his coming those he loved on earth : 
 And, when fulfilled with their society 
 And all the present bliss of Paradise, 
 Lead him apart, and patiently disclose 
 That which thou knowest of eternity's 
 To-day and yesterday. The morrow dawns. 
 Make him partaker of thy thoughts, whom thou 240 
 
 Hast brought to share thy glory. And meanwhile 
 Receive from me this token of thy trust." 
 
42 THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. [BOOK 
 
 He said, and from His bosom plucked what seemed 
 A gem of fire, a globe of liquid light, 
 As Venus in her prime shines on the earth, 
 And placed it in my guardian's starry crown : 
 An amaranthine diadem, enwove 
 With many jewels, now at last complete. 
 New love beat in all hearts, new joy, new praise : 
 And in a moment we were there alone ; 250 
 
 Yet not alone, I felt that He was there, 
 Invisible, but personally there ; 
 Spirit with spirit : I with Him, and He 
 With me. Such virtue Omnipresence hath, 
 Which only hides its glory in itself, 
 That it may manifest itself anew 
 In forms of unknown beauty, light with cloud, 
 Voices with silence, movement with repose 
 Combining in eternal interchange. 
 
 And through an open glade we took our way, 260 
 
 And many an avenue of forest trees,- — 
 Such forests Paradise alone may rear, — 
 And on through many a deep ravine, which slept 
 Beneath the guardianship of shadowing hills, 
 Gliding as easily as glides a train 
 Of golden mist amid Norwegian pines ; 
 Or as a parting smile of evening, shed 
 By the proud king of day, ere he retires 
 Within the crimson curtains of the West, 
 Breaks over the cloud-mantled Pyrenees, 270 
 
II.] THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. 43 
 
 Till their peaks glow like opal, and the lakes 
 Catching the transitory radiance gleam 
 Like liquid pearl : so smoothly without sound 
 Of footfall on the printless flowers we passed. 
 
 The track was long, soliciting our stay ; 
 The time was briefer than my words. And lo, 
 A valley opened on our sudden gaze 
 Pre-eminently beautiful and bright 
 'Mid that bright world of beauty. But straightway 
 Or ever I could utter words of praise, 280 
 
 Voices familiar as my mother tongue 
 Fell on me ; and an infant cherub sprang, 
 As springs a sunbeam to the heart of flowers, 
 Into my arms, and murmured audibly, 
 " Father, dear father ;" and another clasped 
 My knees, and faltered the same name of power. 
 One look sufficed to tell me they were mine, 
 My babes, my blossoms, my long parted ones ; 
 The same in feature and in form as when 
 I bent above their dying pillow last, 290 
 
 Only the spirit now disenrobed of flesh, 
 And beaming with the likeness of their Lord. 
 
 The one who nestled in my breast had seen 
 All of earth's year except the winter's snows. 
 Spring, summer, autumn, like sweet dreams, had smiled 
 On her. Eva — or living — was her name ; 
 A bud of life folded in leaves and love ; 
 
44 THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. [BOOK 
 
 The dewy morning star of summer days ; 
 
 The golden lamp of happy fire-side hours ; 
 
 The little ewe-lamb nestling by our side ; 300 
 
 The dove whose cooing echoed in our hearts ; 
 
 The sweetest chord upon our harp of praise ; 
 
 The quiet spring, the rivulet of joy; 
 
 The pearl among His gifts who gave us all ; 
 
 On whom not we alone, but all who looked, 
 
 Gazing would breathe the involuntary words, 
 
 " God bless thee, Eva — God be blessed for thee." 
 
 Alas, clouds gathered quickly, and the storm 
 
 Fell without w T arning on our tender bud, 
 
 Scattering its leaflets; and the star was drenched 310 
 
 In tears ; the lamp burnt dimly ; unawares 
 
 The little lamb was faint ; the weary dove 
 
 Cowered its young head beneath its drooping wing ; 
 
 The chord was loosened on our harp ; the fount 
 
 Was troubled, and the rill ran nearly dry ; 
 
 And in our souls we heard our Father, saying, 
 
 " Will ye return the gift V* The Voice was low — 
 
 The answer lower still — " Thy will be done." 
 
 And now, where we had often pictured her, 
 
 I saw her one of the beatified ; 320 
 
 Eva, our blossom, ours for ever now, 
 
 Unfolding in the atmosphere of love : 
 
 The star that set upon our earthly home 
 
 Had risen in glory, and in purer skies 
 
 Was shining ; and the lamp we sorely missM, 
 
 Shed its soft radiance in a better home ; 
 
II.] THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. 45 
 
 Our lamb was pasturing in heavenly meads ; 
 
 Our dove had settled on the trees of life ; 
 
 Another chord was ringing with delight, 
 
 Another spring of rapture was unseal'd, 330 
 
 In Paradise ; our treasure was with God ; 
 
 The gift in the great Giver's strong right hand ; 
 
 And none who looked on her could choose but say, 
 
 " Eva, sweet angel, God be blessed for thee." 
 
 But, were it possible, more beauteous seemed 
 The cherub child who clung about my knees — 
 A different beauty, hers. Sweet Constance, she 
 Had trodden a longer, rougher pathway home, 
 And not unset with thorns, — long for a bab.e, 
 Two winters and three summers was her life — 340 
 
 Rough only for a babe ; but every step 
 Ta'en by her little bleeding feet had left 
 Its tracery upon her spirit now 
 In tender lines of love, and peace, and praise. 
 Yet both were only infants ; babes of light 
 In God's great household : heaven with all its joys 
 Had perfected, not changed, their infancy : 
 The younger, with the fearless gaze of one 
 Who never knew the shadow of a cloud, 
 Sparkling as sparkles a pure diamond : 350 
 
 The elder, with a child's deep confidence, 
 Which trusts you with illimitable trust, 
 And with one look summons and wins your heart. 
 
46 THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. [BOOK 
 
 A babe in glory is a babe for ever. 
 Perfect as spirits, and able to pour forth 
 Their glad heart in the tongues which angels use, 
 These nurselings gathered in God's nursery 
 For ever grow in loveliness and love, 
 (Growth is the law of all intelligence) 
 Yet cannot pass the limit which defines 36o 
 
 Their being. They have never fought the fight, 
 Nor borne the heat and burden of the day, 
 Nor staggered underneath the weary cross ; 
 Conceived in sin, they sinned not; though they died, 
 They never shuddered with the fear of death : 
 These things they know not and can never know. 
 Yet fallen children of a fallen race, 
 And early to transgression, like the rest, 
 Sure victims, they were bought with Jesus' blood, 
 And cleansed by Jesus' Spirit, and redeemed 370 
 
 By His Omnipotent arm from death and hell : 
 A link betwixt mankind and angelhood : 
 As bom of woman, sharers with all saints 
 In that great ransom paid upon the cross : 
 In purity and inexperience 
 Of guilt akin to angels. Infancy 
 Is one thing, manhood one. And babes, though part 
 Of the true archetypal house of God 
 Built on the heavenly Zion, are not now, 
 Nor will be ever, massive rocks rough-hewn, 380 
 
 Or ponderous corner-stones, or fluted shafts 
 Of columns, or far-shadowing^ pinnacles ; 
 
I.] THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. 47 
 
 But rather as the delicate lily-work 
 
 By Hiram wrought for Solomon of old, 
 
 Enwreathed upon the brazen chapiters, 
 
 Or flowers of lilies round the molten sea. 
 
 Innumerable flowers thus bloom and blush 
 
 In heaven. Nor reckon God's designs in them 
 
 Frustrate, or shorn of full accomplishment : 
 
 The lily is as perfect as the oak ; 390 
 
 The myrtle is as fragrant as the palm ; 
 
 And Sharon's roses are as beautiful 
 
 As Lebanon's majestic cedar crown. 
 
 And when I saw my little lambs unchanged, 
 And heard them fondly call me by my name, 
 " Then is the bond of parent and of child 
 Indissoluble/' I exclaim'd, and drew 
 Them closer to my heart and wept for joy. 
 
 But other voices of familiar love, 
 And other forms of light reminded me 400 
 
 By the deep yearnings of my soul, I was 
 Myself not only' a father but a child ; 
 Nor child alone, but brother, pastor, friend. 
 How often had I long'd in dreams o' the night, 
 Or meditative solitude, to see 
 The beaming sunshine of my father's smile, 
 Which ever seem'd to me a reflex joy 
 Cast from God's smile ; or haply oftener yet 
 My mother's face of fond solicitude, — 
 
48 THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. [BOOK 
 
 Solicitous for all except herself. 4io 
 
 They were before me now. Nor they alone : 
 
 Betwixt them leant a slender seraph form, 
 
 My sister's spirit, who with frailest bark 
 
 Year after year had stemmed the wildest sea, 
 
 Pain, conflict, cloud, and utter weariness, 
 
 Till the last billow, almost unawares, 
 
 On its rough bosom bore her into rest. 
 
 And can this be that wave-tost voyager, 
 
 This she ? Radiant with beauty and with bloom, 
 
 As if the past had written on her brow 420 
 
 Its transcript in those shades of pensive grace 
 
 And breathing sympathy, wherein remained 
 
 Nothing of sadness, all of saintliness. 
 
 She stood and looked on me a moment, saying, 
 
 t€ My brother, it is he V 3 and on my neck 
 
 She fell ; nor arms alone were interlocked 
 
 In that embrace. And then the pent up thoughts 
 
 Of many years flowed from our eager lips, 
 
 As waters from a secret spring unseaPd. 
 
 I was no stranger in a strange land there : 430 
 
 But rather as one who travel-worn and weary, 
 Weary of wandering through many climes, 
 At length returning homeward, eyes far off 
 The white cliffs of his fatherland, and ere 
 The labouring ship touches its sacred soil 
 Leaps on the pier, while round him crowding press 
 Children and kith and friends, who in a breath 
 
II.] THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. 49 
 
 Ask of his welfare, and with joyous tongues 
 
 Pour all their love into his thirsty ear. 
 
 Such welcome home was mine ; such questionings 440 
 
 Of things that had befallen me since last 
 
 We met, and of my pathway thitherwards, 
 
 And of the dear ones I had left behind : — 
 
 Words with embraces interspersed. And then, 
 
 Taking my hands exultingly in theirs, 
 
 And singing for delight, they led me on 
 
 Adown that heavenly valley : and the joy 
 
 Of Oriel, who resigned me to their charge 
 
 Awhile, and with his radiant retinue 
 
 Hung on our footsteps, was fulfilled in mine. 450 
 
 Straight towards a river bank they bent their steps, 
 
 Shaded by trees of life, whose pendent boughs, 
 
 Fanned by soft gales, and laden with fresh fruit, 
 
 Dipped in the living waters. Every step 
 
 Some fondly loved familiar face was seen, 
 
 Whom I had known in pilgrim days, unchanged, 
 
 And yet all bright with one similitude : 
 
 One Lord had looked on them. 
 
 So passed we on, 
 And lo, a group of the beatified 
 
 Advanced to meet us, on whose lips methought, 460 
 
 Hush'd to a whisper for delight, I heard 
 The strange salute of father. In amaze 
 I ask'd, what meant such gratulation there ? 
 And one for many answered, (< From thy mouth 
 
 E 
 
50 THE PA11ADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. [BOOK 
 
 We heard of Jesus' love, and thine the hand 
 
 That led us to His feet." It was enough : 
 
 For all the parent and the pastor woke 
 
 Within me ; all the holy memories 
 
 Of bygone days flowed in a refluent tide 
 
 Over my soul once more. Some I had known 470 
 
 From rosy dawn of childhood, and had watched 
 
 Their hearts like buds beneath a cottage wall 
 
 Unfolding to the sunshine of God's love. 
 
 Some I had shepherded, yea many, who 
 
 With all the throbbing impulses of youth, 
 
 Gave me the inviolable confidence 
 
 Of their young life. And some in after years 
 
 Had pour'd the burden of a wounded spirit, 
 
 Suffering and sunken, into mine ; and we 
 
 Had wept together, and together sought 4-0 
 
 The sinner's only Friend, nor sought in vain. 
 
 And others, dying, heard me read of him 
 
 Who on the cross for mercy cried to Christ ; 
 
 Heard, and themselves believed. All these I knew ; 
 
 And quickly' as light their story flash'd on me. 
 
 But in that group of filial spirits there came 
 
 Many I knew not — part of that great store 
 
 Of unsuspected treasure heaven conceals : 
 
 And they too pour'd on me beatitudes. 
 
 Nor, what I chiefly noted, seem'd my heart 490 
 
 Surcharged, or freighted overmuch, with love. 
 
 Affections with affections jarr'd not. All 
 
 Was music. As through some cathedral aisles 
 
II.] THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. 5 1 
 
 An organ of a thousand pipes pours forth 
 
 Its rich and multitudinous harmonies. 
 
 While the rapt organist touches at will 
 
 Its various stops, hautboy, and trump, and flute, 
 
 The clarion with the dulciana smooths, 
 
 And chastens with the plaintive tremulant 
 
 The diapason's thunder-roll : so love 500 
 
 Without confusion blended there with love, 
 
 Symphoniously distinct : and I embraced 
 
 Each one with all my heart, and all as each. 
 
 But now arrived upon that river bank 
 Whose lucid waves were shaded by the trees 
 Of life, along its marge in loose array 
 We wandered, saints and angels, hand in hand, 
 The children dancing in their innocent glee, 
 And showering roses round our steps. But soon, 
 Hard by a wooded precipice, whence fell 5io 
 
 The living waters with melodious fall 
 In numberless cascades from rock to rock 
 Exultant, like a rain of diamonds, 
 Through gates of woven myrtle' and vine we passM , 
 And entered what they calPd their bower of bliss, 
 One of the countless bowers of Paradise. 
 Or rather it might seem a sylvan shrine 
 For worship • so precipitous the trees, 
 Trees loftier than those giant pines which cast 
 Their shade athwart Peruvian forests, shot 520 
 
 Right upward towards the crystal firmament, 
 
 e 2 
 
52 THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. [BOOK 
 
 And wove aloft branches and leaves and fruit 
 
 In arches intricate, a fretted roof, 
 
 Through which the light cooPd and empurpled came, 
 
 Leaving beneath wide clearance, carpeted 
 
 With moss of amaranth and delicate ferns. 
 
 On these the spirits elect straightway reclined, 
 
 And I with them : while Oriel over me 
 
 Leant gazing with such pure, perfect delight 
 
 As guardian angels only know. And then 530 
 
 My children placed within my hands the wreaths 
 
 Which they had woven of unfading flowers 
 
 Against my coming : these my mother took 
 
 And set upon my brow, smiling, and said, 
 
 " Thy crown of glory other hands than mine, 
 
 And in an hour of holier victory, 
 
 Shall give thee." 
 
 And at Oriel's signal came 
 My father, bearing in his hand a harp 
 Of simplest form but manifold in tones, 
 Of musical modulations without end, 540 
 
 And gave it to me, saying, " Take it, my son ; 
 It is heaven's workmanship, and made for thee/' 
 I took it, nothing loth ; and, though on earth 
 In lute or harp my skill was nothing, then 
 Immediately I felt the tremulous strings 
 Responsive to my every thought, as when 
 The wind in sportive or in pensive mood 
 Wakens iEolian music. Strung it was 
 
II.] THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. 53 
 
 And pitched in most mysterious unison 
 
 With my heart's sympathies ; for when I laid 550 
 
 My fingers on its airy chords, straightway 
 
 My very soul gushed forth in melody, 
 
 The harp and harper vibrating in tune : 
 
 While words, like echoes of an old refrain 
 
 That heard in childhood haunts our riper years, 
 
 Broke in heaven's music from my lips — " To Him 
 
 Who loved us, and hath washed us from our sins 
 
 In His own blood, and made us unto God 
 
 And to the Father kings and priests, to Him 
 
 Be glory and dominion, power and praise 5 Go 
 
 For ever and for evermore. Amen." 
 
 And all the ransomed spirits rejoicingly 
 
 Answered, " For evermore, Amen." And all 
 
 The choir of angels struck their golden lyres, 
 
 Prolonging the sweet melody, until 
 
 On every face a brighter radiance fell, 
 
 And He, whose presence in the bowers of bliss 
 
 Is Omnipresent, secretly reveal'd 
 
 Himself to each, diffusing fragrance round 
 
 And joy unutterable; as when the wind 570 
 
 Moves clouds of incense from an altar flame, 
 
 And sheds a momentary roseate light 
 
 On priests and worshippers and temple walls. 
 
 The gleam o 3 the Divine glory passed : and then 
 My children brought me fruitage they had pluckVi. 
 From off the trees of life, and water drawn 
 
54 THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. [BOOK 
 
 From living springs, and ruddy juice of grapes 
 
 More large and luscious than the fruit which grew 
 
 On EshcoFs sunny vines. Nor deem it strange 
 
 That bodiless spirits partake of meat and drink. 580 
 
 Are not the angels spirits ? and ate they not 
 
 At Mamre, by the tent of Abraham, 
 
 Pressed by his courteous hospitality ? 
 
 And when the manna fell for forty years 
 
 Around the watchfires of that pilgrim host, 
 
 Was it not angel's food — the corn of heaven ? 
 
 The Increate alone is self-sustained, 
 
 Life in Himself possessing, and all other 
 
 His creatures, from the burning seraphim 
 
 That sing around His everlasting throne, 590 
 
 Even to the moth which floating in the light 
 
 Wings in an hour its little life away, 
 
 Feed on the bounty of a Father's love, 
 
 Who opens wide His hand and satisfies 
 
 All living things with life-sustaining food. 
 
 And so we bless'd the Ever Blessed One, 
 
 And ate and drank with such pure appetite, 
 
 As gives not pain but pleasure to the feasts 
 
 Of angels. Nor was lacking there the joy 
 
 Of innocent laughter (they who weep on earth 600 
 
 Shall laugh in heaven) and all the genial glow 
 
 Of brotherly endearment, heart to heart 
 
 And eye to eye, after long severance, 
 
 Meeting for ever in our Father's house. 
 
 Sweet and refreshing interlude. 
 
II.] THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. 55 
 
 But soon 
 To graver converse turned we : and they askM, 
 With keen expectancy, what last I knew 
 Of the great warfare waged by saints on earth ? 
 What lights of morning in the golden East 
 Streaked the horizon? what the tidings sent 610 
 
 From heathen shores and from Emmanuel's land ? 
 What victories the cross had last achieved 
 Over the paling crescent ? whether still 
 The doomed embattlements of Babylon 
 Stood in apparent might ? and if the Bride 
 Sustained her weary vigil, as of old, 
 From watch to watch repeating "Till He come V y 
 They ask'd : I answered, marvelling to find 
 How thin a veil parted the blessed Church 
 Triumphant, and that militant on earth ; 620 
 
 And how the wrestlers, racers, combatants, 
 Wrestled and ran and fought, encompassed round 
 So closely by a cloud of witnesses. 
 
 Farther I may not linger to relate 
 The infinite delights of that first tryst 
 With those, who earlier than myself had won 
 Their rest, and tasted of the fruit of life. 
 It might be many days of earthly time, 
 Which passed in glory without weariness 
 Or measure. But at length our hearts were filFd, 6:30 
 Even to the overflowing brim of joy, 
 Each with the other's love ; and forth we passed, 
 
56 THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. [BOOK 
 
 In groups or singly, on our several paths 
 
 Of rest or service : service there is rest, 
 
 Rest, service : for the Paradise of saints, 
 
 Like Eden with its toilless husbandry, 
 
 Has many plants to tend, and flowers to twine, 
 
 And fruit-trees in the garden of the soul, 
 
 That ask the culture of celestial skill. 
 
 Some wandered amid vines, and flowery meads, 640 
 
 And from the grateful lips of angels leaned 
 
 More virtues than he knew who spake of trees 
 
 From cedars to the hyssop on the wall. 
 
 Some perfected their skill in dance and song, 
 
 With lyre or lute accompanied, and made 
 
 Those woods and valleys vocal with sweet sounds, 
 
 Sweeter than those which from a thousand birds 
 
 Fill Vallombrosa's vale in spring-time. Here 
 
 It was perpetual spring. Some clomb with ease, 
 
 Swift as the winds, the everlasting hills, 650 
 
 And from their summit bathed in light surveyed 
 
 The glorious landscape. Some in silence mused : 
 
 Heaven has its calm unbroken solitudes 
 
 For prayer and lonely meditation meet. 
 
 And some in clusters, walking or recline, 
 
 Heard from an elder saint or guardian spirit 
 
 The awful story of the past, or bent 
 
 Over the mystic chart of prophecy, 
 
 Brother to brother saying, " It is done. 
 
 The day-spring is at hand." 660 
 
II.] THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. 57 
 
 Me Oriel led 
 
 From bower to bower, from peopled glen to glen, 
 
 From saintly company to company, 
 
 And showed me of the mysteries that fill 
 
 That world of spirits, that nether Paradise, 
 
 That suburb of the New Jerusalem, 
 
 That Beautiful gate of heaven, that vestibule 
 
 Where the saints wait their bright apparelling 
 
 Of glory 'neath the veil now rent which hangs 
 
 Betwixt the Holy and Most Holy Place. 
 
 Children of light, through fields of light we passed 670 
 
 Unchallenged, not ungreeted with the smiles 
 
 Of welcomes without number. And I marked 
 
 How largely the redeemed, though free to range 
 
 Within the limits almost limitless 
 
 Of those celestial regions, grouped themselves, 
 
 They and their guardian spirits, with other saints, 
 
 Their fellow-pilgrims on the earth. It was 
 
 No rigid severance ; for many walked, 
 
 As we were walking, to and fro abroad 
 
 Throughout those blissful mansions : but enough 680 
 
 Of chosen and endeared companionship 
 
 To mark the character of centuries 
 
 And generations, as concentric rings 
 
 Of increase chronicle the growth of trees ; 
 
 Or as the strata of the rocks record, 
 
 Not without many an intercepting vein, 
 
 The onward march of ages. Oriel read 
 
 My wonder, though unspoken, and replied 
 
58 THE PAHADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. [BOOK 
 
 " Remember that the same Omniscient Love 
 
 Designed this temple built of living stones, 690 
 
 Wherein Himself to dwell for evermore, 
 
 As hung the firmament with globes of light, 
 
 And grouped them, as it pleased Him best, in groups 
 
 Of suns and planets, and in spiral coils 
 
 Of stars innumerable, and decreed 
 
 Amid this maze of constellations each 
 
 Should minister to each, and by one law 
 
 Of gravitation be for ever linked. 
 
 So by the vast necessity of love, 
 
 Necessity with equal freedom poised, 700 
 
 Saints cling to saints, angels to angels cleave, 
 
 And men and angels in One Father's house 
 
 Are all as brethren. Not that love can be 
 
 Without the chosen specialties of love, 
 
 The nearest to the nearest most akin. 
 
 But none are strangers here, none sojourners : 
 
 And as the cloudless ages glide away, 
 
 New fountains of delight to us, to all, 
 
 Will open in the fellowship of hearts, 
 
 Unfathom'd by us yet. Nor time will fail ; 710 
 
 For an eternity to come is ours 
 
 With humble contemplation to adore 
 
 The counsels of a past eternity. 
 
 But mark who next seem waiting our advance 
 
 In yonder vale/' 
 
 Straightway I looked, and lo, 
 
II.] THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. 59 
 
 We were among the parents of that age 
 
 In which my life was cast — my father's peers — 
 
 Some of them standard-bearers in God's host, 
 
 Who, when their mortal course was finished, left 
 
 Large space, and in the front ranks, as they fell, 720 
 
 Till comrades pressing onward fill'd the chasm : 
 
 And others walking in the lowliest paths 
 
 Of earth, now comrades with the highest in heaven. 
 
 The first who greeted me by name was one 
 
 Whom I had known long since, an aged saint, 
 
 Dwelling all lonely in her little room, 
 
 On scantiest means subsisting and content, 
 
 But with a queenly heart, wide as the world, 
 
 And loving all for His sake who is love : 
 
 Hers now was meet society. And then 730 
 
 Saluted me the venerable man 
 
 Whose writings first waken'd my dying soul 
 
 To deathless life — one of those secret bonds 
 
 Which interlink the family of God. 
 
 But here I must not register the names 
 
 Of these, and spirits of every clime and tongue, 
 
 Who thronged this region clothed in dazzling white : 
 
 For through them, bent on traversing the fields 
 
 Of Paradise, onward to other ranks 
 
 Of that illimitable host we passed, 740 
 
 Their fathers and their fathers' fathers, men 
 
 Whose lamps burn'd brightly once in earthly gloom, 
 
 And now themselves shone forth as stars in heaven, 
 
60 THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. [BOOK 
 
 Illuminating with eternal light 
 
 The brightness of that filmless firmament. 
 
 So passed we on from saintly band to band 
 Among those vales resting from all their toil, 
 In multitudes more countless than the tribes 
 Of Israel when from Dan to Beersheba 
 Flocking to Zion's sacred hill they kept 750 
 
 The feast of tabernacles, seven days 
 Of song and gladness. In their midst I saw 
 Some who appeared more radiant than the rest, 
 And ask'd what meant their bright pre-eminence 
 In glory. Oriel answered, u These are they 
 Of whom the Church on earth so often sings ; 
 Some of the martyrs* noble army : these 
 For Christ gave up their bodies to be burned, 
 Or bow*d their necks beneath the murderous sword ; 
 Or, though their names appear not on the scroll 76o' 
 
 Of inartyrologists, laid down their life, 
 No less a martyrdom in Jesus* eyes, 
 For His dear brethren's sake — watching the couch 
 Of loathsome sickness or of slow decay ; 
 Or binding up the ravages which men, 
 Marring God's image, deal on fellow-men ; 
 Or visiting the captive in his cell ; 
 Or struggling with a burden not their own 
 Until their very life-springs wore away. 
 These too are martyrs, brother.'* 77o 
 
II.] THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. 61 
 
 As he spake. 
 The high supremacy of sacrifice, 
 The majesty of service filPd my soul 
 With thoughts too deep for words. 
 
 And not a few 
 I saw there of the goodly fellowship 
 Of prophets, the ambassadors who stood 
 Age after age amid the scoffing world, 
 And lifted up the standard of the cross, 
 Unmoved, undaunted. Nor, as some have deem'd, 
 Form'd they an order to themselves of saints, 
 But mingling moved, like shepherds through their 
 flocks, 780 
 
 Amid their fellow-saints, wielding the sway 
 By them, by all, felt rather than confessed, 
 Of grateful and predominating love. 
 There is predominance in heaven, and grades 
 Of lower and superior sanctities ; 
 All are not equal there ; for brotherhood 
 And freedom both abhor equality, 
 The very badge of serfdom ; only there 
 It is the true nobility of worth, 
 
 The aristocracy of gentleness, 790 
 
 The power of goodness and of doing good. 
 
 And when I looked upon those blessed saints, 
 Those perfect spirits, albeit the lowest there 
 Was greater than the greatest upon earth, 
 
62 THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. [BOOK 
 
 For all were clothed in sinless purity, 
 
 At once I knew the principalities 
 
 And virtues and subordinate degrees 
 
 Amongst them. And when Oriel told their names, 
 
 A deep chord vibrated within my heart, 
 
 And past things lived again. And then I saw soo 
 
 That many first were last, and last were first — 
 
 Not all, not most, but many. There were those 
 
 Once foremost in the foremost ranks, not now 
 
 Distinguishable from their peers in light : 
 
 And some, aforetime hidden and unknown, 
 
 Now shone in lustrous dignity sublime. 
 
 But one and all were circled with a cloud 
 
 Of infant spirits, pure mirthful innocents, 
 
 Like sunbeams glancing to and fro, like birds 
 
 Warbling their song of praise. The elder saints 8IQ 
 
 Seem'd to my eyes a countless multitude ; 
 
 But these cherubic babes outnumbered them, 
 
 As the dark pine-trees of Siberia's wilds, 
 
 Unfell'd immeasurable forests, yield 
 
 In numbers to the ferns and summer flowers 
 
 Which grow beneath their shadowing boughs, and fringe 
 
 Their gnarled roots with beauty. Heaven methinks — 
 
 So awful is eternal life, so vast 
 
 Its lights and shadows — heaven itself would seem 
 
 Too solemn and severe without its choirs 820 
 
 Of infants revelling in innocence, 
 
 Who never knew a touch of sinful grief, 
 
 But live in joy, and joy because they live. 
 
II.] THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. 68 
 
 So hath God willU So will'd the Son of God 
 
 What time He took the children in His arms, 
 
 Laying His hands on them and blessing them, 
 
 And saying, " Suffer them to come to Me, 
 
 Forbid them not, for of such babes as these 
 
 And sucklings is My kingdom in the heavens/" 
 
 But time and space would fail me to narrate 830 
 
 All I beheld in that great under- world ; 
 
 The golden grain of threescore centuries 
 
 Reaped from a thousand harvest-fields and stored 
 
 In heaven. Backward from age to age we traced 
 
 The course of time along those wastes of gloom, 
 
 When darkness brooded o'er the Church of God, 
 
 A darkness amid which the lurid flames 
 
 Of persecution blazed, and witnesses, 
 
 A mystic time and times and half a time, 
 
 In ashes and in sackcloth prophesied, 840 
 
 Now clothed in dazzling light : and with them those 
 
 Who underneath the skirts of Antichrist 
 
 Bewildered clung to Christ, and led by Him, 
 
 In cell or cloister groped their way to heaven : 
 
 Not one was wanting there. 
 
 And there we saw 
 The children of the Gospel's holier dawn, 
 Austin, and Chrysostom, and Cyprian, 
 And Irenseus, and blest Polycarp, 
 Names representing many not unlike 
 In love and labour, fellow-travellers 850 
 
64 THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. [BOOK 
 
 On earth, now fellow-citizens in heaven. 
 
 And there was holy Antipas, and there 
 
 The protomartyr Stephen ; and the band 
 
 Whom Jesus chose, the Apostolic Twelve, 
 
 As heralds of His love to all the world. 
 
 Peter and John were walking, as of old 
 
 They used to walk along the silver sand 
 
 Washed by the waters of Gennesaret, 
 
 In closest converse ; and beside them he 
 
 Of all men likest Christ, whose cross he preached 860 
 
 Unwearied from Jerusalem to Rome, 
 
 Burning with fire or melting into tears, 
 
 As God's Spirit moved upon his human spirit — 
 
 The myriad-minded, lion-hearted Paul : 
 
 Amid heaven's peers peerless triumvirate. 
 
 Yet as we pass'd they bent a beaming smile 
 
 On me the humblest and the last arrived 
 
 Of all their brotherhood, so full of love 
 
 It seem'd to promise feasts of intercourse 
 
 In after ages. And not far from them, 87o 
 
 Half hidden by a branching tree of life, 
 
 Type of herself, the blessed Mary sate, 
 
 In calm humility musing alone 
 
 Upon those mysteries of grace, which seem'd 
 
 Vaster in length and breadth, and depth and height, 
 
 The measureless dimensions of God's love, 
 
 As still the Bridal of the Church drew near. 
 
 Hard by, Elizabeth and Zachary, 
 
 Anna the prophetess, and Simeon stood, 
 
II.] THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. 65 
 
 Engraven on whose countenance I traced 880 
 
 The light of summer suns and mellow tints 
 
 Of autumn, not the wintry frosts of age. 
 
 And with them he who in the wilderness 
 
 Was the voice heralding the Word, the star 
 
 That hid itself within the golden beams 
 
 Of the uprisen Sun of Righteousness. 
 
 Nor was there any chasm betwixt the saints 
 Who wrought before and after. They were one, — 
 One building, and one body, and one bride. 
 
 I saw the wise sons of Betirah there, 890 
 
 Hillel who loosed, and Shammai who bound, 
 And Rabban, HillePs son, and Jonathan ; 
 And near them those great worthies, who deserved 
 So nobly of their noble fatherland, 
 The dauntless and heroic Maccabees ; 
 And there the mother of those tortured sons, 
 Who in their dying suffered sevenfold death, 
 Yet flinched not : round her clustering they stood 
 A retinue of everlasting praise ; 
 
 She was not childless now. Esther was there, 900 
 
 More lovely than upon that golden eve 
 When she her royal captor captive led ; 
 And saintly Daniel, and the three who walked 
 Unsinged and scatheless in the fiery flame ; 
 And all the holy seers from Malacbi 
 To Samuel ; there the rapt Ezekiel, 
 
 F 
 
66 THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. [BOOK 
 
 And plaintive Jeremy, and he whose lips 
 
 A seraph touched with a live coal of fire. 
 
 And there the kingly Hezekiah moved 
 
 Among the thrones of heaven ; and David's son 9 s 
 
 Was there ; and David the beloved himself, 
 
 Touching a sweeter harp than that he struck 
 
 Upon the grassy slopes of Bethlehem. 
 
 And there I saw the captains of God's hosts, 
 
 Samson and Jephthah, not without his child, 
 
 Who for her country and her father's vow 
 
 A virgin lived and died ; and Gideon ; 
 
 And Deborah the warrior prophetess ; 
 
 And him who led his people Israel 
 
 Through Jordan's smitten waves, the son of Nun ; 920 
 
 And, of the elder saints haply the first, 
 
 Moses the man of God, who, looking down 
 
 On all the royalties of Egypt, sought 
 
 A nobler sceptre and a name inscribed, 
 
 Not in the hieroglyphic scrolls of men, 
 
 But in God's book of life. And there were all 
 
 The pilgrim fathers in the better land 
 
 They long'd for ; Joseph and the patriarchs, 
 
 The princely Israel, and that child of prayer, 
 
 The meditative son of Abraham, 930 
 
 And Abraham himself, the friend of God ; 
 
 And Noah and his children, who by faith 
 
 Condemn'd the faithless world ; and those who prayed 
 
 In time's first dawn the matins of the Church, 
 
 Seated around our primal ancestors, 
 
II.] THE PARADISE OF THE BIASSED DEAD. 07 
 
 The father and the mother of mankind, 
 
 Who through the Son of Man, the woman's Seed, 
 
 Had won in heaven a nobler Paradise 
 
 Than Eden, forfeited and lost by sin. 
 
 Long while I gazed in silent awe ; for these 940 
 
 Were only some familiar names and few 
 Among ten thousand times ten thousand saints, 
 All diversely felicitous, and each 
 On each reflecting gladness. But at last 
 The fire of love and admiration burn'd 
 So hot within me, that I spake and said, 
 " O blessed Oriel, can the highest heavens 
 Surpass the glory of this Paradise ? 
 If only all I loved were present now, 
 Here, here methinks I could for ever dwell. 950 
 
 What beauty can excel these radiant forms ? 
 What do they lack of excellence or grace ? 
 Are they not swifter than the viewless winds ? 
 Are they not pure as is the light itself? 
 Say, are there brighter robes in heaven, or harps 
 Of tenderer music ? Or have they who walk 
 The golden streets and fill with songs of praise 
 The mansions of the New Jerusalem, 
 More open vision of the Lord their God, 
 And in Him more divine beatitude ? ,J 9G0 
 
 Smiling, my guardian answered, " It is sweet 
 Be sure for me, who hither led thy steps, 
 f 2 
 
68 THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. [BOOK 
 
 To hear thy words of rapturous delight 
 
 In this fair world of purity and peace, 
 
 And in these blessed spirits who here throng 
 
 Heaven's portals, waiting their investiture 
 
 With resurrection glory. Yes, the Bride 
 
 Is almost ready for her bridal robes : 
 
 The heavenly temple is almost complete. 
 
 How different from that hour, for I was here, 970 
 
 When the first saint, disrobed of mortal flesh, 
 
 The martyred Abel, trod these fields, and we 
 
 His angel brothers sought, and not in vain, 
 
 To gladden his else solitary rest. 
 
 Since then six thousand years have passed : and now 
 
 The countless multitudes of God's elect, 
 
 The festal throng and church of the firstborn, 
 
 Are well nigh gathered home. Yet think not this 
 
 The crown and final summit of their joy. 
 
 They are not perfect here, whose bodies sleep 980 
 
 And moulder crumbling in the silent tomb, 
 
 Death's trophies ; for the union, flesh and spirit, 
 
 In one compacted, was the fruit mature 
 
 Of God's eternal counsels, when He breathed 
 
 Into the moulded clay the breath of life, 
 
 And man became a living soul : and when 
 
 The dust returns unto its kindred dust, 
 
 And the lone spirit to God, this strange divorce 
 
 Is the permitted reign, gloomy though brief, 
 
 Of the dread king of terrors. Here unclothed 990 
 
 Of their own natural apparelling, 
 
II.] THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. ()D 
 
 Man's proper garb, their puissance is weak 
 
 To that of angels who were formed by God 
 
 Pure spirits. Nor is this Paradise of saints, 
 
 Albeit large and glorious, more than one 
 
 Of many mansions in our Father's house, 
 
 Wherein His children, by their birthright free 
 
 Of His whole universe, and citizens 
 
 Of the celestial city, wait the hour 
 
 Which shall for ever consummate their bliss. 1000 
 
 But see who yonder walk/' 
 
 I look'd, and lo, 
 Two diverse from the rest appeared. Their form 
 Was that of men, and yet not mortal men ; 
 Their likeness spiritual, yet not spirits alone ; 
 So pure the texture of that robe they wore, 
 The light translucent through transfigured flesh, 
 As onyx stones, or ruby flashing fire. 
 
 " Who are these," I exclaim'd, " these royal priests ? 
 Are they Elias, and that saint who walk'd 
 With God and was not V* 
 
 " Rightly hast thou judged/' 1010 
 Oriel made answer ; " and their presence here 
 Is pledge and earnest to the Blessed Dead 
 Of that great resurrection day, whose dawn 
 Already gilds the Easter of the world : 
 They with the saints who rose when Jesus rose 
 
70 THE PARADISE OF THE BLESSED DEAD. [BOOK II. 
 
 Are wave-sheafs of the harvest. But of these 
 
 And other mysteries in earth and heaven 
 
 Conversing, on the range of yonder hills, 
 
 Whose summits bound these beatific fields, 
 
 And look far off into the waste beyond, 1 020 
 
 If such thy pleasure, let us wait the end." 
 
 END OF THE SECOND BOOK. 
 
71 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 THE PRISON OF THE LOST. 
 
 Come, Thou Eternal Spirit, who on the face 
 
 Of the abysmal waters, when the earth 
 
 Was without form and void, brooding didst move, 
 
 Silent Omnipotence, unseen but felt, 
 
 The while beneath Thy penetrating power 
 
 Light at the voice of God brake forth, a faint 
 
 Far tremour in the sunless starless gloom, 
 
 Creation's twilight, nor didst cease Thy work, 
 
 Till looking forth upon the vast expanse, 
 
 By mountains, rivers, lakes, and placid seas 10 
 
 Diversified, on that first sabbath's eve, 
 
 Infinite Goodness said that all was good : 
 
 Come Thou, and brood over the deep unknown 
 
 Which bounds the known in me, nor suffer clouds, 
 
 Born of unfathomable mysteries, 
 
 To oast their shade athwart heaven's blessed light, 
 
 While, led by Thee, I speak of other worlds 
 
 Than those fair fields I lately walk'd, and tell 
 
 What from the' utmost precincts of Paradise 
 
7*2 THE PRISON OF THE LOST. [BOOK 
 
 I and my angel guardian saw and heard 20 
 
 Of outer darkness and Tartarean night . 
 
 Come ; for Thou dwellest in the highest heavens, 
 
 Thyself inhabiting eternity, 
 
 Alone, Supreme, beyond all time and space, 
 
 Yet deignest in the contrite heart to' abide 
 
 As in Thy chosen temple, Spirit of Truth, 
 
 Who, in Thy Pentecostal might, from heaven 
 
 Descending as a mighty rushing wind, 
 
 Didst rest upon Thy suppliant saints of old 
 
 In likeness as of cloven tongues of fire, 30 
 
 A crown of lambent and innocuous flame ; 
 
 Purge Thou mine eyes from film, my heart from fear ; 
 
 Inspire, illumine, fortify my soul ; 
 
 Breathe, O Thou Breath Divine, on my emprise ; 
 
 Touch my fain lips, strengthen my feeble hands ; 
 
 Nor let my footstep unawares intrude 
 
 On counsels Thou art pleased to veil from man, 
 
 Nor where Thy lamp shines dimly press too far 
 
 Adventurous, nor in coward disbelief 
 
 Shrink back appall'd where Thou dost lead the way. 40 
 
 As sweeps a breeze from off the spicy plains 
 Of Florence to the lonely Apennines, 
 Its passage only marked by rustling leaves 
 In the thick olive-groves, and stronger waves 
 Of light upon the mountain rivulets, 
 So from that peopled glen, where last we saw 
 The parents of mankind, Oriel and I 
 
III.] THE PRISON OF THE LOST. 78 
 
 Along* those plains and smiling valleys pass'd, 
 And up a forest-clad ravine that scarred 
 The bastions of those everlasting hills, 50 
 
 Heaven's boundary, and, emerging, found ourselves 
 On a vast table-land, leagues upon leagues 
 In breadth, which traversed, led our rapid course 
 To other hills hidden before from view : 
 These scaled, we landed on a second plain 
 Sublime, engirdled by yet distant peaks, 
 The triple wall and battlements of heaven. 
 Harder than adamant these rocks, yet seem'd 
 Of such original substance, as those beds 
 Of ice which with the flow of centuries 60 
 
 Creep along Alpine glens : rocks, half opaque, 
 Half lucid, w^here the piercing light was lost 
 In depths impervious of intensest green : 
 Ramparts far loftier than those giant hills, 
 With rhododendrons clad, and crowned with snows, 
 The ancient Himalays. But, light as air, 
 We clomb that uttermost of Paradise ; 
 A path no vulture's eye hath ever seen, 
 A height no eagle's wing hath ever soar'd, 
 And standing on its extreme ridge, look'd down, 70 
 
 Lone sentinels. Strange promontory ours : 
 Behind us lay the radiant fields of bliss ; 
 « But who, unblanch'd with terror, may describe 
 The scene before us ? Not in terraces 
 Or tiers of hills, mountains on mountains built, 
 Yielding access, though arduous, but a sheer 
 
74 THE PRISON OF THE LOST. [BOOK 
 
 Precipitate descent, a horrid chasm, 
 
 Few paces off from where we stood, there yawned 
 
 Right at our feet : down, ever down, a depth 
 
 Equal the height of those eternal hills, so 
 
 And how much lower no created eye 
 
 Might fathom : for a sea of clouds midway 
 
 Surged up and sank, and sinking, surged again, 
 
 Not vaporous mists alone, but sulphur smoke, 
 
 Mingled with sparkles, and with lurid flames, 
 
 Earth, air, fire, water, formless, shapeless, waste, 
 
 A chaos of all elements disturbed, 
 
 Fused and confused, which seem'd a billowing tide, 
 
 Hither and thither swayed, storm-tost, suspense, 
 
 Betwixt that awful cliff of Paradise 90 
 
 Rolling, and the far distant shore beyond. 
 
 Was it a shore beyond ? At first it seem'd 
 Darkness alone, the absence of all light, 
 Blackness of darkness. But the while I gazed 
 Astonied, and mine eye more used became 
 To bear the dazzling terror of that gloom, 
 Dim lineaments before me slowly stretched, 
 And distances receding without end 
 Into the utter void ; the realm of night, 
 A land of darkness and of gloominess, 100 
 
 Dark mountains, and yet darker vales between, 
 And waveless depths profound, darkest of all; 
 A world overshadowed with the pall of death, 
 The sepulchre of life. But whence it came 
 
III.] THE PRISON OF THE LOST. 75 
 
 Those outlines were not wholly' invisible, 
 
 I knew not. Loom'd there such a sullen glow 
 
 As fire suppressed, not quenched, emits : or such 
 
 Faint earthlight as our planet casts reflex 
 
 On the dull surface of the crescent moon ; 
 
 Or likest that sad mockery of day t Id 
 
 He sees who, standing near as dread permits, 
 
 Beside a stream of burning lava, views 
 
 The blasted landscape in the dead of night. 
 
 Awe-struck I gazed ; but for relief ere long 
 Turned to the happy fields of light, which lay 
 Behind us, nurturing my soul awhile 
 With their pure joys. Then first I ask'd myself 
 What made that heavenly Eden luminous 
 With glory, and looked up instinctively 
 On the blue crystal of the firmament, 120 
 
 Blue only from intensity of clear, 
 As if expecting there some orb of light ; 
 But there no lamp appeared, no sun, no moon, 
 No star far glimmering in the azure vault ; 
 And yet the islands in the southern seas, 
 Basking in light when rains have cleared the sky, 
 Were never bathed in radiance pure as this : 
 And Oriel saw my wonder and replied : 
 
 " Brother, remember Paradise is heaven, 
 Heaven's portal, and the portal of God's house 130 
 
 Needs not the shining of created light ; 
 
76 THE PRISON OF THE LOST. [BOOK 
 
 For He, the Light of Light, is ever there, 
 
 And, where He is, there darkness can't exist ; 
 
 Such virtue His eternal Presence sheds 
 
 Throughout the courts where He abides well pleased, 
 
 Rejoicing in the beauty' of holiness. 
 
 Far otherwise those realms of utter night, 
 
 Which lie beyond the mighty gulf thou seest, 
 
 Are darkened with the shadow of His wrath. 
 
 That which is glory here is darkness there ; 140 
 
 As when the fiery cloudy pillar stood, 
 
 A shield betwixt the hosts of Israel 
 
 And baffled Egypt's chariots. Nor can those 
 
 Who fain would pass from us to yonder world 
 
 On thoughts of pity' intent, or hence to us, 
 
 Traverse with foot or wing yon chasm profound : 
 
 Not for the interval, — for as thou seest 
 
 The landscapes of those desolate regions lie 
 
 Within our range, and listening we might catch 
 
 (So subtle here the waves of light and sound) 150 
 
 Far off its cries and voices ; and as spirits 
 
 Ourselves, with speed of lightnings, to and fro 
 
 Go and return ; but that a spiritual law, 
 
 Akin to that magnetic force which binds 
 
 The mortal habitants of earth to earth, 
 
 Has laid its viewless interdict between, 
 
 And bound the sons of darkness and of light 
 
 Each to their proper home. There is no path 
 
 From hell to heaven, from heaven to hell direct. 
 
 But haply thou remember'st, ere we touch'd 160 
 
III.] THE PRISON OF THE LOST. 77 
 
 The outer confines of this world of spirits, 
 
 A roadway wrapt in clouds and gloom which stretched 
 
 Far to the left of our celestial course, 
 
 A roadway with funereal blackness hung 
 
 As ours with bridal light, and resonant 
 
 With sighings of despair, as ours with songs 
 
 Of triumph. To the gates of hell it leads, 
 
 Meet access for meet bourn, and down its track 
 
 The angels, the executors of wrath, 
 
 Bear in their hands lost men and rebel spirits, 170 
 
 Consigning them to their awarded prison 
 
 Of darkness, till the judgment trumpet sounds." 
 
 u And hast thou ever trodden that dread path, 
 And entered those eternal gates, and seen 
 The secrets of that penal world V 9 I ask'd, 
 And my voice faltered as I spake. 
 
 "Yes, thrice," 
 Oriel replied with calm unfaltering lip, 
 And with his words his countenance benign 
 Grew more and more severely beautiful, 
 The beauty of triumphant holiness, 1 so 
 
 The calm severity of burning love : 
 " Thrice in my ministry of saints hath God 
 OrdahVd me to fulfil His missions there ; 
 And, brother, His behests are always good ; 
 Pure goodness without stain of evil, light 
 
78 THE PRISON OF THE LOST. [BOOK 
 
 Without the shadow of a shade of dark. 
 
 The earliest that I trod that awful road, 
 
 It was my charge, with other spirits elect, 
 
 A legion arai'd of warrior seraphim, 
 
 To bear in chains to their dark prison-house 190 
 
 Those angels who forsook their high estate 
 
 Through alien and unnatural lust. Of this 
 
 Thou shalt learn more hereafter. But the first 
 
 Of disembodied human souls I bore 
 
 To his own place in yonder realms of wrath 
 
 Was one I fondly loved, of noble birth, 
 
 Of high and generous bearing, who, alas, 
 
 Like some brave vessel cast on shifting sands, 
 
 Made shipwreck of his faith and sank to ruin. 
 
 " In brief, the story of his life was this : — 200 
 
 Three centuries and more had passed away 
 Since Jesus' birth in Bethlehem ; and he, 
 Of whom I tell thee, was a chieftain, born 
 Of Christian mother, but of heathen sire. 
 This was the bitter fountain of a stream 
 Of bitterness. For when in evil hour 
 His mother gave her heart to one who loved 
 The gods she loathed, and loathed the cross she loved — 
 She married immortality to death, 
 
 Faith to distrust, and hope to dark despair : 210 
 
 Discordant wedlock, whence discordant fruit. 
 Fondly she dreamed by ceaseless prayers to win 
 Her spouse to Christ. Vain hope ! her broken troth 
 
III.] THE PRISON OF THE LOST. 79 
 
 Hung like a leaden weight on every prayer : 
 
 And he, a haughty consular of Rome, 
 
 Scorned her low creed, himself incredulous, 
 
 Yet loved the lovely votary. And when 
 
 The sweet pledge of their bridal joy was given, 
 
 And she would dedicate their child to God, 
 
 With equal scorn he yielded to her tears 220 
 
 A thing indifferent. In a lonely cave 
 
 Amid a group of trembling fugitives, — 
 
 For hatred then pursued the Christian name, — 
 
 An aged priest baptized him Theodore. 
 
 God's gift, his mother whispered. And thenceforth 
 
 She pour'd upon him, him her only child, 
 
 The priceless treasures of a mother's heart. 
 
 I was his chosen guardian. No light watch, 
 
 No easy vigil ; for his home, unlike 
 
 The moated fortress of a faithful house, 230 
 
 Was ever open to the spirits malign. 
 
 But not an arrow reached him. From himself, 
 
 And not from hellish fraud or violence, 
 
 His ruin. O mysterious web of life ; 
 
 Its warp of faith, its woof of unbelief; 
 
 The mother teaching prayers the father mock'd ! 
 
 And yet her spell was earliest on her child, 
 
 And strongest. And the fearless Theodore 
 
 Was called by other men, and calPd himself, 
 
 A Christian. Love, emotion, gratitude, 240 
 
 All that was tenderest in a tender heart, 
 
 All most heroic in a hero's soul, 
 
80 THE PRISON OF THE LOST. [BOOK 
 
 Pleaded on Christ's behalf. And oft I hoped, 
 Hoped against hope, that his was real faith, 
 A graft, a germ, a blossom — hoped till I 
 Could hope no longer, for I never saw 
 That warrior (he was trained to arms) prostrate 
 A broken suppliant at the throne of love. 
 
 " The hour drew on that tried him. Constantine, 
 The first of Christian emperors, was now 250 
 
 Marching with lion springs from land to land 
 Triumphant. Him to meet in mortal fight 
 Maxentius hurried, vowing to his gods 
 That, if they crown' d his eagles, he would crush 
 The cross throughout the universe of Rome. 
 And Theodore, won by his mother's prayers, 
 Was with the faithful army ; when it chanced, 
 In sack of a beleaguer'd city, he saved 
 A Grecian maiden and her sire from death : 
 Her name Irene, his Iconocles : 260 
 
 Among the princes he a prince, of all 
 Fair women she the fairest of her race, 
 Not only for her symmetry of form, 
 But for the music and the love which breathed 
 In every motion and in every word. 
 Yet both were worshippers at Phoebus' shrine, 
 Fast bound in midnight-dark idolatry. 
 And, when the enamour'd Theodore besought 
 His daughter of her sire, Iconocles 
 Made answer, ' Never shall my child be his 270 
 
III.] THE PRISON OF THE LOST. 81 
 
 Who kneels before a malefactor's cross. 
 
 Thy choice, Irene, or the Crucified/ 
 
 And she by oath affirmed her father's word. 
 
 " Then was there tempest in the swelling 1 heart 
 Of Theodore : truth struggled and untruth 
 In terrible collision. For an hour 
 He paced before his tent irresolute ; 
 Now cleaving to his mother's faith, alas, 
 More hers than his ; and now by passionate gusts 
 Driven from his anchorage, a helmless bark. 280 
 
 Conscience was quick ; and God's Spirit strove with him 
 'Twas mine to ward the powers of darkness off; 
 And singly with himself the awful fight 
 Was foughten, and, oh woe ! for ever woe ! 
 Was lost. And he said, i Adam chose to die, 
 Not circumvented, not deceived like Eve, 
 But braving death itself for her dear sake. 
 So will I die. I cannot leave that spirit 
 Angelic in a human form enshrined. 
 She must be mine for ever. Life were death 290 
 
 Without her/* And straight entering, where she leaned 
 Upon her father, as white jasmine leans 
 On a dark pine, slowly, resolvedly, 
 As measuring every word with fate, he said, 
 ' Irene, if the choice be endless woe, 
 For thy sake I renounce my mother's faith : 
 I cannot, will not leave thee. I am thine/ 
 
 G 
 
82 THE PRISON OF THE LOST. [BOOK 
 
 " And through the dusky twilight that same eve 
 The three forsook the tents of Constantine 
 And joined Maxentius' host. And without pause, 300 
 Amid his early friends, Iconocles 
 Unto the marriage altar proudly led 
 The offering who had won so great a foe : 
 Small space was there for hymeneal pomp : 
 A soldier's spousal 'mid the clash of arms. 
 
 a That very night Great Constantine beheld 
 The fiery cross upon the sky, and read 
 The signal, In hoc vinces. And the morn, 
 Strange portent, saw far floating o'er his ranks 
 The labarum emblazoned with the cross. 310 
 
 The armies rush'd to battle. Theodore 
 Rose from his nuptial couch, a desperate man ; 
 No thought of penitence, none of retreat ; 
 But in his eye a wild disastrous fire, 
 Sign of the fiercer flame he nursed within. 
 Lost, ruin'd, hopeless, and as glad to' escape 
 The tempest raging in his heart, he strode 
 Impetuously into the thickest fight, 
 And prodigies of valour wrought that day, 
 Felling beneath his fratricidal blade 320 
 
 Whole ranks, his comrades and his brethren late, 
 Brethren in faith and arms. But as he stamped 
 Upon the fallen in defiant pride, 
 And now as madden'd or inspired by hell 
 
III.] THE PRISON OF THE LOST. 83 
 
 Pour'd blasphemies upon the Holy Name 
 
 His mother taught his infant lip to lisp 
 
 In blessings, even as he spake the words, 
 
 An unknown arrow, not unfledged with prayer, 
 
 Transpierced his eye and brain. Sudden he fell : 
 
 One short sharp cry ; one strong convulsive throe ; 330 
 
 And in a moment his unhappy spirit 
 
 Was from its quivering tabernacle loosed. 
 
 " Oh awful passage ! from the din and roar 
 Of battle, from the trampling of horse-hoofs, 
 The roll of chariots, and the measured tread 
 Of thousands, from the brazen trumpet's blare 
 Drowning the shouts of victors, and the cries 
 Of wounded, agonizing, dying men, 
 From the worst dissonance of earth and time, — 
 The soul, in an eye's twinkling, brought to face 340 
 
 The calm deep silence of eternity. 
 
 " As stunned, the disembodied spirit awhile 
 Fix'd upon things unseen a vacant gaze : 
 But quickly' awaking from that dreadful swoon 
 To worse reality, he cried, the first 
 If not the strongest passion of his life 
 Surviving all the earthquake shock of death, 
 1 Mother, where art thou, mother ? where am I ? \ 
 And not till then emerging on his view 
 I spake and said, ' Lost spirit, it is not mine 350 
 
 To aggravate thy utter wretchedness 
 
 G 2 
 
84 THE PRISON OF THE LOST. [BOOK 
 
 By words of idle grief or vain rebuke, 
 
 But to convey thee to that viewless world 
 
 Where thou must wait thy sentence from the lips 
 
 Of infinite, supreme, eternal Truth. 
 
 But thus far only, to anticipate 
 
 Resistance ; — to resist were futile here : 
 
 Almighty Power hath given thee to my charge, 
 
 And thou wert strengthless in my grasp. Our road 
 
 Lies yonder. Lost one, rise and come with me/ 360 
 
 So saying I laid my hand upon his hand, 
 
 And through his nerveless spirit he felt the touch 
 
 Of might superior to his own, and shrank 
 
 Appalled, but soon remembering my words, 
 
 Yielded and went with me the way I trod, 
 
 In tearless silence and in mute despair. 
 
 " It is not thus with all when first they wake 
 To consciousness of ruin. Some straightway 
 Will wring their hands in agony, and weep, 
 And pour their lamentations forth in words, 370 
 
 And wail for bitter anguish. Others strive 
 With proud reluctancies and vain despite 
 Against their dark inevitable doom. 
 Others, palsied with terror, shivering stand. 
 Others curse their creation. Theodore 
 Was diverse from such men on earth, and now 
 Was diverse. As I spake, at one fell glance 
 He seem'd to measure the abyss profound 
 Before him, and bv terrible resolve, 
 
III.] THE PRISON OF THE LOST. K5 
 
 Alas, too late submissive, to aeeept 380 
 
 The everlasting punishment of sin. 
 
 " At first our pathway was the same as that 
 Which led thee homeward, brother. Through the heaven 
 Which wraps the earth in its cerulean robe, 
 And through the starry firmament, until 
 The sun which lightens the terrestrial globe 
 Paled like a distant lamp, slowly we passed ; 
 Slowly, — I had no heart for speed, nor was 
 The King's commission urgent. He delights 
 In mercy, and His embassies of grace 390 
 
 Have never found seraphic wings too swift : 
 But judgment is His strange and dreadful work. 
 And, as with measured step we trod adown 
 That highway through the heavens precipitate, 
 My hopeless captive gazed a long last gaze 
 Upon the fading sun and passing stars 
 As signs which he should never more behold : 
 And drawn from out his bosom's depths at last 
 A groan brake from him, and he sobb'd aloud — 
 ' My mother, oh my mother, from thy love 400 
 
 I learn'd to love those silent orbs of light, 
 God's watchers thou didst call them, as they peer'd 
 Evening by evening on my infant sleep, 
 And mingled with my every boyish dream : 
 Are they now shining on thy misery ? 
 Who, now that I am gone, will wipe thine eyes ? 
 Who, mother, bind thy bruised and broken heart ? 
 
86 THE P1US0N OF THE LOST. [BOOK 
 
 Broken, by whom ? by me, thy nestling babe, 
 Thy darling child, thy pride in arms ; by me, 
 Thy wretched, renegade, apostate son/ 410 
 
 " So mourn'd he, and I answered, c Theodore, 
 Thou hast enough to bear of things that are, 
 Without this load of unsubstantial grief. 
 Thy mother knew not thine apostasy, 
 Nor otherwise will deem of thee than slain 
 One of the Christian host, the little while 
 Weeping she sojourns in the vale of tears. 
 Such fear she never harboured, and the cloud 
 Of mercy veils thy ruin from her eye, 
 Until the awful shades of time are seen 420 
 
 In the clear noon-day of eternity. 
 Thus far it is permitted thee to know/ 
 
 " My words were only the bare utterance 
 Of truth, but never will this heart forget 
 The impress of the look he cast on me. 
 He had not wept before ; but now a tear 
 Hung on his trembling lids, through which he looked 
 Such gratitude as utter hopelessness 
 May render, like the Grecian fire that burns 
 Far under the deep waves, a look which said, 430 
 
 ' I thank thee as the damn'd alone can thank : 
 Lost as I am, hell will not be such hell, 
 The while my mother thinks of me in heaven.' 
 
III.] THE PRISON OF THE LOST. s ? 
 
 " Again in speechless silence we moved on, 
 Until that billowy sea of mists and clouds 
 Which wraps the world of spirits appeared in sight ; 
 And to our nearer step the avenue 
 Celestial opened its translucent road, 
 Emitting floods of glory ; and there distinct, 
 Hovering upon its golden skirts, we saw 440 
 
 A group of angels waiting to receive 
 An aged pilgrim home, and heard far off 
 Their jubilant acclamations. Ours, alas ! 
 Another path. Far to the left it led, 
 Gloomy as night. And as we turned aside 
 From those fair portals, piteously I marked 
 The longing, lingering, almost loving look 
 Which my unhappy captive cast behind, 
 As if heaven's sights and sounds, once seen and heard, 
 Might haply prove a gracious memory 4 50 
 
 Amid the cries of everlasting woe 
 And discords without end. 
 
 u But now the light 
 Was fading : shadows into shadows gloomed 
 More awful ; and obscurity itself 
 Became more inexpressibly obscure, 
 More solid, as the interposing clouds 
 High overhead, beneath us, and beyond, 
 Built up impervious ramparts every way 
 Except the desolate ravine we trod. 
 Night reign'd sole monarch here, and spread around 46o 
 
88 THE PRISON OF THE LOST. [BOOK 
 
 Palpable darkness, darkness unrelieved 
 
 Save by the radiance of my form, a faint 
 
 And feeble torch in that ungenial air, 
 
 But yet enough to show the massive sides 
 
 Of fogs impenetrable. Never yet 
 
 Saw I such darkness : for, when last I marched 
 
 This dreadful road, I came accompanied 
 
 By a whole legion arm^d of spirits elect, 
 
 Whose light, each on the other, blaze on blaze, 
 
 Reflected, and turned midnight into noon. 470 
 
 But now I was alone — the Lord of Hosts 
 
 Makes all His servants lean on His sole arm — 
 
 Alone, my clinging captive and myself : 
 
 Though in the distance more than once methought 
 
 I heard the rushing of cherubic wings, 
 
 And, like a glimmering meteor, caught the flash 
 
 Of some good angel's transitory flight. 
 
 Haply the whole ravine equals in length, 
 
 Nor more than equals, that resplendent track 
 
 By which my courier angels bore thee on 4SO 
 
 To sound of ljTes, and lutes, and welcome songs, 
 
 Up to the pearly gates of Paradise ; 
 
 But here our flight was difficult and slow, 
 
 And seven times seven appeared the weary length 
 
 Of that interminable road. At last 
 
 A dull and ruddy glow tinctured the gloom : 
 
 Not light, but something which made black itself 
 
 Not viewless. As to one standing aloof, 
 
 When Etna or Vesuvius pour their wrath 
 
III.] THE P1US0N OF THE LOST. 89 
 
 In giant folds of smoke voluminous, 490 
 
 A gloaming-, from the fiery crater cast, 
 
 Paints from below the dark impending mass ; 
 
 So to our eyes the steep descent became 
 
 Not all invisible, its cloudy walls 
 
 And wide abysses cavernous betwixt 
 
 Of horrid emptiness. But on we moved, 
 
 And swerved not to the right hand or the left, 
 
 For now, far off, fronting our path profound, 
 
 Before us rose the iron gates of hell. 
 
 " We paused ; for lo, before these dreadful doors 500 
 Waved what appeared a fiery sword, or swords 
 Innumerable, haply not unlike 
 That flaming falchion, which at Eden's gate 
 Revolving every way, flame within flame, 
 Guarded the tree of life. Only these blades 
 Were vast as are the rays a setting sun, 
 Hidden itself, will sometimes proudly cast 
 Up to heaven's vault athwart a thunder cloud. 
 But straight, as if they knew my mission, these 
 Parted to right and left, and oped a way 510 
 
 High overarched with fire, through which we passed 
 Unscathed : and of themselves, dreadful to see, 
 The adamantine doors of hell recoiPd 
 Back, slowly back, with ponderous noise, — as when 
 An Alpine avalanche moves from its ridge 
 And with one crash of ruin overwhelms 
 
90 THE PRISON OF THE LOST. [BOOK 
 
 A valley's life, — and with their harsh recoil 
 Disclosed the secrets of that world of woe. 
 
 " Brother, come stand with me upon the edge 
 Of this far-looking cliff, which overhangs 520 
 
 The gulf betwixt that cursed land and ours 
 Impassable. Not otherwise that day, 
 Nor seen in other than yon dusky glow, 
 The infernal realms, when we had passed the gates, 
 Beneath us lay outstretched. Hills, valleys, plains, 
 All mantled in disastrous twilight, couched 
 Under our feet. But then it was no hour 
 For marvel or for mute astonishment. 
 Straight from the threshold of those gates sublime 
 Through the oppressive sultry atmosphere 530 
 
 I guided our slant flight, until midway 
 Upon a barren mountain's steep ascent, 
 (Yonder it rises girt with lesser hills,) 
 Where a vast glen was ramparted with rocks, 
 Alighting I relaxed my captive's hand. 
 
 " And then and there upon that guilty man 
 The Eye of everlasting righteousness 
 Open'd. God look'd upon him. Through and through 
 His naked spirit, searching its darkened depths, 
 Passed, like a flame of fire, that Dreadful Eye, 540 
 
 Passed and repassed, and passing still abode 
 Upon him ; till the very air he breathed 
 
III.] THE PRISON OF THE LOST. 01 
 
 SeemM to his sense one universal flame 
 
 Of wrath, eternal wrath, the wrath to come. 
 
 And yet the glory of that majesty , 
 
 That burning brightness, shone not then full orbM, 
 
 But veiFd in part ; for disembodied souls, 
 
 Dismantled of their proper robe of flesh, 
 
 Could neither suffer nor sustain the weight 
 
 Of that unclouded Holiness Divine, 550 
 
 Which in the age of ages will subdue 
 
 All foes beneath the footstool of His throne. 
 
 So half eclipsed it shone : and a low wail 
 
 Ere long brake from those miserable lips — 
 
 ■ O God, and is this hell ? and must this last 
 
 For ever ? would I never had been born ! 
 
 Why was I born ? I did not choose my birth. 
 
 Thou, who didst create me, uncreate, 
 
 1 pray thee. By Thine own omnipotence 
 
 Quench Thou this feeble spark of life in me. 5(3o 
 
 Why should I longer live ? I never more 
 
 Can serve Thee : that Thy justice interdicts. 
 
 I am no adversary worthy Thee. 
 
 Can power be magnified on strengthlessness ? 
 
 Put forth Thy might but once, and crush a worm, 
 
 For love, for hate unequal both. O Christ, 
 
 I kneel, I fall a suppliant at Thy throne. 
 
 I ask not pardon. Grace, I know, is past : 
 
 Redemption cannot cross those iron gates. 
 
 But art not Thou the Son of God ? . Thyself 570 
 
 God over all, supreme for evermore ? 
 
92 THE PRI80N OF THE LOST. [BOOK 
 
 And are not all things possible with God ? 
 O God, destroy me. Grant this latest boon 
 Thy wretched, ruin'd child will ever ask, 
 And suffer me to be no more at all/ 
 
 " And then at last I spoke, ' Is this thy hope, 
 Unhappy one, this aimless, bootless prayer ? 
 Thou cravest what Omnipotence can do : 
 Know that Omnipotence can but perform 
 The counsels which Omniscient Love decrees. 580 
 
 And therefore vainly dost thou now invoke 
 Almighty Power to thwart All-seeing Love. 
 It cannot be. Discord can never dwell 
 Within the bosom of eternal Peace, 
 Nor darkness stain that uncreated Light. 
 What then remains for thee ? To flee were vain, 
 And would but bring thee adamantine bonds ; 
 And fresh rebellion here at once incur 
 Immediate, instantaneous punishment. 
 Free service, which is heaven's perennial joy, 590 
 
 Guilt, said'st thou truly, interdicts. What then ? 
 Passive submission is the only way 
 Left thee to serve thy Maker. Hades knows 
 No other law. The judgment is beyond. 
 Meanwhile this valley is thy prison assigned ; 
 And not in utter solitariness, 
 For other souls, who like thyself have sinned, 
 Some known to thee on earth and some unknown, 
 Here wait their sentence, whose companionship 
 
Til.] THE PRISOX OF THE LOST. 93 
 
 Will mitigate or aggravate thy woe, 600 
 
 As thou submittest to the flame that burns 
 
 The sin in thee with fire unquenchable, 
 
 Or vainly chafest against its scorching ray: 
 
 This yet is in thy choice. Haply at times 
 
 This valley will be trodden by the feet 
 
 Of angels on the embassies of God : 
 
 But at rare intervals, for many and vast 
 
 Are the dark fields of punishment, and few 
 
 The ministrations of the sons of light 
 
 In this the land of overshadowing death. 610 
 
 And here there is no sentinel but God ; 
 
 His Eye alone is jailor ; and His Hand 
 
 The only executioner of wrath. 
 
 And now I leave thee : let my words abide 
 
 With thee, lest added torment scourge thy soul : 
 
 Passive submission is the law of hell/ 
 
 f€ But, even as I turned to leave him, slowly 
 He raised his eyes, bow'd hitherto beneath 
 The intolerable Eye of Holiness, 
 
 Which rested on him evermore. And lo ! 620 
 
 Far off, beyond this intervening chasm, 
 Through an embrasure in heaven's triple wall, 
 Where mountains distant mountains intersect, 
 He caught a glimpse, permitted him by God, 
 Of some sequestered spot in Paradise. 
 It riveted his gaze : it fllFd his soul 
 With longing : and unconsciously he cried, 
 
94 THE PRISON OF THE LOST. [BOOK 
 
 1 Am I asleep ? there is no slumber here. 
 
 Is it a dream ? there are no dreams in hell. 
 
 I see, I see far off the fields of bliss ; 630 
 
 And there are figures moving to and fro : 
 
 I see them by the liquid fountains walking, 
 
 And resting underneath the trees of life. 
 
 There I may never walk, there never rest : 
 
 But oh, for one small ministry of love ! 
 
 Oh, for one leaf of those delicious groves 
 
 To soothe the scars of my eternal pain ! 
 
 Oh, for one drop of those pure rivulets 
 
 To cool, not slake, my agonizing thirst V 
 
 " I could not leave him thus, vainly consumed 64 o 
 By idle phantasies of hope, to which 
 The fabled pangs of Tantalus were ease, 
 And in mere pity answered, c Theodore, 
 Those whom thou seest are reaping now the seed 
 They sow'd on earth, and thou must do the same. 
 Time is the seed-plot for eternity ; 
 Eternitv the harvest-field of time. 
 Thy lot is fiVd, and theirs. Nor can the foot 
 Of disembodied spirit, nor angel wing, 
 Transgress the deep inexorable gulf 650 
 
 Betwixt the worlds of darkness and of light/ 
 
 a Still gazed he on, and gazing still, replied, 
 ' There is no hope for me : but art not thou 
 
III.] THE PRISON OF THE LOST. 95 
 
 Returning to thy ministry on earth ? 
 
 Would it were not so ! would that thou couldst stay 
 
 For ever here, whose light ethereal form 
 
 And heavenly essence suffer no eclipse 
 
 From helFs dark murky atmosphere ! At first 
 
 Sorely I feared thy dreadful touch of power, 
 
 Before I knew thee good ; but now I see 660 
 
 That in the hands of goodness power is love, 
 
 And crave thy longer presence. That is vain : 
 
 I know that thou must leave me. Thou canst do 
 
 No more for me. But is there not a hope 
 
 For one I briefly, passionately loved — 
 
 Irene ? surely she is mine, for whom, 
 
 Fool, fool, I bartered immortality. 
 
 Angel, I would not she should perish too. 
 
 Go to her straight, I pray thee. Lay thy hand 
 
 Upon her, as on him who lingered once 670 
 
 When wrath overshadowed Sodom. Force belief. 
 
 Tell her, in mercy tell her, where I am — 
 
 What suffering — what must suffer evermore : 
 
 It may be, she will turn and live. And if, 
 
 Whene'er my mother's pilgrimage is passed, 
 
 And she, entering the gates of bliss, shall search 
 
 Through every field of yonder Paradise 
 
 To find her only son, and search in vain, 
 
 If then thou wilt but try and comfort her — 
 
 What way I know not, but thou know'st — and should 6so 
 
 Her restless eye intuitively glance 
 
 Towards this valley, instantly divert 
 
96 THE PRISON OF THE LOST. [BOOK 
 
 Its gaze else whither, thou wilt have done all 
 I ask for, and far more than I deserve/ 
 
 " I answered, ' Theodore, thy widowed spouse, 
 Listening the story of the cross, has more 
 Than angel importunity to urge 
 Submission. Who resist the blood-stahVd cross 
 Resist the uttermost that Heaven can do. 
 Faith must be free, not forced. Nor deem that she 690 
 Who bore thee, and who knows not yet thy doom, 
 If counted worthy of the gates of bliss, 
 Will need the ministry of angel hands 
 To staunch her wounds, or wipe her tears away : 
 Love, tenderer than the tenderest mother's, there 
 Comforts the weary heart and weeping eye. 
 Thy prayers to thy own bosom must return. 
 And yet, unhappy spirit, the Eye, which lights 
 Thy darkness with intolerable flame, 
 Doth not consume in thee the secret spring too 
 
 Of pity whence those supplications flowed. 
 For pity is of God, a fragment left 
 Even here of thy Divine original, 
 Not wholly crushed. Nor can there be in God 
 Wrath against any Godlike lineament, 
 Wherever found, or howsoever dimmed. 
 Not for thy pity art thou where thou art : 
 Not for thy pity rests the wrath to come 
 For ever on thy soul, but for thy sin 
 Indulged, embraced, enjoyM, till sin and thou 710 
 
III.] THE PRISON OF THE LOST. 97 
 
 No longer separable things became 
 Incorporate in one, one sinful life, 
 One ever-living sinner. But the Day 
 Is coming, which will all to all declare. 
 And now, my mission done, my time elapsed, 
 I leave thee in thy Just Creator's hands/ 
 
 " So saying, through that lurid atmosphere 
 I rose, and through the flaming vault of hell, 
 And through the iron portals passed, which oped 
 And closed behind me of their own accord, 720 
 
 And through that dark ravine of midnight gloom, 
 And up that mighty highway of the heavens, 
 And by the passing stars and brightening sun ; 
 Nor stayed upon the battle-field of earth, 
 But upwards soaring with unwearied flight 
 Swift as the lightning toward the heaven of heavens 
 I bent my eager course, nor paused until 
 Kneeling before the everlasting throne, 
 And gazing on the emerald arch of love, 
 I soothed my bosom's agitated depths 730 
 
 In the calm presence of the light of God." 
 
 Then Oriel's voice was hushed ; and for a space 
 He seem'd as one communing with himself, 
 And nurturing his strength with memories 
 Of things that lived for ever in his soul, 
 The record of his ministry approved, 
 The beatific smile, the gracious words 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 THE PRISON OF THE LOST. 
 
 Of benediction, and the choral songs 
 Of those who magnified his God in him : 
 But soon, mindful of my solicitude, 
 His awful story he resumed once more. 
 
 [book 
 
 740 
 
 " Not then returned I straight to earth ; for then 
 Throughout the lower provinces of heaven 
 Was warfare. Michael and his angels fought, 
 Satan and his : no visionary strife ; 
 But battle such as earth has never seen, 
 Seraph with seraph waning. And my lot 
 Was with Messiah's armies militant 
 To drive the rebel hosts from those fair realms 
 Their presence had too long denied. Of this 750 
 
 I will relate hereafter. But, expelFd 
 From heaven, our foes and thine with doubled rage 
 Possessed the lower firmament of earth. 
 And from that hour for fifteen centuries, 
 Not seldom with a band of spirits elect 
 Encamping, but more oft alone with God, 
 My charge was ministering to heirs of life. 
 Blest heirs, twice blessed minister ! Nor came 
 My summons the third time to tread the shores 
 Of darkness, till the decade which forewent 760 
 
 My latest guardianship of saints — thyself. 
 
 u Already had the seven last angels, seen 
 By John in Patmos, from heaven's sanctuary 
 Come forth array'd in priestly robes of white, 
 
III.] THE PRISON OF THE LOST. 09 
 
 Girdled with gold, and bearing in their hands 
 The mystic vials of the wrath of God. 
 Already had they poured those censers forth 
 Upon the earth, the sea, the river springs, 
 The sun's orb, and the great usurper's throne. 
 Two only' of seven remained. It was the year 770 
 
 When the last throes of labouring France were still'd, 
 And her proud despot, he for whom the world 
 Once seem'd too insignificant a throne, 
 Was banish'd to his narrow sea-girt isle 
 To chafe against the idle winds and waves ; 
 Then first I heard a chosen embassy 
 Of the angelic sanctities and powers 
 (Myself the twelfth) was order'd to descend 
 And traverse hell in all its length and breadth, 
 Announcing to the prisoners of wrath 780 
 
 The nearer advent of the day of doom. 
 Immediately, for angels never pause 
 To ask the wherefore of Divine behests, 
 Nor question their own aptitude whom God 
 Has summoned as His aptest messengers, 
 We, on the wings of morning light, obey'd 
 And went. Swiftly, harmoniously we flew, 
 And each the other cheer'd with sweet converse 
 Of the Lamb's Bridal now at hand ; but soon, 
 At hell's inexorable gates arrived, 790 
 
 Our several and predestined pathways took 
 Through diverse fields of gloom and fiery woe, 
 Ordaining, when our dark sojourn was o'er, 
 
 h 2 
 
100 
 
 THE PRISON OF THE LOST. 
 
 [book 
 
 To meet at last in that profoundest depth 
 Where rebel angels are immured in walls 
 Of darkness nearest to Gehenna's lake. 
 
 " First to that mountain valley, where I left 
 Lost Theodore, I bent my course. O God ! 
 The solemn change which fifteen centuries 
 In hell had written on his fearful brow. 800 
 
 Unchanged in form, unchanged in hopelessness, 
 The same immortal heir of endless wrath, 
 But now the restlessness of agony, 
 The writhing of the miserable spirit 
 Under the first experience of despair, 
 Was scarcely visible. Subdued he sate 
 Apart, crushed, conscience-stricken, almost calm ; 
 Oft gazing on that distant Paradise, 
 Which still appeared within his vision's ken 
 And cast its reflex light upon his ruin, 8)0 
 
 But waken'd now no hope. He marked my flight ; 
 He heard my footstep in the vale ; he rose 
 In reverence : and, when he knew me, spake 
 In accents so chastised, they touched me more 
 Than loudest wailings or incessant tears. 
 
 " ' O holy angel, is it thou ? What brings 
 Thee to this dreadful prison-house again ? 
 I had not thought to see thee till I stood 
 Before the judgment-throne. But I have learned 
 Much since I saw thee last. My little span 
 
 820 
 
 
III.] THE PRISON OF THE LOST. 101 
 
 Of mortal life, inured and stereotyped, 
 
 Is branded on the tablet of my soul 
 
 Each year, each month, each week, each day, each hour. 
 
 As drowning men have lived their bygone life 
 
 Again in one brief minute, so to me, 
 
 Each minute of these ages without end, 
 
 My past is always present. Now I see 
 
 Myself. 'Twas not apostasy alone 
 
 Damn'd me : this seaPd my ruin : but my life 
 
 Was one rebellion, one ingratitude. 830 
 
 God would, but could not save me 'gainst my will, 
 
 Moved, drawn, besought, persuaded, striven with, 
 
 But yet inviolate, or else no will, 
 
 And I no man — for man by birth is free. 
 
 Angel, He would, I would not. Further space 
 
 Would but have loaded me with deeper guilt. 
 
 Yea, now I fear that if the Eye of flame 
 
 Which rests upon me everlastingly 
 
 Softened its terrors, sin would yet revive 
 
 In me and bear again disastrous fruit, 840 
 
 And this entail more torturing remorse. 
 
 Better enforced subjection. I have ceased 
 
 Or almost ceased to struggle' against the Hand 
 
 That made me. For I madly chose to die : 
 
 I sold my immortality for death : 
 
 And death, eternal distance from His love, 
 
 Eternal nearness to His righteous wrath, 
 
 Death now is my immortal recompense. 
 
 I know it, I confess it, I submit. 
 
102 THE PRISON OF THE LOST. [BOOK 
 
 But oh ! the boding dread that I ere long 850 
 
 Must re-assume the flesh in which I sinnM, 
 And naked stand before the judgment-throne/ 
 
 u He ceased, and I replied : c My mission is 
 To tell thee that the time is short 
 Before the dawning of that day of God, 
 Its Advent sunrise, its millennial sphere, 
 Its evening-tide of heaven and earth's assize. 
 I may not linger : for my journey tends 
 Throughout these desolate confines of woe 
 To hell's remotest verge ; but first to thee S60 
 
 (Thee only of the lost, my ward) I come 
 Permitted to advise thee this. If here 
 The Uncreated Light, part seen, part veiPd, 
 Hath wrung this last confession from thy lips 
 That thy subordination, though compelled, 
 Is better in its everlasting chains 
 
 Than dissolute freedom and unbridled guilt, 
 
 Will not its veilless and meridian blaze 
 
 (However terrible the fire that burns 
 
 The ineradicable germs of sin sro 
 
 For ever and for ever in thy soul, 
 
 Repressing their fertility with flame) 
 
 Be good, not evil ? yea, the highest good 
 
 Thy guilt has rendered possible ? It will : 
 
 For God Himself has sworn that every knee, 
 
 Not only of the things in heaven and earth 
 
 But of the regions under earth in hell. 
 
III.] THE PRISON OF THE LOST. 103 
 
 Shall bow beneath the sceptre of His Son, 
 And, willing or constrained, confess Him Lord/ 
 
 " Nor paused I for an answer, but pursued 880 
 
 My way along that valley of the dead, 
 Only one valley of a myriad like, 
 But yet so vast, that, though its habitants 
 Were more than many a thronged metropolis, 
 Scattered throughout its solitudes they seem'd, 
 Where'er I trod, but few and far betwixt 
 And seldom grouped in converse. Every one 
 Had his own chastisement to bear ; on each 
 And every one the Eye of God was fix'd ; 
 On every one the Hand of God was pressed. 890 
 
 And for the most part Silence reign'd : few sighs 
 Were heard, or groans, or mutterings of remorse, 
 And chiefly these among the last arrived, 
 Who, when they knew themselves for ever lost, 
 Wept and bewaiPd their ruin, till, their tears 
 And bitter outcries bringing no relief, 
 They, like their fellows, sank upon the ground, 
 Or wandered to and fro in mute despair. 
 Most, peradventure, chose to be alone 
 From that sheer misery, which could not brook 900 
 
 Another convict's eye to read their woe. 
 But yet it was not always thus : at times 
 They met, and fearfully exchanged their pangs 
 And drear forebodings, which, from words I caught, 
 Centred on judgment and eternity. 
 
104? THE PRISON OF THE LOST. [BOOK 
 
 u Lost souls of every type were there : and yet 
 The hell of one was not another's hell. 
 Nor needed separate prisons to adjust 
 The righteous meed of punishment to each. 
 As they had sinned, they suffered; for the flame 910 
 
 Of perfect righteousness abode on them, 
 God's righteousness on their unrighteousness. 
 Distinct, discriminate, distributive, 
 More tolerant of guilty ignorance 
 Than of intolerable guilty pride, 
 Restraining that which chafed against restraint, 
 Abhorring most the most abhorrent deeds, 
 Lighter on some, on others more intense ; 
 Severest on the guiltiest, but to all 
 An earnest of the final lake of fire. 920 
 
 " Some I beheld, who from the gayest haunts 
 Of fashion's revelries and pageantries 
 Were summon'd by the icy hand of death, 
 Blithe men, fair women, and, most piteous sight, 
 Children in years but not in wickedness : 
 And some, who fell asleep in sinks of vice, 
 Amid the orgies of their drunkenness 
 Breathing out curses in a harlot's ear, 
 And wakened, unawares, amazed, to find 
 Damnation, oft invoked, at last their own. 930 
 
 " I pass'd where two were standing side by side, 
 
III.] THE PRISON OF THE LOST. 105 
 
 A princess, who had floated on through life 
 
 Wrapt in the perfumed incense-cloud of praise, 
 
 And a poor beggar's fallen child. They both 
 
 Had lived the living death of godless mirth ; 
 
 Though variously in marble palaces 
 
 And wretched hovels mattered little here : 
 
 One hour had made them comrades ; one despair 
 
 Was written on their face ; one sympathy 
 
 Drew them together ; while in speechless woe 940 
 
 Each wrung convulsively her sister's hand. 
 
 " But heavier far their chastisement who drew 
 Their fellows to perdition from their greed 
 Of mammon, or from fleshly appetite. 
 In them the horrible antagonism 
 Betwixt the pure of God and their impure, — 
 His good, their ill, — His ruth, their cruelty, — 
 His heavenly love, and their most hellish lust, — 
 Bred an insufferable anguish words 
 
 May never picture, nor the heart of saint 950 
 
 Or any saintly'' intelligence conceive. 
 
 " And there were hypocrites unmasked and stripped ; 
 And haughty Pharisaic dignities 
 Low in the dust ; and liars taught too late 
 To utter agonizing words of truth ; 
 And gamblers, who had staked their soul and lost ; 
 And perjurers compel Yd at last to dread 
 
106 THE PRISON OF THE LOST. [BOOK 
 
 God's oath ; manslayers, convict or escaped, 
 
 Confessing Hades had no shade secure 
 
 From blood's avenging cry ; and not a few 960 
 
 Diviners, necromancers, sorcerers, 
 
 Who once sought lawless commerce with the dead, 
 
 Now numbered with the damned dead themselves ; 
 
 And learned infidels, who proved a God 
 
 At least among improbabilities, 
 
 Aghast for ever underneath His frown. 
 
 " All these, and many more in that vast glen, 
 As I pursued my embassage, I saw, 
 And could narrate their names ; but better far 
 Buried in silence and oblivion's grave 970 
 
 Until the day of doom. They heard my voice ; 
 And countless as they were, so manifold 
 The tokens of their anguish or dismay, 
 When I proclaimed the nearer dawn at hand : 
 Tears, tremblings, pallor which became more pale, 
 Moans, or more terrible than moans, the gaze 
 Of agony suppressed, heart-rending sighs 
 Or wailings of remorseless memory, 
 Or darker lourings of malign despite 
 Crushed in a moment by the penal fire, 9^o 
 
 But each in his own way betokening 
 His terror of the unknown wrath to come. 
 
 " They miss the truth who meditate that death, 
 
III.] THE PRISON OF THE LOST. 107 
 
 Or that which follows after death, can change 
 
 The native idealities of men. 
 
 These in the saved and lost alike remain 
 
 Immutable for ever. There is nought 
 
 In the unloosing of the mortal tent 
 
 To alter or transform immortal minds. 
 
 The gentle still are gentle, and the strong 990 
 
 Are ever strong. Innumerable traits 
 
 Each from the rest distinguish. It is true 
 
 There lies a gulf impassable betwixt 
 
 Salvation and perdition, heaven and hell ; 
 
 But oh ! the almost infinite degrees 
 
 Betwixt the lost and lost. 
 
 " All this I saw 
 In that one desolate valley of the dead, 
 And then to other hills and rocks and plains 
 Of that dark world I passed. Nor boots it now 
 That I to thee, unwilling both, relate 1000 
 
 The progress of my terrible sojourn 
 In those drear regions. God was with me there, 
 Or my celestial pinions would have droop'd 
 Unequal by my side. But in His strength 
 I traversed all the provinces assigned 
 To my celestial mission, nor surceased 
 My flight till every habitant therein 
 Heard from my lips (and none who heard gainsay'd) 
 Messiah's nearer Advent, and that soon 
 They might expect to see the Arch-fiend led 1010 
 
108 THE PRISON OF THE LOST. 
 
 In chains to his millennial prison-house, 
 A presage of his everlasting doom. 
 
 [book 
 
 " Vast were the realms I trod, and to my eye 
 No bound apparent : but from clime to clime 
 Not many hours, as men count hours, elapsed 
 Without some ruined soul arriving thither 
 And swelling the dark aggregate of woe. 
 And then perchance there was a transient pause, 
 A momentary break : but soon the rest, 
 Their own cup full of misery, sank back 1020 
 
 In personal despair. It was but once, 
 And then for a brief space, I saw the dead 
 Stirred with profounder feeling. I was there, 
 What time a mighty conqueror came down 
 To limitless captivity. He came, 
 Aforetime wont to lead his armies forth 
 The god of pride, incarnate selfishness, 
 The nations trembling at his iron rod, 
 And tributary monarchs in his suite, 
 Now guided only by a stripling cherub, 1030 
 
 Yet in whose hand that vanquished victor's might 
 Were less than nothing. For a little while 
 His fall was theme of converse with the dead, 
 But soon the voices sank ; and hell resumed 
 Its dread monotony of crushing calm. 
 
 u Terrestrial years passed by, as thus I trod 
 
III.] THE PRISON OF THE LOST. lOfl 
 
 These regions, but my Captain's charge fulfilled, 
 
 I came at last to that profound abyss 
 
 Wrapt in a tenfold gloom of darkening wrath; 
 
 Nearest Gehenna's lake, which first I saw 1040 
 
 When with a band of seraphim in arms, 
 
 I bore the captive angels, Samchasai 
 
 And Uziel, fallen potentates of heaven, 
 
 In chains, themselves and their rebellious hosts, 
 
 To their eternal banishment. Since then 
 
 Four great millennial days had come and gone, 
 
 But there they lay immured in darkness, link'd 
 
 With adamantine manacles to rocks 
 
 Of adamant : and with them other spirits 
 
 Who, having fill'd their cup of wickedness 1050 
 
 Before the time, before the time were hurFd 
 
 To this dark dungeon. Such were those who sought 
 
 With suicidal prayer, Legion their name, 
 
 Driven from the human heart, their chosen seat, 
 
 To herd with swine ; and, their demand vouchsafed, 
 
 Rush'd headlong, they and all their bestial throng — 
 
 These into ocean depths and those to hell. 
 
 Nor were they solitary in their doom : 
 
 For think not He whose vengeance flashes forth 
 
 Upon the sons of men, and unawares 10G0 
 
 Strikes down the sinner in his hour of pride, — 
 
 Think not He leaves the fallen hosts unwarn'd 
 
 By dread ensamples of His wrath, though such 
 
 No warning moves and no ensample' avails 
 
110 THE PRISON OF THE LOST. [BOOK 
 
 To turn from final death. Yet once they stood 
 
 Pure spirits before the sapphire throne in heaven, 
 
 And many I knew in that their first estate, 
 
 And with them I had walked the golden streets, 
 
 And pluck'd the vintage of celestial grapes, 
 
 And tuned my harp in unison with theirs. 1070 
 
 But now, behold them — every 7 lineament 
 
 Dimmed with despair and utter agony. 
 
 For, as their guilt was deeper, fiercer wrath 
 
 Alone their unrepentant nature curbed 
 
 From words and deeds of devilish violence. 
 
 That wrath was there. And of despite was heard 
 
 No whisper, nor a thought of open war 
 
 Expressed, nor breathed a breath of blasphemy. 
 
 " But them already advertised I found 
 By heaven's angelic principalities ioso 
 
 Of our great errand. So, our mission o'er, 
 Back from that bottomless abyss we turned, 
 And through hell's desolate champaigns arose, 
 Its iron portals, and its dark access ; 
 And when, with footsteps nothing loth, we trod 
 The confines of most blessed light again, 
 Our Captain, as Melchisedec of old 
 Met Abraham with mystic bread and wine, 
 Himself came forth to meet us bearing fruit 
 Himself had pluck'd from heaven's ambrosial trees, 1090 
 And with His benediction wrote on all 
 
III.] THE PRISON OF THE LOST. Ill 
 
 The large experience of those years of gloom, 
 The rainbow of His clear approving smile." 
 
 So Oriel spake, and ceased : and as he ceased 
 I felt his tears were falling on my hand. 
 
 END OF THE THIRD BOOK. 
 
112 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 
 
 O tears, ye rivulets that flow profuse 
 
 Forth from the fountains of perennial love, 
 
 Love, sympathy, and sorrow, those pure springs 
 
 Welling in secret up from lower depths 
 
 Than couch beneath the everlasting hills : 
 
 Ye showers that from the cloud of mercy fall 
 
 In drops of tender grief, — you I invoke, 
 
 For in your gentleness there lies a spell 
 
 Mightier than arms or bolted chains of iron. 
 
 When floating by the reedy banks of Nile 1 o 
 
 A babe of more than human beauty wept, 
 
 Were not the innocent dews upon its cheeks 
 
 A link in God's great counsels ? Who knows not 
 
 The loves of David and young Jonathan, 
 
 When in unwitting rivalry of hearts 
 
 The son of Jesse won a nobler wreath 
 
 Than garlands pluck'd in war and dipped in blood ? 
 
 And haply she, who washed her Saviour's feet 
 
 With the soft silent rain of penitence, 
 
THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 113 
 
 And wiped them with her tangled tresses, gave 20 
 
 A costlier sacrifice than Solomon, 
 
 What time he slew myriads of sheep and kine, 
 
 And poured upon the brazen altar forth 
 
 Rivers of fragrant oil. In Peter's woe, 
 
 Bitterly weeping in the darkened street, 
 
 Love veils his fall. The traitor shed no tear. 
 
 But Magdalene's gushing grief is fresh 
 
 In memory of us all, as when it drenched 
 
 The cold stone of the sepulchre. Paul wept, 
 
 And by the droppings of his heart subdued 30 
 
 Strong men by all his massive arguments 
 
 Unvanquish'd. And the loved Evangelist 
 
 Wept, though in heaven, that none in heaven were found 
 
 Worthy to loose the Apocalyptic seals. 
 
 No holy tear is lost. None idly sinks 
 
 As water in the barren sand : for God, 
 
 Let David witness, puts His children's tears 
 
 Into His cruse and writes them in His book ; — 
 
 David, that sweetest lyrist, not the less 
 
 Sweet that his plaintive pleading tones ofttimes 40 
 
 Are tremulous with grief. For he and all 
 
 God's nightingales have ever learn'd to sing, 
 
 Pressing their bosom on some secret thorn. 
 
 In the world's morning it was thus : and, since 
 
 The evening shadows fell athwart mankind, 
 
 Thus hath it always been. Blind and bereft, 
 
 The minstrel of an Eden lost explored 
 
 Things all invisible to mortal eyes. 
 
 1 
 
114 THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 And he, who touched with a true poet's hand 
 
 The harp of prophecy, himself had learned 50 
 
 Its music in the school of mourners. But 
 
 Beyond all other sorrow stands enshrined 
 
 The imperishable record — Jesus wept. 
 
 He wept beside the grave of Lazarus ; 
 
 He wept lamenting* lost Jerusalem ; 
 
 He wept with agonizing groans beneath 
 
 The olives of Gethsemane. O tears, 
 
 For ever sacred, since in human grief 
 
 The Man of sorrows mingled healing drops 
 
 With the great ocean tides of human woe ; 60 
 
 You I invoke to modulate my words 
 
 And chasten my ambition, while I search, 
 
 And by your aid with no unmoisten'd eye, 
 
 The early archives of the birth of time. 
 
 Yes, there are tears in heaven. Love ever breathes 
 Compassion ; and compassion without tears 
 Would lack its truest utterance : saints weep 
 And angels : only there no bitterness 
 Troubles the crystal spring. And when I felt, 
 More solaced than surprised, my guardian's tears 70 
 
 Falling upon my hand, my bosom yearn'd 
 Towards him with a nearer brotherhood ; 
 And, terrible as seem'd his beauty once, 
 His terrors were less mighty than his tears. 
 His heart was as my heart. He was in grief, 
 No feigned sorrow. And instinctively — 
 
IV.] THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 115 
 
 Love's instinct to console the one beloved — 
 
 I answered, " Oriel, let it grieve thee not 
 
 Thus to have told me of thy dark sojourn 
 
 In yonder world of death. I thought before 80 
 
 Of thee as dwelling ever in the light, 
 
 And knowing only joy; but now I see 
 
 We both have suffered ; sinless thou, and I 
 
 Ransomed from sin ; for others only thou, 
 
 I for myself and others ; — but yet links 
 
 Betwixt us of a tender sympathy 
 
 Eternity will rivet, not unloose. 
 
 And now, albeit, had I nursed a hope 
 
 For those unhappy prisoners of wrath, 
 
 Thy words had quenched the latest spark, yet thou, 90 
 
 While quenching hope, hast hopelessness illumed. 
 
 Far visions throng my eye and fill my soul 
 
 Of evil overcome by final good, 
 
 And death itself absorbed in victory. 
 
 But first I long to listen from thy lips 
 
 The story of creation's birth, whene'er 
 
 In the unclouded morning-tide of heaven 
 
 Thou and thy holy peers beheld the light." 
 
 And Oriel took my hand in his once more, 
 And from the summit of that cliff we turn'd, 100 
 
 And, with the ease of spirits, descending sought 
 A lower platform, whence the mighty gulf 
 Betwixt that shadowy land of death and ours 
 Was hidden, but afar pre-eminent 
 1 2 
 
116 THE CREATION OY ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 Over the realms of Paradise. But soon 
 
 A train of silver mists and airy clouds, 
 
 Only less limpid than the light itself, 
 
 Began to creep from every vale, where late 
 
 Invisible they couch'd by fount and rill, 
 
 Around us o'er the nearer hills, and hung 1 10 
 
 Their lucid veils across the crystal sky, 
 
 Not always, but by turns drawn and withdrawn 
 
 In grateful interchange, so that awhile 
 
 Bocks, mountains, valleys, woods, and glittering lakes, 
 
 And those uncounted distances of blue 
 
 Were mantled with their flowing draperies, 
 
 And then awhile in radiant outline lay ; — 
 
 Haply less lovely when unclothed than clothed 
 
 With those transparent, half-transparent robes, 
 
 But loveliest in alternate sheen and shade. 120 
 
 I knew the token and was still : and there 
 
 Upon a ledge of rock recline, we gazed 
 
 Our fill of more than Eden's freshness, when 
 
 The mists of God watered the virgin earth, 
 
 And gazing drank the music of its calm, 
 
 Silent ourselves for gladness. But at last, 
 
 As if recalling his far-travelled thoughts, 
 
 Not without deeper mellowness of tone, 
 
 Oriel resumed his narrative and spake : 
 
 " Yes, saidst thou truly, in the world of spirits, 1 30 
 As in the early Paradise of man, 
 Creation had its morning without clouds ; 
 
IV.] THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 117 
 
 When first the bare illimitable void 
 
 Throughout its everlasting silences 
 
 Heard whispers of God's voice and trembled. Then, 
 
 Passing from measureless eternity, 
 
 In which the Highest dwelt Triune Alone, 
 
 To measurable ages, Time began. 
 
 And then, emerging out of nothingness, 
 
 At God's behest commanding Let them be, j 40 
 
 The rude raw elements of nature were : 
 
 Viewless and without form at first. But soon 
 
 God will'd, and breathed His will ; and lo, a sea 
 
 Of subtle and elastic ether flow'd, 
 
 Immense, imponderable, luminous, 
 
 Which, while revealing other things, remains 
 
 Itself invisible, impalpable, 
 
 Pervading space. Thus Uncreated Light 
 
 Created in the twinkling of an eye 
 
 A tabernacle worthy of Himself, 1 50 
 
 And saw that it was good, and dwelt therein. 
 
 Then, moulded by the Word's almighty hand, 
 
 And by the Spirit of life informed, the heaven 
 
 With all its orbits, and the heaven of heavens 
 
 Rose like a vision. There the throne supreme, 
 
 Refulgent as if built of solid light, 
 
 Where He, whom all the heavens cannot contain, 
 
 Reveals His glory' incomprehensible, 
 
 Was set upon the awful mount of God, 
 
 The Heavenly Zion : over it above 160 
 
 The empyrean of the universe ; 
 
118 THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 And near it, or beneath it as it seem'd, 
 
 That mystic chariot, paved with love, instinct 
 
 Thereafter with the holy cherubim ; 
 
 And round about it four and twenty thrones, 
 
 Vacant as yet — not long. God, who is Spirit, 
 
 Bade spirits exist, and they existed. Forms 
 
 Of light, in infinite varieties, 
 
 Though all partaking of that human type 
 
 Which afterward the Son of God assumed 170 
 
 (Angelical and human forms, thou seest, 
 
 Are not so far diverse as mortals think) , 
 
 Awoke in legions arm'd, or one by one 
 
 Successively appeard. Succession there, 
 
 In numbers passing thy arithmetic, 
 
 Might be more rapid than my words, and yet 
 
 Exhaust the flight of ages. There is space 
 
 For ages in the boundless past. But each 
 
 Came from the hand of God distinct, the fruit 
 
 Of His eternal counsels, the design 180 
 
 Of His omniscient love, His workmanship ; 
 
 Each seraph, no angelic parentage 
 
 Betwixt him and the Great Artificer, 
 
 Born of the Spirit, and by the Word create. 
 
 " Of these were three the foremost, Lucifer, 
 Michael, and Gabriel : Lucifer, the first, 
 Conspicuous as the star of morning shone, 
 And held his lordly primacy supreme ; 
 Though scarcely' inferior seem'd Michael the prince, 
 
IV.] THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 119 
 
 Or Gabriel, God's swift winged messenger. ] 90 
 
 And after these were holy Raphael ; 
 
 Uriel, the son of light ; Barakiel, 
 
 Impersonation of beatitude ; 
 
 Great Ramiel, and Raamiel, mercy's child ; 
 
 Dumah, and Lailah, and Yorekemo, 
 
 And Suriel, blessed Suriel, who abides 
 
 Mostly beside the footstool of God's throne, 
 
 (As Mary sate one time at Jesus' feet,) 
 
 His chosen inalienable heritage. 
 
 Nor these alone, but myriad sanctities, 200 
 
 Thrones, virtues, principalities, and powers, 
 
 Over whose names and high estates of bliss 
 
 I must not linger now, crown'd hierarchs ; 
 
 And numbers without number under them 
 
 In order ranged, — some girt with flaming swords, 
 
 And others bearing golden harps, though all 
 
 Heaven's choristers are militant at will, 
 
 And all its martial ranks are priestly choirs. 
 
 And, even as in yonder Paradise 
 
 Thou sawest the multitudes of ransom'd babes 210 
 
 And children gathered home of tenderest years, 
 
 So with the presbytery of angels, those 
 
 Who will appear to thee as infant spirits 
 
 Or stripling cherubs, cluster round our steps, 
 
 Each individual cherub born of God, 
 
 Clouds of innumerable drops composed, 
 
 Pure emanations of delight and love. 
 
120 THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 " And yet, though only one of presbyters 
 There reckoned by ten thousands, when I woke 
 To consciousness, I found myself alone, 220 
 
 So vast are heaven's felicitous abodes, 
 As Adam found in Eden. Not a sound 
 Greeted mine ear, except the tuneful flow 
 Of waters rippling past a tree of life, 
 Beneath whose shade on fragrant moss and flowers 
 Dreaming I lay. Realities and dreams 
 Were then confused as yonder clouds and rocks. 
 But soon my Maker, the Eternal Word, 
 Softening His glory, came to me, in form 
 Not wholly' unlike my own : for He, who walked 230 
 A man on earth among His fellow-men, 
 Is wont, self-humbled, to reveal Himself 
 An Angel among angels. And He said, — 
 His words are vivid in my heart this hour 
 As from His sacred lips at first they fell, — 
 ' Child of the light, let Oriel be thy name ; 
 Whom I have made an image of Myself, 
 That in the age of ages I may shower 
 My love upon thee, and from thee receive 
 Responsive love. I, unto whom thou owest 240 
 
 Thy being, thy beauty, and immortal bliss, 
 I claim thy free spontaneous fealty. 
 Such it is thine to render or refuse. 
 It may be in the veiFd futurity, 
 VeiFd for thy good, another voice than Mine, 
 
IV.] THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 121 
 
 Though Mine resembling, will solicit thee, 
 
 When least suspicious of aught ill, to seek 
 
 Apart from Me thy bliss. Then let these words 
 
 Foreclose the path of danger. Then beware. 
 
 Obedience is thy very life, and death 250 
 
 Of disobedience the supreme award. 
 
 Forewarned, forearmed resist. Obey and live. 
 
 But only in My love abide, and heaven 
 
 (So call the beautiful world around thee spread) 
 
 Shall be thy home for ever, and shall yield 
 
 Thee choicest fruits of immortality ; 
 
 And thou shalt drink of every spring of joy, 
 
 And with the lapse of endless ages grow 
 
 In knowledge of My Father and Myself, 
 
 Ever more loving, ever more beloved/ 2(3o 
 
 " Speaking, He gazed on me, and gazing seaPd 
 Me with the impress of His countenance, 
 (Brother, I read the same upon thy brow,) 
 Until such close affinity of being 
 Enchained me, that the beauty' of holiness 
 Appeared unutterably necessary, 
 And by its very nature part of me. 
 I loved Him for His love ; and from that hour 
 My life began to circle round His life, 
 As planets round the sun, — His will my law, 270 
 
 His mysteries of counsel my research, 
 And His approving smile my rich reward. 
 
122 THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 " Then whispering, € Follow Me/ He led me forth 
 By paths celestial through celestial scenes 
 (Of which the Paradise beneath our feet, 
 Though but the outer precincts of His courts, 
 Is pledge) , each prospect lovelier than the last, 
 Until before my raptured eye there rose 
 The Heavenly Zion. 
 
 " Terribly sublime 
 It rose. The mountains at its base, albeit 280 
 
 Loftier than lonely Ararat, appeared 
 But footsteps to a monarch's throne. The top 
 Was often lost in clouds— clouds all impregn'd 
 With light and girdled with a rainbow arch 
 Of opal and of emerald. For there, 
 Not as on Sinai with thick flashing flames, 
 But veiling His essential majesty 
 In robes of glory woven by Himself, 
 He dwells whose dwelling is the universe 
 Of all things, and whose full-orb'd countenance 290 
 
 The Son alone sustains. But at His will 
 (So was it now) the clouds withdrawn disclosed 
 That portion of His glory, which might best 
 Fill all His saints with joy past utterance. 
 There were the cherubim instinct with eyes ; 
 And there the crowned elders on their thrones, 
 Encircling with a belt of starry light 
 The everlasting throne of God ; and round, 
 
IV.] THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 123 
 
 Wave after wave, myriads of flaming ones 
 
 From mightiest potentates and mid degrees 300 
 
 Unto the least of the angelic choirs. 
 
 Myself, nor of the first nor of the last 
 
 I saw ; but mingling with them was received 
 
 By some with tender condescending love, 
 
 By others with the grateful homage due 
 
 To their superior. Envy was unknown 
 
 In that society. But through their ranks 
 
 Delightful and delighting whispers ran, 
 
 ' Another brother is arrived to share 
 
 And multiply our gladness without end/ 310 
 
 Meanwhile, as I was answering love with love, 
 
 My Guide was not, and in that countless throng 
 
 I felt alone, till clustering round my steps, 
 
 With loud Hosannas and exuberant joy, 
 
 They led me to the footstool of the throne, 
 
 And there upon His Father's right He sate, 
 
 Without whom heaven had been no heaven to me, 
 
 Effulgent Image of the Invisible, 
 
 Co-equal, co-eternal God of God. 
 
 " That day was one of thousands not unlike 320 
 
 Of holy convocation, when the saints 
 (This was our earliest name, God's holy ones) 
 From diverse fields of service far and near, 
 What time the archangel's trumpet rang through heaven, 
 Flock'd to the height of Zion — archetypes 
 Of Salem's festivals in after years. 
 
124 THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 And ever, as these high assemblies met. 
 
 New counsels were disclosed of love Divine, 
 
 New revelations of our Father's face, 
 
 New proofs of His creative handiwork, 330 
 
 Presentments at the throne of new-born spirits, 
 
 Wakening new raptures and new praise in us 
 
 The elder born. No discord then in heaven. 
 
 u So passed continuous ages ; till at last, 
 * The cycles of millennial days complete, 
 Mark'd by sidereal orbits, seven times seven, 
 By circuits inexpressible to man, 
 Revolving, a Sabbatic jubilee 
 Dawn'd on creation. Usher'd in with songs 
 And blowing of melodious trumps, and voice 340 
 
 Of countless harpers harping on their harps, 
 That morning, long foretold in prophecy 
 (Heaven has, as earth, its scrolls prophetic, sketched 
 In word or symbol by the Prescient Spirit), 
 Broke in unclouded glory. Hitherto 
 No evil had appeared to cast its shade 
 Over the splendours of perpetual light, 
 Nor then appeared, though to the Omniscient Eye, 
 Which only reads the mysteries of thought 
 And can detect the blossom in the bulb, 350 
 
 All was not pure which pure and perfect seem\l. 
 But we presaged no tempest. We had lived. 
 Save for the warning each at birth received, 
 As children live in blissful ignorance 
 
IV.] THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OP MEN. 125 
 
 Of future griefs : nor even Michael guess'd, 
 So hath he often told me, what that day 
 Disclosed of war and final victory. 
 
 " Such was the childhood of angelic life. 
 Such might not, could not always be. And when, 
 Ranged in innumerable phalanxes, 36o 
 
 We stood or knelt around the sapphire throne, 
 The Word, the Angel of God's Presence, rose 
 From the right hand of glory, where He sate 
 Enshrined, embosomed in the light of light, 
 And gazing round with majesty Divine, — 
 Complacent rest in us His finished work, 
 His perfected creation, not unmixed 
 With irrepressible concern of love, — 
 Thus spake in accents audible to all : 
 
 " ' Children of light, My children, whom My hand 370 
 Hath made, and into whom My quickening Spirit 
 Hath breathed an immortality of life, 
 My Father's pleasure is fulfilled, nor now 
 Of His predestinated hosts remains 
 One seraph uncreated. It is done. 
 Thrones, virtues, principalities, and powers, 
 Not equal, but dependent each on each, 
 O'er thousands and ten thousands president : 
 No link is wanting in the golden chain. 
 None lacks his fellow, none his bosom friends, 380 
 
 No bosom friends their fit society. 
 
126 THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 And no society its sphere assigned 
 
 In the great firmament of morning stars. 
 
 The brotherhood of angels is complete. 
 
 And now, My labour finished, I declare 
 
 Jehovah's irreversible decree, 
 
 With whom from Our eternal Yesterday, 
 
 Before creation's subtlest film appear'd, 
 
 I dwelt in light immutably the same, 
 
 Which saith to Me, u Thou art My Only Son, 390 
 
 From all eternity alone Beloved, 
 
 Alone Begotten : Thee I now ordain 
 
 Lord of To-day, the great To-day of Time, 
 
 And Heir of all things in the world to come. 
 
 Who serve the Son, they too the Father serve ; 
 
 And Thee, My Son, contemning, Me contemn. 
 
 My majesty is Thine : Thy word is Mine. 
 
 And now, in pledge of this My sovereign will, 
 
 Before heaven's peers on this high jubilee 
 
 I pour upon Thee without measure forth 400 
 
 The unction of My Everlasting Spirit, 
 
 And crown Thee with the crown of endless joy."' 
 
 " So spake the Son ; and, as He spake, a cloud 
 Of fragrance, such as heaven had never known, 
 Rested upon His Head, and soon distill'd 
 In odours inexpressibly sublimed 
 Dewdrops of golden balm, which flowM adown 
 His garments to their lowest skirts, and fill'd 
 The vast of heaven with new ambrosial life. 
 
IV.] THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 127 
 
 And for a while, it seemed a little while. 410 
 
 But joy soon fails in measurement of time, 
 
 We knelt before His footstool, none except, 
 
 And from the fountain-head of blessing drank 
 
 Beatitude past utterance. But then, 
 
 Rising once more, the crowned Messiah spake : 
 
 M c My children, ye have heard the high decree 
 Of Him, whose word is settled in the heavens, 
 Irrevocable ; and your eyes have seen 
 The symbol of His pleasure, that I rule 
 Supreme for ever o'er His faithful hosts, 420 
 
 Or faithless enemies, if such arise : 
 And rise they will. Already I behold 
 The giant toils of pride enveloping 
 The hearts of many : questionings of good, 
 Not evil in themselves, but which, sustained 
 And parleyed with apart from Me, w-ill lead 
 To evil ; thoughts of licence not indulged, 
 Nor yet recoiPd from ; and defect of power, 
 Inseparable from your finite being, 
 
 Soliciting so urgently your will 430 
 
 (Free, therefore not infallible) to range 
 Through other possibilities of things 
 Than those large realms conceded to your ken, 
 That if ye yield, and ye cannot but yield 
 Without My mighty aid betimes implored, 
 From their disastrous wedlock will be born 
 
128 THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 That fertile monster, Sin. Oh yet be wise ! 
 
 My children, ere it be too late, be warned ! 
 
 The pathway of obedience and of life 
 
 Is one and narrow and of steep ascent, 440 
 
 But leads to limitless felicity. 
 
 Not so the tracks of disobedience stretch 
 
 On all sides, open, downward, to the Deep 
 
 Which underlies the kingdom of My love. 
 
 Good, evil ; life and death : here is your choice. 
 
 From this great trial of your fealty, 
 
 This shadow of all limited free will, 
 
 It is not Mine, albeit Omnipotent, 
 
 To save you. Ye yourselves must choose to live. 
 
 But only supplicate My ready aid, 450 
 
 And My Good Spirit within you will repel 
 
 Temptation from the threshold of your heart 
 
 Unscathed, or if conversed with heretofore 
 
 Will soon disperse the transitory film, 
 
 And fortify your soul with new resolve/ 
 
 " He spake, and from the ranks a seraph stepped, 
 One of heaven's brightest sanctities esteemed, 
 Nought heeding underneath the eye of God 
 Ten thousand times ten thousand eyes of those 
 Who gazed in marvel, Penuel his name, 4 60 
 
 And knelt before Messiah's feet. What passed 
 We knew not : only this we knew ; then first 
 Tears fell upon that floor of crystal gold — 
 
IV.] THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. L29 
 
 Not long — a smile of reconcilement chased 
 Impending clouds, and that archangel's brow 
 Shone with the calm response of perfect love. 
 
 " Sole penitent he knelt, — if penitence 
 Be the due name for evil, not in deed, 
 But only in surmise. And for a space 
 Unwonted silence reigned in heaven, until 470 
 
 The Son of God a third time rose and spake : 
 
 " ' Angels, from conflict I have said no power 
 Avails to save you : here Omnipotence, 
 Which made and guards from force your freeborn will, 
 And never can deny itself, seems weak, 
 Seems only, — hidden in profounder depths. 
 But rather than temptation were diffused 
 Through boundless space and ages without end, 
 I have defined and circumscribed the strife 
 In narrowest limits both of place and time. 480 
 
 Ye know the planet, by yourselves called Earth, 
 Which in alternate tempest and repose 
 Has rolPd for ages round its central sun, 
 And often have ye wondered what might be 
 My secret counsel as regards that globe, 
 The scene of such perplexed vicissitudes, 
 In turn the birthplace and the tomb of life, 
 Life slowly' unfolding from its lowest forms. 
 Now wrapt in swathing-bands of thickest clouds 
 Bred of volcanic fires, eruptions fierce 490 
 
130 THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 And seething oceans, on its path it rolls 
 
 In darkness, waiting for its lord and heir. 
 
 Hear, then, My word : this is the destined field, 
 
 Whereon both good and evil, self-impell'd, 
 
 Shall manifest the utmost each can do 
 
 To overwhelm its great antagonist. 
 
 There will I shower the riches of My grace 
 
 First to prevent, and, if prevention fail, 
 
 To conquer sin — eternal victory. 
 
 And there Mine enemies will wreak their worst : 500 
 
 Their worst will prove unequal in that war 
 
 To conquer My unconquerable love. 
 
 But why, ye thrones and potentates of heaven, 
 
 Say why should any amongst you, why should one 
 
 Attempt the suicidal strife ? What more 
 
 Could have been done I have not done for you ? 
 
 Have I not made you excellent in power, 
 
 Swift as the winds and subtle as the light, 
 
 Perfect and God-like in intelligence ? 
 
 What more is possible ? But one thing more, 5 J o 
 
 And I have kept back nothing I can do 
 
 If yet I may anticipate your fall. 
 
 Such glory have I poured upon your form 
 
 And made you thus in likeness of Myself, 
 
 That from your peerless excellence there springs 
 
 Temptation, lest the distance infinite 
 
 Betwixt the creature and the Increate 
 
 Be hidden from your eyes. For who of spirits, 
 
 First born or last, has seen his birth, or knows 
 
IV.] THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 131 
 
 The secrets of his own nativity ? 520 
 
 Nor were ye with Me, when My Father wilPd, 
 And at My word the heavens obedient rose. 
 Come, then, with Me, your Maker, and behold 
 The making of a world. Nor this alone : 
 But I, working before your eyes, will take 
 Of earth's material dust, and mould its clay 
 Into My image, and imbreathe therein 
 The breath of life, and by My Spirit Divine 
 Implanting mind, choice, conscience, reason, love, 
 Will form a being, who in power and light, 530 
 
 May seem a little lower than yourselves 
 (Yourselves whose very glory tempts to pride), 
 But capable of loftiest destinies. 
 This being shall be man. Made of the dust, 
 And thus allied to all material worlds, 
 Born of the Spirit, and thus allied to God, 
 He during his probation's term shall walk 
 His mother earth, unfledged to range the sky, 
 But, if found faithful, shall at length ascend 
 The highest heavens and share My home and yours. 540 
 Nor shall his race, like angels, be defined 
 In numbers, but expansive without end 
 Shall propagate itself by diverse sex, 
 And in its countless generations form 
 An image of Divine infinitude. 
 As younger, ye their elder brethren stand : 
 As feebler, ye their ministers. Nor deem 
 That thus your glory shall be less, but more ; 
 k 2 
 
132 THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 For glory* and love inseparably grow. 
 
 Only, ye firstborn sons of heaven, be true, 550 
 
 True to yourselves and true to Me, your Lord ; 
 
 For as mankind must have a pledge proposed 
 
 (And without pledge the trial were the same) 
 
 Of their obedience, so mankind themselves 
 
 Are pledge and proof of yours. Only be true ; 
 
 And the pure crystal river of My love 
 
 Widening shall flow with unimpeded course, 
 
 And water the whole universe with life/ 
 
 " So spake Messiah \ and His words awoke 
 Deep searchings, Is it I ? in countless hearts, 560 
 
 Hearts pure from sin and strong in self-distrust : 
 Nor holy fear alone, but strenuous prayer 
 For strength and wisdom and effectual aid 
 In the stern war foretold. And heaven that hour 
 New worship and unparalleled beheld, 
 Self-humbled cherubim and seraphim, 
 And prostrate principalities and thrones, 
 And flaming legions, who on bended knees 
 Besought their fealty might never fail, 
 Never so great as when they lowliest seemed. 5T0 
 
 Would all had prayed ! But prayer to some appeared 
 A sign of weakness unconceived : to some 
 Confession of an unsuspected pride : 
 And haply some rising ambition moved 
 To strive against the Spirit who strove with all 
 In mercy, forcing none, persuading most. 
 
IV.] THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 133 
 
 Yes, most yielded submiss. And soon from prayer 
 
 To solemn adoration we uprose, 
 
 And all the firmament of Zion rang 
 
 With new Hosannas unto Him who saw 580 
 
 The gathering storm and warned us ere it broke. 
 
 New thoughts of high and generous courage stirrM 
 
 In every loyal breast, and new resolves 
 
 To do and suffer all things for our Lord. 
 
 On which great themes conversing, friend with friend, 
 
 Or solitary with the King Himself, 
 
 That memorable Sabbath passed, a day, 
 
 Though one day there is as a thousand years, 
 
 Fraught with eternal destinies to all. 
 
 " Now dawned another morning-tide in heaven, 590 
 The morning of another age, and lo, 
 Forth from the height of Zion, where He sate 
 Throned in His glory inaccessible, 
 The Son of God, robed in a radiant cloud, 
 And circled by His angel hosts, came down, 
 Descending from that pure crystalline sphere 
 Into the starry firmament. Not then 
 For the first time or second I beheld 
 Those marvels of His handiwork, those lamps 
 Suspended in His temple's azure dome, 600 
 
 And kindled by the Great High Priest Himself; 
 For through them I had often wing'd my flight. 
 But never saw I till that hour such blaze 
 Of glory : whether now the liquid sky 
 
134 THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 Did homage to its present Lord, or He 
 
 Our eyes anointed with peculiar power : 
 
 For to the farthest wall of heaven, where light 
 
 Trends on the outer gloom, with ease we scanned 
 
 The maze of constellations : central suns 
 
 Attended by their planets ministrant, 610 
 
 These by their moons attended ; groups of worlds ; 
 
 Garlands of stars, like sapphires loosely strung ; 
 
 Festoons of golden orbs, nor golden all, 
 
 Some pearls, and rubies some, some emerald green, 
 
 And others shedding hyacinthine light 
 
 Far over the empurpled sky : but all 
 
 Moving with such smooth harmony, though mute, 
 
 Around some secret centre pendulous, 
 
 That in their very silence music breathed, 
 
 And in their motions none could choose but rest. 620 
 
 " Through these with gently undulating course ♦ 
 
 Messiah and His armies passed, until 
 They reached the confines of thy native orb, 
 The battle-field of Good and Evil, Earth. 
 
 " Wrapt in impervious mists, w^hich ever steam 'd 
 Up from its boiling oceans, without form 
 And void, it rolPd around the sun, which cast 
 Strange lurid lights on the revolving mass, 
 But pierced not to the solid globe beneath. 
 Such vast eruption of internal fires 630 
 
 Had mingled sea and land. This not the first 
 
IV.J THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 135 
 
 Convulsion which that fated orb had known, 
 
 The while through immemorial ages God, 
 
 In patience of His own eternity, 
 
 Laid deep its firm foundations. When He spake 
 
 In the beginning, and His word stood fast, 
 
 An incandescent mass, molten and crude, 
 
 Arose from the primordial elements, 
 
 With gaseous vapours circumfused, and rolled 
 
 Along its fiery orbit : till in lapse 640 
 
 Of time an ever thickening hardening crust 
 
 (So have I heard) upon its lava waves 
 
 Gathered condense : a globe of granite rock, 
 
 Bleak, barren, utterly devoid of life, 
 
 Mantled on all sides with its swaddling-bands 
 
 Of seas and clouds : impenetrably dark, 
 
 Until the fiat of the Omnipotent 
 
 Went forth. And, slowly dawning from the East, 
 
 A cold grey twilight cast a pallid gleam 
 
 Over those vaporous floods, and days and nights, G50 
 
 All sunless days, all moonless starless nights, 
 
 For ages journeyed toward the western heavens : — 
 
 Unbroken circuits, till the central fires 
 
 Brake forth anew, emitting sulphurous heat. 
 
 And then at God's command a wide expanse 
 
 Severed the waters of those shoreless floods 
 
 From billowy clouds above ; — an upper sea 
 
 Of waters o'er that limpid firmament 
 
 Rolling for cycles undefined, the while 
 
 God's leisure tarried. Then again He wilPd, 60o 
 
136 THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 And lo, the bursting subterranean fires 
 
 Thrust from below vast continents of land 
 
 With deeper hollows yawning wide betwixt 
 
 Capacious, into which the troubled tides 
 
 Poured with impetuous rage, and fretting broke, 
 
 Returning with their ceaseless ebb and flow, 
 
 On many a sandy beach and shingly shore. 
 
 But soon, wherever the dank atmosphere 
 
 Kissed with its warm and sultry breath the soil, 
 
 Innumerable ferns and mosses clothed 670 
 
 The marshy plains, and endless forests waved, 
 
 Pine-trees and palms on every rising slope, 
 
 Gigantic reeds by every oozy stream, 
 
 Rank and luxuriant under cloudy skies, 
 
 Fed by the steaming vapours, race on race 
 
 Fattening, as generations throve and sank. 
 
 Their work was done ; and at the Almighty's word 
 
 Earth shuddered with convulsive throes again, 
 
 And hid their gathered riches in her folds 
 
 For after use. But now a brighter light 680 
 
 Flushes the East : the winds are all abroad : 
 
 The cloud-drifts scud across the sky ; and lo, 
 
 Emerging like a bridegroom from his couch, 
 
 The lordly sun looks forth, and heaven and earth 
 
 Rejoice before him : till his bashful queen, 
 
 When the night shadows creep across the world, 
 
 Half peering through a veil of silver mists, 
 
 Discloses the pale beauty of her brow, 
 
 Attended by a glittering retinue 
 
IV.] THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 137 
 
 Of stars. Again long ages glided by, 690 
 
 While Earth throughout her farthest climes imbibed 
 The influences of heaven. 
 
 " Not yet the end. 
 For not for lifeless rocks, or pure expanse 
 Of the pellucid firmament, or growth 
 Of ferns or flowers or forests, or the smile 
 Of sun or moon far shining through the heavens 
 Was that fair globe created ; but for life, 
 A destined nursery of life, the home, 
 When death is vanquished, of immortal life. 
 But there is no precipitance with God, 700 
 
 Nor are His ways as ours. And living things, 
 When His next mandate from on high was given, 
 Innumerous, but unintelligent, 
 Swarm'd from the seas and lakes and torrent floods, 
 Reptiles and lizards, and enormous birds 
 Which first with oaring wing assayed the sky : 
 Vast tribes that for successive ages there 
 Appeared and disappeared. They had no king : 
 And muto creation mourned its want ; until 
 Destruction wrapt that world of vanity. 710 
 
 But from its wreck emerging, mammoth beasts 
 Peopled the plains, and filled the lonely woods. 
 But they too had no king, no lord, no head ; 
 And Earth was not for them. So when their term 
 In God's great counsels was fulfilled, once more 
 Earth to its centre shook, and what were seas 
 
138 THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 Unsounded were of half their waters drained, 
 
 And what were wildernesses ocean "beds; 
 
 And mountain ranges, from beneath upheaved, 
 
 Clave with their granite peaks primeval plains, 720 
 
 And rose sublime into the water-floods, 
 
 Floods overflowed themselves with seas of mist, 
 
 Which swathed in darkness all terrestrial things, 
 
 Once more unfurnished, empty, void, and vast. 
 
 " Such and so formless was thy native earth, 
 Brother, what time our heavenly hosts arrived 
 Upon its outmost firmament ; nor found 
 A spot whereon angelic foot might rest, 
 Though some with facile wing from pole to pole 730 
 
 Swift as the lightning flew, and others traced 
 From East to West the equidistant belt. 
 Such universal chaos reigned without ; 
 Within, the embryo of a world. 
 
 " For now 
 Messiah, riding on the heavens serene, 
 Sent forth His Omnipresent Spirit to brood 
 Over the troubled deep, and spake aloud, 
 1 Let there be light/ and straightway at His Word, 
 The work of ages into hours compressed, 
 Light pierced that canopy of surging clouds, 74 o 
 
 And shot its penetrative influence through 
 Their masses undispersed, until the waves 
 Couching beneath them felt its vital power. 
 
IV.] THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 139 
 
 And the Creator saw the light was good : 
 Thus evening now and morning were one day. 
 
 u The morrow came ; and without interlude 
 Of labour, ' Let there be a firmament/ 
 God said, i amid the waters to divide 
 The nether oceans from the upper seas 
 Of watery mists and clouds/ And so it was. 750 
 
 Immediate an elastic atmosphere 
 Circled the globe, source inexhaustible 
 Of vital breath for every thing that breathes : 
 And even and morning were a second day. 
 
 u But now again God spake, and said, c Let all 
 The waters under heaven assembling flow 
 Together, and the solid land appear/ 
 And it was so. And thus were types prepared 
 For generations yet unborn of things 
 Invisible : that airy firmament, 76o 
 
 Symbolic of the heaven and heaven of heavens ; 
 The earth a theatre, where life with death 
 Should wage incessant warfare militant ; 
 And those deep oceans, emblems of a depth 
 Profounder still, — the under- world of spirits. 
 But now before our eyes delighted broke 
 A sudden verdure over hill and dale, 
 Grasses and herbs and trees of every sort, 
 Each leaflet by an Architect Divine 
 Designed and finished : proof, if proof be sought, 770 
 
140 THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 Of goodness in all climes present at once 
 
 Untiring, unexhausted, infinite : 
 
 Thus evening was and morning a third day. 
 
 " And then again Messiah spoke, and lo, 
 The clouds empurpled, flushed, incarnadined, 
 Melted in fairy wreaths before the sun, 
 Who climbing the meridian steep of heaven, 
 Shone with a monarch's glory, till he dipped 
 His footstep in the ruddy western waves, 
 And with the streaming of his golden hair 780 
 
 Startled the twilight. But as evening drew 
 Her placid veil o'er all things, the pale moon 
 Right opposite ascending from the East, 
 By troops of virgin stars accompanied, 
 Arcturus and the sweet-voiced Pleiades, 
 Lordly Orion, and great Mazzaroth, 
 Footing with dainty step the milky way, 
 Assumed her ebon throne, empress of night. 
 
 " But now the fourth day closed. And at God's word 
 The waters teem'd with life, with life the air ; 70') 
 
 Mostly new types of living things, though some 
 From past creations, buried deep beneath 
 Seas or the strata of incumbent soils, 
 Borrowed their form. Innumerable tribes 
 Of fishes, from the huge Leviathan 
 Roaming alone the solitary depths 
 To myriad minnows in their sunny creeks, 
 
IV.] THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 141 
 
 The ocean pathways swam. Nor less the birds, 
 
 Some of entrancing plumage, some of notes 
 
 More trancing still, awoke the sleeping woods 800 
 
 To gaiety and music. Others perched 
 
 Upon the beetling cliffs, or walked the shore, 
 
 Or dived or floated on the waves at will, 
 
 Or skimmed with light wing o'er their dashing foam, 
 
 Free of three elements, earth, water, air. 
 
 And, as the fifth day to the sixth gave place, 
 
 We gazed in eager expectation what 
 
 Might crown our Great Creator's work. 
 
 " But first 
 All living creatures of the earth appeared ; 
 Insects that crept or flew as liked them best sio 
 
 In hosts uncounted as the dews that hung 
 Upon the herbs their food : and white flocks browsed, 
 Herds grazed, and generous horses paw'd the ground : 
 And fawns and leopards and young antelopes 
 Gambolled together. Every moment seem'd 
 Fruitful of some new marvel, new delight, 
 Until at last the Great Artificer 
 Paused in His mighty labours. Noon had passed, 
 But many hours must yet elapse ere night : 
 And thus had God, rehearsing in brief space 820 
 
 His former acts of vast omnipotence, 
 In less than six days ere we stood aloof 
 From that tumultuous mass of moving gloom, 
 Out of the wrecks of past creations built 
 
142 THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 A world before our eyes. All was prepared : 
 This glorious mansion only craved its heir, 
 This shrine of God its worshipper and priest. 
 
 " Nor long His purpose in suspense. For soon 
 Descending from the firmamental heavens, 
 Where He had wrought and whence His mandates 
 given 830 
 
 Upon a mountain's summit which o'erlook'd 
 The fairest and most fruitful scene on earth, 
 Eden's delicious garden, in full view 
 Of us His ministering hosts, He took 
 Some handfuls of the dust and moulded it 
 Within His plastic hands, until it grew 
 Into an image like His own, like ours, 
 Of perfect symmetry, divinely fair, 
 But lifeless, till He stooped and breathed therein 
 The breath of life, and by His Spirit infused 840 
 
 A spirit endowed with immortality. 
 And we, viewless ourselves in air, saw then 
 The first tryst of a creature with his God : 
 We read his features when surprise and awe 
 Passed into adoration, into trust ; 
 And heard his first low whisperings of love, — 
 Heard, and remembered how it was with us. 
 
 " But now, lowly in heart, Messiah took 
 Mankind's first father by the hand, and led 
 His footsteps from that solitary hill B50 
 
IV.] THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 143 
 
 Down to the Paradise below, well named 
 
 A paradise, for never earth has worn 
 
 Such close similitude to heaven as there. 
 
 The breezes laded with a thousand sweets, 
 
 Not luscious but invigorating, breathed 
 
 Ambrosial odours. Roses of all scents 
 
 Embowered the walks ; and flowers of every hue 
 
 Chequered the green sward with mosaic. Trees 
 
 Hung with ripe clustering fruit, or blossoming 
 
 With promise, on all sides solicited 860 
 
 Refreshment and repose. Perpetual springs 
 
 Flowed, feeding with their countless rivulets 
 
 Eden's majestic river. By its banks 
 
 The birds warbled in concert ; and the beasts 
 
 Roamed harmless and unharmed from dell to dell, 
 
 Or leaped for glee, or slept beneath the shade, 
 
 The kid and lion nestling side by side. 
 
 " These, summoned by their Maker, as they passed 
 Before his feet, the ancestor of men 
 
 Significantly named : such insight God 870 
 
 Had given him into nature : but for him 
 Of all these creatures was no helpmeet found. 
 And solitude had soon its shadow cast 
 Over his birthday's joy : which to prevent 
 God drenched his eyes with sleep, and then and there 
 Still in our aspect, from his very side 
 Took a warm rib and fashioned it anew, 
 As lately He fashioned the obedient clay, 
 
144 THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 Till one like man, but softer gentler far 
 
 (The first of reasonable female sex, 880 
 
 For spirits, thou knowest, are not thus create) 
 
 He made, and brought her, blushing as the sky 
 
 Then blushed with kisses of the evening sun, 
 
 Veiled in her naked innocence alone, 
 
 To Adam. Naked too he stood, but joy 
 
 Not shame suffused his glowing cheek and hers, 
 
 The while their gracious Maker joined their hands 
 
 In wedlock, and their hearts in nuptial love ; 
 
 Nor left them, till by many a flowery path 
 
 Through orange groves and cedarn alleys winding 890 
 
 At length He brought them to a fountain's brink, — 
 
 The fountain of that river which went forth 
 
 Through Eden, watering its countless flowers 
 
 With tributary rivulets, or mists 
 
 Exhaled at nightfall. There, on either side, 
 
 A fruit-tree grew, shading the limpid spring, 
 
 The tree of knowledge and the tree of life. 
 
 " Hither when they arrived, the Son of God, 
 With mingled majesty and tenderness 
 Their steps arresting, bade them look around 900 
 
 That garden of surpassing beauty, graced 
 With every fruit that earth could rear, and rich 
 With every gift that Heaven could give to man, 
 And told them all was theirs, all freely theirs, 
 For contemplation, for fruition theirs, — 
 Theirs and their seed's for ever. But <nw pledge 
 
IV.] THE CREATION OP ANGELS AND OF MEN. 145 
 
 He claim'd of their allegiance and their love, 
 
 And, upon peril of His curse pronounced, 
 
 The awful curse of death, forbade them taste 
 
 The tree of knowledge. Then smiling He turn'd, 910 
 
 And told them of the other tree of life, 
 
 Of which divinest fruit, if faithful proved, 
 
 They by His pleasure should partake at length, 
 
 And without death translated, made like Him, 
 
 In heaven and earth, for eaith should be as heaven, 
 
 Reap the full bliss of everlasting life. 
 
 " But now the evening sang her vesper song, 
 And lit her silver lamps ; and vanishing 
 From view of thy first parents, not from ours, 
 Messiah rose into the heavens serene, 920 
 
 And, gazing on His fair and finished work 
 Outstretched before Him, saw that it was good, 
 And blessed it, and in blessing sanctified ; 
 Nor sooner ceased, than all the marshalled host 
 Of angels poured their rapture forth in songs 
 Of Hallelujah and melodious praise. 
 No jar was heard. Then sang the morning stars 
 Together, and the firstborn sons of God 
 Shouted for joy, a shout whose echoes yet 
 Ring in my ear for jubilant delight. 930 
 
 And He with gracious smile received our praise, 
 Lingering enamoured o'er His new-made world, 
 The latest counsel of His love, the while 
 Your earth her earliest holiest Sabbath kept, 
 
146 THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 Gladdened with new seraphic symphonies, 
 And the first echoes of the human voice. 
 
 "Too quickly' it passed. And then, ere we retraced 
 Our several paths of service and of rest, 
 Messiah calFd us round His feet once more, 
 And said to all, i Angels, behold your charge, 940 
 
 Your pledge of fealty, your test of faith. 
 Thine, Lucifer, of heavenly princes first, 
 Earth is thy province, of all provinces 
 Henceforth the one that shares My first regards. 
 This is thy birthright which, except thyself, 
 None can revoke : this firmamental heaven 
 Thy throne ordained; and yonder orb thy realm. 
 Thee, My vicegerent, thee I constitute 
 God of the world and guardian of mankind. 
 Only let this thy lofty service link 956 
 
 Thee closer to thy Lord ; apart from Whom 
 This post will prove thy pinnacle of pride, 
 Whence falling thou wilt fall to the lowest hell, 
 But under Me thy seat of endless joy : 
 If faithless found, thy everlasting shame ; 
 If faithful, this thy infinite renown. 
 For, lowly' as seems the earth compared with heaven, 
 We, the Triune, have sworn that through mankind 
 The angels and celestial potentates 
 
 Shall all receive their full beatitude ; 960 
 
 Yea, that Myself, the Uncreated Word, 
 Joined to mankind, shall of mankind elect 
 
IV.] THE CREATION OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 147 
 
 My Church, My chosen Bride, to share with Me 
 
 My glory and My throne and endless love. 
 
 I am the Bridegroom, and the Bride is Mine : 
 
 But yours, ye angel choirs, may be the joy 
 
 Pure and unselfish of the Bridegroom's friend. 
 
 Only be humble : ministry is might, 
 
 And loving servitude is sceptral rule. 
 
 Ye are My servants, and in serving men 970 
 
 Ye honour Me, and I will honour you/ 
 
 " So spake the Son, and forthwith rose sublime, 
 His pathway heralded with choral hymns, 
 Till on the heavenly Zion He regained 
 His Father's bosom and His Father's throne." 
 
 END OF THE FOURTH BOOK. 
 
 L 2 
 
148 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 
 
 " When throned on that aerial firmament 
 
 Messiah singled out great Lucifer 
 
 As His vicegerent over all the earth, 
 
 Haply not one of the celestial hosts 
 
 But felt in that archangel's rule mankind 
 
 Had surest safeguard against harm. Such power, 
 
 Such glory, such supremacy of will 
 
 Was his. Even now his eclipsed majesty, 
 
 Though falFn, overshadows potentates of heaven. 
 
 But I have seen him, when sublime he came jo 
 
 Forth from the presence of the Increate, 
 
 His eye glistening with joy for some design 
 
 Of lofty enterprise beyond our reach 
 
 Safely confided to his puissant arm ; 
 
 Some new apocalypse of truth vouchsafed 
 
 To him, as prophet, to reveal to us. 
 
 Things, which to other angels seemed obscure, 
 
 Were crystal in his eyes : born to command ; 
 
 In stature as in strength above his peers ; 
 
THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 149 
 
 With whom and him comparison was not, 20 
 
 Except with Michael, next in princely rank, 
 
 And Gabriel the beloved ; three hierarchs — 
 
 But Lucifer the chief. Nor odds appeared 
 
 In outward state and circumstance of power 
 
 Betwixt him and Messiah, when the Word 
 
 Shrouding the awful blaze of Deity 
 
 Beneath angelic garb, as He was wont, 
 
 Mingled and communed with us face to face. 
 
 All gifts of form, all attributes of mind, 
 
 All high predominance of dignity 30 
 
 Among his fellows, bound that lordly spirit 
 
 To Him who made him such. O wherefore not 
 
 The bond of everlasting gratitude ? 
 
 Was it that knowledge with its dazzling light 
 
 Grew yet more rapidly with him than love ? 
 
 God knows, God only, how and when his will, 
 
 Ranging through boundless latitudes of thought, 
 
 First tampered with tyrannic pride. Unfallen 
 
 He stood, though not unwavering, when the Son 
 
 Placed in his hand the sceptre of a world. 40 
 
 That crowning gift determined his resolve. 
 
 Then wherefore placed He' it ? Brother, He foreknew 
 
 That arch-imperial will, crown'd or uncrowned, 
 
 Would yield spontaneous and spontaneous fall 
 
 Untempted, unpersuaded, unseduced 
 
 Save by itself, chafing because controlled, 
 
 And finite amid God's infinitudes : 
 
 Nor his alone, but myriad spirits of light, 
 
150 THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 Wavering like him, like him would fall. And, this 
 
 Foreknowing, nothing to Omnipotence 50 
 
 Remained but so to circumscribe the ruin, 
 
 That evil might succumb to good at last, 
 
 And darkness yield to everlasting light. 
 
 For this must Sin be known, her face unmaskM, 
 
 Her carcase stripped, her secret shame exposed, 
 
 And thus her loathsome harlotry abhorred : 
 
 Masked haply she had tainted all alike. 
 
 Hence to the prince of angels was mankind 
 
 Entrusted, and to man the fatal tree, 
 
 Straitly forbidden, though accessible. 60 
 
 " Unfall'n had Lucifer received his charge ; 
 UnfalFn, not long. For, when Messiah rose, 
 His new creation perfected, to heaven, 
 He left as next associate in command 
 Gabriel my chieftain : and with him I sate 
 One eve conversing, on our watch intent 
 (Earth had not kept her circling birthday yet), 
 Upon that hill overlooking Paradise, 
 Where Adam was created, when we heard 
 Our leader's footstep, and together rose 70 
 
 To greet him. Salutation with salute 
 Freely he answered, but as one amused 
 With his own thoughts quickly addressed us saying, 
 
 " ' Brothers, I praise you and your faithfulness : 
 No meagre proof of true humility 
 
V.] THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 151 
 
 For thee, archangel Gabriel, thee of all 
 
 Heaven's principalities among the first, 
 
 Here set to guard this latest work of God, 
 
 This freak, this marvel of Omnipotence. 
 
 Yes, we are to believe this worm o' the earth, so 
 
 A spark may be of immortality 
 
 Enshrined within a mortal coil of flesh, 
 
 Made of the clay we stamp beneath our feet, 
 
 Equal to us the firstborn sons of light ; 
 
 Nay more than equal, that through him at last 
 
 Beatitude shall flow to us, and man 
 
 Exalted to the everlasting throne, 
 
 The Bride, so spake Messiah, of Himself, 
 
 Shall see the peerless potentates of heaven 
 
 Standing far off in circles infinite, 90 
 
 Or prostrate at her Bridegroom's footstool. Sure, 
 
 If lowliness, as we have often heard, 
 
 Be measured by the depth that we descend, 
 
 This crowns that coy and virgin grace with praise/ 
 
 " And Gabriel in sarcastic war unversed 
 (The sw r ord of sarcasm was not drawn till now) 
 Replied without suspicion — ' Lucifer, 
 The smile upon thy mouth betrays thy mind. 
 Thou dost but try our fealty, and test 
 What answer we should make, if that unknown 100 
 
 Tempter predicted should assail our faith. 
 But wherefore should I weary thee, who knowest 
 The easy answer to such sophistries ? 
 
152 THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 Our charge is not on man's behalf alone. 
 
 Or chiefly, though our power is likest God's 
 
 Whenever strength sustains infirmity, 
 
 But rather for His sake who made us both : 
 
 His work is wages, and His smile is heaven. 
 
 What then if we are call'd to stoop to man, 
 
 Our Maker, ours and his, stoop'd lower still 1 10 
 
 In making and preserving us when made ; 
 
 Both in His glorious likeness wrought. Nor will 
 
 Our common Father raise these later born 
 
 To our disparagement, but higher bliss, 
 
 Through man more nearly' united with Himself. 
 
 And, w T hen the fight foretold is fought and won, 
 
 We, mutable by birth, shall stand henceforth 
 
 For ever in our God immutable, 
 
 By His love and our own experience fenced. 
 
 Such arrows, Lucifer, thyself art judge, 120 
 
 Recoil soon blunted from the shield of faith.' 
 
 " To whom thus Lucifer, c So let it be. 
 And if my language seem too bold, reflect 
 It is the tempter, and not I, who speak. 
 But were I he, and wert thou, O my friend, 
 As thou art not, obnoxious to assault, 
 I would attempt thee thus. Two paths are ours : 
 That which for ages thou and I have trod, 
 The pathway of obedience. There remains 
 Untrodden that of disobedience. Why 130 
 
 Should one be always best ? God calls for praise ; 
 
V.] THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 153 
 
 Praising I please Him ; praising not, displease. 
 
 Why should I alway please Him ? Say, I choose 
 
 To be my own eternal lord ? What then ? 
 
 Oh, by those burning thoughts, those hopes that rise 
 
 Within me subject to no will but mine, 
 
 I ask, why are we made thus circumscribed ? 
 
 Are there not possibilities of being 
 
 Higher and nobler far than those we see ? 
 
 Why are these myriads of the hosts of heaven ho 
 
 So limited in power, that thou or I 
 
 Can scarcely find our mate ? Why less than we ? 
 
 Look at these vast innumerable worlds 
 
 Rolling around us ; why not all the homes 
 
 Of sentient things ? Man, male and female made, 
 
 Is in himself a fountain-spring of life ; 
 
 And why not angels ? Was the gift too great, 
 
 Too perilous for us ? Remember, friends, 
 
 The things that might be always underlie 
 
 The things that are: things possible, things real. 150 
 
 Say thou art wise and happy, — it is well. 
 
 But why not wiser, happier ? answer me/ 
 
 " ' Let Oriel answer/ Gabriel interposed. 
 
 " ' So hath it pleased Eternal Love/ I said, 
 c Perfect, Supreme, Unfathomable Love. 
 To ask why we have finite faculties 
 And diverse each from the' other, is to ask 
 Why all yon planets are not suns, and suns 
 
154 THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 All gorgeous as the heaven of heavens. Enough, 
 
 The universe is music as it is. ]6o 
 
 Ye both are greater far than I ; yet I 
 
 Would not be other than I am, whose cup 
 
 Already mantles to the brim with joy. 
 
 And why yon globes are yet untenanted, 
 
 Though not unuseful as the lamps of God, 
 
 1 know no more than why my Maker fix'd, 
 
 As pleased Him, in the mighty Past my birth : 
 
 Nor care I further to inquire, but deem 
 
 His hour is not yet come, of whose increase 
 
 Eternity itself shall see no end. 170 
 
 His time, His counsel must be best. Be this 
 
 Our wisdom w T ith Omniscience to converse, 
 
 Our joy the beaming of Eternal Light, 
 
 Our strength to lean upon Almighty Power/ 
 
 " And Lucifer, as strangely moved, replied, 
 c I know He is Almighty : but I see 
 Another image of Omnipotence, 
 The awful Power of self-determined choice. 
 Suppose I choose to worship at that shrine, 
 What hinders ? Will God drag me to His feet ? iso 
 Forced adoration, what were this ? and where 
 His own irrevocable gift, freewill ? 
 Will He destroy me ? nay, Himself has said 
 We are endowed with immortality. 
 That fatal dowry makes destruction null. 
 What then ? He will beseech me to repent ; 
 
V.] THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 155 
 
 And, if obdurate, punish me ? But how ? 
 
 He spake of death : but what is death to us ? 
 
 Beasts die and birds ; man, made of flesh, may die : 
 
 But we are spirits, imperishable spirits. 190 
 
 He spake of hell : but where or what is hell ? 
 
 Gabriel, thy lightsome wing from star to star 
 
 Has spanned creation's height, depth, length, and breadth; 
 
 Say, brother, hast thou ever seen this hell ? 
 
 What is't ? a place of chains ? of punishment ? 
 
 Can fetters bind ethereal essences ? 
 
 Or would God make a creature who should live 
 
 For ever in perpetual torment ? say, 
 
 Gabriel, is this like God, — God, who is love ? 
 
 Nay, rather when mankind has broken loose 200 
 
 From his poor pledge, as tempted he will break, 
 
 We shall be left sole arbiters of earth, 
 
 And all angelic natures, one by one, 
 
 Or flocking to our side in multitudes, 
 
 Will join us. If I fall, why should they stand ? 
 
 They poorer, I have more to lose than they, 
 
 And yet risk all for freedom ; so will they. 
 
 Ages may pass, but they will fall at last : 
 
 Finite their power, temptation infinite. 
 
 And God will exile me and them from heaven, 210 
 
 And out of boundless space create new worlds, 
 
 New habitants, but henceforth will beware 
 
 How He endows with freewill like His own 
 
 Spirits mutable like ours. All such methinks 
 
 Sooner or later will forsake His throne. 
 
156 THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 Nor will our realms be limited, for wide 
 
 As stretches this star-spangled firmament, 
 
 The deep that lies beneath is wider still. 
 
 And there at least we shall be free, unwatch'd, 
 
 Lords of ourselves. His own essential form, 220 
 
 Though in the outer darkness, will make light 
 
 For each one to direct his steps at will. 
 
 Nor will my legions wholly be debarred 
 
 From fairer fields. This firmamental throne 
 
 Was given me as my proper seat, this earth 
 
 My destined empire, which I mean to hold 
 
 Against all foes secure. Nay, shudder not ; 
 
 Not without God shall I with God contend. 
 
 Himself hath arin'd me for the awful strife. 
 
 He made me free, immortal, innocent : 230 
 
 He made abiding in His love the pledge 
 
 Of service ; which whoever breaks becomes 
 
 His adversary. This mankind will do, 
 
 And straightway will be my allies, my bride, 
 
 Who, if prolific as foretold, shall fill 
 
 My kingdom with an offspring like their sire. 
 
 Say, Gabriel, wilt thou cast thy lot with me, 
 
 Filial associate ? or return to joys, 
 
 Which only seem delightsome, till the higher 
 
 Delights of perfect liberty are known ? 2 to 
 
 Wilt thou be chained or chainless ? bond or free ? p 
 
 " Impetuous words hung 011 my lips : but me 
 Gabriel prevented : doubt obscured hi* look, 
 
V.] THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 157 
 
 Never obscure till now, as thus he spake, 
 
 t Son of the morning', Lucifer, if thou, 
 
 Though for our safer guardianship, assumest 
 
 The tempter, let me answer thee as such. 
 
 False voice ! that image of Omnipotence 
 
 That so allures thee, self-determined will, 
 
 Is but an image, at whose dreadful shrine 250 
 
 Whoever worships is the slave of self, 
 
 And must expect the portion of a slave, 
 
 Fetters and stripes. Thou say'st there is no hell : 
 
 Hast thou explored the secrets of that deep 
 
 Thou claimest as thy heritage and realm ? 
 
 Or if no hell exist as yet, why not 
 
 Exist, as in a moment, if thou sin ? 
 
 Thou canst not die, thou say'st : but what if death 
 
 Be immortality in mortal pain ; 
 
 Not endless nothingness, but endless woe ? 260 
 
 Thou pleadest God is love : but what if love, 
 
 Love to the universe, ay, love to thee, 
 
 Lest worse rebellion worse restraint demand, 
 
 Compel the flashing forth of those pure flames 
 
 Which— now there is no sin, no enemy — 
 
 Innocuous play around His awful throne ? 
 
 All thou foreseest will yield like thee. False seer ! 
 
 Hast thou forgotten that the hosts of God, 
 
 Premonish'd of the coming strife, besought 
 
 His prevalent aid ? And what if some refused, 270 
 
 Weak in the fancied might of innocence, 
 
 The Same who warned us enemies should rise 
 
158 THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 Foretold their final overthrow. And thou, 
 
 Dost thou forecast the future, and in thought, 
 
 Piercing eternity, assay to clutch 
 
 Earth as thy empire and mankind thy bride ? 
 
 False oracle ! Shall His word be reversed, 
 
 Who here ordained Messiah Heir of all ? 
 
 Or wilt thou, wrestling with Omnipotence, 
 
 Wrest from His hands the sceptre, or usurp 280 
 
 The smallest foothold of His universe, 
 
 Who by Himself hath sworn that every knee 
 
 Of things in heaven and earth and under earth 
 
 Shall bow beneath His sceptre or His rod ? 
 
 This, if thou wert the tempter, as my heart 
 
 Of thee abhors to think, were my response, 
 
 Now and for ever to reject thy thrall, 
 
 And in the liberty of truth abide/ 
 
 " The Arch-hypocrite replied, c Gabriel, I said 
 Thy heart was proof against seductive wiles. 290 
 
 I did but try thee : untried faith is nought. 
 Pride has no charms for thee. Impregnable 
 Thou standest. Only thus maintain the strife, 
 And in the kingdom of eternal peace 
 No brighter coronal than thine shall blaze 
 Among the innumerable hosts of light. 
 Each have our task assigned us. Mine is now 
 To test the faith of others as thine own, 
 Detecting whose fidelity is staunch, 
 Or who are open to the coming foe/ 300 
 
V.] THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 159 
 
 u So saying, he left us on that hill. In muse 
 Sate Gabriel for long while contemplating 
 The moonlight sleeping on the woods and lakes 
 Of Eden : but his thoughts were otherwhere, 
 And at the last, heaving a heavy sigh, 
 He said, ' Oriel, the conflict thickens. Days 
 Of peril are upon us. Be it so. 
 Farewell, a long farewell, ye hours of peace ! 
 Thou unsuspecting confidence, farewell ! 
 And welcome, so the Master's will be done, 310 
 
 The strain of battle, and the patient watch 
 For hostile stratagem far worse than strength. 
 Now, brother, let us quit ourselves like those 
 Whom God has call'd to fight, and pledge our troth 
 As fellow- soldiers in the brooding war, 
 And fellow-heirs of everlasting peace/ 
 
 " I gave him silently my hand, and there 
 Upon that mountain's brow we knelt and pray'd 
 For timely succour in our hour of need. 
 And, as we rose, the blessed Suriel came 3-20 
 
 Like lightning from the footstool of the throne, 
 And swift of wing spake to us winged words : 
 
 " c Gabriel, thy prayer is heard. Messiah calls 
 Thee to a council of angelic thrones, 
 Held in His presence. Oriel, it is thine 
 To watch mankind's first parents with a band 
 Of holy ones now camping round their bower, 
 
160 THE FALL OP ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 And guard them from all ghostly violence : 
 Other temptation, warned, themselves must shun. 
 Brothers, my path is devious. Fare ye well/ 330 
 
 " We parted, Gabriel to the heaven of heavens, 
 I to heaven's miniature, sweet Eden's vale. 
 There in a leafy arbour, side by side, 
 Half waking, half asleep, for early dews 
 Still drench'd the landscape, Eve on Adam's breast 
 Pillow'd her head. Her loose dishevelled hair 
 Part hid the scarlet of her cheek, and part 
 Curl'd like a wreathen chain about his neck ; 
 While underneath her slender waist his arm 
 Embracing pass'd, until the listless hand 340 
 
 Rested upon her heaving bosom. Round 
 A company of angels lean'd entranced. 
 Nor marvel : thou hast known in pilgrim days 
 Earth's princes, weary of their royal state, 
 Hang o'er the cradle of a sleeping babe, 
 Spell-bound. And so in their most innocent loves 
 Was that which moved us more than all the blaze 
 Of seraphim, or song of heavenly choirs : 
 The very tenderness of flesh and blood ; 
 The very weakness of humanity; 350 
 
 The unutterable sweetness of that bond 
 Which link'd them, bone of bone and flesh of flesh ; 
 The promise of fertility to Eve ; 
 The fresh bloom of that first and loveliest bride 
 Unfolding, like rose petals, to the joy 
 
V.] THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 161 
 
 Of Adam, first and goodliest spouse; the rites, 
 
 Of their pure nuptial couch, a couch of flowers, 
 
 Known but unwitnessed (there are mysteries, 
 
 Which holy angels guard, but gaze not on) ; 
 
 And the last awful issues life or death 360 
 
 With their fidelity or frailty linked. 
 
 " But now the rosy-fingered morn aside 
 The curtains of the sun's pavilion drew, 
 And he arose refreshed. So from their sleep 
 That innocent pair invigorated rose, 
 And from their arbour naked passed to pay, 
 As they were wont, their early orisons 
 Beside the fountain shaded by the trees 
 Of knowledge and of life. Both loved the spot. 
 There oftenest God would walk at eventide, 370 
 
 Or dewy morn, or send some spirit elect 
 To gladden more their gladsome solitude : 
 A spot more sacred than the stony bed 
 Where Jacob slept, and visited more oft 
 With heavenly visitations. 
 
 " So that morn 
 Joyful they came. But even as they knelt 
 And looked adoring upward, Adam saw 
 Amid the foliage of that sapient tree 
 Two glowing eyes, and soon a serpent knew, 
 Amazed ; for heretofore nor beast would graze 3S0 
 
 Beneath it, nor bird light upon its boughs — 
 
 if 
 
162 THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 Such awe circled it round — but more amazed 
 
 To hear that sinuous snake utter a voice 
 
 Like God's voice, saying, ' Thou only follow me/ 
 
 And Adam, by preventing prayer unarmed, 
 
 Obeyed and went, whispering to startled Eve, 
 
 ' What this means, it is mine alone to search : 
 
 Wait here my quick return/ And through the walks 
 
 Of Eden, gliding with contorted rings, 
 
 Now twisted in voluminous folds, and now 390 
 
 Shot forward like a bird upon the wing, 
 
 The serpent led the way, until his voice 
 
 Seductive, ever beckoning ' Follow me/ 
 
 Through many a labyrinth of fruits and flowers, 
 
 Roses with orange groves, myrtles with vines 
 
 Entwining, brought the ancestor of men 
 
 To the far distant gates of Paradise. 
 
 And then again the serpent spake and said, 
 
 ' Here tarry, while I bring a mystic key, 
 
 Which shall unlock these envious gates, and yield 400 
 
 Thee access to the boundless world beyond 
 
 Of undefined delights. Fear nothing. God 
 
 Will guide thee forth, and angels guard thy way, 
 
 Eve thy companion/ 
 
 u So the serpent leased, 
 And back with smooth and undulating course 
 Slid unimpeded by the tangled woods 
 To that salubrious fountain-spring, where Eve 
 Waited impatiently. Before her feet 
 
V.] THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 163 
 
 He bow*d submiss, and to her gaze, which askM 
 
 Why Adam lingered, with ambiguous words 410 
 
 Replied, ' He waits thy coming at the gates 
 
 Of Eden, whence ere long thy steps and his 
 
 Issuing shall tread the unexplored expanse, 
 
 That lies beyond our narrow vale of bliss. 
 
 But this beware, those gates instinct with life 
 
 Will only on their golden hinges turn 
 
 To one who in his hand a cluster bears 
 
 Of this divinest fruit ; this fruit which first 
 
 Opened my eyes to see, my tongue to speak. 
 
 Take, fairest Eve, and eat/ 420 
 
 " ' Enough/ she said, 
 1 Our Gracious Maker interdicts this tree/ 
 
 " Whereat the serpent subtle' of heart replied, 
 c What, hath God placed you in this fruitful vale, 
 Fruitful but narrow, and not given you range 
 At least of every tree herein to eat ? 
 It cannot be. Thou hast misdeemed His voice/ 
 
 " And Eve responded, c Yea, of all the trees 
 Innumerable, which here flower and bloom, 
 And with delicious fruitage tempt our taste, 
 We may eat freely. But this tree alone, 430 
 
 Planted as in a temple here by God, 
 He, knowing those who eat thereof will die, 
 In love denies us/ 
 
 m 2 
 
164 THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 " And the serpent said, 
 t Ye die ? Die ye ? Ye shall not surely die. 
 I ate and died not. I, a serpent, ate ; 
 And lo, so far from dying, instantly 
 I lived a life, to which my former state 
 Now bare existence seems. Then first I saw, 
 Then spake I, heretofore incapable 
 
 Of mental vision or articulate speech. 440 
 
 This was my only death. And what for thee 
 And Adam ? Surely ye will be as gods, 
 Knowing all mysteries of good and ill, 
 Divine intelligences, and, no more 
 Within this garden's strait precincts confined, 
 Shall range at will your boundless heritage. 
 And this your Maker knows. Why otherwise 
 Placed He this tree within your easy reach ? 
 Why, but to test if those sublimer thoughts 
 Within your bosom planted by Himself, 4 50 
 
 Thoughts ever stretching towards the Infinite, 
 By one bold venture daring death itself 
 (That is translation to a higher life, 
 There is no other death in yon fair fruit) 
 Were worthy of Himself? Take, Eve, and eat. 
 For what were all these trees, and what their fruits 
 Delightsome in one heap before thee piled, 
 Compared with this ? They feed the body' alone : 
 This nurtures, elevates, expands the soul. 
 They with their ruddy bloom rejoice the eve, 4Go 
 
 And with their odorous scent the smell ; but this, 
 
V.] THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 165 
 
 At once in beauty and perfume supreme, 
 
 Clothes all terrestrial things with heavenly light, 
 
 And quickens by its spiritual essences 
 
 The heaven-implanted spirit. Of this, fair Eve, 
 
 This noblest boon of God to Paradise, 
 
 Freely and without fear partake with me/ 
 
 " Into her ear, into her heart the words 
 Of that first tempter stole. Now glow'd the fruit 
 Deliciously beneath the morning sun, 470 
 
 Sweet to the eye, and sweeter to the mouth, 
 Sweetest of all as promising unknown 
 Unending banquets to the craving spirit. 
 And so, with fatal and disastrous ease 
 Lifting her hand into the clustering boughs, 
 She touched, she took, she tasted. One small taste 
 Sufficed. Her eyes were openM ; and she seemed, 
 The moorings cut which bound her to the shore, 
 Launched on an ocean of delights. Alas, 
 Perfidious sea, on which the fairest bark 460 
 
 E'er floated suffered foulest wrong and wreck. 
 
 " Awhile as in a dream she stood, but soon 
 Her scattered thoughts recalled, and from the boughs 
 Selecting one loaden with luscious fruit 
 She pluck'd it bower'd in leaves, and took her way 
 To seek her absent lord. Him soon she met 
 Returning with no laggard steps, for when 
 The serpent slid with such strange haste away 
 
166 THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 The loitering minutes hours appeared, and then 
 
 A strange solicitude unknown before 490 
 
 Began to creep around his boding heart, 
 
 And he retraced his path. But when he saw 
 
 Eve with flushed cheek and agitated mien 
 
 Advancing, in her hand that fatal branch, 
 
 His heart sank, and his lip quivered. And when 
 
 She told her tale, the serpent's honeyed words, 
 
 Her brief refusal, his repeated suit, 
 
 Her answer, his reply, her touch, her taste, 
 
 Then first upon the virgin soil of earth 
 
 Fell human tears, presage of myriad showers. 500 
 
 But when again with pleading eye and hand, 
 
 Silent but most persuasive eloquence, 
 
 She pray'd him share with her the fruit she bore, 
 
 Then Adam wail'd aloud : 
 
 " ' O Eve, my wife, 
 Heaven's last, heaven's dearest gift, what hast thou done ? 
 Me miserable ! Thou hast undone thyself, 
 Thyself and me ; for if thou diest I die, 
 Bone of my bone, flesh of my very flesh, — 
 Eve, in whose veins my heart's best juices flow. 
 "What can I do, what suffer for thee ? Say 510 
 
 I rigorously refuse this fatal fruit, 
 What, shall I see thy warm and gentle limbs 
 Stiffen in death, and live myself? How live? 
 Alone ? Or peradventure God will take 
 Another rib, and form another Eve ? 
 
V.] THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 1()7 
 
 Nay, we are one. My heart, myself am thine. 
 
 Our Maker made us one. Shall I unmake 
 
 His union ? and transfer from heart to heart 
 
 My very life ? Far higher I deem of love, 
 
 No transferable, perishable thing, 520 
 
 But flowing from its secret fountain God, 
 
 Like God immortal and immutable. 
 
 But oh, what follows ? Adam, be thou sure 
 
 Of thy inflexible resolve — death, death : 
 
 Both cannot live, and therefore both must die/ 
 
 " So saying, from her hand he took and ate, 
 Not circumvented by the serpent's fraud, 
 But blindly overcome by human love, 
 Love's semblance, which belied its name, denying 
 The Great Creator for the creature's sake. 530 
 
 u All this, and more than I can tell thee now, 
 Ourselves invisible we saw : and, when 
 Eve laid her hand on that forbidden fruit, 
 Not one but felt God's interdict alone 
 Restrain'd from dashing it aside. This knew 
 The wily serpent lay not in our charge, 
 Enjoin'd to ward off violence, not fraud 6 
 But little guess'd we what malignant foe 
 Lurk'd in that snake. Nor marvel ; who, though 
 
 warn'd 
 Dark mysteries of evil were abroad, 540 
 
168 THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 Who ever surmised that God-like Lucifer, 
 The noblest of the firstborn sons of light, 
 Would so debase his archangelic form 
 As into that sly reptile to descend, 
 And mingle his ethereal spirit one hour 
 With bestial instinct ? Little then we guess'd 
 To what abominations pride will stoop. 
 Nor only we, but heaven's sublimest thrones 
 Were here at fault. 
 
 " Three weary days and nights 
 We watched that miserable human pair, 550 
 
 Weeping their utter ruin. Death had stolen 
 Into their bosom's sanctuary : and lo, 
 For love despite, for confidence mistrust, 
 And for the ringing merriment of joy 
 Mourning and heaviness ; but not the death 
 For which in desperate expectancy 
 They waited. And when this came not, they strove 
 (And who that saw them could refrain his tears ?) 
 To hide their shame with fig-leaves loosely strung, 
 Lamenting their rent robe of innocence, 56o 
 
 Rent by themselves. But now the third day's sun 
 Was setting, and the wind of evening blew 
 Its cool refreshment over wood and wave, 
 When to our inexpressible delight, 
 But their quick fear, Messiah's voice was heard 
 Walking in Eden. In His eye was grief, 
 
V.] THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 169 
 
 And on His holy brow displeasure, mix'd 
 
 With deep compassion, sate. With gentle voice 
 
 He summon ; d those, who in their dread had sought 
 
 The shelter of a leafy labyrinth. 570 
 
 Trembling and pale they came, expecting death 
 
 From Him their righteous Judge ; but He, with all 
 
 A father's pity towards an erring child, 
 
 Father and Judge in one, inquired their shame. 
 
 Alas, their very words betrayed them, while 
 
 Adam on Eve, Eve on the serpent, threw 
 
 The load of guilt. But first upon the last 
 
 The crushing sentence fell, the curse of God. 
 
 No longer emulous of birds in speed, 
 
 Darting like light from tree to tree, henceforth 580 
 
 The serpent's belly to the dust should cleave, 
 
 Dust be its nauseous meat, until at length 
 
 The woman's Seed beneath His bruised heel 
 
 Should bruise its head for ever. Mystic words, 
 
 Which, even as uttered, fhTd our hearts with awe ! 
 
 Then, turning to the serpent's victims, God 
 
 Assigned to each their lot retributive : 
 
 To Eve were sorrows of the womb and breasts 
 
 Foretold, and multiplied from age to age, 
 
 With strict subjection to her husband's law — 590 
 
 A lot unsoften'd till the Son of Man 
 
 Was of a woman born : to Adam, toil 
 
 And bread wrung hardly from his native earth, 
 
 Fruitful of thorns and watered with his sweat, 
 
 Till dust should to its kindred dust return. 
 
170 THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 tt And then mankind's first Priest and Minister 
 Before them slew some firstlings of the flock, 
 And pour'd their blood upon the thirsty soil, 
 And having flayed the carcases consumed 
 The flesh upon a sudden hearth of coals : 600 
 
 First altar, and first holocausts, which taught 
 The sinner that through sacrifice alone, 
 The guiltless for the guilty slain, was now 
 For man access to God. This having done, 
 He took those skins and fleeces, nor disdained 
 To fashion garments for their trembling limbs, 
 Type of His spotless robe of righteousness, 
 And clothed them. Nor till then the Son of God, 
 Before He re-assumed His Father's throne, 
 In pity lest in some rash hour they dare, 610 
 
 Fallen as they were, to touch the tree of life, 
 And thus (disastrous victory) achieve 
 An immortality in mortal sin, 
 Drave them before Him, weeping as they went, 
 Forth from that happy garden, through its walks 
 Of fruit-trees, by its crystal rivulets, 
 And past its countless bowers of blossoming shade 
 To Eden's distant gates. These opening wide 
 Disclosed what seemed a tangled wold beyond, — 
 Dark forests with their sparse and scanty plots 620 
 
 Of pasture. But no choice remained them now. 
 Loth went they forth. And at the portal blazed 
 The flaming circling sword which warird their step 
 From nearer ,u cess to the tree of life, 
 
V.] THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 171 
 
 And cherubim of glory shadowing 
 
 The mercy-seat, the footstool of God's throne. 
 
 u The sun was set. The mists hung heavily 
 Around the mountain-tops : Adam and Eve, 
 Without the gates but near them as they might, 
 Were sleeping for sheer sorrow ; when my prince 630 
 Gabriel, who with Messiah came from heaven, 
 Call'd me. Together silently we roam'd 
 The lonely walks of Paradise, through trees 
 Which to our pensive musing seem'd to droop 
 Their foliage as we passed ; until we came 
 To Eve's now solitary nuptial bower. 
 No happy hearts beat there : no angel guards 
 Kept vigil : not a sound ruffled the air — 
 Till Gabriel pointing to the desolate couch 
 Said, c See what Sin hath wrought. The die is cast, 640 
 The vast conspiracy is now abroad, 
 The conflict is begun. Of all the thrones 
 Summoned to meet in council before God, 
 Not one was there, but Lucifer had tried 
 Their faith as ours — whether in truth or not, 
 None knew — such subtle ambiguity 
 Had clothed his words. Nor only potentates, 
 But all the legionary hosts of light, 
 Since his vicegerency began, have known 
 Struggle with doubts of outer darkness born. 650 
 
 Myriads have falFn : myriads twice told are firm. 
 Thus far the Word revcaPd. But when we ask'd 
 
172 THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 Who was the tempter ? Who had fallen ? Who stood ? 
 
 How first the war arose, and how would end ? 
 
 He answered that the strife would shortly prove 
 
 His friends and foes, assaying every spirit ; 
 
 And warned us that rebellion, now awork 
 
 Among the hosts of heaven, would forthwith cast 
 
 Its shadow upon earth : that man would fall : 
 
 That days of foul ingratitude would seem 660 
 
 To blot His love : that angels would be devils, 
 
 Traducing God and all that breathed of God : 
 
 That devils would become from age to age 
 
 More devilish ; and mankind likewise : that Sin, 
 
 Deadlier eruption than when hidden fires 
 
 Bursting from earth's entrails have wrapt in night 
 
 Former creations, over all would cast 
 
 The mantling pall of death, dreadful eclipse : 
 
 That He, foreseeing all this ruin, had formed, 
 
 Deep in the unfathomable depth that lies 670 
 
 Beneath the ocean veiling things unseen, 
 
 Two vast receptacles sundered though near, 
 
 One luminous, one dark : the first He named 
 
 After this lovely Eden, Paradise, 
 
 Henceforth the outer court of heaven itself; 
 
 The other, precinct to the fiery lake 
 
 Of dread Gehenna, Hell : and, ever as death 
 
 Touched with his icy spear the sons of men, 
 
 Thither their spirits dismantled should descend, 
 
 And there await His judgment-bar, when they 
 
 And rebel angels should receive their doom. 
 
V.] THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 173 
 
 €€ c Thus while Messiah spake, who should approach 
 His throne, as wearied with unwonted speed, 
 But Lucifer ? his brow contract, his eye 
 Flashing with indignation, which at once 
 Burst from his lips — " Mankind, Thy chosen race, 
 Ingrate, and only by a reptile urged, 
 Have eaten of the fruit proscribed. Wilt Thou 
 I smite them, so that in the threatened day 
 Of their transgression they may perish, Lord ? " 690 
 
 " Myself will judge them," in calm majesty 
 The Son replied, " Myself will judge them soon. 
 Meanwhile their sin will be its chastisement. 
 Sheathe thou thy sword, and to thy charge return." 
 
 " ' And forthwith Lucifer obeyM ; and then 
 The everlasting Son, as if methought 
 Reposing on our loyalty and love, 
 Turned to us saying, " My children, be not ye 
 Staggered or troubled overmuch. Or ever 
 The cloud arose, I warned you of the storm. 700 
 
 And fiercely will the tempest rage ere long, 
 And the proud billows toss themselves on high, 
 And seem to mingle heaven's serene expanse 
 With nether darkness. Fear not ye. For I 
 Am throned above the angry waternoods, 
 Compassionate because Omnipotent, 
 Patient because Eternal. Sons of God, 
 Be ye, too, patient. Not by power alone 
 Must this great fight be foughten, or My foes 
 
174 THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 Beneath the glory of My countenance 710 
 
 Would melt like yonder incense clouds away. 
 
 Howbeit not by power, but love with hate 
 
 Conflicting, and humility with pride, 
 
 Matchless humility with matchless pride, 
 
 My Spirit shall wrestle with the spirit of evil 
 
 In what may seem long while an equal war, 
 
 But shall not prove so in the event. Hereby 
 
 Shall the allegiance of My saints be known. 
 
 There will be adverse powers, yet high in rank, 
 
 The thrones and principalities of hell, 720 
 
 Who shall bear rule through their appointed times, 
 
 And challenge, as My representatives, 
 
 Observance. Evil shall have scope enough, 
 
 And range through heavenly places unconfined, 
 
 The sons of darkness robed as sons of light, 
 
 Until their hideous nature be declared 
 
 And branded with the brand of wickedness, 
 
 (Nor sooner their commission I revoke,) 
 
 Gods of an evil eminence. Till then 
 
 Their eminence observe, their evil abhor. 730 
 
 Avenge not ye My cause. Vengeance is Mine. 
 
 And when My time is come, I will arise 
 
 And with the blasting of My breath of wrath 
 
 Scatter My foes, and all My Father's smile 
 
 Reflecting on My saints, angels and men, 
 
 Fill heaven and earth with everlasting joy. " 
 
 " ( So spake Messiah. And such pure delighl 
 
V.] THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 175 
 
 In blessing and responsive blessedness. 
 
 Such calm assurance, such triumphant love 
 
 Breathed in His aspect, none who saw but clave 740 
 
 To Him with new intensity of zeal ; 
 
 And, arduous as the strife foretold might prove, 
 
 All felt beneath the banner of His love 
 
 Labour was bliss, and battle victory. 
 
 And soon the council was dissolved. The rest 
 
 Thou know'st ; man's summons to his Maker's feet ; 
 
 His and Eve's sentence, and expulsion hence : 
 
 But tell me how the guileful serpent led 
 
 Those guiltless to transgress ; for much I deem 
 
 Angels from men as men from angels learn/ 750 
 
 " Then I to Gabriel told what now to thee 
 Of Eden's wreck. Nor then alone, but oft 
 That great archangel summon'd me to rove 
 With him among those solitary walks, 
 And talk of happier days. But time would fail 
 Here to retrace the ages, age by age 
 Darker and more defiled, until the earth 
 Was fill'd with lust and rapine. Not at once, 
 In men or angels, the abhorrent plague 
 Appear'd in all its loathsomeness. But as 76o 
 
 In some fair virgin's bosom a small spot, 
 As if a thorn had prick'd the delicate skin, 
 Rises and spreads an ever-fretting sore, 
 Creeping from limb to limb, corrosive, foul, 
 Until the miserable leper lives 
 
176 THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 A dying life, and dies a living death : 
 
 So there. What though the cherubim diffused 
 
 Their glory at the gates of Paradise, 
 
 Earth's altar hearth of worship : what though men 
 
 Peered through those golden bars on heavenly fields : 770 
 
 What though they knew the tree of life within 
 
 Shed month by month its beatific fruit, 
 
 Unpluck'd but unremoved, a silent pledge 
 
 Of immortality not wholly lost : 
 
 What though thy eldest ancestors, themselves 
 
 The firstfruits of redeeming pity' and love, 
 
 Their children and their children's children told 
 
 (A few millennial lives linked all to each) 
 
 Of man's primeval state : all was in vain. 
 
 The babe whom Eve, drying her woful tears, 780 
 
 Clasp'd as the promised Seed, while angels stood 
 
 Around unwitnessed sponsors to his name, 
 
 Arrived at years, too soon betrayed himself 
 
 Begotten of the Serpent's venomous brood, 
 
 His brother's murderer : I was one who bore 
 
 That protomartyr to his saintly rest : 
 
 Dark omen of dark days to come. Arts grew 
 
 Apace, but chiefly minister'd to arms ; 
 
 Till Earth grew sick with deeds of violence, 
 
 Sick at the heart. And when a holy seer, 790 
 
 Who walked with God amid a godless world, 
 
 Stood forth, and by the Prescient Spirit foretold 
 
 Jehovah's Advent with His myriad saints 
 
 To judgment, soon the madden'd multitude 
 
 L 
 
V.] THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 177 
 
 Had torn that prophet limb from limb, except 
 The Master whom he served had stoop'd, and borne 
 His servant in His whirlwind chariot home. 
 
 " And then the darkness deepened. Men with men 
 Wrought wickedness. Nor less the spirits malign. 
 The which when first they fell, as I have known, 800 
 Compassionated even the wreck they made, 
 Grew in malignity, till crime and craft 
 Became to them what virtue once had been, 
 Their joy, their nature, their essential life : 
 Lovers of darkness, foul, obscene, impure, 
 Some darker, fouler than the rest. Of whom 
 Were Uziel and Samchasai his mate, 
 By birthright sons of God, now sons of wrath, 
 Who prompted by the boast of Lucifer, 
 Mankind should be his bride, and stung with lust, 810 
 Mix'd with the daughters of unhappy Eve, 
 Heirs of her beauty not her penitence, 
 In wedlock. Fatal league ! whence soon arose 
 The monstrous brood of giants, ruthless race, 
 Offspring of human and angelic kind, 
 Who now confusion more confused, and stain'd 
 The fairest homes with violence and blood. 
 Rapine ran riot on the earth. Alas, 
 Was this the earth, whose birth we blithely sang ? 
 Hell gloated o'er the ruin : till the arch-spirit, S20 
 
 Who ever at heaven's circling festivals, 
 Cloaking his malice under show of zeal, 
 
 N 
 
178 THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 His bitter accusations plied, at last 
 
 Affirmed all godliness extinct, and pray'd 
 
 For vengeance on the wretched sons of men 
 
 To vindicate the majesty of heaven. 
 
 False spirit, in after ages Devil calPd, 
 
 The lying father of all lies ! But then 
 
 He seemed to triumph when the Word replied, 
 
 One saintly patriarch alone was left; 830 
 
 And, if mankind refused his warning voice, 
 
 Then after respite due the wrath should fall. 
 
 u Fresh respite only fresh rebellion bred. 
 Earth fainted at her children's deeds. And God, 
 With whose unalterable attributes 
 Grief jars not, grieved within His heart, that man 
 Was made for disobedience to unmake. 
 Judgment awoke, and watched with tearful eye 
 The cup of crime fast rising to the brim, 
 And trembling on the very edge. Meanwhile 840 
 
 At His command the ponderous ark was built, 
 That jest of scoffers, on the wooded plains 
 Of Asshur. Little recked the sons of men; 
 The shipwrights lightly jested as they wrought, 
 And ask'd if that huge vessel were to mount 
 The hills or navigate the sandy wastes ? 
 They ate, they drank, they wooed them wives and won, 
 They builded palaces, they planted trees, 
 Rich with far distant promise. Drop by drop 
 The measure of ungodliness was fill\l. 850 
 
V.] THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 179 
 
 It overflowed. And forthwith Lucifer, 
 Whether his eye, burning like coals of fire, 
 With indignation gleam'd, or proud despite, 
 Some doubted, claimed the overhanging wrath 
 Should fall as threatened on his guilty realm. 
 
 " His triumphing was short. For now the Son 
 Came by a legion of His armed saints 
 Attended (I was there) , and sent us forth 
 To seize amid their foul indulgences 
 (So Phinehas the lustful Zimri smote) 860 
 
 First victims, Uziel and his cursed crew 
 Surprised, and bring them fettered hand and foot 
 Before Him. As He spake, so was it don?. 
 And these Messiah, in the sight of all 
 FalPn and unfalPn alike, adjudged to lie 
 In chains of darkness in the lowest hell, 
 Reserved unto the dreadful day of doom. 
 Immediately we led them forth. No hand 
 Was raised for rescue ; and no pleading voice 
 For mercy. Terror shook the adverse ranks 8 70 
 
 To see some of their mightiest thus arraigned, 
 And cast to punishment condign : nor less 
 Forebodings of like vengeance on themselves 
 Disturbed their guilty thoughts. 
 
 " While startled heaven 
 Thus first beheld empyreal thrones dethroned, 
 Earth trembled underneath her Maker's frown. 
 
 n 2 
 
180 THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. [BOOK 
 
 The ark received her freightage, Noah last : 
 
 Then God shut to the door : and massive clouds 
 
 From treasure-houses inexhaustible 
 
 Mantled the firmament in black, and burst 880 
 
 In torrent floods on the soon sated plains. 
 
 The rivers spurned their customed banks. The sea 
 
 Roared, and enormous waves, crested with foam, 
 
 Broke with incessant flow o'er sands and cliffs, — 
 
 Vain barriers ! Whether now the ocean beds, 
 
 By subterranean fires upheaved and raised, 
 
 Disgorged the secrets of their- pathless depths ; 
 
 Or whether, as the moon's calm influence draws 
 
 The refluent tides in daily ebb and flow, 
 
 So now she or some planetary orb 890 
 
 Displaced, or in malign conjunction set, 
 
 Drew more than half their waters from those seas 
 
 Which more than half submerge thy native globe, 
 
 Charging the heaven with clouds, and wrapping earth 
 
 From pole to pole in one unbroken flood, 
 
 A dreary waste of ocean without shore, 
 
 And only by the solitary ark 
 
 Relieved, the second cradle of mankind. 
 
 " So saw I it, returning with my peers 
 From our sad quest to Hades. Not that those poo 
 
 Alone within the patriarch's vessel hid 
 Found mercy. They alone were saved from death. 
 But others, when the flood of waters rose 
 From shores to plains, from plains to upland slopes, 
 
V.] THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 181 
 
 From slopes to craggy rocks, from rocks to hills 
 
 Still fugitive, at last betook themselves 
 
 To agonizing prayer, their sin and guilt 
 
 With bitter anguish not unmix'd with faith 
 
 Bewailing, ere the lamp of life was quench'd ; 
 
 Too late for rescue from the whelming waves, 910 
 
 But not for that Almighty love they sought 
 
 To snatch them from a lower depth beneath. 
 
 And these, a remnant of that rain'd world, 
 
 Surnamed the disembodied spirits in ward, 
 
 Were convoyed to a lonely vale distinct 
 
 With its own walks and gates in Paradise : 
 
 Nor mingled with the other Blessed Dead, 
 
 Till He, who grasped the keys of death and hell, 
 
 Himself unbarred those portals, and proclaimed 
 
 The everlasting triumph of the cross. 920 
 
 t€ Justice had had its way ; and Mercy's voice 
 Was now heard pleading in the ear of God 
 Well pleased. Heaven closed its windows, and the deep 
 Restrained its fountains, while the arid winds 
 Swept o'er the floods, until the floating ark 
 Grounded on Ararat, whose haughty peaks 
 Soon from the tide emerged, islands of rock 
 'Mid those subsiding waters. Day by day 
 The thirsty sun drank seas. And when the dove, 
 A second time returning to her roost, 930 
 
 Brought in her mouth a tender olive-leaf, 
 Emblem of peace, then Noah and hit sons, 
 
182 THE FALL OF ANGELS AND OF MEN. 
 
 With living tribes innumerous, beasts and birds, 
 
 Forth from the ark came flocking. And ere long 
 
 The smoke of sacrifice arose, and God 
 
 Smell'd a sweet savour of obedient faith, 
 
 And set His opal rainbow in the clouds, 
 
 A token when His judgments are abroad 
 
 Of His perpetual covenant of peace. 
 
 " Thus have I at thy suit in brief retraced 940 
 
 The early annals of Creation's birth, 
 Its cloudless sunrise, cloudless soon no more, 
 Obscured and dark, but in its darkness spanned 
 By the pure arch of promise. Time remains 
 (Thine eye forbids me think I weary thee) 
 To tell thee of another better ark, 
 Like Noah's, cast upon the stormy floods, 
 But sheltering One, who gave His life for man, 
 A nobler Victim on a holier mount, 
 The fragrance of which perfect Sacrifice 950 
 
 Breathes infinite beatitude, and spans 
 The clouds of judgment with eternal light/' 
 
 Thus Oriel spake, and after grateful pause, 
 Sweet silence, and yet sweeter interlude 
 Of music on melodious strings, resumed 
 The story of the great To-day of Time. 
 
 END OF THE FIFTH BOOK. 
 
183 
 
 BOOK VI. 
 
 THE EMPIRE OF DARKNESS. 
 
 " The rainbow, that o'er Noah's sacrifice 
 
 Stamped on the morning clouds the smile of God, 
 
 Had scarcely hidden in the amber light 
 
 Its unremaining hues, when Lucifer 
 
 Summoned his scattered armies to attend 
 
 His presence on his great viceregal throne, 
 
 Set in the airy firmament. Far off 
 
 The signal of the archangelic trump 
 
 Rang through the void of heaven, and all his hosts 
 
 Flocking in numbers without number stood, 10 
 
 Cohorts and fiery legions arm'd for war, 
 
 At awful distance from the standard waving 
 
 Hard by his seat. Around it thrones were set 
 
 In imitation of the mount of God, 
 
 And soon a clarion blast resounding eall'd 
 
 The rebel chieftains from their serried ranks 
 
 To close about their Prince. Congress malign 
 
 Of powers in common covenant with death, 
 
 Gloomy conspirators, despair of good 
 
184 THE EMPIRE OF DARKNESS. [BOOK 
 
 Graved on their brow, and in their baleful eyes 20 
 
 Hunger for mischief ! But their robes of light 
 
 And coronets of glory flashing fire 
 
 Dazzled the empyrean, nor bespoke 
 
 Less than a synod of apostate gods ; 
 
 Whom Satan, over all predominant 
 
 In cruelty and craft and fiendish pride 
 
 As in infernal splendour, thus addressed : 
 
 " ' Virtues of heaven, my comrades, who with me 
 Have rather chosen liberty and war 
 
 Than vassalage and ease, noble have been 30 
 
 And vast beyond my highest hopes achieved 
 Our triumphs. Where is now that innocent world 
 Which God created for His pastime ? Where ? 
 Destroyed, except a miserable few 
 Hardly escaping with their skins, and they 
 Sure victims in their turn to our intrigues. 
 Messiah said that life should fight with death, 
 And good with evil. They have fought. But whose, 
 Proudly I ask, the victory ? ours or God's ? 
 Not God's, but ours. One solitary seer, 40 
 
 One only has been snatched from death and us. 
 Is this the uttermost the Prince of Life, 
 Aided by Michael and his peers, can do 
 For His poor servants ? Nay, I wrong His rule : 
 Some obscure suppliants age by age have foiled 
 Our efforts immature as yet. The rest 
 Have rather seem'd to court our tutelage 
 
VI.] THE EMPIRE OF DARKNESS. 185 
 
 Than we to proffer it ; and greedily 
 
 Have revelFd in what we misdeem, no doubt, 
 
 Hard servitude with scanty wages paid. 50 
 
 So fertile in that cursed soil have proved 
 
 The germs of sin. Darkness, tremendous Power, 
 
 I see it written on the scrolls of fate, 
 
 Must reign for ever there. But not from this 
 
 My only confidence of empire. God, 
 
 As I forewarned you, wars with God : and hence 
 
 Interminable strife, or endless truce. 
 
 What are they but His attributes in us 
 
 That baffle Him ? Had He not fashioned us 
 
 Free and immortal, He had forced our love, 60 
 
 Or in a moment quenched our feeble hate. 
 
 But now Omnipotence hath bound itself, 
 
 Nor can Omniscience pierce the shrine of thought 
 
 Itself has made inviolate. Think you 
 
 Messiah knew me, when of all His hosts, 
 
 Of all His flaming myriads, me He made 
 
 God of the world and guardian of mankind, 
 
 And for His viceroy chose His bitterest foe ? 
 
 Ah, friends, He was too prodigal of gifts, 
 
 And now repents too late. Wisdom and might 70 
 
 Have here outwitted and outdone themselves. 
 
 But now, ye gods, advise how best to wage 
 
 Protracted warfare : for it seems mankind, 
 
 As from a second centre, shall proceed 
 
 To propagate their race — matter to us 
 
 Of future triumph. Let them multiply : 
 
1S6 THE EMPIRE OF DARKNESS. [BOOK 
 
 They only multiply our wealth in slaves. 
 
 Were they upright as Adam, ere he fell, 
 
 And pure as was their unstained mother, Eve, 
 
 Did innocence secure those guileless hearts so 
 
 From guile ? And these, impaired by sin, will prove 
 
 An easier booty. That pellucid belt, 
 
 Slung on the clouds, forbids us hope or fear 
 
 Another flood of waters. And henceforth, 
 
 Safe from such vast catastrophe of ruin, 
 
 Though sweeping millions into hell at once, 
 
 We weave our snares, and ply our arts to draw 
 
 From their allegiance all the sons of men, 
 
 Not one like that grave patriarch unseduced 
 
 (For see how God's love lingers over one) : oo 
 
 Then shall we reign without a rival here, 
 
 This firmament our throne for ever. Say, 
 
 What counsel or what might were best employ \\ 
 
 For this great enterprise, in which we stand 
 
 Equal antagonists to heaven in arms?'' 
 
 " He ask'd, and Baalim arose, who next 
 Shone in that fallen hierarchy sublime : 
 Himself the prince of three, who with him wrought 
 In all things, Belus and Beelzebub, 
 A triad of angelic thrones. For God, loo 
 
 Who, when He lit the flrmamental dome, 
 Hung in the heavens a thousand double stars, 
 Triple, quadruple, multiple, around 
 Each other on a common centre poised. 
 
VI.] THE EMPIRE OF DARKNESS. 187 
 
 With colours complementary to each, 
 
 Associate suns of glory, — God who grouped 
 
 The Pleiads in their glittering sisterhood, 
 
 Thus in the birthtime of creation wove 
 
 Innumerable bonds 'twixt spirits and spirits, 
 
 Source of untold delights in holy hearts, 1 10 
 
 Sweet concords, charities, and tender loves, 
 
 As with the fourfold cherubim, instinct 
 
 With One presiding Spirit : but in the rest, 
 
 Apostate, breeding worse conspiracies ; 
 
 Which now appeared, when Baalim, his brow 
 
 Clouded with counsel, pride impersonate, 
 
 A trinity of wills in one expressed, 
 
 Thus opened to his peers in crime his mind : 
 
 " ' Well hast thou summoned us, O Lucifer, 
 To consultation. Hitherto the war, 120 
 
 Though crowned with victory beyond our hopes, 
 Has lacked deliberate plan. And now mankind, 
 Afflicted by the recent flood, will prove 
 Less facile to our desultory' assaults. 
 My counsel is, mindful how we ourselves, 
 Combining and conspiring, spirit with spirit, 
 Under thy subtle leadership, O Prince, 
 Escaped the yoke, whenever flesh and blood 
 Have swarm'd into a multitude again, 
 To bind their scattered tribes and families 130 
 
 In one confederate nation. Let one name 
 Unite them. Let one vast metropolis 
 
188 THE EMPIRE OF DARKNB88. [BOOK 
 
 Foster one common pride. Or, if ye will, 
 Incite them to erect some mountain pile 
 Whose top shall reach to heaven in their surmise, 
 And let this be their citadel of strength 
 For after a£*es. So shall deeds of wrong 4 , 
 Which timid hearts had shrunk from if alone, 
 Be wrought together in defiant league/ 
 
 " So counselled Baalim ; and after him uo 
 
 Rose on his right Apollyon, truculent 
 His eye, and on his flaming sword half drawn 
 Rested his restless hand. ' Comrades/ he said, 
 ' If Baalim's design prevail, and one 
 Colossal empire stride athwart the world, 
 What room were left for war ? What space for fields, 
 Where I have reaped the richest sheaves of death, 
 And mingling with the hostile ranks infused 
 Infernal hatred into human hearts ? 
 Nay, be it ours to nurture rival realms, 150 
 
 Ourselves o'er them presiding (we shall love, 
 As loves the prowling wolf its chosen flock, 
 Each one his kingdom), and then sow betwixt 
 Suspicions, hatreds, lusts, whence wars are spawned, 
 Until we lead their armies fired with rage 
 To mutual slaughter, foiling Him who made 
 All of one common blood. Ye have my mind/ 
 
 " Apollyon sate, gloomy as death. But now 
 Near him arose, the loveliesl in form 
 
VI.] THE EMPIRE OF DARKNESS. 189 
 
 Of all the lost archangels, Ashtaroth, — 160 
 
 The corypheus of a band of spirits, 
 
 Six spirits, himself the seventh, and the rest 
 
 Only less lovely than their chosen chief, — 
 
 Of winning voice and sweet attractive grace ; 
 
 So gentle, that his worshippers on earth 
 
 Deemed him a goddess, though none such exist 
 
 Among the fallen or unfallen hosts ; 
 
 In diverse countries known by diverse names 
 
 Hereafter : by the virgin troops of Tyre 
 
 Surnamed Astarte, but in Nineveh 170 
 
 Mylitta called ; along the isles of Greece 
 
 Invoked as Aphrodite ocean-born, 
 
 As Venus by the stately dames of Rome ; 
 
 But in all lands adored with moonlight rites 
 
 And softest hymns melodious. Ah, false fiend, 
 
 In whose perfidious eye damnation lurks, 
 
 A chalice in his hand of sparkling wine 
 
 Whereof who drinks must die, and on his lip 
 
 Kisses and smiles and everlasting woe ! 
 
 " ' Thine, lordly Baalim, the task severe 180 
 
 Of building vast confederacies of pride : 
 And thine, Apollyon, jarring wars to breed 
 Among the nations. But to me belongs, 
 To me and to my legionary band, 
 The smoother but the not less onerous work 
 Of garlanding with buds and flowers and fruits 
 The paths of pleasurable youth. I hang 
 
190 THE EMPIRE OF DARKNESS. [BOOK 
 
 Around the traveller's footsteps day and night 
 
 Singing my dulcet songs, and few are they 
 
 Who close their ears against the charmer's voice. 190 
 
 Each victim draws his mate : the throngs increase : 
 
 They cluster round my cloud-like draperies : 
 
 They press around my glancing feet : as moths 
 
 That scorch their wings against the ardent flame, 
 
 But stay not till with many an airy flight 
 
 They plunge at last into their fiery tomb. 
 
 Men call me Love, the deity of love. 
 
 And thus it happened; when I saw that lust 
 
 Conceiving brought forth sin, and sin alone 
 
 Could wrest from God the empire God had made, 200 
 
 I thought the best perverted would be worst, 
 
 And chose the holiest of connubial rites, 
 
 The mutual laying open each to each 
 
 Of life's profoundest purest sanctities, 
 
 And deem'd infusing poison there to mar 
 
 The river at its fountain. The event 
 
 Hath not belied my hopes. Friends, I have breathed 
 
 Upon the lamp of hymeneal joy, 
 
 And it hath sicken'd, sicken'd and expired, 
 
 Almost as soon as lighted. Oftener yet 210 
 
 Have I beguiled unstable hearts to seek 
 
 In licence pleasures God has link'd to love, 
 
 And blown upon their innocence, and bent 
 
 In triumph not unmix'd with pity' and scorn 
 
 O'er the unhallow'd couch. Men arm'd in proof 
 
 Against all other wiles have yielded here, 
 
VI.] THE EMPIRE OF DARKNESS. 191 
 
 And, conquered by a glance, a blush, a sigh, 
 
 For one brief hour upon a stranger's bosom 
 
 Have bartered immortality of bliss. 
 
 And haply in my woven chains of flowers, 220 
 
 Chains light as gossamer, I, Baalim, 
 
 Have bound more captives to our prince's car 
 
 Than thou hast held in fortresses of power, 
 
 Or thou, Apollyon, slain on fields of blood/ 
 
 " And, as the fallen seraph sate, he threw 
 A glance of such bewitching tenderness 
 Around the assembly, none who caught his eye 
 But felt, and with involuntary assent 
 Did homage to the spell : his radiant form 
 Recline or standing seem'd embodied grace, 230 
 
 And the melodious treble of his voice, 
 Like the far echo of seraphic harps, 
 Rang in their ears : when on a sudden one, 
 In stature low for gods, of downcast look, 
 Rose from the furthest of those golden thrones, 
 Mammon his name. His slow and painful words 
 At first seem'd clinging to his lips, but soon 
 Fell on that council with momentous weight, 
 Nor least upon its haughty president : 
 
 " c I too have poised the heart of man, and watch'd 240 
 With sleepless eye what avenue may best 
 Yield us access. And here I answer, Gold. 
 Smile not that yellow dust should have such power ; 
 
192 THE EMPIRE OF DARKNESS. [BOOK 
 
 For what is man but dust ? What marvel then 
 
 Dust over dust holds sway ? The blighted earth 
 
 No longer yields him her spontaneous fruit. 
 
 Poor wretch, his sweat moistens his daily bread. 
 
 Labour is bread, and bread is life : and thus 
 
 He lives a pensioner for every breath 
 
 Upon Another's bounty — yoke to us 250 
 
 Insufferable, not the less to man. 
 
 But gold appears a tower other than God, 
 
 With honours, pomp, and endless pleasures stored, 
 
 Impregnable while life shall last. Poor fool, 
 
 He knows not in the lowest keep a fire 
 
 Smoulders in its own ashes self-conceaFd : 
 
 It glows ; it flames ; it never says, Enough — 
 
 More is more fuel — till the shrivelFd soul, 
 
 Alive but wrapt in cerements of death, 
 
 Breathes out itself upon that funeral pyre. 260 
 
 Whatever counsels may obtain this day, 
 
 Let mortals worship at this golden shrine, 
 
 They will not fail of hell. What would ye more ? ' 
 
 " So Mammon sate ; and opposite arose 
 Moloch, tremendous deity, who thus 
 Louring addressed his peers : 
 
 " i There is a power 
 Mightier than pride, or war, or pleasure's thrall, 
 Or greed of gold, — the intolerable pangs 
 Of conscience seeking rest and finding none, 
 
VI.] THE EMPIRE OF DARKNESS. 193 
 
 The terror which hath torment. Slighting this, 270 
 
 We do ourselves, we do our cause much wrong. 
 
 Friends, I have seen the wretched outcast rove, 
 
 Driven by the anguish of tyrannic guilt, 
 
 Prom land to land self-exiled. I have seen 
 
 Parents imbrue their clenched hands in the blood 
 
 Of their own children. Nor do I despair 
 
 Of more. So dreadful are the shadows cast 
 
 From the dark outlines of that prison of death 
 
 Whence never yet a prisoner returned, 
 
 That unknown all-embracing dungeon house, 280 
 
 What likelier in process of time than they 
 
 Of men most miserable, finding God 
 
 Deaf to their rebel importunities, 
 
 Should call upon the dead ? a bootless cry, 
 
 Which nathless we will condescend to hear, 
 
 And by permission answer those who sell 
 
 Their souls for hidden lore, ordaining them 
 
 Not without dismal rites of sorcery 
 
 Our priests and priestesses. So shall we wield 
 
 An enginery of next to' Almighty power. 290 
 
 For conscience hath in it the strength of God, 
 
 Which can creation uncreate, and make 
 
 A hell of heaven. It is God's oracle : 
 
 And if our voice be but mistaken for God's, 
 
 The terror-stricken worshipper is ours, 
 
 Body and soul, for ever and for ever/ 
 
 " As Moloch spake, his gloomy words though brief 
 
 o 
 
194 THE EMPIRE OF DARKNESS. [BOOK 
 
 Such echo found in lamentable hearts 
 
 Once calm as yonder firmament, but now 
 
 Vex'd and disquieted and ill at ease, 300 
 
 (For what was man's. unrest to theirs, though like ?) 
 
 That misery held them mute. Which soon their chief 
 
 Perceiving, fearful lest remorse might lead 
 
 Any to mourn their choice (example dire), 
 
 Majestically rising from his throne 
 
 Around the council threw his scornful eye 
 
 Burning with pride, and thus resumed debate : 
 
 « c Thrones, virtues, principalities, and powers, 
 Titles vouchsafed us not in vain by One 
 Who never of His words or gifts repents, 310 
 
 Ours therefore by inalienable right, 
 Ye hear your brethren. Well have they advised. 
 Let Baalim his empire raise supreme, 
 Or empires out of ruined empires build, 
 Each greater than the last (for who can doubt 
 That God will cross our counsels ? vain attempt) , 
 Each worse, — a worse must still be possible, — 
 Our scale of greatness. Let Apollyon whet 
 The keen edge of intestine feuds and wars. 
 Let Ashtaroth in chains of love or lust 320 
 
 Lead forth his groups of willing prisoners, 
 Gay captives, garlanded with fading flowers, 
 Behind our chariot wheels. Let Mammon heap 
 Fuel for fire on stubborn hearts, and there 
 Foster the secret flame unquenchable. 
 
VI.] THE EMPIRE OF DARKNESS. 195 
 
 And last, though loftiest enterprise, be thou, 
 
 Moloch, as a god to men, and grasp 
 Their conscience with the iron gripe of fate. 
 
 We need your banded strength. Nothing, O peers, 
 Nothing is done while aught remains to do. 330 
 
 We have not trodden yet the unseen shades, 
 Divided, if report speaks true, betwixt 
 A paradise of bliss and prison of woe ; 
 To us alike impenetrable. At least 
 
 1 own my uttermost of effort foiled, 
 By some obscure necessity debarred, 
 
 Some limit against which I dashed my wings 
 As against viewless crystal. Be it so. 
 We have not yet achieved the battle-field; 
 Nor can expect the provinces beyond. 340 
 
 Earth once our trophy, we shall conquer peace, 
 And soon behold the regions under earth 
 Abandon'd by their Maker, nothing loth, 
 Being we leave the walls of heaven unsealed. 
 Earth, earth must first be ours. But, friends, for this 
 We must defile mankind ere we destroy : 
 Evil must go before us, death behind. 
 God has not yet forsaken man, nor yet 
 Suffers that we assail the fleshly tent 
 Of his short pilgrimage. Herein beware. 350 
 
 Here Samchasai and Uziel with their hosts 
 Erring have fallen ; a fall to be avenged, 
 Not followed. What, shall we, celestial powers, 
 For the brief lust of carnal pleasure mar 
 
 o 2 
 
196 THE EMPIRE OF DARKNESS. [BOOK 
 
 Our mighty future ? Tush, leave this to man, 
 
 Your dupes and drudges. Or if thoughts of joys, 
 
 Forbidden to angelic natures, stir 
 
 Within your bosom, only' abide your time, 
 
 And when the realms of darkness are defined, 
 
 And God has yielded this fair earth to us, 360 
 
 As He must yield when utterly corrupt, 
 
 Then shall ye and your legions, as ye list, 
 
 Act by mankind, your conquered heritage. 
 
 I will not question how ye treat your slaves. 
 
 Meanwhile be this our sleepless care to' estrange 
 
 Them and their God, rousing His wrath, their hate. 
 
 How think ye ? Had He not at Eden's gate 
 
 His mercy-seat and altar blazing nigh, 
 
 Whereat who knelt with sacrifice and prayer 
 
 Alone repulsed our arms ? Henceforth, O peers, 370 
 
 If men wall worship, let them worship us, 
 
 Despite the everlasting interdict 
 
 Which severs things unseen and seen. Why not ? 
 
 Let them make images of wood and stone, 
 
 Brass, iron, silver, gold, and call them gods, 
 
 Adoring us in them by countless names. 
 
 My counsel moves your laughter. But if once 
 
 The Almighty, jealous of His name blasphemed, 
 
 Swear in His wrath that He disowns mankind, 
 
 Our work is done, the empire is our own. 
 
 Be it thy charge, O subtle Sammael, 
 
 Thou master of the spells of ignorance, 
 
 To blind their eves and indurate their hearts. 
 
VI.] THE EMPIRE OF DARKNESS. L97 
 
 For now our watchword must be fraud, not force ; 
 Darkness our panoply : and of success 
 The past affords us no uncertain pledge/ 
 
 " He spake, and murmurs of assent not loud 
 But deep, — as is the ocean's sudden roar, 
 When a careering blast with tempest charged 
 Down rushing through the mountain gorges strikes 390 
 The waters of a rocky bay, whose cliffs 
 And caves re-echo when the storm is past, — 
 Spread in interminable waves of sound 
 Along those countless ranks. Gladly they crouched, 
 As weaker spirits will crouch, beneath the shade 
 Of wickedness more wicked than their own, 
 And calPd upon their prince as God : when, lo, 
 A cloud impenetrable to all light, 
 At first not larger than the mystic hand 
 The prophet's servant saw from Carmel's rocks, 400 
 
 Hung poised above the throne of Lucifer, 
 And, spreading with the speed of thought, o'erhung 
 The apostate armies, shroud of dreadful gloom, 
 Darkness that might be felt. Xor dark alone, 
 But soon sharp lightnings flash'd abruptly; bright 
 Startling the black a moment, and then quench'd ; 
 While volleys of tremendous thunder shook 
 The furthest empyrean, and the hearts 
 Of that rebellious host. Speechless they stood 
 And stricken, as if every peal announced no 
 
 The crash of worlds. In horror Lucifer 
 
198 THE EMPIRE OE DARKNESS. [BOOK 
 
 Gazed upward, sinking on one knee appalPd. 
 
 For still the darkness deepened; and the wrath 
 
 Apparent stamped on every guilty brow 
 
 Its scathing impress ineffaceable, 
 
 The death-brand on the children of despair. 
 
 And for one dreadful hour, one of heaven's hours, 
 
 None from his seat arose, or station stirred, 
 
 Or moved his lip, or trembled. Terror froze 
 
 Their hearts insensible, until a sound, 420 
 
 More terrible than thunder, vibrated 
 
 Through every spirit, Jehovah's awful laugh, 
 
 Mocking their fears and scorning their designs, 
 
 The laughter of Eternal Love incensed. 
 
 It passed ; and then as suddenly the sky 
 
 Was clear, and save the graven brand on each 
 
 No vestige of that cloud of wrath remained. 
 
 " Nor was it long before the rebel host 
 Resumed their courage, and in marvel gazed 
 Each on the other that the vengeful flame 430 
 
 Had smitten none among*st them, and ere long 
 Jested at their own fears, but vainly'' assayed 
 To rase the ineradicable sign 
 Too deeply on their cursed brow inured ; 
 But, finding all their efforts useless, laughed 
 At this dark badge, which Satan told his mates 
 (Satan henceforth his name, and demons theirs) 
 AVas the predestined bruise on him and his, 
 The serpent and its seed : — cheap penalty. 
 
VI.] THE EMPIRE OF DARKNESS. 199 
 
 He vaunted, for a world, and gladly paid, 440 
 
 A warrior's honourable scar, the pledge 
 Of daring and of desperate revenge. 
 
 " So in their fiendish pride they schemed. But this 
 Shadow of things to come was but the first 
 Faint pressure of God's hand, a transient breath 
 Blown from that wrath which to the lowest hell 
 Burns and shall burn for ever, — though by them 
 Discredited, when forth in swarms they went 
 From that infernal senate, as they thought 
 To wrest the sceptre from Almighty power, 450 
 
 And bafHe the All-wise in counsel. Fools, 
 And blind ! Vainly, when plann'd by Baalim 
 The city of confusion rear'd its brow 
 Towards heaven, a whisper of God's voice perplex'd 
 The builders' language and their works at once. 
 When Ashtaroth, standing himself aloof, 
 Through some of his perfidious crew defiled 
 With lust and blood the cities of the plain, 
 Vainly the fiery wrath too long provoked 
 Fell undistinguishing on men and fiends, 460 
 
 And made of earth's most fragrant flowery vale 
 A picture of Gehenna's burning lake. 
 And when at last the prince of darkness, couch'd 
 In symbol of the great leviathan, 
 The dragon of the river floods of Nile, 
 Hardened the heart of Pharaoh, scourged by all 
 Heaven's plagues, until il grew like adamant, 
 
200 THE EMPIRE OF DARKNESS. [BOOK 
 
 And led him to assay the ocean depths 
 
 And satisfy his lust on Israel there, 
 
 Vainly God moving in the pillar cloud 470 
 
 Smote with His glittering* sword that monster's head, 
 
 And with the wreck of chariots and of arms 
 
 And horsemen overtaken in baleful rout 
 
 Cumbered the waters and confused the shores. 
 
 All was in vain. Each desperate repulse 
 
 But seem'd to kindle fiercer subtler hate 
 
 In those infatuate spirits, till I have seen 
 
 The cheek of Michael alter with distress, 
 
 And all the hosts of heaven astonied stand, 
 
 As couriers in successive hours announced 480 
 
 Hell's endless crafts, each deadlier than the last. 
 
 " The clouds yet brooded npon Sinai's peaks, 
 And twice ten thousand chariots flashing fire 
 Attended Him, who plants His steps serene 
 Upon the whirlwind and the storm, and there 
 Was communing, as communes friend with friend, 
 "With Am ram's princely son, when Sammael, 
 (In Egypt as the great Osiris known,) 
 By all the judgments on his countless fanes 
 And Satan's ghastly wound imterrified, 490 
 
 _M< >ved Israel and their timid priest to cast 
 Their idol owl, and interweave with son^s 
 Their naked dances round the golden calf ; — 
 Vision to us of horror and of grief. 
 Presaging woo. Ah, faithless children ! Still 
 
VI.] THE EMPIRE OF DARKNESS. 201 
 
 The manna fell around their pilgrim tents; 
 
 The living water from the smitten roek 
 
 Still tracked their devious steps ; the fiery cloud, 
 
 Shadowing the tabernacle, still bespoke 
 
 Jehovah's awful Presence ; — when they turned 500 
 
 (Hard to believe, though seen) and chose for gods 
 
 Grim Moloch's shrine and Remphan's lurid star. 
 
 But Mercy strove with Judgment, and prevailed, 
 
 And led them to the promised land, a land 
 
 With milk and honey flowing, redolent 
 
 With Eden's fragrance in a fallen world, 
 
 The glory of all other lands. But there 
 
 Abandoning ere long the holy tent, 
 
 In Shiloh first, after on Zion pitch'd, 
 
 Throngs of insensate worshippers besiege 510 
 
 Lewd Baal's gates in Bethel and in Dan. 
 
 But little boots it to recall those scenes 
 
 Of foul apostasy, though here and there 
 
 Illumined with celestial lights of faith 
 
 And virtue militant. Once only' it seem'd, 
 
 When saintly David fell on sleep, and left 
 
 To Solomon his sceptre, prince of peace, 
 
 Angels might yet behold upon the earth 
 
 A nation witness for the truth. Ah, brief 
 
 And fleeting vision ! Soon on Salem's height 520 
 
 Gaunt altars rose to every hideous god. 
 
 And thenceforth 011 through wean' centuries 
 
 Of vigil, oft the blessed stars appeared 
 
202 THE EMPIRE OF DAKKH18S. [BOOK 
 
 As blotted from the very firmament 
 
 Appaird. What time of Israel's chosen tribes 
 
 Ten, like a loosened cliff, crumbled and sank 
 
 Into the surging tide of heathen lands, 
 
 Who shall relate the scoffs of fiendish mirth, 
 
 That taunted our persistent ministries 
 
 Camping around God's hidden ones? And when, — 530 
 
 Albeit awhile the sudden blast of death, 
 
 As Michael waved his keen far-reaching sword 
 
 Over the armies of Sennacherib, 
 
 Shielded the royal city, — when at last 
 
 The cup of Israel's wickedness was full, 
 
 And Asshur, trampling on Jerusalem, 
 
 Led forth her trembling prisoners to hang 
 
 Their harps beside the proud Euphrates' banks, 
 
 Then shouts of nearer victory fill'd the air, 
 
 And Satan's firmamental kingdom rang 540 
 
 With praises of their leader's matchless craft, 
 
 And loudly-mutter'd blasphemies of Him 
 
 TThose patience they misreckon'd impotence. 
 
 " So dream'd they dreams, which nothing but the 
 strains, 
 Breathed from the solemn harp of prophecy, 
 Disturb'd ; — mysterious harpings on the wind, 
 Not now first mingling with the jarring* sounds 
 Of earth and time, for they had ever rung, 
 Since Enoch laid his hand upon the chords, 
 
VI.J THE EMPIRE OF DARKNESS. 203 
 
 Echoes of heavenly voices in faith's ear, 550 
 
 Still clearest in the hour of sorest need, 
 But never more distinct than now. 
 
 " The sun 
 Still couched unrisen beneath the dawning hills, 
 But far and wide the heavens were all aglow 
 With saffron lights and hues of roseate pearl, 
 Shedding upon the towers of Babylon, 
 Its massive walls, and gates of burnished brass, 
 And gardens in the golden morn suspense, 
 Nor least upon the river's amber waves, 
 A thousand changeful splendours. On a roof 56o 
 
 Beneath the open sky a young man lay 
 And slept ; serene his brow ; and on his face 
 Even in his sleep a smile of holy joy 
 Played inexpressible, which, when he rose 
 With morning from his calm unruffled couch, 
 Flowed from his lips in praise. Gabriel and I 
 Had watched his slumbers, and, so ordered, hung 
 On his unfaltering steps, as through the ranks 
 Of courtiers, followed by a trembling group 
 Of magi, sorcerers, astrologers, 570 
 
 Who gazed on him incredulous, he passed, 
 And calmly faced his monarch's baffled pride. 
 And as, instructed by the Spirit of God, 
 He in their audience (nor in theirs alone) 
 Renewed the faded image, excellent 
 In brightness and in stature terrible ; 
 
204 THE EMPIRE OF DARKNESS. [BOOK 
 
 And then, as God's ambassador, revealM 
 
 The import of the head of gold, the breast 
 
 Of silver, and the loins of brass, and legs 
 
 Of iron and of miry clay compact, 5 so 
 
 Portending ruin, till a mystic stone, 
 
 Quarried and fashioned by no human hand, 
 
 Smote that colossal idol, which straightway 
 
 Crumbled to dust and vanished as the chaff 
 
 Driven idly from the summer threshing-floor, 
 
 The while that rock grew vaster and more vast, 
 
 A mountain whose circumference was earth, 
 
 And whose eternal canopy the heaven ; 
 
 As thus that youthful seer, dauntless in heart 
 
 And mien, cast his prophetic eye of fire 590 
 
 Athwart the changes of tumultuous time, 
 
 And in the illimitable distance saw 
 
 i 
 
 Eternal love triumphant, Gabriel looked 
 
 On me and smiled, and we refreshed our faith 
 
 With strength in mortal weakness perfected. 
 
 Hard by us Baal stood, and Ashtaroth, 
 
 And Moloch, kept in terror by the sword 
 
 That waved in Gabriel's hand ; but oh, the scowl 
 
 Of cruel disappointment on their lip 
 
 And baffled vengeance, till obscure they shrank tioo 
 
 To nurture worse designs ; while songs of praise. 
 
 Flowing spontaneously from angel harps 
 
 Were wafted to the ear of God in heaven. 
 
 " Nor learned we less of faith's omnipotence, 
 
VI.] THE EMPIRE OF DARKNESS. 205 
 
 When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego 
 
 Chose for their dying couch the fiery kiln, 
 
 Rather than vile prostration to the god 
 
 Chaldeans monarch, brooding o'er his dream, 
 
 Not uninspired by Belus, reared aloof 
 
 On Dura's sultry plain, finding amid 610 
 
 Those thousand forked tongues of hungry flame 
 
 An unsuspected Paradise more sweet, 
 
 Than sinless Adam when he walked with God 
 
 In Eden. But enough, brother, thou knowest 
 
 All that befell that haughty monarch driven 
 
 From palace halls with flocks and herds to graze, 
 
 A bitter school. Thou knowest the weary lapse 
 
 Of those predestined threescore years and ten 
 
 Of Israel's woe and Babylonia's pride, 
 
 Even to their latest bourne, that impious feast G20 
 
 By those brief characters of doom perplexed, 
 
 When Persia grasp'd the sceptre Asshur dropped. 
 
 Thy heart has been with Daniel in the den 
 
 Of lions. I was by his side that night. 
 
 And when he wrote upon his mystic scroll 
 
 The visions of his lonely bed, wherein 
 
 Earth's proudest realms as ravenous beasts appeared, 
 
 Assyria, Persia, Macedon, and last 
 
 One diverse from all others, iron-tooth'd, 
 
 Ten-horn'd, dreadful and strong exceedingly, 630 
 
 Far ranging o'er the desolated world, 
 
 Till earthly thrones all sank in ruinous heaps 
 
 Before the Ancient of eternal days, 
 
206 THE EMPIRE OF DARKNESS. [BOOK 
 
 I saw the joyous eloquence, that flashed 
 
 From that lone prophet's eye undimm'd by age, 
 
 And lighted up his wrinkled countenance 
 
 With glories from the everlasting hills. 
 
 Nor was I absent, wdien his prevalent prayer 
 
 Clomb to the highest heavens, and Gabriel came, 
 
 Descending with the speed of seraphim, 640 
 
 The herald of evangel grace, though linked 
 
 With mystic times and numbers, seventy sevens ; 
 
 Nor wholly clear nor dark, faith's chosen light. 
 
 And I was there what time a mightier One 
 
 Than Gabriel, having striven, self-limited, 
 
 With Persia's guardian fiend three weeks of days, 
 
 Till Michael sped, permitted, to his aid, 
 
 Beside the crystal waves of Hiddekel 
 
 Reveal'd His glory and the scroll of time 
 
 Till time should be no more. 650 
 
 " The light of heaven 
 Soon faded, and the transitory rent 
 
 Through which it stream'd was block'd with denser cloud : 
 But it had lit imperishable hopes 
 In human hearts and ours. How could we faint, 
 Or how despond, when men of flesh and blood, 
 Weaker than we in power but strong in prayer, 
 Wrestled and wrought and vanquish'd? Oft herein 
 They ministered to us as we to them. 
 
 " Without us haply human faith had fail'd, 
 
 
VI.] THE EMPIRE OF DARKNESS. 207 
 
 Without them ours. For still the gloom increased. 660 
 
 What though a band of stricken fugitives 
 
 Returned to lorn Jerusalem and built 
 
 Their wall and temple gates in troublous times ; 
 
 What though in faded splendour Judah held 
 
 His trembling sceptre ; darkness wrapt the earth. 
 
 Apollyon, Baalim, Beelzebub, 
 
 Bel, Dagon, Chemosh, Nisroch, Arioch, 
 
 Merodach, Moloch, these and countless more, 
 
 With hosts of spirits subordinate to each, 
 
 They to their princedoms, these to Satan bound, 670 
 
 Banged in imperious tyranny abroad, 
 
 And chose their various realms as liked them best, 
 
 And parcelled out the kingdoms of the world 
 
 Amongst them as their rightful heritage. 
 
 Each region had its dynasty of gods : 
 
 Primeval Asshur hers, whose altars blazed 
 
 Upon the plains of Shinar : Persia hers, 
 
 Beside her founts of liquid fire : and where 
 
 The mighty Indus rolls its tide of wealth, 
 
 Innumerable shrines, sparkling with gems, 680 
 
 Studded the odorous banks. But none like Greece 
 
 Could boast its names of graceful deities 
 
 For every fountain, and for every breeze, 
 
 For every stream, and wood, and ocean shore, 
 
 For night and day, for sunshine, and for storm, 
 
 For every changeful phase of Nature's moods, 
 
 For every passion of the human heart, 
 
 For wine, for war, for laughter, and for tears, 
 
208 THE EMPIRE OF DARKNESS. [BOOK 
 
 For nuptial dances, and for funeral dirge, 
 
 For all things from the cradle to the grave 690 
 
 And past the grave in Hades, — over all 
 
 Were gods, or goddesses, or demigods, 
 
 Sylphs, nymphs, fawns, muses, graces president ; 
 
 For here the sevenfold power of Ashtaroth, 
 
 Encamping with his limitary hosts, 
 
 First fiVd his seat, in after years removed 
 
 Where Tiber rolls beneath the walls of Rome. 
 
 " x\mongst them Satan ranged pre-eminent, 
 Incessant ; and, denied ubiquity, 
 
 Yet seemed the more to multiply himself, 700 
 
 And almost with the speed of thought to be 
 (For narrow is the breadth of earth to spirits 
 Accustomed to celestial latitudes) 
 Where most the struggle lacked his puissant arm, 
 Or archangelic counsel. Nor the less, 
 When to the heaven of heavens the sons of God 
 Were summoned, sate he on his ducal throne. 
 Arch-adversary was his name, well earned ; 
 And well by all his ministers of state 
 And legions seconded. 7 1 < > 
 
 " Yet deem not we 
 On God's behalf w r ere idle. O'er the world 
 Death reign'd, but underneath its sable shroud 
 Life wrought in secret, as serenest gems 
 In darkest caverns oft are found anneaFd, 
 
VI.] THE EMPIRE OF DARKNESS. 209 
 
 Crystalline amethysts, or roseate quartz, 
 
 The pure quintessence of incumbent rocks 
 
 Distiird by extinct fires. And it was ours 
 
 To watch these priceless jewels carved and set, 
 
 As finished, in that diadem of glory, 
 
 Wherewith in fulness of predestined time 720 
 
 Messiah shall appear for ever crown'd." 
 
 END OF THE SIXTH BOOK. 
 
210 
 
 BOOK VII. 
 
 REDEMPTION. 
 
 As one, who having 1 climVd the livelong day, 
 
 Not unaccompanied by friendly steps, 
 
 From the rock-girdled marge of gay Lucerne 
 
 By Altorf s memorable walls, and glens 
 
 Through which the headlong Reuss rushes amain, 
 
 Scarce under skiey Hospenthal one hour 
 
 Sojourning, stands at last with weary feet 
 
 Upon the summit of Saint Gotthard's wilds, 
 
 And sees the intricate ravines, that slope 
 
 Down to the sunny vales of Italy, l o 
 
 And smiles to see them, yet before he wends 
 
 Along the young Ticino's purling brook, 
 
 Pauses, and with inquisitive retrospect 
 
 Speaks with the toilworn comrade by his side 
 
 Of defiles they have passed to right and left, 
 
 And chasms, and rainbow-haunted cataracts, 
 
 And vistas through the dawning hills, the which 
 
 Their onward track forbade their steps explore ; — 
 
 So paused Oriel, my guardian, here. And long 
 
REDEMPTION. 211 
 
 We spake of sacred stories, such as oft 20 
 
 In pilgrim days I loved to meditate, 
 Now by his transitory words illumed 
 With unsuspected glory : of Jacob's dream 
 Scaling the heavens, and built of things that are ; 
 Of those funereal rites on Pisgah's brow, 
 When Michael in Jehovah's name rebuked 
 The daring prince of hell ; of that Arch-fiend 
 Repairing with the other sons of God 
 To heaven's high festivals, ere leave obtained 
 To breathe disaster and eclipse of joy 30 
 
 Upon the patriarch in the land of Uz ; 
 Of David moved by him in evil hour 
 To count the tribes of Israel ; of the strife 
 On Carmel's rocky sides, when Baalim, 
 By bloody supplications importuned, 
 Raved all in vain to answer ; of the car, 
 That fiery car by fiery chargers drawn, 
 Which stooping o'er the Jordan's wilderness 
 Wafted Elijah to the rest of God ; 
 
 Of that false emissary, who assumed 40 
 
 To lure forth Ahab to the field of doom ; 
 Of Joshua, son of Josedech, withstood 
 By Satan, but upheld by Satan's Lord ; — 
 Of these and other marvels, when the veil 
 Was rent betwixt the things unseen and seen, 
 Shedding bright beams of glory on the earth 
 What time the clouds were darkest, for a while 
 We communed, till my heart afire with hope 
 p 2 
 
212 REDEMPTION. [BOOK 
 
 Besought him to resume where last he left, 
 
 Upon the extreme verge of better days, 50 
 
 Time's awful drama, which he thus vouchsafed : 
 
 " One night, when night was listening for the dawn, 
 Aloof upon the brow of Olivet 
 I gazed on sleeping Salem. In the East 
 Flushed a faint streak of pearl : the distant hills 
 Slumbered in shadow, and the vales in mist : 
 When haply prompted by the hour, or thoughts 
 Of loftier vigilance, for many signs 
 In heaven and earth as in the middle air 
 Of late had quickened us to keener guard, 60 
 
 Musing I uttered half unconsciously 
 The prophet's words, c Watchman, what of the night ? l 
 
 " Sudden I heard the rush of angel wings, 
 And Gabriel stood beside me, saying, ■ Brother, 
 The morning cometh, and the night : beyond 
 All is unclouded everlasting day. 
 This very hour the Sun of Righteousness 
 Peers o'er the horizon. Virgin-born to-night 
 Within the crowded gates of Bethlehem 
 A Babe, who owns no human sire, is lying 70 
 
 Upon His mother's bosom. It was mine, 
 Some space agone, to tell that lowly maid 
 Of David sprung, in David's house betrothed, 
 The awful secret of Messiah's birth, 
 The advent of the Holy Quickening Spirit, 
 
VII.] REDEMPTION. S113 
 
 The overshadowing Power of the Most HigK, 
 
 Herself the chosen vessel ; and to watch 
 
 The deepening blush of childlike innocence, 
 
 As slowly to herself she realized 
 
 The bliss immense vouchsafed her, not unmixed so 
 
 With bitter anguish from a faithless world. 
 
 It has been mine to guard her low estate, 
 
 As month by month within her virgin womb 
 
 She bore the promise of her Lord. Nor now, 
 
 Albeit the mystery of mysteries, 
 
 For which eternity has waited, dawns, 
 
 Is the veil rent in twain. The tree of life 
 
 Must strike its roots in secret in the earth : 
 
 The well-spring gush from hidden depths. Not all 
 
 Heaven's radiant ministries, but spirits elect 90 
 
 As yet are advertised, the Son of God 
 
 Incarnate tabernacles among men : 
 
 Far less the powers of darkness, now elate, 
 
 Finding the rigid interdict relaxed, 
 
 Or rather with less pains transgressed, that fenced 
 
 The bodies of their slaves from violence. 
 
 Demons possess demoniacs : thou hast seen 
 
 Their victims tossed and driven by fiends malign 
 
 To worse than frenzy : and on this intent 
 
 For the most part the myriads of the damn'd 100 
 
 Heed not this fateful hour. Far otherwise 
 
 Their leader and his fallen thrones are filFd 
 
 With torment and remorseless fear, and scheme 
 
 Their uttermost to thwart Eternal Love : 
 
 
214 REDEMPTION. [BOOK 
 
 Which work to counterwork is ours. But now 
 
 Come, brother, let us hasten where the tryst 
 
 Of friends awaits us on the grassy slopes 
 
 Of Bethlehem, and, as is meet, announce 
 
 Messiah's humble birth to humble men, 
 
 The shepherds, who there hold nocturnal watch/ no 
 
 " So swifter than the eagle's flight we flew 
 Over the shadowy landscape, and there found, 
 As he had said, a heavenly cohort arm'd, 
 And keeping by command that region free 
 From footstep or from wing unblest. Forthwith 
 Gabriel diffused unwonted lustre round, 
 And in the glory of that light appeared, 
 Though softening all the terrors of his brow, 
 Not less than heaven's elect ambassador, 
 Heralding tidings of eternal joy ; — 1 20 
 
 Which, even as he utter'd, all the band 
 Of angels, suddenly apparent, caught 
 And set to music of seraphic harps, 
 Pure crystal symphonies of joy and love, 
 Until the waves of Hallelujah moved 
 The orient clouds, and gathering strength rang out 
 Among the golden stars, and travelling on 
 Held for a space the tongues of cherubim 
 Mute for delight before the throne of God. 
 
 " Soon from that throne, through clouds of glory 
 stealing, 130 
 
VII.] REDEMPTION. '215 
 
 The whispers of the Spirit of God were heard ; 
 
 And Suriel moving at that still small voice 
 
 Took of the lamps, that ever blaze beside 
 
 The altar of celestial frankincense, 
 
 Symbols of love enkindling endless praise, 
 
 And from that lucid sphere descending sloped 
 
 His course to earth, where on the nightly plain 
 
 Chaldeans watchers read the starry heavens ; 
 
 And holding in his hand that torch, which seemed 
 
 As if a planet brighter than its peers 140 
 
 Had wandered from its path, viewless himself, 
 
 Allured their steps, whose minds were t aught of God, 
 
 Until their weary pilgrimage at last 
 
 Was ended with unutterable joy 
 
 Before the Royal Babe of Bethlehem. 
 
 " Why should I tell thee what thou know'st ? His 
 flight 
 To Egypt's house of bondage ; and return 
 'Neath angel wings to lowly Nazareth ? 
 No palace home was His. No menials nursed 
 His childhood. Mary kept her secret close, 150 
 
 Or only breathed thereof in prayer to God, 
 Yet watched her gentle meditative Child, 
 Unlike yet like His brethren (for they err 
 Who deem her firstborn Son her only one), 
 With love beyond a mother's. Holiness 
 Breathed in His meek aspect. No passion wrought 
 To fret His bosom. Never a word of guile 
 
216 REDEMPTION. [BOOK 
 
 Sullied His lips. Pure, harmless, undefiled, 
 
 He loved of all things best to be alone, 
 
 And oft would hie Him to the fields, and there 160 
 
 Ponder and pray. And, when the Sabbath came, 
 
 Such gleams of glory in the synagogue 
 
 Played on His blessed countenance, as if 
 
 Conversing with the Invisible, mouth to mouth, 
 
 That I have seen His virgin mother's eyes 
 
 Fix'd on Him, till they flowed with tears of joy. 
 
 But chiefly, when the yearly festivals 
 
 Drew them to Zion, a mysterious awe, 
 
 A child's most tender awe, the awe of love, 
 
 Seem'd to dilate His swelling breast, the while 170 
 
 He trod, as One at home, His Father's courts. 
 
 " Years pass'd ; and still He grew in grace : yet still 
 His brethren knew Him not. His perfect love 
 Disturb'd them ; and they oftener chose consort 
 With those, whose goodness was not all unstain'd. 
 They quail'd before His gentleness. But when 
 Their father sank beneath the weight of years, 
 As sinks the sun behind the autumn hills, 
 Then in that darken'd home the Light of Light 
 Diffused its softest radiance. He it was, 180 
 
 Who bound up with the tenderest balms of love 
 His mother's bleeding heart ; who mix'd His tears 
 With those that chased adown His sisters' cheeks, 
 Till sorrow's self grew calm ; and He, who first 
 Summoned His brethren to the needful toil, 
 
VII.] REDEMPTION. 217 
 
 Toil shared by Him, their common heritage. 
 
 And when He spake with such unfaltering faith 
 
 Of that celestial Paradise, wherein 
 
 Their father now was walking, even as One 
 
 Familiar with its living founts and fruits, 1 90 
 
 The bitterness of grief was gone, and death's 
 
 Dark portal was the golden gate of life. 
 
 " But if they saw and marvelled, how with us 
 Who knew Him what He was, the Son of God ? 
 Brother, our hearts were bow'd within us. Pride, 
 That deadliest upas, that sought cast its shade 
 Over angelic natures though elect, 
 Withered before that wondrous spectacle. 
 It was not only grace we saw, but grace 
 That failed not in a world of selfishness ; 200 
 
 Nor only light, but light in poisonous air 
 Miraculously burning, self-sustained ; 
 Nor faith alone, but faith, emptying itself, 
 Itself to strengthen in Another's might ; 
 Self-limited Omnipotence, that deigned, 
 Weak even as man is weak, to lean on God. 
 Messiah praying : — brother, I have watch'd 
 His lips moving, until my very soul 
 Clave to Him with intensity of love ; 
 And heard Him plead for those He came to save. 210 
 Until of all hard tasks the hardest seem'd 
 Not to go trumpet -tongued, and summon all 
 To fall and worship at His sacred feet. 
 
218 REDEMPTION. [BOOK 
 
 u But now His time was come : His herald, John, 
 Who, like Elias, in the wilderness 
 Had nursed his kingly soul to kingly deeds 
 Heroic, came, the voice before the Word, 
 Crying, ' Kepent, the kingdom is at hand/ 
 God's Spirit echoed the warning, and the cry 
 Struck sharp on human hearts, like steel on flint : 220 
 And crowds, their sins bewailing, thronged the man 
 Whose hand explored the secret womb of thought, 
 And in whose dreadless eye eternity 
 Glared upon time. Men ask'd men, i Is there space 
 To flee the wrath to come?' Jerusalem 
 Hurried to Jordan. Ah, what deeds of wrong 
 Lips, counted by their fellows pure as babes, 
 Flung there upon the startled winds ! What filth 
 Was washed away from penitential hearts 
 In that baptismal stream ! But now, behold, 230 
 
 To our amaze among the crowds we saw 
 The spotless Son of Mary. John, abashed, 
 Shrank from the suit He urged. But He refused 
 Refusal. And, as from the shallow ford 
 Returning on the bank He knelt in prayer, 
 Lo, on a sudden the blue heavens were rent, 
 Unfolding to the very throne of God, 
 And (time and space subjected now to love) 
 The Spirit descending in corporeal shape, 
 Dove-like alighted on His sacred head, 240 
 
 A Dove of plumage whiter than the light : 
 And from the depths of glory came the Voice 
 
 

 VII.] REDEMPTION. 219 
 
 Of the Eternal Father, ' This is He, 
 My well-beloved, My Son, My souPs delight/ 
 This voice celestial, this celestial form, 
 Alone of all those thronging* multitudes 
 John heard and saw ; while Gabriel with his hosts 
 Shielded the spot from helFs malignant thrones, 
 Who pined in vain, confounded auditors 
 Of words which knelPd their doom. But straight their 
 prince, 250 
 
 Like some great warlike chief repulsed, who makes 
 His failure instant cause for fresh assaults 
 Or deadlier stratagems, recalled his peers 
 To their dark council chamber wrapt in clouds, 
 Whence issuing after long consult, a smile 
 Of baleful hope upon his faded brow, 
 He sought the designated Son of God. 
 
 " Meanwhile from Jordan's farther banks the Christ, 
 With His own thoughts communing, thoughts impregn'd 
 And glorified by the incumbent Spirit, 260 
 
 Which in His sevenfold plenitude of grace, 
 Life, light, power, wisdom, counsel, fear, and love, 
 Immeasurable on Him abode, was led 
 Eastward towards the wilds of Araby. 
 Hour after hour He walked lonely, nor felt 
 Or weariness or want : such bursting hopes 
 Of His unparalleled emprise surcharged 
 His bosom. And, when nightfall unawares 
 Came down upon the rocky wilderness, 
 
220 BEDEMPTIOX. [BOOK 
 
 He, like the solitary Jacob, laid 270 
 
 His head upon a stone and slept : but dreams 
 
 Diviner than the pilgrim patriarch saw 
 
 Visited His bleak couch, we camping near. 
 
 And, when the morning broke, He rose refreshed, 
 
 His first thoughts like the fragrant incense borne 
 
 Up to His Father's presence. Onward still, 
 
 As One guided invisibly, He pressed, 
 
 Nor ate nor hungered. Thus a second day 
 
 Passed, and a third ; till Nebo's barren cliffs 
 
 And rugged precipices barrM in front 280 
 
 His prospect. But, as night again descended, 
 
 And on a stony pillow as before 
 
 Messiah sought repose, we were aware 
 
 Of change and peril imminent. Thick clouds, 
 
 Dragging their vaporous skirts along the hills, 
 
 Blotted the stars ; and distant thunders roused 
 
 The beasts of rapine from their lairs, whose roar 
 
 Seemed ever nearer on the moaning blast. 
 
 The darkness was not all of earth : winged forms 
 
 Unhallowed passed us in the thickening gloom. 290 
 
 We watched in doubt, unweeting what designs 
 
 The foe was hatching. But, when morn approached, 
 
 And Jesus through the twilight walked abroad, 
 
 Far other visions than the last appeared 
 
 To' have haunted His night hours. His calm aspect 
 
 A\ as troubled; and in place of joy His eve 
 
 Flashed with the wrath of tempted innocence 
 
 Indignant. Not the brooding: wintry storm, 
 
VII.] REDEMPTION. 221 
 
 That beat in gusts upon His sacred head, 
 
 Vex'd Him whose spirit was swept with fiercer winds ; 300 
 
 Nor yet the lion's baffled growl, that slunk 
 
 From Gabriel's sword into the tangled brake ; 
 
 Nor pangs of hunger, for in that stern strife 
 
 He felt them not. But now the Arch-fiend wove 
 
 His subtlest machinations, flinging shafts 
 
 Incessant of all racking doubts and fears, 
 
 The tempter wielding archangelic powers, 
 
 The Tempted in weak human flesh enshrined. 
 
 Night came, but night was terrible as day ; 
 
 And sleep, but sleep was worse than waking thoughts : 3 10 
 
 Nor one day only, nor yet seven, nor seven 
 
 Twice told or thrice ; but forty days and nights 
 
 That conflict inexpressible was waged, 
 
 No avenue of reason unassail'd, 
 
 No bolt from that wide quiver's mouth unshot : 
 
 All, all in vain. Then inly to himself 
 
 The devil muttered, as I caught the words, 
 
 ' My ghostly weapons fail, let sight and sense 
 
 Avail me, as in Eden/ and relaxed 
 
 His onset. 320 
 
 " Then it was, the urgent stress 
 Of battle interrupted, hunger seized 
 The fainting Saviour. And His foe and ours, 
 No longer unapparent, what remained 
 Of his original lustre re-assumed, 
 And in his proper shape approached, his aim 
 
222 REDEMPTION. [BOOK 
 
 Dissembling. ■ If Thou art the Son of God, — 
 
 Nor other can I deem Thee, who hast foiFd 
 
 My uttermost attempt, — our duel now 
 
 Is ended. I confess discomfiture. 
 
 One only proof I ask, not for myself 330 
 
 Who know Thee, but for those who know Thee not, 
 
 One act as innocent in Thee to grant 
 
 As it is reasonable in me to crave ; 
 
 Nay further, necessary for Thy wants, 
 
 Who here wilt perish in the wilderness. 
 
 Change by Thy word this rocky stone to bread. 
 
 Vouchsafe me this ; and henceforth I and mine 
 
 Will leave Thee undisturbed, the Christ of God/ 
 
 " So glozed the tempter. But the Son of Man, 
 As man clad in the panoply of faith, 340 
 
 Drew from its sheath the sharp sword of the Spirit, 
 And answered, ' It is written, Man shall live 
 Not by bread only, but by every word 
 Spoken by God/ And Satan shrank abashed : 
 For on these very rocks, when bread was not, 
 The food of angels, at His voice who spake. 
 Had fallen round the tents of Israel. 
 
 " But from the deserts now the spirit of evil, 
 God's Spirit permitting, led the Saviour forth 
 Invisible, and with speed miraculous 350 
 
 Brought Him to Salem's sanctuary sublime, 
 
VII.] REDEMPTION. 223 
 
 Where over Kedron's vale the dizzy porch 
 
 Overhung the valley. It was then the feast 
 
 Of tabernacles, and the crowds were spread 
 
 Like aloes by the rivers far beneath, 
 
 While others from Siloah's fountain fetched 
 
 The mystic water in a golden ewer, 
 
 And pour'd it in the temple forth with songs 
 
 Of Hallelujah and exuberant joy. 
 
 There, as they stood upon the utmost ridge, 360 
 
 Thus spake the tempter — c Be it as Thou sayest : 
 
 Thy faith forbids Thee work a work to still 
 
 The cravings of Thy mortal need. For Thee, 
 
 Whether by famine or by violence, 
 
 Death has no terrors. Be it so. But now, 
 
 Not for Thyself, but for Thy chosen race 
 
 I ask Thee, show Thyself the Son of God. 
 
 Cast Thyself down from hence. Angels of light, 
 
 Thou knowest, are about Thee : they will bear, 
 
 As promised in the oracles of truth, 370 
 
 Thee in their hands. I meanwhile will direct 
 
 All eyes upon this lofty battlement ; 
 
 And joyful Israel shall behold her Prince 
 
 Descending with His radiant ministries 
 
 About Him, and shall crown Thee, as foretold, 
 
 The Son of David upon David's throne/ 
 
 " Messiah answered, — ' It is written again, 
 Thou shalt not dare to tempt the Lord thy God/ 
 Brief words but keen : beneath whose subtle edge 
 

 224 REDEMPTION. [BOOK 
 
 The devil writhed in anguish. But yet one, 380 
 
 One last and damnable assault remained 
 
 And from the holy city quickly' he bore 
 
 The Saviour to that mountain peak, which look'd 
 
 Far over His late solitary watch, 
 
 AVhence Moses, ere he fell on sleep, beheld 
 
 The hills and valleys of the land, with milk 
 
 And honey flowing, to the western sea 
 
 And goodly Lebanon. But now (such skill 
 
 That mighty regent of the air had learned) 
 
 Whether by optical illusion wrought, 390 
 
 Like some mirage of cataracts and lakes 
 
 And gardens in Arabia's barren sands, 
 
 Or suns in mockery flushing Zembla's snows, 
 
 Refraction on refraction multiplied, — 
 
 Or haply* air pictures cunningly disposed 
 
 Within the eye's transparent microcosm, — 
 
 The mode I know not — but the daedal earth, 
 
 With all its mighty realms from pole to pole, 
 
 Illumed with sudden supernatural light, 
 
 Seeni'd lying, kindreds, peoples, nations, tongues, 400 
 
 A gorgeous panorama, scene on scene 
 
 Reflecting splendour, at Messiah's feet, 
 
 And in the twinkling of an eye condensed 
 
 The glories and the miseries of man, 
 
 As in a focus, on His startled soul, 
 
 Moving compassion and amaze at once. 
 
 " Then spake again the tempter, l Not for Thee, 
 
VII,] REDEMPTION. 225 
 
 Whose meat it is to do Thy Father's will, 
 
 Nor yet for Israel, far too scant a field 
 
 For Thy illimitable sovereign schemes 410 
 
 Of goodness, do I now prefer request ; 
 
 But for the world, the universal world, 
 
 To me committed, as Thou know'st, by One 
 
 Who never of His words or deeds repents : — 
 
 Let these four thousand years of wreck and ruin 
 
 Bear witness. I had fondly thought to hold 
 
 This sceptre as mine own. But let it pass. 
 
 Rather than wage interminable war, 
 
 I yield Thee my dominion. I shall find 
 
 Some other orb untenanted as yet, 420 
 
 Whereon to fix my throne. And for the gift, 
 
 Vouchsafed me first, mine therefore to restore, 
 
 This coveted inheritance, I ask 
 
 But one brief passing act of homage done, 
 
 One transient recognition whence Thou owest 
 
 Thy kingdom. At my feet receive the boon. 
 
 Thou shrinkest ? Why not ? I have seen Thee bow 
 
 To earthly rulers, — by Thy mother's side 
 
 Have seen Thee kneeling. Having stoop' d so low, 
 
 Stoop once again to less indignity 430 
 
 By far than prophecy assigns Thee. Thou 
 
 Already' hast suffer'd much ; Thy gentle spirit 
 
 Amongst ungentle children ; Thy pure youth 
 
 Alien amongst impure ; Thy ripening faith 
 
 Exotic in a faithless world : but all 
 
 # * 
 
 Is nothing, less than nothing - , to the doom 
 
 Q 
 
226 REDEMPTION. [BOOK 
 
 Before Thee chronicled in scrolls of fate, 
 
 If Thou refuse my offer. Thou wilt stretch 
 
 Thy weary hands, loaden with gifts of life, 
 
 To disobedient and gainsaying men : 440 
 
 Thine own will not receive Thee : cruel craft 
 
 Will dog Thy footsteps : till Thou sink'st at last 
 
 Under distress, dismay, derision, death. 
 
 What, death for Thee, the peerless Prince of life ? 
 
 Truly, though 1 have done fell deeds, — in war 
 
 All things are lawful, — I, though damned, should grieve 
 
 To see death's ghastly weapon pierce Thy heart. 
 
 My Liege, to Thee I owe my being : what 
 
 Of great I am is Thine : why then abhor 
 
 In me to honour Thy own workmanship ? 450 
 
 Fear not, though I have woven countless snares, 
 
 And tangled countless hearts, angels and men, 
 
 With Thee all snares were useless ; and I swear, 
 
 In this my offer lurks nor lure nor guile : 
 
 One insignificant act of homage paid, 
 
 And I retire, and with me all my hosts, 
 
 From earth and earth's precincts. Sole sovereign here 
 
 May'st Thou achieve Thy God-like enterprise, 
 
 Thy Good Spirit recreate this shattered world, 
 
 And earth re-echo Thy Great Father's name. 460 
 
 Nor ever again will I disturb Thy realm : 
 
 I have my gloomy bodings, even as Thou, 
 
 What may ensue, thus struggling without end : 
 
 Weary of horrid war, I long for peace. 
 
 One little act, and I resign Thee all/ 
 
VII.] REDEMPTION. 227 
 
 " Messiahs words anticipate our thoughts, 
 His hand still cleaving to the two-edged sword, 
 ' Hence, Satan : it is written, Thou shalt serve 
 The Lord thy God, and worship only Him/ 
 And by the lightning of the Saviour's eye, 470 
 
 Bent full upon the Adversary, we saw 
 His desperate repulse. The naked truth 
 Had rived his bosom. Gnashing with remorse, 
 Slowly, reluctantly, he sank, as sinks 
 The angiy tide from off a lighthouse rock, 
 Which it has drenched in blinding spray and foam, 
 Leaving the light unscathed. And it was ours 
 To cluster round that humble Victor's feet, 
 And offer fruitage from the vines of heaven, 
 And water from the rivulets of life, m> 
 
 And blossoms gathered on their marge ; from me 
 He took with smiles a flower of amaranth — 
 (As Oriel spake, a blush of deeper rose 
 Crimson'd his cheek at the remembered joy) — 
 Yea, and to tender sympathies more sweet 
 Than flowers, or fruit, or fountains gushing life, 
 Wherewith refreshed ere long Messiah bent 
 His footsteps to the plains of Galilee. 
 
 " Full of the Spirit He came : His sinless powers 
 All quicken'd to the uttermost of man : 490 
 
 His faith transparent without clouds : His love, 
 Clear radiance on the altar of His heart, 
 Fire without smoke of darkness : prophecies 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 REDEMPTION. [BOOK 
 
 Of everlasting joy kindling His soul : 
 
 Pure, perfect Manhood. We had often wept 
 
 Tears of delight to see celestial grace 
 
 Struggling and triumphing in weakness ; but 
 
 Some stains had ever with the saintliest saints 
 
 Blotted the story of their life. What need 
 
 To speak of Noah, and of Abraham, 500 
 
 Of Moses, David, Hezekiah, Job, 
 
 Who sometime trailed their garments on the earth, 
 
 Though whiter now than snow ? But here was One 
 
 Faultless though compassed with infirmity, 
 
 In human weakness sinless, who had stooped 
 
 Lower than angelhood in might, but dwarf d 
 
 In uncreated goodness infinite 
 
 The loftiest seraphim : no stern recluse, 
 
 As His forerunner ; but the Guest and Friend 
 
 Of all who sought Him, mingling with all life 5 1 
 
 To breathe His holiness on all. No film 
 
 Obscured His spotless lustre. From His lips 
 
 Truth limpid without error flowed. Disease 
 
 Fled from His touch. Pain heard Him, and was not. 
 
 Despair smiled in His presence. Devils knew, 
 
 And trembled. In the omnipotence of faith 
 
 Unintermittent, indefectible, 
 
 Leaning upon His Father's might, He bent 
 
 All nature to His will. The tempest sank, 
 
 He whispering, into waveless calm. The bread, 520 
 
 Given from His hands, fed thousands and to spare. 
 
 The stormy waters, as the solid rock, 
 
VII.] KEDEMPTION. 229 
 
 Were pavement for His footstep. Death itself 
 With vain reluctancies yielded its prey 
 To the stern mandate of the Prince of life. 
 
 " Not that these things are hid from thee : but, brother, 
 None but an angel can methinks conceive 
 What angels felt as over Him they stoop'd, 
 Lost in adoring contemplation. Oft 
 Has Gabriel call'd me to his side in awe 530 
 
 At His Divine humility ; which once, 
 Once only in His earthly pilgrimage, 
 Suffered the shrouded glory to escape 
 Its fleshly veil. 
 
 " Once only, on the crest 
 Of snowy Hermon as He knelt in prayer, 
 His chosen witnesses beheld His form 
 Apparelled in its own celestial light, 
 More dazzling than the' snows on which it shone, 
 When Michael, who on Satan's fall assumed 
 At God's command the hierarchal primacy, 54a 
 
 The same who guarded Moses' funeral rites 
 And bore Elijah in God's chariot home, 
 Brought them, one bodiless, embodied one, 
 From Paradise before the other dead, 
 To commune with their Lord on His decease 
 Now nigh at hand. Then the Shekinah cloud 
 Descending, wrapt them in its radiant folds, 
 
230 
 
 REDEMPTION. 
 
 [book 
 
 And from its excellent glory came a Voice 
 1 This is My Son Beloved, hear ye Him/ 
 
 " This Voice we heard, nor we alone who knelt 550 
 Near as permitted : fiendish auditors 
 Beyond us, in the dusky air suspense, 
 Heard it, and quaked in silence : Satan heard 
 Confounded, and now, desperate of fraud, 
 Seemed only' intent to deal the cruellest bruise 
 Immedicable on his Victim's heel, 
 His Victor soon. Ranging abroad he stirr'd 
 The hosts of darkness to maligner hate, 
 Saying, Now was the hinge of battle, now 
 The fated hour of doom : one effort more, 560 
 
 And earth, their destined heritage, was theirs. 
 Then round him clustered, gloomy body-guard, 
 His peers, into whose venomous breasts he fused 
 Fresh venom, urging some to wreak worse ill 
 On their demoniac slaves, others to w T ind 
 Their coils of envy around priestly hearts, 
 And others in the path of ruthless men 
 To dig quick pitfalls of insensate pride : 
 Himself, with Mammon for his minister, 
 Tracking the Saviour's steps, and beckoning on, 570 
 
 With lures of miserable gold, a wretch 
 Who sprang well pleased into his cursed embrace, 
 Judas, the heir of everlasting shame. 
 
 u Once he was cowM ; when scaled with his mates 
 
VII.] 11EDEMPTI0N. 231 
 
 In council (such were daily now convened) 
 
 Quick tidings reached him, that his fiercest spirits 
 
 Quail'd at the name of Jesus breathed in faith 
 
 By humblest lips. Instantly, whether rage 
 
 Overmastered him, or shadowing fear surprised, 
 
 Down like a meteor or a lightning flash ' 580 
 
 From that aerial height he sank, he fell, — 
 
 Not unobserved by Him whose piercing Eye, 
 
 Scanning the ages, in that lapse beheld 
 
 A presage of his endless fall from heaven 
 
 To the abysmal pit. But Satan soon, 
 
 Collecting his dejected legions, cried, 
 
 The while he spat defiance on his Lord, 
 
 ' Do Thou Thy worst : Thou hast not tasted ours'' — 
 
 And without further pause of hate pursued 
 
 His drear deliberations, boding death. 590 
 
 " The hour was almost come. Six days had passed, 
 Since from the lonely Ephraim the Lord 
 Had sought the house He loved at Bethany, 
 Where Martha and her sister dwelt, and he, 
 Whose disembodied spirit we some time kept 
 Lulled by the wafting of angelic wings, 
 As in a dream of undefined delight, 
 Until the Word recalPd him : six brief days, 
 But every moment big with destiny : 
 The peaceful Sabbath ; the night watches spent 600 
 
 With broken intervals in prayer ; the ride 
 Of lowly triumph dashed with tears, and songs 
 
232 REDEMPTION. [BOOK 
 
 Woven with sighs, into Jerusalem ; 
 
 The weary Wayfarer's return afoot 
 
 Over the ridffe of wooded Olivet 
 
 At nightfall ; the surprise of early dawn 
 
 Startling His orisons ; the lonely curse, 
 
 Pregnant with gracious warning, which His lips 
 
 Pronounced ; the sanctuary cleansed anew ; 
 
 The nightly calm; the morrow's stern contest 610 
 
 With stubborn hearts, sheathed in dark unbelief 
 
 Or darker superstition, — crystal truth 
 
 Confuting guile, pure love predicting woes 
 
 Upon impure malignity ; the cry 
 
 ' We would see Jesus/ breathed by Gentile lips, 
 
 While on His prescient troubled soul there fell 
 
 The first dark shadows of the vale of death, 
 
 Rugged with tempest ; the suspended prayer, 
 
 Whose dread alternative was death or life, 
 
 Which rested c Father, glorify Thy name •/ 620 
 
 The Voice responsive from the Throne, which filled 
 
 The hearts of prostrate seraphim with awe, 
 
 But fell unheeded upon mortal ears ; 
 
 Until the Lord o' the temple, not before 
 
 He made the widow's heart to sing for joy, 
 
 Forsook His house. As once Ezekiel saw 
 
 The symbol of His awful Presence pause 
 
 Reluctant o'er the threshold, cherub-borne, 
 
 And o'er the city brood like guardian fire, 
 
 And move, and rest upon the hill that lies 630 
 
 Fronting the dawn, — so then on Olivet 
 
VII.] REDEMPTION. £33 
 
 The weary Saviour rested and forecast 
 
 The anguish coming on Jerusalem, 
 
 The birth-pangs of evangel life, nor left 
 
 That mountain's brow, nor limited the range 
 
 Of His prophetic vision, till He spake 
 
 Of His great Advent in the clouds of heaven. 
 
 That evening, — was it much for her, whose heart 
 
 Was crushed, to crush the alabaster vase ? — 
 
 Mary, with love's foreboding instinct, pour'd 640 
 
 The precious myrrh upon His head and feet, 
 
 And wiped them with her rich dishevelled hair. 
 
 One day of calm seclusion ; and a night 
 
 And morning all unvex'd, albeit the powers 
 
 Of evil thronged the air • but, as the sun 
 
 Swerved westward, Jesus, with the Twelve, set forth 
 
 Towards the city which He loved, the while 
 
 We hung around their footsteps, till they sate 
 
 In silent thought around the Paschal board. 
 
 " Thou knowest all. But when the Son of God, 650 
 Equal Assessor of the Father's throne, 
 Author and Heir of all things, girt Himself, 
 Stoop'd, and the Servant of His servants, washed 
 Their feet, we gazed upon the awful scene 
 In terrible amazement, till His words 
 Recalled us to the Infinite of love 
 Which dwelt within Him and in which He dwelt, 
 Making, it seemed, all other humbleness 
 Appear too high, all other love too low. 
 
234 11EDEMPTI0N. [BOOK 
 
 But now the Paschal lamb was eaten, now 660 
 
 The wine-cups fiird and drunk ; when He, who knew 
 
 What was in man, and from that hour looked forth 
 
 Upon the ages of all time, ordained 
 
 Those holy mysteries of bread and wine, 
 
 The banquet of His body and His blood, 
 
 The ever fresh memorials of His death 
 
 To faith instinct with life, and quick with love, 
 
 Symbols of eucharistic sacrifice, 
 
 The sacramental oath of fealty, 
 
 The bond of brotherhood, the pledge of heaven. 670 
 
 " Alas, far different fruit those emblems now 
 Wrought in the traitor ! Satan, who ere this 
 Had visited his heart nor met repulse, 
 Now readily assumed the ready throne, 
 And swayed him willing to his will. The light 
 Was torment : and alone he staggered forth 
 Into the darkness on his dark intent. 
 
 " And now from lips, which spake as never man, 
 Flowed words of inexpressible tenderness 
 Mingled with powder, w r hile more than human love, 680 
 Clothing itself in human language, poured 
 Immortal comforts into mortal hearts, 
 Until they overflowed in tears. And then 
 The Great High Priest, with eyes uplift to heaven, 
 Standing as if the mystic veil were rent 
 Before the seat of mercy, in full view 
 
VII.] ItEDEMPTION. 235 
 
 Of those He loved, pleaded their cause with One 
 
 Who loved them even as Himself ; nor stayed 
 
 Before He breathed that wonderful ( I will' 
 
 Which draws His children hither as their work 690 
 
 Is finished, spring of countless tears on earth, 
 
 And harvests sown in weeping reaped in joy. 
 
 " Meanwhile the moon had risen full-orb'd : and they, 
 Passing through lights and shadows, bent their steps 
 Along the city's now deserted streets 
 To Kedron's vale ; over the brook ; where wound 
 The mountain path to Olivet : and there 
 Upon the right a garden, into which 
 They enter'd, olive-set Gethsemane. 
 
 " But wherefore now with trembling lips recall 700 
 That scene of unimaginable woe ? 
 The summons of the chosen three ; the moan 
 Of mortal anguish from the Lord of life ; 
 The vigil, tenderly enjoin'd in vain ; 
 The agony of prayer ; the bloody sweat, 
 Wrung from His sacred brow and trembling limbs 
 By griefs, which no created mind can sound ; 
 The cry, when that exceeding bitter cup 
 Sear'd as hot iron His lip ; the human soul 
 Quivering, until from the unfolding heavens 
 A seraph (which of the empyreal thrones 7 10 
 
 We knew not, for upon that awful quest 
 His mantling' win^s had too securely veil'd 
 
236 REDEMPTION. [BOOK 
 
 His presence and his face perplex'd with tears. 
 
 And his dear Master's look sufficed for praise) 
 
 Descending knelt beside that kneeling Form 
 
 And strengthened Him : and through the moonlight stole 
 
 The slow, the tremulously balanced words, 
 
 ' Not My will, O My Father, Thine be done/ 
 
 Once and again. 
 
 " The first sharp paroxysm, 
 As Death infixed his keen envenomed sting 720 
 
 Full in the bosom of Eternal Life, 
 Was over. Folio w'd now the traitor's kiss ; 
 The binding of Omnipotence ; the stroke 
 Of Peter, kept from rash repeat by words 
 That thrill'd our hearts, and sheathed more swords than his 
 Each in its scabbard ; the apostles' flight ; 
 The hurried Sanhedrim ; the viewless fiends, 
 Thronging that hall and plying all their arts 
 On men abandon'd to their cursed will ; 
 The strength of one, who lean'd upon himself, 730 
 
 Found wanting ; meantime falsehood bearding Truth ; 
 The Lamb of God silent ; the faith which look'd 
 From that tribunal to the final bar : 
 And, as the cold grey morning struggled through, 
 The guiltless Sufferer bound, and rudely dragg'd 
 From court to court, abhorr'd, accused, reviled, 
 Until that proud contemptuous Roman heart 
 Yielded to those infuriate cries, and gave 
 The Man of sorrows up to bitter death. 
 
VII.] REDEMPTION. 237 
 
 " Woe, brother, woe for those, who against hope 740 
 Ere this in hope persisted ! One of us 
 Was summoned to the wretched traitor's end, 
 And by command led forth his damned spirit 
 To its own place of doom. But we, the rest, 
 Forbidden longer to oppose the worst, 
 Could only follow with those weeping few 
 Who hung around the footsteps of their Lord, 
 Amazed, appalPd. We saw the weary cross 
 Laid on His fainting strength, His sacred limbs 
 Ruthlessly stripped, His quivering hands and feet 750 
 Pierced with the cruel nails, while words of love, 
 Father, forgive who know not what they do, 
 Fell from His agonized lips. And now 
 The cross was raised. And there, betwixt two thieves 
 The Increate Creator of all worlds, 
 The Son of the Eternal Father, hung 
 BetrayM, bereft, beleaguered, crucified. 
 
 te Thou weepest, brother : well thou may'st. My tears 
 With thine are flowing. But in that first hour 
 No angel wept. Sorrow itself was numVd 760 
 
 Within us : while the bitter jests and taunts 
 Of soldiers, priests, and reckless passers by, 
 And curses muttered from between clenched teetli 
 Fell ever on the meek Redeemer's ears, 
 A pitiless storm. But, when upon His right, 
 Gazing upon His superhuman love 
 Till the hard stone was crushed and contrite, one 
 
238 REDEMPTION. [BOOK 
 
 Of those who hung beside His cross rebuked 
 
 His fellow, and cried, ' Lord, remember me/ 
 
 And, firstfruits of His dying anguish, drew 770 
 
 Life from that bleeding sacrifice ; and when 
 
 The Saviour, looking on the faithful group 
 
 That clustered at His feet, tenderly gave 
 
 His mother to His friend, — the sight unseal'd 
 
 The frozen springs of sorrow, and we wept. 
 
 " Was love stronger than death ? Upon that cross 
 They grappled as in final strife. For now 
 Hell put forth all its malice, and let loose 
 Its gathered vengeance. All the air was dense 
 With fiends ; and blackness, blacker than the night 780 
 Which Moses' rod on smitten Egypt drew, 
 Dismayed the heavens : such delegated power 
 Had Satan, regent of the air, and all 
 The gloomy hosts of darkness at his beck 
 Hemming the Saviour round. And, as the load 
 Immense, intolerable, of the world's sin, 
 Casting its dreadful shadow high as heaven, 
 Deep as Gehenna, nearer and more near 
 Grounded at last upon that Sinless Soul 
 With all its crushing weight and killing curse, 79<> 
 
 Then first, from all eternity then first, 
 From His beloved Son the Father's face 
 Was slowly' averted, and its light eclipsed ; 
 And through the midnight broke the Sufferer's groan, 
 Eli, Eli, la in a wt ha ch Hi ant f 
 
 
VII.] REDEMPTION. 238 
 
 The echo was the mockeries of hell, 
 
 Reverberate in human lips. We heard, 
 
 And shuddered. Gabriel leaned on me a space, 
 
 And hid his face within my vesture's folds, 
 
 As if the sight were all too terrible 800 
 
 Even for archangelic faith. But now 
 
 Once more the agonizing Victim moan'd, 
 
 Uttering His anguish in one dreadful plaint, 
 
 / thirst ; His last : for, when the cooling sponge 
 
 Had touched His lips, a loud and different cry, 
 
 As if of triumph, It is finish' d, rang 
 
 Upon our startled ears ; and with a child's 
 
 Confiding tender trustfulness, that breathed 
 
 Father, to Thy hands I commend My spirit, 
 
 He bow'd His head, and yielded up the ghost. 810 
 
 " Earth quaked. The rocks were rent. The graves of 
 saints 
 Were open'd. And the temple's mystic veil 
 Was riven in view of worshippers and priests, 
 Disclosing things unseen. Ere long the spear 
 Open'd the fountain in the Saviour's side, 
 And soon that holy tabernacle lay, 
 Like a deserted temple, cold and still, 
 In Joseph's rock-hewn tomb. But, brother, who 
 Of angels can describe what next ensued, 
 When Jesus breathed His last upon the cross, 820 
 
 In the throng'd firmament of spirits ? Straightway 
 Around His disembodied soul the powers 
 
240 KEDEMPTIOX. [BOOK 
 
 Of darkness swarm'cl, and Satan face to face 
 
 With burning falchion barr'd His path. One look, 
 
 Mere virtue bent on mere maliciousness, 
 
 Pierced him like lightning, and shot withering fire 
 
 Among his blasted hosts. Distraught they stood, 
 
 Insensible, one moment ; and then fell 
 
 From round Him, as the billow^ s cloven pride 
 
 Falls in thick spray from off the vessel's prow 830 
 
 By northern blasts, as by the arm of fate, 
 
 Driven towards the port of refuge. Fain had we 
 
 Accompanied His steps. His warning hand 
 
 Restrained us. Lonely He had fought the fight ; 
 
 And lonely He must stoop to strip the slain, 
 
 And lonely gather up the spoils of death. 
 
 u Immediate, quickened in His human spirit, 
 More swiftly than the swiftest seraph's wing, 
 With speed akin to thought journeying He passed 
 Adown the firmament al heavens, and through 840 
 
 The maze of constellations, and, or ever 
 His stiffening corse was from the tree unloosed, 
 Had traversed the dark avenue that leads 
 Straight to the adamantine doors of hell. 
 These opened to His advent, and beneath 
 Their awful archway He descended ; and. 
 As downward through the lurid air He oped 
 His discontinuous path, beneath Him lay 
 The ruins and the w r recks of sin. And then 
 Full on His naked soul His Father's Eve sso 
 
VII.] REDEMPTION, 241 
 
 Rested with uneclipsed unclouded blaze, 
 
 Rested and found no flaw, no film of dark, 
 
 No jar, no discord, no antagonism, 
 
 But light to light responsive, beam to beam, 
 
 And love in faultless unison with love, 
 
 Perfection imaging Perfection : whence, 
 
 Not agony as with the damned perforce, 
 
 But trust, and peace, and joy too deep for words. 
 
 " Around Him devils and lost souls stood thronging, 
 Under God's custody compelled that hour 860 
 
 To gather from the farthest vaults of hell, 
 And witness His descent, whose calm aspect 
 Might crush all hope, not wholly dead before, 
 That Satan in the conflict waged on earth 
 Should win some transient triumph, and unbar 
 Their prison. But when now they saw their Lord 
 Strengthless, for so He seemed, as they themselves, 
 Dark thoughts possessed them to seize fast their prey, 
 And hold Him hostage for their own escape — 
 Proof that no hell can change the lost. But lo, 870 
 
 The Son of God upon that cursed soil, 
 In human weakness though Almighty, knelt, 
 And gazing up into His Father's face 
 Pleaded for rescue from that dark sojourn 
 Among the dead. And instantly His prayer, 
 As Jonah's issuing from the ocean depths, 
 Rose like a cloud of incense high within 
 Heaven's temple. Then the empyrean shook ; 
 
 R 
 
242 HEDEMPTION. [BOOK 
 
 The everlasting hills trembled ; the heavens 
 
 Were bow^d beneath His glory, who came down 880 
 
 Upon the wings of Cherubim, in wrath, 
 
 Darkness beneath His feet, lightnings before, 
 
 And round about Him clouds, which from their shirts 
 
 Shot hailstones and thick burning coals of fire 
 
 Among His enemies : while at their feet 
 
 The solid yawned with fissures, and disclosed 
 
 A lower depth of fire unquenchable, 
 
 Gehenna's lake, soon hidden ; but the sight, 
 
 Once seen, was shadow of the second death. 
 
 And now the right hand of Omnipotence 890 
 
 Was laid in love upon His Only Son, 
 
 And drew Him from among His stricken foes, 
 
 And from that vast profound, and o'er that gulf 
 
 Untravell'd by created wing, that lies 
 
 Betwixt that land of utter death and ours, 
 
 Athwart that billowy chasm, over these hills 
 
 And triple battlements of Paradise : 
 
 And, ere on earth the Sabbath eve began, 
 
 The Saviour met the sinner He had saved, 
 
 And welcomed him beneath the trees of life. 900 
 
 " Now was there joy and jubilant delight 
 In that fair Eden. Now was come the hour, 
 For which four thousand years had look'd and long'd, 
 Since first the solitary Abel trod 
 These hills and plains. Placid had been that rest, 
 And calm that haven after life's rough sea, 
 
VII.] REDEMPTION. 243 
 
 Each one at will, in holy solitude 
 
 Reposing*, or with the other saintly spirits 
 
 Walking in blissful converse. Age by age 
 
 Earth yielded hither her choicest and her best, 910 
 
 And here the angels on their ministries 
 
 Passed ever to and fro. But till the Word 
 
 Had conquered death, He came not to the dead 
 
 In excellence of glory manifest, 
 
 Though there, as every where, in power and spirit : — 
 
 Haply such advent had not all beseemed 
 
 The Lord of life : — howbeit they saw not God, 
 
 As saints thereafter saw His face and lived, 
 
 But rather walked by faith like those on earth ; 
 
 And oftentimes the craving cry s How long ? ' 920 
 
 Of souls beneath the altar rose to heaven. 
 
 Judge then their ecstasy of joy, when now, 
 
 Apparent in a human form like theirs, 
 
 The Saviour stood amongst them, and proclaimed, 
 
 The fight was foughten, and the victory won. 
 
 " From realm to realm of that great under-world 
 That day He journeyed. No one but received 
 Some token of His love. And, as He passed 
 That lonely vale with its own gates recluse, 
 Wherein the disembodied spirits in ward, 930 
 
 Who once were disobedient ere the flood, 
 Waited His advent with intenser hope, 
 He entered and revealed Himself, their Lord, 
 Besought, too late, for rescue in the ark, 
 
 iv 'I 
 
244 REDEMPTION, [BOOK 
 
 But not for mercy ere they died, which same 
 Now bade them join the other Blessed Dead. 
 
 u This was His latest work. For now the hour 
 Predestined summoned Him again to earth : 
 And, followed with innumerable songs 
 Of blessing, through the gates of Paradise, 940 
 
 And all along its glorious avenue, 
 Lonely He passed, and through the subject heavens 
 (His foes still cowering from their sore defeat) 
 To the lone chamber of the tomb. 
 
 " The sun 
 
 Had not yet risen ; but in the golden East 
 
 The morning star was tricking his soft lamp, 
 
 Like some fair pearl with amber overlaid, 
 
 When through the twilight slid the hurrying steps 
 
 Of women bearing to the sepulchre 
 
 Unguents, and spice, and balm. Suddenly the' earth 950 
 
 Trembled and shook : and Gabriel, such his charge, 
 
 Descending from our airy watch rolFd back 
 
 The sealed stone, and, with his glory, cast 
 
 In a dead swoon the guards. Abashed, confused, 
 
 The women, seeing, saw not ; hearing, they 
 
 Heard not : save only she of Magdala 
 
 Hasted, and ran, a breathless messenger, 
 
 To those who mourned Him sorest. Quickly these 
 
 Ran, love outstripping ardour, to the spot, 
 
VII.] REDEMPTION. 215 
 
 And found the empty sepulchre. Love mused ; 960 
 
 Faith marvelFd ; but persistent Grief remained, 
 
 Weeping beside that desolated tomb. 
 
 Her heart lay buried there. He was her all, 
 
 Who in her helpless hopeless misery 
 
 Had sometime passed her by, and spake the word, 
 
 And set the hell-bound captive free. Henceforth 
 
 She loved Him with a holy clinging love, 
 
 Stronger than death. With broken heart she stood 
 
 Brokenly moaning at His cross : she heard 
 
 His dying cry. Alas, the weary night ! 970 
 
 The long interminable day of rest ! 
 
 The mournful task of mingling that rich myrrh ! 
 
 The stifled doubt, could a dead Saviour save ? 
 
 She crushed the maddening thought, and only clung 
 
 The closer to the sepulchre : and now 
 
 Weeping she leaned upon the cold grey stone, 
 
 And, stooping, looked within. 
 
 " There two of us, 
 Where the dear body of our Lord had lain, 
 Sate robed in radiant white. Little she recked 
 Of angel ministries who sought her Lord : 990 
 
 And when we ask'd, ' Woman, why weepest thou ? J 
 She uttered her one plaint, Q He is not here/ 
 But turning mournfully away beheld 
 One whom she knew not, for the sluice of tears 
 Had drenched her eyelids : and He likewise askM, 
 ' Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou?'' 
 
246 REDEMPTION. [BOOK 
 
 She answered ; when the Stranger turned and said, 
 ' Mary/ She started, and, in one deep cry, 
 Breathing her incommunicable bliss, 
 6 Rabboni/ fell before His feet, and fain 990 
 
 Had clasp'd them. 
 
 u But not now as heretofore, 
 The human intercourse vouchsafed on earth ; 
 Nor was He to His Father's throne in heaven 
 That hour ascending. Yet a little space 
 Emmanuel tabernacled among men 
 To solace and sustain His orphan Church, 
 To heal the bleeding heart of penitence, 
 To cheer the downcast wayfarers, to stand 
 Suddenly as a spirit, but very Man 
 Among His brethren, and imbreathe on them 100 
 
 The benediction of His peace and power, 
 To transform human fear to heavenly faith, 
 To conquer doubt by love, a second time 
 To teach His chosen fishermen to cast 
 The drag-net of the kingdom, to reveal 
 Himself unto His own in Galilee, 
 Where He had laboured longest ; thence 
 Returning to Jerusalem, once more 
 To lead His loved apostles o'er the slope 
 Of Olivet to sacred Bethany; 10 10 
 
 And, ere He left them in that world of sin, 
 Irradiate with the bow of heavenly hope 
 Their watching*, and their warfare, and their woes. 
 
VII.] REDEMPTION. 247 
 
 i€ It was a golden eventide. The sun 
 Was sinking through the roseate clouds to rest 
 Beneath the Western waves. But purer light 
 And vestments woven of more glorious hues, 
 Albeit invisible to mortal eyes, 
 
 Gladdened the heavens. For there the hosts of God, 
 Ten thousand times ten thousand, tier on tier, J 020 
 
 MarshalFd by Gabriel, fill'd the firmament ; 
 The lowest ranks, horses and cars of fire, 
 Circling Mount Olivet ; and next to these 
 A body-guard of flaming seraphim, 
 And hierarchal thrones ; and after them 
 Celestial armies without number stretched 
 In infinite ascent aloft, their swords 
 Sheathed by their side (for, like an eagle scared, 
 No foe on that great triumph moved the wing, 
 Opened his mouth, or peeped), and in their hand 1030 
 The palm of victory and the harp of praise : 
 While through their thronging multitudes there oped 
 A path of crystal glory, all perfumed 
 With love and breezy raptures, such as heaven 
 Had never known. But every eye was bent 
 Upon the Saviour, as He stood amongst 
 The apostolic group, and lifted up 
 His hands and blessed them, and in blessing rose, 
 No wind, no car, no cherubim of fire 
 Ministrant, in His Father's might self-moved, 1040 
 
 Into the glowing sky ; until a cloud 
 Far floating in the zenith, which had drunk 
 
248 11EDEMPTI0N. [BOOK 
 
 Of the last sunbeams, wrapt His radiant form, 
 
 And instantly became like light itself, 
 
 Then melted into viewless air. But we, 
 
 Closing around His path, with shouts of joy 
 
 Rose with Him through the subjugated heavens, 
 
 The desolate domains of Lucifer, 
 
 And through the starry firmament, whose orbs, 
 
 Vibrating with the impulse of our march, io50 
 
 Resounded Hallelujahs and flashed fires 
 
 Of welcome — a procession such as earth 
 
 Saw never, nor had heaven beheld till now — 
 
 Observing each his place, yet each one near 
 
 The Prince of glory, who was near to each, 
 
 His Omnipresent Eye on every face 
 
 Shedding His rapture ; ever soaring higher, 
 
 And singing as we soared, until we reached 
 
 The confines of the third celestial sphere, 
 
 Shut in by gates of pearl, transcending these 1060 
 
 Of Paradise, as these surpass the porch 
 
 Of the first Eden. There aloof, around, 
 
 Thronging the arch on this side and on that, 
 
 Was Michael with a host equal to ours, 
 
 Sent from the heavenly Zion. Onward still 
 
 We swept like clouds over an azure sky, 
 
 And to the sound of martial trumpets sang 
 
 Exultingly, ' Lift up your heads, ye gates ! 
 
 Be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors ! 
 
 Up, and the King of glory shall come in/ 1070 
 
 Immediate, like an echo from those rankb 
 
VII.] REDEMPTION. 249 
 
 Guarding the heavenly citadel, the voice 
 
 Of myriads perfectly attuned as one, 
 
 Came back the peal of joyful challenge, ' Who, 
 
 "Who is the King of glory ?' — and from ours 
 
 The jubilant response, ' The Lord of hosts, 
 
 Mighty in battle' against the powers of hell, 
 
 Jehovah, King of glory ! Lift your heads ! 
 
 Be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors ! 
 
 Up, and the King of glory shall come in/ ioso 
 
 ' Who is the King of glory V yet again 
 
 Peal'd from those opening gates. ' The Lord of hosts ; 
 
 He is the King of glory/ broke once more 
 
 In waves of thunder on those jasper walls, 
 
 Which never shook till now. And, host with host 
 
 Commingling, through the portals on we swept, 
 
 And through the city of the King of kings, 
 
 The streets of golden crystal tremulous 
 
 Beneath the nimble tread of seraphim, 
 
 And eager principalities and powers, logo 
 
 And cohorts without number, till we came 
 
 Into the heavenly temple (space enough 
 
 Beneath its comprehensive dome for all 
 
 God's ministries and more than all twice told 
 
 In order ranged) : and then the Great High Priest 
 
 Alone advancing with His precious blood 
 
 Touch' d, as it seem'd, the spotless mercy-seat ; 
 
 And lo, the Everlasting Father rose, 
 
 Diffusing beams of joy ineffable, 
 
 Which centred on His Son, His only Son, noo 
 
250 REDEMPTION. 
 
 And rising to His bosom folded Him 
 
 (If acts of Him the Increate can thus 
 
 Be duly in our language shadowed forth) 
 
 And set Him at His own right hand : while clouds, 
 
 Breathing Divine ambrosial fragrance, filPd 
 
 The temple, and awoke in every heart 
 
 Bliss inconceivable of silent praise. 
 
 " Much, brother, could I tell what then and there 
 Befell in heaven : and chiefly how the Son 
 Cleansed with the virtue of His blood those courts i no 
 Which had defilement from the access thither 
 Of spirits accurst, and having cleansed them bless'd 
 With unction of the Holy One, and then 
 Uttered His irreversible decree, 
 
 Which henceforth from those holiest precincts barrel 
 Entrance of ill. But yet remains untold 
 The warfare which ensued in earth and heaven : 
 And in the age of ages yet to come 
 Often shall we resume the wondrous tale, 
 Which now I touch so briefly, of the past." 1120 
 
 END OF THE SEVENTH BOOK. 
 
251 
 
 BOOK VIII. 
 
 THE CHURCH MILITANT. 
 
 A vaunt thee, horrid War : whose miasms, bred 
 
 Of nether darkness and Tartarean swamps, 
 
 Float o'er this fallen world and blight the flowers, 
 
 Sole relics of a ruin'd Eden ! Hence 
 
 With all thy cruel ravages ! fair homes 
 
 Rifled for thee of husband, brother, son ; 
 
 Wild passions slipped like hell-hounds in the heart, 
 
 And baying in full cry for blood ; the shock 
 
 Of battle ; the quick throes of dying men ; 
 
 The ghastly stillness of the mangled dead; 10 
 
 The crumbling ramparts breached, the city stormed, 
 
 The massacre of unresisting age, 
 
 The shrieks of violated innocence, 
 
 And bloom, almost too delicate for the print 
 
 Of bridal kisses and the touch of love, 
 
 Ruthlessly trampled underneath the heel 
 
 Of armed lust ; and, pitiful to see, 
 
 The mother's womb ripp'd by the pitiless sword, 
 
 And life — her unborn offspring's and her own™ 
 
252 THE CHUltCH MILITANT. [BOOK 
 
 Shed in short mortal travail ; lurid flames, 20 
 
 Wrapping the toils of arduous centuries 
 
 And hopes of ages in one funeral pyre ; 
 
 Gaunt famine after, and remorseless plague, 
 
 Reaping their myriads where the warrior's scythe 
 
 Had been content with thousands ; leaving scars 
 
 Upon a nation's heart, which never time 
 
 Wholly can heal : hence horrid, horrid War ! 
 
 But, as I mused, there crowded on my spirit 
 
 The lofty virtues nursed in strife ; the will 
 
 That breaks but bends not ; goodness even in death 30 
 
 Abhorring evil ; right defying wrong ; 
 
 The stern self-sacrifice of souls afire 
 
 For perill'd altars and for hearths profaned ; 
 
 The generous chivalry, which shields the weak, 
 
 And dares the' oppressor's worst ; love guarding love 
 
 From rapine, or, as God's executor, 
 
 Dealing forth vengeance on the stubborn foe, 
 
 And mercy to the vanquish' d ; all along 
 
 The ages, names the noblest and the best 
 
 From Israel's chiefs to those brave men whose swords 40 
 
 Have been the bulwark of my native isle ; 
 
 Till musing I exclaim'd, O righteous War, 
 
 Thou immemorial school of deathless deeds, 
 
 Not thee I censure, nor thy sons, but those 
 
 Dark powers of evil, who awoke thee first 
 
 From thy eternal slumbers undisturb'd, 
 
 Leaning remiss upon thy stainless spear 
 
 Hard by God's seat : not thee or thine I blame, 
 
 
VIII.] THE CHURCH MILITANT. 253 
 
 Not thee, — Jehovah is a man of war, 
 
 Nor thine, — Jehovah is the Lord of hosts. 50 
 
 Howbeit not of war in earth or heaven, 
 After a grateful interlude, where thought 
 Flowed onward to its own sweet rhythm, at first 
 Oriel discoursed ; but of the Sevenfold Spirit 
 "Who, in similitude of burning lamps, 
 Burning before the sapphire Throne, appeared 
 At signal of His voice who sate thereon, 
 To move, His glory's effluence part veiled 
 And part translucent in a radiant cloud, 
 While through the ranks of prostrate hierarchs 60 
 
 Descending from the heaven of heavens He came, 
 And with a sound of mighty rushing wind, 
 And likeness as of fiery tongues, diffused 
 In His Divine munificence of gifts 
 The brightness of His Presence, and enwreath'd 
 Each suppliant's head with flame. By the same Spirit 
 Impregn'd, as if his lips were touch' d with fire, 
 My guardian spake with an enthusiast joy 
 Of those first Pentecostal days, that morn 
 After such long millennial watches haiFd, 70 
 
 That burst of dewy spring unchilPd by frost ; 
 That garden water'd by the early rain, 
 And tended by the risen ascended Lord, 
 The rosy childhood of His bride, the gush 
 Of pure first love untinctured by the world, 
 
254< THE CHURCH MILITANT. [BOOK 
 
 "When silvery Hope whispered in angel hearts. 
 The time was short, the kingdom was at hand. 
 
 " Where, brother, thou wilt ask," Oriel pursued, 
 "Where, meanwhile, lurked the powers of darkii* 
 
 Crushed 
 They lay, and scattered for a week of years, 80 
 
 And of their buoyant life utterly drained 
 By that intolerable mortal stroke 
 The Saviour's spirit, enfranchised on the cross 
 From the rent tabernacle of His flesh, 
 Dealt in one gaze around. Six years and more, 
 Smit by that ^scathing agony, they cower'd, 
 Irresolute, disheartened, disarrayed, 
 The spoilers spoiPd, the thrones of hell dethroned, 
 And all their routed hosts wandering astray, 
 In earth or air, a spectacle of shame. 90 
 
 But then (so Wisdom Infinite ordained), 
 Time soothing their disastrous wound, of all 
 Satan the first recalled his drooping pride, 
 And, gazing on earth's battle-field, renewed 
 His desperate counsels. All appeared not lost, 
 While ruin out of ruin yet might rise, 
 As thus, conferring with his own dark thoughts 
 And gathering courage from his daring words, 
 Upon the height of Lebanon he mused : 
 
 " ' Satan, bethink thee who thou art. To faint 100 
 
VIII.] THE CHURCH MILITANT. 255 
 
 Were weaker than thy vassaPs weakness. Man 
 
 For a few years' abandonment to lust, — 
 
 Prodigious venture, — risks eternal flames. 
 
 And shalt thou yield, thus alway respited 
 
 From age to age ? Who knows not, but for ever ? 
 
 Omniscience, as it seems, can only read 
 
 Futurity but dimly. Hath the Cross 
 
 Drawn, as foreshadowed by the Crucified, 
 
 All to His footstool ? I trow not. To thwart 
 
 Love's best, to baffle Mercy's uttermost, no 
 
 This w r ere revenge indeed, worthy the name, 
 
 For the corroding fire His Dreadful Eye 
 
 Has kindled in my secret bosom. Thou, 
 
 Arch-adversary, be thyself once more. 
 
 The crisis challenges despatch : for lo, 
 
 Heaven's sapling strikes its roots deeper each day ; 
 
 The fount of life unseal'd on Zion's hill 
 
 Is ever sending forth fresh rivulets 
 
 Of blessing, — blessing which to me is curse : 
 
 Be mine to blight that tree : be mine to shed 120 
 
 A secret poison in that crystal spring. 
 
 Despair, as hope, breeds counsels. I have found 
 
 Anguish no sluggish spur to thought. Despatch — 
 
 Yet for despatch delay. My faithful hosts 
 
 Are scattered, and my princes, Baalim, 
 
 Apollyon, Ashtaroth, and all their peers, 
 
 Cower till the storm be overblown : with them 
 
 Let me advise how easiest to retard 
 
 The Gospel chariot wheels. Tides flow and ebb : 
 
256 THE CHURCH MILITANT. [BOOK 
 
 This now hath reached its flood. The Son hath gone 130 
 
 With His bright ministries to heaven, and there 
 
 By sore experience taught, I dread Him less 
 
 Than walking on this earth in mortal flesh. 
 
 Nor fear I greatly His vicegerent Spirit, 
 
 Whose tongues of harmless lightning seem to' announce 
 
 A different war. Here I put off the last 
 
 Soft remnants of compunction. I have been 
 
 Too generous, too gentle heretofore ; 
 
 But henceforth, rather than the sinuous snake, 
 
 Assume the fiery dragon. If this fail, 140 
 
 As likely' it may, my quiver is not void/ 
 
 ft So saying, his dusky pinions he outspread, 
 And rose sublime into his ancient throne 
 Set in the starry firmament, and thence 
 Called his afflicted mates, who soon, though shorn 
 Of their late glory, with unbated rage, 
 And eyes that flashed implacable revenge, 
 Came at their leader's summons, and ere long 
 In dire deliberations sate absorbed. 
 
 " The shadow of that council fell on earth ] 50 
 
 When Stephen, on whose lips the Spirit had breathed 
 More of the fire of love than on the rest, 
 Was dragged before his nation's Sanhedrim, 
 And with seraphic radiance on his face, 
 Pleaded his Master's cause, heaven's advocate 
 Confronting 1 hell's inexorable bar 
 
VIII.] THE CHURCH MILITANT. 257 
 
 In vain : but, from that presbytery malign 
 
 And ruthless judge averting his rapt gaze, 
 
 Behold the heavens were opened to his view, 
 
 And with the eagle eye of faith he saw 160 
 
 Within the veil the holy cherubim 
 
 Shadowing the glory of the mercy-seat, 
 
 And on the right the Great High Priest of God, 
 
 Messiah, ministering (vision of bliss 
 
 Ineffable), and, calmly kneeling down, 
 
 Amid those cruel taunts and crushing stones, 
 
 The dying martyr breathed his spirit forth, 
 
 And fell in his Redeemer's arms asleep. 
 
 " This was the signal of that bitter war, 
 Which Satan and his re-assembled hosts, 170 
 
 Now urging, now relaxing, the contest, 
 Waged to the death for nine long months of years, 
 War which upon its scroll of heroes 'nscribed 
 Apostles, prophets, seers, evangelists, 
 Princes, and peasants of a princely heart, 
 Matrons, and maids, and children, till the cross 
 Was planted on the battlements of Rome. 
 Sore was the tempest ; but the rooted oak, 
 Though loaden with the stormy winds and bruised, 
 Only more widely cast its acorns round, ISO- 
 
 The seed of after forests. On our part, 
 Like lightnings on our ministries of love, 
 Moved by the Omnipresent Spirit we flew. 
 
258 THE CHURCH MILTTANT. [BOOK 
 
 Heaven put forth all its ghostly strength as hell, 
 
 Counsel with counsel militant : what time 
 
 The snow-white horse and its imperial lord, 
 
 Apollyon's symbol (worshipped there as Mars) 
 
 Chosen in defiance of the King of kings, 
 
 With eagles crowned by Capitolian Jove, 
 
 Went conquering and to conquer forth. Ere long 190 
 
 That hue triumphal changed to fiery red, 
 
 The rider and his horse incarnadined 
 
 By fratricidal slaughter. And again, 
 
 Lean hunger prowling o'er the Roman world, 
 
 That mystic horseman and his crimsoned steed 
 
 Grew black as night : all faces gathered gloom ; 
 
 The new wine languished, and the mirth of harps 
 
 Was quenched, and all the merry -hearted sighed : 
 
 Presage of worse. For that black phantasm soon 
 
 Assumed a livid pale, most ghastly steed, 200 
 
 Bestridden by the king of terrors, Death, 
 
 And followed by the shades of hell. Through all 
 
 We pitched our tents around the saints of God, 
 
 Alike in prisons and in palaces, 
 
 In cities, and in lonesome dens and caves ; 
 
 And, when the fadeless crown of martyrdom 
 
 Was wreathen for the martyr's holy brow, 
 
 The Captain of our armies oft ordained 
 
 No slender band of spirits, but legions arm'd, 
 
 And tnnns of the celestial chivalry, 210 
 
 Such as in Dothan camp'd about the seer, 
 
VIII.] THE CHURCH MILITANT. 259 
 
 TV attend His dying* servants ; or Himself 
 Descended in His chariot paved with love 
 To bear them straightway home. 
 
 " But time would fail 
 To speak of all who trod in Stephen's steps, 
 Who for their Master's sake endured the worst 
 Of vengeance men could wreak on fellow- men, 
 Shame, taunts, revilings, hunger, nakedness, 
 Bonds, dungeons, scourges, tortures, till at last 
 They yielded up their bodies to be burn/d, 220 
 
 Or bow'd their neck to the devouring sword. 
 By many, with my bright compeers, I stood 
 In their last agony. Some I had watch'd 
 Like thee, from earliest infancy of faith, 
 My chosen wards : of whom thou know'st by name 
 Perpetua, beautiful Perpetua, pride 
 Of Carthage. I was by her side that hour 
 When she a wife, a mother, stood unblench\l, 
 So young and fair, so tender and so true, 
 Before the proud Hilarian. In mine ears 230 
 
 Vainly her father urged his passionate suit, 
 And pleaded his thin silvery locks in vain. 
 And when the shouting theatre received 
 Her and her sister saint, Felicitas, 
 A princess and a slave (rank weighed not then), 
 And with them other three — when ruthless hands 
 Stripp'd from her gentle limbs her robes, and gave 
 To the rude gaze of thousands charms which love 
 
 s 2 
 
260 THE CHURCH MITATAXT. [BOOK 
 
 Had scarcely seen, — I heard her low-breathed cry 
 
 For patience, by her Lord vouchsafed, though now 240 
 
 The scourge made furrows on her quivering flesh, 
 
 And soon the maddened and infuriate bull, 
 
 Wild with affright, forth rushing from its den 
 
 Gored all her tender side ; until herself, 
 
 Triumphant in the hour of mortal pain, 
 
 Guided the gladiator's trembling blade 
 
 Straight to her bursting throat : then it was mine, 
 
 Attended by a glorious retinue 
 
 Of angels, to await her parting spirit, 
 
 And lead her, heralded with songs of praise, 250 
 
 Through heaven's glad portals to her Lord's embrace 
 
 In yonder bowers of beatific joy. 
 
 " Martyr'd Perpetua was but only one 
 Of thousands not unlike : until the cry, 
 Swelling from year to year, from age to age, 
 Rose ever louder and more loud from souls 
 Beneath the altar crying, ' How long, O Lord, 
 Most Holy, dost Thou not avenge our blood ? 
 How long, O Lord, how long?' A little space 
 God's patience suffer'd. Then the Pagan earth 2G0 
 
 Trembled as smitten with His hand : the sun 
 Became as sackcloth, and the moon as blood : 
 The stars fell ruinous from heaven, as when 
 A fig-tree, shaken of a mighty wind, 
 Casts its untimely figs : the firmament 
 Was shrivell'd as a scroll : the island rocks 
 
VIII.] THE CHURCH MILITANT. 261 
 
 Fled, and the everlasting mountains sank 
 AppalFd. Jehovah had arisen, and man 
 Was prostrate at His feet. 
 
 " The earthquake ceased ; 
 And all things had ere long resumed their calm, 270 
 
 When lo, the mystic Bride appeared in heaven 
 Clothed with the sun, the moon beneath her feet, 
 And on her head a coronal of stars, 
 Exceeding fair. But, even as we gazed, 
 Her hour was come, and travailing in birth 
 She cried aloud, with bitter pangs and throes 
 Tormented. And, or ever we were Vare, 
 Right opposite a fiery dragon rolFd 
 His baleful eyes, all ravenous to devour 
 Her helpless babe when born : portentous sign 280 
 
 Of woe and warfare imminent, which soon 
 Darkened the fields of heaven. Her new-born babe 
 In sooth was caught up to the throne of power ; 
 And upon eagle wings the woman tied 
 Into the lonely wilderness, and there 
 Abode for six times seven months of years, 
 Until the time appointed her of God. 
 But now the dragon and his hosts must drink 
 More deeply of the bitter cup of shame, 
 And taste from our avenging swords that wrath 290 
 
 Which they had braved too fiercely and too long. 
 
 " It was the year that Constantine avowVl 
 
262 THE CHURCH MILITANT. [BOOK 
 
 Allegiance to the conquering Cross, when I, 
 
 Returning from my solitary charge 
 
 With the lost Theodore to Hades, found 
 
 War, open war, already pre-announced 
 
 In heaven. For though Messiah, when He rose 
 
 Triumphant from Mount Olivet, had cleansed 
 
 The Heavenly Zion and its vast precincts, 
 
 Nor suffered from that hour unholy feet 300 
 
 To tread those temple courts, there lay betwixt 
 
 Wide champaigns, lower than the heaven of heavens, 
 
 But loftier than the earth ; and these the foe, 
 
 Recovering from their fatal bruise, possessed, 
 
 Wide regions of the starry firmament, 
 
 Not without orbs and embryo worlds, the which 
 
 They fortified with munimental walls 
 
 Of fire and darkness, fastnesses and forts 
 
 Innumerable, but chiefly' around that pole 
 
 Far stretching toward the regions of the North, 3 1 
 
 Where Satan fiVd his capital supreme, 
 
 By mortals Pandemonium calPd, for there 
 
 He and his rebel potentates were wont, . 
 
 A gloomy consistory, to sit immured, 
 
 And thence descending in quick raids to ply 
 
 Their devilish arts upon mankind : as when, 
 
 To liken things in heaven to things on earth, 
 
 A pirate chieftain in the Egean lurks 
 
 By Lesbos or its tributary isles, 
 
 And sweeps the ocean from his secret lair. 320 
 
 Moreover from those dark palatial halls, 
 
VIII.] THE CHURCH MILITANT. 263 
 
 Where fallen gods in synod sate enthroned; 
 Invective blasphemies against the saints. 
 Exaggerating or inventing ill, 
 Cruel, obscure, vindictive, false, malign, 
 Rose day and night to God : never more loud, 
 Never more loathsome than when Caesar's crown 
 Wreathed Christian brows, and Satan knew his seat 
 Was crumbling underneath its idol weight. 
 
 " But now the inevitable hour had struck 330 
 
 Of conflict. Hell's iniquity once more 
 Had risen and trembled on the utmost brim. 
 Nor was it longer possible for ours, 
 Who for four thousand years and more had fought, 
 Opposing stratagem to stratagem, 
 Manoeuvre to manceuvre, toil to toil, 
 But from the forceful violence of war 
 By God's command refraining, not to feel 
 A stern and holy joy, when now the word 
 Came from the height of Zion, by the mouth sao 
 
 Of S uriel, to equip themselves for fight, 
 And where the standard of great Michael waved, 
 A sheet of flame athwart the northern heavens, 
 To muster their innumerable ranks 
 For battle, following where he led the way. 
 
 " But ere that burning messenger resumed 
 His station at the footstool of God's throne, 
 Unarmed, and unaccompanied, he pass'd 
 
' 
 
 264 THE CHURCH MILITANT. [BOOK 
 
 (Such is the fearless confidence of love, 
 
 And such amazement fearless love compels — 350 
 
 So Moses stood unmoved in Pharaoh's court) 
 
 Within the triple walls of darkness piled 
 
 By Satan round his vast metropolis, 
 
 And through the throng of ruined seraphim, 
 
 And lurid cohorts round about them ranged, 
 
 And, suddenly amid that council hall 
 
 Apparent, for his Lord spake winged words : 
 
 " c Ye fallen principalities of heaven, 
 Wrath is impendent. Michael and his hosts 
 Already by command are on their way 360 
 
 To cleanse these heavenly regions. Ere the sword 
 Drive you and yours to ignominious flight 
 Or worse — ? 
 
 " But Satan, rising from his throne, 
 Scarce in his fury finding words, brake short 
 The warning voice of heaven's ambassador, 
 * Whence art thou, cherub ? Are not heaven's domains 
 Sufficient for thy nimble wing, that thou 
 Must violate my realms ? Michael, thou sayest, — 
 He first, or I, of the archangelic three ? 
 His armies — are they more or less than mine? 370 
 
 But let him come, with all the hosts of God 
 Numbered tenfold, — I fear, I fly him not. 
 Whatever it avail in idle peace, 
 Love is no equal match for hate in war, 
 
VIII.] THE CHURCH MILITANT. 265 
 
 Nor truth for guile, nor courage for despair. 
 
 Meanwhile for thy insultant ambassage, 
 
 Until the cohorts of thy friends are driven 
 
 From our imperial battlements confused, 
 
 Within the darkest dungeon they conceal, 
 
 Cherub, abide in chains, a spy's desert/ 380 
 
 u So saying, the Arch-fiend stretched his puissant arm, 
 To grasp that fearless spirit, but grasp'd him not, 
 For God around him cast His shield of power 
 Invisible ; and through them forth he passed 
 (As once Messiah through the furious crowd 
 Of Nazareth passed scatheless) through the guards 
 Who vainly thronged his path, and through the maze 
 Of bastions — none could stop his way — nor paused 
 Until he came within angelic ken 
 
 Of the bright legions now from far and near 390 
 
 Assembling round the hierarchal tent 
 Of Michael. Goodly was the sight and brave. 
 Far as the eye could reach, beneath him lay, 
 In turms and squadrons and battalions ranked, 
 The armies of the living God. Like light 
 Their helmets shone ; like lightnings flashed their swords ; 
 While over them their ensigns waved like fire : 
 Warriors innumerable, of whom the least 
 Thus militant appearing among men 
 Would loose the loins of thousands. On the right 400 
 Was Gabriel marshalling his endless hosts ; 
 Nor less upon the left was Raphael's charge • 
 
266 THE CHURCH MILITANT. [BOOK 
 
 Michael the centre held : while far in front 
 Ten thousand times ten thousand chariots blazed. 
 And horsemen clad in armour white as snow, 
 Who oft to right and left disparting showed 
 The forest of impenetrable spears behind. 
 
 " Straight to those guards of flaming seraphim, 
 Where Michael stood alone pre-eminent, 
 Directing with his eye, and hand, and spear, 4 1 o 
 
 The glorious tryst, sped Suriel and announced 
 The scornful answer of the foe : whereat, 
 From chief to chief, from armed rank to rank, 
 And from brigade to battailous brigade 
 Rolling, arose a shout of martial wrath 
 Indignant. Thrice it rose, and thrice it fell, 
 A mighty wave of multitudinous sound, 
 And broke far off amid the troubled stars : 
 And, as the latest echoes sank, I came 
 From Zion's height, and took, at Gabriel's beck, 420 
 
 My post upon his distant right reserved. 
 
 t€ But now, at secret signal from the Throne, 
 Sounded the archangelic trump. Forthwith 
 That host of hosts, as by one breath inspired, 
 In silence voiceless as the hush of night, 
 Moved on with unimaginable speed, 
 Smooth and unbroken (as the peopled earth 
 Unjarring and unjarr'd moves evermore 
 Along her heavenly orbit), through the realms 
 
VIII.] THE CHURCH MILITANT. 267 
 
 Of light, until frowning* before them lay 430 
 
 Outstretched in almost limitless extent 
 The empyreal kingdom of the prince of hell, 
 Immured in gloom, meet ramparts for meet foes, 
 Walls of what seemed impenetrable dark, 
 Blind fissures yawning here and there betwixt, 
 Inviolate, embrasures none above, 
 Foundations none below, to mine or scale : 
 Nothing to mark where lurk'd the unseen foe ; 
 No whisper heard within. 
 
 " Thither arrived 
 Michael his legions wide aloof disposed 440 
 
 To search if guarded portal, or ravine, 
 Or secret avenue, might tempt approach. 
 But none appeared \ though twice ten thousand leagues 
 Each touching each his millions stretched, such clouds 
 And exhalations had the Apostate Fiend 
 (In likeness of the judgment clouds that roll 
 Veiling the Light of Light from creature gaze, 
 Though those be pure and these impure and foul) 
 Around his throne of evil circumfused. 
 But as we stood at gaze, a furnace blast 450 
 
 Bushed from those bastions forth, and storms of hail , 
 As sharp rocks hurFd from countless catapults, 
 With whirlwind fury on our armies smote ; 
 Nor intermitted, while above our heads 
 Hot clouds of fiery ashes, black as night, 
 Discharged their ominous burden : such as once 
 
268 THE CHURCH MILITANT. [BOOK 
 
 Vesuvius travailing in earthquake pour'd 
 
 On Herculaneum's idle battlements, 
 
 And doomed Pompeii's last festivities. 
 
 Horrible tempest : but for us that hour 4(50 
 
 Innocuous, who with instinct's quick surmise 
 
 (So flashes before thought the closing lid 
 
 That guards the apple of the human eye) 
 
 All covered by our golden shields received 
 
 Those levell'd thunderbolts ; and on our helms, 
 
 And mail of proof those burning ashes fell 
 
 Harmless as rain, which we beneath us shook — 
 
 Not without scorn. Haply to one who watch'd 
 
 From Pharos or from Egypt's plain it seem'd 
 
 Far in the Northern heavens a nebulous mist 470 
 
 Streak'd with strange fires, which vanished as he gazed. 
 
 But, when that terrible Simoom had pass'd, 
 
 No son of light had moved, none crouch'd with fear, 
 
 None counselled base retreat. Such lofty strength 
 
 God in the hearts of all infused. And lo, 
 
 Michael stretched forth his spear ; and instantly, 
 
 Quick as the lightning's flash, from east to west 
 
 The watchword ran ; and even as we were 
 
 We plunged into those beetling clouds — no thought 
 
 Of dastard terror, though it seem'd as well 4 so 
 
 Plunge into Etna's crater. For each one 
 
 His armour, forged of diamond and light, 
 
 Made luminous a foothold ; and for each 
 
 The breath of his own lips before him clave 
 
 A dubious path, dubious and throng'd with foes, 
 
VIII.] THE CHURCH MILITANT. 209 
 
 Who now half hidden, half apparent now. 
 
 With arms of darkness in the darkness aim'd 
 
 Their deadly thrusts. Wounds were received and given 
 
 By weapons upon diverse anvils wrought, 
 
 Keen, ghastly, fiery wounds. Nor deem it strange 490 
 
 That sinless angels bear some marks of war, 
 
 A transient anguish for eternal gain. 
 
 Has not the King of glory in His hands, 
 
 And feet, and side, prints which eternity 
 
 Will not efface ? Why not His angels ? Is 
 
 The servant greater than his Lord ? Were we 
 
 By hearing and by sight alone to know 
 
 His sympathy with pain V* 
 
 As Oriel spake, 
 He laid his hand upon a scar that seamed 
 His forehead, which not unobserved before 500 
 
 Only appeared a line of deeper thought, 
 No foul disfigurement, but added power 
 And more majestic royalty of mien. 
 
 " This from the furious Moloch's blade, who deem VI 
 With shout of victory and redoubled stroke 
 To end our duel ; but Gabriel succoured me, 
 And bore the fiend on his avenging spear 
 Back to his cloudy ambush. Few of ours 
 In that dread battle but received some sign 
 Of like endurance, honourable scars, 510 
 
270 THE CHURCH MILITANT. [BOOK 
 
 More precious to the warrior's glistening eye 
 
 Than spoil or jewell'd diadem : and few 
 
 But in extremity of peril owed 
 
 Their safety to a comrade's generous arm. 
 
 Deeds of high courage and renown were wrought, 
 
 And links enwove by stern self-sacrifice 
 
 Brother to brother binding, binding all 
 
 The closer to the Prince of all, whose eye 
 
 Nothing escaped, and whose recording hand 
 
 Wrote every act of loyalty and love 520 
 
 In heaven's unfading ageless chronicles. 
 
 The war was hand to hand : albeit at times 
 
 The storm-clouds scattered by God's breath reveal'd 
 
 A cubic phalanx of the foe, more densely' 
 
 Embattled than the guards of Macedon, 
 
 Who for great Philip's greater son subdued 
 
 Wan Persia 'neath the leopard's feet. And then 
 
 Oft have I seen some mighty seraph, arm'd 
 
 In adamantine armour, throw himself 
 
 Into those serried hostile ranks alone, 530 
 
 While, following in the path that fiery sword 
 
 Made for itself, others to right and left 
 
 Have dealt their indiscriminate vengeance. Thus 
 
 Or singly, or in groups, or marshall'd charge, 
 
 As time and place befell, that conflict raged : 
 
 Millions of flaming spirits on either side, 
 
 And heaven, with planetary orbs for towers, 
 
 The ample battle-field. But from the first 
 
 Darkness succumb'd to light : though not one day, 
 
VIII.] THE CHURCH MILITANT. 271 
 
 As mortals reckon days, nor one brief year 540 
 
 Looked forth the sun on the revolving* earth, 
 
 But seven times seven her annual circuit marked, 
 
 The while from battlement to battlement, 
 
 From cloudy lair to lair, from orb to orb, 
 
 From plain to plain of dismal overthrow, 
 
 The foe borne slowly backward fell. In chains 
 
 My chieftain led Apollyon breathing fire, 
 
 And with him his quaternion body-guard, 
 
 Four angels fiercest of hell's brood, and bound 
 
 After the battle, for worse fate reserved, 550 
 
 These last in fetters by Euphrates' banks ; 
 
 But hurl'd their leader to the abysmal pit, 
 
 To moan his fall with Uziel and his hosts. 
 
 Nor less Michael encountered Baalim 
 
 With Belus and Beelzebub, who drave 
 
 Consentient in tempestuous hurricane 
 
 Their fiery cars against his single might, 
 
 But found the race not always to the swift, 
 
 When, cleaving through their shields and useless helms 
 
 Those twain, our archangelic hierarch 560 
 
 Smote Baalim as with a stroke of fate 
 
 Inevitable, and dragged him from his throne 
 
 Above that flaming chariot, and consigned 
 
 Him, maugre his relentless blasphemies, 
 
 To durance by Gehenna's brazen doors. 
 
 These our sole captives : for the rest our charge 
 
 Was not to capture but to drive them forth 
 
 From that supernal firmament. So God 
 
272 THE CHURCH MILITANT. [BOOK 
 
 Commanded, so His ministers obeyed. 
 
 For, as the trumpet of the jubilee 570 
 
 Blown on the height of Zion rang through heaven, 
 
 Their latest stronghold stormed, their proud array 
 
 Pierced and transpierced on all sides, and their chiefs 
 
 Staggering with ghastly wounds, and pale with rage, 
 
 While now the breath of the Eternal Spirit 
 
 Cleansed all that sulphurous atmosphere, the crowds 
 
 Of those rebellious, gnashing with remorse, 
 
 And inextinguishable pride, were seen 
 
 Driven to the uttermost precincts, that lie 
 
 Betwixt celestial and terrestrial things ; 5S0 
 
 While Michael and his peers advancing bore 
 
 Their mangled cohorts down, a hideous rout, 
 
 Falling, like meteors quenched, from heaven. Nor was 
 
 One province, lost in that disastrous fight, 
 
 Ever by the infernal powers regained : 
 
 For, while His armies marched triumphant on 
 
 To songs of undeclining victory, 
 
 Messiah sealed the glorious realms they trod 
 
 Against the foes' return. And, in the year 
 
 The apostate Julian breathed his last on earth, 590 
 
 The rearmost of those ruined ones, despite 
 
 The cloudy covert of the Arch-fiend's shield, 
 
 Yv r as driven from the empyreal regions down 
 
 To lower worlds. And heaven had rest from war. 
 
 " Scarce in the limitless demesnes of space 
 Echoing had our triumphal pagans sunk 
 
VIII.] THE CHURCH MILITANT. 273 
 
 To whispers, ere a strange refrain of woe, 
 
 Foreboding* ill to dwellers on the earth, 
 
 Rose from the Prescient Spirit ; and, without pause 
 
 Of service, we on God's behalf resumed 600 
 
 Our stations militant about the saints : 
 
 Nor needless, nor too soon. For Satan now, 
 
 Dislodged from heaven with all his powers accurst, 
 
 Driven headlong, and tormented with quick wounds 
 
 (For not to them were healing leaves of life 
 
 Brought in that battle from the trees that bloom 
 
 Around the heavenly Zion), urged their flight 
 
 Through the terrestrial firmament, nor stayed 
 
 Till shrouded by the vaporous skirts of clouds, 
 
 That for seven moons had hung like ominous death 610 
 
 Over the frozen regions of the North, 
 
 They clustered shivering with despair and shame, 
 
 A ghastly rabblement of angels — small 
 
 And great were there — the mightiest as the least 
 
 Confounded. But as when a stranded bark 
 
 Is beating on the surge-swept rocks, the crew 
 
 Pale with near death around their captain throng, 
 
 The while he schemes some miserable raft 
 
 Only less hopeless than the ravenous waves, 
 
 So they around the lost Archangel flocked, 620 
 
 Who, with intensity of stifled rage, 
 
 Not fear, pallid and trembling, for his time 
 
 He knew was short, lest premature despair 
 
 Should, ere the fated hour had struck, consign 
 
 Him and his armies to the bottomless pit, 
 
 T 
 
271 THE CHURCH MILITANT. [BOOK 
 
 Opening designs, which on himself and them 
 With tenfold vengeance should recoil, thus spake : 
 
 " ' Comrades in arms, and in this sore defeat 
 Equal companions, sinister this day 
 Hath been to us the sword's arbitrament. 630 
 
 Such is the lot of war. But not the less 
 Stands adverse our unconquerable will, 
 Against which iron obstinate resolve 
 Omnipotence is shattered. Friends, herein 
 Let us make virtue of necessity. 
 The door of mercy hath long since been shut ; 
 And soon, after a respite pre-ordain' d, 
 If rightly' I read the oracles of fate, 
 The portals of the vast abysmal deep 
 "Will open, and the victor hosts of heaven, 640 
 
 Or heaven's High King Himself descending, drive 
 Us from our native light to the dark realms 
 Of chaos, there to' abide disconsolate, 
 Disown'd of God, disherited of heaven, 
 Unless in sooth we make a hell of earth, 
 And thus anticipate a lower fall, 
 Embracing (our primeval hope) this orb 
 Within the empire of eternal night. 
 Nor call I now a secret consistory 
 
 Of potentates, and seraphim, and thrones : 650 
 
 My comrades, be ye all my counsellors — 
 Thus much your zeal, your faith, your sufferings claim. 
 Not wisely has One deem'd All wise, methinks, 
 
VIII.] THE CHURCH MILITANT. 275 
 
 Suffered our weary multitudes to rest 
 
 Midway on this vex'd globe, whose former wrecks 
 
 Shall be forgotten, overlaid with more ; 
 
 Nor will the hostile legions find their charge 
 
 So light as their untimely shouts misdeem. 
 
 Much may in brief be done. First let us loose 
 
 The barriers of those Northern floods that chafe 660 
 
 Around the confines of the Roman world, 
 
 An angry fretting sea, which loosed may sweep 
 
 That Woman (ye that hear me, understand), 
 
 Her with the starry crown and new-born child, 
 
 To utter death. But failing this, — and this 
 
 Is but the prelude of my last revenge, — 
 
 Our triumphs in the past, and they have been 
 
 Such as have shaken the Eternal Throne, 
 
 Have sprung from fighting God with God-like arms : 
 
 Now let us counterfeit Himself, Triune. 670 
 
 Comrades, for this I willingly forego 
 
 My solitary regal state supreme, 
 
 And for the common sake of all resign 
 
 My archangelic primacy, and give 
 
 My sceptre to another. Which, ye gods, 
 
 Which of ye will ascend my throne, and share 
 
 With me its everlasting royalty?' 
 
 u He ask'd, but for a space no whisper broke 
 The gloomy silence, — such far-shadowing fears 
 Fulfilled all hearts, — till Ashtaroth, still sore 680 
 
 t 2 
 
276 THE CHURCH MILITANT. [BOOK 
 
 With wounds unclosed and torments unassuaged, 
 Groaned forth, ' If only Baalim were here V 
 
 " And Satan, as a prescient god, returned — 
 1 Thy prayers shall be accomplished. Baalim 
 In the ripe fulness of predestined years 
 Shall rise — so fatal oracles ordain — 
 Rise from the dark abyss : and him I set 
 Vicegerent on my throne, by virtue earned, 
 Messiah's not unmeet antagonist, 
 
 Subdued and risen against subdued and risen, 690 
 
 And with him thee, my faithful Ashtaroth, 
 Indomitable in thy sevenfold might. 
 Henceforth my glory is to glorify 
 You twain, you only. Let us, three in one, 
 If not in essence yet in will triune, 
 Triunity of darkness, counterwork 
 The Trinity of light. My soul forecasts 
 The shadows of the future. Is the cup 
 Of vengeance sweet ? Comrades, it shall be filled 
 Full and for ever to the cruel brim. 700 
 
 Messiah hath espoused a Bride on earth : 
 We will defile that Bride. His Church of old 
 Fell easily in our lascivious arms ; 
 But this chaste matron, nurtured at the Cross, 
 And overshadowed by the Dove, and schooFd 
 In suffering, w T ill be far more rigid found : 
 Yet not impregnable, we copying Him. 
 

 VIII.] THE CHURCH MILITANT. 277 
 
 Doth He work slowly ? slowly we must work : 
 
 And secretly ? we must in secret work : 
 
 And patiently ? we patiently must work. 710 
 
 And if at last within His temple courts 
 
 His well-beloved, by us betray'd, debauchM, 
 
 Decking herself with scarlet, gems, and gold, 
 
 And all the blandishments of harlotry, 
 
 Have dalliance with the nations and their kings, 
 
 And offer them her honeyed cup of loves, 
 
 Drunken herself with sweeter nectarine, 
 
 The life-blood of the martyred saints of God, 
 
 Were not this vengeance which might soothe our pangs 
 
 Here, or in dread Gehenna, to recall ? 720 
 
 Let Him chastise as likes Him. Let Him crush 
 
 Our hatred underneath His burning feet. 
 
 We shall have marred His bridal. What amends 
 
 Were to the injured spouse the worst of ills 
 
 Heaped on the loathed adulterer ? Likelier far, 
 
 Weary and sick at heart of those ingrate, 
 
 Messiah will forsake that ruined race, 
 
 Them and their tainted home, and leave us here, 
 
 Apostate gods of an apostate world/ 
 
 " So spake the lost Archangel; and his hosts 730 
 
 Infatuate on their bucklers clashed applause. 
 
 " Ah subtlest, snared in thine own subtleties ! 
 False spirit, by thine own falsehoods circumvent ! 
 Folly impersonate ! And deemedst thou 
 
27S THE CHURCH MILITANT. [BOOK 
 
 In thy blind madness to defile the Bride, 
 
 Whom from eternity the Father gave 
 
 Affianced consort to His only Son ? 
 
 Defile her ? or, if not defile, destroy ? 
 
 Go, ply thy devilish arts, thou shalt but grasp 
 
 An unsubstantial phantom, or at most, 740 
 
 Polluting more thy loathsome seed, advance 
 
 A harlot to the world's hierarchal throne : 
 
 The Bride is hidden in the wilderness. 
 
 Go, heat thine idol furnace sevenfold, 
 
 And, baffled of the Bride, her children cast 
 
 Into the burning kiln, it shall not singe 
 
 The tender blossom on their cheek ; for lo, 
 
 Walking at large as sons of God with God 
 
 Through fire and fume, their white asbestos robes 
 
 Grow only purer with intenser flame. 750 
 
 " Dead calm before the tempest : a strange hush 
 Upon the expectant deep : the winds enchained, 
 Till from the mystic Israel's tribes the saints 
 Were seaPd in secret with the seal of God ; 
 And visions of the upper Paradise, — 
 Palm-bearing, white-robed multitudes who sing 
 Salvation, pastures of un withering bloom, 
 And fountains of perennial living joy, — 
 Drew homeward pilgrim hearts. 'Twas done : and heaven 
 In solemn awe kept silence for a space : 7 Go 
 
 While seven angels stood with trumps in hand \ 
 And habited in light, as man's High Priest 
 
VIII.] THE CHURCH MILITANT. 279 
 
 Standing before the golden mercy-seat, 
 
 The Christ, the Angel of the Covenant, 
 
 Offered in sacrifice rich fragrant clouds 
 
 Of incense with the struggling prayers of saints, — 
 
 Propitious eucharist. But, this rite done, 
 
 The Angel in His golden censer took 
 
 Fire blazing from that altar hearth, and cast 
 
 Earthward the flaming coals, which as they fell 770 
 
 Kindled the tempest-charged electric air. 
 
 And the first angel blew his trumps ; and lo, 
 
 Forth rushing from the North a hailstorm burst 
 
 Upon the Roman earth, and fire and ice 
 
 (More terrible than that which smote the pride 
 
 Of Egypt at the beck of Amram's son) 
 
 Fell mix'd with blood. Nor long delay : for now 
 
 The second angel sounded, and forthwith 
 
 A mountain, belching lava streams and smoke, 
 
 Torn from its dark foundations, slowly sank 780 
 
 Into the angry seas, and dyed their waves 
 
 With ruddy fires. And lo, an ominous star, 
 
 As the third trumpeter his clarion blew, 
 
 Sloped through the startled firmament and fell, 
 
 Bitter as wormwood, in the crystal springs : 
 
 Whence after flowed not life, but death. But, ere 
 
 This plague was past, the fourth celestial watch 
 
 Sounded his boding cornet, and behold 
 
 The sun and moon endured dismal eclipse, 
 
 And through the heavens a third part of the stars 79Q 
 
 Grew pale : while flying with disastrous wing 
 
280 THE CHURCH MILITANT. [BOOK 
 
 An eagle cleft the troubled sky and screamed 
 Its triple dirge prophetic, Woe, "Woe, Woe ! 
 
 " Like buried Nineveh, or Carthage, Rome 
 Had sunk for ever underneath these plagues, 
 But on the verge of ruin, as forecast 
 By Satan, Baalim, heal'd of his wound, 
 In likeness of a ravenous beast of prey, 
 Rising from the abysmal waters, ranged 
 The desolated shores, ten-horned, ten-crowned, 800 
 
 And on his heads the names of blasphemy : 
 To him the dragon tendered all his power. 
 While sevenfold Ashtaroth, with beauty smirch'd 
 In battle, but with undecaying wiles, 
 Couching his fell designs in lamb-like guise, 
 Sent through all lands his legionary spirits, 
 And led the shepherds of the silly sheep 
 Blindfold, and blinding others, to adore 
 The beast whose deadly wound was heaFd, and make, 
 By his perfidious miracles beguiled, 810 
 
 A bestial vocal image, who as God 
 Upon the altar seated in God's house, 
 Holding the keys of Peter, should receive 
 The homage of the world. Thus Phoenix-like 
 On the rent walls and smoking towers of Rome, 
 In hideous mimicry of Him who built 
 His church on Salem's crumbling battlements, 
 The Arch-adversary for his harlot bride 
 Builded a mystical metropolis, 
 
VIII.] THE CHURCH MILITANT. 281 
 
 The haunt of devils, Babylon the great, 820 
 
 Whence in her pride and pomp she might allure 
 
 The nations, as the peerless queen of heaven, 
 
 Mother and mistress of all lands. Alas 
 
 For miserable Christendom ! The East 
 
 Gloomed underneath the shadow of new gods, 
 
 Sculptured, or cast, or pictured : and the West 
 
 Drave out Olympian deities to' instate 
 
 Angels and saints within their vacant shrines, 
 
 Blaspheming God and them at once. Meanwhile 
 
 Apollyon, otherwise Abaddon called, 830 
 
 Who sank with Baalim, equal in crime, 
 
 Nor had in the abyss unlearned revenge, 
 
 Oped, when his chains were loosed, the infernal pit, 
 
 From whence, as from a furnace, fiery smoke 
 
 Rose, darkening the terrestrial firmament ; 
 
 And locust legions issuing, maiPd for war, 
 
 None such before or after them, swarm'd forth 
 
 Embattled from the wilds of Araby, 
 
 And with their lion teeth and scorpion stings 
 
 Tormented them that dwelt upon the earth &40 
 
 For twice five months of years. Nor had this scourge 
 
 Passed ere the sixth prophetic trumpet clanged, 
 
 And the four spirits, Apollyon's fourfold guard, 
 
 Bound in Euphrates, by command were loosed, 
 
 And straightway from the famed Bagdad led forth 
 
 Myriads of myriads, turms of horse, twice told, 
 
 In sulphur clad and hyacinth and fire, 
 
 Over the devastated earth which shook 
 
282 THE CHUKCH MILITANT. [BOOK 
 
 Beneath their trampling : but the rest, whose names 
 Were not engraven in the book of life, 850 
 
 In foul idolatries and endless lusts 
 And devilish incantations lived and died. 
 
 u The roots of fairest bloom lie sometime hidden 
 The deepest underneath the soil : the stones 
 Of purest crystal are from gloomiest mines : 
 The tenderest pearls are won from roughest seas : 
 And stars of colours dipped in Iris' vats 
 Beam from unfathomable distances, 
 Ere they disclose their radiance. And when night 
 Hung darkest o'er the struggling Church, — when faith 
 Was weary wrestling, not with heathen foes, [s6o 
 
 But, mystery of mysteries, with her 
 Who claimed allegiance as the Bride of Christ, — 
 When Satan and his fellow-fiends devised 
 Daily new tortures, and relentless scythes 
 Mow'd swaths of martyrs in the Alpine glens, — 
 When fronting all the powers of Antichrist 
 Christ's feeblest braved their fiercest, — then and there 
 Were vessels fashion'd for the Master's use 
 Of unexampled beauty and of price 870 
 
 Beyond all price. The Comforter was there, 
 And in His tender ministries we learn'd 
 Patience and grace not dream'd of hitherto. 
 Angels hung clustering round an infant's sleep ; 
 And seraphs waited for a child's response; 
 And legions watch'd who deem'd themselves alone. 
 
VIII.] THE CHURCH MILITANT. 283 
 
 Love baffled hate ; and never a trembling lamb 
 
 Was from the Heavenly Shepherd's bosom torn. 
 
 Eternity irradiated time : 
 
 A Father's smile outweigh'd earth's myriad powers ; 880 
 
 A Saviour's love was country, kith, and home ; 
 
 The weakest, in the Spirit's might, were strong. 
 
 Ah ! brother, there are tales of secret grace, 
 
 Written in Heaven, which shall suffuse thine eyes 
 
 With tears of joy hereafter. 
 
 " But those days 
 Were number'd of rebuke and blasphemy. 
 And even as Rome in her infatuate pride 
 Vaunted the last faint witnesses were crush'd, 
 Lo, from the heavens descended One whose face 
 Shone as the sun, cloud-mantled, rainbow-crowned, 890 
 And set His fiery right foot on the sea, 
 His left on earth, and with His lion voice 
 Waking far thunders in the clouds that hung 
 Around the throne of judgment, sware by Him 
 Who lives for ever and for ever, time, 
 As meted on His chart, should be no more, 
 Save only till the great archangel blew 
 The latest trumpet of the seven, and then 
 The mystery of God should be complete. 
 
 " Askest thou, who it was, thus robed in light ? 900 
 None other than Messiah. For they err 
 Who deem, because the Word as man's High Priest 
 
284 THE CHURCH MILITANT. [BOOK 
 
 Within the Holiest Sanctuary abides, 
 
 That never, as before His days of flesh, 
 
 He, Omnipresent, as in heaven, on earth 
 
 Reveals His glory to the sons of men 
 
 Or angels. Showed He not Himself to Saul 
 
 Of Tarsus, as he near'd Damascus' gates ? 
 
 And fell not John in Patmos at His feet ? 
 
 And when unhappy Salem sank, as sinks 910 
 
 The blood-red sun in clouds of fiery storm, 
 
 Came He not in His royalty descending, 
 
 Smiting His foes, and rescuing His own 
 
 According to His word ? Nor otherwise 
 
 When dragon ensigns fled before the Cross, 
 
 The Incarnate Lamb, beaming His beams of wrath, 
 
 Was present in the awful strife. And now 
 
 What time this last confederacy of hell 
 
 Was stricken to the heart, He stood and cried, 
 
 By man, but not by us unseen, unheard. 920 
 
 " That Morning Star, herald of dawn, diffused 
 Its radiance on all lands and distant isles, 
 Nor, brother, least on thine. Never again 
 Such midnight darkness whelmed the earth. Far streaks 
 Of glory flushed the heavens. Yet not the less 
 The powers of hell conspired to dim or quench 
 The God-enkindled flame. But stifled here, 
 The bright fire burst forth there in tenfold strength. 
 And when with better augury the}' breathed 
 Over the toilworn Church a sultry heat, 930 
 
VIII.] THE CHURCH MILITANT. 285 
 
 Mephitic, somnolent, the winds of God 
 
 Rushing tempestuous, and with lightnings winged, 
 
 Scattered the deadly sloth. For now appeared, 
 
 Emerging from the heavenly sanctuary, 
 
 Seven angels, clad in priestly robes of white, 
 
 Each holding in his hand a golden vase, 
 
 Full of the wrath of God. These as they pour'd 
 
 Forth from their fiery censers one by one, 
 
 The earth was smitten by a noisome plague, 
 
 The sea became a pool of stagnant gore, 940 
 
 The rivers and the fountains flowed with blood, 
 
 The old Euphrates dwindled in its bed 
 
 And ran a puny stream a child might wade, 
 
 While spirits malignant, by hell's triad urged, 
 
 Sped forth, gathering the nations and their kings 
 
 To Armageddon's battle-field. The while 
 
 Another angel, flying in mid-heaven, 
 
 Preached as he flew to every tribe and tongue 
 
 Evangel tidings of eternal love. 
 
 And on from watch to watch adown the streets 950 
 
 Of Zion passed the cry, ' Arise, behold 
 
 The Bridegroom cometh/ and the virgins rose 
 
 Who for long hours had slept, and trimm'd their lamps 
 
 And ready stood, waiting their Lord's return. 
 
 " Thus, brother, have I at thy suit retraced, 
 Though but in briefest retrospect, the fight 
 The militant Church hath fought en. Nor remains 
 Save that the latest censer of God's wrath 
 
286 THE CHURCH MILITANT. [BOOK 
 
 Be pour'd into the aerial firmament 
 
 Ere the shout echoes round the startled world, 960 
 
 ' Great Babylon is fallen ! * and the Prince 
 
 Leads forth His armies with triumphal palms 
 
 And hymning Hallelujahs, while His foes 
 
 Are crushed before Him, and Himself assumes 
 
 The sceptre of His rightful universe/'' 
 
 So Oriel spake ; and while he spake mine eye 
 Moved not from reading his ; such glorious thoughts, 
 Passing his own angelic tongue to' express, 
 Were written on his countenance. The more 
 He spake to me, the more I longed to know, 970 
 
 And fain methought had listened on and on 
 In raptured audience evermore. But now 
 After sweet interval in which he touched 
 The light chords of what seemed a golden lute, 
 And to spontaneous gushing melodies, 
 Sang from heaven's psalter one of those refrains 
 Whose faint far echo ravished David's soul ; — 
 This ended, he turned to me and besought, 
 As he had opened things unknown by me, 
 I would vouchsafe his earnest suit, and tell 980 
 
 What he had watched and guarded from without 
 But knew not from within, — my spirit's life 
 From its first dawn to noon : this he besought 
 With such unfeigned humility, such grace, 
 Making it easy to refuse or grant, 
 That all my bosom opened to his love, 
 
VIII.] THE CHURCH MILITANT. 287 
 
 So far as one may know another. Depths 
 
 There are in all no creature eye can read. 
 
 Sacred to God. But, as I told him all 
 
 That love may ask of perfect confidence, 990 
 
 Our hearts were knit for ever. I henceforth 
 
 Had claims on him who thus drank in my words, 
 
 A mute rapt listener. As the astronomer, 
 
 Who on the starry heavens the livelong night 
 
 Has gazed unwearied, in the dewy dawn 
 
 Returning homeward, plucks a simple flower, 
 
 Primrose, or cowslip, or anemone, 
 
 And in its tender beauties peering finds 
 
 More calm delight than in those mighty orbs 
 
 With all their pendent satellites : so then 1000 
 
 My guardian with an elder brother's joy 
 
 Rested upon me in his love, the while 
 
 I told the humble story of my heart. 
 
 How long might there elapse of earthly time, 
 As thus upon that mountain range we sate 
 Communing, I knew not. But suddenly 
 A clear deep musical sound about us breathed, 
 Like to a silver trumpet blown far off, 
 From rocks to distant rocks reverberate, 
 As though the hills, instinct with harmony, ioio 
 
 Themselves were live and vocal. And my guide 
 Sprang to his feet, and gazed intently' and long 
 Upon the blissful Paradise that smiled 
 Beneath us, while a flush of eager joy 
 
288 THE CHURCH MILITANT. 
 
 Crimsoned his cheek, and quick words from his lips 
 
 Dropped hurriedly, — u Brother, this is the first 
 
 Of the three trumpet signals fore-announced, 
 
 That usher in the long-expected close. 
 
 The first portends our tryst on yonder plains ; 
 
 The second our ascent beneath the sword 1020 
 
 Of Gabriel to the confines of the earth ; 
 
 The third, the Bridal of the Lamb. But now 
 
 They need our presence yonder. Let us go" 
 
 So saying, again he took my hand in his ; 
 And swifter than the light of morn we passed 
 Down from those airy battlements, and soon, 
 Albeit the intervening space was far 
 As Atlas from the snowy Himalays, 
 Rejoined the multitudes of the redeemed 
 With angels intermingled, rapidly 1030 
 
 From every distant realm of Paradise 
 Within what seem'd one endless vale of flowers 
 Assembling, joy in every bounding step 
 And love past utterance stamped on every brow. 
 
 END OF THE EIGHTH BOOK. 
 
289 
 
 BOOK IX. 
 
 THE BRIDAL OF THE LAMB. 
 
 mystery of love, whose simplest signs 
 Are hieroglyphics of another tongue 
 Love only can interpret, from a babels 
 First smile of joyance at its mother's voice, 
 To the warm ruddy glow of frostless age ; 
 A web of heavenly warp and earthly woof ; 
 Affections twined, and intertwined ; gold threads 
 Woven, unwoven, and again rewove ; 
 
 Links riveted, and loosened, and relinked, 
 Imperishable all, — what shall. I say? 10 
 
 How speak of thee in language worthy thee ? 
 My spirit is willing, but my flesh is weak. 
 
 1 see thee through a glass but darkly, — beams 
 From the great Fontal Orb of love, which shone, 
 Ere the foundations of the heavens were laid, 
 Self-luminous, self-centred, self-contained, 
 
 In its own increate immensity, 
 Perfect, incomprehensible, Triune ; 
 But which in fulness of the age of ages 
 
 u 
 
290 THE BRIDAL OF THE LAMB. [BOOK 
 
 Brake effluent forth, the exuberance of life 20 
 
 Creative, till the universe of things 
 
 Rose underneath the hand of God, instinct 
 
 With His own nature, sinless, undefiled ; 
 
 And, when foreseen but not the less abhorred 
 
 Evil arose from good, and cast its pall, 
 
 The pall of death, over the birth of life, 
 
 Which, not one ray of glory quenched or dimmed, 
 
 Ceased not to shine, immutably the same, 
 
 Through clouds of judgment and quick flames of wrath 
 
 On worlds perplexed with tempest. Holy love, 30 
 
 Which out of that corrupt creation deignedst 
 
 To build a new creation incorrupt, 
 
 And link thyself thereto by sinless bands 
 
 Incarnate, that Godhead to manhood joined, 
 
 And through mankind to all material worlds 
 
 (Wondrous espousals), might at last present 
 
 His chosen Bride in virgin white arrayed 
 
 Before the Eternal Throne : — how shall I speak 
 
 Thy fulness, who can scarce conceive thy least ? 
 
 How gaze upon the sun, when one bright beam 40 
 
 Dazzles my feeble sight ? Spirit of love, 
 
 Hear me, who humbly supplicate thine aid ; 
 
 That which is gross in me, etherealize ; 
 
 That which in me is carnal, spiritualize ; 
 
 That which is earthly, elevate to heaven ; 
 
 The weak enable, and the dark illume, 
 
 Till love, which is of God, abides in me, 
 
 And I abide in God, for God is love. 
 
IX.] THE BRIDAL OF THE LAMB. 291 
 
 Oh, precious foretaste of the feast at hand ! 
 Oh, blessed prelibation of the draughts 50 
 
 Of everlasting joy ! When I returned 
 With Oriel from our lonely mountain watch 
 To that fast-filling vale of Paradise, 
 Who first of all those white-robed multitudes 
 Should greet me, but my own, my sainted wife, — 
 Her spirit like mine dismantled of the flesh, 
 But radiant with the likeness of her Lord ; 
 Our infant cherubs clinging to her skirts, 
 The mother with the children (how not so ?) ; 
 And by her one whom I had seen, but scarce 60 
 
 Remembered, till his grateful smile revived 
 The memory of his watch the night I died ? 
 My wife — yet deem not by that name, her soul 
 Had not put off its earthly, and put on 
 Its heavenly. In a moment I was 'ware 
 She was for ever altogether mine ; 
 Not spouse, but what is symbolized by spouse ; 
 Not consort, but what consort typifies ; 
 The meaning now made fact ; the ideal here 
 Transparent in our real unity ; 70 
 
 A reflex glory' and image of myself; 
 An help meet for me in the house of God. 
 Oh, never in her loveliest on earth 
 Of bud or bloom appeared she lovely' as now ; 
 Nor ever had I loved her as this hour, 
 When hanging on my neck, as she was wont, 
 She look'd up with her tender pleading face, 
 
 u 2 
 
292 THE BRIDAL OF THE LAMB. [BOOK 
 
 And sobb'd for very ecstasy, not grief, 
 
 " My husband I" This was all, but this was heaven. 
 
 Nor was there longer interval for muse, 80 
 
 Ere Gabriel with a royal retinue, 
 Passing, as so it chanced, adown those ranks, 
 Amid those princely hierarchs a prince, 
 Advanced to meet us : — majesty of rule 
 Engraven on his awful brow and mien, 
 Tempered with grace ; and military power, 
 Mix'd with such gentleness as might beseem 
 The Bridegroom's friend. With open hand and heart 
 He hail'd us, and to Oriel spake, and said, 
 " Yonder midway, where trends towards the right 90 
 This happy vale, brother, assign thy group, 
 Till the next trumpet sound. The time is short/' 
 
 So saying he passed, he and his gorgeous suite. 
 And as he said, we did. Whither arrived 
 I stood a brief space gazing right and left, 
 Fulfilled with joy. Far as the eye could reach, 
 Stretched that illimitable valley, named 
 In flowery Paradise the Vale of Flowers : 
 For here whatever Eden's walks could boast 
 Of fair or fragrant, asphodel or rose, 1 00 
 
 Lily or orange bloom, or citron fruit, 
 Myrrh, spikenard, cinnamon, or frankincense, 
 Grew in tenfold luxuriance unsurpassed, 
 Fearlessly opening to that crystal light 
 
IX.] THE BRIDAL OF THE LAMB. 293 
 
 Its perfume and its purity. But now 
 
 Nor flower nor fruit could fix the lingering eye : 
 
 For here in numbers without number flocked 
 
 The saints of every age ; the Bride was here, 
 
 Clothing herself with light ; no bower of bliss 
 
 But hither sent its blessed habitants : I Id 
 
 So shrill the archangel's clarion rang through heaven. 
 
 They came in multitudinous throngs ; but soon 
 Celestial order reign'd, nor one appeared 
 But necessary where he stood, albeit 
 Wide gaps were here and there discernible, 
 Room, as I deemed, for struggling saints on earth, 
 We without them not perfect. But behold, 
 More frequent every moment were the shouts 
 Along the victor armies, welcoming 
 Saints newly' arrived from earth. For now their foes, 1 20 
 Knowing they stood upon the brink of fate, 
 Redoubled their blind rage. Disguise was not : 
 The dust instead of water drank in blood ; 
 And fiery persecution in all lands 
 Lit up the lurid flames of hell. The whole 
 Creation in birth-pangs travaiFd and groanM ; 
 While Satan inly tortured, with a fiend's 
 Dark jealousy contemplating the power 
 Of Baalim and envious Ashtaroth, 
 
 Though by himself advanced, as yet subserved 1 30 
 
 Their banded domination. Antichrist, 
 All hollow subterfuges cast aside, 
 
294 THE BRIDAL OF THE LAMB. [BOOK 
 
 Usurped the throne of Christ. And there was woe 
 
 Intense, insufferable, such as earth 
 
 Saw never, such as heaven shuddered to see. 
 
 For as these tidings came, and every hour 
 
 Disclosed some new atrocity of crime, 
 
 The language of all hearts, angels and saints, 
 
 Thrilling with cries of martyred innocents, 
 
 Swelled in one tide of prayer adown that vale, 140 
 
 And clomb the highest heavens — " Arise, O Lord ! 
 
 Arise, O God of vengeance, show Thyself ! 
 
 Make bare Thine arm, and lift Thy glittering spear ! 
 
 Awake, awake, Almighty One ! How long 
 
 Shall the ungodly triumph, and Thy foes 
 
 Trample Thy heritage beneath their feet ? 
 
 How long, Eternal, tarriest Thou ? Arise ! 
 
 Jehovah, God of vengeance, show Thyself!" 
 
 And He, whose ear is never heavy, heard ; 
 And He, who never slumbers, woke. But yet 150 
 
 A transitory pause, a breathing space, 
 A silence terrible as sound before, 
 Until a cry of anguish and alarm 
 Rose from the lowest vaults of Tartarus, 
 " Alas ! the dreadful day of wrath is come." 
 
 It passed, and silence reigned. And far and near 
 Messiah's Presence, though unseen, was felt 
 Amongst us, shedding secret power on all. 
 Angels on saints, and saints on angels look'd 
 
IX.] THE BRIDAL OF THE LAMB. 205 
 
 Expectant; when lo, Gabriel by command igo 
 
 Put to his lips the trump of God, and blew 
 
 A blast so long and clear and musical, 
 
 That none drew breath until its echoes ceased. 
 
 And straightway, even as we were, we rose 
 
 (So rises from an Alpine vale the mist 
 
 At daybreak by the golden sun allured) 
 
 Self-poised, or rather by the Spirit upborne 
 
 Into that ambient atmosphere of light, 
 
 Angels and principalities and thrones 
 
 Mingling and ministrant. Slowly we rose 170 
 
 Towards the upper gates of Paradise, 
 
 Gates of pellucid pearl, which as we near'd 
 
 Seemed to dilate themselves, the while our hosts, 
 
 Myriads abreast, passed through them singing songs 
 
 Of irrepressible joy, or friend with friend 
 
 Sweetly communing. Eagerly I ask'd 
 
 Of her, who like a sunbeam moved beside me, 
 
 What had befallen our sweet lambs, since I 
 
 Their shepherd left them in the wilderness 
 
 These many years; for years I found had flown, 180 
 
 While I, unconscious of their flight, had hung 
 
 On Oriel's lips, or followed where he led. 
 
 Let it suffice that all had faithful stood, 
 
 Much tried, much toiling, but all leal and true, 
 
 And children's children walking as they walked. 
 
 Thus all along that bright ravine we moved, 
 Expanded to what seem'd an hundredfold 
 
296 THE BRIDAL OF THE LAMB. [BOOK 
 
 Its former breadth, upon our easy march 
 
 Ascending, nor too swiftly for the flight 
 
 Of the innumerable babes, that swelled 190 
 
 That vast procession of the sons of God, 
 
 And with their innocent rapture woke new joy 
 
 In all. But now, this zone of mist traversed, 
 
 Forth issuing from its roseate avenue 
 
 Into the open firmament we passed, 
 
 And unimpeded held our way, — as though 
 
 That nebulous belt of stars, that girdles heaven, 
 
 Were seen moving among the other orbs, 
 
 And with a closer cincture binding earth. 
 
 How diverse from my last descent, alone 200 
 
 With Oriel and his courier seraphim, 
 
 Down this celestial roadway, to a world 
 
 I knew not, lit with passing splendours ! Now 
 
 It seem'd as heaven itself were scaling heaven 
 
 For love, not war. 
 
 But half remains untold. 
 While thus along the star-paved firmament 
 The Bride, awakened from the holy rest 
 Of ages, hastened to her mother earth, 
 There to assume her hymeneal robes, 
 And, with the residue of God's elect 210 
 
 Made perfect, wait the advent of her Lord, 
 Himself the Bridegroom on the right of power, 
 Where in the heaven of heavens He sate embosom 'd, 
 Rose in His awful Majesty, and deign'd 
 
IX.] THE BRIDAL OF THE LAMB. 297 
 
 Ascend the chariot of Omnipotence, 
 Borne onward by cherubic shapes. 
 
 As when 
 To the lone seer, by Chebar's waves exiled, 
 There came dense cloud and whirlwind from the North, 
 And fiery wreaths of flame, fold within fold, 
 And brightness as of glowing amber round 220 
 
 Those living creatures inexpressible, 
 Of human form apparent, clad with wings 
 Of Seraphim, like burning coals of fire 
 Or lamps or lightnings flashing to and fro, 
 Straight moving where the Spirit willed : beneath 
 Wheels rushed, set with innumerable eyes, 
 Wheel within wheel of beryl, and instinct 
 With One pervading Spirit ; and overhead 
 The firmament of crystal, terrible 
 
 In its transparent brightness stretched : they rose, 230 
 And lo, the rushing of their wings appeared 
 The roll of mighty waters, or the shout 
 Of countless multitudes : but, when the voice 
 Of God above them sounded eminent, 
 Straightway they stood and drooped their awful wings ; 
 And far above the firmament, behold 
 The likeness of a sapphire throne ; and there, 
 Mysterious presage of the Incarnate, shone 
 The likeness of a Man. Human He was 
 In every lineament, yet likest God, 240 
 
 Flame-girdled, like a sardine stone afire, 
 
298 THE BKIDAL OF THE LAMB. [BOOK 
 
 Pure bright amid impenetrable dark, 
 Insufferably radiant, till it wrote 
 Mercy's great symbol on the clouds of wrath, 
 And with its arch of softened rainbow hues, 
 Gold, emerald, and vermilion, spanned the throne. 
 
 Thus came He to that solitary seer. 
 But who of men or angels can relate 
 His coming with the sanctities of heaven, 
 This day of His espousals? Such estate 250 
 
 And pomp and presence, as might best comport 
 With Filial Majesty, Supreme, Divine, 
 Were round about Him poured. Eternal love, 
 Rejoicing in its well Beloved, breathed 
 New raptures o'er His blessed countenance ; 
 While in His Father's glory and His own, 
 By thousand times ten thousand ministries 
 Attended, through the holiest heaven of heavens 
 He came, and through the multitudinous maze 
 Of jubilant constellations. But, or ever 2(>o 
 
 His armies, following underneath the sign 
 Of Michael's archangelic standard, touch'd 
 The confines of the sun's crystalline sphere 
 Earthward descending, on the other side 
 The hosts of the redeem'd, by Gabriel led, 
 Advancing from the opposite aspect, 
 Not without songs of triumph heard far off, 
 Stood on what seem'd the nether edge of space 
 Bordering earth's airy firmament. So stood 
 
IX.J THE BHIDAL OF THE LAMB. 299 
 
 Israel aforetime, from the ocean depths 270 
 
 Emerging by the clouds of spray baptized, 
 
 Beside the marge of Idumea's sea, 
 
 And sang the song of Moses to the sound 
 
 Of Miriam's timbrel, or disposed themselves 
 
 In loose array along those hoary rocks 
 
 Fretted by waves, which here and there cast up 
 
 The bodies of their late blaspheming foes. 
 
 Not otherwise that hour nor with less joy 
 
 We, all invisible to mortal sight, 
 
 Enwrapped the circling earth from pole to pole, 280 
 
 A thin pure veil of disembodied spirits, 
 
 (Scarcely less subtle than the luminous hair, 
 
 Dishevelled, streaming from a comet's brow, 
 
 Through which the faintest star shines on undimm'd,) 
 
 And nearing now our birth-land, at a word 
 
 That with electric speed circled the globe, 
 
 Bore downward through the realms of air (as once 
 
 The lambent fiery tongues of Pentecost 
 
 Fell straight from heaven) where waited each the germ, 
 
 Once sown in weakness, to be raised in power. 290 
 
 The motion was as thought. Howbeit nor I, 
 
 Nor any, lost one moment's consciousness. 
 
 It was a village churchyard where I lighted, 
 
 My wife, my babes, beside me, on the left 
 
 My parents, and my chasten'd sister's spirit, 
 
 Our angel guardians hanging on our steps. 
 
 But, even as we touch'd the solid earth, 
 
 The Lord Himself descended with a shout, 
 
300 THE BRIDAL OF THE LAM 13. [BOOK 
 
 Loud as of torrent floods, into mid-heaven, 
 
 His bright cherubic chariot veiPd in clouds 3uo 
 
 Of dazzling glory. And at His command 
 
 The voice of Michael, like the knell of doom, 
 
 Broke on the slumbers of a guilty world, 
 
 And on the last conspiracies of hell ; 
 
 And flashes of incessant lightnings wrapped 
 
 The incandescent sky from East to West, 
 
 Where night was, making night itself as noon, 
 
 And where was day, blinding the sun with light : 
 
 A thunder sound, but no articulate words ; 
 
 A lightning glory, but no lineaments 310 
 
 Apparent to the habitants of earth, 
 
 Save on the hills of Zion, where the tribes 
 
 Of Israel, gathered from all lands and seas, 
 
 Heard what the nations heard not, and beheld, 
 
 Astonied, Him whom they had pierced ; — as once 
 
 To Saul, alone of all that stricken band, 
 
 His persecuted Lord appeared and spake. 
 
 But now Gabriel a third time blew his trump, 
 
 Given hirn from the celestial sanctuary 
 
 Against this Bridal hour. And in a glimpse, 320 
 
 In the individual twinkling of an eye, 
 
 The ground, on which we stood, trembled and clave ; 
 
 And I, a sense of rapture like new life 
 
 Through every limb discoursing, found myself 
 
 ApparelFd in celestial robes, what once 
 
 Was mortal clothed in immortality, 
 
 What was corrupt in incorruption lost. 
 

 IX.] THE BRIDAL OF THE LAMB. SOI 
 
 So were all clad. But angel whispers now 
 
 Spake welcomes scarcely audible ; for still 
 
 The echoes of the Bridal trump rang* out, 330 
 
 And still the Bridegroom's voice resounded, and 
 
 Straightway, as if the altar of the earth 
 
 Exhaled one cloud of incense, we rose up 
 
 Towards the sapphire throne ; but scarce had risen, 
 
 Ere thousand times ten thousand living saints, 
 
 Changed and transfigured, from all lands and seas, 
 
 Like Enoch and Elias, without death 
 
 Achieving deathless life, translated rose 
 
 And swelled our soaring multitudes, and filled 
 
 Whatever was wanting to the Bride. Behold 340 
 
 The Church of the Firstborn at last complete ! 
 
 The while, with Hallelujahs on our lips, 
 
 Still on and on towards the throne we swept 
 
 Through the aerial regions, every eye 
 
 Bent on the King, and every instant rich 
 
 With new delights ; until His hosts and ours 
 
 Seemed two fraternal armies edge to edge 
 
 Approaching, nothing save His car of fire 
 
 Flashing prismatic flames betwixt. As when 
 
 (If such celestial mysteries may bear 350 
 
 Earthly comparison, nor suffer loss), 
 
 Emergent from his eastern couch, the sun 
 
 Pours forth at last his horizontal beams 
 
 Between two banks of clouds, above, below, 
 
 Rubied with light, a flood of golden day, 
 
 Till closing round his chariot thev imbibe 
 
302 THE BRIDAL OF THE LAMB. [BOOK 
 
 The full effulgence of his ardent wheels, 
 
 Leaving the hills in gloom : so clustering round 
 
 Messiah, who descended from His throne 
 
 To greet us, as the bridegroom greets the bride, — 36o 
 
 Love omnipresent, inexpressible, 
 
 Welcoming all as each, and each as all, — 
 
 We from His smile drank in beatitudes 
 
 Beyond all words to picture. But what more 
 
 Befell us in those high aerial realms 
 
 Was closely mantled from unholy gaze. 
 
 Earth trembled at the sudden night. The Bride 
 Was not. They sought her, but she was not found ; 
 And for a space in mute amaze men ask'd 
 Each of his fellow, where were those they loathed, 370 
 Yet loathing fear'd ? But soon far other scenes 
 Engrossed all hearts : for lo, great Babylon 
 Trembled, as smitten with the curse of God, 
 And fell in ruinous heaps, and sank, as sinks 
 A millstone in the mighty waters, down 
 Into a dreadful chasm of fire, which oped 
 Beneath her battlements, while overhead 
 The sky rained burning sulphur, till the smoke 
 Of her great torment clomb into the heavens ; 
 And all her merchants, standing far aloof, 380 
 
 BewaiFd her, casting dust upon their heads. 
 But not on Satan and his peers that hour 
 The wrath-beam fell : whereat greatly rejoiced 
 The rebel triad, and, emboldened more 
 
IX.] THE BRIDAL OF THE LAMB. 303 
 
 By what had cow'd less than infernal pride, 
 
 From every shore their thronging armies drew, 
 
 Weening to' erect, where Zion's temple stood, 
 
 The throne of wickedness, and set thereon 
 
 The proud son of perdition, in whose breast 
 
 They three might tabernacle, as the Arch-fiend, 390 
 
 Sole monarch, once in wretched Judas dwelt. 
 
 There was a sound of weeping on the slopes 
 Of Zion, not the children's hungry cry. 
 Or wail of women over slaughtered babes, 
 Or the loud groans of linked prisoners, 
 Albeit the eagles of destruction swoop'd 
 Wheeling in ever nearer circles o'er 
 Emmanuel's land. Their hour was not yet come. 
 But all the air breathed sadness. Sobs and sighs, 
 Vainly suppress'd, were heard in every home. 400 
 
 A nation was in tears. For they had seen 
 Their Prince the Lord of glory, and had heard 
 Him saying, " I am Jesus, whom ye pierced," 
 And, pierced themselves, in bitterness of soul 
 Mourn'd for Him, as men mourn an only son, 
 Mourning in solitude ; or, if they met, 
 None to his fellow spake except in sighs, 
 And smiting on his breast would go his way. 
 But one among them moved, of nobler mien, 
 Veiling in mortal guise immortal power, 410 
 
 And like another Baptist bow'd all hearts, 
 Priests, people, parents, children, as one man, 
 
304 THE BRIDAL OF THE LAMB. [BOOK 
 
 Till, gazing on the cross their fathers rearM, 
 Israel beheld the Crucified and lived. 
 
 Such things were wrought on earth. But who of 
 saints 
 Or seraphs may with chastened reverence 
 Disclose what holy mysteries ensued 
 "Within the veil, when now the rest withdrawn 
 Past earshot, not beyond angelic view, 
 Retiring till their robes and wings and crowns 420 
 
 Appeared as hangings wov'n of richest dyes 
 Star-spangled, like the temple curtains twined 
 With purple, crimson, blue, and gleaming forms 
 Cherubic curiously traced in gold, 
 The Bridegroom met the Bride alone ? Himself 
 In glorified humanity supreme, 
 Incarnate Light : and she like Him in glory, 
 No spot or wrinkle on her holy brow, 
 No film upon her robes of dazzling white, 
 Most beautiful, most glorious : every saint 430 
 
 Perfect in individual perfectness ; 
 And each to each so fitly interlinked, 
 Joined and compact, their countless millions seemM 
 One body by One Spirit inspired and moved, 
 The various members knit in faultless grace, 
 The feeblest as the strongest necessary, 
 Nor schism, nor discord, nor excess, nor lack ; 
 The Ideal of all beauty realized, 
 The Impersonation of delight and love. 
 
IX.] THE BRIDAL OF THE LAMB. 303 
 
 And the Lord looked on her ; and in His Eye 440 
 
 Beamed admiration infinite, Divine. 
 She was His chosen, His elect. When cast 
 Abroad a foundling infant in her blood, 
 Hers was the time of love : no eye but His 
 Had pity : but He took her to His heart, 
 And nurtured all her helpless infancy, 
 And taught her gentle childhood, and at last 
 Betrothed her virgin beauty to Himself, 
 And, being that another claimed her life, 
 Had with His heart's blood ransom'd her from death, 450 
 For her descending from His throne to die, 
 And re-ascending to prepare her home, 
 Had won her tender maidenhood to long 
 For this chaste Bridal. Now His time was come • 
 And all her coy and childish bashfulness 
 Had ripened into womanly reserve. 
 Pure and intense affection o'er her threw 
 A veil of softened light. To share His throne 
 Was little in her eyes, whose glory' it was 
 To hear Him whisper, " My beloved is Mine," 4Go 
 
 To lean upon His bosom, and reflect 
 The sunshine of His everlasting joy. 
 
 And still He look'd on her ; and silently 
 Drank in her beauty, as once Adam look'd 
 On Eve, till underneath His searching Eye, 
 Conscious of loving, confident of love, 
 Quick flushes of delight suffused her heart 
 
 x 
 
306 THE BRIDAL OF THE LAMB. [BOOK 
 
 And shed new charms about her, when it seemed 
 
 (I speak of heavenly things in earthly words) 
 
 As if He drew her nearer to Himself, 470 
 
 And folded her to His Eternal breast, 
 
 And spake to her, and said, " My love, My dove, 
 
 My beauty be upon thee. Thou art Mine. 
 
 Thou art all fair. There is no spot in thee."" 
 
 When in the nether Paradise He stamped 
 Me with the impress of His gaze of love, 
 My cup, methought, ran over, nor could hold 
 Another crystal joy. But now His Spirit 
 Empowered my spirit to receive new streams 
 Of gladness, which from all sides flowed on me. 4 SO 
 
 The throbbing pulses of the Bride's great heart 
 Seem'd from the joy, that coursed through every vein, 
 To gather new intensity of life, 
 While glowing, like the morning sky, she blushed 
 Beneath the sun-smile of His holiness, 
 Who looked on her, revealing evermore 
 New wonders of unfathomable grace, 
 Grace blent with glory, tenderness with truth, 
 Light without shade of dark, love without end. 
 
 But now, at secret signal from Himself, 490 
 
 The saints dispersing, like a golden cloud 
 Of incense blown among the orange groves, 
 In twos or threes, or groups, as liked them best, 
 He walking in their midst, to each and all 
 
 J 
 
IX.] THE BRIDAL OF THE LAMB. 307 
 
 Most affable and most accessible. 
 
 Held converse : and the angels gathered round, 
 
 Rejoicing greatly for the Bridegroom's joy, 
 
 And soon at His permissive voice disposed 
 
 And piled the banquet of His love with fruits 
 
 And nectar, from ambrosial vines distilPd. 500 
 
 Then first, for interval ere this was none, 
 Turning I looked upon my wife to read 
 My immortality of bliss in hers 
 Reflected. O my God, the glad surprise 
 Thou hadst prepared for us ! Never in thought 
 Or dream or waking vision had such bloom, 
 As I in her, and she in me beheld, 
 Floated across our meditative eye. 
 Our spiritual body was the same in type, 
 In face and form and fashion, as on earth, 51 o 
 
 Yet not the same, — transfigured : suited this 
 For the quick motions of the new-born spirit, 
 As that for all the functions of the flesh ; 
 Obedient to our faintest wish, as was 
 Sometime the disembodied soul ; yea, more, 
 So willingly responsive, that it woke 
 Wish to exert, where exercise itself 
 Was pleasure. Would I speak, my tongue was fain ; 
 And language copious, yet precise and clear, 
 Embracing all the loftiest thoughts enshrined 520 
 
 In all earth's dialects, flowed from my lips 
 Spontaneously, catching the finer tints 
 
 x 2 
 
308 THE BRIDAL OF THE LAMB. [BOOK 
 
 Of mingled light and shade, like photographs 
 
 Of contemplation. Would I touch my harp, 
 
 The very touch was music, and enticed 
 
 Melodious words. The opening eye drank in 
 
 Such scenes of beauty, and the listening ear 
 
 Such trancing harmonies, audience and sight 
 
 Seemed sweet necessity. Or would I move, 
 
 Volition, without wings or nimble tread 530 
 
 Of footsteps, wafted my aerial form, 
 
 Swifter than sunbeams glance from East to West, 
 
 Whithersoever I would, as mortals move 
 
 Their hand or foot by motion of swift thought. 
 
 A body meet for heaven, as that for earth ; 
 
 One from the other nascent : that the root, 
 
 This the fair flower : even as the hyacinth, 
 
 With its pavilion of green leaves, and wealth 
 
 Of blossom and rose-tinted petals, springs 
 
 From a dull dismal bulb, which none who saw, - 540 
 
 And knew not of its latent power, could dream 
 
 The cradle of such loveliness, yet each 
 
 Meet for its home, for the rain-nurtured soil, 
 
 And the soft kisses of the playful air ; 
 
 And each to each indissolubly joined. 
 
 And when instinctively we raised our eyes 
 From contemplation of the heavenly forms, 
 Now ours for ever, to the Prince we loved, 
 To thank Him who had made us thus, behold 
 These bodies of our glory could sustain 550 
 

 IX.] THE BRIDAL OF THE LAMB. 309 
 
 More of His glory than the naked spirit ; 
 
 Our pure affections His affections clasped; 
 
 And every power within us had some hold 
 
 On His omnipotence. Like imaged like. 
 
 And, as with us, so was it with the rest : 
 
 To all a vast promotion of their bliss, 
 
 To each the increase, as each sow'd on earth. 
 
 Love only can know love. And as they loved, 
 
 They knew Him. As they knew Him, they returned 
 
 His lineaments of beatific light : 56o 
 
 So glory is proportionate to grace. 
 
 But, hearken, now a concert of sweet sounds 
 On all sides imperceptibly arose, 
 From twice ten thousand flutes the ravished air 
 Soliciting, and whispering in all hearts, 
 The marriage supper of the Lamb was come. 
 And, even as we were, we saw what seemed 
 A banquet of all heavenly fruits and food, 
 And chalices of crystal wreathed with flowers-, 
 Before us. And what seemed, was there. And lo, 570 
 The Prince, at once our Minister and Host, 
 Assigned to each his festal couch, whereon 
 No sooner were the happy guests recline 
 Than He Himself crowned every cup with joy, 
 And charged attendant seraphim to keep 
 The tables loaden with the choicest bloom 
 Celestial walks could yield. They, nothing loth, 
 Bore from the Paradise of God such rich 
 
310 THE BRIDAL OF THE LAMB. [BOOK 
 
 Exuberance of vernal promise, mix'd 
 
 With the ripe fruits of summer (for in heaven 5b0 
 
 Summer and spring dance ever hand in hand), 
 
 As heaven itself had never seen till now 
 
 Plucked in one hour and on one board profuse, 
 
 Yet presently repaired its gift, nor seemed 
 
 The poorer. These the blessed angels piled, 
 
 In large unsparing hospitality, 
 
 Before the presence of their guests. Nor lacked 
 
 Greetings, nor glad surprises, nor fond eyes 
 
 Flashing their welcome to beloved ones round : 
 
 Whether the bliss of guardian spirits or saints 590 
 
 Was greater, whether children most rejoiced 
 
 In parents, or their parents most in them, 
 
 I know 7 not : this I know, all hearts were full. 
 
 Angels and principalities and thrones 
 
 Confessed, they never tasted joy like this; 
 
 While youthful cherubs without number flew, 
 
 Shaking a dewy fragrance from their wings, 
 
 And in their rosy fingers bore to each 
 
 Some token of the Royal grace. And soon 
 
 The genial flow of converse, like the sound 600 
 
 Of many waters heard far off, appeared 
 
 A multitudinous tide of mirth and love. 
 
 The crystal river of eternal life 
 Flows ever deeper on ; and since that hour, 
 It may be, I have witnessed other scenes 
 Of majesty and grandeur more august; 
 
IX.] THE BRIDAL OF THE LAMB. 311 
 
 But purer rapture could not be. The first 
 
 Unfolding of the blossom to the sun ; 
 
 The leaping of the spring, when first unseaPd ; 
 
 The young bride's incommunicable joy, 610 
 
 When first the words, My husband, cross her lips ; 
 
 The first babe folded to the mother's heart ; 
 
 These have a rapture all their own. And we, 
 
 Methinks, of that delicious feast of love 
 
 Had never wearied (half a week of years 
 
 As meted by the sun, so I have heard, 
 
 Passed by the while : they only seemed like days), 
 
 But now Messiah rising from His throne, 
 
 In the calm awe of His Omnipotence, 
 
 Addressed us, saying, 620 
 
 " My Father's will be done. 
 His will is Mine. The fated hour has struck 
 Of battle. On mine ears but now there fell 
 The short sharp cry of Israel's travail-pangs. 
 Come with Me, saints and angels, and behold 
 My foes and yours prostrate beneath our feet. 
 Now is the day of vengeance in My heart, 
 And now the year of My redeemed is come/' 
 
 He spake, and lo that festive scene of love 
 Quickly appeared a camp of mustering war, 
 From whose cerulean gates, wide open thrown, 630 
 
 Messiah seated on a snow-white horse 
 Of fiery brightness, as the Lord of hosts, 
 
312 THE BRIDAL OF THE LAMB. [BOOK 
 
 ApparelFd in a vesture dipped in blood, 
 
 And many crowns upon His sacred head, 
 
 Rode conquering and to conquer forth. And those, 
 
 Who lately at His marriage feast reclined, 
 
 Appeared an army, clothed in robes of white, 
 
 And mounted like their Lord on steeds of fire, 
 
 A glorious retinue. On either side, 
 
 Like wings of light-arm'd troops, innumerable, 640 
 
 The hosts of angels, ranged in order, marched, 
 
 And, as they marched, to sound of martial trumps, 
 
 Poured forth prophetic strains of Jubilee : 
 
 " Hail, Prince of life ! Hail, virgin Princess, hail ! 
 Thou fairer than the sons of men, Thy lips 
 Drop with the fragrant honey-dews of grace, 
 For God, Thy God, hath blessed Thee for ever. 
 Almighty, gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh. 
 Ride, in Thy Majesty, Thy glory, forth : 
 In truth, in meekness, and in righteousness 650 
 
 Ride on and prosper ! Thy right hand alone 
 Shall teach Thee deeds of vengeance, and Thy shafts 
 Shall drink the life-blood of Thy vaunting foes. 
 Thy throne, O God, from everlasting years 
 Hath been, and is, and shall for ever be. 
 Thy sceptre is a rod of righteousness. 
 Right loves Thee, and wrong dreads Thee : wherefore 
 
 God, 
 Thy God, anoints Thee with the oil of joy 
 Immeasurable. Prom Thy Bridal feasl 
 
IX.] THE BRIDAL OF THE LAMB, 313 
 
 Thou ridest forth to conquer ; whiles Thy robes 660 
 
 Of myrrh and cassia smell and mingled spice, 
 
 And love and gladness glisten in Thine eye. 
 
 O Blessed Bridegroom ! O thrice-blessed Bride ! 
 
 Happy art thou, O fairest among women. 
 
 Follow where triumph waits thee. All thy tears 
 
 Shall be forgotten in thy Husband's smile, 
 
 Besting upon thy perfect loveliness : 
 
 Thy Husband is the Lord, the Lord of hosts. 
 
 And be it ours in countless multitudes 
 
 To throng around thy steps, and lavish love 67o 
 
 On the Beloved of the Lord we love : 
 
 Until the palaces of glory, filled 
 
 With ever-during infinite delights, 
 
 Receive thee in their golden gates, and there, 
 
 Peerless Queen-consort of the King of kings, 
 
 Thy virgin ministries about thee drawn, 
 
 Thou dwellest in His mansions evermore, 
 
 Sharing His throne, and from the well of life 
 
 Shalt living streams diffuse through earth and heaven." 
 
 END OF THE NINTH BOOK. 
 
314 
 
 BOOK X. 
 
 THE MILLENNIAL SABBATH. 
 
 A Sabbath morn — -softly the village bells 
 
 Ring out their welcome to the sacred day. 
 
 The weary swain has drunk of longer sleep, 
 
 And now, his children clustering round him, leads 
 
 The happy group from under his low porch 
 
 And through their little garden, where each plucks 
 
 A rose or pansy, to the school they love : 
 
 The busy hum delights his ear ; and soon 
 
 The morning hymn floats heavenward; but himself, 
 
 Holding the youngest prattler in his arms, 10 
 
 Waits in the churchyard, where about him lie 
 
 His father and his father's fathers, till, 
 
 The children following in their pastor's steps 
 
 Whose grey locks flutter in the summer breeze, 
 
 All pass beneath the hallow'd roof, and all 
 
 Kneeling, where generations past have knelt, 
 
 Pour forth their common wants in common prayer. 
 
 A rural Sabbath — nearest type of heaven : 
 
 Yet scarcely less beloved in toil worn courts 
 
THE MILLENNIAL SABBATH. 315 
 
 And alleys of the city. What true heart 20 
 
 Loves not the Sabbath ? that dear pledge of home ; 
 
 That trysting-place of God and man : that link 
 
 Betwixt a near eternity and time ; 
 
 That almost lonely rivulet, which flows 
 
 From Eden through the world's wide wastes of sand 
 
 Unchecked, and though not unalloyed with earth 
 
 Its healing waters all impregn'd with life, 
 
 The life of their first blessing, to pure lips 
 
 The memory of a bygone Paradise, 
 
 The earnest of a Paradise to come. 30 
 
 Who know thee best, love best, thou pearl of days, 
 
 And guard thee with most jealous care from morn 
 
 Till dewy evening, when the ceaseless play 
 
 Hour after hour of thy sweet influences 
 
 Has tuned the heart of pilgrims to the songs 
 
 And music of their heavenly fatherland. 
 
 But mortal ears are heavy', and mortal eyes 
 
 Catch only glimpses dim and indistinct 
 
 Of things unseen, beauteous but far away ; 
 
 Enough to quicken, but not satiate love : 40 
 
 And the soon weary spirit exhausted sighs 
 
 For wings to flee away and be at rest, 
 
 Or solaces its musings, there remains 
 
 A Sabbath for the toiling Church of God. 
 
 It dawn'd at last. But not, as many thought 
 And fabling sang, the amber twilight glowing 
 More and more radiant in the Eastern heavens, 
 
316 THE MILLENNIAL SABBATH. [BOOK 
 
 Till almost imperceptibly the sun 
 
 Should glide above the golden hyaline, 
 
 And straightway what remained of dark be light. 50 
 
 But rather now the angry thunder-clouds, 
 
 Which for six thousand years in broken drifts 
 
 Had roll'd athwart earth's troubled firmament, 
 
 Portended unexampled storms ; so dark 
 
 The masses of disastrous gloom, that hung 
 
 Over all lands. Was it heaven's blessed light, 
 
 That shone behind and through their sulphurous folds ? 
 
 And could this bloody fiery haze be day ? 
 
 Ah, woe for Zion ! for the hills that rise 
 Like ramparts round about Jerusalem ; 60 
 
 Where, as a flock of timid goats or sheep 
 Driven by fierce wolves together to one fold 
 Ill-fenced for such an onset, Israel cowered, 
 Contrite and crushed in bitterness of soul ! 
 Jerusalem, thy hour is come. Lo, Gog, 
 The prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal' s prince, 
 In panoply of impious pride leads forth 
 His hungry myriads to Emmanuel's land, 
 Gomer and all its swarming multitudes, 
 Togarmah and its rugged uncouth hordes, 70 
 
 Elam, and Phut, and Lud, and Javan's isles, 
 Asshur, and Shinar, and the tents of Cush, 
 Myriads of myriads, numbers numberless, 
 From North and South and East, three dreadful hosts, 
 The least of which earth never saw the like, 
 
X.] THE MILLENNIAL SABBATH. 317 
 
 Mustered by hell to quench on Zion's heights, 
 
 Despite that lonely prophet's words, the last 
 
 Faint glimmering brands of truth, So Satan ween'd, 
 
 And in their aid had gathered from all lands 
 
 And airy realms, where they in secret wrought, so 
 
 The spirits of ill. Not one was wanting there : 
 
 Foul and obscured by centuries of crime, 
 
 But with unmitigated rage they came, 
 
 Unweeting for their common doom compelled. 
 
 Scent they afar the field of blood ? for now 
 
 Those chafing hosts, by wrath and lust inspired, 
 
 Like beasts of ravin, burst on Israel's camp, 
 
 And gorge themselves with slaughter. Woe for thee, 
 
 O Zion ! woe for thee, Jerusalem ! 
 
 Thy birth-pangs are upon thee ; and thy cries 90 
 
 Reach to the heavens, Jerusalem is fallen. 
 
 The iron rives her heart. Her little ones 
 
 Are dash'd in fury on the cruel rocks. 
 
 Her virgins, and her mothers great with child, 
 
 Speak not of them. Her priests and elders lie, 
 
 Their silvery reverend hair defiled with blood, 
 
 Even where they fell, upon the ghastly hills. 
 
 Fire wraps her ramparts round : the clouds are live 
 
 With vengeance ; and the stars shoot withering flame ; 
 
 And her slain armies block the narrow gates 100 
 
 And causeways of the city : for the cup 
 
 Of her last agony is in her hand, 
 
 And now she drinks it to the bitter dregs. 
 
313 THE MILLENNIAL SABBATH. ' BOOK 
 
 A shout of fiendish triumph ! They have storm'd 
 With ruinous battering-rams the temple doors, 
 And now upon the holiest mercy-seat, 
 Betwixt the golden cherubim, instal 
 The proud usurper of Jehovah's name : 
 And out of human lips there came a voice, 
 Like man's voice, from the trinity of hell j 10 
 
 AY it hin that breast, three voices heard as one, 
 Most terrible : u This is the hour of fate. 
 God has abandoned earth ; and I assume 
 The vacant throne of vanquished Deity. 
 Worship me, all ye gods/' Straightway arose 
 The swell of adoration \ and the hosts 
 Of darkness, mingling with the sons of men, 
 Sang triumph to the three in equal strains, 
 " Hail, Satan, Ashtaroth, and Baalim ! 
 Triunity of darkness, hail, all hail V* 120 
 
 But, even as the echoes sank, behold, 
 Tyrannic jealousy, too long suppressed, 
 Burst forth, as nitrous powder toueh'd by flame, 
 In Satan's heart; — torment intolerable ! — 
 Ah, fool ! to think that concord, born of heaven, 
 Could bind in lasting league infernal hate ! — 
 Thus pondering, — " Was it then for this I left 
 My archangelic primacy of light ? 
 In realms of darkness to be one of three ? 
 One of three only? I, who know myself 130 
 
 Worthy of monarchy ? Monarch I am, 
 
X.] THE MILLENNIAL SABBATH. 319 
 
 And will be : none shall share my gloomy throne, 
 Dark, solitary, unapproachable." 
 
 Nor Baalim, meanwhile, that lordly fiend, 
 Conceived less envy of great Ashtaroth, 
 Nor Ashtaroth of him : which Satan saw 
 Well pleased, and now dilated rose sublime, 
 Hovering on what appeared cherubic wings, 
 Above the clouds, and fostering, as he rose, 
 The horrid feud in his associate gods, 140 
 
 Till envy grew to wrath, and wrath to rage, 
 And rage to deadly warfare. They, for oft 
 Passions with spirits are instantaneous acts, 
 And thoughts are deeds, in no unequal strife 
 Guile matched with guile, might militant with might, 
 Wrestled within that narrow battle-field, 
 The impious breast of Antichrist, until 
 Their miserable victim foaming writhed 
 Convulsed, and strengthless lay as dead ; and then, 
 Each on his fellow scowling dire revenge, 150 
 
 Forth from that fleshly tenement they came, 
 And parted right and left. Flocked around each 
 An army of the rebel spirits. Swords flashed 
 Infernal fires ; and in the sulphurous air 
 The embattled clouds were squadrons locked in fight, 
 By Satan both infuriate, who thus 
 Madly against himself divided fought 
 A duel ghastlier far than that which drenched 
 The ramparts of Jerusalem with blood, 
 
'320 THE MILLENNIAL SABBATH. [BOOK 
 
 And from the trembling* fugitives, who cowered 160 
 
 Behind Elijah's mantle, wrung the cry, 
 
 " How long, O Lord, how long? Why tarriest Thou?" 
 
 That hour, what time the hideous din of war, 
 Fiends in their fury'' overshadowing furious men, 
 Was at its worst, a blast more terrible 
 Than all the dread artillery of earth, 
 Vomiting iron hail in one discharge, 
 AppalFd the firmament. A silence fell 
 Sudden, as if all hearts had ceased to beat, 
 Upon the madding combatants : and lo, 170 
 
 The sound of distant chariot-wheels was heard 
 Rolling in heaven. Nearer and nearer still 
 The rush of naming millions, and the tramp 
 Like as of fiery chivalry. But, hark ! 
 A voice : it is the shout of God. Behold ! 
 A light : it is the glory of the Lord. 
 And thither, where the marshalled hosts of hell 
 Opposed the densest gloom, onward He rode 
 Almighty, — a devouring fire, — no room 
 For flight, no space for idle penitence, iso 
 
 No thought of prayer, no lurking-place to shun 
 The lightnings of His omnipresent Eye. 
 First as it seemed (though sequence in the acts 
 Of the Eternal needs not lapse of time) 
 Upon the rebel spirits He rained His wrath, 
 Till from the mightiest to the least they lay 
 Under His fiery horse-hoofs crushed. Of all 
 
X.] THE MILLENNIAL SABBATH. 321 
 
 From hell's dark triad singling 1 Baalim 
 
 And Ashtaroth in everlasting chains, 
 
 Chains such as spiritual essences may hold, 190 
 
 These twain He bound, and, stamping with His foot, 
 
 Asunder by the act appeared to cleave 
 
 Whatever subtle or solid lay betwixt 
 
 His presence and Gehenna's burning floor : 
 
 And in the right hand of Omnipotence 
 
 Grasping huge Baalim, and in the left 
 
 The lustful Ashtaroth, He hurFd them down 
 
 Like meteors through the lurid vault, and fixM 
 
 Their adamantine fetters to a rock 
 
 Of adamant, submerged but unconsumed 200 
 
 Beneath the lake of fire. Nor paused He then, 
 
 But pointing where the vanquished Arch-fiend lay 
 
 Crouching in agony, bade Michael seize 
 
 The spiritless spirit of evil, and convoy 
 
 Him and the countless myriads of the lost 
 
 In chains to their Tartarean prison. Straightway 
 
 The God-like chief descending with the key 
 
 Of Hades and a ponderous chain, to which 
 
 Earth's mightiest cable were a strand of tow, 
 
 Grasp'd his dread captive, once his peerless peer 210 
 
 In glory, now his miserable prey, 
 
 And bore him manacled and fettered forth, 
 
 And with him his dejected hosts, beneath 
 
 An equal escort of angelic guards, 
 
 To their own place of doom. O dreadful march ! 
 
 O yet more dreadful issue ! Hell had seen 
 
 Y 
 
322 THE MILLENNIAL SABBATH. [BOOK 
 
 Terrific sights ere now, within her depths 
 
 Receiving hecatombs of dead at once, 
 
 But never ruin like this. For lo, meanwhile 
 
 The King of glory, on the chariot clouds 220 
 
 Riding serene, shot blasts of flaming fire, 
 
 As from a furnace, from His opening lips 
 
 On Israel's conquerors. The murderer's arm 
 
 Was stricken in the very act to strike : 
 
 The ravisher was rapt by death, and lay 
 
 Blasted before his shrieking captive's feet : 
 
 And to the wild and dissonant cries of men, 
 
 Calling upon their gods, the sole response 
 
 Which Heaven, too long insulted, now vouchsafed 
 
 Was storm, and tempest, and hot burning coals — 230 
 
 Horrible hail. Nor only on the hills 
 
 Of Judah fell the whirlwind of God's wrath, 
 
 But through all lands and seas (for the whole earth 
 
 From pole to pole was wrapt in clouds and flame) 
 
 Whoever bore the mark of Baalim, 
 
 Or bow'd the knee to Ashtaroth, on him 
 
 The wrath-beam fell, distinguishing the rest 
 
 Who, though they knew not fellowship with God, 
 
 Knew not communion with the spirits of hell. 
 
 Wherefore not ruin'd fiends alone that day 240 
 
 Were captive led captivity, and throng'd 
 
 The roadway to the abysmal pit with groans, 
 
 But with them crowds of disembodied souls, 
 
 Such as till now the portals of the grave 
 
 Had never received, a hideous spectacle, 
 

 X.] THE MILLENNIAL SABBATH. 323 
 
 Each heart a fathomless profound of woe, 
 Each spirit the wreck of everlasting' life. 
 
 How art thou fallen, Lucifer, from heaven, 
 Son of the Morning ! Hell beneath is moved 
 To meet thee at thy coming ; and the dead, 250 
 
 The chiefs and potentates of elder time, 
 Stirr'd from the silent calm of their despair, 
 Flock round thee. Narrowly they scan thy face, 
 And ask, astonied, " Art thou one of us ? 
 All heartless, nerveless, passionless as we ? 
 Thou that would' st wrestle with Omnipotence, 
 And plant thy seat above the stars of God, 
 And soar beyond the azure clouds that veil 
 The throne of the Eternal ?'* 
 
 Through their ranks 
 By Michael led, with downcast louring looks, 260 
 
 Answering them never a word, he slowly passed 
 To his own place of woe. Over against 
 The fissure, where the brazen floor of hell 
 Yawned to receive his ruin'd mates in guilt, 
 And yawning closed again, there was he bound 
 In adamantine fetters, and beneath 
 The unclouded terrors of the Eye of God. 
 And next to him was Moloch, his swarth brow 
 Darkened with tenfold gloom : and next to him 
 Mammon, whose boundless wealth of artifice 270 
 
 Purchased no solace in this house of chains : 
 
 y 2 
 
324 THE MILLENNIAL SABBATH. [BOOK 
 
 And next, ruthless Apollyon, — he who showed 
 
 No mercy found none here. Nor far away 
 
 Was Sammael, blind leader of the blind ; 
 
 Nor Lailah, prince of night. But why prolong 
 
 Memorials of the damn'd, or fiends, or men ? 
 
 Or measure their immeasurable loss, 
 
 Immeasurable, hopeless, limitless, 
 
 Who lay in torments, prisoners of wrath, 
 
 Waiting the judgment of the last assize ? 280 
 
 Meanwhile Messiah, from the tempest clouds 
 Descending, calmed the terrors of His brow, 
 And drew His garment of celestial light 
 About Him, rainbow-fringed, until His feet 
 Rested on Olivet. Beneath Him lay 
 Jerusalem in flames, and all the air 
 GlowM with intensity of heat. But lo, 
 His people underneath His shadowing wings, 
 And hidden in the hollow of His hand, 
 The remnant which the sword of war had left, 290 
 
 Pelt not the breath of those devouring flames. 
 Heard not the roar of those wild cataracts 
 Of fire, nor knew what time the solid earth 
 Was moved as ocean by the wintry wind. 
 They only saw Messiah's glorious form ; 
 They only heard His voice ; they only knew, 
 As the three children in the burning kiln, 
 That they were with their Lord, their Lord with them. 
 Other spectators than the Bride were none, 
 
X.] THE MILLENNIAL SABBATH. 325 
 
 When now, as once in Egypt's royal courts 300 
 
 Young Joseph drew his brethren to his heart 
 
 And kiss'd and wept upon them tears of joy, 
 
 The Prince of glory veiPd His glory' anew 
 
 In tenderness of most forgiving love. 
 
 But when the dreadful cloud of fire and smoke, 
 
 Which brooded on those hills, was cleared, behold 
 
 The mountain of the Lord had risen sublime 
 
 Above the mountains : Olivet was cleft 
 
 Asunder to the North and to the South ; 
 
 And a vast vale, with sudden verdure clad, 310 
 
 Stretched toward the former and the hinder sea, 
 
 A paradise of fruits. And far aloof 
 
 Mount Zion, marvellous to see, was crowned 
 
 W r ith a resplendent city (whether this 
 
 Were the immediate handiwork of God, 
 
 Or of angelic ministries) where shone 
 
 Like gold a temple supereminent 
 
 In dazzling sheen, and thence on either side 
 
 A river of perennial waters flow'd 
 
 In ever-deepening waves of crystal life. 320 
 
 The voice o' the Lord is on the waters ! Hark, 
 Not now in thunder with red lightnings winged, 
 Making the everlasting mountains bow 
 And the scathed forests shiver : but hark, a Voice 
 Is heard above the troubled elements, 
 A low clear Voice, which whispers, " Peace, be still/' 
 And all the winds have sunk to gentle breaths, 
 
326 THE MILLENNIAL SABBATH. [BOOK 
 
 And, as on vex'd Gennesaret of old 
 
 When He rebuked the raging winds and waves, 
 
 There is a mighty calm. The broken clouds 330 
 
 Melt into colours, like a dream. The Sun 
 
 Of righteousness with healing in His wings 
 
 Has risen upon a world weary of night, 
 
 Most glorious, where emergent from the flood, 
 
 That from far Lebanon to Kadesh rolled 
 
 Its waves of fire baptismal, Zion rose 
 
 In perfect beauty. There the Light of Light 
 
 Entering His temple courts assumed His throne, 
 
 And from the unveiFd golden mercy-seat, 
 
 His Bride beside Him, and His angel guards 340 
 
 About Him in their radiant phalanxes, 
 
 A pattern on the earth of things in heaven, 
 
 Sent forth His embassies of grace. No shade 
 
 Obscured His beatific countenance ; 
 
 For in that holy temple all was love, 
 
 And in that holy city all was light, 
 
 Which lightened, far as human eye could reach, 
 
 The outmost confines of Emmanuel's land. 
 
 Yet deem not of His Presence as restrict 
 There only, where those pure Shekinah beams 350 
 
 Gladdened Jerusalem, nor limited 
 By measurable accidents of time, 
 Who fills all space Incomprehensible, 
 And dwells the Highest in the highest heavens, 
 And spans the breadth, and circumscribes the depth, 
 
X.] THE MILLENNIAL SABBATH. 827 
 
 Inhabiting eternity. For now, 
 
 While quickening the Millennial earth with life, 
 
 And sending forth ambassadors of peace 
 
 From Zion to all lands and seas, the Prince 
 
 With us, His Bride, was customed to withdraw, 36o 
 
 Where far above the clouds His throne was set 
 
 Within the purple curtains of the sky, 
 
 But lower than the starry heavens, and there 
 
 Commune with us of all the solemn past 
 
 And all the dawning future. One by one 
 
 We stood before Him. One by one He spake 
 
 With us, conversing of our mortal life 
 
 And heavenly home ; and words of grateful praise, 
 
 As the fidelity of each appeared, 
 
 Fell from His lips. Nor were His servants' falls, 370 
 
 Wrong done and good undone, concealed that day : 
 
 But being all was now forgiven and cleansed, 
 
 And being it was the Bridegroom's Eye that judged, 
 
 And being we were members of one Bride, 
 
 Brothers and sisters in one home of love, 
 
 The retrospect but bound us, each and all, 
 
 Closer to Him who washed us in His blood, 
 
 And closer to each other, when we saw 
 
 Our debt of service by another paid. 
 
 For envy had no foothold there. Pure love, 380 
 
 Beaming upon regenerate spirits, had left 
 
 No film of that pollution. What was most 
 
 For His eternal glory whom we loved, 
 
 And for our brethren's purest happiness, 
 
828 THE MILLENNIAL SABBATH. [BOOK 
 
 FulfilPd all hearts with rapture to the brim, 
 
 And more than fill'd : they overflowed with love, 
 
 And drank in light till* they could hold no more, 
 
 All full, though fulness not the same to all, 
 
 As dewdrops, fountains, streams, and argent lakes, 
 
 Albeit with diverse breadth and brilliancy, 390 
 
 Reflect one rising sun. If grief were there, 
 
 In memory of so little done for Him 
 
 Who had done all for us, it was that grief 
 
 Which, while it chastens, only deepens joy, 
 
 Seeing the mantle of His love was thrown 
 
 Over the past, and henceforth it was ours 
 
 To see, adore, and serve Him without end. 
 
 And there and then, as when a monarch's son. 
 
 The heir apparent of a mighty realm, 
 
 Well pleased in that his father's will is his, 400 
 
 Fixes his love upon some lowly maid 
 
 Of noble ancestry though faded wealth, 
 
 But, ere he brings her to her palace home, 
 
 Instructs her in all gentle courtesies, 
 
 And in such queenly graces, as beseem 
 
 The bride of one whom nations own their prince, 
 
 But chiefly tells her of his father's love, 
 
 His glory, and his goodness, and his grace, 
 
 Until her heart travels before her steps 
 
 To see the sire beloved of her beloved : — 410 
 
 So, hour by hour, through that millennial day. 
 
 In the pavilion of the heavens recluse, 
 
X.] THE MILLENNIAL SABBATH. 329 
 
 As in the active royalties of earth, 
 Messiah taught His virgin Bride to long 
 For full fruition of the light of God, 
 A rapture inconceivable before, 
 And only from His own lips to be learned. 
 
 Meanwhile on earth the Sabbath morn, that rose 
 In its first freshness on Emmanuel's land, 
 Scattered its glory o'er the nations. Realms, 420 
 
 For ages mantled with the pall of death, 
 Woke and arose to life. The ocean waves 
 Caught the far splendour, and the winds of heaven 
 Wafted the tidings on. Evangelists, 
 Of whom the least was mightier in God's might 
 Than that prophetic voice by Jordan's banks, 
 Went forth from Salem. All the powers of hell 
 Were bound, and not a rebel spirit abroad : 
 But angels plied their ministry unchecked, 
 Untired. And human hearts, weary of sin, 430 
 
 Weary of warfare, weary of themselves, 
 Welcomed with shouts the messengers of peace 
 Upon the morning mountains. Beautiful 
 Their steps, and beauty follow'd where they trod ; 
 For ever, like a crown of holy flame 
 Wreathing their brows, the Pentecostal Spirit 
 Moved in the wastes of darkness ; and again 
 God said, Let there be light : and there was light. 
 
 Creation, which had groan'd in travail-pangs 
 
330 THE MILLENNIAL SABBATH. [BOOK 
 
 Together with her children until now, 440 
 
 Ceased from her groaning. Long-forgotten smiles, 
 
 The smiles of her sweet childhood's innocence, 
 
 Stole o'er her happy face. The wilderness 
 
 Rejoiced, and blossomed as the rose. The curse, 
 
 "Which for six thousand years had sear'd the heart 
 
 Of nature, was repealed. And where the thorn 
 
 Perplexed the glens, and prickly briars the hills, 
 
 Now, for the Word so spake and it was done, 
 
 The fir-tree reared its stately obelisk, 
 
 The cedar waved its arms of peaceful shade, 450 
 
 The vine embraced the elm, and myrtles flowered 
 
 Among the fragrant orange-groves. No storms 
 
 Yex'd the serene of heaven : but genial mists, 
 
 Such as in Eden drenched the willing soil, 
 
 Nurtured all lands with richer dews than balm. 
 
 Earth breathed her thanks. Rivers of living waters 
 
 Broke from a thousand unsuspected springs ; 
 
 And gushing cataracts, like that called forth 
 
 On Horeb by the rod of Amram^s son, 
 
 Gladdened the mountain slopes, and coursed adowrt 46o 
 
 The startled denies, till the crystal wealth, 
 
 Gathered in what was once an arid vale, 
 
 A lake of azure and of silver shone, 
 
 A mirror for the sun and moon and stars. 
 
 Peace reign'd. Antipathies of kind were now 
 Things of the past. The wolf and yearling lamb 
 Were playmates ; and the leopard and the kid 
 
X.] THE MILLENNIAL SABBATH. 33]. 
 
 Gamboll'd together on one knoll ; the steer 
 
 And lion grazed one herbage, and the ox 
 
 Couched with the bear on one luxurious sward. 470 
 
 Nor of the advent of the Prince of peace 
 
 Lacked the calm sea its symbols, nor the sky. 
 
 Dolphins and sharks in many a sunny creek 
 
 Together basked at noon ; and glittering shoals 
 
 Made mirth around the huge leviathan. 
 
 Nor less, as I have seen, the king of birds, 
 
 Would bear the cushat dove upon its wings 
 
 Into the morning sunlight ; while beneath 
 
 The swallow and the vulture only vied 
 
 In speed, disporting o'er the woods and waves, 480 
 
 And now in air and ocean, as on earth, 
 
 A holy fear of man, Nature's true priest, 
 
 Subdued all creatures to his will. His word 
 
 Was law. Even the infant stretched its hand, 
 
 Its tiny hand, towards the cockatrice, 
 
 Now seen, now hidden in its den ; and children 
 
 Play'd with. the innocent asp, wreathing a coil 
 
 Of burnish' d gold and opal round the neck, 
 
 Or as a bracelet round the dimpled arm. 
 
 Freed from the curse, the grateful garden gave 490 
 
 Its fruits in goodly revenue. Nor frost 
 
 Nor blight nor mildew fell ; nor canker-worm 
 
 Nor caterpillar marr'd one ripening hope. 
 
 The clouds dropped fatness. The very elements 
 
 Were subject to the prayerful will of those, 
 
 Whose pleasure was in unison with God's. 
 
332 THE MILLENNIAL SABBATH. [BOOK 
 
 There winter was as summer : summer there, 
 
 Attempered with soft dews and cooling winds, 
 
 Appeared in sevenfold glory ; for the moon 
 
 Was as the sun in that pellucid air, 500 
 
 The sun as seven days' light in one condensed. 
 
 And when the sun had set nor moon had risen, 
 
 The lesser glories of the stars shone forth, 
 
 As flames fair Venus in the Eastern heavens, 
 
 Or lordly Jupiter. 
 
 War was unknown ; 
 The brotherhood of nations unrelax'd : 
 Swords now were ploughshares, spears were pruning- 
 
 hooks, 
 And all the enginery of battle shown 
 As trophies of the victory of love. 
 
 Babel's confusion was unlearned. And one 510 
 
 Melodious language, wherein every thought 
 Found utterance, overspread the circling globe, 
 A language worthy of the sons of God. 
 No labour now was lost. Commerce diffused 
 From pole to pole the gifts of every clime, 
 And spread her sails to every wind that blew, 
 Though love, not greed of lucre, held the helm. 
 But chiefly to Jerusalem and fro 
 The drift of ceaseless traffic set ; for there 
 David, vicegerent, sate on David's throne ; 520 
 
 And on their thrones of judgment round about, 
 Judging the tribes of Israel, the twelve 
 
X.] THE MILLENNIAL SABBATH. 833 
 
 Who sometime suffered with a suffering Lord 
 
 Reign'd in His glorious reign. Mercy and truth 
 
 Met in His presence : righteousness and peace 
 
 Kissed each the other underneath His eye. 
 
 His people were a royalty of priests, 
 
 And offered in His temple ceaseless prayer 
 
 And incense of uninterrupted praise. 
 
 Thither the nations flocked. There every doubt 530 
 
 Was solved : there perfect equity held sway. 
 
 No wrong, but there was instantly redressed ; 
 
 No right, but there was gloriously confirmed : 
 
 For Zion was the mercy-seat of earth, 
 
 The footstool of the throne of God ; where faith 
 
 Had clearest evidence of things unseen, 
 
 And hope climb'd easiest up the golden stairs 
 
 Scaling the heavens, and love, pure passionate love, 
 
 Saw the Beloved One and was at rest. 
 
 Yet deem not this millennial Sabbath knew 540 
 
 The perfectness of that which was to come, 
 Save in Emmanuel's land. There all was light : 
 And all the holy race of Abraham 
 Were clothed in priestly robes, spotless as snow. 
 But elsewhere good was prevalent, not perfect, 
 Not universal. Evil lurlrd unseen 
 In hearts that strove against the striving Spirit, 
 And at rare intervals appeared ; though wrath 
 Then quickly flashing from Messiah's throne 
 Branded the sinner with a curse like Cain's ; 550 
 
334 THE MILLENNIAL SABBATH. [BOOK 
 
 And vice crouch'd before virtue. Nor was death 
 Wholly unknown ; though now, as ere the flood, 
 Decades were centuries of life. Enough 
 Remained to witness of the awful past, 
 And warn the nations of the dread To be. 
 
 Nor prophecy was mute. But, fnTd with joy, 
 Little thought men of twilight shadows ever 
 Falling upon their day of rest : so bright 
 The morn, so cloudless the meridian sun ; 
 So calm the after ages as they rolled. 56o 
 
 Earth teemed with life. Connubial love tecall'd 
 The freshness of the bowers of Paradise ; 
 And rosy infancy and childhood smiled 
 In every homestead ; and the heart of youth 
 Opened its buds and blossoms to the light, 
 Unchill'd by devilish lust. Disease had fled. 
 Nor wounds, though rare, lacked healing from the leaves 
 That grew beside the crystal stream of life, 
 Forth issuing from Emmanuel's throne. But who 
 May tell the stillness, who the melodies 570 
 
 Of that great Sabbath's sabbaths, when the voices 
 Of the whole world were hushed in silent prayer, 
 Or in successive Hallelujahs rolled 
 From shore to shore along the circling hours ? 
 But chiefly' in thee, O Zion, where the Prince 
 Held court, and His seraphic minstrelsies 
 In mortal hearing touch'd immortal harp.-, 
 And filFd earth's temple with the sounds of heaven. 
 
X.] THE MILLENNIAL SABBATH. 335 
 
 There on their thrones the crowned hierarchs 
 
 Sate in due course : and oftentimes it seemed 580 
 
 As if the deep-blue sky was rent asunder, 
 
 Till they who worshipped, through cherubic wings 
 
 Unfolding like a woven veil of light, 
 
 Beheld Messiah and His Bride in glory, 
 
 And angels up and down those radiant stairs 
 
 Ascending and descending, on their quests 
 
 Of mercy and high embassies of power. 
 
 Thus visions seen far off, and sung of old 
 By holy seers and prophets, grasped by faith 
 And longed for, though the half could ne'er be told 590 
 In language, nor by hope itself conceived, 
 Had now accomplishment — a waking bliss, 
 The rest foreshadowed for the Church of God, 
 The golden eve of everlasting day. 
 
 END OF THE TENTH BOOK. 
 
336 
 
 BOOK XL 
 
 THE LAST JUDGMENT. 
 
 When first the armies of the blest, recalled 
 
 By Michael's trumpet, left the gloomy depths 
 
 Of Hades, where the damned, fiends and men. 
 
 Lay in the gulf of Tartarus overthrown, 
 
 There was an outcry as of those who wept, 
 
 And gnashing as of teeth, and passionate groans 
 
 Of spirits in pain, and clanking as of fetters, 
 
 That filPd those dolorous abodes, though used 
 
 To every sight and every sound of woe, 
 
 With unimaginable dread, the first 10 
 
 Loud wail of endless bottomless despair. 
 
 But when, as those Sabbatic ages rolFd, 
 
 The Omnipresent Eye of Righteousness 
 
 Rested on each, nor moved, nor swerved, nor changed, 
 
 Nor of its terrors mitigated aught, — 
 
 Eternal Equity enveloping 
 
 The passions of iniquity with flame, — 
 
 The cries grew fainter and more faint, until 
 
 Oppressive silence like a leaden weight 
 

 THE LAST JUDGMENT. 337 
 
 Brooded upon the Deep unbroken, save 20 
 
 When some dark memory of forgotten guilt 
 Flashed on a tortured conscience, and a low 
 Moan of remorse bewailed in that red stain 
 An added anguish for eternity. 
 
 Yes, there was silence, silence but no sleep : 
 Sleep on the weary eyelids of the lost 
 Hath never rested, nor can rest : and thought 
 Was terribly awake in every heart, 
 Traversing and retraversing the past, 
 And auguring at times with frightful truth 30 
 
 The interminable future. But in none 
 Tyrannic conscience stirr'd such inward storm 
 As in the Arch-apostate. For long while 
 Nor moan, nor motion in his fettered limbs, 
 Nor sign upon his faded brow betrayed 
 The suppressed agony : but at the last, 
 Like Pharaoh scourged by those resistless plagues 
 Which crush'd, but could not kill his obstinate pride, 
 In a low whisper that yet thrill'd through hell, 
 As one communing with himself he said, 40 
 
 " The Lord is righteous ; I and mine have sinn'd." 
 
 And now that he had spoken, others spake : 
 And each, beneath his individual load 
 Of guilt and punishment and fear, confessed 
 The madness and the bitterness of crime. 
 Their words were few : but in that heavy air 
 
 z 
 
338 THE LAST JUDGMENT. [BOOK 
 
 They sounded like the muffled bell that tolls 
 
 Above a murderer ere he dies. Sometimes 
 
 A fiend in torments thought of early days 
 
 And raptures now for ever lost, and moan'd, 50 
 
 u Fool, fool, to barter heaven for endless hell ! " 
 
 And sometimes one with fearful balancing 
 
 Would weigh the pleasures 'gainst the pains of sin, 
 
 And with a sigh of desperate remorse 
 
 Inly would murmur, " Tekel." But with most 
 
 The judgment and the wrath to come fulfill'd 
 
 Their dark imaginings with darker dread, — 
 
 " The worst not come ; yet what of terrible 
 
 Can ever be more terrible than this V 1 
 
 Thus centuries rolled slowly by : and now Co 
 
 Earth's holy Sabbath of Millennial rest 
 Was drawing to its outmost verge, when lo, 
 Once more through those vast depths reverberate 
 The voice of the Arch-adversary pierced, 
 Though weak and painful, fearfully distinct ; 
 As not in guile, for guile was useless now 
 When God's Eye through and through searched out the 
 
 folds 
 Of next to infinite duplicity : 
 Submiss, but not in penitence or grief, 
 He thus gave broken utterance to thoughts, 70 
 
 Fruit of a thousand years of agony : 
 
 n 5 <•>, we have sinned, I most, I chiefly; and ye 3 
 
XT.] THE LAST JUDGMENT. 339 
 
 My comrades in apostasy and pain, 
 Have sinn'd in following me. Madness to deem 
 We could do battle with Almighty Power, 
 Or with a measurable guile elude 
 The counsels of immeasurable Light ! 
 Enough : I see it now. Yet what remains ? 
 The past is even to Omnipotence 
 
 Irrevocable. Shall we humbly sue 80 
 
 For mercy, and fall low before the throne, 
 And all on bended knees send up one cry, 
 * Spare us, O Lord ! who bitterly repent 
 Of our stupendous folly and misdeeds/ — 
 And urge the prayer, if it must needs be so, 
 For ten times ten Millennial days like this, 
 Or that re-multiplied a thousand times 
 Ten thousand (an eternity beyond 
 Would swallow this as ocean sucks a shower) , 
 Until our tide of importunity, 90 
 
 Swelling above the songs of Cherubim, 
 Obtain at last from wearied Justice that 
 Which Justice might unblamed deny to less 
 Unconquerable resolve ? But is it true 
 We bitterly repent us of our deeds ? 
 Ah ! comrades, search your hearts as I search mine. 
 The issue we repent, but not the act. 
 Of all our multitudes, racked as we are, 
 Is there one grieved for having grieved his God ? 
 Is there one bosom that could ever glow 100 
 
 With love towards Him who cast us hither down ? 
 z 2 
 
340 THE LAST JUDGMENT. [BOOK 
 
 One right hand that could ever touch again 
 
 The string of Hallelujah? I trow not. 
 
 Others may do' it — think of them if ye will, 
 
 Haply with envy — but not we. Our spirits 
 
 Are wrenched for ever and averse from God. 
 
 Thus much at least this torturing flame reveals. 
 
 And knowing no repentance, in God's ear 
 
 What would avail us words of penitence ? 
 
 Tush, would Eternal Justice be cajoled, no 
 
 Or wearied with our importunities ? 
 
 It cannot be : there is no streak of light. 
 
 For man, tempted by us, by us seduced, 
 
 The Son of the Eternal must needs die, 
 
 Die in his stead, ere Mercy could prevail, 
 
 And God's Great Spirit descending recreate 
 
 His marr'd and shattered image. But for us 
 
 No Christ has shed His blood ; no Spirit of love 
 
 In my obdurate conscience or in yours 
 
 Awakens one response. It cannot be. 120 
 
 Our lot is irredeemable : our fall 
 
 Is final : we are damn'd for evermore." 
 
 Again was silence for a space in hell, 
 
 So terrible, that only the quick breath 
 
 i 
 
 Of spirits in pain was heard like tongues of flame 
 
 Sibilant in the sultry atmosphere : 
 
 But shortly, Satan sighing thus resumed : 
 
 " That which is done can never be undone. 
 
XI.] THE LAST JUDGMENT. 34d 
 
 Believe me, I who led you on to ruin, 
 
 And as is righteous suffer most, have tried 130 
 
 All pathways of return, and thought, and thought, 
 
 Till thought itself was vacancy and reeled 
 
 Upon the giddy pinnacle it clomb, — 
 
 There is no hope. How is that possible, 
 
 Which we can never ask, nor God vouchsafe ? 
 
 Friends, reconciliation cannot be, 
 
 Nor war, nor peace : one thing alone remains, — 
 
 Submission. Underneath His scorching Eye 
 
 Who knows what anguish this averment costs, 
 
 Who knows herein I utter all my heart, \ 40 
 
 I say submission to His iron rod 
 
 Whose golden sceptre we have spurned for ever ; 
 
 Here lies the only unction for our woes : 
 
 Submission, which persisted in, despite 
 
 All cravings from without and from within, 
 
 May bring at least escape from this abyss, 
 
 And from the fiercer lake which burns below. 
 
 Hearken, ye know upon the scrolls of truth 
 
 It stands recorded, when the Sabbath rest 
 
 Is o'er, we shall be loosened from our chains 150 
 
 A little season. Wherefore ? for man's sake ? 
 
 Not wholly : God deals equally with all. 
 
 One trial more is there accorded us. 
 
 'Tis true, the oracle proceeds, that we 
 
 Shall quickly with mankind conspire again 
 
 To mar His reign, and lead the apostate earth 
 
 Against the embattled army of His saints : 
 
342 THE LAST JUDGMENT. [BOOK 
 
 But this is ours to do, or not to do. 
 
 There is no Fate, as once I madly thought, 
 
 Which writes decrees immutably ordained J 60 
 
 Other than creature will, and increate 
 
 Foreknowledge of the workings of that will 
 
 In Him who governs all. And for myself, 
 
 This by my right hand have I straitly sworn, — 
 
 Never, if instant monarchy were mine, 
 
 Never to gratify revenge or pride, 
 
 Never, ye all soliciting the deed, 
 
 Insensate, never will I raise an arm 
 
 Against Omniscient and Eternal Power." 
 
 He paused, and hollow murmurs of assent, 1 70 
 
 Such murmurs at midnight the desert wind 
 Wakes in Gomorrah's dead mephitic sea, 
 Crept over the abyss : so pleasing seemed 
 The least abatement of their vivid pangs. 
 And readily they pledged their dismal oath, 
 If only' escape from this Tartarean pit 
 Were granted, never more to violate 
 With deeds of rapine or designs of wrong 
 The kingdom of the Prince of Peace. Ah, fools, 
 Tempters too long, who now misdeemed themselves iso 
 In their own might against temptation proof ! 
 
 But barely had the echo of their words 
 Died in the gloomy distances of night, 
 When lo, the thing they longed for, was : their chains 
 
XI.] THE LAST JUDGMENT. 843 
 
 Were loosened : the terrific flame of fire 
 
 Assuaged its lightnings : the infernal gates 
 
 Recoiling by some viewless hand were thrown 
 
 Wide open ; and a Dreadful Voice proclaimed, 
 
 " The roadway of return to earth is free ; 
 
 But touch not mankind lest far worse ensue." ] 90 
 
 Straightway, like that Apocalyptic smoke 
 By John seen rising from the bottomless pit, 
 Whence issued swarms of locusts on the earth 
 All arm'd for battle, — through the open gates 
 Of terror-stricken Hades they ascended, 
 And through that lustreless defile of clouds 
 Which led to the expanse, and through the fields 
 Of ether, and the blasted stars which paled 
 Sensibly as their ruinous train swept by, 
 Startling the sons of men. But 'mongst them soon 200 
 Arriving, to their old familiar haunts 
 Of earth, or air, or ocean, they repaired — 
 Unheralded, except Creation sighed 
 Through all her lengths and breadths and depths and 
 
 heights 
 A sigh prophetic of her latest pangs. 
 
 Three days the prince of darkness, day and night, 
 Though night was now what day had once appealed, 
 Flew with disastrous pinion to and fro 
 Over the renovated earth. No shore 
 Escaped his gloomy visitation. Straight 210 
 
344 THE LAST JUDGMENT. [BOOK 
 
 From Arctic to Antarctic climes he pass'd, 
 
 And in the dubious light from East to West, 
 
 Only so steering his pernicious course 
 
 As to avoid Emmanuers saintly land, 
 
 Outstripped the rising sun. The glorious sight 
 
 FilFd him with envy and amaze : so soon 
 
 His footprints, as it seem'd, had been effaced : 
 
 So transient evil's film ; so naturally 
 
 Goodness and mercy had reclaimed their own. 
 
 Not that the sparse and rare remains of ill 220 
 
 Escaped his sympathetic eye, or fail'd 
 
 TV awaken pleasure in the Evil One : 
 
 But these were few and far. The earth was full 
 
 Of gladness ; and her hymns of ceaseless praise, 
 
 Rich with the music of his Rival's name, 
 
 Grated worse discord in his ear than all 
 
 HelFs wailings. But for full three days and nights 
 
 The memory of his dark Millennial prison 
 
 And his late dominant resolve suppressed, 
 
 Albeit with inward agony untold, 230 
 
 Utterance of hatred or by deed or word 
 
 Or louring frown. 
 
 But then, as morning broke, 
 It chanced he lighted there where Penuel, — 
 The seraph who first dropped on heaven's bright floor 
 Such contrite tears as the unfalTn may weep, — 
 Shed fragrance on the bridal couch of two 
 Only last eve united in the links 
 
XI.] THE LAST JUDGMENT. 345 
 
 Of marriage. Through her half-closed lids the bride 
 
 Glanced bashfully upon her sleeping spouse 
 
 As glad to find him not awaked, that she 240 
 
 Might gaze emboldened with less burning cheek 
 
 Upon his lofty brow. Sweetly she quafFd 
 
 The odours, and imbibed the quickened air, 
 
 Nor knew the perfume was from heavenly bowers, 
 
 Nor human love was fanned by angel wings. 
 
 It was a scene of which the happy earth 
 
 Had myriads not unlike. But Penuel's watch, 
 
 So like his own in Eden o'er the sleep 
 
 Of our first parents, stirred such fell despite, 
 
 Such envy' and enmity and withering pride 250 
 
 In Satan's breast, that, when the seraph flew, 
 
 His errand done, swift as a beam of light, 
 
 To Zion's golden gates and thence to heaven, 
 
 The fiend no more refrain'd himself, but scowl'd 
 
 Defiance on the sky, and spake aloud : 
 
 " God, this is worse than hell. Here rent in twain 
 Myself against myself wage deadly strife. 
 What see I here but love ? innocent love ? 
 Love, which I share not, nor can ever share, 
 But crave with inextinguishable desire 260 
 
 To shrivel all its beauty like a scroll 
 Now and for ever. What forefends ? Not God, 
 Or He had never brought me hither again. 
 Nor His bright winged ministries : mine arm 
 Hath not yet lost its native puissance : 
 
346 THE LAST JUDGMENT. [BOOK 
 
 Nor men, too easy victims, flesh and blood, 
 
 Unfenced in spotless purity like those 
 
 Who fell in Eden, and through long disuse 
 
 Untaught to cope with cruelty and craft. 
 
 What hinders ? Nothing but my mighty oath, 
 
 Sworn only to myself and mine, from which 
 
 I therefore can absolve myself and them ; 
 
 And they, so willing, loose themselves and me. 
 
 Ha ! my strong lust wrestles with my resolve, 
 
 Which waxes weak and weaker every pulse. 
 
 The inevitable end approaches. Death, 
 
 Whatever death may be to spirits like us, 
 
 Were better than this riven and ruptured life. 
 
 But haply, ere we perish, we shall drink, 
 
 Sweeter than nectar to our lips, the cup 280 
 
 Of desolating desperate revenge/'' 
 
 And like a cloud with tempest charged, which rolls 
 Suddenly o'er the azure firmament 
 Its darkness in the teeth of wind, he swept 
 Over a sleeping world. Little recked men 
 Of danger. But his gloomy hosts he found 
 Beyond his utmost expectation ripe 
 For new revolt. Their will, less strong than his, 
 Had struggled less against temptation's tide : 
 Their foresight less was sooner at a fault : 290 
 
 Brief easement banished centuries of pain. 
 Had they not fasted a Millennial fast 
 From deeds of violence and wrong? And now. 
 
XI.] THE LAST JUDGMENT. 347 
 
 As prowls a pack of lean and hungry wolves 
 
 Driven by fierce winter from Siberian steppes 
 
 Around a camp's fast waning fires, they fix'd 
 
 Their ravenous glances on a world which lay 
 
 Basking in unsuspicious Sabbath rest, — 
 
 Near and delicious booty. Every hour 
 
 Inflamed them ; and their fretting cowardice 300 
 
 Only awaited one to lead them forth, 
 
 Fit captain for fit crew. 
 
 The time was short ; 
 But fiendish malice made short work. The earth 
 Was of one speech and language. Myriads teemed 
 In former wilds : and all the sons of men 
 Were linked in countless bonds of intercourse. 
 No wasting war checked the full tide of life. 
 Oceans were walls no more, but voyaged now, 
 No storms occurrent, with electric speed 
 Were highways of the nations. Science ask'd 310 
 
 Of Nature's limitless munificence 
 Vast largesses, nor met refusal : love 
 Won easily what she had grudged to lust ; 
 Millennial life ripening her fruits. All lands 
 Were wont to gather now in holy tryst 
 At Zion's glad memorial festivals 
 With greater ease than Israel of old 
 Flocked to the temple gates of Solomon. 
 Thought circulated like the light. Mankind 
 Was one great family, and earth one home : 320 
 
348 THE LAST JUDGMENT. [BOOK 
 
 Source of innumerable joys, when all 
 
 Was purity and evil was unknown, 
 
 Or known was instantly repressed with good ; 
 
 But of infectious pestilence, if once 
 
 The foe infuse his venom unobserved 
 
 Into the human heart, — which now befell. 
 
 Watchman, what of the night ? Night is far spent : 
 Morn is at hand, the morn of endless day. 
 Broods yet a tempest ? Yet the last, hell's last 
 Expiring struggle, heaven's last victory : 330 
 
 Beyond is cloudless light and perfect peace. 
 
 Yet seemed it passing miracle, that they, 
 Who lived beneath the shadow of the throne, 
 And saw the glory of the Prince, and knew 
 That Canaan, of earth's provinces elect, 
 Was as His temple, Israel His priests, 
 The Church His Bride, and holy seraphim 
 The servants of His pleasure, they should heed 
 Infatuate the Arch-tempter's glozing speech 
 And yield — how easily deceived, how soon 340 
 
 Deceivers ! It was passing miracle. 
 God only knows the fathomless profound 
 Of man. Yet peradventure otherwise, 
 Maugre the lessons of six thousand years, 
 Earth, mother of the human race, and nurse 
 Of countless generations yet unborn, 
 Had rested in her native strength, nor learn'd 
 
XI.] THE LAST JUDGMENT. 349 
 
 The creature by itself can never stand, 
 
 Mutable, fallible, and on its God 
 
 For righteousness dependent as for life. 350 
 
 Pride falls for ever now : and lowliness 
 
 Meekly receives her amaranthine crown. 
 
 But the last strife was terrible. Each fiend 
 Was now as Satan, trained in guilt and guile, 
 Student and scholar of the human heart, 
 And skilful when and where to show himself 
 Clad in angelic light. Quickly they saw 
 The perilous exaltation free from fear 
 Of those who revelFd in Millennial peace. 
 They marked the easy avenue. They gauged 360 
 
 The powers of man, the limits of his power, 
 And what beyond was feasible to hope : 
 Long life was his, not immortality ; 
 Swift motion, but not flight ; far-reaching fields 
 Of knowledge, but yet wider lay beyond ; 
 Earth was earth ; men were men, not angels ; saints, 
 Not seraphs ; though celestial intercourse 
 Was oft within terrestrial homes vouchsafed. 
 Hence first the spirits of evil in men's hearts, 
 Echoing the serpent's lie a million times, 370 
 
 Clandestinely infused mistrust, and plied 
 The vacillating will with hateful doubt : 
 Could that be love which circumscribed their power ? 
 Why were they fettered to this narrow orb ? 
 
350 THE LAST JUDGMENT. [BOOK 
 
 Why not, as angels, free to range the heavens ? 
 
 Why this delay of glory ? Could it be 
 
 That He, who gave so much, begrudged them more ? 
 
 Nor marvel, if such thoughts, which once avaiPd 
 
 To drag archangels from their thrones, had power 
 
 To baffle unsuspecting human hearts, 380 
 
 To try their faith who leaned upon their God, 
 
 And taint the rest. No longer instant wrath 
 
 Visibly on transgression fell. For now, 
 
 As once on Sinai in awed Israel's sight, 
 
 God had retired into His secret place 
 
 Of thunder, and had wrapt His glory round 
 
 In swaddling-bands of darkness. Hell meanwhile 
 
 Emboldened showed its lying signs of power 
 
 And fiery portents in the sky : till earth, 
 
 Heaven's mirror late, became again the haunt 390 
 
 Of fear, suspicion, hatred, violence, — 
 
 All save Emmanuel's land. Yet think not all 
 
 Fell from their loyalty. Myriads were found 
 
 Faithful in every region under heaven. 
 
 And speedily, for half a week of years 
 
 Saw this rebellion schemed and swoll'n and crush'd, 
 
 War reassumed her bloody car, her sons 
 
 Wielding infernal powers unguess'd of yore, 
 
 And drave the saints before her : not a few, 
 
 Like Enoch, rapt from the tumultuous strife 400 
 
 To the calm presence of the Prince of Peace, 
 
 Companions of the Virgin Bride : the rest 
 

 XI.] THE LAST JUDGMENT. 351 
 
 Flocking by day and night, by land and sea, 
 Under the shadow of that holy cloud 
 Which o'er the height of Zion hung sublime. 
 
 But now the foe infuriated draws 
 All nations from the fourfold winds, himself 
 Incarnate, and in blasphemous despair 
 Or bitter mockery of his last defeat, 
 As Gog and Magog, leads his armies forth 410 
 
 To compass the beloved city. Earth 
 Groaned underneath the tread of armed men : 
 The winds and oceans chafed to bear their fleets : 
 The very sky was frighted by the rush 
 Of fiendish wings. Baleful conspiracy ! 
 Devils and men at last in open league 
 Assuming empire with a front, to less 
 Than strength Almighty, irresistible. 
 Darkening all lands they come, but densest where 
 Euphrates rolPd her ancient tide of wealth 420 
 
 Through Shinar's plains : for in their pride they ween'd 
 To storm the citadel of heaven and climb 
 The ladder of crystalline gold there set, 
 And leading higher than the stars of God. 
 
 Ah ! blind rebellion, madness to the last, 
 Infatuate, suicidal, desperate ! 
 
 The latest band of unpolluted saints 
 Was gathered now beneath the shadowing wings 
 
352 THE LAST JUDGMENT. [BOOK 
 
 Of that Shekinah cloud which stretched its shade 
 
 From Lebanon to Nile; and now the hosts 430 
 
 Of Satan flocked around the holy realm 
 
 By foot unblest as yet inviolate ; 
 
 When from the frowning heavens again that sound, 
 
 Which shook the first fell council of the damn'd, 
 
 More terrible than thunder vibrated 
 
 Through every heart, Jehovah's awful laugh, 
 
 Mocking their fears and scorning their designs, 
 
 The laughter of Eternal love incensed. 
 
 From pole to pole it peal'd. And lo, the cloud, 
 
 Whence it appeared to issue, spread abroad 440 
 
 Over the rebel hosts its pregnant gloom, 
 
 And, louring, in the twinkling of an eye 
 
 Flashed into flame. The dreadful storm of fire 
 
 Bore ever down, precipitately down, 
 
 Scathing the spirits of evil first (of power 
 
 These everlasting burnings to destroy 
 
 Spiritual and carnal essences alike), 
 
 Still down, — though not before a whisper ran 
 
 Through those pale ranks like that which blanched the lips 
 
 Of Pharaoh's bravest in the yawning deep, — 450 
 
 " God fights for Zion ; let us flee His face." 
 
 It was too late : for down, still ever down, 
 
 The arrows of destruction fell, the flames 
 
 Baffling escape or flight. And now the Lord 
 
 Himself on the Arch-adversary laid 
 
 The right hand of Omnipotence. The touch 
 
 Alone was foretaste of the second death, 
 
XI.] THE LAST JUDGMENT. 353 
 
 Such death as damned spirits for ever die. 
 
 He shuddered and was still. Nor less his hosts, 
 
 Whelm/d by the glory y of God, and manacled 460 
 
 Beneath angelic wardenship, were ranged 
 
 Far to the left of the consuming fire 
 
 Burning around the central throne, and there 
 
 In speechless horror waited, till the Judge 
 
 Should summon each to His eternal bar. 
 
 But first Messiah spake again, His voice 
 Resounding from the jasper walls of heaven 
 To hell's profoundest caves. And lo, the Deep 
 Grew darker at the summons. Hades shook 
 Through all her strong foundations, as of old 470 
 
 Sinai beneath the feet of God. Nor now 
 Was key or loosened bar or facile bolt 
 Needed to ope her adamantine doors ; 
 For, as it seemed, the firmament, which arch'd 
 That prison of the damned with lurid gloom, 
 To right and left was rent : and Death and Hell 
 With dreadful throes and agonizing groans 
 Disgorged their dead, the lost of every age, 
 In myriads, small and great confusedly. These, 
 As shivering on the bare expanse they stood, 480 
 
 Ejected prisoners but not escaped, 
 The angels in dead ominous silence led 
 Back to their mother earth, where waited each • 
 His ruined spirit's tenement, made fit 
 To' endure the terrors of the wrath to come, 
 
 a a 
 
354 THE LAST JUDGMENT. [BOOK 
 
 The body of his sin, and from this hour 
 
 The body of his everlasting woe. 
 
 Thus clothed with shame not glory, came they forth 
 
 From graves innumerable by land and sea, 
 
 And took their station, so the Judge ordained, 490 
 
 Behind the accursed angels, who first sinned 
 
 And, as was meet, must first receive their doom. 
 
 Hades was empty. Not a sound or sigh 
 Or whisper of a living thing was heard 
 In the sepulchral air. That gloomy prison 
 Had done its work. And suddenly, behold, 
 What seemed its floor of solid adamant 
 Heaved, — as in Zembla's seas at summer prime 
 A mighty floe of ice disruptured heaves 
 Beneath the chafing tide, and in an hour 500 
 
 Its glens and bergs and frozen fastnesses 
 Break in a thousand fragments, the vex'd waves 
 Betwixt them washing to and fro. So now, 
 As it appeared, the keystone of that crypt, 
 Which overarched the fiery gulf below, 
 Was crushed : and, like a sinking dome, the vault 
 With rout insufferable and hideous noise 
 Fell sheer into the bottomless pit. But huge 
 As was that ruin, loomed more huge, more vast 
 That shoreless fathomless abyss of fire, 5 1 
 
 Which swallowed up in its remorseless waves 
 Whatever lay beyond the mighty gulf 
 Coasting the triple wall of Paradise. 
 
XI.] THE LAST JUDGMENT. 355 
 
 Meanwhile on earth the quick tempestuous flames, 
 That overthrew the rebel armies, spread 
 From fell to forest, and from clime to clime, 
 From shore to shore, from island on to isle, 
 And burning continent to continent ; 
 While from beneath the ocean lava floods 
 Surged up until the very waters rolled 520 
 
 Aflame ; and clouds of smoke and seething steam 
 Darkened the sky — a space : then I beheld, 
 And lo, the firmamental heavens themselves 
 Were kindled, and the primal elements 
 Melted with heat, and one vast sea of fire, 
 Its waves darting their hungry tongues aloof, 
 Baptized the unregenerate earth in flame. 
 One land alone, — like Goshen, when the shroud 
 Of palpable darkness wrapt the Memphian plains, 
 Sunning its pastures in the smile of God, — 530 
 
 One land remained unscathed, and over that 
 Nor firebrand shot, nor smell of burning passed. 
 
 And there in heaven, immediately above 
 The holy hills of Zion as it seemed, 
 Though peradventure airy semblance veiFd 
 A distance greater than the solar orb, 
 When now the blasts of lightning wrath were spent, 
 From out the dazzling glory 7 at last emerged 
 The likeness of a great white throne, more bright 
 (If time may render such similitude 540 
 
 To mysteries not born of time) than when 
 a a 2 
 
356 THE LAST JUDGMENT. [BOOK 
 
 A vaporous sea of mist, shrouding the Alps 
 
 From Viso to the far Tyrol, an hour 
 
 Ere sunset, lifts its giant gloom, and melts 
 
 In showers, save where the victor king of day 
 
 Rides on the uppermost ravine of cloud 
 
 And brightens it to brightness till it glows 
 
 Whiter than light itself. And on the throne, 
 
 When strengthened by the Spirit I looked, behold 
 
 One seated, from whose unveiFd face the earth 550 
 
 As mantled with its former robes, and heaven, 
 
 Its azure curtains shrivelling like a leaf, 
 
 Melted as melts a dream 0' the night. But lo, 
 
 Before the throne in countless millions stood 
 
 New risen the dead, all of them, small and great, 
 
 Speechless with terror, by the angels soon 
 
 Far to the left reduced : while on the right 
 
 Advanced the saints in blissful multitudes ; 
 
 And round about the throne were seraphim 
 
 And cherubim of glory, and the chiefs 560 
 
 Of the celestial host ; meanwhile the rest 
 
 Stretched like a fringe of light beyond the saints, 
 
 Beyond the ruined dead, beyond the spirits 
 
 Accursed in concentric walls of flame. 
 
 And then and there the likeness as of books 
 
 Before the awful Presence of the Judge 
 
 Was seen, the massive chronicles of time, 
 
 The law, the Gospel, and the book of life. 
 
 This the last opened was first read. And as 
 
XI.] THE LAST JUDGMENT. 357 
 
 The names engraven on its crystal leaves 570 
 
 Fell singly from Messiah's lips, the saints 
 
 From martyred Abel to the youngest babe 
 
 Caught heavenward for the joy of His espousals 
 
 Stood forth apparent in that holy light, 
 
 Their blood- washed robes purer than driven snow, 
 
 Palms in their hands, and woven in their hair 
 
 Garlands of amaranth. And one by one 
 
 The beams o' the Divine glory seemed to rest 
 
 On each : and in the twinkling of an eye, 
 
 In sight and audience of the universe, 5 so 
 
 That one became the object, whereon all, 
 
 Forgetful of themselves and all besides, 
 
 Gazed. Not the faintest film of guilt remained 
 
 Beneath the scrutiny of Perfect Love, 
 
 Such was the virtue of His blood, and such 
 
 The lustre of His seamless robe of light. 
 
 But every thought, and word, and act of grace, 
 
 Writ in the book of His remembrance, shed 
 
 A halo of such radiant holiness 
 
 O'er every member of the mystic Bride, 590 
 
 That all, not saints alone but seraphim, 
 
 With shouts of lofty joy congratulant, 
 
 Nor seraphs only, but the lost perforce, 
 
 Both men and devils, as the Son of God 
 
 Proclaimed the righteousness of saints, and placed 
 
 A crown of glory on the brow of each, 
 
 Echoed the verdict of the Throne, Amen. 
 
358 THE LAST JUDGMENT. [BOOK 
 
 Those numbers had no number : but ask not 
 How long their judgment lasted ; for methinks 
 Time and its ages then were felt to be 600 
 
 Creatures of the Eternal, in whose Eye 
 And Presence moments are as years, and years 
 As moments. But to me at least it seemed 
 Only the fragment of a day, before 
 The latest saint received his blest award ; 
 And the King stooping from the snow-white throne 
 Held forth the sceptre of His grace, dove-tipped 
 (As once of yore Ahasuerus calm'd 
 Young Esther's beating heart), and bade us^touch 
 The symbol, and draw nearer while He spake : 61 
 
 " Come, all ye blessed of My Father, come 
 Inherit ye the royalties and realms, 
 Ere the foundations of the world were laid 
 For you prepared and destined. Heirs of God, 
 Joint heirs with Me, receive your heritage ; 
 Come ye, who bore My cross, and wear My crown ; 
 Come share My glories ye who shared My ^griefs ; 
 But first assessors to My throne abide, 
 The while I judge Mine enemies and yours." 
 
 So saying, He drew us nearer to His side, 620 
 
 And placed us on His glorious right. O scene 
 Of solemn unimaginable awe ! 
 
XI.] THE LAST JUDGMENT. 359 
 
 Ere this, though nurtured in Millennial wonders, 
 
 The saints were with themselves absorbed, nor dared 
 
 Look otherwhere than on their peers and Judge. 
 
 But now it seem'd we were again the Bride, 
 
 And seated by the Bridegroom's side ; for lo, 
 
 The likeness as of countless thrones appeared 
 
 On that unutterably radiant cloud 
 
 Which was Messiah's judgment-throne — nor think 630 
 
 Boom wanting in that vast sidereal dome — 
 
 Each in its ordered place, tier above tier, 
 
 Bank above rank, so marvellously set, 
 
 Or such the virtue here of sight and sound, 
 
 We saw the shades that passed on every brow, 
 
 We heard the whisper of the faintest sigh. 
 
 Before us first the hosts of rebel spirits 
 
 Under angelic wardens : next to these 
 
 Their miserable victims, of mankind : 
 
 And still beyond them angels numberless : 640 
 
 Beside us, to the right hand and the left, 
 
 The diverse glories of the stars : and far 
 
 Below our feet our mother planet, earth, 
 
 Glowed in the embers of her final fire, 
 
 Except the solitary land concealed 
 
 Beneath the shadow of the hand of God. 
 
 And now the Anointed Judge, fronting the left, 
 Summoned the apostate spirits one by one 
 Before Him. Face to face with us they stood, 
 Whom they had wrestled with in dubious fight 650 
 
360 THE LAST JUDGMENT. [BOOK 
 
 And plied with hellish crafts in pilgrim days. 
 
 Dreadful it was to see them now unmask'd, 
 
 And, as the story of each appeared, to learn 
 
 What poisonous arrows they had shot, what snares 
 
 Had strew'd, what pitfalls of iniquity 
 
 Had digged for us, albeit Heavenly Love 
 
 Led our unwary footsteps safely home. 
 
 Now we beheld the secret springs of ill 
 
 Which moved the mighty drama of the world, 
 
 And saw how often proud infatuate men, 660 
 
 Like Ahab by the lying fiend beguiled, 
 
 Were dupes of hell. On each the judgment fell : 
 
 As he had sinned, so was to each the weight 
 
 And measure of eternal punishment, 
 
 Weighed in the scales of Perfect Equity, 
 
 Poised to the small dust of the balances, 
 
 And meted to a gossamer's viewless breadth ; 
 
 And with such clear necessity adjudged 
 
 By One, whose long forbearance had been drained 
 
 To the last drop, by Love, Almighty Love, 670 
 
 Uttering its slow irrevocable words 
 
 In tones of wrath so strangely blent with grief, 
 
 So calm, so true, so just, that even the damn'd 
 
 Could only answer, " Thou art righteous, Lord :" 
 
 And, as the awful sentence fell on each 
 
 Of chains and everlasting banishment 
 
 To his own portion in the lake of fire, 
 
 As by the Spirit of holiness compelled 
 
 We and the blessed angels said, Amen. 
 
XI.] THE LAST JUDGMENT. 361 
 
 The Arch-tempter was reserved for judgment last. 680 
 Silent he stood. Upon his haggard brow 
 Nor hope nor fear was visible, nor guile, 
 Nor lust, nor hate : an utter blank it seem'd, 
 A passionless vacuity of thought : 
 But when the concentrated light of God, 
 As sunbeams in a burning-glass condensed, 
 Fell on his naked spirit, it touched, it woke 
 The dormant sense within him ; and a moan 
 Stifled was heard ; and mighty shudderings 
 Shook his colossal frame : for in that light 690 
 
 His pride was despicable littleness, 
 His wisdom idiot folly, and his lies 
 Rent cobwebs in the torturing glare of truth. 
 And now the strong was weak, the haughty' abased, 
 The rebel crouching at his Conqueror's feet, 
 The shameless clothed with everlasting shame. 
 Prostrate he fell before the throne ; and there, 
 In sight of all, Messiah on his neck 
 Planted His burning heel, and in the act 
 For ever crushed the accursed Serpent's head : 700 
 
 Life not extinct, but crush'd ; and sin not slain, 
 But bruised and ready for the second death : 
 I look'd again ; and lo, among his own, 
 Convict and chain'd, the strengthless Arch-fiend lay. 
 And for a space no sound was heard. But then 
 It seem'd the crystal empyrean clave 
 Beneath them, and the horrid vacuum suck'd 
 The devil and his armies down (as once 
 
362 THE LAST JUDGMENT. [BOOK 
 
 Korah and all his crew, quick as they were, 
 
 Sank from amid the camp of Israel) 710 
 
 To bottomless perdition. None escaped. 
 
 And, as their cry of piercing misery 
 
 From out that yawning gulf went up to heaven, 
 
 Standing upon its rugged edge we gazed 
 
 Intently' and long down after them ; and there 
 
 They sank and sank, the forms more indistinct, 
 
 The cries more faint, the echoes feebler, till 
 
 The firmamental pavement closed again : 
 
 And silence was in heaven. 
 
 Nor longer pause, 
 For now the everlasting Son of God 720 
 
 Summoned the millions of the dead, the lost, 
 Each to appear before the great white throne. 
 And lo, the angels round about them urged, 
 Urged and compelled obedience, or they 
 Had gladlier sunk that hour to utter night. 
 And all the other angels, from their charge 
 Of the rebellious spirits for aye released, 
 Disposed themselves around the judgment-seat 
 In fashion of an emerald rainbow, built 
 Of loftiest arch what time the sun is low ; 730 
 
 Or intermingling with the saints communed 
 In whispers to the rest inaudible 
 Of the dread issues of this last Assize. 
 Of these was Oriel. To my side he flew 
 And press'd my hand for gladness at my crown. 
 
XI.] THE LAST JUDGMENT. 363 
 
 And, like an elder brother, by my side 
 
 Half leaning, ever and anon he spake 
 
 "With tears of that which passed beneath our feet. 
 
 Yes, there was Cain the fratricide, the brand 
 Of murder still upon his brow ; and they 740 
 
 Who mocked the saintly Enoch ; and the brood 
 Begotten of the fallen sons of light, 
 Giants in sin as size ; and they who sank 
 Blaspheming heaven around the ark they built ; 
 And they who in another deluge found 
 Untimely burial, Pharaoh and his chiefs ; 
 The rebel sons of Reuben ; and the seer 
 Who loved the wages of unrighteousness, 
 The son of Bosor ; multitudes of slain 
 From the polluted homes of Canaan ; 750 
 
 And he who fell upon the bloody heights 
 Of Mount Gilboa, Saul the son of Kish ; 
 And crowds of miserable idolaters, 
 Of whom I marked lascivious Jezebel : 
 Sinners of every age and every type ; 
 The proud, despiteful, fierce, implacable, 
 Unthankful, and unholy, and unclean ; 
 And they who lived in pleasure, dead the while ; 
 Haters of God ; and whosoever loved, 
 And whosoever wrought the devil's lie. 760 
 
 Time's river in that awful retrospect 
 Was flowing swiftly by ; when lo, I heard 
 
364 THE LAST JUDGMENT. [BOOK 
 
 The traitor's name, and from among the (lead 
 
 He staggered shuddering to the judgment bar, 
 
 And eye to eye met Him whose sacred life 
 
 He sold for lucre : infinite contempt 
 
 Was branded on his brow, who knew at last 
 
 Good were it for him had he ne'er been born. 
 
 Nero was there ; and none appeared to shrink 
 
 More terror-stricken from the face of God ; 770 
 
 In vain : and many, who with lighter guilt 
 
 Had yet imbued their hands in holy blood, 
 
 Nor washed them in the only fount : and when 
 
 The persecuting priests of Carthage came 
 
 For judgment forth, my guardian touched my hand 
 
 And pointed to a rank of glorious saints, 
 
 Far, far aloof, and nearer to the throne, 
 
 Where sate the beautiful Perpetua clothed 
 
 In amaranthine bloom, though pity fill'd 
 
 Her heart with tenderness, her eyes with tears. 7so 
 
 Thus passed the centuries with ruin vex'd 
 And visited w^th wrath : when lo, a name 
 Startled me, so familiar was the sound ; 
 And Oriel faintly whispered, " It is he/' 
 As Theodore approach'd the throne, and stood 
 Trembling at that tribunal. Not a trace 
 Of pride or blasphemous despite survived 
 Upon his hopeless brow, only despair, 
 Who now beneath the terrors of God's Eye 
 For two Millennial days and half a third 790 
 

 XI.] THE LAST JUDGMENT. 365 
 
 Had Iain submiss. One hurried glance he stole 
 
 Upon a form below us, — could it be 
 
 His mother ? — but no breath of useless prayer 
 
 Escaped his lips, compressed in agony ; 
 
 Until the irrevocable sentence fell 
 
 Upon him, and methought I caught the words, 
 
 u O God, I bow beneath Thy rod for ever." 
 
 And Oriel whispered in my ears, " Amen. 
 
 Omniscient Love ordains it. All is well." 
 
 But who of saints or angels could revive 800 
 
 All the dread scenes of that tribunal ? Time 
 In that judicial retrospect appeared 
 To bare itself before eternity ; 
 Though as the ages onward rolled, they each 
 Yielded an ever larger harvest-field 
 To the keen scythe of death. But when at last 
 The period of my mortal pilgrimage 
 Arrived for judgment, I beheld the forms 
 Of many I had known from youth to prime, 
 Sheep, wayward sheep whom I had vainly sought, sio 
 Now fronting the Chief Shepherd face to face. 
 And now the fold was closed : and it was mine 
 To witness I had calPd in vain. O God, 
 Thou know^st, Thou only, what sustained me then. 
 Still the dark plots grew darker, as the end 
 Drew near, and tangled labyrinths of crime 
 More intricate : all were unravelPd now ; 
 And deeds, scarce trusted to the subtle winds 
 
366 THE LAST JUDGMENT. [BOOK 
 
 And whispered in the ear with bated breath, 
 
 Were now in presence of the universe 820 
 
 Proclaimed. Rebel ingratitude had kept 
 
 Its worst, its blackest for the close of all : 
 
 But when the last impenitent, who died 
 
 With devils leagued and devilish arms in hand 
 
 Fighting against apparent Deity, 
 
 Had all received the terrible award 
 
 Of Justice, and among their comrades slunk, 
 
 Once more was silence for a space in heaven ; 
 
 Until the Judge arising from His throne 
 
 Bent on the countless multitudes convict 830 
 
 His visage of eternal wrath, and spake 
 
 In tones which more than thousand thunders shook 
 
 The crumbling citadel of every heart, — 
 
 " Depart from Me, ye cursed, into fire, 
 
 Fire for the devil and his hosts prepared, 
 
 Fire everlasting, fire unquenchable; 
 
 Myself have said it : let it be : Amen." 
 
 And from the upper firmament there came 
 
 A Voice Almighty, " Let it be : Amen." 
 
 And all the trembling angels said, " Amen." 840 
 
 And the pale Bride repeated, " Yea, Amen." 
 
 God spake, and it was done. Again the floor 
 Of solid crystal where the damned stood 
 Opened its mouth, immeasurable leagues; 
 And with a cry whose piercing echoes yet 
 Beat through the void of shoreless space, the lost 
 
XI.] THE LAST JUDGMENT. 367 
 
 Helplessly, hopelessly, resistlessly, 
 
 Adown the inevitable fissure sank, 
 
 As sank before the ruin'd hosts of hell, 
 
 Still down, still ever down, from deep to deep, 850 
 
 Into the outer darkness, till at last 
 
 The fiery gulf received them, and they plunged 
 
 Beneath Gehenna's burning sulphurous waves 
 
 In the abyss of ever-during wx>e. 
 
 All shook except the Throne of Judgment. That, 
 Built on the righteousness of God, nor shook 
 Nor faintest tremour of vibration felt : 
 The Hand that held the scales of destiny 
 Swerved not an hair's breadth : and the Voice which 
 
 spake 
 Those utterances quail'd not, faltered not. 860 
 
 But when the fiery gulf was shut, and all 
 Looked with one instinct on the judgment-seat 
 To read His countenance who sate thereon, 
 He was in tears — the Judge was weeping — tears 
 Of grief and pity inexpressible. 
 And straightway we remembered who had wept 
 Over Jerusalem, and is the same 
 For ever as to-day and yesterday ; 
 And in full sympathy of grief the springs 
 Gush/d forth within us ; and the angels wept : 870 
 
 Till stooping from the throne with His own hand 
 He wiped the tears from every eye, and said, 
 " My Father's will be done ; His will is Mine ; 
 
368 THE LAST JUDGMENT. [BOOK 
 
 And Mine is yours : but mercy' is His delight, 
 And judgment is His strange and dreadful work. 
 Now it is done for ever. Come with Me, 
 Ye blessed children of My Father, come ; 
 And in the many mansions of His love 
 Enjoy the beams of His unclouded smile." 
 
 So saying, as once from Olivet, He rose sso 
 
 Majestically toward the heaven of heavens 
 In the serenity of perfect peace : 
 And we arose with Him. 
 
 But what of those 
 Who, from the place of final judgment hurPd, 
 Had each his portion in the lake of fire ? 
 No Lethe rolFd its dark oblivious waves, 
 As some have feigned, betwixt that world of woe 
 And ours of bliss. But rather, as of old 
 Foreshadowed in the prescient oracles, 
 The smoke of their great torment rose to heaven 8 no 
 In presence of the holy seraphim, 
 And in the presence of the Lamb of God, 
 For ever and for ever. At the first 
 Nothing was heard ascending from the deep 
 Save wailings and unutterable groans, 
 Wrong from them by overmastering agony ; 
 But as His Eye, who is consuming fire, 
 Unintermittently abode on them, — 
 Truth, cleanness, justice fastening like flame 
 
XI.] THE LAST JUDGMENT?, 369 
 
 On all that was untrue, unclean, unjust, 900 
 
 And thus to each awarding his due meed, — 
 
 The outbreaks of the rebel will were quelPd, 
 
 The quick activities of sin were crushed, 
 
 No word of wrathful blasphemy was heard, 
 
 No violence was wrought ; but order rose 
 
 From that profound confusion unconfused, 
 
 Order and forced submission ; and ere long 
 
 Swaying her sceptre through the lurid gloom, 
 
 And curbing every utterance but truth, 
 
 Silence assumed her adamantine throne. 910 
 
 Now were the works of Satan brought to nought ; 
 His vast conspiracy dissolved for ever ; 
 Pride, the first fatal lure, abased for ever ; 
 Hell's transient eminence destroyed for ever ; 
 The haughtiness of man bow'd down for ever; 
 The lips of idle falsehood seaPd for ever ; 
 Tyrant oppression now oppressed for ever ; 
 Hatred was still ; and murder was no more ; 
 And lust had wrought its latest shame. The germs 
 Of evil, ineradicable germs 920 
 
 (Grace only in the day of grace has power 
 To purge the ill, and recreate the good), 
 Could never strike one poisonous root again 
 Beneath the curse of God, nor germinate 
 In that devouring atmosphere of fire : 
 And, being that repressive fire was there 
 For ever, Sin the vanquished monster lay 
 
 b b 
 
370 THE LAST JUDGMENT. [BOOK 
 
 For ever powerless in the jaws of Death ; 
 
 And to our eyes, who saw the light of life 
 
 And stood upon the shore of glory. Death 930 
 
 Itself was swallowed up in victory. 
 
 Well I remember, — ages then had roll'd 
 Out of a measureless eternity, — 
 Standing with Oriel on that outmost verge 
 Of Paradise, the lowest court of heaven, 
 Where once to me a bodiless spirit he spake 
 Of yesterday : the morrow now long since 
 Had dawned : there standing, suddenly we heard 
 A voice from an unfathomable depth 
 (And Oriel touched me saying, " It is the voice 940 
 
 Of hell's dethroned monarch ") as it seem'd, 
 In shame and humiliation infinite, 
 Making confession to himself and God : 
 
 " For ever lost : this is the second death : 
 Meet end for me who whispered in the ear 
 Of fragile man, Ye shall not surely die. 
 So flattering falsehood spake to me. Man fell ; 
 And falling, as I knew too well, he died. 
 The Lord is righteous ; I have sinn'd and die. 
 Lost, lost : nor could I crave it otherwise. 950 
 
 What would I otherwise ? escape from chains ? 
 Were not we loosed from prison, I and mine, 
 And only madly heap'd upon ourselves 
 Fresh torment by fresh crime ? Nay, in our death 
 
XI.] THE LAST JUDGMENT. '371 
 
 Eternal Justice hath alone fulfilled 
 
 The equal sentence of Eternal Love. 
 
 Me miserable ! freedom were worse than bonds ; 
 
 And life to me more terrible than death. 
 
 Myself alone am cause of all my woe. 
 
 Mercy constrained the stroke. Left to itself, 960 
 
 My maniac suicidal wickedness 
 
 Had still inflicted worse upon itself, 
 
 And upon all beneath its cruel rule. 
 
 Goodness has hung these chains around my limbs. 
 
 God, I bow for ever at Thy feet, 
 The only Potentate, the only Lord. 
 
 1 see far off the glory of Thy kingdom 
 Basking in peace, uninterrupted peace : 
 But were I free, and were my comrades free, 
 
 Sin mightier than myself and them would drag 970 
 
 Our armies to perplex those fields with war. 
 Only thus fettered can we safely gaze 
 On that which is the only lenitive of pain, 
 Virtue and goodness triumphing, and grace 
 Evolving out of darkness light in heaven. 
 Thus only to the prisoners of despair 
 Can Mercy, which is infinite, vouchsafe 
 Far glimpses of the beauty' of holiness, 
 Albeit a beauty which can never clothe 
 Ourselves, the heirs of everlasting wrath. pso 
 
 Woe, woe, immedicable woe for those 
 Whose hopeless ruin is their only hope, 
 And hell their solitary resting-place. 
 Bb 2 
 
372 THE LAST JUDGMENT. 
 
 Lost, lost : our doom is irreversible : 
 Power, justice, mercy, love have seal'd us here. 
 Glory to God who sitteth on the throne, 
 And to the Lamb for ever and for ever." 
 
 The voice was hushed a moment : then a deep 
 Low murmur, like a hoarse resounding surge, 
 Rose from the universal lake of fire : 990 
 
 No tongue was mute, no damned spirit but swelPd 
 That multitudinous tide of awful praise, 
 t€ Glory to God who sitteth on the throne, 
 And to the Lamb for ever and for ever." 
 
 END OF THE ELEVENTH BOOK. 
 
373 
 
 BOOK XII. 
 
 THE MANY MANSIONS. 
 
 Yet once more, Harp of prophecy, once more 
 
 Fondly I come soliciting thine aid ; 
 
 By whose celestial minstrelsy inspired 
 
 The saintly Enoch walked with God and sang 
 
 At cloudy morning-tide of evening light. 
 
 Thine were the strains that floated o'er the waves 
 
 From Miriam's timbrel and from Moses' tongue ; 
 
 And thine the suasive melodies, that made 
 
 The royal shepherd on his lute forecast 
 
 The golden morrow from the vex'd to-day. 10 
 
 Nor was he in thy tuneful lore unlearn'd, 
 
 "Who interwove the lyrics of the Bride 
 
 And idylls of the Bridegroom. Taught by thee, 
 
 Isaiah gazed with eagle eye athwart 
 
 The conflicts of a thousand years thrice told ; 
 
 And Jeremy, and rapt Ezekiel, 
 
 And all the prophets prophesied ; and chief 
 
 The seer who, moated by the fretting waves 
 
 In Patmos, open'd his capacious breast 
 
374 THE MANY MANSIONS. [BOOK 
 
 To the pure impulses, which only thou 20 
 
 Canst echo from eternity to time. 
 
 But not, as these great masters of the lyre, 
 
 Invoke I thee : for they at God's own voice 
 
 Came near and laid their ringers on thy chords, 
 
 And by the Spirit empowered drew forth the tones 
 
 Immediate from the sacred fount of song. 
 
 And I would only sit beneath their feet, 
 
 And earnest catch the echo of their strain, 
 
 And with faint imitative notes attempt 
 
 To win the pilgrim's ear, who listening me 30 
 
 Haply may ask whence I such music drew, 
 
 And so become a votary of thine, 
 
 As I am. From a boy I loved to sit 
 
 The while thy numbers thrilPd my soul, and since 
 
 Life with its ruder noises and rough cares 
 
 Has somewhat dull'd mine ear, thine, prescient harp^ 
 
 Thine oftentimes has been the only spell 
 
 Of virtue to arouse my laggard spirit. 
 
 And now once more in this my last assay, 
 
 Only this once, I ask thy heavenly aid 40 
 
 (My task is almost done, a task, and yet, 
 
 When thou hast breathed, a sweet necessity), 
 
 That I may catch, if few and far away, 
 
 Some glimpses of the infinite To be. 
 
 The judgment had an end. The great white throne 
 Was hidden in excess of light. And lo, 
 The earth, emerging from her flood of fire 
 
XII.] THE MANY MANSIONS. 375 
 
 Baptismal, by a new and heavenly birth 
 
 Arose regenerate. The dews of God, 
 
 As once in Eden, cool'd the ardent soil ; 50 
 
 And rivers from innumerable springs 
 
 Flowed intersecting every gorgeous clime 
 
 With living waters. Like a smile of light 
 
 The Sun of Righteousness in rising shed 
 
 Healing from His benignant wings ; and earth, 
 
 Who came forth naked from her bath of flame, 
 
 Felt His rich blessing at her heart, and smiled 
 
 Responsive, and in blushing haste put on 
 
 Her beautiful robes of immortality. 
 
 Her late apparel was not found. But now 60 
 
 The azure hyaline, in which she moved, 
 
 Was not more pure than was her virgin dress. 
 
 No trace of her great sufferings remained ; 
 
 No wrecks of time were strewn upon her shores ; 
 
 No monuments of ruin ; — saving one : — 
 
 Where Satan with his rebel peers had erst 
 
 Built on the mystic Babylon his throne, 
 
 There rose a solitary mountain peak, 
 
 The one volcano of that new-born world, 
 
 Thrust from beneath by struggling fires, and thence 70 
 
 Ever by day and night, world without end, 
 
 A thin white wreath of smoke went up to heaven, 
 
 And quickly melted in the golden beams 
 
 Which ever from the height of Zion flowed : 
 
 Symbol of deeper things. The sea was not : 
 
 Its salt and barren waters were consumed 
 
376 THE .MANY MANSIONS. [BOOK 
 
 In that last fire ; and all its fruitless wastes, 
 
 Once fruitless, now with profuse verdure clad, 
 
 In undulating hills and valleys, bared 
 
 I n trodden landscapes to the light. Nor deem so 
 
 Because the ocean was no more, earth lacked 
 
 Her noblest type of the profound and free, 
 
 Nor heaven its mirror. For the streams of life, 
 
 Flowing incessant, stored their crystal wealth 
 
 In countless pools and lakes and inland seas, 
 
 Wherewith the sportive breezes wantoning 
 
 Drave billows crested with their diamond foam 
 
 On emerald shores, or in whose lucid calm 
 
 The stars slept imaged. Earth from pole to pole 
 
 TTas one illimitable Paradise ; 90 
 
 Albeit Emmanuers land was as that spot 
 
 In Eden, where the blossoming tree of life 
 
 Grew with the tree of knowledge intertwined, 
 
 The presence-chamber of the King of kings, 
 
 The temple of the world. And thence the saints 
 
 (As sometime from Armenian Ararat, 
 
 The sons of Noah) spread o'er every clime, 
 
 Good without fear of evil beckoning them, 
 
 Life without fear of death embracing them, 
 
 All pleasure without pain refreshing them, 100 
 
 All sunshine without sorrow in their hearts, 
 
 All music without discord in their homes. 
 
 So they on earth : but where were we the while ? 
 When from the judgment-throne Messiah rosi 
 
XII. J THE MANY MANSIONS. 377 
 
 To glory , we arose with Him ; the heavens 
 
 Pealing their jubilant welcomes as we passed ; 
 
 And all the armies of the sons of God 
 
 Clapping their wings of fire before the Bride, 
 
 And shouting for the Bridegroom's voice, with sound 
 
 Of trumpets and melodious harps ; until 110 
 
 The everlasting arches rang again, 
 
 And that Light-sea which floods the universe 
 
 Trembled with its impulsive waves for joy, 
 
 And Heaven in ecstasy of rapture ask'd, 
 
 What were those echoes of triumphant mirth 
 
 That thrilPd creation from the central throne 
 
 To its remotest bound. So passed we on, 
 
 Until the ramparts of the heaven of heavens 
 
 Stretched like a wall of fire along the expanse, 
 
 And those great portals carved of solid pearl 120 
 
 (Through which had flown no wing unhallowed, since 
 
 The Son of God ascending cleansed with blood 
 
 And sealed the Holiest) now wide open thrown, 
 
 Nor henceforth closed, for foes were now no more, 
 
 With songs received our singing multitudes ; 
 
 And through the provinces of bliss we swept 
 
 On towards the city of the living God. 
 
 Before us now it rose, builded aloft 
 Upon the heavenly Zion. Never eye 
 Of mortal man had seen, nor ear had heard, 130 
 
 Though ravished with the distant fame thereof, 
 Glory like this; the handiwork of God, 
 
378 THE MANY MANSIONS. [BOOK 
 
 And fashioned of heaven's choice material, light, 
 
 Through which the Light of Light translucent shone ; 
 
 The mansion of Creation's Architect ; 
 
 The palace of the Everlasting King : 
 
 Its gates of pearl, its edifice of gold ; 
 
 Its very streets of pure crystalline gold ; 
 
 Its walls on twelve foundations superposed 
 
 (Of which divine realities the earth ho 
 
 Can only lend its feeble semblances), 
 
 The jasper streak'd with many a tender dye, 
 
 The sapphire of celestial blue serene, 
 
 The agate once Chalcedon's peerless boast, 
 
 The fathomless repose of emerald, 
 
 The ruby, and blood-tinctured sardonyx, 
 
 The chrysolite like amber sheathing fire, 
 
 The beryl emulous of ocean's sheen, 
 
 The opal-tinted topaz clear as glass, 
 
 The soft pale purple of the chrysoprase, 150 
 
 The Melibcean hyacinth, and last 
 
 The lucid violet of amethyst. 
 
 But not of pearly gates, or golden streets, 
 
 Or bulwarks, or foundations built of jewels 
 
 Thought we that day, or lingered to admire ; 
 
 For we were on our way to meet our God. 
 
 The city had no temple ; for itself 
 From wall to wall, from base to pinnacle, 
 Was one harmonious veilless sanctuary, 
 One Holiest of all : of which the shrine 1 60 
 
XII.] THE MANY MANSIONS. 379 
 
 Revealed amid the clouds of Sinai 
 
 Yielded the earliest pattern, This the house 
 
 Which Israel's royal seer in symbol saw, 
 
 And by the Spirit's hand on his described. 
 
 This the beloved apostle, rapt in spirit 
 
 To some high watch among the lasting hills, 
 
 Beheld. Most blessed, beatific sight ! 
 
 Here veiled in radiant clouds, clouds only called 
 
 From the supreme of brightness they enfolded, 
 
 Was set the throne of Majesty in heaven. 170 
 
 In front seven ever-burning lamps of fire, 
 
 Which are the Spirits of God : and round about 
 
 Mysterious cherubim, instinct with eyes, 
 
 Fourfold in glory, symbolized in forms 
 
 Of lion-like imperial royalty, 
 
 Of patient sacrificial ministry, 
 
 Of human, more than human sympathy, 
 
 Of soaring eagle-plumed intelligence, 
 
 Most highest of all creatures, whereof each 
 
 Caught and reflected some peculiar rays, 180 
 
 Some distinct aspect of his Lord ; but all 
 
 Uniting in one everlasting song, 
 
 Cried, " Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts/' 
 
 And here around were four-and-twenty thrones 
 
 In wider circuit, like a starry belt, 
 
 And on them four-and-twenty hierarchs 
 
 In priestly'' apparel, but with kingly crowns, 
 
 Sitting sublime. And in mid view, behold, 
 
 What seemed the likeness of a sea of glass. 
 
380 THE MANY MANSIONS. [BOOK 
 
 But not on glassy sea, or royal priests, 190 
 
 Or cherubim of glory gazed we then ; 
 For we were on our way to meet our God, 
 Children about to see their Father's face. 
 
 Parent and child, O purest fount that flows ! 
 Earth, fallen earth, had known thy heavenly spell : 
 In whose deep waters selfishness dissolved 
 And was not, like the sicknesses that fled 
 At touch of angel-moved Bethesda's pool, 
 Though tinctured then by many a noxious plant 
 That grew upon its trampled marge, of power 200 
 
 To dim but not destroy its healing life. 
 A babe upon its mother's breast, a child 
 Locked in a father's arms — oh, things that are ! 
 Love coming forth of love and meeting love ; 
 Love resting in its love and satisfied. 
 And knew the earth such mysteries ? what now 
 When through the temple courts fragrant with praise 
 The Bridegroom led His own, His only Bride, 
 Into His Father's presence, His and ours ? 
 Were they the parted wings of cherubim, 210 
 
 Or opening clouds of glory which disclosed 
 Such lineaments of love unutterable, 
 Attemper'd as the spirit of each could bear ? 
 No pain, no shrinking from excessive bright, 
 No sense of discord, no tormenting fear 
 (For filial love had cast out servile fear), 
 The Spirit's grace within us meeting grace 
 
XII.] THE MANY MANSIONS. 38] 
 
 Unfathomable, and we His holy ones 
 Drinking our fill of perfect holiness. 
 Yet seem'd it every thought in one was lost, — 220 
 
 Whether the words were audible to those 
 Who stood around in endless ranks of light 
 I know not, but they echoed in my heart, — 
 It was my Father's voice saying, " My child :" 
 And every power within me vibrated 
 To those divinest words, — whether I spoke, 
 Or whether others spoke, I never knew, — 
 " My Father, O my Father ! " Beams of love, 
 The repercussion of His beams of love, 
 FilPd every chamber of my soul with light, 230 
 
 As in pure waves face answers back to face ; 
 Nor though eternity unfold the powers 
 Of knowledge, — and to know Him is to love, — 
 Can beatific blessedness transcend 
 The rapture of that welcome, that response, 
 " My child .... My Father/' Heaven has nothing 
 higher. 
 
 The angels gazed in silent ecstasy : 
 For now it seem'd as if Jehovah turned 
 The glory of His countenance full-orVd 
 Upon the Son ; that glory, which on us 240 
 
 Shone only as each child could bear its light, 
 Resting upon the Everlasting Son 
 In all unveird effulgence : not one beam 
 Of its unmitigated splendour lost, 
 
382 THE MANY MANSION*. [BOOK 
 
 But from His face reflected, beam for beam, 
 
 In the One Spirit's communion infinite, 
 
 Uninterrupted fellowship. And then 
 
 (Alas ! the feebleness of words to tell 
 
 Those wonders passing wonder) but it seem'd 
 
 The Eternal Father slowly rising placed 250 
 
 A crown, which in itself was many crowns, 
 
 Upon the head of the Eternal Son : 
 
 And from amidst the throne a Voice was heard 
 
 Commanding Hallelujah. And forthwith 
 
 From cherubim and burning seraphim, 
 
 And from the hierarchal presbytery, 
 
 And from the Bride low at her Bridegroom's feet, 
 
 And from the principalities and powers, 
 
 And hosts of angels ranked in endless files, 
 
 As sounds the roar of mighty multitudes, 260 
 
 Or rush of many waters in still night, 
 
 Or thunders echoing from hill to cloud, 
 
 Arose that pealing coronation hymn — 
 
 " Crown Him for ever, crown Him King of kings ; 
 
 Crown Him for ever, crown Him Lord of lords ; 
 
 Crown Him the glorious Conqueror of hell ; 
 
 Crown Him the Everlasting Prince of Peace ; 
 
 Crown Him Jehovah, Jesu, Lamb of God, 
 
 Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Amen/' 
 
 But, ere the sound of their great anthem sank, 270 
 
 In waves of rapture on the walls of heaven, 
 
 The Son Himself appeared on bended knee 
 
 Stooping before His Father's throne to kneel, 
 
XII.] THE MANY MANSIONS. 383 
 
 And place that diadem of many crowns 
 
 Upon that radiant footstool, then and there 
 
 Presenting us and all the ransomed Church, 
 
 Yea and Himself as Man, to God submiss, 
 
 Filial obedience as conspicuous now 
 
 As had been filial power, His Father's gift. 
 
 This adoration paid as man, as God 280 
 
 He at His Father's bidding re-assumed 
 
 His session on the throne of Majesty, 
 
 Radiance with radiance interfused, great depths 
 
 Of light, known only to the Spirit of light. 
 
 And as in silent awe we knelt and gazed, 
 
 And gazing worshipped, we beheld no more 
 
 The glory of the Father, Son, and Spirit, 
 
 Each by itself distinct, but all Triune, 
 
 The Trinity in Unity expressed, 
 
 One Uncreated, One Almighty, One 290 
 
 Eternal, One Incomprehensible, 
 
 One Lord, One God. And God was all in all. 
 
 Time measured not such raptures. But at last 
 It seem'd as rising from the sapphire throne 
 Messiah led us forth at large to view 
 The city' Himself had builded and prepared 
 After His Father's counsel for His Bride, 
 A city, or a temple, or a home, 
 Or rather all in one. Enrich' d it was 
 With every exquisite design of love, 300 
 
 And every form of beaut v. Not a film 
 
384 THE MANY MANSIONS. [BOOK 
 
 Stained its bright pavement of transparent gold ; 
 
 Not a harsh murmur vex'd its silences, 
 
 Or with the melodies of angels jarred. 
 
 No cloud darkened its empyrean. Joy 
 
 Held court here in its own metropolis. 
 
 And through the midst the crystal river flowM 
 
 Exhaustless from the everlasting throne, 
 
 Shaded on either side by trees of life 
 
 Which yielded in unwearying interchange 310 
 
 Their ripe vicissitude of monthly fruits 
 
 Amid their clustering leaves medicinal ; 
 
 Of fruits twelve manner ; for eternity, 
 
 Measured by ages limitless to man, 
 
 Has intervals and periods of bliss 
 
 And high recurring festivals that stand 
 
 On the sidereal calends marked in light. 
 
 Through these celestial groves the Lamb of God 
 
 Led us delighted. Every sight and sound 
 
 Ravished the sense : and every loving heart 320 
 
 Reflected joy to joy and light to light, 
 
 Like crystals in a cave flashing with fire, 
 
 And multiplied our bliss a million-fold. 
 
 O blessed royal priesthood ! priests and kings 
 
 Under the Great High Priest and Prince of Peace, 
 
 Who now in tender grace assigned to each 
 
 His priestly' abode within the House of God 
 
 (So Solomon around his temple built 
 
 The chambers for its stated ministries) 
 
 Where each might be alone with God, or mix 330 
 
XII.] THE MANY MANSIONS. 385 
 
 In converse with his fellow-saints at will, 
 
 Adorn'd with those peculiar gifts He knew, 
 
 Who knows us better than we know ourselves, 
 
 Would gratify those tastes and feelings most 
 
 Himself had planted : delicate delights ; 
 
 If little, loving from their littleness, 
 
 Which nought but Love could ever have devised ; 
 
 If rich and large, more precious from the love 
 
 That gave than from excellence or cost ; 
 
 The bounties of a Father's thoughtfulness, 340 
 
 The tokens of the Bridegroom's tenderness, 
 
 Gifts of the Spirit and with His love instinct. 
 
 Oft in my mansion would some elder saint 
 (For dignity was there humility) 
 Linger and tell his story, or ask mine : 
 Or I would listen from an infant's lip 
 A tale of such delightsomeness as pour'd 
 New meaning into words henceforth. And oft 
 A group of the beatified, enlink'd 
 
 In all the bonds of holy lineage, 350 
 
 Would cluster underneath the trees of life, 
 One eye kindling another, one deep thought 
 Waking another thought, and this another, 
 Until all bosoms overflowed with love, 
 And all perforce would hasten to the throne, 
 And at their Father's footstool pour their hearts 
 In one full tide of common rapture forth. 
 
 c c 
 
386 THE MANY MANSIONS. [BOOK 
 
 Sweet was the intercourse of saint with saint ; 
 Nor less of saints with angels. Now appeared 
 The lustrous promise, which ordained at first 360 
 
 That in Messiah's Bridal angelhood 
 Should find its perfected felicity : 
 Whether rejoicing in the Bridegroom's joy ; 
 Or drinking in the beauty of the Bride ; 
 Or w4th some ward, as Oriel oft with me, 
 Retracing in astonished retrospect, 
 How good from evil, light from darkness sprang 
 By counsel of All-wise Almighty love. 
 
 Nor w r anted heaven its hours of such repose 
 As added zest to ministry, or walks 370 
 
 Of patient meditative solitude, 
 
 Thought following thought through links of argument, 
 The heart retiring in itself to muse 
 On God, His works and ways. Much as we knew, 
 Infinite marvels w^ere unknown. As one 
 Who climbing some far height at break of day 
 Among the Alps or lonely Apennines 
 Sees ever at his feet new landscapes spread, 
 New vales, new glittering lakes, new summits piercing 
 The roseate sky with pinnacles of snow, 3^o 
 
 The air still purer crystal, and the arc 
 Of fresh horizons widening every step, 
 Yet at the highest touches not the fringe 
 Of heaven's blue curtains, and when seeing most 
 Sees but a narrow fragment of God's world : 
 
XII.] THE MANY MANSIONS. 3S7 
 
 So ever learning more we never stood 
 
 Nearer the limits of His love, whose name 
 
 Is always through all ages Wonderful, 
 
 And, as it has been, shall be : things reveal'd 
 
 Only discovering more beyond our ken : 390 
 
 There, as on earth, experience working hope, 
 
 Celestial hope who knows no blush of shame, 
 
 The child of patience. Hence they err'd, who taught 
 
 That in His presence faith and hope are lost 
 
 Who is the God of patience and of hope. 
 
 Things once invisible were visible ; 
 
 Things hoped for present : but beyond them all 
 
 Illimitable fields untravell'd lay ; 
 
 And over these faith saw God's rainbow cast, 
 
 And young-eyed hope winged many an airy flight. 400 
 
 With these dwelt love, by men caird charity, 
 
 And of the peerless sisterhood herself 
 
 Was chief; her sweet pre-eminence then seen, 
 
 When unawares, as oft, the Prince Himself 
 
 Gladdening our lonely meditation came, 
 
 And from things past would teach us things to be, 
 
 Till in the sunshine of His smile we saw 
 
 Darkly no more, no longer in a glass, 
 
 But gazing face to face, and eye to eye, 
 
 Knew the Beloved as ourselves were known. 410 
 
 By such delicious solitude refreshed, 
 Not loth we sought society again ; 
 For here we never from His Presence went 
 c c 2 
 
388 THE MANY MANSIONS. [BOOK 
 
 Who is the glory* of heaven's light : but chief 
 
 What time the trump of God, by Michael blown. 
 
 Summoned our glad rejoicing multitudes 
 
 To holy convocation. And had hearts 
 
 Of weary pilgrims in the wilderness 
 
 Oft fainted for His courts of prayer, and found 
 
 His earthly tabernacles amiable, 420 
 
 Uttering their wants in broken sobs and sighs, 
 
 And listening the story of His love 
 
 From tremulous lips ? Had many a spot appeared, 
 
 Where two or three thus gathered in His Name, 
 
 The house of God and very gate of heaven ? 
 
 O far exceeding weight of glory, when 
 
 Angels and saints, commingling hosts of light, 
 
 No laggard heart, no voice unmatched or mute, 
 
 We knelt before our Father's visible throne, 
 
 And saw the Sevenfold Spirit as lamps of fire, 430 
 
 And read our names upon Messiah's breast, 
 
 And heard the music of His robe (the while 
 
 He passed the crystal sea bearing aloft 
 
 The incense of His meritorious love), 
 
 And saw Him touch the golden mercy-seat, 
 
 And worshipped, as the Oracle of God 
 
 Came, from amid Cherubic wings, proclaiming, 
 
 " This is My Son Beloved ; hear ye Him/' 
 
 And when the Prince, the Prophet of His Church, 
 
 Spake of His Father in our ears, and showed 440 
 
 The unfathomable glories of His Name, 
 
 Until the love which dwelt in the Triune 
 
XII.] THE MANY MANSIONS. 389 
 
 Dwelt in our hearts, — Emmanuel, God with us \ — 
 
 And oftentimes, Chief Minstrel as Chief Priest, 
 
 While every heart was vibrating' with love, 
 
 Himself sang Hallelujah, to the sound 
 
 Of thousand times ten thousand angel harps 
 
 Which instantly in perfect unison 
 
 Rolled from the golden floor their weaves of joy 
 
 Against the empyrean's crystal roof; 450 
 
 Then who could choose but swell the mighty tide 
 
 Of music with concerting harp and voice, 
 
 Until the courts of Zion were fulfilled 
 
 With fragrance of delight and songs of praise ? 
 
 From such a Sabbath festival it was 
 (After what blissful ages know I not), 
 Messiah from the Bridal City led 
 Down through the starry firmament His Bride, 
 Not unaccompanied with angel choirs 
 And gorgeous trains of seraphim and thrones, 460 
 
 Towards her native earth. Flushes of joy 
 Suffused her cheek with gladness. To compare 
 Celestial and terrestrial things, as when 
 The consort of some mighty Emperor, 
 Raised by his sovereign will to share his throne, 
 After long years revisits with her lord 
 The sweet home of her childhood, and with all 
 A child's first ecstasy and bloom of joy 
 Wanders from room to room, and walk to walk, 
 And each dear spot indelibly engraved 470 
 
390 THE MANY MANSIONS. [BOOK 
 
 On memory's tablet, saying, " Here it was 
 
 My father taught me first to lisp his name : 
 
 Here first my mother clasp'd my hands in prayer ; 
 
 This was my favourite knoll ; and in this glen, 
 
 Well I remember, thou didst speak to me 
 
 That summer evening what was in thy mind, 
 
 And win this timid heart, — O foolish heart ! 
 
 Fearing to trust its happiness with thee, 
 
 My lord, and better than my lord, my love/' 
 
 Not otherwise, nor less delightful seem'd 480 
 
 To us returning from the heaven of heavens 
 
 Our birthplace earth. And easily we found 
 
 Each haunt to memory dear of pilgrim days, 
 
 Each hill and valley ; for the flood of fire 
 
 Which wrapt the earth in its baptismal robe, 
 
 Had purged, not changed its lineaments : as once 
 
 The deluge of great waters overwhelmed 
 
 All life, except the cradled Church, but left 
 
 Creation's landmarks and the river beds 
 
 Coasting the land of Shinar undisturb'd. 490 
 
 The wastes of ocean only were no more, 
 
 Nor wastes of sand, nor aught of barrenness ; 
 
 And yet the earth through all her vast expanse 
 
 Of golden plains and rich umbrageous hills 
 
 Already seem'd too narrow for the growth 
 
 Of her great human family : so quick 
 
 The virtue of her Maker's law, when once 
 
 Sin's crushing interdict was disannull'd, 
 
 Thai primal law, " Be fruitful j multiply 
 
XII.] THE MANY MANSIONS. 391 
 
 Your joys ; replenish and subdue the earth." 500 
 
 Blest mandate ! blest obedience ! Earth was full 
 
 Of goodness, full of glory, full of grace : 
 
 A perfect image of high heaven : the globe 
 
 One temple, all mankind for worshippers, 
 
 Israel for priests : and now the prayer we used 
 
 To pray, " Our Father, HallowM be Thy Name; 
 
 Thy kingdom come ; Thy will be done in earth, 
 
 As by Thy angel ministries in heaven/'' 
 
 Was turned into a thousand forms of praise, 
 
 And sung from hill to hill, from clime to clime, 5io 
 
 Innumerable infant choristers 
 
 Swelling the deeper tones of youth and age> 
 
 In holy matins and in vesper hymns. 
 
 Great thoughts were stirring in the hearts of men, 
 And hopes too big for utterance : yet were none 
 Who deemed their present rapture capable 
 Of such enlargement as was theirs, when now 
 Messiah, who had heretofore reveaFd 
 His Presence in Jerusalem alone, 
 
 Came with His Virgin Bride and angel choirs, 520 
 
 And tabernacled upon earth again, 
 And visited not only His own land, 
 But every country, every home, and left 
 Some token of His love in every heart, 
 The Son of Man among the sons of men. 
 Not least their rapture when as He was wont 
 He touched their eyes with heavenly balm ; and lo, 
 
392 THE MANY MANSIONS. [BOOK 
 
 They saw in heaven the city of His Bride, 
 
 Its gates of pearl, its streets of limpid gold, 
 
 Its walls on bright foundations built, and walks 530 
 
 By crystal streams shaded by trees of life. 
 
 Nor, if the rebel Regent of the air 
 
 Once had such power to represent the world 
 
 Comprised as in a moment to His eye, 
 
 Marvel that He the rightful Prince had power 
 
 To show His children that Jerusalem 
 
 Of glory, which is mother of us all, 
 
 Descending out of heaven from God it seemed, 
 
 Though distant far. And, while He showed it them, 
 
 He told them of its undeclining light, 540 
 
 And blessed vision of His Father's face, 
 
 And royalty of service, promising, 
 
 Their earthly ministry approved, to' enrol 
 
 Their names among the citizens of heaven 
 
 And freemen of His sinless universe. 
 
 Haply such perfectness of earthly bliss 
 
 And such far vistas of celestial light 
 
 Had overcharged their hearts. But not in vain 
 
 The awful chronicles of time. And oft, 
 
 When dazzled with the glory and the glow 550 
 
 That streamed from Zion's everlasting hills, 
 
 Messiah or His ministers would tell 
 
 Rapt auditors how Satan fell from bliss, 
 
 The story of a riuVd Paradise, 
 
 The foughten fight, the victory achieved, 
 
 But only with the endless banishment 
 
XII.] THE MANY MANSIONS. 303 
 
 Of damned spirits innumerable and men 
 
 From heaven and heavenly favour which is life. 
 
 Nor seldom He, who strengthened human sight, 
 
 As with angelic telescope, to read 5 60 
 
 The wonders of the highest firmament, 
 
 Would bid them gaze into the awful Deep 
 
 Couching beneath ; and there they saw the lost 
 
 For ever bound under His dreadful Eye 
 
 Who is eternal and consuming fire, 
 
 There in the outer darkness. And the view 
 
 So wrought in them, that perfect self-distrust, 
 
 With pity not unmixed and tender tears, 
 
 Leaned ever on their God for perfect strength. 
 
 That which men witnessed of the danm'd in hell, 570 
 By unction of the Spirit at God's command, 
 Was in our gaze at will, whene'er the smoke 
 In mighty volumes rising from the Deep, 
 Blown devious by God's breath athwart the void, 
 Dispersed. Nor turn'd we always from the sight, 
 Although it touch'd the inmost springs of grief, 
 And stirr'd our bosoms from their depths. Hell was : 
 The fact, and not our vision of the fact, 
 Was their unending anguish and our grief, 
 A grief which chasten'd but not jarr'd our bliss. 580 
 
 Should not the children share their Father's thoughts ? 
 Should not the Wife her Husband's counsels learn ? 
 Learn ever more and more ? Let it suffice 
 That in the depth, as in the height above, 
 
394 THE MANY MANSIONS. [BOOK 
 
 God was Supreme; His righteousness confessed 
 
 In dread Gehenna as His love in heaven j 
 
 Absolute order reigning* ; of the lost 
 
 Some scourged with many stripes, with fewer some, 
 
 All underneath the footstool of His throne 
 
 Subdued, submiss. This we beheld and knew. 590 
 
 And in the cloudless joys of heaven and earth 
 
 Haply this sight and knowledge were to us 
 
 The needful undertones of sympathy 
 
 With Him, who was in days of mortal flesh 
 
 A man of sorrows conversant with griefs, 
 
 The necessary fountain-spring of tears, 
 
 The sign and sacrament of pride abased 
 
 And creature humiliation without end. 
 
 Cloudless indeed our joys in earth and heaven, 
 Ceaseless our ministry, and limitless 600 
 
 The increase of that government and peace, 
 Messiah's heritage and ours. For as 
 Our native orb ere long too strait became 
 For its blest habitants, not only some 
 Translated without death, for death was not, 
 As Enoch, joined the glorified in light ; 
 But at the voice of God the stars, which rolPd 
 Innumerous in the azure firmament 
 By thousands and ten thousands, as He spake 
 Six words of power, the seventh, it was done, 610 
 
 Were mantled and prepared as seats of life : 
 And it was ours to bear from earth and plant. 
 
XII.] THE MANY MANSIONS. 896 
 
 Like Adam, in some paradise of fruits 
 
 The ancestors of many a new-born world ; 
 
 Like Adam, but far different issue now, 
 
 Sin and the curse and death for ever crushed. 
 
 And thus from planet on to planet spread 
 
 The living light. As when a white-robed priest 
 
 Himself, surrounded by his acolytes, 
 
 In some vast minster, from the altar fire 620 
 
 Lighting his torch, walks through the slumberous aisles, 
 
 And kindles one by one the brazen lamps 
 
 That on the fluted columns cast their shade 
 
 Or from the frescoed ceiling hang suspense, 
 
 Until the startled sanctuary is bathed 
 
 In glory, and the evening chant of praise 
 
 Floats in the radiance : so it was in heaven : 
 
 God's temple, the expectant firmament, 
 
 Hung with its lamps, innumerable stars ; 
 
 The Priest, Messiah ; earth, the altar flame ; 630 
 
 Angels and saints, the winged messengers ; 
 
 And that great choral eucharist the hymn 
 
 Of all creation's everlasting praise. 
 
 Such are the many kingdoms of God's realm ; 
 And in these boundless provinces of light 
 We who once suffered with a suffering Lord 
 Reign with Him in His glory, unto each 
 According to his power and proven love 
 His rule assigned. But Zion is our home ; 
 Jerusalem, the city of our God. 640 
 
396 THE MANY MANSIONS. 
 
 O happy home ! O happy children here ! 
 
 O blissful mansions of our Father's house ! 
 
 O walks surpassing Eden for delight ! 
 
 Here are the harvests reaped once sown in tears : 
 
 Here is the rest by ministry enhanced : 
 
 Here is the banquet of the wine of heaven. 
 
 Riches of glory incorruptible, 
 
 Crowns, amaranthine crowns of victory, 
 
 The voice of harpers harping on their harps, 
 
 The anthems of the holy cherubim, 650 
 
 The crystal river of the Spirit's joy, 
 
 The Bridal palace of the Prince of Peace, 
 
 The Holiest of Holies — God is here. 
 
 THE END. 
 
NOTES. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 THE SEEES DEATH. 
 
 St. Paul's adoption of the word prophet to describe the Cretan 
 bard Epimenides (Titus i. 12) appears to justify the use of seer 
 in an equivalent sense. Compare 1 Sam. ix. 9. 
 
 Line 1. The last day of my earthly pilgrimage. 
 From Homer downward, it has been usual for those who would 
 picture the unseen world to imagine the descent of a living man 
 to Hades. This, so far as we know, has never happened, and 
 cannot happen. And it seemed to me more natural to make the 
 attempt at least of conceiving that which is taking place almost 
 every breath we draw, I mean the passage of a disembodied spirit 
 to the world of spirits. 
 
 Line 25. I was scarcely more, &c. 
 See Dante, Inferno, Canto 1, line 1. 
 
 Line 78. Its true gauge. 
 " In His unerring sight who measures life by love." Keble. 
 Line 321. Of him who calVd his son " a stranger here" 
 Compare Exod. ii. 22 with Ps. xc. 1. 
 
 Lines 327—334. 
 See John xiv. — xvii. 
 
 Lines 335—346. 
 See 1 Cor. xv. 20—57. 
 
398 NOTES. [book 
 
 Line 350. The vision, &c. 
 Rev. xxi. 2 — xxii. 5. 
 
 Line 392. A Presence. 
 See Isa. xliii. 2. 
 
 Line 406. They err who tell us, that the spirit unclothed, &c. 
 
 The historic narratives of Samuel's disembodied spirit appearing 
 and speaking to Saul (1 Sam. xxviii. 14), and of Moses, whose 
 body was buried by G-od (Deut. xxxiv. 6), being seen by the three 
 Apostles, and discoursing with our Lord on the Mount of Trans- 
 figuration (Luke ix. 31), may confirm the statements here made. 
 
 Line 438. Saintly apparel. 
 See 1 Sam. xxviii. 14. Rev. vi. 11. 
 
 Line 446. All ear, all eye, all feeling, and all heart. 
 See Paradise Lost, Book vi., line 350. 
 
 Line 499. TJie angelical convoy. 
 Luke xvi. 22. 
 
 Line 505. Ere ice set forth, rise brother, and look round, Sec. 
 
 The numerous and well- authenticated appearances of the human 
 spirit, within a few hours of death, seem to indicate that God does 
 sometimes permit such a lingering on earth as is here described, 
 ere the soul enters the unseen world. 
 
 Line 518. Tliere were more spirits than men, <fcc. 
 Compare the following Scriptures : " The angel of the Lord 
 encampeth round about them that fear Him" (Ps. xxxiv. 7). " The 
 mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about 
 Elisha" (2 Kings vi. 17). "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent 
 forth to minister to them that shall be heirs of salvation?" (Heb. i. 
 14.) " We wrestle against principalities, against powers, against 
 the rulers (tovs Koa-yLOKpa.ro pas) of the darkness of this world, 
 against spiritual wickedness in high places (to, TrvcvfiariKa ttjs 
 Trovripias ev rots inovpaviois, 'the spiritual hosts of wickedness in 
 the heavenly regions.' Ellicott)" (Eph. vi. 12). Also 1 Cor. it. V. 
 2 Cor. ii. 11. 1 Thess. ii. 18. 
 
 Line 533. The fallen wore, &c. 
 "Satan himself also is transformed into an angel of light." 
 2 Cor. xii. 14. 
 
I.] NOTES. 399 
 
 Lines 559 — 567. 
 Compare 2 Tim. ii. 26. 
 
 Line 571. An angel stooped, &c. 
 See Ps. xci. 11. 
 
 Line 625. Distemper d phantasies, or spirits unblest. 
 One or other of these disastrous alternatives must, I fear, explain 
 the reputed wonders of spiritualism, wherever they are not wilful 
 impostures. 
 
 Line 671. The road to Paradise a long descent. 
 
 The almost uniform testimony of Scripture points to Hades as 
 a region helow. The dying are spoken of as " going down to the 
 pit," or " going down into silence." Samuel's spirit said to Saul, 
 " Why hast thou disquieted me to bring me up ? " (1 Sam. xxviii. 
 15.) So we read " David is not yet ascended into the heavens " 
 (Acts ii. 34). Our Lord says of Himself, " The Son of Man shall 
 he three days and three nights in the heart of the earth " (Matt. 
 xii. 40). And St. Paul writes of Him, " He descended first into 
 the lower parts of the earth " (Eph. iv. 9). 
 
 From these and similar Scriptures, some have thought that the 
 Paradise of the Blessed Dead, as well as the Prison of the Lost, was 
 actually situate within the crust of our terrestrial globe. But this 
 Divine language may only be an accommodation to our earthly 
 thoughts of height and depth. And there is one deeply interesting 
 passage of Holy Writ, which appears to indicate that the Hades to 
 which our Lord's disembodied human spirit went betwixt His death 
 and resurrection is as much to be regarded below our earth, as the 
 heavens of glory to which He ascended from Olivet are to be re- 
 garded above it. I refer to 1 Pet. iii. 18 — 22. As the local struc- 
 ture of my poem in some measure depends upon it, I may be per- 
 mitted to make an extract from my Commentary on the New 
 Testament — " Because even Christ suffered once on account of sins 
 (rrepl afiapTicov — i. e. an atoning sacrifice for sins, the usual name 
 for the sin-offerings in the LXX version being ra irepl ajiapTicov), 
 the just on behalf of the unjust — a Sinless Victim in the stead of 
 sinful mankind — having been put to death in (His human) fesh, but 
 quickened in spirit (Ttvzvp.ari, omit tw with best MSS.) — i. e. His 
 disembodied human spirit — in which (human spirit) also He went a 
 journey (iropzvOeis, compare nopevOels els ovpavov, ver. 22) and. 
 
400 NOTES. [book 
 
 preached (eKijpvtjev, as a herald proclaiming tidings) to the spirits in 
 prison (fyvkaKfj, compare Job xiv. 13 ; eV ddrj p.e €(f)v\a£as, LXX), 
 which (spirits) were sometime disobedient — refusing to repent 
 before the door of the ark was shut — when the long-suffering of God 
 was wailing (dnegedexero, so the best MSS.) in the days of Is o ah, 
 while the ark teas a preparing, w her einto (els rju) entering— few 
 persons, that is eight souls, tcere saved (bieo-doBricrav, ' thoroughly 
 saved/ perhaps implying both in body and soul) by means of 
 water — for the water which buried the rest of the world upbore the 
 ark of their salvation. 
 
 " That the time here spoken of is the interval betwixt the death 
 and resurrection of our Lord, during which His human spirit was 
 separated from His human flesh, appears from the emphatic contrast 
 of His death with respect to one, and His life in the other (OavarwOcls 
 }i€v crapKL, (cooiTOLTjSels de Trvevp.aTi). Compare Rom. i. 3, 4, and 
 1 Tim. iii. 16. That an actual journey from place to place is 
 described (ver. 19) is evident from the use of the same word 
 (nopevBeis, 'having travelled') there, and in ver. 22, where it must 
 signify a local transition from earth to heaven. The comparison of 
 one verse with another precludes any metaphorical adaptation of 
 the term 'journeyed/ That this mission of Christ to the souls in 
 Hades is nowhere else recorded by the Holy Spirit will never 
 stagger those who believe that every word of God is true. That by 
 the phrase ' He preached' (eKrjpvi-cv) is intimated the announce- 
 ment of the work of redemption, is almost certain from other 
 passages where it thus stands by itself, and from a comparison 
 of the answering term (ev^yyeklo-Br), ch. iv. 6). That the day 
 of grace, the time of salvation, is every where in Holy Scripture 
 limited to the brief space of life is true ; but this hinders not such a 
 proclamation of mercy to those who, after the door of temporal 
 safety was shut, may have truly repented of their guilt, and found 
 forgiveness with God before they were overwhelmed with the rising 
 waters. That the destruction of the body is not inconsistent with 
 the salvation of the soul, in the case of repenting sinners, we know 
 from other instances of Divine compassion. And, finally, that the 
 descent of Christ to Hades, a fact which, like His death, stands 
 alone and admits not of repetition, should be illustrated with signal 
 acts of royal clemency is only in accordance with those miracles of 
 mercy which ever attended His steps, 
 
 " For further notes upon this difficult, but most interesting, portion 
 

 IT.] NOTES. 401 
 
 of Holy Writ, I must refer the reader to Wordsworth's cautious and 
 reverent exposition — an exposition entirely in harmony with the 
 third article of the Church of England as first published, viz., ' That 
 the body of Christ lay in the grave till His resurrection, but His 
 spirit which He gave up was with the spirits which are detained in 
 prison, or in hell, and preached to them, as the place in St. Peter 
 testifieth.' These words were afterwards omitted, but our Church 
 sufficiently indicates her interpretation of this Scripture by appoint- 
 ing it to be read as the epistle on Easter Even." 
 
 From this it appears that the Divine Spirit describes our Lord's 
 descent to Hades by the same word (nopevBcis) which relates His 
 ascent to heaven. In both cases He went a journey, first descending, 
 afterwards ascending. And as in the latter case our thoughts 
 travel upwards with Him who passed through the heavens (SiekrjXv - 
 Got a tovs ovpavovs, Heb. iv. 14) to the throne of glory, so in the 
 former they travel downwards with Him to the Deep into which 
 He descended for our sakes. 
 
 Line 676. Oriel, i. e. " Light or flame of God." 
 The Hebrew word might be indifferently rendered Uriel or Ooriel : 
 but I have selected this modification, the name " Uriel" having 
 been traditionally appropriated to one of the seven chief angels ; 
 which tradition I observe, Book iv., line 192. 
 
 Line 787. One tcorld, but widely sunder d by a gulf. 
 Compare Luke xvi. 22, 23. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 Line 23. Back with melodious noise they softly fleio. 
 See Paradise Lost, Book vii., line 207. 
 
 Line 149. Without Him heaven were but a desert ruole. 
 See Keble's Christian Year, Fourth Sun. after Easter, line 9. 
 
 Line 166. His brightness shone, &c. 
 Dan. viii. 15 — 18, and x. o — 17. 
 
 Dd 
 
402 NOTES. [book 
 
 Line 169. TJie Apocalyptic seer. 
 Rev. i. 17. 
 
 Lines 181—188. 
 " We shall be like Him, foe (on) we shall see Him as He is." 
 1 John iii. 2. 
 
 Line 354. A "babe in glory is a babe for ever. 
 This seems a necessary inference from snch Scriptures as declare 
 that the harvest hereafter is according to the seed sown here : 
 Gal. vi. 7. 2 Cor. ix. 6, &c. 
 
 Line 372. A link betioixt mankind anal angelhood. 
 This thought, and the one below of infants in glory resembling 
 the lily- work in Solomon's temple, were suggested by a friend. 
 
 Line 462. The strange salute of father. 
 See 1 Cor. iv. 15. 1 Thess. ii. 19, 20. The joy of this spiritual 
 relationship has its earnests on earth, which we may well believe 
 will be deepened in Paradise, though awaiting the resurrection for 
 its full glory. 
 
 Line 554. While words, &c. 
 Eev. i. 5, 6. 
 
 Line 587. The Increate alone is self-sustain d. 
 See Paradise Lost, Book v., lines 404 — 433, and especially the 
 words, 
 
 " For know whatever was created needs 
 To be sustain'd and fed." 
 The passage had escaped my memory while writing my lines, which 
 were probably an unconscious echo of Milton's. 
 
 Line 600. TJiey who iveep on earth shall laugh, &c. 
 Luke vi. 21. 
 
 Line 623. A cloud of witnesses. 
 Heb. xii. 1. 
 
 Line 642. He knew who spake of trees. 
 
 1 Kings iv. 33. 
 
 Line 667. Saints wait their bright apparelling. 
 
 2 Cor. v. 4. 
 
II.] NOTES. 403 
 
 Line 786. All are not equal there. 
 
 " For orders and degrees 
 Jar not with liberty, but well consist." 
 Paradise Lost, Book v., line 792. 
 
 Line 801. Many first were last, &c. 
 Matt, xix. 30. 
 
 Line 828. Of such babes as these, &c. 
 Matt. xix. 14. When we remember what multitudes of little 
 children, not only from Christian but also from heathen lands, are 
 gathered home before they have committed actual sin, and are thus 
 saved in Christ for ever, may we not believe that there is a direct 
 historic fulfilment of these words of our Lord, as well as a spiritual 
 meaning underlying them ? 
 
 Line 839. A mystic time and times and half a time. 
 Compare Dan. vii. 25 with Rev. xi. 3. 
 
 Rev. ii. 13. 
 
 See Eph. iii. 18, 19. 
 Matt. iii. 3. 
 
 Line 852. Antipas. 
 
 Lines 875, 876. 
 Line 884. The voice. 
 
 Lines 890—892. 
 u No wonder that even the holy mother, when she gazed on that 
 august assemblage, when she saw, as perchance she might have seen, 
 the now aged Hillel the looser, and Shammai the binder, and the 
 wise sons of Betirah, and Rabban Simeon, Hillel's son, and Jonathan 
 the paraphrast, the greatest of his pupils, when she saw these and 
 such as these, all hanging on the lips of the Divine Child, no wonder 
 she forgot all, &c." Ellicott's Historical Lectures, p. 92. 
 
 Line 934. TJie matins of the Church. 
 Gen. iv. 26. 
 
 Line 980. They are not perfect here. 
 For the testimony of Scripture to the state of the disembodied 
 saints before the resurrection, the writer would venture to refer his 
 readers to a little work of his called " The Blessed Dead." 
 
404 NOTES. [book 
 
 Line 1002. Two diverse from the rest. 
 It appears from the words of our Lord to Nicodemus (John iii. 13), 
 that, when they were uttered, no man had ever ascended to the 
 heavens of glory ; and, if Enoch and Elijah had not then ascended, 
 we may well helieve they still await this lofty privilege with all the 
 other saints of God. See note on Book vii., line 595. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 Line 21. Tartarean night. 
 I have throughout this poem attempted rigidly to abstain from 
 interweaving classical mythology with Scriptural realities. It has 
 not been always easy to observe this restriction with phrases and 
 stories familiar from childhood. But the above expression is no ex- 
 ception to the rule I imposed upon myself, of only introducing those 
 terms for the usage of which I could appeal to Holy Writ ; for St. 
 Peter, speaking of angels who sinned, says, that "God having cast 
 them down to Tartarus (rapTapcocras) delivered them into chains of 
 darkness." (2 Pet. ii. 4.) 
 
 Line 25. Yet deignest in the contrite heart to' abide, &c. 
 See Paradise Lost, Book i., lines 17 — 23. 
 
 Line 77. A horrid chasm. 
 See Luke xvi. 26. 
 
 Line 93. Darkness alone, &c. 
 " A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, 
 without any order, and where the light is as darkness." (Job x. 22.) 
 
 Line 131. Needs not the shining of created light. 
 In this, as in some other points, I have ventured to believe that 
 Paradise will anticipate the glory that is to be revealed, for in Para- 
 dise we shall be with Him who is the true, the archetypal Light. 
 
 Line 142. A shield, &c. 
 See Exod. xiv. 20. 
 
 Line 144. Wliofain tvould pass, &c. 
 See Luke xvi. 26. 
 
III.] notes. 405 
 
 Line 149. Listening we might hear, &c. 
 So Abraham is represented by our Lord as hearing the words of 
 the rich man in Hades. 
 
 Line 191. T/wse angels who forsook their high estate. 
 See note on Book v., lines 807 — 817. 
 
 Line 225. God's gift. 
 See Gen. xxv. 21. Esau and Jacob were both of them given by 
 God to Isaac in answer to prayer. 
 
 Line 230. The moated fortress of a faithful home. 
 See Ps. xci. 9—11. Prov. iii. 33. 
 
 Line 253. Maxentius hurried, voicing to his gods, &c. 
 " When Maxentius went forth to battle, he went fortified by 
 heathen oracles, the champion of heathenism against the champion 
 of the cross." Elliott's Horce, Yol. i., p. 243. 
 
 Line 286. Not circumvented, &c. 
 
 See 1 Tim. ii. 14. 
 
 Line 310. The labarum emblazon d with the cross. 
 
 " From as early a date as that of the great battle with Maxentius, 
 according to the testimony both of Lactantius and Eusebius, Con- 
 stantine adopted the cross as his distinctive military ensign. That 
 object of abomination to the heathen Eomans was seen glittering on 
 the helmets, engraved on the shields, and interwoven with the ban- 
 ners of his soldiers. The Emperor's own person was adorned by it, 
 wrought of richest material and of finest workmanship. Above all, 
 in his principal banner, the labarum, he displa} r ed the same once 
 accursed emblem, with a crown of gold and gems above it, and the 
 monogram of the name of Him who after bearing the one now wore 
 the other." Elliott's Horce, Yol. i., p. 239. 
 
 Line 514. With ponderous noise, &c. 
 See Paradise Lost, Book ii., line 880. 
 
 Line 536. And then and there upon that guilty man, &c. 
 This thought was first suggested by Southey's Kehama, xxiv. 18. 
 
 Line 579. Know that Omnipotence can but perform, &c. 
 From the words, " He cannot deny Himself" (2 Tim. ii. 13), we 
 
406 NOTES. [book 
 
 learn there is that the Almighty cannot do. He cannot deny Him- 
 self, either falsifying His word, or acting contrary to the counsels of 
 His own infinite wisdom and righteousness. Omnipotence, there- 
 fore, is not the power of doing whatever blind man may conceive 
 possible, hut of accomplishing all that Omniscient Goodness sees to 
 be right. I would refer the reader to some noble thoughts on this 
 in Birks' Difficulties of Belief. 
 
 Line 596. And not in utter solitariness. 
 Compare Job iii. 18. Ps. xlix. 14. Isa. xiv. 16. 
 Line 624. He caught a glimpse, &c. 
 Luke xvi. 23. 
 
 Line 700. Doth not consume in thee the secret spring. 
 On the request of the rich man to Abraham that Lazarus might 
 be sent to his brethren, lest they also should come to that place of 
 torment (Luke xvi. 27 — 31), Matthew Henry writes, " He desired 
 the preventing of their ruin, partly in tenderness to them for whom 
 he could not but retain a natural affection ; he knew their temper, 
 their temptations, their ignorance, their infidelity, their inconsidera- 
 tion, and wished to prevent the destruction they were running into ; 
 partly in tenderness to himself, &c." Holy Scripture does not 
 oblige us to believe, with some theologians, the utter extinction of 
 all natural feelings in the lost, but rather leads us to infer that, in 
 proportion as they have depraved and vitiated those feelings on 
 earth, do they suffer everlastingly. So Milton says — 
 "For neither do the spirits damn'd 
 Lose all their virtue." 
 Paradise Lost, Book ii., line 482. And doubtless that Perfect 
 Equity which distinguishes on earth the right acts of evil men 
 (see for example, Jehu, 2 Kings x. 30, 31), must ever distinguish 
 degrees of guilt. 
 
 Line 750. Of this I will relate hereafter. 
 Book viii., lines 291—594. 
 
 Line 762. The seven last angels, kc. 
 Rev. xv. and xvi. 
 
 Line 780. Announcing to the prisoners of wrath, <fcc. 
 I have ventured to believe that the Advent <rv. " Behold He 
 cometh with clouds.'' which has been so often raised in Christendom 
 
III.] NOTES. 407 
 
 during the last half-century, has not heen without its echo in the 
 under- world of spirits. Such reverberations seem to he according 
 to the analogy of Providence. 
 
 Line 831. God would, but could not save me 'gainst my will. 
 
 Compare " The Pharisees rejected (rjOirrjaav, in margin 'frustrated ') 
 the counsel of God" (Luke vii. 30) ; and also the pathetic words, "How 
 often would I (rjOtXrjo-a) . . . and ye would not" (ovk. rjOeXrjo-aTe), 
 Matt, xxiii. 37. 
 
 Lines 862 to 874, beginning If here, &c. 
 
 See Book xi., where this thought is further unfolded. 
 Line 875. For God Himself has sworn, <fec. 
 
 See Phil. ii. 9 — 11, where we read " That in (iv) the name of 
 Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in 
 earth, and things undee the eaeth (KaraxOovlcov), and every 
 tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." The expression 
 " the things under the earth " Wordsworth, in his Notes on the 
 Greek Testament, interprets " especially of Death and the Grave . . . 
 and Satan himself and all the powers of darkness ;" and says, " The 
 sense is best explained by Rev. v. 13, where the creatures beneath 
 the earth join in ascribing honour to the Lamb." The momentous 
 addition here of the things under the earth, compared with their 
 equally notable absence in the parallel passages, Eph. i. 10, Col. 
 i. 20, seems to import that, while lost angels and men are never 
 reconciled to God or gathered together in Christ, but are consigned 
 at the judgment to everlasting punishment, they will be for ever 
 reduced to compulsory submission, and in this state of absolute 
 order will ascribe glory to God. There will be no anarchy even in 
 that world of outer gloom. The days of regnant rebellion are 
 numbered. Christ must reign, till He hath put all enemies under 
 His feet. See further notes on Book xi. 
 
 Line 891. Silence reign d. 
 Compare " The wicked shall be silent in darkness," 1 Sam. ii. 9. 
 
 Line 910. As they had sinnd, they suffer d. 
 Luke xii. 47, 48. 
 
 Line 1024. What time a mighty conqueror, &c. 
 Compare Isa. xiv. 4 — 20. 
 
408 NOTES. [book 
 
 Line 1042. The captive angels, &c. 
 See note, Book v., lines 807—817. 
 
 Line 1052. Such tvere those ivho sought, &c. 
 
 See Luke viii. 31, "They besought Him that He would not 
 command them to go out into the deep" (els ttjv afivaarov, rendered 
 "bottomless pit," Rev. xx. 3). The entreaty betokens, as expressed 
 by another Evangelist, their fear of " torment before the time " 
 (Matt. viii. 29). 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 Line 11. A babe of more than human beauty wept. 
 
 Exod. ii. 6. In Acts vii. 20, we read the infant Moses was " ex- 
 ceeding fair " (doreios rw Geo), " fair to God," or " fair in God's 
 sight"). 
 
 Line 15. Rivalry of hearts. 
 1 Sam. xx. 41. 
 
 Line 18. Who wash'd her Saviours feet. 
 Luke vii. 37, 38. 
 
 Line 37. Let David witness. 
 Ps. lvi. 8. 
 
 Line 46. Blind and bereft. 
 Paradise Lost, Book iii., lines 51 — 55. 
 
 Line 49. And he, who touch'd, &c. 
 " The Winter Walk at Noon." Cowper. 
 
 Line 56. He ivept with agonizing groans. 
 Heb. v. 7. 
 
 Line 93. Of evil overcome, &c. 
 1 Cor. xv. 25, 26. 54. Rev. xx. 14. 
 
IV.] NOTES. 409 
 
 Lines 136—138. 
 
 Compare Heb. i. 2 and xi. 3, " He made the worlds " (tovq alcovas), 
 or " the ages." 
 
 Lines 171, 172. 
 
 See Gen. xviii. 1, 2 ; xix. 1 ; and Acts i. 10, &c. 
 
 Line 182. No angelic parentage. 
 
 Hence angels are called the sons of God (Job xxxviii. 7), as is 
 Adam (Luke iii. 38). 
 
 Line 186. Lucifer, the first. 
 Isa. xiv. 12. 
 
 Line 189. Michael the prince. 
 Dan. x. 13 ; xii. 1. 
 
 Line 190. Gabriel, God's swift tcinged messenger. 
 Dan. ix. 21. 
 
 Lines 191, 192. Raphael and Uriel. 
 
 These, with the two last named, were according to the rabbins 
 the four angels who surround the throne of God. R. Bechai : the 
 book Zohar. 
 
 Lines 192 — 194. Baralciel, Ramiel, and Haamiel. 
 
 Among the angels whose names have come down to us by Jewish 
 tradition. Layard's Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, pp. 509 — 523. 
 
 Lines 195, 196. 
 
 Dumahoi Duma (silence), the angel who presides over the dead: 
 Lailah (night), the angel who presides over conception : Yorekemo, 
 the angel who is lord over the hail : and Suriel (access to God), an 
 angel called " prince of the face," because he is continually in the 
 presence of God. I am indebted for these Talmudic names to my 
 learned friend, the Rev. John Ayre, whose kind interest in this 
 poem, before its publication, I must take this opportunity of grate- 
 fully acknowledging. 
 
 Line 201. T7irones, virtues, principalities, and powers. 
 
 " Whether they be thrones (Opovoi), or dominions (KvpiorrjTes), ro 
 principalities (dpxai), or powers" (i£ovaiai), Col. i. 16. 
 
410 NOTES. [BOOK 
 
 Line 220. I found myself alone. 
 See Milton's exquisite description of Adam awaking to life. 
 Paradise Lost, Book viii., lines 250 — 337. 
 
 Line 233. An Angel among angels. 
 " The Angel of His Presence saved them. " Isa. lxiii. 9. 
 
 Lines 295—301, 
 On the interpretation of the living creatures and crowned elders, 
 as being angelic, not human, I must venture to refer to the notes in 
 my Commentary on Eev. iv. 4 — 6 and v. 9, 10, the reading now 
 generally approved of the last passage running thus : " Thou redeem - 
 est them, i. e., the saints, to God by Thy blood, and hast made them 
 (avrovs) unto our God kings and priests, and they reign (/3ao-iAev- 
 ovdiv) on the earth." If this reading be adopted, the testimony of 
 Scripture elsewhere is uniform in favour of their angelic nature. 
 
 Line 306. Envy was unknown. 
 So Plato, " Envy stands aloof from the celestial choir " ((f)66vos 
 yap e|a) Belov xopov lorarai. Phasdrus, iii. 247). 
 
 Line 322. Our earliest name. 
 
 Deut. xxxiii. 2. Jude 14. 
 
 Line 336. Mark 'd by sidereal orbits. 
 
 " The same principles of the intersections of the solar and lunar 
 periods, by which the units of the ordinary calendar are determined, 
 when carried further up the ascending periods of time, produce even 
 from the abstract relations of the celestial periods, the larger but 
 corresponding units of 30 and 360 years, or the prophetic month 
 and time. ... A Divine ladder of time is set before us, and, as we 
 rise successively from step to step, days are replaced by years, and 
 years by millennia ; and these perhaps, hereafter, in their turn by 
 some higher unit from which the soul of man may measure out 
 cycles still more vast, and obtain a wider view of the immeasurable 
 grandeur of eternity." Birks' Elements of Prophecy, pp. 371, 372. 
 
 Line 383. Firmament of morning stars. 
 Job xxxviii. 7. 
 
 Line 390. Which saith to Me, Thou art My only Son. 
 See Ps. ii. 6, 7, "Yet have I set (' anointed ' Hebrew) My 
 King upon My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the 
 
IV.] NOTES. 411 
 
 Lord hath said unto Me, Thou art My Son ; this day have I 
 begotten Thee." Here the words " Thou art My Son " appear to 
 proclaim the Eternal Godhead of the Word as being from ever- 
 lasting to everlasting the coequal Son of the Father; and the 
 words " This day have I begotten Thee " to declare His manifesta- 
 tion as the Christ in time, a manifestation crowned and consum- 
 mated by His resurrection (Acts xiii. 33). Thus in Hebrews xiii. 
 8, where we read " Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and 
 for ever," yesterday seems to respect the infinite past, to-day the 
 course of time, and for. ever the ages of an eternity to come. 
 
 Lines 403—409. 
 
 " God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness 
 above Thy fellows" (Ps. xlv. 7). And the Second Psalm quoted in 
 the last note appears to point to some declaration of the Eternal 
 Father's sovereign pleasure respecting the Eternal Son, the Heir 
 of all things, as the occasion, or at least one occasion, of such 
 anointing. 
 
 Lines 422—449. 
 
 See Birks' Difficulties of Belief, " On temptation in free agents," 
 and " On the creation and fall of angels." 
 
 Lines 534 — 545. Made of the dust, &c. 
 
 " Man in virtue of his original creation occupies a central place 
 among all the works of God. His immortal spirit links him with 
 the hosts of angels, and he is only a little lower than they. Yet 
 his animal life links him equally with the whole circle of animated 
 and organized being, while his body, formed of the dust, is linked 
 with all the planetary spheres by the laws of material gravitation. . . . 
 The nature thus assumed [by the Son of God] in its original consti- 
 tution admits of a perpetual increase, by which it may reflect, in the 
 largest measure any created being is capable of doing, the absolute 
 infinitude of the Uncreated Being." Birks' Ways of God, " On the 
 Incarnation," pp. 108 — 111. And with respect to man's central 
 position, see the corresponding truth regarding his terrestrial home, 
 as sketched by Dr. Whewell in his most convincing essay, where he 
 proves "the Earth is really the domestic hearth of this solar 
 system, adjusted between the hot and fiery haze on one side, the 
 cold and watery vapour on the other." Of the Plurality of Worlds, 
 p. 320. 
 
412 NOTES. [book 
 
 Line 625. Wrapt in impervious mists, &c. 
 Geology seems to have established (1) that the earth has existed 
 for vast periods of time before the creation of man ; (2) that each 
 period terminated with an epoch of convulsion ; (3) that each period 
 was an advance on the condition of the one preceding it ; (4) that 
 the last great convulsion, by which the mountain chains of the Alps 
 and Andes were thrust from below, occurred probably not more 
 than ten thousand years ago. Now such a convulsion must have 
 reduced our planet to the state described in the words, u The earth 
 was (or rather ' had become 5 ) without form and void, and darkness 
 was upon the face of the deep" (Gen. i. 2). I believe, therefore, in 
 common with many, that the first verse of Holy Scripture narrates 
 the original creation of the heavens and earth ; that the second verse 
 describes the state of confusion to which our globe had been reduced 
 by the last great terrestrial convulsion which preceded the history 
 of our species ; and that the narrative which follows is an optical 
 description of six literal days' creative work (each day probably cor- 
 responding to some vast geological period), during which our world, 
 as it now is, was fashioned by God in the sight of the angelic hosts. 
 See Hitchcock's Geology j Birks' Bible and Modern Thought; 
 McCaul's Essay in Aids to Faith ; McCausland's Sermons in Stones. 
 
 Lines 648—652. 
 See Hugh Miller's "Vision of Creation," Testimony of the Eocks. 
 
 Line 949. God of the icorld and guardian of mankind. 
 The titles ascribed to Satan and his angels appear to me too ex- 
 plicit to be understood of merely usurped dominion, " the prince of 
 this world" (John xii. 31, &c), " the god of this world" (2 Cor. iv. 4), 
 " the prince of the power of the air" (Eph. ii. 2), " the rulers of 
 the darkness of this world" (Eph. vi. 12), &c. The devil pro- 
 bably veiled a falsehood under a garb of truth, when he said to our 
 Lord, " All this power will I give Thee, and the glory of them : for 
 that is delivered unto me ; and to whomsoever I will I give it" 
 (Luke iv. 6). 
 
 Line 967. The Bridegrooms friend. 
 See John iii. 29. 
 
V.] NOTES. 413 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 Line 23. Nor odds appear d, &c. 
 
 See Birks' Difficulties of Belief, pp. 91, 92. 
 
 Line 61. Unf alien had Lucifer received his charge. 
 
 When our Lord says, " He (the devil) was a murderer from the 
 beginning, and abode not in the truth" (John viii. 44), the word 
 rendered "murderer" (dv6pa)7roicT6vos), strictly " manslayer," indi- 
 cates that no time anterior to the creation of man is intended, and 
 seems to prove not only that the devil was the first sinner, but that 
 the murder of our first parents' innocence was his first overt act of 
 successful rebellion. Compare 1 John iii. 8. 
 
 Line 67. Earth had not kept her circling birthday yet. 
 This seems probable from the birth of Cain being subsequent to 
 the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise. 
 
 Line 177. Another image of Omnipotence. 
 " Ita fornicatur anima, cum avertitur abs te, et qua3rit extra te ea 
 quae pura et liquida non invenit, nisi cum redit ad te. Perverse te 
 imitantur omnes, qui longe se a te faciunt, et extollunt se adversum 
 te. Sed etiam sic te imitando indicant creatorem te esse omnis 
 naturae ; et ideo non esse quo a te omni modo recedatur. Quid 
 ergo in illo furto ego dilexi : et in quo Dominum meum vel vitiose 
 atque perverse imitatus sum ? An libuit facere contra legem saltern 
 fallacia, quia potentatu non poteram, ut mancam libertatem captivus 
 imitarer faciendo impune quod non liceret, tenebeosa omnipo- 
 tently similitudine. Ecce est ille servus fugiens Dominum suum, 
 et consecutus umbram. putredo, monstrum vitse, et mortis pro- 
 funditas. Potuitne Kb ere quod non licebat, non ob aliud, nisi quia 
 non licebat." S. Augus. Confes. liber ii. 14. 
 
 Line 235. Who, if prolific as foretold, shall fill, &c. 
 Gen. iii. 15. Matt. iii. 7. John viii. 44. 1 John iii. 8. 
 
 Lines 354 — 356. 
 See Paradise Lost, Book iv., lines 323, 324. 
 
 Line 438. TJien first I saw, then spake I. 
 See Paradise Lost, Book ix. s linos 549—732. Whether Milton 
 
414 NOTES. [book 
 
 was the first to suggest that the serpent ascribed its own power of 
 speech to the virtue of the fruit of the forbidden tree, I know not. 
 But when once suggested, the thought appears so natural and neces- 
 sary that any other method of approach would seem constrained 
 and unlikely. 
 
 Lines 506 — 525. 
 See Paradise Lost, Book ix., lines 900 — 916. 
 
 Lines 538—547. 
 See Paradise Lost, Book ix., lines 163 — 171. 
 
 Line 601. First altar, and first holocausts. 
 " It is extremely probable that some beasts, sacrificed by Divine 
 appointment, furnished the skins with which Adam and Eve were 
 clothed." Scott. 
 
 Line 626. Tlie mercy-seat. 
 The cherubim are always represented in Holy Writ as in imme- 
 diate attendance on the Divine Majesty when God stoops to com- 
 munion with His creatures, or succours them in their hour of need. 
 Thus the flaming sword appears symbolic of the Divine justice, and 
 the cherubim of the Divine mercy. See this subject ably discussed 
 in Dun's Biblical Natural Science, who states in confirmation of his 
 own view, " The most eminent expositions left in the world, which 
 are the two Jewish Targums, paraphrase the verse thus, ' And He 
 thrust out the man, and caused the glory of His presence to dwell of 
 old, at the East of the garden of Eden, above the two cherubim/ " 
 Yol. i., p. 146. 
 
 Line 651. Myriads havefalVn: myriads twice told are firm. 
 
 " And his (the dragon's) tail drew a third part of the stars of 
 heaven, and did cast them to the earth" (Bev. xii. 4). This Scripture, 
 though as I believe describing events subsequent to our Lord's 
 ascension, may afford some clue to the relative numbers of the elect 
 and fallen angels. Compare Paradise Lost, Book v., line 710. 
 
 Lines 682—694. 
 Compare Job ii. 3. 
 
 Line 707. Patient because Eternal. 
 "JEternus est. tardat, longanimis est." S. Augus. in P*. xci. 6. 
 
V.] NOTES. 1 1 5 
 
 Lines 719—730. 
 Compare Dan. x. 13. 20. 2 Pet. ii. 11. Jude 9. 
 
 Line 781. Clasp 'd as the promised Seed. 
 " Some render the words * I have gotten a man from the Lord' 
 (Gen. iv. 1), 1 1 have gotten a man, the Lord.' This sense is gram- 
 matically the most natural one. Eve may have supposed that the 
 promise (Gen. iii. 15) was now fulfilled." Wordsworth. 
 
 Lines 790—797. 
 
 Compare Gen. v. 24 with Jude 14, 15. 
 
 Lines 807 — 817. TJziel and Samchasai Ms mate. 
 
 These were the traditional names of the angels who fell and inter- 
 married with the daughters of men (Targum Jonathan). See 
 Gen. vi. 1 — 4. The judgment of the Jewish Church and of the 
 most ancient fathers was express, that by " the sons of God," there 
 named, angels were intended. Thus Josephus writes, " For many 
 angels of God accompanied with women, and begat sons that proved 
 unjust, and despisers of all that was good, on account of the confi- 
 dence they had in their own strength." To which statement 
 Whiston appends the note, " This notion, that the fallen angels were 
 in some sense the fathers of the old giants, was the constant opinion 
 of antiquity." And such, as Wordsworth who is not himself of this 
 opinion says, was the view of Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Irenaeus, 
 Athenagoras, Cyprian, and others. Since their time the current of 
 interpretation has set in the opposite direction, and these "sons of 
 God" have been held to be the godly descendants of Seth. But of 
 these judgments, I am persuaded the old was better. 
 
 In the first place, sons of God was then a distinctive name for angels. 
 See Job i. 6 ; ii. 1 ; xxxviii. 7. The last is most emphatic, for it 
 states that at the creation, when men were not, " all the sons of God 
 shouted for joy." Secondly, in the passage itself the contrast is 
 marked and express betwixt the spiritual nature of the sons of God 
 and the complex nature of those with whom they mingled in un- 
 holy wedlock. Thirdly, it is to this lapse of angels that in all pro- 
 bability both St. Peter and St. Jude refer. The former writes, 
 "God spared not angels (ayyeScov, there is no article) that sinned, 
 but having cast them into hell, delivered them to chains of darkness, 
 reserved unto judgment" (2 Pet, ii. 4). The latter, "And angels 
 
416 NOTES. [book 
 
 (again there is no article, — angels, not men only), those who kept 
 not their own principality (apx^v), but left their proper habitation, 
 He hath kept under darkness with everlasting chains unto the judg- 
 ment of the great day" (Jude 6). 
 
 Other Scriptures, which speak of evil angels as having still free 
 range over our fallen world (Job i. 7. 1 Kings xxii. 21. Zech. iii. 1. 
 Matt. iv. 3. Mark v. 9. Eph. ii. 2; vi. 12. Eev. xii. 9—12), 
 preclude our referring the words of St. Peter and St. Jude, quoted 
 above, to all the angels who have fallen from their allegiance. And 
 it seems most probable that the allusion is to Gen. vi. 1 — 4 ; for St. 
 Jude proceeds to refer to Sodom and Gomorrah : of which cities he 
 says that they " in like manner to these (tovtols, i. e. these angels) 
 having given themselves over to fornication, and having gone after 
 strange flesh, undergo the vengeance of eternal fire." The angels 
 that fell debased their high original by commingling with the 
 daughters of men : the inhabitants of Sodom not only lived in un- 
 natural crimes (Rom. i. 27), but burned in their lust towards the 
 celestial visitants who came under the shadow of Lot's roof. The 
 rebel angels were cast down to Tartarus. The cities of the plain 
 were overwhelmed with fire and brimstone, an awful type of the 
 doom of their inhabitants. Thus like sin was visited with like in- 
 dignation. 
 
 Faber, in his Many Mansions, speaks very contemptuously of 
 this view, as " sundry strange incongruous fables," and says, " Such 
 idle tales the masculine mind of Milton rejected as forming no meet 
 subject for poetry to any one who reverenced the Scriptures : he 
 (Milton) rightly news the Mosaic sons of God as men, the once 
 grave and holy posterity of Seth. See Paradise Lost, xi. 556 — 627." 
 Be it so : but what were Milton's later and more matured thoughts, 
 as expressed in Paradise Eegained (Book ii.. lines 178 — 181) ? 
 " Before the flood, thou [Belial] and thy lusty crew, 
 False titled sons of God, roaming the earth, 
 Cast wanton eyes on the daughters of men. 
 And coupled with them, and begot a race," &c. 
 Milton's masculine mind, therefore, veered to the view here advo- 
 cated, which can however only be decided by the general analogy of 
 Scripture, and this seems to me decisive in its favour. See Bill's' 
 Difficulties of Belief, p. 95 ; and the question argued under " Giants," 
 Smith's Dictionary of the Bible. 
 
VI.] NOTES. 417 
 
 Line 836. Grieved within His heart, &c. 
 
 See Gen. vi. 6. 
 
 Lines 900—920. 
 
 See note on Book i., line 671 : to which I would only add a few 
 words from Wordsworth's Commentary, who writes on Gen. vii. 21, 
 " We may well believe that, as the flood increased veiy gradually, 
 many may have repented who were not able to reach the ark ; and 
 the Holy Scriptures reveal to us that the death of Christ and His 
 descent into the place of departed spirits were not without benefit to 
 them." And again on 1 Pet. iii. 20, " St. Peter says that the rest 
 disobeyed while the ark was preparing. He uses the aorist tense, 
 ciTreiBrjo-ao-L. He does not say that when the ark had been pre- 
 pared, and when the ark was shut, and when the flood came, and it 
 was too late for them to reach it, they all remained impenitent. 
 Perhaps some were penitent at the eleventh hour, like the thief on 
 the cross. " 
 
 BOOK VI. 
 
 Line 45. Some obscure suppliants. 
 
 Gen. iv. 26. 
 
 Lines 96 — 118, and 160 — 179. Baalim and Ashtaroth. 
 
 " Ashtoreth was the principal female deity of the Phoenicians, as 
 Baal was the principal male deity. It is a peculiarity of both names 
 tbat they frequently occur in the plural, and are associated together 
 in this form (Judg. x. 6. 1 Sam. vii. 4 ; xii. 10). Gesenius main- 
 tained that by these plurals were to be understood statues of Baal 
 and Astarte ; but the more correct view seems to be that of 
 Movers, that the plurals are used to indicate different modifications 
 of the divinities themselves. In the earlier books of the Old Testa- 
 ment only the plural Ashtaroth occurs, and it is not till the time of 
 Solomon, who introduced the worship of the Sidonian Astarte, and 
 only in reference to that particular goddess Ashtoreth of the Sido- 
 nians that the singular is found in the Old Testament (1 Kings xi. 
 5. 33. 2 Kings xxiii. 13)." Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, under 
 
 E e 
 
418 NOTES. [book 
 
 Ashtoreth. My suggestion explains the plural form as in the parallel 
 case of the holy cherubim and seraphim, described indifferently in 
 the singular or plural number (Ps. xviii. 10; lxxx. 1. Ezek. x. 
 15. 20), — whose association, however, is not represented as preclud- 
 ing distinct and separate action (Isa. vi. 6. Kev. xv. 7). 
 
 Lines 99—105. 
 See Herschel's Outlines of Astronomy, Sec. 833 — 851. 
 
 Lines 119—139. 
 See Gen. xi. 1—9. 
 
 Line 141. Apollyon. 
 See Kev. ix. 11. 
 
 Line 151. Ourselves o'er them presiding. 
 Dan. x. 13. 20. 
 
 Line 171. Mylitta calVd. 
 " Among the groups of winged figures was a curious representation 
 of the Assyrian Venus, Mylitta or Astarte, in an indecent posture, 
 which indicated the peculiar nature of her worship." Layard's 
 Nineveh, Vol. ii., p. 7. 
 
 Lines 215—219. 
 See Prov. vii. 26, 27. 
 
 Lines 233—263. 
 See Paradise Lost, Book i., lines 678 — 688. 
 
 Line 265. Moloch. 
 ■ This fire-god was the tutelary deity of the children of Ammon : 
 see 1 Kings xi. 7. And it is of this god Moses writes, " Thou shalt 
 not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech " (Lev. 
 xviii. 21). 
 
 Line 381. O subtle Sammael. 
 Sammael (blindness, or ignorance of God), the angel of death 
 (Targum Jonathan). 
 
 Lines 464 — 474. 
 In symbol of the great leviathan, 
 The dragon, &c. 
 Compare the words of the prophet, " O arm of the Lord, awake as 
 
VI. J NOTES. 419 
 
 in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that 
 hath cut Eahab (Egypt), and wounded the dragon? Art thou not 
 it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep ; that hath 
 made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?" 
 (Isa. li. 9, 10,) with the earlier prediction of a still future triumph, 
 " In that day the Lord with His sore and great and strong sword 
 shall punish leviathan, the piercing serpent, even leviathan, that 
 crooked serpent ; and He shall slay the dragon that is in the sea" 
 (Isa. xxvii. 1) ; and with the description of leviathan, " He be- 
 holdeth all high things : he is a king over all the children of pride" 
 (Job xli. 34). 
 
 Line 483. Twice ten thousand chariots. 
 Ps. lxviii. 17. 
 
 Line 502, Moloch's shrine, and Hemphans star. 
 Acts vii. 43. 
 
 Line 521. Gaunt altars rose, &c. 
 1 Kings xi. 7. 
 
 Line 562. And slept. 
 This may be inferred from " the secret being revealed in a night 
 vision " (Dan. ii. 19). 
 
 Line 608. Chaldeas monarch brooding o'er his dream. 
 It seems probable that the image of gold which Nebuchadnezzar 
 set up in the plain of Dura was a perversion of his dream ; and pos- 
 sible that the furnace, into which the three children were cast, was 
 that in which the metal had been fused for the gigantic idol. 
 
 Line 640. Descending with the speed of seraphim. 
 " Whiles I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, . . . being 
 caused to fly swiftly, touched me," &c. (Dan. ix. 21.) These words 
 appear to prove that intervals of space, however swiftly traversed, 
 are not annihilated for angels. 
 
 Lines 644—650. 
 See Dan. x. xi. xii. 
 
 E e 2 
 
420 NOTES. [book 
 
 BOOK VII. 
 
 Line 23. Of Jacob's dream. 
 Gen. xxviii. 10—22. 
 
 Line 25. Funereal rites on Pisgah's brow. 
 Compare Dent, xxxiv. 6 with Jude 9. 
 
 Line 27. Of that Arch-fiend, &z. 
 Job i. 6, and ii. 1. 
 
 Line 32. Of David moved by him, &c. 
 1 Chron. xxi. 1. 
 
 Line 33. Of the strife on Carmel, &c. 
 
 1 Kings xviii. 19 — 40. 
 
 Line 36. Of the car, that fiery car, &c. 
 
 2 Kings ii. 11. 
 
 Line 40. Of that false emissary, &c. 
 1 Kings xxii. 21. 
 
 Line 42. Of Joshua, son of Josedech, &c. 
 Zech. iii. 1. 
 
 Line 62. Watchman, what of the night ? 
 Isa. xxi. 11. 
 
 Line 94. Finding the rigid interdict relax' d, &c. 
 " That whole period was the hour and power of darkness, of a 
 darkness, which then immediately before the dawn of a new day 
 was the thickest. ... It was exactly the period for such soul- 
 maladies as these [demoniacal possessions], in which the spiritual 
 and the bodily should be thus strangely interlinked, and it is nothing 
 wonderful that they should have abounded then : for the predomi- 
 nance of certain spiritual maladies at certain epochs of the world's 
 history, which were especially fitted for their generation, with their 
 gradual decline and disappearance in others less congenial to them, 
 is a fact itself admitting no manner of question." Trench on 
 Miracles, p. 162. 
 
 Line 113. A heavenly cohort arnid, &c. 
 " And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the 
 heavenly host" (o-Tpartas, "army") (Luke ii. 13). In the word 
 
VII.] NOTES. 421 
 
 "army" we may discern an intimation that this hour was not with- 
 out peril from the hosts of darkness, who we know crowded in their 
 malignity round the death of the Saviour (Luke xxii. 53), and would 
 doubtless have gladly disturbed His birth. 
 
 Line 133. Toole of the lamps, &c. 
 The words of St. Matthew, " And lo, the star which they saw in 
 the East went before them till it came and stood over where the 
 young child was" (Matt. ii. 9), seem to decide that this miraculous 
 appearance was some luminous meteor, like a star, which was not so 
 distant, but that it seemed to move, and thus beckon the wise men 
 to follow its leading. If so, it was probably through angelic 
 agency. 
 
 Line 150. Mary kept her secret close. 
 
 Luke ii. 19. 
 
 Line 153. His brethren, for they err, &c. 
 
 In Matt. xiii. 55, 56 we read, " Is not this the carpenter's son ? 
 is not His mother called Mary ? and His brethren, James, and Joses, 
 and Simon, and Judas? and His sisters, are not they all with us ?" 
 Many have sought to prove that by the brethren and sisters here 
 named cousins are intended : but the simplest and fairest interpre- 
 tation is, that the}' were the younger brothers and sisters of our 
 Lord, the children of Mary and Joseph after the birth of Christ. 
 They are mentioned after the marriage in Cana as going down with 
 His mother to Capernaum (John ii. 12). They came with His mother 
 to speak with Him (Matt. xii. 46. Mark iii. 31. Luke viii. 19). 
 The only place in the Gospels where they are spoken of without 
 Mary, is John vii. 3 — 10 ; but there it is added, " they did not 
 believe on Him," which could not be said of her. And, when next 
 we read of them, it is again with His mother (Acts i. 14). Such is 
 the witness of the New Testament ; and there is a verse in the Old 
 Testament (Ps. lxix. 8) which is strongly corroborative of this 
 view. It is eminently a Messianic Psalm. And here we find not 
 only " I am become a stranger unto my brethren" which might 
 admit of a wider interpretation, but also, " and an alien unto my 
 mother s children," which allows of but one meaning. The virginity 
 of Mary before the birth of Christ is a great truth taught us by God 
 Himself: her perpetual virginity afterwards is, I believe, a fiction of 
 
422 NOTES. [book 
 
 man, without any warrant of Holy Scripture. See Alford's note on 
 Matt. xiii. 55. 
 
 Line 177. TJieir father sank. 
 It seems almost certain from Joseph appearing in no incident of 
 our Lord's public ministry, that he had died previously. 
 
 Line 264. Eastward toivards the wilds of Araby. 
 That the scene of the temptation was not the region between 
 Jerusalem and Jericho, but the wilderness of Arabia, appears pro- 
 bable from the incident mentioned by St. Mark, that our Lord " was 
 with the wild beasts ;" and from the typical histories of Israel, 
 Moses, and Elijah. See Wordsworth's note on Mark i. 13. 
 
 Line 345. For on these very rocks, &c. 
 Deut. viii. 3. 
 
 Line 352. The dizzy porch, &c. 
 " The most probable opinion is that ' the pinnacle of the temple' 
 was the topmost ridge of the aroa fiaaikiKr), on the south side of the 
 temple." Ellicott, 
 
 Line 413. To me committed, &c. 
 
 See note on Book iv., line 949. 
 
 Line 534. The crest of snowy Sermon. 
 
 " Standing amid the ruins of Csesarea, one does not need to ask 
 where the Mount of Transfiguration is. Hermon, the grandest and 
 most beautiful of all the mountains of Palestine, has established its 
 claim to the title of the holy mount." (The Giant Cities of 
 Bashan, p. 103.) Hermon's perennial snows may have suggested 
 the words of the Evangelist, " His raiment became shining, exceed- 
 ing white as snow" (Markix. 3). The traditional mountain, Tabor, 
 was at that time probably crowned with a castle, and therefore 
 almost certainly not the site. 
 
 Line 543. Brought them one bodiless, embodied one. 
 See note on Book ii., line 1002. 
 
 Lines 574—590. 
 Luke x. 17—20. 
 
 Line 592. The lonely Ephraim. 
 John xi. 54. 
 
VII.] NOTES. 423 
 
 Line 595. Whose disembodied spirit ice sometime kept. 
 The words " Christ is risen from the dead, the first-fruits of them 
 that slept" (1 Cor. xv. 20), seem to indicate that although others 
 had heen raised from the dead before the resurrection of our Lord 
 (1 Kings xvii. 22. 2 Kings iv. 35 ; xiii. 21. Matt. ix. 25. Luke 
 vii. 15. John xi. 44), His human spirit was the first which re- 
 passed the gates of Death, and re-ascended from Hades to earth. 
 Hitherto, vestigia nulla retrorsum. 
 
 Line 601. The ride of lowly triumph, &c. 
 Luke xix. 28—44. 
 
 Line 607. The lonely curse. 
 Matt. xxi. 19. 
 
 Lines 614—623. 
 John xii. 20—33. 
 
 Line 625. He made the widow's heart, &c. 
 Mark xii. 41 — 44, and xiii. 1. 
 
 Line 626. As once EzeJciel saw, &c. 
 Ezek. x. 4. 19, and xi. 23. 
 
 Lines 638—642. 
 These five lines ought to have been inserted after the words 
 The peaceful Sabbath, line 600, for historical order. 
 
 Lines 650 — 659. 
 John xiii. 1 — 17. 
 
 Line 674. Now readily assumed the ready throne. 
 Luke xxii. 3. John xiii. 2. 27. 
 
 Lines 678—692. 
 John xvii. 1 — 26. 
 
 Lines 821—836. 
 " Having spoiled (dneKByadfievos, having stripped away from 
 Himself) the (hostile) principalities and powers, He made a show 
 of them with boldness, having triumphed over them in it (i. e. in the 
 cross) " (Col. ii. 15). "The expression having stripped away from 
 Himself most probably implies that our Lord by His death stripped 
 away from Himself all the opposing hostile powers of evil that 
 
424 NOTES. [book 
 
 sought in the nature which He had condescended to assume, to win 
 for themselves a victory." Ellicott. 
 
 Lines 837—858. 
 See note on Book i., line 671. (1) That our Lord in His dis- 
 embodied human spirit descended to the Hades of departed souls 
 seems demonstrable from the words of David, " Thou wilt not leave 
 my soul in hell " (Ps. xvi. 10), as expounded of Christ by St. Peter 
 (Acts ii. 27. 31). See Pearson on the Creed. (2) That He visited 
 the deep, not Gehenna, bat that region of Hades, on the nether 
 side of the great gulf (Luke xvi. 23), in which the lost await the 
 judgment of the great day, appears most probable from such Scrip- 
 tures as the following: "Let not the waterflood overwhelm me, 
 neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her 
 mouth upon me " (Ps. lxix. 15) : and again, " Free among the dead, 
 .... they are cut off from Thy hand : Thou hast laid me in the 
 lowest pit, in darkness and in the deeps " (Ps. lxxxviii. 4 — 7) : see 
 also Ps. xviii. 5 — 15, quoted below : and from the significant type of 
 Jonah, who was cast into the deep before he was swallowed by the 
 great fish. (3) That He gained the region of the Blessed Dead in 
 Hades, betwixt the ninth hour, when He yielded up the Ghost, and 
 the close of that Jewish day three hours after, may be regarded as 
 certain from His words to the dying thief, " To-day shalt thou be 
 with Me in Paradise " (Luke xxiii. 43). Thus while His atoning 
 sacrifice was completed for ever on Calvary, it appears that His 
 self-abasement was not ended on the cross, nor indeed until His 
 resurrection. 
 
 Lines 859—900. 
 The Eighteenth Psalm seems expressed in language too majestic and 
 august to bear the burden of a less mystery than that of the death 
 and resurrection of David's Son and David's Lord. The close of the 
 Psalm is quoted by St. Paul (Eom. xv. 9), as fulfilled in Christ : 
 and this appears to justify a similar application of the magnificent 
 proem. 
 
 Line 913. He came not to the dead, &c. 
 All the Scriptures which bear upon our Lord's going down to 
 Hades, such as Ps. xvi. 9—11, Eph. iv. 9, 1 Pet. iii. 18, 19, 
 represent it as an unprecedented act of Kedeeming love and con- 
 descension. Nor are there wanting intimations in the Word of God 
 
VIII.] NOTES. 425 
 
 that the accomplishment of Christ's work on earth was a mighty 
 promotion in the bliss of those saints who had already fallen asleep 
 in Him. Then, and not till then, are they called " the spirits of 
 just men made perfect" (Heb. xii. 23). See Alford on Heb. xi. 40, 
 who comparing the two verses says, " The writer seems to testify 
 that the advent and work of Christ have changed the estate of the 
 Old Testament fathers and saints into greater and perfect bliss, an 
 inference which is forced on us by many other passages in Scrip- 
 ture." Indeed it could hardly be otherwise, when we remember 
 that the mystical body of Christ is one whole family in heaven and 
 earth (Eph. iii. 15). 
 
 Lines 928—936. 
 See notes on Book i., line 671, and Book v., lines 900 — 920. 
 
 Lines 1065—1085. 
 Ps. xxiv. 
 
 Line 1096. Advancing with Sis precious blood. 
 
 Heb. ix. 12. 
 
 Lines 1098—1104. 
 
 See Eph. i. 20, 21. 
 
 Line 1110. Cleansed with the virtue of Sis blood those courts, &c. 
 Compare " It pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness 
 dwell ; and, having made peace by the blood of His cross, by Him to 
 reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be 
 things in earth, or things in heaven " (Col. i. 19, 20), with " It 
 was necessaiy that the patterns of things in the heavens should be 
 purified with these ; but the heavenly things themselves with 
 better sacrifices than these " (Heb. ix. 23). On these passages I 
 venture to refer the reader to my Commentary on the Xew Testa- 
 ment. 
 
 Exod. xv. 3, 
 Rev. iv. 5. 
 
 BOOK VIII. 
 
 Line 49. Jehovah is a man of war. 
 Line 54. The Sevenfold Spirit. 
 
426 NOTES. [book 
 
 Line 80. Scatter d for a week of years. 
 See note on Book viii. 821 — 936. The discomfiture of the hosts 
 of darkness by the death and resurrection of Christ, synchronizing 
 with the Pentecostal effusion of the Spirit, may afford another clue 
 to the marvellous triumphs of the Gospel betwixt the ascension of 
 our Lord, and the martyrdom of St. Stephen (Acts ii. 46, 47, and 
 vi. 7). 
 
 Line 108. As foreshadowed, &e. 
 See John xii. 32. 
 
 Line 163. The great Sigh Priest of God. 
 Can this sacerdotal office explain why our Lord is here represented 
 as standing at God's right hand? (Acts vii. 5o.) 
 
 Line 172. For nine long months of years. 
 
 See below, note on lines 270 — 287. 
 
 Lines 185—202. 
 
 For the historical interpretation of these symbolic horses, I must 
 refer the reader to Elliott's Horse Apocalypticae, of which I have 
 given a brief resume in my Commentary. I here only add my 
 opening words : — 
 
 " As the four successive empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and 
 Rome were prefigured in vision to the prophet Daniel by the 
 emblems of a lion, a bear, a leopard, and a fourth beast, dreadful 
 and strong exceedingly, and as in another vision the kingdoms of 
 Persia and of Greece had been respectively foretold by the symbols 
 of a ram and a goat, so here the Eoman empire is depicted under 
 the emblem of a war-horse, an animal sacred to Mars, the reputed 
 father of their nation, and as such emblazoned on their coins and 
 standards. The compound symbol of the horse and its rider 
 signifies the empire and its imperial government. This was the 
 great antagonistic power to Christ and His kingdom in the apostle's 
 days. And as in this prophecy we have two cities set before us 
 in vivid contrast — Babylon and Jerusalem ; two women — one the 
 mother of harlots, the other the Bride, the Lamb's wife; two 
 armies — those of hell and of heaven ; two thrones — that of Satan 
 and that of God, so at the close we read of another white horse 
 and its rider, the true King of kings and Lord of lords. But here, 
 as is evident, whatever this composite emblem signifies under the 
 first seal, it must signify under the second, third, and fourth." 
 
VIII.] NOTES. 427 
 
 Line 226. Perpetua. 
 
 See Milner's Church History, Vol. i., pp. 304—309. 
 Lines 253—259. 
 
 The historical fulfilment of the fifth seal (Rev. vi. 9 — 11) is 
 doubtless to be found in those fierce and sanguinary persecutions 
 of the Church of Christ, which breaking out from time to time 
 during the first three centuries, reached their terrible climax in the 
 reign of Diocletian. It was the last convulsive effort of heathen- 
 dom to crush Christianity. For ten dreadful years the waves of 
 fiery trial rolled successively over the provinces of the Roman 
 empire. Every province yielded its contingent to the noble army 
 of witnesses for the truth. And this period is distinguished in 
 history as " the era of martyrs." 
 
 Lines 260—269. 
 The sixth seal (Rev. vi. 12 — 17) prefigures, as I believe, the over- 
 throw of Paganism throughout the Roman empire at the time of 
 Constantine. That the figurative language employed is not too 
 strong to foreshadow that mighty revolution, will appear from 
 comparing with it the emblematic prefigurements in Scripture of 
 other national catastrophes. See Isa. xiii. 9 — 13. Jer. iv. 23. 
 Ezek. xxxii. 7. 
 
 Lines 270—287. 
 
 On the significance of the mystic Bride, and of the dragon (Rev. 
 xii. 1 — 6), I venture to make the following extracts from my Com- 
 mentary : — 
 
 "And there appeared a great tvonder in heaven — the Roman 
 firmament of political power and ascendancy — a woman clothed 
 toith the sun, Sfc. This woman, who is spoken of as the mother of 
 ' those who keep the commandments of God ' (ver. 17), is without 
 doubt the true visible Church of Christ on earth. Her clothing 
 with the sun imports her investiture with imperial favour; the 
 moon, which, as the faithful witness in heaven (Ps. lxxxix. 37), 
 reflects the light of the sun, being under her feet, signifies her 
 ecclesiastical supremacy in a Christian empire : her coronal of 
 twelve stars may well represent her glory as upholding a faithful 
 pastorate, the pastorate of those who cleave to the doctrine of the 
 twelve apostles ; and her pregnancy and travail denote a period of 
 oppression and agony before a crisis of deliverance, and fruit-fulness, 
 
428 NOTES. [book 
 
 and joy. So it is said of Jerusalem. ' Before she travailed she brought 
 forth ; before her pain came she was delivered of a man child. . . . 
 Shall a nation he horn at once?' (Isa. lxvi. 7, 8. C£ Mic. v. 3.) 
 
 " Such was the state of the Church when the Emperor Constantine 
 first embraced the faith of Christ, and threw over her the mantle of 
 his imperial protection. Purified in the furnace of the Diocletian 
 persecution, ■ she looked forth as the morning, fair as the moon, 
 clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners ' (Song vi. 
 10). Moreover, it has been observed that 'as the time of gestation 
 from the conception to the birth in women with child is known 
 to be forty weeks, or two hundred and eighty days, so, from the 
 first rise of our Saviour's kingdom, at His resurrection and ascen- 
 sion, a.d. 33, till the famous edict for the universal liberty and 
 advancement of Christianity by Constantine and Licinius, a.d. 313, 
 which put an end to the pangs of birth in the heaviest persecution 
 that ever was then known, was exactly two hundred and eighty 
 years.' Whiston. 
 
 "And there appeared another wonder in heaven — i.e., as before, 
 in the firmament of the Eoman empire — and behold a great 
 dragon, fiery red, Sfc. The great dragon is the devil (see ver. 9), 
 the god of this world. In the Old Testament the power of Egypt, 
 as the enemy of God and of His Church, is thus described (Isa. 
 xxvii. 1 ; li. 9. Ezek. xxix. 3). But here the devil is represented 
 as animating the pagan empire of Eome ; for the seven heads of 
 the dragon signify the seven hills on which Borne was built, and 
 the seven forms of government which successively prevailed there. 
 (See Bev. xvii. 9 — 18.) The ten horns denote the ten kingdoms 
 into which the western empire was at length divided (Dan. vii. 23 
 — 27), which had as yet received no sovereignty." 
 
 In the rapture of the woman's new-born child to God and His 
 throne, we may not only trace the political ascendancy of Chris- 
 tianity, but followed as it is by her own flight into the wilderness 
 for 1260 years, we are reminded that during the time of the 
 Church's warfare, her kingdom is not of this world. 
 
 Lines 292—591. 
 
 The following extract will show the terrestrial meaning I attach 
 
 to the celestial warfare described Bev. xii. 7 — 12. One thing only 
 
 I would add. that if, as I humbly conceive, there has been a real 
 
 counterpart to the conflicts of the Church militant here on earth in 
 
VIII.] NOTES. 429 
 
 the heavenly places themselves, such war, I am persuaded, took 
 place, not as our great poet describes it, before the creation of man, 
 but after the ascension of our Lord. 
 
 " And there was war in heaven, $[c. This war in the firmament 
 of the Roman empire seems to embrace all the conflicts between 
 heathenism and Christianity for political ascendancy, a.d. 311 — 
 363, from Constantine's first avowal of the faith of Christ to the 
 death of Julian the apostate. How far the hosts of darkness and 
 the angels of light intermingled in these conflicts is one of those 
 deep mysteries upon which the light of Scripture shines but dimly. 
 We know that St. Paul, describing the daily warfare of the saints, 
 says, * We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against princi- 
 palities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this 
 world, against spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places ' (Eph. 
 vi. 12). We know that when Elisha was in danger, 'the mountain 
 was full of horses and chariots of fire round about him ' (2 Kings 
 vi. 17). Nor, if such are the foes and such the guardian spirits of 
 every servant of God, is it unlikely that the eventful contest on the 
 Roman earth had its counterpart in a yet more terrible struggle 
 betwixt the armies of the archangel Michael and the legions of the 
 prince of the power of the air (Eph. ii. 2). This is confirmed by 
 Dan. x. 13. 21 ; xii. 1, and Jude 9. But, deeply interesting as are 
 these glimpses into the world of spirits, the terrestrial conflict 
 betwixt Paganism and Christianity seems mainly prefigured in this 
 symbolic language. The warfare was long and sharp, but it ended 
 in the total defeat of heathenism, and in the deposing of idolaters 
 from all rule and authority. They never regained their supremacy. 
 The saints of God thought indeed that the predicted triumph of 
 Messiah's kingdom had arrived. The end was not yet. But it 
 was in itself a true and glorious victory, and the pgeans of the Church 
 on earth were re-echoed by the loftier hallelujahs of exulting angels 
 and of the spirits of the just made perfect in heaven. They saw 
 therein a pledge of the final dethronement of Satan. They rejoiced 
 that he could no longer prefer his ceaseless and bitter accusations, 
 as of old. They ascribed all the victory to the blood of the Lamb, 
 and to the word of the martyrs' testimony. They called on all the 
 inhabitants of heaven to swell the tide of gratitude and joy. 
 While a deeper note of warning, perhaps issuing from the throne 
 of God, predicted the yet bitterer and more deadly wrath of the 
 ejected spirit of evil, during the short time of his permitted devas- 
 
430 NOTES. [book 
 
 tations. The time might seem long to the weary and waiting 
 Church, but it was short as recorded in the annals of heaven, and in 
 prospect of the eternity to come." 
 
 Line 597. A strange refrain of woe. 
 
 See Rev. xii. 12. 
 
 Line 659. First let us loose, &c. 
 
 Rev. xii. 15. 
 
 Line 670. Now let us counterfeit Himself Triune. 
 
 Such a threefold conspiracy, the master-piece of hell, is described 
 in the Apocalypse, where St. John says, " I saw a wild beast rising 
 up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, . . . and upon his 
 heads the name of blasphemy : . . . and the dragon gave him his 
 power, and his throne, and great authority. . . . And I saw another 
 wild beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a 
 lamb, and he spake as a dragon, and he exerciseth all the power of 
 the first beast in his presence (ivconiov avrov), and causeth the earth 
 and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast " (Rev. xiii. 
 1, 2. 11, 12). Here the dragon, as appears from ch. xii. 3, repre- 
 sents Pagan Rome ; the first wild beast, Rome Papal ; the second 
 wild beast, who is described as " the false prophet who wrought 
 miracles in the beast's presence " (ch. xix. 20), the Papal hierarchy. 
 The Paganism of ancient Rome was merged in the great Anti- 
 christian apostasy, and this was supported to the utmost by the 
 hierarchy of that corrupt Church. 
 
 But not only did the dragon represent the persecuting power of 
 Pagan Rome, but we are expressly told that the dragon is " that 
 old serpent, called the devil and Satan " (Rev. xii. 9). There was a 
 spiritual agent animating Paganism, none other than the prince of 
 hell. Hence by analogy we may infer there was another spiritual 
 agent animating Papal Rome, to whom the dragon tendered his 
 power, and yet a third spiritual agent animating the Papal hier- 
 archy. Such an hypothesis is strongly confirmed by the intense 
 personality which breathes in the words, " These both (the beast 
 and the false prophet) were cast alive into a lake of fire burning 
 with brimstone" (Rev. xix. 20; and see xx. 10). Such an asso- 
 ciation of evil spirits is not without parallel, as appears from the 
 words of our Lord (Matt. xii. 43 — 45), and might be well antici- 
 pated from the malignity of the powers of darkness in their last 
 conspiracies against the truth. 
 
VIII.] NOTES. 431 
 
 Line 712. His well-beloved, by us betray d, debauclid. 
 For proof that the woman upon whose forehead was a name 
 written, " Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of 
 
 HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH " (Rev. Xvii. 5), is 
 
 none other than the Papal Church, I would refer the reader to 
 Archdeacon Wordsworth's masterly essay " Is not the Church of 
 Rome the Babylon of the Apocalypse ?" an essay which is in 
 my view altogether unanswerable. 
 
 Line 743. The bride is hidden in the tvilderness. 
 Rev. xii. 6 and 14. 
 
 * Lines 751— 793. 
 See Rev. vi. and vii., which I believe embrace the history of the 
 fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries. 
 
 Line 797. Baalim, heaVd of his wound, &c. 
 See Rev. xiii. 1, and xvii. 8, where we read, " The beast that thou 
 sawest was and is not ; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and 
 shall go into perdition : and they that dwell en the earth shall 
 wonder, whose names are not written in the book of life from the 
 foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and 
 is not, and yet is." The beast as an imperial Pagan power was slain 
 by the sword of Constantine, but yet ascends out of the abyss, as 
 popery, born of hell, ascended to reanimate the sinking empire of 
 Rome, and shall go into perdition when its destined reign of 1260 
 years is finished. This is an infernal counterfeit of the resurrection 
 of the Lord of life. 
 
 Lines 830—852. 
 See Rev. ix., which by a marvellous consensus of interpreters is 
 allowed to describe the rise and progress of Mohammedanism. 
 Almost simultaneously at the beginning of the 7th century, Popery 
 in the West, and the religion of the false prophet in the East, arose 
 to try to the uttermost the faith of God's elect. 
 
 Line 889. Lo,from the heavens descended, One, &c. 
 See Rev. x. 1 — 7, which describes the blessed Reformation. 
 
 Line 914. According to His word. 
 Matt. x. 23. 
 
432 NOTES. [book 
 
 Lines 933—954. 
 See Rev. xv. and xvi., which I believe delineate those prepara- 
 tive judgments of the last and present century, that usher in 
 the Advent of the Prince of Peace. 
 
 Line 979. As he had opend things unknown by me, &c. 
 See Paradise Lost, Book viii., lines 203 — 205. 
 
 Line 1019. The first portends our tryst. 
 See Num. x. 1—10. 
 
 BOOK IX. 
 
 Line 67. Not spouse, but ivhat is symbolized by spouse. 
 The words of our Lord are express, " The children of this world 
 marry and are given in marriage ; but they which shall he accounted 
 worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, 
 neither marry nor are given in marriage ; neither can they die any 
 more ; for they are equal unto the angels, and are the children of 
 God, being the children of the resurrection" (Luke xx. 34 — 36), and 
 for ever close the door against any theories of a Mohammedan 
 Paradise. 
 
 Line 71. A reflex glory and image of myself. 
 1 Cor. xi. 7. 
 
 Lines 120—148. 
 There are many intimations in Holy Scripture that the latest con- 
 flicts of the Church will be the worst, her last birth-pangs the most 
 severe. (Isa. lix. 19, 20. Dan. xii. 1. Luke xviii. 8. Rom. viii. 
 19—22.) 
 
 Lines 156—205. 
 If the Paradise of the Blessed Dead is below (see note on Book i., 
 line 671), it follows that there must be an ascent of the disembodied 
 saints to earth before, at the voice of God, they are raised from the 
 grave, and before their spirits, reunited to their glorified bodies, 
 rise to meet the Lord in the air. 
 
 Lines 216—246. 
 See Ezek. i. 1 — 28. These lines are transferred, with some modi- 
 
IX.] NOTES. 433 
 
 fixations, from my Seatonian Prize Poem " Ezekiel." The pro- 
 phet's sublime vision of the chariot of Deity is the alone source 
 from which any writer could venture to draw. See Milton's admi- 
 rable paraphrase, Paradise Lost, Book vi., lines 746 — 766. 
 
 Line 298. The Lord Himself descended with a shout. 
 See 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17. 
 
 Line 306. TJie incandescent sky from East to West. 
 Matt. xxiv. 27. 
 
 Line 312. Save on the hills of Zion, &c. 
 Compare Dan. x. 7, and Acts ix. 7. 
 
 Lines 367—391. 
 It appears that the fall of Babylon (Eev. xiv. 8 ; xvi. 19 ; 
 xviii. 1 — 24) takes place at the Advent of our Lord, when He comes 
 for His saints, but that the destruction of the Papal Antichrist and 
 the binding of Satan do not occur, however short the interval may 
 be, until He returns, after the marriage supper, with His saints. 
 See Eev. xix. 19—21 ; xx. 1, 2. 
 
 Lines 392—414. 
 See Zech. xii. 10—14 ; xiii. 1. Mai. iv. 5, 6. Although John 
 Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah, our Lord's words are 
 express, that Elijah himself " shall come and restore all things" 
 (Matt. xvii. 11). 
 
 Lines 440—462. 
 Ezek. xvi. 1 — 14. 
 
 Line 472. My love, My dove, &c. 
 Song of Solomon i. 15 ; ii. 16 ; iv. 7 ; v. 2. 
 
 Line 566. The marriage supper of the Lamb. 
 Rev. xix. 9, and Luke xxii. 30. 
 
 Line 615. Half a tceelc of years. 
 There are many who think that the duration of Israel's last fiery 
 trial will be for three years and a half, from Dan. ix. 27 and other 
 Scriptures. 
 
 Lines 628—679. 
 Rev. xix. 11—16. and Ps. xlv. 2—17. 
 
 Ff 
 
131 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 [BOOK 
 
 BOOK X. 
 
 Line 43. There remains a Sabbath, &c. 
 "There remain eth, therefore, a rest (cra/3/3aTio7xoff, 'a sabbath 
 rest') for the people of God" (Heb. iv. 9). 
 
 Line 45. But not as many thought. 
 So Cowper in his exquisite lines — 
 
 " Six thousand years of sorrow have well nigh 
 FulfiU'd their tardy and disastrous course 
 Over a sinful world ; and what remains 
 Of this tempestuous state of human things 
 Is merely as the working of a sea 
 Before a calm, that rocks itself to rest." 
 
 Winter Walk at Noon. 
 
 Lines 59—103. 
 
 See Ezek. xxxviii. 1 — 16. Dan. xii. 1. Zech. xiv. 1 — 3. 
 Lines 106—120. 
 
 The last form of the abomination of desolation (Matt. xxiv. 15) : 
 the last usurpation of the Papal Antichrist who " exalteth himself 
 above all that is called God, or that is worshipped ; so that he as God 
 sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God" 
 (2 Thess. ii. 4) : the last development of the mystery of iniquity, the 
 triple conspiracy of hell (Rev. xix. 19). See note on Book viii., 
 line 670. 
 
 Lines 121—133. 
 The solemn words of our Lord, " How can Satan cast out Satan ? 
 And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot 
 stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot 
 stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he can- 
 not stand, but hath an end" (Mark iii. 23 — 26), suggest that at the 
 time of the end there will be such a dissolution of the conspiracy of 
 hell, such a rupture in the empire of darkness, such a suicidal strife 
 amid the principalities of evil. 
 
 Line 161. Behind Elijah's mantle. 
 See note, Book ix., lines 392—414. 
 
X.] NOTES. 435 
 
 Lines 163—182. 
 See Ps. 1. 3. The last clause of Zech. xiv. 5. 2 Thess. i. 7—9. 
 Rev. i. 7. 
 
 Lines 187—201. 
 " These both (the beast and the false prophet) were cast alive into 
 a lake of fire burning with brimstone" (Rev. xix. 20). 
 
 Lines 201—215. 
 R«v. xx. 1—3. 
 
 Lines 219—247. 
 " For behold the Lord' will come with fire and with His chariots 
 like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke 
 with flames of fire : for by fire and by His sword will the Lord plead 
 with all flesh, and the slain of the Lord shall be many" (Isa. lxvi. 
 15, 16). This is parallel with Rev. xix. 21. On the discriminative 
 character of this fiery judgment, see an earlier prophecy in the 
 Apocalypse (Rev. xiv. 9 — 11). 
 
 Lines 248—259. 
 See Isa. xiv. 9—20. 
 
 Line 284. His feet rested on Olivet. 
 Zech. xiv. 4. 
 
 Lines 288—298. 
 Compare " When thou passest through the fire thou shalt not be 
 burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee" (Isa. xliii. 2), 
 with the remarkable words, " I have covered thee in the shadow of 
 Mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of 
 the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art My people" (Isa. li. 16). 
 
 Line 307. The mountain of the Lord had risen sublime. 
 Isa. ii. 2. Micah iv. 1. 
 
 Line 308. Olivet teas cleft. 
 Zech. xiv. 4. 
 
 Line 319. A river of perennial waters flow d. 
 Ezek. xlvii. 1—12. Zech. xiv. 8. 
 
 Line 336. Zion rose. 
 Isa. lx. 1. 
 
 Ff 2 
 
436 NOTES. [book 
 
 Line 338. Entering His temple courts. 
 
 Compare Ezek. xliii. 1 — 5. 
 
 Line 368. Words of grateful praise. 
 
 "And then shall every man have praise of God" (1 Cor. iv. 5). 
 Line 415. For full fruition of the light of God. 
 
 That the beatific vision of the face of the Eternal Father is pos- 
 sible for created beings, if unfallen, appears from the words of our 
 Lord respecting the angelic guardians of the little ones who believe 
 in Him, " In heaven their angels do always behold the face of My 
 Father which is in heaven" (Matt, xviii. 10) : but that this loftiest 
 privilege is not vouchsafed to the Church Universal until after the 
 Millennium and after the final judgment, may be perhaps inferred 
 from the reservation till then of this glorious promise in the Apoca- 
 lypse, ''They shall see His face; and His name shall be in their 
 foreheads" (Rev. xxii. 4). If so, the Millennial Sabbath, as we 
 might have surmised, will be in this respect also an education for 
 that which is to come. 
 
 Lines 418—438. 
 Ps. lxvii. 1, 2. Isa. xxxii. 15 ; Hi. 7. Matt. xi. 11. 
 
 Lines 439—464. 
 Isa. xxxv. 1—10 ; xli. 18—20 ; lv. 12, 13. 
 
 Lines 465—489. 
 Isa. xi. 6 — 9 ; lxv. 25. 
 
 Lines 490—505. 
 Joel ii. 21 — 27. Isa. xxx. 26. 
 
 Line 505. War was unknoivn, Sec. 
 Isa. ii. 4. 
 
 Line 510. Babel's confusion was unlearn'd, &c. 
 Not only " in that day shall there be one Lord," but it is added, 
 " And His name one" (Zech. xiv. 9). " Tongues shall cease" 
 (1 Cor. xiii. 8). One song arises from every creature on the earth 
 (Eev. v. 13). 
 
 Line 514. No labour now was lost, &c. 
 See Ps. lxxii. Isa. lx. 
 
XI.] NOTES. 437 
 
 Line 520. David, vicegerent, &c. 
 Ezek. xxxvii. 25. 
 
 Line 522. The Twelve, &c. 
 Matt, xix. 28. 
 
 Line 527. A royalty of priests. 
 Isa. lxi. 6. 
 
 Line 546. Evil lurTcd unseen, &c. 
 This appears from the remarkable prophecy which, describing the 
 Millennial state, says, " The child shall die an hundred years old, 
 but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed" (Isa. 
 lxv. 20). Here we read of sin and curse and death; whereas, after 
 the Millennium and the judgment, death shall be destroyed, and 
 there shall be no more curse (Rev. xxi. 4, and xxii. 3). 
 
 Line 556. Nor prophecy teas mute. 
 Rev. xx. 7. 
 
 Line 567. Nor ivounds, though rare, &c. 
 Ezek. xlvii. 12. 
 
 Line 585. And angels up and, down those radiant stairs, &o. 
 Compare John i. 51 with Gen. xxviii. 12. 
 
 BOOK XL 
 
 Lines 1 — 11. 
 " The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall 
 gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do 
 iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire : there shall be 
 wailing and gnashing of teeth" (Matt. xiii. 41, 42). 
 
 Line 19. Oppressive silence, &c. 
 " The wicked shall be silent in darkness" (1 Sam. ii. 9). 
 
 Line 25. Silence but no sleep, &c. 
 Isa. lvii. 21. Rev. xiv. 11. 
 
438 NOTES. [book 
 
 Line 41. The Lord is righteous. 
 Exod. ix. 27. 
 
 Line 80. Shall we humbly sue, &c. 
 See Paradise Lost, Book iv., lines 80 — 104. 
 
 Lines 148—157. 
 " That he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand 
 years should be fulfilled : and after that he must be loosed a little 
 season" (Rev. xx. 3). 
 
 Lines 191—195. 
 " And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed 
 out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are 
 in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them 
 together to battle : the number of whom is as the sand of the sea" 
 (Rev. xx. 7, 8). 
 
 Lines 198, 199. 
 See Paradise Lost, Book x., lines 410 — 414, 
 
 Lines 206—215. 
 See Paradise Lost, Book ix., lines 58 — 68. 
 
 Line 220. The sparse and rare remains of ill. 
 See note, Book x., line 546. 
 
 Line 233. Penuel. 
 See Book iv., lines 456—469. 
 
 Lines 308—318. 
 See Isa. lxvi. 23, and Zech. xiv. 16. 
 
 Lines 406—432. 
 " And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and com passed 
 the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city" (Rev. xx. 9). 
 
 Line 434. Which shook the first fell council of the damnd. 
 See Book vi. ; lines 420—424. 
 
 Line 443. The dreadful storm of fire, &c. 
 " And fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured 
 them" (Rev. xx. 9). 
 
XI.] NOTES. 439 
 
 Line 448. A whisper ran, Sec. 
 See Exod. xiv. 25. 
 
 Lines 466—492. 
 " And Death and Hades delivered up the dead that were in them" 
 (Rev. xx. 13). " All that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and 
 shall come forth, they that have done good unto the resurrection of 
 life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damna- 
 tion" (John v. 28, 29). From Rev. xx. 4, 5, we learn that a thou- 
 sand years intervene betwixt the resurrection of the just and that 
 of the unjust, although in the perspective of prophecy they are often 
 presented simultaneously to our view. 
 
 Lines 493—513. 
 " And Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire" (Rev. xx. 14). 
 It is only of the Hades of the lost St. John is here speaking. 
 
 Lines 514 — 532. 
 See 2 Pet. iii. 7 — 10. That the camp of the saints and the 
 beloved city will be exempted from this final fire, having been 
 already purified at the beginning of the Millennium, seems clear 
 from Rev. xx. 9, and Isa. li. 16. 
 
 Lines 533—568. 
 " And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sate on it, from 
 whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found 
 no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand 
 before God : and the books were opened : and another book was 
 opened, which is the book of life" (Rev. xx. 11, 12). And compare 
 Dan. vii. 9, 10. 
 
 Lines 569—597. 
 Matt. xxv. 31—33. Rom. xiv. 10—12. 1 Cor. iv. 5. See also 
 Matt. x. 42. 2 Cor. ix. 6. 2 Tim. iv. 8. Rev. xxii. 12. 
 
 Lines 611—619. 
 Matt. xxv. 34, 
 
 Lines 620—646. 
 " Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world ?" (1 Cor. 
 vi. 2.) 
 
 Lines 647—679. 
 " Reserved unto judgment" (2 Pet. ii. 4). " Know ye not that we 
 shall judge angels?" (1 Cor. vi. 3.) 
 
440 NOTES. [book 
 
 Lines 680—719. 
 " It shall bruise thy head" (Gen. iii. 15). " And the devil that 
 deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where 
 the beast and the false prophet are" (Rev. xx. 10). 
 Lines 761—768. 
 Matt. xxvi. 24. 
 
 Lines 774—780. 
 See Book viii., lines 226 — 252. 
 
 Lines 806—814. 
 " They watch for your souls as they that must give account, that 
 they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable 
 for you" (Heb. xiii. 17). 
 
 Lines 829—841. 
 Matt. xxv. 41. Rev. ii. 26, 27. 
 
 Lines 842—854. 
 "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment" (Matt, 
 xxv. 46). 
 
 Line 855. All shook except the Throne of Judgment. 
 See Paradise Lost, Book vi., lines 831 — 834. 
 Line 864. He was in tears. 
 Compare Gen. vi. 6. Ezek. xviii. 32. Luke xix. 41 — 44. 
 Line 875. And judgment is Sis strange and dreadful work. 
 " That He may do His work, His strange work ; and bring to 
 pass His act, His strange act" (Isa. xxviii. 21). 
 Lines 883—893. 
 Rev. xiv. 10, 11, and xix. 3. 
 
 Lines 893—901. 
 Heb. x. 31 ; xii. 29. 
 
 Lines 902—931. 
 See note, Book iii., line 875. On this most solemn and awful 
 theme, I would only add that Holy Scripture supplies us with the 
 most express assurances that the powers of evil shall be for ever 
 subjugated under the feet of the Son of God. His enemies shall be 
 made His footstool (Ps. ex. 1). " He must reign till He hath put 
 all enemies under His feet" (1 Cor. xv. 25). " For this purpose 
 
XII.] NOTES. 441 
 
 the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy (Kvctt]) the 
 works of the devil" (1 John iii. 8). These Scriptures stand in- 
 flexibly opposed to that media3val tradition, which pictures devils 
 tormenting men, and men blaspheming God for ever, and assure us 
 of the eternal repression of every act of evil, and of the eternal 
 silencing of every word of rebellion. 
 
 Lines 944—994. 
 Nor is the repression of evil the only result of the Divine judg- 
 ment which the Word of God reveals. It also declares that even the 
 lost shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the 
 Father (Phil. ii. 9—11. Rev. v. 13). So of Pharaoh, the most 
 signal example of obduracy which earth has seen, God says, " I will 
 at this time send all My plagues upon thine heart . . . that thou 
 mayest know that there is none like Me" (Exod. ix. 14) : for a time 
 Pharaoh did know and confess, " The Lord is righteous, and I and 
 my people are wicked" (Exod. ix. 27) : but the judgment being re- 
 laxed, he rebelled again and again. In that future world of woe, 
 the punishment is eternal (Matt. xxv. 46. 2 Thess. i. 9), and the 
 enforced submission and confession will be eternal likewise. And 
 then shall the marvellous words of the Psalmist be acknowledged 
 by all, " God hath spoken once, twice have I heard this ; that 
 power belongeth unto God: also unto Thee, Lord, belongeth 
 meecy ; for Thou renderest to every man according to his work" 
 (Ps. lxii. 11, 12). 
 
 BOOK XII. 
 
 Line 47. The earth, emerging from her flood of fire, &c. 
 St. John says, " I saw a new heaven and a new earth ; for the 
 first heaven and the first earth were passed away" (Rev. xxi. 1). 
 Our first impression from these words, which introduce the glories 
 of the eternal ages beyond the Millennium, might be that the pre- 
 sent heavens and earth would be utterly brought to nought. Other 
 Scriptures, however, prove that not the annihilation, but the renova- 
 tion of our world, is here foretold. Thus the land of promise was 
 given to Abraham and his seed for an "everlasting possession" 
 (Gen. xvii. 8). Zion, we read, shall be "an eternal excellency" 
 
4 18 NOTES. [book 
 
 (Isa. lx. 15). Jesus Christ " upon the throne of His lather, David, 
 will reign over the house of Jacob for ever ; and of His kingdom 
 there shall be no end" (Luke i. 33). God will not M un-create," but 
 M re-create" that which He has made for His glory. That the terms 
 here used do not compel us to interpret them as signifying " annihi- 
 lation," appears from a comparison of the language used by St. Peter 
 in describing the deluge, "the world that then was perished" 
 (2 Pet. iii. 6. 13), and from the yet more striking parallel of the new 
 birth of the soul to God, " If any man be in Christ, he is a new 
 creation : old things are passed away ; behold, all things are become 
 new" (2 Cor. v. 17). The world, though it "perished" in the 
 deluge, was not annihilated ; and the soul, that is born of God, 
 though renewed, does not lose its identity with its former self. 
 This will be the perfected " regeneration," of which our Lord spoke 
 (Matt. xix. 28). The renewal, which commences at the second 
 Advent, and continues during the Millennium, will be consummated 
 after the final judgment. The Millennial heavens and earth will be 
 new, compared with those which are now (see Isa. lxv. 17 — 25) ; but 
 tli is renovation will only be completed in those which are to last for 
 ever and can never be shaken or removed. 
 
 Line 60. Her late apparel was not found. 
 Ps. cii. 25, 26. 
 
 Lines 65 — 75. 
 
 See Rev. xix. 3. 
 See Isa. liv. 1 — 10. 
 
 Lines 91—102. 
 
 Lines 102—127. 
 " God is gone up with a shout, the Loed with the sound of a 
 trumpet" (Ps. xlvii. 5). See the whole of this exultant Psalm. 
 
 Line 128. Before us now it rose, builded aloft, &c. 
 The question has been keenly controverted whether the new Jeru- 
 salem (Rev. xxi. xxii.) is actually the abode of the heavenly citizens, 
 or only a representation of the Church Triumphant under the emblem 
 of a city. The advocates of a purely symbolical meaning maintain, 
 " The bride is a city, and the city is a bride: both expressions are 
 therefore figures to describe the glorious community of ransomed 
 Is, thr mystical body of Christ, and blessed company (A all faithful 
 
XII.] NOTES. 443 
 
 people." But to this it may be sufficient to reply that, in the con- 
 trasted case of Babylon (Rev. xvii. 1 — 3. 18), the woman is a city, 
 and the city is a woman. Both expressions are figures to denote the 
 apostate Papal Church. But this does not prevent the existence of 
 the actual city of Rome, a material structure, which shall be con- 
 sumed with material fire. The site and the buildings are, indeed, of 
 very secondary importance to the character of the harlot Church who 
 occupies them ; for it is her faithlessness which gives them all their 
 disastrous significance. But there they are, seven hills crowned with 
 edifices on the banks of the Tiber. So of the new Jerusalem : the 
 city, it is true, is a type of a spiritual building compacted of living 
 stones, which is growing an holy temple unto the Lord (Eph. ii. 21). 
 But this does not preclude the possibility of an actual fabric, com- 
 posed of heavenly material, which shall never be destroyed. Here, 
 too, the site and the structure are of inferior moment to the virgin 
 bride who shall dwell therein, for it is her saintliness which gives all 
 its significance to her palace home. That home, however, exists, a 
 glorious reality, an abiding city yet to come — a city which hath 
 foundations, whose designer and builder is God. (See Heb. xi. 
 10. 16 ; xiii. 14, which Scriptures strongly confirm this view.) We 
 are thus irresistibly led to the conclusion that the heavenly Jerusa- 
 lem here described is both real and typical — an actual city, of which 
 every part typifies the spiritual temple of living stones. For as the 
 glorified body will be the worthy habitation of the perfectly regene- 
 rate spirit — a building of God, an house not made with hand?, eternal 
 in the heavens (2 Cor. v. 1) — so the celestial city will be the meet 
 dwelling-place of the saints for ever, and their spiritual characteristics 
 will each and all find a counterpart in that marvellous structure pre- 
 pared for them by their God. Hence it is by no means easy, nor 
 perhaps is it always desirable, to interpret the various details here 
 given. They awaken conceptions of delight which we cannot always 
 define or describe. But let us suffer those images of glory to float 
 through our mind, and to rest in our heart, until we exclaim — 
 
 " Jerusalem ! Jerusalem ! would God I w^ere in thee ! 
 When shall my labours have an end, thy joys when shall I see?" 
 
 And perchance this unveiling of the glories to come has accomplished 
 its chief intent: it has weaned us from earth: it has drawn us to 
 heaven. 
 
444 NOTES. [book 
 
 Line 144. The agate once Chalcedons peerless boast. 
 The chalcedony was a striped agate found at Chalcedon. 
 
 Lines 160—164. 
 See Heb. viii. 5 ; ix. 23, and the important words regarding 
 Solomon's temple, which are often forgotten when those regarding 
 the Mosaic tabernacle are remembered, 1 Chron. xxviii. 11, 12. 19. 
 Eegarding the temple likewise we are there assured " the pattern of 
 all was by the Spibit," and was, we cannot doubt, only a more 
 elaborate revelation of the heavenly sanctuary. 
 
 Line 166. Some high ivatch among the lasting hills. 
 Kev. xxi. 10. 
 
 Lines 168—189. 
 See Rev. iv. 1 — 11, and note on Book iv., lines 295—301. 
 
 Lines 194—236. 
 See note, Book x., line 415, and compare Col. i. 22 with Jude 24. 
 
 Lines 237—252. 
 Matt. xi. 27. Heb. i. 3. Rev. xix. 12. 
 
 Lines 253—269. 
 Ps. xcvii. 7, as unfolded Heb. i. 6. Eph. i. 20—22. Phil. ii. 
 9—11. 
 
 Lines 270—292. 
 
 In these lines I have attempted to express thoughts contained in 
 the following notes from my Commentary on 1 Cor. xv. 24 — 28 : — 
 
 " And then, when the whole creation is thus subjected to the Son, 
 who is the Creator and Heir of ail things, then shall the Son also 
 Himself be manifestly subordinate, by His own willing and holy self- 
 presentation of Himself and the ransomed universe to the Eternal 
 Father. And so God will be all in all — not the Father without the 
 Son, nor the Father and the Son without the co-eternal Spirit ; but 
 Father, Son, and Spirit in the unity of the Godhead, being wor- 
 shipped and adored by things in heaven, and things in earth, and 
 things under the earth. 
 
 " Of this profound mystery, when in the future glory the clouds 
 of sin and sorrow shall be fbr ever swept away, perhaps the ex- 
 
XII.] NOTES. 445 
 
 perience of saints, in their access to and communion with God on 
 earth, may afford some faint adumbration. When in prayer they 
 are most conscious of the struggle with unbelief and sin, how 
 vividly they realize the mediatorship of the man Christ Jesus ; they 
 seem to come first to Jesus, and, through Him, they have access by 
 One Spirit unto the Father. But when God in Christ lifts- up the 
 light of His countenance in clearest effulgence upon them, as they 
 kneel at the footstool of the throne of grace, then it is often rather 
 the Unity of Essence in the Godhead than the Trinity of Persons 
 which fills and absorbs their souls ; they are in the presence of Him 
 who is Love ; they dwell in God, and God in them. And at such an 
 hour God to them is ' all in all.' " 
 
 Line 327. His priestly abode within the Souse of God. 
 Such appears to be the primary meaning of the words of our Lord, 
 " In My Father's house are many mansions " (John xiv. 2) ; for 
 He had already consecrated this name " My Father's house " to 
 describe the temple at Jerusalem (John ii. 16). Heaven is thus 
 revealed under the similitude of a temple, containing mansions for 
 all the members of the royal priesthood. 
 
 Lines 358—368. 
 
 See Eph. iii. 10. 
 
 Lines 369—390. 
 
 " That in the ages to come He may show the exceeding riches of 
 His grace in His kindness towards us through Christ Jesus" 
 (Eph. ii. 7). 
 
 Lines 393—410. 
 
 St. Paul's words (1 Cor. xiii. 13) are express, "And note" (uvvl 6V, 
 not referring to time, but to reality, " as the case really is") " abideth 
 faith, hope, love." These three Divine graces are not like our im- 
 perfect knowledge, and imperfect utterance, which will vanish away. 
 These are imperishable and eternal. These abide for evermore. 
 It is true that those things, which are now objects of faith and hope, 
 will be objects of sight and of blessed fruition then; but to a finite 
 being, however wide the expanse which is his own, there must ever 
 be an infinite unknown beyond, and all that lies beyond the limit of 
 his intuition will exercise faith and hope. These graces then abide. 
 But love will ever have a supremacy over faith and hope, for it is 
 the immediate reflection of Him who is love. 
 
ij'i NOTES. [BOOK 
 
 Lines 411 — 454. 
 
 Compare the prophetic Psalm, " I will declare Thy name unto My 
 brethren : in the midst of the congregation will I praise Thee" (in- 
 terpreted of our Lord, Heb. ii. 12) : also His own words, " The time 
 Cometh when I shall no more speak unto you in parables; but I 
 shall show you plainly of the Father" (John xvi. 25) : and the 
 Apocalyptic vision of the white-robed multitudes whom no man could 
 number, " who are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and 
 night in His temple" (Rev. vii. 15). 
 
 Lines 455 — 482. 
 See Rev. xxi. 2. 
 
 Lines 482—490. 
 If the earthly Zion is "an eternal excellency" (Isa. lx. 14, 15), 
 and the holy land of promise is "an everlasting possession" secured 
 by an everlasting covenant to Abraham and his seed (Gen. xvii. 7, 8), 
 may we not humbly from analogy infer that other terrestrial locali- 
 ties likewise will be recognized ? 
 
 Lines 491—500. 
 See Isa. xlix. 19, 20. 
 
 Lines 501 — 513. 
 " The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the 
 Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Hab. ii. 14). 
 
 Lines 514 — 525. 
 See Rev. xxi. 3. 
 
 Lines 526 — 545. 
 " And the nations " [" of them which are saved :" these words are 
 omitted in the best MSS.] " shall walk in the light of it " (Rev. 
 xxi. 24). 
 
 Lines 546—569. 
 Compare Isa. lxvi. 24 with the solemn revelations of the end of 
 the ungodly introduced once and again amid the glories of the 
 eternal kingdom (Rev. xxi. 8. 27; xxii. 15). 
 
 Lines 570—598. 
 " Ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I 
 have done in it, saith the JiOrd God" (Ezek. xiv. 23). 
 
XII.] NOTES. 447 
 
 Lines 599— G33. 
 For the proof from Holy Scripture that the human family, when 
 sin and death are for ever overcome, shall go on multiplying its 
 blessed generations without end, these notes are too limited to 
 afford space. I must refer to the abundant evidence collated, in 
 Birks* "Daniel," Vol. i., ch. xvi., and in his" Outlines of Unfulfilled 
 Prophecy," ch. xv. : and also to a most thoughtful and suggestive 
 work, recently published, Shepheard's Tree of Life. This we may 
 well believe, that whereas it is recorded " God formed the earth and 
 made it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited " 
 (Isa. xlv. 18), the same untiring Goodness will in His own time 
 people with intelligent worshippers the countless orbs of the 
 heavens. Of the whole ransomed Church we are assured it is but 
 " a kind of firstfruits of His creatures " (James i. 18). The illimit- 
 able harvest is yet to be gathered in. May our hearts only be 
 in unison with the inspired doxology (Eph. iii. 20, 21), "Now unto 
 Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can 
 ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him 
 be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus unto all the generations of 
 the age of the ages ! Amen." 
 
 G1LDKHT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS, ST. JOHN'S SQUARE, LONDON. 
 
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