i 
 
 
 
# LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
 # #[ 
 
 ! UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. f| 
 

 THE 
 
 TWO a:n^gels, 
 
 A. STORY OF- EITHER PA.IiA.DISE ; 
 
 In Six Cantos; 
 
 By THOMAS CLARKE, 
 
 Author of " SiK Corp," " Donna Eosa," " A Day in May," 
 " Life in the West," etc. 
 
 The proper function of Poetry is, to emblazon truth with the halo of its sunbeams." 
 
 —MiMhach, 
 It is hard to die and leave the world no better for our brief existence." 
 
 —Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 CHICAGO : 
 
 CLARKE & BOWRON, PUBLISHERS. 
 
 1867. 
 

 Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1867, 
 
 By THOS. CLARKE, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, tor the 
 Northern District of Illinois. 
 
 cj T-^t^Y" 
 
 Chicago Type Foundry. GEORGE W. CLARKE, 
 
 JOHN CONAHAN, 
 
 STBaKOTVPEE. 
 
 Printer. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 Preface, 7 
 
 CANTO I. 
 
 Introduction, 17 
 
 Invocation, . . . . . . .18 
 
 The duration of man's bliss in Paradise, . 21 
 
 Angel visitants, ...... 21 
 
 Arophel — story of liis love, .... 22 
 
 He is reproved by Lucifer, his guardian, . .27 
 
 The seas of light, 32 
 
 The ocean of eternity, 35 
 
 Throne of the Eternal, 39 
 
 The celestial city described, . . , .41 
 
 CANTO n. 
 
 The landscape of Heaven, .... 45 
 
 Its animals, plants and seasons, . . , .46 
 Its inhabitants, and their homes, ... 53 
 Their employments — their love, . . .64 
 
 Snnile of the bees, . . . . . . 68 
 
 Organization of labor, . .... 63 
 
IV CONTENTS. 
 
 How Heaven may be secui-ed on earth, . . 64 
 We must not elevate to power men who favor 
 , the slave-lords' "auction-block and v/hii^piug- 
 
 post," 15 
 
 Liberty can only reign with order, . . , T6 
 The sycophant's reward, '76 
 
 CANTO III. 
 
 Return to Heaven, 19 
 
 The Lord welcomes the strangers, proposes sports 
 
 in their honor, and a crown to the victor, . 83 
 The tournament — Michael declared victor, . 85 
 He challenges Lucifer, who accepts, . . .86 
 
 The contest, 87 
 
 Simile of the bulls, 87 
 
 Lucifer is victorious, and is challenged by Raphael 
 
 to a trial of skill in song, .... 90 
 
 The Anthem, 91 
 
 Lucifer, as victor, receives the jeweled crown, . 97 
 His speech — in which he takes occasion to 
 
 accuse Arophel, who is banished; and Lucifer 
 
 returns to his government, . . . . 98 
 
 CANTO IV. 
 
 Time a blank to immortals, . . . .105 
 After an interval of a million of years, Arophel 
 and Lucifer meet, once more, on the planet, 
 Venus, . . ... . . 108 
 
CONTENTS. V 
 
 With difficulty Aropliel recognizes his former 
 guardian, . . . . . . .111 
 
 Lucifer rehiles to him strange events that had 
 occurred in the meantime, . . . .112 
 
 The meeting of Lucifer and Yenus, . . 117 
 Her marvellous beauty and grace, . . .118 
 Their mutual love, and the strange scenes that 
 attended their nuptials, . . . . 122 
 
 She accompanies Lucifer to his government, . 126 
 "Whence they visit earth, . . . . 127 
 
 Th€ fatal consequences, 127 
 
 The rebellion in Heaven, . . . . 132 
 
 CANTO y. 
 
 The seduction and ruin of man — how caused, 135 
 Venus administers wine to Adam, . . 136 
 
 Its effects, .137 
 
 Eve's beauty and innocence, and her misfortune, 140 
 She eats, and persuades Adam to eat, the forbid- 
 den fruit, 143 
 
 Lucifer glories in his victory, and foretells its 
 results, . . . . . . . 146 
 
 His seed will leaven the whole mass of humanity, 147 
 Even Christianity will be polluted by it, . .151 
 He tries to corrupt Arophel by his sophistries, 155 
 But is rebuked by him, and convicted of inconsis- 
 tency, falsehood and blasphemy, . . .156 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CANTO VI. 
 
 Arophel's home argument, . . . . 171 
 Natm*e's law, perverted, leads to every abuse, . 1*73 
 What have created beings to boast of? . 1*74 
 
 They know nothing of the real nature and essences 
 
 of things, 177 
 
 "Who can blot out the memory of sin, or atone for 
 
 violated law? 183 
 
 Sinners have only one hope and that is — in a 
 
 Sa\dor, 183 
 
 Arophel exhorts Lucifer to repent and accept 
 
 salvation, . . . . . . . 186 
 
 Lucifer's fierce and blasphemous reply, . .186 
 He is struck with a thunderbolt and transformed 
 
 into a frightful meteor, , . . . 188 
 ArophePs horror and awe, . . . .189 
 
 His prayer, 190 
 
 Farewell to the Muse, 191 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 If it be true that the man who causes two blades 
 of grass to grow wh'ere only one grew before, is a 
 benefactor of his race, it must also be true that he 
 who presents new ideas in such a shape as will 
 render them practically useful to mankind, is a bene- 
 factor of his race in a still higher sense ; inasmuch 
 as man's moral transcends his physical nature ; and 
 to minister to his moral wants is more honorable 
 than to minister to those which are merely transient 
 and changeable. . 
 
 The object of the following poem is, to embody 
 truth in such a form as will make it attractive to 
 the general reader, and render the new ideas intro- 
 duced into it subservient to the end in view — his 
 instruction and edification. The public mind of our 
 day seems prone to confound truth with error; right 
 
8 PEEFACE. 
 
 with wi'ong ; and even some theologians sanction the 
 doctrine, that evil is an essential element of our 
 being, and that we are not moral free agents. 
 
 To counteract this pernicious tendency and doc- 
 trine, and " to vindicate the ways of God to man," the 
 following story, suggested by modern science, and 
 rendered probable, at least allegorically, by the whole 
 spirit of Scripture history, is presented to the reader, 
 in the hope that it will lead him, by a flowery path, 
 to realize the noble lessons which it attempts to 
 inculcate. 
 
 "Thus, to the fevered child we oft present. 
 Disguised with sweets, the margin of the bowl 
 
 Which holds the bitter draught ; and he, content, 
 Thence quaffs, deceived, the juice that makes him whole." 
 
 It must be confessed that the ideal sought to be 
 realized in this poem is one of a very high order ; 
 and the author is fully aware of the difficult task he 
 has imposed upon himself in attempting it. Dr. 
 Channing has summed up the qualifications which 
 he deemed requisite for such an undertaking, in 
 the following language : 
 
 "Next to moral, comes intellectual,* greatness, 
 
PREFACE. 9 
 
 or genius, in the highest sense of that word ; and by 
 this we mean, that liigh capacity of thought, through 
 which the soul, smitten with the love of the true 
 and the beautiful, essays to comprehend the universe ; 
 soars into the heavens ; penetrates the earth ; pene- 
 trates itself; interrogates the past; anticipates the 
 future ; traces out the general and comprehensive 
 laws of nature ; binds together, by innumerable 
 affinities and relations, all the objects of its know- 
 ledge; rises from the finite and transient, to the 
 infinite and the everlasting ; frames to itself, from 
 its own fullness, lovelier and sublimer forms than 
 it beholds; discovers the harmonies between the 
 world within and the world Avithout, and finds, in 
 every region of the universe, types and interpreters 
 of its own deep mysteries and glorious inspu*ations. 
 This is that greatness w^hich belongs to philosophers, 
 and to the master spirits of poetry and the fine 
 arts." 
 
 The author of the following poem makes no apol- 
 ogy for aspiring after this kind of greatness ; as it 
 is an object worthy of the highest human ambition ; 
 
10 PREFACE. 
 
 to aim at which would be praisewoi-thy — k) attain it, 
 meritorious. But how far he may have reahzed it, 
 in this or any of his other prod-uctions, is a question 
 on which he will n6t presume to speak. On this 
 subject he will leave an elilightened and impartial 
 public to pass its verdict, and he has no doubt that 
 its decision will, be just as well as generous. 
 
 With regard to the problems of social, moral, and 
 poliucal progress incidentally introduced into this 
 work, vt may be well to state that, however Utopian 
 they might appear if applied to the fossilized, hard- 
 shell strata of European society, they are by no 
 means \asionary or impracticable when applied to 
 the free institutions of our own age and country, in 
 which they may be fully reahzed, if we are wise 
 enough to avail ourselves of the means in our 
 power and the noble opportunity that, at this 
 transition stag§ of ou|" progress, presents itself; 
 which, if neglected, may never again oifer us so fair a 
 chance. For this reason, we ought to take especial 
 note of a truth asserted by the late Mr. Buckle, viz. : 
 "that no people can advance if, on the one hand, 
 
PREFACE. 1 1 
 
 their increasing ability is accompanied by increasing 
 vice; or if, on the other, they are becoming more 
 virtuous while they are also becoming more ignorant ; 
 and that this double movement, moral and intellec- 
 tual, is essential to the very idea of civiUzation; 
 for if we lose in morality as we gain in knowledge, 
 where is the advantage ?" 
 
 To some readers, who perhaps are over-fastidious, 
 certain passages in this poem descriptive of female 
 beauty or manly grace, may appear too highly 
 colored and voluptuous ; but these jDcrsons will do 
 well to remember that the poet, in order to give 
 truthfulness and consistency to his characters, has no 
 choice ; and that the language employed, in all cases, 
 is in strict accordance with the characters of the 
 personages who use it, and that a diiferent course 
 would mar the unity and vraisemblance ©f the 
 whole. It is hoped that this will be a sufficient 
 apology with all reasonable readers — to any others 
 no apology is offered. 
 
 The author cannot close this preface without 
 returning thanks to the press and people of the 
 
12 PREFACE. 
 
 West, for their kind reception and just appreciation 
 of a recent publication of his, entitled " Sir Copp," 
 whose success havS been remarkable, considering the 
 circumstances under which it was published. 
 
 It was broadly asserted that no poetical work 
 which did not come forth in " blue and gold," from 
 SQme great Eastern publishing house, could meet 
 with success in the West, whose people, it was 
 affii-med, depended entirely on the East, not only for 
 theii' literary ideas, but for their judgment and taste 
 in hterary matters also. 
 
 The author had too much confidence in the good 
 sense and judgment of the people to be deterred 
 fi-om his purpose by this wild talk, and he resolved to 
 try the experiment. 
 
 The result has proved that he was right; and 
 demonstrated the fa"ct, that the press and people of 
 the West exercise an independent judgment on 
 literary, as well as other subjects ; and that they care 
 no more where" or by whom a book is pubhshed 
 if it is a good one, than they care where, or by 
 whom a nugget of gold is dug up, provided it have 
 
PREFACE. 13 
 
 the ring and the quaUties of the true metal ; nor do 
 they so much regard the color and binding of the 
 book as they do its contents. 
 
 This trait is very encouraging to the cause of 
 home literature, which claims the warmest support 
 and patronage of all enlightened and patriotic 
 Western men ; not, indeed, because of any jealousy 
 or sectional ill feeling towards the East, to which we 
 ought to be and are truly thankful for the many 
 intellectual treats and substantial benefits received 
 from that quarter, but from a laudable desire to 
 elevate our own section to an equality with any other 
 in literary excellence, so that we may be able to 
 discharge some portion of our obligations by offering 
 our benefactors something worthy of their notice in 
 return. The gi-eat republic of letters recognizes no 
 sectional jealousies or local or individual privileges, 
 but haUs with delight whatever is truly valuable, 
 come from what quarter it may. This warrants the 
 hope that the day is not far distant when the litera- 
 ture of the West, like its statesmanship, loyalty and 
 military genius, shall make itself known and 
 
14 PREFACE. 
 
 respected everywhere, and that we shall no longer 
 hear from men who ought to be the best patrons of 
 home literature, the childish and impotent query, 
 " can anything good come out of Nazareth ?" as if 
 genius, or power, or enterprise were confined to any 
 particular locality, or to any privileged class ! 
 
 How any one could imagine that a publisher could 
 infuse qualities into a book not inherent in it, is a 
 problem difficult t% solve. It is the genius of the 
 author alone which stamj^s any work w4th the seal of 
 merit, and where this is wanting, no sm-roundings, 
 not even the " blue and gold " of the publisher can 
 supply its place; but when genius animates and 
 pervades the work, then, indeed, little publication and 
 less gliding and coloring are required, for it has an 
 inherent right to life and the people will not let it die. 
 No matter how obscure the place of its birth, it will, 
 like the truly great man, work its way into the light ; 
 or like a new star appearing above the horizon, will 
 attract all men by its brilliancy and its beauty, until 
 the whole earth is pervaded by its benign influence, 
 and rendered happier and better for its existence. 
 
PEEFACE. 15 
 
 Noy.^, no people in the world are n»re prompt to 
 recognize and appreciate a work of true merit than 
 those of the West, because, perhaps, they have to a 
 certain extent escaped the demoralizing influences of 
 the old world literature, with which the East is, unfor- 
 tunately* flooded ; and, perhaps, because their minds 
 are more masculine, self-reliant and independent 
 by habit, . which enables them to see, instinctively, 
 and to appreciate that which is grand and sublime, 
 becaus'e it is simple and truthful. Whatever may 
 be the cause, it is certain that the West is the great 
 theatre where original genius can best make itself 
 known, for here it will meet with a speedy recogni- 
 tion and a suitable reward. 
 
 Chicago, Illinois. 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 CANTO I. 
 
 " Things unattempted yet, in proso or rhyme."— Milton 
 
 Supreme in power, supreme in bliss, 
 The Spirit winged the dark abyss : 
 His voice rang on the ear of Night, 
 And lo, m answer, Heavenborn Ught! 
 And soon the firmament unrolled 
 Its glo^ving arch of burnished gold ; 
 Where sun and moon and stars appear, 
 To bless, ligiit, guard, the rolhng year. 
 Earth heard the Master's voice and poured 
 Rich gifts, as grateful to its Lord. 
 The mighty billows of the ocean 
 Teemed with new life in joyful motion ; 
 The Land in emulation bore 
 Its myriad shapes in days of yore, 
 
 Bl 
 
18 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 And crowned them with their master, man, 
 Creation's lord, Gt)d's model plan, 
 Formed in his image, life-inspired, 
 And with immortal yearnings fired ; 
 Yea, male and female he was made, 
 Placed in a garden's grateful shade. 
 Filled with all precious fruits and flowers. 
 Festooned to form sequestered bowers ; 
 Where Adam and om* Mother dwelt 
 In bhss, nor pam nor sorrow felt. 
 
 How long remained the happy pair 
 Secure from sorrow, sin, and care ? 
 How long enjoyed tbey that retreat, 
 In innocence and virtue sweet? 
 
 Ah, who can tell ? or who conceive, 
 As men are constituted now. 
 
 Of sinless life ? or who believe 
 In joys supreme with man below? 
 
 Immortal Muse, whate'er thy name. 
 That fillest my scRil with Heavenly flame, 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 19 
 
 To paint creation's beauties rare, 
 In earth and Heaven, in sea and aii* ; 
 Or, if a number have combined, 
 To take possession of my mind, 
 Impress it with theu' loveliness, 
 Their matchless elegance and grace; 
 That I to shadowy forms may give 
 A fixed abode and bid them live ; 
 Or whether the essences of things 
 Tune my wild harp and teach its strings, 
 To echo from its hidden cell 
 The tones and strains they love so well : 
 Whatever be your nature bright. 
 Ye must be children of the light. 
 Come then, ye sphits, pure, divine, 
 Illume my soul and cause it shine ; 
 Inspire it with the will and power. 
 Above the beaten track to soar, 
 And charm the ears of wondering men 
 With strains unknown to mortal ken, 
 That I may paint the happy pair 
 In Eden, while they sojourned there 
 
20 TPIE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Whence, soaring higli on buoyant wing, 
 The bHss of angels let me sing ; 
 That all may listen to my theme. 
 Nor deem it fancy's morbid dream ! 
 
 God said to man : " Lo ! every tree. 
 
 Save only that of good and ill. 
 For your delight and food is free. 
 
 Partake of all, enjoy at will; 
 But in the day ye eat of this. 
 
 On that same day, ye surely die ; 
 Then ends your paradise of bliss ; 
 
 Then ends your immortality." 
 
 Yes ! from that mournful day and hour, 
 The mortal life of Adam dates ; 
 
 When death began to wield his power. 
 And rule supreme o'er human fates. 
 
 Millions of years, perhaps, had flown, 
 Ere man j^repared for sin had grown ; 
 And millions more had doubtless sped, 
 Ere they to actual crmie were led. 
 
THE TWO Al^GELS. 21 
 
 How many a happy summer's day 
 In mutual love they wliiled away ! 
 How many a sweet and tranquil night 
 They hailed the stars with fresh delight ! 
 How many a spring enriched theii* bowers, 
 With screens of earth's delightful flowers ! 
 And many an autumn's golden beam 
 The luscious fruits made ripe for them ; 
 But not for them alone. They shared 
 Then* feast with every guest who dared 
 To quit, awhile, the Heavenly gate, 
 Their energies to renovate 
 In Eden's rustic paradise, 
 Companions of the fair and wise. 
 
 From sun and moon and i^lanets bright 
 Trooped hosts of beauty, gi-ace and light. 
 To spend on earth the day or night ! 
 For these the hom's too swiftly fly, 
 Too soon recall them to the sky ; 
 Where they are forced to bide with pain. 
 Till earth invite them back again. 
 
22 THE TWO AKGELS. 
 
 The fame of our immortal sires 
 Reached e'en the stars' far distant fires ; 
 Whence scouts angelic oft would go 
 To scan our little world below. 
 What wonder seized them, as they gazed 
 On Eden ! And, still more amazed, 
 They viewed its lovely, god-like lords, 
 And with delight drank in their words ! 
 Their hearts with wild emotions burned, 
 Which fired their peers when they returned ; 
 And soon all Heaven's brifyht ano^el host 
 Had fixed theii* eyes on earth's fan* coast, 
 And in bewilderment were lost ! 
 
 Do angels love? or, if they do, 
 Can they fair vii'tue's paths eschew ? 
 Or, as on earth, must virtue yield. 
 When, armed, young Cupid takes the field ? 
 
 Once, on a charming summer's night. 
 When Sirius shone with silver light, 
 An angel, set that orb to guard. 
 Forsook his post of watch and ward, 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 23 
 
 Slid downward on a slanting beam 
 To gratify a morbid dream ; 
 For love had so possessed his breast, 
 In Eden only found he rest ; 
 And gazing on Eve's ripening charms, 
 He longed to fold her in his arms, 
 Regardless both of right and shame ; 
 But Eve rebuked his lawless flame, 
 And with harsh words from lips so fair, 
 She doomed the wretch to blank despair; 
 And urged him to retrace his way. 
 Nor longer in her bower delay. 
 Lest Adam, waking from his sleep. 
 Might weep, or give him cause to weep. 
 
 Abashed, the wretched youth withdrew, 
 And on a" silvery beam up-flew, 
 Towards where, in heaven, bright Sirius shone, 
 Now not far distant from the sun. 
 On, on he sped with hurried flight. 
 Lest morn overtake him with its light, 
 Which now was near ; for in the East 
 Bright Venus reared her diamond crest. 
 
24 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 And rode supreme. The moon had set, 
 And sweet Aurora slumbered yet. 
 
 Arrived on Yenus' orb, he stood 
 
 Upon a hill, in pensive mood, 
 
 And strained once more his loving eyes 
 
 Towards earth and her sweet paradise. 
 
 He saw the distant planet speed 
 
 Along her track, like racing steed, 
 
 With her attendant satellite 
 
 That shed soft radiance o'er her night. 
 
 But he no longer could behold 
 
 The fair one with the locks of gold 
 
 That charmed his heart in Eden's bowers, 
 
 "Where he had spent such blissful hours ; " 
 
 For now the sun's refulgent light 
 
 Bewi'ayed his vision though so bright. 
 
 Dejected, sad, o'erwhelmed with fears, 
 
 He finds relief in floods of tears : 
 
 Thus long he mourned. At length, he sees 
 
 A form advancing through the trees ; 
 
 As it approached, with glad surprise 
 
 A friend he seemed to recognize. 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 25 
 
 Whose presence memory awoke, 
 And thus, accosting hun, he siJoke : 
 
 " 'T is thou, my guardian, Lucifer ! 
 It glads my soul to meet thee here ; 
 How opportune to find a friend. 
 And one on whom I may depend !" 
 
 " What ! Arophel," the angel cried, 
 "Thou here?" 
 
 And Arophel replied : 
 " 'T is even so, oh, Lucifer, 
 Bright ^ngel of this morning star, 
 Behold me wretched, lovelorn, lost, 
 I know not by what tempest, tost ; 
 Urged on by passions I detest, 
 I feel a hell within my breast ! 
 Oh, cruel pain, terrific strife ! 
 Why am I cursed with endless life ? 
 What demon drives me on to love. 
 Where neither God nor men approve, 
 Another's wife ? But oh, liow fair ! 
 All Heaven with her cannot compare, 
 
26 ' THE TWO ANGELS. , 
 
 In matchless form, consummate grace, 
 And the bright radiance of her face ! 
 Her breath seems essence of the rose 
 And every fragi'ant flower that blows ; 
 These and the treasures of her mind 
 Enchain me and her captive bind ! 
 
 And then her artless, winning ways ; 
 
 The innocence with which she plays, 
 
 Unconsciows, that each lovely smile 
 
 Is wounding angel hearts the while ; 
 
 That every gesture, every word. 
 
 Is keener than a two-edged sword ! 
 
 That nameless gi-ace, that witching spell, 
 
 That draws us only to repel. 
 
 That look which almost says ; ' I love,' 
 
 Yet all advances will reprove. 
 
 Though indicating chaste desire 
 
 Reveals, in truth, the vestal's fire ! 
 
 Those arts which seem half pure, half frail, 
 
 Which in our heavenly beauties fail 
 
 To find a place, or, if they do. 
 
 Their owners hide them from our view ; 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 27 
 
 All these attractions, human, warm, 
 Are woman's chief, peciiliar, charm, 
 And find in Eve a fit abode, 
 Herself the fairest work of God !" 
 He ended here, and deeply sighed ; 
 Thus Lucifer to him repUed : 
 
 *' It grieves me, Arophel, to hear 
 
 Such weakness in a friend so dear, 
 
 A groveling love for clods of clay 
 
 A low ambition doth betray. 
 
 Methinks, a being formed of fire 
 
 To loftier objects should aspire, 
 
 Nor wish to mingle with a creature 
 
 Inferior to itself in nature. 
 
 Tied to one little spot of earth, 
 
 The place obscure which gave it bu*th. 
 
 And which can never soar abroad, 
 
 Amidst the boundless works of God, 
 
 But, cramped in body as in mind, 
 
 Must ever be to earth confined. 
 
 For shame, my friend, renounce this love. 
 
 Aspire to objects far above!" 
 
28 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 He ceased, and him young Arophel 
 Addressed in turn : 
 
 " I feel too well 
 The justice of thy reprimand, 
 And only wish I could command 
 My headstrong passions as I ought ; 
 But, Lucifer, I have not sought 
 This cruel chain, but every art 
 Employed to tear it from my heart, 
 Without success. It now remams, 
 To yield to what my fate ordains." 
 
 " Our fate is none of our concern," 
 Cried Lucifer, with accent stern ; 
 " Our duty must our fate decide." 
 
 " If that be so," the youth replied, 
 
 " Without a struggle I must yield 
 
 The victory and quit the field. 
 
 I would not, if I could, rec-all 
 
 My love, for Heaven, and earth and all 
 
 That they contain of good and great ; 
 
 Mine is involved in Eden's fate." 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 29 
 
 " 'T is thus thou strivest to control 
 
 The weakness of thy will and soul?" 
 
 Cried Lucifer. " The task be mine, 
 
 To cm-b that wayward heart of thine, 
 
 From right estranged by sin's foul taint. 
 
 Which nought can change save wise restramt ; 
 
 And though it grieves my soul to be 
 
 The cause of present pain to thee, 
 
 I feel assured, that in the end 
 
 Thou wilt regard me as thy friend, 
 
 And feel how much I sacrifice 
 
 To win thee from the ways of vice. 
 
 'T is duty calls, I must obey ; 
 
 Together we must wing our way 
 
 Before Jehovah's awful throne !" 
 
 Him Arophel, in pleading tone, 
 
 The tear drops streaming down his face. 
 
 Besought to spare him this disgrace. 
 
 This agonizing, dreadful pain ! 
 
 " Let not," he cried, " my prayer be vain ; 
 
 Oh, Lucifer, behold, to thee, 
 
 My friend, I bend the suppliant knee ; 
 
30 THE TWO Al^GELS. 
 
 Have pity on my tender youth ! 
 I have been tempted sore, in sooth, 
 And have ah-eady suffered woes 
 Which language never can disclose. 
 Have I not struggled with the ooil ? 
 But what availed my utmost toil, 
 To tear the passion from my heart, 
 While yet unfledged ? and now no art 
 Can soothe my spirit or restore 
 The peace which I enjoyed of yore. 
 And, if my sin is thus made known 
 To Hun who sits upon the throne, 
 The punishment which I shall share 
 Will greater be than I" can bear. 
 I shall be banished far away 
 From all that makes me prize the day; 
 And sent to some lone, distant isle, 
 And never more behold her smile. 
 Nor see the rose bud on her cheek, 
 Nor hear her ( sweetest music !) speak ! 
 But, in some cavern'd dungeon — mine. 
 Unknown, unloved, shall grieve and pine. 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 31 
 
 Then pity me, my friend, and save 
 
 Thy friend from this untimely grave. 
 
 And oh, refUHJt, if chance or fato 
 
 Had doomed thee to my lot, of late, 
 
 And forced thee to behold those charms 
 
 Which fill my soul with love's alarms. 
 
 Thou, too, though strong, v/ith heart of stone, 
 
 Might'st haj^ly to her love been won !" 
 
 " Presumptuous youth," his guardian cried, 
 
 "Think'st thou, because thou hast been tried 
 
 And wanting found, that others too 
 
 Must needs a similar course pursue ? 
 
 Know, then, that should I condescend 
 
 To visit earth, as foe, or friend, 
 
 The groveling creatm-es there confined 
 
 In me should no such weakness find, 
 
 Like thee, a lover, raving, wild, 
 
 As craves for toys a petted child. 
 
 If, then, this be the only plea 
 
 For mercy thou canst urge with me^ 
 
 'T is all in vain to plead delay. 
 
 The parley ends, we must away I" 
 
32 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Thus fierce, inexorably just, 
 Did Lucifer fulfil Ms trust. 
 
 To this the youth made no reply, 
 But bowed his head and heaved a sigh ; 
 And seemed resigned, with lofty pride, 
 To bear whatever might betide. 
 
 The angels prune their wings for flight, 
 And launch themselves on seas of light, 
 That rolled twixt planets, isles, and capes, 
 Of monstrous size and varied shapes ; 
 Now deftly steering 'round the rocks, 
 Now backward hurled by furious shocks 
 From comet or from asteroid, 
 Where they imagined all was void. 
 Huge rocky fragments torn from stars 
 Would scream like shells in mortal wars. 
 And rush through space with lightning speed. 
 Resistless as the warrior's steed ! 
 With nimble van and rudder blade, 
 The angels their assaults evade. 
 
THE TWO AKGELS. S3 
 
 And steer triumphant towards the coast 
 Where seas in ocean's waves are lost, 
 A place near which the united sound 
 Of all the planets may be found. 
 
 Arrived at last, the angels' ears 
 
 There drink the music of the spheres, 
 
 A harmony divine tliat fills 
 
 Their souls with most ecstatic thrills. 
 
 Like that by which the Sirens charm 
 
 The ocean-wayfarers to harm, 
 
 Of which Ulysses made aware. 
 
 His crew redeemed by timely care. 
 
 While Scylla's sea-dogs barked and gi-owled. 
 
 And mad Charybdis 'round him howled ! 
 
 The angels, though in haste, would fain 
 Pause here and listen to the strain. 
 Had not the gravitating force 
 Impelled them to pursue their course ; 
 For here its torrent vast and strong 
 Sweeps every thing with it along. 
 
34 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 I>own headlong toward the solar beam, 
 In its resistless whirlpool stream. 
 But Lucifer, with Godlike power, 
 Confronts the danger of the hour, 
 He battles with the fierce maelstrom. 
 Until the danger 's overcome, 
 With his young charge plies sail and oar, 
 Till both are safely off the shore. 
 
 As when, ( if lawful to compare 
 
 Small things with great,) a hapless pair, 
 
 For pleasure boating o'er the wave 
 
 'Neath which the cataract's thunders rave, 
 
 In youthful dalliance, void of thought. 
 
 Are in the eddying rapids caught, 
 
 Which drive them towards the fearful brink. 
 
 Where to destruction they must sink. 
 
 Unless their energies shall save 
 
 Their lives from that wild, yawTiing grave ! 
 
 They start, they rouse them from their dream, 
 
 They ply their oars to stem the stream. 
 
 Strain every muscle, nerve, and bone, 
 
 Until their life froni death is won ; 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 35 
 
 Then, shucTdering at their danger past, 
 
 They realize theu* state at last ! 
 
 'T is thus the angels feel, at length, 
 
 When they regain their breath and strength, 
 
 Exhausted by this conflict du-e. 
 
 With storm, and rock, and stream, and fii-e. 
 
 And now an ocean lies before, 
 
 An ocean without bound or shore, 
 
 And this they enter and explore. 
 
 If oak and triple folds of brass 
 
 Were twisted 'round the daring heart 
 Of that bold sailor, first to pass 
 
 Through ocean without guide or chart, 
 Save those bright stars that sweetly smiled 
 
 To cheer the wanderer on his way, 
 Some lonely rock or headland wild. 
 
 With which in view he might not stray ; 
 What wood, or metal tempered high. 
 
 The angels' hearts had iron-clad. 
 To stem the ocean of the sky. 
 
 And make them buoyant, strong and glad, 
 
36 '' THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Where stars nor lighted headlands raised 
 Theii' cheering rays by which to steer ? 
 
 Ah ! Ught from heaven withm tliem blazed, 
 And marked their com-se distinct and clear. 
 
 Stupendous voyage ! vast emprize ! 
 
 Eternity's dark ocean looms, 
 Though dimly, to their wondering eyes, 
 
 Each wave to wave its greeting booms ! 
 But storms and temj)ests trouble not 
 
 Its placid surface, and their strife 
 The elements have all forgot. 
 
 For there is found no trace of life, 
 Except vague shapes, dim, strange and vast. 
 
 Which seem, but are not, living things. 
 The mighty shadows of the past. 
 
 Huge monsters with their flapping wings ; 
 As dragons, vampires, saurians, fowls. 
 
 Of poisonous breath and omen ill. 
 To which our saurians, bats, and owls 
 
 Are motes in size. But all is still, 
 Except that dull, unearthly sound 
 
 That silence only can evoke, 
 
THE TWO AKGELS. 3t 
 
 When it is perfect and profound, 
 
 Which seems all echoes to provoke 
 Of things gone by, of things to come, 
 
 Of things that never conid have been ; 
 Reminding one of that strange hum 
 
 Of sounds in Some wild, dreamy scene I 
 This silent, vast, yet echoing sea 
 
 The angels stem with steady oar; 
 As they advance, the monsters flee, 
 
 Like thought, behind them and before. 
 At dreary intervals, an isle 
 
 Of light would greet them from afar, 
 And, sometimes o'er their track would smile 
 
 The glory of a single star, 
 Surrounded by its lesser lights. 
 
 Like some great chief or patriarch. 
 Conspicuous 'midst his satellites ; 
 
 These passed, again the scene was dark. 
 If from some planet's orb a swain 
 
 Glanced, as they j)assed, upon their flight. 
 To him appeared the Heavenly twain. 
 
 Like shooting stars athwart the night. 
 
38 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Thus many a million leagues they steered, 
 
 Their daring flight through boundless space, 
 Until, at length, no ray appeared 
 
 To light them on their heavenward race ; 
 Far, far beyond the smallest star 
 
 Or nebula that meets the eye 
 Of Science in her jewelled car. 
 
 As with her glass she sweeps the sky. 
 They, quick as light, for ages, sped, 
 
 Engulphed, not lost, within the deep, 
 Until the younger drooped his head. 
 
 And, from fatigue, was fain to weep ; 
 Then Lucifer his courage cheered. 
 
 By j)ointing to a speck of Ught 
 "Which to his wondering gaze appeared 
 
 A gem upon the brow of night; 
 It seemed a sapphire, and it grew. 
 
 As they approached, to wondrous siz%; 
 An object brilliant, gorgeous, new 
 
 To Arophel's unpr actio ed eyes ! 
 
 "Behold," said Lucifer, "the end! 
 There shall we rest our weary wings ; 
 
THE TWO AJS^GELS. 39 
 
 There shalt thou find thy kindest friend, 
 And there' forget thy passion's stings." 
 
 So saying, quick as thought or light, 
 
 They onward, upward wing their way, 
 Like eagles, as they speed then- flight, 
 
 StiU gazing on the orb of day ; 
 Until from gloomy shades they passed. 
 
 And Heaven's great central arch was won. 
 And there the Seraphs rest at last, 
 
 Upon a glorious, brilliant sun. 
 Placed in the center of the world, 
 
 Where Great Jehovah's banner flies, 
 Whose golden motto there unfurled 
 
 Proclaims, " The Ruler of the Skies." 
 
 High on a sapphire throne in state. 
 Surrounded by a glorious throng 
 
 Of angels, the Eternal sat, 
 
 And millions hailed Him with a song. 
 
 So overpowering was the blaze 
 
 Of light which veiled Jehovah's head. 
 
40 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 I 
 
 That gifted seraphs dared not gaze 
 
 Upon the radiance which it shed ; 
 But veiled their faces as they bowed, 
 
 And spread their wings before their eyes ; 
 And glorified in anthems loud, 
 
 The spu'it wrapt in mysteries. 
 For no created thing hath seen 
 
 The face of God at any time ; 
 This glorious throne and radiant sheen 
 
 Are emblems of, His power sublime, 
 And but reflect, as 'twere, the rays 
 
 Of His great attributes combined, 
 Concentered there in one vast blaze. 
 
 As pointing to the ruling mind. 
 
 But there the Son of man reveals 
 
 The essence of His Father's love ; 
 He sees, He pities and He heals 
 
 The woes of men and saints above. 
 There, resting on His Father's breast. 
 
 The Mediator and the Just, 
 Proclaims salvation, joy, and rest. 
 
 To all who in Him put their trust : 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 41 
 
 Pie hears our prayers, and He responds 
 
 To all our sighs and our complaints ; 
 And to our God has sealed His bonds, 
 
 To suffer for His faithful saints. 
 And hark, the hallelujahs high 
 
 Are echoed from the Heavenly dome ! 
 And, as the stranger twain drew nigh, 
 
 They bowed themselves before the throne. 
 They with their wings their faces shroud, 
 
 And join in their Creator's praise, 
 And, in an anthem SAveet and loud, 
 
 They hail the Ancient One of days ! 
 
 At length, the matin service o'er, 
 
 They greetings with their friends exchange ; 
 And then the city they explore, 
 
 And view its beauties wondrous, strange. 
 Its site was on a lofty hill 
 
 That overlooked a verdant plain, 
 Where many a river, brook and rill, 
 
 Meandered towards the distant main. 
 
 b2 
 
42 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Its streets were paved with purest gold ; 
 
 Its outer wall with jasper shoue, 
 In which twelve pearly gates unfold 
 
 The light reflected from the throne. 
 For there no sun, no star, no moon, 
 
 Shed o'er the scene its cheering ray ; 
 God's glory made eternal noon ; 
 
 The Lord an everlasting day ! 
 
 In every gate an angel stood, 
 
 To guard the entrance with a sword ; 
 None were admitted but the good, -; 
 The two-edged sword, 't was God's own word. 
 
 The city had four spacious squares 
 Adorned with many a leafy screen, 
 
 Where happy lovers strolled in paii'S, 
 
 And whispered vows their boughs between. 
 
 The city had no temple raised 
 By creature-hands for sacrifice ; 
 
 No altar there with victims blazed; 
 For these the Lamb might well suffice. 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 43 
 
 And from God's throne and of the Lamb, 
 
 A river clear as crystal flowed ; 
 A stately tree, like spreading palm, 
 
 With fruits each side that river stood : 
 And this the tree of life was named, 
 
 And precious was the fruit it bore ; 
 Its very leaves were prized and famed 
 
 For healing souls afflicted sore ; 
 Leaves manufactured into books 
 
 By which the truth is spread abroad. 
 These with the rocks and running brooks 
 
 Are filled with the life-giving word. 
 This is the food that angels love, . 
 
 On this they feast for evermore ; 
 With this they through creation rove, 
 
 And with it feed the hungry poor. 
 
CANTO II. 
 
 "There is a land of pure delight, 
 "Where saints immortal reign; 
 
 Eternal day excludes the night. 
 And pleasures banish pain." 
 
 Next, Lucifer and his young friend 
 The summit of the hill ascend, 
 Whence they can catch a glorious view 
 Of fields and meadows bathed in dew. 
 On every side, the eye can trace 
 A scene of loveliness and grace. 
 Presenting traits of every clime, 
 From beauty rising to sublime. 
 There Spring her virgin kingdom spreads, 
 Where violets raise their modest heads, 
 And primroses and daisies smile 
 O'er verdant lawns for many a mile 
 Where sheep and horses, deer and cows, 
 With elephants and mammoth browse ; 
 
46 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 There whei'e the megatherium 
 Makes with the unicorn its home ; 
 Where elk and fawns and springbock sport, 
 And royal tigers hold their court, 
 Where lions, leopards, panthers, play 
 With lambs and kids, the livelong day. 
 
 And here the fervid Summer reigns. 
 And spreads his mantle o'er the plains; 
 Points to his cornfields waving high, 
 His vales of barley, wheat and rye ; 
 Or to that undulating dell. 
 Where waves the flax its sweet blue bell ; 
 Or to yon bean-field blooming fan-. 
 Whose sweetness scents the balmy air; 
 Where bees resort on humming wing. 
 And while they labor gaily sing : 
 Or to the mead where mowers gay 
 Sweep with their scythes the sceiited hay. 
 Which ruddy maidens toss with glee. 
 And sing and laugh right merrily. 
 Whom youths with nimble rake pursue ; 
 And lapcocks rise to cheer the view : 
 
TUE TWO ANGELS. 47 
 
 Nor, if you follow, can you find 
 
 A blade left carelessly behind ; 
 
 Theii- work is crowned with skill and taste, 
 
 And nothing left to rot or waste. 
 
 From yonder distant, cloud-capt hill, 
 
 Meanders through the meads a rill 
 
 Of water, gathering in a j^ool, 
 
 With green trees shaded, fresh and cool; 
 
 Inviting creatures to its brink, 
 
 Where thousands come and freely drink. 
 
 Some j)addle through its shallow wave, . 
 
 Some plunge in deep their limbs to lave ; 
 
 Some slowly by its margin pass 
 
 Reflected in its face of glass. 
 
 The yomiglings gambol o'er the plain, 
 
 And to their dams haste back again. 
 
 Who take in flowery beds their rest, 
 
 And all are satisfied and blest. 
 
 Turn to yon vale ; there you behold 
 Brown Autumn with his locks of gold ; 
 With sickle bright the fields he reaps. 
 And piles the sheaves in golden heaps : 
 
48 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 From grapes he presses — not tlie wiiie, 
 But nectar, beverage divine, 
 Which cheers hut not inebriates, 
 And harmony and love creates. 
 
 But Winter here thou wilt not find, 
 Nor frost nor snow nor chilling wind. 
 For storm nor hail, nor sin nor death 
 Can dwell those Heavenly skies beneath. 
 Here tears and sorrows are unknown ; 
 The orphan's sigh, the widow's moan ; 
 For God the tears wij^es from all eyes. 
 The weary rest in paradise. 
 Look still beyond and thou wilt find 
 All seasons and all cUmes combined; 
 The bud, the blossom and the fruit. 
 All blended from a single root. 
 In every stage to gratify 
 The palate, scent or curious eye. 
 
 And hark that music ! eveiy spray 
 Gives forth its rich, melodious lay. 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 49 
 
 There songsters from their fair-plumed throats 
 
 Pour torrents of delicious notes : 
 
 The blackbu'd whistles to his mate, 
 
 In flutelike tones. From Heaven's gate 
 
 The lark flings down his fervid breast, 
 
 To charm his partner on her nest. 
 
 The goldfinch, thrush and nightingale 
 
 Pour on the grateful ear then- tale ; 
 
 Pipe blue bu-d, mocking bird, cuckoo, 
 
 While woodj^ecker beats his tattoo : 
 
 From honeysucker drones his hum. 
 
 While drummer-grouse sounds his big drum : 
 
 And in the fields of growing corn, 
 
 In concert joins the landrail's horn ; 
 
 And from the clouds, with fierce tirade, 
 
 Defiant bleats the weather-blade, 
 
 A kind of wild, discordant cry. 
 
 Whose distance swells the harmony. 
 
 Meanwhile from tree and brake and hill, 
 
 Is heard the cry of whipoorwill. 
 
 And in the groves and glades hardby, 
 
 Are pheasants of each size and dye ; 
 
§0 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 The golden, silver, crested, plain ; 
 There love-birds moan in plaintive strain. 
 The graceful form and brilliant blaze 
 Of Juno's bird there meets the gaze ; 
 Whose crest and neck and plumage shine 
 With rambow hues that seem divine, 
 And in whose tail the starry eyes 
 Of Argus fill us with surprise : 
 But, that the angels may rejoice, 
 The bird is here deprived of voice. 
 
 Amongst the rest, 't is SAveet to hear 
 
 The loud, shrill tones of chanticleer ; 
 
 Who sallies forth with all his mates 
 
 When dawn first knocks at Heaven's gates. 
 
 Here swallows skim the glades along. 
 
 And charm them with their twittermg song ; 
 
 And myriad birds of every clime 
 
 Whose mingled notes in concert chime, 
 
 Pour harmony upon the ear. 
 
 So sweet, the angels pause to hear. 
 
 And lo ! what beauteous rivers take 
 Theii' course to mingle A\ith yon lake ; 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 51 
 
 Diffused all o'er whose surface fair 
 Are water-lillies rich and rare, 
 Of wondrous size and varied hue, 
 Like those which met th' astonished view 
 Of him who, in his wanderings round, 
 The famed * Victoria Regia ' found, 
 "While he Bernicia's stream explored, 
 And as he gazed, almost adored ; 
 So bright, celestial did they seem. 
 At fii-st he feared 't was but a dream. 
 
 There swans with snowy plumage sail, 
 
 Like tiny barks, before the gale. 
 
 And herons, pelicans and storks 
 
 "Wade through its shallows, creeks and forks ; 
 
 Flamingos, some on sj)reading wing, 
 
 And some beside the plashy spring, 
 
 And birds of j^aradise are there ; 
 
 But these forever float on air. 
 
 Its shores are draped with flowers and trees 
 "Which sing when touched by harper, breeze ; 
 
62 THE TAVO ANGELS. 
 
 And from its banks the landscape swells 
 
 To verdant hills with shady dells, 
 
 Whose sides and summits wave and shine 
 
 With groves of oak and birch and pine. 
 
 The cedar too and palm are there ; 
 
 The poplar tall, acacia fair ; 
 
 The sweet magnolia's rich perfumes 
 
 There mingle with the orange blooms ; 
 
 The variegated holly gleams. 
 
 Reflecting Heaven's most beauteous beams; 
 
 With other trees and shrubs as well, 
 
 Whose very names 't would tire to tell ; 
 
 Yea, every plant and tree that grows, 
 
 And every flower on earth that blows. 
 
 Beyond this belt blue mountains rise 
 And point their fingers to the skies, 
 Those crystal pinnacles that shine 
 Like diamonds from Golconda's mine, 
 And fill the Heavens with floods of light, 
 Which charm the heart and cheer the sight. 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 53 
 
 And, blended in this landscape fair 
 
 Are cottages of beauty rare ; 
 
 Sweet homes of peace for loving hearts, 
 
 Whose bliss is acting well their parts ; 
 
 Each, as the bias of his mind 
 
 By natm-e's law to work inclined, 
 
 Employed in useful works of love. 
 
 Which the great Master may approve. 
 
 For love in Heaven is all supreme. 
 
 And is of every tongue the theme ; 
 
 Of every act the moving sprmg, 
 
 And shows itself in every thing. 
 
 It fills all hearts with flame divine, 
 
 Beams from all eyes and makes them shine 
 
 With light reflected from the throne. 
 
 Where dwells its source, the Holy One. 
 
 It overflows in every rank. 
 
 And Heaven without it were a blank j 
 
 Two souls indissolubly blends. 
 
 And makes of lovers faithful friends. 
 
 Undying love, eternal truth, 
 
 Unfading beauty, vigor, youth. 
 
54 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Leave no desire unsatisfied, 
 Not e'en a parent's hope and pride ; 
 For love alone can make and bless 
 And crown domestic happiness ! 
 
 By love inspired the sons of Heaven 
 
 Perform the task to each that's given ; 
 
 Hence some are prompt to prune the vine ; 
 
 Express from grapes the ruddy wine ; 
 
 Or ploAV and sow the fertile soil ; 
 
 Or in the shop or mart to toil. 
 
 Some labor in the diamond mine, 
 
 Some carve the gem and make it shine ; 
 
 While some with sounding axe cut down 
 
 The cedar beam and haul to town, 
 
 To build a library or hall, 
 
 Where learning shall be free to aU ; 
 
 Where all may cultivate the mind, 
 
 And happiness in wisdom find. 
 
 A part to teach the young delight, 
 
 And flood their souls with truth and light ; 
 
 A part the fields of Heaven exj)lore, 
 
 In search of scientific lore ; 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 65 
 
 Some spacious harbors excavate, 
 
 "Where oommerce may kixmiate ; 
 
 Some build tall ships and spread the sail, 
 
 To distant lands before the gale ; 
 
 Some bold Columbus there explores 
 
 tJnfathomed depths, or unknown shores : 
 
 Or some celestial Morse extends 
 
 His lines to talk with distant friends ; 
 
 Or some immortal Field creates, 
 
 And time and space annihilates ; 
 
 And joins far-ocean-severed lands 
 
 In sympathy's fraternal bands. 
 
 While some by force of steam and rail, 
 
 Outstrip, by land, the fleetest gale ; 
 
 Some with Da3dalian art j^repare 
 
 Their wings to sweep the fields of air. 
 
 Like Ross, or Herschel gone before. 
 
 The vast creation some explore 
 
 By means of tubes whose power can scan 
 
 The worlds of matter, mind and man. 
 
 The fair sex too, by love inspired, 
 Each in her art, to work are fired ; 
 
50 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Some spin, and some the shuttle ply, 
 To weave celestial drapeiy. 
 While some for use the robe jDrepare, 
 Or work therein bright pictures rare ; 
 Some to the spring pursue their way, 
 Where with their young companions gay 
 They wade, and in the lucid wave. 
 Their household garments graceful lave, 
 And, like Phseacia's j^rincess fair, 
 They dry them in the open air. 
 Spread out upon the grassy ground, 
 While song and jest and tale go round. 
 
 Such forms Ulysses, with surprise. 
 Beheld when first he raised his eyes, 
 From out the river's oozy bed. 
 Whose shme deformed his noble head, 
 Where he on his frail bark was cast 
 By fate and by the stormy blast. 
 Benumbed, unconscious, all the while, 
 That he had reached Alcinous' isle ; 
 Till fair Nausicaa and her band 
 Approached that lone, sequestered strand, 
 
TUE TWO ANGELS. 57 
 
 To wash her Hnen and to bleach 
 The household garments on tlie beach ; 
 Not only was she fan-, but good, 
 Who by the suppliant hero stood, 
 Assuaged his woes, and cheered his soul, 
 And tried his sorrows to console ; 
 While her attendants, struck with fright. 
 Abandoned her and took to flight. 
 
 Some crJtivate celestial flowers 
 Within the garden's peaceful bowers, 
 Through which they move with grace divine, 
 As moved the charming Proserpine 
 Through Henna's vale, in beauty's j^ride. 
 Whom Pluto ravished for his bride. 
 And dragged down to his realm below. 
 While Ceres mourned in ceaseless woe 
 Her daughter lost; nor could she find 
 A solace for her tortured mind, 
 Till to her earnest prayer 't v/as given. 
 That Proserpine should visit Heaven 
 At times, and cheer her heart and sight, 
 With fiUal love and borrowed lis^ht. 
 
58 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Some lead the young o'er mead or lawn, 
 
 To breathe the air at early dawn ; 
 
 While some with sweet, angelic grace, 
 
 As fair attendants take their place, 
 
 To minister to friend or guest, 
 
 While seated at the genial feast ; 
 
 And while the latter dine or sup, 
 
 The fan* hand round the dish or cup ; 
 
 Like Hebe in th' Olymj^ian hall, 
 
 Or Ganymede, the loved of all. 
 
 And with what zeal then- guests they serve, 
 
 Such honor reap they and deserve. 
 
 Thus aJl their duties lAj with care. 
 And all the common burdens share ; 
 And all alternate night and day 
 With useful labor, rest and play. 
 
 As bees, when Taurus rules the spring, 
 Rush forth on joyous, humming wing. 
 To teach their young how to explore 
 The air and o'er the meadows soar ; 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 59 
 
 They gather honey from the cup 
 Of every flower and store it up 
 In cells prepared with wondrous art, 
 Where each performs a given part. 
 Some load then- thighs with wax and bear 
 The burden home with anxious care ; 
 Some these unload, and send again 
 To scour for sweets the flowery plain ; 
 While builders without rule or line 
 Construct the cells with skill divine ; 
 Some chide the laggards, or expel 
 The stingless drones from cot and cell ; 
 The work proceeds with merry chime, 
 The piled u^^ honey smells of thyme. 
 
 The endowments of this insect race 
 Were given by Jove's especial grace. 
 In gratitude, the poets say, 
 For services to him that day. 
 When Saturn, through a fear absurd, 
 His infant son would have devoured. 
 Had not the bees, his life to save. 
 The infant nourished in a cave ; 
 
60 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 And hence, the grateful Cretan king 
 The creatures armed with poisoned sting, 
 And gave them wisdom to combine 
 Their efforts in one grand design ; 
 One common brotherhood and laws, 
 One common table, common cause. 
 Each makes his own ; and all unite 
 And in one commonwealth delight. 
 And mindful of the winter's cold, 
 They work in summer, young and old. 
 On equal time, their sweets to hoard 
 All ready for the winter's board. 
 Some scour the fields and some, again, 
 Guard well at home the common gaui ; 
 And warn of wind or rain or hail. 
 Or aught that might their fort assail. 
 The aged mount the city wall 
 And challenge strangers with their call. 
 The strong attempt a distant flight,' 
 And homeward wend their way, at night, 
 With heavy load and weary wing^ 
 And then their vesper hymn they ling, 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 61 
 
 In concert sweet, when all full-blest, 
 Retii'e to equal hours of rest. 
 
 Even so the happy angels feel 
 
 Inclined to work from love's pure zeal. 
 
 None there are idle or supine, 
 
 All earnest work on some design. 
 
 None thirst for scenes remote and strange, 
 
 And none desire their lot to change ; 
 
 With sated heart, contented mind, 
 
 Then- Heaven they in their duties find ; 
 
 For rational employment given 
 
 Is everywhere the creature's Heaven ; 
 
 With idleness and vice to dwell. 
 
 Is every where the creature's hell ; 
 
 Since without labor sweets will cloy, 
 
 And bring disgust instead of joy. 
 
 The angel twain dwelt with delight 
 On this sweet landscape smiling bright, 
 Till many an hour as we would count, 
 Had passsd upon that sacred mount. 
 
62 THE TWO AJS^GELS. 
 
 At length, when somewhat satisfied, 
 Together they descend its side. 
 In haste to join the angel throng 
 Who wound their way the streets along. 
 Towards God's bright throne, again to raise 
 Their vesper hymn of prayer and praise. 
 For, though there is no sun in Heaven, 
 Alternate eve and morn are given. 
 To suit the wants of creatures there, 
 Much like to what we find them here. 
 Once more the blessed angels meet 
 Before God's throne, the mercy seat; 
 Once more they are refreshed and feel 
 Renewed in strength, and love and zeal. 
 God wdth his word then- souls has fed. 
 And with His smile, then* daily bread, 
 The bread of life to every soul. 
 By which it mingles with the whole. 
 
 But natural wants the angels have, 
 As clothed with bodies Uke our own, 
 
 Though more refined ; which little crave, 
 Save what that natm^e needs alone. 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 63 
 
 And hence exertion to supply 
 
 Those simple wants is nature's law ; 
 And none, however great or high, 
 
 Can find in that strong net a flaw ; 
 For labor there is organized, 
 
 And every worker honor finds ; 
 None by his brother is despised, 
 
 And all are free to feast then- minds 
 With knowledge in their hours of rest, 
 
 For which light labors them prepare ; 
 These give for food its proper zest. 
 
 And force to every fervid prayer. 
 Which to the source of good they pour. 
 
 From grateful hearts both day and night • 
 When theu' untrammelled souls up-soar 
 
 And bathe, refreshed in God's own light. 
 On this equality of good 
 
 The bliss of Heaven in part depends : 
 Congenial labors, rest and food 
 
 Make and secure immortal friends. 
 Here none can rule or domineer 
 
 O'er others with a lordly pride ; 
 
64 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 And each is of the noblest peer, 
 And all look up to One as guide ; 
 
 Who smiles on aU the sons of Heaven, 
 And favors none above the rest ; 
 
 To each the faculty is given 
 Of blessing and of being blest, 
 
 And Heaven is what we might enjoy- 
 On earth, if we were truly wise ; 
 
 And " order, Heaven's first law," employ, 
 By which man may to glory rise ; 
 
 True glory, not the mocking shade 
 
 Which war's dread pomp destructive brings, 
 
 [N^or that which grasping, guilty trade 
 Concentrates by her spreading wings ; 
 
 But that more solid glory still, 
 BuUt up on manhood's pedestal. 
 
 Where every brother, with he art- will, 
 Works for the common good of all ; 
 
 Where selfishness is laid aside. 
 
 And mammon's juggernaut ignored ; . 
 
 And love takes place of sordid pride. 
 And what is real is adored: 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. ^^ 
 
 Where true equality must reign 
 
 On basis of the Heavenly plan, 
 Which all sm-roundings treats as vain, 
 
 And prizes nought of man, save man. 
 
 But how can we attain this end. 
 
 This grand idea realize ? 
 How can we best our race befriend 
 
 And raise our brother to the skies ? 
 By constant vigilance and toil 
 
 Devoted to his early years ; 
 We must not leave him as the spoil 
 
 Of ignorance, of crime and tears. 
 The rubbish we must clear away 
 
 And build upon the solid rock. 
 And though the tempest round it play, 
 
 Our edifice will bear the shock ; 
 For trace the eyih of the past. 
 
 By negligence in this alone 
 Have all men's hopes been overcast, 
 
 And great republics been undone. 
 b3 
 
66 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Then let us labor to instruct 
 
 Our youth in virtue's pleasant ways ; 
 And on this rock let us construct 
 
 A temple to our Maimer's praise ; 
 And let us rigidly exclude 
 
 Whatever might obstruct the plan ; 
 Nor let intemperance intrude 
 
 To mock the majesty of man. 
 Wherever this dark vice prevails, 
 
 Or flagrant immorality, 
 Or avarice its strength assails, 
 
 Or thieves to undermine it try ; 
 . • There let the pruning knife be laid, 
 
 The rotten limb by times to lop ; 
 Thus only can the plague be stayed ; 
 
 Thus only will corruption stop. 
 
 Do we demur because the cost 
 
 Seems greater than we well can bear ? 
 
 Ah, what we have already lost 
 Might teach us wisdom even here ! 
 
 The recent war has swallowed more 
 Than would suffice to teach our youth. 
 
THE TWO a:n-gels. 67 
 
 For many years to come, the lore 
 
 Of wisdom, virtue, justice, truth ; 
 And for the millions squandered thijs, 
 
 The blood, the wounds and frightful scars, 
 What have we now to comfort us ? 
 
 The glory of our cruel wars ! 
 The glory of our brother's blood, 
 
 The fame of internecine strife ! 
 If such a record can be good. 
 
 Go, lavish treasure ! lavish life ! 
 
 'T v/ill cost us less to train when young. 
 In paths of right, the rising race ; 
 
 Than 't will to punish them grown strong, 
 With prison, torture and disgrace, 
 
 And parsimony here would be 
 The wildest prodigality. 
 
 For, as the farmer's fertile field 
 If cultivated well would yield 
 A hundred fold ; but, left a prey 
 To spoilers or the cockle's sway. 
 
68 THE TWO AI^GELS. 
 
 'T would all his hopes of harvest blight, 
 And shroud them in the gloom of night : 
 So .vice abounding in a State 
 Must bring destruction, soon or late, 
 And growing still from bad to worse 
 Its prospects blight with du-eful curse. 
 
 How would we laugh to see the swains 
 Who cultivate our fruitful plains, 
 Instead of using all then* skill. 
 The plague of weeds to dwarf and kill, 
 By every means within their power. 
 Waste every precious summer hour, 
 In vague harangues and useless laws. 
 In which they bid the weeds to pause, 
 Or if they dare to grow too fast, 
 They must be j)lucked and burnt at last ! 
 
 The weeds would scorn the nerveless threat 
 And grow secure both strong and great, 
 And ore they punishmen t should meet, 
 Lay all things prostrate at then- feet ! 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 69 
 
 Thus in the State, from year to year, 
 The same old echoes grate the ear, 
 Of penalties designed for those 
 Who laws infringe, or right oppose ; 
 Whilst, 'midst this wild and wordy storm, 
 No heart approves of true reform ; 
 No hand is stretched to clear the soil, 
 Or for the public good to toil ; 
 No soul betrays the least desire 
 To pluck the brand from out the fire 
 That rages in his township, ward, 
 Of which he ought to be the guard, 
 And root out vice before 't is grown. 
 As if the garden were his own ! 
 
 'T will cost us less for public schools, 
 
 Than what vre now pay out to bribe 
 False judges, jurors, torture's tools. 
 
 As lawyers, hangmen and their tribe : 
 Or j)erjured legislators bought. 
 
 By wholesale, in the public mdrt. 
 To whom a lesson should be taught. 
 
 By whipping at the public cart. 
 
70 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Society requires, that all 
 
 Her children shall be truly free ; 
 How can this be, unless we call, 
 
 To aid us, worth and honesty ? 
 Piu-e virtue and intelligence 
 
 Promoted by the common will, 
 At every sacrifice — expense, 
 
 If we can only error kill, 
 And ignorance, whose hydra-head 
 
 Gains strength renewed from every wound ? 
 Then let us root and crush it dead, 
 
 Before it can regain the ground. 
 
 If this is done, we then can build 
 
 As reason would herself dictate ; 
 Then would each social place be filled 
 
 With worthy men m every State ; 
 Each fitted for the post assigned, 
 
 And all contented with their lot; 
 Where muscle should conspire with mind, 
 
 And jealousies be all forgot: 
 Then would our race have room to grow 
 
 To that predestmed stature grand, 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. ^1 
 
 To which, if trammelled still as now, 
 
 It never can per-force expand ! 
 Then would man's health and powers increase, 
 
 With each succeeding, haj^py year; 
 All wars would fly ; eternal j)eace 
 
 And joy Avould all his moments cheer. 
 The rich who, ere their prime is past. 
 
 Now die with surfeit's cruel pain, 
 No longer would those horrors taste, 
 
 Nor pine from love of sordid gain. 
 The poor who now in sorrow mourn. 
 
 Would then alleviation find. 
 No longer forced to thole the scorn 
 
 Of those for whom they ceaseless grmd. 
 And all would revel in the rays 
 
 Which freedom's substance would evoke. 
 And raise to Heaven their notes of praise 
 
 To Him who freed them from the yoke. 
 
 'T is vain to boast of freedom gained 
 
 By nations in the aggregate. 
 If the great mass with crime are stained. 
 
 And law and gospel violate. 
 
72 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Accumulated atoms form 
 
 The ocean, river, mountain, hill ; 
 If these contend in endless storm, 
 
 111 fares the vale, the brook, or rill ; 
 111 fares the gold mixed with the dross ; 
 
 Nor can the diamond shed its light ; 
 Our greatest gain foreshadows loss ; 
 
 And mildews all our harvests blight. 
 
 So long as we can tolerate 
 
 The sight of wretchedness and woe ; 
 Or careless view the inebriate 
 
 In mire and darkness wallowing low, 
 While haughty and ill-gotten wealth 
 
 Regardless of the rights of men. 
 Rides o'er the prostrate, or, by stealth, 
 
 Allures them to his hideous den ; 
 So long as we can bear to see 
 
 The widow and the orphan 'reft, 
 By sleek and heartless usury, 
 
 Of all the sii'e and husband left ; 
 Through flaws or technicahties 
 
 In laws on purpose woven there, 
 
THE TWO AXGELS. 73 
 
 In order that rascalities 
 
 Might pass with show of legal air ; 
 So long as desj^ots can depress 
 
 The worthy worker, nature's child, 
 And profit by his deep distress ; 
 
 Or when the innocent beguiled, 
 Are forced to pander to the lust 
 
 Of lordly vice, and bide the sneer 
 Of those whose indignation just 
 
 Should sweep the monsters off the sphere : 
 So long let us renounce the name 
 
 Of freemen ; nor let us pretend 
 To herald forth our country's claim, 
 
 As refuge of mankind and friend : 
 For, truly, it is but a sham, 
 
 A veU to screen the hideous face 
 Of legal robbery and damn 
 
 Our acts with merited disgrace. 
 
 In vain would we extenuate 
 
 Those acts by vile authority, 
 Or precedents of laws effete. 
 
 Which served to favor tyranny 
 
74 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Where, in old feudal times, the lord 
 
 Could to his serfs dictate his will ; 
 Where legislative halls record 
 
 None but class laws and judgments stiU ; 
 Where man, as such, is quite ignored. 
 
 Where violence has long prevailed, 
 Where bloodstained mammon is adored, 
 ,And power with acclamations hailed! 
 Why longer cherish these remains 
 
 Of barbarism amongst us now ? 
 Is this our progress ? these the gains 
 
 That from our boasted freedom flow ? 
 Nay, scarcely can we yet aspire 
 
 E'en to be human deemed by men ; 
 Else would we feel a strong desire, 
 
 To blot this record from their ken ; 
 And prove, by deeds of purest love, 
 
 That we at least are civilized ; 
 And that the will of Heaven above 
 
 Will here, some day, be realized ! 
 
 And when that happy day is nigh. 
 Shall we, as now, indifferent view 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 15 
 
 Oui' beaux and belles for gewgaws sigh, 
 
 The rainbow's ever-changing hue ? 
 Or i^ass, without a glance of scorn, 
 
 Those dolls made up of paint and paste, 
 Who fancy that they have been born 
 
 Then* time and talents here to waste ; 
 And that the body doomed to dust 
 
 Must thus be pampered and caressed ; 
 While mind and soul are left to rust, 
 
 And all their faculties repressed ? 
 
 So long as men in power shall shock 
 
 The public oar by brutal boast, 
 That they uphold the auction-block 
 
 Of slave lords and their whipping-post ; 
 While to their Taneys and such tools 
 
 They hold aloft their signal lights, 
 Whereby to frame despotic rules. 
 
 Depriving men of human rights; 
 So long as through vile hackneyed jades 
 
 They flaunt their shame before our eyes. 
 And i^ly their bribing, pardoning trades. 
 
 Without the semblance of disguise , 
 
V6 . THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 While iron-clad monopolists 
 
 Shall flay the sheep which they have sold, 
 And " Reverend " hieropolists 
 
 Shall barter Heaven itself for gold : 
 So long disaster and misrule 
 
 Shall be our punishment below ; 
 Hell could devise no surer school 
 
 To teach the ali^habet of woe. 
 
 Oh Liberty ! a name abused, 
 
 With order only canst thou reign. 
 Confusion growing more confused 
 
 Must bring destruction in its train. 
 'T is sad to see a grov'ling wretch, 
 
 A pampered knave — degi-aded fool. 
 His .small pretensions puff and stretch, 
 
 As proud to be the despot's tool ; 
 To see the menial fawn and lick 
 
 The feet which tingle still to spurn 
 The sycophant with honest kick; 
 
 For such a service meet return. 
 Grape 's the best thing to cure a mob ; 
 
 And bayonets may sometimes think ; 
 
THE TWO ANGELS 11 
 
 But how to cure tlie hopeless snob, 
 
 "Whose soul is cotton, plush and drink? 
 Whose noblest thought is how to crawl ; 
 
 Whose highest aim to stitch and grub ; 
 Or, like Diogenes, to brawl. 
 
 While sitting cross-legged in his tub ? 
 Oh, potent nostrum-vender, quack ! 
 
 Hast thou no potion ready made ? 
 How comes it that thou art so slack, 
 
 To proffer us thy mighty aid ? 
 Canst thou not find a remedy. 
 
 To cleanse away that " perilous stuff" 
 That constitutes the' snob ? Reply ; 
 
 " The thing 's impossible ! Enough !" 
 
 In truth, if Heavenward we asph*e, 
 
 Our motives must be simple, pure ; 
 When stubble is consumed by fire, 
 
 What is there left that can endure ? 
 Where is the gold when alt is dross ? 
 
 Devoid of wings, how can we rise? 
 Can we survive a total loss ? 
 
 Can we afford to miss the skies ? 
 
CANTO III. 
 
 " Transcending all In arts, in arms, in song," — Houeb. 
 
 Sweet Muse from earth let us return, 
 To Heaven, where Angels love and burn ; 
 Where Lucifer and Arophel 
 With what they saw were pleased so well. 
 
 The angels, now that vespers ceased, 
 
 Prepared the frugal evening feast : 
 
 In every square beneath the trees 
 
 Were covered tables ; and on these 
 
 The ripest fruits 'midst flowers were spread, 
 
 With sweetmeats and celestial bread. 
 
 And there, in diamond goblets, glowed 
 
 The nectar which most freelv flowed. 
 
 A voice as of a bugle blast 
 
 Invited all to the repast ; 
 
80 THE TWO AI^-GELS. 
 
 They filled the seats and, by command, 
 
 Each guest stretched forth the willing hand, 
 
 To take whatever viands pleased, 
 
 Till every soul to hunger ceased. 
 
 They pledge each other in the cup, 
 
 And join in converse while they sup ; 
 
 To honor, not disgrace the bowl, 
 
 With feast of reason, flow of soul. 
 
 And when they all were satisfied, 
 
 And no one felt a want or void ; 
 
 The bard Theophilus awoke 
 
 The lyre, and into raptures broke ; 
 
 He sang the love and praise of God ; 
 
 All hearts were charmed with his sweet ode, 
 
 And when he ceased, applauses rung 
 
 From every hand, from every tongue. 
 
 Here Arophel in deep surprise, 
 As he by chance upraised his eyes, 
 Beheld a strange, a wondrous sight. 
 Which filled his bosom with delight. 
 He was amazed to find that here, 
 As in an amphitheatre, 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 81 
 
 The myriad hosts of Heaven were placed, 
 Where each could hear and see the best ; 
 And each, although he kept his sx^here, 
 However distant seemed quite near ! 
 Nor had he then conceived a thought, 
 By what contrivance this was wrought. 
 God's throne stood high in middle ground. 
 And all Heaven's hosts were gathered round 
 In wondrous order, not compressed ; 
 With room enough, yet none to waste. 
 
 The supper o'er, the music ceased, 
 
 The Lord presiding at the feas t, 
 
 His crown of glory laid aside , 
 
 And all prestige of power and pride, 
 In sweet and condescending mood. 
 
 Addressed the hosts from where he stood, 
 Beside the chair on which he sat. 
 While at the common board he ate. 
 
 " Ye Angels, cherubim and peers;, 
 Our noble guests demand our cares * 
 
82 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Arrived of late from distant spheres 
 
 They bring some tidings for om* ears ; 
 
 But ere we.them inteiTogate, 
 
 Or ask them their behests to state, 
 
 Let us their drooj^ing sj^irits cheer, 
 
 With cordial welcome to our sphere : 
 
 And ha^dng shared om' feast and wine, 
 
 The music of our bard divine, 
 
 Let them with us the pleasure share 
 
 Of manly sports in open an*. 
 
 We now adjourn to yonder green. 
 
 As at such times our wont has been ; 
 
 To test the merits of this throng. 
 
 In feats of strength and skill in song. 
 
 Who in the tournament disj)lays 
 
 The greatest skill and strength and grace, 
 
 To guide the steed and poise the lance, 
 
 And boldest on his foe advance ; 
 
 Who in the race, with flying feet, 
 
 Shall prove himself most tough and fleet; 
 
 Who can the spear or arrow throw. 
 
 With surest aim, from hand or bow ; 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 83 
 
 Who with uneriing skill shall guide 
 
 His bark through yonder silvery tide ; 
 
 Or who in music shall excel, 
 
 To touch the lyre, or wake the shell, 
 
 Or any art or exercise ; 
 
 For him I hold this glittering prize l" 
 
 And, as he spoke, he raised on high 
 
 A crown that dazzled every eye. 
 
 He ceased ; A cheer of joy is raised, 
 
 The gift and giver both are praised. 
 
 And, quick as thought, the youth prepare, 
 
 The pleasure and the toil to share. 
 
 Soon are the tables vacant made ; 
 
 And all at once forsake the shade. 
 
 And to the green direct their way. 
 
 Where wave broad flags with colors gay; 
 
 Where every needful thing is found, 
 
 Prepared already on the ground. 
 
 There, full-caparisoned the steed 
 Stands ready for the rider's need ; 
 And suits of armor on the Avail 
 Arrancred await the comer's call; 
 
84 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Where he his choice may freely take, 
 
 In temper, color, size or make ; 
 
 And there are implements and blades, 
 
 To suit all fancies, arts or trades ; 
 
 In war or peace, in verse or j^rose. 
 
 His favorite arm each champion chose. 
 
 In music some, and some in song. 
 
 Or dance, or aught that was not wrong, 
 
 ( And every thing was judged as right, 
 
 Which could give innocent delight,) 
 
 Might freely for the jDrize contend 
 
 With any other, friend with friend. 
 
 For this is liberty, indeed. 
 
 And th^ religion's holiest creed ; 
 
 To others ever just and true 
 
 Act as you 'd have them do to you : 
 
 Above all things, love God, the Lord, 
 
 In every thing obey His word ; 
 
 And what you do, as to the rest. 
 
 May be whatever you deem best.. 
 
 The trumpets bray, the bugles sound ; 
 The busy heralds clear the ground ; 
 
THE TWO AJSTGELS. 85 
 
 The crowds are seated in a ring ; 
 The tilters on their chargers spring, 
 Which mettled high with pride they rein, 
 In squadrons, o'er the grassy plain ; 
 Then wheel, and with terrific force 
 They meet each other in mid course. 
 Tremendous was the shock ! all round. 
 Both steeds and riders strewed the ground ; 
 And broken lances, spears and shields 
 Were scattered o'er the Heavenly fields. 
 The vanquished from the fight withdrew; 
 Those not unhorsed the war renew ; 
 Till only one full-mounted stood, 
 Unscathed, unmoved. The herald good 
 Proclaimed him winner of the crown, 
 If not contested his renown 
 By some bold champion from afar, 
 More skilled in feats of strength and war. 
 " For here the Archangel, Michael, 
 In arts and arms surpasseth all." 
 
 Then Michael advanced and said ; 
 (To Lucifer he bowed his head,) 
 
86 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 " Sir stranger knight, no doubt, to thee, 
 Are known the laws of chivahy ; 
 Thou too mayest for the crown contend, 
 And still remain our guest and friend." 
 
 Thus Lucifer to him replied, 
 
 " Though long unused to tilt or ride. 
 
 Yet still, to honor chivalry, 
 
 I 'm proud to poise a lance with thee." 
 
 He spoke and donned an armor bright 
 As fine as ever graced a knight : 
 There stood a charger fleet and proud, 
 Which he chose out from all the crowd ; 
 And next a sword and lance he waled. 
 Then mounted fully armed and mailed. , 
 
 The champions made a lengthened course. 
 Then each wheeled round his fiery horse ; 
 They spurred with all their might and main, 
 And met half-way upon the plain. 
 At the first charge, both lances flew ; 
 And then their trusty swords they drew ; 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. . 87 
 
 They wheeled their coursers round once more, 
 And down each on the other bore. 
 With strokes terrific, fierce and strong ; 
 They thrust and parry well and long; 
 Theu' tempered blades with music ring, 
 And showers of sparks around them fling ; 
 Until both champions out of breath 
 Seemed like to sink such blows beneath. 
 
 As when, upon our western fields, 
 
 Where Sangamon rich pastures yields, 
 
 Or Mississippi widely spreads 
 
 His prairies, lawns and grateful shades ; 
 
 Two bulls, equipped for mortal war, 
 
 Espy each other from afar : 
 
 They snuff the air and paw the ground, 
 
 And shake it with a bellowing sound ; 
 
 They gradually advance and try 
 
 Their horns on trees, while passing by ; 
 
 Then fiercely on each other rush ; 
 
 They lock theu' horns ; they drive, they push. 
 
 With fearful roars. The herdsmen near 
 
 Retire with speed, while mute with fear 
 
88 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 The herd awaits the end to see 
 Which master of the ground shall be ; 
 Till one all gored is forced to yield 
 The victory and quit the field. 
 
 E'en so the champion angels long 
 Contended 'midst the Heavenly throng, 
 Who gazed with awe upon the scene, 
 And with emotions varied, keen, 
 As each his fav'rite champion viewed 
 By turns triumphant or subdued, 
 Betrayed, by gesture or by look, 
 Theii' feelings and the side they took ; 
 Though breathless silence reigned thi'oughout, 
 Till victory was past all doubt ; 
 And then a cheer was raised on high. 
 Which shook the whole celestial sky. 
 
 But long the conflict doubtful seemed. 
 Or who the Adctor might be deemed ; 
 Till Lucifer with well aimed blow 
 Smote Michael's crest and laid him low ; 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 89 
 
 "Who fell to earth with ponderous force, 
 And with him dragged his staggering horse ; 
 Where both lay panting on the floor, 
 And seemed inclhied to strive no more. 
 
 The herald now proclaimed aloud 
 The victor, Lucifer ! The crowd 
 Again sent up a deafening cheer, 
 That might awake the dead to hear. 
 'T was now for Lucifer to speak : 
 If any wished the crown to seek, 
 Now was his time ; he might come on ; 
 The lists were free to every one. 
 The challenge passed without response ; 
 And Lucifer spoke up yet once : 
 
 "Ye cherubs, seraphim and peers. 
 Pray hear me with attentive ears ; 
 Although this crown be mine by right, 
 As victor in this friendly fight, 
 'T will not be mine, if I 'm surpassed 
 In any art of skill or taste ; 
 .b4 
 
90 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 To hurl tlie stone with muscle strong ; 
 To touch the harp or raise the song ; 
 ■ To guide the bark or bend the bow, 
 Or aught which angels do or know. 
 I speak not thus from idle boast, 
 But simply that the Heavenly host 
 May have some chance to win the crown, 
 And thus secure a proud renown." 
 He ceased; and for an answer stayed ; 
 And Raphael this answer made : 
 
 " Oh Lucifer, full well we know 
 Thy skill with lance, with bark and bow; 
 And that with wing, or sail, or feet, 
 None in the race are half so fleet ; 
 But in the realm of glorious song, 
 Methinks thou art not quite so strong. 
 My challenge then is this ; that all 
 Contend whom we the seraj^hs call. 
 An anthem, then our solos sing ; 
 Let him whose praises loudest ring 
 Enjoy the glory and renown, 
 And bear away the glittering crown." 
 
THE TTVO ANGELS. 91 
 
 * ^Agreed," bold Lucifer replied ; 
 " This test the contest shall decide : 
 The angels shall their praise award, 
 The umpire shall be God, the Lord." 
 
 His speech is hailed with loud acclaim, 
 And many tongues resound his fame ; 
 An ardor to drink in his song 
 Pervades the whole celestial throng. 
 The seraphs feel the kindling fire. 
 And each begins to tune his lyre. 
 On this, the crowd filled every seat. 
 Prepared to hear a wondrous treat. 
 The multitude seemed all as one ; 
 The Lord resumed his judgment throne, 
 The keynote touched to lead the van. 
 And thus the anthem grand began. 
 
 THE ANTHEM. 
 
 Holy, holy, holy, 
 Lord God Almighty ! 
 The Heavens bow before thy awful throne ; 
 
92 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 The cherubim and seraphim to thee 
 Continually do cry : 
 ^ " Holy, holy, holy, 
 
 Lord God of Sabaoth !" and to thee 
 The hosts of Heaven do bow, 
 And veil their faces with their out-spread wings, 
 To do thee reverence ! ~ O Lord, to thee 
 We owe our being ; and to thee we owe 
 This beauteous paradise wherein we dwell, 
 And where we are permitted to enjoy 
 Thy precious smile and offer up our praise 
 And grateful incense to thy throne on high ! 
 To thee we owe these sweet domestic ties 
 Of conjugal affection, and the bonds 
 Of fihal and j)arental tenderness. 
 The bliss of friendship pure and rational ; 
 And every good : oh. Lord our God, to thee, 
 We owe the beauties of the external world ; ' 
 The morning wreathed in dewy gems ; the noon, 
 Xot fervid but delightful ; and the eve 
 In sober livery clad and grateful shade : 
 The seasons' sweet vicissitudes, distinct 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 93 
 
 Yet blended into harmony divine ; 
 Where Sjoring and Summer, Harvest, all combine 
 To load us with their treasures evermore ; 
 And whore no Winter reigns ! Oh Lord, to thee 
 We owe this sweet, refreshing stream of life 
 That flows perennial from thy sapphire throne ; 
 This precious tree of life to thee we owe ; 
 Whose fruits refresh us as their sweets delight. 
 To thee we owe — the greatest boon of all, 
 And wanting which, the others were in vain — 
 Eternal youth, exempt from sin and death ; 
 Eternal love and infinite delight; 
 Eternal beauty ; vigor ever new ; 
 With will and power to do thy holy work ; 
 And praise and bless thy name forevermore ! 
 These are thy gifts, our Father and our God ! 
 This is thy goodness to thy creatures shov/n. 
 Oh teach our hearts to swell with gratitude, 
 As we advance in knowledge of thy ways ; 
 Which, could we know thee as our hearts desire, 
 Would be as wondrous as thy goodness is. 
 But how can things created comprehend 
 
94 THE TWO AXGELS. 
 
 The majesty of Him who ealled them forth? 
 
 How can a part the mighty whole contain? 
 
 We represent but atoms of thy works, 
 
 And by thy bounty are allowed to roam 
 
 At large, the wondi'ous structure to explore. 
 
 Our powers and faculties may yet expand, 
 
 To penetrate some mysteries now hid, 
 
 And note the workmgs of external things ; 
 
 But never can the finite penetrate 
 
 The veil which shrouds the mystery of life, 
 
 Ejiown only to the omniscient Infinite ; 
 
 To which no thing created may aspire, 
 
 And where aught, save the Eternal One, must die ! 
 
 Then hail ! all glorious God, great source of love ! 
 
 Infinite, unapproachable, sublime ! 
 
 We can but love thee, wonder and adore. 
 
 With grateful hearts, and bless thee evermore ! 
 
 Holy, holy, holy, 
 
 Lord God Almighty ! 
 The Heavens bow before thy awful throne ; 
 The cherubim and seraphim to thee 
 Continually do cry : 
 
TIIE T^VO AXGELS. 95 
 
 "Holy, holy, holy, 
 
 Hosanna m excelcis ! 
 Holy, holy, holy. 
 
 Lord God of Sabaoth!" 
 Our worship he acceptable to thee, 
 A grateful incense wafted to thy thi-one ! 
 
 Hallelujah, hallelujah, 
 Glory, honor, praise be unto thee. 
 
 Forever and forever ! 
 
 Amen, amen, amen ! 
 
 This glorious anthem rose on high, 
 In strains sublime, to charm the sky . 
 In which the seraphs sang their best ; 
 But Lucifer his powers repressed. 
 Throughout the strain, till near the close, 
 "When equal to the theme he rose. 
 
 As when a rider in the course, 
 TTho long restrains his mettled horse, 
 To keep his strength and corn-age new, 
 Until the goal appears ui view ; 
 
96 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Then gives him rein, and, like the wind, 
 Leaves all competitors behind : 
 So Lucifer, when near the goal, 
 Put forth his powers of song and soul. 
 His voice now swelled so strong and clear 
 That none besides could gain an ear : 
 With rapture and with burning zeal, 
 He uttered what he seemed to feel : 
 So grand, sublime and sweet his strain, 
 That rivalry with him seemed vain. 
 And as his notes in torrents gushed. 
 The other voices all were hushed ! 
 On him the young immortals gazed 
 Intently, and appeared amazed : 
 Their thoughts in ecstasy were lost ; 
 They seemed bewildered, tempest-tost. 
 And even the noblest seraphim 
 Forgot themselves to gaze on him. 
 On him the eyes of all were bent; 
 All ears to catch his notes intent. 
 And when the awful clunax came. 
 The hearts of all were turned to flame. 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 97 
 
 The audience sat as still as death 
 
 As if afraid to draw a breath, 
 
 Lest they might lose a single tone ; 
 
 And when, too soon, the theme was done, 
 
 Out burst the long pent-up applause, 
 
 In cheers, bravos and wild huzzas ! 
 
 The wisest Avish their praise were loud ; 
 
 And these were followed by the crowd, 
 
 Who vainly labored to express, 
 
 Their gratitude and happiness. 
 
 The fair showered bouquets on his head, 
 
 Or with them heaven's broad pavement spread ; 
 
 All Lucifer proclaimed to be 
 
 The prince of sacred minstrelsy. 
 
 The Lord himself was deeply moved. 
 
 While their decision he approved ; 
 
 And, none disputing his renown. 
 
 Presented him the glittering crown 
 
 As when on earth Rubini sings ; 
 
 Or Listz or Gotts chalk touch the strings; 
 
 Or chaste Mario's tenor floats ; 
 
 Or Grisi forges silvery notes : 
 5 
 
98 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Or when the Swedish nightingale 
 With diamonds flecks the poet's tale ; 
 Or Patti and her sister fair 
 Their bu'dlike warblings fling on air ; 
 Or Paganini wields the bow, 
 Transcending every thing below ; 
 Th' enraptured audience raise on high 
 Their heartfelt plaudits to the sky ; 
 And if a prince or queen should hear 
 The Godlike strain, they love to cheer 
 The artists for their heavenly powers, 
 With gems, while beauty scatters flowers. 
 
 Then Lucifer arose and said : 
 
 (The jeweled crown adorned his head,) 
 
 *' Great Sovereign, and ye friends, my .peers, 
 
 Who've honored me with crown and cheers; 
 
 And you, sweet sisters, heavenly fair. 
 
 Who strewed my path with flowers so rare ; 
 
 Whose smiles and hospitality 
 
 Remembered evermore shall be : 
 
 To you my tongue would fain reveal 
 
 The joy and gratitude I feel, 
 
. THE TWO ANGELS. 99 
 
 If that were possible ; but still, 
 Accept, for lack of power, the will. 
 Yet ill would I your grace deserve, 
 If from your ken I aught reserve 
 Of deeds done in my realm below, 
 "Which I, by right, should let you know. 
 ' Tis mine, you know, to guard the sun, 
 And all the orbs that round him run, 
 From every danger and alarm, 
 And see that nothing there take harm. 
 And though I feel the duty hard, 
 ( At least against a friend and ward,) 
 To raise the harsh, accusing voice : 
 Yet here, alas ! I have no choice. 
 
 This youth, ( and every glance now fell 
 On trembling, blushing, Arophel ;) 
 This youth whose province was confined 
 To Sirius' orb, with passion blind. 
 Or rather from a restless vein, 
 Has late incurred a fearful stain ; 
 Whose guilt will to his being cling 
 And pierce his conscience with its sting. 
 
100 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Too cui'ious down a beam lie slid 
 To earth, to gaze on things forbid, 
 Corruj)t the woman lately made, 
 And cast o'er all God's works a shade. 
 To me he has the whole confessed ; 
 And now I here the truth attest." 
 
 Then the just judge, with painful look, 
 And with a sigh the heavens which shook. 
 Addressed the youth, and asked him why. 
 He acted thus ? or what reply 
 He had to this grave charge to make ? 
 
 The tremblmg Arophel thus spake ; 
 " My Sovereign Euler, I have noue ; 
 By passion is my youth undone ; 
 I " guUty " plead ; but yet I crave 
 Thy mercy ; save me. Sovereign, save !" 
 
 To him the Lord made this reply ; 
 While tears of pity dimmed his eye : 
 "Mercy indeed is mine, my son, 
 And is by thee already won. 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 101 
 
 I thee to love and joy restore ; 
 Repent, my son, and sin no more : 
 Be this, our heaven, thy lasting home ; 
 For all are welcome here who come." 
 
 "Alas !" the blushing youth rejoined, 
 " Heaven is not, save within the mind ; 
 'And who with virtue fails to dwell, 
 But carries with him his own hell. 
 To me this j^lace, though sweet and fair, 
 With Eden never can compare : 
 Then let me with its inmates live, 
 If thou a paradise wouldst give." 
 
 " Oh Aroj^hel," the Lord replied, 
 " Yield not to passion's boisterous tide, 
 Or thou wilt have thyself to blame 
 For thine own folly, sin and shame. 
 With angels bright thou wilt not live ; 
 And right forbids to dwell with Eve : 
 Then choose thy lot, thy willing voice 
 Shall make and seal thy willing choice." 
 
102 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 " To thee, oh Lord, I will resign 
 My fate ; thy pleasure shall be mine. 
 If Eden's bliss I cannot share. 
 Save here, my choice is anywhere." 
 
 Thus Arophel and ceased. The Lord 
 Was grieved at his defiant word ; 
 And prompt the parley would have cldsed 
 Had Lucifer not interposed : 
 
 " Accept my intercession. Lord ; 
 I for this youth will pledge my word, 
 That never more will he offend 
 His benefactor and his friend. 
 His youth some discipline requires, 
 To pm*ge away those bm^ning fires 
 That lure him to temptation's com't. 
 Unwitting of the foul resort. 
 His sin, I know, by law's strict rules, 
 Deserves the punishment of fools : 
 But banishment may well suffice 
 To purge his veins of this one vice : 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 103 
 
 In some lone isle, far from the sun, 
 
 A million years his race be run ; 
 
 That he by time and space removed, 
 
 May cease to think of his beloved ; 
 
 And time will bring the wished-for charm, 
 
 And save the woman too from harm." 
 
 " Thy counsel," the Great Judge replied, 
 " Is just ; and by it I decide. 
 Thus let his sentence be endorsed, 
 And let the judgment be enforced. 
 But, Lucifer, to thee I owe 
 For this my thanks ; and ere thou go 
 Thy government to reassume. 
 Accept this gift ; it is a plume, 
 By which thy crest thou shalt adorn, 
 As guardian of the star of morn ; 
 The loveliest globe that wings its way 
 Around yon nether orb of day. 
 And take this tube to aid thy sight. 
 Or in the day or through the night, 
 Thy watch and ward to make more sure, 
 And all beneath thy charge secure. 
 
104 THE TWO AN'GELS. 
 
 Be jealous ever for my cause, 
 To mark my violated laws ; 
 Thus shall thy realm most glorious be, 
 Throughout its vast immensity ; 
 Thus may the angels crown thy brow 
 With honors which shall ever grow 
 Brighter and brighter to the end, 
 If Ihou be found fair virtue's friend, 
 Prove steadfast to thy honored trust. 
 And shun the snares of power and lust." 
 
 Firm in his strength and innate pride 
 Thus Lucifer to him replied ; 
 " My Lord, to thee my pulses burn 
 In gratitude ; yet what return 
 Can I for these distinctions make ? 
 I know that thou hast much at stake. 
 Yon sun and moon and beauteous earth 
 And all the worlds of recent birth — 
 These to my keeping all are given. 
 Preferred to every son of Heaven ; 
 To watch and guard, with all my might, 
 Their treasures, both by day and night. 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 105 
 
 And if estranged by j^ride or lust 
 
 I ever shall betray my trust ; 
 
 Then may thy thunder's fearful might 
 
 Me headlong hurl from heaven's fair light ; 
 
 Consign me to some cavern's cell, 
 
 To be my everlasting hell ; 
 
 To writhe in chains and penal fire, 
 
 The slave of unappeased desire. 
 
 And if from duty I shall f\ill, 
 
 Angelic hosts, on you I call, 
 
 To witness ; may this vengeance dread 
 
 Fall on my perjured, guilty head !" 
 
 He ceased; and all Heaven's arch resounds, 
 With cheers, commingled with strange sounds ; 
 The vault sent back a groan or knell. 
 As ominous of death and hell. 
 The angels' hearts were too elate 
 To read therein the coming fate, 
 Yet One there was, and One alone. 
 To whom the future all was known. 
 
 END OF PART I. 
 
CANTO IV. 
 
 ■And one of you is a devil.' 
 
 Time to immortals is a blank, 
 
 Save when sensation marks its com'se , 
 Or knowledge lifts from rank to rank, 
 
 And draws them nigher to their som'ce : 
 Then virtue and intelligence 
 
 Combine the soul to elevate ; 
 Enshrine it in a light intense, 
 
 And make it strong and wise and great. 
 
 Or, when, again, foul lust and crime 
 Imprint indelibly their brand ; 
 
 Then, on the altered brow, old Time 
 Lays heavily his working hand. 
 
 And marks his victim with a stain 
 That oceans could not render white ; 
 
108 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Dissimulation here were vain, 
 
 To cancel or conceal the blight. 
 Through every wily, dark, disguise. 
 
 The blackness of the heart is seen ; 
 The very voice betrays ; the eyes 
 
 No longer beam with ray serene ; 
 But seem all troubled and confused, 
 
 Nor, like pellucid fountains, clear ; 
 None by their glance need be abused. 
 
 Who would ins^^ect with look severe. 
 But virtue will build up the mind, 
 
 Where genius backed by vice v/ill fail ; 
 These truths illustrated we find, 
 
 By that which follows in my tale. 
 
 Suppose a million years have flown, 
 Since Lucifer obtained his crown ;. 
 And Arophel to banishment 
 With heavy heart through him was sent. 
 And now, suppose once more they meet, 
 On Venus' orb, that sweet retreat. 
 When Taurus rules the blooming year, 
 And all creation smiles so fair. 
 
THE TWO a:ngels. 109 
 
 Suppose, that neither yet has heard 
 What to the other has occurred, 
 In that long space of by-gone years, 
 With all its yearnings, hopes and fears ; 
 How great their mutual surprise. 
 While gazing in each others eyes ! 
 Which shall his friend first recognize ? 
 'T was Lucifer ! with artful plan, 
 He thus the j^arley first began. 
 
 " Oh Arophel, my ward, my friend, 
 What power or fate thee here doth send, 
 To cheer me with thy smile so sweet. 
 And with thy countenance to greet? 
 Thou must have heard the tidings strange, 
 And what a great, a wondrous change 
 For good has come to heaven and earth ; 
 I^^ew dispensation and new birth ! 
 Despotic power is here dethroned, 
 And all this nether kingdom owned 
 By him who once thy friendship proved, 
 Who loves thee still and ever loved. 
 
llO THE TWO AITGELS. 
 
 For Arophel, behold, I reign, 
 Sole Lord and king of this domain ; 
 To me henceforth thy tribute bring, 
 And Lucifer salute as king." 
 
 Young Arophel perplexed, amazed, 
 At this strange sight, intently gazed 
 In silence long upon his face, 
 As if its lineaments to trace. 
 And to his memory call back 
 A something which it seemed to lack. 
 At length as if from troubled dream, 
 He started with a cry or scream. 
 And loathing which he could not hide, 
 And thus in broken speech replied : 
 
 " What, Lucifer ! that angel bright. 
 Once robed in jjurity and light ; 
 That gifted seraph rapt, inspired. 
 Whom all the heavenly hosts admired ; 
 Whom God upon his throne on high 
 With honor crowned and dignity ! 
 
THE TWO Al^^GELS. Ill 
 
 What ! is it possible, that thou 
 Art fallen to what I see thee now? 
 A thing of shreds, of patches, rags ; 
 Whose wings have turned to windy bags ; 
 Whose countenance once so radiant 
 Is plowed with scars and thunder-brent; 
 Whose eyes once lit with love divine 
 Now with a savage fierceness shine ; 
 Whose voice where music wont to speak 
 Changed to a vixen's piping squeak ; 
 Whose form — but no ! some phantom wild, 
 As visions scare a sleeping child, 
 Would with my waking fancy play 
 And dreams prolong in open day : 
 Avaunt, thou shape ! to Arophel 
 Thou art incomprehensible ! 
 
 But yet, inspecting close, I see 
 
 What might be deemed some trace of thee, 
 
 Of Lucifer, my friend of yore ! 
 
 Yes ! he too that bold aspect bore ; 
 
 That haughty look and conscious pride ; 
 
 But these to goodness were allied, 
 
112 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Nor were his eyes those balls of flame, 
 To light the way to siu and shame. 
 If thou be Lucifer, oh, tell, 
 I pr'y thee, how this change befel ? 
 For nothing have I seen or heard, 
 To teach me how this . thino- occured." 
 
 Him Lucifer in turn addressed : 
 " The truth, I see, must be confessed. 
 Oh, Arophel, in vain I've tried 
 My state from heavenly eyes to hide. 
 Alas, my altered looks proclaim 
 My fall, already known to fame. 
 Thy banishment from thee withheld 
 The tidings, that we had rebelled ; 
 I and one third of Heaven's vast host 
 Fought bravely, but the battle lost ; 
 Fought for our rights, our sacred rights, 
 That we might shine as burning lights ; 
 And be by menials served and fed, 
 Nor toil like slaves for daily bread. 
 For, of what use are power and place. 
 But to enslave a weaker race ? 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 113 
 
 But all our efforts were repressed : 
 And now, in turn, we are oj)pressed. 
 The thunderer smote us, and v/e fell, . 
 Down headlong, to the depths of hell; 
 A cavern that, by God's command, 
 "Was dug expressly for our band ; 
 "Where we lay drenched in penal fire, 
 The slaves of un appeased desire. 
 
 But, love of action soon inspired 
 My Godlike essence ; and I fired 
 The hearts of my adherents there, 
 To burst their bonds, regain the air ; 
 "Whence yonder sun and this new world 
 Might into ruin soon be hurled ; 
 Where man, his Maker's pet professed, 
 Should toil for us, at our behest, 
 And from our bounty, glad receive 
 Whatever we should deign to give; 
 And from yon earth I upward speed. 
 To tell Him I have done the deed. 
 Yes ! man is ruined ; woman lost ; 
 
 And both expelled from Eden's coast ; 
 B5 
 
114 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Where faithful seraphs have been set, 
 With flaraing swords to guard the gate ; 
 Lest they while doomed its loss to mourn, 
 Might to its shady groves return ; 
 Condemned to sweat in endless toil 
 They wander outcasts o'er the soil ; 
 The woman to brmg forth with pain. 
 Till both return to dust again 
 Whence they were taken ; and who knows ? 
 But they may vainly seek repose, 
 In that congenial, burning lake 
 Where we our lasting dwelling make. 
 They might indulge some glimpse of joy, 
 Could death and sin their souls destroy. 
 Which cannot be. The mortal frame 
 Dissolved sets free th' immortal flame." 
 
 " Oh, monstrous wrong ! dire hate and pride," 
 'T was thus young Arophel replied ; 
 " Whence comes this bitter, cruel hate. 
 This savage rage inveterate 
 Against that Godlike gentle pair. 
 Who dwelt in Eden free from care, 
 
THE TWO AlfGELS. 115 
 
 Who showered their hospitality 
 
 On all who came — perhaps on thee? 
 
 Could love or jealousy imj)art 
 
 This stino^ to rankle in thine heart ? 
 
 No, for thy words I still retain 
 
 Engraven deeply on my brain ; 
 
 'T was thus : * that should'st thou condescend 
 
 To visit earth, as foe or friend ; 
 
 The grovelling creatures there confined 
 
 In thee should no such weakness find 
 
 Like me, a lover raving wild, 
 
 As raves for toys a petted child.' 
 
 Since hate nor love has caused them woe, 
 
 Say why hast thou become their foe ?" 
 
 Then Lucifer replied : "My friend 
 Shall hear the whole, if he attend. 
 When last, my ward, I met thee here, 
 I pitied thee, and shook with fear, 
 Lest thou should'st fall and lead astray 
 Another from fair virtue's way ; 
 And though I knew the bitter price 
 Would be thy friendship's sacrifice, 
 
116 THE TWO AXGELS. 
 
 I yet resolved to save thy fame, 
 
 And rescue thee from sin and shame. 
 
 The pain I felt to act this part 
 
 Still rankles deeply in my heart ; 
 
 But duty triumphed over will, 
 
 And conscience lends its sanction still. 
 
 In Heaven,. thou knowest, I won renown 
 
 Acknowledged by a jewelled crown, 
 
 Which testified my lawful claim 
 
 To honor and immortal fame ; 
 
 And all heaven's host both near and far 
 
 Paid homage to my brilliant star. 
 
 Oh then it was I felt so blest, 
 
 So filled with joy I could not rest. 
 
 A nev7 emotion seized my soul, 
 
 Ambition I could not control ; 
 
 Which soon inflamed by wild applause 
 
 Scorned to be bound by common laws. 
 
 But urged me blindly to pursue 
 
 A course where phantoms mocked my view, 
 
 And drove me headlong, void of thought. 
 
 Till in their toils my feet were caught ; 
 
THE TWO AJNGELS. 117 
 
 Whence rescued once again I soar 
 Free as the air to fiill no more. 
 
 The marked of all, the loved, admired, 
 What wonder that my soul was fired? 
 The fair upon me smiled, wdiose eyes 
 More than the richest gems I prize. 
 And one above the rest appeared 
 In loveliness and grace unpeered, 
 Who filled my soul with strange delight, 
 When first she caught my wondering sight. 
 
 One lovely night, (I see her yet,) 
 By seeming accident we met, 
 Beside a lake, where forests blend 
 With meadows and fair lawns extend ; 
 Now^ rising into gentle swells, 
 Now sinking into woody dells ; 
 From crowded halls I there had sought 
 A moment for repose and thought ; 
 When lo, advancing through the dew 
 A lovely huntress meets my view ; 
 
118 THE TWO AXGELS. 
 
 In her left hand she held a bow, 
 The other, (both were white as snow,) 
 Was used to clasp a purple vest, 
 Designed, perhaps, to screen her breast; 
 But which deranged by exercise, 
 And friendly to devouring eyes, 
 Revealed in part a billowy feast, 
 Such as few eyes have ever blessed ; 
 Which once beheld by manly sight 
 Creates immortal appetite ! 
 
 A plaid was o'er her shoulders flung, 
 From which her quiver deftly hung. 
 A kilt depended from her waist 
 And in its folds her limbs embraced. 
 Her rounded limbs ! and then her feet 
 In sandals clad how small and neat ! 
 Her step was light, each motion grace, 
 Love smiled triumphant in her face ; 
 And all the glories of the skies 
 Were blended in her azure eyes. 
 From the first glance, in union sweet. 
 Our souls congenial seemed to meet. 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 119 
 
 As if designed by fate's decree 
 For infinite felicity ! 
 
 The deep, intoxicating dranght 
 My soul too long in silence quaifed, 
 Till pity finally prevailed, 
 And then her eyes the huntress veiled, 
 With those long golden fringes which, 
 Though drooped, enshrine a light so rich, 
 That none unscathed on it can gaze ; 
 How fatal then its cloudless blaze ! 
 
 At first, she seemed surprised — so weak 
 
 That words would fail Avhen she would speak ; 
 
 At length, with modest blush, she said, 
 
 Accosting me : ' Excuse a maid, 
 
 Sir knight, who, having lost her way, 
 
 Is doomed through pathless wilds to stray ; 
 
 Deserted by my sisters all, 
 
 On whom for help I vainly call ; 
 
 Canst thou point out a path whereby 
 
 The city I may gain?' 
 
 Quoth I : 
 
120 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 * 'T will be my hajDpiiiess and j)ride 
 If thou accept me for thy guide.' 
 She took my proffered hand and smiled, 
 Then, starting, said, in accents mild, 
 * ' T is so ! sir knight, I greatly err, 
 Or I have seen thy face before. 
 Art thou the same who 'mid the throng 
 Of heavenly heroes, bold and strong. 
 Hast won the noblest prize of all ?' 
 
 ' Nay, charming huntress, do not call 
 
 That prize the noblest,' I rejoined, 
 
 ' Whilst one more precious rests behind ; 
 
 The love that beams from beauty's eyes 
 
 Is what I deem the noblest prize ; 
 
 That gem uj^on my path hath shone, 
 
 And would by me be wooed and won. 
 
 My diadem would brightly shine, 
 
 If I could call that jewel mine. 
 
 Oh Goddess, here on bended knee, 
 
 I vow eternal love to thee ; 
 
 Without thee what were gems or rank? 
 
 E'en heaven without thee were a blank ! 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 121 
 
 Then smile upon me or I pine, 
 And all my hopes of bliss resign. 
 If in that realm to which I go, 
 Yon sun and earth and stars below, 
 Thou would'st consent to be mine own, 
 This would my joys forever crown ! 
 Wilt thou be solace of my life. 
 My sweet companion, friend and wife ?' 
 
 A blush her lovely face suffused ; 
 At first to speak her tongue refused, 
 Such deep emotion it had bound ; 
 At length the maid this answer found : 
 
 * My thanks, sir knight, to thee are given, 
 That of the lovely maids of heaven, 
 Me thou hast honored with thy love, 
 And prized all gems of light above. 
 My heart dilates, my pulses burn. 
 To make some adequate return. 
 Must I confess to thee the truth, 
 (The fault, perhaps, of love and youth?) 
 
122 THE TWO ANGELS 
 
 Yes, and tliis very act will prove 
 How deep, how reckless is my love, 
 And how for thee I risk my all. 
 If I in thy esteem should fall. 
 
 Alas ! why have I been constrained 
 To love thee thus ? or why been pained 
 And humbled in the dust to find 
 Expression for my tortured mind ? 
 Ah long, too long, I have repressed 
 The rising passion in my breast ; 
 Until the burden of my care 
 Was greater than I well could bear ! 
 At distance, I beheld thy smiles. 
 Thy glances and bewitching wiles ; 
 Those nameless gifts of manly grace 
 Displayed in motion, limb and face ; 
 Which every female heart impress 
 With love's emotion, more or less ; 
 And lately with delight I gazed. 
 And with thy prowess was amazed ; 
 And with those valiant deeds whereby 
 Thy fame has filled the wondering sky ; 
 
TUE TWO ANGELS. 123 
 
 And by tliose strains of glorious song 
 
 Which charmed the whole celestial throng ; 
 
 These, I confess, my love have won ; 
 
 Nor did I this occasion shim 
 
 Of meeting one to me so dear ; 
 
 In truth, I marked thy coming here ; 
 
 And by a path I long have known, 
 
 Contrived to meet thee here alone ; 
 
 Canst thou forgive a woman's art, 
 
 For acting thus a woman's part, 
 
 To win the object of her heart?' 
 
 She ceased, and laid her head to rest 
 
 Upon my palpitating breast. 
 
 O'er which her golden hau- was thrown, 
 
 And on her neck and bosom shone, 
 
 As saifron veil would richly glow 
 
 O'er marble bust as white as snow. 
 
 My lips met hers, and oh, the bliss 
 
 That thrilled my soul from that sweet kiss ! 
 
 A kiss of infinite delight, 
 
 Shrouding all other joys m night ! 
 
124 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 How long endured that dear embrace, 
 
 I have no will or power to trace ; 
 
 It might be years, months, weeks, or days, 
 
 Yet seemed as brief as meteor's blaze. • 
 
 Our happiness was so intense 
 
 As for a time, to dull all sense ; 
 
 And e'en immortal life must waste, 
 
 If such felicity could last ! 
 
 Restored at length to consciousness, 
 Our first sensation was distress ; 
 We felt a sense of awe, and stood 
 A while hke statues ; till a flood 
 Of grateful tears relieved the soul ; 
 And then returned our self control ; 
 And then we gazed, with wonder keen. 
 Upon a strange and weird scene. 
 
 At first, to music's revelling sound, 
 A rabble Tout came dancing round ; 
 And forms which future men shall know, 
 To lead to error, grief and woe. 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 125 
 
 But now they seemed in merry plight, 
 
 And danced around us all the night. 
 
 There Bacchus and his motley crew 
 
 Appeared with emblems strange and new ; 
 
 And Ariadne in her car 
 
 Her leopards chided from afar. 
 
 The Centaurs and the LapithsB 
 
 Their war-like preludes act in play, 
 
 Preparing for more deadly strife, 
 
 Hereafter, on the plains of life. 
 
 Here Jupiter and Leda j)layed, 
 
 And Danae, the fated maid, 
 
 Though guarded in an iron tower. 
 
 To fall before a golden shower ; 
 
 Here Phosbus lovely Daphne wooes, 
 
 Nor does she now his suit refuse ; 
 
 And nymphs and naiads, many a score. 
 
 Whom men hereafter shall adore, 
 
 With one intent, on Hymen call, 
 
 Who is the genial friend of all ; 
 
 Whose torch its glowing radiance sheds, 
 
 And lights the lovers to their beds. 
 
126 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Pan pij^es, until the trees and stones 
 Are moved to gambol by its tones ; 
 Satyrs and Hamadryades 
 Delighted dance amongst the trees. 
 With these surroundings we were wed, 
 And Yenus now adorns my bed. 
 
 Returned, soon after, to my charge, 
 Through my domain I roamed at large ; 
 "Where, aided by my loving mate, 
 ■ I ruled in j)eace my vast estate. 
 This orb perpetuates her fame; 
 Henceforward Venus is its name. 
 And now our cu^) of bliss overflowed ; 
 To Him to whom this bliss we owed 
 We poured incessant thanks and praise ; 
 Thus sped our happy nights and days. 
 Oh hapjjy days, delicious nights. 
 Still fraught with love's supreme delights ; 
 Without a cloud to mar our rest, 
 No passion's sting to wound the breast; 
 • Ah, why are ye for ever fled ? 
 And oh, what guests are ours instead ! 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 127 
 
 One fatal day, my gay young wife 
 
 Wlio much had heard of earthly life, 
 
 (Perhaps through magic tube had seen 
 
 What better unobserved had been,) 
 
 Proposed to visit that famed pair 
 
 Who dwelt in blissful Eden there. 
 
 To me this project brought no joy ; 
 
 I shuddered, yet I knew not why. 
 
 It seemed that some presentiment 
 
 Of evil seized me, yet we went ; 
 
 I yielded to my wife's request, 
 
 Through which we both have lost our rest. 
 
 To earth we sped, and there we gazed 
 
 On Eden, and were much amazed 
 
 At the sweet scene which met our eyes, 
 
 In that terrestrial jDaradise. 
 
 The scene was much like that we viewed 
 
 In Heaven, though softer, more subdued ; 
 
 And to our eyes those " clods of clay " 
 
 Seemed fairer than the Gods of day ! 
 
 To Yenus Adam's stalwart form 
 
 Appeared a model ; and a storm 
 
128 THE TWO AJS'GELS. 
 
 Of passion raged within her breast, 
 
 Which seemed to rob her of all rest. 
 
 This I perceived ; yet, what is strange, 
 
 I felt not jealous by her change ; 
 
 For in my breast I nursed a fire 
 
 Which from her weaned my heart's desire ; 
 
 Eve to my wondering eyes a23p eared 
 
 In grace and loveliness unpeered ; 
 
 And to her all my thoughts were turned; 
 
 For her alone my bosom burned. 
 
 'T was then thy words too well defined 
 
 Rushed fresh to my enchanted mind : 
 
 * Another's wife ! but oh, how fair ! 
 
 All Heaven with her cannot compare, 
 
 In matchless form, consummate grace, 
 
 And the sweet radiance of her face. 
 
 Such ruby lips, such lustrous eyes ! 
 
 And oh, her voice is paradise ! 
 
 Her breath seems essence of the rose, 
 
 And every fragrant flower that blows ; 
 
 And then her artless, winning, ways ; 
 
 The innocence with which she plays, 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 129 
 
 Unconscious that each lovely smile 
 Is wounding angel hearts the while ; 
 That every gesture, every word, 
 Is keener than a two-edged sword ! 
 That nameless grace, that witching spell. 
 Which draws us only to re-pel ; 
 All these attractions human, warm, 
 Are woman's chief, peculiar charm, 
 And find in Eve a fit abode. 
 Herself the fairest work of God !' 
 
 If words could paint a form divine. 
 Eve's might be limned by those of thine : 
 But ah, no pen, no brush, no art. 
 Could paint, as was impressed, my heart ! 
 There strange emotions 'gan to rise. 
 And show my feelings through mine eyes ; 
 Eve from my ardent gaze withdrew 
 Her modest look, as if she knev/, 
 By instinct, what my tongue concealed, 
 And what my glance too well revealed. 
 
130 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 At first, I scarcely could conceive 
 My innate baseness, nor believe ; 
 Then shocked and with myself surprised, 
 I thus my feelings analyzed : 
 
 "What means this fervor of the soul ? 
 Free agent, can I not control 
 My lordship, self, and guide my car 
 Of destiny through passion's war ? 
 • Rebuke this weakness, and assert 
 My manhood, and its powers exert? 
 Or was what virtue seemed in me 
 Pure selfishness and jealousy? 
 Another did I dare to save 
 Yet sink myself 'neath passion's wave ? 
 And what I deemed that other's good, 
 Was it but thirsting for his blood ? 
 "Was Arophel's foul banishment 
 By me in secret simply meant, 
 To drive a rival off the track, 
 In hopes he never could come back ; 
 But leave an opportunity. 
 My chance in that same line to try? 
 
THE TWO A^STGELS. 131 
 
 Is innate wickedness a part 
 
 Essential to my very heart? 
 
 Must I an evil essence be, 
 
 Existing from eternity ; 
 
 At war with goodness, justice, right; 
 
 Rejoicing in the deeds of night? 
 
 Or is there not some fatal flaw. 
 
 Respecting love, in moral law. 
 
 Else why should we consume with fire, 
 
 To keep in cheek a strong desire ? 
 
 Or goodness — is it but a sham ? 
 
 And only meant the weak to damn 
 
 With ignorance, and to enthral 
 
 The poor and shroud them in its pall, 
 
 That he who rules yon starry sphere 
 
 In vice may revel, free from fear ? 
 
 Against a system not my fault, 
 
 My free-born nature must revolt. 
 
 StiU more my indignation burned. 
 When Eve my suit indignant spurned ; 
 And Adam, with a cold disdain. 
 My wife ignored who sued in vain ; 
 
132 THE TWO AKGELS. 
 
 And both of us returned, that night, 
 To our own reahii, in dismal plight. 
 We held a counsel, and resolved 
 To labor till our doubts were solved ; 
 And thus in sin to persevere, 
 :^Till conquest should our efforts cheer. 
 
 But He whose all-pervading ken 
 
 Sees through the arts of gods and men, 
 
 Perceived the workings of each heart, 
 
 And set a faithful spy apart 
 
 To watch our motions and report 
 
 The issue to the heavenly court ; 
 
 Whence came a message quickly down, 
 
 To summon us before the throne ; 
 
 Where we were tried and wanting found. 
 
 And sentenced to be strongly bound, 
 
 And banished to some dreary coast. 
 
 To labor and be tempest-tost. 
 
 'T was then I raised the " stars and bars," 
 
 And hosts assembled for the wars ; 
 
 The end thou dost already know, 
 
 Rout, ruin, total overthrow ! 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 133 
 
 Thus baffled, ruined and disgraced, 
 I swore to lay all nature waste ; 
 And first those clods who pleasure spurned ; 
 And dearly they their fate have earned. 
 Whom beauty's power could not decoy, 
 An apple, or some childish toy, 
 Commended by an ugly snake. 
 Induced their Lord's command to break. 
 And now they grovel in the dust. 
 The slaves of gold, of power and lust ; 
 O'er whom and all their broad domain 
 I and bright Yenus still shall reign 1" 
 
 " An apple !" Arophel inquired, 
 
 " Was Eve by such a bauble fired ?" 
 
 Him answered Lucifer ; " 'T is so. 
 An apple brought mankind to woe ; 
 But not alone. The motive cause 
 Is found in Nature's tortured laws. 
 To thee, my friend, I will reveal 
 What symbols from the mass conceal. 
 
CANTO V. 
 
 "Do not drink wine, nor strong drink."— Levit,, X, 9. 
 
 Know then, that Venus piqued to find 
 Her charms rejected by mankind, 
 Charms sought by angels oft in vain, 
 A plan devised with anxious pain, 
 By which her ends she might secure, 
 Her love and vengeance both make sure. 
 In Eden blooms a luscious vine. 
 Whose fruits in purple clusters shine. 
 Of this fair Yenus learnt the use, 
 And from the berries pressed the juice. 
 This to ferment she set apart, 
 And tended it with cunning art, 
 Until the wine was clear of lees ; 
 She then sought Adam midst the trees, 
 
136 THE TWO AITGELS. 
 
 Where he would oft at noon recline. 
 
 I aided her, and, by a sign, 
 
 Advised her of the wished-for hour, - 
 
 When. Eve retu-ed to her own bower, 
 
 To take her noontide rest. The queen 
 
 Of love appeared upon the scene, 
 
 As Adam from his toil returned. 
 
 To quench the thirst with Avhich he burned ; 
 
 With winning smile she him addressed, 
 
 And thus her wishes she expressed : 
 
 ' Adam, to thee and Eve we owe 
 
 At least some hospitable show ; 
 
 Much of your kindness have we seen. 
 
 And oft your welcome guests have been 5 
 
 But never had it in our power, 
 
 To greet you in our Heavenly bower: 
 
 But now, at least, before we part, 
 
 (We give it with a grateful heart,) 
 
 Accept this goblet filled with wine. 
 
 In Heaven called nectar — drink divine — 
 
 To quench your thirst, your spirits cheer, 
 
 Take, drink, you have no cause for fear.' 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 137 
 
 Then Adam bowed with manly grace, 
 And kissed the cup ; anon his face 
 Was lighted with a genial ray ; 
 Smiles o'er his features gently play ; 
 The flavor pleased him, and he stood 
 And smacked his lips, and called it good ; 
 Then to his lips he raised the draught, 
 And to the dregs the wane he quaffed. 
 
 Strange were the effects ! A sudden glow 
 
 Seemed through his veins and nerves to flow ; 
 
 A rapture seized his inmost soul, 
 
 "Which he no longer could control. 
 
 His spirit vaulted to the skies, 
 
 And Heaven itself beamed from his eyes ; 
 
 His eyes devoured the lovely face 
 
 Of Venus, and her matchless grace : 
 
 And as upon her smile he hung. 
 
 His soul thus issued through his tongue : 
 
 * Oh .goddess fair, 'tis fit and meet. 
 
 That I should thank thee for this treat, 
 b6 
 
138 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 This nectar which thou sayest is wine, 
 Is drink for gods, nay, 'tis divine ! 
 For never, since my hfe began. 
 Until this moment, could I scan 
 The inner life and light of things; 
 My soul expands on seraph's wings, 
 To me makes nature's secrets known, 
 And all this subject world mine own; 
 My heart is filled with Love's sweet flame. 
 Which banishes all sense of- shame. 
 To thee I owe this glorious change ; 
 Why should I, then, to thee be strange ? 
 Come to my breast, my love, my friend ; 
 The graces on thy steps attend ; 
 Come, rest thee with me in my bower, 
 And share the rapture of this hour !' 
 He said, and sank uj)on the floor 
 With nature's carpet tasseled o'er, 
 And folding Yenus in his arms. 
 He basely yielded to her charms. 
 
 The evening shades their curtain spread 
 And screen the lovers in their bed. 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 139 
 
 Then I make haste to visit Eve 
 
 In her retreat. E'en now I grieve 
 
 To think upon her agony, 
 
 When she had heard the tale from me ! 
 
 I almost shudder when I dwell 
 
 On this the darkest deed of hell. 
 
 At first, with scorn and lofty pride, 
 She stood aloof and said, I lied ! 
 But when I led her, as she wept. 
 To view the lovers as they slept 
 In close embrace, the frightful shock 
 Overwhelmed her ; and, like sculptured rock. 
 Cold, white and stiff, she swooned away. 
 And senseless on the sward she lay ! 
 
 Now was my chance. I seize the cup 
 And fill with wine ; then raise her up : 
 She shows no signs of life ; I touch 
 Her lips with wine, but not too much : 
 I soon perceive the potent charm 
 Recalls to life and makes her warm ; 
 
140 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 I follow this success — she sips 
 A portion in her pallid lips. 
 Anon she drinks and craves for more, 
 Which I supply from Venus' store; 
 These draughts her senses seem to steep 
 In sweet repose and tranquil sleep. 
 The evening sun, v/ith parting flush. 
 Threw o'er her cheek its richest blush. 
 Her blood coursed now with rai3id tide, 
 And her sweet lips with vermil dyed; 
 A lovely smile passed o'er her brow, 
 Like golden cloud o'er mountain snow. 
 Delightful visions seemed to stream 
 Before her in some fairy dream ; 
 And jocund thoughts upon her face 
 Seemed each the other swift to chase. 
 Her hah* was o'er her bosom spread. 
 Illuming her form and verdant bed, 
 As sunbeams all the hues unfold 
 Of emerald, ivory and gold. 
 Through which her snowy limbs would peer, 
 Like jellied cream in crystal sphere. 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 141 
 
 The holiest saint who viewed her charms, 
 
 "Would long to fold her in his arms ! 
 
 And I, a rebel, sinner, too. 
 
 While tempted thus, what could I do ? 
 
 I paused, I hesitated long. 
 
 Though wicked, ere I did the wrong; 
 
 I rose to fly, but one " last look " 
 
 My will and resolution shook ; 
 
 I stayed, I lingered till too late, 
 
 To save her from her cruel fate ; 
 
 And not till m-orning on us brake 
 
 Did she to consciousness awake. 
 
 She fancied still I was her lord ; 
 
 For, in her sleep, these words I heard : 
 
 * Adam, my love, my friend, take care ; 
 
 Some evil broods upon the air. 
 
 And fills me with forebodings strange 
 
 Of some great loss, some frightful change ! ' 
 
 But when, at dawn, she ope'd her eyes, 
 And viewed my face, with wild surjjrise, 
 
142 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 She sprang, distracted, from tlie bed ; 
 Her screams would raise the silent dead : 
 Which died away at last in moans, 
 Whose agony would move the stones. 
 These Adam roused to consciousness, 
 To pangs of horror and distress ; 
 When he beheld, with troubled heart, 
 The siren who had played her part, 
 And robbed him of his more than life. 
 His paradise, his God, his wife ! 
 Ah, there were wailings loud and long ; 
 But these how vain to heal the wrong ! 
 
 To Eve thenceforth the very shape • 
 
 Of man or angel — nay, of ape — 
 
 Was frightful, and she shunned their sight 
 
 As light abhors approaching night. 
 
 This I observed ; and counsel took. 
 
 To counterfeit a thing whose look 
 
 Was most remote from all our kind. 
 
 Though subtle and in craft refined. 
 
 In serpent's form I glided by ; 
 
 My beauty caught Eve's wondering eye ; 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 143 
 
 She followed me to where in view 
 
 The tree of knowledge blooming grew ; 
 
 Whose fruit was fair to look npon, 
 
 And potent in effect. Anon, 
 
 I thus accosted her, and said : 
 
 * Fair Eve, why droop thy modest head, 
 
 As if in pain ? Why suffer long. 
 
 When lo ! this fruit can make thee strong, 
 
 Heal every pang and make thee live. 
 
 While Godlike knowledge it can give ? 
 
 Take eat!' 
 
 * Not so,' was her reply ; 
 ' The day we eat thereof we die. 
 So God has said !' 
 
 ' Has God said so ?' 
 I answered with a graceful bow ; 
 ' Has God so said ? It cannot be, 
 Behold, the certain proof in me : 
 Like every other grov'ling brute, 
 I, too, was ignorant and mute. 
 
144 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 I plucked the apple, ate, and lo ! 
 I now all kinds of science know ; 
 Each cunning wile and subtle art, 
 To charm and heal the wounded heart. 
 And hark ! I speak with human tongue ; 
 And see, I bloom for ever young !' 
 I s2:>oke, and from my body shook 
 J)Iy skin, and one of beauty took. 
 Eve stood and looked at me, amazed, 
 And then upon the tree she gazed, 
 And said, at length : ' Oh, precious tree, 
 Canst thou oblivion bring to me ? 
 And wipe away the dreadful stain 
 With which I long have toiled in vain ? 
 Let rest become my haj^py home ; 
 And welcome death e'en should it come !' 
 
 So saying, she stretched forth her hand 
 And plucked the fruit, and closely scanned ; 
 And, gazing on it with delight, 
 It soon provoked her appetite. 
 • She ate ; its smell and luscious taste 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 145 
 
 Presented a luxurious feast, 
 Which still her aj^petite increased. 
 
 It chanced that Adam passed that way, 
 As near the tree she feasting lay : 
 She rose and ran her lord to meet, 
 And him addressed in accents sweet : 
 
 * Adam, my lord, my life, my friend, 
 
 This fruit to thee I can commend ; 
 
 It brings oblivion to the soul. 
 
 And heals the heart, and makes it whole. 
 
 It will not kill, but make us wise 
 
 In knowledge of the earth and skies. 
 
 The serpent ate of it and lives. 
 
 And speaks like us ; whereby he gives 
 
 A proof of its effects ; and I 
 
 Have eaten, yet I do not die. 
 
 No ! but I live a life of bliss. 
 
 With wisdom crowned and happiness.' 
 
 Thus Adam duped, surprised, love-led, 
 
 Reclined upon that verdant bed, 
 
 7 
 
146 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 And of the luscious fruit partook, 
 "Which opened to him Nature's book ; 
 Expanding knowledge to his eyes, 
 And making both surpassing wise 
 In serpent's wisdom, but in love 
 Not quite so harmless as the dove. 
 Their nakedness they tried to screen 
 ' By borrowing the fig tree's sheen ; 
 But what besides to them befel, 
 jAs known to thee, I need not tell. 
 
 Thus, Arophel, thou seest, my son, 
 
 A glorious victory we have won ! 
 
 For, when the war is Tvaged for pride. 
 
 Or honor, pity steps aside ; 
 
 And tender feelings, too, must yield. 
 
 While hate and force usurp the field. 
 
 Now Heaven will strive with us in vain. 
 
 Through me a son, by Eve, named Cain, 
 
 A murderer, shall raise his hand 
 
 Against his brother's life. A brand 
 
 Of infamy shall mark his face, 
 
 Through which his crime all men may trace. 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 147 
 
 By Adam the fair queen of love 
 Shall bear a son, tlie peer of Jove ; 
 This boy shall wield a torch of flame, 
 And Cujiid — that shall be his name. 
 His trade, to wound poor human hearts, 
 With bow, and quiver full of darts j 
 And make more misery and woe 
 Than any other cause below, 
 Save wine alone, whose sad misuse 
 Has wrought this great, this vile abuse ; 
 And both together shall conspire 
 To heap on mortals coals of fire. 
 
 The seed by me thus lately sown 
 I've marked, to claim it for my own. 
 'T will leaven all the human mass, 
 Through every age, from gold to brass. 
 Gigantic forms on earth shall rise. 
 Through this connection with the skies ; 
 Since sons of God with maids of earth 
 Give earnest of a monstrous birth. 
 Then every form of sin shall reign 
 O'er yonder wide terrestrial plain, 
 
148 THE TWO Ajq^GELS. 
 
 Till God made angry with his clay, 
 
 By floods shall sweep the whole away, 
 
 Save some who shall be righteous fomid, 
 
 But even these shall not be souncu 
 
 The taint of sin shall stain them all 
 
 Who dwell on that polluted ball. 
 
 The seed of Cain with Noah's joined 
 
 Shall leave its mark on every mind, 
 
 Which more or less shall reappear. 
 
 When chance secures from danger near. 
 
 E'en I^oah, Abram, Sarah, Lot, 
 
 Shall lie by turns or be a sot ; 
 
 And Jacob by deceit shall gain 
 
 A seeming good, but fraught with pain ; 
 
 For he in turn shall be abused 
 
 By Laban, and with rigor used. 
 
 The fear of injm-ed Esau still 
 
 Shall haunt him, and his heart shall chill ; 
 
 His sons, a fierce and lawless band. 
 
 Shall sell their brother from the land ; 
 
 And they shall later expiate 
 
 Their guilt in slavery's low estate, 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 149 
 
 "With many a pang and many a pain, 
 
 Ere they their freedom shall regain. 
 
 And, when they reach their home at last, 
 
 New trials all their hopes shall blast 
 
 Saul and his house the Lord shall smite, 
 
 For sparing the Amalekite. 
 
 And David, man of God's own heart, 
 
 Shall from the path of right depart ; 
 
 Deprive Uriah of his life. 
 
 For sake of Bathsheba, his wife. 
 
 And Solomon the sacred groves 
 
 Shall fill with heathen gods and loves ; 
 
 And for that he shall not repent, 
 
 In twain his kingdom shall be rent. 
 
 In Israel rulers shall arise, 
 
 Who God's own temple shall despise ; 
 
 And Judah's kings to idols turn, 
 
 And incense at their altars burn ; 
 
 And to the silent Queen of Heaven 
 
 Their hearts and treasures shall be given ; 
 
 To whom Sidonia's youthful maids 
 
 Shall homage pay, in woodland shades. 
 
150 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Then, too, the Gentiles, one and all, 
 Shall prostrate to onr idols fall. 
 The men of Ilamath, wed to wrong, 
 To Ashinia shall raise the song ; 
 And all the sons of favored Tyre 
 To Baal shall burn the sacred fire. 
 To Bel and Nebo and her king, 
 Her treasures Babylon shall bring. 
 And Baal-Peor shall delight 
 The sordid, hardened Edomite. 
 Dian on Ephesus shall shine ; 
 And Dagon on the Philistine. 
 '^ Tartak and Moloch shall unite 
 To chain the cruel Ammonite.- 
 The Cuthites Nergal shall invoke ; 
 The Avites bow to Nibhaz' yoke ; 
 To Tammuz Syria shall bend. 
 And Remphan shall be Misraim's friend. 
 Greece, too, and Rome shall bend the knee 
 To Mars, to Venus and to me : 
 (Though dim tradition shall confound 
 Things different, with common sound,) 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 151 
 
 While Gog and Magog forceful Thor 
 And all Walhalla shall adore. 
 The South shall worship hideous shapes, 
 As reptiles, toads, with cats and apes ; 
 Calves, birds and even senseless things, 
 Beans, leeks, nay, rivers, lakes and springs. 
 The E ast to blocks of wood and stone ; 
 The West shall bow to God alone. 
 But thirst of gold, in every clime, 
 In every age, till knell of time. 
 Shall rage within the human heart, 
 And claim of it the larger part ; 
 Whose mighty power and fierce control 
 Shall blight all virtues in the soul. 
 
 And even when one for all shall die. 
 That will not crush impiety. 
 My seed shall still assert its right. 
 And swear the thickest darkness, light ; 
 That churches where I still shall rule 
 Shall be the normal Christian school. 
 Whose teachers shall by law dispense 
 With reason, science, common sense, 
 
152 THE TWO Ai^-QELS. 
 
 And their own dogmas substitute, 
 Which all must swallow or keep mute, 
 Or bear the rack, the tortiu'es, knocks. 
 Employed to keep them orthodox. 
 
 How I shall laugh to see the blows 
 Endured by slaves who kiss the toes - 
 Of their tormentors, and address 
 Their smiter as 'Your Holiness' ; 
 Oh, what a glorious sight for me. 
 This down-trodden humanity ! 
 
 And then, when so-called reformation 
 Shall cull a few from every nation, 
 And lift them to superior grace. 
 This creed of mine shall find a place ; 
 That States built up on slavery 
 Alone shall be secure and free ; 
 That they, in erring reason's spite, 
 To do the wrong alone have right, 
 And are a model to mankind 
 Of freedom, chivalry and mind ; 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 153 
 
 Where lightness is of normal weight, 
 And moral crookedness is straight ; 
 Where shallow ' smartness ' may atone 
 For lack of moral heft and bone ; 
 Where brain of lead and brow of brass 
 May for the sterling current pass ; 
 And demagogues, with noisy rule, 
 Shall claim the statesman's sober school — 
 (For men shall multiply the tribe, 
 In hopes to save the heavy bribe, 
 The ravage of corruption stay — 
 But this might work the other way.) 
 There, too, the caterers for mind 
 A vast fools' paradise shall find ; 
 Shall viands seek from every shore, 
 And pile them up in endless store ; 
 Spread tables with the ripest fruits. 
 The richest sauces, rarest roots : 
 Spare neither tinsel, time, nor pains. 
 And everything provide — save brains ! 
 For 't is expected that each guest 
 Shall bring this garnish to the feast. 
 
154 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Then shall exclann each self-styled sage, 
 * Behold the progress of the age ! 
 Invite the world to see the show, 
 And note how very fast we go !' 
 
 Then, Arophel, canst thou not see 
 Tlie glory of this victory ? 
 Canst thou not recognize thy king, 
 And tribute to his coffers bring?" 
 
 " Oh, Monster !" Arophel replied, 
 " Thou hypocrite, the slave of pride ! 
 Ilast thou no pity, no remorse. 
 Thus to exalt thy fiendish course ? 
 To glory in thy sin and shame, 
 And homage from the good to claim ! 
 I loathe thy presence, and, in brief, 
 I recognize not such a chief 
 To rule in this, or any sphere ! 
 God is the only ruler here !" 
 
 " What, Ai'ophel !" replied the fiend, 
 " Can I not count thee as my friend ? 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 155 
 
 And art thou base enough lo yield 
 Thy better judgment in this field? 
 Let argument convince thy mind, 
 And be not to thy interest blind ; 
 Nor from thy duty meanly shrink, 
 But vindicate thy right to think ! 
 
 Shall we, the Godlike sons of light, 
 
 Be held in check by brutal might? 
 
 Restrained from soaring, free as air, 
 
 Through all creation vast and fair? 
 
 Withheld from wearing pleasure's crown, 
 
 Because the potentate might frown ? 
 
 Be cribbed, and cabined, and confined, 
 
 Forbid to use our Godlike mind. 
 
 When Nature's law would urge us still 
 
 To wield unlimited free will ? 
 
 Shall we be bound by slavery's chain. 
 
 Like brutes which browse yon flowery plain ? 
 
 Nor be permitted to aspire 
 
 To thoughts that burn and deeds that fire? 
 
 Shall we be ever mocked and fooled, 
 
 And, like to neophites, be schooled 
 
156 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 To suit the ends of one, forsooth, 
 Who would monopolize all truth? 
 No ! Arophel, I know thy soul 
 Revolts agains unjust control." 
 
 Him Arophel re"bnked in turn ; 
 
 " Blasphemer, filled with pride and scorn 1 
 
 Thy wretched sophistries may make 
 
 Impression on the vain and weak ; 
 
 And what thou argument dost deem 
 
 To such may reasonable seem ; 
 
 But know, to me 'twill be in vain 
 
 To preach such phantoms of the brain ; 
 
 And if to speak I condescend, 
 
 'Tis, that I deemed thee once a friend ; 
 
 And though thy motives were impure, 
 
 God made them to my good inure. 
 
 I know my words may not avail 
 
 To turn thy heart or make it quail ; 
 
 I speak to vindicate the right ; 
 
 May Heaven flood all my words with light ! 
 
 Thy monstrous inconsistencies 
 
 Proclaim thy spirit ill at ease ; 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 167 
 
 And that tliy reason is iniliinged, 
 Because God's laws thou hast mfringed. 
 
 Dost thou forget thy dictum stern? 
 
 * Our fate is none of our concern ; 
 Our duty must our fate decide,' 
 A dictum meant to be my guide. 
 To this thy recent query add, 
 
 To palliate thy actions bad : 
 'Is innate wickedness a part 
 Essential to my very heart ? 
 Must I an evil essence be, 
 Existing from eternity ? 
 And goodness, is it but a sham, 
 And only meant the weak to damn ? ' 
 With these I ask thee to recall 
 Thy latest blasphemy of all : 
 
 * Shall we be cabined and confined ; 
 Forbid to soar with God-like mind. 
 Where nature's law would urge us still, 
 To use unlimited free will ?' 
 
158 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Of these positions brought to view 
 The first alone is just and true; 
 Experience speaks what I have tried ; 
 ' Our duty must our fate decide,' 
 And who on duty bravely stands, 
 Holds his own fate in his own hands. 
 
 This is the law ordained by God, 
 And has in right its fixed abode. 
 It is a simple, Christian creed, 
 So plain, that he who runs may read ! 
 For what is duty ? ' Love the Lord 
 With all your heart, obey his word ;' 
 Which bids you unto others do 
 What you would have them do to you. 
 These two commandments mark the line 
 'Twixt right and wrong, the mean divine ; 
 Where will unlimited is given 
 For boundless good, by gracious Heaven, 
 Within that bound : — e'en to transgress, 
 Is God's permission and his grace ; 
 Which proves us creatures rational, 
 Not brutes, at groveling instiSict's call. 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 159 
 
 And if we yield to sin and shame, 
 
 Ourselves, not God, must beaV the blame ! 
 
 He meant a blessing to impart 
 
 Through every passion in our heart. 
 
 Each fervor of the soul was given 
 
 To crown our bliss, enhance our Heaven: 
 
 That their excess we might control, 
 
 He planted reason in the soul : 
 
 And conscience to forewarn us, still, 
 
 And curb, within due bounds, free will: 
 
 For conscience, in the rational breast, 
 
 Is God's own witness, nature's test. 
 
 How can God be the author, then, 
 
 Of sin, in angels or in men ? 
 
 Our error lies in this, that we 
 
 Mistake for right this liberty ; 
 
 And think the weak Ave may devour, 
 
 Because our God gives us the power ! 
 
 With this false charge we strain our wits, 
 
 * He sanctions all that he permits !' 
 
 And hence proud reason courts the night, 
 
 And says, ' Whatever is is right.' 
 
160 THE TWO Aiq-QELS. 
 
 Can this be so ? to rob, to kill, 
 Commit 'adultery, at will ; 
 Be false, deceitful, vile and base, 
 The scum and refuse of our race ; 
 To lie, to swear, to steal, to sneak, 
 Or beg our bread, with brazen cheek, 
 When we might well employ our hands 
 And strength to till the fertile lands. 
 Can this be right? can this be just? 
 If so, in what are we to trust ? 
 Ah, can society excuse 
 Its own misdeeds, by such abuse ? 
 Or can it jjunishment escape 
 By clothing lies in truth's fair shape ? 
 For trace the problem to its source. 
 And view its tendency and force, 
 What means it ? simply this, that all 
 Must by one standard rise or fall ; 
 We all are linked by mutual ties 
 Connecting Heaven and earth and skies 
 And, like a natural body, we 
 Are bound in one society. 
 
. THE TWO ANGELS. 161 
 
 By cords so tender, sensitive, 
 
 That, suffer one, the whole must grieve ; 
 
 For every pang of Avoe or pain 
 
 Is felt through all creation's chain ! 
 
 So that a nerve cannot vibrate, 
 
 In one of high or low estate, 
 
 Without affecting, more or less. 
 
 The angelic and the human race ! 
 
 Is pain a blessing ? is it right, 
 
 To pierce the soul, its hopes to blight, 
 
 To mar our bliss, arrest the plan 
 
 Of God's beneficence to man ? 
 
 'Tis true that God can turn the flood 
 Of crime and sin to final good ; 
 But still its memory remains, 
 O'erclouds the soul and leaves its stains ; 
 And none feel happier because 
 They violate God's holy laws : 
 The lost one may regain the light ; 
 But wrong and crime cannot be right 1 
 
 b7 
 
162 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Again, the gifts conferred on each 
 
 Are not his own ; the wise should teach : 
 
 And who has talents must divide, 
 
 Nor in a napkin fruitless hide. 
 
 The rich shonld feed the heljoless poor 
 
 "Who shivering stand before their door ; 
 
 The sick restore to life and health, 
 
 And be God's stewards of his wealth. 
 
 And, in the parent, let the child 
 
 Find guidance firm, but wise and mild; 
 
 To lead him in that flowery way 
 
 From which, when grown, he will not stray. 
 
 His light must guide him on the road 
 
 That leads to truth, to Heaven and God ; 
 
 Nor let him spare the chastening rod. 
 
 So children whom their hapless fate 
 Has thrown for care upon the State, 
 Should from that fostering care receive 
 All that a parent's love could give. 
 And if the State should fail in this. 
 Its greatest duty, 'tis remiss ! 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 163 
 
 And if not now, some future time, 
 
 Must suffer for its fault — its crime ! 
 
 For plagues and famine, wars and strife 
 
 Will undermine and blast its life*, 
 
 And such sliall be the history 
 
 Of all who arts like these employ. 
 
 If Statesmen build on righteousness, 
 
 Then Heaven their edifice will bless ! 
 
 Prosperity and length of days 
 
 Will crown their acts and all then* ways. 
 
 For great Jehovah's awful throne 
 
 Is built on righteousness alone ! 
 
 Else even that could not endure, 
 
 Or justice to its sons secure. 
 
 The sovereign power is negative, 
 
 Yet grants to all the right to live ; 
 
 And hence the right of self-defence 
 
 To all is plain, by common sense. 
 
 All may to happiness aspire, 
 
 And satisfy each just desire. 
 
 But none have right to touch a hair 
 
 Of aught that breathes God's blessed air, 
 
164 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 To injure it or do it wrong ; 
 
 This does not e'en to Heaven belong; 
 
 Hence men will governments create 
 
 To guard this right inviolate ; 
 
 And to their keeping, wise and just, 
 
 Their treasures and their honor trust ; 
 
 In them their faith shall still be strong, 
 
 Assured that they can do no wrong ; 
 
 Though injustice at times assail 
 
 Their strength, and for a while prevail, 
 
 It cannot prosper in the end, 
 
 Nor long remain the tyi*ant's friend ; 
 
 But will upon his head recoil, 
 
 And hold him fast in his own toil. 
 
 All wrongs are bought at fearful cost, 
 
 And come, like curses, home to roost. 
 
 How, then, wilt thou and thy vile crew. 
 
 Weighed in this scale, appear to view? 
 
 You claim your ' rights, your sacred rights, 
 
 That you may shine as burning lights 
 
 And be by menials served and fed, 
 
 Nor labor for your daily bread ; 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 165 
 
 For of what use is power and place, 
 But to enslave a weaker race ?' 
 You torture Nature's laws and thence 
 Seek precedents for your pretense ; 
 Search the whole universe to find 
 Fine sophistries to warp the mind ; 
 An(J^ failing, you resort, at last. 
 To war, and lay all nature waste. 
 
 And thus, on earth, 'twill come to pass, 
 That men of Belial, sons of brass. 
 Shall quote from Scripture, line on line. 
 To prove that slavery is divine ; 
 Because, forsooth, some patriarch 
 Shall practice it, in ages dark ; 
 And men shall labor for a time. 
 Who have been sold for debt or crime ; 
 Where those professing to be free 
 Are strangers still to liberty ! 
 And some who never cared before 
 For truth the scriptm-es to explore, 
 Shall earnestly its pages scan, 
 For sanction of man's wrong to man. 
 
166 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Then, too, shall many a sordid soul 
 Contrive to plunder from the whole ; 
 Fenced round by arbitrary laws 
 Made to defend the despot's cause, 
 These men, impelled by selfish pride, 
 Their dastard heads will try to hide, 
 Shut in from all the human race, 
 In some strong castle's dwelling place ; 
 Where they shall deem themselves secure 
 From all the ills that men endure ; 
 From poverty, which all might shun. 
 If justice unto all were done. 
 
 But, oh, the most appalling sight 
 
 Shall be immortals born to Ught, 
 
 Through some confiding mother's love, 
 
 As guileless as the turtle dove, 
 
 Who, with her offspring, shall be driven, 
 
 The scorn of men, from smiUng Heaven ; 
 
 And doomed to penury and woe, 
 
 Through all their pilgrimage below ; 
 
 Whose life exposed to infamy 
 
 Shall leave no hope save one — to die ; — 
 
THE TWO AKGELS. 167 
 
 "Whose prayer shall be to see the world 
 
 To ancient chaos instant hurled ; 
 
 "Whose utterance will be to curse 
 
 The womb that bears, the paps that nurse : 
 
 "Who shall their natal day deplore 
 
 Upbraid their fathers gone before, 
 
 And wish that, an untimely birth. 
 
 They, too, had been consigned to earth ! 
 
 How fi-ightful, that the good designed 
 
 By Heaven for man, should make him blind ! 
 
 Eternal justice would demand 
 That every soul, in every land, 
 Should have at least some chance to rise 
 And claim his bu-thright in the skies, 
 By sharing the inheritance 
 Of those who labor in advance ; 
 "Whose wealth should aid men to impart 
 To all, some trade or useful art 
 Conducive to the general hoard 
 "Where labor's grand results are stored ; 
 To feed, clothe, teach the helpless race 
 That daily rise to take their place. 
 
168 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Would men secure society 
 
 Against the fear of crime and wrong, 
 Then justice, love and piety 
 
 Must rear the social fabric strong. 
 Let them the wretched outcasts snatch, 
 
 Like brands, from out the burning fire, 
 And by a golden chain attach 
 
 To right through interest and desire ! 
 Let wisdom, science, virtue, art, 
 
 In their behalf, in one combine. 
 To light the soul and move the heart, 
 
 And bind them with a cord divine. 
 
 And do not deem all law set forth 
 By arbitrary power, just worth 
 What it may cost, — restraint alone, — 
 By which its breach we may atone. 
 Law is essential to the right. 
 As to our vision is the light : 
 And cannot be transgressed, unless 
 Through suffering, sorrow and distress ! 
 Heaven merely points to us the bound 
 Within whose limit peace is found ; 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 169 
 
 And tells us, if we over-leap 
 That limit, we are straying sheep, 
 And may be in the forest lost, 
 Or suffer and be tempest-tossed. 
 Is Heaven to blame for tender care 
 Of children which it loves ? Beware, 
 Lest thou blaspheme ! As well the lamb 
 Might blame the shepherd for its dam. 
 Which from his vigilance has strayed, 
 And by the wolf has been betrayed. 
 
 'Tis sin that makes our bondage strong, 
 So weak to those who do no wrong ! 
 And Nature, ever just and true, 
 Keeps God's commands in constant view : 
 And both in one great cause unite 
 To vindicate the true and right. 
 For to the God who gives us grace, 
 We, likewise, Nature's laws can trace; 
 But Nature tortured by our whim 
 Can nought in common hold with Him ! 
 And is a name misplaced to save 
 Apparent virtue from its grave. 
 B7 
 
170 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 What wonder souls are led astray, 
 
 When with mere sophistries they play ; 
 
 And palliate each grovelling lust, 
 
 And deed of wrong, by words unjust? 
 
 All such perversions of the right 
 
 Must smk in limbo's endless night : 
 
 For, if a faith is strong to hold, 
 
 'Tis that which we have learnt of old ; 
 
 That ' truth, though trampled, cannot die ; 
 
 No power can save from death a lie !' 
 
 But let us test this fact and see 
 
 Its force when weio-hed with self, — with thee. 
 
CANTO VI. 
 
 "Thou Bhalt not covet thy peighbor's wife."— Exod. XX, IT. 
 
 Hast thou a lovely, loying wife, 
 
 More dear to thee than dearest life ; 
 
 Whose ties are rendered still more sweet, 
 
 By httle prattlers at her feet ? 
 
 Art thou prejDared to yield her up 
 
 To some young senseless, graceless fop, 
 
 Whose fleeting passion might suggest 
 
 Dame N'ature ruling in his breast ! 
 
 Which is not love, but lust and sin. 
 
 The proof of rotten ess within ; 
 
 Who may put forth the maudlin plea. 
 
 Of more congeniality? 
 
 If not, why should st thou wish to roam, 
 
 And spoil a neighbor's peaceful home ? 
 
172 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Do aught to blast Ms happiness 
 Or covet any thing of his ? 
 Indulgence in one wrong prepares 
 The soul for other sinful snares, 
 And for this query : ' Must I be 
 Pure evil from eternity ; 
 Foredoomed to punishment condign, 
 Without an act or will of mine ?' 
 And this soon leads us to abuse 
 Our great Creator, and accuse 
 His laws for what is our own blame, 
 And thus insult his sacred name ; 
 ' Is goodness but a mask, a sham 
 Paraded forth the weak to damn. 
 That he who rules yon starry sj^here 
 In vice may revel free from fear ?' 
 
 This blasphemy, as understood. 
 Must wean us from all hope of good ; 
 And thus we see the only way 
 In which our freedom finds full play. 
 Where * Nature's law would urge us still 
 To use unlimited free will ;' 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 173 
 
 Yes, Nature's law perverted, loose, 
 May sanction every vile abuse ; 
 If we shall give it boundless range, 
 And say that nature loves a change. 
 We must not name it jade or rake, 
 Though many hearts it sting or break ; 
 And it may freely stretch the hand, 
 To seize the fatness of the land ; 
 Whate'er it covets, limbs of slaves. 
 Or gold dug up from brothers' graves ; 
 cThe soldiers', widows', orphans' spoils j 
 All fish are welcome to its toils ! 
 From this vile creed all errors flow ; 
 All base deceptions, pain and woe ; 
 Through this thy crew in Heaven rebelled, 
 And through it they have been expelled : 
 Should men broach such a creed on earth, 
 We know its parentage and birth. 
 
 Thou askest next : ' Shall we be fooled. 
 And like to neophites be schooled. 
 To suit the ends of one, forsooth, 
 Who would monopolize all truth ?' 
 
174 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 I ask : What are we, or what know, 
 Save what to God alone we owe? 
 Are we not creatures of his will, 
 Raised u]) his purpose to fulfill ? 
 Has not the potter power and sway, 
 To mould, at will, the plastic clay ? 
 Shall we, his vessels, him upbraid, 
 And ask him, * why we have been made ?' 
 And not feel grateful that our sire 
 Has formed us seraphs, winged with fire, 
 With minds and forms prepared to soar. 
 And all the worlds for truth explore ? 
 Can we with justice say thiat * he_ 
 Of truth holds the monopoly ?' 
 He might have made us dumb or mute. 
 Like crawling worm or grovelling brute ; 
 Or simply clothed in clay, like man, 
 Bound to you earth's ignoble span ; 
 And doomed, by painful toil, to rise. 
 In time, to knowledge of the skies ! 
 
 And why of wisdom should we boast, 
 Or science ? View yon starry host ; 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. l75 
 
 What power upholds thcu* airy course? 
 
 We say, * 'tis gravitation's force !' 
 
 And what is gravitation ? Ha ! 
 
 We answer : ' 'Tis great nature's law,' 
 
 And what is nature? Here we halt. 
 
 And find our knowledge sore at fault ; 
 
 * The fault is common,' thou wilt say ; 
 
 *Here all creation is at Lay, 
 
 And we as much as others know !' 
 
 Well, let us see if this be so : 
 
 Behold this diamond ! Who can tell 
 What spirit doth within it dwell. 
 To make it brilliant as a star ? 
 Lo, here is Science in her car, 
 Can analyze it ! Now, behold ! 
 It is a blackened mass of mold. 
 
 Well, since she knows so well its parts, 
 And all the scientific arts, 
 Let her construct the gem, once more, 
 And make it biilliant as before. 
 
176 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Vain effort ! for its soul hath flown, 
 But whither is to her unknown ! 
 Yet, from the deep and secret mine 
 It shall come forth once more and shine. 
 
 Here, at our feet, an humble rose 
 Doth to the sun its sweets disclose ; 
 A precious perfume it exhales. 
 With which it loads the fragrant gales : 
 Could we with all our skill combined, 
 With all our boasted powers of mind, 
 Create one such, so fresh and fair, 
 To breathe its sweetness on the aii" ? 
 Or can we, from creation's field. 
 From every source which it can yield, 
 With all our cunning, care and skill, 
 An essence such as this distil ? 
 
 Behold that tiny twinkling thing 
 That flutters past, on joyous wing ! 
 A little insect ! Let us see 
 What makes it flutter with such glee ! 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 177 
 
 'Tis life, we say. Yes ! What is life ? 
 
 We analyze it — brief the strife ; - 
 
 The essence flies in viewless air. 
 
 Well, we can fly and seize it there ; 
 
 Restore it to its senseless form. 
 
 With joyous youth and beauty warm ; 
 
 Or, being wise, and fit to reign 
 
 O'er this or any fair domain, 
 
 'Twill be no task for us to breathe 
 
 New life in every thing beneath. 
 
 Now, Lucifer, my former friend. 
 
 This thou dost doubtless comprehend ; 
 
 Speak but the word, these stones and trees" 
 
 Will rise and flutter in the breeze ; 
 
 The very dust will take to wing, 
 
 And in the sunbeam dance and sing !" 
 
 " Why mock me thus ?" cried Lucifer ; 
 
 " I only reign as prince of air ; 
 
 I never have been used to hear. 
 
 From unfledged youths, the scoff* and jeer," 
 
178 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 "The sting of Satire" cries the youth, 
 " Is found most chiefly in its truth : 
 And when from such a- source it springs^ 
 It flays its \dctim, while it stings. 
 And what is this from thee I hear, 
 Thy kingship sunk to ' prince of air' ! 
 Thy vast ambition which embraced 
 The universe, so much debased ! 
 Oh, mighty king without a throne, 
 Or resting place to build one on ! 
 We shall be troubled much with doubts, 
 To find thy certain whereabouts. 
 When we pay tribute to our king. 
 Or incense to his throne would bring ! 
 And thus to fool us, let me add, 
 For loyal subjects, is too bad ! 
 
 And how couldst thou, a thing of fire, 
 
 Descend to such a low desire ! 
 
 Or waste thy love on ' clods of earth' 
 
 So mean in origin and birth ? 
 
 And which could never soar abroad 
 
 Amongst the boundless works of God ; 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 179 
 
 But cramped in body, as in mind, 
 Should ever be to dust confined ! 
 Shame, shame on such degraded love ! 
 Why not aspire to things above ?" 
 
 " Hold, Arophel, lest thou provoke 
 My anger and this fearful stroke !" 
 Exclaimed the fiend, while drawing near, 
 He poised in threatening mood a spear ! 
 
 " Thy temper curb !" the youth exclaimed, 
 "Or else by me it shall be tamed ! 
 For know, that I lack not the force. 
 Thy rage and fury to coerce. 
 No longer art thou he who shone 
 Midst angels, near the Eternal throne; 
 Who could triumphantly contend 
 With any champion, foe or friend. 
 Thy sins and crimes have made thee weak, 
 As well as branded deep thy cheek. 
 Henceforth, no longer dare aspire 
 To vie with us, the sons of fire ; 
 
180 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Nor let tliy rebel crew obtrude 
 
 Their hideous forms amongst the good, 
 
 Whose loyalty they simulate, 
 
 In hopes to gain their lost estate. 
 
 But turn whatever skill remains, 
 
 To forge the desjDot's clanking chains. 
 
 Go bind, deceive, betray the poor ; 
 
 The weak go torture and devour ; 
 
 Spread for the innocent thy toils, 
 
 And matrons trammel in thy coils. 
 
 With discord fill both Heaven and earth, 
 
 And ruin hurl on all beneath ! 
 
 This be thy low, degrading lot, 
 
 Be Heaven and love by thee forgot : 
 
 And when thou hast performed thy worst, 
 
 Kesume once more thy place accurst ! 
 
 Where thou and all thy dupes shall dwell 
 
 Prepared to reap that frightful hell ; 
 
 Where torn with torture and remorse, 
 
 You feel at length its blighting curse : 
 
 Till time (who knows ?) may purge away, 
 
 Your guilty stains ; and hope's sweet ray 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 181 
 
 May light, once more, each darkened breast, 
 
 And number you among the blest ! 
 
 For evil is an accident, 
 
 And no essential element ! 
 
 And cannot, therefore, always reign 
 
 O'er God's all-beautiful domain : 
 
 For though it rage with whelming flood, 
 
 A while, God turns it all to good." 
 
 "Dost thou forget," the fiend rejoined; 
 " That Heaven is not, save in the mind ; 
 And who with virtue fails to dwell 
 But carries with him his own hell ?" 
 
 " 'Tis true, indeed," replied the youth, 
 
 " And hope for thee shines thit)ugh that truth, 
 
 For wisely is it written thus ; 
 
 * Nemo repente turpissimus.' 
 
 And e'en in thy most devilish course 
 
 Thou hast betrayed some slight remorse, 
 
 Some germs of goodness and of grace, 
 
 Which e'en thy crimes could not efface ; 
 
182 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 ' These fanned may lead to virtue's shrine, 
 And, therefore, Heaven may yet be thine, 
 If thou from memory canst remove 
 The record of thy monstrous love ! 
 And heal th' irreparable wound 
 Inflicted by thy craft profound ; 
 Restor&to life the dead and lost; 
 And soothe to peace the tempest-tost." 
 
 *' These are impossibilities !" 
 The fiend in angry tones replies ; 
 " Why taunt me thus ?" 
 
 «0h, mighty chief!" 
 Replied the youth, " thy reign how brief! 
 Thy kingship why thus abdicate, 
 And yield all duty up to fate ! 
 For if omnipotent thou be. 
 Is aught impossible to thee ? 
 If not why dub thyself a fool , 
 By claiming right to kingly rule ? 
 Or why not by thy words abide ; 
 « Thy duty shall thy fate decide ?' 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 183 
 
 Thy weakness here thou dost admit, 
 
 And prove thyself to rule unfit ; 
 
 And that God's holy law demands 
 
 Obedient hearts, unsullied hands. 
 
 Ah, canst thou heal that mortal wound, 
 
 Inflicted by thy art profound ? 
 
 Canst thou from thine own conscience blot 
 
 The memory of that guilty spot ? 
 
 Canst thou stand up before the throne 
 
 And say, ' I for my sins atone ? 
 
 Here take my life, my blood, my all ; 
 
 That virtue live and vice may fall.' 
 
 Will aught created dare to rise 
 
 And say : * accept this sacrifice 
 
 As worthy of the sacred cause, 
 
 And to atone for broken laws ?' 
 
 Are sinners then of hope bereft? 
 Is there no balm in Gilead left ? 
 Is there no mercy in the sky ? 
 And must the wretched sinner die ? 
 No ! one is worthy, one alone. 
 To plead for sinners at the throne ; 
 
184 THE TWO Ajq^GELS. 
 
 A daysman who for us will bleed 
 
 And who alone maj mtercede. 
 
 And. hark! the desert sends a voice 
 
 Which bids our trembling hearts rejoice ; 
 
 The voice of one who loudly cries ; 
 
 "Behold the Ruler of the skies ! 
 
 He comes, he comes ! prepare the way; 
 
 The dayspring ushers in the day ! 
 
 He comes with baptism of pure fire ; 
 
 Let Satan and let sin retire ! 
 
 He comes to make your hearts relent, 
 
 Then, ye who would be saved, repent !" 
 
 " From bondage, sin and sorrow flee, 
 And ye who thirst, come, come to me : 
 I will release you from your chains ; 
 Cleanse with my blood your guilty stains ; 
 Your sins, though scarlet, shall be white 
 , As wool, your darkness changed to light ! 
 The chief of sinners, too, may come, 
 And all are welcome to my home !" 
 'Twas thus to me, in days of yore, 
 He spoke on that sweet Heavenly shore 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 185 
 
 But then I could not comprehend 
 The goodness of my Savior friend : 
 For sin and hist o'ercloud the mind, 
 And make us helpless, weak and blind. 
 But, after many ages passed, 
 I realized His worth at last ; 
 "When tried in tribulation's fire. 
 Which purged my soul of gross desire 
 And caused it with remorse to bleed, 
 And of a Savior feel the need. 
 While struggling in the pangs of woe. 
 These words recurred in v/hispers low: 
 " Mercy, indeed, is mine, my son ; 
 And is by thee through suffering won ; 
 I thee to peace and joy restore ; 
 RejDent, my son, and sin no more !" 
 
 Ah, with what rapture did I hear 
 Those precious tones fall on mine ear ; 
 I felt sin's dreadful weight no more ; 
 My days of sorrowiog were o'er ; 
 
 b8 
 
186 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 And through the mercy of my Lord 
 I was to happiness restored ! 
 
 And now that voice again is heard ; 
 To thee it brings the healing word ; 
 ' Thy sins though scarlet, shall be white 
 As wool ; thy darkness changed to light.' 
 Wilt thou, O Lucifer, give ear, 
 And let that voice thy prospects cheer ? 
 Kepent, my friend, and lay aside 
 Thy folly and thy stubborn pride ; 
 And, prostrate at His feet, confess 
 Thy vanity and nothingness !" 
 
 " Hold !" cried the fiend ; " such prattle sweet 
 
 For babes and innocents is meet , 
 
 And those poor fools whose souls are fled, 
 
 Whose nerves and intellects are dead. 
 
 Atonement made by blood for sin 
 
 With such alone can credence win. 
 
 How can a murdered innocent 
 
 Redeem or cause men to repent? 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 187 
 
 How could repentance heal the wound 
 Of mortal shi and make it sound ? 
 The memory of its guilt destroy, 
 And fill the void with peace and joy? 
 What sense of justice can he have, 
 Who such a sacrifice should crave ? 
 For should ten million lambs expire, 
 'T would but inflame the wolfs desire, 
 To revel in their innocent gore, 
 And still unsated crave for more ! 
 Why prate of what thou canst not know? 
 And thinkest thou, that I fear my foe ? 
 My soul, self-poised, scorns and disdains 
 Support or aid from others' pains ; 
 I spurn his mercy or his might. 
 And stand erect in native right ; 
 Undaunted, unsubdued, unbent, 
 I neither yield nor yet repent ! 
 My course is clear ; nor Heaven nor hell 
 Can change my purpose, fierce and fell ! 
 Eternal war with Heaven I wage, 
 And fling into its teeth this gage ; 
 
188 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 That, which shall first cry, * peace, hold on !' 
 Shall be the slave of the other's throne ! 
 'Twill then be time to bend the knee, 
 Or howl in endless misery !" 
 
 Scarce had this fierce, defiant word 
 
 Been uttered, when a crash is heard ! 
 
 The thunders pealed : the lightnings blazed ; 
 
 While Lucifer stood firm and gazed : 
 
 His look and gesture would defy 
 
 The mad artillery of the sky ! 
 
 But fiercer blazed the lightning's flame ; 
 
 Near and more near the thunders came ; 
 
 Each peal more frightful than the last, 
 
 Which threatened Heaven and earth to blast. 
 
 A crash is heard ! a thunder stroke 
 
 His pride and resolution broke ; 
 
 Which caused him howl with pain and fright, 
 
 And seek security in flight ! 
 
 Another crash ! He is transformed 
 
 To hideous shape, a thing deformed ! 
 
 His head becomes a burning coal ; 
 
 His limbs and wings a vaj^ory scroll ; 
 
,THE TWO ANGELS. 189 
 
 His plume and crest a sword to smite 
 
 The world with famine, plague and fright. 
 
 And lo ! a whirlwind drives him his^h, 
 
 A wandering comet through the sky ; 
 
 Where roams through space this ' prince of air,' 
 
 Both men and angels to ensnare ; 
 
 To be a terror to the weak, 
 
 And on the just his vengeance wreak ; 
 
 Repair before Jehovah's throne, 
 
 And claim the Uzzite for his own ; 
 
 To be the false accuser still ; 
 
 To man the fruitful cause of ill ; 
 
 To suffer and become a hell 
 
 For those who've yielded to his spell. 
 
 Exposed to each extreme, in turn, 
 
 Sometimes to freeze, — sometimes to burn, 
 
 He wanders without chart or shore, 
 
 Till time, on earth, shall be no more ! 
 
 Young Arophel was shocked to see 
 And hear this prince of blasphemy ; 
 But wlien his punishment he saw, 
 Its justice soothed his pain and awe, • 
 
190 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 And, bending low his modest head, 
 He thus to God, the Father, prayed : 
 
 *' Oh God, this fearful scourge from Heaven avert, 
 From earth and sun and stars, and turn to good ; 
 O'er all thy kingdom, God, thy j^ower exert ; 
 Thy will be done :— thy law be understood! 
 
 Thy kingdom come ! thy children, bounteous, feed, 
 With manna of the skies, the bread of life ; 
 And may thy enemies to ruin s|)eed, 
 And perish by their ov/n infernal strife ! 
 
 What frightful scenes, successive, rise and spread 
 Their dark funereal pall before mine eyes ; 
 The poison which yon baleful meteor sheds 
 Blights all creation ; and it, withering, dies ! 
 
 Thy bounty gives the world a rich repast ; 
 But the destroyer turns it all to gall ; 
 How long, oh Lord, shall this, his kingdom, last. 
 How long before his pride shall have a fall ? 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 191 
 
 Thy day of retribution quickly come ! 
 When sin shall perish, — pride lie in the dust ; 
 When all thy saints be gathered to thy home ; 
 And thou shalt reign supreme,— the good and just! 
 
 But thou, oh Lord, thy mercy not forget ! 
 
 But turn the hearts of sinners towards thy shrine; 
 
 And let no creature of thy hands regret 
 
 Thy fatherhood ; — and all the praise be thine !" 
 
 And now, sweet Muse, a long farewell ! 
 
 On earth, perhaps, we meet no more ; 
 No more we wake the magic shell, 
 
 Or through creation's wonders soar; 
 The music which has charmed our way, 
 
 Through many a scene of joy and tears, 
 Will linger in the memory. 
 
 Through all this pilgrimage of years : 
 
192 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 And generations yet unborn 
 
 Shall dwell with rapture on the strain; 
 And, though by some received with scorii, 
 
 Yet all its chords shall not be vain : 
 For as the grains of glittering gold 
 
 Shine pure and bright, midst clay and sand ; 
 So truth divine, though feebly told, 
 
 'Midst worldly dross is bound to stand 
 Bright and pre-eminent o'er all 
 
 The i^assions and the storms of life ; 
 While lies, sustained by power, shall fall 
 
 And 2:)erish in the mortal strife ! 
 
 And, as from earnest labor done 
 
 By coral insect, 'neath the wave, 
 Where deep it lays the corner stone 
 
 Of its own cradle, home, and grave ; 
 A lovely island springs to light, 
 
 Up-heaved by some internal force ; 
 Most grateful to the sailor's sight. 
 
 Of flowers and trees the fruitful nurse ; 
 AVherein the birds of Heaven prepare 
 
 Their nests in every branch and stem ; 
 
THE TWO ANGELS. 103 
 
 And carol, to the grateful air, 
 Their benefactor's requiem ; 
 
 And men, its beauty noting, raise 
 Their peaceful homes upon its soil. 
 
 And thus the little laborer praise, 
 For this rich issue of his toil : — 
 
 So shall the efforts we employ- 
 To elevate the human race 
 
 Be hailed with gratitude and joy- 
 By those who fill our vacant place : 
 
 And they will, haply, turn a thought 
 To praise and bless the humble worm 
 
 Which by its martyrdom hath wrought 
 Their freedom from the pelting storm. 
 
 This compensation we shall find 
 
 For labor done beneath the sun, 
 When matter shall be ruled by mind, 
 
 When mind's great triumph shall be won. 
 
 And as intelliofence and lov 
 
 -e 
 
 Shall spring like phoenix from the fire, 
 B8 
 
194 THE TWO ANGELS. 
 
 Our ransomed souls shall find above 
 The consummation of desire : 
 
 The trials which we suffer here 
 
 Sliall be the stepping stones whereby 
 
 We mount yon briglit, celestial sphere, 
 To homes eternal in the sky. 
 
 THE END 
 
OR, LOVE-LED, 
 
 IN SIX CANTOS; 
 
 The difference between the sensational and classic school 
 of literature is this, that, while the former stimulates the 
 grosser passions of our nature, for its own selfish purposes, 
 the latter aims at the noblest ends, by giving a healthful 
 impulse to the best feelings and emotions of the heart; and 
 if it sometimes depicts base characters, it is to render them 
 odious and contemptible, and to deter men from following 
 their example. 
 
 In the story of " The Two Angels," as, indeed, in all his 
 other productions, the author has kept this object steadily 
 in view. No one can read the present volume without 
 feeling a deep interest in the story ; and also, that he rises 
 up a wiser and a better man, from the perusal. 
 
 The characters of Lucifer and Venus are depicted in a 
 new and entirely original phase ; and those of Arophel, 
 Adam and Eve will be found in accordance with nature 
 and the circumstances of each. 
 
 Although aware that the readers of this poem will judge 
 of its merits with their characteristic independence, Ave will 
 yet give a few brief extracts from the cotemporary press, 
 especially that of this city, to show how the work is appre- 
 ciated already in that intelligent quarter. The advance 
 sheets were shown to two editors only ; therefore, all we 
 can give at present, is the essence of their remarks greatly 
 condensed . 
 
 CLARKE & BOWRON, Publishers, 
 
 56 Reynolds Block, Deartorn st., Chicago, 
 
OPINIONS OF THE PBESS. 
 
 Fi-om the Chicago Evening Journal. 
 
 " The Two Angels ; or, Love-Led." A story of either Paradise. By Thomas 
 Clarke, author of " Sir Copp," etc., etc. 
 
 We have hopes for the West. The appearance of a real, living poem, 
 emanating from western brains and western publishing houses, and the 
 fact that the West has dwelling in it the intellect to achieve anything so 
 worthy, is encouraging in the highest degree. 
 
 Prominent amongst this class of writers is Thomas Clarke, of this city, 
 author of " Sir Copp," and several other works that have attracted attention 
 in the Northwest and in England. His " Sir Copp " is a poem in which 
 patriotism of a high order, born of a right'judgment of our late rebellion, 
 predominates; while poesy has not disdained to perch on his pen, and 
 scatter telling satire, with here and there a bunch of flowers. 
 
 But Mr. Clarke has lived to write a worthy companion to " Sir Copp." 
 The range of this last is truly startling. It traverses, from verge to verge, 
 the realms of heaven and earth — taking us, as the bird flies, from the 
 mortal to the eternal. 
 
 IVIr. Clarke is a philosopher, versed in the arts and proclivities of human 
 nature, a student of the great Past, a worker in the Present, and a hopeful 
 gazer into the Future. Science, as well as poetry, has been invoked, and 
 the story of " The Two Angela" will bear witness to his learning and his 
 genius. 
 
 From the Chicago Republican, 
 " The Two Angels," etc., etc. 
 
 This is a poem, from a Chicago author already well and favorably known, 
 from a previous work, (" Sir Copp,") which has been before the public for 
 several months, and the success of which is indicated by the fact, that it 
 has already run through six editions, and is still meeting with a rapid sale. 
 
 In this last work. Dr. Clarke has essayed a higher style than that 
 attempted in " Sir Copp," and with evident success, judging from the 
 advance sheets which we have been permitted to see. The story deals 
 with the supernatural, as the title implies ; but occasionally the author's 
 muse descends to political themes, which are marked with a keen and 
 scorching irony, or an eloquent and lofty patriotism, as their character 
 demands. 
 
 b 
 
®&^ (&xtnt i^^m uf tkt gi0^. 
 
 "SIR OOPP." 
 
 No book, since the days of Hudibras, has produced so great 
 a sensation as this work; as is proved by its rapidly increasing 
 sales. It depicts the " Copperhead" in his true colors; gives an 
 interesting summary of the war, and celebrates Grant, Sherman, 
 Sheridan, and the other patriots who so nobly defended their 
 country in its time of need. To the memory of the martyred 
 Lincoln it erects a monument more durable than pillars of brass 
 or of marble. A digression on British Poets, and the hollowness 
 of British institutions, follows, iii which Tennyson's ''Enoch 
 Arden ' ' is severely criticised. A discussion on Education, the 
 Franchise, and Reconstruction, succeeds; and the work closes 
 with "A Dream of Erebus," which will startle, while it enter- 
 tains, the reader. 
 
 A few brief extracts from the cotemporary Press are given 
 on the following pages. 
 
"SIR. COPP:" 
 
 A Book for the Times, in Six Cantos. By Thomas Clarke, Autliot 
 
 of " A Day in May," "Donna Rosa," " The Silent Village," " Lite 
 
 in the West," &c., &c. 
 
 OI»13fl03rS OF THE PRESS. 
 F^rom the Ctdcago Tribune 
 
 lu tliis work we welcome another home production. It is writ- 
 ten in Hiitlibrastic verse ; but the genius of the author is by no 
 means confined to this form of composition. The object of the 
 author is praise-wort iiy, and he exhibits much talent for versifica- 
 tion. We must, injustice, commend the work fur many sti"iking 
 and some admirable passages. " Sir Copp," is of coui^e, Sir 
 Copperhead ; and the venomous creature is dissected by an artist 
 who has a true scientific enthusiasm for so fine a specimen of mor- 
 bid anatomy. The invocation to the muse is especially striking, 
 (here it is quoted in full.) Mr. Clarke is not an untried poet. 
 He has, in fact, produced a number of poems, for which the best 
 English critics have accorded to him a high, rank amongst the 
 first poets of our day. 
 
 From the Cliicngo Evcnii^g Journal 
 
 Under the title of " Sir Corp," is depicted the character of a 
 copperhead, Avliose career closes at the gates of hell. The story 
 is a contrast of patriotism with disloyalty; the theme growing 
 out of the late rebellion. The poetry is lively in measure. The 
 author's former works drew down the encomiums of several good 
 authorities in literary matters. The volume is highly creditable 
 to the publishers. 
 
 From the Chicago Republican. 
 
 >Tr. Clarke is favorabl}^ known to the reading public as the 
 autlior of several poems published in England, which have re- 
 ceived warm praise from the leading English reviews. The pur- 
 pose of this eftort of his muse is to contrast a dark phase of hu- 
 man depravity, as exhibited by the copperhead rebels of the 
 northern states, with the beauty and power of loyalty to God and 
 country. Incidentally, he satirises Tennyson, mourns over the 
 grave of Lincoln, and celebrates the heroes of Murfreesboro, and 
 many another bloody field. He writes with a sharp pen, and 
 shows no mercy to the traitors " Sir Copp," having undergone 
 a severe moral and physical dissection, is introduced by the 
 author into hell, whence Satan, unwilling to entertain him, sends 
 him back to earth to be punished according to his deserts. 
 From the. Staats Zeitung [German.) 
 
 Mr. Thomas Clarke, a celebrated British Poet, who lives here 
 in the West, has produced a poem under the title of " Sir Copp," 
 in which he shows forth the copperheads and their actions during 
 the war. He is amongst the warmest friends of America, ex- 
 tols liberty and patriotism, and does ample justice to our German 
 American citizens. 
 
Opinions of the P*ress. 
 
 From the Chicago Home Circle. 
 " Sir Copp." — A literary production has lately appeared in 
 Chicago, under this title. We are glad to see a poem of almost 
 any kind appearing in Chicago. Only the literary merits of 
 " Sir Copp" will be entered into by our periodical We do not 
 deal in political partisanship. The poem is a political one — 
 written during an extraordinary era, and partaking of the feel- 
 ings and passions of the times during which it was written. It 
 will have many readers, as a majority of the public favor ita 
 principles — its ideas, and, it is to be supposed, will prize its lit- 
 erary character and style. The author endeavors to suit his 
 audience, or rather his readers. We are thankful for what we 
 have got, and will, for the future, greet as favorably as we can, 
 all that may come from he same author's pen. There are pas 
 Bages in the poem well worth being read, 
 
 Fro7}i the northwestern Christian Advocate. 
 «' Sir Copp," spelled in full, is Sir Copperhead, and the author's 
 idea may be defined from two lines : 
 
 "Thus have they masked hypocrisy 
 And dubbed her Young Democracy." f^ 
 
 He deals with those who, in his judgment, deserted the coun- 
 try in the hour of its greatest peril, and sought to ride into power 
 at the expense of its honor and unity. 
 
 Mr. Clarke is an old writer, having had much literary experi- 
 ence beyond the seas, and certainly he has not forgotten the use of 
 invective, nor does he search the lexicon for soft epithets. He 
 clearly says what he means. 
 
 From the Chicago Eiiening Post, 
 
 After a careful perusal of this work, (''Sir Copp"), we come 
 to the conclusion, that it has many brilliant points, much humor, 
 and some severe satire ; but it must not be forgotten, that the 
 subject (the copperhead) is venomous in the extreme, and that 
 gentle words and mild epithets would be entirely out of place in 
 such a connection. Its criticism on " Enoch Arden," alone, is 
 worth more than the price of the book. We predict for it a 
 briUiant success and a wide circulation. # 
 
 m 
 
 AGENTS WftNTED EVERYWHERE. 
 
 Tery Liberal Terms offered to those who desire to act as such. 
 
BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 We propose to publish the following works, by Thomas 
 Clarke, in quick succession, viz.: 
 
 " The Battle, and other Poems, patriotic and humorous." 
 This work will contain, "The Power of Music," "The 
 Power of Eloquence," etc., with the following humorous 
 pieces, among others, viz.: "Celestials in Chicago," *^ Items 
 from Pekin," " The President's Wooing," etc. 
 
 The above work is now in preparation. It will make a 
 beautiful book for presentation, and will be ready in time 
 for the fall trade. 
 
 " Demetrius ; or, The Conspirators." A Tragedy, in five 
 acts. 
 
 "TheAminta." A sylvan drama. From the Italian of 
 Torquato Tasso. 
 
 " Miscellaneous Poems." 
 
 Also, the following republications from the London 
 editions, viz.: 
 
 " A Day in May." 
 
 " Donna Rosa and the Silent Village." 
 
 " A Pastoral and other Poems." 
 
 Also, the following prose works, by the same author, viz.: 
 
 " Philip Thornton ; or, The Adventurers." 
 
 " Life in the West." 
 
 " The New Sentimental Journey." 
 
 Lectures and Essays. 
 
 Miscellaneous Pieces. 
 
 With the exception of " Life in the West," which appeared 
 as a serial in a newspaper some nine years ago, none of the 
 above prose works have yet been published ; and they are 
 all of the deepest interest and the highest order of merit. 
 
 CLAEKE & BOWRON, Publishers, 
 
 56 Beynolds Block, Dearborn St., Chicago. 
 
TO THIE I^TJBI_.IO. 
 
 We take pleasure in announcing that we are 
 now prepared to print and publish books and 
 pamphlets, of every kind, at as low rates as any 
 other house in the Northwest; and as our type 
 is all new, and will be kept expressly for stereo- 
 typing purposes, authors and others who desire 
 accuracy, elegance of style, and a perfect im- 
 pression in their books will do well to give us 
 a call. They can also, if they wish, have the 
 benefit of Prof. Clarke's experience as a writer, 
 in correcting their manuscripts before they are 
 submitted to the press. This is a very important 
 matter, inasmuch as many excellent works which 
 would have been useful to mankind have been 
 condemned and rendered valueless, for want of that 
 experience and artistic skill in their authors which 
 are so essential to the success of every literary 
 efibrt in our age, and without which the most 
 brilliant genius is lost to the world. To young 
 authors, especially, whose ambition rises to the 
 height of poetical composition we feel assured 
 that we can be of great benefit ; and to all who 
 require our services we hope to give perfect 
 satisfaction in every respect. 
 
 CLARKE & BOWRON, Publishers, 
 
 56 Eeynolds Block, DearborTi st., Chicago.