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 ARMAGEDDON. 
 
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 Arm. 
 
ARMAGEDDON. 
 
 IN TWELVE BOOKS. 
 
 BYTHE nffltry. 
 
 REV. GEORGE TOWNSEND, B. A. 
 
 OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 THE FIRST EIGHT BOOKS. 
 
 <£auAoi [xev ovv rj/teTj ye, wg irep\ ryhixourtov Xeyovreg, xu) jroXy t«o 
 TrpQtrtjxoVTos evheecTepot, ra he irpa.y\u*.Ta. ov QoiuXa. irnrep wu Xe^ofj^ev. 
 
 * Dion. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY A.J. VALPY; 
 
 tooke's court, chancery lane. 
 
 SOLD BY J. HATCIIARD, BOOKSELLER TO THE QUEEN, 
 190. PICCADILLY. 
 
 1815. 
 
^33 
 
 r." ' ■ ■ 
 
 ...» ,. 
 
©etitcatton* 
 
 TO HIS GRACE 
 
 THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE. 
 
 In the Poem of Armageddon, which I have now 
 the honor to lay before your Grace, my great 
 object has been, to represent the God of Nature, 
 as the God of Christianity ; to unite his myste- 
 rious dispensations with regard to Man, with his 
 government of the Universe ; to reconcile his 
 Justice and his Love ; to show the reasonableness 
 of Christianity, and the necessity of obedience to 
 
VI 
 
 the divine law. 1 submit to your Grace, not a 
 system of Divinity, but the speculations of Fancy 
 
 ■m 
 
 within the regions of Truth, delighting itself with 
 the elevating contemplations connected with our 
 future existence. 
 
 So fully do I feel the imperfections of my at- 
 tempt, both as to the plan and execution of the 
 work ; that, not even with the sanction of your 
 Grace's distinguished name, could I have ven- 
 tured to give it to the Public, had I not considered 
 myself bound to subdue every anxious feeling for 
 its success, and make every effort to gratify in 
 some degree the curiosity excited by my late re- 
 vered friend Mr. Cumberland ; who had been in- 
 duced to take the unusual step of publishing some 
 account of my projected work, to rescue me from 
 
Vll 
 
 the possible charge of plagiarism, the degrading 
 imputation, under which he had himself unjustly- 
 labored. 
 
 Praise is the anticipated reward of every intel- 
 lectual exertion ; in the benevolence of his heart, 
 Mr. Cumberland bestowed it on me certainly too 
 abundantly, and prematurely : but I fervently hope 
 that any deficiency on my part may be imputed 
 to the true cause, my own inability to support a 
 subject, under which the greatest mental powers 
 must inevitably sink. My talents were neither 
 equal to my own ambition, nor his zeal to serve 
 me. How truly happy should I now be, could my 
 Friend correct, improve and polish my work ; but 
 the tongue that encouraged and praised me is si- 
 lent; the hand that welcomed me with rapture is 
 
Vlll 
 
 cold ; cold as the heart that would condemn me for 
 thus publicly declaring how much I love his mem- 
 ory, and venerate his name. To the many obliga- 
 tions and acts of kindness shown to me by Mr. 
 Cumberland, I have to add the honor of an intro- 
 duction to your Grace ; and while I gratify my am- 
 bition in being allowed to inscribe my Poem to 
 You, I comply likewise with the repeated wish of 
 my departed Friend, who knew and appreciated 
 your Goodness. The spirit of the present age con- 
 demns not only the adulation once thought essen- 
 tial to a dedication ; it will scarcely endure the 
 just tribute of praise to acknowledged excellence ; 
 to this feeling I unwillingly submit : Your 
 Grace would rather deserve, than receive, the 
 praises of any man. I cannot say to you, what 
 all delight to say of you, and I am silent, there- 
 
IX 
 
 fore, on those virtues, which, while they form the 
 most brilliant gems in your Coronet, must not 
 be mentioned by him, who has the honor of 
 subscribing himself with gratitude, and respect, 
 your Grace's, 
 
 Most obedient, obliged, 
 and very humble servant, 
 
 GEORGE TOWNSEND. 
 
 
 Arm, 
 
3fntroi>uctu>n. 
 
 Having ventured to form a new Theory of the Universe, 
 as the foundation for the Machinery of the following Poem, 
 and to adopt some opinions, which may appear novel to the 
 generality of readers ; it may be necessary to divert their 
 attention for a short time from the work itself, to relate the 
 train of thought that led me to the plan of Armageddon. 
 
 I. It originated in an attentive consideration of those 
 passages of Scripture, that relate the ascension of the AIcs- 
 siah ; He was taken from the earth in a bodily form, as 
 
Xll 
 
 Enoch and Elijah had ascended under the former dispens- 
 ations of Providence, and was received into Heaven. The 
 most usual significations of the word Heaven are, the air, the 
 firmament, and some illustrious state above the firmament, 
 the abode of more perfect beings than ourselves, where the 
 glory of the Deity, though extending generally through all 
 his world, is more immediately, and openly manifested. It 
 is most probable that our Saviour ascended into the latter of 
 these ; and still continues there, promoting by his office as 
 Mediator the object of his advent on Earth, the Redemption, 
 and future happiness of Mankind. 
 
 II. The conviction that the declarations of Revelation 
 are as much entitled to implicit belief as the demonstrations 
 of science, is the most effectual means to secure us against 
 error in every enquiry of Reason, or effort of Fancy. An 
 opinion has of late years been silently gaining ground among 
 many, who profess themselves the admirers of Science and 
 Philosophy, that the Stars are boundless in their extent, and 
 eternal in their duration ; and the discoveries of the telescope 
 
Sill 
 
 have been supposed to support this opinion : but if the 
 glorified body of the Messiah still exists in some remote part 
 of the Universe, distinct from the stars, it is certain that the 
 heavenly bodies cannot be continued to infinity ; and if they 
 are bounded on one side, they may be bounded on another. 
 The hypothesis, therefore, that I have ventured to adopt 
 from this supposition, is, that the whole space filled with 
 Stars is inclosed by Heaven above, and by Hell beneath, 
 and incircled from East to West, by the place appointed for 
 the judgment of Mankind, the scene of the last contest be- 
 tween the powers of good and evil ; to this ideal circumfer- 
 ence I have appropriated the name of Armageddon. 
 
 " What is God's Universe ? One spacious orb, 
 (The Centre, Star-filled space,) on all sides round 
 Boundless : the kingdom of the Heavens above 
 Shines in the Glories of the Immediate God ; 
 Beneath, in all its terrors, flames the World 
 Of Hell ; and round the Stars from West to East, 
 The realms of Armageddon : — oft on wing 
 
XIV 
 
 Swifter than light, our venturous forms have dared 
 The roaring gulphs, and sought in vain an end : 
 All is Infinity ! the Heavens above 
 To endless distance spread j this Hell beneath 
 Unfathomable ; and Armageddon's wastes 
 On all sides boundless : God alone through all 
 Extends — Eternal — Infinite — Unknown." 
 
 Arm. b. iii. p. 109. 1. 16. 
 
 Many various significations have been assigned to the 
 word Armageddon : it is found in the book of Revelations. 
 Grotius supposes it to signify the mount of meeting, and to be 
 used in this sense with reference to the battle between Con- 
 stantine, and Maxentius : Drusius in the Critiei Sacri trans- 
 lates it the destruction of armies : Parkhurst renders it the 
 Mount of Megiddo, a place celebrated for scenes of slaughter, 
 and many of the great battles recorded in Scripture. 
 Newton interprets it the mountain of destruction ; modern 
 Authors have made it refer to the last battle between the 
 Roman Catholic and Protestant armies, in which the former, 
 after long and dreadful contest, shall be overthrown : — others 
 
XV 
 
 have supposed it to be the place where the infidel power of 
 France shall be utterly broken, in opposing the Christian 
 World. I have not thought of using the word in any of the 
 above interpretations ; but any of them is in some measure 
 descriptive of the action of the Poem ; for as the cause of 
 truth must triumph on earth, so will the powers of Heaven 
 triumph over the powers of Hell : The contest on Earth is 
 expected to take place at Armageddon, near J erusalem, 
 and with reference to this notion, I have appropriated the 
 word to the imagined theatre of the events I have attempted 
 to describe, the condemnation of the wicked, and the de- 
 struction of the armies of Evil. 
 
 III. If the stars are thus bounded, there must be a cen- 
 tre to the space they occupy : .this centre will be either mere 
 distance, or a solid mass ; the latter idea has been adopted : 
 the stars, each surrounded by its own planets and comets, 
 are represented as moving in constellations, and clusters or 
 collections of constellations, round this central World, with 
 a rapid, though to us imperceptible flight. If the stars are 
 
XVI 
 
 arranged through the deep in masses, distinct from each 
 other, each star may move round the centre of its own clus- 
 ter, and those clusters move round the central World. Na- 
 ture is never at rest. From analogy we cannot suppose that 
 the stars are immoveable in the heavens ; the Sun, with its 
 known and unknown planets, may be revolving round the 
 undiscovered centre of its own cluster, comprising the con- 
 stellations we see about us : and thus every star through the 
 whole range of strata is in motion, proclaiming to the superior 
 Intelligences, who observe at will the mechanism of the Uni- 
 verse, the magnificence and Divinity of their supreme Cr&» 
 ator. 
 
 IV. When the mind was lost in the wide field of being, 
 thus opening to its contemplation, another consideration 
 forcibly arrested attention. He, who is the infinite Soul, 
 and Lord of the Universe, having made nothing in vain, we 
 may reasonably suppose, has not created the innumerable 
 systems around us, to spangle the blue skies with barren 
 grandeur : may we not therefore conjecture that ewery star 
 
XVII 
 
 and every planet are filled with beings, as much the objects 
 of the love of the Deity, as the human race ? God sees at 
 one view, and governs by one exertion of his Power, the 
 Zodiacs of other Clusters, and the Equators of other Sys- 
 tems : for what purpose then have the inhabitants of the 
 Earth, an inferior planet to one of those stars, been so highly 
 distinguished by Omnipotence, that for them the Messiah, 
 the Creator, and Preserver of the World, should have become 
 incarnate. Why is Man thus honored by the Deity ? Why 
 so elevated in the scale of Creation ? He is not left to the 
 unassisted efforts of his dark and arrogant reason : Revel- 
 ation, assuring him of a divine origin, and a future destiny, 
 has been imparted to him by the immediate interference 
 and Providence of his Maker. Without Revelation, he had 
 been but the first of animals, cunning, grovelling, and 
 defenceless, blind and imperfect, ignorant and presumptu- 
 ous : Lord! what is Man, that thou shouldst be mindful of 
 him t or the Son of Man that thou so rcgardest him ? The 
 cause assigned to solve this Phenomenon must be consistent 
 both with reason, and Christianity : and T have ventured to 
 Arm. c 
 
xvm 
 
 suppose, that this planet is the only spot among the works 
 of God degraded by moral evil ; and that Revelation and 
 an Atonement were necessary for Man alone. If he only, of 
 all the Beings that crowd the world of stars, has sinned ; how 
 conspicuous is the divine Mercy ; — how great the goodness 
 of his Maker ; — how well suited to his wants and infirmities 
 the system of Christianity ; — and how truly does Revelation 
 promote the real happiness of the human race, wherever ks 
 holy influence has been imparted. 
 
 V. From these contemplations, the mind unavoidably 
 turned to the Question of the Origin and formation of the 
 Universe. Every System of Cosmogony is attended with 
 insuperable difficulties, that startle reason, and confound ima- 
 gination ; and on such points we must speak with tear and 
 submission : the Philosophy of the Platonists, and the cold 
 theories of the present day, would persuade us that the world 
 is eternal. Omitting both the plausible and absurd arguments 
 usually adduced to defend this opinion, it is sufficient to say, 
 that whatever is eternal must necessarily be self-existent, and 
 
XIX 
 
 unchangeable: the slightest alteration, therefore, occasioned 
 by the change of Seasons, the career of a comet, the disturb- 
 ances of the Planets, or even by Whirlwinds, and by Earth- 
 quakes, are irrefragable proofs, that there must have been 
 some beginning to the material Universe ; if there was no 
 God at the helm, Eternity would have produced other effects 
 on the World, than what at present exist. God only is eter- 
 nal, self-existent, and immutable : and as the lawgiver must 
 have existed before his laws ; (however the mind may tremble 
 at the idea of a solitary God ; an Omnipotent without action ; 
 a Creator without a Creation) there must have been some 
 remote and indefinite period, when the measured revolutions 
 of time first obtruded on the infinite of that Eternity, which 
 the mind of man cannot comprehend — " the Eternity that 
 has gone by." Revelation has not discovered to us the first 
 effusion of creative Power : but when the appointed time was 
 come, the Earth, the Planets, the Sun, and the stars around us, 
 were commanded to exist. Every object of sense, or reason, 
 must have proceeded from God ; and every system of the 
 World's eternity is inconsistent with belief in that Iking who 
 
XX 
 
 is independent of the Universe he governs ; who is still Om- 
 nipotent, though every Sun be extinguished, and every off- 
 spring of his power cease to live. God reigned alone before 
 the borders of the World stood, or the innumerable company of 
 Angels were gathered together. 
 
 VI. Imagination, if guided by caution and judgment, 
 may endeavour to picture to itself the order in which the 
 Deity acted in the creation of the World : the pattern of the 
 Universe must have been ever present to his pervading 
 Mind. I have supposed the first act of the Omnipotence of 
 God to have been the Creation of Heaven, the residence of 
 the more peculiar manifestation of his Glory. His Omni- 
 science perceived that no being but himself could be abso- 
 lutely perfect, (perfection being an attribute of God only) 
 and a place of punishment was next prepared for those who 
 x should depart from their Allegiance : between these opposite 
 Worlds of Happiness and Misery, Chaos was commanded 
 to roll, partly occupying that portion of infinity, in which 
 the stars now move : for not even Chaos, though supposed 
 
XXI 
 
 to be the origin of the material Universe, could have been 
 eternal, (Eternity being another attribute of God only) and 
 if created, it must have been created for the accomplishment 
 of some purpose. After the Creation of Heaven, Hell, and 
 Chaos, the defection that had been foreseen took place, and 
 the followers of evil were consigned to the darkness prepared 
 for them. In my endeavour to answer the question, what 
 was the object of the Deity in thus creating the stars, I have 
 adhered to the traditions of the Jews, and the inferences 
 apparently deducible from Scripture : I hope I am sanctioned 
 by these Guides in supposing, not only that the Earth, but 
 the whole number of the Suns around it, were created and 
 filled with Beings, to be received, after sufficient probation, 
 into the presence of their Maker, in the room of the offending 
 Angels; if they escaped the allurements, and temptations to 
 ( evil, to which all created Beings were equally exposed. 
 
 VII. When the object of the creation of the World of 
 Stars is accomplished, there is no necessity for their continued 
 existence: the Stars may be extinguished in utter darkness; 
 
XX11 
 
 the whole space they occupy may be filled with their ruins; 
 the least of their inhabitants who possesses an immortal and 
 accountable soul is of more consequence in the designs of a 
 ruling Providence, than the whole collection of inanimate 
 matter. Such desolation we may not unreasonably conject- 
 ure, though permitted by the Deity, would be undertaken and 
 accomplished by the powers of evil : guilt must be eventually 
 banished from the moral Universe ; but as it has so long and 
 so successfully opposed a supreme Being, so long alienated the 
 Creature from the Creator, is it not possible that the last con- 
 test for pre-eminence between the Angels of Heaven and resi- 
 dents of Hell should be more severe than any they have 
 yet waged with each other? I have supposed that when the 
 inhabitants of the stars have been removed, the powers of 
 darkness are not controlled in their attempts to ruin the 
 order and beauty of the material Universe : the destruction 
 of the World would consequently be their act ; and I have 
 represented that destruction, as beginning with the burning of 
 the Earth by a column of Fire, attracted from the surface of a 
 Comet launched from its orbit and guided through the Solar 
 
XX111 
 
 system by supernatural effort, till the planets are disturbed, 
 and the grand laws of order and attraction broken. The 
 splendor of the starry Heavens is eclipsed ; and all the 
 Suns, and constellations, inclosed by the wide circle of 
 Armageddon rush together in inextricable confusion, 
 forming a mass of fire on the central World, till nothing 
 remain of the glories of the firmament : the beings who are 
 saved rest in happiness ; the condemned continue with the 
 powers of evil, who are vanquished by Omnipotence, without 
 hope or consolation ; Chaos is commanded to resume its 
 first seat, forming an impassable gulph between the realms 
 of happiness and misery ; the dispensations of Providence, 
 that decreed the wonderful formation, preservation, and de- 
 struction of the stars, are completed, and Time is lost in 
 Eternity. 
 
 VIII. The Demons who undertake to destroy the beauty 
 of the material Universe, may be justly represented as pos- 
 sessed of a perfect knowledge of the nature of Man. 
 What description would an unearthly being give of the 
 
XXIV 
 
 pursuits and character of Man, as an individual, as a 
 member of society, or as collected into families and 
 states ? How would he relate the rise, and fall of Empires ; 
 the history of Nations ; the intrigue, the ambition and all 
 the strange inconsistencies of human life? We can only cor- 
 rectly imagine this feeling when we cease to be interested ; 
 when our present feelings, opinions, and passions are no more ; 
 when the employments of Manhood and age shall appear to us 
 in another scene of existence, as the trifles of childhood, to the 
 perfect maturity of wisdom and experience. I shrink under 
 the attempt to relate the strange mixture of admiration, con- 
 tempt, and pity, such a being would entertain for mankind : 
 but in his survey the important event of the Millenium could 
 not be omitted. I have here endeavoured to reconcile the 
 jarring opinions of the ancients and moderns in the short 
 description I have attempted of that wonderful period. 
 Like many other topics, not entirely revealed, it involves 
 great, almost insuperable, difficulties. I believe the account I 
 have given to be scriptural, as far as I am able to understand, 
 by the assistance of various interpreters, the figurative Ian- 
 
XXV 
 
 guage of that mysterious book, which perhaps will never be 
 fully understood in this life : for those prophecies that refer 
 to history are explained by the event, but besides these the 
 Apocalypse refers to a future state, into which we must be 
 summoned before we can perceive the full completion of its 
 predictions.. There are many subjects we must only hope to 
 understand in another World, for this short state of life 
 is the infancy of an existence, always approaching, though 
 never attaining to perfection. 
 
 Some apology is necessary for the frequent mention of our 
 own great and good Country : but as the history of a King 
 is the history of a Nation, so is that of Britain the history 
 of the World : the consequences of the part for instance we 
 have acted in the late contest, and may be required to act 
 in the present crisis, may be productive of greater and more 
 lasting happiness to Mankind, than any other event merely 
 human, recorded in the annals of any Nation. 
 
 IX. When the Millenium is past, the general Resurrection, 
 Arm. d 
 
XXVI 
 
 - 
 the Judgment of Mankind, and the burning of the Earth, 
 
 begin the consummation of all things. When the battle of 
 Armageddon shall be decided by the overthrow of the 
 powers of Evil ; when the stars have been blotted from ex- 
 istence, and Chaos, again rolling between Heaven and Hell, 
 shall form the impassable gulph, that neither the wing nor 
 reason of Angels shall pierce ; — When the Messiah shall have 
 seen his desire upon his enemies, the triumphant Hierarchies 
 of Heaven that surround him, returning from the contest of 
 Evil and the convulsions of the Universe, shall ascend to the 
 portals of their heavenly home, and invoke the Cherubim 
 within to open the everlasting doors, that the King of Glory 
 may enter : He, with his Angels and Archangels, with all 
 the Company of Heaven, and the Spirits of the Just made 
 perfect, presenting before the Throne of his Father the il- 
 lustrious assembly, shall resign the mediatorial kingdom ; 
 then, ascending to the right hand of God, he shall reign a 
 King for ever, in equal Majesty, Divinity, and Power, the 
 object of the praise, the gratitude, and worship of all created 
 Beings. This is not fancy ; this is not vision : rational, ac- 
 
xxvn 
 
 countable, and immortal, we are destined to some higher 
 state, where the spirits of the great and the good of all ages 
 shall assemble in the presence of their Maker ; shall know 
 and be known, and participate in delightful communion 
 with each other : the unerring finger of Religion points to the 
 future, as the only consummation of the happiness of Man. 
 There is a World where the Mysteries of Providence, the 
 difficulties of Philosophy, the secrets of Nature, and the 
 depths of Science, shall be all laid open : where neither preju- 
 dice shall mislead, nor pride pervert us : where error shall 
 not kindle her taper, and call it the sunbeam of truth. No 
 distrust shall separate, no envy, jealousy, or any baser feel- 
 ing, shall find place in that high Society : the anticipa- 
 tions of reason, and hope, and revelation, shall be abundantly 
 gratified : the fond friendships of this world shall be revived 
 in the mutual and unbroken intercourse of all we admire 
 and love. — The utmost elevation of Soul ; realities of hap- 
 piness beyond imagination ; all that the eye hath not seen, 
 or ear heard; all that is meant by the Song of Gratitude, the 
 Palm of Victory, the white Robe of Innocence, the Crown of" 
 
XXV111 
 
 Glory, and the Throne of Majesty, shall be understood and 
 enjoyed. Breathing after Immortality, and ardently expect- 
 ing the future, the bright prospect shall not fade ; the con- 
 templations of Christianity shall not pass over the mind, as 
 the dreams of the morning to die from the memory, and be 
 forgotten for ever. He who would be happy must be a 
 Christian. These are the anticipations of his Religion, sum- 
 moning him from the follies, the monotony, and frivolity of 
 the World, to prepare for his future destiny in a glorious 
 immortality. 
 
 X. I have most anxiously exerted myself to avoid any 
 thought that may appear inconsistent with che Truth of re- 
 ceived opinions : whatever be the success of my attempt, it 
 has been its own reward : on a calm review of the pleasure 
 accompanying the pursuit of a favorite object ; of the nature 
 of the subject, in compelling me to think of the events most 
 interesting to the human race ; and a happy recollection of 
 the studies to which it compelled my attention, I cannot 
 consider the time devoted to its completion thus far, as en- 
 
XXIX 
 
 tirely lost : the love of Poetry, that best, most enchanting 
 art, must seldom be my relaxation, never my employment ; 
 it has long been resigned for pursuits and occupations, more 
 serious, more important, and more useful. 
 
 Should this attempt, however, not entirely fail, I shall 
 devote my leisure to its completion, and take an early op- 
 portunity of publishing the remaining four Books, with 
 Notes upon the whole Work. 
 
 April, 1815. 
 
' 
 
 
 . 
 
 - ' 
 
 «&— 
 
 35! 
 
 
 
 
 ; 
 
 ; ■ • 
 
 Arguments 
 
 OF THE 
 
 FOUR LAST BOOKS. 
 
 ARGUMENT OF BOOK IX. 
 
 The Battle of Armageddon. 
 
 The armies engage— during which time, Satan attacks the Saints, who are pro- 
 tected by a supernatural wall of fire, enclosing them on all sides — The general 
 battle — the acts of Jediel and others — Contest of Satan and Michael, who, relying 
 on his own strength, is defeated — The boundary of Armageddon is broke, and 
 admits the light of the stars — the battle continues, till the Angels are defeated— 
 Satan leads his army to the very gates of heaven. 
 
 ARGUMENT OF BOOK X. , 
 
 The Defeat of Satan's Army, 
 
 ■■■■. ' ■ 
 
 Satan invokes Death to complete the destruction of the Angelic Host — the 
 Demons attempting to enter Heaven are repulsed by the power of the Spirit to the 
 place where mankind were judged — their condemnation pronounced in the presence 
 of the Messiah, and his saints — Speech of Satan — The rocks of Armageddon di- 
 vide — their fall through the stars — the different feelings excited in the two armies 
 at the appearance of the burning earth — the demons pursued to hell, where Sin 
 awaits their approach — the damned curse them as they descend. 
 
\ 
 
 * ARGUMENT OF BOOK XI. 
 
 The binding down of Satan, 
 
 Satan lingers at the gates of hell, till his pursuers appear — his soliloquy — the 
 angels arrive — Asiel endeavours to console Satan — Ezbon reproaches him — Mi- 
 chael triumphs — Satan is silent — his dreadful overthrow — Sin falls with him — the 
 Angels retire — Speech of Satan — Prayer of Michael — the angelic host command- 
 ed not to approach nearer hell — the fire increases — the rocks melt — Curses of the 
 demons — darkness descends from above, and veils the infernal regions from the 
 view of the Angels. 
 
 ARGUMENT OF BOOK XII. 
 
 The Consummation of all things. 
 
 Return of the Angels to Armageddon — Messiah, when they arrive, commands 
 that Armageddon should inclose the stars — the destruction of Creation — Messiah 
 ascends to heaven — All created beings adore the Eternal — the guardian angels 
 resign their charge — Christ gives up the Mediatorial Kingdom, and ascends into 
 the brightness of the Father's glory — the Deity approves the past — and declares 
 the consummation of all things to be completed. 
 
ARMAGEDDON. 
 
 IBook t&e jririeft. 
 
 A rm. A 
 
argument. 
 
 The Poem opens with a commission to the Angels to bear up the In- 
 habitants of Earth, and of the surrounding stars, to Armageddon, 
 the seat of Judgment — Address to the Moon — last evening of 
 Earth— Asriel declares Time to be no more, and commandg 
 the dead to arise — general resurrection — the dead ascend to Arma- 
 geddon — the living are changed, and follow them— they meet the 
 inhabitants of other worlds in their flight — the Heathen inquire what 
 is to be their fate— answer of the Angel — arrival at Armageddon- 
 description of the place of Judgment— Messiah descends from hea- 
 ven with his Angels— he commands the Angels to separate the good 
 from the bad — the good are placed on his right hand— the wicked 
 on his left — their despair — sentence pronounced on each — prayer 
 of Adam — the wicked are borne away by the assembled demon*. 
 
&rmaget>toon. 
 
 Ere Time intruded on the silent reign 
 
 Of vast Eternity ; or yonder stars, 
 
 That roll their splendours thro' th' immense of space, 
 
 Were called to being by th' Almighty voice ! 
 
 In primal majesty of light enthroned, 
 
 The Godhead ruled ; and thou, at his right hand, 
 
 Spirit of Wisdom, Prophecy, and Truth ! 
 
 Coeval reign dst, and bad'st Creation live 
 
 Exulting in its beauties, till the hour 
 
 That Desolation whelm its burning orbs 
 
6 
 
 In fatal ruin : Oh ! inspire my song, 
 To sing that day, the Judgment of Mankind, 
 And all surrounding worlds among the wilds 
 Of Armageddon's Plains, where God shall meet 
 Th' assembled myriads, and pronounce their doom ! 
 Pour thy divine irradiance o'er my soul ! 
 Forsake me not ! tho' language fail to clothe 
 The scenes, that pass as visions on the mind, 
 And fade away, as heaven's resplendent bow 
 Dissolving melts among the parting clouds : 
 But guide my youthful flight where'er I rove 
 Throughout unseen existence, and the "World 
 By man unsung, by Seraph wing unsoared. 
 
 Declare how Time and Nature had fulfilled 
 
 Their destined course" ; when Heaven's eternal King 
 
 Revealed his will to Asriel, the blest Power 
 
 Who near the throne had kept perpetual watch* 
 And of th' Almighty mind the secret signs, 
 
 Untold to others, viewed ; nor was it given 
 
To Cherubim, or Seraphim, to solve 
 The mystery of God's fore willed decrees, 
 The fixed, th' impenetrable, stamp of fate : 
 The mandate Asriel knew, the high behest 
 Received, and to the listening hosts exclaimed, 
 Princes, and Cherubim ! ethereal sons 
 Of your Creator's will, our Father's word 
 Omnipotent has passed, that from your ranks 
 A well-selected embassy proceed 
 To every planetary sphere, that bends 
 Reluctant round its sun ; where'er the globes 
 That sweep the gorgeous fields of light profound 
 Adorn the blue expanse, and speed their course 
 Harmonious, from their azure mountains, bear 
 
 Th' unnumbered sinless beings that shall hail 
 Their glorious God rejoicing : chiefly ye, 
 
 That watched o'er that degraded orb, where sin 
 
 And death debased the high-born habitants, 
 
 To Earth descend ; and with angelic voice, 
 
 The trump of God, rouse the whole race of man 
 
8 
 
 To wait their Saviour's near approach, amid 
 
 Those distant regions of remoter space, 
 
 That bound the realms of Nature, and the gates 
 
 Of these blest mansions ; solitary, waste, 
 
 Dark, wild, and desolate, which hideous night 
 
 And banished Chaos occupy, since God 
 
 With mighty voice, had hurled them from their realms, 
 
 The boundless plain that Seraph foot ne'er trod 
 
 Of Armageddon : there convey Mankind ; 
 
 There shall the Judge of men, the Quick, the Dead, 
 
 Appear, and our assembled hosts shall see 
 
 That awful day when God shall meet his worlds, 
 
 And reconcile his Justice and his Love. 
 
 He said ; and forth, in radiant order ranged, 
 A shining band of Cherubim obey 
 The mandate ; girt with panoply divine, 
 Refulgent, splendid, beauteous, on they come, 
 Not as before, invisible to those 
 Whose paths they guarded, and whose hearts they read : 
 
9 
 
 For round our daily toils, our midnight rest, 
 Angels for ever wait unseen, protect 
 Our falling steps, attendant ministers! 
 With high commission gifted from above ; 
 Angels remark our bosom crimes, and grave 
 The painful record on th' eternal book 
 With tears of sorrow; Angels note our deeds 
 Acceptable, and wing with purest joy 
 Their speedy way, exulting, when they see, 
 As erst in Paradise, Mankind renew 
 Their ancient concord with their parent God. 
 Angels attend the dying bed, sweet peace 
 They whisper to the trembling breast, and calm 
 The restless sufferer ; and, when the soul 
 Bursts from its earthly tenement, convey 
 The raptured spirit in their glad embrace 
 Swift to Jehovah's throne, and joyous name 
 The new possessor of their mutual home, 
 Friend and companion in immortal bliss. 
 Not thus invisible, but in their own 
 
 Ann. B 
 
10 
 
 Celestial, and primeval glory clad, 
 
 Afar they beamed " intolerable day " 
 
 Throughout the concave frame ; as down from heaven's 
 
 Self-moving portals, each pursued his flight, 
 
 Entered created space, and saw the world 
 
 Of stars, that shone with all their flittering train 
 
 Of countless spheres : one moment on the shore 
 
 That bounds the realms of Nature, all the hosts 
 
 Survey Creation's ample fields ; and quick 
 
 Disparting, each to his appointed orb 
 
 Flew diverse, and compelled its wondering race 
 
 To that sublime ascent ; while to the Earth 
 
 The god-like cherub hasted, with the train 
 
 Of chosen seraphim, until afar 
 
 Revolving silent round its orient lord, 
 
 This pendent ball, its lands, and seas appeared, 
 
 A shining atom in the wide expanse ! 
 
 The golden sun from Europe's lovely plains 
 Declining, decked th' Atlantic's purple wave, 
 
11 
 
 And shed upon Columbia's Western coast 
 
 The vernal dawn ; when, on the downward side 
 
 Of the still globe, the silver Queen of Night 
 
 Arose in full-orbed lustre, and began 
 
 Her path majestic thro' the blue serene, 
 
 And threw her silver light o'er half the world, 
 
 With wealth, and pomp, and vanity, adorned, 
 
 The fading pageants of unpeopled states, 
 
 And mouldering empires: Oh! what fearful scenes 
 
 Of horror, thro' thy long continued course 
 
 Of twice three thousand years, hast thou beheld, 
 
 Pale sovereign of the night ! thy peerless rays 
 
 Have played in transient softness, o'er the mass 
 
 Of dark and raging tempests, as they lashed 
 
 The sounding shores ; have seen them vex the deep 
 
 With hurricane, and swallow in th' abyss 
 
 Of maddening waters potent fleets, that rode 
 
 In stately majesty above, and seemed 
 
 To conquer Ocean! thou hast tinged the surge 
 
 Thai closed the space of their descent, and howl; 
 
12 
 
 A louder roar, big with the dying shrieks 
 
 Of the wrecked Mariners, who turn to thee, 
 
 A sad farewell, despairing look and drown. 
 
 Thou, when gaunt Famine, Pestilence, and War, 
 
 Have swept with fevered wing the groaning lands, 
 
 The wealth of nations, and the pride of states, 
 
 Mid all the terrors of the thundering bolt, 
 
 And midnight lightnings, flashing thro' the clouds 
 
 Of heaven ; amid the battle and the storm, 
 
 Thou, unconcerned, hast held thy stately course, 
 
 And, heedless of an agonizing world, 
 
 Poured thine expanded beams alike on all ! 
 
 Now, doomed thyself to ruin ! thou, pale moon ! 
 
 Torn from thy monarch Earth, shalt leave thine orb, 
 
 And hurl thy broken fragments thro' the sky, 
 
 To rest upon the Comet's burning mass, 
 
 When, guided by the demon arm, it bends 
 
 Its flight resistless thro' the solar way. 
 
 Oh ! thou hast risen on the last night of Earth, 
 
 That, hushed as midnight murderer approached, 
 
13 
 
 And found tho' long foretold the human race 
 Yet slumbering o'er the plans of future days, 
 Unfit, and unprepared to meet their Judge 
 Eternal : all things in their wonted train 
 Continued ; passion and debasing vice, 
 Pale guilt, and error, luxury and pride, 
 Bewildered still the millions of mankind ; 
 Youth hoped continual spring, and roved at will 
 In fancy's gayest dream, o'er many a flower 
 Of future pleasure, and of lasting love, 
 Expecting cloudless suns, and spotless joys, 
 The Paradise of life : there manhood pined 
 For glory and renown, and seemed to climb, 
 As fair imagination smiling traced 
 His way, the mountains and the hills of fame : 
 Dim age, with tottering step, and wrinkled brow, 
 Awoke to ponder o'er his useless stores : 
 So pleasure, fame, or riches, sport with man 
 Till the last hour ; unnumbered follies still 
 Degrade him ; some with cursing dared blaspheme 
 
14 
 
 The coming God ; some, drunkenness, or lust, 
 
 Loud riot, murder, or revenge, engaged ; 
 
 While few in calmest contemplation wooed 
 
 The lore of mild philosophy, or strung 
 
 To elevated themes the sounding lyre, 
 
 Or sought in science-page the laws of God : 
 
 Some round an aged parent's dying bed, 
 
 Attending, drop Affection's pious tears, 
 
 Nor knew their souls united should ascend 
 
 From Earth ! th' oppressed, the sorrowful, and sad, 
 
 Implored, in silent prayer, relief, now doomed 
 
 To rise where care intrudes not ; where th' unjust 
 
 Shall cease from troubling, and the weary rest. 
 
 The boasting Infidel, that owned no God, 
 
 No Judgment, Hell, or Heaven, now conscience-struck 
 
 Shall see the just rewarded, those whose life 
 
 He deemed the worst of madness, and their end 
 
 Devoid of honor; now with dread beholds 
 
 Their glorious immortality begin, 
 
 As starting from his sleep he shuddering views 
 
15 
 
 The world in terror, and with fainting heart 
 
 Hears the pale sinners' first the saints' last prayer 
 
 For mercy ! every mortal bosom beats 
 
 With fear and trembling, save the Christian soul ; 
 
 These saw the globe convulsed, the sun concealed 
 
 In darkness, and the demons, and the host 
 
 Whose power-girt arm should tear them from the Earth, 
 
 And waft their wondering spirits beyond the sun, 
 
 And tranquil smiled in peace ; their hope was fixed 
 
 On him, whose promise stands, tho' worlds shall fail ! 
 
 Now o'er the regions where the pensive Moon 
 Her light displayed, the cherub host appeared, 
 Dividing the blue air; and every Fiend 
 In silence gazed, as Asriel winged his way 
 In tempest through the sky ; till on the ground 
 And on the sea resting his burning form, 
 His hand he raised to heaven, and sware by Ilini 
 That ever reigns, the great, th' Almighty God ! 
 " Time is no more ! Arise, and burst your graves, 
 
16 
 
 Ye slumbering children of the Holy One, 
 
 And gird the robe of incorruption round ! 
 
 For lo ! the Morning of the tomb's long night, 
 
 The spring that ends the winter of the grave, 
 
 Is come ! Ye guardian spirits ! protect, and guide, 
 
 Your own selected sons, as Earth and Sea 
 
 Shall pour their tenants forth : the vine is ripe ; 
 
 Ye reapers, gather in the clustering grapes ! 
 
 The wine press is prepared ! ye winds of heaven, 
 
 Breathe your sweet influence o'er th' awakening dead ! 
 
 Breathe, spirit of God ! at thy command they rise ! 
 
 Time is no more ! heirs of immortal bliss, 
 
 Wake from the sleep of death, Arise ! Arise ! " 
 
 The pause of life was fearful ; -as the voice 
 From every rock and mountain, hill, and plain, 
 And wilderness, and ocean, echoing wide, 
 Alike suspended hope, and joy, and fear, 
 Ambition, love, and hatred, and the thirst 
 Of gain, the pride, and wants, and cares of man : 
 
17 
 
 The sun was changed to darkness, and the moon 
 To blood ; while, mid the war of elements, 
 Despairing Death his final victim seized, 
 Grasping with fainter hand his sceptre-dart, 
 Pining for future prey, and veiled his head 
 In thickest night beyond the solar path. 
 The guardian angels of mankind attend 
 Around the silent graves, where slept the dust 
 Of those their care protected from the birth, 
 Thro' all the changing scenes of life, till Death 
 The suffering mortal claimed : th' infernal tribes, 
 Roused from the world of spirits, joyful hoped 
 To wrest from angel-wings the souls of men, 
 Ere borne to Armageddon's plain they heard 
 Their sentence passed, and, glimmering in the night 
 Of Nature, loud-exulted in her wreck. 
 
 Now, from her chequered surface, softly rose 
 A thickening mist, as Earth resigned her stores 
 Of all that once was human; from tin- drv 
 
 Ann. C 
 
18 
 
 And barren wilderness, from mighty depths 
 
 Of either Polar sea, where never breath 
 
 Of heaven had blown upon a freighted bark, 
 
 The drifted and neglected atoms soared : 
 
 The lofty mounds that raised by savage hands 
 
 Concealed their slaughtered dead ; the moss-grown cairns, 
 
 The sacred temples, the forgotten tombs, 
 
 Where in oblivion slept the deluged world, 
 
 With rocks, and vales, dissolved, and crumbling join 
 
 The gathering cloud of life : while, from the ground, 
 
 As every atom sought its former mate, 
 
 And all the good in radiant beauty rose, 
 
 Immortal and complete, a murmuring sound, 
 
 Louder and louder swelling into tones 
 
 Of deepening thunder, broke : " We come ! We come ! " 
 
 It seemed to say ; and back from Pole to Pole 
 
 Echoed the sound, as from the dying mist 
 
 The wondering beings shone : the same they stood 
 
 In substance, shape, and dignity : alike 
 
 In splendor and in glory : every form 
 
19 
 
 As if of amber flame appeared, begirt 
 With shining robes of heaven : and on the head 
 Of all the smiling millions, that possessed 
 The purer Faith, and died in peace with Him, 
 Whose blood alone can save, a beaming: light 
 Celestial lustre shed, the spirit's dread seal 
 In this great day, when all the heirs of bliss 
 First meet, to part no more ! and, with the Just, 
 Rose, as a spot upon the face of heaven, 
 The self-condemned ; the living trembling saw 
 The Earth dissolve beneath their feet, o'erspread 
 With darkness, that dispersing, as the dew 
 Before the morning sun, revealed the forms, 
 Seen, heard by all, but, as the light, unfelt. 
 
 Now, all the new-born sons of man, restored 
 To Earth, await their Judge ; then the bright train 
 Of hovering angels thro' the fields of air 
 Bear up the mighty host, in order ranged 
 Of every generation, from the sire 
 
20 
 
 Of man, unto the parting soul that left 
 
 Its mortal clay, and joined the rising dead : 
 
 A vast, overspreading canopy of flame, 
 
 A radiant atmosphere of fire they shine 
 
 To all th' astonished living, as they cast 
 
 A farewel glance to Earth ; till with the sky 
 
 Their purer and etherial forms they blend, 
 
 And, slowly lessening, die upon the view. 
 
 And, as the last of that celestial band 
 
 Was seen no more, again the pealing trump 
 
 Was heard, to call the living to their doom, 
 
 And meet their Saviour-Judge ! the listening Earth 
 
 Seemed as one ear to catch the awful sound, 
 
 And in a moment, ere the e} r e could close 
 
 In terror at the voice, All, All were changed ! 
 
 The corruptible form was clothed upon 
 
 With incorruption, and the mortal wore 
 
 The robe of immortality ; on high, 
 
 By arch-angelic power upborne, they soar 
 
 The glittering way, and join their wondering sires. 
 
21 
 
 The silent globe its wonted course pursued ; 
 The seasons held their sway, and day and night 
 Continued ; and the birds their sweetest song 
 Trilled softly, grateful to the opening flowers, 
 Wafting their perfume o'er the lonely woods ; 
 And winds and waves obeyed the sovereign voice, 
 That gave them motion first : Man, Man alone, 
 The potent Monarch of this lower realm, 
 Torn from his empire, sought a nobler state ! 
 Man from the regions of the Earth had flown, 
 And the sun set upon a desert World ! 
 
 High with their seraph guides th' immortal race 
 Pierce through the concave orient, and the dark 
 Cerulean sky that bounded once the ken 
 Of mortals ; through the star-paved galaxy, 
 That like a brilliant girdle, bossed with gold, 
 Hung on the breast of heaven ; through every sphere, 
 By Fables, or by Fancy named, whose light 
 Had traversed through the empty shores, and beamed 
 
22 
 
 Upon the rolling Earth : thence to the suns 
 Of distant regions, whose unfailing rays 
 Had never struck upon the gaze of man, 
 Or on the stars he sees ; and still beyond» 
 Where flame the orbs amid the blue expanse, 
 That Fancy oft hath soared with daring flight, 
 Whence weak imagination back recoils, 
 With all her weary powers, they wing their way 
 Th J o'erwhelming and immeasurable height, 
 The depth and blaze of being, mind nor tongue 
 Can fancy or describe, until the day 
 Ourselves shall burst the barriers of the grave, 
 Soar the sublime ascent, and to our view 
 The flaming boundaries of the stars appear. 
 Oft from the worlds around them, frequent pass 
 Their sinless and unnumbered habitants, 
 As meteors rising to th' inquiring eye, 
 Alike conducted by Cherubic guides 
 In radiant legions, who their fellows hailed 
 In welcome salutation ; star to star, 
 
23 
 
 The echoing harmony prolonged, of songs 
 That Angels only knew ; and, on the ear 
 Of favored man, immortal rapture poured, 
 Anticipating heaven ; mild as the voice 
 That calmed th' abyss upon Creation's day, 
 And breathed the breath of life upon the void 
 Of Chaos ; listening the celestial strain, 
 The Heathen tribes, with hope and joy inspired, 
 In faltering accents ask their future doom : 
 
 " Spirits of Peace !" they said, " what mighty Power 
 I lath rent the solid Earth, and called us forth 
 To second consciousness of new-made life, 
 Clad in these gorgeous and refulgent forms, 
 Begirt with light ? Say, are our visions true ; 
 Is there another world, where we shall live 
 To die no more ; there ever to enjoy 
 The presence of some Deity, whose name 
 On Earth we knew not, but whose power we feel ? 
 Or why, all-glorious beings ! soar we now 
 
24 
 
 Through these surrounding orbs ; shall we ne'er rest 
 
 The wonders of his love to contemplate, 
 
 And, in communion with some former friend, 
 
 Admire the God ?' or, do ye raise our souls 
 
 To some mysterious theatre, beyond 
 
 The realms of Nature, where the Lord of All 
 
 Shall meet us ? Spirits of life ! why soar ye still, 
 
 And whither do ye bear our winged souls ? 
 
 Why wave o'er yonder forms those cloven flames ? 
 
 Whence are your mighty Powers, tremendous Guides 
 
 ■ 
 What are ye, speak ; we dare not look on God I" 
 
 " Heirs of Eternity !" the Angels said, 
 " The God that called you from the silent grave,- 
 Is just and merciful ; his sovereign sway 
 All Nature owns, his Name, his Love is great ; 
 Above the Gods ye worshipped, Odin, Thor, 
 Or Jove, or Eastern Bramha ! 'twas his word 
 Created this vast Universe, and Man, 
 And stamped on each his wonders ; and hath raised 
 
25 
 
 The souls he made ! now to another world 
 
 We soar ; where you this mighty Lord shall meet ; 
 
 Him, whom the Grecian sage desired to view, 
 
 The holy Being who the truth revealed 
 
 To mortal minds ! Him, shall the Brahmin see, 
 
 The true Incarnate ; and the Persian sage 
 
 Shall worship Him who gave his God the sun 
 
 The fount of morning light ! while Northern tribes, 
 
 No longer dreaming of Valhalla's Halls, 
 
 Or Odin's triumphs, prostrate at the feet 
 
 Of Israel's King, confess the source of Truth ! 
 
 And we, the spirits commissioned from his throne, 
 
 Though ignorant of his councils, act his will, 
 
 Rejoicing ; and partake his holy love 
 
 "With all the ransomed good, above whose forms 
 
 The cloven flames appear, and mark the sons, 
 
 The favored, and the grateful sons of heaven ! 
 
 And (hough on you rest not the Spirit's light, 
 
 God will not claim obedience to the laws 
 
 The Heathen never knew ; where much is #iven, 
 
 Arm. D 
 
26 
 
 There, and there only, much shall be required ; 
 Nor will He claim what his own hand denied 
 To mortal man ; though all who heard the Truth, 
 And wilfully despised his sacred word, 
 And spurned his offered mercy, He consign 
 To pain unceasing, in the Hell below, 
 Prepared for those who hate him : Fear not ye, 
 Nor shrink appalled, nor tremble ; God is Just ! 
 Nor did his will create the human soul, 
 And bind that soul in ignorance, to condemn 
 Its darkness, and to triumph in its woe. 
 The virtuous heathen, who the natural law, 
 Engraven upon the hearts of all, obeyed, 
 Some separate kingdom in th* eternal World, 
 Among th' unnumbered mansions of the heavens, 
 Shall share, where God his presence shall impart, 
 And manifest his glory ; there to rest, 
 Full of his love ; there to imbibe the streams 
 Of living knowledge, and refine the soul, 
 Advancing in perfection, till their hopes 
 
27 
 
 Their end attain, the bosom of their God. 
 
 Then, fear ye not! to meet your sovereign Lord, 
 
 Hither our flight we bend ; the day is come 
 
 That Heaven, and Earth, and Hell, before their King 
 
 Appear ; and all the mysteries of God 
 
 Revealed, shall speak his Mercy and his Power, 
 
 And Justice, Love, and Wisdom harmonize !" 
 
 They spake : and, to the flaming bounds arrived 
 Of star-filled space, survey the outward coast 
 Of Armageddon, and its concave orb, 
 Reflecting back upon the azure deep 
 Th' united light of the deserted Worlds, 
 And the last gleaming sun : there, paused at length, 
 Th' assembled sons of Earth their destined goal 
 Survey, and, entering on the fearful waste, 
 Complete their anxious flight : then, loudly rung, 
 Throughout the gloom, the summons, that the guides 
 Before the throne of Deity appear, 
 And join th" angelic Powers, whose arm alike 
 
28 
 
 From other globes th* inhabitants had raised, 
 Announce their great commission was fulfilled, 
 And all the beings of Creation wait 
 On Armageddon's plain their mighty Judge. 
 
 Swift sped the train, obedient to the word : 
 And Man, deserted by their guardian care, 
 Stands on the plain of Judgment, to await 
 His final doom ; as those, who, wrapt in dreams 
 Of horror, wake, and find the vision true, 
 And hail in vain th' oblivion of the night, 
 To lull the conscious life, and seek the shade 
 Of ill, to lose the dread realities 
 Of grief and woe ; so, thousands wish again 
 The dreams of Earth, t' obliterate the sense 
 Of what they were, and hide them from the scenes 
 Around ; for, often by th' ethereal light 
 Of radiance, by the various Angels shed 
 That frequent passed, on every side they view 
 What seemed a waste and desolate abyss, 
 
29 
 
 Embosomed in the realms of Night ; and drear 
 And still, as if the banished monarchies 
 Of Silence, and of Chaos, had enthroned 
 Their empires here, and o'er th' unearthly soil 
 Their sceptres wielded, proud, and undisturbed 
 By aught of heavenly birth : vast as the orb, 
 That circles in its breast the world of stars, 
 It seemed ; and desert as if every sun 
 Extinct in darkness, blotted from the face 
 Of Nature, fell : Angelic power prepared 
 The plain, controlled its raging elements, 
 And bade the waste be calm ; yet oft the wild 
 And fearful motion of the dread domain 
 Convulsed the wondering souls ; above, below, 
 The rocks of adamant, the deepened gulphs 
 Unfathomable, and every yawning mass 
 
 « 
 
 Of mingled waves, and floating continents, 
 Rolled their enormous length, from point to point. 
 With all the sinless worlds, and Adam's sons, 
 Upborne ; as, on the troubled sea, are tossed 
 
30 
 
 The fleets of man, amid the uproar wild 
 
 Of gathering storms ; and oft th* o'erarching gloom 
 
 Descended and returned, and every rock 
 
 And yawning cave beneath, with slow ascent 
 
 Appeared to meet th' overwhelming shade above : 
 
 There all around, far as th' immortal ken 
 
 Could traverse o'er the dreary space, were seen 
 
 The countless myriads, who, with dauntless hearts, 
 
 And souls unspotted, gazed upon the sons 
 
 Of Earth in silence, wondering at the cry, 
 
 By them before unheard, of grief, and fear. 
 
 And anguish, that from many a bursting heart 
 
 Pierced through th' unbounded deep ; in endless files 
 
 They stood ; serene in native dignity 
 
 Of being, fearless of th' infernal race, 
 
 That to th' astonished eye their hideous forms, 
 
 Above the tribes of man, displayed, and howled 
 
 For vengeance on their heads ; while, as they flevr^ 
 
 The beating of their outspread wings was storm, 
 
 As oft amid the gloom they rose and fell, 
 
Now half revealed, now hidden from the view. 
 
 Long in their shadowy legions stood the ranks 
 Of beings, gathered to await their Judge : 
 The clamorous outcry, and the whispered Prayer, 
 The piercing shriek, the sigh, the groan, were hushed 
 In mournful silence ; one oppressive calm 
 Aroused the sleepless horrors of mankind 
 To burning madness : Hope, sweet Hope alone, 
 In every bosom lingered undismayed, 
 Nor left the heart of man till God announce 
 His dread command : when through the vaulted arch 
 Upborne on fiery wing, an angel form 
 In rapid flight was seen ; and swift as thought 
 Sped o'er the gazing hosts, and loud exclaimed : 
 " God comes to judge the World, and minister 
 True Judgment in his righteousness ! the Lord 
 Descendeth from the Heavens ! Himself is Judge ! " 
 And suddenly a strong and mighty wind 
 The mountains rent, and into pieces brake 
 
32 
 
 The rocks before the Lord, howling aloud 
 
 Through the deep caves : not on the winged blast 
 
 He came, nor on the terrors of the storm, 
 
 Or earthquake, that o'erthrew the yielding plain 
 
 Of Armageddon ; not upon the flash, 
 
 That pouring mid the new-made fragments shone 
 
 Upon the ruins, melting every rock 
 
 Before him : beaming with immortal love, 
 
 The majesty of beauty and the strength 
 
 Of honor, girt with radiance as a robe 
 
 Of light, and glorified in mortal form, 
 
 The opening Heavens he bowed ; descending slow 
 
 Borne on his throne of glory to the scene 
 
 Of Judgment ; streaming fire beneath his feet 
 
 Its nameless splendours waved, yet not dispersed 
 
 The darkness, but its gleaming lightnings spread 
 
 Wide in the front, and darting on the soil 
 
 Revealed the trembling Nations : round the throne 
 
 Th' admiring day-spring knew its place, and threw 
 
 Jn floating lustre a serener light 
 
33 
 
 Than that of midnight moons ; full o'er his head, 
 
 The high Pavilion bent, with waters dark 
 
 And covering clouds encircled, as the sea 
 
 Blends with the stormy sky at distance seen, 
 
 Girding the Earth; Justice and Mercy shone 
 
 On either side resplendent ; and around 
 
 Ten thousand times ten thousand of the host 
 
 Of Cherubim, and mightiest Seraphim, 
 
 In fiery orbits glowed, with purple light 
 
 The vaulted arch adorn, and pour abroad 
 
 The brightness of their beauty ; Oh ! how grand 
 
 The circling streams of glory ! nor the bow 
 
 That sealed the covenant, nor the rising suns 
 
 Of summer, nor the morning star that glides 
 
 Along th' unclouded azure, can with these 
 
 Compare: they onwards, as dread whirlwinds, rode, 
 
 Painting the spacious concave with their thrones 
 
 Of golden lustre : far through all the train, 
 
 The central light, where the Messiah sat, 
 
 In spiry flame extends, till full-opposed 
 
 Arm. E 
 
34 
 
 To all th' assembled Worlds, the lofty car 
 
 In ten-fold splendour glowed ; while fiercer blazed 
 
 The lightnings, and the thunder louder rolled ; 
 
 But suddenly the vivid lightnings cease, 
 
 The deepening thunders pause, and all was still, 
 
 For lo ! Omnipotence, appearing, viewed 
 
 The beings of his will : the rebel fiends 
 
 That wait their destined prey, the sons who lived 
 
 Among the worlds he made, and seraph-host 
 
 Obedient in their pomp and pride of power : 
 
 To every heart revealed, sublime he stood, 
 
 Great in his excellence, and every eye 
 
 Beheld, and every knee bowed down to God ! 
 
 Who shall the silence break ? or who be found 
 The seals of heaven to open, or unlock 
 The secrets of the heart ? Omnipotence 
 Himself is Judge ; and from the burning throne 
 The Son of God looked forth, while Mercy shone 
 With Justice, summoned to approve or curse 
 
35 
 
 The race of man, and utter the decree 
 Of Him th J Almighty ! He, with pitying eye, 
 Surveyed ; with outstretched hand, the sceptre raised 
 Of love, and spake to the created tribes : 
 
 " Hear, ye assembled Worlds ! ere first ye sprang 
 To being, or ere yet the spheres were poised 
 That deck the fields of space, the sovereign voice 
 Declared the Almighty's will, that every soul 
 Should choose the good or evil ; if to good 
 Their nobler thought inclined, they should preserve 
 The blessings of their innocence, and rise, 
 Pure as the day-spring, from the feast of life, 
 To highest heaven ; there in the blissful bowers 
 Of those celestial mansions taste the joys 
 Of sinless happiness, and ever live 
 Rejoicing in the presence of their God : 
 But, if the paths of evil, then the curse 
 Should hover o'er their heads, and fix its sting 
 Deep iu their bleeding hearts, the joys of Earth 
 
36 
 
 To wither, and its baleful poison shed 
 
 O'er the dark current of uncertain life. 
 
 One World alone has fallen ! My Father's hand 
 
 Grasped the red thunder, the offending race 
 
 To strike, but Mercy and his Son were there 
 
 To plead for pardon on their rebel head. 
 
 * On Me/ 1 cried, ' on Me, thy favored son, 
 
 Eternal Parent, hurl thy vengeful bolt ! 
 
 But spare, oh ! spare Mankind ! ' The Father heard ; 
 
 And poured upon Messiah's blameless form 
 
 The sinner's guilt ; and Death's cold finger sealed 
 
 The covenant of Mercy, and the grave 
 
 Enclosed him in her bars of adamant, 
 
 And stern repose : effusing my own power, 
 
 I burst the iron confines, and arose 
 
 Triumphant o'er th' embrace of Death, and Hell. 
 
 Then high at God's right hand I sat to plead 
 
 For Earth's transgressing sons ; invited still 
 
 To gain their forfeit bliss, by Faith and Love 
 
 In me, their friend and Saviour crucified ! 
 
37 
 
 Now is the day of trial past ; and man, 
 
 In his own form, shall answer for the deeds, 
 
 Committed in the flesh, and shall receive 
 
 The joys of heaven, or pangs of endless Hell. 
 
 Now, by Myself! I swear, not in the death 
 
 Of him that dieth do I delight, or love 
 
 To execute my Father's wrath, or doom 
 
 His World to woe, but Justice cries aloud 
 
 For vengeance, and th' Almighty hears her voice ; 
 
 Let every heart be open to the eye 
 
 Of Men and Angels ; let no vain disguise 
 
 Conceal the truth, but every thought be known. 
 
 Descend, angelic Powers ; from yonder tribes, 
 
 Select th' offending sons ; and bind the tares, 
 
 And separate the wheat, while Justice arms 
 
 Her potent hand, and every sinless race 
 
 In silence view the terrors of a God, 
 
 And grave upon the tablets of their heart 
 
 The solemn wonders of the Judgment day ! 
 
38 
 
 Oh ! from what agonizing World arose 
 That sound of anguish, as Messiah spake 
 The high decree ! from Earth, from Earth, it came ! 
 To Man the Demons sped, and laughed aloud 
 Their hellish joy ; while the obedient train 
 Of angels from their thrones in silence flew, 
 And wept the last sad prayer of ruined Man : 
 " Ye rocks of Armageddon ! hide, oh ! hide 
 Our myriads from the wrath of Him, that sits 
 On his exalted throne ; Fall ! fall, ye hills ! 
 Descend, and shield us from his frown ! Protect ! . 
 Oh ! now protect us ! the tremendous day 
 Of his eternal anger has begun, 
 And who his wrath can stand, or who abide 
 The fury of his vengeance ? Lord of Heaven I 
 Our unrepented crimes weigh on our souls, 
 And cry to thee for pardon ; oh forgive ! 
 Who can exist in everlasting flames, 
 Far from thy presfence ? Mercy ! Mercy ! Lord ! 
 
«.< 
 
 9 
 
 No voice that prayer shall answer ! nought remains 
 But fearful judgment, and the burning fire 
 Relentless to devour the enemies 
 Of God for ever ; lo ! the seraph-train, 
 Submissive, with impartial care, the sons 
 Of Earth beheld ; dividing, as the herd, 
 The sheep and goats, the righteous and th' unjust, 
 As gazing on the faint, and trembling host, 
 Through lucid forms, the bad black heart appeared : 
 And, heedless of the tears of friends, or last 
 Embrace, upon the right hand, and the left, 
 Before Messiah's throne, and all the Worlds, 
 The parted Millions brought to hear their doom. 
 
 Now, where the spirits of just men perfect made 
 Adoring bend ; with mercy-beaming eye, 
 Messiah turned : " Ye blessed from above, 
 Blessed of my Father, come ! unformed by hands. 
 For you prepared eternal in the heavens 
 A Kingdom waits ; there enter, and poflsei 
 
40 
 
 The joys of God, his pure and lasting bliss !*' 
 Then, in his wrath, the fearful curse he spake 
 Upon the slaves of sin : the fiend Despair 
 High on the left appeared, and met the glance, 
 That oft th' usurping Monster had dethroned 
 Within the breast of Man ; triumphant now 
 He rose, though thrice upon Messiah's lips 
 The thunder of his vengeance died away 
 Jn Mercy's wonted accents ; thrice he reared 
 His arm in vain, till to his Father's word 
 Obedient, the dread sentence he pronounced : 
 u From God, from Angels, and the light of heaven, 
 Condemned to endless woe, with Fiends of Hell, 
 Down, down, ye cursed ! eternally depart!" 
 
 Why from yon cloud of glory rise those notes 
 Of anguish ? Friends, and Sons, and Parents, weep 
 Their sad farewell ; and louder than the rest 
 The patriarch Father of mankind was heard : 
 " Before thine awful throne, Almighty King ! 
 
41 
 
 In agony of heart a suppliant bows, 
 That, safely harboured from the wreck of Earth, 
 Amid the ruin of his helpless sons, 
 Entreats thy grace. Let not the Lord of Life 
 Be angered with his servant when he prays 
 For pardon on his miserable race ! 
 By me they fell, the Father of their sin ! 
 On me thy fury pour, but spare my sons ! 
 See where the Demons, pointing to the flame 
 That marks their sire among the heirs of heaven, 
 Bid their sad victims curse their Parent ! See ! 
 With loudest execrations on my head, 
 Fierce in the torture of despair they turn, 
 And hurl their loud reproaches on my soul, 
 In screams of horror, lost to every hope 
 Of Mercy ! Save my offspring from the pangs 
 Of Death and Hell ! or, till the storm be past, 
 Hide me beneath the shadow of thy wing, 
 Oh ! hide me from myself! again, again, 
 Their shrieks of torment burst upon my ear ! 
 Arm. 
 
» / 42 
 
 Nor heaven,' nor all its pleasures shall erase 
 The deep remembrance of that bitter cry : 
 Redeem them from destruction ! stay thine arm, 
 Avenging Justice ! spare, oh ! spare my sons !" 
 
 So prayed our great Forefather ; but the word 
 Of God is fate ! Messiah veiled his face ; 
 The angel-hosts, and every sinless world 
 Bent from their seats of bliss, as from the throne 
 Eternal Justice reared her awful form, 
 In all the majesty of terror enlarged, 
 Girt with the shadow of Death, gloomy as Hell, 
 Fierce as the wrath of God ; her stature filled 
 The vale of Judgment, and the stormy realms 
 Of Armageddon shook beneath her tread, 
 As on the enemies of God she rushed, 
 Scattering her burning arrows round, with fire 
 And tempest on their heads ; and reared on high 
 The vengeful splendour of her glittering spear, 
 Hurling its lightnings, and the second Death, 
 
43 
 
 With fiery indignation to consume 
 
 Th' accursed ; and instant from the left hand borne 
 
 By all th' insulting Demons, mid the storms 
 
 Of Hell begun, the Damned race arose ; 
 
 Then cowering downwards, in the view of all 
 
 Created beings, banished from their God, 
 
 Cursed with the worm of conscience in their hearts, 
 
 To the dark world of woe beneath, they plunge ! 
 
 Their guardian angels, sorrowing, sighed their charge 
 
 A long adieu ; but none deliverance brought, 
 
 No chariots of salvation, no strong arm 
 
 Relieved them ; sternly from remoter heaven, 
 
 Jehovah, the most Highest, gave the voice 
 
 Of Omnipresence, and approved the wrath 
 
 Of Justice, and his Son : forth from the throne 
 
 Of God's Messiah shone the living beams 
 
 Of glory on th' encircling clouds that veiled 
 
 The joyous Fiends, and edged the sombre shade 
 
 With light, that threw a faint, and parting ray 
 
 Upon the plain, and they were seen no more, 
 
44 
 
 Save by th' All-present eye ! as when the clouds 
 Of summer, swoln with thunder, and black rain, 
 Obscure the orb of day, and floating o'er 
 Its lordly surface, slowly glide from view 
 Below th' horizon : all their gloomy skirt 
 With shining lustre tinged, and silver light 
 Poured from the sun : so from the Judgment seat, 
 In mournful splendour clad, they disappear 
 For ever, and for ever, down the gulph 
 Of Hell, and unimaginable Night. 
 
 END OF BOOK THE FIRST. 
 
ARMAGEDDON. 
 
 'JBoofe t&e ^econD. 
 
Argument. 
 
 The Song of Jediel. 
 The blessed ascend, in silence, to the gates of heaven — Elasah, the 
 guardian of the stars, commands the angels to select the fathers of 
 the sinless woilds, and conduct tliein to Messiah's throne — Ra- 
 phael takes the Heathen to a place prepared for them — the fathers 
 of the other worlds embrace Adam, who turns to the last of his 
 sons — happiness of the blessed, who are called to listen to the song 
 of Jediel — character and description of Jediel — His song begins by 
 declaring the self-existence of God from all eternity — the creation 
 of heaven and of hell — of chaos rolling between both — of Lucifer and 
 of the angels — fall of Lucifer, and seven ranks of beings — lamented 
 by the angels — Asriel declares God will create other beings, if any 
 of the angels will undergo the punishment, should they offend — 
 Michael offers — refused — Messiah promises to make atonement — 
 Creation of Armageddon — of light — of the stars — Sin enters the 
 earth — Messiah atones — prophecy of the consummation of all 
 things. 
 
&rmajgettoon. 
 
 feO from the sight of God, and angels, fell 
 The souls of all, that unrepentant left 
 The scenes of life : and still the thrilling cry 
 Smote on the troubled ear, and high arose 
 Their cries of torment, as they downward fled 
 To outer darkness ; while the newly-blest, 
 With all the sons of bliss, obey the word, 
 To leave the scene of judgment, and ascend 
 With God's Messiah to the gates of heaven. 
 
 Arm. q 
 
50 
 
 Then, from his flaming throne of light, appeared 
 The chief, appointed on the central world 
 To guard the brilliant stars, that wheeled sublime 
 As clustering planets gird the sun of Earth, 
 Around its vast and adamantine mass. 
 O'er all the countless habitants of space, 
 Innumerable cherubim, encamped 
 At Elasah's command, to read the heart, 
 And weep upon the arrogance of man, 
 As gazing on an atom of God's works, 
 He named the azure round his petty globe, 
 The boundless universe : and oft they bowed 
 With scorn, and pity, to behold our race 
 Engraft their souls upon the dunghill Earth, 
 Nor, conscious of their origin, awake, 
 "While still their years continued, from the dream, 
 The life-long dream, of grandeur, wealth, and power, 
 To cast one glance upon the endless age 
 Of dark futurity : vain, feeble Man ! 
 Whose most enduring grandeur, in the storms 
 
51 
 
 Of this dull stage of his existence, dies 
 
 From memory, as the lightning's transient flash 
 
 Adorns the thunder-cloud, and melts away. 
 
 Yet, round our heedless paths, their watchful care 
 
 Extended, in submission to the power, 
 
 That knew e'en these imperfect in his sight, 
 
 With folly chargeable, though not with crime : 
 
 " Here, holy, holy Lord ! here, at thy feet," 
 He cried, " thine angels pay their homage, due 
 To thee ; the Father's everlasting Son, 
 Th' omnipotent, the omnipresent God ! 
 Lord ! when thy sovereign hand first spread the tents 
 Of Nature, and commanded life to rise 
 In all its varied orders ; yonder worlds, 
 Full of thy majesty of glory, reared 
 Their burning orbs ; and, revelling in the day 
 Of thine effulgent presence, hailed the morn 
 Of rich creation, and the mystic gale 
 That breathed upon the slowly- rising mass, 
 
52 
 Th' intelligence of heaven, and man was formed. 
 Then, all th' immortals of the golden choir 
 Shouted for joy, and raised their loudest songs 
 Of melody ; while, o'er th' empyrean space, 
 Entranced in wonder, I, thy servant, hung 
 On plains of ether gazing, and the sky, 
 The temple of thy love : then, did thy word 
 Command, that I should tend the host of stars, 
 And o'er each being in the fields of life 
 Appoint a chosen Seraph, to protect 
 The offspring of thy will from guilt, and woe, 
 From evil, and the dragons of the deep. 
 Here, at thy throne, I render up my trust ; 
 Here I resign my powers ; accept the souls 
 Thy goodness made ; let not thine anger rest 
 On sorrowing Raphael, the earth-guarding chief, 
 Whose sphere, disgraced by evil, moved thy wrath, 
 In sight of heaven, on this supernal day : 
 Accept the mourning parent of mankind 
 With all his race, and bless them with thyself, 
 
53 
 Thro' the long ages of eternity ! " 
 
 He spake ; and Adiel to their hosts replied : 
 " My Father's will I read, and he approves 
 The watchful powers that saved his Universe, 
 And raised yon perfect millions to the skies : 
 Now your high task is o'er ; embrace the sons 
 Of time, your partners in eternal bliss, 
 And from their souls the memory of the griefs 
 Of life remove; and bid their grateful hand 
 Receive the palm, and on their sacred brow 
 The golden crown of honour, and the -wreath 
 Of glory place : then, from your thrones descend, 
 And gird around the panoply of war, 
 For good and evil beings soon shall clash 
 Their fearless vans impetuous, and shall soar 
 Among the pathless billows of the realms 
 Of formless matter ; in that dreadful hour 
 Let not your hearts be troubled, but believe 
 My father's arm will guard you in the strife. 
 
54 
 
 And thou, repentant Raphael ! from the right 
 The Heathen tribes select ; and guide their ranks 
 Beneath yon glowing walls, that far extend 
 Their chrjstal battlements along the deep, 
 Reflecting on the night their meteor-flame ; 
 There, o'er the frigid wastes, your journey take, 
 Until their lessening portals mark the spot 
 Provided for the Heathen ; there the light 
 Of God's resplendent brightness sheds a ray 
 Upon the scene, adapted to the minds, 
 Unfitted yet to share the nobler joys 
 Of the first heaven : a wide-extended plain 
 Self-balanced, bounded by eternal rocks, 
 Impassable, that overhang the dark 
 Unfathomable precipice, by wing, 
 Or foot, or eye, of all created life 
 Untried, unsoared throughout ; diversified 
 With hill, and vale, and with Elysian shades 
 That court repose, and soothe th' inquiring thought, 
 That ever mindful of this solemn day 
 
Seeks the pure truth, whose perfect light shall dawn 
 
 Upon their souls, advancing in the scale 
 
 Of happiness and knowledge till they rest 
 
 With saints rejoicing at the throne of God. 
 
 And thou, great parent of mankind ! no more 
 
 Bewail thy race condemned, but turn with joy 
 
 To yonder sons of every rolling star, 
 
 And death's last victim of thy Earth ; the pledge 
 
 That Justice' claims are satisfied, that none 
 
 Again shall perish from their Father's sight, 
 
 Safe in the endless mercy of their Lord." 
 
 He said ; and to our ancestor the sires 
 Of all surrounding worlds their welcome spake 
 Of gratulation ; till consoled, he gazed 
 Upon their peerless forms : unwinged, and winged, 
 Mild and majestic, of superior grace 
 To man, and of inferior ; varying all ; 
 Unmoved by passions of our lower globe, 
 Pure as the blush of the first morn they seemed, 
 
56 
 
 Nor did he not admire, ; but to his son 
 With fond affection turned, as when a young 
 And anxious Bridegroom, in the vernal May, 
 Leads to the holy shrine his long-loved bride ; 
 While every songster-bird his carol lay 
 Sings sweeter, and around him beauty smiles 
 And decks the marriage rite ; nor nobler fair, 
 Or form, or look attract him ; to his bride 
 He, happy bridegroom, turns, and silent basks 
 In the warm sunshine of her beaming eye, 
 And the soul-telling smile ; so felt our sire 
 Heedless of every form, and on his son 
 Poured his last tear of agony, and joy 
 Of grief, and silent praised his Saviour-King. 
 
 And, now, th' Eternal spirit of their Lord, 
 Soft-breathing on the multitudes, refined 
 Their wondering sense, and banished all the scenes 
 Of sad remembrance of the former life, 
 Inspiring heavenly harmony, and power 
 
57 
 
 To rove as swiftest thought from place to place ; 
 
 With skill the souls of beings to discern, 
 
 And all the nameless, and diviner joys 
 
 The future state to mortals shall assign. 
 
 Then nearer to the throne the hosts approach, 
 
 With angels, and the spirits of the just, 
 
 Whose names were graved on high : not from our sire 
 
 Alone, nor ransomed millions of mankind ; 
 
 From every race of the deserted stars, 
 
 On bended knee aloud the anthem rose ! 
 
 * Son of the Father ! honour, and power, and might, 
 Be unto thee, that sittest on the throne 
 Of mercy ! 'twas thine arm salvation brought, 
 And not ourselves ; not unto us the praise, 
 Eternal Lord ! but to thy name be given 
 The glory, and the blessing, that redeemed 
 Our souls, and brought us to the realms of light 
 To die no more ! from Thee, th' unceasing spring 
 Of goodness rises \ over all thy works 
 
 A rm. H 
 
58 
 
 Extends, and feeds with happiness, and love, 
 Thy fair creation ; thou renew'st our robes 
 For garments of Salvation, purified 
 In thine own blood-: no more our suns shall rise. 
 Thou art our sun, thy dwelling is with us ! 
 And here beginning the continual song 
 Of love ! for ever we adore, and praise 
 Thee, the Almighty ! Thee, the only God ! ! 
 
 Then, while the heaven with hallelujahs rang, 
 Ere yet the echo ceased, before the throne 
 Of living flame the cherub Jediel tuned 
 His glittering lyre ; and, swift on either hand, 
 Th' ethereal hosts disparting, as the sun 
 That gilds our azure firmament, alone 
 In sight of all, the immortal bard appeared ! 
 Among his waving robes th* ambrosial gales 
 Of Paradise celestial odours breathed, 
 And round his brow serene, and round his lyre, 
 A lambent vapour of ten thousand hues 
 
59 
 
 Played harmless ; down upon the newly-blest 
 
 He gazed, that, gathering near with noiseless step 
 
 Bent, listening to the golden harmony. 
 
 The seraph-tribes paused in their midway course, 
 
 Aroused to deep attention, as they sped 
 
 Obedient to prepare for coming war : 
 
 For oft among the choir his fame was told, 
 
 By one who frequent struck his solemn harp, 
 
 The noble Asmaveth ; with friendly zeal, 
 
 And all a prophet's fire, he hailed the day 
 
 "When Jediel's voice amid the realms of light 
 
 Should sing their great Creator ; him they heard 
 
 Believing, and await th' expected hour. 
 
 Now, trembling, doubting, eager, bending low, 
 
 With faltering hands, he swept the chords, and poured 
 
 In cadence sweet, inspiring melody ; 
 
 As long and loud, resounding o'er the plain, 
 
 Ascending in magnificence divine, 
 
 The varied, and majestic song began. 
 
60 
 
 ' Hear, oh ! ye heavens ! give ear, created worlds ! 
 Archangels, kings, and princes of the sky ! 
 In silence hearken to the darino; Ivre, 
 That hymns the glories of Jehovah's name ! 
 God is my theme ! ere Chaos, Heaven, or Hell, 
 Or yonder stars, or Armageddon's plain, 
 Or man, or fiend, or angel, sprang to life, 
 Thou wast ! the Eternal, self-existent God ! 
 Great in thy attributes ! all eye, all ear, 
 All Action, Thought, Intelligence, and Love f 
 By Fate, or stern Necessity uncontrouled : 
 AH that duration, all that space contains, 
 And every form of things, thy mind embraced : 
 Vast as the ocean of infinity ; 
 Where time and distance are for ever lost ; 
 Unbounded in perfection ; God of Gods ! 
 The Soul and Lord of this great Universe ! 
 Inspire my heart ! oh teach my trembling tongue 
 The first effusion of thy love to trace, 
 And lost in holy wonder, sing thy works 
 
61 
 
 Of goodness, and of grace! Why did thy will, 
 Great spirit ! as in thy wonderous self absorbed, 
 Thou sat'st alone, call forth material things 
 To being, and command their forms to rise, 
 And all the varied properties of life, 
 And every object of the sense exist ? 
 Where did thy works begin ? first-born of God, 
 The mansion of immediate glory shone 
 The heaven of heavens, obedient to thy power, 
 In silent majesty : then didst thou reign, 
 Creative parent ! in stupendous thought 
 And solitude, on thy mysterious throne ; 
 And, while the floods of glory round thee waved, 
 Exulting in their being, did thy mind 
 Gaze on its sacred self ; and view the ranks 
 Of countless myriads, that thy word sublime 
 Should call from non-existence to their birth ? 
 Thou, Thou alone, great Sire ! in that survey, 
 Wast perfect : and Eternal Justice raised 
 Her sovereign voice to the coeval God ; 
 
62 
 
 And at her word, the fearful gulph of hell 
 
 Its unknown vengeance spread, far from th* abode 
 
 Of the concentred rays, where Deity 
 
 More glorious shone : and unsubstantial night 
 
 Governed the dark domain, and with him rose 
 
 Destruction's stormy brow, and silent Fear ; 
 
 While the young form of execrable Death, 
 
 Unconscious of its terrors, smiled for joy 
 
 Amid the rising flames and dreary tracts, 
 
 The sad and painful residence of woe, 
 
 The fathomless, and desolate abyss, 
 
 Where the Eternal in his anger reigns ! 
 
 Thus height, and depth, began, and infant Time 
 And distance ; and, between the two-fold worlds 
 Of heaven, and hell, th* Almighty word ordained 
 That chaos roll ; lest all the embryo ranks 
 Of high immortals, bursting into life. 
 Should tremble, as they viewed the burning lake, 
 And woo their Maker's power again to shrink 
 
63 
 
 To their unfelt oblivion : then, was seen 
 
 The wild, the measureless, tumultuous deep, 
 
 To fill the solitary space, and lash, 
 
 Wi»h horrid waves, the adamantine base 
 
 Of heaven ; and with pervading sound was heard 
 
 Re-echoing at the gates of distant Hell ; 
 
 While lawless Uproar and Confusion reared 
 
 Their cumbrous bulk, and with Destruction laughed 
 
 Through all their mighty empire, that the reign 
 
 Of primal silence had for ever fled, 
 
 And nought but God and desolation swayed 
 
 The boundless universe : thy will, great Sire ! 
 
 Was spoken, the anarchal monsters fell, 
 
 And Chaos swelled his laboring tides in peace. 
 
 Then, first and fairest of created life, 
 Son of the morning, of his Father's love ! 
 The radiant, and resplendent form arose 
 Of fallen Lucifer : the light of heaven 
 In purple waves of glory round him flowed, 
 
64 
 
 Effusive from the smiling majesty 
 Of the approving God ; and mildest joy 
 Beamed on his tender brow, and candid youth 
 Gave ten-fold honour to the breathing hymn 
 Of grateful praise : and all th' archangels heard s 
 As brightening to existence, first they raised 
 Their floating beauties from the viewless void* 
 Collected in gradations infinite, 
 In number, and in nature ; each endued 
 With energies divine of sense, and mind ; 
 In harmony, immortal harmony, 
 Entranced, they wonder at their mystic life, 
 And turn in silent homage to their God ! 
 
 Son of the morning ! on the fields of bliss 
 The loveliest flower ! great effluence of the love 
 Of Him, our common Sovereign ! round thy steps, 
 In admiration of thy graceful form 
 Excelling, gather the supernal host, 
 -And celebrate with songs thy day of birth, 
 
65 
 
 In sweet remembrance of the rapturous notes, 
 
 That trembled on their ear, as forth they rose 
 
 In presence of their God : why did thy soul 
 
 Aspire to emulate thy Maker's power? 
 
 Why vainly dare Jehovah ? and withdraw 
 
 From vows of their allegiance seven long ranks 
 
 Of Cherubim, and Seraphim, arranged 
 
 Beneath thy faithless banner, taught by thee 
 
 To celebrate in blasphemy thy name ? 
 
 Then, was there war in Heaven ! then, first was veiled 
 
 Th' Almighty throne, in anger at the race 
 
 His will had made ; angels began to know 
 
 The pangs of grief: and thunders poured around 
 
 Our vernal plains unusual noise, as Sin, 
 
 Parent of Misery, the sceptre broke 
 
 Of Peace, and Innocence ; but higher strains 
 
 Of minstrelsy, from Raphael's golden lyre, 
 
 Have sung the dreadful war; nor can my song, 
 
 Like his, attempt to tell the varied scenes 
 
 Of contest ; till the great Messiah rode, 
 
 Arm. 1 
 
66 
 
 Clad in the terrors of his Deity, 
 
 In burning chariots of consuming wrath, 
 
 Full on the rebel Seraphim ; and hurled 
 
 The flames of anger, and destruction forth, 
 
 Swift-darting from the night-encircled orb 
 
 Of glory : through the realms of bliss they fall, 
 
 Seeking the gloom of yon abhorred deep, 
 
 To screen them from the lightning of his eye : 
 
 Grasping th' unearthly rocks, they shrieked aloud 
 
 For mercy, while celestial light dispersed 
 
 The darkness of stern Chaos ; every rock, 
 
 Where'er they clung for shelter in th' abyss, 
 
 Struck with pursuing thunder, spurned away 
 
 Its wretched suppliants, and compelled their flight, 
 
 While Uproar and Confusion claimed again 
 
 Tumultuous rule : down to the yawning gulph 
 
 Of raging Hell, the lamentable seat 
 
 Of woe, insensate, on the boiling waves 
 
 They plunge, that fiercer burning struck with awe 
 
 Their mightiest conquerors, recoiling back 
 
67 
 
 At the grim form of Care, and wild Dismay, 
 And brooding Death, poising his thrilling dart 
 In proud defiance : while triumphant Sin 
 Called forth th' impenetrable gates to close, 
 Loud-crashing on the rebels of the sky. 
 
 Then to the heavens, the great Messiah returned, 
 And all the Seraphim ; nor was the sound 
 Of triumph, or the shout of victory heard ; 
 But silence rather, and remembrance sad 
 Of the blest hours of Paradise, when friends, 
 Now ever lost, and man} r a power, endeared 
 By genial intercourse, in union raised 
 Th' adoring melody ; the opening heaven 
 Received the mourning victors, but no more 
 The sumptuous palaces, or domes of peace, 
 Can please ; ' here,' did we say, * the social smile 
 Of Lucifer delighted ; here the lyre 
 Of Azazel was strung ; here did we rise 
 Together, worshipping the face of God 
 
68 
 
 Enraptured in the songs of mutual praise : 
 
 Remembrance shall endear them to our heart, 
 
 And Memory fondly linger o'er the scene 
 
 Of pleasures, destined never to return, 
 
 Of youth and grateful friendship, purest source 
 
 Of transport and delight : and future joys 
 
 Shall ne'er obliterate our sorrows past, 
 
 Or light, or hope, break in upon the mind 
 
 That mourns o'er love's imperishable tie 
 
 In pensive grief! Friends of our birth, farewel !' 
 
 Thus, while the wish arose in every heart 
 For mercy on the lost and faithless tribes, 
 The God, whose wisdom rules o'er all his works, 
 Observed our inmost thoughts, and Asriel spake 
 Jehovah's will to all the sons of heaven : 
 
 'Hail to the faithful warriors of the sky, 
 That firm allegiance kept, when rebel hate, 
 And factious war, convulsed th' ethereal plains ! 
 
69 
 
 Hear our great Father's word ! no more return 
 
 The banished Lords, in darkness, and in woe, 
 
 Condemned to groan ; and in th' infernal gulph, 
 
 Hopeless of mercy, mourn ; nor would their proud 
 
 And vain ambition to their King's command 
 
 Submit, if, rising to their forfeit home, 
 
 Below the sinless Cherubim arranged, 
 
 They bow before their God : or all, or none 
 
 V 
 Of sovereignty, or power, Ambition claims, 
 
 And grasps the phantom hope, and spurns content, 
 
 Nor cares for frequent failure, nor the laws 
 
 Of God, nor thoughts of general good, or ill ; 
 
 Till the stern arm of Justice whelm its plans 
 
 In lasting ruin ! where dark Chaos rolls, 
 
 Th' Eternal Parent will create new Worlds, 
 
 Replenished with their countless habitants, 
 
 Committed to your charge, ye sons of God ! 
 
 Until the day the numbers are complete 
 
 Of those that fell from their sublimer sphere. 
 
 Then, shall the general judgment be pronounced, 
 
70 
 
 And all the sinless shall ascend to heaven, ' 
 Our happiness to share, while every race 
 O'er whose polluted souls the baleful wing 
 Of Evil sheds its influence, doomed to woe, 
 The demons of th' embosomed deep shall join, 
 Self-ruined, self-condemned ! unless the claim 
 Of Justice, equal attribute of God 
 With Mercy, satisfied, the tribes release ; 
 Contented, if some higher Being embrace 
 The punishment deserved, and die the death, 
 And plunge unshaken in the depths of Hell !' 
 
 He said : and momentary silence seized 
 The heavenly host ; for they had viewed the forms 
 Amidst the roaring furnace of the deep, 
 And marked the rising flames ; but One, unmoved, 
 The promise heard, and, suppliant at the throne, 
 Exalted Michael spake his high resolve : 
 
 * Oh ! let not God be angry, while the voice 
 
71 
 
 Of Michael rises, and in humble prayer 
 Entreats for pardon on his bold request ! 
 Justly our friends have fallen beneath thine arm, 
 Where Vengeance reigns, and while we still lament, 
 Confess the sentence righteous, that condemns 
 Rebellion's vain designs : oh ! let not grief 
 Dwell ever with thy servants ! fill the ranks 
 Of angels, that we mourn their loss no more ! 
 Their vacant seats supply with some new forms, 
 Admitted to partake our happiness, 
 When past their long probation ; hear me still, 
 Eternal Judge, and Saviour, when I pray 
 That Sin may never desolate the realms 
 Thy power prepares ; but if the monster rage 
 And poison thy fair works, may Michael bear 
 The punishment decreed, change his high state, 
 And lose his glory, to preserve thy Worlds ! 
 Whate'er the sorrows Disobedience bring 
 Upon the fallen, whate'er thy wrath demands, 
 On me alone, on my devoted head, 
 
72 
 
 The thunder hurl of Justice, but forgive 
 Th' inferior beings that offend thy love ! ' 
 
 So spake th' Archangel, and the Power replied : 
 ' Chief of the victor armies that pursued 
 The demon myriads through the gulph profound : 
 Imperfect beings ne'er can satisfy 
 The stern, inflexible demands of Him 
 That claims a full obedience to his law, 
 Or make atonement for debasing crime : 
 Perfection only reconciles to God 
 The guilty race ; thou, liable to Sin, 
 Thyself might'st err, and in the great attempt 
 To rescue others from the wrath deserved, 
 Might'st call for vengeance, and one common "War 
 Of second ruin whelm th' expanded gems 
 Of new Creation, and in sacred grief 
 Again compel the Cherubim to mourn. 
 Dear in his Father's sight, beloved, revered, 
 By all th' admiring hierarchies of Heaven, 
 
73 
 
 Th' apostate from his height of glory fell, 
 "Wept by the conquering legions that fulfilled 
 Their Father's wrath : oh ! then, obedience keep, 
 Sons of th' Almighty ! through the endless years 
 Of being, venerate your Parent God, 
 Nor hope to expiate for others' guilt ; 
 For who is perfect ? He, th* All-potent One, 
 The great, th' unseen Jehovah ! and shall he 
 Descend from high among inferior Worlds, 
 1" atone, and bring th' unrighteous to himself ? 
 No ! to his will resigned, forget the past, 
 And, joyous in his mercy, raise again 
 Our long forgotten notes of heavenly joy/ 
 
 He said ; and through Eternity th' abyss 
 Would still between the heavens and Hell have rolled, 
 The radiant train of stars had never been, 
 Nor fallen man, nor sinless millions filled 
 Their shining spheres ; but now th' all-perfect Son, 
 In high communion with the Father, spake 
 
 Arm. K 
 
His will, to undergo the full demands 
 Of Justice, and redeem the guilty race. 
 Asriel in silence veiled his trembling frame, 
 And all the ranks of heaven astonished heard 
 The wond'rous grace ; while from Jehovah's throne 
 The clouds that curtained the empyreal light 
 Withdrawn, the beaming and resistless ray 
 Spread through the favored regions of the skies. 
 God's voice was heard ! but who relates must die, 
 Though of angelic birth. Upon the Son 
 Smiled the transcendent Deity, well-pleased, 
 And gave the counsels of his sovereign mind ; 
 That spirits be infused, that forms arise, 
 And yonder Universe of stars exist ! 
 
 Such was th' Almighty's will : and, oh ! what lyre, 
 Entuned in harmony divine, can tell 
 The glories of the day ; when forth the Son, 
 In his own majesty of Godhead, rode 
 Sublime ; and, with him, all the Hierarchies 
 
75 
 
 Descended to th' expanded shore of heaven, 
 
 High hovering o'er the void and formless gloom : 
 
 Then the red lightning, in undying flash, 
 
 Discovered all the horrors of th' abyss 
 
 To angel-eyes, far as the gates of Hell : 
 
 Then the Messiah, to our hosts revealed, 
 
 Witnessed th' incessant roar, and saw the storm 
 
 Convulse th' immeasurable mass profound, 
 
 Its ocean billows, and its sun-like fires, 
 
 And clouds of mighty atoms, waving high 
 
 Above the surface of the swelling deep : 
 
 He calmed the troubled Chaos with a glance, 
 
 He spake, and instant o'er th' unruffled sea 
 
 Peace reigned, nor sound was heard, nor atom moved. 
 
 Now, bending o'er th' immense, again he gave 
 The word of power, and bade the joyless gulph 
 Form the wide circle of th' intended worlds, 
 And bordering heaven and hell, enclose the space 
 The Godhead willed with countless stars t' adorn. 
 
76 
 
 Dark Chaos trembled at th' Almighty voice, 
 And parting at the centre, back-recoiled 
 Throughout its trackless realms, and rolled along 
 TV enormous, formless, and capacious home 
 Of elements disorganized, and crude : 
 Whirlwind, and Continent, and globous fire 
 Blend in the endless distance, as it swept 
 Tempestuous to th' abode its Lord assigned, 
 The utmost convex of th' intended space. 
 Wondering, the host of heaven survey, and call 
 The banished Chaos, Armageddon's plain : 
 Creation's boundaries infinitely spread, 
 Pavilion of the star-filled Universe, 
 An orb of horror, hurricane, and night ! 
 
 Spirit of God ! upon the lifeless scene 
 Primeval darkness, Chaos-born, maintained 
 Its shadowy sway ; enthroned upon the deep 
 In silence, till thy genial influence breathed 
 Its sacred blessing on the kindling void, 
 
 
77 
 
 And spake the all-potent word, ' let there be light ! J 
 
 Bursting to being rose the golden ray, 
 
 And instant, streaming through th J admiring fields 
 
 Of Nature, brighter and more bright appeared 
 
 All glorious ; till resistless splendour beamed 
 
 In mild repose within the dark blue vault. 
 
 Then shone the glories of the stars of heaven : 
 Poised on the new dominions of the light, 
 The many-coloured suns, and systems weave 
 Their mystic dance, sky-piercing ; and emblaze 
 The royal mansions, revelling in the smile 
 Of Deity ; and young Creation rang 
 Through all her frame, when every glowing world 
 Swam on the living light, and sprang to day 
 Unutterably grand : thick clouds of stars, 
 Girt with their moving, tributary spheres 
 Of wandering planets, and the devious bulk 
 Of comets, hear the life-enduing call, 
 And claim existence ; till the splendid train, 
 
78 
 
 In all their radiant constellations, decked 
 The palace of their Sovereign : as the moon 
 Invests the rolling Earth, and Earth its Lord, 
 So blending, intermingling, every sun 
 Its path pursued ; and round one common globe, 
 Great centre of the vast and azure space ; 
 Self-balanced, and preserved by laws sublime, 
 Their varied and harmonious march began. 
 
 Such are the works of God ! Six days of heaven 
 Energic power the great Creation raised, 
 And every star with every charm adorned, 
 Of hill, and vale, and shrubs, and trees, and flowers ; 
 And, on the last, the breath of life was breathed, 
 Best emanation from the ruling Lord ! 
 And spirits were infused, and man arose 
 Accountable ; and all the morning stars 
 Sang in their joy, and all the sons of God 
 Adored ; and shouted o'er the new-made world ! 
 
79 
 
 Then did th* Omniscient eye behold ; and all 
 Was good, for all was pure, and free from sin. 
 To heaven our train ascended ; with loud songs 
 Harping on harps celestial to the praise 
 Of the triune Omnipotent : and oft 
 With mighty Elasah we joined to watch 
 The stars beneath, where in the central orb 
 His court was fixed ; lest from th' unhallowed deep 
 Some evil power escaping should seduce 
 Th' ethereal forms, that on their native spheres 
 Should dwell, and tear them from their promised heaven. 
 
 Far from our state of bliss, a star there shone 
 That claimed th' attention of our angel-guard 
 More frequent, for, among its planets rolled 
 The only spot throughout the works of God, 
 Where evil entered, and deformed its race. 
 Prince of the power of air, the dragon-fiend 
 Here reigned ; and captive led the human mind 
 A willing prisoner to Sin's treacherous art, 
 
80 
 
 That smiles to stab, and flatters to betray. 
 
 Let me not sing of evil ; every tone 
 
 That pours its dying cadence from the lyre 
 
 Discordant sounds ; whene'er upon that theme 
 
 I sorrowing touch ; and every quivering string 
 
 Pants for the happier strains of peace and^joy. 
 
 Oh ! let me raise the more majestic song 
 
 Of goodness ; and unfold the wonderous love 
 
 Of Him, th' Incarnate God ; Lord of the skies 5 
 
 Lord ! what was man, that thou should st visit him, 
 
 And calm Jehovah's wrath ? and bow the heavens, 
 
 And leave thy ministering angels, and thy God, 
 
 Thy Father, on th' ungrateful Earth to rove, 
 
 A friendless, slighted stranger ; where no home 
 
 Thy blameless head should shelter ? there to taste 
 
 The bitter insults of degraded man, 
 
 Thyself a man of sorrows, and with grief 
 
 Acquainted : to atone for those who wove 
 
 The crown of thorns, who nailed thee on the cross, 
 
 And pierced with sins and taunts thy bleeding heart, 
 
81 
 
 And bade thee die an ignominious death ? 
 
 Then was Earth's ransom paid ; the grave, and hell, 
 
 Thy power confessed, when Justice claimed thy form. 
 
 Oh ! mourn, and weep with me, ye dear-bought sons ; 
 
 Weep, though he saved you by his pardoning blood, 
 
 And praise with tears the mercy of your God, 
 
 The only tears that angels share with man ! 
 
 Such are the things that have been ; who can tell 
 The future, or the second war in heaven, 
 Relate ? the clash of arms, the ruinous storm, 
 When on this plain of Armageddon meet 
 The seven-fold ranks of being that rebelled 
 Against th' Almighty, with th' ethereal host 
 Clad in their Monarch's thunder, and the arms 
 Of heaven ; while every chariot of the fiends, 
 Drawn by their giant-serpent race, shall bear 
 Their mighty masters through our watchful lines, 
 And mark their way with uproar, and revenge, 
 While mad despair alternately possess 
 
 Arm. L 
 
82 
 
 TV embattled armies, and the dreadful scene 
 Of havoc shake creation, as the stars, 
 The calm spectators of the conflict, shine 
 Upon th' opposing legions, and illume 
 The shattered wreck of Armageddon's realms ; 
 And towering o'er our seats of peace, the shock 
 Of stern confusion, and demoniac strength 
 Shall rise, aspiring to the throne of God ? 
 Say, will the Spirit of destruction pour 
 His wrath abroad, and o'er th' indignant foe 
 Effuse resistless terrors ? or shall Hell 
 Exult victorious o'er the realms of bliss ? 
 Rebellion shall not prosper ! some dread arm, 
 Endued with holy power, shall quell the pride, 
 Shall wrest the daring sceptre and the crown 
 Of mad ambition, till the gates of Hell 
 Close on its falling, lost, and vanquished sons. 
 Then, shall our songs proclaim th' Almighty war, 
 And hymn th' Eternal Victor ; then, the Son 
 The kingdom to his Father shall resign, 
 
83 
 
 And Armageddon, closing on the stars, 
 Quench in its night of ruin every Sun : 
 The gulph impassable 'tween either World 
 Of Happiness and Torment : till the realms 
 Of Chaos, Hell, and Heaven, with God remain, 
 The One, the United, boundless Universe." 
 
 END OF BOOK THE SECOND. 
 
ARMAGEDDON. 
 
 TBoofe t&e CbirD. 
 
argument 
 
 Hell, and the consultation of the Demons. 
 The demons convey the condemned into the infernal i egions — assemble 
 at Achim, a rock above the sea of flames — Hell, as seen from 
 Achim — after a long silence, Chelubai speaks, advising submission 
 — he is followed by Brahma, who counsels the seizure of the stars — 
 Arioch proposes a defence at the verge of hell — Indra speaks to 
 the same effect as Brahma, wishing to reign in the sun, and to de- 
 stroy Britain — the consultation interrupted by Sin, who bids them 
 proceed, and descends to add new torments to the damned. 
 
8rmagettoon. 
 
 Hail to the golden hours of joyous youth, 
 
 The morn of life ! when Hope th' enchantress smiles, 
 
 And Friendship's wreath, unwithered by the world, 
 
 Delights th' enraptured mind, nor knows the sigh 
 
 That breaks the heart, when Ceremony's cold smile 
 
 Bespeaks the changing friend ; but gay content, 
 
 And peace of mind, and genuine feeling, strew 
 
 The flowers of happiness in life's dull road. 
 
 Stay, lovely moments, stay ! and with ye bring 
 
 The smile of beauty, and the speaking eye 
 
 Arm. M 
 
90 
 
 Of mutual love, that fires the youthful breast, 
 Till throned in ev'ry thought, he twine the chain 
 Of transport and of softness o'er the soul. 
 
 And thou, companion of our earlier years, 
 Creative Fancy, come ! inspire my song. 
 Oh form thy Paradise below, to drive 
 The dull realities of life away ! 
 Come, with celestial Poesy ! and raise 
 The daring thoughts in ecstasy ; where once 
 The mighty master of the British lyre 
 Soared with uplifted wing, and spurned the Earth 
 To realise his heaven, ere death could free, 
 Or angels bear his spotless soul above. 
 Par in those trackless regions, let me trace 
 The world's great barrier ; with presuming flight 
 Rise to those unknown realms, and thence descend 
 To the dark prisons of eternal woe : 
 Or rise with fearless ken to view the fall 
 Of the wide-spread Creation ; Systems, Suns, 
 
91 
 
 And Worlds, in all their rich varieties, 
 
 Close in tumultuous horror, and deform 
 
 The trembling sky. Glow in the polished verse, 
 
 Spirit of genuine Poetry 1 of all 
 
 That ornament this free, and favored land ! 
 
 For still our bards can elevate the soul, 
 
 Affect the passions, or, improve the heart, 
 
 In songs of Love, or Chivalry, or Hope, 
 
 Gertrude, or Margaret, Marmion, and Fitz James ; 
 
 Or wild, or wondrous tales of Eastern Climes ; 
 
 Or that well-told, enchanting pilgrimage, 
 
 Of him that wandered from his native land, 
 
 A restless, feeling, disappointed Childe. 
 
 Oh ! had he drank of that exhaustless spring 
 
 That flows from Siloa's consecrated fount ; 
 
 Untired by life's monotony, unpalled 
 
 With the full cup of pleasure, and of vice, 
 
 Goodness and virtue had adorned his brow, 
 
 And pure religion o'er his wounded heart 
 
 Had poured her soothing gifts of lasting joy, 
 
The balm of grief, the antidote of care ! 
 
 Empires, and Nations, pomp, and wealth, may fail 
 
 The patriot Warrior's honors may decay, 
 
 Yet still the Muse exists to twine around ' 
 
 The hero's brow th' immortal wreath of fame ; 
 
 The Muse the ruins of a state survives, 
 
 Preserves the memory of forgotten years, 
 
 The rock unshaken in oblivion's flood, 
 
 The Polar Star of the dark night of time! 
 
 Such are the dreams of youth ; too soon to cease, 
 When hacknied av'rice, and th' alluring toys 
 Of this dull world, shall cloud the open brow. 
 But, when the charms of youthful fancy fade, 
 Celestial Science shall unfold her stores 
 Exhaustless, and the soul, improving still, 
 Trace her great parent, while Religion smiles, 
 The guard of youth and age, till nobler scenes 
 Expand th' immortal germ, and God alone 
 In boundless knowledge satisfy the mind. 
 
93 
 
 Long did the light of glory, from the throne 
 Of God's Messiah, on the race condemned 
 To the dark world of woe, its radiance spread ; 
 Nor died away, till deeper down th' abyss 
 They fell, through Armageddon's dreary plains. 
 Now were they wrapt in gloom impenetrable, 
 Save by the lurid rays that darkling gleamed 
 From each malignant and demoniac form, 
 That taunted with severe reproach their prey ; 
 And, as the last faint light of heaven expired, 
 Immortal hope fled on the golden beam 
 Up to her native home ; then loudest cries 
 Of agony, 'mid the heart-racking pangs, 
 Were heard, wide-echoing through the groaning waste ; 
 And fierce despair looked horror, as they plunge 
 Through many a flood of mingling fire, and sea. 
 O'er many a rock proud on its barren base, 
 That spurned th' inferior demons' meaner strength, 
 They pass ; though many a crag and Btedfost mound 
 Their giant-arms o'erthrew, and soaring, part 
 
94 
 
 Above their prostrate bulk ; then high they rise* 
 Or lowly frequent crouch their rebel forms 
 Beneath the floating cliffs, among the clash 
 Of rushing whirlwinds, that between the caves, 
 And lengths, and depths of Armageddon, sweep. 
 Now downward still they fall, till the hot breath 
 Its baleful influence shed ; and lower yet, 
 Till the wild roaring of the furnace broke 
 Upon their maddening ear, and the stern sound 
 Of the superior fiends, as on the brink 
 Of Hell they stood, darting th' impatient glance 
 Up to the realms of night, and shrieked aloud : 
 " Where are the traitor-souls, where is Mankind ?" 
 
 The first faint lightnings of th' abyss of Death 
 Smote horribly on the recoiling view ; 
 And in the shadowy distance, by its rays, 
 Unnumbered legions of the demon lords, 
 Confusedly roving on th* o'erhanging verge, 
 Are seen ; surveying all the hopeless tribes 
 
95 
 
 That still descend, till the wild waves appear 
 
 Of woe's eternal ocean ! Hell itself, 
 
 Roused from its fiery gulph to meet the sons 
 
 Of Earth, high reared its lasting flames to grasp 
 
 The spoils of Sin ; and as the eddying surge 
 
 Burst from its yielding confines, every fiend 
 
 That on his spreading pinions bore the race 
 
 Condemned, in fear the swelling fire avoid ; 
 
 And raging, in their hatred of mankind, 
 
 Down to the rising blaze the wretched tribes 
 
 They hurl. Man falls ! Hell roars aloud with joy ; 
 
 And every demon raised a dreadful note 
 
 Of gladness, as the madly-circling flame 
 
 Drowned their faint cries, and bore them from the view. 
 
 Whelmed in the stormy gulphs of rolling fire. 
 
 Above th' expanded deep, abrupt, sublime, 
 A dreary pile of adamantine rock 
 Arose, uninjured by the mass of heat, 
 That round the spacious fabric ceaseless poured ; 
 
96 
 
 Rough, black, and vast, its ponderous bulk it reared, 
 
 And threw on high from many a yawning cave 
 
 Its endless streams, that swift-descending flowed 
 
 In fiery columns on the craggy soil, 
 
 And blend with the unfathomed waste below, 
 
 As earthly rivers from the mountains fall 
 
 To join the spacious sea ; the rugged base, 
 
 Illumined by the reddening waves of flame, 
 
 Shone in the restless ocean ; but above 
 
 The mournful light, impenetrable clouds 
 
 Of darkness ruled, and all th' impassive gloom, 
 
 That silent rose upon the lower world, 
 
 When first th' eternal mandate bade the graves 
 
 Of Hell's infernal monarchies exist ; 
 
 Here, while the showering fire upon his crest 
 
 In fury played, the great Ganesa raised 
 
 His sounding voice as Satan gave command. 
 
 " Lords of the gulph profound ! God's voice was given, 
 That men, and angels, should await the day 
 
97 
 
 Of wrath, and, bound at the Almighty throne, 
 
 Should feel the vengeance of eternal woe. 
 
 Man, Man has fallen ! hear then our Monarch's will ! 
 
 The hour of danger comes ! the tyrant King 
 
 Of Heaven, t' accomplish his dread word, prepares . 
 
 To cast the bolt of Justice on our heads ; 
 
 But, ere the wrath descend, on Achim's cliffs 
 
 He wills the dignities and Chiefs unite, 
 
 In common senate, for the public good, 
 
 T' anticipate our enemy, and act 
 
 As best the general council may decide. 
 
 He spake ; and, rising from the sullen shades 
 Of Hell's remotest realms, the seven-fold host 
 Assemble ; and forsake their varied haunts 
 Of rock, or lonely den, and calm their thoughts 
 That feared the coming evil, to attend 
 The lofty summons : on its utmost top 
 Meet the superior fiends, and, with their Chief, 
 Amid the darkness, veil their mighty forms 
 
 Arm. N 
 
98 
 
 From all the common throng that glare below, 
 "With light reflected from the fiery surge. 
 On every frowning brow might each perceive 
 The sad remembrance of the dangers past, 
 Of woes th J eternal vengeance had assigned 
 To crush their fainting hopes, and quell the last 
 Aspiring madness of rebellion's pride. 
 There, closed in shrouding terrors, every chief ■ 
 In high communion spake, to screen their dread, 
 And seem undaunted in the adverse hour. 
 Through clouds of darkness glittering, every Lord 
 Shone as the stars, when in the misty night 
 Their spreading beauties rise ; then, loud the voice 
 Was given, that, now, emerging from the gloom, 
 The Powers proceed ; and, where th' inferior tribes 
 Await their Chiefs, the Council be begun. 
 
 Slow they obey : but, ere one chieftain broke 
 The solemn silence, as they downward sped 
 From Achim's stormy cliffs, a mournful sound 
 
99 
 
 Of anguish, bursting from the swelling waves, 
 Smote on th* attentive ear : forth from the height 
 The demon Senate look upon the race 
 Of Man, contending with the sparkling sea : 
 High o'er the flame their burning forms they raise 
 And vainly strive the sulphurous rocks to grasp 
 With eager hand ; for ever, as they rose, 
 The torrid flood impetuous fiercer lashed 
 The fiery mounds, and swept its panting prey 
 Back to the deep : the blazing billows rave 
 Among the rugged continents, and bear 
 The howling millions of mankind along 
 The drear and stormy surface ; o'er their heads 
 A firmament of gloom frowned horribly, 
 And redness unendurable arched th' abyss 
 As the blue vault of heaven the rolling earth ; 
 While in the circling gleam, black smoky clouds 
 Their poisonous vapor showered ; and many a fiend 
 To Achim's verge, on darkling pinions borne, 
 Gazed fearfully, rejoicing at the pangs 
 
100 
 
 Of human beings that themselves had caused, 
 Tempting the / suffering victims of despair 
 To sin : the dry and choaking atmosphere, 
 Burnt, as the scorching Samiel in the sands 
 Of Araby ; and, from the spreading crags, 
 And islands rising in the foamy sea, 
 Rivers of Death, and melted adamant, 
 In cataracts of burning flame, poured down 
 Incessant horrors ; and o'erwhelmed the faint 
 And miserable tribes, whose hardened hearts 
 The still small voice of Mercy could not melt : 
 Now, doomed to feel the Justice of a God ! 
 Some climb upon the rough, and arid ground, 
 Seeking the waste and dreary solitudes 
 Of Hell, but find no rest ; the keener pang 
 Raged in their wakeful breasts, all fire without, 
 And souls of guilt within : and oft the soil 
 Beneath their faltering footsteps yields, to plunge 
 Their wretched forms below ; and winds, and storms, 
 Whirlpools, and hurricanes of wrath,' convulse 
 
101 
 
 The laboring fire ; and oft the mounds divide, 
 And falling, whelm whole millions as they grasp 
 Their dark foundations : there, in wild embrace, 
 Two meeting rocks, with fearful uproar, close, 
 And raise on high the bickering sparks, and crush, 
 Beneath their barren sides, the shrieking race. 
 These were the lesser ills : th' undying worm 
 Of Conscience, and the memory of the past 
 Compelled the bitter cry, and stern reproach 
 Of sons and parents, howling the loud curse 
 In agony : and oft their wandering minds 
 Returned to Earth ; and, as the scenes of life 
 With torturing contrast, heightened every pang, 
 Ambition, Lust, and Avarice, mocked the thought 
 That sprang in every bosom, as the soul, 
 Now pondering o'er their undivided sway, 
 Weak and degraded, wept its ruined pride. 
 God's Omnipresent eye is ever there ! 
 Endurance shall not quench the nameless pain, 
 The constant torment is for ever new ! 
 
102 
 
 No respite from that endless storm, no rest, 
 Or peace, or death, or cold oblivion soothe 
 Their anguish-burthened heart ; no friendly word 
 Of comfort or affection speaks relief, 
 No drop of water cools their burning tongue ; 
 In ceaseless, hopeless agony, they rove, 
 Mourning eternally the wrath to come ; 
 Lost to all feeling but the sense of guilt, 
 Cursed, and immortal, wretched, and debased. 
 
 Long gaze the fiends ; till, gathering round their chiefs, 
 In all their ranks, the tribes collect, to hear 
 The words of counsel, to aspire again 
 To heaven, or here establish their firm seat 
 Of lasting empire, or, at God's high throne, 
 To pray for pardon on their rebel heads. 
 To the stern roar they listen, and to shrieks, 
 That, borne on many a whirlwind, wandered by ; 
 As in the savage islands of the South, 
 Some barbarous Chieftain, on his rugged cliff, 
 
103 
 
 At midnight's solemn hour, hears the wild prayer 
 For refuge from the sea-worn mariner ; 
 Catches the scream of murder on the blast 
 Loud swelling, as bis comrades in the storm 
 Wave high the flaming torch, and hail the crew 
 From Ocean's foaming billows to the toils 
 Of slaughter, shuddering at the wished-for sound, 
 Though joyous o'er his prey : so hear the fiends 
 With gladness, dread, and trembling, till arose, 
 Among th' assembled peers, with clouded brow, 
 And frame convulsed with very agony, 
 Chelubai, and in tones of horror spake. 
 
 " Almighty God ! thy terrors whelm our souls, 
 Beholding what thy wrath inflicts on Man. 
 Oh ! say, what thunders are in store for those 
 Who dared rebel before their world was called 
 To being, with the glittering stars around 
 Its beauteous orb, nor, since the day, 
 That sovereign Justice bared her potent arm. 
 
104 
 
 Have ceased to sin : but, rising from the deep, 
 Deformed the lovely Earth, seduced mankind 
 From their allegiance, and, rejoicing, swayed 
 God's world ; and, now, exulting in our act, 
 Again in Council met, defy thy Power ? 
 Oh ! is thy cup of anger full ? thine eye 
 Foresees, and thwarts our impotent revenge. 
 How needless then our senate ! oh ! how vain 
 Our consultations, when superior strength 
 Prevents fulfilment of our mad attempts ! 
 Lord of our host ! in heaven, ere time began, 
 We knew the happiness, that Angel minds, 
 In the blest mansions of their Monarch, know ; 
 Girt with celestial light, we tuned our harps 
 To sing the God, who gave us every joy, 
 Refined and perfect bliss : curst be the hour 
 Thy poisoning influence taught us to aspire 
 Against th' Eternal, the All-potent One, 
 In vile Rebellion ; then departed Love, 
 And Peace, and Innocence, and ne'er returned ; 
 
105 
 
 For, taught by thee, we cease not to offend. 
 Companions of my guilt, no more provoke 
 The arm of Justice, and the fearful war 
 Of God's Messiah, on our devoted heads ; 
 By mad Ambition, be no more deceived ; 
 What cure remains, what remedy for Woe, 
 What charm for Angels worthy to receive, 
 What comfort, when defeat again shall hurl 
 Our sevenfold orders from tli" unconquered sky ? 
 Who shall repair the ruin, who restore 
 The*mournful happiness we still derive, 
 While Vengeance sleeps ? Curst in himself, 
 Author of evil to angelic minds, 
 And foiled in all his madness, shall our Chief 
 Still tempt our weary wing to soar the deep? 
 Him let us yield to all that God demands, 
 Him, and his Counsels with disdain reject, 
 And, spurning all delay, our suppliant ranks 
 Lead from the horrors of this world of pain, 
 And prostrate at the throne of glory bow ; 
 
 Arm. O 
 
106 
 
 Or, at the battlements of heaven, entreat 
 For pardon : there implore the lowest place, 
 And there, admitted, humble, silent, rest 
 Content beneath the meanest of the host 
 Of sinless tribes, content beneath mankind V s 
 
 They hear no more : a general murmur spread 
 Of proud disdain, and the indignant cry 
 That scorned submission, dreading still the King 
 Of heaven, and loudest from the guiltier rose : 
 The sudden cry seemed as the stormy roar 
 Of forests, yielding to the fitful blast 
 On Norway's lordly hills ; for well they knew, 
 That not a more revengeful spirit or base 
 Hell boasted than Chalubai : weak, and vain, 
 And treach'rous, with a courtier's flattery, 
 He loved the counsels that he hoped would raise 
 His restless pride, the first and foremost still 
 The failure to condemn, himself to guard 
 From stern reproach ; and every faction joined, 
 
107 
 
 Till shunned, contemned, and hated, every Power 
 The wavering fiend despised, who faithful stayed 
 In Hell, for Heaven's eternal gates were closed, 
 With equal scorn, on his dishonored head. 
 
 Then rose th' illustrious Chief, revered, renowned, 
 Among the demon-world ; the giant-height 
 Of mighty Bramha ; greatest of the three 
 That form the wonderous and unuttered word, 
 The pondering Brahmin meditates, and bows 
 In holy silence to the mystic name ; 
 The one, the varied Deity : the mind 
 That builds existence, and in matter lives. 
 Last of the idol Gods that bound the Earth 
 In error, throned upon the gorgeous East, 
 He ruled, and with sublimest visions filled 
 Th' immortal soul, faint semblance of the truth ! 
 Around his open brow, a fiery stream 
 Far-beaming spread, and in luxurious folds 
 His many-coloured mantle waved, and o'er 
 
108 
 
 His spacious shoulder flowed the Zennar line, 
 Beneath the breast descending, while his hand 
 The mystic Lotos as a sceptre held, 
 Triumphant sign of power ; and, near him sate, 
 Ever in hell, or earth, inseparable, 
 Sky-loving Indra ; Camdeo, God of Love, 
 Long born, yet ever young ; Ganga divine, 
 And the long train of Indian deities, 
 That hailed their rising Chief, with shouts of joy ; 
 While every fiend in deeper silence stood, 
 To hear the moving, and persuasive strain. 
 
 " Lords of the lower world ! what base designs 
 Are these that in our Council dare intrude, 
 Of mean submission to th* Eternal One, 
 That sways the heavens ; what, though he sees our hearts. 
 And every thought that in our souls arise, 
 And overlooks our Senate : hear ye not 
 The groans of horror, that from Achim's base 
 Ascend ? these are the sounds of triumph, these 
 
109 
 
 The proof that God's decree to Demon-strength 
 Submits, and can be conquered ; did he will 
 That Man should sink into Eternal woe, 
 To perish hopeless, when his only Son 
 The mansions of celestial glory left 
 On Man's behalf? and, if the human soul, 
 God's favorite work, created in the form 
 And image of its parent, last and best 
 Of all his works, made by the potent arm, 
 Whose finger garnished the material worlds, 
 Could fall, destroyed, and ruined by our strength ! 
 Then, can we spread confusion in the stars, 
 The lesser wonders of his sovereign power, 
 Or, in those suns inhabit, and possess 
 The rolling globes, and leave this dread abode. 
 What is God's Universe? one mighty orb, 
 (The centre, star-filled space,) on every side 
 Boundless ; the kingdom of the heavens above 
 Shines in the glories of the immediate God ; 
 Beneath, in all its horrors, flames the world 
 
110 
 
 Of Hell ; and, round the stars, from East to West, 
 
 The plain of Armageddon : oft, on wing 
 
 Swifter than light, our venturous forms have pierced 
 
 Its roaring gulphs, and sought in vain an end. 
 
 All is infinity : the heavens above * 
 
 To endless distance spread ; this hell beneath 
 
 Unfathomable ; and Armageddon's wastes, 
 
 On all sides, boundless : God alone through all 
 
 Extends Eternal, Infinite, Unknown ! 
 
 Yet have we ruined Man : then, let us rise, 
 
 Seize the deserted suns, and there commence 
 
 Our sovereign empire o'er the varied orbs. 
 
 Thou in the central mass, our mighty Chief, * 
 
 Shalt hold empyreal sway, the Lord of all, 
 
 Still monarch of the Princes of the air ! 
 
 Then should the Eternal launch his thunders forth 
 
 To thrust our Chiefs from the forsaken stars, 
 
 His vengeance shall we frustrate, and destroy 
 
 The glowing spheres ; tear from their spacious realms 
 
 Th' uprooted splendors; armed with Suns, and Worlds, 
 
in 
 
 Dash the vast fragments through the groaning depths, 
 
 The echoing thunders of the God defy, 
 
 And roll his broken systems back to heaven. 
 
 And, if defeat must sink us down to woe, 
 
 Still shall we nobly triumph in our fate, 
 
 And in the ruins of Creation fall." 
 
 He ceased ; the rising tumult of applause, 
 Through the wide deep, resounds in louder tone, 
 Than when the mighty earthquakes shook the plains 
 Of Europe, and the solid Continent 
 Dividing, placed amid th' Atlantic wave 
 Great Ocean's peerless gems, th' unconquered shores 
 Of Britain's lovely isles ; amid the shouts, 
 Slow-rising, and majestic, Arioch reared 
 His reverend height ; and, deeply pondering, spake. 
 
 " Partners in danger, Peers, and Lords of Hell ! 
 Though much of warlike counsels I approve, 
 And o'er some flaming star would fix my throne, 
 
112 
 
 In proud defiance of the vengeful King, 
 
 "Who, claiming Omnipresence, tamely views 
 
 Our firm resolves, and in the burning deep 
 
 In vain would prove his power, and rescue Man ; 
 
 Yet, has he sworn to judge us on the plain 
 
 Of Armageddon, where the groaning tribes 
 
 Of mortals heard the sentence of despair. 
 
 Say, shall he drag us, bound, in sight of Heaven, 
 
 And, calling to his angels, bid them rest 
 
 Their weary wing ; and, silent, as he darts 
 
 The bolt of Justice on our fainting host, 
 
 Behold us fall ? or, with exulting cries 
 
 Pursue our flying squadrons through the stars ? 
 
 Is this the fate prepared ? Is this the war 
 
 The giant monarchies of hell must wage ? 
 
 Oh ! learn experience from the fatal past, 
 
 When rash presumption dared the immediate throne. 
 
 My counsel is, far on Hell's gloomy verge, 
 
 To pile on high the adamantine mounds, 
 
 And rocks, and crags of the overhanging plain, 
 
113 
 
 Where Armageddon bounds th' infernal gates, 
 
 And, in the thickest darkness, there arrange 
 
 Our matchless legions ; there, the ranks of heaven, 
 
 Descending to fulfil th* Eternal word, 
 
 And force our myriads to the judgment seat, 
 
 Shall meet our fury of despair, and own 
 
 Superior power ; when our resistless might 
 
 Shall conquer, and the courtly myriads hurl, 
 
 Each grasping his opposing enemy, 
 
 Down to Hell's burning regions ; there to feel 
 
 What torment is, when all their routed tribes 
 
 We sink in ten-fold fire, and drag them down 
 
 To depths that shall consume their shining arms, 
 
 And waste their forms, and wither all their strength. 
 
 This is revenge ! then let their sovereign come, 
 
 Ride on the billows of our flaming world, 
 
 And call his routed angels from the gulph, 
 
 Still will we grasp our prey, and lower plunge, 
 
 Spite of increasing agony, till God, 
 
 Pitying his lost and suffering tribes, command 
 
 Arm, I 
 
 
114 
 
 The fire to cease, and Hell's red firmament 
 Smile with refreshing gales, and drop with balm, 
 In equal influence o'er his friends and foes ! 
 Then, may our conquering myriads claim the realms 
 Of nature ; and deserting these wild scenes 
 Of barren grandeur, and terrific fire, 
 Resign our hopes of heaven to govern there, 
 Content the empire of the skies to rule." 
 
 Then Indra rose : him did the Brahmin name 
 Lord of the azure heaven, him all the East 
 Adored ; and trembled, when the thunder rolled 
 At Indra's mighty word ; whose high abode, 
 Enriched with gold and gem, Sumeru claimed, 
 Great mountain of the North ; proudly he stood, 
 And spake disdainfully his haughty thoughts. 
 
 " I love these daring projects, and despise 
 The vain decree that to the judgment-seat 
 Our fearless ranks would lead, to bear the gaze 
 
115 
 
 Of scornful angels, and of ransomed Man. 
 
 Come, let us climb the deep, and range the skies ! 
 
 My soul exults with hope that I may sway 
 
 Some dazzling sun, perhaps, that radiant star, 
 
 Whose power sublime the seven-fold orbs commands, 
 
 To run their constant circle round his throne 
 
 Of glory, and obey their varied laws. 
 
 There rolls the vanquished Earth : oh ! with what joy, 
 
 Departing from the sun's refulgent height, 
 
 To India's fragrant plains, would I descend ! 
 
 There, as a streaming meteor, on the mount 
 
 Of great Sumeru, fill the burning sky 
 
 With my own splendors, the loud thunder hurl, 
 
 And wield the raging elements, and call 
 
 My favored comrades from their chosen homes, 
 
 Among the glittering stars, to hear my songs 
 
 Harmonious, floating on the dews of night. 
 
 Thence would I wing my way, with sweet revenge 
 
 Inspired, where proudly in the distant AVcst, 
 
 Imperial Britain, on her chalky shores, 
 
116 
 
 Sits like the Queen of Ocean, and disdains 
 The flowing surge, as once th' embattled World. 
 There, plunging in the sea, my giant arm 
 Would wrest her firm foundations from their seat, 
 Dart through the firmament the hated Isle, 
 Sever the pendent clouds, and, smiling, view 
 Its scattered atoms float upon the waves 
 Her sons commanded, and the Earth defied. 
 Long ere the trumpet of th J Archangel roused 
 The human race, had I destroyed the land 
 That gave the Gospel to the Heathen world, 
 And reared the standard of Eternal Truth, 
 On India's fertile plains, and banished thence 
 Immortal Bramha's worship, and his shrines 
 O'erthrew with all our Idol-deities , 
 But that I loved a nobler, richer prize 
 Than all that Britain, or the World, can yield, 
 Th* immortal soul ! this did we make our own, 
 This is the valued gem, this the reward 
 Of all our toils, and agonies of pain ; 
 
117 
 
 This was revenge indeed, when God from heaven 
 
 Descended, and surrounding Angels wept 
 
 To pay the tribute for offending Man, 
 
 That we should mar his glory, render vain 
 
 The wonderous death, bind the mad will, and drag 
 
 Our wretched victims to this den of woe, 
 
 Groaning: for second life, and wise too late !" 
 
 I 
 
 Still in the act to speak, while fierce revenge 
 Glared in the wildness of his hollow eye, 
 The demon paused ; as, o'er the glowing surge, 
 Thick clouds of sudden night and darkness spread 
 A fearful shade, and, floating o'er the crowd, 
 Hovered on high, obscuring the dim light, 
 That, quivering from the base of Achim, gleamed 
 Upon their glittering arms, and blazing shields ; 
 And, from above, uncertain sounds were heard, 
 Increasing with tumultuous rage, (as once 
 The rushing waves upon the sunken hills, 
 And mountains of Tiraeus' continent, 
 
118 
 
 Declining slowly in the whelming tide, 
 So says the Grecian tale,) and nearer came, 
 Till, bursting wildly on the troubled ear, 
 In loud resounding tone, a voice was heard. 
 
 " In Hell's dark regions are my sons ; go on \ 
 Arrange your firm battalions, and assault 
 The heaven of heavens ! I will be with you still : 
 Rouse your keen thoughts, and, pointing to the skies, 
 Breathe my whole influence o'er your willing souls, 
 And rear the scorpion-lash of wild despair, 
 When fainting toil shall sink beneath the bolt 
 Of heavenly wrath. On to the higher world! 
 Consult no more ! e'en now, th' angelic host, 
 Commissioned from th' Eternal throne, may speed 
 Their silent way, to drag you to the plain 
 Of Judgment, and compel your scattered tribes 
 To hear the sentence of th* offended God, 
 While unprepared, unarmed, your wandering ranks 
 Upon their Chieftains gaze, and pant for war, 
 
119 
 
 And clash their arms in vain. Awake, my sons ! 
 Rouse all your terrors, summon all your strength, 
 That Sin may reign in heaven ; the throne of God 
 Ascend, where Evil never hath aspired, 
 Till good be overcome. Hear me ! oh ! hear, 
 Assembled Lords ! this is the final war ! 
 Save me from stern disgrace, and vile defeat ! 
 Oh ! let not Virtue conquer ! else shall woes 
 More dread, more agonizing, rend your souls 
 In torment : then, your Parent must become 
 Your curse, your enemy. Victorious Sin 
 May smile at ruined Virtue, that, secure 
 In its own happiness, derides its shaft ; 
 But, when that Virtue triumphs o'er the bold 
 And unconcealed attacks of open Vice, 
 This, this is Hell begun : but, fear ye not ! 
 Now, to yon suffering hosts will I descend, 
 Who worship at my honored shrine no more. 
 Farewell ! farewell !" They from the hovering cloud 
 Beheld th' emerging shape, beloved so long, 
 
wo 
 
 Of Sin their common Parent ; lovely seemed 
 
 The Phantom, though her towering form had lost 
 
 Its youthful grace : and horror and revenge 
 
 Glowed from her deepened eye, and withering rage, 
 
 And stern impatience, writhed in every limb : 
 
 Yet oft, as indistinctly seen, she beamed 
 
 Amid the gloom, the lowering countenance wore 
 
 A melancholy paleness, that attracts 
 
 Their constant gaze, and all her native grace 
 
 Returned, in fancy, to their ardent minds 
 
 In mingling beauty, and delightful change. 
 
 As to the dying Lover's sight appears 
 
 The smiling image of his long-lost fair, 
 
 Amid the hateful and demoniac dreams 
 
 Of wild delirium mingling ; the dread shapes, 
 
 Around his burning head, flit fearfully, 
 
 Inspiring horror, while the beauteous maid, 
 
 "With mournful look, smiles languidly, and cheers 
 
 The fevered youth ; so, from the spectre Sin, 
 
 The various terrors, and remaining charms 
 
121 
 
 Of fancied softness shone. Slow to the tribes 
 She turned, and, from the covering darkness, hailed 
 Her sons, and bade them prosper, while the voice 
 Infused new strength, as from their eager view 
 She vanished in the gulph of billowy fire. 
 And long they watch in silence, as they hear, 
 Borne on the sullen whirlwind, dismal groans, 
 And curses of despair, and nameless blasphemies. 
 
 END OF BOOK THE THIRD. 
 
 An.". Q 
 
ARMAGEDDON. 
 
 I600& tbe jfourtf). 
 
argument. 
 
 Description of seven orders of Beings. 
 Consultation continued — Speech of Odin— of Satan, who commissions 
 Brahma and Ithream to burn the Earth, by hurling a comet from 
 its orbit — the Demons prepare for the battle of Armageddon— de- 
 scription of seven ranks of beings, who appear in order, beginning 
 with the Teraphim — followed by the Chemarim, who have the 
 power to change their forms— by the Angels — the Seraphim, 
 among whom appear the deities of Indostan, Bhavani, Narayen, 
 Pedmala, Candarpa, and others — the Cherubim— the Arch- 
 angels — the Hierarchs, in orbs of fire — and, lastly, by Satan, on 
 the wings of Cherubim — the whole host leave the infernal world — 
 their appearance as the stars— Speech of Satan — oatli of the De- 
 mons. 
 
&rmaj$etitiott. 
 
 r \_KE silence Odin broke — Lord of the North ! 
 The cruel Scandinavian sang his praise, 
 And hailed him Guardian of the warrior's soul, 
 The parent, and the murderer, of mankind, 
 The sire of slaughter, and the God that reigned 
 O'er proud Valhalla, and the bloody field, 
 To name the slain, rejoicing in the groans 
 Of dying heroes, and the clash of arms, 
 As opening flowerets love the morning dew : 
 He rose ; and thus his labored counsels gave : 
 
128 
 
 " High towering o'er the vast, and rolling globe 
 For sovereign rule, Ambition pined, and roused 
 The maddening form of Discord, where she sate, 
 Twining her snaky hair, with bloody wreathe, 
 And bade the Fury bear from Scythia's mines 
 The conquering sword, and arm th' unsparing hand 
 Of lawless power, to gain the fertile World. 
 The fiend obeyed : borne on the ruthless wings 
 Of danger, and of Death, the fatal steel 
 To proud Ambition crouched ; yet gave no joy, 
 No honor, no possession, but the space, 
 The narrow space, of all he claimed below, 
 Where the stern tyrant slept Death's iron sleep, 
 To wake no more, but in the realms of Night ; 
 Heard ye th' oppressor's groan ! oh ! had the Kings 
 Of Earth their radiant diadems adorned 
 With trophies of celestial Peace, and spurned 
 The cruel grandeur of relentless war, 
 And mad, and wild Ambition ; had the race 
 Of nations the degrading love of gold 
 
129 
 
 And Avarice despised ; content had ruled 
 
 The globe, temptations failed, and all our snare* 
 
 Been fruitless to condemn the tribes of Man. 
 
 Hear ! Angels ! hear the agonizing screams 
 
 Of mortals, as the eddying fire around 
 
 The base of Achim bears their struggling forms ; 
 
 There float the murderous conquerors, there the crowds 
 
 Whose pride or avarice, hatred, or revenge, 
 
 Embittered life, and on their dying bed 
 
 Fixed deep the thorn Remorse ; there, all that loved 
 
 The world's seduction, careless of their God, 
 
 Embracing crime, for pleasure, or renown : 
 
 Now, sad Remembrance to the fainting heart 
 
 Unfolds the scroll of long-forgotten vice, 
 
 And vile contempt, and biting shame unite 
 
 To engraft their pangs : for these had known their Lord 
 
 And heard in vain the message of the grace 
 
 Which shed Immanuel's blood, when he from heaven 
 
 Descended, to redeem the sons of Earth. 
 
 There, shriek the millions that obeyed the world 
 
 Arm. R 
 
130 
 
 Against their nobler judgment : last and worst 
 
 Of human beings, jell the hated race 
 
 Of priestly hypocrites ; the damned bane 
 
 Of their whole kind : who vowed to minister 
 
 With conscience clear, and head, and hand, and heart, 
 
 Obedient only to their Lord, with thoughts 
 
 Fixed on this dreadful day, and in the sight 
 
 Of God, and angels vowed ; then, lied to heaven, 
 
 And, Man regarding, pleased a frivolous age, 
 
 Full of themselves, and covetous of praise. 
 
 These, when the parting soul looked on the past 
 
 With terror, trembling at the future wrath, 
 
 And, bordering on both worlds, their Pastor sought 
 
 For comfort and support ; these, with false tongue, 
 
 Flattered the parting soul, until the dart 
 
 Of Death, deep-quivering in the anxious breast, 
 
 Disclosed the horrors of th' infernal scene, 
 
 With execrations on their faithless guides. 
 
 Thanks to your treacherous arts ! though many a curse 
 
 Rest on your heads, though, on this day of woe, 
 
131 
 
 Back on yourselves your anguished thoughts recoil, 
 And tortured thousands ban your hated names. 
 Gaze, Demons, on their woes : the self-same power 
 Has sworn on us to execute his wrath 
 In Judgment. Lord, and Sovereign of our host ! 
 On thee we call : say, shall we range our tribes 
 High on the verge of Hell, and dare the God ? 
 Borne on our fearless pinions leave the deep ? 
 Or, plunging downwards to the realms of Hell, 
 Explore new worlds, and fix our empire there ? 
 Assist our fainting counsels ! Chieftain, rise ! 
 Mature our hopes, Immortal Hierarch ! 
 Teach us to follow, where our monarch soars, 
 And lead us on to Victory, and to Heaven !" 
 
 He spake ; but, long in pensive stillness sate 
 Th' assembled Fiends, revolving anxious thoughts 
 Of pardon, peace, and war, th' Almighty's power, 
 Heaven lost, and Hell their refuge ; all the past 
 Rebellion and discomfited Revenge ; 
 
132 
 
 While stern remorse, and dread of future pain, 
 
 More sad, more lasting, their reflecting minds 
 
 Lashed into madness, and constrained their thoughts 
 
 To clamorous utterance. Suddenly arose 
 
 The universal uproar, and the damned 
 
 Writhed in new torments, as the echoing noise 
 
 Poured through the distant caverns. " Chieftain ! rise r ! 
 
 Oh! rise, great Potentate ! direct our schemes 
 
 Of vengeance, ease, and freedom ; thee alone 
 
 We worship, thee alone we trust to guide 
 
 Thy hosts to Heaven's great empire, to our thrones 
 
 Of former glory in th' abode of day. 
 
 Rise, Chieftain ! rise !" they said ; and, to the height, 
 
 Where, veiled in clouds, and darkness, sate their King, 
 
 In mockery of the majesty of God, 
 
 With longing gaze they turn, to hail their Lord, 
 
 And silent wait his presence ; all was still, 
 
 Until again th' impatient cry was heard, 
 
 " Rise ! we adjure thee ! sanction our designs, 
 
 Make known thy will, and fix our wavering plans !" 
 
133 
 
 Then, the proud Fiend, rejoicing in the sound 
 
 Of reverence, loyalty, and conscious love, 
 
 Forth from the mantling terrors of the gloom, 
 
 Rose like the morning star ; elate with joy, 
 
 And dignity of strength, and hope renewed. 
 
 His eye retained its lightning, and his front, 
 
 Serene, and tranquil, spake th' undaunted soul 
 
 Of that unyielding majesty, that dared 
 
 Unutterable deeds : Sublime he reared 
 
 Above their golden thrones his dazzling crest, 
 
 A towering God, among a host of Kings, 
 
 Conspicuous; as, amid the splendid train 
 
 Of great Orion, and the living fires 
 
 Of Night's empyreal equipage, that gild 
 
 The glowing pole, the bickering Comet flings 
 
 Through the blue vault, around the dome of heaven, 
 
 The new magnificence ; so, 'mid his Peers, 
 
 Still glorious, the Archangel stood ; nor aught 
 
 Was wanting to perfection in that form, 
 
 The noblest once that from th' Almighty's hand 
 
134 
 
 Sprang into being, but th' immortal charm 
 Of Peace and Innocence ; now, on his brow, 
 Blind shame, and faint repentance, mad remorse, 
 Keen self-reproach, despair, and hate, and grief, 
 Engrave their pangs, rage in his bleeding heart, 
 And turn to agony the lingering smile 
 Of hope, and scorn : he, mid the rising storm 
 Of struggling passions, to his anxious Chiefs, 
 In act to speak, high waved his glittering spear, 
 And scornfully, with angry glance to heaven, 
 Shook his dark wings, looking and breathing war. 
 
 " Friends of my toils ! Once more Ambition calls, 
 Bids us deserve success, and seek revenge 
 On that supernal Majesty, who swore 
 To bind our hosts on Armageddon's plain, 
 In pageant triumph to the crowds of Heaven. 
 This was the harsh decree ! say, shall we bow 
 In silence to th' irrevocable doom ? 
 No ! let him see the invincible resolve 
 
135 
 
 To brave his vengeance, dare his mightiest wrath, 
 
 Present our fearless millions to the storms 
 
 Of war, and spurn his thunder, till our arm 
 
 Uproot the gorgeous pillars of the skies, 
 
 Tear every constellation from its sphere, 
 
 And whelm his great creation ; till the stars, 
 
 Mingling in one tremendous ruin, form 
 
 An ever-during mass of central fire. 
 
 Bound, like his creatures, by resistless laws 
 
 Of chance, and stern necessity ; his Will, 
 
 As ours, submissive to superior power 
 
 Of everlasting fate, and fortune, bows, 
 
 And owns their firm controul ; perhaps, that Fate 
 
 Hath destined us to triumph o'er the Heavens ; 
 
 Perhaps, great Nature, in her endless round, 
 
 Ordains our empire o'er the realms of day, 
 
 And God resists in vain the fixed decree. 
 
 My voice is then for war ; let that decide 
 
 Which of the armies that divide the world 
 
 Shall call their Chief, Eternal, Infinite : 
 
136 
 
 Now shall the war, the eventful war begin : 
 
 Thou, Brahma, with Cherubic Ithream, 
 
 To yon deserted worlds your journey take, 
 
 And, soaring through th' empyreal ether, choose 
 
 Some mighty Star, of bulk more ponderous 
 
 Than the proud Sun, which rules the fallen Earth ; 
 
 There where some struggling Comet slowest moves, 
 
 Tear the vast Giant from its former Lord, 
 
 Hurl its fierce splendors through the dark-blue depths, 
 
 And dash it flaming through the solar walk 
 
 Round a new Lord, compelled to disarrange 
 
 The planets, and consume the rolling Earth. 
 
 This will begin our desolating work, 
 
 Earnest of full success ; the fiery sign 
 
 Of battle to the hosts of Heaven, and Hell ; 
 
 Nor wait we here the coming of the foe ; 
 
 Arise, ye Chieftains ! bid our powerful tribes 
 
 Collect their countless millions, and again 
 
 Prepare for War ! myself will lead them on, 
 
 Their guardian God, to Armageddon's realms/* 
 
137 
 
 He spake; and loud the echoing shouts of joy 
 Rose from the thronged battalions, as they heard 
 Their monarch's voice for arms ; in hope renewed, 
 They spurned submission, and ignoble peace, 
 Deceived by falsehood still ; nor knew the truth, 
 That God is Nature, and all Nature God, 
 Trusting to Fate, to quell the Lord of Fate. 
 Swift down the craggy steep the heralds pour, 
 And bid the Chiefs their seven-fold ranks arrange 
 In all their shining orders, and provide 
 For second contest, worthy of themselves. 
 Wildly they breathe revenge ; and threatening, lift 
 Their blazing ensigns in the vaulted dome, 
 Tumultuous : as when lightnings o'er the Earth 
 The forests of some far-spread Continent 
 Fire ; the roaring of the wind, and flames, 
 Through the long valleys, bending their wild way, 
 Redden the midnight firmament ; so, round 
 Th' o'erarching concave of resounding Hell 
 They spread, and hail with eager cries their Chiefs 
 
 Arm. S 
 
138 
 
 That move superior ; as the radiant stars 
 In glory differ, mid our azure skies. 
 And now, assembled in their varied ranks, 
 Before the Apostate's self, they pass ; begin 
 Their venturous flight, and to the throne of God 
 Aspire, by pride, and treachery misled, 
 In joyful confidence of high reward. 
 
 First, came th' inferior tribes of Teraphim, 
 The fearful shapes, and unimagined forms 
 That haunt the restless murderer, when Affright, 
 Soul-harrowing, stalks around th' unquiet bed, 
 Points to the bleeding wounds, or wildly glares, 
 And, yelling, as the guilty slumberer starts 
 From the wild dream of horror, glides away. 
 . Here towered the ghastly monster, that alarmed 
 The Lusian Wanderer, when his shattered bark 
 The stormy windings of the Cape explored : 
 Forth from the swelling deep, above the flood 
 Th* enormous phantom rose ; with livid cheek, 
 
139 
 
 And hair wide-floating on the sudden blast, 
 
 As his dark brow, and withered front declared 
 
 His inward torment, and appalling fires 
 
 Shot from his eye, as from some deepened cave : 
 
 And, loudly echoing o'er the watery waste, 
 
 His voice was heard, cursing the daring crew 
 
 That on the tempests of his reign encroached, 
 
 And, with the whirlwinds, mixed their human tones 
 
 To vex his solitude. There, too, were seen 
 
 The forms that roved amid the nodding groves 
 
 Of Arden, when the bold Rinaldo sped 
 
 His still, and lengthened way ; a female shape, 
 
 Covered with ever-waking eyes, and armed 
 
 With snaky hair, whence a blue serpent curled 
 
 In rearing spires upon her marble neck ; 
 
 Swift as an eagle darted on her prey, 
 
 Hurling the monster at the Hero's breast, 
 
 That piercing through the thick, and folded mail, 
 
 Shrunk cold and noisome on his beating heart ; 
 
 Now o'er his pale face glistening, now, his helm, 
 
140 
 
 Now o'er his bending head, the Fury twines 
 
 Resistless ; fast he flies, or stops, or writhes, 
 
 Kneels, runs, or stands, or howls aloud, or groans 
 
 In agonv, still the dread monster chilled 
 
 His freezing bosom, till the stranger Knight 
 
 Wielded his massy club, and smote the fiend 
 
 And conquered, as disdain th* envenomed tongue 
 
 Of slanderous Envy. Here the fiencl appeared, 
 
 (Th* Italian Master viewed, whose lofty song 
 
 In Epic numbers sang Jerusalem freed, 
 
 And rescued from the turbaned Saracen ) 
 
 With horns, and front of horrid majesty, 
 
 With clotted hair, and wide and ravenous mouth, 
 
 Deformed, and foul with blood, whence smoke and flame 
 
 In mingled torrents, as from Etna, poured : 
 
 Here, the wild forms th* imagination roused 
 
 Of him, that saw the three-fold worlds, and told 
 
 Of things too horrible for mortal ear, 
 
 When fancy painted the tremendous Fiend, 
 
 Whose outstretched shoulders bore six shadowy wings, 
 
141 
 
 And raised on every wing a Gorgon face, 
 Burning with varied passions ; maddening rage. 
 Wan sorrow, and dull rancour's sullen hue, 
 And gnawing envy, racked at others' bliss ; 
 The ponderous jaws of each enormous head 
 The bodies of the mangled slain devoured 
 Disgustful, and the horrid crash was heard 
 Mid the loud roar of the infernal World ; 
 As in the tumult of Britannia's wars, 
 On the broad ocean raving, oft were seen 
 Contending ships uniting, fiercely close 
 In fury, hurling from their sail-clad yards 
 The dauntless mariner ; then instant part, 
 Quick-meeting, and between their pitchy sides 
 Their falling victims crush ; the shrieks of death 
 Above the uproar of the battle rise, 
 And bid unyielding rage a moment pause. 
 Then mid the Teraphim approached the Fiends ; 
 The dark, bold genius of th' Athenian bard 
 Pourtrayed ; the flying Furies, that pursued 
 
142 
 
 His Mother's Murderer to the holj fane, 
 Apollo's prostrate suppliant, and alarmed 
 The sacred Priestess, when the baffied troops 
 Slept in the hallowed temple, and their prej 
 In broken dreams with frightful noises chased, 
 As the stern ghost of Clytemnestra stalked, 
 And roused them to revenge ; then did they wake, 
 And the loud choral song began, and vowed, 
 By night's dark canopy, to rack his soul, 
 And, frantic bounding, with loud clamors yelled 
 O'er the blood-stained Orestes. All that bards 
 In Runic legends ; all the countless shapes 
 That murky Superstition conjures forth 
 From darkness ; all that Eastern tales relate 
 Of magic, floated with th' inferior tribes ; 
 A crowd of hateful, and revolting forms, 
 Enormous, monstrous, loathsome, horrible. 
 
 - 
 
 Then, next in order, dignity, and power, 
 Advanced the great Chemarim, skilled in fight 
 
143 
 
 To rush on nooler beings, and elude, 
 Amid th' opposing lines, their watchful foes, 
 Varying with unsuspected art their frames. 
 As, when Rinaldo drew his righteous sword 
 Th' enchanted wood to hew, the lovely arm 
 Of fair Armida clasped th' heroic Youth, 
 With female blandishment, and sought in vain 
 To win him from the purpose ; changed arose 
 An earth-born Briareus, with hundred hands, 
 While fearful cries, and rising thunders shook 
 The frighted grove ; so, in unnumbered shapes, 
 Full on the host of heaven they pour, and dare 
 Th' Archangels' strength ; now, as a meteor light, 
 High o'er the van they shine ; then, quickly fall 
 As dew-drop, on firm rock ; now, scream aloud 
 On eagle wings ; now, soothing as a friend 
 Their treacherous steps allure ; then, silent hide 
 Their darkling figures, and with shouts attack 
 Th' unwary ranks ; now, softly gliding, soar 
 As vapour, and descend as ponderous hills 
 
144 
 
 To crush their hostile and astonished foes. 
 
 With proudest confidence inspired, they trust 
 
 Th' Eternal eye t' escape ; and, crouching, rest 
 
 Their floating tribes, in atoms on the rocks 
 
 Of Armageddon, to evade the bolt 
 
 Of wrathful justice on their rebel heads. 
 
 Fools ! not to know with God that small, and great, 
 
 Are not ; God always is God, every-where, 
 
 In every atom of his Universe. 
 
 And, now, advanced the Angels, (those who gave 
 One common name to all the sons of heaven,) 
 Boasting unutterable strength to hurl 
 Vast continent, or mountain, to o'er whelm, 
 Beneath their cumbrous mass, the adverse hosts. 
 " I," said the Godhead of the Heathen World, 
 " My golden chain cast from Olympus' height, 
 And bid th' inferior Gods their prowess try, 
 And all their might put forth to tear me down ; 
 Then will I leave the Ocean, and the Earth, 
 
145 
 
 Securely laugh at the collected weight, 
 
 And force, and power of Deities, and men, 
 
 And round Olympus bind the pendent World." 
 
 How vain his boast ! the meanest of these ranks 
 
 Had drawn the golden Sun, and all its train 
 
 Still moving in their spheres, about their Lord 
 
 On High, and dashed them through the fields of space ; 
 
 Fill Uranus' great orb from side to side 
 
 With one unlimited, and ponderous bulk, 
 
 That all the planets, and their moons combined, 
 
 And spreading distances of every globe ; 
 
 Such are the rocks on Armageddon's plain. 
 
 This, with its heavy crags, and mountains, poised 
 
 Upon their nervous arm, their power would raise, 
 
 And hurl along th' incalculable mass, 
 
 To shake the star-filled Universe, and roar 
 
 Descending, till th' oppressive ruin fell 
 
 Plunged in the surface of the central World. 
 
 In humble silence to their mighty Chief 
 
 Their lofty figures pass in stillness by, 
 
 Arm. T 
 
-146 
 
 To him submit their endless strength, and bow. 
 And own the dread pre-eminence of mind. 
 
 The gay, and gorgeous Seraphim appeared 
 Clad in refulgent mail, with outstretched wings, 
 With clanging armour, and far-beaming crest, 
 In graceful flight, and, turning to their Lord, 
 Their golden curls, hither, and thither, waved 
 Upon their polished neck; and all the host 
 Throng to admire their grand and matchless forms 
 Again embattled for the coming war. 
 Rich in transcendent loveliness they move, 
 Rearing on high their glittering swords, and speak 
 Inveterate blasphemies, to please their King, 
 Against th' Omnipotent ; alike renowned 
 For beauty, and fierce hatred of their God ; 
 By utmost guilt, they hope t' erase the thought 
 Of former love in their admiring hymns ; 
 Zealous in vice, as virtue, and pervert 
 What once adorned them most to basest shame. 
 
147 
 
 As, when the two-fold ring that girds the mass 
 
 Of Saturn, else his brightest ornament, 
 
 Spangled with moons, oft shades his beamy pride, 
 
 Veiling the lustre of his distant globe, 
 
 Rolling in realms remote ; so, the great mind 
 
 From grandeur fallen, and covered with disgrace, 
 
 Corrupts its finer powers, and, proudly bad, 
 
 Exults in wickedness, and none than these 
 
 More loudly triumphed, mid the Lords of Hell, 
 
 O'er wretched mortals. Here appeared the Fiends 
 
 That lulled to luxury the willing soul, 
 
 And all the snares of false refinement tried, 
 
 Or, soothing flattery, and the pleasing guile 
 
 Of gay security, till ruin frowned, 
 
 And dashed the cup of pleasure from the lips. 
 
 With these drew near, the tribes that bound the East 
 
 In Error, till the conquering Briton broke 
 
 The Idol's shrine ; Brahma, with Indra came, 
 
 And thou, Bhavani, many-named, arose, 
 
 In female form revered, refulgent Queen 
 
148 
 
 Of orient nature, and the fertile banks 
 Of India's flowing streams ; then, followed slow 
 Narayen, that inspired th' enraptured breast 
 "With mystic theories, and taught mankind, 
 One being only rules the Universe ; 
 Fountain of Life ! from him creation sprang ; 
 And all the fair appearance of the heavens, 
 And Earth, are fancied images alone, 
 Stamped on the eye of man ; while every sense 
 Perceives the multiplied, the obvious God, 
 The sole Eternal Mind, that guides, and fills 
 The mighty wonders of th* unreal World. 
 Material things are not : he, sovereign Mind, 
 Bends the vast Planets, spangles every leaf 
 With morning dew, adorns the mountain sides, 
 Whose summits mingle with the Evening cloud, 
 Or, paints the glories of declining suns. 
 Mind spreads the Ocean, Mind expands the sky 
 With azure, and extends the grassy lawn, 
 Perfumes the fields, thrills in the linnet's song, 
 
149 
 
 And gives the numerous visionary dreams 
 
 To Man's observing view ; God is that Mind, 
 
 True source of perfect good, pervading soul, 
 
 Inspiring, cherishing, supporting all, 
 
 Through life's unbounded, unsubstantial modes ! 
 
 Then came the Goddess-Queen, Pedmala fair, 
 
 Churned from the milky sea, when Vishnu reigned, 
 
 Preserving monarch on this lower sphere, 
 
 Incarnate twice among the sons of men, 
 
 A God, though human ; thee, his honored bride, 
 
 The varied Seasons loved, but most the realms 
 
 Where Brahmaputra decks the rice-tilled plains: 
 
 Convulsed by Power divine, the gathering ooze 
 
 On ocean's surface swam, and mid the foam 
 
 Thyself in tenderest Infancy appeared, 
 
 And instant gained thy prime : while from thine eyes 
 
 The liquid radiance beamed, and every wave 
 
 Played with thy flowing and luxuriant hair, 
 
 As rising from the surge the Lotos breathed 
 
 Its balmy fragrance o'er thy graceful shape, 
 
150 
 
 And bore thee, where immortal Vishnu stood 
 On India's spicy shores : then joyed the Earth, 
 O'erspread with ripening corn, and rocks, and hills, 
 Replenished, celebrate the nuptial day 
 And hail in plenty their Protector's name. 
 Elate with hope, Ganesa, Ganga, passed, 
 And Surya, Monarch of the golden Sun, 
 That drove his car refulgent round the Earth 
 From morn to eve : Cuvera, God of wealth ; 
 And Seres waty ; him the Brahmin deemed 
 Celestial parent of each wonderous art, 
 The fairy pencil, or the living stone, 
 That mocks the silent gazer ; (arts divine 
 Of soft refinement and declining states ;) 
 Nor less fair Poesy obeyed his sway, 
 Though Western bards his chosen sons excelled ; 
 And all the strains of Harmony confessed 
 His will, when, rapt in Brahma's holy bowers, 
 The notes of melody first round him poured, 
 Soft- wandering on the mild and tranquil breeze : 
 
151 
 
 Then, the young Passions started into life, 
 To rule o'er unborn nations ; then, arose 
 Exhilarating Joy, with pining Grief, 
 At consolation spurning, anxious Fear 
 Distrustful, and contempt, with half-closed eyes, 
 Confiding Hope, untaught by others' woe, 
 Life's constant patron : Anger, Lord of hate, 
 With Pity, slow to punish or revenge, 
 Melting at every pang. Candarpa next, 
 And great Vrihaspati, who ruled the orb 
 Of sovereign Jove, amid the solar train. 
 These, with the rebel Seraphim, appear, 
 And, bending onward round the ponderous base 
 Of Achim, bow obedient to their Chief. 
 
 So pass the Seraphim : and, quick behind, 
 The dazzling ranks of Cherubim succeed, 
 That never from th' infernal world had soared 
 To Earth, or Nature's realms ; content to wait 
 In stern and gloomy pride th' expected day 
 
152 
 
 Of second combat with th' Eternal King, 
 In sullen silence, brooding on revenge. 
 Now, panting for the fight, on high they rose, 
 Each in his radiant chariot from the deep, 
 Above the vexed and burning regions borne 
 By Griffon forms, submissive to their Lords, 
 That stretch their spacious pinions, rear their heads, 
 With gold and purple beaming fearfully, 
 Reflected from the reddening flames of Hell, 
 And plunging onward, with incessant flight, 
 Shake their exalted crests, and wave their wings s 
 Pleased to forsake the sad and dreary bounds 
 Of the dark dungeon of six thousand years ; 
 While each great master, leaning from his car, 
 Brandished his fatal spear, in fierce reply 
 To Satan, where on Achim's precipice 
 He gazed, exulting in their war-like tribes, 
 That disappear among the distant clouds. 
 
 Then, slowly followed the Archangel ranks, 
 
155 
 
 In radiant chariots of embodied light, 
 
 With sweeping scythes of lasting adamant 
 
 All armed ; conducted by tremendous shapes 
 
 Of serpent race, that lift their pliant length, 
 
 Mightier than those which northern bards relate 
 
 Gird the stupendous globe ; and winding on, 
 
 Bend as the Ganges, by the Angels seen, 
 
 As watchful o'er the Earth they guard mankind : 
 
 So glide the horrors of their writhing scales, 
 
 In spiry volumes soaring from the deep ; 
 
 In dreadful play, their triple tongues they dart, 
 
 That glittered in the chariot's silver rays 
 
 Of purest light ; or, circling round their Lord, 
 
 In loathsome blandishments, they hiss their love, 
 
 Or, mounting onwards, nod their dancing crests, 
 
 That quivering shook upon their towering heads ; 
 
 And, curling with their vast and mazy folds, 
 
 Their scaly armour rattled ; lurid sparks 
 
 Shot wildly from their fixed and fiery eyes 
 
 In sparkling fury, oft their arching necks 
 
 Arn>. U 
 
154 
 
 They turn ; and richly on their chequered breasts 
 
 Black spots, and burnished gold uniting shone, 
 
 Of, blended with the rainbow hues, that deck 
 
 Their polished sides ; in equal ranks, they pass 
 
 Unbroken, and majestic, as they bear 
 
 The great Archangels from the torrid soil, 
 
 To curse the realms of day, and light of heaven. 
 
 The proud and powerful Hierarchs now appeared j 
 First of the tribes that in the world above 
 Adored Jehovah's name ; and mindful still 
 Of former happiness, remember Heaven, 
 Mourning in fierce indignant hate their doom. 
 High on their splendid thrones, the Chieftains rode 
 Each in his orb of rolling fire, that moved 
 Instinct with life, around th' Apostate Lords, 
 Scattering their spacious beams to veil the Chiefs 
 Of this great Monarchy from vulgar gaze. 
 "With Hell's black thunder armed, and trembling flame 
 Of mimic lightnings, the proud legions hastes 
 
155 
 
 In fading glory clad, eager to cast 
 
 'Gainst high Omnipotence the raging bolts 
 
 Of wrath, and anguish, their stern frames endured, 
 
 Impatient to oppose Almighty Power : 
 
 In slow, and awful pomp, they move along 
 
 Unutterably bright ; but, far above 
 
 Their utmost splendor, shone the mighty form 
 
 Of Satan ; him, exulting Cherubim, 
 
 On sounding pinions, bore ; and, round him, flowed 
 
 The shadowy radiance of the lower world, 
 
 In dark pavilion of infernal gloom, 
 
 And mystic fire ; he from the floating clouds 
 
 Looked forth as lightning in the gathering storm. 
 
 Far shone the diadem around his brow, 
 
 And joyous hope laughed in his kingly eye, 
 
 EfFusing strength, and loftiest confidence 
 
 Of greater fame, throughout the rebel crew, 
 
 Proceeding onwards, in well-ordered ranks, 
 
 To Hell's extremest verge ; and all the Damned 
 
 Survey the demon myriads as they rise, 
 
156 
 
 Above the fiery ocean of th 5 abyss, 
 And seek the confines of created space. 
 As, if some musing habitant of Earth, 
 Among the stars should raise his wondering eye, 
 To range their beauties, suddenly beholds 
 The host of heaven desert their ancient orbs, 
 And parting from the regions of his sky 
 Fly to the realms of distance, to adorn 
 Remoter scenes, and leave our azure fields, 
 Devoid of all their honors, one drear space 
 Of empty darkness ; so, the hateful train 
 Ascending, pass from view, and silent night 
 Poured its new horrors o'er the sinful dead. 
 
 The last pale beam had vanished : all was still 
 Through Hell's wide Universe, save when the storm 
 Of raging fire around the burning rocks 
 Still swept its struggling thousands, save the groans 
 Oft breaking on the sorrows of despair, 
 As unconsumed they shriek ; but, now, arose 
 
157 
 
 The clang of armour, and the shouts of war, 
 The mingled hiss of wings, and the loud oath 
 Of every demon, as their furious Chief, 
 Amid the glimmering of the fearful bound 
 Of Hell and Nature, badeliis legions pause 
 Their daring course ; and, pointing where the stars 
 Glowed dimly in the distance, proudly spake. 
 
 " Lo, where yon worlds their radiant wonders spread 
 A gorgeous banner on th* expanded depths 
 Of nature, and allure my hosts to war, 
 And glorious toil, while Heaven's refulgent throne 
 Gleams in the North, and calls my sons above ; 
 Say, shall they call in vain, and spurn our hopes 
 Of honor ? oh ! be mindful of your birth, 
 And dignity of being ; let not Hell 
 Again command its withering fires to curl 
 Around our parching frames ; but, let success, 
 That binds opinion in the potent chain 
 Of conquest, blends the evil with the good, 
 
158 
 
 And rules the mighty Universe, be ours. 
 
 Say, shall your King invite you to the war, 
 
 Yon systems shine, and Earth have sinned in vain t 
 
 Oh ! by your names, your home, your honors lost, 
 
 Your past renown, your longings for revenge ! 
 
 Rouse your whole terrors for the coming fight, 
 
 Not in one fierce impetuous assault 
 
 Of zealous courage, easily fatigued, 
 
 To faint, and be renewed, as human strength ; 
 
 Be every dauntless, and immortal form 
 
 A sacred temple, every Chieftain's soul 
 
 Its guardian Deity ; then Gods with God 
 
 May persevere, and equal thunders roll 
 
 From equal hands along th' astonished sky ! 
 
 Then, shall the regions of th' unpeopled Earth, 
 
 The countless glories of yon starry space, 
 
 The sainted myriads of the sinless worlds, 
 
 The arms, the chariots of th' ethereal host, 
 
 And pomp, and glory, and renown be your's ; 
 
 Your's this great Universe, or, ceaseless Hell V 
 
159 
 
 So spake the fiend ; the applauding rebels wave 
 Their blazoned ensigns, and aloud blaspheme. 
 " Where do thy thunders sleep, Eternal Lord, 
 That thus we threat thy state, and dare thy might ? 
 Now, with one voice we swear ; enrol our oath 
 Above, nor longer let thy vengeance rest, 
 If Power be still with thee. Hear, hear our vow ! 
 By all the memory of our former bliss, 
 By all the torment of six thousand years, 
 By sad despair of thy forgiving love 
 Withheld from Demons, but bestowed on Man ! 
 By all our hopes, our plans of sweet revenge, 
 By Heaven, by Hell, by thee, by our own lives, 
 Great monarch, do we swear to pierce the veil 
 Of nature, and extending our broad wings 
 O'er all thy fair Creation, to ascend 
 Thy throne invisible, exalted God ! 
 Thence to yon place of anguish to compel 
 Our foes, and reign triumphant o'er thy world.' 
 
160 
 
 The long-continued voices through th' immense 
 Of Armageddon echoing, reached the saints. . 
 Afar Creation trembles at the oath, 
 Heaven hears the coming war, the damned forget to groan. 
 
 END OF BOOK THE FOURTH, 
 
ARMAGEDDON. 
 
 TBook t&e jriftb. 
 
 
 Arm. X 
 
160* 
 
 IN REMEMBRANCE 
 
 OF 
 
 ALMOST PARENTAL KINDNESS, OF GENEROSITY AND 
 FRIENDSHIP NEVER TO BE FORGOTTEN, 
 
 THE 
 
 FOUR FOLLOWING BOOKS 
 
 OF 
 
 &rmaget>tJOtt 
 
 ARE INSCRIBED 
 
 TO 
 
 THE REV. G. F. TAVEL, 
 
 LATE FELLOW AND TUTOR OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, 
 
 BY HIS MUCH OBLIGED AND 
 
 MOST TRULY GRATEFUL FRIEND 
 
 AND SERVANT, 
 
 G.TOWNSEND. 
 
argument 
 
 The Journey of Ithream and Brahma. 
 Ithream and Brahma begin their journey among the stars, to de- 
 stroy the Earth — the wonders they meet with — they arrive at 
 the central world, which is described — from thence, they proceed 
 on their Journey — Ithream inquires into the laws of nature — 
 Brahma explains the probable cause of gravitation — they rest on 
 the Sun, from which they survey the Earth, and the other Planets 
 —Ithream inquires the nature of our planet, and the character 
 of its inhabitants— Brahma relates the changes that have convulsed 
 our globe— describes Man, as an individual, and as a social being — 
 the influence of Ambition and Love on his mind— Man as collected 
 into nations. 
 
. 
 
ftrmagetoon. 
 
 J3e neath the cloudless sky, at autumn eve, 
 
 The smooth, and green Pacific sweetly smiles, 
 
 And o'er th' unruffled mirror of the deep, 
 
 The stars of heaven shine gloriously, and deck 
 
 The shoreless sea ; when on the silent wave 
 
 Some northern bark glides slow, whose daring prow 
 
 To southern climes before was never bent : 
 
 Up to the firmament the sea-boy turns, 
 
 With curious eye ; scans the blue depths above, 
 
 And bows to view, reflected in the tide, 
 
166 
 
 The clustering constellations, world on world, 
 In ignorant wonder lost ; till Fancy spurns 
 The rolling globe, and all is boundless sky : 
 So bursting from the confines of the realms 
 Of night, and death, the Cherub Ithream gazed 
 On the wide plains of nature, star-filled space, 
 First seen, and first admired ! before him hung 
 The radiant splendors of the God of heaven. 
 In all their rich variety, and tired 
 His envious eye unsatisfied. " Is this," 
 The Cherub cried, " this the created World 
 Our Chieftain bids us in revenge destroy, 
 Breaking the chain of Deity, that binds 
 These glowing orders with his matchless power ? 
 Here reigns in truth Omnipotence ; here lives 
 Th' Eternal King ; this is the world of God !" 
 
 He could no more : poised on expanded wing, 
 Like wandering meteors, rove th' astonished fiends, 
 And turn to Armageddon ; that around 
 
167 
 
 The host of systems its vast concave winds, 
 Enfolding Nature in its mighty womb ; 
 The chequered lustre of ten million suns, 
 In mingling colors, on its surface played, 
 With softened rays, upon their silent view ; 
 As if the rainbow of our lower sphere 
 Diffused its glories through th' expanse of air, 
 And arched with one continued beam the sky. 
 
 Then, mid the burning stars they plunge ; the depths 
 Of Nature, which, from far surveyed, appear 
 A fixed and solid firmament of suns, 
 Confused and dis-arranged ; now, nearer seen, 
 The skilful grandeur of a God display, 
 In endless clusters of ethereal fires, 
 Spangling with kindling strata the blue realms 
 Majestic ; compassing th J unfathomed heavens 
 Around their central and unshaken Lord : 
 While every cluster in its mighty self 
 Its countless myriads of refulgent globes 
 
168 , 
 
 Contained, that glittering in the empyreal space, 
 Shone each the centre of some gorgeous orb, 
 The soul of some great system ; and compelled 
 Its wheeling planets by attraction's power, 
 Around its weight to move, pouring its light 
 In grand profusion on their rapid course. 
 
 And still they hold their progress, till the plain 
 Of Armageddon beamed no more : the tents 
 Of Nature lay before them, and its deeps 
 Beheld and trembled, as the demons pierced 
 The bright pavilion, where the stars of God 
 Adorn his world : how vain th* attempt of Man 
 To trace their changing, intermingling paths, 
 In curves unknown to science ! suns round suns, 
 And Planets borne round either ! many a bulk 
 Of wandering Comets, thrown from world to world, 
 Scatter their lightnings through encircling wastes, 
 And, quivering in their wonderous orbits, drag 
 Their ponderous masses : infinite their laws ' 
 
169 
 
 Of motion, infinite their glorious forms ; 
 
 Not one but spake supreme Omnipotence 
 
 Of all the constellations, systems, suns. 
 
 That animate Creation : as the fields 
 
 Of Earth, at distance spreading on the view. 
 
 One plain of uniform rich green appear, 
 
 While the long tribe of herbs, and plants, and flowers, 
 
 In all their numerous orders, ranks, and kinds. 
 
 The skill, and wisdom of a God proclaim : 
 
 So, all the grand varieties of heaven 
 
 Declare the monarch that inscribes his name 
 
 On flowers, on Worlds, the Universe, and Man ! 
 
 Still toiling on, through the deserted spheres, 
 Swifter than flying light the demons keep 
 Their dauntless way ; then, darting through the clouds 
 That veil its lovely climes, they cease their course, 
 And rest, unheeded, on the star-girt globe. 
 
 Firm, as the throne of God, the central world 
 
 Irm. Y 
 
170 
 
 Of solid adamant sublimely hung, 
 
 Self-poised among the stars, that moving round 
 
 Th' unutterable mass, magnific steer 
 
 Their flight, as Planets laboring to the East ; 
 
 Here, when th' Almighty King illumed the skies 
 
 With radiance, did his will ordain the court 
 
 Of him the great Archangel, that should rule 
 
 The vast and deep cerulean ; here, appoint 
 
 Th' abode of empire, where ten thousand Lords 
 
 Of heaven's eternal kingdom joyous sped, 
 
 The watchful guardians of fair Nature s realms ! 
 
 And oft, for us, their vernal bowers they left, 
 
 At his command, to shield us in the scenes 
 
 Of life, protect us, when the smiling world, 
 
 With treacherous bait, allured ; or, peace inspired, 
 
 In want, or misery, as the changeling frowned. 
 
 Around the beggar, and the King, alike 
 
 Their sheltering wing extends ; they love the race 
 
 Of mortal Man, and searching every heart 
 
 Bestow the happiness that soothes it most, 
 
171 
 
 Calling on cheering hope to calm the breasi 
 Of anxious grief, or, raising from the Earth 
 Our grovelling wishes, point us to the skies. 
 Oft did they whisper to the pensive soul, 
 Not all the wealth of states, or Fame, or Pride, 
 Or Pleasure's glittering joys, or, fading Pomp, 
 Or, Beauty's winning smile, or want, or woe. 
 Or all the forms, and pangs of agony, 
 Can sink, or elevate, th' immortal mind, 
 That self-possessed, self-governed, knows its powers. 
 Careless of praise, or censure undeserved, 
 Enriched with kind benevolence to Man, 
 In mute obedience to th' approving God, 
 To life resigned, looks humbly on to Heaven, 
 With hopes that breathe of the celestial state, 
 Where knowledge reigns, and God himself abides. 
 Thus did they guard mankind : but here no more 
 Their brilliant legions rested, when the fiends 
 Beheld its shining atmosphere, that rolled 
 Its clouds of light : perpetual spring was here, 
 
Perpetual day ; the lovely Paradise 
 
 Of all th' angelic squadrons of the heavens ! 
 
 Here, yielding groves, and fields, and all the plants, 
 
 That garnish Earth were seen, though nobler far, 
 
 Than earthly flowers, or groves, their varied tribes 
 
 Appear in kind profusion to delight 
 
 The roving eye ; th' enamelled plains were decked 
 
 With shades unknown to Man ; the seasons poured 
 
 Their mingling beauties, and attempered sweets 
 
 In gay luxuriance, but withheld their storms, 
 
 In fear to violate the calm repose 
 
 That ruled the waving streams, the fragrant air, 
 
 And hills of softest green, that boast the charm 
 
 Of blending Lotos, Amaranth, and Rose, 
 
 And herbs of blooming pride ; the crystal seas, 
 
 By daring barks unploughed, were richly gemmed 
 
 With sparkling colors of ten thousand flowers, 
 
 Deep rooted in the mild unruffled beds, 
 
 That bound with silver edge the painted plains, 
 
 Reflected on the bright and silent tide : 
 
173 
 
 The lustre-beaming atmosphere above 
 Shone on the peaceful ocean, and illumed 
 The blue foundations of the glassy depths, 
 Or, played among the foliage, that adorned 
 The verdant gulphs ; the ripening fruitage swelled, 
 And round the solitary arbors twined : 
 The pendent blossom and the opening bud 
 Profusely scattered o'er the bended boughs 
 Their grateful sweets ; th' united seasons danced 
 Round the deserted scene, and graced the bowers, 
 In every shadowy vale, with every hue, 
 And fairest broidery of great Nature's hand. 
 
 Oft, on the spacious meads, the lofty towers 
 Of many a sceptred Hierarchy were seen, 
 In dazzling splendor darting o'er the plains 
 Refulgent light, that trembling as it rose, 
 Betrayed the diamond's blaze, and sparkling beam 
 Of golden topaz with the rubies' blush, 
 While the green emerald mellowed the full flame, 
 
174 
 
 And gave the eye to dwell upon the pile 
 
 Unwearied and the sumptuous walls admire. 
 
 Firm on the precious soil, or in the sea, 
 
 TV angelic portals shone ; unmade by hands, 
 
 TV obedient mansions spread, like Autumn mists. 
 
 Each at his master's will, in every shape 
 
 Their sovereign Fancy bade ; above the art 
 
 Of mortal architects, the sparkling towers 
 
 Were framed ; the Demons o'er the structures rove, 
 
 Alike forgetful of their long-lost Heaven, 
 
 The lower world, and their great Chiefs command ; 
 
 Th J unfading flowers they love, the genial breeze, 
 
 And all the beauties of the blest abode, 
 
 And lost in transport, bathe in every gale, 
 
 Wafting new rapture o'er th' enchanted sense. 
 
 Thus far the rebel Chieftains winged their way 
 Around the central Paradise, and, now, 
 At that vast mountain paused, where once the Power 
 Celestial, Elasah, his counsels held, 
 
175 
 
 High on the Northern point ; where nearest heaven 
 
 His favored guard, the chosen Seraphim, 
 
 Attended, listening to th' inspiring songs 
 
 Of all the sinless Cherubim, that watch 
 
 Their destined worlds, and hymned their common God, 
 
 The flying clouds, upon the green ascent, 
 
 Reposed their changing forms in fleecy waves, 
 
 That parted, as the venturous demons sought 
 
 The mountain's utmost height, and unfatigued, 
 
 Pursue their course, to seek the rolling Earth. 
 
 Again they plunge among the world of stars, 
 Continuing still harmonious to the law 
 Their Maker gave ; and, still the Cherub gazed 
 In endless wonder ; and, astonished, spake. 
 
 " Friend of my heart ! oh ! say, what mighty arm 
 Supports the masses of these glorious orbs, 
 That thus their path they keep, nor star with star, 
 Nor planets, as they move, with planets clash 
 
176 
 
 In one resistless ruin. Where the home 
 
 Of Man, that thus we wander through the spheres 
 
 In quest of Earth ; when shall our journey end ?" 
 
 Thus Ithream spake ; and Brahrna made reply ; 
 " In vain my laboring mind essays to trace 
 The wonderous Deity through all his works ; 
 Yet Fancy oft hath soared where Science fails, 
 And, thus, in doubtful flight, would aim t' unfold 
 The laws that bind this mighty Universe : 
 When first the God of Nature gave command, 
 That Armageddon should enclose the stars ; 
 Then did he will the properties and forms 
 Of matter rise obedient, and the law 
 Was passed, that body should to body tend, 
 And one attractive power preserve the whole. 
 Then, from the shores of Armageddon sprang 
 Unnumbered atoms smaller than the eye 
 Can meet, or fancy's utmost thought conceive : 
 Less than the finest particle of light, 
 
177 
 
 That gives the shape of things ; these, moving on, 
 In one perpetual line, from side to side 
 Through every point of the long distance steer, 
 Proceeding ever ; swifter than the wing 
 Of angels, that out-strips the flying ray. 
 Then, in the weightless universal flood, 
 The central World arose ; on every part, 
 With equal .strength the countless atoms press ; 
 Compelling, as the first vibrations cease, 
 Continual rest ; then, poised upon the fields 
 Of ether, sprang, projected through the deep 
 By God's all-potent hand, the beauteous worlds, 
 That nearest to their central monarch roll, 
 Ranged in their strata through the azure waste ; 
 By starry clusters followed more remote, 
 Till to the boundaries of their space they climb 
 Great Nature's circling orb ; on every point 
 Th' impelling atoms rush ; turn every mass 
 Around its passive centre ; and enforce 
 The mute vibrations of the spacious globes, 
 
 Arm. r i 
 
178 
 
 Their laws of distance fixed, and uniform. 
 
 Thus, round their suns the wandering comets wheel, 
 
 And all the bodies of Existence seek 
 
 The greater ; while th' extended Universe 
 
 Obeys th' attracting and projectile power, 
 
 Till this avenging arm the comet grasp, 
 
 And the wild ruin of the World begin. 
 
 But, now, our way we bend, where yon pale spot 
 
 Far-glimmering shines amid the realms of air ; 
 
 The cluster where the constellations move, 
 
 That met the gaze of mortals ; there, the Sun 
 
 Beams in the galaxy, a meaner star ; 
 
 On that our weary pinions will we rest, 
 
 And view the planets as their course they trace ; 
 
 There, mark with anxious eye the silent Earth 
 
 In its elliptic orb, to hurl aright 
 
 The comet's mass, and make destruction sure." 
 
 So spake the fiend ; and, towards the solar walk, 
 They turn, that, now, enlarging to the sight, 
 
179 
 
 With all its twinkling beauties, glowed ; the Lyre, 
 
 Orion, and the Centaur's bulk were seen, 
 
 With North, and Southern crowns, the Eagle's wings, 
 
 And all that Man discerned in Arctic sky, 
 
 Or Southern hemisphere, though long to tell 
 
 Their numbers, or their names: and, now, they gain 
 
 The studded galaxy, and still advance 
 
 Till Earth's great Lord appears; then, on they plunge, 
 
 Elate with joy, the nobler systems spurn, 
 
 And, with triumphant shoutings, through the deep, 
 
 Descend, exulting, on the golden Sun. 
 
 Where is thy guardian angel ? where, oh Sun ! 
 The blessed Cherubim, that once encamped 
 Around thy brightest globe, to save thy train 
 Of radiant planets from destruction's hour, 
 To guard Creation from the wreck of Time, 
 And the fell rage of demons ? ever gone 
 To yon celestial world, they proudly leave 
 The silent masses of material things, 
 
180 
 
 The sport of Time and Chance ; alike to them, 
 And their Almighty Lord, the passive bulk 
 Of empty stars, their splendors, and their charms, 
 With all the pomp, the majesty, and grace, 
 Of varied Nature : Mind alone obtains 
 Its Maker's care, the glory of our race, 
 Th' eternal angels, and the sinless host ! 
 Mind ever lives, immortal, great, and good, 
 Though the world's mighty fabric shall decay, 
 By God protected, honored, and beloved. 
 By all unnoticed, on the Sun they rest, 
 That, black and solid, drank the living beam 
 Of its own atmosphere, and poured its rays 
 On every orb that girt his cheering frame. 
 He, like his planets, on his axis, moved, 
 Dispersed the clouds above, and, oft, disclosed 
 To Earth the darkling soil beneath, that seemed 
 As transient spots upon his beauteous sphere ; 
 Around him, wheeling in oblique ellipse, 
 The crossing planets in th' Aphelion bend, 
 
181 
 
 With slowest pace ; or, swifter, as they change 
 Their varying distance, Westward to the East ; 
 Distinguished each by his peculiar light, 
 Unaltered ; nearest to the Demons, rolled 
 The brilliant globe, surnamed of Maia's son, 
 Most rapid of the seven. Phosphor next 
 Its splendid forehead raised, the fairest mass 
 The sun illumined ; graceful, as the Queen 
 Of Love, and radiant, as the sparkling eye 
 Of youthful beauty ; with one moon adorned, 
 That oft concealed its lustre from mankind. 
 Mars, fiery globe, with dull red light, passed on 
 Among the brighter stars ; behind them, swept 
 The pomp of Jove, in glowing majesty 
 Of belts and moons, reflecting the rich glare 
 From his rough surface ; while the pale, slow bulk, 
 Immense of Saturn, with concentric rings, 
 And smaller orbs, swam heavily beyond ; 
 And, further still, perhaps, the most remote, 
 Dragging his ponderous bulk, and massy moons, 
 
 
182 
 
 The torpent Uranus moves dully on. 
 Now, on the Zodiac's mighty signs they gaze, 
 And all the constellations that complete 
 One cluster only of th' unnumbered train 
 That fill Creation ; every cluster there, 
 With equal, or, superior glory robed. 
 Now, to the central world, now, on the plain 
 Of Armageddon will their fancy turn, 
 Remembering pensively that all they see 
 
 Form the least part of God's great Universe. 
 
 " Perchance/' they cry, " beyond the star-filled world* 
 
 Some other modes of beings may exist, 
 
 Alike by Angels, or by fiends unsoared ; 
 
 By Him alone, the Omnipresent known." 
 
 Thus will the Demons contemplate the works 
 
 Of God ; till, slowly ploughing its great course, 
 
 Along th' aerial path, the Earth appear. 
 
 Soft on its silent poles, our planet glides 
 
 In peace, unconscious of the coming storm. 
 
 _ V n i ^T i -i • i ' ill 
 
 Forth from the .North, around its long-tracked orb, 
 
183 
 
 What seemed a waving, many-colored flame, 
 
 In graceful radiance flowed, and decked its way 
 
 Perennial, wheeling through the burning signs ; 
 
 The bright reflection of its floating clouds 
 
 Repelled the fiery ray ; and many a space 
 
 Of pure, and tranquil ether, showed its lakes 
 
 And placid oceans, raising high the stream 
 
 Of gentle vapour, that descending shed 
 
 Its dewy tears, as balmy evening veiled 
 
 The Sun's declining glories ; land, and sea, 
 
 Wide-spreading continents of every zone, 
 
 With the pale Moon, that, pouring her rich beams, 
 
 Revolved attendant ; these the Cherub marked, 
 
 In rapturous delight, and, to his friend, 
 
 With reverence, pointing to our planet, spake. 
 
 " Th' unpeopled Earth, so long th' abode of Man, 
 The pendent Moon, the Planets, and the stars, 
 I see : yet once again thy stores unfold 
 Of knowledge, and the wondrous tale relate 
 
184 
 
 Of yon terrestrial globe, and of mankind. 
 In wild surprise, I heard of every world 
 That fills Creation, when our Monarch burst 
 The dark imprisonment of Hell, and pierced 
 The starry mansions ; oft of nations heard, 
 Of tyrants, and the triumphs of our friends, 
 Of vice implanted, and of ruined souls. 
 With equal joy, the tortured race I saw, 
 Plunged in the fiery gulph, condemned to groan 
 For ever there ; by God Himself condemned, 
 Their Maker ; but the confines of the deep 
 I ne'er with all the Cherubim have left, 
 To view the realms of Nature. Oh ! then, say, 
 What changes have convulsed yon rolling ball, 
 And what the history of the being Man. 
 Oh ! tell his springs of action, what the spots 
 On Earth's round surface, Ocean, sea, or land, 
 And what the nations once existent there ?" 
 
 " Now to the past," shall Brahma make reply, 
 
185 
 
 " My soul looks back, while sad remembrance draws 
 
 The veil of silence from th' events of Time ; 
 
 Now, the long shadows of forgotten years, 
 
 Through all their ages, rise, in dim array, 
 
 Before my pensive mind, and loud proclaim 
 
 The coming moment, when th' Eternal God 
 
 Shall whelm us by his power. Time must end, 
 
 And all the stars decay, and evil fall 
 
 On every demon-votary that resists 
 
 Th' immortal arm ; but, let destruction come. 
 
 The mighty devastation, that our strength 
 
 Shall cause, may charm the agonies of pain, 
 
 And soothe the anguish of unending woe. 
 
 Now hear the story of yon favored globe, 
 
 The human mind, the Nations that possessed 
 
 Its various climes, as memory may recal 
 
 The pride, the hopes, and follies, of mankind. 
 
 The shining stars around obeyed the voice 
 Of God, with air their planets, and adorned 
 
 Arm. 2 A 
 
 
186 
 
 The plains of nature, and, among them, moved 
 
 Around the splendid sun that bears our forms, 
 
 Yon atom of Creation, conquered Earth. 
 
 On all his works th' Almighty Maker breathed 
 
 The breath of life, and forth, on every sphere, 
 
 To light, and joy, unnumbered beings sprang, 
 
 To share the mercies of th' approving God, 
 
 Exulting in the sinless majesty 
 
 Of new existence, and the birth divine. 
 
 Then, Man arose : blest was the pristine Earth 
 
 Beyond our utmost fancy to conceive 
 
 Of beautiful, and rich ; the seasons poured 
 
 Their choicest treasures at their sovereign's feet, 
 
 And Love, delighting in his new domain, 
 
 The roseate bowers prepared, and hailed the morn 
 
 Of Man s espousals ; then, th' enamelled ground, 
 
 With flowers and fruits, to later days unknown, 
 
 "Was spread ; the mighty Mammoth on the plains 
 
 Reclined his harmless bulk, where'er the stream 
 
 Invited ; all was Paradise and joy, 
 
187 
 
 Till Truth and Innocence forsook the groves 
 Of Eden, when of the forbidden fruit 
 The Patriarch ate, and, on his offspring, passed 
 The threatened sentence of mortality. 
 
 Two thousand years, the primal Earth retained 
 Unvarying Spring, and its smooth surface smiled 
 Unbroken. Then, th' obedient Angels hurled, 
 At God's command, whose sovereign vengeance claimed 
 The hardened race his Mercy could not move, 
 The black and watery comet, to compel 
 Th' unwilling Poles aside, and turn the mass 
 Of the whole cumbrous Planet from its course. 
 Swift o'er the drowning realms the ocean swelled ; 
 In ceaseless storms, the bursting torrents fell, 
 And every isle and continent was lost 
 Beneath the raving flood, that furious rolled 
 Its giant waves in triumph o'er the globe, 
 Untopped by mountains, unconfined by shores. 
 Now, the vast deep was calmed ; the waves retired, 
 
188 
 
 And Angels wept, when they beheld the World 
 Rise, in disfigured beauty, from the surge, 
 And Seas usurp the thrones of deluged Kings, 
 The seat of empires, and forgotten states! 
 While, journeying on her axle still, the Earth 
 A sudden change perceives, increasing now 
 Her great Equator, lessening where the Poles 
 Yet banish life, and rest the unmelting snows. 
 And, still, in strange and mingled heaps are seen 
 The sad remains of animals, and Man, 
 Of swarming fishes, and th' enormous frames 
 Of all the Mammoth tribes that once had breath, 
 Embodied in the firm and solid stone ; 
 Some on the Mountain's height, some far below 
 The weighty soil, or in the river's bed 
 Deposited, declare that hour of wrath, 
 When the dread storm of Desolation rode 
 Upon the wasting Deluge, and o'erwhelmed, 
 In one cold grave, the Millions of Mankind. 
 
189 
 
 Such was the ruin of the abode of Man : 
 But who the wondrous contrast of his powers 
 Can tell ? now grovelling in the dust, now high 
 On wings of Fancy, or of Science borne 
 Up to th* eternal throne ; what tongue describe 
 The lonely being, or the social tribes ; 
 Or, how united hosts in Nations met, 
 And governed, or possessed, the climes of Earth, 
 In every age of Time ? First, till the tomb 
 Closed on his anxious life, the progress trace 
 Of solitary Man ; th' incipient dawn 
 Of opening Intellect, with Memory view, 
 Unfailing Parent of the perfect mind, 
 While ardent Fancy, and young Reason shed 
 The pride of being on his glowing soul, 
 That panted for the tumults of the world, 
 And joys and cares of manhood ; see self-love, 
 With high opinion of superior skill, 
 Submit in struggling silence, and obey 
 Stern custom's laws : while, ignorant of his fate, 
 
190 
 
 Expectant ever of some future good, 
 
 Or, pondering o'er anticipated ill, 
 
 The various passions revel in his heart ; 
 
 Wild admiration, joy, revengeful hate, 
 
 And mad desire, and frantic sorrow rave 
 
 Alternate, and the cares of hopeless Love 
 
 Rack, in the gloomy frenzy of despair, 
 
 The proud, yet humbled soul ; the bitterest pangs 
 
 That life e'er treasured for the human race, 
 
 Were found in sighs for unrequited love, 
 
 With pride contending in the swelling breast. 
 
 It poisoned every hope of noble Fame, 
 
 Or rising greatness of th' aspiring mind ; 
 
 It dimmed the fire, and lustre of the eye : 
 
 Rifled the roses from the cheek of health, 
 
 And o'er the soul a melancholy joy 
 
 Of languid sorrow breathed, to calm the sad, 
 
 But sweet delirium of declining life. 
 
 Thus intellect, and passion, ruled mankind ; 
 
191 
 
 By one unbiassed liberty of will 
 
 Directed, guided, and controlled, and formed, 
 
 As Providence to each their lot prepared, 
 
 Or civilized, or savage, or refined, 
 
 The characters of life ; the cruel Chief, 
 
 The patriot statesman, or the slave of power, 
 
 The pale artificer, the warrior's arm, 
 
 The child of laughing Pleasure, and the fool, 
 
 Or grave philosopher, with patient thought, 
 
 Scanning the laws of Nature and its God. 
 
 Some in the flowery paths of fancy strayed, 
 
 Panting for more than mortal excellence, 
 
 Rapt in the visions of enduring Fame, 
 
 Crowned with the laurel, by th* applauding World : 
 
 View them with kindling eye, and bursting soul, 
 
 Sink their proud hearts, and bend their haughty heads, 
 
 To every restless hope, and fancied grief, 
 
 And spurning every humbler virtue, leave 
 
 Th' acknowledged path of honor and renown, 
 
 While Friendship wept in vain, and Dulness smiled 
 
192 
 
 In wealthy ease, and apathy secure : 
 
 For not th' aspiring thought, th* undying name. 
 
 Or consciousness of merit gave the wreath, 
 
 But goodness, virtue, kind benevolence, 
 
 And meek submission to the common ills. 
 
 Man, in himself, (whate'er his fate) possessed 
 
 The secret source of true felicity, 
 
 Whose mad extremes of passion, or desire 
 
 Of sweet renown, of pleasure, pride, and wealth, 
 
 Obeyed the firm serenity of soul, 
 
 That, Monarch of itself, on God relied, 
 
 Enjoyed the blessings of the fleeting hour, 
 
 Content and grateful for the present good, 
 
 Nor mourned the past, nor feared the future state. 
 
 Next, view the social being ; see his will 
 Restrained by reason, and his passions calmed 
 By stern Society's dread laws, that bound 
 In fetters of opinion every mind, 
 And gave to each his station ; while, enlarged, 
 
193 
 
 By ceaseless rivalry, the ardent breast 
 
 Pined for the wealth and honors of the World : 
 
 There, the warm feelings of enraptured youth, 
 
 And all the flowers of early friendship fade ; 
 
 There, Candor, pleased with all it saw, deceived 
 
 Too soon by specious treachery, sighed to learn 
 
 Mankind's ingratitude, while vile distrust, 
 
 And cold indifference, chilled the heart, that shared 
 
 In every woe, and felt for all its race : 
 
 Now, self alone absorbs them ; love of fame 
 
 The chief, the sovereign, universal wish, 
 
 Through all the pains, the triumphs, and the joys, 
 
 The pomp, the splendor, and the cares of life 
 
 Pursued ; the great, th' immortal principle, 
 
 That, 'mid the ruins of the fall, survived, 
 
 Implanted first to fire the soul of man 
 
 With hopes of God's own presence in the realms 
 
 Of promised happiness; but, now, for this, 
 
 The boards of sordid avarice were piled, 
 
 For this, the Warrior left his home to bleed, 
 
 Arm, 2 B 
 
194 
 
 For this, the traitor raised rebellion's hand, 
 
 For this, the Earth was traversed, Land and Sea 
 
 Despoiled of all their secret stores, to grace 
 
 The halls of luxury, and declare the wealth 
 
 That claimed the servile knee ; for this alone, 
 
 Pleased with the incense of the crowds they scorned, 
 
 Pride, rank, and greatness, wooed inferior minds; 
 
 For this, gay Folly trifled, and the front 
 
 Of boasting Infidelity assumed 
 
 The mask of liberal candor, and surnamed 
 
 Th' unblushing Patrons of its gloomy creed 
 
 The friends of freer thoughts, than God, or Heaven, 
 
 Or future, or eternal things, inspire : 
 
 And talked of reason, when they spurned her most. 
 
 All sighed for Fame ; yet, not for Fame alone, 
 Wide as its influence spread through every rank : 
 A softer passion held divided rule. 
 Throned on the Earth, the Queen of Beauty waved 
 Her golden sceptre o'er the human race, 
 
195 
 
 Commanding love and reverence to the sway 
 
 Of woman's heavenly grace, and conquering eye: 
 
 Around the soul-subduing Queen, appeared 
 
 The suppliant throng who move in beauty's train, 
 
 And pace her myrtle bowers, there pensive shed 
 
 The secret tear, or raise th' adoring sigh 
 
 In silence, grateful to the lover's breast. 
 
 Low at her feet the Warrior cast his spoils ; 
 
 The sage forgot his precepts, and renounced 
 
 His dull philosophy, when woman smiled. 
 
 E'en proud Ambition owned her mystic power, 
 
 Yielded his fond affection, and resigned 
 
 The envied Laurel, and the valued Palm. 
 
 False as the vows of sickness, when the world 
 
 Deceived her victim, and the turning tide 
 
 Ebbed in its prosperous course, while laughing crowds 
 
 Insulting gloried in Ambition's fall, 
 
 Then, how transporting Beauty's voice and eye, 
 
 To calm th' indignant spirit ! honored most 
 
 In sad Affliction's hour, and skilled to change 
 
196 
 
 The sob of anguish, and defeated hope 
 To tears of new-felt rapture and delight. 
 Hard was the heart, that felt not Beauty's sway, 
 And dull th* unfeeling soul, that would not dwell 
 O" Love's inspiring theme : from every tongue, 
 From every heart of man, the prayer was heard ; 
 Oh ! for some lovely bride, that smiling bends 
 Her graceful head, and whispers happiness 
 And Peace, the hour of adverse ills to soothe. 
 Or add new lustre to the joys of life ! 
 
 Still, in pursuit of happiness, the tribes 
 Of man assembled, bound by common laws, 
 And nations rose and fell ; first, Freedom joined 
 With gay and hardy Poverty, and tilled, 
 With patient industry, the stubborn soil, 
 „And clasped alike the sickle and the sword ; 
 Till victory reigned with labor ; and young wealth 
 Upreared his treacherous and enchanting form, 
 By pampered luxury followed, and the Pride 
 
197 
 
 Of base, corrupt, and coward tyranny ; 
 
 Nor far behind some fierce invader came, 
 
 To stain his iron sword with dastard blood, 
 
 And spoil the gold and splendor that revenged 
 
 The robber Father on his peaceful son. 
 
 Long is the tale, the madness to relate 
 
 That desolated Earth, and plunged in war 
 
 Her states and Monarchies ; Religion's self 
 
 Became the war-cry of the savage hosts, 
 
 That hailed the God of Peace, and rushed to fight, 
 
 With frantic exultation, and blind zeal, 
 
 On those whose faith was different, while their life 
 
 Shamed the fanatic millions that returned 
 
 Their horrid blasphemies of thanks to God, 
 
 For triumphs that had made his Earth a Hell. 
 
 And oft, rebellion raised her daring head, 
 Veiled in the borrowed robe, that Freedom wore 
 To lure mankind; to bid the people rise 
 Slaves to the fear of slavery ! break the laws 
 
198 
 
 That guard the safety of the common weal, 
 
 And, revelling in destruction, slay their Kings, 
 
 And chase their Nobles from the frighted realm 
 
 To realize their dreams of Liberty, 
 
 And plans of purer governance, with Lords, 
 
 And Princes, spotless in th' imperfect state : 
 
 Alternate Factions bathed the Land in blood, 
 
 Forced, in their turn, to yield ; till faint, and weak. 
 
 The shattered remnant of contending Chiefs 
 
 Submit, in angry silence, to the yoke 
 
 Of some successful warrior, that compelled 
 
 A tame obedience to his despot sword. 
 
 So Pride and Bigotry laid waste the world ; 
 
 While faithful History told the self-same tale 
 
 To every age, and nation ; and the sons 
 
 Of Earth observed, condemned their Father's deeds 
 
 That fought for mad Ambition, and imbibed 
 
 Themselves the same Injustice, to bequeath 
 
 Their own example to the future race. 
 
199 
 
 Such is the chequered story of mankind ; 
 And such the varied follies of the life, 
 That glided swiftly on the stream of years ; 
 And mingled, as the rivers with the deep, 
 Youth, Age y and Manhood, with Eternity. 
 
 END OF BOOK THE FIFTH. 
 
ARMAGEDDON. 
 
 Xoofe t&e ^irtfn 
 
 Arm. I C 
 

 argument 
 
 The Millennium. 
 Brahma continues his narration — points out the Atlantic Ocean- 
 America — the Pacific Ocean — Asia— Arabia— Egypt — Africa — 
 Europe — Greece— Rome — France — gives an account of the Mil- 
 lennium, including the fall of Mahomet and the Popedom— the 
 general conversion of the Heathen — the restoration of the Jews- 
 Earth recovers its original form, and the general resurrection— I th- 
 ream asks the exact situation of our country — inquires the cause 
 of its greatness and power— Brahma praises Britain, and enumer- 
 ates its blessings, and happiness, under the Monarchs of the house 
 of Brunswick. 
 
&rmagettoon. 
 
 Gay smiles the Spring, gay o'er the spangled fields, 
 
 The flowerets, bursting from their winter graves, 
 
 Scatter their new-born fragrance, and perfume 
 
 The morning breezes, that delight to bend 
 
 The painted blossoms in their gentle tract. 
 
 So shall we rise ; so shall our virtues bloom 
 
 For ever, where the spirits of the great 
 
 And good exult in their eternal home. 
 
 Creation's voice proclaims the sacred truth, 
 
 Man is immortal ! Man alone, high-raised 
 
206 
 
 Above th' inferior tribes of Earth, declares 
 
 His great Original, scans the dread laws 
 
 That rule his Father's Universe, and holds 
 
 High converse with transcendant Deity. 
 See ! how triumphant Reason soars above 
 
 The clouds of life ! how Virtue calmly braves 
 
 The taunts of Vice! how all that Earth affords 
 
 Delights no more ! how every pleasure fails 
 
 That pleased the childhood of our ceaseless race, 
 
 Till Reason's Manhood point to nobler things ! 
 
 How oft fair Science deeply musing stays 
 
 Her weary wing, and, ripening for the skies, 
 
 Unites with Faith and Knowledge, till the hopes, 
 
 And joys of glory burst upon her view ! 
 
 Shall these bright scenes of being pass away, 
 
 Shall all the honored names of old renown, 
 
 Our hopes, our vices, virtues ever die ? 
 
 Shall Milton live no more ? and Newton's eye 
 
 No more behold the wonders of his God ? 
 
 Dull, cold, and loathsome clay, with all our race, 
 
207 
 
 Shall dread annihilation seal the doom 
 
 Of Man, and close upon the dreams of life? 
 
 Then is the creeping insect, and the worm 
 
 That coils her ringlets on the dewy Earth, 
 
 A Being happier than the reasoning Man, 
 
 And Faith and Hope are vain, and God unjust. 
 
 We shall not mingle with th' insensate clay ; 
 
 Mind is the ruling principle that smiles 
 
 At Death, and all its terrors, prompts, presides, 
 
 Inspires, or mourns, or contemplates, or moves 
 
 Th* obedient body by resistless power, 
 
 In spite of sorrow, comfort, pain, or joy, 
 
 To spurn the rolling globe, and rest in heaven. 
 
 Torn from his weeping bride, the youth recalls 
 
 The fond remembrance of affection's tear, 
 
 The liquid lustre of the azure eye, 
 
 And all th' endearing graces that adorn 
 
 His absent love, while Fancy paints the scene 
 
 Of rapture, when they meet to part no more : 
 
 So Faith delights to dwell on scenes of bliss 
 
208 
 
 Where we shall live for ever — Time may spoil 
 The blooming honors of our youth, and grave 
 His mournful impress on our fading forms, 
 And Death may claim his victims : but the soul, 
 Swift from the cold and solitary tomb, 
 On eagle pinions mounting seeks its source, 
 Its God, the common Father of mankind. 
 Yes ! we shall live for ever ! Life's short years 
 May bring their destined trials, cares, and joys, 
 And strew the thorns and roses in our way, 
 But we shall follow, where the mighty Lord 
 Of Man's Redemption, rising from the grave, 
 Ascended, pointing to our promised home 
 Above, where spirits of the just abide 
 In immortality, and perfect love. 
 
 " Still be it mine, the varied tale to tell," 
 The Chief continued to his wondering friend, 
 " Of Nations, States, and Empires, that possessed 
 The now deserted Earth. Bend from thine height, 
 
209 
 
 And on the wheeling planet turn thine eye 
 
 AVith more attentive gaze, to mark the spots, 
 
 As on the silent globe, from West to East 
 
 The transient regions pass ; yon sapphire line 
 
 That back repels the Sun's meridian ray, 
 
 From North to South upon the pendent ball 
 
 Expanding its full glories, Man surnamed 
 
 The Great Atlantic, once the mighty seat 
 
 Of Continents and islands, ere the pen 
 
 Improved the art, and Memory of Man. 
 
 Long the rude tale in grey tradition lived, 
 
 That o'er th' uncultured waste, from Europe's realms, 
 
 The wandering thousands roved, to fix their tents 
 
 Upon Columbia's plains, and saw the waves 
 
 Of Ocean desolate Atlanta's realms, 
 
 Torn with wild fury from her trembling base : 
 
 See ! where her lands appear, as Earth rolls on, 
 
 A sable speck upon th' horizon's brow. 
 
 Long ere the trumpet of th' Archangel woke 
 
 Arm. 2 D 
 
no 
 
 The race of Man, from Death's stern sleep, arose 
 On the fair regions, where Iberia's sons 
 Revelled in murder for the lust of gold, 
 Full many an empire, many a mighty power, 
 That rivalled in their greatness, and renown, 
 The thrones of ancient Europe ; and rehearsed 
 Her foulest acts of bloodshed and of war, 
 In fierce division of opposing states, 
 Successful tyrants, and usurping crowds. 
 With more hypocrisj', but equal scorn 
 Of justice, and of honor, vain self-love, 
 And all the lower passions of the soul, 
 Deceit and treachery, avarice, and revenge, 
 Alike contending in their baser hearts, 
 In rich and powerful, but degenerate states, 
 The Northern regions of Columbia spread. 
 How shall I name thee right detested Land ! 
 Thou most despised by those that knew thee best. 
 No generous thought was thine, no patriot love, 
 No fond remembrance of the nobler soil 
 

 
 211 
 
 Whence thy free Fathers sprang ; long did the ami 
 And guardian angel of Britannia's isle, 
 Thy pale and helpless infancy protect, 
 When prowling murderers, and the Gallic slave 
 Roused the keen blasts of death, and Savage Chiefs 
 Yelled the loud war-cry o'er thy feeble head. 
 Then did thy Parent shield thee from the storm, 
 And bade thee still be happy, great, and free, 
 Beneath her sovereign king, and gentle sway, 
 Nor knew the thankless serpent that she nursed, 
 Till proud Rebellion raised her giant arm 
 Triumphant in success ; Columbia's star 
 In that sad moment rose, when Britain's sun, 
 Obscured by faction's darkest clouds, concealed 
 Her native splendor from the gaze of Man. 
 
 Now, turn thine eye, where brightning to the view, 
 Yon broad refulgence of the Ocean beams, 
 The spacious girdle of the chequered Earth ; 
 The peaceful sea, beneath whose tranquil depths, 
 
212 
 
 Rest in unbroken majesty, the pomp, 
 
 The wealth, and grandeur of the pristine world, 
 
 And silent monuments, which nations reared, 
 
 Ere yet the whelming deluge swept the tribes 
 
 Of groaning nations to their common grave 
 
 In one tremendous ruin ; like their sons, 
 
 In after days, the ponderous domes they framed ; 
 
 Surveyed the mighty work : and, vainly cried, 
 
 Live, temples of our fame, for ever live, 
 
 Tell your great builders' name from age to age I 
 
 The watery tempest swelled above the towers, 
 
 Nor left one shattered remnant to declare 
 
 Their Fathers' excellence : a fiery flood 
 
 Shall desolate the pride of later years, 
 
 And cold oblivion smile upon the fall. 
 
 Ere arts, and arms, on Europe's plains abode, 
 To speak the glory of her matchless sons, 
 Then fierce, and barbarous, as th' unpliant soil ; 
 In power and wealth yon happy realms were blest; 
 
213 
 
 The seat of science, and the graceful muse, 
 
 With god-like liberty, and equal laws, 
 
 And honor's lofty throne ; then rose the states 
 
 Of India's golden empire, and the spires, 
 
 And splendid citadels, whose ruins told 
 
 The skill that formed their labored battlements, 
 
 Shining as meteors in the night of time, 
 
 The silent wonders of forgotten days ! 
 
 Revolving centuries rolled : remoter tribes 
 
 Increased in luxury, while corruption breathed 
 
 Her sickening influence o'er the fertile land. 
 
 Oh ! I could tell, how the mad boy of Greece, 
 
 Or, Mahmud's rod, or Timour's iron sword, 
 
 Controlled these lovely regions till the sons 
 
 Of Albion, with her merchant princes, swayed 
 
 The blooming soil, and Brunswick's snow-white Horse 
 
 Pastured in peace upon her choicest flowers. 
 
 Did Britain, like her former conquerors, bring 
 
 The blood-red sword, or raise the savage cry 
 
 Of midnight murderers, or the clamorous shouts 
 
214 
 
 Of warriors, joyous o'er the trampled dead ? 
 No ! ever gentle, merciful, and just, 
 She, as their guardian angel, bade them live? 
 In tranquil safety, free from every storm, 
 Content, protected, happy ; while their hopes, 
 No longer fixed on Brahma's tottering shrines, 
 Raised, and exalted, sought a nobler heaven, 
 In meek dependance on the christian's God, 
 
 The Seres cumbrous Monarchy, the realms 
 Of Scythia, and of Persia, all confessed, 
 lire this great judgment day, the sovereign Lord, 
 Whose truth prevailed on Earth, as Ocean flows 
 Above the dark foundations of the deep. 
 Still pass the lands of Asia ; there the spot 
 Where Israel's prophets hailed in song sublime 
 TV expected hour, when God's Messiah gave 
 The purest blessing to the human race. 
 There the black desert reared th' Apostate Chief 
 Mahommed : furious, as a flame of fire, 
 
215 
 
 To Asia's utmost bounds, to Afric's sands 
 
 And Westward, to Hesperia's lovely shore 
 
 His legions flew, nor sheathed the conquering sword, 
 
 Spite of the holy war-cry that impelled 
 
 The Lords of Europe to Philistia's plains. 
 
 Till vanquished Rome's imperial relics fell. 
 
 And long reposing on Byzantium's towers. 
 The fading glories of the Crescent reigned, 
 Till the loud screaming Eagle of the North, 
 Swift-darting on his weak, and destined prey, 
 The time-worn kingdoms rent, and the bold Russ 
 "Waved his victorious banner o'er the realm, 
 
 Now rise the sands of Afric ; there the Nile 
 Through many an ancient empire spreads, and pours 
 Th' abounding blessings of its fertile streams 
 To proud Arsinoe, and the Memphian domes, 
 Or fair Thebais hundred gates ; renowned 
 In early story, while th' unskilful North 
 
216 
 
 In darkest ignorance lay, nor knew the pride 
 
 Of Egypt's wealthy regions : there the sons 
 
 Enslaved of favored Israel, long endured 
 
 The despot cruelty of Pharoah's line, 
 
 And raised th' aspiring pyramid, and wept 
 
 Unpitied, till their Fathers' God relieved 
 
 The pangs of toil, and freed the captive tribes. 
 
 There ruled the Scythian Conqueror, vainly named 
 
 By servile blasphemy, the King of Kings, 
 
 Sesostris ; there Amasis great, and good, 
 
 The Monarch, whom the Persian Madman strove 
 
 To hurl from empire, raging in his hate 
 
 Of Egypt's varied and unnumbered Gods. 
 
 And many a changing dynasty possest 
 
 The fruitful kingdom, ere the wanton Queen, 
 
 Closed the bright honors of her royal race ; 
 
 * And Rome's proud eagle triumphed, till the sway 
 Of fierce Mahommed gave the fated land 
 
 ■ A prey to bigot murderers ; then it fell 
 Beneath the earlier curse the prophet spake : ; 
 
917 
 
 No more its vanquished head shall Egypt raise 
 
 Basest of kingdoms ; sordid, mean, and vile, 
 
 Powerful no more among the states of Earth. 
 
 Such was the curse of God ; but later days 
 
 The mad attempt beheld, to lift the head 
 
 Of fallen Egypt ; heedless of the word 
 
 That doomed its wretched millions to be slaves. 
 
 The sword of Britain was the sword of God ! 
 
 To drive the rash invader from the land, 
 
 And tell mankind ; while kings and warriors seek 
 
 Ambition, grandeur, or their country's weal, 
 
 Or good of all their kind ; God at the helm 
 
 Amid the storm of general war presides, 
 
 And guides their toils, their counsels, and their plans, 
 
 Among the billows of tumultuous life, 
 
 Safe to the haven that his Will decrees. 
 
 Nor less where Niger rolls his devious flood, 
 
 Or where the Eastern shores of Afric bend, 
 
 Did Albion break the spirit-wounding chain 
 
 Of Slavery and Oppression, from the necks 
 
 Arm. 2 E 
 
218 
 
 Of Canaan's sons, and bid their tribes be free, 
 
 To know themselves, and love the Christian's God, 
 
 Beyond the tideless sea that laves the shores 
 Of Afric, and the Northern Continent, 
 Fair Europe's climes extend, for arts, and arms, 
 And soft refinement, famed, above the states 
 Of Egypt, or of India, that attained 
 Their height of empire, when the barbarous horde 
 Of savage chieftains, on these Western realms 
 Shared the wild desert with the beasts of prey. 
 Spirit of ancient Greece ! mine eye surveys 
 Thy deeds of glory through the mists of time. 
 Thine were the heroes, thine the statesmen sage, 
 And patriot schools of grave philosophy, 
 When lesser states obeyed the lenient power 
 Of polished Athens, or the graver sway 
 Of Sparta, or the boy of Macedon 
 That quelled the might of Persia,- as the sons 
 Of war-like Cyrus broke in earlier days 
 
219 
 
 TV Assyrian sceptre ; thine th' unrivalled boast 
 
 Of equal laws, and liberty, and arts, 
 
 That charm the willing sense, the joy of Peace ! 
 
 Thine the full stream of lofty eloquence, 
 
 That breathed persuasion, and aroused the soul 
 
 To pant for freedom, while melodious tones 
 
 Of rolling periods filled the listening ear 
 
 In soft or swelling cadence of rich sounds. 
 
 Nor be thy bards forgotten, that inspired 
 
 The youth of every age, till Time reposed 
 
 His transient centuries in oblivion's gulph, 
 
 To love th' impassioned song, to fire the breast 
 
 With virtue's manly dignity, and hail 
 
 Their country's fame, and glory, as their own. 
 
 While modest courtesy, and noble thought, 
 
 That spurned at baseness, calmed the fiercer mind, 
 
 And taught th' ingenuous bosom to combine 
 
 The pride of honor, and the pleasing arts, 
 
 That formed th' exalted, and the perfect Man. 
 
&2Q 
 
 With equal majesty, the mighty Chiefs 
 That raised the triumphs of immortal Rome, 
 Pass on th' admiring mind; there shines the land, 
 Whose warriors, zealous of their country's good, 
 Bled in her cause, exulting in her fame. 
 For Justice ruled at home, when slowly rose 
 The great Republic, that subdued the World 
 From Albion, to Euphrates' willowed banks, 
 Or barren Scythia, to the winding coast 
 Of Northern Afric ; and the nations swayed, 
 Not, as in later years, by bigot-laws 
 Of gloomy priests, who moved the passive Earth, 
 By engines fixed upon another world ; 
 But dauntless courage, and the noblest arts 
 Of policy, till all-corrupting gold 
 Withered the laurels of imperial Rome, 
 A prey to tyrants, luxury, and Pride ! 
 Then o'er the weakened states, the barbarous tribes 
 Swarmed in fierce millions from the frozen North, 
 And built the kingdoms of remoter days 
 
221 
 
 On Rome's declining grandeur, and o'erwhelmed 
 The last great empire of the sons of man. 
 
 There Gallia spreads her rich and fragrant vales, 
 And purple vines ; there Nature's loveliest charms 
 Adorned the fertile realm, and called aloud 
 For peace, but called in vain : successive kings 
 Her sceptre held with glory, but their Sun 
 Was veiled in darkness, when rebellion seized 
 The best of their illustrious line, and stained 
 Their blushing country with a Monarch's blood. 
 Accursed, and cruel deed ! ignoble feet 
 Trampled the sacred lily ; base-born hands 
 Despoiled the flowers of fair nobility, 
 And bade them fade in distant climes, and droop 
 In anguish, and in exile : soon the land, 
 Fatigued with factions, anarchy and war, 
 Obeyed the prosperous Islander, that grasped 
 Th' unsteady helm, the last dread .scourge of Earth! 
 His was the midnight murder, his the smile 
 
222 
 
 Of unrelenting, jealous cruelty ; 
 
 His was the iron heart, the tearless eye 
 
 That mocked the miseries himself had caused. 
 
 When panting for the sovereignty of Earth, 
 
 He forced th' unwilling orphan to the field 
 
 Of death, in German, or in Scythian plains. 
 
 Impious in wickedness, and proudly wrong, 
 
 He rent the veil of Justice, and disdained 
 
 To gloss his tyrannies with specious names, 
 
 But poured his legions on Hesperia's shore ; 
 
 She, trembling at his power, implored the aid 
 
 Of Britain, bulwark of the groaning world ! 
 
 Nor sought in vain ; thy brave and generous arm, 
 
 Great friend of liberty ! was stretched to save 
 
 Th' oppressed ; thy chieftains conquered ; and thy flag 
 
 Terrific waved, and drove th' oppressors back 
 
 With shame and ignominy : till the land, 
 
 Safe from the storm that threatened to destroy 
 
 The stately vessel of its ancient realm ; 
 
 Safe from the terrors of the danger, breathed 
 
223 
 
 In freedom ; rescued from the menaced joke. 
 
 Now had six thousand years rolled on, and brought 
 The full completion of the Prophecies, 
 The consummation of the word of God. 
 Long had th' Apostasy of later years, 
 The power of Roman Antichrist, usurped 
 Obedience from the Universal Church, 
 But fell at the appointed hour of wrath, 
 When with its lightnings, and its thunders, burst 
 The oft predicted Earthquake, and o'erwhelmed 
 Her splendid Palaces, her towers of strength 
 And grandeur ; the fair Crescent that despised 
 The humbled cross was levelled, and the shrine 
 Of false Mohammed ; mighty was the strife, 
 And shaking of the nations, that had drunk 
 Deep of the cup of error, and had shared 
 In all her luxury ; destined to partake 
 The curse of Vengeance for unpardoned crimes. 
 
224 
 
 Then the anticipated season dawned 
 Of God's Millennium ; then his Scriptures spread 
 O'er every land ; the powerful and the rude 
 Obeyed his voice ; and the wide Earth broke forth 
 In singing, bending on its knee to God. 
 The desert bloomed again, the tall fir hailed 
 The fragrant myrtle, and rejoicing sang 
 His glory ; in the wilderness was found 
 A Highway joyous for the Gentiles' King, 
 Where pools the parching ground refreshed, and springs 
 The thirsty land ; there, Zion's pilgrims drank 
 Redeemed, and happy ; there, with hymns of praise 
 And everlasting mercy on their heads, 
 Ascribe all honor to their Parent God. 
 
 Then as the Earth converted, and renewed, 
 Appeared one solemn temple for its Lord, 
 Then the lost tribes of Israel were recalled, 
 And mourning bowed to Him the Crucified, 
 The great Redeemer of their scattered race ; 
 
225 
 
 In purity of spirit, and faith, they turned , 
 For in their grateful hearts, refined, and changed, 
 Their Monarch reigned triumphant, and matured 
 The fertile olive of the Jewish Church : 
 Then from all shores recovered, Israel sought 
 Judea's clime ; upon the mountain tops 
 Of Canaan ruled ; adorned their wasted lands ; 
 Planted their vine in peace ; on Calvary raised 
 Their Temple, and restored its ancient state 
 Of wealth and splendor to their Saviour God. 
 The ministering Angels of this happy soil 
 Returned, commissioned from the King of Heaven ; 
 No more decreed to weep the ruined towers 
 Of Salem's fallen majesty and pride. 
 'Twas, then, descending from on High, were seen 
 The Seraph armies in the solar way, 
 To turn the Earth's great axle, till the Sun 
 Beamed, with the lustre of perpetual Spring, 
 Full on the renovated plains ; and smiled 
 Upon the second Eden of mankind. 
 A rm. 2 F 
 
226 
 
 Bloomed in its former Paradise, the flower 
 
 Of golden Amaranth ; the gentle winds 
 
 Hurled the dread tempest from their stormy wings 
 
 No more, but breathed around refreshing gales 
 
 To cheer the tranquil Climates, and delight 
 
 The mortal race, that, guarded by the sword 
 
 Of mightiest Cherubim, adored in peace. 
 
 Hell saw with agony its earthly prey 
 
 Exalted to th' unutterable joy, 
 
 And happiness, that God bestowed on Man, 
 
 When true Religion blest his holy lot, 
 
 And fled with all his legions from the world 
 
 Despairing : high among these glittering stars 
 
 We parted, as the Monarch of the air 
 
 Commanded ; some to tend the solar way, 
 
 If once perchance the Angelic band might cease 
 
 Their watchful care, some to the globes around, 
 
 To tempt in vain their habitants to sin. 
 
 While Satan, with his chosen millions, scanned 
 
 The coast of Armageddon, soaring now 
 
The mighty concave that enfolds the stars, 
 And now its vast recesses, there to plan 
 The dread encounter of our warrior hosts. 
 One day, as time is to the spirits above, 
 He wandered, till yon rolling globe had moved 
 In thousand revolutions round its Lord ; 
 Returning to his followers when the hour 
 Of Judgment stamped the destiny of Man, 
 To guide our counsels in the World beneath. 
 
 But greater tokens of their Father's love 
 Were poured on all the Ransomed ; now began 
 The primal resurrection of the Just, 
 When perfect spirits from the state unseen, 
 That knew their Saviour, ere in human form 
 He trod the Earth, rose from their opening graves, 
 Appearing to the Universal Church ; 
 The Saints' communion of departed souls! 
 Ascended first, the Parent of mankind ; 
 Abram the Father of believers camr 
 
228 
 
 With him, that from the floating ark surveyed 
 The deluged lands ; the death-delivered form 
 Of Enoch, and ten thousand honored names 
 Of prophets and of patriarchs that rejoiced 
 To see the prophecies complete, and Man 
 Exulting in the grand Sabbatic year. 
 Above the rest, their venerated thrones 
 The apostles of Messiah reared, and judged 
 The tribes of Israel in their holy land, 
 United with the sages, priests, and Kings, 
 The burning, shining lights of former days ! 
 With these, the martyrs that embraced the stake 
 For Christ, and his Religion : all who smiled 
 In torture, as the fire consumed their limbs, 
 Glad, by well grounded firmness to declare 
 The faith to all th' opposers of their God, 
 In wonder gazing on their heaven-born zeal : 
 Nor distant far from these, the sacred crowd 
 Appeared, of every witness that defied 
 The treacherous influence of corrupting Rome. 
 
229 
 
 Nor less illustrious rose on Britain's soil, 
 Th' heroic sufferers in the noble cause 
 Of England's pure and honorable Church ; 
 Great to the last, for her endured the flame, 
 God their support, and Truth their only shield : 
 Forth from the mansions of departed souls 
 Their spirits came ; rejoicing to behold 
 The Church for which they bled, existing still 
 In this Millennian purity — its Priests, 
 Clothed with salvation, led the shouting tribes, 
 Delighting in his glory, to the high, 
 The common altar of their Saviour God. 
 As the fair rainbow in the Evening clouds, 
 Reflects upon the eye, the mingled rays 
 Of gold and purple from the setting sun : 
 So, the full splendor of th' eternal day 
 Beamed on the spotless millions of mankind, 
 While one communion of the people bound 
 Th' assembled congregations of the Just, 
 And quelled the fierce divisions, that usurped 
 
230 
 
 The peaceful worship of their bounteous Lord. 
 
 To every clime the favored race returned 
 With gratitude, and voice of melody : 
 Fruitful of love to God, and good to Man, 
 Forever rescued from its grave of Sin, 
 The tree of Knowledge and of Life revived — 
 Struck deep, and covered with its goodly boughs 
 The plenteous land, fed with the dews of Heaven. 
 The sainted Mother clasped her long-lost babe, 
 With tears of holy rapture, and confessed, 
 The troubles of the path, that weaned her soul 
 From Earth, and raised her drooping thoughts to God, 
 Were wisely ordered ; merciful the pang, 
 Though keen, and bitter, when her dying child 
 Breathed on her panting breast its sad farewell ; 
 Now happy to renew the Parent's love, 
 And join its songs of innocence and praise. 
 Here pure and early friendship bloomed again' 
 In all its youthful vigor ; m> vain pride, 
 
231 
 
 No envious coldness, severed the true friends, 
 Or broke that sacred intercourse of soul, 
 The vulgar, proud, and selfish never knew. 
 Alive to nobler, and severer ties, 
 The hero parted from his mistress' smile, 
 To brave the battle and the storm ; to bleed, 
 And turn in agonizing death his thoughts, 
 Where fond affection wept its earnest prayer 
 For safety ; summoned from the distant heap 
 Of undistinguished thousands, joyed again 
 To hear the gentle whisper, that awoke 
 The golden flame of constancy and love. 
 The aged Parent o'er his pious child 
 Rejoiced ; the social charities of life, 
 Graced by Religion's holy virtue, lived 
 To die no more for ever : the warm glow 
 Of Patriotism florished unreproved ; 
 No parties thrust their factious leaders on 
 To clash with Kings ; no tyrant Kings usurped 
 The iron rod, and reigned, as Terror bade, 
 
Despised, oppressive, hated. Senates held 
 The stedfast balance of impartial law, 
 Beloved by Kings, and honored by the crowd. 
 And pure Religion reigned in every state, 
 Blessing all ranks with righteousness and joy 
 With sacred virtue, and one spotless faith. 
 
 One thousand years of peace preserved mankind 
 From evil ; when remoter nations rose, 
 Where through her willowy banks Euphrates sweeps 
 Its tide, inflamed with envy gainst the saints 
 Of high Jerusalem, to oppress the tribes 
 Of Israel, resting in their Father's home. 
 In vain the Heathen rose, their rage was vain ; 
 The sovereign Monarch of the heavens surveyed 
 Their puny might, and cast his lightnings forth 
 Among their proud encampments, to destroy 
 The powers of Gog, and Magog ; till consumed 
 Their countless bodies strew th' astonished Earth. 
 Then was the resurrection of mankind ; 
 
23 
 
 «> 
 
 And all past ages, from the tomb of Earth, 
 
 Before their Maker stood ; soared through the stars, 
 
 And, on the plain of Armageddon, heard 
 
 Their sentence ; some, to share the heaven we lost, 
 
 Some, on the Teraphim's expanded wings, 
 
 To feel the horrors of the world of woe. 
 
 Such was the being Man : now, be it ours 
 
 To close the wondrous scene ; f obey the Chief 
 
 That bade our arm destroy the rolling globe ; 
 
 To seek the burning comet, and direct 
 
 The flaming ruin to the solar way. 
 
 Then may we meet our Lord, proclaim our deeds 
 
 Among th J assembled legions of our host, 
 
 And breathe new courage in their fainting souls." 
 
 " Strange is the tale," said Ithream, as the Chief 
 Paused in th' eventful history of mankind ; 
 "And time demands that we fulfil the word 
 And spread confusion through these ranks of stars. 
 Yet, ere we leave the pendent Sun, attend, 
 
 Arm. 2G 
 
934 
 
 With patient ear, to this my last request : 
 When Powers of Hell in Council met, I heard 
 A Kingdom's name repeated bj the Lords 
 Of our stern Monarchy ; whose righteous sway 
 In later years was known ; oft in thy tale 
 Of nations known no more, well-pleased, I marked 
 The various seats of nations, as they turned 
 In dim array before my ardent gaze ; 
 And, deeply pondering, longed to view the land 
 For strength, and majesty, and fame, and wealth, 
 Alike renowned above the states of earth, 
 Whose swelling seas, and continents, have passed, 
 Until again the wide Atlantic breaks 
 Upon the sight. Oh ! where is Britain's land, 
 What spacious country, what extensive shore, 
 What mighty Continent did Britain hold, 
 That every realm, or kingdom of mankind 
 Rejoiced, or trembled, as her hosts appeared, 
 And each vast region of the cultured globe 
 Confessed her power ? Columbia's Western soil, 
 
235 
 
 The richest jewel of the gorgeous crown, 
 Torn from her Empire by its sons alone. 
 By her, the tribes of Asia were enriched 
 With Truth's pure lustre ; Afric's desert wastes, 
 Freed by her arm from Slavery's galling yoke, 
 Drank the full stream of Liberty, and hailed 
 Oppression's firmest foes ; e'en Europe's plains, 
 By her protected from the tyrant's grasp, 
 Obeyed the great restorer of Mankind ! 
 Where then her high dominion, where the tract 
 Of Britain's noble, and exalted realm ?" 
 
 "Nor Walls, nor Towers, nor large extent of clime, 
 Nor endless wealth," (the ethereal Prince replied,) 
 " Nor countless cities, spangling the gay Land 
 And glittering with the tribute of the world, 
 Raised to its dazzling height proud Albion's name. 
 'Twas Man, and Man alone ! her generous sons, 
 Rich in their virtuous Pride that loved the state, 
 Where equal laws with equal influence bound 
 
236 
 
 The Monarch's purpose, and the People's will, 
 
 And Liberty, immortal Liberty, 
 
 Shared the high throne of Justice and of Law : 
 
 These formed their country's grandeur : these alone 
 
 Reared the fair column of Britannia's fame, 
 
 Parent of dauntless, virtuous, free-born men ! 
 
 Glance on the distant North thy careful eye, 
 
 Where Europe's ample plains extend, and trace 
 
 The lengthening coast ; there parted from the shores. 
 
 Obscurely visible, the narrow speck 
 
 Arises to th' inquiring gaze, and shines 
 
 The brilliant gem of Ocean. Hail ! blest Isle ! 
 
 Sweet home of Freedom ! whose unconquered land, 
 
 Obedient to its sovereign's mandate, poured 
 
 Its warrior thousands forth ; elate to meet 
 
 Their ceaseless foes, and bend their haughty heads 
 
 The willing victims of a glorious death, 
 
 With proud remembrance of their Fathers fired. 
 
 The soul of Honor in thy nobles breathed ; 
 
 That held the stable balance of the law, 
 
257 
 When the mad torrent of the people's rage 
 Oppressed the sacred barrier ; rich and great, 
 Thy sons exulted in thy envied fame. 
 Thine aged patriots, virtuous, wise, and good ; 
 Thy youth surpassing praise ; thy daughters fair, 
 As morning's earliest blush that paints the East, 
 Pure as the light, and perfect as the hand 
 Of nature framed the loveliest of the flowers 
 Of roseate spring ; possessed of every charm, 
 And all the magic graces that compelled 
 The sway of beauty o'er adoring Man. 
 
 And many a race of Kings on Albion's throne 
 Successive ruled ; till Brunswick's royal line 
 The golden sceptre waved, and blessed the realm 
 With Monarchs, virtuous, merciful, and just, 
 The united People's unrepented choice, 
 The subject's friend, the guardian of the Laws, 
 Of peaceful Science, and celestial Truth ! 
 With no rash schemes of conquest to enlarge 
 
238 
 
 Thy tranquil realm, that free, and happy, knew 
 The hand that nursed the state, and loved its Kings* 
 
 Nor be thy name forgotten in the tale 
 Of man, delightful Erin ! be it thine 
 To share the triumphs of thy sister isle. 
 How proudly dost thou spurn the Western surge, 
 Fair emerald of the deep ! whose courteous sons 
 Alone were worth} 7 of thy smiling plains, 
 The garden of the World ! but vain my praise, 
 To tell the glories of th 5 united lands, 
 That bowing to one God, one King, partook 
 Of public happiness, and private Peace. 
 Sweet Isles, farewell ! see, where th' Atlantic spreads 
 His burnished waves, and hides them from the view, 
 And nought but Ocean beams. Isles of the blest ! Farewell/ 
 
 END OF BOOK THE SIXTH. 
 
ARMAGEDDON. 
 
 1500k t&e ©etient&. 
 

Argument. 
 
 Destruction of the Solar system. 
 Brahma and Ithream, leaving (he Sun, discover Death, hovering in the 
 shadow of the deserted Earth — their conference — they proceed to 
 the Polar star— from whence Brahma hurls a Comet from its or- 
 bit, guiding it among the attraction of surrounding stars to the 
 solar system — Saturn is drawn to the Comet— Venus falls into 
 the Sun— Earth is moved from its axis, and deluged with fire — 
 the Moon torn away— The Georgian Star remains untouched — the 
 Comet, still directed by the Demons, is plunged from the solar 
 system among the stars— in the mean time, the two armies ap- 
 proach Armageddon— the leaders of the angelic army — their 
 march — they stop at the place where Man was judged — the u in\ 
 of Satan rises from the opposite quarter. 
 Arm. g If 
 
^rmagettoon. 
 
 And now they leave the orient sun, and rise 
 Above the circling Planets ; till the eye 
 Of Brahma marked the fiery comet move 
 Around the polar star, his arm should plunge 
 Among the clear Cerulean, to disturb 
 The solar way : high o'er the Earth they flew, 
 And saw the long black shadow throw its night 
 Of empty darkness through the depths of air, 
 Veiling, sad last eclipse, the silver moon. 
 There gazing as they stood, before their sight 
 
244 
 
 A glimmering vision floats ; and pallid fear 
 And silent horror seize their daring frames, 
 Recoiling from the dull, and loathsome shape, 
 That unknown dread inspired : shade of a shade, 
 Confused and indistinct, the phantom seemed, 
 Mantled in moving clouds ; a hovering mist, 
 Now on the deep it rested, now on high 
 It soared, and cast a nameless terror round. 
 As some proud bark that holds its gallant way 
 At midnight, strikes upon some barren rock \ 
 And checks with furling sail her wary course : 
 So o'er the shadow of the rolling Earth 
 The mystic gloom arrests them ; the rich Sun 
 Poured the full splendor of his golden ray 
 Upon th' impassive darkness, that absorbed 
 The living glory of his perfect beams ; 
 Nor was the light reflected, nor the vast 
 And black profound illumined : 'twas the throne 
 Of Death ; that hopeless of his future prey 
 Waited the fall of Nature : now he sees 
 
245 
 
 The rebel Lords, and, swifter than the wing 
 Of angels, rose above their bending heads, 
 In solemn stillness waving his dark clouds, 
 Ambitious in his fierce despair to enclose 
 TV immortal Chieftains in the net of fate : 
 They, spurning the dread King, remained unhurt, 
 Though racked with fear of undiscovered ill, 
 Till Brahma, shrinking from the Phantom, spake. 
 
 "Away ! Away ! foul Monster ! vain thy power, 
 To whelm the beings of celestial birth : 
 Go ! hurl thy dart through Nature, quench the light 
 That flows from every sun, till Chaos raise 
 A Temple, worthy of its horrid God, 
 Th' abode of Night, and Silence ! Earth was thine, 
 With our great king to hold divided sway ; 
 Then why thy sceptre grasp ; why spread thy gloom 
 O'er us, who breathed among the gales of Heaven, 
 Ere thou thy wild and shapeless bulk assum'dst? 
 In vain thy fearful dart aspires to quell 
 
946 
 
 Our pride of youth, and majesty of soul, 
 
 And change us to Corruption's sickening dross; 
 
 Still dost thou threaten, and on spirits frown ? 
 
 Hence ! hence to Hell ! the myriads of mankind 
 
 Call with loud groans upon thy dreadful name ! 
 
 Go ! lull their torments in oblivion's sleep, 
 
 And close their anguish in eternal night ! 
 
 Go ! add new pangs to the infernal world, 
 
 There shew thy form : give the Damned hope of rest 
 
 In black annihilation, then depart 
 
 To prove their miseries may still increase ! 
 
 Oh ! why this awful silence ? hence ! away ! 
 
 Thy look appals me, though of heavenly birth." 
 
 " Oh God ! oh God !" in voice of agony, 
 The phantom spake, " Death's sovereign reign is o'er !" 
 
 " Why call on him who spurns thee, and with joy 
 Views the last struggles of relentless Death ! 
 Come ! where the Monarch of the realms of fire 
 
247 
 
 Shall lead his dauntless Millions to the field, 
 Where Man, and all the sinless beirigs heard 
 Their final doom ; there shall we tame the might 
 Of heaven's angelic legions, and resign 
 Their vanquished ranks to thee ; oh ! then, rejoice ! 
 Again, th' insatiate hunger of the grave 
 Shall feast on nobler prey, and Satan yield 
 The shuddering thousands to thy cold embrace." 
 
 " Satan I know ;" the shade again returned : 
 " But who are ye, that boast of elder birth ? 
 Long ere the tribes of angels rose to light, 
 And hymned their primal songs of grateful praise 
 For being ; ere the world of stars usurped 
 The reign of night, or Chaos veiled the flames 
 Of Hell's dread regions from th* ethereal host : 
 Then elder-born of Justice, Death began 
 His infant empire o'er th' unmeasured gulph 
 Of fire, the Sovereign of the burning deep ! 
 Cursed be the hour these living globes dispersed 
 
248 
 
 The darkness of th' abyss, and decked the sky ; 
 
 Else might this horror-breathing form have claimed 
 
 The Universe of God, save where yon heaven 
 
 Shines in th' immediate presence of its King ! 
 
 Then Man was made ; and Sin prepared my way, 
 
 And raised on Earth in solemn state my throne : 
 
 Hated by all, as memory of the past, 
 
 Or fear of future vengeance shook the soul 
 
 Of weak and guilty mortals ; there I waved 
 
 My sceptre dart, there bade Life's ruthless foes 
 
 Drag the unwilling victims to my shrine ; 
 
 Infirm old age, and ghastly pestilence, 
 
 With murderous war, and famine pale, that smiled 
 
 To see the Mother raven on her babe, 
 
 And drink her tears of blood : Intemperance came, 
 
 Death's honored friend, great parent of disease, 
 
 With gay prosperity, and adverse ill, 
 
 And the long train of passions ; hopeless love, 
 
 Sorrow, and anger, and corroding care, 
 
 Led to my countless doors the tribes of Earth, 
 
249 
 
 That yielding to the common sentence, quit, 
 With equal grief, the cottage, and the crown, 
 Beauty, or youth, their joys, their hopes, their fears, 
 And all the miseries, all the pride of wealth ; 
 And naked enter on the dull cold grave, 
 Where pleasures, jealousies, nor useless sighs 
 Of mourning friends, nor empty plans of vice, 
 Or vain repentance, to the hour deferred, 
 When suffering Nature loathes the toils of sin. 
 Nor storm, nor earthquake, rocking the still bed, 
 Could rouse the slumberers ; till th' Archangel's voice 
 Destroyed my temple, withered all my power, 
 And bade the tomb resign her sleeping prey. 
 Ye are immortal too, though doomed to groan 
 In torment : then farewell, thou rolling globe ! 
 And all the pomp and grandeur of mankind ! 
 Still hold thy tranquil course among the worlds 
 Of God, though black oblivion sway thy towers, 
 And Death no longer rule : oh ! Earth, farewell !" 
 
 Arm, 2 I 
 
250 
 
 " Where wilt thou hide thy dark, and monstrous form IT 
 The fiend exclaimed ; " Hell's adamantine gates 
 Could not contain thee : Heaven, th' abode of life, 
 Shall spurn the threat'ning Fury that would whelm 
 The blest possessors of eternal day 
 In night and anguish ; and the desert Earth, 
 Devoid of lordly Man, can please no more. 
 Where wilt thou roam ? oh hear, grim tyrant, hear ! 
 Nature shall still be thine, nor vain despair 
 Of future empire pain thee : where yon star 
 Flings its pure lustre through the dark blue sky, 
 The fiery comet moves, our daring arm 
 From its proud monarchy shall hurl, and plunge 
 The burning mass around th' unconscious sun, 
 To crush th' opposing planets, and begin 
 The general desolation of the world. 
 E'en now our Chieftain, on the rock-strewn plain 
 Of Armageddon, leads his faithful ranks 
 To second combat, worthy of their birth. 
 And if our arm can spoil these beauteous fields, 
 
251 
 
 While angels weep in vain, then may the powers, 
 Too Ions; our comrades in the lake of fire, 
 Soar to th' eternal throne ; possess the heights 
 Of heaven, and share the boundless Universe : 
 Then, then, again shalt thou triumphant wave 
 Thine ebon wand : Come ! where the battle waits 
 Thine awful presence, join the bands of Hell ! 
 Evil alone gives the true sting to death." 
 
 " Shall I resume my reign," (the Phantom cried)" 
 " And is there hope of victory for the tribes 
 Of Demons o'er the spotless sons of light ? 
 No ! on the beings of th* Almighty's will 
 I feast no more : all are immortal now, 
 Free from the fear of Death, the fear of Sin, 
 With God their Father, happy in the bliss 
 His presence gives : oh let material things 
 Confess my sway, and swift destruction spread 
 O'er smiling Nature ! Satan, I am thine ! 
 Mine be the falling stars, the darkened suns, 
 
The hour when great Creation trembling feels 
 The fierce convulsion of her conquered realms. 
 And sees her shattered spheres one shapeless mass 
 Of mingled elements : there, there shall Death, 
 Pleased with the shadow of destruction, range, 
 For ever ; glutted with the wreck of Worlds." 
 
 He spake : nor longer their proud hearts delay 
 Creation's ruin ; upwards soaring high 
 Where, in its spacious orb, the polar star 
 Controlled its wheeling planets : far, beneath 
 Their rising forms, the radiant sun appeared. 
 And splendid shone the wonders of the God 
 That bade the gay profusion of the stars 
 Adorn the sacred temple of the sky. 
 Soon at the polar height the Demons rest, 
 Admiring as the Comet's solid ball 
 Rose fearfully among the troubled depths 
 Of Nature ; and with dread volcanoes burnt 
 In endless noise, scattering their ceaseless showers 
 
253 
 
 Of smoke, in torrents of destructive wrath : 
 
 A lucid atmosphere of dazzling flame 
 
 Circled its vast magnificence, and spread 
 
 In streams of glory ; while th' expanded train 
 
 Shot through the clear empyrean, and illumed 
 
 The mighty deserts of the azure waste, 
 
 A floating ocean of eternal fire, 
 
 The pendant banner of the coming war ! 
 
 Far on the burning floods, the stately orb 
 
 Cast its long shadow, as the fiends approached 
 
 Nearer and nearer still ; and louder burst 
 
 The echoing thunders of its fire-fraught hills, 
 
 Impetuous breaking on the tortured ear ; 
 
 Till rolling onward, to th' extrcmest skirt 
 
 Of its extended sphere, with slower flight 
 
 It paused ; and trembled on the wastes profound. 
 
 Where is thine arm, Jehovah ? mightiest God ! 
 "Where sleeps thy thunder, that its angry bolt 
 Shall spare the rebel Demons r they, inspired 
 
c 25& 
 
 With hatred of thy majesty, begin 
 
 At once their proud impiety ; though wild 
 
 Their glaring eyeballs to thy throne of day 
 
 Are turned in horror, lest the lightning-flash 
 
 Wither their daring forms, subdue their might, 
 
 And hurl their mangled atoms through the depths 
 
 Of rescued Nature, ere their fainting strength 
 
 Could speak the desolating word, and dash 
 
 The adverse Comet, unopposed, through heaven. 
 
 Thy vengeance slept! — "Strike! strike!" the faltering voice 
 
 Of Brahma cried ; the spear of Ithream flew ; 
 
 And from the Polar orb, the starting globe 
 
 Sunk ; and, amid the realms of ether fell, 
 
 Pursued and guided by the Demon's skill, 
 
 Among the attraction of surrounding stars, 
 
 That, acting on its wandering flight, compelled 
 
 Its dubious way, hither, and thither, drawn 
 
 With rapid sweep along the desert space : , 
 
 Sublimely riding on the yielding waves 
 
 Of air, revolving in gigantic spires* 
 
255 
 
 Fierce as a ruthless fiend, scattering its flames, 
 
 Quivering in changing curves, the wondrous mass 
 
 Terrific moved, till the descending Chief 
 
 .Again beheld the planets that begirt 
 
 Our fount of light ; again his arm he raised, 
 
 Brandished the length of adamantine spear, 
 
 Smote his destroyer-prey, that quick recoiled 
 
 Beneath the mighty blow, as, glancing down, 
 
 It darted swiftly to the solar path, 
 
 And ploughed the azure of our lower sky. 
 
 Oh thou ! that, wheeling thy resplendent course, 
 Among the stars of heaven, rejoicing roll'st 
 Thy beams of glory from thine orient car 
 On every planet revelling in thy rays, 
 Far o'er thine ample realms, refulgent Sun ! 
 On thee descends the coming storm ; to whelm 
 The shrinking globes, that, joyous in thy reign, 
 Drink the pure splendor of thy sacred light, 
 And, bending round thee, with tremendous voice 
 
256 
 
 Call on their mighty Monarch to defend 
 Their pale and menaced spheres : in vain they call ! 
 Plunged through thy vast dominion, onward roars 
 The threatening Comet, rending the blue tracts 
 With hideous rout, and ruin-breathing noise ; 
 Where grandly steering his majestic bulk, 
 Along the distant empire of thine orb, 
 The frozen weight of Saturn throws around 
 The clear and wintry waste his fearful gloom : 
 There the wild spoiler rushes ; there its flames 
 Far-quivering dart upon the Planet's shade, 
 Disperse the night, and fire the dreary space 
 Of the cold desert, where no genial heat 
 Had wandered. Hark ! the ruin has begun 
 Of Nature : nearer still the Stranger came, 
 Where in its ancient sphere dim Saturn moved, 
 And tore the Planet from thy sheltering sway \ 
 Arrested in its course, awhile it paused 
 In vast vibrations, mourning to forsake 
 Thee, its great sovereign ! then, with sudden flight, 
 ■ 
 

 257 
 
 Deserts his wonted path, with all his moons 
 Adorned, and parted ring, that glimmering rose 
 Above its fair horizon, through the fields 
 Of Ether rushing ; while th' astonished sky 
 Beholds in nameless desolation fall 
 The crumbling, broken, yielding, melting mass 
 Of Saturn's elements, till in the air 
 The troubled, the enormous bodies meet 
 Encountering, and with dread attraction close. 
 Then shall the system to its centre shake ; 
 Death gaze exulting ; and the vengeful Fiends 
 Shout their malignant joy : as the chill snows 
 Of Saturn's thawless wastes, the mingled wreck 
 Of all its beauties, and its shattered ring 
 Plunge on the fierce volcanos, and obscure 
 With momentary veil their mountain-flames, 
 Swelling, impatient of restraint, to rise 
 With brighter glow, victorious o'er their prey. 
 
 So the first tempest that convulsed the calm 
 
 Arm. 2 K 
 
258 
 
 And tranquil region of the solar path 
 Began : and still with ceaseless fury raved 
 Among th' empyreal climes, where mighty Jove 
 Far distant, swam in safety, though the Power 
 Raised up the girdling oceans that embrace 
 His stately realm, and seem to mortal eyes 
 As belts of light : th' accumulated snows, 
 Covering, for many an age, the Poles of Mars* 
 Reflecting to the Earth their deepened ray, 
 Dissolved in torrents, as the burning heat 
 Passed in its restless and consuming flight. 
 Fair shone the morning star, the lovely orb 
 Of Venus ! joyous, as her orient Lord 
 Shed his first beam of glory, and illumed 
 The beauteous Crescent, as the waving sword 
 Of desolation, blazing through the sky, 
 Drew near, and hailed the Planet; that compelled 
 By Nature's ruling mandate, heard the call 
 Of her great Monarch's rival, as it swept 
 With rapid bend along th'etherial deeps ; 
 
 
259 
 
 And nearer to the sun approaching, cast 
 Its fatal influence o J er his circling globes. 
 One fearful moment towards the Comet's bulk 
 The Planet flies ; but to its King returned, 
 As nearer to his throne th' Usurper came, 
 And sought its sovereign, resting in his strength ; 
 Delighting as the youthful bride to meet 
 
 4 
 
 Her lover's arms, and smile her tears away. 
 
 Still to thy throne inclining, brightest Sun ! 
 The threatening flame descended, and beheld 
 Thy parting light involve the fading state 
 Of Venus, sheltered in her best retreat ; 
 Then, swifter through the firmament of heaven 
 Moved round thy frame ; and onward sped its way, 
 Where still secure, within its ample orb, 
 The peaceful Earth, and her attendant moon, 
 Held their proud course harmonious ; raising still 
 The hymn of praise to their Creator Lord, 
 Though every string of vast Creation's lyre 
 
260 
 
 Discordant grated, as the huge machine 
 Shook the long regions of the dark blue space. 
 
 Fair the last harvest-nioon serenely poured 
 Her brilliant light o'er the unclouded sky, 
 Unconscious the rich Sun should yield no more 
 The borrowed splendor of his silver ray. 
 Oft on that orb the rustic Lover's gaze 
 Was fixed, as joyous to his " low-roofed cot," 
 With songs of peace and innocence, he trod 
 The well-reaped fields, and pictured future scenes 
 Of happiness ; beguiling the long way 
 With vows of truth, and tales of ceaseless love. 
 To that resplendent light the sober eye 
 Of Age was turned ; as with the village youth 
 In rude and rural mirth, his children wove 
 The figured dance at autumn's tranquil eve : 
 Mindful of earlier days, his pensive thoughts 
 In wild conjecture wandered to the world 
 Above ; and breathed his prayer in that blest state 
 
261 
 
 Of being, at some distant hour to know, 
 
 And to embrace his children : now no more 
 
 Shall Nature's votaries watch the Moon's pale beam, 
 
 Where through the drooping willow's hanging boughs, 
 
 It gently trembles on the sleeping tide, 
 
 While the proud swan floats graceful on the stream. 
 
 Whose countless dimples smile no more to hear 
 
 The boatman's song, and dash of tuneful oars, 
 
 Responsive to his voice, that softly breaks 
 
 The soul-enchanting stillness of the night. 
 
 Man has forsaken Earth ! or he had seen, 
 
 Vast as the sun, and furious as its strength 
 
 Of streaming fire, the unsparing Comet rase 
 
 His globe ; melt the dissolving elements, 
 
 And rain upon its burning fields thick showers 
 
 Of lurid flame, as the tremendous mass 
 
 Approached the peaceful Sovereign of the Night, 
 
 Majestic riding through the cloudless sky : 
 
 Forth from the fierce volcanos of her orb 
 
 The thunder rolled, and from its mountains flash 
 
 
262 
 
 The lightnings through the azure, as the train 
 Of desolation sweeps the solar way : 
 Hark ! from thy primal path, the mighty Power, 
 With voice resistless, calls thee through the deep, 
 Resplendent Moon ! still by the golden sun 
 Illumined, moving on thy silent poles 
 Amid the wreck of Nature : thou hast heard 
 The stern command, and, from thy broken sphere, 
 Obedient though reluctant, through the air, 
 Drawn by subduing force, thou wanderest on ; 
 Till, dashed upon its surface, the glad Fiends 
 Behold thee a fair island in that sea 
 Of fire ; and, slowly swallowed in the flame, 
 Consume, and fade, among the molten waves. 
 
 Advancing still, the Comet raged, and reached 
 The extremest boundary of the sun's great course, 
 Nor ceased its progress there : again the Fiends 
 Launch the wide-blazing pillar through the stars, 
 Scattering destruction round ; as heedless chance 
 
263 
 
 Directs its fury, till the fixed decree 
 Of God the ruin of the sky complete, 
 And groaning Nature meet its final doom. 
 
 Exulting Death brandished his spectre dart, 
 And shrieked aloud ; " the World, the World, is mine ! 
 Death shall for ever reign ! Why droop ye, stars ? 
 Why tremble in your orbs, ye golden spheres ? 
 Why pause your mystic dances, as ye pierce 
 The spangled mansions of th J encircling heavens ? 
 Soon shall ye plunge upon the central globe^ 
 And Armageddon's wild and wondrous plain, 
 The dark dominion of eternal night, 
 Enclose your fragments in its dread embrace !'• 
 
 So shall the empire of our radiant Sua 
 Fall from its height of glory, and begin 
 The general dissolution : then, unmoved, 
 The Georgian Star shall hold his eoUrte sublime*, 
 Amid the havoc of surrounding worlds ; 
 
264 
 
 As that great Monarchy, that gave its name* 
 Shall stand, uninjured, till the end of time, 
 Great in the ruins of the states of Earth, 
 Of Nations overthrown, and Kings deposed ! 
 
 Meanwhile the last faint echo of the song 
 Of Jediel died upon the listening ear 
 Of Saints and Angels : wondering had they heard, 
 How sprang from God alone the Heaven, and Hell, 
 And Chaos, with the world of rolling stars. 
 And all the tribes of Man ; Himself alone 
 Eternal. Now, obedient to their Chiefs, 
 The shining ranks of Seraphim prepare 
 For second war : another sacred morn 
 Dawned on their beauteous orders, as they bent 
 Before their Lord ; for holy forms demand 
 Oft time the pause of action, and repose, 
 Beneath the smile of their transcendent King: 
 And such the days of Heaven, when all unveiled 
 The throne of glory casts its joyous light 
 
 
265 
 
 Unutterable, and all the sons of God, 
 
 Filled with celestial zeal, exult in life ; 
 
 But when the clouds of darkness hide the rays 
 
 Of splendor, then similitude of Night 
 
 Obscures the mansions of eternal bliss. 
 
 And, now, the long-expected hour approached 
 
 When in the presence of assembled Man, 
 
 Th' unearthly combat of superior Powers 
 
 Shall shake the Universe of God, and chill 
 
 Their souls with horror, though Messiah's love 
 
 Shall guard them in the fierce and deadly strife : 
 
 Fresh in renewed strength, the fivefold ranks 
 
 Of heavenly beings bow before their Lord ; 
 
 Archangels, Angels, Hierarchs, and the host 
 
 Of Cherubim and Seraphim appeared, 
 
 Distinct their banners, and their arms : first shone, 
 
 High towering, where the hierarch legions throng, 
 
 TV immortal form of Ithiel ; he whose skill 
 
 The watery Comet guided to the Earth, 
 
 What time the primal thousands of mankind 
 
 Arm. 2 L 
 
Forsook their sovereign Monarch ; now, with hope, 
 
 And ardent confidence of youth elate, 
 
 Rich in the panoply of heaven, he roused 
 
 The clustering ranks, and hailed the coming war. 
 
 Next came th' Archangel leader that prepared 
 
 Messiah's path through the blue tract of air, 
 
 When from the barriers of the opening grave 
 
 He soared, ascending to his Father's throne 
 
 Of Mercy; Ezbon raised the sounding note 
 
 Of welcome, as the portals of the sky 
 
 Received the attendant myriads ; now he waves 
 
 His vengeful spear as the fierce serpents rolled 
 
 Their spiry volumes round their warrior prince, 
 
 Serenely fearless, moving to the plain 
 
 Of contest : him the great and watchful Chief 
 
 Ithuriel followed, leader of the bands 
 
 Of glorious Cherubim ; whose guardian care 
 
 Exalted to th' eternal World the form 
 
 Of deathless Enoch, when his Father God 
 
 His spotless soul approved, ere yet the Flood 
 
267 
 
 O'erwhelmed the Earth ; his too the flaming, car, 
 And steeds of fire, that Israel's prophet bore 
 In storm and whirlwind, through the parting air. 
 And next, the Seraph Asiel, that inspired 
 The faithful Martyr at the stake of death, 
 Soothed the repentant soul, or hovering near 
 The peaceful couch of dying Innocence, 
 Impressed a promise of its future bliss : 
 The gentlest spirit of the perfect state : 
 Firm, loyal, zealous, in th' Almighty's cause, 
 He rushed to war ; and, swift at his right hand, 
 Was seen the dread Chephirah, that inflicts 
 The wasteful pestilence o'er the groaning Earth, 
 And saw unmoved the gulph of horror clasp 
 The rebel demons, banished from their God ! 
 Prepared for enterprize they come : ourselves 
 That war shall see : ourselves the clash of anus 
 Shall hear ; as onward to the impious host, 
 Great in their majesty of power, ride forth 
 The angel warriors of the World above, 
 
s 
 
 268 
 
 To meet the enemies of God, and plant 
 
 Their sheltering squadrons to protect Mankind. 
 
 And, now, returning from the distant scenes, 
 Where all the Heathen shall await the day 
 Of purer knowledge, happiness and rest, 
 Was heard the voice of Raphael through the deep 
 Of Armageddon, speeding his swift way : 
 He marked th' approaching Fiends, and heard their oath : 
 " God of the Universe !" the Chief exclaimed, 
 (As, bending low at the Messiah's throne, 
 He ceased his rapid flight) " they come ! they come ! 
 Threatening the heaven of heavens, and breathing war." 
 
 Aloud the united Angels shout their vow— 
 " Here we devote our strength, our life to Thee, 
 Great source of all, Creator, Father, God! 
 Here by the past remembrance of thy love, 
 By thee, and by Jehovah's dreadful name, 
 By all the hopes of heaven's enduring bliss, 
 
269 
 
 We swear to brave the battle's nameless rage, 
 To whelm the Demons, bind their horrid forms, 
 And hurl their legions to the World of woe." 
 
 They said ; to them Messiah — " Virtue's cause 
 Shall triumph; and the arm 'of God protect 
 His chosen Angels in the fatal hour, 
 When Death and Hell, aspiring, threat the skies. 
 Then ask not, why my father will permit 
 The sons of evil to assault the good, 
 To raise their flaming crest among the stars, 
 And climb the heaven of heavens to seek their God, 
 Tempting Omnipotence ? He reads their souls, 
 And shall confound Rebellion's maddest pride, 
 When Victory smiles with promise of repose : 
 Sin must complete its progress, ere the bolt 
 Of Vengeance fall on its devoted head : 
 Wrath must be treasured for the day of Wrath : 
 The heart be hardened, and the sinner spurn 
 The God of glory, and his offered grace ; 
 
The roaring floods must lift their waves on high ? 
 
 Ere God arise, gird on his burning sword, 
 
 And, terrible in anger, walk abroad, 
 
 Scattering the arrows of resistless Death, 
 
 To bow the everlasting hills of Pride. 
 
 High in the treasury of eternal wrath 
 
 The cup of vengeance stands ; the wine is red, 
 
 Prepared for Satan, and th' apostate crew 
 
 To drink the bitterest dregs ; yet shall they soar 
 
 Successful, till their course of guilt be run ; 
 
 Then shall my Father vindicate his law, 
 
 Then shall the veil be drawn, that hid the ways 
 
 Unfathomed of controlling Providence 
 
 From men and angels, and the great designs 
 
 Of equal Justice brighten on the view, 
 
 Though prosperous guilt one moment shall prevail 
 
 O'er Virtue ! trust him, where you cannot trace 
 
 Th' immortal Parent ! Trust him, when the clouds 
 
 Of Night and Mystery obscure his will ; 
 
 Remembering that the prize, unmade by hands, '■ ■ 
 
271 
 
 Awaits his faithful followers in the World 
 Above ; their distant, but their sure reward !** 
 
 So spake the great Messiah ! on they move 
 Their glittering squadrons in embodied files, 
 Of thrones, and Powers, and Monarchies ; and leave 
 The light reflected from the walls of heaven 
 To pierce the undistinguishable storms, 
 And climb the shattered fragments of the rocks 
 Disorganised, incalculable, immense, 
 The empire of old Chaos ; and illume 
 With their own glorious radiance the dark caves 
 Of Armageddon, till the Judgment-seat 
 Of Man appear : among the splendid ranks 
 Of Hierarchs, and of Cherubim, the saints 
 On golden clouds are borne ; not yet ordained 
 To wear their crowns, till the last prize be won, 
 Till Death be lost in Victory, and the Fiend 
 Bound in our sight, be judged ; and God alone 
 Rule the great Universe, the Lord of All ! 
 
 • • 
 
272 
 
 Bright on their dazzling lines, the glory flowed 
 Forth from Messiah's burning throne, and shone 
 Among the floating ruins of the wild, 
 The nameless desolation ; as they rise 
 O'er many an unimaginable mass 
 Of formless adamant ; through Ocean's vast 
 Of waters, roaring in the endless gloom, 
 That, madly breaking on the restless shores, 
 Lash the rough soil in vain : through flaming seas 
 Of fire they plunge, that, rending the long waste, 
 Burst from their mighty prison ; on they passed 
 Among th' unearthly regions, and upbore 
 Each on his towering majesty the weight 
 Of Atlas ; oft the mingling storms divide 
 The firm battalions : there the blazing crest 
 Of Griffons, blended with the orbs of fire, 
 Around the Hierarchs waving ; there the cars 
 Of light, on some impenetrable rock, 
 Paused ; till the onward legions plough their way 
 Through the long empire, as the dreadful void 
 
2^3 
 
 Permitted ; and th' united orders move 
 Undaunted, undishonored, undisturbed : 
 Strangely the waste re-echoed to their steps 
 Throughout its hollow caverns ; strange the sound 
 Of spears protruded, clashing swords, and shields f 
 Shouts of loud praise, and clamors for the fight : 
 The deep and solemn silence stranger still, 
 As first th' eventful Judgment-seat arose 
 To view ; the destined theatre of Avar, 
 Where angels wait the coming of the foe. 
 
 Then from the darkness of the tract, remote, 
 And desolate, where, from the sight of heaven, 
 The damned were exiled to the world of woe, 
 The fiends ascend ; as rays of living light, 
 That brighter beamed, and, with resistless glow, 
 Spread o'er the regions multitudinous 
 Th' expanded lustre of ten thousand suns : 
 Scattering the ambient darkness, high they tower 
 In all their rich refulgence on the plain, 
 
 Arm. 2 M 
 
274 
 
 Unnumbered, splendid ; radiant, as the stars 
 
 With all th' embroidered firmament of heaven ; 
 
 The silver moon, the meteors, and the train 
 
 Of wandering planets to th' astonished eye 
 
 Appear, of one recovered from the night 
 
 Of blindness ; and, in silent glory break 
 
 Upon the breathless gazer : so shall rise 
 
 The Demon army on this dreadful daj% 
 
 And burst upon the wondering view of Man, 
 
 While the plain trembles, and the Universe 
 
 Shakes through its realms of distance infinite. 
 
 Above th' inferior tribes, the Chieftains shone, 
 
 As burning cities in the abode of war, 
 
 At midnight, blaze among the lesser fires, 
 
 That guard the dead on the contested field, 
 
 When, on their blood-red arms, the weary troops 
 
 Half-slumbering, rest, and watch th' approach of dawn. 
 
 END OF BOOK THE SEVENTH. 
 
ARMAGEDDON. 
 
 IBoofe the <£igbtb> 
 

argument, 
 
 Ithream and Brahma return from the destruction of Earth to Arma- 
 geddon, and are hailed by the demon army — Brahma gives an 
 account of the burning of the Earth — the Pacific Ocean dried up 
 — the appearance of its exhausted bed — desolation of South Amer- 
 ica—the isthmus of Panama rent asunder — destruction of North 
 America — the Polar ice isles — the continent of Asia, the Pyramids, 
 and Africa— the Greek islands, and Greece— Rome destroyed by 
 tire from heaven, before the Conflagration approached it— Europe 
 desolated— England sinks into the Ocean, which flows over it — 
 the fire consumes the whole scene— the surface of the Earth is 
 melted into one general mass, and becomes a shoreless ocean of 
 molten glass. 
 
280 
 
 And mark the demon-banners fill the plain, 
 
 Bright as the stare that gild, the throne of Night, 
 
 From the high zenith to th' horizon's brow : 
 
 While Discord waves with joy her vulture-wings, 
 
 Proud of her victims, as the angel-band 
 
 In heavenly panoply prepare for fight. 
 
 Shall distance part them longer ? lo ! the} T pause : 
 
 For, rising from the confines of the world 
 
 Of day beneath them, two resplendent forms 
 
 Between th' opposing ranks appear, and move 
 
 Where, as a column on some range of Alps, 
 
 Above his noblest hierarchs, towered the height 
 
 Of him, the rebel Chieftain ; there they bend 
 
 Their way victorious, and the sons of God 
 
 In wonder heard th 5 anticipating sounds 
 
 Of triumph, as the Fiends beheld their Friends 
 
 Ithream and Brahma, from the Earth returned 
 
 And Earth's destruction. " Welcome home!" they cry, 
 
 " All hail the dread Destroyers ! hail the Chiefs, 
 
 Uninjured by th' Eternal's vengeful bolt ! 
 
281 
 
 Now shall we soar above the heaven of heavens, 
 
 And flight and fear, spite of Messiah's arm, 
 
 Whelm our proud foes : Oh ! welcome, welcome home."- 
 
 They silently before their Monarch rest, 
 
 Who, bowing from his regal darkness, shook 
 
 The pageant lightnings of his meteor-crest, 
 
 And thus, amidst the shrouding terrors, spake. 
 
 " Great be thy name, immortal Warrior, great 
 Thine high reward ! whose strength resistless plunged 
 The sword of fiery ruin through the stars ; 
 While yonder sovereign of Infinity 
 Thy desolating hand restrained not ! calmed 
 His rolling thunder, and delayed his wrath ; 
 Now shall stern Destiny her reign resume, 
 Hurl the usurping Godhead from his height 
 Of glory, and exalt th' united sons 
 Of hell's dark regions to the conquered heavens : 
 Tell how the laws of Nature are repealed ; 
 Tell, how the order of yon scene of things, 
 
 Aim. 2 N 
 
282 
 
 The grandeur, and the beauty, that declared 
 
 One all-controlling Mind, is known no more? 
 
 Then shall the partners of our toil incline 
 
 The wondrous tale to hear, and angel-hosts, 
 
 That guarded once the masses of the stars, 
 
 Shall tremble, lest their great Creator fail 
 
 To shield their squadrons, when our force shall sweep 
 
 Their adverse millions from the field of war, 
 
 Lost in the vast destruction of the skies, 
 
 The ruins of their Father's Universe/' 
 
 Then shall the parted spirits of mankind, 
 And all the tribes of beings that exist 
 In space ; assembled on th' illumined plain 
 Of Armageddon, fearful silence keep ; 
 When Brahma, slowly rising in the midst, 
 Shall thus the burning of our Earth narrate. 
 
 " Obedient to thy high command, my king, 
 Among the gathered worlds, the mighty deed 
 
283 
 
 Of Earth's destruction, and the general wreck 
 
 Of Nature (though my shuddering soul recoil 
 
 In sad remembrance of the fearful scene) 
 
 I will begin. The morning sun had risen 
 
 And tipped the woods, and streaked the skies with gold : 
 
 Beneath in tranquil majesty, th' expanse 
 
 Of ocean spread, and o'er its peaceful deeps, 
 
 Unseen, unpiloted, the fleets of man 
 
 Obeyed the changing tides ; the mighty hills, 
 
 And everlasting mountains, their proud heads 
 
 Raised to the final dawn, with domes, and spires, 
 
 That marked the fading empires of the world, 
 
 Seated among their cultured wastes, as kings 
 
 Without their train of suppliants ; the still flocks, 
 
 Untended, waiting for the herdsman's call, 
 
 Roved through the cities unrestrained ; and owls 
 
 Shrieked in their vacant palaces a wild 
 
 And doleful requiem o'er departed Man ! 
 
 Richly the gilded minarets, and shrines, 
 
 Spangled th' unpeopled countries, and appeared 
 
284 
 
 As gems that graced the victim of our power. 
 All hail ! fair morn ! we cry, all hail, the beam, 
 Our noble spoil adorning! thou shalt fall, 
 Resplendent as thou art, all-glorious Earth ! 
 Then, soaring through the azure, our stern arm 
 Tore the resounding Comet from its Lord ; 
 Hurled through the skies, till on the solar way 
 It plunged with fury ; nourishing its flame 
 With Earth's pale moon, and Saturn's solid ball. 
 Oh ! how we gazed, exulting from our height 
 To view the giant, with unsparing rage, 
 Heave, with unconquerable might, the globe, 
 With all its mountains, woods, and vales : o'erturn 
 Its trembling axle with th' unwilling Poles, 
 And rolling onwards, from its surface, shower 
 A fearful column of consuming flame, 
 Extending o'er the troubled atmosphere, 
 And pouring o'er the groves, and trembling fields 
 Its living torrents ; Earthquakes shook the ground, 
 Rent from their firm foundations the dark rocks, 
 
285 
 
 The broken pillars of the shattered Earth, 
 Casting their fragments through the melting air : 
 Fierce o'er the burning land, the swelling main, 
 Seeking its new Equator, whelmed the states, 
 The vanity, and grandeur, hopes, and pride, 
 And all the crumblino- monuments of Man. 
 
 O 
 
 Deluge, and conflagration, hand in hand, 
 
 Swept o'er the desolated regions, scourged 
 
 The ravaged climates, levelled every hill, 
 
 Quenching the remnant of inferior life : 
 
 And thickest clouds of rising smoke concealed, 
 
 In mournful darkness, the red stream of wrath ; 
 
 Save where the skirting lightnings pierced the gloom, 
 
 And edged th' expanded firmament of fire, 
 
 As dreadfully, beneath, the thunder poured 
 
 Its last sad echoes through the flame, the groans 
 
 Of dying Nature for a falling world ! 
 
 Fierce, o'er the broad Pacific, rushed the storm 
 Of Fate : and covering the black surface, quelled 
 
% 
 
 286 
 
 The tortured floods and gathering waves that rose 
 
 To contest with th' inexorable blaze ; 
 
 Protectors of the failing globe ! and foamed 
 
 With whitening billows, o'er their ample bed ; 
 
 Or, murmuring, in their fury, hurled their deep 
 
 Indignant torrents to th' insatiate foe, 
 
 That madly, through the roaring waters, ploughed 
 
 His fiery progress o'eri;he boiling tide ; 
 
 Pursued his rapid flight, scattering around 
 
 The moving horrors of its mighty rage, 
 
 Fierce as Ambition, raving in success ! 
 
 Till conquered, faint, exhausted, the wide sea 
 
 Shrunk to its inmost channel; and consumed, 
 
 Resigned the sceptre of his ancient sway. 
 
 Then, to each side extending, the dread flame 
 
 Sped to Columbia's coast, and Asia's plains ; 
 
 And, following its proud course, the clouds dispersed . 
 
 The opposing waves were banished from their seat, 
 
 And every pile of massy rock revealed, 
 
 As, from the storm the burthened air was freed, 
 
287 
 
 And light returning, with astonished ray 
 Played on the hoar recesses of the deep, 
 Its undiscovered springs and desert wastes ! 
 
 Above the dark foundations of the main, 
 Glittered the coral palaces, th' abode 
 Of countless insects, strewed in varying curves 
 Of white, and purest purple : once the base 
 Of islands, spangling the Pacific realms 
 With golden foliage, and the sweets of spring, 
 When once their mighty Monarch tranquil rolled 
 His sheltering waves along their flowery mounds : 
 Now of his power bereft, confused, and torn, 
 Or scattered o'er the broken rocks, they fall, 
 The first dread trophy of the spoiler fire ! 
 With these the tottering relics, and the domes 
 Of Earth's primeval kings, and mouldering towers, 
 Erected ere the flood of waters whelmed 
 The pristine globe ! beneath the restless surge 
 Concealed, forgotten, undisturbed they lay, 
 
 
288 
 
 Till in this second deluge, our glad eye 
 
 Dwelt on their broken structures, and rejoiced 
 
 To trace the remnants of the former world, 
 
 Destroyed by Powers of evil : as the wreck 
 
 Declared aloud the madness of mankind, 
 
 A vain, ambitious, pleasure-seeking race, 
 
 Slaves to the folly of the passing hour ! 
 
 The branching forests of the lowest deep, 
 
 Clothed the black rocks beneath them, where no beam 
 
 Of the light-giving Sun, or midnight Moon 
 
 Had pierced th* unfathomed caverns, or disturbed 
 
 Their vast inhabitants : no voice of Man 
 
 Had echoed through the desolate abyss ; 
 
 Though many a wreck, and many a drowning corpse 
 
 Descending through the green, and stormy flood, 
 
 With death-fixed eye, unconscious of its grave, 
 
 Glared wildly on the large Leviathan ; 
 
 That wondering gazed upon the human form, 
 
 As slowly stalking o'er the humid soil 
 
 He moved ; half reasoning of the distant land 
 
289 
 
 Whence came his ghastly, and mysterious prey. 
 Convulsed and agonized, the writhing frames 
 Of Ocean's giant and expiring Lords 
 Lay panting on the ashes of the groves, 
 And seek in vain a refuge in the dens 
 And hollow antres of th' exhausted depths : 
 Prone on the smoking ooze, their dying tongues 
 They dart ; and, turning to the Sun's bright orb, 
 Rest on his unknown glories, while his light 
 Suspended Death's unutterable pang. 
 The mighty Sea-snake his procumbent length 
 In tortured volumes twined : the long-lost wealth, 
 Deep buried in the bosom of the tide, 
 By avarice' iron heact through life deplored. 
 Shone through the wide destruction of the deep, 
 As gems that sparkle o'er their owner's bier ; 
 And shattered fleets, forsaken by mankind, 
 Hurl their consuming fragments through the air, 
 Lighting the general ruin with their flame, 
 Dim torches pointing to a new-made grave. 
 
 Arm. 2 O 
 
290 
 
 Swift to Columbia's southern solitudes 
 The flame impetuous rushed : soft smiled her fields, 
 And gay her empires, rising to renown, 
 When the Archangel summoned to the skies 
 The living, and the dead ; perpetual green 
 Clothed the luxuriant land, with odorous shrubs 
 And flowering woodbine varied : while the rills, 
 In tranquil melody meandering, flowed 
 Among th/ o'erhanging woods, and perfumed groves, 
 Waving their beauties in the final day. 
 The colored Mangrove painted the pure stream, 
 Whose glassy face unruffled by the breeze, 
 Reflected in its calm and winding course 
 The distant mountains, tipt with evening gold. 
 Fair as the primal garden of Mankind, 
 Harmonious, and diversified, the scene, 
 Enriched with sheltering hills, and bosomed vales, 
 Adorned its parent Earth ; the crested birds 
 Displayed their chequered plumage to the Sun, 
 And tuned with rapture their last song of praise* 
 
291 
 
 Responsive to the dying gale, the fall 
 
 Of murmuring waters, and the rustling trees. 
 
 How wert thou changed, sweet land ! when o'er thee roved. 
 With inextinguishable rage, the fire, 
 Devouring the green seas of yielding grass, 
 Where the Savannahs of old Sitzan spread. 
 As some loved infant to the murderer's hand 
 Turns with unconscious innocence, and smiles 
 In Death ; so perished in the withering blast 
 The grateful honors of thy blooming soil, 
 The lonely woods of dark Assuay's plain, 
 The time-worn grandeur of the ancient kings 
 Of rich Peru ; with crumbling monuments 
 Of fading empires, ere th' Iberian crossed 
 The Western wave, and heard, unpitying heard, 
 The curse of millions slaughtered for their gold. 
 And Chota fell consumed amid the flames, 
 Pouring its liquid treasure through the groves 
 Of Orange ; while the parched and fragrant shrubs 
 
292 
 
 Lent their wild perfume to the burning air- 
 
 The lengthening vallies of Saragur viewed 
 
 The sudden havoc of the heights above, 
 
 In thunder plunging on its deepened gulphs ; 
 
 Mingling with branching cedars, rocks, and floods* 
 
 And clustering fruits, with flowers, and arching trees 
 
 Beneath whose shining foliage slept the forms 
 
 Of mighty serpents, coiling in despair 
 
 Round their vast trunks, and gasping life away. 
 
 High o'er the forests of sequestered oak ? 
 Shading the Tequendama's fertile stream; 
 O'er Llano's barren deserts, and the top 
 Of Antisana, hurling its bright showers 
 Of darting lava from its burning hills. 
 Crowned through the circling year with endless snows, 
 The towering Condor sprang among the fields 
 Of ether ; wondering as the new-felt heat 
 Ascended through th* horizon, and dispersed 
 Then during winter of his dreary tracts : 
 
293 
 
 Poised on undaunted pinion in the air 
 
 He hung sublime ; and marked th' increasing flame 
 
 Resistless climbing his aerial throne ; 
 
 Till the lost lustre of his eagle eye, 
 
 And fainter motion of his daring wing, 
 
 Proclaim his struggling agonies ; a king 
 
 Deposed, and dying in his native realm. 
 
 The pathless height of Chimborazo fell ! 
 Methought the Spiril of the Andes frowned 
 Above th' uninjured snows, and spake aloud : 
 " Whence from the red wave rising, speeds the Fiend . 
 That melts the groaning land, and bears away 
 The scenes of Nature to their common grave ? 
 Say, shall the lofty fabric of these mounds 
 Bow to the rash assailant, and resign 
 The stormy sceptre of its cold domain, 
 Where rudest winter unmolested holds 
 The untrodden mansions of eternal ice, 
 Unthawed by torrid suns, that vainly dart 
 
 
Their mid-day glory round ? Rest, ye pure snows ! 
 
 Rest, in unsullied majesty ! nor fear 
 
 Th' entombing devastation that ascends, 
 
 Ambitious to enslave these boundless wastes. 
 
 Long has the thunder of th' Almighty rolled 
 
 Around your stedfast base ; the lightnings played 
 
 O'er the primeval rocks, alike unmoved 
 
 By earthquake, or by storm ; rest in your strength, 
 
 Ye adamantine hills ! by God's right hand 
 
 Embedded in the solid Earthy to shield 
 
 The globe from ruin, till its Maker's voice 
 
 Fill with new habitants th' unpeopled plains ; 
 
 The shrubs, the fragrant cedars at my feet 
 
 May burn ; the forests wither in the wreck, 
 
 And wearied Nature perish in the war; 
 
 Still shall my throne amid the storm survive, 
 
 The Andes still their ancient state retain, 
 
 Th' unconquered guardian of a helpless world!" 
 
 Vain was the boast ; invincibly the fire 
 
 Rushed onwards, smote upon the melting snows. 
 
 
295 
 
 Shook every nodding precipice, and rent 
 
 The opening structures of the crashing rocks 
 
 In wider caverns for its ruthless course ; 
 
 Till the long range of mountains, in the storm 
 
 O'erwhelmed, united with the levelled pride 
 
 Of vales, and woods beneath ; and swelling streams 
 
 Of lava cleft the desolated steeps 
 
 Of Andes, severed from the clouds of heaven, 
 
 Defaced, and shattered in the common mass. 
 
 With equal might intruding to the North, 
 Above the golden islands of the West, 
 Spread the dread Comet's fury ; and released 
 The captive Earthquakes from their long abode 
 In the dark prison of the womb of Earth, 
 To break their mountain fetters, and to rend 
 Th' extended barrier of the rival seas, , 
 That share the empire of the Ocean's bed ; 
 Till in their baneful rage, with thundering sound 
 The lengthening isthmus of Panama broke, 
 
296 
 
 And wildly rushed th' Atlantic's foaming tide 
 
 Through the rude chasm, upon the smoking depths 
 
 Of the consumed Pacific, summoning 
 
 To momentary life the dying shoals 
 
 Of monsters clinging to the parching ground. 
 
 O'er many a fertile isle, and cultured tract 
 
 Of fair Columbia, the fierce Spoiler roved, 
 
 Changing the plenteous bosom of the land, 
 
 Its cliffs and pastures, to a desert waste. 
 
 The spacious lakes reflected the red light, 
 
 As slow ascending the horizon's brow, 
 
 It fired the heavens with splendor, and illumed 
 
 With fatal glory the rich scene below, 
 
 Where in the blooming clime, gay Nature reigned 
 
 In all her loveliest majesty of shade, 
 
 In undisturbed dominion, sweetly clad 
 
 With every chequered brilliancy of vale, 
 
 And shadowy grandeur of. aspiring hills, 
 
 And lakes, and forests, nobler than adorned 
 
 The distant continents of Western Iand& 
 
<297 
 
 How deep ! how clear ! the flowing rivers sped 
 
 Their wandering course, between th' embroidered banks ; 
 
 Burthened with thousand tributary streams. 
 
 Moved their calm current through the silent woods, 
 
 Till to the curving precipice approached, 
 
 The concentrated tide in thunder falls, 
 
 Foams through the whitening breadth from side to side, 
 
 And rushes down the steep declivit}', 
 
 Dashed in the depths beneath ; the hoarse abyss, 
 
 Swoln with the column of intruding waves, 
 
 Resounds through Niagara's solitudes : 
 
 Fallen in their pride, in vernal beauty fallen ! 
 
 The wasted cataracts, and the pillaged lakes, 
 
 Threw from their shrinking beds the coiling wreaths 
 
 Of smoke, and, darkening the wide firmament, 
 
 Obscure the desolation as it passed 
 
 Above, and swept the lovely clime, compelled 
 
 To share the common ruin of the Earth. 
 
 The pause was fearful, as the outrageous flame, 
 Arm'. I P 
 
298 
 
 Loud roaring, burst upon the frozen North* 
 Impatient to assert its power, and break 
 The cheerless barrier of the wintry Pole. 
 Long in the iron realm unbroken rose 
 The cold magnificence of air-built domes. 
 Of towers, and castles, and pellucid spires* 
 By fancy pictured to the sea-boy's gaze,. 
 Irradiant, glittering in the midnight sun. 
 Scattering the sterile rocks, and isles of ice, 
 Round their dissolving piles the fire revolved* 
 Wound in tempestuous hurricane, and rent 
 The crashing snows that guard and gird the Pole :. 
 Clasped in its stern embrace, the riven mounds 
 Sink to their deep foundations, and confess 
 The might resistless of the encountering Foe. 
 The Gentian withered in its native isle ; 
 And all the icy mountains of the North 
 Disperse, and where th' eternal frost had swayed. 
 Th* usurping heat its torrid reign began. 
 
299 
 
 Nor think my story tedious, though Mankind 
 Their home had left ; how joyous had I seen 
 The cares, the toils, the pleasures, and the fears 
 Of Man ; the ceaseless round of human things, 
 Of love, and peace, and enmity, and hate, 
 The states' convulsions, and the private ills 
 Of life, suspended by the ruthless Fiend, 
 Razing the groaning cities from the lands, 
 As leaves that perish in the reaper's flame. 
 How joyous had I seen the pallid tribes 
 Fly from the wreck of Nature ; seen the gay, 
 The young, the generous, whose delighted hearts 
 Smiled at Life's nectared banquet, undisturbed 
 And heedless of the future ; dumb with fear, 
 And motionless With sudden horror, die. 
 Kings on their thrones, encircled by their train 
 Of Nobles, and the majesty of courts 
 Had fallen, with senates in the grave debate ; 
 The warrior army, and the crowded Mart, 
 The Parent, and the Child, the Friend, and Foe, 
 
. 
 
 300 
 
 At once confounded in the common storm ; 
 
 Their sorrows, and their joys, their hopes, and fears, 
 
 For ever fled ; themselves the victims laid 
 
 Upon the smoking altar that our might 
 
 Erected to the sovereign Prince of air ! 
 
 No shelter had they found amid the storm : 
 
 No rock had listened to their useless cries ; 
 
 No lonely cave protected from the blast 
 
 The suppliant agony of wild despair. 
 
 In vain, the wretched millions had invoked, 
 
 With piteous shrieks, each nodding precipice : 
 
 The hills had vanished from their seat ; the plains 
 
 Repelled the groaning fugitives, to turn. 
 
 In bitterest anguish, where old Ocean spreads 
 
 His burning waves, beneath the flood to seek 
 
 A momentary respite, and a grave. 
 
 There had they viewed the channels of the deep 
 
 Consumed ; and hearkened as the seaman's scream 
 
 Rose from the shattered fleets,, in broken tones, 
 
 The last sa$ sigh of suffering, and of Death, 
 
301 
 
 Shall Earth afford no refuge ? lo ! the heavens 
 Themselves had melted with the fervent heat ! 
 Denouncing from the reddening firmament 
 The consummation of their Misery. 
 Enough ! the fiercer agonies of Man, 
 Our eyes have witnessed in the gloomy depths 
 Of everlasting pain, and hopeless woe. 
 
 Serenely beautiful, the perfumed isles 
 Of Asia smiled upon her Eastern coast, 
 And seemed as anxious children to entreat 
 For pity on their parent-continent, 
 When, howling o'er their spicy vales, the flood 
 Of world-involving storm their mantling cliffs 
 Uprooted from their rending base, and whelmed 
 Their fragrant ruins in the pathless waste , 
 And still, unwearied in destruction, drained 
 The Seres' marshy pools, and golden realm-* 
 Of India ; the defenceless treasury 
 Of Earth, the placid unresisting prey 
 
302 
 
 Of every sordid conqueror that sighed 
 
 For pomp and riches ! oh, how well avenged 
 
 Thy sufferings, and thy wrongs, time-honored land 
 
 Of Brahma ! when thy jewels, and thy wealth, 
 
 Reduced thy proud oppressors, and overthrew 
 
 Love, loyalty, and honor, freedom, truth, 
 
 And virtuous pride, the pillars of a state ! 
 
 Shamed by pale luxury from their modest home t 
 
 While pampered victims to the thirst of wealth, 
 
 Weak, worthless, and luxurious, the rich prey 
 
 Of watchful rivals, and of poorer foes, 
 
 Slain for thy gold, thy tyrant spoilers fell. 
 
 The shrubs of fair Columbo's sacred ground, 
 
 And Buddha's temples perished in the blast, 
 
 With Brahma's holy island ; where no plough 
 
 Profaned the pure, the consecrated soil : 
 
 Swift o'er the plains where first proud Science reared 
 
 Her soul-enlightening beacon, to dispel 
 
 The night of mind, the tawny lion strode, 
 
 Mad with increasing heat, and sought the banks 
 
303 
 
 Of Ganges ; where the Elephant, and Pard, 
 With equal fury to the stream compelled, 
 In wonder marked the monsters of the tide, 
 Forsaken by preserving Vishnou's might : 
 The serpents writhe among the harbouring shrubs, 
 Parched by the distant influence, ere the flame 
 Hurled its vast columns o'er the afflicted land, 
 While sultry winds the last remains of life 
 Destroyed. And Imaus, girdle of the Earth, 
 And Cashmire's oval vale, Gedrosia's plains. 
 With Persia's liquid Naphtha, the first home 
 Of Man, and either Araby, the Walls 
 Of ancient Caucasus, whose arching rocks 
 Alike the Caspian and the Euxine bound, 
 The cedar groves of lordly Lebanon, 
 And faded glories of the chosen land, 
 Where Israel held his empire, till the sword 
 Fled from his fainting grasp, when Judah spurned 
 The true Messiah of their prophet bards, 
 In one destruction perished. The dark wav< 
 
304 
 
 That hid for many an age the mouldering towers 
 Of Sodom, and the partners of its guilt, 
 Revealed awhile their desolated pride ; 
 Till the revolving whirlwind tore again 
 Their ruined ruins from tb' Asphaltite lake. 
 And morn, and eve, and night, and day, were lost, 
 As in the lawless ocean of fierce flame, 
 The violated charms of Asia fell. 
 
 Oh ! let me tell how downward to the South 
 Of Afric's torrid sands it spread ! how Nile 
 O'erflowed its fertile banks, to guard the plains 
 Of Egypt from th' inexorable foe ! 
 Proud in the sea of fire, the mighty tombs 
 Of Ancient Monarchs, the majestic state 
 Of sculptured pyramids, the costly pomp 
 Of futile pride, and ro}'al vanity, 
 Point their tall summits to the burthened sky > 
 Long through the reddening blaze their darkling heights 
 Ascend ; a fiercer Pestilence assailed 
 
305 
 
 Their lofty piles, than whirlwinds of the sands, 
 Borne from the deserts, or the purple breath 
 Of Simoom : steadfast, in the quenchless blaze 
 Unmoved awhile they stood ; at length, subdued, 
 Dissolving in the fire, their time-worn frames 
 Disperse, and mingle with the nameless wreck 
 Of Afric's winding shores, and unknown wastes. 
 
 O'er Europe, now, th' ungoverned cloud of fire 
 Tremendous hovered ; drank the tideless sea, 
 That dashed on either Continent ; and smote 
 Byzantium, on whose crumbling battlements 
 The grass waved mournful in th' uncertain breeze, 
 That lowly murmuring through the towers proclaimed, 
 That all within was still and desolate. 
 Parnassus' mount, and Delphi's broken shrine ; 
 With Dirce's springs, and Tempe's lovely vale, 
 And all the honored climes of ancient Greece ; 
 Thyme-clad Hymettus, and the golden stream 
 Of rich Peneus, Elis' holy soil, 
 
 Arm. 1 Q 
 
306 
 
 The stern Laconia, and the perfumed groves 
 
 Of polished Athens, lost to earlier fame ! 
 
 With these, the sea-girt islands of the South ; 
 
 The gems of Greece ! the marble-loving hills 
 
 Of Paros ; Naxos, with its blushing vines, 
 
 With olive-yielding Samos, and the rocks 
 
 Of Andros ; Chios, fairest of the isles ! 
 
 Luxuriant Cyprus, and the lonely steep 
 
 Of craggy Salamis, together sunk, 
 
 The prostrate spoil of the destroyer Fire ; 
 
 By bards no longer sung, by Patriots mourned ! 
 
 There, as we gazed upon the burning floods, 
 And watched the mountains, and the seas consume ; 
 In tones of rising thunder, through the deep, 
 A more than angel-voice aloud was heard : 
 * Vain is thy joy, proud Fiend !' it seemed to say, 
 ' And short thy victory o'er the world of God ! 
 Not to thine arm the ruin be ascribed 
 Of Nature ; to that just and holy Power 
 
307 
 
 Alone, that from his fair Creation blots 
 
 Yon seat of evil, and endues thine arm 
 
 With strength, his righteous mandate to fulfil, 
 
 And execute his Justice ; while he dooms 
 
 To one dread sentence, thee the source of crime, 
 
 And Earth, the helpless victim of thy might ! 
 
 Read in the fading climates of yon globe 
 
 Thy fate, the common fate of all thine host. 
 
 E'en now the nameless and eternal wrath 
 
 Is nigh, and Retribution claims her prey. 
 
 Still shall thy weak presumption spurn the voice 
 
 That bids thee tremble ? Mark th' unerring sign 
 
 Of vengeance ! high, upon her seven-fold hills, 
 
 Proud Rome majestic, and uninjured stands : 
 
 Lo ! ere the Comet's threatening flame assails 
 
 Her grandeur, Babylon the great shall fall ! 
 
 From heaven descends the living fire, to raze 
 
 The fabric of her pride, to vindicate 
 
 The wisdom and the power of God, and speak 
 
 Thy guilt, thy weakness, and thy future doom !' 
 
308 
 
 Slow through the deep the echo died away, 
 And listening, in suspense, we gaze around, 
 But view no form material ; God was there ! 
 To read our hearts, to register our deeds, 
 But checked his thunder, and we triumph here. 
 Swiftly the menaced vengeance from on high 
 Began ; and circling the polluted towers, 
 Wondrous, the Comet's rival wrath repelled ; 
 That first resisted in its lordly course, 
 Still thirsting for destruction, roving on, 
 Hurled its red waves, unmingling with the fire 
 Of heaven, in fury o'er the states around. 
 
 Cleft by the parching heat, the furrowed ground 
 Was dry : the forests, and the mountains, flame 
 O'er Europe's lesser states : the vine-clad hills 
 Of Gallia saw the summit of the Alps 
 Shake off their liquid snows. Sarmatia fell : 
 And Scandinavia, through her realms of frost, 
 Summoned her rigid Monarchy, to quell 
 
309 
 
 The Victor of her rocks, and frozen plains ; 
 Where shrubs, nor waving groves their foliage spread, 
 Nor stern-eyed Eagle o'er their rugged heights 
 Ascended ; while upon the sullen base, 
 The sounding waters broke in endless roar. 
 Thence the fierce Plunderer of Earth pursued 
 His desolating progress, till the Pole 
 Beheld his solitary wastes destroyed. 
 
 Then, when pale Nature o'er its ruin wept : 
 When the dread eye of Omnipresence viewed 
 Serene, the terrors of the final day : 
 When yon proud system through its mighty frame 
 Was shaken, and the solid Earth consumed : 
 Then, only then, uprooted, and subdued, 
 The home of Nations, Liberty, and Peace ; 
 The mighty Island, whose majestic front 
 Opposed th' embattled AVorld, and ruled the deep ; 
 Earth's best and perfect state, the smiling land 
 Of Beauty, Truth, and Honor, England fell ! 
 
310 
 
 The sun had set on the delightful isle, 
 And total darkness spread its mantling depths, 
 Unpierced, unbroken bj the silver Moon, 
 That, blended with the Comet's bulk, increased 
 The ruin of the Earth her peerless light 
 Illumined once ; when o'er the sea-girt coast, 
 Enraged, and thirsting for new prey, the flame 
 Scattering its vivid lightnings through the gloom, 
 Imparted to our eye a farewell glance 
 Of sculptured fanes, of science, and the Muse, 
 And domes and grandeur of her merchant Sons, 
 Throwing the dark impression of their forms, 
 On the unruffled streams : the transient scene, 
 Of all that once was honored, and revered, 
 One moment only to our view arose ; 
 For, suddenly, the roaring Earthquake shook 
 The firm foundations of the chalky soil, 
 That, vibrating beneath the giant force, 
 Merged in the burning Ocean : the fierce waves, 
 No more the dread Protectors of her shores, 
 

 oil 
 
 Rush o'er the desolated plains, now doomed, 
 
 Exhausted by th' unsparing fire above, 
 
 To share the ruin of the vanquished Earth! 
 
 As some pale veteran in the fields of war, 
 
 Died for his much-loved Chief, but died in vain : 
 
 So rose the tides of the consuming deep, 
 
 Fair England ! to defend thy lovely clime, 
 
 But clasp in vain thy regions ; for the hour 
 
 Of fated dissolution whelmed alike 
 
 The guardian Ocean, and the sinking Isle ! 
 
 And still, unwearied in its maddening flight, 
 
 Swift o'er th' Atlantic's bed the Despot Hew, 
 
 Till on the ashes of Columbia's states 
 
 It paused, and gloried in the wreck of Earth. 
 
 Trembling, we gaze at what our hand had wrought, 
 And, flying upwards to our Monarch's throne, 
 1 Farewell!' we cry, ' how is thy beauty fallen ! 
 Thy Climates, and thy Countries, Land, and Sea, 
 With all their honors desolate, and lost ! 
 
312 
 
 No plough shall furrow thee ! no wandering bark 
 Traverse thy ravaged Oceans ! Hill and Vale 
 Resign no more their treasures to Mankind, 
 But smoke and ashes cover thee ; alike 
 The Morning and the Evening rise on thee ! 
 And the bright stars, with the resplendent sun, 
 Shall paint thy firmament, but shine in vain- 
 The seasons weep around thee ! Time no more 
 Shall see thy beauties bursting from the waste 
 Of liquid flame, to hail a new-born race 
 Of beings ; Monarchs of the home renewed 
 Of Man, that thoughtless of a former age, 
 Shall trace the remnant of a burning World, 
 In wonder at its long-forgotten tribes. 
 Farewell, the works of Man ! farewell, the domes 
 That hoped Eternity ! the immortal songs 
 Of Bards, that honored and adorned the Earth ! 
 Farewell ! the page of science ! all that Pride, 
 And mad Ambition coveted ; the wreck 
 Of human things ! Oh ! had the sacred book 
 
313 
 
 Of God's eternal Truth been human too, 
 Itself had mingled in the mighty flame : 
 But what his finger wrote, his word inspired, 
 Shall never perish, graven on the hearts 
 Of all that venerate their Father-God ! 
 
 " So closed our great commission : now we leave 
 The solar path, among th' unpeopled stars, 
 To wing our solitary way, and rise 
 To Armageddon's War : but once, once more, 
 While yet its desolated Mass was seen, 
 Down to the burning globe our anxious eye 
 We turn : around a solemn stillness reigned ; 
 Darting from every side an angry light, 
 The red ball glimmered in the troubled air : 
 The smoke had rolled away, the Earthquakes ceased : 
 And o'er th' exhausted Ocean, o'er the vales, 
 And mountains, o'er the sunk and ruined pride 
 Of gay Creation, and the pomp of Man, 
 A shoreless, waveless sea of molten glass 
 
 Arm. ' lv 
 
Q. 
 
 14 
 
 Moved its unruffled tide, the tomb of Earth ! 
 No sound amid the awful calm was heard, 
 Save when the Comet in its wandering flight 
 Smote on some distant world, and Nature spake, 
 In dull and sullen murmurs through the deep, 
 Indignant resignation to her fate." 
 
 END OF BOOK THE EIGHTH. 
 
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