The Curse of Kehama, Volume 2 (of 2)

Left their unharden’d bones to fall asunder there.

6.

Innocent Souls! thus set so early free
From sin and sorrow and mortality,
Their spotless spirits all-creating Love
Receiv’d into its universal breast.
Yon blue serene above
Was their domain; clouds pillowed them to rest;
The Elements on them like nurses tended,
And with their growth etherial substance blended.
Less pure than these is that strange Indian bird
Who never dips in earthly streams her bill,
But, when the sound of coming showers is heard,
Looks up, and from the clouds receives her fill.
Less pure the footless fowl of Heaven, that never
Rest upon earth, but on the wing for ever
Hovering o’er flowers, their fragrant food inhale,
Drink the descending dew upon its way,
And sleep aloft while floating on the gale.
And thus these innocents in yonder sky
Grow and are strengthen’d, while the allotted years
Perform their course, then hitherward they fly,
Being free from mortal taint, so free from fears,

A joyous band, expecting soon to soar
To Indra’s happy spheres,
And mingle with the blessed company
Of heavenly spirits there for evermore.

7.

A Gulph profound surrounded
This icy belt; the opposite side
With highest rocks was bounded;
But where their heads they hide,
Or where their base is founded,
None could espy. Above all reach of sight
They rose, the second Earth was on their height,
Their feet were fix’d in everlasting night.

8.

So deep the Gulph, no eye
Could plum its dark profundity,
Yet all its depth must try; for this the road
To Padalon, and Yamen’s dread abode.
And from below continually
Ministrant Demons rose and caught
The Souls whose hour was come;
Then, with their burthen fraught,

Plunged down, and bore them to receive their doom.

9.

Then might be seen who went in hope, and who
Trembled to meet the meed
Of many a foul misdeed, as wild they threw
Their arms retorted from the Demons’ grasp,
And look’d around, all eagerly, to seek
For help, where help was none; and strove for aid
To clasp the nearest shade;
Yea, with imploring looks and horrent shriek,
Even from one Demon to another bending,
With hands extending,
Their mercy they essay’d.
Still from the verge they strain,
And from the dreadful gulph avert their eyes,
In vain; down plunge the Demons, and their cries
Feebly, as down they sink, from that profound arise.

10.

What heart of living man could, undisturb’d,
Bear sight so sad as this! What wonder there
If Kailyal’s lip were blanch’d with inmost dread!
The chill which from that icy belt

Struck through her, was less keen than what she felt
With her heart’s-blood through every limb dispread.
Close to the Glendoveer she clung,
And clasping round his neck her trembling hands,
She clos’d her eyes, and there in silence hung.

11.

Then to Ladurlad said the Glendoveer,
These Demons, whom thou seest, the ministers
Of Yamen, wonder to behold us here;
But for the dead they come, and not for us:
Therefore, albeit they gaze upon thee thus,
Have thou no fear.
A little while thou must be left alone,
Till I have borne thy Daughter down,
And placed her safely by the throne
Of him who keeps the Gate of Padalon.

12.

Then taking Kailyal in his arms, he said,
Be of good heart, Beloved! it is I
Who bear thee. Saying this, his wings he spread,
Sprung upward in the sky, and pois’d his flight,
Then plunged into the Gulph, and sought the World of Night.

XXII.
THE GATE OF PADALON.

1.

The strong foundations of this inmost Earth
Rest upon Padalon. That icy Mound
Which girt the mortal Ocean round,
Reach’d the profound, . .
Ice in the regions of the upper air,
Crystal midway, and adamant below,
Whose strength sufficed to bear
The weight of all this upper World of ours,
And with its rampart clos’d the Realm of Woe.
Eight gates hath Padalon; eight heavenly Powers
Have them in charge, each alway at his post,

Lest, from their penal caves, the accursed host,
Maugre the might of Baly and the God,
Should break, and carry ruin all abroad.

2.

Those gates stand ever open, night and day,
And Souls of mortal men
For ever throng the way.
Some from the dolorous den,
Children of sin and wrath, return no more:
They, fit companions of the Spirits accurst,
Are doom’d, like them in baths of fire immerst,
Or weltering upon beds of molten ore,
Or, stretch’d upon the brazen floor,
Are fasten’d down with adamantine chains;
While on their substance inconsumable,
Leeches of fire for ever hang and pull,
And worms of fire for ever gnaw their food,
That, still renew’d,
Freshens for ever their perpetual pains.

3.

Others there were whom Baly’s voice condemned,
By long and painful penance, to atone

Their fleshly deeds. Them, from the Judgement-Throne,
Dread Azyoruca, where she sat involv’d
In darkness as a tent, receiv’d, and dealt
To each the measure of his punishment;
Till, in the central springs of fire, the Will
Impure is purged away; and the freed soul,
Thus fitted to receive its second birth,
Embodied once again, revisits Earth.

4.

But they whom Baly’s righteous voice absolv’d,
And Yamen, viewing with benignant eye,
Dismiss’d to seek their heritage on high,
How joyfully they leave this gloomy bourne,
The dread sojourn
Of Guilt and twin-born Punishment and Woe,
And wild Remorse, here link’d with worse Despair!
They to the eastern Gate rejoicing go:
The Ship of Heaven awaits their coming there,
And on they sail, greeting the blessed light,
Through realms of upper air,
Bound for the Swerga once; but now no more
Their voyage rests upon that happy shore;
Since Indra, by the dreadful Rajah’s might

Compell’d, hath taken flight,
On to the second World their way they wend,
And there, in trembling hope, await the doubtful end.

5.

For still in them doth hope predominate,
Faith’s precious privilege, when higher Powers
Give way to fear in these portentous hours.
Behold the Wardens eight,
Each silent at his gate
Expectant stands; they turn their anxious eyes
Within, and, listening to the dizzy din
Of mutinous uproar, each in all his hands
Holds all his weapons, ready for the fight.
For, hark! what clamorous cries
Upon Kehama for deliverance call!
Come, Rajah! they exclaim, too long we groan
In torments. Come, Deliverer! yonder throne
Awaits thee . . . Now, Kehama! Rajah, now!
Earthly Almighty, wherefore tarriest thou? . .
Such were the sounds that rung, in wild uproar,
O’er all the echoing vaults of Padalon;
And as the Asuras from the brazen floor,
Struggling against their fetters, strove to rise,

Their clashing chains were heard, and shrieks and cries,
With curses mix’d, against the Fiends who urge,
Fierce on their rebel limbs, the avenging scourge.

6.

These were the sounds which, at the southern gate,
Assail’d Ereenia’s ear; alighting here
He laid before Neroodi’s feet the Maid,
Who, pale and cold with fear,
Hung on his neck, well-nigh a lifeless weight.

7.

Who and what art thou? cried the Guardian Power,
Sight thus unwonted wondering to behold, . .
O Son of Light!
Who comest here at this portentous hour,
When Yamen’s throne
Trembles, and all our might can scarce keep down
The rebel race from seizing Padalon: . . .
Who and what art thou? and what wild despair,
Or wilder hope, from realms of upper air,
Tempts thee to bear
This mortal Maid to our forlorn abodes?
Fitter for her, I ween, the Swerga bowers,

And sweet society of heavenly Powers,
Than this, . . a doleful scene,
Even in securest hours.
And whither would ye go?
Alas! can human or celestial ear,
Unmadden’d, hear
The shrieks and yellings of infernal woe?
Can living flesh and blood
Endure the passage of the fiery flood?

8.

Lord of the Gate, replied the Glendoveer,
We come obedient to the will of Fate;
And haply doom’d to bring
Hope and salvation to the Infernal King,
For Seeva sends us here.
Even He to whom futurity is known,
The Holiest, bade us go to Yamen’s throne.
Thou seest my precious charge;
Under thy care, secure from harm, I leave her,
While I ascend to bear her father down.
Beneath the shelter of thine arm receive her!

9.

Then quoth he to the Maid,

Be of good cheer, my Kailyal! dearest dear,
In faith subdue thy dread,
Anon I shall be here. So having said,
Aloft, with vigorous bound, the Glendoveer
Sprung in celestial might,
And soaring up, in spiral circles, wound
His indefatigable flight.

10.

But, as he thus departed,
The Maid, who at Neroodi’s feet was lying,
Like one entranced or dying,
Recovering strength from sudden terror, started;
And gazing after him with straining sight,
And straining arms, she stood,
As if in attitude
To win him back from flight.
Yea, she had shap’d his name
For utterance, to recall and bid him stay,
Nor leave her thus alone; but virtuous shame
Represt the unbidden sounds upon their way;
And calling faith to aid,
Even in this fearful hour, the pious Maid
Collected courage, till she seem’d to be

Calm and in hope, such power had piety.
Before the Giant Keeper of the Gate
She crost her patient arms, and at his feet,
Prepar’d to meet
The awful will of Fate with equal mind,
She took her seat resign’d.

11.

Even the stern trouble of Neroodi’s brow
Relax’d as he beheld the valiant Maid.
Hope, long unfelt till now,
Rose in his heart reviving, and a smile
Dawn’d in his brightening countenance, the while
He gaz’d on her with wonder and delight.
The blessing of the Powers of Padalon,
Virgin, be on thee! cried the admiring God;
And blessed be the hour that gave thee birth,
Daughter of Earth,
For thou to this forlorn abode hast brought
Hope, who too long hath been a stranger here.
And surely for no lamentable lot,
Nature, who erreth not,
To thee that heart of fortitude hath given,
Those eyes of purity, that face of love: . .

If thou beest not the inheritrix of Heaven,
There is no truth above.

12.

Thus as Neroodi spake, his brow severe
Shone with an inward joy; for sure he thought
When Seeva sent so fair a creature here,
In this momentous hour,
Ere long the World’s deliverance would be wrought,
And Padalon escape the Rajah’s power.
With pious mind the Maid, in humble guise
Inclin’d, received his blessing silently,
And rais’d her grateful eyes
A moment, then again
Abas’d them at his presence. Hark! on high
The sound of coming wings! . . her anxious ears
Have caught the distant sound. Ereenia brings
His burthen down! Upstarting from her seat,
How joyfully she rears
Her eager head! and scarce upon the ground
Ladurlad’s giddy feet their footing found,
When, with her trembling arms, she claspt him round.
No word of greeting,
Nor other sign of joy at that strange meeting.

Expectant of their fate,
Silent, and hand in hand,
Before the Infernal Gate,
The Father and his heavenly Daughter stand.

13.

Then to Neroodi said the Glendoveer,
No Heaven-born Spirit e’er hath visited
This region drear and dread; but I, the first
Who tread your World accurst.
Lord of the Gate, to whom these realms are known,
Direct our fated way to Yamen’s throne.

14.

Bring forth my Chariot, Carmala! quoth then
The Keeper of the way.
It was the Car wherein
On Yamen’s festal day,
When all the Powers of Hell attend their King,
Yearly to Yamenpur did he repair
To pay his homage there.
Pois’d on a single wheel, it mov’d along,
Instinct with motion; by what wonderous skill
Compact, no human tongue could tell,

Nor human wit devise; but on that wheel
Moving or still,
As if an inward life sustain’d its weight,
Supported, stood the Car of miracle.

15.

Then Carmala brought forth two mantles, white
As the swan’s breast, and bright as mountain snow,
When from the wintry sky
The sun, late-rising, shines upon the height,
And rolling vapours fill the vale below.
Not without pain the unaccustom’d sight
That brightness could sustain;
For neither mortal stain,
Nor parts corruptible, remain,
Nor aught that time could touch, or force destroy,
In that pure web whereof the robes were wrought;
So long had it in ten-fold fires been tried,
And blanch’d, and to that brightness purified.
Apparel’d thus, alone,
Children of Earth, Neroodi cried,
In safety may ye pass to Yamen’s throne.
Thus only can your living flesh and blood
Endure the passage of the fiery flood.

16.

Of other frame, O Son of Heaven, art thou!
Yet hast thou now to go
Through regions which thy heavenly mould will try.
Glories unutterably bright, I know,
And beams intense of empyrean light,
Thine eye divine can bear: but fires of woe,
The sight of torments, and the cry
Of absolute despair,
Might not these things dismay thee on thy flight,
And thy strong pennons flag and fail thee there?
Trust not thy wings, celestial though thou art;
Nor thy good heart, which horror might assail
And pity quail,
Pity in these abodes of no avail;
But take thy seat this mortal pair beside,
And Carmala the infernal Car will guide.
Go, and may happy end your way betide!
So as he spake, the self-mov’d Car roll’d on,
And lo! they pass the Gate of Padalon.

XXIII.
PADALON.

1.

Whoe’er hath lov’d with venturous step to tread
The chambers dread
Of some deep cave, and seen his taper’s beam
Lost in the arch of darkness overhead,
And mark’d its gleam,
Playing afar upon the sunless stream,
Where, from their secret bed,
And course unknown and inaccessible,
The silent waters well;
Whoe’er hath trod such caves of endless night,
He knows, when measuring back the gloomy way,

With what delight refresh’d, his eye
Perceives the shadow of the light of day,
Through the far portal slanting, where it falls
Dimly reflected on the watry walls;
How heavenly seems the sky,
And how, with quicken’d feet, he hastens up,
Eager again to greet
The living World, and blessed sunshine there,
And drink, as from a cup
Of joy, with thirsty lips, the open air.

2.

Far other light than that of day there shone
Upon the travellers, entering Padalon.
They, too, in darkness entered on their way,
But, far before the Car,
A glow, as of a fiery furnace light,
Fill’d all before them. ’Twas a light which made
Darkness itself appear
A thing of comfort, and the sight, dismay’d,
Shrunk inward from the molten atmosphere.
Their way was through the adamantine rock
Which girt the World of Woe; on either side
Its massive walls arose, and overhead

Arch’d the long passage; onward as they ride,
With stronger glare the light around them spread,
And lo! the regions dread,
The World of Woe before them, opening wide.

3.

There rolls the fiery flood,
Girding the realms of Padalon around.
A sea of flame it seem’d to be,
Sea without bound;
For neither mortal, nor immortal sight,
Could pierce across through that intensest light.
A single rib of steel,
Keen as the edge of keenest scymitar,
Spann’d this wide gulph of fire. The infernal Car
Roll’d to the Gulph, and on its single wheel
Self-balanced; rose upon that edge of steel.
Red-quivering float the vapours overhead;
The fiery gulph beneath them spread,
Tosses its billowing blaze with rush and roar;
Steady and swift the self-mov’d Chariot went,
Winning the long ascent,
Then, downward rolling, gains the farther shore.

4.

But, oh! what sounds and sights of woe,
What sights and sounds of fear,
Assail the mortal travellers here!
Their way was on a causey straight and wide,
Where penal vaults on either side were seen,
Ranged like the cells wherein
Those wonderous winged alchemists infold
Their stores of liquid gold.
Thick walls of adamant divide
The dungeons; and from yonder circling flood,
Off-streams of fire through secret channels glide,
And wind among them, and in each provide
An everlasting food
Of righteous torments for the accursed brood.

5.

These were the rebel race, who, in their might
Confiding impiously, would fain have driven
The Deities supreme from highest Heaven;
But by the Suras, in celestial fight,
Oppos’d and put to flight,
Here, in their penal dens, the accursed crew,

Not for its crime, but for its failure, rue
Their wild ambition. Yet again they long
The contest to renew,
And wield their arms again in happier hour;
And with united power,
Following Kehama’s triumph, to press on
From World to World, and Heaven to Heaven, and Sphere
To Sphere, till Hemakoot shall be their own,
And Meru Mount, and Indra’s Swerga-Bowers,
And Brama’s region, where the heavenly Hours
Weave the vast circle of his age-long day.
Even over Veeshnoo’s empyreal seat
They trust the Rajah shall extend their sway,
And that the seven-headed Snake, whereon
The strong Preserver sets his conquering feet,
Will rise and shake him headlong from his throne,
When, in their irresistible array,
Amid the Milky Sea they force their way.
Even higher yet their frantic thoughts aspire;
Yea, on their beds of torment as they lie,
The highest, holiest Seeva, they defy,
And tell him they shall have anon their day,
When they will storm his realm, and seize Mount Calasay.

6.

Such impious hopes torment
Their raging hearts, impious and impotent;
And now, with unendurable desire
And lust of vengeance, that, like inward fire,
Doth aggravate their punishment, they rave
Upon Kehama; him the accursed rout
Acclaim; with furious cries and maddening shout
They call on him to save;
Kehama! they exclaim;
Thundering, the dreadful echo rolls about,
And Hell’s whole vault repeats Kehama’s name.

7.

Over these dens of punishment, the host
Of Padalon maintain eternal guard,
Keeping upon the walls their vigilant ward.
At every angle stood
A watch-tower, the decurion Demon’s post,
Where, rais’d on high, he view’d with sleepless eye
His trust, that all was well. And over these,
Such was the perfect discipline of Hell,
Captains of fifties and of hundreds held
Authority, each in his loftier tower;

And chiefs of legions over them had power;
And thus all Hell with towers was girt around.
Aloft the brazen turrets shone
In the red light of Padalon,
And on the walls between,
Dark moving, the infernal Guards were seen,
Gigantic Demons pacing to and fro;
Who ever and anon,
Spreading their crimson pennons, plunged below,
Faster to rivet down the Asuras’ chains;
And with the snaky scourge and fiercer pains,
Repress their rage rebellious. Loud around,
In mingled sound, the echoing lash, the clash
Of chains, the ponderous hammer’s iron stroke,
With execrations, groans, and shrieks and cries
Combin’d, in one wild dissonance, arise;
And through the din there broke,
Like thunder heard through all the warring winds,
The dreadful name. Kehama, still they rave,
Hasten and save!
Now, now, Deliverer! now, Kehama, now!
Earthly Almighty, wherefore tarriest thou!

8.

Oh, if that name abhorr’d,

Thus utter’d, could well nigh
Dismay the Powers of Hell, and daunt their Lord,
How fearfully to Kailyal’s ear it came!
She, as the Car roll’d on its rapid way,
Bent down her head, and clos’d her eyes for dread;
And deafening, with strong effort from within,
Her ears against the din,
Cover’d and prest them close with both her hands.
Sure if the mortal Maiden had not fed
On heavenly food, and long been strengthened
With heavenly converse for such end vouchsaf’d,
Her human heart had fail’d, and she had died
Beneath the horrors of this awful hour.
But heaven supplied a power
Beyond her earthly nature, to the measure
Of need infusing strength;
And Fate, whose secret and unerring pleasure
Appointed all, decreed
An ample meed and recompence at length.
High-fated Maid, the righteous hour is nigh!
The all-embracing Eye
Of Retribution still beholdeth thee;
Bear onward to the end, O Maid, courageously!

9.

On roll’d the Car, and lo! afar
Upon its height the Towers of Yamenpur
Rise on the astonish’d sight.
Behold the infernal City, Yamen’s seat
Of empire, in the midst of Padalon,
Where the eight causeys meet.
There on a rock of adamant it stood,
Resplendent far and wide,
Itself of solid diamond edified,
And all around it roll’d the fiery flood.
Eight bridges arch’d the stream; huge piles of brass
Magnificent, such structures as beseem
The Seat and Capital of such great God,
Worthy of Yamen’s own august abode.
A brazen tower and gateway at each end
Of each was rais’d, where Giant Wardens stood,
Station’d in arms the passage to defend,
That never foe might cross the fiery flood.

10.

Oh what a gorgeous sight it was to see
The Diamond City blazing on its height
With more than mid-sun splendour, by the light

Of its own fiery river!
Its towers and domes and pinnacles and spires,
Turrets and battlements, that flash and quiver
Through the red restless atmosphere for ever.
And hovering over head,
The smoke and vapours of all Padalon,
Fit firmament for such a world, were spread,
With surge and swell, and everlasting motion,
Heaving and opening like tumultuous ocean.

11.

Nor were there wanting there
Such glories as beseem’d such region well;
For though with our blue heaven and genial air
The firmament of Hell might not compare,
As little might our earthly tempests vie
With the dread storms of that infernal sky,
Whose clouds of all metallic elements
Sublim’d were full. For, when its thunder broke,
Not all the united World’s artillery,
In one discharge, could equal that loud stroke;
And though the Diamond Towers and Battlements
Stood firm upon their adamantine rock,
Yet, while it vollied round the vault of Hell,

Earth’s solid arch was shaken with the shock,
And Cities in one mighty ruin fell.
Through the red sky terrific meteors scour;
Huge stones come hailing down; or sulphur-shower,
Floating amid the lurid air like snow,
Kindles in its descent,
And with blue fire-drops rains on all below.
At times the whole supernal element
Igniting, burst in one vast sheet of flame,
And roar’d as with the sound
Of rushing winds, above, below, around;
Anon the flame was spent, and overhead
A heavy cloud of moving darkness spread.

12.

Straight to the brazen bridge and gate
The self-mov’d Chariot bears its mortal load.
At sight of Carmala,
On either side the Giant guards divide,
And give the chariot way.
Up yonder winding road it rolls along,
Swift as the bittern soars on spiral wing,
And lo! the Palace of the Infernal King!

13.

Two forms inseparable in unity
Hath Yamen; even as with hope or fear
The Soul regardeth him doth he appear;
For hope and fear,
At that dread hour, from ominous conscience spring,
And err not in their bodings. Therefore some,
They who polluted with offences come,
Behold him as the King
Of Terrors, black of aspect, red of eye;
Reflecting back upon the sinful mind,
Heighten’d with vengeance, and with wrath divine,
Its own inborn deformity.
But to the righteous Spirit how benign
His awful countenance,
Where, tempering justice with parental love,
Goodness and heavenly grace
And sweetest mercy shine! Yet is he still
Himself the same, one form, one face, one will;
And these his twofold aspects are but one;
And change is none
In him, for change in Yamen could not be,
The Immutable is he.

14.

He sate upon a marble sepulchre
Massive and huge, where, at the Monarch’s feet,
The righteous Baly had his judgement-seat.
A Golden Throne before them vacant stood;
Three human forms sustain’d its ponderous weight,
With lifted hands outspread, and shoulders bow’d
Bending beneath their load.
A fourth was wanting. They were of the hue
Of coals of fire; yet were they flesh and blood,
And living breath they drew;
And their red eye-balls roll’d with ghastly stare,
As thus, for their misdeeds, they stood tormented there.

15.

On steps of gold those fiery Statues stood,
Who bore the Golden Throne. A cloud behind
Immoveable was spread; not all the light
Of all the flames and fires of Padalon
Could pierce its depth of night.
There Azyoruca veil’d her awful form
In those eternal shadows: there she sate,
And as the trembling Souls, who crowd around
The Judgement-Seat, received the doom of fate,

Her giant arms, extending from the cloud,
Drew them within the darkness. Moving out,
To grasp and bear away the innumerous rout,
For ever and for ever thus were seen
The thousand mighty arms of that dread Queen.

16.

Here, issuing from the car, the Glendoveer
Did homage to the God, then rais’d his head.
Suppliants we come, he said,
I need not tell thee by what wrongs opprest,
For nought can pass on earth to thee unknown;
Sufferers from tyranny we seek for rest,
And Seeva bade us go to Yamen’s throne;
Here, he hath said, all wrongs shall be redrest.
Yamen replied, Even now the hour draws near,
When Fate its hidden ways will manifest.
Not for light purpose would the Wisest send
His suppliants here, when we, in doubt and fear,
The awful issue of the hour attend.
Wait ye in patience and in faith the end!

XXIV.
THE AMREETA.

1.

So spake the King of Padalon, when, lo!
The voice of lamentation ceas’d in Hell,
And sudden silence all around them fell,
Silence more wild and terrible
Than all the infernal dissonance before.
Through that portentous stillness, far away,
Unwonted sounds were heard, advancing on,
And deepening on their way;
For now the inexorable hour
Was come, and in the fullness of his power,

Now that the dreadful rites had all been done,
Kehama from the Swerga hastened down,
To seize upon the throne of Padalon.

2.

He came in all his might and majesty,
With all his terrors clad, and all his pride;
And, by the attribute of Deity,
Which he had won from Heaven, self-multiplied,
The dreadful One appear’d on every side.
In the same indivisible point of time,
At the eight Gates he stood at once, and beat
The Warden-Gods of Hell beneath his feet;
Then, in his brazen Cars of triumph, straight,
At the same moment, drove through every gate.
By Aullays, hugest of created kind,
Fiercest, and fleeter than the viewless wind,
His Cars were drawn, ten yokes of ten abreast, . .
What less sufficed for such almighty weight?
Eight bridges from the fiery flood arose
Growing before his way; and on he goes,
And drives the thundering Chariot-wheels along,
At once o’er all the roads of Padalon.

3.

Silent and motionless remain
The Asuras on their bed of pain,
Waiting, with breathless hope, the great event.
All Hell was hush’d in dread,
Such awe that omnipresent coming spread;
Nor had its voice been heard, though all its rout
Innumerable had lifted up one shout;
Nor if the infernal firmament
Had, in one unimaginable burst,
Spent its collected thunders, had the sound
Been audible, such louder terrors went
Before his forms substantial. Round about
The presence scattered lightnings far and wide,
That quench’d on every side,
With their intensest blaze, the feebler fire
Of Padalon, even as the stars go out,
When, with prodigious light,
Some blazing meteor fills the astonish’d night.

4.

The Diamond City shakes;
The adamantine Rock
Is loosen’d with the shock;

From its foundation mov’d, it heaves and quakes;
The brazen portals crumbling fall to dust;
Prone fall the Giant Guards
Beneath the Aullays crush’d.
On, on, through Yamenpur, their thundering feet
Speed from all points to Yamen’s judgement-seat.
And lo! where multiplied,
Behind, before him, and on every side,
Wielding all weapons in his countless hands,
Around the Lord of Hell Kehama stands!
Then, too, the Lord of Hell put forth his might:
Thick darkness, blacker than the blackest night,
Rose from their wrath, and veil’d
The unutterable fight.
The power of Fate and Sacrifice prevail’d,
And soon the strife was done.
Then did the Man-God re-assume
His unity, absorbing into one
The consubstantiate shapes; and as the gloom
Opened, fallen Yamen on the ground was seen,
His neck beneath the conquering Rajah’s feet,
Who on the marble tomb
Had his triumphal seat.

5.

Silent the Man-Almighty sate; a smile
Gleam’d on his dreadful lips, the while
Dallying with power, he paus’d from following up
His conquest, as a man in social hour
Sips of the grateful cup,
Again and yet again, with curious taste,
Searching its subtle flavour ere he drink.
Even so Kehama now forbore his haste;
Having within his reach whate’er he sought,
On his own haughty power he seem’d to muse,
Pampering his arrogant heart with silent thought.
Before him stood the Golden Throne in sight,
Right opposite; he could not chuse but see,
Nor seeing chuse but wonder. Who are ye
Who bear the Golden Throne, tormented there?
He cried; for whom doth Destiny prepare
The imperial seat? and why are ye but Three?

First Statue.

I of the Children of Mankind was first,
Me miserable! who, adding store to store,
Heapt up superfluous wealth; and now accurst,
For ever I the frantic crime deplore.

Second Statue.

I o’er my Brethren of Mankind the first
Usurping power, set up a throne sublime,
A King and Conqueror: therefore thus accurst,
For ever I in vain repent the crime.

Third Statue.

I on the Children of Mankind the first,
In God’s most holy name, impos’d a tale
Of impious falsehood; therefore thus accurst,
For ever I in vain the crime bewail.

6.

Even as thou here beholdest us,
Here we have stood, tormented thus,
Such countless ages, that they seem to be
Long as eternity,
And still we are but Three.
A Fourth will come to share
Our pain, at yonder vacant corner bear
His portion of the burthen, and compleat
The golden Throne for Yamen’s judgement-seat.
Thus hath it been appointed: he must be

Equal in guilt to us, the guilty Three.
Kehama, come! too long we wait for thee!

7.

Thereat, with one accord,
The Three took up the word, like choral song,
Come, Rajah! Man-God! Earth’s Almighty Lord!
Kehama, come! we wait for thee too long.

8.

A short and sudden laugh of wondering pride
Burst from him in his triumph: to reply
Scornful he deign’d not; but with alter’d eye,
Wherein some doubtful meaning seem’d to lie,
He turn’d to Kailyal. Maiden, thus he cried,
I need not bid thee see
How vain it is to strive with Fate’s decree,
When hither thou hast fled to fly from me,
And lo! even here thou find’st me at thy side.
Mine thou must be, being doom’d with me to share
The Amreeta-cup of immortality;
Yea, by Myself I swear
It hath been thus appointed. Joyfully
Join then thy hand and heart and will with mine,

Nor at such glorious destiny repine,
Nor in thy folly more provoke my wrath divine.

9.

She answer’d; I have said. It must not be!
Almighty as thou art,
Thou hast put all things underneath thy feet,
But still the resolute heart
And virtuous will are free.
Never, oh! never, . . never . . can there be
Communion, Rajah, between thee and me.

10.

Once more, quoth he, I urge, and once alone.
Thou seest yon Golden Throne,
Where I anon shall set thee by my side;
Take thou thy seat thereon,
Kehama’s willing bride,
And I will place the Kingdoms of the World
Beneath thy Father’s feet,
Appointing him the King of mortal men:
Else underneath that Throne,
The Fourth supporter, he shall stand and groan;
Prayers will be vain to move my mercy then.

11.

Again the Virgin answer’d, I have said!
Ladurlad caught her in his proud embrace,
While on his neck she hid
In agony her face.

12.

Bring forth the Amreeta-cup! Kehama cried
To Yamen, rising sternly in his pride.
It is within the Marble Sepulchre,
The vanquish’d Lord of Padalon replied,
Bid it be opened. . . . Give thy treasure up!
Exclaim’d the Man-Almighty to the Tomb.
And at his voice and look
The massy fabric shook, and opened wide.
A huge Anatomy was seen reclin’d
Within its marble womb. Give me the Cup!
Again Kehama cried; no other charm
Was needed than that voice of stern command.
From his repose the ghastly form arose,
Put forth his bony and gigantic arm,
And gave the Amreeta to the Rajah’s hand.
Take! drink! with accents dread the Spectre said,
For thee and Kailyal hath it been assign’d,

Ye only of the Children of Mankind.

13.

Then was the Man-Almighty’s heart elate;
This is the consummation! he exclaim’d,
Thus have I triumphed over Death and Fate.
Now, Seeva! look to thine abode!
Henceforth, on equal footing we engage,
Alike immortal now, and we will wage
Our warfare, God to God!
Joy fill’d his impious soul,
And to his lips he rais’d the fatal bowl.

14.

Thus long the Glendoveer had stood,
Watching the wonders of the eventful hour,
Amaz’d but undismay’d; for in his heart
Faith, overcoming fear, maintain’d its power.
Nor had that faith abated, when the God
Of Padalon was beaten down in fight;
For then he look’d to see the heavenly might
Of Seeva break upon them. But when now
He saw the Amreeta in Kehama’s hand,
An impulse which denied all self-command

In that extremity
Stung him, and he resolved to seize the cup,
And dare the Rajah’s force in Seeva’s sight.
Forward he sprung to tempt the unequal fray,
When lo! the Anatomy,
With warning arm, withstood his desperate way,
And from the Golden Throne the fiery Three
Again, in one accord, renew’d their song,
Kehama, come! we wait for thee too long.

15.

O fool of drunken hope and frantic vice!
Madman! to seek for power beyond thy scope
Of knowledge, and to deem
Less than omniscience could suffice
To wield omnipotence! O fool, to dream
That immortality could be
The meed of evil! . . yea thou hast it now,
Victim of thine own wicked heart’s device,
Thou hast thine object now, and now must pay the price.

16.

He did not know the awful mystery
Of that divinest cup, that as the lips

Which touch it, even such its quality,
Good or malignant: Madman! and he thinks
The blessed prize is won, and joyfully he drinks.

17.

Then Seeva opened on the Accursed One
His Eye of Anger: upon him alone
The wrath-beam fell. He shudders . . . but too late;
The deed is done,
The dreadful liquor works the will of Fate.
Immortal he would be,
Immortal he remains; but through his veins
Torture at once and immortality,
A stream of poison doth the Amreeta run,
Infinite everlasting agony.
And while within the burning anguish flows,
His outward body glows
Like molten ore beneath the avenging eye,
Doom’d thus to live and burn eternally.
The fiery Three,
Beholding him, set up a fiendish cry,
A song of jubilee:
Come, Brother, come! they sung; too long
We in our torments have expected thee;

Come, Brother, come! henceforth we bear no more
The unequal weight; Come, Brother, we are Four!

18.

Vain his almightiness, for mightier pain
Subdued all power; pain ruled supreme alone.
And yielding to the bony hand
The unemptied cup, he mov’d toward the throne,
And at the vacant corner took his stand.
Behold the Golden Throne at length compleat,
And Yamen silently ascends the Judgement-Seat.

19.

For two alone, of all mankind, to me
The Amreeta-Cup was given,
Then said the Anatomy;
The Man hath drank, the Woman’s turn is next.
Come, Kailyal, come, receive thy doom,
And do the Will of Heaven! . .
Wonder, and Fear, and Awe at once perplext
The mortal Maiden’s heart, but over all
Hope rose triumphant. With a trembling hand,
Obedient to his call,
She took the fated Cup; and, lifting up

Her eyes, where holy tears began to swell,
Is it not your command,
Ye heavenly Powers? as on her knees she fell,
The pious Virgin cried;
Ye know my innocent will, my heart sincere,
Ye govern all things still,
And wherefore should I fear!

20.

She said, and drank. The Eye of Mercy beam’d
Upon the Maid: a cloud of fragrance steam’d
Like incense-smoke, as all her mortal frame
Dissolved beneath the potent agency
Of that mysterious draught; such quality,
From her pure touch, the fated Cup partook.
Like one entranced she knelt,
Feeling her body melt
Till all but what was heavenly past away:
Yet still she felt
Her spirit strong within her, the same heart,
With the same loves, and all her heavenly part,
Unchanged, and ripen’d to such perfect state,
In this miraculous birth, as here on Earth,
Dimly our holiest hopes anticipate.