“All the arts by God forbidden, 131 All the knowledge hid in darkness, I reveal, while the Creator Rests in impotence of Godhead.
“Nay, I show that God is fetter’d By the chains of His own making— Blind and bound He broods, while Nature Moveth on in calm progression.
“Thro’ my love and benediction Man hath learn’d the gifts of Healing— Now for every Church that falleth Hospitals arise to Heaven;
“Strong, beneficent, and gentle, Christs of surgery and leechcraft Work their wonders, far more holy Than the marvels of Messiahs.
“Wheresoever Death is busy Fly my ministers of blessing, Snatching ever from his talons Creatures beautiful and fair.
“Cast thy look along the Ages! 132 [20:i] Read the record of the Churches! Pestilence, Disease, and Famine Fill the footprints of the Christ!
“Thro’ the very Fruit Forbidden, Thro’ the laws of Light and Knowledge, I have fought with Death and Evil, Conquering, in despite of God—
“Curst, and yet the source of blessing, Outcast, yet supreme ’mong Angels, I, the only true Redeemer, Work my miracles for men!”
[Notes: Alterations in the 1901 edition of The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan: v.20, l.1: ‘Cast thy look along the ages! ]
133
XXVI.
Smiling scornfully, I answer’d:— “Strange it seems to find the Devil, Spite a record so despairing, [1:iii] Optimistic, after all!
“Yet, methinks, thy boasted Demos Is the very worst of tyrants! Better far a single Cæsar Than a Cæsar hydra-headed!
“Gaze again upon thy kingdom! Look on Rome! As thou didst wander In the streets of Rome departed, Sick of God and God’s creation,
“So from day to day I wander In the City of thy Demos,— Demos is a fouler Cæsar, London is a lewder Rome!
“Still the Priests and Seers and Prophets 134 Preach the faith they feel no longer— Keeping to the ear the promise They have broken to the Soul;
“Still the slaves and tyrants palter With the truth they dare not utter— Still the spectral Man of Sorrows Starveth at the Church’s door;
“Still, to blind the foolish people, With the worn-out creed men juggle,— Even o’er their cheating parchments Smiling lawyers hold the Cross;
“Atheist judges, cold and cruel, Toss the murtherer to the hangman, Crying, while they shrug their shoulders, ‘God have mercy on thy soul!’
“Dark and dissolute and dreadful As that other Rome departed, Is this later Rome and lewder,— Death is crownéd here as there!
“Last, thy Demos, while denying 135 All Divinity, assevers He’s essentially a Christian Since he leads a moral life!”
Smiling quietly my Devil Answer’d, “True, O angry Poet— There my Demos errs: Messiahs Always are immoral persons!
“If the Christ of Superstition Work’d no miracles or wonders, If the man was well-conducted, He was surely no Messiah!”
Sadly, wearily, he added: “Here as in the Rome departed Priests abide and Folly lingers, Conquering in the name of God;
“Priests abide, but Death is reigning! Thus, in spite of God, I triumph! Patience, patience, for my Demos Groweth wiser day by day!
“’Tis the way of foolish mortals, 136 When they cease to feel religion, To become severely moral, Hating Liberty and Light—
“So, I grant, my woe-worn Demos Makes Morality his fetish, Closing ears and shutting eyelids To the sanctions of the Flesh.
“Patience, patience! I will teach him Love that passeth understanding! All the wondrous lore of Nature Shall be open to his gaze!
“This, at least, is certain: Never Will he lose again his birthright! Never bend before his tyrants, Here on earth, or there in Heaven!
“Never will he kneel and listen To the lies of your Messiahs, Forfeit for a fancied blessing Light and Liberty and Life!
“Patience, patience! Light is growing— 137 God at last shall be forgotten— Man shall rise erect, subduing All things evil, even Death!”
[Notes: Alterations in the 1901 edition of The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan: v.1, l.3: ’Spite a record so despairing, ]
138
XXVII.
“If thou speakest truth,” I answer’d, “Much, indeed, thou hast been libel’d! Yet thy very benedictions Spring from Him, the first Creator.
“By the will of Him, the Father, Thou hast wrought to cleanse thy kingdom— From the first His eyes, all-seeing, Knew thee as His instrument!
“If Mankind, tho’ dimly, darkly, Moveth onward to perfection, If at last the ills of Nature Shall be heal’d and render’d whole,
“Even there I trace the Finger Of the Almighty slowly working, Till the hour when thou, His servant, Kneeling low shalt be forgiven!
“Then Humanity, made holy, 139 Kneeling also to the Father, Shall accept His final blessing And be lifted up and saved!”
Wistfully he lookt upon me, Once again his face was clouded With that mist of woeful pity, While his eyes grew dim with tears. . . .
Then, another transformation! Bright and radiant, tho’ despairing, Rose he to his angel’s stature, Looking up with starry orbs;
While the stars and constellations, Fixing countless eyes upon him, Shed upon his woe-worn features Splendour from a million worlds,
In a voice like stars vibrating, Answer’d by the hosts of Heaven, Cried he, while his troubled spirit Shook with woeful indignation:
“Cast thy thought along the Ages! 140 Walk the sepulchres of Nations! Mourn, with me, the fair things perish’d! Mark the martyrdoms of men!
“Say, can any latter blessing Cleanse the blood-stain’d Book of Being? Can a remnant render’d happy Wipe out centuries of sorrow?
“Nay, one broken life outweigheth Twenty thousand lives made perfect! Nay, I scorn the God whose pathway Lieth over bleeding hearts!
“From the first the cry of anguish Hath arisen to yonder Heaven! From the first, the ways of Nature Have been cruel and accurst!
“Man, thou sayest, shall yet be happy? What avails a bliss created Out of hecatombs of evil, Out of endless years of pain?
“Happy? Looking ever backward 141 On the graves of generations, Haunted by the eyes despairing Of the millions lost for ever?
“Even now the life he liveth Builded is of shame and sorrow! Even now his flesh is fashion’d Of the creatures that surround him!
“From the sward the stench of slaughter Riseth hourly to his nostrils! By his will the beast doth anguish And the wounded dove doth die!
“Dreamer! Even here thy fancy Fails before the truths of Nature— God, thy great all-loving Father, By His will created Death!—
“Like the races long departed, So the perfect race shall perish! Like the suns burnt out and faded, Shall thy sun be shrivell’d up!
“Juggle not with words and phrases! 142 Lie not with the Priests and Prophets! Pain and Death are God’s creation, And eternal, like Himself!
“I alone, whom men call Devil, Have allay’d the woes of Nature! Death alone I cannot vanquish— Death and God, perchance, are One!”
143
XXVIII.
Oh, the sorrow and the splendour [1:i] Of that woe-worn Outcast Angel! Reverently I bent before him, Blessing him, the Prince of Pity;
Round him, as he look’d to Heaven, Clung a cloud of golden music— Fair he seem’d as when, ere fallen, Singing on the morning star!
“Thus,” he said, “throughout the ages, O’er the world my feet have wander’d, Watching in eternal pity Endless harvest-fields of Death!
“One by one the tribes and races To the silent grave have waver’d,— Never have I seen a sleeper Slip his shroud, to rise again!
“Dead they lie, the strong, the gentle, 144 Dead alike, the good and evil,— Dust to dust, ashes to ashes, All is o’er—they rest at last!
“All the tears of all the martyrs Fall’n in vain for Man’s redemption! All the souls of all the singers Dumb for ever in the grave!
“Where are they whose busy fingers Wove the silks of Tyre and Sidon? Where are they who in the desert Raised the mighty Pyramids?
“Ants upon an ant-heap, insects Of the crumbling cells of coral, Coming ever, ever going, Race on race has lived and died.
“Ev’n as Babylon departed, So shall yonder greater City; Like the Assyrian, like the Roman, Celt and Briton shall depart!
“Yea, the Cities and the Peoples 145 One by one have come and vanish’d: Broken, on the sandy desert, Lies the Bull of Nineveh!
“Ev’n as beauteous reefs of coral Rising bright and many-colour’d In the midst of the great waters, Wondrous Nations have arisen;
“First the insects that upbuilt them Labour’d busily, and dying Left the reef of their creation Crumbling wearily away;
“O’er the reef the salt ooze gathers, Mud and sand are heapt upon it, Then the trees and flowers and grasses Bury it for evermore!
“Shall I bend in adoration To the Lord of these delusions? Nay, I stand erect, and scorn Him,— Pulseless, null Omnipotence!
“Deaf to all the wails and weeping, 146 Blind to all the woes of Being, Plunging daily into darkness All the dreams of all the Christs!”
[Notes: Alterations in the 1901 edition of The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan: v.1, l.1: O, the sorrow and the splendour ]
147
XXIX.
“Nay,” I cried, “the Christ shall triumph! After centuries of sorrow Man at last shall gain his birthright And arise, a living Soul!
“Proves not this that One above thee Wrought in love from the beginning? Creeds and systems come and vanish, But the Law Divine abides!
“Out of endless tribulation Springs the Human, casting from him One by one the sins and sorrows Worn in ignorance of godhead;
“All around him and within him Lies His kingdom, but He rules it [4:ii] By the grace of One Supremer Who created it and him!
“‘Know thyself!’ the Voice Eternal 148 Crieth; and himself he knoweth, God incarnate, bowing meekly To the Eternal Voice and Law.
“Even thus thy God hath conquer’d! What thy spirit wrought against Him Turneth ever to a witness Of His glory everlasting!
“Kneel, then, rebel, and adore Him! Kneel with Man and chant His praises, Hallelujah to the Highest, As ’twas sung in the beginning!”
Pallid in the moonlight, turning Sad eyes upward to the Heavens, Head erect, still proud in sorrow, Stood that weary fallen Spirit!
“Fool,” he answer’d, “what availeth? [9:i] Praise or prayer or lamentation? Blindly, pitilessly, surely, Worketh the Eternal Law.
“Dust to dust, ashes to ashes! 149 [10:i] Nought escapeth, nought abideth— Man, the sand for ever shifting In an hour-glass, cometh, goeth!
“Death alone is King and Master! Death is mightiest here and yonder,— Man, the drop within a fountain, Riseth ever, ever falleth!
“Vain the Dream and the Endeavour! Vain the quest of Love and Knowledge,— Man, the dewdrop in the Rainbow, Shineth, then is drunk for ever!
“Answerest thou, that nought can perish? That the elements for ever Disappearing, re-emerging, Shape themselves to Life anew?
“Even so; but Death shall silence All that forms thy human nature— Memory, consciousness, self-knowledge, Personality, and Love!
“Out of darkness God hath drawn thee, 150 Back to darkness thou returnest— In that moment of thy making Thou becam’st a conscious Soul!
“Loving, hoping, apprehending, Yearning to the Souls around thee,— Father, mother, wife and children, Sharers of thy joy and sorrow;
“These are thou, and these must vanish Leaving not a trace behind them— With the Elemental godhead Thou and these shall mix for ever!
“The Supreme, the Elemental, Voiceless is, and all unconscious! But the conscious type emerging Shineth, and is trumpet-tongued!
“From the dark he cometh, standing Beautiful and demigod-like, Crying gladly, ‘Lo my kingdom, Where I reign as God’s anointed’;
“Knowing, feeling, apprehending, 151 Thus he cometh to his birthright— Memory, consciousness, self-knowledge, Personality, and Love!
“Fool, Death taps him on the shoulder, Death, the wraith of the Almighty, Saying, ‘Cease! The law of being Meaneth endless retrogression!
“‘Back into the Night! re-mingle With the elemental Darkness! Only for a little moment God permits thee to abide!’
“Broken-hearted and despairing, Into silence he returneth— Dust to dust, ashes to ashes! Crush’d he lies, a crumbling shell!
“Name me not the Prince of Evil,— Call me still the Prince of Pity, Since alone among immortals I have wept for human woes!
“What remaineth? One thing only, 152 Since Death cometh soon or later: Carpe diem! While it lasteth, Stand erect, Ephemeron!
“Waste no thought on the Almighty; Seek, with all thy soul’s endeavour, How to make thine earthly dwelling Bright and fair, in God’s despite!
“Only for a day thou livest! Make that day, so quickly fleeting, For thyself, for all thou lovest, Beautiful with Light and Joy!
“Yet, the pity! ah, the pity! Back, far back, along the ages, Stretch the graves of countless creatures Who have borne the Cross for thee!
“They, too, loved the light that lieth On the seas and on the mountains! They, too, by their God forsaken, Died at last on Calvary!
“They, too, dreamed of Life Eternal! 153 They, too, knelt before the Father! They, too, clung to one another, Till He drave them back to dust!”
[Notes: Alterations in the 1901 edition of The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan: In the original edition of The Devil’s Case the chapter numbers from this point are incorrect since XXVIII is repeated. The mistake was corrected in the 1901 ‘Complete Poetical Works’ and, to avoid confusion, I have adopted the corrected version from this point on. Subsequent chapters in the original were therefore numbered XXIX, XXX and XXXI.
v.4, l.2: Lies his Kingdom, but he rules it v.9, l.1: “Fool,” he answer’d, “what availeth v.10, l.1: ‘Dust to dust, ashes to ashes; ]
154
XXX.
As he spake, I saw around me Once again the Apparitions Moving ant-wise hither and thither ’Neath the glimpses of the moon;
Faces of the dead departed Glimmer’d on me from the shadows, While a sound of woeful voices Faintly wailing fill’d the air;
And again (which still was strangest!) Never one did gaze upon me, Though I named them, wildly sobbing, [3:iii] Stretching hungry empty arms;
Then at last my soul within me Sicken’d, and the air around me, Ev’n as seas around the drowning, [4:iii] Swung,—till sense and sight departed! . . .
[Notes: Alterations in the 1901 edition of The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan: Chapter number (XXIX) incorrect in the original. v.3, l.3: Though I named them wildly sobbing, v.4, l.3: Even as seas around the drowning, ]
155
XXXI.
On the lonely Heath of Hampstead I awoke, and as I waken’d Saw the Devil departing from me Thro’ the shadows of the night;
Limping lame, and bending double, Like a venerable mortal, Round he turn’d, before he vanish’d, Sigh’d, and fixed his eyes on mine.
(Ah, the sleepless eyes, so woeful With the wisdom of the Serpent! Ah, the piteous face so weary With the woes of all the worlds!)
Forcing then his wrinkled features To a smile, and grimly laughing— “Plead,” he said, “for the Defendant! Be my Laureate, yet remember:
“If the priests were right, and yonder 156 Waited Heaven and compensation, I’d at once admit my folly, Taking off my hat to God!”
Nodding quietly, he vanish’d While again I sadly wander’d O’er the lonely Heath of Hampstead, Thro’ the silence of the Night. . . .
[Notes: Alterations in the 1901 edition of The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan: Chapter number (XXX) incorrect in the original.]
157
XXXII.
Little did I dream or fancy I should ever (God forgive me!) State the Case for the Defendant Whom I loath’d with all my soul!
From a race of cattle stealers, Rievers of the clan Buchanan, I, Buchanan, sprang—the riever’s Savage blood is in my veins;
Thieves and wolves we were, but never Foxes, and our Celtic motto Reads in Roman lingo—“Magnest Veritas, et prevalebit!” [3:iv]
Tell the truth and shame the Devil! Tell it, even tho’ it praise him! Tell the truth for the Defendant, Tho’ the Accuser be thy God!
Better still—let the Defendant 158 Plead his Case in his own person: Tho’ it means thine own damnation Let the awful truth prevail! . . . . . . . . [5:iv]
Yet, alas! that happy Eden! All the golden, gladsome Garden! God the Father smiling on us, Raining gentle blessings down!
Eve, that ne’er shalt be a mother, Wrap thy sleeping shroud about thee! All is over, all is over,— But the Devil was not to blame!
FINIS.
[Notes: Alterations in the 1901 edition of The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan: Chapter number (XXXI) incorrect in the original. v.3, l.4: Veritas et prevalebit!’ v.5, l.4: Let the awful truth prevail! . . . ]
159
EPILOGUE:
THE LITANY. DE PROFUNDIS.
161
THE LITANY. DE PROFUNDIS.
O God our Father in Heaven, Holy, Unseen, and Unknown, Have mercy on us Thy children, who pray beneath Thy Throne!
O God our Father in Heaven, Holy, Unseen, and Unknown, Have mercy on us Thy children, who pray beneath Thy Throne!
O God the Maker of Mortals, Life of all lives that be, Speak, that our ears may hear Thee, shine, that our eyes may see!
O God the Maker of Mortals, Life of all lives that be, Speak, that our ears may hear Thee, shine, that our eyes may see!
O God the Unbegotten, Fountain whence all things flow, Open the rock of Thy Secret, that we may see Thee and know.
O God the Unbegotten, Fountain whence all things flow, Open the Rock of Thy Secret, that we may see Thee and know.
Son that had never a Father, Father that never had Son, 162 Here on the Earth and yonder in Heaven, Thy will be done.
Son that had never a Father, Father that never had Son, Here on the Earth and yonder in Heaven, Thy will be done.
Remember not our offences, O Father and Lord Divine, Pity and spare Thy children, whose sins and offences are Thine; For if they are blind and see not, ’tis Thou who closest their eyes, And if they are frail and foolish, ’tis Thou who shouldst make them wise! And be not angry, O Father, but sheathe Thine avenging Sword, Spare the things of Thy making, love them and spare them, O Lord.
We are the things of thy making, spare us and love us, O Lord.
From all things hateful and evil, which come O Father from Thee, From Sin, the Flesh, and the Devil, whom Thou permittest to be, From what through Thee we suffer, since Thou hast made men thus, From lesser and greater damnation, O Lord, deliver us!
From lesser and greater damnation, O Lord, deliver us!
From pride and from vain glory, from all hypocrisy, 163 From envy, hatred, and malice, and all uncharity, From filth, from fornication, from all things vile and abhorred Which leaven the bread of Thy making, deliver us, O Lord.
From filth, from fornication, from all things vile and abhorred Which leaven the bread of Thy making, deliver us, O Lord!
From thine avenging Lightning! from Fire and Famine and Pest! From all the terrors and portents Thy Will makes manifest! From War Thy witless Daughter, from Murder Thy maniac Son, From Death that at Thy bidding betrays us, Almighty One, From all Thy hand hath fashion’d to keep men mourning thus, From all the woes of Creation, good Lord, deliver us!
From all the woes of Creation, good Lord, deliver us!
We are the things of Thy making, we are the clouds of Thy breath! Life hast Thou made, O Father, to flee for ever from Death, Flesh Thou hast wrapt around us, Flesh and the lusts of the same, Out of Thy Word ’twas fashion’d, out of Thy mouth they came! 164 From all the doubt and the darkness Thy vials of wrath have poured To blind the spirits that seek Thee, deliver us, good Lord!
From all the doubt and the darkness Thy vials of wrath have poured To blind the spirits that seek thee, deliver us, good Lord!
Thou hast set these Rulers above us, to bind us, to blind our eyes, Thou hast sent these Priests to lure us with creeds and dogmas and lies, Thou hast built Thy Church on the sands still shifting and tremulous, From Churches, and Priests, and Liars, good Lord, deliver us!
From Churches, and Priests, and Liars, good Lord, deliver us!
By Thyself Incarnate within us, Thy Voice in our aching ears, By Thy birth and Thy circumcision, Thy baptism of tears, By fasting and by temptation, from all the passionate horde Of Devils that seize and slay us, deliver us, good Lord.
By fasting and by temptation, from all the passionate horde Of Devils that seize and slay us, deliver us, good Lord.
By the woe Thou hast never felt, by the Cross and the Crown of Thorn, 165 By the agony and the sweat on the brow of Thine Eldest Born, By the cry that never was answer’d and ringeth ever aloud, By the tomb that never was open’d, the dust therein, and the shroud, By Him who sleepeth forever, while we implore Thee thus, From Death and from tribulation, good Lord, deliver us!
From Death and from tribulation, good Lord, deliver us!
Strengthen our hearts to know Thee, O God that cannot be known! Make righteous the Kings who rule us, and sit on an earthly throne! Set in their hands Thy sceptre, place in their hands Thy sword— Help us to bear their yoke!
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord!
Shine on the eyes of Thy Priests, illumine Thy Bishops, shed Lightnings to quicken life in the creeds that are pulseless and dead. When the Holy supper is set, and the Ghost of the Christ at the board Sits, be Thou there in our mid’st!
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
Instruct the Lords of the Council! endow the brain of the Fool! 166 Bless and preserve our Masters who sit in high places and rule! But when in their granaries yonder the harvest of toil is stored, Spare us some mouthfuls of bread!
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
Father that dwellest in Heaven, so far from the sorrows of Earth, Soften to us, Thy children, the travails of Death and of Birth, Teach us to love Thee and dread Thee, to eat the bread of Thy Word, Altho’ it be hard as stone!
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord, when darkness and sorrow are near us, When blindly we grope thro’ the dark, good Lord, we beseech Thee to hear us, We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord, and send Thy Spirit to cheer us!
When Thy yoke is hardest to bear, good Lord, we beseech Thee to hear us!
Help us when we are falling, as we help others who fall! By land and by sea preserve us, O Father, Maker of all! 167 Comfort the sick and the weary with tidings of hope and of peace, All children, all women who labour that what Thou hast made may increase, Open the gates to the captive, lift up the weak and forlorn, Feed, too, the fatherless orphans, comfort the widows that mourn. Have mercy, Father in Heaven, and send Thy spirit to cheer us, We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord!
Good Lord, we beseech Thee to hear us!
O Father who canst not conquer our sorrow, since it is Thine! Maker who cannot unmake us, since we, like Thee, are divine! Light that dwellest within us, Light that art far away! Nearest to, farthest from us, answer our prayers when we pray! Lord, have mercy upon us! Send thy Spirit to cheer us! Have mercy and hear us, O Lord!
O Lord, have mercy and hear us!
Save us from all our enemies, Most High!
In our afflictions, Lord, be ever nigh!
Pity our sorrows, Fountain of all Light! 168
And when we pray be near us day and night!
Let us pray.
THE PRAYER.
Father, which art in Heaven, not here below! Be Thy Name hallowëd, in that place of worth! And till Thy Kingdom cometh, and we know, Be Thy will done more tenderly on earth! Since we must live, give us our daily bread! Forgive our stumblings, since Thou mad’st us blind! If we offend Thee, Lord, at least forgive As tenderly as we forgive our kind. Spare us temptation, human or divine! Deliver us from evil, now and then! The Kingdom, Power, and Glory all are Thine For ever and for evermore. Amen.
Let us pray.
O God, Unseen, Unknown, yet dimly guessed By spirit and by sense, The miracle of Nature doth attest Thy dread Omnipotence!
Teach us to love Thee, God and Lord of all, And lead us to thy Light! We love Thee not, we are too weak and small, And Thou too Infinite! . . . .
O God, we have heard with our ears, and our fathers have told it unto us, 169 That Thou canst uplift or cast down, redeem, or forever undo us, The works Thou hast made we behold as dawn after dawn cometh breaking, But evil and pain and despair are blent with the worlds of thy making,— Unveil the light of Thy Face, till all Thy dread ways become clear to us!
Deliver us out of the Darkness! Bend down thro’ Thy clouds and give ear to us!
Glory be Thine, O Father, from all things fashion’d by Thee.
As it was in the beginning, is, and ever shall be!
[Notes: Alterations in the 1901 edition of The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan: There are several minor changes to the punctuation (fewer exclamation marks) in ‘The Litany. De Profundis’.]
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