Devil's Case, The - Part 22
" Since that hour the Fight hath lasted!
Strong, beneficent, and gentle,
I, the foe of all the Churches,
Have remain'd the friend of Man.
" All the horde of Priests and Prophets,
Moonstruck, mad, have rall'd against me,
Crying to the weary nations
" Fear the Flesh, and shun the Devil! "
" In the name of God the Father
They have sicken'd Earth with slaughter;
In the name of their Messiahs
They have lied, and lied, and lied!
" O'er the vineyards I have planted
They have scatter'd seed of thistles;
In the mansions of my making
They have swarm'd with fire and sword.
" Year by year, with God against me,
I for Humankind have striven.
Winning patiently and slowly
Thro' a small minority!
" Poor are all the Church's martyrs,
By the side of mine, the Devil's!
Those have died for Filth and Falsehood,
These for Liberty and Light!
" Mine the Seers and mine the Poets,
Stoned and slain in every nation!
Even those who most denied me
Learn'd thro' me to stand erect!
" I it was who put the honey
On the tongue of Ariosto!
I who cast a light from Heaven
On Boccaccio's golden page!
" In the ear of many a monarch
I was whispering my reasons —
Taught by me, your bluff King Harry
Faced the Pope and flay'd the cowls!
" Aye, and in your throned Virgin
I inspired both wit and learning —
I was hunting gladly with her,
When she whipt the wolves of Spain.
" While the Priests were busy burning,
I created Merrymakers!
Rock'd, despite the shrieking Churches,
Rabelais in his easy-chair!
" In your land of fogs and vapours,
Where the church-bells toll'd for ever,
I, the Devil, upraised the D RAMA
Still by priestcraft shun'd and curst:
" First I bribed the monks to help me,
Made them place on mimic stages
(Little 'ware what they were doing)
Plays of miracles absurd.
" God Himself and little Jesus
Were by mortals represented,
While myself and other devils
Join'd them in the pagan dance.
" Thus, without a word of warning,
Rose the Theatre , my Temple!
Sunny as the soul of Nature,
Fearless, beautiful, and free!
" " Shun it! shun the Devil's dwelling! "
Shriek'd the jealous cowls; but straightway,
Loud, the prelude of the battle,
Thunder'd Marlowe's mighty line!
" There I taught your gentle Shakespeare
What no shaven monk could teach him —
Mingled wit and wisdom, foreign
To a God who never smiles!
" Churchmen curst, and still are cursing
What transcends their sermonizing,
Hating, in the way of traders,
Rival shops with smarter wares.
" In my Temple rose the voices
Of the Seers and Music-makers, —
Shapes of beauty and of terror
Waken'd to the conjuration!
" There the glad green world was pictured,
There the lark sang " tirra-lirra, "
There the piteous human pageant
Broke to tears or rippled laughter —
" " Shun it, shun the Devil's dwelling! "
Croaked the jackdaws from the steeple —
Long as Shakespeare's lark is singing,
Still my Theatre shall stand! . . . .
" Then I mock'd their tracts and sermons
With my songs and my romances:
Light and Freedom, Mirth and Music,
Scatter'd sunshine through the air.
" Milton even, tho' intending
To exalt the Lord Almighty,
Spread my teaching Manichaean —
Who's his hero? — I, the Devil!
" Aye, and when his voice demanded
Freedom for my printing presses,
Liberty of speech for all men,
Who inspired him? I, the Devil!
" Then, to mock their monkish fables,
I invoked my Story-tellers!
Till at last, full-blown and bounteous,
Bloom'd the Modern Novelist!
" True, the Novel is elephantine,
Pachydermatous, long-winded,
Of all Art the large negation,
Yet, by Heaven! it serves a turn!
" My Cervantes and my Fielding
Struck the rock of human knowledge,
Freed the founts of Fun, still foreign
To a God who never laughs!
" How the Priests and Preachers trembled
At my quips and cranks and fancies,
Furious when I requisition'd
Rogues, like Sterne, within the fold!
" Evermore my printing presses
Labour'd, and across my kingdom,
Thick as leaves in Vallombroan,
Fell the merry carnal books!
" Then, like sunshine made incarnate,
Rose the merry Djinn of Fiction, —
How the laughter of my Dickens
Scared the ravens and the owls!
" Then, the knell of all ascetics
Sounded, as my Reade upstarted,
Flooding all the gloomy Cloister
With the fires of Hearth and Home!
Strong, beneficent, and gentle,
I, the foe of all the Churches,
Have remain'd the friend of Man.
" All the horde of Priests and Prophets,
Moonstruck, mad, have rall'd against me,
Crying to the weary nations
" Fear the Flesh, and shun the Devil! "
" In the name of God the Father
They have sicken'd Earth with slaughter;
In the name of their Messiahs
They have lied, and lied, and lied!
" O'er the vineyards I have planted
They have scatter'd seed of thistles;
In the mansions of my making
They have swarm'd with fire and sword.
" Year by year, with God against me,
I for Humankind have striven.
Winning patiently and slowly
Thro' a small minority!
" Poor are all the Church's martyrs,
By the side of mine, the Devil's!
Those have died for Filth and Falsehood,
These for Liberty and Light!
" Mine the Seers and mine the Poets,
Stoned and slain in every nation!
Even those who most denied me
Learn'd thro' me to stand erect!
" I it was who put the honey
On the tongue of Ariosto!
I who cast a light from Heaven
On Boccaccio's golden page!
" In the ear of many a monarch
I was whispering my reasons —
Taught by me, your bluff King Harry
Faced the Pope and flay'd the cowls!
" Aye, and in your throned Virgin
I inspired both wit and learning —
I was hunting gladly with her,
When she whipt the wolves of Spain.
" While the Priests were busy burning,
I created Merrymakers!
Rock'd, despite the shrieking Churches,
Rabelais in his easy-chair!
" In your land of fogs and vapours,
Where the church-bells toll'd for ever,
I, the Devil, upraised the D RAMA
Still by priestcraft shun'd and curst:
" First I bribed the monks to help me,
Made them place on mimic stages
(Little 'ware what they were doing)
Plays of miracles absurd.
" God Himself and little Jesus
Were by mortals represented,
While myself and other devils
Join'd them in the pagan dance.
" Thus, without a word of warning,
Rose the Theatre , my Temple!
Sunny as the soul of Nature,
Fearless, beautiful, and free!
" " Shun it! shun the Devil's dwelling! "
Shriek'd the jealous cowls; but straightway,
Loud, the prelude of the battle,
Thunder'd Marlowe's mighty line!
" There I taught your gentle Shakespeare
What no shaven monk could teach him —
Mingled wit and wisdom, foreign
To a God who never smiles!
" Churchmen curst, and still are cursing
What transcends their sermonizing,
Hating, in the way of traders,
Rival shops with smarter wares.
" In my Temple rose the voices
Of the Seers and Music-makers, —
Shapes of beauty and of terror
Waken'd to the conjuration!
" There the glad green world was pictured,
There the lark sang " tirra-lirra, "
There the piteous human pageant
Broke to tears or rippled laughter —
" " Shun it, shun the Devil's dwelling! "
Croaked the jackdaws from the steeple —
Long as Shakespeare's lark is singing,
Still my Theatre shall stand! . . . .
" Then I mock'd their tracts and sermons
With my songs and my romances:
Light and Freedom, Mirth and Music,
Scatter'd sunshine through the air.
" Milton even, tho' intending
To exalt the Lord Almighty,
Spread my teaching Manichaean —
Who's his hero? — I, the Devil!
" Aye, and when his voice demanded
Freedom for my printing presses,
Liberty of speech for all men,
Who inspired him? I, the Devil!
" Then, to mock their monkish fables,
I invoked my Story-tellers!
Till at last, full-blown and bounteous,
Bloom'd the Modern Novelist!
" True, the Novel is elephantine,
Pachydermatous, long-winded,
Of all Art the large negation,
Yet, by Heaven! it serves a turn!
" My Cervantes and my Fielding
Struck the rock of human knowledge,
Freed the founts of Fun, still foreign
To a God who never laughs!
" How the Priests and Preachers trembled
At my quips and cranks and fancies,
Furious when I requisition'd
Rogues, like Sterne, within the fold!
" Evermore my printing presses
Labour'd, and across my kingdom,
Thick as leaves in Vallombroan,
Fell the merry carnal books!
" Then, like sunshine made incarnate,
Rose the merry Djinn of Fiction, —
How the laughter of my Dickens
Scared the ravens and the owls!
" Then, the knell of all ascetics
Sounded, as my Reade upstarted,
Flooding all the gloomy Cloister
With the fires of Hearth and Home!
Translation:
Language:
Reviews
No reviews yet.