English

POET

You have escaped the comedy
Of swift, pretentious praise and blame,
And smashed a tavern where they sell
The harlot's wine that men call fame.

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,

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!"

Tell the truth and shame the Devil!
Tell it, even tho' it praise him!
Tell the truth for the Defendant,

" 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

" 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,

Smiling scornfully, I answer'd: —
" Strange it seems to find the Devil,
" Spite a record so despairing,
Optimistic, after all!

" Yet, methinks, thy boasted Demos
Is the very worst of tyrants!
Better far a single Caesar
Than a Caesar 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 Caesar,

" Meantime, God had not been idle!
Angry at my benefactions,
He was wakening very slowly
To the peril long impending. . . .

" Over yonder where the people
Groan'd like oxen yoked together,
Goaded on o'er stony fallows
By the Princes and the Priests,

" Where the Abbe curl'd and scented
Told his beads and lay with harlots,
While the Christ of Superstition
Dallied with the Pompadour,

" I, the Devil, in indignation
Raised my periwig'd Alter Ego ,
Darling son of my adoption,

" 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

" Meantime, I, the Accurst, was busy!
I who firstly to the Titan
Brought the fire of human knowledge,
Love for man and scorn for godhead.

" While the poets, priests, and prophets
Libel'd me beyond believing,
Pictured me a shameless Devil
Cloven-footed and obscene,

" I was strengthening my children!
I was comforting and cheering
Many a martyr in his prison,
Pale and ready for the stake!

" Nay, my word had raised Mohammed,
Strong and true, a creed-compeller,

For a space his voice was silent —
In his hands his face was buried,
While the elemental Darkness
Clung about him like a cloud;

Wonderingly I gazed upon him,
For I knew that he was weeping —
Till, at last, again I saw him
Pointing angrily to Heaven.

Woefully, with snake-like glimmers,
Clung the coils of his black raiment,
Scornfully he laugh'd, and round him
Glimmer'd with a serpent's eyes.

" Let Him rise, and keep His promise!
Let Him wake who sleeps for ever!