Classic Poem

" A BOON , O King, " cried a fiend one day,
" To make God's creatures forget to pray;
Something to blast and blacken the scope
That lies toward Heaven through Faith and Hope;
Something to madden the heart and the brain,
With the fever, the fire of infernal pain,
Till men, bowed down to thy and scepter and rod,
Forswear the allegiance they owe to God. "

" Ho, caitiff! I thank thee, " the king made reply,
" And henceforward hold thee my loyal ally.
A thought so gigantic, a scheme so malign,
Is worthily born in this kingdom of mine.
" Go down to the lake in the valley of Zell —
Its waves are the brightest, the hottest in hell —
And fill thee a measure, to suit thy desires,
Of the wrath that flows up from unquenchable fires;
And hie thee away to the earth with swift feet —
I know, O good Ulik, the task will be sweet.
My seal for the nonce, but remember to sow
The poison broadcast wheresoever you go.
'Tis subtle, insidious, and strong to diffuse
Its bane through the earth and the air, till the dews
Shall drink it at midnight, and give it at morn
To the veins of the vine, to the heart of the corn;
Till men from the wealth of their harvests distil
A liquid to torture, to madden, to kill.

" Ha, ha! How the fire-flood will burn in each vein;
Will dwarf the strong muscles and shrivel the brain;
Will rend the fond tendrils of kindred apart,
And dry up the fountain of love in the heart;
Will sear the quick senses and deaden the soul,
Till reason grows dizzy and loses control,
Till appetite reigns over honor and pride,
And conscience — God's monitor — ceases to chide.

" Ha, ha! How the strong man shall shiver and shake,
And see frightful visions asleep and awake.
Pale phantoms shall mock him with gibber and grin,
And follows his footsteps without and within;
Shall mock him with laughter and horrible ire,
Till his brain is distraught and his nerves are on fire.

" Forms hideous and ghastly, of goblin and ghoul,
Shall clutch him with fingers misshapen and foul.
Strange adders, barbed serpents and loathsomest things
Crawl round him at night in their slime-reeking rings:
Crawl over his bed, coil his pillows about,
Till, closing his eyes, he would fain shut them out.
Then, shuddering down in the darkness, he sees,
In the depths of his soul, things viler than these.

" So the fire-plague will burn for a few brief years,
And leaving a pathway of ashes and tears,
The soul of the drunkard, through anguish and strife,
Shall go to its God from the cesspools of life. "

TWO THOUSAND YEARS AFTER .

" All hail to the king! Let the fiends rejoice
In the heart of hell. " It was Ulik's voice.
" I have sown the seed from the East to the West,
Wheresoever a human foot hath prest;
In the Northland's frosts, in the Southland's heats,
Wherever a pulse of the old earth beats;
In the yellow corn, in the purple vine,
I have sown the seed — be the glory thine!
Already it bears in each land and clime,
A plentiful harvest of sin and crime —
A harvest of pestilence, blight and bale,
Of violence, bloodshed, weeping and wail,
Of desolate homes and perverted lives,
Of famishing children and murdered wives,
Of blighted affection and ruined hope,
Of dungeons and death by the gallows rope.
O, the seed is sown, and the charm works well —
Ha, ha! let the devils rejoice in hell. "