13. Then to Neroodi said the Glendoveer, No Heaven-born Spirit e'er hath visited 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 It was the Car wherein When all the Powers of Hell attend their King, Poised on a single wheel, it mov❜d along, Instinct with motion; by what wondrous skill Compact, no human tongue could tell, Nor human wit devise; but on that wheel, Moving or still, As if with life indued, The Car miraculous supported stood. 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, For neither mortal stain, Nor parts corruptible, remain, Nor aught that time could touch, or force destroy, Children of Earth, Neroodi cried, 16. Of other frame, O son of Heaven, art thou! Through regions which thy heavenly mould will try. Might not these things dismay thee on thy flight, Pity in these abodes of no avail; XXIII. PADALON. 1. WHOE'ER hath loved 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 watery 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 A glow, as of a fiery furnace light, Fill'd all before them. 'T was 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, 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, Tosses its billowing blaze with rush and roar; Steady and swift the self-moved Chariot went, Winning the long ascent, Then, downward rolling, gains the farther shore. 4. But, oh! what sounds and sights of woe, Assail the mortal travellers here! Their way was on a causey straight and wide, 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 rightful 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, Opposed 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, |