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“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; [2:iv] And again (which still was strangest!)
Never one did gaze upon me,
Though I named them, wildly sobbing, [3:iii]
Stretching hungry empty arms; [3:iv] 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.2, l.4: Faintly wailing fill’d the air:
v.3, l.3: Though I named them wildly sobbing,
v.3, l.4: Stretching hungry empty arms:
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! [2:ii] 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! [4:ii] O God the Unbegotten, Fountain whence all things flow,
Open the rock of Thy Secret, that we may see Thee and know. [5:ii] 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, [8:i]
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. [10:i] From all things hateful and evil, which come O Father from Thee, [11:i]
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! [12:i] 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! [14:ii] 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! [15:vi] From all the woes of Creation, good Lord, deliver us! [16:i] 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! [17:vi] From all the doubt and the darkness Thy vials of wrath have poured
To blind the spirits that seek thee, deliver us, good Lord! [18:ii] 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, [19:iii]
From Churches, and Priests, and Liars, good Lord, deliver us! [19:iv] From Churches, and Priests, and Liars, good Lord, deliver us! [20:i] 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, [23:v]
From Death and from tribulation, good Lord, deliver us! [23:vi] From Death and from tribulation, good Lord, deliver us! [24:i] 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! [26:i] 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! [27:iv] We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord. [28:i] 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! [34:i] 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! [36:i] 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! [37:v]
Have mercy and hear us, O Lord! O Lord, have mercy and hear us! [38:i] 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! [42:i]
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! [45:ii]
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, [46:ii]
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,— [46:iv]
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! [49:i]
[Notes:
Alterations in the 1901 edition of ‘The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan’:
v.2 l.2: Have mercy on us Thy children, who pray beneath Thy Throne.
v.4, l.2: Speak, that our ears may hear Thee, shine, that our eyes may see.
v.5, l.2: Open the Rock of Thy Secret, that we may see Thee and know.
v.8, l.1: Son that had never a Father, Father that never had son,
v.10, l.1: We are the things of Thy making, spare us and love us, O Lord.
v.11, l.1: From all things hateful and evil, which come, O Father, from Thee,
v.12, l.1: From lesser and greater damnation O Lord, deliver us.
v.14, l.2: Which leaven the bread of Thy making, deliver us, O Lord.
v.15, l.6: From all the woes of Creation, good Lord, deliver us.
v.16, l.1: From all the woes of Creation, good Lord, deliver us.
v.17, l.6: To blind the spirits that seek Thee, deliver us, good Lord.
v.18, l.2: To blind the spirits that seek Thee, deliver us, good Lord.
v.19, l.3: Thou hast built Thy Church on the sands still shifting and tremulous:
v.19, l.4: From Churches, and Priests, and Liars, good Lord, deliver us.
v.20, l.1: From Churches, and Priests, and Liars, good Lord, deliver us.
v.23, l.5: By Him who sleepeth for ever, while we implore Thee thus,
v.23, l.6: From death and from tribulation, good Lord, deliver us.
v.24, l.1: From death and from tribulation, good Lord, deliver us.
v.26, l.1: We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
v.27, l.4: Sits, be Thou there in our midst!
v.28, l.1: We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
v.34, l.1: When Thy yoke is hardest to bear, good Lord, we beseech Thee to hear us.
v.36, l.1: Good Lord, we beseech Thee to hear us.
v.37, l.5: Lord, have mercy upon us! Send Thy Spirit to cheer us!
v.38, l.1: O Lord, have mercy and hear us.
v.42, l.1: And when we pray be near us day and night.
v.45, l.2: And lead us to Thy Light!
v.46, l.2: That Thou canst uplift or cast down, redeem, or for ever undo us,
v.46, l.4: But evil and pain and despair are blent with the worlds of Thy making,—
v.47, l.1: Deliver us out of the Darkness! Bend down thro’ Thy clouds and give ear to us.
v.49, l.1: As it was in the beginning, is, and ever shall be. ] ____________________ The Devil’s Case - endpapers _____ The Devil’s Case Contents |
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