Ebony and Crystal/Satan Unrepentant
SATAN UNREPENTANT
Lost from those lost archangelic thrones that star,Fadeless and fixed, heaven's light of azure bliss;Rejected of His splendour and depressedBeyond the birth of the first sun, and lowerThan the last star's decline, I here endure,Abased, majestic, fallen, beautiful,And unregretful in the doubted dark,Throneless, that greatens chaos-ward, albeitFrom chanting stars that throng the nave of nightLost echoes wander here, and of his praise,With ringing moons for cymbals dinned afar,And shouted from the flaming mouths of suns.
The shadows of impalpable blank deeps—Deep upon deep accumulate—close down,Around my head concentered, while above,In the lit, loftier blue, star after starSpins endless orbits betwixt me and heaven;And at my feet mysterious Chaos breaks,Abrupt, immeasureable. Round His throneNow throbs the rhythmic resonance of suns,Incessant, perfect, music infinite:I, throneless, hear the discords of the dark,And roar of ruin uncreate, than whichSome vast cacophony of dragons, heardIn wasted worlds, were pure melody.
The universe His tyranny constrainsTurns on: In old and consummated gulfs,The stars that wield His judgment wait at hand,And new deeps Apocalyptic sunsPrepare His coming: Lo, His mighty whimTo rear and mar, goes forth enormouslyIn nights and constellations! Darkness hears Enragèd suns that bellow down the deepGod's ravenous and insatiable will;And He is strong with change, and rideth forthIn whirlwind clothed, with thunders and with doom,To the red stars: God's throne is reared of change;Its myriad and successive hands supportLike music His omnipotence, that failsIf mercy or if justice interruptThe sequence of that tyranny, begunUpon injustice, and doomed evermoreTo stand thereby.
I, who with will not lessThan His, but lesser strength, opposed to HimThis unsubmissive brow and lifted mind,He holds remote, in nullity and nightDoubtful between old Chaos and the deepsBetrayed by Time to vassalage. MethinksAll tyrants fear whom they may not destroy,And I, that am of essence one with His,Though less in measure, He may not destroy,And but withstands in gulfs of dark suspense,A secret dread forever: For God knowsThis quiet will irrevocably setAgainst His own, and this mine old revoltYet stubborn, and confirmed eternally.And with the hatred born of fear, and fedEver thereby, God hates me, and His gazeSees the bright menace of mine eyes afar,Through midnight, and the innumerable blazeOf servile suns: Lo, strong in tyranny,The despot trembles that I stand opposed!For fain am I to hush the anguished criesOf Substance, broken on the racks of change,Of Matter tortured into life; and God,Knowing this, dreads evermore some huge mishap—That in the vigils of Omnipotence,Once careless, I shall enter heaven, or He,Himself, with weight of some unwonted act, Thoughtless perturb His balanced tyranny,To mine advance of watchful aspiration.
With rumored thunder and enormous groan—(Burden of sound that heavens overborneLet slip from deep to deep, even to this,Where climb the huge cacophonies of Chaos)God's universe moves on. Confirmed in pride,In patient majesty serene and strong,I wait the dreamt, inevitable hour,Fulfilled of orbits ultimate, when God,Whether through His mischance or mine own deed,Or rise of other and extremer Strength,Shall vanish, and the lightened universeNo more remember Him than Silence doesAn ancient thunder. I know not if these,Mine all-indomitable eyes, shall seeA maimed and dwindled Godhead cast amongThe stars of His creating, and beneathThe unnumbered rush of swift and shining feet,Trodden into night; or mark the fiery breathOf His infuriate suns blaze forth uponAnd scorch that coarsened Essence; or His flame,Drawn through the windy halls of nothingness,A mightier comet, roar and redden down,Portentous unto Chaos. I but wait,In strong majestic patience equable,That hour of consummation and of doom,Of justice, and rebellion justified.