Soliloquy of Satan and other poems / Elliott Blaine Henderson [electronic text]

The Soliloquy of Satan.

Sovereign! Am I! By God's decree Of Hell for all eternity, Where joy and peace are never known, Nor light of day is ever thrown.

My kingdom, burneth with the fire, Will flame and burn when time is done, When chaos and confusion reign— Extinguished are the stars and sun.

There demons rage in strife and woe, Enthralled like swine in my domain, Where invocations, pleas and prayers To God for succor rise in vain!

See how they grope within the throes! And gnash their teeth like dogs that bite! Then weep like orphans at the bier When dawns on them there is no flight!

Weep, ye cursed, weep and groan! Thy sins? Seas of tears can not atone! Plead till the years are sepulchered! In Hell ay, mercy hath no throne!

Heartless am I! My spirit knows No justice, mercy, feeling, none! Hatred and envy and dire revenge Have come to me—my spirit won!

I laugh at misery, woe and pain Of those, my captives, held in chain! Ay! when the sun and studding stars Have left their sockets waned and paled! Still! captives will they e'er remain In Lucifer's charnal travail.

Lucifer is called the roaring lion! Seeking whom he may devour! Presence o'erpowering! Bold! as the blast! Who's never known to shrink or cower.

Accursed by Him dropped from the throne, Where naught but love and peace art known, Because rebellion seized my heart And made me thrust at Him my dart!

Thou hast rebelled, proud Lucifer! Depart! with those thy favorite hosts! From thy imperial sacred place, Go down in shame, ruin and disgrace!

Ay, such was true! And mine the fate! Thrust! Through the portals, through the gate, Down! the precipitous road to Hell, Forever there to live and dwell!

Hell leaped for joy; her hosts proclaimed: "Proud Lucifer droppeth to his shame!" Reverberations; the wails, the shrieks, The tempest struggling up the steeps! Seethed! Surged! and burned! ten thousand folds, The depthless sea of sinful souls!

Mine the prerogative to remain? Nay! naught but submission to that decree Of Him who shapes all destiny! The author of immortality.

Ah, Lucifer, why didst thou give The demon thralldom of thy soul To bring down judgment on thyself, To bar thee from the streets of gold?.

Ah! Lucifer! Behold! behold! That vast, resplendent white-robed throng! There once thou stood'st immaculate In praise and eulogy and song.

Bedazzling in God's holiness, outrivaling meteoric light, Whose fulgence pierced the dark'ning gloom, Dispersing ebon shades of night!

Fool! Hast thou been, proud Lucifer! To God thou yet shall bend in tears, Brought to the gravity of thy fate Clothed in the mantle of dire fears!

Who is this King of supreme reign Whose throttling might holds Hell enchained? 'Tis He! my everlasting foe! Who sinks me to these depths below.

Judge of the court tribunal high! Oh for my place in yonder sky! Could my entreaty move Thy will For reinstatement 'round Thy throne, Gladly would I flee to Thee, Where dwell the glories of thine own.

Oh drops of mercy—dews of love In benediction from above, Fail on Lucifer this hour, From Heaven's holy sacred tower.

The soul of Lucifer now weeps With surcharged heart bleeding and torn,In sackcloth and ashes behold! behold! The vain proud Lucifer doth mourn!

Behold me in this sin-cursed plight! Eternal King, disperse this night! Cast aside the threat'ning clouds And lead me to Thy glorious heights!

Hark! the music of the spheres! In spotless white at God's right hand, Float strains of that grand tribal band!The boasts are marching! Hear their song! Great King of Glory! Oh, how long?

How long must Lucifer remainDivorced from the glories of Thine own? Forgiveness can there be for me Again to sit around Thy throne?

Doth Lucifer, like the widow, mourn? Like swaddling babies drop a tear? Arouse!! ye coward!! Doff!! thy fears!! Inspire!! thy soul again to cheers!!

Away!! with retrospection now!! Come! welcome sweet forgetfulness! Blot!! from the memory of Lucifer, Those season's of his blissfulness!

For every tear that I have shed, For every plea struck from my tongue, Summon! thy most destructive powers, Let souls from earth this hour be flung!

Ha! again did Lucifer turn fool, Forget himself and play the ass! Furies of Hell burst forth anew! Obey! the mandates of my blast!

I, the personification of all!!That's naught but perverse to the good, To weaken at unguarded time— Allow myself to whine and brood!!

To think that I could condescend To drop to humiliation's shrine, While founts of grief and sorrows flowed When memory didst my soul remind.

To rend my soul to depths extreme, To fall repentant at His stream, This vain! proud sovereign power! of Hell!! Susceptible! to such a spell!!

Away! with all that tends to good! Misery and torture to man for food! Scoff!! at the pleading ones in tears And mock! the faltering one that fears!

Let devastation fill the land! Death! Death! ride on! Spare! not a soul! Strike down! the unsuspecting one, For my captivity, my fold!

Brilliance of conquest is for me! Cursed! be the throngs of liberty! Their freedom stirs my soul to wrath, An effervescent aftermath.

Lucifer, rule on in infamy! Prowl! the recesses of earth! Barter! for the living souls, For those as yet not given birth!

Oh, ye of Adam's progeny! Ye knoweth not! this hellish sage, Who thwarts the subtlest of man To give him torture for his wage!

Oh could I seize earth in my grasp And crush her as the potter's clay, While o'er the battlements like swine Behold men fall in fear, dismay!

Ay, when the judgment day shall dawn The light from every sphere has gone, The firmament clouds, sinks, disappears, To be forgotten as the years,

When throttling forces seize the earth, And fires consuming have their birth, Catastrophe thrown to relief, While I with cohorts gloat beneath,

Then! will my reveille break the spell, And cohorts martialing forth from Hell, At my dictation! mandates! all!! Like vultures seize! bind and enthrall!

Oh when ye plead and cower in tears, Receive ye then my mocks and jeers! I'll sink thee to the depths unknown, Reward for sinful deeds, thou'rt sown!

Then, will my soul well to the heights, Where bliss is law! where bliss is might! Quickened by misery, woe and pain Of groveling souls in my domain!

Away! Away! No reasoning power Could change this demon for one hour! Well might'st thou try to move God's throne, As try to touch this heart of stone!

Such! is the law of Lucifer! Written in blood of suffering souls; Inexorable, unmoved am I As He who thrust me from the sky!