Turned not reluctant now, and met his dear embrace.
3.
Swift glides the Ship with gentle motion
Across that calm and quiet ocean,
That glassy sea, which seemed to be
The mirror of tranquillity.
Their pleasant passage soon was o’er;
The Ship hath reached its destined shore,
A level belt of ice, which bound,
As with an adamantine mound,
The waters of the sleeping Ocean round.
Strange forms were on the strand,
Of earth-born spirits slain before their time,
Who, wandering over sea and sky and land,
Had so fulfilled their term, and now were met
Upon this icy belt, a motley band,
Waiting their summons at the appointed hour,
When each before the Judgment-seat must stand,
And hear his doom from Baly’s righteous power.
4.
Foul with habitual crimes, a hideous crew
Were there, the race of rapine and of blood,
Now, having overpassed the mortal flood,
Their own deformity they knew,
And knew the meed that to their deeds was due
Therefore in fear and agony they stood,
Expecting when the Evil Messenger
Among them should appear. But with their fear
A hope was mingled now:
O’er the dark shade of guilt a deeper hue
It threw, and gave a fiercer character
To the wild eye and lip and sinful brow.
They hoped that soon Kehama would subdue
The inexorable God, and seize his throne,
Reduce the infernal World to his command,
And, with his irresistible right hand,
Redeem them from the vaults of Padalon.
5.
Apart from these, a milder company,
The victims of offences not their own,
Looked when the appointed Messenger should come;
Gathered together some, and some alone,
Brooding in silence on their future doom;
Widows whom, to their husbands’ funeral fire,
Force or strong error led, to share the pyre,
As to their everlasting marriage-bed;
And babes, by sin unstained,
Whom erring parents vowed
To Ganges, and the holy stream profaned
With that strange sacrifice, rite unordained
By Law, by sacred Nature unallowed;
Others, more hapless in their destiny,
Scarce having first inhaled their vital breath,
Whose cradles from some tree
Unnatural hands suspended,
Then left till gentle Death,
Coming like Sleep, their feeble moanings ended;
Or for his prey the ravenous Kite descended;
Or, marching like an army from their caves,
The Pismires blackened o’er, then, bleached and bare,
Left their unhardened bones to fall asunder there.
6.
Innocent Souls! thus set so early free
From sin and sorrow and mortality,
Their spotless spirits all-creating Love
Received into its universal breast.
Yon blue serene above
Was their domain; clouds pillowed them to rest;
The Elements on them like nurses tended,
And with their growth ethereal substance blended.
Less pure than these is that strange Indian bird,
Who never dips in earthly streams her bill,
But, when the sound of coming showers is heard,
Looks up, and from the clouds receives her fill.
Less pure the footless fowl of Heaven, that never
Rest upon earth, but, on the wing for ever
Hovering o’er flowers, their fragrant food inhale,
Drink the descending dew upon its way,
And sleep aloft while floating on the gale.
7.
And thus these innocents, in yonder sky,
Grow and are strengthened, while the allotted years
Perform their course; then hitherward they fly,
Being free from moral taint, so free from fears,
A joyous band, expecting soon to soar
To Indra’s happy spheres,
And mingle with the blessèd company
Of heavenly spirits there for evermore.
8.
A Gulf profound surrounded
This icy belt; the opposite side
With highest rocks was bounded;
But where their heads they hide,
Or where their base is founded,
None could espy. Above all reach of sight
They rose; the second Earth was on their height;
Their feet were fixed in everlasting night.
9.
So deep the Gulf, no eye
Could plumb its dark profundity;
Yet all its depth must try; for this the road
To Padalon, and Yamen’s dread abode.
And, from below, continually
Ministrant Demons rose, and caught
The Souls whose hour was come;
Then, with their burden fraught,
Plunged down, and bore them to receive their doom
10.
Then might be seen who went in hope, and who
Trembled to meet the meed
Of many a foul misdeed, as wild they threw
Their arms retorted from the Demons’ grasp,
And looked around, all eagerly, to seek
For help, where help was none; and strove for aid
To clasp the nearest shade;
Yea, with imploring looks and horrent shriek,
Even from one Demon to another bending,
With hands extending,
Their mercy they essayed.
Still from the verge they strain,
And from the dreadful Gulf avert their eyes,
In vain: down plunge the Demons; and their cries
Feebly, as down they sink, from that profound arise.
11.
What heart of living man could, undisturbed,
Bear sight so sad as this? What wonder there
If Kailyal’s lip were blanched with inmost dread?
The chill which from that icy belt
Struck through her was less keen than what she felt
With her heart’s blood through every limb dispread.
Close to the Glendoveer she clung;
And, clasping round his neck her trembling hands,
She closed her eyes, and there in silence hung.
12.
Then to Ladurlad said the Glendoveer,
“These Demons whom thou seest, the ministers
Of Yamen, wonder to behold us here;
But for the dead they come, and not for us:
Therefore, albeit they gaze upon thee thus,
Have thou no fear.
A little while thou must be left alone,
Till I have borne thy daughter down,
And placed her safely by the throne
Of him who keeps the Gate of Padalon.”
13.
Then, taking Kailyal in his arms, he said,
“Be of good heart, Beloved! it is I
Who bear thee.” Saying this, his wings he spread,
Sprung upward in the sky, and poised his flight;
Then plunged into the Gulf, and sought the World of Night.
XXII. THE GATE OF PADALON.
1.
THE strong foundations of this inmost Earth
Rest upon Padalon. That icy Mound,
Which girt the mortal Ocean round,
Reached the profound,
Ice in the regions of the upper air,
Crystal midway, and adamant below,
Whose strength sufficed to bear
The weight of
all this upper World of ours,
And with its rampart closed the Realm of Woe
Eight gates hath Padalon; eight heavenly Powers
Have them in charge, each always at his post,
Lest from their penal caves the accursed host,
Maugre the might of Baly and the God,
Should break, and carry ruin all abroad.
2.
Those gates stand ever open, night and day;
And Souls of mortal men
For ever throng the way.
Some from the dolorous den,
Children of sin and wrath, return no more:
They, fit companions of the Spirits accurst,
Are doomed, like them in baths of fire immersed,
Or weltering upon beds of molten ore,
Or, stretched upon the brazen floor,
Are fastened down with adamantine chains;
While, on their substance inconsumable,
Leeches of fire for ever hang and pull,
And worms of fire for ever gnaw their food,
That, still renewed,
Freshens for ever their perpetual pains.
3.
Others there were whom Baly’s voice condemned,
By long and painful penance, to atone
Their fleshly deeds. Them, from the Judgment throne,
Dread Azyoruca, where she sate involved
In darkness as a tent, received, and dealt
To each the measure of his punishment;
Till, in the central springs of fire, the Will
Impure is purged away; and the freed soul.
Thus fitted to receive a second birth,
Embodied once again, revisits Earth.
4.
But they whom Baly’s righteous voice absolved,
And Yamen, viewing with benignant eye,
Dismissed to seek their heritage on high,
How joyfully they leave this gloomy bourn,
The dread sojourn
Of Guilt and twin-born Punishment and Woe,
And wild Remorse, here linked with worse Despair!
They to the eastern Gate rejoicing go:
The Ship of Heaven awaits their coming there;
And on they sail, greeting the blessed light
Through realms of upper air,
Bound for the Swerga once; but now no more
Their voyage rests upon that happy shore,
Since Indra, by the dreadful Rajah’s might
Compelled, hath taken flight:
On to the second World their way they wend,
And there, in trembling hope, await the doubtful end.
5.
For still in them doth hope predominate,
Faith’s precious privilege, when higher Powers
Give way to fear in these portentous hours.
Behold the Wardens eight!
Each silent at his gate
Expectant stands: they turn their anxious eyes
Within, and, listening to the dizzy din
Of mutinous uproar, each in all his hands
Holds all his weapons, ready for the fight.
For, hark! what clamorous cries
Upon Kehama, for deliverance, call!
“Come, Rajah!” they exclaim; “too long we groan
In torments. Come, Deliverer! yonder throne
Awaits thee. Now, Kehama! Rajah, now!
Earthly Almighty, wherefore tarriest thou?”
Such were the sounds that rung, in wild uproar,
O’er all the echoing vaults of Padalon;
And as the Asuras from the brazen floor,
Struggling against their fetters, strove to rise,
Their clashing chains were heard, and shrieks and cries,
With curses mixed, against the Fiends who urge,
Fierce on their rebel limbs, the avenging scourge.
6.
These were the sounds, which, at the southern Gate,
Assailed Ereenia’s ear: alighting here,
He laid before Neroodi’s feet the Maid,
Who, pale and cold with fear,
Hung on his neck, well-nigh a lifeless weight
7.
“Who and what art thou?” cried the Guardian Power,
Sight so unwonted wondering to behold,
“O Son of Light!
Who comest here at this portentous hour,
When Yamen’s throne
Trembles, and all our might can scarce keep down
The rebel race from seizing Padalon,
Who and what art thou? and what wild despair,
Or wilder hope, from realms of upper air,
Tempts thee to bear
This mortal Maid to our forlorn abodes?
Fitter for her, I ween, the Swerga bowers,
And sweet society of heavenly Powers,
Than this, — a doleful scene,
Even in securest hours.
And whither would ye go?
Alas! can human or celestial ear
Unmaddened hear
The shrieks and yellings of infernal woe?
Can living flesh and blood
Endure the passage of the fiery flood?”
8.
“Lord of the Gate,” replied the Glendoveer,
“We come obedient to the will of Fate;
And haply doomed to bring
Hope and salvation to the Infernal King:
For Siva sends us here;
Even He to whom futurity is known,
The Holiest, bade us go to Yamen’s throne.
Thou seest my precious charge:
Under thy care, secure from harm, I leave her,
While I ascend to bear her Father down:
Beneath the shelter of thine arm receive her I”
9.
Then quoth he to the Maid,
“Be of good cheer, my Kailyal! dearest dear,
In faith subdue thy dread;
Anon I shall be here.” So having said,
Aloft, writh vigorous bound, the Glendoveer
Sprung in celestial might,
And soaring up, in spiral circles, wound
His indefatigable flight.
10.
But, as he thus departed,
The Maid, who at Neroodi’s feet was lying,
Like one entranced or dying,
Recovering strength from sudden terror, started;
And, gazing after him, with straining sight
And straining arms, she stood,
As if in attitude
To win him back from flight.
Yea, she had shaped his name
For utterance, to recall and bid him stay,
Nor leave her thus alone: but virtuous shame
Repressed the unbidden sounds upon their way;
And, calling faith to aid,
Even in this fearful hour the pious Maid
Collected courage, till she seemed to be
Calm and in hope; such power hath piety.
Before the Giant Keeper of the Gate
She crossed her patient arms; and at his feet,
Prepared to meet
The awful will of Fate with equal mind,
She took her seat resigned.
11.
Even the stern trouble of Neroodi’s brow
Relaxed as he beheld the valiant Maid.
Hope, long unfelt till now,
Rose in his heart reviving, and a smile
Dawned in his brightening countenance, the while
He gazed on her with wonder and delight.
“The blessing of the Powers of Padalon,
Virgin, be on thee!” said the admiring God;
“And blessèd be the hour that gave thee birth,
Daughter of Earth!
For thou to this forlorn abode hast brought
Hope, who too long hath been a stranger here.
And surely for no lamentable lot,
Nature, that erreth not,
To thee that heart of fortitud
e hath given,
Those eyes of purity, that face of love:
If thou beest not the inheretrix of Heaven,
There is no truth above.”
12.
Thus as Neroodi spake, his brow severe
Shone with an inward joy; for sure he thought,
When Siva sent so fair a creature here,
In this momentous hour,
Ere long the World’s deliverance would be wrought,
And Padalon escape the Rajah’s power.
With pious mind, the Maid, in humble guise
Inclined, received his blessing silently,
And raised her grateful eyes
A moment, then again
Abased them at his presence. Hark! on high
The sound of coming wings! — her anxious ears
Have caught the distant sound. Ereenia brings
His burden down! Upstarting from her seat,
How joyfully she rears
Her eager head! and scarce upon the ground
Ladurlad’s giddy feet their footing found,
When with her trembling arms she clasped him round.
No word of greeting,
Nor other sign of joy, at that strange meeting:
Expectant of their fate,
Silent, and hand in hand,
Before the Infernal Gate,
The Father and his pious Daughter stand.
13.
Then to Neroodi said the Glendoveer,
“No Heaven-born Spirit e’er hath visited
This region drear and dread, but I, the first
Who tread your World accurst.
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
The Keeper of the way.
It was the Car wherein,
On Yamen’s festal day,
When all the Powers of Hell attend their King,
Yearly to Yamenpur did he repair
To pay his homage there.
Poised on a single wheel, it moved 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,
Complete Poetical Works of Robert Southey Page 154