The Almighty Man appeared on every side.
In the same indivisible point of time,
At the eight Gates he stood at once, and beat
The Warden-Gods of Hell beneath his feet;
Then, in his brazen Cars of triumph, straight,
At the same moment, drove through every gate.
By Aullays, hugest of created kind,
Fiercest, and fleeter than the viewless wind,
His Cars were drawn, — ten yokes of ten abreast..
What less sufficed for such almighty weight?
Eight bridges from the fiery flood arose,
Growing before his way; and on he goes,
And drives the thundering Chariot-wheels along,
At once o’er all the roads of Padalon.
3.
Silent and motionless remain
The Asuras on their bed of pain,
Waiting, with breathless hope, the great event.
All Hell was hushed in dread,
Such awe that omnipresent coming spread;
Nor had its voice been heard, though all its rout
Innumerable had lifted up one shout;
Nor, if the infernal firmament
Had in one unimaginable burst
Spent its collected thunders, had the sound
Been audible, such louder terrors went
Before his forms substantial. Round about,
The presence scattered lightnings far and wide,
That quenched on every side,
With their intensest blaze, the feebler fire
Of Padalon, even as the stars go out,
When, with prodigious light,
Some blazing meteor fills the astonished night.
4.
The Diamond City shakes!
The adamantine Rock
Is loosened with the shock!
From its foundation moved, it heaves and quakes;
The brazen portals, crumbling, fall to dust;
Prone fall the Giant Guards,
Beneath the Aullays crushed;
On, on, through Yamenpur, their thundering feet
Speed from all points to Yamen’s Judgment-seat
And, lo! where multiplied,
Behind, before him, and on every side,
Wielding all weapons in his countless hands,
Around the Lord of Hell Kehama stands!
Then, too, the Lord of Hell put forth his might:
Thick darkness, blacker than the blackest night,
Rose from their wrath, and veiled
The unutterable fight.
The power of Fate and Sacrifice prevailed,
And soon the strife was done.
Then did the Man-God re-assume
His unity, absorbing into one
The consubstantiate shapes; and, as the gloom
Opened, fallen Yamen on the ground was seen,
His neck beneath the conquering Rajah’s feet,
Who on the marble tomb
Had his triumphal seat.
5.
Silent the Man-Almighty sate; a smile
Gleamed on his dreadful lips, the while,
Dallying with power, he paused from following up
His conquest, as a man in social hour
Sips of the grateful cup,
Again and yet again, with curious taste,
Searching its subtile flavor ere he drink;
Even so Kehama now forbore his haste,
Having within his reach whate’er he sought.
On his own haughty power he seemed to muse,
Pampering his arrogant heart with silent thought.
Before him stood the Golden Throne in sight,
Right opposite; he could not choose but see,
Nor, seeing, choose but wonder. “Who are ye
Who bear the Golden Throne tormented there?”
He cried; “for whom doth Destiny prepare
The Imperial Seat? and why are ye but Three?”
6.
FIRST STATUE.
I of the Children of Mankind was first,
Me miserable! who, adding store to store,
Heaped up superfluous wealth; and now, accurst,
For ever I the frantic crime deplore.
SECOND STATUE.
I, o’er my Brethren of Mankind the first
Usurping power, set up a throne sublime,
A King and Conqueror; therefore, thus accurst.
For ever I in vain repent the crime.
THIRD STATUE.
I on the Children of Mankind the first,
In God’s most holy name, imposed a tale
Of impious falsehood; therefore, thus accurst,
For ever I in vain the crime bewail.
7.
“Even as thou here beholdest us,
Here we have stood, tormented thus,
Such countless ages, that they seem to be
Long as eternity;
And still we are but Three.
A Fourth will come to share
Our pain, at yonder vacant corner bear
His portion of the burden, and complete
The Golden Throne for Yamen’s Judgment-seat
Thus hath it been appointed: he must be
Equal in guilt to us, the guilty Three.
Kehama, come! too long we wait for thee!”
8.
Thereat, with one accord,
The Three took up the word, like choral song,
“Come, Rajah! Man-God! Earth’s Almighty Lord
Kehama, come! we wait for thee too long.”
9.
A short and sudden laugh of wondering pride
Burst from him in his triumph: to reply
Scornful he deigned not; but with altered eye,
Wherein some doubtful meaning seemed to lie,
He turned to Kailyal. “Maiden,” thus he cried,
“I need not bid thee see
How vain it is to strive with Fate’s decree,
When hither thou hast fled to fly from me,
And, lo! even here thou find’st me at thy side.
Mine thou must be, being doomed with me to share
The Amreeta Cup of immortality;
Yea, by Myself I swear,
It hath been thus appointed. Joyfully
Join then thy hand and heart and will with mine,
Nor at such glorious destiny repine,
Nor in thy folly more provoke my wrath divine.”
10.
She answered, “I have said. It must not be!
Almighty as thou art,
Thou hast put all things underneath thy feet;
But still the resolute heart
And virtuous will are free.
Never, oh! never, never, can there be
Communion, Rajah, between thee and me!”
11.
“Once more,” quoth he, “I urge, and once alone.
Thou seest yon Golden Throne,
Where I anon shall set thee by my side;
Take thou thy seat thereon,
Kehama’s willing bride,
And I will place the Kingdoms of the World
Beneath thy Father’s feet,
Appointing him the King of mortal men:
Else underneath that Throne,
The Fourth supporter, he shall stand and groan;
Prayers will be vain to move my mercy then.”
12.
Again the Virgin answered,” I have said!”
Ladurlad caught her in his proud embrace,
While on his neck she hid
In agony her face.
13.
“Bring forth the Amreeta Cup!” Kehama cried
To Yamen, rising sternly in his pride.
“It is within the Marble Sepulchre,”
The vanquished Lord of Padalon replied;
“Bid it be opened.”—” Give thy treasure up!”
Exclaimed the Man-Almighty to the Tomb.
And at his voice and look
The massy fabric shook, and opened wide.
A huge Anatomy was seen reclined
Within its marble womb. “Give me the Cup!”
Again Kehama cried: no other charm
Was needed than that voice of stern command.
From his repose the ghastly form arose,
Put forth his bony and gigantic arm,
And gave the Amreeta to the Rajah’s hand.
‘Take, drink!” with accents dread the Spectre said;
“For thee and Kailyal hath it been assigned,
Ye only of the Children of Mankind.”
14.
Then was the Man-Almighty’s heart elate:
“This is the consummation!” he exclaimed;
“Thus have I triumphed over Death and Fate.
Now, Siva, look to thine abode!
Henceforth, on equal footing we engage,
Alike immortal now; and we shall wage
Our warfare, God to God!”
Joy filled his impious soul,
And to his lips he raised the fatal bowl.
15.
Thus long the Glendoveer had stood
Watching the wonders of the eventful hour,
Amazed, but undismayed; for in his heart
Faith, overcoming fear, maintained its power.
Nor had that faith abated, when the God
Of Padalon was beaten down in fight;
For then he looked to see the heavenly might
Of Siva break upon them. But, when now
He saw the Amreeta in Kehama’s hand,
An impulse which defied all self-command
In that extremity
Stung him, and he resolved to seize the cup,
And dare the Rajah’s force in Siva’s sight.
Forward he sprung to tempt the unequal fray,
When, lo! the Anatomy,
With warning arm, withstood his desperate way;
And from the Golden Throne the Fiery Three
Again, in one accord, renewed their song,
“Kehama, come! we wait for thee too long.”
16.
O fool of drunken hope and frantic vice!
Madman! to seek for power beyond thy scope
Of knowledge, and to deem
Less than Omniscience could suffice
To wield Omnipotence! O fool, to dream
That immortality could be
The meed of evil! — yea, thou hast it now,
Victim of thine own wicked heart’s device;
Thou hast thine object now, and now must pay the
price.
17.
He did not know the holy mystery
Of that divinest cup, that as the lips
Which touch it, even such its quality,
Good or malignant. Madman! and he thinks
The blessed prize is won, and joyfully he drinks.
18.
Then Siva opened on the Accursed One
His Eye of Anger: upon him alone
The wrath-beam fell. He shudders, — but too late:
The deed is done;
The dreadful liquor works the will of Fate.
Immortal he would be,
Immortal he is made: but through his veins
Torture at once and immortality,
A stream of poison doth the Amreeta run;
And, while within the burning anguish flows,
His outward body glows,
Like molten ore, beneath the avenging Eye,
Doomed thus to live and burn eternally.
19.
The Fiery Three,
Beholding him, set up a fiendish cry,
A song of jubilee I
“Come, Brother, come!” they sung; “too long
Have we expected thee;
Henceforth we bear no more
The unequal weight. Come, Brother, we are Four!”
20.
Vain his almightiness: for mightier pain
Subdued ail power; pain ruled supreme alone;
And, yielding to the bony hand
The unemptied cup, he moved toward the Throne,
And at the vacant corner took his stand.
Behold the Golden Throne at length complete!
And Yamen silently ascends the Judgment-seat
21.
“For two alone, of all mankind, to me
The Amreeta Cup was given,”
Then said the Anatomy:
The Man hath drunk; the Woman’s turn is next
Come, Kailyal, come, receive thy doom,
And do the Will of Heaven!”
Wonder and Fear and Awe at once perplexed
The mortal Maiden’s heart; but, over all,
Hope rose triumphant. With a trembling hand,
Obedient to his call,
She took the fated Cup; and lifting up
Her eyes, where holy tears began to swell,
“Is it not your command,
Ye Heavenly Powers?” as on her knees she fell,
The pious Virgin cried:
“Ye know my innocent will, my heart sincere;
Ye govern all things still,
And wherefore should I fear?”
22.
She said, and drank. The Eye of Mercy beamed
Upon the Maid; a cloud of fragrance steamed
Like incense-smoke as all her mortal frame
Dissolved beneath the potent agency
Of that mysterious draught; such quality
From her pure touch the fated Cup partook.
Like one entranced she knelt,
Feeling her body melt
Till all but what was heavenly passed away:
Yet still she felt
Her Spirit strong within her, the same heart,
With the same loves, and all her heavenly part
Unchanged, and ripened to such perfect state
In this miraculous birth, as here, on Earth,
Dimly our holiest hopes anticipate.
23.
“Mine! mine!” with rapturous joy Ereenia cried;
“Immortal now, and yet not more divine;
Mine, mine, — for ever mine!”
The immortal Maid replied,
“For ever, ever, thine!”
24.
Then Yamen said, “O thou to whom by Fate,
Alone of all mankind, this lot is given,
Daughter of Earth, but now the Child of Heaven!
Go with thy heavenly Mate,
Partaker now of his immortal bliss;
Go to the Swerga-Bowers,
And there recall the hours
Of endless happiness.”
25.
But that sweet Angel, — for she still retained
Her human loves and human piety,
As if reluctant at the God’s commands,
Lingered, with anxious eye
Upon her Father fixed, and spread her hands
Toward him wistfully.
“Go!” Yamen said, “nor cast that look behind
Upon Ladurlad at this parting hour,
For thou shalt find him in thy Mother’s Bower.”
26.
The Car — for Carmala his word obeyed —
Moved on, and bore away the Maid;
While from the Golden Throne the Lord of Death
With love benignant on Ladurlad smiled,
And gently on his head his blessing laid.
As sweetly as a Child,
Whom neither thought disturbs nor care encumbers.
Tired with long play at close of summer-day,
Lies down and slumbers;
Even thus, as sweet a boon of sleep partaking,
By Yamen blest, Ladurlad sunk to rest.
Blessèd that sleep! more blessed was the waking!
For on that night a heavenly morning broke:
The light of heaven was round him when he woke;
And in the Swerga, in Yedillian’s Bower,
All whom he loved
he met, to part no more.
RODERICK, THE LAST OF THE GOTHS
Originally entitled “Pelayo, the Restorer of Spain”, the epic poem Roderick, the Last of the Goths was first published in 1814. Southey originally described Pelayo as the hero of the story and his enemy, Roderick, last Visigoth king, as the villain. However, after the horrors of Napoleon’s invading conflicts in Europe, Southey changed his mind and chose to portray Roderick in a more sympathetic light, changing the focus from Spain to the tragedy of Roderick. In the narrative, the Visigoths, the original rulers of Spain, fall under the invading Moors, which was provoked by the rape of Florinda by Roderick. The fall of the Visigoths was also due to internal strife and political disorder. In particular, there was disorder with the ascension of Roderick to the Spanish throne, as he attained it after his father, Theodofred, was blinded by his uncle Witiza. During this time, Pelayo, cousin to Roderick and whose father was killed by Witiza at the prompting of his traitorous mother Favila, fled for his life from Spain. When Roderick takes over, he defends Witiza and spares his other relatives, but the survivors also help the Moors invade Spain along with Count Julian.
Southey, like other poets that described the story of Roderick at the time, connected the Moorish invasion of Spain with Napoleon’s invading of other countries. The story is also used to discuss the relationship of Islam and Christianity while promoting Southey’s own views on religion. Critics gave the work mixed reviews, though many believed that Roderick the Last of the Goths was Southey’s greatest work. Some critics pointed out various flaws in the work, but most felt that the subject was well handled and appropriately chosen.
Southey’s contemporary James Losh believed that the poem was “superior to anything before written by Southey”. A letter from Charles Lamb to Southey dated 6 May 1815 said, “I have, since the receipt of your present, read it quite through again, and with no diminished pleasure. I don’t know whether I ought to say that it has given me more pleasure than any of your long poems. Kehama is doubtless more powerful, but I don’t feel that firm footing in it that I do in Roderick.” John Taylor Coleridge’s review for the British Critic read, “This is the first time that we have had an opportunity of paying Mr. Southey the attention which he deserves; and we avail ourselves of it gladly… Mr. Southey is eminently a moral writer; to the high purpose implied in this title, the melody of his numbers, the clear rapidity of his style, the pathetic power which he exercises over our feelings, and the interesting manner of telling his story, whether in verse or prose, are all merely contributive.”
Complete Poetical Works of Robert Southey Page 156