Writing secret runes, mysterious words 740
In blood-red letters. The king’s heart was harrowed,
His spirit shaken by that scripting terror.
He saw in the angel’s writing on the wall
The promise of punishment for the people of Shinar.
Many men gathered to discuss and debate 745
What the hand of the holy spirit had written
As a grim warning, a ghastly prediction.
No scribe or scholar could read or decipher
The angel’s writing until the wise and righteous
Servant of the Lord, truth-seeker, dream-reader, 750
The man called Daniel, was brought to the hall.
His heart was filled with the Holy Spirit,
His understanding enlarged by the grace of God.
He was offered great gifts to read those letters,
Unravel the riddle of that mysterious writing. 755
The messenger of God, the mouthpiece of heaven,
Skilled in scripture, in both lore and law,
Answered the Chaldeans in the wisest way:
“I will never read holy runes for riches
Or solve secret writings for silver and gold. 760
God’s divine judgments are not for sale.
The meaning of the mystery is beyond your ken.
Your scripted fate cannot be changed.
What you don’t understand is your own arrogance
When you raise holy vessels in your heathen hands 765
And drink to your devils out of the sacred cups
That the Israelites used according to the law
At the ark of God until they were dishonored
By thieving hands and drunken minds,
Betrayed by pride and the lust for power. 770
What you drink now is the dregs of death,
The gift of God in his righteous wrath.
Your lord and leader, the previous prince,
Would never have tarnished the gold vessels
Of God in drunken revelry and boastful rage. 775
He never valued his own power over people
Or possessions even though his craft and courage
Had captured them both. That great protector
Often addressed his army with truthful words
After the Lord of heaven had revealed to him 780
In a mighty miracle that one power prevailed
Over all others, the Shaper of creation,
Sustainer of life, Guardian of glory,
Weaver of the world. Now you deny the existence
Of the living Lord, the eternal God, 785
Who rules in majesty over all your devils!”
CHRIST AND SATAN
This poem portrays three separate but related instances of conflict between Christ and Satan. The first (lines 1–386 in this translation) centers upon the mourning of Satan and the fallen angels in hell after their rebellion against God and their banishment from heaven. Their lament over the loss of a heavenly homeland and their present suffering are similar in tone to comparable passages in the OE elegies like The Wanderer and in OE Genesis (A and B). The second section (lines 387–699) focuses upon Christ’s harrowing of hell and his subsequent Resurrection and Ascension, followed by a description of the Last Judgment in which the glory of the saved and the torment of the damned are made clear in almost visceral terms. This section shares themes and treatments with the Judgment Day poems and Christ III: Judgment. The final section of the poem (lines 700–792) circles back to Satan’s temptation of Christ in the wilderness, which draws upon Matthew 4:1–11.
Whether these three sections are separate poems, related sections of a loosely constructed single poem, or organic parts of a unified poem remains the subject of some debate. Fulk and Cain, for example, argue that the poem “lacks a unified narrative trajectory, instead patching together three different strands of canonical and apocryphal passages … linked by homiletic passages urging preparations in this life for judgment in the next” (117–18). Clubb argues that the poet’s initial intention was “to compose a narrative poem on the events in the history of Christ after his crucifixion,” but that in the process he began to focus on the imaginative possibilities of adding dialogue to both the central and surrounding sections, and in the end, “[he] did not succeed in remodeling his extraneous material so that it joined neatly to the episode of the Descent” (liv–lv).
Others have argued for a more unified theme and purpose in the poem. Huppé, for example, says that “the Temptation is climactic, not historically, but tropologically (morally), and thus it serves admirably as the climax of the three symbolic events that reveal God’s might and define man’s duty” (1959, 231). Finnegan posits that “the structure bodies forth the dual theme of the revelation of Christ to man, and man’s moral obligation with respect thereto” (36). Isaacs argues that “the central organizing structural principle is not to be found in the arrangement of episodes in the narrative, nor in the formal system of contrasts between the title figures, nor in the dramatic progression of thematic material … but in the pattern of the speeches by the seven separate voices, distinct from his own, which the narrator uses” (127–28). Sleeth thinks that the “poet of Part I was concerned to show that the consequence of Satan’s cupiditas was his abasement and that the poet of Part II was concerned to show that the consequence of Christ’s caritas was his exaltation … [while] another look at Part III, where Christ and Satan come into direct conflict with each other, shows the conspicuous presence there of cupiditas (as the sin to which Christ is tempted), rejection of cupiditas, and abasement” (14). My own view is that the poem represents in triptych form the conflict between Christ and Satan within the framework of God’s providential purpose from the shape of creation to the salvation of mankind. Christ conquers Satan in heaven during the rebellion of the apostate angels. After his banishment from heaven, Satan’s only refuge from endless suffering is his delight in dragging the rebellious and condemned humans into hell. Christ’s second conquering of Satan is his harrowing of hell, releasing those good but suffering souls who have lived before his coming, and subsequently his elevation of the saved and condemnation of the damned on Judgment Day. Why, then, does the poem conclude with the earthly temptation of Christ in the wilderness? Possibly to remind the reader that Christ too was subject to the human forms of temptation that Satan offers, but that he resisted these—just as the reader should also resist them in order to join the ranks of those who will be judged worthy of salvation and raised to a homeland in heaven.
No single source has been found for this poem. It seems to draw upon the Gospels (especially Matthew), the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, Latin and vernacular homiletic tradition, and various commentaries by the church fathers. For more on the possible sources, see Finnegan, 37–55, and Sleeth, 50–67.
There are several places in the poem where an apparent break in the narrative thread indicates a probable loss of material from an earlier draft. After line 699 in this translation, there may have been a surer transition between the second and third sections of the poem. I have supplied two lines to make the transition clearer. After line 713, there is another break that results in the loss of the end of Christ’s response to the first temptation (I have supplied two lines to clarify this) and also the whole of the second temptation. Lines 716–19 seem out of place to some editors who move them back into the preceding second section of the poem, but I have amended them slightly to show that Christ may be pointing out to Satan that unlike the fallen angels, the faithful followers among mankind will find a blissful home in heaven.
Christ and Satan
God’s strength is no secret to anyone—
It was never concealed from the inhabitants of earth
When he first created the land and its regions.
His power is present from beginning to end.
He first made sun and moon, sand and soil, 5
Rock and river, the riddle of w
ater
In sea and storm, cloud and rain.
His power encompasses and embraces everything
From the ocean’s depth to the land’s breadth.
God shapes and sustains all things 10
Great and small from this day’s moment
To the stretch of forever. He himself,
The Son of God, holds in his infinite gaze
Everything that is, from oceans to eternity,
From the smallest seed to the celestial sphere. 15
He counts the clouds and reckons the raindrops.
The great Creator through his glorious spirit
Made the wondrous world in only six days,
Both heaven and earth, and the high seas.
Who could measure the shape of creation 20
Or the meaning of the miracle except God.
He first established the order of the world
From heavenly host to human community,
From noble Adam to that angelic leader
Who rebelled against him and came to grief. 25
Satan’s thanes considered themselves
Rulers of heaven in their unholy pride,
Lords of glory—they were grimly mistaken.
They lost heaven and discovered hell,
An unhappy home, exiled from God. 30
In that pit of misery, they endured pain
And endless woe in the flames’ embrace.
They lost the ethereal light of heaven
And found the blistering fires of hell.
Greedy and rapacious, they endured raw torment, 35
Gorging on terror till the end of time.
Only God knows how he gathered the guilty
And thrust them down in the endless abyss.
There the old, fallen angel wails bitterly,
Separated from God, with a wretched voice: 40
“Where is the glory of angels gone?
Where is our bright majesty and meaning?
Where is our rightful homeland in heaven?
This cave is cruel, this house is dark,
The floor is seething with fiery venom, 45
The walls are alive with shackles of flame.
For no short time we must endure this agony,
This mind’s misery, this world’s woe.
Our day’s delight is a night of the damned—
We are blind to heaven, hurled from its thrones. 50
Once we knew love, the Lord’s blessing,
Bliss in the presence of our noble Prince,
Hearing beautiful hymns in our innocent hearts.
Now we are lost to the love of God,
His goodness and grace. Unfallen angels 55
Are still surrounding the Lord’s throne,
Praising him there with words and works,
Basking in bliss while we are bound in flames,
Looking at nothing but our loathsome selves.
Here I’m an unholy hero, an outlaw in chains. 60
My pride has plunged me into a bitter haven—
I can never regain my home in heaven.”
Then the hideous demons, shackled in sin,
Shrieking in torment, answered their lord:
“You liar! You told us not to serve the Savior. 65
You said you controlled both heaven and earth,
Claiming to be the Creator himself.
Now you’re just a criminal in hell,
An unholy outlaw in a prison of pain.
We thought you were God, believed in your glory, 70
Altered our faith, and followed you here.
Your act is outrageous, your face revolting,
Your heroism a farce. We’re banned from bliss
Because of your lies. You even claimed
That the Lord of mankind was your own son. 75
It’s outrageous all the evil you’ve done
To reap this reward of exile and terror.”
So the angels in agony, outlaws and exiles,
Railed against Satan, their unruly lord,
With embittered words. Christ had expelled them, 80
Banished them from bliss. They had lost the light
Through envious pride, a pernicious sin,
And were plunged rebelling into a fierce prison,
Where hell’s grim welcome was a house of grief.
Dark and deformed, the once radiant angels, 85
Separated from God, demented and doomed,
Wandered that wasteland in a plague of pain,
Each of them his own affliction, his own bane.
The lord of demons, the first of fiends,
Spoke a second time, acutely aware 90
Of his torment and terror. His face aflame,
His mouth shot sparks as he spit out
A blaze of words in black lament.
His dark voice offered no demon joy:
“Once I was a holy angel in heaven, 95
Loved by the Lord and also this multitude,
But my heart’s desire was to hurl glory
Down from its throne, displace the radiant
Son of God so that I could rule the cities
With this band that I have brought home to hell. 100
His promise was plain—the reward for rebellion
Was banishment and pain in this underground
Hell-hole, an endless abyss of agony
That we can call home. Where is the hearth?
Where is the hall-joy? Where are the angels, 105
The heavenly hymns, the love of the Lord?
Here is no glory, only the grimmest fate.
Here is no light, only black fire
To feast on the body, singe the soul.
I am a fallen angel guilty before God. 110
Serpents and dragons guard these gates,
Venomous worms. There’s no way out.
In the fiery shade there’s no place to hide.
The only sound is the hissing of snakes.
The shackles of pain are binding our bones. 115
The hell-fiends are fierce, dismal and dark.
No sun shines here, no candle of heaven,
Not even a night-sliver moon. It’s all hell-haze.
We wander a wasteland of endless shadow.
Once I was the radiant ruler of heaven 120
Before I was unfairly hurled in the abyss,
Awaiting judgment. Now this pit is my palace,
A foul home for these raging fiends.
Yet sometimes we fly off, evil winging
In the unearthly air, this pride of pain, 125
Searching for another hell-hall. Mighty God
Will not grant us mercy, respite or relief,
Some untamed realm to rightfully rule
As he did before. The Son of God
Governs heaven’s glory and hell’s torment, 130
So I must wander an exile’s far road
Away from his endless gaze and grasp,
Separated from joy, deprived of bliss,
Estranged from angels, since I so boldly declared
Myself lord of heaven, ruler of that realm. 135
That power play did not work out well.”
As the wretched spirit, dragging his doom,
Spoke to his demon-host with little delight,
Venomous flames enveloped hell.
He spit out his words like bitter sparks: 140
“I am so huge and hideous, it’s hard to hide.
My wounds are the signs of sin and shame,
Visible to everyone in this vile hall.
How both heat and cold contend in this cave!
I can hear fallen hellions wailing in woe 145
In our underground abyss. Naked ones struggle
With snakes and serpents biting their bodies.
The hell-hall is awash with venomous worms.
The pain pulses in through every pore.
I will never know the joy of a happie
r home, 150
Whether prince’s palace or humble house.
I will never regard the radiant beauty
Of holy creation. That heavenly glory
Is a grim reminder of the light I’ve lost.
The singing of angels is an agony for me, 155
And the children surrounding the Son with song.
I want to strike out, but the only souls
I’m allowed to torment are the ones God disowns—
These captives I bring home to the bitter abyss.
Once we were gleaming with bright esteem, 160
Bearing honor in heaven and the love of the Lord,
Alive in the arms of his eager embrace
And the lift and fall of our hearts’ rejoicing.
That grace is gone. This grim hell remains.
I am shamed with sin, doomed by my deeds, 165
Wounded with wickedness, aching with evil.
Now I can no longer lift my angelic wings
Or countenance to Christ, but bear on my back
The tongues of torment, the fetters of flame,
Singeing my skin, blazing my bones. 170
This hellfire has unhallowed my hopes and dreams.”
The shepherd of sin, the keeper of crime,
That unmade monster, had more to say.
His misery was hot in his venomous mouth:
“Gone is the glory of almighty God, 175
Gone is the honor of the angelic host,
Gone is the presence of the loving Lord,
Gone is the innocence of all on earth.
Gone is the beauty and brightness of day,
Gone is the rest and revival of night, 180
Gone is our gateway to heaven’s homeland,
Gone is the joyful embrace of God.
Nothing is now what it once was.
I am exiled from heaven, cut off from joy.
I cannot raise my arms or eyes to God. 185
I cannot hear the trumpet of welcome
Because I tried to drive the Son of God
From his rightful throne. What I wanted
Was to rule that realm, be the gift-giver
Of my own godlike glory, my own bad bliss. 190
This turned out worse than I ever expected!
I am blind to the radiance of my old host,
Deaf to the symphony that surrounds the Lord,
Expelled from the light that lifts the spirit
Into this unloved, loathsome, unholy home. 195
How did I land in this endless abyss?
How did I find myself snared in sin?
How was I cast off from the company of angels?
The Complete Old English Poems Page 25