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THE LOVES OF THE ANGELS.

THOMAS

BY

MOORE.

PREFACE.

THE Eastern story of the ange's Harut and Marut, and the Rabbinical fictions of the loves of Uzziel and Shamchazai, are the only sources to which I need refer, for the origin of the notion on which this Romance is founded. In addition to the fitness of the subject for poetry, it struck me also as capable of affording an allegorical medium, through which might be shadowed out (as I have endeavored to do in the following stories) the fall of the Soul from its original purity-the loss of light and happiness which it suffers, in the pursuit of this world's perishable pleasures and the punishments, both from conscience and divine justice, with which impurity, pride, and presumptuous inquiry into the awful secrets of Heaven, are sure to be visited. The beautiful story of Cupid and Psyche owes its chief charm to this sort of "veiled meaning," and it has been my wish (however I may have failed in the attempt) to communicate to the following pages the same moral interest.

Among the doctrines, or notions, derived by Plato from the East, one of the most natural and sublime is that which inculcates the pre-existence of the soul, and its gradual descent into this dark material world, from that region of spirit and light which it is supposed to have once inhabited, and to which, after a long lapse of purification and trial, it will return. This relief, under various symbolical forms, may be traced through almost all the Oriental theologies. The Chaldeans represent the Soul as originally endowed with wings, which fall away when it sinks from its native element, and must be reproduced before it can hope to return. Some disciples of Zoroaster once inquired of him, "How the wings of the Soul might be made to grow again?” “By sprinkling them," he replied, "with the Waters of Life." "But where are those Waters to be found?" they asked. "In the Garden of God," replied Zoroaster.

66

The mythology of the Persians has allegorized the same doctrine, in the history of those genii of light who strayed from their dwellings in the stars, and obscured their origigal nature by mixture with this material sphere; while the Egyptians, connecting it with the descent and ascent of the sun in the zodiac, considered Autumn as emblematic of the

See note on page 3.

Hyde de Relig. Vet. Persarum, p. 272.

The account which Macrobius gives of the downward urey of the Soul, through that gate of the zodiac which opens into the lower spheres, is a curious specimen of the wild fancies passed for philosophy in ancient times.

In the system of Manes, the luminous or spiritual principle Owes its corruption, not to any evil tendency of its own, but to violent inroad of the spirits of darkness, who, finding themselves in the neighborhood of this pure light, and becoming assionately enamored of its beauty, break the boundaries between them, and take forcible possession of it.f

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Soul's decline toward darkness, and the reappearance of Spring as its return to life and light.

Besides the chief spirits of the Mahometan heaven, such as Gabriel, the angel of Revelations, Israfil, by whom the last trumpet is to be sounded, and Azrael, the angel of death, there were also a number of subaltern intelligences, of which tradition has preserved the names, appointed to preside over the different stages, or ascents, into which the celestial world was supposed to be divided. Thus Kelail governs the fifth heaven; while Sadiel, the presiding spirit of the third, is also employed in steadying the motions of the earth, which would be in a constant state of agitation, if this angel did not keep his foot planted upon its orb.t

Among other miraculous interpositions in favor of Mahomet, we find commemorated in the pages of the Koran the appearance of five thousand angels on his side at the battle of Bedr.

The ancient Persians supposed that Ormuzd appointed thirty angels to preside successively over the days of the month, and twelve greater ones to assume the government of the months themselves; among whom Bahman (to whom Ormuzd committed the custody of all animals, except man), was the greatest. Mihr, the angel of the "th month, was also the spirit that watched over the affairs of friendship and love; Chûr had the care of the disk of the sun; Mah was agent for the concerns of the moon; Isphandârmaz (whom Cazvin calls the Spirit of the Earth) was the tutelar genius of good and virtuous women, etc., For all this the reader may consult the 19th and 20th chapters of Hyde de Relig. Vet. Persarum, where the names and attributes of these daily and monthly angels are with much minuteness and erudition explained. It appears, from the Zend-avesta, that the Persians had a certain office or prayer for every day of the month (addressed to the particular angel who presided over it), which they called

etc.

the Sirouzé.

The Celestial Hierarchy of the Syrians, as described by Kircher, appears to be the most regularly graduated of an of these systems. In the sphere of the Moon they placea the angels, in that of Mercury the archangels, Venus and the Sun contained the Principalities and the Powers; and so on to the summit of the planetary system, where, in the sphere of Saturn, the Thrones had their station. Above this was the habitation of the Cherubim in the sphere of the fixed stars; and still higher, in the region of those stars which are so distant as to be imperceptible, the Seraphim, we are told, the most perfect of all celestial creatures, dwelt.

The Sabeans also (as D'Herbelot tells us) had their classes of angels, to whom they prayed as mediators, or intercessors; and the Arabians worshipped female angels, whom they called Benad Hasche, or, Daughters of God.

"We adorned the lower heaven with lights, and placed therein a guard of angels."-Koran, chap. xli. See D'Herbelot, passim.

THE LOVES OF THE ANGELS.

TWAS when the world was in its prime, When the fresh stars had just begun Their race of glory, and young Time

Told his first birth-days by the sun. When, in the light of Nature's dawn

Rejoicing, men and angels met* On the high hill and sunny lawnEre sorrow came, or Sin had drawn

'Twixt man and heaven her curtail yet! When earth lay nearer to the skies

Than in these days of crime and wo,
And mortals saw, without surprise,
In the mid-air, angelie eyes

Gazing upon this world below.

Alas, that Passion should profane,

Even then, the morning of the earth! That, sadder still, the fatal stain

Should fall on hearts of heavenly birthAnd that from Woman's love should fall So dark a stain, most sad of all!

One evening, in that primal hour,

On a hill's side, where hung the ray Of sunset, brightening rill and bower, Three noble youths conversing lay; And, as they looked, from time to time, To the far sky, where Daylight furled His radiant wing, their brows sublime

Bespoke them of that distant worldSpirits, who once, in brotherhood Of faith and bliss, near ALLA stood, And o'er whose cheeks full oft had blown The wind that breathes from ALLA's throne,f Creatures of light, such as still play,

Like motes in sunshine, round the Lord, And through their infinite array Transmit each moment, night and day, The echo of his luminous word!

Gf Heaven they spoke, and, still more oft,

Of the bright eyes that charmed them thence; Till, yielding gradual to the soft

And balmy evening's influence-
The silent breathing of the flowers

The melting light that beamed above,
As on their first, fond, erring hours,
Each told the story of his love,
The history of that hour unblest,
When, like a bird, from its high nest
Won down by fascinating eyes,
For Woman's smile he lost the skies.

The First who spoke was one, with look
The least celestial of the three-
A Spirit of light mould, that took

The prints of earth most yieldingly; Who, even in heaven, was not of those Nearest the Throne, but held a place Far off, among those shining rows

That circle out through endless space, And o'er whose wings the light from Him In Heaven's centre falls most dim.

The Mahometans believe, says D'Herbelot, that in that rarly period of the world, "les hommes n'eurent qu'une seule religion, et furent souvent visités des Anges, qui leur donnoient la main."

"To which will be joined the sound of the bells hanging on the trees, which will be put in motion by the wind proceeding from the Throne, so often as the Blessed wish for music." Sce Sale's Koran, Prelim. Dissert

The ancient Persians supposed that this Throne was placed in the Sun, and that through the stars were distributed the various classes of Angels that encircled it.

The Basilidians supposed that there were three hundred and sixty-five orders of angels, “dont la perfection alioit en d'écroissant, à mesure qu'ils s'éloignoient de la première classe d'esprits placés dans le premier ciel." See Dupuis, Orig. des Cuites, tom. ii., p. 112

Still fair and glorious, he but shone
Among those youths th' unheavenliest ons—
A creature, to whom light remained
From Eden still, but altered, stained,
And o'er whose brow not Love alone
A blight had, in his transit, cast,
But other, earthlier joys had gone,
And left their foot-prints as they passed.
Sighing, as back through ages flown,
Like a tomb-searcher, Memory ran,
Lifting each shroud that Time had th
O'er buried hopes, he thus began :-

FIRST ANGEL'S STORY.

""Twas in a land, that far away

Into the golden orient lies, Where Nature knows not night's delay, But springs to meet her bridegroom, Day, Upon the threshold of the skies. One morn, on earthly mission sent,* And mid-way choosing where to light,

I saw, from the blue element

Oh beautiful, but fatal sight!
One of earth's fairest womankind,
Half veiled from view, or rather shrined
In the clear crystal of a brook;

Which, while it hid no single gleam
Of her young beauties, made them look
More spirit-like, as they might seem
Through the dim shadowing of a dream.
Pausing in wonder I looked on,

While, playfully around her breaking
The waters, that like diamonds shone
She moved in light of her own making.
At length, as from that airy height
I gently lowered my breathless flight,
The tremble of my wings all o'er

(For through each plume I felt the thril; Startled her, as she reached the shore

Of that small lake-her mirror still-
Above whose brink she stood, like snow
When rosy with a sunset glow.
Never shall I forget those eyes!
The shame, the innocent surprise
Of that bright face, when in the air
Uplooking, she beheld me there,
It seemed as if each thought, and look,
And motion, were that minute chained
Fast to the spot, such root she took,
And-like a sunflower by a brook,

With face upturned-so still remained!

In pity to the wond'ring maid,

Though loath from such a vision turning, Downward I bent, beneath the shade

Of my spread wings to hide the burning Of glances, which-I well could feelFor me, for her, too warmly shone; But, ere I could again unseal My restless eyes, or even steal

One sidelong look, the maid was gone.. Hid from me in the forest leaves,

Sudden as when, in all her charms
Of full-blown light, some cloud receives
The Moon into his dusky arms.

'Tis not in words to tell the power, The despotism that, from that hour,

It appears that, in most languages, the term employed for an angel means also a messenger. Firischteh, the Persian word for angel, is derived (says D'Herbelot) from the rert Firischtin, to send. The Hebrew term, too, Melak, has the same signification.

Passion held o'er me. Day and night

I sought around each neighboring spot; And, in the chase of this sweet light,

My task, and heaven, and all forgot; All, but the one, sole, haunting dream Of her I saw in that bright stream.

Nor was it long, ere by her side

I found myself, whole happy days, List'ning to words, whose music vied

With our own Eden's seraph lays, When seraph lays are warmed by love, But, wanting that, far, far above! And looking into eyes where, blue And beautiful, like skies seen through The sleeping wave, for me there shone A heaven, more worshipped than my own. Oh what, while I could hear and see Such words and looks, was heaven to me? Though gross the air on earth I drew, 'Twas blessed, while she breathed it too; Though dark the flowers, though dim the sky, Love lent them light while she was nigh. Throughout creation I but knew Two separate worlds-the one, that small, Beloved, and consecrated spot

Where LEA was-the other, all

The dull, wide waste, where she was not!

But vain my suit, my madness vain ;
Though gladly, from her eyes to gain

One earthly look, one stray desire,
I would have torn the wings, that hung
Furled at my back, and o'er the Fire
In GEHIM's pit their fragments flung;-
'Twas hopeless all-pure and unmoved
She stood, as lilies in the light

Of the hot noon but look more white;
And though she loved me, deeply loved,
'Twas not as man, as mortal-no,
Nothing of earth was in that glow-
She loved me but as one, of race
Angelic, from that radiant place
She saw so oft in dreams-that heaven,

To which her prayers at morn were sent,
And on whose light she gazed at even,
Wishing for wings, that she might go
Out of this shadowy world below,
To that free, glorious element?

Well I remember by her side
Sitting at rosy even-tide,
When-turning to the star, whose head
Looked out, as from a bridal bed,
At that mute, blushing hour-she said,
'Oh! that it were my doom to be

The Spirit of yon beauteous star,
Dweiling up there in purity,

Alone, as all such bright things are; My sole employ to pray and shine. To light my censer at the sun And cas its fire toward the shrine

Or Him in heaven, th' Eternal one!'

So innocent the maid, so free

From mortal taint in soul and frame, Whom 'twas my crime-mv destinyTo love, ay, burn for, with a tame,

To which earth's wildest fires are tame.

The name given by the Mahometans to the infernal regions over which, they say, the angel Tabhek presides.

Ey the seven gates of hell, mentioned in the Koran, the comentators understand seven different departments or werds, in which seven different sorts of sinners are to be punrhed The first, called Gehennem, is for sinful Mussulmans; the second, Ladha, for Christian offenders; the third, Hothais appointed for Jews; and the fourth and fifth, called Sair and Sacar, are destined to receive the Sabæans and the worshippers of fire; in the sixth, named Gehim, those pagans and idolaters who admit a plurality of gods are placed; while into the abyss of the seventh, called Derk Asfal, or the Deepst, the hypocritical canters of all religions are thrown.

213,

Had you but seen her look, when first
From my mad lips th' avowal burst;
Not angered-no-the feeling came
From depths beyond mere anger's flame-

It was a sorrow, calm as deep,
A mournfulness that could not weep,
So filled her heart was to the brink,
So fixed and frozen with grief, to think
That angel natures-that even J,
Whose love she clung to, as the tie
Between her spirit and the sky-
Should fall thus headlong from the height
Of all that heaven hath pure and bright!

That very night-my heart had grown

Impatient of its inward burning;

The term, too, of my stay was flown,
And the bright Watchers near the throne,
Already, if a meteor shone

Between them and this nether zone,

Thought 'twas their herald's wing returning. Oft did the potent spell-word, given

To Envoys hither from the skies,

To be pronounced, when back to heaven
It is their time or wish to rise,
Come to my lips that fatal day;

And once, too, was so nearly spoken,
That my spread plumage in the ray

And breeze of heaven began to play;

When my heart failed-the spell was brokenThe word unfinished died away,

And my checked plumes, ready to soar,
Fell slack and lifeless as before.
How could I leave a world which she,
Or lost or won, made all to me?
No matter where my wand'rings were,

So there she looked, breathed, moved about—
Wo, ruin, death, more sweet with her,
Than Paradise itself, without!

But, to return-that very day

A feast was held, where, full of mirth, Came-crowding thick as flowers that play In summer winds-the young and gay And beautiful of this bright earth. And she was there, and 'mid the young And beautiful stood first, alone; Though on her gentle brow still hung

The shadow I that morn had thrownThe first, that ever shame or wo Had cast upon its vernal snow. My heart was maddened;-in the flush Of the wild revel I gave way To all that frantic mirth-that rush Of desp❜rate gayety, which they, Who never felt how pain's excess Can break out thus, think happiness! Sad mimicry of mirth and life, Whose flashes come but from the strife Of inward passions-like the light Struck out by clashing swords in fight.

Then, too, that juice of earth, the bane
And blessing of man's heart and brain-
That draught of sorcery, which brings
Phantoms of fair, forbidden things-
Whose drops, like those of rainbows, sr.ale
Upon the mists that circle man,
Brightening not only Earth, the while,

But grasping Heaven, too, in their span! Then first the fatal winecup rained

Its dews of darkness through my lips,

I have already mentioned that some of the circumstances of this story were suggested to me by the eastern legend of the two angels, Harut and Marut, as given by Mariti, who says that the author of Taalim founds upon it the Mahonetan prohibition of wine. I have since found that Mariti's version of the tale (which differs also from that of Dr. Pri deaux, in his life of Mahomet), is taken from the French En cyclop die, in which work, under the head "Arot et Marot." the reader will find it.

The Bahardanush tells the fable differently.

Casting whate'er of light remained
To my lost soul into eclipse;
And filling it with such wild dreams,
Such fantasies and wrong desires,
As, in the absence of heaven's beams,
Haunt us for ever-like wild-fires,
That walk this earth, when day retires.

Now hear the rest; our banquet done,
I sought her in th' accustomed bower,
Where late we oft, when day was gone,
And the world hushed, had met alone,

At the same silent, moonlight hour.
Her eyes, as usual, were upturned
To her loved star, whose lustre barned
Purer than ever on that night;
While she, in looking, grew more bright,
As though she borrowed of its light.

There was a virtue in that scene,

A spell of holiness around,
Which, had my burning brain not been

Thus maddened, would have held me bound,
As though I trod celestial ground.
Even as it was, with soul all flame,

And lips that burned in their own sighs,
I stood to gaze, with awe and shame-
The memory of Eden came

Full o'er me when I saw those eyes;
And though too well each glance of mine
To the pale, shrinking maiden proved
How far, alas! from aught divine,
Aught worthy of so pure a shrine,

Was the wild love with which I loved,
Yet must she, too, have seen-oh yes,
'Tis soothing but to think she saw
The deep, true, soul-felt tenderness,
The homage of an Angel's awe
To her, a mortal, whom pure love
Then placed above him-far above-
And all that struggle to repress
A sinful spirit's mad excess,
Which worked within me at that hour,

When, with a voice, where Passion shed
All the deep sadness of her power,
Her melancholy power-I said,
'Then be it so; if back to heaven
I must unloved, unpitied fly,
Without one blest memorial given

To sooth me in that lonely sky;
One look, like those the young and fond

Give when they're parting-which would be,

Even in remembrance, far beyond

All heaven hath left of bliss for me!

Oh, but to see that head recline

A minute on this trembling arm,
And those mild eyes look up to mine,
Without a dread, a thought of harm!
To meet, but once, the thrilling touch

Of lips too purely fond to fear me-
Or, if that boon be all too much,

Even thus to bring their fragrance near me! Nay, shrink not so-a look-a word

Give them but kindly, and I fly; Already, see, my plumes have stirred, And tremble for their home on high. Thus be our parting-cheek to cheekOne minute's lapse will be forgiven, And thou, the next, shalt hear me speak The spell that plumes my wing for heaven!'

While thus I spoke, the fearful maid,
Of me, and of herself afraid,
Had shrinking stood, like flowers beneath
The scorching of the south-wind's breath:
But when I named-alas! too well,

I now recall, though wildered then-
Instantly, when I named the spell,

Her brow, her eyes uprose again, And, with an eagerness, that spoke The sudden light that o'er her broke.

The spell, the spell!-oh, speak it now,
And I will bless thee!' she exclaimed—
Unknowing what I did, inflamed,
And lost already, on her brow

I stamped one burning kiss, and named
The mystic word, till then ne'er told
To living creature of earth's mould !
Scarce was it said, when, quick as thought,
Her lips from mine, like echo, caught
The holy sound-her hands and eyes
Were instant lifted to the skies,
And thrice to heaven she spoke it ont
With that trium, hant look Faith years,
When not a cloud of fear or doubt,

A vapor from this vale of tears,
Between her and her God appears!
That very moment her whole frame
All bright and glorified became,
And at her back I saw unclose
Two wings, magnificent as those

That sparkle around ALLA's Throne,
Whose plumes, as buoyantly she rose

Above me, in the moonbeam shone
With a pure light, which-from its hue,
Unknown upon this earth-I knew
Was light from Eden, glist'ning through!
Most holy vision! ne'er before

Did aught so radiant-since the day
When EBLIS, in his downfall, bore

The third of the bright stars away-
Rise, in earth's beauty, to repair
That loss of light and glory there!

But did I tamely view her flight?

Did not I, too, proclaim out thrice The powerful words that were, that nightOh, even for heaven too much delight!— Again to bring us, eyes to eyes, And soul to soul, in Paradise?

I did I spoke it o'er and o'er

I prayed, I wept, but all in vain; For me the spell had power no more.

There seemed around me some dark chain Which still, as I essayed to soar,

Baffled, alas! each wild endeavor:
Dead lay my wings, as they have lain
Since that sad hour, and will remain-
So wills th' offended God-for ever!

It was to yonder star I traced
Her journey up th' illumined waste-
That isle in the blue firmament,
To which so oft her fancy went

In wishes and in dreams before,
And which was now-such, Purity,
Thy blest reward-ordained to be
Her home of light for evermore!
Once or did I but fancy so?-

Even in her flight to that fair sphere
'Mid all her spirit's new-felt glow,
A pitying look she turned below

On him who stood in darkness here;
Him whom, perhaps, if vain regret
Can dwell in heaven, she pities yet;
And oft, when looking to this dim
And distant world, remembers him.
But soon that passing dream was gone;
Further and further off she shone,
Til! lessened to a point, as small

As are those specks that yonder burn-
Those vivid drops of light, that fall

The last from Day's exhausted urn. And when at length she merged, afar, Into her own immortal star,

And when at length my straining sight

Had caught her wing's last fading ray, That minute from my soul the light

Of heaven and love both passed away; And I forgot my home, my birth,

Profaned my spirit, sunk my brow, And revelled in gross joys of earth, Till I became--what I am now!"

The Spirit bowed his heal in shame;

A shame, that of itself would tellWere there not even those breaks of flame, Celestial, through his clouded frame

How grand the height from which he fell! That holy Shame, which ne'er forgets

Th' unblenched renown it used to wear; Whose biush remains, when Virtue sets, To show her sunshine h, been there.

Once only, while the tale ne told,

Were his eyes lifted to behold
That happy stainless star, where she
Dwelt in her bower of purity!
One minute did he look, and then-

As though he felt some deadly pain

From its sweet light through heart and brain— Shrunk back, and never looked again.

Who was the Second Spirit? he

With the proud front and piercing glance-
Who seemed when viewing heaven's expanse,
As though his far-sent eye could see
On, on into th' Immensity

Behind the veils of that blue sky,
Where ALLA's grandest secrets lie?—
His wings, the while, though day was gone,
Flashing with many a various hue
Of light they from themselves alone,
Instinct with Eden's brightness, drew.
Twas RUBI-once among the prime
And flower of those bright creatures, named
Spirits of Knowledge, who o'er Time

And Space and Thought an empire claimed,
Second alone to Him, whose light
Was, even to theirs, as day to night;
'Twixt whom and them was distance far

And wide as would the journey be To reach from any island star

The vague shores of Infinity!

"Twas RUBI, in whose mournful eye Slept the dim light of days gone by;

Whose voice, though sweet, fell on the ear
Like echoes, in some silent place,
When first awaked for many a year;
And when he smiled, if o'er his face
Smile ever shone, 'twas like the grace
Of moonlight rainbows, fair, but wan,
The sunny life, the glory gone.

Even o'er his pride, though still the same,
A soft'ning shade from sorrow came;
And though at times his spirit knew

The kindlings of disdain and ire,
Short was the fitful glare they threw-
Like the last flashes, fierce but few,

Seen through some noble pile on fire!

Such was the Angel, who now broke The silence that had come o'er all, When he, the Spirit that last spoke,

Closed the sad hist'ry of his fall; And, while a sacred lustre, flown

For many a day, relamed his cheekBeautiful, as in days of old; And not those eloquent lips alone

But every feature seemed to speakThus his eventful story told :

•The Kerubiim, as the Mussulmans call them., are often joined indiscriminately with the Asrafil or Seraphim, under e common name of Azazil, by which all spirits who ap proach near the throne of Alla are designated.

SECOND ANGEL'S STORY.

"You both remember well the day, When unto Eden's new-made bowers, ALLA Convoked the bright array

Of his supreme angelic powers, To witness the one wonder yet, Beyond man, angel, star, or sun, He must achieve, ere he could set His seal upon the world, as done To see that last perfection rise,

That crowning of creation's birth, When, 'mid the worship and surprise Of circling angels, Woman's eyes

First opened upon heaven and earth; And from their lids a thrill was sent, That through each living spirit went, Like first light through the firinament!

Can you forget how gradual stole
The fresh-awakened breath of soul
Throughout her perfect form-which seemed
To grow transparent, as there beamed
That dawn of Mind within, and caught
New loveliness from each new thought?
Slow as o'er summer's seas we trace

The progress of the noontide air,
Dimpling its bright and silent face
Each minute into some new grace

And varying heaven's reflections thereOr, like the light of evening, stealing O'er some fair temple, which all day Hath slept in shadow, slow revealing Its several beauties, ray by ray, Till it shines out a thing to bless, All full of light and loveliness. Can you forget her blush when round Through Eden's lone, enchanted ground She looked, and saw, the sea-the skiesAnd heard the rush of many a wing, On high behests then vanishing; And saw the last few angel eyes, Still ling'ring-mine among the restReluctant leaving scenes so blest? From that miraculous hour, the fate

Of this new, glorious Being dwelt For ever, with a spell-like weight, Upon my spirit-early, late,

Whate'er I did, or dreamed or felt, The thought of what might yet befall That matchless creature mixed with all. Nor she alone, but her whole race Through ages yet to come-whate'er Of feminine, and fond, and fair, Should spring from that pure mind and face, All waked my soul's intensest care; Their forms, souls, feelings, still to me Creation's strangest mystery!

It was my doom, even froin the first,
When witnessing the primal burst
Of Nature's wonders, I saw rise
Those bright creations in the skies-
Those worlds instinct with life and light,
Which man, remote, but sees by night-
It was my doom still to be haunted

By some new wonder, some sublime
And matchless work, that, for the time
Held all my soul, enchained, enchanted,
And left me not a thought, a dream,
A word, but on that only theme!

The wish to know-that endless thirst, Which even by quenching is awaked, And which becomes or blest or curst,

As is the fount whereat 'tis slakedStill urged me onward, with desire Insatiate, to explore, inquireWhate'er the wondrous things might be, That waked each new idolatry

Their cause, aim, source, whence-ever sprung

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