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 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, 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 melting light that beamed above, The First who spoke was one, with look 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 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! Which, while it hid no single gleam While, playfully around her breaking (For through each plume I felt the thril; Startled her, as she reached the shore Of that small lake-her mirror still- 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 '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 ; One earthly look, one stray desire, Of the hot noon but look more white; To which her prayers at morn were sent, Well I remember by her side The Spirit of yon beauteous star, 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 It was a sorrow, calm as deep, That very night-my heart had grown Impatient of its inward burning; The term, too, of my stay was flown, 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 And once, too, was so nearly spoken, 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, So there she looked, breathed, moved about— 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 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 Now hear the rest; our banquet done, At the same silent, moonlight hour. There was a virtue in that scene, A spell of holiness around, Thus maddened, would have held me bound, And lips that burned in their own sighs, Full o'er me when I saw those eyes; Was the wild love with which I loved, When, with a voice, where Passion shed To sooth me in that lonely sky; 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, Of lips too purely fond to fear me- 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, I now recall, though wildered then- 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, I stamped one burning kiss, and named A vapor from this vale of tears, That sparkle around ALLA's Throne, Above me, in the moonbeam shone Did aught so radiant-since the day The third of the bright stars away- 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: It was to yonder star I traced In wishes and in dreams before, Even in her flight to that fair sphere On him who stood in darkness here; As are those specks that yonder burn- 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 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- Behind the veils of that blue sky, And Space and Thought an empire claimed, 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 Even o'er his pride, though still the same, The kindlings of disdain and ire, 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 progress of the noontide air, 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, By some new wonder, some sublime 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 |