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XXII.

THE GATE OF PADALON.

1.

THE strong foundations of this inmost Earth Rest upon Padalon. That icey Mound Which girt the mortal Ocean round, Reach'd 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 alway 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

VOL. VIII.

For ever throng the way.
Some from the dolorous den,

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Children of sin and wrath, return no more: They, fit companions of the Spirits accurst, Are doom'd, like them in baths of fire immerst, Or weltering upon beds of molten ore, Or stretch'd upon the brazen floor, Are fasten'd 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 renew'd,

Freshens for ever their perpetual pains.

3.

Others there were whom Baly's voice condemn'd, By long and painful penance, to atone

Their fleshly deeds. Them, from the JudgementThrone,

Dread Azyoruca, where she sat 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, Dismiss'd to seek their heritage on high, How joyfully they leave this gloomy bourne, The dread sojourn

Of Guilt and twin-born Punishment and Woe, And wild Remorse, here link'd 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 Compell'd, 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 mix'd, against the Fiends who urge, Fierce on their rebel limbs, the avenging scourge.

6.

These were the sounds which, at the southern gate,
Assail'd 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,

Unmadden'd, 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 doom'd to bring

Hope and salvation to the Infernal King,
For Seeva 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!

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 with 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;