And, Lo! the Angel said, These scenes, O Noah, thy posterity Shall people; but remote and scattered wide, They shall forget their GOD, and see no trace, Save dimly, of their Great Original.

320 Rude caves shall be their dwellings: till, with noise Of multitudes, imperial cities rise.
But the Arch Fiend, the foe of GOD and man, Shall fling his spells; and, 'mid illusions drear, Blear Superstition shall arise, the earth Eclipsing .-- Deep in caves,[158] vault within vault Far winding; or in night of thickest woods, Where no bird sings; or 'mid huge circles gray Of uncouth stone, her aspect wild, and pale As the terrific flame that near her burns, 330 She her mysterious rites, 'mid hymns and cries, Shall wake, and to her shapeless idols, vast And smeared with blood, or shrines of lust, shall lead Her votaries, maddening as she waves her torch, With visage more expanded, to the groans Of human sacrifice.
Nor think that love And happiness shall dwell in vales remote: The naked man shall see the glorious sun, And think it but enlightens his poor isle, 340 Hid in the watery waste; cold on his limbs The ocean-spray shall beat; his Deities Shall be the stars, the thunder, and the winds; And if a stranger on his rugged shores Be cast, his offered blood shall stain the strand.
O wretched man! who then shall raise thee up From this thy dark estate, forlorn and lost?
The Patriarch said.
The Angel answered mild, His God, who destined him to noblest ends! 350 But mutual intercourse shall stir at first The sunk and grovelling spirit, and from sleep The sullen energies of man rouse up, As of a slumbering giant.

He shall walk Sublime amid the works of GOD: the earth Shall own his wide dominion; the great sea Shall toss in vain its roaring waves; his eye Shall scan the bright orbs as they roll above Glorious, and his expanding heart shall burn, As wide and wider in magnificence 360 The vast scene opens; in the winds and clouds, The seas, and circling planets, he shall see The shadow of a dread Almighty move.
Then shall the Dayspring rise, before whose beam The darkness of the world is past:--For, hark! Seraphs and angel-choirs with symphonies Acclaiming of ten thousand golden harps, Amid the bursting clouds of heaven revealed, At once, in glory jubilant, they sing-- God the Redeemer liveth! He who took 370 Man's nature on him, and in human shroud Veiled his immortal glory! He is risen! God the Redeemer liveth! And behold! The gates of life and immortality Open to all that breathe! Oh, might the strains But win the world to love; meek Charity Should lift her looks and smile; and with faint voice The weary pilgrim of the earth exclaim, As close his eye-lids--Death, where is thy sting?
380 O Grave, where is thy victory?
And ye, Whom ocean's melancholy wastes divide, Who slumber to the sullen surge, awake, Break forth into thanksgiving, for the bark That rolled upon the desert deep, shall bear The tidings of great joy to all that live, Tidings of life and light.
Oh, were those men, (The Patriarch raised his drooping looks, and said) 390 Such in my dream I saw, who to the isles And peaceful sylvan scenes o'er the wide seas Came tilting; then their murderous instruments Lifted, that flashed to the indignant sun, Whilst the poor native died:--Oh, were those men Instructed in the laws of holier love, Thou hast displayed?
The Angel meek replied-- Call rather fiends of hell those who abuse The mercies they receive: that such, indeed, 400 On whom the light of clearer knowledge beams, Should wander forth, and for the tender voice Of charity should scatter crimes and woe, And drench, where'er they pass, the earth with blood, Might make ev'n angels weep: But the poor tribes That groaned and died, deem not them innocent As injured; more ensanguined rites and deeds Of deepest stain were theirs; and what if God, So to approve his justice, and exact 410 Most even retribution, blood for blood, Bid forth the Angel of the storm of death! Thou saw'st, indeed, the seeming innocence Of man the savage; but thou saw'st not all.
Behold the scene more near! hear the shrill whoop Of murderous war! See tribes on neighbour tribes Rush howling, their red hatchets wielding high, And shouting to their barbarous gods! Behold The captive bound, yet vaunting direst hate, And mocking his tormentors, while they gash 420 His flesh unshrinking, tear his eyeballs, burn His beating breast! Hear the dark temples ring To groans and hymns of murderous sacrifice; While the stern priest, the rites of horror done, With hollow-echoing chaunt lifts up the heart Of the last victim 'mid the yelling throng, Quivering, and red, and reeking to the sun![159] Reclaimed by gradual intercourse, his heart Warmed with new sympathies, the forest-chief Shall cast the bleeding hatchet to his gods 430 Of darkness, and one Lord of all adore-- Maker of heaven and earth.
Let it suffice, He hath permitted EVIL for a while To mingle its deep hues and sable shades Amid life's fair perspective, as thou saw'st Of late the blackening clouds; but in the end All these shall roll away, and evening still Come smilingly, while the great sun looks down On the illumined scene.

So Charity 440 Shall smile on all the earth, and Nature's God Look down upon his works; and while far off The shrieking night-fiends fly, one voice shall rise From shore to shore, from isle to furthest isle-- Glory to God on high, and on earth peace, Peace and good-will to men! Thou rest in hope, And Him with meekness and with trust adore! He said, and spreading bright his ampler wing, Flew to the heaven of heavens; the meek man bowed Adoring, and, with pensive thoughts resigned, Bent from the aching height his lonely way.
[153] See Camoens' description of the dreadful Phantom at the Cape of Good Hope.
[154] Part of the mountainous range of the vast Indian Caucasus, where the Ark rested.
[155] Forster says the miserable creatures who visited the ship in the Straits of Magellan, seldom uttered any other word than "Passeray"-- hence the name of Pecherais was given to them.
[156] From Dariena to Nicaragua, the Spaniards slew 400,000 people with dogs, sword, fire, and divers tortures .-- _Purchas._ [157] That tremendous Caff (according to the Indian superstition) inhabited by spirits, demons, and the griffin Simorg.
[158] The caves of Elephanta and Salsette.
[159] At the dedication of the temple of Vitzuliputzli, A.D.

1486, 64,080 human victims were sacrificed in four days..