One ancient river is named Phison—it flows 215
Around the land of Havilah with bright waters,
Where men find gold and gemstones,
As the books tell us. The second river,
Named Gihon, runs around Ethiopia,
That broad realm. The third great river 220
Is called the Tigris—it runs swiftly,
Full-flowing around the Assyrian nation,
As does the fourth great river there,
Which many men now name the Euphrates.
* * *
Genesis B
[Then God firmly warned Adam and Eve:] 225
“Enjoy the fruits of every other tree
Except this one—leave this fruit alone.
Its taste is doom. Obey this command
And you will need nothing else in paradise—
All your worldly wants will be fulfilled.” 230
Then they bowed their heads to heaven’s King
And held his words carefully in their hearts,
Thanking him for both his care and counsel,
His truth and teaching. Then creation’s King,
The resolute Ruler, let them live 235
In that perfect land and rose, returning
Homeward into heaven. His handiwork remained,
A miracle of his making, two together
On that sacred ground. They knew no care,
Felt no loss, made no moan, suffered no sorrow, 240
Never understood what grief might be gathered
If they ceased to obey the word of God.
Their undaunted desire was to fulfill forever
The Lord’s loving will. They were dear to him
As long as they carefully kept his commandments, 245
Trusting in his teaching, living by his laws.
The Lord had shaped through his hand-strength
And spirit-power ten orders of angels,
All of whom he trusted to serve him well
And work his will. He gave them the gifts 250
Of intelligence and insight, an embodied glory.
One angel he made so mighty in his mind
That he was created to be second-in-command
Of that illustrious company after his Ruler
In heaven’s realm. This angel was brilliant— 255
His life and limbs were enthralled with light.
He was a blazing beauty, a dazzling delight
To all around him, like one of the stars.
He should have celebrated God’s gifts,
Cherishing his brightness, his gown of glory, 260
His power and place in the angelic host—
Then he might have been sub-ruler of heaven,
A prince of power in the sweep of creation.
But he began to meditate on his own beauty,
His majesty and might, and to stir up strife 265
Against the real Ruler of heaven’s kingdom,
Who created all life from his holy throne.
He was dear to our Lord, but couldn’t easily hide
His hatred and hostility, his envy and ill will.
He sought to find words to express his enmity, 270
Trying to discover his own devious voice.
He began to boast that he would never obey
A ruling master, never stoop to serving God.
He began to celebrate his own special light,
Blessing his beauty, bearing his luster 275
Like creation’s delight. He had his own servants,
Angelic soldiers, a faithful following
Of brazen fighters, who seemed to him greater
Than the troops of the Lord. The angel of insolence
Brooded on power. Before heaven’s throng 280
He wanted his own throne. He embraced envy
And his own exaltation. He thought he could build
A stronger seat of power to the north and west,
A higher throne in heaven. His radiance was a rush.
He determined never to be God’s disciple, 285
His servile minion, and said to his troops:
“Why should I slave for a lord and master?
There’s no need to serve this holy tyrant.
I can muster up miracles with my own hands.
I have plenty of power to build a throne. 290
This fealty is false—this service, revolting.
I can gather enough grace to be a god
And command an army of warrior-angels,
Fierce troops who will not fail me in battle.
They have boldly chosen me as their champion. 295
I can shape a strategy and slay my enemy.
My company is devoted—they will never desert.
Their hearts are loyal—their faith holds true.
I can attack my master and rule this realm.
Why should I serve and flatter this god? 300
There’s no good for me in this groveling.
Why should I bow and scrape before him?
Why should I act the role of the inferior?
I won’t obey this arrogant lord any longer.”
When the Ruler of everything heard this ranting 305
And saw his angel puffed up with pride,
Foolishly reviling his Leader and Lord,
He decided to reward this rebel for his strife.
He would pay his commander for his brash conceit
With defeat and darkness, punishment and pain, 310
A grim gift of torment. So each one suffers
Who embraces evil, strives against God,
The Guardian of glory. Then the Ruler of heaven
In his infinite power and eternal wisdom
Raised up his hands in righteous anger 315
And threw down the throng of revolting angels
Who rebelled with the traitor, trusting his lies.
They envied heaven and ended in hell,
Forfeiting God’s favor in their fierce pride.
Their false commander committed a crime 320
So foul he was hurled into hell’s abyss,
Where he soon discovered endless agony.
That proud angel turned perverse devil—
In his sin he slew his own best self.
He was bound forever with a horde of demons 325
In a pit of pain. They were harsh companions.
The rebel angels were expelled from heaven—
The fierce ones suffered an endless fall
For three long days and nights, ending at last
In hell’s abyss where God transformed 330
The devious traitors into tortured devils,
Their holy radiance into flaming flesh.
They refused to revere his words and works,
So he turned their triumph into dark defeat,
An agony of existence under the earth. 335
They balked in heaven and were blistered in hell,
Where they spend each restless night in flames,
An ever-ready, relentless fire. At dawn, cold comes,
An eastern wind of almost ice. They’re caught
Between the twin torments of frost and fire, 340
The stabbing heat, the piercing cold.
Hell holds them both in bitter balance.
Their world was turned upside down
When God transformed their precious paradise
Into a noxious nightmare, a world of woe. 345
The faithful angels kept their place
In the heights of heaven, a holy kingdom—
They held God’s favor. The other angels
Fell from grace, now fiends of fury
In the house of flames. For their strife they suffer 350
Singe and smoke, ice and fire, unending torment,
Because they denied their duty to their Lord.
They dreamed of rebellion and raised a ruckus.
They desired a kingdom and deserved damna
tion,
Betrayed by a giddy delight in their leader’s pride. 355
They warmed to power and fell into fire,
A candling darkness, a lightless flame.
A terrible truth dawned on them too late—
They traded God’s glory for hell’s grim fate.
Then the proud and presumptuous prince of darkness, 360
Who was once the most radiant angel of light,
Brightest in heaven, beloved by his Master,
Who cherished him till his arrogant rebellion
Led to God’s righteous wrath and the fiend’s fall,
Gathered his troops. The Creator had cast him 365
Like a living corpse down on a death-bed
Of terror and torment, calling him Satan
And securing his charge as commander of hell,
That black abyss of unending agony,
Where he would suffer and never again contend 370
With almighty God. Then Satan spoke,
Choking on sorrow, sick at his charge
Of ruling over hell. He had once held
A high place in heaven, an angel of brightness,
Until he was seduced by his own inflamed, 375
Overbearing pride. He refused to respect
His Creator’s commandments because his heart
Harbored envy and ambition, hatred and guile.
Finally he found his voice and spoke:
“Now we’re constrained in this endless abyss, 380
Unable to fly freely as we once did
In ethereal heaven. God granted us bliss
But restrained our longing, robbing us blind
Of our rightful rule, stealing our thunder,
Casting us down in this scorching pit, 385
And creating a paradise from our lost place
In heaven for mankind to prosper and thrive.
My bitterest bone to pick with God
Is that Adam, who was shaped out of earth,
Will sit on my throne, surviving in bliss, 390
While we suffer torment, exile and agony,
In the flaming hollows of unholy hell.
If only I could use these devilish hands
To break my bonds and escape the flames
For a cold winter’s hour, I could lead my troop— 395
But these iron chains constrain my freedom,
Bite at my body, menace my mind.
I’m a realmless ruler, a heavenless hellion.
The ravenous fire rages above and below.
I’ve never seen such a hostile landscape. 400
These flames are unchecked, unlike my arms
Which are bound in chains. My strength is shackled.
The hell-gates are locked and so are my limbs.
I am bolted in iron forged in the fire.
That grim God holds me bound by the neck. 405
Now I can see that he was a spy—
He monitored my mind, perceived my purpose,
Figuring before that I would surely fall
And would eagerly bring evil to Adam
If my bonds were broken, my hands freed. 410
Now truly we suffer the torments of hell—
Both fierce flames and the black abyss.
God has swept us into a fiery haze
Of blazing bodies and blind unseeing.
What sin can he charge us with in heaven? 415
What harm did we ever accomplish there?
What weapons wield, what wounds inflict?
Why are we banished from brightness and bliss?
Where is our due process in this punishment?
Can we not claim recompense for this wrong, 420
Vengeance for this violation? An eye for an eye,
A tooth for a tooth? Let’s undo God’s plan.
We know he has marked out middle-earth,
Where he has made mankind in his own image.
He hopes to resettle our place in heaven 425
With these pure souls. This is our chance
To spoil his plan, avenging ourselves
On his precious Adam and all of his heirs.
In that new world we’ll frustrate his will.
Now I no longer aspire to the holy light 430
Or hope for heaven where the Lord intends
To enjoy eternity with his host of angels.
We’ll never succeed in weakening God’s will,
So let’s just subvert it with the children of men.
Let’s teach them untruths, seduce them to sin, 435
Lead them to lie. Let’s worm our way
Into this world and undo God’s work.
In his wrath he will inflict terrible vengeance
Upon mankind, pitch them from paradise,
As he heaved us from heaven. Together in hell 440
We’ll all be in exile, angels and men.
We’ll make them our slaves, put them in chains,
Torture and torment them. Those human sinners
Will share our pain, and God will regret
That he ever made man. It’s a devious plan 445
And a devil’s delight. Let’s begin the campaign!
If I ever gave any of you precious treasures,
Gems or gold, when we held our thrones
In the realm of heaven, then now is the time
To repay my gifts if you desire to do it 450
And can summon the strength to flee this dungeon,
Break through the gates, wing your way upward
On your feathery cloaks, and soar through the skies
To the new world where Adam and Eve
Have been created in the kingdom of middle-earth, 455
Richly rewarded with the pleasures of paradise
While we remain painfully homeless in hell.
They are precious to the Lord. We are only outcasts.
They have stolen our birthright of heavenly bliss.
This thievery endlessly eats at my heart— 460
They will own our place in heaven forever.
If someone could seduce them to sin against God,
Renouncing their promise, rejecting his law,
Then they will become loathsome to the Lord.
If they break his commandment, he will turn cruel, 465
Fueled by their unfaith in his wrath and rage.
Then they will trade paradise for this torturous place
Of punishing pain. Think about this,
My exiled thanes. How can we betray them?
I can sleep in my shackles with a grim satisfaction 470
If I know that the Lord’s bliss is lost to them.
Whoever seduces Adam and Eve will thrive
In this fallen throng, reaping whatever reward
Is possible to find in this haven of fire.
That angel will serve as my second-in-command, 475
Sit next to me here on this throne in hell,
If he can come back reporting that all’s not well
In heaven and earth, that these two humans
Have rejected God’s law, perverted his purpose
In their words and works and were seduced into sin, 480
Desiring in their deeds some forbidden fruit.”
* * *
Then one of the demons, an enemy of God,
Broke out his battle-gear, eager for the assault,
Proudly embracing that evil purpose.
He put on his head a helmet of invisibility 485
With secret clasps to conceal himself.
He carried within him a hoard of words,
Devious and dark, unprincipled and perverse.
He wound his way upward on unbright wings,
Stealing secretly through the gates of hell. 490
His mind was menacing, his spirit strong.
He beat back the blazing hell-flames
On both sides of his body with fiendish skill.
He intended
to approach Adam and Eve,
Concealing his purpose—to coax and seduce them 495
Into breaking their Father’s commandment,
Engaging in sin, afflicted with guilt,
Suffering shame, hateful to God.
Then he flew onward with fiendish cunning
Until he found the newly created kingdom 500
And discovered Adam, God’s handiwork,
Skillfully shaped, together with Eve,
His beloved wife, the most beautiful woman.
They served God’s will, fulfilling his purpose
As his designated disciples doing good works. 505
Two trees stood nearby, filled with fruit.
God had planted them there in paradise
With his own hands so that man might choose
Between good and evil, weal and woe.
Those trees offered fruits that were not alike! 510
One tree was beautiful, abounding in bliss,
Sacred and sweet—that was the tree of life.
Whoever tasted the fruit of that tree
Would live forever in the fullness of glory,
In that eternal paradise with the favor of God. 515
Age would not wither him or illness undo him.
He would wake each morning, his hope assured
Of fulfilling God’s promise and attaining a home
With the angelic hosts in heaven on high.
The other tree, dangerous and dark, 520
Offered undoing—that was the tree of death.
Its treacherous fruit was bitter and blasted—
Its taste was lethal. Whoever ate that fruit
Would know both good and evil,
Their ways in this world, their home in the heart, 525
Their eternal ends, their certain divergence
Into bliss and bale. That one is doomed
To live in labor, suffer in sorrow,
Withered by age, defeated by death.
He might enjoy his life a little while 530
Until he descends into flaming darkness
To enter the service of the savage fiends,
Where he will live forever in peril and pain.
The devil’s disciple, Satan’s surrogate,
Knew all this and exulted in his heart. 535
He meant to tempt that happy couple
Into breaking God’s clear commandment.
He was the evil enemy of God and man.
Then the devious fiend muscled his way
Into the skin of a venomous serpent, 540
Took the shape of a snake, slithering treachery,
Twisting his body about the tree of death
With cold cunning. He plucked the fruit
And wormed his way back to God’s handiwork,
Where he smiled slyly, saying to Adam: 545
“My dear Adam, do you live in longing
For anything from God? He sent me here
The Complete Old English Poems Page 12
