You will trade majesty for misery, wealth for woe,
The dream of a desirable life for a deadly doom.”
Then blessed Juliana, wise and discerning,
Dear to the Lord, spoke to her father: 135
“I will be truthful to you as long as I live.
My faith is firm—my heart holds no fear.
I dread no doom, no punishment or pain,
No torture or terror, no unknown ordeal,
With which you threaten me, my reckless father. 140
I embrace no evil, endure no unholy marriage
With any man, no matter how powerful.
Your idolatry is unacceptable, your menace intolerable.
You cannot convert me from my love of Christ.”
Then her father grew furious and grim. 145
With a savage heart he ordered her scourged,
Tortured and tormented, telling her this:
“Recant these rash words. Refuse your faith.
This is dangerous folly to deny a prince
And denounce our ancient and noble gods.” 150
Then Juliana, undaunted by death-threats,
Strong in spirit, wise in mind, dear to God,
A blessed maiden, spoke boldly back:
“You will never persuade me to promise faith
Or tribute to deaf and dumb devil-shrines, 155
Soul-destroyers, ministers of hell’s torments,
Because I honor and worship the God of glory,
The one true Lord of heaven and earth.
I will put my trust in my true protector,
My Savior and shield against all hell-fiends.” 160
Then the maiden’s father Africanus in his fury
Handed her over to the fierce Heliseus.
At the first dawn-light, he ordered her hauled
Out of her home to the hall of judgment,
Where the court marveled at the maiden’s beauty. 165
Her bridegroom greeted her with honeyed words:
“Sweet sunshine, Juliana, your radiant face
Never fades, never shadows, never falls from grace.
There is bloom in your beauty, sanctity in your smile—
Be a bride at a wedding, not a heretic on trial! 170
Praise and propitiate our honorable gods;
Seek their protection, safekeeping, and care.
They can shield you now from terror and torture,
Grant you mercy instead of misery,
Offer you comfort instead of cruelty. 175
These perils are being prepared for you
If you do not propitiate our own true gods.”
The noble maiden answered immediately:
“I will never be driven by the dread of torment
Or the threat of torture to be your bride. 180
If you desire my fellowship, forsake your faith
In idols and demons. Recognize and revere
The God of glory, Creator of souls,
Lord of mankind, in whose shaping hands
The world is held, supported, and sustained.” 185
Then the proud prince before his people
Showed his savage mind. Fierce and furious,
Bound on vengeance, he ordered the sinless maiden
Stripped and stretched, mercilessly whipped,
While he laughed, mocking her, saying: 190
“The victory is won before the battle’s begun,
But I will spare your life even though you spoke
Such rash words and recklessly refused
To honor and worship our own true gods
If you sing a different tune. If not, your reward 195
Will be retribution, torment and terror.
Your unyielding soul shall suffer such pain
That your faith will falter. Be reconciled now
With the old gods. Give them precious gifts
Not rash blasphemies, sacrifices not unholy speech. 200
Offer praise-songs to secure a peace—
Let our strife sleep. Be my bride and bedmate.
If you persist in this foolish, rebellious faith,
Driven by the hatred of your idolatrous heart,
Then I must unleash my righteous anger, 205
Avenge these bitter insults and blasphemies
Against our true gods, and bring terror
To their fiercest foe—a defiant maiden
Who has angered them with ill-tempered abuse,
Mocked their mercies, slandered their sweetness, 210
Scorned their praise. These are the great gods
We’ve followed and worshipped forever in our world.”
The fearless maiden responded in her faith:
“I do not fear your judgment, dread your doom,
Tremble at your torments, you foul sinner. 215
I place my heart in the hands of the Lord,
My hope in the God of highest heaven,
My Guardian and Guide, Savior and Sustainer.
He will be my shield against torment,
My protection against the cruel clutch 220
Of those dark demons whom you call gods.
They are vile and worthless, without virtue,
Without goodness, without mercy or meaning.
They are idols of emptiness, images of the void.
No one can find true faith there— 225
No peace or protection, comfort or consolation.
Who needs the friendship of unreal fiends?
They offer no balm or blessing, no sweet salvation.
I give my heart and soul to the Lord’s love,
Christ’s merciful keep. He rules all reigns, 230
Judges all earthly princes, powers all realms.
He is the triumphant Lord, the one true King.”
It seemed hideous and shameful to Heliseus
That he could not change the maiden’s mind,
For her faith was strong, her heart steadfast— 235
So he ordered her hung high on a gallows-tree
By her beautiful hair each day for six hours.
The sun-bright maiden suffered terrible torments.
She was struck and beaten with savage blows,
Then cruelly cast down and dragged into prison, 240
But she held firmly to the love of Christ.
In her meek spirit was a soul-warrior’s strength.
Then the prison door, the hard work of hammers,
Was bolted and barred, confining the maiden
In a cruel place, but her heart was unbound— 245
Her faith was free. She praised her Savior,
The God of heaven, the King of glory.
In that dark dungeon, that cage of pain,
The Holy Spirit was her constant companion,
Her comfort and joy. Suddenly a demon 250
In the unholy dark, in the guise of an angel,
Burst into the cell. The enemy of man,
Authority of evil, seducer and slayer
Of innocent souls, exiled from God,
Began to speak gently to the holy saint: 255
“Why should you suffer, sweetest of maids,
Dearest of daughters, most precious of gems,
The prize of the Prince, our glorious Lord?
This terrible judge is not too generous!
He’s dreaming up tortures, promising pain, 260
Offering the gift of agony without end
If you do not please him. Be prudent.
Pledge your faith to the proper gods,
Propitiate the old ones. Be wise as a serpent—
Offer a sacrifice as soon as men come 265
To carry you back to the beam of pain,
The tree of torture, before you meet death
In an unheavenly spectacle. Submit and survive,
A maiden triumphant over the judge’s wrath.”
Then the virgin who feared no earthly judge, 270
Who dreaded no doom, whose heart was held
In the hands of Christ, asked the apparent angel
Who he was and where he came from.
The lying wretch responded to her:
“I am an angel of God, messenger of the Lord, 275
Minister of truth from heaven on high,
Sent here to save you. Great torments are coming
To gather you into the grim clutch of grief.
The Lord himself ordered me here
To urge you to recant and save yourself 280
While there is still time and a life left to save.”
Then the maiden was suddenly seized with dread,
Twisted with terror at these strange tidings
That the demon lord, the dark enemy of God,
Told her in untruth. The guileless Juliana 285
Strengthened her soul, calling out to God:
“Eternal, almighty Protector of men,
Father of angels, first and last,
I beg you now by the power of creation,
Gather me into your abiding grace, 290
Shelter me from the apparent unwisdom
Of this unknown angel. Merciful Father,
Show me who this air-hovering liar is
Who leads me away from your dear love.”
Then the voice of heaven came out of the clouds: 295
“Seize that savage fiend and hold him tight
Until he reveals his true purpose,
His origins and history from beginning to end.”
Then the maiden’s innocent soul rejoiced,
And she seized the demon as God had demanded. 300
* * *
[Then the demon continued his unholy history:]
“I desired to deliver the King of kings
To cruel death. I caused the soldier
To stab the Lord, wounding the Savior
While the crowd looked on. Then blood and water 305
Flowed to the ground. I incited Herod
To call for John’s head when the holy man
Opposed his unlawful marriage. After that
I cunningly persuaded Simon to strive
Against the chosen disciples of Christ 310
And assail the faithful in deluded folly,
Calling them sorcerers. With a crafty trick,
I twisted the brain of Nero to order the slaying
Of Christ’s faithful servants, Peter and Paul.
Meanwhile Pilate had crucified the Lord, 315
Nailed him on the cross through my dark counsel.
Likewise I instigated Ægias to order
The saintly Andrew to be hung up high
On the gallows-tree to send his soul
To heaven’s glory. With my hellish brothers, 320
I have done dark deeds, committed crimes,
Shared out sins—such plots of pain
And unholy promise, they cannot be counted
Or fully known. My evil is almost endless.”
Then Juliana said through the holy grace 325
Of God’s spirit to the evil demon:
“Fulfill your promise, reveal your mission,
Tell me who sent you here, enemy of mankind.”
Then the demon, hard in the maiden’s grip,
Began to dread—she offered no truce. 330
Escape was hopeless, and so he confessed:
“My father, the king of hell, foe of mankind,
Sent me here from my shackled space,
My own tight terror, to torment your mind.
He exults in evil even more than I do. 335
In his pride he sends out angelic perversions
To beguile the righteous, seduce the sinless,
Turn the steadfast from truth, twist their minds,
Tempt them away from salvation to sharing
Our endless terror in a house of misery, 340
A palace of pain. The master of dread
Is no gentle lord. If we return, empty of evil,
We dare not come into that devil’s sight,
For he calls forth his dark ministers to find us,
Bind us in terror, imprison us in anguish, 345
Enslave us in that endless, savage flame.
If the hearts of the holy ones hold true,
Resisting temptation, rejecting iniquity,
Then we must suffer new torments,
Hell-blasts to our being, bale and woe. 350
This is my grim truth: my heart was harassed
Into seeking you out and harrowing your soul.”
Then the holy maiden renewed her questions
Of that ancient sinner, the enemy of man:
“Tell me now, evil tempter, slayer of souls, 355
How you seduce the righteous into sin.”
Then the devil, exile and outcast, responded:
“I will tell my story from beginning to end,
So you can see the truth. I’ve accomplished evil
Many times by wounding man severely 360
With terrible sins, snatching his soul,
Perverting his purpose. I desired to steal you
Away from salvation through subtle deceit,
So you would deny your God, renounce the Lord,
And bow to a lesser being, sacrificing yourself 365
To the shaper of sin, the maker of misery.
I seduce the righteous with my shifting shapes,
Offering dream and delusion to the innocent heart.
When I find a man strengthening his soul
By fixing his faith on the will of God, 370
I bring him a gift of unfettered desire,
The sensual lusts of eye and mind,
The sweetest sins, a feast of iniquity,
Every secret crime the heart can consider,
All the delusions of dark delight, 375
So that he becomes inflamed with sin,
Addicted to vice. Then he will burn boldly
With an evil purpose, turn away from prayer,
Follow my false promise on a trail of terror
That leads to his own torment, the terrible loss 380
Of his Lord’s love, the unraveling of his faith.
I build out of the heart’s hidden desires
A prison of habitual sin, perpetual pain.
If one is willing to follow my devious ways,
Then he shall trade in his virtue for vice, 385
And death shall be a dread for him
In his desert of unfaith and unlove.
But when I finally meet a holy warrior,
A champion of God who refuses to flee
From my force of evil, my arrows of sin, 390
A soldier and sage who seeks his protection
In a holy shield, the power of prayer,
And the might of a spiritual mail-coat—
One who will never forsake his faith
But gathers God’s power on the battlefield— 395
Then I must flee, harried and humiliated,
To the clutch of fire, the embrace of flames,
Bemoaning my fate that I could not fight
Against a good man. He stole my pleasure,
So I must seek out a weaker warrior, 400
A base one less bold in the soul’s battle,
One I can puff up with pride, seduce with sin.
Though he may believe his soul safely guarded
In a fortress of goodness and strong resolve,
I am ready and eager to examine his heart’s 405
Hidden chambers, his closet skeletons,
The secrets of his soul. I delight in his sin.
I will breach the walls of his unclear conscience,
Disable his defenses, tear down his towers,
Send bitter truths into his unprotected heart, 410
Spears of beckoning sin, arrows of desire,
So a lustful passion seems better to him
Than prayer t
o the Lord or praising God.
That warrior will worship his own body.
He will live in iniquity under a dark mentor 415
And turn his good countenance away from Christ.
I will hone his habits, heel him to sin—
My teaching will lead him to a fiery torment.
He will fall from his fortress of apparent virtue
Into the abyss. I covet his sinful soul 420
More than his foolishly debauched body,
Which will return to earth, food for worms.
His wretched ruin will be my reward.”
Then Juliana spoke to the demon again:
“Tell me, unholy spirit, shape of misery, 425
Dealer of darkness, how you can craftily
Worm your way into the unsullied heart.
Long ago you rashly contended with Christ,
Waging war against your God in heaven.
For that you were given a house in hell, 430
A palace of anguish, a prison of pain,
In a pit dug under the earth for your pride.
Why haven’t you learned your lesson
About battling the brave soldiers of the Lord,
Those holy warriors bound in faith, 435
Guarded and shielded by God’s glory?”
Then that cursed creature, the fierce fiend,
An awesome monster, answered the maiden:
“First tell me how you became so bold,
So wise and daring, beyond all womankind, 440
That you could bind me with such firm bonds,
So that I am helpless in your mighty handgrip.
You have put your trust in the eternal Lord,
Maker of mankind, who dwells in glory,
Just as I have held my hope in my father, 445
The lord of hell, the king of crime.
When I am sent to seduce the righteous,
To turn their hearts away from the holy,
Their souls from salvation through evil deeds,
Sometimes I meet a saintly resistance. 450
Sometimes my dark purposes are denied
By a strange power, my will is wasted,
And I discover too late my own dire grief.
I have met such misery on this journey.
Now a rejected sinner, I suffer new shame, 455
So I beg you by the power of almighty God
And the unending grace of heavenly glory,
Through the mercy of Christ who climbed the cross,
The Savior who suffered on the gallows-tree,
That you should pity me, a miserable wretch, 460
Set me free so I will not perish,
Even though I have flown through the air
On this foolish journey, eager for evil,
For I never expected such a terrible time!”
Then the radiant maiden, the candle of glory, 465
The unquenched light, answered the fiend:
The Complete Old English Poems Page 55
