Armageddon

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COPYRIGHT DEPOSITS

BY l/aleptipe Brou/9

Part The First. Conspkctus

The chant of the blessed In Heaven is wafted through the skies, and caught up by the spheres. The chant is stilled by the thunderings of the gates of Perdition, but is heard by Beelzebub, the monarch of the First Kingdom of Perdition, who is standing on Perdition's outmost battlements. He is smitten by the chant, but, aroused by Perdition's capture of a planetoid, he plunges from the height to battle with the maddened elements, then sweeps around the outposts and enters a gate of Perdition. Beelzebub is boldly resisted by the portal guards, but on making himself known, receives the laudation of the Legion.

He, the Eternal, Good of very Good,

Light of very Ivight, gazed on the waters ;

Ivike the moon on the ocean the waters

Shone with his splendor,

Like the sun in the heavens the blue deep

Glowed with his presence ;

The vv^alls of his citadels rose in minarets glorious,

And the battlements drank of his brightness,

As a mountain drinks of the morning.

A shout awoke, for the host of the blessed Sang their laudation ;

ARMAGKDDOISr.

The praises rose, and the heavens awakened,

Rang with rejoicing ;

For the spheres caught the anthems of Heaven,

And ethereal vales echoed with paeans

Rolling away — sounding forever —

Beating on walls of the Eons.

" Hail thee ! hail thee ! Light of very Light !

Thou wilt penetrate the darkness ;

From the walls of the midnight thou buildest thy

dominions, And thy glory will light the inhabitants ; Thy right hand will hold the foundation, And thy left hand will balance the minarets — Ever, forever — falling not — crumbling not. Thy kingdom is the universe, aud thy people will

praise thee — Will hail thee Omnipotent."

The billows of praise sped over the ether.

And the round worlds chanted an echo;

The songs of the spheres were anthems of gladness

For the universe moved in a rhythm

Soft as the notes of a rivulet — sweet as a zephyr —

Changing as grand as the chorus

Around the white throne of Omniscience.

The universe moved in a rhythm,

Save, where the Darkness reared up its ramparts.

Guarding the realms of the demons.

Night, the Profound, encompassed Perdition,

Gloom of Despond encircled its ramparts,

Save, where the portals hurled their mad lightnings

Like sun mountains bursting asunder.

The chant of the host of the blessed Was stilled in the thunderings sounding, Where the jaws of those portals were gnashing, And the lightning tongues darted their madness.

Prince of the Darkness, Beelzebub, Over his kingdom the Absolute, Ranged the dominions of demons ; He, the dread ruler, sleepless, untiring. Planned the grim warfare.

The fell defeat was a lesson.

And his battlements rose up restrengthened, And a hatred undying did guide him. Checked by his wisdom.

High on a cone of midnight Beelzebub Looked from Perdition ; He uttered a word, and the pillar arising. Gloom and despond drank by the vapors Leadened beneath him ;

Then he stood on that height of his forming, And gazed on the lights in the heavens, And the waves of the song of the blessed Smote him — ay, smote him.

He cried : "O thou, Elohim, now I defy thee ! Ever, forever, I, thy Antagonist, offer thee battle;

ARMAGEDDON.

" Though thy own minions sing their glad praises, Soon I will smite them — Though thy dominions rise up all glorious, Them I will conquer."

' ' Thou shalt tremble before me, Thou shalt bow to my mandate — Ever, forever, I, thy Antagonist, Dare thee — defy thee."

Changed was his mien, for a planetoid

Seemed an orb errant ;

Ivike a serpent charming a bird he gazed on its

movements, L/ike a bird facinated it faltered, Then swept to Perdition.

He cried : " Part of my own — of my own !

Barest thou leave me ?

Wouldst thou, a star in the heavens.

Be a new battle field ?

Wouldst thou, a world in thy orbit.

Mock my dominion ? "

From the might of his will that matter Reeled in its pathway,

From the power of his mind that planetoid Rushed to destruction ;

Then it crashed on the walls of Perdition, And the thunders on thunders resounded. While the billows of flame rushing upward

Licked the high dome where Hell's monarch

standing, Defied the Almighty.

He looked on that ocean of madness,

And sang of his triumph :

"Arouse, O slumbering worlds! Soon ye will

follow — Ye mighty suns, behold this, thy portion ! Ye planets and satalites, I will destroy thee ! Ye very elements, behold me, thy ruler ! "

" Ye powers of matter, spirit and the mind. Move at my mandate !

The land, the sea, the waste — O minions mine, Bow down as slaves ! ' '

"Tremble, ye men, I am your sovereign ! Ye gods and demi-gods, can ye defy me ? God of all gods, thou, my Antagonist, I am " — He paused :

Roused by the frenzy within him, His wrath was the molder of hideousness ; Madness proclaimed him Beelzebub, And his bellow resounded in thunders.

Down in the elements he plunged and hurled them

asunder.

And the lightnings chilled in his pathway; As leaves of the autumn depart from a tempest, The vapors fled from his shriekings.

ARMAGKDDON.

Cooled by a scorn for his foemen, He changed not his form, but arising The revengeful, the hideous, the awful, Soared around the gloomy, great ramparts, A monarch of horror.

Stemming the tide, he rushed on a portal

Like a monitor daring an enemy.

On the high cliffs the guardians, scorning the

stranger, Mocked his approaching.

They cried : " We will quaff of thy pain and be

drunken.

Thou shalt drink of our plagues, and our gladness Will mock thee — will taunt thee."

Rumbled a blast electric, and a meteor Paled the bright lightnings ; Fiercely the missile sped at the foeman, And a thousand jets dazzled the vapors.

It burst at his side, but Beelzebub Swerved not an instant ;

In the dread furnace he glode like a warship Deigning no answer.

Then a stillness reigned on the ledges. Till a hundred orbs shot through the vapors ; The lightnings were black by the contrast, And the thunders were stilled by the violence Of the explosions.

Never Beelzebub swayed in the tempest

Raging around him ;

The ready guards paused in their mocking,

And the shouts of derision were silent ;

But a muttering rising — arising,

Told of the fury roused by the challenger.

Fury did mantle them — they in their frenzy Raved as the missiles fell harmless. Groaned as the stranger serenely Passed by the battlements.

Moanings and rumblings blended with the madness, Shriekings and curses mingled with the frenzy — Clashings, surgings beat on the serried cliffs — Rolled on the waste of Perdition.

Far in Perdition responses awakened,

As the sullen roll swept on the darkness ;

Like wolves in a forest the demons

Smelt the glad feasting,

Gnarled from their caverns ;

Like prowling hyenas the slaves in the vapors

Snarled a fierce answer, and hideousness

Made them defiant.

Pandemonium — pandemonium ruled the fell region, While the multitudes, circling like vultures, Gazed on the glare of the battle-heights, And swept on the portal.

Like a flood-drunken torrent roaring and raging.

ARMAGEDDON.

The swift wings beat on the vapors ; Meeting and swirling like streams in a valley, The demon lines rivered the darkness.

They swept in a luminous river, And peopled the cliffs with the myriads ; They fought for a place on the ledges, And hurled in the furnace each other.

Orbs by the thousand rending the vapors

Shot from the battlements ;

Hearing the screamings, a million of demons

Stilled their mad clamors.

Orbs b}'^ the thousand bursting in meteors

Glared on that ocean of thunders —

Rolled in great billows of madness.

Like a mountainside battling a storm wind

Beelzebub breasted that tempest ;

As a cavern might drink up a river,

He drank of that fire and was gladdened.

Ah, what display pyrotechnic !

Ah, what a glaring of colors !

Rocket on rocket, meteor on meteor Rushing and hissing — seething and bursting, Flaming auroras, mountains of red fire. Worlds of mad vapors swirling, surging, Rent by explosions pictured Hell's portal.

Missiles of devils battled with lightnings, Nature electric and demon in frenzy

ARMAGEDDON. II

Madly were vieing — fiercely were striving Down in the depths of the furnace.

Thunders on thunders, curses on curses, Moanings, shriekings, deep detonations Kchoed, re-echoed — clashed on the mountains, Shook the great cliffs and rolled on Perdition.

Rage to astonishment changed as the demons L/earned their futility.

Far on the heights the cautious ones clustered. Deep in the clefts the timid ones, hiding. Peered for the stranger ;

But a myriad upon the surge floated Like ocean birds trailing a vessel, And they felt not a fear, for they battled Like screaming fierce eagles when feasting.

True to destruction, the Portal Guards

Valiantly struggled ;

Like hounds in a pack they closed on their master,

Like wolves in a horde they howled in their fury.

Over the heights of Perdition a red cloud arising,

Glowed its approaching ;

It changed to the form of a serpent.

It shone like a wake phosphorescent —

Nearer and nearer — swaying, swaying,

It rushed on that scene of confusion,

A bearer of vengeance.

ARMAGEDDON.

' ' Ishmael ! Ishmael ! ' '

Shouted the fiends on the battlements ;

• ' Ishmael ! Ishmael ! ' '

Answered the guards of the portal ;

The cursings and shriekings were heard not,

And the din of the battle was silent ;

But the craven horde fleeing did utter :

'* Fly the dread lashings ! "

Through the mad furnace the guards of Perdition

Swept to the conflict;

Through the long ages trained in the bivouac,

War was their portion.

They rushed to the front of the foeman,

They surged on his flanks, and defiant,

Waited the slogan — Perdition's great slogan,

' • Beelzebub ! ' '

Like flames from eruptions of a volcano,

Tier on tier of the Legion

Glowed on the battlements ;

On the dun ridges of cloud 4hey assembled.

On the red vapors they floated, they balanced.

Exhaling a rage like sheet lightnings

Flashing repeatedlj^

Grand were the tiers of the theater

Circling their monarch ;

He was the star of that drama.

And his being was filled with a gladness

In the brief pause, ere the slogan resounded,

" Beelzebub, victor ! "

Harmony fit for the portal molded his being — Horridness grandeur disguising proclaimed him a

stranger ; He paused in the circle of demons, He gazed on the tiers of the lyCgion, And Ishmael, bold and undaunted, Defied his intrusion.

He cried : ** Stranger and foeman, darest thou? Barest thou our dominions ?

Leave the mad gate, or my Legion will bind thee, Leave the red portal, or the Watch Dogs will rend

thee; Leave us, or die as a foeman dies — Bound by hallucinations — moaning forever — Groaning forever — leave us, or die."

Firm was the voice of the dreaded archdemon ,

Lord of the Legion, Fiend of the fiends

Guarding the battlements ;

And the host of the damned sustained him.

For a sound like a million snakes rattling,

Magnified, rolling, resounding.

Boldly made answer.

With a deep bellow which trembled the vapors,

Beelzebub taunted the challenger ;

Round his fell being a livid veil falling.

Clothed him with fire;

It burst with the madness of lightnings.

It flamed with the colors electric,

While the Legion, puzzled, dumfounded,

Gazed on their foeman.

"A prodigy ! a prodigy ! "

Shouted the host from the ledges ;

"A prodigy ! a prodigy ! "

Shrieked the wild fiends in the furnace.

Sounded, resounded — echoed, re-echoed

"A prodigy ! a prodigy ! "

Then all, save the guardians, quailing,

Muttered, "Beelzebub."

In the blue flame appeared the Awful One, Majestic — terrible .

On the vast deep rolled the fierce slogan, ' ' Beelzebub ! ' '

Then Ishmael gave the glad signal, And the lyegion shouted the answer ; "Hail thee, our monarch. Prince of the Darkness- Perdition victorious!"

In a mighty stream the Legion circled their ruler,

And sang in that hour of their gladness ;

" Where thou leadest we will follow,

We will battle and not falter.

And thy triumph is our triumph —

Thy glory is our glory."

' ' Thy standards dare the tempest, And thy warriors daunt the foemen — Thy triumph is awaiting, And our glory is returning."

" Thou art the Mighty One — the Awful One, Thy kingdom is eternal —

Thou ever art the victor; Where thou leadest we will follow, We will battle and not falter — We praise thee — we honor thee — We hail thee, Beelzebub."

Swift as a thought Perdition's great monarch

Quit the mad portal ;

A demoniac laughter awakened

With the shriekings, moanings and curses.

As the craven hordes fled from the guardians

Unto the dens of Perdition.

But the Legion returned to their stations. And the Portal Guards kept the strict vigil, While Beelzebub, sleepless, untiring, Longed for the grim Armageddon.

l6 ARMAGEDDON.

PART THK SECOND.

CONSPECTUS.

Beelzebub, in Perdition's solitude meets Alastor and Azrael, arclidemons. Azrael relates his experience as spy on the battlements of Heaven. Alastor in turn pictures the condition of man on the Earth, and presents the signs of a final complete submission to the hosts of Perdition. Then Azrael relates his encounter with Ithuriel, an archangel, and the angel's prediction of the things soon to happen on the Earth. Beelzebub is enraged at the narrative, and orders Alastor and Azrael to turn loose on the Earth the denizens of Hades, that they further seduce man, and make the Earth solely a dominion of Perdition.

Far in the waste of Perdition Beelzebub Wandered in loneliness ; In the deep solitude pondered the monarch, Wrapped in the plans of the morrow.

He dwelt on the scenes of disaster, He maneouvered his hosts for the struggle ; But roused, for the gain of a planetoid Flashed on his memory.

He cried : "Awake, my valiant hosts— My chiefs, behold the victory !

ARMAGEDDON. l^

Worlds are regained — are gained — forever mine, The suns and stars yield at my bidding ! Glow with my light, O 5^e mighty orbs ! Shine with my glory, O thou universe ! I am the Absolute — I am the Conquerer — All shall obey!"

Ivike trees in a forest swayed by a night wind. The forms of that solitude woke with his paean ; Ivike a storm on an ocean moonless and maddened, The praises rose on the stillness. And sounded his triumph.

Then luminants glowed in the distance, Like calcium lights on a mountain — Like two red stars in the darkness, They came to Beelzebub.

They were Alastor and Azrael,

They were archdemons, and the monarch

Waited their coming ;

Their forms were of beauty and passion,

Their voices were music and madness;

And their words were the words of the demons

Most faithful — most ardent.

Azrael, the fearless — the haughty, Once the proud aid of Jehovah, Made his obeisance.

He said : " I, in the past the angellic, Came unto thee — battled for thee, And the grim defeat was our portion ' '

l8 ARMAGKDDON.

' ' When thou art sleepless I am untiring, When thou art vigilant then I am watching, Waiting the hour of thy triumph — my triumph, For my lyiege will regain his dominion."

" Quickly thy legions will speed to the battle. For the skirmish lines now are advancing ; Soon will thy cohorts rush on the citadels, For the walls of Blohim are falling."

*' Then thy hosts will abide at the portals. And shout unto thee their laudation, For thou art the monarch of Heaven At the hour of the grim Armageddon."

He paused, and Alastor, the gloomy archdemon,

Made his obeisance.

He said : " I, in the past not angellic,

But dour as the realms of Abaddon,

Faithful have been unto thee, and I ever

Hail thee my Iviege."

Beelzebub listened, and the eulogies

Moved him to passion.

The fire of his being brightened,

And his voice seemed the rolling of surges

Answering rivulets.

He cried : "Call me not ruler of Heaven, Kre the heights of Klohim are taken ; Speak not of grim Armageddon, When the gulf is uncrossed and unmastered."

ARMAGKDDON. I9

'' The light of his gates is repulsive, The glow of his walls is my darkness ; Yet, them I will enter, and never Jehovah Klohim can thwart me."

' ' Have ye done well at my bidding ? Have ye discovered his secret ? Spies of my own — of my own, Faithful, untiring — speak, I will listen — Speak, I will hearken."

Azrael answered. "I stood on great suns in the

heavens, And the planets circled around me; I wandered on worlds which they governed, And the inhabitants knew not my calling. ' '

" I watched the universe move in a circle Around the white walls of thy Enemy; I saw the minarets shine with his glory, And the portals glow with his splendor."

"The battlements, dread with a billowy brightness,

Dazzled me, yet, I would dare them;

The portals, mad with their lustrous surges,

Blinded me, still I defied them;

I rushed like a flame through the heavens—

Ivike a meteor winged with the lightnings

I moved on thy Enemy."

" Vainly — vainly my fearlessness battled that river Sweeping upon me.

It lashed me with thongs of its auger, It smote me with darts of its fury, Till blinded, dumfounded and beaten, I fled to sun for protection."

"I, cried: Thou, the Mighty God, once I, thy

messenger, Dwelt in thy radiance, and drank of thy rivers, As a lilly feeds on a dew drop. As a wild rose drinks of the morning. Am I defeated ? am I crestfallen ? When the Hiearchy meet thee in battle, So wilt thou be to their bulwarks."

" I clove the dread surges asunder, I strove with the wrath of the rivers; They beat me — they burned me — Into my being they eat, yet, undaunted, I struggled untiring."

"Nine times around the mighty ramparts

I circled unceasing;

Times I was ready to grasp them,

Times I was millions leagues distant,

Until on the swirl of an eddy

I fastened upon them."

"Never I thought of the searing eating my bosom, Never I thought of the raging of the mad ocean; Only my blindness — my blindness did move me. For there I had dwelt in my glory."

*' Then I heard a voice, and its thunders

Rolled from the battlements;

' The book from the throne has been taken,

The seals which have bound it are broken;

The censer is filled at the alter,

And the tempests are held by the angels."

' ' Then an angel — even Ithuriel, Cried unto me: 'Azrael, Azrael, Think not I miss thee; I am thy foeman — thou art my enemy — Come up and listen."

' ' I answered : I am thy foeman— thou art my enemy.

Speak, I will listen : He replied : 'Azrael, Azrael, Canst thou dwell in the brightness ? Canst thou walk on the waters ? Ivoosten thy hold, and be driven Unto a sun for protection."

' ' Was it my province to taunt him ?

Was it my place to defy him ?

Gently I answered: Noble Ithuriel,

I am a waif in my blindness — lost in thy glory —

Come down and help me."

" He cried : 'The seals of the book are broken

forever.

And the trump of the angel has sounded; The servants of God are marked on the foreheads, And thy minions are awaiting destruction."

ARMAGEDDON.

" The winds of the Earth will be loosened, The mountains will crumble before them; And thou, and thy hosts shall be beaten, For the Earth is alone for the blessed."

" He paused, and a song arose on the battlements- ' Hail thee ! hail thee ! Light of very Light ! Thou wilt penetrate the darkness; From the walls of the midnight thou buildest thy

dominions, And thy glory will light the inhabitants; Thy right hand will hold the foundation, And thy left hand will balance the minarets — Ever, forever — falling not — crumbling not, Thy kingdom is the universe, and thy people will

praise thee— Will hail thee Omnipotent."

" I cried : Ithuriel, Ithuriel,

The winds of the Earth will be silent,

For the world will be rolled in a furnace;

Thou and thy hosts shall be beaten.

And the sealed of thy God know destruction."

" Thy rivers of light will be baffled. And thy battlements vanish forever, When the warriors of Heaven are fleeing From the field of the fair Armageddon."

' * Then our legions will drink of thy madness, Our minions will feed on thy wailing; My Liege will be monarch of Heaven,

And roam with his thunders of triumph."

" I paused, but the song from the battlements

Mocked not my being;

Upward I looked where Ithuriel standing,

Deigned me no answer;

Then I left that abode of my horror.

And fled from the billowy madness,

Until on a planet I rested —

Rested and pondered — then wandered

Unto that world which Ithuriel boasted of gaining."

He paused, and Beelzebub cried to the solitude: ' * Sealed with his seal — marked with his mark — Think ye that it can outwit me ? Slaves ! knaves ! hyenas ! fools ! Let the black dens receive thee. Let the dark night swallow and spew thee continuously."

" Flow ye mighty waves unto the open jaws. Gnash, ye angry teeth — wail, O ye minions; Framed in his image — vile things, I hate thee — Down ! down ! Let the chasm open — Ye are my own."

He ceased, and a moment's silence Reigned in the solitude; Then Alastor, the gloomy archdemon, Spake to his ruler.

" Mighty Beelzebub, thou art the victor, Thou art the conquerer;

Long I have strayed by the banks of the river

Flowing to Hades;

Long it has surged in great billows

Unto the realms of Abaddon."

"I have stood by the gates of Karth's cities, And my workers have thrust in the sickle ; I have looked on the battle and revel, And my toilers gleaned for the garner."

" When the son of Ra, Osiris, rose in his glory,

On Earth I was watching;

When the fair Isis shone with her splendor,

On Earth I was waiting.

Guiding the souls unto Hades."

" The scepter of Dagon glanced on the mountains, The bosom of Molech glowed in the valleys, Where the good Allah reigns the sole master Of hosts for Abaddon."

" Gone is the grandeur of Ormuzd,

Gone is the glory of Isis,

Yet, unto thee are one thousand

Where the fallen gods granted thee one."

"Where the wise Brama prayed for Nirvana

Thou art the ruler.

Where Jagatnatha mangled the myriads

Thou art dictator.

A million gods bow at thy mandate.

And a countless host pays to thee homage,

While a river of spirits — thy spirits, Flows unto Hades."

"Though the bright flame glowing on Sainai Hailed a Redeemer,

Though the fair signal shining on Hermon Told the consumation, thou art triumphant, For thy angels untiringly labor."

" The bright star is hid in thy vapors, But thy myriad lights flash in the darkness; And the mortals are flies on a compost. And the Earth is a hill of corruption."

The grim demon paused, and was silent, And Beelzebub laughed for an answer; Ivike a molten sea drinking a river, Ivike a fiery world hurled in an ocean. It hissed, and that solitude wakened, Moaned like a tempest lashed forest, Shook like an earthquakened valley.

Azrael spake : "On a world mountain I stood

And gazed on the valleys,

And looked on the cities around me ;

The fair Earth turned, and the bright sun

Circled beneath me,

And the River of Souls unto Hades

Flowed through the heavens. ' '

' ' Was I in darkness, when the round Earth

Glowed with thy glory ?

Was I dejected, when the inhabitants

Worshipped thee only? "

" I sang : Awake, O ye waters, For the bright star is upon thee ! Sing in thy gladness, O mountains ! Ring thy loud praises, O valleys ! "

" Thy inhabitants rejoice in their wickedness, They commune with the spirits of Darkness; For the Barth now is wedded with Hades, And the children of Death are their offspring."

" Then I heard a voice, and the mountains Woke with its thunders; ' The seals of the book are broken forever. And the censer is filled at the alter; The blast of the Seventh will mock thee, And the children of Hades shall perish."

There was Ithuriel — even Ithuriel,

Standing beneath me;

Quickly I answered : 'Angel, why art thou near me?

Is it thy province to taunt me in my dominion ?

Deigning me only his scorn, he did utter :

' Thy dominion on Earth soon is ended."

" I replied : Think that thy portals now sear me?

Look on the world of my minions —

Would it not spot thee ?

Noble Ithuriel, flee to thy gates for protection."

" He answered : ' The thunders of God will re-echo On the Earth mountains,

And the inhabitants hide in their caverns; The vials of hate will be poured on the waters, The wild tempests moan on the islands, And the fiery volcanoes bursting, will tremble Thy world, till it groans in its terror."

" Thy minions will pray to dumb mountains, And thy demons will feed the mad furnace, For they are enclosed in that ocean Where the billows of God are the barriers."

" Then the host of saints on the sea of fire

Shout their hosanna;

Then the saved of Barth in their garments spotless,

Sing their redemption;

And the glorious chant of the blessed

Will roll in an ocean of gladness.

Where the notes from the lute strings are wavelets,

And the sweet sound of silver an echo."

" Leaving that mountain, I fled as a meteor

Speeds through the heavens;

On a great cliff overlooking the River of Spirit

I met with Alastor,

And we, ever faithful, now pray thee,

Prepare for the grini Armageddon."

Beelzebub gazed on the solitude

As a soul might look on the twilight,

Seeing some vision fixed on its memory;

He cried : "I will meet thee, Klohim Jehovah,

I will prove unto thee an Antagonist;

Thy world is my world, and my darkness

Will beam with the sun of my glory."

"Speed ye, messengers — open the portal of Hades, That the myriads sweep to their portion; Let the Earth overflow with their madness, Let the dank air reek with their frenzies."

" Let the sea of fire imprison them, What care I though the furnace Sears them — eats them — They are my own, And their agony makes them more faithful."

" May the sealed of their God bound by hallucinations,

Mock their own Master;

Choked by their anthems, may the saints of the Highest

Curse the resurrection."

Think ye, millennium can be where my minions

mock it?

Think ye, saints can be rulers over my devils? Fill the whole Earth with my myriads, Drive them — lash them, And I laugh at his government."

He laughed. A hiss on the solitude sounding. Smote on the heights of that region; The archdemons hastened to Hades, While Beelzebub, moved unto frenzy. Raged in Perdition.