As the one joy, to heaven most near Of all our hearts can meet with here- Still burns me up, still keeps awake A fever nought but death can slake.
Farewell; whatever may befall
Or bright, or dark-thou'lt know it all.
FROM ORCUS, HIGH PRIEST OF MEMPHIS, TO DECIUS, THE PRÆTORIAN PREFECT.
REJOICE, my friend, rejoice:—the youthful Chief Of that light Sect which mocks at all belief, And, gay and godless, makes the present hour Its only heaven, is now within our power. Smooth, impious school!-not all the weapons aim'd At priestly creeds, since first a creed was fram'd, E'er struck so deep as that sly dart they wield, The Bacchant's pointed spear in laughing flowers
And oh, 'twere victory to this heart, as sweet As any thou canst boast-even when the feet Of thy proud war-steed wade through Christian blood,
To wrap this scoffer in Faith's blinding hood, And bring him, tam'd and prostrate, to implore The vilest gods even Egypt's saints adore. What!-do these sages think, to them alone The key of this world's happiness is known? That none but they, who make such proud parade Of Pleasure's smiling favours, win the maid, Or that Religion keeps no secret place,
No niche, in her dark fanes, for Love to grace? Fools!-did they know how keen the zest that's given
To earthly joy, when season'd well with heaven; How Piety's grave mask improves the hue Of Pleasure's laughing features, half seen through, And how the Priest, set aptly within reach Of two rich worlds, traffics for bliss with each, Would they not, Decius—thou, whom the' ancient
Twixt Sword and Altar makes our best allyWould they not change their creed, their craft, for ours ?
Leave the gross daylight joys that, in their bowers, Languish with too much sun, like o'erblown flowers,
For the veil'd loves, the blisses undisplay'd That slily lurk within the Temple's shade?
And, 'stead of haunting the trim Garden's school- Where cold Philosophy usurps a rule, Like the pale moon's, o'er passion's heaving tide, Till Pleasure's self is chill'd by Wisdom's pride- Be taught by us, quit shadows for the true, Substantial joys we sager Priests pursue, Who, far too wise to theorise on bliss,
Or Pleasure's substance for its shade to miss, Preach other worlds, but live for only this :— Thanks to the well-paid Mystery round us flung, Which, like its type, the golden cloud that hung O'er Jupiter's love-couch its shade benign, Round human frailty wraps a veil divine
Still less should they presume, weak wits, that they
Alone despise the craft of us who pray ;- Still less their creedless vanity deceive With the fond thought, that we who pray believe. Believe! - Apis forbid—forbid it, all Ye monster Gods, before whose shrines we fall- Deities, fram'd in jest, as if to try
How far gross Man can vulgarise the sky; How far the same low fancy that combines Into a drove of brutes yon zodiac's signs, And turns that Heaven itself into a place Of sainted sin and deified disgrace,
Can bring Olympus even to shame more deep, Stock it with things that earth itself holds cheap, Fish, flesh, and fowl, the kitchen's sacred brood, Which Egypt keeps for worship, not for food- All, worthy idols of a Faith that sees In dogs, cats, owls, and apes, divinities!
Believe! -oh, Decius, thou, who feel'st no care For things divine, beyond the soldier's share, Who takes on trust the faith for which he bleeds, A good, fierce God to swear by, all he needs— Little canst thou, whose creed around thee hangs Loose as thy summer war-cloak, guess the pangs Of loathing and self-scorn with which a heart, Stubborn as mine is, acts the zealot's part- The deep and dire disgust with which I wade Through the foul juggling of this holy trade- This mud profound of mystery, where the feet, At every step, sink deeper in deceit. Oh! many a time, when, 'mid the Temple's blaze, O'er prostrate fools the sacred cist I raise, Did I not keep still proudly in my mind The power this priestcraft gives me o'er mankind- A lever, of more might, in skilful hand, To move this world, than Archimede e'er plann'd— I should, in vengeance of the shame I feel At my own mockery, crush the slaves that kneel Besotted round; and-like that kindred breed Of reverend, well-drest crocodiles they feed,
But, to my point-a youth of this vain school, But one, whom Doubt itself hath fail'd to cool Down to that freezing point where Priests despair Of any spark from the' altar catching there- Hath, some nights since-it was, methinks, the night That follow'd the full Moon's great annual rite- Through the dark, winding ducts, that downward stray
To these earth-hidden temples, track'd his way, Just at that hour when, round the Shrine, and me, The choir of blooming nymphs thou long'st to see, Sing their last night-hymn in the Sanctuary. The clangour of the marvellous Gate, that stands At the Well's lowest depth-which none but hands Of new, untaught adventurers, from above, Who know not the safe path, e'er dare to move- Gave signal that a foot profane was nigh :- 'Twas the Greek youth, who, by that morning's sky, Had been observ'd, curiously wand'ring round The mighty fanes of our sepulchral ground.
Instant, the' Initiate's Trials were prepar'd,— The Fire, Air, Water; all that Orpheus dar'd, That Plato, that the bright-hair'd Samian pass'd, With trembling hope, to come to-what, at last? Go, ask the dupes of Priestcraft! question him Who, 'mid terrific sounds and spectres dim, Walks at Eleusis; ask of those, who brave The dazzling miracles of Mithra's Cave, With its seven starry gates; ask all who keep Those terrible night-mysteries, where they weep
1 For the trinkets with which the sacred Crocodiles were ornamented, see the Epicurean, chap. x.
And howl sad dirges to the answering breeze, O'er their dead Gods, their mortal Deities- Amphibious, hybrid things, that died as men, Drown'd, hang'd, empal'd, to rise, as gods, again ;- Ask them, what mighty secret lurks below This seven-fold mystery-can they tell thee? No; Gravely they keep that only secret, well And fairly kept-that they have none to tell; And, dup'd themselves, console their humbled pride By duping thenceforth all mankind beside.
And such the' advance in fraud since Orpheus' time
That earliest master of our craft sublime- So many minor Mysteries, imps of fraud, From the great Orphic Egg have wing'd abroad, That, still to' uphold our Temple's ancient boast, And seem most holy, we must cheat the most; Work the best miracles, wrap nonsense round In pomp and darkness, till it seems profound; Play on the hopes, the terrors of mankind, With changeful skill; and make the human mind Like our own Sanctuary, where no ray, But by the Priest's permission, wins its ray- Where through the gloom as wave our wizard-rods, Monsters, at will, are conjur'd into Gods; While Reason, like a grave-fac'd mummy, stands, With her arms swath'd in hieroglyphic bands. But chiefly in that skill with which we use Man's wildest passions for Religion's views, Yoking them to her car like fiery steeds, Lies the main art in which our craft succeeds. And oh ! be blest, ye men of yore, whose toil Hath, for her use, scoop'd out from Egypt's soil This hidden Paradise, this mine of fanes, Gardens, and palaces, where Pleasure reigns In a rich, sunless empire of her own, With all earth's luxuries lighting up her throne ;- A realm for mystery made, which undermines The Nile itself, and, 'neath the Twelve Great Shrines That keep Initiation's holy rite,
Spreads its long labyrinths of unearthly light, A light that knows no change-its brooks that run Too deep for day, its gardens without sun, Where soul and sense, by turns, are charm'd, sur- pris'd,
And all that bard or prophet e'er devis'd For man's Elysium, priests have realis'd.
Here, at this moment-all his trials past, And heart and nerve unshrinking to the last- Our new Initiate roves-as yet left free To wander through this realm of mystery;
Feeding on such illusions as prepare The soul, like mist o'er waterfalls, to wear All shapes and hues, at Fancy's varying will, Through every shifting aspect, vapour still;— Vague glimpses of the Future, vistas shown, By scenic skill, into that world unknown, Which saints and sinners claim alike their own; And all those other witching, wildering arts, Illusions, terrors, that make human hearts, Ay, even the wisest and the hardiest, quail To any goblin thron'd behind a veil.
Yes-such the spells shall haunt his eye, his ear, Mix with his night-dreams, form his atmosphere;
Till, if our Sage be not tam'd down, at length, His wit, his wisdom, shorn of all their strength, Like Phrygian priests, in honour of the shrine — If he become not absolutely mine,
Body and soul, and, like the tame decoy Which wary hunters of wild doves employ, Draw converts also, lure his brother wits To the dark cage where his own spirit flits, And give us, if not saints, good hypocrites- If I effect not this, then be it said
The ancient spirit of our craft hath fled, Gone with that serpent-god the Cross hath chas'd To hiss its soul out in the Theban waste.
ABDALLA, King of the Lesser Bucha- ria, 317. &c. See Lalla Rookh. Abdallah, 154. His Gazel, 155. Abdul Fazil, 397. n.
A beam of tranquillity smil'd in the west, 106.
A broken cake, with honey sweet. (Ode LXX. Anacreon), 44.
Egean Sea, the, 256, 259.
Agnew, Sir Andrew, 533, 534. 590. et passim.
Ah! where are they who heard in former hours, 268.
Albermarle, Lord, anecdote of, 477. Album, the, 75. 491.
Alciphron, Athenian philosopher, an initiate in Egyptian Mysteries, 646. His recognition by the Roman tribune, 665. His daring, 666. He witnesses the death of the Christian martyr Alethe, 667. Account of this Epicurean philo- sopher 667. 668.
Alciphron, a Fragment of 'The Epicu- rean,' as originally commenced in verse, 668-680. Epistle I. From Alciphron at Alexandria to Cleon at Athens, 668. II. From Alciphron to Cleon, 670. III. From Alchipron to Cleon, 672. IV. From Orcus, high priest of Memphis, to Decius, the Præ- torian prefect, 678.
Alethe, Story of the Martyr, 642–647.
Alexander, Right Hon. H., 156. Aliris, King, 317. 385. 398. His nuptials with Lalla Rookh, 398.
All that's bright must fade, 224. Alla, name of God in Mahometan coun- tries, 322. (Vide Lalla Rookh,) 466. 476. The throne of Alla, 469. 482. Alone in crowds to wander on, 242. Alps, Song of the, 316.
America, Poems relating to, Preface,
104, 105. Dedication to Francis Earl of Moira, Preface, 104. The poems, 105-131.
Ammianus speaking of Alexandria in Egypt, 611. n.
Amrita, the Immortal tree, 309. Amystis, the, a single draught of wine,
Anacreon, Odes of, 1.
** The Odes are given in this Inder in the order of the initial letter of each Ode. Anacreon. Biographical and Critical Remarks, 3. Additional lyrics attri- buted to Anacreon, 45, 46. Pane-
gyrics in the Anthologia on Anacreon, 46-48.
Anacreontics, modern, 54. 62. 64, 65. 163. 165.
And doth not a meeting like this make amends, 207.
And hast thou mark'd the pensive shade, 90.
And now with all thy pencil's truth (Ode XVII. Anacreon), 17.
Angels and archangels of the celestial hierarchy of the primæval Syrians, 465, 480.
Angels, the Fallen, 395. 471. 481. Angerianus, Latin verses of, translated, 11. n., 19. n.
Anglesea, Marquis of, lord-lieutenant, 518.
Animal Magnetism, 558. Annual Pill, the, 524.
Antelope of Erac, 394. See also 664. Anthology, the Greek: -- Translations of some Epigrams of,46. 48. Songs from the Greek, 310–313. Antipater, epigram of, 48. Antique, a Study from the, 117. Antiquity, a Dream of, 114. Apollo, the god of poetry, 236. Apollo, the High-Priest of, to a virgin of Delphi, 80.
Apricots, the Seed of the Sun,' 394. Arab, the tyrant, Al Hassan, (vide Lalla Rookh, the Story of The Fire- worshippers), 360. et seq.
Arab Maid, the, 361. 393. 395. Arabia, 360, 361.
Arabian shepherd, his camel, 272. n. Ararat, Mount, 361.
Archangels, 466. 471. 480.
Ariadne, dance so named, 273. Ariel, 114. 487.502.
Aristippus, to a Lamp given by Lais, 66.
Arm'd with hyacinthine rod (Ode xxxI. Anacreon), 25.
Around the tomb, O bard divine! (An- thologia), 46.
Arranmore! loved Arranmore! 213. Array thee, love, 254,
As by his Lemnian forge's flame (Ode Bank, coquetry of the, with Government, XXVIII. Anacreon), 23.
As by the shore, at break of day, 267. As down in the sunless retreats, 245. Ask not if still I love, 313.
As late I sought the spangled bowers (Ode vi. Anacreon), 10.
As o'er the lake, in evening's glow, 608. As o'er her loom the Lesbian maid, 264. As once a Grecian maiden wove, 271.
492. Notes, 493.
Bard, the Wandering, 211.
Bards, of, 8. 180. 236. 299. 306. et pas-
Battle, after the, 182.
Battle, before the, 181. Battle eve, song of the, 211. Battle, the parting before the, 288. Beaujolais, Count de, xlv.
Beauty and Song, 307.
Beauty, of, 124. 194. 209. 211. 225. 237. 256. 278. 317. &c.
Fables for the Holy Alliance, 427. On his auto-biography, 445. His "Heaven and Earth," li.
Beckford, To Miss Susan (now Duchess By that lake whose gloomy shore, 185.
Birthday, my, 459.
Birthday, the, 84.
Bishops, the dance of, a dream, 540. Blackmore, Sir Richard, 440. Blue Love Song, a, 534.
Blue Stocking, the, 600-602. Boat glee, 601.
Bohlen, Professor Von, his translation into German of the "Little Man and Little Soul," xxviii.
Bowl, the, 174. 178. 189. 196. iv. 207. 211. 214. 234, 235. 237. 279. 287. &c. Bride of the Vale, the, 243.
Brien the Brave, 173.
Boston Frigate, To the: - On leaving
Halifax for England, 131.
Boy of the Alps, the, 300.
Boy sitting on the lotus flower, 212, 625. Boy statesman, the, 560.
Boy with a watch, to a, 51.
Boyle Farm, the seat of Lord Henry Fitzgerald, Summer Fète at, xxxviii.
Boyne, river, 208.
Box, the song of the, 558.
Bright be thy dreams, 230.
Bright moon, that high in heaven art shining, 316.
Brighton, the Pavilion at, 399. Bring hither, bring thy lute, 259. Bring me the slumbering souls of flowers,
Bring the bright garlands hither, 237. Brougham, Lord, 494.
Bruce, James, esq., the traveller, 445. Brummel, Beau, 162. Brunswick Club, the, 537. Brunswickers," Incantation from the Tragedy of" The, 529. Bucharia, Abdalla, king of (in Lalla Rookh), 317. 385. 396, 397. &c. Buds of roses, virgin flowers (Ode XLIV. Anacreon), 31.
Bull, John, 489. A pastoral ballad by,
Bunting. Mr. 112.n.xxvlii.xxx.xxxix.n. Burns, Robert, xxxvii. 216.
But who shall see the glorious day, 245. (Stevenson.) Butterflies denominated flying leaves in China, 393.
Byron, Lord, his love of music,xxxvi. Is visited by Mr. Moore at Venice, xlvi. Dedication to him of Mr. Moore's
Call the Loves around, 261.
Cambridge Election, Ballad for the,
Canadian Boat-song, 127. Candahar, 393.
Canonization of the Saint, 504.
Canova, his Venere Vincitrice, xlvii. Calm as, beneath its mother's eyes, 275.
Calm be thy sleep as infants' slumbers,
Cara, to, 76. Care, 196.
Case, a sad, 536.
Cashmere, nuptials of Lalla Rookh at, 317. "Cashmere, the Vale of," sung by Feramorz, 386. The lake of, and islets, 387. n. Mountain portal to the lake, 387. n. Roses of, 386. The Un- equalled Valley, 397. Superstitions of, 397. n. A holy land, 397. n. The fountain Tirnagh, 397, n. "Though
sunny the lake of cool Cashmere," 350. Castalia, the fountain, 281. n. Castlereagh, Lord, satirized, 399. 402. et seq. (See The Fudge Family, 402. et passim.) His departure for the Conti- nent, 555, 556. See Satirical Poems, &c.
Catholic Question, the, 522. 524. &c. Catholics, the Roman, 507. 596. Catullus, 82. 460.
Caubul, or Caboul, gardens of, 394. Cecilia, Saint, 538.
Cephalus and Procris, 282.
Ceres, Ode to the Goddess, by Sir Thomas L., 494.
Chaldæans, astronomical notions of the ancient, 471. n.
Cloë and Susan, 233.
Cloë, to, imitated from Martial, 90. Cloris and Fanny, 57.
Clouds, summer, 475.
Cocker on Church Reform, 552.
College Exercises, Fragments of, 51. Come, chase that starting tear away, A. Come hither, come hither, by night and by day, 394.
Come not, O Lord, in the dread robe of splendour, 245.
Come o'er the sea, maiden, with me, 192 Come, play me that simple air again, 605.
Come, pray with me, my seraph love, 481.
Come, rest in this bosom, my own stricken deer, 195.
Come, send round the wine, 178. Come, take my advice, 515.
Come, take the harp; 'tis vain to muse, 97.
Come, ye disconsolate, where'er you languish, 248.
Comet, poetically described, 472. mad Tory and the, 542. Common Sense and Genius, 228. Condolence, Epistle of:- From a Slave- Lord to a Cotton-Lord, 530. Connor, Phelim, his patriotic Poetical Letters, 408. 414. 424. Consultation, the, 548.
Cookery, art of domestic; to the Reve- rend - 527.
Coolburga, or Koolburga, city of the Deccan, 398.
Corn Question, the, 494. 507. lii. Correspondence between a Lady and Gentleman respecting Law, 168. Corruption, an Epistle, by an Irishman, 132-138.
Corry, Mr., his merit as an amateur comedian, xlviii. 456. To James Corry, esq., on the present of a wine- strainer, 486.
Cotton and Corn, a dialogue, 503. Count me, on the summer trees (Ode XIV. Anacreon), 14.
Chantrey, Sir Francis. His admiration Country Dance and Quadrille, 488.
of Canova, xlvii.
Character, a, 563.
Charity, Angel of, 246. (Handel.) Charles X., king of France, xlv. Chatsworth, the Derbyshire ducal man- sion of, xxxiv.
Cherries, a conserve in the East, 394. Cherries, the, 521. Cherubim, 482.
Child's song: I have a garden of my own, 305.
China, butterfly of, 393.
Chindara's warbling fount, 392. Chinese, peculiar porcelain painting of the, 396.
Chinese Bird of Royalty, the, or 'Fum,'
Christ, the Saviour, 245. 247, 248. 250. Christianity, and the Fathers, 612. Church and State, 433.
Church extension, 575. Songs of the 566.
Circassian slaves, the, 255. Clare, Earl of, xxxii.
Cleopatra of Alexandria, 638.
Court Journal, the, 594.
Cousins, Country, News for, 501. Crabbe, the Poet, Verses on the Ink- stand of, 461.
Crib, Tom, Epistle from, to Big Ben, 401.
Critias of Athens, his verses on Ana-
Criticism, the genius of, 490. Cross, the, an emblem of future life in Egyptian hieroglyphics, 619. 646. 676.
Crowe, Rev. William, his poetic vein, Xxxvi. xxxix.
Crown of virgin martyrs, poisoned, 667.
Crystal Hunters, the, 231. Cupid arm'd, 308.
Cupid once upon a bed (Ode XXXV. Anacreon), 27.
Cupid, whose lamp has lent the ray (Anacreontic), 45.
Cupid, poetical allusions to, 45. 94. 101. 224. 297. 312. 314. Vide Love. Cupid, Sale of, by Meleager, 310.
Clergy, the numbering of the, a Parody, Cupid's Lottery, 601.
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