Monday's Illustrated Word: "St. Mary's Specter" by Unknown Writer (in English)

 art by Max Elkan - Adventures Into the Unknown #4 - American Comics Group, April-May 1949.

 

Catechesis by Bishop Henrique Soares da Costa (in Portuguese)

O Diabo, sim, existe. As Sagradas Escrituras o atestam, e importa saber a distinção entre o Diabo e seus demônios. O chamado Diabo é o chefe dos demônios: trata-se de um anjo que, segundo a Tradição, é chamado Lúcifer. O Diabo fechou-se para Deus, juntamente com outros anjos, sendo ele um anjo superior que passou a chefiar os outros. Há hierarquia entre os anjos: eles diferem em poder, inteligência e capacidades, e possuem diferentes personalidades, assim como os homens. O Diabo, chefiando os outros anjos rebeldes, os demônios, foram afastados, perdendo a Comunhão com Deus.

O Antigo Testamento fala de modo velado e insinuante sobre a existência desses seres, no Gênesis, assim como o Livro da Sabedoria e o Livro de Jó; o Novo Testamento, porém, vai nos apresentar o Diabo e seus demônios com toda a clareza. Isto acontece porque quando a Luz de Cristo aparece, iluminando todas as coisas, também o Diabo, oculto nas trevas vai ser revelado. Os demônios, pois, são seres que se colocam contrários aos desígnios de Deus, seres que têm ódio à humanidade e que não aceitam o Amor de Deus pelo homem. São revoltados porque Deus se fez homem e exercem, sim, um influxo negativo sobre nós, homens. As tentações não vêm, diretamente, todas do Diabo e seus demônios; podem vir também do nosso desequilíbrio interior. Nós já nascemos desequilibrados, naquilo que as Escrituras chamam de concupiscência: às vezes não sabemos bem distinguir o bem do mal, e outras vezes, ainda pior, conseguimos distingui-los, mas não temos forças para fazer o bem. De fato, é preciso força e perseverança para fazer o bem. São Paulo Apóstolo, no capítulo 7 de sua Carta aos Romanos, vai falar disso: “É com a Graça de Deus que o homem pode fazer o bem”.

O Diabo e os demônios se aproveitam dessas nossas fraquezas para nos tentar, sugerir o pecado, insuflar a prática do mal. Sim, o Diabo e seus demônios existem. O que fazer, então, para superar a tentação?

Passos para vencer a tentação dos demônios e a fraqueza da carne

1. Para vencer, é preciso fazer aquilo que o Senhor Jesus ensinou: combater o bom combate (2Tm 4,7). O primeiro combate é a oração: “Vigiai e orai para que não entreis em tentação” (Mt 26,41). São Pedro, o primeiro Papa da Igreja, diz-nos que devemos rezar e vigiar “porque o nosso adversário, como leão que ruge, nos cerca, procurando a quem devorar” (1 Pd 5,8). Então, a primeira necessidade é rezar: manter uma vida de oração e rezar sempre.

2. A segunda coisa é evitar o desespero e o estresse na vida espiritual. [Daí a saudação apostólica: 'A Paz de Nosso Senhor seja convosco!'] – Sim, a Paz da alma é necessária para a vitória na vida espiritual; devemos manter sempre em mente e no espírito que Nosso Senhor Ressuscitado, na Força do seu Espírito, já venceu a força do Diabo e dos seus demônios. Deus é mais forte!

3. Disciplina. Além da oração e da serenidade, é preciso cultivar uma vida de disciplina. Ter hora para as coisas, manter uma vida organizada, exercitando assim a nossa força de vontade para evitar o mal e fazer o bem. Assim fica mais fácil evitar as ocasiões de pecado, evitar as más práticas, as situações que poderão nos conduzir a cometer pecado.

4. Recorrer frequentemente aos Sacramentos. Também e antes de tudo isso, é indispensável a todo batizado e crismado a frequência aos Sacramentos, especialmente a Eucaristia e a Confissão.

Quem lutar e porventura vier a cair diante dos demônios e/ou por fraqueza, mesmo tendo lutado com fé e coragem, não tenha dúvida: procure o confessionário, confesse-se, penitencie-se e recomece. E mesmo que volte a cair, recomece a luta, olhando a Cristo mais do que ao seu pecado. Diga-lhe: “Senhor, o teu Amor me faz recomeçar sempre. Amém!”.

Friday's Sung Word: "Meu Barracão" by Noel Rosa (in Portuguese)

Faz hoje quase um ano
Que eu não vou visitar
Meu barracão lá da Penha
Que me faz sofrer
E até mesmo chorar
Por lembrar a alegria
Com que eu sentia
Um forte laço de amor
Que nos prendia

Não há quem tenha
Mais saudades lá da Penha
Do que eu, juro que não
Não há quem possa
Me fazer perder a bossa
Só a saudade do barracão

Mas veio lá da Penha
Hoje uma pessoa
Que trouxe uma notícia
Do meu barracão
- não foi nada boa
Já cansado de esperar
Saiu do lugar
Eu desconfio que ele
Foi me procurar.

You can listen "Meu Barracão" sung by Mário Reis and Nonô playing the piano here.

Thursday's Serial: "Against Heresies" by St. Irenaeus of Lyon (translated into English by Alexander Roberts and William Rambaut) - II

Chapter 7

The mother Achamoth, when all her seed are perfected, shall pass into the Pleroma, accompanied by those men who are spiritual; the Demiurge, with animal men, shall pass into the intermediate habitation; but all material men shall go into corruption. Their blasphemous opinions against the true incarnation of Christ by the Virgin Mary. Their views as to the prophecies. Stupid ignorance of the Demiurge.

1. When all the seed shall have come to perfection, they state that then their mother Achamoth shall pass from the intermediate place, and enter in within the Pleroma, and shall receive as her spouse the Saviour, who sprang from all the Æons, that thus a conjunction may be formed between the Saviour and Sophia, that is, Achamoth. These, then, are the bridegroom and bride, while the nuptial chamber is the full extent of the Pleroma. The spiritual seed, again, being divested of their animal souls, and becoming intelligent spirits, shall in an irresistible and invisible manner enter in within the Pleroma, and be bestowed as brides on those angels who wait upon the Saviour. The Demiurge himself will pass into the place of his mother Sophia; that is, the intermediate habitation. In this intermediate place, also, shall the souls of the righteous repose; but nothing of an animal nature shall find admittance to the Pleroma. When these things have taken place as described, then shall that fire which lies hidden in the world blaze forth and burn; and while destroying all matter, shall also be extinguished along with it, and have no further existence. They affirm that the Demiurge was acquainted with none of these things before the advent of the Saviour.

2. There are also some who maintain that he also produced Christ as his own proper son, but of an animal nature, and that mention was made of him by the prophets. This Christ passed through Mary just as water flows through a tube; and there descended upon him in the form of a dove at the time of his baptism, that Saviour who belonged to the Pleroma, and was formed by the combined efforts of all its inhabitants. In him there existed also that spiritual seed which proceeded from Achamoth. They hold, accordingly, that our Lord, while preserving the type of the first-begotten and primary tetrad, was compounded of these four substances, — of that which is spiritual, in so far as He was from Achamoth; of that which is animal, as being from the Demiurge by a special dispensation, inasmuch as He was formed [corporeally] with unspeakable skill; and of the Saviour, as respects that dove which descended upon Him. He also continued free from all suffering, since indeed it was not possible that He should suffer who was at once incomprehensible and invisible. And for this reason the Spirit of Christ, who had been placed within Him, was taken away when He was brought before Pilate. They maintain, further, that not even the seed which He had received from the mother [Achamoth] was subject to suffering; for it, too, was impassible, as being spiritual, and invisible even to the Demiurge himself. It follows, then, according to them, that the animal Christ, and that which had been formed mysteriously by a special dispensation, underwent suffering, that the mother might exhibit through him a type of the Christ above, namely, of him who extended himself through Stauros, and imparted to Achamoth shape, so far as substance was concerned. For they declare that all these transactions were counterparts of what took place above.

3. They maintain, moreover, that those souls which possess the seed of Achamoth are superior to the rest, and are more dearly loved by the Demiurge than others, while he knows not the true cause thereof, but imagines that they are what they are through his favour towards them. Wherefore, also, they say he distributed them to prophets, priests, and kings; and they declare that many things were spoken by this seed through the prophets, inasmuch as it was endowed with a transcendently lofty nature. The mother also, they say, spoke much about things above, and that both through him and through the souls which were formed by him. Then, again, they divide the prophecies [into different classes], maintaining that one portion was uttered by the mother, a second by her seed, and a third by the Demiurge. In like manner, they hold that Jesus uttered some things under the influence of the Saviour, others under that of the mother, and others still under that of the Demiurge, as we shall show further on in our work.

4. The Demiurge, while ignorant of those things which were higher than himself, was indeed excited by the announcements made [through the prophets], but treated them with contempt, attributing them sometimes to one cause and sometimes to another; either to the prophetic spirit (which itself possesses the power of self-excitement), or to [mere unassisted] man, or that it was simply a crafty device of the lower [and baser order of men]. He remained thus ignorant until the appearing of the Lord. But they relate that when the Saviour came, the Demiurge learned all things from Him, and gladly with all, his power joined himself to Him. They maintain that he is the centurion mentioned in the Gospel, who addressed the Saviour in these words: "For I also am one having soldiers and servants under my authority; and whatsoever I command they do." Matthew 8:9; Luke 7:8 They further hold that he will continue administering the affairs of the world as long as that is fitting and needful, and specially that he may exercise a care over the Church; while at the same time he is influenced by the knowledge of the reward prepared for him, namely, that he may attain to the habitation of his mother.

5. They conceive, then, of three kinds of men, spiritual, material, and animal, represented by Cain, Abel, and Seth. These three natures are no longer found in one person, but constitute various kinds [of men]. The material goes, as a matter of course, into corruption. The animal, if it make choice of the better part, finds repose in the intermediate place; but if the worse, it too shall pass into destruction. But they assert that the spiritual principles which have been sown by Achamoth, being disciplined and nourished here from that time until now in righteous souls (because when given forth by her they were yet but weak), at last attaining to perfection, shall be given as brides to the angels of the Saviour, while their animal souls of necessity rest for ever with the Demiurge in the intermediate place. And again subdividing the animal souls themselves, they say that some are by nature good, and others by nature evil. The good are those who become capable of receiving the [spiritual] seed; the evil by nature are those who are never able to receive that seed.

 

 

Chapter 8

How the Valentinians pervert the Scriptures to support their own pious opinions.

1. Such, then, is their system, which neither the prophets announced, nor the Lord taught, nor the apostles delivered, but of which they boast that beyond all others they have a perfect knowledge. They gather their views from other sources than the Scriptures; and, to use a common proverb, they strive to weave ropes of sand, while they endeavour to adapt with an air of probability to their own peculiar assertions the parables of the Lord, the sayings of the prophets, and the words of the apostles, in order that their scheme may not seem altogether without support. In doing so, however, they disregard the order and the connection of the Scriptures, and so far as in them lies, dismember and destroy the truth. By transferring passages, and dressing them up anew, and making one thing out of another, they succeed in deluding many through their wicked art in adapting the oracles of the Lord to their opinions. Their manner of acting is just as if one, when a beautiful image of a king has been constructed by some skilful artist out of precious jewels, should then take this likeness of the man all to pieces, should rearrange the gems, and so fit them together as to make them into the form of a dog or of a fox, and even that but poorly executed; and should then maintain and declare that this was the beautiful image of the king which the skilful artist constructed, pointing to the jewels which had been admirably fitted together by the first artist to form the image of the king, but have been with bad effect transferred by the latter one to the shape of a dog, and by thus exhibiting the jewels, should deceive the ignorant who had no conception what a king's form was like, and persuade them that that miserable likeness of the fox was, in fact, the beautiful image of the king. In like manner do these persons patch together old wives' fables, and then endeavour, by violently drawing away from their proper connection, words, expressions, and parables whenever found, to adapt the oracles of God to their baseless fictions. We have already stated how far they proceed in this way with respect to the interior of the Pleroma.

2. Then, again, as to those things outside of their Pleroma, the following are some specimens of what they attempt to accommodate out of the Scriptures to their opinions. They affirm that the Lord came in the last times of the world to endure suffering, for this end, that He might indicate the passion which occurred to the last of the Æons, and might by His own end announce the cessation of that disturbance which had risen among the Æons. They maintain, further, that that girl of twelve years old, the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, Luke 8:41 to whom the Lord approached and raised her from the dead, was a type of Achamoth, to whom their Christ, by extending himself, imparted shape, and whom he led anew to the perception of that light which had forsaken her. And that the Saviour appeared to her when she lay outside of the Pleroma as a kind of abortion, they affirm Paul to have declared in his Epistle to the Corinthians [in these words], "And last of all, He appeared to me also, as to one born out of due time." 1 Corinthians 15:8 Again, the coming of the Saviour with His attendants to Achamoth is declared in like manner by him in the same Epistle, when he says, "A woman ought to have a veil upon her head, because of the angels." Now, that Achamoth, when the Saviour came to her, drew a veil over herself through modesty, Moses rendered manifest when he put a veil upon his face. Then, also, they say that the passions which she endured were indicated by the Lord upon the cross. Thus, when He said, "My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?" Matthew 27:46 He simply showed that Sophia was deserted by the light, and was restrained by Horos from making any advance forward. Her anguish, again, was indicated when He said, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death;" Matthew 26:38 her fear by the words, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me;" Matthew 26:39 and her perplexity, too, when He said, "And what I shall say, I know not."

3. And they teach that He pointed out the three kinds of men as follows: the material, when He said to him that asked Him, "Shall I follow You?" Luke 9:57-58 "The Son of man has not where to lay His head;"— the animal, when He said to him that declared, "I will follow You, but suffer me first to bid them farewell that are in my house," "No man, putting his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of heaven" Luke 9:61-62 (for this man they declare to be of the intermediate class, even as they do that other who, though he professed to have wrought a large amount of righteousness, yet refused to follow Him, and was so overcome by [the love of] riches, as never to reach perfection) — this one it pleases them to place in the animal class — the spiritual, again, when He said, "Let the dead bury their dead, but go and preach the kingdom of God," Luke 9:60 and when He said to Zaccheus the publican, "Make haste, and come down, for today I must abide in your house" Luke 19:5 — for these they declared to have belonged to the spiritual class. Also the parable of the leaven which the woman is described as having hid in three measures of meal, they declare to make manifest the three classes. For, according to their teaching, the woman represented Sophia; the three measures of meal, the three kinds of men — spiritual, animal, and material; while the leaven denoted the Saviour Himself. Paul, too, very plainly set forth the material, animal, and spiritual, saying in one place, "As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy;" 1 Corinthians 15:48 and in another place, "But the animal man receives not the things of the Spirit;" 1 Corinthians 2:14 and again: "He that is spiritual judges all things." 1 Corinthians 2:15 And this, "The animal man receives not the things of the Spirit," they affirm to have been spoken concerning the Demiurge, who, as being animal, knew neither his mother who was spiritual, nor her seed, nor the Æons in the Pleroma. And that the Saviour received first-fruits of those whom He was to save, Paul declared when he said, "And if the first-fruits be holy, the lump is also holy," Romans 11:16 teaching that the expression "first-fruits" denoted that which is spiritual, but that "the lump" meant us, that is, the animal Church, the lump of which they say He assumed, and blended it with Himself, inasmuch as He is "the leaven."

4. Moreover, that Achamoth wandered beyond the Pleroma, and received form from Christ, and was sought after by the Saviour, they declare that He indicated when He said, that He had come after that sheep which had gone astray. Luke 15:4, 8 For they explain the wandering sheep to mean their mother, by whom they represent the Church as having been sown. The wandering itself denotes her stay outside of the Pleroma in a state of varied passion, from which they maintain that matter derived its origin. The woman, again, who sweeps the house and finds the piece of money, they declare to denote the Sophia above, who, having lost her enthymesis, afterwards recovered it, on all things being purified by the advent of the Saviour. Wherefore this substance also, according to them, was reinstated in Pleroma. They say, too, that Simeon, "who took Christ into his arms, and gave thanks to God, and said, Lord, now let Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word," Luke 2:28 was a type of the Demiurge, who, on the arrival of the Saviour, learned his own change of place, and gave thanks to Bythus. They also assert that by Anna, who is spoken of in the gospel Luke 2:36 as a prophetess, and who, after living seven years with her husband, passed all the rest of her life in widowhood until she saw the Saviour, and recognised Him, and spoke of Him to all, was most plainly indicated Achamoth, who, having for a little while looked upon the Saviour with His associates, and dwelling all the rest of the time in the intermediate place, waited for Him till He should come again, and restore her to her proper consort. Her name, too, was indicated by the Saviour, when He said, "Yet wisdom is justified by her children." Luke 7:35 This, too, was done by Paul in these words, "But we speak wisdom among them that are perfect." 1 Corinthians 2:6 They declare also that Paul has referred to the conjunctions within the Pleroma, showing them forth by means of one; for, when writing of the conjugal union in this life, he expressed himself thus: "This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church." Ephesians 5:32

5. Further, they teach that John, the disciple of the Lord, indicated the first Ogdoad, expressing themselves in these words: John, the disciple of the Lord, wishing to set forth the origin of all things, so as to explain how the Father produced the whole, lays down a certain principle — that, namely, which was first-begotten by God, which Being he has termed both the only-begotten Son and God, in whom the Father, after a seminal manner, brought forth all things. By him the Word was produced, and in him the whole substance of the Æons, to which the Word himself afterwards imparted form. Since, therefore, he treats of the first origin of things, he rightly proceeds in his teaching from the beginning, that is, from God and the Word. And he expresses himself thus: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; the same was in the beginning with God." John 1:1-2 Having first of all distinguished these three — God, the Beginning, and the Word — he again unites them, that he may exhibit the production of each of them, that is, of the Son and of the Word, and may at the same time show their union with one another, and with the Father. For "the beginning" is in the Father, and of the Father, while "the Word" is in the beginning, and of the beginning. Very properly, then, did he say, "In the beginning was the Word," for He was in the Son; "and the Word was with God," for He was the beginning; "and the Word was God," of course, for that which is begotten of God is God. "The same was in the beginning with God" — this clause discloses the order of production. "All things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made;" John 1:3 for the Word was the author of form and beginning to all the Æons that came into existence after Him. But "what was made in Him," says John, "is life." Here again he indicated conjunction; for all things, he said, were made by Him, but in Him was life. This, then, which is in Him, is more closely connected with Him than those things which were simply made by Him, for it exists along with Him, and is developed by Him. When, again, he adds, "And the life was the light of men," while thus mentioning Anthropos, he indicated also Ecclesia by that one expression, in order that, by using only one name, he might disclose their fellowship with one another, in virtue of their conjunction. For Anthropos and Ecclesia spring from Logos and Zoe. Moreover, he styled life (Zoe) the light of men, because they are enlightened by her, that is, formed and made manifest. This also Paul declares in these words: "For whatsoever does make manifest is light." Ephesians 5:13 Since, therefore, Zoe manifested and begot both Anthropos and Ecclesia, she is termed their light. Thus, then, did John by these words reveal both other things and the second Tetrad, Logos and Zoe, Anthropos and Ecclesia. And still further, he also indicated the first Tetrad. For, in discoursing of the Saviour and declaring that all things beyond the Pleroma received form from Him, he says that He is the fruit of the entire Pleroma. For he styles Him a "light which shines in darkness, and which was not comprehended" John 1:5 by it, inasmuch as, when He imparted form to all those things which had their origin from passion, He was not known by it. He also styles Him Son, and Aletheia, and Zoe, and the "Word made flesh, whose glory," he says, "we beheld; and His glory was as that of the Only-begotten (given to Him by the Father), full of grace and truth." John 1:14 (But what John really does say is this: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us; and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." ) Thus, then, does he [according to them] distinctly set forth the first Tetrad, when he speaks of the Father, and Charis, and Monogenes, and Aletheia. In this way, too, does John tell of the first Ogdoad, and that which is the mother of all the Æons. For he mentions the Father, and Charis, and Monogenes, and Aletheia, and Logos, and Zoe, and Anthropos, and Ecclesia. Such are the views of Ptolemæus.

begotten and primary tetrad, was compounded of these four substances, — of that which is spiritual, in so far as He was from Achamoth; of that which is animal, as being from the Demiurge by a special dispensation, inasmuch as He was formed [corporeally] with unspeakable skill; and of the Saviour, as respects that dove which descended upon Him. He also continued free from all suffering, since indeed it was not possible that He should suffer who was at once incomprehensible and invisible. And for this reason the Spirit of Christ, who had been placed within Him, was taken away when He was brought before Pilate. They maintain, further, that not even the seed which He had received from the mother [Achamoth] was subject to suffering; for it, too, was impassible, as being spiritual, and invisible even to the Demiurge himself. It follows, then, according to them, that the animal Christ, and that which had been formed mysteriously by a special dispensation, underwent suffering, that the mother might exhibit through him a type of the Christ above, namely, of him who extended himself through Stauros, and imparted to Achamoth shape, so far as substance was concerned. For they declare that all these transactions were counterparts of what took place above.

 

 

Chapter 9

Refutation of the impious interpretations of these heretics.

1. You see, my friend, the method which these men employ to deceive themselves, while they abuse the Scriptures by endeavouring to support their own system out of them. For this reason, I have brought forward their modes of expressing themselves, that thus you might understand the deceitfulness of their procedure, and the wickedness of their error. For, in the first place, if it had been John's intention to set forth that Ogdoad above, he would surely have preserved the order of its production, and would doubtless have placed the primary Tetrad first as being, according to them, most venerable and would then have annexed the second, that, by the sequence of the names, the order of the Ogdoad might be exhibited, and not after so long an interval, as if forgetful for the moment and then again calling the matter to mind, he, last of all, made mention of the primary Tetrad. In the next place, if he had meant to indicate their conjunctions, he certainly would not have omitted the name of Ecclesia; while, with respect to the other conjunctions, he either would have been satisfied with the mention of the male [Æons] (since the others [like Ecclesia] might be understood), so as to preserve a uniformity throughout; or if he enumerated the conjunctions of the rest, he would also have announced the spouse of Anthropos, and would not have left us to find out her name by divination.

2. The fallacy, then, of this exposition is manifest. For when John, proclaiming one God, the Almighty, and one Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten, by whom all things were made, declares that this was the Son of God, this the Only-begotten, this the Former of all things, this the true Light who enlightens every man, this the Creator of the world, this He that came to His own, this He that became flesh and dwelt among us — these men, by a plausible kind of exposition, perverting these statements, maintain that there was another Monogenes, according to production, whom they also style Arche. They also maintain that there was another Saviour, and another Logos, the son of Monogenes, and another Christ produced for the re-establishment of the Pleroma. Thus it is that, wresting from the truth every one of the expressions which have been cited, and taking a bad advantage of the names, they have transferred them to their own system; so that, according to them, in all these terms John makes no mention of the Lord Jesus Christ. For if he has named the Father, and Charis, and Monogenes, and Aletheia, and Logos, and Zoe, and Anthropos, and Ecclesia, according to their hypothesis, he has, by thus speaking, referred to the primary Ogdoad, in which there was as yet no Jesus, and no Christ, the teacher of John. But that the apostle did not speak concerning their conjunctions, but concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, whom he also acknowledges as the Word of God, he himself has made evident. For, summing up his statements respecting the Word previously mentioned by him, he further declares, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." But, according to their hypothesis, the Word did not become flesh at all, inasmuch as He never went outside of the Pleroma, but that Saviour [became flesh] who was formed by a special dispensation [out of all the Æons], and was of later date than the Word.

3. Learn then, you foolish men, that Jesus who suffered for us, and who dwelt among us, is Himself the Word of God. For if any other of the Æons had become flesh for our salvation, it would have been probable that the apostle spoke of another. But if the Word of the Father who descended is the same also that ascended, He, namely, the Only-begotten Son of the only God, who, according to the good pleasure of the Father, became flesh for the sake of men, the apostle certainly does not speak regarding any other, or concerning any Ogdoad, but respecting our Lord Jesus Christ. For, according to them, the Word did not originally become flesh. For they maintain that the Saviour assumed an animal body, formed in accordance with a special dispensation by an unspeakable providence, so as to become visible and palpable. But flesh is that which was of old formed for Adam by God out of the dust, and it is this that John has declared the Word of God became. Thus is their primary and first-begotten Ogdoad brought to nought. For, since Logos, and Monogenes, and Zoe, and Phōs, and Soter, and Christus, and the Son of God, and He who became incarnate for us, have been proved to be one and the same, the Ogdoad which they have built up at once falls to pieces. And when this is destroyed, their whole system sinks into ruin — a system which they falsely dream into existence, and thus inflict injury on the Scriptures, while they build up their own hypothesis.

4. Then, again, collecting a set of expressions and names scattered here and there [in Scripture], they twist them, as we have already said, from a natural to a non-natural sense. In so doing, they act like those who bring forward any kind of hypothesis they fancy, and then endeavour to support them out of the poems of Homer, so that the ignorant imagine that Homer actually composed the verses bearing upon that hypothesis, which has, in fact, been but newly constructed; and many others are led so far by the regularly-formed sequence of the verses, as to doubt whether Homer may not have composed them. Of this kind is the following passage, where one, describing Hercules as having been sent by Eurystheus to the dog in the infernal regions, does so by means of these Homeric verses — for there can be no objection to our citing these by way of illustration, since the same sort of attempt appears in both:—

 

"Thus saying, there sent forth from his house deeply groaning."— Od., x. 76.

"The hero Hercules conversant with mighty deeds."— Od., xxi. 26.

"Eurystheus, the son of Sthenelus, descended from Perseus." — Il., xix. 123.

"That he might bring from Erebus the dog of gloomy Pluto." — Il., viii. 368.

"And he advanced like a mountain-bred lion confident of strength."— Od., vi. 130.

"Rapidly through the city, while all his friends followed." — Il., xxiv. 327.

"Both maidens, and youths, and much-enduring old men." — Od., xi. 38.

"Mourning for him bitterly as one going forward to death." — Il., xxiv. 328.

"But Mercury and the blue-eyed Minerva conducted him."— Od., xi. 626.

"For she knew the mind of her brother, how it laboured with grief."— Il., ii. 409.

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Now, what simple-minded man, I ask, would not be led away by such verses as these to think that Homer actually framed them so with reference to the subject indicated? But he who is acquainted with the Homeric writings will recognise the verses indeed, but not the subject to which they are applied, as knowing that some of them were spoken of Ulysses, others of Hercules himself, others still of Priam, and others again of Menelaus and Agamemnon. But if he takes them and restores each of them to its proper position, he at once destroys the narrative in question. In like manner he also who retains unchangeable in his heart the rule of the truth which he received by means of baptism, will doubtless recognise the names, the expressions, and the parables taken from the Scriptures, but will by no means acknowledge the blasphemous use which these men make of them. For, though he will acknowledge the gems, he will certainly not receive the fox instead of the likeness of the king. But when he has restored every one of the expressions quoted to its proper position, and has fitted it to the body of the truth, he will lay bare, and prove to be without any foundation, the figment of these heretics.

5. But since what may prove a finishing-stroke to this exhibition is wanting, so that any one, on following out their farce to the end, may then at once append an argument which shall overthrow it, we have judged it well to point out, first of all, in what respects the very fathers of this fable differ among themselves, as if they were inspired by different spirits of error. For this very fact forms an a priori proof that the truth proclaimed by the Church is immoveable, and that the theories of these men are but a tissue of falsehoods.

 

 

Chapter 10

Unity of the faith of the Church throughout the whole world.

1. The Church, though dispersed throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith: [She believes] in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations of God, and the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His [future] manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father "to gather all things in one," Ephesians 1:10 and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race, in order that to Christ Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Saviour, and King, according to the will of the invisible Father, "every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess" Philippians 2:10-11 to Him, and that He should execute just judgment towards all; that He may send "spiritual wickednesses," Ephesians 6:12 and the angels who transgressed and became apostates, together with the ungodly, and unrighteous, and wicked, and profane among men, into everlasting fire; but may, in the exercise of His grace, confer immortality on the righteous, and holy, and those who have kept His commandments, and have persevered in His love, some from the beginning [of their Christian course], and others from [the date of] their repentance, and may surround them with everlasting glory.

2. As I have already observed, the Church, having received this preaching and this faith, although scattered throughout the whole world, yet, as if occupying but one house, carefully preserves it. She also believes these points [of doctrine] just as if she had but one soul, and one and the same heart, and she proclaims them, and teaches them, and hands them down, with perfect harmony, as if she possessed only one mouth. For, although the languages of the world are dissimilar, yet the import of the tradition is one and the same. For the Churches which have been planted in Germany do not believe or hand down anything different, nor do those in Spain, nor those in Gaul, nor those in the East, nor those in Egypt, nor those in Libya, nor those which have been established in the central regions of the world. But as the sun, that creature of God, is one and the same throughout the whole world, so also the preaching of the truth shines everywhere, and enlightens all men that are willing to come to a knowledge of the truth. Nor will any one of the rulers in the Churches, however highly gifted he may be in point of eloquence, teach doctrines different from these (for no one is greater than the Master); nor, on the other hand, will he who is deficient in power of expression inflict injury on the tradition. For the faith being ever one and the same, neither does one who is able at great length to discourse regarding it, make any addition to it, nor does one, who can say but little diminish it.

3. It does not follow because men are endowed with greater and less degrees of intelligence, that they should therefore change the subject-matter [of the faith] itself, and should conceive of some other God besides Him who is the Framer, Maker, and Preserver of this universe, (as if He were not sufficient for them), or of another Christ, or another Only-begotten. But the fact referred to simply implies this, that one may [more accurately than another] bring out the meaning of those things which have been spoken in parables, and accommodate them to the general scheme of the faith; and explain [with special clearness] the operation and dispensation of God connected with human salvation; and show that God manifested longsuffering in regard to the apostasy of the angels who transgressed, as also with respect to the disobedience of men; and set forth why it is that one and the same God has made some things temporal and some eternal, some heavenly and others earthly; and understand for what reason God, though invisible, manifested Himself to the prophets not under one form, but differently to different individuals; and show why it was that more covenants than one were given to mankind; and teach what was the special character of each of these covenants; and search out for what reason "God Romans 11:32 has concluded every man in unbelief, that He may have mercy upon all;" and gratefully describe on what account the Word of God became flesh and suffered; and relate why the advent of the Son of God took place in these last times, that is, in the end, rather than in the beginning [of the world]; and unfold what is contained in the Scriptures concerning the end [itself], and things to come; and not be silent as to how it is that God has made the Gentiles, whose salvation was despaired of, fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers with the saints; and discourse how it is that "this mortal body shall put on immortality, and this corruptible shall put on incorruption;" 1 Corinthians 15:54 and proclaim in what sense [God] says, "That is a people who was not a people; and she is beloved who was not beloved;" Hosea 2:23; Romans 9:25 and in what sense He says that "more are the children of her that was desolate, than of her who possessed a husband." Isaiah 54:1; Galatians 4:27 For in reference to these points, and others of a like nature, the apostle exclaims: "Oh! The depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God; how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!" Romans 11:33 But [the superior skill spoken of] is not found in this, that any one should, beyond the Creator and Framer [of the world], conceive of the Enthymesis of an erring Æon, their mother and his, and should thus proceed to such a pitch of blasphemy; nor does it consist in this, that he should again falsely imagine, as being above this [fancied being], a Pleroma at one time supposed to contain thirty, and at another time an innumerable tribe of Æons, as these teachers who are destitute of truly divine wisdom maintain; while the Catholic Church possesses one and the same faith throughout the whole world, as we have already said.

 

 

Chapter 11

The opinions of Valentinus, with those of his disciples and others.

1. Let us now look at the inconsistent opinions of those heretics (for there are some two or three of them), how they do not agree in treating the same points, but alike, in things and names, set forth opinions mutually discordant. The first of them, Valentinus, who adapted the principles of the heresy called "Gnostic" to the peculiar character of his own school, taught as follows: He maintained that there is a certain Dyad (twofold being), who is inexpressible by any name, of whom one part should be called Arrhetus (unspeakable), and the other Sige (silence). But of this Dyad a second was produced, one part of whom he names Pater, and the other Aletheia. From this Tetrad, again, arose Logos and Zoe, Anthropos and Ecclesia. These constitute the primary Ogdoad. He next states that from Logos and Zoe ten powers were produced, as we have before mentioned. But from Anthropos and Ecclesia proceeded twelve, one of which separating from the rest, and falling from its original condition, produced the rest of the universe. He also supposed two beings of the name of Horos, the one of whom has his place between Bythus and the rest of the Pleroma, and divides the created Æons from the uncreated Father, while the other separates their mother from the Pleroma. Christ also was not produced from the Æons within the Pleroma, but was brought forth by the mother who had been excluded from it, in virtue of her remembrance of better things, but not without a kind of shadow. He, indeed, as being masculine, having severed the shadow from himself, returned to the Pleroma; but his mother being left with the shadow, and deprived of her spiritual substance, brought forth another son, namely, the Demiurge, whom he also styles the supreme ruler of all those things which are subject to him. He also asserts that, along with the Demiurge, there was produced a left-hand power, in which particular he agrees with those falsely called Gnostics, of whom to we have yet to speak. Sometimes, again, he maintains that Jesus was produced from him who was separated from their mother, and united to the rest, that is, from Theletus, sometimes as springing from him who returned into the Pleroma, that is, from Christ; and at other times still as derived from Anthropos and Ecclesia. And he declares that the Holy Spirit was produced by Aletheia for the inspection and fructification of the Æons, by entering invisibly into them, and that, in this way, the Æons brought forth the plants of truth.

2. Secundus again affirms that the primary Ogdoad consists of a right hand and a left hand Tetrad, and teaches that the one of these is called light, and the other darkness. But he maintains that the power which separated from the rest, and fell away, did not proceed directly from the thirty Æons, but from their fruits.

3. There is another, who is a renowned teacher among them, and who, struggling to reach something more sublime, and to attain to a kind of higher knowledge, has explained the primary Tetrad as follows: There is [he says] a certain Proarche who existed before all things, surpassing all thought, speech, and nomenclature, whom I call Monotes (unity). Together with this Monotes there exists a power, which again I term Henotes (oneness). This Henotes and Monotes, being one, produced, yet not so as to bring forth [apart from themselves, as an emanation] the beginning of all things, an intelligent, unbegotten, and invisible being, which beginning language terms "Monad." With this Monad there co-exists a power of the same essence, which again I term Hen (One). These powers then — Monotes, and Henotes, and Monas, and Hen — produced the remaining company of the Æons.

4. Iu, Iu! Pheu, Pheu!— for well may we utter these tragic exclamations at such a pitch of audacity in the coining of names as he has displayed without a blush, in devising a nomenclature for his system of falsehood. For when he declares: There is a certain Proarche before all things, surpassing all thought, whom I call Monotes; and again, with this Monotes there co-exists a power which I also call Henotes — it is most manifest that he confesses the things which have been said to be his own invention, and that he himself has given names to his scheme of things, which had never been previously suggested by any other. It is manifest also, that he himself is the one who has had sufficient audacity to coin these names; so that, unless he had appeared in the world, the truth would still have been destitute of a name. But, in that case, nothing hinders any other, in dealing with the same subject, to affix names after such a fashion as the following: There is a certain Proarche, royal, surpassing all thought, a power existing before every other substance, and extended into space in every direction. But along with it there exists a power which I term a Gourd; and along with this Gourd there exists a power which again I term Utter-Emptiness. This Gourd and Emptiness, since they are one, produced (and yet did not simply produce, so as to be apart from themselves) a fruit, everywhere visible, eatable, and delicious, which fruit-language calls a Cucumber. Along with this Cucumber exists a power of the same essence, which again I call a Melon. These powers, the Gourd, Utter-Emptiness, the Cucumber, and the Melon, brought forth the remaining multitude of the delirious melons of Valentinus. For if it is fitting that that language which is used respecting the universe be transformed to the primary Tetrad, and if any one may assign names at his pleasure, who shall prevent us from adopting these names, as being much more credible [than the others], as well as in general use, and understood by all?

5. Others still, however, have called their primary and first-begotten Ogdoad by the following names: first, Proarche; then Anennoetos; thirdly, Arrhetos; and fourthly, Aoratos. Then, from the first, Proarche, there was produced, in the first and fifth place, Arche; from Anennoetos, in the second and sixth place, Acataleptos; from Arrhetos, in the third and seventh place, Anonomastos; and from Aoratos, in the fourth and eighth place, Agennetos. This is the Pleroma of the first Ogdoad. They maintain that these powers were anterior to Bythus and Sige, that they may appear more perfect than the perfect, and more knowing than the very Gnostics! To these persons one may justly exclaim: "O you trifling sophists!" since, even respecting Bythus himself, there are among them many and discordant opinions. For some declare him to be without a consort, and neither male nor female, and, in fact, nothing at all; while others affirm him to be masculo-feminine, assigning to him the nature of a hermaphrodite; others, again, allot Sige to him as a spouse, that thus may be formed the first conjunction.

 

 

Chapter 12)

The doctrines of the followers of Ptolemy and Colorbasus.

1. But the followers of Ptolemy say that he [Bythus] has two consorts, which they also name Diatheses (affections), viz., Ennœa and Thelesis. For, as they affirm, he first conceived the thought of producing something, and then willed to that effect. Wherefore, again, these two affections, or powers, Ennœa and Thelesis, having intercourse, as it were, between themselves, the production of Monogenes and Aletheia took place according to conjunction. These two came forth as types and images of the two affections of the Father — visible representations of those that were invisible — Nous (i.e., Monogenes) of Thelesis, and Aletheia of Ennœa, and accordingly the image resulting from Thelesis was masculine, while that from Ennœa was feminine. Thus Thelesis (will) became, as it were, a faculty of Ennœa (thought). For Ennœa continually yearned after offspring; but she could not of herself bring forth that which she desired. But when the power of Thelesis (the faculty of will) came upon her, then she brought forth that on which she had brooded.

2. These fancied beings (like the Jove of Homer, who is represented as passing an anxious sleepless night in devising plans for honouring Achilles and destroying numbers of the Greeks) will not appear to you, my dear friend, to be possessed of greater knowledge than He who is the God of the universe. He, as soon as He thinks, also performs what He has willed; and as soon as He wills, also thinks that which He has willed; then thinking when He wills, and then willing when He thinks, since He is all thought, [all will, all mind, all light,] all eye, all ear, the one entire fountain of all good things.

3. Those of them, however, who are deemed more skilful than the persons who have just been mentioned, say that the first Ogdoad was not produced gradually, so that one Æon was sent forth by another, but that all the Æons were brought into existence at once by Propator and his Ennœa. He (Colorbasus) affirms this as confidently as if he had assisted at their birth. Accordingly, he and his followers maintain that Anthropos and Ecclesia were not produced, as others hold, from Logos and Zoe; but, on the contrary, Logos and Zoe from Anthropos and Ecclesia. But they express this in another form, as follows: When the Propator conceived the thought of producing something, he received the name of Father. But because what he did produce was true, it was named Aletheia. Again, when he wished to reveal himself, this was termed Anthropos. Finally, when he produced those whom he had previously thought of, these were named Ecclesia. Anthropos, by speaking, formed Logos: this is the first-born son. But Zoe followed upon Logos; and thus the first Ogdoad was completed.

4. They have much contention also among themselves respecting the Saviour. For some maintain that he was formed out of all; wherefore also he was called Eudocetos, because the whole Pleroma was well pleased through him to glorify the Father. But others assert that he was produced from those ten Æons alone who sprung from Logos and Zoe, and that on this account he was called Logos and Zoe, thus preserving the ancestral names. Others, again, affirm that he had his being from those twelve Æons who were the offspring of Anthropos and Ecclesia; and on this account he acknowledges himself the Son of man, as being a descendant of Anthropos. Others still, assert that he was produced by Christ and the Holy Spirit, who were brought forth for the security of the Pleroma; and that on this account he was called Christ, thus preserving the appellation of the Father, by whom he was produced. And there are yet others among them who declare that the Propator of the whole, Proarche, and Proanennoetos is called Anthropos; and that this is the great and abstruse mystery, namely, that the Power which is above all others, and contains all in his embrace, is termed Anthropos; hence does the Saviour style himself the "Son of man."

Good Reading: "Eldorado" by Edgar Allan Poe (in English)

⁠Gaily bedight,
⁠A gallant knight,
In sunshine and in shadow,
⁠Had journeyed long,
⁠Singing a song,
In search of Eldorado.

⁠But he grew old—
⁠This knight so bold—
And o'er his heart a shadow
⁠Fell as he found
⁠No spot of ground
That looked like Eldorado.

⁠And, as his strength
⁠Failed him at length,
He met a pilgrim shadow—
⁠"Shadow," said he,
⁠"Where can it be—
This land of Eldorado?"

⁠"Over the Mountains
⁠Of the Moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
⁠Ride, boldly ride,"
⁠The shade replied,—
"If you seek for Eldorado!"

Tuesday's Serials: "The Epic of Hades" by Lewis Morris (in English) - VI

HELEN

                                              And next I knew

A woman perfect as a young man's dream,

And breathing as it seemed the old sweet air

Of the fair days of old, when man was young

And life an Epic. Round the lips a smile

Subtle and deep and sweet as hers who looks

From the old painter's canvas, and derides

Life and the riddle of things, the aimless strife,

The folly of Love, as who has proved it all,

Enjoyed and suffered. In the lovely eyes

A weary look, no other than the gaze

Which ofttimes as the rapid chariot whirls,

And ofttimes by the glaring midnight streets,

Gleams out and chills our thought. And yet not guilt

Nor sorrow was it; only weariness,

No more, and still most lovely. As I named

Her name in haste, she looked with half surprise,

And thus she seemed to speak:

                                                          "What? Dost thou know

Thou too, the fatal glances which beguiled

Those strong rude chiefs of old? Has not the gloom

Of this dim land withdrawn from out mine eyes

The glamour which once filled them? Does my cheek

Retain the round of youth and still defy

The wear of immemorial centuries?

And this low voice, long silent, keeps it still

The music of old time? Aye, in thine eyes

I read it, and within thine eyes I see

Thou knowest me, and the story of my life

Sung by the blind old bard when I was dead,

And all my lovers dust. I know thee not,

Thee nor thy gods, yet would I soothly swear

I was not all to blame for what has been,

The long fight, the swift death, the woes, the tears

The brave lives spent, the humble homes uptorn

To gain one poor fair face. It was not I

That curved these lips into this subtle smile,

Or gave these eyes their fire, nor yet made round

This supple frame. It was not I, but Love,

Love mirroring himself in all things fair,

Love that projects himself upon a life,

And dotes on his own image.

                                                       Ah! the days,

The weary years of Love and feasts and gold,

The hurried flights, the din of clattering hoofs

At midnight, when the heroes dared for me,

And bore me o'er the hills; the swift pursuits

Baffled and lost; or when from isle to isle

The high-oared galley spread its wings and rose

Over the swelling surges, and I saw,

Time after time, the scarce familiar town,

The sharp-cut hills, the well-loved palaces,

The gleaming temples fade, and all for me,

Me the dead prize, the shell, the soulless ghost,

The husk of a true woman; the fond words

Wasted on careless ears, that seemed to hear,

Of love to me unloving; the rich feasts,

The silken dalliance and soft luxury,

The fair observance and high reverence

For me who cared not, to whatever land

My kingly lover snatched me. I have known

How small a fence Love sets between the king

And the strong hind, who breeds his brood, and dies

Upon the field he tills. I have exchanged

People for people, crown for glittering crown,

Through every change a queen, and held my state

Hateful, and sickened in my soul to lie

Stretched on soft cushions to the lutes' low sound,

While on the wasted fields the clang of arms

Rang, and the foemen perished, and swift death,

Hunger, and plague, and every phase of woe

Vexed all the land for me. I have heard the curse

Unspoken, when the wife widowed for me

Clasped to her heart her orphans starved for me;

As I swept proudly by. I have prayed the gods,

Hating my own fair face which wrought such woe,

Some plague divine might light on it and leave

My curse a ruin. Yet I think indeed

They had not cursed but pitied, those true wives

Who mourned their humble lords, and straining felt

The innocent thrill which swells the mother's heart

Who clasps her growing boy; had they but known

The lifeless life, the pain of hypocrite smiles,

The dead load of caresses simulated,

When Love stands shuddering by to see his fires

Lit for the shrine of gold. What if they felt

The weariness of loveless love which grew

And through the jealous palace portals seized

The caged unloving woman, sick of toys,

Sick of her gilded chains, her ease, herself,

Till for sheer weariness she flew to meet

Some new unloved seducer? What if they knew

No childish loving hands, or worse than all,

Had borne them sullen to a sire unloved,

And left them without pain? I might have been,

I too, a loving mother and chaste wife,

Had Fate so willed.

                                    For I remember well

How one day straying from my father's halls

Seeking anemones and violets,

A girl in Spring-time, when the heart makes Spring

Within the budding bosom, that I came

Of a sudden through a wood upon a bay,

A little sunny land-locked bay, whose banks

Sloped gently downward to the yellow sand,

Where the blue wave creamed soft with fairy foam,

And oft the Nereids sported. As I strayed

Singing, with fresh-pulled violets in my hair

And bosom, and my hands were full of flowers,

I came upon a little milk-white lamb,

And took it in my arms and fondled it,

And wreathed its neck with flowers, and sang to it

And kissed it, and the Spring was in my life,

And I was glad.

                             And when I raised my eyes

Behold, a youthful shepherd with his crook

Stood by me and regarded as I lay,

Tall, fair, with clustering curls, and front that wore

A budding manhood. As I looked a fear

Came o'er me, lest he were some youthful god

Disguised in shape of man, so fair he was;

But when he spoke, the kindly face was full

Of manhood, and the large eyes full of fire

Drew me without a word, and all the flowers

Fell from me, and the little milk-white lamb

Strayed through the brake, and took with it the white

Fair years of childhood. Time fulfilled my being

With passion like a cup, and with one kiss

Left me a woman.

                                   Ah! the lovely days,

When on the warm bank crowned with flowers we sate

And thought no harm, and his thin reed pipe made

Low music, and no witness of our love

Intruded, but the tinkle of the flock

Came from the hill, and 'neath the odorous shade

We dreamed away the day, and watched the waves

Steal shoreward, and beyond the sylvan capes

The innumerable laughter of the sea!

 

      Ah youth and love! So passed the happy days

Till twilight, and I stole as in a dream

Homeward, and lived as in a happy dream,

And when they spoke answered as in a dream,

And through the darkness saw, as in a glass,

The happy, happy day, and thrilled and glowed

And kept my love in sleep, and longed for dawn

And scarcely stayed for hunger, and with morn

Stole eager to the little wood, and fed

My life with kisses. Ah! the joyous days

Of innocence, when Love was Queen in heaven,

And nature unreproved! Break they then still,

Those azure circles, on a golden shore?

Smiles there no glade upon the older earth

Where spite of all, gray wisdom, and new gods,

Young lovers dream within each other's arms

Silent, by shadowy grove, or sunlit sea?

 

Ah days too fair to last! There came a night

When I lay longing for my love, and knew

Sudden the clang of hoofs, the broken doors.

The clash of swords, the shouts, the groans, the stain

Of red upon the marble, the fixed gaze

Of dead and dying eyes,—that was the time

When first I looked on death,—and when I woke

From my deep swoon, I felt the night air cool

Upon my brow, and the cold stars look down,

As swift we galloped o'er the darkling plain;

And saw the chill sea glimpses slowly wake,

With arms unknown around me. When the dawn

Broke swift, we panted on the pathless steeps,

And so by plain and mountain till we came

To Athens, where they kept me till I grew

Fairer with every year, and many wooed,

Heroes and chieftains, but I loved not one.

 

      And then the avengers came and snatched me back

To Sparta. All the dark high-crested chiefs

Of Argos wooed me, striving king with king

For one fair foolish face, nor knew I kept

No heart to give them. Yet since I was grown

Weary of honeyed words and suit of love,

I wedded a brave chief, dauntless and true.

But what cared I? I could not prize at all

His honest service. I had grown so tired

Of loving and of love, that when they brought

News that the fairest shepherd on the hills,

Having done himself to death for his lost love,

Lay, like a lovely statue, cold and white

Upon the golden sand, I hardly knew

More than a passing pang. Love, like a flower,

Love, springing up too tall in a young breast,

The growth of morning, Life's too scorching sun

Had withered long ere noon. Love, like a flame

On his own altar offering up my heart,

Had burnt my being to ashes.

                                                        Was it love

That drew me then to Paris? He was fair,

I grant you, fairer than a summer morn,

Fair with a woman's fairness, yet in arms

A hero, but he never had my heart,

Not love for him allured me, but the thirst

For freedom, if in more than thought I erred,

And was not rapt but willing. For my child,

Born to an unloved father, loved me not,

The fresh sea called, the galleys plunged, and I

Fled willing from my prison and the pain

Of undesired caresses, and the wind

Was fair, and on the third day as we sailed,

My heart was glad within me when I saw

The towers of Ilium rise beyond the wave.

 

      Ah, the long years, the melancholy years,

The miserable melancholy years!

For soon the new grew old, and then I grew

Weary of him, of all, of pomp and state

And novel splendour. Yet at times I knew

Some thrill of pride within me as I saw

From those high walls, a prisoner and a foe,

The swift ships flock at anchor in the bay,

The hasty landing and the flash of arms,

The lines of royal tents upon the plain,[132]

The close-shut gates, the chivalry within

Issuing in all its pride to meet the shock

Of the bold chiefs without; so year by year

The haughty challenge from the warring hosts

Rang forth, and I with a divided heart

Saw victory incline, now here, now there,

And helpless marked the Argive chiefs I knew,

The spouse I left, the princely loves of old,

Now with each other strive, and now with Troy:

The brave pomp of the morn, the fair strong limbs,

The glittering panoply, the bold young hearts,

Athirst for fame of war, and with the night

The broken spear, the shattered helm, the plume

Dyed red with blood, the ghastly dying face,

And nerveless limbs laid lifeless. And I knew

The stainless Hector whom I could have loved,

But that a happy love made blind his eyes

To all my baleful beauty; fallen and dragged

His noble, manly head upon the sand

By young Achilles' chariot; him in turn

Fallen and slain; my fair false Paris slain;

Plague, famine, battle, raging now within,

And now without, for many a weary year,

Summer and winter, till I loathed to live,

Who was indeed, as well they said, the Hell

Of men, and fleets, and cities. As I stood

Upon the walls, ofttimes a longing came,

Looking on rage, and fight, and blood, and death,

To end it all, and dash me down and die;

But no god helped me. Nay, one day I mind

I would entreat them. 'Pray you, lords, be men.

What fatal charm is this which Até gives

To one poor foolish face? Be strong, and turn

In peace, forget this glamour, get you home

With all your fleets and armies, to the land

I love no longer, where your faithful wives

Pine widowed of their lords, and your young boys

Grow wild to manhood. I have nought to give,

No heart, nor prize of love for any man,

Nor recompense. I am the ghost alone

Of the fair girl ye knew; she still abides,

If she still lives and is not wholly dead,

Stretched on a flowery bank upon the sea

In fair heroic Argos. Leave this form

That is no other than the outward shell

Of a once loving woman.'

                                                 As I spake,

My pity fired my eyes and flushed my cheek

With some soft charm; and as I spread my hands,

The purple, glancing down a little, left

The marble of my breasts and one pink bud

Upon the gleaming snows. And as I looked

With a mixed pride and terror, I beheld

The brute rise up within them, and my words

Fall barren on them. So I sat apart,

Nor ever more looked forth, while every day

Brought its own woe.

                                        The melancholy years,

The miserable melancholy years,

Crept onward till the midnight terror came,

And by the glare of burning streets I saw

Palace and temple reel in ruin and fall,

And the long-baffled legions, bursting in

By gate and bastion, blunted sword and spear

With unresisted slaughter. From my tower

I saw the good old king; his kindly eyes

In agony, and all his reverend hairs

Dabbled with blood, as the fierce foeman thrust

And stabbed him as he lay; the youths, the girls,

Whom day by day I knew, their silken ease

And royal luxury changed for blood and tears,

Haled forth to death or worse. Then a great hate

Of life and fate seized on me, and I rose

And rushed among them, crying, 'See, 'tis I,

I who have brought this evil! Kill me! kill

The fury that is I, yet is not I!

And let my soul go outward through the wound

Made clean by blood to Hades! Let me die,

Not these who did no wrong!' But not a hand

Was raised, and all shrank backward as afraid,

As from a goddess. Then I swooned and fell

And knew no more, and when I woke I felt

My husband's arms around me, and the wind

Blew fair for Greece, and the beaked galley plunged;

And where the towers of Ilium rose of old,

A pall of smoke above a glare of fire.

 

      What then in the near future?

                                                              Ten long years

Bring youth and love to that deep summer-tide

When the full noisy current of our lives

Creeps dumb through wealth of flowers. I think I knew

Somewhat of peace at last, with my good Lord

Who loved too much, to palter with the past,

Flushed with the present. Young Hermione

Had grown from child to woman. She was wed;

And was not I her mother? At the pomp

Of solemn nuptials and requited love,

I prayed she might be happy, happier far

Than ever I was; so in tranquil ease

I lived a queen long time, and because wealth

And high observance can make sweet our days

When youth's swift joy is past, I did requite

With what I might, not love, the kindly care

Of him I loved not; pomps and robes of price

And chariots held me. But when Fate cut short

His life and love, his sons who were not mine

Reigned in his stead, and hated me and mine:

And knowing I was friendless, I sailed forth

Once more across the sea, seeking for rest

And shelter. Still I knew that in my eyes

Love dwelt, and all the baleful charm of old

Burned as of yore, scarce dimmed as yet by time:

I saw it in the mirror of the sea,

I saw it in the youthful seamen's eyes,

And was half proud again I had such power

Who now kept nothing else. So one calm eve,

Behold, a sweet fair isle blushed like a rose

Upon the summer sea: there my swift ship

Cast anchor, and they told me it was Rhodes.

 

      There, in a little wood above the sea,

Like that dear wood of yore, I wandered forth

Forlorn, and all my seamen were apart,

And I, alone; when at the close of day

I knew myself surrounded by strange churls

With angry eyes, and one who ordered them,

A woman, whom I knew not, but who walked

In mien and garb a queen. She, with the fire

Of hate within her eyes, 'Quick, bind her, men!

I know her; bind her fast!' Then to the trunk

Of a tall plane they bound me with rude cords

That cut my arms. And meantime, far below,

The sun was gilding fair with dying rays

Isle after isle and purple wastes of sea.

 

      And then she signed to them, and all withdrew

Among the woods and left us, face to face,

Two women. Ere I spoke, 'I know,' she said,

'I know that evil fairness. This it was,

Or ever he had come across my life,

That made him cold to me, who had my love

And left me half a heart. If all my life

Of wedlock was but half a life, what fiend

Came 'twixt my love and me, but that fair face?

What left his children orphans, but that face?

And me a widow? Fiend! I have thee now;

Thou hast not long to live. I will requite

Thy murders; yet, oh fiend! that art so fair,

Were it not haply better to deface

Thy fatal loveliness, and leave thee bare

Of all thy baleful power? And yet I doubt,

And looking on thy face I doubt the more,

Lest all thy dower of fairness be the gift

Of Aphrodité, and I fear to fight

Against the immortal Gods.'

                                                   Even with the word,

And she relenting, all the riddle of life

Flashed through me, and the inextricable coil

Of Being, and the immeasurable depths

And irony of Fate, burst on my thought

And left me smiling in the eyes of death,

With this deep smile thou seëst. Then with a shriek

The woman leapt on me, and with blind rage

Strangled my life. And when she had done the deed

She swooned, and those her followers hasting back

Fell prone upon their knees before the corpse

As to a goddess. Then one went and brought

A sculptor, and within a jewelled shrine

They set me in white marble, bound to a tree

Of marble. And they came and knelt to me,

Young men and maidens, through the secular years,

While the old gods bore sway, but I was here,

And now they kneel no longer, for the world

Has gone from beauty.

                                           But I think, indeed,

They well might worship still, for never yet

Was any thought or thing of beauty born

Except with suffering. That poor wretch who thought

I injured her, stealing the foolish heart

Which she prized but I could not, what knew she

Of that I suffered? She had loved her love,

Though unrequited, and had borne to him

Children who loved her. What if she had been

Loved yet unloving: all the fire of love

Burnt out before love's time in one brief blaze

Of passion. Ah, poor fool! I pity her,

Being blest and yet unthankful, and forgive,

Now that she is a ghost as I, the hand

Which loosed my load of life. For scarce indeed

Could any god who cares for mortal men

Have ever kept me happy. I had tired

Of simple loving, doubtless, as I tired

Of splendour and being loved. There be some souls

For which love is enough, content to bear

From youth to age, from chesnut locks to gray,

The load of common, uneventful life

And penury. But I was not of these;

I know not now, if it were best indeed

That I had reared my simple shepherd brood,

And lived and died unknown in some poor hut

Among the Argive hills; or lived a queen

As I did, knowing every day that dawned

Some high emprise and glorious, and in death

To fill the world with song. Not the same meed

The gods mete out for all, or She, the dread

Necessity, who rules both gods and men,

Some to dishonour, some to honour moulds,

To happiness some, some to unhappiness.

We are what Zeus has made us, discords playing

In the great music, but the harmony

Is sweeter for them, and the great spheres ring

In one accordant hymn.

                                             But thou, if e'er

There come a daughter of thy love, oh pray

To all thy gods, lest haply they should mar

Her life with too great beauty!"

                                                          So she ceased.

The fairest woman that the poet's dream

Or artist hand has fashioned. All the gloom

Seemed lightened round her, and I heard the sound

Of her melodious voice when all was still,

And the dim twilight took her.