PART VI—DAMNATION
355
xxxi
As troubled skies stain waters clear,
The storm in Peter's heart and mind
Now made his verses dark and queer:
They were the ghosts of what they were, 612
Shaking dim grave-clothes in the wind.
As troubled skies stain waters clear,
The storm in Peter's heart and mind
Now made his verses dark and queer:
They were the ghosts of what they were, 612
Shaking dim grave-clothes in the wind.
xxxii
For he now raved enormous folly,
Of Baptisms, Sunday-schools, and Graves, 615
'Twould make George Colman melancholy
To have heard him, like a male Molly,
Chanting those stupid staves.
For he now raved enormous folly,
Of Baptisms, Sunday-schools, and Graves, 615
'Twould make George Colman melancholy
To have heard him, like a male Molly,
Chanting those stupid staves.
xxxiii
Yet the Reviews, who heaped abuse
On Peter while he wrote for freedom, 620
So soon as in his song they spy
The folly which soothes tyranny,
Praise him, for those who feed 'em.
Yet the Reviews, who heaped abuse
On Peter while he wrote for freedom, 620
So soon as in his song they spy
The folly which soothes tyranny,
Praise him, for those who feed 'em.
xxxiv
'He was a man, too great to scan;—
A planet lost in truth's keen rays:— 625
His virtue, awful and prodigious;—
He was the most sublime, religious,
Pure-minded Poet of these days.'
'He was a man, too great to scan;—
A planet lost in truth's keen rays:— 625
His virtue, awful and prodigious;—
He was the most sublime, religious,
Pure-minded Poet of these days.'
xxxv
As soon as he read that, cried Peter,
'Eureka! I have found the way
To make a better thing of metre 631
Than e'er was made by living creature
Up to this blessèd day.'
As soon as he read that, cried Peter,
'Eureka! I have found the way
To make a better thing of metre 631
Than e'er was made by living creature
Up to this blessèd day.'
xxxvi
Then Peter wrote odes to the Devil;—
In one of which he meekly said:
'May Carnage and Slaughter, 636
Thy niece and thy daughter,
May Rapine and Famine,
Thy gorge ever cramming,
Glut thee with living and dead!
Then Peter wrote odes to the Devil;—
In one of which he meekly said:
'May Carnage and Slaughter, 636
Thy niece and thy daughter,
May Rapine and Famine,
Thy gorge ever cramming,
Glut thee with living and dead!
xxxvii
'May Death and Damnation, 641
And Consternation,
Flit up from Hell with pure intent!
Slash them at Manchester,
Glasgow, Leeds, and Chester; 645
Drench all with blood from Avon to Trent.
'May Death and Damnation, 641
And Consternation,
Flit up from Hell with pure intent!
Slash them at Manchester,
Glasgow, Leeds, and Chester; 645
Drench all with blood from Avon to Trent.
xxxviii
'Let thy body-guard yeomen
Hew down babes and women,
And laugh with bold triumph till Heaven be rent!
When Moloch in Jewry 650
Munched children with fury,
It was thou, Devil, dining with pure intent[1].'
'Let thy body-guard yeomen
Hew down babes and women,
And laugh with bold triumph till Heaven be rent!
When Moloch in Jewry 650
Munched children with fury,
It was thou, Devil, dining with pure intent[1].'
PART THE SEVENTH
DOUBLE DAMNATION
DOUBLE DAMNATION
i
The Devil now knew his proper cue.—
Soon as he read the ode, he drove
To his friend Lord MacMurderchouse's, 665
A man of interest in both houses,
And said:—'For money or for love,
The Devil now knew his proper cue.—
Soon as he read the ode, he drove
To his friend Lord MacMurderchouse's, 665
A man of interest in both houses,
And said:—'For money or for love,
ii
Pray find some cure or sinecure;
To feed from the superfluous taxes
A friend of ours—a poet—fewer 660
Have fluttered tamer to the lure
Than he.' His lordship stands and racks his
Pray find some cure or sinecure;
To feed from the superfluous taxes
A friend of ours—a poet—fewer 660
Have fluttered tamer to the lure
Than he.' His lordship stands and racks his
- ↑ It is curious to observe how often extremes meet. Cobbett and Peter use the same language for a different purpose: Peter is indeed a sort of metrical Cobbett. Cobbett is, however, more mischievous than Peter, because he pollutes a holy and now unconquerable cause with the principles of legitimate murder; whilst the other only makes a bad one ridiculous and odious.
If either Peter or Cobbett should see this note, each will feel more indignation at being compared to the other than at any censure implied in the moral perversion laid to their charge.—[Shelley's Note.]
