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Richard Crashaw - Satan
Work rating: Low

Below the bottom of the great Abyss, 
There where one centre reconciles all things,
The world`s profound heart pants; there placed is
Mischief`s old Master! close about him clings
A curled knot of embracing snakes, that kiss
His correspondent cheeks: these loathsome strings
Hold the perverse prince in eternal ties,
Fast bound since first he forfeited the skies.

Heaven`s golden-winged herald late he saw
To a poor Galilean virgin sent;
How long the bright youth bowed, and with what awe
Immortal flowers to her fair hand present:
He saw the old Hebrew`s womb neglect the law
Of age and barrenness; and her Babe prevent 
His birth by his devotion, who began
Betimes to be a saint before a man!

Yet, on the other side, fain would he start 
Above his fears, and think it cannot be:
He studies Scripture, strives to sound the heart
And feel the pulse of every prophecy,
He knows, but knows not how, or by what art
The heaven-expecting ages hope to see
A mighty Babe, whose pure, unspotted birth
From a chaste virgin womb should bless the earth!

But these vast mysteries his senses smother,
And reason, — for what`s faith to him! — devour, 
How she that is a maid should prove a mother,
Yet keep inviolate her virgin flower:
How God`s eternal Son should be man`s brother,
Poseth his proudest intellectual power;
How a pure spirit should incarnate be,
And life itself wear death`s frail livery.

That the great angel-blinding light should shrink
His blaze, to shine in a poor shepherd`s eye;
That the unmeasured God so low should sink
As prisoner in a few poor rags to lie; milk should drink,
Who feeds with nectar Heaven`s fair family; 
That a vile manger his low bed should prove
Who in a throne of stars thunders above.

That He whom the sun serves, should faintly peep
Through clouds of infant flesh: that He the old
Eternal Word would be a child, and weep;
That He who made the fire should feel the cold;
That Heaven`s high Majesty his court should keep
In a clay-cottage, by each blast controlled:
That Glory`s self should serve our griefs and fears:
And free Eternity submit to years.
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