Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE KINGDOM, by ELIZABETH DOTEN


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE KINGDOM, by                    
First Line: Twas the ominous month of october
Last Line: "receive, and believe, as a child."
Alternate Author Name(s): Doten, Lizzie
Subject(s): Death; Heaven; Mythology; Dead, The; Paradise


'TWAS the ominous month of October—
How the memories rise in my soul!
How they swell like a sea in my soul!—
When a spirit, sad, silent, and sober,
Whose glance was a word of control,
Drew me down to the dark Lake Avernus,
In the desolate Kingdom of Death—
To the mist-covered Lake of Avernus,
In the ghoul-haunted Kingdom of Death.

And there, as I shivered and waited,
I talked with the Souls of the Dead—
With those whom the living call dead;
The lawless, the lone, and the hated,
Who broke from their bondage and fled—
From madness and misery fled.
Each word was a burning eruption
That leapt from a crater of flame—
A red, lava-tide of corruption,
That out of life's sediment came,
From the scoriac natures God gave them,
Compounded of glory and shame.

"Aboard!" cries our pilot and leader;
Then wildly we rush to embark,
We recklessly rush to embark;
And forth in our ghostly Ellida
We swept in the silence and dark—
O God! on that black Lake Avernus,
Where vampyres drink even the breath,
On that terrible Lake of Avernus,
Leading down to the whirlpool of Death!

It was there the Eumenides found us,
In sight of no shelter or shore—
No beacon or light from the shore.
They lashed up the white waves around us,
We sank in the waters' wild roar;
But not to the regions infernal,
Through billows of sulphurous flame,
But unto the City Eternal,
The Home of the Blesséd, we came.

To the gate of the Beautiful City,
All fainting and weary we pressed,
Impatient and hopeful we pressed.
"O, Heart of the Holy, take pity,
And welcome us home to our rest!
Pursued by the Fates and the Furies,
In darkness and danger we fled—
From the pitiless Fates and the Furies,
Through the desolate realms of the Dead."

"Jure Divino, I here claim admission!"
Exclaimed a proud prelate, who rushed to the gate;
"Ave Sanctissima, hear my petition
Holy Saint Peter; O, why should I wait?
O, fons pietatis, O, glorious flood,
My soul is washed clean in the Lamb's precious blood."

Like the song of a bird that yet lingers,
When the wide-wandering warbler has flown;
Like the wind-harp by Eolus blown,
As if touched by the lightest of fingers,
The portal wide open was thrown;
And we saw—not the holy Saint Peter,
Not even an angel of light,
But a vision far dearer and sweeter,
Not brilliant nor blindingly bright,
But marvellous unto the sight!

In the midst of the mystical splendor,
Stood a beautiful, beautiful child—
A golden-haired, azure-eyed child.
With a look that was touching and tender,
She stretched out her white hand and smiled:
"Ay, welcome, thrice welcome, poor mortals,
O, why do ye linger and wait?
Come fearlessly in at these portals—
No warder keeps watch at the gate!"

"Gloria Deo! Te Deum laudamus!"
Exclaimed the proud prelate, "I'm safe into Heaven;
Through the blood of the Lamb, and the martyrs who claim us,
My soul has been purchased, my sins are forgiven!
I tread where the saints and the martyrs have trod—
Lead on, thou fair child, to the temple of God!"

The child stood in silence and wonder,
Then bowed down her beautiful head,
And even as fragrance is shed
From the lily the waves have swept under,
She meekly and tenderly said—
So simply and truthfully said:
"In vain do ye seek to behold Him;
He dwells in no temple apart;
The height of the Heavens cannot hold him,
And yet he is here in my heart—
He is here, and he will not depart."

Then out from the mystical splendor,
The swift-changing, crystalline light,
The rainbow-hued, scintillant light,
Gleamed faces more touching and tender
Than ever had greeted our sight—
Our sin-blinded, death-darkened sight;
And they sang: "Welcome home to the Kingdom,
Ye earth-born and serpent-beguiled;
The Lord is the light of this Kingdom,
And His temple the heart of a child—
Of a trustful and teachable child,
Ye are born to the life of the Kingdom—
Receive, and believe, as a child."





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