20.
And men of learning, science, wit,
Considered him as you and I
Think of some rotten tree, and sit _360
Lounging and dining under it,
Exposed to the wide sky.
21.
And all the while with loose fat smile,
The willing wretch sat winking there,
Believing ’twas his power that made _365
That jovial scene—and that all paid
Homage to his unnoticed chair.
22.
Though to be sure this place was Hell;
He was the Devil—and all they—
What though the claret circled well, _370
And wit, like ocean, rose and fell?—
Were damned eternally.
PART 5.
GRACE.
1.
Among the guests who often stayed
Till the Devil’s petits-soupers,
A man there came, fair as a maid, _375
And Peter noted what he said,
Standing behind his master’s chair.
2.
He was a mighty poet—and
A subtle-souled psychologist;
All things he seemed to understand, _380
Of old or new—of sea or land—
But his own mind—which was a mist.
3.
This was a man who might have turned
Hell into Heaven—and so in gladness
A Heaven unto himself have earned; _385
But he in shadows undiscerned
Trusted.—and damned himself to madness.
4.
He spoke of poetry, and how
‘Divine it was—a light—a love—
A spirit which like wind doth blow _390
As it listeth, to and fro;
A dew rained down from God above;
5.
‘A power which comes and goes like dream,
And which none can ever trace—
Heaven’s light on earth—Truth’s brightest beam.’ _395
And when he ceased there lay the gleam
Of those words upon his face.