The Henriade by Voltaire--Delphi Classics (Illustrated) by Voltaire

Author:Voltaire [VOLTAIRE]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Parts Edition 29 of 43 by Delphi Classics
Publisher: Delphi Classics (Parts Edition)
Published: 2017-08-25T00:00:00+00:00

CANTO VII.

THE ARGUMENT.

Henry IV. is transported in a vision by St. Louis to heaven, and the infernal regions. He arrives at the palace of the Destinies; where he has an opportunity of seeing his posterity, and the great men hereafter to be produced in France.

The great, the boundless clemency of God,

To soothe the ills of life’s perplexing road,

Sweet sleep, and hope, two friendly beings gave,

Which earth’s dark, gloomy confines never leave.

When man, fatigued by labors of the day,

Has toiled his spirits and his strength away,

That, nature’s friend, restores her powers again,

And brings the blest forgetfulness of pain.

This, oft deceitful, but forever kind,

Diffuses warmth and transport through the mind.

From her the few, whom heaven approves, may learn

The pleasing issue of each high concern,

Pure as her author in the realms above

To them she brings the tidings of his love.

Immortal Louis bid the faithful pair

Expand their downy wings, and soften Henry’s care.

Still sleep repairs to Vincennes’ shady ground;

The winds subside, and silence reigns around.

Hope’s blooming offspring, happy dreams succeed,

And give the pleasing, though ideal meed.

The verdant olive, and the laurel bough,

Entwined with poppies, grace the hero’s brow.

On Bourbon’s temples Louis placed the crown

Whose radiant honors once adorned his own.

“Go, reign,” he cried, “and triumph o’er thy foes;

No other hope the race of Louis knows.

Yet think diviner presents to receive,

Far more, my son, than royalty I give.

What boots renown in arms, should heaven withhold

Her light more precious than the purest gold?

These worldly honors are a barren good;

Rewards uncertain on the brave bestowed:

A transient greatness, and a fading wreath

Blasted by troubles, and destroyed by death.

Empire more durable, for thee designed,

I come to show thee, and inform thy mind.

Attend my steps through paths thou ne’er hast trod,

And fly to meet the bosom of thy God.”

Thus spoke the saint; they mount the car of light,

And swiftly traverse the ethereal height.

Thus midnight lightnings flash, while thunders roll,

And cleave the ambient air from pole to pole.

Thus rose Elijah on the fiery cloud;

The radiant ether with effulgence glowed:

To purer worlds, arrayed in glories bright,

The prophet fled, and vanished from the sight.

Amidst those orbs which move by certain laws

Known to each sage whom love of science draws,

The sun, revolving round his axis turns,

Shines undiminished, and forever burns.

Thence spring those golden torrents, which bestow

All vital warmth, and vigor as they flow.

From thence the welcome day, and year proceeds;

Through various worlds his genial influence spreads.

The rolling planets beam with borrowed rays,

And all around reflect the solar blaze;

Attract each other, and each other shun:

And end their courses where they first begun.

Far in the void unnumbered worlds arise,

And suns unnumbered light the azure skies.

Far beyond all the God of heaven resides,

Marks every orbit, every motion guides.

Thither the hero and the saint repair;

Myriads of spirits are created there,

Which amply people all the globe, and fill

The human body; such the Almighty’s will.

There, with immortal spirits at His feet,

The Judge incorruptible holds His seat.

The God eternal, in all climes adored

By different names, Jehovah, Jove, or Lord.

Before His throne our plaintive sorrows rise;

Our errors He beholds with pitying eyes:

Those senseless portraits, figured by mankind,

To paint His image, and omniscient mind.

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