THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 THE 
 
 DOOMED RACE; 
 
 OR, THE 
 
 CRAFT BEFORE THE FLOOD, 
 LEAVES 
 
 FROM AN UNPUBLISHED POEM. 
 
 BY 
 
 A PRIEST OF THE ORDER. 
 
 CINCINNATI: 
 HOMAN & ABEAHAM, PUBLISHERS, 
 
 118 WEST FOURTH STREET, 
 
 1867.
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, 
 BY THE AUTHOR, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States 
 for the Southern District of Ohio. 
 
 H. O. HOMAN & CO. 
 
 Stereotypers, Printers, 
 
 and Binders. 
 
 CINCINNATI, o.
 
 THE DOOMED RACE. 
 
 H E weary day is hastening to a close, 
 The burdened bee forsakes the rifled rose, 
 And trees, and shrubs, and flowers of every hue, 
 Open their lips to drink the gathering dew. 
 The sun-browned plowman ceases from his toil, 
 And homeward, whistling, bears his precious spoil; 
 Where wife and children tell the moments o'er, 
 Waiting to greet him at the cottage door. 
 The shepherd, piping to his flock, is seen 
 Winding the hill-side toward the vale serene; 
 Pausing at times to list the cow-boy's song, 
 Or watch the streamlet as it leaps along. 
 
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 6 
 
 Far up the steep, in accents sweet and clear, 
 The school-boy's laugh rings out upon the air 
 And down the rocks the merry urchins come, 
 Skipping and shouting as they draw near home. 
 There by the hamlet, in a sheltered dale, 
 The milk-maid fills her burnished churn and pail, 
 And cropping near and wading in the stream, 
 Absorbed and sad, the broadfaced Durhams seem. 
 The rural village in the plain below, 
 Where fair Euphrates' limpid waters flow, 
 Seems hushed and happy as a child at rest 
 Serenely sleeping on its mother's breast. 
 While far away, against the golden sky, 
 The sunlit hill-tops loom before the eye 
 In softened beauty all things now appear 
 And odors sweet are spreading everywhere. 
 As on we pass, the fire-fly's fitful light 
 Flames up like hope then vanishes from sight. 
 The gray mists deepen, and the low, hoarse song 
 Of frog and katy-did now trills along.
 
 THE DOOMED EACE. 
 
 Guided by fancy and the meteors gleam 
 
 "We thread the maze and find the mythic stream 
 
 Whoso magic surface, like Aggrippa's glass, 
 
 Eeveals things present, bygone and to pass ; 
 
 And, while the mystery we try to trace, 
 
 The waves unveil a sweet magnetic place, 
 
 Where gay groups ramble in a leafy grove, 
 
 And youth meets beauty at the shrine of love. 
 
 So Eve met Adam, in the olden time, 
 
 So youth meets beauty still, in every clime. 
 
 In bowers secluded and in lighted halls, 
 
 To dream of sunshine as the shadow falls. 
 
 But how delusive Love's bright visions are, 
 Like morning's hues or evening's fitful star, 
 They gleam a moment, ravishing the sight, 
 Then sink and leave us in intenser night. 
 So travelers, in the desert, oft mistake 
 The misty mirage for a limpid lake ;
 
 8 THE DOOMED 
 
 So Sodom's grapes invite the longing trust, 
 
 But he who grasps them finds not fruit but dust. 
 
 The forms we prize friend, mother, child or wife 
 
 Are dearer, far, than wealth, or fame, or life. 
 
 But these are mortal; and the coming morn 
 
 May find us stricken, friendless and forlorn 
 
 For plague and poison permeate the air, 
 
 And death's cold frosts are spreading everywhere ; 
 
 The cup we quaff is mixed with joy and grief, 
 
 Shadow and sunshine, anguish and relief, 
 
 Blend in our earth-life : and, alas ! none know 
 
 Whether the morrow will bring joy or woe. 
 
 You love yon girl, so delicately fair, 
 
 Her silvery laugh rings out upon the air; 
 
 But see ! a shudder shakos her tender frame, 
 
 The bloom departs extinguished is the flame 
 
 A blighted stem stands shivering in the storm, 
 
 The only vestige of that cherished form ; 
 
 The morn beheld her full of hope and bloom, 
 
 At eve we bear her to the silent tomb.
 
 TlIEDOOMEDBACE. 
 
 The August One, who knows our nature best, 
 
 Subjects us all to causes of unrest, 
 
 And tries the soul by poverty and wealth 
 
 By pining sickness and redundant health. 
 
 Without hard lessons no one can attain 
 
 Distinction here. Ulysses did not gain 
 
 The victor's palm; by feasting in his tent, 
 
 Eut by hard blows, in earnest battles, sent. 
 
 "Nor without suffering did the Master win 
 
 Eternal empire over death and sin. 
 
 The noblest born are not exempt from pain 
 
 And conflict here ; but sometimes feel the chain 
 
 Designed for culprits and the negro slave, 
 
 "Whom naught from sloth but coerced toil can save. 
 
 Now as the shadow sweeps the tints away, 
 
 Two fair young beings in the twilight stray; 
 
 Hope gilds the future, and before their eyes 
 
 Transporting scenes in sweet perspective rise ; 
 
 The silvery light, that tinges grove and stream, 
 
 Gives inspiration to their love-lit dream ;
 
 10 THE DOOMED 
 
 And as they wander, clasping hand in hand, 
 
 She seems the ideal of a fairer land. 
 
 Her form is faultless his of manly grace ; 
 
 But in his eyes and countenance we trace 
 
 A lurking demon ; while his features wear 
 
 The show of passion unrestrained by fear. 
 
 Deep in the wild, where lovers seldom go, 
 
 They pause at last ; all things with beauty glow, 
 
 The earth breathes sweetness, and the mellow sky 
 
 Speaks not of evil or temptation nigli ; 
 
 But, lured l>y passion, kiss responds to kiss, 
 
 Pulse bounds to pulse creation floats in bliss ; 
 
 Eyes look to eyes the thoughts words cannot speak ; 
 
 The spirit trembles, but the flesh is weak. 
 
 A mystic languor o'er the senses steals, 
 
 And heart to heart its hidden wealth reveals 
 
 'Tis here the spoiler on his victim feeds, 
 
 'Tis thus the wolf the artless lamb misleads 
 
 No thunder rocks the clouds, nor lightnings flame 
 
 The lamb to startle or the wolf to tame.
 
 THE DOOMED EACE. 11 
 
 But soon the joy of transport yields to sighs 
 And scalding tears suffuse her large dark eyes. 
 Despoiled and wrecked the fair one drifts away, 
 By demons haunted, and to grief a prey. 
 Shall polished guilt thus violate the bloom 
 Of trusting love, nor meet the outlaw's doom? 
 Can woman, without sin, bestow her smiles 
 On one who thus the gentler sex beguiles ? 
 
 No ! justice tracks them, and, pursued by grief, 
 
 * 
 They live and die: yet death brings no relief; 
 
 The soul dies not nor sleeps : beyond the tomb 
 
 The worm, the canker, and the fires consume. 
 
 On memory's walls the long recorded deeds 
 
 Stand out distinctly, and the spirit bleeds 
 
 And writhes in pain, 'till hope and reason sink, 
 
 And conscience, shivering, shrieks to be extinct. 
 
 'Tis right that they who quench the fires within 
 
 The temple, and seduce the soul to sin 
 
 Should reap what they have sown, and feel the flame 
 
 Themselves have kindled endless grief and shame.
 
 12 TlIE DOOMED 
 
 Fools toy with sin, attracted by its hues, 
 The colors dazzle and the sports amuse ; 
 But 'neath the tints, so charming to the eyes, 
 The wise man knows a deadly virus lies. 
 
 A deeper shadow falls upon the scene, 
 
 The forms of fancy faintly sigh adieu ; 
 But while the groups are dancing from the grco' 
 
 An older scene is coming into view; 
 It reaches backward to the dawn of time 
 
 "When Yahvah spoke, and light o'er chaos roso ; 
 Jt sweeps us onward to the day sublime, 
 
 When every scene its purpose shall disclose. 
 
 Midst Eden's forms we walk at close of day, 
 All things are beautiful ; the beasts a play 
 Seem all content, and birds and angels sing 
 Anthems to Jah, while flowers their offerings fling; 
 Man walks in concord with Elohim ! God, 
 Nor dreams of evil nor afflictions rod.
 
 THE DOOMED EACE. 13 
 
 Long Adam wanders midst the fragrant forms 
 Long towards an ideal shape, in dreams he warms, 
 A grief mysterious wraps his soul in gloom 
 He sighs, "Why am I sad, creations bloom 
 Gives joy complete to bird, and beast, and fish?" 
 Jah hears the sigh, and gratifies the wish. 
 He sleeps as never he had slept before, 
 He wakes, and, oh ! the rapture ! at the door 
 The ideal of his dreams now trips in sight, 
 Attractive, beauteous, blest with sense and might. 
 
 Swiftly and sweetly pass the hours away, 
 
 As hand in hand, at dawn and close of day, 
 
 They wander midst the flowers, or wade the streams 
 
 That moisten Eden : now they tell their dreams, 
 
 Now mark the leopard and the lamb at play, 
 
 Now list the songs of birds of plumage gay, 
 
 Or seek the consecrated bower, where 
 
 Jah grants them audience and attends their prayer.
 
 14 THE DOOMED RACE. 
 
 How sweet midst fruits and flowers thus to rove, 
 
 With naught to mar or chill confiding love. 
 
 Angelic beings floating in the air, 
 
 And Jah, the August, to uphold and cheer. 
 
 But Eve is restless, for amongst the fruits 
 
 Is one which reason blights and love imbrutes, 
 
 By Jah prohibited, because the taste 
 
 Will wreck the intellect the heart lay waste. 
 
 Yet on its juicy pulp the tempter feeds, 
 
 And Eve beholding, asks, "If it misleads 
 
 And desolates the soul, why dost thou eat?" 
 
 "It thrills me," he replies; "nothing so sweet 
 
 In all the garden grows : the gods divine, 
 
 Who float about us, use the luscious wine 
 
 To renovate their bloom, and, oft have said, 
 
 ' If lovely Eve and Adam did not dread 
 
 Its joy-inspiring qualities, they 'd be 
 
 As gods in knowledge, and, as we are, free ! ' ' 
 
 " The fruit," said Eve, " is pleasant to the eye, 
 
 But Jah hath sworn whoever eats shall die."
 
 THE DOOMED BACK. 15 
 
 "Then gods and I were dead," the fiend replies, 
 "But, eating, still we live before thine eyes. 
 Is Jah unerring? Dost thou fear him still? 
 Eat and distinguish from the good the ill." 
 She plucks and eats, but instantly the brain 
 Glows with sensuous forms, while heart and vein 
 Throb with an impulse never felt before ; 
 Adam beholds her, eats, and prays no more. 
 Oh, shameful waking from that evil sleep, 
 Where demons laugh and angels sigh and weep ; 
 The sleep of sin, induced by lust and wine, 
 Which rob man still of all that is divine. 
 Naked, impoverished, overwhelmed with shame, 
 They hear the voice and bend before the flame 
 That signifies Jah's presence, who, 'till now, 
 Had walked unveiled with them. But how 
 Or with what hope can they approach or pray 
 To Him, the August, whom to disobey 
 Is forfeiture of all things even life? 
 Ah ! true contrition prompts the bitter strife.
 
 16 TH E Do OMED EACE. 
 
 'Tis life eternal that is in the scale 
 All, all is lost, if prayer does not prevail, 
 For this they struggle in devoutest prayer, 
 From dawn of day until the stars appear ; 
 All night they wrestle but, as breaks the day, 
 Their prayer is heard their sorrows pass away. 
 Now Jah, as clothed in flesh, himself reveals, 
 Forgives their sin and their backsliding heals. 
 
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 Westward of Eden, outcast and in tears, 
 
 They build their bower, and dwell midst grief and 
 
 fears ; 
 
 The beasts, once docile, have their tameness lost, 
 The autumn, too, is followed now by frost; 
 All things are changed birds, fishes, men and beasts, 
 The stronger creature on the weaker feasts. 
 Twins came to Eve, and gazing through her tears, 
 On Abel's form, which to her fancy wears 
 The lineaments of Jah the promised seed ; 
 She smiles and says, " Eth Yahvah, 'tis indeed
 
 THE DOOMED EACE. 17 
 
 He, who will be by whom we shall regain 
 Our Eden." But, alas ! her hope is vain. 
 The 'Coming One must be of virgin born, 
 Godlike in goodness, yet of man forlorn. 
 Twins came again females with silky hair, 
 Perfect in form and features, and more fair 
 Than the twin brothers, in whose forms combine 
 All manly gifts, with strength and thought divine. 
 From Adam's altar grateful offerings rise 
 To him who peoples both the earth and skies. 
 A newborn hope the patriarch's heart elates 
 As with uncovered head he dedicates 
 His little ones to Jah sprinkling the face 
 "With water mixed with blood, and asking grace 
 To guide and keep them in the trying hour 
 From sinful thoughts and satan's blighting power. 
 Oh ! how attractive little children are, 
 How artless, trustful, and divinely fair 
 So winning, too, in all their little ways, 
 
 In thought and prattle, and in childish plays. 
 
 2
 
 18 THEDOOMEDEACE. 
 
 The toil-worn pilgrim, trembling on his staff, 
 
 Pauses to view them and to hear their laugh. 
 
 Their presence fills the humblest home with light, 
 
 Softens the heart and makes the affections bright. 
 
 Man prides in riches, and applause, and fame, 
 
 But none of these perpetuate his name. 
 
 His children only are his real lore 
 
 He lives in them when fortune is no more. 
 
 Oh ! can it be that sin, and sin alone, 
 
 Dwells in our babes, and nothing good is known ? 
 
 Is it a little fiend with melting eye, 
 
 That hastes poor puss to snatch from evil nigh, 
 
 That lists the outcast's tale with throbbing heart, 
 
 And, to relieve him, with its toy doth part ? 
 
 Doth malice rankle in that little breast, 
 
 Or envy rob it of its native rest? 
 
 No ! no ! What stirs its depths the face reveals, 
 
 It looks and acts just as it thinks and feels, 
 
 Its artless innocence and trustful love 
 
 Link it with all that's beautiful above,
 
 THE DOOMED EACE. 19 
 
 But, 'till 'tis taught its reason how to use, 
 'Tis apt the evil as the good to choose. 
 
 Kizpah to Abel, Timna to Cain, is wife, 
 
 Yet Cain loves Eizpah better than his life, 
 
 And by love's offices, and guile and art, 
 
 Combats her scruples and secures her heart; 
 
 Emboldened he asserts his rightful claim 
 
 To Eizpah's person " Let the mystic flame 
 
 Decide between us, Abel, unto Him, 
 
 Thy God, who dwells between the cherubim, 
 
 Placed east of Eden, we will now repair, 
 
 Present a sacrifice and make our prayer; 
 
 If fire consume thy offering she is thine, 
 
 If not, then Eizpah is forever mine." 
 
 'Tis done : Cain brings ripe fruits, Abel a lamb ; 
 
 They kneel and supplicate : now in a psalm 
 
 Lift up the voice, and, lo ! the mystic fire 
 
 Falls on Abel's offering; while Jah, in ire,
 
 20 THE DOOMED EACE. 
 
 B} 7 whirlwind sweeps Cain's fruits and flowers away, 
 
 Cain grasps the knife and smites 
 
 ***** 'Tis close of day, 
 Eve sits within her bower, a pensive shade 
 Eests on her features, as through the glade 
 She marks the sheep returning to the fold, 
 And seeks in vain the shepherd to behold. 
 A sense of coming grief extorts the sigh, 
 "What keeps him back? Now suddenly the sky 
 Bright with the glory of Shekinah glows ; 
 The cloud of mystery and grandeur goes 
 Towards Adam's grove. Its aspect Cain beholds 
 With blanching cheeks and brow, 'till its soft folds 
 Fall 'round his form : and then, with Jah shut in, 
 He learns the vileness and the curse of sin. 
 "Where is thy brother Abel ?" Jah exclaims; 
 But deep surprise the wily culprit feigns ; 
 At last he says, "Am I my brother's guide? 
 I left him sleeping by the altar side"
 
 TIIEDOOMEDKACE. 21 
 
 "Ah! Cain," saith Jah, "thy crime thou canst not hide, 
 
 From out that slumber by the altar side ; 
 
 Thy brother Abel never more shall wake, 
 
 ' Till Jah an offering for all flesh shall make. 
 
 Thy guilty deed, thou would 'st but can'st not hide, 
 
 From Him by whom all human acts are tried; 
 
 The blood of Abel from the altar cries 
 
 To him for vengeance. Open now thine eyes, 
 
 Mark well thy sentence and by doing well, 
 
 Seek to escape an ever-during hell. 
 
 Accursed art thou and earth thy curse must bear, 
 
 The soil shall yield but to thy toil and care ; 
 
 By guilt pursued, thou to and fro shalt run 
 
 In quest of happiness, yet finding none. 
 
 Cut off thou art from kindred, ease and home, 
 
 And doomed to wander, 'till at last thou come, 
 
 Like Abel, without issue to the grave, 
 
 With Jah alone to succor and to save. 
 
 But Cain exclaims "Let fire consume me here, 
 
 So harsh a doom I cannot, will not, bear ;
 
 22 T II E D O M E D E A C E. 
 
 From Rizpah never will I be disjoined, 
 Though all forsake in her all bliss I'll find." 
 
 The cloud symbolic to its place returns, 
 On Cain's stern brow Jah's awful signet burns, 
 The ruddy fairness of his flesh gives place 
 To blackness that the blest Adamic race 
 May not commix and propagate a seed, 
 Inclined to lust and every evil deed 
 For in his flesh the fruit its seed hath sown, 
 Which dooms him now to live and die alone. 
 Midnight has come the primal pair have laid 
 The form of Abel 'neath the willow's shade 
 Where flowers exhale and stars their vigils keep 
 All things are hushed, the world is fast asleep 
 Tirana reposes on her mother's breast, 
 And birds, and beasts, and insects are at rest; 
 Yet Cain rests not but to the star-lit skies 
 He lifts defiantly his blistered eyes
 
 THE DOOMED EACE. 23 
 
 The curse has entered and consumes his brain, 
 Lust mixed with malice throbs in every vein ; 
 "Let Jah decree," he cries, "but still I swear 
 Eizpah my doom and wanderings shall share." 
 Now to her tent he creeps with stealthy tread, 
 Withdraws the veil and bends beside her bed ; 
 " Oh ! Eizpah, wake and hear me now," he sighs; 
 She starts and on him bends her large dark eyes, 
 His warm breath blows upon her moistened cheek, 
 Eyes look to eyes the thoughts words cannot speak, 
 And moved by hope and thrilled by trusting love, 
 She yields her heart and quits her native grove. 
 Eastward of Eden, at the dawn of day, 
 Through tangled wildwoods they pursue their way, 
 Driving the herds and flocks o'er hill and dale 
 And rest at last within a sheltered vale, 
 "Where spring abides and flowers of every hue, 
 And rich, ripe grains and fruit trees, meet the view, 
 The land with gold and precious stones is rife, 
 And earth, and air, and water, teems with life.
 
 24 THE DOOMED RACE. 
 
 To Eve and Adam, as they wake from sleep, 
 The opening day brings sorrows new and deep. 
 Rizpah has fall'n the herds and flocks have flown, 
 And Timna, stricken, weeps her tears alone. 
 Jah's great design is thwarted, too, by Cain, 
 "Whose seed accursed shall multiply and reign, 
 'Till vice o'er virtue triumphs, and the earth 
 Reels in the anguish of a second birth. 
 Though morn brings sadness, yet the night yields 
 
 joy- 
 Eve smiles again on twins a girl and boy 
 " God heals the breach our son's elect," she cries, 
 " We '11 call him Seth : his foreskin circumcise 
 To him the symbols and the mystic flame, 
 The tree of life and the unuttered name, 
 Shall be made known and constitute the creed 
 Of Jah Elohim and his chosen seed." 
 
 Ages have flown, the primal pair are gray 
 And careworn now ; at close of Sabbath day
 
 THE DOOMED 11 A c E . .25 
 
 They sit in converse, and in chant and prayer 
 
 Pour out their souls then wait, with hope and fear, 
 
 The promised coming of the cloud and flame, 
 
 Token of Him who bears the Omnific name 
 
 The name of mystery, and the word sublime, 
 
 That links in one the craft in every clime. 
 
 Enoch beholds it, Jared's favorite boy, 
 
 Is taught its meaning and exults with joy. 
 
 That word infolds the patriarchal creed, 
 
 And points man forward to the coming seed 
 
 The seed by whom the spoiler shall be slain, 
 
 And man his Eden in the sky regain. 
 
 From Cain hath sprung an active, sensuous race, 
 
 Less fair than Adam's, but, in form and face, 
 
 Far more attractive, yet in heart and mind 
 
 To wine and mirth, and every vice, inclined ; 
 
 By them Elohim is no more revered, 
 
 To Sol alone their fanes and shrines are reared. 
 
 The Sethites only, bow before flame 
 
 And offer homage in the God-man's name. 
 3
 
 26 THEDOOMEDTCICE. 
 
 By Lamech's sons the useful arts are taught, 
 Their skill and toil have mighty changes wrought. 
 The wooded vale, where Cain and Eizpah dwelt, 
 The touch of art and enterprise hath felt. 
 Elvers are bridged, cities and temples rise, 
 And castles, too, whose turrets pierce the skies. 
 The vale at eve assumes a softened bloom, 
 Ten thousand lamps its flow'ry walks illume, 
 Delicious odors permeate the air, 
 And beauteous Cainites greet us everywhere ; 
 In leafy bowers and lighted halls they meet, 
 Where Jubal's harp yields music soft and sweet. 
 'Midst dazzling scenes they trip the hours away, 
 From evening twilight till the dawn of day, 
 The cup, the song, the lewd persuasive glance 
 Give life and witchery to the mazy dance. 
 The brightness blinds the brain with passion reels, 
 O'er every heart a lecherous languor steals. 
 Enchantment rules the hour and who can tell 
 The mischief lurking in the syren's spell ?
 
 THEDOOMEDKACE. 27 
 
 The builders all the dreadful drawings feel, 
 And, yielding, in the maelstroms eddies reel 
 All, all, are lost, save Enoch's chosen few, 
 "Who meet in secret and the good pursue. 
 The sons of Noah, whom all ranks disdain 
 The magic rod and mystic word retain 
 That rod by which the red sea's waves shall part, 
 That word by which the dead to life shall start; 
 A word of power, and love, and mystery, too, 
 That made all things, and all things shall renew. 
 By it the prophet's inspiration share, 
 By it the craft hold converse everywhere 
 In light and shade, in gladness and in grief, 
 The word brings sunshine,, and the rod relief 
 Thus in the vale, devoted to the sun, 
 Is heaven ignored, and hell on earth begun. 
 The good and noble early pass away, 
 "While mercy spares the vile from day to day. 
 If haply some may turn with tears to God 
 And find forgiveness rather than the rod.
 
 28 THE DOOMED EACE. 
 
 But few have died of all the myriads born 
 
 Of Eizpah. The emboldened Cain'ites scorn 
 
 The idea of a flood, and proudly say, 
 
 Those who have perished would be here to-day, 
 
 Still strong and gay, and fresh in manly bloom, 
 
 Had they contemned the fastings and the gloom 
 
 Enjoined by Enoch, who, before all eyes, 
 
 For scorning Sol., was hurried to the skies; 
 
 Yet, others say, he worshipped only him 
 
 VYho shone as Sol between the Cherubim 
 
 That suns and stars by Enoch's God were made, 
 
 To whom alone all homage should be paid, 
 
 And Eden, whence the sinning pair were driven, 
 
 But symbolized a lovelier grove in heaven, 
 
 That by Elohim, Enoch climbed the sky 
 
 To teach all living man shall never die, 
 
 His flesh may die, but only as the seed 
 
 Again to germinate. The soul indeed 
 
 Dies not nor sleeps, but dwells with God in light, 
 
 Or blighted, shiv'ring, drifts in endless night.
 
 THE DOOMED KACE. 29 
 
 Beneath the temple where the Cainites meet 
 The craft have fashioned a sublime retreat, 
 There all who comprehend the mystic name 
 May meet in secret and invoke the flame 
 That lights creation, thrills and fires the mind, 
 And warms the heart with love for all mankind; 
 The spirit-flame that flashes everyway 
 To keep in mind, of high and low and gay, 
 The path by which the outcast may regain 
 The tree of life upon the heavenly plain. 
 This secret fane is lovelier far than Sol's, 
 Its stuccos, sculptures, and its porph'ry walls, 
 And frescoed scenes in softened light appear; 
 The arts divine have fixed their dwelling here. 
 The veiled asylum and triangled shrine, 
 And arching chambers are of rare design. 
 'Tis said the model of the craft was given 
 By Jah, the builder of both earth and heaven, 
 To secret masters, and to such alone, 
 The hidden ways of ingress are made known ;
 
 30 THE DOOMED 
 
 By thorn the aspirant, step by step is led, 
 
 'Till he, alone, each secret path can tread, 
 
 Unlock the vault explain the mystic name, 
 
 The ladders import and the word and flame ; 
 
 Define the intent of the checkered way 
 
 The tessel'd border and the star of day, 
 
 The death's-head, cross-bones, level, plumb and 
 
 square, 
 
 The mallet, chisel, ark and ashler fair, 
 The cloudy canopy the astral signs 
 The brazen pillar and its strange designs, 
 The middle chamber, skull-cup, cross, and scroll. 
 And arch sublime that spans the wond'rous whole. 
 
 As melts the star of morning into day, 
 
 A youth and maiden tread the sacred way, 
 
 No sentry guards the inlet at the west, 
 
 The drunken world is locked in guilty rest. 
 
 " Tread softly quickly keep within the shade " 
 
 The lover whispers to the trembling maid,
 
 THEDOOMEDEACE. 31 
 
 " Once in the vault, no evil need we fear, 
 The craft expect us Hist ! the hounds are near, 
 Be firm, Naamah See ! the arch is passed, 
 Here stands the pillar, we are safe at last" 
 He ope'd a lamp then pressed a spring deep hid 
 Midst carved designs the marble sunk and slid, 
 The opening shows a stairway 'neath the fane 
 Down which they pass The slab returns again. 
 Cut off from earth, within a vault they stand, 
 Where sculptured forms are ranged on either hand. 
 A listening vault whose curious pipes convey, 
 The secrets whispered in the sacred way 
 The words, too, uttered in the secret court 
 To those here hid, the echoing valves report, 
 Bewildered, panting, trembling in alarm, 
 The beauteous vestal grasps her lover's arm, 
 She hears the sounds along the sacred way, 
 The rush of men, as hounds that scent the prey. 
 " Be calm, sweet sister," said the youth " nor fear " 
 The gods, if angry, could not harm us here"
 
 32 THE DOOMED RACE. 
 
 "Ha! gone? escaped!" she hears the sentry say, 
 " Can demons spirit human forms away ? " 
 " I saw them enter but a moment since 
 The royal vestal and the Sethite prince." 
 "Nay," said the other, "see these walls of stone! 
 Once in this trap the birds could not have flown ; 
 The prince and virgin are not things of air, 
 How could they slip if thou hadst tracked them 
 
 here? 
 
 Much wine, perhaps, thy vision hath misled, 
 To Lamech's grove the vestal may have fled. 
 Go seek her there, restore her to the shrine, 
 And Sol's best gifts, and riches shall be thine." 
 The voices cease yet, clasping hand in hand, 
 The princely youth and wondering maiden stand 
 'Till waked by footfalls and a rush of light, 
 Whose sudden brightness mystifies the sight, 
 Soft tones and music trill upon the ear, 
 And shadowy forms seem flitting here and there.
 
 T H E D O O M E D E A C E . 33 
 
 Is it illusion ? No, yon stone revolves, 
 
 A pilgrim enters, and the mist dissolves. 
 
 >Ti s Tubal Cain ! " the youth in transport cries, 
 
 " Thy brother, dearest, in a craftsman's guise." 
 
 The maid descries him, falls upon his breast, 
 
 And in his arms finds safety, hope and rest. 
 
 The hind escaping from the tiger's lair, 
 
 The lark uncaged, that rises high in air, 
 
 The child we pluck from angry flood or flame, 
 
 The virgin rescued from pursuit and shame, 
 
 Each feels a joy no action can express, 
 
 'Tis speechless, heavenly ! yet the wild caress 
 
 And smile, outshow deep gratitude of heart, 
 
 The tongue seems fettered, but the tear will start. 
 
 Long wept Naamah, near the sacrifice, 
 
 A royal vestal, yet foredoomed to vice, 
 
 The Pontiff's bride she must at last become ; 
 
 When gods decree, the noblest must succumb. 
 
 To Sol's embrace, in regal pomp and state, 
 
 Their fairest girls the Cainites dedicate;
 
 34 THE DOOMED EACE. 
 
 The High Priest proffers each a jeweled chain, 
 
 To accept is bondage, to refuse were vain. 
 
 Each maid elect attends the altar flame, 
 
 'Till nine are chosen and assume the name 
 
 Of Sol's High Priest, who offers flowers and fruits, 
 
 And quaffs the cup that soul and sense imbrutes. 
 
 By matrons guarded, at the dawn of day, 
 
 The vestals promenade the sacred way ; 
 
 They scorn the altar, and would fly the fane, 
 
 Renounce Sol's favors, and the jeweled chain, 
 
 To tread the gardens and partake the glee, 
 
 Of girlhood's innocence and liberty. 
 
 " Why weeps ISTaamah ? Ah ! old Noah's son, 
 
 By tender offices her heart hath won ; 
 
 They meet at midnight, when the watchers sleep, 
 
 And plight their vows, and holiest vigils keep. 
 
 She's loved, yet sighs, her hope is mixed with fears, 
 
 She pales, and pants, her heart is full of tears. 
 
 Thrice Sol hath said, " She must consent or die ! " 
 
 She trusts the craftsman and prepares to fly.
 
 TIIEDOOMEDEACE. 35 
 
 Love speeds them on, the mystic vault is gained, 
 God crowns the vestal, virtue is maintained. 
 And, Oh ! the rapture ! bliss crowds fast on bliss, 
 She meets a brother and returns his kiss. 
 Though years have passed, she sees and knows him 
 
 well, 
 
 The lost is found, no words their joy can tell. 
 From out the vault now pass the rescued twain, 
 By Tubal led the block returns again 
 All noiselessly and so fills up the space, 
 As every sign of inlet to efface. 
 Beyond the wall, through which the craftsman came, 
 They reach an altar kindled by a flame ; 
 A masked attendant guards the sacred shrine, 
 And hails the trio in the Name Divine, 
 The answer given, they bow awhile in prayer, 
 Then onward pass through lines of sculptures rare, 
 And pause at last before an unhewn wall, 
 Will the rough Ashler yield to Tubal's call ?
 
 36 TlIEDOQMEDEACE. 
 
 He taps the rock, a voice cries, " Who comes there? " 
 
 He answers, " Tubal with a vestal fair." 
 
 The rough stone rises, and the trio gain 
 
 The crafts retreat, the stone sinks back again. 
 
 This arched asylum where the three now stand, 
 
 Is brightly lighted and sublimely grand, 
 
 No form is wanting to attract the eye, 
 
 The mind to capture or the pulse to ply, 
 
 A thousand lights of various hues illume 
 
 The fairy walks, where flowers exhale perfume, 
 
 And birds sing sweetly, while a limpid stream 
 
 Murmurs and glistens in the yellow gleam, 
 
 This sweet spot seems an Eden of the blest, 
 
 And such it typifies, Man's future rest, 
 
 The paths converging circle Shiloh's shrine, 
 
 "Where those who worship in the name divine, 
 
 Surround the chancel and invoke the flame, 
 
 That symbols Him who bears the Omnific name ; 
 
 This central altar by an arch is spanned, 
 
 Twelve sculptures guard it, holding hand in hand,
 
 THE DOOMED KACE. 37 
 
 And here the Sethite and the vestal wait 
 
 "Till Irad comes their vows to celebrate, 
 
 'Tis meet the Master should perform the rite, 
 
 By which Cain's heir and Seth's elect unite 
 
 Their destinies Yet yields the maid to tears 
 
 Until the Captain of the Host appears ! 
 
 Who hears their vows, conjoins their trembling 
 
 hands, 
 
 Proclaims them one, and certifies the bans ; 
 The rites confessed, a plain repast is spread, 
 Of milk and mandrakes, olives, wine and bread, 
 Joy rules the feast, each heart is free and gay, 
 And swift and sweetly glide the hours away. 
 The nuptial pair repose till noon of night, 
 'Till Tubal calls them to renew their flight. 
 The vestal bride assumes a harper's guise, 
 'Tis so complete as to deceive all eyes 
 Save those of Ham and Tubal, who now bring 
 The minstrel forward, and the craftsmen sing,
 
 38 THEDOOMEDKACE. 
 
 We meet upon the level, 
 
 We part upon the square, 
 How fraught with genial brotherhood, 
 
 These words of Enos are; 
 Let us trust in Jah * * * Elohim, 
 
 And hereafter all declare, 
 We meet upon the level, 
 
 We part upon the square. 
 
 There's a world where all are equal, 
 
 We are hurrying toward it fast, 
 We shall meet upon the level there, 
 
 When the gates of death are passed. 
 We shall stand before the Orient, 
 
 And the Master will be there, 
 To try the blocks we offer 
 
 By his own unerring square. 
 
 Let us meet upon tne level then, 
 While thus we labor here,
 
 THEDOOMEDKACE. 39 
 
 Lot us look for Jah, * * * and labor, 
 
 Though the labor be severe. 
 Already in the western sky, 
 
 The clouds bid us prepare 
 To gather up our working tools, 
 
 And part upon the square. 
 
 Hands round, ye sons of Enos, 
 
 For the bright fraternal chain, 
 We part upon the square below. 
 
 To meet in heaven again. 
 Oh ! what words of precious meaning, 
 
 These words of Enos are, 
 We meet upon the level, 
 
 And we part upon the square. 
 
 The harper's melody now dies away, 
 The craft in silence meekly bow and pray. 
 Uniting hands, they shout Naamah's name 
 With three times three, then invocate the flamo.
 
 40 THE DOOM ED RACE. 
 
 Now Irad rises, and to Ham consigns 
 
 A jeweled cross, the model and designs 
 
 By Enos left 'till Seth's elect appear 
 
 To claim the casket by a signet rare. 
 
 Ham brings the signet, gains the vault by night, 
 
 Secures his bride, and now prepares for flight. 
 
 "Long years ago," said Irad, "at this shrine 
 
 A pilgrim knelt None present could divine 
 
 His name, or whence, or how, he gained the place, 
 
 Yet all remarked his dignity and grace. 
 
 To none he spake, but in sublimest tone, 
 
 Pronounced the rite we call the Corner-Stone, 
 
 The seed to come the victim God hath pledged, 
 
 The man divine 'twixt beast and angel wedged. 
 
 Who shall for us our lost estate regain, 
 
 The God-built temple on the heavenly plain, 
 
 All all behold him and his smile and voice 
 
 Make pulses quicken, but none dare rejoice, 
 
 A solemn silence sits on every tongue. 
 
 He makes the sign, the ancient ode is sung,
 
 THE DOOMED EACE. 41 
 
 Again he "bows and utters Rizpah's prayer. 
 
 Now radiant forms about the shrine appear, 
 
 Abel and Seth and Enos meet the gaze, 
 
 The temple quakes, the shrine seems all ablaze. 
 
 Then falls the word Omnific on the ear, 
 
 The forms depart, but none know how, or where I 
 
 The craft descry a casket on the shrine, 
 
 Inscribed to him who shall as priest divine 
 
 Be called to celebrate the nuptial rites 
 
 That Seth's elect and Cain's last heir unites, 
 
 It bids him bless them and the arts reveal 
 
 To him, whose signet answers to the seal, 
 
 To him restore the casket, cross, and chain, 
 
 And light the pilgrim on his way again. 
 
 Though years have flowix, the heirs appear to-night 
 
 And moved by love the broken links unite, 
 
 If comes the deluge and destroys this fane, 
 
 Yet earth will bloom and throb with life again, 
 
 And men will multiply for Jah * * * hath said, 
 
 The craft shall live when all earth's forms are dead. 
 4
 
 42 THE DOOMED 
 
 God favors ISToah, and to him alone, 
 
 The mystic meaning of the Word is known, 
 
 By it he antidotes the coming flood, 
 
 By it condemns admixture too, of blood, 
 
 'Tis true Naamah bears a royal name, 
 
 Is Lamech's heir, the king of song and fame, 
 
 By whom was nursed the laws and arts that bless 
 
 The world with light, and love, and happiness. 
 
 She shares the genius of her noble sire, 
 
 Her virtues fascinate, her strains inspire 
 
 The wondering hosts, who seek the vestal shrine 
 
 To pay her homage. Goodness is divine 
 
 Her heritage includes the land of gems, 
 
 Havilah's gold-fields and its diadems, 
 
 Its gums and fruits, so idolized by Cain, 
 
 Comprise a portion of the bride's domain. 
 
 Yet she so pure is of the seed of Cain, 
 
 A race fore-doomed. But comes the flood in vain 
 
 If she survive and sons and daughters bear, 
 
 Though ages pass, the mark will re-appear,
 
 THE DOOMED RACE. 43 
 
 Blacken the surface, taint the blood and brain, 
 
 And doom her race to bondage and the chain, 
 
 'Till Jah * * * shall come and grant to every race, 
 
 Its zone and clime, and flood the earth with grace. 
 
 Then angel forms may visit earth again, 
 
 And Jah * * * in righteousness forever reign ! " 
 
 Now Irad ceases, o'er the altar bends, 
 
 And Lamech's daughter to his God commends, 
 
 Farewells are spoken, and depart the twain, 
 
 By Tubal led, no more to meet again 
 
 By ways, unknown to sentry or to priest, 
 
 They seek the outlet, and forsake the east, 
 
 A spring reveals a stairway 'neath the wall, 
 
 By which they gain a dimly-lighted hall, 
 
 From this an arched avenue extends 
 
 To Pison's stream, and in a cavern ends. 
 
 A wave-washed inlet, on the rocky shore 
 
 Where waits the boat that is to bear them o'er. 
 
 Beyond the river spread the giants' lands, 
 
 The wilds are tenanted by ruthless bands,
 
 44 THE DOOM ED RACE. 
 
 Giants in strength, half human and half beast, 
 Who scorn earth's growths, and on each other feast. 
 Yet far away, against the western sky, 
 The hills of Eden gleam before the eye, 
 Mysterious fires about their summits play, 
 Which light the pilgrims on their lonely way. 
 
 Past fly the hours, but faster fly the twain, 
 Through brake and jungle, over hill and plain, 
 Despite the giants and the beasts of prey, 
 And lurking dangers that beset the way, 
 The eye all-seeing tracks them in their flight, 
 The arm all-mighty shields them through the night, 
 And morn beholds them west of Eden's hill, 
 Resting in safety near a limpid rill, 
 Rich fruits and flowers, and song-birds gay and 
 
 bright, 
 
 Combine to thrill the senses with delight, 
 The hills and dales assume their primal dress, 
 And laugh and glow in unstained loveliness.
 
 T II E "D O M E D E A C E . 45 
 
 In fond embrace the way-worn wanderers rest 
 From early dawn till stars light up the west, 
 A floral couch, by sheltering boughs o'erspread, 
 And hedged with hawthorn, forms the bridal bed. 
 The rippling streamlet lulls them into sleep, 
 While flowers exhale and stars their vigils keep. 
 
 To him whose frame is worn by toil or pain, 
 The dawn is welcome, as to earth is rain, 
 And to the soul by sin and grief opprest, 
 The sense of pardon yields unrufiled rest, 
 But far more rapturous to the loving twain, 
 Than bed of down, or spring-time's welcome rain, 
 Or hope of mercy to the trembling soul, 
 Are those bright orbs that gleam from pole to polo, 
 Ordained to silence, yet to mind and eye, 
 They image him who fashioned earth and sky, 
 Their mellow lustre gilds all earthly forms, 
 Awakens faith and man's cold nature warms,
 
 46 THE DOOMED RACE. 
 
 All things have life all nature throbs with God, 
 
 Creation moves obedient to his nod. 
 
 The trees have voices, and the rocks and rills, 
 
 And birds, and beasts, and fruitful vales and hills, 
 
 Fishes and insects, reptiles, frost and rain, 
 
 And cloud, and storm, and woodland, sea and plain, 
 
 The genial air, the sunshine and the flower, 
 
 And grains and growths, confess Jehovah's power, 
 
 All move in concert and all cry aloud, 
 
 We live to serve there's nothing great but God. 
 
 So nature speaks, yet some reject God's name, 
 
 And offer homage to creation's frame, 
 
 Which moves alone as ordered and designed, 
 
 To aid the creature and instruct the mind. 
 
 Oh ! why should man to nature homage give, 
 
 Instead of Him, in whom we breathe and live. 
 
 The vast machine, so complicate and grand, 
 
 That yields us food was fashioned by His hand, 
 
 On Him dependent, and by Him upheld, 
 
 By wisdom guided and by love impelled,
 
 THE DOOMED KACE. 47 
 
 It works sublimely and attains its end, 
 
 'Twas made for man by man's unfailing friend, 
 
 God puts the crown on honest, patient toil, 
 
 He helps the plowman who improves the soil, 
 
 The genial sunshine and refreshing rain 
 
 Are freely given, that none may work in vain. 
 
 And why should he take praise who plants and 
 
 reaps, 
 
 More than the sluggard that in seed-time sleeps? 
 God gives the harvest : all our toil were vain, 
 Should he withhold the sunshine and the rain. 
 Can man create a particle of earth, 
 A sunbeam form, or to a seed give birth ? 
 Can he originate a breath of air, 
 Or drop of dew to irrigate and cheer ? 
 No ! God alone the elements bestows, 
 Creates each seed, and every form that grows, 
 Inspires the soil, the sunshine and the rain, 
 Casts up the mountain, and spreads out the plain.
 
 48 THE DOOMED RACE. 
 
 Man only shapes the matter he supplies, 
 To suit his taste and gratify his eyes. 
 
 From Eden's gates shoots forth at fall of night 
 A whirling flame that kindles vale and height, 
 "Whose sparkling belt combines the mingled hues 
 And softened shades that living artists use, 
 Within the circle mystic forms are seen, 
 Moving in tableaux wond'rous and serene. 
 And soft sweet strains come trilling on the ear, 
 Like spirit whispers, or a child at prayer, 
 Or wretch forlorn, who lifts his blistered eyes 
 To Jah for favor yet in silence sighs, 
 Broken, bewildered, drifting yet in quest 
 Of pardoning mercy and celestial rest 
 "Within the flame the August One resides, 
 Directs the Sethite, and the Cainite chides 
 Transmutes the shadows, and each shape it forms 
 In living lines before the vision warms,
 
 THEDOOMED EACE. 49 
 
 It pictures, now, a ladder to the eye, 
 
 The base on earth, its summit in the sky, 
 
 By whose bright rounds celestial beings move 
 
 On missions merciful sent forth by love ! 
 
 By these directed man escapes the rod, 
 
 By these protected he mounts up to God, 
 
 When whispering demons tempt the artless soul, 
 
 To take the bribe or sip the sparkling bowl, 
 
 Or throw the dice, or sport in lusts' domain, 
 
 These gentle watchers draw it back again. 
 
 Sleeping or waking, they attend us here, 
 
 In danger shield us, and in dying cheer. 
 
 By inward impulse they excite our fears-, 
 
 By sweet suggestion chase away our tears, 
 
 Sustained by them, the martyr meets the strife. 
 
 Involving forfeiture of ease and life, 
 
 And midst the fire that crisps his flesh he smiles, 
 
 In hope of rest which every pain beguiles. 
 
 As fly the hours the flame iutenser burns, 
 
 Appeal's a sceptre and a rod bv turns, 
 5
 
 50 THE DOOMED BACE. 
 
 A sword unsheathed, in view of all it gleams, 
 And then a warrior, armed and stern it seems, 
 Its rays converging toward the centre form 
 A dismal background swept by fire and storm, 
 To whose high hills the frightened hordes repair, 
 Pursued by waves which overtake them there, 
 Now fading softly gentler forms it takes, 
 And smiles an angel as the morning breaks, 
 And thus through all the watches of the night, 
 The sons of Cain behold the mystic light, 
 Designed to symbol to mankind the way 
 That leads from death to everlasting day. 
 
 The lovers waking from sweet dreams descry 
 The mellow glory lingering in the sky, 
 Light shadowy shapes seem floating in the air, 
 And peace and joy are smiling everywhere. 
 The lark careering in his upward flight, 
 And birds of plumage welcoming the light,
 
 THE DOOMED HACE. 51 
 
 The rich deep foliage of the trees and vines, 
 The flowering magney and sweet columbines, 
 The jungle's mosses and the hillside bloom, 
 The fresh air freighted with the soft perfume, 
 The laughing streams which from the uplands flow, 
 And dash in cascades on the rocks below 
 These all conspire Naatnah's heart to cheer, 
 And call the twain to sacrifice and prayer. 
 A kid and dove within the wildwood caught, 
 Are bound, prepared, and to the altar brought, 
 A rural altar built of earth and wood, 
 And rude, yet welcome unto Jah, the good. 
 He knows the heart, beholds the uplifted knife, 
 And grants the prayer thus offered with the life. 
 The fire consumes the entrails, blood and brains, 
 And heart and lungs the flesh untouched remains, 
 As food for man, when roasted by the flame, 
 Designed to nourish and support his frame, 
 A few fresh bulbs and esculents are found, 
 And with the fat within the carcase bound,
 
 52 T II E D O M E D R A C E . 
 
 Which now they spit ; and keep before the fire, 
 'Till cooked and savory as their taste require. 
 The dove, with plaintains, toasted on the coals, 
 Supplies the need of wheaten cakes and rolls, 
 Fresh gathered cresses and young leeks unite, 
 To spice the roast and please the appetite, 
 The magney's juice, with rich, ripe fruits combine, 
 To form the dessert and supply the wine 
 And now, the meats and edibles are laid 
 On leaves of magney in the cool, deep shade 
 Of tangled turrias by the river, where 
 The happy twain partake the welcome fare. 
 Man's native wants are simple, and but few, 
 And nature's Author always meets them too 
 The gifts most common are of greatest worth, 
 And come alike to every child of earth. 
 The things we need not, dazzle by their glare, 
 And men prefer them, just because they 're rare. 
 So wheat's "the staff of life" to young and old. 
 But man gives preference to grains of gold.
 
 T H E D M E D E A C E . 53 
 
 Fresh water, too, without which nature sinks, 
 Is less esteemed than wine and spirit drinks. 
 But Ham, yet wiser, and his lovely bride, 
 Adhere to nature and are satisfied. 
 The simple meats and drinks we relish best, 
 When hunger sharpens, and refines the zest. 
 
 Soon as the sunshine breaks o'er hill and plain, 
 
 The twain re-mount and press their steeds again, 
 
 Yet pause at times to list the mock birds song, 
 
 And watch the gazelle as it bounds along, 
 
 No longer now of man or beast afraid, 
 
 They quit the stream and tread the wild-wood's 
 
 shade, 
 
 And then awhile at sultry noon-tide rest, 
 In loving converse each in other blest, 
 Thus, day by day, 'midst gorgeous scenes they move, 
 By hope enlivened and elate with love, 
 Shunning the jungle and the marshy fen, 
 They seek at eve some sheltering grot or glen,
 
 54 THEDOOMEDKACE. 
 
 Or frowning castle by the river's side, 
 Eeft of its Lord's, yet towering in its pride, 
 Or ancient fane by Sethite craftsmen reared, 
 When man loved truth and Jah's great name revered, 
 At night, on heaps of fragrant leaves they spread 
 Their crimson mantles and contrive a bed, 
 Whereon they rest in fond embrace and dream, 
 Lulled by the music of the flowing stream. 
 
 The land of Seth was Eden's counterpart, 
 The seat of science and the home of art, 
 A land of fruits and flowers of every hue, 
 And healthful grains, and gems and metals too, 
 'Till base admixture with the seed of Cain, 
 Debased its sons and forged the burning chain 
 For their enslavement gendering thus a war, 
 That swept the land so flourishing before 
 Where goodness reigned and noble cities sprung, 
 And prophets spake, and poets sweetly sung.
 
 TlIE DOOMED BACK. 55 
 
 Here dwelt the craftsmen of the Sethic line, 
 Conjoined as brothers by the Word divine, 
 And wait the coming of the August One, 
 Who shall its deep significance make known, 
 To all the members of the mystic tie, 
 And lead the ransomed to a home on high, 
 A sheltered spot in living verdure dressed, 
 By angels guarded, and the good possessed. 
 A central look-out whence the just descry, 
 Through gorgeous openings in the far-off sky, 
 Celestial visions rise from day to day, 
 And suns and systems stretching far away, 
 There Nature's laws are clearly understood, 
 And endless progress opens to the good 
 Through every soul a love celestial flows, 
 And in Jah's likeness every spirit glows. 
 All pulse in unison all delight in truth 
 And wear the freshness of unfading youth. 
 To that bright world the ancient craft aspired, 
 The promise stirred them and the prospect fired.
 
 56 T II E D O O M E D E A C E . 
 
 To bless mankind and spread the Omnific name. 
 Was Seth's fond wish and every builder's aim, 
 In noble toils they all employed the time, 
 Dispensing goodness and restricting crime. 
 Naamah hears, with tearful eyes, the tale 
 How Cainite Craft got footing in the vale, 
 And by slow stages drew the just away 
 
 From goodness, chastity and mercy's sway, 
 
 f 
 
 They first persuade the humble, holy priest, 
 
 To give his heart and labors to the East 
 And bring such motives on his mind to bear 
 As can not fail to draw the good man there ; 
 They next applaud the honest Sethite's skill, 
 And say his words and works can't fail to fill 
 All minds with wonder and religious awe, 
 And give him power to lead their hearts to Jah. 
 'Tis thus the spoiler hides the fatal snare, 
 The bait entices but the hook is there. 
 The artless victim learns, alas ! too late, 
 'Twas madness real to venture near the bait.
 
 THE DOOMED EACE. 57 
 
 And so the wily Cainite aims to draw 
 
 The priests and craftsmen from the school of Jah. 
 
 Once in those toils the cunning spoilers know 
 
 How lust conspires all goodness to o'erthrow. 
 
 Cain's sensuous daughters lure them to their arms, 
 
 And conscience sinks amidst voluptuous charms. 
 
 Virtue is crushed beneath the tread of war, 
 
 Which sweeps from Pisons to Euphrates shore, 
 
 Corruption riots in the land of Seth, 
 
 And virtue shivers, and resigns her breath. 
 
 To hearts exulting in each other's love, 
 
 All things are beautiful, and stream and grove, 
 
 And blossoming trees and birds and flowers unite, 
 
 To stir the senses and inspire delight. 
 
 Naamah hails each new-born day with joy, 
 
 N"o danger presses and no fears annoy, 
 
 Her smile brings sunshine, and her thoughts impart 
 
 Kew life and rapture to her husband's heart.
 
 58 TlIE DOOMED 
 
 The prospect brightens as they bound along, 
 In laughing converse and enchanting song, 
 'Till near at hand the haunted hills appear, 
 "When Ham grows thoughtful, and his wife shows 
 
 fear ; 
 
 He tells the story of the mountain way, 
 How convict gangs are banded there to slay 
 The unarmed party, and despoil the train 
 That bears its precious burden o'er the plain, 
 Those rocky ravines are by outlaws held, 
 Who for their deeds of darkness are expelled 
 The blooming vales and cities of the East, 
 And here by plunder live as lives the beast. 
 The giant monsters that infest the East, 
 And on the flesh of human beings feast, 
 Are not more ruthless than these exiled bands, 
 "Which range the inlets to the Sethic lands. 
 No mercy knowing, they no mercy show, 
 But kill to live, and pant to slay the foe,
 
 TIIEDOOMEDKACE. 59 
 
 Hunted loy man, they hunt him down in turn, 
 His treasure plunder and his body burn. 
 No age, nor sex, nor loveliness is spared 
 By them a crawling serpent is revered. 
 Nor is the reptile of the common kind, 
 But far more brilliant and endowed with mind 
 And speech so gentle as our doubts to quell, 
 Yet through its kin our artless mother fell, 
 By it misled, she plucked and moved our sire 
 To eat the fruit that sets the brain on fire. 
 A Sethic priestess captured with her boy, 
 Was spared to nurse it and promote its joy, 
 But feared the virus lurking 'neath its hues, 
 And sought by arts magnetic to amuse 
 And win its favor, and thus fascinate 
 And bind it to her, by its love and hate, 
 To shield her person and her child from harm 
 She gains its eye and works the wond 'rous charm, 
 Awhile she holds it writhing 'neath her spell, 
 Now seeks to madden now its rage to quell ;
 
 60 TIIEDOOMEDBACE. 
 
 Her glance subdues it and her touch delights, 
 
 She wins its homage and its trust excites ; 
 
 Her tone transports she feels it pulse and thrill, 
 
 And soon it moves obedient to her will. 
 
 By child and mother it is BOW carress'd, 
 
 And warms and nurses nightly on her breast, 
 
 Its fiery eyes and startling hiss portend 
 
 Death to the wretch who dare its Queen offend. 
 
 Thus Norah dwelt a captive in the wild, 
 
 The serpent guarding both herself and child, 
 
 'Till once without it venturing forth by night 
 
 To bathe her boy she disappeared from sight. 
 
 While wading with him in the sacred lake, 
 
 A storm arose, the mountains seemed to quake, 
 
 From out the water came a dreadful form, 
 
 And bore them off amid the frightful storm. 
 
 But still the captives and the spectre make 
 
 Nocturnal visits to the mystic lake, 
 
 And o'er the mountains in a flowery dell, 
 
 The twain in wedlock are supposed to dwell.
 
 THE DOOMED KACE. 61 
 
 But wo the band who undertake to trace 
 
 The spell-bound captive to her resting place, 
 
 To tread that vale or look upon that wife, 
 
 Involves at once the forfeiture of life, 
 
 By spell transfixed and scourged from day to day, 
 
 The wretch in terror passes life away 
 
 By thirst tormented and by hunger pressed, 
 
 ' Till death admits the chastened soul to rest. 
 
 Ham ends the story as the pass is gained, 
 
 "Where Seth's few braves 'gainst Cain's vast hosts 
 
 maintained 
 
 The final battle in which all wore slain 
 Who sought to spoil the chosen and their fane. 
 Eocks piled on rocks in silent grandeur rise, 
 Like massive columns towering to the skies, 
 From whoso huge veins in sparkling cascades flow 
 The waters gathered in the vale below ; 
 The rocks give egress to the swelling tide 
 And through a cave the surplus waters glide,
 
 f2 THE DOOMED RACE. 
 
 ' Till far away they blend and flow again 
 Through vales connecting with the sacred plain. 
 The twain now pause and eagerly explore 
 Each growth and landmark on the rocky shore, 
 And while the sunshine lingers on the wave, 
 Ham leads Naamah to Methuseal's cave. 
 Its dismal echoings and sepulchral gloom 
 Inspire fresh terrors, while the rocks assume 
 Fantastic shapes, and where the torch-light falls, 
 The rush of bats and every shape appalls, 
 Here when stern war laid waste the Sethic land, 
 The prophet sheltered his heroic band, 
 And kept the passes to the sacred fane, 
 And broke the power, and slew the braves of Cain. 
 To craftsmen only is this refuge known, 
 Here, with his aids, a hermit dwells alone, 
 Who spends his days in penitence and prayer. 
 For one fore-doomed the curse of Cain to share, 
 His ghost-like garb and sudden dash at night. 
 Appalls the outlaw puts a host to flight,
 
 T H E D O O M E D R A C E . G3 
 
 And many a pilgrim and beleaguered train, 
 But for his arm had been despoiled and slain. 
 No evil meaning, he no danger fears, 
 And as the night falls near the lake appears. 
 Awhile his proud white charger paws the grass, 
 Then swiftly bears its rider through the pass, 
 Their rattling mail and flaming eyes combine 
 To invest them both with attributes divine ; 
 As dashing onward, man and beast appear, 
 The lurking outlaw holds his breath in fear 
 Then fleeing seeks some covert near at hand, 
 From which to warn the members of his band 
 Again, returning hoof-falls reach his ear. 
 Again he flees his refuge in despair, 
 Nor waits to mark the spectre's garb or flight, 
 Who leaps the lake and vanishes from sight. 
 
 In Jah confiding, who is strong to save, 
 
 They track the stream and reach an inner cave,
 
 64 THE DOOMED KACE. 
 
 Whose curious crystals catch the flambeaux blaze, 
 And flash and burn like gems before the gaze, 
 Thence by a path with native arches spanned, 
 They pass through vaults more wond'rous, -vast and 
 
 grand, 
 
 And pause at last before a glowing shrine, 
 Decked with the symbols of the Art Divine, 
 West of the shrine a crimson cross is seen, 
 With sacrificial stone, and knife between, 
 And south a globe upholds a golden key 
 While east a delta clasps the letter G 
 The whole is kindled by a single flame, 
 With jets to note the number of His name 
 Who was, and is, and shall forever be, 
 The Three in One, and ever One in Three. 
 Dismounting here, the twain with reverence bow, 
 And clasping hands re-iterate their vow 
 To live for Jah and consecrate their days 
 To works of sanctity and love and praise.
 
 THE DOOMED BACK. 65 
 
 And now a pilgrim with uncovered head 
 And feet unshod and noiseless solemn tread, 
 Draws near the altar and devoutly bends, 
 And to his God the twain by name commends. 
 'JS"aamah sees him not, but to her ear 
 The voice seems Lamech's and the words of prayer, 
 Like whispers from the dead, inspire her heart 
 With joy celestial, yet the tear drops start. 
 From memory's vault the forms long buried there, 
 Start into life and all unchanged appear, 
 Her childhood's home, the river and the grove, 
 Each cherished scene and object of her love, 
 And all the shapes that brightened youth's gay 
 
 dream, 
 
 Come drifting by like fragments on a stream. 
 Her father's form, as she beheld him last, 
 Floats up with all the freshness of the past 
 His look of anguish on that fatal night, 
 
 When Sol's vile priests o'ertook him in his flight, 
 6
 
 66 T H E D O M E D II A C E . 
 
 And from his arms conveyed her to the fane, 
 
 To feed Sol's fire and wear a vestal's chain, 
 
 Nor can she penetrate the mystery why 
 
 His form, just now, seems present to the eye. 
 
 Perhaps he lives? Ah! nay, she heard the blow, 
 
 And saw them cast him in the gulf below 
 
 Yet filial instinct and that voice and prayer, 
 
 Assure Naamah that her sire is near, 
 
 If not in flesh, yet wrapped in spirit frame, 
 
 For who but he could thus have breathed her 
 
 name? 
 
 In crowded city and in trackless wild, 
 The father's spirit hovers o'er the child, 
 "While thus she muses and in silence kneels, 
 A sigh attracts her and the flame reveals 
 An aged hermit bending near the shrine, 
 Upon whose breast the Sethic jewels shine. 
 Why starts Naamah? Ah! that godlike mien, 
 And mild, sweet majesty, and brow serene,
 
 TIIEDOOMEDEACE. 67 
 
 And broad, kind countenance and earnest eyes, 
 
 So like her father's fill her with surprise. 
 
 Now pensive strains come trilling to the ear, 
 
 About the shrine twelve cherub boys appear, 
 
 A minstrel follows, and in shadow dim, 
 
 Five damsels veiled, who chant the vesper hymn, 
 
 Each group in turn pays homage to the flame, 
 
 Then all depart in silence as they came. 
 
 What means this pageant ? Ham shows no surprise, 
 
 Nor speaks the hermit but his large, kind eyes 
 
 Declare him mortal, and each little boy 
 
 Though mute, shows signs of earthliness and joy, 
 
 Is this the being whom the outlaws fear? 
 
 And are these mutes the subject of his care? 
 
 The maids seem blind, and if the scene be real, 
 
 "Why don't the Seer the mystery reveal ? 
 
 Alas ! his thoughts are on another scene 
 
 The Cainite temple and its vestal queen. 
 
 No voice informs him that the princely twain 
 
 Have come to greet him in his own domain,
 
 68 THE DOOMED EACE. 
 
 In mute amazement he beholds them now 
 
 But who they are ? or whence they came ? or how 
 
 They gained the passes to the secret shrine 
 
 Without a guide, the hermit can't divine, 
 
 In shepherd's garb Ham's person is descried, 
 
 But why is not JSTaamah at his side? 
 
 The youth who stands there is of wondrous grace, 
 
 Much like the vestal, both in form and face, 
 
 His startled glance returns the hermit's gaze, 
 
 And each transfixed, the other's form surveys 
 
 What ails the Seer? He would, but can not speak. 
 
 His lips refuse the glow forsakes his cheek, 
 
 No tongue can tell his rapture and surprise ! 
 
 He sees Naamah in that minstrel guise, 
 
 Nor does she fail to recognize that form. 
 
 Beneath his glance she feels her heart grow warm, 
 
 Its springs are touched its hidden tides unsealed, 
 
 And child and parent stand alike revealed. 
 
 She bounds to greet him he beholds her start, 
 
 And quickly folds her to his throbbing heart.
 
 T H E D O M E D R A C E . 69 
 
 "Tis thus the father and the daughter meet, 
 Their prayer is heard, their happiness complete, 
 And long she nestles on his loving breast 
 Who blessing others, finds himself thus blest. 
 
 The rapid tinkling of a distant bell, 
 
 Now calls the trio to Methusael's dell, 
 
 A wild, sweet spot, which sheltering hills inclose, 
 
 Where Seers have prophesied and saints repose, 
 
 The moon, and stars, look down upon the stream, 
 
 That from the cave leaps forth to catch their gleam. 
 
 Then bounds away towards Euphrates' tide, 
 
 Laughing and dancing past the mountain side, 
 
 The ancient fortress, gleaming in the light, 
 
 And mellow glory of the tropic night 
 
 Reminds the trio of the noble dead, 
 
 Who kept the faith and for their country bled. 
 
 Beneath its battlements their ashes rest, 
 
 By all the wishes of their country blest.
 
 70 THE DOOMED 
 
 And here the tablets of the art divine 
 
 Are sacred held together with the shrine, 
 
 And truly fashioned from a model given 
 
 To instruct the craft and point the way to heaven. 
 
 Here homes for widows, and for mutes and blind, 
 
 And orphan schools by Lamech were designed, 
 
 When plucked by Mercy from a watery grave, 
 
 He fled the east and sought the prophet's cave. 
 
 And here his toils with others are combined, 
 
 To save the lost and educate the mind. 
 
 As from the cave the gladdened eyes survey 
 
 The sweet perspective reaching far away, 
 
 The calm seclusion of the prophet's home. 
 
 The Sethic temple and its mighty dome, 
 
 The winding rivulet and girdling rocks, 
 
 "Whose dizzy peaks defy the lightning's shocks, 
 
 The herds and flocks reposing on the green 
 
 Make up the picture and complete the scene. 
 
 Now Lamech tells the story of his race, 
 
 How great Methusael found this sheltered place,
 
 THEDOOMEDKACE. 71 
 
 How Abel's death obliged his sire to rove 
 'Till near the sea he found the sacred grove. 
 
 Far down the valley, near the ocean tide, 
 
 The mighty Ark uplifts itself in pride, 
 
 And just above it on a rising plain, 
 
 In solemn grandeur stands the ancient Fane. 
 
 Superb in outline, and from base to tower, 
 
 The craftsmen's boast, and type of skill and power, 
 
 Grand in proportions, wondrous, vast and fair, 
 
 It spreads the ground, yet seems a thing of air. 
 
 Contrived by Jah from whom the outline came, 
 
 It breathes His spirit and reflects His name, 
 
 A name which only Enoch can reveal 
 
 To him whom Jah shall designate and seal, 
 
 To him its mystery only. must be known, 
 
 Its sacred sense and secret pointings shown 
 
 The outer frame-work is of strange design, 
 
 And inner c.ourts, and central arch and shrine,
 
 72 TIIEDOOMEDBACE. 
 
 And secret chambers mystic meanings wear, 
 
 Enriched with sculptures, drafts and models rare. 
 
 But in those days when righteousness had flown, 
 
 And misccgeneris prevailed alone, 
 
 The tribes, by mixing, formed a leprous herd, 
 
 And seized the Master and required the "Word. 
 
 They thought, if armed with its Omnific power 
 
 To stay the deluge and delay the hour, 
 
 When judgment would compel respect for truth, 
 
 And age protect, and innocence and youth. 
 
 'Twas Enoch's custom at the close of day, 
 
 To seek the altar, and in silence pray 
 
 To Jah for blessings on the erring race, 
 
 Who scorned his law and spurned his proffered 
 
 grace ; 
 
 Here, often, too, at early morn and eve, 
 He sought with tears a merciful reprieve 
 For Seth's frail sons, who lost to right and truth, 
 In sensuous pleasures wasted health and youth.
 
 THE DOOMED SAGE. 73 
 
 Horo once, while praying at the noon of night, 
 He heard strange footfalls, and in softened light 
 Beheld a vision All about the shrine 
 Celestial lusters gleam and forms divine, 
 Clothed like the craftsmen of the primal age, 
 Assume the seats and in the work engage. 
 A soft, sweet radiance circles every chair, 
 And rich aromas permeate the air, 
 Light floods the east where one of noble mien 
 And god-like majesty and brow serene 
 Commands the west and south where sit sublime 
 Chiefs, who remind one of the olden time, 
 When faith, and hope, and love, held every heart 
 In sweet abeyance, and the sons of art 
 And esoteric science ruled the west, 
 And virtue reigned and man was truly blest. 
 No word escapes the sentry, as he moves 
 From west to south and east. If he approves 
 The workman who claims office in the fane, 
 
 He makes it known by signs. He who would gain 
 7
 
 74 THE DOOM ED BACK. 
 
 Entrance to this strange circle, and thus share 
 
 Their love and trust and secrets, must prepare, 
 
 And fortify himself for toils severe, 
 
 Nor shrink when buffeted by pain and care. 
 
 Though Enoch knows each mystic grip and sign, 
 
 And all the secrets of the art divine, 
 
 Yet, could he do so, he would fly the fane, 
 
 But strength forsakes him, the attempt were vain. 
 
 And now the sentry having made the round 
 
 Of all the craft, and each in order found, 
 
 Draws near the shrine, where Enoch kneels in 
 
 prayer, 
 
 And signals him in silence to prepare, 
 By step and due guard to approach the east, 
 And there be jewelled by the great High Priest, 
 Who waits in silence to confer the prize 
 On him who first, as man, shall range the skies. 
 But Enoch trembles as his mind divines 
 The startling import of those wordless signs.
 
 THE DOOMED EACE. 75 
 
 To bo exempt from sleeping in the tomb, 
 
 To be invested with unfading bloom, 
 
 To be translated without seeing death, 
 
 To mount the sky and range life's fields with Seth, 
 
 To share the transports of that love-lit land, 
 
 And in the temple built by Jah to stand, 
 
 To walk in flesh where dwell the Cherubim, 
 
 Dare he believe such joy reserved for him 
 
 A hand unseen restores him to his feet, 
 
 And draws him gently toward the veiled retreat, 
 
 By signals led he treads the south and west, 
 
 Completes the circuit and lays bare his breast. 
 
 A new-born energy pervades his frame, 
 
 And quiet joy as near the mystic flame 
 
 That gilds the Orient and guards the shrine, 
 
 He bows and worships in the name divine. 
 
 There, now, the Master and the Craft unite, 
 
 Hands join in hands and celebrate the rite
 
 76 THE DOOMED 
 
 Known as the " key stone," while the Priest 
 
 appears, 
 
 And gives his blessing In his hand he bears 
 A fragrant crown bound by a jeweled chain, 
 Designed for Enoch, who by faith may gain 
 Demit from death and unto Jah ascend, 
 And in communion walk as friend with friend. 
 The craftsmen gather round the good man now, 
 The High Priest puts the chaplet on his brow, 
 The lusters glow with an intenser ray, 
 But at a signal fade and die away. 
 The forms like shadows melt before the sight, 
 And leave the temple wrapped in ray less night. 
 The vision fled, but not the jeweled crown, 
 He bore that with him wandering up and down 
 Through vale and wildwood, o'er hill and plain, 
 In Seth's lost hamlets and the haunts of Cain, 
 It stirred his hope and helped him to renew 
 His efforts to save souls A chosen few
 
 TIIEDOOMEDBACE. 77 
 
 Were led to fear and worship Jah alone. 
 His form and voice in all the land were known, 
 And in those years of trial, toil and pa'in, 
 Hope gathered brightness from that crown and 
 chain. 
 
 When Enoch preached no vulgar Cainite laughed, 
 His words were fire, a red-hot hissing shaft, 
 That pierced the proud and rent the guilty heart, 
 Caused lips to quiver and the tears to start, 
 Nor dwelt he most on human nature's fears, 
 He loved mankind, his heart was full of tears. 
 As weeps a father o'er his erring child, 
 As seeks the shepherd in the fatal wild 
 The misled sheep, so Enoch wept and sought, 
 The Craft, who in the Cainite web were caught. 
 The words he spake were not designed to please 
 The feverish fancy, nor to those give ease 
 Who sought not righteousness, nor strove to gain 
 The nobler life upon the heavenly plain.
 
 78 T II E D O M E D B A C E . 
 
 N"or uses he rich diction, or the show 
 
 Of polished utterance and thoughts that flow 
 
 In liquid sweetness and the senses take, 
 
 But on the soul no good impressions make. 
 
 He scorns the plaudits and rewards of earth, 
 
 By men proposed, who know not spirit worth; 
 
 The soul has charms, though sunk in guilt it be, 
 
 And bears the impress of eternity 
 
 Deep in its depths, where lust o'er virtue glowers, 
 
 He sees the germs of faculties and powers, 
 
 That must unfold, enlarging evermore 
 
 In hell to blaspheme, or in heaven adore, 
 
 To wake the guilty out of sin's deep sleep, 
 
 To stir the memory and the conscience keep 
 
 Keen and sensitive to the touch of wrong 
 
 Such was the goodman's aim, and ever strong 
 
 And clear and cogent, were his arguments, 
 
 Yet yielding hope whene'er the soul repents, 
 
 They move the spoiler to condemn his Art, 
 
 And force the Cainite with his gods to part.
 
 T II E D O M E D E A C E . 79 
 
 So Enoch labored to instruct mankind, 
 
 By every motive that could reach the mind 
 
 Or move the heart and lead the feet to God, 
 
 And save the soul from sin's unsparing rod. 
 
 He did no sin, no violence he knew, 
 
 But walked with Jah, and in his likeness grew, 
 
 Until the Cainites clamored for his blood 
 
 To appease Sol's anger and avert the flood. 
 
 They thought their woes would perish with the man, 
 
 Nor knew Jah's eyes all human actions scan, 
 
 No voice informs them that the Word through grace, 
 
 'Neath Sol's own Fane hath found a dwelling 
 
 place, 
 
 And though the flood may sweep the damned earth, 
 That "Word shall live and have a nobler birth. 
 
 To Enoch, late in life, a daughter came, 
 Fair as an angel and took Eva's name, 
 "Who gave up life in giving life to her, 
 And dying, prayed the Master to confer
 
 80 THE DOOMED RACE. 
 
 His graces on her child And in her youth 
 
 To keep her pure and steadfast in the truth. 
 
 No grief like this had Enoch ever known, 
 
 Was Jah offended? Why hath Eva flown? 
 
 And little Eva where a mother find 
 
 To guide her instincts and instruct her mind? 
 
 A shadow fell on Enoch's spirit now, 
 
 He wept in silence, it was hard to bow 
 
 And say "thank God," now Seth's last child had 
 
 died, 
 
 For since his youth, she had walk'd by his side, 
 Their hopes, and fears, and joys, and griefs were one, 
 But now he stands, and still must walk alone, 
 Yet there were times when voices seemed to say, 
 "Though darkness reigns, at eve it shall be day; 
 Soon thou shalt mount and be with Jah shut in, 
 Where Eva waits thee far from earth and sin." 
 To Enoch's home in time the sunshine came, 
 For little Eva like a gentle flame,
 
 THE DOOM ED RACE. 81 
 
 Spread life and warmth, sweeping away the gloom, 
 And caused the deserts of the heart to bloom; 
 'Twas not her faultless form, nor sunny face, 
 Nor yet the laughing dimples, nor the grace, 
 Nor artlessness, with which she moved and sung 
 That won all hearts, and touched with praise each 
 
 tongue. 
 
 'Twas goodness, character, a something new, 
 In that dark age attractive as 't was true 
 "With sweet consistency of truth, not art, 
 That gave her empire over every heart. 
 And noble youths, and Noche, Prince of Cain, 
 Bowed to her charms, but sought her love in vain. 
 Lamech, the bard, found, favor in her sight, 
 Her faith was his, his genuis her delight, 
 His noble nature and majestic form, 
 And sparkling wit, and songs so fresh and warm, 
 Had force, where wealth nor title could avail 
 To win the prize and over all prevail,
 
 82 THEDOOMEDEACE. 
 
 She knew his heart, and in his strength could rest, 
 
 For throb to throb responded in each breast. 
 
 But what will Enoch say? For in those days 
 
 Youth might not marry, nor appoint their ways, 
 
 ' Till twice a score of years, at least, had flown, 
 
 And Eva was but twenty, yet well grown, 
 
 And more a woman in her thoughts and ways, 
 
 Than hapless scores, who had out-lived their days. 
 
 So Enoch did consent but pledged the twain 
 
 To live for Jah, and never more again 
 
 Should death divide, in wedlock knit their hands, 
 
 Or by commixture desecrate these bans. 
 
 As each in other found supreme delight, 
 
 The vow was easy and the bond seemed light, 
 
 And Eva, ere she reached the prime of life, 
 
 By Sethic rites became the poet's wife, 
 
 To him, indeed, she was earth's brightest gem, 
 
 And dearer far than wealth or diadem, 
 
 Nor crown nor fame could lure him to delay, 
 
 If she desired his presence, in the way
 
 THE DOOM ED BACK. 83 
 
 They loved like souls that in each other find 
 Congenial tastes and sympathies of mind, 
 Quickened by thoughts and hopes sublimely grand, 
 Which knit their hearts and kept them hand in 
 
 hand. 
 
 But Eva's flat rejection of the Prince, 
 And Enoch's love of Sethic rites evince 
 Disloyalty t' wards Cainite government, 
 The Prince complains, the mob takes up the scent, 
 And like the hounds that pant for human gore, 
 They seek his blood, whose curse they fear'd 
 
 before. 
 
 No court convenes to try the son of Seth, 
 The mob have spoken and the cry is death. 
 Could deeds of mercy in his favor plead, 
 Or golden gifts delay the dreadful deed, 
 Enoch had lived to spread the name of Him, 
 Whose glory shone between the Cherubim. 
 But moved by vengeance, Cain's malignant heir 
 Leads on the mob, and blood flows everywhere.
 
 84 T II E D O M E D E A C E . 
 
 The Craft, who reverence the Master's Name, 
 Are dragged to cruel torture and to shame, 
 Nor woman's pleadings, nor the tears of age, 
 Can stay the mob, or quell their guilty rage. 
 To Enoch's grove at midnight they repair, 
 And find him bowed in supplication there, 
 Pleading for those who clamor for his blood, 
 And roll in lust, nor dread the coming flood. 
 " Oh ! wilt thou not by some superior sign 
 Alarm their consciences and so incline 
 Their hearts to penitence and humble prayer, 
 That they may come, O Jah ! thy grace to share. 
 Hath sin so fixed its empire in their soul, 
 That naught can pluck them from its dire control ? 
 May not a larger measure of thy grace 
 Incline them still their footstops to retrace ? 
 Oh ! let thy spirit breathe upon them still, 
 Dispose their hearts to reverence thy will, 
 And from the gulf that yawns beneath their feet, 
 To turn for pardon to Thy mercy seat."
 
 THE DOOMED EACE. 85 
 
 And thus with tears he supplicates his God 
 
 To spare the guilty, and withhold the rod 
 
 His voice in prayer is heard through all the night, 
 
 But now as darkness yields to morning light, 
 
 The mob infur'ate drag him to a tree, 
 
 And bind his limbs and press him ruthlessly ; 
 
 They taunt him too by the Omnific ISTame, 
 
 To rend the cordage and escape the flame. 
 
 But, no! The fear that made the tear drop start, 
 
 And pale his cheek and wrung his tender heart 
 
 Has fled. And now with tranquil brow and eye, 
 
 He views the crowd and heaves a pensive sigh, 
 
 Then asks Elohim, if the prayer be meet, 
 
 To spare the guilty, yet their aim defeat, 
 
 By lifting him in body to the sky, 
 
 In sight of all who here his might defy, 
 
 That none may longer doubt the higher life, 
 
 But now repent and cease the sinful strife. 
 
 The match is touched His cheeks show no dismay, 
 
 His God protects him every cord gives way.
 
 86 THE DOOM ED RACE. 
 
 The fagots burn not, nor will fire consume 
 
 His sacred flesh, which now assumes the bloom 
 
 And freshness of the sky In mute amaze 
 
 The mob shrink back, and on the good man gaze. 
 
 An awe mysterious fetters heart and will, 
 
 No word is spoken, every pulse stands still, 
 
 His face grows lustrous, and his calm gray eyes 
 
 In tearful prayer are lifted to the skies. 
 
 He spreads his hands, then slowly mounts the air, 
 
 All, all behold him ! Passion yields to fear. 
 
 For fourscore years no child to Eva came, 
 
 To swell her joys and share her husband's fame, 
 
 But still his love repressed the restless sigh, 
 
 And kissed away the tear drops from her eye. 
 
 To Eva, too, he always sweetly sung, 
 
 To her, through years of darkness, fondly clung, 
 
 To her alone, himself he could impart, 
 
 And dav and niicht she rested near his heart.
 
 TlIE DOOMED KACE. 87 
 
 From child-age taught to tell her griefs to Jah, 
 Show him her heart, and with his sacred law 
 Keep company. She often sought the fane, 
 And once an heir desired, nor asked in vain. 
 While at the central altar bound in prayer, 
 A mellow light, that always rested there, 
 Intenser grew, 'till all the temple blazed, 
 And priests and people were alike amazed; 
 None heard the prayer the childless wife had 
 
 breathed, 
 
 None knew the sign she asked and thus received; 
 By her alone the Avhispered words are heard, 
 "Thy son shall be the guardian of the Word, 
 And through his seed the earth shall bloom again, 
 Free from the madness and the curse of Cain." 
 The months fly fast, she knows a mother's joy, 
 And to her husband bears a noble boy. 
 In Lamech's eyes a softer luster glows, 
 In Eva's heart a gentler current flows.
 
 88 T II E D O O M E D E A C E . 
 
 Through smiles and tears she gazes on her child, 
 By whom her future cares shall be beguiled, 
 And prays her God to keep him undefiled, 
 And to his mandate always reconciled. 
 The words she heard that midnight in the fane, 
 Which through long years have softened every pain, 
 She tells her husband, who now hails with joy 
 The promised builder in his own bright boy; 
 And now that Jah's great purpose is discerned 
 To Enoch's shrine in which those lusters burned, 
 They bear their infant at the noon of night, 
 And call him Noah by the ancient rite; 
 Sprinkling his face with water mixed with blood, 
 In sign of safety from both plague and flood. 
 Eva inherited her sire's domain, 
 The grove of Scth and castle near the fane. 
 And here was Noah taught, from early youth, 
 The useful arts and theologic truth. 
 Gymnastic sports with calculation joined 
 To form the body and instruct the mind.
 
 THEDOOMEDKACE. 89 
 
 And charmed by nature, he was wont to trace 
 Elohim's foot-prints in the forms of space. 
 To Enoch's shrine in riper years he came, 
 To be instructed in the "Word and Flame 
 By priests, and Acolytes, who lived for Jah, 
 Explain the symbols and define his law. 
 The curse of Cain they taught him to deplore, 
 And woman's craft and beauty to abhor, 
 And bound him, too, to give up ease and life, 
 'Ere take a maiden of that race to wife. 
 
 By secret passages beneath the plain, 
 The grove of Seth connected with the fane. 
 That, undisturbed, the children of his lino 
 Might worship daily at the central shrine. 
 This grove was sacred held before the flood, 
 As Adam's heritage for when the blood 
 Of Abel had been shed, obliged to roam, 
 
 He crossed the stream and here contrived a homo, 
 8
 
 90 THE DOOMED RACE. 
 
 A rural dwelling by a gushing spring 
 Where palm trees wave, and birds forever sing; 
 The snowy heights which guard this wild retreat, 
 Keep off the storms and cool the tropic heat, 
 Forming a glen, past which the waters glide, 
 Deep'ning and wid'ning as they near the tide, 
 Here tangled wilds with bird-notes ever ring, 
 Here youth and age meet everlasting spring ; 
 The golden orange its ripe fruit bestows, 
 The cherrimoza, by the mama grows, 
 The wondrous magney yields its generous stores, 
 And in the cup the lime its acid pours ; 
 Bananas, citrons, pomegranates too, 
 Peaches and pears, and tunias red and blue, 
 And figs, and grapes, and rich, ripe nuts are found, 
 And coffee, cane, and cotton plants abound, 
 While sterner bulbs and northern serials grow, 
 On sheltered shelves that rise toward the snow, 
 Delicious odors breathe through all the night, 
 And breezes fresh return with morning light.
 
 THEDOOMEDEACE. 91 
 
 Sweet laughter gushes from an hundred rills, 
 And new-born scenes the heart with rapture thrills. 
 Here trees and flowers with life and transport gleam, 
 And toil finds rest, and hope its brightest dream; 
 Here little Seth and Chloe, free to rove, 
 Explore each wild, and ransack glen and grove, 
 Chasing the ape, and startling hind, and hare, 
 They spread dismay and unrest everywhere. 
 Once, while the twins were playing " hide and seek," 
 The startled mother heard her darlings shriek, 
 And flew to shield them, but she found them not ; 
 Some plants which they had gathered marked the 
 
 spot 
 
 Where last they stood now both had disappeared, 
 And none knew where or how ! Poor Timna feared 
 The earth had swallowed them, or bird of prey 
 And mighty wing, had carried them away. 
 The stricken trio lift their aching eyes 
 And hearts, and pallid faces, toward the skies
 
 92 THE DOOMED EACE. 
 
 In quest of some faint token of relief, 
 
 But none is given, and now in speechless grief 
 
 Each views the other, until Timnah says, 
 
 " "Why wait we here ? though Jah the sign delays, 
 
 If in the jungle they have lost their way, 
 
 May we not find them 'ere the close of day? 
 
 An hour ago I saw them pass this rock 
 
 Had earth engulphed them, we had felt the shock ; 
 
 No bird of prey from out the wood hath flown, 
 
 They therefore wander anxious and alone, 
 
 Or overcome by weariness they sleep 
 
 But Jah hath promised his elect to keep." 
 
 She paused, and hope upspringing in each heart, 
 
 Through wood and wild the eager trio start, 
 
 Each tangled growth, and favored spot and nook, 
 
 Is traversed and explored. Beyond the brook 
 
 They gain a knoll, near sunset, near the stream, 
 
 And stand perplexed Oh ! can it be a dream, 
 
 Seth's voice is heard " See ! Mamma, here we be 
 
 This side the water Mamma, don't you see?"
 
 THE DOOMED EACE. 93 
 
 How came they there, could Satan as of old 
 Thus ply his force ? The story soon is told. 
 The twins were playing and from Timna fled 
 Behind a rock which to a cavern led, 
 And here were lost. In vain they sought the light, 
 And called for Timna; but, through all the night; 
 ~No voice responded ; and, impelled by fear 
 And thirst, they wandered, hoping still to hear 
 Their sister answer, and long, long it seemed, 
 ' Till far away the dim faint vista gleamed. 
 Seth hailed the narrow opening with a shout, 
 And lifting Chloe, bore her gently out. 
 There now they stand upon a rocky height; 
 And hail their parents with intense delight. 
 The time-worn raft, long anchored to the shore, 
 Is soon cut loose and pushed by Adam o'er, 
 "While Seth and Chloe, holding hand in hand 
 Descend the rocks and by the river stand ; 
 1 Till Adam clasps them to his grateful breast, 
 And in his arms the little wanderers rest.
 
 94 THE DOOMED EACE. 
 
 The mother's joy and Timnahs glad caress 
 And tears, and smiles, no language can express. 
 Guided by Seth, the cavern's mouth is found, 
 And leads to depths, where massive rocks abound 
 In shape for building stones of beauteous hue 
 And beds of bitumen and cement too; 
 Here Adam finds a vein of virgin gold, 
 Seamed in the rock and ready for the mould; 
 The mighty tunnel tracks the yellow vein, 
 And delving downward passes 'neath the plain 
 And river bottom ; and its outlet finds, 
 'Midst sheltering rocks through which a streamlet 
 
 winds, 
 
 Whose waters leap to kiss the mellow light, 
 Whilst rarest gems transfix the wond'ring sight. 
 
 The grove and castle were by Enos planned, 
 E'er Caihite war laid waste the western land, 
 Despoiling innocence, and age and youth, 
 And scorning justice, sanctity and truth.
 
 THE DOOMED KACE. 95 
 
 But Enos, guided by a heavenly ray, 
 Foresaw the coining conflict and the way 
 By. which to shield the helpless, and maintain 
 The ancient worship on the Sethic plain. 
 Seth's hidden wealth by Enos was made known 
 To Secret Masters and by such alone, 
 From year to year, the golden mine was wrought, 
 And with the lustres to the chapter brought; 
 The tunnel too, that interlocks the shores, 
 Enlarged, and guarded by revolving doors 
 Of unhewn rock, was fashioned as to show 
 No sign of inlet to the subtle foe. 
 And by great skill this subterranean way 
 "Was rendered smooth and luminous as day, 
 That when besieged the craft unseen by night, 
 Might pierce the camp and put the foe to flight. 
 To every Master Builder of the line 
 Much gold was given, and so the art divine 
 Achieved its largest aims, and by its power 
 Walled in the grove and built the Ark and Tower.
 
 96 THEDOOMEDKACE. 
 
 The bars of gold were to the castle brought, 
 And with the lustres delicately wrought 
 Into the robes and breast-plate of the priest, 
 
 And gem'd the curtained inlet to the east. 
 
 
 The sacred vessels, furniture, and shrine 
 
 Were wrought of gold and wondrous in design. 
 The inner courts transfix the wondering gaze, 
 And all the veils with rarest jewels blaze. 
 "No weary workman murmurs for his pay, 
 No child of want is empty turned away; 
 No friendless outcast asks for bread in vain, 
 Nor Cainite bondmen of their tasks complain. 
 To bless the unblest and protect the weak, 
 To cheer the cheerless and uphold the meek, 
 To help the helpless and exalt the fame 
 Of human goodness was the craftsmen's aim. 
 "Well ordered homes for orphan girls were reared 
 In Eva's grove nor time nor toil were spared 
 To form the tastes, and train the mind and heart 
 To prize the beautiful, in truth and art
 
 T II E D O M E D E A C E . 97 
 
 Ketreats of mercy, too, for halt and blind, 
 
 And sick, and wretched, to the fane were joined. 
 
 And here the priests of Enos and their wives, 
 
 In gentle offices, employed their lives; 
 
 Here beings mute hold intercourse by signs 
 
 The blind eye sees, or taught by touch divines. 
 
 What 'ere is beautiful in earth or sky 
 
 As though the object gleamed before the eye 
 
 The deaf ear too, is taught earth's minstrelsies 
 
 And so the blind and dumb, converse with ease 
 
 About the mountain, towering to the sky 
 
 The plain out-spread and river flowing by. 
 
 The years glide by, yet Eva fairer grew, 
 Attracting others; but to Lamech true, 
 Nor doubting once, his heart was all her own; 
 She knew no grief and blest "The Coner Stone." 
 But other eyes beheld his noble form 
 
 And other hearts in hearing him grew warm. 
 9
 
 98 THE DOOM ED K ACE. 
 
 Zillah the fair, proud heiress of the East, 
 And Adah, sister of the great High Priest, 
 Though joined in wedlock to the heir of Cain, 
 Admired the bard, and sought his love to gain. 
 In intrigue schooled, they ply their arts with skill 
 To lure and lead him captive to their will; 
 Shrew'd and suspicious, each a guize assumes, 
 To hide the flame that heart and brain consumes, 
 From him, to whom by hated ties they're bound; 
 Yet he distrusts and tracks them like a hound, 
 And having cause their fealty to suspect, 
 Now bids them pause and on their way reflect. 
 Adah and Zillah hear him with disgust 
 How dare he thus his royal wives distrust? 
 Have they no rights? Are they not nobly born? 
 His threats they brave and his suspicions scorn. 
 "Is not this Sethic bard the people's pride, 
 Will nobles dare his genius to deride, 
 His strains entrance the east-land as the West? 
 By priest and prince he's courted and carres't
 
 THE DOOM ED RACE. 99 
 
 And if all men pay homage to the bard 
 
 Shall we withhold the delicate regard 
 
 Due to the prince of science, art and song, 
 
 Nor pay him tribute nor his temple throng." 
 
 So day and night they seek the poets bower, 
 
 The brightest birds, the richest fruit and flower 
 
 And rarest gems they bring, an offering meet 
 
 And lay the sparkling tribute at his feet 
 
 Can such appreciative goodness fail 
 
 To win his trust his secret pride regale? 
 
 Their low soft tones, and modest, artless ways, 
 
 And sweet forgetfullness of self amaze 
 
 The poet, while a strange enchantment seals 
 
 His lips, and o'er his heart and senses steals. 
 
 Zillah now lauds his heights and depths of thought 
 
 The chaste heart-breathings with such favor fraught 
 
 The mellow flow the rich transporting gush 
 
 His power, the passions to arouse or hush 
 
 And finds intoxication in each line 
 
 His words consume, his breathings are divine
 
 100 THE DOOMED EACE. 
 
 Is Lamech stone can man resist such wiles, 
 Her tone and glance timidity beguiles, 
 And drawn by Zillah's trustfulness and charm 
 He folds the panting creature in his arms. 
 Her wealth of hair falls on his heaving breast, 
 Her pulses throb, she whispers "I am blest." 
 Soft waves of light flow o'er her lovely face 
 As lip meets lip in that first fond embrace; 
 But while held captive by her midnight eyes, 
 And heart to heart responds in tender sighs, 
 He sees a dagger gleaming o'er her head 
 A strife ensues; the heir of Cain lies dead. 
 His lifeless form filled Lamech with dismay, 
 He did not mean the Cainite prince to slay, 
 But in the strife, to shield the erring wife ; 
 The blade was turned, and took her husbands life. 
 The strong man wept and could a life of pain 
 Or tears of blood, that life bring back again. 
 Lamech would gladly suffer day and night 
 To wipe that blood-spot from his aching sight.
 
 THE DOOMED 11 ACE. 101 
 
 The wives weep not, but Eva's tears flow fast 
 
 The stars go out her sky is overcast. 
 
 The Cainite law hath changelessly decreed 
 
 That he who perpetrates the fatal deed 
 
 Shall take to wife, the women thus bereaved, 
 
 And be their husband, 'till by death relieved. 
 
 Through weary years, was Eva doomed to dwell 
 
 Apart from Lamech, whom she loved so well, 
 
 And in her castle cloistered with her boy 
 
 She wept and prayed and found her only joy. 
 
 In early youth she led him to the fane, 
 
 She taught him, too, to dread the curse of Cain, 
 
 And by the teachings of the sacred Law 
 
 To shape his ways and live alone for Jah. 
 
 In Enoch's likeness Noah daily grew 
 
 Yet shared the genius of his father too 
 
 And Eva's gentleness and winning grace 
 
 Gave new attraction to his form and face.
 
 102 THE DOOMED KACE. 
 
 A faith like Seth's grew up within his heart 
 He asked no gift that Jah did not impart, 
 And taught by him to know the voice divine, 
 He walked by faith and worshipped at his shrine. 
 Nor did his walks beyond the grove extend, 
 But here with Jah he talked as friend with friend. 
 And counselled by him in the things of life 
 He took a Sethic priestess unto wife. 
 Triplets she bore boys so diverse in style, 
 That none their unity could reconcile 
 'Till Noah named them, by the spirits grace, 
 The fathers elect of a triple race. 
 "Made of one blood," yet each before all time 
 Designed to occupy a different clime 
 A frigid, temperate and tropic zone, 
 Where misce-gencsis might not be known ; 
 But each enlarge and propagate his kind 
 Make glad the wastes and educate the mind, 
 And by commercial intercourse advance 
 The others progress, mid his joys enhance
 
 THE DOOMED RACE. 103 
 
 'Till all shall come the God-head to adore. 
 And right respect, and violence ignore, 
 Nor Jah's tri-personality contemn, 
 But find it pictured in these styles of men, 
 Faultless in feature, and of sturdy frame, 
 White, Eed and Black, the boys to Noah came, 
 And painted thus by Jah to suit the zone 
 Which, in the future, each shall call his own. 
 The first-born Japheth, active, quick and fair, 
 Needs but the stimulous of frosty air 
 To nerve his arm and stir his heart and brain 
 To push the battle and the prize obtain. 
 And north of Cancer is the clime and place 
 Best suited to the growth of such a race, 
 And Shorn, nomadic in his ways and tastes, 
 Shall shun the tropic as the frozen wastes, 
 And move his flocks and herds from age to age 
 'Neath genial skies in quest of pasturage. 
 In temp 'rate latitudes he thrives the best, 
 And there his seed shall multiply and rest
 
 104 THE DOOMED EACE. 
 
 But Ham to eloquence and song inclined 
 In tropic lands a genial home shall find, 
 The dark skin opens, and the bane ejects, 
 That, in the tropics, blood and brain infects, 
 And there his seed shall flourish and abide 
 Where neither Shems nor Japheths can reside. 
 
 While Eva lived, the poet dwelt apart 
 From Noches wives who sought by every art 
 To draw him to them ; but from year to year 
 He gave himself to penitence and prayer, 
 He bids them dwell with tears upon the crime 
 That cuts him off from kindred and from clime, 
 Nor dream of wedlock with himself before 
 The gods permit, and Eva is no more. 
 "Adah and Zillah, hear my speech and voice; 
 Ye wives of Lamech, weep while ye rejoice. 
 'Twas shielding you the royal heir of Cain, 
 Your Lord and Prince, by Lamechs hand 
 slain,
 
 THE DOOMED EACE. 105 
 
 And will ye now oblige me to forswear 
 My faith and honor which I prize so dear?" 
 Yet in the courtesies of social life 
 He pays a husband's duty to each wife, 
 At their disposal places his estate . 
 And seeks their favor to propitiate. 
 His gentle offices, and grace, and ease, 
 And manly traits are well designed to please ; 
 ' And when his Eva is with Jah at rest, 
 He takes the Cainite women to his breast 
 Jubal, the minstrel, was to Adah born, 
 And through his genius the rude pipe and horn 
 Gave place to nobler instruments the flute, 
 And deep-toned organ, and soft harp, and lute. 
 She first bear Jubal, who of wood and stone 
 Built homes, where families might dwell alone, 
 And foster flocks and herds, and plants, and reap 
 With bins for grain and pens for cow and sheep. 
 His rural homes, the wilds and valley blest, 
 And Jubal's harp brought ease to every breast
 
 106 THE DOOMED RACE. 
 
 And Zillah bear the artist Tubal Cain 
 Who formed the implements that appertain 
 To toil, to science, and each useful art, 
 And gave the schools industrial their start. 
 To Zillah late in life Naamah came, 
 Cain's royal heir, and fairest of the name 
 Abhorring sin she would have fled the east ; 
 But Zillah cloistered her, with Sol's High Priest, 
 Not for pollution, but to wear the crown 
 Should empire rise and priestly rule go down. 
 And there she dwelt a vestal of the flame 
 'Till Ham endowed her with his heart and name-- 
 Here Lamech ends the story of his race 
 And yearning now his first-born to embrace, 
 At break of day he joins the happy twain 
 And journeys with them to the sacred plain. 
 
 No sign of flood in earth, or sky appears, 
 No wrathful form before the vision glares;
 
 THE DOOMED EACE. 107 
 
 The earth moves on, as when it first began, 
 
 Conferring blessings and enriching man. 
 
 The sun above us is as bright to-day 
 
 As when at first it took the solar way 
 
 And moon and stars emit as soft a light 
 
 As when at first they gemmed the brow of night. 
 
 The eyes of nature look with pride on man, 
 
 All things transpire according to her plan. 
 
 And earth shall stand, nor time nor gods can 
 
 change 
 
 The laws of nature or her course derange 
 Is there more water in the seas to-day 
 Than when the sunshine rolled the mist away, 
 Or greater moisture in the earth or air 
 Than when at first was formed our atmosphere? 
 Should Sol draw up the waters to the sky, 
 'Till all our seas, and rivers too, were dry, 
 And pour them down upon the earth as rain 
 Would they not flow right back to seas again?
 
 108 THE DOOMED EACE. 
 
 So talk the Cainite sages, while the priests 
 To midnight revels and voluptuous feasts 
 Entice the people by attractive rites 
 And blend their worship with corrupt delights. 
 The passions fed grow stronger day by day, 
 The guards to truth and chastity give way, 
 And wrong o'er righteousness its sway maintains, 
 'Till nought of goodness in the earth remains. 
 Save Noah's family, none dread the rod, 
 His sons and daughters only cleave to God, 
 And by their toil and skill an ark prepare 
 For pairs of those whom mercy deigns to spare. 
 There where the river meets the ocean tide, 
 The Ark, now launched, is floating in its pride, 
 Fair in proportions, wondrous as 'tis vast, 
 Yet so constructed as to scorn the blast ; 
 Nor dread the surges of the mighty sea, 
 However wild or rough the storm may be ; 
 Though huge in bulk a type of skill most rare, 
 It rides the wave and seems a thing of air.
 
 THE DOOMED RACE. 109 
 
 The tripple deck, unique in its design, 
 Has stalls for beasts, a chapel and a shrine, 
 And family chambers furnished with much care, 
 And forms designed to move the heart to prayer. 
 The tanks below by curious pipes connect 
 With water spouts upon the roof or deck, 
 And thus receive the rain in its descent, 
 And bilge and animalcula prevent. 
 Although no sign appear in earth or sky, 
 Yet Noah doubts not that the end is nigh, 
 And while the Seer his godly fear derides, 
 He heaps up stores, and for all flesh provides, 
 Nor waits he long, for soon both Seers and priests 
 Are startled by a sign : the birds and beasts, 
 And everything that lives in earth, or air, 
 In pairs before the mighty ark appear, 
 Moved by an impulse never felt before, 
 All enter in and Justice bars the door. 
 The craft, beholding, tremble and believe, 
 But turn too late to Jah for a reprieve.
 
 110 THE DOOMED EACE. 
 
 'Midst angry clouds the sun sinks down to rest,- 
 
 No star comes forth to light the east or west. 
 
 The last day closes, . and the threatened rain 
 
 Begins to fall upon the Ark and plain. 
 
 In Zillah's castle, on the Gihon's bank, 
 
 The noble youths, and, damsels, too, of rank, 
 
 Are all assembled, to assist the rite 
 
 That Tubal Cain and Irad's heir unites. 
 
 For five long days and nights descends the rain, 
 
 The feast continues and the guests detain. 
 
 The wine flows freely, and with dance and song 
 
 They cheer the sports, and speed the hours along, 
 
 'Till all are sated. Now a damsel sighs 
 
 "Why don't it cease? This rain one's patience tries. 
 
 To-night, you know, the demon of the feast 
 
 "Was to be rendered by the handsome priest; 
 
 But all the groves are deluged, and the play 
 
 "Will not go forward 'till the storm gives way." 
 
 One mounts the tower and looks upon the sky, 
 
 But still no sign of clearing can descry
 
 THE DOOMED EACE. Ill 
 
 By day and night, yet faster falls the rain, 
 The waste of water covers all the plain, 
 The wild waves surge, the low-lands disappear, 
 And shrieks of men and women fill the air; 
 The artificial mounds like islands seem 
 From Eden's summits lurid lightnings gleam, 
 The clouds, converging toward the highlands, form 
 A dismal background swept by fire and storm, 
 To whose high hills the frightened hordes repair, 
 Pursued by waves that overtake them there. 
 From trees and rocks their struggling forms are 
 
 hurled, 
 
 And now the flood sweeps o'er a damned world 
 But still the Church, which Jah is pledged to keep, 
 Is in the Ark and safely rides the deep. 
 * ;fc ^ * * * * 
 
 Both Art and Science rose with Lamech's race, 
 The germs now blown, to Lamech's seed we trace, 
 From Gihon's source to Maroe's lovely isle 
 The stream first flows and there abides awhile,
 
 112 THE DOOMED RACE. 
 
 And Thebes, and Ninevah, and Memphis rise, 
 And Babel's tower Omnipotence defies. 
 But Jah looks down the mighty framework falls, 
 The builders scatter, and their speech appalls, 
 The tide next sweeps to Attica in Greece, 
 The arts spring up, and people dwell in peace. 
 Shut up in walls, 'till Rome the barrier breaks, 
 And then toward Brittany the current makes ; 
 And now begins the long predicted night, 
 Truth yields to falsehood, and the purer light 
 That kindled Enoch's shrine, and later shone 
 In Judah has gone out : in fanes alone, 
 Where meet the craft in secret, as of old, 
 The flame still glows, and bright remains the gold.
 
 This book is DUE on the last 
 date stamped below 
 
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 The doomed race. 
 
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