{"id":2774,"date":"2015-09-19T17:53:28","date_gmt":"2015-09-19T17:53:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesectofthehornedgod.com\/?p=2774"},"modified":"2015-09-19T18:53:17","modified_gmt":"2015-09-19T18:53:17","slug":"hymn-to-satan-by-giosue-carducci","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thesectofthehornedgod.com\/?p=2774","title":{"rendered":"Hymn to Satan by Giosue Carducci"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"10264676_854137107965519_966313685529199673_n.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

To you, creation\u2019s
\nmighty principle,
\nmatter and spirit
\nreason and sense<\/p>\n

Whilst the wine
\nsparkles in cups
\nlike the soul
\nin the eye<\/p>\n

Whilst earth and
\nsun exchange
\ntheir smiles and
\nwords of love<\/p>\n

And shudders
\nfrom their secret embrace run down
\nfrom the mountains, and
\nthe plain throbs with new life<\/p>\n

To you my daring
\nverses are unleashed,
\nyou I invoke, O Satan
\nmonarch of the feast.<\/p>\n

Put aside your sprinkler,
\npriest, and your litanies!
\nNo, priest, Satan
\ndoes not retreat!<\/p>\n

Behold! Rust
\nerodes the mystic
\nsword of Michael
\nand the faithful<\/p>\n

Archangel, deplumed,
\ndrops into the void.
\nThe thunderbolt lies frozen
\nin Jove\u2019s hand<\/p>\n

Like pale meteors,
\nspent worlds,
\nthe angels drop
\nfrom the firmament<\/p>\n

In unsleeping
\nmatter,
\nking of phenomena,
\nmonarch of form,<\/p>\n

Satan alone lives.
\nHe holds sway in
\nthe tremulous flash
\nof some dark eye,<\/p>\n

Or the eye which languidly
\nturns and resists,
\nor which, bright and moist,
\nprovokes, insists.<\/p>\n

He shines in the bright
\nblood of grapes,
\nby which transient
\njoy persists,<\/p>\n

Which restores fleeting
\nlife, keeps
\ngrief at bay,
\nand inspires us with love<\/p>\n

You breathe, O Satan
\nin my verses,
\nwhen from my heart explodes
\na challenge to the god<\/p>\n

Of wicked pontiffs,
\nbloody kings;
\nand like lightning you
\nshock men\u2019s minds.<\/p>\n

Sculpture, painting
\nand poetry
\nfirst lived for you, Ahriman,
\nAdonis and Astarte,<\/p>\n

When Venus
\nAnadyomene
\nblessed the
\nclear Ionian skies<\/p>\n

For you the trees of
\nLebannon shook,
\nresurrected lover
\nof the holy Cyprian:<\/p>\n

For you wild dances were done
\nand choruses swelled
\nfor you virgins offered
\ntheir spotless love,<\/p>\n

Amongst the perfumed
\npalms of Idumea
\nwhere the Cyprian
\nseas foam.<\/p>\n

To what avail did
\nthe barbarous Christian
\nfury of agape,
\nin obscene ritual,<\/p>\n

With holy torch
\nburn down your temples,
\nscattering their
\nGreek statuary?<\/p>\n

You, a refugee,
\nthe mindful people
\nwelcomed into their homes
\namongst their household gods<\/p>\n

Thereafter filling the throbbing
\nfemale heart
\nwith your fervor
\nas both god and lover<\/p>\n

You inspired the witch,
\npallid from endless enquiry,
\nto succor
\nsuffering nature<\/p>\n

You, to the intent gaze
\nof the alchemist,
\nand to the skeptical eye
\nof the sorcerer,<\/p>\n

You revealed bright
\nnew heavens
\nbeyond the confines
\nof the drowsy cloister.<\/p>\n

Fleeing from material
\nthings, where you reside,
\nthe dreary monk took refuge
\nin the Theban desert.<\/p>\n

To you O soul
\nwith your sprig severed,
\nSatan is benign:
\nhe gives you your Heloise.<\/p>\n

You mortify yourself to no purpose,
\nin your rough sackcloth:
\nSatan still murmurs to you
\nlines from Maro and Flaccus<\/p>\n

Amidst the dirge
\nand wailing of the Psalms;
\nand he brings to your side
\nthe divine shapes,<\/p>\n

Roseate amidst that
\nhorrid black crowd,
\nof Lycoris
\nand Glycera<\/p>\n

But other shapes
\nfrom a more glorious age
\nfitfully fill
\nthe sleepless cell.<\/p>\n

Satan, from pages
\nin Livy, conjures fervent
\ntribunes, consuls,
\nrestless throngs;<\/p>\n

And he thrusts you,
\nO monk, with your memories
\nof Italy\u2019s proud past
\nupon the Capitol.<\/p>\n

And you whom the raging
\npyre could not destroy,
\nvoices of destiny,
\nWycliffe and Huss,<\/p>\n

You lift to the winds
\nyour waning cry:
\n\u2018The new age is dawning,
\nthe time has come\u2019.<\/p>\n

And already mitres
\nand crowns tremble:
\nfrom the cloister
\nrebellion rumbles<\/p>\n

Preaching defiance
\nin the voice of the
\ncassocked Girolamo
\nSavonarola<\/p>\n

As Martin Luther
\nthrew off his monkish robes,
\nso throw off your shackles,
\nO mind of man,<\/p>\n

And crowned with flame,
\nshoot lightning and thunder;
\nMatter, arise;
\nSatan has won.<\/p>\n

Both beautiful and awful
\na monster is unleashed
\nit scours the oceans
\nis scours the land<\/p>\n

Glittering and belching smoke
\nlike a volcano,
\nit conquers the hills
\nit devours the plains.<\/p>\n

It flies over chasms,
\nthen burrows
\ninto unknown caverns
\nalong deepest paths;<\/p>\n

To re-emerge, unconquerable
\nfrom shore to shore
\nit bellows out
\nlike a whirlwind,<\/p>\n

Like a whirlwind
\nit spews its breath:
\n\u2018It is Satan, you peoples,
\nGreat Satan passes by\u2019.<\/p>\n

He passes by, bringing blessing
\nfrom place to place,
\nupon his unstoppable
\nchariot of fire<\/p>\n

Hail, O Satan
\nO rebellion,
\nO you avenging force
\nof human reason!<\/p>\n

Let holy incense
\nand prayers rise to you!
\nYou have utterly vanquished
\nthe Jehova of the Priests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To you, creation\u2019s mighty principle, matter and spirit reason and sense Whilst the wine sparkles in cups like the soul in the eye Whilst earth and sun exchange their smiles and words of love And shudders from their secret embrace run down from the mountains, and the plain throbs with new life To you my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[20],"tags":[178,180,51,179,228],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7BLIO-IK","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesectofthehornedgod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2774"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesectofthehornedgod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesectofthehornedgod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesectofthehornedgod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesectofthehornedgod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2774"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesectofthehornedgod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2775,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesectofthehornedgod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2774\/revisions\/2775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesectofthehornedgod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesectofthehornedgod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesectofthehornedgod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}