of the King of heaven, fairest of songs, and they
chant these words in pure tones--their name is 750
cherubim:--"Holy is the holy God of the archangels,
the Lord of hosts. Heaven and earth are
full of His majesty, and all His exceeding might is
marked with His glory." And there are two among
their number in the heavens, the victorious race, 755
whereon man bestoweth the name of seraphim.
With flaming sword they are to keep sacred the field
of Paradise and the tree of life. And fast in
their grasp the drawn sword, sharp of edge, quivers,
trembles, and changes its hue. For thou dost rule, 760
O Lord God, eternally, and thou didst hurl thy sin-stained
foes, the workers of iniquity, from the
heavens, and the unhappy host fell to the dark
abodes, into the pains of hell. There now they suffer 765
the agony of death in a sea of fire, encompassed
about with darkness, in the embrace of the dragon.
He withstood thy kingly rule, and therefore in
misery, abhorred, the vilest of the vile, shall he
suffer and endure the servile yoke. He cannot there 770
neglect thy commandment; he is fettered in torture,
bound in agony, the author of all sin. If it be thy
will, O King of angels, that He who was on the
cross, and was born of Mary into the world in the 775
form of a child, the Lord of the heavenly host, shall
rule--and were He not thy Son, free from guile,
never could He have wrought such a multitude
of true miracles day after day in the world; 780
nor wouldst thou, O Lord of the peoples, so gloriously