Within his sanctuary itself their shrines,
Abominations, and with cursed things

His holy rites and solemn feasts profan'd,

And with their darkness durst affront his light.

First, Moloch, horrid king, besmear'd with blood Of human sacrifice, and parents' tears;

Though for the noise of drums and timbrels loud
Their children's cries unheard, that pass'd through fire
To his grim idol. Him the Ammonite

Worshipt in Rabba and her watery plain,
In Argob and in Basan, to the stream
Of utmost Arnon: nor content with such
Audacious neighbourhood, the wisest heart
Of Salomon he led by fraud to build
His temple right against the temple' of God,
On that opprobrious hill; and made his grove
The pleasant valley of Hinnom, Tophet thence
And black Gehenna call'd, the type of Hell.

Next, Chemos, the obscene dread of Moab's sons, For Aroar to Nebo, and the wild

Of southmost Abarim, in Hesebon

And Horonaim, Seon's realm, beyond

The flowery dale of Sibma clad with vines,
And Eleale to the' Asphaltic pool.

Peor his other name, when he entic'd

Israel in Sittim, on their march from Nile,
To do him wanton rites, which cost them woe.
Yet thence his lustful orgies he enlarg'd,
Even to that hill of scandal, by the grove

A leur tête est Moloch, dont les affreux autels Boivent le sang humain et les pleurs maternels. En vain pendant l'horreur de ces scènes fatales Les tambours résonnans, les bruyantes cymbales, Des enfans dont les feux étouffent les clameurs ; Tendre mère, leur cri retentit dans vos cœurs. L'aquatique Rabba lui soumit ses rivages : Du cruel Ammonite il reçut les hommages, Conquit Basan, Argob: des rives de l'Arnon Courut de proche en proche aux campagnes d'Hinnon, Y plaça son image, y fonda son empire;

Le plus sage des rois éprouva son délire,

Et sur le mont d'opprobre, en ses vœux criminels,

Aux autels du Très-Haut opposa ses autels.

Des filles de Moab épouvantail obscène,
Après lui vint Chamos, dont l'infame domaine
D'Aroër à Nebo courut vers le Midi,

Poussa sur Hésébon son empire agrandi,
Traversa le désert, franchit ces belles plaines
Où des vins de Sibma la grappe enfle ses veines,
Régna d'Eléalé jusqu'au lac sulfureux

Où de Gomorrhe éteint fument encor les feux.
Péor était son nom, quand loin de son rivage
Le Nil vit les Hébreux d'un impudique hommage
Honorer ses autels, source de leurs malheurs.
Sur le mont, renommé par l'opprobre des mœurs,

Of Moloch homicide, lust hard by hate;

Till good Josiah drove them thence to Hell.

With these came they, who, from the bordering flood Of old Euphrates to the brook that parts

Egypt from Syrian ground, had general names
Of Baalim and Ashtaroth; those male,
These feminine : for Spirits, when they please,
Can either sex assume, or both; so soft
And uncompounded is their essence pure;
Not tied or manacled with joint or limb,

Nor founded on the brittle strength of bones,

Like cumbrous flesh; but, in what shape they choose,

Dilated or condens'd, bright or obscure,

Can execute their aery purposes,

And works of love or enmity fulfil.

For those the race of Israel oft forsook

Their living strength, and unfrequented left
His righteous altar, bowing lowly down
To bestials gods; for which their heads as low
Bow'd down in battle, sunk before the

spear

Of despicable foes. With these in troop
Came Astoreth, whom the Phoenicians call'd
Astarte, queen of Heaven, with crescent horns;
To whose bright image nightly by the moon

La pudeur s'effraya de sa lascive orgie ;

Elle vit s'élever sa hideuse effigie

Dans les vallons fleuris, le long des verts bosquets Où fumaient de Moloch les horribles banquets: Lieux cruels, où le meurtre et la débauche impure Vinrent d'un double outrage affliger la nature, Jusqu'au jour mémorable où, vengeant l'Eternel, Le pieux Josias renversa leur autel.

Après eux s'avançaient tous ces esprits immondes,
Qui de l'Antique Euphrate asservirent les ondes,
Jusqu'à l'humble ruisseau qui des bords syriens
Sépare en serpentant les noirs Egyptiens.
Astaroth et Baal furent les noms vulgaires
Qui distinguaient leur sexe et non leurs caractères.
Des deux sexes divers chaque esprit a le choix ;
Chacun peut en lui seul les unir à la fois;

Tant leur être est parfait, tant leur souple nature
Surpasse des mortels la grossière structure;
Cet amas d'or, de chairs, d'organes, de ressorts,
Qui captive notre ame et surcharge nos corps.
Chacun forme à son choix sa taille variée,
Obscure ou lumineuse, épaisse ou déliée ;
Et, libre en ses désirs, satisfait tour-à-tour
Ou ses projets de haine, ou ses penchans d'amour.
Pour eux abandonnant le Créateur suprême,
L'homme honora la brute et s'abrutit lui-même.
Dieu le vit ; et bientôt, au glaive abandonné,
Israël expia son temple profané.

Vint ensuite, entouré d'une escorte nombreuse,
Asthoret, éclipsé dans la nuit ténébreuse ;
Asthoret, qui depuis, sous le nom d'Astarté,

Fier d'un double croissant tout brillant de clarté,

Sidonian virgins paid their vows and songs :

In Sion also not unsung, where stood

Her temple of the' offensive mountain, built

By that uxorious king, whose heart, though large, Beguil❜d by fair idolatresses, fell

To idols foul.

Thammuz came next behind,

Whose annual wound in Lebanon allur'd
The Syrian damsels to lament his fate
In amorous ditties all a summer's day;
While smooth Adonis from his native rock
Ran purple to the sea, suppos'd with blood
Of Thammuz yearly wounded: the love-tale
Infected Sion's daughters with like heat ;
Whose wanton passions in the sacred porch
Ezekiel saw, when, by the vision led,

His eye survey'd the dark idolatries

Of alienated Judah. Next came one

Who mourn'd in earnest, when the captive ark
Maim'd his brute image, head and hands lopt off
In his own temple, on the grunsel-edge,
Where he fell flat, and sham'd his worshippers :
Dagon his name, sea-monster, upward man
And downward fish : yet had his temple high
Rear'd in Azotus, dreaded through the coast
Of Palestine, in Gath and Ascalon,

And Accaron and Gaza's frontier-bounds.