PARADISE LOST by John Milton. Continuation.....

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Say first, for heaven hides nothing from thy view,
Nor the deep tract of hell, say first what cause
Moved our grandparents in that happy state,
Favoured of heavens so highly, to fall off
From their creator, and transgress his will
For one restraint, lords of the world besides?
Who first seduced them to that foul revolt?
The infernal serpent; he it was whose guile,
Stirred up with envy and revenge, deceived
The mother of mankind, what time his pride
Had cast him out from heaven, with all his host
Of rebel angels, by whose aid aspiring
To set himself in glory, above his peers,
He trusted to have equalled the Most High,
If he opposed and with ambitious aim
Against the throne and monarchy of God
Raised impious war in heaven and battle proud
With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power
Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky
With hideous ruin and combustion down
To bottomless perdition there to dwell
In adamantine chains and penal fire,
Who durst defy the omnipotent to arms.
Nine times the space that measures day and night
To mortal men, he with his horrid crew
Lay vanquished, rolling in the fiery gulf
Confounded though immortal. But his doom
Reserved him to more wrath; for now he thought
Bothof lost happiness and lasting pain
Torments him; round he throws his baleful eyes,
That witnessed huge affliction and dismay
Mixed with obdurate pride and steadfast hate.
At once as far as angels' ken he views
The dismal situation waste and wild:
A dungeon horrible on all sides round
As one great furnaced flamed, yet from those flames
No light, but rather darkness visible
Served onlyto discover sights of woe
Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace
And rest can never dwell, hope never comes
That comes to all; but torture without end
Still urges, and a fiery deluge, fed
With ever burning sulphur, unconsumed:
rk half.
Line 69 . . . . . . To be continued



JUNG DREAMS. Pictures and their captions.

Diagram showing the four functions of consciusness. Thinking, the superior function in this case, occupies the centre of the light half of the circle, whreas feeling, the inferior function, occupies the dark half. The two auxilliary functions are partly in the light, part in the dark.

Baneful spirits attacking the impregnable castle. Fludd, Summum bonum

The Lapis Sanctuary, also a labyrinth, surrounded by the planetary orbits. Van Vreeswyck, De Groene Leeuw

Hapokrates on the lotus.- Gnostic gem

The tetramorph, the steed of the church.-Crucifixion in Herrad of Landsberg s Hortus deliciarum (12th cent.) detail

Hermaphrodite with three serpents and one serpent. Below, the three headed Mercurial dragon.- Rosarium philosophorum in Artis auriferae

Faust before the magic mirror.- Rembrandt etching

Fountain of youth.- Codex de Sphaera

Imperial bath with the miraculous spring of water beneath the influence of sun and moon.- Alcidini, "De balneis Puteolanis"

Christ as the force of fire, with the flaming "stigmata".- 14th cent. stained glass window, church at Konigsfelden, Aargau, Switzerland.

"All things do live in the three. . . . . ".- Jamsthaler, Viatorium spagyricum.



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THE STORY OF IRON JOHN by Robert Bly
em
Chapter 7


The King said to his daughter: I ll arrange a great festival that will last three days, and you will be the one that throws out the golden apple. Perhaps the mysterious knight will appear."

After the announcement of the festival had been made, the young man rode to the edge of the forest and called for Iron John.

"What do you need?" he asked.

"I want to catch the golden apple the king s daughter is going to throw."

"There s no problem: you virtually have it in your hands right now," Iron John replied. "I ll provide you more: red armour for the occasion, and a powerful chestnut horse."

The young man galloped to the field at the right time, rode in amongst the other knights, and nobody recognized him. The king s daughter stepped forward and threw the golden apple in amongst the men; and he was the man who caught it. However having caught it, he galloped off and was gone.

When the second arrived, Iron John had him fitted out with armour, and provided for him a white horse. This time also the apple fell into his hands; once more he did not pause for even an instant but galloped off.

That made the king angry, and the king said, "This behaviour is not allowed; he is supposed to ride over to me and report his name."If he catches the apple the third time and gallops off again," he told his men, "chase him. what s more, if he refuses to return, give him a blow, use your sword."

For the third day of the festival, Iron John gave the man black armour and a black horse. That afternoon the young man caught the apple also. But this time, when he rode away with it, the King s man galloped after him, and one got close enough to give him a leg wound with the end of his sword. The young man escaped, but his horse made such a powerful leap to do so that the young man s helmet fell off and everyone could see his golden hair. The king s men rode home and told the king everything that had happened. The king s daughter the next day inquired to the gardener about his boy. "He s back at work in the garden. The strange coot wen to the festival yesterday, and only got back last night. He showed my children, by the way, three golden apples that he had won."

The king called the young man in, and he appeared back with his tarboosh back on his head. . . . . . . . to be continued.