117. OF HELL, AND THE ESTATE OF THOSE THAT PERISH

1. Thus, having show'd you what I see Of heaven, I now will tell You also, after search, what be The damned wights of hell. 2. And O, that they who read my lines Would ponder soberly, And lay to heart such things betimes As touch eternity. 3. The sleepy sinner little thinks What sorrows will abound Within him, when upon the brinks Of Tophe: he is found. 4. Hell is beyond all thought a state So doubtful and forlorn, So fearful, that none can relate The pangs that there are born. 5. God will exclude them utterly From his most blessed face, And them involve in misery, In shame, and in disgrace. ¹ Full of fear and dread. Benyan, in his Holy War, brings his immense armies of doubters, under General Incredulity, from Hell-gate Hill.—(Ev.) ONE THING 19 NEEDFUL.

6. God is the fountain of all bliss, Of life, of light, and peace;

They then must needs be comfortless Who are deprived of these.

7. Instead of life, a living death Will there in all be found.

Dyings will be in every breath,

Thus sorrow will abound.

8. No light, but darkness here doth dwell; No peace, but horror strange:

The fearful damning wights¹ of hell In all will make this change.

9. To many things the damned's woe Is liked in the word,

And that because no one can show

The vengeance of the Lord.

10. Unto a dreadful burning lake,

All on a fiery flame,

Hell is compared, for to make

All understand the same.

11. A burning lake, a furnace lily, A burning oven, too,

Must be the portion, share, and lot, Of those which evil sow.

12. This plainly shows the burning heat With which it will oppress

All hearts, and will like burnings eat Their souls with sore distress.

13. This burning lake, it is God's wrath Incense by the sin

Of those who do reject his path,

And wicked ways walk in.

14. Which wrath will so perplex all parts Of body and of soul,

As if up to the very hearts

In burnings they did roll.

15. Again, to show the stinking state Of this so sad a case,

Like burning brimstone God doth make The hidings of his face.

16. And truly as the steam, and smoke, And flames of brimstone smell,

To blind the eyes, and stomach choke, So are the pangs of hell.

17. To see a sea of brimstone burn, Who would it not affright?

But they whom God to hell doth turn Are in most woful plight.

18. This burning cannot quenched be, No, not with tears of blood;

No mournful greens in misery

Will here do any good

19. O damned men! this is your fate, The day of grace is done,

Repentance now doth come too late, Mercy is fled and gone.

20. Your groans and cries they sooner should Have sounded in mine ears,

If grace you would have had, or would Have me regard your tears.

21. Me you offended with your sin, Instructions you did slight,

Your sins against my law hath been, Justice shall have his right.

22. I gave my Son to do you good,

I gave you space and time

With him to close, which you withstood, And did with hell combine.

23. Justice against you now is set, Which you cannot appease;

Eternal justice doth you let

From either life or ease.

24. Thus he that to this place doth come May groan, and sigh, and weep;

But sin hath made that place his home, And there it will him keep.

25. Wherefore, hell in another place Is call'd a prison too,

And all to show the evil case

Of all sin doth undo.

26. Which prison, with its locks and bars Of God's lasting decree,

Will hold them fast; O how this mars All thought of being free!

27. Out at these brazen bars they may The saints in glory see;

But this will not their grief allay. But to them torment be.

28. Thus they in this infernal cave Will now be hidden fast

From heavenly freedom, though they crave, Of it they may not taste.

29. The chains that darkness on them hangs Still rattling in their ears,

Creates within them heavy pangs,

And still augments their fears.

30. Thus hopeless of all remedy,

They dyingly do sink

Into the jaws of misery,

And seas of sorrow drink.

31. For being cop'd on every side

With helplessness and grief,

Headlong into despair they alude

Bereft of all relief.

32. Therefore this hell is called a pit, Prepared for those that die

The second death, a term most fit

To show their misery.

¹ Quick, ramble, active, powerful spirits. Wight is now obsolete, except to irony, see Imperial Dictionary.—(L.D.) ² See note on verse fifty of the Meditations on Heaven.—(J.D.) ONE THING IS NEEDFUL

33. A pit that's bottomless is this, A gulf of grief and woe,

A dungeon which they cannot miss.

That will themselves undo.

34. Thus without stay they always sink, Thus fainting still they fail,

Despair they up like water drink,

These prisoners have no bail.

35. Here meets them now that worm that gnaws, And plucks their bowels out,

The pit, too, on them shuts her jaws; Thus dreadful is, no doubt.

36. This ghastly worm is guilt for sin, Which on the conscience feeds,

With vipers' teeth, both sharp and keen, Whereat it sorely bleeds.

37. This worm is fed by memory,

Which strictly brings to mind,

All things done in prosperity,

As we in Scripture find.

38. No word, nor thought, nor act they did, But now is set in sight,

Not one of them can now be hid,

Memory gives them light.

39. On which the understanding still Will judge, and sentence pass,

This kills the mind, and wounds the will, Alas, alas, alas!

40. O, conscience is the slaughter shop, There hangs the axe and knife,

'Tis there the worm makes all things hot, And wearies out the life.

41. Here, then, is execution done

On body and on soul;

For conscience will be brib'd of none, But gives to all their dole.

42. This worm, 'tis said, shall never die, But in the belly be

Of all that in the flames shall lie, O dreadful sight to see!

43. This worm now needs must in them live, For sin will still be there,

And guilt, for God will not forgive, Nor Christ their burden bear.

44. But take from them all help and stay, And leave them to despair,

Which feeds upon them night and day, This is the damned's share.

45. Now will confusion so possess

These monuments of ire,

And so confound them with distress, And trouble their desire.

46. That what to think, or what to do, Or where to lay their head,

They know not; 'tis the damned's woe To live, and yet be dead.

47. These cast-aways would fain have life, But know, they never shall,

They would forget their dreadful plight, But that sticks fastest of all.

48. God, Christ, and heaven, they know are best, Yet dare not on them think,

The saints they know in joys do rest, While they their tears do drink.

49. They cry alas, but all in vain, They stick fast in the mire,

They would be rid of present pain, Yet set themselves on fire.

50. Darkness is their perplexity,

Yet do they hate the light,

They always see their misery,

Yet are themselves all night.

51. They are all dead, yet live they do, Yet neither live nor die.

They die to weal, and live to woe, This is their misery.

52. Amidst all this so great a scare That here I do relate,

Another falleth to their share

In this their sad estate.

53. The legions of infernal fiends Then with them needs must be,

A just reward for all their pains, This they shall feel and see.

54. With yellings, bowlings, surcks, and cries And other doleful noise,

With trembling hearts and falling eyes, These are their hellish joys.

55. These angels black they would obey, And serve with greedy mind,

And take delight to go astray,

That pleasure they might find.

56. Which pleasure now like poison turns Their joy to heaviness;

Yes, like the gall of asps it burns, And doth them sore oppress

57. Now is the joy they lived in

All turned to brinish tears,

And resolute attempts to sin

Turn'd into hellish fears.

58. The floods run trickling down their face, Their hearts do prick and ache,

While they lament their woful case, Their loins totter and shake.

59. O wetted cheeks, with bleared eyes, How fully do you show

The pangs that in their bosom lie, And grief they undergo!

60. Their dolour in their bitterness So greatly they bemoan,

That hell itself this to express

Doth echo with their groan.

ONE THING IS NERDYUL

61. Thus broiling on the burning grates, They now to wailing go,

And say of those unhappy fates

That did them thus undo.

62. Alas, my grief! hard hap had I Those dolours here to find,

A living death, in hell I lie,

Involv'd with grief of mind.

63. I once was fair for light and grace, My days were long and good;

I lived in a blessed place

Where was most heav'nly food.

64. But wretch I am, I slighted life, I chose in death to live;

O, for these days now, if I might, Ten thousand worlds would give.

65. What time had I to pray and read, What time to hear the word!

What means to help me at my need,

Did God to me afford!

66. Examples, too, of piety

I every day did see,

But they abuse and slight did I,

O, woe be unto me.

67. I now remember how my friend

Reproved me of vice,

And bid me mind my latter end,

Both once, and twice, and thrice.

68. But O, deluded man, I did

My back upon him turn;

Eternal life I did not heed,

For which I now do mourn.

69. Ah, golden time, I did thee spend In sin and idleness,

Ah, health and wealth, I did you lend To bring me to distress.

70. My feet to evil I let run,

And tongue of folly talk;

My eyes to vanity hath gone,

Thus did I vain'y walk.

71. I did as greatly toil and strain Myself with sin to please,

As if that everlasting gain

Could have been found in these.

72. But nothing, nothing have I found But weeping, and alas,

And sorrow, which doth now surround Me, and augment my cross.

73. Ah, bleeding conscience, how did I Thee check when thou didst tell

Me of my faults, for which I lie

Dead while I live in hell.

74. I took thee for some peevish foe, When thou didst me accuse,

Therefore I did thee buffet so,

And counsel did refuse.

75. Thou often didst me tidings bring, How God did me dislike,

Because I took delight in sin,

But I thy news did slight.

76. Ah, Mind, why didst thou do those things That now do work my woe?

Ah, Will, why wast thou thus inclin'd Me ever to undo?

77. My senses, how were you beguild When you said sin was good?

It hath in all parts me defil'd,

And drown'd me like a flood.

78. Ah, that I now a being have,

In sorrow and in pain;

Mother, would you had been my grave, But this I wish in vain.

79. Had I been made a cockatrice,

A toad, or such-like thing;

Yea, had I been made snow or ice,

Then had I had no sin;

80. A block, a stock, a stone, or clot, Is happier than I;

For they know neither cold nor hot, To live nor yet to die.

81. I envy now the happiness

Of those that are in light,

I hate the very name of bliss,

'Cause I have there no right.

82. I grieve to see that others are In glory, life, and well,

Without all fear, or dread, or care, While I am racked in hell.

83. Thus will these souls with watery eyes, And hacking of their teeth,

With wringing hands, and fearful cries, Expostulate their grief.

84. O set their teeth they will, and gnash, And gnaw for very pain,

While as with scorpions God doth lash Them for their life so vain.

85. Again, still as they in this muse, Are feeding on the fire,

To mind there comes yet other news, To screw their torments higher.

86. Which is the length of this estate, Where they at present lie;

Which in a word I thus relate,

'Tis to eternity.

87. This thought now is so firmly fix'd In all that comes to mind,

¹ This is a common temptation. Job felt it, and murmured at having been born, Job iii. 3, and x. 18, 19. Jeremiah passed through the same experience, Je. xx. 14, 15. Bunyan had the same bitter feelings, and wished himself a dog or toad; see Grace Abounding, No. 104. Colonel Gardener was similarly tried. How awful is the havoc that sin has made with human happiness.—(Ed.) And also is so strongly mix'd

With wrath of every kind.

88. So that whatever they do know, Or see, or think, or feel,

For ever still doth strike them through As with a bar of steel.

89. For EVER shineth in the fire,

EVER is on the chains;

'Tis also in the pit of ice,

And tastes in all their pains.

90. For ever separate from God,

From peace, and life, and rest;

For ever underneath the rod

That vengeance liketh best.

91. O ever, ever, this will drown'd Them quite and make them cry,

We never shall get o'er thy bound, O, great eternity!

92. They sooner now the stars may count Than lose these dismal bands;

Or see to what the motes' amount

Or number up the sands.

¹ The finest particles or atoms of matter— "As there, as numerics,

"As the gay motes take, people the sunbeams."—Milton—(ED) 93. Then see an end of this their woe, Which now for sin they have;

O wantons, take herd what you do,

Sin will you never save.

94. They sooner may drink up the sea, Than shake off these their fears;

Or make another in one day

As big with brinish tears;

95. Than put an end to misery,

In which they now do roar,

Or help themselves; no, they must cry, Aias, for evermore.

96. When years by thousands on a heap Are passed o'er their head;

Yet still the fruits of sin they reap Among the ghostly dead.

97. Yes, when they have time out of mind Been in this case so ill,

For EVER, EVER is behind?

Yet for them to fulfil.

² How does this remind us of the awfully impressive cries of the man in the iron cage—"O, eternity, eternity! how shall I grapple with the misery that I must meet with in eternity!" "A thousand deaths live in him, he not dead." —(ED.)