I am the Devil of Notre Dame. Salaam! I dance my dance and I work my charm. Salaam! I cling to terror by the hair of her head, I have taken Medusa to my bed. I hug the Nightmare until she is dead. Salaam! Hush! By the Lord's side I have stood -- Touch wood! Before Orion rose out of the sky Rose I! Before the Hunter hunted the Ram I am! I am the Demon of Socrates, On your knees! The oldest of the Eumenides -- The she-ape of Mephistopheles -- The deadly wind in Dodona's trees -- The poisonous smoke 'twixt the Pythia's knees -- I am more terrible than these! In Jotunheim, Loki I'm called -- Scald! I am Asmodeus in Babylon. In Egypt I am Osiris' son, I am many and I am One. At the beginning I stood by the Lord God! At the last I shall be the Worm of the Pit Uncurled Who swallows Him and who swallows It -- His World! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE ELEPHANT by HILAIRE BELLOC BEARING LEAVES AGAIN by DAVID IGNATOW FOR WALT WHITMAN by DAVID IGNATOW I SING OF LOVE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON SERVICE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON VOLUPTAS by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON |