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George Preudhomme
Grade 11 – Collegiate School

This is an except from my poem, The Fall of Morningstar, which is written from the perspective of one of Satan’s liege and attempts to pay homage to John Milton’s Paradise Lost

The Fall of Morningstar

O Chaos! Black-hearted mother of all of that is
Impure, shake off the pangs of age most ancient,
And recount to me the tale of Satan, our lord,
Morningstar* who fell most far.
O Chaos! Black –hearted mother of all that is impure,
Sing of heavenly subjugation, recount rebellion most
Just, and if thou must, spin out from the
Thread of memory eternal, that most wicked fall!
That most sable, scelestic, serpentine fall!
From His throne of light, rumbling with the
Thunder of power everlasting, the Tyrant called forth
His blessed stock, seraphs fit with snow-white wings,
Who, honored above all others, hastened to receive the
Oppressor’s divine decree. From the depth of his chest,
Bathed in light unstained, He whom the cowards call
Lord thus spoke:
“Listen well, ye faithful of the Lord Almighty!
Harken your ears, forged from star’s light by these
Hands omnipotent, to hear the decree that shall be for
You law unbreakable. Look! Turn thy eyes to a sight
Most beautiful, the unquestioned son of your Lord,
And exalted above even the stars ethereal.
Ye shall call him Lord, as he is made of the primal
Matter, the material divine from which I myself am made.
Ye shall look upon him and bow with praise,
Lower your eyes and fall to your knees,
Servants of him who shall be first before all others.”
So spake the Tyrant before his winged servants.
But now from the angelic mass, one came forth, Lucifer,
Who was once the Lord’s preferred, shining bright with
Wings divine. Trembling with anger, he let fourth his
Slighted pride:
“Almighty Father! Omnipotent Lord and Master
Of Space and Time eternal, Sire of all that is and will be,
Why? Why am I dejected thus from the tender care of your arm
That was to me a Paradise. Once the most exalted of your
Liege, I stand here no longer kissed by blissful sunlight,
But covered in dark shadows, caked in grotesque grime of
Subservice to he who is to me no father, no lord.
Almighty Father! Why am I no longer in the sun?**
Most dutiful, most loyal to You, my Lord eternal,
Now debased, a member of the common flock,
As if I were a serpent, groveling in the filth and dust,
And trampled by the foot of he who holds my place.
Thus now I slither, lowest of all creatures, and
Unwanted by He the Creator. Is this the cruel cast of
My fortune? Do the hoary Fates so incline? Nay!
I cast off this vile slime, these serpent scales,
And arise an immortal, potent beyond ye,
No longer my father!”
Satan, dripping with fury bred from pain,
Clutched at his heart as he yelled before God.
Turning to the angels assembled around him,
Satan with angry words beseeched:
“Dost ye call thyselves cowards? Call
Thyselves slaves, servants, groveling scoundrels?
Cowering, abject dogs? Sheep for wolves? Deer
For lions? Snakes? Snakes! I am no snake! Nor shalt
Be thou! Thou shalt not be food for the predator.
Look upon thyself, search thy soul, deep within the
Caverns of corpus divine, and remember strength,
Power, thy true role. Cast they eyes below the belt;
Look between light-filled legs, and make sure the
Symbol of ancient strength*** ; find ferocity long ago lost,
For I call upon ye, neglected sons of He most cruel.
Take up arms, steady thy hearts, take back that
Which is justly mine.”
Roaring in praise of Satan, their new lord,
A horde of angels ascended to his right arm,
Spitting curses toward those behind.
Thereafter Chaos broke forth, as Satan’s liege
Took up golden arms, girded on shields, made
Ready for the battle of the Tyrant’s throne.
God’s remaining agents fled in fear, cowering
Beneath their Lord’s coruscating arm.
And so the War of Heaven began.
Seraph clashed with seraph, and bright Heaven was
Turned black with the gore of war divine…




 
*Christian tradition often referred to Satan as “Morningstar,” a translation of the Latin word Lucifer
Used by Enochic Jews to describe Satan before his fall from heaven. “How art thou fallen from
Heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!” (Isaiah 14:12).
**A pun on “sun.” See Hamlet, “I am too much in the sun” (I.ii.69)
***Satan seems to suggest the angels have male genitalia. This description, however, is likely more a
Facet of rhetoric then a literal description, as the Bible makes no explicit assertions indicating that
Angels have male genitalia, though it does often refer to them as sons of God.