Satan, have mercy on my long distress!
O Prince of exile, who was dispossessed,
Satan, have mercy on my long distress!
O thou who knowest all, Hell's sovereign,
Satan, have mercy on my long distress!
Thou who the lepers and pariahs doomed
Satan, have mercy on my long distress!
Thou who in Death, your mistress old and strong,
Satan, have mercy on my long distress!
Thou who dost give the outlaw the proud glance
Satan, have mercy on my long distress!
Thou who dost know where greedy earth enfolds
Satan, have mercy on my long distress!
Thou whose clear eye knows the deep sepulchres
Satan, have mercy on my long distress!
Thou whose great hand conceals the precipice
Satan, have mercy on my long distress!
Thou who by magic softens the old bones
Satan, have mercy on my long distress!
Thou who, consoling frail mankind in pain,
Satan, have mercy on my long distress!
Thou who didst set thy mark, accomplice skilled,
Satan, have mercy on my long distress!
Thou who put into women's hearts and eyes
Satan, have mercy on my long distress!
Staff of the exile and discoverer,
Satan, have mercy on my long distress!
Father to those whom in his sombre wrath
Satan, have mercy on my long distress!
Prayer
To thee, O Satan, glory be, and praise,
O thou, of Angels loveliest, most wise,
O God betrayed by fate, deprived of praise,
Who ever rises stronger when oppressed,
Known healer of mankind's afflictions,
Show out of love the Paradise to come,
Breeds Hope - delightful aberration!
Which damns the crowd who watch his sufferance,
The precious stones a jealous God concealed,
Where multitudes of metals lie interred,
From the somnambulist whom roofs entice,
Of loitering drunks by horses trampled down,
Taught us to make our guns and gun-cotton,
Upon the heart of Croesus harsh and vile,
The cult of wounds, the love of poverty,
Confessor of condemned conspirator,
God drove from his Paradise on earth,
In Heaven, once thy kingdom, the abyss
Of Hell, where, now, thou dreamest silently
Grant that my soul, one day, beneath the Tree
Of Knowledge, may rest near thee, when o'erhead,
Like a new Temple, its wide branches spread!
