Jon Huer

THE SEDUCTION OF JOB:     

Twenty Years Later, A Dramatic Poem

PROLOGUE:  Satan describes the state of his domain.

(SATAN TO SELF):

Blessed be the name of the Lord,  

For the vast domain that is my charge,  

Increasing its government, improving its industry,

To produce evil pleasures and ill‑gotten gains  

And to spread them to all under my spell  

Regardless of age or stations in their society  

As their claim to happiness is so fierce  

And their deference to human nature so fastidious!

It is my divinely ordained labor and toil

To invent things evil and ill, and to present them

As sacred and holy, necessary and honorable,

So that great minds and lofty hearts eagerly seek

Employment under me without qualms or doubts‑‑

Their great minds justified in lofty apology,

Their lofty hearts appeased in great theology‑‑

Thus all things unite in my power!

Saints and martyrs there have been who disobey

Their human nature as well as my inventions

In their own mysterious answers to the call

That only their inner vision of God can hear,

My pleas and appeals falling on deaf ears,

My considerable powers of persuasion made useless

In rare exceptions of courage and obedience to God,

To instruct me that with them I am powerless!

   

Thank God that saints are few, martyrs fewer,

For in His infinite wisdom and wondrous craftsmanship

He created me and man as close cousins

But made angels and man distant relations!

Many dark nights of soul separate man from heaven

But only a stone's throw between man and evil pleasures,

And only a quick prayer between him and ill‑gotten gains,

As I make pleasures easier and possessions sweeter!

Praised be the name of the Lord,

For the best and the brightest who do my work:

Scientists and engineers to invent new playthings,

Philosophers and preachers to justify my enterprises,

Artists and conjurers to render me attractive,

Professors and scribes to confuse truth with falsity,

Businessmen and merchants to keep my treasury full,

All skilled utmost, everyone beholden to my service!  

  

My kingdom's population swells by leaps and bounds

With the multitude waiting to enter my pretty hell, 

To be entertained, amused, humored, and distracted 

With the fathomless resources under my command;

But so insatiable are their desires and yearnings

That they beg, lie, and steal for one more act,

To keep my labor and toil in line with human nature

And to assure me that I shall have the last laugh!  

  

Blessed be the name of the Lord, 

For the vast domain which is my charge,

Increasing its government, improving its industry, 

To produce evil pleasures and ill‑gotten gains

And to spread them to all under my spell

Regardless of age or stations in their society

As their claim to happiness is so fierce

And their deference to human nature so fastidious!

 

 Satan in His Original Glory -- William Blake