Somehow our devils are never quite what we expect when we meet them face to face.

Somehow our devils are never quite what we expect when we meet them face to face.

Illusion is the dust the devil throws in the eyes of the foolish.

Illusion is the dust the devil throws in the eyes of the foolish.

Incens'd with indignation Satan stood
Unterrified, and like a comet burn'd,
That fires the length of Ophiucus read more

Incens'd with indignation Satan stood
Unterrified, and like a comet burn'd,
That fires the length of Ophiucus huge
In th' artic sky, and from his horrid hair
Shakes pestilence and war.

Black it stood as night,
Fierce as ten furies, terrible as hell,
And shook a dreadful dart; read more

Black it stood as night,
Fierce as ten furies, terrible as hell,
And shook a dreadful dart; what seem'd his head
The likeness of a kingly crown had on.
Satan was now at hand.

Abashed the Devil stood,
And felt how awful goodness is, and saw
Virtue in her own shape read more

Abashed the Devil stood,
And felt how awful goodness is, and saw
Virtue in her own shape how lovely; saw
And pined his loss.

I call'd the devil, and he came,
And with wonder his form did I closely scan;
He read more

I call'd the devil, and he came,
And with wonder his form did I closely scan;
He is not ugly, and is not lame,
But really a handsome and charming man.
A man in the prime of life is the devil,
Obliging, a man of the world, and civil;
A diplomatist too, well skill'd in debate,
He talks quite glibly of church and state.

Satan exalted sat, by merit raised
To that bad eminence.

Satan exalted sat, by merit raised
To that bad eminence.

The Devil himself is good, when he is pleased.

The Devil himself is good, when he is pleased.

I often laugh at Satan, and there is nothing that makes him so angry as when I attack him to read more

I often laugh at Satan, and there is nothing that makes him so angry as when I attack him to his face, and tell him that through God I am more than a match for him