‘Neath shimmering pools of blackest night
That ne’er let in the noonday light,
There lay the gates of Hell:
‘Twas there the devil Prince of Night
Challenged to meet in single fight
That heavenly messenger of Right,
The Angel Gabriel.
They met, but e’er they fought he saw
Those symbols of Celestial Law,
The Scales, proclaim his foe
Would victor be; He, to withdraw
Was fain; He opened wide his maw
And gave one last and fiendish roar,
Then to his lair did go.
James K Baxter