THE MARTYRDOM OF FAITHFUL IN VANITY FAIR.[6]


I.

The great human whirlpool!--'tis seething and seething:
On! No time for shrieking out, no time for breathing;
All toiling and moiling--some feebler, some bolder,
But each sees a fiend-face grin over his shoulder:
Thus merrily live they in Vanity Fair!

The great human caldron--it boils ever higher;
Some drowning, some sinking; while some, creeping nigher,
Come thirsting to lean o'er its outermost verges,
Or touch--as a child's feet touch trembling the surges:
One plunge--Ho! more souls swamped in Vanity Fair!

'Let's live while we live, for to-morrow all's over.
Drink deep, drunkard bold! and kiss close, thou mad lover!
Smile, hypocrite, smile! it is no such hard labour,
While each with red hand tears the heart of his neighbour
All slyly.--We're strange folk in Vanity Fair!

'Hist!--each for himself, or _herself_, which sounds smoother,
Though man's no upholder, and woman no soother,
Both struggle alike here.--What, weeping?--what, raving?
Pah!--fight out the battle all! No time for saving!
Ha! ha! 'tis a wondrous place, Vanity Fair!'

The mad crowd divides, and then closes swift after;
Afar, towers the pyre, lit with shouting and laughter;
'What new sport is this?' lisps a reveller, half turning;--
'One Faithful, poor wretch! who is led to the burning:
He cumbered us sorely in Vanity Fair!

'A dreamer--who held every man for a brother;
A coward--who, emit on one cheek, gave the other:
A fool--whose blind truth aye believed all knaves' lying;
Too simple to live, so most fitted for dying.
Ha! such are best swept out of Vanity Fair.'


II.

Silence! though the flame-drifts wave and flutter;
Silence! though the crowd their curses mutter;
Silence! through this fiery purgatory
God is leading up a soul to glory.

See, the white lips with no moans are trembling,
H

Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (sometimes known as Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam) (October 27, 1466/1469 July 12, 1536) was a Dutch humanist and theologian. His scholarly name Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus comprises the following three elements: the Latin noun desiderium (longing or desire; the name being a genuine Late Latin name); the Greek adjective (erasmios) meaning beloved, and, in the form Erasmus, also the name of a saint; and the Latinized adjectival form for the city of Rotterdam (Roterodamus = of Rotterdam).

Anonymous may refer to: Anonymus, the Latin spelling, may refer to:

Various, or Various Production, is an English dubstep/electronic music duo formed in 2003. The group blends samples, acoustic and electronic instrumentation, and singing from a revolving cast of vocalists. Its members, Adam and Ian, purposefully give very little information about the group or themselves, and tend to do little in the way of self-promotion.[1] Nevertheless, the group began winning critical acclaim with its single releases in 2005 and 2006.[2] Their full-length for XL, The World is Gone, arrived in July of 2006.[3][4][5][6][7] They have released a large number of vinyl EPs and 7 records, as well as digital exclusives for Rough Trade, iTunes, and Boomkat.[8]