So they in Paradise, who saw and heard Truly; Saul's fellow-pilgrims nigh at hand Vacantly wondered, who, though they the light Beheld, and heard the voice speak, missed the sense. Sergius, recovered from his first surprise And terror, mused within himself, and found, Remembering words from Saul against the gods, Easy solution of the mystery; 'Pan roared at him from out the copse-wood nigh, With wholesome punishment of fear infused Avenging his despised divinity; While lord Apollo twanged his silver bow And shot at him a shaft of blinding light; The gods of right are wroth to be reviled!' Saul from the ground arose a sightless man; The glory that not slew had blinded him. His steed he would not mount again to ride, But chose, humbly, and guided by the hand, Footing to go among his followers. Who, that blithe morning, as the morning blithe, Forth for Damascus from Jerusalem Rode breathing threat and slaughter quenchless sworn Against the church of Jesus Nazarene, Entered the city walking, led and blind, Bondslave thenceforth to the One Worthy Name. THE END. Transcriber's note: Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. Variations in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been retained except in obvious cases of typographical error. End of Project Gutenberg's The Epic of Saul, by William Cleaver Wilkinson