The Purgatory of St. PatrickCalderón de la Barca, Pedro
Religion
The Purgatory of St. Patrick
Calderón de la Barca, Pedro
Patrick, Saint, 373?-463? -- Drama
"They drag him along to the fourth penal Field, which was full of
great Fires, in which all manner of Torments were to be seen. Some
were here hung up in the Air by the Hands with red hot Iron Chains;
others by the Hair; some by the Arms; others by the Legs with their
Heads downwards, and dipped into boiling Sulphur. Some hung by their
Nails, with Iron Crooks fixt in their Eyes, in their Ears, in their
Jaws in their Nostrils, in their Breasts, and in other parts of their
Bodies; others were fry'd in Pans; and others roasted by the Fire on
red hot Spits, which some of the Devils turned, while others basted
them with various melted Metals: Nor was the cruel scourging of the
Devils wanting, even among the dreadful Cries and Lamentations of
these wretched Souls. Here the Soldier saw many of his own
companions and knew them; yea, and saw all manner of Torments that
can be imagin'd, neither cou'd any Tongue express the various Cries
and Lamentations which he heard. The Devils having then expos'd all
these to the Soldier's view, said unto him: These, and a great many
more torments shalt thou endure, except thou go back out of the Cave.
But the Soldier despised their Threats, called upon the Name of
Jesus, when the Torments began, and so escaped."
"CHAPTER VII.
"Of the Fiery-Wheel, Smokey-House, High Mountain, and Cold River to
which the Devils dragged the Soldier.
"Then the Devils carry'd away the Soldier to an Iron Wheel, that was
red hot, and of a prodigious bigness. The Spokes and Stakes of this
Wheel were tarnished all round with Iron Crooks set on Fire, and on
them hung Men fixed. One half of the Wheel stood above, and the
other under ground: the horrid sulphurous Flame which issued from
the Earth and surrounded this Wheel, did exceedingly torment the Men
that hung on it. The same (say the Devils to the Soldier) that these
suffer if thou will not return, shalt thou endure, nay and even see
first what it is. Then they fasten'd Iron Bars to the Spokes of the
Wheel, and turn'd it about with such Celerity, that not one Man of
those that hung upon it cou'd be discern'd from another; for the
whole Wheel appear'd like a Circle of Fire: And when they had
fasten'd the Soldier to it and, by turning it about, lift him up in
the Air, he called upon the Name of Jesus, and came down unhurt.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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