"Oh! thou clear spirit of clear fire, whom on these seas I as
Persian once did worship, till in the sacramental act so burned
by thee, that to this hour I bear the scar; I now know thee,
thou clear spirit, and I now know that thy right worship
is defiance. To neither love nor reverence wilt thou be kind;
and e'en for hate thou canst but kill; and all are killed.
No fearless fool now fronts thee. I own thy speechless,
placeless power; but to the last gasp of my earthquake life
will dispute its unconditional, unintegral mastery in me.
In the midst of the personified impersonal, a personality stands here.
Though but a point at best; whenceso'er I came; whereso'er I go;
yet while I earthly live, the queenly personality lives in me,
and feels her royal rights. But war is pain, and hate is woe.
Come in thy lowest form of love, and I will kneel and kiss thee;
but at thy highest, come as mere supernal power; and though
thou launchest navies of full-freighted worlds, there's that in
here that still remains indifferent. Oh, thou clear spirit,
of thy fire thou madest me, and like a true child of fire,
I breathe it back to thee."
[Sudden, repeated flashes of lightning; the nine flames leap lengthwise
to thrice their previous height; Ahab, with the rest, closes his eyes,
his right hand pressed hard upon them.
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