PATRICK then prays, concluding with the words:
"I ask, O Lord, may from Thy hand be given,
That Purgatory, Hell, and Heaven
May be revealed unto those mortals' sight."
An Angel then descends and speaks as follows:
ANGEL. Patrick, God has heard thy prayer,
He has listened to thy vows;
And as thou hast ask'd, allows
Earth's great secrets to lie bare.
Seek along this island ground
For a vast and darksome cave,
Which restrains the lake's dark wave,
And supports the mountains round;
He who dares to go therein,
Having first contritely told
All his faults, shall there behold
Where the soul is purged from sin.
He shall see with mortal eyes
Hell itself--where those who die
In their sins forever lie,
In the fire that never dies.
He shall see, in blest fruition,
Where the happy spirits dwell.
But of this be sure as well--
He who without true contrition
Enters there to idly try
What the cave may be, doth go
To his death--he'll suffer woe
While the Lord doth reign on high.
Who this day shall set you free
From this poor world's weariness;
He shall grant to you, in pity,
Bliss undreamed by mortal men--
Making thee a denizen
Of his own celestial city.
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