Excerpt from The Open Court, Vol. 45: Devoted to the Science of Religion, the Religion of Science, and the Extension of the Religious Parliament Idea; February, 1931 Eloa expresses in its highest form the sympathy for suffering which is at the root of Vigny's best work. This pessimistic poet had a passion for pity, which he wished to see manifested without limits. 'his sympathetic heart was always touched by the sorrows of his fellow men. He loved, as he said, the grandeur of human sufferings, and poured out all his treasures of tenderness and devo tion on his companions in misery. He was a great champion of lost causes in his period. He pleaded for the aristocrat, the soldier and the poet. But, though the aristocratic bent of his mind led him to dwell on exceptional natures, he was equally touched by the boundless misery in the lot of the common man. His Eloa is inspired by his feeling of pityr - pity for all suffering, pity for all lives but a moment, pity even for sin and Satan Supreme guilt, therefore, supreme misfortune! This poem is the glorification of compassion, of tenderness and sacrifice, of vain self immolat'ion and of pity without hands to help. It is the story of a bright being, a woman-angel, born from a tear of the Redeemer. Tempted by pity, she falls a victim to the Spirit of Darkness. This sister of the angels, having heard in heaven the tale of the mis fortune oi the brightest archangel, leaves her dwelling of delights and descends to the bottom of the pit in order to search for her unfortunate brother and bring him back to bliss. But, unsuccessful in her efforts, She prefers to remain with him in hell rather than return to heaven. In a sequel poem, which was to bear the title Satan sauve, the author, however, intended to bring this woman - angel out of hell. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.