Devil's Thoughts

FROM his brimstone bed at break of day
A walking the devil is gone,
To visit his snug little farm the earth,
And see how his stock goes on.

He saw a lawyer killing a viper
On a dung hill hard by his own stable;
And the devil smiled, for it put him in mind
Of Cain and his brother Abel

As he went through Cold-Bath Fields he saw
A solitary cell;
And the devil was pleased, for it gave him a hint
For improving his prisons in hell.

Tonight I was working far too late once again, and to lift my spirits I surfed the Net in search of soothing poems. By a chance I noticed one of my all-time favourites, and wanted to share it with people. The above lines are from “The Devil’s Thoughts” written by Robert Southney and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, a pair of tortured, but tremendously talented poets.

While reading the poem again after a long while I found it frightening how modern it sounds, despite being published first over 200 years ago. You can find the final and the longest version in here. I hope you like it as much as I do.