And the evil is done in hopes that evil surrenders but the deeds of the devil are burned too deep in the embers and a world of hunger in vengeance will always remember So please be reassured, we seek no wider war, we seek no wider war.
Many sacrifices have been made just to enjoy the feeling of vengeance, without any intention of causing an amount of injury equivalent to what one has suffered.
Es leben Gotter, die den Hochmut rachen=--There live gods who take vengeance on pride.
I honor the man who is willing to sink Half his present repute for the freedom to think, And, when he has thought, be his cause strong or weak, Will risk t'other half for the freedom to speak, Caring naught for what vengeance the mob has in store, Let that mob be the upper ten thousand or lower.
Revenge is an act of passion; vengeance, of justice.
Just my vengeance complete, The man sprang to his feet, Stood erect, caught at God's skirts, and prayed! So, I was afraid!
Deep vengeance is the daughter of deep silence.
Die Rachegotter schaffen im Stillen=--The gods of vengeance act in silence.
THE WRATH TO COME. — MATTHEW 3:7 I t is pleasant to pass over a country after a storm has spent itself—to smell the freshness of the herbs after the rain has passed away, and to note the drops while they glisten like purest diamonds in the sunlight. That is the position of a Christian. He is going through a land where the storm has spent itself upon His Savior’s head, and if there be a few drops of sorrow falling, they distill from clouds of mercy, and Jesus cheers him by the assurance that they are not for his destruction. But how terrible it is to witness the approach of a tempest—to note the forewarnings of the storm; to mark the birds of heaven as they droop their wings; to see the cattle as they lay their heads low in terror; to discern the face of the sky as it grows black, and to find the sun obscured, and the heavens angry and frowning! How terrible to await the dread advance of a hurricane, to wait in terrible apprehension till the wind rushes forth in fury, tearing up trees from their roots, forcing rocks from their pedestals, and hurling down all the dwelling-places of man! And yet, sinner, this is your present position. No hot drops have fallen as yet, but a shower of fire is coming. No terrible winds howl around you, but God’s tempest is gathering its dread artillery. So far the water-floods are dammed up by mercy, but the floodgates will soon be opened: The thunderbolts of God are still in His storehouse, the tempest is coming, and how awful will that moment be when God, robed in vengeance, shall march forth in fury! Where, where, where, O sinner, will you hide your head, or where will you run to? May the hand of mercy lead you now to Christ! He is freely set before you in the Gospel: His pierced side is the place of shelter. You know your need of Him; believe in Him, cast yourself upon Him, and then the fury shall be past forever.
How he lies in his rights of a man! Death has done all death can. And absorbed in the new life he leads, He recks not, he heeds Nor his wrong nor my vengeance; both strike On his senses alike, And are lost in the solemn and strange Surprise of the change.
Manet alta mente repostum, / Judicium Paridis spret?que injuria form?=--Deep seated in her mind remains the judgment of Paris, and the wrong done to her slighted beauty.
On wrong / Swift vengeance waits; and art subdues the strong.
The noblest vengeance is to forgive.
These nuns, amazed at what is said, that they are in the way of perdition, that their confessors are leading them to Geneva, and teach them Jesus Christ is not in the Eucharist, nor on the right hand of the Father, know all this to be false, and offer then themselves to God in that state. _Vide si via iniquitatis in me est._ What happens thereupon? The place, which is said to be the temple of the devil, God makes his own temple. It is said that the children must be taken away, God heals them there. It is said to be hell's arsenal, God makes of it the sanctuary of his graces. Lastly, they are threatened with all the furies and all the vengeance of heaven, and God loads them with favours. Those must have lost their senses, who therefore believe them in the way of perdition.--_We have, without doubt, the same tokens as Saint Athanasius._--
Amos viii. The prophet having enumerated the sins of Israel, said that God had sworn to take vengeance on them.
Where vice is, vengeance follows.
Vile is the vengeance on the ashes cold, / And envy base to bark at sleeping fame.
Behold on wrong Swift vengeance waits; and art subdues the strong!
Delay in vengeance gives a heavier blow.
Is. i. 21. Change of good into evil and the vengeance of God.
VII. Certain bodies can pass through solid walls painted to resemble tunnel entrances; others cannot. This trompe l'oeil inconsistency has baffled generations, but at least it is known that whoever paints an entrance on a wall's surface to trick an opponent will be unable to pursue him into this theoretical space. The painter is flattened against the wall when he attempts to follow into the painting. This is ultimately a problem of art, not of science. VIII. Any violent rearrangement of feline matter is impermanent. Cartoon cats possess even more deaths than the traditional nine lives might comfortably afford. They can be decimated, spliced, splayed, accordion-pleated, spindled, or disassembled, but they cannot be destroyed. After a few moments of blinking self pity, they reinflate, elongate, snap back, or solidify. IX. For every vengeance there is an equal and opposite revengeance. This is the one law of animated cartoon motion that also applies to the physical world at large. For that reason, we need the relief of watching it happen to a duck instead. X. Everything falls faster than an anvil. Examples too numerous to mention from the Roadrunner cartoons. -- Esquire, "O'Donnell's Laws of Cartoon Motion", June 1980
The count departed with a sad heart from the house in which he had left Mercedes, probably never to behold her again. Since the death of little Edward a great change had taken place in Monte Cristo. Having reached the summit of his vengeance by a long and tortuous path, he saw an abyss of doubt yawning before him. More than this, the conversation which had just taken place between Mercedes and himself had awakened so many recollections in his heart that he felt it necessary to combat with them. A man of the count's temperament could not long indulge in that melancholy which can exist in common minds, but which destroys superior ones. He thought he must have made an error in his calculations if he now found cause to blame himself.
20:12. And thou, O Lord of hosts, prover of the just, who seest the reins and the heart: let me see, I beseech thee, thy vengeance on them: for to thee I have laid open my cause.
48:7. Who heardest judgment in Sina, and in Horeb the judgments of vengeance.
"And before the tumbrils arrive. Be sure you are there, my soul," said The Vengeance, calling after her, for she had already turned into the street, "before the tumbrils arrive!"
The count had just opened a door. Immediately a brilliant light from the next room, or rather from the palace adjoining, shone upon the room in which he was gently gliding into his last sleep. Then he saw a woman of marvellous beauty appear on the threshold of the door separating the two rooms. Pale, and sweetly smiling, she looked like an angel of mercy conjuring the angel of vengeance. "Is it heaven that opens before me?" thought the dying man; "that angel resembles the one I have lost." Monte Cristo pointed out Morrel to the young woman, who advanced towards him with clasped hands and a smile upon her lips.
The clocks are on the stroke of three, and the furrow ploughed among the populace is turning round, to come on into the place of execution, and end. The ridges thrown to this side and to that, now crumble in and close behind the last plough as it passes on, for all are following to the Guillotine. In front of it, seated in chairs, as in a garden of public diversion, are a number of women, busily knitting. On one of the fore-most chairs, stands The Vengeance, looking about for her friend.
Then, prudent, him answer'd Telemachus. Oh Nestor, Neleus' son, glory of Greece! And righteous was that vengeance; _his_ renown Achaia's sons shall far and wide diffuse, To future times transmitting it in song. Ah! would that such ability the Gods Would grant to me, that I, as well, the deeds Might punish of our suitors, whose excess Enormous, and whose bitter taunts I feel Continual, object of their subtle hate. But not for me such happiness the Gods Have twined into my thread; no, not for me Or for my father. Patience is our part.
4:24. Sevenfold vengeance shall be taken for Cain: but for Lamech seventy times sevenfold.
Him slain with indignation Paris view'd, For he, with numerous Paphlagonians more His guest had been; he, therefore, in the thirst Of vengeance, sent a brazen arrow forth. There was a certain Greek, Euchenor, son Of Polyides the soothsayer, rich And brave in fight, and who in Corinth dwelt He, knowing well his fate, yet sail'd to Troy For Polyides oft, his reverend sire, Had prophecied that he should either die By some dire malady at home, or, slain By Trojan hands, amid the fleet of Greece. He, therefore, shunning the reproach alike Of the Achaians, and that dire disease, Had join'd the Grecian host; him Paris pierced The ear and jaw beneath; life at the stroke Left him, and darkness overspread his eyes.
Tom went to bed that night planning vengeance against Alfred Temple; for with shame and repentance Becky had told him all, not forgetting her own treachery; but even the longing for vengeance had to give way, soon, to pleasanter musings, and he fell asleep at last with Becky's latest words lingering dreamily in his ear--
The lady in question, whose rooted conviction that she was more than a match for any foreigner, was not to be shaken by distress and, danger, appeared with folded arms, and observed in English to The Vengeance, whom her eyes first encountered, "Well, I am sure, Boldface! I hope _you_ are pretty well!" She also bestowed a British cough on Madame Defarge; but, neither of the two took much heed of her.
14:31. For it is not the power of them, by whom they swear, but the just vengeance of sinners always punisheth the transgression of the unjust.
As when a tempest from autumnal skies Floats all the fields, what time Jove heaviest pours Impetuous rain, token of wrath divine Against perverters of the laws by force, Who drive forth justice, reckless of the Gods; The rivers and the torrents, where they dwell, Sweep many a green declivity away, And plunge at length, groaning, into the Deep From the hills headlong, leaving where they pass'd No traces of the pleasant works of man, So, in their flight, loud groan'd the steeds of Troy. And now, their foremost intercepted all, Patroclus back again toward the fleet Drove them precipitate, nor the ascent Permitted them to Troy for which they strove, But in the midway space between the ships The river and the lofty Trojan wall Pursued them ardent, slaughtering whom he reached, And vengeance took for many a Grecian slain. First then, with glittering spear the breast he pierced Of Pronöus, undefended by his shield, And stretch'd him dead; loud rang his batter'd arms. The son of Enops, Thestor next he smote. He on his chariot-seat magnificent Low-cowering sat, a fear-distracted form, And from his palsied grasp the reins had fallen. Then came Patroclus nigh, and through his cheek His teeth transpiercing, drew him by his lance Sheer o'er the chariot front. As when a man On some projecting rock seated, with line And splendid hook draws forth a sea-fish huge, So him wide-gaping from his seat he drew At his spear-point, then shook him to the ground Prone on his face, where gasping he expired. At Eryalus, next, advancing swift He hurl'd a rock; full on the middle front He smote him, and within the ponderous casque His whole head open'd into equal halves. With deadliest night surrounded, prone he fell. Epaltes, Erymas, Amphoterus, Echius, Tlepolemus Damastor's son, Evippus, Ipheus, Pyres, Polymelus, All these he on the champain, corse on corse Promiscuous flung. Sarpedon, when he saw Such havoc made of his uncinctured friends By Menoetiades, with sharp rebuke His band of godlike Lycians loud address'd.
If the evil-doing of men moves you to indignation and overwhelming distress, even to a desire for vengeance on the evil-doers, shun above all things that feeling. Go at once and seek suffering for yourself, as though you were yourself guilty of that wrong. Accept that suffering and bear it and your heart will find comfort, and you will understand that you too are guilty, for you might have been a light to the evil-doers, even as the one man sinless, and you were not a light to them. If you had been a light, you would have lightened the path for others too, and the evil-doer might perhaps have been saved by your light from his sin. And even though your light was shining, yet you see men were not saved by it, hold firm and doubt not the power of the heavenly light. Believe that if they were not saved, they will be saved hereafter. And if they are not saved hereafter, then their sons will be saved, for your light will not die even when you are dead. The righteous man departs, but his light remains. Men are always saved after the death of the deliverer. Men reject their prophets and slay them, but they love their martyrs and honor those whom they have slain. You are working for the whole, you are acting for the future. Seek no reward, for great is your reward on this earth: the spiritual joy which is only vouchsafed to the righteous man. Fear not the great nor the mighty, but be wise and ever serene. Know the measure, know the times, study that. When you are left alone, pray. Love to throw yourself on the earth and kiss it. Kiss the earth and love it with an unceasing, consuming love. Love all men, love everything. Seek that rapture and ecstasy. Water the earth with the tears of your joy and love those tears. Don't be ashamed of that ecstasy, prize it, for it is a gift of God and a great one; it is not given to many but only to the elect.
Phæacian Chiefs and Senators attend! Now let Demodocus enjoin his harp Silence, for not alike grateful to all His music sounds; during our feast, and since The bard divine began, continual flow The stranger's sorrows, by remembrance caused Of some great woe which wraps his soul around. Then, let the bard suspend his song, that all (As most befits th' occasion) may rejoice, Both guest and hosts together; since we make This voyage, and these gifts confer, in proof Of hospitality and unfeign'd love, Judging, with all wise men, the stranger-guest And suppliant worthy of a brother's place. And thou conceal not, artfully reserv'd, What I shall ask, far better plain declared Than smother'd close; who art thou? speak thy name, The name by which thy father, mother, friends And fellow-citizens, with all who dwell Around thy native city, in times past Have known thee; for of all things human none Lives altogether nameless, whether good Or whether bad, but ev'ry man receives Ev'n in the moment of his birth, a name. Thy country, people, city, tell; the mark At which my ships, intelligent, shall aim, That they may bear thee thither; for our ships No pilot need or helm, as ships are wont, But know, themselves, our purpose; know beside All cities, and all fruitful regions well Of all the earth, and with dark clouds involv'd Plough rapid the rough Deep, fearless of harm, (Whate'er betide) and of disast'rous wreck. Yet thus, long since, my father I have heard Nausithoüs speaking; Neptune, he would say, Is angry with us, for that safe we bear Strangers of ev'ry nation to their home; And he foretold a time when he would smite In vengeance some Phæacian gallant bark Returning after convoy of her charge, And fix her in the sable flood, transform'd Into a mountain, right before the town.
51:11. Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers, the Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: and his mind is against Babylon to destroy it, because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple.
So saying, he seized his stool, and on the joint Of his right shoulder smote him; firm as rock He stood, by no such force to be displaced, But silent shook his brows, and dreadful deeds Of vengeance ruminating, sought again His seat the threshold, where his bag full-charged He grounded, and the suitors thus address'd.
Defarge went back to the counter, and said, "Certainly, a little like." Madame sternly retorted, "I tell you a good deal like." Jacques Three pacifically remarked, "He is so much in your mind, see you, madame." The amiable Vengeance added, with a laugh, "Yes, my faith! And you are looking forward with so much pleasure to seeing him once more to-morrow!"
In other people's presence I was, as formerly, deferential and quiet; any other line of conduct being uncalled for: it was only in the evening conferences I thus thwarted and afflicted him. He continued to send for me punctually the moment the clock struck seven; though when I appeared before him now, he had no such honeyed terms as "love" and "darling" on his lips: the best words at my service were "provoking puppet," "malicious elf," "sprite," "changeling," &c. For caresses, too, I now got grimaces; for a pressure of the hand, a pinch on the arm; for a kiss on the cheek, a severe tweak of the ear. It was all right: at present I decidedly preferred these fierce favours to anything more tender. Mrs. Fairfax, I saw, approved me: her anxiety on my account vanished; therefore I was certain I did well. Meantime, Mr. Rochester affirmed I was wearing him to skin and bone, and threatened awful vengeance for my present conduct at some period fast coming. I laughed in my sleeve at his menaces. "I can keep you in reasonable check now," I reflected; "and I don't doubt to be able to do it hereafter: if one expedient loses its virtue, another must be devised."
"Vengeance on a dumb brute!" cried Starbuck, "that simply smote thee from blindest instinct! Madness! To be enraged with a dumb thing, Captain Ahab, seems blasphemous."
On hearing this information I suffered a temporary access of despair. He had escaped me, and I must commence a destructive and almost endless journey across the mountainous ices of the ocean, amidst cold that few of the inhabitants could long endure and which I, the native of a genial and sunny climate, could not hope to survive. Yet at the idea that the fiend should live and be triumphant, my rage and vengeance returned, and like a mighty tide, overwhelmed every other feeling. After a slight repose, during which the spirits of the dead hovered round and instigated me to toil and revenge, I prepared for my journey. I exchanged my land-sledge for one fashioned for the inequalities of the frozen ocean, and purchasing a plentiful stock of provisions, I departed from land.
Well did I remember Mrs. Reed's face, and I eagerly sought the familiar image. It is a happy thing that time quells the longings of vengeance and hushes the promptings of rage and aversion. I had left this woman in bitterness and hate, and I came back to her now with no other emotion than a sort of ruth for her great sufferings, and a strong yearning to forget and forgive all injuries--to be reconciled and clasp hands in amity.
50:15. Shout against her, she hath every where given her hand, her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down, for it is the vengeance of the Lord. Take vengeance upon her: as she hath done, so do to her.
5:14. And I will execute vengeance in wrath, and in indignation, among all the nations that have not given ear.
Which when imperial Agamemnon heard, He scatter'd instant to their several ships The people; but the burial-dressers thence Went not; they, still abiding, heap'd the pile. A hundred feet of breadth from side to side They gave to it, and on the summit placed With sorrowing hearts the body of the dead. Many a fat sheep, with many an ox full-horn'd They flay'd before the pile, busy their task Administering, and Peleus' son the fat Taking from every victim, overspread Complete the body with it of his friend Patroclus, and the flay'd beasts heap'd around. Then, placing flagons on the pile, replete With oil and honey, he inclined their mouths Toward the bier, and slew and added next, Deep-groaning and in haste, four martial steeds. Nine dogs the hero at his table fed, Of which beheading two, their carcases He added also. Last, twelve gallant sons Of noble Trojans slaying (for his heart Teem'd with great vengeance) he applied the force Of hungry flames that should devour the whole, Then, mourning loud, by name his friend invoked.
The count, fearing to yield to the entreaties of her he had so ardently loved, called his sufferings to the assistance of his hatred. "Revenge yourself, then, Edmond," cried the poor mother; "but let your vengeance fall on the culprits,--on him, on me, but not on my son!"
"No--no--Jane; you must not go. No--I have touched you, heard you, felt the comfort of your presence--the sweetness of your consolation: I cannot give up these joys. I have little left in myself--I must have you. The world may laugh--may call me absurd, selfish--but it does not signify. My very soul demands you: it will be satisfied, or it will take deadly vengeance on its frame."
It was known directly, to the furthest confines of the crowd. Defarge had but sprung over a railing and a table, and folded the miserable wretch in a deadly embrace--Madame Defarge had but followed and turned her hand in one of the ropes with which he was tied--The Vengeance and Jacques Three were not yet up with them, and the men at the windows had not yet swooped into the Hall, like birds of prey from their high perches--when the cry seemed to go up, all over the city, "Bring him out! Bring him to the lamp!"
There happened to be no customer in the shop but Jacques Three, of the restless fingers and the croaking voice. This man, whom he had seen upon the Jury, stood drinking at the little counter, in conversation with the Defarges, man and wife. The Vengeance assisted in the conversation, like a regular member of the establishment.
I spake. She swearing as I bade, renounced All evil purpose, and (her solemn oath Concluded) I ascended, next, her bed Magnificent. Meantime, four graceful nymphs Attended on the service of the house, Her menials, from the fountains sprung and groves, And from the sacred streams that seek the sea. Of these, one cast fine linen on the thrones, Which, next, with purple arras rich she spread; Another placed before the gorgeous seats Bright tables, and set on baskets of gold. The third, an argent beaker fill'd with wine Delicious, which in golden cups she served; The fourth brought water, which she warm'd within An ample vase, and when the simm'ring flood Sang in the tripod, led me to a bath, And laved me with the pleasant stream profuse Pour'd o'er my neck and body, till my limbs Refresh'd, all sense of lassitude resign'd. When she had bathed me, and with limpid oil Anointed me, and cloathed me in a vest And mantle, next, she led me to a throne Of royal state, with silver studs emboss'd, And footstool'd soft beneath; then came a nymph With golden ewer charged and silver bowl, Who pour'd pure water on my hands, and placed The polish'd board before me, which with food Various, selected from her present stores, The cat'ress spread, then, courteous, bade me eat. But me it pleas'd not; with far other thoughts My spirit teem'd, on vengeance more intent. Soon, then, as Circe mark'd me on my seat Fast-rooted, sullen, nor with outstretch'd hands Deigning to touch the banquet, she approach'd, And in wing'd accents suasive thus began.