The Initiations of Orpheus

TO PAN  

I Call strong Pan, the substance of the whole,
Etherial, marine, earthly, general soul,
Immortal fire; for all the world is thine,
And all are parts of thee, O pow'r divine.

Come, blessed Pan, whom rural haunts delight,
Come, leaping, agile, wand'ring, starry light;
The Hours and Seasons, wait thy high command,
And round thy throne in graceful order stand.
Goat-footed, horned, Bacchanalian Pan,
Fanatic pow'r, from whom the world began,
Whose various parts by thee inspir'd, combine
In endless dance and melody divine.
In thee a refuge from our fears we find,
Those fears peculiar to the human kind.
Thee shepherds, streams of water, goats rejoice,
Thou. lov'st the chace, and Echo's secret voice:  
The sportive nymphs, thy ev'ry step attend,  
And all thy works fulfill their destin'd end.
O all-producing pow'r, much-fam'd, divine,
The world's great ruler, rich increase is thine.
All-fertile Pæan, heav'nly splendor pure,
In fruits rejoicing, and in caves obscure.

True serpent-horned Jove, whose dreadful rage  
When rous'd, 'tis hard for mortals to asswage.
By thee the earth wide-bosom'd deep and long,
Stands on a basis permanent and strong.
Th' unwearied waters of the rolling sea,
Profoundly spreading, yield to thy decree.
Old Ocean too reveres thy high command,
Whose liquid arms begirt the solid land.
The spacious air, whose nutrimental fire,
And vivid blasts, the heat of life inspire
The lighter frame of fire, whose sparkling eye
Shines on the summit of the azure sky,
Submit alike to thee, whole general sway
All parts of matter, various form'd obey.

All nature's change thro' thy protecting care,
And all mankind thy lib'ral bounties share:
For these where'er dispers'd thro' boundless space,
Still find thy providence support their race.
Come, Bacchanalian, blessed power draw near,
Fanatic Pan, thy humble suppliant hear,
Propitious to these holy rites attend,
And grant my life may meet a prosp'rous end;
Drive panic Fury too, wherever found,
From human kind, to earth's remotest bound.

Footnotes

 Pan, it is well known, is the same with the Universe, and is called by Orpheus (Protogonos), as we are informed by Damascius. Now Jupiter in the Orphic theology, is the demiurgus of the universe, or the first intellect; and Apollo, in the intellectual world, is the same with Jupiter, as we have shewn in our notes to the Sun. Hence the reason is obvious why Pan is called in this Hymn, all-fertile Pan. And if we compare the Orphic fragment, given in the Dissertation, with the present Hymn, we shall find a striking resemblance; as the king and father of universe, Protogonus or Jupiter is there celebrated as being all things; and is represented under the symbol of a divine body, whole members are the various parts of the world.

Ver. 16] Echo's secret voice. Phurnutus informs us, that Pan is reported to dwell in solitary places, for the purpose of evincing his unity. For the World is one, and only-begotten. Opusc. Mythol. 

Ver. 17] The sportive nymphs. This is because Pan rejoices in the exhalations produced from humid substances; without which the world cannot subsist. Phurnutus.

Ver. 22.] In caves obscure. A cave, as we learn from Porphyry, de Antro Nympharum, is an apt symbol of the material world; since it is agreeable at its first entrance on account of its participation of form, but is involved in the deepest obscurity to the intellectual eye, which endeavours to discern its dark foundation. So that, like a cave, its exterior and superficial parts are pleasant; but its interior parts are obscure, and its very bottom, darkness itself.

Ver 23.] True serpent-horned Jove. The reason why Pan is horned, is, because Jove is the mingler of all things, according to Orpheus, as we learn from Jo. Diac. Allegor. in Hesiod.; and the word is as Gesner observes, derived from the verb  to mingle: so that horns are an occult symbol of the mingling and tempering power of the demiurgus of the world. But the literal meaning of the word κερασσ is horned serpent; and one of the heads of Protogonus is that of a serpent. We may add that Pan considered as the soul of the world, is with great propriety called Jove; since that appellation is given by Orpheus to the mundane soul.