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OFMans First Disobedience, and the Fruit
1
Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast
2
Brought Death into the World, and all our woe,
3
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
4
Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat,
5
Sing Heav'nly Muse, that on the secret top
6
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire
7
That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen Seed,
8
In the Beginning how the Heav'ns and Earth
9
Rose out of Chaos: Or if Sion Hill
10
Delight thee more, and Siloa's Brook that flow'd
11
Fast by the Oracle of God; I thence
12
Invoke thy aid to my adventrous Song,
13
That with no middle flight intends to soar
14
Above th' Aonian Mount, while it pursues
15
Things unattempted yet in Prose or Rhime.
16
And chiefly Thou O Spirit, that dost prefer
17
Before all Temples th' upright heart and pure,
18
Instruct me, for Thou know'st; Thou from the first
19
Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread
20
Dove-like satst brooding on the vast Abyss
21
And mad'st it pregnant: What in me is dark
22
Illumin, what is low raise and support;
23
That to the highth of this great Argument
24
I may assert Eternal Providence,
25
And justifie the wayes of God to men.
26
Say first, for Heav'n hides nothing from thy view
27
Nor the deep Tract of Hell, say first what cause
28
Mov'd our Grand Parents in that happy State,
29
Favour'd of Heav'n so highly, to fall off
30
From thir Creator, and transgress his Will
31
For one restraint, Lords of the World besides?
32
Who first seduc'd them to that foul revolt?
33
Th' infernal Serpent; he it was, whose guile
34
Stird up with Envy and Revenge, deceiv'd
35
The Mother of Mankind, what time his Pride
36
Had cast him out from Heav'n, with all his Host
37
Of Rebel Angels, by whose aid aspiring
38
To set himself in Glory above his Peers,
39
He trusted to have equal'd the most High,
40
If he oppos'd; and with ambitious aim
41
Against the Throne and Monarchy of God
42
Rais'd impious War in Heav'n and Battel proud
43
With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power
44
Hurld headlong flaming from th' Ethereal Skie
45
With hideous ruine and combustion down
46
To bottomless perdition, there to dwell
47
In Adamantine Chains and penal Fire,
48
Who durst defie th' Omnipotent to Arms.
49
Nine times the Space that measures Day and Night
50
To mortal men, he with his horrid crew
51
Lay vanquisht, rowling in the fiery Gulfe
52
Confounded though immortal: But his doom
53
Reserv'd him to more wrath; for now the thought
54
Both of lost happiness and lasting pain
55
Torments him; round he throws his baleful eyes
56
That witness'd huge affliction and dismay
57
Mixt with obdurate pride and stedfast hate:
58
At once as far as Angels kenn he views
59
The dismal Situation waste and wilde,
60
A Dungeon horrible, on all sides round
61
As one great Furnace flam'd, yet from those flames
62
No light, but rather darkness visible
63
Serv'd onely to discover sights of woe,
64
Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace
65
And rest can never dwell, hope never comes
66
That comes to all; but torture without end
67
Still urges, and a fiery Deluge, fed
68
With ever-burning Sulphur unconsum'd:
69
Such place Eternal Justice had prepar'd
70
For those rebellious, here thir Prison ordain'd
71
In utter darkness, and thir portion set
72
As far remov'd from God and light of Heav'n
73
As from the Center thrice to th' utmost Pole.
74
O how unlike the place from whence they fell!
75
There the companions of his fall, o'rewhelm'd
76
With Floods and Whirlwinds of tempestuous fire,
77
He soon discerns, and weltring by his side
78
One next himself in power, and next in crime,
79
Long after known in Palestine, and nam'd
80
Beelzebub. To whom th' Arch-Enemy,
81
And thence in Heav'n call'd Satan, with bold words
82
Breaking the horrid silence thus began.
83
If thou beest he; But O how fall'n! how chang'd
84
From him, who in the happy Realms of Light
85
Cloth'd with transcendent brightness didst out-shine
86
Myriads though bright: If he Whom mutual league,
87
United thoughts and counsels, equal hope
88
And hazard in the Glorious Enterprize,
89
Joynd with me once, now misery hath joynd
90
In equal ruin: into what Pit thou seest
91
From what highth fall'n, so much the stronger prov'd
92
He with his Thunder: and till then who knew
93
The force of those dire Arms? yet not for those,
94
Nor what the Potent Victor in his rage
95
Can else inflict, do I repent or change,
96
Though chang'd in outward lustre; that fixt mind
97
And high disdain, from sence of injur'd merit,
98
That with the mightiest rais'd me to contend,
99
And to the fierce contention brought along
100
Innumerable force of Spirits arm'd
101
That durst dislike his reign, and me preferring,
102
His utmost power with adverse power oppos'd
103
In dubious Battel on the Plains of Heav'n,
104
And shook his throne. What though the field be lost?
105
All is not lost; the unconquerable Will,
106
And study of revenge, immortal hate,
107
And courage never to submit or yield:
108
And what is else not to be overcome?
109
That Glory never shall his wrath or might
110
Extort from me. To bow and sue for grace
111
With suppliant knee, and deifie his power,
112
Who from the terrour of this Arm so late
113
Doubted his Empire, that were low indeed,
114
That were an ignominy and shame beneath
115
This downfall; since by Fate the strength of Gods
116
And this Empyreal substance cannot fail,
117
Since through experience of this great event
118
In Arms not worse, in foresight much advanc't,
119
We may with more successful hope resolve
120
To wage by force or guile eternal Warr
121
Irreconcileable, to our grand Foe,
122
Who now triumphs, and in th' excess of joy
123
Sole reigning holds the Tyranny of Heav'n.
124
So spake th' Apostate Angel, though in pain,
125
Vaunting aloud, but rackt with deep despare:
126
And him thus answer'd soon his bold Compeer.
127
O Prince, O Chief of many Throned Powers,
128
That led th' imbattelld Seraphim to Warr
129
Under thy conduct, and in dreadful deeds
130
Fearless, endanger'd Heav'ns perpetual King;
131
And put to proof his high Supremacy,
132
Whether upheld by strength, or Chance, or Fate,
133
Too well I see and rue the dire event,
134
That with sad overthrow and foul defeat
135
Hath lost us Heav'n, and all this mighty Host
136
In horrible destruction laid thus low,
137
As far as Gods and Heav'nly Essences
138
Can perish: for the mind and spirit remains
139
Invincible, and vigour soon returns,
140
Though all our Glory extinct, and happy state
141
Here swallow'd up in endless misery.
142
But what if he our Conquerour, (whom I now
143
Of force believe Almighty, since no less
144
Then such could hav orepow'rd such force as ours)
145
Have left us this our spirit and strength intire
146
Strongly to suffer and support our pains,
147
That we may so suffice his vengeful ire,
148
Or do him mightier service as his thralls
149
By right of Warr, what e're his business be
150
Here in the heart of Hell to work in Fire,
151
Or do his Errands in the gloomy Deep;
152
What can it then avail though yet we feel
153
Strength undiminisht, or eternal being
154
To undergo eternal punishment?
155
Whereto with speedy words th' Arch-fiend reply'd.
156
Fall'n Cherube, to be weak is miserable
157
Doing or Suffering: but of this be sure,
158
To do ought good never will be our task,
159
But ever to do ill our sole delight,
160
As being the contrary to his high will
161
Whom we resist. If then his Providence
162
Out of our evil seek to bring forth good,
163
Our labour must be to pervert that end,
164
And out of good still to find means of evil;
165
Which oft times may succeed, so as perhaps
166
Shall grieve him, if I fail not, and disturb
167
His inmost counsels from thir destind aim.
168
But see the angry Victor hath recall'd
169
His Ministers of vengeance and pursuit
170
Back to the Gates of Heav'n: The Sulphurous Hail
171
Shot after us in storm, oreblown hath laid
172
The fiery Surge, that from the Precipice
173
Of Heav'n receiv'd us falling, and the Thunder,
174
Wing'd with red Lightning and impetuous rage,
175
Perhaps hath spent his shafts, and ceases now
176
To bellow through the vast and boundless Deep.
177
Let us not slip th' occasion, whether scorn,
178
Or satiate fury yield it from our Foe.
179
Seest thou yon dreary Plain, forlorn and wilde,
180
The seat of desolation, voyd of light,
181
Save what the glimmering of these livid flames
182
Casts pale and dreadful? Thither let us tend
183
From off the tossing of these fiery waves,
184
There rest, if any rest can harbour there,
185
And reassembling our afflicted Powers,
186
Consult how we may henceforth most offend
187
Our Enemy, our own loss how repair,
188
How overcome this dire Calamity,
189
What reinforcement we may gain from Hope,
190
If not what resolution from despare.
191
Thus Satan talking to his neerest Mate
192
With Head up-lift above the wave, and Eyes
193
That sparkling blaz'd, his other Parts besides
194
Prone on the Flood, extended long and large
195
Lay floating many a rood, in bulk as huge
196
As whom the Fables name of monstrous size,
197
Titanian, or Earth-born, that warr'd on Jove,
198
Briareos or Typhon, whom the Den
199
By ancient Tarsus held, or that Sea-beast
200
Leviathan, which God of all his works
201
Created hugest that swim th' Ocean stream:
202
Him haply slumbring on the Norway foam
203
The Pilot of some small night-founder'd Skiff,
204
Deeming some Island, oft, as Sea-men tell,
205
With fixed Anchor in his skaly rind
206
Moors by his side under the Lee, while Night
207
Invests the Sea, and wished Morn delayes:
208
So stretcht out huge in length the Arch-fiend lay
209
Chain'd on the burning Lake, nor ever thence
210
Had ris'n or heav'd his head, but that the will
211
And high permission of all-ruling Heaven
212
Left him at large to his own dark designs,
213
That with reiterated crimes he might
214
Heap on himself damnation, while he sought
215
Evil to others, and enrag'd might see
216
How all his malice serv'd but to bring forth
217
Infinite goodness, grace and mercy shewn
218
On Man by him seduc't, but on himself
219
Treble confusion, wrath and vengeance pour'd.
220
Forthwith upright he rears from off the Pool
221
His mighty Stature; on each hand the flames
222
Drivn backward slope thir pointing spires, and rowld
223
In billows, leave i'th' midst a horrid Vale.
224
Then with expanded wings he stears his flight
225
Aloft, incumbent on the dusky Air
226
That felt unusual weight, till on dry Land
227
He lights, if it were Land that ever burn'd
228
With solid, as the Lake with liquid fire;
229
And such appear'd in hue, as when the force
230
Of subterranean wind transports a Hill
231
Torn from Pelorus, or the shatter'd side
232
Of thundring Ætna, whose combustible
233
And fewel'd entrals thence conceiving Fire,
234
Sublim'd with Mineral fury, aid the Winds,
235
And leave a singed bottom all involv'd
236
With stench and smoak: Such resting found the sole
237
Of unblest feet. Him followed his next Mate,
238
Both glorying to have scap't the Stygian flood
239
As Gods, and by thir own recover'd strength,
240
Not by the sufferance of supernal Power.
241
Is this the Region, this the Soil, the Clime,
242
Said then the lost Arch-Angel, this the seat
243
That we must change for Heav'n, this mournful gloom
244
For that celestial light? Be it so, since he
245
Who now is Sovran can dispose and bid
246
What shall be right: fardest from him is best
247
Whom reason hath equald, force hath made supream
248
Above his equals. Farewel happy Fields
249
Where Joy for ever dwells: Hail horrours, hail
250
Infernal world, and thou profoundest Hell
251
Receive thy new Possessor: One who brings
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A mind not to be chang'd by Place or Time.
253
The mind is its own place, and in it self
254
Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n.
255
What matter where, if I be still the same,
256
And what I should be, all but less then he
257
Whom Thunder hath made greater? Here at least
258
We shall be free; th' Almighty hath not built
259
Here for his envy, will not drive us hence:
260
Here we may reign secure, and in my choyce
261
To reign is worth ambition though in Hell:
262
Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav'n.
263
But wherefore let we then our faithful friends,
264
Th' associates and copartners of our loss
265
Lye thus astonisht on th' oblivious Pool,
266
And call them not to share with us their part
267
In this unhappy Mansion, or once more
268
With rallied Arms to try what may be yet
269
Regaind in Heav'n, or what more lost in Hell?
270
So Satan spake, and him Beelzebub
271
Thus answer'd. Leader of those Armies bright,
272
Which but th' Onmipotent none could have foyld,
273
If once they hear that voyce, thir liveliest pledge
274
Of hope in fears and dangers, heard so oft
275
In worst extreams, and on the perilous edge
276
Of battel when it rag'd, in all assaults
277
Thir surest signal, they will soon resume
278
New courage and revive, though now they lye
279
Groveling and prostrate on yon Lake of Fire,
280
As we erewhile, astounded and amaz'd,
281
No wonder, fall'n such a pernicious highth.
282
He scarce had ceas't when the superiour Fiend
283
Was moving toward the shoar; his ponderous shield
284
Ethereal temper, massy, large and round,
285
Behind him cast; the broad circumference
286
Hung on his shoulders like the Moon, whose Orb
287
Through Optic Glass the Tuscan Artist views
288
At Ev'ning from the top of Fesole,
289
Or in Valdarno, to descry new Lands,
290
Rivers or Mountains in her spotty Globe.
291
His Spear, to equal which the tallest Pine
292
Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the Mast
293
Of some great Ammiral, were but a wand,
294
He walkt with to support uneasie steps
295
Over the burning Marle, not like those steps
296
On Heavens Azure, and the torrid Clime
297
Smote on him sore besides, vaulted with Fire;
298
Nathless he so endur'd, till on the Beach
299
Of that inflamed Sea, he stood and call'd
300
His Legions, Angel Forms, who lay intrans't
301
Thick as Autumnal Leaves that strow the Brooks
302
In Vallombrosa, where th' Etrurian shades
303
High overarch't imbowr; or scatterd sedge
304
Afloat, when with fierce Winds Orion arm'd
305
Hath vext the Red-Sea Coast, whose waves orethrew
306
Busiris and his Memphian Chivalry,
307
While with perfidious hatred they pursu'd
308
The Sojourners of Goshen, who beheld
309
From the safe shore thir floating Carkases
310
And broken Chariot Wheels, so thick bestrown
311
Abject and lost lay these, covering the Flood,
312
Under amazement of thir hideous change.
313
He call'd so loud, that all the hollow Deep
314
Of Hell resounded. Princes, Potentates,
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Warriers, the Flowr of Heav'n, once yours, now lost,
316
If such astonishment as this can sieze
317
Eternal spirits; or have ye chos'n this place
318
After the toyl of Battel to repose
319
Your wearied vertue, for the ease you find
320
To slumber here, as in the Vales of Heav'n?
321
Or in this abject posture have ye sworn
322
To adore the Conquerour? who now beholds
323
Cherube and Seraph rowling in the Flood
324
With scatter'd Arms and Ensigns, till anon
325
His swift pursuers from Heav'n Gates discern
326
Th' advantage, and descending tread us down
327
Thus drooping, or with linked Thunderbolts
328
Transfix us to the bottom of this Gulfe.
329
Awake, arise, or be for ever fall'n.
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They heard, and were abasht, and up they sprung
331
Upon the wing, as when men wont to watch
332
On duty, sleeping found by whom they dread,
333
Rouse and bestir themselves ere well awake.
334
Nor did they not perceave the evil plight
335
In which they were, or the fierce pains not feel;
336
Yet to thir Generals Voyce they soon obeyd
337
Innumerable. As when the potent Rod
338
Of Amrams Son in Egypts evill day
339
Wav'd round the Coast, up call'd a pitchy cloud
340
Of Locusts, warping on the Eastern Wind,
341
That ore the Realm of impious Pharaoh hung
342
Like Night, and darken'd all the Land of Nile:
343
So numberless were those bad Angels seen
344
Hovering on wing under the Cope of Hell
345
'Twixt upper, nether, and surrounding Fires;
346
Till, as a signal giv'n, th' uplifted Spear
347
Of thir great Sultan waving to direct
348
Thir course, in even ballance down they light
349
On the firm brimstone, and fill all the Plain;
350
A multitude, like which the populous North
351
Pour'd never from her frozen loyns, to pass
352
Rhene or the Danaw, when her barbarous Sons
353
Came like a Deluge on the South, and spread
354
Beneath Gibralter to the Lybian sands.
355
Forthwith from every Squadron and each Band
356
The Heads and Leaders thither hast where stood
357
Thir great Commander; Godlike shapes and forms
358
Excelling human, Princely Dignities,
359
And Powers that earst in Heaven sat on Thrones;
360
Though of thir Names in heav'nly Records now
361
Be no memorial blotted out and ras'd
362
By thir Rebellion, from the Books of Life.
363
Nor had they yet among the Sons of Eve
364
Got them new Names, till wandring ore the Earth,
365
Through Gods high sufferance for the tryal of man,
366
By falsities and lyes the greatest part
367
Of Mankind they corrupted to forsake
368
God thir Creator, and th' invisible
369
Glory of him that made them, to transform
370
Oft to the Image of a Brute, adorn'd
371
With gay Religions full of Pomp and Gold,
372
And Devils to adore for Deities:
373
Then were they known to men by various Names,
374
And various Idols through the Heathen World.
375
Say, Muse, thir Names then known, who first, who last,
376
Rous'd from the slumber, on that fiery Couch,
377
At thir great Emperors call, as next in worth
378
Came singly where he stood on the bare strand,
379
While the promiscuous croud stood yet aloof?
380
The chief were those who from the Pit of Hell
381
Roaming to seek thir prey on earth, durst fix
382
Thir Seats long after next the Seat of God,
383
Thir Altars by his Altar, Gods ador'd
384
Among the Nations round, and durst abide
385
Jehovah thundring out of Sion, thron'd
386
Between the Cherubim; yea, often plac'd
387
Within his Sanctuary it self thir Shrines,
388
Abominations; and with cursed things
389
His holy Rites, and solemn Feasts profan'd,
390
And with thir darkness durst affront his light.
391
First Moloch, horrid King besmear'd with blood
392
Of human sacrifice, and parents tears,
393
Though for the noyse of Drums and Timbrels loud
394
Thir childrens cries unheard, that past through fire
395
To his grim Idol. Him the Ammonite
396
Worshipt in Rabba and her watry Plain,
397
In Argob and in Basan, to the stream
398
Of utmost Arnon. Nor content with such
399
Audacious neighbourhood, the wisest heart
400
Of Solomon he led by fraud to build
401
His Temple right against the Temple of God
402
On that opprobrious Hill, and made his Grove
403
The pleasant Vally of Hinnom, Tophet thence
404
And black Gehenna call'd, the Type of Hell.
405
Next Chemos, th' obscene dread of Moabs Sons,
406
From Aroar to Nebo, and the wild
407
Of Southmost Abarim; in Hesebon
408
And Horonaim, Seons Realm, beyond
409
The flowry Dale of Sibma clad with Vines,
410
And Eleale to th' Asphaltick Pool.
411
Peor his other Name, when he entic'd
412
Israel in Sittim on thir march from Nile
413
To do him wanton rites, which cost them woe.
414
Yet thence his lustful Orgies he enlarg'd
415
Even to that Hill of scandal, by the Grove
416
Of Moloch homicide, lust hard by hate;
417
Till good Josiah drove them thence to Hell.
418
With these came they, who from the bordring flood
419
Of old Euphrates to the Brook that parts
420
Egypt from Syrian ground, had general Names
421
Of Baalim and Ashtaroth, those male,
422
These Feminine. For Spirits when they please
423
Can either Sex assume, or both; so soft
424
And uncompounded is thir Essence pure,
425
Not ti'd or manacl'd with joynt or limb,
426
Nor founded on the brittle strength of bones,
427
Like cumbrous flesh; but in what shape they choose
428
Dilated or condens't, bright or obscure,
429
Can execute thir aerie purposes,
430
And works of love or enmity fulfill.
431
For those the Race of Israel oft forsook
432
Thir living strength, and unfrequented left
433
His righteous Altar, bowing lowly down
434
To bestial Gods; for which thir heads as low
435
Bow'd down in Battel, sunk before the Spear
436
Of despicable foes. With these in troop
437
Came Astoreth, whom the Phoenicians call'd
438
Astarte, Queen of Heav'n, with crescent Horns;
439
To whose bright Image nightly by the Moon
440
Sidonian Virgins paid thir Vows and Songs,
441
In Sion also not unsung, where stood
442
Her Temple on th' offensive Mountain, built
443
By that uxorious King, whose heart though large,
444
Beguil'd by fair Idolatresses, fell
445
To Idols foul. Thammuz came next behind,
446
Whose annual wound in Lebanon allur'd
447
The Syrian Damsels to lament his fate
448
In amorous dittyes all a Summers day,
449
While smooth Adonis from his native Rock
450
Ran purple to the Sea, suppos'd with blood
451
Of Thammuz yearly wounded: the Love-tale
452
Infected Sions daughters with like heat,
453
Whose wanton passions in the sacred Porch
454
Ezekiel saw, when by the Vision led
455
His eye survay'd the dark Idolatries
456
Of alienated Judah. Next came one
457
Who mourn'd in earnest, when the Captive Ark
458
Maim'd his brute Image, head and hands lopt off
459
In his own Temple, on the grunsel edge,
460
Where he fell flat, and sham'd his Worshipers:
461
Dagon his Name, Sea Monster, upward Man
462
And downward Fish: yet had his Temple high
463
Rear'd in Azotus, dreaded through the Coast
464
Of Palestine, in Gath and Ascalon
465
And Accaron and Gaza's frontier bounds.
466
Him follow'd Rimmon, whose delightful Seat
467
Was fair Damascus, on the fertil Banks
468
Of Abbana and Pharphar, lucid streams.
469
He also against the house of God was bold:
470
A Leper once he lost and gain'd a King,
471
Ahaz his sottish Conquerour, whom he drew
472
Gods Altar to disparage and displace
473
For one of Syrian mode, whereon to burn
474
His odious off'rings, and adore the Gods
475
Whom he had vanquisht. After these appear'd
476
A crew who under Names of old Renown,
477
Osiris, Isis, Orus and their Train
478
With monstrous shapes and sorceries abus'd
479
Fanatic Egypt and her Priests, to seek
480
Thir wandring Gods disguis'd in brutish forms
481
Rather then human. Nor did Israel scape
482
Th' infection when thir borrow'd Gold compos'd
483
The Calf in Oreb: and the Rebel King
484
Doubl'd that sin in Bethel and in Dan,
485
Lik'ning his Maker to the Grazed Ox,
486
Jehovah, who in one Night when he pass'd
487
From Egypt marching, equal'd with one stroke
488
Both her first born and all her bleating Gods.
489
Belial came last, then whom a Spirit more lewd
490
Fell not from Heaven, or more gross to love
491
Vice for it self: To him no Temple stood
492
Or Altar smoak'd; yet who more oft then hee
493
In Temples and at Altars, when the Priest
494
Turns Atheist, as did Ely's Sons, who fill'd
495
With lust and violence the house of God.
496
In Courts and Palaces he also Reigns
497
And in luxurious Cities, where the noyse
498
Of riot ascends above thir loftiest Towrs,
499
And injury and outrage: And when Night
500
Darkens the Streets, then wander forth the Sons
501
Of Belial, flown with insolence and wine.
502
Witness the Streets of Sodom, and that night
503
In Gibeah, when the hospitable door
504
Expos'd a Matron to avoid worse rape.
505
These were the prime in order and in might;
506
The rest were long to tell, though far renown'd,
507
Th' Ionian Gods, of Javans Issue held
508
Gods, yet confest later then Heav'n and Earth
509
Thir boasted Parents; Titan Heav'ns first born
510
With his enormous brood, and birthright seis'd
511
By younger Saturn, he from mightier Jove
512
His own and Rhea's Son like measure found;
513
So Jove usurping reign'd: these first in Creet
514
And Ida known, thence on the Snowy top
515
Of cold Olympus rul'd the middle Air
516
Thir highest Heav'n; or on the Delphian Cliff,
517
Or in Dodona, and through all the bounds
518
Of Doric Land; or who with Saturn old
519
Fled over Adria to th' Hesperian Fields,
520
And ore the Celtic roam'd the utmost Isles.
521
All these and more came flocking; but with looks
522
Down cast and damp, yet such wherein appear'd
523
Obscure some glimps of joy, to have found thir chief
524
Not in despair, to have found themselves not lost
525
In loss it self; which on his count'nance cast
526
Like doubtful hue: but he his wonted pride
527
Soon recollecting, with high words, that bore
528
Semblance of worth, not substance, gently rais'd
529
Thir fainting courage, and dispel'd thir fears.
530
Then strait commands that at the warlike sound
531
Of Trumpets loud and Clarions be upreard
532
His mighty Standard; that proud honour claim'd
533
Azazel as his right, a Cherube tall:
534
Who forthwith from the glittering Staff unfurld
535
Th' Imperial Ensign, which full high advanc't
536
Shon like a Meteor streaming to the Wind
537
With Gemms and Golden lustre rich imblaz'd,
538
Seraphic arms and Trophies: all the while
539
Sonorous mettal blowing Martial sounds:
540
At which the universal Host upsent
541
A shout that tore Hells Concave, and beyond
542
Frighted the Reign of Chaos and old Night.
543
All in a moment through the gloom were seen
544
Ten thousand Banners rise into the Air
545
With Orient Colours waving: with them rose
546
A Forest huge of Spears: and thronging Helms
547
Appear'd, and serried shields in thick array
548
Of depth immeasurable: Anon they move
549
In perfect Phalanx to the Dorian mood
550
Of Flutes and soft Recorders; such as rais'd
551
To hight of noblest temper Hero's old
552
Arming to Battel, and in stead of rage
553
Deliberate valour breath'd, firm and unmov'd
554
With dread of death to flight or foul retreat,
555
Nor wanting power to mitigate and swage
556
With solemn touches, troubl'd thoughts, and chase
557
Anguish and doubt and fear and sorrow and pain
558
From mortal or immortal minds. Thus they
559
Breathing united force with fixed thought
560
Mov'd on in silence to soft Pipes that charm'd
561
Thir painful steps o're the burnt soyle; and now
562
Advanc't in view, they stand, a horrid Front
563
Of dreadful length and dazling Arms, in guise
564
Of Warriers old with order'd Spear and Shield,
565
Awaiting what command thir mighty Chief
566
Had to impose: He through the armed Files
567
Darts his experienc't eye, and soon traverse
568
The whole Battalion views, thir order due,
569
Thir visages and stature as of Gods,
570
Thir number last he summs. And now his heart
571
Distends with pride, and hardning in his strength
572
Glories: For never since created man,
573
Met such imbodied force, as nam'd with these
574
Could merit more then that small infantry
575
Warr'd on by Cranes: though all the Giant brood
576
Of Phlegra with th' Heroic Race were joyn'd
577
That fought at Theb's and Ilium, on each side
578
Mixt with auxiliar Gods; and what resounds
579
In Fable or Romance of Uthers Son
580
Begirt with British and Armoric Knights;
581
And all who since, Baptiz'd or Infidel
582
Jousted in Aspramont or Montalban,
583
Damasco, or Marocco, or Trebisond,
584
Or whom Biserta sent from Afric shore
585
When Charlemain with all his Peerage fell
586
By Fontarabbia. Thus far these beyond
587
Compare of mortal prowess, yet observ'd
588
Thir dread commander: he above the rest
589
In shape and gesture proudly eminent
590
Stood like a Towr; his form had yet not lost
591
All her Original brightness, nor appear'd
592
Less then Arch Angel ruind, and th' excess
593
Of Glory obscur'd: As when the Sun new ris'n
594
Looks through the Horizontal misty Air
595
Shorn of his Beams, or from behind the Moon
596
In dim Eclips disastrous twilight sheds
597
On half the Nations, and with fear of change
598
Perplexes Monarchs. Dark'n'd so, yet shon
599
Above them all th' Arch Angel: but his face
600
Deep scars of Thunder had intrencht, and care
601
Sat on his faded cheek, but under Browes
602
Of dauntless courage, and considerate Pride
603
Waiting revenge: cruel his eye, but cast
604
Signs of remorse and passion to behold
605
The fellows of his crime, the followers rather
606
(Far other once beheld in bliss) condemn'd
607
For ever now to have thir lot in pain,
608
Millions of Spirits for his fault amerc't
609
Of Heav'n, and from Eternal Splendors flung
610
For his revolt, yet faithfull how they stood,
611
Thir Glory witherd. As when Heavens Fire
612
Hath scath'd the Forrest Oaks, or Mountain Pines,
613
With singed top thir stately growth though bare
614
Stands on the blasted Heath. He now prepar'd
615
To speak; whereat thir doubl'd Ranks they bend
616
From wing to wing, and half enclose him round
617
With all his Peers: attention held them mute.
618
Thrice he assayd, and thrice in spight of scorn,
619
Tears such as Angels weep, burst forth: at last
620
Words interwove with sighs found out thir way.
621
O Myriads of immortal Spirits, O Powers
622
Matchless, but with th' Almighty, and that strife
623
Was not inglorious, though th' event was dire,
624
As this place testifies, and this dire change
625
Hateful to utter: but what power of mind
626
Foreseeing or presaging, from the Depth
627
Of knowledge past or present, could have fear'd,
628
How such united force of Gods, how such
629
As stood like these, could ever know repulse?
630
For who can yet beleeve, though after loss,
631
That all these puissant Legions, whose exile
632
Hath emptied Heav'n, shall fail to re-ascend
633
Self-rais'd, and repossess thir native seat?
634
For mee be witness all the Host of Heav'n,
635
If counsels different, or danger shun'd
636
By me, have lost our hopes. But he who reigns
637
Monarch in Heav'n, till then as one secure
638
Sat on his Throne, upheld by old repute,
639
Consent or custome, and his Regal State
640
Put forth at full, but still his strength conceal'd,
641
Which tempted our attempt, and wrought our fall.
642
Henceforth his might we know, and know our own
643
So as not either to provoke, or dread
644
New warr, provok't; our better part remains
645
To work in close design, by fraud or guile
646
What force effected not: that he no less
647
At length from us may find, who overcomes
648
By force, hath overcome but half his foe.
649
Space may produce new Worlds; whereof so rife
650
There went a fame in Heav'n that he ere long
651
Intended to create, and therein plant
652
A generation, whom his choice regard
653
Should favour equal to the Sons of Heaven:
654
Thither, if but to pry, shall be perhaps
655
Our first eruption, thither or elsewhere:
656
For this Infernal Pit shall never hold
657
Cælestial Spirits in Bondage, nor th' Abyss
658
Long under darkness cover. But these thoughts
659
Full Counsel must mature: Peace is despaird,
660
For who can think Submission? Warr then, Warr
661
Open or understood must be resolv'd.
662
He spake: and to confirm his words, out-flew
663
Millions of flaming swords, drawn from the thighs
664
Of mighty Cherubim; the sudden blaze
665
Far round illumin'd hell: highly they rag'd
666
Against the Highest, and fierce with grasped arms
667
Clash'd on thir sounding Shields the din of war,
668
Hurling defiance toward the vault of Heav'n.
669
There stood a Hill not far whose griesly top
670
Belch'd fire and rowling smoak; the rest entire
671
Shon with a glossie scurff, undoubted sign
672
That in his womb was hid metallic Ore,
673
The work of Sulphur. Thither wing'd with speed
674
A numerous Brigad hasten'd. As when Bands
675
Of Pioners with Spade and Pickax arm'd
676
Forerun the Royal Camp, to trench a Field,
677
Or cast a Rampart. Mammon led them on,
678
Mammon, the least erected Spirit that fell
679
From heav'n, for ev'n in heav'n his looks and thoughts
680
Were always downward bent, admiring more
681
The riches of Heav'ns pavement, trod'n Gold,
682
Then aught divine or holy else enjoy'd
683
In vision beatific: by him first
684
Men also, and by his suggestion taught,
685
Ransack'd the Center, and with impious hands
686
Rifl'd the bowels of thir mother Earth
687
For Treasures better hid. Soon had his crew
688
Op'nd into the Hill a spacious wound
689
And dig'd out ribs of Gold. Let none admire
690
That riches grow in Hell; that soyle may best
691
Deserve the precious bane. And here let those
692
Who boast in mortal things, and wond'ring tell
693
Of Babel, and the works of Memphian Kings
694
Learn how thir greatest Monuments of Fame,
695
And Strength and Art are easily out-done
696
By Spirits reprobate, and in an hour
697
What in an age they with incessant toyle
698
And hands innumerable scarce perform.
699
Nigh on the Plain in many cells prepar'd,
700
That underneath had veins of liquid fire
701
Sluc'd from the Lake, a second multitude
702
With wondrous Art found out the massie Ore,
703
Severing each kind, and scum'd the Bullion dross:
704
A third as soon had form'd within the ground
705
A various mould, and from the boyling cells
706
By strange conveyance fill'd each hollow nook,
707
As in an Organ from one blast of wind
708
To many a row of Pipes the sound-board breaths.
709
Anon out of the earth a Fabrick huge
710
Rose like an Exhalation, with the sound
711
Of Dulcet Symphonies and voices sweet,
712
Built like a Temple, where Pilasters round
713
Were set, and Doric pillars overlaid
714
With Golden Architrave; nor did there want
715
Cornice or Freeze, with bossy Sculptures grav'n,
716
The Roof was fretted Gold. Not Babilon,
717
Nor great Alcairo such magnificence
718
Equal'd in all thir glories, to inshrine
719
Belus or Serapis thir Gods, or seat
720
Thir Kings, when Ægypt with Assyria strove
721
In wealth and luxurie. Th' ascending pile
722
Stood fixt her stately highth, and strait the dores
723
Op'ning thir brazen foulds discover wide
724
Within, her ample spaces, o're the smooth
725
And level pavement: from the arched roof
726
Pendant by suttle Magic many a row
727
Of Starry Lamps and blazing Cressets fed
728
With Naphtha and Asphaltus yeilded light
729
As from a sky. The hasty multitude
730
Admiring enter'd, and the work some praise
731
And some the Architect: his hand was known
732
In Heav'n by many a Towred structure high,
733
Where Scepter'd Angels held thir residence,
734
And sat as Princes, whom the supreme King
735
Exalted to such power, and gave to rule,
736
Each in his Hierarchie, the Orders bright.
737
Nor was his name unheard or unador'd
738
In ancient Greece; and in Ausonian land
739
Men call'd him Mulciber; and how he fell
740
From Heav'n, they fabl'd, thrown by angry Jove
741
Sheer o're the Chrystal Battlements: from Morn
742
To Noon he fell, from Noon to dewy Eve,
743
A Summers day; and with the setting Sun
744
Dropt from the Zenith like a falling Star,
745
On Lemnos th' Ægean Ile: thus they relate,
746
Erring; for he with this rebellious rout
747
Fell long before; nor aught avail'd him now
748
To have built in Heav'n high Towrs; nor did he scape
749
By all his Engins, but was headlong sent
750
With his industrious crew to build in hell.
751
Mean while the winged Haralds by command
752
Of Sovran power, with awful Ceremony
753
And Trumpets sound throughout the Host proclaim
754
A solemn Councel forthwith to be held
755
At Pandæmonium, the high Capital
756
Of Satan and his Peers: thir summons call'd
757
From every Band and squared Regiment
758
By place or choice the worthiest; they anon
759
With hunderds and with thousands trooping came
760
Attended: all access was throng'd, the Gates
761
And Porches wide, but chief the spacious Hall
762
(Though like a cover'd field, where Champions bold
763
Wont ride in arm'd, and at the Soldans chair
764
Defi'd the best of Paynim chivalry
765
To mortal combat or carreer with Lance)
766
Thick swarm'd, both on the ground and in the air,
767
Brusht with the hiss of russling wings. As Bees
768
In spring time, when the Sun with Taurus rides,
769
Pour forth thir populous youth about the Hive
770
In clusters; they among fresh dews and flowers
771
Flie to and fro, or on the smoothed Plank,
772
The suburb of thir Straw-built Cittadel,
773
New rub'd with Baum, expatiate and confer
774
Thir State affairs. So thick the aerie crowd
775
Swarm'd and were straitn'd; till the Signal giv'n.
776
Behold a wonder! they but now who seemd
777
In bigness to surpass Earths Giant Sons
778
Now less then smallest Dwarfs, in narrow room
779
Throng numberless, like that Pigmean Race
780
Beyond the Indian Mount, or Faerie Elves,
781
Whose midnight Revels, by a Forrest side
782
Or Fountain some belated Peasant sees,
783
Or dreams he sees, while over-head the Moon
784
Sits Arbitress, and neerer to the Earth
785
Wheels her pale course, they on thir mirth and dance
786
Intent, with jocond Music charm his ear;
787
At once with joy and fear his heart rebounds.
788
Thus incorporeal Spirits to smallest forms
789
Reduc'd thir shapes immense, and were at large,
790
Though without number still amidst the Hall
791
Of that infernal Court. But far within
792
And in thir own dimensions like themselves
793
The great Seraphic Lords and Cherubim
794
In close recess and secret conclave sat
795
A thousand Demy-Gods on golden seats,
796
Frequent and full. After short silence then
797
And summons read, the great consult began.
798
The End of the First Book.
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