Milton, John, 1608-1674. Paradise Lost (1667)
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Book 1
1: Of Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit
2: Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast
3: Brought Death into the World, and all our woe,
4: With loss of EDEN, till one greater Man
5: Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat,
6: Sing Heav'nly Muse, that on the secret top
7: Of OREB, or of SINAI, didst inspire
8: That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen Seed,
9: In the Beginning how the Heav'ns and Earth
10: Rose out of CHAOS: Or if SION Hill
11: Delight thee more, and SILOA'S Brook that flow'd
12: Fast by the Oracle of God; I thence
13: Invoke thy aid to my adventrous Song,
14: That with no middle flight intends to soar
15: Above th' AONIAN Mount, while it pursues
16: Things unattempted yet in Prose or Rhime.
17: And chiefly Thou O Spirit, that dost prefer
18: Before all Temples th' upright heart and pure,
19: Instruct me, for Thou know'st; Thou from the first
20: Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread
21: Dove-like satst brooding on the vast Abyss
22: And mad'st it pregnant: What in me is dark
23: Illumine, what is low raise and support;
24: That to the highth of this great Argument
25: I may assert th' Eternal Providence,
26: And justifie the wayes of God to men.
27: Say first, for Heav'n hides nothing from thy view
28: Nor the deep Tract of Hell, say first what cause
29: Mov'd our Grand Parents in that happy State,
30: Favour'd of Heav'n so highly, to fall off
31: From their Creator, and transgress his Will
32: For one restraint, Lords of the World besides?
33: Who first seduc'd them to that fowl revolt?
34: Th' infernal Serpent; he it was, whose guile
35: Stird up with Envy and Revenge, deceiv'd
36: The Mother of Mankinde, what time his Pride
37: Had cast him out from Heav'n, with all his Host
38: Of Rebel Angels, by whose aid aspiring
39: To set himself in Glory above his Peers,
40: He trusted to have equal'd the most High,
41: If he oppos'd; and with ambitious aim
42: Against the Throne and Monarchy of God
43: Rais'd impious War in Heav'n and Battel proud
44: With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power
45: Hurld headlong flaming from th' Ethereal Skie
46: With hideous ruine and combustion down
47: To bottomless perdition, there to dwell
48: In Adamantine Chains and penal Fire,
49: Who durst defie th' Omnipotent to Arms.
50: Nine times the Space that measures Day and Night
51: To mortal men, he with his horrid crew
52: Lay vanquisht, rowling in the fiery Gulfe
53: Confounded though immortal: But his doom
54: Reserv'd him to more wrath; for now the thought
55: Both of lost happiness and lasting pain
56: Torments him; round he throws his baleful eyes
57: That witness'd huge affliction and dismay
58: Mixt with obdurate pride and stedfast hate:
59: At once as far as Angels kenn he views
60: The dismal Situation waste and wilde,
61: A Dungeon horrible, on all sides round
62: As one great Furnace flam'd, yet from those flames
63: No light, but rather darkness visible
64: Serv'd only to discover sights of woe,
65: Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace
66: And rest can never dwell, hope never comes
67: That comes to all; but torture without end
68: Still urges, and a fiery Deluge, fed
69: With ever-burning Sulphur unconsum'd:
70: Such place Eternal Justice had prepar'd
71: For those rebellious, here their Prison ordain'd
72: In utter darkness, and their portion set
73: As far remov'd from God and light of Heav'n
74: As from the Center thrice to th' utmost Pole.
75: O how unlike the place from whence they fell!
76: There the companions of his fall, o'rewhelm'd
77: With Floods and Whirlwinds of tempestuous fire,
78: He soon discerns, and weltring by his side
79: One next himself in power, and next in crime,
80: Long after known in PALESTINE, and nam'd
81: BEELZEBUB. To whom th' Arch-Enemy,
82: And thence in Heav'n call'd Satan, with bold words
83: Breaking the horrid silence thus began.
84: If thou beest he; But O how fall'n! how chang'd
85: From him, who in the happy Realms of Light
86: Cloth'd with transcendent brightnes didst outshine
87: Myriads though bright: If he whom mutual league,
88: United thoughts and counsels, equal hope,
89: And hazard in the Glorious Enterprize,
90: Joynd with me once, now misery hath joynd
91: In equal ruin: into what Pit thou seest
92: From what highth fal'n, so much the stronger provd
93: He with his Thunder: and till then who knew
94: The force of those dire Arms? yet not for those
95: Nor what the Potent Victor in his rage
96: Can else inflict do I repent or change,
97: Though chang'd in outward lustre; that fixt mind
98: And high disdain, from sence of injur'd merit,
99: That with the mightiest rais'd me to contend,
100: And to the fierce contention brought along
101: Innumerable force of Spirits arm'd
102: That durst dislike his reign, and me preferring,
103: His utmost power with adverse power oppos'd
104: In dubious Battel on the Plains of Heav'n,
105: And shook his throne. What though the field be lost?
106: All is not lost; the unconquerable Will,
107: And study of revenge, immortal hate,
108: And courage never to submit or yield:
109: And what is else not to be overcome?
110: That Glory never shall his wrath or might
111: Extort from me. To bow and sue for grace
112: With suppliant knee, and deifie his power
113: Who from the terrour of this Arm so late
114: Doubted his Empire, that were low indeed,
115: That were an ignominy and shame beneath
116: This downfall; since by Fate the strength of Gods
117: And this Empyreal substance cannot fail,
118: Since through experience of this great event
119: In Arms not worse, in foresight much advanc't,
120: We may with more successful hope resolve
121: To wage by force or guile eternal Warr
122: Irreconcileable, to our grand Foe,
123: Who now triumphs, and in th' excess of joy
124: Sole reigning holds the Tyranny of Heav'n.
125: So spake th' Apostate Angel, though in pain,
126: Vaunting aloud, but rackt with deep despare:
127: And him thus answer'd soon his bold Compeer.
128: O Prince, O Chief of many Throned Powers,
129: That led th' imbattelld Seraphim to Warr
130: Under thy conduct, and in dreadful deeds
131: Fearless, endanger'd Heav'ns perpetual King;
132: And put to proof his high Supremacy,
133: Whether upheld by strength, or Chance, or Fate,
134: Too well I see and rue the dire event,
135: That with sad overthrow and foul defeat
136: Hath lost us Heav'n, and all this mighty Host
137: In horrible destruction laid thus low,
138: As far as Gods and Heav'nly Essences
139: Can Perish: for the mind and spirit remains
140: Invincible, and vigour soon returns,
141: Though all our Glory extinct, and happy state
142: Here swallow'd up in endless misery.
143: But what if he our Conquerour, (whom I now
144: Of force believe Almighty, since no less
145: Then such could hav orepow'rd such force as ours)
146: Have left us this our spirit and strength intire
147: Strongly to suffer and support our pains,
148: That we may so suffice his vengeful ire,
149: Or do him mightier service as his thralls
150: By right of Warr, what e're his business be
151: Here in the heart of Hell to work in Fire,
152: Or do his Errands in the gloomy Deep;
153: What can it then avail though yet we feel
154: Strength undiminisht, or eternal being
155: To undergo eternal punishment?
156: Whereto with speedy words th' Arch-fiend reply'd.
157: Fall'n Cherube, to be weak is miserable
158: Doing or Suffering: but of this be sure,
159: To do ought good never will be our task,
160: But ever to do ill our sole delight,
161: As being the contrary to his high will
162: Whom we resist. If then his Providence
163: Out of our evil seek to bring forth good,
164: Our labour must be to pervert that end,
165: And out of good still to find means of evil;
166: Which oft times may succeed, so as perhaps
167: Shall grieve him, if I fail not, and disturb
168: His inmost counsels from their destind aim.
169: But see the angry Victor hath recall'd
170: His Ministers of vengeance and pursuit
171: Back to the Gates of Heav'n: The Sulphurous Hail
172: Shot after us in storm, oreblown hath laid
173: The fiery Surge, that from the Precipice
174: Of Heav'n receiv'd us falling, and the Thunder,
175: Wing'd with red Lightning and impetuous rage,
176: Perhaps hath spent his shafts, and ceases now
177: To bellow through the vast and boundless Deep.
178: Let us not slip th' occasion, whether scorn,
179: Or satiate fury yield it from our Foe.
180: Seest thou yon dreary Plain, forlorn and wilde,
181: The seat of desolation, voyd of light,
182: Save what the glimmering of these livid flames
183: Casts pale and dreadful? Thither let us tend
184: From off the tossing of these fiery waves,
185: There rest, if any rest can harbour there,
186: And reassembling our afflicted Powers,
187: Consult how we may henceforth most offend
188: Our Enemy, our own loss how repair,
189: How overcome this dire Calamity,
190: What reinforcement we may gain from Hope,
191: If not what resolution from despare.
192: Thus Satan talking to his neerest Mate
193: With Head up-lift above the wave, and Eyes
194: That sparkling blaz'd, his other Parts besides
195: Prone on the Flood, extended long and large
196: Lay floating many a rood, in bulk as huge
197: As whom the Fables name of monstrous size,
198: TITANIAN, or EARTH-BORN, that warr'd on JOVE,
199: BRIARIOS or TYPHON, whom the Den
200: By ancient TARSUS held, or that Sea-beast
201: LEVIATHAN, which God of all his works
202: Created hugest that swim th' Ocean stream:
203: Him haply slumbring on the NORWAY foam
204: The Pilot of some small night-founder'd Skiff,
205: Deeming some Island, oft, as Sea-men tell,
206: With fixed Anchor in his skaly rind
207: Moors by his side under the Lee, while Night
208: Invests the Sea, and wished Morn delayes:
209: So stretcht out huge in length the Arch-fiend lay
210: Chain'd on the burning Lake, nor ever thence
211: Had ris'n or heav'd his head, but that the will
212: And high permission of all-ruling Heaven
213: Left him at large to his own dark designs,
214: That with reiterated crimes he might
215: Heap on himself damnation, while he sought
216: Evil to others, and enrag'd might see
217: How all his malice serv'd but to bring forth
218: Infinite goodness, grace and mercy shewn
219: On Man by him seduc't, but on himself
220: Treble confusion, wrath and vengeance pour'd.
221: Forthwith upright he rears from off the Pool
222: His mighty Stature; on each hand the flames
223: Drivn backward slope their pointing spires, & rowld
224: In billows, leave i'th' midst a horrid Vale.
225: Then with expanded wings he stears his flight
226: Aloft, incumbent on the dusky Air
227: That felt unusual weight, till on dry Land
228: He lights, if it were Land that ever burn'd
229: With solid, as the Lake with liquid fire;
230: And such appear'd in hue, as when the force
231: Of subterranean wind transports a Hill
232: Torn from PELORUS, or the shatter'd side
233: Of thundring AETNA, whose combustible
234: And fewel'd entrals thence conceiving Fire,
235: Sublim'd with Mineral fury, aid the Winds,
236: And leave a singed bottom all involv'd
237: With stench and smoak: Such resting found the sole
238: Of unblest feet. Him followed his next Mate,
239: Both glorying to have scap't the STYGIAN flood
240: As Gods, and by their own recover'd strength,
241: Not by the sufferance of supernal Power.
242: Is this the Region, this the Soil, the Clime,
243: Said then the lost Arch Angel, this the seat
244: That we must change for Heav'n, this mournful gloom
245: For that celestial light? Be it so, since hee
246: Who now is Sovran can dispose and bid
247: What shall be right: fardest from him is best
248: Whom reason hath equald, force hath made supream
249: Above his equals. Farewel happy Fields
250: Where Joy for ever dwells: Hail horrours, hail
251: Infernal world, and thou profoundest Hell
252: Receive thy new Possessor: One who brings
253: A mind not to be chang'd by Place or Time.
254: The mind is its own place, and in it self
255: Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n.
256: What matter where, if I be still the same,
257: And what I should be, all but less then hee
258: Whom Thunder hath made greater? Here at least
259: We shall be free; th' Almighty hath not built
260: Here for his envy, will not drive us hence:
261: Here we may reign secure, and in my choyce
262: To reign is worth ambition though in Hell:
263: Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav'n.
264: But wherefore let we then our faithful friends,
265: Th' associates and copartners of our loss
266: Lye thus astonisht on th' oblivious Pool,
267: And call them not to share with us their part
268: In this unhappy Mansion, or once more
269: With rallied Arms to try what may be yet
270: Regaind in Heav'n, or what more lost in Hell?
271: So SATAN spake, and him BEELZEBUB
272: Thus answer'd. Leader of those Armies bright,
273: Which but th' Omnipotent none could have foyld,
274: If once they hear that voyce, their liveliest pledge
275: Of hope in fears and dangers, heard so oft
276: In worst extreams, and on the perilous edge
277: Of battel when it rag'd, in all assaults
278: Their surest signal, they will soon resume
279: New courage and revive, though now they lye
280: Groveling and prostrate on yon Lake of Fire,
281: As we erewhile, astounded and amaz'd,
282: No wonder, fall'n such a pernicious highth.
283: He scarce had ceas't when the superiour Fiend
284: Was moving toward the shore; his ponderous shield
285: Ethereal temper, massy, large and round,
286: Behind him cast; the broad circumference
287: Hung on his shoulders like the Moon, whose Orb
288: Through Optic Glass the TUSCAN Artist views
289: At Ev'ning from the top of FESOLE,
290: Or in VALDARNO, to descry new Lands,
291: Rivers or Mountains in her spotty Globe.
292: His Spear, to equal which the tallest Pine
293: Hewn on NORWEGIAN hills, to be the Mast
294: Of some great Ammiral, were but a wand,
295: He walkt with to support uneasie steps
296: Over the burning Marle, not like those steps
297: On Heavens Azure, and the torrid Clime
298: Smote on him sore besides, vaulted with Fire;
299: Nathless he so endur'd, till on the Beach
300: Of that inflamed Sea, he stood and call'd
301: His Legions, Angel Forms, who lay intrans't
302: Thick as Autumnal Leaves that strow the Brooks
303: In VALLOMBROSA, where th' ETRURIAN shades
304: High overarch't imbowr; or scatterd sedge
305: Afloat, when with fierce Winds ORION arm'd
306: Hath vext the Red-Sea Coast, whose waves orethrew
307: BUSIRIS and his MEMPHIAN Chivalrie,
308: VVhile with perfidious hatred they pursu'd
309: The Sojourners of GOSHEN, who beheld
310: From the safe shore their floating Carkases
311: And broken Chariot Wheels, so thick bestrown
312: Abject and lost lay these, covering the Flood,
313: Under amazement of their hideous change.
314: He call'd so loud, that all the hollow Deep
315: Of Hell resounded. Princes, Potentates,
316: Warriers, the Flowr of Heav'n, once yours, now lost,
317: If such astonishment as this can sieze
318: Eternal spirits; or have ye chos'n this place
319: After the toyl of Battel to repose
320: Your wearied vertue, for the ease you find
321: To slumber here, as in the Vales of Heav'n?
322: Or in this abject posture have ye sworn
323: To adore the Conquerour? who now beholds
324: Cherube and Seraph rowling in the Flood
325: With scatter'd Arms and Ensigns, till anon
326: His swift pursuers from Heav'n Gates discern
327: Th' advantage, and descending tread us down
328: Thus drooping, or with linked Thunderbolts
329: Transfix us to the bottom of this Gulfe.
330: Awake, arise, or be for ever fall'n.
331: They heard, and were abasht, and up they sprung
332: Upon the wing, as when men wont to watch
333: On duty, sleeping found by whom they dread,
334: Rouse and bestir themselves ere well awake.
335: Nor did they not perceave the evil plight
336: In which they were, or the fierce pains not feel;
337: Yet to their Generals Voyce they soon obeyd
338: Innumerable. As when the potent Rod
339: Of AMRAMS Son in EGYPTS evill day
340: Wav'd round the Coast, up call'd a pitchy cloud
341: Of LOCUSTS, warping on the Eastern Wind,
342: That ore the Realm of impious PHAROAH hung
343: Like Night, and darken'd all the Land of NILE:
344: So numberless were those bad Angels seen
345: Hovering on wing under the Cope of Hell
346: 'Twixt upper, nether, and surrounding Fires;
347: Till, as a signal giv'n, th' uplifted Spear
348: Of their great Sultan waving to direct
349: Thir course, in even ballance down they light
350: On the firm brimstone, and fill all the Plain;
351: A multitude, like which the populous North
352: Pour'd never from her frozen loyns, to pass
353: RHENE or the DANAW, when her barbarous Sons
354: Came like a Deluge on the South, and spread
355: Beneath GIBRALTAR to the LYBIAN sands.
356: Forthwith from every Squadron and each Band
357: The Heads and Leaders thither hast where stood
358: Their great Commander; Godlike shapes and forms
359: Excelling human, Princely Dignities,
360: And Powers that earst in Heaven sat on Thrones;
361: Though of their Names in heav'nly Records now
362: Be no memorial, blotted out and ras'd
363: By thir Rebellion, from the Books of Life.
364: Nor had they yet among the Sons of EVE
365: Got them new Names, till wandring ore the Earth,
366: Through Gods high sufferance for the tryal of man,
367: By falsities and lyes the greatest part
368: Of Mankind they corrupted to forsake
369: God their Creator, and th' invisible
370: Glory of him, that made them, to transform
371: Oft to the Image of a Brute, adorn'd
372: With gay Religions full of Pomp and Gold,
373: And Devils to adore for Deities:
374: Then were they known to men by various Names,
375: And various Idols through the Heathen World.
376: Say, Muse, their Names then known, who first, who last,
377: Rous'd from the slumber, on that fiery Couch,
378: At thir great Emperors call, as next in worth
379: Came singly where he stood on the bare strand,
380: While the promiscuous croud stood yet aloof?
381: The chief were those who from the Pit of Hell
382: Roaming to seek their prey on earth, durst fix
383: Their Seats long after next the Seat of God,
384: Their Altars by his Altar, Gods ador'd
385: Among the Nations round, and durst abide
386: JEHOVAH thundring out of SION, thron'd
387: Between the Cherubim; yea, often plac'd
388: Within his Sanctuary it self their Shrines,
389: Abominations; and with cursed things
390: His holy Rites, and solemn Feasts profan'd,
391: And with their darkness durst affront his light.
392: First MOLOCH, horrid King besmear'd with blood
393: Of human sacrifice, and parents tears,
394: Though for the noyse of Drums and Timbrels loud
395: Their childrens cries unheard, that past through fire
396: To his grim Idol. Him the AMMONITE
397: Worshipt in RABBA and her watry Plain,
398: In ARGOB and in BASAN, to the stream
399: Of utmost ARNON. Nor content with such
400: Audacious neighbourhood, the wisest heart
401: Of SOLOMON he led by fraud to build
402: His Temple right against the Temple of God
403: On that opprobrious Hill, and made his Grove
404: The pleasant Vally of HINNOM, TOPHET thence
405: And black GEHENNA call'd, the Type of Hell.
406: Next CHEMOS, th' obscene dread of MOABS Sons,
407: From AROER to NEBO, and the wild
408: Of Southmost ABARIM; in HESEBON
409: And HERONAIM, SEONS Realm, beyond
410: The flowry Dale of SIBMA clad with Vines,
411: And ELEALE to th' ASPHALTICK Pool.
412: PEOR his other Name, when he entic'd
413: ISRAEL in SITTIM on their march from NILE
414: To do him wanton rites, which cost them woe.
415: Yet thence his lustful Orgies he enlarg'd
416: Even to that Hill of scandal, by the Grove
417: Of MOLOCH homicide, lust hard by hate;
418: Till good JOSIAH drove them thence to Hell.
419: With these came they, who from the bordring flood
420: Of old EUPHRATES to the Brook that parts
421: EGYPT from SYRIAN ground, had general Names
422: Of BAALIM and ASHTAROTH, those male,
423: These Feminine. For Spirits when they please
424: Can either Sex assume, or both; so soft
425: And uncompounded is their Essence pure,
426: Not ti'd or manacl'd with joynt or limb,
427: Nor founded on the brittle strength of bones,
428: Like cumbrous flesh; but in what shape they choose
429: Dilated or condens't, bright or obscure,
430: Can execute their aerie purposes,
431: And works of love or enmity fulfill.
432: For those the Race of ISRAEL oft forsook
433: Their living strength, and unfrequented left
434: His righteous Altar, bowing lowly down
435: To bestial Gods; for which their heads as low
436: Bow'd down in Battel, sunk before the Spear
437: Of despicable foes. With these in troop
438: Came ASTORETH, whom the PHOENICIANS call'd
439: ASTARTE, Queen of Heav'n, with crescent Horns;
440: To whose bright Image nightly by the Moon
441: SIDONIAN Virgins paid their Vows and Songs,
442: In SION also not unsung, where stood
443: Her Temple on th' offensive Mountain, built
444: By that uxorious King, whose heart though large,
445: Beguil'd by fair Idolatresses, fell
446: To Idols foul. THAMMUZ came next behind,
447: Whose annual wound in LEBANON allur'd
448: The SYRIAN Damsels to lament his fate
449: In amorous dittyes all a Summers day,
450: While smooth ADONIS from his native Rock
451: Ran purple to the Sea, suppos'd with blood
452: Of THAMMUZ yearly wounded: the Love-tale
453: Infected SIONS daughters with like heat,
454: Whose wanton passions in the sacred Porch
455: EZEKIEL saw, when by the Vision led
456: His eye survay'd the dark Idolatries
457: Of alienated JUDAH. Next came one
458: Who mourn'd in earnest, when the Captive Ark
459: Maim'd his brute Image, head and hands lopt off
460: In his own Temple, on the grunsel edge,
461: Where he fell flat, and sham'd his Worshipers:
462: DAGON his Name, Sea Monster, upward Man
463: And downward Fish: yet had his Temple high
464: Rear'd in AZOTUS, dreaded through the Coast
465: Of PALESTINE, in GATH and ASCALON,
466: And ACCARON and GAZA's frontier bounds.
467: Him follow'd RIMMON, whose delightful Seat
468: Was fair DAMASCUS, on the fertil Banks
469: Of ABBANA and PHARPHAR, lucid streams.
470: He also against the house of God was bold:
471: A Leper once he lost and gain'd a King,
472: AHAZ his sottish Conquerour, whom he drew
473: Gods Altar to disparage and displace
474: For one of SYRIAN mode, whereon to burn
475: His odious offrings, and adore the Gods
476: Whom he had vanquisht. After these appear'd
477: A crew who under Names of old Renown,
478: OSIRIS, ISIS, ORUS and their Train
479: With monstrous shapes and sorceries abus'd
480: Fanatic EGYPT and her Priests, to seek
481: Thir wandring Gods disguis'd in brutish forms
482: Rather then human. Nor did ISRAEL scape
483: Th' infection when their borrow'd Gold compos'd
484: The Calf in OREB: and the Rebel King
485: Doubl'd that sin in BETHEL and in DAN,
486: Lik'ning his Maker to the Grazed Ox,
487: JEHOVAH, who in one Night when he pass'd
488: From EGYPT marching, equal'd with one stroke
489: Both her first born and all her bleating Gods.
490: BELIAL came last, then whom a Spirit more lewd
491: Fell not from Heaven, or more gross to love
492: Vice for it self: To him no Temple stood
493: Or Altar smoak'd; yet who more oft then hee
494: In Temples and at Altars, when the Priest
495: Turns Atheist, as did ELY'S Sons, who fill'd
496: With lust and violence the house of God.
497: In Courts and Palaces he also Reigns
498: And in luxurious Cities, where the noyse
499: Of riot ascends above thir loftiest Towrs,
500: And injury and outrage: And when Night
501: Darkens the Streets, then wander forth the Sons
502: Of BELIAL, flown with insolence and wine.
503: Witness the Streets of SODOM, and that night
504: In GIBEAH, when hospitable Dores
505: Yielded thir Matrons to prevent worse rape.
506: These were the prime in order and in might;
507: The rest were long to tell, though far renown'd,
508: Th' IONIAN Gods, of JAVANS Issue held
509: Gods, yet confest later then Heav'n and Earth
510: Thir boasted Parents; TITAN Heav'ns first born
511: With his enormous brood, and birthright seis'd
512: By younger SATURN, he from mightier JOVE
513: His own and RHEA'S Son like measure found;
514: So JOVE usurping reign'd: these first in CREET
515: And IDA known, thence on the Snowy top
516: Of cold OLYMPUS rul'd the middle Air
517: Thir highest Heav'n; or on the DELPHIAN Cliff,
518: Or in DODONA, and through all the bounds
519: Of DORIC Land; or who with SATURN old
520: Fled over ADRIA to th' HESPERIAN Fields,
521: And ore the CELTIC roam'd the utmost Isles.
522: All these and more came flocking; but with looks
523: Down cast and damp, yet such wherein appear'd
524: Obscure som glimps of joy, to have found thir chief
525: Not in despair, to have found themselves not lost
526: In loss it self; which on his count'nance cast
527: Like doubtful hue: but he his wonted pride
528: Soon recollecting, with high words, that bore
529: Semblance of worth not substance, gently rais'd
530: Their fainted courage, and dispel'd their fears.
531: Then strait commands that at the warlike sound
532: Of Trumpets loud and Clarions be upreard
533: His mighty Standard; that proud honour claim'd
534: AZAZEL as his right, a Cherube tall:
535: Who forthwith from the glittering Staff unfurld
536: Th' Imperial Ensign, which full high advanc't
537: Shon like a Meteor streaming to the Wind
538: With Gemms and Golden lustre rich imblaz'd,
539: Seraphic arms and Trophies: all the while
540: Sonorous mettal blowing Martial sounds:
541: At which the universal Host upsent
542: A shout that tore Hells Concave, and beyond
543: Frighted the Reign of CHAOS and old Night.
544: All in a moment through the gloom were seen
545: Ten thousand Banners rise into the Air
546: With Orient Colours waving: with them rose
547: A Forrest huge of Spears: and thronging Helms
548: Appear'd, and serried Shields in thick array
549: Of depth immeasurable: Anon they move
550: In perfect PHALANX to the Dorian mood
551: Of Flutes and soft Recorders; such as rais'd
552: To highth of noblest temper Hero's old
553: Arming to Battel, and in stead of rage
554: Deliberate valour breath'd, firm and unmov'd
555: With dread of death to flight or foul retreat,
556: Nor wanting power to mitigate and swage
557: With solemn touches, troubl'd thoughts, and chase
558: Anguish and doubt and fear and sorrow and pain
559: From mortal or immortal minds. Thus they
560: Breathing united force with fixed thought
561: Mov'd on in silence to soft Pipes that charm'd
562: Thir painful steps o're the burnt soyle; and now
563: Advanc't in view they stand, a horrid Front
564: Of dreadful length and dazling Arms, in guise
565: Of Warriers old with order'd Spear and Shield,
566: Awaiting what command thir mighty Chief
567: Had to impose: He through the armed Files
568: Darts his experienc't eye, and soon traverse
569: The whole Battalion views, thir order due,
570: Thir visages and stature as of Gods,
571: Thir number last he summs. And now his heart
572: Distends with pride, and hardning in his strength
573: Glories: For never since created man,
574: Met such imbodied force, as nam'd with these
575: Could merit more then that small infantry
576: Warr'd on by Cranes: though all the Giant brood
577: Of PHLEGRA with th' Heroic Race were joyn'd
578: That fought at THEB'S and ILIUM, on each side
579: Mixt with auxiliar Gods; and what resounds
580: In Fable or ROMANCE of UTHERS Son
581: Begirt with BRITISH and ARMORIC Knights;
582: And all who since, Baptiz'd or Infidel
583: Jousted in ASPRAMONT or MONTALBAN,
584: DAMASCO, or MAROCCO, or TREBISOND,
585: Or whom BISERTA sent from AFRIC shore
586: When CHARLEMAIN with all his Peerage fell
587: By FONTARABBIA. Thus far these beyond
588: Compare of mortal prowess, yet observ'd
589: Thir dread Commander: he above the rest
590: In shape and gesture proudly eminent
591: Stood like a Towr; his form had yet not lost
592: All her Original brightness, nor appear'd
593: Less then Arch Angel ruind, and th' excess
594: Of Glory obscur'd: As when the Sun new ris'n
595: Looks through the Horizontal misty Air
596: Shorn of his Beams, or from behind the Moon
597: In dim Eclips disastrous twilight sheds
598: On half the Nations, and with fear of change
599: Perplexes Monarchs. Dark'n'd so, yet shon
600: Above them all th' Arch Angel: but his face
601: Deep scars of Thunder had intrencht, and care
602: Sat on his faded cheek, but under Browes
603: Of dauntless courage, and considerate Pride
604: Waiting revenge: cruel his eye, but cast
605: Signs of remorse and passion to behold
606: The fellows of his crime, the followers rather
607: (Far other once beheld in bliss) condemn'd
608: For ever now to have their lot in pain,
609: Millions of Spirits for his fault amerc't
610: Of Heav'n, and from Eternal Splendors flung
611: For his revolt, yet faithfull how they stood,
612: Thir Glory witherd. As when Heavens Fire
613: Hath scath'd the Forrest Oaks, or Mountain Pines,
614: With singed top their stately growth though bare
615: Stands on the blasted Heath. He now prepar'd
616: To speak; whereat their doubl'd Ranks they bend
617: From Wing to Wing, and half enclose him round
618: With all his Peers: attention held them mute.
619: Thrice he assayd, and thrice in spite of scorn,
620: Tears such as Angels weep, burst forth: at last
621: Words interwove with sighs found out their way.
622: O Myriads of immortal Spirits, O Powers
623: Matchless, but with th' Almighty, and that strife
624: Was not inglorious, though th' event was dire,
625: As this place testifies, and this dire change
626: Hateful to utter: but what power of mind
627: Foreseeing or presaging, from the Depth
628: Of knowledge past or present, could have fear'd,
629: How such united force of Gods, how such
630: As stood like these, could ever know repulse?
631: For who can yet beleeve, though after loss,
632: That all these puissant Legions, whose exile
633: Hath emptied Heav'n, shall faile to re-ascend
634: Self-rais'd, and repossess their native seat.
635: For me, be witness all the Host of Heav'n,
636: If counsels different, or danger shun'd
637: By me, have lost our hopes. But he who reigns
638: Monarch in Heav'n, till then as one secure
639: Sat on his Throne, upheld by old repute,
640: Consent or custome, and his Regal State
641: Put forth at full, but still his strength conceal'd,
642: Which tempted our attempt, and wrought our fall.
643: Henceforth his might we know, and know our own
644: So as not either to provoke, or dread
645: New warr, provok't; our better part remains
646: To work in close design, by fraud or guile
647: What force effected not: that he no less
648: At length from us may find, who overcomes
649: By force, hath overcome but half his foe.
650: Space may produce new Worlds; whereof so rife
651: There went a fame in Heav'n that he ere long
652: Intended to create, and therein plant
653: A generation, whom his choice regard
654: Should favour equal to the Sons of Heaven:
655: Thither, if but to prie, shall be perhaps
656: Our first eruption, thither or elsewhere:
657: For this Infernal Pit shall never hold
658: Caelestial Spirits in Bondage, nor th' Abysse
659: Long under darkness cover. But these thoughts
660: Full Counsel must mature: Peace is despaird,
661: For who can think Submission? Warr then, Warr
662: Open or understood must be resolv'd.
663: He spake: and to confirm his words, out-flew
664: Millions of flaming swords, drawn from the thighs
665: Of mighty Cherubim; the sudden blaze
666: Far round illumin'd hell: highly they rag'd
667: Against the Highest, and fierce with grasped arm's
668: Clash'd on their sounding shields the din of war,
669: Hurling defiance toward the vault of Heav'n.
670: There stood a Hill not far whose griesly top
671: Belch'd fire and rowling smoak; the rest entire
672: Shon with a glossie scurff, undoubted sign
673: That in his womb was hid metallic Ore,
674: The work of Sulphur. Thither wing'd with speed
675: A numerous Brigad hasten'd. As when bands
676: Of Pioners with Spade and Pickaxe arm'd
677: Forerun the Royal Camp, to trench a Field,
678: Or cast a Rampart. MAMMON led them on,
679: MAMMON, the least erected Spirit that fell
680: From heav'n, for ev'n in heav'n his looks & thoughts
681: Were always downward bent, admiring more
682: The riches of Heav'ns pavement, trod'n Gold,
683: Then aught divine or holy else enjoy'd
684: In vision beatific: by him first
685: Men also, and by his suggestion taught,
686: Ransack'd the Center, and with impious hands
687: Rifl'd the bowels of thir mother Earth
688: For Treasures better hid. Soon had his crew
689: Op'nd into the Hill a spacious wound
690: And dig'd out ribs of Gold. Let none admire
691: That riches grow in Hell; that soyle may best
692: Deserve the pretious bane. And here let those
693: Who boast in mortal things, and wondring tell
694: Of BABEL, and the works of MEMPHIAN Kings,
695: Learn how thir greatest Monuments of Fame,
696: And Strength and Art are easily outdone
697: By Spirits reprobate, and in an hour
698: What in an age they with incessant toyle
699: And hands innumerable scarce perform
700: Nigh on the Plain in many cells prepar'd,
701: That underneath had veins of liquid fire
702: Sluc'd from the Lake, a second multitude
703: With wondrous Art founded the massie Ore,
704: Severing each kinde, and scum'd the Bullion dross:
705: A third as soon had form'd within the ground
706: A various mould, and from the boyling cells
707: By strange conveyance fill'd each hollow nook,
708: As in an Organ from one blast of wind
709: To many a row of Pipes the sound-board breaths.
710: Anon out of the earth a Fabrick huge
711: Rose like an Exhalation, with the sound
712: Of Dulcet Symphonies and voices sweet,
713: Built like a Temple, where PILASTERS round
714: Were set, and Doric pillars overlaid
715: With Golden Architrave; nor did there want
716: Cornice or Freeze, with bossy Sculptures grav'n,
717: The Roof was fretted Gold. Not BABILON,
718: Nor great ALCAIRO such magnificence
719: Equal'd in all thir glories, to inshrine
720: BELUS or SERAPIS thir Gods, or seat
721: Thir Kings, when AEGYPT with ASSYRIA strove
722: In wealth and luxurie. Th' ascending pile
723: Stood fixt her stately highth, and strait the dores
724: Op'ning thir brazen foulds discover wide
725: Within, her ample spaces, o're the smooth
726: And level pavement: from the arched roof
727: Pendant by suttle Magic many a row
728: Of Starry Lamps and blazing Cressets fed
729: With Naphtha and ASPHALTUS yeilded light
730: As from a sky. The hasty multitude
731: Admiring enter'd, and the work some praise
732: And some the Architect: his hand was known
733: In Heav'n by many a Towred structure high,
734: Where Scepter'd Angels held thir residence,
735: And sat as Princes, whom the supreme King
736: Exalted to such power, and gave to rule,
737: Each in his Herarchie, the Orders bright.
738: Nor was his name unheard or unador'd
739: In ancient Greece; and in AUSONIAN land
740: Men call'd him MULCIBER; and how he fell
741: From Heav'n, they fabl'd, thrown by angry JOVE
742: Sheer o're the Chrystal Battlements: from Morn
743: To Noon he fell, from Noon to dewy Eve,
744: A Summers day; and with the setting Sun
745: Dropt from the Zenith like a falling Star,
746: On LEMNOS th' AEGAEAN Ile: thus they relate,
747: Erring; for he with this rebellious rout
748: Fell long before; nor aught avail'd him now
749: To have built in Heav'n high Towrs; nor did he scape
750: By all his Engins, but was headlong sent
751: With his industrious crew to build in hell.
752: Mean while the winged Haralds by command
753: Of Sovran power, with awful Ceremony
754: And Trumpets sound throughout the Host proclaim
755: A solemn Councel forthwith to be held
756: At PANDAEMONIUM, the high Capital
757: Of Satan and his Peers: thir summons call'd
758: From every and Band squared Regiment
759: By place or choice the worthiest; they anon
760: With hundreds and with thousands trooping came
761: Attended: all access was throng'd, the Gates
762: And Porches wide, but chief the spacious Hall
763: (Though like a cover'd field, where Champions bold
764: Wont ride in arm'd, and at the Soldans chair
765: Defi'd the best of Panim chivalry
766: To mortal combat or carreer with Lance)
767: Thick swarm'd, both on the ground and in the air,
768: Brusht with the hiss of russling wings. As Bees
769: In spring time, when the Sun with Taurus rides,
770: Poure forth thir populous youth about the Hive
771: In clusters; they among fresh dews and flowers
772: Flie to and fro, or on the smoothed Plank,
773: The suburb of thir Straw-built Cittadel,
774: New rub'd with Baume, expatiate and confer
775: Thir State affairs. So thick the aerie crowd
776: Swarm'd and were straitn'd; till the Signal giv'n,
777: Behold a wonder! they but now who seemd
778: In bigness to surpass Earths Giant Sons
779: Now less then smallest Dwarfs, in narrow room
780: Throng numberless, like that Pigmean Race
781: Beyond the INDIAN Mount, or Faerie Elves,
782: Whose midnight Revels, by a Forrest side
783: Or Fountain fome belated Peasant sees,
784: Or dreams he sees, while over head the Moon
785: Sits Arbitress, and neerer to the Earth
786: Wheels her pale course, they on thir mirth & dance
787: Intent, with jocond Music charm his ear;
788: At once with joy and fear his heart rebounds.
789: Thus incorporeal Spirits to smallest forms
790: Reduc'd thir shapes immense, and were at large,
791: Though without number still amidst the Hall
792: Of that infernal Court. But far within
793: And in thir own dimensions like themselves
794: The great Seraphic Lords and Cherubim
795: In close recess and secret conclave sat
796: A thousand Demy-Gods on golden seat's,
797: Frequent and full. After short silence then
798: And summons read, the great consult began.