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《Paradise Lost Ⅰ》
1
THE ARGUMENT
This first Book proposes, first in brief, the whole Subject, Mans disobedience, and the loss thereupon of Paradise wherein he lact: Then touches the prime cause of his fall, the Serpent, or rather Satan in the Serpent; who revolting from God, and drawing to his side many Legions ?９9lｉｂ.of Angels, was by the and of God driven out of Heaven with all his Crew into the great Deep. Which a past over, the Poem hasts into the midst of things, presenting Satan with his Angels now fallen into Hell, describd here, not in the ter (for Heaven ah may be supposd as yet not made, certainly not yet accurst) but in a place of utter darkness, fitliest calld Chaos: Here Satan with his Angels lying on the burning Lake, thurud astonisht, after a certain space recovers, as from fusion, calls up him who in Ord.99lib.er and Dignity lay by him; they fer of thir miserable fall. Satan awakens all his Legions, who lay till then in the same manner fouhey rise, thir Numbers, array of Battel, thir chief Leaders namd, acc to the Idols known afterwards in aan and the tries adjo9９ｌiｂ.yning. To these Satan directs his Speech, forts them with hope yet aining Heaven, but tells them lastly of a new World and new kind of Creature to be created, acc to an a Prophesie or report in Heaven; for that Angels were long before this visible Creation, was the opinion99lib? of many a Fathers. To find out the truth of this Prophesie, and what to determin thereon he refers to a full cel. What his Associates theempt. Pandemonium the Palace of Satan rises, suddenly built out of the Deep: The infernal Peers there sit in cel.
2
OF Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit
Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast
Brought Death into the World, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat, [ 5 ]
Sing Heavnly Muse,that on the secret top
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire
That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen Seed,
In the Beginning how the Heavns ah
Rose out of Chaos: Or if Sion Hill [ 10 ]
Delight thee more, and Siloas Brook that flowd
Fast by the Oracle of God; I thence
Ihy aid to my adventrous Song,
That with no middle flight intends to soar
Above tbbr>h Aonian Mount, while it pursues [ 15 ]
Things ued yet in Prose or Rhime.
And chiefly Thou O Spirit, that dost prefer
Before all Temples th upright heart and pure,
Instruct me, for Thou knowst; Thou from the first
resent, and with mighty wings outspread [ 20 ]
Dove-like satst brooding on the vast Abyss
And madst it pregnant: What in me is dark
Illumin, what is low raise 藏书网and support;
That to the highth of this great Argument
I may assert Eternal Providence, [ 25 ]
And justifie the wayes of God to men.
Say first, for Heavn hides nothing from thy view
Nor the deep Tract of Hell, say first what cause
Movd rand Parents in that happy State,
Favourd of Heavn so highly, to fall off [ 30 ]
From thir Creator, and transgress his Will
For oraint, Lords of the World besides?
Who first seducd them to that foul revolt?
Th infernal Serpent; he it was, whose guile
Stird up with Envy and Revenge, deceivd [ 35 ]
The Mother of Mankind, what time his Pride
Had cast him out from Heavn, with all his Host
Of Rebel Angels, by whose aid aspiring
To set himself in Glory above his Peers,
He trusted to have equald the most High, [ 40 ]
3
If he opposd; and with ambitious aim
Against the Throne and Monarchy of God
Raisd impious War in Heavn and Battel proud
With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power
Hurld headlong flaming from th Ethereal Skie [ 45 ]
With hideous ruine and bustion down
To bottomless perdition, there to dwell
In Adamantine s and penal Fire,
Who durst defie th Omnipotent to Arms.
imes the Space that measures Day and Night [ 50 ]
To mortal meh his horrid crew
Lay vanquisht, rowling in the fiery Gulfe
fouhough immortal: But his doom
Reservd him to more wrath; for now the thought
Both of lost happiness and lasting pain [ 55 ]
Torments him; rouhrows his baleful eyes
That witnessd huge affli and dismay
Mixt with obdurate pride and stedfast hate:
At once as far as Angels kenn he views
The dismal Situation waste and wilde, [ 60 ]
A Dungeon horrible, on all sides round
As one great Furnace flamd, yet from those flames
No light, but rather darkness visible
Servd oo dischts of woe,
Regions of so.9９lｉｂ.rrow, doleful shades, where peace [ 65 ]
A ever dwell, hope never es
That es to all; but torture without end
Still urges, and a fiery Deluge, fed
With ever-burning Sulphur und:
Such place Eternal Justice had prepard [ 70 ]
For those rebellious, here thir Prison ordaind
In utter darkness, and thir portio
As far removd from God and light of Heavn
As from the C.satiate fury yield it from our Foe.
Seest thou yon dreary Plain, forlorn and wilde, [ 180 ]
The seat of desolation, voyd of light,
Save what the glimmering of these livid flames
Casts pale and dreadful? Thither let us tend
From off the tossing of these fiery waves,
There rest, if a harbour there, [ 185 ]
And reassembling our afflicted Powers,
sult how we may heh most offend
Our Enemy, our own loss how repair,
How overe this dire Calamity,
What reinfort we may gain from Hope, [ 190 ]
If not what resolution from despare.
Thus Satan talking to his Mate
With Head up-lift above the wave, and Eyes
That sparkling blazd, his other Parts besides
Prone on the Flood, extended long and large [ 195 ]
Lay floating many a rood, in bulk as huge
As whom the Fables name of monstrous size,
7
Titanian, or Earth-born, that warrd on Jove,
Briareos or Typhon, whom the Den
By aarsus held, or that Sea-beast [ 200 ]
Leviathan, which God of all his works
Created hugest that swim th O stream:
Him haply slumbring on the Norway foam
The Pilot of some small night-founderd Skiff,
Deeming some Island, oft, as Sea-men tell, [ 205 ]
With fixed Anchor in his skaly rind
Moors by his side uhe Lee, while Night
Is the Sea, and wished Morn delayes:
So stretcht out huge in９9liｂ? length the Arch-fiend lay
d on the burning Lake, nor ever thence [ 210 ]
Had risn or heavd his head, but that the will
And high permission of all-ruling Heaven
Left him at large to his own dark designs,
That with reiterated crimes he might
Heap on himself damnation, while he sought [ 215 ]
Evil to others, and enragd might see
How all his malice servd but t forth
Infinite goodness, grad mercy shewn
On Man by him seduct, but on himself
Treble fusion, wrath and vengeance pourd. [ 220 ]
Forthwith upright he rears from off the Pool
His mighty Stature; on each hand the flames
Drivn backward slope thir pointing spires, and rowld
In billows, leave ith midst a horrid Vale.
Then with expanded wings he stears his flight [ 225 ]
Aloft, incumbent on the dusky Air
That felt unusual weight, till on dry Land
He lights, if it were Land that ever burnd
With solid, as the Lake with liquid fire;
And such appeard in hue, as when the force [ 230 ]
Of subterranean wind transports a Hill
Torn from Pelorus, or the shatterd side
Of thundring ?tna, whose bustible
And feweld entrals thence ceiving Fire,
Sublimd with.９9lｉb.t> Mineral fury, aid the Winds, [ 235 ]
8
And leave a singed bottom all involvd
With stend smoak: Such resting found the sole
Of u feet. Him followed his Mate,
Both gl to have scapt the Stygian flood
As Gods, and by thir own recoverd strength, [ 240 ]
Not by the sufferance of supernal Power.
Is this the Region, this the Soil, the Clime,
Said then the lost Argel, this the seat
That we must ge for Heavn, this mournful gloom
For that celestial light? Be it so, since he [ 245 ]
Who now is Sovran dispose and bid
What shall be right: fardest from him is best
Whom rea?99ｌib.son hath equald, force hath made supream
Above?99ｌｉｂ. his equals. Farewel happy Fields
Where Joy for ever dwells: Hail horrours, hail [ 250 ]
Infernal world, and thou profou Hell
Receive thy new Possessor: One whs
A mind not to be gd by Place or Time.
The mind is its own place, and in it self
make a Heavn of Hell, a Hell of Heavn. [ 255 ]
What matter where, if I be still the same,
And what I should be, all but less then he
Whom Thunder hath made greater? Here at least
We shall be free; th Almighty hath not built
Here fo..r his envy, will not drive us hence: [ 260 ]
Here we may reign secure, and in my choyce
Tn is worth ambition though in Hell:
Better tn in Hell, then serve in Heavn.
But wherefore let we then our faithful friends,
Th associates and copartners of our loss [ 265 ]
Lye thus astonisht on th oblivious Pool,
And call them not to share with us their part
In this unhappy Mansion, or once more
With rallied Arms to try what may be yet
Regaind in Heavn, or what more lost in Hell? [ 270 ]
So Satan spake, and him Beelzebub
Thus answerd. Leader of those Armies bright,
Which but th Onmipotent none could have foyld,
If ohey hear that voyce, thir liveliest pledge
Of hope in fears and dangers, heard so oft [ 275 ]
In worst extreams, and on the perilous edge
Of battel when it ragd, in all assaults
Thir surest signal, they will soon resume
New ce and revive, though now they lye
Groveling and prostrate on yon Lake of Fire, [ 280 ]
9
As we erewhile, astounded and amazd,
No wonder, falln such a pernicious highth.
He scarce had ceast when the superiour Fiend
Was moving toward the shoar; his ponderous shield
Ethereal temper, massy, large and round, [ 285 ]
Behind him cast; the broad circumference
Hung on his shoulders like the Moon, whose Orb
Through Optic Glass the Tus Artist views
At Evning from the top of Fesole,
Or in Valdarno, to desew Lands, [ 290 ]
Rivers or Mountains in her spotty Globe.
His Spear, to equal which the tallest Pine
Hewn on Nian hills, to be the Mbbr>..ast
Of some great Ammiral, were but a wand,
He walkt with to support uneasie steps [ 295 ]
Over the burning Marle, not like those steps
On Heavens Azure, and the torrid Clime
Smote on him sore besides, vaulted with Fire;
Nathless he so endurd, till on the Beach
Of that inflamed Sea, he stood and calld [ 300 ]
His Legions, Angel Forms, who lay intranst
Thick as Autumnal Leaves that strow the Brooks
In Vallombrosa, where th Etrurian shades
High overarcht imbowr; or scatterd sedge
Afloat, when with fierce Winds Orion armd [ 305 ]
Hath vext the Red-Sea Coast, whose waves orethrew
Busiris and his Memphian Chivalry,
While with perfidious hatred they pursud
The Sojourners of Goshen, who beheld
From the safe shore thir floating Carkases [ 310 ]
And broken Chariot Wheels, so thick.. bestrown
Abjed lost lay these, c the Flood,
Under amazement of thir hideous ge.
He calld so loud, that all the hollow Deep
Of Hell resounded. Princes, Potentates, [ 315 ]
Warriers, the９9liｂ? Flowr of Heavn, once yours, now lost,
If such astonishment as this sieze
Eternal spirits; or have ye this place
After the toyl of Battel to repose
Your wearied vertue, for the ease you find [ 320 ]
To slumber here, as in the Vales of Heavn?
10
Or in this abject posture have ye sworn
To adore the querour? who now beholds
Cherube and Seraph rowling in the Flood
With scatterd Arms and Ensigns, till anon [ 325 ]
His swift pursuers from Heavn Gates dis
Th advantage, and desding tread us down
Thus drooping, or with lihunderbolts
Transfix us to the bottom of this Gulfe.
Awake, arise, or be for ever falln. [ 330 ]
They heard, and were abasht, and up they sprung
Upon the wing, as when men wont to watch
On duty, sleeping found by whom they dread,
Rouse air themselves ere well awake.
Nor did they not perceave the evil plight [ 335 ]
In which they were, or the fierce pains not feel;
Yet to thir Generals Voyce they soon obeyd
Innumerable. As wheent Rod
Of Amrams Son is evill day
Wavd round the Coast, up calld a pitchy cloud [ 340 ]
Of Locusts, ing on the Eastern Wind,
That ore the Realm of impious Pharaoh hung
Like Night, and darkend all the Land of Nile:
So numberless were those bad Angels seen
H on wing uhe Cope of Hell [ 345 ]
Twixt upper, her, and surrounding Fires;
Till, as a signal givn, th uplifted Spear
Of thir great Sultan waving to direct
Thir course, in even ballance down they light
On the firm brimstone, and fill all the Plain; [ 350 ]
A multitude, like which the populous North
Pourd never from her frozen loyns, to pass
Rhene or the Danaw, when her barbarous Sons
Came like a Deluge on the South, and spread
Beh Gibralter to the L藏书网ybian sands. [ 355 ]
Forthwith from every Squadron and each Band
The Heads and Leader..hither hast where stood
Thir great ander; Godlike shapes and forms
Excelling human, Princely Dignities,
And Powers that earst in Heaven sat on Thrones; [ 360 ]
Though of thir Names in heavnly Records now
Be no memorial blotted out and rasd
By thir Rebellion, from the Books of Life.
Nor had they yet among the Sons of Eve
Got them new ill wandring ore the Earth, [ 365 ]
Through Gods high sufferance for the tryal of man,
By falsities and lyes the greatest part
Of Mankind they corrupted to forsake
God thir Creator, and th invisible
Glory of him that made them, to transform [ 370 ]
Oft to the Image of a Brute, adornd
With gay Religions full of Pomp and Gold,
11
And Devils to adore for Deities:
Thehey known to men by various Names,
And various Idols through the Heathen World. [ 375 ]
Say, Muse, thir hen known, who first, who last,
Rousd from the slumber, on that fiery Couch,
At thir great Emperors call, as in worth
Came singly where he stood on the bare strand,
While the promiscuous croud stood yet aloof? [ 380 ]
The chief were those who from the Pit of Hell
Roaming to seek thir prey oh, durst fix
Thir Seats long after he Seat of God,
Thir Altars by his Altar, Gods adord
Among the Nations round, and durst abide [ 385 ]
Jehovah thundri?9９lib.ng out of Sion, thrond
Between the 藏书网Cherubim; yea, often placd
Within his Sanctuary it self thir Shrines,
Abominations; and with cursed things
His holy Rites, and solems profand, [ 390 ]
And with thir darkness durst affront his light.
First Moloch, horrid King besmeard with blood
Of human sacrifice, and parents tears,
Though for the noyse of Drums and Timbrels loud
Thir childrens cries unheard, that past through fire [ 395 ]
To his grim Idol. Him the Ammonite
Worshipt in Rabba .9９liｂ.and her watry Plain,
In Argob and in Basan, to the stream
Of utmost Arnon. Nor tent with such
Audacious neighbourhood, the wisest heart [ 400 ]
Of Solomon he led by fraud to build
His Temple right against the Temple of God
On that opprobrious Hill, and made his Grove
The pleasant Vally of Hinnom, Tophet thence
And black Gehenna calld, the Type of Hell. [ 405 ]
Chemos, th obs>..e dread of Moabs Sons,
From Aroar to Nebo, and the wild
Of Southmost Abarim; in Hesebon
And Horonaim, Seons Realm, beyond
The flowry Dale of Sibma clad with Vines, [ 410 ]
And Eleale to th Asphaltick Pool.
Peor his other Name, wheicd
Israel in Sittim on thir march from Nile
To do him wanton rites, which cost them woe.
12
Yet thence his lustful ies he enlargd [ 415 ]
Even to that Hill of sdal, by the Grove
Of Moloicide, lust hard by hate;
Till good Josiah drove them theo Hell.
With these came they, who from the b flood
Of old Euphrates to the Brook that parts [ 420 ]藏书网
Egypt from Syrian ground, had general Names
Of Baalim and Ashtaroth, those male,
These Feminine. For Spirits when they please
either Sex assume, or both; so soft
And unpounded is thir Essence pure, [ 425 ]
Not tid or manacld with joynt or limb,
Nor founded on the brittle strength of bones,
Like cumbrous flesh; but in what shape they choose
Dilated or denst, bright or obscure,
execute thir aerie purposes, [ 430 ]
And works of love or enmity fulfill.
For those the Race of Israel oft forsook
Thir living strength, and unfrequented left
His righteous Altar, bowing lowly down
To bestial Gods; for which thir heads as low [ 435 ]
Bowd down in Battel, sunk before the Spear
Of despicable foes. With these ?t>in troop
Came Astoreth, whom the Phoenis calld
A..starte, Queen of Heavn, with crest Horns;
To whose bright Image nightly by the Moon [ 440 ]
Sidonian Virgins paid thir Vows and Songs,
In Sion also not unsung, where stood
Her Temple on th offensive Mountain, built
By that uxorious King, whose heart though large,
Beguild by fair Idolatresses, fell [ 445 ]
To Idols foul. Thammuz came behind,
Whose annual wound in Lebanon allurd
The Syrian Damsels to lament his fate
In amorous dittyes all a Summers day,
While smooth Adonis from his native Rock [ 450 ]
Ran purple to the Sea, supposd with blood
Of Thammuz yearly wouhe Love-tale
Ied Sions daughters with like heat,
Whose wanton passions in the sacred Porch
Ezekiel saw, when by the Vision led [ 455 ]
His eye survayd the dark Idolatries
Of alienated Judah. came one
Who mournd in ear, when the Captive Ark
Maimd his brute Image, head and hands lopt off
In his own Temple, on the grunsel edge, [ 460 ]
13
Where he fell flat, and shamd his Worshipers:
Dagon his Name, Sea Monster, upward Man
And downward Fish: yet had his Temple high
Reard in Azotus, dreaded through the Coast
Of Palestine, in Gath and As [ 465 ]
And Ac and Gazas frontier bounds.
Him followd Rimmon, whose delightful Seat
Was fair Damascus, on the fertil Banks
Of Abbana and Pharphar, lucid streams.
He also against the house of God was bold: [ 470 ]
A Leper once he lost and gaind a King,
Ahaz his sottish querour, whom he drew
Gods Altar to disparage and displace
For one of Syrian mode, whereon to burn
His odious s, and adore the Gods [ 475 ]
Whom he had vanquisht. After these appeard
A crew who under Names of old Renown,
Osiris, Isis, Orus and their Train
With monstrous shapes and sorceries abusd
Fanatic Egypt and her Priests, to seek [ 480 ]
Thir wandring Gods disguisd in brutish forms
Rather then human. Nor did Israel scape
Th iiohir borrowd Gold posd
The Calf in Oreb: and the Rebel King
Doubld that sin ihel and in Dan, [ 485 ]
Likning his Maker to the Grazed Ox,
Jehovah, who in one Night when he passd
From Egypt marg, equald with oroke
Both her first born and all her bleating Gods.
Belial came last, then whom a Spirit more lewd [ 490 ]
Fell not from Heaven, or mross to love
Vice for it self: To him no Temple stood
Or Altar smoakd; yet who more oft then hee
In ９９lib.Temples and at Altars, when the Priest
Turns Atheist, as did Elys Sons, who filld [ 495 ]
With lust and violehe house of God.
In Courts and Palaces he alsns
And in luxurious Cities, where the noyse
Of riot asds above thir loftiest Towrs,
And injury and e: And when Night [ 500 ]
Darkens the Streets, then wander forth the Sons
Of Belial, flown with insolend wine.
14
Withe Streets of Sodom, and that night
In Gibeah, when the hospitable door
Exposd a Matron to avoid worse rape. [ 505 ]
These were the prime in order and in might;
The rest were long to tell, though far renownd,
Th Ionian Gods, of Javans Issue held
Gods, yet fest later then Heavn ah
Thir boasted Parents; Titan Heavns first born [ 510 ]
With his enormous brood, and birthright seisd
By younger Saturn, he from mightier Jove
His own and Rheas Son like measure found;
So Jove usurping reignd: these first i
And Ida known, then the Snowy top [ 515 ]
Of cold Olympus ruld the middle Air
Thir highest Heavn; or on the Delphian Cliff,
Or in Dodona, and through all the bounds
Of Dorid; or who with Saturn old
Fled over Adria to th Hesperian Fields, [ 520 ]
And ore the Celtid the utmost Isles.
All these and more came flog; but with looks
Down cast and damp, yet such wherein appeard
Obscure some glimps of joy, to have found thir chief
Not in despair, to have found themselves not lost [ 525 ]
In loss it self; whi his tnance cast
Like doubtful hue: but he his wonted pride
Soon recolleg, with high words, that bore
Semblance of worth, not substance, gently raisd
Thir fainting ce, and dispeld thir fears. [ 530 ]
Then strait ands that at the warlike sound
Of Trumpets loud and Clarions be upreard
His mighty Standard; that proud honour claimd
Azazel as his right, a Cherube tall:
Who forthwith from the glittering Staff unfurld [ 535 ]
Th Imperial Ensign, which full high advanct
Shon like a Meteor streaming to the Wind
With Gemms and Golden lustre rich imblazd,
Seraphic arms and Trophies: all the whbbr>９9lib?ile
Sonorous mettal blowing Martial sounds: [ 540 ]
At which the universal Host upsent
A shout that tore Hells cave, and beyond
Frighted the Reign of Chaos and old Night.
15
All in a moment through the gloom were seen
Ten thousand Banners rise into the Air [ 545 ]
With Orient Colours waving: with them rose
A Forest huge of Spears: and thronging Helms
Appeard, and serried shields in thick array
Of depth immeasurable: Anon they move
In perfect Phalanx to the Dorian mood [ 550 ]
Of Flutes and soft Recorders; such as raisd
To hight of emper Heros old
Arming to Battel, and in stead e
Deliberate valour breathd, firm and unmovd
With dread of death to flight or foul retreat, [ 555 ]
Nor wanting power to mitigate and swage
With solemn touches, troubld thoughts, and chase
Anguish and doubt and fear and sorroain
From mortal or immortal minds. bbr>Thus they
Breathing united force with fixed thought [ 560 ]
Movd on in sileo soft Pipes that charmd
Thir painful steps o９9lｉb.
re the burnt soyle; and now
Advan view, they stand, a horrid Front
Of dreadful length and dazling Arms, in guise
Of Warriers old with orderd Spear and Shield, [ 565 ]
Awaiting what and thir mighty Chief
Had to impose: He through the a99liｂ?t>rmed Files
Darts his experienct eye, and soon traverse
The whole Battalion views, thir order due,
Thir visages and stature as of Gods, [ 570 ]
Thir number last he summs. And now his heart
Distends with pride, and hardning in his strength
Glories: For never since created man,
Met such imbodied force, as namd with these
Could merit more then that small infantry [ 575 ]
Warrd on by es: though all the Giant brood
Of Phlegra with th Heroic Race were joynd
That fought at Thebs and Ilium, on each side
Mixt with auxiliar Gods; and what resounds
In Fable or Romance of Uthers Son [ 580 ]
Begirt with British a藏书网nd Armoriights;
16
And all who since, Baptizd or Infidel
Jousted in Aspramont or Montalban,
Damasarocco, or Trebisond,
Or whom Biserta sent from Afric shore [ 585 ]
When Charlemain with all his Peerage fell
By Fontarabbia. Thus far these beyond
pare of mortal prowess, yet observd
Thir dread ander: he above the rest
In shape aure proudly emi [ 590 ]
Stood like a Towr; his form had yet not lost
All her inal brightness, nor appeard
Less then Argel ruind, and th excess
Of Glory obscurd: As when the Sun new risn
Looks through the Horizontal misty Air [ 595 ]
Shorn of his Beams, or from behind the Moon
In dim Eclips disastrous twilight sheds
On half the Nations, and with fear of ge
Perplexes Monarchs. Darknd so, yet shon
Above them all th Argel: but his face [ 600 ]
Deep scars of Thunder had i, and care
Sat on his faded cheek, but under Browes
Of dauntless ce, and siderate Pride
Waiting revenge: cruel his eye, but cast
Signs of remorse an..d passion to behold [ 605 ]
The fellows of his crime, the followers rather
(Far other once beheld in bliss) nd
For ever now to have thir lot in pain,
Millions of Spirits for his fault amerct
Of Heavn, and from Eternal Splendors flung [ 610 ]
For his revolt, yet faithfull how they stood,
Thir Glory witherd. As when Heavens Fire
Hath scathd the Forrest Oaks, or Mountain Pines,
With siop thir stately growth though bare
Stands on the blasted Heath. He now prepard [ 615 ]
To speak; whereat thir doubld Ranks they bend
From wing to wing, and half enclose him round
With all his Peers: attentiohem mute.
17
Thrice he assayd, and thri spight of s,
Tears such as Angels weep, burst forth: at last [ 620 ]
Words interwove with sighs found out thir way.
O Myriads of immortal Spirits, O Powers
Matchless, but with th Almighty, and that strife
Was not inglorious, though th event was dire,
As this place testifies, and this dire ge [ 625 ]
Hateful to utter: but ower of mind
Foreseeing ing, from the Depth
Of knowledge past or present, could have feard,
How suited force of Gods, how such
As stood lik.hese, could ever know repulse? [ 630 ]
For who yet beleeve, though after loss,
That all these puissant Legions, whose exile
Hath emptied Heavn, shall fail to re-asd
Self-raisd, and repossess thir native seat?
For mee be witness all the Host of Heavn, [ 635 ]
If sels different, or danger shund
By me, have lost our hopes. But he whns
Monar Heavn, till then as one secure
Sat on his Throne, upheld by old repute,
sent or e, and his Regal State [ 640 ]
Put forth at full, but still his strength ceald,
Which tempted our attempt, and wrought our fall.
Heh his might we know, and know our own
So as her to provoke, or dread
New warr, provokt; our better part remains [ 645 ]
To work in close design, by fraud uile
What force effected not: that he no less
At length from us may find, who overes
By force, hath overe but half his foe.
Space may produew Worlds; whereof so rife [ 650 ]
There went a fame in Heavn that he ere long
Inteo create, and therein plant
A geion, whom his choice rega.９9ｌｉｂ.rd
Should favour equal to the Sons of He藏书网aven:
Thither, if but to pry, shall be perhaps
Our first eruption, thither or elsewhere: [ 655 ]
For this Infernal Pit shall never hold
C?lestial Spirits in Bondage, nor th Abyss
Long under darkness cover. But these thoughts
Full sel must mature: Peace is despaird, [ 660 ]
For who think Submission? Warr then, Warr
Open or uood must be resolvd.
18
He spake: and to firm his words, out-flew
Millions of flaming swords, drawn from the thighs
Of mighty Cherubim; the sudden blaze [ 665 ]
Far round illumind hell: highly they ragd
Against the Highest, and fierce with grasped arms
Clashd on thir sounding Shields the din of war,
Hurling defiaoward the vault of Heav..n.
There stood a Hill not far whose griesly top [ 670 ]
Belchd fire and rowling smoak; the rest entire
Shon with a glossie scurff, undoubted sign
That in his womb was hid metallic Ore,
The work of Sulphur. Thither wingd with speed
A numerous Brigad hastend. As when Bands [ 675 ]
Of Pioners with Spade and Pickax armd
Forerun the Royal Camp, to trench a Field,
Or cast a R>藏书网ampart. Mammohem on,
Mammon, the least erected Spirit that fell
From heavn, for evn in heavn his looks and thoughts [ 680 ]
Were always downward bent, admiring more
The riches of Heavns pavement, trodn Gold,
Then aught divine or holy else enjoyd
In visioific: by him first
Men also, and by his suggestion taught, [ 685 ]
Ransackd the ter, and with impious hands
Rifld the bowels of thir mother Earth
For Treasures better hid. Soon had his crew
Opnd into the Hill a spacious wound
And digd out ribs of Gold. Let none admire [ 690 ]
That riches grow in Hell; that soyle may best
Deserve the precious bane. And here let those
Who boast in mortal things, and w tell
Of Babel, and the works of Memphian Kings
Learn how thir greatest Mos of Fame, [ 695 ]
And Strength and Art are e..asily out-done
By Spirits reprobate, and in an hour
What in ahey with incessant toyle
And hands innumerable scarce perform.
19
He spake: and to firm his words, out-flew
Millions of flaming swords, drawn from the thighs
Of mighty Cherubim; the sudden blaze [ 665 ]
Far round illumind hell: highly they ragd
Against the Highest, and fierce with grasped arms
Clashd on thir sounding Shields the din of war,
H藏书网urling defiaoward the vault of Heavn.
There stood a Hill not far whose griesly top [>.. 670 ]
Belchd fire and rowling smoak; the rest entire
Shon with a glossie scurff, undoubted sign
That in his womb was 藏书网hid metallic Ore,
The work of Sulphur. Thither wingd with speed
A numerous Brigad hastend. As when Bands [ 675 ]
Of Pioners with Spade and Pickax armd
Forerun the Royal Camp, to trench a Field,
Or cast a Rampart. Mammohem on,
Mammon, the least erected Spirit that fell
From heavn, for evn in heavn his looks and thoughts [ 680 ]
Were always downward bent, admiring more
The riches of Heavns pavement, trodn Gold,
Then aught divine or holy else enjoyd
In visioific: by him first
Men also, and by his suggestion taught, [ 685 ]
Ransackd the ter, and with impious hands
Rifld the bowels of thir mother Earth
For Treasures better hid. Soon had his crew
Opnd into the Hill a spacious wound
And digd out ribs of Gold. Let none admire [ 690 ]
That riches grow in Hell; that soyle may best
Deserve the precious bane. And here let those
Who boast in mortal things, and w tell
Of Babel, and the works of Memphian Kings
Learn how thir greatest Mos of Fame, [ 695 ]
And Stre..ngth and Art are easily out-done
By Spirits reprobate, and in an hour
What in ahey with incessant toyle
And hands innumerable scarce perform.
20
Nigh on the Plain in many cells prepard, [ 700 ]
That underh had veins of liquid fire
Slucd from the Lake, a seultitude
With wondrous Ar? found out the massie Ore,
Severing each kind, and scumd the Bullion dross:
A third as soon had formd within the ground [ 705 ]
A various mould, and from the boyling cells
By strange veyance filld each hollow nook,
As in an an from one blast of wind
To many a row of Pipes the sound-board breaths.
Anon out of the earth a Fabrick huge [ 710 ]
Rose like an Exhalation, with the sound
Of Dulcet Symphonies and voices sweet,
Built like a Temple, where Pilasters round
Were set, and Doric pillars overlaid
With Go99lｉb?lden Architrave; nor did there want [ 715 ]
ice or Free９９lｉb.ze, with bossy Sculptures gravn,
The Roof was fretted Gold. Not Babilon,
Nreat Alcairo such magnifice
Equald in all thir glories, to inshrine
Belus or Serapis thir Gods, or seat [ 720 ]
Thir Kings, when Ægypt with Assyria strove
Ih and luxurie. Th asding pile
Stood fixt her stately highth, and strait the dores
Opning thir brazen foulds discover wide
Within, her ample spaces, ore the smooth [ 725 ]
And level pavement: from the arched roof
Pendant by suttle Magiy a row
Of Starry Lamps and blazing Cressets fed
With Naphtha and Asphaltus yeilded light
As from a sky. The hasty multitude [ 730 ]
Admirierd, and the work some praise
And some the Architect: his hand was known
In Heavn by many a Towred structure high,
Where Scepterd Angels held thir residence,
And sat as Princes, whom the supreme King [ 735 ]
Exalted to such power, and gave to rule,
Ea his Hierarchie, the Orders bright.
21
Nor was his name unheard or unadord
In a Greece; and in Ausonian land
Men calld him Mulciber; and how he fell [ 740 ]
From Heavn, they fabld, thrown by angry Jove
Sheer ore the Chrystal Battlements: from Morn
To Noon he fell, from Noon to dewy Eve,
A Summers day; and with the setting Sun
Dropt from the Zenith like a falling Star, [ 745 ]
On Lemnos th ?geahus they relate,
Erring; for he with this rebellious rout
Fell long before; nht availd him now
To have built in Heavn high Towrs; nor did he scape
By all his Engins, but was headlo [ 750 ]
With his industrious crew to build in hell.
Mean while the winged Haralds by and
Of Sovran power, with awful Ceremony
And Trumpets sound throughout the Host proclaim
A solemn cel forthwith to be held [ 755 ]
At Pand?monium, the high Capital
Of Satan and his Peers: thir summons calld
From every Band and squared Regiment
By place or choice the worthiest; they anon
With hunderds and with thousands trooping came [ 760 ]
Attended: all access was throngd, the Gates
And Porches wide, but chief the spacious Hall
(Though like a coverd field, where Champions bold
Wont ride in armd, and at the Soldans chair
Defid the best of Paynim chivalry [ 765 ]
To mortal bat or carreer with Lance)
Thick swarmd, both on the ground and in the air,
Brusht with the hiss of russling wings. As Bees
In spring time, when the Sun with Taurus rides,
Pour forth thir populous youth about the Hive [ 770 ]
In clusters; they among fresh dews and flowers
Flie to and fro, or on the smoothed Plank,
The suburb of thir Straw-built Cittadel,
New rubd with Baum, expatiate and fer
Thir State affairs. So thick the aerie crowd [ 775 ]
Swarmd and were straitnd; till the Signal givn.
22
Behold a wohey but now who seemd
In big9９ｌｉb.o surpass Earths Giant Sons
Now less then smallest Dwarfs, in narrow room
Throng numberless, like that Pigmean Race [ 780 ]
Beyond the Indian Mount, or Faerie Elves,
Whose midnight Revels, by a Forrest side
Or Fountain some belated Peasant sees,
Or dreams he s藏书网ees, while over-head the Moon
Sits Ar?9９ｌib?ress, and o the Earth [ 785 ]
Wheels her pale course, they on thir mirth and dance
I, with jousic charm his ear;
At once with joy and fear his heart rebounds.
Thus incorporeal Spirits to smallest forms
Reducd thir shapes immense, and were at large, [ 790 ]
Though without ill amidst the Hall
Of that infernal Court. But far within
And in thir own dimensions like themselves
The great Seraphic Lords and Cherubim
In close recess a clave sat [ 795 ]
A thousand Demy-Gods on goldes,
Frequent and full. After short silehen
And summons read, the great sult began.
The End of the First Book.天涯在线书库《www.tianyabook.com》