-
Whatever doing, what can we suffer more,
- What can we suffer worse? is this then worst,
- Thus sitting, thus consulting, thus in Arms?
- What when we fled amain, pursu'd and strook
- With Heav'ns afflicting Thunder, and besought
- The Deep to shelter us? this Hell then seem'd
- A refuge from those wounds: or when we lay
- Chain'd on the burning Lake? that sure was worse.
- What if the breath that kindl'd those grim fires
- Awak'd should blow them into sevenfold rage
- And plunge us in the flames? or from above
- Should intermitted vengeance arm again
- His red right hand to plague us? what if all
- Her stores were open'd, and this Firmament
- Of Hell should spout her Cataracts of Fire,
- Impendent horrors, threatning hideous fall
- One day upon our heads; while we perhaps
- Designing or exhorting glorious warr,
- Caught in a fierie Tempest shall be hurl'd
- Each on his rock transfixt, the sport and prey
- Of racking whirlwinds, or for ever sunk
- Under yon boyling Ocean, wrapt in Chains;
- There to converse with everlasting groans,
- Unrespited, unpitied, unrepreevd,
- Ages of hopeless end; this would be worse.
- Warr therefore, open or conceal'd, alike
- My voice disswades; for what can force or guile
- With him, or who deceive his mind, whose eye
- Views all things at one view? he from heav'ns highth
- All these our motions vain, sees and derides;
- Not more Almighty to resist our might
- Then wise to frustrate all our plots and wiles.
- Shall we then live thus vile, the race of Heav'n
- Thus trampl'd, thus expell'd to suffer here
- Chains and these Torments? better these then worse
- By my advice; since fate inevitable
- Subdues us, and Omnipotent Decree
- The Victors will. To suffer, as to doe,
- Our strength is equal, nor the Law unjust
- That so ordains: this was at first resolv'd,
- If we were wise, against so great a foe
- Contending, and so doubtful what might fall.
-
I laugh, when those who at the Spear are bold
- And vent'rous, if that fail them, shrink and fear
- What yet they know must follow, to endure
- Exile, or ignominy, or bonds, or pain,
- The sentence of thir Conquerour: This is now
- Our doom; which if we can sustain and bear,
- Our Supream Foe in time may much remit
- His anger, and perhaps thus farr remov'd
- Not mind us not offending, satisfi'd
- With what is punish't; whence these raging fires
- Will slack'n, if his breath stir not thir flames.
- Our purer essence then will overcome
- Thir noxious vapour, or enur'd not feel,
- Or chang'd at length, and to the place conformd
- In temper and in nature, will receive
- Familiar the fierce heat, and void of pain;
- This horror will grow milde, this darkness light,
- Besides what hope the never-ending flight
- Of future dayes may bring, what chance, what change
- Worth waiting, since our present lot appeers
- For happy though but ill, for ill not worst,
- If we procure not to our selves more woe.
Thus Belial with words cloath'd in reasons garb
- Counsell'd ignoble ease, and peaceful sloath,
- Not peace: and after him thus Mammon spake.
Either to disinthrone the King of Heav'n
- We warr, if Warr be best, or to regain
- Our own right lost: him to unthrone we then
- May hope when everlasting Fate shall yeild
- To fickle Chance, and Chaos judge the strife:
-
The former vain to hope argues as vain
- The latter: for what place can be for us
- Within Heav'ns bound, unless Heav'ns Lord supream
- We overpower? Suppose he should relent
- And publish Grace to all, on promise made
- Of new Subjection; with what eyes could we
- Stand in his presence humble, and receive
- Strict Laws impos'd, to celebrate his Throne
- With warbl'd Hymns, and to his Godhead sing
- Forc't Halleluiah's; while he Lordly sits
- Our envied Sovran, and his Altar breathes
- Ambrosial Odours and Ambrosial Flowers,
- Our servile offerings. This must be our task
- In Heav'n, this our delight; how wearisom
- Eternity so spent in worship paid
- To whom we hate. Let us not then pursue
- By force impossible, by leave obtain'd
- Unacceptable, though in Heav'n, our state
- Of splendid vassalage, but rather seek
- Our own good from our selves, and from our own
- Live to our selves, though in this vast recess,
- Free, and to none accountable, preferring
- Hard liberty before the easie yoke
- Of servile Pomp. Our greatness will appeer
- Then most conspicuous, when great things of small,
- Useful of hurtful, prosperous of adverse
- We can create, and in what place so e're
- Thrive under evil, and work ease out of pain
- Through labour and indurance. This deep world
- Of darkness do we dread? How oft amidst
- Thick clouds and dark doth Heav'ns all-ruling Sire
- Choose to reside, his Glory unobscur'd,
- And with the Majesty of darkness round
- Covers his Throne; from whence deep thunders roar
- Must'ring thir rage, and Heav'n resembles Hell?
- As he our darkness, cannot we his Light
- Imitate when we please? This Desart soile
- Wants not her hidden lustre, Gemms and Gold;
- Nor want we skill or Art, from whence to raise
- Magnificence; and what can Heav'n shew more?
- Our torments also may in length of time
- Become our Elements, these piercing Fires
- As soft as now severe, our temper chang'd
- Into their temper; which must needs remove
- The sensible of pain. All things invite
- To peaceful Counsels, and the settl'd State
- Of order, how in safety best we may
- Compose our present evils, with regard
- Of what we are and were, dismissing quite
- All thoughts of warr: ye have what I advise.
He scarce had finisht, when such murmur filld
- Th' Assembly, as when hollow Rocks retain
- The sound of blustring winds, which all night long
- Had rous'd the Sea, now with hoarse cadence lull
- Sea-faring men orewatcht, whose Bark by chance
- Or Pinnace anchors in a craggy Bay
- After the Tempest: Such applause was heard
- As Mammon ended, and his Sentence pleas'd,
- Advising peace: for such another Field
- They dreaded worse then Hell: so much the fear
- Of Thunder and the Sword of Michael
- Wrought still within them; and no less desire
- To found this nether Empire, which might rise
- By pollicy, and long process of time,
- In emulation opposite to Heav'n.
-
Which when Beelzebub perceiv'd, then whom,
- Satan except, none higher sat, with grave
- Aspect he rose, and in his rising seem'd
- A Pillar of State; deep on his Front engraven
- Deliberation sat and public care;
- And Princely counsel in his face yet shon,
- Majestic though in ruin: sage he stood
- With Atlantean shoulders fit to bear
- The weight of mightiest Monarchies; his look
- Drew audience and attention still as Night
- Or Summers Noon-tide air, while thus he spake.
Thrones and Imperial Powers, off-spring of heav'n
- Ethereal Vertues; or these Titles now
- Must we renounce, and changing stile be call'd
- Princes of Hell? for so the popular vote
- Inclines, here to continue, and build up here
- A growing Empire; doubtless; while we dream,
- And know not that the King of Heav'n hath doom'd
- This place our dungeon, not our safe retreat
- Beyond his Potent arm, to live exempt
- From Heav'ns high jurisdiction, in new League
- Banded against his Throne, but to remaine
- In strictest bondage, though thus far remov'd,
- Under th' inevitable curb, reserv'd
- His captive multitude: For he, be sure
- In heighth or depth, still first and last will Reign
- Sole King, and of his Kingdom loose no part
- By our revolt, but over Hell extend
- His Empire, and with Iron Scepter rule
- Us here, as with his Golden those in Heav'n.
- What sit we then projecting peace and Warr?
- Warr hath determin'd us, and foild with loss
- Irreparable; tearms of peace yet none
- Voutsaf't or sought; for what peace will be giv'n
- To us enslav'd, but custody severe,
- And stripes, and arbitrary punishment
- Inflicted? and what peace can we return,
- But to our power hostility and hate,
- Untam'd reluctance, and revenge though slow,
- Yet ever plotting how the Conqueror least
- May reap his conquest, and may least rejoyce
- In doing what we most in suffering feel?
-
Nor will occasion want, nor shall we need
- With dangerous expedition to invade
- Heav'n, whose high walls fear no assault or Siege,
- Or ambush from the Deep. What if we find
- Some easier enterprize? There is a place
- (If ancient and prophetic fame in Heav'n
- Err not) another World, the happy seat
- Of some new Race call'd Man, about this time
- To be created like to us, though less
- In power and excellence, but favour'd more
- Of him who rules above; so was his will
- Pronounc'd among the Gods, and by an Oath,
- That shook Heav'ns whol circumference, confirm'd.
- Thither let us bend all our thoughts, to learn
- What creatures there inhabit, of what mould,
- Or substance, how endu'd, and what thir Power,
- And where thir weakness, how attempted best,
- By force or suttlety: Though Heav'n be shut,
- And Heav'ns high Arbitrator sit secure
- In his own strength, this place may lye expos'd
- The utmost border of his Kingdom, left
- To their defence who hold it: here perhaps
- Som advantagious act may be achiev'd
- By sudden onset, either with Hell fire
- To waste his whole Creation, or possess
- All as our own, and drive as we were driven,
- The punie habitants, or if not drive,
- Seduce them to our Party, that thir God
- May prove thir foe, and with repenting hand
- Abolish his own works. This would surpass
- Common revenge, and interrupt his joy
- In our Confusion, and our Joy upraise
- In his disturbance; when his darling Sons
- Hurl'd headlong to partake with us, shall curse
- Thir frail Original, and faded bliss,
- Faded so soon. Advise if this be worth
- Attempting, or to sit in darkness here
- Hatching vain Empires. Thus Beelzebub
- Pleaded his devilish Counsel, first devis'd
- By Satan, and in part propos'd: for whence,
- But from the Author of all ill could Spring
- So deep a malice, to confound the race
- Of mankind in one root, and Earth with Hell
- To mingle and involve, done all to spite
- The great Creatour? But thir spite still serves
- His glory to augment. The bold design
- Pleas'd highly those infernal States, and joy
- Sparkl'd in all thir eyes; with full assent
- They vote: whereat his speech he thus renews.
-
Well have ye judg'd, well ended long debate,
- Synod of Gods, and like to what ye are,
- Great things resolv'd; which from the lowest deep
- Will once more lift us up, in spight of Fate,
- Neerer our ancient Seat; perhaps in view
- Of those bright confines, whence with neighbouring Arms
- And opportune excursion we may chance
- Re-enter Heav'n; or else in some milde Zone
- Dwell not unvisited of Heav'ns fair Light
- Secure, and at the brightning Orient beam
- Purge off this gloom; the soft delicious Air,
- To heal the scarr of these corrosive Fires
- Shall breath her balme. But first whom shall we send
- In search of this new world, whom shall we find
- Sufficient? who shall tempt with wandring feet
- The dark unbottom'd infinite Abyss
- And through the palpable obscure find out
- His uncouth way, or spread his aerie flight
- Upborn with indefatigable wings
- Over the vast abrupt, ere he arrive
- The happy Ile; what strength, what art can then
- Suffice, or what evasion bear him safe
- Through the strict Senteries and Stations thick
- Of Angels watching round? Here he had need
- All circumspection, and we now no less
- Choice in our suffrage; for on whom we send,
- The weight of all and our last hope relies.
This said, he sat; and expectation held
- His look suspence, awaiting who appeer'd
- To second, or oppose, or undertake
- The perilous attempt; but all sat mute,
- Pondering the danger with deep thoughts; and each
- In others count'nance read his own dismay
- Astonisht: none among the choice and prime
- Of those Heav'n-warring Champions could be found
- So hardie as to proffer or accept
- Alone the dreadful voyage; till at last
- Satan, whom now transcendent glory rais'd
- Above his fellows, with Monarchal pride
- Conscious of highest worth, unmov'd thus spake.
- O Progeny of Heav'n, Empyreal Thrones,
- With reason hath deep silence and demurr
- Seis'd us, though undismaid: long is the way
- And hard, that out of Hell leads up to light;
- Our prison strong, this huge convex of Fire,
- Outrageous to devour, immures us round
- Ninefold, and gates of burning Adamant
- Barr'd over us prohibit all egress.
- These past, if any pass, the void profound
- Of unessential Night receives him next
- Wide gaping, and with utter loss of being
- Threatens him, plung'd in that abortive gulf.
- If thence he scape into whatever world,
- Or unknown Region, what remains him less
- Then unknown dangers and as hard escape.
-
But I should ill become this Throne, O Peers,
- And this Imperial Sov'ranty, adorn'd
- With splendor, arm'd with power, if aught propos'd
- And judg'd of public moment, in the shape
- Of difficulty or danger could deterr
- Mee from attempting. Wherefore do I assume
- These Royalties, and not refuse to Reign,
- Refusing to accept as great a share
- Of hazard as of honour, due alike
- To him who Reigns, and so much to him due
- Of hazard more, as he above the rest
- High honourd sits? Go therefore mighty Powers,
- Terror of Heav'n, though fall'n; intend at home,
- While here shall be our home, what best may ease
- The present misery, and render Hell
- More tollerable; if there be cure or charm
- To respite or deceive, or slack the pain
- Of this ill Mansion: intermit no watch
- Against a wakeful Foe, while I abroad
- Through all the Coasts of dark destruction seek
- Deliverance for us all: this enterprize
- None shall partake with me. Thus saying rose
- The Monarch, and prevented all reply,
- Prudent, least from his resolution rais'd
- Others among the chief might offer now
- (Certain to be refus'd) what erst they fear'd;
- And so refus'd might in opinion stand
- His Rivals, winning cheap the high repute
- Which he through hazard huge must earn. But they
- Dreaded not more th' adventure then his voice
- Forbidding; and at once with him they rose;
- Thir rising all at once was as the sound
- Of Thunder heard remote. Towards him they bend
- With awful reverence prone; and as a God
- Extoll him equal to the highest in Heav'n:
- Nor fail'd they to express how much they prais'd,
- That for the general safety he despis'd
- His own: for neither do the Spirits damn'd
- Loose all thir vertue; least bad men should boast
- Thir specious deeds on earth, which glory excites,
- Or clos ambition varnisht o're with zeal.
- Thus they thir doubtful consultations dark
- Ended rejoycing in thir matchless Chief:
- As when from mountain tops the dusky clouds
- Ascending, while the North wind sleeps, O'respread
- Heav'ns chearful face, the lowring Element
- Scowls ore the dark'nd lantskip Snow, or showre;
- If chance the radiant Sun with farewell sweet
- Extend his ev'ning beam, the fields revive,
- The birds thir notes renew, and bleating herds
- Attest thir joy, that hill and valley rings.
- O shame to men! Devil with Devil damn'd
- Firm concord holds, men onely disagree
- Of Creatures rational, though under hope
- Of heavenly Grace; and God proclaiming peace,
- Yet live in hatred, enmity, and strife
- Among themselves, and levie cruel warres,
- Wasting the Earth, each other to destroy:
- As if (which might induce us to accord)
- Man had not hellish foes anow besides,
- That day and night for his destruction waite.
-
The Stygian Counsel thus dissolv'd; and forth
- In order came the grand infernal Peers:
- Midst came thir mighty Paramount, and seemd
- Alone th' Antagonist of Heav'n, nor less
- Than Hells dread Emperour with pomp Supream,
- And God-like imitated State; him round
- A Globe of fierie Seraphim inclos'd
- With bright imblazonrie, and horrent Arms.
- Then of thir Session ended they bid cry
- With Trumpets regal sound the great result:
- Toward the four winds four speedy Cherubim
- Put to thir mouths the sounding Alchymie
- By Haralds voice explain'd: the hollow Abyss
- Heard farr and wide, and all the host of Hell
- With deafning shout, return'd them loud acclaim.
- Thence more at ease thir minds and somwhat rais'd
- By false presumptuous hope, the ranged powers
- Disband, and wandring, each his several way
- Pursues, as inclination or sad choice
- Leads him perplext, where he may likeliest find
- Truce to his restless thoughts, and entertain
- The irksom hours, till his great Chief return.
- Part on the Plain, or in the Air sublime
- Upon the wing, or in swift Race contend,
- As at th' Olympian Games or Pythian fields;
- Part curb thir fierie Steeds, or shun the Goal
- With rapid wheels, or fronted Brigads form.
- As when to warn proud Cities warr appears
- Wag'd in the troubl'd Skie, and Armies rush
- To Battel in the Clouds, before each Van
- Prick forth the Aerie Knights, and couch thir Spears
- Till thickest Legions close; with feats of Arms
- From either end of Heav'n the welkin burns.
- Others with vast Typhan rage more fell
- Rend up both Rocks and Hills, and ride the Air
- In whirlwind; Hell scarce holds the wilde uproar.
- As when Alcides from Oechalia Crown'd
- With conquest, felt th' envenom'd robe, and tore
- Through pain up by the roots Thessalian Pines,
- And Lichas from the top of Oeta threw
- Into th' Euboic Sea. Others more milde,
- Retreated in a silent valley, sing
- With notes Angelical to many a Harp
- Thir own Heroic deeds and hapless fall
- By doom of Battel; and complain that Fate
- Free Vertue should enthrall to Force or Chance.
-
Thir Song was partial, but the harmony
- (What could it less when Spirits immortal sing?)
- Suspended Hell, and took with ravishment
- The thronging audience. In discourse more sweet
- (For Eloquence the Soul, Song charms the Sense,)
- Others apart sat on a Hill retir'd,
- In thoughts more elevate, and reason'd high
- Of Providence, Foreknowledge, Will and Fate,
- Fixt Fate, free will, foreknowledg absolute,
- And found no end, in wandring mazes lost.
- Of good and evil much they argu'd then,
- Of happiness and final misery,
- Passion and Apathie, and glory and shame,
- Vain wisdom all, and false Philosophie:
- Yet with a pleasing sorcerie could charm
- Pain for a while or anguish, and excite
- Fallacious hope, or arm th' obdured brest
- With stubborn patience as with triple steel.
- Another part in Squadrons and gross Bands,
- On bold adventure to discover wide
- That dismal world, if any Clime perhaps
- Might yield them easier habitation, bend
- Four ways thir flying March, along the Banks
- Of four infernal Rivers that disgorge
- Into the burning Lake thir baleful streams;
- Abhorred Styx the flood of deadly hate,
- Sad Acheron of sorrow, black and deep;
- Cocytus, nam'd of lamentation loud
- Heard on the ruful stream; fierce Phlegeton
- Whose waves of torrent fire inflame with rage.
- Farr off from these a slow and silent stream,
- Lethe the River of Oblivion roules
- Her watrie Labyrinth, whereof who drinks,
- Forthwith his former state and being forgets,
- Forgets both joy and grief, pleasure and pain.
- Beyond this flood a frozen Continent
- Lies dark and wilde, beat with perpetual storms
- Of Whirlwind and dire Hail, which on firm land
- Thaws not, but gathers heap, and ruin seems
- Of ancient pile; all else deep snow and ice,
- A gulf profound as that Serbonian Bog
- Betwixt Damiata and Mount Casius old,
- Where Armies whole have sunk: the parching Air
- Burns frore, and cold performs th' effect of Fire.
- Thither by harpy-footed Furies hail'd,
- At certain revolutions all the damn'd
- Are brought: and feel by turns the bitter change
- Of fierce extreams, extreams by change more fierce,
- From Beds of raging Fire to starve in Ice
- Thir soft Ethereal warmth, and there to pine
- Immovable, infixt, and frozen round,
- Periods of time, thence hurried back to fire.
-
They ferry over this Lethean Sound
- Both to and fro, thir sorrow to augment,
- And wish and struggle, as they pass, to reach
- The tempting stream, with one small drop to loose
- In sweet forgetfulness all pain and woe,
- All in one moment, and so neer the brink;
- But fate withstands, and to oppose th' attempt
- Medusa with Gorgonian terror guards
- The Ford, and of it self the water flies
- All taste of living wight, as once it fled
- The lip of Tantalus. Thus roving on
- In confus'd march forlorn, th' adventrous Bands
- With shuddring horror pale, and eyes agast
- View'd first thir lamentable lot, and found
- No rest: through many a dark and drearie Vaile
- They pass'd, and many a Region dolorous,
- O'er many a Frozen, many a fierie Alpe,
- Rocks, Caves, Lakes, Fens, Bogs, Dens, and shades of death,
- A Universe of death, which God by curse
- Created evil, for evil only good,
- Where all life dies, death lives, and Nature breeds,
- Perverse, all monstrous, all prodigious things,
- Abominable, inutterable, and worse
- Then Fables yet have feign'd, or fear conceiv'd,
- Gorgons and Hydra's, and Chimera's dire.
Mean while the Adversary of God and Man,
- Satan with thoughts inflam'd of highest design,
- Puts on swift wings, and towards the Gates of Hell
- Explores his solitary flight; som times
- He scours the right hand coast, som times the left,
- Now shaves with level wing the Deep, then soares
- Up to the fiery Concave touring high.
- As when farr off at Sea a Fleet descri'd
- Hangs in the Clouds, by quinoctial Winds
- Close sailing from Bengala, or the Iles
- Of Ternate and Tidore, whence Merchants bring
- Thir spicie Drugs: they on the Trading Flood ]
- Through the wide Ethiopian to the Cape
- Ply stemming nightly toward the Pole. So seem'd
- Farr off the flying Fiend: at last appeer
- Hell bounds high reaching to the horrid Roof,
- And thrice threefold the Gates; three folds were Brass,
- Three Iron, three of Adamantine Rock,
- Impenetrable, impal'd with circling fire,
- Yet unconsum'd. Before the Gates there sat
- On either side a formidable shape;
-
The one seem'd Woman to the waste, and fair,
- But ended foul in many a scaly fould
- Voluminous and vast, a Serpent arm'd
- With mortal sting: about her middle round
- A cry of Hell Hounds never ceasing bark'd
- With wide Cerberian mouths full loud, and rung
- A hideous Peal: yet, when they list, would creep,
- If aught disturb'd thir noyse, into her woomb,
- And kennel there, yet there still bark'd and howl'd
- Within unseen. Farr less abhorrd than these
- Vex'd Scylla bathing in the Sea that parts
- Calabria from the hoarse Trinacrian shore:
- Nor uglier follow the Night-Hag, when call'd
- In secret, riding through the Air she comes
- Lur'd with the smell of infant blood, to dance
- With Lapland Witches, while the labouring Moon
- Eclipses at thir charms. The other shape,
- If shape it might be call'd that shape had none
- Distinguishable in member, joynt, or limb,
- Or substance might be call'd that shadow seem'd,
- For each seem'd either; black it stood as Night,
- Fierce as ten Furies, terrible as Hell,
- And shook a dreadful Dart; what seem'd his head
- The likeness of a Kingly Crown had on.
- Satan was now at hand, and from his seat
- The Monster moving onward came as fast
- With horrid strides, Hell trembled as he strode.
- Th' undaunted Fiend what this might be admir'd,
- Admir'd, not fear'd; God and his Son except,
- Created thing naught valu'd he nor shun'd
- And with disdainful look thus first began.
Whence and what art thou, execrable shape,
- That dar'st, though grim and terrible, advance
- Thy miscreated Front athwart my way
- To yonder Gates? through them I mean to pass,
- That be assured, without leave askt of thee:
- Retire, or taste thy folly, and learn by proof,
- Hell-born, not to contend with Spirits of Heav'n.
To whom the Goblin full of wrauth reply'd,
- Art thou that Traitor Angel, art thou hee,
- Who first broke peace in Heav'n and Faith, till then
- Unbrok'n, and in proud rebellious Arms
- Drew after him the third part of Heav'ns Sons
- Conjur'd against the highest, for which both Thou
- And they outcast from God, are here condemn'd
- To waste Eternal dayes in woe and pain?
- And reck'n'st thou thy self with Spirits of Heav'n,
- Hell-doom'd, and breath'st defiance here and scorn
- Where I reign King, and to enrage thee more,
- Thy King and Lord? Back to thy punishment,
- False fugitive, and to thy speed add wings,
- Least with a whip of Scorpions I pursue
- Thy lingring, or with one stroke of this Dart
- Strange horror seise thee, and pangs unfelt before.
-
So spake the grieslie terror, and in shape,
- So speaking and so threatning, grew tenfold
- More dreadful and deform: on th' other side
- Incenst with indignation Satan stood
- Unterrifi'd, and like a Comet burn'd,
- That fires the length of Ophiucus huge
- In th' Artick Sky, and from his horrid hair
- Shakes Pestilence and Warr. Each at the Head
- Level'd his deadly aime; thir fatall hands
- No second stroke intend, and such a frown
- Each cast at th' other, as when two black Clouds
- With Heav'ns Artillery fraught, come rattling on
- Over the Caspian, then stand front to front
- Hov'ring a space, till Winds the signal blow
- To join thir dark Encounter in mid air:
- So frownd the mighty Combatants, that Hell
- Grew darker at thir frown, so matcht they stood;
- For never but once more was either like
- To meet so great a foe: and now great deeds
- Had been achiev'd, whereof all Hell had rung,
- Had not the Snakie Sorceress that sat
- Fast by Hell Gate, and kept the fatal Key,
- Ris'n, and with hideous outcry rush'd between.
O Father, what intends thy hand, she cry'd,
- Against thy only Son? What fury O Son,
- Possesses thee to bend that mortal Dart
- Against thy Fathers head? and know'st for whom;
- For him who sits above and laughs the while
- At thee ordain'd his drudge, to execute
- What e're his wrath, which he calls Justice, bids,
- His wrath which one day will destroy ye both.
She spake, and at her words the hellish Pest
- Forbore, then these to her Satan return'd:
So strange thy outcry, and thy words so strange
- Thou interposest, that my sudden hand
- Prevented spares to tell thee yet by deeds
- What it intends; till first I know of thee,
- What thing thou art, thus double-form'd, and why
- In this infernal Vaile first met thou call'st
- Me Father, and that Fantasm call'st my Son?
- I know thee not, nor ever saw till now
- Sight more detestable then him and thee.
-
T' whom thus the Portress of Hell Gate reply'd;
- Hast thou forgot me then, and do I seem
- Now in thine eye so foul, once deemd so fair
- In Heav'n, when at th' Assembly, and in sight
- Of all the Seraphim with thee combin'd
- In bold conspiracy against Heav'ns King,
- All on a sudden miserable pain
- Surprisd thee, dim thine eyes, and dizzie swumm
- In darkness, while thy head flames thick and fast
- Threw forth, till on the left side op'ning wide,
- Likest to thee in shape and count'nance bright,
- Then shining Heav'nly fair, a Goddess arm'd
- Out of thy head I sprung; amazement seis'd
- All th' Host of Heav'n back they recoild affraid
- At first, and call'd me Sin, and for a Sign
- Portentous held me; but familiar grown,
- I pleas'd, and with attractive graces won
- The most averse, thee chiefly, who full oft
- Thy self in me thy perfect image viewing
- Becam'st enamour'd, and such joy thou took'st
- With me in secret, that my womb conceiv'd
- A growing burden. Mean while Warr arose,
- And fields were fought in Heav'n; wherein remaind
- (For what could else) to our Almighty Foe
- Cleer Victory, to our part loss and rout
- Through all the Empyrean: down they fell
- Driv'n headlong from the Pitch of Heaven, down
- Into this Deep, and in the general fall
- I also; at which time this powerful Key
- Into my hand was giv'n, with charge to keep
- These Gates for ever shut, which none can pass
- Without my op'ning. Pensive here I sat
- Alone, but long I sat not, till my womb
- Pregnant by thee, and now excessive grown
- Prodigious motion felt and rueful throes.
- At last this odious offspring whom thou seest
- Thine own begotten, breaking violent way
- Tore through my entrails, that with fear and pain
- Distorted, all my nether shape thus grew
- Transform'd: but he my inbred enemie
- Forth issu'd, brandishing his fatal Dart
- Made to destroy: I fled, and cry'd out Death;
- Hell trembl'd at the hideous Name, and sigh'd
- From all her Caves, and back resounded Death.
- I fled, but he pursu'd (though more, it seems,
- Inflam'd with lust then rage) and swifter far,
- Mee overtook his mother all dismaid,
- And in embraces forcible and foule
- Ingendring with me, of that rape begot
- These yelling Monsters that with ceasless cry
- Surround me, as thou sawst, hourly conceiv'd
- And hourly born, with sorrow infinite
- To me, for when they list into the womb
- That bred them they return, and howle and gnaw
- My Bowels, thir repast; then bursting forth
- A fresh with conscious terrours vex me round,
- That rest or intermission none I find.
-
Before mine eyes in opposition sits
- Grim Death my Son and foe, who sets them on,
- And me his Parent would full soon devour
- For want of other prey, but that he knows
- His end with mine involvd; and knows that I
- Should prove a bitter Morsel, and his bane,
- Whenever that shall be; so Fate pronounc'd.
- But thou O Father, I forewarn thee, shun
- His deadly arrow; neither vainly hope
- To be invulnerable in those bright Arms,
- Though temper'd heav'nly, for that mortal dint,
- Save he who reigns above, none can resist.
She finish'd, and the suttle Fiend his lore
- Soon learnd, now milder, and thus answerd smooth.
- Dear Daughter, since thou claim'st me for thy Sire,
- And my fair Son here showst me, the dear pledge
- Of dalliance had with thee in Heav'n, and joys
- Then sweet, now sad to mention, through dire change
- Befalln us unforeseen, unthought of, know
- I come no enemie, but to set free
- From out this dark and dismal house of pain,
- Both him and thee, and all the heav'nly Host
- Of Spirits that in our just pretenses arm'd
- Fell with us from on high: from them I go
- This uncouth errand sole, and one for all
- Myself expose, with lonely steps to tread
- Th' unfounded deep, and through the void immense
- To search with wandring quest a place foretold
- Should be, and, by concurring signs, ere now
- Created vast and round, a place of bliss
- In the Purlieues of Heav'n, and therein plac't
- A race of upstart Creatures, to supply
- Perhaps our vacant room, though more remov'd,
- Least Heav'n surcharg'd with potent multitude
- Might hap to move new broiles: Be this or aught
- Then this more secret now design'd, I haste
- To know, and this once known, shall soon return,
- And bring ye to the place where Thou and Death
- Shall dwell at ease, and up and down unseen
- Wing silently the buxom Air, imbalm'd
- With odours; there ye shall be fed and fill'd
- Immeasurably, all things shall be your prey.
He ceas'd, for both seem'd highly pleasd, and Death
- Grinnd horrible a gastly smile, to hear
- His famine should be fill'd, and blest his mawe
- Destin'd to that good hour: no less rejoyc'd
- His mother bad, and thus bespake her Sire.
-
The key of this infernal Pit by due,
- And by command of Heav'ns all-powerful King
- I keep, by him forbidden to unlock
- These Adamantine Gates; against all force
- Death ready stands to interpose his dart,
- Fearless to be o'rmatcht by living might.
- But what ow I to his commands above
- Who hates me, and hath hither thrust me down
- Into this gloom of Tartarus profound,
- To sit in hateful Office here confin'd,
- Inhabitant of Heav'n, and heav'nlie-born,
- Here in perpetual agonie and pain,
- With terrors and with clamors compasst round
- Of mine own brood, that on my bowels feed:
- Thou art my Father, thou my Author, thou
- My being gav'st me; whom should I obey
- But thee, whom follow? thou wilt bring me soon
- To that new world of light and bliss, among
- The Gods who live at ease, where I shall Reign
- At thy right hand voluptuous, as beseems
- Thy daughter and thy darling, without end.
Thus saying, from her side the fatal Key,
- Sad instrument of all our woe, she took;
- And towards the Gate rouling her bestial train,
- Forthwith the huge Porcullis high up drew,
- Which but her self not all the Stygian powers
- Could once have mov'd; then in the key-hole turns
- Th' intricate wards, and every Bolt and Bar
- Of massie Iron or sollid Rock with ease
- Unfast'ns: on a sudden op'n flie
- With impetuous recoile and jarring sound
- Th' infernal dores, and on thir hinges grate
- Harsh Thunder, that the lowest bottom shook
- Of Erebus. She op'nd, but to shut
- Excel'd her power; the Gates wide op'n stood,
- That with extended wings a Bannerd Host
- Under spread Ensigns marching might pass through
- With Horse and Chariots rankt in loose array;
- So wide they stood, and like a Furnace mouth
- Cast forth redounding smoak and ruddy flame.
- Before thir eyes in sudden view appear
- The secrets of the hoarie deep, a dark
- Illimitable Ocean without bound,
- Without dimension, where length, breadth, & highth,
- And time and place are lost; where eldest Night
- And Chaos, Ancestors of Nature, hold
- Eternal Anarchie, amidst the noise
- Of endless Warrs, and by confusion stand.
-
For hot, cold, moist, and dry, four Champions fierce
- Strive here for Maistrie, and to Battel bring
- Thir embryon Atoms; they around the flag
- Of each his faction, in thir several Clanns,
- Light-arm'd or heavy, sharp, smooth, swift or slow,
- Swarm populous, unnumber'd as the Sands
- Of Barca or Cyrene's torrid soil,
- Levied to side with warring Winds, and poise
- Thir lighter wings. To whom these most adhere,
- Hee rules a moment; Chaos Umpire sits,
- And by decision more imbroiles the fray
- By which he Reigns: next him high Arbiter
- Chance governs all. Into this wilde Abyss,
- The Womb of nature and perhaps her Grave,
- Of neither Sea, nor Shore, nor Air, nor Fire,
- But all these in thir pregnant causes mixt
- Confus'dly, and which thus must ever fight,
- Unless th' Almighty Maker them ordain
- His dark materials to create more Worlds,
- Into this wild Abyss the warie fiend
- Stood on the brink of Hell and look'd a while,
- Pondering his Voyage: for no narrow frith
- He had to cross. Nor was his eare less peal'd
- With noises loud and ruinous (to compare
- Great things with small) then when Bellona storms,
- With all her battering Engines bent to rase
- Som Capital City; or less then if this frame
- Of Heav'n were falling, and these Elements
- In mutinie had from her Axle torn
- The stedfast Earth. At last his Sail-broad Vannes
- He spreads for flight, and in the surging smoak
- Uplifted spurns the ground, thence many a League
- As in a cloudy Chair ascending rides
- Audacious, but that seat soon failing, meets
- A vast vacuitie: all unawares
- Fluttring his pennons vain plumb down he drops
- Ten thousand fadom deep, and to this hour
- Down had been falling, had not by ill chance
- The strong rebuff of som tumultuous cloud
- Instinct with Fire and Nitre hurried him
- As many miles aloft: that furie stay'd,
- Quencht in a Boggy Syrtis, neither Sea,
- Nor good dry Land: nigh founderd on he fares,
- Treading the crude consistence, half on foot,
- Half flying; behoves him now both Oare and Saile.
- As when a Gryfon through the Wilderness
- With winged course ore Hill or moarie Dale,
- Pursues the Arimaspian, who by stelth
- Had from his wakeful custody purloind
- The guarded Gold: So eagerly the fiend
- Ore bog or steep, through strait, rough, dense, or rare,
- With head, hands, wings, or feet pursues his way,
- And swims or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flyes:
-
At length a universal hubbub wilde
- Of stunning sounds and voices all confus'd
- Borne through the hollow dark assaults his eare
- With loudest vehemence: thither he plyes,
- Undaunted to meet there what ever power
- Or Spirit of the nethermost Abyss
- Might in that noise reside, of whom to ask
- Which way the neerest coast of darkness lyes
- Bordering on light; when strait behold the Throne
- Of Chaos, and his dark Pavilion spread
- Wide on the wasteful Deep; with him Enthron'd
- Sat Sable-vested Night, eldest of things,
- The Consort of his Reign; and by them stood
- Orcus and Ades, and the dreaded name
- Of Demogorgon; Rumor next and Chance,
- And Tumult and Confusion all imbroild,
- And Discord with a thousand various mouths.
T' whom Satan turning boldly, thus. Ye Powers
- And Spirits of this nethermost Abyss,
- Chaos and ancient Night, I come no Spy,
- With purpose to explore or to disturb
- The secrets of your Realm, but by constraint
- Wandring this darksome Desart, as my way
- Lies through your spacious Empire up to light,
- Alone, and without guide, half lost, I seek
- What readiest path leads where your gloomie bounds
- Confine with Heav'n; or if som other place
- From your Dominion won, th' Ethereal King
- Possesses lately, thither to arrive
- I travel this profound, direct my course;
- Directed no mean recompence it brings
- To your behoof, if I that Region lost,
- All usurpation thence expell'd, reduce
- To her original darkness and your sway
- (Which is my present journey) and once more
- Erect the Standard there of ancient Night;
- Yours be th' advantage all, mine the revenge.
-
Thus Satan; and him thus the Anarch old
- With faultring speech and visage incompos'd
- Answer'd. I know thee, stranger, who thou art,
- That mighty leading Angel, who of late
- Made head against Heav'ns King, though overthrown.
- I saw and heard, for such a numerous Host
- Fled not in silence through the frighted deep
- With ruin upon ruin, rout on rout,
- Confusion worse confounded; and Heav'n Gates
- Pourd out by millions her victorious Bands
- Pursuing. I upon my Frontieres here
- Keep residence; if all I can will serve,
- That little which is left so to defend
- Encroacht on still through our intestine broiles
- Weakning the Scepter of old Night: first Hell
- Your dungeon stretching far and wide beneath;
- Now lately Heaven and Earth, another World
- Hung ore my Realm, link'd in a golden Chain
- To that side Heav'n from whence your Legions fell:
- If that way be your walk, you have not farr;
- So much the neerer danger; go and speed;
- Havock and spoil and ruin are my gain.
He ceas'd; and Satan staid not to reply,
- But glad that now his Sea should find a shore,
- With fresh alacritie and force renew'd
- Springs upward like a Pyramid of fire
- Into the wilde expanse, and through the shock
- Of fighting Elements, on all sides round
- Environ'd wins his way; harder beset
- And more endanger'd, then when Argo pass'd
- Through Bosporus betwixt the justling Rocks:
- Or when Ulysses on the Larbord shunnd
- Charybdis, and by th' other whirlpool steard.
- So he with difficulty and labour hard
- Mov'd on, with difficulty and labour hee;
- But hee once past, soon after when man fell,
- Strange alteration! Sin and Death amain
- Following his track, such was the will of Heav'n,
- Pav'd after him a broad and beat'n way
- Over the dark Abyss, whose boiling Gulf
- Tamely endur'd a Bridge of wondrous length
- From Hell continu'd reaching th' utmost Orbe
- Of this frail World; by which the Spirits perverse
- With easie intercourse pass to and fro
- To tempt or punish mortals, except whom
- God and good Angels guard by special grace.
- But now at last the sacred influence
- Of light appears, and from the walls of Heav'n
- Shoots farr into the bosom of dim Night
- A glimmering dawn; here Nature first begins
- Her fardest verge, and Chaos to retire
- As from her outmost works a brok'n foe
- With tumult less and with less hostile din,
- That Satan with less toil, and now with ease
- Wafts on the calmer wave by dubious light
- And like a weather-beaten Vessel holds
- Gladly the Port, though Shrouds and Tackle torn;
- Or in the emptier waste, resembling Air,
- Weighs his spread wings, at leasure to behold
- Farr off th' Empyreal Heav'n, extended wide
- In circuit, undetermind square or round,
- With Opal Towrs and Battlements adorn'd
- Of living Saphire, once his native Seat;
- And fast by hanging in a golden Chain
- This pendant world, in bigness as a Starr
- Of smallest Magnitude close by the Moon.
- Thither full fraught with mischievous revenge,
- Accurst, and in a cursed hour he hies.
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