With wond'rous art found out the maffy ore;
Severing each kind, and fcumm'd the bullion drofs: A third as foon had form'd within the ground A various mold; and from the boiling cells
By ftrange conveyance fill'd each hollow nook : As in an organ, from one blaft of wind,
To many a row of pipes the found-board breathes. Anon out of the earth a fabric huge Rofe like an exhalation, with the found Of dulcet fymphonies, and voices sweet; Built like a temple, where pilafters round Were fet, and Doric pillars, overlaid
With golden architrave: nor did they want Cornice, or freeze, with boffy fculptures grav'n;
The roof was fretted gold. Not BABYLON, Nor great ALCAIRO, fuch magnificence Equall'd in all their glories, to infhrine BELUS, or SERAPIS, their Gods; or feat Their kings, when EGYPT with ASSYRIA ftrove In wealth and luxury. Th' afcending pile Stood fixt her stately height and ftrait the doors Op'ning their brazen folds, discover wide Within, her ample fpaces, o'er the fmooth And level pavement: from the arched roof, Pendent by fubtle magic, many a row Of starry lamps, and blazing creffets, fed With Napththa and Afphaltus, yielded light As from a fky. The hafty multitude Admiring enter'd, and the work fome praise, And fome the architect: his hand was known In heav'n by many a towred structure high, Where fceptred angels held their refidence, And fat as Princes; whom the fupreme King Exalted to fuch pow'r, and gave to rule, Each in his hierarchy, the Orders bright :
Nor was his name unheard, or unador'd,
In ancient GREECE; and in AUSONIAN land Men call'd him MULCIBER; and how he fell 470 From heav'n they fabled, thrown by angry JoVE Sheer o'er the cryftal battlements; from morn To noon he fell, from noon to dewy evc, A fummer's day; and with the setting fun Drop'd from the Zenith like a falling ftar,
On LEMNOS th' EGEAN ifle: thus they relate, Erring; for he with this rebellious rout Fell long before; nor ought avail'd him now
T'have built in heav'n high tow'rs; nor did he 'fcape By all his engins, but was headlong fent With his induftrious crew to build in hell.
MEAN while, the winged heralds by command. Of fov'reign pow'r, with awful ceremony And trumpets found, throughout the hoft proclaim A folemn council forthwith to be held At PANDEMONIUM, the high capital
Of SATAN and his Peers; their fummons call'd, From every band and fquired regiment, By place or choice the worthieft, they anon With hundreds, and with thousands, trooping came Attended: all accefs was throng'd, the gates And porches wide, but chief the fpacious hall (Though like a cover'd field, where champions bold Wont ride in arm'd, and at the SOLDAN's chair Defi'd the best of PANIM chivalry To mortal combat, or carriere with lance) Thick fwarm'd, both on the ground, and in the air, Brush'd with the hifs of rufling wings. As bees In fpring time, when the fun with TAURUS rides, Pour forth their populous youth about the hive 770 In clusters; they among fresh dews, and flow'rs,
Fly to and fro, or on the fmoothed plank, The fuburb of their ftraw-built citadel, New rub'd with baulm, expatiate, and confer Their ftate affairs: fo thick the aery croud Swarm'd, and were ftreighten'd, till the fignal giv'n: Behold a wonder they but now who feem'd In bignefs to furpafs Earth's giant fons,
Now lefs than fmalleft dwarfs, in narrow room Throng numberlefs, like that PYG MEAN race 780 Beyond the INDIAN mount, or Fairy Elves; Whofe midnight revels, by a forest fide,
Or fountain, fome belated peasant fees,
Or dreams he fees; while over-head the moun Sits arbitrefs, and nearer to the earth
Wheels her pale courfe: they, on their mirth and dance
Intent, with jocund mufic charm his ear:
At once, with joy, and fear, his heart rebounds. Thus incorporeal fpirits to smallest forms Reduc'd their fhapes immenfe; and were at large, Though without number ftill, amidst the hall Of that infernal court. But far within, And in their own dimenfions like themselves, The great Seraphic Lords, and Cherubim, In close recefs; and fecret conclave fat; A thousand Demi-Gods on golden feats, Frequent and full! After fhort filence then, And fummons read, the great confult began.
The end of the first Book.
The confultation begun, Satan debates whether another battle be to be hazarded for the recovery of heaven; fome advife it, others diffuade. A third propofal is prefer'd, mentioned before by Satan, to fearch the truth of that prophecy or tradition in heaven, concerning another world, and another kind of creature, equal, or not much inferior to themselves, about this time to be created: their doubt who shall be fent on this difficult Search: Satan their chief undertakes alone the voyage; is honour'd and applauded. The council thus ended, the reft betake them feveral ways, and to feveral employments, as their inclinations lead them, to entertain the time 'till Satan return. He passes on his journey. to hell gates, finds them shut, and who fat there to guard them, by whom at length they are open'd, and difcover to him the great gulf between hell and heaven: with what difficulty he paffes through, directed by Chaos, the Power of that place, to the fight of this new world which he fought.
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