Ten thousand fathom deep and to this hour Down had been falling, had not by ill chance The strong rebuff of fome tumultuous cloud, Inftinct with fire and nitre, hurried him As many miles aloft: that fury stay'd, Quench'd in a boggy Syrtis, neither sea,
Nor good dry land, nigh founder'd on he fares, 940 Treading the crude confiftence, half on foot, Half flying; behooves him now both oar and fail. As when a gryfon, through the wilderness With winged courfe o'er hill, or moory dale, Purfues the ARIMASPIAN, who by stealth Had from his wakeful cuftody purloin'd The guarded gold: fo eagerly the fiend
O'er bog or steep, through ftrait, rough, dense, or rare, With head, hands, wings, or feet, purfues his way; And fwims, or finks, or wades, or creeps, or flies. At length a univerfal hubbub wild
Of stunning founds, and voices all confus'd, Born through the hollow dark, assaults his ear With loudest vehemence : thither he plies, Undaunted to meet there whatever Pow'r, Or fpirit, of the nethermoft abyfs,
Might in that noife refide, of whom to afk Which way the nearest coast of darkness lies, Bordering on light; when ftrait behold the throne Of CHAOS, and his dark pavilion spread Wide on the wafteful Deep with him inthron'd Sat fable-vested NIGHT, eldeft of things, The confort of his reign and by them ftood ORCUS, and HADES, and the dreaded name Of DEMOGORGON: RUMOR next, and CHANCE, 965 And TUMULT, and CONFUSION all imbroil'd, And DISCORD with a thoufand various mouths. T'whom SATAN turning boldly, thus- Ye Pow'rs!
And spirits of this nethermoft abyfs,
CHAOS and ANTIENT NIGHT! I come no fpy With purpose to explore, or to disturb,
The fecrets of your realm; but by constraint Wand'ring this dark fome defart, as my way Lies through your fpacious empire up to light, Alone, and without guide, half loft, I feek What readiest path leads where your gloomy bounds Confine with heav'n or if fome other place From your dominion won, th' ethereal King Poffeffes lately, thither to arrive
I travel this Profound: direct my courfe 3 Directed, no mean recompenfe it brings Το your behoof: if I that region loft, All ufurpation thence expell'd, reduce To her original darkness, and your fway, Which is my prefent journey, and once more Erect the ftandard there of ANTIENT NIGHT; Yours be th' advantage all, mine the revenge!
THUS SATAN; and him thus the anarch old, With faultring fpeech, and vifage incompos'd, Anfwer'd. I know thee, ftranger, who thou art, That mighty leading Angel, who of late Made head against heav'n's King, tho' overthrown. I faw, and heard; for fuch a num'rous hoft Fled not in filence thro' the frighted Deep, With ruin upon ruin, rout on rout, Confufion worfe confounded; and heav'n-gates
Pour'd out by millions her victorious bands Purfuing. I upon my frontiers here
Keep refidence; if all I can will ferve,
That little which is left fo to defend,
Encroach'd on ftill through our inteftine broils, Weak'ning the fceptre of old NIGHT: firft hell,
Your dungeon, ftretching far and wide beneath : Now lately heav'n, and earth, another world Hung o'er my realm, link'd in a golden chain, 1005 To that fide heav'n from whence your legions fell. If that way be your walk, you have not far; So much the nearer danger: go, and speed ! Havoc, and fpoil, and ruin are my gain.
HE ceas'd, and SATAN ftaid not to reply, But glad that now his fea fhould find a fhore, With fresh alacrity, and force renew'd, Springs upward, like a pyramid of fire, Into the wild expanfe; and through the fhock Of fighting elements, on all fides round Environ'd, wins his way: harder befet, And more endanger'd, than when ARGO pafs'd Through BOSPHORUS, betwixt the juftling rocks: Or when ULYSSES on the Larboard fhunn'd CHARYBDIS, and by th' other whirlpool fteer'd. 1020 So he with difficulty, and labour hard
Mov'd on with difficulty and labour he; But he once paft, foon after, when man fell, Strange alteration! SIN, and DEATH, a-main Following his track, fuch was the will of heav'n! Pav'd after him a broad and beaten way Over the dark abyfs, whofe boiling gulf Tamely endur'd a bridge of wondrous length, From hell continu'd, reaching th' utmost orb Of this frail world; by which the fpirits perverfe With eafy intercourfe pafs to and fro, To tempt or punish mortals, except whom GOD and good Angels guard by fpecial grace.
BUT now at last the facred influence Of light appears, and from the walls of heav'n
Shoots far into the bofom of dim night. A glimmering dawn: here Nature first begins Her fartheft verge, and CHAOS to retire, As from her outmost works a broken foe, With tumult less, and with less hoftile din ; That SATAN with lefs toil, and now with ease, Wafts on the calmer wave by dubious light; And like a weather-beaten veffel holds Gladly the port, though shrouds and tackle torn : Or in the emptier wafte, refembling air, Weighs his fpread wings, at leifure to behold. Far off th' empyreal heav'n, extended wide In circuit, undetermin'd fquare or round : With opal tow'rs, and battlements adorn'd Of living faphir, once his native seat ! And faft by, hanging in a golden chain, This pendent world, in bignefs as a star Of smallest magnitude, close by the moon.
Thither full fraught with mischievous revenge, Accurs'd, and in a curfed hour he hies.
The end of the fecond Book.
« PreviousContinue » |