Æquora cum verrit rapidis nimbofus Orion;
Quà Regem malefanum undæ ftravere fecutum
Ifacidas: Illi ex tutâ fpeculantur arenâ
Currufque excuffafque rotas & pallida ponto
Corpora multa Virûm volvi. Tam denfa jacebat
Mæfta Cohors fluvium occultans, horrore fepulta,
Mutatamque ftupens fedem & fqualentia regna.
Intendit vocem Satanas, fonitumque dedere
Antra profunda Erebi: O ingentibus inclyta sceptris
Regum excelfa Manus, bello imperiifque potentûm,
Flos cæli, quondam heu veftri! Nunc arcibus illis
Cedendum, tantus corda immortalia torpor
Si teneat. Sed fortè libet decumbere fluctu,
Scilicet hic Virtus bellis ut laffa quiefcat,
Utque levem hìc ineat, cœli ceu valle, soporem!
An certum est adeò abjecto fuccumbere gestu
Victori, fuperâ infultans qui fpectat ab arce
Illuftres cœli Indigenas & celfa Seraphum

Afloat, when with fierce Winds Orion arm'd

Of Hell refounded: Princes, Potentates,
Warriors, the flow'r of Heav'n! once yours, now
If fuch astonishment as this can seize
[loft,
Eternal Spirits: or have ye chos'n this place
After the toil of battle to repofe
Your wearied virtue, for the ease you find
To flumber here, as in the Vales of Heaven?
Or in this abject posture have ye fworn
T'adore the Conqueror? who now beholds
Cherub and Seraph rolling in the Flood,

Agmina jactari rapido ludibria ponto,

Armaque fignaque flammantes densata per undas?
Jamque ardens meliorque loco pennata sequentum
Turba Inimicorum ruet æthere, femianimesque
Calcabit, triplici-ve infixos fulminis ictu

Ufque imum premet in barathrum. Quin rumpite fomnos,
Surgite, vel fœdâ æternùm torpete ruinâ.

Audierant, puduitque; alifque micantibus omnes
Ociùs exiliere: Ut quondam nocte filenti
Caftrorum Speculatores, fi fortè fopore
Oppreffos metuendi offenderit ira Tribuni,
Membra repente levant languentibus excita fomnis.
Nec verò immanis non perfensere ruinæ
Pondera, nec gravium ftimulis caruere dolorum;
At voci Ducis aufcultant, mora nulla, ruuntque
Innumeri. Veluti Amramidis cum Virga, Canopi
Littore vibrata infaufto, per rura juberet

Ire locuftarum nubem, quæ urgentibus Euris

With fcatter'd Arms and Enfigns; 'till anon
His fwift pursuers from Heav'n-gates discern
Th' advantage, and defcending tread us down.
Thus drooping or with linked Thunderbolts
Transfix us to the bottom of this Gulph.
Awake, arife, or be for ever fall'n!

They heard, and were abafh'd, and up they fprung
Upon the wing; as when men wont to watch
On duty, fleeping found by whom they dread,

Rouze and beftir themselves ere well awake.
Nor did they not perceive the evil plight
In which they were, or the fierce pains not feel;
Yet to their General's Voice they soon obey'd,
Innumerable. As when the potent Rod
Of Amram's fon, in Egypt's evil day,
Wav'd round the coaft, up call'd a pitchy cloud
Of locufts, warping on the eastern Wind,
That o'er the Realm of impious Pharach hung

C 2

Denfæ

Denfæ inftar Noctis fævi Pharaonis in oras

Venit, & horrendâ Nilum circumdedit umbrâ.
Talis Tartareorum Acies denfiffima Fratrum
Ignem inter flammantem infrà circumque fupràque
Sufpendit trifti fub fornice lentius alas:

Dum tandem magni Cufpis fublata Tyranni
Quò flectant iter oftendit: tum præpete pennâ
Equato demiffi unà libramine terrâ

Sidunt fulphureâ, & latum funduntur in æquor,
Turba ingens; quantam haud olim glacialibus Arctos
Effudit lumbis, populorum maxima Mater,

Aut Rhenum fuper aut Iftrum, cum barbara Pubes
Diluvii in morem tepidos undaret in Austros,
Ufque ipfam ad Calpem & Lybia fitientis arenas.
Jamque omni à turmâ celeres atque agmine ab omni
Ingentem ftipare Duces fimul undique Regem
Approperant: fua quemque & Sceptra, & major Imago
Humanâ, æthereæque ornant vestigia formæ.

Like Night, and darken'd all the land of Nile:
So numberless were thofe bad Angels feen
Hov'ring on wing under the cope of Hell,
'Twixt upper, nether, and surrounding Fires:
'Till, as a fignal giv'n, th' up-lifted Spear
Of their great Sultan waving to direct
Their courfe, in even balance down they light
On the firm brimftone, and fill all the plain :
A mukitude! like which the populous North

Pour'd never from her frozen loins, to país
Rhene or the Danaw, when her barbarous fons
Came like a Deluge on the South, and spread
Beneath Gibralter to the Lybian fands.
Forthwith from ev'ry squadron, and each band,
The Heads and Leaders thither hafte where stood
Their great Commander; God-like shapes and forms
Excelling human, Princely Dignities,

And Pow'rs! that erft in Heaven fat on Thrones;

Scilicet

Scilicet & foliis quondam cœleftibus omnes
Sederunt; verùm ob faftum mentesque rebelles
Æternis vitæ periere erafa tabellis

Nomina, nec fuperis ultrà memorantur in oris.
Necdum Eve natos inter nova nomina terris
Quæfierant; donec latum erravere per orbem
Non prohibente Dɛo, Pietas humana Fidefque
Ut spectarentur meliùs: tum capta malignis
Infidiis Hominum gentis pars maxima celfum
Deferit Auctorem; fanctique arcana Parentis
Gloria polluitur, vanis fimulata figuris
Brutorum; luxu turpantur Sacra nefando,
Fœdaque Tartareæ fumant altaria turbæ.
Olli inter Gentes diverfo hinc nomine noti
Quifque habuere fuos variâ fub imagine cultus.

Ergo age, Quis primus (terris jam nomina dudum
Clarefcunt) fomno excuffo, Quis, Mufa, fupremus
Se demum erexit ftrato flammante tyranni

Tho' of their names in heav'nly Records now
Be no memorial; blotted out and ras'd,
By their rebellion, from the Books of Life.
Nor had they yet among the fons of Eve
Got them new names; till wand'ring oe'r the Earth,
Thro' GOD's high fufferance for the tryal of Man,
By falfities and lies the greatest part
Of Mankind they corrupted, to forfake
GOD their Creator; and th' invisible

Glory of Him, that made them, to transform
Oft to the image of a Brute, adorn'd
With gay Religions full of pomp and gold,
And Devils to adore for Deities:
Then were they known to men by various Names,
And various Idols thro' the heathen World.

Say, Mufe, their names then known, who first,
who last,

Rouz'd from the flumber on that fiery couch,

Ad

Ad vocem, latus ut nudâ ftiparet arenâ.
Proceffere Duces, meritis ut Quifque præibat,
Abfiftente procul turbâ. Venere priores,
Qui deinde inferno migrârunt gurgite terras
Rimati prædæ studio, & poft tempore longo
Per gentes latè divinos pofcere honores

Non metuêre, Deique fuas adjungere sedes
Sedibus, atque aris aras; interque Cherubas
Sublimem fummo Sionis vertice JoVAM
Suftinuere tonantem; & mox vel in æde verendâ
Ipfius æternifque adytis fibi templa locârunt,
Infandum! violare aufi puriffima Sacra,

Et contra ætheream tenebras advolvere lucem.
Extulit ante alios torva efferus ora Molochus
Fœdata humanâ fanie lacrimifque parentum,
Quanquam lugubres fuperârint tympana queftus
Infantum, quos per flammas horrenda recepit
Numinis Effigies. Illum Ammonita per agros

At their great Emperor's call, as next in worth
Came fingly where he stood, on the bare strand,
While the promiscuous crowd ftood yet aloof?
The chief were those who, from the Pit of Hell
Roaming to feek their prey on Earth, durst fix
Their Seats long after next the Seat of Go D,
Their Altars by His Altar, Gods ador'd
Among the Nations round, and durft abide
Jebovah thund'ring out of Sion, thron'd

Between the Cherubim; yea, often plac'd
Within his Sanctuary it felf their Shrines,
Abominations! and with cursed Things
His holy Rites and folemn Feasts profan'd,
And with their darkness durst affront his light.
First Moloch, horrid King, befmear'd with blood
Of human facrifice, and parents tears;
Tho', for the noise of Drums and Timbrels loud,
Their childrens cries unheard, that paft thro' Fire