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Te pennâ intrepidus jam liberiore reviso

Gurgite ab inferno remeans, immane ferumque
Tandem emenfus iter, quà per loca fenta tenebrisque
Obfita continuis cecini Noctemque Chaumque,
Haud quali Orpheæ fonuerunt carmine Chordæ.
Mufa dedit pronum tentare iter, alta Profundi
Scrutari arcana, æthereafque evadere ad auras,
Difficilique pedem raroque in tramite duxit.
Te demum illæfus repeto, Lux alma, tuumque
Agnofco vitale jubar; tamen invida nostris
Ipfa negas te offerre oculis, qui plurima inani
Sefe circumagunt motu, femperque requirunt
Nequicquam optatos radios & amabile lumen :
Reftinxit Nox tanta acies, feu nubila faltem
Vela premunt. At Pieridum non fecius erro
Avia per loca, divini_perculfus amore

Carminis, aut umbras, aut colles inter apricos,

Aut fontem ad purum. Te verò ante omnia, suavis

Thee I revifit now with bolder wing,
Efcap'd the Stygian Pool, tho' long detain'd
In that obfcure fojourn; while in my flight
Through utter and through middle darkness born,
With other notes than to th' Orphean Lyre,
I fung of Chaos, and eternal Night;
Taught by the heav'nly Muse to venture down
The dark descent, and up to re-afcend,
Tho' hard, and rare. Thee I revifit fafe,

And feel thy fov'reign vital Lamp: but Thou
Revifit'st not these Eyes, that roll in vain
To find thy piercing ray, and find no dawn;
So thick a Drop Serene hath quench'd their Orbs,
Or dim Suffufion veil'd. Yet not the more
Ceafe I to wander, where the Muses haunt
Clear Spring, or fhady Grove, or funny Hill,
Smit with the love of facred Song: but chief
Thee, Sion, and the flow'ry Brooks beneath,

Te

Te Sion, variofque finu referentia flores

Quæ facros allapfa pedes tibi garrula lambunt
Flumina, nocturnus repeto; memorique revolvo
Mecum animo Par dulce Virûm, quos fæva premebat
Communis mihi Sors (eadem modo fama maneret!)
Mæoniden Thamyrinque; & Phinea fæpe recordor
Tirefiamque antiquum, orbatos lumine Vates.
Pectore ibi tacito totus fruor, unde canori
Sponte fluunt numeri, quales Philomela tenebris
Dat mediis, denfâ carmen modulata fub umbrâ.
Rite vices diverfæ anni, diverfa recurrunt

Tempora: Sed mihi nec Vefper, nec Mane recurrit
Alternum; non Ver placidum, aut maturior Æstas
Florea; non Pecudes, aut prona Armenta per agros,
Non facies Divina Hominis: Sed lurida mæstum
Caligo & Nox longa tegit; Jucunda virorum
Fugere alloquia & lætæ commercia vitæ.
Pro fpecie rerum pulchroque volumine mundi

That wash thy hallow'd Feet, and warbling flow,
Nightly I vifit: nor fometimes forget
Those other Two equal'd with me in Fate,
(So were I equal'd with them in renown!)
Blind Thamyris, and blind Maonides:
And Tirefias and Phineus, Prophets old.
Then feed on Thoughts, that voluntary move
Harmonious Numbers; as the wakeful Bird
Sings darkling, and in fhadiest Covert hid

Tunes her nocturnal Note. Thus with the Year
Seafons return; but not to me returns
Day, or the sweet approach of Ev'n or Morn,
Or fight of vernal bloom, or Summer's Rofe,
Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine:
But Cloud instead, and ever-during dark
Surrounds me, from the chearful ways of men
Cut off; and for the Book of knowledge fair
Presented with an univerfal Blank

His oculis rafam & vacuam Natura tabellam

Offert, & trifti delet mihi cuncta liturâ ;
Obftruiturque omnino aditus, quo pectoris imas
Mittitur in latebras facili Sapientia portâ.
Ergo infunde animo, cœli Lux dia, benignos
Uberius radios, penetraliaque intima mentis
Illuftra: meliora ibi confere lumina, & omnem
Inde fuga nebulam, ut videam fanctiffima rerum
Arcana, humanifque oculis impervia pandam.

Jam Pater omnipotens flammantibus ætheris oris,
Quà rutilam tenet ante alias celfiffimus arcem,
Lumina detorquens, manuum monumenta fuarum,
Quidque agerent varii, nuper quos ftruxerat, Orbes,
Confpicit: agglomerant Divûm fanctiffima turba,
Quot cœli supera aftra; Deique tuentibus ora
Miranda attonitos pertentant Gaudia fenfus.
Unicus ad dextram, patrii fulgoris Imago,
Filius affedit folio.

Terreftribus arvis

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Primævos cernit felici in fede Parentes,
Humani folos generis, per amœna recessûs
Otia carpentes puræ immortalia dona

Lætitiæ, & fævi immunem Rivalis Amorem.
Orcum parte aliâ interjectaque gurgitis ora,
Atque ibi vix Nocte emerfum fuper aere fufco
Defpectat Satanam, radentem monia cœli,
Defeffifque alis optantem infidere mundi
Exteriore novi tergo, qui firma volanti
Terra videbatur; non æthere cincta, fed alto
Oceani gremio aut medias fufpenfa per auras.
Illum de fpeculâ fublimi (unde omnia latè
Quæ fuerint, quæ fint & quæ ventura trahantur,
Profpectat) Pater obfervans, his vocibus ultro
Alloquitur Natum unigenam, atque ita præfcius infit:
Unice Nate, viden' cœli immaniffimus Hoftis,
Quem nec clauftra Erebi, nec pondera vasta Catenarum
Ingentum, nec lati Abruptum informe Profundi

Of Mankind) in the happy Garden plac'd,
Reaping immortal fruits of joy and love;
Uninterrupted joy, unrival'd love,
In blifsful folitude. He then furvey'd
Hell and the Gulf between; and Satan there
Coafting the wall of Heav'n on this fide Night,
In the dun Air fublime; and ready now
To ftoop with wearied wings, and willing feet,
On the bare outfide of this World: that feem'd

Firm Land imbosom'd, without Firmament,
Uncertain which, in Ocean, or in Air.
Him GOD beholding from His prospect high,
Wherein past, prefent, future He beholds,
Thus to his only SON foreseeing fpake.

Only begotten SoN! feeft thou what rage
Transports our Adverfary, whom no bounds
Prefcrib'd, no bars of Hell, nor all the chains
Heap'd on him there, nor yet the main Abyss

Gurgitibus cohibere valet, quibus ardeat iris
Efferus? Ufque adeò rabido fub pectore glifcit
Vindicta, auctorem quondam læfura rebellem.
Jamque Illum cœli prope monia lucis in oris
Objicibus lætum ruptis fert præpes ad orbem
Ala novum, meditantem Homini, qui fedibus iftis
Succeffit, cladem infandam; feu perdere apertâ
Vi poffit, five infidiis clam vertere cœcis,
Triftius! Et vertet. Præceps mendacibus ultro
Aufcultabit Homo illecebris, folumque Parentis
Mandatum, fola obfequii citò pignora franget:
Hinc unâ Ipfe cadet Sobolesque infida ruinâ.
Ipfe fibi cladis cafûsque miferrimus auctor;
Non Ego, qui recto primùm puroque creato
Arma dedi viresque habiles: feu ftare volenti
Seu labi, data labendi ftandive facultas.
Hæc cunctis nempe arbitrii communia Jura
Indulfi Superûm turmis, quofque alta fideles

Wide interrupt, can hold? So bent he seems
On desperate revenge, that fhall redound
Upon his own rebellious Head. And now
Through all restraint broke loose, he wings his way
Not far off Heav'n in the Precincts of Light,
Directly tow'rds the new-created World,
And Man there plac'd; with purpose to affay
If Him by force he can deftroy, or worse,
By fome fatfe guile pervert: and fhall pervert;
For Man will hearken to his glozing Lies,

And easily tranfgrefs the fole Command,
Sole pledge of his obedience: fo will fall,
He, and his faithlefs Progeny. Whose fault?
Whose but his own? Ingrate! He had of Me
All he could have: I made him juft, and right;
Sufficient to have ftood, though free to fall.
Such I created all th' Ethereal Pow'rs, [fail'd:
And Spirits, both them who ftood, and them who
Freely they stood who ftood, and fell who fell.
Not free, what proof could they have giv❜n fincere
Evexit

O 2

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