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 densa jacebat Mæsta Cohors fluvium occultans, horrore fepulta, Mutatamque ftupens fedem & fqualentia regna. Intendit vocem Satanas, fonitumque dedere Antra profunda Erebi: O ingentibus inclyta fceptris Regum excelfa Manus, bello imperiisque potentûm, Flos cœli, 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 eft adeò abjecto fuccumbere gestu Victori, superâ infultans qui fpectat ab arce Illuftres cœli Indigenas & celfa Seraphum
Afloat, when with fierce Winds Orion arm'd Hath vex'd the Red-Sea Coast, whofe waves o'er- Bufiris, and his Mempbian Chivalry, While with perfidious hatred they purfu'd The fojourners of Goshen, who beheld From the fafe fhore their floating Carcafes, And broken Chariot Wheels: fo thick beftrown, Abject and loft lay thefe, covering the Flood, Under amazement of their hideous Change. He call'd fo loud, that all the hollow Deep
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 case you find To flumber here, as in the Vales of Heaven? Or in this abject pofture 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
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 scatter'd Arms and Enfigns; 'till anon His swift pursuers from Heav'n-gates difcern Th' advantage, and defcending tread us down Thus drooping: or with linked Thunderbolts Transfix us to the bottom of this Gulph. Awake, arise, or be for ever fall'n!
They heard, and were abash'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 foon obey'd, Innumerable. As when the potent Rod Of Amram's fon, in Ægypt'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 Pharaoh hung
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 Auftros, 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 those bad Angels seen Hov'ring on wing under the cope of Hell, "Twixt upper, nether, and furrounding 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 multitude! like which the populous North
Pour'd never from her frozen loins, to pafs 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 fquadron, 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 & foliis quondam cœleftibus omnes Sederunt; verùm ob fastum 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 DEO, Pietas humana Fidesque 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 sufferance 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 laft,
Rouz'd from the flumber on that fiery couch,
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 ftudio, & poft tempore longo
Per gentes latè divinos pofcere honores
Non metuêre, Deique fuas adjungere fedes 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 seek their prey on Earth, durst fix Their Seats long after next the Seat of GoD, Their Altars by His Altar, Gods ador'd Among the Nations round, and durst abide Jehovah thund'ring out of Sion, thron'd
Between the Cherubim; yea, often plac'd Within his Sanctuary it self their Shrines, Abominations! and with curfed Things His holy Rites and folemn Feafts profan'd, And with their darkness durft affront his light. First Moloch, horrid King, befmear'd with blood Of human facrifice, and parents tears; Tho', for the noife of Drums and Timbrels loud, Their childrens cries unheard, that past thro' Fire
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