Dixit; & immanem media inter dicta furorem
Concipit Os torvum & decies deformius horret.
Parte aliâ ingenti Satanas ftetit efferus irâ
Imperterritus; ac furialis more Cometæ
Arctoo ardentis cœlo per maxima longè
Sideris anguiferi fpatia, & ferale rubenti
Cæfarie peftem fpargentis & horrida bella,
Exarfit. Capiti alterius grave vulnus Uterque
Intentat; neque enim plus fimplice destinat ictu.
Jamque truces dat Uterque minas, velut æthere binæ
Hinc atque hinc nimbis & multo fulmine fœtæ
Fronte petunt frontem Nubes fuper æquora latè
Cafpia pendentes; dum, rauca canentibus Euris
Claffica, turbato trepident concurrere cœlo.
Sic utrinque graves fe opponunt cominus Hoftes
Frontibus adverfis, tenebrafque horrentis Averni
Ingeminant; fic compofiti ftant viribus æquis:
Scilicet hofte pari neutrum certamina posthac
So fpeaking, and fo threat'ning, grew tenfold
More dreadful and deform. On th' other fide
Incens'd with indignation Satan food
Unterrify'd and like a Comet burn'd,
That fires the length of Ophiucus huge
In th' Arctic Sky, and from his horrid hair
Shakes Peftilence and War. Each at the head
Level'd his deadly aim; their fatal hands
No fecond stroke intend: and fuch a frown
Each caft at th' other, as when two black Clouds
With Heav'n's Artill'ry fraught, come rattling on
Over the Cafpian; then ftand front to front,
Hov'ring a space, till Winds the fignal blow
To join their dark encounter in mid air.
So frown'd the mighty Combatants, that Hell
Grew darker at their frown; fo match'd they stood:
For never but once more was either like
To meet fo great a foe. And now great deeds
Plus femel ulla manent. Jamque aspera bella frementem
Mifcuerant Erebum; ni Saga informis, Averni
Cui data portarum & duræ cuftodia clavis,
Vipereâ fefe caudâ immififfet, acerbum
Exululans: Quid dextra parat, Pater improbe, Natum
Unigenam contra? Quæ te dementia, Nate,
Arripit, in patrium caput ut tela horrida vibres?
Quemque juvas, noftin'? Illum, qui te æthere ab alto
Præftantem penfa irridet, tibi quæ fua cunque
Ira dedit, (fas Ipfe vocat) vos Ira tremendo
His dictis pacata reduxit
Satanas dein talia contra:
Mira adeò tibi vox, adeò nova perculit aures
Attonitas, paulùm ut retrahat cunctata furorem
Dextera, dum doceas, quid fis atque unde, Biformis :
Quid me jam primò confpectam in valle falutas
Tartareâ, jactafque Tuî Spectrique parentem
Illius: Haud equidem memini, nec triftius olim
Had been atchiev'd, whereof all Hell had rung;
Had not the Snaky Sorceress that fat
Faft by Hell Gates, and kept the fatal Key,
Ris'n, and with hideous outcry rufh'd between.
O Father, what intends thy Hand, fhe cry'd,
Against thy only Son? What Fury, O Son,
Poffeffes thee, to bend that mortal dart
Against thy Father's Head? and know'ft for whom?
For Him who fits above, and laughs the while
At thee ordain'd his drudge, to execute
Whate'er his wrath, which He calls Juftice, bids;
His Wrath, which one day will deftroy ye both.
She fpake, and at her words the hellish Pest
Forbore: then these to her Satan return'd:
So ftrange thy outcry, and thy Words fo ftrange
Thou interpofeft, that my fudden hand.
Prevented spares to tell thee yet by deeds
What it intends; till firft I know of thee,
What Thing thou art, thus double-form'd; and why,
In this infernal vale first met, thou call'st
Te quidquam afpexi, nec monftrum informius Illo.
Olli deinde Erebi portarum talia Custos:
Siccine Tu noftrî oblitus? tamque horrida formæ
Jam tibi vifa meæ fpecies, pulcherrima vestro
Quondam vifa choro? quum magno adftante Seraphum
Concilio, in fuperum forti fimul agmine regem
Conjuratorum, extemplò tentaret amarus
Te dolor, offufique incertâ nube natarent
Languentes oculi. Capite erupere feroces
Undatim flammarum æftus: pars deinde finistra
Vulnere diffiliens vafto patet; unde repente
Ipfa tibi vultu placidâque fimillima formâ
Et fulgore pari, Dea cincta ardentibus armis
Emicui; attonitos Superos ftupor occupat ingens;
Horrescunt, revocantque pedem trepidantiùs, Aten
Clamantes, veriti portentum immane: fed usu
Nota magis tandem placui; captufque lepore
Illecebrifque meis, quicunque refugerat olim,
Me Father, and that Phantafm call'ft my Son:
I know thee not; nor ever faw till now
Sight more deteftable than Him and Thee.
T'whom thus the Portress of Hell-Gate reply'd:
Haft thou forgot me then? and do I feem
Now in thine eye fo foul, once deem'd so fair
In Heav'n? when at th' Affembly, and in fight
Of all the Seraphim, with thee combin'd
In bold confpiracy against Heav'n's King,
All on a sudden miserable pain
Surpriz'd thee: dim thine eyes, and dizzy fwum
In darkness; while thy Head flames thick and fast
Threw forth; till on the left fide op'ning wide,
Likeft to thee in shape, and count'nance bright,
Then fhining heav'nly fair, a Goddess arm'd,
Out of thy head I fprung. Amazement feiz'd
All th' Hoft of Heav'n: back they recoil'd, afraid
At first, and call'd me Sin; and for a fign
Portentous held me: but familiar grown
I pleas'd, and with attractive Graces won
Jam coluit: Tu præcipuè, qui ardore feroci
In me temet amans lætis complexibus ultro
Gaudebas: hinc mî intumuit gravis alvus onufque
Concepit tacitum. Jam tum bella, horrida bella
Æthereis fremuere plagis: hinc Omnipotenti
(Quid fperandum aliud ?) Victoria contigit Hosti:
Sed Noftris fuga, fed clades fuper ignea cœli
Littora; præcipiti ceciderunt æthere in imum
Hoc barathrum, mecum acti unà: mihi tempore ab illo
Hæc clavis commiffa ingens portæque potentes
Servandæ ; quas me invitâ vis nulla recludet.
Ergo his in tenebris mœsta incomitata fedebam :
Nec longum; infelix alvus jam immane gravescens
Horrendum patitur motum infandofque dolores.
Hæc tandem enormis, quam confpicis, hæc tua Proles
Perrupit pavitanti uterum divulfaque fubtus
Vifcera, terrificis imos cruciatibus artus
The most averse; Thee chiefly, who full oft
Thy felf in me thy perfect image viewing,
Becam'ft inamour'd; and fuch joy thou took'st
With me in fecret, that my womb conceiv'd
A growing burthen. Mean while War arofe,
And fields were fought in Heav'n: wherein remain'd
(For what could elfe?) to our Almighty Foe
Clear Victory; to Our part lofs, and rout,
Through all the Empyrean: down they fell,
Driv'n headlong from the pitch of Heaven down
Into this Deep; and in the general fall
I also at which time this pow'rful Key
Into
my hand was giv'n, with charge to keep
Thefe Gates for ever fhut; which none can pass
Without my op'ning. Penfive here I fat
Alone; but long I fat not, till my womb
Pregnant by thee, and now exceffive grown,
Prodigious motion felt, and rueful throes.
At laft this odious Offspring whom thou feeft,
Thine own begotten, breaking violent way
Tore through my entrails; that with fear, and pain
Distorted, all my nether shape thus grew
Deformans; deinde ingenitus celer exilit Hoftis
Tela vibrans matrem contra: tremebunda receffi
Exululans Haden: Gemit omnibus ampla cavernis
Inferni domus, horrendumque remurmurat Haden.
Ut fugi, infequitur Spectrum; (non ira, libido
Accendit) victamque fugâ trepidamque Parentem
Vi miseram violans fœdâ, hæc ululantia monftra
Progenuit; crebris quæ me clamoribus actam
(Ut tibi cernere erat) vexant, conceptaque in horas
Editaque immenfos pariunt fine fine dolores:
Ut libet, infanis repetunt latratibus alvum
Maternam, indomito rimantes vifcera morfu:
Deinde iterum erumpunt, trepidifque horroribus angor
Confcia; nec requies fævo fpatiumve labori.
Ante oculos coram fiftit fefe horridus Hades
Torva tuens, idemque Hoftis mihi, Natus & idem,
Accenditque canum rabiem; quin me quoque Matrem
Mandere avet; fed enim novit fe lege teneri
Transform'd: But He my inbred Enemy
Forth-iffu'd, brandishing his fatal dart
Made to destroy. I fled, and cry'd out Death:
Hell trembl'd at the hideous Name, and figh'd
From all her caves, and back refounded, Death.
I fled, but He purfu'd; (though more, it seems,
Inflam'd with luft than rage) and swifter far
Me overtook his Mother, all difmay'd:
And in embraces forcible, and foul,
Ingendring with me, of that rape begot
Thefe yelling Monsters, that with ceaseless cry
Surround me, as thou faw'ft; hourly conceiv'd,
And hourly born, with forrow infinite
To me: for, when they lift, into the womb
That bred them they return; and howl, and gnaw
My bowels, their repaft: then bursting forth,
Afresh with conscious terrors vex me round,
That reft or intermiffion none I find.
Before mine eyes in oppofition fits
Grim Death, my Son and Foe, who fets them on,
Haud
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