My being gav'ft me; whom should I obey But thee? whom follow? thou wilt bring me foon To that new world of light and bliss, among The gods who live at eafe, where I fhall reign At thy right hand voluptuous, as befeems Thy daughter and thy darling, without end. Thus faying, from her fide the fatal key, Sad inftrument of all our woe, fhe took;
And tow'ards the gate rolling her bestial train, Forthwith the huge portcullis high up drew; Which but herself, not all the Stygian powers Could once have mov'd; then in the key-hole turns Th' intricate wards, and every bolt and bar
Of maffy ir'on or folid rock with ease
Unfaftens on a fudden open fly,
With impetuous recoil and jarring found, Th' infernal doors, and on their hinges grate Harsh thunder, that the loweft bottom fhook Of Erebus. She open'd, but to fhut Excell'd her pow'r: the gates wide open stood, That with extended wings a banner'd host, Under spread enfigns marching, might pafs thro' With horfe and chariots rank'd in loose array; So wide they food, and like a furnace-mouth Caft forth redounding fmoke and ruddy flame. Before their eyes in fudden view appear The fecrets of the hoary deep; a dark
Illimitable ocean, without bound,
Without dimenfion, where length, breadth, and height, And time, and place are loft; where eldeft Night
And Chaos, ancestors of Nature, hold
Eternal anarchy, amidst the noise
Of endless wars, and by confufion ftand.
For hot, cold, moist, and dry, four champions fierce, Strive here for mast'ry, and to battle bring
Their embryon atoms; they around the flag Of each his faction, in their several clans,
Light arm'd or heavy, fharp, fmooth, fwift, or flow, Swarm populous, unnumber'd as the fands
Of Barca or Cyrene's torrid foil,
Levied to fide with warring winds, and poise
Their lighter wings. To whom these most adhere He rules a moment: Chaos umpire fits,
And by decifion more embroils the fray,
next him high arbiter Into this wild abyfs,
The womb of Nature, and perhaps her grave, Of neither fea, nor fhore, nor air, nor fire, But all these in their pregnant causes mix'd Confus'dly, and which thus must ever fight, Unless th' Almighty Maker them ordain His dark materials to create more worlds. Into this wild abyfs the wary fiend
Stood on the brink of hell, and look'd a while, Pond'ring his voyage; for no narrow frith He had to crofs. Nor was his ear lefs peal'd With noifes loud and ruinous, (to compare Great things with fmall), than when Bellona ftorms, With all her batt'ring engines bent to raze Some capital city'; or lefs than if this frame Of heav'n were falling, and these elements In mutiny had from her axle torn
The ftedfaft earth. At laft his fail-broad vans He fpreads for flight, and in the furging smoke Uplifted fpurns the ground; thence many a league, As in a cloudy chair, afcending rides
Audacious; but that feat foon failing, meets
A vast vacuity: all unawares
Flutt'ring his pennons vain, plumb down he drops Ten thoufand fathoms deep; and to this hour
Down had been falling, had not by ill chance The ftrong rebuff of fome tumultuous cloud, Instinct with fire and nitre, hurried him As many miles aloft: that fury ftay'd, Quench'd in a boggy Syrtis, neither fea,
Nor good dry land: nigh founder'd on he fares, 940 Treading the crude confiftence, half on foot, Half fly'ing; behoves him now both oar and fail. As when a gryphon, through the wilderness With winged courfe, o'er hill or moory dale, Pursues the Arimafpian, who by stealth Had from his wakeful cuftody purloin'd The guarded gold: fo eagerly the fiend
O'er bog, or steep, through strait, rough, dense, or rare, With head, hands, wings, or feet, pursues his way; And fwims, or finks, or wades, or creeps, or flies. At length an univerfal hubbub wild Of stunning founds, and voices all confus'd, Borne through the hollow dark, affaults his ear With loudest vehemence: thither he plies, Undaunted to meet there whatever power Or fpirit of the nethermost abyss
Might in that noife refide, of whom to ask Which way the nearest coast of darkness lies Bord'ring on light; when ftrait behold the throne Of Chaos, and his dark pavilion spread
Wide on the wafteful deep; with him enthron'd Sat fable-vested Night, eldest of things,
The confort of his reign; and by them stood Orcus and Ades, and the dreaded name.
Of Demogorgon; Rumour next, and Chance, 965 And Tumult, and Confufion all embroil'd, And Difcord with a thoufand various mouths.
T'whom Satan turning boldly, thus. Ye powers And fpirits of this nethermolt abyss,
Chaos and ancient Night, I come no spy With purpose to explore or to disturb The fecrets of your realm; but by constraint Wand'ring this darkfome defert, as my way Lies through your fpacious empire up to light, Alone, and without guide, half loft, I feek What readieft 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 course : Directed, no mean recompense it brings To your behoof; if I that region lost, All ufurpation thence expell'd, reduce To her original darkness, and your sway, (Which is my present journey), and once more Erect the standard there of ancient Night;
Yours be th' advantage all, mine the revenge. Thus Satan; and him thus the Anarch old, With falt'ring fpeech and vifage incompos'd, Anfwer'd. I know thee, ftranger, who thou art, 990 That mighty leading angel, who of late.
Made head against heav'n's King, though overthrown. I faw, and heard; for fuch a numerous hoft
Fled not in filence thro' the frighted deep, With ruin upon ruin, rout on rout,
Confufion worfe confounded; and heav'n-gates Pourid 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 still thro' your inteftine broils Weak'ning the fceptre of old Night: first 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; Havock, and fpoil, and ruin are my gain.
He ceas'd; and Satan ftay'd not to reply, But glad that now his fea fhould find a shore, With freth alacrity, and force renew'd, Springs upward, like a pyramid of fire, Into the wild expanfe; and through the shock Of fighting elements, on all fides round. Environ'd, wins his way; harder beset, And more indanger'd, than when Argo país'd Thro' Bofphorus, betwixt the justling rocks: Or when Ulyffes on the larboard fhunn'd- Charybdis, and by th' other whirlpool steer'd. So he with difficulty and labour hard Mov'd on; with difficulty and labour he ; But he once pass'd foon after, when man fell, Strange alteration! Sin and Death amain Following his track, fuch was the will of Heaven, 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 fpi'rits perverfe With eafy intercourse pass to and fro,
To tempt or punifh mortals, except whom God and good angels guard by special grace.
But now at laft the facred influence
Of light appears, and from the walls of heaven- Shoots far into the bosom of dim Night A glimmering dawn: here Nature first begins. Her farthest verge, and Chaos to retire, As from her outmost works a broken foe,
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