Grew darker at their frown, so match'd they stood: For never but once more was either like
To meet so great a foe: and now great deeds Had been achieved, whereof all Hell had rung, Had not the snaky sorceress that sat Fast by Hell gate, and kept the fatal key, Ris'n, and with hideous outcry rush'd between. O Father, what intends thy hand, she cry'd, Against thy only Son? What fury, O Son, Possesses thee to bend that mortal dart Against thy Father's head? and know'st for whom? For Him who sits above and laughs the while At thee ordain'd his drudge, to execute Whate'er his wrath, which he calls justice, His wrath, which one day will destroy ye both. She spake, and at her words the hellish pest Forbore; then these to her Satan return'd.
So strange thy outcry, and thy words so strange
Thou interposest, that my sudden hand
Prevented, spares to tell thee yet by deeds
What it intends, till first I know of thee,
What thing thou art, thus double-form'd, and why
In this infernal vale first met thou call'st
Me Father, and that phantasm call'st my Son;
I know thee not, nor ever saw till now Sight more detestable than him and thee.
Hast thou forgot me then, and do I seem Now in thine eyes so foul? once deem'd so fair In Heav'n, when at th' assembly, and in sight Of all the Seraphim with thee combined In bold conspiracy against Heav'n's King, All on a sudden miserable pain
T'whom thus the portress of Hell gate reply'd:
Surprised thee, dim thine eyes, and dizzy swum In darkness, while thy head flames thick and fast Threw forth, till on the left side op'ning wide, Likest to thee in shape and count'nance bright,
Then shining heav'nly fair, a Goddess arm'd
Out of thy head I sprung; amazement seized
All th' host of Heav'n; back they recoil'd, afraid At first, and call'd me Sin, and for a sign Portentous held me; but familiar grown I pleased, and with attractive graces won The most averse, thee chiefly, who full oft Thyself in me thy perfect image viewing Becam❜st enamour'd, and such joy thou took'st With me in secret, that my womb conceived
A growing burthen. Meanwhile war arose,
And fields were fought in Heav'n; wherein remain'd
(For what could else?) to our Almighty Foe
Into my hand was giv'n, with charge to keep
These gates for ever shut; which none can pass Without my op'ning. Pensive here I sat Alone; but long I sat not, till my womb Pregnant by thee, and now excessive grown, Prodigious motion felt and rueful throes.
At last this odious offspring whom thou seest Thine own begotten, breaking violent way, Tore through my entrails, that with fear and pain Distorted, all my nether shape thus grew Transform'd: but he my inbred enemy Forth issued, brandishing his fatal dart, Made to destroy. I fled, and cry'd out DEATH; Hell trembled at the hideous name, and sigh'd From all her caves, and back resounded Death. I fled, but he pursued (though more, it seems, Inflamed with lust than rage), and swifter far, Me overtook his mother all dismay'd, And in embraces forcible and foul
Ingend'ring with me, of that rape begot
These yelling monsters, that with ceaseless cry Surround me, as thou saw'st, hourly conceived And hourly born, with sorrow infinite To me; for when they list, into the womb That bred them they return, and howl and gnaw My bowels, their repast; then bursting forth Afresh with conscious terrors vex me round, That rest or intermission none I find. Before mine eyes in opposition sits
Grim Death, my son and foe, who sets them on, And me, his parent, would full soon devour For want of other prey, but that he knows His end with mine involved; and knows that I Should prove a bitter morsel, and his bane, Whenever that shall be. So Fate pronounced. But thou, O Father, I forewarn thee, shun His deadly arrow; neither vainly hope To be invulnerable in those bright arms,
Though temper'd heav'nly, for that mortal dint,
Save He who reigns above, none can resist.
She finish'd, and the subtle Fiend his lore
Soon learn'd, now milder, and thus answer'd smooth.
Dear Daughter, since thou claim'st me for thy sire, And my fair son here show'st me, the dear pledge
Of dalliance had with thee in Heav'n, and joys
Then sweet, now sad to mention, through dire change
Befall'n us unforeseen, unthought of; know
I come no enemy, but to set free
From out this dark and dismal house of pain Both him and thee, and all the heav'nly host Of Spirits, that in our just pretences arm'd Fell with us from on high: from them I go This uncouth errand sole, and one for all Myself expose, with lonely steps to tread
Th' unfounded deep, and through the void immense To search with wand'ring quest a place foretold
Should be, and, by concurring signs, ere now Created vast and round, a place of bliss In the purlieus of Heav'n, and therein placed A race of upstart creatures to supply
Perhaps our vacant room, though more removed, Lest Heav'n surcharged with potent multitude Might hap to move new broils: Be this or aught Than this more secret now design'd, I haste
To know, and this once known, shall soon return, And bring ye to the place where thou and Death Shall dwell at ease, and up and down unseen Wing silently the buxom air, embalm'd With odours: there ye shall be fed and fill'd Immeasurably, all things shall be your prey.
He ceased, for both seem'd highly pleased; and Death 845 Grinn'd horrible a ghastly smile, to hear
His famine should be fill'd, and blest his maw Destined to that good hour: no less rejoiced His mother bad, and thus bespake her sire: The key of this infernal pit by due,
And by command of Heav'n's all-pow'rful King,
I keep, by him forbidden to unlock
These adamantine gates; against all force
Death ready stands to interpose his dart,
Fearless to be o'ermatch'd by living might.
But what owe I to his commands above
Who hates me, and hath hither thrust me down
Of mine own brood, that on my bowels feed? Thou art my father, thou my author, thou My being gav'st me; whom should I obey
But thee, whom follow? thou wilt bring me soon To that new world of light and bliss, among
The Gods who live at ease, where I shall reign At thy right hand voluptuous, as beseems Thy daughter and thy darling, without end. Thus saying, from her side the fatal key, Sad instrument of all our woe, she took; And tow'rds the gate rolling her bestial train, Forthwith the huge portcullis high up-drew,
Which but herself, not all the Stygian pow'rs
Could once have moved; then in the key-hole turns
Th' intricate wards, and ev'ry bolt and bar Of massy iron or solid rock with ease Unfastens. On a sudden open fly With impetuous recoil and jarring sound
Th' infernal doors, and on their hinges grate Harsh thunder, that the lowest bottom shook Of Erebus. She open'd; but to shut
Excell'd her pow'r: the gates wide open stood,
That with extended wings a banner'd host
Under spread ensigns marching might pass through
With horse and chariots rank'd in loose array;
So wide they stood, and like a furnace mouth
Cast forth redounding smoke and ruddy flame.
Before their eyes in sudden view appear
The secrets of the hoary deep, a dark
Illimitable ocean, without bound,
Without dimension, where length, breadth, and highth,
And time, and place, are lost; where eldest Night
And Chaos, ancestors of Nature, hold
Eternal anarchy, amidst the noise
Of endless wars, and by confusion stand.
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 sev'ral clans,
Light-arm'd or heavy, sharp, smooth, swift, or slow Swarm populous, unnumber'd as the sands Of Barca or Cyrene's torrid soil,
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