Barr'd over us, prohibit all egrefs. Thefe pafs'd, if any pass, the void profound Cf uneffential night receives him next Wide gaping, and with utter lofs of being Threatens him, plung'd in that abortive gulf, If thence he 'fcape into whatever world, Or unknown region, what remains him lefs Than unknown dangers, and as hard escape? But I fhould ill become this throne, O peers, And this imperial fov'reignty, adorn'd
With splendour, arm'd with pow'r, if ought propos'd And judg'd of public moment, in the shape
Of difficulty or danger, could deter
Me from attempting. Wherefore do 1 affume
These royalties, and not refufe to reign,
Refufing to accept as great a fhare
Of hazard as of honour, due alike
To him who reigns, and fo much to him due Of hazard more, as he above the rest
High honour'd fits? Go therefore, mighty powers,
Terror of heav'n, though fall'n; intend at home,
While here fhall be our home, what beft may ease The prefent mifery, and render hell
More tolerable; if there be 'cure' or charm, To refpite, or deceive, or flack the pain Of this ill manfion : intermit no watch Against a wakeful foe, while I abroad
Through all the coasts of dark destruction feek Deliv'rance for us all: this enterprise
None fhall partake with me. Thus faying rofe
The monarch, and prevented all reply;
Prudent, left, from his resolution rais'd, Others among the chief might offer now
(Certain to be refus'd) what erft they fear'd;
And fo refus'd, might in opinion stand His rivals; winning cheap the high repute, Which he through hazard huge must earn. But they Dreaded not more th' adventure, than his voice Forbidding; and at once with him they rofe:
Their rifing all at once was as the found
Of thunder heard remote. Tow'ards him they bend "With awful rev'rence prone; and as a god
Extol him equal to the Higheft in heav'n;
Nor fail'd they to exprefs how much they prais'd, 480 That for the general fafety he defpis'd
His own: for neither do the spirits damn'd
Lofe all their virtue: left bad men fhould boaft
Their fpecious deeds on earth, which glory 'excites, Or close ambition varnish'd o'er with zeal. Thus they their doubtful confultations dark Ended, rejoicing in their matchlefs chief: As when from mountain tops the dufky clouds Afcending, while the north wind fleeps. o'erspread Heav'n's chearful face, the louring element 490 Scowls o'er the darken'd landskip, fnow, or shower; *. If chance the radiant fun with farewel fweet Extends his ey❜ning beam, the fields revive, The birds their notes renew, and bleating herds Atteft their joy, that hill and valley rings, O fhame to men! devil to devil damn'd
Firm concord holds, men only disagree
Of creatures rational, though under hope
Of heav'nly grace: and GoD proclaining peace, Yet live in hatred, enmity, and strife Among themfelves, and levy cruel wars, Wafting the earth, each other to destroy; As if (which might enduce us to accord) Man had not hellish foes enow befides, That, day and night, for his destruction wait.
The Stygian council thus diffolv'd; and forth
In order came the grand infernal peers :
*Midft came their mighty paramount, and seem'd Alone th' antagonist of heav'n, nor lefs
Than hell's dread emperor, with pomp fupreme, 510 And God-like imitated ftate; him round
A globe of fiery Seraphim inclos'd.
With bright imblazonry, and horrent arms, Then of their feffion ended, they bid cry With trumpets regal found the great refult; Tow'ards the four winds four fpeedy Cherubim Put to their mouths the founding alchemy, By herald's voice explain'd; the hollow' abyfs Heard far and wide, and all the host of hell With deaf'ning fhout return'd them loud acclaim. 520
Thence more at eafe their minds, and fomewhat rais'd By falfe prefumpr'ous hope, the ranged powers Difband, and wand'ring, each his feveral way Purfues, as inclination or fad choice
Leads him perplex'd, where he may likelieft find 525 Truce to his retlefs thoughts, and entertain The irkfome hours, till his great chief return. Part on the plain, or in the air fublime, Upon the wing, or in swift race contend, As at th' Olympian games or Pythian fields; Part curb their fiery fleeds, or fun the goal With rapid wheels, or fronted brigades form. As when, to warn proud cities, war appears Wag'd in the troubled fky, and armies rufh To battle in the clouds, before each van
Prick forth the airy knights and couch their fpears, Till thickeft legions clofe; with feats of arms From either end of heav'n the welkin burns. Others, with vaft Typhoean rage more fell, Rend up both rocks and hills, and ride the air In whirlwind; Hell fearce holds the wild uproar. As when Alcides, from Oechalia crown'd With conqueft, felt th' invenom'd robe, and tore Through pain up by the roots Theffalian pines; And Lichas from the top of Oeta threw Into th' Luboic fea. Others more mild, Retreated in a filent valley, fing
With notes angelical to many a harp
Their own heroic deeds and hapless fall
By doom of battle; and complain that fate
Free virtue fhould inthrall to force or chance.
Their fongs were partial; but the harmony (What could it lefs when fp'rits immortal fing?) Sufpended hell, and took with ravifhment
The thronging audience. In difcourfe more fweet, 555 (For eloquence the foul, fong charms the fenfe), Others apart fat on a hill retir'd,
In thoughts more elevate, and reafon'd high Of providence, foreknowledge, will and fate; Fix'd fate, free will, foreknowledge abfolute; And found no end, in wand'ring mazes loft, Of good and evil much they argu'd then,
Of happiness and final mifery, Paffion and apathy, and glory' and fhame; Vain wifdom all, and falfe philofophy: Yet, with a pleafing forcery, could charm Pain for a while, or anguith, and excite Fallacious hope, or arm th' obdured breast With flubborn patience, as with triple steel. Another part, in fquadrons and grofs bands, On bold adventure to discover wide That difmal world, if any clime perhaps Might yield them eafier habitation, bend Four ways their flying march, along the banks Of four infernal rivers, that difgorge Into the burning lake their baleful streams; Abhorred Styx, the flood of deadly hate; Sad Acheron, of forrow, black and deep : Cocytus, nam'd of lamentation loud
Heard on the rueful ftream; fierce Phlegethon, 580 Whofe waves of torrent fire inflame with rage.
Far off from thefe, a flow and filent ftream, Lethe, the river of oblivion, rolls
Her wat'ry labyrinth; whereof who drinks, Forthwith his former flate and be'ing forgets, Forgets both joy and grief, pleafure and pain. Beyond this flood a frozen continent Lies dark and wild, beat with perpetual forms Of whirlwind and dire hail, which on firm land Thaws not, but gathers heap, and ruin feenis Of ancient pile; all elfe deep fnow and ice; A gulph profound, as that Serbonian bog Betwixt Damiata and mount Cafius old,
Where armies whole have funk: the parching air Burns frore, and cold performs th' effect of fire. 595 Thither by harpy-footed furies hal'd,
At certain revolutions, all the damn'd
Are brought; and feel by turns the bitter change Of fierce extremes, extremes by change more fierce ; From beds of raging fire to ftarve in ice: Their foft etherial warmth, and there to pine Immoveable, infix'd, and frozen round, Periods of time; thence hurried back to fire. "They ferry over this Lethean found
Hell born, not to contend with sp'rits of heav'n.
To whom the goblin full of wrath reply'd,
Art thou that traitor angel, art thou he,
Who first broke peace in heav'n and faith, till then Unbroken; and in proud rebellious arms Drew after him the third part of heav'n's fons, Conjur'd against the High'eft; for which both thou And they, outcast from God, are here condemn'd To wafte eternal days in woe and pain? And reckon't thou thyfelf with fp'rits of heav'n, Hell doom'd, and breath'ft defiance here and scorn, Where I reign king; and, to enrage thee more, Thy king and lord? Back to thy punishment, Falfe fugitive, and to thy speed add wings; Left with a whip of fcorpions I pursue Thy ling'ring, or with one ftroke of this dart Strange horror feize thee', and pangs unfelt before. So fpake the grifly terror, and in fhape,
So fpeaking and fo threat'ning, grew tenfold
More dreadful and deform. On th' other fide
Incens'd with indignation Satan stood Unterrify'd; and like a comet burn'd That fires the length of Ophiuchus huge In th' arctic fky, 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 cast at th' other, as when two black clouds, With heav'n's artillery fraught, come rattling on 715 Over the Cafpian, then stand front to front, Hovering a pace, 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 Had been atchiev'd, whereof all hell had rung, Had not the fnaky forcerefs that fat Faft by hell gate, and kept the fatal key, Ris'n, and with hideous outcry, rufh'd between.
O father, what intends thy hand, fhe cri'd, 'Gainft thy only fon? What fury, O fon,
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