Poffeffes thee, to bend that mortal dart
Against thy father's head? and know'it for whom; 730 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 as her words the hellish pest then these to her Satan return'd. So ftrange thy outcry, and thy words fo frange Thou interpofeft, that my fudden hand Prevented, fpares 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'ft
Me father, and that phantasm call'st my fon: I know thee not, nor ever faw till now Sight more deteftable than him and thee.
T'whom thus the portrefs of hell gate repli'd.
Haft thou forgot me then, and do I seem Now in thine eye fo foul? once deem'd fo 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 fudden miferable pain
Surpris'd thee, dim thine eyes, and dizzy swam In darkness, while thy head flames thick and fast
Threw forth; till on the left fide op'ning wide, 755 Likeft to thee in fhape and count'nance bright, Then thining heav'nly fair, a godd fs arm'd, Out of thy head I fprung: amazement feiz'd All th' host 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 The moft averfe, thee chiefly, who full oft Thyfelf in me thy perfect image viewing, Becam't enamour'd, and fuch joy thou took't 765 With me in fecret, that my womb conceiv'd A growing burden. Mean while war arose,
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 empyréan, down they fell, Driv'n headlong from the pitch of heav'n, down Into this deep; and in the general fall I alfo; at which time this powerful key Into my hand was giv'n, with charge to keep Thefe gates for ever fhut, which none can pass Without my opening. 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 last this odious offspring whom thou seeft, Thine own begotten, breaking violent way Tore through my entrails, that with fear and pain Distorted, all my nether fhape thus grew Transform'd: but he my inbred enemy Forth iffu'd, brandishing his fatal dart Made to destroy : 1 fled, and cri'd out, Death; Hell trembled at the hideous name, and figh'd From all her caves, and back refounded, Death. 1 fled; but he purfu'd, (though more it feems Inflam'd with luft than rage,) and, swifter far, Me overtook, his mother, all difmai'd, And in embraces forcible and foul Engend'ring 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 sorrow 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 fon and foe: who fet them on, And me his parent would full foon devour
For want of other prey, but that he knows His end with mine involv'd; and knows that I Should prove a bitter morfel, and his bane, Whenever that shall be ; fo Fate pronounc'd. But thou, O father, I forewarn thee, fhun His deadly arrow; neither vainly hope To be invulnerable in those bright armis,
Though temper'd heav'nly; for that mortal dint, Save he who reigns above, none can refift.
She finish'd; and the subtle fiend his lore Soon learn'd, now milder, and thus answer'd smooth. Dear Daughter, fince thou claim'ft me for thy fire, And my fair fon here fhow'ft me, the dear pledge Of dalliance had with thee in heav'n, and joys Then sweet, now fad to mention, though dire change Be fall'n us, unforeseen, unthought of; know I come no enemy, but to fet free
From out this dark and dismal house of pain Both him and thee, and all the heav'nly hoft Of fp'rits, that, in our just pretences arm'd, Fell with us from on high: from them I go This uncouth errand fole; and one for all Myself expofe, with lonely fteps to tread
Th' unfounded deep, and through the void immense To fearch with wand'ring queft a place foretold 830 Should be, and by concurring figns, ere now
Created, vaft and round; a place of birth In the purlieus of heav'n, and therein plac'd A race of upstart creatures, to fupply
Perhaps our vacant room; though more remov'd, 835 Left heav'n furcharg'd with potent multitude Might hap to move new broils. Be this, or ought Than this more fecret, now defign'd, I hafte To know; and this once known, fhall foon return, And bring ye to the place where thou and Death 840 Shall dwell at ease, and up and down unfeen Wing filently the buxom air, embalm'd With odours; there ye fhall be fed and fill'd Immeasurably, all things fhall be your prey.
He ceas'd; for both feem'd highly pleas'd, and Death
Grinn'd horrible a ghaftly fmile, to hear
His famine fhould be fill'd; and bless'd his maw
Deftin'd to that good hour: no lefs rejoic'd
His mother bad, and thus befpake her fire. 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 ftands to enterpofe 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 Into this gloom of Tartarus profound,
To fit in hateful office here confin'd, İnhabitant of heav'n, and heav'nly born,
Here in perpetual agony and pain,
With terrors and with clamours compafs'd round,
Of mine own brood, that on my bowels feed? Thou art my father, thou my author, thou
My being gav't me; whom thould I obey But thee? whom follow? thou wilt bring me foon To that new world of light and blifs, among The gods who live at eafe, where I fhall reign At thy right hand volupt❜ous, as beseems Thy daughter and thy darling, without end.
Thus faying, from her fide the fatal key,
Sad inftrument of all our woe, she took;
And towards the gate rolling her bestial train, Forthwith the huge portcullis high updrew;
Which but herfelf, not all the Stygian powers
Could once have mov'd; then in the key hole turns
Th' intricate wards, and ev'ry bolt and bar Of mafly 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 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 hoft Under spread enfigns marching, might pafs through With horfe and chariots rank'd in loofe array; So wide they stood, 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 beight, And time, and place are loft; where eldeft Night And Chaos, ancestors of Nature, hold Eternal anarchy, amidit the noise
Of endless wars, and by confusion stand.
For hot, cold, moist, and dry, four champions fierce, Strive here for maft'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, sharp, smooth, fwift, or flow, Swarm populous, unnumber'd as the fands
Of Barca or Cyrene's torrid foil,
Levied to fide with warring winds, and poife
Their lighter wings. To whom these most adhere, He rules a moment: Chaos umpire fits, And by decifion more embroils the fray, By which he reigns: next him high arbiter Chance governs all. Into his wild abyfs, The womb of nature, and perhaps her grave, Of neither fea, nor fhore, nor air, nor fire, But all thefe in their pregnant caufes 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 less 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 raise 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 vaft vacuity: all unawares
Flutt'ring his pinions vain, plumb down he drops Ten thousand fathom deep; and to this hour Down had been falling, had not by ill chance The frong rebuff of fome tumult'ous cloud, Inftinct with fire and nitre, hurried him As many miles aloft: that fury ft ai'd, -
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