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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,

Forbore;

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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

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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,

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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

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Thefe yelling monsters, that with ceaseless cry

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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.

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Before mine eyes in oppofition fits

Grim Death, my fon and foe: who fet them on,
And me his parent would full foon devour

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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,

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Though temper'd heav'nly; for that mortal dint,
Save he who reigns above, none can refift.

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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

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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

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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,

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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

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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,

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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.

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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

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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

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Harsh thunder, that the lowest bottom shook
Of Erebus. She open'd, but to shut

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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,

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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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