PARADISE

LOST.

BOOK I.

F Mans First Difobedience, and
the Fruit

Of that Forbidden Tree, whofe
mortal taft

Brought Death into the World,
and all our woe,

With lofs of Eden, till one greater Man
Reftore us, and regain the blissful Seat,
Sing Heav'nly Mufe, that on the secret top
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didft infpire

That Shepherd, who firft taught the chofen Seed,
In the Beginning how the Heav'ns and Earth
Rofe out of Chaos: Or if Sion Hill

Delight thee more, and Siloa's Brook that flow'd
Faft by the Oracle of God; I thence

Invoke thy aid to my adventrous Song,
That with no middle flight intends to foar

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Above th' Aonian Mount, while it pursues
Things unattempted yet in Profe or Rhime.
And chiefly Thou O Spirit, that doft prefer
Before all Temples th' upright heart and pure,
Inftruct me, for Thou know'ft; Thou from the
Waft present, and with mighty wings outsprea
Dove-like fatft brooding on the vaft Abyss
And mad'st it pregnant: What in me is dark
Illumine, what is low raise and support;
That to the highth of this great Argument
I may affert th' Eternal Providence,
And juftifie the wayes of God to men.

Say firft, for Heav'n hides nothing from thy
Nor the deep Tract of Hell, say first what cau
Mov'd our Grand Parents in that happy State,
Favour'd of Heav'n fo highly, to fall off
From their Creator, and tranfgrefs his Will
For one restraint, Lords of the World befides i
Who firft feduc'd them to that fowl revolt?
Th' infernal Serpent; he it was, whofe guile
Stird up with Envy and Revenge, deceiv'd
The Mother of Mankinde, what time his Prid
Had caft him out from Heav'n, with all his H
Of Rebel Angels, by whofe aid aspiring
To fet himfelf in Glory above his Peers,
40 He trusted to have equal'd the most High,
If he oppos'd; and with ambitious aim
Against the Throne and Monarchy of God
Rais'd impious War in Heav'n and Battel prou
With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Pow
Hurld headlong flaming from th' Ethereal Ski
With hideous ruine and combuftion down

To bottomlefs perdition, there to dwell
In Adamantine Chains and penal Fire,
Who durft defie th' Omnipotent to Arms.

Nine times the Space that measures Day and Night 50
To mortal men, he with his horrid crew

Lay vanquisht, rowling in the fiery Gulfe
Confounded though immortal: But his doom
Referv'd him to more wrath; for now the thought
Both of loft happiness and lasting pain

Torments him; round he throws his baleful eyes
That witness'd huge affliction and dismay
Mixt with obdurate pride and stedfast hate :
At once as far as Angels kenn he views
The dismal Situation wafte and wilde,
A Dungeon horrible, on all fides round

As one great Furnace flam'd, yet from those flames
No light, but rather darkness visible
Serv'd only to discover fights of woe,
Regions of forrow, doleful fhades, where
peace
And reft can never dwell, hope never comes
That comes to all; but torture without end
Still urges, and a fiery Deluge, fed
With ever-burning Sulphur unconfum'd:
Such place Eternal Juftice had prepar'd
For those rebellious, here their Prifon ordain'd
In utter darkness, and their portion set
As far remov'd from God and light of Heav'n
As from the Center thrice to th' utmost Pole.
O how unlike the place from whence they fell!
There the companions of his fall, o'rewhelm'd
With Floods and Whirlwinds of tempeftuous fire,
He foon discerns, and weltring by his fide

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One next himself in power, and next in crime
Long after known in Palestine, and nam'd
Bëëlzebub. To whom th' Arch-Enemy,
And thence in Heav'n call'd Satan, with bold
Breaking the horrid filence thus began.

If thou beeft he; But O how fall'n! how cl
From him, who in the happy Realms of Ligh
Cloth'd with transcendent brightnes didst out
Myriads though bright: If he whom mutuall
United thoughts and counfels, equal hope,
And hazard in the Glorious Enterprize,
90 Joynd with me once, now mifery hath joynd
In equal ruin into what Pit thou seeft
From what highth fal'n, so much the stronger
He with his Thunder: and till then who kne
The force of thofe dire Arms? yet not for the
Nor what the Potent Victor in his rage
Can elfe inflict do I repent or change,
Though chang'd in outward luftre; that fixt
And high difdain, from fence of injur❜d merit
That with the mightiest rais'd me to contend
100 And to the fierce contention brought along
Innumerable force of Spirits arm'd

That durft dislike his reign, and me preferrin
His utmost power with adverfe power oppos'
In dubious Battel on the Plains of Heav'n,
And shook his throne. What though the field l
All is not loft; the unconquerable Will,
And study of revenge, immortal hate,
And courage never to fubmit or yield:
And what is elfe not to be overcome?

110 That Glory never shall his wrath or might