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, bids; 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 works 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 doubly formed, 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."
T'whom thus the portress of Hell gate reply'd. "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 the assembly, and in sight Of all the Seraphim with thee combin'd In bold conspiracy against Heav'n's king, All on a sudden miserable pain
us Surpris'd thee, dim thine eyes and dizzy swum
In darkness, while thy head flames thick and fast Threw forth, till, on the left side opening 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 seiz'd
All the host of Heav'n; back they recoil'd afraid At first, and called me Sin, and for a sign Portentous held me; but familiar grown I pleas'd, 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 conceiv'd A growing burden. Meanwhile war arose,
And fields were fought in Heav'n; wherein remain'd (For what could else?) to our Almighty Foe Clear victory, to our part loss and rout Through all the empyrean: down they fell, Driv'n headlong from the pitch of Heaven, down Into this deep, and in the general fall
I also; at which time this powerful key Into my hand was giv'n, with charge to keep These gates for ever shut, which none can pass Without my opening. Pensive here I sat Alone, but long I sat not, till my womb, Pregnant by thee, and now excessive grown,
Prodigious motion felt and recessive groveli u Is
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 cried out, Death. Hell trembled at the hideous name, and sigh'd From all her caves, and back resounded, Death! I fled; but he pursu❜d, (tho' more, it seems, Inflam'd with lust than rage) and, swifter far, Me overtook, his mother, all dismay'd, And in embraces forcible and foul, Engendering with me, of that rape begot These yelling monsters, that with ceaseless cry Surround me, as thou saw'st, hourly conceiv'd 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 terror 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 involv'd, and knows that I Should prove a bitter morsel, and his bane, Whenever that shall be; so fate pronounc'd. 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 dínt, 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 shew'st me, the dear pledge Of dalliance had with thee in Heav'n, and joys
Then sweet, now sad to mention, thro' 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 heavenly 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 allur
Myself expose, with lonely steps to tread
The 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 plac'd
A race of upstart creatures, to supply Perhaps our vacant room, tho' more remov'd, Lest Heav'n, surcharg'd with potent multitude, Might hap to move new broils: be this or ought 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, imbalm'd
With odours; there ye shall be fed and fill'd Immeasurably, all things shall be your prey."
He ceas'd, for both seem'd highly pleas'd, and Death 845 Grinn'd horrible a ghastly smile, to hear
His famine should be fill'd, and blest his maw
Destin'd to that good hour: no less rejoic'd
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 thurst me down Into this gloom of Tartarus profound,
To sit in hateful office here confin'd,
With terrors and with clamours compass'd round
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'ards the gate rolling her bestial train, Forthwith the huge portcullis high up drew, Which, but herself, not all the Stygian powers Could once have mov'd; then in the key-hole turns Th' intricate wards, and every bolt and bar Of massy ir'on 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 thro', 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 height,
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 several clans,
Light-arm'd or heavy, sharp, smooth, swift or slow, vidlict
Swarm populous, unnumber'd as the sands Of Barca or Cyrene's torrid soil,
Levied to side with warring winds, and poise Their lighter wings.
To whom these most adhere, Chaos umpire sits, embroils the fray que reble next him high arbiter Into this wild abyss,
He rules a moment; Aud by decision more By which he reigns; Chance governs all. The womb of nature, and perhaps her grave, Of neither sea, nor shore, nor air, nor fire, But all these in their pregnant causes mix'd Confus'dly, and which thus must ever fight, Unless the Almighty. Maker them ordain
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