O ancient Powers of air and this wide world, For much more willingly I mention air, This our old conquest, than remember hell, Our hated habitation; well ye know How many ages, as the years of men, This universe we have possest, and rul'd In manner at our will th' affairs of earth, Since Adam and his facile consort Eve Lost Paradise deceiv'd by me, though since With dread attending when that fatal wound Shall be inflicted by the seed of Eve Upon my head; long the decrees of heaven Delay, for longest time to him is short; And now too soon for us the circling hours This dreaded time have compast, wherein we Must bide the stroke of that long threaten'd wound, At least if so we can, and by the head Broken be not intended all our power
To be infring'd, our freedom, and our being,
In this fair empire won of earth and air:
For this ill news I bring, the Woman's Seed,
Destin'd to this, is late of woman born;
His birth to our just fear gave no small cause,
But his growth now to youth's full flow'r, displaying
All virtue, grace, and wisdom to achieve
57 circling] So P. L. vi. 3. vii. 342,Circling years.'
67 youth's full flow'r] Hom. Il. xiii. 484, ẞns avdos. Lucret. i. 564, ævi contingere florem. iii. 768, ætatis tangere florem. Sil. Ital. xvi. 406, primævæ flore juventæ.
Things highest, greatest, multiplies my fear.
Before him a great prophet to proclaim
His coming is sent harbinger, who all
Invites, and in the consecrated stream
Pretends to wash off sin, and fit them so
Purify'd to receive him pure, or rather
To do him honour as their king: all come,
And he himself among them was baptiz'd,
Not thence to be more pure, but to receive
The testimony of heaven, that who he is
Thenceforth the nations may not doubt. I saw
The prophet do him reverence; on him rising 80
Out of the water, heaven above the clouds
Unfold her crystal doors, thence on his head
A perfect dove descend, whate'er it meant,
And out of heav'n the sovereign voice I heard,
'This is my Son belov'd, in him am pleas'd.'
His mother then is mortal, but his sire
He who obtains the monarchy of heaven;
And what will he not do to advance his Son?
His first-begot we know, and sore have felt,
When his fierce thunder drove us to the deep; 90
Who this is we must learn, for man he seems
In all his lineaments, though in his face
82 crystal] Crystal' was a favourite expression among our elder poets for 'bright.' It occurs nearly twenty times in Milton. It is often used, when no allusion to 'crystal' as a substance is meant, as in Shakesp. Hen. VI. p. i. act i. sc. 1: 'Brandish your crystal tresses in the sky.' Dekker's Satiromastix, Sig. K. 4, ed. 1602, 'Bow their crystal knees.'
The glimpses of his father's glory shine.
Ye see our danger on the utmost edge
Of hazard, which admits no long debate,
But must with something sudden be oppos'd,
Not force, but well-couch'd fraud, well-woven
Ere in the head of nations he appear
Their king, their leader, and supreme on earth.
I, when no other durst, sole undertook
The dismal expedition to find out
And ruin Adam, and the exploit perform'd
Successfully; a calmer voyage now
Will waft me; and the way found prosp'rous once
Induces best to hope of like success.
He ended, and his words impression left
Of much amazement to th' infernal crew,
Distracted and surpriz'd with deep dismay
At these sad tidings; but no time was then
For long indulgence to their fears or grief.
Unanimous they all commit the care
And management of this main enterprize
To him their great dictator, whose attempt
At first against mankind so well had thriv'd
94 edge] Shakesp. All's Well, &c. Act. iii. sc. 3.
'We'll strive to bear it for your worthy sake
In Adam's overthrow, and led their march
From hell's deep-vaulted den to dwell in light,
Regents, and potentates, and kings, yea gods
Of many a pleasant realm and province wide,
So to the coast of Jordan he directs
His easy steps, girded with snaky wiles,
Where he might likeliest find this new-declar'd,
This man of men, attested Son of God,
Temptation and all guile on him to try;
So to subvert whom he suspected rais'd
To end his reign on earth so long enjoy'd:
But contrary unweeting he fulfill'd
The purpos'd counsel pre-ordain'd and fixt
Of the Most High, who, in full frequence bright
Of angels, thus to Gabriel smiling spake.
Gabriel, this day by proof thou shalt behold, 130 Thou and all angels conversant on earth With man or men's affairs, how I begin To verify that solemn message late, On which I sent thee to the virgin pure In Galilee, that she should bear a son Great in renown, and call'd the Son of God;
Then told'st her doubting how these things could be
To her a virgin, that on her should come
The Holy Ghost, and the Power of the Highest
O'er-shadow her: this man born, and now up-grown,
To show him worthy of his birth divine
And high prediction, henceforth I expose
187 told'st] The sense Thou told'st her.' The language obscure, from being comprest and latinised, 'dixisti.'
To Satan; let him tempt and now assay
His utmost subtlety, because he boasts
And vaunts of his great cunning to the throng 145
Of his apostasy; he might have learnt
Less overweening, since he fail'd in Job,
Whose constant perseverance overcame
Whate'er his cruel malice could invent.
He now shall know I can produce a man
Of female seed, far abler to resist
All his solicitations, and at length
All his vast force, and drive him back to hell,
Winning by conquest what the first man lost
By fallacy surpris'd. But first I mean
To exercise him in the wilderness;
There he shall first lay down the rudiments
Of his great warfare, ere I send him forth
To conquer sin and death, the two grand foes,
By humiliation and strong sufferance.
His weakness shall o'ercome satanic strength,
And all the world, and mass of sinful flesh;
That all the angels and æthereal powers,
They now, and men hereafter, may discern,
From what consummate virtue I have chose
This perfect man, by merit call'd my Son,
To earn salvation for the sons of men.
So spake th' eternal Father, and all heaven
Admiring stood a space, then into hymns
Burst forth, and in celestial measures mov'd, 170
157 rudiments.] Virg. Æn. xi. 156.
'Bellique propinqui
Dura rudimenta.'
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