Pursues the Arimaspian, who, by stealth, 945 O'er bog or steep,1 through strait, rough, dense, or rare, 950 At length a universal hubbub wild 955 Might in that noise reside, of whom to ask Which way the nearest coast of darkness lies, Bordering on light; when, straight, behold the throne Of Chaos, and his dark pavilion2 spread 960 Wide on the wasteful deep: with him enthroned Sat sable-vested Night, eldest of things, The consort of his reign; and by them stood Of Demorgorgon ;5 Rumour next, and Chance, 965 And Tumult and Confusion all embroiled; 6 To whom Satan, turning boldly, thus: "Ye Powers, "And Spirits of this nethermost abyss, "Chaos and ancient Night! I come no spy, "With purpose to explore, or to disturb "The secrets of your realm; but, by constraint 970 1 O'er bog or steep, &c.-The difficulty, and interruptions, and struggles of Satan's course through Chaos are well imitated by the number of rough and heavy monosyllables, and the pauses required in reading them. 2 Dark pavilion,-See Ps. xviii. 11. 3 Orcus,-Pluto, the fabulous deity of the infernal regions according to the ancient Greeks and Latins. 4 Ades, the abode of departed spirits: the term however here used for a supposed deity presiding over it. Demogorgon,-an infernal deity, the very sound of whose name was supposed to produce the most terrible effects, especially in incantations. To whom-must be pronounced in the time of one long syllable. 'Secrets,--secret recesses, as used by Spencer, F. Qu. VI.. xii, 24, as the Latin adjective is by Virgil. "Wandering this darksome desert,-as my way 975 "What readiest path leads where your gloomy bounds "Confine with Heaven; or it some other place, “From your dominion won, the ethereal king "Possesses lately, thither to arrive "I travel this profound: direct my course; 980 985 - 990 "Made head against Heaven's King, though overthrown. "I saw and heard; for such a numerous host "Fled not in silence through the frighted deep, 3 "With ruin upon ruin, rout on rout, 995 "Confusion worse confounded; and Heaven-gates "Poured out by millions her victorious bands Pursuing. I upon my frontiers here 66 Keep residence; if all I can will serve "That little which is left so to defend, "Encroached on still through your intestine broils "Weakening the sceptre of old Night: first Hell, "Your dungeon, stretching far and wide beneath; "Now lately Heaven and Earth, another World, 1000 Hung o'er my realm, linked in a golden chain 5— 1005 1 All usurpation thence expelled,-i.e. after having expelled all usurpation. 2 Anarch, the author of contusion. 3 Fghted seep,-See Ezek. xxxi. 16. 4 Al! I can,-all my power. 5 Linkea in a golden chain,-alluding to the golden chain, by which, "To that side Heaven from whence your legions fell. He ceased; and Satan staid not to reply; Into the wild expanse; and through the shock 1010 1015 1020 Following his track, (such was the will of Heaven,) 1025 Paved after him a broad and beaten way Over the dark abyss, whose boiling gulf Tamely endured a bridge of wondrous length,3 Homer says, Jupiter could draw the earth and sea, with gods and men and the whole universe up to him, while they could not draw him down. 1 Argo. The far-famed ship in which Jason and his companions sailed to Colchis for the golden fleece. They passed through the Straits of Constantinople, then called Bosphorus, the Ox-ford, the sea being narrow enough to admit of cattle swimming across. At the entrance of the Black Sea were two rocks so near, that to the crew of a ship approaching them through the Straits, and varying ever so little from a direct course they appeared to "justle" each other, hence called " Symplegades." This voyage was looked on as not less dangerous than the feat of Ulysses in passing Scylla and Charybdis-two noted whirlpools on either side of the Straits of Messina,-and both these exploits are used to illustrate the superior daring of Satan's voyage through the fighting elements 2 With difficulty and labour he.-This emphatic repetition of the words conveys all the more striking idea of the arduousness of Satan's attempt, by the unusual ending with the pronoun in the nominative case. Even HE, found labour and difficulty. 3 A bridge of wondrous length,-described in Book x. 312. The idea is supposed to be copied from the Arabian fiction of the bridge al Siral, From Hell continued, reaching the utmost orb 1030 Of light appears, and from the walls of Heaven 1035 A glimmering dawn: here Nature first begins 1040 Gladly the port, 2 though shrouds and tackle torn ; 1045 Weighs his spread wings, at leisure to behold Of smallest magnitude close by the moon. 1050 Thither, full fraught with mischievous revenge, 1055 said to extend over the infernal gulf, while it is more flimsy than a spider's web, and sharper than the edge of a sword! 1 Her,-i. e. Nature's outmost works. 2 Holds the port,-reaches, enters; a phrase suggested by the Latin "occupat portum." Hor. 3 Opal,-a precious stone, showing a fine play of colours when turned in different lights. Sapphire,-a precious stone of a brilliant blue colour. 4 This pendant World,-not the Earth alone, but the whole of the recent creation of which it formed part, including sun, moon, planets and fixed stars, see line 1004. Satan had not yet seen this Earth; see b. iii. 1. 542, 722. This pendent universe, newly created, was seen so far off that it seemed not bigger than the smallest star, and that, even, near the moon -which would impair its lustre. 5 Hies-hastens. BOOK III. THE ARGUMENT. GOD, sitting on his throne, sees Satan flying towards this world, then newly created; shows him to the Son, who sat at his right hand; foretells the success of Satan in perverting mankind; clears his own justice and wisdom from all imputation, having created man free, and able enough to have withstood his tempter; yet declares his purpose of grace towards him, in regard he fell not of his own malice, as did Satan, but by him seduced. The Son of God renders praises to his Father for the manifestation of his gracious purpose towards man; but God again declares, that grace cannot be extended towards man without the satisfaction of divine justice; man hath offended the majesty of God by aspiring to Godhead, and therefore, with all his progeny, devoted to death, must die, unless some one can be found sufficient to answer for his offence, and undergo his punishment. The Son of God freely offers himself a ransom for man: the Father accepts him, ordains his incarnation, pronounces his exaltation above all names in heaven and earth; commands all the angels to adore him. They obey, and, hymning to their harps in full quire, celebrate the Father and the Son. Meanwhile Satan alights upon the bare convex of this world's outermost orb; where, wandering, he first finds a place, since called the Limbo of Vanity; what persons and things fly up thither: thence comes to the gate of Heaven, described ascending by stairs, and the waters above the firmament that flow about it: his passage thence to the orb of the Sun; he finds there Uriel, the regent of that orb; but first changes himself into the shape of a meaner angel; and, pretending a zealous desire to behold the new creation, and man whom God had placed here, inquires of him the place of his habitation, and is directed; alights first on Mount Niphates. 1 HAIL, holy Light! offspring of Heaven first-born! 1 1 There is a peculiar beauty in this address to light, following immediately the preceding account of the passage of Satan through the realms of darkness and confusion. 2 Or of the Eternal, &c.—or may I, without blame, call thee the co-eternal beam of the Eternal God. |