Not fo on man; him through their malice fall'n, Father of mercie and grace, thou didst not doome So strictly, but much more to pity encline : No fooner did thy dear and onely fon Perceive thee purpos'd not to doom frail man So ftrictly, but much more to pity enclin❜d, He to appeafe thy wrath, and end the strife Of mercy and justice in thy face difcern'd, Regardless of the bliss wherein he fat Second to thee, offer'd himself to die For man's offence. O unexampl'd love, Love no where to be found less than divine ! Hail fon of God, faviour of men, thy name Shall be the copious matter of my fong Henceforth, and never shall my harp thy praise Forget, nor from thy father's praise disjoin.
Thus they in heav'n, above the starry sphere, Their happie hours in joy and hymning fpent. Mean while upon the firm opacous globe
Of this round world, whofe first convex divides The luminous inferior orbs, enclos'd From Chaos and th'inroad of darkness old, Satan alighted walks: a globe far off
It seem'd, now feems a boundlefs continent Dark, waste, and wild, under the frown of night Starless expos'd, and ever-threatning storms
Of Chaos bluftring round, inclement skie; Save on that fide which from the wall of heav'n Though diftant far some small reflection gains Of glimm❜ring air less vext with tempeft loud : Here walk'd the fiend at large in fpacious field.
As when a vulture on Imaus bred,
Whose fnowie ridge the roving Tartar bounds, Diflodging from a region scarce of prey
To gorge the flesh of lamb or yeanling kids On hills where flocks are fed, flies toward the sprir Of Ganges or Hydaspes, Indian streams;
But in his way lights on the barren plains
Of Sericana, where Chineses drive
With fails and wind their canie waggons light : So on this windie fea of land, the fiend
Walk'd up and down alone bent on his prey, Alone, for other creature in this place
Living or liveless to be found was none, None yet, but ftore hereafter from the earth Up hither like aerial vapours flew
Of all things transitory and vain, when fin With vanity had fill'd the works of men : Both all things vain, and all who in vain things Built their fond hopes of glorie or lafting fame, Or happiness in this or th'other life;
All who have their reward on earth, the fruits Of painful fuperftition and blind zeal, Naught feeking but the praise of men, here find Fit retribution, empty as their deeds; All the unaccomplisht works of nature's hand, Abortive, monftrous, or unkindly mixt, Diffolv'd on earth, fleet hither, and in vain, Till final diffolution, wander here,
Not in the neighbouring moon, as some have dream'd Thofe argent fields more likely habitants,
Tranflated faints or middle fpirits hold
Betwixt th'angelical and human kind : Hither of ill-join'd fons and daughters born First from the ancient world those giants came With many a vain exploit, though then renown'd: The builders next of Babel on the plain
Of Sennaar, and still with vain defign New Babels, had they wherewithal, would build : Others came fingle; he who to be deem'd A god, leap'd fondly into Ætna flames, Empedocles, and he who to enjoy Plato's Elyfium, leap'd into the fea, Cleombrotus, and many more too long, Embryo's and idiots, eremites and friers White, black and grey, with all their trumperie.. Here pilgrims roam, that ftray'd fo far to feek
In Golgotha him dead, who lives in heav'n; And they who to be fure of Paradise
Dying put on the weeds of Dominic, Or in Franciscan think to pass disguis'd; They pass the planets feven, and pass the fixt, And that crystalline sphere whose ballance weighs The trepidation talkt, and that first mov'd; And now Saint Peter at heav'n's wicket seems To wait them with his keys, and now at foot Of heav'n's afcent they lift their feet, when lo A violent cross wind from either coaft
Blows them transverse ten thousand leagues awry Into the devious air; then might ye fee Cowles, hoods and habits with their wearers toft And flutter'd into raggs, then reliques, beads, Indulgences, difpences, pardons, bulls,
The fport of winds: all these upwhirl'd alofe Fly o're the backfide of the world far off Into a Limbo large and broad, fince call'd The Paradife of fools, to few unknown Long after, now unpeopl'd, and untrode ; All this dark globe the fiend found as he pass'd, And long he wander'd, till at last a gleam Of dawning light turn'd thither-ward in hafte His travell'd steps; far diftant he descries Afcending by degrees magnificent
Up to the wall of heav'n a structure high, At top whereof, but far more rich appear'd The work as of a kingly palace gate With frontispiece of diamond and gold Imbellisht, thick with fparkling orient gemmes The portal fhone, inimitable on earth
Py model, or by fhading pencil drawn. The ftairs were fuch as whereon Jacob faw Angels afcending and defcending, bands Of guardians bright, when he from Efau fled To Padan-Aram in the field of Luz, Dreaming by night under the open skie, And waking cri'd, This is the gate of heav'n. Each stair mysteriously was meant, nor stood There always, but drawn up to heav'n fometimes Viewlefs, and underneath a bright fea flow'd Of jafper, or of liquid pearl, whereon Who after came from earth, failing arriv'd, Wafted by angels, or flew o're the lake Rapt in a chariot drawn by fiery steeds. The stairs were then let down, whether to dare
The fiend by eafie afcent, or aggravate His fad exclufion from the dores of blifs. Direct against which op'nd from beneath, Juft o're the blissful feat of Paradise, A paffage down to th'earth, a passage wide, Wider by far than that of after-times
Over mount Sion, and, though that were large, Over the Promis'd Land to God fo dear,
By which, to visit oft those happy tribes, On high behefts his angels to and fro
Pafs'd frequent, and his eye with choice regard From Paneas the fount of Jordan's flood To Beerfaba, where the Holy Land
Borders on Ægypt and the Arabian shore;
So wide the op❜ning feem'd, where bounds were fet To darkness, such as bound the ocean wave. Satan from hence now on the lower ftair That fcal'd by steps of gold to heav'n gate Looks down with wonder at the fudden view Of all this world at once. As when a fcout Through dark and defart ways with peril gone All night; at laft by break of chearful dawn Obtains the brow of fome high climbing hill, Which to his eye discovers unaware The goodly profpect of fome foreign land Firft-feen, or fome renown'd metropolis With gliftering fpires and pinnacles adorn'd. Which now the rifing fun guilds with his beams, Such wonder feiz'd, though after heaven feen, The spirit maligne, but much more envy feiz'd At ight of all this world beheld fo fair,
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