Retire, or taste thy folly, and learn by proof, Hell-born, not to contend with spirits of Heaven.” To whom the goblin full of wrath replied: "Art thou that traitor-angel, art thou he,
Who first broke peace in Heaven, and faith till then 690 Unbroken, and in proud rebellious arms
Drew after him the third part of Heaven's sons, Conjured against the Highest; for which both thou And they, outcast from God, are here condemned To waste eternal days in woe and pain?
And reckon'st thou thyself with spirits of Heaven Hell-doomed, and breath'st defiance here and scorn, Where I reign king, and, to enrage thee more, Thy king and lord? Back to thy punishment, False fugitive, and to thy speed add wings, Lest with a whip of scorpions I pursue Thy lingering, or with one stroke of this dart
Strange horror seize thee, and pangs unfelt before." So spake the grisly terror, and in shape, So speaking and so threatening, grew tenfold More dreadful and deform: on the other side, Incensed with indignation, Satan stood Unterrified, and like a comet burned, That fires the length of Ophiuchus huge In the arctic sky, and from his horrid hair Shakes pestilence and war. Each at the head Levelled his deadly aim; their fatal hands
No second stroke intend; and such a frown Each cast at the other, as when two black clouds, With Heaven's artillery fraught, come rattling on Over the Caspian, then stand front to front, Hovering a space, till winds the signal blow
To join their dark encounter in mid-air :
So frowned the mighty combatants, that Hell
Grew darker at their frown; so matched they stood; 720 For never but once more was either like
To meet so great a foe: and now great deeds Had been achieved, whereof all Hell had rung, Had not the snaky sorceress that sat
Fast by Hell-gate, and kept the fatal key,
Risen, and with hideous outcry rushed between.
"O father, what intends thy hand," she cried,
Against thy only son? What fury, O son,
Possesses thee to bend that mortal dart
Against thy father's head? and know'st for whom? 730 For him who sits above and laughs the while At thee, ordained 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 returned:
"So strange thy outcry, and thy words 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 double-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."
To whom thus the portress of Hell-gate replied: "Hast thou forgot me, then, and do I seem Now in thine eye so foul? once deemed so fair In Heaven, when at the assembly, and in sight
Of all the seraphim with thee combined In bold conspiracy against Heaven's King, All on a sudden miserable pain
Surprised 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 countenance bright, Then shining heavenly fair, a goddess armed, Out of thy head I sprung: amazement seized All the host of Heaven; back they recoiled, afraid At first, and called me Sin, and for a sign Portentous held me; but, familiar grown, I pleased, and with attractive graces won The most averse, thee chiefly, who full oft Thyself in me thy perfect image viewing Becamest enamored, and such joy thou took'st With me in secret, that my womb conceived A growing burden. Meanwhile war arose,
And fields were fought in Heaven; wherein remained (For what could else?) to our almighty Foe Clear victory, to our part loss and rout Through all the empyréan: down they fell, Driven 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 given, with charge to keep These gates forever 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 rueful throes. 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 Transformed: 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 sighed From all her caves, and back resounded, 'Death!' I fled, but he pursued (though more, it seems, Inflamed with lust than rage), and, swifter far, Me overtook, his mother, all dismayed, 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 conceived 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 terrors 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 involved; and knows that I Should prove a bitter morsel, and his bane, Whenever that shall be; so fate pronounced. But thou, O father, I forewarn thee, shun His deadly arrow; neither vainly hope To be invulnerable in those bright arms, Though tempered heavenly; for that mortal dint,
Save he who reigns above, none can resist."
She finished, and the subtle fiend his lore
Soon learned, now milder, and thus answered smooth: "Dear daughter, since thou claim'st me for thy sire, And my fair son.here show'st me, the dear pledge Of dalliance had with thee in Heaven, and joys Then sweet, now sad to mention, through dire change Befallen 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 armed, Fell with us from on high: from them I go This uncouth errand sole; and, one for all, Myself expose, with lonely steps to tread
The unfounded deep, and through the void immense To search with wandering quest a place foretold Should be, and, by concurring signs, ere now Created, vast and round; a place of bliss In the purlieus of Heaven, and therein placed A race of upstart creatures, to supply Perhaps our vacant room, though more removed, Lest Heaven, surcharged with potent multitude, Might hap to move new broils: be this or aught Than this more secret now designed, 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, embalmed With odors; there ye shall be fed and filled Immeasurably; all things shall be your prey."
He ceased, for both seemed highly pleased, and Death
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