Page images
PDF
EPUB

As Gods, and by their own recover'd strength; 240 Not by the suff'rance of fupernal pow'r.

Is this the region, this the foil, the clime, (Said then the lost Arch-Angel) this the seat, That we must change for heav'n? this mournful gloom For that cœleftial light? be it fo! fince He 245 Who now is Sov'reign can dispose, and bid What shall be right: fartheft from Him is best, Whom reafon hath equall'd, force hath made fupreme Above his equals. Farewel happy fields,

255

Where joy for ever dwells! hail horrors! hail 250
Infernal world! and thou profoundest hell
Receive thy new poffeffor! One, who brings
A mind not to be chang'd by place or time.
The mind is its own place, and in it self-
Can make a heav'n of hell, a hell of heav'n.
What matter where, if I be still the fame,
And what I fhould be, all but lefs than He
Whom thunder hath made greater? Here at leaft
We shall be free; th' Almighty hath not built
Here for His envy; will not drive us hence:
Here we may reign fecure; and in my choice
To reign is worth ambition, tho' in hell:
Better to reign in hell, than serve in heav'n.
But wherefore let we then our faithful friends,
Th' affociates and copartners of our lofs,
Lye thus aftonish'd on th' oblivious pool,
And call them not to share with us their part
In this unhappy manfion: or once more
With rallied arms to try, what may be yet

260

265

Regain'd in heav'n, or what more loft in hell? 270 So Satan fpake, and him Beelzebub

275

Thus anfwer'd: Leader of those armies bright,
Which but th' Omnipotent none could have foil'd!
If once they hear that voice, their livelieft pledge
Of hope in fears and dangers, heard fo oft
In worst extremes, and on the perilous edge
Of battel when it rag'd, in all affaults
Their fureft fignal, they will foon resume
New courage, and revive, tho' now they lye
Grov'ling and proftrate on yon lake of fire,
(As we erewhile,) astounded and amaz'd;
No wonder, fall'n such a pernicious height!
He scarce had ceas'd, when the fuperior fiend
Was moving tow'rd the shore: his pond'rous fhield,
Ethereal temper, maffie, large and round,

Behind him caft; the broad circumference

280

285

Hung on his fhoulders like the Moon, whofe orb 'Thro' optic glass the Tuscan artist views

At ev'ning, from the top of Fefok,
Or in Valdarno, to defcry new lands,

Rivers, or mountains, on her spotty globe.
His fpear, (to equal which the tallest pine
Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the mast
Of fome great Ammiral, were but a wand)
He walk'd with, to support uneafie steps
Over the burning marle (not like those steps
On heaven's azure!) and the torrid clime
Smote on him fore befides, vaulted with fire.
Nathlefs he fo indur'd, till on the beach

290

295

300

Of that inflamed fea he food, and call'd
His legions, Angel-forms, who lay intrans'd,
Thick as autumnal leaves that strow the brooks
In Vallombrofa, where th' Etrurian shades,
High over-arch'd imbow'r; or scatter'd fedge
Afloat, when with fierce winds Orion arm'd
Hath vex'd the Red-Sea coaft, whofe waves o'erthrew
Bufiris, and his Mempbian chivalry,

305

While with perfidious hatred they purfu'd

The fojourners of Goshen, who beheld

From the fafe fhoar their floating carcafes,

310

And broken chariot wheels: fo thick beftrown,
Abject and loft lay these, covering the flood,
Under amazement of their hideous change.
He call'd fo loud, that all the hollow Deep

Of hell refounded: Princes, Potentates,

315

Warriors, the flow'r of heav'n! once yours, now loft,

If fuch astonishment as this can feize

Eternal fpirits: or have ye chos'n this place

After the toil of battel to repofe

Your wearied virtue, for the ease you find

320

To flumber here, as in the vales of heaven?
Or in this abject posture have ye fworn
T'adore the conqueror? who now beholds
Cherub and Seraph rowling in the flood,
With scatter'd arms and enfigns; till anon
His fwift purfuers from heav'n-gates difcern
Th'advantage, and defcending tread us down
Thus drooping; or with linked thunder-bolts
Transfix us to the bottom of this Gulph.

325

Awake, arife, or be for ever fall'n!

330

They heard, and were abash'd, and up they sprung Upon the wing; as when men wont to watch On duty, fleeping found by whom they dread, Rouze and beftir themselves ere well awake. Nor did they not perceive the evil plight

335

In which they were, or the fierce pains not feel;
Yet to their General's voice they foon obey'd,
Innumerable! As when the potent Rod
Of Amram's fon, in Egypt's evil day,

345

Wav'd round the coast, up call'd a pitchy cloud 340
Of locufts, warping on the eastern wind,
That o'er the realm of impious Pharaoh hung
Like night, and darken'd all the land of Nile:
So numberless were thofe bad Angels, feen
Hov'ring on wing under the cope of hell,
'Twixt upper, nether, and furrounding fires:
Till, as a fignal giv'n, th' up-lifted spear
Of their great Sultan waving to direct
Their course, in even ballance down they light
On the firm brimftone, and fill all the plain:
A multitude! like which the populous north
Pour'd never from her frozen loins, to pafs
Rhene or the Danaw, when her barbarous fons
Came like a deluge on the fouth, and spread
Beneath Gibralter to the Libyan fands.
Forthwith from ev'ry squadron, and each band,
The Heads and Leaders thither hafte where stood
Their great Commander; God-like shapes and forms.
Excelling human, Princely Dignities,

350

355

And Pow'rs! that earft in heaven fat on thrones;

Tho' of their names in heav'nly records now

361

Be no memorial; blotted out and ras'd,

By their rebellion, from the books of life.

Nor had they yet among the fons of Eve

364

Got them new names; 'till wand'ring o'er the earth,

Thro' God's high sufferance for the tryal of man,

By falfities and lies the greatest part

Of mankind they corrupted, to forfake
God their Creator, and th' invisible

Glory of Him that made them, to transform
Oft to the image of a brute, adorn'd
With gay religions full of pomp and gold,
And Devils to adore for Deities:

Then were they known to men by various names,
And various idols thro' the heathen world.

370

375

380

Say, Mufe, their names then known; who first, who Rouz'd from the slumber, on that fiery couch, [last, At their great Emperor's call, as next in worth Came fingly where he ftood, on the bare strand, While the promiscuous crowd stood yet aloof? The chief were those who, from the pit of hell Roaming to seek their prey on earth, durst fix Their feats long after next the feat of God, Their altars by His altar, Gods ador'd Among the nations round, and durft abide Jehovab thund'ring out of Sion, thron'd Between the Cherubim; yea, often plac'd Within His fan&tu'ry it self their shrines, Abominations! and with curfed things

385

« PreviousContinue »