To fearch with wand'ring quest a place foretold
Should be, and, by concurring figns, e'er now
Created vaft and round, a place of bliss

In the pourlieus of Heaven, and therein plac'd
A race of upftart creatures, to fupply

Perhaps our vacant room, though more remov'd,
Le Heav'n, furcharg'd with potent multitude,
Might hap to move new broils: be this or ought
Than this more fecret now design'd, I haste

To know, and this once known, fhall foon return,
And bring ye to the place where thou and Death
Shall dwell at eafe, and up and down unfeen
Wing filently the buxom air, embalm'd
With odors; there ye shall be fed and fill'd
Immcafurably; all things fhall be your prey.
He ceas'd; for both feem'd highly pleas'd,

and Death

Grinn'd horrible a ghaftly fmile, to hear
His famine fhould be fill'd, and bleft his maw
Deitin'd to that good hour: no less rejoic'd
His mother bad, and thus befpake her fire:
The key of this infernal pit by due,

Ate by command of Heav'n's all-powerful King,
I keep, by him forbidden to unlock
Thefe adamantine gates: against all force
Death ready ftands to interpofe his dart,
Fearless to be o'ermatch'd by living might.
But what owe I to his commands above,

Who hates me, and hath hither thrust me down
Into this gloom of Tartarus profound,
To fit in hateful office here confin'd,
Inhabitant of Heav'n, and heav'nly born,
Here in perpetual agony and pain,
With terrors and with clamors compass'd round
Of mine own brood, that on my bowels feed?
Thou art my father, thou my author; thou
My being gav'it me; whom fhould I obey
But thee, whom follow thou wilt bring me foon
To that new world of light and blifs, among
The gods who live at eafe, where I fhall reign
At thy right hand voluptuous, as befeems
Thy daughter and thy darling, without end.
Thus faying, from her fide the fatal key,
Sad inftrument of all our woe, she took;
And tow'rds the gate rolling her beftial train,
Forthwith the huge portcullis high up drew,
Which but herself, not all the Stygian powers
Could once have mov'd; then in the key-hole turns
Th' intricate wards, and every bolt and bar
Of mafly ir'n or folid rock, with ease
Unfaftens: on a fudden open fly,
With impetuous recoil and jarring found,
Th' infernal doors, and on their hinges grate
Harth thunder, that the lowest bottom shook
Of Erebus. She open'd, but to shut
Excell'd her pow'r; the gates wide open flood,
That with extended wings a banner'd host
Underfpread enfigns marching might pafs through,
With horfe and chariots rank'd in loofe array;
So wide they ftood, and like a furnace mouth
Caft forth redounding fmoke and ruddy flame.
Before their eyes in fudden view appear
The fecrets of the hoary deep, a dark
limitable ocean without bound,
[height,
Without dimenfion, where length, breadth, and

And time, and place, are loft; where eldest Night
And Chaos, ancestor of Nature, hold
Eternal anarchy, amidst the noise

Of endless wars, and by confufion ftand.
For hot, cold, moist, and dry, four champions
fierce,

Strive here for maftry, and to battle bring
Their embryon atoms; they around the flag
Of each his faction, in their several clans,
Light-arm'd or heavy, fharp, fimooth, fwift or flow,
Swarm populous, unnumber'd as the fands
Of Barca or Cyrenae's torrid foil,

Levied to fide with warring winds, and poife
Their lighter wings. To whom these most adhere,
He rules a moment; Chaos umpire fits,
And by decifion more embroils the fray
By which he reigns: next him high arbiter
Chance governs all. Into this wild abyfs
The womb of Nature, and perhaps her grave,
Of neither fea, nor fhore, nor air, nor fire,
But all these in their pregnant causes mix'd
Confus'dly, and which thus must ever fight,
Unlefs th' almighty Maker them ordain
His dark materials to create more worlds:
Into this wild abyfs the wary Fiend

Stood on the brink of Hell, and look'd a while,
Pond'ring his voyage; for no narrow frith
He had to crofs. Nor was his ear lefs peal'd
With noifes loud and ruinous (to compare
Great things with fmall) than when Bellona ftorms,
With all her battering engines, bent to raze
Some capital city; or lefs than if this frame
Of Heav'n were falling, and thefe elements
In mutiny had from her axle torn

The ftedfaft Earth. At laft his fail-broad vans
He spreads for flight, and in the furging smoke
Uplifted fpurns the ground; thence many a league,
As in a cloudy chair, afcending rides

Audacious; but that feat foon failing, meets
A vast vacuity: all unawares,

Fluttering his pinions vain, plumb down he drops
Ten thoufand fathom deep, and to this hour
Down had been falling, had not by ill chance
The strong rebuff of fome tumultuous cloud,
Inftinct with fire and nitre, hurried him
As many miles aloft that fury stay'd,
Quench'd in a boggy fyrtis, neither sea,
Nor good dry land; nigh founder'd, on he fares,"
Treading the crude confistence, half on foot,
Half flying; behoves him now both oar and fail.
As when a gryphon through the wilderness
With winged courfe, o'er hill or moory dale,
Purfues the Arimafpian, who by stealth
Had from his wakeful cuftody purloin'd
The guarded gold: fe eagerly the Fiend
Q'er bog, or steep, through ftrait, rough, denfe,

or rare,

With head, hands, wings, or feet, pursues his way,
And fwims, or finks, or wades, or creeps, or flies ;
At length an universal hubbub wild

Of stunning founds and voices all confuf'd,
Borne through the hollow dark, affaults his ear
With loudeft vehemence: thither he plies,
Undaunted, to meet there whatever power
Or fpirit of the nethermoft abyss

Might in that noife refide, of whom to ask
Which way the nearest coast of darkness lies
Bord'ring on light; when strait behold the throne
Of Chaos, and his dark pavilion spread
Wide on the wafteful deep; with him enthron'd
Sat fable-vefted Night, eldest of things,
The confort of his reign; and by them ftood
Orcus and Ades, and the dreaded name
Of Damogorgo: Rumour next, and Chance,
And tumult and Confufion, all embroil'd,
And Difcord, with a thousand various mouths.
'T' whom Satan turning boldly, thus: Ye powers
And Spirits of this nethermoft abyfs,
Chaos and ancient Night, I come no spy,
"With purpose to explore or to disturb
The fecrets of your realm, but by constraint
"Wand'ring this darkfome defert, as my way
Lies through your fpacious empire up to light,
Alone, and without guide, half loft, I feek
What readiest path leads where your gloomy
bounds

Confine with Heav'n; or if fome other place,
From your dominion won, th' ethereal King
Poffeffes lately, thither to arrive

I travel this profound; direct my courfe;
Directed no mean recompenfe it brings
To your behoof, if I that region loft,
All ufurpation thence expell'd, reduce
To her original darkness and your fway,
(Which is my present journey) and once more
Erect the standard there of ancient Night;
Yours be th' advantage all, mine the revenge.

Thus Satan; and him thus the Anarch old,
With fault'ring speech and visage incompos'd,
Anfwer'd. I know thee, Stranger, who thou art,
That mighty leading angel, who of late [thrown.
Made head against Heaven's King, though over-
faw and heard, for fuch a numerous hoft
Fled not in filence through the frighted Deep
With ruin upon ruin, rout on rout,
Confufion worse confounded; and Heav'n gates
Pour'd out by millions her victorious bands
purfuing. I upon my frontiers here
Keep refidence; if all I can will serve
That little which is left so to defend,
Encroach'd on ftill through your inteftine broils
Weak'ning the fceptre of old Night; first Hell
Your dungeon ftretching far and wide beneath;
Now lately Heav'n and Earth, another world,
Hung o'er my realm, link'd in a golden chain

To that fide Heav'n from whence your legions fell:
If that way be your walk, you have not far:
So much the nearer danger; go and speed;
Havoc, and spoil, and ruin, are my gain.

He ceas'd; and Satan ftay'd not to reply;
But glad that now his fea fhould find a shore,
With fresh alacrity and force renew'd,
Springs upward like a pyramid of fire
Into the wild expance, and through the shock
Of fighting elements, on all fides round
Environ'd wins his way; harder beset
And more endanger'd, than when Argo pafs'd
Through Bofporus betwixt the juftling rocks:
Or when Ulyffes on the larboard fhunn'd
Charybdis,, and by th' other whirlpool fteer.
So he with difficulty and labour hard
Mov'd on, with difficulty and labour he;
But he once paft, foon after when man fell,
Strange alteration! Sin and Death amain
Following his track, fuch was the will of Heav'n,
Pav'd after him a broad and beaten way
Over the dark abyfs, whofe boiling gulf
Tamely endur'd a bridge of wondrous length,
From Hell continued reaching th' utmost orb
Of this frail world; by which the fp'rits perverfe
With eafy intercourse pafs to and fro
To tempt or punish mortals, except whom
God and good angels guard by fpecial grace.

But now, at laft, the facred influence Of light appears, and from the walls of Heav'n Shoots far into the bofom of dim night A glimmering dawn; here Nature first begins Her fartheft verge, and Chaos to retire As from her utmost works a broken foe With tumult lefs and with lefs hoftile din, That Satan with less toil, and now with ease Wafts on the calmer wave by dubious light, And like a weather-beaten veffel holds Gladly the port, though fhrouds and tackle torn; Or in the emptier wafte, refembling air, Weighs his fpread wings, at leifure to behold Far off th' empyreal Heav'n extended wide In circuit, undetermin'd fquare or round, With opal tow'rs and battlements adorn'd Of living faphir, once his native feat; And fast by hanging in a golden chain This pendent world, in bignefs as a star Of fmalleft magnitude clofe by the moon, Thither, full fraught with mifchievous revenge, Accurf'd, and in a curfed hour he hies.

Sings darkling, and in fhadiest covert hid
Tunes her nocturnal note. Thus with the year
Seafons return, but not to me returns
Day, or the sweet approach of ev'n or morn,
Or fight of vernal bloom, or fummer's rofe,
Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine;
But cloud inftead, and ever-during dark
Surrounds me, from the cheerful ways of men
Cut off, and for the book of Knowledge fair
Prefented with a univerfal blank

Of Nature's works to me expung'd and raif'd,
And wisdom at one entrance quite fhut out.
So much the rather thou, celestial Light,
Shine inward, and the Mind through all her powers
Irradiate, there plant eyes, all mist from thence
Purge and disperse, that I may fee and tell
Of things invifible to mortal fight.

Now had th' almighty Father from above,
From the pure empyrean where he fits
High-thron'd above all height, bent down his eye,
His own works and their works at once to view :
About him all the fanctities of Heaven
Stood thick as ftars, and from his fight receiv'd
Beatitude paft utterance; on his right
The radiant image of his glory fat,
His only fon; on earth he first beheld
Our two firft Parents, yet the only two
Of mankind, in the happy garden plac'd,
Reaping immortal fruits of joy and love,
Uninterrupted joy, unrival'd love,
In blissful folitude he then furvey'd
Hell and the gulf between, and Satan there]
Coafting the wall of Heav'n on this fide Night
In the dun air fublime, and ready now
To ftoop with wearied wings and willing feet
On the bare outfide of this world, that feem'd
Firm land embofom'd, without firmament,
Uncertain which, in ocean or in air.
Him God beholding from his profpect high,
Wherein paft, prefent, future, he beholds,
Thus to his only fon foreseeing fpake:

Only begotten Son, feeft thou what rage Tranfports our adverfary? whom no bounds Prefcrib'd, no bars of Hell, nor all the chains Heap'd on him there, nor yet the main abyss' Wide interrupt can hold; fo bent he seems On defperate revenge, that fhall redound Upon his own rebellious head. And now Through all reftraint broke loose, he wings his way Not far off Heav'n, in the precincts of light, Directly towards the new created world. And Man there plac'd, with purpose to affay If him by force he can deftroy, or worse, By fome falfe guile pervert; and shall pervert, For Man will hearken to his glozing lies, And cafily tranfgrefs the fole command, Sole pledge of his disobedience: fo will fall, He and his faithlefs progeny: Whose fault? Whofe but his own? Ingrate, he had of me All he could have; I made him juft and right, Sufficient to have stood, tho' free to fall. Such I created all th' ethereal powers [fail'd; And fp'rits, both them who flood, and them who Freely they flood who ftood, and fell who fell. Not free, what proof could they have giv'n fincere

Of true allegiance, conftant faith or love,
Where only what they needs must do appear'd,
Not what they would? what praife could they
receive?

What pleasure I from fuch obedience paid,
When will and reafon (reafon alfo 's choice)
Ufelefs and vain, of freedom both defpoil'd,
Made paffive both, had serv'd Neceflity,
Not me? They, therefore, as to right belong'd,
So were created, nor can justly' accuse
Their Maker, or their making, or their fate,
As if predeftination over-rul'd

Their will difpos'd by abfolute decree
Or high foreknowledge; they themfelves decreed
Their own revolt, not I; if I foreknew,
Foreknowledge had no influence on their fault,
Which had no lefs prov'd certain unforeknown.
So without leaft impulfe or fhadow of fate,
Or ought by me immutably foreseen,
They trefpafs, authors to themselves in all
Both what they judg'd, and what they choose;
for fo

I form'd them free, and free they must remain
Till they inthrall themfelves; I elfe muft change
Their nature, and revoke the high decree
Unchangeable, eternal, which ordain'd
Their freedom; they themselves ordain'd their fall.
The first fort by their own fuggeftion fell,
Self-tempted, felf-deprav'd: Man falls, deceiv'd
By th' other first: Man, therefore, fhall find grace,
The other none: in mercy' and in juftice both,
Through Heav'n and earth, fo fhall my glory'
excel,

But mercy first and laft fhall brightest shine.

Thus, while God fpake, ambrofial fragrance fill'd All Heav'n, and in the bleffed fp'rits elect Senfe of new joy ineffable diffus'd: Beyond compare the Son of God was feen Moft glorious; in him all his father fhone Subftantially expreff'd; and in his face Divine compaffion vifibly appear'd, Love without end, and without measure grace, Which utt'ring, thus he to his father spake:

O Father! gracious was that word which clos'd Thy fov'reignfentence, that Man fhould find grace; For which both Heav'n and earth fhall high extol Thy praifes, with th' innumerable fomid Of hymns and facred fongs, wherewith thy throne Incompaff'd fhall refound thee ever bleft. For fhould Man finally be loft, fhould Man, Thy creature late fo lov'd, thy youngest fon, Fall circumvented thus by fraud, though join'd With his own folly? that be from thee far, That far be from thee, Father, who art judge Of all things made, and judgeft only right. Or fhall the Adversary thus obtain His end, and fruftrate thine? fhall he fulfil His malice, and thy goodness bring to nought, Or proud return, though to his heavier doom, Yet with revenge accomplish'd, and to Hell Draw after him the whole race of mankind, By him corrupted? or wilt thou thyfelf Abolish thy creation, and unmake For him, what for thy glory thou hast made? So fhould thy goodness and thy greatnefs buth

Be question'd and blafphem'd without defence.
To whom the great Creator thus reply'd.
0 Son, in whom my foul hath chief delight,
Son of my botom, Son who art alone
My word, my wildom, and effectual might,
All haft thou fpoken as my thoughts are, all
As my eternal purpose hath decreed:

Man ihall not quite be loft, but fav'd who will,
Yet not of will in him, but grace in me
Freely vouchlaf'd; once more I will renew
His lapfed powers, though forfeit and inthrall'd
Ey fin to foul exorbitant defires;
Upheld by me, yet once more he shall stand
Ou even ground against his mortal foe,
By me upheld, that he may know how frail
His fallen condition is, and to me owe
All his deliverance; and to none but me.
Some I have chofen of peculiar grace
Fied above the reft; fo is my will:

The reft fhall hear me call, and oft be warn'd
Their finful state, and to appease betimes
Th' incenfed Deity, while offer'd grace
Invites; for I will clear their fenfes dark,
What may fuffice, and foften ftony hearts
To pray, repent, and bring obedience due.
To pray'r repentance, and obedience due,
Though but endeavour'd with fincere intent,
Mine car fhall not be flow, mine eye not fhut.
And I will place within them as a guide
My umpire conscience, whom if they will hear,
Light after light well us'd they shall attain,
And to the end perfifting, safe arrive.

This my long fufferance and my day of grace
They who neglect and fcorn, fhall never tafte;
But hard be harden'd, blind be blinded more,
That they may ftumble on and deeper fall;
And none but fuch from mercy I exclude.
But yet all is not done; Man difobeying,
Difloyal breaks his fealty, and fins
Agaiaft the high fupremacy of Heaven,
Afecting God-head, and fo losing all,
To expiate his treafon hath nought left,
But to deftruction facred and devote,
He with his whole pofterity muft die,
Die he or juftice muft; unless for him
Some other able, and as willing, pay
The rigid fatisfaction, death for death.

Say heav'nly Pow'rs, where fhall we find fuch love?
Which of ye will be mortal to redeem
Man's mortal crime, and just th' unjust to save;
Dwells in all Heaven charity fo dear?

He afk'd; but all the heav'nly choir stood mute, And filence was in Heav'n: on Man's behalf Patron or interceffor none appear'd,

Much less that durft upon his own head draw
The deadly forfeiture, and ranfome set.
And now without redemption all mankind
Muft have been loft, adjudg'd to Death and Hell
By doom severe, had not the Son of God,
In whom the fulnefs dwells of love divine,
His deareft mediation thus renew'd.

Father, thy word is paft, Man fhall find grace;
And fhall grace not find means, that finds her way
The fpeedieft of thy winged meffengers,
To vifit all thy creatures, and to all

Comes unprevented, unimplor'd, unfought?
Happy for Man, fo coming; he her aid
Can never feek, once dead in fins and loft;
Atonement for himself or offering meet,
Indebted and undone, hath none to bring:
Behold me then; me for him, life for life
I offer; on me let thine anger fall;
Account me Man; 1 for his fake will leave
Thy bofom, and this glory next to thee
Freely put off, and for him laftly die
Well pleas'd; on me let death wreck all his rage;
Under his gloomy pow'r I fhall not long
Lie vanquish'd; thou haft given me to poffefs
Life in myself for ever; by thee I live,
Though now to Death I yield, and am his due.
All that of me can die; yet that debt paid,
"Thou wilt not leave me in the loathfome grave
His prey, nor fuffer my unfpotted foul
For ever with corruption there to dwell;
But I fhall rife victorious, and fubdue

My vanquisher, fpoil'd of his vaunted spoil;
Death his death's wound fhall then receive, and
Inglorious, of his mortal fting difarm'd. [stoop
I through the ample air in triumph high
Shall lead Hell captive maugre Hell, and fhew
The pow'rs of darknefs bound. Thou at the fight
Pleas'd, out of Heaven fhalt look down and fmile,
While by thee rais'd I ruin all my foes,
Death laft, and with his carcafe glut the grave;
'Then with the multitude of my redeem'd
Shall enter Heav'n long abfent, and return,
Father, to fee thy face, wherein no cloud
Of anger fhall remain, but peace affur'd
And reconcilement; wrath fhall be no more
Thenceforth, but in thy prefence joy entire.

His words here ended, but his meek afpect
Silent yet fpake, and breath'd immortal love
To mortal men, above which only fhone
Filial obedience: as a facrifice
Glad to be offer'd, he attends the will
Of his great Father. Admiration feiz'd
All Heav'n, what this might mean, and whither
Wond'ring; but foon the Almighty thus reply'd.

[tend,

O thou in Heav'n and Earth, the only peace
Found out for mankind under wrath, O thou
My fole complacence! well thou knoweft how
dear

To me are all my works, nor Man the leaft,
Though laft created; that for him I spare
Thee from my bofom and right hand, to fave,
By losing thee a while, the whole race loft.
Thou therefore, whom thou only canft redeem,
Their nature alfo to thy nature join;
And be thyfelf Man among men on earth,
Made flesh, when time fhall be, of virgin feed,
By wondrous birth: be thou in Adam's room
The head of all mankind, though Adam's fon.
As in him perish all men, fo in thee,
As from a fecond root, fhall be restor'd
As many as are reftor'd, without thee none.
His crime makes guilty all his fons; thy merit
Imputed fhall absolve them who renounce
Their own both righteous and unrighteous deeds,
And live in thee tranfplanted, and from thee
Receive new life. So man, as is most juft,