Put forth at full, but still his strength conceal'd,

Which tempted our attempt, and wrought our fall.
Henceforth his might we know, and know our own:
So as not either to provoke, or dread

New war, provok'd: our better part remains
To work in close design, by fraud or guile,
What force effected not; that he no less
At length from us may find, who overcomes
By force, hath overcome but half his foe.
Space may produce new worlds; whereof so rife
There went a fame in Heaven that he ere long
Intended to create, and therein plant

A generation, whom his choice regard
Should favour equal to the sons of Heaven :
Thither, if but to pry, shall be perhaps
Our first eruption; thither or elsewhere;
For this infernal pit shall never hold
Celestial Spirits in bondage, nor the' abyss

Long under darkness cover. But these thoughts
Full counsel must mature; Peace is despair'd;
For who can think submission? War then, War,
Open or understood, must be resolv'd.»

He spake and to confirm his words, out-flew Millions of flaming swords, drawn from the thighs Of mighty cherubim; the sudden blaze

Far round illumin'd Hell: highly they rag'd Against the Highest, and fierce with grasped arms Clash'd on their sounding shields the din of war, Hurling defiance toward the vault of Heaven.

De là tous nos malheurs; mais le sort aujourd'hui
Nous apprend à juger et de nous et de lui.

N'allons donc point braver ni craindre son tonnerre:
Moins forts, mais plus adroits, par une sourde guerre,
Attaquons son pouvoir; prouvons qu'un ennemi
Par la force accablé n'est vaincu qu'à demi.

Tout change avec le temps: des mondes peuvent naître,
Qui de notre oppresseur nous vengeront peut-être.
Un bruit court dans les cieux qu'en un riant séjour
Des êtres de son choix vont recevoir le jour,
Êtres favorisés, et de ses dons suprêmes

Comblés presque à l'égal de ses anges eux-mêmes.
Sortons, courons d'abord reconnaître ces lieux;
Sortons: sommes-nous faits pour ce gouffre odieux?
Non, nous n'avons point vu la lumière céleste,
Pour languir enchaînés dans ce cachot funeste.
Mais dans un grand conseil mûrissons ces projets :
Enfin, point de traités, de trève, ni de paix !
Guerre ouverte ou cachée à ce tyran du monde !
La guerre! c'est mon vœu: que le vôtre y réponde.

A peine il a parlé, jusqu'au fond des enfers
Les glaives flamboyans font jaillir mille éclairs ;
Tout donné, tout reçoit le signal des alarmes;
Les armes à grand bruit entre-choquent les armes ;
Le blasphème insolent, les cris séditieux
Vont porter leur défi jusqu'au trône des cieux.

There stood a hill not far, whose grisly top
Belch'd fire and rolling smoke, the rest entire

Shone with a glossy scurf; undoubted sign
That in his womb was hid metallic ore,

The work of sulphur. Thither, wing'd with speed,
A numerous brigade hasten'd: as when bands
Of pioneers, with spade and pickaxe arm'd,
Forerun the royal camp, to trench a field,
Or cast a rampart. Mammon led them on :
Mammon, the least erected spirit that fell

From Heaven; for e'en in Heaven his looks and thoughts
Were always downward bent, admiring more

The riches of Heaven's pavement, trodden gold,
Than ought, divine or holy, else enjoy'd

In vision beatific: by him first

Men also, and by his suggestion taught,

Ransack'd the center, and with impious hands
Rifled the bowels of their mother earth

For treasures, better hid.

Soon had his crew

Open'd into the hill a spacious wound,

And digg'd out ribs of gold. Let none admire
That riches grow in Hell; that soil may best
Deserve the precious bane. And here let those,
Who boast in mortal things, and wondering tell
Of Babel, and the works of Memphian kings,
Learn how their greatest monuments of fame,
And strength and art, are easily out-done
By spirits reprobate, and in an hour

Non loin s'offrait un mont, dont la cime enflammée
Roulait des tourbillons de feux et de fumée ;
Le terrain qui s'étend sous son front escarpé,
D'une croûte brillante au loin enveloppé,
Trahissait le trésor des mines souterraines,
Lent ouvrage du soufre infiltré dans leurs veines.
Là, d'escadrons ailés vole un nombreux essaim:
Tels, s'armant de la bêche, et la hache à la main,
D'intrépides sapeurs, par bandes détachées,
Elèvent des remparts ou creusent des tranchées.
A leur tête est Mammon, dont les penchans honteux
Font de lui le plus vil de ces enfans des cieux:
Même au séjour divin sa passion sordide
Tenait ses yeux baissés ; et son regard avide
Aux saintes visions des chérubins ravis
Semblait préférer l'or des célestes parvis.
Par lui la soif de l'or vint infecter le monde :
Enfant dénaturé d'une mère féconde,
L'homme perça la terre, et son avare main
Lui ravit les trésors qu'elle cache en son sein..

Bientôt pour tirer l'or de sa prison obscure,
Leur troupe a fait au mont une large blessure.
Qu'on ne s'étonne point que l'enfer cache l'or:
A quel sol convient mieux ce funeste trésor?
Et vous qui nous vantez les merveilles humaines,
De Babel, de Memphis les pompeux phénomènes,
Voyez, dans un prodige enfanté d'un clin d'œil,
Ces esprits, des mortels humilier l'orgueil,

Et seuls, en peu d'instans, passer dans leurs ouvrages
Les longs travaux des arts, des peuples et des âges.
Tout agit, tout s'empresse : au pied du mont brûlant,

TAYLOR

What in an age they with incessant toil
And hands innumerable scarce perform.
Nigh on the plain, in many cells prepar'd,
That underneath had veins of liquid fire
Sluic'd from the lake, a second multitude
With wondrous art founded the massy ore,
Severing each kind, and scumm'd the bullion dross :
A third as soon had form'd within the ground

A various mould, and from the boiling cells,
By strange conveyance, fill'd each hollow nook;
As in an organ, from one blast of wind,

To

many a row of pipes the sound-board breathes. Anon, out of the earth a fabric huge

Rose like an exhalation, with the sound
Of dulcet symphonies and voices sweet,
Built like a temple, where pilasters round
Were set, and Doric pillars overlaid
With golden architrave; nor did there want
Cornice or frieze, with bossy sculptures graven :
The roof was fretted gold. Not Babylon,
Nor great Alcairo, such magnificence
Equall'd in all their glories, to enshrine

Belus or Serapis their gods, or seat

Their kings, when Egypt with Assyria strove

In wealth and luxury.

The' ascending pile

Stood fix'd her stately heighth : and straight the doors,

Opening their brazen folds, discover wide

Within, her ample spaces, o'er the smooth