B.1.

BOOK I.

F man's firft difobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whofe mortal tafte
Brought death into the world, and all our wo,

With lofs of Eden, till one greater Man
Reftore us, and regain the blifsful feat,
Sing, heav'nly Mufe, that on the fecret top
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didft infpire

That fhepherd, who firft taught the chofen feed,.
In the beginning how the heav'ns and earth
Rofe out of Chaos: or if Sion-hill

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Line 7. Oreb.] Horeb, or Choreb, Heb. i. e. dryness; for it was a defart or dry mountain in Arabia the Stony, where there was little or no water, Deut. viii. 15. Horeb is a part of mount Sinai. on the weft fide, and Sinai lies on the calt fide of it. There Mofes fed the flock of Jethro, and there God appeared to him first in a. burning buth, Exod. iii. r.

Ibid. Sinai.] Heb. from Seneh, i. e. a buf, or thorn; because these bushes grew thereon in abundance. It is a very steep and high. mountain in Arabia the Stony, about 156 miles from Jerufalem to the fouth. These are not two diftinct mountains, but one, which is parted into two tops, like Parnaffus, &c. of which Sinai is the highest, having a fair and fpacious plain between them; that. top towards the weft is called Horeb, and that to the east Sinai. 'The mountain is round, takes 7000 steps to the top, has fome olive trees, fig trees, date trees, &c. and several chapels, monafteries, cells, and mofques, &c.

L. 1o. Sion.] Zion, or. Tzion, Heb. i. e. a watch tower; be-cause it is the highest hill thereabout, and from it one might fee: the Holy Land far and near. A mountain on the north fide, and: fome part of it within the city of Jerufalem, furrounded with fteep fides, high rocks, and deep ditches, except on the north fide,, therefore it was very ftrong. Some of the Jebufites (part of the old Canaanites) defended it against all the force of the Ifraelites, Joh. xv. 63. till the valiant king David took it from them; there

Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flow'd
Faft by the oracle of God; I thence
Invoke thy aid to my advent'rous fong,
That with no middle flight intends to foar
Above th' Aonian mount, while it pursues.
Things unattempted yet in profe or rhyme..

And chiefly thou, O Spi'rit, that doft prefer
Before all temples, th' upright heart and pure,
lnftruct me, for thou know'st; thou from the first
Waft prefent, and with mighty wings outspread
Dove-like fatt'ft brooding on the vast abyss,
And mad'ft it pregnant: what in me is dark,
lumine; what is low, raife and fupport;
'That to the height of this great argument
I may affert eternal providence,.

And juftify the ways of God to men.

Say firft, for beav'n hides nothing from thy view,
Nor the deep tract of hell; fay first what cause
Mov'd our grand parents, in that happy ftate,
Favour'd of heav'n fo highly, to fall off
From their Creator, and tranfgrefs his will,
For one restraint, lords of the world befides?
Who firft feduc'd them to that foul revolt?
Th' infernal ferpent; he it was, whose guile,

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he fortified the old caffle, built the upper town, furrounded it with new walls, and called it the city of David; there he kept his court and retinue, 2 Sam. v. 9. There were many fair buildings. and houses of his officers, especially his house of cedar wood, which he called the caftle of Sion, and the fepulchre of king David, Solomon, &c. within a rock; fome of their ruins are to be feen still.

L. 11. Siloa.] Siloah, Siloam, Shiloah, Heb. i. e. Sent; for it was a brook or fpring of water, gliding foftly down mount Sion, on the eaft fide of the temple of Jerufalem, and at the bottom of it made a pool, which was fent from God, at the prayer of Ifaiah, a little before his death, and when the city was clofely befieged, as a bleffing or gift, to cure many diseases among his people. Herein a blind man washed his eyes at Chrift's command, and received his eyefight, John ix. 7.; there was a tower built over it, by the fall of which eighteen men were killed, Luke xiii, 4.

Stirr'd up with envy and revenge, deceiv'd
The mother of mankind, what time his pride
Had caft him out from heav'n, with all his host
Of rebel angels; by whose aid afpiring
To fet himself in glory above his peers,
He trufted to have equall'd the Most High,
If he oppos'd; and with ambitious aim
Against the throne and monarchy of God
Rais'd impious war in heav'n, and battle proud,
With vain attempt. Him the almighty power
Hurl'd headlong flaming from th' ethereal sky,
With hideous ruin and combuftion, down
To bottomless perdition, there to dwell
In adamantine chains and penal fire,
Who durft defy th' Omnipotent to arms.

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Nine times the space that measures day and night
To mortal men, he with his horrid crew

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Lay vanquish'd, rolling in the fiery gulf,

Confounded though immortal: but his doom

Referv'd him to more wrath; for now the thought
Both of loft happiness and lafting pain

Torments him. Round he throws his baleful
That witnefs'd huge affliction and difmay
Mix'd with obdurate pride and stedfast hate :
At once, as far as angels ken, he views
The difmal fituation wafte and wild;

A dungeon horrible on all fides round

eyes,

As one great furnace flam'd, yet from thofe flames
No light, but rather darkness vifible

Serv'd only to discover fights of wo,

Regions of forrow, doleful fhades, where peace

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L. 38. Angels. All the modern languages of Europe borrow this word angel from the Greek, i. e. a meffenger; and the Hebrew Malachi fignifies the fame; because these celestial beings are the mefiengers of God. It denotes their office, rather than their nature. other words, they are called spirits, minifters, gods, fons of God, thrones, &c.

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