Self-rais'd, and repoffefs their native feat?
For me be witness all the host of heav'n,

If counfels different, or danger fhunn'd

By me, have loft our hopes. But he who reigns
Monarch in heaven, till then as one fecure,
Sat on his throne, upheld by old repute,
Confent or custom, and his regal state

Put forth at full, but ftill his ftrength 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 clofe defign, by fraud or guile,
What force effected not: that he' no lefs
At length from us may find, who overcomes
By force, hath overcome but half his foe.

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640

645

Space may produce new worlds; whereof fo rife 650
There went a fame in heav'n, that he ere long

Intended to create, and therein plant
A generation, whom his choice regard
Should favour equal to the fons of heaven:
Thither, if but to pry, fhall be perhaps
Our firft eruption, thither or elsewhere:
For this infernal pit shall never hold
Celestial spi'rite in bondage, nor th' abyfs
Long under darkness cover. But these thoughts
Full counsel muft mature: peace is despair'd,
For who can think fubmiffion? War then, war
Open or understood, must be refolv'd.

He fpake and to confirm his words, out flew
Millions of flaming fwords, drawn from the thighs
Of mighty Cherubim ; the fudden blaze

655

660

665

his tail drew the third part of the ftars of heaven, and caff "them to the earth:" and this opinion Milton hath expressed in feveral places, II. 692. 1. 710. VI. 156: but Satan here talks big, and magnifies their number, as if their exile had emptied Deaven.

Far round illumin'd hell: highly they rag'd
Against the High'eft, and fierce with grasped arms
Clash'd on their founding fhields the din of war,
Hurling defiance toward the vault of heaven.

There ftood a hill not far, whofe grisly top
Belch'd fire and rolling smoke; the reft entire
Shone with a gloffy fcurf, undoubted fign
That in his womb was hid metallick ore,
The work of fulphur. Thither wing'd with fpeed
A numerous brigad haften'd: as when bands
Of pioneers, with fpade and pickax arm'd,
Forerun the royal camp, to trench a field,
Or caft a rampart. Mammon led them on;
Mammon, the least erected spi'rit that fell

670

675

681

From heav'n; for e'en in heav'n his looks and thoughts
Were always downward bent, admiring more
The riches of heav'n's pavement, trodden gold,
Than ought divine or holy else enjoy'd

In vifion beatifick: by him firft

Men alfo, and by his fuggeftion taught,
Ranfack'd the centre, and with impious hands
Rifled the bowels of their mother earth
For treafures better hid. Soon had his crew
Open'd into the hill a fpacious wound,
And digg'd out ribs of gold.

685

Let none admire 690
That riches grow in hell; that foil may beft
Deferve the precious bane. And here let thofe
Who boast in mortal things, and wond'ring tell

L. 676. Pioneers.] or Pioniers; Fr. a military term. Labourers going before an army, to dig up trenches, to level ways, undermine caftles, &c.

L. 678. Mammon.] Phen. Carthag. from the Heb. i, e. riches. The god of plenty and wealth among the Phenicians, Hebrews, &c.: the Pluto of the Greeks and Romans. He is beautifully painted here, and his name is repeated, to add the greater force to the fenfe.

L. 682. Pavement.] Ital. Span. Lat. i. c. beaten, or trod on, a paved floor, a causeway, a ground-room in a house.

Of Babel, and the works of Memphian kings,
Learn how their greatest monuments of fame,
And ftrength and art, are easily outdone
By fpirits reprobate, and in an hour
What in an age they with inceffant toil
And hands innumerable fcarce perform.
Nigh on the plain in many cells prepar'd,
That underneath had veins of liquid fire
Sluc'd from the lake, a fecond multitude
With wondrous art founded the maffy ore,

Severing each kind, and fcumm'd the bullion drois :
A third as foon had form'd within the ground

695

700

705

A various mould, and from the boiling cells

By ftrange conveyance fill'd each hollow nook;
As in an organ from one blast of wind

To many a row of pipes the found-board breathes.
Anon out of the earth a fabrick huge
Rofe like an exhalation, with the found
Of dulcet fymphonies and voices fweet,
Built like a temple, where pilafters round

710

L. 694. Babel.] Heb. i. e. confufion; because God there confounded the language of those impious builders of that tower, Gen. xi. f, From thence comes babble, i. e. to speak nonsense, or words that are not understood by other men.

IO.

Ibid. The walls of Babylon, and the pyramids of Egypt near Memphis, are two of the seven wonders of the world, lasting and mighty monuments of human art and power; but in nothing comparable to thofe of the fallen angels, as appears from their infernal hall in hell.

L. 708. Organ.] Lat. from the Gr. i. e. the inftrument. A mufical term. A musical inftrument; fo called, because it is esteemed the chiefeft and principal of all mufical inftruments.

L. 711. Roje like an exhalation.] The fudden rifing of Pandemonium is fuppofed, and with great probability, to be a hint taken from fome of the moving fcenes and machines invented for the stage by the famous Inigo Jones.

L713. Pilafters, &c.] One of the greatest faults of Milton is, his affectation of fhowing his learning and knowledge upon every occafion. He could not so much as defcribe this ftructure without bringing in I know not how many terms of architecture, which it will be proper, for the fake of many readers, to explain. Pilof

Were fet, and Dorick pillars overlaid

With golden architrave; nor did there want

Cornice or freeze, with boffy fculptures graven;

715

The roof was fretted gold. Not Babylon,
Nor great Alcairo fuch magnificence

Equall'd in all their glories, to infhrine
Belus or Serapis their gods, or feat

720

Their kings, when Egypt with Affyria ftrove

ters round, pillars jutting out of the wall, were fet, and Dorick pillars, pillars of the Dorick order; as their musick was to the Dorian mood, 1. 550, fo their architecture was of the Dorick order; overlaid with golden architrave, that part of a column above the capital; nor did there want cornice, the uppermost member of the entablature of the column, or freeze, that part of the entablature of columns. between the architrave and cornice, fo denominated of the Latin phrygio, an embroiderer, because it is commonly adorned with fculptures in baffo relievo, imitating embroidery; and therefore, the poet adds, with bossy sculptures graven; the roof was fretted gold; fret-work is fillets interwoven at parallel distances. This kind of work has ufually flowers in the fpaces, and must glitter much, efpecially by lamp light, as Mr. Richardfon obferves.

L. 717. Babylon.] Heb. from Babel, i. e. confufion. A very noblė and ancient city in Chaldea, upon a vast plain, built near the old tower upon the Euphrates: It was founded by Nimrod before the: feparation and confufion of languages, Gen. x. to. Therefore, that country is called the land of Nimrod, Micah v. 6.; but was augmented, beautified, and fortified. by Ninus,. Semiramis, Nebuchadnezzar, &c.; and that is the reason why several hiftorians afcribe the foundation of it to different princes. It was the metropolis of Affyria, till Seleucia eclipfed the glory of it, and the first: feat of monarchy in the world. The walls of it were fixty miles in circuit, fifty cubits high, and eighty-feven feet thick, fo that feveral coaches might pass upon them, and esteemed one of the feven wonders of the world..

L. 718. Grand Cairo.] Alcairo, or Alcabera; Arab. i. e. victorrious, or triumphant; becaufe Muazzus founded it in the afcendant of Mars, who conquers the world. Others from Al, the, and Ker, city, i. e. the city, by way of eminence. The French call it Grand Cairo, i. e. the great city,

L. 720. Belus.] Heb. i. e. lord. The fon of Nimrod, the fe cond king of Babylon, and the first man that was deified after death. He began to reign A. M. 1879, and died A. M. 1914.

Ibid. Serapis.] Heb. i. e. a prince or ox. 'The fame as Apis, in the old Egyptian language, from Ab, Heb. i. e. a father; for Jofeph faid, I am a father to Pharaoh, Gen. xlv. 8. An ancient king and god in Egypt, thought to be Jofeph in fable..

In wealth and luxury. The afcending pile
Stood fix'd her stately height; and ftrait the doors.
Opening their brazen folds discover wide
Within, her ample fpaces, o'er the smooth
And level pavement: from the arched roof,
Pendent by fubtle magick, many a row
Of ftarry lamps and blazing creffets, fed
With Naphtha and Afphaltus, yielded light
As from a sky. The hafty multitude
Admiring enter'd; and the work fome praise,.
And fome the architect: his hand was known
In heav'n by many a tow'red ftructure high,
Where feepter'd angels held their refidence,
And fat as princes; whom the fupreme King
Exalted to fuch pow'r, and gave to rule,
Each in his hierarchy, the orders bright.
Nor was his name unheard or unador'd
In ancient Greece; and in Aufonian land

725

730

735

L. 721. Assyria.] Heb. i. e. blessed; from Assur the son of Sem, Gen. x. II, 12. A large and fertile country in Afia, joining to Chaldea, Mefopotamia, Armenia, &c. where the first grand monarchy was founded, about 115 years after the flood, and continued for 1300 or 1400 years.

L. 729. Naphtha.] or Naptha; Lat. Gr. from the Chald. i. e. dropping; a kind of fat, chalky, and bituminous clay, of a dark colour, that takes fire fooner than brimftone; it will draw fire to it from afar, and is not foon quenched. Famous fprings of it are at Baku' in Perfia; they use it inftead of lamp-oil in their fireworks. It yields a great revenue to the emperor of Perfia,

Ibid. Afphaltus.] Lat. Gr. i. c. unextinguishable; a kind of fat burning clay, like pitch, found in pits, and abounding near Sodom and Babylon.

L. 737. Hierarchy.] Fr. Lat. from the Gr. i. e. a facred govern, ment; a theological term. Here, the most glorious government of the holy angels in Heaven. It confifts, as fome fay, of nine orders, which are divided into the highest, middle, and lowest, viz. 1. Seraphims, Cherubims, and thrones. 2. Dominions, Principa lities, and powers. 3. Virtues, Archangels, and Angels.

L. 739. Greece.] Lat. from the Gr. from Grecus, fon of Cecrops, who was one of the first kings of it. An ancient and noble country in Europe, upon the Mediterranean and Ægean feas, and. highly celebrated in history.