To do him wanton rites, which coft them woe.
Yet thence his luftful orgies he inlarg'd
Ev'n to that hill of fcandal, by the grove
Of Moloch homicide, luft hard by hate;
Till good Jofiah drove them thence to Hell.
With these came they, who, from the bord'ring flood Of old Euphrates, to the brook that parts
Egypt from Syrian ground, had general names
Of Baälim and Afhtaroth; those male,
These feminine. For Spirits when they please
Can either fex affume, or both; fo foft
And uncompounded is their essence pure;
Not ty'd or manacled with joint or limb,
Nor founded on the brittle ftrength of bones,
Like cumbrous flesh; but in what shape they choose Dilated or condens'd, bright or obfcure,
Can execute their aery purposes,
And works of love or enmity fulfil.
For those the race of Ifrael oft forfook
Their living ftrength, and unfrequented left
His righteous altar, bowing lowly down
To beftial Gods; for which their heads as low, 435
Bow'd down in battel, funk before the spear
Of despicable foes. With these in troop
Came Aftoreth, whom the Phoenicians call'd
Aftarte, queen of Heav'n, with crescent horns;
To whofe bright image nightly by the moon
Sidonian virgins paid their vows and songs,
In Sion also not unsung; where stood
Her temple, on th'offenfive mountain, built
By that uxorious king, whose heart, though large,
Beguil'd by fair idolatreffes, fell
To idols foul. Thammuz came next behind,
Whose annual wound in Lebanon allur'd
The Syrian Damfels to lament his fate
In amorous ditties all a fummer's day;
While smooth Adonis, from his native rock,
Ran purple to the sea, fuppos'd with blood
Of Thammuz,yearly wounded: the love-tale
Infected Sion's daughters with like heat;
Whose wanton passions, in the sacred porch,
Ezekiel saw, when, by the vision led,
His eye furvey'd the dark idolatries
Of alienated Judah. Next came one
Who mourn'd in earnest, when the captive ark
Maim'd his brute image, head and hands lopt off
In his own temple, on the grunfel edge,
Where he fell flat, and fham'd his worshippers:
Dagon his name, fea monster, upward man
And downward fish: yet had his temple high
Rear'd in Azotus, dreaded through the coast
Of Palestine, in Gath and Ascalon,
And Accaron, and Gaza's frontier bounds.
Him follow'd Rimmon, whose delightful feat
Was fair Damascus, on the fertil banks
Of Abbana and Pharphar, lucid streams.
He also against the house of God was bold:
A leper once he loft, and gain'd a king;
Ahaz, his fottifh conqu'ror, whom he drew
God's altar to difparage, and difplace
For one of Syrian mode, whereon to burn
His odious offerings, and adore the Gods.
Whom he had vanquish'd. After these appear'd
A crew, who, under names of old renown,
Ofiris, Ifis, Orus, and their train,
With monftrous fhapes and forceries abus'd
Fanatic Egypt,and her priests, to feek
Their wand'ring Gods difguis'd in brutish forms
Rather than human. Nor did Ifrael 'scape
Th'infection, when their borrow'd gold compos'd
The calf in Oreb; and the rebel king
Doubled that fin in Bethel and in Dan,
Likening his Maker to the grazed ox;
Jehovah, who, in one night,when he pass'd
From Egypt marching, equal'd, with one stroke,
Both her first-born and all her bleating Gods.
Belial came last, than whom a Spi rit more lewd 490
Fell not from Heaven, or more gross to love
Vice for itfelf: to him no temple flood,
Or altar smok'd; yet who more oft than he
In temples and at altars, when the priest
Turns atheist, as did Eli's fons, who fill'd
With luft and violence the house of God?
In courts and palaces he also reigns,
And in luxurious cities, where the noise
Of riot afcends above their loftieft towers,
And injury and outrage: And when night
Darkens the streets, then wander forth the fons
Of Belial, flown with infolence and wine.
Witness the streets of Sodom, and that night
In Gibeah, when the hospitable door
Expos'd a matron to avoid worse rape.
These were the prime in order and in might;
The reft were long to tell, though far renown'd,
Th'Ionian Gods, of Javan's iffue held
Gods, yet confess'd later than Heav'n and Earth,
Their boasted parents; Titan, Heav'n's first-born, 510
With his enormous brood, and birthright seis'd
By younger Saturn; he,from mightier Jove,
His own and Rhea's son, like measure found;
So Jove, ufurping, reign'd: these first in Crete
And Ida known; thence on the fnowy top
Of cold Olympus rul'd the middle air,
Their highest Heav'n; or on the Delphian cliff,
Or in Dodona, and through all the bounds
Of Doric land; or who,with Saturn old,
Fled over Adria to th'Hefperian fields;
And o'er the Celtic roam'd the utmost iles.
All these, and more, came, flocking; but with looks Down caft and damp, yet fuch wherein appear'd Obfcure fome glimpse of joy, to have found their chief Not in despair, to have found themselves not loft 525
In lofs itself; which on his count'nance caft
Like doubtful hue: but he his wonted pride
Soon recollecting, with high words, that bore
Semblance of worth not substance, gently rais'd
Their fainting courage, and dispell'd their fears. 530
Then strait commands that,at the warlike found
Of trumpets loud, and clarions, be uprear'd
His mighty standard: that proud honor clam'd
Azazel as his right, a Cherub tall;
Who, forthwith, from the glittering staff unfurl'd 535
Th'imperial ensign; which,full high advanc'd,
Shone,like a meteor, ftreaming to the wind;
With gems, and golden luftre rich imblaz'd,
Seraphic arms and trophies; all the while
Sonorous metal blowing martial founds:-
At which the univerfal hoft up fent
A fhout, that tore Hell's concave, and beyond
Frighted the reign of Chaos and old Night.
All in a moment through the gloom were seen
Ten thousand banners rife into the air,
With orient colors waving: with them rofe
A foreft huge of spears; and thronging helms
Appear'd, and ferried shields, in thick array,
Of depth immeasurable: anon they move,
In perfect phalanx to the Dorian mood
Of flutes and foft recorders; such as rais'd
To highth of nobleft temper heroes old
Arming to battel; and, instead of rage,
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