To meet fo great a foe: and now great deeds
Had been achiev'd, whereof all Hell had rung;
Had not the snaky forceress that fat
Fast by Hell gate, and kept the fatal key,
Ris'n, and with hideous outcry rush'd between.
O Father, what intends thy hand, she cry'd,
Against thy only Son? What fury, O Son,
Poffeffes thee to bend that mortal dart
Against thy Father's head? and know'st for whom; 730
For him who fits above, and laughs the while
At thee, ordain'd his drudge, to execute
Whate'er his wrath, which he calls juftice, bids;
His wrath, which one day will destroy ye both.
She spake, and at her words the hellifh peft 735
Forbore; then these to her Satan return'd.
So ftrange thy outcry, and thy words so strange
Thou interposest, that my sudden hand,
Prevented, spares to tell thee yet by deeds
What it intends; till firft I know of thee,
What thing thou art, thus double-form'd, and why,
In this infernal vale first met, thou call'ft
Me Father, and that phantafm call'ft my Son;
I know thee not, nor ever faw, till now,
Sight more detestable than him and thee.
T'whom thus the portress of Hell gate reply'd.
Hast thou forgot me then, and do I seem
Now in thine eye fo foul? once deem'd so fair
In Heav'n, when at th' assembly, and in fight
Of all the Seraphim with thee combin'd
In bold confpiracy against Heav'n's king,
All on a sudden miserable pain
Surpris'd thee; dim thine eyes, and dizzy swum
In darkness; while thy head flames thick and fast
Threw forth; till on the left fide opening wide,
Likest to thee in shape and count'nance bright,
Then fhining heav'nly fair, a Goddess arm'd
Out of thy head I fprung: amazement feis'd
All th❜hoft of Heav'n; back they recoil'd,afraid
At first, and call'd me Sin, and for a fign
Portentous held me; but familiar
but familiar grown,
I pleas'd, and with attractive graces won
The most averse; thee chiefly, who full oft
Thyself in me,thy perfect image,viewing,
Becam'st enamour'd; and fuch joy thou took'st
With me in fecret, that my womb conceiv'd
A growing burden. Mean while war arose,
And fields were fought in Heav'n; wherein rema
(For what could else?) to our almighty foe
Clear victory, to our part lofs and rout
Through all the empyréan: down they fell,
Driv'n headlong from the pitch of Heaven, dov
Into this deep; and in the general fall
I alfo; at which time this pow'rful key
Into my hand was giv'n, with charge to keep These gates for ever fhut, which none can pafs Without my opening. Pensive here I sat
Alone, but long I fat not; till my womb
Pregnant by thee, and now exceffive grown,
Prodigious motion felt and rueful throes.
At laft, this odious ofspring, whom thou seest,
Thine own begotten, breaking violent way,
Tore through my entrails, that,with fear and pain
Distorted, all my nether shape thus grew
Transform'd: but he, my inbred enemy,
Forth issued, brandishing his fatal dart,
Made to destroy: I fled, and cry'd out Death;
Hell trembled at the hideous name, and figh'd
From all her caves, and back refounded Death.
I fled, but he pursued, (though more, it feems, 790
Inflam'd with luft than rage) and swifter far,
Me overtook, his mother,all dismay'd;
And,in embraces forcible and foul,
Ingendring with me, of that rape begot
These yelling monsters; that, with ceaseless cry, 795
Surround me, as thou faw'ft, hourly conceiv'd,
And hourly born, with sorrow infinite
To me; for when they lift, into the womb
That bred them they return, and howl,and gnaw
My bowels, their repaft; then bursting forth
Afresh,with conscious terrors vex me round,
That reft or intermission none I find.
Before mine eyes, in oppofition,fits
Grim Death, my son and foe; who sets them on,
And me,his parent,would full foon devour
For want of other prey, but that he knows
His end with mine involv'd; and knows that I
Should prove a bitter morfel, and his bane,
Whenever that shall be; fo fate pronounc'd.
But thou, O Father, I forewarn thee, fhun
His deadly arrow; neither vainly hope
To be invulnerable in those bright arms,
Though temper'd heav'nly, for that mortal dint,
Save he who reigns above, none can refist.
She finish'd, and the subtle Fiend his lore Soon learn'd, now milder, and thus answer'd fmooth. Dear Daughter, since thou clam'st me for thy fire, And my fair fon here show'ft me, the dear pledge Of dalliance had with thee in Heav'n, and joys Then sweet, now fad to mention, through dire change Befall'n us unforeseen, unthought of; know
I come no enemy, but to fet free
From out this dark and difmal house of pain
Both him and thee, and all the heav'nly hoft
Of Spirits, that, in our juft pretences arm'd,
Fell with us from on high: from them I go
This uncouth errand fole; and one for all
Myfelf expofe, with lonely fteps to tread
Th'unfounded deep, and through the void immense
To search,with wand'ring quest,a place foretold 830
Should be, and, by concurring figns, ere now
Created,vaft and round; a place of blifs
In the pourlieus of Heav'n, and therein plac'd
A race of upstart creatures, to supply,
Perhaps, our vacant room, though more remov'd, 835
Lest Heav'n, surcharg'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 840
Shall dwell at eafe, and up and down, unfeen,
Wing filently the buxom air, imbalm'd
With odors; there ye fhall be fed and fill'd
Immeasurably; all things shall be your prey.
He ceas'd, for both feem'd highly pleas'd; and Death Grinn'd horrible a ghastly smile, to hear
His famin fhould be fill'd; and bleft his maw
Deftin'd to that good hour: no lefs rejoic'd
His mother bad, and thus bespake her fire.
The key of this infernal pit,by due,
And by command of Heav'n's all-pow'rful king,
I keep; by him forbidden to unlock
These adamantin gates; against all force
Death ready stands to interpose 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,
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