Made visible, th'almighty Father shines,
Whom else no creature can behold; on thee
Imprefs'd th'effulgence of his glory abides,
Transfus'd on thee his ample Spirit refts.
He Heav'n of Heav'ns and all the Pow'rs therein 390
By thee created; and by thee threw down
Th'aspiring Dominations: thou that day
Thy Father's dreadful thunder didst not spare,
Nor flop thy flaming chariot wheels, that fhook
Heav'n's everlasting frame, while o'er the necks 395
Thou drov'ft of warring Angels disarray'd.
Back from pursuit thy Pow'rs, with loud acclame,
Thee only extoll'd, Son of thy Father's might,
To execute fierce vengeance on his foes;
Not fo on Man: Him through their malice fall'n, 400
Father of mercy and grace, thou didst not doom
So ftrictly, but much more to pity incline:
No fooner did thy dear and only Son
Perceive thee purpos'd not to doom frail Man
So ftrictly, but much more to pity inclin'd,
He, to appease thy wrath, and end the ftrife
Of
mercy and juftice, in thy face difcern'd,
Regardless of the blifs wherein he fat
Second to thee, offer'd himself to die
For Man's offence. O unexampled love,
Love no where to be found lefs than Divine!
Hail, Son of God, Saviour of Men, thy name
Shall be the copious matter of my song
Henceforth; and never shall my harp thy praise
Forget, nor from thy Father's praise disjoin.
Thus they in Heav'n, above the starry sphere,
Their happy hours in joy and hymning spent.
Mean while,upon the firm opacous globe
Of this round world, whose first convex divides
The luminous inferior orbs, inclos'd
From Chaos and th’inroad of Darkness old,
Satan,alighted, walks: a globe far off
It seem'd, now seems a boundless continent,
Dark, waste, and wild, under the frown of Night
Starlefs expos'd, and ever-threatning ftorms
Of Chaos, bluft'ring round, inclement sky;
Save on that fide which from the wall of Heaven,
Though diftant far, some small reflection gains
Of glimmering air, less vex'd with tempest loud:
Here walk'd the Fiend,at large,in fpacious field. 430
As when a vultur on Imaus bred,
Whose snowy ridge the roving Tartar bounds,
Diflodging from a region scarce of prey
To gorge the flesh of lambs, or yeanling kids,
On hills where flocks are fed, flies tow'ard the springs
Of Ganges or Hydaspes, Indian streams;
But in his way lights on the barren plains
Of Sericana, where Chineses drive,
With fails and wind,their cany waggons light:
So on this windy fea of land, the Fiend
Walk'd and down alone, bent on his prey;
Alone, for other creature in this place,
Living or lifeless, to be found was none;
None yet, but store hereafter from the earth
Up hither like aereal vapors flew
Of all things transitory and vain, when fin
With vanity had fill'd the works of men;
Both all things vain, and all who in vain things
Built their fond hopes of glory, or lafting fame,
Or happiness in this or th'other life;
All who have their reward on earth, the fruits
Of painful fuperftition and blind zeal,
Nought feeking but the praise of men, here find
Fit retribution, empty as their deeds;
All th'unaccomplish'd works of Nature's hand, 455
Abortive, monftrous, or unkindly mix'd,
Diffolv'd on earth, fleet hither, and in vain,
Till final diffolution, wander here;
Not in the neighb'ring moon, as fome have dream'd;
Those argent fields more likely habitants,
Tranflated Saints, or middle Spirits hold,
Betwixt th'angelical and human kind.
Hither, of ill-join'd fons and daughters born,
First from the ancient world thofe giants came
With many a vain exploit, though then renown'd: 465
The builders next of Babel, on the plain
Of Sennaar, and still,with vain design,
New Babels, had they wherewithal, would build:
Others came fingle; he who to be deem'd
A God, leap'd fondly into Aetna flames,
Empedocles; and he who to enjoy
Plato's Elyfium, leap'd into the fea,
Cleombrotus; and many more too long,
Embryo's and idiots, erémits and friers
White, black, and gray, with all their trumpery. 475
Here pilgrims roam, that stray'd fo far to seek
In Golgotha him dead, who lives in Heaven;
And they who,to be fure of Paradise,
Dying put on the weeds of Dominic,
Or in Franciscan think to pass disguis'd;
They pass the planets fev'n, and pass the fix'd,
And that crystallin sphere whose balance weighs
The trepidation talk'd, and that first mov'd;
And now Saint Peter at Heav'n's wicket seems
To wait them with his keys; and now at foot 485
Of Heav'n's ascent they lift their feet, when lo
A violent cross wind, from either coaft,
Blows them transverse ten thousand leagues awry
Into the devious air; then might ye fee
Cowls, hoods, and habits,with their wearers,toft 495
And flutter'd into rags; then reliques, beads,
Indulgences, difpenfes, pardons, bulls,
The sport of winds: all these,upwhirl'd aloft,
Fly o'er the backside of the world far off
Into a Limbo large and broad, since call'd
The Paradife of Fools, to few unknown
Long after, now unpeopled, and untrod.
All this dark globe the Fiend found as he pass'd,
And long he wander'd; till at last a gleam
Of dawning light turn'd thither-ward in hafte
His travel'd fteps: far diftant he defcries,
Ascending by degrees magnificent
Up to the wall of Heav'n, a structure high;
At top whereof, but far more rich, appear'd
The work as of a kingly palace gate,
With frontispiece of diamond and gold
Embellish'd; thick with sparkling orient gems
The portal fhone; inimitable on earth
By model, or by fhading pencil drawn.
The stairs were fuch as whereon Jacob faw
Angels afcending and defcending, bands
Of guardians bright, when he from Efau fled
To Padan-Aram, in the field of Luz
Dreaming by night under the open sky,
And waking cry'd, This is the gate of Heaven. 515
Each stair mysteriously was meant, nor flood
There always, but drawn up to Heav'n fometimes
Viewless; and underneath a bright sea flow'd
Of jafper, or of liquid pearl, whereon
Who after came from earth, failing arriv'd,
Wafted by Angels; or flew o'er the lake
Rapt in a chariot drawn by fiery steeds.
The stairs were then let down, whether to dare
The Fiend by easy afcent, or aggravate
His fad exclufion from the doors of bliss:
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