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Exilio vasti jam nuda & inania cœli

Templa vacant, quis adhuc dubitat vi tendere ad astra
Poffe fuâ patriafque iterum confcendere fedes?
Vos cœli collecta Manus, Vos teftor, an ullis
Confiliis privatim habitis, cunctansve timensve,
Defuerim rebus veftris. Verùm Ille, tyrannum
Sefe unum in cœlo jactans, huc ufque refedit
Securus folio, famâ, vel temporis ufu,
Vel Superûm affenfu innixus; clariffimus Aulæ
Effulfit Splendor, Vires latuere repôstæ :
Hinc aufi nos bellum ingens, aufoque perimus;
Illius hinc demùm vires noftræque patefcunt:
Jam neque molimur bellum, nec ad arma vocati
Terga damus: quod vis nequiit, fraus gnara patrabit;
Hoftis & ifte fciet, quos vicerit impete, victos

Dimidiâ vix parte. Alios fòrs efferet Orbes
Circuitus Spatii immenfus, quos fama ferebat
Ipsum animo statuiffe effingere; Sedibus illis

As flood like thefe, could ever know repulfe?
For who can yet believe, tho' after lofs,
That all these puiffant Legions, whofe exile
Hath emptied Heav'n, fhall fail to re-ascend
Self-rais'd, and repoffefs their native feat?
For Me be witness all the Hoft of Heav'n,
If counfels different, or danger fhun'd
By me, have loft our hopes. But He who reigns
Monarch in Heav'n, '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 strength conceal'd,
Which tempted our attempt, and wrought our fall.
Henceforth His Might we know, and know our
So as not either to provoke, or dread
(Own;
New war, provok'd. Our better part remains
To work in clofe defign, by fraud or guile,
What force effected not: that He no less
At length from us may find, Who overcomes
By force, hath overcome but half his foe.

Gentem

Gentem habitaturam, magni quam Cura Parentis
Blanda fovens miro fuperis æquaret amore.
Fòrs ibi tendemus fpeculatum, alióve locorum;
Non hîc certa domus; nec longum carcere opaco
Cœleftes cogent Animas immania Claustra

Gurgitis inferni. Verùm hæc decernere feris
Præftat conciliis. Pacem haud fperare licebit;
Nam quis pofcat iners veniam genubus minor? Ergo
Bella palam, vel clam potiùs, fed bella gerenda.

Dixerat ; & vocem gladiorum multa micantûm
Millia fancîbant, altis vibrata Cherubum
Magnanimûm validè dextris: Cava Tartara circum
Ardefcunt immane; DEUM contra Omnipotentem
Omnibus una furit rabies; clypeifque feroces
Constrictis, refonis quaffant clangoribus arma,
Infandifque minis cœli convexa laceffunt.

Mons juxtà fublimis erat; fqualentia diras

Space may produce new Worlds; whereof so rife
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 Sons of Heav'n;
Thither, if but to pry, fhall be perhaps
Our firft Eruption; thither or elsewhere:
For this Infernal Pit fhall never hold
Celestial Spirits in Bondage, nor th' Abyss
Long under darkness cover. But thefe thoughts
Full Counsel muft mature; Peace is despair'd,

For who can think Submiffion? War then, War,
Open or understood, muft be refolv'd.

He spake and to confirm his words out-flew
Millions of flaming Swords, drawn from the Thighs
Of mighty Cherubim: the fudden, blaze
Far round illumin'd Hell; highly they rag'd
Against the Higheft, and fierce with grafped Arms.
Clafh'd on their founding Shields the din of war,
Hurling defiance toward the Vault of Heav'n.

There ftood a Hill not far, whofe grifly Top
Belch'd fire and rolling smoke; the rest entire

Culmina

Culmina ructabant flammas, fumofque coactos;
Undique crusta nitens obduxit cetera, fignis
Haud dubiis prodens utero latitare metallum
Sulphure concretum: hàc sese rapuere Catervæ
Præcipites, Fofforum inftar qui regia caftra
Antevolant, fiquando altis circumdare campum
Aggeribus vallis-ve parant. Hæc Agmina Mammon
Duxit agens, Mammon demiffior omnibus unus,
Qui cœlo exciderant; cœli namque ipfius oris
Dejectæque acies mifero fenfusque jacebant
Depreffi: fic ufque foli ftellantis honori
Calcatifque auri radiis attentus inhæfit;

Olli nec minimâ potuit dulcedine pectus
Tangere, quæ Divos permulcet fumma Voluptas,
Ipfius ora DEI fanctofque accedere vultus.

Ille Hominum generi matris quoque vifcera terræ
Rimari primus fuafit, manibusque nefandis
Eruere occultas gazas, meliúfque latentes.

Shone with a gloffy fcurf; (undoubted fign
That in his womb was hid metallic Ore,
The work of Sulphur) Thither wing'd with speed
A numerous brigad haften'd: as when Bands
Of Pioneers, with Spade and Pickax arm'd,
Forerun the Royal Camp, to trench a Field,
Or caft a Rampart. Mammon led them on,
Mammon, the least erected Spirit that fell

Were always downward bent; admiring more
The riches of Heav'n's pavement, trodden Gold,
Than ought divine or holy elfe, enjoy'd
In Vision Beatific: 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 Treasures better hid. Soon had his crew

From Heav'n; for ev'n in Heav'n his looks and Open'd into the Hill a fpacious wound,

thoughts

And digg'd out ribs of Gold. (Let none admire

Nec

Jamque cavum ingenti difciffum vulnere montem
Turba frequens rupere & fulvi pondera multa

Effodere auri. Nequis miretur opaca
Tartara divitias producere: convenit isti

Pernicies pretiofa Solo. Mortalia jactent

Gens Hominum; Regum Phariorum atque alta Babeli
Moenia commemorent: norint tamen, unius horæ
Momento facile infernas fuperare Catervas
Summorum Monumenta Virûm, vi maximâ & arte,
Perpetuo fudore inftans quæ mille Fabrorum
Vix tandem immenso longus labor erigit ævo.
Nec procul, in cellis variis hinc inde paratis
Per campum, liquidæ rivo quibus ubere flammæ
Succeffere lacu undantes, Pars altera maffam
Nativam fundit, divififque ordine venis
Secernit nitidum fpumâ fervente metallum.
Matricem intereà vaftam fub vifcera terræ
Aptarânt Alii Artificum, tumidifque metallo

That Riches grow in Hell; that foil may beft
Deserve the precious bane.) And here let thofe
Who boaft in mortal things, and wond'ring tell
Of Babel, and the works of Memphian Kings,
Learn how their greatest Monuments of Fame,
And Strength, and Art, are easily out-done
By Spirits 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 Second multitude
With wond'rous Art founded the massy Ore;
Severing each kind, and fcum'd the Bullion drofs:
A Third as foon had form'd within the ground
A various Mold; and from the boiling cells
By ftrange conveyance fill'd each hollow nook:
As in an Organ, from one blaft of Wind,

Effufo

Effufo è cellis, intùs fpatium omne receffufque
Innumeros ductu fimul implevere ftupendo.
Sic ubi compofitos diverfis Organa membris
Dant numeros, folle ex uno diffufa per omnem
Aura ruit molem, & magno fe corpore mifcet.
Tum terrâ exfurgens immenfæ Fabrica molis
Ardua, ceu vapor, emerfit; dulciffimus unà
Et citharæ fonus & variarum carmina vocum.
Instar erat templi, quà stant genus omne Columnæ
Auro fuppôstæ: variis infculpta figuris

Fascia lata micat; Summum decora alta coronant,
Cœlatumque ardet celfis laquearibus Aurum.
Talia non Babylon quondam, non talia Memphis
Jactabat, totos quanquam oftentaret honores
Utraque, feu folio reges inferre pararent,

Sive Deos templis, cum luxu opibufque fuperbis
Certaret Pharos Affyria. Celfiffima Turris
Ingenti attollens fe vertice mole fuâ ftat.

To many a row of Pipes the found board breaths.
Anon out of the Earth a Fabric huge
Rofe like an Exhalation, with the found
Of dulcet Symphonies, and voices sweet;
Built like a Temple, where pilafters round
Were fet, and Doric Pillars overlaid
With golden Architrave: nor did there want
Cornice, or Freeze, with boffy Sculptures grav'n;
The Roof was fretted Gold. Not Babylon,

Nor great Alcairo, fuch magnificence
Equal'd in all their glories, to infhrine

Belus, or Serapis, their Gods; or feat

Their Kings, when Egypt with Affyria trove
In wealth and luxury. Th' afcending pile
Stood fix'd her stately height: and ftrait the doors
Op'ning their brazen folds difcover wide
Within her ample spaces, o'er the smooth
And level pavement: from the arched roof,

Pan

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