Panduntur valvæ æratæ; spatia ampla patefcunt;
Splendet læve solum; curvoque à fornicis arcu
Pendentes lychni & ftellantûm plurimus ordo
Flammarum, quas Naphtha aluit, quas pingue Bitumen,
Ætheris in morem radiabant. Ociùs intrat
Turba frequens, lustratque stupenti lumine: laudant
Pars opus, artificemque alii. Magnam Illius artem
Multa olim turrita ædes claraverat oris
Æthereis, Divis celebrata potentibus, altâ
Torquebant qui sceptra manu, quibus omnipotens Rex
Ante alios fulgere suo quemque ordine sanctis
Imperiis dedit, & rutilis dare jura catervis.
Illum etiam vetus haud nefcivit Gracia, honores
Nec renuit sacros. Quin dictus Mulciber idem
Aufoniis: lapsum perhibebant æthere summo
Projectumque fuper chrystallina mænia mundi
Irati Jovis ab dextrâ, de mane recenti
Ad medium usque diem rapido cecidisse rotatu,
Pendent by fubtle Magic, many a row
Of starry lamps, and blazing creffets, fed
With Naphtha and Asphaltus, yielded light
As from a Sky. The hasty multitude
Admiring enter'd, and the work fome praise,
And fome the Architect: his hand was known
In Heav'n by many a towred structure high,
Where Sceptred Angels held their refidence,
And fat as Princes; whom the supreme King
Exalted to such 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 Ausonian Land
Men call'd him Mulciber; and how he fell
From Heav'n they fabled, thrown by angry Jove
Sheer o'er the crystal Battlements; from Morn
To Noon he fell, from Noon to dewy Eve,
A Summer's day; and with the setting Sun
Deque die medio rorantes noctis ad umbras
Æstivi solis spatium; dum vefpere primo
Stella velut præceps fummo de culmine cœli
Labitur, & Lemni Ægeum descendit in agrum.
Hæc memorant vani: ast Ipsum dejecerat olim,
Ipsum cum fociis Fastus: nec profuit ædes
Fundasse in cælo; nec machina fulciit ulla
Labentem; fimul artifici cedente catervâ
Exul abit, turres Erebi positurus in umbris.
Aligeri interea Præcones, jussa secuti
Principis, in mediis promulgavere catervis
Concilium Pandemonio, quæ regia magni
Et Satana & Procerum. Huc meritis vel sorte priores
Omnibus ex turmis, comitati millibus, omnes
Processere Duces; latè loca, limina, portas
Complêrant. Aula imprimis spatiosa (frequentes
Eoûm referens campos, quà fortibus armis
Sese oftentantes ante ipfius ora tyranni
Drop'd from the Zenith like a falling Star,
On Lemmos th' Ægean ifle: thus they relate,
Erring; for he with his rebellious rout
Fell long before; nor ought avail'd him now
T' have built in Heav'n high Tow'rs; nor did he
By all his Engins, but was headlong fent [scape
With his industrious crew to build in Hell.
Mean while the winged Heralds, by command
Of Sov'reign pow'r, with awful Ceremony
And Trumpet's found, throughout the Hoft proclaim
A folemn Council forthwith to be held
At Pandæmonium, the high Capital
Of Satan and his Peers: their fummons call'd
From every Band and squared Regiment,
By place or choice the worthiest: they anon
With hundreds, and with thousands, trooping came
Attended: all access was throng'd, the gates
And porches wide; but chief the spacious Hall
(Though like a cover'd Field, where Champions
bold
Certabant cursuque Equites hastisque coruscis)
Aula solo pariter perque aera conglomeratis
Fervebat numeris: multus quassantibus alis
Sibilus increpitat resonans. Ut vere recenti
Stridulæ Apes, cum jam Taurum Sol aureus implet,
Agminibus densis numerosam alvearia propter
Effundunt pubem; floresque & roscida prata
Læta cohors volitat circum, aut capit hofpita lævi
Planitie tabula errantes (pomeria turris
Stramineæ) redolens herbis fragrantibus: illæ
Discurrunt caftris & regni munera curant.
Haud fecus aeriæ fimul accurrere Cohortes
Angustis arctæ fpatiis: Sed classica fignum
Ut canerent, Qui terrigenas modò vincere vastâ
Mole viderentur, minimas (mirabile visu!)
Collecti subitò in formas brevioraque membra
Fluxere innumeri: quales in saltibus Indis
Ludentes Nani, Lemurum-ve levissima turba,
Wont ride in arm'd, and at the Soldan's Chair
Defi'd the best of Panim Chivalry
To mortal combat, or carriere with lance)
Thick swarm'd, both on the ground, and in the air,
Brush'd with the hiss of rusling Wings. As Bees
In spring time, when the Sun in Taurus rides,
Pour forth their populous youth about the hive
In clufters; they among fresh dews and flow'rs,
Fly to and fro, or on the smoothed plank,
(The Suburb of their straw-built Cittadel.)
New rub'd with Baum, expatiate, and confer
Their State affairs: so thick the aery croud
Swarm'd, and were streighten'd, till the Signal giv'n,
Behold a wonder! they but now who feem'd
In bigness to furpass Earth's Giant Sons,
Now less than smallest Dwarfs in narrow room
Throng numberless, like that Pygmean Race
Beyond the Indian Mount; or Fairy Elves,
Whose midnight revels, by a forest side,
Or fountain, some belated Peasant fees,
F2
Quos Paftor filvas propter, vel fontis ad oram,
Aut videt aut vidisse putat saltare per umbras
Nocte super media, dum confpicit arbitra Luna
Pallentem inflectens terris vicinior axem;
Ast olli argutas turbâ exercente choreas
Cor micat, exultat dulci formidine pectus.
Haud aliter formas tenui fub imagine clausæ
Contraxere Animæ immenfas; & libera tandem
Per spatia innumeræ circum atria vasta vagantur.
At procul interiore domo tacitoque recessu
Semidei se mole fuâ explicuere, Cherubum
Millia, celforumque Seraphum, in sedibus aureis,
Concilium fublime, frequens: filuere parumper;
Tum Caufæ patuere altique Exorsa Senatûs.
Or dreams he sees; while over-head the Moon
Sits Arbitress, and nearer to the Earth
Wheels her pale course; they on their mirth and And in their own dimensions like themselves,
Intent with jocund music charm his ear:
At once with joy, and fear, his heart rebounds.
Thus incorporeal Spirits to smallest forms
Though without number still, amidst the Hall
Of that infernal Court. But far within,
The great Seraphic Lords and Cherubim
In close recess and fecret conclave sat,
A thousand Demi-Gods on golden feats,
Frequent and full; After short filence then,
Reduc'd their Shapes immenfe; and were at large, And summons read, the great Confult began.
T celfi de sede throni, quæ splendida luxu
Regifico Indorum gazas superaret & Ormi,
Vel quicquid gemmarum auri-ve remotior Eos
Barbarici effundit, magnis decora alta tyrannis,
Eminuit Satanas, defpexitque arduus omnes,
Infandum virtute immani nactus honorem.
Cui modò Spes periit, se nunc fpe celfius ipsâ
Evectum cernit, votisque ingentibus ardens
Tendit adhuc ultra & cælo nova bella minatur
Demens! quem nondum pugnæ fortuna prioris
Erudiit: tumidique aperit fic pectoris Orsa:
Sceptra Poteftatesque, excelfi Numina cœli;
Nam quoniam æthereum, cecidit fi forte, vigorem
IGH on a Throne of Royal State, which far
Outshone the wealth of Ormus, and of Ind;
Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand
Show'rs on her Kings Barbaric pearl, and gold,
Satan exalted fat, by merit rais'd
To that bad eminence: and from despair
Thus high uplifted beyond hope, aspires
Beyond thus high, insatiate to purfue
Vain War with Heaven; and by success untaught
His proud imaginations thus display'd:
Pow'rs and Dominions, Deities of Heav'n!
For fince no Deep within her gulph can hold
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