Jam coluit: Tu præcipuè, qui ardore feroci
In me temet amans lætis complexibus ultro
Gaudebas: hinc mî intumuit gravis alvus onufque
Concepit tacitum. Jam tum bella, horrida bella
Æthereis fremuere plagis: hinc Omnipotenti
(Quid fperandum aliud?) Victoria contigit Hosti:
Sed Noftris fuga, fed clades fuper ignea cœli
Littora; præcipiti ceciderunt æthere in imum
Hoc barathrum, mecum acti unà: mihi tempore ab illo
Hæc clavis commiffa ingens portæque potentes
Servandæ; quas me invitâ vis nulla recludet.
Ergo his in tenebris mœfta incomitata fedebam:
Nec longum; infelix alvus jam immane gravescens
Horrendum patitur motum infandosque dolores.
Hæc tandem enormis, quam confpicis, hæc tua Proles
Perrupit pavitanti uterum divulfaque fubtus
Viscera, terrificis imos cruciatibus artus
The most averfe; Thee chiefly, who full oft
Thy felf in me thy perfect image viewing,
Becam'ft inamour'd; and fuch joy thou took'st
With me in fecret, that my womb.conceiv'd
A growing burthen. Mean while War arofe,
And fields were fought in Heav'n: wherein remain'd
(For what could elfe?) to our Almighty Foe
Clear Victory; to Our part lofs, and rout,
Through all the Empyrean: down they fell,
Driv'n headlong from the pitch of Heaven down
Into this Deep; and in the general fall
I also at which time this pow'rful Key
Into my hand was giv'n, with charge to keep
Thefe Gates for ever fhut; which none can pass
Without my op'ning. Penfive here I fat
Alone; but long I fat not, till my womb
Pregnant by thee, and now exceffive grown,
Prodigious motion felt, and rueful throes.
At last this odious Offspring whom thou feeft,
Thine own begotten, breaking violent way
Tore through my entrails; that with fear, and pain
Distorted, all my nether fhape thus grew
Deformans; deinde ingenitus celer exilit Hoftis
Tela vibrans matrem contra: tremebunda receffi
Exululans Haden: Gemit omnibus ampla cavernis
Inferni domus, horrendumque remurmurat Haden.
Ut fugi, infequitur Spectrum; (non ira, libido
Accendit) victamque fugâ trepidamque Parentem
Vi miferam violans fœdâ, hæc ululantia monstra
Progenuit; crebris quæ me clamoribus actam
(Ut tibi cernere erat) vexant, conceptaque in horas
Editaque immenfos pariunt fine fine dolores:
Ut libet, infanis repetunt latratibus alvum
Maternam, indomito rimantes vifcera morfu:
Deinde iterum erumpunt, trepidifque horroribus angor
Confcia; nec requies fævo fpatiumve labori.
Ante oculos coram fiftit fefe horridus Hades
Torva tuens, idemque Hoftis mihi, Natus & idem,
Accenditque canum rabiem; quin me quoque Matrem
Mandere avet; fed enim novit se lege teneri
Transform'd: But He my inbred Enemy
Forth-iffu'd, brandishing his fatal dart
Made to destroy. I fled, and cry'd out Death:
Hell trembl'd at the hideous Name, and figh'd
From all her caves, and back refounded, Death.
I fled, but He purfu'd; (though more, it seems,
Inflam'd with luft than rage) and swifter far
Me overtook his Mother, all difmay'd:
And in embraces forcible, and foul,
Ingendring with me, of that rape begot
Thefe yelling Monsters, that with ceafelefs cry
Surround me, as thou faw'ft; hourly conceiv'd,
And hourly born, with forrow 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 confcious terrors vex me round,
That reft or intermiffion none I find.
Before mine eyes in oppofition fits
Grim Death, my Son and Foe, who fets them on,
Haud aliâ, exitiumque epulas ferale daturas.
Sed Tu, Pater, effuge telum
Horrificum; nec crede nimis radiantibus armis,
Æthereo quanquam ardefcant conflata metallo.
Nulli fas aciem vitare aut fiftere contra
Letiferam, & folo Superûm Rectore domandam.
Finierat. Satanas monitus meliora furorem
Continuò pofuit, blandoque hæc reddidit ore:
Cara, Patrem quæ me jactas, natumque venustum
Oftendis, noftri fuper æthera pignus amoris,
(Quondam ah dulcis amor! tædet meminiffe pigetque
Præteriti; fic nos inopinâ forte laceffunt
Damna infperata, & facies patet altera rerum.)
Adfum non Hoftis; fed mosti ut carceris antro
Te cum prole tuâ eripiam, & quot nostra tueri
Jura aufi, magnæ focios comitefque ruinæ :
Hos propter munus fequor illætabile folus,
Unum pro Multis caput objectare periclis
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 invuln'rable in those bright Arms,
Though temper'd heav'nly: for that mortal dint,
Save He who reigns above, none can refift.
She finish'd; and the fubtle Fiend his lore
Soon learn'd, now milder; and thus anfwer'd fmooth:
Dear Daughter, fince thou claim'ft me for thy Sire,
And my fair Son here show'st me, (the dear pledge
Of dalliance had with thee in Heav'n, and joys
Then fweet, now fad to mention, thro' 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 Host
Haud veritus, quæcunque viam per inane Profundum
Tentanti occurrant; fpatii dum templa peragrans
Incertam quæro fedem, quam fama futuram
Prædixit quondam Divis, nunc plurima figna
Surrexiffe canunt, ingenti mole rotundam,
Felices terras, confinia lucida cœli.
Has adeò nova fortitur de ftirpe recenti
Condita Gens; ibi quos vicibus fuccedere noftris
Forte DEUS ftatuit, fuperâ paulum arce remotos,
Ne nimiis aucta agminibus cœleftia Regna
Hinc alias agitent lites. Nunc hoccine agatur,
An lateat quidquam fecretius, impiger infto
Quærendi cupidus: quæfito deinde revertar,
Vofque locos referam lætos, quà pace serenâ
Tecum Hades tuus in longum dominabitur ævum;
Quà fpatiari auris in mollibus inter odores
Continget; prædæque fames faturabitur omni
Luxurie, explebitque avidiffima vota Libido.
Of Spirits, that in our just pretenses arm'd,
Fell with us from on high. From them I go
This uncouth Errand fole; and One for All
My felf expofe, with lonely steps to tread
Th' unfounded Deep, and through the void Immenfe
To fearch with wandring quest a place foretold
Should be, and by concurring figns ere-now,
Created vast and round; a place of bliss
In the purlieus of Heav'n: and therein plac'd
A race of upftart Creatures, to fupply
Perhaps our vacant room; though more remov'd,
Left Heav'n furcharg'd with potent multitude
Might hap to move new broils. Be this, or ought
Than this more fecret, now defign'd; I hafte
To know: and this once known, shall soon return,
And bring ye to the place, where Thou, and Death,
Shall dwell at eafe; and up and down unseen
Wing filently the buxom air, imbalm’d
With odours: there ye fhall be fed, and fill'd
Immeasurably; all things fhall be your prey.
His dictis vultus incendit utrique Voluptas; Informique Hades diftorquens ora cachinno Horrendum rifit: fibi tam fpolia ampla parari Gaudet, & immani ingluvies falit improba plausu. Quin dedit haud alios Genitrix turpiffima risus Exultans, fimul ipfa fuo fic fata parenti :
Gurgitis inferni magna hæc mihi tradita Clavis
Arbitrio torquenda meo: dedit omnipotens Rex
Servandam, prohibetque adamantina folvere clauftra.
Ante fores telo ferali fummovet Hades
Vim cunctam, & latè victor genus omne animantum
Defpicit. At quid Ego imperium morer Omnipotentis ?
Me fævo premit Ille odio, hæc in Tartara mifit
Funefta, has tenebras; hoc munere vexat iniquo,
Indigenam cœli & quondam fupera aftra colentem:
En quêis tormentis terrorumque agmine quanto
Circumdat, fœtufque ingrati ululatibus urget
Vifcera luctifico morfu materna vorantis.
He ceas'd: for both feem'd highly pleas'd, and
Grinn'd horrible a ghaftly fmile, to hear [Death
His famine fhould be fill'd; and bleft his maw
Deftin'd to that good hour: no lefs rejoic'd
His Mother bad, and thus befpake her Sire:
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
Thefe Adamantine Gates. Against all force
Death ready ftands to interpofe his dart,
Fearlefs to be o'ermatch'd by living wight.
But what owe I to His commands above
Who hates me, and hath hither thruft 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;
With terrors, and with clamors compafs'd round,
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