Thither, if but to pry, fhall be perhaps
Our first eruption, thither or elsewhere:
For this infernal pit fhall never hold
Celestial Spi'rits in bondage, nor th' abyfs
Long under darkness cover.
But there thoughts
Full counfel must mature: Peace is defpair'd,
For who can think fubmiffion? War then, War
Open or understood must be refolv'd.
He fpake: and to confirm his words, out-flew Millions of flaming fwords, drawn from the thighs Of mighty Cherubim; the fudden blaze 665 Far round illumin'd Hell: highly they rag'd Against the High'eft, and fierce with grafped arms Clash'd on their founding fhields the din of war, Hurling defiance toward the vault of Heaven.
There ftood a hill not far, whofe grifly top 670.
Belch'd fire and rolling fmoke; the rest entire
Shone with a gloffy fcurf, undoubted fign
That in his womb was hid metallic ore,
The work of fulphur. 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 leaft erected Spirit that fell
From Heav'n, for e'en in Heav'n his looks and thoughts
Were always downward bent, admiring more
The riches of Heav'n's pavement, trodden gold,
Than ought divine or holy elfe enjoy'd
In vifion beatific: by him first
Men alfo, and by his fuggeftion taught,
Ranfack'd the center, and with impious hands
Rifled the bowels of their mother earth
For treasures better hid. Soon had his crew
Open'd into the hill a fpacious wound,
And digg'd out ribs of gold. Let none admire
That riches grow in Hell; that foil may best
Deserve the precious bane. And here let those
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 ftrength and art are eafily 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 fecond multitude
With wond'rous art founded the maffy ore,
Severing each kind, and fcumm'd the bullion drofs:
A third as foon had form'd within the ground
A various mould, and from the boiling cells
By ftrange conveyance fill'd each hollow nook,
As in an organ from one blaft of wind
To many a row of pipes the found-board breathes.
Anon out of the earth a fabric huge
Rofe like an exhalation, with the found
Of dulcet fymphonies 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 fculptures graven;
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 ftrove
In wealth and luxury. Th' afcending pile
Stood fix'd her stately highth, and ftrait the doors Opening their brazen folds difcover wide
Within her ample spaces, o'er the smooth
And level pavement: from the arched roof
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 hafty multitude
Admiring enter'd, and the work fome praise
And fome the architect: his hand was known
In Heav'n by many a towred ftructure high,
Where scepter'd Angels held their refidence,
And fat as princes, whom the fupreme King
Exalted to fuch 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 Aufonian 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 fummer's day; and with the fetting sun
Dropt from the zenith like a falling star,
On Lemnos th' Egean ifle: thus they relate,
Erring; for he with this rebellious rout
Fell long before; nor aught avail'd him now
T'have built in Heav'n high tow'rs; nor did he 'scape
By all his engines, but was headlong fent
With his induftrious crew to build in Hell.
Mean while the winged heralds by command
Öf fovrain pow'r, with awful ́ceremony
And trumpet's found, throughout the hoft proclaim
A folemn council forthwith to be held
At Pandemonium, the high capital
Of Satan and his peers: their fummons call'd
From every band and fquared regiment
By place or choice the worthieft; they anon
With hundreds and with thoufands trooping came 760
Attended all accefs was throng'd, the gates
And porches wide, but chief the fpacious hall
(Though like a cover'd field, where champions bold
Wont ride in arm'd, and at the Soldan's chair
Defy'd the best of Panim chivalry
To mortal combat, or career with lance)
Thick fwarm'd, both on the ground and in the air
Brush'd with the hifs of rufling wings. As bees
In fpring time, when the fun with Taurus rides,
Pour forth their populous youth about the hive 770
In clusters; they among fresh dews and flowers
Fly to and fro, or on the fmoothed plank,
The suburb of their ftraw-built citadel,
New rubb'd with balm, expatiate and confer
Their state affairs. So thick the airy croud
Swarm'd and were ftraiten'd; till the fignal given,
Behold a wonder! they but now who feem'd
In bigness to furpass earth's giant fons,
Now lefs than fmalleft dwarfs, in narrow room
Throng numberlefs, like that pygmean race
Beyond the Indian mount, or fairy elves,
Whofe midnight revels by a foreft fide
Or fountain fome belated peafant fees,
Or dreams he sees, while over-head the moon
Sits arbitrefs, and nearer to the earth
Wheels her pale course, they on their mirth and dance Intent, with jocond music charm his ear;
At once with joy and fear his heart rebounds.
Thus incorporeal Spi'rits to smallest forms
Reduc'd their shapes immenfe, and were at large, 790
Though without number ftill amidst the hall
Of that infernal court. But far within,
And in their own dimensions like themselves,
The great Seraphic Lords and Cherubim
In close recefs and fecret conclave fat
A thousand Demi-gods on golden feats,
Frequent and full. After fhort filence then.
And fummons read, the great confult began.
The End of the First Book.
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