The Verse
Paradise Lost
THE VERSE.
THE measure is English heroic verse without rhyme, as that of Homer in Greek, and of Virgil in Latin; rhyme being no necessary adjunct or true ornament of poem or good verse, in longer works especially, but the invention of a barbarous age, to set off wretched matter and lame metre; graced indeed since by the use of some famous modern poets, carried away by custom, but much to their own vexation, hindrance, and constraint to express many things otherwise, and for the most part worse than else they would have expressed them. Not without cause therefore some both Italian and Spanish poets of prime note have rejected rhyme both in longer and shorter works, as have also long since our best English tragedies, as a thing of itself, to all judicious ears, trivial and of no true musical delight; which consists only in apt numbers, fit quantity of syllables, and the sense variously drawn out from one verse into another, not in the jingling sound of like endings, a fault avoided by the learned ancients both in poetry and all good oratory. This neglect then of rhyme so little is to be taken for a defect, though it may seem so perhaps to vulgar readers, that it rather is to be esteem'd an example set, the first in English, of ancient liberty recover'd to heroic poem from the troublesome and modern bondage, of rhyming.
BOOK I.
THE ARGUMENT.
This first Book proposes, first in brief, the whole Subject, Man's disobedience, and the loss thereupon of Paradise wherein he was placed: Then touches the prime cause of his fall, the Serpent, or rather Satan in the Serpent; who revolting from God, and drawing to his side many legions of angels, was by the command of God driven out of Heaven with all his crew into the great deep. Which action passed over, the poem hastes into the midst of things, presenting Satan with his angels now fallen into Hell, described here, not in the centre (for Heaven and Earth may be supposed as yet not made, certainly not yet accursed) but in a place of utter darkness, fitliest called Chaos: here Satan with his angels lying on the burning lake, thunder-struck and astonished, after a certain space recovers, as from confusion, calls up him who next in order and dignity lay by him; they confer of their miserable fall; Satan awakens all his legions, who lay till then in the same manner confounded; they rise, their numbers, array of battle, their chief leaders named, according to the idols known afterwards in Canaan and the countries adjoining. To these Satan directs his speech, comforts them with hope yet of regaining Heaven, but tells them lastly of a new world and new kind of creature to be created, according to an ancient prophecy or report in Heaven; for that angels were long before this visible creation, was the opinion of many ancient fathers. To find out the truth of this prophecy, and what to determine thereon he refers to a full council. What his associates thence attempt. Pandemonium the place of Satan rises, suddenly built out of the deep: the infernal peers there sit in council.
OF Man's first disobedience, and the fruit Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste Brought death into the world, and all our woe, With loss of Eden, till one greater Man Restore us, and regain the blissful seat, Sing Heav'nly Muse, that on the secret top Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire That shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed, In the beginning how the Heav'ns and earth Rose out of Chaos: or if Sion hill Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flow'd Fast by the oracle of God; I thence Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song, That with no middle flight intends to soar Above th' Aonian mount, while it pursues Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme. And chiefly thou O Spirit, that dost prefer Before all temples th' upright heart and pure, Instruct me, for thou know'st; thou from the first Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread Dove-like satst brooding on the vast Abyss And mad'st it pregnant: what in me is dark Illumine, what is low raise and support; That to the height of this great-Argument I may assert eternal Providence, And justify the ways of God to men.
Say first, for Heav'n hides nothing from thy view Nor the deep tract of Hell, say first what cause Mov'd our grandparents in that happy state, Favour'd of Heav'n so highly, to fall off From their creator, and transgress his will For one restraint, lords of the world besides? Who first seduc'd them to that foul revolt? Th' infernal serpent; he it was, whose guile Stirr'd up with envy and revenge, deceiv'd The mother of mankind, what time his pride Had cast him out from Heav'n, with all his host Of rebel angels, by whose aid aspiring To set himself in glory above his peers, He trusted to have equal'd the most high, If he oppos'd; and with ambitious aim Against the throne and monarchy of God Rais'd impious war in Heav'n and battle proud With vain attempt. him the Almighty power Hurl'd headlong flaming from th' ethereal sky With hideous ruin and combustion down To bottomless perdition, there to dwell In adamantine chains and penal fire, Who durst defy th' Omnipotent to arms. Nine times the space that measures day and night To mortal men, he with his horrid crew Lay vanquished, rolling in the fiery gulf Confounded though immortal: but his doom Reserv'd him to more wrath; for now the thought Both of lost happiness and lasting pain Torments him; round he throws his baleful eyes That witness'd huge affliction and dismay Mixed with obdurate pride and steadfast hate: At once as far as angels ken he views The dismal situation waste and wild, A dungeon horrible, on all sides round As one great furnace flam'd, yet from those flames No light, but rather darkness visible Serv'd only to discover sights of woe, Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace And rest can never dwell, hope never comes That comes to all; but torture without end Still urges, and a fiery deluge, fed With ever-burning sulphur unconsum'd: Such place eternal Justice had prepar'd For those rebellious, here their prison ordain'd In utter darkness, and their portion set As far remov'd from God and light of Heav'n As from the centre thrice to th' utmost pole. O how unlike the place from whence they fell! There the companions of his fall, o'erwhelm'd With floods and whirlwinds of tempestuous fire, He soon discerns, and welt'ring by his side One next himself in power, and next in crime, Long after known in palestine, and nam'd Beelzebub. to whom th' arch-enemy, And thence in Heav'n call'd Satan, with bold words Breaking the horrid silence thus began.
If thou beest he; but O how fall'n! how chang'd From him, who in the happy realms of light Cloth'd with transcendent brightness didst out-shine Myriads though bright: if he whom mutual league, United thoughts and counsels, equal hope And hazard in the glorious enterprise, Join'd with me once, now misery hath join'd In equal ruin: into what pit thou seest From what height fall'n, so much the stronger prov'd He with his thunder: and till then who knew The force of those dire arms? yet not for those, Nor what the potent victor in his rage Can else inflict, do I repent or change, Though chang'd in outward lustre; that fixed mind And high disdain, from sense of injur'd merit, That with the mightiest rais'd me to contend, And to the fierce contention brought along Innumerable force of spirits arm'd That durst dislike his reign, and me preferring, His utmost power with adverse power oppos'd In dubious battle on the plains of Heav'n, And shook his throne. what though the field be lost? All is not lost; the unconquerable will, And study of revenge, immortal hate, And courage never to submit or yield: And what is else not to be overcome? That glory never shall his wrath or might Extort from me. to bow and sue for grace With suppliant knee, and deify his power, Who from the terror of this arm so late Doubted his empire, that were low indeed, That were an ignominy and shame beneath This downfall; since by fate the strength of gods And this empyreal substance cannot fall, Since through experience of this great event In arms not worse, in foresight much advanc't, We may with more successful hope resolve To wage by force or guile eternal war Irreconcilable, to our grand foe, Who now triumphs, and in th' excess of joy Sole reigning holds the tyranny of Heav'n.
So spake th' apostate angel, though in pain, Vaunting aloud, but rack'd with deep despair: And him thus answer'd soon his bold compeer.
O prince, O chief of many throned powers, That led th' embattled Seraphim to war Under thy conduct, and in dreadful deeds Fearless, endanger'd Heav'n's perpetual king; And put to proof his high supremacy, Whether upheld by strength, or chance, or fate, Too well I see and rue the dire event, That with sad overthrow and soul defeat Hath lost us Heav'n, and all this mighty host In horrible destruction laid thus low, As far as Gods and heavenly Essences Can perish: for the mind and spirit remains Invincible, and vigour soon returns, Though all our glory extinct, and happy state Here swallow'd up in endless misery. But what if he our conqueror, (whom I now Of force believe Almighty, since no less Than such could have o'erpow'rd such force as ours) Have left us this our spirit and strength entire Strongly to suffer and support our pains, That we may so suffice his vengeful ire, Or do him mightier service as his thralls By right of war, what e'er his business be Here in the heart of Hell to work in fire, Or do his errands in the gloomy deep; What can it then avail though yet we feel Strength undiminished, or eternal being To undergo eternal punishment? Whereto with speedy words th' arch-fiend reply'd.
Fall'n Cherub, to be weak is miserable Doing or suffering: but of this be sure, To do ought good never will be our task, But ever to do ill our sole delight, As being the contrary to his high will Whom we resist. if then his Providence Out of our evil seek to bring forth good, Our labour must be to pervert that end, And out of good still to find means of evil; Which oft times may succeed, so as perhaps Shall grieve him, if I fail not, and disturb His inmost counsels from their destin'd aim. But see the angry victor hath recall'd His ministers of vengeance and pursuit Back to the gates of Heav'n: the sulphurous hail Shot after us in storm, o'erblown hath laid The fiery surge, that from the precipice Of Heav'n receiv'd us falling, and the thunder, Wing'd with red lightning and impetuous rage, Perhaps hath spent his shafts, and ceases now To bellow through the vast and boundless deep. Let us not slip th' occasion, whether scorn, Or satiate fury yield it from our foe. Seest thou yon dreary plain, forlorn and wild, The seat of desolation, void of light, Save what the glimmering of these livid flames Casts pale and dreadful? thither let us tend From off the tossing of these fiery waves, There rest, if any rest can harbour there, And reassembling our afflicted powers, Consult how we may henceforth most offend Our enemy, our own loss how repair, How overcome this dire calamity, What reinforcement we may gain from hope, If not what resolution from despair.
Thus Satan talking to his nearest mate With head up-lift above the wave, and eyes That sparkling blaz'd, his other parts besides Prone on the flood, extended long and large Lay floating many a rood, in bulk as huge As whom the fables name of monstrous size, Titanian, or Earth-born, that war'd on Jove, Briareos or Typhon, whom the den By ancient Tarsus held, or that sea-beast Leviathan, which God of all his works Created hugest that swim th' ocean stream: Him haply slumb'ring on the Norway foam The pilot of some small night-founder'd skiff, Deeming some island, oft, as sea-men tell, With fixed anchor in his scaly rind Moors by his side under the lee, while night Invests the sea, and wished morn delays: So stretched out huge in length the arch-fiend lay Chain'd on the burning lake, nor ever thence Had ris'n or heav'd his head, but that the will And high permission of all-ruling Heaven Left him at large to his own dark designs, That with reiterated crimes he might Heap on himself damnation, while he sought Evil to others, and enrag'd might see How all his malice serv'd but to bring forth Infinite goodness, grace and mercy shown On man by him seduc't, but on himself Treble confusion, wrath and vengeance pour'd. Forthwith upright he rears from off the pool His mighty stature; on each hand the flames Driv'n backward slope their pointing spires, and roll'd In billows, leave i'th' midst a horrid vale. Then with expanded wings he steers his flight A loft, incumbent on the dusky air That felt unusual weight, till on dry land He lights, if it were land that ever burn'd With solid, as the lake with liquid fire; And such appear'd in hue, as when the force Of subterranean wind transports a hill Torn from Pelorus, or the shatter'd side Of thund'ring Aetna, whose combustible And fuel'd entrails thence conceiving fire, Sublim'd with mineral fury, aid the winds, And leave a singed bottom all involv'd With stench and smoke: such resting found the sole Of unblest feet. him followed his next mate. Both glorying to have 'scap't the Stygian flood As gods, and by their own recover'd strength, Not by the sufferance of supernal power.
Is this the region, this the soil, the clime, Said then the lost arch-angel, this the seat That we must change for Heav'n, this mournful gloom For that celestial light? be it so, since he Who now is sovereign can dispose and bid What shall be right: farthest from him is best Whom reason hath equal'd, force hath made supreme Above his equals. farewell happy fields Where joy for ever dwells: hail horrors, hail Infernal world, and thou profoundest Hell Receive thy new possessor: one who brings A mind not to be chang'd by place or time. The mind is its own place, and in it self Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n. What matter where, if I be still the same, And what I should be, all but less than he Whom thunder hath made greater? here at least We shall be free; th' Almighty hath not built Here for his envy, will not drive us hence: Here we may reign secure, and in my choice To reign is worth ambition though in Hell: Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav'n. But wherefore let we then our faithful friends, Th' associates and copartners of our loss Lie thus astonished on th' oblivious pool, And call them not to share with us their part In this unhappy mansion, or once more With rallied arms to try what may be yet Regain'd in Heav'n, or what more lost in Hell?
So Satan spake, and him Beelzebub Thus answer'd. leader of those armies bright, Which but th' Omnipotent none could have foil'd, If once they hear that voice, their liveliest pledge Of hope in fears and dangers, heard so oft In worst extremes, and on the perilous edge Of battle when it rag'd, in all assaults Their surest signal, they will soon resume New courage and revive, though now they lye Groveling and prostrate on yon lake of fire, As we erewhile, astounded and amaz'd, No wonder, fall'n such a pernicious height.
He scarce had ceas't when the superior fiend Was moving toward the shore; his ponderous shield Ethereal temper, massy, large and round, Behind him cast; the broad circumference Hung on his shoulders like the moon, whose orb Through optic glass the tuscan artist views At ev'ning from the top of Fesole, Or in Valdarno, to descry new lands, Rivers or mountains in her spotty globe. His spear, to equal which the tallest pine Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the mast Of some great admiral, were but a wand, He walked with to support uneasy steps Over the burning marl, not like those steps On Heaven's azure, and the torrid clime Smote on him sore besides, vaulted with fire; Nathless he so endur'd, till on the beach Of that inflamed sea, he stood and call'd His legions, angel forms, who lay intrans't Thick as autumnal leaves that strew the brooks In Vallombrosa, where th' Etrurian shades High overarch't embower; or scatter'd sedge A float, when with fierce winds Orion arm'd Hath vexed the Red-Sea coast, whose waves o'erthrew Busiris and his Memphian chivalry, While with perfidious hatred they pursu'd The sojourners of Goshen, who beheld From the safe shore their floating carcasses And broken chariot wheels, so thick bestrown Abject and lost lay these, covering the flood, Under amazement of their hideous change. He call'd so loud, that all the hollow deep Of Hell resounded. princes, potentates, Warriors, the flow'r of Heav'n, once yours, now lost, If such astonishment as this can seize Eternal spirits; or have ye chos'n this place After the toil of battle to repose Your wearied virtue, for the ease you find To slumber here, as in the vales of Heav'n? Or in this abject posture have ye sworn To adore the conqueror? who now beholds Cherub and Seraph rolling in the flood With scatter'd arms and ensigns, till anon His swift pursuers from Heav'n's gates discern Th' advantage, and descending tread us down Thus drooping, or with linked thunderbolts Transfix us to the bottom of this gulf. Awake, arise, or be for ever fall'n.
They heard, and were abashed, and up they sprung Upon the wing, as when men wont to watch On duty, sleeping found by whom they dread, Rouse and bestir themselves ere well awake. Nor did they not perceive the evil plight In which they were, or the fierce pains not feel; Yet to their general's voice they soon obey'd Innumerable. as when the potent rod Of Amram's son in Egypt's evil day Wav'd round the coast, up call'd a pitchy cloud Of locusts, warping on the eastern wind, That o'er the realm of impious Pharaoh hung Like night, and darken'd all the land of Nile: So numberless were those bad angels seen Hovering on wing under the cope of Hell Twixt upper, nether, and surrounding fires; Till, as a signal giv'n, th' uplifted spear Of their great sultan waving to direct Their course, in even balance down they light On the firm brimstone, and fill all the plain; A multitude, like which the populous north Pour'd never from her frozen loins, to pass Rhene or the Danaw, when her barbarous sons Came like a deluge on the south, and spread Beneath gibralter to the lybian sands. Forthwith from every squadron and each band The heads and leaders thither haste where stood Their great commander; godlike shapes and forms Excelling human, princely dignities, And powers that erst in Heaven sat on thrones; Though of their names in heav'nly records now Be no memorial blotted out and ras'd By their rebellion, from the books of life. Nor had they yet among the sons of Eve Got them new names, till wand'ring o'er the earth, Through God's high sufferance for the trial of man, By falsities and lies the greatest part Of mankind they corrupted to forsake God their creator, and th' invisible Glory of him that made them, to transform Oft to the image of a brute, adorn'd With gay religions full of pomp and gold, And devils to adore for deities: Then were they known to men by various names, And various idols through the heathen world. Say, muse, their names then known, who first, who last, Rous'd from the slumber, on that fiery couch, At their great emperor's call, as next in worth Came singly where he stood on the bare strand, While the promiscuous crowd stood yet aloof? The chief were those who from the pit of Hell Roaming to seek their prey on earth, durst fix Their seats long after next the seat of God, Their altars by his altar, gods ador'd Among the nations round, and durst abide Jehovah thund'ring out of Sion, thron'd Between the Cherubim; yea, often plac'd Within his sanctuary it self their shrines, Abominations; and with cursed things His holy rites, and solemn feasts profan'd, And with their darkness durst affront his light. First Moloch, horrid king besmear'd with blood Of human sacrifice, and parents' tears, Though for the noise of drums and timbrels loud Their children's cries unheard, that pass'd through fire To his grim idol. him the Ammonite Worshipped in Rabba and her wat'ry plain, In Argob and in Basan, to the stream Of utmost Anion. nor content with such Audacious neighbourhood, the wisest heart Of Solomon he led by fraud to build His temple right against the temple of God. On that opprobrious hill, and made his grove The pleasant valley of Hinnom, Tophet thence And black Gehenna call'd, the type of Hell. Next Chemos, th' obscene dread of Moab's sons, From Aroar to Nebo, and the wild. Of southmost Abarim; in Hesebon And Horonaim, Seon's realm, beyond The flow'ry dale of Sibma clad with vines, And Eleale to th' asphaltic pool. Peor his other name, when he entic'd Israel in Sittim on their march from Nile To do him wanton rites, which cost them woe. Yet thence his lustful orgies he enlarg'd Even to that hill of scandal, by the grove Of Moloch homicide, lust hard by hate; Till good Josiah drove them thence to Hell. With these came they, who from the bord'ring flood Of old Euphrates to the brook that parts Egyp from Syrian ground, had general names Of Baalim and Ashtaroth, those male, These feminine. for spirits when they please Can either sex assume, or both; so soft And uncompounded is their essence pure, Not ti'd or manacl'd with joint or limb, Nor founded on the brittle strength of bones, Like cumbrous flesh; but in what shape they choose Dilated or condens't, bright or obscure, Can execute their aery purposes, And works of love or enmity fulfil. For those the race of Israel oft forsook Their living strength, and unfrequented left His righteous altar, bowing lowly down To bestial gods; for which their heads as low Bow'd down in battle, sunk before the spear Of despicable foes. with these in troop Came Astoreth, whom the Phoenicians call'd Astarte, queen of Heav'n, with crescent horns; To whose bright image nightly by the moon Sidonian virgins paid their vows and songs, In Sion also not unsung, where stood Her temple on th' offensive mountain, built By that uxorious king, whose heart though large, Beguil'd by fair idolatresses, fell To idols foul. Thammuz, came next behind, Whose annual wound in Lebanon allur'd The Syrian damsels to lament his fate In amorous ditties all a summer's day, While smooth Adonis from his native rock Ran purple to the sea, suppos'd with blood Of Thammuz yearly wounded: the love-tale Infected Sion's daughters with like heat, Whose wanton passions in the sacred porch Ezekiel saw, when by the vision led His eye survey'd the dark idolatries Of alienated Judah. next came one Who mourn'd in earnest, when the captive ark Maim'd his brute image, head and hands lopped off In his own temple, on the grunsel edge, Where he fell flat, and sham'd his worshippers: Dargon his name, sea monster upward man And downward fish: yet had his temple high Rear'd in Azotus, dreaded through the coast Of palestine, in Gath and Ascalon And Accaron and Gaza's frontier bounds. Him follow'd Rimmon, whose delightful seat Was fair Damascus, on the fertile banks Of Abbana and Pharphar, lucid streams. He also against the house of God was bold: A leper once he lost and gain'd a king, Ahaz his sottish conqueror, whom he drew God's altar to disparage and displace For one of Syrian mode, whereon to burn His odious off'rings, and adore the gods Whom he had vanquished. after these appear'd A crew who under names of old renown, Osiris, Isis, Orus and their train With monstrous shapes and sorceries abus'd Fanatic Egypt and her priests, to seek Their wand'ring gods disguis'd in brutish forms Rather than human. nor did Israel 'scape Th' infection when their borrow'd gold compos'd The calf in Oreb: and the rebel king Doubl'd that sin in bethel and in dan, Lik'ning his maker to the grazed ox, Jehovah, who in one night when he pass'd From Egypt marching, equal'd with one stroke Both her first born and all her bleating gods. Belial came last, than whom a spirit more lewd Fell not from Heaven, or more gross to love Vice for it self: to him no temple stood Or altar smok'd; yet who more oft than he In temples and at altars, when the priest Turns atheist, as did Eli's sons, who fill'd With lust and violence the house of God. In courts and palaces he also reigns And in luxurious cities, where the noise Of riot ascends above their loftiest tow'rs, And injury and outrage: and when night Darkens the streets, then wander forth the sons Of Belial, flown with insolence and wine. Witness the streets of Sodom, and that night In Gibeah, when the hospitable door Expos'd a matron to avoid worse rape. These were the prime in order and in might; The rest were long to tell, though far renown'd, Th' Ionian gods, of Javan's issue held Gods, yet confessed later than Heav'n and earth Their boasted parents; Titan Heav'n's first born With his enormous brood, and birthright seis'd By younger Saturn, he from mightier Jove His own and Rhea's son like measure found; So Jove usurping reign'd: these first in creet And Ida known, thence on the snowy top Of cold Olympus rul'd the middle air Their highest Heav'n; or on the Delphian cliff, Or in Dodona, and through all the bounds Of Doric land; or who with Saturn old Fled over Adria to th' Hesperian fields, And o'er the Celtic roam'd the utmost isles. All these and more came flocking; but with looks Down cast and damp, yet such wherein appear'd Obscure some glimpse of joy, to have found their chief Not in despair, to have found themselves not lost In loss it self; which on his count'nance cast Like doubtful hue: but he his wonted pride Soon recollecting, with high words, that bore Semblance of worth, not substance, gently rais'd Their fainting courage, and dispel'd their fears. Then straight commands that at the warlike sound Of trumpets loud and clarions be uprear'd His mighty standard; that proud honour claim'd Azazel as his right, a Cherub tall: Who forthwith from the glittering staff unfurl'd Th' imperial ensign, which full high advanc't Shone like a meteor streaming to the wind With gems and golden lustre rich emblaz'd, Seraphic arms and trophies: all the while Sonorous metal blowing martial sounds: At which the universal host upsent A shout that tore Hell's concave, and beyond Frighted the reign of Chaos and old night. All in a moment through the gloom were seen Ten thousand banners rise into the air With orient colours waving: with them rose A forest huge of spears: and thronging helms Appear'd, and serried shields in thick array Of depth immeasurable: anon they move In perfect phalanx to the Dorian mood Of flutes and soft recorders; such as rais'd To height of noblest temper heroes old Arming to battle, and in stead of rage Deliberate valour breath'd, firm and unmov'd With dread of death to flight or foul retreat, Nor warning power to mitigate and swage With solemn touches, troubl'd thoughts, and chase Anguish and doubt and fear and sorrow and pain From mortal or immortal minds. thus they Breathing united force with fixed thought Mov'd on in silence to soft pipes that charm'd Their painful steps o'er the burnt soil; and now Advanc't in view, they stand, a horrid front Of dreadful length and dazzling arms, in guise Of warriors old with order'd spear and shield, Awaiting what command their mighty chief Had to impose: he through the armed files Darts his experienc't eye, and soon traverse The whole battalion views, their order due, Their visages and stature as of gods, Their number last he sums. and now his heart Distends with pride, and hard'ning in his strength Glories: for never since created man, Met such embodied force, as nam'd with these Could merit more than that small infantry War'd on by cranes▪ though all the giant brood Of Phlegra with th' heroic race were join'd That fought at theb's and Ilium, on each side Mixed with auxiliar gods; and what resounds In fable or romance of Uther's son Begirt with British and Armoric knights; And all who since, baptiz'd or infidel Jousted in Aspramont or Montalban, Damasco, or Marocco, or trebisond, Or whom Biserta sent from Afric shore When charlemain with all his peerage fell By Fontarabbia. thus far these beyond Compare of mortal prowess, yet observ'd Their dread commander: he above the rest In shape and gesture proudly eminent Stood like a tow'r; his form had yet not lost All her original brightness, nor appear'd Less than arch angel ruin'd, and th' excess Of glory obscur'd: as when the sun new ris'n Looks through the horizontal misty air Shorn of his beams, or from behind the moon In dim eclipse disastrous twilight sheds On half the nations, and with fear of change Perplexes monarchs. dark'n'd so, yet shone Above them all th' arch angel: but his face Deep scars of thunder had entrench'd, and care Sat on his faded cheek, but under brows Of dauntless courage, and considerate pride Waiting revenge: cruel his eye, but cast Signs of remorse and passion to behold The fellows of his crime, the followers rather (Far other once beheld in bliss) condemn'd For ever now to have their lot in pain, Millions of spirits for his fault amerc't Of Heav'n, and from eternal splendours flung For his revolt, yet faithful how they stood, Their glory withered. As when Heaven's fire Hath scath'd the forest oaks, or mountain pines, With singed top their stately growth though bare Stands on the blasted heath. he now prepar'd To speak; whereat their doubl'd ranks they bend From wing to wing, and half enclose him round With all his peers: attention held them mute. Thrice he assay'd, and thrice in spite of scorn, Tears such as angels weep, burst forth: at last Words interwove with sighs found out their way.
O myriads of immortal spirits, O powers Matchless, but with th' Almighty, and that strife Was not inglorious, though th' event was dire, As this place testifies, and this dire change Hateful to utter: but what power of mind Foreseeing or presaging, from the depth Of knowledge past or present, could have fear'd, How such united force of gods, how such As stood like these, could ever know repulse? For who can yet believe, though after loss, That all these puissant legions, whose exile Hath emptied Heav'n▪ shall fail to re-ascend Self-rais'd, and repossess their native seat? For me be witness all the host of Heav'n, If counsels different, or danger shun'd By me, have lost our hopes. but he who reigns Monarch in Heav'n, till then as one secure Sat on his throne, upheld by old repute, Consent or custom, and his regal state Put forth at full, but still his strength conceal'd, Which tempted our attempt, and wrought our fall. Henceforth his might we know, and know our own So as not either to provoke, or dread New war, provok't; our better part remains To work in close design, 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. Space may produce new worlds; whereof so rise 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 Heaven▪ Thither, if but to pry, shall be perhaps Our first eruption, thither or elsewhere: For this infernal pit shall never hold Celestial spirits in bondage, nor th' Abyss Long under darkness cover. but these thoughts Full counsel must mature: peace is despair'd, For who can think submission? war then, war Open or understood must be resolv'd.
He spake: and to confirm his words, out-flew Millions of flaming swords, drawn from the thighs Of mighty Cherubim; the sudden blaze Far round illumined hell: highly they rag'd Against the highest, and fierce with grasped arms Clash'd on their sounding shields the din of war, Hurling defiance toward the vault of Heav'n.
There stood a hill not farwhose grisly top Belch'd fire and rolling smoke; the rest entire Shone with a glossy scurf, undoubted sign That in his womb was hid metallic ore, The work of sulphur. thither wing'd with speed A numerous brigade hasten'd. as when bands Of pioneers with spade and pickaxe arm'd Forerun the royal camp, to trench a field, Or cast a rampart. Mammon led them on, Mammon, the least erected spirit that fell From heav'n, for ev'n in heav'n his looks and thoughts Were always downward bent, admiring more The riches of Heav'n's pavement, trod'n gold, Than aught divine or holy else enjoy'd In vision beatific: by him first Men also, and by his suggestion taught, Ransack'd the centre, and with impious hands Rifl'd the bowels of their mother earth For treasures better hid. soon had his crew Op'nd into the hill a spacious wound And dig'd out ribs of gold. let none admire That riches grow in Hell; that soil may best Deserve the precious bane. and here let those Who boast 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 incessant toil And hands innumerable scarce perform. Nigh on the plain in many cells prepar'd, That underneath had veins of liquid fire Sluic'd from the lake, a second multitude With wond'rous art found out the massy ore, Severing each kind, and scum'd the bullion dross: A third as soon had form'd within the ground A various mould, and from the boiling cells By strange conveyance fill'd each hollow nook, As in an organ from one blast of wind To many a row of pipes the sound-board breathes. Anon out of the earth a fabric huge Rose like an exhalation, with the sound Of dulcet symphonies and voices sweet, Built like a temple, where pilasters round Were set, and Doric pillars overlaid With golden architrave; nor did there want Cornice or frieze, with bossy sculptures grav'n, The roof was fretted gold. not babilon, Nor great Alcairo such magnificence Equal'd in all their glories, to enshrine Belus or Serapis their gods, or seat Their kings, when Aegypt with Assyria strove In wealth and luxury. th' ascending pile Stood fixed her stately height, and straight the doors Op'ning their brazen folds discover wide Within, her ample spaces, o'er the smooth And level pavement: from the arched roof Pendant by subtle magic many a row Of starry lamps and blazing cressets fed With naphtha and asphaltus yielded light As from a sky. the hasty multitude Admiring enter'd, and the work some praise And some the architect: his hand was known In Heav'n by many a tow'red structure high, Where sceptred angels held their residence, And sat as princes, whom the supreme king Exalted to such power, 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 now he fell From Heav'n, they fabl'd, 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 Dropped from the zenith like a falling star, On Lemnos th' aegaean isle: thus they relate, Erring; for he with this rebellious rout Fell long before; nor aught avail'd him now To have built in Heav'n high tow'rs; nor did he 'scape By all his engines, but was headlong sent With his industrious crew to build in hell. Mean while the winged heralds by command Of sovereign power, with awful ceremony And trumpets' sound throughout the host proclaim A solemn council forthwith to be held At pandaemonium, the high capital Of Satan and his peers: their summons 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 Wont ride in arm'd, and at the soldan's chair Defi'd the best of panim chivalry To mortal combat or career with lance) Thick swarm'd, both on the ground and in the air, Brushed with the hiss of rustling wings. as bees In spring time, when the sun with Taurus rides, Pour forth their populous youth about the hive In clusters; they among fresh dews and flowers Fly to and fro, or on the smoothed plank, The suburb of their straw-built citadel, New rub'd with balm, expatiate and confer Their state affairs. so thick the aery crowd Swarm'd and were straitn'd; till the signal giv'n. Behold a wonder! they but now who seem'd In bigness to surpass earth's giant sons Now less than smallest dwarfs, in narrow room Throng numberless, like that pygmean race Beyond the Indian mount, or faery elves, Whose midnight revels, by a forest side Or fountain some belated peasant sees, 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 dance Intent, with jocund music charm his ear; At once with joy and fear his heart rebounds. Thus incorporeal spirits to smallest forms Reduc'd their shapes immense, and were at large, Though without number still 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 recess and secret conclave sat A thousand demi-gods on golden seats, Frequent and full. after short silence then And summons read, the great consult began.
BOOK II.
THE ARGUMENT.
The Consultation begun, Satan debates whether another battle be to be hazarded for the recovery of Heaven: some advise it, others dissuade: A third proposal is preferr'd, mention'd before by Satan, to search the truth of that prophecy or tradition in Heaven concerning another world, and another kind of creature equal or not much inferior to themselves, about this time to be created: Their doubt who shall be sent on this difficult search: Satan their chief undertakes alone the voyage, is honour'd and applauded. The council thus ended, the rest betake them several ways and to several employments, as their inclinations lead them, to entertain the time till Satan return. He passes on his journey to Hell gates, finds them shut, and who sat there to guard them, by whom at length they are open'd, and discover to him the great gulf between Hell and Heaven; with what difficulty he passes through, directed by Chaos, the power of that place, to the sight of this new world which he sought.
High on a throne of royal state, which far Outshone the wealth of Ormus and of Ind, Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand Showers on her kings Barbaric pearl and gold, Satan exalted sat, by merit rais'd To that bad eminence; and from despair Thus high uplifted beyond hope, aspires Beyond thus high, insatiate to pursue Vain war with Heav'n, and by success untaught His proud imaginations thus display'd.
Powers and Dominions, Deities of Heav'n, For since no deep within her gulf can hold Immortal vigour, though opprest and fall'n, I give not Heav'n for lost. From this descent Celestial virtues rising, will appear More glorious and more dread than from no fall, And trust themselves to fear no second fate: Me though just right, and the fix'd laws of Heav'n Did first create your Leader, next free choice, With what besides, in counsel or in Fight, Hath been achiev'd of merit, yet this loss Thus far at least recover'd, hath much more Establish'd in a safe unenvied throne Yielded with full consent. The happier state In Heav'n, which follows dignity, might draw Envy from each inferior; but who here Will envy whom the highest place exposes For most to stand against the Thunderer's aim Your bulwark, and condemns to greatest share Of endless pain? where there is then no good For which to strive, no strife can grow up there From faction; for none sure will claim in Hell precedence, none, whose portion is so small Of present pain, that with ambitious mind Will covet more. With this advantage then To union, and firm faith, and firm accord, More than can be in Heav'n, we now return To claim our just inheritance of old, Surer to prosper than prosperity Could have assur'd us; and by what best way, Whether of open war or covert guile, We now debate; who can advise, may speak,
He ceas'd, and next him Moloc, sceptred king Stood up, the strongest and the fiercest spirit That fought in Heav'n; now fiercer by despair: His trust was with th' Eternal to be deem'd Equal in strength, and rather than be less Car'd not to be at all; with that care lost Went all his fear: of God, or Hell, or worse He reck'd not, and these words thereafter spake.
My sentence is for open war: Of wiles, More unexpert, I boast not: them let those Contrive who need, or when they need, not now For while they sit contriving, shall the rest, Millions that stand in arms, and longing wait The signal to ascend, sit ling'ring here Heav'n's fugitives, and for their dwelling place Accept this dark opprobrious den of shame, The prison of his tyranny who Reigns By our delay? no, let us rather choose Arm'd with Hell flames and fury all at once O'er Heav'n's high tow'rs to force resistless way, Turning our torturer into horrid arms Against the torturer; when to meet the noise Of his Almighty engine he shall hear Infernal thunder, and for lightning see Black fire and horror shot with equal rage Among his Angels; and his throne itself Mix'd with Tartarean sulphur, and strange fire, His own invented torments. But perhaps The way seems difficult and steep to scale With upright wing against a higher foe. Let such bethink them, if the sleepy drench Of that forgetful lake benumb not still, That in our proper motion we ascend Up to our native seat: descent and fall To us is adverse. Who but felt of late When the fierce foe hung on our broken rear Insulting, and pursu'd us through the deep, With what compulsion and laborious flight We sunk thus low? Th' ascent is easy then; Th' event is fear'd; should we again provoke Our stronger, some worse way his wrath may find To our destruction: if there be in Hell Fear to be worse destroy'd: what can be worse Than to dwell here, driv'n out from bliss, condemn'd In this abhorred deep to utter woe; Where pain of unextinguishable fire Must exercise us without hope of end The vassals of his anger, when the scourge Inexorably, and the torturing hour Calls us to penance? More destroy'd than thus We should be quite abolish'd and expire. What fear we then? what doubt we to incense His utmost ire? which to the height enrag'd, Will either quite consume us, and reduce To nothing this essential, happier far Than miserable to have eternal being: Or if our substance be indeed Divine, And cannot cease to be, we are at worst On this side nothing; and by proof we feel Our power sufficient to disturb his Heav'n, And with perpetual inroads to alarm, Though inaccessible, his fatal throne: Which if not victory is yet revenge.
He ended frowning, and his look denounc'd Desperate revenge, and battle dangerous To less than Gods. On th' other side up rose Belial, in act more graceful and humane; A fairer person lost not Heav'n; he seem'd For dignity compos'd and high exploit: But all was false and hollow; though his tongue Dropt manna, and could make the worse appear The better reason, to perplex and dash Maturest counsels: for his thoughts were low; To vice industrious, but to Nobler deeds Timorous and slothful: yet he pleas'd the ear, And with persuasive accent thus began.
I should be much for open war, O Peers, As not behind in hate; if what was urg'd Main reason to persuade immediate war, Did not dissuade me most, and seem to cast Ominous conjecture on the whole success: When he who most excels in fact of arms, In what he counsels and in what excels Mistrustful, grounds his courage on despair And utter dissolution, as the scope Of all his aim, after some dire revenge. First, what revenge? the tow'rs of Heav'n are fill'd With Armed watch, that render all access Impregnable; oft on the bordering deep Encamp their legions, or with obscure wing Scout far and wide into the realm of night, Scorning surprize. Or could we break our way By force, and at our heels all Hell should rise With blackest insurrection, to confound Heav'n's purest, Light, yet our great enemy All incorruptible would on his throne Sit unpolluted, and th' Ethereal mould Incapable of stain would soon expel Her mischief, and purge off the baser fire victorious. Thus repuls'd, our final hope Is flat despair: we must exasperate Th' Almighty victor to spend all his rage, And that must end us, that must be our cure, To be no more; sad cure; for who would lose, Though full of pain, this intellectual being, Those thoughts that wander through eternity, To perish rather, swallow'd up and lost In the wide womb of uncreated night, Devoid of sense and motion? and who knows, Let this be good, whether our angry foe Can give it, or will ever? how he can Is doubtful; that he never will is sure. Will he, so wise, let loose at once his ire, Belike through impotence, or unaware, To give his Enemies their wish, and end Them in his anger, whom his anger saves To punish endless? wherefore cease we then? Say they who counsel war, we are decreed, Reserv'd and destin'd to Eternal woe; Whatever doing, what can we suffer more, What can we suffer worse? is this then worst, Thus sitting, thus consulting, thus in arms? What when we fled amain, pursu'd and strook With Heav'n's afflicting thunder, and besought The deep to shelter us? this Hell then seem'd A refuge from those wounds: or when we lay chain'd on the burning lake? that sure was worse. What if the breath that kindl'd those grim fires Awak'd should blow them into sevenfold rage And plunge us in the flames? or from above Should intermitted vengeance arm again His red right hand to plague us? what if all Her stores were open'd, and this Firmament Of Hell should spout her cataracts of fire, Impendent horrors, threat'ning hideous fall One day upon our heads; while we perhaps Designing or exhorting glorious war, Caught in a fiery tempest shall be hurl'd Each on his rock transfixt, the sport and prey Of racking whirlwinds, or for ever sunk Under yon boiling ocean, wrapped in chains; There to converse with everlasting groans, Unrespited, unpitied, unrepriev'd, Ages of hopeless end; this would be worse. War therefore, open or conceal'd, alike My voice dissuades; for what can force or guile With him, or who deceive his mind, whose eye Views all things at one view? he from Heav'n's height All these our motions vain, sees and derides; Not more Almighty to resist our might Than wise to frustrate all our plots and wiles. Shall we then live thus vile, the Race of Heav'n Thus trampl'd, thus expell'd to suffer here Chains and these torments? better these than worse By my advice; since fate inevitable Subdues us, and Omnipotent Decree, The victor's will. To suffer, as to do, Our strength is equal, nor the Law unjust That so ordains: this was at first resolv'd; If we were wise, against so great a foe Contending, and so doubtful what might fall. I laugh, when those who at the Spear are bold And vent'rous, if that fail them, shrink and fear What yet they know must follow, to endure Exile, or ignominy, or bonds, or pain, The sentence of their Conqueror: This is now Our doom; which if we can sustain and bear, Our Supreme Foe in time may much remit His anger, and perhaps thus far remov'd Not mind us not offending, satisfi'd With what is punished; whence these raging fires Will slacken, if his breath stir not their flames. Our purer essence then will overcome Their noxious vapour, or enur'd not feel, Or chang'd at length, and to the place conform'd In temper and in nature, will receive Familiar the fierce heat, and void of pain; This horror will grow milde, this darkness light, Besides what hope the never-ending flight Of future days may bring, what chance, what change Worth waiting, since our present lot appears For happy though but ill, for ill not worst, If we procure not to our selves more woe.
Thus Belial words cloth'd in reason's garb Counsel'd ignoble ease, and peaceful sloth, Not peace: and after him thus Mammon spake.
Either to disinthrone the King of Heav'n We war, if war be best, or to regain Our own right lost: him to unthrone we then May hope when everlasting Fate shall yield To fickle Chance, and Chaos judge the strife: The former vain to hope argues as vain The latter: for what place can be for us Within Heav'n's bound, unless Heav'n's Lord supreme We overpower? Suppose he should relent And publish Grace to all, on promise made Of new Subjection; with what eyes could we Stand in his presence humble, and receive Strict Laws impos'd, to celebrate his throne With warbled hymns, and to his Godhead sing Forced Hallelujahs; while he Lordly sits Our envied Sovereign, and his altar breathes Ambrosial Odours and Ambrosial Flowers, Our servile offerings. This must be our task In Heav'n this our delight; how wearisome eternity so spent in worship paid To whom we hate. Let us not then pursue By force impossible, by leave obtain'd Unacceptable, though in Heav'n, our state Of splendid vassalage, but rather seek Our own good from our selves, and from our own Live to our selves, though in this vast recess, Free, and to none accountable, preferring Hard liberty before the easy yoke Of servile pomp. Our greatness will appear Then most conspicuous, when great things of small, Useful of hurtful, prosperous of adverse We can create, and in what place so e're Thrive under evil, and work ease out of pain Through labour and endurance. This deep world Of darkness do we dread? How oft amidst Thick clouds and dark doth Heav'n's all-ruling Sire Choose to reside, his Glory unobscur'd, And with the Majesty of darkness round Covers his throne; from whence deep thunders roar Must'ring their rage, and Heav'n resembles Hell? As he our darkness, cannot we his Light Imitate when we please? This desert soil Wants not her hidden lustre, Gems and gold; Nor want we skill or Art, from whence to raise Magnificence; and what can Heav'n show more? Our torments also may in length of time Become our Elements, these piercing fires As soft as now severe, our temper chang'd Into their temper; which must needs remove The sensible of pain. All things invite To peaceful counsels, and the settled state Of order, how in safety best we may Compose our present evils, with regard Of what we are and were, dismissing quite All thoughts of war: ye have what I advise.
He scarce had finished, when such murmur fill'd Th' assembly, as when hollow rocks retain The sound of blust'ring winds, which all night long Had rous'd the Sea, now with hoarse cadence lull Sea-faring men overwatched, whose Bark by chance Or Pinnace anchors in a craggy Bay After the tempest: Such applause was heard As Mammon ended, and his sentence pleas'd, Advising peace: for such another Field They dreaded worse than Hell: so much the fear Of thunder and the sword of Michael Wrought still within them; and no less desire To found this nether empire, which might rise By policy, and long process of time, In emulation opposite to Heav'n. Which when Beelzebub perceived, than whom, Satan except, none higher sat, with grave Aspect he rose, and in his rising seem'd A pillar of state; deep on his front engraven Deliberation sat and public care; And princely counsel in his face yet shone, Majestic though in ruin: sage he stood With Atlantean shoulders fit to bear The weight of mightiest monarchies; his look Drew audience and attention still as Night Or Summer's noontide air, while thus he spake.
Thrones and imperial powers, offspring of Heav'n Ethereal virtues; or these titles now Must we renounce, and changing stile be call'd Princes of Hell? for so the popular vote Inclines, here to continue, and build up here A growing empire; doubtless; while we dream, And know not that the King of Heav'n hath doom'd This place our dungeon, not our safe retreat Beyond his Potent arm, to live exempt From Heav'n's high jurisdiction, in new League Banded against his throne, but to remain In strictest bondage, though thus far remov'd, Under th' inevitable curb, reserv'd His captive multitude: For he, be sure In height or depth, still first and last will reign Sole King, and of his Kingdom lose no part By our revolt, but over Hell extend His empire, and with iron sceptre rule Us here, as with his golden those in Heav'n. What sit we then projecting peace and war? War hath determin'd us, and foil'd with loss Irreparable; terms of peace yet none Vouchsaf'd or sought; for what peace will be giv'n To us enslav'd, but custody severe, And stripes, and arbitrary punishment Inflicted? and what peace can we return, But to our power hostility and hate, Untam'd reluctance, and revenge though slow, Yet ever plotting how the Conqueror least May reap his conquest, and may least rejoice In doing what we most in suffering feel? Nor will occasion want, nor shall we need With dangerous expedition to invade Heav'n, whose high walls fear no assault or Siege, Or ambush from the deep. What if we find Some easier enterprise? There is a place (if ancient and prophetic fame in Heav'n Err not) another world, the happy seat Of some new Race call'd Man, about this time To be created like to us, though less In power and excellence, but favour'd more Of him who rules above; so was his will Pronounc'd among the Gods, and by an Oath, That shook Heav'n's whole circumference, confirm'd. Thither let us bend all our thoughts, to learn What creatures there inhabit, of what mould, Or substance, how endu'd, and what their power, And where their weakness, how attempted best, By force or subtlety: Though Heav'n be shut, And Heav'n's high Arbitrator sit secure In his own strength, this place may lye expos'd The utmost border of his Kingdom, left To their defence who hold it: here perhaps Some advantageous act may be achiev'd By sudden onset, either with Hell fire To waste his whole Creation, or possess All as our own, and drive as we were driven, The puny habitants, or if not drive, Seduce them to our Party, that their God May prove their foe, and with repenting hand Abolish his own works. This would surpass Common revenge, and interrupt his joy In our confusion, and our joy upraise In his disturbance; when his darling sons Hurl'd headlong to partake with us, shall curse Their frail Original, and faded bliss, Faded so soon. Advise if this be worth Attempting, or to sit in darkness here Hatching vain Empires. Thus Beelzebub Pleaded his devilish counsel, first devis'd By Satan, and in part propos'd: for whence, But from the Author of all ill could Spring So deep a malice, to confound the race Of mankind in one root, and Earth with Hell To mingle and involve, done all to spite The great Creator? But their spite still serves His glory to augment. The bold design Pleas'd highly those infernal States, and joy Sparkl'd in all their eyes; with full assent They vote: whereat his speech he thus renews.
Well have ye judg'd, well ended long debate, Synod of Gods, and like to what ye are, Great things resolv'd, which from the lowest deep Will once more lift us up, in spight of Fate, Nearer our ancient seat; perhaps in view Of those bright confines, whence with neighbouring arms And opportune excursion we may chance Re-enter Heav'n; or else in some mild Zone Dwell not unvisited of Heav'n's fair light Secure, and at the bright'ning Orient beam Purge off this gloom; the soft delicious air, To heal the scar of these corrosive fires Shall breathe her balm. But first whom shall we send In search of this new world, whom shall we find Sufficient? who shall tempt with wand'ring feet The dark unbottom'd infinite Abyss And through the palpable obscure find out His uncouth way, or spread his airy flight Upborn with indefatigable wings Over the vast abrupt, ere he arrive The happy Isle; what strength, what art can then Suffice, or what evasion bear him safe Through the strict sentries and stations thick Of Angels watching round? Here he had need All circumspection, and we now no less Choice in our suffrage; for on whom we send, The weight of all and our last hope relies.
This said, he sat; and expectation held His look suspense, awaiting who appear'd To second, or oppose, or undertake The perilous attempt: but all sat mute, Pondering the danger with deep thoughts; and each In others count'nance read his own dismay Astonished: none among the choice and prime Of those Heav'n-waring champions could be found So hardy as to proffer or accept Alone the dreadful voyage; till at last Satan, whom now transcendent glory rais'd Above his fellows, with Monarchal pride Conscious of highest worth, unmov'd thus spake.
O progeny of Heav'n, Empyreal thrones, With reason hath deep silence and demurr Seiz'd us, though undismay'd: long is the way And hard, that ope of Hell leads up to light; Our prison strong, this huge convex of fire, Outrageous to devour, immures us round Ninefold, and gates of burning Adamant barr'd over us prohibit all egress. These past, if any pass, the void profound Of unessential Night receives him next Wide gaping, and with utter loss of being Threatens him, plung'd in that abortive gulf. If thence he 'scape into whatever world, Or unknown Region, what remains him less Than unknown dangers and as hard escape. But I should ill become this throne, O Peers, And this imperial sovereignty, adorn'd With splendour, arm'd with power, if aught propos'd And judg'd of public moment, in the shape Of difficulty or danger could deterr Me from attempting. Wherefore do I assume These Royalties, and not refuse to Reign, Refusing to accept as great a share Of hazard as of honour, due alike To him who Reigns, and so much to him due Of hazard more, as he above the rest High honour'd sits? Go therefore mighty Powers, Terror of Heav'n, though fall'n; intend at home, While here shall be our home, what best may ease The present misery, and render Hell More tolerable; if there be cure or charm To respite or deceive, or slack the pain Of this ill mansion: intermit no watch Against a wakeful foe, while I abroad Through all the coasts of dark destruction seek Deliverance for us all: this enterprize None shall partake with me. Thus saying rose The Monarch, and prevented all reply, Prudent, lest from his resolution rais'd Others among the chief might offer now (Certain to be refus'd) what erst they fear'd; And so refus'd might in opinion stand His Rivals, winning cheap the high repute Which he through hazard huge must earn. But they Dreaded not more th' adventure than his voice Forbidding; and at once with him they rose; Their rising all at once was as the sound Of thunder heard remote. Towards him they bend With awful reverence prone; and as a God Extoll him equal to the highest in Heav'n: Nor fail'd they to express how much they prais'd, That for the general safety he despis'd His own: for neither do the spirits damn'd Lose all her virtue; lest bad men should boast Their specious deeds on earth, which glory excites, Or close ambition varnish'd o'er with zeal. Thus they their doubtful consultations dark Ended rejoicing in their matchless Chief: As when from mountain tops the dusky clouds Ascending, while the North wind sleeps, o'erspread Heav'n's cheerful face, the lowering element Scowls o'er the dark'ned landscape snow, or shower; If chance the radiant Sun with farewell sweet Extend his ev'ning beam, the fields revive, The birds their notes renew, and bleating herds Attest their joy, that hill and valley rings. O shame to men! Devil with Devil damn'd Firm concord holds, men only disagree Of Creatures rational, though under hope Of heavenly Grace: and God proclaiming peace, Yet live in hatred, enmity, and strife Among themselves, and levy cruel wars, Wasting the Earth, each other to destroy: As if (which might induce us to accord) Man had not hellish foes enow besides, That day and night for his destruction wait.
The Stygian counsel thus dissolv'd; and forth In order came the grand infernal Peers, Midst came their mighty paramount, and seem'd Alone th' Antagonist of Heav'n, nor less Than Hell's dread emperor with pomp supreme, And God-like imitated State; him round A Globe of fiery Seraphim inclos'd With bright emblazonry, and horrent arms. Then of their session ended they bid cry With trumpets regal sound the great result: Toward the four winds four speedy Cherubim Put to their mouths the sounding alchemy By heralds' voice explain'd: the hollow abyss Heard far and wide, and all the host of Hell With deaf'ning shout, return'd them loud acclaim. Thence more at ease their minds and somewhat rais'd By false presumptuous hope, the ranged powers Disband, and wand'ring, each his several way Pursues, as inclination or sad choice Leads him perplext, where he may likeliest find Truce to his restless thoughts, and entertain The irksome hours, till this great chief return. Part on the Plain, or in the air sublime Upon the wing, or in swift race contend, As at th' Olympian Games or Pythian fields; Part curb their fiery steeds, or shun the goal With rapid wheels, or fronted brigades form. As when to warn proud Cities war appears Wag'd in the troubl'd sky, and Armies rush To battle in the clouds, before each van Prick forth the airy Knights, and couch their spears Till thickest legions close; with feats of arms From either end of Heav'n the welkin burns. Others with vast Typhoean rage more fell Rend up both rocks and Hills, and ride the air In whirlwind; Hell scarce holds the wild uproar. As when Alcides from Oechalia Crown'd With conquest, felt th' envenom'd robe, and tore Through pain up by the roots Thessalian Pines, And Lichas from the top of Oeta threw Into th' Euboic Sea. Others more mild, Retreated in a silent valley, sing With notes Angelical to many a Harp Their own Heroic deeds and hapless fall By doom of battle; and complain that Fate Free virtue should enthrall to Force or Chance. Their Song was partial, but the harmony (What could it less when spirits immortal sing?) Suspended Hell, and took with ravishment The thronging audience. In discourse more sweet (For eloquence the soul, song charms the sense,) Others apart sat on a Hill retir'd, In thoughts more elevate, and reason'd high Of Providence, foreknowledge, will and fate, Fixt Fate, free will, foreknowledge absolute, And found no end, in wand'ring mazes lost. Of good and evil much they argu'd then, Of happiness and final misery, Passion and Apathy, and glory and shame, Vain wisdom all, and false philosophy: Yet with a pleasing sorcery could charm Pain for a while or anguish, and excite Fallacious hope, or arm th' obdured breast With stubborn patience as with triple steel. Another part in Squadrons and gross Bands, On bold adventure to discover wide That dismal world, if any clime perhaps Might yield them easier habitation, bend Four ways their flying march, along the banks Of four infernal Rivers that disgorge Into the burning lake their baleful streams; Abhorred Styx the flood of deadly hate, Sad Acheron of sorrow, black and deep; Cocytus, nam'd of lamentation loud Heard on the rueful stream; fierce Phlegeton Whose waves of torrent fire inflame with rage▪ Far off from these a slow and silent stream, Lethe the river of Oblivion rolls Her watery labyrinth, whereof who drinks, Forthwith his former state and being forgets, Forgets both joy and grief, pleasure and pain. Beyond this flood a frozen Continent Lies dark and wild, beat with perpetual storms Of whirlwind and dire hail, which on firm land Thaws not, but gathers heap, and ruin seems Of ancient pile; all else deep snow and ice, A gulf profound as that Serbonian Bog Betwixt Damiata and mount Casius old, Where Armies whole have sunk: the parching air Burns frore, and cold performs th' effect of fire. Thither by harpy-footed furies hail'd, At certain revolutions all the damn'd Are brought: and feel by turns the bitter change Of fierce extremes, extremes by change more fierce, From Beds of raging fire to starve in Ice Their soft Ethereal warmth, and there to pine Immovable, infixt, and frozen round, Periods of time, thence hurried back to fire. They ferry over this Lethean Sound Both to and fro, their sorrow to augment, And wish and struggle, as they pass, to reach The tempting stream, with one small drop to lose In sweet forgetfulness all pain and woe, All in one moment, and so near the brink; But Fate withstands, and to oppose th' attempt Medusa with Gorgonian terror guards The Ford, and of it self the water flies All taste of living wight, as once it fled The lip of Tantalus. Thus roving on In confus'd march forlorn, th' adventurous bands With shudd'ring horror pale, and eyes aghast View'd first their lamentable lot, and found No rest: through many a dark and dreary vale They pass'd, and many a region dolorous, O'er many a Frozen, many a fiery Alpe, Rocks, Caves, Lakes, Fens, Bogs, Dens, and shades of death, A universe of death, which God by curse Created evil, for evil only good, Where all life dies, death lives, and Nature breeds, Perverse, all monstrous, all prodigious things, Abominable, inutterable, and worse Than Fables yet have feign'd, or fear conceiv'd, Gorgons and Hydra's, and Chimera's dire.
Mean while the Adversary of God and Man, Satan with thoughts inflam'd of highest design, Puts on swift wings, and towards the gates of Hell Explores his solitary flight; sometimes He scours the right hand coast, sometimes the left, Now shaves with level wing the deep, then soars Up to the fiery concave tow'ring high. As when far off at sea a Fleet descri'd Hangs in the clouds, by Equinoctial winds Close sailing from Bengala, or the isles Of Ternate and Tidore, whence Merchants bring Their spicy drugs: they on the trading flood Through the wide Ethiopian to the Cape Ply stemming nightly toward the Pole. So seem'd Far off the flying Fiend: at last appeer Hell bounds high reaching to the horrid Roof, And thrice threefold the gates; three folds were Brass, Three iron, three of Adamantine rock, Impenetrable, impal'd with circling fire, Yet unconsum'd. Before the gates there sat On either side a formidable shape; The one seem'd woman to the waste, and fair, But ended foul in many a scaly fold Voluminous and vast, a Serpent arm'd With mortal sting: about her middle round A cry of Hell Hounds never ceasing bark'd With wide Cerberian mouths full loud, and rung A hideous Peal: yet, when they list, would creep, If aught disturb'd their noyse, into her womb, And kennel there, yet there still bark'd and howl'd, Within unseen. Far less abhorred than these Vex'd Scylla bathing in the Sea that parts Calabria from the hoarse Trinacrian shore: Nor uglier follow the Night-Hag, when call'd In secret, riding through the air she comes Lur'd with the smell of infant blood, to dance With Lapland witches, while the labouring Moon Eclipses at their charms. The other shape, If shape it might be call'd that shape had none Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb, Or substance might be call'd that shadow seem'd, For each seem'd either; black it stood as Night, Fierce as ten Furies, terrible as Hell, And shook a dreadful Dart; what seem'd his head The likeness of a Kingly Crown had on. Satan was now at hand, and from his seat The Monster moving onward came as fast With horrid strides, Hell trembled as he strode. Th' undaunted Fiend what this might be admir'd, Admir'd, not fear'd; God and his Son except, Created thing naught valu'd he nor shun'd; And with disdainful look thus first began.
Whence and what art thou, execrable shape, That dar'st, though grim and terrible, advance Thy miscreated Front athwart my way To yonder gates? through them I mean to pass, That be assur'd, without leave askt of thee: Retire, or taste thy folly, and learn by proof, Hell-born, not to contend with spirits of Heav'n.
To whom the Goblin full of wrath reply'd, Art thou that Traitor Angel, art thou he, Who first broke peace in Heav'n and faith, till then Unbrok'n, and in proud rebellious arms Drew after him the third part of Heav'n's Sons Conjur'd against the highest, for which both Thou And they outcast from God, are here condemn'd To waste Eternal days in woe and pain? And reck'n'st thou thy self with spirits of Heav'n, Hell-doom'd, and breath'st defiance here and scorn Where I reign King, and to enrage thee more, Thy King and Lord? Back to thy punishment, False fugitive, and to thy speed add wings, Lest with a whip of Scorpions I pursue Thy ling'ring, or with one stroke of this Dart Strange horror seize thee, and pangs unfelt before.
So spake the grisly terror, and in shape, So speaking and so threat'ning, grew tenfold More dreadful and deform: on th' other side Incenst with indignation Satan stood Unterrifi'd, and like a comet burn'd, That fires the length of Ophiucus huge In th' Arctic sky, and from his horrid hair Shakes pestilence and war. Each at the head Level'd his deadly aim; their fatal hands No second stroke intend, and such a frown Each cast at th' other, as when two black Clouds With Heav'n's artillery fraught, come rattling on Over the Caspian, then stand front to front Hov'ring a space, till winds the signal blow To join their dark encounter in mid air: So frown'd the mighty combatants, that Hell Grew darker at their frown, so matcht they stood; For never but once more was either like To meet so great a foe: and now great deeds Had been achiev'd, whereof all Hell had rung, Had not the Snaky sorceress that sat Fast by Hell Gate, and kept the fatal key, Ris'n, and with hideous outcry rush'd between,
O Father, what intends thy hand, she cry'd, Against thy only Son? What fury O son, Possesses thee to bend that mortal Dart Against thy father's head? and know'st for whom; For him who sits above and laughs the while At thee ordain'd his drudge, to execute What e're his wrath, which he calls Justice, bids, His wrath which one day will destroy ye both.
She spake, and at her words the hellish Pest Forbore, then these to her Satan return'd:
So strange thy outcry, and thy words so strange Thou interposest, that my sudden hand Prevented spares to tell thee yet by deeds What it intends; till first I know of thee, What thing thou art, thus double-form'd, and why In this infernal vale first met thou call'st Me Father, and that Fantasm call'st my Son? I know thee not, nor ever saw till now Sight more detestable than him and thee.
T' whom thus the portress of Hell Gate reply'd; Hast thou forgot me then, and do I seem Now in thine eye so foul, once deemd so fair In Heav'n, when at th' assembly, and in sight Of all the Seraphim with thee combin'd In bold conspiracy against Heav'n's King, All on a sudden miserable pain Surpris'd thee, dim thine eyes, and dizzy swum In darkness, while thy head flames thick and fast Threw forth, till on the left side op'ning wide, Likest to thee in shape and count'nance bright, Then shining heav'nly fair, a goddess arm'd Out of thy head I sprung: amazement seiz'd All th' host of Heav'n; back they recoil'd afraid At first, and call'd me Sin, and for a sign portentous held me; but familiar grown, I pleas'd, and with attractive graces won The most averse, thee chiefly, who full oft Thy self in me thy perfect image viewing Becam'st enamour'd, and such joy thou took'st With me in secret, that my womb conceiv'd A growing burden. Mean while war arose, And fields were fought in Heav'n; wherein remain'd (For what could else) to our Almighty Foe Clear victory, to our part loss 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 powerful key Into my hand was giv'n, with charge to keep These gates for ever shut, which none can pass Without my op'ning. Pensive here I sat Alone, but long I sat not, till my womb Pregnant by thee, and now excessive grown Prodigious motion felt and rueful throes. At last this odious offspring whom thou seest Thine own begotten, breaking violent way Tore through my entrails, that with fear and pain Distorted, all my nether shape thus grew Transform'd: but he my inbred enemy Forth issu'd, brandishing his fatal Dart Made to destroy: I fled, and cry'd out Death; Hell trembl'd at the hideous Name, and sigh'd From all her caves, and back resounded Death. I fled, but he pursu'd (though more, it seems, Inflam'd with lust than rage) and swifter far, Me overtook his mother all dismay'd, And in embraces forcible and foul Engend'ring with me, of that rape begot These yelling Monsters that with ceaseless cry Surround me, as thou saw'st, hourly conceiv'd And hourly born, with sorrow infinite To me, for when they list into the womb That bred them they return, and howl and gnaw My Bowels, their repast; then bursting forth Afresh with conscious terrors vex me round, That rest or intermission none I find. Before mine eyes in opposition sits Grim Death my Son and foe, who sets them on, And me his parent would full soon devour For want of other prey, but that he knows His end with mine involv'd; and knows that I Should prove a bitter Morsel, and his bane, Whenever that shall be; so Fate pronounc'd. But thou O father, I forewarn thee, shun His deadly arrow; neither vainly hope To be invulnerable in those bright arms, Though temper'd heav'nly, for that mortal dint, Save he who reigns above, none can resist.
She finish'd, and the subtle Fiend his lore Soon learn'd, now milder, and thus answer'd smooth. Dear Daughter, since thou claim'st 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 sweet, now sad to mention, through dire change Befallen us unforeseen, unthought of, know I come no enemy, but to set free From out this dark and dismal house of pain, Both him and thee, and all the heav'nly host Of spirits that in our just pretences arm'd Fell with us from on high: from them I go This uncouth errand sole, and one for all My self expose, with lonely steps to tread Th' unfounded deep, and through the void immense To search with wand'ring quest a place foretold Should be, and, by concurring signs, ere now Created vast and round, a place of bliss In the purlieus of Heav'n, and therein plac'd A race of upstart Creatures, to supply Perhaps our vacant room, though more remov'd, Lest Heav'n surcharg'd with potent multitude Might hap to move new broils: Be this or aught Than this more secret now design'd, I haste To know, and this once known, shall soon return, And bring ye to the place where thou and Death Shall dwell at ease, and up and down unseen Wing silently the buxom air, embalm'd With odours; there ye shall be fed and fill'd Immeasurably, all things shall be your prey. He ceas'd, for both seem'd highly pleas'd, and Death Grinn'd horrible a ghastly smile, to hear His famine should be fill'd, and bless'd his maw Destin'd to that good hour: no less rejoic'd His mother bad, and thus bespake her sire.
The key of this infernal pit by due. And by command of Heav'n's all-powerful King I keep, by him forbidden to unlock These Adamantine gates; against all force Death ready stands to interpose his dart, Fearless to be o'ermatch'd by living might. But what owe I to his commands above Who hates me, and hath hither thrust me down Into this gloom of Tartarus profound, To sit in hateful office here confin'd, Inhabitant of Heav'n, and heav'nly-born, Here in perpetual agony and pain, With terrors and with clamours compass'd round Of mine own brood, that on my bowels feed: Thou art my father, thou my author, thou My being gav'st me, whom should I obey But thee, whom follow? thou wilt bring me soon To that new world of light and bliss, among The Gods who live at ease, where I shall reign At thy right hand voluptuous, as beseems Thy daughter and thy darling, without end.
Thus saying, from her side the fatal key, Sad instrument of all our woe, she took; And towards the gate rolling her bestial train, Forthwith the huge portcullis high up drew, Which but herself not all the Stygian powers Could once have mov'd; then in the key-hole turns Th' intricate wards, and every bolt and bar Of massy iron or solid rock with ease Unfast'ns: on a sudden open fly With impetuous recoil and jarring sound Th' infernal doors, and on their hinges grate Harsh thunder, that the lowest bottom shook Of Erebus. She open'd, but to shut Excell'd her power; the gates wide op'n stood, That with extended wings a Banner'd host Under spread ensigns marching might pass through With Horse and chariots ranked in loose array; So wide they stood, and like a furnace mouth Cast forth redounding smoke and ruddy flame. Before their eyes in sudden view appear The secrets of the hoary deep, a dark Illimitable ocean without bound, Without dimension, where length, breadth, & height, And time and place are lost; where eldest Night And Chaos, ancestors of Nature, hold Eternal Anarchy, amidst the noise Of endless wars, and by confusion stand. For hot, cold, moist, and dry, four champions fierce Strive here for mastery, and to battle bring Their embryon Atoms; they around the flag Of each his faction, in their several clans, Light-arm'd or heavy, sharp, smooth, swift or slow, Swarm populous, unnumber'd as the sands Of Barca or Cyrene's torrid soil, Levied to side with warring winds, and poise Their lighter wings. To whom these most adhere, He rules a moment; Chaos Umpire sits, And by decision more embroils the fray By which he Reigns: next him high arbiter Chance governs all. Into this wild abyss, The womb of nature and perhaps her grave, Of neither sea, nor shore, nor air, nor fire, But all these in their pregnant causes mixt Confus'dly, and which thus must ever fight, Unless th' Almighty maker them ordain His dark materials to create more worlds, Into this wild abyss the wary fiend Stood on the brink of Hell and look'd a while, Pondering his voyage; for no narrow frith He had to cross. Nor was his ear less peal'd With noises loud and ruinous (to compare Great things with small) than when Bellona storms, With all her battering engines bent to raze Some Capital city; or less than if this frame Of Heav'n were falling, and these Elements In mutiny had from her Axle torn The steadfast Earth. At last his sail-broad vanes He spreads for flight, and in the surging smoke Uplifted spurns the ground, thence many a League As in a cloudy chair ascending rides Audacious, but that seat soon failing, meets A vast vacuitie: all unawares Flutt'ring his pennons vain plumb down he drops Ten thousand fathom deep, and to this hour Down had been falling, had not by ill chance The strong rebuff of some tumultuous cloud Instinct with fire and Nitre hurried him As many miles aloft: that fury stay'd, Quench'd in a boggy Syrtis, neither Sea, Nor good dry land: nigh founder'd on he fares, Treading the crude consistence, half on foot, Half flying; behoves him now both oar and sail. As when a Gryphon through the wilderness With winged course o'er hill or moory dale, Pursues the Arimaspian, who by stealth Had from his wakeful custody purloin'd The guarded gold: So eagerly the fiend O'er bog or steep, through strait, rough, dense, or rare, With head, hands wings or feet pursues his way, And swims or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flies: At length a universal hubbub wild Of stunning sounds and voices all confus'd Born through the hollow dark assaults his ear With loudest vehemence: thither he plyes, Undaunted to meet there what ever power Or spirit of the nethermost Abyss Might in that noise reside, of whom to ask Which way the nearest coast of darkness lies Bordering on light; when straight behold the throne Of Chaos, and his dark pavilion spread Wide on the wasteful deep; with him Enthron'd Sat Sable-vested Night, eldest of things, The consort of his Reign; and by them stood Orcus and Ades, and the dreaded name Demogorgon; Rumor next and Chance, Tumult and Confusion all embroil'd, And Discord with a thousand various mouths.
T' whom Satan turning boldly, thus. Ye powers And spirits of this nethermost Abyss, Chaos and ancient Night, I come no Spy, With purpose to explore or to disturb The secrets of your realm, but by constraint Wand'ring this darksome desert, as my way, Lies through your spacious empire up to light, Alone, and without guide, half lost, I seek What readiest path leads where your gloomy bounds Confine with Heav'n; or if some other place From your Dominion won, th' Ethereal King Possesses lately, thither to arrive I travel this profound, direct my course; Directed no mean recompense it brings To your behoof, if I that Region lost, All usurpation thence expell'd, reduce To her original darkness and your sway (Which is my present journey) and once more Erect the Standard there of ancient Night; Yours be th' advantage all, mine the revenge.
Thus Satan; and him thus the Anarch old With falt'ring speech and visage incompos'd Answer'd. I know thee, stranger, who thou art, That mighty leading Angel, who of late Made head against Heav'n's King, though overthrown. I saw and heard, for such a numerous host Fled not in silence through the frighted deep With ruin upon ruin, rout on rout, Confusion worse confounded; and Heav'n's gates Pourd out by millions her victorious Bands Pursuing. I upon my Frontiers here Keep residence; if all I can will serve, That little which is left so to defend, Encroach'd on still through our intestine broils Weak'ning the Sceptre of old Night: first Hell Your dungeon stretching far and wide beneath; Now lately Heaven and Earth, another world Hung o'er my Realm, link'd in a golden Chain To that side Heav'n from whence your legions fell: If that way be your walk, you have not far; So much the nearer danger; go and speed; Havock and spoil and ruin are my gain.
He ceas'd; and Satan staid not to reply, But glad that now his sea should find a shore, With fresh alacrity and force renew'd Springs upward like a pyramid of fire Into the wild expanse, and through the shock Of fighting Elements, on all sides round Environ'd wins his way; harder beset And more endanger'd, than when Argo pass'd Through Bosporus betwixt the justling rocks: Or when Ulysses on the larboard shunn'd Charybdis, and by th' other whirlpool steer'd. So he with difficulty and labour hard Mov'd on, with difficulty and labour he; But he once past, soon after when man fell, Strange alteration! Sin and Death amain Following his track, such was the will of Heav'n, Pav'd after him a broad and beaten way Over the dark Abyss, whose boiling gulf Tamely endur'd a bridge of wondrous length From Hell continu'd reaching th' utmost Orb Of this frail world; by which the Spirits perverse With easy intercourse pass to and fro To tempt or punish mortals, except whom God and good Angels guard by special grace. But now at last the sacred influence Of light appears, and from the walls of Heav'n Shoots far into the bosom of dim Night A glimmering dawn; here Nature first begins Her farthest verge, and Chaos to retire As from her outmost works a broken foe With tumult less and with less hostile din, That Satan with less toil, and now with ease Wafts on the calmer wave by dubious light And like a weather-beaten vessel holds Gladly the Port, though Shrouds and Tackle torn; Or in the emptier waste, resembling air, Weighs his spread wings, at leisure to behold Far off th' Empyreal Heav'n, extended wide In circuit, undetermind square or round, With Opal tow'rs and Battlements adorn'd Of living Sapphire, once his native seat; And fast by hanging in a golden chain This pendant world, in bigness as a star Of smallest Magnitude close by the Moon▪ Thither full fraught with mischievous revenge, Accurst, and in a cursed hour he hies.