The Poetical Works of John Milton

  Mean while the Adversary of God and Man,
  Satan with thoughts inflam'd of highest design,                     630
  Puts on swift wings, and toward the Gates of Hell
  Explores his solitary flight; som times
  He scours the right hand coast, som times the left,
  Now shaves with level wing the Deep, then soares
  Up to the fiery concave touring high.
  As when farr off at Sea a Fleet descri'd
  Hangs in the Clouds, by Aequinoctial Winds
  Close sailing from Bengala, or the Iles
  Of Ternate and Tidore, whence Merchants bring
  Thir spicie Drugs: they on the trading Flood                        640
  Through the wide Ethiopian to the Cape
  Ply stemming nightly toward the Pole. So seem'd
  Farr 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,
  Impenitrable, 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,                        650
  But ended foul in many a scaly fould
  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 Cerberean mouths full loud, and rung
  A hideous Peal: yet, when they list, would creep,
  If aught disturb'd thir noyse, into her woomb,
  And kennel there, yet there still bark'd and howl'd
  Within unseen. Farr less abhorrd then these
  Vex'd Scylla bathing in the Sea that parts                          660
  Calabria from the hoarce 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 thir charms. The other shape,
  If shape it might be call'd that shape had none
  Distinguishable in member, joynt, or limb,
  Or substance might be call'd that shadow seem'd,
  For each seem'd either; black it stood as Night,                    670
  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 vallu'd he nor shun'd;
  And with disdainful look thus first began.                          680
  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 wrauth reply'd,
  Art thou that Traitor Angel, art thou hee,
  Who first broke peace in Heav'n and Faith, till then                690
  Unbrok'n, and in proud rebellious Arms
  Drew after him the third part of Heav'ns Sons
  Conjur'd against the highest, for which both Thou
  And they outcast from God, are here condemn'd
  To waste Eternal daies in woe and pain?
  And reck'n'st thou thy self with Spirits of Heav'n,
  Hell-doomd, 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,                         700
  Least with a whip of Scorpions I pursue
  Thy lingring, or with one stroke of this Dart
  Strange horror seise thee, and pangs unfelt before.
  So spake the grieslie terrour, and in shape,
  So speaking and so threatning, grew ten fold
  More dreadful and deform: on th' other side
  Incenc't with indignation Satan stood
  Unterrifi'd, and like a Comet burn'd,
  That fires the length of Ophiucus huge
  In th' Artick Sky, and from his horrid hair                         710
  Shakes Pestilence and Warr. Each at the Head
  Level'd his deadly aime; thir fatall hands
  No second stroke intend, and such a frown
  Each cast at th' other, as when two black Clouds
  With Heav'ns Artillery fraught, come rattling on
  Over the Caspian, then stand front to front
  Hov'ring a space, till Winds the signal blow
  To joyn thir dark Encounter in mid air:
  So frownd the mighty Combatants, that Hell
  Grew darker at thir frown, so matcht they stood;                    720
  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 Snakie 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 Fathers head? and know'st for whom;                     730
  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,                         740
  What thing thou art, thus double-form'd, and why
  In this infernal Vaile 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 then 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                              750
  In bold conspiracy against Heav'ns King,
  All on a sudden miserable pain
  Surpris'd thee, dim thine eyes, and dizzie swumm
  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 seis'd
  All th' Host of Heav'n; back they recoild affraid
  At first, and call'd me Sin, and for a Sign                         760
  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 Warr arose,
  And fields were fought in Heav'n; wherein remaind
  (For what could else) to our Almighty Foe
  Cleer Victory, to our part loss and rout                            770
  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.                           780
  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 enemie
  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,                      790
  Inflam'd with lust then rage) and swifter far,
  Me overtook his mother all dismaid,
  And in embraces forcible and foule
  Ingendring with me, of that rape begot
  These yelling Monsters that with ceasless cry
  Surround me, as thou sawst, hourly conceiv'd
  And hourly born, with sorrow infinite
  To me, for when they list into the womb
  That bred them they return, and howle and gnaw
  My Bowels, their repast; then bursting forth                        800
  Afresh with conscious terrours 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 involvd; and knows that I
  Should prove a bitter Morsel, and his bane,
  When ever that shall be; so Fate pronounc'd.
  But thou O Father, I forewarn thee, shun                            810
  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 suttle Fiend his lore
  Soon learnd, now milder, and thus answerd smooth.
  Dear Daughter, since thou claim'st me for thy Sire,
  And my fair Son here showst me, the dear pledge
  Of dalliance had with thee in Heav'n, and joys
  Then sweet, now sad to mention, through dire change                 820
  Befalln us unforeseen, unthought of, know
  I come no enemie, 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 pretenses 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, & through the void immense
  To search with wandring quest a place foretold                      830
  Should be, and, by concurring signs, ere now
  Created vast and round, a place of bliss
  In the Pourlieues of Heav'n, and therein plac't
  A race of upstart Creatures, to supply
  Perhaps our vacant room, though more remov'd,
  Least Heav'n surcharg'd with potent multitude
  Might hap to move new broiles: Be this or aught
  Then 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                      840
  Shall dwell at ease, and up and down unseen
  Wing silently the buxom Air, imbalm'd
  With odours; there ye shall be fed and fill'd
  Immeasurably, all things shall be your prey.
  He ceas'd, for both seemd highly pleasd, and Death
  Grinnd horrible a gastly smile, to hear
  His famine should be fill'd, and blest his mawe
  Destin'd to that good hour: no less rejoyc'd
  His mother bad, and thus bespake her Sire.
  The key of this infernal Pit by due,                                850
  And by command of Heav'ns 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'rematcht by living might.
  But what ow 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'nlie-born,                           860
  Here in perpetual agonie and pain,
  With terrors and with clamors compasst 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.                          870
  Thus saying, from her side the fatal Key,
  Sad instrument of all our woe, she took;
  And towards the Gate rouling her bestial train,
  Forthwith the huge Portcullis high up drew,
  Which but her self 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 massie Iron or sollid Rock with ease
  Unfast'ns: on a sudden op'n flie
  With impetuous recoile and jarring sound                            880
  Th' infernal dores, and on thir hinges great
  Harsh Thunder, that the lowest bottom shook
  Of Erebus. She op'nd, but to shut
  Excel'd her power; the Gates wide op'n stood,
  That with extended wings a Bannerd Host
  Under spread Ensigns marching might pass through
  With Horse and Chariots rankt in loose array;
  So wide they stood, and like a Furnace mouth
  Cast forth redounding smoak and ruddy flame.
  Before thir eyes in sudden view appear                              890
  The secrets of the hoarie deep, a dark
  Illimitable Ocean without bound,
  Without dimension, where length, breadth, and highth,
  And time and place are lost; where eldest Night
  And Chaos, Ancestors of Nature, hold
  Eternal Anarchie, amidst the noise
  Of endless warrs and by confusion stand.
  For hot, cold, moist, and dry, four Champions fierce
  Strive here for Maistrie, and to Battel bring
  Thir embryon Atoms; they around the flag                            900
  Of each his faction, in thir several Clanns,
  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
  Thir lighter wings. To whom these most adhere,
  Hee rules a moment; Chaos Umpire sits,
  And by decision more imbroiles the fray
  By which he Reigns: next him high Arbiter
  Chance governs all. Into this wilde Abyss,                          910
  The Womb of nature and perhaps her Grave,
  Of neither Sea, nor Shore, nor Air, nor Fire,
  But all these in thir 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 wilde Abyss the warie 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 eare less peal'd                       920
  With noises loud and ruinous (to compare
  Great things with small) then when Bellona storms,
  With all her battering Engines bent to rase
  Som Capital City, or less then if this frame
  Of Heav'n were falling, and these Elements
  In mutinie had from her Axle torn
  The stedfast Earth. At last his Sail-broad Vannes
  He spreads for flight, and in the surging smoak
  Uplifted spurns the ground, thence many a League
  As in a cloudy Chair ascending rides                                930
  Audacious, but that seat soon failing, meets
  A vast vacuitie: all unawares
  Fluttring his pennons vain plumb down he drops
  Ten thousand fadom deep, and to this hour
  Down had been falling, had not by ill chance
  The strong rebuff of som tumultuous cloud
  Instinct with Fire and Nitre hurried him
  As many miles aloft: that furie stay'd,
  Quencht in a Boggie Syrtis, neither Sea,
  Nor good dry Land: nigh founderd on he fares,                       940
  Treading the crude consistence, half on foot,
  Half flying; behoves him now both Oare and Saile.
  As when a Gryfon through the Wilderness
  With winged course ore Hill or moarie Dale,
  Pursues the Arimaspian, who by stelth
  Had from his wakeful custody purloind
  The guarded Gold: So eagerly the fiend
  Ore 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 flyes:                  950
  At length a universal hubbub wilde
  Of stunning sounds and voices all confus'd
  Born through the hollow dark assaults his eare
  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 neerest coast of darkness lyes
  Bordering on light; when strait behold the Throne
  Of Chaos, and his dark Pavilion spread                              960
  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
  Of Demogorgon; Rumor next and Chance,
  And Tumult and Confusion all imbroild,
  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 Spie,                            970
  With purpose to explore or to disturb
  The secrets of your Realm, but by constraint
  Wandring this darksome desart, 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 gloomie bounds
  Confine with Heav'n; or if som other place
  From your Dominion won, th' Ethereal King
  Possesses lately, thither to arrive
  I travel this profound, direct my course;                           980
  Directed, no mean recompence 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 Standerd there of Ancient Night;
  Yours be th' advantage all, mine the revenge.
  Thus Satan; and him thus the Anarch old
  With faultring speech and visage incompos'd
  Answer'd. I know thee, stranger, who thou art,                      990
  That mighty leading Angel, who of late
  Made head against Heav'ns 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 Gates
  Pourd out by millions her victorious Bands
  Pursuing. I upon my Frontieres here
  Keep residence; if all I can will serve,
  That little which is left so to defend                             1000
  Encroacht on still through our intestine broiles
  Weakning the Scepter of old Night: first Hell
  Your dungeon stretching far and wide beneath;
  Now lately Heaven and Earth, another World
  Hung ore 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 farr;
  So much the neerer danger; goe and speed;
  Havock and spoil and ruin are my gain.
  He ceas'd; and Satan staid not to reply,                           1010
  But glad that now his Sea should find a shore,
  With fresh alacritie and force renew'd
  Springs upward like a Pyramid of fire
  Into the wilde expanse, and through the shock
  Of fighting Elements, on all sides round
  Environ'd wins his way; harder beset
  And more endanger'd, then when Argo pass'd
  Through Bosporus betwixt the justling Rocks:
  Or when Ulysses on the Larbord shunnd
  Charybdis, and by th' other whirlpool steard.                      1020
  So he with difficulty and labour hard
  Mov'd on, with difficulty and labour hee;
  But hee 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 beat'n way
  Over the dark Abyss, whose boiling Gulf
  Tamely endur'd a Bridge of wondrous length
  From Hell continu'd reaching th' utmost Orbe
  Of this frail World; by which the Spirits perverse                 1030
  With easie 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 farr into the bosom of dim Night
  A glimmering dawn; here Nature first begins
  Her fardest verge, and Chaos to retire
  As from her outmost works a brok'n foe
  With tumult less and with less hostile din,                        1040
  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 leasure to behold
  Farr off th' Empyreal Heav'n, extended wide
  In circuit, undetermind square or round,
  With Opal Towrs and Battlements adorn'd
  Of living Saphire, once his native Seat;                           1050
  And fast by hanging in a golden Chain
  This pendant world, in bigness as a Starr
  Of smallest Magnitude close by the Moon.
  Thither full fraught with mischievous revenge,
  Accurst, and in a cursed hour he hies.

  Notes:
  282 where] were 1674.
  402 breath] misprint for breathe.
  483 thir] her 1674.
  527 his] this 1674.
  542 Oealia] Oechalia 1674.
  631 toward] towards 1674.

  The End Of The Second Book.

  Hail holy light, ofspring of Heav'n first-born,
  Or of th' Eternal Coeternal beam
  May I express thee unblam'd? since God is light,
  And never but in unapproached light
  Dwelt from Eternitie, dwelt then in thee,
  Bright effluence of bright essence increate.
  Or hear'st thou rather pure Ethereal stream,
  Whose Fountain who shall tell? before the Sun,
  Before the Heavens thou wert, and at the voice
  Of God, as with a Mantle didst invest                                10
  The rising world of waters dark and deep,
  Won from the void and formless infinite.
  Thee I re-visit now with bolder wing,
  Escap't the Stygian Pool, though long detain'd
  In that obscure sojourn, while in my flight
  Through utter and through middle darkness borne
  With other notes then to th' Orphean Lyre
  I sung of Chaos and Eternal Night,
  Taught by the heav'nly Muse to venture down
  The dark descent, and up to reascend,                                20
  Though hard and rare: thee I revisit safe,
  And feel thy sovran vital Lamp; but thou
  Revisit'st not these eyes, that rowle in vain
  To find thy piercing ray, and find no dawn;
  So thick a drop serene hath quencht thir Orbs,
  Or dim suffusion veild. Yet not the more
  Cease I to wander where the Muses haunt
  Cleer Spring, or shadie Grove, or Sunnie Hill,
  Smit with the love of sacred song; but chief
  Thee Sion and the flowrie Brooks beneath                             30
  That wash thy hallowd feet, and warbling flow,
  Nightly I visit: nor somtimes forget
  Those other two equal'd with me in Fate,
  So were I equal'd with them in renown,
  Blind Thamyris and blind Maeonides,
  And Tiresias and Phineus Prophets old.
  Then feed on thoughts, that voluntarie move
  Harmonious numbers; as the wakeful Bird
  Sings darkling, and in shadiest Covert hid
  Tunes her nocturnal Note. Thus with the Year                         40
  Seasons return, but not to me returns
  Day, or the sweet approach of Ev'n or Morn,
  Or sight of vernal bloom, or Summers Rose,
  Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine;
  But cloud in stead, and ever-during dark
  Surrounds me, from the chearful waies of men
  Cut off, and for the book of knowledg fair
  Presented with a Universal blanc
  Of Natures works to mee expung'd and ras'd,
  And wisdome at one entrance quite shut out.                          50
  So much the rather thou Celestial light
  Shine inward, and the mind through all her powers
  Irradiate, there plant eyes, all mist from thence
  Purge and disperse, that I may see and tell
  Of things invisible to mortal sight.
  Now had the Almighty Father from above,
  From the pure Empyrean where he sits
  High Thron'd above all highth, bent down his eye,
  His own works and their works at once to view:
  About him all the Sanctities of Heaven                               60
  Stood thick as Starrs, and from his sight receiv'd
  Beatitude past utterance; on his right
  The radiant image of his Glory sat,
  His onely Son; On Earth he first beheld
  Our two first Parents, yet the onely two
  Of mankind, in the happie Garden plac't,
  Reaping immortal fruits of joy and love,
  Uninterrupted joy, unrivald love
  In blissful solitude; he then survey'd
  Hell and the Gulf between, and Satan there                           70
  Coasting the wall of Heav'n on this side Night
  In the dun Air sublime, and ready now
  To stoop with wearied wings, and willing feet
  On the bare outside of this World, that seem'd
  Firm land imbosom'd without Firmament,
  Uncertain which, in Ocean or in Air.
  Him God beholding from his prospect high,
  Wherein past, present, future he beholds,
  Thus to his onely Son foreseeing spake.
  Onely begotten Son, seest thou what rage                             80
  Transports our adversarie, whom no bounds
  Prescrib'd, no barrs of Hell, nor all the chains
  Heapt on him there, nor yet the main Abyss
  Wide interrupt can hold; so bent he seems
  On desperat revenge, that shall redound
  Upon his own rebellious head. And now
  Through all restraint broke loose he wings his way
  Not farr off Heav'n, in the Precincts of light,
  Directly towards the new created World,
  And Man there plac't, with purpose to assay                          90
  If him by force he can destroy, or worse,
  By som false guile pervert; and shall pervert;
  For man will heark'n to his glozing lyes,
  And easily transgress the sole Command,
  Sole pledge of his obedience: So will fall
  Hee and his faithless Progenie: whose fault?
  Whose but his own? ingrate, he had of mee
  All he could have; I made him just and right,
  Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall.
  Such I created all th' Ethereal Powers                              100
  And Spirits, both them who stood & them who faild;
  Freely they stood who stood, and fell who fell.
  Not free, what proof could they have givn sincere
  Of true allegiance, constant Faith or Love,
  Where onely what they needs must do, appeard,
  Not what they would? what praise could they receive?
  What pleasure I from such obedience paid,
  When Will and Reason (Reason also is choice)
  Useless and vain, of freedom both despoild,
  Made passive both, had servd necessitie,                            110
  Not mee. They therefore as to right belongd,
  So were created, nor can justly accuse
  Thir maker, or thir making, or thir Fate;
  As if Predestination over-rul'd
  Thir will, dispos'd by absolute Decree
  Or high foreknowledge; they themselves decreed
  Thir own revolt, not I: if I foreknew,
  Foreknowledge had no influence on their fault,
  Which had no less prov'd certain unforeknown.
  So without least impulse or shadow of Fate,                         120
  Or aught by me immutablie foreseen,
  They trespass, Authors to themselves in all
  Both what they judge and what they choose; for so
  I formd them free, and free they must remain,
  Till they enthrall themselves: I else must change
  Thir nature, and revoke the high Decree
  Unchangeable, Eternal, which ordain'd
  Thir freedom, they themselves ordain'd thir fall.
  The first sort by thir own suggestion fell,
  Self-tempted, self-deprav'd: Man falls deceiv'd                     130
  By the other first: Man therefore shall find grace,
  The other none: in Mercy and Justice both,
  Through Heav'n and Earth, so shall my glorie excel,
  But Mercy first and last shall brightest shine.
  Thus while God spake, ambrosial fragrance fill'd
  All Heav'n, and in the blessed Spirits elect
  Sense of new joy ineffable diffus'd:
  Beyond compare the Son of God was seen
  Most glorious, in him all his Father shon
  Substantially express'd, and in his face                            140
  Divine compassion visibly appeerd,
  Love without end, and without measure Grace,
  Which uttering thus he to his Father spake.
  O Father, gracious was that word which clos'd
  Thy sovran sentence, that Man should find grace;
  For which both Heav'n and Earth shall high extoll
  Thy praises, with th' innumerable sound
  Of Hymns and sacred Songs, wherewith thy Throne
  Encompass'd shall resound thee ever blest.
  For should Man finally be lost, should Man                          150
  Thy creature late so lov'd, thy youngest Son
  Fall circumvented thus by fraud, though joynd
  With his own folly? that be from thee farr,
  That farr be from thee, Father, who art Judge
  Of all things made, and judgest onely right.
  Or shall the Adversarie thus obtain
  His end, and frustrate thine, shall he fulfill
  His malice, and thy goodness bring to naught,
  Or proud return though to his heavier doom,
  Yet with revenge accomplish't and to Hell                           160
  Draw after him the whole Race of mankind,
  By him corrupted? or wilt thou thy self
  Abolish thy Creation, and unmake,
  For him, what for thy glorie thou hast made?
  So should thy goodness and thy greatness both
  Be questiond and blaspheam'd without defence.
  To whom the great Creatour thus reply'd.
  O Son, in whom my Soul hath chief delight,
  Son of my bosom, Son who art alone
  My word, my wisdom, and effectual might,                            170
  All hast thou spok'n as my thoughts are, all
  As my Eternal purpose hath decreed:
  Man shall not quite be lost, but sav'd who will,
  Yet not of will in him, but grace in me
  Freely voutsaft; once more I will renew
  His lapsed powers, though forfeit and enthrall'd
  By sin to foul exorbitant desires;
  Upheld by me, yet once more he shall stand
  On even ground against his mortal foe,
  By me upheld, that he may know how frail                            180
  His fall'n condition is, and to me ow
  All his deliv'rance, and to none but me.
  Some I have chosen of peculiar grace
  Elect above the rest; so is my will:
  The rest shall hear me call, and oft be warnd
  Thir sinful state, and to appease betimes
  Th' incensed Deitie, while offerd grace
  Invites; for I will cleer thir senses dark,
  What may suffice, and soft'n stonie hearts
  To pray, repent, and bring obedience due.                           190
  To prayer, repentance, and obedience due,
  Though but endevord with sincere intent,
  Mine eare shall not be slow, mine eye not shut.
  And I will place within them as a guide
  My Umpire Conscience, whom if they will hear,
  Light after light well us'd they shall attain,
  And to the end persisting, safe arrive.
  This my long sufferance and my day of grace
  They who neglect and scorn, shall never taste;
  But hard be hard'nd, blind be blinded more,                         200
  That they may stumble on, and deeper fall;
  And none but such from mercy I exclude.
  But yet all is not don; Man disobeying,
  Disloyal breaks his fealtie, and sinns
  Against the high Supremacie of Heav'n,
  Affecting God-head, and so loosing all,
  To expiate his Treason hath naught left,
  But to destruction sacred and devote,
  He with his whole posteritie must die,
  Die hee or Justice must; unless for him                             210
  Som other able, and as willing, pay
  The rigid satisfaction, death for death.
  Say Heav'nly Powers, where shall we find such love,
  Which of ye will be mortal to redeem
  Mans mortal crime, and just th' unjust to save,
  Dwels in all Heaven charitie so deare?
  He ask'd, but all the Heav'nly Quire stood mute,
  And silence was in Heav'n: on mans behalf
  Patron or Intercessor none appeerd,
  Much less that durst upon his own head draw                         220
  The deadly forfeiture, and ransom set.
  And now without redemption all mankind
  Must have bin lost, adjudg'd to Death and Hell
  By doom severe, had not the Son of God,
  In whom the fulness dwels of love divine,
  His dearest mediation thus renewd.
  Father, thy word is past, man shall find grace;
  And shall grace not find means, that finds her way,
  The speediest of thy winged messengers,
  To visit all thy creatures, and to all                              230
  Comes unprevented, unimplor'd, unsought,
  Happie for man, so coming; be her aide
  Can never seek, once dead in sins and lost;
  Attonement for himself or offering meet,
  Indebted and undon, hath none to bring:
  Behold mee then, mee for him, life for life
  I offer, on mee let thine anger fall;
  Account mee man; I for his sake will leave
  Thy bosom, and this glorie next to thee
  Freely put off, and for him lastly die                              240
  Well pleas'd, on me let Death wreck all his rage;
  Under his gloomie power I shall not long
  Lie vanquisht; thou hast givn me to possess
  Life in my self for ever, by thee I live,
  Though now to Death I yeild, and am his due
  All that of me can die, yet that debt paid,
  Thou wilt not leave me in the loathsom grave
  His prey, nor suffer my unspotted Soule
  For ever with corruption there to dwell;
  But I shall rise Victorious, and subdue                             250
  My Vanquisher, spoild of his vanted spoile;
  Death his deaths wound shall then receive, & stoop
  Inglorious, of his mortall sting disarm'd.
  I through the ample Air in Triumph high
  Shall lead Hell Captive maugre Hell, and show
  The powers of darkness bound. Thou at the sight
  Pleas'd, out of Heaven shalt look down and smile,
  While by thee rais'd I ruin all my Foes,
  Death last, and with his Carcass glut the Grave:
  Then with the multitude of my redeemd                               260
  Shall enter Heaven long absent, and returne,
  Father, to see thy face, wherein no cloud
  Of anger shall remain, but peace assur'd,
  And reconcilement; wrauth shall be no more
  Thenceforth, but in thy presence Joy entire.
  His words here ended, but his meek aspect
  Silent yet spake, and breath'd immortal love
  To mortal men, above which only shon
  Filial obedience: as a sacrifice
  Glad to be offer'd, he attends the will                             270
  Of his great Father. Admiration seis'd
  All Heav'n, what this might mean, & whither tend
  Wondring; but soon th' Almighty thus reply'd:
  O thou in Heav'n and Earth the only peace
  Found out for mankind under wrauth, O thou
  My sole complacence! well thou know'st how dear,
  To me are all my works, nor Man the least
  Though last created, that for him I spare
  Thee from my bosom and right hand, to save,
  By loosing thee a while, the whole Race lost.                       280
  Thou therefore whom thou only canst redeeme,
  Thir Nature also to thy Nature joyne;
  And be thy self Man among men on Earth,
  Made flesh, when time shall be, of Virgin seed,
  By wondrous birth: Be thou in Adams room
  The Head of all mankind, though Adams Son.
  As in him perish all men, so in thee
  As from a second root shall be restor'd,
  As many as are restor'd, without thee none.
  His crime makes guiltie all his Sons, thy merit                     290
  Imputed shall absolve them who renounce
  Thir own both righteous and unrighteous deeds,
  And live in thee transplanted, and from thee
  Receive new life. So Man, as is most just,
  Shall satisfie for Man, be judg'd and die,
  And dying rise, and rising with him raise
  His Brethren, ransomd with his own dear life.
  So Heav'nly love shal outdoo Hellish hate,
  Giving to death, and dying to redeeme,
  So dearly to redeem what Hellish hate                               300
  So easily destroy'd, and still destroyes
  In those who, when they may, accept not grace.
  Nor shalt thou by descending to assume
  Mans Nature, less'n or degrade thine owne.
  Because thou hast, though Thron'd in highest bliss
  Equal to God, and equally enjoying
  God-like fruition, quitted all to save
  A World from utter loss, and hast been found
  By Merit more then Birthright Son of God,
  Found worthiest to be so by being Good,                             310
  Farr more then Great or High; because in thee
  Love hath abounded more then Glory abounds,
  Therefore thy Humiliation shall exalt
  With thee thy Manhood also to this Throne;
  Here shalt thou sit incarnate, here shalt Reigne
  Both God and Man, Son both of God and Man,
  Anointed universal King; all Power
  I give thee, reign for ever, and assume
  Thy Merits; under thee as Head Supream
  Thrones, Princedoms, Powers, Dominions I reduce:                    320
  All knees to thee shall bow, of them that bide
  In Heaven, or Earth, or under Earth in Hell;
  When thou attended gloriously from Heav'n
  Shalt in the Skie appeer, and from thee send
  The summoning Arch-Angels to proclaime
  Thy dread Tribunal: forthwith from all Windes
  The living, and forthwith the cited dead
  Of all past Ages to the general Doom
  Shall hast'n, such a peal shall rouse thir sleep.
  Then all thy Saints assembl'd, thou shalt judge                     330
  Bad men and Angels, they arraignd shall sink
  Beneath thy Sentence; Hell, her numbers full,
  Thenceforth shall be for ever shut. Mean while
  The World shall burn, and from her ashes spring
  New Heav'n and Earth, wherein the just shall dwell
  And after all thir tribulations long
  See golden days, fruitful of golden deeds,
  With Joy and Love triumphing, and fair Truth.
  Then thou thy regal Scepter shalt lay by,
  For regal Scepter then no more shall need,                          340
  God shall be All in All. But all ye Gods,
  Adore him, who to compass all this dies,
  Adore the Son, and honour him as mee.
  No sooner had th' Almighty ceas't, but all
  The multitude of Angels with a shout
  Loud as from numbers without number, sweet
  As from blest voices, uttering joy, Heav'n rung

  With Jubilee, and loud Hosanna's fill'd
  Th' eternal Regions: lowly reverent
  Towards either Throne they bow, & to the ground                     350
  With solemn adoration down they cast
  Thir Crowns inwove with Amarant and Gold,
  Immortal Amarant, a Flour which once
  In Paradise, fast by the Tree of Life
  Began to bloom, but soon for mans offence
  To Heav'n remov'd where first it grew, there grows,
  And flours aloft shading the Fount of Life,
  And where the river of Bliss through midst of Heavn
  Rowls o're Elisian Flours her Amber stream;
  With these that never fade the Spirits Elect                        360
  Bind thir resplendent locks inwreath'd with beams,
  Now in loose Garlands thick thrown off, the bright
  Pavement that like a Sea of Jasper shon
  Impurpl'd with Celestial Roses smil'd.
  Then Crown'd again thir gold'n Harps they took,
  Harps ever tun'd, that glittering by their side
  Like Quivers hung, and with Praeamble sweet
  Of charming symphonie they introduce
  Thir sacred Song, and waken raptures high;
  No voice exempt, no voice but well could joine                      370
  Melodious part, such concord is in Heav'n.
  Thee Father first they sung Omnipotent,
  Immutable, Immortal, Infinite,
  Eternal King; thee Author of all being,
  Fountain of Light, thy self invisible
  Amidst the glorious brightness where thou sit'st
  Thron'd inaccessible, but when thou shad'st
  The full blaze of thy beams, and through a cloud
  Drawn round about thee like a radiant Shrine,
  Dark with excessive bright thy skirts appeer,                       380
  Yet dazle Heav'n, that brightest Seraphim
  Approach not, but with both wings veil thir eyes.
  Thee next they sang of all Creation first,
  Begotten Son, Divine Similitude,
  In whose conspicuous count'nance, without cloud
  Made visible, th' Almighty Father shines,
  Whom else no Creature can behold; on thee
  Impresst the effulgence of his Glorie abides,
  Transfus'd on thee his ample Spirit rests.
  Hee Heav'n of Heavens and all the Powers therein                    390
  By thee created, and by thee threw down
  Th' aspiring Dominations: thou that day
  Thy Fathers dreadful Thunder didst not spare,
  Nor stop thy flaming Chariot wheels, that shook
  Heav'ns everlasting Frame, while o're the necks
  Thou drov'st of warring Angels disarraid.
  Back from pursuit thy Powers with loud acclaime
  Thee only extold, Son of thy Fathers might,
  To execute fierce vengeance on his foes,
  Not so on Man; him through their malice fall'n,                     400
  Father of Mercie and Grace, thou didst not doome
  So strictly, but much more to pitie encline:
  No sooner did thy dear and onely Son
  Perceive thee purpos'd not to doom frail Man
  So strictly, but much more to pitie enclin'd,
  He to appease thy wrauth, and end the strife
  Of Mercy and Justice in thy face discern'd,
  Regardless of the Bliss wherein hee sat
  Second to thee, offerd himself to die
  For mans offence. O unexampl'd love,                                410
  Love no where to be found less then Divine!
  Hail Son of God, Saviour of Men, thy Name
  Shall be the copious matter of my Song
  Henceforth, and never shall my Harp thy praise
  Forget, nor from thy Fathers praise disjoine.
  Thus they in Heav'n, above the starry Sphear,
  Thir happie hours in joy and hymning spent.
  Mean while upon the firm opacous Globe
  Of this round World, whose first convex divides
  The luminous inferior Orbs, enclos'd                                420
  From Chaos and th' inroad of Darkness old,
  Satan alighted walks: a Globe farr off
  It seem'd, now seems a boundless Continent
  Dark, waste, and wild, under the frown of Night
  Starless expos'd, and ever-threatning storms
  Of Chaos blustring round, inclement skie;
  Save on that side which from the wall of Heav'n
  Though distant farr som small reflection gaines
  Of glimmering air less vext with tempest loud:
  Here walk'd the Fiend at large in spacious field.                   430
  As when a Vultur on Imaus bred,
  Whose snowie ridge the roving Tartar bounds,
  Dislodging from a Region scarce of prey
  To gorge the flesh of Lambs or yeanling Kids
  On Hills where Flocks are fed, flies toward the Springs
  Of Ganges or Hydaspes, Indian streams;
  But in his way lights on the barren plaines
  Of Sericana, where Chineses drive
  With Sails and Wind thir canie Waggons light:
  So on this windie Sea of Land, the Fiend                            440
  Walk'd up and down alone bent on his prey,
  Alone, for other Creature in this place
  Living or liveless to be found was none,
  None yet, but store hereafter from the earth
  Up hither like Aereal vapours flew
  Of all things transitorie and vain, when Sin
  With vanity had filld the works of men:
  Both all things vain, and all who in vain things
  Built thir fond hopes of Glorie or lasting fame,
  Or happiness in this or th' other life;                             450
  All who have thir reward on Earth, the fruits
  Of painful Superstition and blind Zeal,
  Naught seeking but the praise of men, here find
  Fit retribution, emptie as thir deeds;
  All th' unaccomplisht works of Natures hand,
  Abortive, monstrous, or unkindly mixt,
  Dissolvd on earth, fleet hither, and in vain,
  Till final dissolution, wander here,
  Not in the neighbouring Moon, as some have dreamd;
  Those argent Fields more likely habitants,                          460
  Translated Saints, or middle Spirits hold
  Betwixt th' Angelical and Human kinde:
  Hither of ill-joynd Sons and Daughters born
  First from the ancient World those Giants came
  With many a vain exploit, though then renownd:
  The builders next of Babel on the Plain
  Of Sennaar, and still with vain designe
  New Babels, had they wherewithall, would build:
  Others came single; hee who to be deemd
  A God, leap'd fondly into Aetna flames,                             470
  Empedocles, and hee who to enjoy
  Plato's Elysium, leap'd into the Sea,
  Cleombrotus, and many more too long,
  Embryo's and Idiots, Eremits and Friers