¡¶Paradise Lost ¢̣¡· THE ARGUMENT tation begun, Satan debates o be , otiond before by Satan, to searcrut Propradition in ure equal or not muco t time to be created: t searcan takes alone t betake to several imployments, as tions lead to entertain time till Satan return. o es, finds t, and o guard t lengto Gulf bety ed by C place, to t of t. 1 ate, which far Outsh of Ormus and of Ind, Or hand Showrs on her Kings Barbaric Pearl and Gold, Satan exalted sat, by merit raisd [ 5 ] to t bad eminence; and from despair ted beyond hope, aspires Beyond tiate to pursue Vain arr aught ions thus displaid. [ 10 ] Poies of heavn, For since no deep hin her gulf can hold Immortal vigor, t and falln, I give not . From t Celestial vertues rising, will appear [ 15 ] More glorious and more dread then from no fall, And trust to fear no second fate: Mee t rig Laws of heavn Did first create your Leader, next free choice, it besides, in Counsel or in Fight, [ 20 ] , yet this loss t least recoverd, h much more Establishrone Yielded . tate In y, might draw [ 25 ] Envy from eac who here ill envy w place exposes Formost to stand against thunderers aim Your bulo greatest share Of endless pain? when no good [ 30 ] For rive, no strife can grohere From Faction; for none sure will claim in hell Precedence, none, wion is so small Of present pain, t ious mind ill covet more. itage then [ 35 ] to union, and firm Faith, and firm accord, More turn to claim our just inance of old, Surer to prosper ty Could best way, [ 40 ] 2 guile, e noe; who can advise, may speak. erd King Stood up, trongest and t Spirit t fought in heavn; now fiercer by despair: [ 45 ] rust ernal to be deemd Equal in strengthen be less Cared not to be at all; care lost ent all his fear: of God, or hell, or worse , and ter spake. [ 50 ] My sentence is for open arr: Of iles, More unexpert, I boast not: t those Contrive w now. For riving, s, Millions t stand in Arms, and longing [ 55 ] to ascend, sit lingring here ives, and for thir dwelling place Accept this dark opprobrious Den of shame, tyranny who Reigns By our delay? no, let us rather choose [ 60 ] Armd once Ore oo force resistless way, turning our tortures into horrid Arms Against torturer; the noise Of y Engin he shall hear [ 65 ] Infernal tning see Black fire and h equal rage Among self Mixt artarean Sulprange fire, ed torments. But perhaps [ 70 ] t and steep to scale it a higher foe. Let suche sleepy drench Of t forgetful Lake benumm not still, t in our proper motion we ascend [ 75 ] Up to our native seat: descent and fall to us is adverse. felt of late he fierce Foe hung on our brokn Rear Insulting, and pursud us the Deep, it compulsion and laborious flight [ 80 ] e sunk t is easie then; t is feard; should we again provoke Our stronger, some worse way h may find to our destruction: if there be in hell Fear to be royd: w can be worse [ 85 ] to dwell from bliss, condemnd In to utter woe; 3 inguishable fire Must exercise us hope of end the Scourge [ 90 ] Inexorably, and torturing hour Calls us to Penance? More destroyd thus e se abolisht and expire. fear doubt o incense most ire? h enragd, [ 95 ] ill eite consume us, and reduce to notial, happier farr to ernal being: Or if our substance be indeed Divine, And cannot cease to be, [ 100 ] On thing; and by proof we feel Our po to disturb his heavn, And ual inrodes to Allarme, tal throne: Victory is yet Revenge. [ 105 ] he ended frowning, and his look denouncd Desperate revenge, and Battel dangerous to less ther side up rose Belial, in act more graceful and humane; A fairer person lost not heavn; he seemd [ 110 ] For dignity composd and : But all was false and ongue Dropt Manna, and could make the worse appear tter reason, to perplex and dash Maturest Counsels: for s were low; [ 115 ] to vice industrious, but to Nobler deeds timorous and slot he ear, And thus began. I should be much for open arr, O Peers, As not bee; if w was urgd [ 120 ] Main reason to persuade immediate arr, Did not diss, and seem to cast Ominous conjecture on the whole success: excels in fact of Arms, In w excels [ 125 ] Mistrustful, grounds his courage on despair And utter dissolution, as the scope Of all er some dire revenge. First, owrs of heavn are filld itc render all access [ 130 ] Impregnable; oft on the bordering Deep Encamp th obscure wing Scout farr and o t, 4 Scorning surprize. Or could we break our way By force, and at our heels all hell should rise [ 135 ] it Insurrection, to confound Lig our great Enemy All incorruptible would on hrone Sit unpolluted, and thereal mould Incapable of stain would soon expel [ 140 ] he baser fire Victorious. thus repulsd, our final hope Is flat despair; exasperate ty Victor to spend all his rage, And t must end us, t must be our cure, [ 145 ] to be no more; sad cure; for who would loose, tellectual being, ts t ernity, to peris In ted night, [ 150 ] Devoid of sense and motion? and who knows, Let ther our angry Foe Can give it, or will ever? how he can Is doubtful; t he never will is sure. ill loose at once his ire, [ 155 ] Belike tence, or unaware, to give hir wish, and end them in his anger, whom his anger saves to punishen? Say they who counsel arr, we are decreed, [ 160 ] Reservd and destind to Eternal woe; ever doing, w can we suffer more, can , tting, ting, thus in Arms? wrook [ 165 ] iting t to ser us? then seemd A refuge from those wounds: or when we lay C sure was worse. if t kindld those grim fires [ 170 ] Awakd so sevenfold rage And plunge us in the flames? or from above Sermitted vengeance arm again o plague us? w if all ores [ 175 ] Of aracts of Fire, Impendent ning hideous fall One day upon our heads; while we perhaps Designing or exing glorious warr, Caugempest shall be hurld [ 180 ] Eacransfixt, t and prey Of racking whirlwinds, or for ever sunk Under yon boyling Ocean, in Chains; to converse ing groans, Unrespited, unpitied, unrepreevd, [ 185 ] Ages of his would be worse. 5 arr therefore, open or conceald, alike My voice disswades; for w can force or guile ith him, or who deceive his mind, whose eye Vie one view? h [ 190 ] All tions vain, sees and derides; Not more Almigo resist our might to frustrate all our plots and wiles. She race of heavn trampld, to suffer here [ 195 ] Corments? better then worse By my advice; since fate inevitable Subdues us, and Omnipotent Decree tors o suffer, as to doe, Our strengt [ 200 ] t so ordains: t first resolvd, If so great a foe Contending, and so doubtful fall. I laug the Spear are bold And ventrous, if t fail them, shrink and fear [ 205 ] yet t folloo endure Exile, or ignominy, or bonds, or pain, tence of this is now Our doom; wain and bear, Our Supream Foe in time may muc [ 210 ] hus farr removd Not mind us not offending, satisfid it is punishese raging fires ill slackn, if ir not thir flames. Our purer essence then will overcome [ 215 ] t feel, Or c lengto the place conformd In temper and in nature, will receive Familiar t, and void of pain; t, [ 220 ] Besides w Of future dayes may bring, w c change orting, since our present lot appeers For ill, for ill not , If to our selves more woe. [ 225 ] 6 thd in reasons garb Counselld ignoble ease, and peaceful sloath, Not peace: and after hus Mammon spake. Eito disinthe King of heavn e , or to regain [ 230 ] Our ohen May ing Fate shall yeild to fickle Crife: to hope argues as vain tter: for w place can be for us [ 235 ] ithin heavns bound, unless heavns Lord supream e overpower? Suppose And publiso all, on promise made Of neion; eyes could we Stand in his presence humble, and receive [ 240 ] Strict Lao celebrate hrone ito his Godhead sing Forct s Our envied Sovran, and ar breathes Ambrosial Odours and Ambrosial Flowers, [ 245 ] Our servile offerings. t be our task In ; how wearisom Eternity so spent in worship paid to us not then pursue By force impossible, by leave obtaind [ 250 ] Unacceptable, tate Of splendid vassalage, but rather seek Our own good from our selves, and from our own Live to our selves, t recess, Free, and to none accountable, preferring [ 255 ] y before the easie yoke Of servile Pomp. Our greatness will appeer t conspicuous, hings of small, Useful of ful, prosperous of adverse e can create, and in w place so ere [ 260 ] t of pain this deep world Of darkness do th heavns all-ruling Sire Co reside, his Glory unobscurd, [ 265 ] And y of darkness round Covers hunders roar Mustring thir rage, and heavn resembles hell? 7 As we Imitate w soile [ 270 ] ants not re, Gemms and Gold; Nor , from wo raise Magnificence; and w can heavn shew more? Our torments also may in lengtime Become our Elements, these piercing Fires [ 275 ] As soft as noemper changd Into temper; w needs remove te to peaceful Counsels, and ttld State Of order, y best we may [ 280 ] Compose our present evils, h regard Of e All ts of warr: ye I advise. , when such murmur filld tain [ 285 ] tring winds, w long h hoarse cadence lull Sea-faring men orecht, whose Bark by chance Or Pinnace anchors in a craggy Bay After tempest: Such applause was heard [ 290 ] As Mammon ended, and ence pleasd, Advising peace: for sucher Field the fear Of the Sword of Michael rougill hem; and no less desire [ 295 ] to found t rise By pollicy, and long process of time, In emulation opposite to heavn. hen whom, Satan except, none , h grave [ 300 ] Aspect he rose, and in his rising seemd A Pillar of State; deep on engraven Deliberation sat and public care; And Princely counsel in shon, Majestic tood [ 305 ] itlantean s to bear t of mig Monarchies; his look Dretention still as Night Or Summers Noon-tide air, whus he spake. 8 thrones and Imperial Powers, off-spring of heavn [ 310 ] Etues; or titles now Must we renounce, and cile be calld Princes of e Inclines, o continue, and build up here A groless; while we dream, [ 315 ] And kno t th doomd t our safe retreat Beyond ent arm, to live exempt From ion, in new League Banded against to remaine [ 320 ] In strictest bondage, thus far removd, Under table curb, reservd ive multitude: For he, be sure In ill first and last will Reign Sole King, and of [ 325 ] By our revolt, but over end er rule Us hose in heavn. sit ing peace and arr? arr ermind us, and foild h loss [ 330 ] Irreparable; tearms of peace yet none Voutsaft or soug peace will be givn to us enslavd, but custody severe, And stripes, and arbitrary punis Inflicted? and urn, [ 335 ] But to our poy and e, Untamd reluctance, and revenge though slow, Yet ever plotting May reap , and may least rejoyce In doing in suffering feel? [ 340 ] Nor , nor shall we need ition to invade or Siege, Or ambus if we find Some easier enterprize? there is a place [ 345 ] (If ancient and propic fame in heavn Err not) anot Of some ne time to be created like to us, though less In po favourd more [ 350 ] Of him who rules above; so was his will Pronouncd among th, t shook heavns whol circumference, confirmd. 9 t us bend all our ts, to learn creatures t, of w mould, [ 355 ] Or substance, thir Power, And ed best, By force or suttlety: t, And rator sit secure In rengthis place may lye exposd [ 360 ] tmost border of to t: here perhaps Som advantagious act may be achievd By sudden onset, eith hell fire to e ion, or possess [ 365 ] All as our own, and drive as we were driven, tants, or if not drive, Seduce to our Party, t thir God May prove ting hand Abolishis would surpass [ 370 ] Common revenge, and interrupt his joy In our Confusion, and our Joy upraise In urbance; when his darling Sons o partake h us, shall curse thir frail Original, and faded bliss, [ 375 ] Faded so soon. Advise if th Attempting, or to sit in darkness here chus Beelzebub Pleaded devisd By Satan, and in part proposd: for whence, [ 380 ] But from thor of all ill could Spring So deep a malice, to confound the race Of mankind in one root, and Earth hell to mingle and involve, done all to spite t Creatour? But te still serves [ 385 ] o augment. the bold design Pleasd ates, and joy Sparkld in all t te: w hus renews. 10 ell e, [ 390 ] Synod of Gods, and like to w ye are, Great t deep ill once more lift us up, in spige, Neerer our ancient Seat; perhaps in view Of t confines, wh neighbouring Arms [ 395 ] And opportune excursion we may chance Re-enter heavn; or else in some milde Zone D unvisited of Secure, and at tning Orient beam Purge off t delicious Air, [ 400 ] to hese corrosive Fires S first whom shall we send In searchis new world, whom shall we find Sufficient? ttomd infinite Abyss [ 405 ] And t Upborn igable wings Over t abrupt, ere he arrive t strengt art can then [ 410 ] Suffice, or w evasion bear him safe trict Senteries and Stations thick Of Angels ching round? here he had need All circumspection, and we now no less Choice in our suffrage; for on whom we send, [ 415 ] t of all and our last hope relies. t; and expectation held ing who appeerd to second, or oppose, or undertake ttempt; but all sat mute, [ 420 ] Pondering ts; and each In otnance read his own dismay Astonishe choice and prime Of those heavn-warring Champions could be found So o proffer or accept [ 425 ] Alone till at last Satan, glory raisd Above h Monarchal pride Conscious of hus spake. O Progeny of hrones, [ 430 ] ith deep silence and demurr Seisd us, the way And out of o light; Our prison strong, this huge convex of Fire, Outrageous to devour, immures us round [ 435 ] Ninefold, and gates of burning Adamant Barrd over us pro all egress. 11 t, if any pass, the void profound Of unessential Nig ide gaping, and ter loss of being [ 440 ] tens abortive gulf. If to wever world, Or unknown Region, w remains him less then unknown dangers and as hard escape. But I shrone, O Peers, [ 445 ] And ty, adornd it proposd And judgd of public moment, in the shape Of difficulty or danger could deterr Mee from attempting. herefore do I assume [ 450 ] ties, and not refuse to Reign, Refusing to accept as great a share Of hazard as of honour, due alike to o him due Of [ 455 ] s? Go ty Powers, terror of end at home, best may ease t misery, and render hell More tollerable; if there be cure or charm [ 460 ] to respite or deceive, or slack the pain Of termit no ch Against a wakeful Foe, while I abroad ts of dark destruction seek Deliverance for us all: terprize [ 465 ] None sake hus saying rose ted all reply, Prudent, least from ion raisd Ot offer now (Certain to be refusd) they feard; [ 470 ] And so refusd migand e earn. But they Dreaded not more ture then his voice Forbidding; and at once hey rose; [ 475 ] t once he sound Of te. towards hey bend ith awful reverence prone; and as a God Extoll o t in heavn: Nor faild to express hey praisd, [ 480 ] t for ty he despisd s damnd Loose all tue; least bad men s tes, Or clos ambition varnish zeal. [ 485 ] 12 tful consultations dark Ended rejoycing in tchless Chief: As ops the dusky clouds Ascending, wh wind sleeps, Orespread [ 490 ] Scoskip Snow, or showre; If c Sun Extend he fields revive, tes reneing herds Attest t hill and valley rings. [ 495 ] O so men! Devil h Devil damnd Firm concord holds, men onely disagree Of Creatures rational, though under hope Of heavenly Grace; and God proclaiming peace, Yet live in red, enmity, and strife [ 500 ] Among themselves, and levie cruel warres, asting to destroy: As if (o accord) Man hellish foes anow besides, t day and nigruction e. [ 505 ] tygian Counsel th In order came the grand infernal Peers: Midst came ty Paramount, and seemd Alone tagonist of heavn, nor less th pomp Supream, [ 510 ] And God-like imitated State; him round A Globe of fierie Seraphim inclosd it imblazonrie, and Arms. they bid cry itrumpets regal sound t result: [ 515 ] tohe four winds four speedy Cherubim Put to the sounding Alchymie By he hollow Abyss of hell it, returnd them loud acclaim. [ 520 ] t ease t raisd By false presumptuous he ranged powers Disband, and wandring, each his several way Pursues, as inclination or sad choice Leads , w find [ 525 ] truce to less ts, and entertain till Curn. 13 Part on the Air sublime Upon t Race contend, As at thian fields; [ 530 ] Part curb teeds, or she Goal ited Brigads form. As ies warr appears agd in troubld Skie, and Armies rush to Battel in the Clouds, before each Van [ 535 ] Prick forts, and couchir Spears till t Legions close; s of Arms From eithe welkin burns. Ot typh?an rage more fell Rend up bothe Air [ 540 ] In whe wilde uproar. As when Alcides from Oechalia Crownd it, felt tore ts thessalian Pines, And Licop of Oeta threw [ 545 ] Into thers more milde, Retreated in a silent valley, sing ites Angelical to many a harp thir own heroic deeds and hapless fall By doom of Battel; and complain t Fate [ 550 ] Free Vertue so Force or Chance. tial, but the harmony ( could it less al sing?) Suspended ook t [ 555 ] (For Eloquence the Sense,) Ot sat on a ird, In ts more elevate, and reasond high Of Providence, Foreknoe, Fixt Fate, free e, [ 560 ] And found no end, in . Of good and evil muchen, Of happiness and final misery, Passion and Apathie, and glory and shame, Vain wisdom all, and false Philosophie: [ 565 ] Yet h a pleasing sorcerie could charm Pain for a we Fallacious itubborn patience as riple steel. 14 Anot in Squadrons and gross Bands, [ 570 ] On bold adventure to discover wide t dismal world, if any Clime perhaps Migation, bend Four he Banks Of four infernal Rivers t disgorge [ 575 ] Into treams; Abyx te, Sad Acheron of sorrow, black and deep; Cocytus, namd of lamentation loud ream; fierce Pon [ 580 ] orrent fire inflame h rage. Farr off from t stream, Lethe River of Oblivion roules rie Labyrinth, whereof who drinks, Fortate and being forgets, [ 585 ] Forgets both joy and grief, pleasure and pain. Beyond tinent Lies dark and ual storms Of hirlwind and dire hail, which on firm land t, but gathers heap, and ruin seems [ 590 ] Of ancient pile; all else deep snow and ice, A gulf profound as t Serbonian Bog Bet Damiata and Mount Casius old, he parching Air Burns frore, and cold performs t of Fire. [ 595 ] ted Furies haild, At certain revolutions all the damnd Are brougurns tter change Of fierce extreams, extreams by change more fierce, From Beds of raging Fire to starve in Ice [ 600 ] t Eto pine Immovable, infixt, and frozen round, Periods of time, to fire. thean Sound Boto and fro, to augment, [ 605 ] And o reach tempting stream, o loose In s forgetfulness all pain and woe, All in one moment, and so neer the brink; But fate ands, and to oppose ttempt [ 610 ] Medusa error guards t self ter flies All taste of living wig fled tantalus. thus roving on In confusd marcrous Bands [ 615 ] it Vie table lot, and found No rest: through many a dark and drearie Vaile they passd, and many a Region dolorous, Oer many a Frozen, many a fierie Alpe, [ 620 ] Rocks, Caves, Lakes, Fens, Bogs, Dens, and sh, A Universe of death, which God by curse Created evil, for evil only good, ure breeds, Perverse, all monstrous, all prodigious things, [ 625 ] Abominable, inutterable, and worse t have feignd, or fear conceivd, Gorgons and hydras, and Chimeras dire. 15 Mean whe Adversary of God and Man, Satan s inflamd of design, [ 630 ] Puts on s oes of hell Explores ary fligimes , som times t, Now shen soares Up to touring high. [ 635 ] As descrid ial inds Close sailing from Bengala, or the Iles Of ternate and tidore, ws bring trading Flood [ 640 ] to the Cape Ply stemming nigohe Pole. So seemd Farr off t last appeer o the horrid Roof, And tes; three folds were Brass, [ 645 ] tine Rock, Impenetrable, impald h circling fire, Yet unconsumd. Before tes t On either side a formidable shape; to te, and fair, [ 650 ] But ended foul in many a scaly fould Voluminous and vast, a Serpent armd ital sting: about her middle round A cry of hell hounds never ceasing barkd iths full loud, and rung [ 655 ] A , w, would creep, If augurbd to her woomb, And kennel t till barkd and howld ithese Vexd Scylla bat parts [ 660 ] Calabria from trinacrian shore: Nor uglier follo-hag, when calld In secret, riding the Air she comes Lurd blood, to dance itche labouring Moon [ 665 ] Eclipses at ther shape, If s mig shape had none Distinguis, or limb, Or substance mig shadow seemd, For eac stood as Night, [ 670 ] Fierce as ten Furies, terrible as hell, And s; w seemd his head the likeness of a Kingly Crown had on. 16 Satan ter moving on [ 675 ] itrides, rembled as rode. ted Fiend be admird, Admird, not feard; God and , Created t valud he nor shund And began. [ 680 ] art thou, execrable shape, t darst, terrible, advance ted Front at my way to yonder Gates? to pass, t be assured, leave askt of thee: [ 685 ] Retire, or taste thy folly, and learn by proof, to contend s of heavn. to wh replyd, Art t traitor Angel, art thou hee, broke peace in ill then [ 690 ] Unbrokn, and in proud rebellious Arms Dreer of heavns Sons Conjurd against t, for whou And tcast from God, are here condemnd to e Eternal dayes in woe and pain? [ 695 ] And recknst ts of heavn, defiance here and scorn o enrage thee more, to t, False fugitive, and to thy speed add wings, [ 700 ] Least h a whip of Scorpions I pursue troke of t Strange before. So spake terror, and in shape, So speaking and so tning, greenfold [ 705 ] More dreadful and deform: on ther side Incenst ion Satan stood Unterrifid, and like a Comet burnd, t fires th of Ophiucus huge In tick Sky, and from his horrid hair [ 710 ] Silence and arr. Eac the head Leveld all hands No second stroke intend, and such a frown Eac at two black Clouds itillery fraugtling on [ 715 ] Over tand front to front ill inds the signal blow to join ter in mid air: So froy Combatants, t hell Gre tcood; [ 720 ] For never but once more her like to meet so great a foe: and no deeds had been achievd, whereof all hell had rung, t sat Fast by e, and kept tal Key, [ 725 ] Risn, and cry rusween. O Fat intends thy hand, she cryd, Against t fury O Son, Possesses to bend t mortal Dart Against t for whom; [ 730 ] For s above and laughe while At to execute ere ice, bids, roy ye both. 17 S [ 735 ] Forbore, to an returnd: So strange tcry, and trange terposest, t my sudden hand Prevented spares to tell t by deeds it intends; till first I knohee, [ 740 ] t, thus double-formd, and why In t met t Me Fat Fantasm callst my Son? I kno, nor ever saill now Sigestable thee. [ 745 ] t wress of e replyd; t me then, and do I seem Nohine eye so foul, once deemd so fair In t Of all thee combind [ 750 ] In bold conspiracy against heavns King, All on a sudden miserable pain Surprisd thine eyes, and dizzie swumm In darkness, w till on t side opning wide, [ 755 ] Likest to tnance bright, then shining heavnly fair, a Goddess armd Out of t seisd All t of hey recoild affraid At first, and calld me Sin, and for a Sign [ 760 ] Portentous familiar grown, I pleasd, and tractive graces won t averse, t t image viewing Becamst enamourd, and sucookst [ 765 ] it, t my womb conceivd A growing burden. Mean while arr arose, And fields in heavn; wherein remaind (For o our Almighty Foe Cleer Victory, to our part loss and rout [ 770 ] they fell Drivn ch of heaven, down Into the general fall I also; at his powerful Key Into my o keep [ 755 ] tes for ever s, which none can pass it my opning. Pensive 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 t tten, breaking violent way tore trails, t h fear and pain Distorted, all my nethus grew transformd: but he my inbred enemie [ 785 ] Fortal Dart Made to destroy: I fled, and cryd out Death; rembld at the hideous Name, and sighd From all h. I fled, but seems, [ 790 ] Inflamd ter far, Mee overtook her all dismaid, And in embraces forcible and foule Ingendring rape begot ters t h ceasless cry [ 795 ] Surround me, as t, hourly conceivd And e to me, for o the womb t bred turn, and howle and gnaw My Bo; ting forth [ 800 ] A freserrours vex me round, t rest or intermission none I find. 18 Before mine eyes in opposition sits Grim Deats them on, And me would full soon devour [ 805 ] For of ot t he knows I Ster Morsel, and his bane, se pronouncd. But thee, shun [ 810 ] her vainly hope to be invulnerable in t Arms, temperd mortal dint, Save . Stle Fiend his lore [ 815 ] Soon learnd, noh. Dear Daug me for thy Sire, And my fair Son me, the dear pledge Of dalliance hee in heavn, and joys t, noo mention, through dire change [ 820 ] Befalln us unforeseen, unt of, know I come no enemie, but to set free From out this dark and dismal house of pain, Bot Of Spirits t in our just pretenses armd [ 825 ] Fell hem I go th errand sole, and one for all Myself expose, eps to tread the void immense to searc a place foretold [ 830 ] Should be, and, by concurring signs, ere now Created vast and round, a place of bliss In t A race of upstart Creatures, to supply Per room, though more removd, [ 835 ] Least ent multitude Migo move ne t now designd, I e to knourn, And bring ye to th [ 840 ] S ease, and up and down unseen ing silently the buxom Air, imbalmd ithere ye shall be fed and filld Immeasurably, all things shall be your prey. h [ 845 ] Grinnd ly smile, to hear his mawe Destind to t good hour: no less rejoycd hus bespake her Sire. 19 t by due, [ 850 ] And by command of heavns all-powerful King I keep, by o unlock tine Gates; against all force Deatands to interpose , Fearless to be ormatc. [ 855 ] But o his commands above es me, and me down Into tartarus profound, to sit in eful Office here confind, Inant of heavn, and heavnlie-born, [ 860 ] ual agonie and pain, iterrors and round Of mine o on my bowels feed: t my Fathou My being gavst me; whom should I obey [ 865 ] But t bring me soon to t ne and bliss, among t ease, where I shall Reign At t uous, as beseems ter and t end. [ 870 ] tal Key, Sad instrument of all our woe, sook; And toe rouling ial train, Forthe huge Porcullis high up drew, all tygian powers [ 875 ] Could once urns tricate and Bar Of massie Iron or sollid Rock h ease Unfastns: on a sudden opn flie ituous recoile and jarring sound [ 880 ] te t bottom shook Of Erebus. S to s Exceld es ood, t ended wings a Bannerd [ 885 ] Under spread Ensigns marc pass through its rankt in loose array; So ood, and like a Furnace mouth Cast forth redounding smoak and ruddy flame. 19 t by due, [ 850 ] And by command of heavns all-powerful King I keep, by o unlock tine Gates; against all force Deatands to interpose , Fearless to be ormatc. [ 855 ] But o his commands above es me, and me down Into tartarus profound, to sit in eful Office here confind, Inant of heavn, and heavnlie-born, [ 860 ] ual agonie and pain, iterrors and round Of mine o on my bowels feed: t my Fathou My being gavst me; whom should I obey [ 865 ] But t bring me soon to t ne and bliss, among t ease, where I shall Reign At t uous, as beseems ter and t end. [ 870 ] tal Key, Sad instrument of all our woe, sook; And toe rouling ial train, Forthe huge Porcullis high up drew, all tygian powers [ 875 ] Could once urns tricate and Bar Of massie Iron or sollid Rock h ease Unfastns: on a sudden opn flie ituous recoile and jarring sound [ 880 ] te t bottom shook Of Erebus. S to s Exceld es ood, t ended wings a Bannerd [ 885 ] Under spread Ensigns marc pass through its rankt in loose array; So ood, and like a Furnace mouth Cast forth redounding smoak and ruddy flame. 20 Before thir eyes in sudden view appear [ 890 ] ts of the hoarie deep, a dark Illimitable Ocean bound, it dimension, wh, And time and place are lost; And Cors of Nature, hold [ 895 ] Eternal Anarc the noise Of endless arrs, and by confusion stand. For , cold, moist, and dry, four Champions fierce Strive rie, and to Battel bring toms; the flag [ 900 ] Of eacion, in thir several Clanns, Lig or slow, She Sands Of Barca or Cyrenes torrid soil, Levied to side h warring inds, and poise [ 905 ] ter o w adhere, ; Cs, And by decision more imbroiles the fray By w er Co this wilde Abyss, [ 910 ] ture and perhaps her Grave, Of neither Sea, nor Shore, nor Air, nor Fire, But all t causes mixt Confusdly, and , Unless ty Maker them ordain [ 915 ] erials to create more orlds, Into the warie fiend Stood on the brink of hell and lookd a while, Pondering h o cross. Nor was his eare less peald [ 920 ] ito compare Great torms, ittering Engines bent to rase Som Capital City; or less this frame Of s [ 925 ] In mutinie orn tedfast Eart last his Sail-broad Vannes , and in the surging smoak Uplifted spurns thence many a League As in a cloudy Chair ascending rides [ 930 ] Audacious, but t seat soon failing, meets A vast vacuitie: all unawares Fluttring his pennons vain plumb down he drops ten to this hour Down by ill chance [ 935 ] trong rebuff of som tumultuous cloud Instinct re hurried him As many miles aloft: t furie stayd, Quencis, neither Sea, Nor good dry Land: nigh founderd on he fares, [ 940 ] treading tence, , h Oare and Saile. As whe ilderness ith winged course ore hill or moarie Dale, Pursues telth [ 945 ] ody purloind the fiend Ore bog or steep, trait, rough, dense, or rare, it 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 confusd Borne ts his eare it veher he plyes, Undaunted to meet t ever power [ 955 ] Or Spirit of t Abyss Mig noise reside, of wo ask coast of darkness lyes Bordering on ligrait behrone Of Chaos, and his dark Pavilion spread [ 960 ] ide on teful Deep; hrond Sat Sable-vested Nig of things, t of ood Orcus and Ades, and the dreaded name Of Demogorgon; Rumor next and Chance, [ 965 ] And tumult and Confusion all imbroild, And Discord hs. 21 t urning boldly, thus. Ye Powers And Spirits of t Abyss, C Night, I come no Spy, [ 970 ] ito explore or to disturb ts of your Realm, but by constraint andring t, as my way Lies to light, Alone, and guide, , I seek [ 975 ] readiest path leads where your gloomie bounds Confine her place From your Dominion hereal King Possesses lately, to arrive I travel t my course; [ 980 ] Directed no mean recompence it brings to your be Region lost, All usurpation thence expelld, reduce to her original darkness and your sway ( journey) and once more [ 985 ] Erect tandard t Night; Yours be tage all, mine the revenge. tan; and he Anarch old itring speech and visage incomposd Ansranger, w, [ 990 ] t mige Made hrown. I saw and Fled not in silence ted deep it on rout, [ 995 ] Confusion worse confounded; and es Pourd out by millions orious Bands Pursuing. I upon my Frontieres here Keep residence; if all I can will serve, t little o defend [ 1000 ] Encroacill testine broiles eakning ter of old Nig hell Your dungeon stretch; Noely her orld hung ore my Realm, linkd in a golden Chain [ 1005 ] to t side heavn from whence your Legions fell: If t way be your walk, you farr; So muche neerer danger; go and speed; havock and spoil and ruin are my gain. 22 an staid not to reply, [ 1010 ] But glad t now his Sea should find a shore, itie and force renewd Springs upward like a Pyramid of fire Into the shock Of figs, on all sides round [ 1015 ] Environd wins And more endangerd, then when Argo passd t tling Rocks: Or whe Larbord shunnd Ceard. [ 1020 ] So y and labour hard Movd on, y and labour hee; But , soon after when man fell, Strange alteration! Sin and Death amain Following rack, suche will of heavn, [ 1025 ] Pavd after n way Over the dark Abyss, whose boiling Gulf tamely endurd a Bridge of h From inud reacmost Orbe Of ts perverse [ 1030 ] itercourse pass to and fro to tempt or punisals, except whom God and good Angels guard by special grace. But no last the sacred influence Of lighe walls of heavn [ 1035 ] Ss farr into t A glimmering da begins verge, and Co retire As from most works a brokn foe itumult less and ile din, [ 1040 ] t Satan oil, and noh ease afts on t And like a en Vessel holds Gladly t, tackle torn; Or in tier e, resembling Air, [ 1045 ] eig leasure to behold Farr off tended wide In circuit, undetermind square or round, itotlements adornd Of living Sapive Seat; [ 1050 ] And fast by hanging in a golden Chain t arr Of smallest Magnitude close by the Moon. t h mischievous revenge, Accurst, and in a cursed hour he hies. [ 1055 ]