Paradise Lost Book 1
BOOK 1
THE ARGUMENT
This first Book proposes, first in brief, the whole Subject, Mansdisobedience, and the loss thereupon of Paradise wherein he was
plac't:
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 past over, the Poem hastsinto the midst of things, presenting Satan with his Angels now fallen into Hell,
describ'd here, not in the Center
(for Heaven and Earth may besuppos'd as yet not made, certainly not yet accurst) but in a place of utter darkness, fitliest
call'd Chaos: Here
Satan with his Angels lying on the burning Lake, thunder-struck and
astonisht, after a certain space recovers, as from confusion, calls up him who next in Order and Dignity lay by him; they confer of
thir miserable fall.
Satan awakens all his Legions, who lay till then in the same manner confounded; They rise,
thirNumbers, array of
Battel,
thir chief Leaders
nam'd, according to the Idols known afterwards in
Canaan and the Countries
adjoyning. To these
Satandirects 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
Prophesie 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
Prophesie, and what to
determinthereon he refers to a full
Councel. What his Associates thence attempt.
Pandemonium the Palace of Satan rises, suddenly built out of the Deep: The infernal Peers there sit in
Councel.
OF Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit
Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast
Brought Death into the World, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat, [ 5 ]
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 [ 10 ]
Delight thee more, and Siloa's Brook that flow'd
Fast by the Oracle of God; I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventrous Song,
That with no middle flight intends to soar
Above th' Aonian Mount, while it pursues [ 15 ]
Things unattempted yet in Prose or Rhime.
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 [ 20 ]
Dove-like satst brooding on the vast Abyss
And mad'st it pregnant: What in me is dark
Illumin, what is low raise and support;
That to the highth of this great Argument
I may assert Eternal Providence, [ 25 ]
And justifie the wayes 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 Grand Parents in that happy State,
Favour'd of Heav'n so highly, to fall off [ 30 ]
From thir 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
Stird up with Envy and Revenge, deceiv'd [ 35 ]
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, [ 40 ]
If he oppos'd; and with ambitious aim
Against the Throne and Monarchy of God
Rais'd impious War in Heav'n and Battel proud
With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power
Hurld headlong flaming from th' Ethereal Skie [ 45 ]
With hideous ruine and combustion down
To bottomless perdition, there to dwell
In Adamantine Chains and penal Fire,
Who durst defie th' Omnipotent to Arms.
Nine times the Space that measures Day and Night [ 50 ]
To mortal men, he with his horrid crew
Lay vanquisht, rowling in the fiery Gulfe
Confounded though immortal: But his doom
Reserv'd him to more wrath; for now the thought
Both of lost happiness and lasting pain [ 55 ]
Torments him; round he throws his baleful eyes
That witness'd huge affliction and dismay
Mixt with obdurate pride and stedfast hate:
At once as far as Angels kenn he views
The dismal Situation waste and wilde, [ 60 ]
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 onely to discover sights of woe,
Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace [ 65 ]
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 [ 70 ]
For those rebellious, here thir Prison ordain'd
In utter darkness, and thir portion set
As far remov'd from God and light of Heav'n
As from the Center thrice to th' utmost Pole.
O how unlike the place from whence they fell! [ 75 ]
There the companions of his fall, o'rewhelm'd
With Floods and Whirlwinds of tempestuous fire,
He soon discerns, and weltring by his side
One next himself in power, and next in crime,
Long after known in Palestine, and nam'd [ 80 ]
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
[ 85 ]
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
Enterprize,
Joynd with me once, now misery
hath joynd [ 90 ]
In equal ruin: into what Pit thou
seest
From what
highth 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
[ 95 ]
Can else inflict, do I repent or change,
Though
chang'd in outward
lustre; that
fixt mind
And high disdain, from sence of
injur'd merit,
That with the mightiest
rais'd me to contend,
And to the fierce contention brought along
[ 100 ]
Innumerable force of Spirits
arm'd
That
durst dislike his reign, and me preferring,
His utmost power with adverse power
oppos'd
In dubious
Battel on the Plains of
Heav'n,
And shook his throne. What though the field be lost?
[ 105 ]
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
[ 110 ]
Extort from me. To bow and sue for grace
With suppliant knee, and
deifie his power,
Who from the
terrour of this Arm so late
Doubted his Empire, that were low indeed,
That were an ignominy and shame beneath
[ 115 ]
This
downfall; since by Fate the strength of
Gods
And this Empyreal substance cannot fail,
Since through experience of this great event
In Arms not worse, in foresight much
advanc't,
We may with more successful hope resolve
[ 120 ]
To
wage by force or guile
eternal Warr
Irreconcileable, 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,
[ 125 ]
Vaunting aloud, but
rackt with deep
despare:
And him thus answer'd soon his bold Compeer.
O
Prince, O Chief of many
Throned Powers,
That led
th' imbattelld Seraphim to
Warr
Under thy conduct, and in dreadful deeds
[ 130 ]
Fearless,
endanger'd Heav'ns 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 foul defeat
[ 135 ]
Hath lost us
Heav'n, and all this mighty Host
In horrible destruction laid thus low,
As far as Gods and
Heav'nly Essences
Can perish: for the mind and spirit remains
Invincible, and
vigour soon returns,
[ 140 ]
Though all our Glory extinct, and happy state
Here
swallow'd up in endless misery.
But what if he our
Conquerour, (whom I now
Of force believe Almighty, since no less
Then such could
hav orepow'rd such force as ours)
[ 145 ]
Have left us this our spirit and strength
intire
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
Warr, what
e're his business be
[ 150 ]
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
undiminisht, or eternal being
To undergo eternal punishment?
[ 155 ]
Whereto with speedy words
th' Arch-fiend
reply'd.
Fall'n Cherube, 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,
[ 160 ]
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;
[ 165 ]
Which
oft times may succeed, so as perhaps
Shall grieve him, if I fail not, and disturb
His inmost
counsels from
thir destind aim.
But see the angry Victor
hath recall'd
His Ministers of vengeance and pursuit
[ 170 ]
Back to the Gates of
Heav'n: The Sulphurous Hail
Shot after us in storm,
oreblown 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,
[ 175 ]
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
wilde,
[ 180 ]
The seat of desolation,
voyd 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,
[ 185 ]
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,
[ 190 ]
If not what resolution from
despare.
Thus Satan talking to his neerest 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
[ 195 ]
Lay floating many a
rood, in
bulk as huge
As whom the Fables name of
monstrous size,
Titanian, or
Earth-born, that
warr'd on
Jove,
Briareos or
Typhon, whom the Den
By ancient
Tarsus held, or that Sea-beast
[ 200 ]
Leviathan, which God of all his works
Created hugest that swim
th' Ocean stream:
Him haply
slumbring on the
Norway foam
The Pilot of some small night-
founder'd Skiff,
Deeming some Island,
oft, as Sea-men tell,
[ 205 ]
With fixed Anchor in his
skaly rind
Moors by his side under the Lee, while Night
Invests the Sea, and wished Morn
delayes:
So stretcht out huge in length the Arch-fiend lay
Chain'd on the burning
Lake, nor ever thence
[ 210 ]
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
[ 215 ]
Evil to others, and
enrag'd might see
How all his malice
serv'd but to bring forth
Infinite goodness, grace and mercy
shewn
On Man by him
seduc't, but on himself
Treble confusion, wrath and vengeance
pour'd.
[ 220 ]
Forthwith upright he rears from off the Pool
His mighty Stature; on each hand the flames
Drivn backward slope
thir pointing spires, and
rowld
In billows, leave i'
th' midst a horrid Vale.
Then with expanded wings he stears his flight
[ 225 ]
Aloft,
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
[ 230 ]
Of subterranean wind transports a Hill
Torn from
Pelorus, or the
shatter'd side
Of thundring
Ætna, whose combustible
And
fewel'd entrals thence conceiving Fire,
Sublim'd with Mineral fury, aid the Winds,
[ 235 ]
And leave a singed bottom all
involv'd
With stench and
smoak: 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
thir own
recover'd strength,
[ 240 ]
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
[ 245 ]
Who now is
Sovran can dispose and bid
What shall be right:
fardest from him is best
Whom reason
hath equald, force
hath made
supream
Above his equals.
Farewel happy Fields
Where Joy for ever dwells: Hail
horrours, hail
[ 250 ]
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.
[ 255 ]
What matter where, if I be still the same,
And what I should be, all but less
then 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:
[ 260 ]
Here we may reign secure, and in my
choyce
To reign is worth ambition though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell,
then serve in Heav'n.
But wherefore let we then our faithful friends,
Th' associates and copartners of our loss
[ 265 ]
Lye thus
astonisht 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
Regaind in
Heav'n, or what more lost in Hell?
[ 270 ]
So
Satan spake, and
him Beelzebub
Thus
answer'd. Leader of those Armies bright,
Which but
th' Onmipotent none could have
foyld,
If once they hear that
voyce,
thir liveliest pledge
Of hope in fears and dangers, heard so
oft [ 275 ]
In worst
extreams, and on the perilous edge
Of
battel when it
rag'd, in all assaults
Thir surest signal, they will soon resume
New courage and revive, though now they
lye
Groveling and prostrate on
yon Lake of Fire,
[ 280 ]
As we erewhile, astounded and
amaz'd,
No wonder,
fall'n such a pernicious
highth.
He scarce had
ceas't when the
superiour Fiend
Was moving toward the
shoar; his ponderous
shield
Ethereal temper, massy, large and round,
[ 285 ]
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,
[ 290 ]
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
Ammiral, were but a wand,
He
walkt with to support
uneasie steps
[ 295 ]
Over the burning
Marle, not like those steps
On Heavens 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 [ 300 ]
His Legions, Angel Forms, who lay
intrans't
Thick as
Autumnal Leaves that strow the Brooks
In
Vallombrosa, where
th' Etrurian shades
High
overarch't imbowr; or scatterd
sedge
Afloat, when with fierce Winds
Orion arm'd [ 305 ]
Hath vext the Red-Sea Coast, whose waves orethrew
Busiris and his
Memphian Chivalry,
While with perfidious hatred they
pursu'd
The
Sojourners of Goshen, who beheld
From the safe shore
thir floating Carkases
[ 310 ]
And broken Chariot Wheels, so thick bestrown
Abject and lost lay these, covering the Flood,
Under amazement of
thir hideous change.
He
call'd so loud, that all the hollow Deep
Of Hell resounded. Princes, Potentates,
[ 315 ]
Warriers, the
Flowr of
Heav'n, once yours, now lost,
If such astonishment as this can sieze
Eternal spirits; or have ye
chos'n this place
After the
toyl of
Battel to repose
Your
wearied vertue, for the ease you find
[ 320 ]
To slumber here, as in the Vales of
Heav'n?
Or in this abject posture have ye sworn
To adore the
Conquerour? who now beholds
Cherube and Seraph rowling in the Flood
With
scatter'd Arms and Ensigns, till anon
[ 325 ]
His swift pursuers from
Heav'n Gates discern
Th' advantage, and descending tread us down
Thus drooping, or with linked Thunderbolts
Transfix us to the bottom of this
Gulfe.
Awake, arise, or be for ever
fall'n.
[ 330 ]
They heard, and were
abasht, 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
perceave the evil plight
[ 335 ]
In which they were, or the fierce pains not feel;
Yet to
thir Generals Voyce they soon
obeyd
Innumerable. As when the potent Rod
Of
Amrams Son in
Egypts evill day
Wav'd round the Coast, up
call'd a pitchy cloud
[ 340 ]
Of
Locusts, warping on the Eastern Wind,
That ore 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
[ 345 ]
'Twixt upper, nether, and surrounding Fires;
Till, as a signal
giv'n,
th' uplifted Spear
Of
thir great Sultan waving to direct
Thir course, in even
ballance down they light
On the firm brimstone, and fill all the Plain;
[ 350 ]
A multitude, like which
the populous North
Pour'd never from her frozen
loyns, 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.
[ 355 ]
Forthwith from every Squadron and each Band
The Heads and Leaders thither hast where stood
Thir great Commander;
Godlike shapes and forms
Excelling human, Princely Dignities,
And Powers that earst in Heaven sat on Thrones;
[ 360 ]
Though of
thir Names in
heav'nly Records now
Be no memorial blotted out and
ras'd
By
thir Rebellion, from the
Books of Life.
Nor had they yet among the Sons of
Eve
Got them new Names, till
wandring ore the Earth,
[ 365 ]
Through Gods high sufferance for the
tryal of man,
By falsities and
lyes the greatest part
Of Mankind they corrupted to forsake
God
thir Creator, and
th' invisible
Glory of him that made them, to transform
[ 370 ]
Oft to the Image of a Brute, a
dorn'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.
[ 375 ]
Say, Muse,
thir Names then known, who first, who last,
Rous'd from the slumber, on that fiery Couch,
At
thir great
Emperors call, as next in worth
Came singly where he stood on the bare strand,
While the promiscuous
croud stood yet aloof?
[ 380 ]
The chief were those who from the Pit of Hell
Roaming to seek
thir prey on earth,
durst fix
Thir Seats long after
next the Seat of God,
Thir Altars by his Altar, Gods
ador'd
Among the Nations round, and
durst abide
[ 385 ]
Jehovah thundring out of
Sion, thron'd
Between the
Cherubim; yea, often
plac'd
Within his Sanctuary it self
thir Shrines,
Abominations; and with cursed things
His holy Rites, and solemn Feasts
profan'd,
[ 390 ]
And with
thir darkness
durst affront his light.
First
Moloch, horrid
King besmear'd with blood
Of human sacrifice, and parents tears,
Though for the
noyse of Drums and Timbrels loud
Thir childrens cries unheard, that
past through fire
[ 395 ]
To his grim Idol. Him the
Ammonite
Worshipt in
Rabba and her
watry Plain,
In
Argob and in
Basan, to the stream
Of utmost
Arnon. Nor content with such
Audacious
neighbourhood, the wisest heart
[ 400 ]
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
Vally of
Hinnom, Tophet thence
And black
Gehenna call'd, the Type of Hell.
[ 405 ]
Next
Chemos, th' obscene dread of
Moabs Sons,
From
Aroar to
Nebo, and the wild
Of Southmost
Abarim; in
Hesebon
And
Horonaim, Seons Realm, beyond
The
flowry Dale of
Sibma clad with Vines,
[ 410 ]
And
Eleale to
th' Asphaltick Pool.
Peor his other Name, when he
entic'd
Israel in Sittim on
thir march from
Nile
To do him wanton rites, which cost them woe.
Yet thence his lustful Orgies he
enlarg'd [ 415 ]
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
bordring flood
Of old
Euphrates to the
Brook that parts
[ 420 ]
Egypt 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
thir Essence pure,
[ 425 ]
Not
ti'd or
manacl'd with
joynt 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
thir aerie purposes,
[ 430 ]
And works of love or enmity fulfill.
For those the Race of
Israel oft forsook
Thir living strength, and unfrequented left
His righteous Altar, bowing lowly down
To bestial Gods; for which
thir heads as low
[ 435 ]
Bow'd down in
Battel, 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
[ 440 ]
Sidonian Virgins paid
thir 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
[ 445 ]
To Idols foul.
Thammuz came next behind,
Whose annual wound in
Lebanon allur'd
The
Syrian Damsels to lament his fate
In amorous dittyes all a Summers day,
While smooth
Adonis from his native Rock
[ 450 ]
Ran purple to the Sea,
suppos'd with blood
Of
Thammuz yearly wounded: the Love-tale
Infected
Sions daughters with like heat,
Whose wanton passions in the sacred Porch
Ezekiel saw, when by the Vision led
[ 455 ]
His eye survay'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
lopt off
In his own Temple, on the
grunsel edge,
[ 460 ]
Where he fell flat, and
sham'd his Worshipers:
Dagon 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 [ 465 ]
And
Accaron and
Gaza's frontier bounds.
Him
follow'd Rimmon, whose delightful Seat
Was fair
Damascus, on the
fertil Banks
Of
Abbana and
Pharphar, lucid streams.
He also against the house of God was bold:
[ 470 ]
A Leper once he lost and
gain'd a King,
Ahaz his sottish Conquerour, whom he drew
Gods Altar to disparage and displace
For one of
Syrian mode, whereon to burn
His odious
off'rings, and adore the Gods
[ 475 ]
Whom he had
vanquisht. 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
[ 480 ]
Thir wandring Gods
disguis'd in brutish forms
Rather
then human. Nor did
Israel scape
Th' infection when
thir borrow'd Gold
compos'd
The Calf in
Oreb: and the
Rebel King
Doubl'd that sin in
Bethel and in
Dan, [ 485 ]
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,
then whom a
Spirit more lewd
[ 490 ]
Fell not from Heaven, or more gross to love
Vice for it self: To him no Temple stood
Or Altar
smoak'd; yet who more
oft then hee
In Temples and at Altars, when the Priest
Turns Atheist, as did
Ely's Sons, who
fill'd [ 495 ]
With lust and violence the house of God.
In Courts and Palaces he also Reigns
And in luxurious Cities, where the
noyse
Of riot ascends above
thir loftiest
Towrs,
And injury and outrage: And when Night
[ 500 ]
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.
[ 505 ]
These were the prime in order and in might;
The rest were long to tell, though far
renown'd,
Th' Ionian Gods, of
Javans Issue held
Gods, yet
confest later
then Heav'n and Earth
Thir boasted Parents;
Titan Heav'ns first born
[ 510 ]
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
[ 515 ]
Of cold
Olympus rul'd the
middle Air
Thir 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,
[ 520 ]
And
ore 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
glimps of joy, to have found
thir chief
Not in despair, to have found themselves not lost
[ 525 ]
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
Thir fainting courage, and
dispel'd thir fears.
[ 530 ]
Then
strait commands that at the warlike sound
Of Trumpets loud and Clarions be
upreard
His mighty Standard; that proud honour
claim'd
Azazel as his right, a
Cherube tall:
Who forthwith from the glittering Staff
unfurld [ 535 ]
Th' Imperial Ensign, which full high
advanc't
Shon like a Meteor streaming to the Wind
With Gemms and Golden
lustre rich
imblaz'd,
Seraphic arms and Trophies: all the while
Sonorous
mettal blowing Martial sounds:
[ 540 ]
At which the universal Host upsent
A shout that tore Hells 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
[ 545 ]
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
[ 550 ]
Of Flutes and soft Recorders; such as
rais'd
To hight of noblest temper
Hero's old
Arming to
Battel, and in stead of rage
Deliberate valour
breath'd, firm and
unmov'd
With dread of death to flight or foul retreat,
[ 555 ]
Nor wanting 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
[ 560 ]
Mov'd on in silence to soft Pipes that
charm'd
Thir painful steps
o're the
burnt soyle; and now
Advanc't in view, they stand, a
horrid Front
Of dreadful length and
dazling Arms, in guise
Of
Warriers old with
order'd Spear and Shield,
[ 565 ]
Awaiting what command
thir mighty Chief
Had to impose: He through the armed Files
Darts his
experienc't eye, and soon traverse
The whole Battalion views,
thir order due,
Thir visages and stature as of Gods,
[ 570 ]
Thir number last
he summs. And now his heart
Distends with pride, and
hardning in his strength
Glories: For never since created man,
Met such imbodied force, as
nam'd with these
Could merit more
then that small infantry
[ 575 ]
Warr'd on by Cranes: though all the Giant brood
Of
Phlegra with
th' Heroic Race were
joyn'd
That fought at
Theb's and
Ilium, on each side
Mixt with auxiliar Gods; and what resounds
In Fable or
Romance of
Uthers Son
[ 580 ]
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
[ 585 ]
When
Charlemain with all his Peerage fell
By
Fontarabbia. Thus far these beyond
Compare of mortal prowess, yet
observ'd
Thir dread commander: he above the rest
In shape and gesture proudly eminent
[ 590 ]
Stood like a
Towr; his form had yet not lost
All her Original brightness, nor
appear'd
Less
then Arch Angel ruind, and
th' excess
Of Glory
obscur'd: As when the Sun new
ris'n
Looks through the Horizontal misty Air
[ 595 ]
Shorn of his Beams, or from behind the Moon
In
dim Eclips disastrous twilight sheds
On half the Nations, and with fear of change
Perplexes Monarchs.
Dark'n'd so, yet
shon
Above them all
th' Arch Angel: but his face
[ 600 ]
Deep scars of Thunder had
intrencht, and care
Sat on his faded cheek, but under
Browes
Of dauntless courage, and considerate Pride
Waiting revenge: cruel his eye, but cast
Signs of remorse and passion to behold
[ 605 ]
The fellows of his crime, the followers rather
(Far other once beheld in bliss)
condemn'd
For ever now to have
thir lot in pain,
Millions of Spirits for his fault
amerc't
Of
Heav'n, and from Eternal Splendors flung
[ 610 ]
For his revolt, yet faithfull how they stood,
Thir Glory
witherd. As when
Heavens Fire
Hath scath'd the
Forrest Oaks, or Mountain Pines,
With singed top
thir stately growth though bare
Stands on the blasted Heath. He now
prepar'd [ 615 ]
To speak; whereat
thir doubl'd Ranks they bend
From wing to wing, and half enclose him round
With all his Peers: attention held them mute.
Thrice he
assayd, and thrice in
spight of scorn,
Tears such as Angels
weep, burst forth: at last
[ 620 ]
Words interwove with sighs found out
thir 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
[ 625 ]
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?
[ 630 ]
For who can yet
beleeve, though after loss,
That all these
puissant Legions, whose exile
Hath emptied
Heav'n, shall fail to re-ascend
Self-
rais'd, and repossess
thir native seat?
For mee be witness all the Host of
Heav'n,
[ 635 ]
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
custome, and his Regal State
[ 640 ]
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
warr,
provok't; our better part remains
[ 645 ]
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 rife
[ 650 ]
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:
[ 655 ]
For this Infernal Pit shall never hold
Cælestial Spirits in Bondage, nor
th' Abyss
Long under darkness cover. But these thoughts
Full
Counsel must mature: Peace is
despaird,
[ 660 ]
For who can think Submission?
Warr then,
Warr
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
[ 665 ]
Far round
illumin'd hell:
highly they
rag'd
Against the Highest, and fierce with grasped arms
Clash'd on
thir sounding Shields the din of war,
Hurling defiance toward the vault of
Heav'n.
There stood a Hill not far whose
griesly top
[ 670 ]
Belch'd fire and
rowling smoak; the rest entire
Shon with a
glossie scurff, undoubted sign
That in his womb was hid metallic Ore,
The work of Sulphur. Thither
wing'd with speed
A numerous
Brigad hasten'd. As when Bands
[ 675 ]
Of
Pioners with Spade and Pickax
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
[ 680 ]
Were always
downward bent, admiring more
The riches of
Heav'ns pavement,
trod'n Gold,
Then aught divine or holy else
enjoy'd
In vision
beatific: by him first
Men also, and by his suggestion taught,
[ 685 ]
Ransack'd the
Center, and with impious hands
Rifl'd the bowels of
thir 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
[ 690 ]
That riches grow in Hell; that
soyle 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
thir greatest Monuments of Fame,
[ 695 ]
And Strength and Art are easily out-done
By Spirits reprobate, and in an hour
What in an age they with incessant
toyle
And hands innumerable scarce perform.
Nigh on the Plain in many cells
prepar'd,
[ 700 ]
That underneath had veins of liquid fire
Sluc'd from the Lake, a second multitude
With wondrous Art found out the
massie Ore,
Severing each kind, and
scum'd the Bullion dross:
A third as soon had
form'd within the ground
[ 705 ]
A various
mould, and from the
boyling 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
breaths.
Anon out of the earth a
Fabrick huge
[ 710 ]
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
[ 715 ]
Cornice or
Freeze, with
bossy Sculptures grav'n,
The Roof was
fretted Gold. Not
Babilon,
Nor great
Alcairo such magnificence
Equal'd in all
thir glories, to
inshrine
Belus or Serapis thir Gods, or seat
[ 720 ]
Thir Kings, when
Ægypt with
Assyria strove
In wealth and
luxurie.
Th' ascending pile
Stood
fixt her stately
highth, and
strait the
dores
Op'ning thir brazen
foulds discover wide
Within, her ample spaces,
o're the smooth
[ 725 ]
And level pavement: from the arched roof
Pendant by
suttle Magic many a row
Of Starry Lamps and blazing
Cressets fed
With
Naphtha and
Asphaltus yeilded light
As from a sky. The hasty multitude
[ 730 ]
Admiring
enter'd, and the work some praise
And some the Architect: his hand was known
In
Heav'n by many a
Towred structure high,
Where
Scepter'd Angels held
thir residence,
And sat as Princes, whom the supreme King
[ 735 ]
Exalted to such power, and gave to rule,
Each in his
Hierarchie, the Orders bright.
Nor was his name unheard or
unador'd
In ancient
Greece; and in
Ausonian land
Men
call'd him
Mulciber; and how he
fell [ 740 ]
From
Heav'n, they
fabl'd, thrown by angry
Jove
Sheer
o're the
Chrystal Battlements: from Morn
To Noon he fell, from Noon to dewy Eve,
A
Summers day; and with the setting Sun
Dropt from the Zenith like a falling Star,
[ 745 ]
On
Lemnos th' Ægean Ile: 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
Towrs; nor did he
scape
By all his
Engins, but was headlong sent
[ 750 ]
With his industrious crew to build in hell.
Mean while the winged
Haralds by command
Of
Sovran power, with
awful Ceremony
And Trumpets sound throughout the Host proclaim
A solemn
Councel forthwith to be held
[ 755 ]
At
Pandæmonium, the high Capital
Of
Satan and his Peers:
thir summons
call'd
From every Band and squared Regiment
By place or choice the worthiest; they anon
With
hunderds and with thousands trooping came
[ 760 ]
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
Soldans chair
Defi'd the best of
Paynim chivalry
[ 765 ]
To mortal combat or
carreer with Lance)
Thick
swarm'd, both on the ground and in the air,
Brusht with the hiss of russling wings. As
Bees
In spring time, when the Sun with
Taurus rides,
Pour forth
thir populous youth about the Hive
[ 770 ]
In clusters; they among fresh dews and flowers
Flie to and fro, or on the smoothed Plank,
The suburb of
thir Straw-built
Cittadel,
New
rub'd with
Baum, expatiate and confer
Thir State affairs. So thick the aerie crowd
[ 775 ]
Swarm'd and were
straitn'd; till the Signal
giv'n.
Behold a wonder! they but now who
seemd
In bigness to surpass
Earths Giant Sons
Now less
then smallest
Dwarfs, in narrow room
Throng numberless, like that
Pigmean Race [ 780 ]
Beyond the
Indian Mount, or
Faerie Elves,
Whose midnight Revels, by a
Forrest side
Or Fountain
some belated Peasant sees,
Or dreams he sees, while over-head the Moon
Sits Arbitress, and
neerer to the Earth
[ 785 ]
Wheels her pale course, they on
thir mirth and dance
Intent, with
jocond Music charm his ear;
At once with joy and fear his heart rebounds.
Thus incorporeal Spirits to smallest forms
Reduc'd thir shapes immense, and were at large,
[ 790 ]
Though without number still amidst the Hall
Of that infernal Court. But far within
And in
thir own dimensions like themselves
The great
Seraphic Lords and Cherubim
In close recess and secret
conclave sat
[ 795 ]
A thousand
Demy-Gods on golden seats,
Frequent and full. After short silence then
And summons read, the great consult began.
The End of the First Book.
The text is made available here from <https://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/text.shtml> only for educational purpose.
