When coming towards them, so dread, they saw
The bottom of the mountains upward turn'd;
Till, on those cursed engines triple-row,
They saw them whelm'd, and all their confidence,
Under the weight of mountains, buried deep;
Themselves invaded next, and on their heads,
Main promotories flung, which in the air
Came shadowing, and oppress'd whole legions arm'd.
Their armour help'd their harm, crush'd in, bruis'd,
Into their substance pent, which wrought them pain
Implacable, and many a dolorous groan,
Long struggling underneath, ere they could wind
Out of such prison; though spirits of purest light,
Purest at first, now gross by sinning grown.
The rest, in imitation, to like arms
Betook them, and the neighbouring hills uptore;
So hills amid the air encounter'd hills,
Hurl'd to and fro, with jaculation dire,
That under ground they fought, in dismal shade;
Infernal noise. War seem'd a civil game
To this uproar; horrid confusion, heap'd
Upon confusion, rose and now all Heaven
Had gone to wrack, with ruin overspread,
Had not the almighty Father, where he sits
Shrined in his sanctuary of Heaven secure,
Consulting on the sum of things, foreseen
This tumult, and permitted all, advised:
That his great purpose he might so fulfil,
To honour his anointed Son, avenged
Upon his enemies, and to declare
All power on him transfer'd: whence to his Son,
The assessor of his throne, he thus began.
"Effulgence of my glory, Son belov'd,
Son, in whose face invisible, is beheld,
Visibly, what by Deity I am,
And in whose hand what by decrce I do,
Second Omnipotence; two days are past,
Two days, as we compute the days of Heaven,
Since Michael and his powers went forth to tame
These disobedient: sore hath been their fight,
As likeliest was, when two such foes met arm'd;
For to themselves I left them; and thou know'st,
Equal in their creation they were form'd
Save what sin hath impair'd, which yet hath wrought
Insensibly, for I suspend their doom;
Whence, in perpetual fight, they needs must last
Endless, and no solution will be found.
War, wearied, hath perform'd what war can do,
And to disorder'd rage let loose the reins,
With mountains as with weapons arm'd, which makes
Wild work in Heaven, and dang'rous to the main.
Two days are therefore past, the third is thine;
For thee I have ordain'd it, and thus far
Have suffer'd, that the glory may be thine
Of ending this great war, since none but thou
Can end it. Into thee such virtue and
grace
Immense I have transfused, that all may know
In Heaven and Hell, thy power above compare;
And this perverse commotion governed thus,
To manifest thee worthiest to be Heir,
Of all things to be Heir, and to be King
By sacred unction, thy deserved right.
Go then, thou Mightiest, in thy Father's might,
Ascend my chariot, guide the rapid wheels
That shake Heaven's basis, bring forth all my war,
My bow and thunder, my almighty arms
Gird on, and sword upon thy puissant thigh;
Pursue these sons of darkness, drive them out
From all Heaven's bounds, into the utter deep:
There let them learn, as likes them, to despise
God, and Messiah, his anointed King.'
"He said; and on his Son, with rays direct, Shone full: he, all his Father full express'd, Ineffably into his face receiv'd;
And thus, the filial Godhead answering spake :
"O Father, O Supreme of heavenly thrones,
First, highest, holiest, best, thou always seek'st
To glorify thy Son, I always thee,
As is most just; this I my glory account,
My exaltation, and my whole delight,
That thou, in me well pleased, declarest thy will
Fulfill'd, which to fulfil is all my bliss.
Sceptre and power, thy giving, I assume,
And gladlier shall resign, when in the end
Thou shalt be all in all, and I in thee
For ever, and in me all whom thou lovest:
But whom thou hatest, I hate, and can put on
Thy terrors, as I put thy mildness on,
Image of thee in all things; and shall soon,
Arm'd with thy might, rid Heaven of these rebell'd,
To their prepar'd ill mansion driven down,
To chains of darkness, and the undying worm,
That from thy just obedience could revolt,
Whom to obey is happiness entire.
Then shall thy saints unmix'd, & from the impure
Far separate, circling thy holy mount,
Unfeigned hallelujahs to thee sing,
Hymns of high praise, and I among them chief."
"So said, he, o'er his sceptre bowing, rose
From the right hand of glory, where he sat;
And the third sacred morn began to shine,
Dawning through Heaven. Forth rush'd with whirlwind
The chariot of paternal Deity, [sound
Flashing thick flames, wheel within wheel undrawn,
Itself instinct with Spirit, but convoy'd
By four cherubic shapes; four faces each
Had wondrous; as with stars their bodies all
And wings were set with eyes, with eyes the
Of beryl, and careering fires between; [wheels
Over their heads a crystal firmament,
Whereon a sapphire throne, inlaid with pure
Amber, and colours of the showery arch,
He, in celestial panoply all arm'd,
Of radiant urim, work divinely wrought,
Ascended; at his right hand victory
Sat eagle-wing'd; beside him hung his bow
And quiver, with three-bolted thunder stored,
And from about him, fierce effusion roll'd
Of smoke, and bickering flame, and sparkles dire.
Attended with ten thousand thousand saints,
He onward came, far off his coming shone;
And twenty thousand, I their number heard,
Chariots of God, half on each hand were seen
He, on the wings of cherub, rode sublime
On the crystalline sky, in sapphire throned,
Illustrious far and wide, but by his own
First seen; them unexpected joy surprised,
When the great ensign of Messiah blazed,
Aloft by angels borne, his sign in Heaven;
Under whose conduct Michael soon reduced
His army, circumfused on either wing,
Under their head embodied all in one.
Before him, Power Divine his way prepared;
At his command the uprooted hills retired,
Each to his place; they heard his voice, and went
Obsequious: Heaven his wonted face renew'd,
And with fresh flowerets hill and valley smiled.
This saw his hapless foes, but stood obdured,
And, to rebellious fight, rallied their powers
Insensate, hope conceiving from despair.
In heavenly spirits could such perverseness dwell?
But to convince the proud what signs avail,
Or wonders move the obdurate to relent?
They, harden'd more by what might most reclaim,
Grieving to see his glory, at the sight
Took envy and, aspiring to his highth,
Stood re-embattled fierce, by force or fraud
Weening to prosper, and at length prevail
Against God and Messiah, or to fall
In universal ruin lost; and now
To final battle drew, disdaining flight,
Or faint retreat; when the great Son of God
To all his host, on either hand thus spake.
"Stand still in bright array, ye saints; here stand
Ye angels arm'd; this day from battle rest:
Faithful hath been your warfare, and of God
Accepted, fearless in his righteous cause,
And as ye have received, so have ye done
Invincibly but of this cursed crew,
The punishment to other hand belongs;
Vengeance is his, or whose he sole appoints :
Number to this day's work is not ordain'd,
Nor multitude; stand only and behold
God's indignation, on these godless, pour'd
By me; not you, but me they have despised,
Yet envied; against me is all their rage,
Because the Father to whom, in Heaven supreme,
Kingdom and power and glory appertains,
Hath honour'd me according to his will.
Therefore, to me their doom he hath assign'd;
That they may have their wish, to try with me
In battle, which the stronger proves, they all,
Or I alone against them; since by strength
They measure all, of other excellence
Not emulous, nor care who them excels;
Nor other strife with them do I vouchsafe.'
"So spake the Son, and into terror changed
His countenance, too severe to be beheld,
And full of wrath bent on his enemies.
At once the four spread out their starry wings,
With dreadful shade contiguous, and the orbs
Of his fierce chariot roll'd, as with the sound
Of torrent floods, or of a numerous host.
He on his impious foes right onward drove,
Gloomy as night; under his burning wheels
The steadfast empyrean shook throughout,
All but the throne itself of God.
Full soon
Among them he arriv'd, in his right hand
Grasping ten thousand thunders, which he sent
Before him, such as in their souls infix'd
Plagues; they astonish'd, all resistance lost,
All courage; down their idle weapons dropp'd:
O'er shields, and helms, and helmed heads he rode,
Of thrones and mighty seraphim prostrate,
That wish'd the mountains now might be again
Thrown on them, as a shelter from his ire.
Nor less on either side tempestuous fell
His arrows, from the fourfold-visag'd four,
Distinct with eyes, and, from the living wheels,
Distinct alike with multitude of eyes;
One spirit in them ruled, and every eye
Glared lightning, and shot forth pernicious fire
Among the accursed, that wither'd all their strength,
And of their wonted vigour left them drain'd,
Exhausted, spiritless, afflicted, fall'n.
Yet half his strength he put not forth, but check'd
His thunder in mid volley; for he meant
Not to destroy, but root them out of Heaven :
The overthrown he raised, and, as a herd
Of goats, or timorous flock together throng'd,
Drove them before him, thunder-struck, pursued
With terrors and with furies, to the bounds
And crystal wall of Heaven; which opening wide,
Roll'd inward, and a spacious gap disclos'd,
Into the wasteful deep. The monstrous sight
Struck them with horror backward, but far worse
Urged them behind; headlong themselves they threw
Down from the verge of Heaven; eternal wrath
Burnt after them, to the bottomless pit.
"Hell heard the unsufferable noise, Hell saw
Heaven running from Heaven, and would have fled,
Affrighted; but strict fate had cast too deep
Her dark foundations, and too fast had bound.
Nine days they fell: confounded Chaos roar'd,
And felt tenfold confusion in their fall,
Through his wild anarchy, so huge rout
Encumber'd him with ruin. Hell at last,
Yawning, received them whole, and on them clos'd :
Hell, their fit habitation, fraught with fire
Unquenchable, the house of woe and pain.
Disburden'd Heaven rejoiced; and soon repair'd
Her mural breach, returning whence it roll'd.
Sole victor, from the expulsion of his foes
Messiah his triumphant chariot turn'd.
To meet him all his saints, who silent stood,
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