Page images
PDF
EPUB

But what if he our conqu'ror (whom I now

Of force believe almighty, fince no less

Than fuch could have o'er-pow'r'd fuch force as ours) Have left us this our spi'rit and ftrength entire Strongly to fuffer and fupport our pains,

That we may fo fuffice his vengeful ire,
Or do him mightier service as his thralls
By right of war, whate'er his bufinefs be,
Here in the heart of Hell to work in fire,
Or do his errands in the gloomy deep;
What can it then avail, though yet we feel
Strength undiminish'd, or eternal being

150

To undergo eternal punishment?

155

Whereto with speedy words th' Arch-Fiend reply'd.

Fall'n Cherub, to be weak is miferable

Doing or fuffering: but of this be sure,
To do ought good never will be our task,
But ever to do ill our fole delight,

As be'ing the contrary to his high will
Whom we refift. If then his providence
Out of our evil feek to bring forth good,
Our labor must be to pervert that end,
And out of good still to find means of evil;
Which oft-times may fucceed, fo as perhaps
Shall grieve him, if I fail not, and disturb
His inmoft counfels from their deftin'd aim,

160

165

But fee the angry victor hath recall'd

His minifters of vengeance and pursuit

170

Back to the gates of Heav'n: the fulphurous hail
Shot after us in ftorm, o'erblown hath laid

The

The fiery furge, 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 fhafts, and ceases now
To bellow through the vast and boundless deep.
Let us not flip th' occafion, whether fcorn,
Or fatiate fury yield it from our foe.
Seeft thou yon dreary plain, forlorn and wild,
The feat of defolation, void of light,
Save what the glimmering of these livid flames
Cafts pale and dreadful? Thither let us tend
From off the toffing of these fiery waves,

There reft, if any rest can harbour there,
And re-affembling our afflicted Powers,
Confult how we may henceforth most offend
Our enemy, our own lofs how repair,
How overcome this dire calamity,
What reinforcement we may gain from hope,
If not what refolution from despair.

Thus Satan talking to his nearest mate
With head up-lift above the wave, and eyes
That sparkling blaz'd, his other parts befides.
Prone on the flood, extended long and large
Lay floting many a rood, in bulk as huge
As whom the fables name of monftrous fize,
Titanian, or Earth-born, that warr'd on Jove,
Briareos or Typhon, whom the den

By ancient Tarfus held, or that fea-beaft
Leviathan, which God of all his works
Created hugeft that fwim th' ocean stream:

180

185

190

195

200

Him haply flumb'ring on the Norway foam
The pilot of fome fmall night-founder'd skiff
Deeming fome iland, oft, as fea-men tell,
With fixed anchor in his skaly rind

Moors by his fide under the lee, while night
Invests the fea, and wished morn delays:

205

210

215

So ftretch'd out huge in length the Arch-Fiend lay
Chain'd on the burning lake, nor ever thence
Had ris'n or heav'd his head, but that the will
And high permiffion 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 fought
Evil to others, and enrag'd might fee
How all his malice ferv'd but to bring forth
Infinite goodness, grace and mercy shown
On Man by him feduc'd, but on himself
Treble confufion, wrath and vengeance pour'd.
Forthwith upright he rears from off the pool
His mighty ftature; on each hand the flames
Driv'n backward flope their pointing spires, and roll'd
In billows, leave i' th' midst a horrid vale.

220

Then with expanded wings he steers 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 folid, as the lake with liquid fire;
And fuch appear'd in hue, as when the force
Of fubterranean wind transports a hill
Torn from Pelorus, or the fhatter'd fide

230

Of

Of thund'ring Ætna, whofe combuftible

And fuel'd entrails thence conceiving fire,
Sublim'd with mineral fury, aid the winds,
And leave a finged bottom all involv'd

235

With stench and smoke: Such refting found the fole
Of unbleft feet. Him follow'd his next mate,
Both glorying to have 'fcap'd the Stygian flood
As Gods, and by their own recover'd strength,
Not by the fufferance of fupernal Power.

Is this the region, this the foil, the clime,
Said then the loft Arch-Angel, this the feat

240

That we muft change for Heav'n, this mournful gloom For that celestial light? Be' it so, since he

Who now is Sovran can dispose and bid

What fhall be right: fartheft from him is beft,

245

Whom reas'on hath equal'd, force hath made fupreme Above his equals. Farewell happy fields,

Where joy for ever dwells: Hail horrors, hail

250

Infernal world, and thou profoundesft Hell

Receive thy new poffeffor; one who brings
A mind not to be chang'd by place or time.
The mind is its own place, and in itself

Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heaven,
What matter where, if I be still the same,

And what I fhould be, all but less than he

Whom thunder hath made greater? Here at least
We shall be free; th' Almighty hath not built
Here for his envy, will not drive us hence :
Here we may reign fecure, and in my choice
To reign is worth ambition though in Hell :

255

269

Better

Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.

But wherefore let we then our faithful friends,

265

Th' affociates and copartners of our lofs,
Lie thus aftonish'd on th' oblivious pool,
And call them not to share with us their part
In this unhappy manfion, or once more
With rallied arms to try what may be yet
Regain'd in Heav'n, or what more loft in Hell?

So Satan fpake, and him Beëlzebub
Thus anfwer'd. Leader of thofe armies bright,
Which but th' Omnipotent none could have foil'd,
If once they hear that voice, their livelieft pledge
Of hope in fears and dangers, heard fo oft
In worst extremes, and on the perilous edge
Of battel when it rag'd, in all affaults
Their fureft fignal, they will foon resume
New courage and revive, though now they lie
Groveling and proftrate on yon lake of fire,
As we ere while, aftounded and amaz'd,
No wonder, fall'n fuch a pernicious highth.

270

275

280

Was moving tow'ard the fhore; his pond'rous fhield,

He fcarce had ceas'd when the fuperior Fiend

Ethereal temper, maffy, large and round,

Behind him caft; the broad circumference

285

Hung on his shoulders like the moon, whose orb
-Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views
At evening from the top of Fefolé,
Or in Valdarno, to defcry new lands,
Rivers or mountains in her spotty globe.
His fpear, to equal which the tallest pine

290

Hewn

« ՆախորդըՇարունակել »