Than unknown dangers, and as hard escape ?
But I fhould ill become this throne, O Peers,
And this imperial fovranty, adorn'd
With fplendor, arm'd with power, if ought propos'd And judg'd of public moment, in the shape
Of difficulty or danger could deter
Me from attempting. Wherefore do' I affume 450 Thefe royalties, and not refuse to reign,
Refufing to accept as great a share
Of hazard as of honor, due alike
To him who reigns, and so much to him due
Of hazard more, as he above the reft
High honor'd fits? Go therefore, mighty Powers,
Terror of Heav'n, though fall'n; intend at home,
While here fhall be our home, what best may ease
The prefent mifery, and render Hell
More tolerable; if there be cure or charm
To refpite, or deceive, or flack the pain
Of this ill manfion: intermit no watch
Against a wakeful foe, while I abroad
Through all the coafts of dark deftruction feek
Deliverance for us all this enterprise
None fhall partake with me. Thus faying rofe
The Monarch, and prevented all reply,
Prudent, left from his refolution rais'd
Others among the chief might offer now
(Certain to be refus'd) what erft they fear'd;
And fo refus'd might in opinion stand
His rivals, winning cheap the high repute
Which he through hazard huge muft earn. But they
Dreaded not more th' adventure than his voice
Forbidding; and at once with him they rofe;
Their rifing all at once was as the found
Of thunder heard remote. Tow'ards him they bend
With awful reverence prone; and as a God
Extol him equal to the Hig'heft in Heav'n:
Nor fail'd they to exprefs how much they prais'd, 480
That for the general fafety he defpis'd
His own: for neither do the Spirits damn'd
Lose all their virtue; left bad men should boast
Their fpecious deeds on earth, which glory' excites,
Or clofe ambition varnish'd o'er with zeal.
Thus they their doubtful confultations dark
Ended rejoicing in their matchless chief:
As when from mountain tops the dusky clouds
Afcending, while the north-wind fleeps, o'er-fpread
Heav'n's chearful face, the louring element 490
Scowls o'er the darken'd landskip fnow, or shower;
If chance the radiant fun with farewel fweet
Extend his evening beam, the fields revive,
The birds their notes renew, and bleating herds
Atteft their joy, that hill and valley rings.
O fhame to men! Devil with Devil damn'd
Firm concord holds, men only disagree
Of creatures rational, though under hope
Of heav'nly grace: and God proclaming peace,
Yet live in hatred, enmity, and ftrife
Among themselves, and levy cruel wars,
Wafting the earth, each other to destroy:
As if (which might induce us to accord)
Man had not hellish foes enow befides,
That day and night for his destruction wait.
The Stygian council thus diffov'd; and forth
In order came the grand infernal peers:
Midst came their mighty paramount, and seem'è
Alone th' antagonist of Heav'n, nor less
Than Hell's dread emperor with pomp fupreme, 510
And God-like imitated ftate; him round
A globe of fiery Seraphim inclos'd
With bright imblazonry, and horrent arms.
Then of their feffion ended they bid cry
With trumpets regal found the great result:
Tow'ards the four winds four speedy Cherubim
Put to their mouths the founding alchemy
By heralds voice explain'd; the hollow' abyss
Heard far and wide, and all the hoft of Hell
With deafning shout return'd them loud acclame. 520
Thence more at ease their minds, and fomewhat rais'd
By false presumptuous hope, the ranged Powers
Disband, and, wand'ring, each his several way
Purfues, as inclination or fad choice
Leads him perplex'd, where he may likelieft find 525
Truce to his restless thoughts, and entertain
The irksome hours, till his great chief return.
Part on the plain, or in the air fublime,
Upon the wing, or in swift race contend,
As at th' Olympian games or Pythian fields;
Part curb their fiery steeds, or shun the goal
With rapid wheels, or fronted brigads form.
As when to warn proud cities war appears
Wag'd in the troubled sky, and armies rush
To battel in the clouds, before each van
Prick forth the aery knights, and couch their spears
Till thickest legions clofe; with feats of arms
From either end of Heav'n the welkin burns,
Others with vaft Typhoan rage more fell
Rend up both rocks and hills, and ride the air
In whirlwind; Hell fcarce holds the wild uproar.
As when Alcides, from Oechalia crown'd
With conqueft, felt th' envenom'd robe, and tore
Through pain up by the roots Thessalian pines,
And Lichas from the top of Oeta threw
Into th' Euboic fea. Others more mild,
Retreated in a filent valley, fing
With notes angelical to many a harp
Their own heroic deeds and hapless fall
By doom of battel; and complain that fate
Free virtue fhould inthrall to force or chance.
Their fong was partial, but the harmony
(What could it less when Spi'rits immortal fing?) Sufpended Hell, and took with ravishment
The thronging audience. In discourse more sweet 555 (For eloquence the foul, song charms the sense), Others apart fat on a hill retir'd,
In thoughts more elevate, and reason'd high
Of providence, foreknowledge, will, and fate,
Fix'd fate, free will, foreknowledge abfolute,
And found no end, in wand'ring mazes loft.
Of good and evil much they argued then,
Of happiness and final mifery,
Paffion and apathy, and glory' and fhame,
Vain wisdom all, and false philofophy:
Yet with a pleafing forcery could charm
Pain for a while or anguish, and excite
Fallacious hope, or arm th' obdured breast
With stubborn patience as with triple steel.
Another part in fquadrons and grofs bands,
On bold adventure to difcover wide
That difmal world, if any clime perhaps
Might yield them easier habitation, bend
Four ways their flying march, along the banks
Of four infernal rivers, that difgorge
Into the burning lake their baleful streams;
Abhorred Styx, the flood of deadly hate;
Sad Acheron of forrow, black and deep;
Cocytus, nam'd of lamentation loud
Heard on the rueful ftream; fierce Phlegethon 580
Whose waves of torrent fire inflame with rage.
Far off from these a flow and filent stream,
Lethe the river of oblivion rolls
Her watry labyrinth, whereof who drinks,
Forthwith his former state and be'ing forgets,
Forgets both joy and grief, pleasure and pain.
Beyond this flood a frozen continent
Lies dark and wild, beat with perpetual storms
Of whirlwind and dire hail, which on firm land
Thaws not, but gathers heap, and ruin seems
Of ancient pile; or else deep fnow and ice,
A gulf profound as that Serbonian bog
Betwixt Damiata and Mount Cafius old,
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