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 honor his anointed Son avenged
Upon his enemies, and to declare
All power on him transferr'd: whence to his Son, The Assessor of his throne, he thus began:
Effulgence of my glory, Son beloved,
Son, in whose face invisible is beheld
Visibly what by Deity I am;
And in whose hand what by decree I do, Second Omnipotence! two days are pass'd, 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 dangerous to the main. Two days are therefore pass'd, 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 govern'd 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; 710 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 received;
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, declar'st 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 prepared ill mansion driven down, To chains of darkness, and the undying worm; That from thy just abedience could revolt,
Whom to obey is happiness entire.
Then shall thy Saints unmix'd, and from the impure Far separate, circling thy holy mount,
Unfeigned Hallelujahs to thee sing,
Hymns of high praise, and I among them Chief. 745 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 whirl- The chariot of Paternal Deity,
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 wheels Of beryl, and careering fires between;
Over their heads a crystal firmament,
Whereon a sapphire throne, inlaid with pure
Amber, and colors 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-winged; 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 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 height, Stood reembattled fierce, by force or fraud
Weening to prosper, and at length prevail Against God and Messiah, or to fall
In universal ruin last; 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 honor'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 arrived; 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 840
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-visaged Four Distinct with eyes, and from the living wheels Distinct alike with multitude of eyes; One Spirit in them ruled; and every eye
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