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 prope; 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
Lofe 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 matchlefs chief: As when from mountain tops the dufky clouds. Afcending, while the north-wind fleeps, o'er-fpread Heav'n's chearful face, the louring element Scowls o'er the darken'd landfkip fnow, or fhower; 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 thame to men! Devil with Devil damn'd
Firm concord holds, men only difagree Of creatures rational, though under hope
Of heav'nly grace: and God proclaming peace, Yet live in hatred, enmity, and strife 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 deftruction wait. The Stygian council thus diffolv'd; and forth In order came the grand infernal peers: Midft came their mighty paramount, and feem'd Alone th' antagonist of Heav'n, nor lefs Than Hell's dread emperor with pomp fupreme, And God-like imitated state; 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 fhout return'd them loud acclame. 520 Thence more at eafe their minds, and fomewhat rais'd By false prefumptuous hope, the ranged Powers Disband, and, wand'ring, each his feveral way Purfues, as inclination or fad choice
Leads him perplex'd, where he may likelieft find 525 Truce to his reftlefs thoughts, and entertain The irkfome hours, till his great chief return. Part on the plain, or in the air fublime, Upon the wing, or in fwift race contend, As at th' Olympian games or Pythian fields; Part curb their fiery feeds, or fhun 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 close; with feats of arms From either end of Heav'n the welkin burns. Others with vaft Typhoean 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 Theffalian 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 should inthrall to force or chance.
Their fong was partial, but the harmony
(What could it lefs when Spi'rits immortal fing?) Sufpended Hell, and took with ravishment
The thronging audience. In difcourse more sweet 555 (For eloquence the foul, fong charms the fenfe,) Others apart fat on a hill retir'd,
In thoughts more elevate, and reafon'd high Of providence, foreknowledge, will, and fate, Fix'd fate, free will, foreknowledge abfolute, And found no end, in wand'ring mazes lost. Of good and evil much they argued then, Of happiness and final mifery,
Paffion and apathy, and glory' and shame, Vain wisdom all, and falfe philosophy : Yet with a pleafing forcery could charm Pain for a while or anguish, and excite Fallacious hope, or arm th' obdured breaft With stubborn patience as with triple steel. Another part in fquadrons and gross 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
Whofe waves of torrent fire inflame with rage. Far off from thefe a flow and filent stream, Lethe the river of oblivion rolls
Her watry labyrinth, whereof who drinks, Forthwith his former ftate 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 forms Of whirlwind and dire hail, which on firm land Thaws not, but gathers heap, and ruin feems Of ancient pile; or elfe deep fnow and ice, A guif profound as that Serbonian bog Betwixt Damiata and Mount Cafius old,
Where armies whole have funk: the parching air Burns frore, and cold performs th' effect of fire. Thither by harpy-footed furies hal'd
At certain revolutions all the damn'd
Are brought; and feel by turns the bitter change
Of fierce extremes, extremes by change more fierce, From beds of raging fire to starve in ice
Their foft ethereal warmth, and there to pine Immoveable, infix'd, and frozen round, Periods of time, thence hurried back to fire, They ferry over this Lethéan found
Both to and fro, their forrow to augment, And wish and struggle, as they pafs, to reach The tempting ftream, with one small drop to lose In fweet forgetfulness all pain and woe, All in one moment, and fo near the brink; But fate withstands, and to oppose th' attempt Medufa with Gorgonian terror guards The ford, and of itself the water flies. All taste of living wight, as once it fled The lip of Tantalus.. Thus roving on
In cónfus'd march forlorn, th' adventrous bands 615. With fhudd'ring horror pale, and eyes aghast, View'd first their lamentable lot, and found No reft: through many a dark and dreary vale They pafs'd, and many a region dolorous, Q'er many a frozen, many a fiery Alp,
Rocks, caves,lakes, fens, bogs, dens, and fhades of death, A universe of death, which God by curfe
Created ev'il, for evil only good,
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