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 shewn
On Man by him feduc't, but on himself
Treble confufion, wrath and vengeance pour'd.
Forthwith upright he rears from off the Pool
His mighty Stature; on each hand the flames
Drivn backward flope their pointing fpires, & rowld
In billows, leave i'th' midft a horrid Vale.
Then with expanded wings he ftears his flight
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 230
Of fubterranean wind tranfports a Hill
Torn from Pelorus, or the shatter'd fide
Of thundring Ætna, whose combustible
And fewel'd entrals thence conceiving Fire,
Sublim'd with Mineral fury, aid the Winds,
And leave a finged bottom all involv'd
With stench and smoak: Such refting found the fole
Of unbleft feet. Him followed his next Mate,
Both glorying to have fcap't the Stygian flood
As Gods, and by their own recover'd ftrength, 240
Not by the fufferance of fupernal Power.
Is this the Region, this the Soil, the Clime,
Said then the loft Arch Angel, this the feat
That we must change for Heav'n, this mournful
For that celestial light? Be it fo, fince hee [gloom
Who now is Sovran can dispose and bid
What shall be right: fardest from him is best
Whom reafon hath equald, force hath made fupream
Above his equals. Farewel happy Fields
Where Joy for ever dwells: Hail horrours, hail
Infernal world, and thou profoundest 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 it self
Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n.
What matter where, if I be still the fame,
And what I should be, all but less then hee
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 secure, and in my choyce
To reign is worth ambition though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav'n.
But wherefore let we then our faithful friends,
Th' affociates and copartners of our loss
Lye thus aftonisht 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
Regaind in Heav'n, or what more loft in Hell?
So Satan spake, and him Beelzebub
Thus answer'd. Leader of those Armies bright, Which but th' Omnipotent none could have foyld, If once they hear that voyce, their livelieft pledge
Of hope in fears and dangers, heard so oft
In worst extreams, 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 lye
Groveling and proftrate on yon Lake of Fire, 280
As we erewhile, astounded and amaz'd,
No wonder, fall'n fuch a pernicious highth.
He scarce had ceas't when the superiour Fiend
Was moving toward the shore; his ponderous fhield
Ethereal temper, maffy, large and round,
Behind him caft; the broad circumference
Hung on his shoulders like the Moon, whofe Orb
Through Optic Glafs the Tuscan Artist views
At Ev'ning from the top of Fefale,
Or in Valdarno, to defcry new Lands,
Rivers or Mountains in her spotty Globe.
His Spear, to equal which the tallest Pine
Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the Mast
Of fome great Ammiral, were but a wand,
He walkt with to support uneafie steps
Over the burning Marle, not like those steps
On Heavens Azure, and the torrid Clime
Smote on him fore befides, vaulted with Fire;
Nathless he fo endur'd, till on the Beach
Of that inflamed Sea, he stood and call'd
His Legions, Angel Forms, who lay intrans't
Thick as Autumnal Leaves that ftrow the Brooks
In Vallombrofa, where th' Etrurian shades
High overarch❜t imbowr; or scatterd fedge
Afloat, when with fierce Winds Orion arm'd
Hath vext the Red-Sea Coaft, whofe waves ore
Bufiris and his Memphian Chivalrie,
While with perfidious hatred they purfu'd
The Sojourners of Goshen, who beheld
From the safe shore their floating Carkafes
And broken Chariot Wheels, fo thick beftrown
Abject and loft lay thefe, covering the Flood,
Under amazement of their hideous change.
He call'd fo loud, that all the hollow Deep
Of Hell refounded. Princes, Potentates,
Warriers, the Flowr of Heav'n, once yours, now loft,
If fuch astonishment as this can fieze
Eternal spirits; or have ye chos'n this place
After the toyl of Battel to repofe
Your wearied vertue, for the ease you find
To flumber here, as in the Vales of Heav'n?
Or in this abject posture have ye fworn
To adore the Conquerour? who now beholds
Cherube and Seraph rowling in the Flood
With scatter'd Arms and Enfigns, till anon
His swift pursuers from Heav'n Gates discern
Th' advantage, and descending tread us down
Thus drooping, or with linked Thunderbolts
Transfix us to the bottom of this Gulfe.
Awake, arise, or be for ever fall'n.
They heard, and were abasht, and up they sprung Upon the wing, as when men wont to watch On duty, fleeping found by whom they dread, Rouse and beftir themselves ere well awake. Nor did they not perceave the evil plight In which they were, or the fierce pains not feel; Yet to their Generals Voyce they soon obeyd Innumerable. As when the potent Rod
Of Amrams Son in Egypts evill day
Wav'd round the Coast, up call'd a pitchy cloud
Of Locusts, warping on the Eastern Wind,
That ore the Realm of impious Pharaoh hung
Like Night, and darken'd all the Land of Nile:
So numberless were those bad Angels feen
Hovering on wing under the Cope of Hell
"Twixt upper, nether, and furrounding Fires;
Till, as a fignal giv'n, th' uplifted Spear
Of their great Sultan waving to direct
Thir course, in even ballance down they light
On the firm brimstone, and fill all the Plain; 350
A multitude, like which the populous North
Pour'd never from her frozen loyns, to pass
Rhene or the Danaw, when her barbarous Sons
Came like a Deluge on the South, and spread
Beneath Gibraltar to the Lybian sands.
Forthwith from every Squadron and each Band
The Heads and Leaders thither haft where stood
Their great Commander; Godlike shapes and forms
Excelling human, Princely Dignities,
And Powers that earft in Heaven fat on Thrones;
Though of their Names in heav'nly Records now
Be no memorial, blotted out and ras'd
By thir Rebellion, from the Books of Life.
Nor had they yet among the Sons of Eve
Got them new Names, till wandring ore the Earth,
Through Gods high sufferance for the tryal of man,
By falfities and lyes the greatest part
Of Mankind they corrupted to forfake
God their Creator, and th' invifible
Glory of him, that made them, to transform
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