Betwixt the Centaur and the Scorpion steering His zenith, while the sun in Aries rose.
Disguised he came; but those his children dear 330 Their parent soon discern'd, though in disguise.
He, after Eve seduced, unminded slunk
Into the wood fast by, and changing shape T'observe the sequel, saw his guileful act By Eve, though all unweeting, seconded Upon her husband, saw their shame that sought Vain covertures; but when he saw descend The Son of God to judge them, terrify'd He fled, not hoping to escape, but shun The present, fearing guilty what his wrath Might suddenly inflict; that pass'd, return'd By night, and list'ning where the hapless pair Sat in their sad discourse, and various plaint, Thence gather'd his own doom, which understood Not instant, but of future time, with joy And tidings fraught, to Hell he now return'd, And at the brink of Chaos, near the foot Of this new wondrous pontifice, unhoped Met who to meet him came, his offspring dear. Great joy was at their meeting, and at sight Of that stupendous bridge his joy increased. Long he admiring stood, till Sin, his fair Enchanting daughter, thus the silence broke:
O Parent, these are thy magnific deeds,
Thy trophies, which thou view'st as not thine own! Thou art their author and prime architect:
For I no sooner in my heart divined,
My heart, which by a secret harmony
Still moves with thine, join'd in connexion sweet,
That thou on earth hadst prosper'd, which thy looks
Now also evidence, but straight I felt,
Tho' distant from thee worlds between, yet felt That I must after thee with this thy son; Such fatal consequence unites us three: Hell could no longer hold us in her bounds, Nor this unvoyageable gulf obscure Detain from following thy illustrious track. Thou hast achieved our liberty, confined
Within Heli-gates till now; thou us impower'd
328. To avoid the observation of Uriel, the constellations through which Satan passed being the most distant from Aries.
To fortify thus far, and overlay
With this portentous bridge the dark abyss. Thine now is all this world; thy virtue' hath won What thy hands builded not; thy wisdom gain'd With odds what war hath lost, and fully 'venged 374 Our foil in Heav'n: here thou shalt monarch reign; There didst not; there let him still victor sway, As battle hath adjudged, from this new world Retiring, by his own doom alienated, And henceforth monarchy with thee divide Of all things parted by th' empyreal bounds, His quadrature, from thy orbicular world, Or try thee now more dangerous to his throne. Whom thus the Prince of darkness answer'd glad; Fair Daughter, and thou Son and Grandchild both, High proof ye now have given to be the race Of Satan (for I glory in the name,
Antagonist of Heav'n s Almighty King);
Amply have merited of me, of all
Th' infernal empire, that so near Heav'n's door Triumphal with triumphal act have met,
Mine with this glorious work, and made one realm Hell and this world, one realm, one continent Of easy thoroughfare. Therefore, while I
Descend through darkness, on your road with ease,
To my associate Pow'rs, them to acquaint With these successes, and with them rejoice,
You two this way, among these numerous orbs All yours, right down to Paradise descend; There dwell and reign in bliss, thence on the earth Dominion exercise, and in the air, Chiefly on Man, sole lord of all declared; Him first make sure your thrall, and lastly kill. My substitutes I send ye, and create Plenipotent on earth, of matchless might Issuing from me. On your joint vigour now My hold of this new kingdom all depends, Through Sin to Death exposed by my exploit. If your joint pow'r prevail, th' affairs of Hell No detriment need fear. Go, and be strong.
So saying, he dismiss'd them; they with speed 410 Their course through thickest constellations held,
38. Antagonist, the meaning of the Hebrew word Satan
Spreading their bane; the blasted stars look'd wan, And planets, planet-struck, real eclipse
Then suffer'd. Th' other way Satan went down The causey to Hell-gate; on either side Disparted Chaos over-built exclaim'd,
And with rebounding surge the bars assail'd That scorn'd his indignation. Through the gate, Wide open and unguarded, Satan pass'd, And all about found desolate; for those Appointed to sit there had left their charge, Flown to the upper world; the rest were all Far to th' inland retired, about the walls
Of Pandemonium, city and proud seat Of Lucifer, so by allusion call'd,
Of that bright star to Satan paragon'd.
There kept their watch the legions, while the Grand
In council sat, solicitous what chance
Might intercept their emperor sent; so he
Departing, gave command; and they observed. 430 As when the Tartar from his Russian foe
By Astracan over the snowy plains Retires, or Bactrian Sophi from the horns Of Turkish crescent, leaves all waste beyond The realm of Aladule, in his retreat
To Tauris or Casbeen, so these the late Heav'n-banish'd host, left desert utmost Hell Many a dark league, reduced in careful watch Round their metropolis, and now expecting
Each hour their great advent'rer from the search 440 Of foreign worlds; he through the midst, unmark'd, In show plebeian Angel militant
Of lowest order, pass'd; and from the door Of that Plutonian hall, invisible, Ascended his high throne, which under state Of richest texture spread, at th' upper end Was placed in regal lustre. Down a while He sat, and round about him saw, unseen.
412. See Ovid, Met. ii. 791.
426. Paragon'd, from the French parungonner. 432. Astracan, a large city in one of the islands of the Volga. -Sophi, the king of Persia, who is styled Bactrian, from one of the richest of the Persian provinces.
435. Aladule, the greater Armenia.-Tauris, a city in Persia, now called Ecbatana-Casbeen, another great city in the same Country.
At last, as from a cloud, his fulgent head
And shape star-bright appear'd, or brighter, clad 450 With what permissive glory since his fall Was left him, or false glitter. All amazed At that so sudden blaze, the Stygian throng Bent their aspect, and whom they wish'd beheld, Their mighty chief return'd. Loud was th' acclaim: Forth rush'd in haste the great consulting peers, 456 Raised from their dark Divan, and with like joy Congratulant approach'd him, who with hand Silence, and with these words attention won:
Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues, Pow'rs,
For in possession such, not only' of right,
I call ye, and declare ye now, return'd Successful beyond hope, to lead ye forth Triumphant out of this infernal pit Abominable, accursed, the house of woe, And dungeon of our tyrant. Now possess,
As Lords, a spacious world, to' our native Heav'n
Little inferior, by my adventure hard
With peril great achieved. Long were to tell
What I have done, what suffer'd, with what pain 470 Voyaged th' unreal, vast, unbounded deep
Of horrible confusion, over which
By Sin and Death a broad way now is paved To expedite your glorious march; but I Toil'd out my uncouth passage, forced to ride Th' untractable abyss, plunged in the womb Of unoriginal Night and Chaos wild, That jealous of their secrets fiercely opposed My journey strange, with clamorous uproar Protesting Fate supreme; thence how I found The new-created world, which fame in Heav'n Long had foretold, a fabric wonderful, Of absolute perfection, therein Man Placed in a Paradise, by our exile
Made happy. Him by fraud I have seduced From his Creator, and the more to' increase Your wonder, with an apple! He thereat Offended (worth your laughter) hath given up Both his beloved Man and all his world, To Sin and Death a prey, and so to us, Without our hazard, labour, or alarm,
To range in, and to dwell, and over Man To rule, as over all he should have ruled. True is, me also he hath judged, or rather Me not, but the brute Serpent, in whose shape Man I deceived. That which to me belongs Is enmity, which he will put between
Me and mankind: I am to bruise his heel;
His seed (when is not set) shall bruise my head.
A world who would not purchase with a bruise, 500 Or much more grievous pain? Ye have th' account Of my performance: What remains, ye Gods, But up and enter now into full bliss?
So having said, a while he stood, expecting Their universal shout and high applause To fill his ear; when, contrary, he hears On all sides, from innumerable tongues A dismal universal hiss, the sound Of public scorn. He wonder'd, but not long Had leisure, wond'ring at himself now more: His visage drawn he felt to sharp and spare, His arms clung to his ribs, his legs intwining Each other, till supplanted down he fell A monstrous serpent on his belly prone, Reluctant, but in vain; a greater Pow'r Now ruled him, punish'd in the shape he sinn'd, According to his doom. He would have spoke, But hiss for hiss return'd with forked tongue To forked tongue; for now were all transform'd Alike; to serpents all as accessories To his bold riot. Dreadful was the din
Of hissing through the hall, thick swarming now With complicated monsters, head and tail, Scorpion, and Asp, and Amphisbæna dire, Cerastes horn'd, Hydrus, and Elops drear, And Dipsas (not so thick swarm'd once the soil
504. The transformation of the fallen angels mentioned in this passage is a fine invention, and one of those bold marvels which so well fit the nature of epic poetry.
513. Supplanted, here used in its original sense, from the Latin supplantare, to trip up by the heels.
524. Amphisbæna, a serpent with a head at both ends of its body; Cerastes, as here called, a horned snake; Hydrus, a water snake; Elops, a serpent which gives no notice of its approach⚫ and Dipsas, one which occasions a feverish thirst by its bite.
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