The Fifth Book
¶THE ARGUMENT . — Morning approached. Eve relates to Adam her troublesome dream; he likes it not, yet comforts her: they come forth to their day labours: their morning hymn at the door of their bower. God , to render Man inexcusable, sends Raphael to admonish him of his obedience, of his free estate, of his enemy near at hand, who he is, and why his enemy, and whatever else may avail Adam to know. Raphael comes down to Paradise; his appearance described; his coming discerned by Adam afar off, sitting at the door of his bower; he goes out to meet him, brings him to his lodge, entertains him with the choicest fruits of Paradise, got together by Eve ; their discourse at table. Raphael performs his message, minds Adam of his state and of his enemy; relates, at Adam ' s request, who that enemy is, and how he came to be so, beginning from his first revolt in Heaven, and the occasion thereof; how he drew his legions after him to the parts of the North, and there incited them to rebel with him, persuading all but only Abdiel, a seraph, who in argument dissuades and opposes him, then forsakes him.
¶Now Morn, her rosy steps in the eastern climeAdvancing, sowed the earth with orient pearl,When Adam waked, so customed; for his sleep[181]Was aerie light, from pure digestion bred,And temperate vapours bland, which the only soundOf leaves and fuming rills, Aurora's fan,Lightly dispersed, and the shrill matin songOf birds on every bough. So much the moreHis wonder was to find unwakened Eve,With tresses discomposed, and glowing cheek,As through unquiet rest. He, on his sideLeaning half raised, with looks of cordial loveHung over her enamoured, and beheldBeauty which, whether waking or asleep,Shot forth peculiar graces; then, with voiceMild as when Zephyrus on Flora breathes,Her hand soft touching, whispered thus:—"Awake,My fairest, my espoused, my latest found,Heaven's last, best gift, my ever-new delight!Awake! the morning shines, and the fresh fieldCalls us; we lose the prime to mark how springOur tended plants, how blows the citron grove,What drops the myrrh, and what the balmy reed,How Nature paints her colours, how the beeSits on the bloom extracting liquid sweet."Such whispering waked her, but with startled eyeOn Adam; whom imbracing, thus she spake:—"O sole in whom my thoughts find all repose,My glory, my perfection! glad I seeThy face, and morn returned; for I this night(Such night till this I never passed) have dreamed,If dreamed, not, as I oft am wont, of thee,Works of day past, or morrow's next design;But of offence and trouble, which my mindKnew never till this irksome night. MethoughtClose at mine ear one called me forth to walkWith gentle voice; I thought it thine. It said,'Why sleep'st thou, Eve? now is the pleasant time,The cool, the silent, save where silence yieldsTo the night-warbling bird, that now awakeTunes sweetest his love-laboured song; now reignsFull-orbed the moon, and, with more pleasing light,Shadowy sets off the face of things—in vain,[182]If none regard. Heaven wakes with all his eyes;Whom to behold but thee, Nature's desire,In whose sight all things joy, with ravishmentAttracted by thy beauty still to gaze?'I rose as at thy call, but found thee not:To find thee I directed then my walk;And on, methought, alone I passed through waysThat brought me on a sudden to the TreeOf interdicted Knowledge. Fair it seemed,Much fairer to my fancy than by day;And, as I wondering looked, beside it stoodOne shaped and winged like one of those from HeavenBy us oft seen: his dewy locks distilledAmbrosia. On that Tree he also gazed;And, 'O fair plant,' said he, 'with fruit surcharged,Deigns none to ease thy load, and taste thy sweet,Nor God nor Man? Is knowledge so despised?Or envy, or what reserve forbids to taste?Forbid who will, none shall from me withholdLonger thy offered good, why else set here?'This said, he paused not, but with ventrous armHe plucked, he tasted. Me damp horror chilledAt such bold words vouched with a deed so bold;But he thus, overjoyed: 'O fruit divine,Sweet of thyself, but much more sweet thus cropt,Forbidden here, it seems, as only fitFor gods, yet able to make gods of men!And why not gods of men, since good, the moreCommunicated, more abundant grows,The author not impaired, but honoured more?Here, happy creature, fair angelic Eve!Partake thou also: happy though thou art,Happier thou may'st be, worthier canst not be.Taste this, and be henceforth among the godsThyself a goddess; not to Earth confined,But sometimes in the Air; as we; sometimesAscend to Heaven, by merit thine, and seeWhat life the gods live there, and such live thou.'So saying, he drew nigh, and to me held,Even to my mouth of that same fruit held part[183]Which he had plucked: the pleasant savoury smellSo quickened appetite that I, methought,Could not but taste. Forthwith up to the cloudsWith him I flew, and underneath beheldThe Earth outstretched immense, a prospect wideAnd various. Wondering at my flight and changeTo this high exaltation, suddenlyMy guide was gone, and I, methought, sunk down,And fell asleep; but, O, how glad I wakedTo find this but a dream!" Thus Eve her nightRelated, and thus Adam answered sad:—"Best image of myself, and dearer half,The trouble of thy thoughts this night in sleepAffects me equally; nor can I likeThis uncouth dream—of evil sprung, I fear;Yet evil whence? In thee can harbour none,Created pure. But know that in the soulAre many lesser faculties, that serveReason as chief. Among these Fancy nextHer office holds; of all external things,Which the five watchful senses represent,She forms imaginations, aerie shapes,Which Reason, joining or disjoining, framesAll what we affirm or what deny, and callOur knowledge or opinion; then retiresInto her private cell when Nature rests.Oft, in her absence, mimic Fancy wakesTo imitate her; but, misjoining shapes,Wild work produces oft, and most in dreams,111 matching words and deeds long past or late.Some such resemblances, methinks, I findOf our last evening's talk in this thy dream,But with addition strange. Yet be not sad:Evil into the mind of God or ManMay come and go, so unapproved, and leaveNo spot or blame behind; which gives me hopeThat what in sleep thou didst abhor to dreamWaking thou never wilt consent to do.Be not disheartened, then, nor cloud those looks,That wont to be more cheerful and serene[184]Than when fair Morning first smiles on the world;And let us to our fresh imployments riseAmong the groves, the fountains, and the flowers,That open now their choicest bosomed smells,Reserved from night, and kept for thee in store."So cheered he his fair spouse; and she was cheered,But silently a gentle tear let fallFrom either eye, and wiped them with her hair:Two other precious drops that ready stood,Each in their crystal sluice, he, ere they fell,Kissed as the gracious signs of sweet remorseAnd pious awe, that feared to have offended.So all was cleared, and to the field they haste.But first, from under shady arborous roofSoon as they forth were come to open sightOf day-spring, and the Sun—who, scarce uprisen,With wheels yet hovering o'er the ocean-brim,Shot parallel to the Earth his dewy ray,Discovering in wide lantskip all the eastOf Paradise and Eden's happy plains—Lowly they bowed, adoring, and beganTheir orisons, each morning duly paidIn various style; for neither various styleNor holy rapture wanted they to praiseTheir Maker, in fit strains pronounced, or sungUnmeditated; such prompt eloquenceFlowed from their lips, in prose or numerous verse,More tuneable than needed lute or harpTo add more sweetness. And they thus began:—"These are thy glorious works, Parent of good,Almighty! thine this universal frame,Thus wondrous fair: Thyself how wondrous then!Unspeakable! who sitt'st above these heavensTo us invisible, or dimly seenIn these thy lowest works; yet these declareThy goodness beyond thought, and power divine.Speak, ye who best can tell, ye Sons of Light,Angels—for ye behold him, and with songsAnd choral symphonies, day without night,Circle his throne rejoicing—ye in Heaven;[185]On Earth join, all ye creatures, to extolHim first, him last, him midst, and without end.Fairest of Stars, last in the train of Night,If better thou belong not to the Dawn,Sure pledge of day, that crown'st the smiling mornWith thy bright circlet, praise him in thy sphereWhile day arises, that sweet hour of prime.Thou Sun, of this great World both eye and soul,Acknowledge him thy Greater; sound his praiseIn thy eternal course, both when thou climb'st,And when high noon hast gained, and when thou fall'st.Moon, that now meet'st the orient Sun, now fliest,With the fixed Stars, fixed in their orb that flies;And ye five other wandering Fires, that moveIn mystic dance, not without song, resoundHis praise who out of Darkness called up Light.Air, and ye Elements, the eldest birthOf Nature's womb, that in quaternion runPerpetual circle, multiform, and mixAnd nourish all things, let your ceaseless changeVary to our great Maker still new praise.Ye Mists and Exhalations, that now riseFrom hill or steaming lake, dusky or gray,Till the sun paint your fleecy skirts with gold,In honour to the World's great Author rise;Whether to deck with clouds the uncoloured sky,Or wet the thirsty earth with falling showers,Rising or falling, still advance his praise.His praise, ye Winds, that from four quarters blow,Breathe soft or loud; and wave your tops, ye Pines,With every Plant, in sign of worship wave.Fountains, and ye, that warble, as ye flow,Melodious murmurs, warbling tune his praise.Join voices, all ye living Souls. Ye Birds,That, singing, up to Heaven-gate ascend,Bear on your wings and in your notes his praise.Ye that in waters glide, and ye that walkThe earth, and stately tread, or lowly creep,Witness if / be silent, morn or even,To hill or valley, fountain, or fresh shade,[186]Made vocal by my song, and taught his praise.Hail, universal Lord! Be bounteous stillTo give us only good; and, if the nightHave gathered aught of evil, or concealed,Disperse it, as now light dispels the dark."So prayed they innocent, and to their thoughtsFirm peace recovered soon, and wonted calm.On to their morning's rural work they haste,Among sweet dews and flowers, where any rowOf fruit-trees, over-woody, reached too farTheir pampered boughs, and needed hands to checkFruitless imbraces; or they led the vineTo wed her elm; she, spoused, about him twinesHer marriageable arms, and with her bringsHer dower, the adopted clusters, to adornHis barren leaves. Them thus imployed beheldWith pity Heaven's high King, and to him calledRaphael, the sociable Spirit, that deignedTo travel with Tobias, and securedHis marriage with the seven-times-wedded maid."Raphael," said he, "thou hear'st what stir on EarthSatan, from Hell scaped through the darksome Gulf,Hath raised in Paradise, and how disturbedThis night the human pair; now he designsIn them at once to ruin all mankind.Go, therefore; half this day, as friend with friend,Converse with Adam, in what bower or shadeThou find'st him from the heat of noon retiredTo respite his day-labour with repastOr with repose; and such discourse bring onAs may advise him of his happy state—Happiness in his power left free to will,Left to his own free will, his will though freeYet mutable. Whence warn him to bewareHe swerve not, too secure: tell him withalHis danger, and from whom; what enemy,Late fallen himself from Heaven, is plotting nowThe fall of others from like state of bliss.By violence? no, for that shall be withstood;But by deceit and lies. This let him know,[187]Lest, wilfully transgressing, he pretendSurprisal, unadmonished, unforewarned."So spake the Eternal Father, and fulfilledAll justice. Nor delayed the winged SaintAfter his charge received; but from amongThousand celestial Ardours, where he stoodVeiled with his gorgeous wings, upspringing light,Flew through the midst of Heaven. The angelic quiresOn each hand parting, to his speed gave wayThrough all the empyreal road, till, at the gateOf Heaven arrived, the gate self-opened wide,On golden hinges turning, as by workDivine the sovran Architect had framed.From hence—no cloud or, to obstruct his sight,Star interposed, however small—he sees,Not unconform to other shining globes,Earth, and the Garden of God, with cedars crownedAbove all hills; as when by night the glassOf Galileo, less assured, observesImagined lands and regions in the Moon;Or pilot from amidst the CycladesDelos or Samos first appearing kens,A cloudy spot. Down thither prone in flightHe speeds, and through the vast ethereal skySails between worlds and worlds, with steady wingNow on the polar winds; then with quick fanWinnows the buxom air, till, within soarOf towering eagles, to all the fowls he seemsA phoenix, gazed by all, as that sole bird,When, to enshrine his relics in the Sun'sBright temple, to /Egyptian Thebes he flies.At once on the eastern cliff of ParadiseHe lights, and to his proper shape returns,A Seraph winged. Six wings he wore, to shadeHis lineaments divine: the pair that cladEach shoulder broad came mantling o'er his breastWith regal ornament; the middle pairGirt like a starry zone his waist, and roundSkirted his loins and thighs with downy goldAnd colours dipt in heaven; the third his feet[188]Shadowed from either heel with feathered mail,Sky-tinctured grain. Like Maia's son he stood,And shook his plumes, that heavenly fragrance filledThe circuit wide. Straight knew him all the bandsOf Angels under watch, and to his stateAnd to his message high in honour rise;For on some message high they guessed him bound.Their glittering tents he passed, and now is comeInto the blissful field, through groves of myrrh,And flowering odours, cassia, nard, and balm,A wilderness of sweets; for Nature hereWantoned as in her prime, and played at willHer virgin fancies, pouring forth more sweet,Wild above rule or art, enormous bliss.Him, through the spicy forest onward come,Adam discerned, as in the door he satOf his cool bower, while now the mounted SunShot down direct his fervid rays, to warmEarth's inmost womb, more warmth than Adam needs -And Eve, within, due at her hour, preparedFor dinner savoury fruits, of taste to pleaseTrue appetite, and not disrelish thirstOf nectarous draughts between, from milky stream,Berry or grape: to whom thus Adam called:—"Haste hither, Eve, and, worth thy sight, beholdEastward among those trees what glorious ShapeComes this way moving; seems another mornRisen on mid-noon. Some great behest from HeavenTo us perhaps he brings, and will voutsafeThis day to be our guest. But go with speed,And what thy stores contain bring forth, and pourAbundance fit to honour and receiveOur heavenly stranger; well may we affordOur givers their own gifts, and large bestowFrom large bestowed, where Nature multipliesHer fertile growth, and by disburdening growsMore fruitful; which instructs us not to spare."To whom thus Eve:—"Adam, Earth's hallowedmould,Of God inspired, small store will serve where store,[189]All seasons, ripe for use hangs on the stalk;Save what, by frugal storing, firmness gainsTo nourish, and superfluous moist consumes.But I will haste, and from each bough and brake,Each plant and juiciest gourd, will pluck such choiceTo entertain our Angel-guest as he,Beholding, shall confess that here on EarthGod hath dispensed his bounties as in Heaven."So saying, with dispatchful looks in hasteShe turns, on hospitable thoughts intentWhat choice to choose for delicacy best,What order so contrived as not to mixTastes, not well joined, inelegant, but bringTaste after taste upheld with kindliest change:Bestirs her then, and from each tender stalkWhatever Earth, all-bearing mother, yieldsIn India East or West, or middle shoreIn Pontus or the Punic coast, or whereAlcinous reigned, fruit of all kinds, in coatRough or smooth-rined, or bearded husk, or shell,She gathers, tribute large, and on the boardHeaps with unsparing hand. For drink the grapeShe crushes, inoffensive must, and meathsFrom many a berry, and from sweet kernels pressedShe tempers dulcet creams—nor those to holdWants her fit vessels pure; then strews the groundWith rose and odours from the shrub unfumed.Meanwhile our primitive great Sire, to meetHis godlike guest, walks forth, without more trainAccompanied than with his own completePerfections; in himself was all his state,More solemn than the tedious pomp that waitsOn princes, when their rich retin'ue longOf horses led and grooms besmeared with goldDazzles the crowd and sets them all agape.Nearer his presence, Adam, though not awed,Yet with submiss approach and reverence meek,As to a superior nature, bowing low,Thus said:—"Native of Heaven (for other placeNone can than Heaven such glorious Shape contain),[190]Since, by descending from the Thrones above,Those happy places thou hadst deigned a whileTo want, and honour these, voutsafc with us,Two only, who yet by sovran gift possessThis spacious ground, in yonder shady bowerTo rest, and what the Garden choicest bearsTo sit and taste, till this meridian heatBe over, and the sun more cool decline."Whom thus the angelic Virtue answered mild:—"Adam, I therefore came; nor art thou suchCreated, or such place hast here to dwell,As may not oft invite, though Spirits of Heaven,To visit thee. Lead on, then, where thy bowerO'ershades; for these mid-hours, till evening rise,I have at will." So to the sylvan lodgeThey came, that like Pomona's arbour smiled,With flowerets decked and fragrant smells. But Eve,Undecked, save with herself, more lovely fairThan wood-nymph, or the fairest goddess feignedOf three that in Mount Ida naked strove,Stood to entertain her guest from Heaven; no veilShe needed, virtue-proof; no thought infirmAltered her cheek. On whom the Angel "Hail!"Bestowed—the holy salutation usedLong after to blest Mary, second Eve:—"Hail! Mother of mankind, whose fruitful wombShall fill the world more numerous with thy sonsThan with these various fruits the trees of GodHave heaped this table!" Raised of grassy turfTheir table was, and mossy seats had round,And on her ample square, from side to side,All Autumn piled, though Spring and Autumn hereDanced hand-in-hand. A while discourse they hold—No fear lest dinner cool—when thus beganOur Author:—"Heavenly Stranger, please to tasteThese bounties, which our Nourisher, from whomAll perfet good, unmeasured-out, descends.To us for food and for delight hath causedThe Earth to yield: unsavoury food, perhaps,To Spiritual Natures; only this I know,[191]That one Celestial Father gives to all."To whom the Angel:—"Therefore, what he gives(Whose praise be ever sung) to Man, in partSpiritual, may of purest Spirits be foundNo ingrateful food: and food alike those pureIntelligential substances requireAs doth your Rational; and both containWithin them every lower facultyOf sense, whereby they hear, see, smell, touch, taste,Tasting concoct, digest, assimilate,And corporeal to incorporeal turn.For know, whatever was created needsTo be sustained and fed. Of ElementsThe grosser feeds the purer: Earth the Sea;Earth and the Sea feed Air; the Air those FiresEthereal, and, as lowest, first the Moon;Whence in her visage round those spots, unpurged,Vapours not yet into her substance turned.Nor doth the Moon no nourishment exhaleFrom her moist continent to higher Orbs.The Sun, that light imparts to all, receivesFrom all his alimental recompenseIn humid exhalations, and at evenSups with the Ocean. Though in Heaven the treesOf life ambrosial fruitage bear, and vinesYield nectar—though from off the boughs each mornWe brush mellifluous dews and find the groundCovered with pearly grain—yet God hath hereVaried his bounty so with new delightsAs may compare with Heaven; and to tasteThink not I shall be nice." So down they sat,And to their viands fell; nor seeminglyThe Angel, nor in mist—the common glossOf theologians—but with keen dispatchOf real hunger, and concoctive heatTo transubstantiate: what redounds transpiresThrough Spirits with ease; nor wonder, if by fireOf sooty coal the Empiric AlchimistCan turn, or holds it possible to turn,Metals of drossiest ore to perfet gold,[192]As from the mine. Meanwhile at table EveMinistered naked, and their flowing cupsWith pleasant liquors crowned. O innocenceDeserving Paradise! If ever, then,Then had the Sons of God excuse to have beenEnamoured at that sight. But in those heartsLove unlibidinous reigned, nor jealousyWas understood, the injured lover's hell.Thus when with meats and drinks they had sufficed.Not burdened nature, sudden mind aroseIn Adam not to let the occasion pass,Given him by this great conference, to knowOf things above his world, and of their beingWho dwell in Heaven, whose excellence he sawTranscend his own so far, whose radiant forms,Divine effulgence, whose high power so farExceeded human; and his wary speechThus to the empyreal minister he framed:—"Inhabitant with God, now know I wellThy favour, in this honour done to Man;Under whose lowly roof thou hast voutsafedTo enter, and these earthly fruits to taste,Food not of Angels, yet accepted soAs that more willingly thou couldst not seemAt Heaven's high feasts to have fed: yet whatcompare!"To whom the winged Hierarch replied:—" O Adam, one Almighty is, from whomAll things proceed, and up to him return.If not depraved from good, created allSuch to perfection; one first matter all,Indued with various forms, various degreesOf substance, and, in things that live, of life;But more refined, more spiritous and pure,As nearer to him placed or nearer tendingEach in their several active spheres assigned.Till body up to spirit work, in boundsProportioned to each kind. So from the rootSprings lighter the green stalk, from thence the leavesMore aerie, last the bright consummate flower[193]Spirits odorous breathes: flowers and their fruit,Man's nourishment, by gradual scale sublimed,To vital spirits aspire, to animal,To intellectual; give both life and sense,Fancy and understanding; whence the SoulReason receives, and Reason is her being.Discursive, or Intuitive: DiscourseIs oftest yours, the latter most is ours,Differing but in degree, of kind the same.Wonder not, then, what God for you saw goodIf I refuse not, but convert, as you,To proper substance. Time may come when MenWith Angels may participate, and findNo inconvenient diet, nor too light fare;And from these corporal nutriments, perhaps,Your bodies may at last turn all to spirit,Improved by tract of time, and winged ascendEthereal, as we, or may at choiceHere or in heavenly paradises dwell,If ye be found obedient, and retainUnalterably firm his love entireWhose progeny you are. Meanwhile enjoy,Your fill, what happiness this happy stateCan comprehend, incapable of more."To whom the Patriarch of Mankind replied:—"O favourable Spirit, propitious guest,Well hast thou taught the way that might directOur knowledge, and the scale of Nature setFrom centre to circumference, whereon,In contemplation of created things,By steps we may ascend to God. But say,What meant that caution joined, // ye be foundObedient? Can we want obedience, then,To him, or possibly his love desert,Who formed us from the dust, and placed us hereFull to the utmost measure of what blissHuman desires can seek or apprehend?"To whom the Angel:—"Son of Heaven and Earth,Attend! That thou art happy, owe to God;That thou continuest such, owe to thyself,[194]That is, to thy obedience; therein stand.This was that caution given thee; be advised.God made thee perfect, not immutable;And good he made thee; but to persevereHe left it in thy power—ordained thy willBy nature free, not over-ruled by fateInextricable, or strict necessity.Our voluntary service he requires,Not our necessitated. Such with himFinds no acceptance, nor can find; for howCan hearts not free be tried whether they serveWilling or no, who will but what they mustBy destiny, and can no other choose?Myself, and all the Angelic Host, that standIn sight of God enthroned, our happy stateHold, as you yours, while our obedience holds.On other surety none: freely we serve,Because we freely love, as in our willTo love or not; in this we stand or fall.And some are fallen, to disobedience fallen,And so from Heaven to deepest Hell. O fallFrom what high state of bliss into what woe!"To whom our great Progenitor:—"Thy wordsAttentive, and with more delighted ear,Divine instructor, I have heard, than whenCherubic songs by night from neighbouring hillsAerial music send. Nor knew I notTo be, both will and deed, created free.Yet that we never shall forget to loveOur Maker, and obey him whose commandSingle is yet so just, my constant thoughtsAssured me, and still assure; though what thou tell'stHath passed in Heaven some doubt within me move,But more desire to hear, if thou consent,The full relation, which must needs be strange,Worthy of sacred silence to be heard.And we have yet large day, for scarce the SunHath finished half his journey, and scarce beginsHis other half in the great zone of heaven."Thus Adam made request; and Raphael,[195]After short pause assenting, thus began:—"High matter thou injoin'st me, O prime of Men—Sad task, and hard; for how shall I relateTo human sense the invisible exploitsOf warring Spirits? how, without remorse,The ruin of so many, glorious onceAnd perfet while they stood? how, last, unfoldThe secrets of another world, perhapsNot lawful to reveal? Yet for thy goodThis is dispensed; and what surmounts the reachOf human sense I shall delineate so,By likening spiritual to corporal forms,As may express them best—though what if EarthBe but the shadow of Heaven, and things thereinEach to other like more than on Earth is thought!"As yet this World was not, and Chaos wildReigned where these heavens now rowl, where Earthnow restsUpon her centre poised, when on a day(For Time, though in Eternity, applied, To motion, measures all things durableBy present, past, and future), on such dayAs Heaven's great year brings forth, the empyreal hostOf Angels, by imperial summons called,Innumerable before the Almighty's throneForthwith from all the ends of Heaven appearedUnder their hierarchs in orders bright.Ten thousand thousand ensigns high advanced,Standards and gonfalons, 'twixt van and rearStream in the air, and for distinction serveOf hierarchies, of orders, and degrees;Or in their glittering tissues bear imblazedHoly memorials, acts of zeal and loveRecorded eminent. Thus when in orbsOf circuit inexpressible they stood,Orb within orb, the Father Infinite,By whom in bliss imbosomed sat the Son,Amidst, as from a flaming Mount, whose topBrightness had made invisible, thus spake:" 'Hear, all ye Angels, Progeny of Light,[196]Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues, Powers,Hear my decree, which unrevoked shall standiThis day I have begot whom I declareMy only Son, and on this holy hillHim have anointed, whom ye now beholdAt my right hand. Your head I him appoint,And by myself have sworn to him shall bowAll knees in Heaven, and shall confess him Lord.Under his great vicegerent reign abide,United as one individual soul,For ever happy. Him who disobeysMe disobeys, breaks union, and, that day,Cast out from God and blessed vision, fallsInto utter darkness, deep ingulfed, his placeOrdained without redemption, without end.'"So spake the Omnipotent, and with his wordsAll seemed well pleased; all seemed, but were not all.That day, as other solemn days, they spentIn song and dance about the sacred Hill—Mystical dance, which yonder starry sphereOf planets and of fixed in all her wheelsResembles nearest; mazes intricate,Eccentric, intervolved, yet regularThen most when most irregular they seem;And in their motions harmony divineSo smooths her charming tones that God's own earListens delighted. Evening now approached(For we have also our evening and our morn—We ours for change delectable, not need);Forthwith from dance to sweet repast they turnDesirous: all in circles as they stood,Tables are set, and on a sudden piledWith Angels' food; and rubied nectar flowsIn pearl, in diamond, and massy gold,Fruit of delicious vines, the growth of Heaven.On flowers reposed, and with fresh flowerets crowned,They eat, they drink, and in communion sweetQuaff immortality and joy, secureOf surfeit where full measure only boundsExcess, before the all-bounteous King, who showered[197]With copious hand, rejoicing in their joy.Now when ambrosial Night, with clouds exhaledFrom that high mount of God whence light and shadeSpring both, the face of brightest Heaven had changedTo grateful twilight (for Night comes not thereIn darker veil), and roseate dews disposedAll but the unsleeping eyes of God to rest,Wide over all the plain, and wider farThan all this globous Earth in plain outspread(Such are the Courts of God), the Angelic throng,Dispersed in bands and files, their camp extendBy living streams among the trees of life—Pavilions numberless and sudden reared,Celestial tabernacles, where they slept,Fanned with cool winds; save those who, in their course,Melodious hymns about the sovran ThroneAlternate all night long. But not so wakedSatan—so call him now; his former nameIs heard no more in Heaven. He, of the first,If not the first Archangel, great in power,In favour, and preeminence, yet fraughtWith envy against the Son of God, that dayHonoured by his great Father, and proclaimedMessiah, King Anointed, could not bear,Through pride, that sight, and thought himselfimpaired.Deep malice thence conceiving and disdain,Soon as midnight brought on the dusky hourFriendliest to sleep and silence, he resolvedWith all his legions to dislodge, and leaveUnworshiped, unobeyed, the Throne supreme,Contemptuous, and, his next subordinateAwakening, thus to him in secret spake:—"'Sleep'st thou, companion dear? what sleep cancloseThy eyelids? and rememberest what decree,Of yesterday, so late hath passed the lipsOf Heaven's Almighty? Thou to me thy thoughtsWast wont, I mine to thee was wont, to impart;Both waking we were one; how, then, can now[198]Thy sleep dissent? New laws thou seest imposed;New laws from him who reigns new minds may raiseIn us who serve—new counsels, to debateWhat doubtful may ensue. More in this placeTo utter is not safe. Assemble thouOf all those myriads which we lead the chief;Tell them that, by command, ere yet dim NightHer shadowy cloud withdraws, I am to haste,And all who under me their banners wave,Homeward with flying march where we possessThe Quarters of the North, there to prepareFit entertainment to receive our King,The great Messiah, and his new commands,Who speedily through all the HierarchiesIntends to pass triumphant, and give laws.'"So spake the false Archangel, and infusedBad influence into the unwary breastOf his associate. He together calls,Or several one by one, the regent Powers,Under him regent; tells, as he was taught,That, the Most High commanding, now ere Night,Now ere dim Night had disincumbered Heaven,The great hierarchal standard was to move;Tells the suggested cause, and casts betweenAmbiguous words and jealousies, to soundOr taint integrity. But all obeyedThe wonted signal, and superior voiceOf their great Potentate; for great indeedHis name, and high was his degree in Heaven:His countenance, as the morning-star that guidesThe starry flock, allured them, and with liesDrew after him the third part of Heaven's host.Meanwhile, the Eternal Eye, whose sight discernsAbstrusest thoughts, from forth his holy Mount,And from within the golden Lamps that burnNighdy before him, saw without their lightRebellion rising—saw in whom, how spreadAmong the Sons of Morn, what multitudesWere banded to oppose his high decree;And, smiling, to his only Son thus said:—[199]" 'Son, thou in whom my glory I beholdIn full resplendence, Heir of all my might,Nearly it now concerns us to be sureOf our Omnipotence, and with what armsWe mean to hold what anciently we claimOf deity or empire: such a foeIs rising, who intends to erect his throneEqual to ours, throughout the spacious North;Nor so content, hath in his thought to tryIn battle what our power is or our right.Let us advise, and to this hazard drawWith speed what force is left, and all imployIn our defence, lest unawares we loseThis our high place, our Sanctuary, our Hill.'"To whom the Son, with calm aspect' and clearLightening divine, ineffable, serene,Made answer:—'Mighty Father, thou thy foesJustly hast in derision, and secureLaugh'st at their vain designs and tumults vain—Matter to me of glory, whom their hateIllustrates, when they see all regal powerGiven me to quell their pride, and in eventKnow whether I be dextrous to subdueThy rebels, or be found the worst in Heaven.'"So spake the Son; but Satan with his PowersFar was advanced on winged speed, an hostInnumerable as the stars of night,Or stars of morning, dew-drops which the sunImpearls on every leaf and every flower.Regions they passed, the mighty regenciesOf Seraphim and Potentates and ThronesIn their triple degrees—regions to whichAll thy dominion, Adam, is no moreThan what this garden is to all the earthAnd all the sea, from one entire globoseStretched into longitude; which having passed,At length into the limits of the NorthThey came, and Satan to his royal seatHigh on a hill, far-blazing, as a mountRaised on a mount, with pyramids and towers[200]From diamond quarries hewn and rocks of gold—The palace of great Lucifer (so callThat structure, in the dialect of menInterpreted) which, not long after, he,Affecting all equality with God,In imitation of that mount whereonMessiah was declared in sight of Heaven,The Mountain of the Congregation called;For thither he assembled all his train,Pretending so commanded to consultAbout the great reception of their KingThither to come, and with calumnious artOf counterfeited truth thus held their ears:—" 'Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues,Powers—If these magnific tides yet remainNot merely titular, since by decreeAnother now hath to himself ingrossedAll power, and us eclipsed under the nameOf King Anointed; for whom all this hasteOf midnight march, and hurried meeting here,This only to consult, how we may best,With what may be devised of honours new,Receive him coming to receive from usKnee-tribute yet unpaid, prostration vile!Too much to one! but double how endured—To one and to his image now proclaimed?But what if better counsels might erectOur minds, and teach us to cast off this yoke!Will ye submit your necks, and choose to bendThe supple knee? Ye will not, if I trustTo know ye right, or if ye know yourselvesNatives and Sons of Heaven possessed beforeBy none, and, if not equal all, yet free,Equally free; for orders and degreesJar not with liberty, but well consist.Who can in reason, then, or right, assumeMonarchy over such as live by rightHis equals—if in power and splendour less,In freedom equal? or can introduce[201]Law and edict on us, who without lawErr not? much less for this to be our Lord,And look for adoration, to the abuseOf those imperial titles which assertOur being ordained to govern, not to serve!*"Thus far his bold discourse without controlHad audience, when, among the Seraphim,Abdiel, than whom none with more zeal adoredThe Deity, and divine commands obeyed,Stood up, and in a flame of zeal severeThe current of his fury thus opposed:—" 'O argument blasphe'mous, false, and proud—Words which no ear ever to hear in HeavenExpected; least of all from thee, ingrate,In place thyself so high above thy peers!Canst thou with impious obloquy condemnThe just decree of God, pronounced and sworn,That to his only Son, by right enduedWith regal sceptre, every soul in HeavenShall bend the knee, and in that honour dueConfess him rightful King? Unjust, thou say'st,Flatly unjust, to bind with laws the free,And equal over equals to let reign,One over all with unsucceeded power!Shalt thou give law to God? shalt thou disputeWith Him the points of liberty, who madeThee what Thou art, and formed the Powers ofHeavenSuch as he pleased, and circumscribed their being?Yet, by experience taught, we know how good,And of our good and of our dignityHow provident, he is—how far from thoughtTo make us less; bent rather to exaltOur happy state, under one Head more nearUnited. But—to grant it thee unjustThat equal over equals monarch reign—Thyself, though great and glorious, dost thou count,Or all angelic nature joined in one,Equal to him, begotten Son, by whom,As by his Word, the mighty Father made[202]All things, even thee, and all the Spirits of HeavenBy him created in their bright degrees,Crowned them with glory, and to their glory namedThrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues, Powers?—Essential Powers; nor by his reign obscured,But more illustrious made; since he, the head,One of our number thus reduced becomes;His laws our laws; all honour to him doneReturns our own. Cease, then, this impious rage,And tempt not these; but hasten to appeaseThe incensed Father and the incensed SonWhile pardon may be found, in time besought.'"So spake the fervent Angel; but his zealNone seconded, as out of season judged,Or singular and rash. Whereat rejoicedThe Apostat, and, more haughty, thus replied:—"'That we were formed, then, say'st thou? and theworkOf secondary hands, by task transferredFrom Father to his Son? Strange point and new!Doctrine which we would know whence learned! WhosawWhen this creation was? Remember'st thouThy making, while the Maker gave thee being?We know no time when we were not as now;Know none before us, self-begot, self-raisedBy our own quickening power when fatal courseHad circled his full orb, the birth matureOf this our native Heaven, Ethereal Sons.Our puissance is our own; our own right handShall teach us highest deeds, by proof to tryWho is our equal. Then thou shalt beholdWhether by supplication we intendAddress, and to begirt the Almighty ThroneBeseeching or besieging. This report,These tidings, carry to the Anointed King;And fly, ere evil intercept thy flight.'"He said; and, as the sound of waters deep,Hoarse murmur echoed to his words applauseThrough the infinite Host. Nor less for that[203]The flaming Seraph, fearless, though alone,Encompassed round with foes, thus answered bold:—" 'O alienate from God, O Spirit accursed,Forsaken of all good! I see thy fallDetermined, and thy hapless crew involvedIn this perfidious fraud, contagion spreadBoth of thy crime and punishment. HenceforthNo more be troubled how to quit the yokeOf God's Messiah. Those indulgent lawsWill not be now voutsafed; other decreesAgainst thee are gone forth without recall;That golden sceptre which thou didst rejectIs now an iron rod to bruise and breakThy disobedience. Well thou didst advise;Yet not for thy advice or threats I flyThese wicked tents devoted, lest the wrauthImpendent, raging into sudden flame,Distinguish not: for soon expect to feelHis thunder on thy head, devouring fire.Then who created thee lamenting learnWhen who can uncreate thee thou shalt know.'"So spake the Seraph Abdiel, faithful found;Among the faithless faithful only he;Among innumerable false unmoved,Unshaken, unseduced, unterrified,His loyalty he kept, his love, his zeal;Nor number nor example with him wroughtTo swerve from truth, or change his constant mind,Though single. From amidst them forth he passed,Long way through hostile scorn, which he sustainedSuperior, nor of violence feared aught;And with retorted scorn his back he turnedOn those proud towers, to swift destruction doomed."
The Sixth Book
¶THE ARGUMENT.—Raphael continues to relate how Michael and Gabriel were sent forth to battle against Satan and his Angels. The first fight described: Satan and his Powers retire under night. He calls a council; invents devilish engines, which, in the second day's fight, put Michael and his Angels to some disorder; but they at length, pulling up mountains, overwhelmed both the force and machines of Satan. Yet, the tumult not so ending, God , on the third day, sends Messiah his Son, for whom he had reserved the glory of that victory. He , in the power of his Father, coming to the place, and causing all his legions to stand still on either side, with his chariot and thunder driving into the midst of his enemies, pursues them, unable to resist, towards the wall of Heaven; which opening, they leap down with horror and confusion into the place of punishment prepared for them in the Deep. Messiah returns with triumph to his Father.
¶" ALL night the dreadless Angel, unpursued,Through Heaven's wide champaign held his way, tillMorn,Waked by the circling Hours, with rosy handUnbarred the gates of Light. There is a caveWithin the Mount of God, fast by his Throne,Where Light and Darkness in perpetual roundLodge and dislodge by turns—which makes throughHeavenGrateful vicissitude, like day and night;Light issues forth, and at the other doorObsequious Darkness enters, till her hourTo veil the heaven, though darkness there might wellSeem twilight here. And now went forth the MornSuch as in highest heaven, arrayed in goldEmpyreal; from before her vanished Night,Shot through with orient beams; when all the plainCovered with thick embatded squadrons bright,Chariots, and flaming arms, and fiery steeds,Reflecting blaze on blaze, first met his view.War he perceived, war in procinct, and foundAlready known what he for news had thoughtTo have reported. Gladly then he mixedAmong those friendly Powers, who him receivedWith joy and acclamations loud, that one,That of so many myriads fallen yet one,Returned not lost. On to the sacred HillThey led him, high applauded, and present[205]Before the Seat supreme; from whence a voice,From midst a golden cloud, thus mild was heard:—" ' Servant of God, well done! Well hast thou foughtThe better fight, who single hast maintainedAgainst revolted multitudes the causeOf truth, in word mightier than they in arms,And for the testimony of truth hast borneUniversal reproach, far worse to bearThan violence; for this was all thy care—To stand approved in sight of God, though worldsJudged thee perverse. The easier conquest nowRemains thee—aided by this host of friends,Back on thy foes more glorious to returnThan scorned thou didst depart; and to subdue,By force who reason for their law refuse—Right reason for their law, and for their KingMessiah, who by right of merit reigns.Go, Michael, of celestial armies prince,And thou, in military prowess next,Gabriel; lead forth to battle these my sonsInvincible; lead forth my armed Saints,By thousands and by millions ranged for fight,Equal in number to that godless crewRebellious. Them with fire and hostile armsFearless assault; and, to the brow of HeavenPursuing, drive them out from God and blissInto their place of punishment, the gulfOf Tartarus, which ready opens wideHis fiery chaos to receive their fall.'"So spake the Sovran Voice; and clouds beganTo darken all the Hill, and smoke to rowlIn dusky wreaths reluctant flames, the signOf wrauth awaked; nor with less dread the loudEthereal trumpet from on high gan blow.At which command the Powers MilitantThat stood for Heaven, in mighty quadrate joinedOf union irresistible, moved onIn silence their bright legions to the soundOf instrumental harmony, that breathedHeroic ardour to adventrous deeds[206]Under their godlike leaders, in the causeOf God and his Messiah. On they move,Indissolubly firm; nor obvious hill,Nor straitening vale, nor wood, nor stream, dividesTheir perfet ranks; for high above the groundTheir march was, and the passive air upboreTheir nimble tread. As when the total kindOf birds, in orderly array on wing,Came summoned over Eden to receiveTheir names of thee; so over many a tractOf Heaven they marched, and many a province wide,Tenfold the length of this terrene. At lastFar in the horizon, to the north, appearedFrom skirt to skirt a fiery region, stretchedIn battailous aspect; and, nearer view,Bristled with upright beams innumerableOf rigid spears, and helmets thronged, and shieldsVarious, with boastful argument portrayed,The banded Powers of Satan hasting onWith furious expedition: for they weenedThat self-same day, by fight or by surprise,To win the Mount of God, and on his ThroneTo set the envier of his state, the proudAspirer. But their thoughts proved fond and vainIn the mid-way; though strange to us it seemedAt first that Angel should with Angel war,And in fierce hosting meet, who wont to meetSo oft in festivals of joy and loveUnanimous, as sons of one great Sire,Hymning the Eternal Father. But the shoutOf battle now began, and rushing soundOf onset ended soon each milder thought.High in the midst, exalted as a God,The Apostat in his sun-bright chariot sat,Idol of majesty divine, enclosedWith flaming Cherubim and golden shields;Then lighted from his gorgeous Throne—for nowTwixt host and host but narrow space was left,A dreadful interval, and front to frontPresented stood, in terrible array[207]Of hideous length. Before the cloudy van,On the rough edge of battle ere it joined,Satan, with vast and haughty strides advanced,Came towering, armed in adamant and gold.Abdiel that sight endured not, where he stoodAmong the mightiest, bent on highest deeds,And thus his own undaunted heart explores:—" ' O Heaven! that such resemblance of the HighestShould yet remain, where faith and realtyRemain not! Wherefore should not strength and mightThere fail where virtue fails, or weakest proveWhere boldest, though to sight unconquerable?His puissance, trusting in the Almighty's aid,I mean to try, whose reason I have triedUnsound and false; nor is it aught but justThat he who in debate of truth hath wonShould win in arms, in both disputes alikeVictor. Though brutish that contest' and foul,When reason hath to deal with force, yet soMost reason is that reason overcome.'"So pondering, and from his armed peersForth-stepping opposite, half-way he metHis daring foe, at this prevention moreIncensed, and thus securely him defied:—" 'Proud, art thou met? Thy hope was to havereachedThe highth of thy aspiring unopposed—The Throne of God unguarded, and his sideAbandoned at the terror of thy powerOr potent tongue. Fool! not to think how vainAgainst the Omnipotent to rise in arms;Who, out of smallest things, could without endHave raised incessant armies to defeatThy folly; or with solitary hand,Reaching beyond all limit, at one blow,Unaided could have finished thee, and whelmedThy legions under darkness! But thou seestAll are not of thy train; there be who faithPrefer, and piety to God, though thenTo thee not visible when I alone[208]Seemed in thy world erroneous to dissentFrom all: my Sect thou seest; now learn too lateHow few sometimes may know when thousands err.'"Whom the grand Foe, with scornful eye askance,Thus answered:—'111 for thee, but in wished hourOf my revenge, first sought for, thou return'stFrom flight, seditious Angel, to receiveThy merited reward, the first assayOf this right hand provoked, since first that tongue,Inspired with contradiction, durst opposeA third part of the Gods, in synod metTheir deities to assert: who, while they feelVigour divine within them, can allowOmnipotence to none. But well thou corn'stBefore thy fellows, ambitious to winFrom me some plume, that thy success may showDestruction to the rest. This pause between(Unanswered lest thou boast) to let thee know.—At first I thought that Liberty and HeavenTo heavenly souls had been all one; but nowI see that most through sloth had rather serve,Ministering Spirits, trained up in feast and song;Such hast thou armed, the minstrelsy of heaven—Servility with freedom to contend,As both their deeds compared this day shall prove.'"To whom, in brief, thus Abdiel stern replied:—'Apostat! still thou err'st, nor end wilt findOf erring, from the path of truth remote.Unjustly thou deprav'st it with the nameOf servitude, to serve whom God ordains,Or Nature: God and Nature bid the same,When he who rules is worthiest, and excelsThem whom he governs. This is servitude—To serve the unwise, or him who hath rebelledAgainst his worthier, as thine now serve thee,Thyself not free, but to thyself enthralled;Yet lewdly dar'st our ministering upbraid.Reign thou in Hell, thy kingdom; let me serveIn Heaven God ever blest, and His DivineBehests obey, worthiest to be obeyed.[209]Yet chains in Hell, not realms, expect: meanwhile,From me returned, as erst thou saidst, from flight,This greeting on thy impious crest receive.'"So saying, a noble stroke he lifted high,Which hung not, but so swift with tempest fellOn the proud crest of Satan that no sight,Nor motion of swift thought, less could his shield,Such ruin intercept. Ten paces hugeHe back recoiled; the tenth on bended kneeHis massy spear upstayed: as if, on earth,Winds under ground, or waters forcing way,Sidelong had pushed a mountain from his seat,Half-sunk with all his pines. Amazement seizedThe rebel Thrones, but greater rage, to seeThus foiled their mightiest; ours joy filled, and shout,Presage of victory, and fierce desireOf battle: whereat Michael bid soundThe Archangel trumpet. Through the vast of HeavenIt sounded, and the faithful armies rungHosannah to the Highest; nor stood at gazeThe adverse legions, nor less hideous joinedThe horrid shock. Now storming fury rose,And clamour such as heard in Heaven till now.Was never; arms on armour clashing brayedHorrible discord, and the madding wheelsOf brazen chariots raged; dire was the noiseOf conflict; overhead the dismal hissOf fiery darts in flaming volleys flew,And, flying, vaulted either host with fire.So under fiery cope together rushedBoth battles main with ruinous assaultAnd inextinguishable rage. All HeavenResounded; and, had Earth been then, all EarthHad to her centre shook. What wonder, whenMillions of fierce encountering Angels foughtOn either side, the least of whom could yieldThese elements, and arm him with the forceOf all their regions? How much more of powerArmy against army numberless to raiseDreadful combustion warring, and disturb,[210]Though not destroy, their happy native seat;Had not the Eternal King OmnipotentFrom his strong hold of Heaven high overruledAnd limited their might, though numbered suchAs each divided legion might have seemedA numerous host, in strength, each armed handA legion! Led in fight, yet leader seemedEach warrior single as in chief; expertWhen to advance, or stand, or turn the swayOf battle, open when, and when to closeThe ridges of grim war. No thought of flight,None of retreat, no unbecoming deedThat argued fear; each on himself reliedAs only in his arm the moment layOf victory. Deeds of eternal fameWere done, but infinite; for wide was spreadThat war, and various: sometimes on firm groundA standing fight; then, soaring on main wing,Tormented all the air; all air seemed thenConflicting fire. Long time in even scaleThe battle hung; till Satan, who that dayProdigious power had shown, and met in armsNo equal, ranging through the dire attackOf fighting Seraphim confused, at lengthSaw where the sword of Michael smote, and felledSquadrons at once: with huge two-handed swayBrandished aloft, the horrid edge came downWide-wasting. Such destruction to withstandHe hasted, and opposed the rocky orbOf tenfold adamant, his ample shield,A vast circumference. At his approachThe great Archangel from his warlike toilSurceased, and, glad, as hoping here to endIntestine war in Heaven, the Arch-foe subdued,Or captive dragged in chains, with hostile frownAnd visage all inflamed, first thus began:—" 'Author of Evil, unknown till thy revolt,Unnamed in Heaven, now plenteous as thou seestThese acts of hateful strife—hateful to all,Though heaviest, by just measure, on thyself[211]And thy adherents—how hast thou disturbedHeaven's blessed peace, and into Nature broughtMisery, uncreated till the crimeOf thy rebellion! how hast thou instilledThy malice into thousands, once uprightAnd faithful, now proved false! But think not hereTo trouble holy rest; Heaven casts thee outFrom all her confines; Heaven, the seat of bliss,Brooks not the works of violence and war.Hence, then, and Evil go with thee along,Thy offspring, to the place of Evil, Hell—Thou and thy wicked crew! there mingle broils!Ere this avenging sword begin thy doom,Or some more sudden vengeance, winged from God,Precipitate thee with augmented pain.'"So spake the Prince of Angels; to whom thusThe Adversary:—'Nor think thou with windOf airy threats to awe whom yet with deedsThou canst not. Hast thou turned the least of theseTo flight—or, if to fall, but that they riseUnvanquished—easier to transact with meThat thou shouldst hope, imperious, and with threatsTo chase me hence? Err not that so shall endThe strife which thou call'st evil, but we styleThe strife of glory; which we mean to win,Or turn this Heaven itself into the HellThou fablest; here, however, to dwell free,If not to reign. Meanwhile, thy utmost force—And join Him named Almighty to thy aid—I fly not, but have sought thee far and nigh.'"They ended parle, and both addressed for fightUnspeakable; for who, though with the tongueOf Angels, can relate, or to what thingsLiken on earth conspicuous, that may liftHuman imagination to such highthOf godlike power? for likest gods they seemed,Stood they or moved, in stature, motion, arms,Fit to decide the empire of great Heaven.Now waved their fiery swords, and in the airMade horrid circles; two broad suns their shields[212]Blazed opposite, while Expectation stoodIn horror; from each hand with speed retired,Where erst was thickest fight, the Angelic throng,And left large field, unsafe with the windOf such commotion: such as (to set forthGreat things by small) if, Nature's concord broke,Among the constellations war were sprung,Two planets, rushing from aspect' malignOf fiercest opposition, in mid skyShould combat, and their jarring spheres confound.Together both, with next to Almighty armUplifted imminent, one stroke they aimedThat might determine, and not need repeatAs not of power, at once; nor odds appearedIn might or swift prevention. But the swordOf Michael from the armoury of GodWas given him tempered so that neither keenNor solid might resist that edge: it metThe sword of Satan, with steep force to smiteDescending, and in half cut sheer; nor stayed,But, with swift wheel reverse, deep entering, sharedAll his right side. Then Satan first knew pain,And writhed him to and fro convolved; so soreThe griding sword with discontinuous woundPassed through him. But the ethereal substance closed,Not long divisible; and from the gashA stream of nectarous humour issuing flowedSanguin, such as celestial Spirits may bleed,And all his armour stained, erewhile so bright,Forthwith, on all sides, to his aid was runBy Angels many and strong, who interposedDefence, while others bore him on their shieldsBack to his chariot where it stood retiredFrom off the files of war: there they him laidGnashing for anguish, and despite, and shameTo find himself not matchless, and his prideHumbled by such rebuke, so far beneathHis confidence to equal God in power.Yet soon he healed; for Spirits, that live throughoutVital in every part—not, as frail Man,[213]In entrails, heart or head, liver or reins—Cannot but by annihilating die;Nor in their liquid texture mortal woundReceive, no more than can the fluid air:All heart they live, all head, all eye, all ear,All intellect, all sense; and as they pleaseThey limb themselves, and colour, shape, or sizeAssume, as likes them best, condense or rare."Meanwhile, in other parts, like deeds deservedMemorial, where the might of Gabriel fought,And with fierce ensigns pierced the deep arrayOf Moloch, furious king, who him defied,And at his chariot-wheels to drag him boundThreatened, nor from the Holy One of HeavenRefreined his tongue blasphemous, but anon,Down cloven to the waist, with shattered armsAnd uncouth pain fled bellowing. On each wingUriel and Raphael his vaunting foe,Though huge and in a rock of diamond armed,Vanquished—Adramelech and Asmadai,Two potent Thrones, that to be less than GodsDisdained, but meaner thoughts learned in their flight,Mangled with ghastly wounds through plate and mail.Nor stood unmindful Abdiel to annoyThe atheist crew, but with redoubled blowAriel, and Arioch, and the violenceOf Ramiel, scorched and blasted, overthrew.I might relate of thousands, and their namesEternize here on Earth; but those electAngels, contented with their fame in Heaven,Seek not the praise of men: the other sort,In might though wondrous and in acts of war,Nor of renown less eager, yet by doomCancelled from Heaven and sacred memory,Nameless in dark oblivion let them dwellFor strength from truth divided, and from just,Illaudable, nought merits but dispraiseAnd ignominy, yet to glory aspires,Vain-glorious,and through infamy seeks fame:Therefore eternal silence be their doom![214]"And now, their mightiest quelled, the battle swerved,With many an inroad gored; deformed routEntered, and foul disorder; all the groundWith shivered armour strown, and on a heapChariot and charioter lay overturned,And fiery foaming steeds; what stood recoiled,O'er-wearied, through the faint Satanic host,Defensive scarce, or with pale fear surprised—Then first with fear surprised and sense of pain—Fled ignominious, to such evil broughtBy sin of disobedience, till that hourNot liable to fear, or flight, or pain.Far otherwise the inviolable SaintsIn cubic phalanx firm advanced entire,Invulnerable, impenetrably armed;Such high advantages their innocenceGave them above their foes—not to have sinned,Not to have disobeyed; in fight they stoodUnwearied, unobnoxious to be painedBy wound, though from their place by violence moved."Now Night her course began, and, over HeavenInducing darkness, grateful truce imposed,And silence on the odious din of war.Under her cloudy covert both retired,Victor and Vanquished. On the foughten fieldMichael and his Angels, prevalentEncamping, placed in guard their watches round,Cherubic waving fires: on the other part,Satan with his rebellious disappeared,Far in the dark dislodged, and, void of rest,His Potentates to council called by night,And in the midst thus undismayed began:—" 'O now in danger tried, now known in armsNot to be overpowered, companions dear,Found worthy not of liberty alone—Too mean pretence—but, what we more affect,Honour, dominion, glory and renown;Who have sustained one day in doubtful fight(And, if one day, why not eternal days?)What Heaven's Lord had powerfullest to send[215]Against us from about his Throne, and judgedSufficient to subdue us to his will,But proves not so: then fallible, it seems,Of future we may deem him, though till nowOmniscient thought! True is, less firmly armed,Some disadvantage we endured, and pain—Till now not known, but, known, as soon contemned;Since now we find this our empyreal formIncapable of mortal injury,Imperishable, and, though pierced with wound,Soon closing, and by native vigour healed.Of evil, then, so small as easy thinkThe remedy: perhaps more valid arms,Weapons more violent, when next we meet,May serve to better us and worse our foes,Or equal what between us made the odds,In nature none. If other hidden causeLeft them superior, while we can preserveUnhurt our minds, and understanding sound,Due search and consultation will disclose.'"He sat; and in the assembly next upstoodNisroch, of Principalities the prime.As one he stood escaped from cruel fightSore toiled, his riven arms to havoc hewn,And, cloudy in aspect', thus answering spake:—" 'Deliverer from new Lords, leader to freeEnjoyment of our right as Gods! yet hardFor Gods, and too unequal work, we findAgainst unequal arms to fight in pain,Against unpained, impassive; from which evilRuin must needs ensue. For what availsValour or strength, though matchless, quelled with pain,Which all subdues, and makes remiss the handsOf mightiest? Sense of pleasure we may wellSpare out of life perhaps, and not repine,But live content—which is the calmest life;But pain is perfect misery, the worstOf evils, and, excessive, overturnsAll patience. He who, therefore, can inventWith what more forcible we may offend[216]Our yet unwounded enemies, or armOurselves with like defence, to me deservesNo less than for deliverance what we owe.'"Whereto, with look composed, Satan replied:—'Not uninvented that, which thou arightBeliev'st so main to our success, I bring.Which of us who beholds the bright surface'Of this ethereous mould whereon we stand—This continent of spacious Heaven, adornedWith plant, fruit, flower ambrosial, gems and gold—Whose eye so superficially surveysThese things as not to mind from whence they growDeep under ground: materials dark and crude,Of spiritous and fiery spume, till, touchedWith Heaven's ray, and tempered, they shoot forthSo beauteous, opening to the ambient light?These in their dark nativity the DeepShall yield us, pregnant with infernal flame;Which, into hollow engines long and roundThick-rammed, at the other bore with touch of fireDilated and infuriate, shall send forthFrom far, with thundering noise, among our foesSuch implements of mischief as shall dashTo pieces and o'erwhelm whatever standsAdverse, that they shall fear we have disarmedThe Thunderer of his only dreaded bolt.Nor long shall be our labour; yet ere dawnEffect shall end our wish. Meanwhile revive;Abandon fear; to strength and counsel joinedThink nothing hard, much less to be despaired.'
¶"He ended; and his words their drooping cheerEnlightened, and their languished hope revived.The invention all admired, and each how heTo be the inventor missed; so easy it seemed,Once found, which yet unfound most would have thoughtImpossible! Yet, haply, of thy race,In future days, if malice should abound,Some one, intent on mischief, or inspiredWith devilish machination, might deviseLike instrument to plague the sons of men[217]For sin, on war and mutual slaughter bent.Forthwith from council to the work they flew;None arguing stood; innumerable handsWere ready; in a moment up they turnedWide the celestial soil, and saw beneathThe originals of Nature in their crudeConception; sulphurous and nitrous foamThey found, they mingled, and, with subtle artConcocted and adusted, they reducedTo blackest grain, and into store conveyed.Part hidden veins digged up (nor hath this EarthEntrails unlike) of mineral and stone,Whereof to found their engines and their ballsOf missive ruin; part incentive reedProvide, pernicious with one touch to fire.So all ere day-spring, under conscious Night,Secret they finished, and in order set,With silent circumspection, unespied."Now, when fair Morn orient in Heaven appeared,Up rose the victor Angels, and to armsThe matin trumpet sung. In arms they stoodOf golden panoply, refulgent host,Soon banded; others from the dawning hillsLooked round, and scouts each coast light-armed scourEach quarter, to descry the distant foe,Where lodged, or whither fled, or if for fight,In motion or in halt. Him soon they metUnder spread ensigns moving nigh, in slowBut firm battalion: back with speediest sailZophiel, of Cherubim the swiftest wing,Came flying, and in mid air aloud thus cried:—" 'Arm, Warriors, arm for fight! The foe at hand,Whom fled we thought, will save us long pursuitThis day; fear not his flight; so thick a cloudHe comes, and settled in his face I seeSad resolution and secure. Let eachHis adamantine coat gird well, and eachFit well his helm, gripe fast his orbed shield,Borne even or high; for this day will pour down,If I conjecture aught, no drizzling shower,[218]But rattling storm of arrows barbed with fire.'"So warned he them, aware themselves, and soonIn order, quit of all impediment.Instant, without disturb, they took alarm,And onward move embattled: when, behold,Not distant far, with heavy pace the FoeApproaching gross and huge, in hollow cubeTraining his devilish enginry, impaledOn every side with shadowing squadrons deep,To hide the fraud. At interview both stoodA while; but suddenly at head appearedSatan, and thus was heard commanding loud:—" 'Vanguard, to right and left the front unfold,That all may see who hate us how we seekPeace and composure, and with open breastStand ready to receive them, if they likeOur overture, and turn not back perverse:But that I doubt. However, witness HeavenlHeaven, witness thou anon! while we dischargeFreely our part. Ye, who appointed stand,Do as you have in charge, and briefly touchWhat we propound, and loud that all may hear.'"So scoffing in ambiguous words, he scarceHad ended, when to right and left the frontDivided, and to either flank retired;Which to our eyes discovered, new and strange,A triple mounted row of pillars laidOn wheels (for like to pillars most they seemed,Or hollowed bodies made of oak or fir,With branches lopt, in wood or mountain felled),Brass, iron, stony mould, had not their mouthsWith hideous orifice gaped on us wide,Portending hollow truce. At each, behind,A Seraph stood, and in his hand a reedStood waving tipt with fire; while we, suspense,Collected stood within our thoughts amused.Not long! for sudden all at once their reedsPut forth, and to a narrow vent appliedWith nicest touch. Immediate in a flame,But soon obscured with smoke, all Heaven appeared,[219]From those deep-throated engines belched, whose roarEmbowelled with outrageous noise the air,And all her entrails tore, disgorging foulTheir devilish glut, chained thunderbolts and hailOf iron globes; which, on the Victor HostLevelled, with such impetuous fury smote,That whom they hit none on their feet might stand,Though standing else as rocks, but down they fellBy thousands, Angel on Archangel rowled,The sooner for their arms. Unarmed, they mightHave easily, as Spirits, evaded swiftBy quick contraction or remove; but nowFoul dissipation followed, and forced rout;Nor served it to relax their serried files.What should they do? If on they rushed, repulseRepeated, and indecent overthrowDoubled, would render them yet more despised,And to their foes a laughter—for in viewStood ranked of Seraphim another row,In posture to displode their second tireOf thunder; back defeated to returnThey worse abhorred. Satan beheld their plight,And to his mates thus in derision called:—" 'O friends, why come not on these victors proud?Erewhile they fierce were coming; and, when we,To entertain them fair with open frontAnd breast (what could we more?), propounded termsOf composition, straight they changed their minds,Flew off, and into strange vagaries fell,As they would dance. Yet for a dance they seemedSomewhat extravagant and wild; perhapsFor joy of offered peace. But I suppose,If our proposals once again were heard,We should compel them to a quick result.'"To whom thus Belial, in like gamesome mood:'Leader, the terms we sent were terms of weight,Of hard contents, and full of force urged home,Such as we might perceive amused them all,And stumbled many. Who receives them rightHad need from head to foot well understand;[220]Not understood, this gift they have besides—They shew us when our foes walk not upright.'"So they among themselves in pleasant veinStood scoffing, highthened in their thoughts beyondAll doubt of victory; Eternal MightTo match with their inventions they presumedSo easy, and of his thunder made a scorn,And all his host derided, while they stoodA while in trouble. But they stood not long;Rage prompted them at length, and found them armsAgainst such hellish mischief fit to oppose.Forthwith (behold the excellence, the power,Which God hath in his mighty Angels placed!)Their arms away they threw, and to the hills(For Earth hath this variety from HeavenOf pleasure situate in hill and dale)Light as the lightning-glimpse they ran, they flew-,From their foundations, loosening to and fro,They plucked the seated hills, with all their load,Rocks, waters, woods, and, by the shaggy topsUplifting, bore them in their hands. Amaze,Be sure, and terror, seized the rebel Host,When coming towards them so dread they sawThe bottom of the mountains upward turned,Till on those cursed engines' triple rowThey saw them whelmed, and all their confidenceUnder the weight of mountains buried deep;Themselves invaded next, and on their headsMain promontories flung, which in the airCame shadowing, and oppressed whole legions armed.Their armour helped their harm, crushed in andbruised,
¶Into their substance pent—which wrought them painImplacable, and many a dolorous groan,Long struggling underneath, ere they could windOut of such prison, though Spirits of purest light,Purest at first, now gross by sinning grown.The rest, in imitation, to like armsBetook them, and the neighbouring hills uptore;So hills amid the air encountered hills,[221]Hurled to and fro with jaculation dire,That underground they fought in dismal shade:Infernal noise! war seemed a civil gameTo this uproar; horrid confusion heapedUpon confusion rose. And now all HeavenHad gone to wrack, with ruin overspread,Had not the Almighty Father, where he sitsShrined in his sanctuary of Heaven secure,Consulting on the sum of things, foreseenThis tumult, and permitted all, advised,That his great purpose he might so fulfil,To honour his Anointed Son, avengedUpon his enemies, and to declareAll power on him transferred. Whence to his Son,The assessor of his Throne, he thus began:—" 'Effulgence of my glory, Son beloved,Son in whose face invisible is beheldVisibly, what by Deity I am,And in whose hand what by decree I do,Second Omnipotence! two days are passed,Two days, as we compute the days of Heaven,Since Michael and his Powers went forth to tameThese disobedient. Sore hath been their fight,As likeliest was when two such foes met armed:For to themselves I left them; and thou know'stEqual in their creation they were formed,Save what sin hath impaired—which yet hath wroughtInsensibly, for I suspend their doom:Whence in perpetual fight they needs must lastEndless, and no solution will be found.War wearied hath performed what war can do,And to disordered rage let loose the reins,With mountains, as with weapons, armed; whichmakesWild work in Heaven, and dangerous to the main.Two days are, therefore, passed; the third is thine:For thee I have ordained it, and thus farHave suffered, that the glory may be thineOf ending this great war, since none but thouCan end it Into thee such virtue and grace[222]Immense I have transfused, that all may knowIn Heaven and Hell thy power above compare,And this perverse commotion governed thus,To manifest thee worthiest to be HeirOf all things—to be Heir, and to be KingBy sacred unction, thy deserved right.Go, then, thou Mightiest, in thy Father's might;Ascend my chariot; guide the rapid wheelsThat 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 outFrom all Heaven's bounds into the utter Deep;There let them learn, as likes them, to despiseGod, and Messiah his anointed King.'"He said, and on his Son with rays directShon full. He all his Father full expressedIneffably 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'stTo 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 willFulfilled, which to fulfil is all my bliss.Sceptre and power, thy giving, I assume,And gladlier shall resign when in the endThou shalt be all in all, and I in theeFor ever, and in me all whom thou lov'st.But whom thou hat'st I hate, and can put onThy terrors, as I put thy mildness on,Image of thee in all things: and shall soon,Armed with thy might, rid Heaven of these rebelled,To their prepared ill mansion driven down,To chains of darkness and the undying Worm,That from thy just obedience could revolt,Whom to obey is happiness entire.Then shall thy Saints, unmixed, and from the impureFar separate, circling thy holy Mount,[223]Unfeigned halleluiahs to thee sing,Hymns of high praise, and I among them chief.'"So said, He, o'er his sceptre bowing, roseFrom the right hand of Glory where He sat;And the third sacred morn began to shine,Dawning through Heaven. Forth rushed with whirlwind soundThe chariot of Paternal Deity,Flashing thick flames, wheel within wheel; undrawn,Itself instinct with spirit, but convoyedBy four cherubic Shapes. Four faces eachHad wondrous; as with stars, their bodies allAnd wings were set with eyes; with eyes the wheelsOf beryl, and careering fires between;Over their heads a crystal firmament,Whereon a sapphire throne, inlaid with pureAmber and colours of the showery arch.He, in celestial panoply all armedOf radiant Urim, work divinely wrought,Ascended; at his right hand VictorySat eagle-winged; beside him hung his bow,And quiver, with three-bolted thunder stored;And from about him fierce effusion rowledOf smoke and bickering flame and sparkles dire.Attended with ten thousand thousand Saints,He onward came; far off his coming shon;And twenty thousand (I their number heard)Chariots of God, half on each hand, were seen.He on the wings of Cherub rode sublimeOn the crystallin sky, in saphir throned—Illustrious far and wide, but by his ownFirst seen. Them unexpected joy surprisedWhen the great ensign of Messiah blazedAloft, by Angels borne, his Sign in Heaven;Under whose conduct Michael soon reducedHis 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 retiredEach to his place; they heard his voice, and went[224]Obsequious; Heaven his wonted face renewed,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, hardened more by what might most reclaim,Grieving to see his glory, at the sightTook envy, and, aspiring to his highth,Stood re-imbattled fierce, by force or fraudWeening to prosper, and at length prevailAgainst God and Messiah, or to fallIn universal ruin last; and nowTo final battle drew, disdaining flight,Or faint retreat: when the great Son of GodTo all his host on either hand thus spake:—" 'Stand still in bright array, ye Saints; here stand,Ye Angels armed; this day from battle rest.Faithful hath been your warfare, and of GodAccepted, fearless in his righteous cause;And, as ye have received, so have ye done,Invincibly. But of this cursed crewThe punishment to other hand belongs;Vengeance is his, or whose He sole appoints.Number to this day's work is not ordained,Nor multitude; stand only and beholdGod's indignation on these godless pouredBy me. Not you, but me, they have despised,Yet envied; against me is all their rage,Because the Father, to whom in Heaven supremeKingdom and power and glory appertains,Hath honoured me, according to his will.Therefore to me their doom he hath assigned,That they may have their wish, to try with meIn battle which the stronger proves—they all,Or I alone against them; since by strengthThey measure all, of other excellenceNot emulous, nor care who them excels;[225]Nor other strife with them do I voutsafe.'"So spake the Son, and into terror changedHis countenance, too severe to be beheld,And full of wrauth bent on his enemies.At once the Four spread out their starry wingsWith dreadful shade contiguous, and the orbsOf his fierce chariot rowled, as with the soundOf torrent floods, or of a numerous host.He on his impious foes right onward drove,Gloomy as Night. Under his burning wheelsThe steadfast Empyrean shook throughout,All but the Throne itself of God. Full soonAmong them he arrived, in his right handGrasping ten thousand thunders, which he sentBefore him, such as in their souls infixedPlagues. They, astonished, all resistance lost,All courage; down their idle weapons dropt;O'er shields, and helms, and helmed heads he rodeOf Thrones and mighty Seraphim prostrate',That wished the mountains now might be againThrown on them, as a shelter from his ire.Nor less on either side tempestuous fellHis 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 eyeGlared lightning, and shot forth pernicious fireAmong the accursed, that withered all their strength,And of their wonted vigour left them drained,Exhausted, spiridess, afflicted, fallen,Yet half his strength he put not forth, but checkedHis thunder in mid-volley; for he meantNot to destroy, but root them out of Heaven.The overthrown he raised, and, as a herdOf goats or timorous flock together thronged,Drove them before him thunderstruck, pursuedWith terrors and with furies to the boundsAnd crystal wall of Heaven; which, opening wide,Rowled inward, and a spacious gap disclosedInto the wasteful Deep. The monstrous sight[226]Strook them with horror backward; but far worseUrged them behind: headlong themselves they threwDown from the verge of Heaven: eternal wrauthBurnt after them to the bottomless pit."Hell heard the unsufferable noise; Hell sawHeaven ruining from Heaven, and would have fledAffrighted; but strict Fate had cast too deepHer dark foundations, and too fast had bound.Nine days they fell; confounded Chaos roared,And felt tenfold confusion in their fallThrough his wild Anarchy; so huge a routIncumbered him with ruin. Hell at last,Yawning, received them whole, and on them closed—Hell, their fit habitation, fraught with fireUnquenchable, the house of woe and pain.Disburdened Heaven rejoiced, and soon repairedHer mural breach, returning whence it rowled.Sole victor, from the expulsion of his foesMessiah his triumphal chariot turned.To meet him all his Saints, who silent stoodEye-witnesses of His Almighty acts,With jubilee advanced; and, as they went,Shaded with branching palm, each order brightSung triumph, and him sung victorious King,Son, Heir, and Lord, to him dominion given,Worthiest to reign. He celebrated rodeTriumphant through mid Heaven, into the courtsAnd temple of his mighty Father thronedOn high; who into glory him received,Where now he sits at the right hand of bliss.
¶"Thus measuring things in Heaven by things onEarth,At thy request, and that thou may'st bewareBy what is past, to thee I have revealedWhat might have else to human race been hid—The discord which befell, and war in HeavenAmong the Angelic Powers, and the deep fallOf those too high aspiring who rebelledWith Satan: he who envies now thy state,Who now is plotting how he may seduce[227]Thee also from obedience, that, with himBereaved of happiness, thou may'st partakeHis punishment, eternal misery;Which would be all his solace and revenge,As a despite done against the Most High,Thee once to gain companion of his woe.But listen not to his temptations; warnThy weaker; let it profit thee to have heard,By terrible example, the rewardOf disobedience. Firm they might have stood,Yet fell. Remember, and fear to transgress."