http://git-wip-us.apache.org/repos/asf/hadoop/blob/cb5ba73b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfsdb/src/main/native/snappy/testdata/plrabn12.txt ---------------------------------------------------------------------- diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfsdb/src/main/native/snappy/testdata/plrabn12.txt b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfsdb/src/main/native/snappy/testdata/plrabn12.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dfa72b6 --- /dev/null +++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfsdb/src/main/native/snappy/testdata/plrabn12.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10699 @@ + +This is the February 1992 Project Gutenberg release of: + +Paradise Lost by John Milton + +The oldest etext known to Project Gutenberg (ca. 1964-1965) +(If you know of any older ones, please let us know.) + + +Introduction (one page) + +This etext was originally created in 1964-1965 according to Dr. +Joseph Raben of Queens College, NY, to whom it is attributed by +Project Gutenberg. We had heard of this etext for years but it +was not until 1991 that we actually managed to track it down to +a specific location, and then it took months to convince people +to let us have a copy, then more months for them actually to do +the copying and get it to us. Then another month to convert to +something we could massage with our favorite 486 in DOS. After +that is was only a matter of days to get it into this shape you +will see below. The original was, of course, in CAPS only, and +so were all the other etexts of the 60's and early 70's. Don't +let anyone fool you into thinking any etext with both upper and +lower case is an original; all those original Project Gutenberg +etexts were also in upper case and were translated or rewritten +many times to get them into their current condition. They have +been worked on by many people throughout the world. + +In the course of our searches for Professor Raben and his etext +we were never able to determine where copies were or which of a +variety of editions he may have used as a source. We did get a +little information here and there, but even after we received a +copy of the etext we were unwilling to release it without first +determining that it was in fact Public Domain and finding Raben +to verify this and get his permission. Interested enough, in a +totally unrelated action to our searches for him, the professor +subscribed to the Project Gutenberg listserver and we happened, +by accident, to notice his name. (We don't really look at every +subscription request as the computers usually handle them.) The +etext was then properly identified, copyright analyzed, and the +current edition prepared. + +To give you an estimation of the difference in the original and +what we have today: the original was probably entered on cards +commonly known at the time as "IBM cards" (Do Not Fold, Spindle +or Mutilate) and probably took in excess of 100,000 of them. A +single card could hold 80 characters (hence 80 characters is an +accepted standard for so many computer margins), and the entire +original edition we received in all caps was over 800,000 chars +in length, including line enumeration, symbols for caps and the +punctuation marks, etc., since they were not available keyboard +characters at the time (probably the keyboards operated at baud +rates of around 113, meaning the typists had to type slowly for +the keyboard to keep up). + +This is the second version of Paradise Lost released by Project +Gutenberg. The first was released as our October, 1991 etext. + + + + + +Paradise Lost + + + + +Book I + + +Of Man's first disobedience, and the fruit +Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste +Brought death into the World, and all our woe, +With loss of Eden, till one greater Man +Restore us, and regain the blissful seat, +Sing, Heavenly Muse, that, on the secret top +Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire +That shepherd who first taught the chosen seed +In the beginning how the heavens and earth +Rose out of Chaos: or, if Sion hill +Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flowed +Fast by the oracle of God, I thence +Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song, +That with no middle flight intends to soar +Above th' Aonian mount, while it pursues +Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme. +And chiefly thou, O Spirit, that dost prefer +Before all temples th' upright heart and pure, +Instruct me, for thou know'st; thou from the first +Wast present, and, with mighty wings outspread, +Dove-like sat'st brooding on the vast Abyss, +And mad'st it pregnant: what in me is dark +Illumine, what is low raise and support; +That, to the height of this great argument, +I may assert Eternal Providence, +And justify the ways of God to men. + Say first--for Heaven hides nothing from thy view, +Nor the deep tract of Hell--say first what cause +Moved our grand parents, in that happy state, +Favoured of Heaven so highly, to fall off +From their Creator, and transgress his will +For one restraint, lords of the World besides. +Who first seduced them to that foul revolt? + Th' infernal Serpent; he it was whose guile, +Stirred up with envy and revenge, deceived +The mother of mankind, what time his pride +Had cast him out from Heaven, with all his host +Of rebel Angels, by whose aid, aspiring +To set himself in glory above his peers, +He trusted to have equalled the Most High, +If he opposed, and with ambitious aim +Against the throne and monarchy of God, +Raised impious war in Heaven and battle proud, +With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power +Hurled headlong flaming from th' ethereal sky, +With hideous ruin and combustion, down +To bottomless perdition, there to dwell +In adamantine chains and penal fire, +Who durst defy th' Omnipotent to arms. + Nine times the space that measures day and night +To mortal men, he, with his horrid crew, +Lay vanquished, rolling in the fiery gulf, +Confounded, though immortal. But his doom +Reserved him to more wrath; for now the thought +Both of lost happiness and lasting pain +Torments him: round he throws his baleful eyes, +That witnessed huge affliction and dismay, +Mixed with obdurate pride and steadfast hate. +At once, as far as Angels ken, he views +The dismal situation waste and wild. +A dungeon horrible, on all sides round, +As one great furnace flamed; yet from those flames +No light; but rather darkness visible +Served only to discover sights of woe, +Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace +And rest can never dwell, hope never comes +That comes to all, but torture without end +Still urges, and a fiery deluge, fed +With ever-burning sulphur unconsumed. +Such place Eternal Justice has prepared +For those rebellious; here their prison ordained +In utter darkness, and their portion set, +As far removed from God and light of Heaven +As from the centre thrice to th' utmost pole. +Oh how unlike the place from whence they fell! +There the companions of his fall, o'erwhelmed +With floods and whirlwinds of tempestuous fire, +He soon discerns; and, weltering by his side, +One next himself in power, and next in crime, +Long after known in Palestine, and named +Beelzebub. To whom th' Arch-Enemy, +And thence in Heaven called Satan, with bold words +Breaking the horrid silence, thus began:-- + "If thou beest he--but O how fallen! how changed +From him who, in the happy realms of light +Clothed with transcendent brightness, didst outshine +Myriads, though bright!--if he whom mutual league, +United thoughts and counsels, equal hope +And hazard in the glorious enterprise +Joined with me once, now misery hath joined +In equal ruin; into what pit thou seest +From what height fallen: so much the stronger proved +He with his thunder; and till then who knew +The force of those dire arms? Yet not for those, +Nor what the potent Victor in his rage +Can else inflict, do I repent, or change, +Though changed in outward lustre, that fixed mind, +And high disdain from sense of injured merit, +That with the Mightiest raised me to contend, +And to the fierce contentions brought along +Innumerable force of Spirits armed, +That durst dislike his reign, and, me preferring, +His utmost power with adverse power opposed +In dubious battle on the plains of Heaven, +And shook his throne. What though the field be lost? +All is not lost--the unconquerable will, +And study of revenge, immortal hate, +And courage never to submit or yield: +And what is else not to be overcome? +That glory never shall his wrath or might +Extort from me. To bow and sue for grace +With suppliant knee, and deify his power +Who, from the terror of this arm, so late +Doubted his empire--that were low indeed; +That were an ignominy and shame beneath +This downfall; since, by fate, the strength of Gods, +And this empyreal sybstance, cannot fail; +Since, through experience of this great event, +In arms not worse, in foresight much advanced, +We may with more successful hope resolve +To wage by force or guile eternal war, +Irreconcilable to our grand Foe, +Who now triumphs, and in th' excess of joy +Sole reigning holds the tyranny of Heaven." + So spake th' apostate Angel, though in pain, +Vaunting aloud, but racked with deep despair; +And him thus answered soon his bold compeer:-- + "O Prince, O Chief of many throned Powers +That led th' embattled Seraphim to war +Under thy conduct, and, in dreadful deeds +Fearless, endangered Heaven's perpetual King, +And put to proof his high supremacy, +Whether upheld by strength, or chance, or fate, +Too well I see and rue the dire event +That, with sad overthrow and foul defeat, +Hath lost us Heaven, and all this mighty host +In horrible destruction laid thus low, +As far as Gods and heavenly Essences +Can perish: for the mind and spirit remains +Invincible, and vigour soon returns, +Though all our glory extinct, and happy state +Here swallowed up in endless misery. +But what if he our Conqueror (whom I now +Of force believe almighty, since no less +Than such could have o'erpowered such force as ours) +Have left us this our spirit and strength entire, +Strongly to suffer and support our pains, +That we may so suffice his vengeful ire, +Or do him mightier service as his thralls +By right of war, whate'er his business be, +Here in the heart of Hell to work in fire, +Or do his errands in the gloomy Deep? +What can it the avail though yet we feel +Strength undiminished, or eternal being +To undergo eternal punishment?" + Whereto with speedy words th' Arch-Fiend replied:-- +"Fallen Cherub, to be weak is miserable, +Doing or suffering: but of this be sure-- +To do aught good never will be our task, +But ever to do ill our sole delight, +As being the contrary to his high will +Whom we resist. If then his providence +Out of our evil seek to bring forth good, +Our labour must be to pervert that end, +And out of good still to find means of evil; +Which ofttimes may succeed so as perhaps +Shall grieve him, if I fail not, and disturb +His inmost counsels from their destined aim. +But see! the angry Victor hath recalled +His ministers of vengeance and pursuit +Back to the gates of Heaven: the sulphurous hail, +Shot after us in storm, o'erblown hath laid +The fiery surge that from the precipice +Of Heaven received us falling; and the thunder, +Winged with red lightning and impetuous rage, +Perhaps hath spent his shafts, and ceases now +To bellow through the vast and boundless Deep. +Let us not slip th' occasion, whether scorn +Or satiate fury yield it from our Foe. +Seest thou yon dreary plain, forlorn and wild, +The seat of desolation, void of light, +Save what the glimmering of these livid flames +Casts pale and dreadful? Thither let us tend +From off the tossing of these fiery waves; +There rest, if any rest can harbour there; +And, re-assembling our afflicted powers, +Consult how we may henceforth most offend +Our enemy, our own loss how repair, +How overcome this dire calamity, +What reinforcement we may gain from hope, +If not, what resolution from despair." + Thus Satan, talking to his nearest mate, +With head uplift above the wave, and eyes +That sparkling blazed; his other parts besides +Prone on the flood, extended long and large, +Lay floating many a rood, in bulk as huge +As whom the fables name of monstrous size, +Titanian or Earth-born, that warred on Jove, +Briareos or Typhon, whom the den +By ancient Tarsus held, or that sea-beast +Leviathan, which God of all his works +Created hugest that swim th' ocean-stream. +Him, haply slumbering on the Norway foam, +The pilot of some small night-foundered skiff, +Deeming some island, oft, as seamen tell, +With fixed anchor in his scaly rind, +Moors by his side under the lee, while night +Invests the sea, and wished morn delays. +So stretched out huge in length the Arch-fiend lay, +Chained on the burning lake; nor ever thence +Had risen, or heaved his head, but that the will +And high permission 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 sought +Evil to others, and enraged might see +How all his malice served but to bring forth +Infinite goodness, grace, and mercy, shewn +On Man by him seduced, but on himself +Treble confusion, wrath, and vengeance poured. + Forthwith upright he rears from off the pool +His mighty stature; on each hand the flames +Driven backward slope their pointing spires, and,rolled +In billows, leave i' th' midst a horrid vale. +Then with expanded wings he steers his flight +Aloft, incumbent on the dusky air, +That felt unusual weight; till on dry land +He lights--if it were land that ever burned +With solid, as the lake with liquid fire, +And such appeared in hue as when the force +Of subterranean wind transprots a hill +Torn from Pelorus, or the shattered side +Of thundering Etna, whose combustible +And fuelled entrails, thence conceiving fire, +Sublimed with mineral fury, aid the winds, +And leave a singed bottom all involved +With stench and smoke. Such resting found the sole +Of unblest feet. Him followed his next mate; +Both glorying to have scaped the Stygian flood +As gods, and by their own recovered strength, +Not by the sufferance of supernal Power. + "Is this the region, this the soil, the clime," +Said then the lost Archangel, "this the seat +That we must change for Heaven?--this mournful gloom +For that celestial light? Be it so, since he +Who now is sovereign can dispose and bid +What shall be right: farthest from him is best +Whom reason hath equalled, force hath made supreme +Above his equals. Farewell, happy fields, +Where joy for ever dwells! Hail, horrors! hail, +Infernal world! and thou, profoundest Hell, +Receive thy new possessor--one who brings +A mind not to be changed by place or time. +The mind is its own place, and in itself +Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven. +What matter where, if I be still the same, +And what I should be, all but less than he +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 reigh secure; and, in my choice, +To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell: +Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven. +But wherefore let we then our faithful friends, +Th' associates and co-partners of our loss, +Lie thus astonished on th' oblivious pool, +And call them not to share with us their part +In this unhappy mansion, or once more +With rallied arms to try what may be yet +Regained in Heaven, or what more lost in Hell?" + So Satan spake; and him Beelzebub +Thus answered:--"Leader of those armies bright +Which, but th' Omnipotent, none could have foiled! +If once they hear that voice, their liveliest pledge +Of hope in fears and dangers--heard so oft +In worst extremes, and on the perilous edge +Of battle, when it raged, in all assaults +Their surest signal--they will soon resume +New courage and revive, though now they lie +Grovelling and prostrate on yon lake of fire, +As we erewhile, astounded and amazed; +No wonder, fallen such a pernicious height!" + He scare had ceased when the superior Fiend +Was moving toward the shore; his ponderous shield, +Ethereal temper, massy, large, and round, +Behind him cast. The broad circumference +Hung on his shoulders like the moon, whose orb +Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views +At evening, from the top of Fesole, +Or in Valdarno, to descry 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 some great ammiral, were but a wand-- +He walked with, to support uneasy steps +Over the burning marl, not like those steps +On Heaven's azure; and the torrid clime +Smote on him sore besides, vaulted with fire. +Nathless he so endured, till on the beach +Of that inflamed sea he stood, and called +His legions--Angel Forms, who lay entranced +Thick as autumnal leaves that strow the brooks +In Vallombrosa, where th' Etrurian shades +High over-arched embower; or scattered sedge +Afloat, when with fierce winds Orion armed +Hath vexed the Red-Sea coast, whose waves o'erthrew +Busiris and his Memphian chivalry, +While with perfidious hatred they pursued +The sojourners of Goshen, who beheld +From the safe shore their floating carcases +And broken chariot-wheels. So thick bestrown, +Abject and lost, lay these, covering the flood, +Under amazement of their hideous change. +He called so loud that all the hollow deep +Of Hell resounded:--"Princes, Potentates, +Warriors, the Flower of Heaven--once yours; now lost, +If such astonishment as this can seize +Eternal Spirits! Or have ye chosen this place +After the toil of battle to repose +Your wearied virtue, for the ease you find +To slumber here, as in the vales of Heaven? +Or in this abject posture have ye sworn +To adore the Conqueror, who now beholds +Cherub and Seraph rolling in the flood +With scattered arms and ensigns, till anon +His swift pursuers from Heaven-gates discern +Th' advantage, and, descending, tread us down +Thus drooping, or with linked thunderbolts +Transfix us to the bottom of this gulf? +Awake, arise, or be for ever fallen!" + They heard, and were abashed, and up they sprung +Upon the wing, as when men wont to watch +On duty, sleeping found by whom they dread, +Rouse and bestir themselves ere well awake. +Nor did they not perceive the evil plight +In which they were, or the fierce pains not feel; +Yet to their General's voice they soon obeyed +Innumerable. As when the potent rod +Of Amram's son, in Egypt's evil day, +Waved round the coast, up-called a pitchy cloud +Of locusts, warping on the eastern wind, +That o'er the realm of impious Pharaoh hung +Like Night, and darkened all the land of Nile; +So numberless were those bad Angels seen +Hovering on wing under the cope of Hell, +'Twixt upper, nether, and surrounding fires; +Till, as a signal given, th' uplifted spear +Of their great Sultan waving to direct +Their course, in even balance down they light +On the firm brimstone, and fill all the plain: +A multitude like which the populous North +Poured never from her frozen loins to pass +Rhene or the Danaw, when her barbarous sons +Came like a deluge on the South, and spread +Beneath Gibraltar to the Libyan sands. +Forthwith, form every squadron and each band, +The heads and leaders thither haste where stood +Their great Commander--godlike Shapes, and Forms +Excelling human; princely Dignities; +And Powers that erst in Heaven sat on thrones, +Though on their names in Heavenly records now +Be no memorial, blotted out and rased +By their rebellion from the Books of Life. +Nor had they yet among the sons of Eve +Got them new names, till, wandering o'er the earth, +Through God's high sufferance for the trial of man, +By falsities and lies the greatest part +Of mankind they corrupted to forsake +God their Creator, and th' invisible +Glory of him that made them to transform +Oft to the image of a brute, adorned +With gay religions full of pomp and gold, +And devils to adore for deities: +Then were they known to men by various names, +And various idols through the heathen world. + Say, Muse, their names then known, who first, who last, +Roused from the slumber on that fiery couch, +At their great Emperor's call, as next in worth +Came singly where he stood on the bare strand, +While the promiscuous crowd stood yet aloof? + The chief were those who, from the pit of Hell +Roaming to seek their prey on Earth, durst fix +Their seats, long after, next the seat of God, +Their altars by his altar, gods adored +Among the nations round, and durst abide +Jehovah thundering out of Sion, throned +Between the Cherubim; yea, often placed +Within his sanctuary itself their shrines, +Abominations; and with cursed things +His holy rites and solemn feasts profaned, +And with their darkness durst affront his light. +First, Moloch, horrid king, besmeared with blood +Of human sacrifice, and parents' tears; +Though, for the noise of drums and timbrels loud, +Their children's cries unheard that passed through fire +To his grim idol. Him the Ammonite +Worshiped in Rabba and her watery plain, +In Argob and in Basan, to the stream +Of utmost Arnon. Nor content with such +Audacious neighbourhood, the wisest heart +Of Solomon he led by fraoud to build +His temple right against the temple of God +On that opprobrious hill, and made his grove +The pleasant valley of Hinnom, Tophet thence +And black Gehenna called, the type of Hell. +Next Chemos, th' obscene dread of Moab's sons, +From Aroar to Nebo and the wild +Of southmost Abarim; in Hesebon +And Horonaim, Seon's real, beyond +The flowery dale of Sibma clad with vines, +And Eleale to th' Asphaltic Pool: +Peor his other name, when he enticed +Israel in Sittim, on their march from Nile, +To do him wanton rites, which cost them woe. +Yet thence his lustful orgies he enlarged +Even to that hill of scandal, by the grove +Of Moloch homicide, lust hard by hate, +Till good Josiah drove them thence to Hell. +With these came they who, from the bordering flood +Of old Euphrates to the brook that parts +Egypt from Syrian ground, had general names +Of Baalim and Ashtaroth--those male, +These feminine. For Spirits, when they please, +Can either sex assume, or both; so soft +And uncompounded is their essence pure, +Not tried or manacled with joint or limb, +Nor founded on the brittle strength of bones, +Like cumbrous flesh; but, in what shape they choose, +Dilated or condensed, bright or obscure, +Can execute their airy purposes, +And works of love or enmity fulfil. +For those the race of Israel oft forsook +Their Living Strength, and unfrequented left +His righteous altar, bowing lowly down +To bestial gods; for which their heads as low +Bowed down in battle, sunk before the spear +Of despicable foes. With these in troop +Came Astoreth, whom the Phoenicians called +Astarte, queen of heaven, with crescent horns; +To whose bright image nigntly by the moon +Sidonian virgins paid their vows and songs; +In Sion also not unsung, where stood +Her temple on th' offensive mountain, built +By that uxorious king whose heart, though large, +Beguiled by fair idolatresses, fell +To idols foul. Thammuz came next behind, +Whose annual wound in Lebanon allured +The Syrian damsels to lament his fate +In amorous ditties all a summer's day, +While smooth Adonis from his native rock +Ran purple to the sea, supposed with blood +Of Thammuz yearly wounded: the love-tale +Infected Sion's daughters with like heat, +Whose wanton passions in the sacred proch +Ezekiel saw, when, by the vision led, +His eye surveyed the dark idolatries +Of alienated Judah. Next came one +Who mourned in earnest, when the captive ark +Maimed his brute image, head and hands lopt off, +In his own temple, on the grunsel-edge, +Where he fell flat and shamed his worshippers: +Dagon his name, sea-monster,upward man +And downward fish; yet had his temple high +Reared in Azotus, dreaded through the coast +Of Palestine, in Gath and Ascalon, +And Accaron and Gaza's frontier bounds. +Him followed Rimmon, whose delightful seat +Was fair Damascus, on the fertile banks +Of Abbana and Pharphar, lucid streams. +He also against the house of God was bold: +A leper once he lost, and gained a king-- +Ahaz, his sottish conqueror, whom he drew +God's altar to disparage and displace +For one of Syrian mode, whereon to burn +His odious offerings, and adore the gods +Whom he had vanquished. After these appeared +A crew who, under names of old renown-- +Osiris, Isis, Orus, and their train-- +With monstrous shapes and sorceries abused +Fanatic Egypt and her priests to seek +Their wandering gods disguised in brutish forms +Rather than human. Nor did Israel scape +Th' infection, when their borrowed gold composed +The calf in Oreb; and the rebel king +Doubled that sin in Bethel and in Dan, +Likening his Maker to the grazed ox-- +Jehovah, who, in one night, when he passed +From Egypt marching, equalled with one stroke +Both her first-born and all her bleating gods. +Belial came last; than whom a Spirit more lewd +Fell not from Heaven, or more gross to love +Vice for itself. To him no temple stood +Or altar smoked; yet who more oft than he +In temples and at altars, when the priest +Turns atheist, as did Eli's sons, who filled +With lust and violence the house of God? +In courts and palaces he also reigns, +And in luxurious cities, where the noise +Of riot ascends above their loftiest towers, +And injury and outrage; and, when night +Darkens the streets, then wander forth the sons +Of Belial, flown with insolence and wine. +Witness the streets of Sodom, and that night +In Gibeah, when the hospitable door +Exposed a matron, to avoid worse rape. + These were the prime in order and in might: +The rest were long to tell; though far renowned +Th' Ionian gods--of Javan's issue held +Gods, yet confessed later than Heaven and Earth, +Their boasted parents;--Titan, Heaven's first-born, +With his enormous brood, and birthright seized +By younger Saturn: he from mightier Jove, +His own and Rhea's son, like measure found; +So Jove usurping reigned. These, first in Crete +And Ida known, thence on the snowy top +Of cold Olympus ruled the middle air, +Their highest heaven; or on the Delphian cliff, +Or in Dodona, and through all the bounds +Of Doric land; or who with Saturn old +Fled over Adria to th' Hesperian fields, +And o'er the Celtic roamed the utmost Isles. + All these and more came flocking; but with looks +Downcast and damp; yet such wherein appeared +Obscure some glimpse of joy to have found their Chief +Not in despair, to have found themselves not lost +In loss itself; which on his countenance cast +Like doubtful hue. But he, his wonted pride +Soon recollecting, with high words, that bore +Semblance of worth, not substance, gently raised +Their fainting courage, and dispelled their fears. +Then straight commands that, at the warlike sound +Of trumpets loud and clarions, be upreared +His mighty standard. That proud honour claimed +Azazel as his right, a Cherub tall: +Who forthwith from the glittering staff unfurled +Th' imperial ensign; which, full high advanced, +Shone like a meteor streaming to the wind, +With gems and golden lustre rich emblazed, +Seraphic arms and trophies; all the while +Sonorous metal blowing martial sounds: +At which the universal host up-sent +A shout that tore Hell's concave, and beyond +Frighted the reign of Chaos and old Night. +All in a moment through the gloom were seen +Ten thousand banners rise into the air, +With orient colours waving: with them rose +A forest huge of spears; and thronging helms +Appeared, and serried shields in thick array +Of depth immeasurable. Anon they move +In perfect phalanx to the Dorian mood +Of flutes and soft recorders--such as raised +To height of noblest temper heroes old +Arming to battle, and instead of rage +Deliberate valour breathed, firm, and unmoved +With dread of death to flight or foul retreat; +Nor wanting power to mitigate and swage +With solemn touches troubled thoughts, and chase +Anguish and doubt and fear and sorrow and pain +From mortal or immortal minds. Thus they, +Breathing united force with fixed thought, +Moved on in silence to soft pipes that charmed +Their painful steps o'er the burnt soil. And now +Advanced in view they stand--a horrid front +Of dreadful length and dazzling arms, in guise +Of warriors old, with ordered spear and shield, +Awaiting what command their mighty Chief +Had to impose. He through the armed files +Darts his experienced eye, and soon traverse +The whole battalion views--their order due, +Their visages and stature as of gods; +Their number last he sums. And now his heart +Distends with pride, and, hardening in his strength, +Glories: for never, since created Man, +Met such embodied force as, named with these, +Could merit more than that small infantry +Warred on by cranes--though all the giant brood +Of Phlegra with th' heroic race were joined +That fought at Thebes and Ilium, on each side +Mixed with auxiliar gods; and what resounds +In fable or romance of Uther's son, +Begirt with British and Armoric knights; +And all who since, baptized or infidel, +Jousted in Aspramont, or Montalban, +Damasco, or Marocco, or Trebisond, +Or whom Biserta sent from Afric shore +When Charlemain with all his peerage fell +By Fontarabbia. Thus far these beyond +Compare of mortal prowess, yet observed +Their dread Commander. He, above the rest +In shape and gesture proudly eminent, +Stood like a tower. His form had yet not lost +All her original brightness, nor appeared +Less than Archangel ruined, and th' excess +Of glory obscured: as when the sun new-risen +Looks through the horizontal misty air +Shorn of his beams, or, from behind the moon, +In dim eclipse, disastrous twilight sheds +On half the nations, and with fear of change +Perplexes monarchs. Darkened so, yet shone +Above them all th' Archangel: but his face +Deep scars of thunder had intrenched, and care +Sat on his faded cheek, but under brows +Of dauntless courage, and considerate pride +Waiting revenge. Cruel his eye, but cast +Signs of remorse and passion, to behold +The fellows of his crime, the followers rather +(Far other once beheld in bliss), condemned +For ever now to have their lot in pain-- +Millions of Spirits for his fault amerced +Of Heaven, and from eteranl splendours flung +For his revolt--yet faithful how they stood, +Their glory withered; as, when heaven's fire +Hath scathed the forest oaks or mountain pines, +With singed top their stately growth, though bare, +Stands on the blasted heath. He now prepared +To speak; whereat their doubled ranks they bend +From wing to wing, and half enclose him round +With all his peers: attention held them mute. +Thrice he assayed, and thrice, in spite of scorn, +Tears, such as Angels weep, burst forth: at last +Words interwove with sighs found out their way:-- + "O myriads of immortal Spirits! O Powers +Matchless, but with th' Almighth!--and that strife +Was not inglorious, though th' event was dire, +As this place testifies, and this dire change, +Hateful to utter. But what power of mind, +Forseeing or presaging, from the depth +Of knowledge past or present, could have feared +How such united force of gods, how such +As stood like these, could ever know repulse? +For who can yet believe, though after loss, +That all these puissant legions, whose exile +Hath emptied Heaven, shall fail to re-ascend, +Self-raised, and repossess their native seat? +For me, be witness all the host of Heaven, +If counsels different, or danger shunned +By me, have lost our hopes. But he who reigns +Monarch in Heaven till then as one secure +Sat on his throne, upheld by old repute, +Consent or custom, and his regal state +Put forth at full, but still his strength concealed-- +Which tempted our attempt, and wrought our fall. +Henceforth his might we know, and know our own, +So as not either to provoke, or dread +New war provoked: our better part remains +To work in close design, by fraud or guile, +What force effected not; that he no less +At length from us may find, who overcomes +By force hath overcome but half his foe. +Space may produce new Worlds; whereof so rife +There went a fame in Heaven that he ere long +Intended to create, and therein plant +A generation whom his choice regard +Should favour equal to the Sons of Heaven. +Thither, if but to pry, shall be perhaps +Our first eruption--thither, or elsewhere; +For this infernal pit shall never hold +Celestial Spirits in bondage, nor th' Abyss +Long under darkness cover. But these thoughts +Full counsel must mature. Peace is despaired; +For who can think submission? War, then, war +Open or understood, must be resolved." + He spake; and, to confirm his words, outflew +Millions of flaming swords, drawn from the thighs +Of mighty Cherubim; the sudden blaze +Far round illumined Hell. Highly they raged +Against the Highest, and fierce with grasped arms +Clashed on their sounding shields the din of war, +Hurling defiance toward the vault of Heaven. + There stood a hill not far, whose grisly top +Belched fire and rolling smoke; the rest entire +Shone with a glossy scurf--undoubted sign +That in his womb was hid metallic ore, +The work of sulphur. Thither, winged with speed, +A numerous brigade hastened: as when bands +Of pioneers, with spade and pickaxe armed, +Forerun the royal camp, to trench a field, +Or cast a rampart. Mammon led them on-- +Mammon, the least erected Spirit that fell +From Heaven; for even in Heaven his looks and thoughts +Were always downward bent, admiring more +The riches of heaven's pavement, trodden gold, +Than aught divine or holy else enjoyed +In vision beatific. By him first +Men also, and by his suggestion taught, +Ransacked the centre, and with impious hands +Rifled the bowels of their mother Earth +For treasures better hid. Soon had his crew +Opened into the hill a spacious wound, +And digged out ribs of gold. Let none admire +That riches grow in Hell; that soil may best +Deserve the precious bane. And here let those +Who boast in mortal things, and wondering tell +Of Babel, and the works of Memphian kings, +Learn how their greatest monuments of fame +And strength, and art, are easily outdone +By Spirits reprobate, and in an hour +What in an age they, with incessant toil +And hands innumerable, scarce perform. +Nigh on the plain, in many cells prepared, +That underneath had veins of liquid fire +Sluiced from the lake, a second multitude +With wondrous art founded the massy ore, +Severing each kind, and scummed the bullion-dross. +A third as soon had formed within the ground +A various mould, and from the boiling cells +By strange conveyance filled each hollow nook; +As in an organ, from one blast of wind, +To many a row of pipes the sound-board breathes. +Anon out of the earth a fabric huge +Rose like an exhalation, with the sound +Of dulcet symphonies and voices sweet-- +Built like a temple, where pilasters round +Were set, and Doric pillars overlaid +With golden architrave; nor did there want +Cornice or frieze, with bossy sculptures graven; +The roof was fretted gold. Not Babylon +Nor great Alcairo such magnificence +Equalled in all their glories, to enshrine +Belus or Serapis their gods, or seat +Their kings, when Egypt with Assyria strove +In wealth and luxury. Th' ascending pile +Stood fixed her stately height, and straight the doors, +Opening their brazen folds, discover, wide +Within, her ample spaces o'er the smooth +And level pavement: from the arched roof, +Pendent by subtle magic, many a row +Of starry lamps and blazing cressets, fed +With naptha and asphaltus, yielded light +As from a sky. The hasty multitude +Admiring entered; and the work some praise, +And some the architect. His hand was known +In Heaven by many a towered structure high, +Where sceptred Angels held their residence, +And sat as Princes, whom the supreme King +Exalted to such power, and gave to rule, +Each in his Hierarchy, the Orders bright. +Nor was his name unheard or unadored +In ancient Greece; and in Ausonian land +Men called him Mulciber; and how he fell +From Heaven they fabled, thrown by angry Jove +Sheer o'er the crystal battlements: from morn +To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve, +A summer's day, and with the setting sun +Dropt from the zenith, like a falling star, +On Lemnos, th' Aegaean isle. Thus they relate, +Erring; for he with this rebellious rout +Fell long before; nor aught aviled him now +To have built in Heaven high towers; nor did he scape +By all his engines, but was headlong sent, +With his industrious crew, to build in Hell. + Meanwhile the winged Heralds, by command +Of sovereign power, with awful ceremony +And trumpet's sound, throughout the host proclaim +A solemn council forthwith to be held +At Pandemonium, the high capital +Of Satan and his peers. Their summons called +From every band and squared regiment +By place or choice the worthiest: they anon +With hundreds and with thousands trooping came +Attended. All access was thronged; the gates +And porches wide, but chief the spacious hall +(Though like a covered field, where champions bold +Wont ride in armed, and at the Soldan's chair +Defied the best of Paynim chivalry +To mortal combat, or career with lance), +Thick swarmed, both on the ground and in the air, +Brushed with the hiss of rustling wings. As bees +In spring-time, when the Sun with Taurus rides. +Pour forth their populous youth about the hive +In clusters; they among fresh dews and flowers +Fly to and fro, or on the smoothed plank, +The suburb of their straw-built citadel, +New rubbed with balm, expatiate, and confer +Their state-affairs: so thick the airy crowd +Swarmed and were straitened; till, the signal given, +Behold a wonder! They but now who seemed +In bigness to surpass Earth's giant sons, +Now less than smallest dwarfs, in narrow room +Throng numberless--like that pygmean race +Beyond the Indian mount; or faery elves, +Whose midnight revels, by a forest-side +Or fountain, some belated peasant sees, +Or dreams he sees, while overhead the Moon +Sits arbitress, and nearer to the Earth +Wheels her pale course: they, on their mirth and dance +Intent, with jocund music charm his ear; +At once with joy and fear his heart rebounds. +Thus incorporeal Spirits to smallest forms +Reduced their shapes immense, and were at large, +Though without number still, amidst the hall +Of that infernal court. But far within, +And in their own dimensions like themselves, +The great Seraphic Lords and Cherubim +In close recess and secret conclave sat, +A thousand demi-gods on golden seats, +Frequent and full. After short silence then, +And summons read, the great consult began. + + + +Book II + + +High on a throne of royal state, which far +Outshone the wealth or Ormus and of Ind, +Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand +Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold, +Satan exalted sat, by merit raised +To that bad eminence; and, from despair +Thus high uplifted beyond hope, aspires +Beyond thus high, insatiate to pursue +Vain war with Heaven; and, by success untaught, +His proud imaginations thus displayed:-- + "Powers and Dominions, Deities of Heaven!-- +For, since no deep within her gulf can hold +Immortal vigour, though oppressed and fallen, +I give not Heaven for lost: from this descent +Celestial Virtues rising will appear +More glorious and more dread than from no fall, +And trust themselves to fear no second fate!-- +Me though just right, and the fixed laws of Heaven, +Did first create your leader--next, free choice +With what besides in council or in fight +Hath been achieved of merit--yet this loss, +Thus far at least recovered, hath much more +Established in a safe, unenvied throne, +Yielded with full consent. The happier state +In Heaven, which follows dignity, might draw +Envy from each inferior; but who here +Will envy whom the highest place exposes +Foremost to stand against the Thunderer's aim +Your bulwark, and condemns to greatest share +Of endless pain? Where there is, then, no good +For which to strive, no strife can grow up there +From faction: for none sure will claim in Hell +Precedence; none whose portion is so small +Of present pain that with ambitious mind +Will covet more! With this advantage, then, +To union, and firm faith, and firm accord, +More than can be in Heaven, we now return +To claim our just inheritance of old, +Surer to prosper than prosperity +Could have assured us; and by what best way, +Whether of open war or covert guile, +We now debate. Who can advise may speak." + He ceased; and next him Moloch, sceptred king, +Stood up--the strongest and the fiercest Spirit +That fought in Heaven, now fiercer by despair. +His trust was with th' Eternal to be deemed +Equal in strength, and rather than be less +Cared not to be at all; with that care lost +Went all his fear: of God, or Hell, or worse, +He recked not, and these words thereafter spake:-- + "My sentence is for open war. Of wiles, +More unexpert, I boast not: them let those +Contrive who need, or when they need; not now. +For, while they sit contriving, shall the rest-- +Millions that stand in arms, and longing wait +The signal to ascend--sit lingering here, +Heaven's fugitives, and for their dwelling-place +Accept this dark opprobrious den of shame, +The prison of his ryranny who reigns +By our delay? No! let us rather choose, +Armed with Hell-flames and fury, all at once +O'er Heaven's high towers to force resistless way, +Turning our tortures into horrid arms +Against the Torturer; when, to meet the noise +Of his almighty engine, he shall hear +Infernal thunder, and, for lightning, see +Black fire and horror shot with equal rage +Among his Angels, and his throne itself +Mixed with Tartarean sulphur and strange fire, +His own invented torments. But perhaps +The way seems difficult, and steep to scale +With upright wing against a higher foe! +Let such bethink them, if the sleepy drench +Of that forgetful lake benumb not still, +That in our porper motion we ascend +Up to our native seat; descent and fall +To us is adverse. Who but felt of late, +When the fierce foe hung on our broken rear +Insulting, and pursued us through the Deep, +With what compulsion and laborious flight +We sunk thus low? Th' ascent is easy, then; +Th' event is feared! Should we again provoke +Our stronger, some worse way his wrath may find +To our destruction, if there be in Hell +Fear to be worse destroyed! What can be worse +Than to dwell here, driven out from bliss, condemned +In this abhorred deep to utter woe! +Where pain of unextinguishable fire +Must exercise us without hope of end +The vassals of his anger, when the scourge +Inexorably, and the torturing hour, +Calls us to penance? More destroyed than thus, +We should be quite abolished, and expire. +What fear we then? what doubt we to incense +His utmost ire? which, to the height enraged, +Will either quite consume us, and reduce +To nothing this essential--happier far +Than miserable to have eternal being!-- +Or, if our substance be indeed divine, +And cannot cease to be, we are at worst +On this side nothing; and by proof we feel +Our power sufficient to disturb his Heaven, +And with perpetual inroads to alarm, +Though inaccessible, his fatal throne: +Which, if not victory, is yet revenge." + He ended frowning, and his look denounced +Desperate revenge, and battle dangerous +To less than gods. On th' other side up rose +Belial, in act more graceful and humane. +A fairer person lost not Heaven; he seemed +For dignity composed, and high exploit. +But all was false and hollow; though his tongue +Dropped manna, and could make the worse appear +The better reason, to perplex and dash +Maturest counsels: for his thoughts were low-- + To vice industrious, but to nobler deeds +Timorous and slothful. Yet he pleased the ear, +And with persuasive accent thus began:-- + "I should be much for open war, O Peers, +As not behind in hate, if what was urged +Main reason to persuade immediate war +Did not dissuade me most, and seem to cast +Ominous conjecture on the whole success; +When he who most excels in fact of arms, +In what he counsels and in what excels +Mistrustful, grounds his courage on despair +And utter dissolution, as the scope +Of all his aim, after some dire revenge. +First, what revenge? The towers of Heaven are filled +With armed watch, that render all access +Impregnable: oft on the bodering Deep +Encamp their legions, or with obscure wing +Scout far and wide into the realm of Night, +Scorning surprise. Or, could we break our way +By force, and at our heels all Hell should rise +With blackest insurrection to confound +Heaven's purest light, yet our great Enemy, +All incorruptible, would on his throne +Sit unpolluted, and th' ethereal mould, +Incapable of stain, would soon expel +Her mischief, and purge off the baser fire, +Victorious. Thus repulsed, our final hope +Is flat despair: we must exasperate +Th' Almighty Victor to spend all his rage; +And that must end us; that must be our cure-- +To be no more. Sad cure! for who would lose, +Though full of pain, this intellectual being, +Those thoughts that wander through eternity, +To perish rather, swallowed up and lost +In the wide womb of uncreated Night, +Devoid of sense and motion? And who knows, +Let this be good, whether our angry Foe +Can give it, or will ever? How he can +Is doubtful; that he never will is sure. +Will he, so wise, let loose at once his ire, +Belike through impotence or unaware, +To give his enemies their wish, and end +Them in his anger whom his anger saves +To punish endless? 'Wherefore cease we, then?' +Say they who counsel war; 'we are decreed, +Reserved, and destined to eternal woe; +Whatever doing, what can we suffer more, +What can we suffer worse?' Is this, then, worst-- +Thus sitting, thus consulting, thus in arms? +What when we fled amain, pursued and struck +With Heaven's afflicting thunder, and besought +The Deep to shelter us? This Hell then seemed +A refuge from those wounds. Or when we lay +Chained on the burning lake? That sure was worse. +What if the breath that kindled those grim fires, +Awaked, should blow them into sevenfold rage, +And plunge us in the flames; or from above +Should intermitted vengeance arm again +His red right hand to plague us? What if all +Her stores were opened, and this firmament +Of Hell should spout her cataracts of fire, +Impendent horrors, threatening hideous fall +One day upon our heads; while we perhaps, +Designing or exhorting glorious war, +Caught in a fiery tempest, shall be hurled, +Each on his rock transfixed, the sport and prey +Or racking whirlwinds, or for ever sunk +Under yon boiling ocean, wrapt in chains, +There to converse with everlasting groans, +Unrespited, unpitied, unreprieved, +Ages of hopeless end? This would be worse. +War, therefore, open or concealed, alike +My voice dissuades; for what can force or guile +With him, or who deceive his mind, whose eye +Views all things at one view? He from Heaven's height +All these our motions vain sees and derides, +Not more almighty to resist our might +Than wise to frustrate all our plots and wiles. +Shall we, then, live thus vile--the race of Heaven +Thus trampled, thus expelled, to suffer here +Chains and these torments? Better these than worse, +By my advice; since fate inevitable +Subdues us, and omnipotent decree, +The Victor's will. To suffer, as to do, +Our strength is equal; nor the law unjust +That so ordains. This was at first resolved, +If we were wise, against so great a foe +Contending, and so doubtful what might fall. +I laugh when those who at the spear are bold +And venturous, if that fail them, shrink, and fear +What yet they know must follow--to endure +Exile, or igominy, or bonds, or pain, +The sentence of their Conqueror. This is now +Our doom; which if we can sustain and bear, +Our Supreme Foe in time may much remit +His anger, and perhaps, thus far removed, +Not mind us not offending, satisfied +With what is punished; whence these raging fires +Will slacken, if his breath stir not their flames. +Our purer essence then will overcome +Their noxious vapour; or, inured, not feel; +Or, changed at length, and to the place conformed +In temper and in nature, will receive +Familiar the fierce heat; and, void of pain, +This horror will grow mild, this darkness light; +Besides what hope the never-ending flight +Of future days may bring, what chance, what change +Worth waiting--since our present lot appears +For happy though but ill, for ill not worst, +If we procure not to ourselves more woe." + Thus Belial, with words clothed in reason's garb, +Counselled ignoble ease and peaceful sloth, +Not peace; and after him thus Mammon spake:-- + "Either to disenthrone the King of Heaven +We war, if war be best, or to regain +Our own right lost. Him to unthrone we then +May hope, when everlasting Fate shall yield +To fickle Chance, and Chaos judge the strife. +The former, vain to hope, argues as vain +The latter; for what place can be for us +Within Heaven's bound, unless Heaven's Lord supreme +We overpower? Suppose he should relent +And publish grace to all, on promise made +Of new subjection; with what eyes could we +Stand in his presence humble, and receive +Strict laws imposed, to celebrate his throne +With warbled hyms, and to his Godhead sing +Forced hallelujahs, while he lordly sits +Our envied sovereign, and his altar breathes +Ambrosial odours and ambrosial flowers, +Our servile offerings? This must be our task +In Heaven, this our delight. How wearisome +Eternity so spent in worship paid +To whom we hate! Let us not then pursue, +By force impossible, by leave obtained +Unacceptable, though in Heaven, our state +Of splendid vassalage; but rather seek +Our own good from ourselves, and from our own +Live to ourselves, though in this vast recess, +Free and to none accountable, preferring +Hard liberty before the easy yoke +Of servile pomp. Our greatness will appear +Then most conspicuous when great things of small, +Useful of hurtful, prosperous of adverse, +We can create, and in what place soe'er +Thrive under evil, and work ease out of pain +Through labour and endurance. This deep world +Of darkness do we dread? How oft amidst +Thick clouds and dark doth Heaven's all-ruling Sire +Choose to reside, his glory unobscured, +And with the majesty of darkness round +Covers his throne, from whence deep thunders roar. +Mustering their rage, and Heaven resembles Hell! +As he our darkness, cannot we his light +Imitate when we please? This desert soil +Wants not her hidden lustre, gems and gold; +Nor want we skill or art from whence to raise +Magnificence; and what can Heaven show more? +Our torments also may, in length of time, +Become our elements, these piercing fires +As soft as now severe, our temper changed +Into their temper; which must needs remove +The sensible of pain. All things invite +To peaceful counsels, and the settled state +Of order, how in safety best we may +Compose our present evils, with regard +Of what we are and where, dismissing quite +All thoughts of war. Ye have what I advise." + He scarce had finished, when such murmur filled +Th' assembly as when hollow rocks retain +The sound of blustering winds, which all night long +Had roused the sea, now with hoarse cadence lull +Seafaring men o'erwatched, whose bark by chance +Or pinnace, anchors in a craggy bay +After the tempest. Such applause was heard +As Mammon ended, and his sentence pleased, +Advising peace: for such another field +They dreaded worse than Hell; so much the fear +Of thunder and the sword of Michael +Wrought still within them; and no less desire +To found this nether empire, which might rise, +By policy and long process of time, +In emulation opposite to Heaven. +Which when Beelzebub perceived--than whom, +Satan except, none higher sat--with grave +Aspect he rose, and in his rising seemed +A pillar of state. Deep on his front engraven +Deliberation sat, and public care; +And princely counsel in his face yet shone, +Majestic, though in ruin. Sage he stood +With Atlantean shoulders, fit to bear +The weight of mightiest monarchies; his look +Drew audience and attention still as night +Or summer's noontide air, while thus he spake:-- + "Thrones and Imperial Powers, Offspring of Heaven, +Ethereal Virtues! or these titles now +Must we renounce, and, changing style, be called +Princes of Hell? for so the popular vote +Inclines--here to continue, and build up here +A growing empire; doubtless! while we dream, +And know not that the King of Heaven hath doomed +This place our dungeon, not our safe retreat +Beyond his potent arm, to live exempt +From Heaven's high jurisdiction, in new league +Banded against his throne, but to remain +In strictest bondage, though thus far removed, +Under th' inevitable curb, reserved +His captive multitude. For he, to be sure, +In height or depth, still first and last will reign +Sole king, and of his kingdom lose no part +By our revolt, but over Hell extend +His empire, and with iron sceptre rule +Us here, as with his golden those in Heaven. +What sit we then projecting peace and war? +War hath determined us and foiled with loss +Irreparable; terms of peace yet none +Vouchsafed or sought; for what peace will be given +To us enslaved, but custody severe, +And stripes and arbitrary punishment +Inflicted? and what peace can we return, +But, to our power, hostility and hate, +Untamed reluctance, and revenge, though slow, +Yet ever plotting how the Conqueror least +May reap his conquest, and may least rejoice +In doing what we most in suffering feel? +Nor will occasion want, nor shall we need +With dangerous expedition to invade +Heaven, whose high walls fear no assault or siege, +Or ambush from the Deep. What if we find +Some easier enterprise? There is a place +(If ancient and prophetic fame in Heaven +Err not)--another World, the happy seat +Of some new race, called Man, about this time +To be created like to us, though less +In power and excellence, but favoured more +Of him who rules above; so was his will +Pronounced among the Gods, and by an oath +That shook Heaven's whole circumference confirmed. +Thither let us bend all our thoughts, to learn +What creatures there inhabit, of what mould +Or substance, how endued, and what their power +And where their weakness: how attempted best, +By force of subtlety. Though Heaven be shut, +And Heaven's high Arbitrator sit secure +In his own strength, this place may lie exposed, +The utmost border of his kingdom, left +To their defence who hold it: here, perhaps, +Some advantageous act may be achieved +By sudden onset--either with Hell-fire +To waste his whole creation, or possess +All as our own, and drive, as we were driven, +The puny habitants; or, if not drive, +Seduce them to our party, that their God +May prove their foe, and with repenting hand +Abolish his own works. This would surpass +Common revenge, and interrupt his joy +In our confusion, and our joy upraise +In his disturbance; when his darling sons, +Hurled headlong to partake with us, shall curse +Their frail original, and faded bliss-- +Faded so soon! Advise if this be worth +Attempting, or to sit in darkness here +Hatching vain empires." Thus beelzebub +Pleaded his devilish counsel--first devised +By Satan, and in part proposed: for whence, +But from the author of all ill, could spring +So deep a malice, to confound the race +Of mankind in one root, and Earth with Hell +To mingle and involve, done all to spite +The great Creator? But their spite still serves +His glory to augment. The bold design +Pleased highly those infernal States, and joy +Sparkled in all their eyes: with full assent +They vote: whereat his speech he thus renews:-- +"Well have ye judged, well ended long debate, +Synod of Gods, and, like to what ye are, +Great things resolved, which from the lowest deep +Will once more lift us up, in spite of fate, +Nearer our ancient seat--perhaps in view +Of those bright confines, whence, with neighbouring arms, +And opportune excursion, we may chance +Re-enter Heaven; or else in some mild zone +Dwell, not unvisited of Heaven's fair light, +Secure, and at the brightening orient beam +Purge off this gloom: the soft delicious air, +To heal the scar of these corrosive fires, +Shall breathe her balm. But, first, whom shall we send +In search of this new World? whom shall we find +Sufficient? who shall tempt with wandering feet +The dark, unbottomed, infinite Abyss, +And through the palpable obscure find out +His uncouth way, or spread his airy flight, +Upborne with indefatigable wings +Over the vast abrupt, ere he arrive +The happy Isle? What strength, what art, can then +Suffice, or what evasion bear him safe, +Through the strict senteries and stations thick +Of Angels watching round? Here he had need +All circumspection: and we now no less +Choice in our suffrage; for on whom we send +The weight of all, and our last hope, relies." + This said, he sat; and expectation held +His look suspense, awaiting who appeared +To second, or oppose, or undertake +The perilous attempt. But all sat mute, +Pondering the danger with deep thoughts; and each +In other's countenance read his own dismay, +Astonished. None among the choice and prime +Of those Heaven-warring champions could be found +So hardy as to proffer or accept, +Alone, the dreadful voyage; till, at last, +Satan, whom now transcendent glory raised +Above his fellows, with monarchal pride +Conscious of highest worth, unmoved thus spake:-- + "O Progeny of Heaven! Empyreal Thrones! +With reason hath deep silence and demur +Seized us, though undismayed. Long is the way +And hard, that out of Hell leads up to light. +Our prison strong, this huge convex of fire, +Outrageous to devour, immures us round +Ninefold; and gates of burning adamant, +Barred over us, prohibit all egress. +These passed, if any pass, the void profound +Of unessential Night receives him next, +Wide-gaping, and with utter loss of being +Threatens him, plunged in that abortive gulf. +If thence he scape, into whatever world, +Or unknown region, what remains him less +Than unknown dangers, and as hard escape? +But I should ill become this throne, O Peers, +And this imperial sovereignty, adorned +With splendour, armed with power, if aught proposed +And judged of public moment in the shape +Of difficulty or danger, could deter +Me from attempting. Wherefore do I assume +These royalties, and not refuse to reign, +Refusing to accept as great a share +Of hazard as of honour, due alike +To him who reigns, and so much to him due +Of hazard more as he above the rest +High honoured sits? Go, therefore, mighty Powers, +Terror of Heaven, though fallen; intend at home, +While here shall be our home, what best may ease +The present misery, and render Hell +More tolerable; if there be cure or charm +To respite, or deceive, or slack the pain +Of this ill mansion: intermit no watch +Against a wakeful foe, while I abroad +Through all the coasts of dark destruction seek +Deliverance for us all. This enterprise +None shall partake with me." Thus saying, rose +The Monarch, and prevented all reply; +Prudent lest, from his resolution raised, +Others among the chief might offer now, +Certain to be refused, what erst they feared, +And, so refused, might in opinion stand +His rivals, winning cheap the high repute +Which he through hazard huge must earn. But they +Dreaded not more th' adventure than his voice +Forbidding; and at once with him they rose. +Their rising all at once was as the sound +Of thunder heard remote. Towards him they bend +With awful reverence prone, and as a God +Extol him equal to the Highest in Heaven. +Nor failed they to express how much they praised +That for the general safety he despised +His own: for neither do the Spirits damned +Lose all their virtue; lest bad men should boast +Their specious deeds on earth, which glory excites, +Or close ambition varnished o'er with zeal. + Thus they their doubtful consultations dark +Ended, rejoicing in their matchless Chief: +As, when from mountain-tops the dusky clouds +Ascending, while the north wind sleeps, o'erspread +Heaven's cheerful face, the louring element +Scowls o'er the darkened landscape snow or shower, +If chance the radiant sun, with farewell sweet, +Extend his evening beam, the fields revive, +The birds their notes renew, and bleating herds +Attest their joy, that hill and valley rings. +O shame to men! Devil with devil damned +Firm concord holds; men only disagree +Of creatures rational, though under hope +Of heavenly grace, and, God proclaiming peace, +Yet live in hatred, enmity, and strife +Among themselves, and levy cruel wars +Wasting the earth, each other to destroy: +As if (which might induce us to accord) +Man had not hellish foes enow besides, +That day and night for his destruction wait! + The Stygian council thus dissolved; and forth +In order came the grand infernal Peers: +Midst came their mighty Paramount, and seemed +Alone th' antagonist of Heaven, nor less +Than Hell's dread Emperor, with pomp supreme, +And god-like imitated state: him round +A globe of fiery Seraphim enclosed +With bright emblazonry, and horrent arms. +Then of their session ended they bid cry +With trumpet's regal sound the great result: +Toward the four winds four speedy Cherubim +Put to their mouths the sounding alchemy, +By herald's voice explained; the hollow Abyss +Heard far adn wide, and all the host of Hell +With deafening shout returned them loud acclaim. +Thence more at ease their minds, and somewhat raised +By false presumptuous hope, the ranged Powers +Disband; and, wandering, each his several way +Pursues, as inclination or sad choice +Leads him perplexed, where he may likeliest find +Truce to his restless thoughts, and entertain +The irksome hours, till his great Chief return. +Part on the plain, or in the air sublime, +Upon the wing or in swift race contend, +As at th' Olympian games or Pythian fields; +Part curb their fiery steeds, or shun the goal +With rapid wheels, or fronted brigades form: +As when, to warn proud cities, war appears +Waged in the troubled sky, and armies rush +To battle in the clouds; before each van +Prick forth the airy knights, and couch their spears, +Till thickest legions close; with feats of arms +From either end of heaven the welkin burns. +Others, with vast Typhoean rage, more fell, +Rend up both rocks and hills, and ride the air +In whirlwind; Hell scarce holds the wild uproar:-- +As when Alcides, from Oechalia crowned +With conquest, felt th' envenomed robe, and tore +Through pain up by the roots Thessalian pines, +And Lichas from the top of Oeta threw +Into th' Euboic sea. Others, more mild, +Retreated in a silent valley, sing +With notes angelical to many a harp +Their own heroic deeds, and hapless fall +By doom of battle, and complain that Fate +Free Virtue should enthrall to Force or Chance. +Their song was partial; but the harmony +(What could it less when Spirits immortal sing?) +Suspended Hell, and took with ravishment +The thronging audience. In discourse more sweet +(For Eloquence the Soul, Song charms the Sense) +Others apart sat on a hill retired, +In thoughts more elevate, and reasoned high +Of Providence, Foreknowledge, Will, and Fate-- +Fixed fate, free will, foreknowledge absolute, +And found no end, in wandering mazes lost. +Of good and evil much they argued then, +Of happiness and final misery, +Passion and apathy, and glory and shame: +Vain wisdom all, and false philosophy!-- +Yet, with a pleasing sorcery, could charm +Pain for a while or anguish, and excite +Fallacious hope, or arm th' obdured breast +With stubborn patience as with triple steel. +Another part, in squadrons and gross bands, +On bold adventure to discover wide +That dismal world, if any clime perhaps +Might yield them easier habitation, bend +Four ways their flying march, along the banks +Of four infernal rivers, that disgorge +Into the burning lake their baleful streams-- +Abhorred Styx, the flood of deadly hate; +Sad Acheron of sorrow, black and deep; +Cocytus, named of lamentation loud +Heard on the rueful stream; fierce Phlegeton, +Whose waves of torrent fire inflame with rage. +Far off from these, a slow and silent stream, +Lethe, the river of oblivion, rolls +Her watery labyrinth, whereof who drinks +Forthwith his former state and being forgets-- +Forgets both joy and grief, pleasure and pain. +Beyond this flood a frozen continent +Lies dark and wild, beat with perpetual storms +Of whirlwind and dire hail, which on firm land +Thaws not, but gathers heap, and ruin seems +Of ancient pile; all else deep snow and ice, +A gulf profound as that Serbonian bog +Betwixt Damiata and Mount Casius old, +Where armies whole have sunk: the parching air +Burns frore, and cold performs th' effect of fire. +Thither, by harpy-footed Furies haled, +At certain revolutions all the damned +Are brought; and feel by turns the bitter change +Of fierce extremes, extremes by change more fierce, +From beds of raging fire to starve in ice +Their soft ethereal warmth, and there to pine +Immovable, infixed, and frozen round +Periods of time,--thence hurried back to fire. +They ferry over this Lethean sound +Both to and fro, their sorrow to augment, +And wish and struggle, as they pass, to reach +The tempting stream, with one small drop to lose +In sweet forgetfulness all pain and woe, +All in one moment, and so near the brink; +But Fate withstands, and, to oppose th' attempt, +Medusa with Gorgonian terror guards +The ford, and of itself the water flies +All taste of living wight, as once it fled +The lip of Tantalus. Thus roving on +In confused march forlorn, th' adventurous bands, +With shuddering horror pale, and eyes aghast, +Viewed first their lamentable lot, and found +No rest. Through many a dark and dreary vale +They passed, and many a region dolorous, +O'er many a frozen, many a fiery alp, +Rocks, caves, lakes, fens, bogs, dens, and shades of death-- +A universe of death, which God by curse +Created evil, for evil only good; +Where all life dies, death lives, and Nature breeds, +Perverse, all monstrous, all prodigious things, +Obominable, inutterable, and worse +Than fables yet have feigned or fear conceived, +Gorgons, and Hydras, and Chimeras dire. + Meanwhile the Adversary of God and Man, +Satan, with thoughts inflamed of highest design, +Puts on swift wings, and toward the gates of Hell +Explores his solitary flight: sometimes +He scours the right hand coast, sometimes the left; +Now shaves with level wing the deep, then soars +Up to the fiery concave towering high. +As when far off at sea a fleet descried +Hangs in the clouds, by equinoctial winds +Close sailing from Bengala, or the isles +Of Ternate and Tidore, whence merchants bring +Their spicy drugs; they on the trading flood, +Through the wide Ethiopian to the Cape, +Ply stemming nightly toward the pole: so seemed +Far off the flying Fiend. At last appear +Hell-bounds, high reaching to the horrid roof, +And thrice threefold the gates; three folds were brass, +Three iron, three of adamantine rock, +Impenetrable, impaled with circling fire, +Yet unconsumed. Before the gates there sat +On either side a formidable Shape. +The one seemed woman to the waist, and fair, +But ended foul in many a scaly fold, +Voluminous and vast--a serpent armed +With mortal sting. About her middle round +A cry of Hell-hounds never-ceasing barked +With wide Cerberean mouths full loud, and rung +A hideous peal; yet, when they list, would creep, +If aught disturbed their noise, into her womb, +And kennel there; yet there still barked and howled +Within unseen. Far less abhorred than these +Vexed Scylla, bathing in the sea that parts +Calabria from the hoarse Trinacrian shore; +Nor uglier follow the night-hag, when, called +In secret, riding through the air she comes, +Lured with the smell of infant blood, to dance +With Lapland witches, while the labouring moon +Eclipses at their charms. The other Shape-- +If shape it might be called that shape had none +Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb; +Or substance might be called that shadow seemed, +For each seemed either--black it stood as Night, +Fierce as ten Furies, terrible as Hell, +And shook a dreadful dart: what seemed his head +The likeness of a kingly crown had on. +Satan was now at hand, and from his seat +The monster moving onward came as fast +With horrid strides; Hell trembled as he strode. +Th' undaunted Fiend what this might be admired-- +Admired, not feared (God and his Son except, +Created thing naught valued he nor shunned), +And with disdainful look thus first began:-- + "Whence and what art thou, execrable Shape, +That dar'st, though grim and terrible, advance +Thy miscreated front athwart my way +To yonder gates? Through them I mean to pass, +That be assured, without leave asked of thee. +Retire; or taste thy folly, and learn by proof, +Hell-born, not to contend with Spirits of Heaven." + To whom the Goblin, full of wrath, replied:-- +"Art thou that traitor Angel? art thou he, +Who first broke peace in Heaven and faith, till then +Unbroken, and in proud rebellious arms +Drew after him the third part of Heaven's sons, +Conjured against the Highest--for which both thou +And they, outcast from God, are here condemned +To waste eternal days in woe and pain? +And reckon'st thou thyself with Spirits of Heaven +Hell-doomed, and breath'st defiance here and scorn, +Where I reign king, and, to enrage thee more, +Thy king and lord? Back to thy punishment, +False fugitive; and to thy speed add wings, +Lest with a whip of scorpions I pursue +Thy lingering, or with one stroke of this dart +Strange horror seize thee, and pangs unfelt before." + So spake the grisly Terror, and in shape, +So speaking and so threatening, grew tenfold, +More dreadful and deform. On th' other side, +Incensed with indignation, Satan stood +Unterrified, and like a comet burned, +That fires the length of Ophiuchus huge +In th' arctic sky, and from his horrid hair +Shakes pestilence and war. Each at the head +Levelled his deadly aim; their fatal hands +No second stroke intend; and such a frown +Each cast at th' other as when two black clouds, +With heaven's artillery fraught, came rattling on +Over the Caspian,--then stand front to front +Hovering a space, till winds the signal blow +To join their dark encounter in mid-air. +So frowned the mighty combatants that Hell +Grew darker at their frown; so matched they stood; +For never but once more was wither like +To meet so great a foe. And now great deeds +Had been achieved, whereof all Hell had rung, +Had not the snaky Sorceress, that sat +Fast by Hell-gate and kept the fatal key, +Risen, and with hideous outcry rushed between. + "O father, what intends thy hand," she cried, +"Against thy only son? What fury, O son, +Possesses thee to bend that mortal dart +Against thy father's head? And know'st for whom? +For him who sits above, and laughs the while +At thee, ordained his drudge to execute +Whate'er his wrath, which he calls justice, bids-- +His wrath, which one day will destroy ye both!" + She spake, and at her words the hellish Pest +Forbore: then these to her Satan returned:-- + "So strange thy outcry, and thy words so strange +Thou interposest, that my sudden hand, +Prevented, spares to tell thee yet by deeds +What it intends, till first I know of thee +What thing thou art, thus double-formed, and why, +In this infernal vale first met, thou call'st +Me father, and that phantasm call'st my son. +I know thee not, nor ever saw till now +Sight more detestable than him and thee." + T' whom thus the Portress of Hell-gate replied:-- +"Hast thou forgot me, then; and do I seem +Now in thine eye so foul?--once deemed so fair +In Heaven, when at th' assembly, and in sight +Of all the Seraphim with thee combined +In bold conspiracy against Heaven's King, +All on a sudden miserable pain +Surprised thee, dim thine eyes and dizzy swum +In darkness, while thy head flames thick and fast +Threw forth, till on the left side opening wide, +Likest to thee in shape and countenance bright, +Then shining heavenly fair, a goddess armed, +Out of thy head I sprung. Amazement seized +All th' host of Heaven; back they recoiled afraid +At first, and called me Sin, and for a sign +Portentous held me; but, familiar grown, +I pleased, and with attractive graces won +The most averse--thee chiefly, who, full oft +Thyself in me thy perfect image viewing, +Becam'st enamoured; and such joy thou took'st +With me in secret that my womb conceived +A growing burden. Meanwhile war arose, +And fields were fought in Heaven: wherein remained +(For what could else?) to our Almighty Foe +Clear victory; to our part loss and rout +Through all the Empyrean. Down they fell, +Driven headlong from the pitch of Heaven, down +Into this Deep; and in the general fall +I also: at which time this powerful key +Into my hands was given, with charge to keep +These gates for ever shut, which none can pass +Without my opening. Pensive here I sat +Alone; but long I sat not, till my womb, +Pregnant by thee, and now excessive grown, +Prodigious motion felt and rueful throes. +At last this odious offspring whom thou seest, +Thine own begotten, breaking violent way, +Tore through my entrails, that, with fear and pain +Distorted, all my nether shape thus grew +Transformed: but he my inbred enemy +Forth issued, brandishing his fatal dart, +Made to destroy. I fled, and cried out Death! +Hell trembled at the hideous name, and sighed +From all her caves, and back resounded Death! +I fled; but he pursued (though more, it seems, +Inflamed with lust than rage), and, swifter far, +Me overtook, his mother, all dismayed, +And, in embraces forcible and foul +Engendering with me, of that rape begot +These yelling monsters, that with ceaseless cry +Surround me, as thou saw'st--hourly conceived +And hourly born, with sorrow infinite +To me; for, when they list, into the womb +That bred them they return, and howl, and gnaw +My bowels, their repast; then, bursting forth +Afresh, with conscious terrors vex me round, +That rest or intermission none I find. +Before mine eyes in opposition sits +Grim Death, my son and foe, who set them on, +And me, his parent, would full soon devour +For want of other prey, but that he knows +His end with mine involved, and knows that I +Should prove a bitter morsel, and his bane, +Whenever that shall be: so Fate pronounced. +But thou, O father, I forewarn thee, shun +His deadly arrow; neither vainly hope +To be invulnerable in those bright arms, +Through tempered heavenly; for that mortal dint, +Save he who reigns above, none can resist." + She finished; and the subtle Fiend his lore +Soon learned, now milder, and thus answered smooth:-- + "Dear daughter--since thou claim'st me for thy sire, +And my fair son here show'st me, the dear pledge +Of dalliance had with thee in Heaven, and joys +Then sweet, now sad to mention, through dire change +Befallen us unforeseen, unthought-of--know, +I come no enemy, but to set free +From out this dark and dismal house of pain +Both him and thee, and all the heavenly host +Of Spirits that, in our just pretences armed, +Fell with us from on high. From them I go +This uncouth errand sole, and one for all +Myself expose, with lonely steps to tread +Th' unfounded Deep, and through the void immense +To search, with wandering quest, a place foretold +Should be--and, by concurring signs, ere now +Created vast and round--a place of bliss +In the purlieus of Heaven; and therein placed +A race of upstart creatures, to supply +Perhaps our vacant room, though more removed, +Lest Heaven, surcharged with potent multitude, +Might hap to move new broils. Be this, or aught +Than this more secret, now designed, I haste +To know; and, this once known, shall soon return, +And bring ye to the place where thou and Death +Shall dwell at ease, and up and down unseen +Wing silently the buxom air, embalmed +With odours. There ye shall be fed and filled +Immeasurably; all things shall be your prey." + He ceased; for both seemed highly pleased, and Death +Grinned horrible a ghastly smile, to hear +His famine should be filled, and blessed his maw +Destined to that good hour. No less rejoiced +His mother bad, and thus bespake her sire:-- + "The key of this infernal Pit, by due +And by command of Heaven's all-powerful King, +I keep, by him forbidden to unlock +These adamantine gates; against all force +Death ready stands to interpose his dart, +Fearless to be o'ermatched by living might. +But what owe I to his commands above, +Who hates me, and hath hither thrust me down +Into this gloom of Tartarus profound, +To sit in hateful office here confined, +Inhabitant of Heaven and heavenly born-- +Here in perpetual agony and pain, +With terrors and with clamours compassed round +Of mine own brood, that on my bowels feed? +Thou art my father, thou my author, thou +My being gav'st me; whom should I obey +But thee? whom follow? Thou wilt bring me soon +To that new world of light and bliss, among +The gods who live at ease, where I shall reign +At thy right hand voluptuous, as beseems +Thy daughter and thy darling, without end." + Thus saying, from her side the fatal key, +Sad instrument of all our woe, she took; +And, towards the gate rolling her bestial train, +Forthwith the huge portcullis high up-drew, +Which, but herself, not all the Stygian Powers +Could once have moved; then in the key-hole turns +Th' intricate wards, and every bolt and bar +Of massy iron or solid rock with ease +Unfastens. On a sudden open fly, +With impetuous recoil and jarring sound, +Th' infernal doors, and on their hinges grate +Harsh thunder, that the lowest bottom shook +Of Erebus. She opened; but to shut +Excelled her power: the gates wide open stood, +That with extended wings a bannered host, +Under spread ensigns marching, mibht pass through +With horse and chariots ranked in loose array; +So wide they stood, and like a furnace-mouth +Cast forth redounding smoke and ruddy flame. +Before their eyes in sudden view appear +The secrets of the hoary Deep--a dark +Illimitable ocean, without bound, +Without dimension; where length, breadth, and height, +And time, and place, are lost; where eldest Night +And Chaos, ancestors of Nature, hold +Eternal anarchy, amidst the noise +Of endless wars, and by confusion stand. +For Hot, Cold, Moist, and Dry, four champions fierce, +Strive here for mastery, and to battle bring +Their embryon atoms: they around the flag +Of each his faction, in their several clans, +Light-armed or heavy, sharp, smooth, swift, or slow, +Swarm populous, unnumbered as the sands +Of Barca or Cyrene's torrid soil, +Levied to side with warring winds, and poise +Their lighter wings. To whom these most adhere +He rules a moment: Chaos umpire sits, +And by decision more embroils the fray +By which he reigns: next him, high arbiter, +Chance governs all. Into this wild Abyss, +The womb of Nature, and perhaps her grave, +Of neither sea, nor shore, nor air, nor fire, +But all these in their pregnant causes mixed +Confusedly, and which thus must ever fight, +Unless th' Almighty Maker them ordain +His dark materials to create more worlds-- +Into this wild Abyss the wary Fiend +Stood on the brink of Hell and looked a while, +Pondering his voyage; for no narrow frith +He had to cross. Nor was his ear less pealed +With noises loud and ruinous (to compare +Great things with small) than when Bellona storms +With all her battering engines, bent to rase +Some capital city; or less than if this frame +Of Heaven were falling, and these elements +In mutiny had from her axle torn +The steadfast Earth. At last his sail-broad vans +He spread for flight, and, in the surging smoke +Uplifted, spurns the ground; thence many a league, +As in a cloudy chair, ascending rides +Audacious; but, that seat soon failing, meets +A vast vacuity. All unawares, +Fluttering his pennons vain, plumb-down he drops +Ten thousand fathom deep, and to this hour +Down had been falling, had not, by ill chance, +The strong rebuff of some tumultuous cloud, +Instinct with fire and nitre, hurried him +As many miles aloft. That fury stayed-- +Quenched in a boggy Syrtis, neither sea, +Nor good dry land--nigh foundered, on he fares, +Treading the crude consistence, half on foot, +Half flying; behoves him now both oar and sail. +As when a gryphon through the wilderness +With winged course, o'er hill or moory dale, +Pursues the Arimaspian, who by stealth +Had from his wakeful custody purloined +The guarded gold; so eagerly the Fiend +O'er bog or steep, through strait, rough, dense, or rare, +With head, hands, wings, or feet, pursues his way, +And swims, or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flies. +At length a universal hubbub wild +Of stunning sounds, and voices all confused, +Borne through the hollow dark, assaults his ear +With loudest vehemence. Thither he plies +Undaunted, to meet there whatever Power +Or Spirit of the nethermost Abyss +Might in that noise reside, of whom to ask +Which way the nearest coast of darkness lies +Bordering on light; when straight behold the throne +Of Chaos, and his dark pavilion spread +Wide on the wasteful Deep! With him enthroned +Sat sable-vested Night, eldest of things, +The consort of his reign; and by them stood +Orcus and Ades, and the dreaded name +Of Demogorgon; Rumour next, and Chance, +And Tumult, and Confusion, all embroiled, +And Discord with a thousand various mouths. + T' whom Satan, turning boldly, thus:--"Ye Powers +And Spirtis of this nethermost Abyss, +Chaos and ancient Night, I come no spy +With purpose to explore or to disturb +The secrets of your realm; but, by constraint +Wandering this darksome desert, as my way +Lies through your spacious empire up to light, +Alone and without guide, half lost, I seek, +What readiest path leads where your gloomy bounds +Confine with Heaven; or, if some other place, +From your dominion won, th' Ethereal King +Possesses lately, thither to arrive +I travel this profound. Direct my course: +Directed, no mean recompense it brings +To your behoof, if I that region lost, +All usurpation thence expelled, reduce +To her original darkness and your sway +(Which is my present journey), and once more +Erect the standard there of ancient Night. +Yours be th' advantage all, mine the revenge!" + Thus Satan; and him thus the Anarch old, +With faltering speech and visage incomposed, +Answered: "I know thee, stranger, who thou art-- *** +That mighty leading Angel, who of late +Made head against Heaven's King, though overthrown. +I saw and heard; for such a numerous host +Fled not in silence through the frighted Deep, +With ruin upon ruin, rout on rout, +Confusion worse confounded; and Heaven-gates +Poured out by millions her victorious bands, +Pursuing. I upon my frontiers here +Keep residence; if all I can will serve +That little which is left so to defend, +Encroached on still through our intestine broils +Weakening the sceptre of old Night: first, Hell, +Your dungeon, stretching far and wide beneath; +Now lately Heaven and Earth, another world +Hung o'er my realm, linked in a golden chain +To that side Heaven from whence your legions fell! +If that way be your walk, you have not far; +So much the nearer danger. Go, and speed; +Havoc, and spoil, and ruin, are my gain." + He ceased; and Satan stayed not to reply, +But, glad that now his sea should find a shore, +With fresh alacrity and force renewed +Springs upward, like a pyramid of fire, +Into the wild expanse, and through the shock +Of fighting elements, on all sides round +Environed, wins his way; harder beset +And more endangered than when Argo passed +Through Bosporus betwixt the justling rocks, +Or when Ulysses on the larboard shunned +Charybdis, and by th' other whirlpool steered. +So he with difficulty and labour hard +Moved on, with difficulty and labour he; +But, he once passed, soon after, when Man fell, +Strange alteration! Sin and Death amain, +Following his track (such was the will of Heaven) +Paved after him a broad and beaten way +Over the dark Abyss, whose boiling gulf +Tamely endured a bridge of wondrous length, +From Hell continued, reaching th' utmost orb +Of this frail World; by which the Spirits perverse +With easy intercourse pass to and fro +To tempt or punish mortals, except whom +God and good Angels guard by special grace. + But now at last the sacred influence +Of light appears, and from the walls of Heaven +Shoots far into the bosom of dim Night +A glimmering dawn. Here Nature first begins +Her farthest verge, and Chaos to retire, +As from her outmost works, a broken foe, +With tumult less and with less hostile din; +That Satan with less toil, and now with ease, +Wafts on the calmer wave by dubious light, +And, like a weather-beaten vessel, holds +Gladly the port, though shrouds and tackle torn; +Or in the emptier waste, resembling air, +Weighs his spread wings, at leisure to behold +Far off th' empyreal Heaven, extended wide +In circuit, undetermined square or round, +With opal towers and battlements adorned +Of living sapphire, once his native seat; +And, fast by, hanging in a golden chain, +This pendent World, in bigness as a star +Of smallest magnitude close by the moon. +Thither, full fraught with mischievous revenge, +Accursed, and in a cursed hour, he hies. + + + +Book III + + +Hail, holy Light, offspring of Heaven firstborn, +Or of the Eternal coeternal beam +May I express thee unblam'd? since God is light, +And never but in unapproached light +Dwelt from eternity, dwelt then in thee +Bright effluence of bright essence increate. +Or hear"st thou rather pure ethereal stream, +Whose fountain who shall tell? before the sun, +Before the Heavens thou wert, and at the voice +Of God, as with a mantle, didst invest *** +The rising world of waters dark and deep, +Won from the void and formless infinite. +Thee I re-visit now with bolder wing, +Escap'd the Stygian pool, though long detain'd +In that obscure sojourn, while in my flight +Through utter and through middle darkness borne, +With other notes than to the Orphean lyre +I sung of Chaos and eternal Night; +Taught by the heavenly Muse to venture down +The dark descent, and up to re-ascend, +Though hard and rare: Thee I revisit safe, +And feel thy sovran vital lamp; but thou +Revisit'st not these eyes, that roll in vain +To find thy piercing ray, and find no dawn; +So thick a drop serene hath quench'd their orbs, +Or dim suffusion veil'd. Yet not the more +Cease I to wander, where the Muses haunt, +Clear spring, or shady grove, or sunny hill, +Smit with the love of sacred song; but chief +Thee, Sion, and the flowery brooks beneath, +That wash thy hallow'd feet, and warbling flow, +Nightly I visit: nor sometimes forget +So were I equall'd with them in renown, +Thy sovran command, that Man should find grace; +Blind Thamyris, and blind Maeonides, +And Tiresias, and Phineus, prophets old: +Then feed on thoughts, that voluntary move +Harmonious numbers; as the wakeful bird +Sings darkling, and in shadiest covert hid +Tunes her nocturnal note. Thus
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