For that warning voice, which he who faw
Th' Apocalyps heard cry in Heav'n aloud,
Then when the Dragon, put to second rout,,
Came furious down to be reveng'd on men,
Woe to th' inhabitants on earth! that now,
While time was, our firft parents had been warn'd
The coming of their fecret foe, and scap'd,
Haply fo fcap'd his mortal fnare: for now
Satan, now first inflam'd with rage, came down,
The tempter ere th' accufer of man-kind,
To wreck on innocent frail man his lofs
Of that first battel, and his flight to Hell:
Yet not rejoicing in his speed, though bold
Far off and fearless, nor with cause to boast,
Begins his dire attempt, which nigh the birth
Now rolling boils in his tumultuous breast,,
And like a devilish engin back recoils
Upon himself; horror and doubt distract
His troubled thoughts, and from the bottom stir
The Hell within him; for within him Hell
He brings, and round about him, nor from Hell
One step no more than from himself can fly
By change of place: now confcience wakes despair
That flumber'd, wakes the bitter memory
Of what he was, what is, and what must be
Worfe; of worse deeds worse sufferings muft enfue.
Sometimes tow'ards Eden, which now in his view
Lay pleasant, his griev'd look he fixes fad;
Sometimes tow'ards Heav'n and the full-blazing fun,
Which now fat high in his meridian tower:
Then much revolving, thus in fighs began.
O thou that with furpaffing glory crown'd,
Look'st from thy fole dominion like the God
Of this new world; at whose fight all the stars
Hide their diminish'd heads; to thee I call,
But with no friendly voice, and add thy name
O Sun, to tell thee how I hate thy beams,
That bring to my remembrance from what state
I fell, how glorious once above thy fphere;
Till pride and worse ambition threw me down
Warring in Heav'n against Heav'n's matchless king:
Ah wherefore! he deferv'd no fuch return
From me, whom he created what I was
In that bright eminence, and with his good
Upbraided none; nor was his fervice hard.
What could be less than to afford him praise,
The easiest recompenfe, and pay him thanks,
How due! yet all his good prov'd ill in me,
And wrought but malice; lifted up so high
I fdeind fubjection, and thought one step higher
Would fet me hig'heft, and in a moment quit
The debt immenfe of endless gratitude,
So burdensome still paying, still to owe,
Forgetful what from him I still receiv'd,
And understood not that a grateful mind
By owing owes not, but still pays, at once
Indebted and discharg'd; what burden then ?
O had his pow'rful destiny ordain'd
Me fome inferior Angel, I had stood
Then happy; no unbounded hope had rais'd
Ambition. Yet why not? fome other Power
As great might have afpir'd, and me though mean.
Drawn to his part; but other Pow'rs as great
Fell not, but ftand unfhaken, from within
Or from without, to all temptations arm'd.
Hadft thou the fame free will and pow'r to stand ?
Thou hadft: whom haft thou then or what t' accufe,
But Heav'n's free love dealt equally to all?
Be then his love accurs'd, fince love or hate,
To me alike, it deals eternal woe.
Nay curs'd be thou; fince against his thy will
Chofe freely what it now so justly rues.
Me miferable! which way fhall I fly
Infinite wrath, and infinite despair?
Which way
And in the lowest deep a lower deep
Still threatning to devour me opens wide,
To which the Hell I fuffer feems a Heaven.
O then at last relent: is there no place
Left for repentance, none for pardon left ?
None left but by fubmiffion; and that word
Difdain forbids me, and my dread of shame
I fly is Hell; myself am Hell;
Among the Spirits beneath, whom I feduc'd
With other promises and other vaunts
Than to fubmit, boasting I could subdue
Th' Omnipotent. Ay me, they little know
How dearly I abide that boast so vain,
Under what torments inwardly I groan,
While they adore me on the throne of Hell.
With diadem and fcepter high advanc'd,
'The lower ftill I fall, only fupreme
In mifery; fuch joy ambition finds.
But fay I could repent, and could obtain
By act of grace my former ftate; how foon
Would highth recall high thoughts, how foon unfay
What feign'd fubmiffion fwore? eafe would recant
Vows made in pain, as violent and void.
For never can true reconcilement grow,
Where wounds of deadly hate have pierc'd fo deep:
Which would but lead me to a worse relapse
And heavier fall: fo fhould I purchase dear
Short intermiffion bought with double fmart.
This knows my punisher; therefore as far
From granting he, as I from begging peace:
All hope excluded thus, behold in stead
Of us out-cast, exil'd, his new delight,
Mankind created, and for him this world.
So farewel hope, and with hope farewel fear,
Farewel remorse: all good to me is loft;
Evil be thou my good; by thee at least
Divided empire with Heav'n's king I hold,
By thee, and more than half perhaps will reign;
As Man ere long, and this new world fhall know.
Thus while he fpake, each paffion dimm'd his face ;
Thrice chang'd with pale, ire, envy, and despair; 115
Which marr'd his borrow'd visage, and betray'd
Him counterfeit, if any eye beheld.
For heav'nly minds from fuch diftempers foul
Are ever clear. Whereof he foon aware,
Each perturbation smooth'd with outward calm,
Artificer of fraud; and was the first
That practis'd falfhood under faintly show,
Deep malice to conceal, couch'd with revenge:
Yet not enough had practis'd to deceive
Uriel once warn'd; whofe eye pursued him down 125 The way he went, and on th' Affyrian mount
Saw him disfigur'd, more than could befall
Spirit of happy fort: his geftures fierce
He mark'd and mad demeanour, then alone,
As he fuppos'd, all unobserv'd, unseen.
So on he fares, and to the border comes
Of Eden, where delicious Paradise,
Now nearer, crowns with her inclosure green,
As with a rural mound, the champaign head
Of a steep wilderness, whose hairy fides
With thicket overgrown, grottefque and wild,
Access deny'd; and over head up grew
Infuperable highth of loftieft shade,
Cedar, and pine, and fir, and branching palm,
A fylvan scene, and as the ranks afcend
Shade above shade, a woody theatre
Of statelieft view. Yet higher than their tops
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