So fpake the grisly Terror, and in shape, So fpeaking and fo threat'ning, grew ten-fold More dreadful and deform; on th' other fide, Incenf'd with indignation, Satan stood Unterrify'd, and like a comet burn'd, That fires the length of Opiuchus huge In the Arctic fky, and from his horrid hair Shakes peftilence and war. Each at the head Level'd his deadly aim; their fatal hands No fecond stroke, intent, and fuch a frown Each caft at th' other, as when two black clouds, With heav'n's artillery fraught, come rattling on Over the Cafpian, then ftand front to front Hov'ring a space, till winds the fignal blow To join their dark encounter in mid air : So frown'd the mighty combatants, that Hell Grew darker at their frown, fo match'd they flood; For never but once more was either like To meet fo great a foe: and now great deeds Had been achiev'd, whereof all Heli had rung, Had not the fnaky forcerefs that fat Eaft by Hell gate, and kept the fatal key, Rif'n, and with hideous outcry rush'd between. O father, what intends thy hand, the cry'd Against thy only fon? What fury, O fon! Poffeffes thee to bend that mortal dart? Against thy father's head? and know'ft for whom ; For him who fits above and laughs the while At thee ordain'd his drudge, to execute Whate'er his wrath, which he calls Juftice, bids; His wrath, which one day will deftroy ye both. She fpake, and her words the hellish pest Forbore. Then thefe to her Satan return'd.

So ftrange the outcry, and thy words fo ftrange
Thou interpofeft, that my fudden hand
Prevented fpares to tell thee yet by deeds
What it intends; till firft I know of thee,
What thing thou art, thus double-form'd, and why
In this infernal, firft met, thou call'ft
Me Father, and that phantafm call'ft my Son;
I know thee not, nor ever faw till now
Sight more deteftable than him and thee.
T'whom thus the portrefs of Hell gate reply'd:
Haft thou forget me then, and do I feem
Now in thine eye fo foul? once deem'd fo fair
In heav'n, when at th' affembly, and in fight
Of all the feraphim with thee combin'd
In bold confpiracy against Heav'n's King,
All on a fudden miferable pain

Surprif'd thee, dim thine eyes, and dizzy fwum
In darknefs, while thy head flames thick and fast
Threw forth, till on the left fide opening wide,
Likeft to thee in shape and count'nance bright,
Then fhining heav nly fair, a goddess arm'd
Out of thy head I fprung: amaftment seif'd
All th' hoft of Heav'n; back they recoil'd afraid
At first, and call'd me Sin, and for a fign
Portentous held me; but familiar grown,
I pleaf'd, and with attractive graces won
The most averfe, thee chiefly, who full oft
Thyfelf in me thy perfect image viewing,
Becam'it enamour'd, and fuch joy thou took'ft
With me in fecret, that my womb conceiv'd
A growing burden. Meanwhile war arofe,

And fields were fought in Heav'n; wherein remain'd

(For what could elfe ?) to our almighty Foe
Clear victory, to our part lofs and rout
Through all the empyrean, down they fell,
Driv'n headlong froni the pitch of Heav'n down
Into this deep, and in the general fall

I alfo; at which time this powerful key
Into my hand was giv'n, with charge to keep
Thefe gates for ever fhut, which none can pafs
Without my op'ning. Penfive here I fat
Alone, but long I fat not, till my womb,
Pregnant by thee, and now exceffive grown,
Prodigious motion felt and rueful throes.
At laft 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 fhape thus grew
Transform'd: but he my inbred enemy
Forth iffued, brandifbing his fatal dart
Made to deftroy : I fled, and cry'd out Death;
Hell trembled at the hideous name, and figh'd
From all her caves, and back refounded Death.
I fled, but he pursued (though more, it seems,
Inflam'd with luft than rage) and fwifter far,
Me overtook his mother, all difmay'd,
And in embraces forcible and foul
Ingendering with me, of that rape begot
Thefe yelling monsters, that with ceafelefs cry
Surround me, as thou faw'ft, hourly conceiv'd
And hourly born, with forrow infinite
To me; for when they lift, into the womb
That bred them, they return and howl, and gnaw
My bowels, their repaft; then buriting forth
Afresh, with confcious terrors vex me round,
That reft or intermiflion none I find.
Before mine eyes in oppofition fits

Grim Death, my fon and foe, who fets them on,
And me his parent would full foon devour
For want of other prey, but that he knows
His end with mine involv'd; and knows that I
fhould prove a bitter morfel, and his bane,
Whenever that shall be; fo Fate pronounc'd.
But thou, O Father, I forewarn thee, shun
His deadly arrow; neither vainly hope
To be invulnerable in thofe bright arms,
Though temper'd heav'nly, for that mortal dint,
Save he who reigns above, none can refift.

She finish'd; and the fubtle Fiend his lore Soon learn'd, now milder; and thus anfwer'd fmooth:

Dear daughter fince thou claim'ft me for thy fire,
And my fair fon here fhow'ft me, the dear pledge
Of dalliance had with thee in Heav'n, and joys
Then fweet, now fad to mention, through dire
change

Befall'n as unforeseen, unthought of; know,
I come no enemy, but to fet free
From out this dark and difmal houfe of pain,
Both him and thee, and all the heav'nly hoft
Of fpirits that in our juft pretences arm'd,
Fell with us from on high: from them I go
This uncouth errand fole, and one for all
Myfelf expofe, with lonely steps to tread [menfe
Th' unfounded deep, and through the void im-

To fearch with wand'ring quest a place foretold
Should be, and, by concurring figns, e'er now
Created vaft and round, a place of blifs
In the pourlieus of Heaven, and therein plac'd
A race of upitart creatures, to fupply

Perhaps our vacant room, though more remov'd,
Left Heav'n, furcharg'd with potent multitude,
Might hap to move new broils: be this or ought
Than this more fecret now defign'd, í hafte
To know, and this once known, fhall foon return,
And bring ye to the place where thou and Death
Shall dwell at ease, and up and down unfeen
Wing filently the buxom air, embalm'd
With odors; there ye fhall be fed and fill'd
Immeasurably; all things fhall be your prey.

He ceas'd; for both feem'd highly pleas'd,

and Death

Grinn'd horrible a ghaftly fmile, to hear
His famine thould be fill'd, and bleft his maw
Deftin'd to that good hour': no lefs rejoic'd
His mother bad, and thus befpake her fire:
The key of this infernal pit by due,

And by command of Heav'n's all-powerful King,
I keep, by him forbidden to unlock
Thele adamantine gates: against all force
Death ready stands to interpofe his dart,
Fearless to be o'ermatch'd 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 fit in hateful office here confin'd,
Inhabitant of Heav'n, and heav'nly born,
Here in perpetual agony and pain,

With terrors and with clamors compafs'd round
Of mine own brood, that on my bowels feed?
Thou art my father, thou my author; thou
My being gav'it me; whom should I obey
But thee, whom follow? thou wilt bring me foon
To that new world of light and blifs, among
The gods who live at eafe, where I fhail reign
At thy right hand voluptuous, as befeems
Thy daughter and thy darling, without end.
Thus faying, from her fide the fatal key,
Sad inftrument of all our woe, she took;
And tow'rds the gate rolling her bestial train,
Forthwith the huge portcullis high up drew,
Which but herfeif, not all the Stygian powers
Could once have mov'd; then in the key-hole turns
Th intricate wards, and every bolt and bar
Of maffy ir'n or folid rock, with cafe
Unfaftens: on a fudden open fly,
With impetuous recoil and jarring found,
Th' infernal doors, and on their hinges grate
Harth thunder, that the lowest bottom thook
Of Erebus. She open'd, but to fhut
Excell'd her pow'r; the gates wide open ftood,
That with extended wings a banner'd hoft
Underspread enfigns marching might pals through,
With horfe and chariots rank'd in loofe array;
So wide they stood, and like a furnace mouth
Caft forth redounding smoke and ruddy flame.
Before their eyes in fudden view appear
The fecrets of the hoary deep, a dark
Limitable ocean without bound,
Without dimenfion, where length, breadth, and

[height,

And time, and place, are loft; where eldest Night
And Chaos, ancestor of Nature, hold
Eternal anarchy, amidft the uoife

Of endless wars, and by confusion stand.
For hot, cold, moist, and dry, four champions
fierce,

Strive here for mastry, and to battle bring
Their embryon atoms; they around the flag
Of each his faction, in their feveral clans,
Light-arm'd or heavy, fharp, fmooth, fwift or flow,
| Swarm populous, unnumber'd as the fands
Of Barca or Cyrenae's torrid foil,

Levied to fide with warring winds, and poife
Their lighter wings. To whom these most adhere,
He rules a moment; Chaos umpire fits,
And by decifion more embroils the fray
By which he reigns: next him high arbiter
Chance governs all. Into this wild abyfs
The womb of Nature, and perhaps her grave,
Of neither fea, nor fhore, nor air, nor fire,
But all these in their pregnant causes mix'd
Confus'dly, and which thus must ever fight,
Unless th' almighty Maker them ordain
His dark materials to create more worlds:
Into this wild abyfs the wary Fiend
Stood on the brink of Hell, and look'd a while,
Pond'ring his voyage; for no narrow frith
He had to crofs. Nor was his ear lefs peal'd
With noifes loud and ruinous (to compare
Great things with (mall) than when Bellona ftorms,
With all her battering engines, bent to raze
Some capital city; or less than if this frame
Of Heav'n were falling, and thele elements
In mutiny had from her axle torn

The ftedfaft Earth. At laft his fail-broad vans
He fpreads for flight, and in the furging smoke
Uplifted ipurns the ground; thence many a league,
As in a cloudy chair, afcending rides
Audacious; but that feat foon failing, meets
A vaft vacuity: all unawares,

Fluttering his pinions vain, plumb down he drops
Ten thoufand fathom deep, and to this hour
Down had been falling, had not by ill chance
The ftrong rebuff of fome tumultuous cloud,
Instinct with fire and nitre, hurried him
As many miles aloft: that fury stay'd,
Quench'd in a boggy fyrtis, neither fea,
Nor good dry land: nigh founder'd, on he fares,'
Treading the crude confiftence, half on foot,
Half flying; behoves him now both oar and fail,
As when a gryphon through the wilderness
With winged courfe, o'er hill or moory dale,
Pursues the Arimafpian, who by ftealth
Had from his wakeful cuftody purloin'd
The guarded gold: fo eagerly the Fiend
O'er bog, or fteep, through ftrait, rough, dense,

or rare,

With head, hands, wings, or feet, pursues his way,
And fwims, or finks, or wades, or creeps, or flies:
At length an univerfal hubbub wild

Of stunning founds and voices all confuf'd,
Borne through the hollow dark, affaults his ear
With loudest vehemence: thither he plies,
Undaunted, to meet there whatever power
Or fpirit of the nethermoft abyfs

Might in that noife refide, of whom to afk
"Which way the nearest coast of darkness lies
Bord'ring on light; when ftrait behold the throne
Of Chaos, and his dark pavilion spread
Wide on the wafteful deep; with him enthron'd
Sat fable-vefted Night, eldest of things,
The confort of his reign; and by them flood
Orcus and Ades, and the dreaded name
Of Damogorgo: Rumour next, and Chance,
And tumult and Confufion, all embroil'd,
And Difcord, with a thousand various mouths.
T'whom Satan turning boldly, thus: Ye powers
And Spirits of this nethermost abyfs,
Chaos and ancient Night, I come no spy,
With purpofe to explore or to disturb
The fecrets of your realm, but by constraint
Wand'ring this darkfome defert, as my way
Lies through your fpacious empire up to light,
Alone, and without guide, half loft, I feek
What readieft path leads where your gloomy
bounds

Confine with Heav'n; or if fome other place,
From your dominion won, th' ethereal King
Poffeffes lately, thither to arrive

I travel this profound; direct my courfe;
Directed no mean recompenfe it brings
"To your behoof, if I that region loft,
All ufurpation thence expell'd, reduce
To her original darkness and your fway,
Which is my prefent 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 fault'ring fpeech and vifage incompos`d,
Anfwer'd. I know thee, Stranger, who thou art,
That mighty leading angel, who of late [thrown.
Made head against Heaven's King, though over-
I faw and heard, for fuch a numerous hoft
Fled not in filence through the frighted Deep
With ruin upon ruin, rout on rout,
Confufion worse confounded; and Heav'n gates
Pour'd out by millions her victorious bands
purfuing. I upon my frontiers here
Keep refidence; if all I can will forve
That little which is left so to defend,
Encroach'd on ftill through your inteftine broils
Weak'ning the fceptre of old Night; first Hell
Your dungeon ftretching far and wide beneath;
Now lately Heav'n and Earth, another world,
Hung o'er my realm, link'd in a golden chain

To that fide Heav'n 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 fpoil, and ruin, are my gain.

He ceas'd; and Satan itay'd not to reply;
But glad that now his fea fhould find a fhore,
With fresh alacrity and force renew'd,
Springs upward like a pyramid of fire
Into the wild expance, and through the fhock
Of fighting elements, on all fides round
Environ'd wins his way; harder befet
And more endanger'd, than when Argo pafs'd
Through Bosporus betwixt the juftling rocks:
Or when Ulyffes on the larboard fhunn'd
Charybdis,, and by th' other whirlpool steer.
So he with difficulty and labour hard
Mov'd on, with difficulty and labour he;
But he once paft, foon after when man fell,
Strange alteration! Sin and Death amain
Following his track, fuch was the will of Heav`n,
Pav'd after him a road and beaten way
Over the dark abyfs, whofe boiling gulf
Tamely endur'd a bridge of wondrous length,
From Hell continued reaching th' utmost orb
Of this frail world; by which the fp'rits perverse
With eafy intercourfe pafs to and fro

To tempt or punish mortals, except whom
God and good angels guard by special grace.

But now, at laft, the facred influence
Of light appears, and from the walls of Heav'n
Shoots far into the bofom of dim night
A glimmering dawn; here Nature first begins
Her fartheft verge, and Chaos to retire
As from her utmost works a broken foe
With tumult lefs and with lefs hoftile din,
That Satan with lefs toil, and now with ease
Wafts on the calmer wave by dubious light,
And like a weather-beaten veffel holds
Gladly the port, though fhrouds and tackle torn;
Or in the emptier waite, resembling air,
Weighs his fpread wings, at leifure to behold
Far off th' empyreal Heav'n extended wide
In circuit, undetermin'd fquare or round,
With opal tow'rs and battlements adorn'd
Of living faphir, once his native feat;
And faft by hanging in a golden chain
This pendent world, in bignefs as a star
Of fmalleft magnitude clofe by the moon,
Thither, full fraught with mifchievous revenge,
Accurf'd, and in a curfed hour he hies.