Impulerit primos, cœli propiore beatos
Numine, tam blandi Genitoris spernere jussa
Ingratos, unum ob Vetitum, cum cætera latè
Terrarum vasta soli ditione tenerent;
Tam fœdum miferis crimen quis fuaferit auctor.
Infernus Serpens: Ille improbus arte malignâ
Matrem hominum lusit, furiis ultricibus actus,
Ipse exul jam tum cæli, fastumque nefandum
Efferaque ausa luens cum Tartareo comitatu ;
Quorum ope, præcelfum divini munus honoris
Ante Pares longè affectans, æquâsse Supremum
Sperabat, fi contra obsisteret; impiaque amens
Bella DEI Solio & pugnam intentabat atrocem.
Hunc adeò, effræni molitum vana tumultu,
Æthereis projectum oris per inane profundum
Flagrantem torfit Deus, horrificâque ruinâ
Præcipitem dedit; æternæque voragine noctis
Inclufit demersum, ibi longum adamantina vincla
Mov'd our Grand Parents, in that happy State,
Favour'd of Heav'n so highly, to fall off
From their Creator, and transgress his Will
For one Restraint, Lords of the World besides :
Who first seduc'd them to that foul revolt.
Th' infernal Serpent: He it was, whose Guile,
Stirr'd up with Envy and Revenge, deceiv'd
The Mother of Mankind, what time his Pride
Had cast him out from Heav'n, with all his Host
Of Rebel Angels; by whose aid aspiring
To set himself in Glory above his Peers,
He trusted to have equal'd the Most High,
If He oppos'd; and with ambitious aim
Against the Throne and Monarchy of God
Rais'd impious war in Heav'n and battel proud
With vain Attempt. Him the Almighty Power
Hurl'd headlong flaming from th' Ethereal Skie
With hideous ruin and combustion down
Et meritos flammæ passurum vindicis ignes,
Qui malesana palam Omnipotentem in bella vocârat.
Jam novies noctis spatium noviesque diei
Fluxerat, ut terris numerantur tempora; ponto
Hic fuper ignivomo dira comitante catervâ
Attonitus jacet, atque Animæ stupet obruta Virtus
Æthereæ. Cælo visum est gravioribus iris
Hunc ultrà fuperesse; amissa hinc gaudia luget,
Illinc immenfos horret fine fine dolores :
Lumina continuò feralia circumvolvit,
Lumina mærorem immanem, formidine mixtâ,
Invictumque odium & faftum testata ferocem.
Tum celerem torquens aciem, quantùm usque tuendo
Cœlicolûm penetrant oculi, loca lurida, vasto
Deformem tractu regionem aspectat: ubique
Horror erat; barathrumque ingens, ceu maxima fornax,
Undique jactabat flammas, fine lumine flammas:
Obscurâ tantùm fub lucis imagine tristes
To bottomless perdition; there to dwell
In adamantine Chains and penal Fire,
Who durst defie th' Omnipotent to arms.
Nine times the space that measures day and night
To mortal men, He with his horrid crew
Lay vanquish'd, rowling in the fiery Gulf,
Confounded, though immortal. But his Doom
Reserv'd him to more wrath; for now the thought
Both of loft happiness and lafting pain
Torments him: round he throws his baleful eyes,
That witness'd huge affliction and dismay
Mix'd with obdurate pride and stedfast hate.
At once, as far as Angels ken, he views
The dismal fituation waste and wild.
A Dungeon horrible on all fides round,
As one great Furnace, flam'd; yet from those flames
No light, but rather darkness visible
Serv'd only to discover sights of woe,
Luftrabat Caligo plagas, solasque dolorum
Pandebat facies, umbras vallesque inamœnas;
Pax fugit inde, Quiesque; fugit, quæ fublevat omnes
Ultrò Spes placida; at torto Vindicta flagello
Instat, Diluviumque perenni agit agmine flammas
Sulphuris indomitas. Istos hâc sede Rebelles,
Hoc claudi Omnipotens æquus decreverat antro,
Heu quam dissimili Patriæ sedisque relictæ !
Ter tantùm ore suo æthereâque à luce remotos,
Quantùm vel Medio distat mundi ultimus Axis.
Cladis ibi comites flammarum in gurgite volvi
Dux cernit miser attonitos, multoque rotatos
Turbine; & adjunctum lateri, qui proximus Ipsi
Criminibus fceptrisque, insano agitarier æstu :
Ille Palaftiná longo post tempore notus,
Nomine Balzebus : quem cœli acerrimus Hostis
(Cœlicolæ hinc Satanam memorant) audacibus ultro
Compellans dictis horrenda filentia rupit :
Regions of forrow, 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 unconsum'd.
Such Place Eternal Justice had prepar'd
For those Rebellious, here their prison ordain'd
In utter darkness, and their portion set
As far remov'd from God and light of Heav'n,
As from the Center thrice to th' utmost Pole;
O how unlike the place from whence they fell!
There the companions of his fall, o'erwhelm'd
With Floods and Whirl-winds of tempestuous fire,
He foon difcerns, and welt'ring by his fide
One next himself in power, and next in crime,
Long after known in Palestine, and nam'd
Beelzebub. To whom th' Arch-enemy,
And thence in Heav'n call'd Satan, with bold words
Si fis Ille Idem! verùm ô quàm eversus, ab Illo
Quantùm ô mutatus, lætis qui lucis in oris
Tot rutilorum unus superabas millia longè
Cœlicolûm, eximio radiorum indutus amictu!
Si fis Ille, mihi focium quem fœdus idemque
Confilium, quem spes eadem & commune periclum
Ausi participem ingentis junxere; ruinâ
Nunc Sors una pari junxit: de culmine quanto
Corruimus, sentis, quantâque voragine merfi.
Scilicet Hunc tantùm evexere Tonitrua, nulli
Nota priùs fera tela. At me, fi tota ruat vis
Telorum, & quodcunque aliud violentior Ira
Victoris quondam inveniet, non franget, atroxve
Mutabit mihi cor, species licèt extera formæ
Mutetur; neque enim, quæ spretæ injuria movit
Virtutis, generosa animo faftidia cedent.
Ergo ipsi haud veritus bellum intentare Tonanti
Cœlicolûm immenfas ducebam in prælia turmas,
Breaking the horrid filence thus began :
If thou beest He! but O how fall'n; how chang'd
From Him, who in the happy realms of light
Cloath'd with transcendent brightness didst out-shine
Myriads tho' bright! If He, whom mutual league,
United thoughts and counsels, equal hope
And hazard in the glorious Enterprize,
Join'd with me once, now misery hath join'd
In equal ruin: Into what Pit thou seest
From what Height fall'n: so much the stronger
prov'd
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 chang'd in outward lustre, that fix'd mind
And high disdain, from sense of injur'd merit,
That with the Mightiest rais'd me to contend,
Quot juga detrectare ausi, dominumque volentes
Me potiùs, vires quas Iste coegerat omnes
Per latos cæli dubio certamine campos
Viribus aggressi adversis, foliumque fupremum
Concussere. Esto; palmam infelicibus Alter
Præripuit; fed Mens fuperest immota, nec ullis
Debellanda malis, fed flecti nescia Virtus,
Immortale Odium, Vindictæ arrecta cupido,
Et Quodcunque ufquam vinci frangive recufat.
Hos mihi nunquam adimet, nunquam extorquebit honores,
Non rabie indomitâ, non vi. Victumne superbos
Me volvi ante pedes, & inertia flectere genua?
Orabo veniam supplex, & habebitur ultrò
Iste mihi Deus, Iste hujus terrore lacerti
Pallidus haudpridem, ac regno nutante tremiscens?
Tunc essem sanè abjectus, tunc clade vel ipsâ
Fædius opprobrium paterer. Quoniam auspice fato
Igneus ille Deûm vigor & cæleftis origo
And to the fierce Contention brought along
Innumerable force of Spirits arm'd
That durst dislike His Reign; and me preferring
His utmost power with adverse power oppos'd
In dubious battel on the plains of Heav'n,
And shook his Throne. What tho' the field be loft?
All is not lost; th' 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 fue for grace
With fuppliant knee, and deifie 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 Downfal. Since by fate the strength of Gods
And this empyreal substance cannot fail,
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