Vidi Egomet fenfique fatis; nec tot legionum
Agmina per trepidum fallebant acta Profundum:
Sic Clades cladi ingeminata, Ruina ruinæ
Succeffit; fic ufque novæ formidinis alis
Præcipitata Fuga eft, Horrorique ingruit Horror:
Tanta fimul cœli portis effufa fuperbis
Vis Divûm victrix profugos undavit in Hoftes.
Hìc vigil excubias extremo in limite fervo,
Has fi relliquias regni defendere poffim,
Quantulacunque adeò pars fit; quam noftra refringunt
Diffidia, & Noctis fceptrum venerabile lædunt.
Primùm Orcus, tuus ifte immani gurgite Carcer,
Deinde fuperveniens Æther novus & nova Tellus,
Nefcio quæ Moles auri suspensa catenâ
Sedibus incubuere meis. Hac tendere curfum
Si ftatuis, non longa via eft, fed fœta periclis
Innumeris.
Quin carpe gradum, & felicibus (opto)
Aufpiciis: Mihi funt Strages, funt Funera lucro.
Made head against Heav'n's King, tho' overthrown.
I faw, and heard; for fuch a num'rous Hoft
Fled not in filence thro' the frighted Deep,
With Ruin upon ruin, Rout on rout,
Confufion worfe 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 ferve
That little which is left fo to defend,
Encroach'd on ftill through our inteftine broiles,
Weak'ning the Sceptre of old Night: firft 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
If that way be your walk, you have not far; [fell.
So much the nearer danger: go, and speed!
Havoc, and spoil, and ruin are my gain.
Finierat. Satanas contrà nil rettulit: acer,
Impatiensque moræ, & dulci fpe littoris ardens,
Viribus inde novis, ceu Pyramis ardua flammæ,
Evolat in vastum Expanfum; feptufque Elementis
Inter fe æternum indomitâ certantibus irâ
Urget iter durum, gravium afperiore laborans
Mole periclorum, quàm cum tranfmitteret Argo
Bofpora per fcopulos & procurrentia Saxa:
Aut cum Ithacus dextram cautus vitare Charybdim,
Vix Scyllam effugeret. Sic nifu evaferat ægro
Vix Satanas, per mille viam discrimina quærens ;
Vix Satanas: Sed mox Hominem fuperante Ruinâ
(Quæ quantæque Vices!) fimul Ate Hadefque fecuti
Paffibus haud ægris veftigia dira legebant:
Æstus atrox vasti accepit miracula pontis,
Qui longe ex Erebo fragilis fpatia ultima mundi
Contigit: hinc curfu alterno facilique recursu
He ceas'd, and Satan ftaid not to reply,
But glad that now his Sea fhould find a shore,
With fresh alacrity and force renew'd,
Springs upward, like a pyramid of fire,
Into the wild expanfe; and through the shock
Of fighting Elements, on all fides round
Environ'd, wins his way: harder beset,
And more endanger'd, than when Argo pafs'd
Through Bofpberus, betwixt the juftling Rocks:
Or when Ulyffes on the Larboard fhun'd
Charybdis, and by th' other whirlpool steer'd.
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 broad and beaten way
Over the dark Abyss, whofe boyling Gulph
Tamely endur'd a Bridge of wondrous length,
From Hell continu'd, reaching th' utmost Orb
Tartarei remeant populi, illecebrisque laceffunt
Mortales, nifi quos DEUS ipfe DEique Ministri
Tutantur, cinctofque fovent cœleftibus alis.
Jamque adeò cœli Lux fancta emittitur altis
Arcibus, inque finus Noctis jaculatur opacos
Languidius jubar & dubiæ promiffa diei.
Hic fines Natura fuos atque ultima regna
Oftendit: Chaos extremis, velut obrutus Hoftis,
Depulfus caftris abit, exuiturque furorem.
Hinc melius pergit Satanas & luminis ignes
Infequitur tremulos, pacatoque æquore portum
Pronus adit; qualis pofitis lætiffima Puppis
Turbinibus, defeffa hieme, & lacerata rudentes.
Jam medium per Inane volans, velut aere fudo
Sufpenfus, late explicitis fe librat in alis,
Explorans cœli flammantia monia longo
Didita circuitu, nullifque coercita metis.
Ardua ibi vivis, quondam fua, regna tuetur
Of this frail World; by which the Spirits perverfe With tumult lefs, and with less hostile din ;
With eafie intercourse pass 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 Heaven
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 outmost works a broken foe,
That Satan with less toil, and now with ease,
Wafts on the calmer wave by dubious light;
And like a weather-beaten veffel 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 Heav'n, extended wide
In circuit, undetermin'd square or round:
With Opal Tow'rs, and Battlements adorn'd
Fulgere Sapphiris, turrefque ardere Pyropo.
Nec procul inde auri rutilâ pendere catenâ
Confpicit hanc Mundi molem, talemque videri,
Quale poli minimum Lunam prope cernitur Aftrum.
Huc flagrans odio indomito atque ultricibus iris
Efferus, infandos celerat diro omine curfus.
Of living Saphire, once his native seat :
And faft 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,
Accurs'd, and in a curfed hour he hies.
Andem ô fancta mihi falve Lux, maxima cœli
Primaque Progenies! feu fufum Numine ab ipfo
Fas jubar æquævum Te dicere: nam DEUS eft Lux,
Altaque inacceffæ penetralia Lucis ab omni
Sæclorum ferie incoluit; Te fcilicet ipfam
Incoluit, clarâ æternâque ab origine Proles
Clara, æterna fluens, fanctoque fimillima Patri.
Æthereum an flumen liquidufque lubentiùs audis
Rivus? at arcanum cui fas recludere fontem ?
Tu cœlis & fole prior; Tu voce Supremi
Auditâ, veluti expanfo circumflua velo
Nigrantes undas mundique Elementa fovebas
Jam primùm difclufa Chao informique Profundo.
Hail, holy Light, offspring of Heav'n firft-born! Or hear'st thou rather pure Ethereal Stream,
Or of th' Eternal Co-eternal beam
Whofe Fountain who fhall tell? Before the Sun,
May I express thee unblam'd? fince GOD is Light, Before the Heav'ns thou wert, and at the voice
And never but in unapproached Light
Dwelt from Eternity; dwelt then in Thee,
Bright effiuence of bright effence increate!
Of GoD, as with a Mantle didst invest
The rifing world of waters dark and deep,
Won from the void and formless Infinite.
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