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Paradise Lost
PARADISE LOST BOOK I.
Of Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit Of that Forbidden Tree,
whose mortal tast 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 Heav'nly 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 Heav'ns and Earth Rose out of CHAOS: Or if SION Hill
Delight thee more, and SILOA'S Brook that flow'd Fast by the Oracle of
God; I thence Invoke thy aid to my adventrous Song, That with no
middle flight intends to soar Above th' AONIAN Mount, while it pursues
Things unattempted yet in Prose or Rhime. 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 satst 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 highth of this great Argument I may assert
th' Eternal Providence, And justifie the wayes of God to men. Say
first, for Heav'n hides nothing from thy view Nor the deep Tract of
Hell, say first what cause 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 fowl revolt? Th' infernal Serpent; he
it was, whose guile Stird up with Envy and Revenge, deceiv'd The
Mother of Mankinde, 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 Hurld headlong flaming from th'
Ethereal Skie With hideous ruine and combustion down 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 vanquisht,
rowling in the fiery Gulfe Confounded though immortal: But his doom
Reserv'd him to more wrath; for now the thought Both of lost happiness
and lasting pain Torments him; round he throws his baleful eyes That
witness'd huge affliction and dismay Mixt with obdurate pride and
stedfast hate: At once as far as Angels kenn he views The dismal
Situation waste and wilde, A Dungeon horrible, on all sides 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, 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 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'rewhelm'd With Floods and Whirlwinds of
tempestuous fire, He soon discerns, and weltring by his side 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 Breaking the horrid silence thus began.
If thou beest he; But O how fall'n! how chang'd From him, who in the
happy Realms of Light Cloth'd with transcendent brightnes didst
outshine Myriads though bright: If he whom mutual league, United
thoughts and counsels, equal hope, And hazard in the Glorious
Enterprize, Joynd with me once, now misery hath joynd In equal ruin:
into what Pit thou seest From what highth fal'n, so much the stronger
provd 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 fixt mind And high disdain, from sence of injur'd merit,
That with the mightiest rais'd me to contend, 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 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 deifie his power Who from the
terrour 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 substance cannot fail, Since
through experience of this great event In Arms not worse, in foresight
much advanc't, We may with more successful hope resolve To wage by
force or guile eternal Warr Irreconcileable, to our grand Foe, Who now
triumphs, and in th' excess of joy Sole reigning holds the Tyranny of
Heav'n. So spake th' Apostate Angel, though in pain, Vaunting aloud,
but rackt with deep despare: And him thus answer'd soon his bold
Compeer. O Prince, O Chief of many Throned Powers, That led th'
imbattelld Seraphim to Warr Under thy conduct, and in dreadful deeds
Fearless, endanger'd Heav'ns 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 Heav'n, and all this mighty Host In horrible destruction
laid thus low, As far as Gods and Heav'nly Essences Can Perish: for
the mind and spirit remains Invincible, and vigour soon returns,
Though all our Glory extinct, and happy state Here swallow'd up in
endless misery. But what if he our Conquerour, (whom I now Of force
believe Almighty, since no less Then such could hav orepow'rd such
force as ours) Have left us this our spirit and strength intire
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
Warr, what e're his business be Here in the heart of Hell to work in
Fire, Or do his Errands in the gloomy Deep; What can it then avail
though yet we feel Strength undiminisht, or eternal being To undergo
eternal punishment? Whereto with speedy words th' Arch-fiend reply'd.
Fall'n Cherube, to be weak is miserable Doing or Suffering: but of
this be sure, To do ought 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 oft times may succeed, so as perhaps Shall
grieve him, if I fail not, and disturb His inmost counsels from their
destind aim. But see the angry Victor hath recall'd His Ministers of
vengeance and pursuit Back to the Gates of Heav'n: The Sulphurous Hail
Shot after us in storm, oreblown hath laid The fiery Surge, that from
the Precipice Of Heav'n receiv'd us falling, and the Thunder, Wing'd
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 wilde, The seat of
desolation, voyd 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 reassembling 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 despare. Thus Satan talking to his neerest
Mate With Head up-lift above the wave, and Eyes That sparkling blaz'd,
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 warr'd on JOVE, BRIARIOS
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 slumbring on the NORWAY foam The Pilot of some
small night-founder'd Skiff, Deeming some Island, oft, as Sea-men
tell, With fixed Anchor in his skaly rind Moors by his side under the
Lee, while Night Invests the Sea, and wished Morn delayes: So stretcht
out huge in length the Arch-fiend lay Chain'd on the burning Lake, nor
ever thence Had ris'n or heav'd 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 enrag'd might see How
all his malice serv'd but to bring forth Infinite goodness, grace and
mercy shewn On Man by him seduc't, but on himself Treble confusion,
wrath and vengeance pour'd. Forthwith upright he rears from off the
Pool His mighty Stature; on each hand the flames Drivn backward slope
their pointing spires, & rowld In billows, leave i'th' midst a horrid
Vale. Then with expanded wings he stears his flight Aloft, incumbent
on the dusky Air That felt unusual weight, till on dry Land He lights,
if it were Land that ever burn'd With solid, as the Lake with liquid
fire; And such appear'd in hue, as when the force Of subterranean wind
transports a Hill Torn from PELORUS, or the shatter'd side Of
thundring AETNA, whose combustible And fewel'd entrals thence
conceiving Fire, Sublim'd with Mineral fury, aid the Winds, And leave
a singed bottom all involv'd With stench and smoak: Such resting found
the sole Of unblest feet. Him followed his next Mate, Both glorying
to have scap't the STYGIAN flood As Gods, and by their own recover'd
strength, Not by the sufferance of supernal Power. Is this the Region,
this the Soil, the Clime, Said then the lost Arch Angel, this the seat
That we must change for Heav'n, this mournful gloom For that celestial
light? Be it so, since hee Who now is Sovran can dispose and bid What
shall be right: fardest from him is best Whom reason hath equald,
force hath made supream Above his equals. Farewel happy Fields Where
Joy for ever dwells: Hail horrours, hail Infernal world, and thou
profoundest Hell Receive thy new Possessor: One who brings A mind not
to be chang'd by Place or Time. The mind is its own place, and in it
self Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n. What matter where,
if I be still the same, And what I should be, all but less then hee
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 reign secure, and in my choyce To reign is worth ambition
though in Hell: Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav'n. But
wherefore let we then our faithful friends, Th' associates and
copartners of our loss Lye thus astonisht 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 Regaind in Heav'n,
or what more lost in Hell? So SATAN spake, and him BEELZEBUB Thus
answer'd. Leader of those Armies bright, Which but th' Omnipotent
none could have foyld, If once they hear that voyce, their liveliest
pledge Of hope in fears and dangers, heard so oft In worst extreams,
and on the perilous edge Of battel when it rag'd, in all assaults
Their surest signal, they will soon resume New courage and revive,
though now they lye Groveling and prostrate on yon Lake of Fire, As we
erewhile, astounded and amaz'd, No wonder, fall'n such a pernicious
highth. He scarce had ceas't when the superiour 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 Ev'ning 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 walkt with to support
uneasie steps Over the burning Marle, not like those steps On Heavens
Azure, and the torrid Clime Smote on him sore besides, vaulted with
Fire; Nathless he so endur'd, till on the Beach Of that inflamed Sea,
he stood and call'd His Legions, Angel Forms, who lay intrans't Thick
as Autumnal Leaves that strow the Brooks In VALLOMBROSA, where th'
ETRURIAN shades High overarch't imbowr; or scatterd sedge Afloat, when
with fierce Winds ORION arm'd Hath vext the Red-Sea Coast, whose waves
orethrew BUSIRIS and his MEMPHIAN Chivalrie, VVhile with perfidious
hatred they pursu'd The Sojourners of GOSHEN, who beheld From the safe
shore their floating Carkases And broken Chariot Wheels, so thick
bestrown Abject and lost lay these, covering the Flood, Under
amazement of their hideous change. He call'd so loud, that all the
hollow Deep Of Hell resounded. Princes, Potentates, Warriers, the
Flowr of Heav'n, once yours, now lost, If such astonishment as this
can sieze Eternal spirits; or have ye chos'n this place After the toyl
of Battel to repose Your wearied vertue, for the ease you find To
slumber here, as in the Vales of Heav'n? Or in this abject posture
have ye sworn To adore the Conquerour? who now beholds Cherube and
Seraph rowling in the Flood With scatter'd Arms and Ensigns, till anon
His swift pursuers from Heav'n Gates discern Th' advantage, and
descending tread us down Thus drooping, or with linked Thunderbolts
Transfix us to the bottom of this Gulfe. Awake, arise, or be for ever
fall'n. They heard, and were abasht, 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 perceave
the evil plight In which they were, or the fierce pains not feel; Yet
to their Generals Voyce they soon obeyd Innumerable. As when the
potent Rod Of AMRAMS Son in EGYPTS evill day Wav'd round the Coast, up
call'd a pitchy cloud Of LOCUSTS, warping on the Eastern Wind, That
ore the Realm of impious PHAROAH hung Like Night, and darken'd 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 giv'n, th' uplifted Spear Of their great
Sultan waving to direct Thir course, in even ballance down they light
On the firm brimstone, and fill all the Plain; A multitude, like which
the populous North Pour'd never from her frozen loyns, to pass RHENE
or the DANAW, when her barbarous Sons Came like a Deluge on the South,
and spread Beneath GIBRALTAR to the LYBIAN sands. Forthwith from every
Squadron and each Band The Heads and Leaders thither hast where stood
Their great Commander; Godlike shapes and forms Excelling human,
Princely Dignities, And Powers that earst in Heaven sat on Thrones;
Though of their Names in heav'nly Records now Be no memorial, blotted
out and ras'd By thir Rebellion, from the Books of Life. Nor had they
yet among the Sons of EVE Got them new Names, till wandring ore the
Earth, Through Gods high sufferance for the tryal of man, By falsities
and lyes 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, adorn'd 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, Rous'd
from the slumber, on that fiery Couch, At thir great Emperors call, as
next in worth Came singly where he stood on the bare strand, While the
promiscuous croud 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
ador'd Among the Nations round, and durst abide JEHOVAH thundring out
of SION, thron'd Between the Cherubim; yea, often plac'd Within his
Sanctuary it self their Shrines, Abominations; and with cursed things
His holy Rites, and solemn Feasts profan'd, And with their darkness
durst affront his light. First MOLOCH, horrid King besmear'd with
blood Of human sacrifice, and parents tears, Though for the noyse of
Drums and Timbrels loud Their childrens cries unheard, that past
through fire To his grim Idol. Him the AMMONITE Worshipt in RABBA and
her watry 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 fraud to build His Temple right against the Temple
of God On that opprobrious Hill, and made his Grove The pleasant Vally
of HINNOM, TOPHET thence And black GEHENNA call'd, the Type of Hell.