Lefs than Arch-Angel ruin'd, and th' excess
Of glory' obfcur'd; as when the fun new rifen
Looks through the horizontal misty air
Shorn of his beams, or from behind the moon
In dim eclipse difaftrous twilight fheds
On half the nations, and with fear of change
Perplexes monarchs. Darken'd so, yet shone
Above them all th' Arch-Angel: but his face
Deep fears of thunder had intrench'd, and care
Sat on his faded cheek, but under brows
Of dauntless courage, and confiderate pride
Waiting revenge: cruel his eye, but cast
Signs of remorfe and paffion to behold
The fellows of his crime, the followers rather
(Far other once beheld in blifs) condemn'd
For ever now to have their lot in pain,
Millions of Spirits for his fault amerc'd
Of Heav'n, and from eternal fplendors flung
For his revolt, yet faithful how they stood,
Their glory wither'd: as when Heaven's fire
Hath fcath'd the foreft oaks, or mountain pines,
With finged top their stately growth though bare
Stands on the blafted heath. He now prepar'd
To speak; whereat their doubled ranks they bend
From wing to wing, and half inclose him round
With all his peers: attention held them mute.
Thrice he affay'd, and thrice in spite of fcorn
Tears, such as Angels weep, burst forth: at last
Words interwove with fighs found out their way.
O Myriads of immortal Spirits, O Powers
Matchlefs, but with th' Almighty, and that ftrife
Was not inglorious, though th' event was dire,
As this place testifies, and this dire change
Hateful to utter: but what pow'r of mind
Foreseeing or prefaging, from the depth
Of knowledge paft or prefent, could have fear'd,
How fuch united force of Gods, how fuch
As stood like thefe, could ever know repulfe?
For who can yet believe, though after loss,
That all these puiffant legions, whofe exile
Hath emptied Heav'n, fhall fail to re-afcend
Self-rais'd, and repoffefs their native seat ?
For me be witness all the host of Heaven,
If counfels different, or danger fhunn'd
By me, have loft our hopes. But he who reigns
Monarch in Heav'n, till then as one fecure
Sat on his throne, upheld by old repute,
Confent or custom, and his regal state
Put forth at full, but ftill his ftrength conceal'd,
Which tempted our attempt, and wrought our fall.
Henceforth his might we know, and know our own,
So as not either to provoke, or dread
New war, provok'd; our better part remains
To work in close design, by fraud or guile,
What force effected not: that he no lefs
At length from us may find, who overcomes
By force, hath overcome but half his foe.
Space may produce new worlds; whereof fo rife
There went a fame in Heav'n that he ere long
Intended to create, and therein plant
A generation, whom his choice regard
Should favor equal to the fons of Heaven:
Thither, if but to pry, fhall be perhaps
Our first eruption, thither or elsewhere:
For this infernal pit shall never hold
Celestial Spirits in bondage, nor th' abyfs
Long under darkness cover. But these thoughts
Full counsel must mature: Peace is despair'd,
For who can think fubmiffion? War then, War
Open or understood must be refolv'd.
He spake: and to confirm his words, out-flew Millions of flaming fwords, drawn from the thighs Of mighty Cherubim; the fudden blaze
Far round illumin'd Hell: highly they rag'd
Against the High'est, and fierce with grasped arms
Clash'd on their founding fhields the din of war,
Hurling defiance toward the vault of Heaven.
There ftood a hill not far, whose grifly top
Belch'd fire and rolling smoke; the rest entire
Shone with a gloffy fcurf, undoubted fign
That in his womb was hid metallic ore,
The work of fulphur. Thither wing'd with speed
A numerous brigad haften'd: as when bands
Of pioneers with spade and pickax arm'd
Forerun the royal camp, to trench a field,
Or caft a rampart. Mammon led them on,
Mammon, the least erected Spi'rit that fell
From Heav'n, for e'en in Heav'n his looks and thoughts Were always downward bent, admiring more
The riches of Heav'n's pavement, trodden gold,
Than ought divine or holy else enjoy'd
In vifion beatific: by him first
Men alfo, and by his fuggeftion taught,
Ranfack'd the center, and with impious hands
Rifled the bowels of their mother earth
For treafures better hid.
Open'd into the hill a fpacious wound,
And digg'd out ribs of gold. Let none admire
That riches grow in Hell; that foil may beft
Deferve the precious bane. And here let thofe
Who boast in mortal things, and wond'ring tell
Of Babel, and the works of Memphian kings,
Learn how their greatest monuments of fame,
And strength, and art, are eafily out-done
By Spirits reprobate, and in an hour
What in an age they with inceffant toil
And hands innumerable scarce perform.
Nigh on the plain in many cells prepar'd,
That underneath had veins of liquid fire
Sluc'd from the lake, a fecond multitude
With wond'rous art founded the maffy ore,`
Severing each kind, and fcumm'd the bullion drofs:
A third as foon had form'd within the ground
A various mould, and from the boiling cells
By ftrange conveyance fill'd each hollow nook,
As in an organ from one blast of wind
Το many a row of pipes the found-board breathes.
Anon out of the earth a fabric huge
Rofe like an exhalation, with the found
Of dulcet fymphonies and voices sweet,
Built like a temple, where pilafters round
Were fet, and Doric pillars overlaid
With golden architrave; nor did there want
Cornice or freeze, with boffy fculptures graven;
The roof was fretted gold. Not Babylon,
Nor great Alcairo fuch magnificence
Equal'd in all their glories, to inshrine
Belus or Serapis their Gods, or seat
Their kings, when Egypt with Affyria ftrove
In wealth and luxury. Th' afcending pile
Stood fix'd her ftately highth, and ftrait the doors
Opening their brazen folds difcover wide
Within, her ample spaces, o'er the smooth
And level pavement: from the arched roof
Pendent by fubtle magic many a row
Of starry lamps and blazing creffets fed
With Naphtha and Asphaltus yielded light
As from a fky. The hafty multitude
Admiring enter'd, and the work fome praise,
And fome the architect: his hand was known
In Heav'n by many a tow'red structure high,
Where scepter'd Angels held their refidence,
And fat as princes, whom the fúpreme King
Exalted to fuch pow'r, and gave to rule,
Each in his hierarchy, the orders bright.
Nor was his name unheard or unador'd
In ancient Greece; and in Aufonian land
Men call'd him Mulciber; and how he fell
From Heav'n, they fabled, thrown by angry Jove
Sheer o'er the crystal battlements; from morn
|