Has quoniam cæli nondum diguamur honore,
Quas dedimus certè terras habitare finamus.
WOW had th' archangel trumpet, rais'd fublime
Above the walls of heav'n, begun to found;
All æther took the blaft, and hell beneath
Shook with celeftial noife; th' almighty hoft
Hot with pursuit, and reeking with the blood
Of guilty cherubs fmear'd in fulphurous duft,
Paufe at the known command of founding gold.
At first they close the wide Tartarian gates,
Th' impenetrable folds on brazen hinge
Roll creaking horrible; the din beneath
O'ercomes the roar of flames, and deafens hell.
Then through the folid gloom with nimble wing
They cut their fhining traces up to light;
Return'd upon the edge of heavenly day,
Where thinnest beams play round the vast obscure,
And with eternal gleam drive back the night,
They find the troops lefs ftubborn, lefs involv'd
In crime and ruin, barr'd the realms of peace,
Yet uncondemn'd to baleful feats of woe,
Doubtful and fuppliant; all the plumes of light
Moult from their shuddering wings, and fickly fear
Shades every face with horror; confcious guilt
Rolls in the livid eye-ball, and each breast
Shakes with the dread of future doom unknown,
'Tis here the wide circumference of heaven
Opens in two vaft gates, that inward turn
Voluminous, on jasper columns hung
By geometry divine: they ever glow
With living sculptures, that arife by turns
T'imboss the shining leaves, by turns they fet
To give fucceeding argument their place;
In holy hieroglyphics on they move,
The gaze of journeying angels, as they pass
Oft looking back, and held in deep furprize.
Here flood the troops diftinct; the cherub guard
Unbarr'd the fplendid gates, and in they roll
Harmonious; for a vocal spirit fits
Within each hinge, and, as they onward drive,
In just divifions breaks the numerous jarr
With fymphony melodious, fuch as spheres
Involy'd in tenfold wreaths are faid to found.
Out flows a blaze of glory: for on high Tow'ring advanc'd the moving throne of God, Vaft and majestic; on each radiant fide The pointed rays flope glittering; at the foot Glides a full tide of day, that onward pours, In liquid torrents through the black abyss, Sparkling among reluctant shapes which thence Retire confus'd; as when Vefuvio shakes With inward torments, and difgorges flames, O'er the vast mountain's ridge the burning waves Drive their refulgent curls, and on they roll Sweeping the glowing plains down to the fea; Th' affrighted fea leaps back with hideous roar To give the fire its courfe; thus Chaos wild Hiffing recoils to let in floods of light.
Above the throne, th' ideas heavenly bright Of past, of present, and of coming time Fix'd their immov'd abode, and there present An endless landscape of created things. To fight celeftial, where angelic eyes Are loft in profpect; for the shiny range, Boundless and various, in its bofom bears Millions of full-proportion'd worlds, beheld With stedfaft eyes, till more arife to view, And farther inward fcenes start up unknown.. Myriads of feraphs in long feries wait About the throne, and as it moves, proceed In numerous order, to celeftial fong,
Above, the fymphony of mellow flutes,
And harps, by flying angels gently touch'd,
Relieve the trumpet's rage, and fitly blend
The folemn founds in harmony divine;
Such as might tune new worlds, and give the laws
To globes on high, and the just figure guide
Of planets forming all their airy dance.
Below, the blazing wheels drive bounding o'er
The starry pavement; ftars and hills of light
Double their glories where the chariot rolls
With rattling found; and th' empyræum vaft
Down to its stedfaft axis, groans throughout
Under the burning tracts, 'till now it refts
Upon the gaping brink of heaven; and there
With open pomp, fills the vast empty space.
Silence enfues; a deep and aweful paufe
More terrible, all expectation held
In horror; now wrath imminent amaz'd
With dreadful precipice, to all it feems
More formidable near; then from the throne
A vocal thunder roll'd the fenfe of God,
Majeftically long, repugnant all
To princes' cuftoms here; their judgments flash
On guilt, with words concife, and sudden blaze.
Quite otherwife, the God's enlarged fpeech
Set wide the fate of things; that all around
Might take full profpects of their coming doom.
Servants of God! and Virtues great in arms;
We approve your faithful works, and you return
Bless'd from the dire pursuit of rebel foes;
Refolv'd, obdurate, they have try'd the force
Of this right hand, and known Almighty pow'r;
Transfix'd with lightning down they funk, they fell
Into the fiery gulf, and deep they plunge
Below the burning waves, to hide their heads
In fhelter from my vengeance bellowing hence
More fierce, and fcorching with more dreadful fires.
There let 'em find their doom, that durft defy
Omnipotence, and flight his proffer'd grace;
Rolling in flames, and ne'er to find a dawn
Of heavenly day; instead, the mind imbibes
Eternal gloom, and fing'd with conftant flames,
Can find no eafe; while fierce their boiling rage
Eats through th' impyreal mould, and glows within
With endless pain; not one repentant thought
Shall cool the breast, but proud in horrid crime,
The foul anneals and hardens in the fire.
But you commiffion'd by commands divine,
Have wifely fill'd your truft, and clos'd 'em all
Within the fervid lake, left any roam
Into the dark abyfs to fhun their doom,
And in the womb immenfe of things unborn
Should feek annihilation; you must rise
Among the fhining Virtues more fublime;
On lofty thrones preferr'd for lofty deeds.
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