Paradise Lost - Book III

Hail holy light, ofspring of Heavn first-born,     Or of th Eternal Coeternal beam     May I express thee unblamd? since God is light,     And never but in unapproached light     Dwelt from Eternitie, dwelt then in thee,     Bright effluence of bright essence increate.     Or hearst thou rather pure Ethereal stream,     Whose Fountain who shall tell? before the Sun,     Before the Heavens thou wert, and at the voice     Of God, as with a Mantle didst invest     The rising world of waters dark and deep,     Won from the void and formless infinite.     Thee I re-visit now with bolder wing,     Escapt the Stygian Pool, though long detaind     In that obscure sojourn, while in my flight     Through utter and through middle darkness borne     With other notes then to th Orphean Lyre     I sung of Chaos and Eternal Night,     Taught by the heavnly Muse to venture down     The dark descent, and up to reascend,     Though hard and rare: thee I revisit safe,     And feel thy sovran vital Lamp; but thou     Revisitst not these eyes, that rowle in vain     To find thy piercing ray, and find no dawn;     So thick a drop serene hath quencht thir Orbs,     Or dim suffusion veild. Yet not the more     Cease I to wander where the Muses haunt     Cleer Spring, or shadie Grove, or Sunnie Hill,     Smit with the love of sacred song; but chief     Thee Sion and the flowrie Brooks beneath     That wash thy hallowd feet, and warbling flow,     Nightly I visit: nor somtimes forget     Those other two equald with me in Fate,     So were I equald with them in renown,     Blind Thamyris and blind Monides,     And Tiresias and Phineus Prophets old.     Then feed on thoughts, that voluntarie move     Harmonious numbers; as the wakeful Bird     Sings darkling, and in shadiest Covert hid     Tunes her nocturnal Note. Thus with the Year     Seasons return, but not to me returns     Day, or the sweet approach of Evn or Morn,     Or sight of vernal bloom, or Summers Rose,     Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine;     But cloud in stead, and ever-during dark     Surrounds me, from the chearful waies of men     Cut off, and for the book of knowledg fair     Presented with a Universal blanc     Of Natures works to mee expungd and rasd,     And wisdome at one entrance quite shut out.     So much the rather thou Celestial light     Shine inward, and the mind through all her powers     Irradiate, there plant eyes, all mist from thence     Purge and disperse, that I may see and tell     Of things invisible to mortal sight.     Now had the Almighty Father from above,     From the pure Empyrean where he sits     High Thrond above all highth, bent down his eye,     His own works and their works at once to view:     About him all the Sanctities of Heaven     Stood thick as Starrs, and from his sight receivd     Beatitude past utterance; on his right     The radiant image of his Glory sat,     His onely Son; On Earth he first beheld     Our two first Parents, yet the onely two     Of mankind, in the happie Garden plact,     Reaping immortal fruits of joy and love,     Uninterrupted joy, unrivald love     In blissful solitude; he then surveyd     Hell and the Gulf between, and Satan there     Coasting the wall of Heavn on this side Night     In the dun Air sublime, and ready now     To stoop with wearied wings, and willing feet     On the bare outside of this World, that seemd     Firm land imbosomd without Firmament,     Uncertain which, in Ocean or in Air.     Him God beholding from his prospect high,     Wherein past, present, future he beholds,     Thus to his onely Son foreseeing spake.     Onely begotten Son, seest thou what rage     Transports our adversarie, whom no bounds     Prescribd, no barrs of Hell, nor all the chains     Heapt on him there, nor yet the main Abyss     Wide interrupt can hold; so bent he seems     On desperat revenge, that shall redound     Upon his own rebellious head. And now     Through all restraint broke loose he wings his way     Not farr off Heavn, in the Precincts of light,     Directly towards the new created World,     And Man there plact, with purpose to assay     If him by force he can destroy, or worse,     By som false guile pervert; and shall pervert;     For man will hearkn to his glozing lyes,     And easily transgress the sole Command,     Sole pledge of his obedience: So will fall     Hee and his faithless Progenie: whose fault?     Whose but his own? ingrate, he had of mee     All he could have; I made him just and right,     Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall.     Such I created all th Ethereal Powers     And Spirits, both them who stood and them who faild;     Freely they stood who stood, and fell who fell.     Not free, what proof could they have givn sincere     Of true allegiance, constant Faith or Love,     Where onely what they needs must do, appeard,     Not what they would? what praise could they receive?     What pleasure I from such obedience paid,     When Will and Reason (Reason also is choice)     Useless and vain, of freedom both despoild,     Made passive both, had servd necessitie,     Not mee. They therefore as to right belongd,     So were created, nor can justly accuse     Thir maker, or thir making, or thir Fate;     As if Predestination over-ruld     Thir will, disposd by absolute Decree     Or high foreknowledge; they themselves decreed     Thir own revolt, not I: if I foreknew,     Foreknowledge had no influence on their fault,     Which had no less provd certain unforeknown.     So without least impulse or shadow of Fate,     Or aught by me immutablie foreseen,     They trespass, Authors to themselves in all     Both what they judge and what they choose; for so     I formd them free, and free they must remain,     Till they enthrall themselves: I else must change     Thir nature, and revoke the high Decree     Unchangeable, Eternal, which ordaind     Thir freedom, they themselves ordaind thir fall.     The first sort by thir own suggestion fell,     Self-tempted, self-depravd: Man falls deceivd     By the other first: Man therefore shall find grace,     The other none: in Mercy and Justice both,     Through Heavn and Earth, so shall my glorie excel,     But Mercy first and last shall brightest shine.     Thus while God spake, ambrosial fragrance filld     All Heavn, and in the blessed Spirits elect     Sense of new joy ineffable diffusd:     Beyond compare the Son of God was seen     Most glorious, in him all his Father shon     Substantially expressd, and in his face     Divine compassion visibly appeerd,     Love without end, and without measure Grace,     Which uttering thus he to his Father spake.     O Father, gracious was that word which closd     Thy sovran sentence, that Man should find grace;     For which both Heavn and Earth shall high extoll     Thy praises, with th innumerable sound     Of Hymns and sacred Songs, wherewith thy Throne     Encompassd shall resound thee ever blest.     For should Man finally be lost, should Man     Thy creature late so lovd, thy youngest Son     Fall circumvented thus by fraud, though joynd     With his own folly? that be from thee farr,     That farr be from thee, Father, who art Judge     Of all things made, and judgest onely right.     Or shall the Adversarie thus obtain     His end, and frustrate thine, shall he fulfill     His malice, and thy goodness bring to naught,     Or proud return though to his heavier doom,     Yet with revenge accomplisht and to Hell     Draw after him the whole Race of mankind,     By him corrupted? or wilt thou thy self     Abolish thy Creation, and unmake,     For him, what for thy glorie thou hast made?     So should thy goodness and thy greatness both     Be questiond and blaspheamd without defence.     To whom the great Creatour thus replyd.     O Son, in whom my Soul hath chief delight,     Son of my bosom, Son who art alone     My word, my wisdom, and effectual might,     All hast thou spokn as my thoughts are, all     As my Eternal purpose hath decreed:     Man shall not quite be lost, but savd who will,     Yet not of will in him, but grace in me     Freely voutsaft; once more I will renew     His lapsed powers, though forfeit and enthralld     By sin to foul exorbitant desires;     Upheld by me, yet once more he shall stand     On even ground against his mortal foe,     By me upheld, that he may know how frail     His falln condition is, and to me ow     All his delivrance, and to none but me.     Some I have chosen of peculiar grace     Elect above the rest; so is my will:     The rest shall hear me call, and oft be warnd     Thir sinful state, and to appease betimes     Th incensed Deitie, while offerd grace     Invites; for I will cleer thir senses dark,     What may suffice, and softn stonie hearts     To pray, repent, and bring obedience due.     To Prayer, repentance, and obedience due,     Though but endevord with sincere intent,     Mine eare shall not be slow, mine eye not shut.     And I will place within them as a guide     My Umpire Conscience, whom if they will hear,     Light after light well usd they shall attain,     And to the end persisting, safe arrive.     This my long sufferance and my day of grace     They who neglect and scorn, shall never taste;     But hard be hardnd, blind be blinded more,     That they may stumble on, and deeper fall;     And none but such from mercy I exclude.     But yet all is not don; Man disobeying,     Disloyal breaks his fealtie, and sinns     Against the high Supremacie of Heavn,     Affecting God-head, and so loosing all,     To expiate his Treason hath naught left,     But to destruction sacred and devote,     He with his whole posteritie must die,     Die hee or Justice must; unless for him     Som other able, and as willing, pay     The rigid satisfaction, death for death.     Say Heavnly Powers, where shall we find such love,     Which of ye will be mortal to redeem     Mans mortal crime, and just th unjust to save,     Dwels in all Heaven charitie so deare?     He askd, but all the Heavnly Quire stood mute,     And silence was in Heavn: on mans behalf     Patron or Intercessor none appeerd,     Much less that durst upon his own head draw     The deadly forfeiture, and ransom set.     And now without redemption all mankind     Must have bin lost, adjudgd to Death and Hell     By doom severe, had not the Son of God,     In whom the fulness dwels of love divine,     His dearest mediation thus renewd.     Father, thy word is past, man shall find grace;     And shall grace not find means, that finds her way,     The speediest of thy winged messengers,     To visit all thy creatures, and to all     Comes unprevented, unimplord, unsought,     Happie for man, so coming; he her aide     Can never seek, once dead in sins and lost;     Attonement for himself or offering meet,     Indebted and undon, hath none to bring:     Behold mee then, mee for him, life for life     I offer, on mee let thine anger fall;     Account mee man; I for his sake will leave     Thy bosom, and this glorie next to thee     Freely put off, and for him lastly die     Well pleasd, on me let Death wreck all his rage;     Under his gloomie power I shall not long     Lie vanquisht; thou hast givn me to possess     Life in my self for ever, by thee I live,     Though now to Death I yeild, and am his due     All that of me can die, yet that debt paid,     Thou wilt not leave me in the loathsom grave     His prey, nor suffer my unspotted Soule     For ever with corruption there to dwell;     But I shall rise Victorious, and subdue     My Vanquisher, spoild of his vanted spoile;     Death his deaths wound shall then receive, and stoop     Inglorious, of his mortall sting disarmd.     I through the ample Air in Triumph high     Shall lead Hell Captive maugre Hell, and show     The powers of darkness bound. Thou at the sight     Pleasd, out of Heaven shalt look down and smile,     While by thee raisd I ruin all my Foes,     Death last, and with his Carcass glut the Grave:     Then with the multitude of my redeemd     Shall enter Heaven long absent, and returne,     Father, to see thy face, wherein no cloud     Of anger shall remain, but peace assurd,     And reconcilement; wrauth shall be no more     Thenceforth, but in thy presence Joy entire.     His words here ended, but his meek aspect     Silent yet spake, and breathd immortal love     To mortal men, above which only shon     Filial obedience: as a sacrifice     Glad to be offerd, he attends the will     Of his great Father. Admiration seisd     All Heavn, what this might mean, and whither tend     Wondring; but soon th Almighty thus replyd:     O thou in Heavn and Earth the only peace     Found out for mankind under wrauth, O thou     My sole complacence! well thou knowst how dear,     To me are all my works, nor Man the least     Though last created, that for him I spare     Thee from my bosom and right hand, to save,     By loosing thee a while, the whole Race lost.     Thou therefore whom thou only canst redeeme,     Thir Nature also to thy Nature joyne;     And be thy self Man among men on Earth,     Made flesh, when time shall be, of Virgin seed,     By wondrous birth: Be thou in Adams room     The Head of all mankind, though Adams Son.     As in him perish all men, so in thee     As from a second root shall be restord,     As many as are restord, without thee none.     His crime makes guiltie all his Sons, thy merit     Imputed shall absolve them who renounce     Thir own both righteous and unrighteous deeds,     And live in thee transplanted, and from thee     Receive new life. So Man, as is most just,     Shall satisfie for Man, be judgd and die,     And dying rise, and rising with him raise     His Brethren, ransomd with his own dear life.     So Heavnly love shall outdoo Hellish hate,     Giving to death, and dying to redeeme,     So dearly to redeem what Hellish hate     So easily destroyd, and still destroyes     In those who, when they may, accept not grace.     Nor shalt thou by descending to assume     Mans Nature, lessn or degrade thine owne.     Because thou hast, though Thrond in highest bliss     Equal to God, and equally enjoying     God-like fruition, quitted all to save     A World from utter loss, and hast been found     By Merit more then Birthright Son of God,     Found worthiest to be so by being Good,     Farr more then Great or High; because in thee     Love hath abounded more then Glory abounds,     Therefore thy Humiliation shall exalt     With thee thy Manhood also to this Throne;     Here shalt thou sit incarnate, here shalt Reign     Both God and Man, Son both of God and Man,     Anointed universal King; all Power     I give thee, reign for ever, and assume     Thy Merits; under thee as Head Supream     Thrones, Princedoms, Powers, Dominions I reduce:     All knees to thee shall bow, of them that bide     In Heaven, or Earth, or under Earth in Hell;     When thou attended gloriously from Heavn     Shalt in the Skie appeer, and from thee send     The summoning Arch-Angels to proclaime     Thy dread Tribunal: forthwith from all Windes     The living, and forthwith the cited dead     Of all past Ages to the general Doom     Shall hastn, such a peal shall rouse thir sleep.     Then all thy Saints assembld, thou shalt judge     Bad men and Angels, they arraignd shall sink     Beneath thy Sentence; Hell, her numbers full,     Thenceforth shall be for ever shut. Mean while     The World shall burn, and from her ashes spring     New Heavn and Earth, wherein the just shall dwell     And after all thir tribulations long     See golden days, fruitful of golden deeds,     With Joy and Love triumphing, and fair Truth.     Then thou thy regal Scepter shalt lay by,     For regal Scepter then no more shall need,     God shall be All in All. But all ye Gods,     Adore him, who to compass all this dies,     Adore the Son, and honour him as mee.     No sooner had th Almighty ceast, but all     The multitude of Angels with a shout     Loud as from numbers without number, sweet     As from blest voices, uttering joy, Heavn rung     With Jubilee, and loud Hosannas filld     Th eternal Regions: lowly reverent     Towards either Throne they bow, and to the ground     With solemn adoration down they cast     Thir Crowns inwove with Amarant and Gold,     Immortal Amarant, a Flour which once     In Paradise, fast by the Tree of Life     Began to bloom, but soon for mans offence     To Heavn removd where first it grew, there grows,     And flours aloft shading the Fount of Life,     And where the river of Bliss through midst of Heavn     Rowls ore Elisian Flours her Amber stream;     With these that never fade the Spirits Elect     Bind thir resplendent locks inwreathd with beams,     Now in loose Garlands thick thrown off, the bright     Pavement that like a Sea of Jasper shon     Impurpld with Celestial Roses smild.     Then Crownd again thir goldn Harps they took,     Harps ever tund, that glittering by their side     Like Quivers hung, and with Pramble sweet     Of charming symphonie they introduce     Thir sacred Song, and waken raptures high;     No voice exempt, no voice but well could joine     Melodious part, such concord is in Heavn.     Thee Father first they sung Omnipotent,     Immutable, Immortal, Infinite,     Eternal King; thee Author of all being,     Fountain of Light, thy self invisible     Amidst the glorious brightness where thou sitst     Thrond inaccessible, but when thou shadst     The full blaze of thy beams, and through a cloud     Drawn round about thee like a radiant Shrine,     Dark with excessive bright thy skirts appeer,     Yet dazle Heavn, that brightest Seraphim     Approach not, but with both wings veil thir eyes.     Thee next they sang of all Creation first,     Begotten Son, Divine Similitude,     In whose conspicuous countnance, without cloud     Made visible, th Almighty Father shines,     Whom else no Creature can behold; on thee     Impresst the effulgence of his Glorie abides,     Transfusd on thee his ample Spirit rests.     Hee Heavn of Heavens and all the Powers therein     By thee created, and by thee threw down     Th aspiring Dominations: thou that day     Thy Fathers dreadful Thunder didst not spare,     Nor stop thy flaming Chariot wheels, that shook     Heavns everlasting Frame, while ore the necks     Thou drovst of warring Angels disarraid.     Back from pursuit thy Powers with loud acclaime     Thee only extold, Son of thy Fathers might,     To execute fierce vengeance on his foes,     Not so on Man; him through their malice falln,     Father of Mercie and Grace, thou didst not doome     So strictly, but much more to pitie encline:     No sooner did thy dear and onely Son     Perceive thee purposd not to doom frail Man     So strictly, but much more to pitie enclind,     He to appease thy wrauth, and end the strife     Of Mercy and Justice in thy face discernd,     Regardless of the Bliss wherein hee sat     Second to thee, offerd himself to die     For mans offence. O unexampld love,     Love no where to be found less then Divine!     Hail Son of God, Saviour of Men, thy Name     Shall be the copious matter of my Song     Henceforth, and never shall my Harp thy praise     Forget, nor from thy Fathers praise disjoine.     Thus they in Heavn, above the starry Sphear,     Thir happie hours in joy and hymning spent.     Mean while upon the firm opacous Globe     Of this round World, whose first convex divides     The luminous inferior Orbs, enclosd     From Chaos and th inroad of Darkness old,     Satan alighted walks: a Globe farr off     It seemd, now seems a boundless Continent     Dark, waste, and wild, under the frown of Night     Starless exposd, and ever-threatning storms     Of Chaos blustring round, inclement skie;     Save on that side which from the wall of Heavn     Though distant farr som small reflection gaines     Of glimmering air less vext with tempest loud:     Here walkd the Fiend at large in spacious field.     As when a Vultur on Imaus bred,     Whose snowie ridge the roving Tartar bounds,     Dislodging from a Region scarce of prey     To gorge the flesh of Lambs or yeanling Kids     On Hills where Flocks are fed, flies toward the Springs     Of Ganges or Hydaspes, Indian streams;     But in his way lights on the barren plaines     Of Sericana, where Chineses drive     With Sails and Wind thir canie Waggons light:     So on this windie Sea of Land, the Fiend     Walkd up and down alone bent on his prey,     Alone, for other Creature in this place     Living or liveless to be found was none,     None yet, but store hereafter from the earth     Up hither like Aereal vapours flew     Of all things transitorie and vain, when Sin     With vanity had filld the works of men:     Both all things vain, and all who in vain things     Built thir fond hopes of Glorie or lasting fame,     Or happiness in this or th other life;     All who have thir reward on Earth, the fruits     Of painful Superstition and blind Zeal,     Naught seeking but the praise of men, here find     Fit retribution, emptie as thir deeds;     All th unaccomplisht works of Natures hand,     Abortive, monstrous, or unkindly mixt,     Dissolvd on earth, fleet hither, and in vain,     Till final dissolution, wander here,     Not in the neighbouring Moon, as some have dreamd;     Those argent Fields more likely habitants,     Translated Saints, or middle Spirits hold     Betwixt th Angelical and Human kinde:     Hither of ill-joynd Sons and Daughters born     First from the ancient World those Giants came     With many a vain exploit, though then renownd:     The builders next of Babel on the Plain     Of Sennaar, and still with vain designe     New Babels, had they wherewithall, would build:     Others came single; he who to be deemd     A God, leapd fondly into tna flames,     Empedocles, and hee who to enjoy     Platos Elysium, leapd into the Sea,     Cleombrotus, and many more too long,     Embryos and Idiots, Eremits and Friers     White, Black and Grey, with all thir trumperie.     Here Pilgrims roam, that strayd so farr to seek     In Golgotha him dead, who lives in Heavn;     And they who to be sure of Paradise     Dying put on the weeds of Dominic,     Or in Franciscan think to pass disguisd;     They pass the Planets seven, and pass the fixt,     And that Crystalline Sphear whose ballance weighs     The Trepidation talkt, and that first movd;     And now Saint Peter at Heavns Wicket seems     To wait them with his Keys, and now at foot     Of Heavns ascent they lift thir Feet, when loe     A violent cross wind from either Coast     Blows them transverse ten thousand Leagues awry     Into the devious Air; then might ye see     Cowles, Hoods and Habits with thir wearers tost     And flutterd into Raggs, then Reliques, Beads,     Indulgences, Dispenses, Pardons, Bulls,     The sport of Winds: all these upwhirld aloft     Fly ore the backside of the World farr off     Into a Limbo large and broad, since calld     The Paradise of Fools, to few unknown     Long after, now unpeopld, and untrod;     All this dark Globe the Fiend found as he passd,     And long he wanderd, till at last a gleame     Of dawning light turnd thither-ward in haste     His travelld steps; farr distant he descries     Ascending by degrees magnificent     Up to the wall of Heaven a Structure high,     At top whereof, but farr more rich appeerd     The work as of a Kingly Palace Gate     With Frontispice of Diamond and Gold     Imbellisht, thick with sparkling orient Gemmes     The Portal shon, inimitable on Earth     By Model, or by shading Pencil drawn.     The Stairs were such as whereon Jacob saw     Angels ascending and descending, bands     Of Guardians bright, when he from Esau fled     To Padan-Aram in the field of Luz,     Dreaming by night under the open Skie,     And waking crid, This is the Gate of Heavn.     Each Stair mysteriously was meant, nor stood     There alwaies, but drawn up to Heavn somtimes     Viewless, and underneath a bright Sea flowd     Of Jasper, or of liquid Pearle, whereon     Who after came from Earth, sayling arrivd,     Wafted by Angels, or flew ore the Lake     Rapt in a Chariot drawn by fiery Steeds.     The Stairs were then let down, whether to dare     The Fiend by easie ascent, or aggravate     His sad exclusion from the dores of Bliss.     Direct against which opnd from beneath,     Just ore the blissful seat of Paradise,     A passage down to th Earth, a passage wide,     Wider by farr then that of after-times     Over Mount Sion, and, though that were large,     Over the Promisd Land to God so dear,     By which, to visit oft those happy Tribes,     On high behests his Angels to and fro     Passd frequent, and his eye with choice regard     From Paneas the fount of Jordans flood     To Beersaba, where the Holy Land     Borders on gypt and the Arabian shoare;     So wide the opning seemd, where bounds were set     To darkness, such as bound the Ocean wave.     Satan from hence now on the lower stair     That scald by steps of Gold to Heavn Gate     Looks down with wonder at the sudden view     Of all this World at once. As when a Scout     Through dark and desart wayes with peril gone     All night; at last by break of chearful dawne     Obtains the brow of some high-climbing Hill,     Which to his eye discovers unaware     The goodly prospect of some forein land     First-seen, or some renownd Metropolis     With glistering Spires and Pinnacles adornd,     Which now the Rising Sun guilds with his beams.     Such wonder seisd, though after Heaven seen,     The Spirit maligne, but much more envy seisd     At sight of all this World beheld so faire.     Round he surveys, and well might, where he stood     So high above the circling Canopie     Of Nights extended shade; from Eastern Point     Of Libra to the fleecie Starr that bears     Andromeda farr off Atlantick Seas     Beyond th Horizon; then from Pole to Pole     He views in bredth, and without longer pause     Down right into the Worlds first Region throws     His flight precipitant, and windes with ease     Through the pure marble Air his oblique way     Amongst innumerable Starrs, that shon     Stars distant, but nigh hand seemd other Worlds,     Or other Worlds they seemd, or happy Iles,     Like those Hesperian Gardens famd of old,     Fortunate Fields, and Groves and flourie Vales,     Thrice happy Iles, but who dwelt happy there     He stayd not to enquire: above them all     The golden Sun in splendor likest Heaven     Allurd his eye: Thither his course he bends     Through the calm Firmament; but up or downe     By center, or eccentric, hard to tell,     Or Longitude, where the great Luminarie     Alooff the vulgar Constellations thick,     That from his Lordly eye keep distance due,     Dispenses Light from farr; they as they move     Thir Sarry dance in numbers that compute     Days, months, and years, towards his all-chearing Lamp     Turn swift their various motions, or are turnd     By his Magnetic beam, that gently warms     The Univers, and to each inward part     With gentle penetration, though unseen,     Shoots invisible vertue even to the deep:     So wondrously was set his Station bright.     There lands the Fiend, a spot like which perhaps     Astronomer in the Suns lucent Orbe     Through his glazd Optic Tube yet never saw.     The place he found beyond expression bright,     Compard with aught on Earth, Medal or Stone;     Not all parts like, but all alike informd     Which radiant light, as glowing Iron with fire;     If mettal, part seemd Gold, part Silver cleer;     If stone, Carbuncle most or Chrysolite,     Rubie or Topaz, to the Twelve that shon     In Aarons Brest-plate, and a stone besides     Imagind rather oft then elsewhere seen,     That stone, or like to that which here below     Philosophers in vain so long have sought,     In vain, though by thir powerful Art they binde     Volatil Hermes, and call up unbound     In various shapes old Proteus from the Sea,     Draind through a Limbec to his Native forme.     What wonder then if fields and regions here     Breathe forth Elixir pure, and Rivers run     Potable Gold, when with one vertuous touch     Th Arch-chimic Sun so farr from us remote     Produces with Terrestrial Humor mixt     Here in the dark so many precious things     Of colour glorious and effect so rare?     Here matter new to gaze the Devil met     Undazld, farr and wide his eye commands,     For sight no obstacle found here, nor shade,     But all Sun-shine, as when his Beams at Noon     Culminate from th quator, as they now     Shot upward still direct, whence no way round     Shadow from body opaque can fall, and the Aire,     No where so cleer, sharpnd his visual ray     To objects distant farr, whereby he soon     Saw within kenn a glorious Angel stand,     The same whom John saw also in the Sun:     His back was turnd, but not his brightness hid;     Of beaming sunnie Raies, a golden tiar     Circld his Head, nor less his Locks behind     Illustrious on his Shoulders fledge with wings     Lay waving round; on som great charge imployd     He seemd, or fixt in cogitation deep.     Glad was the Spirit impure as now in hope     To find who might direct his wandring flight     To Paradise the happie seat of Man,     His journies end and our beginning woe.     But first he casts to change his proper shape,     Which else might work him danger or delay:     And now a stripling Cherube he appeers,     Not of the prime, yet such as in his face     Youth smild Celestial, and to every Limb     Sutable grace diffusd, so well he feignd;     Under a Coronet his flowing haire     In curles on either cheek plaid, wings he wore     Of many a colourd plume sprinkld with Gold,     His habit fit for speed succinct, and held     Before his decent steps a Silver wand.     He drew not nigh unheard, the Angel bright,     Ere he drew nigh, his radiant visage turnd,     Admonisht by his eare, and strait was known     Th Arch-Angel Uriel, one of the seavn     Who in Gods presence, neerest to his Throne     Stand ready at command, and are his Eyes     That run through all the Heavns, or down to th Earth     Bear his swift errands over moist and dry,     Ore Sea and Land: him Satan thus accostes;     Uriel, for thou of those seavn Spirits that stand     In sight of Gods high Throne, gloriously bright,     The first art wont his great authentic will     Interpreter through highest Heavn to bring,     Where all his Sons thy Embassie attend;     And here art likeliest by supream decree     Like honour to obtain, and as his Eye     To visit oft this new Creation round;     Unspeakable desire to see, and know     All these his wondrous works, but chiefly Man,     His chief delight and favour, him for whom     All these his works so wondrous he ordaind,     Hath brought me from the Quires of Cherubim     Alone thus wandring. Brightest Seraph tell     In which of all these shining Orbes hath Man     His fixed seat, or fixed seat hath none,     But all these shining Orbes his choice to dwell;     That I may find him, and with secret gaze,     Or open admiration him behold     On whom the great Creator hath bestowd     Worlds, and on whom hath all these graces powrd;     That both in him and all things, as is meet,     The Universal Maker we may praise;     Who justly hath drivn out his Rebell Foes     To deepest Hell, and to repair that loss     Created this new happie Race of Men     To serve him better: wise are all his wayes.     So spake the false dissembler unperceivd;     For neither Man nor Angel can discern     Hypocrisie, the only evil that walks     Invisible, except to God alone,     By his permissive will, through Heavn and Earth:     And oft though wisdom wake, suspicion sleeps     At wisdoms Gate, and to simplicitie     Resigns her charge, while goodness thinks no ill     Where no ill seems: Which now for once beguild     Uriel, though Regent of the Sun, and held     The sharpest sighted Spirit of all in Heavn;     Who to the fraudulent Impostor foule     In his uprightness answer thus returnd.     Faire Angel, thy desire which tends to know     The works of God, thereby to glorifie     The great Work-Maister, leads to no excess     That reaches blame, but rather merits praise     The more it seems excess, that led thee hither     From thy Empyreal Mansion thus alone,     To witness with thine eyes what some perhaps     Contented with report hear onely in heavn:     For wonderful indeed are all his works,     Pleasant to know, and worthiest to be all     Had in remembrance alwayes with delight;     But what created mind can comprehend     Thir number, or the wisdom infinite     That brought them forth, but hid thir causes deep.     I saw when at his Word the formless Mass,     This worlds material mould, came to a heap:     Confusion heard his voice, and wilde uproar     Stood ruld, stood vast infinitude confind;     Till at his second bidding darkness fled,     Light shon, and order from disorder sprung:     Swift to thir several Quarters hasted then     The cumbrous Elements, Earth, Flood, Aire, Fire,     And this Ethereal quintessence of Heavn     Flew upward, spirited with various forms,     That rowld orbicular, and turnd to Starrs     Numberless, as thou seest, and how they move;     Each had his place appointed, each his course,     The rest in circuit walles this Universe.     Look downward on that Globe whose hither side     With light from hence, though but reflected, shines;     That place is Earth the seat of Man, that light     His day, which else as th other Hemisphere     Night would invade, but there the neighbouring Moon     (So call that opposite fair Starr) her aide     Timely interposes, and her monthly round     Still ending, still renewing, through mid Heavn;     With borrowd light her countenance triform     Hence fills and empties to enlighten th Earth,     And in her pale dominion checks the night.     That spot to which I point is Paradise,     Adams abode, those loftie shades his Bowre.     Thy way thou canst not miss, me mine requires.     Thus said, he turnd, and Satan bowing low,     As to superior Spirits is wont in Heaven,     Where honour due and reverence none neglects,     Took leave, and toward the coast of Earth beneath,     Down from th Ecliptic, sped with hopd success,     Throws his steep flight with many an Aerie wheele,     Nor staid, till on Niphates top he lights.