Paradise Lost - Book IX

Meanwhile the hainous and despightfull act     Of Satan done in Paradise, and how     Hee in the Serpent had perverted Eve,     Her Husband shee, to taste the fatall fruit,     Was known in Heavn; for what can scape the Eye     Of God All-seeing, or deceave his Heart     Omniscient, who in all things wise and just,     Hinderd not Satan to attempt the minde     Of Man, with strength entire, and free Will armd,     Complete to have discoverd and repulst     Whatever wiles of Foe or seeming Friend.     For still they knew, and ought to have still rememberd     The high Injunction not to taste that Fruit,     Whoever tempted; which they not obeying,     Incurrd, what could they less, the penaltie,     And manifold in sin, deservd to fall.     Up into Heavn from Paradise in hast     Th Angelic Guards ascended, mute and sad     For Man, for of his state by this they knew,     Much wondring how the suttle Fiend had stoln     Entrance unseen. Soon as th unwelcome news     From Earth arrivd at Heaven Gate, displeasd     All were who heard, dim sadness did not spare     That time Celestial visages, yet mixt     With pitie, violated not thir bliss.     About the new-arrivd, in multitudes     Th ethereal People ran, to hear and know     How all befell: they towards the Throne Supream     Accountable made haste to make appear     With righteous plea, thir utmost vigilance,     And easily approvd; when the most High     Eternal Father from his secret Cloud,     Amidst in Thunder utterd thus his voice.     Assembld Angels, and ye Powers returnd     From unsuccessful charge, be not dismaid,     Nor troubld at these tidings from the Earth,     Which your sincerest care could not prevent,     Foretold so lately what would come to pass,     When first this Tempter crossd the Gulf from Hell.     I told ye then he should prevail and speed     On his bad Errand, Man should be seduct     And flatterd out of all, believing lies     Against his Maker; no Decree of mine     Concurring to necessitate his Fall,     Or touch with lightest moment of impulse     His free Will, to her own inclining left     In eevn scale. But falln he is, and now     What rests, but that the mortal Sentence pass     On his transgression, Death denounct that day,     Which he presumes already vain and void,     Because not yet inflicted, as he feard,     By some immediate stroak; but soon shall find     Forbearance no acquittance ere day end.     Justice shall not return as bountie scornd.     But whom send I to judge them? whom but thee     Vicegerent Son, to thee I have transferrd     All Judgement, whether in Heavn, or Earth; or Hell.     Easie it may be seen that I intend     Mercie collegue with Justice, sending thee     Mans Friend, his Mediator, his designd     Both Ransom and Redeemer voluntarie,     And destind Man himself to judge Man falln.     So spake the Father, and unfoulding bright     Toward the right hand his Glorie, on the Son     Blazd forth unclouded Deitie; he full     Resplendent all his Father manifest     Expressd, and thus divinely answerd milde.     Father Eternal, thine is to decree,     Mine both in Heavn and Earth to do thy will     Supream, that thou in mee thy Son belovd     Mayst ever rest well pleasd. I go to judge     On Earth these thy transgressors, but thou knowst,     Whoever judgd, the worst on mee must light,     When time shall be, for so I undertook     Before thee; and not repenting, this obtaine     Of right, that I may mitigate thir doom     On me derivd, yet I shall temper so     Justice with Mercie, as may illustrate most     Them fully satisfied, and thee appease.     Attendance none shall need, nor Train, where none     Are to behold the Judgement, but the judgd,     Those two; the third best absent is condemnd,     Convict by flight, and Rebel to all Law     Conviction to the Serpent none belongs.     Thus saying, from his radiant Seat he rose     Of high collateral glorie: him Thrones and Powers,     Princedoms, and Dominations ministrant     Accompanied to Heaven Gate, from whence     Eden and all the Coast in prospect lay.     Down he descended strait; the speed of Gods     Time counts not, though with swiftest minutes wingd.     Now was the Sun in Western cadence low     From Noon, and gentle Aires due at thir hour     To fan the Earth now wakd, and usher in     The Eevning coole when he from wrauth more coole     Came the mild Judge and Intercessor both     To sentence Man: the voice of God they heard     Now walking in the Garden, by soft windes     Brought to thir Ears, while day declind, they heard     And from his presence hid themselves among     The thickest Trees, both Man and Wife, till God     Approaching, thus to Adam calld aloud.     Where art thou Adam, wont with joy to meet     My coming seen far off? I miss thee here,     Not pleasd, thus entertaind with solitude,     Where obvious dutie erewhile appeard unsaught:     Or come I less conspicuous, or what change     Absents thee, or what chance detains? Come forth.     He came, and with him Eve, more loth, though first     To offend, discountnanct both, and discomposd;     Love was not in thir looks, either to God     Or to each other, but apparent guilt,     And shame, and perturbation, and despaire,     Anger, and obstinacie, and hate, and guile.     Whence Adam faultring long, thus answerd brief.     I heard thee in the Garden, and of thy voice     Affraid, being naked, hid my self. To whom     The gracious Judge without revile replid.     My voice thou oft hast heard, and hast not feard,     But still rejoyct, how is it now become     So dreadful to thee? that thou art naked, who     Hath told thee? hast thou eaten of the Tree     Whereof I gave thee charge thou shouldst not eat?     To whom thus Adam sore beset replid.     O Heavn! in evil strait this day I stand     Before my Judge, either to undergoe     My self the total Crime, or to accuse     My other self, the partner of my life;     Whose failing, while her Faith to me remaines,     I should conceal, and not expose to blame     By my complaint; but strict necessitie     Subdues me, and calamitous constraint,     Least on my head both sin and punishment,     However insupportable, be all     Devolvd; though should I hold my peace, yet thou     Wouldst easily detect what I conceale.     This Woman whom thou madst to be my help,     And gavst me as thy perfet gift, so good,     So fit, so acceptable, so Divine,     That from her hand I could suspect no ill,     And what she did, whatever in it self,     Her doing seemd to justifie the deed;     Shee gave me of the Tree, and I did eate.     To whom the sovran Presence thus replid.     Was shee thy God, that her thou didst obey     Before his voice, or was shee made thy guide,     Superior, or but equal, that to her     Thou didst resigne thy Manhood, and the Place     Wherein God set thee above her made of thee,     And for thee, whose perfection farr excelld     Hers in all real dignitie: Adornd     She was indeed, and lovely to attract     Thy Love, not thy Subjection, and her Gifts     Were such as under Government well seemd,     Unseemly to beare rule, which was thy part     And person, hadst thou known thy self aright.     So having said, he thus to Eve in few:     Say Woman, what is this which thou hast done?     To whom sad Eve with shame nigh overwhelmd,     Confessing soon, yet not before her Judge     Bold or loquacious, thus abasht replid.     The Serpent me beguild and I did eate.     Which when the Lord God heard, without delay     To Judgement he proceeded on th accusd     Serpent though brute, unable to transferre     The Guilt on him who made him instrument     Of mischief, and polluted from the end     Of his Creation; justly then accurst,     As vitiated in Nature: more to know     Concernd not Man (since he no further knew)     Nor alterd his offence; yet God at last     To Satan first in sin his doom applyd,     Though in mysterious terms, judgd as then best:     And on the Serpent thus his curse let fall.     Because thou hast done this, thou art accurst     Above all Cattel, each Beast of the Field;     Upon thy Belly groveling thou shalt goe,     And dust shalt eat all the days of thy Life.     Between Thee and the Woman I will put     Enmitie, and between thine and her Seed;     Her Seed shall bruise thy head, thou bruise his heel.     So spake this Oracle, then verifid     When Jesus son of Mary second Eve,     Saw Satan fall like Lightning down from Heavn,     Prince of the Aire; then rising from his Grave     Spoild Principalities and Powers, triumpht     In open shew, and with ascention bright     Captivity led captive through the Aire,     The Realme it self of Satan long usurpt,     Whom he shall tread at last under our feet;     Eevn hee who now foretold his fatal bruise,     And to the Woman thus his Sentence turnd.     Thy sorrow I will greatly multiplie     By thy Conception; Children thou shalt bring     In sorrow forth, and to thy Husbands will     Thine shall submit, hee over thee shall rule.     On Adam last thus judgement he pronouncd.     Because thou hast hearknd to the voice of thy Wife,     And eaten of the Tree concerning which     I chargd thee, saying: Thou shalt not eate thereof,     Cursd is the ground for thy sake, thou in sorrow     Shalt eate thereof all the days of thy Life;     Thornes also and Thistles it shall bring thee forth     Unbid, and thou shalt eate th Herb of th Field,     In the sweat of thy Face shalt thou eate Bread,     Till thou return unto the ground, for thou     Out of the ground wast taken, know thy Birth,     For dust thou art, and shalt to dust returne.     So judgd he Man, both Judge and Saviour sent,     And th instant stroke of Death denounct that day     Removd farr off; then pittying how they stood     Before him naked to the aire, that now     Must suffer change, disdaind not to begin     Thenceforth the forme of servant to assume,     As when he washd his servants feet, so now     As Father of his Familie he clad     Thir nakedness with Skins of Beasts, or slain,     Or as the Snake with youthful Coate repaid;     And thought not much to cloath his Enemies:     Nor hee thir outward onely with the Skins     Of Beasts, but inward nakedness, much more     Opprobrious, with his Robe of righteousness,     Araying coverd from his Fathers sight.     To him with swift ascent he up returnd,     Into his blissful bosom reassumd     In glory as of old, to him appeasd     All, though all-knowing, what had past with Man     Recounted, mixing intercession sweet.     Meanwhile ere thus was sind and judgd on Earth,     Within the Gates of Hell sate Sin and Death,     In counterview within the Gates, that now     Stood open wide, belching outrageous flame     Farr into Chaos, since the Fiend passd through,     Sin opening, who thus now to Death began.     O Son, why sit we here each other viewing     Idlely, while Satan our great Author thrives     In other Worlds, and happier Seat provides     For us his ofspring deare? It cannot be     But that success attends him; if mishap,     Ere this he had returnd, with fury drivn     By his Avenger, since no place like this     Can fit his punishment, or their revenge.     Methinks I feel new strength within me rise,     Wings growing, and Dominion givn me large     Beyond this Deep; whatever drawes me on,     Or sympathie, or som connatural force     Powerful at greatest distance to unite     With secret amity things of like kinde     By secretest conveyance. Thou my Shade     Inseparable must with mee along:     For Death from Sin no power can separate.     But least the difficultie of passing back     Stay his returne perhaps over this Gulfe     Impassable, impervious, let us try     Adventrous work, yet to thy power and mine     Not unagreeable, to found a path     Over this Maine from Hell to that new World     Where Satan now prevailes, a Monument     Of merit high to all th infernal Host,     Easing thir passage hence, for intercourse,     Or transmigration, as thir lot shall lead.     Nor can I miss the way, so strongly drawn     By this new felt attraction and instinct.     Whom thus the meager Shadow answerd soon.     Goe whither Fate and inclination strong     Leads thee, I shall not lag behinde, nor erre     The way, thou leading, such a sent I draw     Of carnage, prey innumerable, and taste     The savour of Death from all things there that live:     Nor shall I to the work thou enterprisest     Be wanting, but afford thee equal aid.     So saying, with delight he snuffd the smell     Of mortal change on Earth. As when a flock     Of ravenous Fowl, though many a League remote,     Against the day of Battel, to a Field,     Where Armies lie encampt, come flying, lurd     With sent of living Carcasses designd     For death, the following day, in bloodie fight.     So sented the grim Feature, and upturnd     His Nostril wide into the murkie Air,     Sagacious of his Quarrey from so farr.     Then Both from out Hell Gates into the waste     Wide Anarchie of Chaos damp and dark     Flew divers, and with Power (thir Power was great)     Hovering upon the Waters; what they met     Solid or slimie, as in raging Sea     Tost up and down, together crowded drove     From each side shoaling towards the mouth of Hell.     As when two Polar Winds blowing adverse     Upon the Cronian Sea, together drive     Mountains of Ice, that stop th imagind way     Beyond Petsora Eastward, to the rich     Cathaian Coast. The aggregated Soyle     Death with his Mace petrific, cold and dry,     As with a Trident smote, and fixt as firm     As Delos floating once; the rest his look     Bound with Gorgonian rigor not to move,     And with Asphaltic slime; broad as the Gate,     Deep to the Roots of Hell the gatherd beach     They fastend, and the Mole immense wraught on     Over the foaming deep high Archt, a Bridge     Of length prodigious joyning to the Wall     Immoveable of this now fenceless world     Forfeit to Death; from hence a passage broad,     Smooth, easie, inoffensive down to Hell.     So, if great things to small may be compard,     Xerxes, the Libertie of Greece to yoke,     From Susa his Memnonian Palace high     Came to the Sea, and over Hellespont     Bridging his way, Europe with Asia joynd,     And scourgd with many a stroak th indignant waves.     Now had they brought the work by wondrous Art     Pontifical, a ridge of pendent Rock     Over the vext Abyss, following the track     Of Satan, to the selfsame place where hee     First lighted from his Wing, and landed safe     From out of Chaos to the outside bare     Of this round World: with Pinns of Adamant     And Chains they made all fast, too fast they made     And durable; and now in little space     The Confines met of Empyrean Heavn     And of this World, and on the left hand Hell     With long reach interposd; three sevral wayes     In sight, to each of these three places led.     And now thir way to Earth they had descrid,     To Paradise first tending, when behold     Satan in likeness of an Angel bright     Betwixt the Centaure and the Scorpion stearing     His Zenith, while the Sun in Aries rose:     Disguisd he came, but those his Children dear     Thir Parent soon discernd, though in disguise.     Hee, after Eve seduct, unminded slunk     Into the Wood fast by, and changing shape     To observe the sequel, saw his guileful act     By Eve, though all unweeting, seconded     Upon her Husband, saw thir shame that sought     Vain covertures; but when he saw descend     The Son of God to judge them, terrifid     Hee fled, not hoping to escape, but shun     The present, fearing guiltie what his wrauth     Might suddenly inflict; that past, returnd     By Night, and listning where the hapless Paire     Sate in thir sad discourse, and various plaint,     Thence gatherd his own doom, which understood     Not instant, but of future time. With joy     And tidings fraught, to Hell he now returnd,     And at the brink of Chaos, neer the foot     Of this new wondrous Pontifice, unhopt     Met who to meet him came, his Ofspring dear.     Great joy was at thir meeting, and at sight     Of that stupendious Bridge his joy encreasd.     Long hee admiring stood, till Sin, his faire     Inchanting Daughter, thus the silence broke.     O Parent, these are thy magnific deeds,     Thy Trophies, which thou viewst as not thine own,     Thou art thir Author and prime Architect:     For I no sooner in my Heart divind,     My Heart, which by a secret harmonie     Still moves with thine, joynd in connexion sweet,     That thou on Earth hadst prosperd, which thy looks     Now also evidence, but straight I felt     Though distant from thee Worlds between, yet felt     That I must after thee with this thy Son;     Such fatal consequence unites us three:     Hell could no longer hold us in her bounds,     Nor this unvoyageable Gulf obscure     Detain from following thy illustrious track.     Thou hast atchievd our libertie, confind     Within Hell Gates till now, thou us impowrd     To fortifie thus farr, and overlay     With this portentous Bridge the dark Abyss.     Thine now is all this World, thy vertue hath won     What thy hands builded not, thy Wisdom gaind     With odds what Warr hath lost, and fully avengd     Our foile in Heavn; here thou shalt Monarch reign,     There didst not; there let him still Victor sway,     As Battel hath adjudgd, from this new World     Retiring, by his own doom alienated,     And henceforth Monarchie with thee divide     Of all things, parted by th Empyreal bounds,     His Quadrature, from thy Orbicular World,     Or trie thee now more dangrous to his Throne.     Whom thus the Prince of Darkness answerd glad.     Fair Daughter, and thou Son and Grandchild both,     High proof ye now have givn to be the Race     Of Satan (for I glorie in the name,     Antagonist of Heavns Almightie King)     Amply have merited of me, of all     Th Infernal Empire, that so neer Heavns dore     Triumphal with triumphal act have met,     Mine with this glorious Work, and made one Realm     Hell and this World, one Realm, one Continent     Of easie thorough-fare. Therefore while I     Descend through Darkness, on your Rode with ease     To my associate Powers, them to acquaint     With these successes, and with them rejoyce,     You two this way, among those numerous Orbs     All yours, right down to Paradise descend;     There dwell and Reign in bliss, thence on the Earth     Dominion exercise and in the Aire,     Chiefly on Man, sole Lord of all declard,     Him first make sure your thrall, and lastly kill.     My Substitutes I send ye, and Create     Plenipotent on Earth, of matchless might     Issuing from mee: on your joynt vigor now     My hold of this new Kingdom all depends,     Through Sin to Death exposd by my exploit.     If your joynt power prevaile, th affaires of Hell     No detriment need feare, goe and be strong.     So saying he dismissd them, they with speed     Thir course through thickest Constellations held     Spreading thir bane; the blasted Starrs lookt wan,     And Planets, Planet-strook, real Eclips     Then sufferd. Th other way Satan went down     The Causey to Hell Gate; on either side     Disparted Chaos over built exclaimd,     And with rebounding surge the barrs assaild,     That scornd his indignation: through the Gate,     Wide open and unguarded, Satan passd,     And all about found desolate; for those     Appointed to sit there, had left thir charge,     Flown to the upper World; the rest were all     Farr to the inland retird, about the walls     Of Pandemonium, Citie and proud seate     Of Lucifer, so by allusion calld,     Of that bright Starr to Satan paragond.     There kept thir Watch the Legions, while the Grand     In Council sate, sollicitous what chance     Might intercept thir Emperour sent, so hee     Departing gave command, and they observd.     As when the Tartar from his Russian Foe     By Astracan over the Snowie Plaines     Retires, or Bactrian Sophi from the hornes     Of Turkish Crescent, leaves all waste beyond     The Realme of Aladule, in his retreate     To Tauris or Casbeen. So these the late     Heavn-banisht Host, left desert utmost Hell     Many a dark League, reduct in careful Watch     Round thir Metropolis, and now expecting     Each hour their great adventurer from the search     Of Forrein Worlds: he through the midst unmarkt,     In shew plebeian Angel militant     Of lowest order, past; and from the dore     Of that Plutonian Hall, invisible     Ascended his high Throne, which under state     Of richest texture spred, at th upper end     Was plact in regal lustre. Down a while     He sate, and round about him saw unseen:     At last as from a Cloud his fulgent head     And shape Starr bright appeerd, or brighter, clad     With what permissive glory since his fall     Was left him, or false glitter: All amazd     At that so sudden blaze the Stygian throng     Bent thir aspect, and whom they wishd beheld,     Thir mighty Chief returnd: loud was th acclaime:     Forth rushd in haste the great consulting Peers,     Raisd from thir dark Divan, and with like joy     Congratulant approachd him, who with hand     Silence, and with these words attention won.     Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Vertues, Powers,     For in possession such, not onely of right,     I call ye and declare ye now, returnd     Successful beyond hope, to lead ye forth     Triumphant out of this infernal Pit     Abominable, accurst, the house of woe,     And Dungeon of our Tyrant: Now possess,     As Lords, a spacious World, to our native Heaven     Little inferiour, by my adventure hard     With peril great atchievd. Long were to tell     What I have don, what sufferd, with what paine     Voyagd the unreal, vast, unbounded deep     Of horrible confusion, over which     By Sin and Death a broad way now is pavd     To expedite your glorious march; but I     Toild out my uncouth passage, forct to ride     Th untractable Abysse, plungd in the womb     Of unoriginal Night and Chaos wilde,     That jealous of thir secrets fiercely opposd     My journey strange, with clamorous uproare     Protesting Fate supreame; thence how I found     The new created World, which fame in Heavn     Long had foretold, a Fabrick wonderful     Of absolute perfection, therein Man     Plact in a Paradise, by our exile     Made happie: Him by fraud I have seducd     From his Creator, and the more to increase     Your wonder, with an Apple; he thereat     Offended, worth your laughter, hath givn up     Both his beloved Man and all his World,     To Sin and Death a prey, and so to us,     Without our hazard, labour or allarme,     To range in, and to dwell, and over Man     To rule, as over all he should have ruld.     True is, mee also he hath judgd, or rather     Mee not, but the brute Serpent in whose shape     Man I deceavd: that which to mee belongs,     Is enmity, which he will put between     Mee and Mankinde; I am to bruise his heel;     His Seed, when is not set, shall bruise my head:     A World who would not purchase with a bruise,     Or much more grievous pain? Ye have th account     Of my performance: What remaines, ye Gods,     But up and enter now into full bliss.     So having said, a while he stood, expecting     Thir universal shout and high applause     To fill his eare, when contrary he hears     On all sides, from innumerable tongues     A dismal universal hiss, the sound     Of public scorn; he wonderd, but not long     Had leasure, wondring at himself now more;     His Visage drawn he felt to sharp and spare,     His Armes clung to his Ribs, his Leggs entwining     Each other, till supplanted down he fell     A monstrous Serpent on his Belly prone,     Reluctant, but in vaine, a greater power     Now ruld him, punisht in the shape he sind,     According to his doom: he would have spoke,     But hiss for hiss returnd with forked tongue     To forked tongue, for now were all transformd     Alike, to Serpents all as accessories     To his bold Riot: dreadful was the din     Of hissing through the Hall, thick swarming now     With complicated monsters, head and taile,     Scorpion and Asp, and Amphisbna dire,     Cerastes hornd, Hydrus, and Ellops drear,     And Dipsas (Not so thick swarmd once the Soil     Bedropt with blood of Gorgon, or the Isle     Ophiusa) but still greatest hee the midst,     Now Dragon grown, larger then whom the Sun     Ingenderd in the Pythian Vale on slime,     Huge Python, and his Power no less he seemd     Above the rest still to retain; they all     Him followd issuing forth to th open Field,     Where all yet left of that revolted Rout     Heavn-falln, in station stood or just array,     Sublime with expectation when to see     In Triumph issuing forth thir glorious Chief;     They saw, but other sight instead, a crowd     Of ugly Serpents; horror on them fell,     And horrid sympathie; for what they saw,     They felt themselvs now changing; down thir arms,     Down fell both Spear and Shield, down they as fast,     And the dire hiss renewd, and the dire form     Catcht by Contagion, like in punishment,     As in thir crime. Thus was th applause they meant,     Turnd to exploding hiss, triumph to shame     Cast on themselves from thir own mouths. There stood     A Grove hard by, sprung up with this thir change,     His will who reigns above, to aggravate     Thir penance, laden with fair Fruit, like that     Which grew in Paradise, the bait of Eve     Usd by the Tempter: on that prospect strange     Thir earnest eyes they fixd, imagining     For one forbidden Tree a multitude     Now risn, to work them furder woe or shame;     Yet parcht with scalding thurst and hunger fierce,     Though to delude them sent, could not abstain,     But on they rould in heaps, and up the Trees     Climbing, sat thicker then the snakie locks     That curld Megaera: greedily they pluckd     The Frutage fair to sight, like that which grew     Neer that bituminous Lake where Sodom flamd;     This more delusive, not the touch, but taste     Deceavd; they fondly thinking to allay     Thir appetite with gust, instead of Fruit     Chewd bitter Ashes, which th offended taste     With spattering noise rejected: oft they assayd,     Hunger and thirst constraining, drugd as oft,     With hatefullest disrelish writhd thir jaws     With foot and cinders filld; so oft they fell     Into the same illusion, not as Man     Whom they triumphd once lapst. Thus were they plagud     And worn with Famin, long and ceasless hiss,     Till thir lost shape, permitted, they resumd,     Yearly enjoynd, some say, to undergo     This annual humbling certain numberd days,     To dash thir pride, and joy for Man seduct.     However some tradition they dispersd     Among the Heathen of thir purchase got,     And Fabld how the Serpent, whom they calld     Ophion with Eurynome, the wide-     Encroaching Eve perhaps, had first the rule     Of high Olympus, thence by Saturn drivn     And Ops, ere yet Dictaean Jove was born.     Mean while in Paradise the hellish pair     Too soon arrivd, Sin there in power before,     Once actual, now in body, and to dwell     Habitual habitant; behind her Death     Close following pace for pace, not mounted yet     On his pale Horse: to whom Sin thus began.     Second of Satan sprung, all conquering Death,     What thinkst thou of our Empire now, though earnd     With travail difficult, not better farr     Then stil at Hels dark threshold to have sate watch,     Unnamd, undreaded, and thy self half starvd?     Whom thus the Sin-born Monster answerd soon.     To mee, who with eternal Famin pine,     Alike is Hell, or Paradise, or Heaven,     There best, where most with ravin I may meet;     Which here, though plenteous, all too little seems     To stuff this Maw, this vast unhide-bound Corps.     To whom th incestuous Mother thus replid.     Thou therefore on these Herbs, and Fruits, and Flours     Feed first, on each Beast next, and Fish, and Fowle,     No homely morsels, and whatever thing     The Sithe of Time mowes down, devour unspard,     Till I in Man residing through the Race,     His thoughts, his looks, words, actions all infect,     And season him thy last and sweetest prey.     This said, they both betook them several wayes,     Both to destroy, or unimmortal make     All kinds, and for destruction to mature     Sooner or later; which th Almightie seeing,     From his transcendent Seat the Saints among,     To those bright Orders utterd thus his voice.     See with what heat these Dogs of Hell advance     To waste and havoc yonder World, which I     So fair and good created, and had still     Kept in that state, had not the folly of Man     Let in these wastful Furies, who impute     Folly to mee, so doth the Prince of Hell     And his Adherents, that with so much ease     I suffer them to enter and possess     A place so heavnly, and conniving seem     To gratifie my scornful Enemies,     That laugh, as if transported with some fit     Of Passion, I to them had quitted all,     At random yeilded up to their misrule;     And know not that I calld and drew them thither     My Hell-hounds, to lick up the draff and filth     Which mans polluting Sin with taint hath shed     On what was pure, till crammd and gorgd, nigh burst     With suckt and glutted offal, at one fling     Of thy victorious Arm, well-pleasing Son,     Both Sin, and Death, and yawning Grave at last     Through Chaos hurld, obstruct the mouth of Hell     For ever, and seal up his ravenous Jawes.     Then Heavn and Earth renewd shall be made pure     To sanctitie that shall receive no staine:     Till then the Curse pronounct on both precedes.     Hee ended, and the heavnly Audience loud     Sung Halleluia, as the sound of Seas,     Through multitude that sung: Just are thy ways,     Righteous are thy Decrees on all thy Works;     Who can extenuate thee? Next, to the Son,     Destind restorer of Mankind, by whom     New Heavn and Earth shall to the Ages rise,     Or down from Heavn descend. Such was thir song,     While the Creator calling forth by name     His mightie Angels gave them several charge,     As sorted best with present things. The Sun     Had first his precept so to move, so shine,     As might affect the Earth with cold and heat     Scarce tollerable, and from the North to call     Decrepit Winter, from the South to bring     Solstitial summers heat. To the blanc Moone     Her office they prescribd, to th other five     Thir planetarie motions and aspects     In Sextile, Square, and Trine, and Opposite,     Of noxious efficacie, and when to joyne     In Synod unbenigne, and taught the fixt     Thir influence malignant when to showre,     Which of them rising with the Sun, or falling,     Should prove tempestuous: To the Winds they set     Thir corners, when with bluster to confound     Sea, Aire, and Shoar, the Thunder when to rowle     With terror through the dark Aereal Hall.     Some say he bid his Angels turne ascanse     The Poles of Earth twice ten degrees and more     From the Suns Axle; they with labour pushd     Oblique the Centric Globe: Som say the Sun     Was bid turn Reines from th Equinoctial Rode     Like distant breadth to Taurus with the Seavn     Atlantick Sisters, and the Spartan Twins     Up to the Tropic Crab; thence down amaine     By Leo and the Virgin and the Scales,     As deep as Capricorne, to bring in change     Of Seasons to each Clime; else had the Spring     Perpetual smild on Earth with vernant Flours,     Equal in Days and Nights, except to those     Beyond the Polar Circles; to them Day     Had unbenighted shon, while the low Sun     To recompence his distance, in thir sight     Had rounded still th Horizon, and not known     Or East or West, which had forbid the Snow     From cold Estotiland, and South as farr     Beneath Magellan. At that tasted Fruit     The Sun, as from Thyestean Banquet, turnd     His course intended; else how had the World     Inhabited, though sinless, more then now,     Avoided pinching cold and scorching heate?     These changes in the Heavns, though slow, producd     Like change on Sea and Land, sideral blast,     Vapour, and Mist, and Exhalation hot,     Corrupt and Pestilent: Now from the North     Of Norumbega, and the Samoed shoar     Bursting thir brazen Dungeon, armd with ice     And snow and haile and stormie gust and flaw,     Boreas and Ccias and Argestes loud     And Thrascias rend the Woods and Seas upturn;     With adverse blast up-turns them from the South     Notus and Afer black with thundrous Clouds     From Serraliona; thwart of these as fierce     Forth rush the Levant and the Ponent Windes     Eurus and Zephir with thir lateral noise,     Sirocco, and Libecchio. Thus began     Outrage from liveless things; but Discord first     Daughter of Sin, among th irrational,     Death introducd through fierce antipathie:     Beast now with Beast gan war, and Fowle with Fowle,     And Fish with Fish; to graze the Herb all leaving,     Devourd each other; nor stood much in awe     Of Man, but fled him, or with countnance grim     Glard on him passing: these were from without     The growing miseries, which Adam saw     Alreadie in part, though hid in gloomiest shade,     To sorrow abandond, but worse felt within,     And in a troubld Sea of passion tost,     Thus to disburdn sought with sad complaint.     O miserable of happie! is this the end     Of this new glorious World, and mee so late     The Glory of that Glory, who now becom     Accurst of blessed, hide me from the face     Of God, whom to behold was then my highth     Of happiness: yet well, if here would end     The miserie, I deservd it, and would beare     My own deservings; but this will not serve;     All that I eate or drink, or shall beget,     Is propagated curse. O voice once heard     Delightfully, Encrease and multiply,     Now death to heare! for what can I encrease     Or multiplie, but curses on my head?     Who of all Ages to succeed, but feeling     The evil on him brought by me, will curse     My Head, Ill fare our Ancestor impure,     For this we may thank Adam; but his thanks     Shall be the execration; so besides     Mine own that bide upon me, all from mee     Shall with a fierce reflux on mee redound,     On mee as on thir natural center light     Heavie, though in thir place. O fleeting joyes     Of Paradise, deare bought with lasting woes!     Did I request thee, Maker, from my Clay     To mould me Man, did I sollicite thee     From darkness to promote me, or here place     In this delicious Garden? as my Will     Concurd not to my being, it were but right     And equal to reduce me to my dust,     Desirous to resigne, and render back     All I receavd, unable to performe     Thy terms too hard, by which I was to hold     The good I sought not. To the loss of that,     Sufficient penaltie, why hast thou added     The sense of endless woes? inexplicable     Thy Justice seems; yet to say truth, too late,     I thus contest; then should have been refusd     Those terms whatever, when they were proposd:     Thou didst accept them; wilt thou enjoy the good,     Then cavil the conditions? and though God     Made thee without thy leave, what if thy Son     Prove disobedient, and reprovd, retort,     Wherefore didst thou beget me? I sought it not:     Wouldst thou admit for his contempt of thee     That proud excuse? yet him not thy election,     But Natural necessity begot.     God made thee of choice his own, and of his own     To serve him, thy reward was of his grace,     Thy punishment then justly is at his Will.     Be it so, for I submit, his doom is fair,     That dust I am, and shall to dust returne:     O welcom hour whenever! why delayes     His hand to execute what his Decree     Fixd on this day? why do I overlive,     Why am I mockt with death, and lengthnd out     To deathless pain? how gladly would I meet     Mortalitie my sentence, and be Earth     Insensible, how glad would lay me down     As in my Mothers lap? there I should rest     And sleep secure; his dreadful voice no more     Would Thunder in my ears, no fear of worse     To mee and to my ofspring would torment me     With cruel expectation. Yet one doubt     Pursues me still, least all I cannot die,     Least that pure breath of Life, the Spirit of Man     Which God inspird, cannot together perish     With this corporeal Clod; then in the Grave,     Or in some other dismal place, who knows     But I shall die a living Death? O thought     Horrid, if true! yet why? it was but breath     Of Life that sinnd; what dies but what had life     And sin? the Bodie properly hath neither.     All of me then shall die: let this appease     The doubt, since humane reach no further knows.     For though the Lord of all be infinite,     Is his wrauth also? be it, man is not so,     But mortal doomd. How can he exercise     Wrath without end on Man whom Death must end?     Can he make deathless Death? that were to make     Strange contradiction, which to God himself     Impossible is held, as Argument     Of weakness, not of Power. Will he, draw out,     For angers sake, finite to infinite     In punisht man, to satisfie his rigour     Satisfid never; that were to extend     His Sentence beyond dust and Natures Law,     By which all Causes else according still     To the reception of thir matter act,     Not to th extent of thir own Spheare. But say     That Death be not one stroak, as I supposd,     Bereaving sense, but endless miserie     From this day onward, which I feel begun     Both in me, and without me, and so last     To perpetuitie; Ay me, that fear     Comes thundring back with dreadful revolution     On my defensless head; both Death and I     Am found Eternal, and incorporate both,     Nor I on my part single, in mee all     Posteritie stands curst: Fair Patrimonie     That I must leave ye, Sons; O were I able     To waste it all my self, and leave ye none!     So disinherited how would ye bless     Me now your Curse! Ah, why should all mankind     For one mans fault thus guiltless be condemnd,     If guiltless? But from mee what can proceed,     But all corrupt, both Mind and Will depravd,     Not to do onely, but to will the same     With me? how can they acquitted stand     In sight of God? Him after all Disputes     Forct I absolve: all my evasions vain     And reasonings, though through Mazes, lead me still     But to my own conviction: first and last     On mee, mee onely, as the sourse and spring     Of all corruption, all the blame lights due;     So might the wrauth, Fond wish! couldst thou support     That burden heavier then the Earth to bear,     Then all the world much heavier, though divided     With that bad Woman? Thus what thou desirst,     And what thou fearst, alike destroyes all hope     Of refuge, and concludes thee miserable     Beyond all past example and future,     To Satan onely like both crime and doom.     O Conscience, into what Abyss of fears     And horrors hast thou drivn me; out of which     I find no way, from deep to deeper plungd!     Thus Adam to himself lamented loud     Through the still Night, now now, as ere man fell,     Wholsom and cool, and mild, but with black Air     Accompanied, with damps and dreadful gloom,     Which to his evil Conscience represented     All things with double terror: On the ground     Outstretcht he lay, on the cold ground, and oft     Cursd his Creation, Death as oft accusd     Of tardie execution, since denounct     The day of his offence. Why comes not Death,     Said hee, with one thrice acceptable stroke     To end me? Shall Truth fail to keep her word,     Justice Divine not hastn to be just?     But Death comes not at call, Justice Divine     Mends not her slowest pace for prayers or cries.     O Woods, O Fountains, Hillocks, Dales and Bowrs,     With other echo farr I taught your Shades     To answer, and resound farr other Song.     Whom thus afflicted when sad Eve beheld,     Desolate where she sate, approaching nigh,     Soft words to his fierce passion she assayd:     But her with stern regard he thus repelld.     Out of my sight, thou Serpent, that name best     Befits thee with him leagud, thy self as false     And hateful; nothing wants, but that thy shape,     Like his, and colour Serpentine may shew     Thy inward fraud, to warn all Creatures from thee     Henceforth; least that too heavnly form, pretended     To hellish falshood, snare them. But for thee     I had persisted happie, had not thy pride     And wandring vanitie, when lest was safe,     Rejected my forewarning, and disdaind     Not to be trusted, longing to be seen     Though by the Devil himself, him overweening     To over-reach, but with the Serpent meeting     Foold and beguild, by him thou, I by thee,     To trust thee from my side, imagind wise,     Constant, mature, proof against all assaults,     And understood not all was but a shew     Rather then solid vertu, all but a Rib     Crooked by nature, bent, as now appears,     More to the part sinister from me drawn,     Well if thrown out, as supernumerarie     To my just number found. O why did God,     Creator wise, that peopld highest Heavn     With Spirits Masculine, create at last     This noveltie on Earth, this fair defect     Of Nature, and not fill the World at once     With Men as Angels without Feminine,     Or find some other way to generate     Mankind? this mischief had not then befalln,     And more that shall befall, innumerable     Disturbances on Earth through Femal snares,     And straight conjunction with this Sex: for either     He never shall find out fit Mate, but such     As some misfortune brings him, or mistake,     Or whom he wishes most shall seldom gain     Through her perverseness, but shall see her gaind     By a farr worse, or if she love, withheld     By Parents, or his happiest choice too late     Shall meet, alreadie linkt and Wedlock-bound     To a fell Adversarie, his hate or shame:     Which infinite calamitie shall cause     To humane life, and houshold peace confound.     He added not, and from her turnd, but Eve     Not so repulst, with Tears that ceasd not flowing,     And tresses all disorderd, at his feet     Fell humble, and imbracing them, besaught     His peace, and thus proceeded in her plaint.     Forsake me not thus, Adam, witness Heavn     What love sincere, and reverence in my heart     I beare thee, and unweeting have offended,     Unhappilie deceavd; thy suppliant     I beg, and clasp thy knees; bereave me not,     Whereon I live, thy gentle looks, thy aid,     Thy counsel in this uttermost distress,     My onely strength and stay: forlorn of thee,     Whither shall I betake me, where subsist?     While yet we live, scarse one short hour perhaps,     Between us two let there be peace, both joyning,     As joynd in injuries, one enmitie     Against a Foe by doom express assignd us,     That cruel Serpent: On me exercise not     Thy hatred for this miserie befalln,     On me already lost, mee then thy self     More miserable; both have sind, but thou     Against God onely, I against God and thee,     And to the place of judgement will return,     There with my cries importune Heaven, that all     The sentence from thy head removd may light     On me, sole cause to thee of all this woe,     Mee mee onely just object of his ire.     She ended weeping, and her lowlie plight,     Immoveable till peace obtaind from fault     Acknowledgd and deplord, in Adam wraught     Commiseration; soon his heart relented     Towards her, his life so late and sole delight,     Now at his feet submissive in distress,     Creature so faire his reconcilement seeking,     His counsel whom she had displeasd, his aide;     As one disarmd, his anger all he lost,     And thus with peaceful words upraisd her soon.     Unwarie, and too desirous, as before,     So now of what thou knowst not, who desirst     The punishment all on thy self; alas,     Beare thine own first, ill able to sustaine     His full wrauth whose thou feelst as yet lest part,     And my displeasure bearst so ill. If Prayers     Could alter high Decrees, I to that place     Would speed before thee, and be louder heard,     That on my head all might be visited,     Thy frailtie and infirmer Sex forgivn,     To me committed and by me exposd.     But rise, let us no more contend, nor blame     Each other, blamd enough elsewhere, but strive     In offices of Love, how we may lightn     Each others burden in our share of woe;     Since this days Death denounct, if ought I see,     Will prove no sudden, but a slow-pact evill,     A long days dying to augment our paine,     And to our Seed (O hapless Seed!) derivd.     To whom thus Eve, recovering heart, replid.     Adam, by sad experiment I know     How little weight my words with thee can finde,     Found so erroneous, thence by just event     Found so unfortunate; nevertheless,     Restord by thee, vile as I am, to place     Of new acceptance, hopeful to regaine     Thy Love, the sole contentment of my heart,     Living or dying from thee I will not hide     What thoughts in my unquiet brest are risn,     Tending to som relief of our extremes,     Or end, though sharp and sad, yet tolerable,     As in our evils, and of easier choice.     If care of our descent perplex us most,     Which must be born to certain woe, devourd     By Death at last, and miserable it is     To be to others cause of misery,     Our own begotten, and of our Loines to bring     Into this cursed World a woful Race,     That after wretched Life must be at last     Food for so foule a Monster, in thy power     It lies, yet ere Conception to prevent     The Race unblest, to being yet unbegot.     Childless thou art, Childless remaine:     So Death shall be deceavd his glut, and with us two     Be forcd to satisfie his Ravnous Maw.     But if thou judge it hard and difficult,     Conversing, looking, loving, to abstain     From Loves due Rites, Nuptial embraces sweet,     And with desire to languish without hope,     Before the present object languishing     With like desire, which would be miserie     And torment less then none of what we dread,     Then both our selves and Seed at once to free     From what we fear for both, let us make short,     Let us seek Death, or hee not found, supply     With our own hands his Office on our selves;     Why stand we longer shivering under feares,     That shew no end but Death, and have the power,     Of many wayes to die the shortest choosing,     Destruction with destruction to destroy.     She ended heer, or vehement despaire     Broke off the rest; so much of Death her thoughts     Had entertaind, as did her Cheeks with pale.     But Adam with such counsel nothing swayd,     To better hopes his more attentive minde     Labouring had raisd, and thus to Eve replid.     Eve, thy contempt of life and pleasure seems     To argue in thee somthing more sublime     And excellent then what thy minde contemnes;     But self-destruction therefore saught, refutes     That excellence thought in thee, and implies,     Not thy contempt, but anguish and regret     For loss of life and pleasure overlovd.     Or if thou covet death, as utmost end     Of miserie, so thinking to evade     The penaltie pronounct, doubt not but God     Hath wiselier armd his vengeful ire then so     To be forestalld; much more I fear least Death     So snatcht will not exempt us from the paine     We are by doom to pay; rather such acts     Of contumacie will provoke the highest     To make death in us live: Then let us seek     Som safer resolution, which methinks     I have in view, calling to minde with heed     Part of our Sentence, that thy Seed shall bruise     The Serpents head; piteous amends, unless     Be meant, whom I conjecture, our grand Foe     Satan, who in the Serpent hath contrivd     Against us this deceit: to crush his head     Would be revenge indeed; which will be lost     By death brought on our selves, or childless days     Resolvd, as thou proposest; so our Foe     Shall scape his punishment ordaind, and wee     Instead shall double ours upon our heads.     No more be mentiond then of violence     Against our selves, and wilful barrenness,     That cuts us off from hope, and savours onely     Rancor and pride, impatience and despite,     Reluctance against God and his just yoke     Laid on our Necks. Remember with what mild     And gracious temper he both heard and judgd     Without wrauth or reviling; wee expected     Immediate dissolution, which we thought     Was meant by Death that day, when lo, to thee     Pains onely in Child-bearing were foretold,     And bringing forth, soon recompenct with joy,     Fruit of thy Womb: On mee the Curse aslope     Glancd on the ground, with labour I must earne     My bread; what harm? Idleness had bin worse;     My labour will sustain me; and least Cold     Or Heat should injure us, his timely care     Hath unbesaught provided, and his hands     Cloathd us unworthie, pitying while he judgd;     How much more, if we pray him, will his ear     Be open, and his heart to pitie incline,     And teach us further by what means to shun     Th inclement Seasons, Rain, Ice, Hail and Snow,     Which now the Skie with various Face begins     To shew us in this Mountain, while the Winds     Blow moist and keen, shattering the graceful locks     Of these fair spreading Trees; which bids us seek     Som better shroud, som better warmth to cherish     Our Limbs benummd, ere this diurnal Starr     Leave cold the Night, how we his gatherd beams     Reflected, may with matter sere foment,     Or by collision of two bodies grinde     The Air attrite to Fire, as late the Clouds     Justling or pusht with Winds rude in thir shock     Tine the slant Lightning, whose thwart flame drivn down     Kindles the gummie bark of Firr or Pine,     And sends a comfortable heat from farr,     Which might supplie the Sun: such Fire to use,     And what may else be remedie or cure     To evils which our own misdeeds have wrought,     Hee will instruct us praying, and of Grace     Beseeching him, so as we need not fear     To pass commodiously this life, sustaind     By him with many comforts, till we end     In dust, our final rest and native home.     What better can we do, then to the place     Repairing where he judgd us, prostrate fall     Before him reverent, and there confess     Humbly our faults, and pardon beg, with tears     Watering the ground, and with our sighs the Air     Frequenting, sent from hearts contrite, in sign     Of sorrow unfeignd, and humiliation meek.     Undoubtedly he will relent and turn     From his displeasure; in whose look serene,     When angry most he seemd and most severe,     What else but favor, grace, and mercie shon?     So spake our Father penitent, nor Eve     Felt less remorse: they forthwith to the place     Repairing where he judgd them prostrate fell     Before him reverent, and both confessd     Humbly thir faults, and pardon begd, with tears     Watering the ground, and with thir sighs the Air     Frequenting, sent from hearts contrite, in sign     Of sorrow unfeignd, and humiliation meek.