Paradise Regained - The First Book

I who ere while the happy Garden sung,     By one mans disobedience lost, now sing     Recoverd Paradise to all mankind,     By one mans firm obedience fully trid     Through all temptation, and the Tempter foild     In all his wiles, defeated and repulst,     And Eden raisd in the wast Wilderness.     Thou Spirit who ledst this glorious Eremite     Into the Desert, his Victorious Field     Against the Spiritual Foe, and broughtst him thence     By proof the undoubted Son of God, inspire,     As thou art wont, my prompted Song else mute,     And bear through highth or depth of natures bounds     With prosperous wing full summd to tell of deeds     Above Heroic, though in secret done,     And unrecorded left through many an Age,     Worthy thave not remaind so long unsung.     Now had the great Proclaimer with a voice     More awful then the sound of Trumpet, crid     Repentance, and Heavens Kingdom nigh at hand     To all Baptizd: to his great Baptism flockd     With aw the Regions round, and with them came     From Nazareth the Son of Joseph deemd     To the flood Jordan, came as then obscure,     Unmarkt, unknown; but him the Baptist soon     Descrid, divinely warnd, and witness bore     As to his worthier, and would have resignd     To him his Heavenly Office, nor was long     His witness unconfirmd: on him baptizd     Heaven opend, and in likeness of a Dove     The Spirit descended, while the Fathers voice     From Heavn pronouncd him his beloved Son.     That heard the Adversary, who roving still     About the world, at that assembly famd     Would not be last, and with the voice divine     Nigh Thunder-struck, th exalted man, to whom     Such high attest was givn, a while surveyd     With wonder, then with envy fraught and rage     Flies to his place, nor rests, but in mid air     To Councel summons all his mighty Peers,     Within thick Clouds and dark ten-fold involvd,     A gloomy Consistory; and them amidst     With looks agast and sad he thus bespake.     O ancient Powers of Air and this wide world,     For much more willingly I mention Air,     This our old Conquest, then remember Hell     Our hated habitation; well ye know     How many Ages, as the years of men,     This Universe we have possest, and ruld     In manner at our will th affairs of Earth,     Since Adam and his facil consort Eve     Lost Paradise deceivd by me, though since     With dread attending when that fatal wound     Shall be inflicted by the Seed of Eve     Upon my head, long the decrees of Heavn     Delay, for longest time to him is short;     And now too soon for us the circling hours     This dreaded time have compast, wherein we     Must bide the stroak of that long threatnd wound,     At least if so we can, and by the head     Broken be not intended all our power     To be infringd, our freedom and our being.     In this fair Empire won of Earth and Air;     For this ill news I bring, the Womans seed     Destind to this, is late of woman born,     His birth to our just fear gave no small cause,     But his growth now to youths full flowr, displaying     All vertue, grace and wisdom to atchieve     Things highest, greatest, multiplies my fear.     Before him a great Prophet, to proclaim     His coming, is sent Harbinger, who all     Invites, and in the Consecrated stream     Pretends to wash off sin, and fit them so     Purified to receive him pure, or rather     To do him honour as their King; all come,     And he himself among them was baptizd,     Not thence to be more pure, but to receive     The testimony of Heaven, that who he is     Thenceforth the Nations may not doubt; I saw     The Prophet do him reverence, on him rising     Out of the water, Heavn above the Clouds     Unfold her Crystal Dores, thence on his head     A perfect Dove descend, what ere it meant,     And out of Heavn the Sovraign voice I heard,     This is my Son belovd, in him am pleasd.     His Mother then is mortal, but his Sire,     He who obtains the Monarchy of Heavn,     And what will he not do to advance his Son?     His first-begot we know, and sore have felt,     When his fierce thunder drove us to the deep;     Who this is we must learn, for man he seems     In all his lineaments, though in his face     The glimpses of his Fathers glory shine.     Ye see our danger on the utmost edge     Of hazard, which admits no long debate,     But must with something sudden be opposd,     Not force, but well coucht fraud, well woven snares,     Ere in the head of Nations he appear     Their King, their Leader, and Supream on Earth.     I, when no other durst, sole undertook     The dismal expedition to find out     And ruine Adam, and the exploit performd     Successfully; a calmer voyage now     Will waft me; and the way found prosperous once     Induces best to hope of like success.     He ended, and his words impression left     Of much amazement to th infernal Crew,     Distracted and surprizd with deep dismay     At these sad tidings; but no time was then     For long indulgence to their fears or grief:     Unanimous they all commit the care     And management of this main enterprize     To him their great Dictator, whose attempt     At first against mankind so well had thrivd     In Adams overthrow, and led thir march     From Hells deep-vaulted Den to dwell in light,     Regents and Potentates, and Kings, yea gods     Of many a pleasant Realm and Province wide.     So to the Coast of Jordan he directs     His easie steps; girded with snaky wiles,     Where he might likeliest find this new-declard,     This man of men, attested Son of God,     Temptation and all guile on him to try;     So to subvert whom he suspected raisd     To end his Raign on Earth so long enjoyd:     But contrary unweeting he fulfilld     The purposd Counsel pre-ordaind and fixt     Of the most High, who in full frequence bright     Of Angels, thus to Gabriel smiling spake.     Gabriel this day by proof thou shalt behold,     Thou and all Angels conversant on Earth     With man or mens affairs, how I begin     To verifie that solemn message late,     On which I sent thee to the Virgin pure     In Galilee, that she should bear a Son     Great in Renown, and calld the Son of God;     Then toldst her doubting how these things could be     To her a Virgin, that on her should come     The Holy Ghost, and the power of the highest     Ore-shadow her: this man born and now up-grown,     To shew him worthy of his birth divine     And high prediction, henceforth I expose     To Satan; let him tempt and now assay     His utmost subtilty, because he boasts     And vaunts of his great cunning to the throng     Of his Apostasie; he might have learnt     Less over-weening, since he faild in Job,     Whose constant perseverance overcame     Whatere his cruel malice could invent.     He now shall know I can produce a man     Of female Seed, far abler to resist     All his sollicitations, and at length     All his vast force, and drive him back to Hell,     Winning by Conquest what the first man lost     By fallacy surprizd. But first I mean     To exercise him in the Wilderness,     There he shall first lay down the rudiments     Of his great warfare, ere I send him forth     To conquer Sin and Death the two grand foes,     By Humiliation and strong Sufferance:     His weakness shall orecome Satanic strength     And all the world, and mass of sinful flesh;     That all the Angels and therial Powers,     They now, and men hereafter may discern,     From what consummate vertue I have chose     This perfect Man, by merit calld my Son,     To earn Salvation for the Sons of men.     So spake the Eternal Father, and all Heaven     Admiring stood a space, then into Hymns     Burst forth, and in Celestial measures movd,     Circling the Throne and Singing, while the hand     Sung with the voice, and this the argument.     Victory and Triumph to the Son of God     Now entring his great duel, not of arms,     But to vanquish by wisdom hellish wiles.     The Father knows the Son; therefore secure     Ventures his filial Vertue, though untrid,     Against whatere may tempt, whatere seduce,     Allure, or terrifie, or undermine.     Be frustrate all ye stratagems of Hell,     And devilish machinations come to nought.     So they in Heavn their Odes and Vigils tund:     Mean while the Son of God, who yet some days     Lodgd in Bethabara where John baptizd,     Musing and much revolving in his brest,     How best the mighty work he might begin     Of Saviour to mankind, and which way first     Publish his God-like office now mature,     One day forth walkd alone, the Spirit leading;     And his deep thoughts, the better to converse     With solitude, till far from track of men,     Thought following thought, and step by step led on,     He entred now the bordering Desert wild,     And with dark shades and rocks environd round,     His holy Meditations thus persud.     O what a multitude of thoughts at once     Awaknd in me swarm, while I consider     What from within I feel my self, and hear     What from without comes often to my ears,     Ill sorting with my present state compard.     When I was yet a child, no childish play     To me was pleasing, all my mind was set     Serious to learn and know, and thence to do     What might be publick good; my self I thought     Born to that end, born to promote all truth,     All righteous things: therefore above my years,     The Law of God I read, and found it sweet,     Made it my whole delight, and in it grew     To such perfection, that ere yet my age     Had measurd twice six years, at our great Feast     I went into the Temple, there to hear     The Teachers of our Law, and to propose     What might improve my knowledge or their own;     And was admird by all, yet this not all     To which my Spirit aspird, victorious deeds     Flamd in my heart, heroic acts, one while     To rescue Israel from the Roman yoke,     Then to subdue and quell ore all the earth     Brute violence and proud Tyrannick powr,     Till truth were freed, and equity restord:     Yet held it more humane, more heavenly first     By winning words to conquer willing hearts,     And make perswasion do the work of fear;     At least to try, and teach the erring Soul     Not wilfully mis-doing, but unware     Misled; the stubborn only to destroy.     These growing thoughts my Mother soon perceiving     By words at times cast forth inly rejoycd,     And said to me apart, high are thy thoughts     O Son, but nourish them and let them soar     To what highth sacred vertue and true worth     Can raise them, though above example high;     By matchless Deeds express thy matchless Sire.     For know, thou art no Son of mortal man,     Though men esteem thee low of Parentage,     Thy Father is the Eternal King, who rules     All Heaven and Earth, Angels and Sons of men,     A messenger from God fore-told thy birth     Conceivd in me a Virgin, he fore-told     Thou shouldst be great and sit on Davids Throne,     And of thy Kingdom there should be no end.     At thy Nativity a glorious Quire     Of Angels in the fields of Bethlehem sung     To Shepherds watching at their folds by night,     And told them the Messiah now was born,     Where they might see him, and to thee they came;     Directed to the Manger where thou laist,     For in the Inn was left no better room:     A Star, not seen before in Heaven appearing     Guided the Wise Men thither from the East,     To honour thee with Incense, Myrrh, and Gold,     By whose bright course led on they found the place,     Affirming it thy Star new gravn in Heaven,     By which they knew thee King of Israel born.     Just Simeon and Prophetic Anna, warnd     By Vision, found thee in the Temple, and spake     Before the Altar and the vested Priest,     Like things of thee to all that present stood.     This having heard, strait I again revolvd     The Law and Prophets, searching what was writ     Concerning the Messiah, to our Scribes     Known partly, and soon found of whom they spake     I am; this chiefly, that my way must lie     Through many a hard assay even to the death,     Ere I the promisd Kingdom can attain,     Or work Redemption for mankind, whose sins     Full weight must be transferrd upon my head.     Yet neither thus disheartnd or dismayd,     The time prefixt I waited, when behold     The Baptist, (of whose birth I oft had heard,     Not knew by sight) now come, who was to come     Before Messiah and his way prepare.     I as all others to his Baptism came,     Which I believd was from above; but he     Strait knew me, and with loudest voice proclaimd     Me him (for it was shewn him so from Heaven)     Me him whose Harbinger he was; and first     Refusd on me his Baptism to confer,     As much his greater, and was hardly won;     But as I rose out of the laving stream,     Heaven opend her eternal doors, from whence     The Spirit descended on me like a Dove,     And last the sum of all, my Fathers voice,     Audibly heard from Heavn, pronouncd me his,     Me his beloved Son, in whom alone     He was well pleasd; by which I knew the time     Now full, that I no more should live obscure,     But openly begin, as best becomes     The Authority which I derivd from Heaven.     And now by some strong motion I am led     Into this Wilderness, to what intent     I learn not yet, perhaps I need not know;     For what concerns my knowledge God reveals.     So spake our Morning Star then in his rise,     And looking round on every side beheld     A pathless Desert, dusk with horrid shades;     The way he came not having markd, return     Was difficult, by humane steps untrod;     And he still on was led, but with such thoughts     Accompanied of things past and to come     Lodgd in his breast, as well might recommend     Such Solitude before choicest Society.     Full forty days he passd, whether on hill     Sometimes, anon in shady vale, each night     Under the covert of some ancient Oak,     Or Cedar, to defend him from the dew,     Or harbourd in one Cave, is not reveald;     Nor tasted humane food, nor hunger felt     Till those days ended, hungerd then at last     Among wild Beasts: they at his sight grew mild,     Nor sleeping him nor waking harmd, his walk     The fiery Serpent fled, and noxious Worm,     The Lion and fierce Tiger glard aloof.     But now an aged man in Rural weeds,     Following, as seemd, the quest of some stray Ewe,     Or witherd sticks to gather; which might serve     Against a Winters day when winds blow keen,     To warm him wet returnd from field at Eve,     He saw approach, who first with curious eye     Perusd him, then with words thus uttred spake.     Sir, what ill chance hath brought thee to this place     So far from path or road of men, who pass     In Troop or Caravan, for single none     Durst ever, who returnd, and dropt not here     His Carcass, pind with hunger and with droughth?     I ask the rather, and the more admire,     For that to me thou seemst the man, whom late     Our new baptizing Prophet at the Ford     Of Jordan honourd so, and calld thee Son     Of God; I saw and heard, for we sometimes     Who dwell this wild, constraind by want, come forth     To Town or Village nigh (nighest is far)     Where ought we hear, and curious are to hear,     What happns new; Fame also finds us out.     To whom the Son of God. Who brought me hither     Will bring me hence, no other Guide I seek.     By Miracle he may, replyd the Swain,     What other way I see not, for we here     Live on tough roots and stubs, to thirst inurd     More then the Camel, and to drink go far,     Men to much misery and hardship born;     But if thou be the Son of God, Command     That out of these hard stones be made thee bread;     So shalt thou save thy self and us relieve     With Food, whereof we wretched seldom taste.     He ended, and the Son of God replyd.     Thinkst thou such force in Bread? is it not written     (For I discern thee other then thou seemst)     Man lives not by Bread only, but each Word     Proceeding from the mouth of God; who fed     Our Fathers here with Manna; in the Mount     Moses was forty days, nor eat nor drank,     And forty days Eliah without food     Wandred this barren waste, the same I now.     Why dost thou then suggest to me distrust,     Knowing who I am, as I know who thou art?     Whom thus answerd th Arch Fiend now undisguisd.     Tis true, I am that Spirit unfortunate,     Who leagud with millions more in rash revolt     Kept not my happy Station, but was drivn     With them from bliss to the bottomless deep,     Yet to that hideous place not so confind     By rigour unconniving, but that oft     Leaving my dolorous Prison I enjoy     Large liberty to round this Globe of Earth,     Or range in th Air, nor from the Heavn of Heavns     Hath he excluded my resort sometimes.     I came among the Sons of God, when he     Gave up into my hands Uzzean Job     To prove him, and illustrate his high worth;     And when to all his Angels he proposd     To draw the proud King Ahab into fraud     That he might fall in Ramoth, they demuring,     I undertook that office, and the tongues     Of all his flattering Prophets glibbd with lyes     To his destruction, as I had in charge.     For what he bids I do; though I have lost     Much lustre of my native brightness, lost     To be belovd of God, I have not lost     To love, at least contemplate and admire     What I see excellent in good, or fair,     Or vertuous, I should so have lost all sense.     What can be then less in me then desire     To see thee and approach thee, whom I know     Declard the Son of God, to hear attent     Thy wisdom, and behold thy God-like deeds?     Men generally think me much a foe     To all mankind: why should I? they to me     Never did wrong or violence, by them     I lost not what I lost, rather by them     I gaind what I have gaind, and with them dwell     Copartner in these Regions of the World,     If not disposer; lend them oft my aid,     Oft my advice by presages and signs,     And answers, oracles, portents and dreams,     Whereby they may direct their future life.     Envy they say excites me, thus to gain     Companions of my misery and wo.     At first it may be; but long since with wo     Nearer acquainted, now I feel by proof,     That fellowship in pain divides not smart,     Nor lightens aught each mans peculiar load.     Small consolation then, were Man adjoynd:     This wounds me most (what can it less) that Man,     Man falln shall be restord, I never more.     To whom our Saviour sternly thus replyd.     Deservedly thou grievst, composd of lyes     From the beginning, and in lies wilt end;     Who boastst release from Hell, and leave to come     Into the Heavn of Heavens; thou comst indeed,     As a poor miserable captive thrall,     Comes to the place where he before had sat     Among the Prime in Splendour, now deposd,     Ejected, emptyed, gazd, unpityed, shund,     A spectacle of ruin or of scorn     To all the Host of Heaven; the happy place     Imparts to thee no happiness, no joy,     Rather inflames thy torment, representing     Lost bliss, to thee no more communicable,     So never more in Hell then when in Heaven.     But thou art serviceable to Heavens King.     Wilt thou impute to obedience what thy fear     Extorts, or pleasure to do ill excites?     What but thy malice movd thee to misdeem     Of righteous Job, then cruelly to afflict him     With all inflictions, but his patience won?     The other service was thy chosen task,     To be a lyer in four hundred mouths;     For lying is thy sustenance, thy food.     Yet thou pretendst to truth; all Oracles     By thee are givn, and what confest more true     Among the Nations? that hath been thy craft,     By mixing somewhat true to vent more lyes.     But what have been thy answers, what but dark     Ambiguous and with double sense deluding,     Which they who askd have seldom understood,     And not well understood as good not known?     Who ever by consulting at thy shrine     Returnd the wiser, or the more instruct     To flye or follow what concernd him most,     And run not sooner to his fatal snare?     For God hath justly givn the Nations up     To thy Delusions; justly, since they fell     Idolatrous, but when his purpose is     Among them to declare his Providence     To thee not known, whence hast thou then thy truth,     But from him or his Angels President     In every Province, who themselves disdaining     To approach thy Temples, give thee in command     What to the smallest tittle thou shalt say     To thy Adorers; thou with trembling fear,     Or like a Fawning Parasite obeyst;     Then to thy self ascribst the truth fore-told.     But this thy glory shall be soon retrenchd;     No more shalt thou by oracling abuse     The Gentiles; henceforth Oracles are ceast,     And thou no more with Pomp and Sacrifice     Shalt be enquird at Delphos or elsewhere,     At least in vain, for they shall find thee mute.     God hath now sent his living Oracle     Into the World, to teach his final will,     And sends his Spirit of Truth henceforth to dwell     In pious Hearts, an inward Oracle     To all truth requisite for men to know.     So spake our Saviour; but the subtle Fiend,     Though inly stung with anger and disdain,     Dissembld, and this Answer smooth returnd.     Sharply thou hast insisted on rebuke,     And urgd me hard with doings, which not will     But misery hath rested from me; where     Easily canst thou find one miserable,     And not inforcd oft-times to part from truth;     If it may stand him more in stead to lye,     Say and unsay, feign, flatter, or abjure?     But thou art plact above me, thou art Lord;     From thee I can and must submiss endure     Check or reproof, and glad to scape so quit.     Hard are the ways of truth, and rough to walk,     Smooth on the tongue discourst, pleasing to th ear,     And tuneable as Silvan Pipe or Song;     What wonder then if I delight to hear     Her dictates from thy mouth? most men admire     Vertue, who follow not her lore: permit me     To hear thee when I come (since no man comes)     And talk at least, though I despair to attain.     Thy Father, who is holy, wise and pure,     Suffers the Hypocrite or Atheous Priest     To tread his Sacred Courts, and minister     About his Altar, handling holy things,     Praying or vowing, and vouchsafd his voice     To Balaam Reprobate, a Prophet yet     Inspird; disdain not such access to me.     To whom our Saviour with unalterd brow.     Thy coming hither, though I know thy scope,     I bid not or forbid; do as thou findst     Permission from above; thou canst not more.     He added not; and Satan bowing low     His gray dissimulation, disappeard     Into thin Air diffusd: for now began     Night with her sullen wing to double-shade     The Desert, Fowls in thir clay nests were coucht;     And now wild Beasts came forth the woods to roam.