Thou art my father, thou my author, thou
My being gav'ft me; whom fhould I obey
But thee, whom follow? thou wilt bring me soon
To that new world of light and blifs, among
The Gods who live at eafe, where I shall reign
At'thy right hand voluptuous, as beseems
Thy daughter and thy darling, without end.
Thus faying, from her fide the fatal key,
Sad inftrument of all cur woe, fhe took;
And towards the gate rolling her bestial train,
Forthwith the huge portcullis high up drew,
Which but herfelf not all the Stygian Powers
Could once have mov'd; then in the key-hole turns
Th' intricate wards, and every bolt and bar
Of maffy ir'on or folid rock with ease
Unfaftens: : on a fudden open fly
With impetuous recoil and jarring found
Th' infernal doors, and on their hinges grate.
Harfh thunder, that the lowest bottom shook
Of Erebus. She open'd, but to shut
Excell'd her pow'r; the gates wide open stood,
That with extended wings a banner'd host
Under fpread enfigns marching might pass through.
With horfe and chariots rank'd in loose array;
So wide they stood, and like a furnace mouth
Caft forth redounding smoke and ruddy flame..
Before their eyes in fudden view appear
The fecrets of the hoary deep, a dark
Illimitable ocean, without bound,,
Without dimenfion, where length, breadth, and highth,
And time, and place are loft; where eldest Night
And Chaos, ancestors of nature, hold
Eternal anarchy, amidst the noise
Of endless wars, and by confusion stand.
For hot, cold, moist, and dry, four champions fierce,
Strive here for maft'ry, and to battel bring
Their embryon atoms; they around the flag
Of each his faction, in their feveral clans,
Light-arm'd or heavy, fharp, fmooth, fwift or flow,
Swarm populous, un-number'd as the fands
Of Barca or Cyrene's torrid foil,
Levied to fide with warring winds, and poise
Their lighter wings. To whom these most adhere,
He rules a moment; Chaos umpire fits,
And by decision more embroils the fray
By which he reigns:
Chance governs all.
The womb of nature and perhaps her grave,
Of neither fea, nor fhore, nor air, nor fire,
But all these in their pregnant causes mix'd
Confus'dly, and which thus must ever fight,
Unless th' almighty Maker them ordain
His dark materials to create more worlds;
Into this wild abyfs the wary Fiend
Stood on the brink of Hell and look'd a while,
Pond'ring his voyage; for no narrow frith
He had to crofs. Nor was his ear lefs peal'd
With noises loud and ruinous (to compare
Great things with fmall) than when Bellona ftorms,
With all her battering engins bent to rafe
Some capital city'; or less than if this frame
Of Heav'n were falling, and these elements
In mutiny had from her axle torn
The ftedfaft earth. At laft his fail-broad vans
He fpreads for flight, and in the furging smoke
Uplifted fpurns the ground; thence many a league,
As in a cloudy chair, ascending rides
Audacious; but that seat soon failing, meets
A vaft vacuity: all unawares
Fluttering his pennons vain plumb down he drops
Ten thousand fathom deep, and to this hour
Down had been falling, had not by ill chance
The ftrong rebuff of fome tumultuous cloud,
Instinct with fire and nitre, hurried him
As many miles aloft: that fury stay'd,
Quench'd in a boggy Syrtis, neither fea,
Nor good dry land: nigh founder'd on he fares, 940
Treading the crude consistence, half on foot,
Half fly'ing; behoves him now both oar and fail.
As when a gryphon through the wilderness
With winged course, o'er hill or moory dale,
Purfues the Arimafpian, who by stealth
Had from his wakeful cuftody purloin'd
The guarded gold: So eagerly the Fiend
O'er bog, or steep, through strait, rough, denfe, or rare,
With head, hands, wings, or feet, pursues his way,
And swims, or finks, or wades, or creeps, or flies:
At length a univerfal hubbub wild
Of stunning founds and voices all confus'd,
Borne through the hollow dark, affaults his ear
With loudest vehemence: thither he plies,
Undaunted to meet there whatever Power
Or Spirit of the nethermoft abyss
Might in that noife refide, of whom to ask
Which way the nearest coast of darkness lies
Bord'ring on light; when ftrait behold the throne
Of Chaos, and his dark pavilion spread
Wide on the wasteful deep; with him enthron'd
Sat fable-vefted Night, eldest of things,
The confort of his reign; and by them stood
Orcus and Ades, and the dreaded name
Of Damogorgon; Rumor next and Chance,
And Tumult and Confufion all embroil'd,
And Difcord with a thousand various mouths.
T'whom Satan turning boldly, thus. Ye Powers
And Spirits of this nethermost abyss,
Chaos and ancient Night, I come no spy,
With purpose to explore or to disturb
The fecrets of your realm, but by constraint
Wand'ring this darkfome defert, as my way
Lies through your fpacious empire up to light,
Alone, and without guide, half lost, I seek
What readieft path leads where your gloomy bounds
Confine with Heav'n; or if fome other place,
From your dominion won, th' ethereal king
Poffeffes lately, thither to arrive
I travel this profound; direct my course;
Directed no mean recompense it brings
To your behoof, if I that region loft,
All ufurpation thence expell'd, reduce
To her original darkness and your fway
(Which is my present journey) and once more
Erect the standard there of ancient Night;
Yours be th' advantage all, mine the revenge.
Thus Satan; and him thus the Anarch old,
With faltring speech and vifage incompos'd,
Anfwer'd. I know thee, ftranger, who thou art, 990
That mighty leading Angel, who of late
Made head against Heav'n's king, though overthrown.
I faw and heard, for fuch a numerous hoft
Fled not in filence through the frighted deep
With ruin upon ruin, rout on rout,
Confufion worfe confounded; and Heav'n gates
Pour'd out by millions her victorious bands
Purfuing. I upon my frontiers here
Keep refidence; if all I can will ferve
That little which is left fo to defend,
Encroach'd on ftill through your inteftin broils
Weakning the fcepter of old Night: firft Hell
Your dungeon ftretching far and wide beneath;
Now lately Heav'n and Earth, another world,
Hung o'er my realm, link'd in a golden chain
To that fide Heav'n from whence your legions fell:
If that way be your walk, you have not far;
So much the nearer danger; go and speed;
Havoc and fpoil and ruin are my gain.
He ceas'd; and Satan ftay'd not to reply,
But glad that now his fea fhould find a shore,
With fresh alacrity and force renew'd
Springs upward like a pyramid of fire
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